Arianwyn Sylvian P.O.V

There was a lot I didn’t understand about the human champion called Ajax Hearthbound his Legendary skill was unlike anything I had ever seen, his way of casting was a passing curiosity but even combined it didn’t seem like it would be something I would need to worry about for this tournament.

All of that changed in his last fight, the reveal of an unusual mana type we had little to no knowledge of was already troubling even with the diminished effect it would have on my non-metallic gear. The ability to use not only curse but also holy mana was a much bigger problem, I knew I would fold just as the dwarf had done if he ever got to use them on me at the same time.

“You are to be polite and respectful.” Father was talking to Elara’s dad who would be joining us for this impromptu questioning disguised as dinner. “And if you find your willpower slipping step away from the boy.”

Father had made it very clear where he stood when it came to Ajax. While he may be a little below my level at the moment this would not be the case in a few decades, as long as his attitudes towards non-humans continued to be opposed to that of the Empire having him take over Shadow’s position as a war deterrent would be the best outcome for us, if only because war wouldn’t come as we were struggling to regain our financial footing.

“What’s wrong?” I asked Elara.

Elara had been feeling down since yesterday, I had initially thought that it was just from losing in the first round but while the disappointment in herself had abated she seemed to sink deeper into the start of a depression.

“He saw it.” she whispered so quietly I barely heard it.

“Who saw what?” I whispered back, trying to figure out what she meant.

“He saw it in the m-match yesterday.” her voice quivered a little in fear.

Then it clicked, Ajax had seen her trait. Somehow the human prodigy had a good enough inspect skill that he managed to get a look at her Witch trait. Now it made sense, why the duke was ready to assassinate Ajax, the only reason he didn’t do it without consulting with father was because by now the Gryndor royals all knew about it so there would be no point aside from misguided revenge.

“It’ll all be okay.” I gave her a hug as I tried my best to reassure her but deep inside where my skills didn’t affect the words I could feel how hollow they were.

“We won’t mention his use of cursed attack.” Father now spoke to the entire party. “If the republic brings it up we will stay quiet on the issue and that is all.”

Elara’s eyes fell to her feet. She knew why we were all to stay away from that issue, humans had a very apt saying about this situation ‘he who lives in a glass house shouldn’t throw stones’.

“I’m sorry to have to ask you of this considering the circumstances but the more we know the better.” Father said to both Elara and me. “Try to get to know him during this dinner, ignore the tournament and whatever it is that he is hiding and try to see what kind of person he is.”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

As the only people even close in age to Ajax who were going to the party I could see why it fell to us to investigate, the situation rubbed me the wrong way anyhow. Not just because I should be focused on tomorrow’s match but also because I knew Elara would have wanted to keep her distance and I would have joined her. My nervous tick of running my finger along Regalia’s scales as she stayed wrapped around my waist returned as we made our way to Gryndor’s embassy.

The ballroom we were led to once we arrived to the party was on the smaller size compared to what I was used to, in terms of attendance however this was the most exclusive dinner I had ever been to. That wasn’t to say I hadn’t been to other events that just as many high status people but they were always diluted by lower nobles.

The guest list only saw names that belonged to one of the royal families, the council, ducal families or champions like Shadow and Aranor, the only exception was Ajax. I quickly scanned the room in search of Ajax, unsurprisingly he was off to one side with most of the youth in attendance: Goldmancer, Manashaper Steelblade, Xavier Gryndor and Darkclaw, the beastkin I defeated earlier today.

As much as father may have said that today wasn’t a competition and it had nothing to do with tomorrow’s match I wasn’t sure Ajax saw it the same way. Elara and I made our way toward the group as I got ready for a confrontation.

“Good evening” Elara offered as neutrally as her skills let her as we approached.

“Evening” I can’t say I was surprised by the short and abrupt way Ajax greeted us, what did surprise me was the reserved attitude and the short glimpse of guilt that crossed over his features as he looked at Elara.

“Good evening.” Darkclaw greeted us before he singled me out. “Princess, that was one hell of surprise you pulled on me earlier today.”

It seems like his personality matches his reputation to a T. The beastkin was a battle maniac who wouldn’t hold a grudge over a defeat. Some people might call pulling out a bond like I had with Regalia a cheap dirty move but he just seemed excited and already planning on how he would approach our next fight.

“Now, I won’t leave today before we schedule a fight.” Darkclaw turned back to Ajax.

“I’d be more than happy to schedule a fight for you.” Goldmancer offered.

From the merchant smile on her face I knew agreeing to such an open ended statement would ensure that fight never saw the light of day, it seems like the beastkin was of the same opinion as he quickly amended his statement.” schedule a fight before you leave the Republic.”

As I watched the discussion I initially thought that Ajax might have an issue with Darkclaw, perhaps because of his beastkin heritage, but the more I watched the more that didn’t seem to be the case. It was almost like he didn’t feel comfortable with the event as a whole. More than that it was like he wasn’t used to being in this type of gathering, sure he didn’t do anything insulting but he was clearly out of place.

“He’s not used to it.” Xavier Gryndor said from next to me.

“What?” I asked surprised.

“You’re trying to get a read on Ajax and it isn’t going well.” Xavier said with confidence. “It’s because he’s not used to it and he doesn’t like attending events such as this.”

It wasn’t much of a surprise that he caught on to what Elara and I were doing, with his upbringing he would have figured it out easily, even if he hadn’t his father would have warned him about it.

“How can he not be?” I focused on the part I couldn’t make sense of. “Someone as talented as him?”

Despite being born a commoner I couldn’t piece together how he would still be uncomfortable at a party after being given a noble title and living in Gryndor’s capital for the last almost seven years.

“The nobles who ruled his original home didn’t have a good attitude towards commoners.” Xavier admitted with a grimace, one I almost sympathetically mimicked as my mind jumped straight to a few nobles back home that had the same attitude. “He tries to avoid things like this as much as possible.”

I could see it, he was clearly in a relationship with Manashaper (that match was something I would definitely be informing father of) and she was fielding most of the nobles who drifted by our little group to greet the man of hour.

“He has been a Baron for six years and lived in your capital during that time how did he not get used to parties?” I asked Xavier, a little frustrated now that I couldn’t engage Ajax in a battle of words.

“I used to think I was special.” Xavier’s words confused me a bit. “I know I’m talented but before I got to know Ajax I used to think I was very special, almost unique.”

“What does that have to do with it?” I asked.

“As talented as Ajax is, you don’t get to where he has gotten so quickly without a lot of hard work.” Xavier said. “By the time he made his first splash in the capital he had shown his potential. It was simply agreed to allow him his privacy to focus on whatever he wanted. In the last six year I would be surprised if Ajax attended more than thirty noble parties.”

Only five events per year?! I attended at least fifty.

“Surely you can at least reveal a little as to what happened to the enchanted armor.” my trail of thought was interrupted by the loud dwarven council member who was talking to king Gryndor, he had evidently had enough of beating around the bush.