CHAPTER 520

Ajax and Tom were both in the city waiting to welcome the Empire nobles as well as to ensure that nothing would go wrong with the elves.

“My Lords.” A guard entered the room with a perfect salute. “They’ve arrived.”

Tom thanked the guard as both he and Ajax stood up and exited his public office. “They sure have timing, school just ended.” Tom chuckled.

Despite being close to the center of the city you could already tell where the Empire’s convoy was just from the noise that rose up from all the children gathering around to look. “Need to send a message to Luna that we could use a few more healers in the coming week.” Ajax muttered. “They’ll all catch a cold in this weather.”

Tom was bundled up in warm clothing but his face wasn’t spared the biting cold. One look at Ajax was enough to send a cold shiver through his entire body and Tom had to remind himself that his brother had [Cold Resistance].

“Are you ready for your duel later today?” Ajax asked. Tom had already planned the duel between himself and Leandra, they also scheduled it for later in the day and Ajax will use it to mark the start of the duels, it was an earlier start than yesterday but he also expected there would be more duels.

“It should all be fine, I doubt Lady Deeproot has anything that can deal with Fluffy. I just need to make sure I don’t leave myself open.” Tom said with confidence when an odd feeling came through his bond connection. “Fluffy?”

“Something wrong?” Ajax asked, sensing the worry in his brother’s tone.

“I sent Fluffy to escort Jake home since we most likely would only head back later with the Empire nobles and I am getting an odd feeling.” Tom answered. “It’s coming from the direction of the Empire con- JAKE!”

Ajax didn’t wait for anything else as he blasted [Mana Syphon] at full power and took off in the direction of the convoy. With his current Stats it barely took him any time to fly across the city from one roof to another and it was seconds before his [Sense Mana] picked up some serious activity.

It was only a moment more before Ajax could see what was actually taking place. Ajax took in everything at a glance yet his body never stopped moving even as his mind started to process all the information he was taking in.

Ajax focused first on the threats closest to his nephew. First and foremost the man grabbing Jake by the arm, according to [Inspector’s Eye] with the help of [Judge Threat] the man was around level eighty three, more than that he was also a hybrid fighter. Not someone Ajax would consider a threat to himself.

Next up was the white lynx that stood next to Fluffy. This creature was stronger, close to level ninety five but still nothing that would really worry Ajax, more than that Fluffy also seemed to be in a good enough shape to provide back up.

The third person Ajax focused on was the most dangerous person so far. A level one hundred and twenty five mage. From the looks of him he had been on his horse when it was killed and it dropped dead on his leg. Despite that he was the most dangerous person on the scene. Finally there was Sandor and Ajax already knew how strong the imperial prince was.

In the next moment Ajax was next to his nephew, his hand instantly gripping and crushing the arm of the man who dared touch his family. Ajax was already a bit on edge from the elves pushing decorum and he had let some of that go but someone hurting his family was a different matter.

“What possible reason could you have for laying a hand on my nephew?” Ajax didn’t even pay attention to the shrill scream that was coming out of the man’s mouth as he felt the bone snap.

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“Unhand my brother!” Helmeth growled at Ajax as he unleashed his Aura. He might have expected it to have an effect based on how young Ajax looked but the pressure of the man’s Aura did nothing to him.

“Have it your way.” Ajax twisted his body in the same manner the man he was holding had done previously with Jake in his grasp, the difference in power however meant that not only was the man taken off his feet but Ajax had in fact thrown him directly at the mage.

“Duke Hearthbound.” Sandor had finally managed to get a word in as with his low stats he had had trouble following the interactions that took place and he stepped between both sides. “Best we talk before this misunderstanding goes any further.”

It wasn’t Sandor however that drew Ajax’s attention, it was Clark. The young Empire champion was still someone Ajax didn’t feel confident taking on in the least, especially now that he hadn’t noticed the man approach until he was this close to him.

“Misunderstanding!?” Helmeth snarled. “He broke Cal’s arm. That pissant cat of his killed my horse and injured my leg.”

