《Gamer Reborn》


 Prologue

    Prologue


    I woke up at 5 AM on a Saturday morning, drenched in cold sweat, I don¡¯t even remember the dream I had. All I know is that it went south real quick and that I woke up right as it did.


    Knowing that I couldn¡¯t get back to sleep I dragged myself out of bed and headed for the shower. I just stood there for a few minutes letting the warm water cascade over me in an effort to gather some energy before I got on with all that I had nned for the day.


    As I grabbed my morning cup of coffee I sat down at the table and started to look through all the letters that came in yesterday, and oddly enough not a single one was bearing any bad news.


    While this may sound weird to some that looking through letters for bad news and not finding any being a surprise let me exin. Ever since I can remember every night I had a nightmare there was something that day that went really bad or was supposed to go really bad for me.


    I somewhat started putting it together in middle school, seeing as after every bad dream there was a surprise test that I was not prepared for. That''s not to say that I had a bad dream before every surprise test, it was just those that I had not studied for.


    By third grade I learnt to trust my gut a bit and sometimes took ¡°sick¡± days after bad dreams and lo and behold I was missing out on some surprise tests. When I told my parents, bragging about my so-called powers (sue me I was 8), all they told me was that it was a coincidence and I mostly agreed with them and tried not to put too much faith in it.


    I still didst minute cramming and hid cheat sheets after every dream because why tempt fate, but it was all superstitious and not something I took seriously.


    That is until the day in my senior year of highschool when I had the worst one yet. I woke up with a headache and it just wouldn¡¯t go away. The weird thing was that it happened on a Sunday and I thought I had nothing to worry about. That was true until I heard the doorbell at 7PM and opened the door to two police officers that informed me my parents were in a car crash with a drunk driver and they didn¡¯t make it.


    They had been in a crash with the son of some important politician in the localmunity who managed to pull some string to get him off with just probation.As I ransacked the letters and found nothing in there I rxed a bit, at least I wasn¡¯t getting evicted, so instead I went to my PC and started looking through emails. Maybe there was a clue in there about how my day could take a turn for the worse.


    And there it was an email from my boss telling me that they no longer needed my services and that I was being let go.


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    The jewellery store I had worked at for the past 4 years just fired me out of the blue. Well I say that, but I suspect it had something to do with an argument I heardst week between the boss and his wife. Now it wasn¡¯t an all out yelling match and I only picked up a few words outside the room but it was enough for me to figure out what had happened with today''s email.


    She hade to ask her husband to do a favour for her sister, I picked up something about a nephew needing a job from her side and something about azy good for nothing from him but I guess nepotism still wins out in the end.


    After I learnt just how unfair the world was I started to just focus on bing someone who couldn¡¯t be just swept under the rug, I focused a lot on my studies and got into a college to study architecture with a partial schrship and used all my free time studying or ying video games.


    They were the only outlet where I could enjoyably interact with strangers without spending the first few hours being an awkward introvert. It was also what I had nned on doing for the rest of the day to blow off some steam. I was pretty upset about losing the job, but I was two months away from finishing college and having to look for a better job anyway, so I was mostly just upset at why I got fired more than the fact that I got canned.


    After a full day of bad luck ying online I decided it would be fine to just go out to a bar and handle my anger by jumping in the bottle, since I was free tomorrow anyway.


    I was tripping my way back home, after running out of cash drinking cheap vodka at the bar, when all of a sudden an angry voice started yelling at me.


    ¡°Give me all the cash you got!¡±


    I felt a strong grip drag me into an alley and I felt the barrel of a gun pressed to my head.


    With a small chuckle my inebriated self decided that the best response was ¡°Thanks for helping me look, the barkeep told me I was out¡±.


    Clearly that was not the answer the mugger was looking for as next thing I know I feel a fist hitting me in the jaw. The mugger then grabs a hold of my wrist and tries to wrench the watch off. Drunk as I am, I lose my bnce and go tumbling over. I fall right and top of him and the next thing I know I hear a BANG.


    As I am floating in that darkness I see my whole life sh before me over and over again. It was then that I realised that the poor needed to work hard from the very beginning if they were to ever have a chance at making something of themselves.


    My early happy years with my family were the only memories I did not regret though looking back I was disappointed in myself. I had been so carefree back then doing nothing but messing around ying video games.


    The only productive part of my whole childhood had been learning to speak and write Chinese, and even that I had done just to cate my mom, who insisted I learn a secondnguage, so I picked the first one I could find that nobody around me would understand.


    After the ident as I decided to get my life on track, I had barely a few months in which, through a lot of hard work, I managed to get my partial schrship. This lead me to neglecting everything else like my diet and exercise.That then lead me to gaining weight and having a poor social life through my college years, with barely a few one night stands in the parties after end of term exams,prising my social life as the job working to pay the rest of my tuition and housing drained me of all my energy. To finally getting killed in the back of an alley one night.


    I had lost track of how many times I went through the loop while I was floating in the void when I heard the words.


    ¡°<strong>What do we have here? A mortal soul travelling through the void, I wonder how you managed not to get pulled back into the river of rebirth.¡±</strong>


    <strong>¡°I could hand you over to be put where you belong but I so despise contacting Death, may as well let you there all on your own the normal way.¡±</strong>


    As thest word ended I felt like I was spinning no longer knowing which way is up and then I lost whatever consciousness I had had in the void.

 Chapter 1

    Chapter 1


    I woke up to being surrounded on all sides by what I thought were giants, as the bright light and loud sounds confused me I felt myself being picked up and lowered into water then being tightly wrapped up in something as I was passed from one giant to another. This one just held me to her chest and smiled at me.


    I had tried moving but found I had no strength being wrapped up as I was, I had tried talking but only weird cries came out from my mouth. Through it all the woman holding me was heaving in deep breaths but seemed happy. As I continued to struggle and shriek I felt myself getting more and more sleepy until I just cked out.


    It had taken me two weeks of doubting my own sanity toe to two conclusions, one that I had been reborn, and let me tell you this is the one I think has a lower chance of being what happened, and the other that the shot I took to the head had not killed me but left me mentally insane. But I decided that since there was nothing I could do about the second choice I might as well go with the first and treat this as me actually being reborn.


    The first thing I realized about being reborn is that all the stories you read about it happening put one hell of a good spin on being a baby. Being unable to move on your own, lift your own head or control your bowels is something I was happy about not remembering my first time around going through all this.


    All the previous knowledge and understanding I had did not help me with the instinctual need for food or suppressing the instinct to ask for that food by straining my vocal cords to the limit. The only issues with my methods being that they were identical to the ones for asking to get changed from sitting in my own filth, luckily enough my mother seemed pretty adept at telling the difference between the two quickly and has always handled it efficiently.


    It has been around a month now since my birth and I was starting to get an understanding of the consistency of my new family. In this world I was not an only child, far from it in fact as it seemed that besides my parents I also had an older brother who looked to be about 14 , and an older sister aged about 7. Without understanding thenguage however everything I heard seemed to go in one ear and out the other, the best I could figure out my brother¡¯s name was Tom and my sister¡¯s Judy, as for my parents from the simr forms of address I was guessing they were calling my parents different words for ¡°mom¡± and ¡°dad¡± and hadn¡¯t been yet able to figure out their names.


    Having to take 12 naps a day as well as everyone always baby-speaking to me made it hard to try and pick up thenguage but I figured out ¡°mom¡± and ¡°dad¡± in another day and had wanted to try to surprise them by speaking. My ns all went out the window however when I figured out that for that my vocal cords were working and I could scream for all I was worth, my new body''s tongue and lips didn¡¯t have the muscle memory in order to create the sounds I wanted.


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    That night as I was trying to figure out how to speak everything changed. I was staring nkly in concentration at the wall of my crib when in front of my eyes a block of text appeared: <strong>Status </strong>:


    <strong>Name</strong> : Ajax


    <strong>Level</strong> :1


    <strong>Experience</strong> : 0/100


    <strong>Traits</strong>: Child, Divine Witness


    <strong>Health</strong>: 20/20


    <strong>Mana</strong>: 70/70


    <strong>Stamina</strong> : 5/10


    <strong>Vitality</strong> : 2


    <strong>Strength</strong> : 1


    <strong>Endurance</strong> : 1


    <strong>Dexterity</strong> : 1


    <strong>Intellect</strong>: 25


    <strong>Wisdom</strong> : 16


    <strong>Mind</strong> : 7


    <strong>Perception</strong> : 4


    <strong>Stat Points</strong> : 0


    <strong>Skills</strong> :


    Nothing made sense, it wasn¡¯t that I didn¡¯t know what this was, I had read enough stories that I had tried in those first 2 week for more hours than I¡¯mfortable admitting to try to bring up something like this but nothing worked yet now it pops up out of nowhere for no discernable reason in the middle of the night.


    The fright sends my infant instincts into overdrive and I start bawling my eyes out. It takes seconds for my mother toe into the room, disheveled as if she had just woken up, and check if I am hungry or in need of changing. When she reasons that I am not in need of food or a new cloth diaper she starts to worry. I next see my dading into the room sleepily rubbing his eyes as he listens to the worried torrent of wordsing from my mother only to say a soft calm reply. As soon as he finished his words my mom get a look of realization on her face after which she calms down and puts sways me to sleep.


    Naturally I try to resist, after she sessfully calmed me down I try to figure out what happened and what is this Status. Unfortunately my past few hours of learning to speakbined with the drowsiness from calming down from a tantrum lets her gently put me to sleep without me figuring anything else out.


    <strong>Silvia P.O.V :</strong>


    The sound of Ajax crying woke me up, looking out the window lets me see it must be the middle of the night, and I slowly get out of bed and walk over to the baby room next door. Thomas and Judy are managing to sleep on the other side of the house so I hurry to quiet him down before he wakes them up.


    I reach in the crib and lift him up to check if he needs to be changed but that doesn¡¯t seem to be the issue. Afterwards I try to feed him but it seems that he isn¡¯t hungry either. Its at this point that I start to get worried. Yes babies are known to cry for no reasons but this is the first time Ajax has done so.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what''s happened! He¡¯s not hungry and he¡¯s clean, he just won¡¯t stop crying.¡± I worriedly tell Sam as I see him enter the room.


    He looks at me with tired eyes and seems to think for a moment then calmly responds. "It''s the first day of Summer, his status must have just unlocked and it scared him¡±.


    Hearing the logical reason I realize that yes it does make sense. Being awake at all hours to feed the baby I had lost track of days and didn¡¯t notice that today was the first day of Summer. I instantly rxed and started to calm Ajax down then put him to sleep.

 Chapter 2

    Chapter 2


    I wake up to a few rays of sun getting through the window and try to twist my head to get the light out of my eyes when I remember the scenest night and I¡¯m instantly awake.


    I tentatively try to pull up my status and sure enough the same thing asst night appears.


    <strong>Status </strong>:


    <strong>Name</strong> : Ajax


    <strong>Level</strong> :1


    <strong>Experience</strong> : 0/100


    <strong>Traits</strong>: Child, Divine Witness


    <strong>Health</strong>: 20/20


    <strong>Mana</strong>: 70/70<strong>Stamina</strong> : 10/10


    <strong>Vitality</strong> : 2


    <strong>Strength</strong> : 1


    <strong>Endurance</strong> : 1


    <strong>Dexterity</strong> : 1


    <strong>Intellect</strong>: 25


    <strong>Wisdom</strong> : 16


    <strong>Mind</strong> : 7


    <strong>Perception</strong> : 4


    <strong>Stat Points</strong> : 0


    <strong>Skills</strong> :


    As well as something I didn¡¯t seest night. In the small bottom left of my vision is a small blinking dot. I focus on it to see what it may mean and am presented with a message.


    ¡°Trait ¡°warning of misfortune¡± found, trait affects future sight. Future sight is not the domain of mortals, trait forcibly removed.


    Removed trait has left a hole, survival without a trait is impossible.


    New trait granted by @#$%^. Trait Divine Witness gained. ¡°


    I try to think ¡°close¡± and the message disappears. I also try bringing it up again and find I can¡¯t do it, this leads me to the decision that all actions on my status are permanent.


    Next I focus on the trait ¡°Child¡± and a new message is presented to me.


    ¡°Child - Temporary trait


    Status points cannot be allocated.


    Incremental increase of all stat points by 10 throughout the duration.


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    Stat points do not affect ageing.


    Gaining skills grants Experience.


    Levelling skills grants Experience.


    Crafting Experience gain stopped.


    Killing Experience gain stopped.


    Upon expiration or removal Trait Apprentice is gained for half the duration Child has persisted.


    Time remaining : 150 cycles. ¡°


    Closing that, I focus on my other trait.


    ¡°Divine Witness - Permanent trait


    Affinity with all skills greatly increased.


    Ease of levelling skills increased.


    Ease of forcibly gaining stat points slightly increased.


    Stat points gained per level increased by 2.


    Skill level limits increased by 50.


    This trait cannot be forcibly revealed.¡±


    I then try to focus on Health but nothing happens. That seems to be the case for all of my other stats. Theye with no exnation, not that I don¡¯t find them self-exnatory.


    With that out of the way I reread through my two traits and focus on one part that bothers me whenpared to all the games I have ever yed: ¡°Ease of forcibly gaining stat points slightly increased.¡±


    I try to figure out what that could mean and my status changes in front of my eyes.


    <strong>Status </strong>:


    <strong>Name</strong> : Ajax


    <strong>Level</strong> :1


    <strong>Experience</strong> : 0/100


    <strong>Traits</strong>: Child, Divine Witness


    <strong>Health</strong>: 20/20


    <strong>Mana</strong>: 70/70


    <strong>Stamina</strong> : 10/10


    <strong>Vitality</strong> : 2.00


    <strong>Strength</strong> : 1.00


    <strong>Endurance</strong> : 1.01


    <strong>Dexterity</strong> : 1.00


    <strong>Intellect</strong>: 25.00


    <strong>Wisdom</strong> : 16.00


    <strong>Mind</strong> : 7.00


    <strong>Perception</strong> : 4.00


    <strong>Stat Points</strong> : 0


    <strong>Skills</strong> :


    Ah, I see, so increases in stat points don¡¯t count until they reach a full point but their progress can be tracked, which leads me to my next question, What did I do to increase my Endurance? The only thing that stands out to me is that my stamina went from 5/10 to 10/10.


    So simply using and regenerating stamina increases my endurance, that doesn¡¯t seem all that bad.


    Reasoning that there is nothing else I can do I start struggling and flexing my legs and arms hoping that by doing so I will not only strengthen my muscles to the point that I can crawl so that I have some mobility but that I also use up some of my stamina.


    Sure enough 20 minutester I am at 1 stamina and too tired to move any more but my mind is still wide awake and alert, so I do the only thing that seems to make sense try to focus on myself so that I can feel for my mana, after all if spending and regaining stamina gains endurance simrly spending and regenerating mana must increase a stat as well.


    Two hourster I finally feel a strange energy inside of myself and am jilted out of my concentration. Pulling out my stats now gives me something different :


    <strong>Status </strong>:


    <strong>Name</strong> : Ajax


    <strong>Level</strong> :2


    <strong>Experience</strong> : 50/200


    <strong>Traits</strong>: Child, Divine Witness


    <strong>Health</strong>: 20/20


    <strong>Mana</strong>: 70/70


    <strong>Stamina</strong> : 2/10


    <strong>Vitality</strong> : 2.00


    <strong>Strength</strong> : 1.00


    <strong>Endurance</strong> : 1.01


    <strong>Dexterity</strong> : 1.00


    <strong>Intellect</strong>: 25.00


    <strong>Wisdom</strong> : 16.00


    <strong>Mind</strong> : 7.00


    <strong>Perception</strong> : 4.00


    <strong>Stat Points</strong> : 22


    <strong>Skills</strong> : [Meditation Lvl 2 ][Sense Mana Lvl 1]


    The thing I notice is that I no longer need to focus to sense the mana inside of me. I then try using the mana for something but that is where I get stumped, it goes to reason that for something to regenerate it must be used up first but other than feeling my mana I don¡¯t seem to be able to do anything with it.


    It takes 5 minutes of exertion to finally get my mana to release from me and am prompted that I have now gained the skill [Mana Expulsion Lvl 1] sadly my focus on releasing mana also helped me release something else. Fuck it, if that''s what it takes that''s what it takes. So with my victory of having learned how to sense and reduce my mana being left with only 10/70 I give the house the morning wake up cry that I have soiled myself again, all the while thinking that after all my hard work I could go for a meal.

 Chapter 3

    Chapter 3


    It has been 7 cycles since I gained my status, at least ording to my Child trait and I have found out that each cycle has 36 days. In this time life seems to have gone on all around me, my mastery of the localnguage has been increasing and I have learnt that my parents are called Sam and Silvia, that my older brother is very interested in me for some reason while my sister seems to just be following him around all day.


    My mother seems to be a seamstress and my father a cksmith, but onto more important news it was just yesterday that I had found enough power to crawl. It has been a worthwhile achievement and I am looking forward to exploring my new home.


    Being satisfied with myself I pull up my status screen to see my improvement


    <strong>Name</strong> : Ajax


    <strong>Level</strong> :5


    <strong>Experience</strong> : 150/800


    <strong>Traits</strong>: Child, Divine Witness


    <strong>Health</strong>: 20/20


    <strong>Mana</strong>: 15/80<strong>Stamina</strong> : 5/30


    <strong>Vitality</strong> : 2.53


    <strong>Strength</strong> : 2.08


    <strong>Endurance</strong> : 3.02


    <strong>Dexterity</strong> : 1.79


    <strong>Intelect </strong>: 26.03


    <strong>Wisdom</strong> : 18.07


    <strong>Mind</strong> : 8.76


    <strong>Perception</strong> : 4.50


    <strong>Stat Points</strong> : 88


    <strong>Skills</strong> : [Meditation Lvl 9][Sense Mana Lvl 7][Expel Mana Lvl 6][Mathematics Lvl 3]


    Of all that I have figured out in these months is that first of all stats get harder to increase as points go up, Eduarence having increased to 3 from constant workout but Mind only to 8.76 despite working for longer. That Vitality is extremely hard to level and that the points from my Child trait seem to be gradually given through a drip feed having given half a point in all my stats in about half 7 and a half cycles out of 150.


    Other news I have found out is that this world also has days of 24 hours, so there is a small victory in that and that their seasons alsost 3 months - or cycles as they are called here. Besides the longer months though the big differencees from this world having 5 seasons besides the usual of Spring Summer Fall and Winter they also seem to have the season called &$#%*( it is not a word I have learnt yet but it does seem to be a word also used for something else as I have heard it in another context).


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    One of the things I did figure out is that this world named its seasons after its gods and that each season is named after the god that is said to be empowered at that time. Which makes sense seeing as I was born in Spring and he is also the god that gave me my other Trait.


    Meaning that the scrambled letters in my other trait mean Spring, thenguage looks so weird written down that I dread having to learn how to write it, but if I learnt anything in myst life it''s that putting in the work early and not taking shortcuts is the way to the top. So my foreseeable future seems to be crawling and exercising my muscles learning thenguage and spending my mana.


    It has now been 32 cycles since my rebirth and a lot has changed. I can fully understand thenguage and am capable of speaking, though I refrain from making any really intelligent sentences and am trying to seem like the usual 3 year old - or I guess two year old; as in this world the years are longer. That''s going to take some getting used to though at least now it makes sense why the child trait disappears at 150 cycles: it''s when I would be 10 years old.


    Tom is approaching that age himself and will be 10 as the next cycle hits. That''s another weird thing about this world as the trait changes only happen on the 1st day of every season everyone¡¯s age and birthday is counted on only on that day, meaning there are only 5 days a year where anyone¡¯s birthday is celebrated.


    That''s not to say that the poption birthdays are equally split among the 5 dates. Based on my experiences in these past years I seem to be in a medieval world somewhere around the year 1000, but then again I was getting an engineering degree not a history one so I could be off by quite a bit. Suffice it to say that there is not much technology around here.


    The 5th season that is between Fall and Winter is Death. Yeah surprised me too, but I found out pretty quickly as to why that is. See here winters are only slightly colder than fall: just enough to turn the rainy fall season into the snowy winter season. During Death however the temperature drops drastically and winds are constantly howling, though there is no precipitation (thank gods; it would be hail). So what are people to do for entertainment for 3 months mostly spent inside to hide away from the cold? Given what I¡¯ve overheard trying to meditate and expel mana at night, my parents are trying really hard to get me a younger sibling to add to the two older ones I already have.


    My stat increases have been getting better, and despite my brother''s attempts to keep me confined to his care I have made some progress exploring the house.This let me find out that my father seems to be a cksmith and that my mother seems to be a merchant and housewife on the side. He creates while she sells and takes care of everything else.


    After almost 33 cycles of training my skills and stats have improved considerably.


    <strong>Name</strong> : Ajax


    <strong>Level</strong> :7


    <strong>Experience</strong> : 1650/2100


    <strong>Traits</strong>: Child, Divine Witness


    <strong>Health</strong>: 40/40


    <strong>Mana</strong>: 75/150


    <strong>Stamina</strong> : 53/100


    <strong>Vitality</strong> : 4.09


    <strong>Strength</strong> :7.53


    <strong>Endurance</strong> : 10.60


    <strong>Dexterity</strong> : 7.14


    <strong>Intelect </strong>: 29.35


    <strong>Wisdom</strong> :21.63


    <strong>Mind</strong> : 15.54


    <strong>Perception</strong> : 6.24


    <strong>Stat Points</strong> : 132


    <strong>Skills</strong> : [Meditation Lvl 24][Sense Mana Lvl 22][Expel Mana Lvl 21][Mathematics Lvl 15] [Stealth Lvl 5][Drawing Lvl 8][Athleticism Lvl 2].


    The difficulty of gaining stats forcibly seems to be getting harder doing the same things over and over , but at least with my newfound mobility I was able to finally gain some extra points in Perception, though gaining them by having my nose assaulted when I found the outhouse is not my most pleasant memory.


    Increasing my Vitality seems to be an exercise in futility as my only increase outside of the Child trait is 0.09 so I am guessing I¡¯ll have to ask my parents about that once I grow a bit older and it would be eptable for my age to ask questions about stats and skills.


    What I am looking forward to next is my brother''s 10th birthdaying tomorrow as I will be there to see what happens when the Child trait bes Apprentice.


    For all myining about him and the fact that I developed the Stealth skill so I can escape him and explore something outside my room I am finding myself thinking of these people as my family more and more as time passes, and I am not sure if those are my genuine feelings on the matter or if I my thinking is affected by my child body.

 Chapter 4

    Chapter 4


    I woke up early as I usually do and spent the next few minutes emptying out my mana pool before going doing the same to half my stamina and then continuing to make progress on my next big challenge: walking.


    It¡¯s far too often that I find just how many things I had taken for granted in my past life at the age of 24, but not having the muscle memory to walk makes learning to walk simr to walking drunk out of your mind without the added inebriation stopping you from noticing you just about kiss the floor every few steps.


    My frustrating exercisese to a close as my motheres to get me ready telling me that my brother has left home and that we(and by we I mean her while I am put somewhere in her line of sight) can begin preparing for the party we are having for him tonight.


    As I am sat at the table working on my drawing as I found that to be the best way to get my Dexterity to increase and regain a few of my skills in design I start to smell the food cooking not 5 feet from me and it smells better than anything else I have had in the past 3 years.


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± I ask trying as hard as I can to be cute in the hopes that she will answer me in detail instead of the nd answer ¡±just food". "It smells so good!¡±.


    ¡°That is meat from a monster that was Lvl 20 ording to the merchant I bought it from.¡± My mother answers like its nothing.


    ¡°M-M-Monster?¡± I ask freaking out on the inside that there are monsters in this world, forgetting entirely that a pr bear would have been a monster to people during the middle ages.


    ¡°Yes silly, unlike humans all animals that level past level 19 gain ess to mana and start to form a mana core inside them. That mana circting their body makes them stronger and in most cases taste much better and be more nutritious.¡± My sister actually answers me, with a tone of voice that makes it clear that she had asked the same question before mother got me from my room and probably many others and is now making it seem like she is the sage of all knowledge.


    This information takes over my mind as I start thinking about all sorts of high level creatures and how they could evolve like that. With the information of my past life as well as the bounty of fiction I have read in my teens about fantasy stories I start to wonder about what their existence could mean for this world. If youe across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    Are humans not the dominant species on this? Does killing them grant a lot of experience? Can they be tamed or are they always aggressive? Can they learn skills just like we can?


    ¡°Wow! That looks really good! "Judy exims as she is looking at the paper I am drawing on. Without realizing it as my mind was wondering about all the possibilities of monsters, the drawings which I had purposely made look like child scribbles before now had started to look a lot more like the designs I was doing for my architecture courses. Its not too much since it started only in the middle of the drawing but enough to get my mother to look over and look at me surprised.


    ¡°Did you get the Drawing skill?¡± She kindly asks me. Trying to hide her excitement.


    ¡°Drawing but he¡¯s only 2. I only got that skill Last year when I was 6¡± My sister sounds equally impressed and jealous.


    ¡°Y-Yes.¡±I stutter knowing I might just have blown my cover, thatbined with my new knowledge of the existence of monsters is praying that normal kids can gain skills early and this doesn¡¯t mark me as a changeling or something to burst at the stake.


    ¡°Congrattions darling, you¡¯ll do well to level it up as much as you can before you¡¯re 15 after that it will stop giving you experience¡± My mother says while not only calming me down about my sudden slip-up and also making me wonder what she means only up until I turn 15.


    My wondering is cut short by my father entering the house and announcing¡± He¡¯s on his way, is everything ready?¡±


    ¡°Yes the stew only has a few more minutes until it is ready, did you finish his sword?¡±


    ¡°Yeah it¡¯s right here, I hope he¡¯ll like it.¡±


    My brother entered the house to find our family wishing him a happy birthday. He doesn¡¯t seem surprised at all, telling me that he knew what our parents were nning but seems very happy regardless of it being a sessful surprise or not.


    After all the well wishing and idle conversation is over, as my mother is going to set the table my father pulls Tom aside and starts questioning him.


    ¡°So did you make up your mind about what you wanted to do?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I talked with Vex and he said I can tag along with them to get to Lessis when he leaves.¡±


    This was all news to me. Where was Lessis, who is this Vex and why is my brother leaving?. As my mind is running 100 miles a minute my dad¡¯s next question fills up a few of the holes I had.


    ¡°You¡¯re sure you want to be a guard? If you changed your mind about bing a cksmith I can train you myself¡±


    ¡°Yes, dad, I¡¯m sure. We both know I have been helping out and even with you trying to teach me in the past I still don¡¯t have any skills for the hammer much less cksmithing.¡± He says like it was the 50th times they had the same conversation, which considering he was nning on leaving the vige it probably was." You don¡¯t have to worry and Lessis is less than two weeks travel on a merchant caravan it''s not like I¡¯m nning on going to the capital to be a mage.¡±


    A smirk forming upon his lips as he is looking at my sister who was drawing closer to eavesdrop on the pair. A bit of a sore spot for her as we¡¯d all been made well aware in the past year that while my sister finds magic to be the best thing there is, she has yet to gain any mana skills. Mother says that it''s very rare only 1 in 50 people is blessed with mana and that is a skewed statistic as most of them are nobles, the chances of a viger having ess to mana is more like 1 in 500.


    My sister seems upset at hearing that but I figured that both my parents and my brother have been trying to gently let her down, as she only has 3 more years herself before she has to make the choice of what path she wants to travel down.

 Chapter 5

    Chapter 5


    After dinner my mother picked me up and after clearing the table and we at my dad''s request we all sat down around the empty table.


    ¡°Now son I know you made your decision about what you want to do and I respect that however there is one thing that I feel that I must do before you be an Apprentice.¡±


    He says that because in this culture a person bes an adult only when they no longer have either the Child or the Apprentice trait. This happens at 15 years old or around 22 to 23 years on Earth. That might seem a bit old for a medieval structure that their technology shows but considering that the message on my child trait suggests that after it is over my stats will also affect my ageing it doesn¡¯t seem that bad.


    ¡°What I am about to do now is something you must never do unless you trust the people around you with your life. I am about to show you my status and try to exin to you my choices.¡±


    That is all my father said before the block of text became visible about 4 inches in front of his face.


    Name : Sam


    Level :35


    Experience : 4500/64000


    Traits:Health: 2500/2500


    Mana: 250/250


    Stamina : 500/1200


    Vitality : 250


    Strength : 250


    Endurance : 120


    Dexterity : 180


    Intellect : 25


    Wisdom : 25


    Mind : 25


    Perception : 45


    Stat Points : 0


    Skills :[Hammers Lvl 60][cksmithing Lvl 49][Precise Blow Lvl 32][Axes Lvl 30] [Mining Lvl 25][Running Lvl 20][Reading Lvl 10][Heat Resistance Lvl 10][Writing Lvl 5]


    ¡°Now I will advise you as my father advised me, despite the fact that you have no mana and that you will most likely never have mana regardless of how much above 11 you Intellect Wisdom and Mind stats are you should probably push them up to 25, as that is where it is believed that the bonus to things like memory enhancement and quick thinking and other such limits are. It probably seems like a big investment now and I am not saying that these are your first points to put in just that these are something you are looking to have by the time your Apprentice trait ends or a year after.¡±


    ¡°Everything else I chose has been for the purpose of making me a better cksmith, the Strength and Dexterity to work the metal as I wanted as well as enough Endurance tost in the forge.¡±


    That is when my mother took over. ¡°My stat points look a bit different¡±


    Name :Silvia


    Level :30


    Experience : 13200/48000


    Traits: Merchant


    Health: 3000/3000


    Mana: 250/250


    Stamina : 500/1200


    Vitality : 300


    Strength : 110


    Endurance : 110


    Dexterity : 110


    Intellect : 25


    Wisdom : 25


    Mind : 25


    Perception : 110


    Stat Points : 0


    Skills : [Haggling Lvl 40][Mathematics Lvl 30][Cleaning Lvl 28][Cooking Lvl 27] [Sewing Lvl 20][Reading Lvl 20][Writing Lvl 19][Lower Price Lvl 17][Raise Price Lvl 16] [Good Deal Lvl 10][Running Lvl 10][Drawing Lvl 5][Contracts Lvl 3]


    ¡°As you can see without all the need for that much strength and dexterity, I mostly focused on my vitality and raised my perception a bit more. As a merchant and someone who grew up in the city, not to mention the work around the house, I picked up a few more skills than your father, however mine are not as connected nor are they as high level.¡±


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    ¡°Mother, what does the Merchant trait do?¡± My sister asked, seeming very confused that an adult would have a trait.


    ¡°The merchant trait is one that increases my skill level up speed slightly in all merchant skills and also increases the Lvl cap on the skills from 100 to 120.¡±


    ¡°If you have a trait then howe we don¡¯t?¡± My brother asked, himself seeming surprised at my mother having a trait.


    ¡°That¡¯s because for the most part traits are not hereditary¡± My dad told him.


    ¡°Most part?¡± I asked, forgetting for a second that this was all supposed to go over my head. They seemed to think I didn¡¯t understand the expression instead of questioning his statement.


    ¡°Yes there are traits that are not hereditary, and while traits in and of themselves are rather umon there are some traits that can be guaranteed or even earned. For example the Knight trait can be earned by anyone who is knighted and increases the limit of allbat weapons skills by 10, where as the Noble Baron Duke Archduke and Royal all increase the limit of all skills by 10 , 20 ,30 ,40 and 50 they are however titles that can be lost with the position they represent.¡± My father said, smiling kindly at me.


    ¡°That''s not to say they are exclusive, while a person can only have one permanent at a time traits can evolve and evolve to amodate this. For example should I be a baroness tomorrow my trait will evolve to Baron Merchant and it will give me a slight increase levelling up merchant skills as well as a 20 increase to the limit of all merchant skills and 10 to the others.¡±


    ¡°So the limit of skills is really 160?¡± My sister said, having lifted her hand up counting on her fingers.


    ¡°No apparently regardless of the Trait nothing increases skill limit past 150, and that is known from a few rebellions where the new king had previously had a trait, the limit is still 150 but they do keep their slight increase to levelling ease.¡±


    ¡°The limit of non-nobility traits is also an increase of 50, the difference is that they don¡¯te with an increase to the speed of getting skill levels, and that the higher the increase is the more specific it is.¡±


    ¡°For example a hammer expert would get 10 to all hammer rted skills, a cksmith would gain 20 to cksmithing, an military-smith would gain 30 to all weapons and armor smithing skills, while an armor or weaponsmith would gain 40.¡±


    ¡°What about the natural 50?¡±


    ¡°Those are extremely rare and too specialized to be as useful, it would be something like a swordsmith, the downside is that while a swordsmith may get cksmithing to 150 with enough hard work the skill would also get warped by how he levelled it all the way up and be capped at 100 for anything other than swordsmithing .¡±My mother said.


    ¡°That however is only true when ites to working as a crafter, and even those can find sess, it just takes a long time for their specialty to beat out older established crafters, most such people get picked up by a noble family willing to invest in them so that they can get ess to 150 skill crafter items. Most of the other specialists often find sess but they are always pulled into nobility either by marriage or a work contract, and it''s not like there are many of them anyway, in our kingdomst I heard there are only 4 openly known about and maybe 3 times again that many hidden away so around 15 in a kingdoms worth of people." My dad patiently exined to my curious sister. It was times like this that I was d for her inquisitive nature that mirrored my own.


    So of course I then made the crucial mistake of yawning rather loudly. Mother got up to go and put me to sleep. Signaling that this was all the conversation I was going to be listening in on tonight, a rather upsetting juncture since I n on working on skills as soon as possible, not in 8 years.

 Chapter 6

    Chapter 6


    The sun had barely started rising, a few rays making it through the window as I finished exhausting my stamina and mana. I crawled out of bed wanting to continue to practice my walking. I had no problem walking for a few weeks now but still had the bad habit of tripping when I picked up the speed even a little and I tried to turn. I would love to practice outside but apparently I wasn¡¯t old enough to spend time alone outside.


    I noticed something strange as I tripped for the 3rd time that day when I caught sight of something being ced on the other side of the wardrobe, I found it odd as the wardrobe was making a small triangle with the corner of the room and it made no sense for something to be in that triangle as it would be hard to reach, but not a great ce to hide something as anyone searching for it would find it.


    A bit of stretching and crawlingter I pulled out a potted nt with a small faded ¡°X¡± scratched on the pot. I take my time examining it, after allmon knowledge says that X marks the spot, and why would anyone put a nt somewhere where there was no light, especially one as green and as vibrant as this one, surely there must be something special about it.


    30 minutester and I was no closer to figuring out what was so special about this nt when my mother came in to wake me up, it was a bit earlier than usual but today we were sending my brother off to be a guard.


    ¡°Morning Ajax, How are you this morni- hey when did you bring in a pot from the garden? I know they aren¡¯t that rare but those medicinal nts still sell quite well in this region as they are hard to grow without a lot of care.¡±


    Taking up the pot in one hand and me in the other she takes me into the kitchen and sets me down at the table with the flower pot by side. My dad and brother were both going through his pack making sure he had everything he needed as my sister was setting the table. She looked especially pleased with herself for helping mother prepare breakfast today. And to be honest she was starting to get the hang of it. I hadn''t found any shells in my eggs thest 2 times.


    ¡°Silvia, I thought we agreed we weren¡¯t bringing any more nts in the house, I know it''s a bit cold for some of the species but you can¡¯t me that looks like a nt that needs specific care.¡± My dadined, but an analysis of my memories tells me that what really bothered him was the nts she had tried to get him to keep in the forge as it was usually a lot hotter there. They had that argument when mom pretty much started an indoor garden and apromise was reached.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t bring this one Ajax did, he was ying with it in his room this morning¡± she said indignantly, clearly a little upset about the usation. I couldn¡¯t really fault them for arguing, both worry really stressed with Tom leaving to be a guard so they were both a little on edge.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take it back, I was supposed to watch him anyway¡± my brother quickly said, taking the nt outside and returning a few secondster. The rest of the morning continued with both parents fussing over every little thing, evidently in this world being 10 years of age is the equivalent of college, the children usually take their first step out of basic education on their chosen career path, some of them still live at home others move to live with their teachers in the shop where they¡¯ll learn but for the most part they stayed in the same ce where they lived before a few minutes away from their parents. My brother was doing the equivalent of a full time study abroad program by leaving to be a guard in the city.


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    ¡°All right, now dad please listen, I know you didn¡¯t ept Jonny as an apprentice hoping I¡¯ll change my mind, and you¡¯ll most likely ept him now so I want to make sure that this practice sword you made for me 3 years ago is for Ajax, with how much energy he has he will probably start using it as soon as his hands can grip the handle. It served well as my first sword. It would be great for him too.¡± he said, taking one final swing with it before sheathing it, giving it to my dad and attaching his new one to the belt. I will need to pay close attention to where dad puts that de, because I saw a sword skill in my future.


    I was almost mid-day by the time the merchant caravan was ready to depart, with my mother trying her hardest to embarrass my brother by being as reluctant to let him out of a hug as the squirrel from Ice age to let go of the nut I finally saw him get up on the cart and look back with what I think was a bit of uneasiness and trepidation, before that changed back to his usual self assured grin mixed with excitement.


    I was honestly more upset than I thought I would be, but I guess I was underestimating how much I havee to care for my brother, not to mention that with all the fuss this morning was the first time I learned why they were so reluctant to let him leave to be a guard.


    Apparently guard is a very special position as you are employed by the kingdom, it doesn¡¯t work as usual apprenticeships do. Here you negotiate up front for the whole position, since they always have something to do even for the most useless guards, you negotiate your sry and employment for the next 10 years, at least as an entry level position. You basically have no option to quit and desertion is not looked well upon, with punishments for doing so ranging from a heavy fine with 1 year of service left to execution at anything over 4 years still left.


    The upside, on the job training from high skilled people, every day for the first year and as often as you want to attend after that from high skilled people lets you put as much work in your skills as you want as long as you do your assignments. A full wage starting while in training, something unheard of from any other type of apprentice, even if it starts to fall behind what crafters can do when they have 9 or 10 years of experience. It alsoes with free meals and shelter in the barracks as well as a full set of equipment every 4 years, thest of which you can keep even if you choose to leave.


    Once youplete your first 10 years you can negotiate for further employment, your new contract being highly dependent on your performance for thest 10 years.


    <strong>Tom P.O.V</strong>


    I took onest swing with my sword before I sheathed it, hearing that satisfying ¡°shnick¡± and then gave it to my father, before I tied my gift to my belt, knowing this sword was probably much better than anything they would give us as part of the standard set as a guard.


    Not to mention that with me having a sword I can choose an axe or a hammer or a spear besides the shield meaning I can get the instructors to teach me how to use a shield and sword as well as a shield and something else and dual wield offensive weapons, after all there were always a few instructors at each barracks surely I could find one that I can get along with and that would train me.


    Dad assures me that he will not sell my old de and will keep it for my brother by putting it back in the house. As he is doing that I see Ajax¡¯s eyes follow the sword, he has that same look in his eyes as he does every time before I lose track of him and spend the next 10 minutes looking for him. But I let it go and together we head for the caravan.


    After a long goodbye I climb in the caravan full of smirking faces, knowing that for at least the next few days I will be the entertainment thanks to my mother, but I can¡¯t hold it against her.


    I take onest look out towards the vige and wonder if I made the right choice, before going back to this strange feeling I had all morning, well that¡¯s not right, not all morning it started right after I took the flower pot back into the garden. I still wonder how Ajax managed to sneak past me after all I don¡¯t remember losing track of him once outside the house, not to mention he picked the one nt 3 times the size of any of the rest of them.


    That''s when it hit me, I knew that nt, I knew it because about 2 years ago I hid it behind the wardrobe in Ajax¡¯s room in an attempt to keep my sister upied when Ajax was being born, I hid things all around the house and must have forgotten about that one in all the excitement with him being brought home, that ¡°X¡± I put on the pot had been staring me right in the face.


    But how did that nt manage to survive? I know those nts are tough being able to survive 2 cycles without water or sunlight, but they still need a lot of nutrients to grow while doing so, and I had ced that there years ago growing that big with nobody taking care of it made no sense. Not only that but it looked a lot more vibrant than any of the nts mom had sold in the previous years¡­ .

 Chapter 7

    Chapter 7


    It has been almost 3 years since I said goodbye to my brother, and I find myself in the garden tending to my little pet project. It all started with the silly superstition that X marks the spot, and I was convinced that there had to be a treasure there. Don¡¯t judge me, if there is one thing that I figured out throughout all this time being reincarnated is that while my thought process may take advantage of my previous knowledge my body does not, meaning that my emotional reaction was the same as any other child, meaning I was absolutely over excited and convinced I was right.


    Surprise surprise I was wrong. I can¡¯t say it threw me through a loop because the revtion that the X was something that my brother did to keep my 5 year old sister upied while I was being born makes sense. What doesn¡¯t is the fact that said not only survived but also thrived. I regret to say that it took me 4 cycles to figure out a reason that had anything to back it up, but in my defence my proof was outside and I wasn¡¯t really allowed to spend that much time outside until I turned 3.


    My discovery was the vibrant nt life around my window that lost more and more of its shine as it went further and further away. Seeing as they were all the same nts and that the wind always beat into my window instead of away from it and that the sun rose from the side meant all the nts were given the same amount of water and sun. Only thing that made sense to me was mana. The further away from the house they were the more diluted the mana I released into the air was, which did make sense seeing as how the nt in the room basically lived off of my mana alone.


    My new project was a garden, an idea I barely managed to sell to my mom. And its difficulty should not be underestimated as I got a merchant skill just for being able to convince her. Apparently kids should be out ying until they approach the age of 10 with no worries at all in this world.


    As much as I would like to say that it was my past experiences that led me to make the choice to keep true to my initial n of raising my stats and skills as my main focus even through the heavy temptations of cking, it''s not really true. I took pretty much every chance I found to do y around, thing is in a mediaeval society and stuck in a young body there pretty much was nothing else for me to do, even the activities kids my age did take part in I found myself trying to use to improve either my stats or my skills, the things that distracted were my sister and her friends.


    While kids in this world were pretty muchyabouts that all changed as being 10 approached, seeing it was like making the change from early middle school to college. They were forced to adapt quickly if they were to survive in life, that mixed with the fact that my only non running and athleticism skills I could level up were drawing, reading, writing and any other household skills I found myself spending a lot of time with them trying to improve myself, beside mana of course but I still didn¡¯t feelfortable showing that to anyone yet.


    Gardening was thetest in that list of skills that I found myself practicing. The only difference was after I was basically given a tutorial on how to do it, I started experimenting with releasing my mana right on top of my little spot of the garden 3-4 times a day in my early years and 1-2 times as ofte.


    One thing I can say is that I was having results, these nts were growing 2-3 times faster than any other that were nted, I can¡¯t yet tell if its because the solid I nted them on has been infused with mana over thest 3 years or that they are being given mana as they grow, maybe it was a mix of the two but I didn¡¯t really mind all that much as far as I was concerned this was a sess.


    The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the vition.There was one big change that happened ever since my brother left for Lessis, and that was that Jonny was now my dad''s live-in apprentice, meaning I got moved into the same room as my sister and he took my old room. This made it so I got most of my mana practice during the day with little done at night, mostly an end of day meditation and quick release of all that I managed to meditate back.


    I did not like Jonny at all, in my opinion he was not really someone who was interested in smithing like my father and he mostly decided that smithing was the safest way to be someone important in the vige, then used the fact that he was a friend of Toms to get his apprenticeship. It wasn¡¯t so much that he wasn¡¯t willing to work, it was that he wasn¡¯t willing to try to push himself to improve his skills. Instead of taking the trial and error way of doing things over and over to get something right resmelting it so it came out just right he would always be begging to just have it spoon-fed to him the way to do it despite being repeatedly warned that this would slow down his speed in levelling the skills and lower the amount of experience he got for each creation.


    Besides that he also hung out with Derk, the headman''s youngest son. They were the same age and where Jonny waszy Derk thought the world owed him just because his dad was the vige headman.


    It was a good day when I found out that the headman had an older son he was grooming to be the headman after his passing. All this I learned from na, the headman¡¯s youngest child and only daughter, despite being almost a year older than Jenny they got along very well. They both bonded over the fact that they both had wanted to use mana yet neither had been gifted with it, although Jenny wanted to be a mage and na a healer.


    <strong>Sam P.O.V : </strong>


    I was starting to get worried. Ajax seemed to be more interested in doing house chores instead of ying with kids his own age. While being able to do chores was good I couldn¡¯t help but think that this would not be good for himter on. After all Jenny had grown up with Tom as an older brother and as a result had been a bit tomboyish, had it not been for the fact that she got along so well with na over their mutual misfortune of not having mana I was worried the girls would not have made any friends at all. But once na took the space left by Tom''s departure she seemed to mellow out a bit more.


    ¡°Tomorrow I am going to start teaching Ajax some smithing. He needs to learn how to do something other than housework. Hopefully he is different from Tom and might enjoy crafting.¡± I told Silvia as we wereying in bed.


    ¡°I won¡¯t say I am not worried by his habits but are you sure it''s not a bit too early to start with that he is not even 6 years old yet¡± she answered back in a worried tone yet her soft smile showed that she more or less agreed with my decision and was happy I chose cksmithing over sword fighting like I did with Tom when he went through the same thing, albeit to a lesser extend using Silvia as a role model, which led to him going off to be a guard.


    I had learnt from my mistakes I was going to start him off with something nice and safe and go from there, we might just make a smith of this one yet.


    This thinking about children''s future lead me to thinking again about the issue the headman brought up at thest meeting, that our vige healer Karen was starting to grow old and with so little work to do here she didn¡¯t have the strength to stay for longer than the next 6 years or so before she would head to the city where here talents could be better mized.


    With no children with mana being born in the vige training a new healer didn¡¯t seem to be in the cards, thest mana born child had been ¡°invited¡± by the local noble house to visit their home and got an apprenticeship that same trip. She came back home to pick up her family and off they went.


    Of course I understood why there had been a drastic increase in how far the nobles would go in order to recruit somebody with magic, but I don¡¯t think we had yet felt the effect this would have on remote poptions such as our little out of the way vige. But there was nothing I could do about that, I had better get some rest and focus on starting Ajax¡¯s training tomorrow.

 Chapter 8

    Chapter 8


    ng! ng! ng!


    I got used to hearing that sound over thest 5 cycles. Dad apparently decided that it was time for me to learn something outside of housekeeping and started me off with cksmithing. I heard that my brother started with swordsmanship but I guess he wanted to steer me more towards the crafting path rather than fighter one.


    Surprisingly there was a lot more to cksmithing than I ever thought possible. It wasn¡¯t that I underestimated it since I did watch a lot of reality TV back on earth one of which was Forged in Fire so I knew a little of what to expect but cksmithing back on Earth and doing it in this vige was a lot different.


    First of all here we were mostly dependent on mining our own ore and cutting down very specific trees to use for fuel to heat the metal, smelting our own ingots and only then could we finally get to hammering our creations into shape.


    This was also the first time I found myself being bad at something I tried in this world. Not in the fact that I didn¡¯t unlock the skills for it but simply because I didn¡¯t have the strength required. There was a reason that people who had jobs that required physical work only took apprentices only after they had moved past the Child trait and were allowed to allocate their stat points.


    The upside of me being so much weaker and having the skill was that it made the difficulty of actually getting something done that much higher. One thing I understood in these years of messing with my skills is that the harder and moreplex the actions taken the quicker they level up your skills. Other than that I also figured out that getting skills to level up got harder with every level and that you could pretty much only do the same thing over and over to level the skills for each 10 level window, meaning mundane repetitive daily skills got level from 1 to 10 rtively quickly but without any innovation you weren¡¯t going to be seeing level 11 unless you put years more work in the same activity.


    ng! ng! ng!


    Just a little bit more. I was almost done with this. I was using my dads detail hammer to get any work done as it was the only one I could swing, not that the nails I was making took much detail or care to create.


    As I finished the final nail I felt the skill level up again. Even with that not being something all that umon for me to level a skill I still felt myself grinning like I always did when my skills levelled up. So I pulled up my stat screen to see the progress I made. <strong>Name</strong> : Ajax


    <strong>Level</strong> :10


    <strong>Experience</strong> : 4150/10000


    <strong>Traits</strong>: Child, Divine Witness


    <strong>Health</strong>: 70/70


    <strong>Mana</strong>: 150/210


    <strong>Stamina</strong> :40/180


    <strong>Vitality</strong> : 7.22


    <strong>Strength</strong> :15.36


    <strong>Endurance</strong> : 18.9


    <strong>Dexterity</strong> :16.7


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    <strong>Intellect </strong>: 33.84


    <strong>Wisdom</strong> :25.02


    <strong>Mind</strong> : 21.73


    <strong>Perception</strong> : 14.14


    <strong>Stat Points</strong> : 198


    <strong>Skills</strong> : [Meditation Lvl 32][Sense Mana Lvl 31][Expel Mana Lvl 31][Mathematics Lvl 20] [Stealth Lvl 13][Drawing Lvl 30][Athleticism Lvl 31][Running Lvl 20][Reading Lvl 20][Writing Lvl 20][Sprinting Lvl 10][Cooking Lvl 14][Sewing Lvl 10][Cleaning Lvl 10][Haggling Lvl 2][Gardening Lvl 19][Manipte Mana Lvl 6][Water Aspect Mana Lvl 5][Fire Aspect Mana Lvl 4][Air Aspect Mana Lvl 6][Earth Aspect Mana Lvl 4][Inject Mana Lvl 3][Mana Farming Lvl 2][Axes Lvl 14][Hammers Lvl 10][Mining Lvl 5][Lumberjack Lvl 5][Smelting Lvl 3][cksmithing Lvl 3]


    My stats looked like I expected them to, the increase in the difficulty of raising them was definitely non linear as I barely got any increases outside of my child buff increases Intellect and wisdom whereas Perception basically doubled. Vitality was the odd one out, I hadn¡¯t yet managed to find a way to get that one to increase at all, I started with 2 got 5 out of my Child trait all I could force was 0.22 and despite it not forcibly increasing I knew theter I got started at doing that the harder it would be.


    In terms of my Mana I guess it came down to experimentation, Meditation, Sense Mana, and Expel Mana have barely levelled in thest year whereas they got to 30 pretty quick, that''s how I figured out repetitive easy activities using skills were definitely not the way to level them more than their share of the 10 levels. The clearest indicator for this being Axes, I was using a pickaxe to mine and a normal axe to chop trees letting this one level past 10 fairly easy while hammers have been there for the past cycle and a half as I kept making nails.


    ying around barely summoning a drink of water, helping soften the earth to dig, cooling myself down with a breeze and lighting a fire with my mana seems to have helped it with getting to 30 but my most recent breakthrough on that front was instead of just expelling the mana near my small patch of garden and hoping it sticks to my nts I could directly inject the mana into them.


    This came with various levels of sess, injecting too much and you would kill the nt so it took some trial and error before I got the hang of it and as I did I got the mana farming skill, this year the nts in my garden were looking better than the ones my mother was growing.


    The one thing that had me confused was the required experience for level 10, had it followed the pattern so far it should only have cost 8900 instead of 10000 so I was going to be keeping an eye on that to see what else could or would change but maybe it was just a difficulty spike for making it past level 10.


    ¡°Dad the nails are finished¡± I dutifully went to show them to him. I enjoyed cksmithing and with how much my parents were pushing for me to go more towards the crafter route I most likely would be doing so. Despite this I still kept the amount of skills I had a secret, not that it was hard since how many people would care about the training a 5 year old would do, and not like it showed in the quality of the nails I made that I had gotten the skills, not much you can go wrong with there. So I decided to push my luck a little bit and try to get some more information out of my dad about what the norm was in this world. So after my usual evening run I started as we sat down for dinner I went on a fact finding mission.


    ¡°Mom I got a level today¡± I went about bragging hoping this would open the way for me to ask things rted without seeming too obvious. As for why I asked after my usual run, well that was because everybody and their mother in this vige had figured out I had a running skill. It wasn¡¯t that hard to put together considering the 5 year old doingps around the vige every day.


    ¡°Congrattions Ajax¡± my mom was ecstatic and my dad seemed proud if a little down, most likely about the fact that I got my level from running and not cksmithing, yet he also heaped on the praise.


    Jonny was taking one of his days off and went to visit his parents and Judy was visiting na, the two had gotten along even better after Judy got past her Child trait both had discovered at least a bit of an affinity for trading so they were both taking lessons from mom on that front. This meant that it was only me with my parents tonight.


    ¡°What is the usual level for someone my age?¡± My question seems to take the wind out of their sails, most likely since this is the first time I had brought up levelling and they probably thought I was level 3 at best and didn¡¯t want to upset me.


    ¡°Well there is no real set level for kids at your age, as everyone discovers their skills when they get to try out the activity but for the most part, after the Child trait ends all kids are level 4.¡± She said with a bit of trepidation clearly not wanting to upset me or lie to me either.


    ¡°On average kids are level 5, with the stronger ones being level 6 and the lucky ones who discovered their set of skills early being level 7. Nobels manage to get their kinds to level 8 and in extreme cases level 9¡± my dad said matter of factly as he went back to eating his food thinking nothing more of my question.


    ¡°O-Of c-course you shouldn¡¯t be discouraged by that, you are only 5 you have a lot of time to get your levels¡± he quickly followed it up after receiving a look colder than the arctic from my mother.


    But I was too preupied to listen to the rest of the conversation. I just found out that even the best of the best nobles didn¡¯t make it to my level in 10 years and I was only 5. And as happy as this made me, it also made me very paranoid and more convinced of the fact that I should not go around revealing my level or skills to anyone. I didn¡¯t want to end up kidnapped or killed over that information. I even felt quite guilty as I got the skill Deception for pumping my parents for information.

 Chapter 9

    Chapter 9


    The nts were more growing better than I ever would have expected, and I was experimenting to find out if the input also yed a part in how well mana farming would y out by having the same type of nt being infused with my mana to capacity and it being watered by normal water, mana infused water and mana conjured water.


    I had just finished watering thest nt when I see my sister enter the house. Well I say see but it¡¯s more exactly hear.


    ¡°YOU WON¡¯T BELIEVE IT!!!¡± She came screaming to mother from 50 feet out, getting some of our neighbors to look out their windows to see what all the racket was about.


    ¡°What is it?¡± mom says to her as I also enter the house to see what could possibly have my sister in such a good mood. ¡°What happened that made youe home running and screaming¡± mom says clearly a bit annoyed at her.


    ¡°Me and na were checking out what old man Craster brought with him this time, when I spotted an odd piece of ore, I asked him what it was and he said he had no idea¡± She rapid fire started in on the story and it was a bit hard to understand every word as she was clearly very excited about it. ¡°I don¡¯t know why I was attracted to it but I asked him how much he wanted for it, he wanted 1 silver, but I managed to talk him down to 8rge copper coins.¡±


    This conversation instantly told me that I had a massive gap I should look to get fixed as soon as possible. How does money work here and what are things worth. I can¡¯t believe I spent almost 6 years and even started considering a career as a crafter without once considering money.


    By the look on my mothers face, the news my sister brought didn¡¯t excite her as much telling me she was most likely scammed into buying some junk ore. ¡°You paid how much for a piece of ore?¡± my mom said in that quiet calm voice of hers that promises the sky will fall on your head. It was barely more than a whisper and yet I knew for sure I could have heard her on the other side of the house as a shiver travelled up my spine.


    ¡°I-I-It¡¯s not like that!¡± My sister defended herself, and stuck to her guns despite being a bit intimidated. ¡°I cracked it open and this is what was inside¡± She then pulled out two bright green gems the size of pebbles and my mom''s eye instantly shot open.


    ¡°Wow those are real emeralds, I¡¯m sorry sweetheart, though just because it worked out this time doesn¡¯t mean that you should be trying to make such risky buys in the future¡± She said quickly reining in her enthusiasm in order to finish her lecture on impulse buys to my sister.¡°Yes mother I know that but that¡¯s not what has me this excited, I got the skill [Opportunity Sense] right after I finished buying the ore¡± her excitement going right back up to where it was when she entered the house, practically yelling there at the end.


    My mom went through a series of emotions in about half a second, from confusion to recognition to pride and then to what I could only guess was dread as she instantly moved to cover my sister''s mouth with her hand.


    ¡°SHHHHHH! You can¡¯t be yelling about things like that¡± Her voice is quiet and filled with fear. ¡°Darling, do you not remember what we talked about when you got your Apprentice trait? I told you not to show or tell your skills to others unless you absolutely trust the with your life and here you are screaming you got a Rare skill¡±


    ¡°Are you trying to get yourself taken away, nobles are always looking for people with Rare skills to get into their service, especially now, who else knows you got this skill?¡±


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    ¡°Nobody yet, na and I separated and when I got it I rushed home to tell you¡± she said while her face turned a little pale as she finally got a grasp on the situation at hand.


    ¡°Good you should make sure it stays that way, as for you Ajax the fact that your sister has a rare skill does not leave this house do you understand me?¡± she said to me in a more serious tone than I ever heard her use.


    ¡°Yes mom, but is her skill something like having mana?¡± I ask trying to get to understand how rare was having manapared to the gift my sister had.


    ¡°That¡¯s hard to say, you see darling skills are split into different tiers, there aremon skills, umon skills, rare, epic, legendary and supposedly mythic skills. The ability to use manaes in the form of mana sense and expel mana, both are very rare but they are still umon skills whereas your sister has a rare skill¡± she seemed to have calmed down a bit and pulled me over to the table and started giving me a lesson on skills.


    ¡°You see skill tier represent not only how hard they are to get but also how specific they are¡± she said and stopped seeming to think how to exin this to me ¡°well you father will tell you this a bitter anyway and it¡¯s not like everyone doesn¡¯t know it already, so for example let''s use your father, he has themon skill Hammers and from it he developed the umon skills cksmithing and precise blow. You see all attainable skills are for the most partmon and umon, with a few rumored rare ones, the rest of the skillse from the skills on a previous tier bing more specified. Sometimes a skilles from thebination of more than one skill like having cksmithing as well as sense mana and expel mana would result in mana smithing which is a rare skill¡±


    ¡°The reason you sister should be careful is because she unlocked a rare skill so young it means she has a good chance to use it to gain an epic skill in her life and nobles want to grab as many user of epic skills as possible, despite the fact that I have a low levelled rare skill I it¡¯s not as important because of the fact that it took me long to barely unlock it.¡±


    ¡°What about Legendary and Mythic Skills?¡± I am euphoric with all this new information I was getting.


    ¡°Legendary Skills are kingdom treasures, not even most of the best in their field in the kingdom are thought to possess one just the geniuses, as for Mythic skills they are stories of heroes from the past or tyrants that supposedly had them, and not a single person alive today has one.¡± she said with a far off look, most likely remembering those stories. ¡°You see ,sweetie, all skills get harder to level as you get them higher and every 10 levels there is a big jump, however something else is used to determine what rank a skill is, if it was just how often it appears sense mana would be counted as a rare skill otherwise. You seemon skills follow the 10 level difficulty jump increase and that''s it, umon skills however have a test, not much is know about it since it is not openly shared but it¡¯s said that every person has a different way of getting the skill to break through to level 75, rare skills are even more restrictive having tests at level 60 and level 100. Epic skills do so at Level 50 and 75, people specte that 100 as well but nobody has confirmed that, most likely because getting an epic skill to 100 is more a dream than a possible reality. I don¡¯t know anything about the Legendary tests let alone the Mythic ones so don¡¯t ask.¡± She winds down her lecture , cutting off my questions right as I was about to ask them.


    Judy is sitting in the chair opposite me her behavior theplete opposite of what it was when this lecture started, then she was fidgety still ovee with energy at her achievement, clearly having heard about the ssification before but at some point mom must have started exining something she hadn¡¯t heard about yet or something she mustn''t have been paying attention to back when she was being taught as now she had a focused look on her face, most likely thinking about what skills she could try to use at the same time to unlock other skills, after all affinity with one skills meant you most likely also had affinity with other skills that linked to it, the only counter example appearing to be if you have no affinity for another base skilled required.


    ¡°Mom, do you have a book that lists known skills and what their tier is?¡± I ask thinking that having some path trees opened up to me would be a good thing so I don¡¯t have to discover everything by trial and error¡±


    ¡°Sadly no, after thest small rebellion 10 years ago the king decided to remove such knowledge from easy ess to prevent people grouping up some many skills all under one leader, if you want to find out now about what curtain skill will lead to you have to be an apprentice to someone who has had the skill for a while and knows them.¡± She said looking a little sad I think I¡¯m not the only one interested in getting more skills.


    This interest in knowledge and creativity that I have, I find that it¡¯s not based on who I used to be back on Earth, sure that is a big influence but I can see some of my parents reflected in me. The person I was back on Earth, the unluckyzy person who suddenly woke up died in that alley. I am Ajax, who I was will always be part of me but, in order to thrive in this world I need to let who I was be all in respect to the knowledge I have gained. My emotional and moral decisions will be those of Ajax, raised in this world to Silvia and Sam, brother to Tom and Judy.


    On this day I made the decision to rise as high as I can not for the sake of who I used to be but for the sake of who I am now, where I am now and for those that are important to me.

 Chapter 10

    Chapter 10


    For thest few weeks all of our neighbors have been wondering why Judy came running home barely 10 minutes after going to see the caravan. Let me tell you that having them buy that it was all because of her finding the two emeralds in an odd piece of ore was a hard sell. But the way Judy sold it I almost believe she either got an acting or deception skill out of it. There were only 3 people that didn¡¯t quite seem to believe it. na, Jonny and dad.


    na might not really believe what she was being told and I can¡¯t be sure that Judy didn¡¯te clean to her best friend but from the looks of it either she understood that it was none of her business or their friendship ran very deep from both sides and she does know but has not spread it further even to her own family.


    Dad I think is sure that something else is going on but he just doesn¡¯t know what else and has convinced himself that he actually not knowing is if not better for the family at least it''s safer and has left it alone after the talk the night the day it happened.


    And that left us with Jonny, who was having fishing expeditions sorge and so often trying to find out what had happened they could have put fish on the endangered species with that kind of dedication.


    We mostly dealt with it by ying dumb but I could see that it was starting to grate on both mom and dad that he was being so nosy, the problem was if they asked him to leave on ount of this it would be pretty much the same as admitting that something was going on, and he seemed to know that too.


    This led me to harvesting my little garden a bit earlier than I would have liked, after all this was going to be my pocket money and I wanted to at least be able to put a bit aside for a rainy day. After all, if he was taking a close look at Judy now, with Tom being the best fighter among all the kids his age, how long would it be until he started poking around in my business.


    So with all my nts collected and ready I went to my mother in the evening knowing I would get a much better result if I was going to talk to her about the worth of what I had and at least gain some understanding of money.


    I waited until dinner was over and everyone else went to their rooms while I volunteered to help clean up the table. As soon as we were done I pulled mom off to one side.


    ¡°Mom, I harvested all my nts today and I would like some advice on how much they are worth so I at least have an idea on what I should sell them for the next time the caravanes in¡± I ask her.¡°You already harvested but it should still be another cycle until they are ready, I know we agreed that you will be the one to handle your corner but we shouldn¡¯t just throw away money like that¡± she says, her experience in growing these herbs for years upon years showing through.


    ¡°I know but I think mine looked ready¡± I say as I go to my room and bring out two sacks of herbs and give them to my mother to inspect. She looks at me with pity at first but as she starts pulling out more and more nts her expression changes to confusion then suspicion the outright disbelief as the nts in front of her now are not only decent enough to be harvest but most likely bigger more vibrant and more potent than any she has harvested in the years before.


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    I push down the smirk I feeling on and listen to her as she finishes going through both sacks. ¡°You grew all these in that small little corner I gave you? These are amazing, just these would probably be worth more than the rest of my garden¡± she seems both proud and a little conflicted at the fact that her almost 6 year old son managed to do more than her with less.


    ¡°Well first of all I think we should go through how the denominations work, first we have the different metals that make up the coins we use, Iron copper silver gold and tinum, each of them have normal andrge coins, eachrge coin is worth 10 of the smaller one and rach higher metal coin is worth 10 of therge of the previous metal¡± She patiently exins to me cing 6 different coins on the table in front of me, 3rge and 3 small. Pretty much the denominations in this world are each higher value is 10 times the previous one so 1rge tinum coin is worth 10 tinum coins or 100rge gold coins, 1000 gold coins 10000rge silver coins and so on all the way down to iron coins.


    Now in a small vige like our most buying and selling involves iron coins with some of the more expensive things going into copper. Silver is what is used for family savings as well as for when farmers are selling part of their harvest to the city, gold and tinum coins are not something we concern ourselves with.


    Next she runs me through what my nts should be worth, about 1 and half to 2rge silver coins, after all they are very nice specimens. Next she exined to me that I would probably be able to get 1rge silver coin for them if I am lucky at the caravan, after all merchants have merchant skills no way they are going to give a 6 year old a fair price for something.


    ¡°Still I think this would be a good experience for you¡± She says with a bit of hurt in her eyes at the fact that she will let me go alone as we agreed all those cycles ago when she let me set up my garden.


    After that we carefully stored the nts back in the bags and we both went to sleep. I am feeling a lot better and not at all worried about how this sale is going to go now that I know what my product is worth. I don''t see why I would ept an inferior price.


    The next morning was a chilly one, with a thin foging down, nothing that wouldst for more than another hour or two , so I set about doing my usual mana and physical exercises, recing the gardening portion with some more mana control until I see it reach as low as 30 in the corner of my vision.


    The UI is, I think, one of my most useful interactions yet with this system. Yes, it may well have taken quite a bit of focus and willpower to convince myself that I could see my health, stamina and mana in the top right corner of my vision like I did in the games back home but it all worked out in the end. While everything in this interface seems to be set in rules, like a message once close cannot be opened again without re-triggering the action that made show up in the first ce you can influence the system to work in you favor, for example I can introduce a newmand to minimize the message instead of closing it.


    As I was doing myps around the vige I made out the caravaning down the road towards the vige through the mist, so I decided to go take a quick look at it and maybe eavesdrop a bit. Maybe I can get some way to mark up my nts a little bit.


    Looking out from behind a tree I am surprised to see Tom walking at the front of the caravan towards the vige in a decent suit of armour with a big t shield strapped to his arm. Not being able to make anything else out clearly through the fog I decide to go wee my big brother home and find out why he is back here.


    ¡°Hey big brother what br-¡± is as far as I get after walking out towards him from behind the tree before I see a sh of movement and feel the ground slip from under my feet. Turns out stealthing close to a guard and suddenly pooping out from behind a tree to talk to them with no warning is a good way to get a shield to the face.


    I feel myself lying down against the tree, my vision darkening quickly and a ringing in my ears. ¡°Did he just call you big brother?¡± a melodious voice called out , the rest of themotion was lost to the ringing, thest thing I saw was my health showing 30/70. Everything going ck and drifting off as I heard ¡°Alzinoth¡±.

 Chapter 11

    Chapter 11


    <strong>Tom P.O.V</strong>


    The two weeks trip to the small vige Open Caves did me a lot of good. I was still a little worked up from what had happened but at least most of my anger had bled out and I was only left with a lot of restless energy from just sitting in a cart.


    Technically I was here for protection so when the fog came in a bit denser I went to the head of the caravan, to lead the way even though I knew the chances of something happening this close to the vige were close to 0. All my thoughts changed when I got the distinct feeling that I was being watched.


    It wasn¡¯t something new to me, after all as a guard in the city patrolling the street you always have a few people keeping their eye on you to act as an rm system for people doing the shady business. The problem was here there was nobody to watch me, everyone was either talking amongst themselves or on watch duty themselves and looking at the forest.


    I only had this feeling one time before in my life, at the end of my first year as a member of the guard I took the optional posting of joining the Hunting guard, you need to have 10 cycles of experience before you can sign up and the money is good for going out into the forest to protect a couple of nobles while they hunt for sport. I still get nightmares from the lvl 19 wolf that jumped on my back that day.


    That incident is what marked my decision to remain as a normal patrolman and focus on honing my skill through dedication, hard work and time instead of going for the faster method of levelling by putting yourself at risk. After all, experience earned was a result of 3 things : first how demanding is the activity, do you have to spend every resource you have or can you keep doing it for days on end with no issues. Second how difficult is the activity for you, taking on an evenly matched opponent will give less experience than if you take on that same opponent with no mana or better yet a craftsmen making a knife he made a lot of times before levels from hisst one, the one he makes after with increased stats will be worth less experience since it was easier to get that result. Thest one is risk, and its pretty self exnatory the higher the danger the more experience. You fight an opponent in a spar or to the death the experience will reflect that.


    My small brush with danger made it clear to me I was not built to be able to take the danger, so a steady long road was the way for me. I was now on edge, I hadn¡¯t taken those assignments before specifically because I didn¡¯t want to go through that again and now that feeling of being watched came back. I was looking through the fog but couldn¡¯t tell where I was being watched from.


    All of a sudden something moves from the tree to my left. I hear the crack of a twig and I swing my shield feeling a solid contact. I look at who I hit and I see a young kid that seems strangely familiar.


    ¡°Alzinoth¡± Kate says from behind me casting a healing spell on the kid I just ttened. ¡°Tom, why would you shield bash a kid who just called you big brother?¡± she asks with a mix of confusion and anger. This narrative has been uwfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    Then I processed her words, he called me what? I take another look at him and yeah he does resemble Ajax, a profound sense of guiltes over me as I pick him up and start carrying him towards the vige thinking of the best way to exin this to my parents and Ajax himself. Still I swear if this kid doesn¡¯t have a stealth skill I¡¯ll eat my left boot.


    <strong>Ajax P.O.V. :</strong>


    My head was pounding as I started to shift, finding myself in my own bed. Thest thing I remember is seeing my brother''s shielding towards me and hearing a strange word afterwards. So I tried sitting up, finding surprisingly that while I still had a pounding headache I didn¡¯t feel any pain from the actual hit I took and my health now said 70/70.


    ¡°Good you¡¯re awake¡± I hear in a soft sweet voice. I look up and I start to consider just how hard my brother hit me. Standing on a chair next to my bed reading a scroll is a blonde young woman, with cat ears and tail. I know that beastkin are a part of this world, same as dwarves and elves but knowing something exists and seeing it are two very different things.


    ¡°How are you feeling, does your head still hurt?¡± she asks while she moves up to check on me .


    ¡°Who are you?¡¯


    ¡°Kate, I¡¯m your - ¡° that¡¯s as far as she got as my mom came in through the door, looking worried and a little out of breath.


    ¡°Ajax, how are you feeling? Does your head hurt? Can you remember what happened?¡± And the questions just kepting, this has to be the first time I have seen my mother distressed, ever theposed calm merchant, this new attitude threw me through a loop. After about a minute of non stop questions she pauses to take breath so I see my chance.


    ¡°Yes mom I¡¯m fine, I think Tom hit me with his shield I¡¯m not sure what happened after that¡± I quickly threw my brother under the bus, after all I haven¡¯t seen him in almost 4 years and the first thing he does is try to brain me.


    ¡°I was just teaching you not to sneak up on someone in a fogged up forest.¡± Tom said from the doorway with his trademark smirk though some concern for me still showed in his eyes. ¡°Just kidding¡± he quickly puts up his hands as my mothers attention switches from me and she turns on him. ¡°How is he Kate? He gonna make it?¡±


    ¡°Yeah he¡¯ll be just fine¡±


    ¡°So, why did you take it upon yourself to see if my head is hard enough?¡± I ask my brother, a small smile working its way onto my face.


    ¡°Small hang up from a run in with a wolf in the fog a few years back, you should probably not use your stealth skill within arm reach of me.¡± he tries to brush it off but from the look in his eyes I think it might be a bit more than a small hang incident he makes it out to be.


    ¡°What stealth skill?¡± mom asks, looking from my brother to me, confusion clear on her face.


    ¡°Same one he¡¯s been using since I was looking after him before I left, I wasn¡¯t sure back then if he had one but seeing him get so close to me without anyone in the caravan noticing is a dead giveaway.¡± He calmly digs my grave,pletely oblivious to the look of ¡°for the love of god shut the fuck up¡±. That Kate catches but only gives me a look of pity as if telling me she can¡¯t help.


    ¡°So you¡¯ve got a stealth skill do you?¡± mom asks, and I find a sudden interest in inspecting my feet. ¡°Is that why I can never find you when I want to deliver something to Mrs. Olena¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t want to help you deliver, it¡¯s the 30 minute revtion of how I remind her of her son, that she gives me every time¡± I murmur under my breath, Lucky enough she doesn¡¯t catch that and seems to have regained herposure.


    ¡°No matter, we can add that to the list of things we need to talk about , right now dinner''s getting cold let''s all go eat.¡± She nods towards the door and herds me out after Kate and Tom into the kitchen where dad and Judy are setting the table for 6, it seems that Jonny won¡¯t be joining us this time, which I am d for. Thest thing I want is that gossip getting wind of me having a stealth skill.

 Chapter 12

    Chapter 12


    ¡°How is life in the city?¡± Judy went on to question my brother during the meal.


    ¡°It¡¯s very different, going from a vige where everyone knows each other to a ce filled with strangers that look out mainly for only their own family, it took some adjustment¡± my brother answered.


    ¡°I look forward to seeing the way of life your brother described in the days we¡¯ll be staying here. Thanks again for weing me into your home¡± Kate said as we finished up the food.


    We had kept the conversation light while eating but now it was time to talk about more serious topics. With everyone having eaten and rxed it looked to be a pleasant evening.


    ¡°So Tom, what brings you here so soon¡± dad asked the same question that went through my mind the first time I saw him.


    ¡°Well, it all started about 3 years ago, as the first year finished I took up a shift in the hunting party where a wolf took a mouthful of my forearm. It¡¯s then that I met Kate, as she was the medical trainee for our barracks, we had both joined up at the same time yet had never met before and we both grew fond of each other.¡± he exined as he draped his arm across the beastkins shoulders.


    ¡°Everything went for the next year and a half, up until the point that Baron Nestor¡¯s 3rd son took an interest in Kate, more specifically her high proficiency with healing magic and tried making a pass at her several times¡±


    ¡°He clearly doesn¡¯t put any stock in the changes implemented 8 years ago and was trying to force her into his employ and when we both put up a public resistance he decided to set up an incident, the result of which got us both suspended for 1 cycle. As suspended guards we can¡¯t take any other jobs and we are not provided with the food and shelter for the duration of the suspension and the guard can¡¯t give us anything harsher as Kate is one of only 2 healing requirts in thest 3 years and the more talented one of them¡±.


    ¡°What happened 8 years ago?¡± I ask, everything else in the story makes perfect sense to me, a noble wanted something that was not his. He got told no so he abused his authority and connections to be petty but what was this change really interested me. ¡°You see Ajax, you know that we live in the kingdom of Gryndor, and the royal family, in an effort to improve rtions with the Republic, went through an inquisition to ensure all non-human servitude to the noble houses was voluntary. Needless to say, quite a few of them have yet to adapt to the new idea that they can¡¯t forcibly collect talented non-human for their houses.¡±


    This all made sense, after allrge parts of the continent were still left unexplored, there were a total of 9 independent kingdoms, 4 where the dominant race heralded supremacy over all others, one with an even mix of all ruled by a council, and 4 with a majority race and supposed equal rights for the rest.


    ¡°But then howe there isn¡¯t a war going on?¡± I couldn¡¯t figure out what stopped the Supremacy kingdoms from fighting one another constantly.


    ¡°That''s easy, they don¡¯t want to fight their own kind?¡± Kate said it was the most obvious thing in the world.


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    ¡°Why not just attack the others directly, there has to be another way to get there besides going through their own allied kingdoms?¡±


    ¡°There is but nobody is dumb enough to take it.¡± Kateughed.


    ¡°Honey, us humanoids may be the strongest societal species, but deep in the forests,kes, mountains or caves separating the kingdoms you can find all sorts of monsters. The mountains keeping dwarves and beastkin from each other have a dragon ruling over them.¡± mother exined it to me.


    ¡°Yeah, maybe they could kill a path through but nobody wants to do it because of how much it will cost in lives to do so only to open the war. As such everything has been at a standstill for thest 500 years.¡± dad said.


    ¡°At least for now, we are approaching a new rule¡± Kate mentioned offhandedly.


    ¡°What does that mean?¡± I am confused.


    ¡°In the next 5 years all the monarchies will pass along to the next heir, it happens every 600-900 years depending on how long the current rulers live and how strong they are.¡± Tomys it out for me. ¡°It was very risky for the royal family to make the changes they did so close to a coronation, I hope it doesn¡¯t cause a rebellion.¡±


    On that ominous note everyone else went off to sleep. After all, they hadn¡¯tid in bed for a whole day like me.


    That night I was thinking of the political situation, especially in the Republic with their council of 5, you see the council had a spot for a member of each race that made up a big % of its poption. While all races could interbreed with one another both dwarven and elven customs rejected breeding with other races. Not to say that there weren¡¯t half-elves and half-dwarves, just that there were very few of them, so the council always consisted of a human, an elf, a dwarf, a beastkin and a half-human half-beastkin. So far there hadn¡¯t been any problems with this but this kingdom was still new, less than 800 years old.


    While that may seem like a lot, it trantes to about 1200 years on Earth, it still has its interceptors alive, the original members of the factions that came together are still around and some of the strongest people, if not currently in power they still overlook and stomp out corruption.


    As I wrap my mind around leaders surviving for so long and idealists stomping out corruption, I spot my bag of herbs sitting in the corner of the room and remember my original n for the day, to go sell them. Confident that I will have no problem doing it tomorrow, I pull up my stat sheet to see if I got a skill for beingid out, though I suspected I didn¡¯t.


    <strong>Name</strong> : Ajax


    <strong>Level</strong> :10


    <strong>Experience</strong> : 4150/10000


    <strong>Traits</strong>: Child, Divine Witness


    <strong>Health</strong>: 70/70


    <strong>Mana</strong>: 210/210


    <strong>Stamina</strong> :166/180


    <strong>Vitality</strong> : 7.52


    <strong>Strength</strong> :15.36


    <strong>Endurance</strong> : 18.9


    <strong>Dexterity</strong> :16.7


    <strong>Intellect </strong>: 33.84


    <strong>Wisdom</strong> :25.02


    <strong>Mind</strong> : 21.73


    <strong>Perception</strong> : 14.14


    <strong>Stat Points</strong> : 198


    <strong>Skills</strong> : [Meditation Lvl 32][Sense Mana Lvl 31][Expel Mana Lvl 31][Mathematics Lvl 20] [Stealth Lvl 13][Drawing Lvl 30][Athleticism Lvl 13][Running Lvl 20][Reading Lvl 20][Writing Lvl 20][Sprinting Lvl 10][Cooking Lvl 14][Sewing Lvl 10][Cleaning Lvl 10][Haggling Lvl 2][Gardening Lvl 19][Manipte Mana Lvl 6][Water Aspect Mana Lvl 5][Fire Aspect Mana Lvl 4][Air Aspect Mana Lvl 6][Earth Aspect Mana Lvl 4][Inject Mana Lvl 3][Mana Farming Lvl 2][Axes Lvl 14][Hammers Lvl 10][Mining Lvl 5][Lumberjack Lvl 5][Smelting Lvl 3][cksmithing Lvl 3]


    As I suspected nothing had changed¡­. Until I saw it, my vitality burst from 7.22 to 7.52. Losing and regaining that 40 health gave that much of an increase. To be honest I should be kicking myself for not seeing it sooner, after all Mind goes up fastest when I spend and regen mana and the same is true for Endurance with Stamina. Could it also have something to do with the fact that I was healed with a spell?


    What was that chant she used? ¡°Alzinoth¡± I¡¯ll have to try this out at some point, having some healing magic on stand by isn¡¯t the worst idea in the world regardless how harmless living in a vige may seem.


    With a n starting to take shape in my mind about somehow grilling Kate for all she knows about magic in her remaining time here I fall asleep, perhaps for the first time in 5 years with a full mana bar just thinking about all that I have ahead of me tomorrow.

 Chapter 13

    Chapter 13


    I was a bit hyperactive as I made my way to the caravan, Tom and Kate decided to join me, Kate to meet any of my brother''s friends that will surely be there and Tom, in his own words, to see me get ripped off. I couldn¡¯t understand how that was going to happen since I knew the worth of my goods and even had a haggling skill. I pulled up my screen looking to see if the exercise fromst night had worked as I wanted .


    <strong>Name</strong> : Ajax


    <strong>Level</strong> :10


    <strong>Experience</strong> : 4200/10000


    <strong>Traits</strong>: Child, Divine Witness


    <strong>Health</strong>: 70/70


    <strong>Mana</strong>: 210/210


    <strong>Stamina</strong> :180/180


    <strong>Vitality</strong> : 7.52<strong>Strength</strong> :15.36


    <strong>Endurance</strong> : 18.9


    <strong>Dexterity</strong> :16.7


    <strong>Intellect </strong>: 33.84


    <strong>Wisdom</strong> :25.02


    <strong>Mind</strong> : 21.73


    <strong>Perception</strong> : 14.14


    <strong>Stat Points</strong> : 198


    <strong>Skills</strong> :<ul><li><strong>Common :</strong>[Mathematics Lvl 20] [Stealth Lvl 13][Drawing Lvl 30][Athleticism Lvl 14] [Running Lvl 20][Reading Lvl 20][Writing Lvl 20][Cooking Lvl 14][Sewing Lvl 10] [Cleaning Lvl 10][Haggling Lvl 2][Gardening Lvl 19][Axes Lvl 14][Hammers Lvl 10] [Deception Lvl 1]</li><li><strong>Umon :</strong>[Meditation Lvl 32][Sense Mana Lvl 31][Expel Mana Lvl 31][Sprinting Lvl 10][Mining Lvl 5][Lumberjack Lvl 5][Smelting Lvl 3][cksmithing Lvl 3] [Mana Farming Lvl 2]</li><li><strong>Rare : </strong>[Manipte Mana Lvl 6][Water Aspect Mana Lvl 5][Fire Aspect Mana Lvl 4][Air Aspect Mana Lvl 6][Earth Aspect Mana Lvl 4][Inject Mana Lvl 3]</li></ul>


    I managed to segregate my skill, this also meant that if anyone got a look at my stats they could make a killing selling the information.


    ¡°What has you so worried?¡± Kate asked me. ¡°It¡¯s not going to be as bad as they said.¡± She tried cheering me up.


    ¡°thanks .¡± I mumbled ¡°maybe you can help take my mind off it. How did you heal me yesterday?¡±


    ¡°Oh that, I just used the healing spell Alzinoth¡± she brushed off my question.


    ¡°So anyone with mana can be a healer?¡± i try a different angle at getting the information out of her


    ¡°Pretty much, but how effective or efficient your spell is is dependent on your knowledge and experience¡± she finally gives me something to go on.


    ¡°So that''s how magic works!¡± I exim like I made a breakthrough.


    ¡°Oh no silly, there are three different ways to cast magic, and mages tend to specialise in one of them. It¡¯s not that they can¡¯t do more but they are counterintuitive to one another.¡± she went into teacher mode, ¡° you see casting is done with what we call divinenguage, no records show we came to know it but casting only works in thatnguage as such getting spells is hard and why apprenticeships are so restrictive, other than some very basic widely known spells everyone does all they can to keep theirs to themselves.¡±


    ¡°So Alzinoth is the healing one?¡±


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    ¡°No Alzinoth is for small regeneration and a beginner spell, I can¡¯t go around disclosing my other ones as the rules of my contract state, ying around with the divinenguage is also too dangerous for anyone to attempt outside of wartime desperation, after all one wrong syble and instead of cleaning the wound you could clean the body of blood.¡±


    ¡°Ok, so messing with casting magic is not something to be done¡± I reinforce that in myself that I will not be ying Russian roulette trying to learn thatnguage.


    ¡°Yeah, Zapspec and Luxim make up the other 3 widely known spells, healing, cleaning and light, then there is the runic magic. Unlike casted magic this is much more rigid as you need certain conductive materials in patters to get a specific effect, you mana control doesn¡¯t influence anything expect the magnitude of the spell depending on how much mana you put in, they are rigid but it''s much safer to experiment with modifying runes¡± Though her displeasure at runic magic came through a bit in her tone.


    ¡°Lastly we have control magic, this uses no chant or other items, it is high level mana release and maniption, while its power output is well below the other two it makes up for it in speed and flexibility, but with the control and deep understanding of the actions you are taking required nobody really uses it.¡± She pauses as if thinking of what else to say.


    ¡°Oh,e on stop boring him with all this magic nonsense he¡¯s here to make money¡± my brother oh so helpfully butts in. It takes my full concentration not to swing for his jaw. How am I supposed to ask about magic now without revealing that I have mana.


    Luckily enough for him we arrive at the market and he darts away to speak to Jonny and Derk, as they arrive along with us, he takes the initiative to introduce Kate.


    Not wanting to just hang around as they all catch up I head up to the herb vendor to see what I can get for my hard work.


    ¡°Hey kid, what can I help you with?¡± he asks me with that salesman smile.


    ¡°I am looking to sell these. I say as Iy on the table he is using the bag of herbs.¡±


    He rifles through the bag and I see his eyes expand to the size of saucers for a brief moment before returning to their disinterested look.


    ¡°And how much would you like for all this?¡± he asks.


    Now I know about being lowballed so I also will try to highball him


    ¡°I was thinking around 40 silvers¡± I wanted 25 and would take 20 so that seemed like a good starting point.


    ¡°40 for these, no kid, how about 10¡± he instantly goes on the offensive.


    I open my mouth to reject that but I find I can¡¯t speak a word. The only thing that I wants toe out of my mouth is to ept the bad offer that was just given to me, it takes me pping myself across the face to regain myposure and answer.


    ¡°30¡± I managed to get out, clearly to the surprise of the vendor, apparently customers pping themselves is not amon urrence but hey if it gets me more money I¡¯ll do it.


    He regains hisposure and answers back with a simple ¡°15¡± the way he looked at me having changed.


    Try as I might I couldn¡¯t manage to do anything other than ept his offer and ended up letting it go for 15 silvers, I took my payment while numbly all they while reflecting back on the interaction, so this is how skills affected non physical confrontations, i could feel having gained some skills just from that interaction alone, that was the only thing that helped me write off my loss on the sale and got me to move further in the market looking to try my hand at now lowering the price others set on their wares.


    ¡°Where¡¯d you go little brother?¡± Tom caught up to me, joined by Kate Derk and Jonny.


    ¡°Managed to sell my nts.¡± I tell him.


    ¡°Really how much did you manage to get for them?¡±


    ¡°15 silver coins¡± I answered dejectedly.


    ¡° 15!!! Mom onlyes back with around 25 and she usually sells double what you bright¡± he exims


    ¡°Yeah but she said what I had was worth around 20, maybe 25 when she looked at them 2 days ago¡± . In my focus at getting to the bottom of merchant skills I let that crucial bit of information just slip out.


    ¡°And where did you get nts like that?¡± Derk asked, while Jonny looked at me with greed in his eyes.


    ¡°I transnted them from the forest and have been taking care of them for a year now¡± I quickly lied that I grew them from scratch and am hoping my deception skill will swing things in my favour.


    They seem to have bought it but as ofte more and more of these slip ups are happening. I need to start being more careful of who is around me when I run my mouth.


    Well what¡¯s done is done, all that''s left is for me to go spend my newly earned cash. When a cart filled with seeds catches my eye.


    ¡°Hey sir, what kind of seeds are these?¡± I asked the merchant.


    ¡°I have different kinds of seeds, food medicinal, even some poisonous ones¡± he answers before he turns around and sees who he¡¯s dealing with.¡±Oh, what can I help you with kid?¡±


    ¡°I was looking to buy some medicinal nts that would sell well and try nting them¡± I think honesty might be my best bet here and closing down a deal while he is flustered about selling poison to a child would work in my favor.


    ¡°Sure these ones here are quite rare and they sell well but they are very hard to grow, I would rather rmend these other ones¡± he shows me his wares


    ¡°How much would it be for a bag of the first ones?¡±


    ¡°I could let it go for 5 silver coins¡± he says as I feel the same pressure settle on me once again, though much weaker than before, is it because of my own skill improvement or maybe his skills aren¡¯t as high, most likely both.


    ¡°I¡¯ll give you 3¡± he answered back, his expression bing more rigid. Clearly he feels my own skills taking effect.


    ¡°4¡± is all I hear back and the pressure mounts considerably, it takes every ounce of willpower I have to squeak out a ¡°3 and half¡±.


    Hisposure breaks out into a smile and through hisughter I hear ¡°Ha ha ha, I like you kid, alright 3 and a half it is.¡±


    The rest of my trip though the merchandise I do nothing but question the price and try to work out my skills on things I can¡¯t afford as such getting my skills a workout and not being able to buy things fromck of funds.

 Interlude - Maps

    Interlude - Maps


    This is the world Map, roughly as I imagine it, There are a lot of rivers running through it which is how everybody gets their water.


    The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the vition.


    This is the area around Open Caves.


    I hope this will help with people seeing into what I hope to make as I have found writing a map description is not one of my strengths.

 Chapter 14

    Chapter 14


    Spending a whole day bartering and losing did a lot in terms of bringing me down from my high horse about being special, while yes I was an extreme talent in terms of children, if the skills ofmon merchants that through these parts is enough to stifle me like that I clearly need to get a lot stronger considering that there are people who count their age in centuries not decades.


    The idea for tonight was to question my brother as well as my father in order to help me determine what kind of path I wanted to pursue. Out of the gate one as a runic mage or caster mage was out of the question, it would get me noticed way too quickly and end up with me forced to ept a lifetime contract, that gave me options as any other type of crafter or fighter, even as a farmer should I want to considering I could downy my mana farming skill.


    So after dinner, while mother and Judy were out with Kate I went in to start nning my future.


    ¡°Hey brother, I was wondering what being a guard is like?¡± He looked up from his drink at my question with an intrigued look on his face while dad just about choked on his.


    ¡°W-wh-where is thising from Ajax?¡± Dad is starting to look panicked that I might follow in my brother''s footsteps.


    ¡°Yeah little brother, didn¡¯t you already start your training in cksmithing?¡± he smirks at me knowing that he was the reason I started off with cksmithing as opposed to swordsmanship.


    ¡°It¡¯s just that after spending a day selling and buying things at the fair I thought about what job I might do in the future, as much as like cksmithing it isn¡¯t something that I can see myself doing for the rest of my life¡± I answer, all the while looking at my father as if to convey to him that as much as he might want me to follow in his footsteps it isn¡¯t going to happen.


    ¡°You don¡¯t really need to be so worried about that, with skills in drawing running and stealth you can always be a messenger, and those are always needed¡± brother seems to think that this is a great future and while I understand the importance of a timely delivered message in times of crisis, even thinking about being a career errand boy sends a shiver up my spine.


    ¡°Derk even told me that his dad was relieved today when he told him about your stealth skill since this vige didn¡¯t have a messenger to send should something happen¡± he blind sides me with something that I am very surprised to hear, where the hell did they learn about my stealth skill? ¡°How do they know about my stealth skill? I hadn¡¯t told anyone about that until today. I thought the ability to read another person''s status was extremely rare¡± I am downright panicked at this, do they know about all my skills?.


    <strong>Tom P.O.V : </strong>


    Ajax freaks out when he hears about the opportunity to have a calm peaceful life with a guaranteed job and few responsibilities. I instantly start feeling very guilty about having leaked out his skill to both Jonny and Derk, at the time it didn¡¯t seem that big of a deal.


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    ¡°N-No t-they don¡¯t, I may have let it slip out that you have it¡­ ¡° my voice runs out of volume towards the end of my sentence. I see a look of relief instantly take over him, morphine an instantter into one of rage, that just as quickly turns into something that seems like the mask of focus our strategy instructors get on their faces when they y each other in those weird strategy games, end ends up with a look that all but screams he has a n in mind, and from the way he is eyeing me, I think it doesn¡¯t bode well.


    ¡°B-B-But I don¡¯t wa-want to be a messenger.¡± his eyes start getting wet and it feels like a dagger to my heart for having ruined his future.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Ajax, is there any way I can make it up to you?¡± I try to cate him before he may burst out crying, I¡¯ll end up sleeping in the forest if mom and Katee back to find him crying because of me.


    I catch the small smirk that sh on his face before he looks up at me, all signs of it gone his face a picture of innocence ¡°Really, you¡¯ll help train me in all the weapons you learned to use while being away, maybe if I get a skill in one of those it will make it easier for me to pick a different career.¡± And there¡¯s the ploy: he basically signed me up as a full time instructor for a full two weeks, the question is how do I get out of this without causing a shitstorm to fall on my head afterwards.


    Right as I figure my way out and open my mouth to answer, I see it in his eyes he knows I have my ticket out the door opens and in walks mother, Judy and Kate. I see him through a look at the door before he beats me by saying ¡°You won¡¯t do it?¡±.


    ¡°Do what?¡± Kate asks as shees to take a seat by my side.


    ¡°After he told D-¡± that''s as far as I let him get out before I quickly cut him off, the little brat he was ready to throw me in front of the cart, yes I might have done the same to him, but mine was an honest mistake, we were supposed to be brothers.


    ¡°Of course I¡¯ll do it.¡±


    <strong>Kate P.O.V : </strong>


    Spending the afternoon being given a tour of the vige by Silvia and Judy was a lot more enjoyable than I would have thought, after being raised in a city to a poor single mother I was so shocked to see how strong the bonds between these people were all the way out here in the forest. Despite not being family they all knew and helped each other without looking for an angle.


    Having returned home I find my lover with a defeated look on his face and his brother Ajax with the same one he had as he was leaving the market despite not being able to buy anything after that bag of seeds.


    ¡°Everything okay?¡± I ask him after we retreat to our room for the evening.


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s all fine, I may have spilled about Ajax¡¯s stealth skill without asking him about it and he has me training him in everything I know about weapons until we leave, sorry I won¡¯t be able to take you to see caves this vige was named after.¡± he tells me.


    It¡¯s not a big loss, I don¡¯t find caves that interesting in the first ce so spending more time connecting to what could turn out to be my only family in the future, seeing how my mother died 2 years ago was a much better way of spending my time, especially since I found myself feeling weed and liking these people.


    ¡°Don¡¯t look so down,e here I¡¯ll make it up to you¡± I call to him in a sultry voice from the bed as I pull aside the nket.


    <strong>Sam P.O.V : </strong>


    I can hear some suspicious sounds as I pass Tom¡¯s room and call it a night as I get into bed.


    ¡°Is everything okay?¡± Silvia looks at me concerned, my fa?ade of being indifferent to Ajax not continuing as a cksmith must have fallen.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be okay, it¡¯s just that Ajax has decided not to be a cksmith, he even roped Tom into training him how to fight, all because he doesn¡¯t want to be a messenger.¡± I let out a sigh at how powerless I feel.


    ¡°Hmm, if he just doesn¡¯t want to be a messenger I could try talking the rest of the crafters in the vige into trying him out as an apprentice before he turns 10, lord knows they all owe me a favor or 2 from all the times they had me help them out with selling their wares after a dry spell in their ie¡± Sheforts me with an idea I hadn¡¯t even considered.


    She¡¯s right, just because Ajax won¡¯t be a cksmith that doesn¡¯t mean that he won¡¯t be a crafter there are many professions that he could take up. My mood instantly perks up as we cuddle to go to sleep.


    ¡°What would I do without you?¡± I murmured before I fell asleep.

 Chapter 15

    Chapter 15


    Thest two weeks I was put through my paces by my brother and Kate, both seeming to have made it their mission to ensure that I was ready to be a guard should that be something I wanted. Between the two of them I was always doing something whether it be training with a weapon or being healed up from all the bruises I get getting on top of my cksmithing and gardening every day was filled to the brim.


    Having the luxury of an off duty healer nearby also meant that my brother felt a little more free in roughing me up, this ended with me needing a healing session after every spar, though it all did wonders for my skill, as did haggling with my entire worth on the line it seems.


    <strong>Name</strong> : Ajax


    <strong>Level</strong> :10


    <strong>Experience</strong> : 9950/10000


    <strong>Traits</strong>: Child, Divine Witness


    <strong>Health</strong>: 80/80


    <strong>Mana</strong>: 230/230


    <strong>Stamina</strong> :200/200<strong>Vitality</strong> : 8.86


    <strong>Strength</strong> :17.03


    <strong>Endurance</strong> : 20.11


    <strong>Dexterity</strong> :18.77


    <strong>Intellect </strong>: 34.49


    <strong>Wisdom</strong> :25.97


    <strong>Mind</strong> : 23.06


    <strong>Perception</strong> : 16.33


    <strong>Stat Points</strong> : 198


    <strong>Skills</strong> :<ul><li><strong>Common :</strong>[Mathematics Lvl 20] [Stealth Lvl 16][Drawing Lvl 30][Athleticism Lvl 14] [Running Lvl 20][Reading Lvl 20][Writing Lvl 20][Cooking Lvl 14][Sewing Lvl 10] [Cleaning Lvl 10][Haggling Lvl 9][Gardening Lvl 20][Axes Lvl 23][Hammers Lvl 17] [Deception Lvl 5][Sword Lvl 7][Shield Lvl 6][Bow Lvl 7][Spear Lvl 9][Throwing Lvl 8]</li><li>[Persuasion Lvl 4] </li><li><strong>Umon :</strong>[Meditation Lvl 32][Sense Mana Lvl 31][Expel Mana Lvl 31][Sprinting Lvl 11][Mining Lvl 9][Lumberjack Lvl 9][Smelting Lvl 8][cksmithing Lvl 8] [Mana Farming Lvl 4][Increase Price Lvl 4][Lower Price Lvl 6][Chanting Lvl 4]</li><li><strong>Rare : </strong>[Manipte Mana Lvl 8][Water Aspect Mana Lvl 7][Fire Aspect Mana Lvl 5][Air Aspect Mana Lvl 6][Earth Aspect Mana Lvl 6][Inject Mana Lvl 5]</li></ul>


    I was one skill away from hitting level 11 and my stats looked monstrous, normally kids have maybe 1 stat in the 20¡¯s before adding points 2 if they worked hard, I was barely age 7 so all my stats were still due another 3 points from natural increase, being on track to have all my stats except vitality exceed the 20 mark.


    ¡°Do you think this will be enough?¡± Tom asks me as Iy there getting patched up by Kate.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Actually confused by his question


    ¡°We both know you most likely won¡¯t go into a crafting profession, no matter how much mom and dad push for it, they¡¯ll likely have you try apprentice at every one in the vige before you turn 10 just on the off chance that it you may follow it, so you won¡¯t have time to train like this much after I leave. So do you think that we managed to cram enough into thesest 6 weeks for it to be enough to give you a head start?¡± He benevolently smiled down on me.


    His answer surprised me, how long had he known that I was nning to be a fighter. I still hadn¡¯t decided what kind or what I would be fighting but I knew I wanted to be able to grab my own fate which couldn¡¯t happen if I wasn¡¯t strong enough to be able to choose what I wanted.


    That night when I asked him to train me I made the n to grab as many skills as I can before I turned 10 and take the next 3 years to decide if I was to be a guard or a soldier, maybe an enforcer. Turns out mom and dad would help me with getting me every small apprenticeship to get the basics on all of them.


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    I then got the sudden urge to duck so I did, Kate palm whooshing right where my head had been. She has been doing that for thest 4 weeks iming it could help me get the prized skill danger sense, but two weeks in I convinced myself she just likes giving me a swipe to the head any time I pissed her off, usually by going off into my own world thinking about different things.


    ¡°Hey! What was that for?¡± I ask the surprised beastkin.


    ¡°Did you get it?¡± She gets all excited like a kid on Christmas morning knowing he spotted the game console hidden in the car after thest shopping trip.


    To which I just give her a smile and say nothing, something we had long agreed upon being the routine whenever she asked me about my skills, and she epted that I was ying everything close to the vest.


    A familiar blinking light in the corner of my vision drew my attention. That was something I hadn¡¯t seen in 7 years so I pulled up my status to see what was up.


    <strong>Name</strong> : Ajax


    <strong>Level</strong> :11


    <strong>Experience</strong> : 0/11000


    <strong>Traits</strong>: Child, Divine Witness


    <strong>Health</strong>: 80/80


    <strong>Mana</strong>: 230/230


    <strong>Stamina</strong> :200/200


    <strong>Vitality</strong> : 8.86


    <strong>Strength</strong> :17.03


    <strong>Endurance</strong> : 20.11


    <strong>Dexterity</strong> :18.77


    <strong>Intellect </strong>: 34.49


    <strong>Wisdom</strong> :25.97


    <strong>Mind</strong> : 23.06


    <strong>Perception</strong> : 16.33


    <strong>Stat Points</strong> : 220


    <strong>Skills</strong> :<ul><li><strong>Common :</strong>[Mathematics Lvl 20] [Stealth Lvl 16][Drawing Lvl 30][Athleticism Lvl 14] [Running Lvl 20][Reading Lvl 20][Writing Lvl 20][Cooking Lvl 14][Sewing Lvl 10] [Cleaning Lvl 10][Haggling Lvl 9][Gardening Lvl 20][Axes Lvl 23][Hammers Lvl 17] [Deception Lvl 5][Sword Lvl 7][Shield Lvl 6][Bow Lvl 7][Spear Lvl 9][Throwing Lvl 8]</li><li>[Persuasion Lvl 4] </li><li><strong>Umon :</strong>[Meditation Lvl 32][Sense Mana Lvl 31][Expel Mana Lvl 31][Sprinting Lvl 11][Mining Lvl 9][Lumberjack Lvl 9][Smelting Lvl 8][cksmithing Lvl 8] [Mana Farming Lvl 4][Increase Price Lvl 4][Lower Price Lvl 6][Chanting Lvl 4][Danger Sense Lvl 1]</li><li><strong>Rare : </strong>[Manipte Mana Lvl 8][Water Aspect Mana Lvl 7][Fire Aspect Mana Lvl 5][Air Aspect Mana Lvl 6][Earth Aspect Mana Lvl 6][Inject Mana Lvl 5]</li></ul>


    After opening my stat the blinking stopped and a message appeared in front of me.


    ¡°Child trait has been upgraded by levelling past level 10 despite its restrictions, trait Child Prodigy gained¡±


    Well that was unexpected, so there was a bonus for doing something like this? I quickly focused on the Child Prodigy trait to see what had changed :


    ¡°Child Prodigy- Temporary trait


    Status points cannot be allocated.


    Incremental increase of all stat points by 10 throughout the duration.


    Stat points do not affect ageing.


    Gaining skills grants Experience.


    Levelling skills grants Experience.


    Crafting Experience gain stopped.


    Killing Experience gain stopped.


    Upon expiration all stats increased by 2.


    Upon expiration or removal Trait Apprentice Prodigy is gained for half the duration of any trait with Child in the name persistent.


    Time remaining : 45 cycles. ¡°


    So two extra stat points in each section as well as what I think an improved version of Apprentice is, this means I¡¯ll have to ask what the usual apprentice description is andpare them when the timees.


    ¡°Hey don¡¯t nk out on me to marvel at your status!¡± Kate exims with mock outrage as this time she doeste the light smack on my head before we head towards the house, to have onest dinner together before they leave for the city in the morning, their suspension ending around the time the caravan that arrived yesterday is set to return.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to miss you 2¡± I mention as we all head in the house.


    ¡°Well don¡¯t say it like we won¡¯t see each other again¡± Kate cheerily jumps into her chair at the table¡± I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll see each other again before too long.¡± her mannerisms sometimes really do remind me of a cat, it bes especially pronounced when she is showing affection, as I discovered while practicing my stealth skill following them around.


    ¡°I¡¯ll see you both in a few cycles, it¡¯ll be your turn to show me around then¡± Judy says, doing her best to keep a cheery mood despite how much we all know she got attached to Kate in the time she spent here. And she wasn¡¯t the only one na was about to burst into tears yesterday when she was saying her goodbye, only her fathers proposition for her and Judy to join a caravan in a few cycles for a trip to the city and back to gain experience as merchants put a stop to it.


    ¡°You¡¯re wee back here anytime Kate¡± mom said as she was bringing the food ¡°Just you kids try to be make sure you don¡¯t give me any grandchildren before your duty to the guard is done¡±


    Her loaded statement caused both Tom and Kate to go red in the face. ¡°Come on mom how could you say that in front of Ajax¡±


    ¡°Just remember that you are 14 now and I am 28, your mother 27 and while I don¡¯t and would never regret having you, both of us might have had a much more stable and secure life had we waited until out initial apprenticeships had finished before starting our own family¡± father sagely nodded.


    ¡°We don¡¯t want to control your life but we do want you to learn from our experiences in hopes your own life could be better¡± mom said as she took a seat and we all started eating.


    The next morning, after my brother''s departure I was introduced to the vige leatherworker who agreed to try and teach me for a few weeks to see if I had any talent for the craft. Much to the dismay of the headman who was dead set on me bing the vige''s new messenger.


    My excuse of not wanting to be a messengerbined with my denial of getting any skills for any crating job I apprenticed would be my life for the foreseeable future.

 Chapter 16

    Chapter 16


    For thest 2 years and 11 cycles I have been a cksmith at first until my mother could arrange for me to get someone to take me on as an apprentice, 2 more cycles not much, I was then a leatherworker, an alchemist, a farmer and let me tell that was a surprise not in that there was profession for it but in the respect that I didn¡¯t get any of the skills associated with farming. Before that I got everything, add to that my trait and I thought such a scenario was impossible just goes to show what I know.


    Where was I, oh yeah myst job, as a butcher proved to be one of the most rewarding in terms of skills, not in so much of what we used since after all it was mostly knives for cutting and a hammer for some of the bone work. That¡¯s not to say I didn¡¯t keep practicing the skills my brother taught me or worked in secret with my magic, I just slowed down on both a bit due tock of time.


    <strong>Name</strong> : Ajax


    <strong>Level</strong> :11


    <strong>Experience</strong> : 2400/12100


    <strong>Traits</strong>: Child Prodigy, Divine Witness


    <strong>Health</strong>: 130/130


    <strong>Mana</strong>: 260/260


    <strong>Stamina</strong> :250/250<strong>Vitality</strong> : 13.27


    <strong>Strength</strong> :21.60


    <strong>Endurance</strong> : 25.80


    <strong>Dexterity</strong> :20.90


    <strong>Intellect </strong>: 36.68


    <strong>Wisdom</strong> :28.26


    <strong>Mind</strong> : 26.87


    <strong>Perception</strong> : 18.63


    <strong>Stat Points</strong> : 242


    <strong>Skills</strong> :<ul><li><strong>Common :</strong>[Mathematics Lvl 22] [Stealth Lvl 21][Drawing Lvl 30][Athleticism Lvl 20] [Running Lvl 22][Reading Lvl 20][Writing Lvl 20][Cooking Lvl 20][Sewing Lvl 20] [Cleaning Lvl 12][Haggling Lvl 19][Gardening Lvl 20][Axes Lvl 29][Hammers Lvl 21] [Deception Lvl 15][Sword Lvl 10][Shield Lvl 10][Bow Lvl 10][Spear Lvl 10][Throwing Lvl 10][Persuasion Lvl 10][Unarmed Combat Lvl 12][Knives 20][Skinning Lvl 10][Tanning Lvl 10][Dismantle Lvl 10] </li><li><strong>Umon :</strong>[Meditation Lvl 35][Sense Mana Lvl 36][Expel Mana Lvl 37][Sprinting Lvl 13][Mining Lvl 10][Lumberjack Lvl 10][Smelting Lvl 10][cksmithing Lvl 10] [Mana Farming Lvl 10][Increase Price Lvl 10][Lower Price Lvl 10][Danger sense Lvl 1][Leatherworking Lvl 10][Alchemy Lvl 10][Mana Milling Lvl 6]Precise Cut Lvl 10][Precise Blow Lvl 10]</li><li><strong>Rare : </strong>[Manipte Mana Lvl 15][Water Aspect Mana Lvl 10][Fire Aspect Mana Lvl 10] [Air Aspect Mana Lvl 10][Earth Aspect Mana Lvl 10][Inject Mana Lvl 13][Spot Weakness Lvl 4]</li></ul>


    Upgrades :


    Precise Blow 9 -> 10


    Hammers 20 -> 21


    As I started picking up all these skills in order for me not to miss something I added and Upgrades at the bottom of my Stat page, it wasn¡¯t all that hard just took a bit of focus and it now tells me all that changed with my skills since thest time I looked.


    I got up to go to breakfast, Judy was with na on a merchant route, both of them turned out to be very good at it and they were picked up by one of the merchants that had us on a regr route to learn the ropes, they were both nning on moving to the city to try make it big, to both the headman''s and Jonny''s dread.


    The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    Jonny had a pretty big crush on na and when shut down would take a run at Judy, though neither would look at him twice. That added onto the things he and Derk said about my brother and Kate meant me and them got into scuffles pretty often. To the point where Jonny didn¡¯t stay over any longer.


    Yeah mostly it was me provoking them into giving me a beating so I could practice my healing and get my Vitality to rise. Self-harm was not only less efficient but also something I would have not feltfortable doing, it led to a pretty robust unarmedbat skill.


    The surprising part was despite me always picking the fights the vige liked me more than Jonny as they took me for being young and dumb and protecting my sister¡¯s honor. I wasn¡¯t going to look a gift horse in the mouth and just went with it.


    ¡°How are you, Ajax ready to give hunting a go? Mom asked with faked enthusiasm. This was the one part that always left me feeling guilty for days. Seeing the look on my parents'' faces when I kept switching what I was doing while telling them it wasn¡¯t for me. Luckily that ended today as I decided hunting was going to be my best bet for training before going into the world atrge.


    The good experience fighting and low oversight of what I kill in the forest should be perfect for me to fuel my growth before I go. I was genuinely more excited to see my parents'' reaction to learning I got the skills for hunting then I was for getting them in the first ce. I wasn¡¯t even worried I couldn¡¯t get them like with farming since I already had stealth bows and running and they were all required skills.


    ¡°I have a feeling this will be the one, I know I was optimistic about the others too but this one really does feel like it would stick¡± I try to help them with the feeling of helplessness they have over my presumed situation but the pity in their eyes just deepens.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure it will be son¡± dad tries to go along with it but he had the same opinion about everything else I tried, though he was right about all but the farming so I guess I shouldn¡¯t call him out on it.


    I put my dishes away and look out the window to see old man Hatchet walking towards the house. I quickly put my boots on, collect my knife, sword and bow and I¡¯m running for the door.


    ¡°He¡¯s here I¡¯ll see you again tonight¡± I toss a quick goodbye to my parents as I excitedly head for the door.


    ¡°Have a good day out there¡± dad says back keeping against hope a positive outlook on my situation.


    ¡°Be careful out there¡± Mom calls out from the other side of the house. She always was worried for my safety, thisbined with the fact that no hunter owed her a favor was the reason this was myst profession to go for. At least from her way of looking at it, I always thought this was the one to save forst since I would stick with this.


    As I go out the door, not wanting my teacher to think mezy and having to go drag me out the house, I catch a glimpse of Jonny talking with Derk by the smithy both giving him the stink-eye.


    5 days ago


    Hatchet P.O.V.:


    The air was brisk as I walked out the butcher''s shop having delivered the deer I caught, the light was almost gone when I heard a scuffle happening from the back of the next house over.


    ¡°And you thought you had what it takes to be a hunter, you¡¯ll probably just run up to a bear and get killed, that is if you could even find one willing to take you with him.¡± The voice sounded familiar but I couldn¡¯t ce it, I had lived here for a long time but I mostly kept to myself.


    Reaching the edge of the house someone bumps into me, it¡¯s Derk the headman¡¯s son next to him his loyal dog Jonny and on the floor a bit roughed up is Arax, I think his name is, hard working kid though a bit quick to let his mouth loose when it¡¯s in his best interest to keep it shut.


    Looks like he got himself another ass-kick, why someone like doesn¡¯t learn I can¡¯t fucking put my finger on, he has been doing so for the past 3 years, with his discipline and determination he should be able to get a handle on that temper of his.


    ¡°Better watch where you¡¯re going old, or else¡± The clueless idiot tries cowing me, thinking just because his dad¡¯s the headman I¡¯ll kiss the ground he walks on. This attitude is going to get him killed in a year or two tops from the look of the arrow grouping I saw on the trees the kid on the ground is practicing on religiously.


    ¡°Or else what?¡± I look down on the short brat with a menacing re, I didn¡¯t let city guard captains intimidate me, I sure as hell wasn¡¯t going to let some teen do it now that I retired.


    ¡°Do you not know who I am?¡± He throws me a sneer.


    I let out a long breath to calm down and move to just walk away. I came to this out of the way ce for a calm life. One idiot wasn¡¯t worth making it harder for myself.


    ¡°You think you can just run away?¡± he says grabbing my shoulder, glee in his voice thinking I was afraid and not just too old to deal with shits like him.


    Now I want to pay him back but it¡¯s not worth the hassle I will get if I give him the beating he¡¯s clearly asking for, the I catch sight of the kids face on the ground, he¡¯s looking at Derk the same way I did before he started running his mouth at me and I get an idea.


    ¡°I¡¯m the lead hunter for the vige see what you dad does to me for just walking at night¡± I grunt out to him before going around closer to the boy on the ground. ¡°Hey kid, you want to be a hunter? Go home see if you can keep your nose out of trouble for 4 days and I¡¯ll take you out with me.¡±


    The look of outrage on Derk¡¯s face as I walk away is worth the trouble of putting the kid through his paces, after all I was beginning to think hunting was a bit dull ofte. Maybe this will be a bit more exciting.

 Chapter 17

    Chapter 17


    <strong>Hatchet P.O.V : </strong>


    I walked towards the cksmiths house, I didn¡¯t know much about him other than that he and his wife came here quite a few years ago very young and expecting a child and that they were both quite talented in their fields considering how high they climbed in this backwater while raising a child, then another and now a 3rd.


    At the gate I saw the headman¡¯s son and his friend bothzing about as per usual. The brat tried to get his father on my case for the incident 5 days ago but all he could do to me was ask ¡°the hunters¡± to go clear out the stretch a bit away from the vige meaning I had to sleep a night outside, not something that bothered me at all.


    The kid, Ajax, came out the door, he had his bow on his back, sword at his hip and the dagger tucked behind his back, he then walked up to me clearly familiar with their weight on him from the countless hours of practice he had put in.


    ¡°Thanks for agreeing to take me on, I¡¯ll do my best to meet your expectations¡± He eagerly parrots to me, probably the same phrase he said to each of the people that took him in for a few cycles as an apprentice.


    ¡°Cut the crap kid, we both know I took you on as a spur of the moment thing, so how about we make a deal you try not to get yourself and more importantly me killed out there and I¡¯ll try to teach you as much as you can learn about being a hunter, what do you say?¡± I cut straight to it as soon as we are out of earshot ofzy number 1 and 2.


    ¡°Yeah I can work with that¡± he answers back with a self-confident grin.


    This was not what I was expecting the old hunter to be like when he agreed to teach me a few days ago but hey, beggars can¡¯t be choosers, and I am pretty sure he knows more than all the rest of the hunters in the vige, probablybined.


    As we head into the forest the way he walks changes and I lose track of him despite looking at him not 3 feet in front of me. ¡°Hey, keep close and stop standing out¡± I hear from my left and I instantly spot him before activating my stealth skill and try my hardest to follow in his footsteps as well as keep an eye on him while giving him a nod.


    We wander the forest like this for a little while. He stops and points me towards a small patch of earth with a few scratch marks in a small pit and the dug up earth right next to it.


    ¡°Wolf tracks¡± is all he tells me and then starts following what I think must be other tracks the wolf might have left. As he is moving I am trying my hardest to keep my stealth up, keep track of him and scan the route we are taking for any of the marks he is following.


    Not too muchter we reach a small clearing in front of a cave that must be used as the den for the pack. With only one wolf hanging around I take out my bow and as I move to draw back the arrow I feel an iron grip on my wrist.


    ¡°The fuck do you think you¡¯re doing kid?¡± He is looking at me like I am a few marbles short of a full sack.


    ¡°I think we can take it out¡± I answer, after all isn¡¯t that what we came all this way here for, right.


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    ¡°Hmm, so bloodthirsty when you can¡¯t even gain experience from the fight, take another look at how big the den is, no way this pack is big enough to even attempt to attack the vige.¡± he shows me how small the cave is and that there is deer carcass with only one of it¡¯s legs eaten down by the entrance. "In nature there is no such thing as open territory unless it¡¯s worthless, we kill these wolves something else will take their spot and that something may have a bone to pick with the vige.¡±


    I can¡¯t disagree with his logic and swing my bow on my back. Before he signals me to move back and I see him doing something as he follows me away from the cave. He must be masking our tracks, no point to tell the wolves something out here might be hunting them I realize.


    ¡°Not a surprise for your age but you really need to start thinking about more than just the next step. Getting into those fights again and again, wanting to take out a harmless pack, look at least to what the direct consequences of your actions will be. You got lucky the vige looked at your fights as defending your sister¡¯s honor and didn¡¯t shun you.


    I bit back my retort about knowing what I was doing and raising my vitality unarmedbat skill and proficiency with healing magic, after all from his point of view my head must look hard enough to crush rocks with.


    ¡°Here, see these are good, they also keep you awake so try not to eat them when you¡¯re on your way to turn in for the night¡± he said, handing me a handful of berries, as well as pointing out the bush he took them from. ¡°Careful of the ones that look the same bute from a bush with round leaves, those ones will make you sleepy and sap you of your energy. It''s a very bad idea to get them mixed up.¡±


    I give him a nod and wonder what evolutionary process led the nts to look almost identical but have such a different effect, when I spot what I think is a hoof mark and I point it out to him.


    ¡°Not bad, now see if you can find a trail to what made the mark, I''ll even give you a hint the foot was pointing in this direction when it made that mark he was pointing towards the right.


    It takes me a while but I think I see a pattern in the way the earth is pressed on and I follow it through the trees, as soon as I make it through a bush I hear a resounding crack, as I feel a branch give way beneath my foot. An instantter I felt a sharp smack in the back of my head.


    ¡°Fuck sake kid, stealth or even if you do track the deer that left this it¡¯ll know you are near before you even catch a glimpse of it.¡± His voice sounded fed up but the small smile on his face gave away the fact that I was going in the right direction and he was happy with that.


    I ain¡¯t proud to say that we moved about as fast as a snail while I tried to track the path of the deer and he also had to point out to me 2 times that I had lost the patch and move me back a little to pick it up again but a few hourster we finally caught sight of the damn thing calmly munching on grass.


    I pull out my bow and take aim, I feel my breathing slow my heart rate pick up and I release the arrow. I nail the deer in the neck and don¡¯t even get to celebrate as I see it stumble back from the power of the shot before a second arrow hits it between the eyes.


    ¡°Not a bad shot kid¡± Hatchet praises me while lowering his bow. ¡° Got it right in the neck¡±


    ¡°Then why did you take a shot?¡± calling him on his bluff.


    ¡°Because animals don¡¯t need to wait to gain the power from levels and while I think the about level 5 deer might have died from that shot it would also have done so from blood loss a couple miles from here and I didn¡¯t want to spend another few hours chasing dinner.¡± He gruffly remarks. ¡°That wasn¡¯t bad tracking there, to find it from this far away, even if you did lose the trail a few times.¡±


    He was right, and right as I found the deer I had gained the Tracking skill. That thought alone made me happy, after all this time I could actually celebrate gaining a skill with my family. I was looking forward to tonight.


    On the way back we found some of those sleeping berries and I picked a bush or two of them and packed them in my, well I want to say backpack but it¡¯s more of a backsack.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you listen when I told you those aren¡¯t the ones you want to pick, I swear young people it all goes in one ear and out the other¡± He mocks me after waiting for me to clear both bushes for good measure thinking this is a teachable moment, I would bet money on that.


    ¡°I know, I¡¯m nning to sell these to Mr. Finean he¡¯s beenining about the merchants bringing sleeping drafts hiking the price on him¡± I smile knowing I can also gouge him for just a little under what they sell.


    ¡°Should have just been a fucking merchant like your sister you clearly think like one¡± he shook his head but still let out a good natured chuckle at seeing my smile, probably figured out I wasn¡¯t going to be giving Finean that much of a price break on the sleeping berries.


    ¡°Just make sure to tell him not to eat more than 5 at a time if he wants to wake up the next morning. You can rip off your neighbors all you want but I don¡¯t want their death on my hands just because you wanted to make some money.¡±


    The rest of the way back was silent, ¡°Here you can take this in, you shot it first¡± He passed me the deer. I guess you could say he wanted to make me look more promising than everyone thought I was but I¡¯m almost sure he just didn¡¯t want to have to take it to the butcher and spend another 30 min discussing the price with him.

 Chapter 18

    Chapter 18


    Walking into the butchers shop I knew my way around, I had been working here for the past few cycles. Everything was just as I left it, the shop was just barely something that can¡¯t be called a mess, with a system to everythings location, just a system I couldn¡¯t make heads or tails of in all that time. The only way I know it was a system was that I was told I put things in the wrong ce.


    ¡°The hell are you doing only showing up now, kid?¡± He called out to me, as he picked up this habit about a cycle after he took me on to start drinking as the sun started going down knowing I would take care of everything. ¡°Never mind, just get here and get to work.¡±


    I had never liked working here, the skills gained were very useful and I didn¡¯t mind the work itself but I couldn¡¯t stand Denix as a boss. He was Jonny father and never liked doing something for free, despite all the times my mom helped him in the past it took my dad mentioning something about how his son was his apprentice for him to agree to try helping me.


    ¡°I don¡¯t work here anymore sir. I told you that yesterday, I just came by to get this deer butchered. I''m going to be a hunter and this is my first kill.¡± I felt my lips form into a smirk at my own aplishment. Denix however didn¡¯t see it that way, despite how much heined when he first took me on it seems he not only got used to but even liked having unpaid help around the shop. ¡°If you could please butcher it I have to drop Hatchet¡¯s share and then get the rest home¡±


    Hunting in the vige was a bit different then how I expected it, hunters usually went off in pairs, Hatched was the exception before because of his skill, they went off every 4-5 days outside of hunting season and when they left they went with a food order or scouting order. On a hunting order most of the prey went to the vige with the hunter just getting first pick on his share of the haul, but on scouting as usually one didn¡¯t find any game on those routes you got to keep all of it.


    ¡°Yeah, yeah I¡¯ll get you your share of it in a second calm down¡± It seems he didn¡¯t realize that this deer was to be split between me and Hatchet, who graciously said that I could keep most of it to celebrate my first catch, wanting only the back left leg for ¡°superstitious reason¡± as he put it.


    ¡°I was on a scouting trip today¡± I say excitement starting to overwhelm what little patience I had wanting to get back home to celebrate. ¡°I¡¯ll be taking all of it back¡± I could feel the shit eating grin forming on my face and despite my best efforts I couldn¡¯t seem to stop it.


    He looked grim at that news, clearly the other hunters still came up empty as they had been for thest 10 days, this was also the reason why we were sent to scout that specific route today, while the missing game didn¡¯t affect the vige yet it would soon if things kept going that way. But we found nothing, or I should say I found nothing and if Hatchet found anything he didn¡¯t share it with me.


    ¡°Hmpth, first kill in 10 days and you¡¯re taking it all for yourself, kids these days, they don¡¯t care for anybody but themselves¡± he said with scorn, knowing full well it was tradition for hunters to take home their first kill for themselves even if it came from a food outing. He took the cleaver and barely got it to go half way through the neck with a sloppy chop.


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    ¡°The hell is wrong with this thing?¡± He eximed clearly not having expected that much resistance from the carcass.


    ¡°Hatchet said he thought it was level 5, and that that¡¯s why it managed to make it all the way onto our scouting route¡± I answered his most likely question as for someone of his strength and skills even with a sloppy weak strike most of the things we got delivered would have split down the middle, he didn¡¯t have to aim careful full blows like I did when I tried to do the same.


    He kept grumbling things here and there while he worked on the deer but I tuned him out, after all nothing good woulde from him I was sure of it.


    A short timeter I took the nicely butchered deer and went to drop off Hatchet¡¯s leg afterwards I headed back home, more than one or two vigers took notice of me but nobody approached me in the somewhat dim light.


    As I neared the front door I could hear my parents talking but I couldn¡¯t make out the words. It took me a full minute to figure out a way to open the door without knocking but I wanted to see their reactions to me walking in with the game on my back.


    ¡°Ajax is that you, how did it¡­ ¡± my mother couldn¡¯t finish her sentence as she looked at me with the deer on my shoulders, surprise clear on my dad''s face, but the biggest reaction came from Judy and na as both their jaws dropped to the floor. Definitely worth the time to open the door myself instead of knocking.


    ¡°I got my tracking skill today, where should I put this?¡± I say giving it my all to maintain a straight face to make this seem like an everyday urrence.


    My sister was the first toe to her senses. ¡°What you got there little brother?¡±


    ¡°A deer that happened upon our scouting tack¡± I slip in the information that I could keep all of the spoils I brought home and we wouldn¡¯t have anyone showing up tomorrow asking questions as to why I didn¡¯t share.


    That small chat was all the time it took for my mom to regain herposure, she had something that looked like a mirror but I couldn¡¯t be sure since I hadn¡¯t seen one before in this world, but she put it on the table and came to help me put the deer in the cer where it wouldn¡¯t go bad until tomorrow when she would most likely salt it, took a small part of a few choice cuts to cook for tonight''s celebration and we came back into the kitchen.


    ¡°What is that?¡± I said pointing to the mirror that was turned face down on the table.


    ¡°It¡¯s a #%@#$.¡± My sister said, the word sounded odd but then again it was probably new and added to thenguage recently seeing how I hadn¡¯t seen one in all these years ¡° They are rather rare in the city but one of the big merchantpanies gave me a big discount on it. I think they want me and na to join them after we gain enough experience.¡±


    I picked it up and for the first time I saw what my new face looked like. Not to sound shallow but I looked good. I had a strong jaw, high cheekbones, inky ck mid length hair and Icy blue eyes with a full beard starting toe in.


    ¡°Howe my hair and eyes are different from yours?¡± was the first thing that slipped out after I took a look at myself. I didn;t have mothers golden hair like my sister''s or dad''s brown locks like my brother, not only that all four of them had green eyes.


    ¡°The hair you got from my dad¡± father told me. ¡°He alwaysined that I got my hair from mother.¡±


    ¡°As for your eyes theye from my mother¡± mom followed up. ¡°Now tell me more about this tracking skill you got, did it finally happen? Are you going to be a hunter?¡± There was a bit of fear in her tone as hunting wasn¡¯t exactly a safe profession but it was one that would keep me close to home unlike my brother and sister.


    ¡°Yes, it all started with us tracking a small wolf pack¡­ ¡° I exined the whole story of us following the wolf pack, me picking up the deer tracks, yes I left out the 2 times I got lost, and then how we brought it back to the vige.


    ¡°Looks like all that work you put in every morning with what your brother taught you is finally paying off¡± dad said a bit torn between him having been wrong about me practising every morning being important and happy that I finally had a path in life I wanted to follow and was somewhat good at.


    The rest of the evening was spent enjoying the small feast and ended with me going to sleep in my old room and Judy and na taking the bigger one. All throughout the night I had kept an eye out to see if there was something more going on between my sister and her friend, sue me na is smoking hot and what would you think about when you were say 15, I am surprised I hadn¡¯t started thinking about this sooner seeing how my growth spurt came in faster and I was already 6 foot 6, one of the tallest in the vige.

 Chapter 19

    Chapter 19


    My morning started the same as it always did. I woke up, got dressed, picked up my weapons and headed outside to start my training before the rest of the house woke up. Though I did start with the bow this time and increased the time I put into it, after all if there was a precise cut and precise blow there had to be a precise shot, right?


    I was just about done with my training and getting ready to head to the smithy to straighten up my arrows and do some maintenance work on my sword and spear when Hatchet just popped up next to me from what seemed like thin air.


    ¡°You kid got nothing better to do at this hour in the morning?¡± He sounded pissed off, like I was wasting something precious but little did he know I had already spent one childhood ying around and that led to me to deficits I couldn¡¯t make up for regardless of the hard work I put in, I wasn¡¯t going to make that mistake a second time.


    ¡°I want to be ready for anything¡± I answer back with a bit of indignation in my voice at being rebuked for trying to improve myself.


    ¡°Hpmh, listen to him wants to get better, for the next few cycles you¡¯re going to be dead weight in any kind of situation, do you get that kid you¡¯ll only be slowing me down, you¡¯ll be better off learning to climb that fucking tree than shooting arrows at it¡± He scoffed at me and took off back towards the vige.


    I¡¯ll admit I was a bit bbergasted at his attitude and it took me longer than I would admit to but I realized (after a bit of cursing his whole ancestry) that the old man was actually trying in his own way to teach me that I should learn to climb a tree, just in case something did happen while we were out in the forest.


    ¡°Why can¡¯t he go about teaching me like a normal teacher?¡± I mumbled as I spent the next 2 hours climbing every tree in sight, the small reward for my hard work being the climbing skill I got after a particr tall tree where I had to jump just to grab onto the first branch and swing myself up the rest of the way.


    The realization that I was dead weight even after all these years of training took its toll on me, I didn¡¯t even think fondly at going to Mr Finean¡¯s house to sell my berries and instead put all my frustration in swinging the hammer in the forge working on my straightening up my arrows.


    As I was done I realized I was way too close to the forge, the shirt on my back was soaked with sweat and the heat resistance skill I got from a happy ident, years of working in here and one pissed off morning I just got it without even trying. I wasn¡¯t yet to the level of sticking my hand in the fire just because of that but I did think about raising it so in the future I could do just that, even if in this world it wouldn¡¯t be something unheard off it would be something that kept me tied back to my old world that seemed to have been just a dream at this point.Walking out of the cksmith shirt and weapons in my hand I pass by na who seems to have woken up. She looks at me with a strange look on her face, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve seen her make that face before so I rearrange my list of things to do to wash and then breakfast.


    While I was grabbing myte breakfast mom was teaching Judy how to salt meat so that it wouldst using the deer I brought it. They both seemed happy to have an excuse to do something together telling me that while my sister was close to finishing her apprentice trait she was not quite ready to leave home like my brother did.


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    After eating more than I thought I would need, clearly the climbing had taken a bigger toll on me than I thought it would, I pulled my sister off to the side while my mother went to store the meat. What Hatchet said about me only getting in his way still ate at me a little bit despite me thinking it was just his way of telling me to learn climbing and not a dig at me.


    ¡°Hey Judy can you tell what the Apprentice trait says?¡± I ask her after we are alone sitting around the table.


    ¡°Why, you¡¯ll just learn it yourself in a few cycles anyway?¡± she responds, not knowing that no I wouldn¡¯t actually and this was also a good time to get a baseline for the trait and see how much my improved version meant.


    ¡°It¡¯s something that Hatchet said to me today when I was training, he said I would be dead weight for the next few cycles and that I would be better off learning to climb trees than swing a sword. What happens when the child trait runs out.¡±


    ¡°That bitter old man, can¡¯t he think of a better way to teach someone?¡± She mumbles under her breath clearly picking up on his objective much faster than I did. ¡°Well usually we all learn exactly what the Apprentice trait does when we earn it but just to put your mind at ease I¡¯ll tell you now, but you have to promise not to tell mom or dad I told you early, dad takes pride in preparing us for what we are about to go through.¡±


    A silly little slime appeared on her face as she thought back to her big night and probably to Tom¡¯s as she might have stayed till the end back then.


    ¡°Alright deal, I won''t breathe a word of it¡± I say, cing my hand over my heart as is custom for making a vow.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to take it that seriously,¡± sheughs, pping me lightly on the shoulder. ¡°Anyway the Apprentice trait goes like this:¡±


    ¡°Apprentice - Temporary trait


    Status points allocated increased by 10%


    Ageing stopped for the duration.


    Ease of forcibly increasing stat points increased.


    Experience earned for doing skill rted activities slightly increased.


    Ease of adapting to increase in stat points greatly increased.


    Fertility slightly increased.


    Status bes harder to reveal or approximate making appraisal and scan abilities harder to use..


    Time remaining : 75 cycles. ¡°


    This was quite the reveal, one that I looked forward toparing to my own upgraded version in a little while, but one thing did stick out to me like a sore thumb.


    ¡°Slightly increased fertility?¡± slips out of my mouth as I wonder what use does that have?


    My sister goes a bit red in the face ¡°Haven¡¯t you noticed, as you stopped growing thesest few months, haven¡¯t you started to feel a bit funny?¡± she questioned though was clearly ufortable with the topic.


    I realized that she was right, it seems that in this world with the help of this system humans and I suspect other humanoid races evolved to fully undergo their growth period before looking to reproduction leading to a lesser sex drive in the early prepubescent years and increased growth with a faster end to growth and a higher sex drive(presumably, I hadn¡¯t reached that part yet but I was close and if it was a bigger sex drive than adolescence I might have a few issues).


    ¡°Ah¡± I awkwardly said, clearly not a topic for discussing with your sister, ¡°Thanks for sharing that with me, the Apprenticeship not the other thing¡± I made a mess of the conversation and my sister seems to be looking for a different topic to move on to as I am.


    ¡°Hey , you want to go with me and see how much we can get off Mr. Finean for these berries, they are supposed to put you to sleep and as long as you don¡¯t eat too many they aren¡¯t dangerous ording to Hatchet.¡± I offer her an out.¡± I¡¯ll split the profit with you 80-20.¡±


    ¡°Why are we still sitting here then?¡± she exims while her red face regains her color, a calcting look taking over, with a smirk ying on her lips. ¡° And the split will be 75-25, and be happy I let you keep that much for using my services.¡±


    I don¡¯t say anything, despite likely having merchant skills equal if not higher than her own, after all this seems like it will be an enjoyable way to spend time with my sister and I haven¡¯t seen her in over 30 days. Plus with her handling the negotiation I won¡¯t have to lowball the offer to hide my merchant skills, she¡¯ll easily be able to charge twice as much as I would without raising suspicions.


    ¡°How many of these berries you got, and how many does it take to put someone to sleep?¡± she asks me as we make our way over towards Mr Finean, who is about to be a lot poorer by the look on my sister''s face.

 Chapter 20

    Chapter 20


    Hatchet P.O.V:


    This kid is a born fighter, from the moves I spotted him pulling off and the speed and power he had throughout his training I would say he has all the skills not only unlocked but probably quite a bit above 10. He is a natural born fighter and is wasted on being a hunter in a backwater vige like this one.


    But that is not what I¡¯ll focus on, I can see that it¡¯s his parents that are trying so hard to keep him close to home, not something unusual when ites to people so young, with experience you will find that letting go a bit earlier will give them a better chance to grow.


    The kid has all the signs of being able to go out to the city and join the adventurers guild, with all those weapons skills unlocked he must be at least level 6 no way a group won¡¯t pick him up as a porter and he¡¯ll more than likely work his way up.


    A tremor works its way through my whole body at that thought and I am reminded of my own past.


    Hatchet P.O.V :


    20 years ago.


    The dark was all epassing, me and Luna the only ones who managed to even make it out of the warren of whatever that thing was deep in the forest.


    ¡°We need to take a break, and you need to let me take a look at your shoulder, if it¡¯s poisonous you could be dying and not even know it¡± She argued thinking about my potential safety but I knew better than to stop. ¡°Didn¡¯t you see the scratches on the wall when it picked us off, whatever that thing is doesn¡¯t hunt by sight or or sound, it hunts by smell, we need to get as far away as we can and preferably over some water¡± I manage to force out a stern tone out of my tired body feeling like I could copse at any moment.


    If only we had taken our time to investigate that this thing had killed off all the other predatory animals this deep in the forest we would have known to turn back but having gone 5 years without a failed contract or a serious injury had left us overconfident, a group of 15 adventurers and only the scout and the healer make it out.


    Hatchet P.O.V:


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    The chances that this kid actually stays in this vige are close to zero, but so are the chances of him leaving before his apprentice trait expires, sure he might go visit his brother in the city but nothing longer than a cycle or 2.


    In that time I¡¯ll make sure he won¡¯t grow up to make my mistakes. I signed up at the age of 10 became a porter and specialised so much with that in mind that I couldn¡¯t be a proper fighter and a scout was all I could manage. He¡¯ll be different. I''ll make sure he gets his foundations built properly to support him, after all if nothing else he might be able to get a message to Luna when he makes it out in the world.


    ¡°Hatchet, what¡¯s this I hear about you and the kid keeping a whole deer for yourselves?¡± the headman sneaks up on me as my mind wanders.


    ¡°You changed me to that scouting route and we both know it¡¯s tradition for hunters in training to keep their first kill¡± I answer back a little disgruntled about being questioned for no reason.


    ¡°He¡¯s not going to be a hunter, we already have too many of those around here, I need him to be a messenger, as such he has no im on the spoils¡± his face is getting a bit redder, he always was good man though a bit greedy he did look out for the best interest of the vige, even if it dide at the expense of the individuals.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know about that boss man, kid got the tracking skill in one day and this morning he was working on his climbing, that with the bow skills running and stealth, sounds like a hunter to me¡± I put a bit of salt on his wound, after all he does tend to y favourites as long as there is no detriment to the vige and all the rest of the hunters are friends with his darling baby boy.


    ¡°He did what? Damn it, and he was the only option we had for a messenger for at least another year, I sure hope the old fool doesn¡¯t retire before we can get a new one trained¡± He mumbled under his breath as he started to walk away ¡°Oh and before I forget you next trip out will again be a scouting mission, this time heading on the other side of the vige, need to make sure nothing from the deep forest started making its way towards us.¡±


    The old hypocrite,ins so much about me giving the kid a shot at being a hunter despite his own son having the skills to be a messenger but no how could his precious boy be anything other than a merchant working to take his spot as headman, this despite him having the diplomatic skills of a skunk at court.


    Getting home I find myself going back through my old gear and mometoes I have from my days as an adventurer, sure we weren¡¯t the top but we made it pretty high up there getting a gold badge and were almost qualified for a tinum one.


    The more I look through the more I regret how badly I had messed up during my apprentice phase and how I might not be retired out here in this backwater if I had taken more care and put in a lot more effort when I was young. Effort young Ajax was putting in hand over fist.


    ¡°I might as well start getting ready for this second scouting mission, it''s not like food will be a problem for me with the deer leg I prepped yesterday¡± I mumble to Chip, my messenger pigeon that I kept for emergencies, keeping him secrete because pigeons didn¡¯t naturally travel to this part of the world and having one to deliver a message could be very important, even having one could be used to show off standing to visitors.


    ¡°Chip, Chip¡± He whined at me.


    ¡°Yes, yes, you big glutton don¡¯t worry I won¡¯t forget to feed you¡± I tell him as I pass a small te through the bars on the cage and then sit back down near the trunk of my old gear.


    The light catches a small glint on a certain medallion and I bring it out to reminisce. It was thest thing Luna gave to me before she started her own healing clinic after returning from that god forsaken hunt.


    ¡°If you really insist on going take this, I owe you one so if you ever need anything remember you can alwayse to me¡± her worried eyes still reminding me of the only real friend I had left in this world.


    ¡°I guess 20 years is quite a long time. I should look into getting a message to her sooner rather thanter, eh I¡¯ll just have Ajax deliver it, with that look in his eyes no way he stays in a small vige like this one.¡± I chuckle to myself as I feel myself drifting off to sleep.

 Chapter 21

    Chapter 21


    Over the weeks have seen a new routine settle in. Every 4 or 5 days I would join Hatchet in going on a hunt for game or just scouting. We weren¡¯t that lucky to find game on a scouting mission after that first time. That¡¯s not to say that our time was just spent walking around. He had me on high alert and also running drills of how to react to whatever could show up.


    Now with my level of strength all this basically amounted to something I could fight head on and he will just watch over me, something that I could only let him keep busy while shooting arrows at and retreat. My first retreat option was climbing up a nearby tree, my second was running away and myst was running by jumping from tree to tree, all depending on what we stumbled upon would be useful ording to him.


    This along with a detailed exnation of the flora found in the forest and what it can be used for or what its presence means made the missions very enjoyable, we even found some rabbits and deer when hunting for food.


    On my days staying in the vige I would go through my usual training in the mornings, practicing with all the weapons I knew how to use as well as my climbing. After that most of my day would be spent keeping up with the other skills I learned in thest 3 years as well as tending to my garden. My merchant skills were getting quite the workout thanks to my sister and na who decided to wait until after my Spring finished next week, they seemed to have already started making quite a bit of profit off the caravans that came in the vige just by acting as middlemen between the caravan merchant and the vige popce.


    The new addition to the menu that made itst that much longer was ¡®the chase¡¯ as I called it, releasing a rabbit into the forest and after giving it a head start using my tracking skills to run and grab it.


    Hatchet found it funny the first time he found ass in the air with my hand up to my shoulder in a rabbit burrow, but after I exined to him what I was doing his expression changed to an impressed one.


    ¡°You know that¡¯s not a bad idea, sure when you are chasing something you usually have time to look for tracks but the ability to spot and read meaningful information from tracks when running coulde in very handy¡± His words weren¡¯t empty he even started to add fake tracks near the area I let the rabbit loose in so I would not only have to identify the tracks but also guess how long ago they were made.


    ¡°Hey kid, you ready for the scouting mission?¡± Hatchet called out to me.


    ¡°Yeah just got to go put this guy back in the cage¡± I said holding up the rabbit before I took off at a run towards my home. ¡°Hey mom¡± I said as I picked up my gear after putting the rabbit back.


    ¡°You¡¯re going already?¡± Mom asked looking up from the shirt she was sewing back up for dad.¡±Isn¡¯t it a bit early?¡±


    ¡°Yeah but apparently this scouting mission takes us a bit closer to the deep forest so Hatchet said he wanted to make sure we were getting out of there before the light even starts to thin.¡±


    ¡°Ok, but be careful out there, just because something hasn¡¯t shown up around here doesn¡¯t mean it¡¯s not out there in the deep forest.¡± Mom told me, the past few cycles of nothing happening to me letting her calm down, that being a hunter wasn¡¯t that dangerous.


    And she wasn¡¯t wrong, it¡¯s just that those things that could be out there was why we were going deeper in the first ce, the game has been getting rarer as time passed and nothing was happening near the vige so we had to investigate what could be affecting it from further out and if we needed to send a message to Lessis in case something really was going on.


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    ¡°What do you think we will find all the way out here?¡± I asked Hatchet as we made our way deeper and deeper. ¡°What could have an effect on the game yet stay clear of the vige?¡±


    ¡°Lots of things could do it, we¡¯re not only out here to figure out what it is but also look for sign if it is something bigger and this is only a mild effect off it¡±


    ¡°What do you mean by that?¡±


    ¡°Well when something big happens it also affects everything below it more or less, in the forest a big change deep inside could cause a group of hunters much less dangerous to move closer to the vige and as a result we would share the same hunting grounds without actually running into each other.¡±


    ¡°Aha, now that looks interesting¡± He eximed and started following a set of very hard to spot tracks that seemed very odd to me. He didn¡¯t mention anything about them and I couldn¡¯t put my finger on what made these tracks different from any other I have seen before.


    It didn¡¯t take long for us to reach a clearing with Hatchet leading the hunt, but the closer we got to whatever had made these tracks the more these tracks felt odd to me somehow. Thetest had a soft purple smoke lift from them. But since Hatched didn¡¯t mention it I let it slide as well.


    ¡°There it is. Damn, kid, get up in a tree quietly. Now!¡± His stern whisper leaves no room for argument ¡° draw an arrow but don¡¯t shoot unless it tries to run away.¡± was thest thing he told me as he started circling to get a better angle.


    Getting up in the branches I get my first glimpse of what we are hunting, seeming to be a slightly bigger than average wolf, but that''s not what worries me, what does is that I get a clear reading from the wolf thanks to my mana sense skill.


    Hatchet shot an arrow at the wolf and then followed up with a charge holding his axe in his hand, his surprise attack seems to have worked and he definitely had the upper hand, the wolf quickly realizing he was going to lose made a run for it.


    I slowly aimed knowing I would only have one shot before it got to the trees and my line of fire would be obscured. The arrow I released hit the backck right in the join, sending the wolf crashing head first into the ground, letting Hatchet catch up and with one final swing he buried the axe in the skull of the beast.


    I quickly pulled up my stat window to see what had changed as I felt something right before I started climbing the tree.


    <strong>Name</strong> : Ajax


    <strong>Level</strong> :12


    <strong>Experience</strong> : 2950/12100


    <strong>Traits</strong>: Child Prodigy, Divine Witness


    <strong>Health</strong>: 160/160


    <strong>Mana</strong>: 260/260


    <strong>Stamina</strong> :250/250


    <strong>Vitality</strong> : 16.27


    <strong>Strength</strong> :21.60


    <strong>Endurance</strong> : 25.80


    <strong>Dexterity</strong> :20.90


    <strong>Intellect </strong>: 36.68


    <strong>Wisdom</strong> :28.26


    <strong>Mind</strong> : 26.87


    <strong>Perception</strong> : 18.63


    <strong>Stat Points</strong> : 242


    <strong>Skills</strong> :<ul><li><strong>Common :</strong>[Mathematics Lvl 22] [Stealth Lvl 21][Drawing Lvl 30][Athleticism Lvl 20] [Running Lvl 22][Reading Lvl 20][Writing Lvl 20][Cooking Lvl 20][Sewing Lvl 20] [Cleaning Lvl 12][Haggling Lvl 19][Gardening Lvl 20][Axes Lvl 29][Hammers Lvl 21] [Deception Lvl 15][Sword Lvl 10][Shield Lvl 10][Bow Lvl 10][Spear Lvl 10][Throwing Lvl 10][Persuasion Lvl 10][Unarmed Combat Lvl 12][Knives 20][Skinning Lvl 10][Tanning Lvl 10][Dismantle Lvl 10][Climbing Lvl 5][Tracking Lvl 4][Heat Resistance Lvl 1]</li><li><strong>Umon :</strong>[Meditation Lvl 35][Sense Mana Lvl 36][Expel Mana Lvl 37][Sprinting Lvl 13][Mining Lvl 10][Lumberjack Lvl 10][Smelting Lvl 10][cksmithing Lvl 10][Chanting Lvl 10] [Mana Farming Lvl 10][Increase Price Lvl 10][Lower Price Lvl 10][Danger sense Lvl 1][Leatherworking Lvl 10][Alchemy Lvl 10][Mana Milling Lvl 6]Precise Cut Lvl 10][Precise Blow Lvl 10]</li><li><strong>Rare : </strong>[Manipte Mana Lvl 15][Water Aspect Mana Lvl 10][Fire Aspect Mana Lvl 10] [Air Aspect Mana Lvl 10][Earth Aspect Mana Lvl 10][Inject Mana Lvl 13][Spot Weakness Lvl 4][Residue Recognition Lvl 1] </li></ul>


    New :


    [Tracking] + [Mana sense] -> [Residue Recognition]


    Upgrades :


    Climbing 1-> 5


    Tracking 1 -> 4


    Hmm, this information made me both giddy and relieved, I had gotten a new skill, and ording to the new system I tried to implement, that apparently worked, my status would tell if any skills were used in the creation of my new ones. It took a load off to know that it hadn''t been a mistake not to tell Hatchet the odd feeling the tracks had given me. Had I done so I would have revealed that I could sense mana, and not only that I could even tell if mana had been used even after the effect was over.

