Chapter 330

Ajax was excited about this match. Unlike the previous four matches this match and the following one would actually show how people at the highest level fought, sure the match would still be one sided but it was not too bad.

As the two fighters took the field the situation seemed to be reversed. The prince was the one with a serious and focused expression while Shadow was sporting a confident smirk. Then the stone was tossed. Both of them had high enough Perception and experience to only glance at it before focusing on their opponent once more and flexing ready to move.

The stone hit the rocky mountain face and splintered but nobody was giving it any attention. Shadow seemed to disperse like a mirage just like he did in his previous fight but the prince wouldn’t stand for that. He blasted forwards leaving a trail of fire on the ground, at this speed Ajax could only keep up with him by focusing on his [Sense Mana] to know where to look.

The movement spell wasn’t the only one used by the prince however. A mini blizzard was released from his hand in a wide arc towards the area where the beastkin had started the fight. It was then that Ajax once more found where the beastkin was.

It wasn’t that he was good enough to see through the advanced stealth, nor was his perception high enough to tell where the artificial wind encountered an invisible obstacle. The way Ajax found Shadow’s location was by focusing on the mana of the blizzard spell. The mana had an odd almost person shaped hole in it, he couldn’t sense anything about any mana present there but there was no wind or ice mana there.

Ajax was clearly not the only person able to lock on to Shadow’s position as the prince course corrected his charge and headed straight for it. More fascinating to Ajax however was the fact that Shadow was somehow acclimating to the mana surrounding him as the person shaped spot slowly adjusted, Ajax was sure in a few moments there would be no mana irregularity.

Ajax didn’t get a chance to see that change as the prince was already on top of Shadow. An audible clash sounded out as the sword came down. Surprisingly however as Shadow once more came into view he wasn’t standing upright. Instead he was doing a handstand with a shield attached to his legs that he used to redirect the prince’s opening swing as he went for a slash of his own towards the prince’s waist.

Despite Ajax being very much taken aback by the odd stance the beastkin was in, the prince had no issue responding with a flying knee and a quick rune activation that released a strong wind blast. The attack wasn’t directed but it was enough to create a bit of distance between the two.

While the prince was looking to reset Shadow was very much on the attack. He gracefully backflipped away from the wind blast into a low crouch, his tail seeming to help with his balance. He quickly launched himself towards the prince.

The prince was quick to swap out one of his two swords for a shield he quickly raised. Ajax could feel the runes all activating as the prince was forced into turtling as Shadow started to abuse his physical stat advantage.

“Why isn’t he doing anything?” Xavier hadn’t even realized the question slipped out as he watched with apprehension as his idol was put on the back foot.

The prince was now simply reacting, the speed of runic magic was enough to let him keep up with the Shadow’s high speed, not only that but he had the skill and experience to keep himself safe. That however wasn’t enough to take the initiative in the fight once more.

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“His spells aren’t strong enough to make up for the difference in levels.” the captain of the first squad explained. “Shadow has somewhere close to twenty levels up on him.”

“That much?” Even Ajax was surprised at the difference.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“The higher you get in levels the less a single level matters.” the captain explained. “While this means that larger level gaps can be surpassed with skill it is not easy to do.”

“He’s looking for an opening.” Ajax guessed. “He’ll stay on the defensive until he runs out of mana or he sees a reasonable chance to win the match.”

“Yes.” the captain agreed, slightly impressed with Ajax instincts for combat. “If he ever was to fight Shadow like this outside the arena he would simply retreat, with nowhere to run however Shadow can just run him out of mana.”

This was the disadvantage hybrid fighters faced, they didn’t have the stats to keep up with physical fighters so if they couldn’t use their magic to give them a good opening they would be crushed. On the flip side their magic also didn’t pack the same power mages had to force a quick resolution.

“Is this what your fight will look like as well?” Ajax asked.

“No.” the captain responded. “If I get that close to a chant mage the fight is over. This fight could last for a few more minutes, mine will be over in seconds. Either I can get close or he takes me out.”

The prince was feeling the pressure. Shadow was renowned for his stealth but this battle was giving him a clear look at what made that stealth so good. The people in the stands probably couldn’t realize this but Shadow’s higher rarity skills didn’t focus on wide range stealth, they focused on target stealth.

The people watching from the stance, at least the ones who had enough stats in Perception and mind to follow the speed of the fight, had no problem following Shadow’s moves. The prince however could barely keep track of him. Every time his shield blocked his direct line of sight it was like all his senses would lose track of the beastkin.

Ajax was confused. For the past ten seconds Shadow had started to gather the small reserves of mana he had but the prince wasn’t reacting to it in any way. Ajax didn’t know that the prince’s sensory skills were being crushed by the beastkin’s Legendary skill.

“Now’s his chance.” Ajax said, even if he logically knew the outcome of the match he couldn’t help but get a bit emotionally invested in the prince’s victory after the number of times the man had helped him with his training over the years. “Why is he not going for it?”

“Because he doesn’t see it coming.” the king answered with a resigned sigh. “Could you do anything about him?” The question was for the captain of the first.

“I don’t have a way to force him out of [Camouflage].” the captain answered. “If I was in the prince’s spot this instant I would be able to not just keep up with him physically but even push him back and beat him. From the start of the match however I wouldn’t see him, he would keep ambushing me then running away until I was sufficiently weakened.”

Shadow had finished chanting his spell. Ajax could feel how the mana stopped gathering around Shadow, worse yet it was shadow aspect mana he was feeling and he wasn’t evening trying to hide it since the prince couldn’t use his [Sense Mana] on Shadow at all. Ajax was deeply focused on the shadows to see if they moved in any strange way.

For a moment there Shadow backed off and the prince took his chance. Multiple runes were lighting up in quick succession. Ajax could feel fire, wind and earth coming but he couldn’t help but grimace as he saw the shadows of both fighters deepen slightly before they moved and connected.

A large blast shot out of the prince’s shield targeting Shadow’s arms and a few stone spikes emerged going for his legs. Unfortunately for the prince Shadow was no longer there as he teleported behind the prince, his swords swinging towards the joints.

The prince’s armor had no enchantments but it seems that whatever he was wearing underneath did. Ajax could feel a small shield pop into place but it wasn’t enough to stop the swing from someone of Shadow’s caliber.

The prince had half his shoulder cut through as well as a quick slice to the back of the knees that ended the fight. Healers were quickly in motion moving to help the fallen combatant but from the look on the prince’s face after he took off his helmet with his good hand he wasn’t so worried about the pain. Instead it looked more like he was upset that he fell for Shadow’s trap.

“He lost…” Xavier had gone through an emotional rollercoaster in the last moments. He had thought his idol was about to catch a break and change the momentum of the fight, he even saw the powerful magic attack launch. All for it to end with Shadow only carrying a few scratches on his legs from where the stone spikes started to pierce.