As he recovered more and more Ajax found himself feeling odd in his own skin, it wasn’t enough for him to have any real issues but it just felt a little odd. It took him a few minutes to realize that this was because of his latest Achievement. He had just gained a little over one hundred and ten stats all at once on top of the eight he got for the final floor of the dungeon. While this wasn’t a big enough change to affect him as much as the first time he took potions, now that his body was getting back to his peak condition he would need a short while to get used to everything. This usually wasn’t an issue with dungeon floor rewards as they came one point at a time evenly spread and he got an entire floor to get used to it before the next ones came.

“Are you going to hold back?” Harold asked Xavier.

This was an interesting question, as a prince and more than that a future powerhouse of Gryndor the prince wouldn’t be keen on showing everything, then again it was likely that he wouldn’t be able to hold back if he was hoping to win.

“No.” Xavier said as his excitement died down a little at the question and his expression turned serious. “What we stand to gain from having a sapling of our own far outstrips what we stand to lose from me showing everything I can do now. I’d be more worried if I was the strongest in my generation but…”

Nobody needed him to finish that statement to know what he meant. Ajax's existence gave the kingdom of Gryndor and especially their younger talented combatants so much more freedom in what they had to keep close to their chests. This in turn would mean that he should have kept his own powers secret and not displayed them during the tournament, the problem with that was that Ajax was so versatile and his casting style was new enough that having it be seen when he is younger isn’t that much of a hindrance either.

As they lowered the privacy bubble the conversation turned towards other more mundane topics like their impression on Deepwood’s capital. One of the things Ajax was secretly curious about was the slave auctions, while not as numerous as they were in the Empire they still existen and Ajax hoped to get a look at them in hopes of not only freeing a few people that seemed more talented with the help of Arianwyn, Elara or Aranor but maybe to even recruit some new people for his own House that would bring with them any information they had gleaned from Deepwood.

It was only a few hours later that the prince finally exited the dungeon. To Ajax’s surprise the prince was highly frustrated and annoyed, despite his armor not being damaged it was covered in a thick layer of a shiny substance that looked both slimy and sticky. Even more than that his [Sense Mana] could feel one of his runes still active as he made his way towards them.

“Ha ha ha!” All of the elven champions present except Aranor broke into laughter as they took in the prince.

“A slime floor boss?” Aranor asked his look a combination of both pity and slight amusement.

“Yes…” the prince let out a sigh.

Looking at it more closely Ajax could even tell how the slime that covered the prince was disintegrating into mana and being released into the atmosphere so there was no use in trying to store any of it. It was curious to him why the process took longer than others since most things that exited the dungeon straight up dissolved into mana in under a second once they were dead.

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“You’re finally done.” Xavier said as he approached his uncle and looked to pat him on the back. “You can finally come see my duel.”

At the same time the prince dodged out of the way and Harold caught Xavier by the wrist. “Wait for the slime to disappear.” the latter instructed the prince. “Slime floor bosses can give their bodies any properties they want, it’s why its also dissolving so much slower it counts as an attack, most likely a corrosive one.”

Ajax was now much warrier of the slime since it came from a very high level floor boss. At the same time he was also very interested in it so he started inspecting it with every skill at his disposal.

Over the next five minutes the group made its way out of the dungeon’s protective perimeter while the slime also finished dissolving. The prince also joined Aranor’s conversation with the other elven champions though he did pick up on the fact that one of the champions was shooting Ajax a glare every time he looked in his direction.

“Finally, how long does it take to come out of a dungeon.” the same elf that had previously challenged Xavier to a duel ambushed them right outside the exit.

Ajax wasted no time using [Inspector’s Eye] on him, unlike with the champions however he didn’t focus so much on learning what the elf could do but rather on his identification going unnoticed. Seeing how nobody batted an eye it must have been successful through Ajax had to frown a little when he saw that the elf was not only four years older than Xavier but also five levels higher at forty nine. Both of those things were definitely pushing what was acceptable for a duel of youngsters in terms of both levels and age.

Ajax could see that the prince wanted to step forward and help his nephew stare down the group of House guards and other younger elves that were backing up the loudmouthed elf but couldn’t do so without the other elven champions present also stepping in.

“What issues do you have with my friend?” Ajax asked as he stepped forward to show his support. With his six foot six frame Ajax even towered over the elves by an inch or two.

The identification attempts came in quickly but all of them were swatted aside by [Enigma] after getting nothing more than his name, more than that they also came with a spike of pain. Ajax returned the favor without trying to be discreet only to find that the guards in question were barely level eighty despite being close to one hundred and fifty years old, more than that neither of them cave even close to the threat level his skill responded when it evaluated Arianwyn, Darkclaw or even Elara after gaining her Domain.

“Who told you to get involved?” The elf snapped back but while his words were haughty and aggressive his body instinctively took a step back from Ajax. “Not only are you a manastarved retch but you’re a commoner too.”

Ajax’s stern look broke out into a predatory grin as he couldn’t have asked for a better response from the elf. “Why only a few hours ago I was told to stick to my own level. I’m more than willing to prove I am in no way inferior, or did you perhaps mean to say you are inferior?”

The whole area went quiet, while Ajax’s provocation didn’t have any of the fineness that was expected of a noble and clearly showed that he still had much to learn in that respect his words were very well chosen as none of the younger elves could challenged him and none of the champions could interfere right after they told him to do exactly that.

“Ajax, that’s enough. The duel has already been arranged” Aranor was the one who broke the silence. He didn’t end with that however as he looked towards the young duke’s son. “As for you young lord, I’d advise against trying to start conflicts you are unable to face.”

Ajax had no qualms about stepping back at that. He had achieved exactly what he had wanted, the lack of any aura response from him throughout the entire exchange showed that everything had gone as he expected and nothing surprised him. He had managed to not only raise Xavier’s confidence while crushing the elf’s but he also publicly showed Aranor respect by backing down without any fuss.

“Think we’ll get to see it?” Harold whispered to Ajax.

“See what?” Ajax asked.

“The royal family's dueling trick.” Harold answered. “Only one out of every five members gains enough of the required skills to pull it off, even his uncle can’t use it. It’s not very useful against multiple opponents or opponents who have much higher stats than you.”

“He can use it.” Benedict joined in absentmindedly rubbing his shoulder as a memory of a duel between him and Xavier flashed to the front of his mind. “The only question is if he will be pushed to use it.”

That was something Ajax hadn’t know about but it simply made the upcoming fight even more interesting.