 Chapter 22

    Chapter 22


    ¡°What was different about this wolf?¡± I questioned Hatchet, just because I knew the thing had mana didn¡¯t mean I knew much else about it.


    ¡°That was your first beast type monster kid¡± He ndly answered as he started bagging the wolf to take back to the vige, all my prior knowledge of games telling me monster parts would sell for quite a bit. ¡°Now while not all monsters have mana all beast type ones do and that separates the animals from the monster¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t all monsters have mana?¡± It would make sense that they would


    ¡°Most do but there are some that don¡¯t, a few insect type don¡¯t have mana, the same can be said about massive fish types that are fully based on size, just because a monster doesn¡¯t have mana doesn¡¯t make them any less dangerous, some fungus type monsters take control of other species and in doing so make them a lot stronger, turning into wolf type monsters with no mana, it is very important to make sure every time you fight a strong beast type monster that you didn¡¯t see use any mana that you check yourself for possible sign of infestation. This one here Had some wind ws he used so we should be fine, if the rare type of controlling fungus that can ess a previous mana connection got him we are dead anyway.¡±


    That was a lot for me to process and I just stood there trying to absorb all the new information. Seeing me try toprehend what he just said Hatchet carried on inspecting the clearing, clearly he was looking for something specific.


    ¡°What are you searching for?¡±


    ¡°Any sign of where the rest of the pack of this one might be¡± he said pointing at the wolf. ¡° They aren¡¯t solitaire creatures few reasons why one as young as this would be alone but I can¡¯t find any marks to single the presence of another¡±


    After 20 more minutes spent in the clearing he determined that he was indeed a lone wolf.


    ¡°So, what now? we go back to the vige with the wolf?¡± ¡°No, a single wolf couldn¡¯t have caused all this, monster or not, we go a bit deeper now that we have a trail to see if we can get a hint on what happened.¡±


    The trip proceeded a lot slower than we had up to this point, we weren¡¯t taking any chances with carelessness. Hatchet stopped right next to a mangled tree, clearly something suspicious had happened to it, even I could tell that much.


    ¡°Fuck, we got to get out of here I know what happened.¡± a quiet harsh tone came out and we were both headed straight for the vige. We didn¡¯t make it more than 5 steps before I caught on to why he was so on edge, the conspicuous tree was there to draw our attention and we had just ran into whatever had set up this ambush.


    The squeaks came from about 5 pony sized rats, they all looked a lot like they would fit right in with 4 turtles to train in martial arts, but they all had different odd implements, hammers, axes, arrows all made of stone.


    ¡°Kobolds, keep clear of them¡± was all the advice Hatchet gave me as he moved faster than I have ever seen him charging the one with a staff in the back.


    I didn¡¯t have a chance to see what else he was doing as one of the kobolds, the one with two axes, came towards me. His small stature made him quick as a drew my sword and took the shield off my back, trying to create distance between us like Hatchet told me but the little bugger was quick.


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    I managed to parry the first swing and blocked the next 2 with my shield when something different happened. I felt the presence of magic around the kobold, but it was different than the wolf, where the wolf had constant magic pouring into his ws to give them an effect the kobolds magic came in small bursts, targeted at his feet, and I could see the earth move to help him get a better step.


    He darted off to the side and then the same thing happened again this time the magic infusing into the axe, its connection with my shield rang out in the forest with a BANG, I could see where it the stone dented my shield without chipping at all, and my whole arm went numb from the force of the impact, hanging limply by my side with the shield out of the way.


    Knowing I wouldn¡¯t be able to stand up to another such blow I went on the offensive, swinging my de towards the things neck, only to have it intercepted. But that was something I expected as I switched my swing and managed to leave a sizable gash on its leg. Odd greyish blood pouring out followed by high pitched screech.


    Thinking to press my advantage I took pressed on the offensive looking to force it to put weight on the injured leg hoping it would trip, when I felt the same magic for around its axis once more and when it met my de the power knocks me off bnce, the axeing for my chest as i twist the sword to intercept it the power of the blow sending it skidding across the grass.


    The kobold raises its first axe once more looking to finish me off but stumbles as he takes a step on his injured leg making the blow fall short,bined with my own fall backwards to dodge it only leaves a small cut on my forearm. Its beady eyes stare at me promising death as his other axe is raised ready to remove my head.


    His forehead exploding with an arrowhead emerging took me by surprise, brains scattering on my boots as it fell to the floor. Looking up I see Hatchet in the middle of 4 dead kobolds, a bow in his hand as he quickly dashed to me.


    ¡°Not bad kid, I didn¡¯t expect you to stand up to a kobold before you spent any stat points, even if was just about to brain you¡± but his grin fell off his face as his eyesnded on the small cut on my arm. ¡°Did you get that when falling?¡± all amusement was gone from his voice.


    ¡°No he nicked me with his axe before tripping on his wounded leg¡± I answer him, proud that while I lost I at least managed tond a solid blow ¡° It hardly hurts at all¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter whether or not it hurts, kobolds use poisons from underground on their weapons¡± He clearly didn¡¯t know how to help me as he started going over the corpses, I suspect looking for an antidote.


    I did the only thing I could to start sucking out the poison before plunging my own knife into the cut to make it a bit deeper. The next step was the one I knew would hurt as I retreated behind a tree and put my other hand over the wound focusing on bringing forth my fire magic and cauterizing the area hoping that will clean up the poison.


    I wasn¡¯t prepared for the pain that came with it and I let out a sharp cry of pain, followed by grabbing a stick and lighting it on fire, in case Hatchet tried to figure out how I cauterized the wound. In a sh Hatchet was in front of me inspecting both the stick and my wound.


    ¡°Not a bad n, since he only nicked you at the end, sucking out anything on the surface then deepening the wound and burning it all should limit exposure, how did you think to do all that?¡± clearly skeptical of the approach he hadn¡¯t taught me.


    ¡°My brother¡¯s lover Kate is a healer for the guards and gave me a few tips on how to deal with all different type of injuries when I was resting between rounds of my brother training me¡± for once I didn¡¯t have to lie, I didn¡¯t mention that this particr method was for healers who could then speed up the healing of the burn and resistance to the poison with their magic


    ¡°Fine let me wrap it up and let''s head to the vige I know, we need to get a message to Lessis, this isn¡¯t something our vige can deal with¡± He made a n though the skeptical expression told me my use of magic might not have gone fully under the radar as he started wrapping up my arm.


    ¡°What has happened?¡± I asked, trying to move to a different topic.


    ¡°Most likely one of the kobold ns in the mountain had a poption surplus so the chief sent one his offspring''s with a part of the poption to get their own n started, when there is no more space in the mountain they travel through the forest looking for another series of tunnels to upy¡± he answered while finishing up my bandage and we both took off at a run towards the vige, though not before I grabbed the quiver of stone arrows and stowed it in my pack.


    ¡° This was just one of the scouting parties, there should be another 3 or 4 hundred of the rats deeper in the forest and among them some higher levels, nothing a small vige can deal with, the good part is that it will most likely be 5 cycles before they move close enough that the vige enters their hunting grounds since Kobolds are notoriously slow to move outside their tunnels. Plenty of time for a the Baron to dispatch a contingent of knights and soldiers to go deal with them¡±


    While listening to him I also kept an eye on my health bar seeing it slowly drop lower at a very slow pace 73/130 when we left the ambush site to 72 now. Telling me that I hadn¡¯t gotten all of the poison with my little self-immtion trick. It was then that I felt myself receive a new skill [Poison Resistance Lvl 1] that I figured I would be ok, and that the longer this poison was in my system the higher this new skill would level.

 Chapter 23

    Chapter 23


    The trip back to the vige was quiet as we were trying to get there as fast as we could without attracting any more attention to ourselves than we already had from running through the ce. My mind wandered back to the magic the kobold was using and how he used quick bursts of earth to help his speed and strengthen his weapons when attacking without using a continuous infusion like the wolf had.


    Not paying attention I crashed straight into Hatchet who had suddenly slowed down probably spotting something I had missed.


    ¡° I know you just got out of your first fight kid but pay attention to your surroundings¡± he didn¡¯t sound very upset, but his voice was still firm, conveying the message that in this forest I was one moment of carelessness away from death with my stats.¡± here chew on these they should help your body fight off the poison¡± he shoved some leaves he ripped off the nt into my hand.


    I put one in my mouth and instantly tried to spit it out, the bitter taste overwhelming me. MY eyes squeezed shut but I felt a hand over my mouth keeping the foul leaf in.


    ¡°Yeah, Yeah, I know it tastes like the sole of your boot, but I told you to keep away from the kobolds so think of it as your punishment for failing¡± he lightly chuckled without letting me go. ¡° Don¡¯t swallow it just chew on it for a few minutes then you can spit it out¡±


    I nodded and he took his hand off my mouth. ¡°Ugh, if for no other reason than to never have to taste this again I¡¯ll find a way to level this poison resistance skill¡± Clearly trusting Hatchet with my new skill was a good idea, I didn¡¯t want him to think of me as dead weight and sharing my new skill would at least build some more trust between us, I definitely didn¡¯t just tell him about it so I wouldn¡¯t have to chew on another leaf, definitely not.


    ¡°You got poison resistance out of it, eh?¡± He scratched his beard as we started moving again, a small file of smoke visible in the distance showing we were close to the vige. ¡° Well at least all the pain of that burn on your arm won¡¯t be for nothing then.¡±


    ¡°Why did you go for the kobold in the back, was it because of the staff?¡± I asked him, seeing as we were so close to the vige there was less danger in talking while running.


    ¡°Nope, had nothing to do with the staff, he had a container of mosquitos on his belt, clearly he was some kind of disease magic user, definitely something I didn¡¯t want you to have to deal with even if he was low enough level for it not to pose much danger to me.¡± This obviously surprised me as I had thought the gem on the staff had marked him as a magic user that needed to be dealt with. ¡°Then what was with the gem on his staff¡± I ask him, bringing the orb I picked off the end of the staff thinking it had some value.


    ¡°That is most likely an enchanted object to help him control the insects better, but its by no means required for it. Not good for much, highest price you¡¯ll get for it will be from an engraver who already knows how to carve the same rune just so hispetition can¡¯t grab it and that''s if you go to a city.¡± he told me clearly aware that he was stomping on my hopes of it being something valuable.


    ¡°Now head on home and go to sleep, you still have poison in your body and the adrenaline is about to run out and you¡¯ll crash. I''ll go inform the headman of the kobolds.¡± he lightly pushed me in the direction of my house.


    At home, I found nobody in the house but by the time I entered I was already feeling dead tired so I just grabbed a few pieces of fruit to eat and headed to bed to crash.


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    The sun¡¯s rays woke me up the next day looking a lotter than I usually woke up. A cold bowl of soup on the nightstand by the bed told me that my parents found out what had happened to me and let me sleepst night. I drank down the soup and got up to go to my usual training, even if I was to start a bitter today I was feeling fine, the burn on my arm reacting well to the healing I used right before going to sleep.


    As I exited my room I found my parents as well as Judy and na all sitting down at the kitchen table, their eyes on me as I exited my room.


    ¡°Morning¡± I sheepishly say before trying to extricate myself out of the situation ¡°I¡¯ll go get started on my exercises.¡±


    I didn¡¯t make more than a step for the door when mom cut me off pulling out a chair for me ¡°Sit.¡± She then filled my te with food and continued as I sat down for breakfast. ¡°Your father and I have decided that you will join your sister for her trip to Lessis¡±


    ¡°What why?¡± I quickly try to think of a way out.


    ¡°We¡¯re not saying that you can¡¯t be a hunter, but with the kobolds so close we decided this is the best for you, as such you¡¯ll make the headman happy by ying the role of messenger and let him think you might be turning to that career after your experience with the kobolds, this also presents a perfect opportunity for you to visit Tom and Kate and we both agreed that you will not be going back in the forest before you unlock your stat points and have a better chance to defend yourself¡± Her exnation calmed me down quite a bit and I found myself agreeing with her.


    The n sounded well thought out, it not only got me off of the headsman''s shit list but also gave me a chance to see what a city was like and to visit Tom and Kate. I wasn¡¯t thrilled about the lost time but on our way back Hatchet did mention that he would most likely have to go without me for a while anyway so whether I did my training on the road or here it didn¡¯t matter much.


    ¡°Ohe on little brother, you could at least make it look like spending time with me isn¡¯t a punishment¡± Judy managed to make me crack a smile at that as I inhaled the food in front of me, clearly a lot hungrier than I thought.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t say anything though¡± I defended myself against the allegations.


    ¡°You looked like they just told you to go help clean the horse stalls¡± she fired back not letting me get a solid footing in so I did the only smart thing left to me, I kept my mouth focused on eating and conceded this round.


    ¡°You can go do your training for the day but since you¡¯re leaving in the morning with the caravan make time for tonight to have a chat with me, after all you¡¯ll have your stat points unlocked on this trip and I need to talk to you about it¡± dad said while getting up to head back to the forge after his lunch.


    I nodded my head, stuffing all the remaining food in my mouth and also headed for my room to grab a new pair of clothes seeing as I was only wearing a pair of pants, realizing how badly I messed up my initial excuse of training while wearing this. Quickly changing and heading out the door, my sister and mother were still sitting at the table talking with na, probably something to do with their reason for the trip as merchants in training, but all the while na¡¯s eyes followed me out the door.


    Training today started differently, with me taking out one of the arrows I looted from the dead kobolds yesterday and giving myself a very small scratch, hoping to raise my poison resistance and as a way to progress my vitality along with the rest of my stats. I also started chewing on one of the leaves Hatchet game me yesterday just to be sure I wasn¡¯t doing anything stupid and then started my to go through my usual training.


    ¡°Looking to train up you poison resistance¡± Hatchet announced from behind me as I was just about done with thest set of climbing exercises, he wasing out of the forest clearly he hadn¡¯t taken the day off like I had.


    ¡°That¡¯s a good way to get yourself killed just where did you stick this arrow?¡± His voice was cold but I could see signs of worry in his eyes.


    ¡°Just a light scratch here¡± I showed him the thing line I made with the arrow close to the wound from yesterday,¡± and I chewed through about 4 of those leaves you gave me yesterday.¡±


    His expression warmed some when hearing that but his voice didn''t. ¡°Next time you get it in your head to experiment with things that can kill you, how about running it past me first?¡±


    ¡°I tried to but I couldn¡¯t find you and since I am leaving with my sister first thing in the morning for Lessis I didn¡¯t want to miss out on that much time levelling up this poison resistance, especially if we have to deal with kobolds againter¡± I answered back to him, though the looking for him part wasn¡¯t exactly true save for a quick nce on my way to my training spot.


    ¡°You and I won¡¯t be dealing with the kobolds, level 30 and above soldiers led by at least a few level 50s will be cleaning out the kobold problem, don¡¯t be in such a hurry to get yourself killed¡± he shook his head ¡°I¡¯ll have a new leather chest piece made for you from the wolf¡¯s hide by the time youe back, that with the stat points unlocking should help keep you on even footing with whatever we find in the forest after the soldiers clear out the kobolds.


    That was all he said to me as he headed towards the headman¡¯s house, probably to give a report of his mission and I headed back home to have a conversation with my father.

 Chapter 24

    Chapter 24


    On my way towards the house I made a quick stop by the alchemist¡¯s ce, after all the amount of increase the poison resistance skill would gain would be too specialized if it all came from a single type of poison so it was best that I would get some recipes before I left on the 2 week journey to Lessis.


    ¡°Evening¡± I greeted as I entered the shopb.


    ¡°Ajax, what are you doing here, I thought we agreed alchemy wasn¡¯t your calling.¡± He didn¡¯t seem that surprised to see me despite his words, ¡°was it the encounter with the kobolds that made you rethink past paths?¡±


    ¡°It isn¡¯t so much that I am rethinking past paths but Hatchet told me that kobolds are known for using poisons on their weapons, so I was wondering if perhaps you would know some mild poisons I could make with local herbs or the ones you know I grow in my little backyard garden¡± I decided to go with the straight approach, after all this man could from the sound if a potion was bubbling wrong I wasn¡¯t about to see if he could tell when a person lies.


    ¡°Poisons, hmmm, nasty business, but for a hunter I suppose that it would fit. Sure, I can show you a hemorrhagic one as well as a mild nerve toxin, you can even get a more powerful strain of the nerve toxin with some of those nts you grow.¡± He stumbled over to a cupboard and started taking out beakers as well as a few dried nts.


    A few hours of carefully learning how to make the poisons with step by step instructions and notes I was stepping outside, happy to escape the moist warm air that permeated the shop following my lesson.


    ¡°Just remember, these are weak poisons if you want them to have any effect on something like that wolf Hatchet carried back to the vige it will take a lot more than what you cance on a de or arrow, maybe if you made it with some of those nts of yours the wolf would start feeling numb after 10 seconds in the area around a cut but the downside is if you hurt yourself you¡¯ll they¡¯ll work on you.¡± The alchemist sent me off with a final warning just as thest rays of sunlight were drawing to a close.


    With everything ready for my trip tomorrow I headed home ready to see what wisdom dad had for me prior to my stat points unlocking. The pale light of the candles flickered from the wind tunnel when I opened the door, for once it was only mom dad and Judy. It wasn¡¯t so much that na spent all her time at our house as it was that she and Judy were inseparable with them spending time together both here and at her house, something the headman and dad both disapproved of but they both quickly changed their tune when they doubled their starting coin pouch in 1 cycle after they started joining the merchants for round trips to Lessis.


    ¡°Getting inte there Ajax, are you still feeling weak, you shouldn¡¯t push yourself so hard after a fight¡± mom was already out of her chair and dragging me over to sit and have dinner.¡°No, no, I just spent thest few hours learning how to make some poisons, my most recent encounter with them showed me they aren¡¯t to be underestimated.¡± I assured her while holding up my arm to make a point.


    ¡°Is that why you sell so bad?¡± Judy wouldn¡¯t let something like this get past her, despite the annoyed look I shed her. ¡°What I¡¯m not saying is that it''s a problem, I''m saying you better wash before we leave tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°What did he tell you about poisons?¡± Dad questioned clearly, a bit surprised I was leaning back towards alchemy.


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    The rest of dinner revolved around me exining to them the lesson I just received, even Judy seemed interested though that was more because now she had a good excuse, in her mind, to overcharge alchemists buying these ingredients for making dangerous substances.


    After dinner dad pulled me off to have the talk with me. We sat down alone around the table.


    ¡°Now usually this is something we would discuss the night before you experience your child trait ending so that it is fresh in your mind, but since that is a luxury we do not have doing it now will have to do.¡± Was all he said before he opened his status up to me.


    <strong>Name</strong> : Sam


    <strong>Level</strong> :38


    <strong>Experience</strong> : 10000/75800


    <strong>Traits</strong>:


    <strong>Health</strong>: 2700/2700


    <strong>Mana</strong>: 250/250


    <strong>Stamina</strong> : 600/1400


    <strong>Vitality</strong> : 270


    <strong>Strength</strong> : 260


    <strong>Endurance</strong> : 140


    <strong>Dexterity</strong> : 190


    <strong>Intellect</strong>: 25


    <strong>Wisdom</strong> : 25


    <strong>Mind</strong> : 25


    <strong>Perception</strong> : 45


    <strong>Stat Points</strong> : 0


    <strong>Skills</strong> :[Hammers Lvl 65][cksmithing Lvl 57][Precise Blow Lvl 39][Axes Lvl 30] [Mining Lvl 25][Running Lvl 20][Reading Lvl 10][Heat Resistance Lvl 11][Writing Lvl 5]


    ¡°Now I will advise you as my father advised me, despite the fact that you have no mana and that you will most likely never have mana regardless of how much above 11 you Intellect Wisdom and Mind stats are you should probably push them up to 25, as that is where it is believed that the bonus to things like memory enhancement and quick thinking and other such limits are. It probably seems like a big investment now and I am not saying that these are your first points to put in, just that these are something you are looking to have by the end of your Apprentice or a year after.¡±


    It was the same speech he had given my brother, but that was not something I should be pointing out seeing as I should have been too young to remember it the first time around. His status had remained much the same after all these years having gained only 3 levels and his cksmithing skill having increased by a few levels


    ¡°Next I will tell you something about stat point, you see while they may only be affecting you in term of full points there is such a thing as partial points, when investing a free point into one of your stats all you do is bring it to the next highest number¡± he started with something I had already guessed but it was still good information nheless.


    ¡°Now the Apprentice trait will give you a 10% increase to all points spent, but this means that if you spend the points one by one you will lose all of this bonus, you want to spend points while under the Apprentice trait in multiples of 10 as such you will gain that extra point¡± Now this was crucial, spending the points incorrectly would have meant that not only do I waste the partial points I had worked so hard for but also the bonus from the trait.


    ¡°Next you should try to n out what you n to increase to how much over a longer period of time, usually a few levels ahead. You see the Apprentice trait will make it easy to increase your stats without spending points but to do this you will need to not increase them with free points for a while so you don¡¯t just round up the attributes you worked hard for. As such you should spend your initial points favoring one stat that you will focus on and then not spend points to increase it for the next few levels, as such you might be able to push it 1 or 2 points up for free.¡±


    ¡°Do you understand what I told you?¡± he asks, a bit uncertain, clearly this is as far as he prepared his speech.


    ¡°Yeah, I understand¡± I answer leaving aside one of the questions I had about all this that had been bugging me ever since Judy showed me what the Apprentice trait did.


    He looked visibly relieved, maybe Tom had asked some questions he wasn¡¯t ready for and he had expected the same of me, but I didn¡¯t want to put anything more on him and any other questions I would have I could bother Judy with so I headed off to wash myself before turning in for the night.


    Since tonight I wasn¡¯t as tired as yesterday I just stayed in bed spending a lot of my mana repeatedly casting Alzinoth to heal the burn on my forearm. Most of the difort was gone and the wound looked nearly healed when I reapplied my bandage after the wash. I would of course keep it in ce for another few weeks but had to make sure to take it off before we reached Kate as I was quite sure that she would be able to figure out why myrge burn had healed so well in only 2 weeks time.


    As sleep imed me I was thinking about all the opportunities I would have in the city as I will most likely already be done with the Child trait before we reached it unless we made very good time heading there.

 Chapter 25

    Chapter 25


    Me Judy and na were on the way to the market. As soon as we turned the corner we could see the caravan packing up and getting ready to move on to the return trip to Lessis.


    The three of us must have lookedical, me being quite a bit taller and more muscled than both of them but they both carried bigger bags on their back than me, something not all that surprising since they must have had strength stats easily 2 or 3 times my own.


    ¡°Ajax is good to see you again, I have mostly packed up but seeing how much you brought I¡¯m sure I can get some things unpacked for you¡± the merchant who usually buys my herb greeted me with a sleazy smile, his eyes fixed to my luggage.


    ¡°I¡¯m not here to sell this time, going to pay a visit to my brother in Lessis so I¡¯ll try to sell these in the city, no need to pay a transportation fee if I¡¯m going there anyway.¡± I answered back not looking to give away the fact that I was on this trip because my parents wanted me to be away from the vige for a while.


    He must not have liked that answer because his smile soured and he got back to work without another word.


    ¡°Wow, that ruined his mood quick, he must have been making bank on those nts of yours, when we get to the city I¡¯ll show you where you can sell them without getting ripped off¡± my sister reassured me while na was talking to the owner of the cart we were boarding for the next 2 weeks.


    It didn¡¯t take long for us to get going and since most of the merchants knew me as the impossible kid who always wanted to argue and not buy anything, from my time raising my skills on them, word that I was along for a visit to Lessis spread quickly and I was promptly ignored by all.


    ¡°So what are going to do for the next 2 weeks?¡± I ask my sister 30 minutes into the trip already bored from just sitting in a slow moving wagon.


    ¡°We have to stops on the way where we will probably spend a day but other than that this is what the trip will be like all the way there, if you want to stretch your legs you can walk beside the caravan or try to find something in the forest off the trail, just don¡¯t wander because nobody is going to wait around or look for you.¡± Her response told me that she saw through my boredom but her warning made it clear that I shouldn¡¯t be too far away. I took off my bags and hopped off heading towards the woods a bit out of sight to begin my training, or more specifically to try to recreate what that kobold had been doing with mana. I tried to focus the mana release into feet to start off with after all that must have been easier than doing so with a weapon.


    A few hours and most of my mana poolter I had made no progress on actual results, the only thing I could be sure of was that my mana seemed different from the kobolds. Not just in how it had affected him but even in the way it felt.


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    Deciding that there wasn¡¯t much more I could do and that I should probably return to the caravan soon I decided to empty out my mana pool with my usual exercises so that the mana exhaustion would let me sleep away the time on this trip.


    While going through my usual creation of fire water and air everything was ordinary but when I got to my earth aspect my mana suddenly appeared a lot like the kobolds to my senses. I quickly decided to try to augment my steps with earth mana to see if I could make myself move faster.


    The first thing I noticed when I attempted that was the feeling I recognized for getting a new skill, sadly I didn¡¯t get a chance to enjoy the feeling as instead of giving me a more sure footing or increasing my speed I felt the ground instead give way forming a small crater under my foot leading me to tripping and falling on my face.


    The fall was other than embarrassing and not something I could even pay attention to in the aftermath of my sess, sure I didn¡¯t get the effect I wanted but the activation felt simr to that of the kobold, mana being released and quickly used to imbue something for an instant.


    While I was very much looking forward to training my newfound path in using mana, the fact that a small patch of unsure footingnded on in the dirt made it abundantly clear I need to go get some rest and let my mana recover.


    Returning to the caravan and hopping back in the cart and getting settled to sleep I noticed my sister''s face suddenly inches from my own.


    ¡°Where the hell were you and what were you doing?¡± Her tone sounded angry.


    ¡°I tried to hunt around to see if there was anything near the road as well as practice my tracking skill¡± I responded to the impromptu questioning.


    ¡°Well next time, how about you pop back every 2 hours or so, I was this close to going to look for you¡± She said, picking a twig from my hair.


    ¡°Ok ok, I¡¯ll do that tomorrow¡± I said lying down to sleep, in the same position that I saw the night crew were doing knowing I will sleep for quite a bit longer tonight restoring my mana pool and meditating after I wake to fill up the rest of the way before starting my new training sessions tomorrow.


    When I woke up in the morning it was still fully dark but I could feel something pressing down on my left side, a small glint of moonlight revealed that to be na snuggled up to me. I wasn¡¯t going toin about a hot girl cozying up to me but then reined in my hormones and started meditating looking to be training my augmentation in a few hours.


    na moving is what finally broke me out of my meditation, there now being a bit more light I looked around and saw most people were waking up even the day driving crew.


    ¡°I don¡¯t get how they do it, sleep all day, drive all night and then when we get to a vige they are all ready to trade¡± Iment looking and the sleepy merchants swapping ces with their tiered looking night counterparts.


    ¡°Well they swap every stop, if you were driving at night on a way to a stop you¡¯re driving during the day leaving the stop, that''s how most partners do it.¡± na exined it to me.


    ¡°Yeah unless you¡¯re the newbie they are teaching, in which case you get all the night shifts¡± my sister groaned awake from opposite me. ¡° I got lucky, me and na joined together and we got to split the nights for the first 3 years. I don¡¯t know how people can drive all night and expect to be able to learn something the next day.


    While sheined a lot and didn¡¯t seem to take things seriously both Judy and na showed promise, with the merchant organization they had joined cutting their training days short from 5 years to 3 and signing them up as low level merchant duo. No doubt that rare skill of hers was paying dividends, and I suspected na had one of her own to keep up with her.


    ¡°Well I¡¯m going to see if I can¡¯t catch something fresh for breakfast¡± I hopped out of the cart and made for the woods, my thoughts with all sorts of different ideas to change how I manipted my mana. Ideally I would learn how to get any desired effect, but I wasn¡¯t kidding myself that my progress was going to be slow.

 Chapter 26

    Chapter 26


    Thest two days I got a really good feeling for imbuing my steps with earth mana to get different effects. Right now I could push myself off the earth to increase my speed, very simr to what the kobold had done, this was the thing I had best gotten a hold off, alongside that I was training to create small 3 inch deep holes or ridges by infusing mana. So far the ridges could only appear 20 feet away from where I was, this was nothing substantial but it could cause problems if used correctly.


    As I was focusing on getting a small ridge to form 2 feet from where I stepped my danger sense rocked through me from my back left side so I changed my intent to a quick step and rolled out of the way as a boar charged, grazing me on my left leg as I dove.


    The boar was a bit bigger than the ones I had seen before but my mana sense filled me with relief as I sensed nothing from it, yes it might be higher level but this was still a beast and not a monster.


    As the boar slowed and tuned it prepared for another run up, I was ready for this one however and even with a bruise I could feel forming on my leg I was able to dodge out of the waypletely, sadly the speed of the boar made him too fast and the swing I took with my sword missed by inches from his back legs as he zoomed past me. Something interesting is that danger sense didn¡¯t re this time, meaning it would only alert me of dangers I wasn¡¯t aware of, this was something I would need to explore for what counted as aware of. Would me seeing the attacker count or did I also have to know his intent? This question was for another time however as the boar huffed clearly annoyed by his miss.


    My hand swiftly went to my back as I rose to my feet, never once taking my eyes off the boar, going for my bow thinking that if I put some arrows into it. My hand grasped air as I realised that while training I had put my bows and axe beside a tree and now there was an angry boar half way between me and them. I inwardly cursed as I whispered out ¡°Alzinoth¡± starting the healing process on my leg.


    As the boar ran up for his 3rd charge I decided to try my magic, putting my foot down to rise a small ridge 2 feet in front of him. The tactic worked as the boar''s front left leg met unexpected resistance and the charging beast was now sent into a sprawl. I took the opportunity and took a good swing at its back leg hoping to slow it down.


    The de hardly drew blood as it swished down on the leg, something I was definitely not expecting, marked clearly by my danger sense breaking me out of my surprise in time to dive away from the boar¡¯s tusks as it swung for me. I inwardly cursed myself for failing to re-sharpen my de in thest few weeks, it was on my to do list the day I was going to get back from my scouting mission but between the kobold fight and dealing with the aftermath of the poisoning I forgot to do it and it looked like it was going to cost me. I had no way to actually injure the thing so tiring it out seemed to be my only option. What would run out first it¡¯s stamina or my mana, this wasn¡¯t something I was willing to risk.


    My next thought took me back to the increased power the kobolds weapons had when infused with magic and thought that was my way to victory. On the boars next charge I repeated my trick with the ridge, this time it seemed he was expecting it as it only slowed him down instead of sending him to the ground. The opening was there however so I infused mana into the de trying to mimic the feeling I had when the kobold infused his weapons. Suddenly I felt like my hand held a sledgehammer not a de and I could barely get it in motion as it threw me off bnce with a boar charging at me. Dropping the de and rolling to the side was my only choice as the boar''s tusks passed far too close for my liking from my shoulder.


    This tale has been uwfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.On the boars next charge I didn¡¯t even try to slow it down instead speeding myself out of the way and quickly moved to pick my sword. My next move was to focus on my spot weakness skill to try and find a soft spot to try cutting into it. Sadly besides the eyes and the neck this boar seemed to be uniformly built and those spots were too close to the reinforced snout for me to have a good chance and slicing them.


    How could I kill this thing, experimenting with the weight of my weapon might work but it could also get me injured but then again what other choice did I have? The wolf! If slicing was my problem then the monster wolf might have the answer I needed, after all his use of mana was constant but all it did was use wind mana to increase the sharpness of its ws.


    I focused on recalling the feeling I got and then triedbining that with the application to a weapon I got from the kobold, the result was a slow drain on my mana though my mana sense informed me of a small sheen of wind mana now covering the edge of my de. The drain was a lot smaller than what a step it would take but the cost would add up to the same in about 7 seconds of use.


    As the boar went for me again it simply jumped over the small ridge I formed, barely breaking stride forcing me to spin out of the way awkwardly arching my sword to try getting it to make contact to see if there was any improvement to its sharpness. The de cut a decent size gash into the back of the boar, clearly marked by a squeal.


    With blood running down its back the boar turned back towards me with fury filled eyes. My refusal to let it simply run me over clearly upsetting it. I also felt my mana go fall to a quarter from this battle and training before it, I needed to end this in the next few charges before mana exhaustion slowed me down too much.


    As the boar ran towards me this time I chose to not rise another ridge but instead form a small pit in front of it. The eyes of the boar widened as it looked at the ground in front of it expecting a ridge to form only to see it dip. It repeated its first performance and crashed head first into the ground. This time however I wasn¡¯t about to waste my chance, as it crashed to a spot and stepped in towards it and brought my de down on its exposed neck.


    The cut was clean and a river of blood flooded out in the wake of my sword but that wasn¡¯t enough, I was sure of it as I followed it up a long slice across its stomach hoping to bleed it out. Not wanting to take any risks I jumped away from it.


    The boar swayed heavily as it got its feet under himself again, all the while blood continued to flow from his neck and I could see his insides peek out from the long gash on its stomach. The distance between us was small so it wouldn¡¯t have a chance to pick up any speed and he knew it as it started looking around for a way to escape. This was not something I was willing to allow however as I stepped in close and swung for the eyes hoping to keep it moving and losing blood.


    Our dance continued for about 20 seconds before it finally copsed. This led me to my next question, what should I do? This boar''s hide was too thick for me to have killed with my sword and if I brought it back to the caravan it would bring up some unwanted questions, but then again I also didn¡¯t want to leave a perfectly good boar out here to spoil, especially since bringing it back would mean I could eat it.


    In the end I went to pick up my bow and shot two arrows into the carcass. They would serve as pretext for how I brought it down to slice. Now came the hard part, carrying the big heavy chunk of meat towards the road, thankfully when training I ran ahead of the caravan and kept moving forwards every 20 minutes meaning I didn¡¯t have to be chasing after it with the massive increase in weight.


    ¡°Might as well get on with it¡± I said to myself as I pulled out arge rough strong piece of cloth and rolled the future bacon onto it because there was no way I was lifting it off the ground and then started dragging the thing towards the trail.


    As I made it to the trail I realized my fight with the boar had been longer than I thought as the wagon was already passing through.


    ¡°Back so soon?¡± Judy, who was walking beside our cart, called out to me. ¡±You usually check in every 3 hours and now you¡¯re back in 1, did you find a rabbit to chase and he gave you the slip after a good sprint?.¡±


    As obnoxious as her question sounded, my regr chasing of rabbits back home and heaving breath had set me up for it, the boar still being out of sight as I huffed and pushed forward with a cocky grin on my face.


    ¡°Nope I just didn¡¯t want this to get spoiled, if you help me get it up in the cart I¡¯ll let you have a bite¡± I answered back after a few steps shifting to the side to reveal the boar.

 Chapter 27

    Chapter 27


    Judy P.O.V :


    It happened again. Not for the first time something strange happened around my little brother. I first noticed it with those nts he was growing in his small corner of the garden, now he may have put a lot more time into a fewer number of nts than mom did but getting a better result on the first time was unnatural.


    Killing this boar, that some of the other merchants seem to think is above average level for a boar should not be something a kid who had not turned 10 yet should be able to do. Especially after wounding his dominant arm not 4 days ago.


    ¡°Now wait just a minute, who said he is giving away this meat for free?¡± I jump in before the vultures can pick away at the bountiful resource that is the boar. ¡°I¡¯m sure my brother will be more than happy to sell you enough to cook for yourselves today and sell the rest tomorrow when we reach our first stop.¡±


    Hopefully by the end of this trip he might deem to trust me with all the things he has going on, after all it seems Tom slipping out that he had a stealth skill seems to have done a number on him, I still remember the dread that showed on his face when he learned that his skill was out there.


    The rest of the trip was fairly uneventful, though I had to be a lot more careful when going to practice as some of the merchants took it upon themselves to spy on me for a bit the first few times after I brought back the boar.


    As for my practice it was very fruitful. Not only did I get better at handling keeping the wind enchant on my de I even learned to use the earth weight augmentation to its fullest. True it was not exactly the most useful ability to use when wielding a sword but considering that the weight changed for a very brief period of time it did wonders for a hammer swing.


    I was still working to find an application for fire and water as those were much stronger elements when used inrger amounts and power rather than small short bursts. Not having witnessed anyone or anything ever use the elements also limited me in working with them for now.


    The two towns we had passed through on our way over seemed like nothing special. The building looked very much like the ones in our own vige and besides spending the day at the stall my sister manned while we were there with her trying to get a cheaper price to sell for a profit in the city nothing much changed.We were about 6 hours away from the city when my desire for something to rece the boredom was answered in a way I had not imagined or could have hoped for. In the middle of the road, right after a tight corner,y a fallen tree. One that looked to have been cut down rather than fallen by looking at the clean cut at the base.


    The merchants seemed to havee to the same conclusion as I had as they all sprung into motion to get the carts turned around and head back to find another road that led to the city. s, they were not quick enough as a rough voice came out from behind a tree.


    ¡°Look at this boys, what do we have here?¡± What was clearly the leader of the banditsmented in a fake surprised voice. ¡°You folks look like you¡¯re in need of assistance¡±.


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    ¡°We are perfectly fine, just turning around and we will be on our way¡± the lead merchant of the caravan said in an unsure voice. We¡¯re not looking for any trouble¡±.


    ¡°Now who said anything about trouble? Did you hear me say anything about trouble?¡± his voice taking an even more ridiculous tone than before.


    ¡°No, I didn¡¯t hear anything like that boss¡± one of the other henchmen replied with an evil smirk on his face.


    There were about 20 bandits, we outnumbered them 2 to 1 but I somehow doubted me, my sister and na were in the minority in not being a match for a bandit. My eyes were going from one thug to another trying to check for a weak link in their formation in case I had to grab Judy and make a run for it.


    After taking a full look around the encirclement I didn¡¯t have a single idea as to where the best path of escape would be, except I knew for certain it wasn¡¯t anywhere near the leader, he was definitely one of the strongest as even the rest of the bandits gave me a wide breadth.


    As I was looking between the bandits to figure out which one could be the weak link i got a new skill [Judge Threat], now every time I focused on a different person I got a strange feeling, sadly none of them were good, so I couldn¡¯t exactly tell what they meant as I didn¡¯t have a baseline so I turned towards the only other person in the caravan who was younger than 10, the 6 year old son of a different merchant.


    The feeling I got from him wasfortable, someone I knew I could beat, with my new baseline formed I turned back to looking through the bandits to see if I could better spot a weak link. It wasn¡¯t much but I could feel a lot less powering from 3 of the ones blocking off the way to the right. All of them felt like they would put me through the grinder but that their grinder would be running a lot slower than the others.


    The worst feeling of them all didn¡¯te from the leader, it came from the guy behind us all close off the way back to the vige. He felt like he could take on any 2 of the others, any three if the leader wasn¡¯t one of them. With him behind us all watching our every move instead of talking I didn''t feel great about our chances.


    ¡°Stop this at once¡± a loud voice proimeding from behind the bandit leader. "You are all under arrest¡±.


    The voice belonged to a city guard with a much fancier uniform than my brother had, behind him were 15 other soldiers all with better looking uniforms, though not as important looking as their leader.


    ¡°Men don¡¯t let them get away, these lot have already hit 3 other caravans, we won¡¯t let them disrupt Lessis¡¯ trade any further¡± The captain announced, thought I am not sure why he would bother in doing so loud enough for all of us to hear, was he that self important?. ¡°Capture those that surrender but let none get away¡±.


    And there it was, the reason for all his grandstanding, he was looking to make his own job easier by threatening the bandits with death without actually saying the words. The severe man looked like he was in histe 30s or early 40s though in this world age isn¡¯t something you can base off of looks with the way increased stats affected it.


    As he finished his speech 2 bandits, both part of the 3 weak ones I spotted for my escape n, took off running towards the woods. They didn¡¯t make it more than 3 steps before they each took 2 arrows from crossbows. This seemed to be the end of the fight as the rest of the bandits took a look at the 2 bodies before looking down at the ground defeated and resigned, even the stronger one behind us seemed to be in no mood to fight, his face ashen, despite his clenching fists giving away his frustration with the situation.


    The remaining bandits were rounded up rather quickly after that, all of them were shackled with thick iron chains that radiated magic in a way I¡¯ve never felt before. A more focused look at the chains showed some weird symbols engraved in the metal, this must be the runic magic Kate told me about, the 3rd and final way to use magic and the widest spread as it required very little skill to use but quite a lot to create.


    As the soldiers rounded up the bandits I took a quick look at them with Judge Threat and found them to be at only a slightly higher level than the bandits themselves, half of them inferior to the stronger bandit that had blocked off our escape.


    As the bandits were all being led off themander of the soldiers also finished his words with the lead merchant and went to follow his men. As he was leaving I decided to check just how strong he was. After I focused on him I was filled with dread, none of his own menpared with him in terms of strength, I could feel my face pale a little from the pressure.


    At this he stopped and spun a frown sporting on his previous stern but neutral face, a judging nce that wandered until his eyesnded upon me at which point his frown deepened for a moment before his eyebrows shot up in surprise. His previous frown was quickly reced by a smirk as he shook his head good naturedly and turned back around to march towards the city.

 Chapter 28

    Chapter 28


    As we broke through the trees I finally got to take a better look at the city besides the gate I could somewhat make out for thest 2 minutes. If I was to describe it I would say it looked a lot like Helm¡¯s Deep, with the gate being centered instead of off to one side. At least it did so when I was moving towards it, no doubt unlike that fortress this one was not just put into the side of the mountain but it covered the entire pass closing off the small circlet of forest I had grown up in.


    I knew this city was in fact a lot bigger but I could see nothing but a few tall towers beyond the walls.


    ¡°Why are the walls so big?¡± my thoughts slipped out softly as I was admiring the biggest construct I have seen since being reborn.


    ¡°They are there to keep out any manner of beasts¡± na, hearing my whispered question, responded.


    ¡°Yeah, that and the fact that it had to withstand beast waves when they first cleared out most of this ce for habitation meant that they needed high walls for defense.¡± My sister finished the exnation.


    As the caravan approached the walls I could see the gates open and a squadron of people lightly dressed in guard uniforms simr to the one my brother had marched out towards us. After thest reaction to my new skill I didn¡¯t dare try it out on any more guards, it might be considered rude and I didn¡¯t want to bring any problems to my brother along with my visit.


    The check point passed us rtively easily with the cart driver having spoken with the guard we got let in with a simple look as well as a quick examination of the wares we brought in. Clearly this was standard protocol from the bored look on both the merchants and the guards faces.


    ¡°So where are we going first?¡± I asked as we entered the city.


    ¡°We should first make our way to the barracks. Last time we were here Kate was looking to buy herself a house and move out of the barracks with Tom. Being a healer seems to make some nice money on the side.¡± Judy took off with me and na following close behind her. ¡°After that we¡¯ll see if they have enough space for us, or at least you since we can probably get a ce to stay from thepany likest time, and we¡¯ll go from there.¡± The city was a lot cleaner than I would have expected to be in mediaeval times, it was by no means clean but there wasn¡¯t much more than a bit of thrash here and there, something I was attributing to magic as plumbing was definitely not invented yet.


    The closer we got to the barracks the more guard troops I spotted patrolling the streets. They were formed of simple 3 man squads with 4 beginners like my brother and a higher level leader. I didn¡¯t know why they wouldn¡¯t just let new guards handle something like this by themselves and I nned to ask my brother some time in the next few days after I got settled in.


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    The barracks consisted of apound with a big building as well as a smaller more luxurious one attached in the middle and a big walled offpound from where we could hear the sound of armour shuffling and weapons meeting, clearly some training was going on.


    My sister walked in the smaller building and went up the counter, clearly she had done this before.


    ¡°Hi, I¡¯m here looking for my brother¡± her joyful voice not betraying the fact that we had been on the road for the past almost 2 weeks.


    ¡°Hello there, what¡¯s his name?¡± a board receptionist answered back while taking out what had to be roster books.


    ¡°Tom¡± she responded and the clerk got to work looking up the name.


    ¡°You¡¯re going to have to be a bit more specific, we have two Toms¡± He said while leafing through the book, clearly he knew his fellow guards and this was a rotation roster of some sort and he was looking to see where we could find my brother at this time of day.


    ¡°He joined about eight years ago, that should narrow it down¡± My sister provided some identifying information, in this world only nobles and rich merchants got to have ast name meaning everyone else had only one. This was something that I could see causing some confusion in cities. ¡°There wasn¡¯t another Tom six months ago when Ist came looking for him¡±


    ¡°Yes, a new recruit came in 3 months ago with thetest group of fresh unlocks.¡± The receptionist thought aloud as he started to slow down on flipping through the pages.¡±Here we are Tom, you¡¯re lucky he¡¯s just finishing up his round of training, if you want you can go through the yard his group should be done in a few minutes¡±


    After she thanked him the three of us headed for the door we were pointed to and exited in arge courtyard split into a big half and another half split into 2. On one half was a neat grouping of soldiers all following the same workout training with nothing all that interesting happening.


    What caught my eye was the 5 people off on the other side of the training yard throwing sleeps at targets besides a big tent that seemed to be where the guard healers did their work. The one thing all the mages had inmon was that they all wore shawls around their face to cover their mouths, probably as an extra precaution to prevent their spells from being heard when they were used.


    We had settled in on a bench and watched for a little while before a booming voice came from a man who exited the administration building from the same door we had previously.


    ¡°That¡¯s enough training for you lot, get on with your next task and make way for the next group¡± after yelling out his announcement he turned around and went back into the building.


    The soldiers all stopped their practice and headed for the same door, as they passed past the bench they threw interested looks at na and Judy and some questioning and envious looks at me as I sat beside them.


    ¡°Judy, na it¡¯s great to see you again¡± Tom¡¯s voice came from a soldier who broke away from the pack and started removing his helmet. ¡°Ajax is that you?¡±


    ¡°Hey Tom¡± I waved to my brother as Judy went in to give him a quick hug which she disengaged from quickly.


    ¡°I could probably use a shower after almost two weeks of travelling¡± shemented as na also gave him a hug.


    He also gave me a hug which is where it became obvious just how much I had grown in thest few years since I saw him, as I was now taller than him despite feeling like he could crush me with his hug if he wanted to.


    ¡°Well I just finished training, I was about to go wash before I went on patrol so don¡¯t mind it¡± he responded.


    ¡°So you¡¯re busy, ok then I¡¯ll bring you up to speed tonight, quite a bit has happened in the vige sincest time I came¡± Judy proposed.


    ¡°Yeah that would work great, we¡¯ll have dinner and I can show you the ce Kate and I got¡± Tom¡¯s face broke into a smile with that deration.


    ¡°Yeah, speaking of your new ce, me and na have amodations with thepany. Any chance you have a spare room for Ajax?


    ¡°Yeah he can stay with us we have a spare room, in fact why don¡¯t youe with me now to see the ce, it¡¯s only a short walk from here and then you can go take care of everything else while Kate helps get him settled, she has a time off today¡± He offered as he swung the bag with his training equipment over his shoulder.


    ¡°Sure we can take a small detour.¡±

 Chapter 29

    Chapter 29


    The walk to my brother¡¯s, or I should say Kate¡¯s, house took no longer than two minutes. The ce looked like a small shop with a living floor built on top.


    ¡°Here we are, home¡± Tom said as he opened the door.


    ¡°We have to organize our supplies. They will have been delivered by the time we get there¡± na said.


    ¡°Yeah we¡¯ll meet you here tonight¡± Judy followed as the two headed off.


    ¡°This is a pretty big ce. You¡¯ve got more room here than we do at the house in the vige¡± Imented.


    ¡°Well the ground floor is for Kate¡¯s healing business, she makes quite a bit on the side now that has has levelled up a bit and has some extra mana, it¡¯s how we could afford this ce¡± he followed me in.


    ¡°We are closed right now¡± I heard Kate as she wasing down the stairs. ¡°Oh, Tom, who were you talking to?¡±


    She entered the room as she finished speaking and looked at me surprised. ¡°Ajax!¡±


    ¡°Yeah , he came with Judy and na on their trip to the city and I said he can stay with us in the spare room¡± ¡°Might as well, we¡¯re not using it for anything yet¡± she grinned back at him.


    ¡°I have to go wash a bit from training then I have to go on patrol, you mind helping Ajax settle in?¡± He quickly got out while making for the stairs. ¡°Oh, and Judy and na areing over for dinner to catch us up on what¡¯s happening in the vige.¡±


    ¡°Yeah that will be no problem,e upstairs Ajax¡± she smiled at me ¡°Boy, have you grown since Ist saw you¡±


    That was quite something seeing how I was now taller than my brother by two inches, as I followed Kate up the stairs. Their guest room was in, having nothing more than a bed and and a small cupboard where I could put my clothes and weapons, not that I needed much else since I only brought my nts and those were with my sister¡¯s merchandise as she offered to have them appraised along with everything else she nned to sell.


    ¡°Feel free to make yourself at home, I have a few supplies I need to make sure are stocked¡± Kate said after I got into the room and then left me to it.


    It took about twenty minutes to put everything in the same order I had at home. As I was doing all that I heard my brother exit the bathroom and walk past my door in a different, cleaner uniform.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be back in four hours and then you can bring me up to speed as to why you decided to join for this trip so close to the end of your child trait, that will happen in two days¡± he waited in front of the door, clearly offering me a chance to tell him if there was some sort of emergency happening in the vige that caused me to get sent at this awkward timing.


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    ¡°It can wait till tonight¡± I reassured him.


    He went on down the stairs, said his goodbye to Kate and was out the door. As for me, after almost two weeks on the road I probably smelled worse than my brother so I grabbed a change of clothes and headed for the bathroom.


    Twenty minutester, now that I was clean and changed I headed downstairs where I found Kate reading a book. She looked up as she heard mee down, closed the book and put it back on the shelf.


    ¡°So what is it that you do in this shop?¡± I asked the one question that had been eating at me, after all my brother told me that people in the guard weren¡¯t hired by others while they still served to prevent corruption.


    ¡°I just offer faster wound healing with my excess mana¡± She responded. ¡°Unlike how it was when I first started as a healer for the guards, with me growing in levels the past few years and having more flexibility when ites to my shifts, I use my spare mana to speed up healing of people who want their wounds or illnesses to heal faster.¡±


    ¡°Why specifically offer to help speed up the healing process?¡± This didn¡¯t make much sense to me as healing all wounds seemed to be a much better business model.


    ¡°Yeah, you wouldn¡¯t know about thising from a vige but in pretty much every city in this kingdom the Healing Union handles all lethal cases. They also charge practically nothing for the healing, and can afford to since they are funded by the nobility the only thing left to offer is a service to help speed up the process. Since they heal anyone of anything lethal they don¡¯t have the resources topletely remove all traces of the wound or affliction, they just do enough so that the body will recover by itself.¡±


    This was a very interesting piece of information, it also exined why people who had mana were so hounded by specific nobles and not the crown, with this Healing Union caring for the masses all that was left was private personal healers.


    ¡°But then who will be willing to pay for it? Nobles have their own private healers and everybody else would just have to wait for a bit.¡± Something was still not adding up, the poor would have no reason to pay for a healer to speed things up if it cost more than they could make working that time.


    ¡°Yes but adventurers will usually lose a lot more money by waiting it out than I would charge to fix them up.¡±


    ¡°And this doesn¡¯t get in the way of your duties as a guard healer at all?¡±


    ¡°Nope, since I have my shifts in such a way that I have three days in a row free I always finish on a day like today when I just recuperate my mana.¡±


    With my curiosity satisfied I went and crashed for the rest of the time until dinner, thest two weeks of sleeping in a cart having caught up with me so I took a nap until dinner. Sleeping in a real bed felt a lot better than I remembered and I was out like a light.


    ¡°So, what is it that you alling here this time?¡± my brother asked as the five of us sat down to eat.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure you noticed the four toons that left the city today¡± My sisters got out through bites of food. ¡°They are all heading towards the vige, apparently a group of kobolds have exited the mountain caves so mom and dad thought it best to not risk Ajax going hunting in the woods with them there before he got his stats unlocked¡±


    ¡°Kobolds near the vige?¡± A bit of panic seeped into my brother''s voice.


    ¡°They are a few months away from actually making it to the vige, they move slowly outside their tunnels apparently, so the soldiers will reach the vige and clear them out long before anything can happen.¡±


    This seemed to rx my brother, so he turned to me ¡°Well that¡¯s ok then. I have tomorrow off, so while I suspect you and na will be in meetings, as you usually are the first day after you get here, is there anything you want to do Ajax?¡± My sister and na nodded at his statement.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to try and go hunting here near the city, to see what that is like, I remember you saying guards sometimes went with a hunting party. Any chance you can show me where?¡± excitement filled my voice at the prospect of seeing a different hunting ground.


    ¡°I did get a letter saying that you actually managed to find something you were good at, so hunting, yeah I think I can manage that but aren¡¯t you getting your stats in two days? Are you sure you don¡¯t want to wait until my next day off in 6 days and go then?.¡± His question was quite an obvious one so I debated it a bit.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t hunted here before so I want to have a go once before my stats change so drastically I canpare the difference, after all I¡¯ll be here for a month at least, until the soldiers return.¡± I made my case while hoping I wasn¡¯t a bother to my brother. ¡°Especially after that run in with the bandits¡±


    ¡°What bandits?¡± Kate asked, Tom frowning at the first remark he heard all day about said bandits.


    ¡°Half an hour out from the city we had a run in with a group of bandits but they all got picked up by a regiment of guards before anything came of it¡± Judy waved off the questioning stares.


    That rest of dinner was quiet, as we all finished our food and before Judy and na headed back to their amodations. I went to bed so tired that I skipped out on my usual mana exercises before sleep.

 Chapter 30

    Chapter 30


    As I woke up it took me a few seconds to remind myself where I was, why my bed was different than my usual one but not made of wood as it had been for thest couple of weeks. I got up feeling restless, the long hours offortable sleep refreshed me from my journey and now all the excitement of knowing tomorrow I will finally unlock my stats was giving me a rush.


    I quickly slipped into the bathroom before heading downstairs where I found Tom and Kate eating breakfast. He was dressed in hunting gear whereas she was fully outfitted in her guard-healer uniform.


    ¡°The trip must have done quite a number on you, a nap yesterday and still slept in sote today¡± Tom started needling at me in between bites of food.


    ¡°Leave him alone, he still hasn¡¯t gotten to put any points in his endurace¡± Kate came to my defence.


    ¡°It¡¯s all good, today should be thest day before I get to not be considered a child¡± I took a seat and also started eating the eggs and bacon.


    ¡°Well unlike Tom I don¡¯t have the day off, so you two be careful out there, the forest is plenty dangerous¡± She warned them as she headed for the door after giving Tom a kiss and me a hug.


    ¡°It¡¯s not like I¡¯m taking him outside of the protected zone, we won¡¯t find anything stronger than a level 4 out there.¡± Tom answered.


    The two of us finished breakfast a few minutester and in 10 minutes he cleaned up while I got myself into my own hunting outfit and we were out the door. On the way to the gate Tom stopped by one of the shops.


    ¡°Let me check if Vinny is running low on anything we should keep our eye out for while we are out there, now he is a real alchemist that regrly deals with potions and poisons not like what we had back in the vige only making an antidote or two¡± he said stepping inside the funky smelling shop. I wanted to correct him that our own alchemist did in fact know how to make things beyond antidotes, but even in the few months I spent with him all we did make was antidotes and a sleeping remedy, so I can tell where he would have gotten that idea from.


    As I stood there waiting for him toe out I felt someone bump into me from behind and almost knocked me over. Getting my bnce again I turned around and found a rather short man with the biggest head I have ever seen ring right at me.


    ¡°Watch where the hell you are going!¡± he growled out at me.


    As I was about to tell him he would do well to do so himself since I was standing still, I felt a hand press the back of my head forward slightly and my brother''s voice came from behind me.


    ¡°Please excuse my little brother Sir. He hasn¡¯t yet unlocked his stats so his perception is still low.¡± Was all he said as he started to drag me away from the seeming cated man.


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    ¡°What was that all about?¡± I asked him after we put a bit of distance between us and the man.


    ¡°That was Sir Lenford, third son of the baron¡± my brother whispered back after a quick look around.


    ¡°That was the baron''s son?¡± I asked incredulously but lowered my voice quickly at my brother''s quick sign. ¡±What is wrong with him?¡±


    ¡°Lenford was, forck of a better way of saying mediocre, he had no real potential but he was born two years younger than the Viscounts eldest son. In an attempt to foster a better connection, they removed his child trait three years before it would have expired, in an attempt to foster a friendship between the two.¡± Tom exined as we passed through the gate with nobody looking at us twice.


    ¡°You can remove the child trait early?¡± I wondered why wasn¡¯t that the norm if it was possible.


    ¡°Yes and no¡± he answered back ¡°Yes there are ways to remove a child trait early, but they only know to the nobility by royal decree to stop childbor. The downsides of doing it are almost never worth it, not only does it shorten the amount of time your apprentice trait has, it also removes the protection offered and stats affect your body sooner messing with your growth. You saw him back there, short with a head twice the size it should be, and his was only removed three years before it should have been¡± This made me quickly agree with the fact that removing it early might not be the best idea.


    ¡°But wouldn¡¯t the gifted nobles also benefit from having it removed early? Maybe not three years but I almost didn¡¯t grow at all in myst year¡±


    ¡°No, the gifted ones always try to upgrade it.¡±


    ¡°Upgrade it?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, if you manage to get a skill to level 50 before the child trait expires the trait changes to Child - genius and whatever skill you worked on, this then improves the apprentice trait to give increases to that skill and others derived from it¡± his words brought me to aplete stop.


    ¡°Howe this is the first I am hearing about it?¡± I asked indignantly, had I known about that I might have been able to reach it with one of my mana skills but it was toote now.


    ¡°I only learnt of itst month, news finally got out here that 7 months ago the prince managed to unlock the trait, he is the only known to have done so in thest two decades.¡± he said confused as to why the information had ruined my mood. ¡°Anyway here we are, you can start hunting now.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean aren¡¯t we hunting together?¡± this new information bewildered me.


    ¡°Oh no, anything in this ce is way too weak if I was to hunt it, add to that I am a guard. You go do your job hunting and I¡¯ll do mine, to make sure nothing kills you¡± he grinned at me.


    Well, sadly for whatever inhabited this forest, it was about to be the focus of my frustrations over missing an upgrade to my trait as I started looking for tracks of game. I was only slightly distracted and had to stop to fire two arrows to get myself to calm down so that I wouldn¡¯t miss my opening shot on anything that would run away should I miss.


    The first few hours went decently well, I had bagged 3 rabbits, nothing too impressive. Sadly, this wasn¡¯t enough to work out my frustrations, so I got pushing faster and harder trying to find any marks of some big game.


    I got my wish as I spotted marks from a deer and took off after them with my brother leisurely keeping pace with me not helping me keep my cool. We had followed the tracks for 10 minutes before they ovepped multiple times in front of a tree, clearly it had run around the same trail a few times, probably chased by something so I hurried up to inspect it hoping to be the first predator to catch it.


    ¡°Hey wait a bit, I want to grab some of these leaves¡± my brother called out from behind me as I stepped close to the marks and knelt down to inspect them.


    As I was running my fingers over the tracks trying to find thest direction it went, in my danger sense sprang to life, so I instantly turned around wondering what had triggered it but found nothing. A split-secondter my brother crashed into me and shoved me out of the way as I saw arge feline drop down on him right where I had just been.


    The cat drove its fangs right for his neck as he quickly went for the dagger at his belt. He wasn¡¯t fast enough as the cat bit down just before he drove the knife right through its skull. I saw the lifeless feline detached from his neck and blood started to run. I instantly jumped to my feet hoping I would make it in time, reached him and started casting. ¡°Alzinoth¡±.


    A massive look of surprise crossed both our faces as we stared at each other both on the forest floor.


    ¡°It barely broke through your skin?¡± I was bbergasted, I saw it bite down.


    ¡°You can use magic?¡± his words slipped out mechanically.

 Chapter 31

    Chapter 31


    Tom P.O.V :


    We both stood there, him on his knees, hands an inch from my neck and me on my ass. The cougary a foot from me, dead, my knife still embedded in its skull. For about ten seconds we just stared at each other neither finding the right words.


    ¡°How did it barely scratch you?¡± Ajax finally broke the silence ¡°I saw it bine down. I know I saw it bite down.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, it sure did¡± I answered him after a few seconds ¡°It¡¯s also a level 3, maybe a weak level 4, I have 16 or 17 levels up on it and it also had to bite through leather. I know it¡¯s nowhere near as sturdy as my guard armor but it¡¯s not cloth either. More importantly, you can cast magic?¡±


    He just stood there awkwardly, shifting his gaze guiltily to the side. He wouldn¡¯t say anything, but I refused to let this drop after all he used a healing spell, a healing spell he could only have picked up from Kate using it when we were training three years ago, even if he only practiced it by himself he had to have been able to at least sense mana then to be able to learn it.


    ¡°Yes, I can¡± he eventually responded.


    ¡°If you can cast any healing magic you should have been able to at least sense mana if not chant three years ago, you learnt that spell from Kate¡± I confronted him, a little angrier than I would have liked to be but his mistrust of me despite spending all that time training him was fueling the fire.


    ¡°Yes, I did¡± he answered back, with more conviction in his voice this time.


    ¡°And you couldn¡¯t have told me about it at that time?¡± I sniped back. ¡°I didn¡¯t tell you about my stealth skill at that time either, yet somehow, after you knocked ME out, half the vige knew about it¡± heshed out. ¡°I wonder why would I not tell you about a pseudo rare skill after that, mom made it very clear when Judy got her rare skill that those were meant to be kept to oneself.¡± Thest part of his retort started out sarcastically but changed to a bit of regret towards the end.


    I just stood there feeling guiltier than I ever remembered. Yes this was my fault, at least partially, I did inadvertently let it slip out to Jonny that he had a stealth skill. The only reason I did that though was because I freaked out after Iid him out, I was carrying him towards my childhood home unconscious when Jonny popped out of the smithy, seeing me carrying him he asked what happened. I blurted out that I mmed him with my shield, then mentioned his stealth skill to defend myself and frame the situation as the ident it was.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry about that. I didn¡¯t mean to reveal your skill, it¡¯s just I panicked, I had mmed you with my shield after not seeing you for 5 years. I didn¡¯t want it to seem like I meant to hurt you.¡± I rambled on, not sure what I could say, what I should say. Clearly I had hurt him.


    ¡°I hope you can forgive me for that. But being able to ess mana is so much bigger than a stealth skill, even without money you could have gone to learn how to use it at the Healing Union for free. Not even nobles can take you from there.¡±


    Even as the words left my mouth I knew they weren¡¯t all that true, at least not anymore. With more and more healing nearing the age of retirement and beastkins elves and dwarves having been released from very not even those schools were safe anymore, aside from the one in the capital.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to be a healer, yes I picked up a healing spell because it is useful but healing isn¡¯t something I can do, being so weak despite being so important, I¡¯m too .. I¡¯m too¡­¡± he seemed stuck, as if he couldn¡¯t quite find the word he was looking for. ¡°I¡¯m too <em>paranoid </em>for that¡± he mumbled out, I barely managed to hear it despite my enhanced senses.


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    ¡°Par-na-o-eed , what is that?¡± I tried repeating the word.


    He looked up, a mix of shock and fear? Was my being able to hear him, despite his low mumble, something that was disturbing to him.


    ¡°Yes, someone overly afraid of unlikely oues¡± He calmed down a bit.


    I let the weird word go. We had more important things to talk about right now.


    ¡°So nobody knows that you can use magic?¡± I checked to be sure.


    ¡°No, I was careful, always making sure nobody could see me when I practiced my spells¡± he confessed.


    ¡°Spells!!! You know more than one?¡± I eximed.


    ¡°I can do the three Kate showed me when I pestered her about it, healing, cleaning and the light orb, other than that I focused mostly on maniption and casting without chants¡± he exined, seeming to calm down the more he talked. He even created a small me atop the palm of hand without speaking a word.


    ¡°You can use pure maniption?¡± That was somewhat impressive if outdated, chanting and runic magic were the only two used nowadays, runic for speed and chanted for versatility, pure maniption could do both but was highly inefficient costing up to four times for the same results ording to what they taught us in the guards.


    ¡°It¡¯s not like I had anyone to teach me either runic or any more chants either, so I did the best I could¡± he seemed a bit frustrated as he answered that.


    That was when another fear gripped me. ¡°You didn¡¯t use any magic in the city right?¡±


    ¡°No, I was too tired from the trip, otherwise I usually practice a bit before bed¡± he didn¡¯t seem to get my worries. ¡°Why is there some kind of magic detection field around the city?¡± He seemed curious about this.


    ¡°That¡¯s good¡± I breathed out a relieved sigh¡± To answer your question, no, there isn¡¯t any kind of of magic detection field around the city, those are expensive to maintain and outside the capital and the three archdukes residential cities there are none in this kingdom¡±


    ¡°What I was worried about was you using it in my home or around the garrison, you see there ¡­ ¡° My voice trailed off, another possibility shed in my brain so I quickly changed to that ¡°did you ever use magic near Hatchet?¡±


    His eyebrows shot up and he took a step back as I had closed in and put my hands on his shoulders demanding an answer. ¡°I made sure not even he was anywhere near when I practiced my magic¡± his response was confident ¡°but¡­ he was near me when I got shed by a kobold and I healed myself. Why?¡±


    ¡°Did he say anything to you?¡± I pressed further.


    ¡°No, but now that you mention it he did seem a lot more rxed about the poison after I did despite me masking it as just patching it up.¡±


    ¡°That should be fine then, if he didn¡¯t say anything and just let you go despite a perfect excuse to kidnap you he must not care about it, though I suggest you talk to him about it when you get back¡± I calmed down.


    ¡°Again why? And why should I not be using magic in the city if there is no magic detection field?¡± He was getting a little frustrated with me not answering his questions.


    ¡°Mana detection¡± the two words instantly got through to him ¡°It¡¯s amon skill, also one of the talentless skills, everybody can unlock it, all it takes is constant exposure to magic, it¡¯s


    why the few mages and healers we have practice right next to the training field with us, after about 10 years of daily exposure anyone, beside people having mana sense, will unlock mana detection¡±


    This was also why groups were made up of 3 trainees and 1 senior, they needed someone who could detect magic.


    ¡°But how do you know Hatchet has that skill, why would you be worried about him and not anyone else in the vige?¡± Ajax seemed a bit skeptical of all this.


    ¡°No way anyone else in the vige has been exposed to that much magic, but as I told you mom sent me a letter about Hatchet agreeing to train you as a hunter. When I found out I looked into him, asked around. I found out he used to be an Adventurer some 20 years back, he quit after a job went sideways really bad, but before that he was a middle tier scout in a big city, no way he survives that without a way to sense or detect mana¡± it wasmon sense.


    ¡°Unlike our little corner of the world, where we only run into monsters underground or sparingly in the forest because of the enclosed space between the mountains, out there monsters move more freely, a scout without either of those skills will be useless. ¡°


    ¡°I guess we should head back¡± He finally said after thinking about what I told him.


    ¡°Are you stupid?¡± I smacked him across the head ¡° Jimmy and Arthur saw me when I left the city, we¡¯re not going back until you heal this little scratch on my neck so I can conceal it under my cor.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± He seemed surprised.


    ¡°We look out for each other, no way I leave in the morning fine and return with a half healed bite mark on my neck, Kate will learn you have magic tonight when she sees it, but I trust her not to spread it around¡± I huffed and pulled the knife out of the cougar. ¡°Nowe on might as well catch that deer while we wait.¡±

 Chapter 32

    Chapter 32


    Our hunt continued for another two hours. We mostly spent them in silence, both of us focusing a lot more on our surroundings from our encounter with what he told me was a cougar. Though both of us were also thinking over everything that we discussed in our conversation, looking at it from my brother, and my families, point of view I was being paranoid. This is something that I should fix.


    Finally we reached a clearing where not one but 2 deer were grazing. I silently pulled out an arrow and lined up the shot. I couldn¡¯t get a clear view of the second one since it was behind the first but there was little doubt in my mind that I could bag both without help from my brother.


    As I drew back the bow I focused on the weak spot shown by my skill and focused. I wasn¡¯t yet ready to add a wind bonus to a projectile so I based fully off of my physical skills. As I breathed out and released the arrow I felt myself gaining another skill,[piercing shot].


    Unexpectedly my arrow didn¡¯t just down the first deer but went cleanly through it¡¯s neck to lodge itself in the neck of the second. My brother¡¯s eyebrows shot up as I used [judge threat] on them to find that they were both very weak, probably level one or two at the most.


    ¡°H-How did you do that, magic?¡± my brother said.


    ¡°No, I just got the [piercing shot] skill.¡± I said, deciding that keeping my skill from my family wasn¡¯t the right way to go unless I got a mythic skill.


    We approached the deer as they were downed, looking to put them out of their misery. A blur of movement caught my eye as another cougar jumped out of the treeline and headed for our prize. My brother went to draw his sword but I held out my hand to him.


    ¡°This one¡¯s mine¡± I said with resentment in my voice, [judge threat] put the feline at level four, but with this being an assassin type beast unlike the bruiser boar I liked my chances now that it was forced out in the open.


    ¡°Are you nuts? It''s a higher level than the previous one.¡± he said. ¡°Yeah, now that you know about my magic, might as well see what I can do with it.¡± as the words left my lips I pulled back the bow again and shot aiming to cripple a leg. The cougar was aware enough to react to the attack but not quick enough to fully evade it, getting a deep cut in the leg but still not having the arrow hit the joint as I had hoped.


    As I moved close I pulled out my shield and my hammer, thinking that a crushing blow would be more effective than a sh with her weaker skin. But, while my n was sound, the cougar also finished her assessment of me, deciding to go for light scratches aimed towards my legs. For the next 20 seconds it circled me quickly getting swipes in here and there but barely breaking skin.


    It made its mistake as it tried to jump on my back as I used [mana augmentation] to help me spin faster to shield bash it down, taking advantage of having finallynded a blow after my arrow I took a firm step to close the distance as well as use earth maniption to secure her other leg in the earth before going for a massive swing at her head.


    The feline pulled its leg out of the earth a moment before the swing connected, right as I empowered the hammer increasing its weight, but her already injured leg gave out from the pressure leaving her unable to dodge. The hammer blow killed it in one hit leaving a massive hole in its skull. I then went to go heal the scratches all over my legs.


    ¡°Don¡¯t do that¡± my brother said as he thumped me over the head. ¡°I can hide my wound being healed but if you heal those how will you exin that? Just leave them Kate can patch you up once we get home.


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    With that settled we each picked up a deer, me barely supporting the weight on my shoulders and him carrying it over one shoulder like it was no big deal as we headed for the city.


    ¡°You know that wasn¡¯t bad, you might really make something of this style of using mana.¡± he said. I just gave him a tired grin and redoubled my effort to get home before dark.


    At the city gate Jimmy and Arthur didn¡¯t seem at all suspicious and waved us through congratting us on our good fortune. We didn¡¯t take more than 4 steps inside the city before a gruff voice sounded out.


    ¡°Tommy, boy is that you?¡± The voice was apparently one he recognized as his hand caved in the skull of his deer a little as he quickly spun and performed a salute.


    ¡°Commander Grievous, sir!¡± he said with strict military discipline.


    ¡°I thought you were on your day off, not spending it with that wife of ¡­¡± he trailed off as he caught sight of my face as I also turned to see who my brother was speaking to. Just my luck it was the same guard that led the assault on the bandits, the one that felt when I used [judge threat] on him. ¡°Well, well, well, who do we have here?¡±


    ¡°You know my little brothermander?¡± my brother answered in aposed voice but his face showed how confused he was.


    ¡°We didn¡¯t make any introductions but you should really look into teaching him a few manners, using evaluation skills, [judge threat] if I was not mistaken, like that is considered rude.¡± he said, his tone changing from strict and overbearing to teasing.


    ¡°YOU DID WHAT?¡± My brother''s tone marked it clearly that I was in the wrong, a feeling that became increasingly clear, as he decided to dump the second deer carcass on my back as punishment.


    ¡°I apologize profusely for my brother¡¯s rudeness,mander, he is only turning ten tomorrow and is still a child, let me also say thank you for helping him as well as my sister with the bandits ambush.¡± he said while performing a small bow.


    ¡°That¡¯s not really my fault, I had just gotten the skill looking for a weak point in the encirclement. How was I supposed to know that others could tell when I used it on them, let alone that it was considered rude? None of the bandits or the other soldiers seem to notice it.¡± I defended myself, a little childishly, hoping that might get me off the hook.


    ¡°Just turned ten you say?¡± he said as he scratched his scruffy chin. ¡°And howe he is in the city, is he looking to follow in your footsteps and join the guard?¡±


    The man''s interest in me put me on edge, clearly having [judge threat] this early marked me as a person of interest.


    ¡°Oh no sir, he is going to be a hunter in the vige we were born in,¡± my brother said, nipping any recruiting in the bud.


    ¡°If he¡¯s going to be a hunter in a vige, whye here right as he is about to unlock his stats?¡± For the first time themander''s self assured expression turned into one of confusion.


    ¡°Our vige is the one near the kobold issues that came in yesterday, he was caught in a small altercation with a group of them as they were discovered and our parents decided to send him here until they were taken care of.¡± my brother covered for me not mentioning me being wounded which would probably lead to my magic being exposed.


    ¡°Damn shame, if he¡¯s your brother he must have had quite the potential here as well. Oh, is that why you are carrying around those deer? Did you take him out to see what the game is like here close to the city before he unlocked his stats? That¡¯s a good choice, it will let him adapt better, but I still suggest he shouldn¡¯t go out alone until he reaches at least level 10.¡± he said.


    My impression of themander was improving the longer the conversation continued and I nned on questioning my brother on who the man was as soon as I got the chance.


    ¡°That was my n as well, sir.¡± my brother said. ¡°Speaking of training, sir, do you think you could allow him to use ourpound? He¡¯ll even it out by also cleaning full time when he does.¡±


    My brother volunteering me for clean up duty wasn¡¯t something I appreciated but a chance to hang around all those mages and healers to see if I can get a better hold on some more mana affinities as well as practice the rest of my skills more than made up for it.


    ¡°Hmmm, while that¡¯s not against protocol, it¡¯s not exactly something we want to be advertising, I¡¯ll tell you what, if he cleans for two days he can also practice on the second day.¡± he said.


    ¡°Thank you very much, sir¡± he saluted again, and I would have joined him as well, considering all the possible gains I could make from that, if it wasn¡¯t for the fact that it took all my strength to stand while holding the two deer.


    Themander started to turn to leave, he didn¡¯t make it more than two steps before he turned back ¡°I almost forgot the reason I called out to you.¡± His voice was once more the same serious tone it had been at the start of the conversation


    ¡°The eighth just came in this afternoon,¡± he said in a low voice.


    I didn¡¯t know what that meant but clearly my brother did as he frowned at the news.


    ¡°Patrol or hunting?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Hunting¡±


    ¡°Do we know what?¡±


    ¡°A vampire, high level too, over 70 apparently¡±

 Chapter 33

    Chapter 33


    Asmander Grievous walked away I was very worried about the presence of a level 70 vampire in the city. My brother respectfully saluted then picked his deer back up and started walking.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t mention you metmander Grievous.¡± my brother said.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t,¡± I responded ¡°he was just the leader of the guards who got us out of the jam with the bandits, who is he anyway?¡±


    ¡°He is one of the 5manders in this city, but the others are mostly there as political favours to the baron,¡± he whispered while looking around to make sure nobody was eavesdropping. ¡°While I can¡¯t say he can beat the Warden for certain I think he would be favoured. After I am done with my initial 10 years I hope to be able to find a position among his staff. He is very neutral when ites to dealing with nobles, mostly leaving it for the othermanders, but he takes care of his own people. If it wasn¡¯t for the eighthing to the city he would be in contention for the strongest person here.¡±


    The reverence in my brother''s voice didn¡¯t inspire much confidence in my secret being kept but at least from the sound of it thismander was a fair hardworking, if a little uncaring person. I left the matter at that. After all, I was acting suspicious and the man did give me permission to use the guard courtyard after everything was cleared up. I also had more important topics to get on with.


    ¡°Ok, the eighth, who are they?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Before this royal family came to power they were a strong if reserved noble house. Their one peculiarity was that their house head always had 30 people split into 3 groups of 10 that worked exclusively for him, the strongest people at the house''s disposal. 800 years ago when they imed the crown they extended the search for people into the entire kingdom and raised the number from 30 to 100 people.¡± he said.


    ¡°So these are the 8th group?¡± I said.


    ¡°Yes, it''s rare to see them in an out of the way city like ours, after all as long as the king is in the capital so are at least 6 of the numbers, with the tenth always apanying the crown prince or princess. If they weren¡¯t hunting this vampire I doubt they would have bothered to pass through here.¡± ¡°Right, the vampire, how are you so calm with a level 70 beast roaming the city?¡±


    ¡°It might be level 70 but vampires are very peculiar creatures, I have a book with information on them if you want to know more, but suffice to say, he is very weak for his level.¡± my brother said, trying to calm me down


    As I was so focused on our discussion I never realised we got to the house until he opened the door for me. I stepped inside and waited for him to lead the way into the basement where he then proceeded to hang up his deer then mine with buckets underneath to let the blood drain away.


    ¡°I know you spent some time in a butcher''s shop, you think you can handle these two tomorrow or do I have to take them to the local? He asked.


    ¡°Yeah I can handle them.¡± I said.


    We both headed upstairs where I could hear Kate, na and Judy talking as well as smell what would most likely be a delicious dinner. As we entered the room the discussion stopped. Unlike Kate who smiled and got up to greet Tom, Judy frowned and crossed her arms as she turned towards me.


    ¡°And when were you going to tell us you can use mana?¡± she said, frustration and anger clear in her voice.


    na didn¡¯t look upset at all but she didn¡¯t seem surprised either so she clearly also knew, Kate on the other hand dropped her jaw to the floor as Tom looked from Judy to na.


    ¡°And you KNEW!!!¡± she said as she now turned her anger to Tom.


    ¡°Found out myself on this little hunting trip¡± he said as he pulled down his cor to show the almost healed marks where the cougar bit him.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Kate asked as she then mumbled something to finish off what I had started.


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    ¡°Just a weak cougar got the jump on him, I got him out of the way but it managed to nip at me before I killed it. He freaked out and cast a healing spell.¡± My secret was clearly known, I didn¡¯t me him for telling the truth. ¡°How did you find out?¡±


    ¡°na and I went to talk to ourpany''s quartermaster. Imagine our surprise when he started asking when we met a mana farmer and if we managed to secure a contract with him.¡± she said.


    That''s when it clicked, on our way here we found out that the merchant I was usually selling to was just selling everything he bought off me on the way to the city for a good profit so my herbs never made it here before. Judy offered to have them inspected along with her own merchandise as well as help me get a good price for them afterwards. I didn¡¯t think it all the way through that upon inspection, something that wasn¡¯t an issue before, my use of mana in growing them would be brought to light.


    ¡°What did you tell him?¡± I finally said after a long pause.


    ¡°na told him we were just holding the nts for a friend, which is technically true, but you might want to be a bit more careful in the future or at least tell us about things like this up front.¡± The anger seemed to leave her body as she closed the distance between us and wrapped me up in a hug. ¡°I understand not telling anybody about mana, but at least be more careful. What would I do if my little brother got rounded up?¡±


    She held me there for a few seconds, a time in which I felt extremely guilty from having kept my skills a secret from her, before she let go and Kate worked her magic on the cuts and scrapes my own cougar left on me.


    ¡°Sorry,¡± I said sheepishly ¡°After the scolding mom gave you about your rare skill I thought it best if nobody knew about me.¡±


    I then turned to na ¡°Thanks for covering for me, any chance you could not tell anyone else about this.


    ¡°Tell anybody else about what?¡± she asked as a small smile spread on her face and she threw me a wink.


    ¡°Thank you¡± I said as I pulled her into a hug.


    ¡°With that out of the way, how did the hunt go?¡± Kate said moving to switch the subject to something lighter. ¡°Besides the small scramble you had with a cougar.¡±


    ¡°Managed to bag 3 rabbits and two deer. They are hung down in the basement. I''ll gut them tomorrow.¡± I said, happy about the new topic.


    ¡°That¡¯s quite the catch, nice work out there hunter, but na and I are expected to dine with thepany''s bigwigs tonight so we¡¯ll see you all tomorrow.¡± Judy said as she made for the door. na took a quick look at me before moving to follow my sister.


    ¡°I¡¯ll escort you and head back this way with whatever squad is patrolling the area¡± my brother quickly offered before they had a chance to leave.


    ¡°There¡¯s no -¡± my sister started to say before Tom cut her off.


    ¡°There¡¯s a vampire in the city, I will be escorting the both of you.¡± His tone made it clear that he wouldn¡¯t entertain an argument. My sister just nodded, neither she or na looked all that worried but I bet that would change if they knew the thing was level 70.


    The three of them left, while Kate and I had a quiet meal. My brother joined us halfway through. After we were done we all headed off to sleep deciding that we will have time to talk about everything in the month or more I was staying.


    Tomorrow was the big day for me. I was d to be out of mana and stamina from the hunt or else I don¡¯t think I could have fallen asleep from the excitement. But before I turned in for the night I opened my status to get one final look at the child trait and all the hard work I put in thesest 10 years.


    <strong>Name</strong> : Ajax


    <strong>Level</strong> :12


    <strong>Experience</strong> : 5350/12100


    <strong>Traits</strong>: Child Prodigy, Divine Witness


    <strong>Health</strong>: 160/160


    <strong>Mana</strong>: 260/260


    <strong>Stamina</strong> :250/250


    <strong>Vitality</strong> : 16.50


    <strong>Strength</strong> :21.70


    <strong>Endurance</strong> : 25.85


    <strong>Dexterity</strong> :21.03


    <strong>Intellect </strong>: 36.70


    <strong>Wisdom</strong> :28.32


    <strong>Mind</strong> : 26.98


    <strong>Perception</strong> : 19.01


    <strong>Stat Points</strong> : 242


    <strong>Skills</strong> :<ul><ul><li><strong>Common :</strong>[Mathematics Lvl 22] [Stealth Lvl 21][Drawing Lvl 30][Athleticism Lvl 20] [Running Lvl 22][Reading Lvl 20][Writing Lvl 20][Cooking Lvl 20][Sewing Lvl 20] [Cleaning Lvl 12][Haggling Lvl 19][Gardening Lvl 20][Axes Lvl 29][Hammers Lvl 21] [Deception Lvl 16][Sword Lvl 13][Shield Lvl 10][Bow Lvl 10][Spear Lvl 10][Throwing Lvl 10][Persuasion Lvl 10][Unarmed Combat Lvl 12][Knives 20][Skinning Lvl 10][Tanning Lvl 10][Dismantle Lvl 10][Climbing Lvl 5][Tracking Lvl 4][Heat Resistance Lvl 3] [Poison Resistance Lvl 4]</li><li><strong>Umon :</strong>[Meditation Lvl 36][Sense Mana Lvl 39][Expel Mana Lvl 39][Sprinting Lvl 13][Mining Lvl 10][Lumberjack Lvl 10][Smelting Lvl 10][cksmithing Lvl 10] [Chanting Lvl 10][Mana Farming Lvl 10][Increase Price Lvl 10][Lower Price Lvl 10][Danger sense Lvl 5][Leatherworking Lvl 10][Alchemy Lvl 10][Mana Milling Lvl 6]Precise Cut Lvl 13][Precise Blow Lvl 11][Judge Threat Lvl 2][Piercing Shot Lvl 1]</li><li><strong>Rare : </strong>[Manipte Mana Lvl 18][Water Aspect Mana Lvl 10][Fire Aspect Mana Lvl 10] [Air Aspect Mana Lvl 10][Earth Aspect Mana Lvl 10][Inject Mana Lvl 14][Spot Weakness Lvl 4][Residue Recognition Lvl 1] </li></ul></ul><ul><li><strong>Epic : </strong>[Mana Augmentation Lvl 5]</li></ul>


    New :


    Poison Resistance 0 -> 4


    Judge Threat 0 -> 2


    Piercing Shot 0 -> 1


    Sense Mana + Expel Mana + Inject Mana + Manipte Mana -> Mana Augmentation 0 -> 5


    Upgrades :


    Meditation 35 -> 36


    Sense Mana 36 -> 39


    Expel Mana 37 -> 39


    Manipte Mana 15 -> 18


    Earth Aspect Mana 10 -> 14


    Air Aspect Mana 10 -> 12


    Inject Mana 13 -> 14


    Deception 15 -> 16


    Sword 10 -> 13


    Hammer 20 -> 21


    Precise Cut 10 -> 13


    Precise Blow 10 -> 11


    Heat Resistance 1 -> 3


    Danger sense 1 -> 5

 Chapter 34

    Chapter 34


    I woke up the following morning at a very early hour. I was still very tired but, I guess, subconsciously I wanted to see what my new stats had in store. For the second time my stat screen opened without me prompting it to do so.


    <strong>Name</strong> : Ajax


    <strong>Level</strong> :12


    <strong>Experience</strong> : 5350/12100


    <strong>Traits</strong>: Prodigal Apprentice , Divine Witness


    <strong>Health</strong>: 180/180


    <strong>Mana</strong>: 280/270


    <strong>Stamina</strong> :270/270


    <strong>Vitality</strong> : 18.50<strong>Strength</strong> :23.70


    <strong>Endurance</strong> : 27.85


    <strong>Dexterity</strong> :23.03


    <strong>Intellect </strong>: 38.70


    <strong>Wisdom</strong> :30.32


    <strong>Mind</strong> : 28.99


    <strong>Perception</strong> : 21.01


    <strong>Stat Points</strong> : 242


    <strong>Skills</strong> :<ul><ul><li><strong>Common :</strong>[Mathematics Lvl 22] [Stealth Lvl 21][Drawing Lvl 30][Athleticism Lvl 20] [Running Lvl 22][Reading Lvl 20][Writing Lvl 20][Cooking Lvl 20][Sewing Lvl 20] [Cleaning Lvl 12][Haggling Lvl 19][Gardening Lvl 20][Axes Lvl 29][Hammers Lvl 21] [Deception Lvl 16][Sword Lvl 13][Shield Lvl 10][Bow Lvl 10][Spear Lvl 10][Throwing Lvl 10][Persuasion Lvl 10][Unarmed Combat Lvl 12][Knives 20][Skinning Lvl 10][Tanning Lvl 10][Dismantle Lvl 10][Climbing Lvl 5][Tracking Lvl 4][Heat Resistance Lvl 3] [Poison Resistance Lvl 4]</li><li><strong>Umon :</strong>[Meditation Lvl 36][Sense Mana Lvl 39][Expel Mana Lvl 39][Sprinting Lvl 13][Mining Lvl 10][Lumberjack Lvl 10][Smelting Lvl 10][cksmithing Lvl 10] [Chanting Lvl 10][Mana Farming Lvl 10][Increase Price Lvl 10][Lower Price Lvl 10][Danger sense Lvl 5][Leatherworking Lvl 10][Alchemy Lvl 10][Mana Milling Lvl 6]Precise Cut Lvl 13][Precise Blow Lvl 11][Judge Threat Lvl 2][Piercing Shot Lvl 1]</li><li><strong>Rare : </strong>[Manipte Mana Lvl 18][Water Aspect Mana Lvl 10][Fire Aspect Mana Lvl 10] [Air Aspect Mana Lvl 12][Earth Aspect Mana Lvl 14][Inject Mana Lvl 14][Spot Weakness Lvl 4][Residue Recognition Lvl 1] </li></ul></ul><ul><li><strong>Epic : </strong>[Mana Augmentation Lvl 5]</li></ul>


    With the expiration of the child trait all my stats went up 2 points, I wonder if I will be able to feel the difference? I then pulled up the new trait to see what I had in store.


    ¡°Prodigal Apprentice - Temporary trait


    Status points allocated increased by 20%


    Ageing stopped for the duration.


    Ease of forcibly increasing stat points greatly increased.


    Experience earned for doing skill rted activities slightly increased.


    Ease of adapting to increase in stat points massively increased.


    Ease of unlocking new skills on the basis of skills earned before gaining this trait slightly increased.


    Status bes harder to reveal or approximate making appraisal and scan abilities harder to use.


    Time remaining : 75 cycles. ¡°


    Well that was quite a bit to take in, I focused a bit to see what the difference was between my version and the normal one. Firstly, the increase in spent points jumped from 10% to 20%. Secondly I don¡¯t have increased fertility, something I was d for since I wasn¡¯t looking to start a family right now, but I didn¡¯t see how that was an upgrade. The greatly increased forcibly raised stats was a step better. The biggest change was thest one, at least in my opinion. The increased ease to unlock higher tier skills based on the ones I already had was something I was looking forward to. Adding this to my already increased affinity with all skills meant I could look forward to a few more rare epic and maybe even legendary skills. .


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    I then closed the screen with the trait exnation and moved on to try closing the stat screen as well when a different prompt appeared.


    ¡°WARNING :


    Closing the stat screen without assigning free points will result in the loss of said points.¡±


    I freaked out for a second but slowly closed the warning and continued looking at the screen. What was the best choice for how to spend my free points? Should I consult my brother, I guess I see why dad always had this talk the night before the system opened, it needed to be fresh in our minds for when we woke up.


    I decided to try minimising it, after all quite a few of my stats were past the halfway into upgrading, I especially didn¡¯t want to put any points in mind right now. As expected minimising the stat window managed to bypass the forced spending of the points, though the lightly shing icon in the bottom left of my vision will take some getting used to.


    I slowly got dressed, drowsinessing back to me now that the exciting part of my morning was done and the boring butcher work wasing up. I could slightly tell the difference in my increased stats but I had perfect control of the increase, most likely thanks to the new trait. As I was almost down the stairs I yawned and missed the final step, almost tripping.


    ¡°Woah there Ajax¡± Tom was already up despite the early hour. ¡° I know it¡¯s tempting to not spend your points with the increase to the exercise way of raising them but you can¡¯t walk around with the status open all the time.¡±


    Tom came up to me, put his hands on my shoulder, and led me to sit down at the table. He was right, I realised, most people couldn¡¯t not spend their points without hampering themselves so they spent them or lost them. I on the other hand could hold on to them and get as much growth naturally as I could squeeze out.


    ¡°How many points do people usually get that way during their apprenticeship?¡± I asked Tom.


    ¡°Depending on how quickly they level and how well they nned for it they can get anywhere from 40 to 60 usually, I managed to get 57.¡± he said.


    ¡°How about nobles, don¡¯t they get more?¡±


    ¡°Nope, they actually get less, they have less time as they tend to level faster than us. Most gain anywhere from 20 to 40 but some even less.¡± He sat down to exin it to me. ¡°Increasing stats like that gets harder and harder the higher they are, since nobles level more as children their stats are higher and harder to grow.¡±


    This left me sitting at the table contemting what I should do now. Kate and Tom both left, since they were on duty, before I had decided, thinking I was still spending my points. All they said was a quick goodbye.


    In the end I decided I will hold on to the points, I could spend them whenever I wanted and right now having low stats will not only help me raise them but also raise my skills faster. There was no danger forcing me to spend them, well besides the possible vampire, but he was level 70 or higher, I doubted 26 - 27 levels worth of stats would help me if I ran into something like that.


    Making my decision I got up and headed in the basement to begin my work on the deer I bagged yesterday. The work was rxing, having higher level skills and statspared to when Ist did any butcher work made it much easier. Two hourster I had the meat separated and put in the ice cooler, ready for tonight when Kate and I would salt most of it to help itst.


    As I finished up the pulsing icon got the better of me and I pulled up my stats again, to no surprise nothing had changed. I had the same stats and none of my skills had gone up. Before I closed it though I caught a glimpse of something odd. My EXP total was different, it had grown by 100. Even this amount of easy safe work was enough to grant me the same amount of EXP as gaining 2 skill levels as a child, no wonder people quickly levelled as soon as they reached apprentice.


    Done with my work I wondered what I should do now. It was toote to go start a day at the guard courtyard and everyone I knew in the city was busy. This left me with two options, exploring by myself and reading the book on vampires my brother helpfully brought out yesterday.


    My curiosity over the legendary speciase, as well as my self preservation instinct, won out and I headed back upstairs, grabbed the book andid on the bed to read. The book was a heavy tome, it covered a lot of different creatures, a bestiary of sorts. A few of the creatures caught my eye as I scanned the index but I decided to focus on the immediate danger first.


    Vampires were, ording to the book, one of the best case scenarios. They were very rare however due to their creation process. A vampire was a beast type monster, contrary to the humanoid presentation a vampire came about when the runt of the litter in a bat swarm managed to be the one to evolve from creature to monster. They were always very weak for their level, usually only having the directbat ability of a monster half their level. This piece of information finally exined why the city wasn¡¯t in a panic, sure the vampire was level 70 but a level 40 could probably kill it in a 1v1 fight.


    The biggest challenge when dealing with vampires was catching them. They were intelligent, possessed shapeshifting abilities as well as detection camouge. The only time their specific magic signature could be detected was when they were fighting or feeding. The rest of the time they could pass for humans or elves.


    I personally saw no reason why one of the top 10 squads in the kingdom would be hunting down a level 70 one, they had to outlevel it heavily, maybe even double. That changed as I read thest bit on their section. Vampires needed to feed on blood to survive and could turn their victims into lessar vampires. Their hunting patterns were infiltration of amunity and a slow turning of it into food and army. Their skills also included strong illusion magic which let them hunt higher level prey through ambush tactics, with night being their preferred hunting time.


    What all of this told me was that I would, under no circumstances, be outside the house at any time after the sun went down. I could see now why Tom insisted on escorting Judy and na yesterday as well as why he joined a patrol on the way back. Being in a group was the best way to stay safe.


    I got up as I headed downstairs to start setting up for lunch. I was expecting Judy, na, Tom and Kate to all show up. Today I will n out the rest of my stay. I was expecting at least a month, as I would head back only once the subjugation force returned.

 Chapter 35

    Chapter 35


    We all sat down to eat venison with a side of an earth vegetable that very much resembled a potato but was a lotrger and green when ripe. Tom was on a break and transitioning from workout in the courtyard to patrol. Kate just finished her stint in the healing tent and will be going to the Healing Union. Apparently the guard had worked out a deal for their trainees to learn the basics there. I didn¡¯t know about na and Judy¡¯s ns yet.


    ¡°This is very good, you managed to make this with just what you found here?¡± Kate eximed after taking a bite. Her tail was swishing gently behind her.


    ¡°Yeah, I had a bit of time after I butchered it so I took my time prepping it.¡± I said.


    ¡°What¡¯s your n for the rest of the day?¡± Judy asked me.


    ¡°I was thinking of exploring the town, at least before nightfall. I read that book on vampires Tom told me about and I am not taking chances with a level 70 one around here.¡± I said.


    ¡°LEVEL WHAT?!¡± Judy exploded


    ¡°Well that exins why you were so insistent on escorting us yesterday¡± Judy said more calmly, but her face betrayed her surprise at the news.


    ¡°Yeah, we are informing people that a vampire is suspected to have entered the city, we will be keeping quiet about its level, and don''t want to cause a panic.¡± Tom said, the implication that we shouldn¡¯t spread the level around clear.


    The more I thought about this the stranger it seemed, why would amander offer up that information to me in the street but keep it from the general public. This was clearly some sort of test. My only question was, am I the one being tested?. Or was I just being paranoid and he was testing Tom for possible recruiting.¡°Tom, do you think themander telling us about the level yesterday is some sort of test?¡± I asked, I was done being so paranoid with my family.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± he said surprised, the others looking at me intrigued.


    ¡°Thest thing he added on yesterday was the level, I am pretty sure he did it as a test¡± I exined my theory ¡° I am just not sure if its a test meant for me, since I scanned him, or for you since you are trying to join his squad after you¡¯re done as a trainee.¡±


    ¡°It definitely sounds like a test,¡± na said as she frowned.


    ¡°It¡¯s most likely for Tom¡± Kate said ¡° I¡¯ve healed a part of his squad before, while they are tight lipped with us healers, they are less so with their own squad mates. Having enhanced hearing I picked up a few things. His team seems to be kept in the loop on more things than they should so he is probably testing his ability to keep relevant information to himself as well as convince others to do so as well.¡±


    ¡°Well that¡¯s good, since this doesn¡¯t seem to be centered on you, and you had the day free, how about joining us for the rest of the day.¡± Judy said looking at me ¡°you¡¯ll get to see how we do business in the city and may even unload your own wares at a good price while we¡¯re at it.¡±


    After we finished eating Judy and na dragged me with them while Tom and Kate prepped the rest of the meat for storage before heading to their next assignment.


    ¡°Just so you know, both me and na have a contract in ce with our organization. A part of that contract is that we can¡¯t lie, having you with us might be a bit suspicious but you can answer some questions and lie to cover.¡± Judy said, clearly the herbs cause a bigger stir than I thought


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    We collected all of our merchandise without any issues from the warehouse and headed off to a different part of the city to sell them. The people we were selling them to were connections to bigger cities that paid a good premium but still part of the same organization. This was a win-win as we got good prices and the organization managed to keep items in stock in a high demand market.


    Most of the things they were selling off were parts of monsters that showed up at any of the viges on route to the city. Since the Caravan only came once every two months and most parts like bones and teeth had no use in a vige, they had a few. That, along with anything else they picked up that they thought would have a better market in a bigger busier city.


    I was mostly ignored as part of the group. Despite my impressive size, I kept my beard well trimmed, this showed off my young features and most of the merchants ignored me or filed me as a new apprentice learning the ropes. My curious looks and small questions on everything that was selling couldn¡¯t have hurt their presumptions.


    As we were approaching the herbs trader my sister whispered to me.


    ¡°You mind letting us handle this one. You will get a bit of a better deal with us negotiating and it will take a bit of the suspicion off you having mana?¡±


    There seemed to be no downsides, also knowing the real value of the nts will likely help me understand prices of anything I wanted to buy that used them as ingredients. I was definitely going to be selling most of anything that I sold through my sister as I grew up so letting her deal with it early was a good first step.


    ¡°Yeah, sure, since you both already know I thought it might just be better to do all my deals through you. It will not only get me a better price but also help you with some rarer goods.¡± I said. ¡°So long as my identity is hidden.¡±


    Judy just smiled and nodded at that then proceeded to step forward and startying down all the nts I grew in the past 6 months for inspection. While the trader was examining them I could see his eyes growing wider and his eyebrows rising higher. This let me know that I was about to make out with a lot of money.


    Judy and na seemed to have both grown quite a bit, and if I was not mistaken they must have had some sort of skill that let them cooperate to grow the price further as they negotiated it as a team rather. In the end I ended up making close to 15 times my normal asking price.


    This made me a bit sad, thinking about all the money I lost in the previous years. Then again those were all sold to a merchant who just unloaded them all for a profit two viges down the road so that at least didn¡¯t blow my cover as a mana user. I would have to take this precaution if I was dealing in anything I infused with mana in the future, so it was a price I was¡­ well not happy but certainly willing to pay.


    As we turned to walk, I was happy that all went well, I didn¡¯t notice somebody approaching us. He was very well dressed, with a sharp look in his eyes and a business smile stered on his face.


    ¡°Judy, na, is this the mysterious merchant friend of yours? Or perhaps is he the mana farmer that grew these nts?¡± he asked, while the words seemed polite his tone suggested that he was looking for any weakness.


    I was more than prepared for the first question. Knowing that they couldn¡¯t lie, and that their fast growth in the organization gained them some enemies, they prepared me for this. His second question took me by surprise and it was all I could do to not let it show on my face.


    While my sister seemed to have the same reaction to the questions na started giggling a little.


    ¡°Jeffrey, meet Ajax. Ajax is Judy''s brother.¡± She didn¡¯t even miss a beat as she answered.


    ¡°Oh, to have someone so talented in your own family.¡± he continued prodding for information.


    ¡°Ajax here is a hunter, he¡¯s visiting his brother Tom and decided to join us for today while Tom is on patrol.¡± na said.


    This quickly brought a frown on Jeffrey¡¯s face and he excused himself as he beat a hastily retreat.


    ¡°Thanks for that.¡± I whispered to na.


    She gave me a wide smile and said ¡° No worries¡±.


    The rest of the afternoon I got to watch them in action going from stall to stall looking for opportunities. I quickly picked up a pattern, a pattern that the earlier conversation heavily supported. While they were both good at haggling, and even yed off one another to get a better deal, they each had their own roles.


    Judy was the talent, she was great at identifying undervalued or odd items. Sometimes even just getting a feeling andnding in front of something somewhat valuable. na was the brains, she was quick on the uptake and made connections I didn¡¯t even see until she pointed them out.


    This trip was an eye opener and I started looking at na very differently. As we returned to Tom¡¯s ce I decided to make them an offer.


    ¡°Do you two think you can handle anything else I might want to sell?¡±


    Judy quickly threw a quick nce at na, clearly she was on board with the idea but didn¡¯t want to volunteer her friend for free work.


    ¡°Sure, with your skills you¡¯re bound toe up with some interesting stuff now and then, just moving it is bound to get us some better connections.¡± na said.


    After we had dinner I headed upstairs feeling quite restless. A full day of not using mana felt odd after years of daily practice. I was looking forward to tomorrow, even if it was just cleaning the courtyard I was going to be able to examine all sorts of different magic.

 Chapter 36

    Chapter 36


    The chilly breeze of the morning made up for theck of coffee in this world. If I found that damn nt you can be damn sure I was going to invent the morning pick me up I needed. I was also going to pump it full of mana to make up for all these years I missed out on.


    Walking next to me were Tom and Kate, both of them had their own training to look forward to for the morning. I was going to be spending a good amount of time cleaning, and parsing all the mana that will be used by all the mages and healers.


    As we arrived at the reception the guard on duty gave me a strange look.


    ¡°Tom, have you brought us a new recruit?¡± he said ¡°You know we don¡¯t start sign ups until the tenth bell.¡±


    ¡°Not really sir¡± Tom said, fidgeting slightly. ¡° You see,mander Grievous said he can train in the courtyard every other day if he joins the cleaning crew.¡±


    He raised an eyebrow at ¡°Did he now? And how exactly is he going to take part in any training since the cleaning crew are always busy all day?¡±


    This seemed to bring my brother up short. He told mest night that he hadn''t spent any time as part of the cleaning crew since they were outside hires of the guards. It seems themander was just having some fun at my expense.


    ¡°A-Ah¡± Tom stuttered ¡°I¡¯m not sure, sir.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll answer that one¡± A strong voice said from behind us. Themander was standing there in his full metal gear yet from their reaction not one of us had heard him sneak up half a foot from us.


    ¡°It seems both of them passed my small little test¡± His eyes bore down on my brother, it seems Kate¡¯s guess about the vampire¡¯s level was spot on. ¡° I was half sure that a future hunter from a small vige wouldn¡¯t bother ying cleaner just to get to train in a courtyard. Have him join the cleaning crew for the morning round and the training group with the new recruits in the afternoon.¡±


    ¡°Yes sir¡± the receptionist said ¡°what¡¯s your name kid and how high is your vitality stat?¡±


    ¡°My name is Ajax, and why do you need my vitality stat?¡± I suddenly asked a lot more weary.


    ¡°Need to make sure the instructors know how much you can take before they have to send you to the healers tent to get patched up, some of you newly of age don¡¯t put any points in it and we want to avoid any unfortunate idents¡± he freely answered, I was clearly not the first to be skeptical of this.


    ¡°Oh, I have 18 vitality¡± I made sure not to mention the half point.


    ¡°That¡¯s a bit light, make sure you get some real points in there before your apprenticeship is over, the higher you get your vitality when you are younger the longer you will live¡± he clearly gave some good advice.


    ¡°I know sir, I left it lower intentionally¡± I thought giving up some of the game will take some of the suspicion off me.


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    ¡°Oh and why is that?¡± themander asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m nning to be a hunter in an out of the way vige, here I have healers that will keep patching me up as part of their basic training. I thought with the apprentice trait that I could get my vitality up a few points by taking a beating here, and it¡¯s a lot easier to raise stats when they are low.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s that merchant''s greed,¡± themander grinned at me. ¡°it shows that you grew up with a future merchant for an older sister. Make sure they give his vitality a good workout will you? Good luck kid.¡±


    I could see the receptionist scribble something down on a scroll before handing it over to someone to carry out while we walked towards the courtyard. I was very excited about the amount of gains training with the guards will me. A part of me was also concerned with the amount of pain I just signed myself up for, but that was a problem for future me.


    The morning passed by quickly. My jobs pretty much rotated in moving and leaning up targets for the mages to fling spells at. That''s not to say I didn¡¯t get anything out of it. I had definitely felt earth, wind, water, fire, and even darkness spells hit those targets with all different forms of applications.


    They all mostly consisted of forming a projectile of whatever element they were nning on using and tossing it at the targets. Out of all of them, shadow seemed to be the most interesting. It wasn¡¯t the damage it was doing since it was the weakest of them all, but rather the fact that even with my mana senses I couldn¡¯t seem to get a feel for it the entire morning. It was barely on thest few casts that I managed to feel it in the slightest, after my [sense mana] level to 40.


    All of the [cleaning] and [sense mana] did seem to gain me a whole 200 points of experience. I could clearly see how people level so quickly after the age of 10. In a day and a half I had already gained 300 experience without doing anything difficult or dangerous.


    I was fixing up new targets while Tom and the rest of the guards all headed out of the field to make space for their new recruits. As I was finishing up Kate came out of the tent and passed me a few pastries that resembled cupcakes..


    ¡°You want to have quite a bit of food to draw on for when you get healed. Starting tomorrow you are going to be heaving some heavier breakfasts.¡± she said before she walked away.


    I chowed down the tasty treats as the new recruits started to file in. One of the instructors approached me while they were all getting into position, there were only a little more than half the amount of people in the courtyard nowpared to the morning. Behind him was a tall, well built, blonde man that seemed to be about my age with an odd bird sitting on his shoulder.


    ¡°Now you two wait here until I get the new recruits sorted, after that we can all get on with this¡± he said, clearly not being too happy about having extras join in his training.


    ¡°Hey¡± The other boy said to me while offering me his hand. Upon close inspection the clothes he was wearing were of very high quality. ¡°I¡¯m Cadmael.¡±


    ¡°Ajax¡± I said, taking the hand and feeling a strong grip.


    ¡°So, how did you end up training with guards?¡± he asked.


    ¡°My brother is one and themander got me a spot as long as I clean for free in the mornings.¡± I had no reason to lie. ¡°You?¡±


    ¡°Dad sent me and my brother here for the baron¡¯s eldest son''s wedding.¡± he seemed bored at the prospect. ¡°My brother knows some people his age but I just unlocked my stats yesterday so I thought I might as well get some training. The instructors here are pretty good.¡±


    I quickly shut my mouth and took a good long look at him now, invitation for a noble¡¯s wedding and that expensive looking armor, this had to be a noble.


    ¡°Yeah, that''s pretty much what I expected, I¡¯m Viscount meheart¡¯s youngest son¡± he said to fill in the awkward silence. ¡°This here is Shifty¡±


    ¡°Scree¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s a changeling, I¡¯m trying to get it to bond to me. He seems to like me fine but I haven''t gotten the skill just yet.¡±


    At this the bird pped up to his head where it changed into a puppy. The feeling of mana I got from the change was very faint. It felt like a ball of magic that had just just wirled and got a new outeryer. I felt my eyes widen at this and a smirk grew on the boy''s face, clearly this was the effect he wanted from his pet.


    ¡°That¡¯s awesome¡± I said, suddenly feeling more interested in making friends with him. ¡°But how do you know you can get that skill, I thought you had to have talent in something to get a skill.¡±


    ¡°Bonding is one of the talentless skills, as long as you have a magicpanion willing to bond with you.¡±


    I was going to ask him more questions but the instructor made his way back over to us. ¡°Alright you two, for today we¡¯re just going to have you fight with whatever weapons you feelfortable with so we can get an idea of your level. No need to hold back as me and the other two instructors have a skill to keep an eye on your health and will step in as needed.¡±


    As he finished speaking he turned his eyes to the puppy sitting on Cadmael¡¯s head and did a double take. ¡° Didn¡¯t youe in with a bird, milord?¡±


    ¡°Shifty here is a changeling, I¡¯m just waiting for the bond.¡± he answered as we headed towards the group.

 Chapter 37

    Chapter 37


    The instructors had all of us split into two big groups. The first were recruits with more than 3 seasons of experience, taking two thirds of the instructors with them. The rest of us were paired up and given a choice of what armor we would want to wear. I took up a mix of leather and mail armor, but the group was very diverse. With full te all the way to cloth, though the two cloth users were given a bit of a re for their choice.


    The armor was very real but the weapons we used were specifically blunted swords and axes as well as padded hammers. Their logic for this was to keep it as close to the real thing without putting us in unheble danger. For my weapons I picked an axe and hammer, going with my highest skills.


    Most everyone else went with a shield in one hand, though some took up two swords or a spear. Looking around I noticed that while everyone was fully grown and nobody was out of shape, their muscles weren¡¯t as defined as mine had be from years of training. Based on my experiences strength worked like a multiplier, so the same numbers would have better results on more muscled people, it clearly wasn¡¯t linear.


    My first bout had me matched up with a slim boy, half a head shorter than me. He was dressed in full te and used the standard sword and shieldbo. As we were given the signal I found myself on the back foot very quickly. His technique was sloppy at best, with nearly no thought given to his swings. His stats on the other hand were a lot higher than mine.


    The first exchange where my axe parried his de told me in no uncertain terms that he would break my guard in short order. The heavy blow of the de knocking my axe aside and smashing on my forearm. My health dipped quite a bit from the attack costing me 30 points.


    The one thing I had on him was technique, even with a rapidly forming bruise I started deflecting his sword while using the hammer to try to unbnce him. Lucky for me he was in full te and that slowed him down enough to where I could keep up. Sadly for me the small space we had was restrictive and the boy was no idiot. He saw the difference in skill and stats and tried to push his advantage, even at the cost of a few of my strikes making it past his defense.


    The whole boutsted about two minutes before he had managed tond blows on both my legs and my other arm, slowing me down enough to where the instructor parried the blow heading for my head. I took deep heavy breaths as I looked at my health 20/180, his final jab to my chest hitting for 60 points.


    ¡°Well fought, both of you.¡± the instructor said, while I looked around to see that everyone else was already done with their bout and talking to their own minders. Clearly having finished their fights before us ¡°You realized he had more skill than you and used your stat advantage to push him, be careful doing this though as poison would have quickly put an end to your tactic.


    ¡°As for you, well done adapting to a defection focused defense after the first exchange, you definitely have skills for both the axe and the hammer but you should have put some more of your points into your physical stats. Go over to the healers and get yourself patched up.¡±I headed off to the tent, it seems these weren¡¯t the new recruits I was seeing. There were a lot fewer of them than there had been this morning or when I first came to see Tom. As I stepped in and headed to the first bunk the healer took me in.


    ¡°So there¡¯s more of you this season?¡± She looked at me with a shake of the head.


    ¡°More what?¡±


    ¡°Every season we get one or two that got some skills with weapons but for some reason decided to max out those mental stats first. You tend to be the ones that lose by being slowly chipped away at and need a heal after every bout.¡± she said while flicking her head to the other two bunks that had people on them getting healed.


    I nodded at that. Then sat down and let her start the healing process while focusing on feeling the mana around me. The other two were being healed up with the same basic healing I felt this morning, if a little stronger as the spells were betteryered on top of one another. But the spell used on me felt different, the light affinity I felt from the usual healing spells was different here, it still had traces of the light element but also not. The light emanating from her hands being more intense than I saw Kate ever use.


    ¡°What was that?¡± I asked after seeing my health top up and feeling my bruises disappear.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± she frowned at me, her moth being hidden behind a shawl like the mages to keep her spells muffled.


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    ¡°My brother¡¯s with Kate, I¡¯ve seen her heal before but it didn¡¯t look like that. This was stronger and a bit different.¡± I tried to exin without giving away that I could sense it was something else.


    ¡°Oh, you know Kate?¡± her eyes crinkled a little and I assumed she was smiling. ¡°She hasn¡¯t yet gotten the holy spells down, but she¡¯s close. She¡¯ll be able to do things like this soon.¡±


    That was new, was holy affinity a step up from light? Did this mean that all elements had stronger forms? This was something that I definitely had to look into. Too bad the only one I felt so far was the one for the light affinity. If I could get the one for earth or air I might have a better chance at unlocking it.


    ¡°You¡¯re good to go.¡± she said.


    I opened my mouth to ask something but she quickly cut me off. ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll be back here in the next five minutes, you can ask me whatever it was then.¡±


    I closed my mouth and nodded before heading back. As I came out I looked on at the others sparring in my section. Cadmael stood out from the with his clearly better armor, he and another boy were going at it. His opponent seemed to be a little behind on stats but not much, and with only wearing leather had a speed advantage. Looking at the field I started to notice that these two were the best in the group. They moved faster than the rest and the boy seemed to have skill with his daggers. Cadmael on the other hand seemed to only have a skill for his shield and not his sword.


    I expected the noble to lose, not much he could have done without an offensive weapon skill against a faster opponent. I was very much surprised when he got the upper hand, it seemed like he could predict the other boy and the fight ended after a leg sweepnded the rogue on his back.


    As I approached I was quickly paired up with Cadmael, as he was the only open person that wasn¡¯t heading to the healers tent. To say that the fight ended quickly is an understatement. After about three exchanges he baited me into overextending and used his stats and shield to bash me left and right.


    ¡°How the hell did you do that?¡± I muttered as I took the offered hand. I had ended up on my back just like his previous opponent after he swept my legs.


    ¡°Training, fighting people with skills in certain weapons tend to have a simr style, at least at low levels. You had some quite odd forms, but yourck of stats made it easy to react to the differences.¡± he said while the instructor stepped next to us.


    He told us very much the same thing Cadmael just said, myck of stats and his calcted prediction meant I had no chance from the start. I nodded and headed for the healers tent with 40 points left over. I had a feeling today was going to be a long and painful day.


    I sat down at the dinner table still feeling some phantom pain. I didn¡¯t manage to get any more useful information out of the healer about holy spells. When I asked Kate about it she told me it wasn¡¯t something she could discuss, her contract prevented her from giving out information that advanced.


    ¡°So, how was it?¡± Tom asked with a grin.


    ¡°Not bad, though I can still feel some of the bruises I got.¡± I said as I rubbed my left forearm.


    ¡°That¡¯s just phantom pain, keep getting healed up and you won¡¯t even notice it.¡± Kate mentioned as she finished her food.


    ¡°So when do you think I can go out hunting again, I want to try work on my mana and magic some more?¡± I asked Tom. ¡°I got quite a few ideas from watching today.¡±


    ¡°Not for another 5 days. That¡¯s my next day off and you¡¯re not going alone.¡±


    I wasn¡¯t quite happy with that decision but I could understand it. They knew I had low physical stats, even if they assumed it was because I chose to raise my mental ones instead of just not assigning them. So I decided to focus on the gains I did make. To say that I was pleased with one days work was an understatement.


    <strong>Name</strong> : Ajax


    <strong>Level</strong> :12


    <strong>Experience</strong> : 5850/12100


    <strong>Traits</strong>: Prodigal Apprentice , Divine Witness


    <strong>Health</strong>: 180/180


    <strong>Mana</strong>: 280/270


    <strong>Stamina</strong> :270/270


    <strong>Vitality</strong> : 18.80


    <strong>Strength</strong> :23.75


    <strong>Endurance</strong> : 27.90


    <strong>Dexterity</strong> :23.23


    <strong>Intellect </strong>: 38.70


    <strong>Wisdom</strong> :30.32


    <strong>Mind</strong> : 28.99


    <strong>Perception</strong> : 21.12


    <strong>Stat Points</strong> : 242


    <strong>Skills</strong> :<ul><ul><li><strong>Common :</strong>[Mathematics Lvl 22] [Stealth Lvl 21][Drawing Lvl 30][Athleticism Lvl 20] [Running Lvl 22][Reading Lvl 20][Writing Lvl 20][Cooking Lvl 20][Sewing Lvl 20] [Cleaning Lvl 12][Haggling Lvl 19][Gardening Lvl 20][Axes Lvl 30][Hammers Lvl 23] [Deception Lvl 16][Sword Lvl 13][Shield Lvl 11][Bow Lvl 10][Spear Lvl 10][Throwing Lvl 10][Persuasion Lvl 10][Unarmed Combat Lvl 12][Knives 20][Skinning Lvl 10][Tanning Lvl 10][Dismantle Lvl 10][Climbing Lvl 5][Tracking Lvl 4][Heat Resistance Lvl 3] [Poison Resistance Lvl 4]</li><li><strong>Umon :</strong>[Meditation Lvl 36][Sense Mana Lvl 40][Expel Mana Lvl 39][Sprinting Lvl 13][Mining Lvl 10][Lumberjack Lvl 10][Smelting Lvl 10][cksmithing Lvl 10] [Chanting Lvl 10][Mana Farming Lvl 10][Increase Price Lvl 10][Lower Price Lvl 10][Danger sense Lvl 5][Leatherworking Lvl 10][Alchemy Lvl 10][Mana Milling Lvl 6]Precise Cut Lvl 13][Precise Blow Lvl 11][Judge Threat Lvl 2][Piercing Shot Lvl 1]</li><li><strong>Rare : </strong>[Manipte Mana Lvl 18][Water Aspect Mana Lvl 10][Fire Aspect Mana Lvl 10] [Air Aspect Mana Lvl 12][Earth Aspect Mana Lvl 14][Inject Mana Lvl 14][Spot Weakness Lvl 4][Residue Recognition Lvl 1] </li></ul></ul><ul><li><strong>Epic : </strong>[Mana Augmentation Lvl 5]</li></ul>


    New :


    Upgrades :


    Sense mana 39 -> 40


    Axes 29 -> 30


    Hammers 21 -> 23


    Shield 10 -> 11


    300 Exp as well as dent gains in my physical and perception. A whole 0.30 increase in my vitality from getting beaten up and healed back up definitely made me want to go back tomorrow.

 Chapter 38

    Chapter 38


    The previous four days all followed a set pattern: get up, eat breakfast, go to the guardpound from morning till evening, return home, eat dinner with Kate, Tom, Judy and na, sleep. That is not to say that there wasn¡¯t variety. The routine was the same but the time spent at thepound was interesting, entertaining and diverse.


    The mornings all saw me work targets for the mages to practice on. I thought the main gain there would be just watching and analysing the spells the mages threw to get new ideas for my own magic. On my second day I also noticed that I could examine the used targets with [Residue Recognition]. This was a great boon as I could see how certain elements did their damage.


    The first thing I learnt about magical residue, at least at the level I could analise, is that you can¡¯t track the person that used it. With [Sense Mana] and I am told [Detect Mana] you can identify each person''s unique mana when they are using it. The magical residue on the other hand seems to depend on the spell and not the person. A fireball will leave the same magical signature no matter who casts it.


    The other thing that interested me was how the different elements did damage, fire and earth were pretty straight forward, water wasn¡¯t all that hard to figure out either, though some people seemed to beunching ice cold water in hopes of causing hypothermia. Air on the other hand seemed to be the most versatile. The pressurised cutting style I used, the dense gust for pushing power. The most interesting was a spell that seemed to concentrate most of the oxygen in an area in a point, after which a spark could cause a small explosion.


    How they figured out oxygen I didn¡¯t know and I wasn¡¯t asking, after all to know it was done using an air spell and not a fire one would give away that I could sense mana. All this information left me with a lot to [Meditate] on at night, finding the skill was useful in focusing on past experiences.


    ¡°Hey Ajax.¡± Cadmael said to me as he came in for his lesson.


    ¡°Hi Cad, Shifty¡± I said, giving a small nod to the changeling.


    ¡°Cheep¡± the small bird greeted me back.


    ¡°We did swords, shields, spears and knives so far, what do you think today is axes or hammers?¡± I said starting the conversation.The past few days had seen all the guards mostly stick to their own. Nobody wanted to make friends with the low-statted hunter that would be gone in a month or two. By a simr view nobody wanted to risk offending the son of viscount so they also gave Cadmael a pretty wide breath. This led to us bing more friendly. Cadmael was pretty down to earth and seemed to want to be my friend .


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so, both hammers and axes are weapons the guard doesn¡¯t encourage,¡± he said.


    ¡°Why not?¡± I was surprised to hear this. ¡°They take a lot less practice to be efficient with.¡±


    ¡°Because they also lead to heavy wounds. Guards mostly keep the peace, a sword, spear or knife will leave a cut, but as long as you survive the blood loss there is not much to mend. Axes and hammers are much worse to heal and can leave unnoticed wounds that may be fatal if untreated.¡±


    ¡°Line up everyone¡± The instructor called out.


    As most of the recruits had arrived for the training we all lined up and waited to see what today''s lesson would be. The eager grins from the older recruits who had been here for more than a month,bined with the quick nces at me and the other two low stats high skill boys left me a bit worried.


    ¡°Today¡¯s the final day before you get a 2 day break from training, so today we will be working with the final essential guardbat technique. For those of you new here, one of you has already demonstrated it two days ago¡± He said while looking pointedly in my direction.


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    This is all it took for it to click into ce. Two days ago, when we were being taught the spear, one of the stronger recruits managed to knock the spear out of my hand with brute strength, he also left himself wide open for me to brutalise with my fists, his own spear doing more to hinder than help at that close range.


    ¡°Today you will learn how to fight with nothing but your fists and your legs, as guard you won¡¯t always have your weapons at the ready, not to mention when dealing with small nuisances it would be best to debilitate them without needing a trip to the healer after.¡±


    The rest of the afternoon continued much like the previous days, the instructors would have all of us space out and demonstrate very basic techniques, the same ones my brother taught me three years ago. After doing this for a few hours, each of us would get a bit of practice in with an instructor before heading to the livebat part against each other.


    For once I didn¡¯t seem to be getting healed far more than the rest of the ss.Unarmedbat led to the loser, and often the winner, needing to be patched up. The instructors also put up far less with the abuse of stat differences. Whereas with weapons they had let the higher statted people lean into their advantage, now they were actively stopping any bull rush tactics that someone slower and weaker could do nothing against to enforce actual learning.


    Because of the limitations imposed I had one of my best results in the end of the day practice, winning about one third of my fights. This was also picked up on by the healers.


    ¡°Did you grow bored with us?¡± one of them asked me ¡°You seem to being by a lot less often today.¡±


    ¡°Having toe here to sit with you so often was good motivation for me to get better, it¡¯s starting to pay off.¡± I said back. From all the time I spent getting myself healed up I got to know the healers a lot better than the guard recruits.


    ¡°Alright everyone, one final fight¡± the instructor announced.


    The final fight had me going up against Cadmael, not something I looked forward to considering he dwarfed me in stats and, despite not being all that skilled inbat he had been trained by experts and knew what to look for. We were thest group to get in position as I wasing back from getting my nose straightened for the fourth time today. Something about me seemed to make my opponents want to put their fist through my face.


    The fight went as predicted, with Cadmaelnding one blow in three. Against someone like me he focused on speed more than power and it wasn¡¯t more than a minute before I was down on the floor with my fifth broken nose of the day and 10 health left.


    ¡°That¡¯s it for today, recruits do remember that you have your sses with Professor Lupus tomorrow morning. A word of advice, any beating you took today will look like a childish gamepared to what he will do to those who arete. I suggest an early bedtime tonight.¡±


    His warning didn¡¯t mean much to me as I wasn¡¯t attending the lecture parts of guard training, though by a few grimaces I saw on the faces of some of the older recruits it was not an empty threat.


    ¡°About the day aft- ¡° Cadmael started to say while offering me a hand to pick myself off the ground.


    ¡°Cadmael, get moving. We are expected at the pre-wedding party tonight.¡± A boy resembling Cadmael, a bit more severe looking, called out.


    I figured this to be the oldest of the viscounts children, the odd looking Lenford staying by his side. I took the offered arm and got myself back to my feet. It took me a few seconds to gain my bnce before I went to respond but by that time Cadmael was already a few steps away.


    ¡°I¡¯ll see you in two days¡± he picked up the pace and joined his brother as they left thepound.


    I slowly made my way to the healing tent. There I got myself patched up in short order but I was given a stern warning.


    ¡°Make sure to take it easy. Oh, and have a good meal tonight. We might have fixed up your injuries but unlike thest few days you lost quite a bit of blood today, most of it through your nose, and the spells we used don¡¯t work on bloodloss.¡±


    That at least exined why I still felt a little dizzy. I took a look at the descending sun and started to hurry back home. There had been two missing reports filed in the past few days, this made me a bit paranoid about the potential vampire. I could only hope that he would think twice about grabbing a half empty juice box with all my blood loss.


    I was thest one to make it home this time. I quickly washed my hands before taking a seat at the table.


    ¡°Ajax, are you feeling ok? You look a little pale.¡± Kate quickly picked up on my haggard state.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± I said.


    ¡°You don¡¯t look fine, did you not visit the healers tent after thest bout?¡± Tom asked.


    ¡°No, I did.¡±


    ¡° Who did such a poor job?¡± na said, she seemed torn between concern for me and outrage at the healer.


    ¡°They did fine. It was unarmedbat day. I had quite a bit of blood loss. For some reason they seemed to always end up putting a fist through my face¡±


    ¡° Having grown up with you I can¡¯t say the urge is foreign.¡± Judy said with a smirk.


    ¡° I have the next two days off, I was thinking of going out in the forest to try out all the spells I picked up.¡±


    ¡°Not alone you¡¯re not, I cane with you tomorrow but you better give up on going the day after.¡± Tom cut me off.


    I simply nodded at that. ¡°Thanks for taking the time.¡±

 Chapter 39

    Chapter 39


    Tom and I were walking towards the gates. I was looking forward to finally getting to try out some of the new [Mana Augmentation] I had nned out. As we closed in on the gate there seemed to be a big crowd of people gathered.


    My first instinct was that there had been a vampire attack. Being at the guardpound for thest six days I heard some rumours about some supposed vampire incidents but nothing concrete.


    ¡°You think this is a vampire attack?¡± I asked Tom.


    ¡°What made you jump to that conclusion?¡± Tom said.


    ¡°Well I heard that there have been instances that have happened in the city already.¡±


    ¡°And where exactly did you hear this oh so reliable information¡± he looked at me with a mixture of exasperation and amusement.


    ¡°In the guardpound, I did spend thest six days there.¡±


    ¡°And let me guess, you also heard them all in the afternoons.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, how did you know?¡± he had taken the wind out of my sails and I could practically feel myself stepping into a trap with that confirmation. ¡°Because, all we had so far has been two missing people reports with no lead, nothing to point to a vampire. This of course won¡¯t stop the new recruits froming up with a thousand theories on what is happening.¡± He saidughing.


    As we reached the gate we found out that themotion seemed to be a line for a new inspection for both leaving and entering the city. This new bottleneck has caused a backup of people with busy mornings.


    We patiently waited for our turn in line, after all we weren¡¯t in such a hurry, but as we reached our turn Tom made straight for the person in charge of the whole operation.


    ¡°Morning Captain! Any chance you can tell me what¡¯s happening here?¡± he said while offering a salute.


    ¡°Hi Tom. There has been a third disappearance. The eight performed a rather pricey ritualst night after the news broke. They confirmed that the vampire is still in the city. They just don¡¯t know where.¡±


    ¡°Ok, that still doesn¡¯t exin all of this.¡±


    While Tom and this captain were speaking we both had our skin scrubbed with an odd looking leaf.


    ¡°Oh, this? The nt is toxic to vampires, we are making sure it doesn¡¯t leave or enter back into the city if it does somehow get out.¡± he then carefully showed a small baggie with simr leaves. ¡°Not expensive but rare so we have to be careful with it. What are you doing this early on your day off?¡±


    ¡°Taking my little brother out to hunt a little. We want to be back home before dark for obvious reasons.¡± Tom gave another salute as we were waved through.


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    I waited until we made it a bit of headway into the woods before I decided to pester my brother with questions.


    ¡°If they have this nt why don¡¯t they just go through everyone in the city and find the vampire?¡±


    ¡°Because there is no reason to do so.¡± Tom said.


    ¡°You mean no reason besides the level 70 vampire loose in the city?¡± I was a bit outraged at that revtion.


    ¡°No, the vampire is a good enough reason. The problem is with monsters this intelligent there is no guarantee that you could catch it with something like this. Not to mention that any and all shadyworks in the city will enter panic mode with the search.¡± he let out a sigh.


    ¡°So far we have two, no three, disappearances with no connection to the vampire. If we go through all that and still don¡¯t find it, which we most likely won¡¯t, it will cause mass panic.¡± he shook his head. ¡°Anyway, nothing we can do about that, we should be far enough away now lets see what your magic can do.


    And so the hunt was on. I started using my earth augmentation to move faster through the forest. It was good practice but I couldn¡¯t wait to find a new target to try some new things out. For today I had a long term fire application of my axe, simr to the wind one on my sword. My other innovation to my fighting style was going to be a st of cold water.


    It wasn¡¯t much but that''s as much as I could grasp from the mages for now with the exception of light and shadow, and whatever that weird light-ish affinity I had felt, but I didn¡¯t have any way to use those in spells yet. At least I didn¡¯t think so.


    This time through my hunt I was on the lookout for stealth predators. This was also mostly what we met. I think my brother intentionally took me to a spot with less game so we wouldn¡¯t attract a lot of attention if we found too much game in a good spot.


    ¡° That red hot axe and the cold bath are new?¡± my brother said as we drew to the end of our hunting day with no game to show for it. ¡° They don¡¯t seem as controlled as your other attacks.¡±


    ¡°Yeah they are, I also got a very good look at shadow and light affinity but I couldn¡¯t find any use for them without a spell to force the mana to be offensive by itself.¡±


    ¡°You do know enhancing damage isn¡¯t the only way for spells to be useful. Shadow ones especially are made not to draw attention.¡±


    Drawing attention, this idea made me think. What could light or shadow be good for if they didn¡¯t directly deal damage. It then urred to me, all the times when I was ying video games my parents would always warn me again and again, this was something I could use out here.


    As a n came together we stumbled upon another feline and I could also make out the deer tracks it was following. Instead of drawing my axe I pulled out my shield and spear. Me and the cat circled each other while my brother took a step back. He has seen me kill more than eight of them today and seemed to realize I wanted to try something new so he gave me space.


    As the feline closed in for the attack I infused about three times the amount of mana I usually use into my shield, I also tried my hardest to recreate the light element. For once I could actually feel the spell have the effect I wanted.


    I split my big rectangr shield in 7 equal horizontal sections. I then had each light up with a different color of the rainbow. The finishing touch was making each section switch to the color of the one below it every 0.05 second. The spellsted for about three quarters of a second but that was more than enough to massively disorientate the cat as it practically squared itself onto my spear.


    Being beyond pleased with the sess of my spell I looked past the impaled prey to see my brother standing there and vigorously rubbing his eyes. Apparently the cat wasn¡¯t the only one caught in my little light show.


    ¡°What the hell was that?¡± he said as he closed in on me with bloodshot eyes. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen anything even close to that from any of our mages.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t give him the truth here, after all the idea came from those seizure levels that were so notorious in early video games. ¡°Well, I thought about what you said about using magic in a way to do something besides damage. I thought the lights would distract it. It worked better than I expected.¡± I gave him a toothy grin at that.


    ¡°Better than you expected¡­¡± He mumbled under his breath ¡°That little trick of your left me so dizzy I almost tripped while not moving. How much stronger is it than your usual spells?¡±


    ¡°I put in about three times the mana I usually use.¡± He nodded at that. ¡°Anyway it¡¯s going to get dark a bit and I finally have some deer tracks. Let''s go bag that and head back home.¡±


    The quick following of the tracks brought us to one lone deer. I took out an arrow, before drawing I finally thought of a good augmentation I could add to an arrow shot without sacrificing my aim.


    Air water fire and earth would all affect the arrow physically. While wind might have the potential to make it stronger I didn¡¯t have the control I needed for that just yet. Light was something I could have added on but all that would do is work as an early warning system that someone was shooting at you. Shadow on the other hand could work to diminish the presence of the arrow


    After drawing the bow I used the usual amount of mana I put into a swing and let the arrow loose. I didn¡¯t hear anything from when the arrow shot. I even had problems seeing my arrow until about halfway to its target when the mana ran out and the arrow became noticeable again.


    As I watched the deer get hit without having even raised its head in warning I felt a lot better about the progress I made today. These four new applications of mana will quickly make their way into my training rotation.

 Chapter 40

    Chapter 40


    I quickly gutted the deer and we started to make our way back to the city. We still had quite a bit of time before it got dark but neither of us were willing to take our chances with a vampire. We were almost out of the feline¡¯s territory when I spotted another one hiding in a bush ready to pounce.


    I had been in this scenario four more times just today so I thought nothing of it. I approached the ambush spot with my shield raised and my trusty hammer in my right hand. Just as predicted, the catunched itself at me. I wound back the hammer ready to bash when something unexpected happened, its ws tore through my shield and into my arm. The sudden spike of pain from 8 gashes also made me lose my footing and I stumbled backwards while the cat leaped back as well.


    In the next moment the cat''s skull was crushed by Tom and he was by my side to see what happened. Something was definitely wrong since the cat was weak and I felt no manaing from it. How could a normal beast like that cut through steel?


    ¡°What the hell happened, you should have let me deal with it if it was a monster.¡± Tom sounded a bit mad but mostly just concerned.


    ¡°That¡¯s the thing, it wasn¡¯t a monster. It didn¡¯t use any mana.¡± I was just as dumbfounded as Tom but the pain broke me out of it. I started to wrap up my arm to stop the bleeding. ¡°Tom, this was the worst hit I have ever taken, it shredded through my arm, howe it only dealt 45 points of damage to me?¡±


    ¡°Because it only got your arm, if it got you in the chest it could well have killed you. Even if a level 500 smashes your arm with a hammer, as long as it''s only your arm it won¡¯t kill you. The bleeding might and the overdamage might be high enough to make it unheble but losing an arm won¡¯t kill you.¡±


    I supposed that made sense, despite the simrities this wasn¡¯t a video game. You could lose and arm and survive, there had to be damaged caps on what nonessential parts of your body could do to you.


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t matter though, what happened? If it wasn¡¯t a monster how did it shred your shield like that?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure, but it didn¡¯t use any mana and if it could do that with raw strength you wouldn¡¯t be able to kill it with just one punch.¡±I examined the shield closely after applying the dressing to the wound. This was too deep a wound for me to try to heal so I would have to wait for Kate to fix me up. I grabbed the shield with my good arm to try to examine the cut but the metal bent. It was like a slightly hardent y-dough, it took a bit of force but I could shape it.


    ¡°What the hell happened to your shield?¡±


    ¡°I think I have an idea¡±


    I pulled out my sword and started examining the edge, I had only used wind to enhance the edge so it wasn¡¯t obvious but looking at it closely now I could see the wear. The de was blunt, the only reason I could still cut with it today was the wind augmentation and the small surface area the blunt de had. I next picked up the hammer and mmed the nearest tree. It wasn¡¯t quite as bad as I thought and still took out a good chunk of bark but one corner of my hammer chipped.


    My augmentation had side effects. Since the shield one took so much more mana and infused the whole shield not just the side it must have fullypromised it.


    ¡°Seems my tricks with manae with a downside, whatever I use them on loses some of its endurance.¡± I said to Tom.


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    ¡°That makes no sense, you used the shield only once and I¡¯ve seen you swing that hammerst time we came out here as well.¡±


    He was right. Unlike the de I infused the whole hammer just like I did the shield, so why was the shield so affected. Even more why could the kobold keep using his hammer despite always empowering it. Something wasn¡¯t adding up.


    ¡°The de as well, you¡¯ve been using that a lot more but it only just blunted.¡± He pressed on.


    ¡°The de is just as bad as the shield. I was only using the mana on the edge and I lost about a quarter inch of the de.¡± I absentmindedly said, think on what could be the cause of all this.


    Thinking of something I went to the nearest chunk of rock I could find and picked it up. I then used the earth mana to enhance it and smashed it into a tree ripping through the bark. I then tossed it without enhancement at another only for it to make a dent and bound off.


    I then picked up a different rock and used the light enhancement to turn it into a lightbulb. A few secondster after the enchantment ended I tossed this one at a tree as well but it smashed into dust on impact.


    ¡°I think I have a pretty good idea of what''s happening. Metal is technically part of Earth, but not part of Air or Light, infusing other elements seems to damage the base weapon. That''s why the kobold¡¯s hammers didn¡¯t suffer, they were made of rocks so once the mana left it was the same.¡± It all made sense, even if it promised high repair fees in my future.


    ¡°Well this is going to cost you. I¡¯ve never seen an elemental aligned weapon yet but the ores are super expensive. Getting your hands on them is even harder, without connections you can only get them at auctions.¡± he said, shaking his head.


    Of course, there were elemental ores, though the price was out of my immediate future from the sound of it.


    ¡°Anyway let''s get going. We got to get you to Kate to get that arm fixed.¡± He said as he picked up the deer and we both picked up the pace towards the city.


    Once at the gate we were taken aside instead of just getting waved through because of my arm.


    ¡°What happened to his arm?¡± the guard asked.


    ¡°Linx got the drop on him.¡± Tom exined.


    ¡°What does it matter. How does this check even help. The vampire can fly over the wall and back in.¡± I said irritated. The pain from my arm getting to me a little.


    ¡°People like us guards maybe, but the Royal squad scout can sense the whole city.¡± he grinned at me, seeming to forgive my rather rude outburst with a look of pity at my shredded arm. ¡°Are you going to be ok patching that back up?¡±


    ¡°Yeah Kate should be able to fix him up as soon as we get home.¡±


    At that the guard waved us through after a quick look over the deer to make sure we had killed it like we said. I wasn¡¯t sure what connection there could be between my arm and the deer.


    ¡°It¡¯s in case we traded blood for the deer to a vampire.¡± Tom said, seeming to pick up on my question without me even voicing it. ¡°Lots of people are greedy enough to make deals like this. After a few deals they get turned and are then used to lure out other victims.¡±


    When we entered the house we found a veritable feast on the table with Kate still bringing over another te of food.


    ¡°I passed, I passed today.¡± She yelled right as she noticed us enter. ¡° Oh dear, what happened to you?¡±.


    She quickly sobered up with one look at my hand and got to work fixim me up.


    I could feel my arm stitching back together. ¡°What did you pass?¡± I asked.


    ¡°The healer exam.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure I heard you were the best they had seen in a while, was there doubt you will pass?¡± It was all true, spending 6 days at the guard courtyard and talking to the healers so often I picked up quite a bit of gossip.


    ¡°Half the healers who take the exam fail, they then have to keep being on shift for the same pay until they pass.¡± Tom said as he came back in the room from dropping off the pray in the basement. ¡°And that''s for healers who take the exam after ten years. She took it after only nine.¡±


    ¡°Do you know if any of themanders offered you a position?¡± he asked her.


    ¡°Not yet, I¡¯ll find out tomorrow.¡± Kate said as she finished patching up my arm.


    ¡°Then tonight we celebrate!¡± Tom joined in with her enthusiasm as he brought out two ratherrge fancy bottles.


    ¡°What are we celebrating?¡± Judy said as she and na came in.


    ¡°Kate passed her healer exam.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that next year? I thought you were the same age.¡± na asked.


    ¡°We are. I took mine early¡± she said as she passed out filled muggs to all of us.


    ¡°That really is worth celebrating,¡± Judy said as she raised her cup to offer a toast. ¡° To Kate!¡±


    ¡°To Kate¡± we followed up.


    The drink didn¡¯t seem all that strong, though I guess that might be because of my poison resistance so I went for another cup.


    Thest thing I remember is grabbing a third cup halfway through the meal.

 Chapter 41

    Chapter 41


    I woke up with my mouth feeling dry. I couldn¡¯t remember anything that happenedst night. This was odd, I thought for sure my [Poison Resistance] should have made me immune to alcohol.


    <strong>Name</strong> : Ajax


    <strong>Level</strong> :12


    <strong>Experience</strong> : 7500/12100


    <strong>Traits</strong>: Prodigal Apprentice , Divine Witness


    <strong>Health</strong>: 190/190


    <strong>Mana</strong>: 290/290


    <strong>Stamina</strong> :270/270


    <strong>Vitality</strong> : 19.03<strong>Strength</strong> :23.85


    <strong>Endurance</strong> : 28.03


    <strong>Dexterity</strong> :23.33


    <strong>Intellect </strong>: 38.75


    <strong>Wisdom</strong> :30.40


    <strong>Mind</strong> : 29.11


    <strong>Perception</strong> : 21.19


    <strong>Stat Points</strong> : 242


    <strong>Skills</strong> :<ul><ul><li><strong>Common :</strong>[Mathematics Lvl 22] [Stealth Lvl 21][Drawing Lvl 30][Athleticism Lvl 20] [Running Lvl 22][Reading Lvl 20][Writing Lvl 20][Cooking Lvl 20][Sewing Lvl 20] [Cleaning Lvl 13][Haggling Lvl 19][Gardening Lvl 20][Axes Lvl 30][Hammers Lvl 24] [Deception Lvl 16][Sword Lvl 14][Shield Lvl 12][Bow Lvl 10][Spear Lvl 11][Throwing Lvl 10][Persuasion Lvl 10][Unarmed Combat Lvl 13][Knives 21][Skinning Lvl 10][Tanning Lvl 10][Dismantle Lvl 10][Climbing Lvl 5][Tracking Lvl 4][Heat Resistance Lvl 3] [Poison Resistance Lvl 4]</li><li><strong>Umon :</strong>[Meditation Lvl 38][Sense Mana Lvl 41][Expel Mana Lvl 39][Sprinting Lvl 13][Mining Lvl 10][Lumberjack Lvl 10][Smelting Lvl 10][cksmithing Lvl 10] [Chanting Lvl 10][Mana Farming Lvl 10][Increase Price Lvl 10][Lower Price Lvl 10][Danger sense Lvl 5][Leatherworking Lvl 10][Alchemy Lvl 10][Mana Milling Lvl 6]Precise Cut Lvl 13][Precise Blow Lvl 11][Judge Threat Lvl 2][Piercing Shot Lvl 1]</li><li><strong>Rare : </strong>[Manipte Mana Lvl 18][Water Aspect Mana Lvl 11][Fire Aspect Mana Lvl 11] [Air Aspect Mana Lvl 12][Earth Aspect Mana Lvl 14][Inject Mana Lvl 14][Spot Weakness Lvl 4][Residue Recognition Lvl 3] [Light Aspect Mana Lvl 1][Shadow Aspect Mana Lvl 1]</li></ul></ul><ul><li><strong>Epic : </strong>[Mana Augmentation Lvl 6]</li></ul>


    New :


    Light Aspect Mana 0 -> 1


    Shadow Aspect Mana 0 -> 1


    Upgrades :


    Cleaning 12 -> 13


    Hammers 23 ->24


    Swords 13 -> 14


    Shield 11 -> 12


    Spear 10 -> 11


    Unarmedbat 12 -> 13


    Knives 20 -> 21


    Residue Recognition 1 -> 3


    Sense Mana 40 -> 41


    Meditation 36 -> 38


    Water Aspect Mana 10 -> 11


    Fire Aspect Mana 10 -> 11


    Mana Augmentation 5 -> 6


    Poison Resistance 4 ->5


    I could see the improvement I made all week, even my drinkingst night increased my poison resistance. The experience I gained also cleared up for me why levelling happened so much faster with apprentice. The skills I gained would have given me 900 experience but I got 2150 instead. And this was while I was always doing something rather trivial and safe.


    At least I didn¡¯t seem to have a hangover from yesterday and I moved to get out of bed hoping I could patch together if something important happenedst night. I made my way downstairs, apparently I must have crashed pretty early as I woke up before Tom had to leave.


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    ¡°Morning¡± I started off with ¡° Did anything happenst night?¡±


    ¡°How much do you remember?¡± he grinned, I could see him try to hold in augh.


    ¡°Start of dinner, after my third drink.¡±


    ¡°Quite a bit more than I expected. You decided to join na and Judy for the auction today so I would start getting ready for that if I was you.¡± he said ¡°What made you drink so much for your first time anyway?¡±


    ¡°I have [Poison Resistance] thought it would cover it.¡± I was happy about going to the auction.


    ¡°That exins why you aren¡¯t hungover. That''s not how poison resistance works though. It doesn¡¯t just make you immune to poisons, it makes your affected threshold and recovery quicker.¡±


    ¡°What does that mean, shouldn¡¯t that mean alcohol is below the threshold?¡±


    ¡°Not like that, it means it takes more of it to affect you. If you would have felt the effects after two cups, you will now only feel them after three. The downside is that while what you feel from the poison is also diminished it''s not to the same degree.¡± he frowned a little. ¡°How do I exin this¡­¡±


    ¡° The three drinks that you did have affected you like you would have had two and half without [Poison Resistance]. You need to be careful with poisons, as the skill goes up you might need an entire bottle of a weak poison poured in your wound for it to take effect, a paralysis poison would also instantly freeze half your body the moment it starts working though.¡±


    That was a scary thought. That was a lot like not feeling pain. It was there for a reason, to warn you something is wrong.


    ¡°Is that all the skill does?¡± I hoped there was more to it to make up for the downside.


    ¡°No, it also helps you recover¡± he pointed to the jug of water I just emptied. ¡°You might have the dehydration thates with heavy drinking but you skipped the hangover. It makes you process the poison faster.¡±


    ¡°You woke up pretty early¡± Kate said as she wasing down the stairs.


    ¡°So I¡¯ve been told.¡±


    ¡°Well you better go get ready, your sister should show up any minute.¡± she said as both her and Tom headed for the door.


