It took almost no time at all for the healers to appear on the field and patch up the mangled shoulder before both of the fighters cleared the ring. Just like last time all of the damage the arena had taken disappeared as the scene was replaced with a large slope that depicted a side of a snowy mountain. Various ice spikes dotted the slope.

Both fighters took thief positions hallways up the slope staring at each other. While the elf wore the customary caster cloth the dwarf was the first high level fighter to wear full plate. More than that Ajax could feel that the plate was very thick as he could feel an extra layer of enchantments engraved in the core of the armor.

As soon as the rock was tossed Ajax expected the dwarf to bull rush the opponent much like the other two non-mages had done. He was proven correct as the moment the stone hit the snowy ground the dwarf was off to the races, his heavy armor making him slower than the prince, to the point Ajax could still catch his outline and it wasn’t all just a blur of color.

“What?” Ajax was left speechless however as a ice lance that held about a tenth of his mana smashed into the dwarfs heavy tower shield.

Ajax didn’t know how such a strong spell was cast so quickly. Despite there not being a single scratch on the shield the laws of physics were only bent and not broken as the impact sent the dwarf sliding back on the snow.

“[Empowered Repetition]” Lexi was the one who whispered the name of the skill with awe and a hint of jealousy.

“What does it do?” Ajax asked interested to know how the mage had followed the powerful ice lance with a scorching fireball that melted all of the snow in its path and sent a heat wave strong enough to pass through the wards so that the spectators could feel it.

“It makes weak but short spells viable even in fights well above the level they were intended for.” the prince answered.

“The skill gives you the option to delay spells you finished chanting for a few seconds.” Lexi added more detail. “ For each time the chant is completed again during that delay the spell gets stronger at no extra mana cost.”

“That must work wonders with that [Chanting] upgrade.” Ajax mused to himself.

As they were talking the dwarf had managed to finally make it past the original halfway mark as he charged the caster. Despite the success however the dwarf was desperate, the only reason he made it that far was because the mage had been busy casting his next spell for much longer than any of the previous ones.

The axe in the dwarf’s hand was hurled end over end with such force that Ajax thought it might actually break the mana improved sound barrier. Unfortunately for the dwarf the enchantments on the mage’s robes and staff activated creating an oddly shaped shield.

It was only after the axe shattered the shield on impact that Ajax recognised the true brilliance of the enchantments. The shape of the shield wasn’t preset, it was instead created to deflect the attack should it break through. The axe had gone through the shield with no issue but it was harmlessly deflected off the side.

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Despite the first failure the dwarf hadn't given up, he was now within ten paces of the mage as he raised his tower shield for a shield charge. Unfortunately for the dwarf the shield never had a chance to connect as the mountainside surged around the dwarf trapping him in earth before settling down again.

The match was over at that. Despite the small hill that had swallowed the dwarfs body already starting to shake and crack, everybody knew that being that close to a mage with your head only covered by your helmet was a death sentence.

For the first time the healers weren’t required at the end of the match as the dwarf simply powered through taking an extra fifteen seconds before the cracks that had been spreading around him crunched as his earthen prison turned to rubble as he freed himself. As the dwarf took a few steps however Ajax was surprised to see some decent sized dents in his armor. Clearly that earth spell wasn’t for containment but for crushing of the victims, it was only the dwarfs sizeable defensive power that allowed him to walk it off.

“Three clean victories.” Ajax said as the arena started to change the environment for a fourth time. “Will the last one also be so straight forward?”

“Yes.” The king answered. “Proud as I am of my son’s accomplishments he hasn’t yet gotten to the point where he is on the level of our champion.”

“He’s almost half a millennium older than I am.” the prince said with mock outrage. “Old man has barely started to weaken due to age in the last year.”

The leader of the first squad walked out along with the final elven champion. While the elf wore his own set of extremely enchanted robes and staff, the human was decked out in enchanted mail armor with a few pieces of plate on his gauntlets, shoulderpads and boots. Most impressive of all however was the six and a half food long spear that glowed with enchantments.

The ring set-up for them was another variation on the original open sandy ring where the first fight took place. “Not the worst option.” the king commented as he took it all in.

“You’ll want to pay attention to anything the mage casts.” the crown prince told Ajax. “Who knows what insights you might gain.”

Ajax simply nodded at that. It went without saying that he had already gotten a few ideas to try out from watching the other three fights so why was this one singled out specifically.

As with all the other fights both fighter’s tensed up as the stone was thrown into the air by the announcer. The moment it landed the leader of the first squad charged out much like the prince and dwarf had before him. The strategy was currently sitting on one win and one loss so it could go either way.

Surprisingly enough the elf not only chanted but he also threw down a handful of small pellets at his feet. Ajax didn’t even have a chance to wonder what they were before a powerful surge of Plant mana and a few hints of Life were released by the caster and what must have been seeds quickly grew into thick vines that shot out to meet the spearman.

Ajax was focused on the fight but the outcome was now only secondary to him. Interpreting the readings he got from [Sense Mana] on that spell took priority. The first thing Ajax could take off the list was the idea that this elf also had Life mana. While there was Life mana present, it was a rigid part of the spell simply created and not guided in any way following the spells instructions.

Despite the rigidity of the Life mana however Ajax could see just how freely the Plant mana was being used. More than that it seemed like the elf had not only not stopped chanting but he was also continually feeding mana into the spell.

“[Channeled Casting].” Lexi explained. “A favorite of plant and puppeteer mages, it works extremely well in combination with a farsight spell that might let the mage fight from extreme distances. It has a number of weaknesses that make it not ideal for the tournament.”

The spearman had barely been slowed down by the thorny thick vines as he trimmed the ends that reached him. Despite not slowing down enough for Ajax to even get a clear view of him he could clearly see his handiwork in the amount of chopped up vines that were leaving a trail behind the blur of white mail armor.

The leader of the first was pushed a little off the direct path towards his opponent but once he got within twenty paces he quickly threw a dagger straight towards the root of the vines. Once the dagger landed Ajax’s [Sense Mana] was blinded by the amount of pure mana released.

The dagger did little more than interrupt the channeled spell for a second. For that second however the vines not only stopped growing but they also fell limp to the floor. Without the protection of his plant the mage was quickly impaled straight through the stomach and lifted off the ground. The strike had interrupted the mages casting and the winner was declared.

It couldn’t have been more than fifteen minutes yet already the entire first round of the main tournament had ended. It was now clear why they were the first ones to take the field as there was no way to make their tournament the main event.

As the arena started to change the environment once more Ajax looked towards Richard who stood up and started heading down as he would be in the first match. Richard met his eyes as Ajax gave him a nod of encouragement.