CHAPTER 522

Gamer Reborn

“M-Mage killer.” Clark said in a whisper nobody heard even in the silence that gripped the entire arena.

The commoners who were watching the match were the first to break the silence. They had been cheering for their new Lord as he started launching massive attacks, calling for him to hit his opponent but they had gotten progressively quieter as none of the attacks hit. Ajax’s gruesome display of power left the entire arena silenced with the exception of Helmeth who had experienced a massive dose of physical agony for the first time.

“What was that?” Arianwyn looked towards Lexi, even her hand shivered a little as she noticed that Helmeth’s Shadow shield still remained unaffected, it was only his enchantments that reacted to the attack.

“Ajax is declared the winner.” Lancel’s call resounded throughout the arena even above the cheers of the people.

“What victory?!” Cal sounded outraged but fear was clear on his face as he watched his older brother lay broken on the ground, his arms shaking like a leaf in the wind. “He must have cheated!”

The noble’s humiliation was compounded when it was an elf, part of the Healing Union, that was on call to start his post fight healing. Cal was so shaken he hadn’t even thought to send one of the retainers they had with them to heal his brother until he noticed what was happening.

“He didn’t have that, whatever it was, during our duel.” Arianwyn said with confidence.

“No, he didn’t.” Lexi confirmed, she knew just how powerful the Skill was.

“What is that? I’ve never heard of something like that.” Denise asked as she looked towards one of the more talented elites of the Empire that lay broken at the feet of someone younger than her brother.

“You’ve heard of it, Your Highness.” Clark said as he had quickly recovered from the shock. “It’s just not something any humanoid has ever been known to possess.”

“Clark, you know what it is?” Sandor turned towards the Champion.

“I had heard that he was called a mage killer much like the Gryndor’s prince but this is something else.” Clark said as he looked down at Ajax who was breathing heavily after using so much of his Stamina and Mana in such a short amount of time. “If he ever takes part in a war he might deserve the title of Mage Killer if he puts [Telekinesis] to work.”

The explanation had everyone stop to rethink about what they saw happen at the end of the duel. [Telekinesis] was such a big deal because there were only two ways for mages to defend against it. Like Ajax had proved regular shields didn’t work against it and even level appropriate enchantments would quickly get overpowered. Outranging the Skill was the best way for mages to defend against it. The Skill was notoriously weaker and more Mana intensive as the target got further from the caster. The other defense was for the mage to flood his surroundings with his own Mana.

The second method was a horrible option for a mage to use. Not only would it quickly dry up their own Mana but it would also essentially stop them from being able to cast as in most cases it would also overstress their Mana channels to pump out Mana around them that quickly. Unlike when infusing the earth at your feet with Mana against an Earth mage, Mana wouldn’t simply remain around you when released into the air so a mage would be forced to be constantly releasing a large amount.

“Aranor was that really…” Arianwyn asked as the old champion retook his position next to the princess as he returned from helping Lancel contain the duel inside the arena. She didn’t even finish the question and she didn’t need to.

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“Yes, that was [Telekinesis]. No doubt about it.” Aranor confirmed. “Though it did feel different to my [Sense Mana] compared to when he was casting his other spells.”

“That’s because he doesn’t yet have fine control over the Skill.” Lexi said.

“You mean to say he was playing with my brother’s life!?” Cal turned his fear being channeled into the only logical place he could find, anger. “What if that was his head he crushed how-”

“Ajax has plenty of control over what he targets.” Lexi cut off the ranting noble. “It’s the amount of power that he has no control over. Unlike others who cause pain just because they can, he wouldn't stoop so low, if he could have he would have only put enough strength to break the enchantments without crushing your brother’s limbs like that.”

Lexi wasn’t so sure about that last part. It might be true in most cases but considering that Helmeth had been willing to hurt Jake not even an hour ago she doubted Ajax had tried to contain the Skill in how badly it mangled the nobles limbs.

“In hopes of showing there are no bad feelings we will allow your House two months to deliver the slaves.” Tom said with a flinty tone.

“Deliver the slaves?” Cal sounded confused.