    I took that chance to go wash up, get some of the better clothes I had on and grab something to eat. I hoped I would at least get to see a few of the elemental ores at the auction. If I could get a read on one of them I might be able to find them in the mines back home, though it was a bit of a long shot.


    After Judy and na picked me up we headed off in the direction of the market quarter. A quick stop at their headquarters let us know that most of the items at today¡¯s auction were going to be expensive bobbles for nobles. Definitely not something I was looking forward to.


    ¡°Entry token¡± a short man with a protruding stomach said as we got to the venue.


    ¡°Here¡± na responded, giving the small stone her boss had given her earlier. It was to signify that we were to have a private booth.


    The man''s eyes widened seeing it and he took another look at us.¡± Please enter through the main doors and take a seat in one of the back rows of the main hall.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re meant to be in a private booth.¡± Judy said, some annoyance creeping into her voice.


    ¡°What are some kids going to do with a private booth? Go enjoy the auction.¡± he tried to wave us away.


    This was quite the problem. Sure for me being in the hall or in a booth made little difference, but for Judy and na it mattered a lot. All the merchants got private booths to ensure anonymity, nobody wanted their identity known when bidding against members of the nobility.


    It seemed this was not the first time something like this has happened as both seemed to be pissed but not surprised.


    ¡°Morning Ajax, didn¡¯t think I¡¯d see you here.¡± I heard from behind me.


    I turned and saw Cadmael, though he was dressed in very fine clothing as opposed to the armour I was used to seeing him in.


    ¡°Morning Cad. Are you here for the auction too?¡±


    ¡°Yeah my brother dragged me along.¡± At this point he notices the argument between my sister and the attendant, as thetter mentioned rather loudly that he suspected that the token might have been stolen. ¡°Is this your sister? The one you said was a merchant?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, this is Judy.¡± hearing her name she turns around and takes in the neer.


    ¡°Yes, I am Judy.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s nice to meet you, I am Cadmael meheart. I trained with your brother for the past week.¡± Cad said before turning to the attendant. The attendant also took in the neer and his jaw dropped before he went pale as he heard the name.


    ¡°Milord, wee to the auction. Would you like me to get you a booth?¡± he was starting to sweat.


    ¡°I am fine, my brother already has one. I was just saying hello to a friend. Is there some issue with their entrance token?¡± his voice grew cold with thest question.


    ¡°None at all, I was just about to let them go to their booth.¡± he quickly said as he opened the door.


    ¡°Cadmael,e on.¡± We heard from a distance. The voice came from someone who looked like a bigger, slightly older Cadmael. It must have been his older brother, the presence of Sir Lenford by his side only reinforcing my conclusion.


    ¡°I¡¯ll see you tomorrow for training.¡± he said as he started heading towards his own group.


    We had no more problems with the staff for the rest of the day after that small interaction, a manager even sent us aplimentary lunch to make up for the inconvenience.


    ¡°Why are you bidding on everything?¡± I asked in the break. So far there has been nothing of interest for me. Surprisingly Judy and na bid on almost every single item, despite this they hadn¡¯t won a single one of them.


    ¡°Ourpany has an arrangement with this auction house. We get lower fees on anything we put up for auction here. In exchange, any time one of our members is present they try to bid up items.¡± na answered me.


    ¡°If you have a deal like that howe we still got held up at the entrance.¡±


    ¡°Because the deal is between the management of the auction house and us. He can¡¯t go telling everyone or else the arrangement will leak.¡± Judy said.


    Towards the end of the auction we finally had something interesting show up. It was a fire aspected ore. I could feel the fire mana emanating from it before they brought it out on the stage. The price it went for however made it pretty clear that it was not something I could afford. One hundred gold was far out of my price range, and this was just for the ore, someone would also have to smelt it.


    The next item however really caught my interest. The mana I could sense off the sword seemed stronger, a little like the Holy mana I felt from the higher ranked healer. The only difference was that this mana resembled water instead of light.


    ¡°And for our final item we have an ice attuned de.¡± The presenter said. ¡°Bidding will start at 400 gold coins.¡±


    The price the de sold for was a whopping 1350 gold coins. Way more than my entire vige would make in a year. But seeing the de did give me an idea. Were there stronger versions of the elemental aspects of mana I already had? Holy seemed to be the one for light and ice for water. Were they something I could get skills for? What were the rest of them? Coming to this auction certainly proved useful.

 Chapter 42

    Chapter 42


    This morning finally got the new mage recruits of the guard out on the range. I could feel the difference and I could see it. All spells were the same, as long as you had the same chant the effect of the spell was the same. The only difference could be made after that by skills. Without skills the spell result would be the same for a level three or a royal guard.


    The other difference mostly came in everything else but the oue. These new recruits wasted mana. They were trying to over pump the spell and released half their mana with no effect. They had bad aim hitting only one in every five spells on their intended target. Lastly they took a good long while to say their chants, failing the wording one in three tries.


    Seeing all this made me feel a lot better about deciding to not go the casting route for my mana usage. The other novelty among them was the first runic caster I have seen. He had two different gauntlets, one for fireballs and another for a water jet. His efficiency left a lot to be desired, but this was a known dowside of the runic users. His aim was much better than his chanting counterparts hitting one in every three spells.


    His speed was something else. Evenpared to the experienced casters I had seen all previous week none of them could pump out spells as quickly as he did. This also resulted in him trying to show off andnded face first on the floor from mana burnout two hours in.


    While the first hour was new and fresh this got boring fast. By the time my cleaning shift was up I had gone over all of my own spells in my head many times. I was so out of it I didn¡¯t even realise I brought a new target despite none needing recement as they had left the range when we got to the end.


    My afternoon was also vastly different from the previous. Where they had mostly shown us forms and had us repeat them before sparring with each other today was different. Today they were teaching us how to react to knives. This was not only the most usedbat side of being a guard in the city, it was also their leading cause of injury and death.


    We got a front row seat to watch multiple fights going on between the instructors before they split us up into groups. The groups each had an instructor going against us one at a time to put us through our paces. It was also the first time we were going to be using sharp weapons in training, the idea was that doing it this way will make it stick with us better.


    As my turn started I was in uncharted territory. Ever since starting my training here I was used to being slower and weaker than my opponent. The instructor kept both his speed and strength in check, he was actually moving slower than I was. It was the first time for me since I started training with my brother three years ago that I was outskilled. I could definitely see why they were instructors. Their skills were at a very high level.


    I managed to make it through all three rounds with only one visit to the healer¡¯s tent. That¡¯s not to say that I managed to win any of the bouts, just that I managed to lose without suffering death by a thousand cuts.¡° Ok, it¡¯s just about time to wrap up for the day, so we¡¯ll hold a little tournament, once you¡¯re eliminated you can head on out.¡± The main instructor called out, he then had us pull pieces of paper out of a bag to set up the brackets.


    To say that the brackets were unbnced was an understatement. Most of the strong fighters ended up on the opposite side of the bracket. This meant that I had a pretty good shot at going through the tournament.


    Meaning I had a shot to go a bit further didn¡¯t mean it was going to be easy. Knife skills were apparently pretty rare so my opponents were at a big disadvantage there. I quickly figured it out after almost losing the first round against one of the weaker people in the group that my way to victory was an ugly one.


    I had to go to get healed after every round. My tactic was the same every time, be very aggressive, take calcted hits and set up a winning strike. This was working out well even if the after match didn¡¯t show it. The instructors were very pleased with my showing, they were using me as an example of why you should never let your guard down.


    I was in the quarter-finals. My opponent was a lot faster and stronger than I was. I tried going for my usual rush, but after getting two good cuts on my left arm and a shallow one on my cor bone he managed to create some distance before I couldnd my trap. Seeing as I had nothing to lose Iunched myself at him once again.


    Instead of trying to dodge his de I purposefully let him impale me through the hand. The pain was a lot worse than I anticipated but I managed to hang on to his arm just long enough to bring my own knife to his throat. I barely kept it there for a second before it ttered across the stones at the same time my knees hit them.


    ¡°You¡¯re a savage little thing aren¡¯t you?¡± one of the instructors said as he carried me over to the healers tent with the knife still sticking out of my palm. ¡°Where did you even pick up this fighting style?¡±


    ¡°I have a hunter teacher back in my vige¡± I grunted out ¡° This was how the alpha wolf of a pack he took out tried to go for him, calcted sacrifice for a finishing blow on a stronger opponent.¡±


    ¡°Sorry to hear about your teacher,¡± he said.


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    ¡°My teacher¡¯s still alive. Just because the wolf failed doesn¡¯t mean the n was no good, only that the difference in power was too big.¡± I said.


    After getting patched up I headed into the semi-finals. Those ended quickly. My opponent not only had probably three times my stats but also the [Knifes] skill. He took advantage of my aggressive tactic and brought the knife to my throat before I could get halfway to his.


    Oddly enough the only match I lost was also the one that I needed no healing for.


    ¡°You look like you could use a drink, want to join me for one?¡± Cadmael said as I walked towards the exit of the courtyard, he had apparently lost in the other semi-final.


    I looked down at my sliced up shirt that was still a little damp with blood. ¡°Well you¡¯re not wrong. Sure, I¡¯lle along.¡±


    We headed in the direction of Tom¡¯s house and stopped at the first tavern. It was a poorly lit and run down ce. We both headed in and made it to the bar. ¡°Two ales¡± Cadmael called out the barkeep.


    The beers were ced in front of us. I looked around and saw we were the only ones in the ce.


    ¡°To reaching the semi-finals¡± Cadmael toasted.


    ¡°Squeak¡± Shifter joined in from inside his shirt pocket. He had the form of arge mouse.


    I picked up the pint, knocked it lightly into the one Cadmael was holding and downed half of it.


    ¡°Surprised to see you made it to the semis,¡± he said.


    ¡°The brackets were lucky for me.¡± I answered honestly.


    ¡°It¡¯s still quite something for someone with your staths, I didn¡¯t espect it.¡± he slurred his speech.


    I also saw my vision start to go fuzzy. The barkeep approached again and this time I got a better look at him. He was tall and slim, very pale with bloodshot eyes. Eyes that were focused on my chest, or better said my shirt. Cad had slumped down on the table. Thest thing I saw before I joined him was the vampire licking his lips.


    I groggily came to. I seemed to be seated in a fancy chair. Looking up I could see the vampire tying up Cadmael to a rack. He was almost done but as he went to finish by tying his left arms Shifter jumped out of his pocket and turned into a bird mid jump. Despite the little critter''s brave attempt azy swat ttened him into the wall.


    The vampire went to go for another swipe, this time however I felt a lot of mana gather up. So much so that despite my drugged state I managed to go for the knife I had at my belt andunched to stab the vampire in the chest. I felt the de break the clothes and get about an inch deep. The gathering mana dispersed as he swiped me across the room.


    I felt three deep cuts across my chest and heard his scorn filled voice. ¡°You just had to wake up¡±


    He then pulled out the dagger and tossed it aside. ¡°Pathetic.¡± Before he went and bit down into Cadmael''s throat. The feeling of magicing from him was different than anything I have ever felt. I didn¡¯t even know what type of magic that was, only that it wouldn¡¯t be long until he killed him.


    I looked around for a weapon, the drugs in my system still making everything blurry when I spotted a stone on the table Inded on. The markings on it looked familiar. I thought back to where it was that I saw them and realized that it was back in the auction house. This stone was sealing the room, that¡¯s why the elite squad couldn¡¯t feel his activation of magic.


    I went to grab the stone but a small globe of air surrounded it, protecting it. The air magic was not something I could break. The blood loss from my open wounds and earlier training was getting to me so I did the only thing I could think of. I tried to copy him and absorb the magic surrounding the stone the same way he was draining Cadmael dry.


    A few secondster the bubble disappeared and I crushed the stone in my hand with an audible crack. At that he looked at me with an amused look, at least until he saw the broken stone in my hand.


    ¡°NOOOO! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!¡± he yelled as he dashed across the room and grabbed me before I could respond. Thest I saw before darkness took me was him ripping my arm out at the shoulder.


    Quinn P.O.V.


    ¡°Can¡¯t we just go through the city already. We¡¯ve been here for a week already.¡± Iined to our leader Patrick and our scout Frank.


    ¡°It¡¯ll cause too much of a panic, people aren¡¯t guarded enough yet that he won¡¯t slip past us if we do it now.¡± Patrick shut me down.


    ¡°For once I agree with Quinn¡± Surprisingly Frank backed me up. ¡° I¡¯ve been awake for thest nine days just in case it slips up.¡±


    ¡°We know it hasn¡¯t left the city. A vampire can¡¯t go much longer without feeding and they can¡¯t feed without using their mana. As soon as he does you¡¯ll find him.¡±


    ¡°Well my shift is over. Who am I going to wake up to take -¡± I started asking before I was cut off.


    ¡°I got him,¡± Frank jumped to his feet.


    Patrick and I were hot on his heels moving through the street like a storm. We followed Frank as he broke through the door of an old tavern and raced upstairs. I silently cursed them for their high physical stats that a healer like me couldn¡¯t hope to keep up with.


    As I entered the room they had already decapitated the vampire, a normal level 70 beast wouldn¡¯tst five seconds against Frank much less Patrick, the vampire never stood a chance. Inside were the bodies of two young boys, they couldn¡¯t have been older than 16 or 17 years old.


    ¡°This one¡¯s still alive.¡± Frank called out from next to the one with the ripped off hand.


    The boy was barely breathing but was alive. The other one had his throat ripped out and was already dead.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to heal him?¡± Frank asked.


    ¡°No point. He¡¯s full of poison already from those marks on his neck.¡± I pointed out the two holes on the shoulder of his remaining arm. ¡°Vampires gain poison after level 75, it¡¯s a special mana infused one that bonds to the victim. Ripping it out of him will kill him.¡±


    ¡°Then just patch up his body he¡¯s still got a chance.¡± he argued his case, he always was a little too emotional.


    ¡°Even if I patch him up, the poison will kill him. It¡¯ll just be a waste¡± I responded.


    ¡°Fix him up as best you can Quinn, new arm and all.¡± For the first time Patrick spoke.


    I got to work chanting and regrew his arm, closed up his wounds and fixed the blood loss. After I was done I turned to our leader. ¡°Why? Why have me do this?¡±


    ¡°Look at his fist.¡± he said.


    I examined the fist but saw nothing abnormal. "The one on the detached arm.¡± I looked closely and inside I saw bits and pieces of a smashed stone.


    ¡°The runes on that stone, they were concealment runes. It¡¯s why we couldn¡¯t find him until now despite the disappearances. The kid did our job for us, even if he¡¯s to die we¡¯ll at least give him a chance.¡± he said.


    ¡°That amount of poison will take twenty days to clear his system, maybe a bit less. With the endurance and vitality I felt when healing him he¡¯ll survive for maybe ten. Not much of a chance.¡± I said as Frank brought in the guards.


    The rest of this mess was not mine to clean up. I threw onest look at the boy ragged and torn up clothes, soaked in blood and not from the wounds I healed. That must have attracted the vampire, what an idiot. I put the boy out of my mind and headed off to sleep, tomorrow we would start heading back to the capital.

 Chapter 43

    Chapter 43


    Tom P.O.V.


    I was starting to get worried, the sun had gone down a while ago and Ajax was yet toe home. I knew there was no way he was still at the courtyard, the instructors were known to sometimes have the training sessions run long, especially with the new recruits, but this was different. All the instructors were level 40 or above, they won¡¯t extend practice now, they will be joining the night patrol to hunt the vampire.


    Three hard knocks on the door broke my focus and I turned to get up slowly. Kate was more clear minded, by the time I got up she was already opening the door, her tail swishing low and fast betrayed her unease.


    ¡°Evening Kate, is Tom here?¡± I heard the voice ofmander Grievous.


    ¡°Commander, what''s wrong, has something happened?¡± I asked.


    ¡°You bettere with me¡± he took a long look at Kate ¡° in fact it might be for the best that you bothe with me.¡±


    The walk to the prisonpound of the guards was short, but it seemed very long. The one time I tried to ask a question a quick look shut me down. Whatever this was I knew it was something to be kept quiet, so much so that asking questions in the empty street would be too much.


    All of the guards and security were in their usual ce, this told whatever was going on didn¡¯t need numbers. For the first time I went all the way to the restricted section with nobody trying to frisk me, themander''s influence being second only to the warden himself. Or so I thought.


    We came up to a room at the end of the corridor with Patrick Goldenfield standing at the door, the leader of the eighth. ¡°These are his parents?¡± he asked in a short clipped tone.¡°Brother and his wife, parents are in a remote vige.¡± themander answered.


    The short exchange already had my back sweating like a waterfall. What had Ajax done to draw this kind of attention? Patrick opened the door while themander motioned for us to enter and then followed in.


    In the room was Ajax,id up on a bed. Despite him having no visible wounds his clothes looked like they were worn by a target dummy. Beside him on the other side stood another member of the eighth, this one I didn¡¯t know. By the posture and the exasperated look on her face she didn¡¯t want to be here.


    ¡°What happened?¡± My voice came out a bit ragged.


    ¡°Your brother was in an altercation with the vampire.¡± Patrick said, he also made a motion with his hand to stop my follow up questions. ¡°From what we have been able to piece together he was invited by Cadmael meheart to a drink after taking part in training with guards.¡±


    ¡°Unfortunately the tavern ¡° he continued but was cut off.


    ¡°I think it was quite a fortunate encounter.¡± the unknown woman cut in. ¡°We would have needed a lot more time and more people would have died if this hadn¡¯t happened.


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    ¡°Quinn, your opinion on the events is not why you are here, please be a little bit more patient.¡± Patrick turned to re at her before looking back at me. ¡°The tavern they picked was the one the vampire was using as air.¡±


    ¡°The vampire had a concealment stone that prevented us from feeling his magic, your brother managed to destroy it when he was attacked. We then found and eliminated the vampire. Sadly your brother is not out of the woods yet, Quinn.¡±


    ¡°I patched up all the wounds your brother had, waste of mana that it was¡± she mumbled out thatst part. ¡°But the vampire was strong enough to be poisonous. Vampire poison is magical in nature, ittches on to the host, trying to remove it through spells or antidotes is a quick way to die. It has to pass naturally, this isn¡¯t a problem most of the time as the poison is not very strong.


    She threw a quick disapproving nce at Ajax before saying the next part. ¡°Your brother has extremely low Vitality and endurance, despite his big size he willst at most twelve days. The amount of poison in his body will take neen to clear out eighteen if he is lucky. There is nothing more we can do for him but ease his passing.¡±


    ¡°Can we go now?¡± she asked in an irritated tone with an undertone of exhaustion.


    ¡°Go on then¡± Patrick waved her off and then the five of us were left in the room.


    ¡°Your brother practically did our job for us by smashing that stone. We did our best to help him.¡± Patrick''s face didn¡¯t convey any emotion but his words sounded heartfelt.


    ¡°None of this exins why we are in the prison.¡± Kate broke the silence.


    ¡°That would be because young Cadmael didn¡¯t survive.¡± themander spoke. ¡°Luckily enough I was with the patrol that first got to the scene and managed to remove him before anyone else saw him. I imagine that neither the viscount nor his older son would be willing to ept their family dying while amoner survived the altercation.¡±


    This brought everything together. I knew themander had a slight dislike for the nobleman''s corruption in the city but the one part that didn¡¯t fit was why the eighth was also on board with helping us out.


    Patrick seemed to pick up on my musing and said ¡°I was once amoner myself, more than a century has passed, but I am not withoutpassion. I wish your brother luck¡±


    With this he left the room, leaving the two of us and themander. I looked at Ajax sleeping form and remembered what he said yesterday morning, he had poison resistance. Maybe that was enough to make up the few days he needed. I was about to turn and ask about it when I stopped. Best to let them think he was going to die, if they thought he would live who knows how they would react.


    ¡°Could we take him homemander?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I suppose so,¡± he sighed. ¡° best to keep quiet about all this. If he manages to survive, get him out of the city.¡±


    With help from Kate we brought Ajax home without anyone noticing anything out of the ordinary, the vampire lockdown also helped as nobody was outside at this time.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry about your brother Tom¡± Kate finally said after weid him on his bed in the guest room.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be so sure he¡¯s done for.¡± I said as I eased into her hug. ¡°Yesterday morning he didn¡¯t have a hangover¡±


    ¡°What does that have to do with anything?¡± she asked.


    ¡°I was getting to that. When I asked him about it he said he had [Poison Resistance]. I never asked him how high it was but it might be enough for him to survive this.¡±


    She smiled at me before a contemtive look came over her face. She was probably working through the same thoughts I did when I decided to keep quiet about his skill earlier in the evening.


    ¡°I¡¯ll look for ways to help sustain the body after poisoning tomorrow. Even if I can¡¯t remove the poison outright I might be able to help his body deteriorate slower.¡± she slowly nodded her head ¡° weak poisons like this kill by overstraining the body, I might be able to help him a little.¡±


    I didn¡¯t sleep well that night, nor any night for the next two weeks. Kate had been pulling double shifts, doing both her work as a graduate healer applying to joinmander Grievous¡¯ branch and working to keep Ajax¡¯s body hydrated and fed. Judy and na passed by a lot more frequently, and that was saying a lot considering they came by every one or two days before. na sat by his side almost as much as Kate.


    On the twelfth day after the incident the military squads that left to handle the kobold problem returned. It still surprised me that they could make the trip in about half the time that a merchant caravan did despite having people with levels in the twenties on foot. The campaign was an easy sess, they managed to annihte the kobolds before they even made it into the vige¡¯s hunting grounds. They investigated the mountain and found that the reason they were forced out of the cave system was an expansion of molten lizards. Thankfully those were happy to remain in the caves as the scouting party confirmed they were a big enough threat to wipe out their entire force.


    As the days passed we were all getting more and more worried, Ajax had started looking pale and burning a fever. On the fifthteenth day his fever broke and he finally opened his eyes.

 Chapter 44

    Chapter 44


    I came to in a dark room. My memories of what happened were very unclear in my mind. I remember going to the tavern with Cadmael before it all starts to go fuzzy. I move to sit up as I remember what happened with the vampire but I barely get my head up more than a few inches off my pillow before my strength leaves me and I crash back down.


    I am tucked in nicely in my bed at Tom¡¯s house. Looking outside I see no lighting in from the window telling me it''s night time. Beside the weakness in my body I also feel a pretty strong fever, luckily one I can feel starting to lower. How did I survive? I move my right arm, the arm I remember getting torn off.


    I move to drag it out from under the covers but I feel some resistance at moving them. Looking closely I can see the silhouette of someone sitting on a chair and sleeping with their head and arms on the bed. Despite only having just woken up I start to feel sleepy all over again so I open my status to see what has changed.


    <strong>Name</strong> : Ajax


    <strong>Level</strong> :14


    <strong>Experience</strong> : 650/14600


    <strong>Traits</strong>: Prodigal Apprentice , Divine Witness


    <strong>Health</strong>: 210/210


    <strong>Mana</strong>: 290/290<strong>Stamina</strong> :290/290


    <strong>Vitality</strong> : 21.30


    <strong>Strength</strong> :23.88


    <strong>Endurance</strong> : 29.36


    <strong>Dexterity</strong> :23.35


    <strong>Intellect </strong>: 38.77


    <strong>Wisdom</strong> :30.45


    <strong>Mind</strong> : 29.19


    <strong>Perception</strong> : 21.30


    <strong>Stat Points</strong> : 286


    <strong>Skills</strong> :<ul><ul><li><strong>Common :</strong>[Mathematics Lvl 22] [Stealth Lvl 21][Drawing Lvl 30][Athleticism Lvl 20] [Running Lvl 22][Reading Lvl 20][Writing Lvl 20][Cooking Lvl 20][Sewing Lvl 20] [Cleaning Lvl 13][Haggling Lvl 19][Gardening Lvl 20][Axes Lvl 30][Hammers Lvl 24] [Deception Lvl 16][Sword Lvl 14][Shield Lvl 12][Bow Lvl 10][Spear Lvl 11][Throwing Lvl 10][Persuasion Lvl 10][Unarmed Combat Lvl 13][Knives 21][Skinning Lvl 10][Tanning Lvl 10][Dismantle Lvl 10][Climbing Lvl 5][Tracking Lvl 4][Heat Resistance Lvl 3] [Poison Resistance Lvl 16]</li><li><strong>Umon :</strong>[Meditation Lvl 38][Sense Mana Lvl 41][Expel Mana Lvl 39][Sprinting Lvl 13][Mining Lvl 10][Lumberjack Lvl 10][Smelting Lvl 10][cksmithing Lvl 10] [Chanting Lvl 10][Mana Farming Lvl 10][Increase Price Lvl 10][Lower Price Lvl 10][Danger sense Lvl 5][Leatherworking Lvl 10][Alchemy Lvl 10][Mana Milling Lvl 6]Precise Cut Lvl 13][Precise Blow Lvl 11][Judge Threat Lvl 2][Piercing Shot Lvl 1]</li><li><strong>Rare : </strong>[Manipte Mana Lvl 18][Water Aspect Mana Lvl 11][Fire Aspect Mana Lvl 11] [Air Aspect Mana Lvl 12][Earth Aspect Mana Lvl 14][Inject Mana Lvl 14][Spot Weakness Lvl 4][Residue Recognition Lvl 3] [Light Aspect Mana Lvl 1][Shadow Aspect Mana Lvl 1]</li></ul></ul><ul><li><strong>Epic : </strong>[Mana Augmentation Lvl 6]</li></ul><ul><li><strong>Legendary : </strong>[Mana Syphon Lvl 1]</li></ul>


    New :


    Mana Syphon 0 -> 1


    Upgrades :


    Poison Resistance 5 -> 16


    I am shocked at what I found. So many things are vying for my attention. A legendary skill, the kind of skill that can turn a war. Getting 11 levels in [Poison Resistance]. Having my Endurance and Vitality go up by almost 2 each. Not to mention gaining more than a full level¡¯s worth of experience. This was unprecedented. Not even as a child did I make such gains. Try as I might though sleep took me.


    I woke up feeling refreshed. My fever was gone and despite some weakness still lingering I moved to get out of bed. My efforts didn¡¯t go unnoticed as they woke up the other resident sleeping here.


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    ¡°YOU¡¯RE AWAKE!¡± na practically yells.


    ¡°Yes, good morning to you too.¡± I say.


    ¡°You have no idea how much you scared us¡± she says as she wraps me up in a hug, this makes me very self aware of the clothes damp with sweat that I am wearing and my need for a bath.


    ¡°What is with the ye- ¡° Tom says as hees into the room but freezes as he sees me looking back at him.


    ¡°You¡¯re alive¡± he barely whispers before he also joins in the yelling. ¡°You¡¯re alive. Kate get in here.¡±


    He takes over from na in giving me a hug while both Kate and Judye in through the door and both give me the same treatment.


    ¡°How are you feeling?¡± Kate asks after casting a few spells on me.


    ¡°A little weak but other than that I feel fine.¡± I say.


    ¡°That¡¯s to be expected after you spent thest two weeksid out, you feel strong enough to go wash up?¡±


    ¡° Yeah I¡¯ll be fine.¡± I answer and move off the bed before I process what she said ¡°What do you mean two weeks?¡±


    ¡°How much do you remember?¡± Tom asked gently.


    ¡°I passed out after the vampire ripped my ark from my socket.¡±


    He nodded at that. ¡°He bit you after that. Was most likely going to kill you but after you smashed his concealment stone the eighth got a lock on him and killed him before he managed to. He did pump you full of a magical poison that can¡¯t be cleansed. ording to their healer it was supposed to kill you, I think your poison resistance saved you.¡±


    Well now everything makes more sense. Two weeks of constant near death struggle exins the increases to my stats, skill and level. I went to wash up while everyone else went down to the kitchen and got breakfast ready.


    As I sat down to eat we heard a knock at the door. Kate got up to go answer. She opened the door and exchanged a few words I couldn¡¯t hear with a cloaked stranger. Whoever he or she was must have shocked her quite a bit as she stepped aside to invite them in with a look of disbelief. One I very much shared once Cadmael¡¯s older brother removed his cloak from over his face as my brother approached him.


    ¡°I am sorry for not reaching out sooner. But it was for your safety.¡± His voice was as stern as I remember it but he did have a sympathetic look as he addressed Tom. ¡° I am sorry about yo¡­¡±


    He stopped speaking as he caught sight of me. I must have cut a pretty sorry sight as after a few moments his look of shock turned to one of worry.


    ¡°You survived.¡± he addressed me and his shock gave way to a smile.


    It was now my brother¡¯s turn to be shocked as he barely got out the words. ¡°You know what happened?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I was informed of what really happened that very night. Sadly I had to wait so long beforeing here just because of the problem that could arise.¡±


    ¡°What problems?¡± I asked.


    The future viscount threw my brother a confused look. ¡°He only woke up less than twenty minutes ago. I haven¡¯t had a chance to exin everything to him.¡±


    ¡°Understandable.¡± he said before turning to exin. ¡°Cadmael died in the vampire attack. A noble dieing and amoner surviving is not something some nobles would have approved of so your implication in the events of that night have been swept under the rug.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry about this being the case. My father has been trying for years to make reforms about howmoners are treated in hisnds but he hasn¡¯t had much sess outside our family. Most of the barons in and around ournds are second or third generation of people who got their titles from courts in the capital. They have a need to make themselves feel more important and above someone andmoners are the only ones they are above.¡±


    ¡°I came here today to express my thanks, my apologies seems to not be necessary as your brother survived.¡± he then took out a rather sizable bag and put it in front of me. ¡° I know you at least tried to help my brother, and your efforts at least avenged him. I would urge you to leave the city for a while to remove any suspicion.¡±


    With that he politely left. That was not something I was expecting from what my first impression of him was. I picked up the bag and opened it to find 100 gold coins inside. This was a fortune. With this I might actually be able to get a decent start of some elemental ores.


    ¡°I was going to wait until after breakfast but he is right. It would be best if you returned to the vige.¡± Tom said with Kate nodding along.


    ¡°Did the soldiers return already?¡±


    ¡°Yeah they made it back three days ago. You should join us on the caravan leaving this afternoon.¡± Judy said.


    ¡°You¡¯ve not even been here a month and are already going back?¡± This was surprising as she usually stayed for a few months at least every other time.


    ¡°This is a special exception.¡± she said.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to go back just for my sake¡± I try to talk her out of it.


    ¡°It¡¯s not for your sake.¡± na interrupts me. ¡° The army stayed in the vige and took provisions for the road after they left. We will leave with a heavier food load and have a three day stay to get everything stocked up in the vige before we return.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, if we don¡¯t go, other merchants will just overcharge the vige since they need the food.¡±


    After that it didn¡¯t take much convincing and I was on my way back home after all this time. It certainly felt a lot longer than five weeks.


    The road was very much the same. I stuck around the caravan for the first two days building up my strength but on the third day the boredom got to me and I went off to restart my training in the woods.


    As I made it to a small clearing a small bird went for a fewps around my head beforending on my shoulder, turning into a puppy and started licking my face.


    ¡°Shifter? What are you doing here?¡± I asked knowing he couldn¡¯t answer.


    ¡°He is here to thank you, as am I¡± a voice came from nowhere.


    I then felt a strong amount of mana gather as a woman with scaly skiing, slit pupils and horns appeared not more than five feet from me. The most shocking thing was that I recognized the mana, it was the same mana I felt after the vampire swatted shifter, if a lot less of it.¡±


    ¡°I owe you a debt, human.¡± she said.

 Chapter 45

    Chapter 45


    This took me by surprise. I read a little about changelings before but nothing mentioned them gaining a humanoid form.


    ¡°You¡¯re Shifter¡¯s mother? You¡¯re a changeling?¡± I was skeptical since changeling only got past level fifty with apanion bond.


    ¡°A changeling? Oh no, I am a dragon.¡± she said.


    I felt the blood rush from my face and into my legs. The only reason I didn¡¯t take off running was that I knew it would have been worthless. All the stories I have heard about dragons have marked them as a nebulous threat with territorial and anger issues.


    ¡°No need to be so scared. I swear, you humanoids, it hasn¡¯t even been more than 500000 years and you¡¯ve already forgotten everything.¡± she said, shaking her head.


    My curiosity mixed with the adrenaline running through me overtook the fear so I asked. ¡°What is that supposed to mean?¡±


    ¡°With all your wars and fights for expansion andnd you lose all your history. Your short lifespans don¡¯t help much with that. Even now, there doesn¡¯t seem to be a single one of you alive who remembers the ords you have.¡±


    Thinking that it seemed I had nothing to fear from her I decided to find out more about these supposed ords that affected all of us. ¡°What ords?¡±


    ¡°500000 years ago you humanoids, humans and elves and dwarves and beastkin, joined the ranks of the ascended. Us ascended races have contracts with each other, it helps preserve our territory from the damage a fight would cause to it. Dragons, phoenixes, giants, elementals we all have enough power that squabbles between us must be regted.¡±¡°But we don¡¯t have the kind of power to measure up to monst- , I mean ascended¡± I almost put my foot in my mouth.


    ¡°Oh we know that now, to this day the contract with you humanoids is one of the only times in known history that we dragons have been so thoroughly out bargained.¡± a self deprecating chuckle came from the dragon, I supposed her nonchnce was for my benefit and it was working.


    ¡°But then, why did you make it in the first ce?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Because we thought it was a good deal. Since you know nothing about any of this, I¡¯ll exin it all to you, then we can talk about the debt I owe you.¡± she said and with a wave of her hand a table and chairs sprouted in the middle of the clearing.


    I took my seat after her with Shifter changing into a small dragonling and curled up in front of his mother.


    ¡°More than 500000 years ago you humanoids were still the premier rulers of the nes. Not much different than right now. The only difference was that you had no protection, whenever one of the ascendants decided to wipe out a portion of you they just did. This made your kingdoms a lot morepact, it also made the wars for thatnd a lot moremon.¡±


    ¡°That was when an anomaly appeared. All this we found out after it had alle to pass but for your sake I¡¯ll exin chronologically. After the end of one of these wars the more cruel of the victors decided to use the ves of the defeated for hunting sport. It wasn¡¯t the first time the practice took ce. The difference was that a five year old boy of one of the farming families managed to escape into the woods.¡±


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    ¡°Every time this had happened before they were either foundter or killed by the other beast that lived in the forests. This boy however was different, very much like yourself he pushed himself from a very young age. Unlike you however he did it all for survival. Where you spread yourself in so many directions with your skills he had few. You both reached level eleven before the age of ten, but he also reached the skill level 100 in one skill and above 50 in a few others.¡±


    ¡°Despite only being five years old, he never forgot the terror of the day of the hunt. But he was patient, he spent the next five years surviving and fifteen more after that preparing. When he came back out of that forest he was already past level 200.¡±


    ¡°That may sound a lot for the likes of me, but surely he didn¡¯t pose a threat to the likes of you¡± I said.


    ¡°That¡¯s what we thought as well. And at the time he didn¡¯t. His anger was focused solely on the ones who forced him to flee into that forest, so we simply ignored him. The next 100 years are a mystery. It all happened in humannds and all records of anything that happened have been destroyed as it happened. But at the end of it all, the humanoidnds were all joined in one empire with him at its head, and nothing remained of the kingdom that conquered his homnd.¡±


    ¡°He had grown more powerful, but instead of doing what you lessers did when you reached the top he chose to venture into the dungeons rather than try and expand his domain. Even now the only exnation for this we have is that sometime in those twenty years he spent in the forest he might have witnessed the power of an ascended and looked to improve himself. He ruled for the next 1500 years doing little more than delving into the dungeons and quelling rebellions. By the time we took a closer look it was toote.¡±


    ¡°He lived so long?¡± I thought humans didn¡¯t live much past 1000 years.


    ¡°Oh, he lived much longer than that. After 1500 years one of the giants finally stepped into his empire and destroyed a few viges. It was nothing out of the ordinary for us. That is until he struck back. He spent the next 10 years battling the giants, at the end of which no giant remained alive.¡±


    ¡°And none of the others looked to help them?¡±


    ¡°Oh we would have, but the giants all but surrounded yournds back then, that and their foolish leader¡¯s desire to not appear weak lead to their extermination before the rest of us could form a full picture.¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t know just how strong he became, but the lowly human went from the strongest beast to the strongest being in that millennium and a half. After the extermination of the giants he approached the rest of us ascended. A few challenged him but none could have a hope of winning. What he did with his power surprised us all.¡±


    ¡°Instead of looking to push his superiority like his predecessors he instead looked to have you all join as full members of the ascended. The whole reason why you are called humanoids is because he was human.¡±


    That was news to me. It seemed natural to me from my previous life that elves, dwarves and beastkin be called humanoids that I never questioned the reason why it was the same in this world.


    ¡° The contracts he signed with all the ascended were the same. What it came down to was simr to what our own deals with each other were, a protection from each other in our ownnds. Where he differed however was in how this was enforced.¡± her tone changed there, it grew a little more awed, even Shifter woke up and looked towards its mother.


    ¡°You see, instead of choosing to let a single beingpromise a deal, much like that giant started a war that led to their destruction, he let us be the sole enforcers of the contract. Should at any time an ascendant break the contract with the humanoids he was to be punished, ording to the stiptions, by his own kind. Should a human however break a contract he as an individual would lose all protections stipted. Essentially leaving them for us to deal with as we pleased.¡±


    ¡°Why would you ept a contract like this?¡±


    ¡°Because he also offered to not engage with any of those protected by the contract with the exception of self defense. A rather big setback for his own empire as this meant they would have to give up any contested piece ofnd. Or so we thought anyway. His next 8000 years rule was peaceful, he eradicated very and built a thriving infrastructure with the few regions humans managed to gain. He died at close to 10000 years of age.¡±


    ¡°It was only in the 50000 years following his death that we realized just how bad of a deal we had taken. No other humanoid had even approached us in power since then, yet all of your kind have freely expanded with the full protections of the deals he made by limiting himself.¡± she stroked Shifter gently as she was winding down.


    ¡°Your history is so poorly kept that you barely have any stories remaining regarding your greatest ruler. The ones that remain are wildly inurate. You all fear your greatest protector, his very name bing a synonym for death. The little ve boy named Grim who took up thest name Reaper in honor of hismon farming family.¡±


    ¡°This brings us to my debt to you. You see, us dragons have a tradition of letting our young explore unguided. My little one here ventured into a human city and was picked up by your friend. This normally wouldn¡¯t be a problem as it has happened before, I was always with him to ensure nothing would happen. The problems appeared when the vampire attacked him, you see the contract does not allow a dragon to use their power inside a human city. This stiption would be revoked should a human attempt to harm my son, but no exception is granted for a vampire. I am pretty sure you felt ready to interfere, yet your actions protected my son.¡±


    ¡° So that was your mana I felt back then!¡± I eximed.


    ¡°Yes, my breach of the contract would have been severe, not enough to have me killed but most definitely unpleasant. As such I find myself owing you a debt, your intervention spared me my punishment. So what would you like in return?¡±

 Chapter 46

    Chapter 46


    What would I want from a dragon? This was not a chance I could get more than once, should I hold on to the favor, maybe she will save me one time when I need it. Rather than making a half baked decision, having a get out of jail free card seemed to be my best bet.


    ¡°Just to be clear, I won¡¯t break the contract to help you. Your help prevented me from the smallest of infractions, there would be no point in owing you this favor should ite with the same punishment I avoided.¡±


    Well that puts a damper on things. The contract prevented her from using her power to interact with humans on humannds unprovoked andpletely prevented her from doing anything other than passing through a city. She couldn¡¯t even help me survive a beast attack as that would be her interfering with a human, me.


    ¡°You¡¯ve seen me practice my magic on the way here, right?¡± an idea came to me.


    At her nod I pressed on. ¡°I can¡¯t get schooling in the caster way of fighting, could this favor be you helping me with gaining magic gear so that I can use my mana without ruining it?¡±


    After all this was one of the biggest obstacles for me to progress. There was no way I was going to get myself magic equipment, but with a dragon''s help that might not be the case.


    ¡°And how would you like me to do that?¡± she asked.


    ¡°I¡¯ll leave that up to you, I have barely started learning anything about it, whereas you¡¯ve probably spent more time wielding mana than my parents have been alive.¡±


    ¡°Well that is a smart request, very well. I shall help you, when I have your gear I¡¯lle find you.¡± she said standing up. In the next moment the chair under me gave way and Inded on the ground. By the time I looked up the clearing was empty, the dragon, Shifter, and even the table was gone. Deciding I had spent enough time on my little outing I returned to the caravan.


    It had taken us three days longer to make the trip back than it did going to the city. The caravan was filled with food so we moved quite a bit slower. During this time I just practiced my skills. The practice barely made a dent in my skills but the experience wasn¡¯t bad. The only headache I had was the new [Mana Syphon] skill. Unlike humans the presence of mana is what turned beasts into monsters so even the few beasts that I did run into were no good for it.


    The only option I did have was to try it out on the other members of the caravan, and that was not something I was willing to do. Maybe if I knew that it was harmless I would have convinced myself, but I couldn¡¯t even properly remember getting the skill and using it for the first time.


    As we finally made it out of the forest we could finally see the vige. Off to one side must have been where the army had set up camp, it was a wide field that used to have quite a few trees covering it. This would be prime real estate, it would be sold for quite a bit, if it wasn¡¯t already, to a farmer. Next spring all that clearednd would make for a perfect field.


    After finally reaching the caravan set-up area na, Judy and I all left the caravan to the drivers to set up. Judy and I headed for our house while na went towards hers. It had only been seven weeks since I left home, and I had been unconscious for two of them, but it felt like a lot longer. I was also dreading the conversation I was going to have to have with my parents, but I had kept this from them for too long.


    As we entered the home, they were setting up the table for dinner. Luckily it seemed that mom had made stew. I guess the original n was for it tost them two days but with four of us it was probably going to be gone by the end of the evening.


    ¡°Judy! Ajax! You¡¯re back.¡± Mom was out of her seat as we entered the house.


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    ¡°Made it back a lot sooner than we were expecting, those soldiers sure can move fast¡± dad said a lot moreposed as mom went from hugging Judy to hugging me.


    ¡°So, how was the city?¡± mom asked as we took two bowls and sat down to join them.


    The dinner continued peacefully with Judy and I exining around time in the city, we steered clear of my mana and the vampire, those woulde after dinner.


    ¡°Mom, dad, I have something to tell you.¡± I said as we cleared away the tes.


    ¡°What is it?¡± mom asked.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t beenpletely honest with you. For a while now I have had the [Sense Mana] and [Expel Mana] skills.¡± I finally came clean.


    They both sat there in stunned silence. Dad was the first one to speak. ¡°It¡¯s not that I am upset that you kept that to yourself, but why didn¡¯t you tell us?¡±


    ¡°Well, I remember back when Judy got her rare skill mom made a big fuss about keeping such things quiet. I also didn¡¯t want anyone else in the vige to know about it, so I just practiced it by myself.¡±


    Dad gave me a small smile, but mom just looked at me a little lost. ¡°But where could you have practiced it? I know we didn¡¯t stay together the whole time but you couldn¡¯t have had that much time.¡± she was talking more to herself, piecing things together.


    ¡°Wait, your garden.¡± She now looked me in the eyes. ¡° Is that where you were practicing, is that why everything you were growing there came out so much bigger and better?¡±


    I didn¡¯t even get a chance to answer and she just kept going¡± Ajax, you can¡¯t do that, you were selling those nts! Those can be identified as having been grown with mana, you¡¯ll expose yourself to people you really don¡¯t want knowing about your mana.¡± She went from confused, to focused and now panicked in only a few seconds.


    ¡°It¡¯s ok mom, I know that now. I got lucky, the sleazy merchant I was selling them to was just passing them one vige away from twice the cost. I lost quite a bit of money to him, but thankfully nobody found out.¡±


    ¡°That is actually how na and I found out he had mana. Our appraiser looked at them and told us they were grown by a mana user, not a particrly good one, but definitely a mana user.¡± Judy contributed. ¡° na thought quickly enough to cover up the fact that he was the mana user so for now I don¡¯t think anyone outside the family knows he has mana.¡±


    ¡°Besides Hatchet¡± I murmured.


    ¡°Well at least you are ok. Now that we know, your mother and I can do our best to help keep this under wraps.¡± dad said as he breathed out a long sigh.


    ¡°Ajax, I know that you¡¯re already past ten years old and it may be a littlete to start, but, if you want, I can get in contact with my family. We might not get along that well but I¡¯m sure that they would be willing to help. If you want to go to an academy to help train in using your mana we can do that.¡± She seemed quite upset, most likely at her parents disapproval of her young marriage, but the look in her eyes was determined.


    ¡°There is no need for that, I have found my own way to use mana. It¡¯s actually probably best that I practice here, where there is nobody really looking for mana users. I might even get Hatchet to help me out.¡±


    ¡°You told Hatchet?¡± dad asked, he seemed disappointed.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t tell him, but I used a quick healing spell after the fight with the kobolds. When I made it to the city Tom told me he looked into who he was before he came here. Apparently he used to be an adventurer, a pretty good one at that. He definitely has [Detect Mana] so he knows.¡±


    ¡°So, what is your n now?¡± Dad asked me, it seems he figured I wouldn¡¯t be staying in the vige.


    ¡°I think that I will be training here with Hatchet for my Apprentice. After that I will most likely go to join the Adventurers guild, they are one of the few ces that can offer me protection from the nobles, hunting monsters seems like something I¡¯d like to do.¡±


    ¡°Where did you even encounter a monster to get that idea? The kobolds and wolf you saw don¡¯t count, Hatchet took care of them.¡± dad said.


    This led into a long exnation about what happened with the vampire. It was a long night after that. Mom stayed up hugging me for another good hour or so, all the whilementing why she hadn¡¯t been there to take care of me. The fact that there was nothing she could have done didn¡¯t seem to make one bit of difference.


    After seeing them react like that to the vampire I decided not to bring up the dragon tonight. The whole encounter still seemed unreal to me. I half doubted that it even happened. If I was going to tell them about it I would do it after I got my new gear, I didn¡¯t want them to think I had gone crazy after my encounter with the vampire.


    The next morning, after breakfast, I changed into my hunting gear and headed towards the edge of the vige. As I came up to the solitary house standing a little separated from the rest I found Hatchet in his backyard chopping firewood.


    ¡°So, you know?¡± I started off.


    He turned back to look at me. He stayed silent for a few moments that might as well have been a few years before he responded with a simple ¡± I know.¡±


    ¡°Are you still willing to train me?¡± I asked


    ¡°What do you want me to train you in?¡±


    ¡°Hunting¡± I answered straight away but after a brief moment I continued deciding it was best he get the full picture. ¡°And adventuring, I n to go join the guild in a few years.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t teach you magic, I can barely get a hint of what you¡¯re doing with mana.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s ok, I n on figuring out magic for myself, maybe you could give me a few pointers from experience.¡±


    ¡°Fine then, go do your warm up while I finish here, after that we go hunting.¡±

 Chapter 47

    Chapter 47


    This hunt started very differently than any of the ones we went on in the few months before my trip to the city. As soon as I finished my early morning routine we took off with little time to replenish the mana I had already expended. I was sitting at around half mana as we made a much faster paced dash through the forest.


    After getting a few miles away from the vige we finally stopped in a small clearing.


    ¡°Let''s see what you can do now.¡± Hatchet said. "Follow these tracks and bring down what you find. Don¡¯t hold back on your mana, I want to see what I am working with.¡±


    I simply nodded and took off after the shallow footsteps. It took less than half an hour to catch up to the boar that made them with barely any use of my earth mana to help speed things along. A quick nce at my teacher showed what I thought was disappointment for the first time on his face.


    I drew back the bow, took aim between the eyes of the boar and infused the arrow with the shadow aspect mana. [Judge Threat] put the boar at somewhere around level two so power wasn¡¯t going to be an issue. My shot hit exactly where I wanted before the shadow mana fell off the arrow and killed the boar.


    ¡°Interesting, you can already use shadow, even if the power is low the concealment is high.¡± Hatchet said as he approached the downed boar and inspected the arrow and the wound. ¡°There is a marked effect on the usability of your equipment when exposed to your style of casting. Do you know if it happens during or after the effect?¡±


    ¡°After. I tested it out a few times on the way here after I found out the downsides of my method of casting. While the cast is in effect my weapons maintain their state before activation, they then worsen rapidly after the mana is spent.¡± It had taken quite a few tries, mostly working with the shadow and light to test this out. ¡°There is also much less degradation based on what element I use, my hammer has suffered little bacsh from an Earth augmentation, whereas anything that uses me as the medium has no downsides.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, most likely because metal is connected to earth. That matters not right now. These tracks here next.¡± he said pointing to a different set for me to hunt down.


    The next few hours saw me running around hunting quite a few things from foxes to squirrels and even rabbits. I could tell we were deeper into the forest since even level 4s and fives were starting to show up. For the first time I saw something I had wanted for a long time. Hatchet had on his back a Bag of Holding that was starting to pile up all my kills. ¡°That¡¯s a handy bag.¡± I said pointing at it after curiosity got the better of me.


    ¡°For me it is yes, for you not so much.¡± was all he replied.


    ¡°Why would it not be useful for me?¡± I was a bit peeved by his dismissive tone.


    He simply took off the backpack and handed it to me. I reached my hand out to grab it , the moment he let go it dropped to the ground taking me with it. I was down on one knee, it was a lot heavier than I would have expected, it took everything I had with both arms to barely lift it off the ground.


    ¡°Do you see why now? While the space inside the bag might be a lot bigger this is still a simple expanded bag.¡± he said as he swiftly and effortlessly took the bag and swung it over his shoulders. "It has no enchantment to reduce the weight, with your physical stats it would do you no good.¡± again I heard that same disappointment in his voice at thement.


    The next prey took a lot longer to track down. Whatever he had me chasing this time left far fainter and fewer tracks. A small whileter I made it to the opening of a cave with four dire wolves in front of it. They were bigger than usual wolves by a foot but tended to travel in much smaller groups.


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    I drew back the bow and shot a shadow infused arrow to bring the fight from a four on one to only three. It was a good opening shot but they also reacted a lot faster than I had expected. Their levels were above ten, close to bing monsters if I were to guess.


    They moved to surround me but I managed to put a tree at my back and keep them at bay with the spear. A few cuts to the front legs was enough to keep them from closing in but not enough to put me on the offensive.


    During all this time Hatchet sat on a tree branch observing me, he was clearly evaluating me, if only I could figure out why he was doing so now. He could have just asked me to show him what I could do with my mana if he wanted to get a good grasp on it, certainly would have given him more information than seeing it in action like this.


    A quick application of earth through my feet tripped up two of the wolves right after I deflected the third. This gave me a good follow up tounch the spear and turn the fight into a two vs one. Sadly I had also lost my range advantage as I pulled out my axe and sword.


    The following few exchanges went poorly for me, despite the week long practice against opponents with more physical strength than me that I got in the guard courtyard I had no experience facing such high statted wolves. While I managed to keep any major injury from urring at all they left a few scratches on my forearms.


    The battle went in my favor when one of the wolves managed to get a good bit onto my balde. Holding it with its mouth was a good move to pull me off bnce and give his partner an open shot at me. What he didn¡¯t count on was me infusing the de with fire, he quickly let go with a wiper of anguish. With my bnce regained I gave up my axe to fend off the attack and create an opening to embedded the sword in the other wolves head.


    With only one of them left I pulled out myst two melee weapons. My shield and my hammer. The ensuing fight was a one sided stomp. Without any more allies all it took for me to bash the wolves head in was a well timed shield charge and earth maniption to trip it before crushing its skull.


    I was only just catching my breath when I heard a howl behind me. I looked back to see a monster wolf a foot taller than the ones I killed starting a charge towards me. I didn¡¯t have time to shoot arrows at it at the speed it was moving so I tried creating a small ditch to trip it up.


    For the first time since my battle with the boar when I first added mana to mybat repertoire I felt the wolves own earth mana work to counteract mine. It was doing something simr to what I did to speed myself up only it also reinforced the earth keeping me from changing thendscape.


    With only my shield and hammer I went to myst resort, infusing my shield with a good amount of light mana. I started off the shing pattern and readied my hammer, imbuing it with earth mana ready to bash the wolves head in.


    My surprise was short lived as the wolf was unaffected by my light show. His paw made contact with my shield right before the mana ran out, luckily for me that meant that the shield had its full integrity and onlyunched me into the tree instead of both it and me being torn to shreds.


    Pain erupted from my lower back where I made contact with the tree. I looked up in time to see the monsterunch itself at me before Hatchet dropped down impaling his sword through the creature''s head.


    ¡°What the hell were you doing at the end there? Hoping it will forgive you for killing its pack if you sh some colored light?¡± his voice was outraged.


    ¡°I thought it would disorient it, a rapid change in the bright color has that effect, I didn¡¯t know wolves would be immune, it worked just fine with the lynxes near the city .¡± It had worked for me before with the cats so I didn¡¯t see why it wouldn''t this time.


    ¡°First of all there is a big difference between wolves and lynxes. Wolves are colorblind whereas lynxes are not. So all that fancy coloring didn¡¯t do much of anything. Secondly, monsters have much faster mental reactions, you saw the speed it was charging you with. Even if this monster had been one that could interpret color, your little light trick wouldn¡¯t have worked on it. Start up on your healing spell while I grab them then we¡¯re heading back to the vige.¡± he said as he started stuffing one wolf after the next in his backpack.


    The trip to the vige was still rather short and he made for us to stop right before we exited the forest.


    ¡°This is a good ce for us to spar now.¡± He said as he dropped his backpack and motioned for me to attack him. ¡°From today onwards we will finish all our hunts like this¡±


    I went to charge after him with my de, despite him being unarmed I was under no impression that I could actually hurt him as I was. What I didn¡¯t expect was the beating I got in return. Every time he attacked he would point out an opening in my guard andnd an openhanded p against my torso. By the time he finished with me I was on 2/210 health.


    ¡° We¡¯ll get those physical stats of yours up to snuff in due time now go rest.¡± he said as he left, leaving me to hobble back toward my home a little confused.


    Hatchet P.O.V


    That god damn kid. He had so much talent and he wasted all on that silly mana. With the number of skills he had he should have been at least level seven but from his stats he put no more than two levels worth of them in his physical attributes. His way of using mana certainly had some advantages but if this was the level of output he got from what must be some decent investment I didn¡¯t think it was worth it.


    I took one final look towards the letter that arrived with the caravan that arrived yesterday. It had been a long while since Ist heard from her so I picked up the letter and read it again.


    <em>Dear Hatchet, </em>


    <em>I have heard that you have finally taken to rejoin the world from your istion. It has gotten back to me that you even have taken on an apprentice. It''s great to see you finally started to heal after all this time. I look forward to seeing you again and meeting the youngd if you ever pass through the capital. </em>


    <em>Your friend , </em>


    <em>Luna.</em>

 Chapter 48

    Chapter 48


    I don¡¯t remember anything from yesterday after the long day of hunting and the beating I got from Hatchet. What had I done that seems to have upset him so much, to the point that he will beat me within a few points of my health, if with no long term damage being done.


    Getting out of bed and going to eat I remember a faint timeline forst night. It was a quiet affair. I had dinner with my parents, them asking questions about my day and me answering in short vague sentences. Judy spent the night with na at her house, we were expecting them to spend tonight here before leaving for the city tomorrow morning. Their presence apparently saved the vige a 30% price rise that the other merchants would have tried to push through.


    ¡°Mom, dad, are you here?¡± Judy and na came through the door as we were all finishing up with breakfast.


    ¡°Just finished eating sweetheart, would you like me to warm something up for you?¡± Mom asked.


    ¡°No, no, it¡¯s just that the caravan got done unloading, the night crew pulled an all-nighter and finished up a day early. We are leaving in an hour, two at the most.¡± Judy said.


    ¡°I see, that¡¯s to be expected though. You stayed here for a few months before you took your brother to the city.¡± Dad said calmly.


    This brought to the forefront something else I had been considering. I thought I would have had time until tonight but it seems I had to make the decision now. My previous life had made it abundantly clear what I should do, it was just that I wasn¡¯t all that sure that the same would apply here.


    ¡°What will the two of you be doing in the city now?¡± I asked, trying to gather a bit more information. ¡°All I got to see you do is go get things appraised and take part in one auction on the organisation''s dime.¡±


    ¡°We did well in that auction!¡± Judy smiled at me. ¡° I forgot to tell you since it happened while you were still out of it, we both got promoted. Now that we are going back they are going to push us through the training our new positions need. It¡¯s usually done right as the promotion happens but they made an exception for us since this trip was already nned for.¡±¡°We¡¯re going to join one of the senior members and travel in between cities.¡± na said.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that what you are doing now?¡± Mom asked.


    ¡°No, this is a bit different. Instead of buying and selling things we will just go and mark things for delivery. We will be going by horse-drawn carriage, it¡¯ll take only two or three day to cover a distance simr to the one from here to Lessis. Once we arrive at a new city we will take a look at what they have and make orders of where to buy it and have it sent to.¡± Judy was clearly very excited about this.


    ¡°Well at least the official representative will. We will be there to observe the procedure for when we will start doing the same thing. We will have to cultivate our own contacts and transport people before that happens though.¡± na seemed a bit more subdued about their trip, I could empathise as it sounded boring to me.


    This helped me make my decision so I headed back into my room and collected a rather hefty bag before I came back to sit at the table. I opened it up, took a single gold coin from inside before cing it in front of the both of them.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been thinking about this on our way back here. I have this small fortune that was gifted to me and nothing much to spend it on right now. So I was thinking, especially since all you will be doing for the next little while is observing, how about you have some money to work with should an opportunity arise.¡± I left the bag with ny-nine gold coins in between them.


    ¡°You¡¯re just giving this to us?¡± Judy asked, na also frowned at that.


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    ¡°Not as such, I am asking you to invest it. I will give you the coins to use as capital, when I am ready to join the Adventurer¡¯s Guild I wille back for them. At that time you will give me back the ny-nine original coins and half the profit that you managed to make using them.¡± I exined.


    They both stood there looking at the bag of money, investing wasn¡¯t something that was done here as rich people mostly bought outpanies and managed them as an organisation and everyone else would be robbed blind by anyone asked to handle their investments. But having your money make more money for you was a lesson I picked up in my previous life.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Judy still seemed a bit confused about the process.


    ¡°Well let''s say that I give you the ny-nine coins here, in five years you grow them into one thousand, then I get five hundred and forty nine of them.¡± I felt a smile form on my face at the extravagant example, I had full faith that they could pull off something like that in such a big timeframe.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you taking a bit too much?¡± mom said ¡°You are taking more than half while doing none of the work.


    ¡°But he carries all of the risk. If me and Judy lose the ny-nine gold he takes the loss.¡± na figured me out and shared a look with Judy. With a quick nod she turned back to me and picked up the pouch. ¡° We ept.¡±


    With that taken care of I headed off towards Hatchet¡¯s hut with a weight off my shoulders. Now I only had what seemed to be brutal training to worry about, at least if yesterday was any indication.


    ¡°You got here quitete.¡± He said as I walked up to the door.


    ¡°My sister and na are leaving today instead so we said our goodbyes.¡±


    He nodded and motioned for us to go to the sparring ring we used yesterday evening. I could already guess what was about to happen and I wasn¡¯t looking forward to it. But if this is what it took to improve then I was going to do it.


    The session ended a lot sooner than yesterday, as I still had half my health points remaining. It was quite the skill he demonstrated by having all the hits inflict a decent dose of pain, shave my health off by a few points and leave nearly no mark on me. By the end of the session I had unlocked the [Pain Resistance] skill.


    ¡°This should be enough. Start bringing your health back up slowly with that healing spell you know.¡± Hatchet said he hadn¡¯t even broken a sweat knocking me around for thest hour.


    ¡°Hatchet, is there something I did to upset you?¡± I was sure something was bothering him now.


    ¡°Why did you even choose to be a hunter, why not go learn to cast if you were going to put most of your points into your mental stats?¡± He answered my question with a question of his own.


    So that¡¯s what this was about, I could see how it seemed from his point of view, I imed to want to be a hunter, used my own mana in different way but spent all my points for something that iscklustre for someone who should be at least level eight from the skill he knows.


    I decided that if I was going to trust him with my magic I should trust him with my points too. He could probably work out a way to maximise everything if he had all the information.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to be a mage, at least not like the ones I have seen. The reason that I haven¡¯t put any points in my physical stats is because I haven¡¯t spent any of my points.¡± I came clean.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± he frowned at me. ¡°You lost the points?¡±


    ¡°No, I can assign them at any time, I just figured out a way to hold off on using them.¡±


    ¡°How did you manage to do that?¡± his eyebrows had chased his receding hairline at that.


    ¡°Instead of closing the window that notified me of my level up I just made it very small and moved it to the bottom corner of my vision, there it will stay until right before my Apprentice trait ends or an emergency happens.¡±


    ¡°I am doing this for two reasons, one is so I can get as many forced free points as possible without giving up the boost to assigned points Apprentice offers, and the second is to gain as many levels as possible until then. Experience is also influenced by difficulty. My brother got to level ten very quickly when he started as a guard, level fifteen came by decently fast, level eighteen was slow, level twenty was a crawl. By keeping low stats points I am hoping to have higher experience gain while hunting these spots.¡±


    He didn¡¯t say anything for over a minute, just staring at me like I was some sort of weird unique creature. He then frowned slightly and started tapping his pointing finger on the bottom of his chin.


    ¡°Yes, it is certainly true that you can¡¯t very well maintain experience gain without having a dungeon that we could use. The increase in forced stat points is a great asset to boot as well. But are you aware of the drawbacks?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Yes, I know that if I am caught unaware without spending my points they would all go to waste.¡±


    ¡°Not that drawback, that one is obvious.¡±


    ¡°What other drawback is there?


    ¡°By not spending your points you are limiting your growth. Well not limiting but constraining it for the time being. Regardless, this will in turn affect your skills. With only low stats to work with your skills will tou. Depending on how much you manage to gain in forced stat points you might be able to have your skill reach level forty before any gains all but stall.¡±


    This was something I hadn¡¯t considered. I suppose it made sense, there was only so far you could take something with lower stats. It was also a sacrifice worth making. Apprentice didn¡¯t increase my skill growth, it did increase my experience and stat point gains.


    ¡°Yes, I am willing to ept that as well.¡±


    ¡°Very well then, I will adjust your training to reflect this.¡± Despite the ominous words a brief smirk made its way onto his face.

 Chapter 49

    Chapter 49


    For a whole year after I came back everything was peaceful. I spent most of my time training with Hatchet and learning about hunting practices. After the first few days we had to cut back on the amount of game we hunted. The kobold infestation had done a number on the local ecosystem and we needed to let it rebuild for probably another year.


    This meant that it was going to be another year where most of the meat in our vige''s diet woulde from the merchants. This didn¡¯t affect me all that much since my family was well off and Judy and na had made two trips with the caravan back home to ensure that we had all the meat we could want.


    The other hunters were not used to this. They were used to being the main provider of meat, and as such also having preferential treatment on distribution. The butcher was also heavily affected as most of his business had dried up, almost all of the delivered meat was already preserved and butchered.


    This turned our hunting trips more into expeditions, the butcher even joined in with the other hunters. While this little problem had resulted in ack of meat it did produce something else. The soldiers had dealt with the kobolds, meaning the killed and burned the bodies. This meat that everything else the kobolds had brought out of the mine was left to be scavenged.


    When I asked Hatchet why the soldiers didn¡¯t take it with them he told me that it was intentional to help the vige get through the problems caused. Hunters were now turned scavengers, with a butcher for a porter. That¡¯s not to say that it was safe, while therge kobold force was no more, you could always find some stragglers that had suddenly be rich in resources from the extermination of their group.


    While nobody had died we had a few close calls with the poison those little buggers used. Hatchet had no problems dealing with them and after a few months I could take on up to two or three at a time. It was the odd high level kobold, caster, or ambushes that were the problem. My progress was steady and I did see some high increases in my stats since unlocking my stats.


    <strong>Name</strong> : Ajax


    <strong>Level</strong> :17


    <strong>Experience</strong> : 5255/20800<strong>Traits</strong>: Prodigal Apprentice , Divine Witness


    <strong>Health</strong>: 330/330


    <strong>Mana</strong>: 420/420


    <strong>Stamina</strong> :400/400


    <strong>Vitality</strong> : 33.40


    <strong>Strength</strong> :34.98


    <strong>Endurance</strong> : 40.86


    <strong>Dexterity</strong> :35.35


    <strong>Intellect </strong>: 50.77


    <strong>Wisdom</strong> :43.45


    <strong>Mind</strong> : 42.19


    <strong>Perception</strong> : 34.30


    <strong>Stat Points</strong> : 352


    <strong>Skills</strong> :<ul><ul><li><strong>Common :</strong>[Mathematics Lvl 22] [Stealth Lvl 23][Drawing Lvl 30][Athleticism Lvl 23] [Running Lvl 24][Reading Lvl 20][Writing Lvl 20][Cooking Lvl 20][Sewing Lvl 20] [Cleaning Lvl 13][Haggling Lvl 19][Gardening Lvl 20][Axes Lvl 30][Hammers Lvl 27 [Deception Lvl 16][Sword Lvl 20][Shield Lvl 20][Bow Lvl 20][Spear Lvl 20][Throwing Lvl 20][Persuasion Lvl 10][Unarmed Combat Lvl 20][Knives 25][Skinning Lvl 10][Tanning Lvl 10][Dismantle Lvl 10][Climbing Lvl 10][Tracking Lvl 13][Heat Resistance Lvl 6] [Poison Resistance Lvl 16][Pain Resistance Lvl 5][Trapping Lvl 10]</li><li><strong>Umon :</strong>[Meditation Lvl 40][Sense Mana Lvl 41][Expel Mana Lvl 39][Sprinting Lvl 20][Mining Lvl 10][Lumberjack Lvl 10][Smelting Lvl 10][cksmithing Lvl 10] [Chanting Lvl 10][Mana Farming Lvl 10][Increase Price Lvl 10][Lower Price Lvl 10][Danger sense Lvl 8][Leatherworking Lvl 10][Alchemy Lvl 10][Mana Milling Lvl 6]Precise Cut Lvl 20][Precise Blow Lvl 20][Judge Threat Lvl 10][ Piercing Shot Lvl 10]</li><li><strong>Rare : </strong>[Manipte Mana Lvl 22][Water Aspect Mana Lvl 20][Fire Aspect Mana Lvl 20] [Air Aspect Mana Lvl 20][Earth Aspect Mana Lvl 21][Inject Mana Lvl 17][Spot Weakness Lvl 10][Residue Recognition Lvl 3] [Light Aspect Mana Lvl 7][Shadow Aspect Mana Lvl 10]</li></ul></ul><ul><li><strong>Epic : </strong>[Mana Augmentation Lvl 15]</li></ul><ul><li><strong>Legendary : </strong>[Mana Syphon Lvl 1]</li></ul>


    New :


    Pain Resistance 0 -> 5


    Trapping 0 -> 10


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    Upgrades :


    Shadow Mana 1->10


    Light Mana 1->7


    Bow 10-> 11


    Spear 11->12


    Throwing 10->11


    Mana Augmentation 6->15


    Judge Threat 2->10


    Spot Weakness 4->10


    Inject Mana 14-> 17


    Meditation 38 -> 40


    Expel Mana 39 -> 40


    Manipte Mana 18->22


    Water Mana Lvl 11 -> 20


    Fire Mana Lvl 11 -> 20


    Earth Mana Lvl 14 -> 21


    Air Mana Lvl 12 -> 20


    Danger sense 5 -> 8


    Precise Cut 13 -> 20


    Precise Blow 11 -> 20


    Piercing Shot 1 -> 10


    Sprinting 13 -> 20


    Climbing 5 -> 10


    Tracking 4 -> 13


    Heat Resistance 3 -> 6


    Running 22 -> 24


    Athleticism 20 -> 23


    Hammers 24 -> 27


    Knives 21 -> 25


    Swords 14 -> 20


    Bows 11 -> 20


    Shield 12 -> 20


    Throwing 11 -> 20


    Unarmed Combat 13 -> 20


    Spear 12 -> 20


    Stealth 21 -> 23


    So far I hadn¡¯t done much experimenting with new magic, Hatchet had kept me doing a lot of practice with my old stuff to help ramp up my skills and increase my stats before going for any new experiments. He was very pleased with my progress. I still remember the conversation when he found out my level. We had just finished with a hunt when I hit level seventeen.


    ¡°Finally, levels are taking more and more experience.¡± I said.


    ¡°Not only that but experience should be a lot harder to pick up here.¡± he said ¡°What level did you get to?¡±


    ¡°Seventeen.¡±


    ¡°WHAT? How are you level seventeen already?¡± to say he was surprised would have been an understatement.


    ¡°Well I haven;t had such a big drop in experience yet, it just takes more of it to level.¡± I went with my logic.


    ¡°No, there should definitely be a big drop in experience as you level, everything gets a lot easier ¡­¡± he stopped short of finishing that point. ¡°You aren¡¯t spending your points, this means that even as you level your stats aren¡¯t starting to dwarf the level ten and eleven you can probably keep up a simr experience gain. It''s almost like you are advancing through a dungeon.¡±


    This was the second time that I heard about dungeons. The first time was from the dragon. It was also a good idea to question what they were.


    ¡°What are dungeons? It¡¯s not the first time I heard about them but nobody exined what they are to me.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that. I doubt anyone knows exactly what dungeons are. They are an opening in space, a tear in the world. Once you enter you will find a floor. Each dungeon has a different average level on their first floor. Basically it¡¯s a space where adventurers go to kill things in a bit more controlled of an environment. The levels of creatures are more stable.¡±


    ¡°So what happens if nobody clears a dungeon in a long time?¡± I had read a few books that touched on the topic of dungeons in another world. I wondered which one had it right.


    ¡°Clear? You can¡¯t clear a dungeon. If nobody enters for a while nothing happens.¡±


    ¡°But aren¡¯t dungeons a danger for viges near them?¡±


    ¡°They can be yes.¡±


    ¡°How does that make any sense, you just said nothing happens if people don¡¯t enter.¡±


    ¡°They are a danger because of what happens when people do enter.¡± he said


    ¡°How so?¡±


    ¡°Each group that enters has to maintain contact as they do. Fifty groups can enter and they would all be in their own version of the dungeon.¡±


    Ok so it was instanced, you can¡¯t go hunt someone down and then just me them for having died in the dungeon. That was good to know.


    ¡°Every floor only has one entrance and a few exits. Every exit leads to the next floor and the entrance always leads back outside the dungeon. All exits are guarded by a trap or a stronger monster. They usually have keys to the door blocking you from advancing. The levels of each floor are on average ten higher than they were on the previous one.¡±


    ¡°Now that¡¯s not to say that some dungeons don¡¯t have an average level increase of twenty between floors or of something smaller like seven. Each creature is also bound to their own floor. Once you exit a floor it disappears, you can¡¯t return to it and all monsters still there disappear.¡±


    ¡°But if all monsters disappear how could a dungeon prove a danger?¡± This made no sense.


    ¡°Because that only happens when you exit a floor. As I told you there are more exits but only one entrance to a floor. The entrance is always the point where you first enter the floor and is always unguarded. The only way to exit the dungeon is to go out through the entrance of the floor you are on.¡±


    ¡°The only problem with this is you aren¡¯t the only one leaving. Every other creature on that floor is also leaving the dungeon with you. Do you see where this might be a problem?¡±he asked.


    ¡°I can see there might be some issues but it doesn¡¯t sound that dangerous.¡± I mean yeah some creaturesing out could be problematic but that didn¡¯t seem like such a big deal.


    ¡°They are also released if your whole party should die.¡±


    ¡°That could be a problem with people who are overconfident.¡±


    ¡°It is also a problem with people who get lucky. It has happened a lot more than once that a team is almost wiped out by an exit guardian only to have one or two members grab the key and escape to the next floor to get away from the creature. They then leave the dungeon since they can¡¯t handle the increased difficulty and the whole floor is released.¡±


    ¡°If this happens to the strongest people in the vige or town this would be a death sentence. Right now most high floor gap dungeons are a wide breath from any settlements while low floor gap dungeons have great cities near them. The one next to the capital is a seven floor gap.¡±


    ¡°But if they are so dangerous, why would you have built the capital there? ¡°


    ¡°Because of how they regte adventurers. For the dungeons close to cities a team has to be lower in level by more than the floor gappared to the team guarding the dungeon. This way if something happens the monsters can be killed by the protectors.¡±

 Chapter 50

    Chapter 50


    Knowing about how dungeons worked made a huge difference. Hatchet agreed with me that at the rate I was going, chances are dungeons would be the only reasonably safe spot for me to level in once I spent all of my points. There were of course going to be plenty of other areas where I could find the level of opponents I would need to advance, the only problem is, in the open world once you got past level fifteen you would only see monsters as part of a pack.


    Now this in and of itself didn¡¯t make them all that dangerous, the problem was that the leader of the pack was always quite a bit stronger than the rest. In some species there were small examples of there two or maybe three pack leaders but that was hard to find. Levelling would mean either to go hunting packs for the one monster in it that would actually present a challenge, or start hunting packs where if the leader found you, you were dead.


    All of the practice I was getting in my skills had started to make me question the system. Was there some sort of unmentioned buff to the child trait? My stats as they are now dwarfed what any child could get yet they were not enough to move any of my skills past the level cap. Was there no requirement cap for skill as a child? It made sense, otherwise nobody would get anything past twenty.


    It was as I was going through my usual practice that I felt a presence appear behind me. It was an ufortable feeling, I always checked to make sure nobody from the vige followed me when I went to practice. Somebody creeping up on me like this made me feel very vulnerable. Turning around I finally saw why I could sense them. Standing not ten feet behind me is the dragon.


    ¡°It¡¯s good to see that you made some progress. Your skills have improved quite a bit and so did your level, why your stats have increased so little is a tad bit surprising.¡± she said as a form of greeting.


    The idea that there were skills out there that let you not only see someone else''s level but also their skills and stats was definitely inching me towards the paranoid self I had been for most of my life.


    ¡°Hello, you¡¯re back.¡± The statement feltckluster and awkward but didn¡¯t seem to bother the dragon.


    ¡°I very much look forward to having my debt removed before anything happens to you. What good would a piece of magic gear you have no idea how to use be to you if something should attack your vige. That would then make my debt force me to get you out alive and have me punished for meddling in human affairs, much better to have everything squared away.¡± she exined.


    ¡°Nice to see you care so much¡± sarcasm probably wasn¡¯t the best idea but it was how I dealt with awkwardness in my past life. So far there hadn¡¯t been all that many awkward encounters here to find a better way of dealing with them. ¡°I take it, my gear is ready then?¡± She produced two fingerless gloves that the back of the hands were covered by a metal te with a small dent in the center.


    ¡°Here you go, these will definitely help you.¡± she said, tossing them to me.


    I caught them, looked them over then returned my gaze to her. Was this a joke, a pair of gloves with what seemed like an enchantment on the defensive te all my favor got me.


    ¡°Don¡¯t look so disappointed. The enchantment there requires any sort of manacore to function. The better ones will take less to expire. It is there to hide you away from others. Your secrecy was important to you in the time you spent around my son.¡±


    Stolen novel; please report.


    ¡°If that is only there for cover, then what do these do?¡± Clearly there was something I was missing.


    ¡°Beneath that enchanted metal are studded refined and enchanted mana stones. Mana stones are quite a bother to get, though ones that size are a bit easier, anything bigger than a pebble and you have some real scouring to do.¡±


    ¡°Yes , but what does that do? I am self taught, how do these help me?¡±


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s what you meant.¡± She at least had the decency to be a bit embarrassed.¡± They will fix the problem you mentioned when you asked me for magic gear. The enchanting and refining were done with this item in mind. The reason there are so many stones that it took both gloves to fit them all is because I tried to get as many different aspects of mana as I could.¡±


    ¡°From now on when you look to infuse your mana into your items, first pass it through the gloves. They should give you a small increase in output but the important part is that the mana stone will take the burden, since the mana you will be using will match the stone it won¡¯t cause any degradation to your items.¡±


    Well that changed everything, I would no longer have to practice with wooden weapons in order to preserve my actual ones. Not to mention that from the way she mentioned multiple aspects I might be able to find some more aspects to gleam just by messing with the gauntlet.


    ¡°Thank you, this will definitely be very useful.¡± I said. While I was very appreciative of my gift, it seemedcklusterpared to the dragon in front of me. All of the magic I could feel from her items came from big jewelry.


    ¡°Don¡¯t look at me like that, with the way you are using mana these will give you the versatility you need as well as make sure that you can keep them. I thought about getting you something else but you use too many weapons. If I were to get you a few enchanted weapons, the moment you leave this backwater vige someone would take them from you. The gloves can be passed off as some family heirloom with little importance.¡± she scoffed at me, clearly being able to tell what I was thinking.


    Her point was also a good one. Anything really good that the dragon would have gotten me would force me to hide it or have it appropriated by some noble for one offense or another. This at least until I could get myself to be strong enough so that wouldn¡¯t happen.


    ¡°Thank y-¡± I looked back up to find that I was alone again. The dragon had given me the gift and left.


    Since I was anyway out here to practice, I might as well try these out. The gloves were surprisinglyfortable. I almost couldn¡¯t feel their presence. To start things off I infused some raw mana into them to get a feel of what was there. With mana infused my sense mana was able to pick up a lot more than six aspects of mana I could use. The gloves covered every aspect I had felt back in the guard courtyard and more.


    I stopped the diffusion and decided to start with some small application of earth mana. It had been what started me on my journey on the path of magic so I might as well continue with it. The first thing I found out was that it was easier said than done to first feed my mana through the gloves.


    I had never had an intermediary like this before so it was definitely something that was going to take a while to get used to. It took ten attempts for me to finally be able to get the damn things to work. The result was a lot stronger than the small hole I was hoping to make in the ground. The result was more than twice as big as the biggest hole I could make. At least the biggest hole I could make at a moment''s notice, if I had time to gather my mana before pumping it all it would be a different picture altogether.


    These gloves clearly did a lot more amplification than I gave them credit for, so I decided to see just what I could do with a full power attack. I drew the wooden sword I had for practice and infused the wind augmentation through the gloves. It only took three tries to get this one to work, but the result was much stronger than my usual enhancement. It managed to cut clean through the barok of a tree. The resistance I felt didn¡¯t match up to my expectations though.


    The amplification I felt with the earth was a lot stronger than the one I felt with the wind. Was it that these gloves had different rates for each element? I gave each of my mana aspects a try, getting shadow to work through the gloves took more attempts than even earth despite the experience I had. Fire went through on the first try, the wooden sword was hot enough to light a tree on fire with a ncing touch.


    After going through all the different aspects I figured out that it wasn¡¯t a matter of different amplification values. The gloves didn¡¯t amplify my magic, it increased it. The difference may be subtle between the two in wording but made a world of difference in practice. The change to my spells was additive, not multiplicative , meaning that the increase wouldn¡¯t grow the more power I had.


    ¡°What the hell happened here?¡± the angry voice of Hatchet came from behind me. ¡°I thought I told you to be discreet when practicing your magic, what about this is discreet to you? I could almost hear you from the vige.¡±


    The grouping of trees I was practicing in became a clearing, the few felled trees was probably what he managed to hear. I looked sheepishly at him. How do I exin this to him now?

 Chapter 51

    Chapter 51


    Exining to Hatchet all that had happened with the dragon went a lot soother than he expected. He just listened to everything without once interrupting. He did give a rather interesting nce at the gloves once he exined what they were, how they worked and that he totaled the area by trying some of his weaker moves.


    ¡°So you''re telling me that you saved a disguised dragonling while in the city and as thanks for that its mother made you a pair of enchanted gloves?¡± his tone sounded exasperated.


    ¡°Yeah, pretty much¡± I answered.


    ¡°I think it¡¯s a good thing you are going to be an adventurer once you decide to spend your stat points, don¡¯t think the vige will survive you staying.¡± he mumbled under his breath. ¡° On the upside these will at least let you be somewhat safe around here without always having a minder.¡±


    With that exnation out of the way he told me to move a little further away from the vige and continue my ¡°demolition¡± so that other hunters wouldn¡¯t stumble upon me. They had be rather jealous of us since with Hatchet''s high level we tended to venture out further and actually find something to hunt, they would be quick to share news of my magic for a reward.


    Getting used to the gloves was not all that difficult, I did learn that some of my tricks were best not put through the glove. The first time I tried to speed myself up by using the earth to give me a boost Iunched myself into a tree. Right now with the values of my physical stats any enhancement that affected me directly was best used without the gloves amplification.


    The impact from the tree was mitigated by the shield, it was the big bruise on my left leg that let me know that my magic still followed some of the rules of physics. Any push thatunched me forward had to be withstood by my own legs.


    After a week of ying around with my new boost in power Hatchet decided that I was finally ready to go by myself for a little while. This didn¡¯t mean that I would go all by myself out in the forest, simply that we could now split up to cover more ground while staying in range to call for help. Though if he was calling for help it meant either he needed some healing after a bad fight or I should go start the evacuation.


    On the third time we split up I found myself a small group of kobolds. They must have survived the raid on their camp and retreated towards the caves before being scared back in this direction by the smanders that forced them out in the first ce. There were only three of them which made this a good change for me to fight something that could give me a challenge.I took aim and infused a shadow arrow to start and fired at the one holding a staff. I wasn¡¯t ready for a fight including magicing at me so I had to take that one out first. The arrow was fully covered in a thin dark membrane and flew silently right on target. My adage of [Piercing Shot] meant that the headshot was an instant kill.


    Unlike any of the other pack creatures I had hunted before kobolds were at least somewhat intelligent and proficient in tool use. This meant that while they had no way of noticing the arrow approaching, once itnded they could figure out where it came from by the angle it hit theirpanion.


    This quick thinking was the first thing that made me realize that these kobolds were different from the ones I had seen the past year. Their size was a bit bigger and bulkier, but a quick [Judge Threat] on them told me they were a lot stronger than the mage I had just taken out. These were the elites that had tried to retreat when the army took out their base.


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    The armored one of the two charged towards me. It not only used mana to speed itself very simrly to what I did, I could also feel his mana core infuse his whole body with mana. While this seemed a bit costly to do, the effect was something that I had been searching for. Mana strengthening, I had been trying for a while to figure out how I could use mana to boost my physical strength and I finally had an example.


    I pulled as much mana as I could through the glove into the sword andunched a quick wind slice towards the kobolds neck. My use of mana clearly caught it by surprise, as did the power boost from the gauntlet as the strike took its head clean off its shoulders.


    The down side for me was that I hadn¡¯t thought through everything when Iunched my attack. Sure my opponent was dead the moment I took his head off, the problem was that a clean cut with a wind slice provided no stopping power. All the momentum the kobold used tounch himself at me was still pushing his corpse forwards and the headless body mmed me into the tree at my back.


    Quite a bit of blood got on me at this point when I saw thest kobold pick up the staff of its fallenrade. I hadn¡¯t thought of the possibility of there being two caster, even worse [Judge Threat] marked this one as being the strongest of the two. I didn¡¯t want to give it a chance tounch a spell so I tried to copy the mana enhancement.


    As mana filled my body so did the most excruciating pain I have felt. The only thing that couldpare to it was when the vampire ripped my arm off. Luckily I had started with only a small amount of mana so that I would be in control of my body depending on the boost. The pain dissipated as quickly as it came, I sagged down and breathed a sigh of relief. Something had definitely gone wrong there.


    I felt the earth shift under me as it wrapped around my feet. This kobold clearly knew what it was doing. Instead of going for a big attack it first went to snare me in ce. Funnily enough my own stupidity did the same thing, so had it gone for an attack it would have most likelynded it.


    I tried using my own earth maniption to free myself but for the first time my attempts did nothing. Even with the boost from the gauntlet I couldn¡¯t overpower the kobold with the boost from his own staff. I was also running out of time as I saw a ball of fire ze to life in front of the staff.


    Feeling out of options I went to thest thing I could try. I used [Mana Syphon] to remove the mana keeping the earth strong around my legs. The feeling that came with it was surprising, not only did I manage to break myself free from the earth but I also rolledpletely out of the way of the fireball. A quick look at my own body with [Mana Sense] told me that I was in a simr state to the second kobold for a quick moment there. I had somehow enhanced my body using mana.


    The annoyed snarling from the kobold broke me out of my reverie, I could go about pondering and testing things after I dealt with him and I was no longer in danger. I drew a second arrow in my bow and infused it with air. I didn¡¯t need the stealth provided by shadow so I went for pration.


    The arrow made quick work of the kobold much like the first. At the same time I felt the earth grip me again. The kobold had gone for a repeat of the first attack, hoping to pin me in ce for a second fireball most likely. One that he will never get tounch now.


    Instead of quickly freeing myself I instead tried to enhance my body with my own mana once more. This time I focused the enhancement only on one arm just in case it had the same oue. That proved to be a wise choice as I felt the agony shoot up my arm. Despite using the same method as the kobold mana enhancement didn¡¯t seem to work like this for me.


    My second test consisted of using [Mana Syphon] to free myself once more. This time however I not only syphoned the mana at a much slower rate but I also looked carefully at the process with [Mana Sense]. I could clearly see the mana in the earth change as it got absorbed into me. Once there I felt myself enhanced once again.


    The enhancement was also weaker than it was the first time, it did howeverst through the syphoning process and an instant more after it finished. This was an odd discovery, could I only enhance myself in a fight against another mage?


    As a test I used [Expel Mana] to release a small amount of my mana into the area around me. I then used [Mana Syphon] to draw it all back in. I could see my mana change as it got sucked back into my body. I¡¯m not sure how my legendary skill works but it clearly doesn¡¯t take the mana to top up my own reserves. As the new mana drew into my body I felt myself grow stronger and faster once more.


    This was a great discovery, though the fact that it took quite a bit of my focus just to use [Mana Syphon] meant that I was not ready to use this inbat on my own mana, it was a starting point. Hopefully in the future I would be able to subconsciously use both [Expel Mana] and [Mana Syphon] together to keep myself enhanced.


    The excitement filling me up spent me along to loot the kobolds and continue my patrol. Starting tomorrow my training is going to change once more.

 Chapter 52

    Chapter 52


    Hatchet P.O.V


    It might have taken almost five years of constant training but the kids'' dedication sure paid off. Despite not having ced any points his stats were all at least above 50, at least from what I had been able to figure out. It was hard to get a read on the exact levels considering the use of skills.


    Today he was training alone. The glove being from a dragon still bothers me, but I guess dragons aren¡¯t something you can decline a gift from either. At least he didn¡¯t ask it to teach him, it seemed thatmon sense taught him enough to not invite a dragon to stick around for longer than necessary.


    ¡°Your friend, Hatchet.¡± I whispered softly as I finished the letter.


    I don¡¯t know how long it would take for Ajax to end up in the capital and deliver it but writing it had certainly eased some of the guilt I had been carrying since the day I ran. For all the kid imed he wanted to be a hunter he had no talent for it. The skill was there ofcourse, but he was impatient, easily bored and always pushing himself further.


    Anynds he hunted would be stripped clean of game if he wasn¡¯t carefully watched. No, he was a born adventurer, most of his training for thest three years had been focused on that rather than hunting. Soon he will be leaving, I wonder if I will miss him?


    Ajax P.O.V


    Thest few years of training had made massive leaps in terms of my magic versatility. With the help of the gems in the gauntlet I was able to unlock quite a few more aspects though some gems still eluded me. One of the biggest gains had to be the [Mana Conjuration] Skill, with it I could finally throw around pure elemental magic.


    It took me far longer than I would like to admit sinceing to a magical world with immense talent to learn to throw a fireball but I got there. It wasn¡¯t very powerful, though that was probably not going to change until I spent my stat points I could finally use my mana independently. Before even when I was making holes or ridges in the ground I would have to always take a step and activate [Mana Augmentation] to get it to work. Now I could conjure things from nothing but my mana. I was a little disappointed when I figured out that fifteen minutes was as long as anything conjured wouldst, putting any hopes I had of making a stone castle rise out of the ground to rest.


    <strong>Name</strong> : Ajax


    <strong>Level</strong> :24


    <strong>Experience</strong> : 105/35500


    <strong>Traits</strong>: Prodigal Apprentice , Divine Witness


    <strong>Health</strong>: 330/330


    <strong>Mana</strong>: 420/420


    <strong>Stamina</strong> :400/400


    <strong>Vitality</strong> : 33.40 -> 65.12


    <strong>Strength</strong> :34.98 -> 63.42


    <strong>Endurance</strong> : 40.86 -> 65.17


    <strong>Dexterity</strong> :35.35 -> 64.26


    <strong>Intellect </strong>: 50.77 -> 70.06


    <strong>Wisdom</strong> :43.45 -> 68.43


    <strong>Mind</strong> : 42.19 -> 67.99


    <strong>Perception</strong> : 34.30 -> 65.65


    <strong>Stat Points</strong> : 506


    <strong>Skills</strong> :<ul><ul><li><strong>Common :</strong>[Mathematics Lvl 22] [Stealth Lvl 23][Drawing Lvl 30][Athleticism Lvl 23] [Running Lvl 24][Reading Lvl 20][Writing Lvl 20][Cooking Lvl 20][Sewing Lvl 20] [Cleaning Lvl 13][Haggling Lvl 19][Gardening Lvl 20][Axes Lvl 30][Hammers Lvl 27 [Deception Lvl 16][Sword Lvl 20][Shield Lvl 20][Bow Lvl 20][Spear Lvl 20][Throwing Lvl 20][Persuasion Lvl 10][Unarmed Combat Lvl 20][Knives 25][Skinning Lvl 10][Tanning Lvl 10][Dismantle Lvl 20][Climbing Lvl 15][Tracking Lvl 20][Heat Resistance Lvl 10] [Poison Resistance Lvl 18][Pain Resistance Lvl 10][Trapping Lvl 12]</li><li><strong>Umon :</strong>[Meditation Lvl 40][Sense Mana Lvl 41][Expel Mana Lvl 40][Sprinting Lvl 22][Mining Lvl 10][Lumberjack Lvl 10][Smelting Lvl 10][cksmithing Lvl 10] [Chanting Lvl 11][Mana Farming Lvl 12][Increase Price Lvl 10][Lower Price Lvl 10][Danger sense Lvl 10][Leatherworking Lvl 10][Alchemy Lvl 10][Mana Milling Lvl 6]Precise Cut Lvl 20][Precise Blow Lvl 20][Judge Threat Lvl 13][ Piercing Shot Lvl 20]</li><li><strong>Rare : </strong>[Manipte Mana Lvl 30][Water Aspect Mana Lvl 23][Fire Aspect Mana Lvl 23] [Air Aspect Mana Lvl 24][Earth Aspect Mana Lvl 25][Inject Mana Lvl 24][Spot Weakness Lvl 13][Residue Recognition Lvl 10] [Light Aspect Mana Lvl 22][Shadow Aspect Mana Lvl 22][Ambush Lvl 12]</li></ul></ul><ul><li><strong>Epic : </strong>[Mana Augmentation Lvl 20][Mana Conjuration Lvl 20][Lightning Aspect Mana Lvl 10][Metal Aspect Mana Lvl 10][Ice Aspect Mana Lvl 10][Magma Aspect Mana Lvl 7][Holy Aspect Mana Lvl 1][Void Aspect Mana Lvl 3]</li></ul><ul><li><strong>Legendary : </strong>[Mana Syphon Lvl 14]</li></ul>


    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    New :


    Expel Mana + Manipte Mana -> Mana Conjuration 0-> 20


    Air Aspect Mana -> Lightning Aspect Mana 0-> 10


    Earth Aspect Mana -> Metal Aspect Mana 0 -> 10


    Water Aspect Mana -> Ice Aspect Mana 0 -> 10


    Earth Aspect Mana + Fire Aspect Mana -> Magma Aspect Mana 0 -> 7


    Stealth + Spot Weakness -> Ambush 0 -> 12


    Light Aspect Mana -> Holy Aspect Mana 0-> 1


    Shadow Aspect Mana -> Void Aspect Mana 0 -> 3


    Upgrades :


    Mana Syphon 1 ->14


    Mana Augmentation 15-> 22


    Shadow Aspect Mana 10->22


    Light Aspect Mana 7 -> 20


    Residue Recognition 3 -> 10


    Spot Weakness 10 -> 13


    Earth Aspect Mana 21 -> 25


    Air Aspect Mana 20 -> 24


    Fire Aspect Mana 20 -> 23


    Water Aspect Mana 20 -> 23


    Manipte Mana 22 -> 30


    Inject Mana 17 -> 24


    Piercing Shot 10 -> 20


    Judge Threat 10 -> 13


    Danger Sense 8 -> 10


    Chanting 10 -> 11


    Mana Farming 10 -> 12


    Sprinting 20 -> 22


    Trapping 10 -> 12


    Poison Resistance 16 -> 18


    Pain Resistance 5 -> 10


    Heat Resistance 6 -> 10


    Tracking 13 -> 20


    Climbing 10 -> 15


    Dismantle 10 -> 20


    Running 24 -> 25


    Looking at my status I have to say was both rewarding and frustrating at the same time. The amount of stats and skills I had gained was a testament to my hard work. The skill thresholdsbined with stat requirements meant that my physical skills had remained stuck for the past few years despite me improving slightly. I was convinced that the Child Trait had a hidden effect, mainly that skills could grow independent of stats. No way anyone could get a skill to level fifty before ten years old otherwise.


    Right now I was focused on getting my mind to sixtyeight. It was thest stat I could realistically improve in the fifteen days I had remaining of my Apprentice Trait. As soon as I got that final point I would spend my stock pile and use the remaining days to take advantage of the increased adjustment speed. Thest thing I wanted was to spend my points and end up not being able to stand up without headbutting the ceiling.


    Mytest focus had been on the recently acquired mana aspect. Before a month ago, every aspect I had gained I had felt someone or something use before, even the Holy aspect that I couldn¡¯t seem to increase despite being able to form it for close to a year. Void was something else though. Being used in conjuration did nothing but summon a small but very mana intensive floating ck orb.


    Where Void seemed to really shine was with [Mana Augmentation]. The first time I tried a strike with it nothing seemed out of the ordinary, the slight increase in power was about the same as shadow despite not having its stealth characteristics. My perception on the skill changed during a light spar with my dad.


    Dad had beening with me to help me spar whenever he couldtely. He knew I would be leaving soon and wanted to do what he could for me while I was still home. Due to his higher stats he was still a great sparring partner, even if hecked inparison to Hatchet. It was far from the first time I had used my void during spars when the incident happened. I was using my hammer and wound a big strike that I chose to infuse with void. The blownded squarely on dad¡¯s shield with a dull ¡®THUNK¡¯.


    I was surprised and caughtpletely off guard by the scream he released a moment after. It seems Void attacks while not all that much stronger from regr ones are very special. Special by being able to bypass obstacles so long as they are in contact with the intended target.


    My blow made contact with his shield but carried little of the power on to it, to the point that his slight shield thrust had knocked my hammer and hand out of the way at the moment of impact. The power from my strikepletely bypassed the shield andnded squarely on his arm. The bruise he had afterwards told me I was not far from breaking his arm with that blow.


    Since that day Hatchet and I spent quite a bit of time working out just how effective Void is. Turns out that shields are not the only thing Void can bypass, armor, scales, fur, even skin and muscle are all fair game. Though live tissue seems to take a lot more mana to get aroundpared to objects.


    A slight rustle of leaves brought me back to the present. The wolves I had been hunting had finally returned to their cave. This was a lot of what I had been doingtely. Ambush was one of the skills I could still level and the dire wolves that seem to have taken residence in the new opening near the caves of our vige were the perfect prey. At around level ten to fifteen for each wolf, they were weak enough that I could take them yet too strong to be left alive around the vige.


    The fight that ensued after my opening volley was an exercise in futility for them. Despite them being a very real danger for me. My skills and manabined with all my practice and use of the tight spacing in the cliffs meant it was a rtively easy fight. By funneling them through a small corridor between the rocks I kept them from surrounding me.


    The slight incline meant that they also had to try to reach up to fight me and the rather thick sheen of ice I covered the choke point in meant their agility wasn¡¯t all that dangerous. Ten minutester all of the wolves were dead. I was rather proud of myself when I noticed something strange. Instead of just one flickering box in the corner of my vision there were now two.


    My status screen was forever pulsing slightly in an attempt to get me to spend my points, so much so that I had grown to ignore it. This second one must be something else, I wonder what other things I gained. So I opened it.


    RETRIBUTION :


    Repeated and extended fighting and killing against much lower levels has been noticed. This is strongly discouraged, Punishment : Bullying I applied.


    Bullying I : all experience and skill gains from fighting substantially weaker enemies reduced by 20%. (A substantially weaker enemy is considered from your level with a baseline. A creature with less than 90% of your level yet no less than five levels below you is substantially weaker.)

 Chapter 53

    Chapter 53


    The appearance of the Punishment was a great surprise to Ajax. Despite the fact that this punishment will be all but obsolete in theing weeks, with him spending his free stats any experience he was going to get from fighting things that far below his level would have been shot from the extremeck of difficulty and danger.


    This was not to say that this was something to take lightly. A decrease in experience earned, especially one asrge as a fifth was definitely concerning so he quickly guttened and collected the wolf corpses and made for the vige to talk about this with Hatchet.


    The way back was uneventful, having done multiple such trips before the only thing he regretted was not bringing the cart out with him. It wasn¡¯t so much the weight of all he had to carry as the amount of space they took up. He nevertheless made good time and dropped the corpses off with the tanner before making for the secluded hut. He found Hatchet outside of his house fletching arrows.


    ¡°Hey Hatchet,¡± he said, trying to sound unconcerned.


    ¡°Something happen?¡± he asked with a frown on his face. Somehow he had managed to pick up the ability to read Ajax in thest few years.


    ¡°You could say that.¡± Ajax shifted awkwardly. ¡°What do you know about Retributions and Punishments?¡±


    Hatchet froze, his eyes flew open and his eyebrows made a break for his hairline. He stood silent for almost a full minute beforeing back to himself and turning to Ajax.


    ¡°Tell me everything.¡± his cold tone made it clear it wasn¡¯t a request.


    Ajax proceeded to tell him about the hunt. Despite theck of patience Hatchet was under right now he listened carefully and didn¡¯t try to speed him along. He knew, not from personal experience but he had seen aftermaths, Retributions and Punishments could be a death sentence. As Ajax described his Retribution and Punishment, Hatchet made his first contributions to the talk in a while. He wanted to know the exact wording of both the retribution and the punishment. Once he had both of those and thought about them for a short while he finally rxed.


    ¡°Alright, the good news is that there is nothing for us to worry about right now. Your punishment is one of the lightest ones. The bigger problemes in the form of your retribution. That is something that you will have to be mindful of from now on.¡± he breathed out a sigh of relief.


    ¡°What are these punishments and retributions?¡± Ajax asked concerned.


    ¡°Besides stats skills and traits the System deals with three more types of interference. The first you have already experienced is the Retribution and Punishments. Whenever something goes against the way of the system, Retributions and Punishments are used to try and correct that behavior. In your case, the level difference in your advantage is something the System dislikes.¡± he exined.


    ¡°If Retributions and Punishments are two of them, what is thest one?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°No, no. Retributions is one of them, Punishments are just a result of Retributions. On the other side we have Achievements. Much like they sound, Achievements are things that follow the same principle as Retributions but instead are there to mark the approval of the System.¡±


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    ¡°The biggest difference between Achievements and Retributions is repetitive gain. For example, there is an achievement for killing an enemy without help that is both twice your level and thirty levels above you. It is somewhat well known and nobles try to get it from their children by scouting out favorable matchups. Very much like your own Retribution this is based purely on the levels of those involved.¡±


    The knowledge of there being achievements and him not having been told anything about them was something Ajax very much didn¡¯t like. He did also file away the requirements for the achievement and marked it as something he should get by the time he reached level thirty.


    ¡°Now the difference between the two of themes when looking to get another in the same vein. For the Achievement you would have to go to the next step up, for this one it is killing something three times your level with the same level thirty requirement, you can also have one other person helping you so long as they also fill the requirements. Anyway you get the point, the increase in difficulty in gaining them.¡±


    ¡°For Retributions that is not the case. You got yours for fighting wolves that were ten to fifteen levels below you. Even if you were to now only fight wolves that were six levels below the Retribution wille into effect and most likely increase in severity.¡±


    ¡°So you are saying I shouldn¡¯t engage with any more creatures lower leveled than me?¡± Ajax asked, clearly concerned with the restrictions this would ce upon him.


    ¡°Not as such, you are to refrain from confronting only creatures lower level than you. As long as somewhere in the pack of creatures you are facing there is at least one that fits the requirements, your punishments will not activate.¡±


    ¡°Ok I will be careful from now on.¡±


    ¡°You really don¡¯t need to worry about the one you have. It is mostly a warning one. Despite the fact that you will rue the II through V versions of the punishment with increasing speed if you don¡¯t stop fighting below your level it¡¯s not like it will hinder you all that much. At level V it will simply stop providing you with experience. The big problemse after that. See once a punishment has reached a full course one of two things happen, and there is no way to know which it will be. Either the Punishment grows further, from a hindrance to a cost. Such as your reduction in experience changing to loss in experience for everybat with enemies below your level. Or, it can be fully random. This is the problematic version of the change, as you can receive the first tier of punishment for any other retribution.¡±


    Ajax calmed down knowing that he would have ample warning from the four more tiers of the punishment before anything dangerous happened.


    ¡°Well at least my situation is not dire. Are there any really bad punishments that you know?¡±


    ¡°I have seen one that reveals your status to anyone focusing on you. I have no idea what the person did to get it but it is something best avoided.¡±


    Ajax shivered at the thought of such a punishment.


    ¡°Besides Retributions and Achievements there are also Discoveries. There is a good chance that you already have had one or maybe even two of these. Discoveries are things that you discover about the System by yourself. It can¡¯t be something that you are informed of by someone else, directly or through writing. There is one for finding out about Punishments, which you most likely have gained, and one for Achievements you can no longer gain.¡±


    ¡°The System will not actively acknowledge you making a Discovery unless it is a Discovery that hasn¡¯t been made before by your race type. For you that would mean discovering something no other humanoid has before.¡±


    ¡°Discoveries is the main excuse nobles use for hoarding information from the general popce. As you see, some achievementse with a required number of Discoveries in order to im the rewards.¡±


    After the lengthy exnation Ajax just made small talk trying to digest the information bomb that was just dropped on him. A lot of frustration at the System itself being one of them. Despite missing out on such important information he could understand why people didn¡¯t just give it out randomly.


    Not long after Hatchet finished exining all about the Retributions Achievements and Discoveries Ajax made his way back home. He took one more look at his stats and determined that spending his points woulde after Mind finally ticked over to sixty-eight. All of the rest of his stats were too far away to make it to the next whole point before his Trait expired.


    After using [Expel Mana] quickly to dumb quite a bit of his mana out in the hopes of reaching that next point faster he finished his meal and went to bed.


    He woke up the following morning with a newmunication from the System blinking in the bottom left of his vision. He carefully opened while feeling not an insignificant amount of dread after getting his Punishment yesterday.


    Achievement : Born Horder.


    Spend your first fifteen years without spending a single stat point.


    Reward : + 10 to all stats.


    ! (lesser versions of the achievement can no longer be obtained.)


    Hoarder


    Spend fifteen consecutive years without spending a single stat point.


    Reward : + 5 to all stats.


    Forced Hoarder


    Spend fifteen consecutive years at zero stat points.


    Reward : + 2 to all stats.

 Chapter 54

    Chapter 54


    Ajax was quite miffed at the achievement. He was also a little upset that he wouldn¡¯t get the weaker version of the +5 to all stats as well as the +10. Even so the amount of stats he gained was four levels worth so he was definitely d about it.


    That was not the only notice to be shing for attention, as he took a look at his second one.


    Achievement: The carrot and the stick


    Suffer a Retribution and earn an Achievement.


    Requires two Discoveries to earn :


    Child Trait suppresses skill stat barriers. (Has been discovered by others before you).


    The existence of Retributions. (Has been discovered by others before you).


    Reward : +1 to all stats. +1000 Experience.


    This was definitely a pleasant surprise. Not one but two Achievements. At this point he was kicking himself for asking Hatchet about all of this yesterday. If he had waited for just one more day he would have earned the Discovery for Achievements as well. The Discovery method also somewhat exined why despite the fact that humans have been clearly developing for thousands and thousands of years with magic, no great strides in technology have been made. People were just not that willing to share or receive help from others in the hope of making Discoveries for themselves.


    Pulling up his status screen to take a look at his new values he was slightly taken aback.


    <strong>Name</strong> : Ajax


    <strong>Level</strong> :24


    <strong>Experience</strong> : 1150/35500


    <strong>Traits</strong>: Prodigal Apprentice , Divine Witness


    <strong>Health</strong>: 760/760


    <strong>Mana</strong>: 790/790


    <strong>Stamina</strong> :760/760


    <strong>Vitality</strong> :65.12 -> 76.00


    <strong>Strength</strong> :63.42 -> 74.00


    <strong>Endurance</strong> : 65.17 ->76.00


    <strong>Dexterity</strong> : 64.26 -> 75.00


    <strong>Intellect </strong>: 70.06 -> 81.00


    <strong>Wisdom</strong> : 68.43 -> 79.00


    <strong>Mind</strong> : 67.99-> 79.00


    <strong>Perception</strong> : 65.65 -> 76.00


    <strong>Stat Points</strong> : 506


    <strong>Skills</strong> :<ul><ul><li><strong>Common :</strong>[Mathematics Lvl 22] [Stealth Lvl 23][Drawing Lvl 30][Athleticism Lvl 23] [Running Lvl 24][Reading Lvl 20][Writing Lvl 20][Cooking Lvl 20][Sewing Lvl 20] [Cleaning Lvl 13][Haggling Lvl 19][Gardening Lvl 20][Axes Lvl 30][Hammers Lvl 27 [Deception Lvl 16][Sword Lvl 20][Shield Lvl 20][Bow Lvl 20][Spear Lvl 20][Throwing Lvl 20][Persuasion Lvl 10][Unarmed Combat Lvl 20][Knives 25][Skinning Lvl 10][Tanning Lvl 10][Dismantle Lvl 20][Climbing Lvl 15][Tracking Lvl 20][Heat Resistance Lvl 10] [Poison Resistance Lvl 18][Pain Resistance Lvl 10][Trapping Lvl 12]</li><li><strong>Umon :</strong>[Meditation Lvl 40][Sense Mana Lvl 41][Expel Mana Lvl 40][Sprinting Lvl 22][Mining Lvl 10][Lumberjack Lvl 10][Smelting Lvl 10][cksmithing Lvl 10] [Chanting Lvl 11][Mana Farming Lvl 12][Increase Price Lvl 10][Lower Price Lvl 10][Danger sense Lvl 10][Leatherworking Lvl 10][Alchemy Lvl 10][Mana Milling Lvl 6]Precise Cut Lvl 20][Precise Blow Lvl 20][Judge Threat Lvl 13][ Piercing Shot Lvl 20]</li><li><strong>Rare : </strong>[Manipte Mana Lvl 30][Water Aspect Mana Lvl 23][Fire Aspect Mana Lvl 23] [Air Aspect Mana Lvl 24][Earth Aspect Mana Lvl 25][Inject Mana Lvl 24][Spot Weakness Lvl 13][Residue Recognition Lvl 10] [Light Aspect Mana Lvl 22][Shadow Aspect Mana Lvl 22]</li></ul></ul><ul><li><strong>Epic : </strong>[Mana Augmentation Lvl 20][Mana Conjuration Lvl 20][Lightning Aspect Mana Lvl 10][Metal Aspect Mana Lvl 10][Ice Aspect Mana Lvl 10][Magma Aspect Mana Lvl 7][Holy Aspect Mana Lvl 1][Void Aspect Mana Lvl 3]</li></ul><ul><li><strong>Legendary : </strong>[Mana Syphon Lvl 14]</li></ul>


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    It seems like these stat increases weren¡¯t awarded the same way his Child Trait had added ten points to all his stats over the years. Instead it was treated as a point increase and leveling up to the next whole number. The only bright side to this was that his mind seemed to have passed the threshold sometime before he got the achievements.


    He didn¡¯t really care about the rest of the partial points since those would have been lost anyway as he didn¡¯t have the time to wait any longer before spending his own points. Seeing as the system had already decided to start upgrading his stats, why should he wait? He then proceeded to spend all of his saved up points.


    This was something he had discussed with Hatchet for quite a while during his training. Overall he wanted to have a bnced build, that being said due to the way his [Mana Syphon] allowed him to increase his physical stats he thought that a bit of a more magic stat investment would work out better for him.


    A sixty-forty split was the best way to achieve this. Vitality, Mind, Intellect and Wisdom each got 75 points while Strength, Eduarence,Dexterity and Perception got 50 each. His Apprentice trait increased the gains to 90 and 60 respectively.


    <strong>Name</strong> : Ajax


    <strong>Level</strong> :24


    <strong>Experience</strong> : 1150/35500


    <strong>Traits</strong>: Prodigal Apprentice , Divine Witness


    <strong>Health</strong>: 1660/1660


    <strong>Mana</strong>:1690/1690


    <strong>Stamina</strong> :1360/1360


    <strong>Vitality</strong> :166


    <strong>Strength</strong> :134


    <strong>Endurance</strong> :136


    <strong>Dexterity</strong> : 135


    <strong>Intellect </strong>: 171


    <strong>Wisdom</strong> : 169


    <strong>Mind</strong> : 169


    <strong>Perception</strong> : 132


    <strong>Stat Points</strong> :6


    He was left over with six points. A small part of him wanted to use those six points to try and even out a few of his stats to nice multiples of five. However he knew well that as long as five of them went into one single stat he would get an extra point there from the 20% boost.


    The amount of limitations that he suffered, especially at the start of his training and his time in the city, led him to shove all six points into Vitality. With a final score of 173 and his Stat Points counter showing zero he finally closed his stat screen for the first time in almost five years allowing the changes to take ce.


    For an instant he couldn¡¯t even tell the difference. He was soon assaulted by an incredible amount of informationing in from his senses. His perception effectively having doubled lead to a sensory overload, thisbined with his mental capabilities being able to keep up with the stream of information meant he only got a nasty headache for about three seconds. The downside was that with his mind being able to process things so quickly now along with the pain those three seconds felt like a lot more.


    The pain caused his arm to swing reflexively downward. It made contact with the nightstand that he had beside his bed and left a decent dent in it. Realizing what he had just done, he moved to stand up, this resulted inunching himself off the bed and headbutting the ceiling.


    As he very carefully started to stand up, putting as little power into every motion then increasing it slowly until it could have the desired effect, he was finally on two legs. He looked a lot like a newborn fawn. His legs trebled, not from weakness but instead from uncertainty.


    For the next hour he just walked around the room and carefully picked up anything and everything. An hour was usually quite a bit long for someone to get used to his stats after spending his points. Most people however didn¡¯t suffer increases into the hundreds by doubling every stat. He took another hour before he finally had a decent handle on everything despite the supposed stronger increase his Trait provided to adaptationpared to the regr Apprentice.


    After finally beingfortable moving he got changed and headed over to Hatchet, he even skipped breakfast.


    ¡°Morning¡± he greeted the old hunter, his voice much louder than he intended,ing across as yelling.


    ¡°Morning¡± Hatchet frowned at him for a moment before a look of realization crossed his features. ¡°You finally decided to spend your points?¡±


    ¡°I did, yes.¡± Ajax replied , it still came out a bit loud but much quieterpared to his initial greeting. ¡° I even got an Achievement for holding off for fifteen years.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I suppose the two points in each attribute would be much more useful at your age.¡± Hatchet contemted.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t get only two points, I got ten in each attribute.¡± Ajax said with a grin forming on his face.


    ¡°Ten? I wonder why?¡± he frowned at the information. ¡°Not two, yet not fourteen either, I wonder what makes the difference.¡±


    ¡°Why would you think that I would get fourteen?¡± That was something Ajax also wanted to know, if he had somehow missed out on thirty-two points he was going to be pissed.


    ¡°You are not the first person to not spend any points since birth. Though the others that have done so were imprisoned since birth and have never had the chance to level past level one before their fifteen years.¡± He said. ¡°That''s the thing with one off Achievements, getting one stops you from receiving the bonus from any of the others that are part of the same group.¡±


    Thinking about this it made sense. Sure they might be rare but there had to be people who didn¡¯t level since birth so he clearly wasn¡¯t the first to get the Born Hoarder Achievement, the only question was, why did they get fourteen points and he only got ten.


    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s because theypleted all of the achievements at once?¡± He whispered under his breath.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Hatchet clearly heard the mumbled words.


    ¡°The only reason I can see as to why others would have gained more than ten points is that theypleted all of the lower Achievements.¡± The look he received for those words made him expand a little on what he meant. ¡°I didn¡¯t meet the requirements for the lowest one, since my Stat Points weren¡¯t zero for fifteen years.¡±


    As he exined what each of the three Achievements were and their requirements he also thought about how they got to the number fourteen. Perhaps you also get half the reward for all lesser Achievements if youplemente all of them. It was the only thing that made sense to him. The total of the other achievements would be seven, if you rounded up half of that and added it to the ten you would get the fourteen the others had gotten.


    ¡°It might have to do with getting them all at the same time. Maybe receiving half the reward for all the lesser versions¡± Hatchet echoed his own thoughts on the matter. ¡°Regardless, this is a matter for another day, for the next few weeks before you leave to join the Adventurers Guild we have to get you used to your new level of power.¡±

 Chapter 55

    Chapter 55


    With his new punishment in effect Ajax found himself a lot more restrained. This worked out very well for his new training regiment. Hatchet took the time that whole first day in sparring with him to ensure that he wouldn¡¯t hurt people identally with his new strength. Most level twenty-fours had around 650 total stats with the elites pushing 700. He had 661 points just in his mental stats, add to that the 600 point infusion in one day and he was liable to injure some of the younger vigers who hadn¡¯t reached that point in their stats.


    A deeper look into his punishment came with the answer to his training. He would once again apany Hatchet as he went out. But instead of Hatchet being there to look out for him he was just there to finish the fights. His new mission was now to engage with the low level creatures without killing them.


    The first thing he noticed after the first day was the noticeable increase in control the new training granted him. He could now apply as much strength as he wanted without having to slowly build up to it. The second was the noticeable drop in experience earned. Previously he would gain anywhere from 50 to 100 exp a day at the least. Thest two days of hunting got him a grand total of 5. It became obvious to him why his brother had slowed down to a crawl in his own levelling. That¡¯s to say nothing of his parents.


    As he was fighting off two bears he found himself still missing his fine control mid battle. The bears were weak, level twelve at most ording to his skills. He didn¡¯t even need to use [Mana Syphon] anymore, instead he had to limit his barehanded strike so as to not break their necks.


    ¡°Well, it seems that you have the limiting control of your abilities well in hand.¡± said Hatched as he walked over and put down the bigger of the two bears. ¡°We¡¯ll leave this one be, I spotted a few cubs running around and I don¡¯t want to leave the bears that have just finished returning to the area to be exterminated.¡±


    I simply nodded along and proceeded to carry the bear carcass over to the butcher. Bear meat turned out to be a bit of an acquired taste, but with little else in options during the repoption of the forest following the kobold infestation the vige had grown to really enjoy it.


    It seemed odd for us to be returning so soon, it wasn¡¯t even noon yet. I wonder what Hatchet has nned? He knows that I will be leaving a day or two after my Apprentice Trait ends. Surely he knows that I will have plenty of time to rest on my trip over to Lessis. After dropping off the big bear and getting assurances of the specific cuts to be set aside for the both of us I followed after Hatchet. For the first time since I started training under him he led me out towards the eastern side of the vige.


    ¡°So far we¡¯ve only worked towards helping you control yourself with your newfound strength,¡± he said as we entered one of the many caves that opened on the side of the mountain. ¡°With you leaving in a little over a week, I think it¡¯s time to help you find out just how far you can push your new powers without restraint.¡±


    We exited the cramped tunnel into a massive open space. There were a few targets set up on one side of the wall but therge cavern looked a lot like an arena.¡°Here we have the space, structural integrity and privacy for you to go all out without having to worry.¡± Hatchet continued as he started to stretch. ¡°You¡¯re going to be fighting me for real now. We¡¯ll start with you not using your mana so you can get a good feel for your physical stats.¡±


    He handed me blunted versions of the weapons I was used to carrying. While he wanted me to get a good idea of my power and push me he still wanted to make it as safe as possible withoutpromising the effectiveness.


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    We squared off against each other, circling, I was looking for a weak point to exploit. Thinking I finally saw an opening I charged.


    Hatchet P.O.V


    The kid came charging at me. He was a lot faster now than at any point in the past week. Clearly he had been restraining himself when adjusting to his increase in stats. The speed he had seemed to surprise even him as he almost crashed into the wall after I stepped out of the way.


    We were looking to train him so I stayed on the defensive for the first twenty minutes of the fight. I could see him gaining more and more control as the fight progressed. I could also get a feel for how high his stats now were. His Strength, Dexterity and Endurance seemed pretty bnced, they were somewhere around 125, maybe a bit higher on ount of him still getting used to them maybe in the mid 130¡¯s. His Perception was also at least at 100, though I couldn¡¯t get more urate than that, it could be quite a bit higher.


    He never told me what his stats were, but if he started from around the mid fifties, he would have to have spent at least 230 points in Strength Dexterity and Endurance. A physical focused build, a slight bit different than the even split we had discussed, but definitely strong.


    A few retaliation strikes let me know that his vitality was even sturdier, north of 150. Despite my initial doubts about his path and surprising ability to not spend his stats it clearly worked out for him. He fought exactly as I would expect of a level twenty-four. This despite having lower levelled skills than they usually do by this point, so despite his not neglected mental stats he still surpasses a physically focused warrior in physical stats. This might not be the case as he continues to level and split his points but it should allow him to get himself established in the Adventurer¡¯s Guild and gain their protection before revealing his abilities with mana.


    Deciding this was a good ce to stop I sped up and with a well ced strike from behind him sent him tumbling to the ground.


    ¡°That was good¡± I said as he quickly got back up. ¡°Let''s take a break and then we can see what you can really do. With how well this trick of yours seems to have worked out, I almost think you wasted those points you spent in your mental stats.¡±


    All people needed to spend points into Vitality and Perception. After passing level fifty, you started to need to drop a few points in stats opposite your focus just so your body could keep up. I am really starting to think he wasted his potential by splitting his focus like this.


    ¡°You ready?¡± I asked after a good half an hour break.


    He simply nodded at me and I felt the distinct presence of mana being expelled from him. It wasn¡¯t anything massive but it was a constant trickle. It also seemed to not be moving away from him, instead it was somehow being fed back into him.


    He took a step forward and I felt mana spread throughout the ground of our arena. An instantter the ground beneath my feet started to give way. I quickly regained my footing and looked back at him. I was lucky to look up just in time as he was almost upon me. He is a lot faster now than he was before. Whatever he was doing with his mana increased his speed and strength considerably.


    I managed to dodge the sh by the skin of my teeth and back away looking to create space. As soon as I jump though he releases a quick burst of lightning from the end of his de.


    The bolt isparatively weak to what I have seen back in my adventuring days. That he was able to release it right after charging an opponent and without having to speak any more than made up for it however.


    The biggest problem casters had when inbat was that their spells had their target locked at the beginning of the chant. Mages needed to know where their quarry would be a few moments before it got there, this let other warriors of simr level to them have a chance in one on onebat by reacting and being unpredictable every time a chant started.


    This was not a problem that he would have however. The bolt took me in the chest and I felt my muscles spasm once or twice and the current went through my system. He seemed to be pleased with that and kept charging after me, not leaving me a moment toe up with a n.


    This was definitely an anomaly, I was level fifty-two. Being a scout I focused more heavily on Perception and Vitality but I should still have abat strengthparable to a level forty-five. That he was pushing me back at level twenty-four was astounding. My early carelessness let him get the upper hand and he used it tond a few lightning spells on me. My body was a lot less responsive than I would have liked. It took everything I had to finally get a good strike in and be able to call an end to the spar.


    ¡°That was really something.¡± I managed to get out after a good few lungfulls.¡±We¡¯re going to be doing this for the rest of the days before you leave. We¡¯ll keep up your physical only training as well, I would suggest you keep your mana under wraps until you have spent a few weeks or months in the Adventurer¡¯s Guild.¡±


    He barely nodded at me from the floor. Despite the high cost of his fighting style he nearly took out an adventurer over twice his level. To think that I had thought him splitting his stats was a waste of potential. He would probably be able to defeat me in a few months now that he could also increase his skills with the stat caps removed.

 Chapter 56

    Chapter 56


    I was breathing hard from the floor of the cavern where we had our little spar. For the first time ever [Judge Threat] had given me no indication of anything. Before I spent my free stat points it used to give me a sure death feeling when used on Hatchet but now it returned absolutely nothing. This was something that I was going to ask him about once I caught my breath.


    Looking at my stat values I noticed that the ten minute fight at the end really took a lot out of me. My mana was sitting at 200/1690 and my stamina even lower at 30/1360. My health was very high inparison at 750/1730. This clearly showed me that depending on the situation sometimes it was worth taking the hit instead of spreading the resources to dodge it.


    I ran through the fight in my mind again. Thinking of how it started with a medium drain on my mana constantly running throughout using [Mana Syphon] to upgrade my physical stats. That alone counted for about 900 of the mana I had drained during the entire fight. The rest was split between my [Mana Augmentation] and [Mana Conjuration] with the former using close to 400 and thetter 200.


    During the fight a few things were made painfully obvious to me by fighting a high level scout. First and foremost was how useless a lot of the elements I had ess to were offensively against a high level scout. True, fire magma and ice could work decently defensively but someone on his level could easily oust me if I decided to go that route.


    What was effective was thebination of earth and water. The mud was clearly a problem for him to get through. Sadly it also posed the same challenges for me any time I entered the fray. Lightning on the other hand was both fast enough to make contact, damaging and even had the added benefit of limiting his speed and movement. This was definitely something that I would be looking to lean into in a speed match up. I would just have to make sure it doesn¡¯t be a crutch that something immune to lightning would use to beat me.


    With my stats evenly spread as they were, I found that I actually overpowered Hatchet quite a bit with the power boost from [Mana Syphon]. Considering that he was quite a bit faster than me this led me to believe that I had about the same total when considering only Strength Endurance and Dexterity. While it would take a bit more experimenting, I think I would stand a better chance against him if I was to increase the amount of mana I fed into [Mana Syphon].


    The only downside being that I wouldn¡¯t even be able to keep that up for ten minutes. If he caught on and just fought defensively he could most likely oust me. He was also very likely going to be a lot more careful of my lightning in any other spar we were going to have.


    ¡°I have a question.¡± I rasped out after a few minutes ofying on the floor waiting for my stamina and mana to regenerate. ¡°Why does my [Judge Threat] not give me any idea about you anymore?¡±


    ¡°That''s because of my [Privacy] skill.¡± he answered. ¡°But it used to be responsive to you before I spent my stats.¡± I argued.


    ¡°Yes but all it told you then was that I could kill you anytime I want with little to no effort.¡± he said.¡± Now that the answer is a bit more ambiguous it falls within the bounds of my [Privacy] skill. As you level up [Judge Threat] to close the gap you will start to receive some information. Though most of it will be ambiguous at the start.¡±


    ¡°Is the [Privacy] skill something a lot of higher level people have?¡± he asked, thinking back to the time themander picked up on him using a skill on him.


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    ¡°That¡¯s a tough question. Most people above level fifty have it. A bit earlier if they are a spy or any type of stealth and infiltration specialist. The most useful part of it is being able to pick up on anybody using any sort of inspect skill on you. It will also always let you know if it seeded or failed in blocking it.¡± he said as he stretched and finally had a full range of movement again.


    Thinking about it, this was something he should most definitely look into getting. Sadly he was a long way off level fifty. Even if he didn¡¯t have any penalty against fighting creatures at level twenty-five or thirty, they would still be quite a bit weaker than him and he wouldn¡¯t have the increased experience from difficulty and danger he has had so far.


    With a helping hand from Hatchet he finally picked himself up from the cavern floor and together they headed back out to the vige. There he headed straight home to find that his father was still out back working in the smithy and his mother was also not at home. He paid it little mind and quickly grabbed a quick bite before all but falling into bed to rest and recover his spent resources.


    The following week followed a much different schedule. He would spar with Hatchet twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening after they both had time to replenish the spent stamina and in his case mana. They forewent any hunting at this time as they knew it was of little consequence and he would be leaving shortly.


    During the entire week the only time he ever got so close to winning as he did in that first match was when he forewent any caution and frontloaded his mana into [Mana Syphon] eating though his entire man pool in just about three minutes. During the entire time he pushed Hatchet hard defensively and had managed to get a good number of hits in. Sadly none of them were decisive enough and after he had spent all of his mana and a good portion of his stamina to keep up the aggression he simply copsed.


    The power of [Mana Syphon] was clearly a double edged sword so long as he was up against someone that didn¡¯t use spells themselves. He also hesitated to try and directly use it on other people, or even creatures and had only used it on spells and used by the kobolds and his own mana. The fear of being identified as a vampire was still something that he hadn¡¯t gotten past just yet.


    The day before his official fifteenth birthday, as he knew from the Hoarder Achievement that even the System considered his birthday to be two weeks prior, the merchant caravan rolled into town with an apology message from his sister and na about not being able to make it back for the celebration. It also carried a gift from each of them as well as one from Kate and Tom.


    The gifts consisted of a healing scroll created by Kate herself as she had made some decent strides in healing magic in the past five years. It wasn¡¯t something that would heal any wound, but it could definitely turn a lethal one into something more manageable. His sister had sent him a detailed map containing a lot of information about the various known dungeons and adventuring spots in the kingdom, something that would prove very useful in the future.


    Thest gift came from na. He received a set of rather expensive clothes. Something he hadn¡¯t owned before. It was a set of clothes that one would wear if they ever went to an event hosted by nobles. His rtionship with na had progressed very strangely over the past few years. Their mutual interest in each other seemed to be genuine but it wasn¡¯t more than physical.


    The next time she and his sister hade back into town, she had gotten rather drunk and they had ended up sleeping together. This became amon urrence thereafter with them trying at a rtionship but quickly figuring out that they worked better as friends and continuing a friends with benefits rtionship every time she returned to the vige, much to the displeasure of Jonny who had somehow figured out what had happened.


    As he woke up on the morning of his birthday he found himself with two more notifications. This was definitely odd since he had asked Hatchet if there was anything else that he should be on the lookout for about the end of his Apprentice Trait, so as to not miss out on any benefits. He quickly opened them and was pleasantly surprised by what he found.


    Achievement : Physically Gifted


    End Apprentice trait with more than 500 points in Physical stats.


    Reward : [<em>Berserker</em>].


    Achievement : Archmage hopeful


    End Apprentice trait with more than 600 points in Mental stats.


    Reward : [<em>Mana Skin</em>].


    Looking at the two odd new skills he gained and their odd presentation in their message he slowly went from ecstatic to annoyed. His [<em>Berserker</em>] skill was an Umon skill whereas [<em>Mana Skin</em>] was a Rare skill. This led him to the conclusion that every 100 points would have pushed his reward up a tier. Had he spent all his points on his magical stats he would now be the proud owner of a Mythic skill.

 Chapter 57

    Chapter 57


    Thinking through what the most recent Achievements he received meant I calmed down a lot. It seemed that 500 was the minimal threshold for which someone would receive an Achievement like this. Getting a total of 500 in four of the stats by the end of the Apprentice trait didn¡¯t seem that difficult to him. But that was just his own perception from experience.


    On average a normal person would average around fifteen in their stats. So before adding anything extra they would have a base of sixty. The next issue came with them only raising up those stats through levels meant that they would gain at most forty stats forcibly upgrading them. That left people with a total four hundred stats to make up for. Including the 10% boost from the Apprentice trait they would need 380 stat points to spend, meaning being level twenty.


    Most people made it to level fifteen in their apprenticeship, those who got to eighteen were very rare and dedicated. His brother had made it to seventeen and was viewed favorably in the guard because of it. This meant that the knowledge of such break points at the end of Apprentice was something that was kept under wraps by the nobility. To be honest this was probably a good thing as all but absolute talents or people with a cheat like him had no chance of reaching it so it only served as a way for people to skew their spent points in hope of a miracle leveling speed.


    After thinking that whole thing through he took another look at the rewarded skills. They showed up differently in his status.Both [<em>Berserker</em>] and [<em>Mana Skin</em>] had a different font than the rest of the skills. As he focused on [<em>Mana Skin</em>] he suddenly had an instinctual idea of what the skill did and how to use it. The skill could create a membrane of mana around any portion of his chosen body, he could incase his hand, arm, or his full body. The patch could be as little as his palm. The other choice he could make was on whether he would use the skill with a set amount of mana, or link it to his mana pool.


    This was different from all other skills he had ever gained. Usually gaining a skill didn¡¯te with knowledge of how to use it since you had to havepleted an action to gain it. Even his [Mana Syphon] skill which he gained in a moment of desperation still worked the same way.


    He then focused on his other skill, [<em>Berserker</em>] this skill worked differently. This skill could be used only upon receiving an attack, it would then amply that attack against you slightly in return for generating stamina. This could be very useful when facing quick weak enemies, or wave style tactics meant to run someone''s resources dry before killing them.


    Being quite pleased with his rewards he got out of bed and headed in the kitchen for breakfast. There he found his parents and after a congrattory meal he spent the rest of the day with either one of them as he was looking to leave tomorrow.


    The next day, after breakfast and a more emotional goodbye from his parents than he would like to admit, he headed over to say his goodbye and thanks to Hatchet before leaving.


    ¡°Morning Hatchet¡± he said.¡°Morning¡± he responded ¡° You heading out?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I came to say goodbye, and to thank you for putting up with me for thest five years, I know I can¡¯t have been the easiest of Apprentices.¡±


    ¡°That you weren¡¯t. Wondered why I ever epted you more than once or twice but I¡¯m d I did.¡± as he said this he had walked over to the house and grabbed something by the front door. ¡°I would have given this to you yesterday, but when I came by you were spending time with your parents so I didn¡¯t want to interrupt.¡±


    He extended a ratherrge old looking backpack. From all respects it looked just like an old backpack, if one that had been maintained in good condition. Examining it with his sense mana he felt arge andplex rune inscribed on the inside of the pack.


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    ¡°What is this?¡± I asked, ¡° I can feel a rune on the inside.¡±


    ¡°The pack is enchanted to increase the amount of space on the inside. It won¡¯t do anything for the weight of whatever you want to carry, but it should berge enough for you to carry a whole cart''s worth of things.¡±


    Thinking back to the amount of bags and packs he had left over by his front gate in preparation for the trip he gripped the gift slightly tighter. Not wanting to waste two weeks on a trip again he nned on heading to Lessis by himself. This would let him make full use of his stats and should probably shorten the trip to three days. Making two overnight stays in the viges along the route he should arrive a little past noon in the city.


    ¡°This will definitelye in useful.¡± He said with a dumb smile spreading across his face.


    ¡°A little bit of advice, make sure whatever you put inside of it is clean, washing it out is a real pain.¡± Hatchet leaned in to whisper.


    ¡°Speaking of advice, I got an Achievement this morning that rted to mypleting the Apprentice period. It gave me a skill, but it¡¯s unlike any skill I¡¯ve had before. Do you know anything about that?¡± This was the final question he had for his mentor before he would be ready to strike out on his own.


    Hatchet frowned a little at this before his eyes went wide as he continued to listen. ¡°You got a reward skill?¡±


    ¡°A reward skill, if it is what it sounds like then yes.¡± Ajax wentured with an easy guess.


    ¡°I don¡¯t mean that you got it as a reward.¡± Hatchet was slightly exasperated as he gestured with his hands. ¡°Rewards skills or active skills, they are called both since the only way to get them is from Achievements. They show up differently in your status, you have an instinctual knowledge about their base uses and they aren¡¯t a passive effect like other skills.¡±


    ¡°Yeah that¡¯s what I got.But why call them both reward and active skills?¡± he confirmed with a nod.


    ¡°Because you can also be awarded non-active skills, but all active skills are rewards, that doesn¡¯t matter right now. You should keep them to yourself . Reward skills are thought to be a whole tier higher than their shown tier and a lot of people will likely question you thoroughly on how you managed to get them.¡± he said, his tone dropping as he delivered the warning.


    With his final exnations about the skills and his affairs in order Ajax headed back to his home and easily fit all of his bags and supplies inside the backpack with room to spare. His mother noticing him doing this came out to check on him. Once she found out that he had space to spare she went and got a whole heap of things to take to his brother and sister. All in all the amount of space taken up increased by almost half, if the weight only by about a fifth.


    With all this he gave his mom a final hug and headed on towards the road with his gifted gloves on his hand, a small hatchet at his hip for self defense and as a memento to his teacher and a backpack on his shoulders.


    As he exited the vige he caught a glimpse of a group of rather finely dressed people as well as some wearing armor, all riding horses, waiting in the space for the caravan while another armored person holding the reins to his horse talked to the headman. As they didn¡¯t seem like the kind to cause trouble while active so diplomatically he continued on his way out of the vige and broke into a jog once he exited.


    The road to Lessis was not noteworthy. Unlike hisst two trips on it he had no problem the whole way and even easily traded the deer and boar he hunted on the way at the two viges in exchange for a house for the night and cooked food.


    He arrived at Lessis as expected at around noon, but was met with a long line at the gate. He had to wait around for a few hours until he finally got his turn with one of the few guards who were handling the intake.


    ¡°Reason for visiting?¡± the guard said before even looking at him. As he finished the words and nced at him his eyes sparked with a slight touch of recognition. ¡°You¡¯re Tom¡¯s brother, Jax right? No, Ajax.¡±


    ¡°Yeah that¡¯s me.¡± He thought the guard''s face looked familiar but he couldn¡¯t ce it or remember his name.


    He looked a little around before he made a quick ¡®get on with it¡¯ motion. ¡°In you go, tell your brother that Darren sends his regards.¡±


    Ajax nodded his thanks and entered the city, considering the time he decided to first head over to the Adventurer¡¯s Guild hoping to get there before it closed, being excited to finally be a member and only after go by his brother¡¯s ce.


    After only getting lost once and getting directions from a friendly shop owner Ajax made it to the Adventurers Guild hall. It was a ratherrge building that was made of fine materials but sported a half bar half reception on its bottom floor. The bar was ted perpendicr to the help desk with most of the floor being taken up by tables. After being given a quick nce by everybody in the building he was promptly ignored as he made his way to the desk.


    ¡°Wee to the Adventurers Guild, how can I help you?¡± a beautiful perky young woman greeted him.


    ¡°I¡¯m looking to join the guild.¡± Ajax said while trying to restrain his enthusiasm.


    Her smile faltered and her eyes dashed off to the person sitting on the stool closest to the desk at the bar. Her eyes returned to Ajax and with a slightly defeated and irritated voice she said ¡°I¡¯m sorry to say but we haven¡¯t been allowed to take on new members for the past three days.¡±


    Just as soon as she finished her words the man that had been sitting on the stool hade up to the side and standing in a formal stance said ¡°Hello, by order of the lord you are hereby conscripted, you are to present yourself to the Guard hall in two days time¡±

 Chapter 58

    Chapter 58


    ¡°Hello, by order of the lord you are hereby conscripted, you are to present yourself to the Guard hall in two days time¡±


    The words ring in my ears, I stay there motionless trying toprehend what the man is saying. It all seems so surreal to me. After all this effort I spent trying to stay under the radar of the nobility I ended up conscripted.


    I take another look at the man who found it fit to put my life in jeopardy. He¡¯s a short pudgy man, with slimy brown hair that he¡¯s had trimmed in a military fashion and a rather noticeable gut hanging a little over his belt.


    As I fully take in the meaning of what he¡¯s told me, the guilty expression on the receptionist''s face makes a lot of sense to me. Members of the Adventurer¡¯s Guild can¡¯t be conscripted without the express request of the current ruling monarch, the guilds can however be forced to stop epting members, clearly this guy was left here to pick off anyone who thought they could get out of it by joining the guild.


    ¡°Now Mr. Ajax, if you would please sign this form I can give you your token. You had also best take care not to lose it as without it you won¡¯t be given any of the standard gear from the quartermaster.¡± The man continues saying.


    ¡°How do you know my name?¡± I frown as soon as he addresses me. I had been practicing gathering information with my higher perception as I moved through the city and hadn¡¯t noticed anyone following me from the gate, which is the only ce I gave my name.


    ¡°I have a simple inspection skill that allows me to inspect the name, age and species of anyone or anything that doesn¡¯t have something to mask it. It¡¯s why I am in charge of recruitment, it''s much easier to catch deserters if you have their name and age along with their appearance.¡± The smugness of his tone makes it clear how high he thinks of himself for having the skill.


    This makes me rx a little as he probably doesn¡¯t know anything else about or he would have definitely shared it, from the way he keeps ncing at the receptionist it is clear that he is trying to impress her.


    Realizing that there isn¡¯t much I can do in this situation I go ahead and grab the document and start reading it. ¡°You just have to sign it, all it says is what I told you.¡± he says as he waves his hand in an impatient manner.


    Reading something before signing it is something that my mother has drilled into me, and something that has been a sticking point in any stories shared by both Judy and na over the past few years. Getting him to wait on me was just a perk as far as I was concerned.


    The document itself was very much what he had said it was, the front of it exined in big letters that the baron was calling forth conscripts for an undetermined amount of time and spelled out what the punishment for desertion was, a long fifty years in jail.


    That is until you turned it over, on the back of the document was a whole list of reasons for exemptions to conscription. There were quite a few reasons why somebody might be exempt from conscription. Having two children under the age of twelve, being under the age of fifteen, or being widowed were all reasons mentioned. Also mentioned was that for them to apply a person had to refuse conscription when it was called and notter.


    While all of that made me think a lot less of the recruiter there wasn¡¯t anything there that would help me avoid the draft, so I continued reading. Halfway through the document was a small box stating ¡°Mark this box if you wish to receive marypensation instead of keeping the provided gear. Ten gold.¡±


    Ten gold was a lot more than most people made in a few years working, I wonder why it would be ced there. The reminder of the document described the gear that was to be provided for us. The gear didn¡¯t sound like much, all in all it was probably worth no more than two gold so I decided to question it.


    ¡°Is there something missing from the description of the provided gear?¡± I asked the recruiter. ¡°My dad is a cksmith and an order like this is worth about two gold, three at the most.¡±


    ¡°Nothing is missing.¡± he says with a hint of irritation recing the smug smile he¡¯s had since the beginning.


    ¡°How am I supposed to mark this then, I would like to make sure I get my ten gold.¡± I had no use for their provided gear after all of this was over.


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    ¡°Anything but leaving it nk would do.¡± he says as he starts to put forth an emotionless expression. I also catch a quick smirk that vanishes as soon as it appears on the recetionitis face.


    I sign the document, pick up the coin and give a nod to the receptionist before I start heading for the exit. I take no more than two steps before a thought urs to me. If I was going to get fucked over by something like this I might as well go down swinging so I turn back.


    ¡°Excuse me miss, I am expecting a friend of mine to pass through here sometime in the next few days. Any chance I could leave him a message.?¡± I ask, feigning having just remembered something.


    She gives me a questioning look with a raised eyebrow but responds with a terse ¡±Sure.¡±


    I walk over to the bar, grab a small empty ckboard stand that rests there, I see a few more spread out listing out drink prices throughout the hall, as well as a piece of chalk.


    ¡°Do you mind if I borrow this?¡± I ask the bartender who has been following the situation but didn¡¯t seem all that interested until I approached him and responded with azy nod.


    I fill the board in the biggest letters I can fit and move to ce it on the receptionist desk.


    ¡°Sir?¡± she asks, confused, not having seen the message.


    ¡°My friend is a very private person, he wouldn¡¯t feelfortable with me giving out his name, I¡¯m sure he will get the message if I just leave it here.¡± I say cing the board on the reception desk.


    The board has the words ¡°To my friend, always read the back of a contract¡± written on it. As the receptionist reads the board a small chuckle escapes her as I also hear the recruiter gnashing his teeth.


    The receptionist schools her face before stating. ¡°I¡¯m sorry to say that you can¡¯t just leave a message like this for your friend.¡± the recruiters face breaking out into a smug smile again.


    ¡°To leave a message like this in the guild would have to qualify as a request. One as simple as this will need no filing but it still requires payment.¡± she continues as she breaks her professional expression to show a smile. ¡°If you would pay the cost of one copper I will make sure the message is promptly disyed for you friend.¡±


    Taking the coin out of my pocket and cing it on the desk I give her a quick nod and head for the exit and my brother¡¯s house looking to talk to him and Kate about this unforeseen predicament.


    Commander Grievous P.O.V


    Thest few days had been a clusterfuck of paperwork. The recruitment had sent the entire city into disarray. Considering that this was the fourth one in thest twenty years you would think that they would be at least a little more prepared for it.


    This was a simple dispute between barons over a newly discovered silver deposit that sat on the boundary line between their territories. It wasn¡¯t even thatrge. What it was was an excuse for these small little skirmishes to happen.


    The whole reason it was allowed was because the king himself encouraged his nobles to have them once every thirty years. They were rtively low in terms of casualties, at most 3%. It also provided his citizens with somebat experience should he ever need to call on them for a real war.


    ¡®


    The reason why Baron Stillwater was such an eager participant was a different reason entirely. He would offer leadership positions to the sons and daughters of higher nobles. He would ingratiate himself and his family to theirs, and their sons and daughters would gain experience asmanders on a battlefield. That he had spent thest nine years without participating in one was a small miracle.


    This was also the only time that I felt myplete rejection of noble ass-kissing was a detriment to my troops. As all the othermanders would ingratiate themselves to the barron, I would always be the one called up as the mandatory guard regiment to join the skirmish. Despite this I always made sure to take care of my men and in thest three encounters we had not lost anyone. And I will make sure to extend that streak.As I was looking over the contested area map to n any engagements I heard a quick knock at the door.


    ¡°Come in¡± I called expecting my assistant.


    ¡°I have the new conscript list for you, sir.¡± Roger said as he slid an almost filled page over to me across the desk.


    Most of the conscripts were rounded up in the first two days, with only stragglers being brought inter. I take a cursory nce at the names when I get a familiar feeling about one of them. I stare at the entry of one ¡®Ajax fifteen¡¯ and why I should recognise it. Ajax was a fairly unique name afterall.


    It took only a few seconds to remember the vampire incident from five years ago. It was likely that this Ajax was the same as the one back then. He was the brother of one of the most promising recruits into my unit, being level twenty-four at only twenty-three years of age.


    ¡°Walter, Wand is being excused from this conscription on the ount of his recent newborn isn¡¯t he?¡± I asked my assistant.


    ¡°Yes, sir, he is.¡± A questioning tone in his voice.


    ¡°Have this Ajax moved over to take his ce.¡± I say underlining the name.


    ¡°If I may ask, sir, why? Do you know this Ajax?.¡± Roger was a good assistant, if a little too inquisitive for his own good. It was still quite a challenge to grab him from under the noses of the othermander, his skill to identify level making him quite a catch.


    ¡°You know Tom don¡¯t you? He¡¯s most likely his younger brother.¡± I say a little anger creeping into my voice. Tom had mentioned his brother might being into town, I was going to look into it and make sure whatever guard had conscripted him upon entering the city would join the expedition and be ontrine duty.


    ¡°Tom is quite talented, but are you sure about this?¡± he asks. A good question, if one he should be voicing. I also know there is a lot more to be gained by offering the spot to the son of an influential merchant despite my dislike for it.


    ¡°Tom being his brother is all the reason I need.¡± I say, feeling that if I can help out one of my men by just moving an assignment like this I always would. ¡°But if you need further reason Kate is his sister-inw.¡±


    Walter''s face changes to a look of surprise. Kate is arguably one of the best healers in the guard right now, the only ones who can match her being near retirement, building goodwill with her is worth a lot more than any merchant in this backwater town would be willing to pay.


    I see my assistant nod in understanding before saluting and leaving the room. Ajax, how unlocky can this kid be. He was caught up in the vampire incident a few years ago, and now he shows up two days before conscription ends.

 Chapter 59

    Chapter 59


    As Ajax started to walk away from the amused receptionist and the fuming recruiter a wave ofughter broke out from the tables across the room. All of the attendees were adventurers and despite their merry attitude and drinking they all had enough perception and innate curiosity to pay attention to the conversation to catch thest few exchanges. One or two of the older ones went so far as to give Ajax a pat on the shoulder as he passed by their tables.


    Knowing what was going on now helped Ajax put things together with the change in the atmosphere he witnessed as he walked to the Adventurer¡¯s Guild. There were barely any food stands left in the streets, they were reced in turn by stalls selling long term provisions. You could hardly go more than a few streets without seeing someone selling some type of jerky or another.


    The other thing being sold throughout was armor and weapons. From the look of what was on sale and how people were going about buying it Ajax could tell that this was clearly not the first time many of them were called up like this and that the gear he will be provided as part of conscription wasn¡¯t going to be very good.


    Spears seemed to be going for quite a premium. While he would understand why the army would be looking to outfit and conscript with spears, seeing as they took the lowest amount of time and skill to use at a decent level, why would the people be looking to buy them as well? Wanting to satisfy his curiosity he approached the next weapons merchant on his way to Tom¡¯s house.


    ¡°Excuse me, sir. I was wondering why it is that spears are being sold at such a higher price?¡± He decided to be upfront about what he wanted to know. If there was a good reason for it any half decent merchant would take the time to exin it in hopes of making a sale.


    ¡°Good eye there, young man. Indeed spears are the thing to get right now¡± heplimented while trying to draw attention to one of his more expensive spears. Equipment Ajax ignored since the gear he already had made by his father outstripped almost everything he had seen on his walk in the city. ¡°The reason why people want to buy spears is safety.¡±


    ¡°If they are looking for safety wouldn¡¯t a shield be a much better choice?¡± He had barely seen more than one or two stalls selling shields.


