While Ajax did his best to keep to himself as much as possible throughout the evening there were members of his little group for whom that was very much not the case. Both the beastkin and Xavier all but made a beeline for the elven princess not long after the presentation was done.

Seeing them approach Arianwyn kept her guard up but was hoping for a pleasant interaction. While she normally would have maintained an air of superiority both of the people approaching her were at her level in one way or another. The beastkin was the second favorite to win his tournament and Xavier was the son of the crown prince that would be taking the throne in a couple of decades at the most.

“Greetings princess.” They both greeted her as they approached.

While Xavier also went on to greet the other elven participants as they were still children of high ranking nobles the beastkin solely focused on the single elf he saw as competition. This annoyed both of them but they were in no position to say anything about it, both had fought him in previous matches in the last decade and the beastkin had beaten them soundly.

The two royals quickly burnt through the small talk about the woes of traveling to the tournament before the first dangerous question was lobbed in like a grenade by one of the two elven competitors. “How was running the dungeons on your way here, your highness.”

The conversation fell silent, all of them waiting for Xavier’s answer. Gryndor not only hadn’t bothered keeping their delving secret, they had all but advertised it to everyone else. While all the nations knew the peace treaty Gryndor and the Republic had made had a big favor blacked out they were all suspicious, them calling it in would calm things further.

“Everyone made substantial gains.” Xavier answered diplomatically after a brief silence. Normally Xavier wouldn’t be so on edge about the question but during those delves they not only gained more than a handful of giant tree seeds, but Ajax had revealed his ability to narrow the scope of floor designs and gained a Legendary mana affinity. “I’m looking forward to what I suspect would be an entertaining tournament.”

At the mention of the tournament, the princess’s hand went to her belt, almost as if reaching for something. Xavier did notice the action but thought nothing of it. “It is most definitely shaping up to be an interesting tournament.” The beastkins eyes narrowed into slits as his competitive spirit bore down on the princess. “I am sure it will be one that will be remembered for a long time.”

The princess was a bit surprised at how quickly the beastkin went from 0 to 60. She had known that unlike her cold calculated and composed fighting style the beastking was more of a berserker. He would charge recklessly using his family's signature close range spells to devastating effect.

“I should have guessed, you battle nut.” one of the elves shook his head disparagingly.

Despite both being exemplary fighters neither of the elven competitors enjoyed fighting. For them fighting had always been a chore, something that was part of their responsibilities and they just happened to be skilled at. It was the reason why princess Arianwyn was cordial but not actually friends with them. “I’m guessing you are hoping to face the princess in the finals?” the other elf chimed in. “To make it poetic.”

“It doesn’t matter when we fight, only luck can determine the order.” the beastkin replied with a ferocious smile. “But if I were to choose I wouldn’t want to meet her in the final.”

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“Are you really so impatient as to hope we fight in the very first round?” the princess asked, slightly insulted at his lack of forethought and unwillingness to scout an opponent.

“Not the first. The second.” the beastkin replied. “Much as I would like to get two rounds to pick apart your style, there is someone in this tournament more shrouded in mystery than you and I put together. I would save him for the final.”

“So he’s not just a stunt.” the princess murmured as she turned her gaze back towards Xavier. “I do have to admit that the change to your roster to bring in somebody younger than twenty-three was surprising.”

“He came as a surprise to me too the first time I met him.” Xavier said as he thought back to when he first started at the Academy. “Back then he was still a nobody, not in terms of talent or power, just recognition. People used to compare my talent to you actually princess, when he showed up that spotlight just fell off me.”

“Clearly your people were wrong, I haven’t heard much about your talent and Her Highness was renowned throughout the kingdoms at your age.” the elven competitor spoke up.

“Oh I wouldn’t be quite so sure.” Xavier said with a small smile. He had a lot to be proud of, despite being two years younger he had already gotten to the point where his spars with Lexi or Anna could go either way. Considering the advantage pure mages had at lower levels it showed that his hard work over the years at the Academy had also paid off. “Ajax is just simply on a different level.”

“That almost sounded jealous.” the princess said with a smirk as she recognised in Xavier the same competitive drive she had.

“Oh I was.” Xavier admitted. “For longer than I’d like to admit, even now there is a small part of me that hopes he doesn’t beat the odds to win this whole tournament. It took my uncle months before he got me to stop comparing myself to him.”

“That sounds exciting.” the princess said with the first true smile she had worn all evening, though it was indistinguishable from the practiced one. “I’m looking forward to this tournament even more. It was a pleasure to meet both of you but if you’d excuse me I do have to go greet our host.”

It was at this point in the evening that Ajax could finally withdraw from the event. He had managed to avoid most of the politicians this time around and had kept a solid twenty feet between himself and Archduke Goldenmouth.

The final week passed in a whirl as all of the participants focused on consolidating the last few gains they had made. Inside the small training courtyard of Gryndor embassy two men clashed covered in sweat.

“That bad, eh?” Ajax said after he knocked Richard off his feet and placed his axe at his throat for the sixth time since they started.

The most recent dungeon had gone to expand the gap between the two fighters but even that wasn’t enough to account for the lack of concentration Richard was showing.

“He was the worst match-up I could have gotten.” Richard heaved out as he thought back to the announcement that was made two hours ago regarding the drawing. “The only worse match-up for me in the entire tournament is you and we can’t fight in the first round.”

The tournament brackets had been pretty much forced the moment the first pick was made. With the first match selected being Richard and the Republic’s beastkin, the other three matches had the elves split up amongst the remaining competitors.

The beastkin’s hopes had ended up coming true as princess Arianwyn had drawn Gryndor’s second representative as the other spot in the first half of the brackets. This left Ajax along with the Republic’s dwarven representative each facing their own elf on the other side of the brackets.

“I know you won’t lose in the first round.” Richard said as he stood back up but made no move to get into a fighting stance. “But you better beat the dwarf and gain a spot in the finals at least.”

“You worry about your own match.” Ajax answered, more sure of himself as he knew that he actually countered every single mage to some extent thanks to [Mana Syphon]. “You’re also aiming too low, I don’t just plan to make it to the final. I plan to win the whole thing.”

While Richard was in a bad mood, Gryndor’s final representative was in an even worse state. Unlike Richard who would at least have a chance to get a lucky strike on his opponent who would be coming in close, the fire mage was going up the most prodigious ice caster in the last few thousand years. He knew for a fact that he was going into the fight down in levels, down in mana aspect tier, and if rumors were to be believed down in terms of skill as well.

“How much are you planning to show?” the king whispered to Ajax the following day as they were heading towards the arena.

“As much as it takes to win.” Ajax’s answer was short and full of conviction, it brought a smile on the king’s face.