“Be thankful if you get away with just that.” Clark spoke in a clam and soft tone but his Aura dwarfed both Ajax’s and the mages adding more pressure. “You attacked his family unprovoked in his lands. Best you put all this behind you after you apologise.”

As soon as he finished speaking Clark withdrew his Aura, Ajax wasn’t sure why until he felt Lancel and Aranor also appear. They had clearly felt what was going on from across the city and finally arrived. ℞ᴀΝοBĘᶊ

With Lancel here Ajax finally dropped his guard enough to grab a hold of Jake and start checking him over while he pushed a Light spell to heal his arm. “Are you okay?” Ajax's voice was now slow, soft and warm.

Jake was completely overwhelmed yet he didn’t want to be a burden to his uncle. He didn’t trust his own voice so he simply nodded not realizing just how tightly his hand was gripping his uncle’s sleeve.

“There’ll be no apology.” Helmeth said.

“An apology wouldn’t be enough.” Ajax snapped back his eye catching sight of Tom who had finally made his way over. After a deep breath to calm himself down Ajax looked towards Sandor and just by looking at the imperial prince’s face he could tell how close things were to becoming an international incident, something neither he nor Gryndor’s royal family wanted. “We can however settle this with a duel, and I will let things be.”

Ajax’s thoughts were that Xavier mentioned he wanted Ajax to make a show of strength, Helmeth was clearly strong but Ajax felt confident in being able to handle a level one hundred and twenty mage. This would be a perfect way to help build his reputation with the elves while also giving the Empire a way out of the incident and focusing it solely on the House of the two brothers.More than that however it was clear to him who started this and he wanted to teach the arrogant noble a lesson.

“I look forward to teaching you a lesson.” the mage snarled. “In the name of House Septimus.”

With that both Helmeth and Cal turned around and headed towards one of the carriages at Clark’s direction. “I’m sorry about them.” Denisa, the imperial princess, finally entered the conversation. “We tried not to bring them but House Septimus has too much influence and Cal fits the bill perfectly for this visit.”

Ajax knew about House Septimus. A ducal house based in the south of the Empire, much like his own it was based in the long mountain range that traveled along the border of both kingdoms. The House took its name from the seven peaks that surrounded its manor.

“They don’t look like such a great fit for congratulating my brother on his engagement.” Tom’s words felt like a slap to Denise but there was nothing she could say to that.

“Why don’t you take Jake to Kate?” Ajax asked, looking to give his brother some time to cool off as well as take Jake somewhere else. “Sorry but I’ll need you to come back.”

“No…” The word was barely a whisper yet both Ajax and Tom instantly turned towards Jake who looked with fiery defiance towards Ajax. “I want to see you beat him, you promised me I would get to watch the duels today.”

Much as both Ajax and Jake would have wanted to object they saw how pointless that would be, Jake wouldn’t let himself be convinced otherwise. Both Tom and Ajax were partly glad for Jake’s response as him not cowering in fear after what happened was a good sign for how well he was processing what happened.

“Okay,” Tom said with a sigh as he took Jake by the hand while Fluffy rounded up Nashara and Jari and the five formed a small circle as they headed deeper into the city.

“Perhaps it’s best if we start over.” Sandor said, both him and Denise skillfully overlooking Jake’s mention of the duels that their hosts were clearly also expecting to happen. They could have used this to parry Tom’s earlier words regarding their motives for the visit but they had no reason to be any more antagonistic.

“Sorry Tom but I’ll have to ask that you let me take the first duel of the day.” Ajax said as he started to head towards the center of the city alongside the imperial prince and princess. “I’m sure our other guests would be thrilled to welcome our imperial visitors at the arena while watching a duel.”

“I’ll head right over to let Princess Arianwyn know.” Aranor said before casting a wind spell that launched him into the air and across the city.

Ajax had initially been planning to make a show of force by dueling multiple people but this would turn out much better. The outcome had turned out rather favorable, if not for House Hearthbound then at least for Gryndor as a whole, despite how much Ajax despised how the events had come to pass. Ajax was also sure that Xavier would ensure the royal family would give them something in return for hosting the imperials. All he had to do now was win and put the entitled son of a Duke in his place.