    ¡°Oh no. That would be a very bad idea if one was looking to be safe.¡± The merchant looked a little outraged by the idea that getting a shield for safety was a good idea. Seeing his confusion he began to exin. ¡°You see, while it may have been a few years since thest little skirmish the baron has dragged us all in, anyone over thirty years of age has seen at least two of them before.¡±


    ¡°Since one of the baron¡¯s sons left the city a few days ago going towards the mountain range this conscription is for a squabble over one resource or another with a neighboring baron. Very few people tend to die in these engagements, half of those that doe from foolhardy young people charging veteran soldiers.¡± ¡°Now because the conscripts they have will be low on training the most used tactic will be a shield wall with a row of spears behind them. Anyone bringing a better looking spear with them than what they are provided is more likely to be part of the second row, whereas a good shield will see you on the front lines.¡±


    Taking in the information Ajax just nodded his thanks and started to walk in the direction of his brother''s house once more, without even ncing at the wares to the disappointment of the merchant. Ajax was a little confused about what the vendor meant about charging soldiers but those were questions he could ask his brother.


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    Thanks to his increased Perception Ajax was able to notice the change in lighting a lot easier despite the amount of light needed for him to see being lower. After thest experience he had in the city after dark he decided to get to his brother¡¯s house before then despite theck of vampires in the city.


    As he got there he knocked on the door and waited. The door started to open a few secondster.


    ¡°Yes? How can I he- Ajax!¡± Kate¡¯s voice started off bored before growing weing as she registered who was at the door. ¡° Pleasee in.¡±


    ¡°Evening Kate.¡± Ajax greeted her back and was a little surprised at how she was hurrying him inside.


    Contrary to how it had been before, when Ajax walked into the kitchen he found the table to be stacked high with all sorts of different vials of liquid and bandages instead of the usual evening meal.


    ¡°Please excuse the mess, we¡¯re going to be deploying for this skirmish in a few days and I was still getting everything ready.¡± She brought up a few packs and started empting the table.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, I will probably need to be doing the same thing. I just got conscripted.¡± Ajax just waved away her apology andined about the bothersome situation.


    ¡°You got conscripted? Did you happen to catch the name of the guard who let you into the city?¡± her voice going cold and carrying a promise of violence.


    ¡°Darren I think his name was, said to tell Tom he sends his regards.¡± Throughout their talk the table was quickly emptied of medical provisions and filled with food that still needed to cool for a little while longer.


    ¡°Darren did what? After all the regtions he let people skim by while on patrol he goes and requirts you?¡± her pitch and volume rising before her voice going into a quiet whisper he barely caught. ¡°When I get my ws on him¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh no, he didn¡¯t recruit me. He just waved me on into the city. I went to apply to the Adventurer¡¯s Guild beforeing here hoping to get there before they closed. Turns out they have a recruitment ban and some recruiter there approached me.¡±


    Hearing his words the fire in Kate died and she slid into a chair and put her head in her hands. ¡°How much bad luck can one kid have?¡±


    ¡°In fact I asked a bit around town about whatever is going on and people don¡¯t really seem as worried about the conscription as I thought they would be. One of the vendors even said that half of the deaths woulde from foolhardy people charging soldiers.¡± he decided to get a better idea of what was going on.


    ¡°Well he¡¯s not wrong about that.¡± she muttered to herself before looking back to Ajax and started exining. ¡° You see, this skirmish is going to be a small campaign against another barron over a resource or another. Since they are part of the same dukedom if not under the same viscount they aren¡¯t really looking to have people die inbat.¡±


    ¡°The whole thing won¡¯t take longer than four months as the harvest will need to be harvested and they won¡¯t be willing to risk that.The conscription barely covers three cities on each side so I doubt there will be more than twenty thousand people altogether.¡±


    ¡°As for the part about charging soldiers, that refers to the guards. Each of the cities also sends a contingent of guards along. There always are a few brave and stupid people thinking they can just charge to a quick victory and end up trying to ambush or charge a bunch of armed guards. Even with that the death toll is rather low, though the injuries sustained give healers a thorough work out.¡±


    As she finished speaking they both heard the door open followed by Tom¡¯s voice carrying through.


    ¡°... quite a bit anxious about going.¡± Tom said.


    ¡°It¡¯ll all be fine, we¡¯ve been through this before and have yet to lose anyone.¡± The new voice wasn¡¯t one that Ajax recognised.


    ¡°I¡¯m home Kate.¡± Tom called out a few seconds before entering the room. ¡°Ajax! Wee, when did you get here?¡±


    ¡°Hey, Tom.¡± Ajax said as he moved and gave his brother a hug ¡°I actually just got here a few minutes ago.¡±


    ¡°Well Ajax, I¡¯d like you to meet Captain Rogers. He¡¯s been my direct superior since I joined Commander Grievous.¡±


    ¡°Pleasure to meet you.¡± Ajax said politely, offering his hand.


    ¡°Likewise, I''ve heard a bit about you already, though you¡¯re quite a bit bigger than I expected when Tom said he had a younger brother..¡± the Captain replied while taking the offered hand.


    ¡°Congrattions on finally reaching the age of majority.¡± Tom continued. ¡°Normally I would say we should go out to a restaurant to celebrate, though it would be best if you stayed inside until all this conscription business is sorted.


    ¡°Sadly, that ship has already sailed.¡± said Kate, drawing everyone''s attention.

 Chapter 60

    Chapter 60


    After Kate dropped that bombshell Ajax went through exining everything that happened again and how he got conscripted. It was quite heartening to see that the captain had the same reaction when he thought that a member of the guard conscripted him as Tom did, both having been very simr to Kate¡¯s. He did a much better job of pointing out that it wasn¡¯t Darren that got him conscripted this time.


    Now that his brother was also here he went much more in depth and exined the interaction he had with the recruiter he met at the guild branch. While Kate and Tom weren¡¯t all that happy about him drawing the ire of the recruiter, Captain Rogers found the whole thing hrious.


    ¡°Normally something like this wouldn¡¯t be so underhanded.¡± the older guard exined. ¡°You see, these skirmishes are actually encouraged by the royal family in order to keep a somewhatpetent militia. With that they also enforce a minimum paid wage for them as a way to subsidize the poption and the nobles don¡¯t reallyin about it all that much.¡±


    ¡°Our case is a little bit different from the norm however. You see Baron Stillwater is quite a bit more aggressive than other nobles. This stems from both hisck or resources in his territory as well as a dedication for his family to rise in status. This leads to him participating in a lot more than the one skirmish every quarter century or so. The fact that we have had nine years since thest one is in fact surprising, and most likely because there has been no excuse for it.¡±


    ¡°How do these skirmishes help his family rise in status?¡± This was not something that Ajax could understand, conflict with other nobles didn¡¯t usually lead to a rise in status.


    ¡°That¡¯s because he always has his heir be one of themanders and then offers the other spots to heirs of other greater families in hopes of building connections while getting thembat experience.. This does lead him to run into financial issues however and to underhanded methods of getting around the minimum payment required byw.¡± he grimaced slightly when he mentioned the noble heirs leading the war.


    ¡°Sounds like you''ve been through this a few times already.¡± Ajax remarked.


    ¡°Oh, I have. This will be my sixth one already.¡± he said brightly as if he was talking about a party rather than battle. ¡°Now while only one Commander is sent out from each city with the idea of keeping the guards ready for war and not leaving the citywless, our case is once again a little special.¡±


    ¡°If by special you mean that Commander Grievous has a serious aversion to mingling with nobles more than necessary and as such always ends up being the one going, then yes we are a little special.¡± Kate scoffed, this was something that had clearly been mentioned already.With that the conversation changed to some much lighter topics. Mostly Tom, Ajax and Kate catching up with each other after five year while enjoying the meal. It was right as the meal ended however that a knock at the door could be heard.


    Thinking it was odd for someone to being by at this hour Tom went to open the door, the captain behind him on his way out with Kate and Ajax following behind. Opening the door they found a guard from the night shift with an official looking scroll.


    ¡°Evening Tom, Captain Rogers.¡± The guard gave Tom a light greeting and shot off a salute after noting the Captain. ¡°I¡¯m here to deliver this to a one Ajax, fifteen year of age, I was told I was likely to find him here.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m Ajax.¡± Ajax said from behind and moved forward to receive the scroll.


    After delivering the message the guard saluted the captain and with a nod to Tom left. Ajax proceeded to open the scroll and read through it. The message seemed to be rather short but the frow on Ajaxe¡¯s face seemed to worry both Tom and Kate.


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    ¡°What¡¯s it say? Tom asked apprehensively.


    ¡°It says that instead of reporting in the city square tomorrow morning I should instead report to the guardpound at noon, it also suggests that I should bring my bow.¡± Ajax reread the message while sharing the information.


    ¡°The old man still moves as fast as ever,¡± Captain Rogers shook his head ruefully with a smile at the information. As he was greeted by three questioning looks he decided to expand. ¡°It seems themander caught wind of your conscription and moved you over into our unit.¡±


    The news seemed to click and both Tom¡¯s and Kate¡¯s eyes went wide as their eyebrows rose.


    ¡°I think Wand is exempt from conscription on ount of his recently born daughter and you¡¯re filling his spot. I hope you know how to hunt since you¡¯ll most likely be doing that instead of keeping watch.¡± the Captain said with a teasing grin.


    Much to the captain''s surprise Ajax returned the grin at the news that he will be hunting. ¡°I¡¯ve been a hunter for my vige for thest five years before I headed over here to join the Adventurer¡¯s guild, a few more months as a hunter won¡¯t be anything I can¡¯t handle.¡±


    With that the captain left and the three all headed off to bed, tomorrow was going to be theirst day to prepare.


    After waking up and eating breakfast the day got a lot more busy than any of them would have expected. The news that Ajax had an enchanted backpack came as a bit of a surprise to both Kate and Tom, especially after seeing the size it could store.


    With all this extra space Kate went into overdrive and had sent both of them all over the city to gather things for all sorts of rare situations that she had disregarded because of not having the space to take them into ount. The extra rations take up quite a bit of space in case they were ever separated from the supply line at any point.


    All three of them had thought that being cut off from supplies was something that would be very unlikely yetst night they were brought in one the fact that whilemander Grievous would still be in charge of all of them he would have to go along with the ns decided by whatever nobles were running the show.


    It was then that Ajax thought to just have Judy quickly gather everything for them, she could probably do it faster and cheaper than all three of them working together. Sadly, he was told that both she and na were out of the city on a job from their organization.


    After inquiring about it Tom shared that both had been sent out of town specifically to miss out on the recruitment and would return a day or two after it ended. This news was bittersweet for Ajax as he didn¡¯t have to worry about them while at the same time meaning he wouldn¡¯t see them until the end of this whole thing.


    With all their preparationspleted they went to bed early and were some of the first ones to present themselves in the guard courtyard the following day after a hearty breakfast. They all mingled with the iing members of the unit, Tom and Kate introducing Ajax to their colleagues.


    While Tom was part of the soldier makeup of the unit, Kate was with the so called support group. Healers were far too scarce and valuable for them to be risked in this kind of unimportant skirmish, with serious repercussions should one kill a healer on the enemy side.


    As noon came Commander Grievous finally arrived on top of a magnificent horse and decked out in some eye-catching armor. A onceover with [Sense Mana] told Ajax that the gear was enchanted, even spotting a manacore used to power said enchants here and there on the gear.


    As soon as themander arrived the wholepany began to move. The reason they only started at noon was because guards were expected to move a lot quicker than the conscripted soldier. Something they did catching up to them long before nightfall.


    Setting up the tents was a rtively quick operation for the guards though the rest of the force seemed to have some troubles with it. It was at this spot that they would meet up with their new noblemanders tomorrow and set up their main supply point ry.


    Ajax was exempt from camp setup as he headed out to hunt as soon as they reached the point. None of the guardsined about it as the chance at fresh meat instead of rations was one they all weed.


    Tom P.O.V.


    While Ajax went off to hunt, Kate and I decided to pay a visit to themander and thank him for having Ajax move over to our unit. Knowing he was going to be with us for any of the fighting made it much better for me.


    As Kate and I entered the small tent themander insisted on having, so as to not draw fire in case of enemy raids, we formally greeted him.


    ¡°Lay off the formalities.¡±mander Grievous said the moment the formal greeting finished.


    ¡°We just wanted to thank you for having Ajax moved to this unit.¡± I said.


    ¡°Think nothing of it.¡± themander waved off our thanks.


    ¡°I have to say I was surprised to hear you have a twin brother Tom,¡± said Walter.


    His statement made all of us turn towards with a questioning look.


    ¡°Ajax is my younger brother, not my twin Walter.¡± I said.


    ¡°Wow, he must be really talented then. After all, he caught up in level with you.¡± His light statement rendered the room silent for a few long seconds.


    ¡°HE WHAT???¡± Kate, themander and myself all exploded after we processed what Walter just said.

 Chapter 61

    Chapter 61


    Tom P.O.V.


    ¡°Wow, he must be really talented then. After all, he caught up in level with you.¡± His light statement rendered the room silent for a few long seconds.


    ¡°HE WHAT???¡± Kate, themander and myself all exploded after we processed what Walter just said.


    ¡°How do you even know this?¡± I quickly followed up.


    The information left me stumped. I know for a fact that even if Ajax really is already level twenty-four there is no chance he would even think about sharing that piece of information with anyone. Even Kate and myself would probably have to notice something off and ask about it before he would share it with us. Walter was an alright guy, he was two years ahead of me and got promoted to be themander''s aide one year after he joined the unit, but he was definitely not someone Ajax would share any personal information with.


    ¡°I can see it.¡± Walter chose to answer me after a few seconds recovering from the shock of our reactions. ¡°It¡¯s why I got promoted so quickly, I have the ability to tell the level of any being. Sadly anything else such as name ,age , stats or skills is not avable but it still makes for a great ability, especially since the abilityes with some innate privacy pration.¡±


    That piece of knowledge was the second bomb dropped in the span of a ten seconds, any type of scanning skill that had privacy peration was a rare skill. So why is he being so open about it? It took me a few seconds to put it together and a quick look at Kate let me know we came to the same realization. His ability was already documented as part of his file so us knowing meant nothing with so many others already aware of it.


    In fact many had known about him for a while and this had led to him receiving privileges, that could be why he was so nonchnt about sharing Ajax¡¯s level. That and I doubt he was aware of just how young Ajax was, he was a decent bit taller than me after all.


    ¡°Commander, would it be alright for me to ask to keep Ajax¡¯s level private.¡± Kate seemed to be a lot quicker toe to a decision and asked themander.  ¡°Hmmm ¡­ , yes, I can see why that would be appropriate. While I have no problem with doing that he will not get to skimp out on his duties, both as a hunter and as part of this unit should we be involved in any skirmishes.¡± themander rubbed his chin as he thought everything through.


    Both Kate and I let out a heavy sign and slumped down a little. With that out of the way all that was left was to inform Ajax of all this. Though askin Ajax to be secretive about himself was a lot like asking water to be wet.


    ¡°But that¡¯s all I will do.¡± themander continued. ¡°I¡¯ve been told that beside Baron Stillwater¡¯s heir we will be having two others invited over for this excitement. I don¡¯t know who they are but if any of the bratse with someone that can pick him out there¡¯s nothing I can do.¡±


    His words were like a bucket of cold water. He was right nheless. It was in fact highly likely that whoever else wasing here to lead will have someone with the ability to view people¡¯s levels, we just had to hope they couldn¡¯t see their age as well. His words also seemed to have a different effect on the other person in the room.


    ¡°I will follow your orders, sir. But can I ask why we are keeping this all a secret? We¡¯ve been all but shouting about how talented Tom here is for the past two years. His brother being a bit more talented shouldn¡¯t matter all that much.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re both right and wrong there Walter.¡± themander gently said. ¡°Yes we¡¯ve been bragging a little about Tom¡¯s potential and talent, but Ajax is more than just a bit more talented. If I¡¯m not remembering wrong from five years ago Ajax should have turned fifteen justst week.¡±


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    ¡°Oh, he is a bit younger than I thought, but being level twenty-four at the age of twenty shouldn¡¯t be that big of a deal that it would need to be kept quiet.¡± Walter seemed to have misunderstood.


    ¡°You misunderstand, Walter.¡± I said. ¡°Themander met Ajax when he was ten years old. He turned fifteenst week, and he is eight years younger than me.¡±


    Walters'' eyes went wide at this, and he finally put together why Kate and I were so worried about his level getting out. The fact that Ajax was participating at the age of fifteen was downrightmon, that a level twenty-four was taking part in this skirmish was actually a little below the average, as most people recruited for this were around level twenty-seven. That a fifteen year old was level twenty-four however was a big deal. I could only imagine what chaos it would cause if they found out he could actually wield mana as well.


    ¡°He¡¯s level twenty-four at fifteen years old¡± Walter all but shouted and I turned a worried look towards the entrance of the tent while Kate gave him a look colder than ice.


    ¡°Yes, and I would appreciate it if you tried to keep that to yourself and not announce it to the whole camp.¡± the general said while shaking his head.


    ¡°Thank you once againmander¡± I said as both Kate and myself bowed our heads in gratitude.


    ¡°Oh! Enough of that. Let''s just go out and get something to eat.¡± themander waved us off.


    As we exited the tent it was already getting dark out and all the small fires did more to light up the camp than thest few rays of sun. As we were approaching what would be the mess tent I could see the three other hunters of our unit all sitting around on makeshift chairs while the cooks were nearby busy preparing what looked like a deer and two boars for dinner, it would seem that themander would have to wait a bit for dinner to be ready.


    At this point I was looking around for Ajax, I knew he left an hour earlier than the other hunters and that was three hours ago. It took me five minutes to spot him, and when I did he was only now returning to camp empty handed. The only thing he was carrying was the oversized backpack that only seemed appropriate because of Ajax¡¯s own size.


    ¡°Well, well, well. It seemed we picked up a dud hunter for a ride along.¡± Spencer said right as Ajax approached the mess area. ¡°I¡¯m sorry that the other hunters will have to overwork themselves without Wand here.¡±


    Spencer is the narcissistic asshole who took a liking to Kate. He is also the third born son of a first generationnded knight. Despite his mother only being a concubine, or perhaps because of it, he seemed to have a discriminatory view onmoners. That Kate would rather choose to be with me rather than him seemed to have needled him some and after three years of getting nowhere with me he was looking to take that out on Ajax now.


    The other hunters threw dirty looks at his statement, though they didn¡¯t throw any friendly ones towards Ajax either considering he did in facte back empty handed. For all themotion Ajax didn¡¯t seem to do anything other than take in the area, throw a scowl in Spencer''s direction and head towards the cooks who were butchering the animals.


    After getting to the cooks workstation he proceeded to take off and open his backpack a few feet away. He then pulled out the body of a deer, arge boar that couldn¡¯t have been lower than level seventeen and to the surprise of everyone a bear. They were all already gutted and skinned as well as bagged in something leakproof.


    ¡°Where would you like me to put these? I would like to have the bags back before tomorrow as carrying corpses without them makes the pack all dirty and it¡¯s a pain to wash out.¡± Ajax said.


    ¡°d, you take the boar and the deer and start making dinner, we''re behind schedule as it is, Eddy you keep butchering the rest of these and start preserving them, I¡¯ll handle the bear.¡± The head cook quickly took in the situation and gave instructions. ¡° I¡¯ll make sure to have the bags cleaned and ready for you in the morning, thanks for butchering them yourself.¡±


    Seeing Ajax just nod he continued, ¡°I have to say, I am curious as to why you would bring in a bear though.¡±


    ¡°Ah ¡­¡± Ajax seemed to blush a little at this, to the good natured amusement of the guards who took in the scene. ¡°My vige had to let deer and boar poption build back up after a kobold group entered our hunting grounds, they never made it to the vige but bear was the only thing we could hunt for ourselves for a while so I kind of got a taste for it.¡±


    ¡°Well then I¡¯ll make sure to have a big bear steak ready for you tonight!¡± the cook said and he patted Ajax on the shoulder twice before dragging the bagged bear after d towards the kitchen tent.


    Following that Ajax took a quick look around and his eyes stopped once theynded on me. As soon as he saw me he pulled the pack up on his shoulders with considerably less weight than it had before and headed straight for me. Much to my and a few others amusement he passed the ck-jawed Spencer without so much as sparring him a nce.


    ¡°I left before amodations were put up, do you know where I cany down my pack?¡± as he said this he also leaned in for a quick hug which I thought was a little out of character for him. As he wrapped his arms around me and squeezed slightly for a quick hug he also whispered in my ear. ¡°I also have the body of a level twenty-five bear still on me, but I¡¯d rather not draw that much attention to myself.¡±


    I looked at him wide eyed for a brief moment before shaking my head.¡±Yeahe with me, I think we can figure this out.¡± This was more like the paranoid Ajax I remembered, a quick nod to themander and Kate and I led Ajax off in the direction of our three person tent. Now I had to figure out how we would deal with the butchered corpse of a level twenty-five bear.

 Chapter 62

    Chapter 62


    The guards working undermander Grievous managed to set up a much better camp than I expected. After all this was only just a one night stop before we would reach the meeting ce where the Baron¡¯s son and whatever other noblemanders would join us and the rest of the conscripts. The terrain where we would fight was specifically chosen so that a river, a forest, an open in and a small pass were all included in the approximate geography.


    To me this seemed like an odd ce for the skirmish to take ce considering all the different ways it could backfire but I wasn¡¯t part of themand structure, and if I was lucky I wouldn¡¯t be noticed by it either.


    After ¡®not realizing this was a one night stop¡¯ and going back out to ¡®collect the traps Iid down¡¯ I returned without much fanfare and passed the second bear corpse on to the cooks after removing its mana core. While I did receive some good natured jokes from them on the topic they left it at that, clearly I wasn¡¯t the only one with too much enthusiasm and too little paying attention.


    The cooks were all good at their job. Unlike all the ¡®army food¡¯ stereotypes I was expecting from my previous life I received a juicy bear steak, though some decently leveled skills probably had something to do with that.


    After finally turning in for the night, happy with the fact that neither I, nor Kate, had to take a night shift for the camp''s protection, we stayed up a little longer while Tom went straight to sleep.


    ¡°So, who was that asshole that tried to pick a fight with me earlier?¡± I asked Kate,


    ¡°That was Spencer.¡± she said as a frown shed over her face. ¡°He is the first generation son of anded knight. He isn¡¯t the heir of the estate either but has adopted themoners are beneath him attitude despite that he will most likely end up as just amon branch family with the title of noble in name only.¡±


    ¡°We had met about four and half years ago, a little after your visit in fact, when Tom was getting scouted to join this unit. We didn¡¯t really interact much and just kept our distance from him without much problems. All of this changed when we finally entered the unit three years ago.¡±


    ¡°You see, healers are quite rare for the guard so their assignment into units isn¡¯t really formalized. Most of us don¡¯t join units usually preferring to work the barracks. My wanting to join a unitbined with my talent caused quite the stir for a few months. You see it was customary for a healer to join the same unit as their spouse should they have one in a unit. The othermanders weren¡¯t happy not to be able to grab and use me for political advancement with the local nobility.¡±¡°It was at this time that Spencer ¡®realized¡¯ his love for me and expected me to just rush into his arms at the chance to join a noble. That obviously didn¡¯t happen and he has had it out for Tom ever since. He must have picked up on the resemnce between the two of you and decided to cause trouble.¡±


    I just shook my head at the situation, it didn¡¯t even deserve words to acknowledge how stupid it was.


    ¡°But that''s nothing more than an inconvenience. The thing you should be more worried about is the fact that you are level twenty-four at the age of fifteen.¡± She changed the subject to something I wasn¡¯t expecting.


    I looked surprised at her for a few moments. Though the fact that she had this information certainly made Tom¡¯s subdued reaction at my killing a level twenty-five bear make a lot more sense.


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    ¡°How do you know my level? The recruiter who enlisted me didn¡¯t have an inspect skill that could see levels.¡± I asked curiously. While I was surprised at her knowing this, it wasn¡¯t something that I should be paranoid about, she had much more sensitive information about me than my level.


    ¡°Themander¡¯s aide, Walter, also has an inspect skill. His can only find out the level but mistook you and Tom for being much closer in age and just let it slip. Thankfully only Tom, themander and I were with him when he did and themander told him to keep it to himself.¡± I sighed with relief as she finished speaking.


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to thank him for that.¡± I mumbled.


    ¡°You probably should, but that is not urgent. While themander is going to keep his aide from spilling the beans about your surprising level and agebination that is all he is going to do. When we meet up with the main forces tomorrow there is a chance that whatever nobles got invited here might have someone with them that also has the inspect skill.¡± she brought up a good point I hadn¡¯t realized.


    ¡°Thanks for the heads up. I¡¯ll try to make it so that I am always busy and gone somewhere in the forest should they make their way through camp.¡± I started with the foundations of what could only be a shaky n.


    This was even more true considering my interaction with the other hunters. Shortly after Idelivered my second bear to the cooks the three of them all had a quick word with me. Unlike Spencer they all seemed genuinely happy with mypetence to hunt and congratted me on my kills, they also let me know not to bring in that much food at once if it¡¯s not requested since it would either overwork the cooks or send the unit into a fooda, and those were not mutually exclusive.


    ¡°If you don¡¯t mind me asking, how did you get to level twenty-four so quickly? I am barely at twenty-three.¡± she said.


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± I took a few seconds to ponder how I would answer that.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to tell me if you don¡¯t want to. Just forget I asked.¡± She quickly said when she noticed me not answering.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, you already know quite a bit about me and have already proven trustworthy with that information so I might as well tell you.¡± I reassure her. ¡°Would you mind if I exined on the trip tomorrow. It''s a bit of a lengthy exnation and I¡¯m going to tell Tom as well so I¡¯d rather only do it once.¡±


    With that out of the way we both went to sleep. The following morning the speed with which the camp got packed up and we started moving surprised me. Everyone had put in an hour¡¯s work packing up before people started having a meat heavy breakfast in small groups. It wasn¡¯t more than two hours before we were fully packed up and already moving.


    As we moved Kate, Tom and I got a bit of space between us and the group as I started to exin to them how exactly I leveled so high and about my extra stats. They had proven trustworthy so sharing that with them was a good step towards letting go of my paranoia.


    ¡°So you¡¯re saying you already have more than one thousand stats total?¡± Kate asked me after I finished the overview of my exnation.


    ¡°Yep.¡± I answered ¡°In fact, since you are a caster that means you probably split your stats with only a few points going into any physical ones besides vitality. If we could somehow get you to also be able to save points to spendter I think you could squeeze out a few more forced points in them.¡±


    This idea had only urred to me after seeing how heavily she was breathing despide the rtive light weight she had on her back for the duration of the march.


    ¡°You know, that¡¯s not a bad idea. It¡¯s not like I use those stats for anything really, so any point I can avoid spending in them is another one I can put towards another stat.¡±she seemed positively giddy at the idea.


    ¡°Do you think you could teach me about that as well?¡± asked Tom.


    ¡°I might be able to but I don¡¯t see any real benefits in it for you. Even if you save up the points, it will be decades before you even raise a single point in any of your physical stats so I highly doubt saving them will help you since you will be very weak for your level if you do.¡± I pointed it out to him.


    ¡°Won¡¯t that be the same case for Kate, about the time it takes?¡± he asked a bit downcast.


    ¡°Not really, since her physical stats are not that high she will have a lot of an easier time raising them. With them in the 30¡¯s range I am guessing, based on this trek, it might take her a month or two of a strict workout regimen in order to gain one or two points that should be sustainable until she reaches thete forties.¡±


    Kate¡¯s mood lifted considerably at the idea that she could still work to gain almost two level¡¯s worth of stats, it was almost like she took a stamina boost and had pushed through a march to the meeting point without taking a break on the wagons like the mages of the unit.


    Once we made it close to the meeting point we all spent the next hour setting up our permanent spot. Our tents were specifically made so we managed tobine the six that we had, counting the spares Kate insisted we take with us, into arge tent with threepartments. Two for them and I to sleep in and another we would use as a living room.


    Not three minutes after we were done, someone, Walter I suspect from the look he was giving me, showed up at our tent.


    ¡°Tom, you are to report to themander now.¡± he nodded to Tom who started walking towards themand tent. ¡°Kate, Ajax, he said you could join him if you want since this will probably affect you too.¡±

 Chapter 63

    Chapter 63


    As Waleter led the three towards theirmander¡¯s tent they all exchanged some worried looks. After the conversation he had with Kate the previous night as well as the talk through their whole march Ajax was feeling rather good about this whole situation. Sure being conscripted was not exactly how he had nned to spend his time, but he could use it to bring his skill levels up to where they should be for someone of his stats.


    This new development was something that he hadn¡¯t expected. What reason would themander have for Tom specifically to join him right after they had started setting up their main camp? Not to mention the ominous warning that he and Kate might be affected by it as well. As they reached thergemand tent the two guards acting as sentries didn¡¯t so much as nod to them as they moved past.


    As they entered they took in the scene. The tent lookedrge from the outside but once inside the space seemed a lot more cramped. In the middle of the tent stood a rather realistic map that had what Ajax assumed to be the terrain nearby fully fleshed out.


    ¡°You¡¯re all here. Good.¡± themander said as he looked up from setting up certain figurines on the map.¡±


    ¡°Reporting, sir¡± both Tom and Kate straightened into a salute at themander¡¯s acknowledgement or their presence with Ajax a moment behind copying their actions.


    As their salutes were waved off themander went and took a seat at the table in the room that was filled with food and waved for them to join him. Rather than sit at the head of the table he took the seat on one side with Walter sitting behind him as Tom sat opposite him with Kate and Ajax taking a seat beside him.


    ¡°I know you are all probably wondering why I called you here so soon.¡± Themander started talking as he also put some food on his te and offered them some water. ¡°The reason for that is that I just received word, from multiple sources, on who the other noblemanders for this skirmish are going to be.¡±


    This information made all of them freeze as they politely took the offered drink and a few bits of food here and there. The nobles were probably thest person any of them wanted to get noticed by. While Ajax may be the most prominent of the three, all of them were rather talented and being herded into a retinue of one noble or another this early into their development would either see their potential stifled or chained to said noble house.


    ¡°I understand your reactions, sadly there is nothing I can realistically do about this. One of the two has already arrived, he is the son of an unimportant baron a few ways off whose father Baron Stillwater owed a favour to. The second, has not yet arrived, is the reason why you are here.¡± Themander¡¯s face looked tired as he spoke about this. ¡°The second noble is a daughter of Archduke Goldmancer.¡± he stopped there as he let all of them take in that information.


    It was a good thing he did as all four of them, Walter included, had their eyes wide as tes at the new. There were always only three Archdukes, all selected from the prominent dukes of the kingdom to fill three specific roles. Their family names of the selected are always being overwritten, but they kept their house sigil for as long as they kept the position. House Goldmancer, always represented the richest, most affluent of the Dukes, House Silvertongue the politically connected and House Steelde the strongest military.


    ¡°When you say a daughter of Archduke Goldmancer, you mean <em>the</em> daughter of Archduke Goldmancer?¡± The one to break the silence was surprising Walter, him clearly being as taken aback by the news as all of them.


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    ¡°Yes,¡± themander nodded.


    While Tom and Kate frowned at the news, Ajax had no idea why that specification was necessary. Catching on to the dilemma Ajax was caught in, themander decided to amodate him.


    ¡°While Kate and Tom think over the implication, Walter, why don¡¯t you exin to young Ajax here what the problem is.¡±


    Walter quickly nodded and turned to Ajax to speak, if in a slightly lesser volume. ¡°The current Archduke Goldmancer has risen to prominence a few hundred years ago and has maintained the position longer than any other Goldmancer in history. The added legal scrutiny has always led the position to be a temporary one as other dukes amassed more wealth.¡±


    ¡°Archduke Goldmancer has somehow managed to bring his family into the position at an early age, back when his father was the head of the house. This aplishment led to him being named heir ahead of his fellow siblings. The surprising, and worrisome part, is that he only took a single wife in all this time and fathered only one child eighteen years ago.¡±


    ¡°His position as head of the house was well established but with the recent birth of a potential heir, especially as he has been getting on in age, has led to several of his nephews and grand-nephews to try and assassinate the girl in hopes of a chance at taking position as the new head of the house. The girl herself is said to be more than a little talented, any information regarding just how talented however is being strictly regted by the Archduke.¡±


    ¡°That is the reason that I called you here for, Tom¡± Commander Grievous said. ¡°A recent failed attempt on her life has led the Archduke to do a thorough cleansing of his household. During this time the girl was sent here with nothing but a single loyal guard and a friend of hers.¡±


    ¡°Your position as our unofficial unit mascot makes you uniquely qualified to be our unit''s official liaison with the noblemanders. You are talented and sufficiently well known as to not be an insult yet also weak enough as to not pose any credible threat.¡±


    ¡°And, as if this situation wasn¡¯t enough of a spin already¡± themander seemed to be as frustrated by the troublesome situation as the rest of them ¡°the friend she has brought with her is the granddaughter of Duke Manashaper.¡±


    At hearing the name Ajax showed more recognition than either his brother or his sister-inw. Duke Manashaper was a name he had not only heard about but actively looked into. He was the only person in the kingdom with an openly known Legendary Skill. The name of the skill was kept secret but its effect, supposedly, worked as sort of an automatic reflex that allowed the Duke to go on a sort of auto-pilot to protect himself.


    While this skill wouldn¡¯t seem all that powerful at first nce it enabled the very reason he was granted the rank of Duke. Duke Manashaper was in the unique position of being the only unded Duke, he was instead the head-master of the Academy, for the simple fact that he could try out new spell incantations without worrying for his own safety as his skill would stop the cast should it be harmful to him. It was widely believed that the man had multiple spell books that he kept to himself thanks to his ability to discover and record new ones.


    ¡°That is, that is quite a lot to take in¡± Tom admitted before he steeled himself. ¡° What would my new position require?¡±


    ¡° The position itself is actually quite enviable.¡± Walter picked up, his reverie at the iing information broken by Tom¡¯s question. ¡° Outside of unitbat, you are to stay ready at all times to be sent to deliver a message. This means you are exempt from certain duties such as night-watch ortrine. The only downside is the added scrutiny on you and anyone close to you by the noble and their guards.¡±


    Tom knew well enough that he should in fact be ecstatic to receive this position. Not only would he receive less work around camp but also more time to train as his schedule would be kept open should he need to deliver a message. He knew full well his talent, while above average, wasn¡¯t special enough to warrant dedicated recruiting by noble houses. The same could not be said about Kate, let alone Ajax.


    ¡°If it does bring any constion, outside of Walter here, and perhaps any of the Archdukepany, none of the people on our side of the skirmish have any inspect skill.¡± Themander tried to smooth things over. ¡°Your brother''s ¡­ circumstances, should stay under wraps easily enough.¡±


    With the new assignment given, themander dismissed them and the three of them headed towards their shared tent.


    ¡°Do you think I should move to a separate tent?¡± Ajax broke the silence as they slowly moved through the camp.


    ¡° That might not be a bad id-¡± Tom started to say.


    ¡°No. Someone sharing a tent with their brother and sister-inw is normal, someone changing that arrangement after the liaison position being given to his brother would only invite further scrutiny.¡± Kate interrupted Tom. ¡°The best we can do is just stick to our jobs and try not to draw attention to ourselves. Anything else we will just have to react to.¡±

 Chapter 64

    Chapter 64


    As they were finishing setting up their tent one of the two guards they saw at themand tent came over to grab Tom.


    ¡°Tom, you are to get ready to meet the nobles. It seems the final group will arrive at the base camp in a few minutes.¡± he said.


    Tom nodded and proceeded to get changed into his armor, after all he had to look presentable as the main liaison. He got dressed very quickly with the help of Kate, showing that he had plenty of experience putting the armor on and taking it off. After he left Kate joined Ajax in theirmon area where they set up a table. Just before she took a seat she took a quick nce out the tent to make sure nobody was eavesdropping.


    ¡°There is one more thing you need to be aware of Ajax. Since nobody knows about your ability to wield mana you weren¡¯t pulled aside for this. You see despite the fact of there being more than a dozen mages on each side we are not to use our powers offensively against the other side.¡± Kate exined.


    ¡°But why not?¡± Ajax asked. ¡°Isn¡¯t magic the easiest way to deal with groups of people?¡± Hatchet had drilled into him what the advantages of wielding magic were.


    ¡°Yes they are but the purpose of this skirmish isn¡¯t to kill the enemy, it isn¡¯t even to secure the resources for the Baron. The purpose is to get some training for the conscripted so that should a real war break out they will have a better chance of survival and prove more useful.¡±


    ¡°But then in a real war wouldn¡¯t mages actually go around attacking like this?¡± why wouldn¡¯t you prepare for such a scenario if it was that devastating.


    ¡°Yes and no¡± she replied. ¡°Yes in a real war mages would do devastating damage, but in a real war the amount of troops will be much bigger and the number of people able to detect and protect from such spells would be enough so as to counteract this.¡±


    ¡°The only thing you need to be on the lookout for are mage ambush groups that might be looking to infiltrate and destroy the camp supplies.¡± she exined ¡°You see unlike the conscripted, guard units like ours are also here for training, just of a different type.¡± ¡°While the normal conscripted are to face each other in open field, we are to run infiltration, hit and run as well as ambush tactics. They are mainly to be targeted at the other guard units on the other side but they can also target the main enemy camp. The only suggestion is to avoid any lethal blows, as killing each other is not the point of this exercise whenever engaging the enemy looks to be tond a few blows to signify your victory and then let them retreat, they should do likewise to you.¡±


    This made a lot of sense, after all in terms of actualbat between people of the same level and skills the fight could swing from one moment to the next, such rules of engagement would definitely prove useful as long as they didn¡¯t be a habit in a real war.


    After Kate was done with her exnation Ajax was called out by his fellow hunters where they took to exining his immediate tasks.


    ¡°We are going to split the forest into four for now. As the food storage tent has just been set up we are cleared to go out and start filling it. The n is that each of us will take one of the areas and not only hunt there but alsoy down some traps. These traps aren¡¯t to catch anything but instead to signal should anyone be passing through. For the next four days we will all have a chance to go through each of the areas. As such we will also practice dodging each other¡¯s traps for when we need to infiltrate enemy territory. Any questions?¡± The oldest of the hunters asked.


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    Ajax had no questions for them. While all of them were not only much older than him they were also higher level, with the high end of the army being at around level forty. Surpassing that point while staying as a guard got very difficult even with decades spent on the job because of the slow down in experience gain.


    As he made his way through his assigned area Ajaxyed down quite a few traps. Though signal traps were not the main ones he was taught by Hatchet for the past five year he had been shown how to put them and managed to adapt most of the different types he knew to do the same.


    At first he also wondered why they wouldn''t also be putting down other types of traps after setting up the fifth one, it only then urred to him that they might only do that after they each had a chance to experience all the zones. Why not take advantage of the first few days and get some practice on dodgin traps without being afraid of stepping into any dangerous ones.


    This realization made him think that the other side might be looking at things the same way, if that was the case, wouldn¡¯t now be the best time to try and infiltrate the enemy camp? With this idea in mind Ajax finished setting up his traps, hunted down a beqar and started nning his activities for tonight.


    The rest of the day was uneventful, with him just spending time practicing his non-mana skills before dinner and waiting for the sun to go down. He did exin his n to Kate, that he was looking to try and nt one of the listening enchanted items they were provided in the enemymand tent on the first night. He would have talked it over with Tom as well but he hadn¡¯t returned yet.


    Surprisingly Kate seemed to think this was a great idea. Since spies that were caught were only imprisoned, him getting caught might actually be a good oue for staying low during this time. The only downside being that he will be wasting all his time for the reminder of the skirmish.


    After the sun fully set he headed out. It was a short thirty minute run to the main camp and then he took a longer route through the mountain pass to get to the enemy side. It might take twice as longpared to passing through the open field but that was just asking to get spotted and captured.


    It was around midnight when he finally reached the enemy camp. Getting in was surprisingly easy as their sentries were all still busy setting up watchtowers. In all honesty he thought that watchtowers were a great idea, one that he hadn¡¯t seen over in his camp, but leaving the camp almost unguarded while setting them up was just asking for trouble.


    It took him almost no time at all to find themand tent, simr to the one in the camp his side had; it was the biggest tent close to three other big tents, most likely the ones housing the leading nobles for this side.


    Using his earth magic he quickly tunneled and crawled his way into the tent from the side so as to avoid the guards sitting at the entrance. Thankfully nobody had stayed behind on the first day so he had an easy time hiding the listening device. The only question was where to ce it? Almost anything could be removed from here. In the end he decided to hide it under the small tent on the map covering therge temple representing the enemy base. After all, how often would that piece be moved?


    Getting out was done through the same tunnel, and afterwards he sealed it back up and used [Syphon Mana] to clear away any residue of magic. Just as he started walking towards the edge of the camp and looking to make a quick getaway he heard a voice call out from behind him.


    ¡°Hey, you, what are you doing here?¡± a soldier on patrol said as he approached him.


    Ajax had two options now, one to take out the soldier, this was the less useful one as the presence of a spy would be noted and the listening device found, or he could maybe trick him into thinking he was part of their army.


    ¡°Me?¡± he asked, trying his best not to show how surprised he was by the patrol not being at all on guard against him. ¡°I''m just out for a walk.¡±


    ¡°Why are you taking a walk at this hour? We were all told to get a good night¡¯s rest because we are starting some drills tomorrow morning.¡±


    ¡°One of my tent neighbor¡¯s snores louder than a rooster, I am hoping to tire myself out so I can get some sleep before morning.


    Hearing the exnation and taking another look at hismon clothes the patrolman gives him a pitying look before he lets him get on with it. He does mention that he should carry on with his walk away from the noble quarters, disturbing one of their sleep is just asking for trouble.


    On the way back Ajax was ecstatic at his sess, he was just deciding how and to whom he should report that he already managed to sneak a bug into the enemy main tactic room.

 Chapter 65

    Chapter 65


    Ajax was conflicted about how to go about reporting that the bug had been ced. On the one hand he didn¡¯t want to draw any more attention to himself than absolutely necessary, on the other hand he wanted this whole thing to end as quickly as possible, which is why he went to nt the bug in the first ce.


    In the end he decided that getting to sleep and discussing this with Kate and Tom in the morning was the best course of action. Since he was on an obscure path and had been using his stealth skills for the past twenty minutes he decided to spend his mana and pumped [Syphon Mana] as well as his stamina to get back to camp as quickly as possible.


    With his full stats the three hour journey was shortened to twenty minutes. As he got back both his stamina and his mana were hovering around the one hundred mark. He knew that they would replenish fast enough to be almost filled by mid morning so he quickly changed out of his gear while catching his breath and crashed into his cot.


    Kate woke him upter than usual the following morning to get ready for breakfast. His stamina had fully recovered after a good night''s rest but his mana still had a few hundred points to go. He quickly got back into his gear and went to the mess tent where he quickly joined Kate and Tom at their table after he picked up his food, luckily they were alone.


    ¡°Morning¡± he greeted them after he took a seat.


    ¡°Morning¡± Tom answered back with Kate giving a nod as she took a sip of an herbal drink that was supposed to wake you up. It wasn¡¯t coffee , the green coloring, sweet taste and slightly syrupy consistency sent that message to him when he first heard of a morning pick me up drink.


    ¡°How did you little night-raid go?¡± Kate asked with a joking tone.


    ¡°Night-raid?¡± Tom asked, surprised. ¡°What is this about a night-raid?¡±


    ¡°Restless here wanted to go on a night-raid before they had a chance to properly set up.¡± she exined. ¡°And you let him go through with it?¡± Tom asked as Ajax was downing a mug of the herbal drink. He was too out of it so he decided to wait until they reached a point where they needed his input.


    ¡°Well why not?¡± Kate said.


    ¡°What do you mean why not?¡± Tom was getting a little worked up.


    ¡°Well either he gets caught or he doesn¡¯t. If he gets caught all that¡¯s going to happen is that he will spend the rest of this skirmish as a prisoner. It¡¯s not like that puts him in a position to get found out.¡± she just waved him off.


    ¡°But ¡­¡± Tom trailed off, not finding a point to argue.


    ¡°So, how did it go?¡± Kate asked again, giving Ajax a smirk as her ears twitched on top of her head.


    ¡°Better than I could have hoped for¡± He said as he put down the empty mug.¡±So well in fact that I don¡¯t know if I should be reporting it.¡±


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    ¡°Oh that well?¡± Tomughed ¡°Just what did you manage to do, get a look at their assault n?¡±


    ¡°I nted a bug in their war room.¡± Ajax ignored the good natured ribbing from his brother. ¡°I hid it under the piece representing their main camp on their map of the area.¡±


    This answer wiped both the conspiratory look on Kate¡¯s face and the sarcastic one off Tom and reced them with serious ones. They both knew the importance of what he imed to have done and it was big. That type of inside information could swing this skirmish wildly from the start. Since the ones to get the credit and suffer the humiliation should that happen would be the nobles in charge of both sides the spy who did this would be put under a lot of scrutiny.


    ¡°Are you serious?¡± Tom asked, though his tone assured him that the question was rhetorical.


    To respond Ajax just ced the listening end of the device on the table.


    ¡°So, what do you think I should do with this?¡± Ajax asked both of them.


    ¡°I would say get rid of it, you definitely don¡¯t want that kind of focus centered on you.¡± KAte said, knowing that his level, age and capacity for mana could be found out quickly by any motivated noble with an axe to grind.


    ¡°Wait a moment.¡± Tom cut in. ¡°How did you manage to sneak in and nt this?¡±


    At my confused look he decided to expand on his question.


    ¡°Did you use your mana in any way?¡±


    ¡°I used it when I returned to cut down on the travel time and catch up on my sleep, otherwise [Stealth] and [Deception] are the only skills I used to get in and out of their camp without being noticed.¡± Ajax said. Tom was slightly nodding his head as he got a faraway look in his eyes.


    ¡°Let''s bring this up to themander then, he could probably make use of it without revealing your involvement.¡± Tom said after a few seconds of thinking.


    Ajax and Kate both exchanged a rather skeptical look but in the end Tom was the one who knew themander best and Ajax wanted to trust him after the help in not only being moved to this unit but also concealing his level. With only a slow nod from both of them the three quickly finished their breakfast and headed towards themand tent.


    As they reached themand tent Walter was just exiting with a set of empty tes, probably from themander''s breakfast. He stopped after two paces when he saw the three of them walking up to the tent and Tom¡¯s determined look.


    ¡°Morning, ¡° he greeted them, ¡° how can I help you?¡±


    ¡°Can you get us in to talk to themander, we have something he will want to hear.¡± Tom said drawing strange looks not only from Walter but also the two guards standing at attention at the entrance.


    ¡°Alright ¡­¡± He said slowly and returned to the tent only toe back out a few secondster without the tes. ¡°Come on in.¡±


    When they entered they found themander looking standing over the map-table. It was simr to the one where Ajax nted the device. Considering that there should also be one in their own main campsmand tent Ajax deduced that they must have used this area quite often for such skirmishes. Unlike the enemy¡¯s map which only had their main camp ced, this one also had the three smaller guard unit camps ced on it.


    ¡°You three again, what is it this time?¡± he said.


    Tom had warned the both of them as they finished their breakfast and on the way over that the baron¡¯s son had thrown his weight around yesterday after he introduced himself as the liaison and sent him back with some nonsensical orders just to put on a show for the Archduke¡¯s party.


    ¡°Well, sir, we wanted your help to deal with a bit of a situation.¡± Tom said as his eyes flickered over to Ajax.


    ¡°Uhhh,¡± themander groaned while rubbing his temple. He then addressed Ajax. ¡°Get it out then, what did you manage to do this early into this mess.¡±


    ¡°After I finished setting out some trapsst night I went to scout the enemy base. Since they were in disarray setting up watch-towers I was able to infiltrate their camp and ce a bug in theirmand tent.¡± Ajax said as he ced the listening device on the table between him and themander. ¡° The issue is that I don¡¯t really want to deal with both the negative and positive fallout should it be known that I am the one who ced it.¡±


    Both themander and Walter stared at the device on the table.


    ¡°Where did you ce it?¡± Walter was the first one to break out of his shock.


    ¡°Under the piece representing their main camp, it was the only one that was ced in position.¡±


    Walter looked like he wanted to ask something else but he was stopped in his tracks by a boomingughtering from themander. ¡°Now this, this is a problem I am happy to have.¡± he got out betweenughs.


    ¡°Leave that with us here and both you and Kate can head on out and carry on with your tasks, Tom you might as well wait here since I will be sending you over to the main camp with a message very soon.¡± Themander moved over to the table and started writing out a letter.


    Both Kate and Ajax gave a quick salute and moved towards the exit of the tent when themander called out to them again. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about this, I¡¯ll keep your name out of it and make sure you get the reward for this¡±

 Chapter 66

    Chapter 66


    The rest of the day Ajax spent doing the same tasks as all the other hunters. As he got assigned to another of the quadrants that they had split the surrounding area into and proceeded to hunt for a few boars. The area was rtively full of them and by the end of his time there he had killed four of them. He could have gotten a lot more of them but the hunter team as a whole decided not to change the ecosystem of the forest so much.


    The other part of his job there was to set up new traps. Despite having trained in setting up traps before doing so here was a whole different experience. Not only did he have to set up traps in an area that was already trapped, those traps were ced there by his allies. This gave him a lot more freedom. In the first area where he put traps he had to make sure that the traps themselves were self sufficient to alert the presence of the enemy or a significantly dangerous animal.


    Here he had a lot more freedom. The first few hours of his time in the quadrant consisted solely of investigating and analyzing the trapsid down by his fellow hunter. The traps were all the usual variants that Hatchet had taught him for thest five years so it didn¡¯t take long to see how they worked. One thing he did pick up on was that while this hunter'' traps were not all that different from his, in fact they were less reliable in differentiating between animals and spies, they were a lot better hidden with a much more sensitive trigger.


    He took quite a bit of time but he wasn¡¯t able to find out how it was that these traps blended in so much better than his own. If it wasn¡¯t for his rtively high perception and stealth skill he would have missed a few of them entirely. In fact he wasn¡¯t fully confident that he hadn¡¯t missed and maybe even triggered a few of them already. Thinking back this area was the one that the lead hunter was in charge of the day before.


    With these different traps already present here he had a much wider field of options. A full third of the traps he ced today had been much smaller in scope, this was because the trap''s result was not to alert the base but in fact trigger one of these other traps. This was not to say that he didn¡¯t have trap chains in his first set-up. But because the result would be to always alert the camp he couldn¡¯t be as stealthy. He fully nned on discussing and learning from this hunter before the end of this conflict.


    On the way back to the camp he climbed up high on one of the trees near the edge of the forest so that he could get a good look down at the main camp. From there he saw that not only was the set-up much moreplete than the day before but also that they had started to build their own watch-towers. His report from this morning about their presence in the enemy camp must have moved up the timeline for his own leadership.


    Looking carefully he worked out that the soonest the first engagement would happen will be two days from now. No way they would be ready to march out before then. As he descended he headed back and dropped off his butchered kills to the cooks. All of them were very thankful for his extra attention to butcher the animal in the field, this let them have a few blood drained portions they could start preparing for dinner.


    He didn¡¯t see either Kate or Tom for dinner, he mostly kept to himself before the other hunters joined him at his table.


    ¡°Alright let''s talk about how everyone''s day went today.¡± The leader started. The conversation was rather nd and had focused mostly on how many times each hunter had triggered the traps of their fellows throughout the day. Ajax himself had triggered a few of them as he had suspected while he was out there, but only a few. In total he had triggered three, one of which he had even noticed towards the end when he climbed the tree.


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    The other three hunters consisted of two older hunters, the team leader and a veteran who triggered none and one respectively, and a younger hunter who looked to be about Tom¡¯s age that triggered five. It seems that the veteran hunter had been through Ajax¡¯s section and had evenplimented him. He had noticed the trap he triggered right as he did but there was nothing he could do to stop it from alerting the camp.


    As he got back to his tent he found Kate and Tom already there, they had had dinner before him.


    ¡°Hey, do you know what happened with the bug in the end.¡± he greeted his brother, but was understandably a little on edge about the whole thing.


    ¡°Hey.¡± Tom returned the greeting. ¡° Yeah, it seems like it will all be alright, at least for now. Themander sent me a message for Baron Stillwater¡¯s heir instead of the whole leadership. He is looking to impress the higher nobles so he didn¡¯t even look into it once he got the news that we have a bug ced.¡±


    ¡°You mean he didn¡¯t ask about who put it there?¡± Kate asked.


    ¡°No, themander just said that we have ess to a bug already and he just went with it. The archduke¡¯s daughter and the duke¡¯s granddaughter did look like they might look into it but it won¡¯t happen right now. As soon as the duke realized what we had he got a shift together to be listening at all times. They are even building a small shed outside the camp that will just be in range to pick up, since these things have such limited range.¡±


    Well that was slightly concerning. Ajax didn¡¯t know whether it was better or worse to be on the radar of a higher tier noble. Unlike the low nobles they almost always had people lining up to join their house willingly so there was no need to kidnap others. On the other hand they had a much stronger pull to get away with it.


    ¡°What impression did the high nobles give you?¡±


    ¡°The archduke¡¯s daughter is verypetitive, always out to prove herself. Themander thinks this is because she has always been coddled by having a high number of guards, being the only direct heir of a six hundred year old archduke with countless older cousins and nephews makes that a must. This is probably the first time she got to go out with only one guard.¡± Tom said. ¡° She seemed very decisive and active in the strategy meetings I saw.


    ¡°The duke¡¯s granddaughter on the other hand is a lot more withdrawn. She didn¡¯t seem at all interested in most of the things that were discussed. She also seemed a little shy, mainly keeping to herself and the archduke¡¯s daughter. The only time she got involved was when it had anything to do with magic, she seemed very enthusiastic about it.¡± he exined. ¡°ording to themander, with her grandfather being who he is, she could have only turned out one of two ways : obsessed with magic, orpletely over it.¡±


    ¡°If she finds out that you are a fifteen year old level twenty-fourmoner with ess to mana it might be a problem. Doubly so if she finds out about the way you use it in your fighting.¡± he warned.


    ¡°What does that mean?¡± Kate asked. She had heard that he had ess to mana but didn¡¯t know that he took a different approach to its use from the conventional ones.


    ¡°I don¡¯t use runic engravings or chanting.¡± Ajax said.


    ¡°He uses mana a lot more like a monster does. He imbues actions directly or keeps a steady flow in a specific effect.¡± Tom exined. ¡°It is a lot less mana efficient and the output is also lower, but the speed and versatility he has with it is quite something.


    ¡°But then how will you take part inbat if you can¡¯t use your mana without drawing so much unwanted attention?¡± Kate asked.


    ¡°I¡¯ll just simply fight without it. ording to Hatchet, I fight around level twenty-six without my mana, a bit more work in my skills and I can push a bit further.¡± Ajax said.


    ¡°Wait, how strong are you otherwise?¡± Kate asked. While Ajax had mentioned that he had stockpiled some points without spending them for the duration of his Apprenticeship he never told them how high his stats had gotten.


    ¡°Right now, around level forty-two or forty-three, but Hatchet thinks I could push that fifty with my fighting style once I get more used to the new stats.¡± Said Ajax, while he had gotten used to his stats with normal activities, morphing his whole style to amodate for doubled stats was always going to take more than a week of sparring. ¡°Well, that and getting my skills leveled.¡±


    At that bomb both looked at him with wide eyes, they had expected him to be stronger than average for all his hard work but neither had expected him to be able to hit above twice his level.

 Chapter 67

    Chapter 67


    That discussion had ended with both Tom and Kate taking their time toprehend his situation. Ajax was most likely one of the top five fighters in this unit and could make the push to get into the top three, which was not something they had expected.


    Tom knew that both themander and his right hand man were both over level fifty despite not knowing their exactvel. With Ajax being one of the strongest people around in this skirmish Tom felt a lot more relieved, this meant there was little chance he would get hurt.


    In the meantime Ajax had finished his breakfast and went to meet with the hunters.


    ¡°Alright everyone. Today is going to be quite packed.¡± the leader started. ¡°We will first of all go around our original zones to rece all the old traps that got triggered yesterday. Do not ce down any new ones, this exercise is not only to increase your knowledge at cing traps but also to find the best infiltrators for the uing months. As such we need to make sure the ying field stays even throughout this testing.¡±


    ¡°Afterwards we will all be moving on to a new area.¡± He continued without missing a beat. ¡°We are under a time crunch today as we have to get all of this done as well as catching something to eat by the third hour after noon. After that we all have to report for training, with the entire army moving in as little as two days themanders want to have the army moving through its paces.¡±


    With his orders received Ajax just nodded and went off to reset the traps. The process of resetting the traps was rather easy, though he did have to take very special care and follow a map to dodge the new traps ced there by his fellow hunter the previous day. With the small amount of time avable Ajax barely had the time to set new traps in the area he was assigned while also only catching a single bear, even then he only had time to gut and skin without the time to properly drain it of blood leaving that for the cooks. It seems that their presence has scared off the local fauna so they will be needing to venture further.


    As he made it back to camp and prepared to head off to join the rest of the unit at the main base for the military training he found out that he had joined the lead hunter in not triggering a single trap that day, whereas the veteran hunter triggered two and the rookie a total of six. Not only that but all three of the other huntersined about theck of game and that they will be needing to head out further. Theseints were cut short by the leader saying that they will be heading out further after their traps have been set up as a group.


    As they arrived at the militarypound he saw some halfway organized marching taking ce in the fields. The hunters all split up and went their separate ways to join their friends in the unit. Ajax himself made his way over to Tom as Kate was in the center of a mob of conscripts who had gotten injured during the training. Her and the other five healers had quite a bit to deal with it seems.


    The group he kept the closest watch on as he made his way over were the mages. Unlike the expected dozen or so mages from three guardpanies there were almost three times that many gathered at the firing range. He knew he would need to be very careful as any one of them would easily catch him if he wasn¡¯t careful when using his mana. ¡°Hey, Tom¡± He greeted his brother as he finally found him, though doing this brought him a lot closer to themand group than he would have liked. ¡°Howe there are so many mages, has Lessis been really unlucky in recruiting?¡±


    This was a fair question as it seemed that each of the cities had 1 or two healers but the number of mages was unexpectedlyrge. Tom returned his greeting with a nod before he responded.


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    ¡°No, each guard unit brought four mages with them, the rest of theme from the two baron¡¯s retainers,¡± he said. ¡° Since the archduke¡¯s daughter only brought herself, her friend and one bodyguard, we will be down in numbers during this battle. Your bug actually evens the ying field, if not turning it to our advantage. The reason we are moving out in three days is because of information we picked up on their formation.¡±


    The rest of the day saw the guard units sticking separately in the groups they came in as they all drilled on how to move silently through a forest. This was something that Hatchet had ensured Ajax knew how to do early on in his training so it was more just a refresher course for him.


    ¡°Howe we are training on stealth?¡± Ajax asked Tom.


    ¡°We¡¯re technically not supposed to share this, but¡± Tom quietly whispered as he looked around quickly, ¡°The information we picked up on was that they will be using multiple nks for their initial engagement. In response we will be sending out our guard units to intercept and dy the nks while winning the main engagement with a numbers superiority .¡±


    This n sounded very well thought out to him so he continued practicing for the rest of the day while also helping out Tom, for once he was more knowledgeable than his older brother. With Ajax¡¯s help Tom quickly became one of the stealthier people in the unit, even going so far as to unlock the [Silent Movement] skill. A weaker version of Ajax¡¯s own [Stealth] skill that was gained by those who put in time and effort but didn¡¯t quite have the talent to unlock [Stealth].


    ¡°How did those noble girls seem to you?¡± Ajax asked once they were taking a break following theirst drill of the day.


    ¡°Why are you asking about that?¡± Tom asked with a slightly befuddled look. Wasn¡¯t he supposed to stay under the radar of nobles, why would he go about asking about them.


    ¡°I heard in thest two days around the camp that they are very talented, not only that they are simr in age to me. I want to know how Ipare with some of the more talented nobles around my age.¡± Ajax exined his curiosity.


    ¡°That makes sense.¡± Tom nodded. ¡°Sadly I haven¡¯t seen either of them in action, both of them have been a lot more focused on the strategic side of the battle as that is what they came here to practice in the first ce.¡±


    ¡°It also seems they might be looking to give you a reward.¡± He added on. ¡°Their bodyguard started to ask me about the spy who nted the bug before heir Stillwater chased me out and looked to focus attention back on himself. He didn¡¯t follow me as he doesn¡¯t seem to leave the girl¡¯s side for anything.¡±


    Ajax didn¡¯t know how to feel about this. He was both happy at being recognised and offered a reward for his initiative, at the same time he was a bit distressed at having not one but two noble families at least looking into him. The biggest regret he had was this all having happened too early. If he could have at least made it to level thirty-five, or better yet forty, he would have felt more confident in the spotlight. As he was he was strong enough to get noticed but too weak to stand up for himself. If only this conscription had happened in a few years, hemented silently.


    ¡°I guess the best I can hope for is to kick the can down the road.¡± Ajax said as he shook his head, silentlymenting the use of the odd turn of phrase. It did indeed sound quite odd in the localnguage as opposed to English and he could see Tom frown and open his mouth to ask about it when it happened.


    Arge explosion reached his ears from the direction of the firing range close followed by a weak air st. He reflexively ced his shield between himself and the source of the st as well as putting himself in position to guard Tom as well. Shockly however that was not where his preparations ended as he also seemed to have triggered his [<em>Mana Skin</em>] skill by ident, it briefly covering his whole body in a protectiveyer of mana.


    As he lowered his shield a little he saw the back of tho girls standing close to the firing range, one had deep blue hair while the other a tinum blonde. They were holding hands while extending their free hands in front towards the st zone, next to them he could see a heavily armored knight in expensive equipment.


    He quickly guessed at their identity and looked around in case he had blown his cover. Luckily they were surrounded by the other mages in his unit who mostly seemed to have put up a quick raw mana shield, so his activation got lost in the crowd.


    ¡°I¡¯ll head back first¡± was all he said to Tom before heading back towards the camp.


    Tom nodded wordlessly, he had also caught a brief glimpse of a light blue sheen covering Ajax¡¯s skin for a second as he covered him and knew he was in danger of revealing his mana. As Tom watched Ajax leave neither of them noticed the pair of emerald green eyes that also followed Ajax. The duke¡¯s daughter turned his way after feeling one of the fastest and briefest mana responses she had felt from a human.

 Chapter 68

    Chapter 68


    Tom P.O.V


    I watched as Ajax quickly left the main camp and made for ours. I was surprised to see how quick he reacted and managed to put a defensive position not just for himself but also for me. The speed with which his mana reacted was what surprised me the most. I had never seen a mage use mana that quickly when caught unprepared, and that was the time until I saw the blue sheen on his skin, just how fast is he at bringing it up?


    I turn back towards the firing range where I see Commander Grievous as well as two simrly dressed people, most likely themanders of the other guard units, speaking with the two noble girls who just caused themotion. While I hadn¡¯t been around themander all that long, with my new position as mascot he did introduce me to a few of the nobles in our city before. I could clearly see he now wore an expression I have seen time and time again. It was one that told he was pissed off and couldn¡¯t even show that to the person he was talking to.


    The othermanders seemed to be doing a better job of masking their emotions but it was pretty clear that all three of them were pretty annoyed at having a false rm after having to help drill civilians into shape for the uing battles. Looking at the noble girls the blonde one, granddaughter to the Duke, assumed a meek position and at least seemed contrite, the navy haired one, daughter of the Archduke, had an aloof expression that all but said it was a minor matter and she might make a repeat performance if it strikes her fancy.


    I quickly moved to help rearrange some of the dropped training racks that got thrown around in reaction to the explosion as soon as I saw themander separate from the group. It was best if I made myself look busy as I didn¡¯t want his attention on me right now if I could help it.


    Thankfully everything just blew over and the camp got itself into the normal rhythm once again. In fact, after the bigmotion, the disy of power actually improved the troops morale.


    The next day was a repeat of the previous only difference being training started in the morning. As our unit finished with our drills I left to stick next to themander, my job as liaison meant I was almost always on call in case he needed a message delivered. The meeting concluded quickly with all parties agreeing that the n they had made needed no changes unless the enemy made some of their own.


    ¡°Excuse me, sir Tom.¡± the duke¡¯s daughter called out to me.


    ¡°I am not a knight ,mdy, but how could I help you?¡± I answered as politely as I could at being addressed directly. Already fending off res from the two future barrons about being addressed as a noble. ¡°Oh,¡± she seemed to take notice of them as well and gave me an apologetic smile.


    ¡°Is there something I can do for you?¡± I prodded her back on track after a few seconds.


    ¡°Ah ,yes.¡± She came back to herself. ¡°There was someone in your group yesterday that wasn¡¯t here today, a young man with a ratherrge shield, do you happen to know who and where he is?¡±


    My thoughts freezed at the question, I could bet my house that she was looking for Ajax, the only question now was why? Could it be that her guard had a strong Inspect type skill, or maybe she one and managed to pick up on him when he came to the main camp yesterday. I didn¡¯t get a chance to organize my thoughts and respond before her friend cut in.


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    ¡°Really , Lex?¡± she asked. ¡°I thought I convinced you that there was no way someone mounted a spell in less than a second yesterday. What you felt was most likely just some expelled mana from a startled mage that just so happened around him.¡±


    This confirmed to me that they were talking about Ajax. Not only me but even themander, who had turned around as he was about to exit to see what they wanted with me, gave me a brief but pointed look that told me I would have to answer some questions on this topic and that he put it together Ajax was the focus as well.


    ¡°This is a guard regiment, no way a mage would have a shield.¡± heir Stillwater filled in, ¡°all guard mages wear robes and use staffs. Though you not seeing him here today does bring up some concerns, are your men neglecting their dutymander?¡±


    ¡°The only people who were not here today are the hunters of our unit, mdy, if you''re looking for a young man with a shield it must be Ajax.¡± I tried as best as I could to hide my fear but it seems that I didn¡¯t do all that great a job as they picked up on it.


    ¡°Any reason her looking into this Ajax would trouble you?¡± The guard whom I had never heard speak a word since the start of this campaign asked me as his hand went around the hilt of his sword.


    ¡°Ajax is not part of our unit.¡± Themander answered, luckily for me as I didn¡¯t have an answer ready. ¡°He is one of the conscripts, barely fifteen and came into the city to join the Adventurer¡¯s Guild. He was a hunter for one of the viges on the other side of Lessis and we dragged him into our unit to make up for one of ours who was exempted.¡±


    His exnation took the attention of the people off me but it seems it wasn¡¯t enough to put guard at ease, in fact he tightened his grip on the de further.


    ¡°This still doesn¡¯t exin his apprehension, you knowing so much about this actually makes it even more suspicious.¡± He hissed out.


    ¡°Ajax happens to be his little brother.¡± themander continued and also seemed to sh something, perhaps a sigil, to the guard. I wasn¡¯t quick enough to see it but the guard rxed and took his hand off the hilt.


    ¡°See, there you have it.¡± The archduke¡¯s daughter said. ¡°He¡¯s a hunter. Anything else we should know about himmander?¡±


    Despite looking to put the whole incident behind her, the girl is surprisingly sharp. How she picked up that there might be more there I don¡¯t know but I sure was d themander didn¡¯t know about Ajax¡¯s magic since lying to a superior is a crime.


    ¡°Yes, there is.¡± themander¡¯s words froze the blood in my veins, did he know about Ajax? ¡°He is the person who nted the bug into the enemy camp.¡±


    It took everything in me not to give a sigh of relief. The girl seemed satisfied with the answer and both me and themander exited the tent after the duke¡¯s daughter, Lex, promised a reward for his aplishment.


    ¡°We¡¯ll talk about whatever this is tomorrow morning, talk to your brother and Kate tonight but know that I want some answers.¡± themander growled before he made a wave to dismiss me.


    I quickly made my way back towards the unit but bumped into Kate along the way. We both took a little detour out of sight where I exined to her what happened.


    ¡°Oh, my poor boy,¡± she purred. ¡°You look so stressed, let''s see if I can help with that.¡±


    She grabbed onto my arm and pulled me towards the bushes as her ears flicked and her tail wrapped around my waist.


    After Kate ¡­ helped release my stress we both got dressed and headed our separate ways. I was surprised to find our unit all clustered in one ce with boisterousughter being heard. What on earth had happened this time?


    As I made my way over I could see only Spencer and his buddies were sitting away from the main group with annoyed looks on their faces.


    ¡°She sure doesn¡¯t seem to like you.¡± I heard the voice of the lead hunter, signifying that the hunters had returned. I dreaded thinking what had Ajax done this time. ¡°I have to say I feel sorry for you if this is how females react to you.¡±


    Theughter picked up at that and I started to force my way into the group to see what the fuss was all about. In the center, being given a good two feet of room was Ajax and he seemed to be wrestling with a ratherrge cat. The cat was wing and hissing at him, though she was too weak to be anything more than an annoyance for him.


    ¡°Ajax, what did you do?¡± I asked as I approached him.


    ¡°He was jumped by a grown version of one of these, he killed it and chose to take the pup. Doesn¡¯t seem like she likes him though.¡± The youngest hunter barely formed a coherent answer through hisughter.


    As I approached the struggling duo to get a close look the cat froze and turned her head towards me. Before either of us could react she released a small puff of smoke and disappeared from Ajax¡¯s hands only to appear on my shoulders. She sniffed me and rubbed her head into my neck before pulling back to look into my eyes. Before I could do anything else a system screen popped up for me.


    Companion Bond


    [Shadow Cat] would like to form apanion bond with you. ept?

 Chapter 69

    Chapter 69


    Ajax was extremely pleased with how today had gone, it was the final day of their solo trapping and he had managed to not alert the camp of his movements in the area. That is not to say that he didn¡¯t trip any of the traps, he knew he wasn¡¯t good enough for that, so instead he worked his way through by not letting them fire off a signal.


    In the end thebined efforts of the three even had the lead hunter trip a signal back, something they hadn¡¯t managed before so all of them were pleased with their traps and they reced them after the exercise. Not only that they also shared all the locations with each other before adding some more damagingponents to them.


    With that out of the way and them still having a few hours thanks to them being some of the first to awake in the camp they decided to go on a small scouting expedition into the forest to check the spots for some more boars deers and bears. This all came to a head when Ajax and the two veteran hunters felt the use of mana nearby, the young hunter still hadn¡¯t achieved his [Detect Mana].


    The mana hade from a big puma-like creature that could teleport short distances or make use of the shadows for some longer jumps. Ajax was its first target but it hadn¡¯t managed tond a single blow since its mana signature gave it away and was quickly put down by the group.


    ¡°That¡¯s impressive.¡± Said the leader ¡° You¡¯re too young to have [Detect Mana], how did you know it wasing?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t¡± Said Ajax ¡°But I knew something was, I have [Danger Sense].¡±


    Ajax decided that it was fine to share that much, he was also slightly distracted as he was sensing a second source of mana very simr to the cats only much weaker. As they were taking a break following the fight with a mana creature he broke off and decided to investigate only to find a small cub hidden in a burrow.


    A stealthy ambusher is a great partner to have for an adventurer, one acute senses even more so, so he decided to collect the cub and try for apanion. As he returned to their resting spot with the struggling cub in his arms all three of the hunters turned to look at him.


    ¡°What do you have there?¡± asked one of them. ¡°Found this little guy nearby. I think I¡¯ll take it with me, who knows maybe it¡¯ll make for a goodpanion.¡±


    With that their little expedition was over and they headed toward the main camp, hopefully they would make it before lunch was over and afternoon training continued. The entire way back they had not seen a single creature, though of course that could be because of the loud hairball that its displeasure was known far and wide the entire way back.


    They did in fact make it back before lunch, where most of the unit, with the exception of Spencer and hisckeys, got in on both congratting him and the ribbing about the cat''s dislike for him. It was then that Tom arrived and the cat settled down before jumping on to him.


    The entire area fell into silence. Tom was dumbstruck at the screen, Ajax by the cat¡¯s reaction to his brother, the rest of the people by the disy of mana. Even monsters would give birth to normal beast versions of themselves that would need to grow and level before gaining ess to power. That the cat was already capable of teleporting meant that this was a true magical creature and not a monster.


    The cat then curled around Tom¡¯s neck and began purring as a shit eating grin split Tom¡¯s face. This didn¡¯tst for more than a second however as he gave Ajax a very guilty look.


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    ¡°Did it just form a bond with you?¡± Ajax asked as he put two and two together.


    ¡°She¡± his brother corrected almost instinctively ¡°But, yes she offered me a bond and I took it. Sorry, I was so -.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it.¡± Ajax waved off the apology. Sure he would have preferred to gain thepanion himself but considering just how much his brother had done for him this was also a good oue. Especially considering how much the pup seemed to dislike him. ¡°Didn¡¯t seem to like me much anyway.


    With the new development, Tom knew he would have to go report this to themander so he pulled Ajax aside so he could get the magic thing over with as well. Ajax silently cursed as he heard how the girl had picked him out because he was too quick to suppress his mana.


    ¡°I guess we can let him in on my ability to use mana, but we are not telling him about my stats.¡± Ajax finally decided after a few minutes of thinking.


    With that decision made they first went to talk to Kate before heading over to themander. Kate had also just finished up on herst patient as they arrived. She gave Ajax a quick hug as she didn¡¯t see him this morning before turning to Tom. She was a bit shorter than Tom, and as he was standing behind Ajax when she turned to him she was staring into a pair of feline eyes, simr to her own.


    ¡°Tom¡± she said after a few seconds of just staring at the new addition. ¡°What is that?¡±


    ¡°Who is that?¡± Tom corrected, he found himself feeling instinctively protective of his bond, must be a result of their connection. ¡°I haven given her a name yet, Ajax found her in the forest and she offered to bond with me.¡±


    ¡°And you took it?¡± She was slightly upset at the fact. ¡°Even a normal bound feline would be worth quite a bit but this is a true magical creature.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± Ajax cut her off before she could ramp up. ¡°You both have done a lot for me bothst time I was in the city and this time, not to mention before bonding with Tom the little thing seemed to enjoy using me as a scratch post rather than a possible bond.¡±


    This seemed to calm her as she also healed up the scratch marks on Ajax arms. They also discussed their uing talk with themander and agreed that just letting him know Ajax could use mana but didn¡¯t have any formal training and didn¡¯t want it as a result of what that attention could bring him with the current situation of the nobles.


    ¡°Before we go let''s head over to the cooks.¡± Ajax said.


    ¡°Still hungry?¡± Tom asked suspiciously after having seen Ajax polish off two tes of food no more than ten minutes ago.


    ¡°No, but now that they finished preparing lunch they might be butchering our future dinner. I didn¡¯t feed the little monster when we got back and thought it might be a good idea to pick up some of the things they discard since I think she will need a meat rich diet.¡± Ajax said as he petted the cat, happy that it wasn¡¯t trying to bite and w him as he did it.


    ¡°That¡¯s not a bad idea.¡± Kate said as they changed the course to the cooking tent.


    When they arrived the cooks were surprised to see Ajax there as they knew the hunters shouldn¡¯t be bringing back anything today. It was by their request since they had quite a bit stocked up and didn¡¯t want it to go bad.


    Once they exined the situation and the cooks each got a few mandatory pets of what seemed to be the future mascot of the entire unit by the people¡¯s reaction to her, they headed down into the small hole dug to make a makeshift cer. It was rather dark there and for this time they would just have to wait a few minutes for the cat to eat some of its fill. The cooks assured them they will have a portion ready for her at meals from now on..


    ¡°Wow.¡± Tom eximed after a minute looking deeper into the dark cer.


    ¡°What?¡± Both Ajax and Kate reacted.


    ¡°I just got the [Night Vision] skill.¡± Tom said excitedly as he went over and started to affectionately pet his eating bond.


    ¡°I¡¯ve read that bonds can influence skill gain.¡± Said Kate. ¡°Though I am surprised that this happened so fast, usually it takes a while. I was going to discuss with youter about spending some points in your mental stats as the bond might allow you to develop mana skills.¡±


    ¡°That certainly is interesting, but I doubt I will.¡± Said Tom. ¡°Splitting my focus will make me weaker and that''s not something I can do on just a chance that it will happen.¡±


    With the cat fed they headed to look for themander. They found him rather quickly in his guest quarters in the main camp. Outside were two guards who both gave odd looks to the cat that acted as Tom''s new scarf but to their credit ignored it and soon they were entering the tent.


    ¡°I appreciate that you decided to handle this quickly and not wait until mor¡­¡± Themander started as they entered the tent but he drifted off as he looked at the cat around Tom¡¯s neck. ¡°Oh what is it now, we¡¯ve been here less then a week. For someone looking to pass through this unnoticed you sure attract a lot of attention.¡± He rubbed his forehead as he shot Ajax, a look that said he all but knew he was somehow involved with the creature.


    ¡°I have gained apanion, Sir.¡± Tom saluted as he reported. ¡°I haven¡¯t had a chance to think of a name yet but she is a shadow cat. She is young but already able to teleport short distances.¡±


    As if to illustrate this point the cat teleported from around Tom''s neck to the table where the remains of themander''s lunch were and started to eat again.


    ¡°Well now, this is interesting¡± he waved Tom off as he was about to apologize and grab the cat. Instead he examined it while it ate.

 Chapter 70

    Chapter 70


    As the shadow cat polished off the reminder of the food themander inspected it. He seemed to also be looking for something specific.


    ¡°How do you know that this is a shadow cat?¡± he finally asked.


    ¡°The prompt I got for forming the bond said that a shadow cat wanted to form a bond with me.¡± Tom replied.


    ¡°Hmm, you did indeed get lucky with this.¡± themander said as he finally stopped scruitanising the cat and turned back to us. ¡°Magical creatures that can innately use mana at this young age are quite special. Did you gain anything else from the bond when it was initiated?¡±


    Calling the cat young was something rather odd since the thing was bigger than any house cat he had seen on earth and was the size of one of the bigger dog breeds. Then again considering that its parent was the size of a small pony, young was likely a good description.


    ¡°Not right away.¡± Tom answered, themander frowned at the wording and nodded for him to continue. ¡°Beforeing to report we passed by the cook¡¯s tent to try to feed her, clearly not enough. But while we went into their makeshift cer I got the [Night Vision] skill.¡±


    ¡°You happen across a magical creature, it bonds with you almost immediately and it''s a growth type.¡± he mumbled as he shook his head.


    ¡°This is something you won¡¯t find being shared openly with the public, and you will all keep to yourselves as well.¡± he said as he gave us a warning re. ¡°Magicpanion bondse in three forms. The first is basic, it is no different from a monster bond, around 80% of them are like this. Empowered is the second, they usually grant one or two skills to their partner upon bonding but have no further effect on their bond, around 15% of them are like this. The most rare is growth type, only happens in 5% of cases and the bonds share affinity for skill gain. This is often seen in the first few days after the bonding when you gain certain very specific skills, very much like you [Night Vision].¡±


    ¡°But why is this information restricted?¡± Ajax asked not seeing a point to restricting this frommon people as it would have no consequence should it be widely spread.¡°Because it¡¯s not restricted only tomoners. It is also restricted from lower nobles who would be too shortsighted and could end up trying to form bonds, kill the bonded creature and repeat with a new one just to make up for a deficit in their heir.¡± As he said this themander''s face frowned heavily and for the first time since he met him Ajax could see that while he looked only around histe thirties to early forties he was probably a lot older than that.


    ¡°That¡¯s horrible¡± Kate gasped as she covered her mouth with one hand.


    ¡°That¡¯s not even the worst part of it. The process of bonding with a creature only for it to be killed repeatedly turns the human into a sadistic psychopath. One that would now not only have ess to greater skills but also end up as a ruler in due time.¡± He left the rest unsaid and all three of them vowed in their hearts not to leak this information.


    ¡°But if it is so restricted, why are you telling us?¡± Tom questioned.


    ¡°Because you¡¯ve got a growth type, can¡¯t have you advertising its abilities as that might lead some people to discover the empowered type for themselves trying to recreate your sess.¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s enough on that topic. What about the other thing I asked you about, have an answer for me yet?¡± themander moved on.


    ¡°We do.¡± Tom nodded.


    ¡°I have ess to my mana, and can make decent use of it.¡± Ajax continued. ¡°Ideally I would like to keep the specifics to myself as the reason I chose not to focus only on magic was the drawbacks that someone with my background would have doing so.¡±


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    ¡°I can respect that. However, I will ask one question.¡± Themander seemed understanding but his voice turned strict. ¡°I need to know how strong your healing abilities are, covering your ess to mana might cost us this exercise, but that is something I am willing to risk. I will not cover for you should it cost one of my men their lives.¡±


    ¡°I have very weak healing. Alzinoth is as far as it goes.¡± Ajax understood that point of view and had no quals sharing his very stunted healing potential.


    ¡°Okay, go on back to training.¡± themander said. ¡°Oh, and since you use a bow, have one of them give you the rundown on bow usage during engagements.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll exin it to him.¡± Kate volunteered.


    ¡°Time to go buddy.¡± Tom called out to his bond as they made for the exit of the tent. The shadow cat slowly and reluctantly stopped licking the te and made to follow them.


    As they exited the tent with Tom in the lead they came face to face with the four nobles leading their small army as well as the other twomanders. They were approaching the tent at a slightly quick pace meaning there must have been a development they wanted to discuss withmander Grievous now.


    As they all exited ¡®Lex¡¯s¡¯ eyes instantly stuck to Ajax recognising him from yesterday. Just as she was about to approach him they all saw the shadow cat push open the tent p and make a small hop. As it reached its apex it disappeared only to appear on Tom¡¯s shoulders.


    ¡°What the hell.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s so cool.¡±


    ¡°What is that thing?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s her name?¡±


    The reactions from the nobles were split with the girls having positive ones and the boys being confused. The bodyguards andmanders were much more experienced and showed no outward reaction.


    Seeing the nobles surround Tom, both Kate and Ajax traded a quick nce and presented a united front. They quickly made their retreat and used him as a distraction so as to avoid any attention. As they left they threw quick pitying looks at him, as he was being dragged back into themander''s tent to do his job.


    ¡°Ok so what are the regtions for archers?¡± Ajax asked once they were a bit away.


    ¡°Since the point of this war is training and not meaningless ughter, and since the only archers used are highly trained they have restrictions ced on them. All shots are to be limited from the knees down, the belly and the arms.¡± Kate said.


    ¡°I know it might seem counterintuitive to shoot for the belly instead of the things, but getting hit in the belly is likely to result inrge amounts of pain only. That is something that will take a while to kill you so healers will have plenty of time to fix you up. A deep cut on the inner thigh however can result in heavy bleeding.¡±


    Ajax understood as the information from his past life molded with his knowledge of magic. As long as the arrow wasn¡¯t removed a shot in the belly will take a while to kill someone, whereas bleeding out would happen almost as quickly to people as it happened in his old life. At least to people under level fifty.


    With that they each went their separate way with Kate heading to the healers and Ajax going to join the rest of the unit in training drills. Not one hourte themander also came down to the training field.


    ¡°Our role for tomorrow has been decided. We will be the unit that will intercept the enemy cavalry detachment.¡± themander announced. This was followed by multiple groans from the unit.


    ¡°Yes, I know that they are the most skilled and dangerous to engage, but as the most experienced unit it falls to us.¡± Themander cut theints short. ¡°Anyone with any ideas on how to approach that is toe to me and the captain as we discuss the ambush point.¡±


    With that both him and the captain took a seat at a big table andid out a map. Ajax, confused, asked one of the others why they were the most experienced.


    ¡°Because ourmander is unique in that he doesn¡¯t care about politics and ass kissing. This means that we always end up joining these skirmishes whereas the other guard units have to join once every three.¡± one of the older guards who heard his question said.


    Seeing an excited mage all but run towards the table Ajax decided to close in and listen in on the strategy in hopes of learning about war magic. Tom also approached Ajax, having arrived at themander''s side.


    ¡°Sir, I have a spell to amplify my voice.¡± the mage couldn¡¯t hold in his excitement and blurted out right after saluting.


    ¡°So?¡± the captain asked skeptically.


    ¡°Their horsese from the neighboring baron. They are known for their war-horses.¡±the excited mage continued, but at this point the captain¡¯s frown deepened and themander was starting to sport one too. ¡°I know their trainedmand to stop. We can start our ambush by having me call it out while magnifying my voice. It might not cause all of them to stop but if even half of them stop on the spot it will give us our best opening to start the ambush.¡±


    After hearing him out both the captain and themander seemed to be very much on board with the idea. Ajax on the other hand turned to Tom.


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t the enemy take precautions against this?¡± he asked.


    ¡°No, voice amplification is not amon spell, it is quite rare in fact.¡± Tom said.


    ¡°Then howe one of the guards has it?¡± Ajax was confused about this, weren¡¯t guards only taught the widely known spells.


    ¡°He learnt it from his father. His father is sworn to a noble house, however most of the mages working willingly with noble houses include in the contract the ability to teach their own children and exclusive spells the house posses, with the only restraint being their children to be under oath not to reveal it to others besides their children, and so on.¡±

 Chapter 71

    Chapter 71


    The next morning the entire unit woke up early. We moved together and headed to set up our ambush. It could have been argued that our tactic of using the horse trainedmands and an amplification spell to get the cavalry to stop and run into each other was an unfair move, but themands could have been picked up by a spy so it was only toeing the line.


    The biggest hope of the battle fought today was to even out the numbers on both sides. It seems that the opponents conscripted four cities to our three. This meant that they not only had a big number advantage when it came to the conscripts but also when it came to the guard units. They could be big turning points. With the information gathered from the bug we hope to swing the number advantage to our side. Especially since troops that surrender are just allowed to go back home, meaning there will be no fighting to thest breath.


    For our work in setting up the hunters were taking the lead in scouting to make sure there were no enemy scouts to spot our ambush. Surprisingly since getting Fluffy, name chosen by Katie and Fluffy herself as she simply refused to respond to anything else once she heard it, Tom was also assigned to spotting as he could see through the darkness before the sun came up better than anyone.


    Fluffy was left back at the healer camp as taking part will most likely mean she would be killed with her low level three power and that none of our opponents had any incentive to let her live. There she enjoyed hervish lifestyle of eating and being fawned over by healers until the first casualties woulde in.


    Once getting into position we waited. The enemy came a bit faster than we were expecting but well within our margin of error. The riders outnumbered us three to one, but we weren¡¯t looking to take them out in an open battle, hell we weren¡¯t looking to even win. All we were trying to do was to dy them and take out as many as we could safely.


    As I drew my first arrow and pulled it back waiting for the loud yell I knew wasing I was scanning the troops for anyone who looked to be inmand. The confusion we were about to throw them into was our biggest advantage so taking out the leadership would prolong that for a while longer.


    The odd shout came and a lot more than half the horses did a full stop in the next few steps. Many horses sent their inexperienced riders out of the saddle into the ass of the horse in front. Around three quarters of the horses stopped with many of the remaining crashing into the others causing a pileup the likes of which I had never seen back on Earth. Thankfully I knew that these people and even horses, were a lot more resilient so it shouldn¡¯t have resulted in any deaths.


    Unsurprisingly the people I was aiming for didn¡¯t stop or run into their ownarads, these were experienced fighters who had built up a connection with their horses. I loosed my first arrow and saw it hit the belly of the man I was aiming for. Sadly it seems like he was wearing quite a bit of under armour as the arrow hardly prated despite hitting the gap in the te. Thankfully the shot had enough power thatbined with the element of surprise it knocked him off his horse and left him dodging the iing traffic, unable to take control of the situation. So I drew another arrow and looked for my next target.


    I knew that at this range I had no chance of doing much damage to them without using my mana but I was only looking to distract them and be a nuisance. I managed to almost empty my entire quiver by the time they regained a semnce of order and having lost almost a tenth of their forces in the initial ambush, they proceeded to chase after us. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    We on the other hand had no intention staying to fight, the longer they chased after us the better it would be so I started setting up a dy tacting. A slippery smelly substance, I still don¡¯t know the name of, was sitting in barrels at the top of the small hill we ambushed them from. I proceed to start poking holes in barrels and rolling them down the hill. All the while waiting for the order to retreat.


    ¡°Pull back¡± themander''s right hand man started calling out.


    This was the first surprise our side had that day. It was supposed to be themander who would give the call for starting the retreat. My own position as an archer allowed me some time to look around and see what was going on before I had to take off.


    Looking in the direction themander was supposed to be I noticed he was locked inbat with a man that seemed even older than him. Both were moving a lot faster than I could even with full use of my mana. Not only that their ncing blows were almost enough to cut apart the trees we had hid among.


    Suffice it to say that I now knew why themander had let his right hand man take over leadership. Thankfully it seemed that everyone from both sides agreed that getting involved with that fight was a good way to get yourself taken out so we all gave them a wide breadth.


    With the order to retreat the chase was on. Since it would be a waste of time to try getting the horses up the side of the slippery hill they chased after us on foot. For the first time I started to feel the fact that I was only level twenty-four. With everyone else being close to level thirty, exceptions being Spencer and Tom who were nowhere close so as to not present a weak point in the formation, I ran along and watched as soldier after soldier outran me. It wasn¡¯t even that their skills were higher than mine as I had asked and running was a bitch to level up, it was all down to pure stats.


    Fifteen minutes into the chase we started reaching the small canyon that had formed in the rocks. During this time I had fallen further and further behind almost being relegated to thestyer. The faster people had already started setting up a defensive position just inside the mouth of the canyon. We all knew it was a dead end and that they could just sit there and wait us out if they wanted, but that was time they didn¡¯t have. Our small force would be taking up the time of one three timesrger, and at least two of the enemy guard units if I was judging from the people I saw chasing after us.


    As we closed ranks into the choke point I ended up in the third row of the ranks. The first row, having locked their shields, took a knee and allowed the second row to cover them. I was handed a spear and expected to use it to keep the enemy away more than deal any damage. Our instructions during training were very simr to the ones Kate gave me about shooting, we were to aim for the limbs and belly, but a lot more leeway was given to meleebat about people aiming correctly.


    It was then that I saw the enemy troops part in a scene reminiscent of the old cartoon about Moses. A few secondster the twomanders were seening through that space and it instantly made a lot of sense as to why nobody wanted to be there. Commander Grievous seemed to have taken the original upper hand from the wounds that marked the other¡¯s feet and arms but was now focused on just retreating.


    Just as I was wondering why wouldn¡¯t he just stand and fight I sensed mana. In the next moment I saw spells heading for the battling duo. It all made sense, our own mages were focused on giving us as much of an advantage in retreating and were most likely already out of mana but we had seen very little spellsing from the enemy.


    This was most likely because having mages firing into clumps of army was regted against so they were relegated to manipting the environment or taking their chances at the big shots. The enemy probably used quite some mana undoing our own side''s work but now they were pressuring themander but it didn¡¯t seem like it would be enough.


    My prediction ended up being right and the two broke away once they reached the halfway line between the two front lines that had formed. We were left with a stare down thatsted all of two seconds before the enemy started to make their way back to their horses.


    I could see the annoyance on the face of themander and even heard his voice as he swore loudly after giving the order to retreat. I got together with Tom and we started carrying the wounded over to the healer. It was a good day as we suffered no fatalities and only about three major injuries with a dozen medium ones.


    ¡°There is going to be quite a few arguments at their campter today. I recognized the voice of thatmander of theirs. He was one of the ones who thought going for multiple nks was a bad idea.¡± he said while chuckling.

 Chapter 72

    Chapter 72


    As Ajax and the rest of his unit made it back to the main campgrounds they reunited with the other two guard units that were thwarting nks. They had an evenrger sess than we did as while their nks wererger in number, they were also on foot and only contained one guard unit instead of two.


    With all of us eventually being beaten back it still gave the main army enough time to capture and remove from the fight enough of the enemy conscripted that we were now even in numbers. A real sess even if we are still a bit on the backfoot in a head to head fight due to their higher number of trained guards.


    With the battle over we were all given the rest of the day to go back and rest for the next fight. Seeing how badly they lost this first round, while still maintaining the overall lead themander was talking about a second fight where they change tactics might be imminent so we should get our rest.


    Getting back to their tent Ajax and Tom find Kate there feeding Fluffy. By now Ajax has noticed that Fluffy must have eaten at least a few times her own body weight since he found her. He knows that this is extremely odd thanks to his previous experience on Earth so he decides to ask about it knowing it has something to do with magic.


    ¡°Do either of you know why Fluffy is eating so much?¡± he asked. ¡°She must have eaten two times her own body weight since we got her yesterday.¡±


    ¡°Yeah I was worried about that too and asked some of the older healers earlier.¡± Kate fills in. ¡°It has to do with being a true magical creature. Young and weak creatures like Fluffy here still need to use mana in order to keep up their abilities in time with their growth but are unable to generate their own mana. Right now she can still substitute food for mana thanks to her mother¡¯s milk still being in her system but that will onlyst her for another month at best.¡±


    ¡°ording to him her diet will need to consist of meat from other true magical creatures in order to maintain her mana generation until she forms her own core. It will also help if she keeps that up afterwards but won¡¯t be as vital. Another option is to supplement a normal carnivore diet with cores from monsters. The amount of mana she needs to progress will also ramp up as she grows older. From needing one core a week now she will probably need one a day when she is around level fifteen and close to forming her own core.¡±


    ¡°How the fuck are we going to afford this? Even if we could find the cores to buy on the market, which is no easy feat, how will we afford them?¡± Tomments the upkeep costs of his new bond.


    ¡°I think you might need to talk with Judy about this¡± Ajax suggested. ¡°She might be in the best position to help you with this until I can get into a dungeon.¡± Ajax, hearing about the requirements, also took out one of the few monster cores he had managed to pick up during the five years he spent training with Hatchet that he kept in an inside pocket warded against scrying. The old scout had insisted that he keep all the cores but not sell them as he might one day find a better use for them.


    As soon as Ajax took out the core from the spatially expanded backpack Fluffy¡¯s eyes locked onto the small crystal. She jumped up into Ajax''sp and became the friendliest he had ever seen her, with him at least, while asionally sniffing around his closed fist containing the core.


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    Seeing her get nowhere with that approach she went over to Tom and started meowing while throwing nces at his closed fist.


    ¡°What you got there, Ajax?¡± Tom asks, getting a clear idea that Fluffy wanted whatever was in his hand through the bond.


    ¡°Hatchet took me hunting deeper into the forest during these past five years. I managed to gather around thirty monster cores during this time. He helped me take them down but insisted I keep the cores and not sell them. The closest I have been to facing a monster without him actually was Fluffy¡¯s mother, though she hadn¡¯t formed her core yet and her magic was a lot less concentrated than Fluffy¡¯s is now.¡±


    ¡°That must be because she didn¡¯t get enough mana while growing up.¡± Kate mentioned. ¡°It should also exin why you were able to fight a magic creature around your level without help or using your own mana, they are usually very strong for their level.¡±


    ¡°I have about two dozen of them, they should be enough tost you for the next six months, but I suggest you send a letter out to Judy as quickly as possible, just in case this whole thing ends up taking longer than two months like it¡¯s supposed to. You want to make sure you have a stockpile waiting for you as you return.¡± Ajax suggested as he fed the core to the purring cat.


    A few minutes after finishing the core Fluffy¡¯s mana signature spiked with strength showing that the core had its intended effect and that Fluffy had been a bit malnourished in terms of mana already. This made Kate think that Fluffy was an even stronger and more rare creature then they initially thought because of this incorrect magic reading and they fed her a second to make up for any shortage she might have suffered so far.


    Rooting through his bag Ajax found that he had another twenty-five cores and decided to join Tom in giving them to themander for safe keeping. They both knew that the spike in the magical potency of Fluffy would be noticed by all the other mages and were wary of their tent getting robbed while they were out.


    ¡°What is it now?¡± themanderined when he saw them gather again.


    ¡°And what the hell happened to your bond?¡± the mage that was just about to leave themander''s tent after discussing his performance in today''s fight eximed sensing the new potency of the cat¡¯s mana.


    Themander frowned deeply at the new discovery knowing that the cat, while rare as all magical creatures were, was not all that umon among its kind after being inspected.


    ¡°This is why we are here. We found out about Fluffy¡¯s need for a mana rich diet.¡± Tom said. ¡°Ajax has a few cores on him from his time training deep into the forest and we wanted to ask if you would be willing to hold on to them for the duration of this war.¡±


    ¡°You think someone would steal them from your tent?¡± themander asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m not suspecting people from our unit, but all the mages in the main camp got a good look at Fluffy yesterday. I imagine that quite a few of them would have no problem in swiping them from our tent and they are a necessity if we want Fluffy to grow into her full potential.¡±


    Themander reluctantly nodded and agreed to hold the cores and give one a week to what he knew would soon be the unit''s official mascot from the people¡¯s reaction to her after only a few days. He was also very surprised to see that they had more than two dozen cores on them and understood why they might be a little paranoid with that much wealth being left unprotected while also advertised by the cat¡¯s mana signature.


    ¡°You both best head on back to sleep. Tomorrow will be another battle and this time we will actually be fighting not just ambushing and retreating. The enemy thinks that we are overly wary and will try to get into a better position by bluffing a small charge with part of its force. We will hit back hard and try to use their new tactic to get a numbers advantage. ¡°


    ¡°Why do you not seem happy about that, sir?¡± Ajax asked, seeing the frustration on themander''s face.


    ¡°Even if the n works all it will do is give us a decent advantage, their troops will be close enough to reinforce before we get too much of a decisive lead. It won¡¯t end this little war. It will for sure give away the fact that we have a bug in ce. The chances that they won¡¯t find it after this is practically none. I was hoping we would be able to abuse it to end this whole thing in under a month but it seems that¡¯s not in the cards.¡±


    All three of the people nodded along with themander''s words, they were also a bit saddened by the fact that more of their time would be taken up with this unproductive war. They all made their way out of the tent to get a good night''s sleep before their first real battle.


    ¡°Oh, and one more thing¡± themander called out as they were about to exit. ¡°Why the fuck would you name a future shadowy killing machine Fluffy?¡± The cat turning to give him an incredulous look after hearing his name andprehending some of the questions through the bond with Tom.

 Chapter 73

    Chapter 73


    After a good night¡¯s sleep the whole army came together early. They started marching right as the sun began to rise. Everyone that was going to fight today had been told to go to sleep early and those that stayed behind had to pull a double shift on the lookout. Not only that but they were also quite busy, each of the guard camps had caught at least two and as many as four spies trying to infiltrate. The main camp had caught ten and a after a quick interrogation to make sure there were no more they were all promptly stuffed together in a tent.


    The tent was quite spacious even for the almost twenty people but it would start getting really cramped if another wave of spies was caught. Their meals also consisted of nd rations and water, not something they would be enjoying, but at least they no longer had to take part as they were considered killed.


    Because both sides were inexperienced archers wouldn¡¯t take part in the main battles as the death toll would grow toorge. This meant that Ajax was going to fight in melee today unlike yesterday.


    Luckily because of his young age and low level both him and Tom were ced in the reserves. Their job was to take the ce of fallen warriors and ensure the line was not breached. This also meant they were in the least amount of danger and would also be given a chance to watch the battlefield as a whole until they were needed.


    As expected since yesterday the first thing they ran into was an army only half their size, the rest of the enemy soldiers being split off as they weren¡¯t expecting a reckless charge after the vignce shown only a day before. As soon as they were close enough that they could see reinforcements for the enemy were nowhere close and that they would have enough time to deal some damage to the enemy forces the orders came in concert. They started from the back where the nobles were and echoed from officers all the way to the front.


    ¡°Charge!¡±


    ¡°Charge!¡±


    ¡°Charge!¡±


    ¡°Charge!¡±The army had been practising this since they arrived and managed to somewhat keep in step with each other and not break formation as they rushed their unprepared opponents. Ajax could see from his vantage point just how unprepared the enemy were for this development. Despite their leadership reacting ordingly and sounding the retreat, this was easier said than done.


    He had learnt a lot about the fight or flight response that humans have even back on Earth, yet what they didn¡¯t teach was there was a third option, one that was useless yet very much a possibility and quite likely the reason why these little wars were epted and even encouraged. Half of the enemy troops retreated cautiously and in formation. A fifth just turned and ran away for all they were worth seeing the number difference while a tenth charged forward to meet the enemy head on. The remaining fifth just froze.


    It wasn¡¯t until the fastest of the ones running to fight had been taken down that the ones who froze broke out of their stupor and made the sensible decision to retreat and quite a few of the ones eager to fight turned around. Yet all this meant that their formation was broken, and Ajax¡¯s side had plenty of time and numbers to get a partial surround on the enemy force.


    Watching in the distance Ajax and the leaders could also see the surge of troops rushing from the forest. The enemy had reacted quicker than anticipated and quickly came to reinforce once their tactic was seen through.


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    As the enemy reunited with their reinforcements the fight became a lot more even and both sides started taking casualties. With this development Ajax didn¡¯t have the luxury to watch as he was called up to the front where he pulled out a spear and started to work on looking for opportunities to impale the enemy.


    The fight was a lot different than anything he had experienced before. He was locked in ce by the men in front, behind, to the left and right. Where he usually had the freedom to move now all he could do was twist and duck when an enemy spear broke past. He wouldn¡¯t even have that much time to react as they were not aimed at him but those in front so he would only see them as his own allies dodged out the way. The first time this happened he barely moved his head out of the way in time and ended up with a nasty, if shallow, cut on his shoulder limiting his range of motion a little.


    Despite managing to form a proper united line the enemy were still pushed back all the way to the trees and the advantage in troops had swapped over from just about even to decently on their side since the start of the skirmish.


    The repetitive motions were starting to get to him as the muscles in his shoulders hurt from keeping the spear moving backwards and forwards. This all came to a head as the soldier in front of him took a spear to the gut and dropped down. Ajax didn¡¯t hesitate to drop his spear and quicklyunched forward to reinforce the shield wall.


    As part of the wall he didn¡¯t do all that much attacking which let his dominant arm get some rest only swinging the sword when he had a clear shot or to parry. His shield arm however was taking a heavy pounding from people with higher physical stats than him, this on top of the cut to his shoulder that was starting to present an issue.


    Despite all this Ajax struggled onward pressing the enemy and advancing in time with his allies. That is until his superior senses heard amotioning from behind him, a few screams of agony came a quick session before some loud swearing that took his attention. This distracted him enough that he didn¡¯t notice he had advanced too quickly and broke the line stepping up alone in front of the enemy and took a shallow slice to his sword arm and a deeper one on his shin before he backed up into formation.


    ¡°Pull back.¡±


    ¡°Pull back¡±


    The orders were heard from the officers around him. The line collectively came to a dead stop before starting to disengage as they retreated from the engagement. Ajax however couldn¡¯t help but be a little troubled by the fact that the order to retreat hade in a much lower frequency and disorganised aspared to the one to charge.


    As the army pulled back they picked up prisoners and wounded allies alike and made their way back to their camp. Ajax himself also headed to the healers tent looking to get his cuts taken care of.


    ¡°Ajax, what happened?¡± Kate quickly rushed to him and helped him limp over to a bed as soon as he entered the tent with Fluffy hot on her heels even if it was to providefort in the way of something to mindlessly pet while he got healed.


    ¡°I was a little surprised. Reacting to a spear is a lot harder if you only see it after the person in front of you dodges it.¡± Ajax said, not mentioning that he also got distracted and charged in front like an idiot.


    Tom P.O.V.


    I saw Ajax limp over to the healers tent and felt the urge to follow him and make sure he was ok. At least this was not to be as I hadn¡¯t gotten injured at all and was followingmander Grievous to the post battle meeting.


    The atmosphere among the leadership was tense. Apparently an enemy assassin had dropped down from the trees and targeted the invited baron¡¯s son. He didn¡¯t quite manage to take out the noble even for the intents and purposes of the war but half of his guard sported wounds close to their necks and were as such removed from any furtherbat.


    The atmosphere was thick with animosity as despite the assassin being slowed by the archduke¡¯s daughter and taken out by her guard the baron¡¯s son called for the retreat out of fear and brought an end to the advantageous fight we had on the rtively open field.


    I took my ce behind themander''s chair as the nobles and othermanders took a seat at the main table in the centre of which was the receiver from the bug Ajax had nted. Despite the annoyed looks on themanders and the noble girls'' faces they were all eager to listen to what the enemy thought before having their own discussion.


    ¡°I told you we shouldn¡¯t have split the army a second time.¡± The voice of the man who foughtmander Grievous yesterday came loudly.


    ¡°How was I to expect that they would stop being at all cautious from one day to the next?¡± a much younger voiceined.


    ¡°Because I told you so¡± the first voice roared followed by the sound of metal impact and numerous things falling.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to kick the table¡± the second voice sounded after a short silence. ¡°Hey what do you - ¡°


    ¡°SHHHH¡± the whooshing sound came from multiple sources.


    ¡°Ohy off it and tell me what that is?¡± the second voice said, sounding a lot angrier. ¡° Wait! Is that a bug?¡±


    ¡°Yes, you idiot, it''s a bug. One we now can¡¯t use to give them false information because you told them we found it.¡± The first voice roared so loudly I could almost swear we didn¡¯t need the bug to hear it.

 Chapter 74

    Chapter 74


    Ajax was mindlessly petting Fluffy while Kate was finishing up on his wounds. Both the cut on his arm and shoulder were fully healed while the one on his shin was halfway there as well.


    ¡°This is as much as I can do for now.¡± Kate said as she bandaged his leg. ¡°ording to orders, we have to be focused on the most injured and just do a quick patch job on everyone else. I¡¯ll finish healing this tonight for you.¡±


    ¡°I get it.¡± Ajax said dejectedly, knowing he will have to spend a few hours with a limp because of regtions and that he couldn¡¯t heal it up himself. ¡°By the way do you know what happened?¡±


    As he asked the question he was also looking and pointed at the row of bunks that housed a dozen well equipped mages and knights that seemed to have been the first ones treated.


    ¡°Enemy assassin tried to ambush the leadership from the trees. He didn¡¯t manage to get any of the nobles but took out enough of them and scared him enough to call for an early retreat.¡± She said.


    Hearing the wording, the enemy assassin actually rxed Ajax. He and Kate were among the few that knew there might be real assassins looking to kill the archduke¡¯s daughter so news that this was just part of the ¡®war¡¯ helped ease his concerns.


    ¡°That exins the disorganised call to fall back¡± he mumbled and quickly looked away when he noticed a few of theyed up guards turn to re at him, clearly having heard him. ¡°At least with this leg I¡¯ll be exempt from duties until it¡¯s fixed.¡±


    With that he picked up a crutch and headed out to make space for someone else as a line of injured was starting to form, though they were all superficial injuries.


    ¡°Make sure to eat well. Healing takes a toll on your body and you need the fuel.¡± She called out after him. Fluffy had heard the word food and had volunteered to escort Ajax to the food tent without a second thought.


    Ajax had gotten a hearty portion from the cooks once they saw his injured and treated leg. They knew that if an injury persisted after initial healing he needed to eat more to keep up with the healing. Fluffy had also gotten a supersized serving after a few indignant meows following the small portion ced for her.


    Ajax didn¡¯t have much of an appetite as he focused on reliving thebat and on where he could improve for next time. With food as only an afterthought he barely got through half before Tom came and took a seat next to him.


    ¡°You ok?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Me? Oh, yeah. Just trying to think where I messed up and why so I can fix it for next time.¡± Ajax said, pointing at his bandaged leg.


    ¡°How did that happen? I thought hunters were always supposed to watch their environment?¡± Tom asked.


    ¡°When the assassin hit I was distracted and moved in front of the rest of the line. I¡¯m not used to working so closely with others.¡± he exined.


    ¡°Yeah, that would make sense.¡± Tom acknowledged. ¡°That assassin of theirs is worth his weight in gold. Not only did he take out quite a few high level individuals he also made us retreat early by scaring one of the nobles. He¡¯s sure to get quite the reward after all this is over.¡±


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    ¡°How about you? Howe you are only getting here now? You don¡¯t seem like you got wounded.¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°I went to the leadership meeting.¡± Tom said then leaned in to whisper. ¡°Now that I have a powerful growth type bond as well as a future adventurer brother and merchant sister to help make sure I can feed it well on top of my above average talents themander is looking to train me formand.¡±


    Ajax could understand. Tom had worked hard to join this unit and even made a bit of a name for himself before. With his wife being a talented healer and now also having a growth type bond he would be moved up the ranks faster.


    ¡°Anything interesting happen?¡± Ajax was curious what all the nobles were doing.


    ¡°Oh, yeah. It seems the enemy found your bug. And let me tell you boy were they pissed. Especially when one of their nobles let us know they found it so they couldn¡¯t use it against us. What followed was a good two minutes of expletives before they killed the bug.¡± Tom said, shaking his head.


    ¡°Well, it was good while itsted.¡± Ajax toasted with the mug of ale that seemed to have been passed out to everyone in the tent.


    ¡°It was.¡± Tom toasted with him. ¡°Also all those that fought today and yesterday will have the rest of the day and tomorrow to rest. It was agreed that the enemy also can¡¯t keep up the fighting so the troops get to rest.¡±


    That was some of the best news Ajax heard so far and he was going to make full use out of tomorrow exploring the forest. Considering a shadowcat stuck around here there was bound to be something valuable.


    ¡°The war is also looking like it is going to slow down.¡± Tom followed up.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t quite understand it when they were discussing it but themander exined it to me.¡± Tom said. ¡°Apparently with thetest engagement we now have a strong numbers advantage. Proportional to what they had before yesterday. But with the loss of the bug and the contrary strategies the enemy used it also means we have no idea what the enemy will be trying next.¡±


    ¡°This will usually just mean normal battle. But in our case the leadership is two baron heirs and one archduke heir. This changes things a bit.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t there a duke¡¯s granddaughter as well?¡± Ajax interrupted.


    ¡°Technically yes, but she is part of the archduke''s daughters retinue and not here independently so she doesn¡¯t get a vote on the leadership direction.¡± Tom answered. ¡°Now we have just flipped the odds from a low chance to win this to a low chance to lose. Sadly this also means that if we lose from this position after losing the bug it will reflect very poorly on the two baron heirs. They are very likely to be extremely reactive and risk averse so that they don¡¯t leave a bad impression.¡±


    ¡°With the granddaughter of the dean of the academy here they are even more scared of making a bad impression since they both have ess to magic and are hoping to enrol there.¡±


    ¡°They are still hoping to enrol? Aren¡¯t they too old for that?¡± Ajax asked since it seemed that unlike the two noble girls who were still in their teens the other two nobles seemed close to their thirties.


    ¡°The limit to enrol in the Academy is actually level thirty-five, regardless of age and they are both in their low thirties and looking to enrol after making a good impression.¡±


    This was an interesting opportunity. The reason Ajax avoided the Academy was because it would be like serving himself up to the nobility if he was to enrol. Even if they couldn¡¯t touch him while he was enrolled it was known that your level didn¡¯t increase much during your time there, instead you gained all sorts of useful skills. He decided to skip it since he could gain the skills on his own without the risk.


    Knowing he could enter when he was close to level thirty-five was different. He would have no problem waiting until he was level thirty-four or thirty-five before enrolling, by that point not only would he be a member of the Adventurer''s Guild but he should be able to take on level fiftie¡¯s or maybe even fifty-fives.


    ¡°I know that look, what are you thinking?¡± Tom asked after Ajax sat in silence for more than ten seconds.


    ¡°I¡¯m thinking that I might enrol in the academy once I reach level thirty-four.¡± Ajax answered.


    ¡°You have your work cut out for you then. The enrollment fee is one thousand gold coins. The only other way is to get a schrship but I doubt you want to take part in that test with all the attention it will draw to you.¡± Tom smirked.


    Ajax couldn¡¯t deny that even with the protection of the guild and his higher levels Tom was right. He was too paranoid to try gaining a schrship. They finished the rest of their meal in silence. Both thinking about how they would spend their day off as well as how they will make money in the future. One to afford the academy and the other to feed the little glutton that sat purring in hisp.


    After dinner Tom gave Ajax a helping hand back to the tent where he waited for Kate. He didn¡¯t have to wait much longer before she returned and finished healing up his leg before copsing straight into bed. She was asleep before her head hit the pillow. The amount of magic she used to heal not only our own troops but also the enemy captured took a toll on her.


    With everything taken care of Ajax tries to fall asleep himself while ignoring the itching he felt all over his leg from the fast healing. It turns out there are some side effects to speed healing some deeper wounds.

 Chapter 75

    Chapter 75


    Ajax woke upte in the morning, he had a hard time going to sleep from the itching, not only that but his stamina was near bottomed out from the day of fighting. He was used to spending his stamina but not with the repeated use of it for an entire day was something else that left him drained.


    As he got out of bed he noticed that Kate and Tom had already left. Only Fluffy was still in the tent sleeping on her improvised bed in themon area. He scratched the sleeping feline in greeting before heading for the food tent, he had a scavenger hunt to go on and that wouldn¡¯t do on an empty stomach.


    He only took two steps away before the cat nimbly jumped on his shoulders not wanting to remain alone, and most likely wanting some food as well. Ajax was d for thepany as Fluffy might be able to act as a detector for whatever the shadowcat wanted as long as he brought her close enough.


    Together they headed off to breakfast. The tent was rtively deserted with piles of food being served buffet style. It seems that despite histe wake-up a lot more people were sleeping in longer on their off day.


    After finishing their second helping, and receiving a re from the cook when they looked like they might go for a third they headed off into the woods. Once they were a decent way from the camp and Ajax was sure there was nobody else there to spy on him he started using [Syphon Mana] to pick up the pace.


    Once they reached the area where he had first found the shadow cat he slowed down and started looking for any old tracks in case he could backtrack her steps for anything valuable. Despite the tracks having to be at least four days old at this point he didn¡¯t lose hope as it hadn¡¯t rained at all so the chances of finding some were still high.


    After searching for almost an hour with nothing to show for it he was thinking about giving up on looking for tracks. This was still a decently leveled stealthy creature with a natural inclination towards shadow mana, finding old tracks was never going to be easy but he didn¡¯t expect it to be so hard. Just as he decided to forgo looking for tracks and head out in a random direction Fluffy jumped off his shoulders and started slowly into the direction of a bush. Her nose was stuck to the ground so he guessed she was following a scent.


    As he followed the cat past the thick bush he found the first reliable tracks that had to be left by her mother almost one hundred feet from where he fought it. He supposed this also made sense since, as he was the prey at the start of that encounter the hunter would have been careful stalking up to him, he also chided himself for not thinking of this sooner.


    Finally having some tracks to follow he picked Fluffy up and moved at a faster pace. The tracks led him all the way to a big burrow they must have been using for shelter. Inside he found the body of an even bigger shadow cat thaty in a pool of dried blood.Further examination showed that this cat was male, probably the father of the small cub on his shoulders, as well as being covered with various wounds. Most were deep w marks but its front feet showed severe crush damage as well. He carefully packed up the body and stored it in his backpack. He was eager to loot it for anything useful,especially the core it must have formed, but would wait to do that once Fluffy was no longer with him.


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    With that taken care of he gave the burrow a good onceover but found nothing else of value in it so he exited and looked for tracks leading in a different direction than the one he came from.


    He spent a good three hours running down different directions the tracks had led in. Each one turned out to be a wash with the track cutting off at some point and a scene with some dried blood being found about fifty yards from that point where the shadow cats had probably caught a meal. One such site also had the broken tusk of a boar left over, something he picked up but this was not the prize he was looking for.


    All of the tracks he had picked up so far had all ended less than half a mile away from the burrow, he knew that whatever he was looking for had to be further away as no smart predator would nest next to a valuable resource unless it knew for sure it could defend it from others looking to partake. These cats were strong but still only around level twenty, maybe in the high twenties for the big one he found dead in their home, not high enough to monopolize anything in this forest.


    It took a while but he finally found a set of tracks that led on for longer than a mile. As he followed them he also noticed quite an uptick in overgrown vegetation. The grass was almost halfway up his shins, this made him slow down and start paying close attention to his surroundings. Whatever it was that stayed here was dangerous enough that herbivores would avoid the plentiful food.


    Luckily the increased vegetation also gave him more clear markers for following tracks, though they reduced the uracy of what he was tracking. More than once he had to stop when the shadow cat tracks met with another''s and spend a good few minutes differentiating between the two.


    As he followed the tracks for another mile he finally found something. A massive clearing in the trees opened up to a smallke. It was about ten times the size of an Olympic swimming pool back on earth. Most importantly his [Sense Mana] was picking a deep concentration of pure mana in the water.


    As he carefully approached the edge of the pond, as this wasn¡¯t big enough to call ake as he could easily see the shore on the other side, Fluffy was much more rxed and eagerly jumped down from his shoulders to start drinking from the clear water.


    A few seconds after he started drinking the mana signature started picking up in intensity. Nowhere close to how it did when he chowed down on a mana core but this was just a few sips of water already making a difference. He looked towards the center of the pond on a small patch ofnd where a tree not much taller than the rest of the forest but four times as thick took up nearly all the space. Roots thicker than his legs could be clearly seen making their way into the water. On a closer look he could also spot numerous fruits on its branches, from the size and green color as well as the season they were in he could tell they weren¡¯t ripe yet.


    With nothing else to do he quickly emptied nine of the ten waterskins he was carrying and started filling them up at the edge next to the thirsty feline. He wouldn¡¯t dare drink any himself as he didn¡¯t know what effect pure mana like this would have on a human if ingested. As he finished capping the eight sk and reached for the ninth [Danger Sense] spiked. He dropped the sk infused [Syphon Mana] and jumped back grabbing Fluffy with his free hand a moment before something smashed into the bank of the pond.


    He didn¡¯t see what it was even after the impact but could barely make out some scales from the mud that stuck to whatever appendage had been used to attack them. Just as he lowered the mana skin he had activated on instinct a jet of water shot off towards him. Since he was already on edge he had no problem dodging out of the way without taking his eyes off the water.


    In the water he could now clearly see a big fish with a long tubelike tail. He recognised it as a trapfish, Hatchet had given him the rundown on a lot of odd creatures that adventurers should be wary off and this was one of them. The fish was more of a nuisance at lower levels but once it gained ess to mana he would use it to camouge himself for a surprise attack with his tail followed by a long-range water jet should its target survive.


    Having switched his mana from the stealth to water maniption did leave it without its stealth. Ajax instantly used [Judge Threat] as soon as heid eyes on it. What he got in return surprised him. For the first time since he spent his stat points something other than Hatchet came back as dangerous to him. Now while the feeling was a bit weaker than the one he got from using the skill on Hatchet it still marked the fish as being in the mid to high forties.

 Chapter 76

    Chapter 76


    Both Ajax and the fish were locked in a stalemate. The fish was not as strong as Hatchet and Ajax had gotten pretty close in power to him so with the difference in strength it should be an alright risk to take under normal circumstances.


    But these weren¡¯t normal circumstances. Not only was the fish in water, an environment that Ajax couldn¡¯t bring his full power to bear in, the water was also heavily mana infused, while that would be neither useful nor harmful to him he couldn¡¯t say the same about the fish for sure. On top of all that he also had to take care of Fluffy, if he left her by the side the fish could still target her and if she ran off in the woods another monster could kill her.


    The fish was also in a simr situation. He had the upper hand as long as he was within the pond, but while he could go onnd for limited time his strength would suffer. As such both were left staring at one another for a few seconds. These few seconds turned into a minute before Ajax felt that something was amiss. This was an ambush predator so why would he not go back into stealth? With increase in level came an increase in intelligence, even if not sapience.


    A hiss from Fluffy followed by the sound of a snapping twig alerted Ajax to something behind him. A massive brown bear with fur so dark it was almost ck was charging at him. The bear wasn¡¯t too quick but was by no means slow, so Ajax wanted to use [Judge Threat] on him to see what he was up against.


    Before he even got a chance [Danger Sense] acted up again. He didn¡¯t even turn to look as he dodge a second water jet that came from the fish. Suddenly it all started to make sense, the wounds on the big shadow cat were from these two, the fish crushed its front paws while the bear tore into it with its ws. A quick [Judge Threat] let him know that the bear was even stronger than the fish was. Luckily for him the bear was focused on Strength Endurance and Vitality, making it slow enough that he could outrun it.


    Ajax didn¡¯t even think twice before he started running. With a bear on his trail already he kept clear of the woods as another monster ambushing could dy him too much. Despite the danger that running alongside the small river that flowed down from the pond posed from the fish that had disappeared Ajax still chose that over running in the woods as a clear path also let him bring his full speed to get away from the bear. For the first time Ajax had also understood the true meaning of the old saying ¡®better the devil you know¡¯ as he looked into the woods wary of anything else deciding to join.


    A quarter of an hourter he had finally lost the bear and there had been no sign of the fish. With no immediate threat he took a bit of distance from the water and finally stopped to catch his breath.Adrenaline was still running through him from the near-death experience. He explored his surroundings with his mana sense but found nothing dangerous. One thing that did stick out to him was that the water running in the river was a lot less potent than it had been in the pond.


    He could finally see the food chain take ce in this forest. Neither the bear nor the fish could have monopolized the pond at the start but together they ran off every other animal. This resulted in them both growing strong enough to not really need the others help but as one was dominant onnd and the other in the water they couldn¡¯t forcibly take the prize for themselves. Thinking about this, Ajax was even more impressed by the shadow cat he had seen. Sure it had died in the end but it managed to get away after being ambushed by both the fish and the bear.


    If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.Back when he got Fluffy he could only take the core of the shadow cat and the cub as the rest of the body went to the other hunters as they all went as a party. Now he had the fangs and ws of an even stronger specimen to give a smith for making weapons for him. The only sad part being that the fur was too damaged for him to make armor out of, a few snug coats was the most he could hope for.


    After resting for another ten minutes he finally got to work getting his bearings. It was starting to gette and he wanted to make it back to camp before it got dark. It took a half hour but he finally found a reliable point when he spotted the mine the entire war was fought over in the distance. The river had flowed into a tight caver a few hundred feet back so he was nowing down the hill and heading for a road that should be able to take him all the way back to camp.


    When he was half a mile off the road he heard the sound of rushing water return so he decided a quick look wouldn¡¯t hurt, after all the pond and river weren¡¯t ced on the map and they would surely be important resources, it was best to have all the information when reporting about them.


    As he closed in on the sound he found a small outpost of armed men surrounding the small spring. All the men wore the colors and insignia of a noble house, one that seemed familiar but Ajax didn¡¯t know the name of. Focusing his senses on the water he could tell that it had lost even more of its mana potency as it ran all the way here, it was down to a third of what it had held back in the bond but it was all being collected by the outpost into barrels.


    Deciding not to approach things he turned back around and made his way back to the camp. On the way there he finally remembered why the sigil had seemed so familiar, it was the house sigil of the noble leading the other side of this conflict. It seems that he has found another resource close to the disputed silver mine and decided to keep quiet about it.


    Not only that ording to Tom the leadership was surprised to see that the other side had conscripted four cities and not only three as the fourth was quite a ways off from here, but if you considered that he had hoped for a quick victory to hide the presence of a mana infused spring it all added up.


    Ajax¡¯s first instinct was to go and report his finding to themander after all he has been helping him for a while now. But as the camp got closer and Ajax thought more about it, that didn¡¯t seem like the best course of action for himself. Reporting the find of the pond so soon after everything with the bug had just blown over was sure to ce a spotlight on him. That was something he would rather avoid so he decided it would be best to keep all of this to himself and only report it towards the end of the conflict.


    Not only that but he also wanted to try his luck against the bear and fish again. Sure he stood no chance against both of them but the fish was bound to the pond. He could take his time hunting the bear, even if he was not strong enough to bring him down in one on one he could use his skills with a bow and mana to slowly build up damage before killing the bear and then moving on to the fish. Both of them should have some valuable corpses considering they were both closing in on level fifty.


    Though he wouldn¡¯t admit it to himself Ajax wanted to be the one to kill the bear and the fish for another reason, that was the purring warm nket of fur that rested on his shoulders. Though he had only killed her mother in self defense he still felt a bit guilty about it but there was nothing he could do. Now that he had a chance to personally avenge her other parent however he was surely going to take it.


    The bear and the fish also presented him with a chance to push himself to his limits, something he couldn¡¯t really do in the war. It also allowed him to secretly work on his mana skills in a dangerous situation pushing his experience gain out of the funk it had been in for thest few weeks since spending his free points.

 Chapter 77

    Chapter 77


    The trip back to the camp took quite a while longer than Ajax would have liked. The sun was already starting to go down despite him leavingte in the morning. It wasn¡¯t something that could have been helped however. Had he known about the location of everything it would have been a much shorter trip but with all the investigating it had dragged on for hours on end.


    He was also limited to his physical stats while traveling along the road, despite being a fair way from the camp using his mana to speed back would have been asking to get found out. Still the discoveries he made were definitely worth it, a source of natural mana to supplement the cores for Fluffy, strong opponents that he could use to train his magic as well as a distant reward for reporting on the location of the pond after the whole thing was over.


    Not only that, but since it looked like his side would win now that they had the upper hand, the fact that the other baron knew but didn¡¯t report the existence of the spring would most likely prevent him from challenging again over the whole pond. He should definitely take a recording item the next time he came out to ensure he had the necessary proof, thest thing he wanted was for his brother to get called up again a few weeks after all this.


    Protecting his brother was one of the main reasons why he didn¡¯t just get himself captured and wait out the war as a prisoner. That and the loose regtion regarding any equipment the prisoners have on them, losing his gloves over a greedy overseer was definitely not worth it.


    As he entered the defensive perimeter of the camp he started to rx his guard. Now that he didn¡¯t have to be so vignt over his environment he started to n out his hunt for the empowered bear. This was definitely not an opponent he would be able to beat straight up, thebination of strength, endurance and vitality would be too much for him to take down all at once safely. A few engagements from afar with his bow and mana infused arrows should let him weaken the bear enough to be able to kill it.


    The fight against the fish would not be so straightforward, the fish had sufficient stealth that the same tactic would not work on it, and despite it being weak enough to finish in a single fight he wasn¡¯t certain about his prowess while fighting in water. Well that would be a problem to figure outter first things first he had to deal with the bear.


    As he arrived the guards on watch duty were a bit suspicious about someone returning alone at such ate hour. Funnily enough having Fluffy with him cleared it all up as everyone recognised the shadow cat that had recently joined their unit and knew it wouldn¡¯t be apanying a spy so they just waved him through.


    Not having eaten since breakfast and having exhausted a good amount of his stamina and mana he headed off to eat, grabbing arge portion for both himself and Fluffy before spotting Tom and Kate and going to join them.


    ¡°Well look who it is!¡±Tom mocked good naturedly . ¡°After sleeping in you just decided to disappear without a word and now youe back when it¡¯s time to eat.¡±¡°I thought it was supposed to be the person that bonded who would start taking on the traits of the bond, not their brother. You seem more like a stray cat though.¡± Kate piled on, though the smile on her face made it clear she didn¡¯t mean anything by it.


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    ¡°Yeah, the day kind of got away from me there.¡± Ajax said with a bit of embarrassment. ¡°I do have something to show for it though.¡± he patted the backpack with a bit of pride.


    Ajax had nned to let both Kate and Tom in on the water but not the guardians. He didn¡¯t want them to worry about him when he was hunting them.


    ¡°Oh, and what would that be?¡± the gravelly voice ofmander Grievous sounded behind him.


    ¡°Oh, well ¡­¡± Ajax turned around flustered. Themander wasn¡¯t the person he wanted to see right now.


    ¡°I can feel some mana radiating off whatever it is.¡± he mused. That was also the reason he hade over. Feeling some unknown manaing from the pack from someone that was gone all day raised some red gs.


    ¡°I went back into the forest near where I found Fluffy here.¡± he said scratching the cat that had returned to Tom¡¯s side since ityed eyes on him. ¡°I thought I might be able to find something that would have drawn the shadow cat here.¡±


    ¡°And did you?¡± not only themander but Kate and Tom were also looking at him expectantly.


    ¡°I found the burrow they were staying in.¡± Ajax answered, careful not to lie just in case there was a skill that could pick up on those things.


    Ajax pulled the pack closer to an empty table and took out the corpse of the big shadow cat. All three were surprised to see another shadow cat but they got really interested once they saw the wounds it presented with.


    ¡°I found it already dead in the borrow. I thought that we could maybe make ourselves three cloaks from its fur since the chance of getting some armor out of it is close to zero. There was nothing else close to it, I checked.¡± he said as he stepped away and let the three of them and some of the other soldiers that were eating examine the wounds.


    Ajax was very careful with his answers, he hoped to be able to keep the pond to himself for a while longer, if the warsted enough time he might even be able to im a few of the fruits from the tree in the middle once they ripened before he reported it.


    ¡°Something strong definitely killed this. But it¡¯s speed shouldn¡¯t be all that high, look at how it crushed its legs yet it still wasn¡¯t able to chase it down to kill it. We definitely need to set up a perimeter, don¡¯t want any of us to run into whatever did this unprepared.¡± the lead hunter said. He came to look when he saw another shadow cat, he had snagged the ws from thest one but was also coveting something made of the soft fur it possessed.


    ¡°That¡¯s an understatement. From now on all patrolls are to be made up of three people minimum, put as much of a description as you can manage from the wounds here and tell people to be on their toes.¡± themander said.


    After making the announcement he pulled Ajax to the side, knowing that there was something he needed to discuss with him.


    ¡°You did a good job bringing this to our attention, and you will be able to keep the spoils for yourself this time.¡± he nodded his head towards the greedy looks some of the guards were giving the valuable beast. ¡°But since you obtained it on your own free time you still have to pay your taxes on it. It would be a lot cheaper to just pay using part of the loot rather than it¡¯s value as something like this is pretty rare in this region. Is there a part of it you would be willing to part with?¡±


    Ajax was a little surprised at this. So many years away from Earth and the rtable quotes all came back to him. Two things are definitely certain in this world, and it seems not even dying once is enough to get you rid of taxes.


    ¡°Would its ws and teeth be enough? I hoped to use the fur to make some cloaks for Tom Kate and myself, as for the core I think Fluffy would get the most out of it since it¡¯s already attuned to his magic type.¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s a little close, but an argument could be made that the pelt is worth less since it¡¯s all torn up. With the information it provided us about there being anotherrge predator I¡¯ll push it through.¡± themander said then headed towards the table.


    Once he made his way through the crowd he carefully pulled out his knife and dug out the core without damaging the pelt any further. He tossed it to Ajax and carefully repacked the body.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take this to be examined. Our leatherworker was pretty excited about the bones from the other one, I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll be willing to make your cloaks in exchange for keeping them. Does that work for you?¡± he asked Ajax.


    Ajax nodded. He knew the bones would usually be worth quite a bit more but more than half of them had to be broken from the fight with the bear, keeping that in mind trading them like this seemed like a great deal to him.

 Chapter 78

    Chapter 78


    With the new loot being taken care of, Ajax proceeded to enjoy his meal. There was quite a bit he wanted to talk about with Tom and Kate but all of that would need to wait until they were in private. Despite the rarity of the shadowcat its presence was little more than a short interest to the rest of the unit after the presence of Fluffy. The other hunters were taking it a bit harder since they missed out on the loot by not going to check the area on their first day off thinking they would get to it tomorrow with the rest of the squad.


    As they got back to the tent Ajax was starting to feel the fatigue from the battle and the long day of searching started to crawl up on him. Despite wanting to talk about what he found with Tom and Kate it would be best if he was rested. As he walked inside the tent he noticed a ratherrge book that had been left open on the table.


    ¡°That wasn¡¯t there before¡± he mentioned while pointing to the book.


    ¡°Themander gave it to Tom, it should help him understand what is going to happen with his new bond.¡± Kate said in a kind voice before turning to Tom to frown. ¡°That is if he would read it.¡±


    ¡°You already started, you can just give me the highlights.¡± Tom said while giving her a hug and brushing her hair and cat ears.


    Ajax just nodded and asked them to wake him up if he slept in again. He also mentioned that he would like to talk to them early in the morning. With that he crawled onto his lumpy mattress, but he couldn¡¯t care about it and just passed out.


    Surprisingly he didn¡¯t need anyone to wake him and was feeling quite refreshed the next morning. Both Tom and Kate were already up, Tom was already in his gear as he would need to leave a bit earlier for his duties as the liaison.


    ¡°Morning.¡± He greeted them before going into the heart of the matter. ¡°I have some ¡­ hypothetical questions to ask about something rted to this skirmish.¡±


    Tom stopped trying to fassen thest strap of his gear and turned to give him a look that said ¡®not again¡¯. Kate on the other hand looked a lot more excited by the prospect of something interesting happening, this was understandable given that all she would do even in a battlefield was sit in the back and heal.¡°What did you do this time?¡± Tomined, forgetting all about his gear and taking a seat next to Kate while motioning him to take the one on the opposite side of the table.


    ¡°Oh, hush you!¡± Kate said while giving him a gentle flick to the shoulder. ¡°I never see anything interesting.¡±


    She wasn¡¯t wrong either, even harming a healer in their little war carried a hefty criminal punishment let alone killing one. They were just too rare and too useful so they were protected.


    ¡°Now this is all hypothetical¡± Ajax repeated to try and cover any lie regtions there may be ¡°but what would happen should one side discover another natural resource, one of maybe even greater value than the one being fought over mean.¡±


    ¡°Great, just fucking great.¡± Tom already threw both hands up in the air.


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    ¡®It depends on its importance.¡± Kate was more calm and exined. ¡°But seeing as how both of the barons serve different visconts, if the resource was important enough a whole other skirmish would be set up with muchrger armies.¡±


    ¡°If this one had not yet ended both armies would receive reinforcements and the skirmish would be extended. Skirmishes between viscounts usuallyst upward of a year. ¡°


    Even Kate started to look a little bothered at the admission. After all, an entire year of just sitting back in a tent and healing wounded fighters while living in this camp was not something she would be looking forward to. Ajax just nodded and processed what they were saying.


    ¡°Alright, and what if, hypothetically of course, one side knew about the resource and didn¡¯t report it.¡± Ajax started but was quickly interrupted.


    ¡°Oh no, you are not going to be sitting on this. It couldnd you in so much trouble.¡± Tom instantly spoke up.


    ¡°Let me finish.¡± Ajax said with a mild tone. ¡°What if one side knew about the resource, didn¡¯t share its existence and also recruited a bigger than normal army for the skirmish. Not only that but they still lost the fight, what would happen then?¡±


    Tom and Kate both froze as soon as Ajax finished speaking. They turned to each other but didn¡¯t speak a word. It was like they weremunicating with their eyes only but both changed from their rtively rxed pictures to being on edge.


    ¡°If there was proof that something like this had happened, then the winning side would be able to keep the resource as a bonus, but if there is no proof the other side can re-challenge over it.¡± Tom said after a long pause.


    ¡°With this being the case I think we -¡± Tom continued but stopped after Kate gave his arm a squeeze.


    ¡°You need to get going, I¡¯ll find out everything else there is and we¡¯ll both take today to think on this. Clearly it isn¡¯t something that has to be handled immediately so we can take our time.¡± Kate said while helping him secure thesttch.


    Tom just nodded and started heading for the exit while deep in thought. While it may seem that because of its importance that something should be done right away about the situation, even if they were to lose the skirmish they could rechallenge since they already knew where the more important resource was. Not only that, but since a conscript found it they could use this to their advantage to forgo another battle over it if they just kept quiet about the discovery and just gathered a bit of evidence.


    ¡°Now since you are only conscripted and not part of the guard unit we have a few choices in how we handle this.¡± Kate exined once Tom was gone. ¡°First of all you can¡¯t tell any of us anything about any resource.¡±


    Ajax looked a bit troubled at that statement but Kate picked up on his worry and quickly followed it up. ¡°Should you hypothetically find one of course.¡± a noughty smile spreading across her face showing off only one of her more pronounced canines.


    ¡°Next, as a hunter and the spy who managed to nt the bug I don¡¯t think anyone would find it suspicious that you would take a recording device, should you happen upon some evidence that needs to be recorded in the future.¡± She continued and Ajax nodded, happy that his forethought to make everything a hypothetical was covering their asses.


    With that the discussion was closed. Kate would rather not risk a slip of the tongue limiting their options. She was well aware of the skills that would be used in the investigation of this matter and they wouldn¡¯t be able to get away with a lie there, luckily the questions they could ask were limited as well so as to not abuse their power. Questions like did you suspect anything were excluded and she made sure Ajax knew the rules as well.


    Ajax was not happy just quite yet though so he thought of how else he could ask the other questions he had. He realized that he could give Kate a bit more knowledge without actually telling her anything and went to rifle through his pack. Once he grabbed one of the water skins he filled up yesterday he grabbed a bowl and served Fluffy.


    ¡°What is with the mana infused in that water, where did you ge-¡± Kate stared at the bowl Fluffy was sipping from with wide eyes but managed to cut her question off once she realized the implications. ¡°Actually, never mind. Did you happen to grab any more of it? It would be a great supplement besides the cores to make sure she grows up well.¡±


    ¡°I have a few more water skins.¡± Ajax admitted but then moved on to what he really wanted to know. ¡°What would happen if a human was to eat or drink something that was so heavily infused with mana?¡±


    Kate frowned at the question. ¡°It depends. If a humanoid that didn¡¯t have ess to their mana was to do so they would die from mana overload.¡±


    ¡°If their humanoid did have ess to their mana however it is a bit moreplicated.¡± She tapped the table thinking of the best way to exin this. ¡° There are multiple factors that we would need to take into consideration.¡±


    ¡°First of all, unlike mana creatures and monsters humans don¡¯t have and can¡¯t form a core. This means that any massive spike of natural mana would kill them from exposure. However low amounts of exposure from something like mana infused water could help the regeneration of mana should their pool be depleted.¡±

 Chapter 79

    Chapter 79


    Thest two weeks had been an exercise in frustration for both the conscripts and the guard units. Ever since they lost the bugs the two future barons had formed a firm front to take every precaution before epting a battle. This had lost them almost all of the ground they had gained with the initial two victories.


    ording to Tom the archduke¡¯s daughter was starting to get fed up with their indecisiveness but there was nothing she could do about it. Her friend had joined her as part of her retinue and not an outright leader, that added to the fact that the only other person she brought with her was a single bodyguard meant that she didn¡¯t have the manpower or the votes to influence the other nobles.


    The other two nobles were now more afraid of a trap than anything else. Unlike in the beginning when they were outnumbered and a defeat was not just suspected, but in fact likely, they were now timid with any engagements. A defeat now after the loss of the bug would signify theirck of leadership to the higher ranked noble with them, something they wanted to avoid at all costs.


    What this meant for Ajax and a lot of other soldiers was a lot of forming up, marching followed by staring down the enemy army before slowly retreating and ceding a little ground every time.


    With his higher perception stat Ajax knew that despite the annoying repetitive movement for his side, the enemy was actually more affected by thisck of engagements than they were. Clearly the enemy knew that should they suffer a defeat simr to either of the first two it would mean an end to the skirmish with their loss. This led them to creating all sorts of static defenses to give them a leg up before every potential engagement.


    Building spike walls,digging pits and trenches day after day was really starting to wear down the enemy. Despite their somewhat loose formation most of them were leaning on their tower shields and spears to keep standing.


    What did this mean for the hunters? Basically they all went out to hunt as a group every three or four days in order to keep up with consumption and not tax their supplies too much. This also meant that Ajax had no free time in which he could take off into the woods to try and spot the bear.


    Their first real break came once the enemy made it a good way out of the forest and started to build a small fort in the open ins. They knew there was no way to attack into it or anywhere near it as the defensive advantage would be too big. The advantage they did get was in their manpower.


    With that many people working on building the fort right after weeks of trudging through digging ditches and forming up for any charges meant that the enemy was tired. Ajax¡¯s side took advantage of this by giving a lot of their people two days off. They also sent a few spies to try and damage the enemy supplies.Ajax¡¯s physical stats were still on the low side for the army so he was also starting to feel the fatigue from the strenuous marching, training and hunting. He took advantage of the announced days off by crashing without eating dinner the night before. Even with all that he barely woke up at dawn to go grab breakfast.


    Since he wasn¡¯t going exploring this time he only took the bare necessities. Starting with leaving hisrge pack in the tent, all he grabbed were a bow, arrows, and a short mace for anything else he encountered out there. The nonbat equipment was also very bare bones. A few water skins he intended to fill up from the river as Fluffy had been drinking his fill as well as a recording device in order to gather the evidence that would prevent another skirmish challenge from going down.


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    Having eaten a hearty breakfast he headed out carefully fully utilizing his stealth skills. Thest thing he wanted was to be followed. He also took the direct route that went through their traps as he knew their positions. Once he was a fair distance from the camp and hidden by the trees he took off at a faster pace with the help of his mana.


    Having plotted out the locations on the map since hisst trip it only took him two hours of running to make it back near the pond. Once he got there he slowed down and started looking for tracks in order to find the bear.


    For the first time since he started his training as a hunter he ran into an unexpected problem. There were too many tracks. Usually two different tracks could ovep but here there were as many as five. This meant that he had to take his time to find the freshest ones, all the while being on full alert.


    Despite this finding the bear didn¡¯t prove as difficult as he expected when he started looking at the track. The reason was quite simple: he wasn¡¯t hiding. When you want to preserve a precious resource you base your home around and are the strongest thing around by an order of magnitude you announce your presence to the surroundings.


    The bear''s intelligence could be seen on full disy as it used a piece of dented bark he stripped off a tree to carry water from the pond to a berry bush. Clearly he didn¡¯t trust the fish enough to swim all the way to the tree so he was spreading mana to his food sources.


    Quickly climbing up into a tree the first thing Ajax did was n his escape route. At best he would be able to fire five or six arrows before the bear locked on to him and he would have to start running.


    With that out of the way he drew the first arrow back. He started with Shadow mana as that would keep his location hidden for the first shot. The arrow flew straight taking out one the bear¡¯s eyes but not being able to punch any deeper than that. From there he switched to abination of metal and magma. With his next two arrows he tried taking out the other eye to little sess. His shots were close but all he managed were two cuts on his snout.


    As he fired the fourth arrow aiming for the neck the bear finally found him. He rose on two legs as he released a challenging roar. This took the arrow off aim and ended up with it hitting its stomach.


    As he started his own escape Ajax felt a shift in the bear¡¯s mana. Instead of the even spread it had before it was now concentrated around its remaining eye. it didn¡¯tpromise on its chest or neck either but this left its limbs a lot more exposed. With a vested interest in slowing it down Ajax started focusing on the joints with lightning and ice mana.


    Of the six arrows he shot, five hit the bear''s front paws sending it face first into the ground. Using this change Ajax took the opportunity to fire a final metal infused arrow into the bear¡¯s neck before finally retreating.


    It wasn¡¯t that he didn¡¯t have the opportunity to shoot any more arrows, but the fact that his mana was already running low. Considering the amount he would need for a quick run back he would be dropping below the level he would have liked, reaching into his final 20%. Constantly using his mana for [Syphon Mana] as well as [Mana Augmentation] was a big drain.


    Getting the five water skins filled up was fairly uneventful, though nerve racking. He kept his eyes on every movement of the water just in case the fish decided to take a swim down river. They had gone through nine simr ones in the past fifteen days so these would be enough to tide them over for another week and a half at best.


    The results were also clear and very much worth it. Fluffy¡¯s mana had grown a lot denser, and she had started shadow jumping slightly bigger distances. The biggest change however came after she had been given her father¡¯s core. With that jump in mana as well as the constant intake of water she had started smoking. Not the drag from a pipe kind but releasing a constant sheen of dark mist from her fur. It was very thin and disappearedpletely half an inch away from her fur but left a deep impression on both themander and the nobles.


    The final part of his expedition also went smoothly. It took very little effort to gather the recording of the spring. He also noticed that there were at best half the guards stationed around here as there werest time. The war taking a turn for the worse seemed to have resulted in a few men being pulled away from guard duty to try to secure victory. After all, what was the point of keeping this ce secret if they were forced to reveal it to get a second chance at a challenge.

 Chapter 80

    Chapter 80


    Argemotion had broken the quiet of the night. Ajax hadn¡¯t expected anything to be happening since one side was offering rest days while the other should have been building a fort. He quickly threw on his gear and grabbed his sword. Kate and Tom both looked just as surprised by themotion.


    ¡°Either of you have any idea what is going on?¡± he asked.


    ¡°None¡± Kate responded while Tom just shook his head while yawning.


    The guards were quick to respond to the wake up call, thankfully themotion was only a round up before an emergency deployment and not an attack on their camp. As they marched towards the main camp Tom took the opportunity to approach themander and try to find out anything about what was going on.


    Ajax had joined the line at the front of the formation before themander¡¯s aide came to pull him back. Apparently even themander didn¡¯t know exactly what was going on but it seemed like he had a pretty strong guess.


    ¡°What is going on?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°The archduke¡¯s daughter and her friend really disliked the passive way the future barons were choosing to y out this war but there was simply no good reason to forcefully go against their tactics.¡± he responded while leading Ajax towards the back. ¡°The decision to give two days off to the troops was the final straw.¡±


    ¡°The two of them took directmand of one of the other two guard units. She sent off their hunters and a few of the higher leveled personnel to cause some more damage to the enemy supply depots in the main camp. The attack was nned for right after dusk.¡±


    ¡°ording to the information we had they had split their supplies into five different storage tents but the spies only managed to set two of them aze. It seemed that this had the desired effect however as quite a few of the forces pulled back from the front lines to trap the saboteurs.¡± ¡°Soon after they left the partially built fort the two nobles, their bodyguard and the remainder of the guard unitunched a sneak attack. Their n was to use as many of their mages to level the skeleton of the fort. Themander even agreed with their n as apparently letting the fort actually get built would have been all but a nail in the coffin for us.¡±


    That made sense, Ajax had also doubted the n to just let the fort get set up uncontested but didn¡¯t think it was all that important since they wouldn¡¯t be able to get any wards so a few well timed spells from the two nobles girls should have been enough to make it a non issue.


    ¡°Why go to all this risk? Couldn¡¯t they just lob spells at it in night raids?¡± he asked. After all, if they brought it down with magic, harassing it continually might be a better answer.


    ¡°Once the fort was built it would have counted as apleted camp. Due to the regtions to prevent mass casualties from magic, destructive spells can only be used on the environment. A half built fort qualifies but a fully established one would be protected.¡±


    Hearing this, Ajax almost stopped rooted on the spot. What the hell were the two future barons thinking even considering letting the fort be established. It would have all but assured the open in would be controlled by the enemy making any n their side had at victory take longer than a year of shallow skirmishes.Though he could see the appeal from the two of them at this approach, it practically guaranteed them a long time in the presence of the important nobles while the girls were still young, both around seventeen or eighteen.


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    ¡°Ok, but then why pull me away from the front lines?¡± it made no sense that themander would ask for him specifically.


    ¡°One of the enemy noble families specializes in illusion magic. They have a habit of sending their men after healers in these mock battles whenever rushed engagements like this one happen.¡± the aide said.


    ¡°That still doesn¡¯t answer my question.¡± Ajax said.


