The situation quickly calmed down once everyone exited the dungeon. Elara muttered a very quiet curse, disappointed at herself for not having thought about a temporal difference with something so precise.

Ajax knew their plan had failed but even in failure it would still do its job in confusing people. As Arianwyn took Aranor to one side so she could use a privacy screen where she could explain everything Ajax contemplated doing the same in order to get in touch with king Gryndor.

As soon as the privacy bubble went up around Aranor and Arianwyn [Danger Sense] started losing its shit. Ajax had no idea what was going on so he maximized [Mana Syphon]’s defensive potential in a way he very rarely did; he let it drain everything around him at maximum capacity with the exception of his own gear.

There was no way the skill could convert as much mana as it was drawing in into a physical boost but it should weaken any form of magical attack before it made contact. More than that Arianwyn lowered her privacy bubble as soon as they sensed that something was going on.

While a privacy bubble did mostly isolate the people inside from those outside it did work the other way around to a much lower effectiveness. As soon as the bubble lowered Aranor turned straight away to the confluence of mana he was sensing gathering in the distance and started chanting.

Ajax followed Aranor’s gaze but there was nothing he could see, not even the elven champion could see anyone yet he knew their position solely from the mana gathering. Then the mana was gone from Aranor’s senses. He braced for a large effect and released a good amount of mana into the earth at their feet to at least interfere with any attack that looked to take control of it.

Ajax’s initial defense of [Mana Syphon] was what saved him in the end. His skill had managed to drain the shadow mana of the arrow fired towards him revealing it a moment before it made contact.

With his legs already braced that moment was all Ajax needed to try and jump out of the way of the arrow. His attempt at escape wasn’t a total success, funnily enough he didn’t yet feel the pain and more noticed the wound from his [Sense Mana] as he montiered his defensive equipment.

A chunk of flesh about four inches in diameter was missing out of Ajax’s left side and blood was gushing out at a prodigious rate. Ajax wasted no time casting his Life regeneration as well as three different Light based spells in order to get the wound under control. Throughout all this however he was sporting a grin.

Multiple elves from their escort quickly rushed towards the predicted position of the shooter though none of them expected to be able to find him.

“No!” Lioriel's voice was a mix between denial and rage, she was standing next to where the arrow was embedded five feet deep into the earth despite it being reinforced by the presence of Aranor’s mana. A final quiet whisper passed her lips “We have failed.”

It took a moment for Lioriel to regain her composure before he gave the signal and the pursuit of the attacker was called off by her second in command.

“Why did you stop the pursuit?” Xavier demanded in anger.

“Because they won’t be able to catch him, and that’s even if they are able to track him.” Lioriel answered in a measured tone, she buried her outrage at being commanded by a visitor so much younger and weaker than herself in light of the circumstances.

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

“You know who attacked?” Anna interjected.

“I know who’s calling mark that arrow is, it even lets us know which assassin group was targeting your friend.” Lioriel said as she pointed towards it. “The leader of Shadeblossom is the one who attacked.”

The name of the group didn’t mean much to the delving group but Aranor fixed the elf with a look once the name passed her lips. He clearly recognised the name of the ‘weakest assassin’.

“That coward is behind this?” Aranor cursed.

Seeing the looks of confusion Aranor explained who the assassin was. “He is an assassin with next to no engagement skills. His entire kit is based around hiding, shooting, running and poisoning. He would lose to people even thirty levels lower than himself in a straight fight, his ability to poison someone with an arrow is next to unmatched.”

A flurry of concerned looks turned towards Ajax who could help but chuckle a little at the situation.

“You best say your goodbyes, he doesn’t have long.” Lioriel offered in a remorseful tone.

As soon as the group gathered around Ajax he activated the prince’s privacy bubble. The drain on his mana was unexpected so he also quickly turned it off only for Arianwyn to bring up her own privacy bubble.

“I’m sorry.” Arianwyn quickly apologized, she felt extremely guilty for thoughtlessly dragging Aranor into a privacy bubble while the prince was still inside the dungeon. “I’m so sorry!”

“I’ll be fine.” Ajax tried to wave her off.

“You won’t.” Aranor said though his words contained some doubt as he notice Ajax’s situation seemed to be improving instead of deteriorating. “His poison is very potent and his skills should nullify any skill you have to help you. With just your stats and healing you won’t survive the poison.”

“I might not.” Ajax nodded in assent. “But I wasn’t poisoned.”

Ajax’s words suddenly drew everyone’s undivided attention to the wound they had all been unconsciously avoiding. A pink fresh layer of skin was visible around the edges of the armor that looked to have torn off.

Since his initial chest plate was ruined following his previous assassination attempt Ajax had fallen back on using his own armor. His was very much inferior to the one the royal family provided in nearly all respects but it did have one very odd attribute.

“That’s the armor Kate, Luna and my grandfather worked on.” Lexi sobbed as she rushed to run her hands over the edges of the armor around the wound with tears still in her eye. “It worked.” she finally gasped with a laugh as she launched into a hug and gave Ajax a deep kiss.

As much as Ajax would like to take credit for the armor he was at best tangentially involved. It had all started from a discussion Ajax had with Kate in terms of whether there was ever a moment where it would be better for him to simply take an attack and heal it instead of trying to block it.

The timing of the talk had matched up with Kate’s lessons on dealing with poisons. From there Kate and Luna approached Duke Manashaper with help in their little project. Their idea had been to add an enchantment to plate armor that was centered around the Detect Poison enchantment.

They had worked for a long time before they finally managed to come up with a set of enchantments that would have the armor intentionally break and reinforce only at the point in contact with the weapon. In this way the small patch of reinforced armor would wrap itself around the weapon and tear through the flesh, more than likely doing more damage than the blow itself would have but preventing poison from being effective.

It had taken Luna, Kate and the few of the people Duke Manashaper had assigned to the project two years before they had finally finished the enchantment. Despite their work being a success, its uses were too niche to compete with the multitude of enchantments already available for the amount of space it took up. This wasn’t to say that it was a failure as multiple sets of armor were created as they were ideal for weaker people to wear when defending from assassins but it wasn’t revolutionary on a large scale.

“The only question remaining now is how do we react to this?” Ajax asked.

The following conversation took thirty minutes, all of which Ajax had spent in silence as he knew he wasn’t the most skilled person in those matters. With the decision finally made Ajax asked for a moment of privacy as he pulled out the prince’s communication device intent on fulfilling his promise to the prince as well as reporting the newest development and getting the king’s take on their situation.

Almost everyone agreed to Ajax’s demand but Lexi simply remained silent as she still clung to him and just gave a shake of the head ‘no’ while tightening her grip on him. Despite the fact that his wound was already fully healed, a simple pink shade all that differentiated the skin where the wound had been from the surrounding area, it had been a close call.

As Ajax activated the prince’s privacy bubble once more and the communication device he was surprised to find it took a few moments before the line connected. Even more surprising were the words that came from the other side, it was a voice he recognised in a tone he hadn’t heard before.

“Who are you? And my son better be alive!” king Gryndor voice came out as a growl.