The fighters left the arena quickly and the change in setting for the next fight began. Xavier was still staring at the arena with a blank gaze as the open gladiator sandpit took the place of the mountain landscape.
“Don’t be disheartened.” the king called out to his grandson as he patted him on the shoulder. “It was an expected outcome. In true combat your uncle would always be able to retreat instead of getting pinned down like that.”
Xavier seemed to perk up at the words, determined to grow stronger replacing the blank hopelessness that had been there before. Ajax chose not to mention that in a real fight Shadow could also get the drop on anyone participating in this tournament and stand a good chance to actually assassinate them.
Aranor and the captain of the first squad both took to the sands quickly. Unlike the first match he fought, the captain was actually sporting a tower shield alongside his spear, showing the increased need for defensive capabilities.
The moment the stone hit the group the captain charged. Arnor also wasted no time as he started chanting. The spearman was halfway to the mage when the ice lance was thrown. Ajax knew just how much power those things packed from the amount of mana he felt went into it.
What Ajax hadn’t expected was for the captain to toss his shield at the ice lance. Enchantments activating midair as the shield knocked the spell off target. For the first time this tournament it became relevant that the entire arena was surrounded by protective shielding. Both the shield and the ice lance smashed into the barrier with extreme force following their collision, the ice lance even leaving a few cracks around the point of impact.
Ajax had no time to marvel at the power of the spell however as the mage was almost in striking range of the spear. The captain however wasn’t the only one with enchanted gear. For the first time Ajax saw an enchantment structure that was large enough to encompass not just the entire surface of the staff but also a full sleeve of the robe the mage wore.
As the elf activated the enchantment and slammed the staff onto the sand at his feet a tornado formed around him. The powerful wind not just knocked away the spear but even lifted the captain off his feet and threw him thirty feet. The captain adapted quickly to his change in momentum as a backflip had him landing on bent knees ready to spring towards the mage.
All of it was a little too late however as the mage had time to chant throughout all of this. The renewed spear charge was met by a powerful bolt of lightning. The enchantments on the captain's armor were strong enough to disperse a lot of the force that hit him in the center of his chest but the attack still threw him to the edge of the arena.
From there the fight was all but over. It took five more ice lances before the captain was defeated however he didn’t get a chance to close the gap again. Ajax had to admit that Aranor’s ability to control ice even after finishing the chant was something scary. Ajax was pretty sure he didn’t have the same level of control over his own spells once they got that far from him and from what he saw of the spell none of it came from the innate chant. His skill level with [Ice Aspect Mana] had to be above 100.
“Don’t look at me like that.” Lexi protested as the members of the first squad all threw glances her way. “I wasn’t even born when grandpa sold him that ice lance spell.”
Ajax now realized why his girlfriend was feeling self conscious so he leaned into her as he gave her a supportive side hug. “Nobody blames.” Ajax meant the words to be comforting but he wasn’t sure his tone had managed to convey that after seeing some of the glances.
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“A lot of the morale is riding on you now Ajax.” the crown prince said as they all watched the sandpit turn into a sparse forest. “We lost both fights, Gryndor doesn’t have a representative in this next one so you’ll be up next.”
Ajax nodded in reply. With both the princess and the beastkin entering the arena Ajax was once again focused on the fight happening in front of him. He didn’t want to miss anything as the winner of this match was the person who will be waiting for him in the finals.
“Who do you think will win?” Xavier asked.
“The beastkin will win it.” The king’s oldest son had been released by the healers and he had already changed and made his way here. His relaxed attitude was back, from all appearances it looked like Xavier took his loss harder than he did. “He got a good look at her Domain in the first match, I think he’ll be ready.”
“I’m not so sure.” the king answered. “Mages already have an advantage this early and inside the arena the Domain leans into that a lot more, he’s not a physical fighter who could try to outlast her.”
“He doesn’t have to outlast her.” the prince said as the tossed stone was falling towards the ground. “They might both be mages and her elven physique might let her keep up with him in terms of speed but he still far outclasses her in terms of strength.”
The prince finished his words just as the stone landed and while both mages had already started chanting the beastkin started a quick dash towards the elf. Ajax was curious what type of spell he would use for his opening attack. Everyone already knew what the princess was going to open up with.
As the beastkin finishes his chant six fireballs sprung into existence around him, one of them headed straight for the princess while the other five seemed to surround his right hand.
“Not a bad choice.” the king commented as he watched. “He is giving himself a way to put her under pressure while also weakening her domain around her position.”
Ajax hadn’t had time to do any deep research into domains just yet so he didn’t know how that would work, thankfully Lexi was there to explain it for him. “That fire spell will let him start to chant his follow up spell while he slowly launches the remaining five fireballs.” Lexi said. “The spell isn’t very powerful in terms of output but it is one all fire mages want since after the initial attack the remaining five fireballs have their trajectory dictated by the throwing motion made.”
Her statement was being proven true by Anna who had her eyes fixed on the five rotating fireballs. “The fire mana from the explosion of the attack would also weaken her winter domain, it will be quickly suppressed but every little bit helps.” As she said that the first fireball exploded against the enchanted shields of the princess, the attack wasn’t strong enough to push through the shields but she did feel an increase in temperature.
What Lexi didn’t mention was that her grandfather was also slightly obsessed with the spell. Not because he wanted to use it for himself like the fire mages, however, the reason he wanted the spell was because he wanted to work out which part of the chant was responsible for linking the arm movement with the subsequent attacks.
The princess wasn’t foolish and she had also started moving away from her initial starting position all while chanting. The second fireball had already landed and the third was in the air as she finally unleashed her domain.
Just like the first time he saw it Ajax couldn’t help but be impressed by the winter domain. The large amount of mana that was at the same time released into the surrounding yet still connected to the will of the caster was something to see.
More than that the domain also granted the princess passive increased defense. Ajax could see how the domain actively fought against the earth spell the beastkin had cast. The ground around the princesses feet wanted to turn into a wet sloshing mud yet the presence of the domain weakened that.
“Even with the spell weakened he’s going to catch up to her quickly.” the king’s oldest son grinned as his prediction was getting closer to becoming reality.
As the princess threw her first offensive spell of the match she quickly found it intercepted by all three remaining fireballs. It wasn’t enough to match the domain infused spell but it did weaken it enough that the beastkin’s own defensive enchantments were able to tank the rest.
As the distance between the two of them dwindled to a mere six feet the beastkin proved his preparation for the match. Both of them used a wind spell, but where the princess was looking to create distance and throw her opponent away the beastkin had launched a spell specifically to counteract another wind spell. The princess’s spell was empowered by her domain however the beastkin had enough time to chant a powerful enough spell to match her.
It was all over now, neither had enough time to cast anything else and once the beastkin physically got his hands on the elf he could ensure she didn't get a chance to chant anything else. So why was Ajax feeling like it wasn’t over and what was the odd mana he was feeling being channeled?