    ¡°Themander has made me aware of your situation.¡± he whispered while lightly mimicking a casting motion with his hands. ¡°You usually wouldn¡¯t be relied upon but the circumstances right now are a bit special.¡±


    Ajax was only slightly surprised to see that the man knew he could castmagic. He honestly had expected it after themander found out. It was a lot easier to keep a lid on things if the aide knew, otherwise themander personally interacting with him would have brought a lot more scrutiny and the man already knew about his abnormal level and agebination.


    ¡°Since the strike force also took most of the images with them in order to take down the fort we are left with few mana users to keep the assassins in check. [Detect Mana] is known to be unreliable when dealing with illusion magic whereas [Sense Mana] isn¡¯t so you will be part of the healer guards for this battle.¡± He whispered this second part so as to not let others eavesdrop.


    As a hunter Ajax quickly got to work setting up detection traps all around the tent before building himself a small raised chair resembling a lifeguard¡¯s at the beach to keep an eye on the surrounding as well as the battle.


    Ajax was d to see two people wearing robes were also stationed to guard the tent along with a squad of guards. He then finally climbed up on his chair and looked towards the imminent battle.


    From up there he could see the group retreating towards their force and being chased by arge army. The retreating force was a lot bigger than he had expected, it seems like the guard unit only had a quarter of their numbers lost on this mission. He had expected them to lose at least half, after all despite it being an ambush the small group did need to take quite some time to dismantle even the bare bones of the fort that had been set up. This gave him a good impression of the two noble girls as leaders of the army, they had realized the need to take out the fort and took the matter into their own hands when they saw the future barons would not budge not only that but theypleted the mission with surprisingly few losses.


    As he watched he also saw three imposing figures in close pursuit almost reaching the stragglers from the retreating force. Of them he only recognised two of them as themanders of the guard units they had routed during the first engagement of this skirmish, the third one was presumably a thirdmander and they were about to catch up.


    He knew that their force would take substantial losses when that happened as themanders seemed to be above level fifty. Not quite to the level of their ownmander but only a few levels off, and there were three of them.


    That¡¯s when he saw someone turn to meet them head on. He thought the idea was good, sacrificing a few to buy time for the many to get away. The execution was bad though as a single person wouldn¡¯t be able to buy enough time.


    He was shocked to find out how wrong he was. The person who turned around was quick, so quick in fact he had trouble keeping his eyes locked on him. The man charged and used some sort of fire spell to obscure his movements, effectively slowing the threemanders to a crawl all by himself.


    Ajax thought he recognised the man after watching him for a minute. Though he had only seen him once he suspected him to be the bodyguard that was following the two noble girls. He ballparked his level close to fifty-five and that was only considering his physical stats and the little magic he had shown. He was probably a lot stronger than that as most humans who had ess to mana would prioritize mental stats over physical ones. It was in fact likely the man was over level one hundred but had his strength limited when affecting the skirmish directly. He was afterall the only guard an archduke sent to guard his only teenage heir.


    He didn¡¯t get a chance to examine the interesting fight any longer despite wanting to see how someone would mix both physical and magical aspects in a fight. One of the traps had been triggered despite him seeing nobody close to where he had ced it.


    Even more suspicious was that the trigger was under a pile of leaves that looked untouched and he couldn¡¯t sense any mana in that direction. He still trusted his instincts and traps and threw a dagger towards the location. His sudden movement put the rest of the guards on edge instantly. Their gazes were in the process of forming res as the heard the sound of metal striking metal and a man wearing chainmail suddenly appeared from nowhere with a dagger fallen at his feet.

 Chapter 81

    Chapter 81


    The dagger striking seemed to be the trigger as five more people became visible. Unlike the first one they seemed to have dropped from a slightly raised tform about two inches off the ground. With the stealth spell gone Ajax and the other mages were able to clearly pick out that the person struck with the knife was a caster and the others merely cloaked by his spell.


    Ajax knew full well that this didn¡¯t mean they weren¡¯t casters themselves as he also hid in in sight by simply not using his mana where others could detect it, thatbined with the odd mismatch of gear the five wore meant that there could be another caster.


    Among the six there were only three with clearly defined roles. The initial caster wore some rather form fitting robes, one was decked out in full te and a third had leather gear with a bow and daggers on his belt. The remaining three all had loose cloaks covering their bodies and hoods above their heads.


    One thing was clearly obvious, these people were all above the average level found in the skirmish. A quick use of [Judge Threat] gave him a quick run down. The caster, while probably decently high level, was clearly a bad match-up against him so he was scored as a low threat. Four more were ranked as a mild threat with the final cloaked figure being a decent threat. Not only that but thest one also jerked his head to look at Ajax the moment he used the skill.


    This might seem like good news but it was in fact quite bad. The people were around level thirty-five to forty meaning engaging them without his mana was suicide. On the upside he wasn¡¯t here alone. His side had more than twice the people giving him a good reason to bow out of the fight.


    ¡°The cloaked one on the left seems to be the strongest but I can¡¯t get a read on the mage.¡± he called out to the stunned defenders which seemed to have broken them out of their shock.


    All but the two physically blocking the entrance of the tent moved to engage them. They had superior numbers with two casters on their side; victory was all but guaranteed now that they removed the element of surprise.


    ¡°Their levels are all well above mine,¡± he continued ¡°I¡¯ll retreat and keep a look out. Chances are this isn¡¯t the only group they sent.¡±


    He kept in mind that the people posted here could very well have a lie detection skill so he used level as a reason for avoiding the fight. Getting a quick confirmation nod from one of the more decorated soldiers he started to back away. That he narrowly managed to hit the deck a moment after the strongest cloaked figure dashed out of his line of sight with the help [Danger Sense] let him know he was most likely correct about there being another group. That or they wanted him out of the picture so they could disengage and use their caster¡¯s stealth again.


    He saw a second knifeing towards him but this was intercepted by one of hisrades. This was one of the veterans who had given him an annoyed look when he first showed up thinking he got the post due to nepotism or bribery. That look was long gone, transformed into an excited smirk. He gave Ajax a quick nod to get out of range before he focused on the enemy and started to advance with everyone else.


    Feeling at ease with the group being handled, Ajax dropped back and took another look at the direction they must havee from. Surprisingly he could now make out tracks in the dead leaves he had spread around. With this he narrowed their stealth spell to one which produced an illusion and prevented noise from escaping. This is why they triggered the trap as it was activated by the weight stepping on it.


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    Knowing what to look for now he scooped up some earth, crushed it into small rocks and started tossing them around, looking carefully at whether or not they stopped or disappeared for no reason.


    With an overwhelming numbers advantage the battle had quickly ended without too much fanfare. On the ground tied up were the six infiltrators as well as one of the guards.


    ¡°Why is he sitting down too?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°Unlike the weak conscripted we don¡¯t need the threat of possible death to motivate us to fight. This also means that we stop before delivering any strong debilitating blows, taking the loss and stepping out for the rest of the war. This helps prevent any unlucky deaths when people of simr level fight¡± the same veteran exined.


    ¡°So he was taken out? Then why are the others tied up?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°Because we didn¡¯t kill them, technically. Sure, marking them as dead would mean that they have to stay out of the fighting for the rest of this war but we also can¡¯t interrogate them. Considering how this skirmish has gone since we lost the bug I¡¯d say it¡¯s worth risking them getting freed to get some extra information.¡± The veteran seemed a lot more patient with the young hunter now.


    ¡°You had the right of it kid.¡± the one sitting down said. ¡°That one really was tough, he¡¯s the reason I¡¯m ¡®dead¡¯.


    Hearing the praise seemed to improve the mood of the cloaked man, though this only means that his scowl lessened.


    The next few hours were peaceful. Ajax still repeatedly tossed some crushed up earth in random directions but focused on the battle in the distance. Unlike their previous engagements it was their army that was now on the backfoot. Not only were they rushed into position they were also missing most of their mages as their mana was spent taking out the fort.


    The group of guards and mages had been finally absorbed into the main army and the careful retreat was finally beginning. Unlike the previous retreats where the other side all but turned back and ran or both armies stepped away without an engagement beginning this one was done with the help of the few leftover mages. They were casting long spells preparing to create a big ditch between the two armies that would give us time to retreat without having our men run down.


    As the spell was finally released Ajax was absorbed in watching. Feeling the mana from all the way here and watching as the multiple mages worked together to power one single action. This was definitely a strength that only chanting magic had. Sure runic could also do the same thing with multiple people having items designed to work together but thosecked the flexibility to adapt to anything but the ideal scenario.


    As he was focused on the aftermath of the spell he suddenly felt one of his traps trigger. He felt a chill run down his back at his own stupidity. How could he have let his guard down just because the armies have started to disengage.


    Even if all of the assassins that hade for the healers would be taken out this was a trade the enemy was more than happy to make. A real downside of this skirmish was that such suicide attack didn¡¯t require the mental convition of throwing away your life as ¡®death¡¯ merely meant spending the rest of the war in poor living conditions.


    His hand instantly went to the knife at his belt drawing it as he was turning ready to throw. Thanks to his trapyout he didn¡¯t even need to be looking at the target to know the general area he needed to aim for, he wasn¡¯t going to see anything anyway.


    As he was about to release the knife he felt a strong grip take hold of his hand.


    ¡°Woah, easy there.¡± the same veteran that seems to have taken a liking to him and had been sticking closer to him since the ambush said.


    Ajax¡¯s reply died in his throat as he turned and noticed people carrying injured towards the tent were what had triggered his trap. Had he not been stopped it was likely he would have harmed one of his own, maybe even killed depending on where the knife hit.


    ¡°So that¡¯s how you did it?¡± the tied up mage eximed.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± the dangerous cloaked man I now identified as the leader of the hit squad asked.


    ¡°I was thinking how it didn¡¯t add up. He managed to see through my spell but couldn¡¯t gouge my level of power but had no problem with you. It just didn¡¯t add up, if he had enough skill with spells he should have had no problems.¡±


    ¡°It was just a doubleyered trap, the leaves were masking strings and I just stepped on one.¡± he continued to silently curse his misfortune.


    A trickle quickly turned into a stream and the tent was filled up in no time. This lead to quickly forming arguments from some of the people in one of the future baron¡¯s entourage demanding that space be made for them before themoners.


    A frustrated one with a decent sh on his arm fumed as he angrily kicked the ground breaking up the ground and leaving a small creator.


    The rubble exploded in every direction with the sound of the impact drawing everyone''s attention. A few of the pieces seemed to hit an invisible wall no more than five feet from the entrance of the tent.


    Three daggers joined Ajax¡¯s in striking the same spot where a man d in te armor appeared a momentter before all hell broke loose.

 Chapter 82

    Chapter 82


    Ajax P.O.V


    A moment after the first man appeared, so did two more. The three were basically at the entrance of the tent. I could clearly see the bulky te covered man and the four daggers that had bounced off his ted chestpiece at the ground by his feet. Behind him I could just about make out the form of a cloaked caster with a simr design to the one that was tied up but anything below his neck was blocked off by the ted shoulders of the first man.


    The final man was covered in a simr cloak to the first three that had simr outfits in the first group. In the downtime after the first ambush they had told me the reason for the cloaks, it was so they would cover the noble house the people represented, attacks on healers didn¡¯t make people popr so they were allowed to keep the cloaks on even after on the condition that they gave up everything on them simr to a search.


    The third man was also the one I locked on to, he already had a foot past the entrance of the tent when he appeared, likely waiting for the cloth to be pulled back when the next person entered so he could sneak in.


    I was slow responding to the situation, taking time not only to analyze the men but also waiting until all of them had their stealth removed. The more experienced soldiers were already close to them, most likely having started moving even before the knives connected .


    I finally started sprinting towards the action. The armored man turned and stood his ground looking to block people off as the mage spread his hands. The mouth mask moved as he whispered the incantation before two sts of wind knocked aside the surprised guards standing on either side of the tent.


    As the two were getting ready to block the exit the third tried to spread the ps and gain entrance. As his hand touched the cloth I felt a surge of mana whirl through the tent and spawn a small weak barrier to surround it. It finally made sense why neither of the guards had opened the way for the patients and always waited on a doctor to move up and do it, there was a failsafe that triggered a barrier should someone touch it from the outside.


    This was probably a well known tactic that also exined why neither of the two groups had attempted to enter the tent by making a new entrance in the sides or the back as well as why they were waiting for someone to open them a path despite the illusion aspect of their spell.


    Not only that, I could feel that the barrier was actually weakest at the front, likely a known weakness that allowed them to strengthen the rest of the barrier as a tradeoff, giving only one easy point of entry and as such one ce to guard. The woman, as I took a better look at her, didn¡¯t even seem surprised about the appearance of the barrier. She was also most likely cursing the previous four patients, all of whom were not only hefty but also needed to lean on someone to walk meaning she had no chance to squeeze in with them when they were let in. She pulled out an evil looking ck knife with some red runes drawn on the de and proceeded to start cutting away at the barrier.


    For the first time since I came to this world I finally felt runic magic being used. Unlike the simple enchantments ced on gear that could use mana from any source to use their effects I could clearly feel the difference here.


    The knife held two runes one side with a bigger one on the other. I could clearly feel different amounts of mana going from her to the runes. The knife got coated in mana, I could almost feel the sharpness of the mana through my senses as she started to tear at the barrier.


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    The first three men had already made contact with the armored man, All three having smashed into the tower shield he had pulled from his back. This style of fighting meant that it was only a matter of time until he went down with no chance of doing any damage to his attacker, what it did do however was buy time.


    This time was quickly put to use not only by the woman tearing at the barrier but also by the caster who had already started muttering his next spell. I could feel the mana gathering even before he was finished chanting, this was something I came to recognise as a clear sign of a powerful spelling. It worked a lot like the warning that came from beasts when they were using their mana.


    Unlike a beast however he wasn¡¯t summoning it early because it would take time for him to channel it into the desired effect, no he was summoning it because the amount required for the spell was too much for it to be pulled from his body directly.


    ¡°Something big ising,¡± one of the mages stationed here called out. He had obviously noticed the same thing I did.


    The other had also noticed but didn¡¯t bother to notify the rest of us, instead I felt his mana flow freeze as his mouth stopped moving for a split-second before it started againunching a quick one word spell towards the enemy mage. The st was odd to me, the mana I felt was simr to the one I felting from the pond water if slightly more concentrated, not only that its motion was odd only mimicking a directed st.


    The st knocked two of our guys off their feet as coteral damage, they were too close to the caster and slightly in the line between him and his target. I could feel the spell lose power noticeably as it traveled, it had not only sent the two guys airborne but also spinning from the power of the st, but as it reached its intended target it did little more than knock him backwards off his feet.


    Despite the small amount of damage inflicted it did fulfill its purpose of stopping the man from finishing his chant. The look of surprise not only on the enemy mage''s face but also on the other mage said that this spell was, if not powerful, at least well known and desired by others. Even the runic caster stopped hacking away at the barrier and turned to look at him in surprise.


    The mage stalemate disappeared as quickly as it appeared with the two stunned mages starting to cast once more and the woman turning back to hack at the barrier. Not only that but the te covered warrior chose this as his moment to shine as he flung off all three people that were pushing against his shield.


    The man fell down on one knee afterwards, his shield arm hanging lifelessly by his side as I almost tripped over one of the people sent flying like ragdolls. Most noticeably I hadn¡¯t felt any mana before this, this had to have been a rare or higher physical skill. Most likely only rare as it not only cost quite a bit of stamina, judging by the breathing and the fact that he dropped to one knee afterwards, but also inflicted damage on the user, the arm either being broken or the muscles torn.


    As the ment were starting to get back up and surround the pair I charged straight through, ignoring the startled looks of the others as I dashed past them, only slowing down to dash out of the way of the wind st I felting from the enemy mage. Almost all my focus was on chasing down the runic mage that had finally sped right into the tent.


    I was only a second or so entering behind her but already I could see she had wasted no time. The glowing runes of her dagger shone brightly as he pressed it against another barrier, one whose mana signature I recognised.


    Unlike most of the other young healers taking part in this war Kate had learned a few defensive spells from her parents and was not solely reliant on the free knowledgeing from the Healing Union. This allowed her to ready a defensive spell once she realized something had gone wrong.


    A blow was all it took for the runic mage to make the decision that trying to break through the barrier was too much of a hassle. Instead she quickly moved away and charged the next closest healer while also lifting her other arm to point a ring at another healer while barely sparing me a nce.


    By the time I reached her she had already left a dent cut on the shoulder of the healer she charged and sent another to his knees with the eclectic sting from the ring. Engaging with her gave me an odd feeling. For the first time when facing someone I found myself on the opposite side of a situation I had been intimately familiar with soon after awakening the system.


    She definitely had higher levelbat skills than I did, most likely low rarity as only those also counted Vitality as a physical stat sufficient for breaking the level limit, but she was woefully understated in terms of Strength Dexterity and Endurance. The only thing that stopped me from simply abusing my stats to smash her into the ground from close range was the runed dagger that had chipped a good part of my de from only a ncing parry.


    As I tried to maneuver around her enchanted de I only managed to score some shallow cuts on her arms and legs. This was hardly enough to pin her down, luckily I caught a glimpse of other people charging into the tent. Sadly I wasn¡¯t the only one to notice this as she flung her knife into the shoulder of another healer close by before I could realize what she was doing and restrain her.

 Chapter 83

    Chapter 83


    As themotion finally died down with all of the infiltrators secured Ajax let one of the other guards take care of the prisoner as he went over to Kate, not only to ascertain that she was ok but also to have her patch up the one cut he did get after the dagger cut through his sword and left a nasty cut on his arm.


    ¡°You ok?¡± he asked her.


    ¡°Yeah, she didn¡¯t manage to get through my barrier.¡± Kate said before quickly getting to work on the bleeding cut.


    ¡°Am I captured or dead?¡± a melodious voice came from behind him. It was different than any other Ajax had heard before and somehow also sounded distinctly inhuman.


    ¡°Captured.¡± the guard responded while securing the restraints.


    Ajax was no longer concerned with her arms and feet though. He looked pointedly at the silver hair and the pointed ears he could see now with the hood of the cloak taken down. It was the first time Ajax had ever seen an elf, unlike beastkin and dwarves elves tended to stick to nature as such he saw none in the city.


    She had a beautiful naturally symmetrical face with violet eyes. She had also noticed the way Ajax seemed to have turned and started to stare at him so she returned the favor.


    ¡°What¡¯s with you? Didn¡¯t expect that a woman could cut you?¡± she retorted scathingly. Despite the System making gender a much smaller issue when it came to strengthpared to Earth, sexism still existed.


    ¡°That¡¯s not it.¡± Kate answered when she saw Ajax not saying anything. ¡°You¡¯re just the first elf he¡¯s ever seen.¡± ¡°Yeah, right.¡± she huffed.


    ¡°No, it''s true. He was a hunter in a secluded vige before all this.¡± Kate said without any ill will. ¡°They managed to conscript him before he joined the Adventurer¡¯s Guild.¡±


    This was enough for Ajax to break out of his shock and stop staring at her. ¡°Sorry.¡± he mumbled as he turned away from her face and focused on the ring on her finger he had seen send the lightning bolt.


    ¡°The ring on her finger is runed¡± he pointed out to the guard securing her. Since she was a prisoner it was well within the rules for her to try to escape or use it even once restrained.


    ¡°That is runic magic and cannot be seized under the rules of this skirmish.¡± she quickly spoke when the guard moved to take the ring.


    The guard stopped and looked to the older one that had entered the tent in the meantime.¡±Then in ordance with said rule and the cloak you wear, consider yourself searched and all runic items confiscated.¡± the older one said while also returning the dagger she had thrown at the end of the battle.


    After returning the dagger he turned to the three healers that had been hit either by de or bolt. He quickly examined the cut and puncture wound before saying. ¡°The three of you are considered dead. Both of the knife wounds were intentionally non-lethal and direct magic hits from runic gear are considered kills as use of lethal runic gear like that is not allowed. Patch yourselves up and then continue treating only other people that have been removed from the skirmish.¡±


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    ¡°Take her to the other prisoners.¡± he told the guard who had finished securing her arms before he turned back to Ajax. ¡°Good job following after her so quickly, she might have taken another three or four of our healers down otherwise. Consider yourself relieved of duty and get yourself patched up. Nicely done kid.¡±


    Ajax had taken the order to heart and spent the rest of the night getting patched up before getting a serving of rations, he hadn¡¯t even been halfway through his meal when they all started making their way back to the camp.


    It was already close to morning when he and Kate crashed in the chairs at the table inside their tent. Both were wiped from a long night but wanted to wait for Tom to also return before going to sleep. Neither had seen him since the start of the battle and they were starting to get worried he might have been captured. They were both also trying their hardest to silence the small pessimistic voice in the back of their head that said he might have been killed.


    ¡°You¡¯re both still up?¡± Tom asked as he walked in almost an hour and a half after them.


    They both let out a sigh of relief seeing him with nothing worse than some scratch marks on his armor.


    ¡°How bad was it?¡± Kate asked. She had figured out the reason he waste was most likely the postbat meeting the leaders held after the battle.


    ¡°Not that bad actually.¡± Tom said.¡±We lost a lot less people in the operation than we expected, not only that but we traded them for quite a few of the guards they had stationed to defend the would be fort. The battle afterwards was pretty even in terms of losses.¡±


    ¡°What about mages?¡± Kate asked. ¡°I know I treated a few that had some evidently non-lethal wounds.¡±


    ¡°They probably have quite a small mage advantage but it¡¯s not that big. We managed to get a few of theirs that they were using to build the fort in the first ce.¡± Tom shook his head. ¡°The biggest loss has to be the removal of the guard from the archduke¡¯s employ.¡±


    Ajax clearly remembered the man who managed to keep threemanders off the stragglers as they retreated. Not only that but the man had ess to mana as well. Considering human nature Ajax was willing to eat his shoes if the man wasn¡¯t above level one hundred.


    ¡°Why is that?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°The other sideined. Apparently he is too strong to be taking part in this skirmish. They even tried to say we cheated by having him take part even with a few restrictions in ce.¡± Tom said. ¡°This is why the meeting took so long.¡±


    ¡°No way they would ept this result.¡± Kate said confidently. ¡° They must have asked for more than just his exclusion since he wasn¡¯t meant to be here at all in the first ce.¡±


    ¡°They tried.¡± Tom nodded. ¡°The fact that they brought four cities worth of people instead of the agreed upon three, for reasons we may or may not suspect. ¡° he gave Ajax a pointed look. ¡° That and the fact that he is the only person beside the duke¡¯s granddaughter to be part of the people joining one of out three noble forces was enough to limit the fall out.¡±


    With that Tom crashed into his chair in front of the te that they prepared for him and proceeded to eat. Or more urately proceed to battle Fluffy for the food on the te. Fluffy had been left with themander before the battle so she returned with Tom and was also hungry.


    ¡°Any idea what is happening tomorrow?¡± Ajax asked, already starting to stand and wanting to go to sleep. ¡°Or maybe I should say today, it¡¯s almost morning already?¡±


    ¡°We are all being given the day off. Even the harshest drill sergeant has to know some of us would be able to stand on our feet after being woken up in the middle of the night to go fight a battle.¡± Tom said around a mouthful of food. ¡°We and the other guard unit are going to be quite a bit busy for the week after that though.¡±


    ¡°Any specific reason as to why?¡± Kate asked.


    ¡°Apparently the future barons were a lot more against the idea of stopping the fort than I thought. They went so far as to block the archduke¡¯s daughter from ordering the guard division to join with her n, the selfish idiots.¡± Tom said.


    ¡°It took her promising them a whole week off and a gold coin each before they agreed to join her. This means that we and the other guard unit will be having to cover for them during this time so get rested.¡±


    On that note Ajax bid the two goodnight and headed off to bed. He was feeling the exhaustion of the battle but at the same time he finally had the peace and quiet to think back on all the different interesting things he saw today.


    The way the archduke''s daughter¡¯s bodyguard had been casting spells that seemed to leave some excess mana running thatboed into the next spell. The brief glimpses of runic magic he had gotten, as well as the oddly simple but surprisingly powerful spell the mage used with a single word.


    What shocked Ajax the most thinking back on that spell was what he felt. It was as if the spell wasn¡¯t just a simple chant. The whole action of speaking and pointing seemed to be part ofunching the spell. What he had learned so far was that gesturing was just useful to help the mind aim the spell correctly by having a constant point of reference regardless of the time and ce you cast.


    This time however it seemed like the gesture was part of the chant, almost as if the word defined the power and the action the direction of the st of pure mana. Considering the reactions from the others however it didn¡¯t seem like this would be a topic he would be given answers on if he asked.

 Chapter 84

    Chapter 84


    Ajax woke up around noon. Despite the time beingte he was still one of the first not on duty to wake up and headed over to eat breakfast by himself. He had heard Kate and Tom get busyst night before getting to sleep so he decided not to disturb them so early. Fluffy on the other hand had no trouble getting up and following him despite the midnight snack he had.


    Before heading out he poured the shadow cat a small bowl of mana infused water as they had gotten into the rhythm of doing so every morning. Despite her usualzy nature she finished the bowl in the time it took for him to ce the waterskin back into his concealed space in the travel pack.


    He got his serving and went over to a table and started to eat. Halfway through his meal however someone joined him at the table.


    ¡°Morning, rookie.¡± The head hunter greeted him as he took a seat across from him and Fluffy.


    ¡°Morning.¡± Ajax kept his greeting short as he usually did with the people of the unit considering he wasn¡¯t going to be sticking around once this whole mess was over with.


    ¡°Now, usually I would have addressed thisst night, but there were too many people here when you were eating and then the whole thing with the battle happened so I never got around to it.¡± the old man rambled on. ¡°Anyway we should discuss your extracurricr activities.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean by that?¡± Ajax asked, tensing up a little.


    ¡°No need to get all worked up. You¡¯re not in trouble yet. With having joined our unit you skipped the conscripted orientation since it wasn¡¯t all that pertinent. As such you have been given no warnings yet on anything, which is what I am here to do. In the interest of openness I should also mention that I have a weak skill that helps me spot through lies, most older guards do.¡±


    At this reveal Ajax started patting himself on the back for all the effort he took with technical truths he had used throughout his time with the guards unit.¡°Now, like I said you¡¯re in no trouble just yet. But let¡¯s just say I think you found something out in the woods, something you have been keeping to yourself.¡± The usation rang out in his ears, seeming a lot louder than the words were spoken.


    First taking a look around to check for anyone else he decided to take this face on. ¡°What gave you that idea?¡±


    ¡°You might be good at erasing your tracks kid, but you have ventured out farther than the perimeter of the camp three times total since the start of us setting up camp here.¡± He said, holding out his hand ready to count on his fingers. ¡° First was with the entire group, even then you somehow found the cub and mother. The second time you went by yourself and found an even more impressive specimen. This by itself would not amount to much since it would be a reasonable deduction for a hunter to search for a nest, especially since you found out the true rarity of the creature before us.¡±


    ¡°Where it doesn¡¯t add up is that on your next day off you headed out again by yourself, all determined. Not only that but you came back apparently empty handed but not looking angry or displeased, instead you looked pleased.¡± he lowered his hand and his rxed look turned serious. ¡° You see how something like this might be cause for suspicion? Even if I am the only one to figure it out so far.¡°


    Ajax froze a little at the exnation. It was true, due to his low amount of free time he hadn¡¯t thought about the perception of his actions would look if someone took a closer look. Seeing how the man didn¡¯t go to report this up the line but decided to confront him instead Ajax had already discussed with Kate and Tom what he should do if someone came up to him like this. The only reason they didn¡¯t spread this around was that one corrupt soldier or turcoat would ruin everything if they found out.


    ¡°I will admit that I looked into what should happen with any untapped resources found surrounding the contested area. I will also say that I have no intention of hoarding them for my own profit. If I should find something and not report it immediately there is a reason, beneficial to our side, for why I would act how I act.¡± he and Kate had both worked for over an hour to construct this specific answer, one that will not be marked as a lie by any truth skill and also not reveal enough that their n to have the pond and stream be part of their winnings of this war.


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    It was his turn to see the veteran hunter and guard freeze and think about what he said. The statements about hoarding were both true, though they didn¡¯t mention the benefits he was keeping for himself in the form of the water fed to Fluffy or the training against the bear and the fish.


    ¡°Hmm, that¡¯s an interesting statement¡± he grinned but turned serious a momentter. ¡°But I will ask this, can whatever you are nning blow back badly on us?¡±


    ¡°No¡± Ajax was quick to answer. After all there was no real downside, the only cost to his n was the amount of time the other baron had to monopolize the spring. That seemed a fair price to pay in exchange for a decent chance to im both the spring and the pond without another skirmish starting


    With a simple nod he was now again sitting at the table with only Fluffy to keep himpany. The feeling of his deception skill going up a ranking in made him take a look at his status, interested to see just how far his skills had progressed.


    <strong>Name</strong> : Ajax


    <strong>Level</strong> :24


    <strong>Experience</strong> : 6320/35500


    <strong>Traits</strong>: , Divine Witness


    <strong>Health</strong>: 1730/1730


    <strong>Mana</strong>: 1690/1690


    <strong>Stamina</strong> :1360/1360


    <strong>Vitality</strong> :173


    <strong>Strength</strong> :134


    <strong>Endurance</strong> :136


    <strong>Dexterity</strong> : 135


    <strong>Intellect </strong>: 171


    <strong>Wisdom</strong> : 169


    <strong>Mind</strong> : 169


    <strong>Perception</strong> : 132


    <strong>Stat Points</strong> :0


    <strong>Skills</strong> :<ul><ul><li><strong>Common :</strong>[Mathematics Lvl 22] [Stealth Lvl 26][Drawing Lvl 30][Athleticism Lvl 26] [Running Lvl 26][Reading Lvl 20][Writing Lvl 20][Cooking Lvl 20][Sewing Lvl 20] [Cleaning Lvl 15][Haggling Lvl 19][Gardening Lvl 20][Axes Lvl 31][Hammers Lvl 30 [Deception Lvl 20][Sword Lvl 24][Shield Lvl 24][Bow Lvl 24][Spear Lvl 25][Throwing Lvl 22][Persuasion Lvl 10][Unarmed Combat Lvl 21][Knives Lvl 26][Skinning Lvl 12][Tanning Lvl 10][Dismantle Lvl 20][Climbing Lvl 17][Tracking Lvl 23][Heat Resistance Lvl 10] [Poison Resistance Lvl 19][Pain Resistance Lvl 10][Trapping Lvl 17]</li><li><strong>Umon :</strong>[Meditation Lvl 40][Sense Mana Lvl 41][Expel Mana Lvl 40][Sprinting Lvl 25][Mining Lvl 10][Lumberjack Lvl 10][Smelting Lvl 10][cksmithing Lvl 10] [Chanting Lvl 11][Mana Farming Lvl 12][Increase Price Lvl 10][Lower Price Lvl 10][Danger Sense Lvl 15][Leatherworking Lvl 10][Alchemy Lvl 10][Mana Milling Lvl 6][Precise Cut Lvl 22][Precise Blow Lvl 22][Judge Threat Lvl 18][ Piercing Shot Lvl 22] [<em>Berserker </em>Lvl 1]</li><li><strong>Rare : </strong>[Manipte Mana Lvl 30][Water Aspect Mana Lvl 23][Fire Aspect Mana Lvl 23] [Air Aspect Mana Lvl 24][Earth Aspect Mana Lvl 25][Inject Mana Lvl 24][Spot Weakness Lvl 15][Residue Recognition Lvl 10] [Light Aspect Mana Lvl 22][Shadow Aspect Mana Lvl 22][<em>Mana Skin </em>Lvl 2]</li></ul></ul><ul><li><strong>Epic : </strong>[Mana Augmentation Lvl 20][Mana Conjuration Lvl 20][Lightning Aspect Mana Lvl 10][Metal Aspect Mana Lvl 10][Ice Aspect Mana Lvl 10][Magma Aspect Mana Lvl 7][Holy Aspect Mana Lvl 1][Void Aspect Mana Lvl 3]</li></ul><ul><li><strong>Legendary : </strong>[Mana Syphon Lvl 16]</li></ul>


    New :


    <em>Berserker </em>0 -> 1


    <em>Mana Skin </em>0 -> 2<em></em>


    Upgrades :


    Stealth 23 -> 26


    Athleticism 23 -> 26


    Running 24 -> 26


    Cleaning 13 -> 15


    Axes 30 -> 31


    Hammers 27 -> 30


    Deception 16 -> 20


    Sword 20 -> 24


    Shield 20 -> 24


    Bow 20 -> 24


    Spear 20 -> 25


    Throwing 20 -> 22


    Unarmed Combat 20 -> 21


    Knives 25 -> 26


    Skinning 10 -> 12


    Climbing 15 -> 17


    Tracking 20 -> 23


    Poison Resistance 18 -> 19


    Trapping 12 -> 17


    Sprinting 22 -> 25


    Danger Sense 10 -> 15


    Precise Cut 20-> 22


    Precise Blow 20 -> 22


    Judge Threat 13 -> 18


    Piercing Shot 20 -> 22


    Spot Weakness 13 -> 15


    Mana Syphon 14 -> 16


    The status showed clearly theck of improvement in most of his mana skills. The fact that he only used a few in the secondbat with the bear besides [Mana Syphon] meant it wasn¡¯t enough for them to grow. That said he could also see the difference in how the skills that he used often and in new ways differed from those that he just kept up with. [Poison Resistance] being the obvious standout as one that he had been training for a long while with very little improvement as his own natural resistance independent of the skill started to grow to the poisons he had ess to.


    The amount of experience was also something he was d for. A little less than half of the amount gained hade from the two encounters with the bear and fish, showing that his constantbat with the two would lead to maybe even getting to level twenty-five by the time he defeated them both.

 Chapter 85

    Chapter 85


    The battle for the fort was thest big strategic battle that was fought for well over two months. It wasn¡¯t because neither of the forces wanted to try to get the upper hand, rather it was because both were cautious of that happening. This resulted in eight differentrge engagements taking ce.


    All of these engagements ended up being straight up with no tactical advantage, with lots of standoffs in between. At the end of the two months both focus saw their armies ground down by about seven thousand men of what they had after the battle for the fort.


    The biggest loss for both sides were their scouts, as in preparation for their many engagements a lot of scouts were sacrificed in getting a read in time to retreat out of an unfavorable position.


    With both armies down losing such arge part of their forces the numerical advantage that Ajax¡¯s side had started to grow bigger and bigger as they traded evenly in forces. This let them take ever increasingly risky engagements and trust that their numbers would carry them through. Of the eight engagements four had happened in thest two weeks.


    Throughout this time Ajax had made a point of going hunting alone or with the other hunters at every opportunity. This was in order to stop others from putting together the same pieces that the hunter leader did about his discovery of the pond.


    Doing so meant that he was only able to take five more trips to collect water for Fluffy and weaken the bear. On hisst trip fifteen days ago he was finally prepared to kill the bear but had found it drinking water by the pond. He was nowhere near ready to engage with the fish and the bear together so he just swallowed his annoyance and returned back with a few filled water skins from down river and a ratherrge boar, most of which was given over to the cooks.


    The repeated engagements had also started to affect both armies and at this point both were on the verge of mutiny fromck of rest. Ajax''s clearest way to track this was the 0.02 gain in endurance he noticed on his status. This meant that in just under two months he had made more than a 1% progress on a feat that should take well over ten years to achieve. It was clearly a pace that could not be kept up especially for the mages of both sides.


    Both sides were faced together again. A mile separating the first lines, with both armies directing their fury more at their ownmanders than the enemy at this point. An attitude that was getting picked up by the officers.


    As Ajax waited for his orders he could hear the veterans of his unit discussing the situation. His unit, being made up of mostly veterans, having participated in multiple simr skirmishes before, were less on edge than the conscripted force.¡°What do you think is happening?¡± one of the younger members asked as he pointed towards the center of the enemy army.


    ¡°If they are smart they will call a ceasefire for a few days before they have a revolt on their hands.¡± one of the veterans answered him.


    Looking where he was pointing Ajax could see a triangle formed of white gs moving forward from the enemy army, in the center he could just make out seven riders with some shy looking gear.


    The response from their side was simr with a triangle of white gs forming around eight riders and a few other unmounted aides heading over, even over the distance from the left nk Ajax could clearly make out his brother as he followed behind themander.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t asking for a ceasefire in this situation odd?¡± Ajax asked, he had learned that ceasefires were usually only agreed to after a battle or before both armies got into position.


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    ¡°Neither side has the advantage here.¡± the veteran replied. ¡°Since this hill gives the enemy an advantage and our numbers give us an advantage they most likely don¡¯t want to continue the battle of attrition today so they will offer championbat to settle who owns the position.¡±


    ¡°Our side isn¡¯t dumb enough to ept that however.¡± another continued. ¡°Ever since that archduke¡¯s daughter has taken charge after the battle for the fort we haven¡¯t taken any unfavorable fights. Her only seeming weakness seems to be her experience.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but that could end up costing her and us everything. If she doesn¡¯t give the conscripts a few days off soon we just might end up losing this whole thing.¡± the first veteran nodded.


    The discussion happening once the two groups met was taking ce too far away from any of them to make out what was happening yet the veterans prediction had been on point as a minute into the discussion our side had started lowering the white gs and made to return. Only to be called back to the discussion halfway through.


    Tom P.O.V.


    I was still quite nervous to be here. Despite the months I had to get used to the presence of nobles I couldn¡¯t help it with so many of them and their bodyguards ready to jump at each other.


    Thankfully I wasn¡¯t the only one, my emotions were mimicked by both of the aids from the other two guard units on our side and by the four aides on the enemy side.


    Out of everyone here the only person who seemed rxed was the bodyguard of the future archduchess. However I would also probably be rxing if I knew I was double the level of the next strongest person beside me.


    ¡°There might be some merit to taking this proxy fight.¡± the future baron Stillwater suggested. ¡°I trustmander Grievous to take on any of theirmanders.¡±


    ¡°I am inclined to agree with you here.¡± the noble girl said after taking a moment to think about it. ¡°After watching thest engagements I don¡¯t think any of their guardmanders is his equal in terms of strength.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t.¡± her friend said.


    I had spent quite a lot of time listening in on their strategy sessions and this is one of the few times that the quiet granddaughter of the duke spoke, she usually just listened and nodded along with the party she agreed with. Her choosing to go against what seemed to be an agreed upon decision of the other three nobles was a first.


    ¡°Why?¡± the other baron asked.


    ¡°We stand too much to lose.¡± she answered, but upon noticing the confused looks on all three of their faces she chose to continue. ¡° Our side was caught out of position this time when they took the hill before we got here, did you question why?¡±


    At this even her friend frowned at her.


    ¡°We got the scouting information in time to get here and contest the high ground but they were already set up. We¡¯ve been working our foot soldiers too hard, they are tired and resentful especially after thest two weeks. It''s why we were so slow to get moving after getting the report.


    ¡°If we take the champion duel here and lose, they could choose to chase and engage us after a full retreat demanded by the loss. Not only that but the damage to the army''s morale would be substantial.¡±


    ¡°That just means that we have to win,¡± Stillwater pressed forward.


    ¡°I can¡¯t seemander Grievous losing to any of the othermanders.¡± the archduke¡¯s daughter agreed.


    ¡°I don¡¯t either.¡± her friend agreed. ¡°Yet one of their nobles is a viscount, taking a chance that one of his bodyguards can¡¯t win is too risky. Especially after we set the precedent of having strong bodyguards enter the fray to turn the side of battle, even if his interventions were banned thereafter.¡± She gave a quick nce to the rider not taking part in the meeting and cing himself between his charge and the enemy army.


    ¡°What should we do then, take the battle?¡±


    ¡°I think we should give up the position.¡± she said.


    ¡°What?¡± The usation in the voice of the future baron was clear, and even I was confused by the proposition.


    ¡°We have been running our army ragged chasing them to fight for thest two weeks, give up the hill in exchange for a three day ceasefire so our men can rest.¡±


    ¡°Would they even agree to something like this?¡± one of themanders finally asked.


    ¡°I think they would. For a reason I can¡¯t understand, they seem to be reluctant to have our armies sh here.¡± she said after taking an extended nce at the other side.


    This was something surprising. Taking a look over I could see that she was right. It wasn¡¯t so much the nobles that were showing their anxiety, well besides their leading future baron. It was the fourmanders.


    That¡¯s when it clicked. We were quite far in the direction Ajax said he went hunting on his own in. This meant that whatever source of mana water the other side wanted to keep secret had to be nearby and arge engagement might lead to scouts discovering it. This was why they wouldn¡¯t want to fight here.


    My outlook on the shy quiet girl changed. This level of observation and perception exined why she had been so close to picking up on Ajax¡¯s mana, in fact I was almost worried that she had asked the bodyguard to investigate him after that incident and we just hadn¡¯t noticed.

 Chapter 86

    Chapter 86


    Lexi P.O.V


    There was almost no back and forth at all from the other side once we proposed our ceasefire. This was highly suspect, considering their situation letting us regroup and rest would be devastating for them. In thest two weeks we pushed our numbers advantage so much the proportional advantage quadrupled in size. To let us rest and do it all over again will bring an end to this skirmish in two months at the most.


    More than this, it seems like I am not the only person to realize this. The viscount didn¡¯t look pleased with the decision agreed to by his fellow barons and all of themanders were downright shocked the deal went through.


    Annabeth and our own two barons didn¡¯t seem to notice the oddity. Instead they seemed pleased at the way it all worked out in their favor. Rex was the only person that managed to maintain theirposure throughout the entire negotiation. He took his exclusion from the conflict very seriously and didn¡¯t change his facial expression throughout the hour we spent out here.


    From what Annabeth told me of him, Rex was someone her father picked up as a ward over two hundred years ago, maybe as much as four, to make up for hisck of children. Because of thews that surround inheritance of a noble house he was never a threat to any of her cousins or nephews so they just ignored him. In that time he worked hard training, so much so that he was now one of their strongest people, reaching past level one hundred and fourty. This was why he was considered enough by himself to protect her.


    ¡°This ended rather well.¡± Annabeth says.


    ¡°I think they gave up too easily,¡± I answer. ¡° Something strange is going on here, I just can¡¯t tell what it is.¡±


    ¡°What makes you say that?¡± she asks.


    ¡°The viscount wasn¡¯t pleased with the deal, he got outvoted. Not only that but themanders on their side didn¡¯t seem confused at all, only upset at something. They probably know what is going on and disagree with how something yed out this time.¡± I say.¡°How did you get all that? Are you sure you don¡¯t have some kind of skill for it?¡± she says in mock outrage.


    Thisck of social skills is what made me and Annabeth stick to one another so tightly back when we first met almost nine years ago. Both of us are more than just slightly talented when ites to magic, but from there we are opposites and we stuck together like mas.


    Growing up basically in the backyard of the best magic academy in the kingdom, with the headmaster as my father, meant that I was always the center of attention wherever I went. Everybody wanted to be my friend because of what that could mean for their future. Thisbined with my introverted personality led to me picking up on how to read a person very well. By the time I was eight I had almost given up on making true friends, everyone my age was either looking for a way into the academy or they had a rtive who needed help from my grandfather.


    Annabeth was myplete opposite. From birth she was considered a miracle by her father and a disaster by her cousins and nephews. A few early assassinations attempts led to her being very isted for most of her childhood. Thisck of social interaction left her to focus on training and studying. Besides magic Annabeth was a genius of strategy, mostly mercantile but it swapped over decently well to the military as well.


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    Thisck of social skillsbined with her strategic mind led to the overworked situation of our soldiers. She could take into ount the fatigue of our troops as it rted to their fighting prowess, just not their morale.


    ¡°I agree. It seems odd that they would do this but we should just take precautions and let our men get some rest.¡± A gruff voice spoke up from behind.


    I turn around to look at Commander Grievous. By far the most experiencedmander when ites tobat and the strongest as well, his attitude towards nobles outside of battles where they are his superiors however is why he is always sent as themander from Lessis when his baron wages a skirmish.


    ¡°I know, it¡¯s just something doesn''t add up. From what Beth has said before, it almost seems like they have changed their strategy over thest three weeks. From her take on their tactics and the way their leaders are acting it¡¯s as if this isn¡¯t an exercise to practice for war anymore.¡± I say what has been bothering me for a while.


    ¡°How so?¡± he frowns.


    ¡°Their tactics are getting riskier and riskier, all but shouting that they don¡¯t care if they lose so long as they have a chance to win the whole thing. This isn¡¯t what these skirmishes are for, in fact using tactics like that is not just frowned upon but taxed harshly because it can instill bad habits into our armies for when a real war urs.¡± I exin.


    I hear a mumble and look past themander and see his liaison deep in thought. Unlike the rest of us though he doesn¡¯t seem at all confused. He is nodding to himself like he put it all together and it somehow makes sense.


    ¡°Best not to focus too much on this, just keep a strong lookout for any surprises.¡± themander interrupts my train of thought. ¡°Tom, go give the good news to our unit. They¡¯re finally getting a few days off.¡±


    Tom quickly broke out of his thoughts and saluted before he made a beeline for the left nk. I don¡¯t know why but I think he has a piece of information he isn¡¯t sharing. This is odd since of all the liaisons he seems to be the most dedicated to hismander. This added on top of everything else strange that surrounds him makes me wish I had insisted on taking one guard with me as well. At least then I could have sent someone to investigate discreetly withoutpromising our security.


    Ajax P.O.V


    The news of a ceasefire in exchange for giving up the hill was a pleasant and unexpected surprise for all of us. We were hoping for a ceasefire but all in exchange for the hill position was too good to be true.


    I thought over why they would be willing to do this, what could go wrong if they chose to fight this? The spring! That was it, I had only been going to the pond and river ever since my third trip so I didn¡¯t realize just how close to the spring we were. They are scared that a scout might stumble upon the spring if we fight here.


    The march back was odd. Weeks of constant marching and fighting had taken almost everything out of us but the news of days off seemed to boost our morale like nothing else. This resulted in a tired fast march all the way back to camp.


    Sadly we were still quite a ways off the camp, not only that but with the ceasefire in effect we decided not to stop at the makeshift camp we had the night before but go all the way back to the permanent one so the sun was already setting by the time we arrived. I didn¡¯t realize just how long this road was until I had to make the trip tired, without mana and at the pace of the conscripts.


    Dinner was a less jolly affair. Despite the good mood inspired by the uing days, dinner reminded us of what we had just gone through. With the constant fighting us hunters hadn¡¯t had a chance to properly hunt in over a week. This meant that we were out of fresh meat and on a rations only diet.


    The tasteless dry food was a chore to eat but we were all too hungry not to eat. This resulted in a little petition starting up. Of course it was Spencer that was leading the charge with his great idea of having the hunter not have a day off tomorrow so that they could go hunt for meat.


    Luckily themander shut that down before it had time to really pick up any steam. He did pull us all aside afterwards and asked us nicely if we could go hunting, on our own or as a group, a little earlier than after the three days off everyone was promised. In the end we agreed that meat would be back on the menu in some capacity the day after tomorrow but all of us wanted tomorrow to rest.


    That night I slept in as long as even theziest of the guards from the unit, yet when I woke up I saw something new.


    STATUS EFFECT : Fatigued


    Due to repeated extensive use of stamina all physical stats are reduced by 20%. Stamina regeneration reduced by 20%. Stamina consumption increased by 20%.


    Resting while at full stamina for an extended period of time will remove this Effect.

 Chapter 87

    Chapter 87


    Reading the status effect was a shock. Despite working himself hard everyday he hadn¡¯t experienced anything like this before. Then again he also never spent more than at least three times his stamina a day for two weeks straight before. He wondered, since there was no way the nobles in charge didn¡¯t know about this, were they simply nning on winning the war before the next level of it kicked in?


    If they were that would have been a strange strategy, one little strike could have their forces grind to a half and gain the debuff early making a mess of everything. Unless whoever was leading was sure they could motivate the people to keep fighting, of course, a big reward was a viable way to do so.


    He came out and found his brother sitting at the table lifelessly ying with the energetic shadow cat.


    ¡°Morning., you have Fatigue too?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Hmm, morning¡± he responded, only seeming to process the words a few moments after. ¡°Yeah, I got it too. Apparently everyone under level thirty with a pure physical focus was expected to get it.¡±


    ¡°How bad is it for you, 20%?¡± he asked, wanting to check the different levels.


    ¡°Nah, I focus quite a bit on Endurance as a guard, mine¡¯s only 15%.¡± he answered


    As he answered he carelessly moved the piece of string he was using to engage the cat. This caused it to knock over both helmets they had left on the table the previous night. The firstnded rtively harmlessly on the ground, but the second hadnded on top of it causing a loud metallic BANG.


    ¡°UHHHH¡± came from the partition on the other side of the tent. ¡°Can you two keep it down, please.¡± Kate looked much worse than the two of thembined. The two of them looked like they woke up after an average party where they drank a bit too much. Kate on the other hand looked like a freshman after a night of initiation.


    ¡°Let me guess you have Fatigue. Too?¡± he asked in almost a whisper.


    ¡°I wish that was all I had. Unlike you who only ran through your stamina, this constant fighting made us healer run through our mana several times over as well, I got Drained too.¡± sheined.


    ¡°I take it Drained is the same but for mana?¡± when she nodded he kept on going. ¡°How bad is it, numbers wise?¡±


    ¡°Fatigue is at 30% from all the relocating with no rest because of healing. I got lucky on the Drained. A few, let''s say choice individuals, decided they weren¡¯t hurt badly enough to slum it with the beastkin healer and wanted to wait for a human. Once one did it others followed so I got away with only a 10% on that one.¡±


    Despite the tiredness in her voice he could still hear a bit of resentment. Considering how close they were to a human supremacist Kingdom he could understand where some of those ideas came from but found them utterly ridiculous.


    ¡°Worst of all though is the Empty effect.¡± she finished.


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    ¡°What is that?¡± he asked, for once the confused look Tom sported let him know it wasn¡¯t just him that didn¡¯t know.


    ¡°When you suffer from both Fatigued and Drained at the same time you get stuck with Empty on top. A downside to hybrid fighters in terms of long term exhaustion. It lowers all your stats by the average of the two. Right now I am down 20%.¡± she said as she got to the table, gathered the furball with both arms and proceeded to use her as a pillow.


    ¡°You really don¡¯t realize how much you miss that five Endurance and Dexterity until it¡¯s gone.¡± shemented.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go grab us breakfast, managed to talk to the cooksst night after I learned what is likely to happen today so I should be okay to bring it back here so long as we return the bowls.¡± Tom said as he got up from the table ignoring Fluffy¡¯s attempts to ask for help.


    ¡°I¡¯lle help you carry it.¡± Ajax made to get up and follow but was stalled by a shake of the head.


    ¡°Stay here and get your rest. I know you are going to be hunting tomorrow. Considering that we are down to ourst waterskin and how you looked the first time you came back from wherever it is you go to hunt I¡¯d say you need as much rest as you can.¡± Tom said before dipping out of the tent.


    ¡°You aren¡¯t nning on going anywhere dangerous with that Effect still on are you?¡± Kate looked up, giving Fluffy the chance it needed to escape without dislodging her.


    ¡°I probably would but I doubt I can. The way I see tomorrow going is a slow group hunt to gather as much as we can with minimal effort.¡± Ajax reassured her.


    If it was up to him only he would most likely have gone for the pond. After thest few ambushes he left a good few wounds on the bear, enough that he was confident to take it even with the lowered stamina. He even wanted to try to see if there was anything to gain by beating such an opponent while having the status effect.


    Sadly the n for tomorrow had already been made after dinner when themander pulled them aside. While he was able to stay out considering his age and experience, no way it wouldn¡¯t be suspicious to do so before heading out by himself.


    They two both waited infortable silence for Tom to return. Ajax, having sat down and leaning back on his chair until Fluffy came to him, plopped a water bowl down before nudging his foot with her head. ¡°Meow¡±


    Having gotten the message he slowly rose himself and got out thest water skin from his backpack and poured almost half of what it had left in the bowl. The rest should be enough for tomorrow and the next morning before he woulde back with more.


    Fluffies new diet definitely agreed with her. In thest two months she had almost tripled in size and no longer fit on any of their shoulders, a fact that not only displeased her but also didn¡¯t stop her from trying. This was also questioned by themander but the answer of eating through five years worth of mana cores seemed enough to mollify him.


    Her increased size also came with an increase in power speed and magic. While she still didn¡¯t pose any real threat to anyone that was part of the guard unit she showed her increased specs the two times she had taken the food from some of the low Dexterity guards. While she couldn¡¯t oust them or outrun them in a straight line she was fast enough and unpredictable to grab the food and lose them through the camp.


    The higher ups thought it was great and instead of reprimanding Tom they decided it was a perfect exercise for the guards, after all they had to be ready to react at any time. The game was something he was looking forward to when meat would be back on the menu as anybody who had their food taken had to catch the cat and present it to the cooks to get recements.


    Tom returned with arms full of bowls containing the mushy rations and a few pieces of dried jerky for Fluffy.


    ¡°Say, Ajax, how close were we to ¡­ your hunting spot yesterday?¡± Tom asked after taking a seat and they all started digging in.


    Ajax frowned at the question. This was the first time they had spoken anything about it since he brought it up the first time.


    ¡°Not that far off actually, why?: he responded.


    ¡°That noble girl, the one who isn¡¯t technically in charge, thought that it was odd they epted the ceasefire. She thinks there might be a hidden reason as to why they would ept it. Not only that but she seemed pretty sure that not all of their nobles knew what it was either.¡± Tom said finally rxing a bit from a pressure he hadn¡¯t known he was carrying.


    ¡°Do you think I shoulde clean about it?¡± Ajax asked. ¡° If some scouts find it and they realize I knew beforehand could I get into some trouble?¡±


    ¡°No, you¡¯d be fine,¡± Kate said in a weak voice. ¡° If we were losing the skirmish or it was ambiguous then maybe there would be something to worry about. As it stands right now, with how hard we seem to be winning, as long as you hint at the fact that you knew about the way to get them a free bonus and were going to turn it in eventually at worst you¡¯ll get a warning.¡±


    ¡°It might be different if you were keeping it hidden for your own profit but as it is they¡¯ll have no problem with this.¡± Tom added on.


    ¡°Only reason I asked is because I wanted some peace of mind that there wasn¡¯t anything else they were hiding and that we had missed out on something that could cost us by letting them have the hill.¡± he reassured Ajax.

 Chapter 88

    Chapter 88


    Ajax spent the whole of his first day off sleeping. Other than breakfast and dinner he, like most of the camp, decided to try and get rid of their status effects as soon as possible so he could actually get something useful done in the rest of the free time.


    As it turns out sleeping for the better part of thirty hours was sufficient for the status effect to drop off. This however was true only for those who actually rested for the entire day yesterday. Most of the people in the army had gotten a good night''s rest but decided to enjoy their time rxing in other ways.


    ¡°Did all of you rest enough yesterday so the fatigue would drop off?¡± The hunter lead didn¡¯t waste any time on greetings and got straight down to business.


    ¡°Er¡­¡± the newbie seemed a little embarrassed as he scratched his head. He was a little older than Tom but having seen both his senior and the kid nod without hesitation left him feeling bad about how he spent yesterday drinking and gambleing with the other soldiers.


    ¡°Ugh¡­ We told you we¡¯d be leaving today. Not only that, you are barely level twenty-two.¡± The leader stopped his tirade short, they had a job to do and the scolding could wait until after. ¡°Forget it. We¡¯ll deal with that tonight and tomorrow. For now today is going to suck for you.¡±


    As he said this he dropped eight backpacks on the ground between them. The packs had enchantments all over them that while not exactly the same, reminded Ajax of the ones on the pack Hatchet had gifted him.


    ¡°I managed to get these from themander. You should be familiar with the idea considering that the kid had something like this from the start but this will save us from making multiple trips as we rebuild our meat supplies. There are two for each of us to carry, you are free to bring your own as well.¡± he said thest part while nodding to Ajax.


    Ajax himself picked up two bags and inspected them. Individually they were smaller than his own, thoughbined they not only took up more space but were a lot clunkier to carry. Not only that but the amount of space inside evenbined was barely more than half of his own.


    Despite the advantage grabbing his own would give them, it wouldn¡¯t make much of a difference. No way they were going to be filling all eight of these so grabbing his own pack would just mean he has to empty it and carry more weight since he has more space.¡°I''ll just grab these. I doubt we¡¯ll need more than all of them filled up.¡± Ajax said as he shouldered his packs.


    As soon as they took off things started being put in perspective for him. Despite these being hunters that are part of the guard unit their hunting methods differed greatly from what he and Hatchet had been doing in the five years he had spent training up his stats. It only now dawned on him that Hatchet had not really been training him to be a hunter, but in fact an adventurer.


    The differences were subtle but with the leader and veteran working at peak capacity it became obvious. Sure they could all hunt but they specialized in different things. He had a much easier time deducing the strength, and skills of the prey he hunted from the tracks it left, easily being able to zero in and efficiently take out any problem creature.


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    The leader and the veteran didn¡¯t have such uracy when it came to that. The difference came to a head for Ajax when two boar tracks split off in different ways. Ajax could tell which tracks were left by the bigger boar who would provide more meat. Subtle things like the depth of the scratches on the trees and the depth of the hoof impression let him know this boar was around level twenty and weighed upwards of eight hundred pounds.


    What he didn¡¯t pick up on was that the other tracks belonged to a family of boars. Sure none of them would be individually close to the value the bigger boar would present but the amount of work for reward would be much better when hunting them down.


    From there it was a rtively simple affair to catch up and collect the meat for the camp. Thest two weeks of no hunting had also let the wildlife return closer to the camp meaning they didn¡¯t have to venture out as far as before to find them. They group even took pity on the young hunter and filled his packsst so as he wouldn¡¯t have to deal with the weight and fatigue for so long.


    The trip was uneventful but it did firm up Ajax¡¯s rezolve that he wanted to be an adventurer. It wasn¡¯t that he disliked hunting but the ten boars, five deer and two bears they hunted down simply presented no challenge, no thrill. It was too easy, and not something he could see himself doing long term. Especially as things would get easier and easier as his levels and skills climbed.


    As they returned they were greeted as heroes by the camp. Most of which was starting to finally be free from the shackles of fatigue and really missed the taste of food outside the rations.


    With Ajax having already prepped some of the game they caught, the cooks started preparing it as soon as they dropped it off. With their part of the work done they all left for the baths as a day skulking through the forest had left them all sticky and dirty.


    A good long soakter, as the hunters finally started to rx. Unlike the rest of the soldiers they had spent their first day releasing their physical stress in order to function for the hunt. They could now finally rx the mental stress thest two weeks of constant fighting had been on them, only leaving the warm bath when they got hungry.


    The upside of having spent the entire day hunting for this meal was that despite the fifty man deep line waiting to get served all the hunters were led to a table and had food brought to them as thanks for breaking up the monotony.


    The rest of the evening after the meal Ajax spent discussing with Tom and Kate. Tom let both of them know that not only the nobles but even themander was of the opinion that the skirmish was nearing the end. At worst it would be two more months but that was unlikely, earliest was one week after tomorrow, thest day of the ceasefire, but most likely it would take around three weeks for all of this to be over and they would be able to head back home.


    While this news was great it also put a clock on Ajax''s own special training. He probably had two trips, if that, to not only take out the bear but also the fish before one or moremanders crushed them.


    With this in mind Ajax went to sleep with a fire lit under his ass. He was determined to go out tomorrow and as long as the bear wasn¡¯t sitting by the pond he would end it once and for all.


    Like usual he woke up early the next morning and started getting ready for the trip. He noticed that Tom wasn¡¯t here but remembered him sayingst night that his performance in this skirmish got themander to take a special interest in training him, that was most likely where he was right now.


    He was careful not to wake Kate who, despite getting rid of drain , still had fatigue to deal with on his way out. Near the door he spotted Fluffy waiting for him.


    ¡°Sorry buddy, I can¡¯t take you with me on this one.¡± He whispered while stroking the cat.


    He wasn¡¯t sure how the shadow cat figured out that he was going to kill the bear. It hadn¡¯t tried to join him on any of the other trips after the first when they found out about the pond, but now that he was determined to kill the bear it waited dutifully for him beside the empty bowl of water.


    As much as Ajax wanted to have the feline with him in hopes of earning some forgiveness for having been the one to kill one of her parents, even if in self defense, the bear was just too dangerous for Ajax to take the risk in having to guard someone who was still under level ten.


    ¡°Sorry but you can¡¯te with me on this one.¡± he continued to stroke the cat but she lowered her head, seeming upset. ¡°I¡¯ll bring you back his core. How about that? Would you like that?¡±


    Fluffy seemed torn. One the one hand she understood she was too weak to be anything more than a liability, on the other she wanted her revenge against the thing that not only killed one of her parents but disced her family from the pond and sent them closer to the army camp.


    In the end she looked back up at Ajax and after maintaining eye contact for a few moments she gave him a nod.

 Chapter 89

    Chapter 89


    Ajax P.O.V


    For the first time since going hunting on my own I packed up all my gear. I had my shield, sword, spear, axe, hammer, bow and knives with me. I knew this would be a tough fight. Yes I have been weakening the bear for a few trips now but he has also continued consumingrge amounts of mana rich water, this may have healed it somewhat.


    The n was to finish this based on me getting a good opening shot. I knew he was being very protective of his only remaining eye, I had tried twice to shoot it with a shadow arrow and both times it managed to react in time meaning blinding it from range was not something that would work. No, I was going with a heavily infused lightning arrow for one of his front paw joints to try to slow it down and limit its attack options to one paw and teeth.


    The trip through the forest was not as uneventful as I initially expected. Spencer and hisckeys actually tried to follow me when I left and I had to waste half an hour losing them before I could start using my mana to cover the distance.


    Finding the bear near the pond was as easy as it was all the previous times. After all when you are the biggest baddest thing around you don¡¯t need much stealth. Luckily it wasn¡¯t at the pond this time, but it was decently close, I would have to make it chase me away from it just in case it decided to make a run for it when he got hurt.


    My first big decision came down to where I wanted to ce the first arrow. Left or right wasn¡¯t that big a decision as I wanted to remove the paw that coordinated with his working eye, the question was did I aim for the wrist or the elbow.


    There were arguments for each. If I targeted the elbow It would impact its closebat abilities as he wouldn¡¯t even be able to swing the paw properly. The wrist however would cause movement issues as it would instinctively rely on the front leg only to have it give out from under him, something that wouldn¡¯t happen with an elbow shot.


    In the end I decided to go for the wrist. Yes the elbow would be a better advantage but I had to keep safety in mind. The worst oue wasn¡¯t that the bear survived, it was me dieing. An injured wrist would most likely y a bigger role by having it stumble a moment after I bolted from meleebat.


    I infused a good three hundred points of mana into the arrow. A ridiculous amount but I wanted as much current running through the bear as possible. My follow up arrows would be infused with magma hoping to burn away some of the fur protecting its neck and other joints.As I released the first arrow and watched it reach its target I saw the bear try to move its paw at thest second but luckily the arrow was moving fast enough that it still hit. The resulting shock threw the bear through a loop as I put a magma arrow into its neck only to have it slide off after scorching the impact zone.


    It had already started with reinforcing its weak spots so after another shot at its chest to clear the way for a heart shot I focused on the joints of his remaining front paw. I focused more on ice arrows to try and limit the movement by freezing the area as I led it away from the pond.


    I could also see my previous hunts pay dividends as with the increased weight of an injured front paw his left back leg started to stumble from my previous visits. In the state it was in I could most likely keep this up for an hour and retreat with an issue but this wouldn¡¯t be enough to kill it and I was running out of time. I had a little over a thousand mana after my opening volley and I knew this battle wouldn¡¯t be a longsting one.


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    The ce I stopped was right behind a snare trap. Hopefully it would buy me enough time tond a strong spear opening attack. As the bear approached I took out my spear and wielded it with two hands while infusing the tip with metal mana and feeding syphon mana with a decent amount to raise my physical stats even higher.


    As the bear reached the trap I realized a few miscalctions I made when nning this whole thing out. First and foremost was the bear''s reaction to stepping in the trap, instead of continuing forward or dropping its head it raised itself on its back legs. Meaning the spear I was trying to drive through its throat barely managed to catch it in the shoulder. Not only that but it was also the bad shoulder as that paw was already out of action.


    ¡°RAHHHHHHHH¡± it raged at the feeling of the tip prating a few inches into its skin.


    A quick swipe was all it took to shatter the shaft and ruin my spear. I quickly pulled out the sword and shield but had little sess. The sword was usually a good weapon but against the thick fur and strong skin I could barely make decent cuts even when I connected so I quickly discarded it for the axe.


    The axe had much better sess. Infusions of metal and ice let me slow the bear down some more but it wouldn¡¯t be enough to get through the heavily mana infused skull or chest. A good swipended on its neck however and I finally started to see my victory approaching. The cut was deep and blood started flooding out.


    That''s when it happened. I knew monsters could have skills, stealth and tracking the mostmon followed by resistances to the environment. What I didn¡¯t expect was for the bear to have the enrage skill.


    You see there were two skill types that killed adventurers most often. The number one was revenge skills, they triggered after death as a final fuck you. Quite obvious why they would be the number one killers despite the low chance of encountering one.


    The second was enrage skills, unlike revenge skills they weren¡¯t in the epic category, only rare. Not only that despite being ranked second in the number of kills they were considered much worse. Revenge skills got a good number of their kills on adventurers much stronger than their target who just got careless after they thought the fight was over. Enrage skills however only came out at low health and weren¡¯t enough to bridge massive gulfs in power.


    This meant that in a rtively even match like this one, enrage was the worst kind of skill the bear could have. Not only did its strength and speed rise but it also started ignoring the pain that ran through its back leg. The bear swatted at me with the messed up front paw, the only indication that it had taken an arrow in the wrist and a spear in the shoulder was theck of w action and it being much more telegraphed.


    My first parry was all it took for the axe to get knocked out of my hand leaving me with knives that were never going to prate the skin and the hammer. Not only that but I was starting to run low on mana, I was down to thest four hundred. A few quick strikes and half my mana determined that Ice, metal and magma were not going to have what it takes to end this quickly enough, though they did cause pain and damaged its healthy paw enough to slow it down.


    The big fight ended with a quick surprise blow. After I ducked under a swipe I had a clear way for a strike at its chest but didn;t have the form or the time to take a full swing. I infused a good amount of void mana and swung dead center, right where the magma arrow had cleared the fur.


    The impact didn¡¯t leave a mark on the exposed skin but caused the bear to backpedal. Not only that but a moment after the blow connected itunched forward again only to shower me with blood from a coughing fit. A few secondster ity dead.


    I didn¡¯t understand, all my void mana experiments let my arrows do me damage beneath armor but it always ended the same way. The arrow would bounce harmlessly off the fistyer only to have a small hole poked out past it, never did it have this kind of an effect before.


    As I carefully processed the bear, after all despite my worn out state this was a level fifty bear, no way I was letting it just rot I found my biggest surprise yet. An inch under the skin where my hammer connected I could see a change, the muscles ripped from one another and I couldn¡¯t find the heart, it seemed like it got crushed.


    Void was clearly not something to be used with piercing or shing damage, no void was for armor piercing crushing damage. If you could bypass heavily reinforced sections like this and have momentum carry through fully even a quick swing to the brain would be enough to kill someone as long as they only used mana to reinforce the surface.


    The whole time I processed the bear I could feel the triumphant skirm I couldn¡¯t get rid of despite my best efforts. Itsted all the way through my trip to the river to refill the water skins and wash some of the blood off me.


    Despite not taking any direct hits my shield arm was numb and I could feel my right hand joints throb from parrying. I managed to get away without any substantial injuries but I was dead on my feet. Stamina was going strong at five hundred but mana was down under the hundred mark. This meant my trip back to camp would be a long one.


    Somehow though I couldn¡¯t bring myself to care all that much. I had finally done it, I killed the bear. Despite my recent sess my mind had already moved on to the fish. This one while weaker was not one I could engage multiple times before hand to weaken it and I was almost giddy hoping my next free day woulde soon so I could challenge it.

 Chapter 90

    Chapter 90


    The road back was slow. Ajax was slowly regaining his mana but he didn¡¯t have enough stamina to rush back anyway. Not only that the mana he was regaining was spent starting the healing process.


    After the adrenaline had left his system he spotted the gash one of the wed attacks he thought he parried left on his right thigh, this was the first thing he dressed applying a lot of pressure. He got lucky that it missed the main artery. Next he had to deal with his arms, his right arm felt like it was about to break into pieces from the way his joints felt after parrying the bear, the power enrage gave the bear made itself known even if there were no visible marks.


    The biggest problem, at least when dealing with concealing his injuries, came from his left hand. Having used the shield to block multiple hits his whole bicep and a good part of his forearm and shoulder were one massive bruise. He knew there was no way to hide all this so now was faced with a nasty choice.


    Did he A) go back and lie to the guards about where he got his injuries. This n had risks, the main one being dragged into a tent and interrogated. Or he could go with option B) go hunting for a boar and a bear. Then im he had hunted a boar when a bear snuck up on him, this would make the injuries match because they were inflicted by a bear without revealing the massive beast he brought down.


    He was very much inclined to go with n B logically. The problem came to theck of mana and bad state he was in from the battle already. As he was thinking deeply about this he went for a mouthful of water, knowing that the meal he had after the battle will also need fluid to help the magic along with his healing process.


    His carelessness was quickly realized as he felt a burning sensation down his throat the moment the first few drops went down. He had been so caught up in his internal debate he didn¡¯t realize he had drunk from one of the water skins he had just filled. One mouthful was enough to make him feel like his whole body was being roasted over a small me as well as being put on ice at the same time.


    Despite the difort he noticed his mana started to regenerate at five times its usual rate. With a bit of mana to spare he decided to reapply his healing spells only to feel a rush of pain as the mana moved through his body. It was so bad he didn¡¯t even manage to finish the cast.


    It took almost ten minutes for the feeling to go away and for him to be able to use his mana normally again. With this new development he felt he had enough mana to safely go for n B so he started off back through the forest looking for a bear and a boar.


    Finding them didn¡¯t take that long, as for the fights they were less of a problem as he ended them both with a well ced opening arrow. He did make sure to mutte the bear afterwards to reflect the close melee story his wounds told and started his way back to the camp.Even with the long road back andck of mana to spend on his movement speed he had made it back around mid afternoon, still hours before the sun went down. A little before he got into range of the camp he made sure to use his [Mana Syphon] to remove any residue from the healing he already used on himself. Last thing he wanted after taking the time to build up a story was questions from a random mage on duty about who healed out there.


    As he got close to the camp he was quickly spotted by the sentries on duty who quickly got to him and began the questioning.


    ¡°Halt. Who are you?¡± asked one of the two people already pointing spears in his direction.


    Ajax froze from the question. He had nned out quite a few responses but didn¡¯t factor in that with his disheveled appearance he wouldn¡¯t even be correctly identified as being on their side.


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    ¡°I¡¯m Ajax, one of the hunters here.¡± he finally got out after a short pause.


    ¡°Really what happened to you?¡± their suspicion still remained but at least the weapons were pointed at him anymore, it seems the hunters had bought themselves quite a lot of good will yesterday if just the im to be one got him so much leeway.


    ¡°Since we are most likely going to be in for another long stretch ofbat after this ceasefire ends I thought I¡¯d go up and grab some more meat, who knows when we¡¯ll stop trying to push our numbers advantage next time.¡± he exined. ¡°I was in the middle of butchering the boar I hunted when a bear happened upon me.¡±


    A closer inspection of his ruined armor as well as a show of the half processed boar and mangled bear got one of them to help him to the infirmary while the other went to get someone to inform the higher ups.


    As soon as he stepped foot in the infirmary Kate all but materialized next to him and led him to a bed before getting to work on his injuries.


    ¡°What the hell happened to you?¡± she asked but he didn¡¯t get a chance to answer before a voice spoke up from behind her.


    ¡°That¡¯s a question I am here for as well, ording to the sentries a bear this to you.¡± The voice belonged to one of the officers, one that Ajax had been clued in had a skill that made him sensitive to lies.


    ¡°Yeah, I went out on a hunt and got into a tangle with a bear.¡± he said, keeping his story both short and vague.


    He had already removed the bear and boar carcass before he let himself be lowered onto the bed, couldn¡¯t have someone looking through his pack for them after all.


    ¡°So this is the culprit.¡± the officer said, lifting up part of the bear corpse. Luckily he had said so rhetorically because Ajax wasn¡¯t going to confirm or deny that. ¡°I¡¯ll say that we all appreciate what you hunters are doing for us out here but next time make sure you at least take someone with you when you go hunting.¡±


    With that he picked up both the corpses, if a little awkwardly because of theirbined size and headed for the exit ¡°You focus on getting well, I¡¯ll see to it that the cooks make sure you get to have a good size steak out of this guy by tonight.¡±


    ¡°You are going to tell me exactly what happened.¡± Kate started in as soon as the officer left.


    ¡°I got a bit in over my head.¡± he answered while discreetly mouthing ¡®not here¡¯.


    Kate was smart enough to let it go for the moment but her frustration came through in the way she roughly handled him to treat his many injuries. About halfway through, Tom arrived.


    ¡°What happened to you?¡± he didn¡¯t even bother with the greetings


    ¡°This that and a bear.¡± he answered, trying to at least lift himself up in bed only to be pushed back down by Kate.


    ¡°You sit still, I am almost done.¡± she berated him.


    By the end his gash had closed up and started scabbing over, his right hand was back to normal and the bruise on his left was limited to just his bicep.


    ¡°I¡¯ll give you another round in the morning but now you have to get some food in you.¡± she told him.


    Tom and Kate both helped him over to the mess where he got served the biggest bear steak he had ever seen. The meal was enjoyable but their evening got ruined as they all made their way back to their tent.


    ¡°What a great hunter, can¡¯t even go into the forest without getting hurt¡± the annoying voice of Spencer sounded loudly through the camp. ¡°I honestly don¡¯t know why you waste your time with them Kate.¡±


    ¡°You know wha-¡± Tom went on to shout back but was stopped by a quick squeeze from Kate.


    ¡°He¡¯s not worth it, just ignore him¡± she whispered.


    Despite the whispering it seems that he still heard her as his delighted look turned to an angry frown. Ajax even thought he heard him mumble ¡®I¡¯ll show you who¡¯s not worth it¡¯ but nobody else seemed to have.


    Back at their tent Ajax just wanted to crash but had spent a short time telling them that he had killed the thing that took out Fluffy¡¯s father. They both knew that this was closely rted to the pond so they stopped their questioning only telling him to be more careful.


    Before going to sleep Ajax asked Kate to start cycling a lot of mana, when questioned as to why he said he wanted to feed Fluffy the core from the creature and didn¡¯t want to flux of mana from that to draw attention, they could y it off as extra healing now that he had a meal.


    Their n ended up being well worth it as more than one mage turned up following the massive spike of mana Fluffy had let out after munching the core. It was strong enough that the mages even were able to pick up on it despite Kate''s best effort to mask it, but an honest mention that they were feeding her cores to help her grow was enough to convince them. Thankfully while Kate might not have managed to fully cover the mana spike she did enough to at least disguise its strength.


    All three of them also had a small scare when Fluffy curled up in a ball following her meal. It seems the bear core was way over the limit of what she could handle and Tom ended up spending the night caring for his bond as she struggled to digest the core.

 Chapter 91

    Chapter 91


    Ajax woke up the next morning to find that Tom had stayed up the entire night with Fluffy still the shadow cat was curled up in a ball with shallow breathing all but radiating mana.Looking out the tent p he noticed the sun was already out for a while so he approached his brother.


    ¡°You need to report for duty, the ceasefire just ended.¡± he said but didn¡¯t let Tom respond before he continued. ¡° I¡¯ll take care of her, If I feel anything change in her mana I¡¯ll get her to the healers and send somebody to grab you.¡±


    This seemed to be enough to reassure him as he softly petted his bond before getting up to leave. ¡°Thanks¡± he said as he squeezed one of Ajax¡¯s shoulders before walking out of the tent and picking up his speed to a jog.


    About an hourter Kate had woken up, it seems she finally recovered from fatigue and drained and was now finally in tip-top shape. She carefully examined Ajax before applying all of her healing. The gash on his leg had now healed a thick crust still marked the top of the wound but it would all be gone by nightfall, not only that but the bruise also dropped to the side of a golf ball and would soon be gone as well.


    Now that he was more alert and rested he paid more attention to the process. Unlike regr casting, healing seemed to work differently, not only did the healer have to gather mana outside of her but also infuse it into the patient slowly before chanting the spell. This is why high level healers were so hard toe by, it took a lot of skill and practice to be able to infuse enough mana for some of the stronger spells in both a reasonable time frame and without hurting the patient.


    Without the pressure of time Kate spent half an hour redressing his wounds, after all her efficiency would be higher this way so why rush. A few minutes after they were done Fluffy had also finally woken up and started to move.


    The cat quickly got its bearings before jumping into Ajax¡¯sp and purring contently. With a small smirk on his face Ajax petted her to find that her fur was now even softer than it was before, not only that it seemed like her even her eyes started glowing slightly stronger than before. Whatever had happened it clearly helped the young pup.


    With Fluffy finally being fine the three all went out to breakfast, though both Kate and Ajax were kitted out in their full gear. With the ceasefire over everybody had to be ready to move at a moment''s notice.


    It was highly surprising for most of the camp when their afternoon consisted of training drills with very little to suggest the war hungry state they had been in a few days earlier. Tom joined Ajax halfway through but was quickly mobbed by everyone on the field, they all wanted to know what was going on. ¡°Woah, woah. Calm down everyone and shut up. I don¡¯t want to repeat myself for every person so just listen.¡± he tried to wrangle the crowd. ¡°The reason why we aren¡¯t moving yet is because both sides have had their spies culled and are only now sending out more with the ceasefire finished. We would likely have a good idea on the situation by tonight and tomorrow we expect to be on the move again. As it is, everybody with some experience in stealth and infiltration has already been sent out.¡±


    After Tom said that Ajax noticed that he hadn¡¯t seen the hunter squad leader or the veteran all day, only the rookie was with him at training. If even the hunters were pulled for spy duty it means that they are looking to end this war quickly.


    Everybody was surprisingly happy at the news, Ajax supposed that this was because a lot of them were quite a bit older than he was and had families they wanted to get back to, after spending thest three months away from them.


    The rest of the day moved on without any excitement up until the end of training. As everyone was finally released for the day a small crowd had formed a circle, after trying and failing to squeeze his way through, Ajax quickly climbed up a post to try and get a look from above.


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    His n worked out and in the center of the crowd was Spencer, hisckeys and Tom. He knew this was not going to go well but was also reluctant to leave his brother alone without backup or an officer nearby.


    Despite the fact that many of the guards didn¡¯t like Spencer very much they were also too young and weak to actually stand up to him out of fear of what a noble could do to retaliate, even if he was only the son of a knight. This didn¡¯t make them any less interested in the situation taking ce as the crowded in to get a better look just made them very unlikely to interfere.


    Ajax couldn¡¯t hear what was being said because of the noise they all made but judging from how Tom and Spencer were given a lot of space in the center and both drew their swords some type of duel was taking ce. He silently took out his bow and an arrow, ready to intervene should anything happen to his brother.


    The duel was moving fast, despite the age advantage Spencer had it seemed that they were both of equal level. This meant that it all came down to skills and where their stats were invested.


    The difference between them became clear less than a minute into the duel. While Spencer seemed to have more in depth skill when it came to fighting he was clearly out of practice. This should have been obvious considering that as a noble he was higher level than Tom at the age of ten and had likely been trained and drilled as the son of a knight. To have the same level now meant that he had been ignoring his training for thest few years.


    Tom on the other hand was sticking to simple basics and adjusting more and more to theplex style with every exchange. He had been pestering the older guards to train with him constantly thest five years after he had been so powerless to help Ajax with the vampire that night.


    Something else Ajax noticed was how springy Tom seemed to be now. He was always a quick fighter but now he seemed much more flexible, he wondered if this had anything to do with the fact that he bonded a feline, after all his movements did somewhat remind him of the way Fluffy¡¯s mother bobbed in and out of range.


    The duel reached its apex when Tom baited Spencer, he had ced his sword in a bad position that made Spencer reach out to disarm him. What Spencer didn¡¯t see was that he would be overreaching to do so and found himself in a choke lock before his opponent''s sword even hit the ground.


    With things taking such a turn Ajax rxed a little on the arrow he had drawn but didn¡¯t yet put away the bow. It was a good thing too as when it became obvious that it would be seconds before Spencer would lose theckey directly behind Tom made to charge him from the blind spot.


    He didn¡¯t get more than halfway there before an arrow sprouted in front of his feet startling him out of his charge. Looking at the way the arrow came he saw Ajax up on the post, this distraction was enough to buy Tom enough time to choke Spencer out and finish the duel.


    That was enough to let Tom slip away with Ajax and it seemed that there would be no more excitement at least for today. The brothers had dinner with Kate before returning to their tent. For the first time in a month Ajax wasn¡¯t feeling worn out at the end of the day. He was not yet feeling sleepy so he went outside to gaze at the sky.


    This night had to be the clearest he had ever seen since being born on this world. There was not a cloud in sight and he could see what looked like a million stars scattered across the sky. It was then that something caught his eye, a white trail moving slowly across the sky.


    Achievement : Autumn Watcher


    Gaze upon aet of the god Autumn.


    Increased Perception by 10.


    Requires one discovery to earn:


    Excessive stamina usage repeated over short time causes fatigue.(Has been discovered by others before you)


    He didn¡¯t have time to waste, at the speed it was moving theet would be out of sight in a few minutes so he sprung into action.


    ¡°Tom, Kate wake up!¡± He spoke loudly, almost yelling in his excitement as he dragged the two out of bed and outside the tent before they even had a chance to get their bearings.


    ¡°What is it?¡± Tom yawned.


    ¡°Look there, see that little white spot moving across the sky?¡± Ajax excitedly said, showing his teenager demeanor for the first time in years.


    ¡°This is why you dragged us out of bed at this h-¡± his tirade stopped abruptly as Ajax noticed both his and Kate¡¯s eyes gloss over, in the distinct way that symbolizes someone reading a message from the system or their status.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go tell themander.¡± Tom quickly broke out of his shock and dashed away leaving Ajax standing out there with Kate in her nightwear.


    ¡°This does seem like a good enough reason to literally drag us out of bed.¡± she said with mock annoyance before leaning in to give him a warm hug and whisper ¡°Thanks.¡±


    As Tom was running around informing themander and Kate sluggishly returned to bed Ajax was left thinking more and more about what achievements did and how they worked.


    He came to the conclusion that achievements are actually the main reason why humanoids are so low on the food chain in this world. The presence of magic that makes scientific innovations less important forfort, the presence of much stronger beings in the forms of Dragons but the way achievements worked must have been the biggest hurdle.


    It actively stopped the way humans reached the top of the food chain on Earth. Because discoveries had to be made by the person and not taught, it discouraged sharing information and education.

 Chapter 92

    Chapter 92


    The news of theet spread through the camp like wildfire with themander spearheading the efforts of getting all the guards up and looking at it. Perception was a decently important stat for guards though one that most people wouldn¡¯t want to invest in.


    Kate and Ajax went back into their tent and tried to get some sleep, with all themotion going on it wasn¡¯t an easy thing to do. Not only that but they were all but dragged out of bed on three separate asions only left alone after they made it perfectly clear that they already had the achievement.


    The next morning saw Kate, Ajax and a tired Tom getting ready to march for the next battle.


    ¡°What time did you get back? I thought you only went to inform themander.¡± Ajax said.


    ¡°Commander put me on the first horse he saw the moment after I pointed out theet and sent me to the main camp to let them know about it too.¡± Tom got out between yawns.


    ¡°How did they have enough time to see it?¡± Ajax asked, at the speed he saw it cross the sky no way it would be more than a few minutes before it was gone.


    ¡°Apparently theet arcs in a weird way, it remains visible for quite a bit longer, around four or five hours. At least ording to themander, he¡¯s seen it before.¡± Tom answered.


    ¡°He¡¯s seen it before?¡± Ajax wondered.


    ¡°Yes, ording to him each season has aet, not only that but they cross the sky once a year each. He has personally seen the Spring, Summer, Autumn and Death ones.¡± Tom continued ¡°Apparently the challenge is to not only be on the lookout for it but to also have it appear on a night with clear skies. Death is the easiest one to get since despite the frigid cold and wind there are hardly any clouds, he has spotted that one more than ten times already over his life.¡±¡°What about the Winter one then?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°That one is the worst, with how often it snows the sky is almost never clear, he has been hunting for it for more than twenty years now. When I asked him why he would do all that just for ten extra Perception he said that it was because he thinks there is another achievement for witnessing all fiveets.¡±


    Ajax agreed with that logic, if there was a separate achievement for each one there should be one for collecting all five. Considering how his achievement for not spending points worked there might be variations of it, like spotting them all in a single year and then one for spotting them all within a year of seeing the first.


    As they got ready to march off, themander''s aid approached them.


    ¡°Morning, how¡¯d you sleep Tom?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Hardly any.¡± he responded, perfectly punctuated by a yawn.


    ¡°Yeah themander thought that might be the case.¡± he said as he pulled the reins in his left hand.


    Ajax finally noticed the magnificent horse that was being led behind them. His training as a hunter and the limited experience he gained during this little war let him know that not only was this horse both a good specimen and of a thorough bred but also rather young, no more than three years old. This horse could fetch quite a price.


    ¡°Themander sent me here to give you your reward.¡± he continued then assumed an official stance and his voice turned from a friendly jovial tone to a serious harsh one. ¡°For meritorious service provided during war time, Tom, you are hereby awarded with a charger. You may keep the mount after the war is over.¡±


    Kate, Tom and Ajax all were left looking wide-eyed at the horse. This made the aide break his serious character quickly after handing over the reins. ¡°You do look dead on your feet so I suggest riding it, not only that but you might want to see about learning to ride better.¡±


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    Even after the aid was gone and Kate and Ajax recovered, Tom was still frozen in shock, it took Ajax¡¯s congrattory p on the back to break him out of it.


    ¡°Ajax, you should have this.¡± he said as he looked at the horse and extended the reins to his brother. ¡°You told us about theet.¡±


    ¡°Oh, no. I mean yes I told you about theet but the horse is a reward for sharing that with the camp. I told the two of you and went back to bed, you¡¯re the one who spent the whole night going to tell people.¡± Ajax declined.


    ¡°I¡¯m starting to feel like you are a bad influence.¡± Kate said sarcastically looking at Ajax. ¡°You came with us for a few months and now we not only have a shadow cat to feed but also a horse. We spend more time with you, we won''t be able to afford to feed our pets. ¡°


    Ajax took the joke in the spirit it was said but couldn¡¯t help but agree with Kate. Fluffy alone would incur a huge upkeep cost with the constant need for mana cores as she grows something that a guard and a guard healer sry might struggle to pay but now also a horse was added on.


    Before long the three split up. Kate and Ajax headed for the healers group, recent losses left them short on experienced guards for the position of defender so Ajax was permanently moved there after the results he showed the one time he filled in.


    Tom on the other hand rode with the leadership. Despite a few people giving him a disapproving re for riding along none of them could say a thing about it as three of the four nobles had gained the achievement yesterday thanks to him.


    To Ajax¡¯s shock the following week saw them engage with the enemy three times with the final one being all but final and securing the win for their side a lot earlier than he expected it to happen.


    On the morning of the eight day all conscripts were called out and it was announced that their service had ended, not only that but they could now leave by themselves or choose to wait a few days and head back with the army.


    What this meant for Ajax was that he was out of time. He would only get one chance to face the fish and that was counting on his brother giving him a day head start before reporting his findings.


    The same morning as the announcement for the end of the war Ajax was already packed and ready to leave. He took a hold of the report and evidence needed and went to find his brother. Finding him was easy enough as he was heading towards themand tent.


    ¡°Tom.¡± he called out, hoping he was not in a hurry and could just pass the report now and leave. ¡°You got a moment,¡±


    ¡°Be quick about it, despite it all being over themand still has a few things they need to go over so my job isn¡¯t exactly over yet.¡± Tom said.


    ¡°I just got released from service.¡± he cut straight to the point and brought out both a written report, a decently well drawn map he made as well as the evidence captured of the other side¡¯s abuse of the hidden resource. ¡°I got something I want to do before the army moves in and secures the ce so I hoped you could turn this in for me tonight and give me a few hours head start.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not looking to steal resources from the baron are you Ajax?¡± he said warily.


    ¡°No, well maybe a few waterskin¡¯s and a fruit but there are dozens of them on the tree.¡± he begrudgingly admitted, he specifically made no mention of the fish as monsters were something nondowner couldy im to and didn¡¯t want to worry his brother.


    After passing over everything Ajax said his goodbye, already having given one to Kate he was ready to head out and meet them back in the city a few dayster. As he distanced himself he all but ran into Spencer who was hiding around the corner watching Tom with a malicious smirk on his face.


    Ajax was too paranoid a person not to investigate something like this so he took a look around trying to find what Spencer was looking at. He found two things, one was his brother as he approached themand tent and the other was a robbed person who suddenly started to exude mana.


    Without a second thought Ajax charged towards his brother, making it almost all the way to him before a massive fireball wasunched. Seeing no other alternative he fully infused [Mana Syphon] not only to get himself and his shield in between Tom and the spell but to also absorb as much of the spell as he could.


    Ajax sessfully got them both through the ambush unharmed but that was at the cost of activating his mana, he was now on a clock to get out of here before anyone started asking questions about it. First thing first, the attacker was quickly subdued by other people nearby and was already showing his mark as a spy.


    Ajax quickly put it together that Spencer found an enemy mage and convinced him to try and kill Tom then use the fact that he wasn¡¯t told the war ended as an excuse.


    Tom P.O.V.


    Ajax jumped in front of me and took the full brunt of the spell without even a scratch to show for it. After a few exnations from him I knew that he was stronger than I was but this put in perspective just how big the difference was.


    After a quick look around he turned to me and quickly blurted out. ¡°I think Spencer is responsible for this. I had to reveal my mana so are you alright if I leave now before people can start asking questions.¡±


    I could barely nod and start to process everything before he was already on his way out of the camp. Pulling myself together I brushed off the dust and dirt from my clothes and headed back towards themand tent only to see the ps pulled open and a number of eyes looking at me.


    No they aren¡¯t looking at me I realize, they are all following Ajax.


    ¡°What happened here?¡± themander asks.


    ¡°Enemy spy didn¡¯t get word about the war concluding, one of Spencer¡¯sckys conveniently stepped up to answer from where he was a moment before detaining said spy.


    ¡°Hmph¡± the archduke¡¯s daughter huffed, showing she believed that about as much as Ajax did.


    ¡°What did your brother do?¡± the usually shy and reserved Lexi asked as she grabbed me by the arm. Her unusual fierceness threw me through a loop. ¡°Not only was there no mana residue on his shield from blocking the spell it felt like he was actively absorbing it.¡±


    I had no idea what she was talking about but from the surprised looks that shed on the faces of the others present it told me I was about to be put through an interrogation on the subject. Might as well I suppose after all Ajax wanted me to give him a head start, he would have however long it took for them to figure out I have no idea how Ajax works with his mana before I tell them about the source of mana infused water.

 Chapter 93

    Chapter 93


    Lexi P.O.V


    I was getting bored in themand tent. The skirmish was finally over but we would most likely still be stuck here for another few days, in which time all the nobles from both sides of the conflict will try to approach us wearing fake smiles and with empty titudes. It wasn¡¯t the first time I had to deal with this and it won¡¯t be thest, I was just d Annabeth was with me.


    The discussions were winding down, with the end officially announced today as well as the release of the conscripts we were just about done. Of course everyone knew that the release of the conscripts was just for show, who in their right mind would be trying to make the journey back to the city by themselves.


    Then we felt the mana. Whoever was casting spells was not doing it at the firing range, not only that, besides it being close it was a single empowered shot, these were frowned upon in skirmishes like these.


    The bodyguards took no chances and locked down the area around us nobles, not even themanders could do anything to go investigate. As I felt the spellunch I also felt a different mana join the frey. Ulike the first this mana was not being controlled or used in any way, it was just pumped out and then disappeared. It shouldn¡¯t be working like that.


    Then the fire spell hit the second person, I guess it hit the origin point of the second mana. What happened next was unexpected, the fire mana had also started to disappear. It was like there was something just feasting on the mana while producing no tangible effect.


    Everything was over in a few seconds. It ended as quickly as it started with the first person not channeling anymore mana after havingunched the spell. It took Anna only a few seconds to dismiss the concerts of the bodyguards and lead the way in taking a look outside. I was right at her side, interested in what that weird phenomenon was.


    Standing at the entrance of themand tent we could clearly get a picture of what happened. I could see Tom, the liaison for one of themanders still dusting himself off, a robed man wearing the colors of the other side being restrained by a few others.


    More interesting to me however was Tom¡¯s brother, he stood both taller and a little wider than his older brother but what drew my attention was the soot covered shield on his back. More importantly, for a shield that just tanked a fire spell it didn¡¯t have any serious damage or any mana residue left on it.The other point of interest was a guard who was approaching slowly from around the corner. He wore a sigil marking him as part of a noble family but considering we hadn¡¯t had a dedicated introduction he could only be the son of a knight. His face was a mixture of rage and annoyance, at least until he noticed me looking in his direction when all semnce of emotion disappeared.


    ¡°Sir, we have apprehended the perpetrator. He ims to be an infiltration mage who didn¡¯t know the war had ended and was trying to take out the messenger he thought was bringing a report to themande tent.¡± One of the three soldiers tieing up the caster saluted and reported.


    This also didn¡¯t add up to me, how did you have time to get all that out of him already. I wasn¡¯t the only one who thought this was suspect judging by the scowl on Anna¡¯s face, she had experienced quite a few plots targeting her so despite not picking up on the other noble she could tell the situation was a set-up.


    ¡°Tom, are you alright?¡±mander Grievous asked his man after a few moments taking in the scene and the report.


    ¡°Huh?¡± Tom looked back at us confused. I found this odd as he could usually keep focused on the battlefield. ¡°Oh yes sir, I am fine.¡±


    After throwing up a quick salute he turned back around. I followed his gaze to see that his brother was already at the exit of the camp and seemed to keep on going.


    ¡°You wouldn¡¯t mind telling us what happened here then?¡± Asked our bodyguard.


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    ¡°Uh,¡± he started looking around at a loss. ¡°I am actually not all that sure what happened.¡±


    He was clearly still trying to process not only what happened but also what his own brother must have whispered to him and see how both things fit together.


    ¡°He was the target, give him a minute and let''s take this inside.¡± Anna cut in.


    Once inside it didn¡¯t take more than twenty seconds for Tom to calm himself and ry that he was attacked and saved by his own brother.


    ¡°Who do you think it was that targeted you?¡± the future baron of his territory asked him.


    ¡°I¡¯d rather not say, sir.¡±


    ¡°What?! Who do you -¡± The future baron was about to start but was cut off by Tom¡¯smander.


    ¡°Why not?¡± though the tone was calm his eyes conveyed the same anger as the previous outburst.


    ¡°Unsupported usations against nobles bymoners can be charged as crimes, regardless of their truthfulness.¡± his voice was cold and he practically spat out thest line.


    That answer was not something I was expecting. It was also a problem I had never had to deal with before. If I thought someone was out to get me I could at least investigate it. He had no choice but to get concrete proof before even making the allegation, though it was one I already believed.


    ¡°It was a good n. Not much you can do in retaliation for this.¡± Anna said with her usualck of sympathy. ¡°At least you got away unschathed.¡±


    Seeing my chance now that all the questions about safety were over I asked. ¡°How did your brother protect you?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± he answered.


    ¡°That¡¯s a partial lie.¡± one of the other bodyguards quickly piped in.


    ¡°You dare lie?¡± the future baron started up again.


    ¡°I¡¯m not lying, I really don¡¯t know how exactly he did it.¡± he doubled down.


    ¡°That¡¯s the truth.¡± the same guard confirmed.


    ¡°You know he used magic, you just don¡¯t know the specifics.¡± Grievous finally chimed in with a statement more than a question.


    ¡°Yes sir.¡±


    ¡°You expect us to believe that? You know nothing of the magic your own brother wields.¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t seen my brother in almost five years. He was ten at the time and even then I didn¡¯t spend a month with him. I knew he had ess to his mana and little else.¡± He retorted. ¡°The next time I saw him I told him he was conscripted.¡±


    ¡°What does that have to do with anything?¡±


    ¡°Quite a bit actually. You see my brother is very secretive about who knows of his abilities with mana, even a little paranoid. Considering the stories that made it to our vige I don¡¯t really me him though.¡± he ranted. ¡°So when I heard he was conscripted I knew he would also be joining me in this little war. At that point I did everything I could to learn as little as possible of his abilities, after all I can¡¯t lie to my superiors but I can¡¯t talk about something I don¡¯t know.¡±


    I found myself mirroring his little smirk. It was a good n, and a way around regtions.


    ¡°Commander Grievous, what did you know about his brother before today?¡± the noble asked.


    ¡°His name is Ajax, he is fifteen, was conscripted as he was about to register for the Adventurer¡¯s Guild has ess to mana but would rather keep that a secret and is level twenty-four.¡±


    I found myself nodding along with what I heard, sure he was a bit on the young side but that wasn¡¯t all that big of a deal, that is until he said his level. Anna and I both looked at each other in surprise. We were both seventeen and though she had a season on me we were rather close in level. Right now I was a hundred off level twenty three and she had just hit it earlier in the week.


    ¡°Do you know where your brother is headed?¡± the greed could be heard in the viscounts voice.


    ¡°You are all to leave the boy alone to join the Adventurer¡¯s Guild¡± Anna protected him, in all likelihood as a show of respect to his dedication and results more than out of moral responsibility. ¡°You should still answer the question.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know for sure but I can make a pretty good guess.¡± Tom''s smile was filled with gratitude for Anna. ¡°He left with me a report and asked that I should give it to youter todaymander.


    ¡°On his solo hunts during his free days he ims to have found another natural resource in the area. A mana infused pond that starts a stream and ends with a little spring.¡±


    ¡° And he waited until now to mention it, this will cause another war exactly like the one we just had, maybe even bigger depending on the concentration.¡± themander was outraged.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t know about it until today sir or I would have told you.¡± his serious demeanor changed as a smirk split his face. I knew that smirk, it showed that the situation was much better than we thought it was all because we were missing a piece of the puzzle. ¡°You see sir, he also left me with this recording crystal. It is dated back as far as two months and shows soldiers from the other side guarding the spring.¡±


    The future baron¡¯s expression changed from annoyance to tion and themander startedughing.


    ¡°Well now.¡± themander said after a few seconds, coughing slightly. ¡°He was just a conscript so we can¡¯t be all that upset about him making a few mistakes like not notifying us properly.¡±


    ¡°You''re rightmander, especially considering his age.¡± The noble nodded knowing this one kid probably just gained him a fortune.


    Everything else after that continued in the same boring way it had started out this morning, though a lot of the leadership was in a much better mood. I made a small note to remind myself of the interesting boy¡¯s name ¡®Ajax¡¯ . I would leave a standing order at the capital gates to inform me if someone around his age and of the same name ever entered legally.

 Chapter 94

    Chapter 94


    While Tom was being interrogated Ajax was already on his way towards the pond. With his recent showing in the middle of the camp he had nothing to hide so he was using his mana at a conservative rate to go faster.


    Unlike with the bear, finding the fish was not something he could do. Sure he knew that it was somewhere in the pond but the exact ce wasn¡¯t something he could point to even if he was less than three feet from him standing on the shore.


    A small n did start to form on how to solve that problem as he slowly got closer and closer to the pond however. If everything worked out the way he thought it would, this fight would be a lot easier than the bear one.


    Ajax P.O.V


    The pond opened up in front of me. But I was still busy looking behind. It had only been a week since I took out the bear but it seems the message had gotten across to well¡­ everybody. I almost ran face first into a wolf pack, there were herds of deer and boars everywhere all moving closer and closer to the pond. This would probably prove to be a good training section for any of the guards thate to clear it out and secure it.


    Unlike the rest of the forest the shore of the pond was free from any and all animals, though many it was heavily stained here and there by decently fresh blood as well as marks from where the fish must have used his powerful tail to ambush the first neers to the area.


    Before approaching the edge myself I took out two arrows and started infusingrge portions of my mana in both . In total I spent around one thousand split into a seven hundred and three hundred arrow, each with their own element. Once the infusion wasplete I approached the edge and carefully looked at the water for any indication that the fish was approaching.


    The water¡¯s surface didn¡¯t give anything away but one of the small shallow waves just reached about two inches higher that the ground was wet. I didn¡¯t even fire the first heavily infused arrow, just tossed it towards the water as I pulled the second one back and waited while making sure I wasn¡¯t standing in theke.


    As soon as the arrow hit the water it shattered while releasing an electric current from all the lightning mana I had pumped into it. The electricity had the desired effect as it not only broke the fish¡¯s camouge but also sent it into an uncontroble spasm. The initial n was to use the second void arrow and go for the brain, after all a fish¡¯s skull was thin enough that I could kill it despite the reinforced scales it had there. That n fell through quickly as despite it spasming around ten feet in front of me it was doing so underwater. I forgot to take into ount that water messed with my perception of position because of how light enters and leaves it.


    This was made abundantly apparent by the odd looking angle that the tail had as it thrashed about the surface. Thinking about it I fired the arrow towards the base of the tail, knowing I had no more than a moment or two before it would regain control of its body. As the arrow connected with the base of the tail a horrible amalgamation of a roar and squeal resounded from the fish.


    This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    With the spams finishing I could see the tail hang limply in the water, my arrow most likely seeding in severing the connection of the spine and rendering it useless.


    I approached the fish with my shield covering me and my hammer infused with both metal and ice. Void was most likely the best mana aspect to use with the hammer if I wanted to deal damage as it bypassed reinforced skin or in this case scales. The problem was fish had their organs towards their bellies, meaning I would have to make contact from below if I wanted a non massive amount of void mana to reach them.


    The idea was now to use ice and freeze a few of the scales in order to slow it down before going with a void blow to the head for the kill. Once I was within striking distance of the enraged fish he made it clear to me I underestimated how much water would be a factor. Its mana filled the surrounding water and wrestled whatever small control I had away before using it to both speed itself up and slow me down.


    To make matters worse I could already see the teeth marks on the shield where I blocked its first charge attempt. If I took too many of those it would simply chew through it and on my arm. All my hammer managed to get was a few ncing blows but that was enough for the ice to start coating the slick scales.


    As with all cold blooded creatures the fish also started to move sluggishly as its core temperature dropped. It was clearly affected when ittched onto my shield. I used the moment to switch over to void mana and used both the shield and hammer tond a blow on its head. The power of the impact was big enough that it caused it to take a big chunk out of the shield as its mouth was forced to snap closed.


    The battle barelysted for half a minute to be honest, nothing like the twenty minute chase with the bear. My stamina and health reflected this as both were damn near close to full at 1700/1730 health and 1000/1360 stamina. Mana was another story altogether, between the opening arrows, my [Mana Syphon] to both get here and during the fight as well as the infusion into the shield hammer and surrounding water left me with only one hundred.


    Breathing a sigh of relief I grabbed the fish and made for the small stubble ofnd in the center of the pond to take a look at the tree there. The tree was massive, easily over one hundred feet taller than the rest of the trees in the forest. The only reason why it wasn¡¯t seen as such was the way the pond dipped.


    I gently plucked one of the ripe fruits and looked at it. When I had first spotted them from afar three months ago they were unripe and small, little bigger than a pea. Now they were the size of a plum and smelled heavenly as I took a bite.


    I realized my mistake instantly as foreign mana exploded inside me. I didn¡¯t even have a moment to berate myself for thinking that the fruit would be a treasure like in all the fantasy novels I had read before the pain set in. The sensation was simr to when I drank the water but a thousand times worse.


    Having experienced it once already I did the only thing I could think would help and used [Mana Syphon] to iste the piece in my mouth from releasing any more as well as strengthen my body.


    To say that it hurt would be an understatement. I even now still wonder how Fluffy had managed to look so peaceful curled up in a ball for an entire night as she probably suffered somethingparable to this when she ate the bear¡¯s core. A few secondster I lost consciousness.


    I came to as the sounds of flesh rearing rang out. Despite the headache and the way every muscle in my body protested I sat up to see a few crowlike birds tearing into the fish. They used the same entry point I made to take out the mana stone to bypass its scales. Seeing I was in no immediate danger I spent the next ten minutes in pain crawling over to have my back lean on the trunk of the tree.


    Now that I could look out for anyone looking to do the same to me as the crows were doing to the fish I turned my attention to the blinking icon in the bottom of my vision that had been bugging me for thest ten minutes.


    Notice : Mana Poisoning


    Due to deep foreign mana infusion Vitality is permanently reduced by 5 points.


    Resistance to future mana poisoning decreased, future exposure will be more costly.


    Seeing as how that was all it told me and how it didn¡¯t mention anything about the pain I was in I hoped that it would be temporary. I alsomented how stupid I was and how I had just wasted five stat points because I thought I was in one of those xianxia novels.


    My bad mood was quelled by the next notice however.


    Achievement : Survive mana overload


    Increased all stats by 10.


    Warning : any future mana overloads will result in Punishments!

 Chapter 95

    Chapter 95


    Ajax sat back and waited for more of the pain to pass but it was taking a lot longer than it did when he just sipped the water. With nothing much left to do he decided to check his stats before meditating to pass the time.


    <strong>Name</strong> : Ajax


    <strong>Level</strong> :25


    <strong>Experience</strong> : 2200/38000


    <strong>Traits</strong>: Divine Witness


    <strong>Health</strong>: 1800/1800


    <strong>Mana</strong>: 1830/1830


    <strong>Stamina</strong> :1480/480


    <strong>Vitality</strong> :180<strong>Strength</strong> :146


    <strong>Endurance</strong> :148


    <strong>Dexterity</strong> : 147


    <strong>Intellect </strong>: 184


    <strong>Wisdom</strong> : 183


    <strong>Mind</strong> : 183


    <strong>Perception</strong> : 155


    <strong>Stat Points</strong> :0


    <strong>Skills</strong> :<ul><ul><li><strong>Common :</strong>[Mathematics Lvl 22] [Stealth Lvl 27][Drawing Lvl 30][Athleticism Lvl 27] [Running Lvl 27][Reading Lvl 20][Writing Lvl 20][Cooking Lvl 20][Sewing Lvl 20] [Cleaning Lvl 15][Haggling Lvl 19][Gardening Lvl 20][Axes Lvl 32][Hammers Lvl 32 [Deception Lvl 21][Sword Lvl 26][Shield Lvl 26][Bow Lvl 26][Spear Lvl 27][Throwing Lvl 23][Persuasion Lvl 10][Unarmed Combat Lvl 23][Knives Lvl 27][Skinning Lvl 12][Tanning Lvl 10][Dismantle Lvl 20][Climbing Lvl 17][Tracking Lvl 23][Heat Resistance Lvl 10] [Poison Resistance Lvl 23][Pain Resistance Lvl 16][Trapping Lvl 17]</li><li><strong>Umon :</strong>[Meditation Lvl 40][Sense Mana Lvl 41][Expel Mana Lvl 40][Sprinting Lvl 26][Mining Lvl 10][Lumberjack Lvl 10][Smelting Lvl 10][cksmithing Lvl 10] [Chanting Lvl 11][Mana Farming Lvl 12][Increase Price Lvl 10][Lower Price Lvl 10][Danger Sense Lvl 17][Leatherworking Lvl 10][Alchemy Lvl 10][Mana Milling Lvl 6][Precise Cut Lvl 24][Precise Blow Lvl 24][Judge Threat Lvl 20][ Piercing Shot Lvl 24] [<em>Berserker </em>Lvl 1]</li><li><strong>Rare : </strong>[Manipte Mana Lvl 33][Water Aspect Mana Lvl 25][Fire Aspect Mana Lvl 24] [Air Aspect Mana Lvl 25][Earth Aspect Mana Lvl 27][Inject Mana Lvl 27][Spot Weakness Lvl 17][Residue Recognition Lvl 12] [Light Aspect Mana Lvl 22][Shadow Aspect Mana Lvl 25][<em>Mana Skin </em>Lvl 3]</li></ul></ul><ul><li><strong>Epic : </strong>[Mana Augmentation Lvl 21][Mana Conjuration Lvl 20][Lightning Aspect Mana Lvl 13][Metal Aspect Mana Lvl 12][Ice Aspect Mana Lvl 12][Magma Aspect Mana Lvl 8][Holy Aspect Mana Lvl 1][Void Aspect Mana Lvl 10]</li></ul><ul><li><strong>Legendary : </strong>[Mana Syphon Lvl 20]</li></ul>


    New :


    Upgrades :


    Stealth 26 -> 27


    Athleticism 26 -> 27


    Running 26 ->27


    Axes 31 -> 32


    Hammers 30 -> 32


    Deception 20 -> 21


    Sword 24 -> 26


    Shield 24 -> 26


    Bow 24-> 26


    Spear 25 -> 27


    Throwing 22 -> 23


    Unarmed Combat 21 -> 23


    Knives 26 -> 27


    Poison Resistance 19 -> 23


    Pain Resistance 10 -> 16


    Sprinting 25 -> 26


    Danger Sense 15 -> 17


    Precise Cut 22 -> 24


    Precise Blow 22 -> 24


    Judge Threat 18 -> 20


    Piercing Shot 22 -> 24


    Spot Weakness 15 -> 15


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    Mana Syphon 16 -> 20


    Mana Augmentation 20-> 21


    Lightning Aspect Mana 10 -> 13


    Metal Aspect Mana 10 -> 12


    Ice Aspect Mana 10 -> 12


    Magma Aspect Mana Lvl 7 -> 8


    Void Aspect Mana 3 -> 10


    Manipte Mana 30 -> 33


    Water Aspect Mana 23 -> 25


    Fire Aspect Mana 23 ->24


    Air Aspect Mana 24 -> 25


    Earth Aspect Mana 25 -> 27


    Inject Mana 24 -> 27


    Spot Weakness 15 -> 17


    Residue Recognition 10-> 12


    Shadow Aspect Mana 22 -> 25


    <em>Mana Skin </em>2->3


    He had leveled up from the fight with the fish, not only that but despite it not being that difficult of a fight he had already gained another two thousand experience. Ajax found that hard to believe until he took a deeper look at his skill upgrades. He figured that most of the secondary experience all came from how he suffered the mana overload, the massive jump his [Mana Syphon] [Poison Resistance] and [Pain Resistance] made was quite enough to ount for it.


    That wasn¡¯t the only new thing he learned, upon closer inspection he figured out that he could increase his mana aspects even without using them directly. So long as he used an aspect that was a derivative of it it would work. This made him feel bad about neglecting his light and holy aspects, but light wasn¡¯t all that strong outside of healing and dark ces not to mention that he still didn¡¯t even know how to use holy.


    [<em>Berserker</em>] was another skill he hadn¡¯t had the opportunity to use at all. Its counterpart from the mana stats was seeing a bit of use as an extrayer of defense but this one put him in quite a bind. He was careful and fought in a strong unit in the war meaning he wasn¡¯t getting hit to trigger it, and in the fight against the bear and fish the recuperative effects on his stamina weren¡¯t worth the danger of the extra damage he would take.


    He didn¡¯t worry so much about this, as an adventurer the party groups would be much smaller and the need for extensive amounts of stamina mixed with fighting strong enemies would mean he would end up getting hit once or twice. So long as their party had a healer in it all would be fine.


    With everything else being fine Ajax started meditating, and he kept it up until he finally felt that the pain subsided enough for him to move. It was already almost the next morning, so Ajax wasn¡¯t sure when time had passed that quickly but he wasn¡¯t worried. He knew he would have until evening before the first soldiers showed up.


    The reason he told his brother to dy rying the report was so that contacting the other side on the same day would not be feasible. They wouldn¡¯t dare send any soldier here without firstunching their usations for fear it might be used to say they knew about it all along. Ajax made sure to wear a cloak so as to not be mistaken as part of the army for that very reason.


    As he stood up he noticed the change to his surroundings. The crow-like birds had picked the fish almost clean. While hemented the loss of the meat it was not that big a loss considering that the scales and teeth were still left. He collected them and stored them into his pack before looking up at the sted fruits thatid him out.


    The tree was filled with them and they still looked plumb and smelled delicious despite him knowing that even one bite would be enough to kill him in the state he was in. A quick count let him know there were more than one hundred fruits on the tree so he decided to take five more for himself just in case they had a use he didn''t know about. After all, the army wouldn¡¯t know how many fruits there were initially.


    With that taken care of, Ajax started walking slowly towards where the first vige should be ording to the map. He would be heading back the long way around to ensure he doesn¡¯t meet up with the army. Not only that but this path would take him through the vige closest to the nearest known dungeon, at least ording to the other guards in his unit.


    He knew better than to put too much stock in what they said but it was all still useful information to have. Knowing the way to the vige and getting ay of thend would help his resume when applying to join adventurer parties. He was under no illusion that with his age,ck of experience and low level he wouldn¡¯t be taken seriously. Sure his age and levelbination would impress people with his dedication but seeing how the weakest level in the dungeon started with level thirty-five creatures nobody would trust him to really have their backs.


    He resigned himself to being a supporter for the first trip he ever made where hopefully he would be able to make a good enough showing to stick with them and get his full membership acknowledged. The nearby dungeon was a ten step dungeon, this meant that the second level would have level forty-fives as base and the third level fifty-fives. That was excluding the bosses who guarded the entrance to the next floor, they would be much stronger.


    His ideal level would be the second as that would push him the most while having a team at his pack would allow him to tackle the stronger boss monster that should rival the fish and bear without weeks of preparation. He would have to start at level one and prove himself, hopefully he would be able to tag along with a stronger team that was looking to rx in level one and that would be his way into entering level two sooner.


    To be honest with himself this dungeon was quite a bad range for him. By himself he couldn¡¯t push himself all that much on the first level but the second level was too dangerous to take on alone. This left him to rely on the kindness of other adventurers.


    The way back took him a little more than a week. The first few days he didn¡¯t cover all that much ground and even took to exploring the vige a little so he would have an idea of the prices and avability of items. Once his bout of mana poisoning passed and he could once again use his mana without training his [Pain Resistance] his speed towards Lessis picked up.


    The entrance to the city was clear when he arrived towards the evening of the eighth day. Not only that but one of the guards on duty recognised him.


    ¡°Ajax, you finally made it back!¡± He greeted him. ¡°You didn¡¯t think to send a message you would take your sweet time on your way back? Your brother, sister and parents have all been worried sick for thest two days.


    His words made Ajax feel bad about hisck ofmunication, at least until he fully processed them. Why were his parents here? They had no reason toe to the city. He said his goodbyes to the guard and started moving deeper into the city.


    As he got deeper and deeper he met more and more guards that knew him, the only difference was that these knew him from the skirmish and were now given their time off. He was honestly shocked at the wee he received. The first two groups offered to buy him a drink the moment they spotted him. It wasn¡¯t until the third when he bowed out of another round saying he¡¯d already had some and wanted to get in touch with his brother that he found out why everyone was so friendly.


    Apparently the baron¡¯s son had no qualms about giving him some public credit about his exploit regarding discovering the pond and how it meant that they could avoid a second skirmish. This was the reason why every guard undermander Grievous was so magnanimous with him as they knew it would have still been them that would have been drafted for the second war.


    He was honestly d for the public recognition for once. It meant that not only did the nobles here decide not to kidnap him, otherwise they wouldn¡¯t be drawing attention to him, but it would also help him join his first party as an adventurer.


    As he now stood in front of the door to his brother¡¯s house he could hear his sister¡¯s and parents'' voicesing from inside as he went to open the door.

 Chapter 96

    Chapter 96


    Ajax didn¡¯t stand on ceremony and opened the door. Though he probably didn¡¯t realize the reason why he had started feeling a little homesick during thest few weeks. Having lived for longer than he did in his first life with his parents around him almost every day having not seen them in months had been a weird development even if he was expecting it.


    As he entered the big room he saw his entire family gathered around the dinner table. His father at one end and his brother at the other each with their respective other standing to their right. To his brother¡¯s left sat his sister with na next to her. They were all eating and chatting merily.


    While Ajax took all of this in his eyes stayed fixed on thest person in the room. His teacher Hatchet, more specifically his left arm, or better said the space where his left arm should be. In its ce he saw a heavily bandaged stump that ended a little above the elbow.


    ¡°Hatchet, what happened?¡± he didn¡¯t greet anyone else and rushed forward to take a closer look at his mentor.


    ¡°Ajax!¡± several of the people present eximed.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be fine kid, no need to worry yourself.¡± Hatchet was the most calm person in the room.


    ¡°Ajax where have you been?¡± his mother was already next to him with a speed that seemed to surpass her stats as she went to hug her son. ¡°First Judy has to send us a letter that you were conscripted and then when your brother returns he has no idea where you are!¡±


    Ajax could see the point his mother was trying to make but was still a little too wound up about what could have happened that not only his parents and Hatchet hade here but Hatchet had also lost an arm.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine I just took the long way round when I came back to the city, what happened to you, is there something wrong with the vige?¡± he asked¡°About the vige¡­¡± his dad trailed off.


    ¡°Best sit yourself down for this one.¡± Hatchet motioned to the only free chair in the middle of the table opposite na and beside him.


    With a little more time to get over his shock Ajax finally started to calm down and his training kicked in helping slow his erratic mind to gather information and remain calm. He took the offered seat, piled a few things on his te and took a deep breath.


    ¡°Okay, so what happened.¡± he asked again.


    ¡°The vige is ¡­ gone.¡± his mother started.


    ¡°It happened about a month after you left but a big attack ttened the vige.¡± his father continued. ¡°If it hadn¡¯t been for Hatchet most of us wouldn¡¯t have made it out alive.¡±


    ¡°We found out what it was that had forced the kobolds to leave the mines.¡± Hatchet took over, clearly his parents still had trouble talking about it, the fear on their faces as they thought backing across clearly.


    ¡°The kobolds only upied the top levels of the caves, if you were to go a bit deeper you would run into some volcanic smanders. Nasty pieces of work ranging from level forty all the way to fifty and they hunt with numbers.


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    ¡°But why would they only attack now, it''s been five years since the kobolds got kicked out, did somethinge and disce them?¡± Ajax was still confused as this was not at all in the nature of lizard type monsters.


    ¡°Not as such, in fact the small army that went there to cleanse the kobolds in a way brought this on.¡± Judy said.


    ¡°How?¡±


    ¡°You see, when they took care of the kobolds they also went into the caves and investigated to see if there was any other threat out there that might threaten the vige. When they found the smanders they took care to look around and came to the conclusion that they were.¡± she paused thinking how to continue exining.


    ¡°Because arge force was dispatched to deal with it, the report made the rounds with the city''s higher ups, more as a way for themander in charge of the unit to brag than anything else.¡±


    ¡°The volcanic smanders were deemed to not be a threat because they were led by a mated pair of crystal smanders.¡± Hatchet continued.


    Ajax¡¯s knowledge about different monsters had been drilled deep into him by Hatchet during thest five years so he easily understood what he meant. While volcanic lizards were normal monsters the crystal ones were actually true mana creatures like Fluffy and as such had the intelligence to lead their less evolved brethren.


    He also knew that there was no way they would lead an all out assault unprovoked, not without at least sending a few scouting parties that would have alerted the vige enough for a timely evacuation if not request for support.


    ¡°You see crystal smanders spawn every year and a half. Not only that but the way they do it is very specific in that the female guards the egg without rest for months at a time not taking time to even eat.¡± Hatchet went on. ¡°This makes it easy to mark how far along they are by the amount of fat on the mother as long as you can catch her while she is incubating the egg.¡±


    Ajax suddenly had a very bad feeling about where this was going. He managed to connect to pieces without needing anymore information.


    ¡°Yes, just like you think, someone stole an egg and they were chased after. We and the other viges were coteral damage.¡± Hatchet finished.


    ¡°Other viges?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°Only a third of the viges remain inside the small mounting ring, all of them close enough to Lessis that the army had enough time to cover them once the news reached them.¡±


    ¡°Do we know who is responsible?¡± Ajax asked as fury started to build up.


    ¡°We can¡¯t know for certain but it¡¯s pretty obvious.¡± na said, she seemed much angrier than him despite having had a few months to calm down from the news. ¡°The baron¡¯s third son, the malformed fe, happened to be just passing by the vige around the same time.¡±


    Ajax had only had a brief run in with the pompous arrogant noble in question but that brief interaction had told him all he needed to know about the prick.


    ¡°What happened to him?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Nothing¡± his father spat outrage finally starting toe over him as well..


    ¡°WHAT?!¡± Ajax¡¯s fist connected with the table so hard it left a small indentation.


    ¡°He took advantage of the little skirmish that you were dragged on. He had a few days when his brother was too busy to keep him in check but the overseer from the baron hadn¡¯t arrived to take over management of the town.¡±


    Ajax did remember a few letters from his sister praising the future baron when it came to ruling a city. His more recent encounters with the man as a strategist told him he should stick to managing cities.


    ¡°By the time the overseer came he was already gone and when he returned his escort was missing two people but he seemed awfully pleased.¡± she sighed the anger flowing out leaving only helplessness. ¡°Sadly despite his greed and ck heart the malformed gnome isn¡¯t an idiot, he knew how it would look so he had himself arraigned the same day he returned.


    Now it clicked, why everyone seemed so frustrated at the news. One of the few ways in which his new life resembled his old was the legal system. Despite the person''s noble rank bearing more weight as a witness a lot of things were the same. Apparently thews had changed very little in their base forms over the centuries. The biggest simrities being, innocent until proven guilty and ¡®double jeopardy¡¯.


    This also left the nobles with a very clear way to get away with things unless there were people looking out for them trying something shady. Considering how people would have been too busy dealing with the smander invasion the perpetrator must have gotten himself arrested and put on trial as soon as he returned, before anyone had any real time to gather some proper evidence. Without anypetent prosecution he must have been found not guilty and couldn¡¯t be retried for the same crime.


    Ajax had known since his previous life that the legal system wasn¡¯t fair but that history hade so close to repeating itself left a bad taste in his mouth. This would have been the second time that an idiot''s actions would have cost him his parents lives and said the idiot would walk away with maybe a p on the wrist.


    ¡°Calm down¡± Hatchet tried to sooth him some. ¡°You can¡¯t do anything about it, at least not right now. Best just focus on the fact that your parents made it, that and getting stronger so that not only can you protect them next time but also so you can make whoever is responsible pay.


    ¡°But what about your arm?¡± Ajax and Hatchet both knew he didn¡¯t have the money to cover having the arm regrown.


    ¡°Your parents and brother so graciously offered to house me for an indeterminate amount of time. I was thinking of taking them up on it while you get your feet under you as an adventurer. Then once you¡¯re ready I¡¯ll join you when you go to the Capital. I have an old friend there who¡¯ll be able to do something about it.¡±

 Chapter 97

    Chapter 97


    With that the situation better exined and Hatchet being fully confident in regaining his arm even if it may take a while for that to happen Ajax calmed down. For the rest of the evening they kept their conversations light, rxing as they made jokes and generally enjoyed being together again after about eight years.


    The sun was shining through the windows as Ajax woke up the next morning. There was something so rxing sleeping in a ce where he felt safe. After thest few months of either war camping or shady cheap travel inns it was a wee change.


    As he turned to get out of bed he noticed the empty room telling him that na had woken up before him and decided to let him sleep. She had apparently been in need of a rxing night as well so they helped rx each other.


    A quick washter he went downstairs where Judy and na were discussing while looking over a piece of paper he judged to be a report or some sort.


    ¡°Morning.¡± he greeted them


    He knew they were the only people here at the moment, his parents had been living with Judy while they tried to prepare a new ce where they could live in the city and their father could smith again. As for Kate and Tom, the former still had some light duties to do for the Healing Union as part of the contract for being taught and thetter was doing morning sses. It was decided that he would be on the fast track after all thepetency he showed in the war, some of Ajax¡¯s achievements that had been given to him officially had helped that, but his supar education is something he needed to address on his own time leading to morning sses.


    ¡°Morning ¡° he got from both of them before they let him grab his own breakfast and continued discussing the report. Once he sat down they politely put it away and began munching on their own breakfast.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t asked in all this time, but I have to admit I am curious, just how is that initial one hundred gold investment doing?¡± he asked what he thought was a safe question.


    ¡°Depends on what you mean by how it¡¯s doing.¡± his sister answered cryptically, though the smirk let him know it wasn¡¯t something to worry about. ¡°If you are looking to get yourself a new set of magic gear before you register as an adventurer I have some bad news for you.¡±Ajax knew better than to buy anything like that before he had any experience. It would just be throwing money at the problem by buying things that are generally good. While that would help him it was in no way required. Most adventurers got their start at level thirty with little to no gear and while he was a good way away from that level his power dwarfed anyone he had ever heard of under level thirty-five.


    ¡°Not just yet, but the size of my coin pouch in the future is something that will influence what team I join and under what conditions.¡± he said.


    ¡°That¡¯s good because in terms of liquid capital we only have fifty gold. Ten of which your brother gave us as being your stipend for conscription, they trusted him enough to give it to you.¡± Judy said.


    ¡°Only fifty?¡± Ajax was skeptical, was investing with his sister not a good n afterall?


    ¡°There are some mitigating circumstances.¡± na chose to answer, she took the lead when it came to long term and wide spread nning. ¡°We were expecting you to being to collect a part of your stake more than three months ago so we made sure to have almost nine tenths of our assets in coins.¡±


    ¡°And then the situation suddenly changed.¡± It wasn''t an usation or even a retort, just an observation as Ajax put two and two together.


    ¡°More so than you think.¡± she continued. ¡°This skirmish doesn¡¯t just affect one city, it affects everything in the surrounding areas. Normal skirmishes are a pain for tradingpanies as they devalue everything to half or more as thews restrict us in what we can do about it. This one was much worse than usual.¡±


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    ¡°How so?¡± He was genuinely interested.


    ¡°Because there is usually a bit of warning before everything gets into motion. This time however the discovery of the resource and the skirmish happened much faster. ording to Tom you know the reason why: they were trying to hide the mana-water spring.¡±


    ¡°To say that the market took a dive is an understatement.¡± Judy said.


    ¡°Dropped off a cliff is more appropriate.¡± na muttered.


    ¡°But that didn¡¯t affect us since we had divested our assets of anything but the most sure long term things anyway. That is, it didn''t affect us until we heard you got drafted.¡± Judy exined.


    ¡°Since we didn¡¯t know when it was going to end and you might need the money we didn¡¯t let the opportunity pass. Being cash rich when the market is down lets you make gains hand over fist, I think we might have tripled if not quadrupled what we had three months ago. It is just that most of it is going to take about six months to break even and then another six to give us our profit.¡± na said.


    ¡°Oh¡± AJax was definitely impressed. Getting three to four times an investment in a year''s time was quite a good result especially when you were dealing withrger sums of money. ¡°How much did you have before the market crashed?¡±


    ¡°We had close to eight thousand gold coins, seven of which we had in hand.¡± na said pride clearly shown in the bodguage of the two friends as they watched Ajax¡¯s shocked expression hearing the words.


    ¡°What ¡­ but¡­ I mean¡­¡± Ajax was at a loss. Even the original amount was a crazy eight thousand gold, the deal he had with them that split the profits they made 3 to 1 his way meant that he would have six thousand gold. In a year''s time this eight thousand would be twenty-five thousand.


    ¡°We went from the original one hundred to five hundred in just our first year.¡± na exined ¡°Your sister''s talent at appraising valuable objects let us buy overlooked items and resell them for a decent profit.¡±


    ¡°After that we started getting a bit of a reputation, merchants knew about me and were less willing to part with their goods meaning that my skills weren¡¯t as useful anymore for pure profit. But they did allow us to get a lot of connections that year and build our capital.¡± Judy said. ¡°From there na started making bigger and bigger deals. As the deals got bigger they grew less profitable but the experience we gained meant we knew we could argue for better deals. This lets us double our starter just about every year.¡±


    ¡°Last year we had reached our cap on doubling, or so we thought. We had started with five thousand but only made three in profit. We knew that as our amount grew, doubling it in a year wouldn¡¯t be possible. Imagine our surprise that by cashing out in preparation for your arrival we had the perfect opportunity to make a killing.¡± na said excitedly.


    ¡° And the tradingpany you work for just let you keep that all to yourself?¡± Ajax asked not sure how they could make such profits with an overhead boss..


    ¡°They wouldn¡¯t have, and I bet they are kicking themselves right now.¡± na said with a giggle.


    ¡°When they heard someone gave us one hundred gold seed money so early in our careers theyughed and told us to do whatever we want so long as we fulfilled our duties. By the end of the first year we had been moved to contracted parties and started our own smaller organization working with theirs.¡± Judy said.


    ¡°I always had faith you would both do well, but I can¡¯t say I expected anything like this¡­ this is just. Wow¡± Ajax still had problems adjusting to the amount they managed to make.


    ¡°I take it you aren¡¯t looking to take cash out your stake in ourpany?¡± Judy teased him.


    ¡°No, you can keep working with it. WIth results like these I would be a fool to do anything else since I am not in need of money right now.¡±


    With that statement both the girls exchanged a quick look. ¡°In that case, could youe sign some documents sometime this week?¡± na asked.


    ¡°You¡¯ll have your profit calcted to the end of this uing year, but after that we were looking at splitting thepany with us having 60% of the profits and you 40%. Not only that but you would have to be a silent partner.¡± Judy said.


    ¡°Yeah I can do that. I was going to say our deal is a little unfair considering the results.¡± Ajax wasn¡¯t stupid nor greedy, trying to keep the deal the same was both, as it would result in their cooperation ending. What they offered was still miles better than what we would expect to get considering their sess.


    ¡°Just let me first register with the Adventurer¡¯s Guild, that will give me a more solid ID for the documents anyway. I was going to do that today anyway.¡± he said as he got up and cleared his te.


    ¡°Heads up.¡± his sister said as she tossed a little bag to him.


    ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Twenty gold coins. It would be a travesty for you to be worth close to twenty thousand gold but carry less than one on you.¡± she said.


    With that Ajax left the house and headed for the Adventurer¡¯s Guild. Unlikest time there was a bit of a line at the reception but it moved quickly.


    ¡°Reason for visit?¡± the same pretty receptionist he sawst time asked.


    ¡°Looking to join, hopefully I don¡¯t get conscripted this time.¡± he said with a smile.


    Her eyes grew wide in recognition as her smile turned from the customer service one into the genuine article. ¡° I remember you, you¡¯re Ajax right?¡±


    The rowdy room turned much quieter as the nearest four tables, all of which were used by adventurer teams turned silent as they heard the name and now looked square at him .

 Chapter 98

    Chapter 98


    A lot of the adventurers looked shocked for a moment before returning to their discussions but if one were to pay attention they would notice that at least one from every table still had their eye on him. Should a person look through the Adventurer¡¯s Guild roster they would see the people that were eyeing Ajax were in fact the party leaders and the parties were some of the long established ones. This didn¡¯t mean that they were all that much stronger, just more experienced and plugged in.


    ¡°Sorry about that, the branch manager here told me he would like a few words with you when you came in.¡± she said and waved for him to follow her.


    Ajax was a bit apprehensive at this, but considering that the branch manager even for a backwater area like this had to be at least as strong as amander of the guards choosing to dodge the meeting might very well be the worst move he can make.


    The receptionist led him down the corridor behind the reception desk, past the few offices that anchored them on either side and to the big door that said branch manager. The receptionist went ahead and knocked on the door then waited.


    ¡°Come in.¡± a rather soft voice answered from the other side.of the door.


    Entering after the receptionist Ajax saw a woman that looked to have been in her mid thirties back on Earth sitting behind a neat desk that had quite a few paper stacks on it. Her clothing looked casual but the staff leaning against her chair let Ajax know that she might very well be stronger thanmander Grievous, making her the strongest permanent resident in the city.


    ¡°What is it?¡± The tone of her voice somehow conveyed both happiness at something disrupting the boring monotone work she had been doing but also annoyance at having been interrupted.


    ¡°Young Mr. Ajax hase to register, you asked to have hime meet you when he came in.¡± the receptionist answered.


    The branch manager''s face scrunched up in confusion for a second before recognition crossed her features and she smiled. ¡° Ah yes, thank you Sophie you can leave us.¡±The receptionist needed no more prompting and gave a curt bow before leaving and closing the door behind her.


    ¡°Have a seat Mr. Ajax.¡± she offered him with a wave towards one of the two chairs on the other side of the desk.


    ¡°Could I ask why I¡¯m here?¡± he said as he cautiously took a seat.


    ¡°You don¡¯t know?¡± She seemed surprised at that. ¡°Then again they did say you left right away, I guess news didn¡¯t trickle down.¡±


    Ajax was starting to get more and more nervous, who was keeping track of him and why? Did he give himself away when he used his magic so publicly at the end to help Tom? All these questions were swirling around in his mind as he looked at the branch manager.


    ¡°In that case I¡¯ll try to give you a broad exnation of what happened.¡± She nodded to herself. ¡°First some context, as you are clearly aware from the fact that you¡¯ve kept your mana skills so well hidden the noble families have been extra dedicated to finding talented personnel as ofte, mana being an especially valued ability but not the only one.¡±


    ¡°What you may not know is that for everynded Baron in the kingdom there are anywhere between three and five unded barrons that live in the same area, the idea for this being healthypetition to improve the life of themon people and adhere tows as recing which family isnded can happen quite easily unlike removing the noble title.¡±


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    Ajax did find this interesting, he also thought that while such a system might be quite good at keeping the nobles in check it could also lead to tragedy depending on how far some families might go to take over. What he didn¡¯t understand was how this applied to him.


    ¡°How does this affect you?¡± the branch manager smiled as his reaction told him she guessed his question correctly. ¡° As you well know the skirmish was led by the currentnded baron¡¯s heir, the heir of anothernded baron with whom he is on friendly terms as well as the daughter of one of the archdukes. What you might not be aware of is that all the other baron families in this territory have sent people to scout during this little war in hopes of finding talents to draw into their own families.¡±


    Ajax didn¡¯t like the way the conversation was going. Hatchet had told him that usually branch managers were appointed with their neutrality and loyalty to the guild¡¯sw in mind but it had happened that some were corrupted afterwards, especially in backwater regions such as this one.


    ¡°Considering the amount of time that passed since thest skirmish, the pool of talents was deeper than it had been for a few decades. Talents who show themselves in battle are often harder to polish but more valuable than those who excel in training and get picked up that way.¡±


    ¡°You were up there yourself for your infiltration and hunting skills, at your age there was going to be a battle for who could recruit you. But then you showed magic on thest day right after you were discharged. This moved you from high priority to a must have in the eyes of all the local barons.¡±


    ¡°Is that why I¡¯m here?¡± he asked with a bit of trepidation sneaking into his voice.


    ¡°No. Your little show at the end also happened to attract the attention of the archduke¡¯s daughter and her friend. A short questioning of your brother and hismander gave them a more clearer picture of what you¡¯ve been up to the past few years. With the rmendation of themander they acted to tip the scales.¡±


    ¡°How so?¡± Ajax was starting to calm down a little once he heard that a rmendation from themander had affected the action of the two noble girls.


    ¡°They made it very clear that none of the nobles in the area are to interfere with your freedom to join the Adventurer¡¯s Guild. They also decided to take this a step further in order to help you start, which is where we have a small problem.¡± she said.


    ¡°A problem?¡±


    ¡°Yes, you see they tried to get me to waive your entry examination. This is something that will not be happening as I take pride in knowing that every adventurer passed by my branch has the bare minimum ording to their allotted rank.¡±


    Ajax rxed at hearing the situation was much more favorable than he expected, he almost regretted avoiding the two noble girls for the few months they were part of the same army, almost. ¡°I have no problem earning my own spot.¡± Ajax said with conviction.


    ¡°No you probably won¡¯t, Grievous already told me that. The issuees with what the two girls did when I told them I wouldn¡¯t be waiving your examination.¡± she waved her head as she felt the headache return from a few days ago.


    ¡°You see, in order to help you for all the help you gave them they left a small incentive for whatever party you decide to join for your first few entries into the dungeon.¡± her smile wavered as her eyes unfocused thinking of the aftermath of that incentive. ¡° As you can imagine the favorable impression of two important families in the capital caused quite a stir in our little town which means that nearly all the teams are going to be trying to recruit you.¡±


    Ajax wasn¡¯t sure what to say about the little gift he had been given. On the one hand he felt a bit resentful of the fact that he wouldn¡¯t be recruited for his skill. On the other hand, this gave him an opportunity to join a good group with which he can push himself to start growing with the explosive rates all adventurers have when they first start delving.


    ¡°Okay, but why are you telling me all this?¡± Ajax couldn¡¯t see any reason for this little sit down.


    ¡°This was a suggestion of themander, ording to him you are paranoid enough that having every team trying to recruit you as soon as you join would cause you to distrust them. This in turn would lead to a huge mess with all the teams trying to recruit you regardless of your stance, a mess I would have to clean up. Being upfront about all this is just the best way to go.¡±


    ¡°Is there a team you would suggest I join?¡± Ajax asked, he did want to see what the manager''s opinion would be even if he wouldn¡¯t follow it blindly.


    ¡°Oh no. First of all as the branch manager I am to be neutral in all aspects affecting the guild, and the decision you make definitely will affect the guild at least locally. Second, while you may be qualified you have to pass both the questioning and the test before you are officially a member.¡± As she was speaking Ajax felt her mana fluctuate and pass into a device on the desk.


    As soon as she was done a short knock came from the door, this time the receptionist didn¡¯t wait for an answer before she opened the door and entered. She must have called her in and that means this meeting is at an end.


    ¡°Sophie if you could take Mr Ajax to start the application process please.¡± she waved them off but spoke again as Ajax reached the door. ¡°While I cannot give you suggestions on which team to join, other staff members are under no such restrictions. Good luck Mr Ajax.¡±

 Chapter 99

    Chapter 99


    Ajax was led by the receptionist from the main office with a lot to think about. The situation he just found out about from his family about their vige as well as the intervention of the nobles in his own affairs were presenting two very distinct and almost opposite views.


    Thinking about it he came to realize that while the world view he had from his previous life would apply tomoners, if a lot more desensitized to violence aspared to the US, nobles were different. His only brief one encounter with the nobles that led the skirmish as well as the one with the noble who caused the downfall of his vige painted a new picture for him.


    Inrge part because of the waynded nobles were chosen almost all nobles in this kingdom would ce arge emphasis on treating their subjects well and providing opportunities for growth. The oversight came with how their system dealt with titles, only the eldest child would take over the familynds and as such all of their siblings could be overlooked.


    Jealousy over something like a birthright was something he had been exposed to in both entertainment and education back in his old life and as such could understand how this power dynamic could cause antagonistic rtions between siblings. More so, such antagonistic attitudes resulted in the younger siblings taking on traits opposite to their older sibling most likely causing second born andter nobles to take an antimoner view.


    Now this is not to say that thended nobles thought well ofmoners, just that they understood the need for them. Not only that but younger siblings who epted the way of session would likely also choose to support their older sibling and even bond closer tomoner, Cadmael being a great example of this.


    Ajax came to the realization that he had taken an overly antagonistic view of the nobles. He also knew that it had kept him safe, but now that he had gained a bit of power and agency through the Adventurer¡¯s Guild it should be fine to interact with nobles and look at each as an individual and not a group.


    For now though he needed to focus on his entrance to the guild. He had been led into one of the rooms he passed by on the way to the branch manager''s office. Inside he found a rather rotund older man who was busy writing things down.


    ¡°Take a seat, applicant.¡± he said in a monotone voice without lifting his eyes from the paper he was writing on.


    Ajax sat in the only open seat in the room, in front of him was a small pedestal with arge crystal orb ced in on it. He also noticed the receptionist closing the door but remaining inside this time. It took another couple of minutes before the man finished writing, pulled out a new piece of paper and after a nce at it looked towards him.¡°You¡¯re applicant Ajax, correct?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Ajax answered.


    ¡°My name is Roger, I am the records keeper for the Lessis branch of the Adventurer¡¯s guild, present as a witness will be Sophie, one of our receptionists. We will now conduct your official interrogation.¡± he said with an official tone that told Ajax he had repeated the same words more times than he could remember.


    ¡°First of all, could you please ce an arm on the orb in front of you.¡± Ajax followed the instructions. ¡°Now, please answer me, what is my name?¡±


    ¡°Your name is Roger.¡± Ajax said and the orb briefly shed white.


    ¡°Good now answer this next question with a lie. What is two plus two?¡±


    ¡°Five.¡± Ajax obliged and the orb shed a bright red.


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    ¡°Good. First question, have you ever used another name?¡±


    The first question and already Ajax had to skirt the rules.


    ¡°Not since I was born.¡± The orb glowed white.


    With that a rapid fire questioning began:


    ¡°Are you above ten years of age?¡±


    ¡°Yes¡±


    ¡°Are you being charged or have you been convicted of a crime?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Ajax answered but he did note the question didn¡¯t ask if he evermitted a crime, only if he was being charged or had been convicted.


    ¡°Are you joining the guild under the instructions of anyone?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Are your total stats above seven hundred?¡±


    At this Ajax didn¡¯t answer. Giving out his stats was not something he wanted to do and had hoped he wouldn¡¯t have to.


    ¡°Do not worry about us recording your stats.¡± Roger had dealt with this hesitation multiple times, so much so that it surprised him when people answered this question without hesitating. ¡°The Adventurer¡¯s Guild requires that all its members have at least seven hundred total stats, nothing about your total or spread is being recorded, just this minimum.¡±


    ¡°Yes my stats total above seven hundred.¡±


    ¡°Sophie, you can take Mr Ajax to take his written test.¡± Roger dismissed them and moved on to the next paper before they even left the room.


    The next part of the assessment was split into two parts. The first was a basic knowledge test onmonly known information on monsters. This is something he blew out of the water after all the information Hatchet crammed into his head over the five years he trained him.


    The second part was different. While it was in question form it wasn¡¯t really a test. All of the questions had very obvious answers, where they didn¡¯t the question was multiple choice with only one answer even making sense. All of the questions pertained to the authority the Adventurer¡¯s Guild had in the kingdom.


    Ajax had to admit that instead of having each participant read the rules, making them answer obvious questions as a way for them to read all the rules regarding legality and authority was rather ingenious. This forced even the most arrogant of applicants to take in and give a written response that they are fully aware of the status they have. Getting even one question wrong was grounds for rejection and the document would probably be kept in case the guild had to keep itself out of trouble with members breakingws while using the guilds name.


    Questions were also really obvious like : ¡°Should you disagree with a punishment meted out by an officer of thew you will : <ol><li>Kill all the officials</li><li>Ignore it and move on regardless of circumstances.</li><li>Intervine without relying on your identity as a member.¡± </li></ol>


    The tests took about an hour toplete and another ten minutes to grade before being delivered to Roger. Afterwards the receptionist pulled out a small sheath about the size of a credit card and handed it to Ajax.


    ¡°Inside you will find your adventurer¡¯s card. The guild asks that you take it out and keep it in hand for at least an hour.¡± Sophie said.


    Ajax pulled out the card and read the information on it.


    ¡° Adventurer¡¯s Guild member : Ajax.


    Rank : Iron


    Stars : one


    Missionspleted :


    Iron : 0


    Bronze : 0


    Silver : 0


    Gold : 0


    tinum : 0


    Dimond: 0¡±


    After reading the information he also noticed that the card was pulling in small amounts of mana from him. He quickly realized what it was doing, getting attuned to his mana so it could not be stolen and used to impersonate him at any guild branch. With that he pushed a bit more mana into it and noticed that the white crystalline card changed to match the color of iron after about one hundred mana was inserted.


    Sophie raised her eyebrows at the change but didn¡¯t say anything and just led him back towards the front of the building. As they walked he noticed a small amount of mana pulse and converged onto the earring the receptionist was wearing. It was very simr to the pulse he felt when the branch manager called her in before.


    ¡°You¡¯re not just a receptionist are you?¡± he asked, knowing that such direct message items couldn¡¯t be used by just anyone even if only to receive messages and not send them.


    Sophie startled a little and stopped before turning to him. ¡° How did you ¡­¡± her eyes dropped down to the card he still had in his hand and her hand instinctively reached for her earring, only managing to stop herself halfway there. ¡°Ah.¡±


    ¡°No, I am a bit higher up¡± she chose to answer him before leading him towards the door. ¡°If you would like to downy or just not mention your mana abilities while looking for a team I suggest you keep the card out of view for a little while.¡±


    Ajax realized what she meant, one didn¡¯t even need to be able to use mana as long as they knew how the card worked. Coming out with one already attuned to his mana would give away that he could infuse it to anyone who saw it. This would then lead to an awkward moment when choosing one of the teams eager to grab him if he decided not to mention his mana skills.


    He nodded his thanks and ced his hand with the card inside his pocket before. As Sophie opened the door for them to rejoin the tavern part of the guild hall, Ajax prepared himself to evaluate some of the adventurer¡¯s team who were about to mob him.

 Chapter 100

    Chapter 100


    When it came to picking a team Ajax knew better than to make a decision on the spot after getting his membership approved. It might have been the original n to join a group as quickly as possible but with the help from the nobles he had more time and options when it came to picking.


    The moment he was back in the tavern and going to the bar to grab a drink to celebrate joining the guild, who he was had already spread and teams started approaching him. What was interesting to see was that none of the old established teams did so. To them he was a passing curiosity. It was the newer teams that he was a draw for.


    To put things in perspective, the people who were new were around level forty and in their mid-thirties. The older established groups had people around level forty-five but looked to be much older. Ajax was in earshot when one of the younger leaders asked the veteran why they weren¡¯t interested in recruiting me.


    ¡°Because it¡¯s too big a gamble with too little upside.¡± was the answer.


    ¡°What gamble?¡± the younger leader asked.


    ¡°Sure the nobles may endorse him and recruiting him will gain you a favor but thates with risk. He is not just young but very young, I would bet my entire team''s equipment he isn¡¯t even twenty yet. This inexperiencebined with enough raw power to join the guild usually leads to arrogance and carelessness.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t the reason he is joining us to remedy that carelessness and inexperience? A little arrogance is fine to put up with if it means getting a shot to make it big.¡± the younger leader argued back.


