Chapter 516

Gamer Reborn

The arena stands were empty. Nobody in Lessis had really known that they were to expect some duels and even if they had known few people would be willing to wait in the biting cold long enough before even the first one started.

“This will be a simple duel.” Lancel explained as he stood between Lady Deeproot and Lord Berrymore. “Each of you has three pieces of protective enchantments, should the third one break or should an attack I deem to break through all your defenses and deal significant damage land I will end the fight.”

The power level of the first duel was weak. Most of the nobles in attendance hadn’t even bothered to focus on the match even as Lancel stepped back from between the two fighters. Ajax however was very much focused on Leandra. He wanted to see how an alchemist fought when pushed if they weren’t a true combatant.

“Begin.” Berrymore didn’t hesitate and charged the moment the match started.

Charging a mage as a physical fighter the moment the duel starts is a valid option but clearly not something that takes into account an alchemist's speed at simply tossing out a flask. Leandra was actually happy that her opponent was charging towards her in a straight line.

“That’s an interesting design.” Ajax said as he watched Leadra push the cork into the flask instead of pulling it out, this adding an ingredient and making the mixture unstable as she tossed the vial.

While Leandra was quick to act she didn’t have the force to toss anything at too high a speed. By the time the vial got anywhere near her opponent he had already changed directions and was ten feet away from the vial and only thirty away from Leandra herself.

“A shield?” Lexi was slightly surprised to see Leandra’s first spell finish. While Leandra might not have been a mage she clearly had some access to spells but Lexi didn’t understand why her first spell would be a shield.

The answer to Lexi’s unspoken question came quickly as the vial in the center of the arena exploded with more power than any of Ajax’s own mixtures had before. It tossed Lord Berrymore aside after breaking two of his reactive shields and even shattered the shield Leandra raised.

“There are Skills that can do that?” Ajax’s jaw dropped as he processed Leandra’s first move.

“What is it?” Lexi asked.

“She has a Skill that costs her Mana to empower alchemical potions.” Ajax answered as he was still processing what had just taken place. He hadn’t seen any mage his age spend Mana with a Skill at the same time as casting a spell before. “Her Mana didn’t affect the ingredients of the mixture. It amplified the explosion once the mixture destabilized.”

Leandra’s next move however shocked Ajax even more. She pulled out a second flask and started walking slowly towards her opponent while at the same time chanting a spell. A spell he now recognised from her previous cast as another shield spell.

“That’s cruel.” Xavier winced sympathetically as everyone watched the realization dawn on the young noble as he watched an alchemist twice his age but barely a few levels above him draw closer to him slowly holding the end of the match in her hands.

Lord Barrymore was down to his final shield,once broken he would be declared the loser. Leandra on the other hand still had all three of her shields and her own spell ready to go. She could detonate her second flask as soon as the physical melee fighter closed in. Even if the explosion broke through her shielding spell and two of her enchantments it would still give her the win as long as it broke the final of Lord Barrymore’s enchantments.

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“I yield.” Lord Berrymore shouted in frustration as he threw his sword in the dirt knowing there was nothing he could do anymore.

The end of the match rippled through the nobles watching, leaving another issue for Xavier to handle. Due to her age Leandra made for an easy target for any of the higher leveled of Gryndor’s nobles and her status as undefeated, even with only a single victory, made her a tempting target, especially with the way she won her match.

“I’ll take care of it.” Tom whispered from behind Xavier as he looked towards the arena.

Xavier turned around in surprise to look at Tom. In direct combat Leandra would obliterate Tom even without use of her alchemy, she had more than ten levels on him and even some dungeon floors worth of Stats. Fluffy on the other hand she could do nothing against. The shadow cat was higher level and her mobility using Shadow Travel would leave the elf with no options at all. 𝘳𝙖𐌽𝔬฿Èṧ

“That would make you a target.” Xavier sounded reluctant.

“I won’t be rude about it.” Tom shakes his head in disagreement. “I already talked to her guard on our way here. A polite sporting challenge to break her undefeated record would work perfectly for all involved.”

