Shadow P.O.V

Something was definitely going on with the kid called Ajax. Everyone could see he was talented even just from the Legendary skill that he had unlocked at such a young age. But what was extremely strange was for him to have access to physical based cursed attacks. There was a good reason that history wasn’t filled with hybrid fighters who could curse their opponents then bring them to their knees with a wave of holy mana. Physical generated cursed attacks almost required a full investment into physical stats. Whatever was up with the kid it must have lowered the requirements for him to gain skills. This would also explain the number of different mana types he has access to, the question was how.

“We need to find out what it was that he did to weaken that armor.” Councilor Deepforge explained for the fifth time as we were making our way to Gryndor’s embassy. “And if it was that odd mana type we need to figure out how to protect against it.”

He had nearly blown a gasket after he examined the armor following Ajax’s match. It’s not like I didn’t understand his point of view, he was a blacksmith for the past seven hundred years, one so good with enchantments and runic magic that he had worked his way onto the council after having been born a commoner. But I did think he was pushing his influence too much over this matter. In the end Gryndor didn’t actually do anything wrong and there was nothing they had to explain to us.

“Maybe we should still bring Goldenmouth with us.” he sounded confident in the statement, after all it wasn’t himself he was trying to convince.

“They were clear that he wouldn’t be welcomed at this dinner.” I stepped in, there was no reason to provoke them after they agreed to the last minute party by breaking their sole request.

“What do you…” I could see the moment his mind caught up to his mouth as it remained open for a few moments before snapping shut and letting the point drop.

This was why I liked the Republic over any of the other kingdoms. As The Champion here I wasn’t more important than I would be in any other kingdom, however no council member was as important by themselves as a king was everywhere else. This meant that if I was insulted the beating I would give out would be overlooked.

“Let's just get moving.” the counselor said at last.

Once we arrived at the embassy I could see from the arrangement what the plan was. With the way people were spread around the room it was clear that they were looking to keep anyone with too high social skills away from Ajax by placing him with the young people. Any answers we would be getting would be from the royal family.

“Your brother seems a little flustered.” I nodded towards the crown prince as I spoke to his brother. “I take it this evening came as a surprise for you as well.”

“Ajax is not someone we are looking to limit.” the prince replied. “I will admit we did know he could do what he did in the arena today, but it certainly wasn’t the plan to provide a demonstration. Your fighter took a lot out of him.”

The words of praise took some of the sting out of the fact that we went from having two fighters in the semifinals of that tournament to nobody in the final.

“My brother needs practice anyway.” the prince said with a grin. “I think this is the first time such a big political incident happened without warning and it's good that he gets to go through it with father by his side.

Stolen story; please report.

“Practice, eh?” I raise an eyebrow. “So there is already a plan for how tonight is going to play out.”

“What can I say?” the prince said as he looked towards the far side of the room. “For all the headaches the kid causes he hands out just as many tricks to put up your sleeve.”

The elves were surprisingly neutral throughout the evening. I had expected the duke who’s daughter had lost in the first round to be just as aggressive as the counselor was, but despite the clear irritation on his face he remained a neutral party. It was almost like the elves had come today as spectators, they sent their princess to get a look at Ajax and their king to monitor the remaining royalty.

“Surely you can at least reveal a little as to what happened to the enchanted armor.” Deepforge finally lost what had remained of his patience after he had tried to gently lead the conversation back towards this topic indirectly.

“The aftereffects of the magic was known to us.” king Gryndor admitted. “However the specifics are currently a specialty of House Hearthbound, they are not something we will be making public.”

And there it was the line in the sand. I can’t say I didn’t expect it, let's hope it wouldn’t be too much work for me to keep everything here civil.

“For a house that uses cursed mana to also keep those kinds of secrets to themselves” Deepforge pressed on regardless of how rude it was. “You expect us to accept that when that house has no history or reputation to ease our worries.”

I tried my best to tune out the bullshit that was being spewed and turned to look at how Ajax was reacting to all this now that the topic was brought into the spotlight for everyone. I was glad to see that he didn’t look any more uncomfortable now than he was a second ago, clearly he had been prepped for this.

“House Hearthbound has already made considerable contributions over their admittedly short history.” the crown prince said with a smile that told me Gryndor was now putting their plan in action. “I know that a lot of you have been trying to find out about Ajax’s initial training method that led to his rise. We will be making that method public one we return home from this tournament.”

Out of everything they could have said this was not something I or anyone else was expecting. Everyone quickly threw their glances towards Ajax and then back towards the prince.

“You are saying that you will give all of us a method of training that will make our future generations fight against an over 50% level disadvantage?” The elven king truly joined the conversation for the first time.

“While the specifics on the method do have to wait I can tell you what the results of it were when practiced by our youths.” the crown prince said. “Much as he has proven time and again Ajax is a special case on a far extreme. The average increase in stats is around five or six levels worth.”

“What determines how effective the method is?” I ask as something doesn’t feel quite right.

“Effort and dedication.” king Gryndor answers. “The lazier people saw an increase of only three levels while the dedicated people saw seven or eight. There are extremes at both ends of only one level or a full nine levels worth of stats.”

I couldn’t see what their play was. Yes that was a large variance and a large number of stats but I can’t see how this improves their situation. Even if the younger generation have something to focus on soon the older generation will still be focused on the new mana type and its war applications.

“Is there a way to sort out who is eligible for this training method?” the elven king asks once again.

“Yes, and no.” king Gryndor replies with a cheshire smile. “Everyone can use this training method.”

And there it was. Just like that their entire plan clicked. This was how they were forcing us to focus on something else. For the next few decades every single other kingdom will be forced to keep a very close eye on their commoners so that a rebellion doesn’t start a civil war.

“Why are they all looking so serious?” I could hear Darkclaw ask, the battle maniac not putting everything together just yet. “Everyone gaining about five levels worth of stats won’t make that much of a difference at higher levels.”

“Not for nobles maybe.” For the first time Ajax sounded cold, it seems that there was some truth in the information about him having an initial bad interaction with nobles. “An extra five levels worth of stats at the start would mean commoners would be able to get a few dungeon floor clear bonuses even without paying for a boost.”

I could see it as the realization hit Darkclaw and the two young elves. In a few generation the power gap between the nobles and commoners was going to close dramatically all on the back of this one discovery. “He was only made a Baron after such a big discovery, even if it was only a theory that seems underwhelming.” the words slipped from my lips without meaning to, it's a good thing almost nobody heard me.

“We didn’t want to toss him in the deep end.” the prince next to me commented. “The original plan was to wait a decade for his ducal title but I think those plans have been sped up a little.”