    ¡°That''s why I said the gamble isn¡¯t for my team. We are happy here in this backwater region where people above level fifties can be counted on two hands. Taking the risk of him charging head first in the dungeon and getting himself killed is not worth it. Should that happen we would earn the ire and not favor of the nobles.¡±


    Despite the warning a lot of teams still tried to get Ajax to join them. To them the upside was worth the risk though they did start mentioning a few caveats about discipline while on a mission. As for Ajax he decided the best way to do this was to use the guild. First he would have all teams that wanted to recruit him to make a formal request with the guild. In two days time he would review all his options and make a decision. The reason he gave was that he wanted to know all his options and not just those who happened to be present when he enrolled. This and that he would be going to celebrate his membership with his family.


    As he was leaving he picked up a basic information packet about the local dungeon. He wanted to discuss it with Hatchet now that he had a chance to, with his old teacher being in the city, he would most likely decide on a team with his help as well.


    With nothing else to do for the day he went to visit his sister and na, wanting to sign the documents they wanted so they could move forward with theirpany. With that done he took his leave and headed for the house his parents and Hatchet used so as to not get in the way of the girls.


    It was almost noon when he reached the ce and he could hear his dad hammering away at something near the forge that their new home came with. When he asked about his mother he found out that she worked with his sister and was returning to being a merchant and making use of her trait after years spent in an isted vige.


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    With both his parents busy that left Hatchet. The man was surprisingly upbeat for someone who had lost a limb a few months ago. He was more than happy to look over the dungeon information and discuss it with Ajax.


    ¡°I don¡¯t mind doing so but you do know it won¡¯t really be all that helpful for you?¡± Hatchet said before they got into it.


    ¡°I know but I doubt any team is going to be willing to take me to the second floor without a thorough appraisal of my skills on the first.¡± Ajax acknowledged.


    He knew that dungeons were, after the first floor, totally random. From the environment to the creatures and even what valuable resources could be gathered was totally random. The first floor was the only constant when entering a dungeon as that floor was always the same.


    ¡°Like most dungeons it has a starting level between thirty and thirty-three. This means the first floor bosses can go as high as thirty seven.¡± Hatchet started. ¡°This means that there should be nothing that could reasonably threaten you as long as you remain focused.¡±


    Ajax knew this. Nothing in the dungeon¡¯s first floor would match up to the bear or the fish he had already dealt with. Thinking of them he realized he had forgotten to hand over the corpses to his sister to sell.


    ¡°Like the dungeon near the capital, its first floor is also a forest biome mirroring the outside,¡± he continued. ¡°Where it differs is the power jump between floors being a whole twelve levels.¡±


    The dungeon near the capital is the one Hatchet had known the most about. Unlike most dungeons, its starting level of power was much lower at only twenty-five to twenty-eight. Thisbined with a power jump of five levels made it the most valuable asset of the kingdom as a whole.


    You see, the reason why people stagnated was because ofck of challenge. It¡¯s why crafters and other life-style focused people ended up higher level thanbatants. They could continually challenge themselves and their skills without endangering their lives. The reason why the guild teams stagnated at around level forty-five here was theck of challenge for a group to take on the second floor meaning it would take longer and longer to level. On the flip side level three would sport fifty-four to fifty-six creatures as well as up to level sixty bosses.


    A dungeon that only jumped five levels provided a good progression of difficulty for teams. This lets adventurers keep up a solid experience gain all the way to the higher levels like one hundred. It is when reaching level one hundred that monsters start to outpace humanoids, with skills reaching their cap around that time. The limit therees from how high authorities allow people to delve as a group dieing means letting the floor they were one out of the dungeon right next to the capital.


    ¡°A forest biome is one of the best situations you can have as an adventurer. It lets you best spot traces of what creatures it houses as well as not limiting you much in terms of fighting style.¡±


    It had taken quite a lot of convincing from Hatchet until Ajax acknowledged that forest was the best biome. He had been partial to the open field option regardless of how much Hatchet told him that kind of thinking got people killed. Seeing an open field biome meant no cover, this led to three types of monsters being able to survive : flying, ground and subteran. All of which could attack at any time with only the ground ones being obvious.


    ¡°Now, let''s talk about how you will prepare. Your role in this first trip will be very different then you are used to.¡± Hatchet said


    ¡°How so?¡± I asked.


    ¡°First of all you will most likely take the role of a porter. You will need to make sure you store them in such a way that you can drop everything at any time to react to an ambush.¡± Hatchet seemed fairly certain about this.


    Ajax silently cursed but knew it was unavoidable. The porter was the weakest link, and the outside man in a team. With the gear weighing him down should the team need to sacrifice a member to escape it would always be him.


    ¡°It won¡¯t be that bad. We are only going to be going to the first floor, plus I think they will want to get a good evaluation of what I can do so they might let me participate quite a bit.¡± Ajax said, trying to be optimistic.


    ¡°Yes, I suppose your pack would be on the light side.¡± Hatchet nodded.


    Now when they were talking about heavy packs they actually meant heavy packs, even for their level of strength. You see massively expanded packs that carried all sorts of collection tools were required when delving papst the first floor. Not knowing what could be gathered from an environment meant you had to be ready to collect and store anything, this took a lot of space and weighed a lot.

 Chapter 101

    Chapter 101


    For the first time in more than five years Ajax had been spending his time off without anything at all to do. Sure he still did run through a small training session at the beginning of every day but he has spent most of thest two days rxing and catching up with his family.


    This was a time he enjoyed greatly but it came with one downside. He was all but jumping out of his skin to venture into a dungeon for the first time. The morning of the third day he did his training, grabbed breakfast and all but raced down to the guild hall to grab all the applications and information packages on the teams. He would be spending today discussing his selection with Hatchet as well as his brother and sister in case they have some extra inside information on them from their jobs before selecting a team and joining it before the day was done.


    With this n he would most likely be starting the trip towards the dungeon tomorrow morning and might enter the dungeon in a few days. He did his best to mask his enthusiasm as he picked everything up at the guild hall but the smirk Sophie sported told him just how sessful he had been.


    The first two hours of the selection process were spent in silence with both his and Hatchet pouring through the guild information and record of every team that applied to take him in order to narrow the selection down to a few teams. Despite both of them having the reading skill the amount of information was massive with two dozen teams having applied. This was equivalent to a full two thirds of all active teams in the city.


    ¡°So, who is it that made it into your final selection?¡± Hatchet asked once Ajax put down the final piece of paper.


    ¡°The Reavers, Stonespear and The Collectors¡± Ajax counted them off.


    Each of the teams mentioned excelled at something. The Reavers were exterminators, they did more outside dungeon work and focused on requests consisting of collecting mana cores from the dungeon. Not only that but their level was quite high with an average of forty-three with ten members despite the members being rather young and only being part of the guild for five years at the most.


    Stonespear was a contractor team. It focused almost exclusively on contracts. This could be anything from guard duty, exterminations, escorts or dungeon delves. They were the most spread out bunch of them all doing a little bit of everything. They were also the lowest levels of them all averaging level forty with a thirteen man team. Their members were also just as young as the Reavers, being in their mid thirties.


    The Collectors were the dungeon specialists. Theypleted very few contracts that weren¡¯t assigned to them by the guild and those that they did revolved around collecting something specific from running the dungeon enough times that a favorable biome manifested in the second floor. They were the highest level team of them all with an average level of forty-five and eleven members on their team. Their ages were around mid forties with a few pushing fifty.¡°I do agree that the Collectors could be a good fit but the Reavers and Stonespear aren¡¯t groups I would rmend.¡± Hatchet said as he dragged up the information on the three teams. ¡° While the three you chose do fill the three types of teams based on their regr activities you should look a bit deeper into it.¡±


    ¡°First of all, Stonespear. This team is headed by a noble, that is what the little emblem on the back of the information page means. Even if we discount the off chance of how they would focus on recruiting you every step of the way the team is created around protecting and advancing the noble¡¯s in question reputation.¡±


    ¡°As for the Reavers, they are just unreliable. They have been active for the past two years and they had four members die in that time. They are greedy for advancing and leaving this backwater so much that they make routine mistakes.¡± Hatchet said. ¡°You need to keep in mind that not only are you already stronger than most anyone from the teams that applied to recruit you but you will also be leaving them in a short amount of time.¡±


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    Ajax understood what he meant by that. Joining either of the two teams would most likely lead to him forming bad habits, something that would be an anchor to him as he moved on to ces where his strength was moremonly found.


    ¡°If you are looking to join an extermination team I suggest the Vipers. They have been active for the past seven years. During that time they haven¡¯t had a single casualty, this despite only having a seven person team and cycling out two of their original members.¡±


    ¡°As for a contract focused team, ckwheel S. would be a good ce for you.¡± Hatchet said.


    The second suggestion surprised Ajax.ckwheel was different from all the other teams that applied because they had the S. suffix added. This marked the team as being sponsored directly by a merchant organization or noble family. This in itself came with a slew of extra regtions to ensure the neutrality of the guild. In this case it was a merchant organization sponsoring the team.


    Ajax thought hard about what type of team he wanted to join. Ideally he would join a contract team, these would give him the best way to steadily advance all manners of skills, something that would not only increase the longevity of his fast leveling but also build a good reputation in the guild. That was true however if one was thinking long term.


    Considering he was not going to stick around with the team any longer than necessary meant his priorities needed to adapt. In the end what tipped the scales between the Vipers and the Collectors was the location of Lessis.


    He had thought, and Hatchet confirmed when he asked, that both exterminations and contractor teams operate differently in a more influential region than a backwater like Lessis. But one thing that changed very little regardless of where you went was the process of exploring a dungeon floor. Sure the level jumps and starting level were different but when it came to dealing with a randomly generated floor their second floor would be close to the capitals fourth or fifth floors.


    ¡°Yes, that is probably your best bet for short term gains.¡± Hatcher nodded at his choice. ¡°Not only are they one of the more experienced teams, their delver focus should mean you enter the second floor a lot sooner than with the other teams and you can start making some real progress from there on.¡±


    With the decision finally made Ajax headed to the guild hall to see about meeting the team. The best part of all this was that as this was a delver team they should be heading to the dungeon almost immediately which suited his purposes just fine.


    At the guild hall Ajax was sitting at a table with half the members of the Collectors including their leader. Not only that but all around the tavern they were getting looks from the other adventurers. Annoyance with a bit of outrage towards Ajax and envy towards the Collectors.


    ¡°It¡¯s nice to meet you, Ajax.¡± The leader, Jones, said once both parties had drinks.


    ¡°It¡¯s nice to meet you guys as well.¡± Ajax responded.


    ¡°If you don¡¯t mind my asking, why is it that you chose us? I know you had plenty of options¡± Jones asked.


    Ajax decided to be upfront with them. This way both sides knew everything going in and there would be bad blood at the end.


    ¡° Seeing as I am just starting my career as an adventurer, a contractor team might be more suitable for me and it would be, if I was looking to remain here. However I am looking to leave Lessis and head to the capital within a year or two so I am looking to build up as much relevant experience.¡±


    ¡° I see. We are most likely to take you with us into the dungeon¡¯s second floor. Not only that we will be doing so often and this is the best way for you to not only level quickly but also to pad your record with something that wouldn¡¯t depreciate if taken to another branch.¡± Jones nodded.


    ¡°That works out for us. We are also preparing for a move out of this backwater but we are waiting here until our final member, a son of one of our current members brings himself up to par with the guild standard, at the time of the move a favor from a noble or two wille in handy .¡± Ajax appreciated their honest response but was quite curious about something.


    ¡°Why would you wait so long for a freshly recruited member?¡± Ajax asked them.


    ¡°That¡¯s easy, because not only are they capable of using mana but they are particrly talented in healing.¡± All of the members at the table grinned at the announcement, after all the difference between having a healer on the team and not having one was massive.


    It wasn¡¯t just for the emergency injury that they were valuable. But with a healer in the team they would be able to take riskier fights, this would lead to higher experience values and faster leveling.


    ¡°Yeah, that would make it worth it.¡± Ajax nodded. ¡°So when are you nning to take the next expedition?¡±


    ¡°We were nning to head out in the morning after dawn but we can push it back a day to amodate a new member.¡± Jones offered and none of the other members seemed put off by the dy.


    ¡°Bobby might just get in trouble.¡± One of the others snickered.


    ¡°Yeah, for once we won¡¯t be conveniently gone the next morning when the husband of histest trist shows up looking for him.¡± Another joined in.


    ¡°I am quite eager to leave as well.¡± Ajax dashed their hopes. ¡°I will be ready in the morning.¡±

 Chapter 102

    Chapter 102


    Early the next morning Ajax was ready to go. He was going to leave the pack Hatchet had gotten for him here and instead carried a small personal bag that was much smaller in space expansion. The reason for this was that the team told him they would be bringing him the carry pack they used. It was very different being specifically made to focus the weight as close as possible to the human center of mass to help alleviate the problems that woulde with a bag that would end up weighing north of six hundred pounds.


    ¡°I know this will all seem very easy to you. And for the first floor it will be, but once you reach the second floor you should try your best to integrate with the rest of the team when fighting. The best use of your time here besides leveling would be to try and unlock [Cooperation] and if you are lucky [Teamwork].¡± Hatchet and his parents were giving him a send off for the second time.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t mention those skills when I left before.¡± Ajax said.


    ¡°I was expecting you to stick around in this region andy low. That and all your skills would be needing some work because of the way you saved your stat points meant you would learn about them in due time. Now your other skills have caught up a little and you can try and gain them without splitting your focus too much.¡± Hatchet said.


    ¡°What is so good about them?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°They are a selling point for mercenarie adventurers who don¡¯t have a set team. [Cooperation] allows anyone with the skill to intuit what another person who has it will do as long as they are working together. [Teamwork] does much the same, if to a lesser extent, but it is not limited to one person nor does it require all participants to have it. It is a rare skill however so getting [Cooperation] is more likely as an umon one.¡±


    Ajax could definitely see the appeal of the skills. Being able to easily adapt to new teams without having to train with them for weeks would be a big advantage for someone who was going to be leaving by himself to go to a different city.


    With that he left and met up with the team at the city gates. They cut a very different picturepared to the easygoing half a dozen middle age party drinking at the bar. They were now armed to the teeth with expensive looking armor that Ajax could feel some enchantments on. Not only that but two of the people that weren¡¯t therest night were absolutely massive, easily standing over seven and half feet tall in full te gear, one wielding two shields and the other an axe as tall as him.


    The thing standing out to him was theck of casters. Out of the entire group only one of them could use mana, a woman who also hadn¡¯t been there the previous night and whose son was going to be the healer joining their party. What drew a raised eyebrow from him was the leaders choice of weapon, a ded whip and small vials of what he guessed were poinsons littered his belt and tunic.The greeting went by quickly and Ajax was presented with a heavy new pack and they all started on their way towards the dungeon.


    ¡°Since we will be clearing out the full first floor I went ahead and picked up a few collection contracts for it.¡± Jones said once they were more isted on the road, it was important to keep this kind of thing on the down low or it would just invite others to rob you.


    ¡°Can¡¯t we just go straight to the second floor like we usually do?¡± one of the other members chimed in.


    ¡°No.¡± Jones cut off that road cleanly. ¡°I know the nobles just said the reward was for recruiting him, but it would be improper to take him into a situation where he can¡¯t develop. Just think of this as a trial run for when Tristan joins us.¡±


    This tale has been uwfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    Ajax silently disagreed with the assessment. He was most likely strong enough to handle anything the second floor threw at him but he didn¡¯t me them for their fair assumptions.


    ¡°That and the fact that with as much interest the nobles showed in him he will likely end up as a big shot in the not too distant future. Building a positive rapport with him now might pay off more than what the nobles are offering upfront.¡± the mage said, seeming not to care that Ajax heard.


    ¡°That is a good point.¡± A deep gravelly voice came from within the suit of armor that had a tower shield on his back. ¡°Nelly if you would.¡±


    At this prompting the caster woman muttered an incantation and a small wind dome settled around the group.


    ¡°Now we have a bit of privacy.¡± he rumbled ¡°Think you can share with us at least a big picture of your abilities?¡±


    Ajax frowned unconsciously at the question. Despite knowing it was probably alright to share some details now his fifthteen years of paranoia had clearly not vanished overnight.


    ¡°We don¡¯t need anything too specific.¡± Jones cut in. ¡°But if we are to help you get as much out of this as you can before all of us move on to bigger and better things we need to know a little about you. We will all learn about each other anyway in the time we will spend together in the dungeon.¡±


    Ajax did have to concede that point if he kept to his usual one man team style, what was the point of joining a team to delve into the dungeon with. So with a nod he began to share.


    ¡° Alright.¡± he began ¡° I am level 25.¡±


    He didn¡¯t get to say anything after that as he was interrupted by a few colorful curses. Mainly from the caster as it was her job to pull people out of shit with her magic. They all got quiet when Jones cleared his throat loudly.


    ¡°Sorry about that, please continue.¡± he said.


    ¡°It¡¯s no problem.¡± he waved off the apology. ¡° I use a hybrid fighting style of mana and physicalbat. It is most versatile in melee but keeps some of its versatility with elemental arrows from range.


    He could see some interesting gazes fix on all the different weapons he carried. Clearly they had a better impression of him but he decided to offer a little more so that they would feel morefortable in going to the second floor. ¡°My total stats are also above nine hundred.¡±


    This caused the entire party to freeze, Ajax almost walking into the member in front of him as he stopped. What had been a few interested gazes before turned into everyone staring at him. So much so that he second guessed himself for not saying eight fifty. He also wondered what would happen if he told them his total stats were actually above thirteen hundred.


    ¡° I can see why those nobles were so interested in him now.¡± The tank''s deep voice broke everyone out of their shock.


    ¡°Yeah the first floor should be easy for him. He might actually get more of a benefit from going to the second floor.¡± another chimed in.


    ¡°Anything specific you are looking to train while you are with us?¡± Despite Jones¡¯s expression returning to his normal one his tone towards Ajax changed slightly. Ajax didn¡¯t know it but the information he shared changed the view the team had of him from a necessary burden to a possible asset they were paid to have.


    ¡°I am hoping to gain the [Cooperation] and maybe [Teamwork] skills.¡± Ajax openly admitted the things they could influence the most.


    ¡°Well aren¡¯t you aiming a little high?¡± the other ted giant with an axe chimed in. ¡°You do know that [Teamwork] is a rare skill right?¡±


    ¡°Lay off it Bobby.¡± the caster lightly chastised him


    ¡°There isn¡¯t much we can do about Teamwork.¡± Jones said. ¡°But Donny has [Cooperation] so teaming up with him before you get settled into the team dynamic will give the best chance to gain the skill.¡±


    Ajax turned towards the tank. But it wasn¡¯t the skill possibility that had him flicking his gaze from him to Bobby.


    ¡°Are you two¡­¡± he started.


    ¡°Brothers? Yes, twins in fact!¡± Bobby cheerly answered as he draped his arm across his brother''s shoulders.


    ¡°Sadly.¡± Donny admitted with a resigned tone that showed he was used to and also fed up with his brother''s antics.


    ¡°[Cooperation], unlike [Teamwork], onlyes into effect between strangers¡± Donny returned back to the point. ¡° If you don¡¯t unlock it before you get used to fighting with us you probably won¡¯t unlock it with our help at all. As for teamwork I suggest you don¡¯t focus on that as getting a rare skill is a matter of inborn talent.¡±


    Ajax pondered that statement. He knew in the abstract that he had a lot more skills than anyone he had ever met. In fact most people would have less than a quarter of what he did because of his Divine Witness trait allowing him to gain almost any of themon and umon skills. Not only that but he was in the position to target and try to forcibly unlock some rare skills in the same way others did formon ones.


    The rest of the road was spent with the team going over the known dangers of the first floor and more specifically where they could fulfill the contracts they had picked up. The journey was made at a constant, not particrly fast pace, but one that they kept up for two whole days without rest arriving at the vige as night fell on the second day.


    ¡°Get a good night¡¯s rest¡± Jones advised Ajax as the team of twelve split into four rooms at the inn. ¡°Tomorrow morning we head straight for the dungeon.¡±

 Chapter 103

    Chapter 103


    Ajax woke up early the next day and he was feeling excited. It would be the first time he went into a dungeon and his age was starting to peek through. He went outside to try and burn off some of the excess energy. As he looked through the town he noticed several watchtowers ced all around. Not only that but the trees around the vige were cleared out in an odd manner, as if they were tactically positioned. He thought it may have something to do with the dungeon and he could ask his new team.


    When he returned to the inn, they had already started serving breakfast and he grabbed some food and a table. Throughout the meal members of the team started to trickle in.


    ¡°Early riser?¡± the group''s scout asked him as he sat down?


    ¡°Yeah, I was a bit excited so I took a look around the vige.¡± Ajax answered. ¡°Why all the watchtowers?.¡±


    ¡°Early warning. The first floor is not considered a problem. But out here the second floor is the limit unless some strong party is passing through and decides to go for it. This means that the dispatched defenses for this ce can handle any second floor break.¡± he exined. ¡°Problem is, what happens if someone from a wiped group survives the second floor by running past the boss into the third?¡±


    Ajax realized what he meant. If he had to make the decision he probably would do the same. Run past the boss into the third floor and then just exit the dungeon. The problem was that this would release a fully uncleared third floor in the environment and the bosses for that floor could reach up to level sixty.


    ¡°The entireyout in between this ce and the dungeon is set up to discourage any monster breaks from heading towards the town.¡±


    With the meal done everybody got geared and they headed towards the dungeon. The trip there was through an unituative maze of trees. He now knew why there wasn¡¯t a straight road to the entrance, it would be an invitation if a break happened.


    As they reached a clearing in the forest he saw that past the clearing an opening through the trees was made that led further away from the town, probably in order to help direct any creatures towards that direction. The clearing was massive, three times asrge as a football field. In the center was arge archway that oozed mana. Around it were some uniformed guards the purpose of which was unclear yet to Ajax. Throughout the clearing he could see tents set up everywhere, everywhere except too close to the archway.


    A sharp rise in the mana of the gate drew his attention to the gate. Out of it came a group of ragged adventurers that had sand dripping off them. They looked to be in a sorry shape but none seemed critically injured. As they exited some of the guards moved to help them and got them away from the arch.


    Something else that drew his attention was how people from all over started to converge on the arch at the same time that the guards started giving it space. Jones dropped his pack, pulled his whip from his belt and also approached. Oddly enough, despite the people getting ready to fight the atmosphere wasn¡¯t tense at all.


    Five minutester the mana surrounding the arch started to churn much more. Then out they came. Snakes, scorpions, some ferocious looking camels. They wereing out of both sides one after another only to be picked off by the people waiting for them. Interestingly enough all of them exploded into mana the moment they died leaving nothing behind.


    This wasn¡¯t a battle, it was a ughter. Ajax used his ability to judge the strength of the creatures and he knew none of them were as strong as even the fish he faced. They weren¡¯t weak by any means but they were all far too uncoordinated. They came out through a funnel to be executed. This continued for a good ten minutes before the mana of the gate calmed down.


    ¡°That¡¯s what a dungeon break looks like.¡± the caster from his team whispered to him. ¡°Not sure if you read all the guidelines of the Adventurer¡¯s Guild but we have a duty, wherever possible, to clear out as much of the floor as we can before we exit.¡±


    Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    As they were walking closer to the gate he could see Jones talking to the guard that had a clipboard and seemed to be showing him something. While this was happening another group walked forward and entered the archway. As they entered the arch¡¯s mana barely fluctuated.


    ¡°So how bad is it?¡± Bobby asked Jones as he returned.


    ¡°Quite good actually, there is only one team ahead of us.¡± he responded.


    ¡°What?¡± Ajax mumbled at the odd exchange.


    ¡°They limit the number of teams that can be inside at one time.¡± The scout heard him and decided to exin. ¡° The guild does offer local teams incentives for picking up annoying or unpaid contracts. They reward them with VIP status, meaning we get to skip the queue for entry.¡±


    Ajax could see how that worked. Every time the guild needed something done it would offer a number of VIP passes to the team thatpleted their job. Quick, easy, cost them nothing and served as a good incentive for teams.


    ¡°Hey Jones!¡± someone called out as they approached. ¡°Are you here for something specific?¡±


    Ajax looked in the direction of the voice to see a man that would have been in his mid twenties back on Earth approach. Interestingly he recognised the insignia on his left shoulder, it belonged to the Reavers.


    ¡°Not right now we aren¡¯t.¡± Jones answered amicably. ¡°Yourself?¡±


    ¡°We have an exclusive contract for the feathers of a bird, at least ten meters wing span and a minimum level of forty-seven.¡± the neer said.


    Ajax noticed a few members of his new team grimace when they heard the contract.


    ¡°Can¡¯t help you this time I¡¯m afraid.¡± Jones said. ¡°We¡¯ll be sticking to the first floor for our delve.¡±


    ¡°You have fresh meat?¡± The man started searching through the team until his eyesnded on Ajax. ¡°So you are the healer they¡¯ve been waiting around for eh kid?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Ajax replied shortly.


    The man¡¯s face switched from a neutral smile to one of confusion before he turned back to Jones with a look of envy.


    ¡°You guys recruit that Ajax runt?¡± he scoffed and started to walk away. ¡°I thought you would know better than to risk your team like that for the favor of a few nobles.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s his problem?¡± Bobby asked and quite a few of the team members looked confused at the sudden change in attitude.


    ¡°His team also tried to recruit me.¡± Ajax offered. ¡°I recognise the team insignia.¡±


    That¡¯s when the gate started acting up again. It quickly spat out a team of slightly dirty but otherwise fine adventurers. Not only that but it also released a pulse of mana.


    ¡°That¡¯s good, they cleared the floor.¡± one of his team members said.


    As he did they watched as the Reavers headed towards the arch and entered the dungeon without much preamble. It made sense, the Reavers were exterminators so they would be one of the teams most likely to have quite a few VIP passes from the guild.


    ¡°We¡¯re next up so make sure you¡¯re all ready to go.¡± Jones said.


    While they waited, quite a few more teams approached Jones much in the same way the Reavers had, looking for an extra pair of eyes and hands for specific requests. Ajax also noticed that all the contracts were exclusive, it made sense not to ask for help on a public contract however.


    Ajax recognised a good three quarters of the teams that approached them as they had also tried to recruit him. Unlike the Reavers however they didn¡¯t seem to hold a grudge and instead greeted Ajax and said he made a good decision in joining the Collectors.


    The wait this time took around twenty more minutes before the archway let another team out. They were much like thest team that exited but there was no mana pulse at the end when they exited.


    As with normal procedure, everyone backed away and waited five minutes before four turtles waddled out of the dungeon only to be wiped out.


    ¡°I thought you said policy said you should clear the floor?¡± Ajax asked while they were strapping the packs to their backs and started making for the arch.


    ¡°It is. Inside every floor there is an obelisk. When triggered it makes all the remaining monsters on the floor head towards it. It¡¯s how we clear floors without having monsters squared away in some corner.¡± the scout said. ¡°Downside is you don¡¯t know when you killed everything. Those turtles must have been so slow and far away from the obelisk that they exited before they arrived.¡±


    ¡°Nothing for you to worry about, all the creatures inside the first floor are quick so we¡¯ll get a nice full clear.¡± Bobby said as he casually swung the intimidating big axe as a warmup.


    ¡°Why would I worry about that?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°Oh? You¡¯ll see then, I won¡¯t spoil the surprise.¡± Bobby said and the others who heard the exchange smiled at him, but not in a malicious or prankster way.


    Before he had a chance to question them further they reached the archway and a system prompt shed before his eyes.


    Party Invite


    Jones would like to invite you to join his party. ept?


    Yes No


    Warning! Party groupsst for only five minutes outside of mana rich environments. Parties enter the same instance of a dungeon. Parties share kill experience inside dungeons based on contribution to the party, not just the kill.


    Ajax epted but nothing changed. He stood there confused when Bobby grabbed him and dragged him through the arch.

 Chapter 104

    Chapter 104


    Ajax P.O.V


    All sensations vanished for a moment as I was transported inside the dungeon. I was brought back to the time before my rebirth when I just floated in the void. As quickly as I lost my senses they returned to me as Inded on wobbly feet in the middle of arge clearing simr to the one we were just in minus the other people. Behind me stood an arch identical to the one I entered and around me was the rest of my team.


    While the transition itself had no effect on me, I can¡¯t say the same about the environment. I was used to catching the odd glimpse of mana here and there when other people or beings used it but this was something else. It was as if everything was imbued with mana: the trees, the grass , the earth, even the air was infused with mana.


    ¡°Easy there.¡± a soft hand caught on to my shoulder. ¡°I know it''s disorientating at first but you will get used to it. Just try to focus more on your other senses and have them overpower your mana sense.¡±


    The caster of the group said as I realized she was propping me up from where I was about to fall. I did as she said and focused on my sight, hearing and smell. Surprisingly enough for me it worked. My mana senses were still overloaded but now I had a better view of everything. It was like only one gauge on the dashboard was showing something was wrong instead of it being the only information I had.


    ¡°What was that?¡± I asked, seeing how everybody else was fine. ¡°Does that happen to everyone when they enter the dungeon?¡±


    ¡°No, only people who can sense mana. [Detect Mana] is not strong enough of a skill to make out mana presence in the environment. As for what happened, it''s basic sensitivity.¡± The caster exined.


    ¡°Sensitivity? How so?¡± I was very much interested in a way to take me out of action like that.


    ¡°Imagine you live your entire life in a deep cave. You might asionally get a glimpse of light here and there but not much. Then one day you fall through a passage and end up outside the caves in broad daylight. That¡¯s what happened to you.¡± Her exnation made sense. Mana was such a rarity in my everyday life when it came from outside sources that entering an environment with this much mana caused sensory overload.


    ¡°You alright?¡± Jones asked me.


    ¡°Yeah, I think I got a handle on it now.¡±


    ¡°Lets move out then, everybody in formation.¡± he called out.


    I was in the middle of the formation next to the caster. As a porter I needed to be protected so I was given one of the safest spots. Sadly it also meant that if I tried to engage an enemy I would always have one team member blocking my line of attack.


    The first group of hostile we encountered was a small pack of wolves with five members. Hardly anyone had to do anything as the scout informed us and Bobby and Donny charged together and made short work of them with only a few light scratch marks on their te armor to mark the battle.


    Unlike the beasts that exited the dungeon these ones didn¡¯t disperse into mana once they died. It was surprising but I could figure out why that wouldn¡¯t happen. The mana was everywhere so it was enough for the bodies not to return to a pure mana state now that there was nothing left to hold it together.


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    ¡°How do you collect any remains?¡± I asked. ¡°Anything you take outside will just disperse into mana as soon as the mana concentration in the surroundings drops.¡±


    ¡°Same way the beasts on the outside hold their mana.¡± Jones answered. ¡°Every now and then one of them will have formed a mana core. They are slightly stronger and have all their mana focused in one point. That means that whatever we harvest from them once they are dead is good to be taken outside.¡±


    ¡°You think I could take part in a fight?¡± I ask. I was starting to get antsy about just being a porter.


    ¡°Not right now you won¡¯t.¡± He quickly shot me down. ¡°Anyone know what iteration we got?¡±


    ¡°I narrowed it down to two or six.¡± the scout called out.


    Iterations were something that only applied to the first floors of a dungeon. While its theme was always constant there were also a limited number of iterations that could form around that theme. Since all iterations had been heavily explored,and since they were always the exact sameyout, with it being the first floor people were able to know what to expect from it. The problem identifying which one you were in came from the fact that the starting position could be anywhere on the map.


    ¡°Two or six ¡­¡± Jones murmured under his breath. ¡°Once we clear out a decent chunk of this, you¡¯ll have a chance against some of the deer. Those shouldn¡¯t pose any real threat even if they outlevel you.


    I wanted to argue but knew it wouldn¡¯t do anything. They were right to be cautious, the only reason they took me with them without so much as a sparring session was because they could each solo this entire floor given enough time without any problem so I decided to pick my battles and see if I can¡¯t get a boss all to myself once I show them I ampetent.


    The trek through the forest was quiet. The only interruptions were the warning of creatures being spotted and the ensuing fights to take them out. I got to see quite a few of the members in action but both the caster and Jones had yet to do anything and everyone else followed a rathermon melee fighter path or a bow one.


    ¡°It¡¯s the second iteration.¡± the scout returned from between some bushes.


    ¡°You¡¯re sure?¡± Donny asked.


    ¡°Yeah I even know exactly where we are.¡±


    ¡°Whatndmark did you find?¡± Jones asked.


    ¡°Waterfall. It¡¯s about a mile to our left.¡±


    Once he pointed out and I focused I could make out the faint sounds of running water. This was a testament to how quiet the forest around us was that I was able to listen for something so far away without something closer blowing out my ear drums.


    ¡°How do you want to do this?¡± the caster asked Jones.


    ¡°Hmm. We¡¯ll get to the waterfall then follow it upstream towards the obelisk. Around it should be a few wolf packs and quite a number of deer, including two deer bosses.¡± Jones answered after a few moments to think. ¡° We¡¯ll clear out the wolf packs ourselves before we let Ajax take on a deer or two. Depending on how he does we might let him tackle a boss.¡±


    ¡°What about after?¡± Bobby asked.


    ¡°I think just doing that will take a good part of the day. So I think we should go to the cave and rest afterwards. Tomorrow we¡¯ll let Ajax have a few more fights before we activate the obelisk and spend a few hours clearing out the whole floor as ites.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure that is a good idea?¡± A few members looked unsure about this n. Not so much about today but about tomorrow. ¡°Isn¡¯t that a bit dangerous for Ajax.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯ll be perfectly fine.¡± Jones cut them off. ¡°Think of this as a practice run for Tristan. Unlike Ajax he won¡¯t have any physical stats and most of his magical expertise wille from healing. If anything can get past us now to Ajax we¡¯ll need to train more for Tristan.¡±


    The n sounded a lot like I was the test dummy. I was more than fine with it however since I didn¡¯t think any deer or wolf posed much of a threat to me. I also had gotten a look at all the iterations and knew the second didn¡¯t possess any other type of creature. Some of the others had different types of eagles and hawks, others had bunnies and bears but two only had deer and wolves. It made up forck of variety by beingrger than other iterations and having arger number of creatures.


    Once we got to the river I was given a stern warning about drinking water from it. Apparently they knew what I had learnt the hard way, introducing mana into your body by eating it was a bad idea.


    The trip upriver was more eventful. We ran into a few more groups of wolves and deer. Surprisingly the deer were just as aggressive as the wolves unlike their counterparts outside the dungeon, who would only fight as ast resort.


    ¡°Do you not know how to swim?¡± the caster asked me out of nowhere.


    ¡°I do.¡± I replied, confusion evident in my tone.


    ¡°Then why do you keep looking at the river like it will swallow whole?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Had a run in with a fish type monster not even a full month ago.¡± I exined. ¡°It was a stealth ambush type.¡±


    ¡°You do know iteration two doesn¡¯t have fish type monsters?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Oh I know but it¡¯s not like I can override my instinct and ept that so soon after I almost got my head ttened by a surprise tail swipe.¡±


    That got me a round of nods and I could feel them starting to ept me as something else other than a porter. All that was left was to prove to them I could fight when I got the chanceter in the day.

 Chapter 105

    Chapter 105


    Ajax P.O.V


    All the wolves in the surrounding area were culled and all that was left were a few deer. I could feel the anticipation, wanting to see if there was a difference in the monsters outside and inside a dungeon. As soon as the scout came back and gave the all clear, Jones turned to me.


    ¡°Alright kid.¡± He nodded for me to drop the bags. ¡°Lets see what you can do, there are four deer and three stags around here, go get them.¡±


    I frowned at his words. With my perception and tracking skills I had been able to pick out eight of them.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t there eight of them here?¡± I pointed out.


    He frowned and turned back to the scout.


    ¡°One of the stag bosses is around, but he is further away.¡± he confirmed as he gave me an approving grin.


    I didn¡¯t want to hold anything back for my first hunt. As soon as I spotted the first stag I drew back the bow and aimed an arrow for its head. I had observed the rest of the team engage with the deer and stags and noticed that their skulls had decent defense but it was all one line, if anything made it past it would continue unobstructed.


    I drew a deep breath as I infused both metal and magma mana into the arrow. If the metal can pierce the skull the magman will do the rest. I ignored the look the caster was giving me as soon as I started to infuse mana and released the arrow one I was sure of the target. My shot hit its mark. Dead center of the head, between the antlers. The stag managed to make two steps before it fell down, dead. It was exactly like I had expected, thebination of my [Piercing Shot] and metal infused mana was enough to get through the skull and from there magma was enough to do the rest.


    The Collectors seemed very surprised by the fact however. I suppose I could understand why, I had just killed something that had eight levels on me in one attack. If they tried to fight something that had a third of their levels on them, forget killing it in one shot they would most likely die.


    ¡°What was that mana?¡± The caster was the first to speak. ¡°It felt like two different forces at work in that arrow, not only that but you didn¡¯t use any incantation or runic marking.¡±


    ¡°I did tell you my fighting style is quite a bit different. It doese at a cost however, that shot cost more mana than you think.¡±


    I wasn¡¯t about to go into the details of how much mana I had and just used, nor was I going to tell them about all of the different mana affinities I had. Some of those were Epic, especially the two I had used. I knew rumors about me would spread when we parted ways and they went on to a different city but I couldn¡¯t have my entire repertoire out there.


    The stag didn¡¯t have a mana stone so we moved on to the next. The next three were two deer and one stag and I downed each of them with a single arrow. This was enough for them to trust me enough to take them on in single meleebat.


    As I approached the third deer I decided on using the sword and axe. I didn¡¯t need the range of the spear of the hammer against them, maybe the stags will be a different story. I pumped a slow rate of [Mana Syphon] through me and dashed forward. I was still slower than all of the other team members with the exception of Nelly, their caster, but my mana enhanced body closed the difference.


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    The deer was truly unlike those on the outside, instead of trying to flee the moment I approached it reared up on its back legs and looked to hoof me with the front ones. Dodging wasn¡¯t all that difficult as all the strikes were telegraphed and a sword slice to the throatbined with an axe to the head was enough to kill it.


    I was honestly disappointed in the dungeon so far. Everything was so weak it posed no threat to me. Even [Judge Threat] told me that none of the creatures I saw were a danger to me unless I literally gave them a free shot.


    The next deer and stag went very much the same way, this time with my hammer crushing the skull and my spear taking out the heart of the stag before it could get in range, this despite the antlers on its head. When I got to the final one I could see the difference. This was a boss.


    It was a muchrger stag, its antlers easily three times as big as the other we had seen. Not only that but [Judge Threat] marked it as a light threat, instead of as a non threat that it did with the rest.


    Sadly this didn¡¯t make much of a difference and my spear made short work of it. It was just not a challenge, with everything being so much weaker whenpared to the fish or the bear I had killed previously.


    Two of the guys got to work processing the stag once I finished it off. They had told me that all the bosses had a mana core and that meant their bodies could be taken outside the dungeon, those antlers especially could fetch a decent price.


    ¡°Hey kid¡± Bobby said as he walked towards, behind him Jones and a few others were looking on curiously. ¡°How about we have a small spar?¡±


    I understand now. They hade to the same conclusion I had, this floor posed no challenge to me or them so this was a way for them to test if they could take me to the second floor.


    ¡°Sure¡± I said, setting aside my axe, sword and spear. I needed the hammer for this considering all the armor he had on. We each took up a stance and stared each other down. I waited for him to make the first move.


    As soon as he took a step I pumped [Mana Syphon] higher than I had so far. It wasn¡¯t something I couldn¡¯t maintain for a while but easily triple the strength I had used so far in the dungeon.


    As it turned out that was a good choice as Bobby was upon me in short order. Despite my enhanced speed and power he was both faster and stronger than me. Not only that but it seems years of running the dungeon had helped him raise his skills to a much higher level.


    The one saving grace was that he was used to fighting monsters and not humans. This meant that a few faints were enough to keep him from splitting me in two with his axe. I knew the average level of the team was forty-five, but I was sure Bobby was above the average and not below. He could probably have taken the bear on by himself.


    I swapped strategies and doubled the mana I put in [Mana Syphon], not only that but I used my earth mana to trip him up. The move put him in the way of what had been a wide swing of my hammer. A hammer I infused with void mana to get past his pesky armor.


    The amount of adrenaline running through me from just fending off the metal giant had almost made me take this too far. I intentionally bent my elbow to take some of the power out of the blow and had it connect with his liver instead of his heart.


    ¡°Guh¡± despite pulling the blow it was still quite the shot and enough to bring him down on one knee. That was where overconfidence got the better of me. Despite [Danger Sense] trying to warn me I couldn¡¯t react in time as Bobby used the shaft of his ace to take out my feet from under me and ce the edge at my neck once Inded on my back.


    The spar hadn¡¯t taken more than a minute but it had clearly impressed everyone else.


    ¡°That was quite something to see,¡± Jones said as they approached. ¡°You were already much better than we expected when we first decided to ept you but this was really surprising.¡±


    ¡°More so than you think, boss¡± Bobby growled out, his tone bringing his voice much closer to that of his brotherpared to his usual jolly self. ¡°He pulled back on thatst blow. Despite that I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if I had a massive bruise on my right side.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Jones sounded confused and the others also looked skeptically on.


    ¡°When hended thatst hammer blow it wasn¡¯t as heavy as the other one he threw. That is nothing to do with strength behind it but if I was to guess he was using a different mana spell on his weapon. It made his blow bypass my armor.¡± Even now with one hand holding the axe, no longer at my neck thankfully, the other held his side. ¡°If he hadn¡¯t pulled back, the blow would have been much stronger andnded on my chest. I¡¯m not sure I would have survived it.¡±


    Those words brought forth a wave of aggression from everyone but it was gone as quickly as it came.


    ¡°Now that sure is something.¡± Oddly enough Donny was the one to break the tense atmosphere with a boomingugh, the first I had ever heard from the man. ¡°A kid almost did you in.¡±


    ¡°I think we should just move on to the next floor.¡± the scout pointed out the smaller arch the stag boss had been guarding.


    ¡°We will, but we''ve done enough for today. Tomorrow we¡¯ll use the obelisk to clear out the floor and the day after that we can head up to the second floor.¡± Jones said.

 Chapter 106

    Chapter 106


    Ajax¡¯s duel was a wake up call for the team. Even one of their strongest had admitted he could have been killed despite not going easy on him. Not only that but his fighting style as a whole intrigued Jones.


    A strong melee and ranged fighter was nothing he hadn¡¯t seen before, but from what he picked up watching him fight during the afternoon Ajax had no problem providing support with his magic while fighting in melee. This support was both flexible and quick, its only downside being the high mana cost orcking power. Then again powerful support could already be handled by Nelly.


    As they made their way over to the obelisk Ajax noted that they were heading towards the only mountain area he could see on the floor. Getting a glimpse of the obelisk itself Ajax noticed an orb conspicuously ced outside the center of the pattern.


    ¡°Don¡¯t touch the orb.¡± Jones said to him. ¡°If it rolls in position it will activate the obelisk and we don¡¯t want to do that with nighting.¡±


    Ajax didn¡¯t know what he meant by that since he couldn¡¯t tell how far away from night they were with the forest and clouds overhead. Still he did as he was told and didn¡¯t approach the obelisk. He instead followed Donny when he got waved over.


    ¡°This is where we will face them,¡± he said, pointing to a big shotgun model cave.¡± The cavern is not too deep and leads into a dead end not long after the paths converge.¡±


    The cave marked a perfect chokepoint, it wasrge enough that they could properly field their melee fighters, tall enough that the ranged fighters could help without having to worry about friendly fire and it covered them from any attack from above. The issue was the second entrance, it was much smaller barely enough for Donny to fit through without nging his armor off the walls but plenty of space for wolves.


    ¡°The n usually is for me and a ranged fighter to hold this entrance while the others cull the iing horde at the other.¡± he said. ¡°For tomorrow it will be up to you and me. This will give us the best opportunity to unlock [Cooperation] and it won¡¯t really be a problem since if you can¡¯t keep up it¡¯ll be easy to ask someone to help and step in.¡±


    Ajax could tell that the second part of that statement was meant to rile up hispetitive spirit, especially after that duel he had. Despite this he could feel it working and wondered if a skill was at y or if he was just thatpetitiveReturning to the others Ajax found the camp already set up with food being brought out of the pack he had been slugging around all day. Dinner was a quiet affair with Jones taking the time to ry the new n to everyone else, a few raised voices to object Ajax taking over as one person of the two man team but they were quickly silenced when it was exined how close a backup would be.


    Tonight Ajax had some of the most trouble sleeping he had ever had. It wasn¡¯t the possibility of an attack during the night that troubled him, since he knew they had a lookout shift in ce. It was the high mana density.


    Ever since he had overloaded on mana Ajax had been a bit more wary of neutral mana that had seemed so harmless. During the day he managed to get used to moving around with such a high mana density surrounding him but falling asleep was another matter.


    The fact that night came in an instant didn¡¯t help either. The same amount of light seen on cloudy days turned to almost pitch ck in an instant. The light of the fire being the only source they had left. The change freaked him out, especially since he grew slightly with an infusion of shadow mana.


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    It couldn¡¯t have been more than two hours after he finally fell asleep that he was woken up. The change from night to day happened in much the same way and the change in the everpresent mana was enough to wake him up.


    Getting ready for the iing beast wave was done in a quick manner. The camp was packed as quickly as it was set up and they all headed into the cave.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we just seal the other entrance?¡± Ajax asked Donny. He knew that a decent earth spell would be enough to block the entrance.


    ¡°Once the obelisk is triggered, changes made to the floor start actively reverting.¡± Donny answered. ¡°It isn¡¯t instantaneous but, form a hole in the cave once you get in position, you¡¯ll see what I mean when the obelisk is triggered. You¡¯ll have about a minute before we start seeing anything trying toe our way.¡±


    Ajax took the advice seriously and formed a two feet deep whole next to himself as he waited for the monsters toe. Jones was the one who went and triggered the obelisk before retreating back into the cave.


    Sure enough once the obelisk was triggered the mana that was previously stationery started to form a whirlpool around the obelisk. It wasn¡¯t being consumed but put into motion all at once, which must be what attracted all the creatures to it. Ajax also noticed the hole start to slowly but surely fill itself. By the time the first wolf entered from their entrance there was no more hole to speak of.


    To say the wolf had a bad time after entering would be an understatement. It didn;t take more than three steps in before a massive metallic boot crushed its skull. Where Bobby had gone down the Strength Dexterity route his brother had gone for Strength Endurance. His moves were brutish, slow and definitive. Not only that but he could probably keep going for quite a while.


    His problems came in the form of handling the numbers. As more wolves headed their way Donny couldn¡¯t kill them as quickly as they entered so Ajax started shooting an arrow here and there. With such easy targets he didn¡¯t need to do anything other than trigger piercing shot and imbue ten metal mana into the tip in order to score a kill on the wolves.


    The first change came an hour into the ordeal. They must have killed close to six hundred wolves and that was just on their side but less than thirty had left behind their bodies besides the two bosses they saw. With the triggering of the obelisk the monsters exploded into mana once again the moment they were killed.


    The first sign of intelligence from their attackers came when three wolf bosses made to enter together. They knew none of them had a chance to take Donny down, but maybe as a team it would be more manageable.


    Finally Ajax had something else to do besides picking off the odd stray wolf. He coated everything but a small circle around Donny with ayer of ice to limit the wolves mobility. At the same time he also used earth mana to reinforce the ground beneath Donny in order to let him make use of his high strength with impunity.


    Donny noticed the difference as the ground no longer felt fragile under his feet, a smirk Ajax couldn¡¯t see formed on his lips as he started putting his whole body weight into shield bashing the wolves. Not only that but Donny grew more and more sure with every passing second that Ajax had gotten the [Cooperation] skill. An hour was all it took and now Donny barely had time to think about the wolf that was going to be a pain before an arrow shot by Ajax would sprout from the beast''s head.


    The tide ended shortly after. Donny and Ajax had killed over eight hundred wolves, six of them bosses. This was nothingpared to the eight thousand the rest of the team handled. Ajax was pleased with the new addition of [Cooperation]. He didn¡¯t even feel it was a chore to gather the nearly five hundred mana cores from the leftover bodies.


    ¡°How¡¯d he do?¡± Jones pulled Donny aside once everyone else got to gathering.


    ¡°Kid¡¯s a natural.¡± the tank said. ¡°If this was a trial run I would say we should ept his application based on nothing but his talent and skills. I am pretty sure he already got [Cooperation] just from that fight.¡±


    ¡°He isn¡¯t too overconfident?¡±


    ¡°No, just the opposite. I¡¯m not sure if it is because of a bad experience in the past or because the innate reaction all mages have to the dungeon environment but he¡¯s almost paranoid of anything and everything.¡± Donny gave his assessment.


    ¡°What do you think about bringing him to the second floor? Would it be safe?¡± This was the real question. Would he do fine in an unpredictable environment?


    ¡°At worst he¡¯ll slow us down.¡± Donny shook his head. ¡°He definitely is strong enough to join a team on the second floor. The only thing that worries me is that he might be lying to us. Him being a level twenty-five is a harder and harder sell by the day.¡±


    With everything gathered the entire team headed towards the closest boss area and their entry into the second floor. As Ajax approached and studied the arch he carefully ced a hand on it.

 Chapter 107

    Chapter 107


    As they exited the second archway Ajax was hit with another sensory overload. This one was much weaker but it was still felt as the mana density increased as they entered the second floor.


    ¡°You¡¯ll get used to it the more you are exposed but the odd feeling never really goes away.¡± Nelly said while propping him up. ¡°There are even some bosses that flood the surrounding area with mana during a fight so be prepared in case this happens.¡±


    Ajax nodded at the advice. The second floor waspletely random and as such they had to be ready for anything. More surprisingly was that he felt the mana surrounding him had reached a high enough density that he could syphon it. [Mana Syphon] could work on the surrounding mana at an approximate cost of three mana per second. It wasn¡¯t much but it did mean that as the floors rose higher he would be given more and more free mana to syphon for his physical power increase.


    Feeling a particrly high density in the arch he ced his hand upon it. That he found mana in the arch was no surprise but getting it to give any of it up was like pulling teeth. More surprisingly was that the mana he pulled from the arch wasn¡¯t neutral, it in fact had hints of wind and earth and fire.


    Looking around at the desert they seemed to be stranded in made him start building a theory, sadly however it was one he didn¡¯t have anywhere near enough information toplete. He was rather ecstatic about this however as he would get plenty of chances to gather and test his theory in his time with the Collectors.


    With all the immediate concerns pushed aside he pulled up the System notifications that had been blinking in his vision.


    Achievement : Born Completionist


    Fully clear the first dungeon floor you enter.


    Reward : +3 to all stats.! (lesser versions of the achievement can no longer be obtained.)


    Boss Completionist


    Fully clear all bosses on the first dungeon floor you enter.


    Reward: +2 to all stats.


    Completionist


    Fully clear a dungeon floor.


    Reward : +2 to all stats.


    Boss Hunter


    Kill all bosses on a dungeon floor.


    Reward : +1 to all stats.


    This breakdown of achievements did leave him thinking if he made a mistake. Was there a chance to get both Boss Completionist and the normal Completionist to gain an extra +1 to all stats? He quickly dismissed the idea on closer inspection as Boss Hunter would ovep and it would take out the normal version ofpletionist.


    He then took a look at his other notification.


    Progression Achievement : Delver


    Pass through an advancement arch inside a dungeon.


    Reward: +1 to all stats.


    Progress : Passing arches to levels you haven¡¯t been to advances this achievement.


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    Reward: +1 to all stats for any progress made.


    !For a floor to count towards progression you must be at most two levels higher than the highest creature on the floor and have contributed to the dungeon exploration in a meaningful way.


    ¡°Are you done looking at the system?¡± Donny¡¯s gruff voice broke him out of his thinking.


    ¡°Uh¡­¡± Ajax realized that they thought he had spent all this time looking at the notifications because others didn¡¯t know how to keep them minimized. He coughed awkwardly. ¡°Yeah, yeah, I am done. What does it mean to contribute?¡±


    ¡°Already thinking about progressing are you?¡± Bobby said with a teasing tone. ¡°He sure is a go-getter.¡±


    ¡°Ignore him.¡± Nelly said. ¡°There are quite a few ways to contribute. Taking part in the fighting is an obvious one, healing injuries of yourrades is another. The system somehow seems to have a ratherplex understanding of dungeons since workarounds that work for other achievements don¡¯t on the Delver.¡±


    ¡°Might be because of the mana density or the arches¡­¡± Ajax mumbled as he nodded but nobody heard him.


    ¡°The achievement is a bait though so be careful.¡± She finished her exnation.


    ¡°What?¡± Ajax re-read the system message but still couldn¡¯t see the trap.


    ¡°Think about it carefully.¡± Jones said ¡°Even if we manage to fully clear this floor what will happen?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll prog¡­¡± his words died in his throat as he thought it through.


    Ajax realized that nothing would happen. In order to im the progression he would have to go through the arch to the next level. The problem was that would trigger the next floor, which left him to deal with a new floor or let the creatures there loose on the outside as soon as he exited.


    ¡°I¡¯d have to enter the third floor,¡± he said weakly.


    ¡°Got it in one, I knew you were smart.¡± Bobby patted him on the shoulder.


    ¡°The level restriction, contribution requirement and entrance to the next floor usually mean that you won¡¯t be progressing that achievement much.¡± Jones finished.


    His words however brought back Hatchet''s extreme reaction to his way of banking stats and how much he had managed to push himself before he ever spent them. He had said once that this head start would let him grow his lead further and now he knew how.


    He wasn¡¯t as limited as others in searching for a group to essentially carry him a floor above his abilities while also letting him face the appropriate floor alone to gain the contribution, or, more widely spread, running a dungeon with a small enough floor level jump that you can clear the floor above while still within the two level requirement. The importance of the dungeon near the capital grew once again in his eyes.


    ¡°Stick to the center.¡± Jones said as they got moving once again. ¡°This seems to be a desert biome but we don¡¯t know anything about it.¡±


    ¡°How many types of desert biomes can there be?¡± Ajax asked incredulously, but stillplied and took his assigned position as porter.


    ¡°Quite a few actually.¡± Nelly said from beside him. ¡°You can have scorpions and camels as usual ground enemies. Vultures are decentlymon as flying threats. Snakes and crocodiles are a staple of oassises that might show up. If we are unlucky we could even have a sand borrower type like a giant worm.¡±


    Ajax wasn¡¯t the only one to give a more guarded look to the sand they were standing on and was suddenly feeling a lot less safe despite the clear visibility in all directions. Not only that but his position at the center seemed more like a target to him now, a sand burrower would hit dead center of a group with little to no warning, whereas other threats their formation might protect him from would be visible from a mile off.


    ¡°We got anything to search for in the desert?¡± the scout asked Jones, under normal circumstances he would already be off to explore the surroundings but in this situation that would mean going off alone so far that should anything happen he would be dead. ¡°Besides the massive vulture we might be able to help the Reavers with?¡±


    ¡°Yes, we do. That old request from six months ago.¡± he responded, which got groans from everyone.


    ¡°Look on the bright side, we got a porter for it now.¡± Bobby pitched. As everybody turned to give Ajax a look of pity.


    ¡°What job is this?¡± he asked.


    ¡°A merchant we do business with had an odd request. He needs somerger grained strong sand. It can be found near rocks in the desert and it needs to be in a higher dungeon floor so that it is strong enough to not instantly get thinned out.¡± Jones diplomatically said.


    ¡°If we find it, you¡¯ll be carrying around a lot of sand.¡± Donny tranted the flowerynguage.


    Ajax knew he was being a bit cynical here but a part of him hoped they wouldn¡¯t find any sand that fit the description.


    ¡°To think that we are in a desert and the profitable thing we are searching for is sand.¡± Ajax shook his head at the irony.


    ¡°That¡¯s not the most profitable thing.¡± Nelly cut in. ¡°It¡¯s what we have an open contract on.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, despite all the pain a desert is, it¡¯s also a gold mine.¡± the scout chimed in.


    ¡°How so?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°Simple.¡± he answered. ¡°Most speciose herey eggs. If we happen upon an unhatched nest we have a decent one in five chance for each egg to not burst into mana when we take it outside.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s right.¡± Bobby continued. ¡°Now one in five might sound low, but of the eggs that survive being brought out of the dungeon only one in a thousand actually hatch.¡±


    ¡°And that''s a generous estimate.¡± the scout said. ¡°But it means nothing since the rich nobles and merchants still start a bidding war over each one.¡±


    It looked like they were willing to go deeper on the subject but they were cut off by a signal from Jones.


    ¡°Focus up,¡± he said while pointing to the left. ¡°Looks like the Reavers got lucky, I see at least five vultures closing in on us.

 Chapter 108

    Chapter 108


    As one everyone dropped their conversations as they formed up in what seemed to be a practiced formation. Ajax noticed it was different from the one they moved in through the forest but that made sense seeing as they were not in a different biome and facing flying enemies.


    He also caught sight of the vultures and used [Judge Threat] on them. To his surprise they were actually a lot weaker than the bear and fish had been. He didn¡¯t know the reason why but he suspected that them being as many as eight levels lower wasn¡¯t enough for the difference in strength he felt. He will check with his sister when he gets back to the city if either of their bodies were rated as higher quality than something of their level should be from the exposure to the pond.


    ¡°No bosses among them, [Judge Threat] puts them at around levels forty-four nothing over forty-five.¡± The scouts called out. ¡°I also don¡¯t recognise the speciase so be ready for surprises.¡±


    As Ajax heard that he used [Spot Weakness], it was a good way to contribute and draw some attention away from the weird magic he was using. Not only that but [Spot weakness would be a marketable skill he wanted to get word out about as such a skill would make him a wee addition as a tag along for any team.


    [Spot Weakness] showered a lot of what he expected, their necks, eyes and base of their wings were vulnerable while their beaks and skulls were reinforced. Surprisingly however, despite the sharp talons their feet were actually a weak spot for them.


    ¡°They have a reinforced skull, go for the neck, eyes and base of the wings. Their feet are also fragile outside of the nails.¡± he shared with the party.


    ¡°Are you sure you¡¯ve never been to a dungeon?¡± the scout asked him incredulously.


    ¡°Yes,¡± he answered.


    ¡°Then how do you know all this?¡± he pushed on. ¡°We¡¯ve been through all sorts of dungeons and there are so many differences between species it''s hard to tell them apart.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know the species, I have [Spot Weakness].¡±


    ¡°You heard him, just make sure you don¡¯t overextend and leave yourselves exposed when going for their weaknesses.¡± Jones cut in.


    Ajax P.O.V.


    I watched as the vultures descended and felt a great amount of wind mana being channeled. I guess it shouldn¡¯t surprise me that such high leveled creatures could use mana but it wasn¡¯t something I had too much experience with. Flying casters would be a pain to deal with.


    They dived for us only to pull up a few feet above our heads ready to unleash the wind sts. I pulled out my shield and readied for the impact but I was the only one. I then felt a massive flow of mana being released from Nelly to my right, her spell was weird in that it wasn¡¯t meant to do any damage to the birds.


    What it did was break apart the air sts and use their power to bring the vultures lower. The vultures clearly didn¡¯t expect the downburst of wind as they came close enough for the rest of the party to throw chains around the necks of four of the five birds.


    ¡°I missed mine.¡± came the shout from one of the members but I couldn¡¯t tell them apart by voice.


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    ¡°Ajax! Try to bring it down with your arrows, if you can¡¯t make sure it doesn¡¯t interfere while we cull the rest of them.¡± Jones said as he swung his whip to wrap around the beak of a vulture before pulling on it hard in order to extend the neck and expose it to the others.


    I instantly pulled an arrow and took the time I used for aiming to also decide on what type of mana I should use. Molted or ice would be the most damaging but it would take a good chunk of mana to deal enough damage to such a high level vulture. That Nelly had stopped casting entirely after the start of the fight told me she thought everything was under control and saving mana for an unexpected situation would be preferable here.


    I decided to put a bit of lightning mana into the arrow as a jolt right now, even if I missed the ideal cement would be enough to ground it. I specifically didn¡¯t use metal or [Piercing Shot] as I wanted the arrow to bounce off the feathers rather than stick into it. Chances were if it crashed with the arrow stuck in her it would certainly break it while it bouncing off would make the arrow recoverable and I had a limited supply.


    WIth the decision made and my aim locked on the underside of a wing I timed the moment of its ps before releasing the arrow. The vulture was trying to regain altitude and get out of range for the rest of the group when the arrow made contact. I could tell that it hadn¡¯t taken much damage from the one hundred mana I poured into the arrow but the lightning was enough to cause the wing to spasm.Sadly the arrow still prated into its flesh all but dooming it in the uing crashnding it will suffer.


    ¡°It¡¯s falling,¡± I warned as the arrow made contact.


    By now three of the other four vultures were already dead with thest one barely hanging on by shing wildly with its talons. A mistake it quickly regretted as Bobby buried his axe in the middle of its foot with a well ced strike.


    The beast shrieked like much louder than any of their other cries and I realized that unlike the other weak spots they had their feet weren¡¯t a weak spot in that hitting it would be an easy way to kill them like their necks, eyes or the organs essible by going through the base of their wings. It was instead a heavily sensitive area that could be used to inflict massive amounts of pain if not lethal damage.


    From there the fight ended quickly with both of the remaining birds being beheaded. The entire fight was over in less than thirty seconds from the start. With the immediate danger being handled I started to ponder how [Spot Weakness] might grow as it leveled so that I could differentiate between different types of weak spots.


    End of P.O.V


    Jones was pleased with their first engagement. It had been clean and while not everything worked out perfectly, like the missed chain on one of the vultures, it was quickly covered and none of his team took any hits.


    Jones was feeling better and better about his decision to take Ajax with them. The kid was calm, collected and followed instructions well, he was prone to spacing out as he was doing right now but it was something that could be forgiven given it was his first time in a dungeon.


    The kid was a walking treasure trove, magic, physical abilities and now [Spot Weakness]. In terms of usefulness for an adventurer team, especially a delver focused one like the Collectors, [Spot Weakness] was a skill every leader dreamed of having and was considered a pseudo-epic skill. The problem was it was a rare skill and one not usually gained by fighters.


    It wasn¡¯t known why but the skill was gained by butchers and skinners and helped them in taking apart the treasure troves that were monster bodies while doing as little damage to the material as possible. This was the reason why quite a few adventurers would apprentice at such ces during their time off in hopes of getting the skill. They would also be weed as cheapbor with high stats but few were lucky enough to get the skill.


    They gutted the five vultures looking for cores but they weren¡¯t lucky enough to find any. That didn¡¯t mean the bodies were useless though.


    ¡°Ajax!¡± the scout called out to him while grabbing one of the packs he had been carrying. ¡°Come here.¡±


    Ajax approached the man as he was rummaging through the bag near one of the downed vultures.


    ¡°Yes?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Time for you to learn a little trick. You see almost everything inside the dungeon breaks down when taken outside unless it has very low mana density.¡± the scout exined as he pulled out branches Ajax recognised asing from the trees on the first floor. ¡°Finding any high quality with a mana density that would survive on the outside is a big payday for anyone.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡±


    ¡°But while we can¡¯t take the wood outside the dungeon we can take it to another floor.¡± He gestured to the bag that had been empty when the trip started but now housed two trees they had cut down while on the first floor. ¡° We can make use of anything while inside here to make this easiest on ourselves.¡± While saying this he started sharpening the branches on one end and trimming them down.


    ¡°I see, so we took the trees to help with fuel if we needed a fire?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°Yes, but that''s not all.¡± he took out the broken arrow Ajax had fired at thest vulture and then pointed to the other two bow users on the team as they were gathering the feathers off the dead vultures. ¡°This wood is solid enough topare to steel. Without proper tools and skills cutting it would be a real pain, it also lets us make stronger than average arrows.¡±


    That''s when it clicked for Ajax. He was telling him to build and use arrows that would turn into mana once they exited the dungeon and save his limited supply, it was good advice especially since he could still feel the wind mana in the feathers that will most likely help the arrows they were attached to. After all having a high mana concentration might mean they couldn¡¯t be taken outside but it also meant they were much more useful.

 Chapter 109

    Chapter 109


    The wood was tough and harder to handle than he would have expected, despite his massive jump in stats this wood was harder for him to handle than basic wood had been during his training with Hatchet. Said training had already taught him how to make his own arrows in case he ever ran out so that wasn¡¯t a problem.


    He did wonder if using [Mana Syphon] would make it easier to handle but he didn¡¯t know what the result would be from using mana syphon on an object besides the arch. Thinking back using it on the arch was stupid, what if it had messed with it and they couldn¡¯t use it to exit any more? He was happy none of those scenarios applied and was actually looking forward to investigating arches.


    With fifty more arrows made he finally stood up. He noticed that everyone else working on arrows had made more than him and had even put a small pile towards him each. He wondered if he was that far behind them in experience or if they had a skill for it but the three simr carving daggers they wielded showed the reason why.


    ¡°Thanks¡± he said, picking up the extras and doubling his number of new arrows. ¡°How much is a knife like that?¡±


    ¡°Depends how high you expect to go.¡± One of them answered him. ¡°Ours go up to level fifty and were fifteen to twenty gold each.¡±


    The price shocked him. That amount was enough for someone to livefortably for a good few years. Then again they weren¡¯t just for the firstyer, level fifty dungeon zones meant that they also covered this second level handedly with it being only forty. Unlike most things regarding dungeon floors the power of the environment was actually tied to the lowest level you could find on the floor.


    Things such as hatchet chicks or pups of the monsters present didn¡¯t count so the lowest level one could encounter was forty-two so the floor had materials two levels lower. Some information he had seen hinted at environmental floors that didn¡¯t quite jump the full distance from the previous one in terms of monst strength but they were practically non-existent before level seventy-five. The floor material strength was equal across any possible floor which meant that a variation of some environmental floor type existed here but it was weak as it only lowered levels by one.


    He also wondered why they bought things that went all the way to level fifty since they would be useless on the third floor anyway and overkill for the second.


    ¡°The dungeon we are going to be moving to once our healer catches up is a nine level jump near the capital, these should be good enough to use on their third floor.¡± he answered the obvious question he was forming.This tidbit of information was a surprise for him. He had heard about the main dungeon that was heavily policed near the capital with a five level floor jump but finding out that there was a nine floor jump one close to it was something he was interested in.


    As they all got ready to move he noticed that they all were wearing protective gear. It looked very much like what people back on Earth used to wear in the desert if more simplistically made. He also noticed a set waiting for him on the bags he was to pick up.


    ¡°You¡¯ll want to put that on.¡± Nelly said.


    Ajax was a bit skeptical on this point but Hatchet had told him the dungeon environment wasn¡¯t like the one outside. He had left it at that with the obvious hint that there were discoveries to be made if he looked into it. Nelly not exining anything also made it obvious they were trying to make sure they didn¡¯t cost him the discovery.


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    As they started moving in what he thought was a random direction he noticed that he started to notice he was sweating. This was something new since he wasn¡¯t feeling that hot. He hadn¡¯t sweated only due to heat the entire summer despite being dressed for battle.


    As they moved for the next hour he caught small glimpses in the distance of rock formations and one or two oasis. This was not to mention the constant muttered curses he heard from the rest of the team about having to deal with a barren floor.


    Barren floors were actually quite profitable since theyck the sheer quantity of creatures other floors possess and reced them with an over representation of bosses. That there wasn¡¯t a boss apanying the first vulture flock they had met was an event unlikely to repeat itself.


    The floor did alsoe with downsides, the most obvious being ying hide and seek with the monster packs was boring as hell, even more so in a desert environment. The other problem, and the biggest one by far was the danger of using the obelisk.


    Usually a few monster groups hitting into a fortified position wasn¡¯t that big of a problem for an experienced group. But the presence of more bosses not only reduced the effectiveness of a choke point but also introduced much more leadership for the swarming monsters.


    They were finally approaching one an oasis and Ajax was looking forward to something other than walking. The team scout sped off towards it at Jones¡¯ nod. Their pace didn¡¯t change and when they were a couple hundred feet from it the scout returned to report.


    ¡°Single monster type as far as I can tell,¡± he said. ¡°Crocodile variants, they seem to also have a focus on stealth.¡±


    As he said this he revealed a not insignificant gash on his leg. Nelly was quick to respond as she started wrapping the leg up and using some healing spells. Ajax could clearly feel these spells were a lot weaker than what the healers had used during the skirmish.


    ¡°I all but stepped on the boss''s mouth.¡± the scout was clearly upset with his own performance ¡° It doesn¡¯t seem like they have any poison or diseases thankfully. Not only that but they are also strength heavy at the cost of speed.¡±


    ¡°Alright¡± Jones said, his voice carried an authoritative tone he hadn¡¯t noticed before in their skirmish. ¡°The melee and I will be taking care of this one, everyone else save your strength and be on the lookout for any surprises.¡±


    As one the group formation changed with the five melee fighters heading ahead in a new formation led by Donny. The rangers, scout, Nelly and himself were left to follow behind in a more reactive formation.


    ¡°Why aren¡¯t we all going after them?¡± Ajax asked Nelly who was closest to him.


    ¡°It would be overkill. It is more efficient to have only a few members engage like this when we have everything under control. Unlike the vultures that dived on us this is our preferred way of clearing a floor. An optimized small group taking on monsters in a controlled fashion with another group on lookout and ready to respond to any surprises.¡± she said.


    Unlike their attitude on the previous floor Ajax could now see the amount of caution that this team put into everything while delving. It also exined to him why despite delving for years longer than other teams they had not had any casualties but likewise didn¡¯t level as quickly.


    After all, danger and risk were factors to the amount of experience gained. This made him doubt his decision on joining the Collectors for the first time. He noticed that leveling in the dungeon came a lot easier to him, the fewbats he experienced had already gotten him five thousand experience. Despite this the approach of the Collectors was going to slow him down considerably since the fights so far had been more chaotic or one versus one.


    Had this been right after the skirmish ended it wouldn¡¯t have mattered all that much to him but now he also knew that Hatched would be joining him on the way to the capital. Him going slower would also mean that his teacher would spend that much longer without his arm. Despite knowing that his teacher didn¡¯t me him for taking a safer path to power, in fact he encouraged it, he couldn¡¯t help but feel a bit of guilt.


    As Ajax watched the five people engage the crocs he got a much better picture of how the team did things. Unlike on the previous floor where he had seen them take packs alone now it was different.


    Donny and Bobby worked seamlessly together to attract, kite and funnel the monsters in such a way that the other two melee fighters had little to worry about in terms of attacksing towards them.


    Donny was doing the tank job perfectly with a shield in each hand bashing the heads of the crocs and having almost their full attention. The little he didn¡¯t have was handled by the other ted giant. Not only that but the moment one of the crocs tried to focus on something else it found itself being the focus of the whip wielded by Jones.


    Despite taking a while to kill all of them and the boss everything was done in a careful and controlled manner. Each of the crocs was as strong as any of the vultures had been with the boss clearly benign stronger, not only that but they had twice the numbers the vultures had and it all meant nothing. This was the power of an experienced delving team that had been given the chance to make a n and execute it with no outside factors.

 Chapter 110

    Chapter 110


    Looting the corcs was a speedy affair. Their core was housed at the base of their skull. It was hard to get to if you tried reaching from above, the closest point of approach. But certainly much easier to get to from below. Ajax learned that the reason they were so confident in taking out the group with only the melee members as well as support from Jones was because they knew the exact variant. This variant also had a weak underbelly making extracting the three cores easy.


    Taking the two regr crocs that had housed cores and the boss apart was the exact opposite. Ajax did his best to learn from the scout and hoped this may increase some of the skills he had in the field but it was hard work that took twice as long as the battle did.


    Despite the massive time sink in the middle of the desert and the hard work the entire team was excited. The skin of this variant was apparently only decently valuable in terms of their regr defense. Where they really shine however was the extremefort they could provide as well as the poison absorption effect it had. Higher level variants were always preferred but even prominent members of ducal houses would be wearing ones in the level forty to fifty range due to their scarcity. The only ones this was too good for were the main branch of a duke¡¯s family, the archdukes and the royal house.


    ¡°Lets hope there are more of them¡± the scout said, having finished his job on thest croc with a core.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t mind but especially a few more bosses.¡± Bobby chimed in.


    ¡°Hey kid, what are you doing?¡± the scout called out as Ajax was busy skinning a fourth croc.


    ¡°You said their skin could absorb poison right?¡± Ajax asked in return.


    ¡°Yeah, it''s what makes it so desired. It even works on mana infused poisons.¡± he answered. ¡° But that still doesn¡¯t answer my question.¡±


    ¡°Anything I ever read about any desert mentioned snakes or their eight legged twin-pincered poisonous tailed insect brethren.¡± Ajax smoothly lied while also not mentioning that he doesn¡¯t actually know the word for scorpion. He was basing all of this on his knowledge from earth that seemed to be mimicked here if with more exception cases due to mana getting involved.¡°Yes, snakes and scorpions are a staple.¡± Nelly confirmed while also giving Ajax the word for scorpion.


    ¡°Well, I looked through those supplies packs you have me carrying around,¡± he continued. ¡°Saw some health and stamina potions but that''s about it. I¡¯m not about to take my chances with possible venom twenty levels higher than me with only my resistance skill when there is perfectly good poison absorb that will disappear anyway.¡±


    Ajax had no problem mentioning his poison resistance. Besides it being amon skill it was one of the easiest to be found out as long as anyone really looked into him hard. The guards had been looking out for him by keeping his involvement with the vampire on a need to know basis but anyone even a little motivated would find out about it and know almost for sure he had the skill.


    As their journey continued throughout the day they ran into two more vulture groups. Both were made of only five flyers but these had bosses. Not that it helped them much as the team was prepared to deal with them and handled them even easier than the first group now that they knew more about the speciase. They also stored the body of one of the bosses intact for the Reavers.


    Besides the two vulture groups they also found another oasis. This one housed a different type of crocodile, much to the team''s displeasure, but they were just as easy to dispatch.


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    The biggest danger they ran into during the day was a small nest of giant rattlesnakes. This particr breed not only used their rattle to try to spread illusions to all who heard it but had also managed to adapt chameleon-like camouge through their use of mana.


    The team was ready to deal with them, especially since all saw Ajax¡¯s point and had made a poorly fittedyering for their armor from the extra croc skin. Ajax was especially annoyed that the snakes only used the camo as a way to prepare for the ambush, he would have liked to get a glimpse of them activating it in hopes of replicating the process.


    Their most annoying enemy of all came a quarter of an hour after night fell. The team was heading towards a rocky area in hopes of finding a good ce to set up camp when they ran into a small herd of camels like beings.


    To say that the camels were strong would be a massive over exaggeration. What they were was fast, not only that but their preferred mode of attack was mana infused spitting. Jones had directed the ranged members of the team to deal with them as they used hit and run tactics under the leadership of a boss.


    This ranged team included Ajax, and together with the other rangers and Nelly it had taken them four run by¡¯s to finally take out the boss. Without their leadership the rest of the camels didn¡¯t stop attacking but they only moved to dodge immediate threats that left them open to being easily approached and killed.


    ¡°What are we looking for?¡± Ajax huffed as they reached the rocks. A whole day spent under the cruel sun in a mana infused ce all while carrying heavy bags that got heavier with every encounter they had.


    ¡° Any sort of solid shelter with cover.¡± Jones answered him. ¡°We want to make sure nothing cane at us from above or below, the rest we can keep a lookout for.¡±


    The search didn¡¯t take too long before they found a small cave that had tworge nests inside. The crying of the hungry chicks had actually helped the team find it in the dark.


    ¡°Oh for fuck sake.¡± the scout cursed.


    ¡°What''s wrong?¡± Ajax asked as he took on a defensive posture, one he rxed when he saw nobody else react.


    ¡°The eggs are just hatched, you can ignore our money hungry scout, he¡¯s saving for a new pair of boots.¡± Bobby teased the scout.


    ¡°What do you mean the eggs are just hatched?¡± The scoutined and one of the melee fighters quickly gutted all the chicks and threw out the nests to make space for their new camp. ¡°There were easily ten eggs here. Do you know how much nobles are willing to pay for a chance at a bond with flight?¡±


    ¡°Stopining and go check the surroundings.¡± Jones cut off what seemed to be an old rehased argument. ¡°Make sure we don¡¯t have any upset parents or neighbors we don¡¯t know about.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t have to worry on the parents'' front.¡± the scout said, taking a much more serious attitude when it came to his job. ¡°We got rid of them already, they were the second group we ran into today.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Ajax was surprised to hear that. ¡° how do you know that?¡±


    The moment he heard the im he had already started looking around the cave for anything he might have missed that could lead him to that conclusion but turned his eyes back to the scout after he stayed silent on the topic.


    Looking at him he could see a conflicted look upon his face. In the end the scout turned to Jones.


    ¡°We already know about his magic and [Spot Weakness]. I would say go for it but it¡¯s still your choice.¡± Jones told the scout who nodded.


    ¡°I have a rare skill [Know Thy Enemy].¡± the scout said. ¡°It helps me identify and differentiate between different species. Not only does it do that better than the umon version of [Beast Lore] but it also lets me make connections to anyone or anything that I faced recently. Something like the stray feathers that were left behind in the nests by the vultures.¡±


    After exining his skill the scout didn¡¯t hang around and got to work scouting the surrounding area. This interaction left Ajax with a few things to think over as well. Clearly the team was still holding back some of its more unique skills, something he understood as anything he learnt he could then leak at any point, even after they split up.


    The other thing he was considering was knowledge type skills. Hatchet had mentioned them in their training but he also noted that they had nowhere near enough different types of simr species avable to even attempt to unlock any of the skills for him. Even [nt Lore], which was one of the easiest to get was out of their reach to attempt as in a forest the dominant herb of its type would spread and take over.


    ¡°Boss, over here¡± Donny called out from the back of the cave.


    As the whole team converged to find what Donny had found deeper into the cave they turned the corner. Past the corner they ran into a dead end consisting of a small room a quarter of the entrance to the cave. In the middle of the room was Donny and the remains of a weirdly built nest strewn around him. Right in front of him however stood the dungeon obelisk.


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s good that we found it.¡± Jones said. ¡°We¡¯ll talk about everything else in the morning, outside of the night shift everyone needs to rest after today. I hope it goes without saying that nobody is to touch the obelisk.¡±

 Chapter 111

    Chapter 111


    After confirming that there was nothing in the cave and that there was only one entrance the team set up a sentry watch inside the big cavern and turned the obelisk room into their sleeping quarters.


    Ajaxid down exhausted. The first day on the first floor wasn¡¯t hard and while clearing out the remaining of the floor was somewhat dangerous in that they could be overrun it was still easy to do safely. With the cavern covering them they didn¡¯t bother pulling out tents and just used the bedrolls.


    His day out in the scorching sun however was something else. Despite the team''s skill and the limited number of monsters they engaged at one time he was always in some danger and forced to take his opponents seriously much like the bear and the fish had.


    Not only that but he also found new uses for his skills like [Residue Recognition] let him find the camouged snakes. Their technique also used mana to cover any physical tracks they left behind, the problem was covering those tracs left mana residue in its ce.


    As Ajax pulled up his status screen he was shocked.


    <strong>Name</strong> : Ajax


    <strong>Level</strong> :25


    <strong>Experience</strong> : 22200/38000


    <strong>Traits</strong>: Divine Witness<strong>Health</strong>: 1840/1840


    <strong>Mana</strong>: 1070/1870


    <strong>Stamina</strong> :320/1520


    <strong>Vitality</strong> :184


    <strong>Strength</strong> :150


    <strong>Endurance</strong> :152


    <strong>Dexterity</strong> : 151


    <strong>Intellect </strong>: 188


    <strong>Wisdom</strong> : 187


    <strong>Mind</strong> : 187


    <strong>Perception</strong> : 159


    <strong>Stat Points</strong> :0


    <strong>Skills</strong> :<ul><ul><li><strong>Common :</strong>[Mathematics Lvl 22] [Stealth Lvl 30][Drawing Lvl 30][Athleticism Lvl 30] [Running Lvl 30][Reading Lvl 20][Writing Lvl 20][Cooking Lvl 20][Sewing Lvl 20] [Cleaning Lvl 15][Haggling Lvl 19][Gardening Lvl 20][Axes Lvl 33][Hammers Lvl 33 [Deception Lvl 21][Sword Lvl 28][Shield Lvl 29][Bow Lvl 29][Spear Lvl 28][Throwing Lvl 24][Persuasion Lvl 10][Unarmed Combat Lvl 24][Knives Lvl 31][Skinning Lvl 20][Tanning Lvl 10][Dismantle Lvl 25][Climbing Lvl 20][Tracking Lvl 23][Heat Resistance Lvl 17] [Poison Resistance Lvl 24][Pain Resistance Lvl 16][Trapping Lvl 18]</li><li><strong>Umon :</strong>[Meditation Lvl 41][Sense Mana Lvl 44][Expel Mana Lvl 44][Sprinting Lvl 27][Mining Lvl 10][Lumberjack Lvl 10][Smelting Lvl 10][cksmithing Lvl 10] [Chanting Lvl 11][Mana Farming Lvl 12][Increase Price Lvl 10][Lower Price Lvl 10][Danger Sense Lvl 21][Leatherworking Lvl 10][Alchemy Lvl 10][Mana Milling Lvl 6][Precise Cut Lvl 26][Precise Blow Lvl 26][Judge Threat Lvl 23][ Piercing Shot Lvl 26] [<em>Berserker </em>Lvl 1][Cooperation Lvl 5]</li><li><strong>Rare : </strong>[Manipte Mana Lvl 36][Water Aspect Mana Lvl 30][Fire Aspect Mana Lvl 30] [Air Aspect Mana Lvl 30][Earth Aspect Mana Lvl 30][Inject Mana Lvl 30][Spot Weakness Lvl 20][Residue Recognition Lvl 15] [Light Aspect Mana Lvl 23][Shadow Aspect Mana Lvl 30][<em>Mana Skin </em>Lvl 4][Teamwork Lvl 2]</li></ul></ul><ul><li><strong>Epic : </strong>[Mana Augmentation Lvl 25][Mana Conjuration Lvl 21][Lightning Aspect Mana Lvl 15][Metal Aspect Mana Lvl 15][Ice Aspect Mana Lvl 15][Magma Aspect Mana Lvl 13][Holy Aspect Mana Lvl 1][Void Aspect Mana Lvl 14]</li></ul><ul><li><strong>Legendary : </strong>[Mana Syphon Lvl 23]</li></ul>


    New :


    Cooperation 0 -> 5


    Teamwork 0 -> 2


    Upgrades :


    Stealth 27 -> 30


    Athleticism 27 -> 30


    Running 27 -> 30


    Axes 32 -> 33


    Hammers 32 -> 33


    Deception 20 -> 21


    Sword 26 -> 28


    Shield 26 -> 29


    Bow 26-> 29


    Spear 27 -> 28


    Throwing 23 -> 24


    Unarmed Combat 23 -> 24


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    Knives 27 -> 31


    Skinning 12 -> 20


    Dismantle 20 -> 25


    Climbing 17 -> 20


    Tracking 23 -> 24


    Heat Resistance 10 -> 17


    Poison Resistance 23 -> 24


    Trapping 17 -> 18


    Meditation 40 -> 41


    Sense Mana 41 -> 44


    Expel Mana 40 -> 41


    Sprinting 26 -> 27


    Danger Sense 17 -> 21


    Precise Cut 24 -> 26


    Precise Blow 24 -> 26


    Judge Threat 20 -> 23


    Piercing Shot 24 -> 26


    Spot Weakness 17 -> 20


    Mana Syphon 20 -> 23


    Mana Augmentation 21-> 25


    Mana Conjuration 20 -> 21


    Lightning Aspect Mana 13 -> 15


    Metal Aspect Mana 12 -> 15


    Ice Aspect Mana 12 -> 15


    Magma Aspect Mana Lvl 8 -> 13


    Void Aspect Mana 10 -> 14


    Manipte Mana 33 -> 36


    Water Aspect Mana 25 -> 30


    Fire Aspect Mana 24 ->30


    Air Aspect Mana 25 -> 30


    Earth Aspect Mana 27 -> 30


    Inject Mana 27 -> 30


    Residue Recognition 12 -> 15


    Shadow Aspect Mana 25-> 30


    Light Aspect Mana 22 -> 23


    <em>Mana Skin </em>3 -> 4


    In just a few days delving he had already gained so much experience that he was more than halfway to the next level. That wasn¡¯t all, almost all of his skills had shot up. Using them constantly reflexively in a dangerous environment seemed to work a lot better than nning them out.


    Whereas with the fish and bear he had worked out careful ns here he just did his best to adapt on the fly and react to what his team was doing. That he started to fit in with them was obvious from the presence of the [Teamwork] skill he hadn¡¯t even realized he had achieved.


    Still the jump in skills like [Heat Resistance] [Dismantling] and [Skinning] was something else entirely. It most likely came from using them in environments well above what he was equipped to handle, much like how his poison resistance had shot up so high when dealing with the vampire.


    As he looked at his mana affinities he couldn¡¯t help but be a little displeased by his light and holy affinities. They were starting tog behind and it was showing. Once he got back to the city he would have to pester Kate in teaching him how to at least use the holy affinity.


    The other big difference was how his level forty skills have once again started to ascend now that he was pushing even higher. He also didn¡¯t know why his physical skills were progressing slower once they reached the thirtiespared to his magical ones. Did it have something to do with having the rted stats being more than five times the skill level? That was the only conclusion he could draw so far.


    Out of everything to prepare for however, the first priority went to [Mana Syphon] the skill that will most likely make him one of the premiere delvers considering how much free power he will stand to gain in higher mana density environments inside the dungeon¡¯s higher floors. It was approaching level twenty-five. Considering he knewmon skills had no threshold, umon had one to reach seventy-five, surprisingly rare and epic shared the fifty and one hundred thresholds. This was much easier for him to understand now that he saw most of his epic skills in fact were stronger derivatives of his rare ones and were harder to level than their Rare counterparts.


    Legendary skills were rumored to share a every twenty-five level threshold, and with the new application of [Mana Syphon] it was close to reaching the need of said rumored threshold. He knew he would have to do some covert research into the topic once he got back to the city, announcing to everyone that he had a skill at a threshold was a horrible idea but it was a risk he needed to take.


    As he looked at his mana bar he frowned briefly. He couldn¡¯t just empty his mana as that would leave him vulnerable should something happen during the night. He also didn¡¯t want to let it just regen all the way to max and have it be wasted, he had done that enough during the skirmish.


    So he looked through his skills, light affinity was one he needed to work on but he didn¡¯t think his new team would appreciate a small orb of light being lit for him to practice keeping active while sleeping. Maybe Ice to cool down the temperature would be good but he didn¡¯t know how long the night wouldst nor how cold it would get. His memories from Earth told him the desert was as cold at night as it was hot during the day since stones and sand didn¡¯t retain heat at all.


    In the end he decided to keep a thinyer of <em>[Mana Skin</em>] that would let him regen mana slower through the night, level the skill since it was very weak still, not quite like the holy aspect or [<em>Berserker</em>] but still very low.


    As he put ayer of mana in ce he felt the heat that had been cooking him slowly throughout the day lose much of its bite. He wasn¡¯t sure if this was a blessing or a curse however as enduring that heat for a whole day had done wonders for his heat resistance, but it was good to know he could put a buffer between himself and any environment the dungeon might throw at him.


    Nelly P.O.V.


    Other than clearing the first floor before heading to the second this delve went very much the same as the others we had been on in thest few years. All of us were easily in our sixties but we knew once we moved up to a dungeon with a lower level jump we would be able to rtively safely climb up in levels to ensure our lifespan would reach half a century if we were sessful. For that we needed a healer and a good reputation.


    The first we were waiting on as I fully believed in my son being good enough to join us, even if he was a little full of himself due to how others started treating him during his teenage years once it was revealed not only did he have ess to his mana like me but he was also talented as a healer.


    The second was a long term project we had been working towards for thest ten years, carefully taking our time and having a highpletion rating, but that alone wouldn¡¯t be enough as we would be moving away from the ce where we had solidified our good name. The solution to this is what made this trip despite it ying out so much like our usual ones so much different.


    The kid Ajax was, supposedly, six years younger than my own son. This had initially driven us away from taking him with us but the support of two high ranking noble houses, one of which was based out of the capital itself with the headmaster of the academy was just too tempting for us. Now that I had seen him in action though I was seriously doubting his age and level.


    The kid was strong and skilled enough to be one of us in his own right, even if he did need a bit more experience with delving, that was just how newbies became delvers. His fighting style relied both on physical and magical stats, not only that but he seamlessly seemed to blend spells into his physical attacks despite that only being done by much higher level mages.True his spells were a lot weaker than mine, but his sheer flexibility and speed made up for it.


    That was when I felt him cover himself in mana. It seemed odd to me as he hadn¡¯t really done that so far today. Is now really a good time to practice, he should be resting. I was about to give him a good kick and tell him to go to rest for tomorrow when the [Detect Sleep] skill I had picked up in all those restless nights with my son told me he was already asleep.


    I carefully watched him for another minute or two before I went to sleep, very much intrigued. Just who was this kid that could apparently keep a spell active in his sleep, even if with a very weak mana output. One thing is for sure, so long as his attitude doesn¡¯t change drastically I will have to talk the boss into recruiting him with us full time until he joins a noble family.

 Chapter 112

    Chapter 112


    As he woke up Ajax was already looking forward to a day of delving. Having already gained twenty thousand experience in such a short amount of time was really pushing him forward. He knew it wasn¡¯t something sustainable, as his skills grew the amount of experience would lessen, not only that but with every delve he would have more experience and be just that much stronger so the experience would turn to a slow trickle. This was why mostmoners never really got into the forties throughout their lives.


    ¡°You¡¯re up early.¡± Nelly said to him as he came out of the small sleeping area.


    ¡°Advantage of not having a night shift is that I get a bit of extra rest.¡± He responded.


    Out of the entire team Nelly was the one Ajax spent the most time talking to. Not only were they usually in the same part of the formation but they both also had ess to mana. This essentially meant that Jones put her in charge of teaching the newby mage. This was not something he minded, in fact he appreciated it. She was patient and had no issue with answering any questions he might have.


    Ajax started cooking breakfast while passing the time with the final night shift. He figured out on the first day that nobody else on the team had the [Cooking] skill and would happily invest his time if it meant their supplies tasted better. He also would have a chance to learn more of what they would be doing today.


    ¡°So what is the n for today?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Limiting.¡± the other person on shift answered, though it didn¡¯t help Ajax much with such a concise response.


    ¡°Usually we would be scouring.¡± Nelly started, knowing he needed a lot more context. ¡°Scouring basically just means taking as safe a route as possible in looking for the obelisk, which we found already so that means we move on to the next phase.¡±


    ¡°Why is finding the obelisk the first priority?¡± Ajax asked. ¡°Because the obelisk is always centered.¡± she said.


    ¡°So we are in the center of the floor right now?¡± he asked, surprised knowing how far they covered to get here already, this floor was almost surely twice the size of the previous one.


    ¡°This time, yes.¡± she nodded.


    ¡°What do you mean this time?¡± he frowned. ¡°How can it not be always if it is centralized?¡±


    ¡°Simple, they are centralized by height, length and width. However not all nes are as t as this one and height is the key to finding it.¡± she exined. ¡°Just from the fact that the obelisk is in this high cave tells us there is no higher spot on the whole floor since this is much lower than halfway up the floor.¡±


    ¡°I am not sure how they figured this one out, but a known discovery that is way too problematic to figure out on your own has been made part of the guild public knowledge a long time ago.¡± She took a seat next to his makeshift table rock as he started to te breakfast. ¡°So long as the obelisk is covered, it means that it is at the highest spot in the floor, had it been on top of the cave it would have meant there was a taller point on which it could spawn.¡±


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    ¡°Next, the obelisk will always be at or below the halfway height, this might seem dumb but some floors have mountains that rise all the way to the ceiling. This can also mean that the obelisk sometimes has to move off the central position. It is theorized that the floor is first created, only then does the obelisk spawn in the most convenient position that is free, so it will never be hidden inside of anything solid.¡±


    ¡°This makes it a real pain to find when you get a maze type floor.¡± the other night shift added as he also took a seat.


    ¡°On an open floor like this, finding the obelisk is the easiest way to explore.¡± Nelly continued. ¡°On moreplex floors we go straight to Limiting. Essentially we move in as much of a straight line as we can until we find an edge¡±


    This was all very interesting to Ajax, not only that it also made a lot of sense. All those lessons on how to tackle different environments,byrinths especially, he got from Hatchet fit right in with their exnations on the dungeon.


    ¡°This is very good,¡± the melee fighter on the night shift broke the silence as he tasted the food and got up with his bowl. ¡°I¡¯ll go wake everyone up.¡±


    ¡°Thanks,¡± Ajax nodded.


    ¡°He even has the [Cooking] skill.¡± Ajax heard Nelly mutter, his close to one hundred and sixty points in perception paying off.


    ¡°I do¡± he confirmed for her and almost chuckled at the way she jumped at his answer.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t ¡­ I mean ¡­¡± she blew out a breath and regained herposure. ¡°None of this is adding up.¡± she now eyed him inquisitively. ¡°Your age and your stats are really miss-matched, but that could be overlooked as nobles have their ways to somehow level a lot faster without problems. Your age and your level could be exined in the same way.¡±


    ¡°So¡­?¡± he asked as she seemed to contemte something.


    ¡°Your stats and your level is where it starts to all go sideways. You have way too many for your level. With everything we¡¯ve seen you do I think you have more than the nine hundred total you told us about, more like a thousand.¡±


    ¡°I said I have over nine hundred, just didn¡¯t say how much over.¡± It was now his turn to mutter in self-defense.


    ¡°That¡¯s not even the biggest problem. There are ways to increase stats, though doing more than 10% of what you naturally have will leave you deformed if not dead, most absurd are your skills. You seem to have everything in the toolkit of a hunter, warrior and mage, if an odd mage. On top of that you seem to also be able to take apart monsters, now cooking. You have about three people¡¯s worth of skills, four considering how many different weapons you use.¡±


    The fact about increasing his stats by 10% instantly drew his attention but he knew now wasn¡¯t the moment to ask about that, considering it wasn¡¯t widespread he could worry about it once he got back to the city and talked with Hatchet and his sister. Something like that would definitely cost an arm and a leg to get.


    ¡°Don¡¯t take this the wrong way, we knew something was up with you when the nobles sponsored but this is getting way out of hand for us. I¡¯m starting to worry about being targeted once you leave just so there is no loose end to spread your different skills.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about that,¡± he said. ¡°I didn¡¯t even know the nobles were helping me out before I took the test to register at the guild, not only that but I¡¯m pretty sure they don¡¯t know just how many skills I have.¡±


    She seemed to rx learning this and didn¡¯t have time to push further because everyone else started closing in for breakfast.


    ¡°So, we know which way we are going?¡± Bobby asked in between mouthfuls.


    ¡°Anyway but the one we came from¡± the scout said. ¡° I really hope we find more of those crocs.¡±


    From that point breakfast descended into a spat about how ¡®greedy¡¯ some of the members were and those members either denied it or shamelessly agreed with the usation. It didn¡¯tst long though as the food was eaten and everyone was packed and ready to go.


    As they heaved off from the cave it took them five minutes to run into an arch. Ajax was surprised to see it but nobody else seemed to be. In retrospect he shouldn¡¯t have been surprised either. He knew the cave was the home of one of the eagle groups they encountered yesterday. Not only that but they had a boss among them so that meant an arch should be guarded by said boss.


    This arch looked different from the others he had seen so far. It was much less ornatepared to the one outside that marked the entrance to the dungeon but still more so than the one that led them to the second floor.


    The differences didn¡¯t end there. He felt a stronger concentration of mana from this arch so he went up and ced his hand against it. Using [Mana Syphon] was slightly harderpared to the one they used to enter the floor but that wasn¡¯t surprising. Something else was, he could barely get a feel for the mana syphoned but unlike the fire and earth he felt from the previous arch this one felt like lightning wind and water.


    He didn¡¯t get too much time to analyze this as a hand grabbed the back of his cor and pulled him back.


    ¡°That¡¯s not the way, I know it¡¯s tempting to go for the extra one point in all stats but we aren¡¯t ready to take on a single group from that floor.¡± Jones said as he dragged him a bit further away from the arch.


    Ajax simply nodded, not correcting the misconception about what he was doing as he took his ce in the formation and they continued to clear the floor.

 Chapter 113

    Chapter 113


    Despite not intending to enter the next floor through the gate Ajax still felt a small desire to go through it. He quickly crushed it down, it was only eight stat points in total and it wasn¡¯t like he was losing them he would have plenty of time, until he reached level fifty or maybe even fifty-one to enter the next floor and still get the bonus.


    As the team departed they started cutting a straight line through the desert with the rock formation at their back. It didn¡¯t take them long to run into a few more packs of wandering camels and snakes but there was nothing that proved an issue. Their first quick rest stop came at the first oasis they found.


    They didn¡¯t even get a chance to start rxing since the entire oasis seemed to be empty. None of them believed they were lucky enough to find a nice rxing camping spot in the middle of the harsh desert so they were already on the lookout.


    Fifteen minutes and a close inspection of the ground led to them finding nothing that would point out the existence of anything else in the vicinity. Even Ajax couldn¡¯t find a trace of mana residue anywhere. For once it seemed like nothing was out to get them.


    They rested there for half an hour after they made sure it was safe before they packed up and went to get back on their journey. As they traversed the oasis to the other side from where they had sat Ajax picked up on an oddity in the water. Unlike anything he had felt before from in the dungeon there seemed to be a distinctck of mana formed in a small ball at the bottom of the water near the edge.


    ¡°We¡¯ve got a resource in the water.¡± Ajax wasn¡¯t the only one to notice, Nelly also picked up on it but seemed to know what it was. ¡°Small, rounded shape, I think we¡¯re looking at a pearl from the location.¡±


    How a pearl would end up at the bottom of the water in an oasis was something Ajax didn¡¯t question. It wasn¡¯t that he found it odd so much that he had already had spent many days he now considered wasted with Hatchet drilling into his head that dungeon resources were based very loosely on environmental factors.


    He had gone through every example he found in books to at least try and make an argument that something more than one or two real connections had to be present. He was however left at a loss when Hatchet asked him to exin how a coconut tree could appear by the river in a thicket of trees, all of this in a frozen tundra biome.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go get it.¡± the happy scout offered and headed purposefully towards the water before turning his head sheepishly and asking. ¡°A small hint of where to look?¡±¡°Fifteen feet to your left and two feet into the water.¡± Nelly directed him while the rest also approached eagerly.


    ¡°WAIT!!!¡± Ajax yelled as he spotted something hidden between the trees, but s he was toote as he heard the water ssh from where the boot entered.


    In his time learning with Hatchet he learned a lot in theory about what he could expect to find in a dungeon. Sure he still had massive gaps in his knowledge left specifically so he could gain a few discoveries but some rules had been drilled into him religiously.


    The most superstitious of which being that nothing in the dungeon is ever free. This much more of a false conjecture since sometimes the dungeon did indeed happen to spawn unprotected resources that could be taken out but enough bad endings had everyone checking gift horses like trojan survivors.


    That however was not what had him on edge now though. No, it was the small part of an arch that he had glimpsed through the trees that had him on edge. Unlike resources, arches always had a boss around them. Even if the boss wandered away they would have found some traces of it beforehand.


    That was unless the boss was still here. All beast type monsters in a dungeon were known to be highly aggressive, in fact all entities that could be found in the dungeon were known to be highly aggressive except one. The sole exception was known to be aggressive, neutral, in non-boss cases even friendly.


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    It was toote however as the scout didn¡¯t even get a chance to nt his foot properly in the water before getting dragged by the appendage towards the elemental forming from the water. Elementals were known to be an extreme rarity before level seventy, any found below that level in the dungeon would simply react like a killer nt.


    Ajax wasn¡¯t shocked by the appearance of the elemental like the rest of the group and had already tossed a rope around the scout¡¯s torso like asso and pulled tight to stop him from getting sucked up inside the elemental to drown.


    With the rope pulled taut, Ajax turned to call for help but didn¡¯t manage to get a word out before Donny already had a hand on the rope and his feet nted. A single nod was all they needed thanks to [Cooperation] for Ajax to know he could let go and focus on his new task.


    The rest of the team was only a split second behind Donny in snapping out of it. Bobby was already heading for the rope as everyone else gained some distance and took outsso¡¯s of their own to throw in case the first snapped. Rangers were seen taking out special arrows that they started applying an oil-like substance to.


    The only exceptions were Nelly and Ajax. Nelly was casting a longer chant meant to freeze as much of the water as she could without catching the scout. Ajax, sdaly for the unlucky scout, had overlooked his presence as he drew back an arrow imbued with lightning. Unlike his usual arrows however, this one he tried to spread evenly throughout the arrow instead of focusing it in the head.


    There were three ways to kill an elemental. The first was to separate them from their element and spread them thin, not something they could do with so much water here. The second was to introduce enough impurities into the element that would act like a poison, something like shoveling enough sand in to make a muddy mixture. This would be possible but the amount of time it would take would see their scout dead ten times over.


    The third way was to introducerge amounts of foreign mana into the elemental body spread as evenly as possible. This would force the elemental to gather its mana into a core which while it would keep it stable will also give it a physical weak spot.


    The lightning spread through the water in an instant, thankfully the rope wasn¡¯t a conductor so it didn¡¯t reach the people pulling. A momentter a good chunk of the elemental started to have ayer of ice form, crack and form again. The spell only managed to create a thirdyer before it ran out of power but that was enough as a core could be seen inside the mass of water that started to take the form of a blob somewhat resembling a human from the waist up.


    The corested for all of two seconds once it had formed before three arrows that sliced through water much easier than they should have pierced it. Ajax didn¡¯t know if the piercing power came from skills or something else like the oil they used but he didn¡¯t sense any mana from them.


    With the core destroyed and the elemental dead the water came crashing back down soaking all six of the melee fighters that had been struggling with the rope, not only that but with the opposing force gone in an instant the scout turned into a projectile flying over the heads of the people pulling and crashnding face first in the sand.


    Ajax and the other ranged fighters were far enough away to avoid getting soaked but both him and Nelly were breathing heavily. His arrow had more than one thousand mana infused and he had done it as quickly as possible. Pulling that much mana so quickly left him feeling a little dizzy and from the looks of it Nelly was in the same situation.


    ¡°Everyone alright?¡± Jones asked,


    A chorus of confirmations came from the rangers and melee, with Nelly and Ajax giving an exhausted nod and the scout a thumbs up while spitting out a mouthful of sand.


    ¡°Anyone want to say it?¡± Bobby asked, looking around at the team in shambles. ¡°No? Fuck it, I¡¯m going to then. JACKPOT!¡±


    Nelly must have seen Ajax¡¯s confused look as she pulled him aside to take a seat on the grass to both catch their breath and exin.


    ¡°Elementals are somewhat unique, as you seem to be already aware.¡± she said, her words hinting that she noticed he had realized what was happening before any of them.


    ¡°I noticed the arch.¡± Ajax responded as he pointed it out. ¡°Only ce we didn¡¯t look was the water so an elemental was the only thing I could think of.¡±


    She just nodded at his exnation after thinking for a second. ¡°The reason they are so happy is because elementals can be very much hit or miss in terms of their worth. It very much matters what they are made of.¡±


    ¡°A rock elemental made out of gravel is pretty much worthless. One made out of marble will see every high level merchant in a hundred miles have their skills suggest a meeting with you despite never meeting you before in their lives.¡±


    ¡°Then why are they so happy it¡¯s water?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°Because it''s very high quality pure water. It''s used in the creation of strong potions because it can handle more mana without destabilizing the rest of the ingredients.¡±


    ¡°I see¡± Ajax nodded as he continued to watch the rest of the team continue the collection.


    Nobody made anyment about the two mages sitting this one out as they knew they needed a moment to catch their breaths. Instead they continued to filter the water with their equipment. They ended up with an entire barrel full of pure water which was a little on the low side but understandable considering the boss was still very weak for an elemental.


    ¡°At least I got the pearl.¡± the scout posed triumphantly, his disheveled appearance and soaked and sand covered clothes ruined the look sending the entire team into aughing fit.

 Chapter 114

    Chapter 114


    Pearls were specials. Unlike other gems they weren¡¯t tied to only being able to channel a specific type of mana through them. Ajax was very much interested in observing the pearl andparing it to the feeling he got from running his mana through the glove he always wore.


    He knew the glove was something of much higher quality that anything else he had gotten the chance to see in action, afterall not only was it made by a dragon but it also seemed to have the ability to adapt his gem usage as needed. He didn¡¯t have to choose a specific gemstone from the many hidden under the metallic cover, he just infused the mana and it was directed to the correct gemstone.


    This may not seem like a big deal as controlling where your mana goes is something that isn''t all that difficult, and it isn¡¯t at least not when you are just using a single mana type. Gems were valuable in both Enchantments and Runic casting as ways to amplify certain mana types. Pearls got their value for being an omni-amplifier.


    Beginner or quick-action spells weren¡¯t something you wanted to use pearls for as gems would always be much better. A fireball, wind st or earth spike was a simple answer and for most problems a simple solution is often best.


    Pearls came in handy when the solution wasplicated. Turning a field into a swamp, unleashing a storm or a blizzard over an area or even creating a privacy field wereplex multi-element spells. This meant that people who used such spells were at least intermediate mages and this made pearls skyrocket in price.


    ¡°Let me see it,¡± Nelly said as she snached the pearl from the hand of the scout. ¡°Damn, it already has three water runes inscribed on it.¡±


    ¡°And that is a bad thing?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°Yes¡± She nodded as she noticed his interest in the small treasure and handed it to him to observe. ¡°Runes all need to be of a certain sizepared to the surface of the pearl in order to work. Depending on the runebination you can get five or six, the amount of skill in using the ck spaces in one for another to fit in matters a lot. There is an enchanter in the capital that is said to have made eight fit on a single one but he has gone to great lengths to keep the arrangement secret.¡±


    Ajax fiddled with the pearl a little and infused a bit of his water mana through it and saw how the pearl amplified it through as it released a trickle of water. He saw a solid 10% increase in outputpared to what he fed into it and had to admit he was impressed. Even with a maximum capacity dependent on the quality of the pearl such an increase was nothing to scoff at.With the water collected the team once again continued their journey. For the first time Ajax started to feel the weight of the pack on his back, even with the ambient mana he is constantly syphoning the weight of the water barrel is starting to affect him. This isn¡¯t to say that he couldn¡¯t carry it, just that it was starting to do more than change his center of gravity.


    ¡°Say kid, you don¡¯t happen to have a skill called ¡®lucky find¡¯ or ¡®fortunate encounter¡¯ do you?¡± Bobby said as he looked towards Ajax.


    Ajax was stunned and unsure as to how he should reply to such a question but someone else beat him to it.


    ¡°Not a polite thing to ask Bobby.¡± the scout chastised the massive warrior. ¡°Especially right after he reacted quickly enough to get me out of a dicey situation.¡±


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    The scout then turned to Ajax and with a teasing grin added ¡°Even if he zapped me a little.¡±


    ¡°I know, I know¡± Bobby waved off the displeased looks ¡°But I doubt I¡¯m the only one thinking it. That amount of strength and the fact that we found not only the oasis crocs, two out of the eleven of which had mana cores by the way, a peal and a water elemental. All of this on our first delve with him.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s up to him to share having a skill like that.¡± Jones answered in a bit of an admonishing tone.


    ¡°That''s not exactly true.¡± Bobby countered, the jovial tone gone as got into the heart of what he wanted to know. ¡°If it''s a strong epic skill, yeah I have no problem with it. He can admit it or keep it to himself. But we all remember ourst run in with a lower quality fate type skill.¡±


    Ajax noticed how the entire party turned quiet, not only that but a few of them seemed to turn and look a bit fearfully in his direction. The most pressing issue for him was , what the hell is a fate type skill.


    ¡°A what type skill?¡± Ajax spoke, drawing all the attention.


    ¡°A fate type.¡± Nelly was the one who once again filled in for him. ¡°Fate type skills are a very rare and unique subtype of skills. They differ from other skills in that, as far as the known ones go, the lower the rarity of the skill the stronger the effect.¡±


    ¡°How is that possible?¡± he asked


    ¡°Nobody has figured out exactly how they work yet, despite this two epic ones are publicly recorded along with five rare and ten umon.¡± She continued. ¡°What is known is that they all have the word ¡®luck¡¯ or ¡®fate¡¯ and they increase the likelihood of something good happening when a person wants it to.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m still not seeing the problem, nor am I seeing why the epic ones would be weaker than the umon ones.¡± Ajax was still confused but more intrigued than ever.


    ¡°However they affect luck seems to go from forceful pull to a gentle guide. The umon ones seem to forcefully change the desired event however this seems to have a bacsh as a way to correct it. The epic versions seem to guide things naturally to a more favorable oue.¡±


    ¡°And how would that work?¡± Ajax still didn¡¯t find the connection with the fear or hostility disyed towards the skill.


    ¡°Let''s put it this way.¡± Bobby said ¡°You know how to y hold ''em?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Ajax confirmed.


    ¡°What I am worried about is you having an umon version. You see umon affects a very specific event and have an immediate bacsh. For example, as long as the person shuffling the cards isn¡¯t cheating and the person uses the skill he will always get two kings or two aces. The problemes when the bacsh hits the river is almost always the worst card possible.¡± Bobby said.


    Ajax could see how much of a downside something like that could be. The skill would bankrupt someone rather than make them any money.


    ¡°The rare version isn¡¯t as abrupt, it results in the next few hands being given horrible hands. But the way this delve has been going, especially since we entered the second floor has felt a lot like getting a pair of aces. I understand not wanting to let people know about such exploitable skills but an umon version means we need to be ready for something catastrophic to happen.¡±


    Now it clicked for Ajax. He could see where Bobby wasing from, losing a hand of cards could screw you out of your life savings but in a dungeon the skill could help you find treasure only to die before you can even gain a benefit from it. He also wondered just how powerful a legendary or maybe mythic version of such skills could be.


    ¡°I understand,¡± he nodded. ¡°I don;t have an umon or rare skill like that.¡±


    He wasn¡¯t going to tell them he didn¡¯t have one at all, in fact having them think he had an epic one would provide some cover for his cheat-like trait and stats.


    ¡°Good. Thanks for settling that for me.¡± Bobby said and picked up the pace a little.


    ¡°I apologize for that.¡± Nelly whispered to him. ¡°It¡¯s just that¡­.¡±


    ¡°Just that?¡± he whispered back.


    ¡°A few years ago we pissed off a visiting noble.¡± she said ¡°The way he decided to get back at us was by sending an assassin after us.¡±


    ¡®This is exactly why I didn¡¯t want the nobles to take notice of me¡¯ Ajax thought.


    ¡°This assassin was special though. Unlike most others in his line of work he didn¡¯t kill his targets directly. He had a very different method. Whereas most assassins focus on offense he was a pure escape type. He barely even had any knowledge of defense.¡± She shuddered a bit as she recalled something. ¡°What he would do is get close to his targets, get his Umon fate skill to work for the group and have the bacsh kill them while he ran away.¡±


    ¡°That can¡¯t be a very effective method.¡± Ajax noted.


    ¡°It''s less and less effective as you grow in strength.¡± she nodded. ¡°But it was also the closest we had evere to losing somebody before and since. And it¡¯s all but impossible to prove.¡±

 Chapter 115

    Chapter 115


    The discussion had left Ajax with a lot to think about. Up until now he had always seen the fear mostmon people had for nobles but had only gotten a view of the sense of superiority some nobles had. This was the first time he heard of first hand ounts of nobles actually acting in such a way.


    Following his discussion about the assassin Ajax also asked some more questions about it, most notably how they knew it was a hit. The answer he got is what left him with so much to think about. They had gotten the information from the assassin himself.


    It turns out that the noble had put the contract on them through the Assassin¡¯s Guild. Having known nothing about the guilds existence led to an interrogation that saw him educated on a topic he might have to deal with in the future if his rise in power was even remotely close to the gains he has made in this single delve.


    The Assassin¡¯s Guild was very simr to the Adventurer¡¯s and Crafter¡¯s but it was also different in many aspects. Very much like the Adventurer and Crafter Guilds the Assassin''s Guild was present in all nine major powers. Also like the others it was split into nine different branches that acted like a council of sorts with the guild master of each nation instilling his own demeanor into the attitude and rules of the organization.


    Unlike the other two big guilds the Assassin¡¯s guild was one that was not sanctioned by the ruling powers. This was for obvious reasons, but they also weren¡¯t targeted for elimination. When he asked why that was, the answer was shocking if unsurprising. A few monarchs in the past had tried to target the guild only to find themselves targeted and their allies removed in favor of a monarch without such inclinations. The end result being a guild that operated in the shadows with no protection from the ruling ss but also no targeted removal.


    Moreover he had learnt some very important details about how some targeted assassinations work. Most surprising was the guilds view on their targets. Any job they undertook from an outside source came with a request for the amount of power and method of elimination. This in and of itself was not surprising, what was surprising was their view on failed jobs.


    A job could go one of four ways. The first being a sess, this would be a straight forward collection of payment. The next would be a failure that saw the guild members escape, what happened in this case wasn¡¯t but often resulted in a stronger team being sent to finish the job. The third case was where the guild members failed and died in the attempt, this went much like the previous case but the increase in strength of the follow up team being muchrger. And that left the final case.


    Where the members of the guild not only failed but also got themselves captured. By far the hardest oue for the target to achieve but the most rewarding. The guild actively incentivised the live capture and release of its members. It did this by having any target willing to do this have the contract on their head removed and be given a period of time when no more contracts for them could be epted.


    Not only that but the jobs the guild took also came with an insurance option. Since the level of strength requested was at the discretion of the employer the guild protected themselves by having captured members also offer any and all information they had on the contract upon having been released unless an upfront premium was paid. This premium only covered silence on the matter.This was how the Collectors knew they were targeted. The noble in question had been too cheap to pay for the silence and the assassin had spilled all he knew after being released. This practice was more for the safety of its members as most employers would find it was cheaper to hire someone stronger than necessary for the contract to ensure it goes well that to get the bare minimum with a silence insurance.


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    As Ajax pondered on the different powers present in this world he and his team continued to explore the dungeon. They quickly found out that the arch they entered from was actually quite close to the edge of the floor and had they started off in a different direction they might have found it within the hour.


    The following two days saw the team efficiently move through the floor and dispatching anything they came across. They hadn¡¯t been lucky enough to encounter a second water elemental despite them being on the lookout for another jackpot at every oasis they found. They did chance upon two more groups of oasis crocs but sadly of the twenty they found only one was a boss and the other neen didn¡¯t have a core.


    While not all of the battles were easy, none of their encounters were dangerous enough to even threaten a member with a serious injury let alone death. While this safety was one of the main reasons Ajax had chosen to join this team it¡¯s downside was also clear in that he had barely managed to level despite the previous couple of days getting him more than half the level in experience.


    With his skill levels catching up to the power of the monsters he was facing, their advance was slowing down and the danger he faced turned from mild to minimal. This in turn lowered the experience he was gaining further.


    ¡°I think we got most of them.¡± the scout said as the team gathered around the fire for dinner on the fourth night they spent on the second floor.


    ¡°Does that mean that we¡¯re heading for the obelisk?¡± Asked Ajax.


    ¡°No.¡± Jones denied.


    Ajax was surprised, it must also have been obvious enough from the look on his face because Nelly chose to expand on the answer.


    ¡°The floor has roaming camouging monsters,¡±She started. ¡° This is one of the few circumstances where despite a team being strong enough to fully clear the floor even the guild advocates for exiting without triggering the obelisk.¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t have a skilled enough tracker to make sure we won¡¯t be inviting a half dozen bosses and their packs on us by activating the obelisk.¡± Bobby said before looking at the scout and Ajax and adding ¡°No offense.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± the scout said. ¡°I might be good enough to see through their magical hiding if they are within a few feet of me but I can¡¯t track them at all.¡±


    Ajax was different in this aspect. Thanks to his [Residue Recognition] he could track the snakes. The problem was that all he could do was track where a group had been previously. His skill wasn¡¯t strong enough yet for him to differentiate between individuals of the same species so trying to use that to track would most likely lead to a few weeks of running around the floor, most of the time following tracks to a group they had killed already.


    Ajax didn¡¯t like it, it felt iplete to just exit without finishing off the floor. He would much rather activate the obelisk or move on to the next floor. During these days he had seen a lot more arches that led to the third floor. Interestingly enough, all the ones he used his [Mana Syphon] on had a different mana signature.


    Almost all of the arches had some mixture of different mana types. They ranged widely from wind and water to earth and fire. Most were sticking to the rare aspects he had but on two asions he encountered ice and metal mana. He didn¡¯t know why they were so rare but he wanted to find out.


    On one asion he happened upon an arch that held only one type of mana. The only mana he could feel from the arch was light mana. As such he felt an increased sense of curiosity to enter and explore that floor as light mana should be the least dangerous of them all. The moment he even started to turn his feet in the direction of the arch however he felt a soft pulse from [Danger Sense] letting him know it was a bad idea.


    Having reached their entry arch the following morning he ced his hand on it and triggered [Mana Syphon] again. The mana inside the arch was the same as it had been a few days ago. Interestingly enough however was that the only mana he had found on the entire floor that didn¡¯t feel from this arch had been from other arches. Everything else from the water elemental to the snakes, crocs and even the fire and earth mana in the air and sand could be subtly felt in the mana of the arch.


    ¡°Alright everyone, be ready to form a defensive formation.¡± Jones¡¯s voice ordered as everyone held their weapons at the ready. ¡°Since we didn¡¯t trigger the obelisk we will have to do a bit of cleanup once we exit. Focus on the snakes, don¡¯t give them a chance to stealth once they exit the gate.¡±


    Ajax was suddenly overjoyed at thest statement. He was hoping that the snakes would actually try camouge themselves so he would finally get a look at how that magic worked.

 Chapter 116

    Chapter 116


    As the entire team stepped through the arch to exit. Unlike the smooth travel to enter the dungeon, exiting was a much different story. The split second in which he traveled back to the outside felt like an entire theme park ride back on Earth condensed. That wasn¡¯t the worst part however, changing from a low mana density to a high one might be hard on the magic senses until they get used to it but it has no effect on his body. Going from a high density to a low one made him feel like he was an orange being juiced and almost had high throwing up.


    ¡°Sorry to say but if Nelly is anything to go by repetition does nothing for this sensation.¡± Bobby said as he stabilized Ajax while his brother did the same to Nelly.


    Ajax resisted throwing up as they backed away from the arch. Jones was already speaking with the guards and it didn¡¯t take long for everybody to get in formation. Much like when he first arrived a lot of people formed a unified front only this time he had a chance to be on the front lines as well. A few minutester the arch had a small infusion of mana before a few dozen snakes came out with a few vultures overhead. Besides them Ajax counted four crocs and a pack of camels.


    Everything got handled quickly with overwhelming strength, the snakes weren¡¯t even given a chance to camouge, much Ajax¡¯s disappointment. The numbers that came out in total were a lot less than the other monster wave he saw before entering. If it wasn¡¯t for the snakes being camouged inside the dungeon Ajax thought they could have easily handled activating the obelisk.


    ¡°Ohe on, it''s just one, we already have three bosses and two normal ones.¡± one of the melee fighters was trying to cheer the scout up.


    ¡°What¡¯s with him?¡± Ajax asked as he approached.


    ¡°Seems the croc boss we missed was the expensive kind, he''s not taking it well as usual.¡± the guys said as one of the ranged members also approached.


    ¡°What do you mean just one?¡± the scout said his voice sounded distraught. ¡°Do you know how much a full corpse is worth? It¡¯s about fifty gold coins.¡±


    That got Ajax¡¯s attention as it was a stupidly high amount of money. The ranged fighter went and collected Ajax¡¯s bags, apparently she was sympathetic to the seasickness feeling he had from exiting the dungeon and offered to carry them for him until the world stopped spinning which he was thankful for. ¡°I know fifty gold is a lot, but definitely made a lot more than that with just this delve, why is he so upset over it considering you guys have been at this for over a decade?¡± Ajax asked, he was used to seeing the scout as a happy upbeat person, it was surprising how much the loss of one corpse affected him.


    ¡°He¡¯s always been like this.¡± the melee fighter shared. ¡°It¡¯s not my story to tell but when he was young he lost somebody because he didn¡¯t have a few gold to get him the help he needed. He¡¯s not a hoarder or greedy but any form of waste always hits him hard.¡±


    Considering that healing was free, at least in cases when death was imminent Ajax was quite curious about what the story there was but knew better than to ask for it now. The creatures left nothing to collect, though Ajax did notice that the Reavers had also exited before them and had stuck around, their leader was heading towards Jones already.


    ¡°Jones, I thought you said you were sticking to the first floor.¡± The man called out with an usatory tone.


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    ¡°Yeah that was the n Anthony but the new kid was better than he seemed so we went ahead and took on the second floor.¡± Jones responded with a malicious smirk on his face Ajax didn¡¯t understand.


    ¡°It¡¯s ze not Anthony, how many times do I have to tell you that Jones?¡± the leader of the Reavers angrily whispered to Jones so quietly Ajax almost missed it despite his high perception stats.


    ¡°Just as often as I have to remind you I don¡¯t answer to you just because I was on your dad¡¯s squad when I started out.¡± he whispered back.


    ¡°Whatever¡± ¡®ze¡¯ let out a frustrated sigh. ¡°I noticed a few vulturesing out following those snakes. From the looks of it I¡¯d say you had a desert biome which should mean the vultures weren¡¯t a one off, you got a boss you can give to me?¡±


    ¡°Yeah we do.¡± Jones confirmed.


    ¡°Great, do you mind if I pick it up now?¡± he asked as he looked towards the bags carrying all the loot they collected.


    ¡°Can¡¯t do it right now, sorry. I¡¯ll let you have your pick of the lot of them once we get into the city though.¡± Jones said.


    ¡°You best not be trying to snipe my contract here old man, remember you still owe us.¡± his tone taking a more dangerous edge.


    ¡°Nothing like that, trust me.¡± Jones didn¡¯t seem to notice the change, or if he did he didn¡¯t seem to care.


    ¡°What was thatst bit about?¡± Ajax thought aloud.


    ¡°We still owe the Reavers two favors, one now that we have the vulture for them.¡± Nelly said from next to him. ¡°Being exterminators they have a lot more pull in the city than us and they helped us get Tristan the training he needs without him having to join up.¡±


    ¡°Is getting healing training that hard?¡± Ajax asked surprised, after all even the city guards had quite a few healers.


    ¡°Back when I was growing up the Healing Union was just getting started, back then only nobles and adventurers had ess to healers. Not only that but adventurers were highly specialized andcking quite a bit on general healing.¡± She said.


    ¡°A few more years down the line and the Healing Union had not only made a foothold, however small, in the capital but they also started branching out. That¡¯s when the royal family took an interest. Mostly because they filed six counts of corruption from the six cities they attempted to expand into. Suffice it to say that the nobles there enjoyed being the only ones with the privilege of magical healing on demand.¡± she sighed.


    ¡°Figures.¡± Ajax scoffed having seen that attitude once or twice already and knowing all it took was one noble to butt in and the rest just not to intervene for him to get his way. It was why nobles got such a bad wrap, there were more neutral andmoner friendly nobles than antimoner ones but they wouldn¡¯t get involved.


    ¡°Anyway, the nobles alsoined to the crown. To no surprise the royals did an investigation into the Healing Union. The big shock came once they realized that they found nothing, not only that but the royal family also started backing the Healing Union which let it spread like wildfire through the kingdom. This means that healers are more essible than ever but getting healing training without joining a noble house or giving up a decade of your life to the Healing Union still takes a lot of pull.¡±


    As they approached the forest to head back towards the town Ajax noticed the guards as they marked the bags of the Reavers in front of them and waved them through before turning to them.


    ¡°Hey Jones, have any luck today.¡± the guard asked.


    ¡°Sorry for you but we did. A bit too much in fact.¡± Ajax could also feel the rest of the team''s mood rise at that statement, but the guard''s face fell into a frown.


    ¡°Really?¡± the guard asked.


    ¡°Yep, sorry.¡± Jones said and the team moved past them.


    ¡°What was all that about?¡± Ajax asked once they were out of ear shot from the guards.


    ¡°That¡¯s the usual backwater corruption.¡± the scout chimed in. ¡°Boss, are you sure we couldn¡¯t just go with it?¡±


    ¡°You know better than I do that we hit the jackpot this time around.¡± Jones scoffed at the suggestion. ¡°If we slipped the guards a few coins to mark down what we collected and then made a killing selling it we would have been rounded up and questioned before the week is up.¡±


    ¡°So that¡¯s why you wouldn¡¯t just give up the bird, eh?¡± ze and the Reavers came towards us with a much more friendly look that he left with.


    ¡°Yeah, found ourselves a water elemental, no way we can smuggle that without dering it so you¡¯re going to have to wait until we pay taxes on all this before you get your bird, that way I can have it as a tax deductible.¡± Jones grinned.


    The Reavers'' eyes all widened a bit upon hearing about the water elemental, some even took a few nces towards the bags but none seemed to be nning on robbing them. Both teams just made their way into the small vige before they headed towards the city.

 Chapter 117

    Chapter 117


    Nelly P.O.V


    As we started traveling back towards the city all of us started to loosen up again. It may not be easy to see from the outside but all of us go on edge every time we head towards the dungeon. This time it was to a much lesser extent on the way there as the initial n had been to stick to the first floor. I hope Tristan and Rob haven''t been too worried that we extended the trip by a few days.


    The carefree andpetitive attitude of the Reavers also went a long way to push the rest of us into a much more rxed mood. The only one I couldn¡¯t get a clear read on was Ajax. Despite his young looks and reported age that had him at fifteen years old his actions didn¡¯t match up with what I expected from him.


    The only times I have seen other people that young act so mature was when they were noble heirs, the training and lessons having taken over their childhood. Not only that but it seems that Ajax is also a little, well not shy but maybe paranoid? I had thought we were making progress in rting to him but he retreated back as soon as the Reavers joined us for the trip back.


    Then again I could see where he wasing from. We had done a quick checkup on him as soon as we learned his name and everything checked out. That background check was the only reason we weren¡¯t convinced he was an illegitimate bastard of a high noble and being raised in secret.


    I have to say the kid intimidated me. It wasn¡¯t his personality or his attitude, he was acting the way I would expect a brand new guild recruit to act, doing any job assigned, looking to learn and get new skills, greedy to gain more experience. What intimidated me was his raw power. I was already almost sixty years old but as I looked at my status.


    <strong>Name</strong> : Nelly


    <strong>Level</strong> :42


    <strong>Experience</strong> : 58600/95800<strong>Traits</strong>: Mana Constitution


    <strong>Health</strong>: 2200/2200


    <strong>Mana</strong>: 2200/2200


    <strong>Stamina</strong> :420/420


    <strong>Vitality</strong> : 220


    <strong>Strength</strong> : 38


    <strong>Endurance</strong> : 42


    <strong>Dexterity</strong> : 40


    <strong>Intellect </strong>: 220


    <strong>Wisdom</strong> : 220


    <strong>Mind</strong> : 220


    <strong>Perception</strong> : 80


    <strong>Stat Points</strong> : 0


    <strong>Skills</strong> : [Cleaning Lvl 20] [Haggling Lvl 10][Gathering Lvl 30][Sense Mana Lvl 50][Expel Mana Lvl 50][Chanting Lvl 50][Inspect Lvl 30][Water Aspect Mana Lvl 40][Air Aspect Mana Lvl 40][Ice Aspect Mana Lvl 30][Mana Matriarch]


    I knew I was one of the most valuable members of the team but that came because of my unique versatility in having magic.I was the lowest level of them all after taking a few years off to raise Tristan with Rob but now there was Ajax. He was twelve levels my junior and while I knew I could still outperform him in terms of raw magic, his versatility and physical prowess left no doubt that he could beat me in a fight.


    I also understood his paranoia, because I had a much bigger reason than him to be paranoid about, one not even the rest of my team knew about. The [Mana Matriarch] skill was my second Epic skill besides my [Ice Mana Aspect] but it was also one that manifested during my pregnancy. The skill had no levels and was linked to the trait Mana Constitution, the trait increased my proficiency with all mana skills and allowed me to gain some slightly easier. The skill guaranteed that any children I have would be predisposed towards mana skills.


    Like all non-level skills it came with a small description from the system when I unlocked it and ever since that day I have lived with the paranoia of what would happen should ite out that I have such a skill. Nobody except my husband Rob knows about it and I have been skittish around anyone that might be able to inspect others skills ever since.


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    The skill was also the reason why I only had one child. Even for a mage the chance that their child can use mana is only 10%, it grows to 15% if both parents are mages. Having four children like I initially wanted, all with talent in magic despite Rob not being a mage would have brought too much scrutiny. As such we decided to increase our levels and have some more children once we are stronger and have some connections.


    Ajax¡¯s presence on this team is in a way both a blessing and a curse. Our connection with him will lead to extra scrutiny but it will also give us a chance to interact with important people. Not only that but his genius might cover up and draw attention away from me.


    The trip to the city was uneventful. We spent a bit longer on the road than on the way here, stopping by on both nights to catch some rest before moving on. We arrived at Lessis as night was falling.


    Even from twenty feet away I could see the shock on the guard captain''s face as Jones told him that we had dungeon goods to dere and that we will be paying taxes. It was more of an unspoken rule that established teams like the Reavers and the Collectors were going to bribe officials to look the other way on taxes. It was an epted practice to keep the teams from leaving the city for greener pastures.


    The inspection of the goods took a little while. The inspector was a friend of Rob¡¯s, who besides being my husband was also our contracted merchant, and I could see his eyes bulge when he took a look at the water from the elemental as he licked his lips. I¡¯m also sure that he purposefully misidentified the valuable crocs as the normal variety.


    Thinking about the taxation I also wondered about Ajax. Before we left we agreed that the kid would get half a share but after the second day on the second floor all of us agreed he would be given a full share of the loot. Despite that I hadn¡¯t yet approached him about selling his hard earned loot through Rob.


    ¡°Ajax, can I speak to you?¡± I asked and the kid looked at me gratefully for having given him an out. He was stuck listening to Bobby and great oaf had managed to buy a barrel of cheap wine at ourst vige and had already drunk half of it.


    ¡°Thanks for that.¡± he said.


    ¡°No problem.¡± I smiled. ¡°But I do actually have something to talk to you about.¡±


    ¡°Oh, what is it?¡± he asked.


    ¡°I know that when we left we our agreement was that we would split whatever we find into twenty-three and you would take one share while the rest of us took two. We have reconsidered that however.¡± I could already see him starting to frown.


    ¡°Oh?¡± he said as his face betrayed some annoyance. I guess I couldn¡¯t me him for being suspicious since most teams would cut out a first time porterpletely from such a massive gain.


    ¡°We decided your efforts deserved a full share of the spoils.¡± I continued and his frown turned into a smile.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± he said.


    ¡°Speaking of the spoils, I wanted to ask if you already know what you wanted to do with them. My husband is the team contracted merchant you see.¡± I left the statement open ended so that he wouldn¡¯t think I was pressuring him .


    ¡°Hmm¡±, he stayed silent for a moment. ¡°I was nning on keeping my share of the cores for my brother''s bond, his shadow cat is still a pup and can use all the manacores it can get. As for everything else I was nning to give them to my sister July and her friend na to sell for me.¡±


    Seeing as he also had merchants in the family I didn¡¯t want to push the matter. I could always convince him to swap over once wepared how much Rob got us for the lootpared to what his sister could get him.


    Surprisingly enough when it came time to share the loot he was more than happy to take his share in mostly cores and the elemental water. The water was something we all avoided since we knew it would take time to be moved and doing so would have added costs.


    After I arrived home I was greeted by both Tristan and Rob. Both seemed worried and exhaled a breath they must have been holding onto for a while.


    ¡°Mom!¡± Tristan said ¡°You¡¯re okay.¡±


    ¡°I am just fine.¡± I smiled. ¡°The delve took a little longer than we expected since we also went to the second floor.¡±


    ¡°I thought this delve was just to get the new member used to delves.¡± Rob said.


    ¡°That was the idea but the kid proved himself too good to stick to just the first floor.¡±


    ¡°Just how good was he?¡± Tristan asked, he must have read something on my face.


    ¡°To be honest, like nothing I have seen before.¡± I said. ¡°We all know you are talented Tristan, at twenty-five years of age you are already level twenty-nine and following a healer tract but he is something else. Despite being ten years younger than you he is already level twenty-four. Not only that but I don¡¯t think I could take him in a straight up fight.¡±


    This had both of them curious and I spent the next hour of dinner just exining things about Ajax. Tristan was especially upset that he could already join the guild and us despite him wanting to do so for years, he only quieted down after I told him Ajax shared with us that his total stats were over nine hundred.


    ¡°So, what is the kid going to do with his share of the spoils?¡± Rob asked as we were heading to bed.


    ¡°Said he was going to keep the cores for his brother¡¯s bond and give the rest to his sister Judy and her friend na.¡± I knew my husband well enough that the names of the other merchants was what he was interested in.


    ¡°Those two again?¡± he muttered.


    ¡°You know them?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yeah, they started off small eight years ago and had a cash infusion into a small side business five years ago. From there their talent really shone and they just kept growing and growing. They¡¯ve been having problemstely expanding into the higher reaches of neighboring cities.¡± he said and then froze a few feet away from the bed.


    ¡°What is it?¡± I asked.


    ¡°You just said they got their hands on water from the elemental?¡± he asked. ¡°They could use that as a foothold to gain contacts in other cities. Seems like their bottleneck is about to gain a few cracks.¡±


    That information was surprising to me. Did the kid ept the water on purpose for that?

 Chapter 118

    Chapter 118


    After getting through the gate and sharing the loot Jones dismissed the group as he said he could do the report to the guild in person. Apparently while skimming on taxes was not only a tried and true practice all delves were to be reported to the guild. Ajax didn¡¯t know why that was and everyone was in too much of a hurry for him to ask them now.


    As he made his way towards his brother¡¯s ce Ajax thought that he should probably get his own room in the city as he was going to be staying for quite a while. He nned to be at least level thirty before he left for the capital and that would take at least one year.


    He probably cut aedic sight as he walked through the city carrying a small bag in each hand as well as a half empty barrel on his back. Hispensation came in the form of two dozen mana cores and half the water from the elemental. The other bag contained enough crocodile skin to order himself a full set of gear. Ajax had tried to argue that it was too much but apparently the group had a standing rule about first upgrading its members before selling, it was also why Nelly was given the pearl free of charge.


    The sun had fully gone down by the time he reached the door but he could hear voices on the other side. A few knockster his brother opened the door. He froze in the doorway for a couple of seconds before he wrapped Ajax in a tight hug.


    ¡°You¡¯rete,¡± he said.


    ¡°Sorry, we cleared the second floor of the dungeon as well but that took a while.¡± Ajax responded.


    A small crowd had already formed behind Tom. Kate, na as well as his parents and sister were all there and all seemed relieved to see him back, they were all clearly worried that he had been a few dayste.


    ¡°Might as well let go of him so he cane in.¡± Kate teased Tom who had yet to release Ajax from his hug.


    Ajax made to step into the house when he faced a new issue. The barrel was too big to fit through the doorway. This wasn¡¯t a problem he had experienced before so Kate took the two bags off his hands while the brothers were left to solve the problem of getting the barrel inside.¡°Can¡¯t you just leave it out there for the night?¡± his dad asked.


    ¡°Too valuable to just be left lying around, this is most of my share of the loot.¡± he responded and that drew a curious look from Judy and na.


    Kate turned out to return with a solution a momentter as she brought Ajax his backpack that he had left behind. He hadn¡¯t needed it with all the ones the team provided for him but it wasrge enough to fit the barrel inside. Magic still never ceased to surprise him but atst the barrel was inside the house.


    ¡°When you say the barrel is most of your share, what exactly did you get?¡± Judy had managed to wait until they were all seated around the table but that was as far as her patiencested before her merchant instincts took over.


    With the two bags nearby Ajax grabbed both of them. The table was clear so he ced them in front of himself before he opened the one containing the mana cores.


    ¡°I have two dozen of these.¡± He said holding one up. ¡°They are all the weakest we got, twenty are from level forty-two and the other four are from forty-threes, but considering how Fluffy almost overloaded from the bear core I think these should be perfect for her now that the water is likely to be running out.¡±


    The feline in question materialized next to his hand the moment she heard her name and hungrily sniffed at the core he was holding.


    ¡°We can¡¯t ept that.¡± Kate and Tom both said as one as they looked at the bag filled with cores.


    ¡°Yes you can. I know neither of you are in a position to afford something like this for Fluffy, even if in the future you might, she needs them now to help her early development.¡± They both looked down at that as they knew he was right but didn¡¯t want to ept more charity.


    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you what, I was hoping you could help me out Kate, you can take them in return for that, what do you say?¡± he offered.


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    ¡°How could I help you?¡± she asked.


    ¡°I was looking to learn a bit of healing magic,¡± he shared. ¡°Light as well but I am particrly interested in holy.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t.¡± she said without hesitation. ¡°There are rules I am under while learning from the Healing Union that won¡¯t let me teach anyone anything about healing. The first spell I taught you ¡®Alzinoth¡¯ is themonly known one and the only exception.¡±


    ¡°I know that and that is not what I meant.¡± he said ¡°We both know that I use my mana differently than any other caster. Not only that but different casting methods interfere with each other, it''s why runic casters don¡¯t learn to chant and chanters don¡¯t use runic items, they interfere with the muscle memory.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s also why I stopped using the few chants that I do know. I haven¡¯t yet tried using a runic item but it will most likely conflict with my way of casting as well.¡±


    ¡°Then how do you want me to help you?¡± she asked, confused.


    ¡°I picked up most of my magic by watching other magic in action,¡± he exined. ¡° I didn¡¯t really get a chance to get a close look at any of the spells used before, so I was thinking if I could just, I don¡¯t know, follow you around and use my [Mana Sense] to see if I can pick up some light and holy healing and adapt it.¡±


    He trailed off at the end, not sure how he could get that to happen, after all the Healing Union wouldn¡¯t let him just stick around when they were teaching magic.


    ¡°That wouldn¡¯t go against my oath but I don¡¯t see how you would be able to enter the tent to observe me in action.¡± she said.


    ¡°He could go in there as a mana battery.¡± na said.


    Everyone turned a confused look at her.


    ¡°We have a few deaspecting mana crystals.¡± she continued seeing the confused looks. ¡°Our smallest one can only hold two hundred mana, if you take that you can say that your family member is taking a few days off and is giving you his mana to help you get more training in. But since the crystal can only hold two hundred at a time he needs to be there to recharge it.¡±


    That was a surprisingly usible excuse. Considering the few times Kate and Tom had publicly helped Ajax nobody from the Union would question why he wanted to help Kate. Even if they took some precautions against him learning their healing knowledge it wasn¡¯t like they would block out his [Mana Sense] which is what he needed to analyze the spells.


    ¡°That could work, but if I remember correctly those crystals eat two to three times the mana they can hold.¡± Kate said.


    ¡°The one we have with two hundred only takes twice the amount so he should be able to refill it once and a bit more a second time.¡± na said.


    ¡°And since I focus more on Intellect and Wisdom my mana pool is only eight hundred an extra two to three hundred would be quite a lot of extra mana to help me increase my practice time.¡±


    ¡°If the transfer rate is one to two I¡¯ll be able to give you more than that.¡± Ajax mentioned.


    He felt a lot of eyes turn to him at that. They all knew Ajax had a lot more stats that he should but he never told them exactly how many he had. He hesitated to give away his exact numbers but felt that he could trust his family with the information for now.


    <strong>Name</strong> : Ajax


    <strong>Level</strong> :26


    <strong>Experience</strong> : 100/40600


    <strong>Traits</strong>: Divine Witness


    <strong>Health</strong>: 1880/1880


    <strong>Mana</strong>: 1900/1900


    <strong>Stamina</strong> :1550/1550


    <strong>Vitality</strong> :188


    <strong>Strength</strong> :154


    <strong>Endurance</strong> :155


    <strong>Dexterity</strong> : 154


    <strong>Intellect </strong>: 191


    <strong>Wisdom</strong> : 190


    <strong>Mind</strong> : 190


    <strong>Perception</strong> : 162


    <strong>Stat Points</strong> :0


    After hisst level he spent his stats much like he did thest ones he got. From the two levels the forty-four points were split with four in Mind, Intellect, Wisdom and Vitality as well as three in all the rest.


    ¡°I have a mana pool of 1900.¡± Even with the bad conversion rate this was enough to refill his sisters entire mana pool and more. Especially since he would be recovering mana throughout the day he could probably triple her mana amount.


    ¡°Ajax, I know I haven¡¯t asked this before but how are you spending your points?¡± his sister asked.


    ¡°I am trying to spread them out evenly, maybe with a bit more of a focus on my mental and vitality.¡± he said a little whidrawn.


    ¡°Stupid.¡± na eximed.


    ¡°Why?¡± Ajax asked as he looked at her confused.


    ¡°Because you can get an extra 10% in your stats from potions.¡± she exined.


    ¡°I still don¡¯t see the problem.¡± he said.


    ¡°The potions not only get harder to make but also need more expensive materials depending on where they need to raise the stats from.¡± she breathed and exasperated sigh. ¡°You now have the money that in the future you will be able to afford some potions, but you should leave one or two stats lower so you wouldn¡¯t pay exorbitant prices for the same number of stats. If you wait a year or two we will have the contacts needed to let you buy them.¡±


    Ajax could definitely see her point, stat points per level were worth the same amount whether you were raising a stat from sixty to sixty-one or from one thousand to one thousand and one. He did feel rather stupid about this and wondered why Hatchet never mentioned it to him.


    Then again Hatchet had never been rich, considering how much it would cost for him to upgrade his stats through potions it was never viable.


    ¡°Speaking of your contacts ,¡± he said, trying to switch the subject from his mistake. ¡°That other bag holds quite a bit of oasis croc leather, I was hoping you might know someone who could make me a suit from it.¡±


    ¡°I know a guy.¡± his sister nodded.


    ¡°As for the barrel, I was hoping you could sell that for me,¡± he said, scratching the back of his head. ¡°It¡¯s got the water from a level forty-six water elemental.¡±

 Chapter 119

    Chapter 119


    na P.O.V


    This night has taken a turn I hadn¡¯t really expected it to. Everyone was starting to worry with Ajax and the Collectors taking an extra two days to return. The only hope we held onto was that they nned on only going to the first floor and that the team was highly overqualified. Meaning their dy was most likely just something extra they had to do and not bad news.


    Judy was my best friend and partner so I ended up spending a lot of time with her family and she with mine. My rtionship with Ajax was the mostplicated, we didn¡¯t work out as lovers but were great friends. Not only that but I couldn¡¯t help andpare him with my own brother who despite being older ended up just begging us for a job as a merchant once the vige was destroyed and his easy life as dad''s sessor came to an end.


    Now that he returned alive he not only casually mentioned taking part in clearing the second floor but also having gained quite a lot of mana cores for it. Despite this he just gave them to his brother to feed his bond. As a merchant I knew that the investment was well worth it, a bond like the shadow cat would pay back investments hand over fist, especially those made while she was still growing. But the disconnect came with the fact that it wasn¡¯t his bond, not many people would be willing to invest that much in something they wouldn¡¯t directly benefit from.


    But as it turned out that was only the beginning of the night. I am truly considering talking to an alchemist so that I have something to regte my heart rate when Ajax is around. The news of his having a man pool of 1900 was shocking. That he was going for an even spread of stats meant his Intellect and Wisdom were around the same. I knew Ajax had somehow invested a lot of effort and sacrificed early strength to increase his stats but this was a lot more than I expected.


    The final straw came when he off-handedly mentioned he wanted us to move some high-leveled water from an elemental. Considering that it came from the second floor it wouldn¡¯t be higher than level forty-nine, which would make it some of the lowest quality that could be gained.


    Its low quality however also came with a nearly non-existent supply. Elementals don¡¯t gain any form of sapiance and are as alive as a nt until high into the seventies or early eighties. This feature of theirs makes dungeons not use them, they would only fit as boss enemies but they could also just be ignored and bypassed if they were chosen. In a city like Lessis this water wouldn¡¯t be worth even as much as the mana cores he already gifted to the feline purring in hisp.


    This water¡¯s true value came from the opportunity it provided to alchemists to speed level the skills of their apprentices. As a crafting path alchemy was different from all the others. From levels one to thirty it was easy leveling as materials were plentiful. From levels sixty to one hundred the same could also be said, truly talented alchemists managed to gain the forty levels in less than five years. But the levels from thirty to sixty could take anywhere from a decade to a century depending on how much of the water you could gain. Those without ess to it being forced to grind levels on inefficient potions.


    A half barrel is enough for at least on full level, maybe two if they are closer to thirty. Just selling this, even at a premium, would help us gain a connection to a master alchemist. Just as we were running out of steam expanding into the bigger cities and up on the socialdder we now have a way to stick our foot in the door. End of P.O.V.


    Ajax watched as the two merchants eyed the barrel like the chicken that couldy golden eggs. They spent the next few minutes trying to exin the why and how this would be a great boon for them. He was happy that he could help.


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    ¡°Now , how would I go about getting some stat-increasing potions?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°This depends.¡± Judy said. ¡°First of all on what stats you are trying to increase, and then from what level.¡±


    ¡°Seeing as lower is cheaper, I would be looking to increase my physical stats, that way I can just put most of my leveling stats into vitality and mental ones.¡± I say. ¡°Right now all three are about equal around the 150 mark.¡±


    This remark caused a lot more raised eyebrows as they now had all the information they needed to know I had more than twice the number of stats someone my level usually did.


    ¡°The cheapest way to do this would be to buy Potions of Body Strengthening.¡± Judy said after thinking for a moment. ¡°Since they raise Dexterity Endurance and Strength together it makes them some of the worst selling ones.¡±


    ¡°Howe, I would have thought mages would just have the chance to use potions instead of stats to get their physical stats to a higher level while keeping their free points for their mental ones.¡± Ajax also knew that mages were also heavily invested into by the rich so this would drive prices higher.