Ajax was impressed with his brother’s political acumen. He had already prepared a strategy to help their business partner and the reputation of their own House before Leandra’s first match even took place.

“Leandra might not be upset but that would leave you a target for the oth-” Xavier’s words stopped as he turned towards Ajax. So long as Tom was polite in his challenge and didn’t make a mockery of Leandra no elf would challenge him. Anything they stood to gain from winning paled in comparison to the humiliation they would suffer should Ajax challenge them in return.

The first duel of the day had ended almost as quickly as it had begun but the atmosphere was charged for what was to come. The sound of the explosion as well as the small parade the nobles had put on as they travelled to the arena was already drawing the more curious of Lessis’s citizens to come and investigate.

“The next duel won’t be so cut and dry.” Lexi said as she looked towards Fealin Whisperwind and Ramus Deepfort. “They are both mages and they were both of a high enough caliber to take part in the under fifty category before they aged out.”

One of the reasons why Lexi knew about Fealin was because her grandfather had mentioned his name. According to Duke Manashaper Fealin was particularly adept at wielding an odd spell.

Ajax took the time to personally use an Earth spell to fill in the crater left by Leandra’s alchemical bomb as the next two duelists prepared for the duel.

“This will be the best chance Gryndor has to win a duel today.” Xavier said as he watched both mages walk towards the arena. “Sorry Benedict…”

“It’s fine.” Benedict nodded towards his friend. “I know Emeris stands a good chance of beating me. Besides Ramus has beaten Fealin last time they dueled.”

That was exactly what worried Xavier however. Fealin wasn’t known as a powerful mage, he was known as an annoying duelist. Most fighters that fought in the under fifty tournament bracket weren’t specialized duelists like the under level one hundred duels, they were simply the strongest youngsters.

Fealin however was simply good as a mage but he was exceptional as a duelist. His odd spell and fighting style combined with his House’s spy network meant that he almost always had a plan going in. That he chose to pick a fight with Ramus Deepfort despite his previous loss to him was exactly what made Xavier uneasy about the outcome of the duel.

“Begin.” Once Lancel gave the start of the second duel both fighters began casting.

Ajax was very surprised to see odd bat-like wings sprout from Fealin’s back before he finished chanting and a strong wind took him twenty feet above the ground.

“That’s why he chose Ramus.” Benedict bit back a curse. “This is a regular duel and not a tournament match, odd enchanted items like those wings of his are allowed. He probably saw this as the perfect opportunity to get some payback.”

Ajax wasn’t as familiar with Ramus so he wasn’t aware he was predominantly an Earth mage who specialized in hiding his spells by sending them through the ground and having them erupt close to their target. His Epic Skill [Earthen Supremacy] made it hard even for stronger mages to suppress his magic even if the spell started to affect the earth beneath their feet.

Surprise and frustration were clearly visible in Ramus’s eyes. Ajax even noticed that he dropped the spells he was planning to cast and started to cast a different one when Fealin took out a number of enchanted items.

“Throwing stars?” Ajax was surprised to see a pure mage using the weapon. But even more surprising was how Fealin threw them one at a time each with their own short spell.

“The wind spell sends them on a preset path.” Lexi explained. “ Fealin is annoying to fight in duels because he is a master at setting up complicated paths for his attacks with fakes mixed in.”

Ajax could help but smirk. As annoying as Fealin might be for others he would pose no threat to Ajax, [Mana Syphon] could tear apart the wind pathing spell before he could form the odd whirlwind that now surrounded the elven mage.

Ajax had to admit he was a bit impressed however. Fealin had the control and the foresight to get the throwing stars to spin around even as he glided through the air added more and more to their numbers all with a preset path. During this time Ramus raised the earth around him to form a defensive position.

The brief standoff broke as the last throwing star joined the other ten orbiting around Fealin for a single rotation before all of them flew off in different directions as the elf started attacking directly.