The reaction from the arena to Ajax’s casual use of [Cursed Slash] was very different from what he had originally expected. While he knew that enough time had passed and that the stigma associated with cursed attacks should have gone down, he certainly didn’t expect the enthusiasm displayed by the crowd watching.

Ajax had failed to take into account that most of the population watching now was all part of the nobility, while a few of them might carry a grudge against curses that would also be true about almost all of the different elements. On the whole almost all of them were excited about someone else getting access to cursed attacks mainly because they didn’t rely on mana. All of them hoped to find a method to reliably teach cursed attacks.

Professor Silvertongue was the only one in the stands who could say he was disappointed with the end of the match. While he certainly hadn’t expected to see a cursed attack there was little that the combat mage could gain from something like that. He had secretly been hoping to get a glimpse at the odd element his family had learnt Ajax had access to a while back. Unfortunately that element seemed to be one of his last resorts.

The king and crown prince both had been present for the match and both turned a matching grin towards Evelyn who was in attendance by their side. Both had known about her work researching cursed mana but now her source would be out in the open.

Crown Prince P.O.V.

Father and I both turned a grin on Evelyn. She had informed both of us of this kid's ability to use cursed attacks, not only that but he was actively trying to find ways of combining it with other elemental mana. His black flames weren’t all that devastating but as a surprise attack the cleanly set up a combo with a wide range holy purification. Not only that but almost none of the shielding enchantments currently used would do anything to stop the purification, seeing it as a purely beneficial effect.

“So he’s the one?” I asked my son.

“Yes,” he sounded a little defeated.

I could certainly understand how that could happen, he had been praised for his talent for years now and despite all that he had only pushed harder. Despite all that effort here was a child the same age as him who could easily take him apart if he got serious.

“It’s not just luck and hard work.” my older brother finally commented. Unlike his usual self there was no joking tone and his relaxed attitude was nowhere to be seen. “I’m sure he’s had plenty of both but his talent is monstrous.”

“What do you mean brother?” I asked.

“You’ve had him investigated right?” he asked. “You said he had no social skills to speak of before he got to the capital, yet he is already level thirty-four.”

He must have used his identification skill on Ajax, it seems his [Enigma] isn’t yet at the point where it can block out his level from someone with a decently high Epic inspection skill, his request for confirmation on the skill means that he couldn’t even get a glimpse at those.

“Yes, we’re positive he had no social skills before he got to the capital.” I confirmed, not sure what he was getting at.

“Do you know if he had a skill at level fifty before the age of ten?” he asked, the question seemed to fall like a ton of bricks on my oldest son’s head.

“We’ve had no way to confirm it, why do you suspect he did?” I asked, I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that the kid had achieved that as well.

“I’m now sure which would be scarier, if he did or if he didn’t.” my brother said, during all this time he hadn’t once taken his eyes off Ajax, the kid was standing awkwardly in the middle of the arena being congratulated on his victory.

“How could him not having a skill at level fifty be scarier than if he did?” my son certainly didn’t take that any better than the initial question.

For the first time my brother took his eyes off of Ajax and gave my son his usual grin. “This isn’t a comment on your talent kid, it is a fact that you are talented.” he affectionately rubbed his head before his face turned serious again as he regarded Ajax. “Think about it, he is barely turned seventeen and he has gained two levels a year since he was born. Not only that but he did it without social skill.”

“Is it that big of a deal?” my niece asked, she had barely turned ten and despite her positive interaction with Ajax there was someone else she had taken a shine to as a role model. “Lady Goldmancer might not have achieved quite the same level but she did it without social skills either.”

“What Lady Goldmancer lacked in social skills she made up for with merchant ones” my brother replied. “That’s not to say that they don’t take a lot of talent as well but they also require a fortune to properly gain experience past the first few levels, not only that but she is also two years older.”

“There are other ways to gain experience, there is a reason why leveling speed increases tremendously once people start delving.” My sister backed up her daughter with a solid point. “Despite the downsides of the backwater part of the kingdom he grew up in he did have ready access to a dungeon, he wouldn’t have needed anything past the first floor to really get going.”

“That’s the sticking point.” my brother said as he frowned. “Didn’t the method he presented to the court rely on not spending your free points until the small sweet spot of retaining the Apprentice buff but still being fifteen?”

His words plunged the booth into a deafening silence as all of us processed the information. All of it was something we had previously but only in isolation, we simply hadn’t connected it that way.

“He was level thirty-one when he arrived here.” my brother continued as we were all still pondering his earlier words, “in less than a year where he had so many other things to deal with he gained three levels. Even assuming he did more than double in the year before that, that still leaves him with reaching level twenty-four before he spent a single one of his free stat points.”

And that’s where all his questions started to tie back in, he reached level twenty-four in fifteen years without social skill and without any heavily used merchant skills either. All this without having spent a single one of his free skill points. His earlier question started to make a lot more sense, if he didn’t have a single level fifty skill when he was ten, just how many different skills did he have in order to level that much?

“From the looks of it his magic acts a lot like runic magic, if a lot weaker.” my brother's next words had all of us focusing on him again. He was the only one of us to have spent an extended period of time in one of the dwarven kingdoms and they were the main users of runic magic, beastkin also used it but more as amplifiers of their own racial strengths than as a form of pure magic. This was all topped off by the fact that he himself focused on runic magic instead of the chanted version as a spellblade.

“From what he’s said his method apparently clashes with both chanting and runic based usage.” Evelyn interjected. “I’ve verified it and sadly we can’t have our own mages learn that style without hurting their chanting.”

“That’s a real shame.” he said and I could see the disappointment in not being able to integrate the discovery in his own repertoire to make himself stronger. “ But that’s not all I am getting at.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“You’re more focused on chanted magic so you don’t notice it as much, but intent plays a big role in controlling the spells we cast outside of a set path.” my brother explained. “For a chanted spell, regardless how short that chant is, you have a lot more time to infuse that intent compared to a runic caster.”

“That’s one of the drawbacks of runic magic, you give up flexibility for speed.” my son chimed in, he took it as a point of pride in trying to become a chanting spellblade.

“Yes, but he’s not using runes either.” my brother answered. “While his method does seem to sacrifice power for flexibility and speed it still shouldn’t work. I suspect that he has the affinity for every single type of magic he uses.”

“You’re saying he already has six different Rare skills and five more Epic ones already!?” My sister's outburst mirrored my own inner thoughts.

“Six epic skills, that cursed attack has to be at least Epic since the mana generated mixed with the fire mana so freely.” Our own curse skill user added on.

“Has he shown any indication of his willingness to marry into the royal family?” my brother asked.

I found that same question being the first to jump in my mind as I turned to my father, he had taken a special interest in Ajax so his handling had been one of the things I left for him as I had plenty of others to focus on as I got ready to take over as King. A seventeen year old boy with at least eleven mana affinities, access to curse attacks as well as two Legendary skills. I would have to take a much closer interest in him.