    ¡°That¡¯s true but potions only work in intervals. If you want to raise a stat of say 60, you need to use a potion that increases along the line of 50 - 100. The Potions of Body Strengthening are indeed very expensive because mages tend to use them after they reach high enough diminishing returns on just pushing their bodies.¡± She agreed. ¡°But the number of mages looking at physical stats around 150-200 is very low.¡±


    ¡°Physical fighters on the other hand are too specialized, you won¡¯t usually find some that have all three within 50 points of one another so they buy more target potions despite them being pricier.¡± na said. ¡° That and they also would more likely buy the 0 - 50 mental ones and save points that way.¡±


    ¡°We can start looking into getting some for you but I suggest you hold off on taking them until you move on from this city.¡± na said. ¡°Since you will be stuck on the second floor, and you are strong enough to clear it, taking the potions will just make it harder for you to gain Experience. We¡¯ll look to get you no more than 75 stat points worth as well. That way even if you earn some achievements they¡¯ll still work for you.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡± Ajax agreed. Happy that he already sorted out everything with the loot from his first delve he started to rx.


    The rest of the family wasn¡¯t having any of it and started questioning him on what he faced in the second floor of the dungeon. The story drew the appropriate ooh¡¯s and aah¡¯s but following the discussion of the loot everyone saw the elemental''s appearanceing.


    Mention of the pear however drew a lot of interest from both the two merchants as well as Kate. It waste into the evening when he finally finished his retelling of the delve and everyone headed to sleep for the night.


    The following morning saw him following na and Judy to grab the mana crystal he will be filling up. The storehouse they led him to was much smaller than the ones he remembered seeing back when he was ten and came for the first time to the city. It also made sense seeing as they weren¡¯t quite as established as the organization they worked for back then.


    He was also given the stink eye by a few of the employees upon receiving the crystal. They were all also quick to apologize for their rudeness when they learned that he was only borrowing it and his rtion to Judy. Apparently that had thought he was someone extorting something out of their bosses.


    Considering how he was dressed, and the non deferential attitude both girls had towards him he could see why they would think that. After all, they had spent this morning getting him his crystal and arranging for his new armor to be worked on while pushing all their other meetings back.


    Getting everything sorted, and filling out the few forms he needed to say he was an adventurer selling his loot through the two took most of the morning. After a hearty lunch, something he had missed while delving as they only ate for breakfast and dinner, he headed towards the Healing Union.


    ¡°I¡¯m here to see Kate.¡± he said to the receptionist, sticking to the n they hade up with the night before.


    ¡°She hasn¡¯t put you on the list for visiting.¡± she responded after looking through the papers on her desk.


    ¡°I was hoping this would be a surprise.¡± he said as he showed the mana crystal they were going to use.


    ¡°And who are you?¡± she asked, though he could see she was looking for an excuse to let him in.


    ¡°I¡¯m Tom¡¯s brother.¡± That was all it took for him to be waived in.


    ¡°Hi Kate.¡± he approached her as she waited at the table with some of the other healers in training in between patients.


    ¡°Ajax, what are you doing here?¡± she asked, her surprise looked so genuine he wondered if she had any acting skills.


    ¡°Thought I¡¯ll bring you a gift after my first sessful delve.¡± he said as he tossed her the mana crystal.

 Chapter 120

    Chapter 120


    Kate caught the small crystal Ajax lightly tossed to her. Despite this all being nned out she didn¡¯t have to fake the look on her face as she looked at the crystal. It was small and took up less than half her palm but light shone brilliantly off its polished edges. She knew that the amount, transference rate and anything else a mana crystal might do was tied in how it was cut.


    That was not to say that all crystals that did the same thing looked the same. Every crystal started off as a in storage device if it was mined correctly, the cutting and polishing that followed had to be done by someone with the right skills and experience to get a desired effect. The blue gem in her hand looked very much like a small rectangle with the corners shaved off.


    Kate could already see one of the two teachers that were meant to be looking over their work start to make his way over to the group, his eyes fixed on Ajax. She had been a lot more active in the morning than usual and had already run through four hundred points of mana so she started to draw mana from the crystal.


    The feeling of drawing mana was a weird one. As the mana in the crystal was unaspected it left her feeling like someone poured cold water through her veins. Despite this she could feel it settle in her body and start adapting to her own mana, in a few seconds her mana pool went from four hundred to six hundred.


    ¡°What is going on here?¡± the teacher asked.


    ¡°Kate and my brother have been nice enough to put me up at their home until I find myself some different arrangements so I brought her a thank you gift.¡± Ajax said as Kate opened her palms to show the small blue crystal, though it looked much duller now than when it was full of mana.


    ¡°I see, in that case you ca¡­¡± the teacher started herding Ajax out when he interrupted him.


    ¡°Did you already draw it all?¡± Ajax asked as he reached for the crystal.


    ¡°I may have gone through a bit more mana than I usually do this morning, that leg wound was infected and it took a bit out of me to clean it out.¡± Kate didn¡¯t have to make anything up there, she didn¡¯t know how long the stubborn bull bestial had waited beforeing to see a doctor. Had he waited any longer it would have been cheaper to cut off the leg and heal the stump and with the Healing Union when it came to free healing cheaper was always chosen.¡°I thought I told you to get some help on that one¡± the teacher muttered.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t had many chances to work with cleansing wounds so I might have pushed a bit far.¡± Kate looked down at the floor.


    Ajax had picked up the crystal and started flooding it with mana. The process took a little under ten seconds before the crystal was filled with four hundred points of mana. It even changed color to a bright red as it started deaspecting the new resource.


    ¡°Here you go, in about twenty minutes this should be good to go again.¡± he ced it back in her hand. ¡°I can do a couple more if you have some handy.¡±


    The offer had piqued the interest of the others witnessing the exchange. Considering his young age, dumping out four hundred mana wasn¡¯t impressive but offering to dump twelve hundred scaled quickly.


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    ¡°We don¡¯t have crystals for use around here.¡± she said, sticking to the n.


    ¡°I don¡¯t mind sticking around if you want, I got nothing to do today.¡± he said before taking a deep breath and almost choking on it. ¡° Could even count this as training for limating to unpleasant smells.


    Everyone frowned at that. It''s true that sick people didn¡¯t smell particrly nice but it wasn¡¯t to this extent.


    ¡°Teacher, can Ajax stay to refill the crystal?¡± Kate asked.


    ¡°Now Kate you know the rules we have on others learning from us.¡± he started the usual spiel. ¡°If he was willing to sign up to learn it would be a different matter.¡±


    Kate knew that with how little people volunteered in such a backwater ce the Union was always in need of healers who would take the ten year follow up contract.


    ¡°He wouldn¡¯t be learning anything, not only is Ajax an adventurer who came back from his first delve yesterday but he isn¡¯t even a chanting caster.¡± She knew that the second part would be the nail in the coffin for her argument, after all the Healing Union only taught chanting healing.


    ¡°Oh , alright then.¡± the teacher huffed out. ¡°But you have to look after him.¡±


    Herst statement moved him from a potential student to a nobody as far as her teacher was concerned, not only that but their n had worked out wonderfully. The unforeseen problem was the look her two friends were now giving Ajax.


    Both girls were from poor families who had gotten lucky enough to have mana so a young handsome delver was something they would be very much interested in. Considering how physical signs of aging slowed down from stats after the apprentice period they had no way of knowing they were almost a decade older than him, not that it would dissuade them.


    Ajax didn¡¯t pay much attention to anything and let Kate drag him over to her work area where she then brought over an extra chair for him. From there the day had gone very slowly but he was anything but bored.


    The first patient that came in had a rather nasty cut to his arm. In this world doctor-patient confidentiality would make for a good joke but Ajax still stuck with the idea from his old life and tried to tune out anything that didn¡¯t have to do with healing.


    When Kate started working on it he felt a strong current of light mana pour out and over the wound. Unlike when he had used light mana before it didn¡¯t just cover the surface but instead it was infused into the damaged flesh. From there he could feel how it both cleaned the wound as well as started fusing the flesh back together.


    Knowing what he did from his past life he theorized that cleaning out a wound with some alcohol might actually lessen the mana cost when it came to these non-infected wounds but he kept that to himself and would only mention it to Kate in private.


    After the cleaning the mana started moving differently than anything he had seen before. Unlike the other spells he had seen casters throw out this spell didn¡¯t have a set pattern for the mana to follow but nor was it free like his own spells.


    If he had topare it to anything it would be much like aplex racing circuit from his old world. The circuit in itself was much less constrained but the cars followed a specific path when racing. The difficulty most likely came from the healer having to design the track for every procedure.


    It was three hours before something different came in. During this time he had filled up the crystal two more times but he still had over one thousand mana because of his regen. That was when the first case of poisoning came in. It was just a stupid kid who had tried to show off to his friends and chugged down two bottles of hard alcohol.


    The spell this time wasposed of holy mana, unlike light mana holy mana didn¡¯t heal by recreating and elerating the natural healing process. It instead focused on identifying, isting and destroying anything that it identified as an outside agent. The more interesting part of the process had to be the way it revitalized the liver.


    Unlike the light version he could feel that the holy mana was¡¯t recing the damaged parts of the liver with newly grown ones but instead undoing the damage. This did make him wonder if there might be a holy spell that could revive someone after a light spell repaired their body but this wasn¡¯t a question for right now.


    The other thing he noticed was the huge cost associated with casting anything containing holy mana. Despite not having tested out himself he knew that this mana type would be a pain to level, not only because he would have to work with poisoned or infected wounds but also because it would drain his mana like nothing else.


    To make matters worse he also now knew that his glove didn¡¯t have a gem to correspond to this type of mana. He couldn¡¯t say he was all that surprised, after all finding something with holy attributes would have some serious implications but he was also somewhat disappointed in the fact.


    He had refilled the crystal a total of five times in his stay at the clinic before Kate¡¯s shift came to an end. A carefully made request saw him with privileges to apany Kate for the next few days as a mana battery while he waited to be notified of his team''s next delve.

 Chapter 121

    Chapter 121


    The biggest problem Ajax now faced was how was he going to try and adapt the healing magic he analyzed, unlike the other forms of magic he used before this one was a lot easier to mess up and had a much bigger impact than just lighting himself on fire briefly.


    Any actual application would have to wait a while for his mana to regenerate as he was down to one hundred after recharging the mana crystal that final time. Kate on the other hand was very happy with having had three times the mana to practice with, on the way back she even went over the few details of using healing magic that weren¡¯t covered in the deal she signed.


    This pattern of him staying with Kate repeated over the next three days. Despite the teacher¡¯s reluctance to have an outsider staying and listening in on their training there was no justifiable reason to kick Ajax out and with his help Kate mana supply shot through the roof.


    On the fourth day Kate had the day off. This would be the perfect time for Ajax to go hunting. This way he could use the tried and true method of testing anything dangerous on something else before you tried it on yourself.


    Outside the city the first thing he ran into was a wild boar. This was very much reminiscent of the first battle he ever had though the opponent now was so trivial a flick of his wrist would be all it would take to kill it.


    He mercifully knocked out the boar before proceeding to spend the next few hours inflicting all spurts of shallow wounds through different methods. He wanted to be versatile for all types of damage, starting with crushing damage from a hammer, a sh from a sword, a piercing from an arrow to even a tear that ws would inflict.


    He had seen Kate heal all of the different types in thest few days but found he had more sess in dealing with crush and slicing damage than the other two. Most likely because these did the least amount of direct damage to the skin and muscle he was trying to heal.


    By the time his mana ran out he was confident in using light mana to heal any damage that didn¡¯t go past the muscles so long as he was still in one piece. Unlike what he expected it was surprisingly cheap for him to use healing magic on the boar, though he suspected that was because of the low physical stats the boar had.


    It was barely past lunch time when he returned with two boars back to the city. The boars were low level enough that nobody would bother to tax an adventurer for them. Tomorrow he would try his hand at healing some internal organs but for now he had a few questions that Kate might be able to help him, not only that but he was really curious if disinfecting a wound would help reduce mana cost.¡°Hey Kate.¡± he greeted as he all but crashed as he sat down on the chair.


    ¡°Hey Ajax¡± she smiled back ¡°You look just like I do after I get a particrly difficult patient at the end of the shift.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve been trying to figure out how my own take on the healing spells would work. Experimenting with something like that means I run through mana quite quickly.¡± he exined.


    ¡°You were doing what?¡± she all but jumped out of her chair. ¡°That¡¯s really dangerous, something very bad could happen if you don¡¯t know what you are doing.¡±


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    ¡°I know that. It''s why I tested it all out on one of the two boars¡± he pointed to the cer where he stored the meat he butchered. ¡°Today I managed to get a decent idea on how to deal with all types of muscles and skin damage. By the way does the amount of mana required to heal increase depending on the physical stats of the patient?¡±


    Kate had calmed down once he exined the part about using the boar as a guinea pig. As a healer she wasn¡¯t all that happy about the fact that he was experimenting on living beings but she understood that this was the best course of action. Every great discovery came at a cost and Ajax was working on a whole new field of healing magic so that had toe at a price, better it be a few animals in the forest.


    ¡°Yes the amount of mana required does change but the way it does is very specific. Anything to do with your organs and blood is tied to a person¡¯s vitality, since everyone spends a good portion of their stats there it always requires a lot of mana to heal any of those. From there muscles are directly rted to strength, bones and skin to endurance and, oddly enough, joints and blood to dexterity. There is also a corrtion your eyes and ears have to perception but it is much lower so they usually stick to vitality.¡±


    This wasn¡¯t good news but it was definitely something he was expecting. He would still stick to practicing on low-stated creatures so he would get an idea of how aplete spell was supposed to work but he knew doing anything meaningful for himself would cost much more.


    ¡°There is something else I wanted to ask you about. I noticed that all of your spells start off by coating and cleaning the wound.¡± he trailed off there waiting for confirmation.


    ¡°Yes, that''s the first part of any spell. There are numerous records of doctors trying to create spells that skip that step but all have had massive problems with infections.¡± a small shudder went through her at the memory. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t be trying to remove that part. There are plenty of @#$% that we can¡¯t see that form infections.¡±


    The reason she disliked living beings being used as test subjects but understood it was because she had seen exactly what happens when a wound isn¡¯t cleaned on a goat. Initially it was fine but three dayster the leg started to get infected from the inside.


    Ajax assumed that the word he hadn¡¯t heard before was the equivalent of microbes in thisnguage. ¡°I wasn¡¯t nning on doing that. What I was wondering was if there was a way to make spells cheaper by doing most of the cleaning before casting the spell.¡±


    ¡°And how are you nning to do that?¡± She was both cautious and curious about his line of thinking.


    ¡°Well, the process of infections seems really simr to that of food spoiling. It might be simrly cleansed by simr methods.¡± Ajax didn¡¯t have almost any knowledge about infections from his past life, all he knew was what worked so he was now spouting bullshit that would lead to an answer he knew was correct.


    ¡°I¡¯m not saying we should salt or pickle wounds now¡± he quickly followed up once he saw the skeptical look Kate was getting. ¡°But what if something like Alcohol might work to clean out most of the bacteria? After all drinks with a high amount of alcohol in them don¡¯t spoil.¡±


    ¡°That ¡­¡± Kate hesitated a bit before she continued. ¡°I¡¯m not going to say it sounds like a good idea, but the logic is there enough that it might be true. I¡¯ll look into it as a side project, we are encouraged to look into new things while working with the Healing Union¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d be more than happy to help out¡± he started to offer but they were interrupted by a knock at the door.


    Ajax got up and opened the door to find one of the young kids the guild used as messengers throughout the city standing there.


    ¡°I¡¯m looking for an Ajax,¡± the boy said.


    ¡°I¡¯m Ajax¡±


    ¡°Could I see your guild badge sir?¡±


    Ajax was momentarily surprised but he realized that some form of ID would be required to deliver messages from the guild, otherwise anyone could just say that they were Ajax. After he showed the kid his badge a letter was produced for him and the messenger ran off.


    Ajax came back to the table as he read the letter, he initially thought that it might be something official, or that maybe something important was taking ce at the guild or in the city.


    ¡°Something happen?¡± Kate asked.


    ¡°No, just that you¡¯ll only have me for another two days to help out with testing that theory.¡± he shook the piece of paper he received. ¡°This came from the team, in three days we depart for our next delve.¡±


    Ajax was excited to go on another delve. He had enjoyed thest one and couldn¡¯t wait to see what other scenarios the dungeon might throw at them on the next floor. Not only that but the letter had also mentioned that he wasn¡¯t going to be a porter for this next trip.

 Chapter 122

    Chapter 122


    The next morning was spent in a mixture of tracking and healing. Since Kate was going to get the basic framework for a Healing Union project started he was going to keep on training his healing magic. The problem came as he first tried to see what the limitations on healing bloodloss were.


    To say that the test was initially a rather surprising failure would not be an understatement. Much like Kate had already told him, creating something from nothing took a lot of power. Both chanting and runic healing got around that with lengthy chants orplex patterns that would strengthen the mana and help it create. His style of casting couldn¡¯t do any of it, he spent half his mana pool and had little more than a pint of blood to show for it. Not to mention that said pint of blood came from the total of three pigs who all bled out in the four hours.


    For his fourth experiment he changed his angle. Instead of trying to create more blood through the direct healing spell he tried to get the bone marrow to create more. This had mixed results, not the least of the reason for it being that he was mixing the light healing spell with a holy spell to speed up the process.


    He ended up running the test on two more hogs and came to some unfavorable conclusions. First of all regenerating blood would require food, not the biggest of surprises seeing as he was speeding up production and not creating but unlike every game he ever yed in his past life here he also got to deal with the full process. A lot of intake also means a lot of waste, it was astounding how much shit came out of these hogs.


    The waste was not the only problem with his new method however. Speeding up blood production also fried the marrow. From what he could tell after three experiments he would be able to get maybe two thirds of his full blood volume before it would have any immediate detrimental effects on him.


    Other good news was that half his mana now produced more than ten boars worth of blood. Since this process wasn¡¯t tied to the vitality of a patient, though higher-statted people would need either higher quality or quantity of food, he now had a reliable way to recover from blood loss.


    With this all out of the way all that was left for him to test tomorrow would be the more fragile internal and sensory organs.Ajax didn¡¯t bring any of the meat back this time, dealing with all that shit cut his appetite and he left it there to draw predators for tomorrow perhaps that way he could spare the boar poption.


    He did get a few odd looks from the guards that knew him when he returned empty handed but none said anything since they all also knew he was an adventurer now and going out for a few hours just to train was nothing new.


    The n to help Kate with the project nning that afternoon wentpletely out the window. First Tom had also had the day off and Kate hadn¡¯t even been halfway through the boring procedural stuff by the time he returned. Secondly na and Judy had decided to apprehend him for the afternoon, both had been informed of his uing delve and had decided to give him a quick rundown of anything and anything of worth that they could use. They had also informed him that he would be getting him new croc-skin gear tomorrow. A full set of gear despite providing the materials would cost him close to eighty gold, with everything he had gotten from selling his share of the loot he might be able to cover it. That idea got shut down rather quickly, the girls told him the cost was taken care of, while they might not be able to do that for his stat potions, something less than one hundred gold was not a problem for them anymore.


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    On hisst free day he only spent two hours hunting and training his healing. This wasn¡¯t because he wanted more time to rest but simply because he ran through most of his mana in that time. The session also proved highly productive.


    The good news was that he was able to heal the more fragile organs in the body, yes the eyes seemed toe back colorblind, ears and nose also affected hearing and smell but they were repairable. Of the internal organs that was a much longer story.


    Anything to do with the brain and heart was a hard no. Not much of a surprise there anyway and also not something that could benefit him as if he had to heal those for himself he would be dead already. The lunges were doable so long as one half of the lungs were intact and could function somewhat while he healed the damage. While this worked with a patient he knew it wouldn¡¯t be something he could use on himself.


    The other organs were all fixable, at least when it came to direct damage. When it came to poisoning all he could do was remove the toxin, any damage that had been done he wasn¡¯t able to reverse. This also meant that he wouldn¡¯t be able to revert the damage to his bone marrow should he need to speed up blood production. This wasn¡¯t as limiting as it sounded since he knew as long as he got to a proper healer they would be able to revitalize those for him.


    Thinking about dealing with blood also led to him realizing that blood types and transfusions weren¡¯t used in this world, this might be something worth looking into but first he should just see what the reaction to his alcohol project is.


    Returning home he spent the entire afternoon trying to make heads or tails of the way the Healing Union would set up a healing project. Since he wouldn¡¯t be one of the people verifying and only the co-author of the project it didn¡¯t matter all that much, the problem came as he tried to subtly lead Kate to the answer he knew should be correct.


    ¡°Seeing how ale can still spoil, I would guess that the higher the concentration of alcohol the better it would be.¡± he argued. ¡°Not only that but since we aren¡¯t interested in taste we can further distill the drinks past the usual 50% content they have at most.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s something that should be experimented with.¡± Kate argued back. ¡°We¡¯ll be trying out everything from just using water to ale to the hard stuff. Now that you mention it though we could also go above what is normally served, not only that but we should also try some of the mana imbued drinks that are served to higher vitality people.¡±


    This was a part Ajax was unsure about. He didn¡¯t know what effect mana concentration would have, both when dealing with high mana infections and alcohol. He did have a few guesses that a high mana infection would be more resistant to low mana disinfectant but he didn¡¯t know anything about just how efficient things would be and what ratios were at y.


    Their discussion was soon put to the side as Ajax, Kate and Tom all headed out to one of the nicer taverns to meet with his parents as well as Judy and na. As they got there na seemed to be quite in a mood.


    ¡°Should I ask?¡± he whispered to Judy once he was sure na wouldn¡¯t overhear.


    ¡°No, best you stay away from that topic.¡± While her tone didn¡¯t give anything away the way she clenched her teeth told him the problem also affected her as well.


    ¡°Is there something I can do to help?¡± He decided to follow that advice but still wanted to help even if he didn¡¯t need to know the cause.


    ¡°Nothing you can do.¡± she shook her head. ¡°The problem has already been handled, suffice it to say the reason for it was her brother acting entitled because he is the boss''s brother.¡±


    That cleared everything up so he did his best to keep the subject of conversation away from anything rted to that topic for the evening. It wasn¡¯t all that hard to do as once the topic of different sorts of booze was brought up because of the project Kate would be working on everybody had their focus on all the types of drinks Kate would have ess to. Their wless logic being that it had to be tasted first to ensure it was the right stuff.


    Ajax woke up early the next morning. He had learned from his previous trip and now he made himself some tastier food for the trip to the dungeon vige. Travel rations were still the way to go inside the dungeon but he could afford some luxury for an extra two days.


    With all his gear packed and ready he headed out to the meeting spot. As Ajax arrived he noticed that about half the team had already gotten here. The first thing he noticed once he approached the team was the tomboyish girl that was talking to Jones, more specifically the porter bag she was carrying as it was the same one he carriedst time.

 Chapter 123

    Chapter 123


    Ajax P.O.V


    That was definitely different, I didn¡¯t read anything about there being anything out of the ordinary with this delve and yet there was a new person carrying a few of the porter bags and talking to Jones.


    The woman in question looked a lot younger, at leastpared to everyone else on the team she was definitely older than I was, maybe a year or two older than Tom. She was also on the tall side, reaching at least six feet with a solid wide build and rough features.


    As I was pondering her presence here, a man around the same age as her, whose resemnce made me think he is her brother or cousin, definitely rted, walked up and started picking up the rest of the porter bags. He was as tall as I was but where my body was more lean he was much bulkier, he had a full beard and the same rough features as the woman.


    ¡°More new people Jones?¡± I heard Bobby¡¯s voice from behind me, the sound of two pairs of heavy boots let me know his twin brother was also with him. ¡°We just picked Ajax up not two weeks ago.¡±


    I tried not to show how d I was that I wasn¡¯t the only one not in the know about the new people that were apparently joining us.


    ¡°They won¡¯t be sticking around.¡± Nelly answered and Jones just turned around to continue talking to the two.


    ¡°Alright then, what¡¯s their story?¡± Donny asked, I liked that he was more on the paranoid side like me than his brother.


    ¡°They¡¯re both children of a Knight¡± she said and I saw both Donny and Bobby wince. I didn¡¯t have the experience needed for this to affect me but I had heard quite a few stories on the way to the dungeon to exin their reaction. Before I had proven myself useful I was brow beaten with all sorts of stories where they were saddled with ipetent nobles.


    ¡°It''s not that bad¡± she said as she lowered her voice to a whisper, most likely not wanting to have the two people in question overhear. ¡°They are the first generation of a Kingdom Knight.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s a Kingdom Knight?¡± I whispered back. I knew that knights were the lowest of the nobles, any baron could grant amoner a knighthood which is why most nobles considered baron the lowest level of nobility with a knight being a halfway mark between them andmoners.


    ¡°There are two ways to gain knighthood.¡± Nelly turned to me to exin. ¡°The mostmon one is that a noble finds you useful and bestows it upon you. The other one is for the members of the military, after at least ten years of distinguished service with at least two minor aplishments and one major one, a soldier at the rank of captain or higher can be granted a knighthood.¡±


    ¡°Yeah yeah, the main difference is that the Kingdom Knights are recognised as nobility everywhere unlike the normal ones who only have that right in the region where the person who knighted them is based. Save the lesson forter, why are they joining?¡± Bobby impatiently waved her on.


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    ¡°Fine¡± Nelly rolled her eyes at Bobby. ¡°Their father decided to leave the service of a baron to join the retinue of the Viscount in charge of our region, with them being around level thirty four they wanted a boost for the first floor.¡±


    Both Donny and Bobby smiled as they nodded and moved towards the pair to drop off some of their things for our new porters. Nelly instead continued to exin things to me.


    ¡°The reason they aren¡¯t as reserved about them is because, generally, Kingdom Knights are soldiers first and nobles second, almost all of them teach their children properly and don¡¯t let them get a big head about nobility and all that.¡± she said.


    ¡°Now where was I on the Kingdom Knights? Oh, yes, because they gained their knighthood through military distinction they have an easier time moving up to a baron position. Not only that but whatever lord they work under is also given certain tax benefits. It''s all just a giant incentive to get talented military people who retire from active duty in a position to lead should a war start.¡±


    I nodded. I could also see the appeal, if I was a baron I would also want to employ a knight that was a distinguished soldier and came with a tax break for me.


    ¡°What''s a boost?¡± I then asked, though I figured since they were level thirty four they wouldn¡¯t be much use on the second floor unless they had a lot of achievements.


    ¡°A boost just means that they will be tagging along with us for the duration of the delve. They won¡¯t take part in any of the fighting on the second floor but will be our defense priority. It¡¯s one of the easiest ways to make money since it''s pure profit.¡± she said


    ¡°People are willing to pay a lot just to join a delve and watch for experience?¡± I asked.


    ¡°That¡¯s not what they are mainly paying for. Yes there is a bit extra in there for them to get to watch what a real delve done by experienced people looks like but most of the money is for the pass that is included.¡±


    ¡°And a pass is?¡± Hatchet always told me that he wasn¡¯t going to teach me about anything Adventuring specific besides how to do the actualbat and knowledge on monster types but it seems there was a lot of information I was missing. He said the main reason was that exining everything would lose me a few discoveries.


    ¡°A pass is a way for them to gain stats. You found out that for every floor you pass that is around your level you gain stats right?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Yes.¡± I nodded.


    ¡°Thing is, unlike you, most people can¡¯t clear out the floor they move on to while they are at the level to gain stats for the previous one. The exception to this is maybe the five level jump dungeon at the capital.¡±


    ¡°Nobles and rich merchants havee up with a way around this. A pass is basically joining a stronger team, like they are doing, and we will let them fight the boss protecting the arch to the second floor. That way when they go through it they have enough contribution to earn the stats upgrade. After that they just set up camp near the arch and wait until the team clears the floor to leave.¡±


    ¡°Couldn¡¯t they just leave straight away?¡± I asked, after all, why would they stick around.


    ¡°That is a safety measure, if they left they would just be detained until the team returned. It¡¯s done like that to catch assassins who try to kill people in the dungeon and leave no evidence.¡±


    ¡°All right, everyone is here.¡± Jones called out. ¡°Everyone meet Jaclyn and Devin, they¡¯ll be our porters for this delve.¡±


    Some of the members who just arrived had a few grumbledints much like they did with me but the others in the know seemed to exin their status as children of a Kingdom Knight and their mood improved.


    With that we were all ready to go and we headed off towards the dungeon.


    ¡°You here for a pass?¡± Devin asked me once we were on the road.


    ¡°Me?¡± I was surprised at the odd question. ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Then howe you aren¡¯t a porter?¡±


    ¡°Ajax here is a member of the team.¡± Jones cut in.


    ¡°How is that? He¡¯s only level twenty-six.¡± Jaclyn asked as she frowned towards me. ¡°Not only that but he can¡¯t be older than seventeen, maybe eighteen.¡±


    ¡°I -¡± I started to defend myself but didn¡¯t get a chance.


    ¡°You¡¯ll see the answer to that once we get to the second floor of the dungeon. I will remind you though that you did both sign contracts to keep any information you discover about anyone on the team confidential.¡± he paused there before continuing. ¡°This doesn¡¯t just cover information you see in the dungeon but at any point since you joined the team.¡±


    Despite me not being so paranoid ever since I knew that nobles knew about my magic for a while and yet nothing happened I was still relieved to hear anything more specific wouldn¡¯t be spreading after this delve.

 Chapter 124

    Chapter 124


    The journey to the dungeon was moving slower than it didst time. Ajax soon learned that one of the things that buying a pass or a boost got you was a certain level offort. Despite being more than able to push through for two days without rest at a decent speed the trip there would take a full three days with them making stops for the night at the same ces they did on their way backst time.


    Having not much to do on the road beside ying with his mana Ajax also inspected the bags split between the two new members of the team. It took him a while to realize that he was suddenly very grateful for not having to be the sole porter for the team as with all the new things the team brought with them this time he would have to be constantly using his mana to carry it all.


    Ajax didn¡¯t know that the reason there was so much new stuff wasn¡¯t because the team went on a shopping spree. It was because both of the porters had brought their own armor and weapons, not only that but they were also full te fighters.


    ¡°So what did you do in thest few days?¡± the team¡¯s scout asked him after he had gone through the whole team with the same question.


    The interactions from the rest of the team was a lot different this time around than theirst trip out to the dungeon. The answers varied wildly, from a simple ¡®just rxed¡¯ to a ¡®I remember going to a bar to drink that first night and waking up four dayster, you¡¯ll probably get a fuller picture of what happened listening to rumors on the street than I can recall¡¯.


    Bobby answer , ¡°A gentleman never tells.¡± followed by an in depth description of his conquests had a variety of reactions but all the members seemed used to his attitude. One of the archer¡¯s never-ending gushing about how cute his new nephews were had everyone ring at the scout for subjecting them to all of it, Ajax had never been more d photos weren¡¯t a thing here yet.


    ¡°I rxed for the first few days and helped out my sister-inw with some mana. Then I did some light hunting before I got word about the delve.¡± he answered, seeing no need to keep it hidden.


    ¡°You can give others your mana?¡± Nelly asked in a serious tone, considering the implications this was one of the things he should have told his team about. It also drew the attention of everyone else.


    ¡°Nope.¡± he answered but decided to expand when he saw the gazes turned his way. ¡°I told you my sister and her friend are traders. They happen to be looking for buyers for one or two mana crystals they acquired so they let me borrow one that deaspects the mana you feed it. Not like I can wear it out or anything.¡± ¡°Never heard of any traders that would allow a mage to take their merchandise on a firing range to practise, family or not.¡± Donny said, his tone making it clear it was a joke about merchants and not an implication.


    ¡°They probably wouldn¡¯t either,¡±he snickered along with the rest. ¡°Kate¡¯s a healer in training with the Union.¡±


    ¡°Kate the feline beastkin?¡± Nelly asked.


    ¡°Yeah, do you know her?¡± Kate never mentioned knowing anyone from his team before.


    ¡°Not directly, my son is a few years ahead of her in the Union training and he had her as an understudy a few times.¡± Despite the thousands of people in the city there were few mages, of them those that were training to be healers were a small minority so they formed a smallmunity.


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    Seeing as they would only be traveling for the next two days most of the team didn¡¯t head off to sleep straight away. Ajax had been messing around with his mana all day so he was tired enough to go straight to sleep.


    The next morning saw more than half the team with hangovers as they started back on the road. As the journey continued Ajax noticed that Devin had gotten more included in the group dynamic. He was one of the ones with the worst hangover that morning so clearly he had bonded with the other over drinks.


    When the second night went much like the first Ajax could have sworn he saw the vein in Jones temple throbbing the next morning. Despite that he said nothing at all until they reached the dungeon vige when he gave the lot of them a stern talking to about not drinking before heading to a dungeon, despite the usual team discipline Devin just seemed to have this social way about him and clearly wasn¡¯t as informed about dungeons.


    On the third morning however everyone had a serious expression as they headed off towards the clearing that housed the dungeon arch. It wasn¡¯t long before they entered the same wide open space filled with other adventurers all waiting for their turn. A section Ajax hadn¡¯t noticedst time was the merchants that had opened a stall on the far side.


    ¡°I can¡¯t imagine those merchants making any decent profits. Whoes unprepared to a dungeon and gets their supplies from them?¡± he asked.


    ¡°The things they brought with them aren¡¯t for selling¡± Nelly told him. ¡°They are here to get the first chance to buy things from adventurers right as they exit the dungeons. All their merchandise is there in case they need to do a trade with a team instead of an outright buy.¡±


    Now that he knew her husband was a trader it made a lot more sense as to why Nelly was so well informed on pretty much everything. A few days with his sister and na saw his head filled with lots of fun facts about whatever market they were exploring, being married to a merchant and having the memory of a mage would eventually turn someone into a walking encyclopedia.


    Things developed much likest time with all sorts of teamsing to give Jones a small list of things they had exclusive contracts for. Being the recognised best delver team around with years spent here meant they had a lot of teams they got along with.


    One thing that was different was that nobody made any jokes about them carrying the two new porters, Ajax suspected that this was because of the matching shields they now sported that showed what Ajax assumed to be their family sigil.


    ¡°Looks like it¡¯s the third iteration.¡± the scout announced not more than a minute after they entered the first floor.


    ¡°Fuck sake.¡±


    ¡°Not again.¡±


    ¡°This is the third time in thest ten runs.¡±


    Even Ajax groaned along with the rest of the team. Out of every iteration only the third one had a consistent patch of trees, in the same spot, that weren¡¯t infused with mana. As such the baron had enough leeway to not only have an exclusive buyout on them, even if it was at market prices, but there was a standing order that all second floor teams were to harvest.


    Everyone understood why this was done, they all even agreed it was a good thing as the wood was used to build longsting houses for the city and the surrounding viges. It wasn¡¯t even all that time consuming. The problem was that it was a logistical nightmare, there were quite a few trees that were collectable and they would not only take up a lot of space but also add a lot of weight that had to be carried for the entire trip to the second floor.


    ¡°There are three bosses around the area with the trees so the two of you will have your pick of the bunch.¡± Jones informed the two porters.


    The archers, hunters and scouts made quick work of everything that happened to be in their way, Ajax never even got to see a live animal the whole trip through the trees.


    ¡°There is a bear, a fox and a wolf boss.¡± the scout exined to the duo after they got on their armor as everyone else got to work chopping trees. ¡°There is no point in choosing to fight the bear, it''s the strongest of the three by far. The real choicees down to what you¡¯ll do better against: a faster but weaker foe take the fox, otherwise the wolf.


    ¡°We¡¯ll fight the fox.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll fight the wolf¡±


    Both of them spoke at the same time eliciting augh from most of the team. After a quick staredown Devin seemed to go with Jaclyn¡¯s choice of fighting the fox.


    ¡°I was also hoping¡± Jaclyn started while approaching Jones ¡°could I also ask you to evaluate me against the wolf boss after?¡±


    ¡°This wasn¡¯t part of the deal,¡± he stated.


    ¡°I know¡± she sheepishly answered ¡°I¡¯ll cover the extra co-.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not about the cost¡± Jones cut her off. ¡°I don¡¯t mind doing it so long as your dad or anyone else doesn¡¯t have a problem with it after the fact.¡±


    ¡°He won''t,¡± she shook her head. ¡°He only said that if I want to do some adventuring on the side it will all be without his name propping me up. That¡¯s why it isn¡¯t part of the main request, so it won;t influence it in any way.¡±


    For the first time since he joined the Collectors Ajax saw Jones nces at one of the hunters, the woman gave him a shallow nod that led Ajax to think she had a truth detecting skill. He also thought back to a few times when they asked him questionsst time and noticed that she was always out of his line of sight which made him thankful for some of the ¡®technically truthful¡¯ answers he gave.

 Chapter 125

    Chapter 125


    Ajax made quick work of his cutting, his lumberjack skill getting some prolonged work for the first time in years. He had to admit he was rather curious about the two tag VIP¡¯s they were escorting. ording to their scout all three of the bosses in this area had spawned at their maximum level of thirty-seven.


    Any decent adventurer would have no problem in dealing with a creature one or two levels above them by himself. The only reason that people didn¡¯t attempt dungeons solo was that you could quickly get overrun or ambushed.


    He was also interested in just how strong nobles were, what he saw during the skirmish was a very small sample size and it pulled in two directions. The two young casters he had seen could keep up with mages that were a few levels higher than them whereas the others struck him as just average. Of course all of this was if you looked at it in terms of their level, as far as he could tell the biggest advantage nobles had was that they got to the higher levels a lot quicker thanmoners.


    As the two heavily armored nobles approached the fox Ajax thought it should be an even fight. While they had a numerical advantage from the looks of things both of them were focused on heavy armor with shields and a one-hander, this was a bad match-up against a fox. Foxes were not only a speed focused creature but they also relied on hit and run tactics.


    The fight started much like he expected with them charging the fox and getting nowhere as it just backed up then started running circles around them. Despite its speed however the fox couldn¡¯t manage to connect with a single bite or scratch. It took the two of them less than a minute to adapt and use their numerical advantage to quickly deal with the fox.


    Ajax was very interested in their fighting style. While he could tell that his individual weapon skills were around the same levels their movements seemed to flow better as they seamlessly moved from one strike into the next.


    The second fight was the more interesting one, a few more members of the team came to watch this one vs one with the wolf. Unlike the fox the initial shield charge here proved effective as it allowed Jaclyn tond a heavy axe strike to one of the wolf¡¯s hind legs.


    The wolf didn¡¯t just give up however. Wolves were particrly annoying creatures, their fighting style focused on bleeding out their enemy until it was forced to flee before starting the chase, in a dungeon this meant that while a wolf was always on the lookout for a killing blow it mostly targeted the legs and arms.


    The fight yed out in a slug fest, despite the armor the wolf managed to get a bite and swipe in but paid dearly for both. It all ended when Jaclyn baited the wolf into biting down on her armored forearm, she swapped her axe to her shield arm while dragging her arm back. With the exposed neck she drove the axe down and almost decapitated the wolf in a single strike.With the battle over Ajax went over to the two arches the bosses were protecting and tried to see what his [Mana Syphon] could gleam from them. The two he felt were very different, one contained a very strong presence of water mana with a dash of wind, the other was a strong earth mana with a light shadow presence.


    When Jones asked the team which of the two arches they would rather go for he steered them towards the earth one. The single most hated biome for dungeon floors was the multiple small inds in a vast sea he wanted to lower the chances of running into it. It wasn¡¯t umon for teams to simply give up on the theme and simply eat the penalty of having a full floor break when they encountered it. Even the guild was understanding and simply charged them a fee and forced them to ept a few of the more unwanted missions they had in their backlog.


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    Jaclyn P.O.V


    The scratches and bite marks from the wolf itched something fierce but I was used to it. I was happy with how the fight went. The nod I got from Jones after it was all over suggested that I would have a solid rmendation.


    I knew that despite already having earned my membership to the guild, that was the simple part of working as a solo adventurer. Nobody delved alone, despite that there were more than a few adventurers who didn¡¯t have a set team, instead they just joined as extra manpower for specific missions or delves.


    These types of adventurers were known as mercenary adventurers, teams usually contracted them when trying to tackle something that was dangerous. Mercenary adventurers lived and died by their reputation, nobody would risk working with you otherwise which is why a rmendation from a strong team was so important to me starting out.


    Fighting the fox in a one vs one would have been much simpler for me. The issue there was that I couldn¡¯t use almost any of my skills. The entire fight would have just boiled down to me ousting its stamina. My speed was too slow to attempt anything else without putting myself at risk. Despite getting hit a few times, the fight with the wolf let me show a lot more.


    As we were transported to the second floor I got the system message that my achievement was updated and all my stats were raised by one point. The floor we ended up in plunged us into total darkness. I quickly panicked, not being able to see anything.


    ¡°Stand ready, light a few of themps.¡± Jones'' voice was calm and authoritarian.


    The space we were in was quickly filled with a warm yellow light. From the looks of things we were in a cave or tunnel seeing as there was a rocky ceiling above us, despite this it didn;t feel cramped as the tunnel was wide enough for five or six of us to walk through side by side.


    ¡°This feels like abyrinth floor boss.¡± the scout called out.


    ¡°Great¡­¡± Jones let out a tired sigh. ¡°Get in formation, also start drawing a map, we won''t just be relying on memory for this.¡±


    Labyrinth floors, especially those in a cavework setting were very prizing on whether people hated or liked them. The sometimes tight spaces, frequent traps andck of light were certainly inconvenient. Theck of flying enemies, ease of funnelingrge groups through a choke point and potential of valuable metals that could be mined out did a lot to even out their down sides.


    Both Devin and I were in the center of the formation. From here on out we were only going to observe and carry the bags, next to us was the team''s mage and the low leveled young man, his name was Ajax I think. My level inspecting skill let me know he was only level twenty-six but from there I had a lot of questions.


    First was why was he wearing a set of leather armor? My sense mana skill let me know that he was a caster, despite that however he still shouldn¡¯t be delving in the second floor and definitely not wearing leather armor. The only theory of why they would take him to the second floor at such a level was that he was a healer. Abat healer could quickly level by delving above their level and getting their contribution by healing the group but he hadn¡¯t tried to heal mine of Devin¡¯s wounds.


    The next one was, if he wasn¡¯t a healer and I suspect he wasn¡¯t, how had he joined the group. Devin found out that he had also recently joined them but that was as much as he got. My final and most burning question however was how did he level so quickly. He couldn¡¯t be more than neen years old and he was already level twenty-six, that was a speed only seen with the talented children of viscounts, members of a ducal house or royalty.


    As we moved through the tunnel heading further and further away I could see Ajax already sketching out a map. It wasn¡¯t at all surprising seeing as how the key to getting higher levels quicker was by unlocking and using as many skills as possible.


    Dad frequentlyined about how nobles kept their superiority even if he understood why it was necessary. One of the things all nobles kept to themselves was how the Child trait had a hidden effect of lowering the requirements for gaining skills. They in fact actively pushed the image that getting skills during childhood wasn¡¯t all that important tomoners while getting as many skills for their children. Then they would lean on all those skills to gain experience faster.


    One of the tried and true methods was for children of nobles to unlock as many social skills as possible. It was why they hosted a party any time they had an excuse to do so. The more social skills a child could get the further and quicker they would level.


    My brother was a great example of this, he had gotten quite a few more social skills than I did. We were still very young, at leastpared to how old people who were born in nobility would get, but he had already risen two levels above me. This is why I want to be a mercenary adventurer in the first ce, to have a way to supplement the experience I lost out on by not being suited to social skills.

 Chapter 126

    Chapter 126


    Jaclyn P.O.V


    The tunnel we were heading down was split off into two different pathways. We didn¡¯t have any reason to rush but since both tunnels looked the same and they didn¡¯t want to send off their scout more than a hundred feet they decided to just go right. Unlike the main tunnel we wereing from this was a lot tighter, not so much in its width but its height.


    Whereas before all the ceiling really represented was protection from flying creatures now it stood two feet above my head, and I was one of the lucky ones. Both of their heavy te warriors and my brother had less than a foot clearance, they could even make a decent hop without hitting their heads.


    ¡°I see fire up ahead.¡± the scout reported.


    ¡°Ajax, make sure they don¡¯t see us if they haven¡¯t already.¡± Jones called out.


    I am not sure what Ajax did but all of a sudden our torches only lit up a perfect sphere around us as if the light refused to travel any further. Despite having gone into a dungeon before with a total of three different groups my father set up, and with those groups being units belonging to noble houses, none of their mages seemed to have a spell that did something like this. The most shocking thing however was that Ajax wasn¡¯t covering his mouth, not only that but his jaw never moved.


    I had seen all of his gear and knew he didn¡¯t have any runic items, all he had was an enchanted bracer and if I recognised the rune correctly it was for some form of shield. It wasn¡¯t umon to see mages with such enchantments in case they ever ran out of mana but that then begged the question of not only how he casted the spell but also how he did it so quickly.


    ¡°No ambush behind so far.¡± the scout called out as he moved to the back following identifying a fire source up ahead.


    ¡°It¡¯s a kobold patrol group up front.¡± This was the first time I had heard Ajax speak, his voice was quiet but it traveled. ¡°The two torch holders are mages.¡± I both envied and pitied Ajax. Much like hisck of social skills his poor background also showed in his high Perception stat. Perception was a stat that nobles almost never invested in, rather choosing to raise it with practice until level forty or fifty and with potions afterwards. That also meant that my perception was sitting at forty-four and I could barely see two sources of light up ahead, let alone that they were kobolds and had mages with them.


    As we continued to approach the patrol the team readied forbat, I also picked up how the light spell that surrounded us worked, it apparently created a bubble around us that wouldn¡¯t allow light to exit,


    Mages had long since worked out that for something or someone to see they needed the light that bounced off the target to reach their eyes. Whatever this spell was it allowed light to enter, meaning we could see outside but didn¡¯t allow it to leave meaning nobody could see us. I wonder just how expensive it was to keep active.


    ¡°They have an assassin wandering around.¡± the scout said ¡°it¡¯s stealth isn¡¯t that high I can handle it.¡±


    ¡°Seems they have a solid frontline. Getting to their mages won¡¯t be easy.¡± the massive shield bearer said.


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    ¡°Have the rangers focus on the caster at the back, I¡¯ll take out the other one if Nelly can buy me a few seconds.¡± Ajax said.


    ¡°You sure?¡± Jones asked.


    ¡°Yeah, I need to keep pushing myself.¡± Ajax answered. ¡° We¡¯ll all be heading towards the capital in less that a year but I won¡¯t have a team then, need to get as many levels as I can.¡±


    He certainly wasn¡¯t wrong about that, if he wanted any team to not dismiss him out of hand near the capital he needed to be at least level thirty. The capital had the most active adventurer presence in the kingdom, not only because of the two dungeons there but also because of the high amounts of rich nobles that needed all sorts of different jobs done.


    This also meant that their adventurers were very segregated. Unlike in other ces the adventurers near the capital always had plenty of people of their own power level that they didn¡¯t need to carry someone weaker just because they filled a niche role. The only exception was healers.


    ¡°Fine, go for it.¡± Jones sighed. ¡°Just don¡¯t get yourself killed, everyone else, look out for friendly fire.¡±


    I knew better than to ask a question right as they were preparing to engage but why would friendly fire be a concern?


    I didn¡¯t get more than two seconds to ponder as a shriek filled the tunnel. It seems our scout had found the kobold assassin andnded a good blow. Next thing I knew Ajax turned into a blur and he was gone. My eyes couldn¡¯t even properly track him in the weak lighting, only catching up with him once he was already slicing an axe towards the head of the kobold caster.


    That was unbelievable to me. His physical stats had to be over two hundred for him to move like that. For him to have such high physical stats as well as his earlier Perception meant that he would have a total of 1000 stats. This was already something nearly unheard of outside the heirs to the ducal houses or the royal family at level twenty-six.


    The more shocking thing was that he ssified himself as a mage, this was easily seen as his axe instantly left a trail of frostbite where it bit into the kobolds shoulder. Even if his mental stats were all around one hundred he would have thirteen hundred stats at level twenty-six. A normal adventurer might have close to seven hundred and fifty.


    I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned to re at my brother. Couldn¡¯t he see that I was focusing on something? Before I couldy into him he pointed out my mistake. I had been so captivated by the young adventurer that I hadn¡¯t even been paying attention around me, if any of the kobolds had targeted me I would have ended up a sitting duck.


    Taking more care of my surroundings I turned back to analyze Ajax¡¯s fighting style. I had no chance of figuring out anything about his use of magic so I focused on his physical fighting. Taking a close look at his axe swings I was surprised by what I found.


    Each individual strike was meticulous, efficient and deadly, if I was to guess I would put his skill somewhere in the low thirties simr to my own weapon skills. But from what I could see all the most he had at Umon level was [Precise Blow], by no means a bad skill but he clearlycked a style skill.


    Style skills were some of the easiest skills to pick up as well as some of the least prevalent when it came to adventurers. This mostly came down to the skills being picked up almost exclusively by having someone who already had the skill teach it to you. Both me and my brother had picked up [Knight¡¯s Swordy] and [Knight¡¯s Shieldwork] by having our father beat the rare skills into us from a young age.


    As I watched the kobold mage¡¯s head fall from it¡¯s shoulders I turned my attention to the rest of the team. It was easy to see how he was the odd man out for them. Where Ajax engaged the kobold in a one versus one the rest of the team worked together to cut apart the rest of the kobolds in the same amount of time despite an almost two to one disadvantage in numbers.


    I couldn¡¯t help but keeping back to Ajax. If I was to fight him in a straight up physical battle, I would be confident of winning,my fighting style giving me an edge so long as he didn¡¯t have an advantageous environment to abuse my low Perception stat, but it would still be close. Once magic got added to the mix however I was under no illusion that I would stand a chance, this despite me having a six level advantage.


    ¡°No bosses among them¡± Nelly said the caster didn¡¯t look pleased at this. ¡°I think we might have a den situation, maybe a vige.¡±


    I suppressed a shudder at the news. Dens and viges sometimes showed up in dungeons when a semi-intelligent race like kobolds, goblins or orcs were part of the floor. Dens or viges were formed by having multiple boss enemies staying together in one area. This meant there would be much fewer bosses traveling with patrolls or hunting parties but it promised a dangerous fight.


    Not only that but dens and viges also got quite a few adventurer parties killed. As with everything the System rewarded challenge, dens and viges always rewarded teams that cleared them, they always contained at least one resource that could be taken out of the dungeon. Now whether it be metal, cloth, leather, jewels or something else it depended on the speciase and your luck. Many adventurers overestimated themselves in their greed and died to the numerous bosses guarding the loot.

 Chapter 127

    Chapter 127


    Ajax was happy with his fight against the kobold. Despite having to use [Mana Syphon] on a high (medium if you consider the ambient mana) consumption rate he managed to dispatch the caster quickly.


    ¡°Is a den or vige exactly what it sounds like?¡± he asked Nelly.


    ¡°Pretty much, they also act like a tavern for bosses which makes them a pain to deal with.¡± she said happily.


    ¡°If that¡¯s the case why do you sound so happy?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°Because they alwayse with some good prime crafting materials we can take with us.¡± she grinned.


    ¡°If there are no mana cores or anything else of value then let''s get moving¡± Jones called out.


    ¡°Assassin had poisoned blow darts, if anyone wants to use them for this run.¡± The scout held them out to our rangers.


    ¡°Looks like a nerve toxin not a hemorrhagic one.¡± one of the ragers examining the darts said. ¡°I¡¯ll take them, poisons carried by semi-intelligent races usually work on most anything else on the floor. Who knows when we might need to paralyze something.¡±


    With that the entire team got back into formation and continued moving down the tunnel. Unlike before however Devin now seemed very interested in Ajax, Jaclyn was much more so but none of them could tell thanks to her more anti-social behavior. ¡°You said your name was Ajax?¡± Devin started the conversation.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Ajax confirmed.


    ¡°That was quite something back there.¡± he nodded back down the tunnel from where they wereing. ¡°I honestly expected you to be a healer or something considering you¡¯re only level twenty-six. Boy was I wrong.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, I guess.¡± Ajax awkwardly answered, he wasn¡¯t used to chatting like this with people he didn¡¯t know. Devin¡¯s always upbeat, happy go lucky attitude was also something he didn¡¯t have a lot of experience with.


    ¡°I have to say despite having eight levels on you I don¡¯t think I stand a chance against you.¡± heplimented Ajax. ¡°Your style is also very interesting to me, it seems like a mix of magic and physical.¡±


    Ajax just nodded at that, it was something that was very easy to see.


    ¡°My sister might have a chance against you if you weren¡¯t using magic but I doubt I could take you.¡± he just kept a conversation going by himself. ¡°She¡¯s more the fighter out of the two of us.¡±


    ¡°I might have gotten ahead of her in levels thanks to all the social skills I picked up, but I haven¡¯t managed to win a single round in sparring her in thest two years.¡±


    Ajax was about to correct him that without his magic he probably couldn¡¯t even win against Devin. He barely stopped himself in time realizing that doing so would mean having to exin [Mana Syphon].


    He wasn¡¯t sure what it was about Devin but something was making him want to talk with the man. It wasn¡¯t anything like a mental attack but more along the lines of how merchant skills helped you find a proper selling or buying price. He guessed that this was from the social skills he mentioned having, but Ajax marked as someone who he¡¯d have to watch himself around.


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    ¡°That light spell was also quite odd.¡± Devin just pushed on. ¡°I can¡¯t cast spells myself but I have been in three different dungeon runs before this and none of the mages in those groups had a spell like that. I have to say it¡¯s very convenient.¡±


    ¡°Not as convenient as an axe.¡± Bobby joined in.


    ¡°I have to admit that that two-handed axe of yours really is something as well.¡± Devin moved on to talk with the ted front-liner.


    ¡°Sorry about him,¡± Jaclyn whispered to Ajax. ¡°He has a lot of social skills and is used to being surrounded by other nobles who have them and want to raise them.¡±


    All Ajax could do was nod at this. He could see the upside in leveling some social skills but even if they were easy to get he already dreaded having to level them. The entire team came to a stop in front of a dead end. Embedded into the wall of the cavern was a decently sized chunk of copper ore.


    ¡°Alright, looks like the den is most likely to contain some metal of sorts.¡± the scout said.


    ¡°I¡¯m hoping it¡¯s gold or tinum.¡± Bobby chimed in.


    ¡°Might as well hope one of their mages messes up a spell and blows up half their forces.¡± Nelly muttered. ¡°You¡¯ll have equal chances of it happening.¡±


    ¡°Why is that?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°Nobody knows why, but anything at silver level or higher in terms of value, when talking metals of course, doesn¡¯t spawn in the dungeon. It has only been rumored to have happened twice in thest twenty years in this kingdom.¡±


    ¡°Then how is high quality armor made?¡±


    ¡°From natural deposits.¡± Jaclyn answered. ¡° Gryndor''s main export is actually high quality tinum. The current Goldmacer family earned their title inrge part due to the deposit their patriarch found more than four hundred years ago.¡±


    Ajax appreciated the information. He also promised himself to have Judy and na give him a few lessons about who owned what in terms or resources near the capital before he traveled there. That information might just end up being more useful than learning his bootlegged version of healing magic if he gets the wrong attention.


    The entire team turned back around and continued onwards in the other tunnel at the fork. They didn¡¯t encounter anything in the tunnel for over an hour before it opened up into arge cavern.


    ¡°There is something on the ceiling.¡± Nelly gave out a warning. ¡°I can feel some magic.¡±


    Ajax also felt the magic but he didn¡¯t quite recognise why it felt slightly familiar. As he was trying to work out where he noticed magic like this before the group came under assault from the mana infused sonic attack of the bats.


    The attack caught them all by surprise. Unlike Ajax and the two nobles however this wasn¡¯t the first time the team had been exposed to sonic attacks from bats. They weren¡¯t stunned and showed why they were one of the best teams in Lessis, before Ajax even recovered from the sonic attack all of the bats were already dead.


    Despite this Ajax felt a much fainter pulse of mana from behind one of the rangers. He also remembered now why it seemed so familiar. He didn¡¯t waste a moment and tossed his spear as hard as he could while also infusing the tip with ice. He managed to nail the vampire in the throat before he could bite down on his teammate.


    Even though the vampire was a boss, their intrinsic weakness carried through. Without having been given a chance to feed it could barely ess half the power his level should have and didn¡¯t even manage to get up after taking the spear hit.


    With the immediate threat taken care of Ajax got to work using his recently learned healing magic. All he was doing was patching up his own ear drums after the number those bats pulled on them. Just like he expected, even that small amount of damage still ate a good two hundred mana from him to fix.


    ¡°Hey cool, a vampire boss.¡± Devin was yelling, the sonic attack from the bats clearly having done a number on his ears as well.


    The young knight didn¡¯t get a chance to say anything else before his sister mmed her palm over his mouth before pointing to her ears. Devin wasn¡¯t an idiot so he caught on quickly to what she meant, not only that but he also had the good sense to blush for the outburst.


    ¡°Sorry.¡± he got out in a reasonable volume. ¡°If you don¡¯t have a buyer lined up any chance I can take the fangs?¡±


    ¡°What are the fangs good for?¡± Ajax asked Nelly.


    ¡°Profit.¡± The greedy scout was rubbing his palms in anticipation.


    ¡°Nothing¡± Nelly followed up. ¡°But vampires'' fangs are one of the many parts that are useless but look intimidating enough for nobles to collect them.¡±


    ¡°Boss, found an alcove over there¡± the scout pointed to a side of the massive open cavern. ¡°It''s going to be a bit of a tight fit with so many of us but I think it¡¯s our best choice for setting up camp for today.¡±


    ¡°I got the bat corpse,¡± Donny said, picking out the biggest of the bats from the floor.


    ¡°Has it got a monster core?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°No.¡± Donny responded.


    ¡°Most of the times when vampires are present in the dungeon they aren¡¯t bosses.¡± Jones started exining for once and even the nobles looked interested, this wasn¡¯t some general knowledge Ajax was missing.


    ¡°That means that they report to a boss version of the bats, most likely. Since we are dealing with a den or a vige, the n is to throw the corpse on one of their fires. With any luck there will be a horde of bats hanging around above.¡±


    ¡°With the vampires being intelligent enough they¡¯ll recognise the smell of one of their own being burned and report it to the boss. After that the boss will react instinctively and we might get them to fight each other and we only clean up what is left.¡±

 Chapter 128

    Chapter 128


    For the next three days the team roamed the cave system clearing out and mapping the whole ce. They ran into a lot more bats and kobold patrols but didn¡¯t manage to find any other monster speciase on the entire floor. They also managed to locate where the den was on this floor. They also didn¡¯t manage to locate the obelisk but ording to the map they had they assumed it was in the den.


    ¡°I think it¡¯s still best to just sneak our way to the obelisk and activate it.¡± Donny argued as they were nning how to handle what they thought were thest few monsters.


    ¡°I disagree,¡± the scout said. ¡° Too many of those narrow tunnels are circrpared to the big ones that are more rectangr. I know we haven¡¯t seen it yet but I can¡¯t help but think that there is at least one roaming worm boss.¡±


    ¡°I am with him on that.¡± Nelly chimed in. ¡°If there is even a chance that there is a worm that size we are better off handling it by itself afterwards and just dealing with the den in the open. It¡¯s not like we are dealing with a vige.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the difference between the two?¡± Ajax asked.


    He had heard the team refer to the overpopted location as being a den or a vige all the while before they inspected it but he hadn¡¯t yet asked what the difference was.


    ¡°The number of non-boss monsters present.¡± Devin exined. ¡°When dealing with a den we see arge number of groups without bosses moving through the dungeon. They were supposed to have a boss with them, it just happened to stay behind. A vige on the other hand has all the boss minions stay with them. Those are almost impossible to clear out unless you outlevel the floor. Only way I know of doing it is with a strong terrain advantage like a strong choke point or something to copse on top of them.¡±


    Devin had practically integrated as part of the team over thest few days. His social skills didn¡¯t have any sort of mind control but more just gave everyone a good feeling about him.


    ¡°We don¡¯t need to take any risks with the obelisk, not to mention that we don¡¯t know where exactly it is.¡± Jones said. With that the team started its assault. Not for the first time the two porters found themselves sitting behind the rangers who had their backs to a wall as the fight began.


    As he watched the flood of kobolds rushing towards their line once less than a minute after they started the attack Ajax didn¡¯t feel as confident as he did during nning. Knowing all of those kobolds were at least level forty-four and had a lot of bosses sprinkled in scared him. This was the third scariest he had ever been only beaten out by waking up with a vampire about to kill him five years ago and, in first ce, finding a dragon.


    There must have been more than sixty koboldsing towards them, that put them at a five to one odds if you didn¡¯t count the nobles. This was also where humanoids showed their superiority over these kinds of monsters. As a general rule humans were well above monsters in a one vs one at these levels, the average adventurers having at least fifty-fifty odds in a two vs one but a five vs one would see all but the absolute best dead.


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    That wasn¡¯t the case if the fight got scaled up to a twelve versus sixty-seven. Humanoids had the massive advantage of specialization, teamwork and advanced strategy. The group managed to kill ten of them before they even got close enough to engage the front line.


    From there however Nelly was fully focused on just stopping the kobold mages from getting a spell tond on them. All of her mana and casting was focused on shields or intercept spells.


    Ajax had made quick work of two of the initial kobolds that darted towards him at the end of the line. With most of them being focused trying to break through the center. The fight then progressed a lot like a grate. The kobolds smashed into them and they had to move back slowly as they killed them just so that the bodies didn¡¯t get in their way.


    This was the first time Ajax had been on the front line in a fight like this. During the skirmish neither side saw all that many people just drop. Not only that but since there were at least twenty bosses present Ajax had already brought his mana down to four hundred after he killed his fourth kobold, even worse his stamina was under one hundred.


    Hisck of experience with this showed as he tripped over one of the corpses from his previous victims. It wasn¡¯t enough to bring him to the floor but it unbnced him enough that a massive hammer strike shoved him out of formation and caused him to drop his shield.


    Separated he now quickly brought his back to a wall. In front of him were two kobold champions. Thankfully this variant had no ess to magic but they made up for it with speed in and strength. One of them wielded the massive hammer that had knocked him aside and the other had two curved des.


    Seeing the rtively thick armor both of them had on Ajax decided that his hammer and axe were the best weapons to pull out for this. A quick dash in and out saw neither side take any damage. Despite being able to dodge their attacks Ajax found doing so too demanding to also let himnd anything. Not only that but his stamina was also running a little low.


    Feeling confident that they didn¡¯t have their weapons poisoned, Ajax switched to one of his more riskier fighting styles, one that he had only tried out when sparring. As he charged in he no longer looked to dodge every attack, all he was going for was to avoid taking a big hammer blow and redirect the swords from hitting anything vital.


    The change in style caught the kobolds by surprise, a well ced hammer blow saw the kobold champion have his wrist shattered, with only one arm remaining his hammer would lose a lot in terms of speed. The other kobold had Ajax¡¯s axe take a chunk out of his thigh. All of this dide at a cost, Ajax had two decent size cuts on his left arm as well as on his right ribs.


    Ajax knew his mana wouldn¡¯tst much longer, having only two hundred and fifty left over but he was pleasantly surprised when he looked at his stamina. His stamina was now above one hundred, his skill [<em>Berserker</em>] was finally being useful.


    It wasn¡¯t like this was the first time he has gotten hit since getting the skill, but since his usual fighting style focuses more on avoiding hits and waiting for an opportunity for a mana enhanced attack to end the fight he didn¡¯t really get a benefit before.


    Looking to exploit the wounds he just inflicted on them Ajax dashed away from the sword wielder and looked to try attacking the hammer user. Only being able to use one hand to wield the hammer meant the best the kobold could do wasnd a heavy blow on his thigh as Ajax used his own hammer and axe to open a path and decapitate him.


    Despite the injured leg the sword wielding kobold managed to still get close enough to put a sh on Ajax¡¯s right arm as well before he opened up some distance. He charged forward again but almost face nted as his thigh sent a pulse of pain when it bore his full weight. It wasn¡¯t enough to get him killed but all he could do was parry both swords leaving him locked in a strength contest with the kobold champion.


    The two were locked pushing against each other for little more than two seconds before the sharp point of Bobby¡¯s axe exploded from the kobolds throat sshing blood on Ajax¡¯s face.


    ¡°You alright there kid?¡± The big man was breathing just as heavily as he was.


    ¡°As long as they weren¡¯t using poison I should be fine.¡± he wheezed out.


    Taking a look around and seeing that the battle was over Ajax copsed on the spot gulping down big breaths.


    ¡°Looks like that was all of them, there are also no bats on the ceiling¡± the scout called out as everyone seemed toe together at Ajax¡¯s spot. Compared to him the rest of the team hadn¡¯t taken as many hits but they were just as tired.


    The one downside Ajax had just realized about his way of healing was that it slightly increased the pain he felt from the wounds he was healing. In an attempt to focus on something else Ajax saw something new in his list of skills. [Berserker Style] was now among his Umon skills.

 Chapter 129

    Chapter 129


    The new skill was somehow different than any other skill Ajax had learned. So far skills have been broken up into two categories: active and passive. Active skills like his [Judge Threat], [Piercing Shot] and even [Mana Syphon] could be used on demand for a cost, be it stamina mana or just focus. Passive skills on the other hand just improved his ability to do something, be it [Sword] mana aspects or even [<em>Berserker</em>].


    [Berserker Style] was inherently different in more than one way. First and foremost, unlike most other skills he gained a small amount of knowledge on how the skill works, usually he would have to experiment with different things to see if anything changes.


    Secondly the skill did have the influence of passive skills as it improved something he did and cost nothing to work. It also came with a toggle on whether he wanted it active or not. The small insight into the [Berserker Style] he gained made it very easy to see why it would be something he wouldn¡¯t want running all the time.


    Unlike normal passive skills this one worked by overwriting his usual fighting style with new muscle memory that would react to match. Much to his chagrin, even with just a cursory knowledge of the style it was clear why it was only Umon in rarity.


    The berserker fighting style focused on the mentality of ¡®the best defense is a good offense¡¯. Actively charging and epting minor blows in exchange for inflictingrger ones was not something sustainable even if it did have its uses.


    Gaining the skill also had also made Ajax realize why he found himself inferior whenpared to the two nobles in terms of meleebat, they clearly also had a style skill.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Nelly whispered to him.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Ajax answered confused.


    ¡°I can tell that you usually have a mana skill working, perpetually when on the second floor but it also res up inbat. This isn¡¯t that, you still have that but now you are also doing something else. You should be resting and letting your mana regenerate.¡± she chastised him.This was the first time that the team had been pushed this far so until now Nelly didn¡¯t have any reason to suspect Ajax¡¯s constant use of [Mana Syphon] not to mention that he was actively using his newly learned healing magic to stop the bleeding of his cuts.


    ¡°It¡¯s something I picked up since ourst delve.¡± he answered . ¡°I can now do some minor healing even if it¡¯s nothingpared to an actual healer. I should be able to stop my bleeding in another thirty seconds or so.¡±


    Ajax wasn¡¯t too keen on spreading the fact that he had even a small healing potential since he knew just how desired such a thing was. Not to mention that using it on other people was still untested, he had no idea how it would work when used on a higher leveled individual who wasn¡¯t infused with his mana as a base. Despite that, it didn¡¯t even take him a split second to share it in order to cover [Mana Syphon], he trusted his team quite a lot now but the existence of a legendary skill was something so valuable that he couldn¡¯t see all of them resisting temptation.


    ¡°You have healing abilities?¡± She now sounded a bit outraged given that this was a major piece of information and could very much change the actions of the team in an emergency.


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    ¡°You what?¡± Jones¡¯ tone very much resembled Nelly¡¯s. She hadn''t whispered thatst question and now the entire team was throwing him some displeased looks. The two nobles on the other hand both had an awestruck expression as they looked at Ajax.


    ¡°It¡¯s not something that is sufficiently developed.¡± Ajax answered.


    ¡°What does that mean?¡± the resident mage with an uing healer child asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s pretty obvious that I am using a more unique style of magic.¡± he answered thinking of how to keep some mystique over everything. ¡° Its healing magic isn¡¯t something I was taught, however.¡±


    He conveniently left out the fact that he hadn¡¯t been taught anything else either and had been making it up as he went along. It would seem much more usible to have someone who imparted the beginning of the style and that he was now looking into expanding it in the absence of his teacher.


    ¡°I have been testing it but so far I only tested it on low level animals, that and myself but I don¡¯t know how it would react to someone of a simr power to me who doesn¡¯t have my mana as a base,¡± he exined. ¡° not to mention that so far anything besides some simple muscle and skin restoration is either out of my ability ores with side effects.¡±


    ¡°What does that mean?¡± Nelly pressed on before she realized how she acted and retreated. ¡°Just an example, no need to get into it too deeply.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡± Ajax epted that. ¡°I have a somewhat efficient way of dealing withrge amounts of blood loss, at least temporarily by recing the blood. It doese at a cost, as far as I could tell the first two pints of blood don¡¯t have any obvious downsides but after that bones be more and more brittle. To the point that a boar''s standing bodyweight was enough to break all four of its legs.¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t sound like something you should be using at all then.¡± Jones said after a moment of quiet where everyone took in the information.


    ¡°It has its uses. The side effect can be healed back by a regr healer.¡± he exined.


    ¡°I see.¡± Jones said and after a few more moments of silence that felt like an eternity to Ajax he gave his decision on the matter. ¡°As you progress with this, I don¡¯t expect you to share anything with us besides just how much you can do for us should we need it. We¡¯ll also keep our mouths shut about it¡±


    His gaze spanned the rest of the team after thatst sentence. With the discussion brought to an end the team split into two. The more injured and exhausted members gathered in the center of the now empty den while the rest went to work on excavating the high quality marble deposits they found.


    All in all the gains from this delve were much smaller than their previous one. While they did manage to get quite a few more mana cores due to the higher number of monsters present they were looking at a quarter if not a fifth of the value of their trip through the desert.


    ¡°Mind if I ask you a question?¡± Ajax approached Jaclyn.


    ¡°Sure?¡± Jaclyn was confused as to what it could be that the mysterious prodigy could ask but did remember that he seemed to be constantly asking questions about anything not rted to monsters or dungeon environments.


    ¡°Both you and your brother seem to have a much better flow when ites to meleebat than either me or anyone else on the team.¡± he started.


    Jaclyn became at once more guarded. It wasn¡¯t that style skills were that much of a secret, but because of the amount of training and teaching they took it was something that set the nobles apart. It was a good thing that she could mask her reaction to the question with the heaving breaths she was taking after mining inside a dungeon with more than ten levels on her.


    ¡°After thatst fight, I seem to have been given a hint as to why. Is there anything you can tell me about [Berserker Style]?¡± Ajax thought this was one of his best chances to ask someone about this since they had a binding deal in ce not to share anything they learned about him.


    ¡°You mean you gained¡­¡± she trailed off. ¡°In this case I think I can tell you a bit.¡±


    ¡°Style skills are more time consuming to gain, I am guessing that this isn;t the first time you lunged headfirst in a race of who can kill the other first.¡± she shook her head slightly thinking of the implication of gaining such a style without a teacher. ¡°Unlike most other skills affinity has a much lower connection to gaining these skills. They are gained by continued training and instruction from someone who already has the skill.¡±


    ¡°Is it bad that I have one?¡± he asked then rephrased the question. ¡°Is it dangerous for me to be known to have one?¡±


    ¡°That would depend, but [Berserker Style] is actually more of a boon.¡± she said. ¡°It is a more niche style but documented and certainly not new. All it would mean for you is an increase in value for any noble family looking to take you in since you can teach it to others.¡±


    ¡°If it is already known, wouldn''t they already have it?¡± he asked.


    ¡°While that is true of most of the Umon styles when talking about families at the viscount level or higher [Berserker Style] is one of the few that tends to die out due to the styles inherent weakness.¡± she exined.


    After finishing in collecting anything of worth and having to split the load to a few more members due to the weight of the trees from the first floor and the mined marble the team activated the obelisk.

 Chapter 130

    Chapter 130


    Much like the first time when he saw an obelisk activated on the first floor on his previous delve, Ajax could feel a mana pulse as soon as it was activated. This mana pulse was a lot stronger however, he had a random thought if he could syphon part of the pulse and only have half a dungeone charging. It was a random idea and not one he would be testing muchter, maybe when he was level thirty-five and on the first floor of the dungeon, at that point a ten level advantage for him should let him at least be able to escape on his own.


    The other thing he noticed was that the obelisk also moved back into position meaning that it could probably be triggered again after it was left alone for some time to recharge mana. The next few hours of waiting were rather boring as nobody had anything to do, a few bats had shown up here and there but nothing else. They had already gathered everything and recovered, they were all ready in case a massive worm showed up.


    ¡°That¡¯s it, I am calling it here.¡± Jones said. ¡°There is no worm and we cleared this ce out or if there is one it got stuck somewhere.¡±


    That was met with a few cheers and grumbles about wasted time from various members of the team. Nothing else arrived for thest hour but they had been all on a hair trigger so some of them were looking to blow off some steam.


    ¡°Does that actually happen?¡± Ajax asked. ¡°Can monsters or bosses get stuck?¡±


    This wasn¡¯t something that Ajax had covered in his training with Hatchet, most likely since it wasn¡¯t something that ever had a negative effect or something extra to be on guard about.


    ¡°Oh yes, they can even get themselves killed.¡± Nelly said. ¡°Just because the dungeon changes their behavior to be more aggressive doesn¡¯t mean it makes them any smarter.¡±


    ¡°Anyone down for a race to the entrance?¡± the scout called out. ¡°Double the standard since we are in a cave.¡±


    Two of the more speed based members lined up next to him as they looked for someone to signal the start. ¡°How about you Ajax care to enter, only two gold coins and the winner takes all.¡± one of the other two members tried to entice him.


    Ajax just shook his head but he couldn¡¯t say he wasn¡¯t tempted. He had a decent map of the whole ce in his head and was pretty proud of his speed, what kept him from getting involved was that his mana had only regenerated to the eight hundred mark and he would need more to push himself enough to win.


    Bobby took position ahead of the three racers and raised his axe above his head. The race began with a massive ¡®Bang¡¯ as a sizable crack opened up in the floor threatening to trip all of the participants as they got off the line. None of them looked all that surprised though he did notice all of them flip off the grinning warrior.


    ¡°Is that safe?¡± asked Devin as he looked after the three who dashed off in the darkness.


    ¡°Nothing showed up for a while now so that means anything that could have already did.¡± Jones said.


    The rest of the team didn¡¯t race off towards the exit but they weren¡¯t slow by any means. With nothing to be on the lookout for they were moving much faster than they did on the way here. As they moved Ajax also took a look at the progress he made.


    <strong>Name</strong> : Ajax


    <strong>Level</strong> :26


    <strong>Experience</strong> : 25470/40600


    <strong>Traits</strong>: Divine Witness


    <strong>Health</strong>: 1880/1880


    <strong>Mana</strong>: 1900/1900


    <strong>Stamina</strong> :1550/1550


    <strong>Vitality</strong> :188


    <strong>Strength</strong> :154


    Stolen story; please report.


    <strong>Endurance</strong> :155


    <strong>Dexterity</strong> : 154


    <strong>Intellect </strong>: 191


    <strong>Wisdom</strong> : 190


    <strong>Mind</strong> : 190


    <strong>Perception</strong> : 162


    <strong>Stat Points</strong> :0


    <strong>Skills</strong> :<ul><ul><li><strong>Common :</strong>[Mathematics Lvl 22] [Stealth Lvl 30][Drawing Lvl 30][Athleticism Lvl 30] [Running Lvl 30][Reading Lvl 20][Writing Lvl 20][Cooking Lvl 20][Sewing Lvl 20] [Cleaning Lvl 15][Haggling Lvl 19][Gardening Lvl 20][Axes Lvl 33][Hammers Lvl 33 [Deception Lvl 21][Sword Lvl 30][Shield Lvl 30][Bow Lvl 30][Spear Lvl 30][Throwing Lvl 24][Persuasion Lvl 10][Unarmed Combat Lvl 24][Knives Lvl 31][Skinning Lvl 22][Tanning Lvl 10][Dismantle Lvl 27][Climbing Lvl 20][Tracking Lvl 26][Heat Resistance Lvl 17] [Poison Resistance Lvl 24][Pain Resistance Lvl 16][Trapping Lvl 18]</li><li><strong>Umon :</strong>[Meditation Lvl 41][Sense Mana Lvl 44][Expel Mana Lvl 44][Sprinting Lvl 29][Mining Lvl 10][Lumberjack Lvl 10][Smelting Lvl 10][cksmithing Lvl 10] [Chanting Lvl 11][Mana Farming Lvl 12][Increase Price Lvl 10][Lower Price Lvl 10][Danger Sense Lvl 22][Leatherworking Lvl 10][Alchemy Lvl 10][Mana Milling Lvl 6][Precise Cut Lvl 27][Precise Blow Lvl 27][Judge Threat Lvl 24][ Piercing Shot Lvl 27] [<em>Berserker </em>Lvl 3][Cooperation Lvl 5][Berserker Style Lvl 2]</li><li><strong>Rare : </strong>[Manipte Mana Lvl 36][Water Aspect Mana Lvl 30][Fire Aspect Mana Lvl 30] [Air Aspect Mana Lvl 30][Earth Aspect Mana Lvl 30][Inject Mana Lvl 30][Spot Weakness Lvl 20][Residue Recognition Lvl 15] [Light Aspect Mana Lvl 28][Shadow Aspect Mana Lvl 30][<em>Mana Skin </em>Lvl 5][Teamwork Lvl 4]</li></ul></ul><ul><li><strong>Epic : </strong>[Mana Augmentation Lvl 25][Mana Conjuration Lvl 21][Lightning Aspect Mana Lvl 15][Metal Aspect Mana Lvl 15][Ice Aspect Mana Lvl 15][Magma Aspect Mana Lvl 15][Holy Aspect Mana Lvl 9][Void Aspect Mana Lvl 15]</li></ul><ul><li><strong>Legendary : </strong>[Mana Syphon Lvl 24]</li></ul>


    New :


    Teamwork 0 -> 4


    Berserker Style 0 ->2


    Upgrades :


    Sword 28 -> 30


    Shield 29 -> 30


    Bow 29-> 30


    Spear 28 -> 30


    Skinning 20 -> 22


    Dismantle 25 -> 27


    Tracking 24 -> 26


    Sprinting 27 -> 29


    Danger Sense 21 -> 22


    Precise Cut 26 -> 27


    Precise Blow 26 -> 27


    Judge Threat 23 -> 24


    Piercing Shot 26 -> 27


    Mana Syphon 23 -> 24


    Magma Aspect Mana Lvl 13 -> 15


    Void Aspect Mana 14 -> 15


    Light Aspect Mana 23 -> 28


    Holy Aspect Mana 1 -> 9


    <em>Mana Skin </em>4 -> 5


    Cooperation 5 -> 8


    <em>Berserker </em>1 -> 3


    The first thing he noticed was that he gained quite a bit less experience for this delvepared to hisst despite fighting more than he didst time. Not only that but he also saw that his skills had started to slow down the rate at which they improved.


    His attempts to bring the mana aspects more in line with each other worked very well with the exception of light and holy, but considering he had only started on those he knew it would be a while before they caught up.


    Taking note of just how much he improved Ajax finally focused on his [Mana Syphon]. Common knowledge said that Umon skills had a threshold at level seventy-five and rare and epic at fifty and one hundred, but it was rumored that Legendary skills would have them every twenty-five levels. This meant that he was almost there.


    While the knowledge that he should be expecting a threshold as soon as his skill leveled up was something he had been able to glean from public knowledge, what exactly a threshold was is another matter. He had asked a few people, his parents and Hatchet most notably but neither had an answer for him. It might not even be that it was knowledge that was restricted tomoners, just that the people around here in a backwater and all of them were so low leveled that only the nobility and those they employed had reached them.


    Another point of interest for him was why Rare and Epic skills would share a threshold unlike all the others. As far as he could tell from having numerous skills that were both Epic and Rare it was because the skill jump was different at that point.


    Epic weren¡¯t inherently better than Rare skills in the same way Rare skills were better than Umon ones. Epic skills were just moreplex or focusedpared to rare skills. His Ice mana wasn¡¯t stronger than either wind or water but was much harder to use as it required both of the elements to create. Void mana on the other hand was much stronger than Shadow mana but it was only useful in terms of destroying something sacrificing utility like stealth.


    The other argument for his point of view was the power jump from Epic to Legendary. True his sample size was very limited but his [Mana Syphon] skill was much stronger than any Epic skill he had. The difference was much bigger than the one between Umon skills and Rare ones. It also made him wonder just how powerful Mythic skills were but that was a rabbit hole he didn¡¯t want to go down.


    When they reached the arch they entered from, the team caught sight of three racers. One of the rangers had a smug grin on his face while the other seemed to be trying his best not tough, the scout looked like he had just bitten into a lemon. Ajax knew that the situation was very much a barrel of gunpowder and wouldn¡¯t touch it with a ten foot pole, Bobby however didn¡¯t have any such reluctance.


    ¡°So how did it end up?¡± he asked, though the answer was pretty obvious.


    ¡°I am four gold richer than I was at the start.¡± the smug ranger proimed.


    ¡°Only because you cheated.¡± the scoutined.


    ¡°How did I cheat?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Rules say you can¡¯t do anything to other racers.¡± the scout pushed on.


    ¡°But I didn¡¯t do anything to you.¡± he proimed his innocence.


    ¡°You snuffed out my torch!¡± he all but shouted.


    That was when everyone put it together on how the nimble scout lost. The ranger must have snuffed out all the torches at once and used the fact that he was prepared for the ensuing darkness to take the win.

 Chapter 131

    Chapter 131


    As the team was preparing to exit the dungeon and return to the outside both Jaclyn and Jones approached Jones.


    ¡°We understand that Ajax''s abilities are something the confidentiality covers from sharing with others but we would like a chance to offer him a position with a noble family.¡± Devin said.


    While Jones couldn¡¯t feel it, the young noble¡¯s social skills affected the leader into giving up more information than he intended when answering.


    ¡°You can go ahead and try but considering he turned down an offer from the baron I doubt he will take you up on it.¡± Jones said knowing both of them were only part of a knight¡¯s noble family.


    Both of the noble¡¯s eyes widened at the answer. It wasn¡¯t all that surprising that Ajax was predisposed to turn them down since with his level of talent achieving the rank of Knight would not be all that difficult. No the surprise came from the fact that Nestor the local Baron knew of his existence yet he was allowed to work independently.


    They could only think of one exnation: he was backed by a different noble house, one stronger than a baron. Not only that but he also wasn¡¯t attached to the house that was backing meaning he somehow earned their favor or interest.


    ¡°Ajax if we could talk to you alone for a minute?¡± Devin said as the pair motioned Ajax to the side.


    ¡°Yes?¡± Ajax asked, unsure of why they wanted some privacy.


    ¡°Our house would like to formally offer you a position as a retainer.¡± Devin said. Despite not actively looking to manipte Ajax his skill did their job in making the offer sound more attractive.¡°Thank you for the offer but, I am looking to make it as an adventurer. Not only that but I will be moving to the capital within a year or so.¡± He responded with a polite nod.


    ¡°I understand,¡± Devin said, both siblings also wondering why he would spend so long in such a backwater ce but decided to let their curiosity go.


    ¡°Good luck.¡± Jaclyn offered before all three of them rejoined the group and prepared to exit.


    As they exited the dungeon Ajax didn¡¯t feel any disturbance in the mana of the arch marking a clean clear of the second floor. He was somewhat disappointed that there hadn¡¯t been a massive boss stuck somewhere in the caves.


    Swiftly following their exit another team also exited the dungeon, this one was in a much worse shape than they were and the guards went on immediate alert.


    ¡°Defensive formation around the assets.¡± Jones¡¯s voice cut clear through themotion and the team formed a defensive circle with the two nobles in the center. ¡°We didn¡¯t just finish taking them through the second floor only to fail now.¡±


    They all waited with baited breath for the now unstable arch to spew out some monsters. Information from the exiting party and the guards quickly made the rounds and everyone knew that they should expect some ambush predators from a swampy environment.


    This was surprisingly good news, despite there being nobody who would wish to get such a theme in a dungeon their very nature would mean the exiting monsters would be out of their elementpletely.


    The monsters that charged out were a solid mixture of crocodiles, moving trees and snakes. None of them proved to be any problem to take care of. There was one exception to the norm, well two if you counted thended fishes which were pretty much a joke despite their sharp teeth.


    The problem came in the form of oversized insects. Their individual strength wasn¡¯t all that high, Ajax even managed to figure out one of the weaknesses his [Judge Threat] had as it considered them about as strong as a level fifteen boar. The problem came from the fact that there were a lot of them and despite their increased size to being about twice a clenched fist they were very mobile.


    As the swarm spread through the clearing all the teams took a defensive formation to protect their more vulnerable members, Nelly wisely moved into the center with the two nobles knowing that with her physical stats she was just as much if not more at risk than them.


    Fighting a swarm was not an experience Ajax had before. He knew the theory and even discussed the possibility of it with Hatchet during his training but it was nothing he had any practical experience with.


    Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    All the mages present started filling the air with wide attacks, their tactic worked like a charm with 80% of the swarm being taken out in the opening salvo, but this is where the hard part would start.


    They had already been informed of the iing insects so they had time to prepare a counterattack. Not only that but they also knew the insects would be very fragile with most of their powering from their number and the magical poison they possessed.


    Ajax had been deemed thest line of defense for the trio in the center of the formation. Despite it being a defensive formation all the members were still rtively spread outpared to normal, this was in order to make sure nobody hit each other when dealing with the insects.


    The adventurers present had done a quick job of killing everything and no monster could be seen after a few minutes of fighting. Unlike the other times the dungeon spewed monsters however there were a few casualties this time around. Even Ajax had gotten himself lightly pricked by one of the mosquitos but the weak stinger didn¡¯t even manage to prate his [<em>Mana Skin</em>]. He could see the small pool of poison that had formed on his skin try to burn its way through the mana skin like acid before he used [Mana Syphon] turning it from magical poison into the regr variant. With everything taken care of the team and nobody having been hurt the all broke formation.


    As the team started heading towards the nearby vige Ajax also picked up on the fact that they wouldn¡¯t be trying to pay off the guards in order to avoid taxes on their loot, this despite it being of lower value than thest time he was in the dungeon. He didn¡¯t know why but also didn¡¯t bother to ask.


    The way back to the city went much like the way here. Devin and this time most of the team had spent each night drinking and the following morning nursing a hangover. He was surprised that none of them had a resistance skill to take care of it, or maybe they just had enough to drink that the resistance skill was surpassed.


    After entering the Lessis the group split up, Jaclyn and Devin joined their guards who were waiting for them by the entrance and the Collectors moved to get their loot taxed and split the payment they received from said guards now that the job was done.


    Simrly tost time Ajax took a sizable chunk of the mana cores they had gained as his payment and the rest of it in coins. This way he ended up with ten cores and thirty gold worth of coins, much more than he expected though he knew it was only so high because of the job of defending Devin and Jaclyn.


    Ajax went on to head back to Tom¡¯s house. As he did this he found himself thinking on the offer Devin had extended to him. A position in a noble house would definitelye with benefits, not only that but considering that his house was headed by only a Knight would give him some serious negotiation power even at his current strength.


    In the end however, despite how attractive getting noble backing might be Ajax remained stoic in his choice to go it alone and not tie himself to anyone else besides family. As he entered the front door he was surprised to only find Tom, Katy and Fluffy inside.


    ¡°The great adventurer returns.¡± Tom goaded him, but his tone made it clear he didn¡¯t mean anything by it.


    ¡°Ajax!¡± Katy shot out of her seat to give him a hug. ¡°The Healing Union approved the paper we wrote.¡±


    ¡°So quickly?¡± he was surprised by the efficiency with which it was all done, from what he had discussed with Katy it should have taken a lot longer than this.


    ¡°Yes!!! ¡­ well locally.¡± She fought hard to contain her excitement and exin the situation further. ¡°The local branch tested the hypothesis but we don¡¯t have the people for the full testing so a copy of it was kept in our records here and another was sent to the capital for approval.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± Ajax nodded though he wasn¡¯t all that excited about the approval of the healing union as he was about the fact that sanitation was about to be a much bigger deal in the world.


    ¡°Anything else happen while I was gone?¡± he asked as he took a seat at the table.


    ¡°Nope.¡± Tom said ¡°Everything has been normal, maybe for the first time since you came here to enroll in the guild.¡±


    Ajax almost physically winced at the way his own brother had marked their quiet life for death, though he supposed the concept of jinx didn¡¯t exist here. He quickly finished his own meal and then headed off to bed.


    As hey there Ajax didn¡¯t go to sleep straight away. For the past three days he had a new pre-sleep ritual, which was opening his status and looking at the only change following his exit of the dungeon


    <strong>Name</strong> : Ajax


    <strong>Level</strong> :26


    <strong>Experience</strong> : 25490/40600


    <strong>Traits</strong>: Divine Witness


    <strong>Health</strong>: 1880/1880


    <strong>Mana</strong>: 1900/1900


    <strong>Stamina</strong> :1550/1550


    <strong>Vitality</strong> :188


    <strong>Strength</strong> :154


    <strong>Endurance</strong> :155


    <strong>Dexterity</strong> : 154


    <strong>Intellect </strong>: 191


    <strong>Wisdom</strong> : 190


    <strong>Mind</strong> : 190


    <strong>Perception</strong> : 162


    <strong>Stat Points</strong> :0


    <strong>Skills</strong> :<ul><ul><li><strong>Common :</strong>[Mathematics Lvl 22] [Stealth Lvl 30][Drawing Lvl 30][Athleticism Lvl 30] [Running Lvl 30][Reading Lvl 20][Writing Lvl 20][Cooking Lvl 20][Sewing Lvl 20] [Cleaning Lvl 15][Haggling Lvl 19][Gardening Lvl 20][Axes Lvl 33][Hammers Lvl 33 [Deception Lvl 21][Sword Lvl 30][Shield Lvl 30][Bow Lvl 30][Spear Lvl 30][Throwing Lvl 24][Persuasion Lvl 10][Unarmed Combat Lvl 24][Knives Lvl 31][Skinning Lvl 22][Tanning Lvl 10][Dismantle Lvl 27][Climbing Lvl 20][Tracking Lvl 26][Heat Resistance Lvl 17] [Poison Resistance Lvl 24][Pain Resistance Lvl 16][Trapping Lvl 18]</li><li><strong>Umon :</strong>[Meditation Lvl 41][Sense Mana Lvl 44][Expel Mana Lvl 44][Sprinting Lvl 29][Mining Lvl 10][Lumberjack Lvl 10][Smelting Lvl 10][cksmithing Lvl 10] [Chanting Lvl 11][Mana Farming Lvl 12][Increase Price Lvl 10][Lower Price Lvl 10][Danger Sense Lvl 22][Leatherworking Lvl 10][Alchemy Lvl 10][Mana Milling Lvl 6][Precise Cut Lvl 27][Precise Blow Lvl 27][Judge Threat Lvl 24][ Piercing Shot Lvl 27] [<em>Berserker </em>Lvl 3][Cooperation Lvl 5][Berserker Style Lvl 2]</li><li><strong>Rare : </strong>[Manipte Mana Lvl 36][Water Aspect Mana Lvl 30][Fire Aspect Mana Lvl 30] [Air Aspect Mana Lvl 30][Earth Aspect Mana Lvl 30][Inject Mana Lvl 30][Spot Weakness Lvl 20][Residue Recognition Lvl 15] [Light Aspect Mana Lvl 28][Shadow Aspect Mana Lvl 30][<em>Mana Skin </em>Lvl 5][Teamwork Lvl 4]</li></ul></ul><ul><li><strong>Epic : </strong>[Mana Augmentation Lvl 25][Mana Conjuration Lvl 21][Lightning Aspect Mana Lvl 15][Metal Aspect Mana Lvl 15][Ice Aspect Mana Lvl 15][Magma Aspect Mana Lvl 15][Holy Aspect Mana Lvl 9][Void Aspect Mana Lvl 15]</li></ul><ul><li><strong>Legendary : [Mana Syphon Lvl 24 - ADVANCEMENT AVAILABLE]</strong></li></ul>


    He felt that he could advance [Mana Syphon] but the ¡®Advancement avable¡¯ made him hesitate until he got some more information on the subject.

 Chapter 132

    Chapter 132


    Ajaxid in bed as he remembered a very specific time from his training with Hatchet.


    <strong>Ajax P.O.V Two years ago</strong>


    I heaved for every breath following the obstacle course. Course was a new addition meant to prepare me to run away should I ever be vastly outmatched. Knowing that Hatchet was a retired adventurer who retired because of having most of his team wiped out, it was clear what the motivation for this training was. Despite the guilt and self-loathing he sometimes feels for being a survivor, deep down he knows that running away was the correct choice.


    ¡°Remember that when running away your skills can be used for more than just to speed you up or slow your pursuers down. Some of the best escape skills are those that lead your pursuers into chasing down the wrong path.¡± This statement was the reason why we were still running this exercise so much. Despite my plethora of skill and talent in sneaking hunting and tracking I was almost worthless when it came to deception involving fake evidence, maybe one day my [Deception] would be high enough to make up for me in this area


    ¡°Hatchet, I do have a question I¡¯ve been meaning to ask you for a while.¡± I heaved out while remembering something I once heard from my parents about skills. ¡°What is a skill threshold and how does it work?¡±


    ¡°Hmmhmmhmm¡± he failed at concealing a chuckle. ¡°So the time has finallye, I have to say Isted a lot longer than I expected.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean by that?¡± I was surprised at the change in topic.


    ¡°As you should be very well aware by now, every ten skill points be drastically harder to level with only one exception.¡± I gathered that it wasn¡¯t something he was going to tell me so it will definitely be something that will be worth a discovery, and one he thinks I can make myself. ¡°So far, despite theck of abundant in depth knowledge on things there hasn¡¯t been a time where my experience couldn¡¯t at least start to prepare an answer for your training.¡±


    ¡°Are you saying we reached that point?¡± I was surprised that skill thresholds were something that would stump him. ¡°Yes and no.¡± he said. ¡°I can give you the same information that you probably already got,mon skills have no thresholds, umon have one at level seventy-five and rare and epic both share the fifty mark and one hundred mark. Legendary and Mythic skills have all sorts of rumors floating around about them, some say they both share the thresholds every twenty-five levels, others that they share them every ten levels and others that say legendary are at twenty-five and mythics at ten.¡± He exined a moreplete version of the same exnation my mom gave me about them.


    ¡°Two things I know for sure about thresholds is that they always make the skill stronger, though I don¡¯t know in what way. And the other is that the skill gets harder to level after every threshold.¡± he exined.


    ¡°As talented of a scout as I might have been back in the day, you also have to remember that even now I am only level fifty-two.¡± he looked out towards the vige with a conflicted expression. ¡°For this ce, that means that I am the highest level and strongest person around until we head into Lessis where I still rank in the top of the food chain.¡±


    ¡°But you have to realize that this is also a backwater, mostly low-leveled corner of the kingdom. I never made it to the high echelons so I wasn¡¯t privy to all the information that nobles and the powerful keep to themselves. To this day I have yet to have a skill reach the threshold so I could find out why they were so secretive about it¡± he said thest part more to himself than to me.


    Stolen story; please report.


    ¡°This is also a good point for you to remember. This training will help youy some good foundations and the information I give you about Dungeons and monsters is something you should always keep in mind but it is by no meansplete.¡± he shook his head slightly before he continued. ¡°One day you will surpass the level fifty barrier I hit and from there on you¡¯ll have two choices : either you forge your own path or you look for someone else to lead you down a known one.¡±


    <strong>END of P.O.V.</strong>


    Ajax was stuck between the choice he now faced. In actuality he knew that what he faced wasn¡¯t really a choice at all but despite that he kept putting off the decision. There was so much he didn¡¯t know about skill thresholds and he had no way to ask someone about them since revealing he had hit a threshold would reveal that he either had a rare or epic skill and level fifty or the presence of his legendary skill. Neither oue was something he wanted to risk.


    His other option was of course not to trigger the advancement but he also didn¡¯t know what keeping a skill had on said skill. He couldn¡¯t risk his core skill to stop working in the middle of the fight because it had enough to level but a threshold hadn¡¯t been passed.


    This single decision was what made turning down the offer from Devin and Jaclyn so hard. He knew that should he have taken it the knowledge would be gifted to him with a bright red bow.


    Despite all the postponing he finally decided to trigger the advancement.


    Achievement : Threshold surpassed


    Reward : one extra random upgrade choice for the advanced skill.


    [MANA SYPHON] ADVANCEMENT OPTIONS :


    Speed drain : enable the faster draining of mana and range.


    Increased efficiency : The duration of physical enhancement gained from mana siphoned is extended


    Mana steal : improve the ability to drain mana from internal sources (Object and other living beings)


    Health funnel(Random reward) : when using mana syphon the body gains increased regeneration.


    The first thing Ajax noticed after the screens shed in front of his eyes was that he was now imobile. Either a strong paralytic effect would also apany the effects of breaking through a threshold or the decision was more significant and some system-fuckery was going on.


    Regardless of which case it was, it still had a simple way to resolve itself : all Ajax had to do was pick a path for advancement.


    While seeming quite powerful, his bonus reward from his achievement was actually the first option he discarded. Healing would indeed be useful but he had already made some break-throughs in that domain with his light and holy mana so picking this over the other options would make no sense at all.


    Mana steal was the next to go. Despite the interesting aspect he found when trying to drain a Dungeon arch of mana this upgrade wouldn¡¯t be something he couldfortably use inbat. Even if the increase in the drain amount was big, he had yed enough video games and read enough novels in his past life to know how quickly someone who drains people by touch inspires people to a ¡®kill the witch¡¯ reaction.


    This left him with two very different choices that he absolutely needed. On the one hand you had speed drain and on the other you had increased efficiency. The irony was that despite how different they were from each other they also synergised perfectly.


    Speed drain would allow him to consume his mana at an even faster rate than he already did, this in turn would lead to a higher power spike and a rapidly emptying mana pool. Not only this but it would also allow him to have a much stronger defense against enemy magic as with an increased drain speed and range he could perhaps weaken a spell enough to allow him to tank some stronger ones.


    Increased efficiency went in the total opposite direction. Instead of increasing power for a shorter period of time and looking to quickly kill the opponent this choice would instead head towards prolonging the fight and giving him a much better chance in a battle of attrition. Not only that but it would also shore up his defenses against hit and run tactics that would force him keep his [Mana Syphon] running.


    In the end what made the difference was that increased efficiency would actually increase his base level inside of a dungeon by allowing him to stack more power from just absorbing the ambient mana. With his decision finally made he selected the option.


    With that he felt his body listening to himself once again as a warmth radiated out from himself for a short moment along with some light that quickly faded. The experience left him with a freshyer of sweat and a quick nce at his status marked [Mana Syphon Lvl 25].

 Chapter 133

    Chapter 133


    A few moments after upgrading his skill Ajax felt a wave of drowsiness ovee him and he fell asleep. He didn¡¯t know it but his entire bedding was thrown around like a hurricane had passed through that night from all the twisting and turning he had been doing.


    Ajax woke up the next morning with a shooting pain in his neck as he found himself lying sideways across the bed and his head dangling over the side. As he carefully got up he quickly sent a pulse of mana through his body to heal the kink in his neck. It took a few tries and over one hundred points of mana before he figured out how to heal the injury as it was different from the normal bruises,cuts or impalement he had practiced on.


    As Ajax made his way downstairs he realized that he was the first one awake in the entire house and a look out the window informed him that it was barely morning. He quickly got to work cooking, wanting to do something to repay Tom and Kate for letting him crash at their ce while he was staying in the city.


    His timing turned out to be almost perfect, as his meal was almost ready when he heard movement from upstairs. Not more than ten seconds after that a disheveled Kate made her way into the kitchen looking both wide awake and sleepy at the same time.


    ¡°You¡¯re already up?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Yeah, not sure what woke me up but I couldn¡¯t get back to sleep.¡± Ajax said as he rubbed his neck despite it not hurting anymore. ¡°Thought making breakfast was the least I could do.¡±


    ¡°And we appreciate it.¡± Tom said as he came down also looking sleepy. ¡°Sorry to say though we both have to eat and dash. I am on the morning patrol and Kate has sses to go to.¡±


    Ajax nodded at that and the three took their ces at the table where Ajax slowly chewed his own meal as he watched his brother and his future sister-inw demolish the food in record time before going to get changed and leaving with a quick goodbye.


    Left all alone Ajax first got to work washing the dishes before he heard a ¡®meow¡¯e from behind him. As he turned around he found Fluffy who had once again grown even bigger, whereas before while on all fours only his head reached Ajax¡¯s knee now he reached that point with his shoulders.¡°And how have you been?¡± Ajax asked rhetorically as he moved to the bag he put downst night on a shelf and pulled out the core of one of the bats before tossing it to Fluffy. The shadow cat exploded in motion for an instant the moment the core got in range, after devouring it in a single chop she returned to her initial position like nothing had happened.


    Of course, Ajax could feel a little of the effects as the mana inside of Fluffy was reacting to absorbing the mana core, the instability allowed him to get a feel for the amount of power Fluffy had and he would ballpark it somewhere around level fifteen.


    ¡°Soon you¡¯ll be strong enough to start joining Tom on patrol.¡± he smirked as a picture of a fully grown shadow cat was standing menacingly behind a squad of guards. ¡°Your presence will do wonders as a deterrent once you grow up.¡±


    As he exited the house he couldn¡¯t help but think that Fluffy might soon be out of ce in this city as a whole. Her parents were around the strength of a level twenty-five to thirty beast, at least the mother he killed, but she was both malnourished and didn¡¯t have such good conditions growing up. In a few years when Fluffy reaches two and a half years old it is likely that the only people who would be able to go toe to toe with her would be the local branch guild master and the warden of the guard.


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    He shook his head with a smirk at that thought and found himself d that Fluffy and Tom had bonded. Now he was faced with another question, what should he do first? He would be stopping by to see Hatchet, na and Judy as well as his parents.


    His first stop was to see na and Judy but they both quickly gave him a hug and then promptly ushered him out of their office with a promise to talk more tonight when they weren¡¯t so busy. He also heard the receptionist mutter ¡®so that¡¯s who the expensive potions were for¡¯ as he walked back outside.


    His visit to his parents turned out much better, as Hatchet was still there the four of them shared a cup of tea as Ajax proceeded to regale them with histest delve into the dungeon.


    ¡°Berserker?¡± his mother sounded both outraged and concerned when she heard what his new Style was called. ¡°Doesn¡¯t that sound¡­ a bit reckless?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not really that bad,¡± Hatchet answered. ¡°Sure as a perpetualbat style it will get you killed, especially if used in a battle of attrition. But it is also one of the strongest styles when ites to a one on one fight.¡±


    The recount continued from there but Ajax decided not to share that he passed the first threshold, he wouldn¡¯t want them having information like that and it wouldn¡¯t do them any good to know it in the first ce.


    As he left his parents house Ajax found himself with nothing to do and nowhere to go. It was too soon since he returned from the dungeon delve for him to head outside the city to train his healing magic, not only that but he wanted to take it easy his first day back, all his training regimen could wait till tomorrow.


    With nothing much else to do Ajax went for the stereotypical option. Like any adventurer who wasn¡¯t doing a job or spending time with his family and loved ones he decided to head to the bar inside the guild branch and rx there.


    ¡°What can I get you?¡± the bartender asked him as he sat down.


    Ajax pleasantly surprised to find the man behind the counter stereotypically drying and already clean and dry ss as he did his job.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure.¡± he said before thinking about his poison resistance. ¡°Something strong.¡±


    ¡°Ajax I didn¡¯t know you drank!¡± Bobby popped out of nowhere the moment Ajax got served his drink.


    It was already around two in the afternoon but from the way the big man was swaying on his feet something told Ajax happy hour had started quite a while ago.


    ¡°I don¡¯t Usually anyway.¡± he responded while downing the shot ss filled with a bright emerald liquid.


    His actions happened to draw quite a lot of attention and Ajax didn¡¯t know why at first but then he noticed that his health points had taken a small hit and he could feel a warmth that was growing hotter by the second expanding from his stomach.


    ¡°T..¡± he coughed. ¡°That was something.¡±


    He could feel the path the drink burned as it traveled down his throat. The bartender ced a ss of water in front of him with a pleased smirk. Ajax was a little saddened by the fact he wasn¡¯t able to recreate the cliche interactions with a bartender. He was also under no illusion that this wasn¡¯t the strongest alcohol in this ce and the strongest would kill him, but maybe that was just something to work towards one day.


    Deciding to pace himself for the rest of the day Ajax ordered another shot of the drink and a ss of juice. The initial focus on him from someone who looked so young downing the drink quickly dispersed once the rest of the adventurers realized he won¡¯t be falling t on his face, though more than a few got a quick chuckle out of the way he coughed after downing the drink.


    Quite a few more members of the Collectors had shown up as the day progressed but Ajax mostly kept to himself on the far side of the bar listening to job requests as they were posted and taken on from the receptionist.


    None of thebat ones sounded interesting to him as the targets weren¡¯t anything above level fifty from the mission descriptions. One of them got his interest however when it mentioned fighting smanders in order to collect their hide.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry sir but we have numerous credible sightings that those smanders are in fact in the fifty-five to sixty-five range and not fourty to fifty¡± the receptionist''s voice rose for the first time that day, her tone was also cold instead of the usual warm friendly one.


    Most of the room turned to re at the merchant who tried cing the request. Even the two people who were in the middle of a brawl put a stop to it in favor of giving the merchant a withering look. If there was one thing adventurers hated it was clients who knowingly gave lower danger levels hoping to get away with a smaller reward.

 Chapter 134

    Chapter 134


    The greedy merchant had made it out of the guild hall with only a few ale mugs thrown towards him for his greedy uncaring nature. As all of this was happening Ajax was fighting an internal battle. On the one side was the will to continue with his training n and continue delving with the Collectors until he became strong enough to go to the capital.


    On the other was a deep rage the like of which he hadn¡¯t felt since back in his first life when his parents killer was set free from jail. He felt like he wanted to chase after the merchant and ept the job just to get back at the scaly fiends that turned his home into rubble, cost Hatchet his arm and almost killed his parents.


    He knew that the smanders weren¡¯t the real culprits, after all the baron¡¯s son was the one who stole the egg from them in the first ce and that he should be the focus of Ajax anger, and Ajax did reserve quite a bit of his fury for him, but he still had some for the smanders.


    ¡°Hey, you all right?¡± Nelly asked as she squeezed her already rather tight grip on his left arm.


    The action brought Ajax¡¯s inner conflict to a close with revenge not being the chosen path, if only by a slim margin. Even when fueled by rage Ajax was self-aware enough to know that he wouldn¡¯t be able to do anything significant to the smander poption as he was now, though he did remember to pin the idea in his mind for when he finally became that strong.


    On that note Ajax finally called it a night. The thoughts of the smanders left a vile taste in his mouth so he decided to head back home and get to sleep, tomorrow his training will begin anew.


    <strong>Judy P.O.V</strong>


    <strong>Eight monthster :</strong>


    na and I had gotten started on gathering the potions that Ajax would soon need as soon as the n was made and he delivered the water elemental to us. Unlike the normal potion gathering we had researched however Ajax turned out to be apletely different beast and this wasn¡¯t just because of his enormous amount of points that will be approaching 1500 when he reaches a bit higher that level thirty.No, the main issue came from his hybrid bnced build. Getting potions worth 150 stats wasn¡¯t all that difficult, no the difficult part came in the fact that all of his stats were above the 150 mark. With all his stats being so high we barely managed to scrounge up the money despite epting some rather costly long term contracts to cover some of them.


    Ajax¡¯s stake in ourpany went from 20000 gold coins to under 1000 in the past few months but at least our efforts were fruitful. We had gotten theplete amount of potions that Ajax would be able to use some of them even for increasing stats past the 200 mark which made a decent dent into our money.


    With this Ajax was now just a silent partner in mine and na¡¯s business and we could now finally let go of any guilt and restraint we had when most of thepany belonged to Ajax and we were making much safer investments.


    <strong>Katy P.O.V</strong>


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    I woke up purring pleasantly onto Tom¡¯s chest but quickly disentangled myself from the warm pile of limbs and covers and went to wash myself. Normally I would have spent quite a long while soaking in the warm water but as ofte the entire family was a little on edge.


    My little brother Ajax seems to have a real talent for delving as he made progress much faster than anyone could have expected and he was already nning to make the move to the capital.


    Ajax¡¯s entire family was trying to get him to stay just that little bit longer. I was the only one that was supportive of his leaving, having clearly seen just how much he has already outgrown this backwater region.


    Now strong people wasting away in such ces for family wasn¡¯t umon and would have been something that I would have even supported for the sense of safety it would provide. The problem that only I seemed to be able to ferret out was that he wasn¡¯t the only one outgrowing this backwater region.


    na and Judy had been big enough to move to the capital even before all of this took ce, unsurprisingly their position actually got worse as time passed from having bought Ajax all of the potions he would need to reach the full potential of his stats.


    My own growth in the healing department was massive. After the theory Ajax and I presented was sent by message to the capital and then proven to work I was rewarded with a lot of good will from the instructors. They had seen to it that I was only a few years from myself outgrowing the region.


    With Silvia no longer looking after the kids Sam was able to push himself as a smith with a full time merchant to help him, he wasn¡¯t the best smith in the city but he did make the top three despite his young age. Unlike his children however Sam would still take a decade to outgrow this backwater fully.


    Tom and Fluffy were both on a meteoric rise in power the likes of which hasn¡¯t been seen in the guards before. Had the rest of the family taken the time topare the duo with anyone other than Ajax it would be quickly apparent that both will outgrow this backwater in a few years at most.


    All of these led to one clear conclusion, if we didn¡¯t all want to stagnate in the future it would be in our best interest to move into a better region, ideally a centralized one that is equipped to help strong talents grow. The clear option in my mind was to have Ajax leave for the capital and start preparing a ce for our entire family there.


    <strong>Tom P.O.V</strong>


    A cool draft woke me up and I found the nkets thrown off to one side and the woman-shaped heater I snuggled with all night nowhere to be seen. I instinctively reached for my knife only to stop as I heard her humming from within the washroom.


    As I was getting out of bed the door was bashed open all of a sudden and a ck sack of fluff smashed t against the covers once again.


    ¡°Morning there Fluffy.¡± the shadowcat purred as I scratched her behind her ears.


    It was still astounding to me just how much a creature like this could grow in such a short period of time, even with Ajax donating arge part of her diet from his delving loot. Right now Fluffy had reached the danger level equivalent to a level twenty-five monster, this was about as strong as Ajax said her mother was and yet she was still a baby.


    To my surprise thesest months had passed rtively quickly. The time I spent training with Fluffy to be a bonded pair on patrol had been such much fun that I quickly lost track of time. My name had also spread far and wide in the city criminal underground. It turns out having a bond with a strong nose for illegal substances is an easy way to get yourself marked, our only saving grace was that we weren¡¯t enough of a nuisance to the underground that they would risk Commander Grievous¡¯s wrath.


    <strong>Ajax P.O.V.</strong>


    I had just finished thest delve I nned on doing in the city. With this I considered myself as being ready enough to head towards the capital.


    ¡°You know thest few runs have been pretty disappointing.¡± I said to Hatchet.


    ¡°You already were at the appropriate level of power to challenge that dungeon when you were level twenty-four. It would stand to reason that since you got six levels since that time, not to mention how much your skills have improved, that it would seem a weak challenge now.¡± he said patiently.


    He wasn¡¯t wrong, me and the Collectors had hit the dungeon at least once a week ever since I had joined the team. I would like to say that the reason for such a high number of delves was in fact my fault.


    How was it my fault? Pretty simply. Due to na and Judy having to spend most if not all of my money to grab myself all the potions I would need I had also been pushing myself to scrape together enough money that I could at least have some financial stability as I got to the capital.


    ¡°So, you n on drinking them anytime soon?¡± Hatchet asked as he looked over the table between us on which stood almost 20000 gold coins worth of stat points.

 Chapter 135

    Chapter 135


    Ajax nodded to Hatchet and began downing one potion after another. Surprisingly he didn¡¯t feel all that different at first but by the time he was halfway through them a dull pain started spreading through his body. It was nothing at first but by the end Hatchet had to feed him thest two.


    The pain wasn¡¯t all that bad, at least not to him after his pain resistance kicked in, but as his body processed the potions he started losing control of it slightly. After finishing thest potion he focused on standing perfectly still and meditating. As he finally felt the pain subside Ajax opened his eyes to see that the sun had moved from high above at midday all the way to dusk.


    ¡°You finally awake?¡± Judy called out to him as she noticed him open his eyes.


    Ajax nodded and moved to get out of the chair only to crush the break the right handle as he pushed himself off it with a small hop.


    ¡°Ah, sorry¡± he said as he looked at the broken armrest. He knew that this was a distinct possibility as he no longer had the increased adaptability to stat changes that his trait had given him before. He opened his stats to see the progress he finally made.


    <strong>Name</strong> : Ajax


    <strong>Level</strong> :31


    <strong>Experience</strong> : 1310/55100


    <strong>Traits</strong>: Divine Witness<strong>Health</strong>: 2240/2240


    <strong>Mana</strong>: 2250/2250


    <strong>Stamina</strong> :1850/1850


    <strong>Vitality</strong> :188 -> 224


    <strong>Strength</strong> :154 -> 185


    <strong>Endurance</strong> :155 -> 185


    <strong>Dexterity</strong> : 154 -> 185


    <strong>Intellect </strong>: 191 ->225


    <strong>Wisdom</strong> : 190 -> 225


    <strong>Mind</strong> : 190 -> 225


    <strong>Perception</strong> : 162 -> 185


    <strong>Stat Points</strong> :0


    <strong>Skills</strong> :<ul><ul><li><strong>Common :</strong>[Mathematics Lvl 25] [Stealth Lvl 30][Drawing Lvl 35][Athleticism Lvl 35] [Running Lvl 36][Reading Lvl 22][Writing Lvl 22][Cooking Lvl 25][Sewing Lvl 20] [Cleaning Lvl 20][Haggling Lvl 20][Gardening Lvl 20][Axes Lvl 40][Hammers Lvl 40 [Deception Lvl 26][Sword Lvl 40][Shield Lvl 40][Bow Lvl 40][Spear Lvl 40][Throwing Lvl 30][Persuasion Lvl 10][Unarmed Combat Lvl 35][Knives Lvl 40][Skinning Lvl 30][Tanning Lvl 10][Dismantle Lvl 40][Climbing Lvl 30][Tracking Lvl 30][Heat Resistance Lvl 19] [Poison Resistance Lvl 25][Pain Resistance Lvl 20][Trapping Lvl 25][Cold Resistance Lvl 5]</li><li><strong>Umon :</strong>[Meditation Lvl 50][Sense Mana Lvl 50][Expel Mana Lvl 50][Sprinting Lvl 35][Mining Lvl 10][Lumberjack Lvl 10][Smelting Lvl 10][cksmithing Lvl 10] [Chanting Lvl 11][Mana Farming Lvl 12][Increase Price Lvl 10][Lower Price Lvl 10][Danger Sense Lvl 30][Leatherworking Lvl 10][Alchemy Lvl 10][Mana Milling Lvl 6][Precise Cut Lvl 35][Precise Blow Lvl 35][Judge Threat Lvl 30][ Piercing Shot Lvl 35] [<em>Berserker </em>Lvl 10][Cooperation Lvl 20][Berserker Style Lvl 10]</li><li><strong>Rare : </strong>[Manipte Mana Lvl 40][Water Aspect Mana Lvl 40][Fire Aspect Mana Lvl 40] [Air Aspect Mana Lvl 40][Earth Aspect Mana Lvl 40][Inject Mana Lvl 40][Spot Weakness Lvl 25][Residue Recognition Lvl 20] [Light Aspect Mana Lvl 40][Shadow Aspect Mana Lvl 40][<em>Mana Skin </em>Lvl 20][Teamwork Lvl 12]</li></ul></ul><ul><li><strong>Epic : </strong>[Mana Augmentation Lvl 30][Mana Conjuration Lvl 25][Lightning Aspect Mana Lvl 20][Metal Aspect Mana Lvl 20][Ice Aspect Mana Lvl 20][Magma Aspect Mana Lvl 20][Holy Aspect Mana Lvl 12][Void Aspect Mana Lvl 20]</li></ul><ul><li><strong>Legendary : </strong>[Mana Syphon Lvl 26]</li></ul>


    New :


    Cold Resistance 0 -> 5


    Upgrades:


    Mathematics 22 -> 25


    Stealth 30 -> 35


    Athleticism 30 -> 35


    Running 30 ->36


    Reading 20 -> 22


    Writing 20 -> 22


    Cooking 20 -> 25


    Cleaning 15 -> 20


    Haggling 19 -> 20


    Axes 33 -> 40


    Hammers 33 -> 40


    Deception 21 -> 26


    Swords 30 -> 40


    Shield 30 -> 40


    Bow 30 -> 40


    Spear 30 -> 40


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    Throwing 24 -> 30


    Persuasion 10 -> 20


    Unarmedbat 24 -> 35


    Knives 31 -> 40


    Skinning 22 -> 30


    Dismantle 27 -> 40


    Climbing 20 -> 30


    Tracking 26 -> 30


    Heat Resistance 17 -> 19


    Poison Resistance 24 -> 25


    Pain Resistance 16 -> 20


    Trapping 18 -> 25


    Meditation 41 -> 50


    Sense Mana 44 -> 50


    Expel Mana 44 -> 50


    Sprinting 29 -> 35


    Chanting 11 -> 12


    Danger Sense 22 -> 30


    Precise Cut 27 -> 35


    Precise Blow 27 -> 35


    Judge Threat 24 -> 30


    Piercing Shot 27 -> 35


    <em>Berserker </em>3 -> 10


    Cooperation 5 -> 20


    Berserker Style 2 -> 10


    Manipte Mana 36 -> 40


    Water Aspect Mana 30 -> 40


    Fire Aspect Mana 30 -> 40


    Air Aspect Mana 30 -> 40


    Earth Aspect Mana 30 -> 40


    Light Aspect Mana 28 -> 40


    Shadow Aspect Mana 30 -> 40


    Inject Mana 30 -> 40


    Spot Weakness 20 -> 25


    Residue Recognition 15 -> 20


    <em>Mana Skin </em>5 -> 20


    Teamwork 4 -> 12


    Mana Augmentation 25 -> 30


    Mana Conjuration 21 -> 25


    Lightning Aspect Mana 15 -> 20


    Metal Aspect Mana 15 -> 20


    Ice Aspect Mana 15 -> 20


    Magma Aspect Mana 15 -> 20


    Holy Aspect Mana 9 -> 12


    Void Aspect Mana 15 -> 20


    Mana Syphon 25 -> 26


    A grin split his face as he looked at the progress the potions gave him. Before he took them he had a total of 1490 stat points and now he had 1639, 120 of them had been in Perception Endurance Strength and Dexterity but thest 29 had been a lot more expensive as they pushed stats that were already above 200 from his extra five levels.


    His leveling speed was also a bit faster than what a normally dedicated level twenty six would have gone through but Hatchet assured him that it was because he was going into a dungeon and fighting way above his level. Even then the leveling speed increase was only about 10%.


    Not only that but the training he had been pushing himself through started hitting walls in most of his skills. When he asked Hatchet about this he was told that it was expected, almost everyone hit a solid wall with their skills, it just usually happened a year after they spent their initial stat points from reaching the age of ten. In this time earning levels would be rtively easy but afterwards that would all stop and it would be a slow grind to reach the point where they could contribute in a dungeon and start speeding up their leveling again.


    ¡°How do you feel?¡± his mother asked him. She had a supporting smile but couldn¡¯t manage to keep all her worry from her voice.


    ¡°A little ufortable actually.¡± he admitted as he felt like he was moving in a new body, stretching and twitching all over as he got used to the new stats.


    ¡°It should pass in a few minutes.¡± Hatchet said confidently.


    ¡°Even without the help of the trait in getting used to it?¡± he asked, surprised at the quick timeframe.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t do anything quite as shocking as doubling or tripling every attribute so it should be fine,¡± he said.


    ¡°The hard part wille now that you will have to find a way to finance these potions for yourself.¡± na teased him a little. ¡°It might only be two stat points a level but it all adds up.¡±


    Ajax took the teasing in good spirit, especially since he knew his sister and na had basically shackled themselves to this ce for the next two years just to help get him the potions without being bought out. Herment however made him think about just how strong his DIvine Witness trait really was, basically giving him a free set of potions without diminishing returns.


    The entire family had a nice dinner that night however Ajax had gone to sleep shortly after eating, the immediate energy of the potions wearing off and the stress of the increase finally hitting him.


    The following morning was the first Monday in a long time when Ajax didn¡¯t head out with the Collectors. The team as a whole had agreed to travel towards the capital together, however since they wanted to get Tristan, Nelly¡¯s son that had finished his learning as a healer, a run through the dungeon first and give Ajax a week to say goodbye to his family.


    Ajax looked around the unfamiliar room without getting out of bed. He had spent the night in his parent¡¯s guest room as opposed to his brothers. It was very simr inyout to his first bedroom he had back in the vige, the difference was that everything was that the woodwork was made to a better standard having been bought here in the city.


    He had initially nned toy about for longer but after ten minutes he was getting bored so got dressed and went into the living room. In the kitchen he found his parents had already started eating breakfast yet there was an extra te already set up for him.


    ¡°Good morning.¡± he greeted them as he took a seat.


    ¡°Are you feeling better now?¡± his mother asked as he started to eat.


    ¡°I feel great.¡± Ajax answered. ¡°So how can I help today?¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to do -.¡± his mother tried to say but didn¡¯t quite manage to say.


    ¡°Well arge shipment of iron just came in, if you could move it inside the smithy.¡± his dad interrupted but quickly looked away once he noticed the re Silvia was giving him. ¡°If you¡¯re offering,¡± he added.


    Ajax didn¡¯t have a problem with it at all so he quickly finished his food and followed his dad outside. In front of the smithy, a smithy that was muchrger than his old one in the vige, he found three carts piled high with sacks of ore.


    ¡°Dad, what kind of order was this?¡± he asked as the amount of iron would be enough to outfit a small army with weapons.


    ¡°Well,¡± his dad scratched the back of his head.¡± Do you remember that curved sword you drew and asked your sisters about?¡±


    Ajax had to think for a few seconds but he finally remembered. It was about four months back when he drew an Egyptian Khopesh, he asked about curved swords as they would probably be better for cavalry.


    ¡°I do, but I don¡¯t think you should make this many of them just on my say so, I am not even a trained rider.¡± He did appreciate his father¡¯s trust in him but he knew just how hard change was to ept, especially in such a medieval society.


    ¡°Oh, no,¡± he shook his head in denial. ¡°I tried my hand at making them about three months ago. Out of the five I initially set out to make three I had to smelt back down, but the other two turned out well.¡±


    ¡°One of the men in the baron¡¯s personal army happened to see them and he asked me about them. I tried to say that it was something I tried to make for mountedbat and sold it to him at a discount with another sword he bought. Nobody else showed much interest in them.¡±


    Ajax doubted a trend would form that quickly and was worried that this might be the baron making ast ditch effort to get to him, Tom, Katy, Judy or na.


    ¡°That was a month ago,¡± his father continued ¡°Two days ago, the same soldier returned with his captain and they asked if I had any more. Apparently wielding them while riding led to them having an easier time increasing their sword skill.¡±


    A lot of the worry left Ajax with this exnation. It did in fact make sense, he knew that new applications of skills would help them grow quicker but he never considered that such changed forms would also apply.


    For the rest of the morning Ajax emptying the carts as he thought about what other odd weapons different people back on earth came up with that were different variations onmon weapons.

 Chapter 136

    Chapter 136


    Designing new weapons turned out to be a lot harder than he had expected at first, with the curved sword being something of an outlier when it came to ideas. The main reason for this is the very nature of stat points, unlike back on Earth people have a lot more strength and this leads to the essibility of different weapons.


    As he unloaded all of the ore from the carts he found himselfparing the designs he thought up more with the games he yed than any history lesson he learned. The simple truth being that adding a lot of steel to a weapon here wouldn¡¯t make it unbnced or too heavy to lift like it was back in his old world.


    One of the first things to jump to his mind was the famous Japanese katana. The sword was iconic not only because of the amount of importance it held in japanese history but also because of their prevalence in animation and fiction led to it being the sword type for elite skilled swordsmen.


    Here however the katana would only be good as a training weapon. A short single sided de could be easily taken advantage of. Better choices would end up being bigger and unrealistic looking weapons that already were created here by trial and error. The only reason his curved swords were so sessful was their added utility to be able to grab and bypass armor too strong to cut.


    Three hours he spent on moving the ore and in that time he didn¡¯t manage to think of anything else that could be a useful innovation. With the job done he left his father to do the forging and headed towards the guardpound to meet with his brother who should be finishing his morning patrol shift in a few minutes.


    As he reached the main building he entered for the first time in a while. He had subconsciously avoided the ce after having been brought here following his meeting with the vampire all those years ago.


    The ce looked both different and very much the same. Theyout of all the furniture on the reception floor had changed from how it was when he first starteding here to train, the desks and chairs however were all still the same ones he remembered, maybe with a few more scratches and dents.


    ¡°How can I help you, sir?¡± The younger of the two receptionists greeted him as he was about to head towards the practice courtyard. ¡°Civilians aren¡¯t allowed past this point.¡±


    ¡°Ah¡± Ajax tried to think of the best way to exin so that he would get ess without a whole lot of paperwork. ¡°Ajax, you here to see your brother?¡± the other receptionist looked up. He was one of the members of themand staff during the skirmish and quickly recognised Ajax.


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m leaving for the capital this week¡± Ajax admitted cheerfully ¡°I got my training started in this courtyard after I turned ten years old, thought I¡¯d practice with my brother one more time before who knows when I¡¯ll get the chance.¡±


    ¡°Head on through¡± the man gave him an approving nod.


    As he entered the courtyard Ajax came across a nostalgic scene. It was the end of thebat tournament the new recruits were put through. Finding his brother among the people waiting for the training to be over on the side was easy. Despite wearing the same armor or having a unique physique Fluffy sood out like a sore thumb.


    After the new recruits finished with their training the peopleing off patrol split up into their pre-set training groups. All the pairing consisted of two people facing each other except for Tom who was facing down three people with Fluffy by his side.


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    As they sprang into motion Ajax took a seat on the side to get a good view of the action. With Fluffy now being the equivalent of a level twenty-five and Tom having reached level twenty four they were on the back foot against three level twenty-five people. Not only that but their opponents were also quite a bit older, meaning they had been part of the guard for a while and had experience working together.


    In order to stand a chance Tom and Fluffy had to rely on the novelty and magic of the shadow cat and their ability to cooperate. Being city guards the three were used to working together but didn''t have all that much experience when dealing with tamed beasts.


    Fluffy quickly dashed and moved to nk them. Tom did his best to back away and circle away from Fluffy in an attempt to force them into splitting their focus and not letting them all three rush him at once.


    The idea worked, somewhat, as two of the three turned to deal with therge cat while the third rushed Tom. Clearly this wasn¡¯t the first time they yed out this exact scenario. The training des shed against each other once before both took a defensive formation and brought their shields in front for cover.


    Tom stopped retreating however and went for a shield charge. It was decently sessful at knocking his opponent off bnce as the shields hit each other. Tom took that moment to try and slice at his now exposed leg but the slice was parried awkwardly. Seeing his opponent on the back foot, Tom pressed his advantage with a shield bash whose sole purpose was to stop his opponent from getting his shield back in position.


    Knowing he didn¡¯t have time to spare Tom used his sword as a throwing weapon, if a poorly thrown one. Despite the element of surprise his adversary managed to knock it aside with his own sword. The throw did serve its purpose though as it distracted the guard long enough for Tom to tackle him to the ground and bring out the knife from his belt and ce it at his throat.


    ¡°I¡¯m out¡± the man admitted with a disappoint smile, while making sure to keep his neck very still as the knife wasn¡¯t a dull training de.


    Tom wasted no time in rolling off his foe and picking up his tossed de but by the time he was back on his feet he saw two more guards heading towards him with Fluffyying down behind them and his hind paws slightly tangled in a b.


    From there the fight ended quickly with the two guards using their number advantage toe at Tom from both sides ending the bout. With the bout over Ajax finally made to approach them before they started another.


    ¡°You guys have space for one more?¡± Ajax asked them as they gathered around Fluffy and untangled his paws without cutting the b.


    ¡°Sure.¡± one of the three nodded.


    The one who nodded had known Ajax already but the other two were unfamiliar with him, now that they were back in the city Commander Grievous¡¯s men started mixing with others for training and patrol. The other two didn¡¯t seem to be against it but they looked skeptically at Ajax.


    ¡°Think you can take all five of us?¡± Tom asked, though he knew fully well Ajax could handle all of them without much difficulty now just from how high his stats must be.


    ¡°Think it¡¯ll be best if we have a two on four and I don¡¯t use any magic.¡± Ajax offered.


    Even only counting his physical stats Ajax had gotten to the point of reaching a level thirty-five pure warrior. With his magical stats added on he was closer to a level sixty adventurer.


    As Tom would remain with Fluffy, only the guard who knew him wasfortable pairing up with Ajax for the two on four. Grabbing a blunted sword and a shield Ajax took his stance and locked his eyes on Fluffy.


    From what he saw earlier he knew Fluffy was actually the one his teammate would have the biggest problems with. Without his magic Tom and the other two could most likely stall him if not beat him and Fluffy would only join once the side battle finished to put the final nail in his coffin.


    Since this was only practice and one he decided to go for more as a goodbye to his brother Ajax didn¡¯t switch to [Berserker Style] as he would in a real fight with these odds. The quick dash towards the shadow cat was interrupted by Tom who clearly saw his n.


    The exchanges between Ajax and the three guards who surrounded him looked very different from the previous fight Tom had been a part of. Every swing of the de or bash of the shield sent a person off their feet. The difference in stats forced them to deflect blows if they didn¡¯t want to get crushed.


    Despite their appropriate reaction to his power Ajax could see both of the other guards had their eyebrows joining their hairline at his disy of power. The fight didn¡¯t take all that long, Ajax had learned how to use his [Deception] skill to increase how believable his fakes looked. It was also something that Tom, being the most inexperienced of them, had no practice against. By the time Fluffy won the side fight Ajax had taken two of them out of the fight at the cost of his shield arm and was in the process of overwhelming the third.


    ¡°You¡¯ve grown quite a lot from the runt who used to get his ass kicked in this very courtyard not too long ago.¡± a voice came from behind Ajax after spar ended.


    Ajax was a little surprised, being in a training courtyard he wasn¡¯t quite as careful about people approaching yet someone had gotten within striking distance of him and he hadn¡¯t noticed.


    All three of the guards, Tom and even Fluffy in her own way threw a salute towards the person now standing behind Ajax.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you and I have a round?¡± Commander Grievous suggested with a friendly yet slightly mischievous smile.

 Chapter 137

    Chapter 137


    <strong>Grievous P.O.V </strong>


    I looked down upon the courtyard, a habit I picked up back when I first joined the army. The only difference was that back then I was looking and trying to learn and now I¡¯m inspecting how my own people advance and what help they need that I can get for them.


    One of the first things I picked up in the army was that so long as you are a little picky, people whoe from small viges to join the guard are the easiest to build loyalty with. Even now if my old sergeant was to ask me for something there are few things I would refuse.


    My gaze was locked on to a sparring match for thest few moments. Just from a nce it would look highly miss matched but I knew better. Ever since the small skirmish expedition took ce I had kept an ear out for the young kid and what else he could get done.


    As the fight began a lot of the information I had was being both confirmed and missing. He was clearly very high level for his age, something that would serve him well as the sooner you start stacking that vitality the earlier the aging process is slowed.


    His level however is the only thing that somewhat matches the information I have. I would ce him somewhere in the low 30¡¯s range for a bnced warrior build, maybe a bit focused on vitality. The information however ssified him as a hybrid fighter, is he just building his magical stats through sheer practice and looking to keep progressing with free points for as long as he can? He would easily be at fifty across the board if that was the case yet I can¡¯t feel any magic from him.


    The fight draws to an end much closer than I would have thought, though his team did win his partner was taken out and he would be left with some massive injuries. I decided that was enough spectating and I should take a look for myself at what he can do and jump down.


    ¡°You¡¯ve grown quite a lot from the runt who used to get his ass kicked in this very courtyard not too long ago.¡± I say once Ind silently behind him, enjoying the way he twitches in surprise.


    All the guards present give me a salute but I remain focused on the adventurer who is said to have been to the second floor of the dungeon repeatedly.¡°Why don¡¯t you and I have a round?¡± I offer.


    ¡°... Sure¡± he agrees after a few seconds of indecision and a look towards his brother.


    As the rest of the people back up to give us some space we square off against each other. I feel my skill [Vignt] let me know that he just used [Judge Threat] on me. Sadly despite it being a rare skill it doesn¡¯t provide any protection against identifying skills, all it does is let me know who it is and what skill they are using on me.


    My interest is peaked however when I feel [Spot Weakness]. Not letting overconfidence get to my head I use my own [Judge Threat] on him in return and am surprised to feel that he poses arge danger to me. I used the same skill on him a few months back when he joined our unit and he was barely a slight threat.


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    ¡°Ready?¡± one of the guards on the side asks, deciding to referee the spar.


    ¡°Ready¡± he says as I start feeling some mana start to gather around him with [Detect Mana].


    I simply nod and wait for the signal to start. The moment the referee waves his hand I explode forward, letting [Charge] take me right up to him and swing an overhead blow with my axe.


    I can see the shock in his eyes as he barely manages to move his head out of the way and lifts his shield to deviate the strike to the opposite direction. As the blow connects his hand gives way to my superior stats and he rolls away to create some distance.


    I can¡¯t help but feel a little disappointed. He moves the same way he did in the previous match, I thought that maybe there was something he was holding back that let him enter the second floor of the dungeon but perhaps I should go a bit easier on him, after all I do have at least twenty something levels on the kid, not to mention the skills that I have polished for more than twice the time he¡¯s been alive.


    As all this is running through my head the amount of mana I sense suddenly spikes and [Danger Sense] alerts me in time to bring up my own shield as sh from his swordes straight for my neck. His speed is on a whole other level now, moving even faster than I can, not only that but I can feel the cold seeping into my arm through the shield where his blow connected.


    ¡°Well that¡¯s rare.¡± I hear myself subconsciously mumble, a mana skill that allows physical enhancement. It¡¯s not something unheard of but definitely one of the things the nobles try to keep to themselves.


    I don¡¯t have time to say any more as I find myself on the back foot for the first time in quite a while. The mana in the surrounding area increases further and he starts pressing me back. His speed and strength are now even higher than my own and it takes all I can do to deflect his onught of attacks.


    As if that wasn¡¯t enough the elemental nature of his attacks changes from one swing to the next, my shield hand is slowly starting to numb from the cold while my axe handle is about to burst into mes from the heat. That¡¯s not all he is doing either as I feel the earth beneath us move, trying to trip me up as well as give him a better footing.


    The one bright side to this is that I know he can¡¯t keep this up for long, just the boosting skill should be eating through his mana like a pack of starving wolves let alone the rest. He quicklyes to the same realization as I do and decides to switch to a fully aggressive style.


    He throws away the shield and takes out a hammer before charging me again. I see through his feint, and move with him as he dashes to my left trying to side-step my shield. The sweating off his body letting me know just how much of a toll this is taking on him. As I parry the sword with my axe I tank the hammer blow on my shield but for some reason I easily rebuff the hammer at the moment of contact.


    An instantter I feel a sharp pain as the whole arm goes numb. My eyes catch a coating of dark mana that enveloped the hammer fading away. With this strike I know I am in a bad position, I never expected him to push me this hard.


    I¡¯ll have to apologize to everyone after this I resign myself as I draw in a deep breath.


    ¡°RAHHHH¡± A bellowes out of me as I use my sole epic skill [Debilitating Shout].


    The debilitating effect works perfectly on him as he almost loses his bnce giving me a much needed break. As I see him stumbling for a second step I take the chance to go on the offensive again but he quickly rebuffs me with a strong blow that creates a small explosion as our weapons collide.


    Each of us slide to a stop breathing heavily as we keep our eyes locked on each other, only to be interrupted as the referee intervenes putting an end to the match.


    ¡°Sorry about the shout everyone.¡± I quickly get that out of the way as I look around to see that more than one or two people have ended up falling, the shadow cat isying t with both paws covering its ears.


    Despite all this my eyes don¡¯t leave the clearly exhausted young man that rxed his stance as he was swarmed by his brother and the rest of the people who knew him, all of them congratting and questioning him about his magic.


    Despite not being able to keep it up for very long, nothing more than a minute or two he was quite some ways above me, hisck of skills made up for the variety of his magic and inted stats, I would ce him somewhere around level sixty-five in terms of strength, if he is able to keep that up for longer than two minutes I doubt I would be left standing.


    I jump back up to my office to catch my breath but I¡¯m still tracking him with my eyes as he says his goodbyes and turns to leave the courtyard. I make a mental note to keep an eye on his family after he leaves the city.

 Chapter 138

    Chapter 138


    <strong>Ajax P.O.V</strong>


    ¡°Sorry about the shout everyone.¡± is thest thingmander Grievous says before he leaps back up to the open window.


    I am very much still unsure what happened, after the first strike I had the upper hand during the entire match, not once did any of his counters do more than just lessen the pressure I was putting on him. Even now the dizziness hasn¡¯t fully dissipated, and more than that I didn¡¯t feel any mana at all.


    This could only mean that this wasn¡¯t a mana based attack. From the fact that it affected everyone, if to a lower degree than me meant it was most likely a physical skill. That it messed with my senses and head without mana meant I, as I was, had no defenses for any such skills. This is something I will definitely have to look into fixing, and soon.


    ¡°That was amazing.¡±


    ¡°How did you do that?¡±


    ¡°Themander actually looked hurt at the end there.¡±


    The exmations and whispers started all around me. Thest one got my attention, it seems people didn¡¯t get as good a read on the fight as I thought. Sure myst attack is the only one that actually got through to do physical damage to themander but I know for a fact his armor needs to be sent to a cksmith for repairs after the blows it took.


    ¡°That really was something little brother.¡± Tom congratted me, he was crouching by Fluffy and giving her a scratch, it seems she got hit worse than everyone by that shout.¡°It definitely took a lot out of me.¡± I admit looking at my mana and stamina 850/2250 and 600/1850.


    <strong>End of P.O.V</strong>


    With that Ajax gave a hearty goodbye to his brother and the rest of the guards he knew and then headed back home. The afternoon was reserved for his mother as they would go shopping for all the provisions he would need, not only for the road but also to get started once he gets to the capital.


    The two of them are strolling through the Market District with Ajax dragging a small cart behind him. Most of his essentials were already taken care of, his sister and na had already gotten the rations sorted, his father had already done a final repair and maintenance on his armor and weapons and Katy had already packed a full set of medical supplies.


    ¡°Let''s get you a decent map.¡± His mother offered and dragged him towards a little out of the way shop that was tucked in a corner.


    ¡°Wee, what can I get you?¡± The unenthusiastic greeting came shortly after the bell at the entrance announced them.


    ¡°We¡¯re here for a map.¡± Silvia said as she started looking at all the different odds and ends the store had.


    Surprisingly this store had quite a lot of different wares, from the ropes, pikes, tents and other such supplies Ajax put together that they must cater to travelers.


    ¡°I might be able to help you with that, what region are you looking for?¡± The merchant looked like someone breathed life back into him at the news.


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    ¡°A map of Gryndor¡± his mom said, then after a second of pause she added. ¡°We¡¯re not all that interested in perfect geographical uracy as we are with the territory spread.¡±


    The man nodded at that and headed into the back as Ajax turned to his mother.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t a map used for its geographical uracy?¡±surprised at her request.


    ¡°Any map you can get in this ce, you can find one that is twice as cheap and three times as urate once you actually get to the capital, not to mention that you¡¯ll be following big roads to get there, no real danger of getting lost.¡± she patiently exined to him.


    ¡°Then why get a map at all?¡± Having just blown through thousands of golds he found himself being much more frugal.


    ¡°The other thing you¡¯ll be doing on your trip is getting very bored. Some of the time you¡¯ll be spending with your caravan can be put to good use.¡± As she spoke the shop owner came back with three of the biggest maps Ajax had ever seen in his hands.


    ¡°Here we are.¡± he said, cing them on the counter. ¡°I have three different maps that show territory, one at two silver , ten silver and fifty silver.¡±


    Instead of looking at the maps for more than a cursory nce followed by a small nod Silvia turned to look at the merchant. ¡°Which of these is the most recent?¡±


    The merchant¡¯s wince at the question was rather pronounced despite his best attempt to keep his face from showing his feelings. ¡°This one.¡± he said, pointing to the ten silver one.


    ¡°We¡¯ll take it for eight.¡± his mother''s voice changed a little and he knew she was putting her merchant skills to work. Having spent thest six months in the city with no children to raise her merchant skills had gotten quite the workout and were showing a growth almostparable to Ajax¡¯s own.


    The merchant tried to offer a counter offer but the best he could do was open and close his mouth a few times until he finally got out an ¡°Eight and a half.¡±


    ¡°Deal.¡± his mother said and started folding the map as Ajax ced the coins on the counter and left for home.


    ¡°Now Ajax,¡± Silvia started once they were out of the shop. ¡°The capital is going to be a very different ce. It is filled with representatives of all sorts of noble families, most often looking to get one up on one another of simr standing.¡±


    ¡°This map isn¡¯t for you to use in case you get lost. It¡¯s for you to study and get a general idea of who the archdukes, dukes, marquis and barons are and where theirnds are. Most importantly the map also has their house sigils.¡±


    This was something Ajax had overlooked. His focus on training and gaining strength had left a gaping hole in his preparations. The protection he benefited from here wouldn¡¯t extend in the capital, while he wouldn¡¯t have to go into hiding or anything he would have to pay more attention to noble families.


    One look at the map once they got home and Ajax could already tell that very little effort went into the geography of it. Most rivers, hills, forests were evidently wrong and the scale of some were much smaller orrger than the reality and this was just from his quick view of the areas he had seen on other maps.


    His final night in the city was spent at his parent¡¯s house, both he and Hatchet would sleep here tonight and leave early the next morning so the entire family gathered for an early dinner.


    Everybody showed a happy and encouraging attitude but most of the people at the table thought it was still a little too soon for Ajax to be heading off. The exceptions were Tom and Katy, Katy because she best recognised how quickly the entire family would need to relocate from this backwater region and Tom because of Ajax¡¯s performance against the Commander.


    ¡°Ajax are you still awake?¡± his mother knocked gently on his door a few minutes after he headed off to bed.


    ¡°Yeah,e in,¡± he answered.


    As his mother walked into the room her face betrayed that she was fighting a battle with herself.


    ¡°Is everything alright?¡± he was slightly worried now looking at her face.


    ¡°What? Oh, everything is fine¡± she forced a wry smile on her face.


    ¡°I know I never went into all that much detail about my family before.¡± she started as she clenched her first around whatever was inside. ¡°But I think now is the time to tell you a little bit.


    ¡°When I decided to leave with your father my family cut me off.¡± She took a deep breath. ¡°That isn¡¯t to say they disowned me, just that so long as I kept to this decision I wouldn¡¯t have ess to any help or support from them.¡±


    ¡°A few months ago I learnt that they were still keeping an eye on me. A letter came in from my parents asking if I needed some help to get back on my feet after the attack on the vige.¡±


    ¡°After all this time I have no intention of relying on them for support.¡± she said with conviction as she opened her hand to present a token with an emblem marked into it. ¡°This is the insignia of the Open ins Trading Company that my parents gave to me and I want you to have it.


    ¡°They were just some middle level merchants back then but even if that hasn¡¯t changed you¡¯ll still be able to get a better than average price on anything you may need to sell with less questions asked about how someone of your level managed to delve that deep into the dungeon.¡±


    Ajax took the offered token but didn¡¯t have time to process everything as his mother gave him a hug and left the room.

 Chapter 139

    Chapter 139


    The following morning Ajax woke up early from one of the most restless nights he had in a while. He still wasn¡¯t sure what to do about his grandparents and the connection they represented with the Open ins Trading Company. In the morning his mother made no more reference to what she saidst night and didn¡¯t act any differently but if her bloodshot eyes were any indication she didn¡¯t get much sleepst night.


    The morning passed by in a blur as he said a quick final goodbye to everyone before he left with Hatched while pulling a small cart filled with all their luggage. Both him and Hatchet walked in afortable silence, neither feeling the need to make awkward conversation after their years as teacher and student.


    ¡°Ajax, you made it.¡± Bobby greeted him as they arrived at the caravan. ¡°Who¡¯s the old man?¡±


    Ajax and the Collectors had made travel ns together even after they went their separate ways after their final dungeon run. As of now Ajax was a solo adventurer and no longer registered as a member of the collectors with the guild.


    ¡°This is Hatchet,¡± Ajax said as he started loading their packs. ¡°He was my teacher back in the vige.¡±


    Ajax didn¡¯t want to say any more, he knew that Hatchet was fairly convinced his friend in the capital would help him regrow his lost arm but it wasn¡¯t for him to share.


    ¡°Bobby, nice to meet you.¡± the big man said, offering his hand. ¡°You did a hell of a job with Ajax here.¡±


    ¡°Nice to meet you.¡± Hatchet responded.


    ¡°Hey, I¡¯m not paying for you to stand around and talk, get everything put away and we can get moving.¡± a short rotund man shouted at them. This was the biggest difference between Ajax and the Collectors right now. When Ajax and Hatchet got their passage on the caravan by simply being adventurers, the Collectors took a job to offer them protection for the journey.


    Ajax didn¡¯t know why they would bother with a job that would pay so little. Considering that almost all adventurers were given free passage with any caravan for one simple fact : that they would provide protection if they were attacked, not out of any duty but because the attackers would not ignore them.


    ¡°Howe you took the job defending them?¡± Ajax asked Nelly once they finished loading everything and the caravan got moving.


    ¡°Tristan¡± she said, pointing to a young man that resembled her. ¡°He doesn¡¯t have many missionspleted with the guild, and no protection ones at all. This one will be good for his record now that we are moving.¡±


    Ajax frowned a little at the news. He hadn¡¯t thought about that when he made his travel ns, after all while he did have quite a number of missionspleted with the Collectors all of them were Dungeon rted.


