“Aranor!” Rex shouted as they were almost to the carriage, drawing the mage’s attention to him where he stopped in the middle of the road with a concerned look at Ajax.
“What’s wrong?” Aranor asked as he flew down. Aranor hadn’t sensed anyone following them but he was still keeping his eye out from the sky.
“He passed out.” Rex gave out only three words by way of explanation.
“I’m not surprised, he must be exhausted.” Aranor gave an exaggerated huff.
“He didn’t fall asleep.” Rex shook his head. “He passed out, check to see if the poison has been neutralized.”
Aranor was no healer. He knew a few general healing spells but by no means meant he was capable of anything more than basic first aid. Stronger healing spells needed a lot of knowledge and experience or else they could do more harm than good.
“Poison is still there but there’s barely any left.” Aranor said with a frown. “I think he might have pushed himself to the point where he knew the poison wouldn’t kill him and when he reached it he just gave out.”
“Hmph.” A grin formed on Rex’s face. “Wonder how many levels his [Poison Resistance] will gain from combating that poison.”
With that the discussion ended as the two of them moved on as they headed for the carriage. Rex arrived first yet he purposefully waited for Aranor before opening the door to enter. Not doing so could be seen as a sign of hostility seeing as both of them were there to counterbalance each other and protect a member of the royal family.
“What happened to him?” Anna was the first to react once Rex and Aranor entered. The prodigy of House Goldmancer lost her usual poker face when she saw the bloody form of her friend.
Aranor and Rex both shared what they had seen happened. Everyone looked at Ajax with a mix of fear and awe when they heard he had managed to survive by himself against three people around level one hundred and forty five. That wasn’t even mentioning the advantage they had by ambushing him.
“There’s still poison running through him?” Anna had regained her composure but she raised an eyebrow at that information not being prioritized. “This should help.” She pulled out a potion from her storage ring and moved to give it to Ajax when she felt Xavier’s hand on her shoulder stopping her.
“Is the poison killing him?” Xavier asked Aranor and Rex.
“It’s trying its best.” Rex said, a grin flashing over his expression for a moment.
“As far as I can tell he weakened the poison to the point where he is slowly overcoming it naturally.” Aranor said.
“No point giving him that then.” Xavier said with a laugh. “You know how he is, now that he finally found a way to train while sleeping you want to take it away from him? I’m more curious about who attacked him.”
Xavier's words easily convinced Anna to hold back on the potion and instead focused everyone's attention on Aranor and Rex.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
“Three assassins, two beastkin physical fighters, one more raw strength, one sneaky, and an elven mage.” Rex gave them the run down. “All three of the bodies were destroyed by the failed assassin enchantment with no way to find out anything more about them.”
“Would they be so brazen?” Arianwyn herself wasn’t sure.
“This could also be a set up.” Harold said.
“Ajax did provoke them when he refused to negotiate on the slaves.” Anna frowned.
The reason why everyone’s first guess for the attack was the Empire was because three man hit squads like this were their signature, especially the two beastkin physical fighters with another non-human mage. The problem was that their style was so well known others had used it before to frame them.
Aranor made sure to keep out of the topic. He knew for sure that this was the beastkin trying to frome the Empire. More than that this was the second time he was aware that the beastkin had tried to assassinate Ajax. He very much needed to get in contact with his king and come to a decision on what to do regarding this information, even delaying this news could put some strain on their alliance with Gryndor.
The discussion slowly turned from who was responsible to what would their next move be? Should they continue on to the dungeon with Ajax or should they return to Lessis and get Ajax home.
“We should probably turn back.” Arianwyn nodded in agreement with Xavier. “ There might be another hit squad roaming around.”
The decision was taken out of their hands as both Rex and Aranor tensed for a moment when they sensed someone approaching at a speed that meant they were most definitely powerful enough to pose a threat. Both the champions were outside the carriage in an instant and looked ready for combat, only for both of them to lower their weapons from an aggressive stance into a defensive one once they saw the threat in question.
“He’s here and alive.” Rex shouted towards Lancel the moment House Manashaper’s former retainer was close enough to hear him clearly.
Lancel quickly slowed down. Hearing that Ajax was safe was enough for him to cautiously approach the pair and await an invitation to enter the carriage.
“What happened?” Lancel asked the moment he saw Ajax’s prone form laid on the soft cushion of the carriage.
“Assassination attempt.” Rex answered. “Two physical assassins and a mage. Two beastkin and an elf.”
“The Empire.” Lancel was quick to draw the same immediate conclusion.
“Or someone trying to frame them.” Xavier pointed out.
“Did they knock him out?” Lancel was very surprised to see Ajax unconscious but alive. He had tried to knock the young Duke out before during their spars but it had proven damn near impossible due to his Life Mana healing spells waking him up in seconds. The only time he had managed it was when he landed a strong enough blow as an opening attack before he started any of the Life Mana healing.
“No he fell unconscious after fighting back most of the poison that was inflicted on him.” Aranor said. “Exhaustion of his Mana, most likely.”
Lancel was glad the elf didn’t mention that Ajax was most likely out of Stamina as well, the boon he had received from the Ettin letting him spend his Stamina as Mana. “Unfortunately I can’t let him rest just yet.” Lancel said as he took out a Mana and Stamina replenishment potion, one that Ajax had actually created himself during his alchemy practice.
“He should rest.” Anna stood between Lancel and Ajax. “He probably pushed himself too far as it was.”
“I agree he should.” Lancel nodded. “Unfortunately the best he will get is the time it takes me to take him back to Lessis. It will take a bit for the potion to restore some of his Mana so I need to feed it to him now.”
It was surprisingly Arianwyn who put her hand on Anna’s shoulder and pulled slightly to get Anna to let Lancel feed Ajax the potion. “I know he’s younger than all of us but he is still a Duke, he has decisions to make about what happened, only then can he rest.”
“Good luck on your delve.” Lancel said as he carried Ajax out of the carriage. “ And thank you for your assistance in this matter.”
“How many casualties?” Xavier asked before Lancel left, despite being a part of Ajax’s duchy they were still citizens of Gryndor, he felt like he needed to know.
“Thirty guards.” Lancel’s voice sounded like a whisper yet they all heard it clearly. “All under level forty, most of them had families. None survived.”
Both Rex and Aranor silently approved of how Lancel delivered the information. They both knew the loss of thirty people didn’t really affect the champion, he had lived through wars and had dealt with losing friends. Yet both had seen the impact the news had on their respective charges. Arianwyn and Xavier were both born and raised in times of peace, this experience was likely one they would remember even if it didn’t affect them personally.
With that Lancel made his way back to Lessis at a speed similar to the one he came at. His mission wasn’t finished, Lexi as well as the rest of House Hearthbound were still very much worried about Ajax and it was his job to put their worries to rest.
The start of Ajax’s fight was what had drawn the attention of a hunter nearby and when he found the bodies of the guards he ran back to report it. The news had quickly traveled from the guard to the Warden and then to House Hearthbound. None of them of Ajax’s fate.
As they approached the city Lancel lowered Ajax to the ground and used [Intimidating Presence] to wake him up. Having recovered some of his Mana and Stamina Ajax was jolted awake by the Skill responding on instinct by calling the axe from his spacial ring and trying to cleave Lancel’s head in two.