“I believe the terms of the duel were made quite clear.” Tom said. “The loser, in this case your brother, takes responsibility for the previous misunderstanding. In doing so all the slaves that answer to Helmeth are to be sent to us.”

“I will write to the Duke myself.” Sandor said with a nod towards Tom.

“Jari, Nashara did you see that!” Off in the corner away from the rest of the nobles Jake was excitedly pulling on the hands of his two friends. “I knew uncle Ajax would win!” ＲΆNòBËŜ

Jake was too young to notice the inner conflict taking place within his two friends. He was simply happy his uncle had managed to turn the duel around. For Jari and Nashara this duel was so much more.

In their minds all of this started because of their failure. They hadn’t managed to protect Jake, more than that they had actually frozen when they had come face to face with imperial nobles yet Ajax hadn’t blamed them. Instead he had also ensured they were okay after looking after his nephew and had even brought them with him to the noble seating of the arena to watch the duel. They also

didn’t miss how Ajax had just essentially freed hundreds of slaves from House Septimus.

“Jake, Jari, Nashara.” Kate called out to the three of them. “Why don’t the three of you come to eat, I’m sure you must be hungry and the next duel won’t start for a while.”

As secure as Kate knew her son and his friends were with Ajax and Lancel around she was sure there were at least a few nobles from the Empire who would be very upset with the outcome of the duel so it would be best to get the children out of the way before the duel challenges started flying.

On their way to the buffet area that was being set up the four of them passed by Ajax who was heading back to rejoin the nobles. “See, I told you it would all be okay.” Ajax said as he ruffled Jake’s hair. His attitude was warm and friendly, the complete opposite of the cold killer that had fought in the arena.

“I apologize for my failure, My Lord.” Jari dropped to one knee and hung his head. “I promise I’ll get stronger and next time I won’t fail you.”

“As do I, My Lord.” Nashara quickly copied Jari.

“I’m sure you will.” Ajax said as he bent down and placed a hand on each of their shoulders. “But make sure you don’t push yourselves too hard to make up for this or it will only slow you down.”

Ajax had been through a very similar experience himself when he had faced the vampire and he knew just how much an event like this would push someone to improve. He would make sure to have someone keep an eye on the two former slaves to make sure they weren’t pushing themselves past their limits in hopes of making up for something they saw as a failure.

“Thanks Ajax.” Kate whispered as she gave Ajax a hug after he straightened back up. “And not just for Jake.”

Kate knew House Hearthbound didn’t treat her differently just because she was a beastkin but there was a difference between treating all humanoids the same and actively standing to support the beastkin. Since Gryndor had abolished slavery with the peace treaty it wasn’t something Kate had encountered in her life until she met Jari and Nashara but Ajax’s demand of all the slaves of House Septimus was a show of support towards her people.

By the time Ajax rejoined the rest of the nobles he could already see the tensions were building between the Empire and Sylvanthal. The Empire nobles were eager to move past Helmeth’s defeat while it was clear the Emeris and Fealin were eager to rub salt in the wound. Before all that however there was something Ajax wanted to address.

“I don’t bite you know.” Ajax said as he looked towards Aranor who had backed off a few steps from Arianwyn once Ajax got closer. Ajax had noticed it since the elven champion was keeping outside the range of his [Telekinesis].

“I have a job to do all the same.” Aranor said with a resigned sigh. “I’m here as a guard for the young nobles.”

It was clear what Aranor left unsaid. While Rex, Lancel and even Clark to some extent did pose a threat to him since they were all champions he was confident he could react to them. From what he had just seen from Ajax his most recent Legendary Skill gave him a way to assassinate the elven champion that he couldn’t react to at all if he was caught by surprise.

“I know I said we needed a show of strength but I should have known better than to ask you to do it.” Xavier whispered with a laugh as he wrapped his arm around Ajax’s shoulder. “Might need you to be a bit more friendly and social with the nobles after that showing.”

Ajax followed Xavier's eyes to see that it wasn’t the Empire or Sylvanthal he was referring to but Gryndor’s nobles who were now looking at Ajax differently than they had been a day before.