Chapter 700 (Patreon)

Ajax’s mind was having trouble catching up with reality. In the last moment as he was about to attempt to teleport he felt a burning anger flood through the bond and replace the fear he felt from Aurexion as his [Sense Mana] and [Mana Syphon] got a clear feel for the flame breath that erupted from Aurexion. 

The motivation behind Ajax’s infusion of Mana throughout his body, the desire to come out the other side in one piece, his desire to free himself from the vines that were trapping him, the anger flowing through the bond and the imminent approach of the burning flames all merged. 

The next moment the flames washed over him and Ajax was prepared for the pain but there was none. Not only was the pain gone however but Ajax’s sight as a whole was gone, he was now forced to rely on other senses as he took his own new form, a being made of Mana that reminded Ajax of the ifrit they had defeated in the dungeon. 

Ajax could feel the futility of the physical attempt of the vines to hold him in place as he examined his arm before his focus returned to the champion that was still slowly advancing towards him. He could feel the flames of his own body ready to answer his will and with the raising of another hand Ajax unleashed a focused beam of fire no less impressive than the wide attack Aurexion had previously used. 

Out of all them Aurexion was the first to regain his composure as he took in the scene. He didn’t need any social Skills to know the absolute terror both beastkin champions must be feeling as they looked upon his bond nor the confusion mixed with fear that the dwarf was under as he tried to stand as his enchantments did their best to heal his burns. 

Aurexion however had access to something none of them did, something that could help him make sense of what he was seeing. This was certainly something Ajax hadn’t even hinted at being able to do yet the power of his new form was above even that of a new Legendary Skill. Aurexion pulled up Ajax’s Status page and focused on only two things.

 First was Ajax’s Health, Mana and Stamina to ensure his bond was actually fine. Surprisingly enough his health was above 80%, despite all the fighting he hadn’t taken all that much damage. That his Mana and Stamina were at just above one thousand five hundred each was a little concerning seeing as he had taken a rejuvenation elixir that was supposed to help him gain the same amount of Mana and Stamina over a short duration. For them to be so low meant that Ajax had run them close to zero before and that he was even now burning through them quickly, they would have to end this fight fast. 

That last requirement shouldn’t be too hard to fulfil as Aurexion focused on the second thing he was looking for, Ajax’s new Skill, he very much wanted to know how he’d managed to form another Pseudo-Mythic Skill that would take such a form yet went he reach the Pseudo-Mythic section of his bond’s neatly arranged Status Sheet there was no new entry. Ajax’s newest Skill had come under a new rarity, Mythic.

As Aurexion was still trying to take in the information he had just become aware of Ajax turned his focus towards the already half dead beastkin mage, intent on paying him back for his interference in the fight with the king as well as his sneak attack on Aurexion. Unlike before Ajax didn’t just point, he clenched his fist and focused more power into his attack. A brief moment was all it took, danger sensing Skills screamed at the champion as his own [Sense Mana] Skill picked up on the spike before Ajax launched a small compact orb of flames towards him. Ajax’s Mana and Stamina both dropped by five hundred in that moment yet Ajax felt no strain, nor did he feel anything from the massive explosion that claimed the life of the mage while also almost killing the second injured beastkin champion despite his distance from the origin of the explosion. 

The explosion was enough to break Aurexion out of his shock that his bond had gained a Mythic Skill already and he focused on the Skill itself. [Elemental Avatar], the moment Aurexion read the name he felt a small amount of relief. Despite being a Mythic Skill it was one that provided versatility, clearly Ajax was using Fire right now but from the name the Skill wasn’t limited solely to that, with the power spread across multiple elements the risk that Ajax would kill himself by mistake when using his Mythic Skill for the first time dropped drastically, though they were still far from zero. 

While Aurexion was focused on the implication of the newest Skill his bond had earned the dwarven champion had no such thing to distract him from the fight. Even injured he was still a fully physically focused champion and without [Absolute Body Enhancement] or [Last Stand] active Ajax would have had issues keeping up with him once even if most of his senses hadn’t been thrown off by his new elemental form. 

Still adjusting to reading the world mainly through [Sense Mana] as well as elemental senses  Ajax could barely react as the dwarf closed in and swung, putting as much power as he could behind his hammer. Ajax felt himself tense up, his mind finally making sense of what had happened once it was too late for him to dodge or block so instead he focused on trying to weather the attack as best he could. 

Both Ajax and the dwarf were equally surprised when the hammer passed through Ajax’s body while barely taking a few points of Health from Ajax, even those came from the air displaced by swing rather than the blow itself, creating a new crater once the swing hit the ground and the hammer finally hit something solid.

It took a moment for both Ajax and the dwarf to recover from what had just happened but even without the shock the swing passing through Ajax without any resistance was already too much for the dwarf's small body to correct, his form had been thrown full off balance and he left himself wide open.

Ajax didn’t bother raising his arm to counterattack. He had already seen the explosion and not even a hammer swing could hurt him when he was like this, with the dwarf so close he was practically hugging him there was also no need to launch an attack. Ajax spent another five hundred Mana and Stamina instead of launching an exploding fireball this time however he simply caused the explosion from his body. 

The second explosion wasn’t any gentler than the first but this time the second beastkin champion was more prepared for it so he wasn’t thrown by the shockwave like the first time. Even with all his wounds and low Mana he was still determined to help his country, the best way to do that was to kill Ajax. Having seen that physical attacks didn’t work he wanted to use the last of his Mana to see if his spells might work.

The beastkin champion didn’t get a chance to launch a single spell as his focus on Ajax had caused him to ignore the other threat present on the battlefield. Aurexion’s tailswipe made perfect contact with the champion, the strength of the blow so powerful that it not only broke his armor apart but the hybrid champion’s entire body exploded in a shower of metal and gore.

After killing the champion Aurexion didn’t waste any time, while they might have killed all their opponents the battle was not over, not only that but their side might not even be the one winning once the champions he could feel approaching finally got here. Knowing they might need to retreat, Aurexion collected the remains of Ajax’s armor as well as the king’s hammer before returning to his bond’s side ready to make their retreat. 

A little drunk on his own recent power Ajax went on the offensive the moment he felt the new enemies come into range, the flame jet he attacked them with only cost him another hundred Mana and Stamina. Unlike the first time he had used the attack however this time the enemy defended themselves by taking the attack with a reinforced shield that scattered the flames, the heat still burning them slightly. 

The response came back just as quick. The high general’s runes light up and a Water blast hit Ajax straight in his left knee. The attack wasn’t all that strong especially considering Ajax’s [Mana Syphon] further weakening, that was exactly why it surprised both Ajax and Aurexion when Ajax’s leg from the knee down was just gone as the steam dispersed.

“Release your elemental form.” Aurexion growled as he prepared to grab his bond and retreat now that the enemy had found a way to hurt him.

Ajax couldn’t hear Aurexion’s words though his intent came across clearly through their bond. With an effort of will Ajax returned to his human form, naked as the day he was born, though he couldn’t care any less about that as the pain hit and blood started spurting from his left leg.

Aurexion wasted no time grabbing his bond and flying after the rest of the Republic’s army leaving a trail of blood in his wake.