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    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about that kid.¡± Hatchet said he was one of the few people who still referred to Ajax as ¡®kid¡¯. ¡°You¡¯re not a healer so your mission escorting people through the Dungeon¡¯s second floor is so much more impressive that doing another mission like this won¡¯t matter.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s right,¡± Nelly nodded. ¡°Especially if you are willing to advertise that you can do some healing on the side.¡±


    Despite having whispered thest part, Hatchet was a former scout and his Perception was high enough to have heard it. He was mildly surprised at the news, he knew it would be a possibility considering that Kate was a healer and Ajax had ess to his mana but he didn¡¯t expect he picked up enough to be useful in just a few months. At least not with how often he went to the dungeon.


    The first few days of the trip weren¡¯t that bad. The reason why Ajax chose this caravan specifically was that it was one that moved at a higher speed, a normal caravan would make the trip from Lessis to the capital in a little over two months whereas they would do it in three weeks.The boredom was however starting to get to him.


    For the first few days he talked a little with Tristan, despite the man being close to thirty years old he was quite a bit younger than everyone else in the Collectors and he was just starting out as an adventurer so he had quite a bit inmon with Ajax. Tristan was very excited after his first dungeon run despite having contributed little, as a healer he was mostly there in case things went bad.


    Jones was the other person who spent quite a bit more than usual talking to Ajax. More than anyone else on the team, besides maybe Nelly, he had watched Ajax¡¯s growth over thest few months. He was sure that he had outgrown their team, if only just, and was looking to keep a good rtionship with a future powerhouse.


    Unlike in Lessis the capital had a wide enough range in the power of adventurers that delegating missions was very wide spread. Certain jobs would have tasks that didn¡¯t require a person of the level contracted to handle and they would have weaker teams do them for a cut. Jones was hoping to have the Collectors be one of Ajax''s go to teams in a few years.


    Having run out of topics to talk about and with his mana sitting at a little under half after finishing his mana training Ajax finally decided to study the map his mother got him. It would be a long journey and he had been nning to leave learning about the nobility boundary lines forter but he had nothing better to do.


    As he spread open the map and took a closer look at the capital a few things stood out to him. First all the major roads and quite a bit around them were the property of the royal family. He suspected this was done for military reasons, he was also wrong as the roads all belonged to the royal family to ensure that no other nobles put extreme taxes on traveling merchants.


    The other thing that stood out to him was how almost every Marquis Duke and Archduke seemed to have a small plot ofnd no bigger than his vige somewhere around the capital. This was thend for the mansions these families had. He had learnt through reading that this was done to ensure each noble could have the rules governing their territory apply there.


    The next thing he noticed was the sheer volume of noble families that existed in the kingdom. His history from Earth led him to believe that in medieval times there were very few nobles, this was very much not the case here with multiple families having ess and ruling over the same territories, each with a specific family nominated by the royals as being currently in charge.


    What Ajax didn¡¯t know was that this world had one issue stopping it from following in Earth footsteps when it came to noble families wiping each other out as they took over territory. This was that the strong and talented people would reach higher levels and as such live longer. With the best and brightest of each family living longer it made wiping out one another much more difficult and a new system was needed. In Gryndor this took the form of royal family nomination.


    After a few hours of studying the map and doing his best to memorize names, locations and house sigils Ajax felt a headacheing on. The sheer number and minute differences in sigils made learning this a real pain. Knowing the importance of this knowledge however Ajax was determined to set aside a few hours each day for the reminder of the journey to study.


    The first two weeks of the trip passed without anything of note happening. They would frequently run into wild animals and monsters but the highest they encountered was a single level fifty that resembled a rhino at the end of the first week. The beast had some power but was quickly brought down without much effort.


    When Ajax asked why they didn¡¯t encounter anything else like that or something stronger he was quickly informed that the royal family had soldiers patrol the roads to ensure safe passage. They had in fact met one such group a few days after and the merchants had quickly taken the opportunity to try making a quick sale.


    Everything seemed to take a turn for the worse as they approached the city of Lordin. It was theirst stop before they would arrive at the capital.

 Chapter 140

    Chapter 140


    It had already been two days since they hadn¡¯t seen anyoneing or going on the road. This wasn¡¯t all that odd by itself as in the middle of their second week they had three days where nobody else approached them. The difference now was that they were within half a day''s journey of a rather big city and having nobody traveling in their direction meant one of two things.


    First something happened in the direction they areing from and nobody wants to go there. This is very unlikely to be the case as they hadn¡¯t noticed anything amiss. The second option is that something happened up ahead that stopped people froming this way and it was the most likely of the two.


    Far in the horizon the silhouette of the impressive wall surrounding Lordin could be seen atop the hill even through the foliage they were surrounded by. The city wasn¡¯t fully contained inside the massive walls as Lordin was also a keep but the surrounding city and smaller walls were blocked from sight by the trees.


    Despite being a forest road, this was an official road and the caravan easily spread to moving their carts in double coulombs and still only took up half the road. As the trees were about to give way a small contingent of guards appeared blocking the path.


    ¡°Halt¡± the one marked with the rank of captain shouted.


    Being part of the same kingdom, all city guards shared the samemand structure, with basic guards, sargets, captains, majors,manders and finally a warden overseeing each city. It was odd to see a captain leading only two squads outside the gates of the city, not only that but the state of their armor left quite a bit to be desired.


    ¡°Start getting your armor on.¡± Hatchet whispered to him.


    As the cart they both traveled on was towards the end of the caravan they were out of sight and Ajax started tightening the straps of his gear without questioning Hatchet.


    ¡°What is going on?¡± he whispered back after he was fully equipped and had both his hammer and axe ready. His sword would be the least effective against the heavy armor of the group stopping them so he went with the other weapons. ¡°Something isn¡¯t right.¡± Hatchet answered ¡° They have too few men for a captain to be present, not only that but their gear is a little uncared for them to be guards.¡±


    As Ajax was getting ready and discussed things with Hatchet the group blocking their path wasn¡¯t sitting still. The leader was talking to the head of the convoy as well as Jones at the front but the rest of the men started surrounding the caravan.


    ¡°Be careful and stand ready.¡± one of the caravan guards who wasn¡¯t part of the Collectors called out from behind Ajax.


    The shout put everyone on edge as weapons were pulled out of their sheaths andbat stances were taken while most of the merchants huddled towards the middle. Ajax wanted to pull out his bow but wasn¡¯tfortable leaving Hatchet to fend for himself with just one arm so he put himself between him and the closest surrounding guard with axe and hammer in hand.


    The guards also drew their weapons at the shout, but surprisingly they backed away slightly instead of swarming them with the element of surprise. The guard standing a few feet from Hatchet took one look at Ajax and his eyebrows made a break for his hairline as his eyes threatened to pop out.


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    ¡°What¡¯s happened?¡± Jones shouted from the front as he pulled the convoy head back and ced himself between him and the man dressed as a captain.


    ¡°They¡¯re inspecting us with some skill.¡± The veteran guard shouted back and this made all the caravan defenders take a stronger defensive formation as well as putting them on edge.


    ¡°We have a three bar here.¡± the man closest to Ajax called out as all the guards close to them backed up further and took a nce towards him.


    Ajax knew exactly what that meant. It was code for someone that needed to be handled by a captain. He knew this because his brother was part of the guards and he taught him most of the codes while he lived with him. But this begged the question, if they really were guards, what were they doing?¡±


    ¡°Everyone stand down.¡± The voice of the captain wasn¡¯t loud but it carried clearly all the way from the front to the back of the caravan, doubtless a skill was involved. ¡°I am captain Dorian Grasswealth from the city of Lordin. We mean no harm to anyone and are here only to ensure that the caravan stops at the gates of Lordin.¡±


    With that statement he unstrapped the sword from his side and handed it off to one of the guards near him before approaching Jones and the head of the convoy once more with his hands slightly raised in a cating gesture. Ajax took this time to quickly start firing off [Judge Threat] at the surrounding guards.


    Most of them came back as a low threat. Ajax judged them to be somewhere in the low forties, the one exception was the man marked as a sergeant whom he judged to be in the low fifties. The sergeant also frowned and locked eyes with Ajax a moment after he used his skill on him, letting Ajax know that his actions were noticed.


    ¡°Let''s head up there. See what is happening¡± Hatchet said as he ced his arm on Ajax¡¯s shoulder. This broke the stare down between him and the sergeant and the two headed up to where Jones was.


    ¡°... just here to ensure nobody is taking a detour.¡± the captain was saying. ¡°You also won¡¯t be able to enter the city.¡±


    ¡°What, that makes no sense.¡± the caravan leader said but both Jones and Hatchet frowned at the words.


    ¡°The city is under quarantine.¡± the captain continued. ¡°Nobody is allowed to enter or leave. That being said, we are in need of supplies as such you will be stopping at a safe distance from the gates where you will be uploading some of your wares.¡±


    ¡°Oh no I will not.¡± One of the merchants that had gathered some courage to step away from the huddle in the middle all but shouted from behind Ajax as he heard the conversation.


    ¡°Here is an order signed by Duke Axebane. It is by his authority that provisions be appropriated from merchants, all inventory is to be recorded andpensation for it can be collected either in the capital or any other city in his territory." The captain produced a scroll filled with small print and arge emblem at the bottom.


    Ajax recognised the sigil of house Axebane from his studies of the map during the journey.


    ¡°Lead on captain.¡± Jones spoke up before anyone else could say anything after he took a quick nce at the document. ¡° Everyone get moving, we are to stop a little outside the gates of the city.¡±


    ¡°That is not your decision to make.¡± the caravan leader growled at him.


    ¡°It very much is.¡± Jones answered in a cold tone. ¡°Should you or the other merchants decide not to follow my advice, and that is what it is, advice, then you shall do so by yourselves. We were hired to protect you from bandits and beast not fight awful order.¡±


    Ajax had no idea what the big issue was. From his perspective everything was odd but not so much as to prompt this response from the merchants. Nevertheless that was not his issue as Hatchet led him back towards their cart.


    Their driver was one of the first to move as he exited the formation and headed to the front of the caravan as the rest of the carts slowly started moving. A few minutester they were all stopped outside the gates.


    Looking inside through the gates Ajax saw all the way down one of the main streets of the city. It looked like a ghost town with nobody walking in the street despite it being almost evening, a time when most got off work and headed for the tavern.


    ¡°Unload your food and drink.¡± A guard said as he approached the cart noticing that Ajax, Hatchet, nor anyone else was taking things off their cart.


    ¡°We are not merchants¡± Hatchet answered back. ¡°We are simply traveling with the caravan.¡±


    ¡°Your employer can resupply further down the road adventurer.¡± The guard moved forward aggressively only to find himself pulled back by his partner whose eyes were locked on Ajax and the hand he rested on the hammer''s handle.


    Ajax wasn¡¯t even following the conversation, he trusted Hatchet¡¯s judgment in this situation. Instead he kept his eyes on the guards and was ready to engage at a moment''s notice should the situation turn violent.

 Chapter 141

    Chapter 141


    The situation was tense yet both sides were somewhat mirroring each other. Ajax and the less experienced of the two guards were both on the edge of turning the situation physical, the tense atmosphere getting to them a little. The more experienced guard and Hatchet were determined to talk it out peacefully.


    The differences came from who was doing the talking for each side, and the power they had, the experienced guard¡¯s eyes had not left Ajax despite paying close attention to the conversation.


    ¡°We aren¡¯t here as hired guards.¡± Hatchet calmly stated, though he couldn¡¯t hide the smile that crept on his face at the wary look the guard was giving his student. ¡°We are here as passengers, these are our provisions and the order your captain read only appropriate goods from merchants.¡±


    Hatchet had also pulled out the two tickets from one of the bags and extended them to the guards. Both tickets were rather odd as they stated a charge of zero coins paid to gain them.


    ¡°Both of these say you are traveling for free.¡± the guard used.


    ¡°Where did this caravan start?¡± his partner cut him off, though more guards started closing in on their position.


    ¡°We started in Lessis.¡± Hatchet answered as he awkwardly twisted the tickets in his hands to point where the name was written.


    ¡°And you expect us to believe they let youe along free of charge?¡± he asked, though in a much calmer tone, than the first guard whose face was getting red.


    ¡°Amon practice for strong adventurers, at least out in the backwaters.¡± The captain''s voice sounded from behind two of the other guards who closed in on themotion and parted once they heard his voice. ¡°What is the problem here?¡± ¡°They are refusing to unload the supplies, sir!¡± the guard answered.


    ¡°As I was telling your subordinates, as we are not merchants the order does notpel us to give any of our supplies.¡± Hatchet stated.


    The captain barely gave Hatchet a second look before he took a nce inside the cart. This was also the most likely reason why the guards weren¡¯t just letting this go. Inside the cart Hatchet and Ajax had enough provisions tost the entire caravan a week if not more. He had argued the need for such preparations but his mother and sister would hear none of it.


    ¡°So you im you brought all this food for the two of you?¡± even the captain raised an eyebrow at the statement, he would have been more aggressive had it not been for his truth sensing skill indicating no deception. ¡° How do you exin that?¡±


    Hatchet¡¯s grin turned a little teasing and without saying anything he just turned to Ajax and nodded at him.


    ¡°This is my first time heading on such a long trip.¡± Ajax rambled on with some embarrassment. ¡°My mother and sister are both merchants by trade, they saw to it that we were fully stocked when we left.¡±


    The captain was now in an awkward position. He was pretty sure that what they were saying was the truth. The problem was they also really needed the food supplies, supplies that the one armed adventurer was correct in stating they had no right to take.


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    After a couple of minutes of silently thinking the matter over, the captain finally decided on a course of action.


    ¡°Alright.¡± He nodded to Hatchet. ¡° The order does indeed not cover their supplies, let them go.¡±


    Despite the bbergasted looks on some of the guards they all backed away obediently. ¡°Make sure to take more from the merchants, with that supply in their midst we don¡¯t have to worry about starving them. Not only that but it might also disce some of their anger from us to them just because they got to keep it.¡±


    The captain whispered his new n of action in a quiet voice but it wasn¡¯t enough for Ajax to not pick it up. He frowned and was about to say something about the shady practice but Hatchet motioned to him to let it go.


    ¡°But why?¡± he asked.


    ¡°The food is most likely not for the city.¡± Hatchet exined. ¡°We haven¡¯t heard anything about this situation, this means that it has been going on for at most a month. That is not enough to even get close to emptying the food stores of a city like Lordin.¡±


    ¡°If they still have food why are they taking it like this?¡±


    ¡°Best guess?¡± Hatchet paused to order his thoughts. ¡°This gue is not natural, most likely it has someone behind it. With skills amplifying it and a bad actor it might not be safe for the healthy guards who are needed to keep what remains of the peace to eat anything from storage.¡±


    The exnation was not something Ajax expected. His experience from Earth had given him a certain base understanding of gue and disease but he hadn¡¯t thought of how magic could affect that. Unlike on Earth here skills and magic could be used to enhance the gue, not just cure it.


    During their discussion almost all of the remaining supplies the merchants had were taken off the carts and split into two piles. One was taken off to the side towards the outside of the city and a small makeshift camp, the other was taken halfway to the city gates before being stacked up neatly and then backed away from.


    Once the guards had backed away from the second pile, six guards approached from the city gate and moved to collect the food. These guards looked better than the ones who had been standing outside. Their armor was polished and neat, yet despite that their faces looked haggard.


    The quiet tense atmosphere went to hell when one of the new six guards broke out in a coughing fit. Contrary to what he had seen the guards always do up until now when one of their own was in trouble they all quickly backed away fear etched on their faces.


    ¡°And that all but confirms my theory.¡± Hatchet said as the soldier slowly got his coughing under control and headed back towards the city without stepping one foot closer to the food.


    ¡°We thank you for your understanding.¡± the captain''s voice resounded just like it did when he stopped the caravan. ¡°We wish you safe travels as you move forward towards the capital.¡±


    The captain had quite a few scrolls he was giving out to each merchant, Ajax assumed that it was a receipt of sorts for the goods they had each given up. He was surprised however to see Jones also be given a scroll.


    With this the caravan got moving again though everyone was in poor spirits after the whole fiasco. With morale this low and the suning down a decision was made to make a camp instead of pushing through the night. They happened across a good spot with maybe an hour or so of light still left as they started making a fire.


    ¡°Is it that big a deal that they lost these contracts?¡± Ajax asked Hatchet as they were getting ready to eat. ¡°Nobody can me them for not fulfilling them because of what happened and they technically sold everything.¡±


    ¡°The problem is who they sold it to.¡± Jones said as he and the caravan leader approached Ajax and Hatchet. ¡°You see, the scrolls given indicate what the items were but there is no set price. That would have to be bartered for whoever the representative they go to collect from is, he will definitely have much stronger skills and would mean a much lower profit.¡±


    ¡°Not only that, but without the item present certainments about the quality can be made with no proof backing them and we can¡¯t really walk away from the deal.¡± the caravan leader added on though it looked more like he wasining to himself rather than exining to Ajax. ¡°That¡¯s under usual circumstances. With Duke Axebane looking to take over as the new house Steelde they are going to be even stingier than usual.¡±


    ¡°Anyway.¡± Jones quickly changed the topic before the caravan leader could go on another rant like the one he had to hear ever since departing from Lordin. ¡°Can we discuss sharing some of your supplies? They took quite a lot more than we expected.¡±


    As usual Ajax wasn¡¯t about to handle this discussion. Despite some merchant skill that he had this was all best left to Hatchet while he would observe and learn. Hatchet didn¡¯t have a chance to answer, however, before Donny approached Jones.


    ¡°Boss we got a group approaching, at least twenty maybe more.¡± he reported. ¡°Most of them wear the mark of the Healing Union but the one in the front bears the sigil of house Axebane.¡±


    ¡°Looks like we have to deal with that first¡± Jones sighed as his hand went to the scroll he was given and he started leading the caravan leader away from Ajax and Hatchet.

 Chapter 142

    Chapter 142


    Jones P.O.V :


    Hearing there was a group approaching made me freeze for an instant. There are a couple ways that this could go bad for us. The most obvious is that this is a group of bandits, despite the most likely violent oue this is then one I would prefer to go with right now since it is one we are likely to win. Anyone over level forty with a fewbat skills has no reason to turn to banditry this close to the capital.


    The second situation was that this was a fellow merchant caravan. This would be the worst situation for us as we could be tangentially med if they turned around to avoid the same supply seizure we just went through.


    ¡°Most of them wear the mark of the Healing Union but the one in the front bears the sigil of house Axebane.¡± Donny finished his report and I breathed a sigh of relief.


    Right now I was patting myself on the back for my earlier decision of not interfering with the previous guards. Had I decided to stand up to them and refuse to hand over the goods this following meeting could have turned into our execution.


    As for whether we could stand up to them I would say it wouldn¡¯t have been a problem. They weren¡¯t in great shape to fight like we were and their levels were mostly in the low forties. A year ago I wouldn¡¯t have been so cavalier about the situation but in thest half a year our mentality and approach to diving changed ever so slightly. Ajax being with us and pushing so hard to progress had made us morepetitive and determined, everyone gained at least a full level with some who were already close to leveling like me getting two.


    ¡°Excuse me, sir¡­¡± I approach the man with house Axebane¡¯s sigil and wait for him to introduce himself.


    ¡°Leonard Smith.¡± he said curtly. ¡°What do you want?¡±


    He had taken a brief look around our camp and was already in a hurry to push forward. His name was odd, for a warrior, which he clearly was, in service to a house having ast name could mean a few things, most of them prestigious. The name Smith however narrowed it down to his family having been in the house¡¯s service for at least one more generation before his and the first being employed as a smith.¡°I have a message for you.¡± I quickly exined and offered the scroll I was given. ¡°A captain at Lordin told me to give it to the first party with Axebane¡¯s sigil I came across.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll be camping here for tonight¡± he called out to the rest of his group after he read the scroll. ¡°Would you mind sharing your camp?¡±


    His question put us a little on the spot. I could see one or two carts with them but all of them were filled with people, as it was we were already going to be asking Ajax and his teacher for food. Then again I knew that despite not having used any skill to judge the man¡¯s strength the quality of his gear meant he was at least level one hundred.


    ¡°We have our own supplies.¡± A young woman said. No it wasn¡¯t that she was young, my intuition pointed me to her being maybe older than I was, she just simply invested in Vitality a lot more and a lot sooner than I had.


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    ¡°Please, by all means.¡± The caravan leader spoke up as soon as he heard the word supplies. I wasn¡¯t sure if he was aiming to have them share some of theirs or just that their presence would put pressure on Ajax and his teacher to share theirs but his motivation of getting food was in to see.


    End of P.O.V.


    Ajax and Hatchet watched as the whole group approached and started setting up next to the fire. Both had deep frowns on their faces that lessened when they saw the group pulling out their own supplies out of enchanted bags.


    Looking over the people of the group Ajax started using [Judge Threat] on them as they approached. Most came across as little to no threat, not surprising considering the healer robes they wore. The exception was the woman who seemed to be their leader as she was organizing them. She came back as a decent threat, not quite as strong as Grievous but she wasn¡¯t far off.


    Bringing up the rear and joining Jones and the caravan leader were three men who all wore armor and the Axebane sigil. The ranking amongst them was obvious and as Ajax inspected the one carrying a few packs he judged him to be around a level fifty fighter. The second hade back as stronger than even Grievous, if he had to guess Ajax would put him at level seventy, maybe even higher.


    Not only was he strong but he also locked eyes with Ajax right after he used the skill. The brief sh of surprise on his face let him know that he was also inspected in some way. Moving on to the third man who was still talking to Jones Ajax activated [Judge Threat] again. This time he didn¡¯t get any feeling of what power the man was on, instead winced as he felt a brief spike of pain pulse through his temples.


    ¡°Well this is certainly interesting¡± The third man was suddenly speaking from in front of him as he blinked. ¡°That¡¯s quite the level for someone so young looking, would you mind telling me what house you work for sir Ajax?¡±


    Ajax froze up hearing the words. It wasn¡¯t fear that made him freeze, he had mentally prepared himself for this. He quickly sorted through the information the man revealed. First things first he clearly knew his name, that and his level.


    His way of addressing him, thement about his age and the simple fact he was willing to stand so close to him told him a few things. First he couldn¡¯t see his age, and second he assumed he was a physical fighter. He also guessed that he didn¡¯t get a good read on his true power or the reaction wouldn¡¯t have been so small. Most likely none of them had [Judge Threat].


    ¡°Silence it is then.¡± The man continued after a short pause when Ajax didn¡¯t say anything and simply gave him a nod.


    He took a step away before turning and saying ¡°My name is Leonard Smith, should you be looking for more generous employment in the future, do look for me. House Axebane is always looking for talented young people.¡±


    Ajax simply nodded slowly as he calmed down. It took almost a minute before he was once again aware of everything else that was happening around him and he stopped staring after Leonard. Unbeknownst to him Leonard took his actions as him thinking favorably about his offer and showed a small smile for the first time that night.


    Hatchet had not been standing idly by. While Ajax and the caravan leader had been interested in the approaching party and quickly approached the man¡¯s apprentice and worked out a very favorable deal for them to share their supplies.


    Jones and the caravan leader were surprised to see that everyone was already preparing to eat but both had different reactions to the situation. While Jones just smiled, happy that he wouldn¡¯t have to help plead a case to Ajax for sharing the supplies, the leader frowned and headed for his apprentice.


    ¡°What happened with the supplies?¡± the caravan leader asked in a hushed whisper once he dragged his apprentice into a tent, despite the silencing enchantment he still whispered as he wasn¡¯t too trusting and could fully block Leonard.


    ¡°The old man approached me to set up a trade.¡± he said smugly. ¡°Greedy old bastard wanted to sell us the supplies for three times market prices in the capital. His merchant skills are so low that he couldn¡¯t even counter offer anything after I said one and a half times.¡±


    The caravan leader''s face went through a few emotions quickly, starting with anger then to eptance and finally to amusement. ¡°He¡¯s clever that one.¡± he gave out a quick chuckle.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± the apprentice asked.


    ¡°The man is clearly not a merchant.¡± he said as he cuffed the man around the back of the head. ¡°He likely doesn¡¯t have any merchant skills at all, he just realized the situation would force him to share the supplies and threw a stupidly high number to get as good an offer as he could of you.¡±

 Chapter 143

    Chapter 143


    With Hatchet¡¯s having solved the food issues for the caravan until they reach the capital there seemed to be no animosity towards Ajax and him from anyone except the apprentice merchant that got fooled.


    ¡°Do you know what type of gue it is, considering the makeup of your team and the precautions taken in the city I assume it is helped along or even created by somebody.¡± Hatchet broke the silence after he finished his portion.


    ¡°The gue itself is not that dangerous.¡± the lead healer says after getting a nod from Leonard. ¡°Besides some mild respiratory infection and some exotic ways of spreading besides the mundane ones. Theirbination actually makes stopping its spread quite difficult inside cities.¡±


    ¡°A whole city went into quarantine because of something like the cold that spreads easier?¡± Ajax¡¯s mouth got the words out before the brain could filter them.


    ¡°You seem to have some knowledge. No, the main side effect of the gue is what makes it so dangerous, it makes it so that stamina is no longer consumed by the infected, instead a person¡¯s Vitality is very slowly used." Despite her warm tone the words sent a shiver through everyone.


    Vitality was the only dump stat possible out of the eight. Putting all your points into vitality was, though stupid from a level of strength perspective, not going to cause side effects like the others tearing the body apart without a more spread out investment. The loss of vitality like that would mean loss of levels and life span. Ajax was no longer surprised that he hadn¡¯t seen anyone moving in the city, they were all tucked away in bed if they knew what was good for them.


    ¡°Those methods of transmission you mentioned, could you perhaps share what they are?¡± the caravan leader asked with a shaky voice. ¡°I would also be interested in hiring your services before we go our separate ways tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve no need to worry, none of you are infected.¡± the healer said. ¡°Had even one of you been infected I would have felt the magic of the disease spread through the air around before we arrived.¡±


    ¡°As for the method of transmission, the mundane was airborne. The magical one is in fact based on sound, anyone who hears an infected cough without then looking at him would also be infected.¡± she offered.This is where Ajax feltpletely out of his depth. A disease that spreads through sound. That was something else, even with the limitation of anyone that actually sees the source of the sound not getting infected all it would take is one person coughing in the night from his bed and everyone in the building near him would be infected.


    ¡°I think it best I turn in for the night so I am ready to leave in the morning.¡± Ajax said as he mechanically stood up. What kind of skill or magic would allow someone to give a disease this kind of effect was what upied his mind now. ¡°Good luck, I hope you catch him quick.¡± he threw out offhandedly as he made his way towards the cart.


    ¡°Sir Leonard Smith doesn¡¯t need to rely on luck.¡± the young soldier piped in. ¡°We already know the ident-¡±


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    ¡°Enough¡± Leonard interrupted the man. The person¡¯s identity was a sensitive subject and one that shouldn¡¯t be broached in public.


    The young soldier realized his mistake as he bowed and apologized profusely. Deep down he was disappointed in himself, many times Leonard had told him to get control of his temper and yet again he had lost it, all because of a somewhat talentedmoner refusing Leonards offer of employment.


    The confused looks on everyone¡¯s faces let Leonard decide that clearing out the witnesses wasn¡¯t required. It was here that Leonard¡¯s skills failed him , both Hatchet and the caravan leader had managed to school their expressions enough as to not give away the fact that they understood what was happening.


    Whoever the perpetrator was, Hatchet knew that he belonged to a high up noble family, at least a highly influential marquis if not a ducal house. This was something he would have to look into discreetly once he made it to the capital, he knew his skills were not going to be enough for this so he would need to ask Luna. A heavy weight pressed upon his heart as he realized the first time he would see his old teammate and friend he would be showing up with two requests.


    Hatchet didn¡¯t know he was in fact wrong. His fear was that the perpetrator was the final living heir of a house and would be spared to preserve the house. This wasn¡¯t the case, yes the perpetrator was in fact the oldest heir to a powerful marquis family but he wasn¡¯t the sole heir. The reason for the secrecy was to preserve the reputation of the marquis family.


    The rest of the night was spent in silence apart from the few times the caravan leader asked the healers if they were sure nobody was infected, despite their answer being negative he still drank a potion.


    The following morning the two groups split up without much fanfare. The healers and the duke¡¯s men had their mission and the caravan continued on towards the capital. They made good time, knowing there wasn¡¯t any deal to be made at any of the viges in between them and the capital. The caravan was ready to simply go around them in hopes of saving time, but s it was not to be.


    ¡°Ho there travelers.¡± an old voice shouted towards the caravan.


    As the caravan slowly came to a stop they could all see the food market that had been set up in this vige. All of the stalls were filled with a minimal amount of unripe vegetables and fruit. The meat still looked the part at least but it wasn¡¯t hard for any of them to figure out what was going on.


    ¡°You must be hungry after your journey.¡± the old man continued with a fake smile as his eyes twinkled with greed. ¡°We might not have much but we are prepared to share some with you, for a modest price of course.¡±


    It was clear that this vige as a whole had probably received the same treatment as the caravas and had most of their reserves taken away for the city. They in turn then turned to selling overpriced substandard foot to others who had suffered their fate at a premium.


    ¡°We are very thankful for your kind hospitality!¡± The caravan leader called back without moving to get out of the caravan. ¡°Sadly we are in a hurry if we are to make it to the capital in five days so we won¡¯t be stopping at any of the viges in between here and there.¡±


    The headman looked like he had taken a big bite from one of the unripe lemons sitting on the stand behind him as he watched the richest caravan he had seen since they were piged take off without waiting to buy anything.


    The caravan leader however was grinning like the cat that got the cream. There was no way he would be swindled by two people in two days, he thought to himself as the vige was left behind in the dust. Not to mention that this old man was even greedier than thest one. With that thought he turned around and looked at Hatchet as he was talking with Ajax in their cart.


    ¡°It seems like our training has left quite a blind spot for you.¡± Hatchet silentlymented.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Ajax asked though he had an inkling of what he was referring to.


    ¡°Despite all our training and preparation in those five years it seems that you are still behind when ites tomon knowledge outside of that backwater barony.¡± he exined the exact thing Ajax was now considering. ¡°I¡¯m sorry to say that I don¡¯t have the experience to teach you what is possible with mana. It was written all over your facest night as you finally processed what other talented people could do with mana.¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­¡± Ajax agreed. ¡°I spent quite a bit of timest night wandering about magic gear as well as other more niche applications of mana besides elemental magic and healing. It¡¯s offensive use in alchemy is just one of probably many, how many other uses does it have that I haven¡¯t even thought about yet?¡±

 Chapter 144

    Chapter 144


    Ajax spent thest few days in an even split. Half the time he was pondering on all the different uses that magic might have. The other half of the time he spent cramming as much as he could about the noble territories, he felt he had a decent grasp on who they were and where they were but matching a name to a sigil was still a challenge.


    As the caravan approached Ajax was awed by the sheer size of the city. With Lordin having turned them away he hasn¡¯t gotten to see any otherrge city to put the capital into perspective. While the sheer size of the ce was something to see, that was only whenpared to everything else on this.


    Having gotten to experience cities like New York and Washington DC Ajax had seen much higher concentrations of humans. No, what drew his attention as he watched the city from above on a hill was the very clear progression the city took as it grew.


    In the center stood the imperial pce. Unlike a lot of the games he had yed back on earth the pce was not a fortress, he felt a little disappointed by the fact but it was still surrounded by a wall. From there three more walls formed rings that separated the city. Each ring had at one point been the outer wall of the city but as the city¡¯s poption grew they found themselves in need of more space.


    As with all cities the caravan found itself waiting in a line at the gates to enter. From the looks on the faces of the merchants Ajax could tell that something felt wrong for them. He didn¡¯t manage to figure out that it was theck of pressure, for the first time in a long time for some of them they didn¡¯t have to be ready to haggle the tax or bribe down as much as possible before entering the city. After all, they had nothing with them to sell.


    ¡°Next¡± called the guard as another group of carts moved its way inside the city. With their caravan approaching the soldier seemed to take only one look at their group before a frown darkened his face. ¡°Hold, where are youing from?¡±


    ¡°We areing from Lessis.¡± the caravan leader responded.


    ¡°Lessis ¡­ Lessis¡­¡± the guard mumbled as he ran through the map in his head trying to figure out where it was that this caravan passed through.


    ¡°Hold to the side¡± he said with authority as he finally ced the location of the city. ¡°We have a healer on standby, you can only enter the city after he confirms that none of you are infected with the gue.The loud promation grated on the hearts of all the merchants. Not only were they the merchants who showed up to the capital without any goods to sell, everyone in ear shot would now spread rumors of how they had gue.


    ¡°Couldn¡¯t he be a bit more discreet?¡± one of the merchants bit back a curse.


    The healer quickly appeared and cleared them all for entry. Some of the merchants however were already demanding that the man sign a piece of paper to assure that they had been checked for the gue and found healthy.


    With the journeying to an end Ajax and the Collectors finally said their fare wells. It¡¯s true that they will be operating in the same city and will most likely meet quite often but none of them were under the illusion that they would be as they are now. All of them knew Ajax was no longer their equal but their superior and that he will quickly move up in the guild here as well.


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    ¡°It was great having you with us kid, you definitely pushed us a lot further.¡± Jones said as he shook Ajax¡¯s hand. ¡°But I think all of us are going to be happy to slow down a little and take advantage of the dungeons'' lower level jump to progress. We all wish you good luck.¡±


    ¡°Good luck to you guys as well.¡± Ajax said as the Collectors turned away and started heading towards the Adventurer¡¯s Guild. Even as they walked away Ajax could hear Bobby going on about how they should hurry up to see what the noble families had gotten them for epting Ajax. It wasmon to have such rewards or gifts left with Adventurer¡¯s Guild to be collected uponpleting the mission.


    Ajax and Hatchet on the other hand started heading in a very different direction. Both of them were headed towards the Healing Union. Unlike the Adventurer¡¯s Guild whose headquarters were on the outskirts of the merchant ring due to the location being close to halfway between the two dungeons, the Healing Union was deep in the noble section of the city.


    Surprisingly enough none of the guards guarding the inner walls gave either of them more than a second look before allowing them entry. From the slump to the middle ss and from the middle ss to the merchants both times the guards took one look at them and allowed them entry without much fanfare, clearly they looked like they belonged there.


    ¡°Halt¡± a shrill voice that Ajax had recognised from his time on Earth as corresponding to a middle manager drunk on his small amount of power. ¡°On whose authority do you enter the noble section?¡± the captain on duty for the entrance to the noble section asked as Ajax and Hatchet approached.


    ¡°We are heading to the Healing Union.¡± Ajax said as he motioned subtly towards Hatchet''s missing hand.


    ¡°That wound looks healed, it¡¯s not a life-threatening injury. Not to mention that the Healing Union has small branches in the lower districts as well.¡± he adamantly refused them entry.


    ¡°I am going to meet an old friend.¡± Hatchet said as he used his only arm to bring out a letter from one of his pockets as he handed it to the man in charge.


    The man¡¯s smirk didn¡¯t seem to change at all for a moment as he started reading the letter, at least it didn¡¯t until he got to the end. Having finished the letter his smirk was gone and hisplexion paled. ¡°Sorry for the dy.¡± was all he managed to get out as he waved them through.


    The opulent wealth was truly on disy as they made their way through the noble district. Unlike all the other districts there were no shops here. All the buildings were residential and built to show off as much of their owners wealth as possible. Outer walls were decorated with all sorts of precious gems and metals, so much so that Ajax briefly considered passing by here in the dead of night and trying to collect a few decorations.


    As they moved through closer to their destination Ajax had a hard time finding the building they were looking for. He knew that all of the Healing unions used one of a fewyouts based on how big they were, this was done to ensure efficiency by having all locations be simr for their traveling members.


    ¡°Here we are,¡± Hatchet breathed a deep sigh. He hadn¡¯t been back here in more than forty years. ¡°It¡¯s certainly a little different than I remember.¡±


    Both of them stood shocked in front of a building that was right at home in the noble district. Despite none of the walls being decorated with precious gems and metals all of the building materials were of high quality. Not only that but unlike the rest of the branches of the union, their headquarters actually spend a substantial sum on appearance andfort.


    ¡°I thought all the branches of the healing union were minimalists?¡± Ajax asked, a bit taken aback by the difference in what he expected to see and what he was seeing.


    ¡°Their headquarters was always a bit of an outlier.¡± Hatchet responded quietly. ¡°Though it wasn¡¯t to this extent it had been avish ce evenst time I saw it. Apparently they make a lot more money by spending some of it onfort and aesthetics, it appeases the nobles and gets more of them toe here and spend a lot of money for their services.¡±


    Unlike the people who passed them on the street, none of the people working in the Healing Union gave them as much as a look of disdain for how they looked after their travels. Despite being surrounded by opulent wealth it seemed that the employees were still the same dedicated kind healers Ajax hade to expect of the union.


    ¡°How can I help you?¡± the receptionist asked as they reached her desk in the lobby. ¡°Are you perhaps looking to get that arm fixed?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry to say I can¡¯t afford the price of having the arm regrown.¡± Hatchet said with a small shake of the head. ¡°I am here to see an old friend.¡± He said as he reached for the letter once more.


    ¡°Hatchet is that you?¡± amanding but beautiful voice resounded throughout the lobby.


    As Ajax turned towards the source he found himself looking at a beautiful woman with silver hair who looked to have been in her mid thirties as she headed straight towards them, with everyone else clearing a path for her.


    ¡°Luna, it¡¯s been a while.¡± Hatchet said awkwardly as he turned to face her and scratched the back of his neck.


    Luna''s steps almost faltered as she caught a glimpse of his missing arm. Her voice was just as melodious the second time but now it carried a promise of violence as she asked ¡°What happened to your arm?¡±

 Chapter 145

    Chapter 145


    The entire room felt like the temperature dropped severely from the statement. Despite the cold tone and violent presence Luna had carefully started unwrapping the bandage and examining the stump attached to Hatchet¡¯s shoulder.


    As for Ajax he was still looking at Luna with shocked eyes. Hatchet had let him know that his friend in the capital would be able to help and that they were both once part of the same team, even if he was a bit older than her back then the difference between them now was massive. While Hatchet had stagnated at what should have been the start of his career his teammate had clearly pushed forwards


    ¡°Which regrowth rooms are ready?¡± Luna asked without taking her eyes off Hatchet.


    ¡°Luna, you don¡¯t ha-¡± Hatchet started to protest only to get a light smack to the temple.


    ¡°Hush you.¡± Luna said, sounding annoyed at his interruption.


    ¡°Room three is prepared, Guild Master.¡± The receptionist finally got back to her senses following Luna¡¯s outburst and answered her question.


    The answer however had an extensive effect on Ajax. Luna was the guild master of the Healing Union! No wonder Hatchet had seemed so confident in getting his arm healed, he would be confident in being able to pick up a quest at the adventurer¡¯s guild too if he was friends with Guild Master. As he stood there ck jawed, Luna started herding Hatchet deeper into the building.


    ¡°Close your mouth and stop standing there like an idiot Ajax.¡± Hatchet lightly scolded him, but this was all it took for Ajax to get a hold of himself and he followed after Luna as they entered one of the rooms.


    ¡°So? Do you n to tell me how you lost your arm, especially since you moved to that backwater to retire where there wasn¡¯t anything dangerous.¡± Luna huffed as she started preparing a few gems and, to Ajax¡¯s surprise, started cleaning the stump with what smelled like alcohol. ¡°Also don¡¯t think I haven¡¯t noticed the kid. It seems like you finally found some adventure again after all these years.¡± ¡°This will hurt quite a bit at the beginning, you¡¯ll also feel pretty drained afterwards but do your best to stand still.¡± she added before Hatchet could get a word in, her tone changed to the clinical matter of fact Ajax recognised from doctors who were exining a procedure.


    A strong glow epassed Luna¡¯s hands as she held them to the stump. The magic clearly took effect as the flesh started to regrow and elongate, the closed wound split open once again as the white bone could be seen growing and extending once more, the muscle and skin only an instant behind.


    Hatchet hadn¡¯t gotten to take a good look or even prepare himself after her warning as a massive burst of pain radiated from his stump all the way through his body. The worst part was that the type of pain didn¡¯t stay consistent at all, shifting from pressure to burning to tearing. His elbow was beginning to take form as the pain finally subsided and Hatchet could finally watch the healing process with interest.


    For Ajax the process was a marvel to behold. His ability to sense mana was, for the first time, overwhelmed. He couldn¡¯t get a good enough feel of the processes taking ce as the wound was opened, cleaned, regrown and created. Sadly he knew that he would need to spend a lot more time practicing with his light and holy affinities before he would even be capable of picking up anything useful to learn from a spell as strong as this.


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    Despite not being able to learn the magic he could still follow the process. The first thing he picked up was that the spell worked in two ways. First it would use mana to absorb as many nutrients in the body to start and regrow the missing flesh at an absurd rate. Only after the body started heading towards hunger and starvation did the spell change to creating the missing flesh and bone from mana.


    The first part of the spell was much less mana intensive, but seeing as how nerves were regrown and pushed to mend and expand it sent a powerful sensory overload of pain to the patient. The hearty meal Ajax and Hatchet had both had beforeing here was doing was quickly consumed however.


    The second part of the spell saw mana take over the creation part, with just having the newly made flesh attached the pain subsided. Ajax already started forming the basis of another discovery he would be putting forward for the Healing Union. The discovery that pain and a good meal could lead to mana conservation could be one of the most important discoveries, especially for situations where healers needed to act sparingly with their mana.


    ¡°So, how did you lose the arm?¡± Luna gently pushed after Hatchet stopped being in pain.


    ¡°Smander attack.¡± Hatchet heaved out, feeling very drained from the spell. A few of the ones that were higher level than me managed to ambush me when they started attacking the vige.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± She nodded, a few beads of sweat finally appearing on her forehead as the wrist finished forming and the output of mana increased further as the hand started to take shape. ¡°What about you kid? Ajax he called you, what''s your story?¡±


    Ajax stayed silent for a second thinking it over before he decided there was no problem with sharing a little with her, chances were that Hatchet might share quite a bit more with his old friend especially after she had regrown his arm for him.


    ¡°I am just a kid that grew up in his vige.¡± Ajax started. ¡°I was a bit enamored withbat when I was younger and, as I turned of age, I managed to convince Hatchet to take me as an apprentice hunter. With my ability to use mana we then moved that into him training me to be an adventurer.¡±


    ¡°An adventurer at your age?¡± ¡®Something is definitely not ordinary here¡¯. Luna thought as she looked at the boy who identified to her mana as having barely aged a few months past ten years of age, if ounting for the five years most spent without aging once their system fully unlocks he should be close to sixteen years old. ¡°Did youe to the capital to enroll in an academy?¡±


    Despite her slightly condescending tone, it was all an act. Even before the boy answered Luna had already started thinking of what she should do so as to get him enrolled with the least amount of scrutiny from the nobles.


    ¡°No, I''m here to take jobs and delve as an adventurer, the dungeons here are much more weing than the one close to the vige.¡± Age answered truthfully.


    Luna¡¯s whole thoughts ground to a halt, luckily she had finished healing Hatchet''s arm so she wasn¡¯t casting a spell as Ajex¡¯s words left her bbergasted. Amoner who not only can use mana but has already been part of the team to clear the first floor of a dungeon was unheard of. Hatchet couldn¡¯t hold back a slightly vindictive chuckle as he watched Luna react.


    ¡°Thanks for this Luna.¡± Hatchet broke the silence. ¡°I would love to stay and chat right now but neither of us have amodations and I¡¯m guessing you weren¡¯t sitting around doing nothing as we came in this morning. What do you say we go try to find a ce to sleep and we meet up again for dinner?¡±


    ¡°Oh, nonsense.¡± Luna quickly came back to her senses and denied. ¡°I have more than one house in the noble district, you can just take one of them and use it for as long as you stay here.¡± she waved him off as if it was no big deal.


    ¡°Not to sound ungrateful Miss Luna,¡± Ajax carefully started talking. ¡°But I would prefer to get my own ce, it has nothing to do with my impression of you, it¡¯s just that ¡­ well¡­ I¡¯d rather not draw too much attention to myself by living on the horse of the Guild Master of the Healing Union.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that. You don¡¯t have to worry too much about that.¡± She waved off his concern. ¡°Unlike all the other guilds, the Healing Union¡¯s Guild Master position is more honorary than anything else. I still have quite a lot of influence and pull for an individual as the person who started it all but with crown backing and funding it for thest few decades it¡¯s being run by a council they put in ce.¡±


    Ajax thought the situation over in his head, he didn¡¯t want to be rude but neither did he want to draw unnecessary attention.


    ¡°In fact living in one of my ces could make you seem important enough to give you a leg up when you register for the Adventurer¡¯s Guild here.¡± she pushed further.


    ¡°If you insist, then I shall ept your hospitality tonight and try to find a ce of my own tomorrow.¡± Ajax decided that this would be his best course of action.

 Chapter 146

    Chapter 146


    Right after Luna finished fixing Hatchet¡¯s arm someone knocked twice quickly on the door and didn¡¯t wait for an answer beforeing in.


    ¡°Guild master.¡± A middle aged man that wore the same garb as everyone else in the building came in a little out of breath. ¡° Here you are, the meeting is about to start and all the council members are already here.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be right there just give me a moment.¡± Luna said with an annoyed exhale as she waved him back out.


    This interaction all but confirmed for Ajax that what she had said previously about her position as a guild master not being the same as with all other guilds was in fact true. In other guilds the meetings would wait for the guild master before they begin and he wouldn¡¯t be rushed like this.


    ¡°Well, duty calls.¡± She gave a small sigh before putting up a smile. ¡°I¡¯ll drop by for dinner tonight and we can talk some more then, I definitely want to hear what kind of trouble someone you taught could get into.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re one to talk.¡± Hatchet shot back. ¡°I distinctly remember being the one who had to smooth over the problems you created.


    Luna didn¡¯t say anything beside poking her tongue out at him briefly before she was out the door. ¡°Give both of them one of my tokens and escort them out please.¡±


    A few momentster a different attendant knocked on the door and waited for Hatchet to ask her to enter before she came in.


    ¡°The guild master asked me to give these to you.¡± she said as she handed a token to each of them. ¡°If you¡¯ll follow me out now.¡± Her words implied a request but her tone let them know it wasn¡¯t one but a very polite order. Ajax had no problem following along numbly, he recognised the sigil in his hand, it was the sigil of house Lighttouched. This was a house he remembered well from his time studying the map because, despite it not having anynds outside the capital and its surroundings, it was the Marquis house with thergest territory around the capital. It seemed that Luna¡¯s position, while in regard to running the guild was not at the top, her position in the capital certainly put her high up there.


    ¡°So, what are you nning to do now that you have your arm back?¡± Ajax asked once they were outside.


    ¡°I will go visit some other old friends, it¡¯s been quite a while since I wasst here.¡± he said as he looked off towards the merchant section of the city. ¡°How about you? Going to start house hunting already?¡±


    ¡°First I¡¯m going to get myself registered at the guild, I bet they know and are willing to share a thing or two about where I should even head to find some housing.¡± Ajax said.


    ¡° Ah, that could be a small problem.¡± Hatchet said as he thought it over. ¡°I was going to go with you, but since I n on staying at Luna¡¯s for the foreseeable future it might be best if I don¡¯t vouch for you.¡±


    Initially Hatchet had nned on finding his own ce to stay in the capital, he hadn¡¯t seen Luna in a long time so he hadn¡¯t wanted to impose on her but after their meeting he knew it wouldn¡¯t be any imposition, despite growing stronger, more important and richer she was still the same Luna he knew all those years ago.


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    ¡°Why would you need to vouch for me? I already got my badge back in Lessis.¡± Ajax asked, confused.


    ¡°The guild in the capital is run to a slightly different standard, you could say. In pretty much most guild branches influential people could get their hands on a badge regardless of their level ofpetence. Tobat this the guild here, and in other major branches, has their own requirements.¡± he exined.


    ¡°But I thought that once you joined the guild they wouldn¡¯t put you through anymore tests, that your background on file would serve for that.¡± Ajax was a bit annoyed at this, he had worked hard for the past months to pad out his file with all different environments in the dungeon.


    ¡°Well, technically it¡¯s not required.¡± Hatchet lifted his hand and wobbled it horizontally. ¡°Even without any testing you would still be considered a member of the guild with full ess to any services and benefits. You just won¡¯t be able to take jobs through the guild.¡±


    ¡°I was nning on getting you past all this by simply having me, someone who got their badge in the capital, vouch for you. This wouldn¡¯t really let you do more than grab some basic collection jobs but you could quickly build up your reputation through them. Now all you¡¯re left with is an inspection or thebat test.¡±


    ¡°Which one would be better for me?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°Better? Well the inspection would definitely be better for you as a professional adventurer, you¡¯ll have contracts offered by the hundreds. The problem is that they would be using an orb and it won¡¯t just read your level, it will also take you age and all Rare and under skills. The fighting on the other hand is just beating a level twenty-seven or twenty-eight depending on who is covering the shift.¡±


    That piece of information practically made the decision for Ajax, he had way too many skills to allow them all to be put on file, even if it was only the Rare and under.


    ¡°Okay thebat test it is.¡± Ajax confirmed.


    ¡°You still won¡¯t be able to take more than just open collection contracts.¡± Hatchet warned. ¡° But after youplete a few in level sixty areas or some higher dungeon collection you should be fine to pick up anything even close to your level.¡±


    ¡°Oh and also make sure not to lose the token.¡± Hatchet walked two steps before turning around like he just remembered something. ¡°I have no doubt that I¡¯ll be done before you and I have no problem vouching for you with Luna¡¯s guards but you won¡¯t be allowed back in the noble section without it.¡±


    With a simple nod in confirmation Ajax headed towards the Adventurer¡¯s Guild main branch. He had barely taken more than a few steps when a new idea started forming as he stared at the token he held in his hand.


    What if he was to join Luna¡¯s house? Granted this was a whim of the moment idea and he would need to get to know Luna much better before he decided for sure on this course of action. But from everything he had seen today he thought that this would be the best way to protect himself while also not holding back his own abilities.


    ¡°Have a nice day, sir.¡± His daydreaming was interrupted by the guards who were stationed at the crosspoint between the noble and merchant sections. Having seen the token he was staring at the guard forewent all security checks for people exiting and simply waved him off.


    Ajax gave a simple nod and walked away. He also carefully stored the token in one of his inside pockets where it would be very hard to have it stolen without noticing anything. He also let go of the train of thought about joining Luna¡¯s house as a retainer. It was a viable option but he would need to get to know Luna better before he gave it any more thought, it was a good thing she would be having dinner tonight with him and Hatchet.


    Ajax spent almost the next hour trying to find his way to the Adventurer¡¯s Guild. He only made it here so soon because he had given up about ten minutes ago and started asking for directions.


    This wasn¡¯t to say that the capital was a maze, sure it was a bit overloaded, especially in the merchant section, but not all that bad. The problem Ajax faced was that he had spent at least a week with his face in a map of the ce, and one that wasn''t great at representing the location of the paths navigating the capital, this led him into dead end after dead end.


    As he got to the imposing building he realized that it was much bigger than the one back in Lessis. He had fully expected the guild hall to be bigger here, after all this city even required three small guild hubs beside the main branch of the guild, but he hadn¡¯t expected the sheer size of the building. Its height reminded him of his past life on Earth more than the medieval era he found himself in now.


    Entering he saw the difference inyout instantly. Back in Lessis there was a bar that spread in the space between the reception and the entrance. Here the space was taken up by numerous adventure boards, all filled up with notices of different missions and contracts. The bar was moved to an extra second floor that had an open concept and overlooked the first, not only that but it also turned into a full blown restaurant.


    As he was taking in the scenery he noticed The Collectors stepping away from one of the receptionists. He was heading towards them, and the free receptionist, when a man dressed in expensive clothes approached the team.


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t help but overhear that you are The Collectors?¡± he said. ¡°I represent house Goldmancer.¡±

 Chapter 147

    Chapter 147


    Jones P.O.V.


    The look of the Adventurer¡¯s Guild in the capital really put into perspective just how much of a backwater we had been staying in. It wasn¡¯t just the size of the ce, but the line to talk to the receptionist was easily twice as long here despite them having three receptions instead of just one working at one time. Combine that with the fact that there were also a few guild outposts throughout the capital and you realized just how many more adventurers there were.


    The other massive difference came with the strength of the people. Back home we were the top of the food chain, yes the guild master and a few select people in the city were stronger than us but we were one of the top teams. Guild rankings worked differently depending on the branch, they were all based on the closest dungeon, back in Lessis we were silver ranked because we could clear the second floor of the dungeon. Here we might actually end up gold ranked considering the dungeon the guild based their ranking on had a smaller jump.


    Bronze and Silver and Gold were only rookie ssification here however. Having a smaller jump meant people had to spend a lot less time grinding the dungeon while being stronger than its current level but not strong enough to handle the next jump in power. At gold rank the badges started to hold stars, your rank increasing from gold one star to gold two star if you could clear the fourth floor, with three stars to a rank. Having caught sight of a diamond ranked badge, this would mean that they could clear a floor that had level ny-eight bosses on it, really putting into perspective how low on the food chain we were.


    The receptionist''s attitude towards us was very professional, despite raising an eyebrow at our guild badges initially she had no problem supplying us with a set of silver badges for this branch since our dungeons level jump was actually bigger than the one here. The news that we would have to subject ourselves to an inspect, abat test or clear the second floor of the local dungeon before anyone would trust us with contracts was a kick to our pride. We had spent decades clearing the first floor of the dungeon back in Lessis and at least a decade doing the same to the second floor.


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t help but overhear that you are The Collectors? I represent House Goldmancer.¡± a very well dressed man approached while I was debating whether we should do thebat test or just go for a dungeon delve without any contracts.


    ¡°Do you happen toe from Lessis by any chance?¡± he continued.


    ¡°We do.¡± I confirmed while trying to ignore the curious looks everyone was giving us.


    I knew very well why we were approached the moment he said he represented House Goldmancer. Oddly enough I also saw Ajax, the reason why the Goldmancers knew a team like us, also just so happed to enter the guildhall and was standing near the door.¡°If you would please follow me.¡± he said as he led us to one of the private rooms off in one of the wings of the building.


    The room gave me a strange feeling. It was one I recognised, it came from my [Mana Detection] skill and it was the tell tale sign of a warded room with the wards being active. Unlike all the warded rooms I had been in before, this one didn¡¯t bother to hide the runes on the walls like the nobles did.


    ¡°First of all, let me thank you for taking up the request put forward by House Goldmancer.¡± the man said after Donny closed the door. ¡°We have confirmed that your team took the young man, Ajax, right after his enrollment in the guild and have delved a considerable number of times.¡±


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    None of us said anything after the man finished his statement. It wasn¡¯t like we would deny it, after all the delves and the members we took with us were all part of the guild records and we all knew a house like Goldmancer could have people infiltrated in the bureaucracy of the Adventurer¡¯s Guild.


    ¡°At this time I would like to ask what you can share with me about the young man¡¯s abilities and power.¡± the man continued after he saw none of us were going toment.


    ¡°None of us would betray a team member''s trust and share anything about them, whether they were temporary or not.¡± I responded, though a bit of fear did run through me at resisting such a powerful house.


    The rest of the team seemed to agree with my words but it was easy to notice they were quickly bing ufortable thinking through the implications of keeping quiet. For the first time since the man approached us his calm and pleasant mask broke showing a sh of annoyance for a brief instant.


    ¡°I see,¡± he sighed. ¡°In that case I am sorry to say that you are not eligible for any of the mary rewards we had been ready to give you.¡±


    I rx at the man¡¯s words. Yes it did suck to lose out on a reward but the time we spent with Ajax was worth a lot more than a few coins, his admittance that we only lost a mary reward also meant they wouldn¡¯t pursue us for not offering up the information we had.


    That being said I could also see the bitter taste the whole situation left in the mouth of our entire team. We had originally taken in Ajax as a favor to the two noble girls who were passing through and now we were going to end up empty handed despite keeping our side of the bargain.


    Donny headed for the door with all of us turning to head on out when the man asked. ¡°Where are you going?¡±


    ¡°Are we not free to go?¡± I asked, wondering if I had misinterpreted anything.


    ¡°You most certainly are.¡± the man said ¡°However we have not yet discussed your reward.¡±


    ¡°I thought we made it quite clear that we weren¡¯t going to give you any information on Ajax.¡± Nelly said with a frown, she was the one who had gotten quite attached to Ajax, with him being the only other mana used on our team before Tristan joined as a healer.


    ¡°Yes, that is regrettable.¡± the man said, looking at the floor for a quick moment. ¡°However the request from our house was simply that you let him join your team on delves, we were and are prepared to offer a mary bonus for information you may have gathered but your initial reward is not dependent on that.¡±


    Everyone''s faces started to show a mixture of greed and excitement at the man''s words. ¡°And what reward is that?¡± Bobby asked hurriedly, the anticipation getting to him.


    ¡°The Archduke himself heard of the open request his daughter made, so he decided that whichever team ends up fulfilling it we would reciprocate with the same.¡± the man said.


    ¡°You would have us join one of House Goldmancer¡¯s teams?¡± I ask, irritation and some excitement in my voice.


    On the one hand I was annoyed that iming the reward would mean we would lose our autonomy, on the other hand joining an official team of House Goldmancer was one of the biggest opportunities one could get in the capital.


    ¡°Sadly no.¡± The man said. ¡°I am sorry to say that your team doesn¡¯t meet the required level of strength to join as full members of a team and you are all too old to join as talented trainee hopefuls.¡±


    ¡°Then what did you mean by reciprocate with the same?¡± Nelly asked.


    ¡°I am here to settle on two different dates with your team.¡± the man said. ¡° You would have to select each from a list.¡± He pulled out two different scrolls.


    ¡°What are we picking the dates for?¡± Bobby interrupted the man with his impatience as he spread out the scrolls on the table.


    ¡°These are all dates where our house has ess to the dungeons near the capital.¡± the man said as I noticed that one scroll had a lot more dates written on it than the other. ¡°On the date in question, two of our house''s higher agents will apany you into the dungeon during our time slot, where you will proceed to try and climb as high as you want. Once you have passed as strong a floor as you are willing to try they will clear the next floor.


    A boost. No, two boosts. That¡¯s what House Goldmancer was giving us. Two boosts in the dungeons near the capital. Not only that but they were boosts for as high as we could climb. With all of us around level forty-six this meant we would be able to gain the floor bonus from two floors from each of the dungeons, maybe even three from the five floor jump dungeon if we found a good match up against a level fifty-three boss. That would mean we would all gain plus five to all stats. Two whole levels worth of stats!

 Chapter 148

    Chapter 148


    Jones caught Ajax¡¯s eye and gave him a brief nod before he turned and followed after the representative with all the members of the Collectors who saw him doing the same. Hearing who the man was representing Ajax surmised that this was something to do with the reward they were promised all those months ago for picking him up.


    That didn¡¯t concern him much however as he was no longer a member of the Collectors. Ajax walked forward and joined the shortest line in order to talk with a receptionist. He did notice some people giving him some strange looks as he stood in line, surprisingly they weren¡¯t hostile or curious but instead searching. It seemed almost like they were looking for something on him.


    ¡°Wee to the Adventurer¡¯s Guild, how can I help you?¡± the receptionist with the name tag that read ¡®Mina¡¯ asked.


    ¡°I am here to register with this branch.¡± Ajax answered as he slid over his badge.


    The receptionist took the badge and ran it under the reader, the brief widening of her eye was the only show of emotion she showed while reading the information.


    ¡°Here is a guild badge sir.¡± she said while taking a slightly more professional posture. ¡°If you¡¯d like to take local contracts however we would need to ascertain your eligibility.¡±


    ¡°I would like to take local contracts.¡± Ajax confirmed.


    ¡°If you¡¯d follow me we can have you inspected and assigned an appropriate clearance level.¡± she said as she started to move away from her desk.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to take abat exam.¡± Ajax said before she could even fully turn around. ¡°That is also a possibility but it does prevent you from selecting contracts with specific skill requirements.¡± she exined.


    ¡°That¡¯s fine.¡± Ajax said as he moved to follow her as she walked towards the back of the building.


    ¡°What level would you like to test yourself to?¡± the receptionist asked as they walked. ¡°On duty right now we have levels twenty-five, twenty-seven, twenty-nine, thirty, thirty-two, thirty-seven and forty.¡±


    The specific levels she mentioned threw Ajax through a bit of a loop at first before he figured that it did in fact make sense. Unlike back in Lessis, here they had a dungeon that started at level twenty-five and another that started at thirty so it made sense to keep people around those levels on site to always be able to test people looking to join up.


    As they walked further back they approached a table around which were seated several men, all of them looked to be in their mid tote twenties. While all of them had a drink in front of them, one of them had several empty mugs and was face down on the table. As they approached, all of their eyes scanned Ajax from head to toe.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but it seems we won¡¯t be able to test you against a level thirty-seven.¡± the receptionist sighed and shook her head slightly as she took in the man who was passed out on the table.


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    Ajax silently cursed as that was the option he was hoping to go for. With a confirmation of that level he would have no problem gaining ess to the dungeon and perhaps even taking a contract that could provide him with a decent delve time. At the same time it would also draw less attention than doing the level forty one would.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take the level thirty-two one.¡± Ajax said after a brief silence.


    ¡®uuuuuuu¡¯ one of the men at the table whistled. ¡°Which ducal house does hee from.¡± he asked the receptionist.


    ¡°No affiliations have been reported.¡± She answered, taking the time to stare slightly into the eyes of each person at the table.


    The answer was a surprise to all that were around the table, it made all of them take much more professional stances and watch Ajax with a little respect. A few even threw a few pitying ces towards the passed out man.


    Ajax didn¡¯t know it but they all thought he was the son or grandson of Duke, after all with someone so talented that they reached level thirty-two or thereabouts while being as young as Ajax noble families would mark them as being theirs. The one exception to this being when it was actual members of the family that were that talented, in those cases they wouldn¡¯t show their affiliations.


    With that all of them fell quiet as one of the men stood up and moved with the receptionist towards a door, Ajax following silently behind them.


    ¡°Damn, two of them?¡± one of the men still at the table whispered not knowing Ajax could still hear them thanks to his high perception. ¡°Do you think they kept him hidden so that they wouldn''t upstage the royal family¡¯s prince? I hear he is joining the academy this year.¡±


    Thatment drew a little of Ajax¡¯s attention, the prince, or at least the one they were most likely referring to was less than a year older than Ajax. The first andst time Ajax had heard about him was when the announcement that he had achieved level fifty in a skill before being ten years of age, something Ajax hadn¡¯t managed to do.


    That was thest of the conversation he was able to hear as the three of them entered one of the side rooms. Inside there were lots of weapons on disy, Ajax instantly recognised them as training dulled weapons simr to what the guard used back in Lessis for training, if of a higher quality.


    ¡°We¡¯ll spar with these for your test.¡± the man said with a professional tone as he picked up arge two handed sword and stood in the center of the room.


    Seeing the man pick up the two handed sword Ajax decided to fight while dual-wielding an axe and a sword. There was no need to use the mace as that was more of a finishing weapon, it was also much more effective against a defensive style that relied on shields.


    He had to try a few different axes before he found one that was bnced just right for himself. With his weapons picked out Ajax moved to stand in the center and entered a fighting stance. He wasn¡¯t nning on using magic at all against a level thirty-two, after all he was sure he had more physical stats than the man did.


    As they both moved to engage, Ajax''s guess was proven correct as he found himself moving faster than his opponent. As his axe made contact with the sword however he found himself losing the strength battle, this was to be expected seeing as a one handed axe was going against a two handed sword but even so it had quite a bit more power behind it that Ajax first assumed.


    Despite being able to push past his axe the sword cut a clean arc through the airpletely missing Ajax¡¯s body as he already swerved to the side and was bringing his own sword in a horizontal ading a solid blow against the man''s ribs making him wince a little as his armor rattled.


    Despite the solid contact the fight wasn¡¯t over yet as Ajax knew one strike in the opening exchange wouldn¡¯t be considered enough for him to pass the examination even if the blow would have been lethal in realbat.


    Over the next few exchanges the examiner took a much more defensive style and didn¡¯t ovemit to a single strike again. This however made his choice of weapon rather poor as he couldn¡¯t bring out the best from the two handed sword. It left him falling behind in terms of speed even more as Ajax didn¡¯t spare him and took swipes at his shins, armsnding more than a few.


    After only a minute into the fight the examiner was already heaving, he knew he would be sporting bruises on his legs the following morning as he watched Ajax for a moment to catch his breath before charging him again.


    Ajax wasn¡¯t enjoying the fight, he didn¡¯t like bullying those weaker than him especially when they clearly admitted their inferiority as the examiner had shown after their first exchange. Determined to end in on quickly he leaned into his [Berserker Style] charging forward with reckless abandon, a strong swipe of his axe bringing his opponent off bnce before his de made contact with the man¡¯s neck.


    The examiner dropped to his knees as he started coughing following the blow. Ajax also lowered his weapons, recognising the end to the match.


    ¡°Congrattions on passing.¡± The receptionist said from next to the door where she waited for them to finish.


    From there Ajax simply returned with the receptionist back to her desk where he received a small marking on his bronze badge, most likely symbolizing that he had passed the test. With that taken care of, Ajax took a quick nce over the contracts posted on the boards as he headed for the exit but didn¡¯t see anything interesting as he headed back towards Luna¡¯s house.

 Chapter 149

    Chapter 149


    As he walked down the street Ajax wasn¡¯t paying all that much attention to his surroundings, instead he was studying a piece of paper that he received from the receptionist after he finished all the paperwork for enrolling and getting himself redited for thebat test.


    The piece of paper represented the open slots for delving concerning the two dungeons near the capital. The situation was a real downer for him as unlike back in Lessis where the time queue time for a fully booked out dungeon was two weeks, here the harder dungeon was booked solid for the next two months, whereas the other dungeon had the first opening in three months time.


    The only way around this would be for him to join a party that already had a delve slot or to obtain a delve slot from a person who had a contract attached to it. He really didn¡¯t want to tag along with another party, not only would he very likely outgrown them very quickly but he wasn¡¯t the trusting sort, the only reason he joined the Collectors originally was because going solo wasn¡¯t an option.


    There was a rather obvious solution to his dilemma : talk with Luna and see if she could get him a spot on the healing union teams, from what he saw of the publicly avable schedule they had three delve slots a week, one for training, one for gathering and one for trading. He still didn¡¯t know Luna that well and while this idea was more ptable than joining her noble house it would be hisst resort.


    As he made his way through the merchant district towards the noble part of the city Ajax now carefully inspected all the different shops that were scattered around. He knew that he would soon be in need of a smith, leatherworker and merchant. One to fix his weapons, one to fix his armor and one to sell most of his goods to.


    More than anything however he needed to find an alchemist, with these two dungeons at his disposal he would see all his stats grow by by eleven if he cleared both dungeon to the point that the bosses reached around level sixty and that would mean he would be able to take a few more potions.


    This in turn reminded him that he needed to gain ess to a lot more money. The two thousand gold coins he had with him might be a fortune to themon farmer and even an adventurer, when it came to how much of a money sink getting an adventurer to progress it was barely a good start.


    When it came to smiths he had scouted out three different ces that seemed good enough to him in terms of quality. One of them however could only produce gear up to level sixty, and while that was the limit that he could reliably wield right now he knew it wouldn¡¯t be the same in a few months. That left him with two ces to ask about : Al¡¯s and Well Armed.


    Al¡¯s seemed to be run by a dwarf, his work was of very high quality. Of the numerous weapons disyed he could see that the smith had the capacity to create weapons that were ornate or simple while keeping them deadly. The quality however also came with a solid markup price, since the smith advertised items all the way up to level one hundred.Well Armed was run by a bear beastkin. Unlike the Al¡¯s who focused on tried and true solid designs this smith instead tried his hand at incorporating all sorts of different rare materials into his weapons. From the area marked ¡®bargain barrel¡¯ it was obvious that not all of his ideas always turned out as well as he hoped. His prices however would probably be much more reasonable if Ajax got his hands on any of the materials he wanted to experiment with.


    When it came to leather workers there was almost no need forparing the different shops as there was one that was clearly above the rest. ¡®Skin and Hide Covering¡¯ was a versatile ce that was a step above all the others he had seen as he toured the market district. The only issue was with the sign that was posted on the counter.


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    ¡®Only epting customers by referral.¡¯


    The idea wasn¡¯t novel to Ajax as he had read stories and watched movies where the same concept appeared back on Earth yet it was the first time he experienced it here. Exclusivity was by no means strange in this world, yet someone independent providing exclusivity through the need of a referral stood out like a sore thumb. He even wondered how it was that none of the noble houses recruited them or wiped them out.


    He proved to have no luck finding an alchemist. There were a lot of alchemists scattered all over the merchant district however none of them were good enough to make the permanent stat potions. All the ones that were seemed to be either swept up by the noble houses or working under contract with different merchant organizations.


    It wasn¡¯t even like Ajax could me them however since he knew that joining was their best not only for progress but also for safety. As for looking for a merchant Ajax knew it would take a lot longer than a single afternoon to find a trustworthy merchant, not only that but he still hadn¡¯t decided what to do about his mother¡¯s side of the family.


    As the sun started going down Ajax made his way towards the noble district. He wasn¡¯t even given a second nce when crossing the divide once he shed the token that Luna gave him. As he made his way to Luna¡¯s home he noticed the massive change in architecture.


    Unlike the merchant district where all the buildings were touching each other down the length of the street in an attempt to squeeze in that little bit of extra room, here each mansion stood on its own plot with a clear path all the way around itself. Not only that but each one was also full of life with caretakers and guards dotted around.


    He was slightly surprised to find that Luna¡¯s home fit in perfectly with the rest. There was a servant that could be seen cleaning a room through the open window and a guard at the front door. None of this matched with the image Hatchet had given him of Luna on their way to the capital.


    The guard only took one look at his token before he opened the door for him. After he walked inside a butler came up to him with a servant following behind.


    ¡°Lady Lighttouched has been expecting you, young Ajax.¡± the butler said. ¡°If you would give your pack to Nigel here he will see it all ced in your room.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that where I am going?¡± Ajax asked skeptically.


    ¡°Sadly I¡¯m afraid that you arrived a bitter than we expected, you¡¯ll be under a bit of a rush to get yourself washed and dressed in time for dinner as it is.¡± he said as his nose twitched a little from the smell that wasing off Ajax after a few weeks of travel with a caravan. ¡°If you would follow me please.¡±


    Ajax did as he was asked and handed over most of his packs. The sole exception being his coin bag. Despite the trust he had in Hatchet and by extension Luna, he wouldn¡¯t be letting the two thousand gold coins out of his sight here in the capital.


    Ajax was led into a luxurious bathroom that had an ornate tub filled with steaming water. Once the butler left Ajax undressed and slowly submerged himself in the warm water. It was the most rxing bath he has taken since he was reborn in this world, sadly he didn¡¯t have all that much time to enjoy it. After a few minutes of lying there bonelessly and just soaking his muscles to relieve the fatigue that had built up he started scrubbing himself clean.


    By the time he had gotten out the water had taken on a brown hue. Theyers of dust and crud that hadn''t been all that noticeable to him throughout the journey were now all scraped away and he felt clean. As he turned around he also found that all of his own clothes were gone, in their ce all that remained was his coin pouch and next to it was a set of clean clothes.


    This was very surprising since he hadn¡¯t noticed anyone entering or leaving the room throughout the entire time. After taking a moment to calm himself down he quickly got dressed, secured his coin pouch in an inside pocket and opened the door.


    Outside he found the butler waiting for him. The man gave him a quick inspecting look, staring at his head all the way to his feet and back again. After a short nod he opened his mouth.


    ¡°If you¡¯ll follow me, dinner is ready.¡±


    Ajax simply nodded and followed him as he nced about the house. The corridors were well decorated with all sorts of nts but noticeably absent were the portraits of different generations one would expect to find a noble house. He supposed this made sense seeing as Luna was the first generation of this noble house. As they entered and passed through a massive room with a long table that Ajax assumed was for feast they entered into a smaller room with a round table where Luna and Hatchet were sitting with a third seat left open for him.


    ¡°Thank you Alfred, that will be all.¡± Luna said, and Ajax had to bite the inside of his cheek in order not to react at the coincidence of the butler¡¯s name.

 Chapter 150

    Chapter 150


    ¡°Is something wrong?¡± Luna asks, seeing that Ajax froze for a moment.


    ¡°No,¡± Ajax shook his head ¡°Just that I haven¡¯t met anyone else with the name Alfred before.¡±


    He had no way to exin why a butler named Alfred would cause him to have such a reaction, but neither could he lie until he knew for sure Luna and Alfred didn¡¯t have any skills that would point out lies.


    ¡°It is a rather unique name.¡± the man admitted.


    ¡°So how did it go at the Adventurer¡¯s Guild?¡± Hatchet switched the subject to something that interested him more as he began to eat.


    ¡°It went fine, I passed their test for level thirty-two.¡± Ajax said as he took the open seat and started piling food on his own te.


    The answer however caused quite a big stir in both Alfred and Luna. Due to her attachment to healing magic and her study of the human body Luna was quite adept at guessing people¡¯s ages, at least in terms of how far they aged before stats were applied to slow the process. It was something most healers picked up, this also meant that both of them knew Ajax was not even sixteen yet as he hadn¡¯t aged.


    ¡°You passed the level thirty-two test?¡± Luna asked, surprised. ¡°Do you mind me asking how old you are?¡±


    ¡°I am fifteen and a half.¡± Ajax answered. Under normal circumstances he would be more guarded about this information but his age was part of the information the guild had on file so anyone with any pull in the capital could find it. Actively giving out his age would actually be more effective in keeping himself low key, since if one person used their influence to pull his records others might do the same to check what they were looking for.


    ¡°Only level thirty-two? You know you can pass even if you don¡¯t win the fight and just put up a good match¡± Hatched fell back into his old role as teacher.


    ¡°I would have gone higher but the level thirty-seven they had on shift was wasted and the next higher was level forty.¡± Ajax said defensively.


    Both Luna and Alfred were hit again with this information before having time to digest the previous part.


    ¡°Hatchet, what is he?¡± Luna asked.


    Hatchet didn¡¯t answer the question and instead just looked over at Ajax leaving the decision of how much to tell up to him. He only pushed initially to show Ajax that he trusted Luna with at least some of the information and because he knew Luna would just find out from the guild otherwise anyway.


    ¡°I¡¯m a little different, I guess.¡± Ajax admitted after a bit of a pause.


    He had in fact practiced what to do in case he ever needed to exin himself to someone. Having to do so to someone who was being rtively friendly about it would make everything much easier than he had been prepared for.


    ¡°Ever since I was young I managed to gain ess to quite a few skills.¡± he started ¡° Unlike the other kids in my vige I didn¡¯t ignore them but I also didn¡¯t focus on them. In fact I tried to gain as many different skills as I could while also training the ones I did get.¡±


    Luna was well aware by now that this is what a lot of nobles did in order to get their children to level up faster, most did it through social skills as almost everyone had some talent for them but it didn¡¯t exin the situation where someone would be able to be so strong by age sixteen.


    ¡°When I was almost ten years of age I asked Hatchet to train me as a hunter. It seems I had quite the talent since I managed to pick quite a few skills in that regard and training as a hunter also let me practice a fewbat skills my brother taught me, he works as a city guard.¡± Ajax exined.


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    ¡°That still doesn¡¯t add up to why you would be able to pass the level thirty-two test, let alone one even higher.¡± Alfred spoke up, earning himself a disapproving nce from Luna at the harsh tone.


    ¡°Did you know that if you pull up your status screen and you focus on trying hard to see through it, it makes the background of it all transparent? You can still see.¡± Ajax asked the question instead.


    This was something that he discovered while messing around with the system when he was a kid, it was also a much easier concept to exin than how minimizing would be because nobody had used aputer before.


    ¡°No, I didn¡¯t know that.¡± Luna said as her eyes took a faraway look people had learned to associate with someone looking at their status, something considered rude when done while talking with others. ¡°Interesting, it does in fact work, what does this have to do with anything?.¡±


    Luna¡¯s tone was much kinder than Alfreds showing genuine interest. ¡°Well, I learned about that before I turned ten.¡± Ajax exined, ¡°when I earned the apprentice trait I learned that you can forcibly increase your stats easier while it is active.¡±


    ¡°Everybody knows this.¡± Alfred said, but his tone held no hostility, only some impatience.


    ¡°Yes, but this led me to not spending any of my stat points when I turned ten.¡± Ajax said.


    ¡°What did you do with them then?¡± Luna asked, not having put the puzzle together yet despite having all the pieces.


    ¡°Nothing.¡± Ajax said ¡°I never closed my status. Instead I just focused on my training with Hatchet.¡±


    ¡°Without spending the points you would have made some great progress when ites to forcibly increasing stats.¡± Luna pondered. ¡°Especially since you were doing this from the start when all of them are much easier to grow, you must have gained a few levels worth of stats like this.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not all.¡± Ajax continued. ¡°The system grants experience in regards to how difficult something is to achieve, it¡¯s only when entering a Dungeon that levels actually matter. Not only that but unspent stat points aren¡¯t taken into consideration.¡±


    This was the final piece, by not spending the points when leveling it allowed you to maintain about the same level of difficulty and as such gather experience from weaker and more abundant monsters even when you far surpassed their level.


    ¡°But, that would mean¡­ what level are you now?¡±Luna asked.


    The reason why even nobles took at least a few years when making it to level twenty-five and were finally able to start delving for easier ess to levels was because of the sudden spike in difficulty that came with fighting for experience after someone turned ten. Without that spike someone could easily gain levels until at least level twenty-two, a lot higher if they had a lot of skills that could be used while hunting. From there with a few potions and the apprentice bonus they would be strong enough to go into the dungeon.


    ¡°Luna¡­¡± Hatchet warned seeing Ajax not answer.


    ¡°Oh, sorry!¡± Luna realized how rude that came off, straight up asking someone about their stats was quite rude.


    ¡°What is your n now?¡± Luna asked instead.


    ¡°I was hoping to try and delve.¡± Ajax admitted as he put his cutlery down and let out a deep sigh. ¡°But I found that getting a delving slot will be a lot harder than I expected. At least without joining a noble house or signing a long contract with a merchant organization.¡±


    ¡°Neither of those choices are inherently bad.¡± Luna said. ¡°There are more than a few noble houses that treat their people well. Not to mention that you could add quite a few stiptions in those contracts with merchant organizations.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t see myself trusting nobles enough to join a house.¡± Ajax shook his head. ¡° I know there are a few good ones.¡± The two noble girls who helped him get a team shed in his mind. ¡° But the reason the smanders attacked and Hatchet lost his arm was because one of the baron¡¯s sons went and stole an egg, and nobody did anything to punish him.¡±


    He was digging his nails into his palms a little as he remembered that. He would make that little shit pay for it one day, once he was strong enough.


    He let out a deep breath before he spoke.¡°As for merchant organizations, my sister will move to the capital in a few years, I wouldn¡¯t want to side with herpetition when that happens.¡±


    ¡°Is that what happened?¡± Luna asked, though from the way mana was swirling around her it seems she didn¡¯t take the news of how Hatchet lost his arm well. It was the first time Ajax saw someone with a lot of magical stats lose theirposure like this. He also wondered if his own were high enough to produce a simr effect, he would have to get a good handle on his emotions if that was the case.


    ¡°Let this be something for us to handle Luna.¡± Hatchet said, putting a stop to a few ns that Luna was already hatching.


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    With that Luna turned back to Ajax and took a deep breath. ¡°I owe Hatchet my life and he is one of my oldest friends, so helping him is a given. Helping you however isn¡¯t something I feel obligated to do or that I really want. But seeing as how you are Hatchet¡¯s student I think I can give you a chance.¡± The years spent in the presence of nobles were easy for Hatchet to spot in the Luna that was sitting with him now after all this time.


    ¡°A chance?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Luna nodded. ¡°I could just add you as one of the protection details for our own teams that are heading into the dungeon. But this won¡¯te free. We have a few more annoying jobs that have piled up to do in the forests and fields surrounding the capital.¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯re saying that as long as I do those I¡¯ll get a spot?¡± Ajax asked, this was a much better deal than he expected.


    ¡°Sorry, the deal won¡¯t be that good.¡± she shook her head and a smile he recognized from his sister and na took shape. ¡° For every three jobs youplete, without asking for their reward, I¡¯ll get you one delve in the Hignds.¡±


    ¡°The Hignds?¡± he asked.


    ¡°The level thirty dungeon.¡±


    ¡°What about the level twenty-five one?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Let''s first see how the Hignds goes, we¡¯ll see about the Goldmer.¡± and we¡¯ll renegotiate thatter was left implied.

 Chapter 151

    Chapter 151


    Ajax was deep in the forest as he used his knife to carefully collect the piece of glowing moss that was growing up the side of the tree. He hadn¡¯t thought much about the request to do three jobs for the Healing Union but he had now spent well over four hours just collecting moss.


    It was also pretty easy to see why the Healing Union had such a hard time getting people to take on the jobs they kept posting. All of their jobs requiredrge amounts of nts to be collected all at once, not only that but the job payed barely more than a merchant would for the ingredients, since most people didn¡¯t have a storage bag it was just simpler to sell to a merchant after every collection that stockpile and turn them in at the Union.


    As for the reason why they needed so many ingredients. This one was simple, the city housed easily more than one hundred thousand people and the Union had to treat all of the lethal or debilitating injuries and illnesses.


    The easy work around would be to simply lower the amount required to finish a job. The problem was that this would actually lower the amount of nts they would receive as a whole. Unlike in other cities, in order to be considered for the test of joining the Union, in the capital one had to firstplete five tasks. It didn¡¯t sound like much but a position in the Union was coveted by all the poor people as it would allow them and their families priority ess to healing should something like a gue take hold of the capital.


    A snap of a twig instantly brought Ajax¡¯s focus from the moss to a bush where the leaves were still swaying. He didn¡¯t even hesitate to charge in the direction of the bush and in a quick strike he embedded the knife through the snake and into ground, pinning the animal.


    The reason Ajax was collecting moss wasn¡¯t because it was the fastest to collect, in fact it was somewhere among the slowest nts that the Union had jobs out for. The reason was that the moss could be found in the same part of the forest where both the bees and poisonous snake could be found. The bee¡¯s didn¡¯t pose a threat to anyone that was above level five but the snake was a different matter.


    Despite a specimen above level seven not having been spotted in thest century they were renowned for having a potent enough venom that one bite was enough to kill a human up to ten levels higher than them. The number wasn¡¯t an exact science as some invested more heavily into vitality but it was still enough to keep most people out of their corner of the woods.


    The poison was also very versatile. Not only was it great for creating antivenoms, but if diluted correctly it could be used as medicine. Sadly all attempts at breeding the snakes in captivity failed as the species seemed to actively stop breeding in confined spaces and inrger ones once they reached a certain poption density.


    This was Ajax¡¯s tenth and final snake. His [Dismantle] skill allows him to quickly and efficiently remove the poison sack. Unlike most of the people who hunted the snakes Ajax was going to be damned if wouldn¡¯t make at least a bit of money by selling the skin to merchants instead of handing over the full snake.With the poison sacks all collected and the moss mostly done as well Ajax started moving faster through the forest in search of bees. Since he noticed that beekeeping wasn¡¯t tried here yet he fully intended in setting up a few hives of his own in hopes of having easier ess to honey, the only problem he came up with was: where would he set up his hives?


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    Last night''s conversation had prepared a convenient cover for Ajax, it wouldn¡¯tst him all that long, maybe two months at the most, but after discussing it with Luna the night before his best course of action was to join the Healing Union as a trainee hopeful. Since people of all ages and levels tried out for the Union he wouldn¡¯t seem out of ce at all. Even his presence on the dungeon delve team would be seen as a simple test.


    Another benefit was that he would be living in the trainee housing. Giving himself time to find and rent his own house without being desperate for a roof over his head. Lastly, and most importantly he would be effectively immune to noble interference in his time there.


    Although the Healing Union was seen as a stand alone guild by the people, all the nobles knew that it was run by the royal family. As such grabbing one of their trainees was seen as grabbing someone that was looking to join the royal family and was heavily discouraged. The few times it was attempted with talented individuals the houses in question lost bothnds and titles. The royal family¡¯s notice was also what stopped him from staying a trainee for longer as once they took notice of him he would quickly be fast-tracked into a position to serve the royal family.


    As he headed back towards the capital Ajax could see the sun was already starting to go down. He had spent a total of seven hours collecting the materials and another two on travel. With the next delve slot the Union had being tomorrow Ajax knew the team was already selected so he would have to be patient and wait for the delve that was four days from now.


    The line and search to get back into the city was no quicker than it was when he first arrived here. Getting out had been easy since all he had to do was show the empty bag and receive a quick pat down. Another wasted half an hour and Ajax took a quick jog to hand in everything he collected. The Union worker was surprised to see the venom sacks already extracted but he simply made a note of it in Ajax¡¯s file before thanking him for the work.


    With that out of the way and little time before the curfew the trainees had Ajax quickly take off to both sell the snake skins and also look for a carpenter who could build him his hives. Finding a leather worker to buy the skins was easy, though he didn¡¯t make more than a few copper off the lot of them, he appreciated it since almost all his finances took the form of gold coins that were a hassle to deal with when making small purchases.


    Finding a carpenter that would make his hives proved to be much more of a challenge. It wasn¡¯t that there weren¡¯t more than a few of them that were capable of doing it, it was that they were all either busy for the moment or asked ridiculous prices for making them. They quoted the lost opportunity of working on building a house despite them not being hired at the moment.


    ¡°Hi sir.¡± Ajax greeted the sixth carpenter he went to see that day.


    ¡°Eveningd.¡± the old man greeted, ¡°What can I do for you?¡±


    Ajax pulled out the scroll where he drew the design for his hive. He had his [Drawing] skill and the one random Discovery channel episode he watched for his ability to provide a somewhat urate diagram.


    ¡°I¡¯m looking to have a few of these made.¡± Ajax said as he spread the scroll across the desk.


    ¡°Hmm, it certainly is an odd design.¡± the man nodded ¡°But it doesn¡¯t seem all that difficult. I think I could make it for you for half silver. How many would you need?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like two hundred of them.¡± Ajax said, nning on setting up enough hives that honey would be a solid piece of ie he could pass off to his sister once she moved here.


    Seeing how he would only be actually able to harvest the honey in a year or so, people wouldn¡¯t even know it is a viable market that they couldpete in. He could set up a base infrastructure for the market with the Union that would give his sister a strong base to build herpany in the capital.


    ¡°Two hundred!¡± the man eximed as he looked at Ajax.


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Two hundred is a lot,d, would you need them all at once or very soon?¡± he asked, he wouldn¡¯t be the first to make a reasonable offer but turn Ajax down once he heard the amount he wanted.


    ¡°I¡¯d like a few very soon.¡± Ajax said as he was hoping to set a few up in the days before the delve. ¡°But the rest I¡¯m in not that big a hurry for.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you what then. I¡¯ll make five for you as a priority, after that I¡¯ll be making them as long as I don¡¯t have another order and you can pay for the rest as you pick them up.¡± This was a very generous offer as most works were paid for upfront to prevent customers from renegotiating products after they were already made and use the spent materials as a bargaining point with the crafter.


    Ajax quickly epted the deal and then headed off towards the trainee housing as the curfew was approaching.

 Chapter 152

    Chapter 152


    Arriving at the trainee housing Ajax didn¡¯t know what to expect but what he found was certainly not it. Instead of just a building he found an entirepound that could easily house over a hundred people. It had a canteen, garden and two dorms.


    ¡°Present your token.¡± The bored gate guard said as he put forward his open palm.


    Ajax didn¡¯t reply anything to that and simply ced the token Alfred had given him that morning into the hand of the guard.


    ¡°Ajax, new to the city.¡± His voice sounded bored as he read the information his token reader presented, his eyes however widened at thest part of his information. ¡°Combat oriented.¡±


    ¡°Yes¡± Ajax simply confirmed , happy to know that the token only had such basic information.


    ¡°Your room will be on the second floor, number sixty-three.¡± the guard handing the token back to him. ¡°Dormitory near the gate is the male one, you are free to go to the canteen and visit the gardens but the female dormitory is off limits.¡±


    With a nod Ajax took the token and headed inside looking to drop off his pack in his new room. He had been told that they separated the boys and girls sleeping quarters. While they didn¡¯t frown on fraternization they believed that should be the least of their focus while they were still trainees.


    As he walked through the ce he noticed that there were people of all ages moving around thepound. Unlike other organizations, the Healing Union had no age or level requirements to join as a trainee, but those who were younger or higher level were of course on the fast track to move up.


    He had no issue finding his room, a small closet-like space two meters by four where he found a bed, a desk and a small wardrobe. As he was quite tired after the long day spent searching the forest he didn¡¯t bother doing much more than putting his pack down, throwing off most of his clothes and crashing on the bed. He now had some ns to make. Because of the problem with the delve slots he was about to find himself with a lot of extra time on his hands, at least in the short run before he built up a bit of a reputation for getting the job done. Only question was, what to do with it. He was highly tempted to revisit a lot of the skills he had gained throughout his childhood as they would be a good way to get ay of thend.


    There was however a small problem with working on his skills, he could only level once. That was the upper limit he could allow himself to reach before getting a spot in the Goldmine. With the monsters starting at level twenty-five even the strongest creature there will not surpass level thirty. This meant that he had to be at most level thirty-two if he wanted to gain the extra one point to all stats from clearing the floor.


    Two considering he stood barely at 1510/55100 experience into level thirty-one this wouldn¡¯t seem like that big of a limitation but that would all change quickly once he started pushing himself in the Hignds dungeon. A single delve on the fourth floor with levels fifty-seven to sixty-two would grant him at least half a level the first time, that¡¯s not to mention the floor leading up to it.


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    ¡®THUM THUM THUM¡¯


    A powerful knock on the door broke him out of his thoughts.


    ¡°Trainee Ajax.¡± a voice sounded on the other side.


    ¡°Yes?¡± Ajax said sitting up on the bed just before the door opened and a man dressed in the Healing Union¡¯s uniform strolled into the room.


    ¡°My name is Jackson, I am a full member of the Union¡± he said as he showed off his official uniform. ¡° I am also the recruiter you have been assigned to. I have here your list of chores for the next two weeks. I don¡¯t care which shifts you take but all of them must bepleted and signed off on in the next fourteen days.¡±


    Ajax took the scroll and opened it up. On it he found a checklist.


    Prepared Breakfast 0/1


    Prepared Lunch 0/1


    Prepared Dinner 0/1


    Watered Gardens 0/1


    Cleaned Gardens 0/1


    Missionpleted 3/5.


    He had been told going in that he would have to do his part of the chores. It wasn¡¯t much since the maintenance of the ce was rather simple with over a hundred people working together. He was surprised to see that they had already updated his number ofpleted mission.


    ¡°You can feel free to exchange chores with your fellow trainees. This however is not something we will police. The trainers signing off on a chore will sign on any sheet given to them by whoeverpleted the task. So if you want to trade with others make sure they are trustworthy to keep up their part.¡±


    Jackson knew that this system was ripe for abuse. Some of the trainees took full advantage and always tricked others into doing all their chores but this was a good lesson for them. It also didn¡¯t matter all that much since these chores were the bare minimum, those looking to move up were also scored on how they dealt with their chore list.


    ¡°I¡¯ll see it done.¡± Ajax said as he put the sheet to the nearby desk.


    ¡°You also didn¡¯t put down your age or level.¡± Jackson said as he looked at Ajax.


    ¡°That¡¯s correct.¡± Ajax nodded.


    ¡°I know some of youbat types like to keep that to yourselves.¡± he let out a deep sigh. ¡°With how young you look however I suggest you get your age registered, it will most likely not just reduce your chore amount slightly but you¡¯ll also be able to move up a lot quicker.¡±


    This advice gave Ajax a good impression of Jackson, he really was trying to help him out but not digging for information only telling him to put down his age which anyone could find from the Adventurer¡¯s Guild. The problem was that Ajax didn¡¯t want to quickly move up the ranks. He wanted to remain a trainee and use his deal with Luna to build his reputation up bypleting delves and requests.


    ¡°Fine.¡± Jackson shook his head as he saw that Ajax wasn¡¯t going to change his mind. ¡°Do as you will. If you have any questions you can always reach out to me. Also I suggest getting your chore list updated every time youplete one. If you lose the chore list between getting it officially updated and having finished the chore we will give you a new list but it will only be marked with the jobs we have you havingpleted on file.¡±


    With thest bit of advice Jackson took his leave and let Ajax get his rest.


    Thinking about the chores that he now had to do Ajax knew what would take up his next few days. He had never been one to procrastinate but with the delve happening in a few days he had to make sure to get his chores done before then as he didn¡¯t know how long the delve will take.


    For the two open missions he nned to go and collect more honey once he got his hands on his first few hives. Might as well collect the bees while he is at it and hit two birds with one stone. The rest of his chores will take one day, maybe two depending on if he can get on all the cooking shifts in one day.


    With his n made Ajax was eager to get to sleep but he found sleep hard toe by. For the first time in months he found himself unable to spend his mana before sleeping. Emptying his mana pool here would draw a lot of attention so he made a small note to himself to always make sure he spends a good portion of his mana before returning to sleep.


    After spending an hour tossing and turning Ajax was finally able to fall asleep on the hard mattress. The sleep was restful and he felt none of the fatigue he had from the previous day as he woke up. nning to get the chores out of the way quickly he opened the small wardrobe and put one of the sets of clothes all trainees were given while nning to wash his own clothes and armor.

 Chapter 153

    Chapter 153


    After waking up the next morning, taking a better look throughout thepound and talking to some of the supervisors, Ajax found that his n to get most of his chores done today wasn¡¯t going to work. All of the kitchen shifts for the day were already taken so the only thing he could do was Watering and cleaning the garden.


    To absolutely no surprise he had found that the garden was stocked full of nts that were useful for creating healing remedies. It was also the only other ce beside the entrance where he found guards stationed, most likely there to stop people from stealing them and selling them on the outside.


    The work was very easy for him, it was meant to be something that a level fifteen should be able to aplish so doing his part of both chores only took an hour a piece. Since he also took an hour before to have ate light breakfast and take a look at what the people staffing that were doing by the time he was done the sun was high in the sky.


    WIth his n to get as many of his chores done today pushed to tomorrow Ajax now nned on first going to buy and plot in the farming quarters as well as one in the merchant quarter. As for why he was buyingnd plots, it simply made more sense for him since he now had more than a month in which to get his own ce so he might as well build it to his specifications.


    As he made his way through the capital now dressed in the official garb of the Healing Union trainees he could see that the looks people gave him also changed from yesterday or the day before. Instead of only ncing over him, now they were giving him a much more appreciative nce, most deciding whether it was worth getting to know him since he might move up and knowing someone in the Healing Union was always a boon.


    After he made it to the government building he quickly came to a conclusion, his two thousand gold coins were not going to take him as far as he expected. Looking at the price of thend plots avable on one of the priced maps, two thousand gold coins was barely enough to get a good position for a merchant establishment, let alone building something on it afterwards.


    Since that idea was a bust, Ajax instead decided on a ratherrge plot that was based in the crafting quarter. His initial n of setting down roots for his sister having to change he decided to set up a good spot for both his brother and his parents. The plot wasrge enough that two decently sized houses and a smithy could be built on it while also being close to a guard outpost and a branch of the Healing Union.


    The plot would set him back around five hundred gold, an outrageous price but that was the nature of buyingnd in the capital outside the slums. With that decision made he filled out the paperwork and then headed over to look at the farming plots. The pricing here was all over the ce, thankfully an attendant was standing nearby and was ready to help.


    ¡°Can you tell me why there is such a variance in the prices?¡± Ajax asked.¡°The price varies based on thend,¡± the attendant said. ¡°Distance to the creak, how steep the slope is and what trees have already been grown there all affect the price.¡±


    Ajax agreed that it made sense, ttening the ground to build the foundation of a house was hard work but not outrageous, ttening a whole field was something that would take a high level mage.


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    ¡°Why is this one so much cheaper?¡± Ajax asked, looking at one of the plots that cost four hundred gold despite being surrounded by plots that cost six hundred that were also free.


    ¡°That one already happens to have quite a few trees already nted in the center.¡± the attendant said briskly after taking a look at the plot.


    ¡°What kind of trees are they?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°They are an assortment of tea trees.¡± the attendant answered reluctantly.


    With that Ajax now knew exactly why the plot was much cheaper than anything else. Tea leaves had to be dried in most cases. When the peace with the Republic came into effect it also brought with it better ess to trade with the other races. The elves'' familiarity with trees and ability with mana meant that tea prices dropped hard. Unlike a lot of other nt based goods, tea leaves didn¡¯t suffer from the long travel time which made importing them much more profitable.


    The attendant mistook Ajax''s pause for him being undecided on whether or not thend was worth it so he made a push to see if he could sway him.


    ¡°The owner is also willing to ept three hundred and ny.¡± the attendant said.


    ¡°We can haggle for plots?¡± Ajax was really surprised by the news and was wondering why he didn¡¯t see anyone there to haggle with on the first map.


    ¡°These one¡¯s yes as they are sold by individuals.¡± the attendant answered by swiping his hand over the farming plots.


    ¡°What about the ones inside the capitol?¡± he asked.


    ¡°All of those are owned by the royal family, they can only be bought at the listed price and avability is limited. They can also only be sold back to the royal family.¡± the man said.


    While that seemed odd it did make some sort of sense. The prices on the lots might seem high to him but to noble families that had rued wealth for hundreds and thousands of years it would be well worth the investment to gather so muchnd inside the capitol. They most likely also restricted the amount a person could own at any one time and if he was right it also included intermediaries.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take the plot for three hundred and fifty.¡± Ajax countered the initial offer after he thought about it.


    ¡°Three hundred and eighty.¡± The attendant immediately answered back.


    Ajax wanted to try to push it further down and offer three hundred and sixty but he found the words unwilling to leave his mouth. It was the first time he had felt his merchant skills be suppressed to such an extent. The man looked to be in histe forties but his age was much higher and his skills had lots of practice behind them.


    ¡°Fine.¡± Ajax agreed with a defeated tone. He couldn¡¯t even make a counter offer for three seventy five.


    The attendant quickly filled out the form for him and listed the price as three hundred and eighty. Ajax was sure that this was the farming plot he wanted as soon as he heard the reason for its low price; it was all a matter of how much lower he could bring it. After all, his bees would need flowers to gather pollen from and tea trees were known for producing a lot of flowers.


    Getting everything sorted after that was just an exercise in bureaucracy. It seems that even in a medieval era the buying ofnd needed a lot of forms filled. The only highlight of the process was the binding contract he had to sign, it stated that he was buying the plot ofnd inside the city for his own personal use and that he wasn¡¯t a front for anyone, not only that but he couldn¡¯t offer it or its use in any trade of any sort and had to be sold back to the crown under any circumstances except changing the name among family and even that had to be done with the approval of the office.


    Right as he finished signing the contract he felt it take hold inside himself. They cared little what he wanted to do with his farming plot and quickly got him the deed for it afterwards. He carefully removed his money pouch to hand over the eight hundred and eighty coins, it did him no good to advertise his wealth.


    After securing the two deeds in his inside pocket next to the money pouch Ajax headed out to collect his first hive box. There was still plenty of time for him to get at least one filled and set up, so after paying the carpenter a silver ajax stowed the stand in his bag, strapped the box to his back and took off towards the forest.


    ¡°See, I told you he¡¯de out today as well.¡± Ajax heard a raspy voice as soon as ten feet after he entered the forest.


    He had obviously noticed the tracks that showed him that other people had passed through here before but that was nothing new, there were hundreds of such tracks, some days old, some months old, so Ajax hadn¡¯t paid any attention to any of them.


    ¡°What do you want?¡± Ajax asked the group of five that stepped out from behind the trees.


    ¡°We¡¯re here to make you an offer to join the house of Baron Steelboot.¡± the lead man said with a malevolent smirk. ¡°An offer you can¡¯t refuse.¡±

 Chapter 154

    Chapter 154


    Ajax was stunned at the new development. It didn¡¯t take longer than an instant for him to figure out what was going on but he pretended to be shocked at their appearance as he started thinking through his options.


    In Ajax¡¯s mind the most important thing right now was how strong these people were. A quick look with [Judge Threat] marked them all about as dangerous as the average member of the Collectors, though they did look a fair bit younger. Ajax judged them to be in the mid forties. It took a lot of self control for him not to let out a relieved breath at that.


    Now that he knew that should ite down to it he would most likely take them in a fight he had a few choices to make. His first option was to run, even with his baggage and the artificial bee hive on his back he knew he would have no issue outrunning them. All five were dressed in somewhat ornate te gear from head to toe, even disregarding the weight its rigidity would definitely slow them down.


    ¡°Boss!¡± one of the four men behind the leader hisses out. ¡°Look at his clothes, he¡¯s with the Healing Union.¡±


    ¡°So what!?¡± the leader confidently scoffed, though Ajax could see his brow furrow as he looked at his clothes carefully. ¡°He wasn¡¯t with them when he went to take his test a few days ago, no way he made an impression on anyone there.¡±


    That little taunt backfired spectacrly, while the man had meant to use it as intimidation all it did was feed Ajax information on just how much they looked into him. It also served to tell him that they would definitely not let him go after admitting that in front of him.


    He didn¡¯t take more than a second to make the decision that running was definitely his opening move. Unless absolutely necessary fighting an ambush in the ambush spot was the worst idea. But now he was faced with two choices, does he run deeper into the woods or does he run back towards the capitol.


    Running to the capitol would remove any upfront and direct danger. With just a small boost from his mana he would leave the five of them in the dust. He also disregarded the option as soon as he started considering it. No way they hadn¡¯t prepared for that eventuality, the little show the baron¡¯s son pulled with his trial over inciting the smander made him not want to take a chance with the guards arresting him and a quick trial ending with him found guilty and punished with indentured servitude for life.


    So towards the forest it was, only one more choice to make before he moved. Does he use his man to speed himself up or not? Having that as a possible surprise was worth much more than just a bit of speed so he decided not to use it just yet.¡°So what do you say?¡± the leader asked, taking Ajax¡¯s unresponsiveness for fear.


    ¡°No thanks, I¡¯m good.¡± Ajax gave simple diplomacy a chance before he burst into action.


    As the fake friendly smile gave way to a scowl and the leader''s hand went to his hammer Ajax had already dashed to the side through the trees. The movement was a surprise to all five ambushers, while running had been something they were prepared for and started moving the moment he lifted a foot off the ground, all of the charged forward thinking he will head back to the capitol.


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    Their mistake cost them a few precious seconds as now Ajax had gotten past all of them and didn¡¯t have any of theming at him from the side. His light leather armorbined with his experience sprinting through the woods meant he could put a small bit of distance between them as the pursuers picked up speed.


    As all this happened Ajax was quickly scanning his surroundings for anyone else that may have been hidden. Fortunately it seemed they didn¡¯t think to have anyone remain hidden and showed their full hand.


    ¡°You stop now and we¡¯ll only give you a light beating.¡± the leader shouted two minutes into the chase once he figured out they weren¡¯t closing the gap. ¡°You might be just as quick as we are but you¡¯ll tire first.¡±


    Ajax ignored the offer. He had a much different choice to make right now, a fight was going to happen there was no avoiding that. But the question was, should he kill them or not? It wasn¡¯t Earth¡¯s moral guidelines that had him asking this question, he had long since adapted to this world. But which choice gave him a better path forward.


    Five hundred stamina and a few miles deeper into the forest Ajax came to a stop. He had ensured there were no other pursuers and had alsoe to a decision. His best move after this was going to Hatchet and Luna and asking their opinion. But before that he had to get rid of the five of them. Sure ways of detecting the truth existed but clever wording did give him an advantage, as long as he was the only person who knew what happened here.


    He had stopped in a small clearing. It was just big enough for two people to use as a decent sparring ground but small enough for the trees to prove as obstacles inrger fights. Having observed them as they traversed the forest Ajax knew his pursuers weren¡¯t used to fighting in the woods.


    ¡°Finally given up running?¡± the leader breathed evenly, despite the chase none of them were out of breath showing they were still somewhat trained


    Ajax didn¡¯t bother answering as he pushed his [Deception] as hard as he could to make it look like he was out of breath. This next exchange was most important. He had to let them throw the first strike, being able to truthfullyy that out was paramount for any interrogation about what happened here.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll make sure you still have your tongue and all your teeth after we¡¯re done so you can apologize.¡± The leader stepped forward and swung his mace aiming for his ribs.


    Ajax jumped back at thest second, not only giving them more space but also encouraging them to get close. He didn¡¯t want to have to chase after stragglers if he could avoid it. The other four wasted no time and moved to surround him as they all entered the clearing.


    Considering their armor Ajax knew it would take either precision or raw power since he was going for the kill. He pulled out his sword and hammer leaving the axe tucked away. They were too close for the bow and an unsuspecting arrow might finish off thest one if they weren¡¯t careful when trying to disengage.


    He kept up his low stamina act just long enough to get the leader tomit to another swing before he flooded his body with mana. The counter blow from his macended squarely on the man''s chest with an ominous purple glow. His void enhanced strike left no mark on te as the point of impact moved a few inches in, crashing through the man¡¯s ribs and crushing his heart.


    Before any of the other four had a chance to register what had happened Ajax was already moving his sword arm, directing the de cleanly three fourths of the way through a second man''s neck barely scraping across the armor as his wind augmentation finished the decapitation.


    To their benefit the three remaining ambushers quickly put the situation together as they watched 40% of their numbers drop dead. All thoughts of fighting left them as they each quickly looked for a way to run without taking their eyes off what had been their ¡®prey¡¯.


    Two of them were quick enough to react as they felt him expand his mana towards them but the third didn¡¯t as his foot was sucked down into the earth tripping him as he went to run. He didn¡¯t even get tond as the void infused hammer made a clean contact with his helmet and bashed his head in from the inside.


    Ajax didn¡¯t pay the three he had already dealt with any more attention as he charged towards the two who were edging away from him. His sword arm already in motion was cleanly knocked aside by his target now that he was expecting it with his armored bracers.


    While that obviously trained response may have bought him a few more moments of life they weren¡¯t to be pleasant as lightning traveled along the de and through the te armor locking up all his joints. Hisst sight in this world was watching his executioner stow his hammer as he brought out a bow with one hand while drawing back the sword before plunging it through his visor.


    The fifth and final man barely turned around in time as he felt arge amount of mana being gathered behind him. As he looked back into the clearing he saw Ajax release his metal infused arrow. The arrow perfectly hit its mark at this distance, tearing into the man¡¯s chest easily with the help of Ajax¡¯s [Piercing Shot] and [Spot Weakness].

 Chapter 155

    Chapter 155


    As he watched the final member fall, knowing his arrow took him in the heart, Ajax slowly closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. Despite dodging the first hammer blow and the battle notsting even a dozen seconds his adrenaline was surging through him since from the previous chase through the forest. Despite still being high on mana his stamina was starting to bottom out, the leader had been right when he said their stamina was higher than his.


    Having caught his breath Ajax stopped using his [Mana Syphon]. Next thing he needed to do was inspect the kills, specifically he was looking for anything magical that could be tracked. As he carefully looked over the bodies he was satisfied that none of them carried any sort of locator. It was now time for the best part of winning a fight, looting.


    As Ajas looked over the equipment that the five had on he had to admit it was all rather high end. None of it was enchanted and the steel didn¡¯t seem to be mana infused so it wasn¡¯t anything that would be all that useful past level sixty for most people but it was very well made.


    As he looked over the five suits of te armor he dejectedly shook his head since he knew he wouldn¡¯t be using them. They were way too restrictive for his high mobility style of fighting. This leads him to another problem, should he stash them somewhere or leave them behind as evidence?


    Gear like this was easily worth more than a hundred gold, maybe close to three hundred with a good negotiator. The problem was that it was also highly distinctive, selling something like this now was like shouting I looted the bodies of the five guys who went missing.


    After thinking it over for a minute Ajax decided that there wasn¡¯t any point in leaving the gear, anyone who looked into this even a little would know that it wasn¡¯t a monster who killed them so leaving the armor behind would just be throwing away money. With that decision made he got to work stripping the bodies of armor.


    As he was removing the blood soaked gear of his fourth victim Ajax found himself focused on the armguard the man had used to block his sword. While the attempt had been entirely fruitless courtesy of the lightning he had been channeling into the de Ajax was surprised to find barely a slight dent in the armguard.


    Looking at the dent Ajax thought to alsopare it to his own sword. As he examined his sword Ajax was surprised to find that the contact had not only chipped his de, but it went so far as to even crack the handle. The Strength he put behind the strike was clearly too much for the wood to handle.


    As he inspected the hammers, swords and daggers the five had brought with them Ajax found that they outssed his own weaponry. Even the te chest piece that had been pierced by his arrow didn¡¯t let the arrow go out the other side. After selecting the two swords, daggers and hammers Ajax felt much better about the reward he had achieved.He carefully used his magma to melt down any distinguishing marks on the handles before he ced them on his person. He even left behind the best dagger since it clearly bore a sigil, he assumed of house Steelboot, and he didn¡¯t want to take a risk with it.


    When ites to money and other essories Ajax was dejected, they had nothing of value on them and barely twenty gold put together. With the loot picked clean, Ajax carefully wrapped it up in two of their cloaks. He was nning to bury it somewhere in the forest and sell itter after the heat on it died down.


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    He did think about trying to find a shady merchant to sell it to right now but his paranoia wouldn¡¯t let him knowing it would mean handing over a big lever on himself. With everything of value gathered Ajax moved onto the next step of his n.


    As he looked around the forest he found himself to actually be ahead of schedule since he hadn¡¯t expected to race through the forest so quickly. Now it was time to find a pack of wolves. He wasn¡¯t sure just how outrageous any investigative skills could get out here in the capital so he knew the best way to muddy the water would be to get something to eat the remains.


    Ajax had to admit the wolves in this forest were a lot smarter than the ones back home. Despite not being as high level as the ones he grew up hunting towards the end of his training the first two packs he came across quickly fled from him without showing any hostility. Ajax had ended up needing to approach them simrly to how he would a dog in order to get the third pack to reluctantly follow him back to the clearing.


    Once the wolves got there Ajax knew he was free to go and bury the loot. The process was extremely simple with his earth maniption to open up a small pocket in which to stash everything before closing the opening and bridging everything back to how it had been on the surface.


    With that handled Ajax was now back to his original objective as he came out here, hunting bees. He really wanted to just go back and look for Hatchet and Luna to discuss what happened but it wouldn¡¯t look good toe back empty handed. Once he collected enough honey toplete a mission Ajax carefully moved the bees into his own hive


    Despite the massive level difference Ajax found that his base Endurance wasn¡¯t enough topletely nullify bee stings. It hadn¡¯t been an issue when he was just collecting honey since he could just kill anything that approached. The one upside was that his poison resistance was high enough to nullify them meaning the stings were more simr to an ant bite,a mild annoyance.


    With the hive filled up Ajax went on a run all the way to his newly bought farmnd. A small hut could be seen off the side from trees that took up the center of the parcel. Seeing thend in person AJax could see why it was so bad for farming, it had a slope that was easily ten degrees high, meaning watering the field evenly would be a nightmare.


    After carefully setting up the first hive of many Ajax went to take a quick look through the hut before he headed back. The hut was sturdy but clearlycked maintenance, inside the dust was at least an inch thick over the few pieces of furniture the previous owner had left for the guards he had stationed out here. Ajax though it would make for a nice hideaway should he ever need some peace and quiet.


    The trip back to the city was thankfully uneventful. The guards on duty did give him an incredulous look when they saw him alone, clueing him in that they had known about the ambush, before they schooled their expression.


    ¡°You left with a big wooden box on your back.¡± One of them pried for information. ¡°What did you even put in it?¡±


    ¡°It was empty.¡± Ajax said nonchntly hoping to make it seem like he hadn¡¯t run into the five at all.


    ¡°Then where is it now?¡± they asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m trying to raise something in it.¡± Ajax answered,


    ¡°And what makes you think those snakes are going to gather into your box?¡±


    The guardughed, every year there came a few people who tried to find a way to breed the poison snakes. None had seeded but their high value meant people would always try.


    ¡°Who knows?¡± Ajax shrugged, not looking to correct the misunderstanding, after all the snakes were found in a different part of the forest than where he led the five. ¡°Maybe I¡¯ll get lucky.¡±


    Ajax thought that this might buy more time for the wolves to remove evidence. He doubted there would be anything left of the fivee morning but bones. After entering the capital Ajax made a straight shot to the noble district. He quickly made his way to Luna¡¯s vi. There he was greeted by Alfred with a horrified look as the butler took in the state of his clothes after a day in the forest.


    The butler insisted on Ajax getting cleaned up before he allowed him an audience with Luna and Hatchet. Ajax relented after Alfred assured him they would be informed of his arrival while he cleaned himself.


    ¡°What is it now kid?¡± Hatchet eximed once Ajax sat down at the table with him and Luna.


    ¡°It¡¯s good to see you¡¯re getting back to your old self.¡± Ajax smiled, Hatchet had been much quieter and restrained after he lost his arm, he epted the beer the old hunter passed to him.

 Chapter 156

    Chapter 156


    The whole room was quiet as Ajax went through telling them all that happened today. He didn¡¯t go into his beekeeping as that hardly seemed like the point on which they needed to focus. Hatchet¡¯s joking expression from the beginning was now gone and he was looking towards Luna for an answer, after all he had never been this deep into it with the nobles back when he was an adventurer.


    ¡°So, you¡¯re saying that you killed all five of them?¡± Luna finally asked after waiting for him to finish his entire story.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Ajax confirmed ¡°I didn¡¯t expect them to continue with their n once they saw the Healing Union¡¯s uniform.¡±


    ¡°House Steelboot has been on the decline for years, once a noble house starts falling it¡¯s very hard for it to pick itself back up. Without good terms it is very hard for them to attract any new talents without using less than pleasant means.¡± She shook her head as she sipped her wine. ¡°They most likely saw you as a chance at a full revival. Your young age and high level could have been enough for them to build a long term foundation that would see them rise again. They were a marquis house more than a century ago.¡±


    ¡°So what will happen now, should House Steelboot bring this forward will the Healing Union back me up?¡± Ajax asked, looking to the future.


    ¡°They are desperate enough to try and bring this forward in hopes that somethinges of it.¡± Luna said as she looked up, thinking through all of the information she had gathered to try and predict what woulde next.


    ¡°With no direct witnesses beside you and wolves cleaning up behind you they won¡¯t have any ground to stand on.¡± she said confidently. ¡°You looting them could be seen as a noticeable slight but considering that all you did was refuse an offer to join and they chased you down to attack you it¡¯s clear self defense.¡±


    ¡°Will a judge also see it like that?¡± Hatchet asked knowing that the truth wasn¡¯t always what won the day.


    ¡°The royal family has been cracking down on corruption, especially on cases where forced recruitment by a noble house is concerned to stop the rampant spread of it following the peace treaty with The Republic. House Steelboot wouldn¡¯t have enough pull to do anything with such a cut and dry case even if you werepletely unaffiliated.¡± Luna confirmed. ¡°Then everything¡¯s going to be alright, will he be imprisoned at all awaiting trial?¡± Hatchet sounded more relieved now.


    ¡°No, at most he¡¯ll be arrested and taken for questioning.¡± Luna said. ¡° Depending on how deep the inquisitor decides to look into it he¡¯ll be out in a few hours at most.¡±


    ¡°Would showing this help my case?¡± Ajax asks as he pulls out the contract he was offered to sign. Despite the flowerynguage that it was written in, anyone with any knowledge on contracts could tell that it was basically very.


    ¡°Oh, that definitely changes things.¡± Luna said as her eyes tracked the contract from top to bottom. ¡°You killing them could havee with a few minor punishments even if they attacked you first, winning in a one vs five without a single injury excessive defense could be argued. It wouldn¡¯t amount to anything more than a few weeks of boring work cleaning up some backlogged missions, but with that everything is justified.¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯re saying I shouldn¡¯t have killed them?¡± Ajax asked, surprised.


    ¡°Killing them did nothing for you.¡± Alfred affirmed.


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    ¡°Had you simply taken the contract and then ran back to the city, perhaps entering using a different gate you would have been able to demand so much more of them than the gear you looted.¡± Luna exined.


    ¡°I was worried about a quick process favoring a noble with a corrupt judge.¡± Ajax tried to exin his logic.


    ¡°That might have been an issue had you been unaffiliated, but as part of the Healing Union no judge would have dared try anything.¡± Luna corrected him. ¡°That you are so worried about corruption makes me question what is happening in the more remote regions of our kingdom.¡±


    A quiet covered the table as Ajax found himself cursing his own paranoia. He knew he had some good reasons for it but now it had cost him a reward and created a few deep enemies with a noble house. Luna was also deep in thought, she was wondering how she could apply pressure from within the Healing Union so that the royal family might look to enforce their anti-corruption push in the more remote areas.


    ¡°Will house Steelboot even bother with this then?¡± Ajax asked. ¡°They have to know this is how it will go down.¡±


    ¡°Yes, they will.¡± Luna let out a heavy sigh. ¡°They won¡¯t bring it up immediately, you have a few days for sure while they do their own investigation into what happened, but they will definitely pursue it.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Both Ajax and Hatchet asked this.


    ¡°They are desperate,¡± Alfred said with a sigh. ¡°Even before this they had a decade left as a baron house at most, the five you killed were probably the best rtively young people they had. Getting something on you is theirst hope not to fall back into knighthood and obscurity.¡±


    ¡°So how do you see this trial going?¡± Hatchet asks.


    ¡°Since a member of the Healing Union was involved the royal family will have some sort of representative in attendance.¡± Luna exined. ¡°The moment that contract is brought to light it will be an open and shut case. They will lose their Baron title and most of their remaining wealth, since you have killed the retairs all of it will be collected as taxes.¡±


    ¡°Will this have any effect on me?¡± Ajax asked, what he was most worried about was that the royal family would attempt something simr to the baron.


    ¡°Yes and no.¡± Luna said. ¡°Directly it will have almost no impact on you. Sure the royal family will do their best to try and recruit you once they learn how strong you really are.¡±


    She took a pause and shook her head, she was still in a slight shock from Ajax¡¯s recounting of the story. That someone his age was level thirty-one was a major event, maybe once in ten thousand years. That he also had ess to mana surprised her but it was to be expected with the number of skills amoner would have needed to reach so high so young . But the ability to fight and kill five people in their mid forties was simply outrageous.


    ¡°All the three current archdukes and the royal family have taken a strong stance against corruption, you won¡¯t have to worry about them trying to force your hand in joining them.¡± She says and Ajax breathes out a sigh he had been holding the entire day.


    ¡°But our deal will also fall through I¡¯m afraid.¡± She continued and Ajax shot her a confused look. ¡°While minor, our understanding for getting you a slot in our delves can also be seen as corruption.¡±


    ¡°Will I be able to get a slot in other ways?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°Now with the healing union.¡± Luna shook her head. ¡°The royal family will offer you some extremely favorable deals. Once you turn them down they will have no incentive to let you have a slot in the delve when it could go to someone moremitted to rising in our ranks.¡±


    ¡°So, I¡¯m back to where I started?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°Almost, yes.¡± Luna answered. ¡°This won¡¯t be brought up before the delve leaving three days from now. So I will still be able to get you a spot there like we agreed but there will be no more afterwards with the Healing Union.¡±


    ¡°If I could suggest a different course.¡± Alfred interjected. ¡°While the royal family and shortly afterward all notable nobles keeping an eye on you may seem troublesome, I think this situation has turned out better for you.¡±


    ¡°How¡¯s that?¡± Ajax retorts with a bit of bite to his words. He quickly looks down, not heavy meant to snap at the butler.


    ¡°With everyone paying such close attention to you nobody is going to try anything shady. You¡¯re free to use your full abilities in the open. I would personally suggest getting hired by the Adventurer¡¯s Guild or joining the Academy as a teacher¡¯s aid.¡± Alfred said.


    ¡°How is any of that better than my previous situation?¡± Ajax asked, though his words didn¡¯t have any bite at all and were more curious now.


    ¡°Because your previous situation wasn¡¯t as great as you think.¡± Luna said ¡°You¡¯ll see this in the uing delve but you will be joined by people in their low thirties, they won¡¯t be going to the second floor of the dungeon even. Working your way up secretly delving with our teams would have been a slow crawl for you with minimal progress.¡±


    ¡°As a direct employee of the Guild you¡¯ll be granted ess to some of their delve slots to join teams that are appropriate for your level of strength and your employment will go far with people trusting you to take on their requests.¡± Hatchet also joined in.


    ¡°While your growth will be faster with the guild.¡± Alfred continues. ¡°I think working at the Academy will be better in the long term. You won¡¯t have ess to as many delve slots or jobs, but the knowledge and connections you can make there will likely prove invaluable in the future. Like it or not, as your power grows you¡¯ll find yourself having to work with nobles and their retinues or slowing down your own growth substantially due to safety risks. Better you start working on those rtionships now.¡±

 Chapter 157

    Chapter 157


    ¡°Good work out there newbie.¡± One of the sentries tells Ajax. The delve team had set up camp for the night.


    Ajax simply nods and continues staring into the fire, supposedly men used to do this back when they lived in caves, just gazing at the fire. At least that¡¯s what a documentary he once watched on Earth said, it likened it to their watching of TV in modern days.


    Unlike what was said in that documentary however Ajax wasn¡¯t simply mindlessly gazing into the fire. Ajax was instead thinking of thest few days. After his conversation the night of the ambush Luna¡¯s predictions seemed to be pretty spot on, at least as far as he knew.


    The next two days Ajax managed to finish all of his chores, set up a few more bee hives and even arranged to have his own house built inside the city. He knew he had overpaid severely, the cost of fifty gold was way too much even if the size and quick timeframe he wanted but it was within what he was willing to ept. By the end of the following week he would have a house of his own inside the capital.


    With that out of the way he was swapping between two thoughts over and over. The first, and most importantly was what he should do now thatying low would no longer be an option? Initially he had nned to just sit tight in the Healing Union for a little while longer but thest two days inside the dungeon had thoroughly dissuaded him of that idea.


    The expedition was formed of twenty-five people, ten of whom were healers in training. The hignds, like the name suggests, was arge open field covering arge hilly area. The monsters here were not very diversified and consisted of oversized snakes, moles, porcupines and a few birds of prey.


    What was new was the huge rabbits that also called this floor home, they were only found of this variation out of the seven the floor had. Unlike any other dungeon monster he had met, despite them being level thirty and above, none of them were at all aggressive, choosing to flee at the first sign of aggression made towards them. They were also a much bigger pain in the ass than he would have originally thought.


    The rabbits hide and skin was thrash, barely as good as hide from a level five bear, their meat on the other hand was juicy and delicious. The rabbits were a type of monster called a feeder. Unlike other monsters inside the dungeon, they actually reproduced and grew quickly. Not only that but any that were birthed and grown since the dungeon floor spawned were not made of pure mana and could be taken outside.


    The appearance of feeder type monsters in random floors beside a dungeon¡¯s first was a one in ten thousand chance. Most teams who found one either died on it or came out with enough materials to fund a new city depending on how high level they were.This feature meant that the dungeon itself prevented any food shortages the capital would ever face, simply sending a high level team would allow them to fill a whole street of warehouses with food after a month inside the first floor. Their role inside the dungeon however made the floor a challenge for those of appropriate level.


    The rabbits were also hunted by every other monster on the floor, catching and eating these rabbits would also allow the other monsters to grow in level, meaning in a few days time the bosses could surpass their starting level of thirty-five and reach close to forty. Amon tactic was to quickly scour the floor and kill all the rabbits to stop the exp generation.


    Ajax found the whole delve to be boring. Nothing inside here posed any credible threat to him and he started to see Luna¡¯s point of view, staying with the Healing Union might be the safest choice for him but it would also be one that would see him stagnate. Much of his down time this delve had been spent deciding between joining the Adventurer¡¯s Guild or trying for the Academy.


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    The guild represented a known reward, a good way to quickly grow stronger by doing what he has been doing for the past half a year, it would alsoe with substantial money and an option to be somewhat isted from nobles, at least most of the time should he choose it.


    The Academy was a slower road, he wouldn¡¯t be delving as often and would most likely be bogged down with distractions. It also represented the best way for him to fortify his foundations and pick up any knowledge Hatchet didn¡¯t know. He was already way ahead for his level, let alone his age. If that was all he would pick the Academy in a heartbeat, but going to work for the Academy meant a massive and constant exposure to nobles. Something he has been avoiding for as long as he could remember.


    The decision wouldn¡¯te today, it all came down to the same thing it did the previous times he thought about it. He should take an interview and iron out exactly what the terms for his employment at the Academy and the Guild would be before he could decide which to choose.


    With that matter going nowhere Ajax turned back to the other matter that had been on his mind, a much more positive one, the skill one he received the night before the expedition after installing three more bee hives on his patch ofnd [Beekeeping Trailzer]. It was a Rare skill and his first nonbat Rare skill, not only that but it came with an Achievement attached.


    Achievement: Trailzer


    Be the first to receive a skill.


    Reward : <ul><li>Skill rarity is increased by two ranks up to the limit of Legendary</li><li>All experience gained from this skill is doubled</li><li>CHOOSE ONE : increase efficiency of the skill by 100% or <strong>increase the effectiveness by 50%</strong></li><li>Your next Achievement earned has any Discovery cost reduced to nothing</li></ul>


    This achievement is repeatable.


    It was this Achievement in fact that pushed him so much towards the Academy. The Discovery cost exemption to his next earned Achievement was something that he would almost surely waste if he was going to forge straight ahead.


    As for the choice, that one was simple. Beekeeping required minimal effort at best, unlike abat skill where reducing the cost by half or increasing the output by half would need to be carefully considered here it was a clear choice. He picked the increase the night it was offered.


    His thoughts were interrupted by a soft hiss that had him on alert in seconds. The grass throughout the whole floor was dense and tall to about knee hight, this made spotting snakes the size of a fire hose a challenge. He had learned their distinctive hiss as quite a few members of the delving team had been bitten shortly after he heard it during the first day.


    The camp had cleared the grass ten feet in every direction before night fell but he knew that distance wouldn¡¯t mean much if you were caught unaware. He wasn¡¯t technically on night shift, the snake''s presence on this floor meant that all newbies wouldn¡¯t be put on night shift to prevent idents. Therge number of healers they had avable would mean nothing if you died before they got to you.


    ¡°I hear one.¡± He announced loudly. The three that were on watch stiffening for a moment before slowly scanning the surroundings with care. That care was all that saved one of them from having a chunk taken out of his neck.


    The snake was easily half again as thick as any they had encountered so far. A quick [Judge Threat] confirmed for Ajax that this was not only the first boss version of the snakes but it was also around level thirty seven, clearly it had had its fill of rabbits before stumbling upon them.


    ¡°Boss variant¡± the sentry that was attacked called out as he applied pressure to his shoulder. He hadn¡¯t been fast enough to avoid getting hit at all.


    ¡°Get to the healers!¡± one of the other sentries said while the other rang the rm bell to get everyone up.


    Ajax had little patience for this. He was slightly annoyed by the sound the bell made. It was specifically enchanted to make a noise that would not only wake people up quickly but also unsettle monsters into backing away or charging forward. A great counter to ambush predators, sadly it also grated on the ears of friendlies as well.


    He drew back an arrow and infused it with ice mana. He had found that spreading ice mana through the bodies of the snakes was the next best thing to a killing blow. Like reptiles back on Earth the snakes here were also cold blooded and were highly susceptible to the cold.


    His arrow cleanly prated the neck of the snake, about half a foot from its maw. The shot had been carefully aimed to neuter the snake''s lunge attack. Ajax had packed a hundred mana into the arrow and could already see a sheen of frost form around the shaft. A second arrow followed and took the snake''s right eye. It also sealed the beast fate as the two sentries took advantage of the cripled snaked to decapitate it.

 Chapter 158

    Chapter 158


    The attack had put everyone on edge even after it was handled so swiftly. Half of the team was made up of newbies who weren¡¯t ustomed to this and the other half weren¡¯t much better only having done a few delves before. This was the disadvantage of having dungeons with low floor jumps, you wouldn¡¯t really see teams that spent a decade on the same level range to build up experience as they would move to the next floor much quicker. The most experienced person here was the head healer who came to make sure the healers were learning properly and doing their share to gain experience from the dungeon.


    Even with theck of experience nobody was hurt. Having ten healers meant that every single scratch was patched up fully, after all the more they contributed the more experience the dungeon would funnel into them. This split in experience is why the Adventurer¡¯s guild and the Healing Union worked so well together outside of the capital.


    ¡°How the hell do you do it?¡± a gruff voice called out to Ajax.


    Ajax had scouted ahead of the party and was keeping an eye out for snakes or moles. As he explored the floor the previous days he discovered that the rabbits wouldn¡¯t actually run away from him until he actually intended to do them harm. Approaching to pet them with [Persuasion] and [Deception] was actually the best workout his skills had gotten this entire delve.


    ¡°You can¡¯t let them feel any malice.¡± Ajax said with a sigh, it must have been about the fifth time he had exined the same thing. He also didn¡¯t stop petting the bunny, even when it was the size of a bear its fur was still very fluffy due the mana coursing through it.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t people raise these?¡± Ajax asked. ¡°We could just catch them when we exit the dungeon and let people raise them.¡±


    ¡°Feeder monsters don¡¯t exit the floor if they are alive when the team exits.¡± The man replied as he approached.


    Ajax felt the bunny tense up as the man got close enough to spook it and quickly drew the de to kill it before it had the chance to run away. The floor was mostly clear at this point and the team was heading back after five days in the dungeon.


    ¡°You know it freaks some people out how you can approach them like that even when you fully intend to kill them, right?¡± The man asked as he got close to Ajax. ¡°As I was saying, feeder monsters have special urrences ande with different rules.¡± ¡°What different rules?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°Under normal circumstances if a delve team is overwhelmed by a floor, the survivors are to try and make their way to the exit. On a feeder floor that¡¯s no longer the case. Since we don¡¯t know how long it might take them to get back to the exit it¡¯s actually preferable for them to try and get to the next floor and instantly exit as the monsters might be lower level then the ones who have been feeding for who knows how long.¡±


    ¡°I doubt it would take that long to get back to the exit even if we were avoiding everything.¡± Ajax said.


    ¡°True it doesn¡¯t make much sense here.¡± the man nodded ¡° But on higher floors their size also increases. Finding a feeder monster on floor seven or eight is much different than these rabbits. First thing that happens when a team gets out not just alive but sessfully too. It crashes the market. Such overabundance of high level materials always leaves its mark, thest one happened twelve years ago with pigs.¡±


    Ajax quickly dismissed everything as the team finally got back to the entrance arch. As the team went out one by one Ajax was left alone on the inside. He got a deep urge to stay, nobody coulde and get him and he could go clear another one, maybe even two floors and get additional stat points.


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    He dismissed the urge as quickly as it came. He knew even if he could overpower most things, going solo into a floor out of impatience was a good way to end up dead, he didn¡¯t even have most of his equipment since he knew he was heading into an open field floor.


    With that Ajax stepped out of the dungeon. The outside was much the same as when he got here. Unlike therge clearing that surrounded the dungeon arch near Lessis, this dungeon was akin to being in the center of a prison yard.


    A hard reinforced floor surrounded it to inconvenience any monster that might try to burrow, tall tower and manned walls surrounded the ce with people that were ready to shoot down anything that came out of it at a moment''s notice. Runes were ced all around the arch and glowed with the mana charged inside them.


    Ajax was quickly moved out of the way as the people watching the dungeon made quick work of the dozen or so monsters that came out after them. These defenses were meant to be able to hold if a team over level one hundred was to fall in the dungeon and Ajax still avoided stepping on any of the runes on the floor even if he was assured multiple times that they were safe. The amount of mana he felt in them made him not want to that one in a million chance it just identally fries him.


    The team was leaving the area where the arch was when two guards approached the team, or more specifically Ajax.


    ¡°Ajax, from the city of Lessis. You are toe with us.¡± One of them said as the other approached and put an arm on his shoulder.


    Despite the action not looking like much Ajax could feel the strength of that grip belonged to someone at least level fifty from the way the fingers so easily dug in his skin.


    ¡°And why would he?¡± the lead healer stepped up to ask. After all he had also gotten a good look at Ajax¡¯s performance during the delve and wanted to rmend him for promotion.


    ¡°He is wanted for questioning in regard to the disappearance of five of house Steelboot¡¯s retainers.¡± the guard¡¯s answer made the healer sigh regretfully and step back, his eyes further widened when he saw how calmly Ajax was taking the usation.


    ¡°I am happy to go with you but would you mind not digging your fingers into my shoulder, I can feel you through the leather.¡± Ajax said calmly.


    ¡°I got to give it to you kid, that¡¯s a calm and collected attitude you got there.¡± The guard holding him eased the grip on his shoulder but didn¡¯t let gopletely. ¡°But I have to say it doesn¡¯t bode well for you.


    The trip to one of the guard barracks was quick and silent, neither of the guards said anything else on the way there and their presence dissuaded anyone from trying to strike up a conversation. Once he got to the barracks he was quickly led to a bigger room though one that all but shouted it was used for questioning. He was told to have a seat while one of the two guards went to inform the right people he had been brought in and the other stayed to watch him.


    Not more than five minutes of silenceter the door opened once again as four people entered the room each wearing a different distinctive sigil on their clothes. The first to enter wore a guard uniform but the rank on his shoulder marked him as a captain. He was a tall, somewhat skinny man with a severe face and a deep frown and looked to be in his early forties.


    The second person to enter wore the royal family''s sigil along with an elegant robe. She looked to be in her mid twenties and didn¡¯t even spare him a nce as she headed straight for the chair in one of the corners of the room looking bored.


    The third person to enter the room wore house Steelboot¡¯s sigil and was d in jewelry. While he wasn¡¯t ugly he had a big protruding belly that his clothes couldn¡¯tpletely mask, his eyes shone with greed as he threw Ajax a malicious smirk as he took a seat next to the captain across the table from Ajax.


    Thest person to enter wore a Healing Union official uniform that showed their sigil in multiple ces. She looked like a woman in herte fifties giving the air of a kindly grandmother as she took the seat next to Ajax. She looked at him warmly but Ajax could detect an undertone of worry in her look.


    ¡°Hi Ajax, I am Samantha and I am yourwyer from the Union in these proceedings.¡± the old woman introduced herself. ¡°Captain Jacobs will be asking you a few questions, the crystal in the middle of the table will determine if your answers are truthful. Please give me a moment to interject before answering any question, okay?¡± Ajax simply nodded at her words.


    ¡°Oh just get on with it.¡± The man wearing Steelboot¡¯s sigil said loudly ¡°We all know he¡¯s guilty.¡±


    ¡°Due process must still be followed.¡± Captain Jacobs said curtly as he waved the man to silence, Ajax did note that both the captain and his ownwyer didn¡¯t deny the allegation. ¡°Guard, what can you report regarding the suspect''s behavior upon his apprehension?¡±


    The guard stepped forward to ce his hand on the table. ¡°The subject was calm andpliant throughout, he also didn¡¯t seem at all surprised by the charge.¡± As the crystal in the middle of the table shone blue a defeated look appeared in the old woman¡¯s eye.


    ¡°Can I talk with mywyer before the questioning begins?¡± Ajax asked when the captain turned back to him.


    ¡°Yes.¡± The capitan answered. ¡°But you will have to do so without privacy.¡± Ajax was surprised but that was to be expected.


    Ajax nodded and turned to look the old woman in the eye. ¡°This would be a good reason and argument for self-defense right?¡± Ajax said as he pulled out the contract the five had been trying to force him to sign that day. From the way the fat man¡¯s face paled he knew this proceeding was about to get much better.

 Chapter 159

    Chapter 159


    An eerie silence descended on the room as the scroll was ced on the table. Showing their professionalism neither the captain nor the guard changed their expressions when Ajax reached inside his inner pocket and pulled out the contract, Ajax did feel the grip that had never left his shoulder since he first met the guard dig into his shoulder much deeper when he reached inside his tunic.


    The rest of the room wasn¡¯t soposed, the fat man visibly aged as he looked at the scroll with horror and recognition. His mouth opened wide from his previous remarks still ready to condemn Ajax now just pped soundlessly. As for Ajax¡¯s ownwyer her subtle defeated expression was now reced with interest as she quickly rolled the scroll open and started reading through it.


    The second biggest change however, following closely the one disyed by Steelboot¡¯s representative, was seen in the woman wearing the sigil of the royal family. Her aloof expression now looked predatory as her eyes flickered from the scroll to Ajax in surprise before a hungry grin spread over her face as she looked towards the Steelboot¡¯s representative.


    ¡°What is that?¡± the captain¡¯s voice didn¡¯t change from the same cold ruthless tone he¡¯d had before.


    ¡°That is a contract the five missing people attempted to force me into signing.¡± Ajax answered promptly.


    ¡°Please ce your hand on the table when giving a response.¡± The captain said, showing no other reaction to the statement.


    Ajax did as he was instructed and repeated the same sentence. The crystal in the middle of the table shone blue once more marking his words as the truth.


    ¡°This should be enough to clear Mr. Ajax of all charges.¡± Ajax¡¯swyer finally entered the conversation as she finished reading the document, her face caught in a mix between outrage at the audacity of House Steelboot and relief at the turn the future of the case took.


    ¡°Ajax wasn¡¯t charged with anything,¡± The captain continued, though he did take the time to motion to the guard that had been holding on to Ajax¡¯s shoulder and have him secure house Steelboot¡¯s representative instead. ¡° If you could describe to us what happened.¡± he addressed Ajax. Before Ajax had a chance to respond the woman wearing the sigil of the royal family audibly dragged her chair from the corner of the room to Ajax¡¯s other side before leaning in closer and seductively saying ¡° And please be as descriptive as possible.¡±


    ¡°About eight days ago, as I entered the forest looking toplete a mission five men stepped out from behind the first few trees and held out this contract, their exact words were ¡®We¡¯re here to make you an offer to join the house of Baron Steelboot. An offer you can¡¯t refuse.¡¯¡± Ajax said, taking a moment to recall the exact words. The crystal¡¯s blue hue that had been dimming since Ajax¡¯s previous statement brightened back up.


    ¡°Did you hear that, ¡®An offer he can¡¯t refuse¡¯¡± The bubbly woman to his left said in a giddy voice towards the man whose skin turned whiter by the second.


    ¡°Lady Beatrice, I would appreciate it if you would refrain from interrupting until I have his initial statement.¡± The captain said, making Lady Beatrice pout at him. ¡° Please, continue¡± he said as he turned back to Ajax.


    ¡°I declined their offer and moved to go around them when they reached for their weapons, at which point I sprinted deeper into the forest.¡±


    Stolen story; please report.


    ¡°Is it at this point that you lost them?¡± the captain prompted.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t lose them¡± Ajax denied ¡°They kept up a close pursuit for close to half an hour before I stopped to catch my breath in a small clearing. Upon catching up to me they moved to surround me as their leader struck out with his mace. Upon being attacked I defended myself and killed them.¡±


    The tension in the room mounted instantly, both women at his sides leaned away from him while the captain¡¯s frown deepened more than Ajax thought possible as his eye flickered from Ajax to the crystal and back again. The biggest reaction however was shown by the fat man who seemed to have gained a second wind.


    ¡°Liar!!!¡± he shouted ¡°Those men were in their mid forties, how could a level thirty-two best them!?¡±


    ¡°Sir, I will have to ask you to restrain yourself, if you can¡¯t George here will do it for you.¡± the captain said without taking his eyes off Ajax. Ajax did notice that George¡¯s grip on the man¡¯s shoulder tightened, he also noticed the captain¡¯s hand move under the table and not two secondster two more guards stepped in and were directed to simply close the door and take a position in the corners behind Ajax.


    ¡°What happened next?¡± Beatrice asked, her voice betraying her curiosity at the unexpected development.


    ¡°I looted them of their gear and continued on my mission.¡± Ajax answered.


    ¡°Do you know what happened to the bodies?¡± the captain asked.


    ¡°Last I saw them a few wolves were approaching through the trees.¡± Ajax tactfully worded his answer, despite that there was a small flutter in the crystal that the captain didn¡¯t miss.


    ¡°And what were your thoughts at the time?¡± he asked and Ajax did everything he could not to show his worry as he thought of how to answer the question.


    ¡°My clients thoughts are beyond the scope of a simple inquiry captain, he told you what happened. A small vige boy¡¯s impressions of nobility in such a circumstance should not be held against him, only his actions matter.¡± The oldwyer stepped in much to Ajax relief.


    ¡°A charge of theft could be leveraged as the facts stand.¡± The captain gruffly said after a moment of silence.


    ¡°Theft is a step too far, I would argue his actions were simply that of battle salvage.¡± thewyer instantly responded having anticipated the usation. ¡°Say Ajax, was any of your equipment damaged during the fight?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Ajax immediately answered thinking of his ruined arrow and the cracked and chipped sword.


    ¡°There you have it captain.¡± Lady Beatrice pushed to move things along.¡±Though I can¡¯t say I approve of his actions they seem more than justified. I would propose that we limit his rpense to the gear he looted, this is my official suggestion on the matter.¡±


    ¡°While I hate epting such a quick resort to killing, I agree the circumstances do speak for themselves. I¡¯m willing to agree with your suggestion, provided Ajax here pays taxes on the gear he looted should he ever deem to sell any of it.¡± The captain said with a reluctant sigh.


    Ajax¡¯s impression of the captain was that he was a man of integrity who looked to enforce thew. He could also feel the man¡¯s aversion to murder as that was the only issue the man seemed to hold against Ajax,menting on the looting only because it was the only suitable way for him to chastise Ajax for his actions.


    ¡°Can we now get to finding out more about the reason why those men were out there in the first ce?¡± her predatory smile was back though she maintained her distance from Ajax. ¡°Thew should be very clear on the matter of forced recruitment.¡±


    Whereas his interrogation may have felt a lot longer to him personally Ajax had no doubt it didn¡¯t take longer than twenty maybe thirty minutes all told. The next few hours however felt like pulling teeth as both Captain Jacobs and Lady Beatrix questioned the fat man Ajax learned was called Dous Steelboot.


    Unlike when Ajax was questioned, Dous had the crystal embedded in the table go through a full spectrum of colors, from a light orange to a pale blue and with some spots of clear blue when denying some of Beatrix¡¯s conjectures of the events that took ce. It all ended when Beatrix tricked a direct answer out of him that was enough to create a clear link between the actions of the five and a direct order given by House Steelboot.


    ¡°The royal family will deal with this matter further, thank you for your assistance in ridding our kingdom of corruption, Ajax.¡± Lady Beatrix said, her face split by a smile only slightly marred by the hours of interrogation. ¡°If you¡¯d like I¡¯d be more than happy to put in a word for you and see you move up in the Healing Union or a position working for the royal family.¡±


    Thest was a whisper Ajax felt was intended only for him though he had no doubt at least the captain also heard it, she also slipped a piece of paper into his hands as she, Dous and George departed.


    Ajax was released soon after though not before getting two separate speeches, one from hiswyer and one from the captain about how he shouldn¡¯t be too quick to deal with his problems with such finality in the future. Both had let him know that they knew he could have left the five alive should he have chosen to.


    With the matter finally closed, as far as he was concerned at least, Ajax headed off towards the noble section. He¡¯d hope to get Hatchet¡¯s take on his new reward and also ask Luna about any achievement that she knew of that he could use to take advantage of his unique circumstance.

 Chapter 160

    Chapter 160


    Ajax didn¡¯t even have to sh his token anymore to enter the noble district, the guards at the crossing had seen himing and going enough to recognise him and just wave him through. Ajax gave them a nod for their expediency and headed for Luna¡¯s house.


    As he was walking Ajax thought on all that he learned after his own interrogation was over. Firstly, theint that fingered him as the prime suspect had been made three days ago. This meant that any nobles who were trying to keep their finger on the pulse would have done at least a cursory background check on him.


    There wasn¡¯t much that said background check would get them. His file with the guild would let them know that he was almost sixteen and that he had passed the level thirty-two test, if they looked into his records they would find the delves to the second floor of the dungeon back in Lessis. He was very happy that said delves would now be something that would back up his story of how he had been able to kill five people in their mid forties. He also knew he would have to apologize to the Collectors since they must have gotten quite a few people looking to question them about him now.


    As he turned the corner on the street with Luna¡¯s house Ajax found himself almost stopping at the sight. Parked in front of the house was a very luxurious carriage, one that surprisingly didn¡¯t have any sigil that would identify whose house it was that it belonged to.


    Thinking about the matter Ajax decided it was best to just get this over with quickly. If whoever it was that came here had enough pull to approach Luna in such a direct manner it wouldn¡¯t be long until they at least forced Ajax¡¯s hand into a meeting and he¡¯d rather have that meeting with Luna and Hatchet present.


    As he approached the door he saw the guard stationed there tense up for a moment before he recognised him and then briefly opened the door to pass a message inside. Secondster the door opened from the inside with Alfred standing in the doorway.


    ¡°Still decided toe in despite the carriage?¡± Alfred raised an eyebrow in surprise.


    ¡°I already decided to stop hiding so much.¡± Ajax said. ¡°Whoever they are, if they came here they will also approach me directly, best to meet them with people I know present than alone.¡±


    Alfred gave a brief nod of approval, though Ajax didn¡¯t know if it was for his decision or just his logic. He stepped aside to allow Ajax entry.¡°How did the questioning go? They kept you there for quite a while.¡± Alfred asked.


    ¡°They were done with me rather quickly, I got the contract out in the open early.¡± Ajax exined as they walked deeper into the manor. ¡°It took a few hours to get anything out of house Steelboot¡¯s representative. From the look the royal family''s representative had at the end I think she got what she wanted in the end. Who is it that came here?¡±


    ¡°Duke Manashaper.¡± Alfred answered as they approached therge dining room and opened the door for Ajax.


    Inside the dining room there were three people seated at the long table. Luna was sitting on the right hand of the head of the table with Hatchet right beside her. The simple fact that Luna left the main seat empty showed the respect and difference in status between her and the Duke.


    As for the Duke himself he sat across from Luna. Visually he reminded Ajax of a headmaster for a certain boy with a lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead that managed to live. His embroidered robes all but screamed magic withouting off as goudy.


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    ¡°Ah, you must be Ajax.¡± The duke stood up once he entered but seemed to be at a crossroads with himself. He intended to approach Ajax but as Ajax approached Hatchet and Luna the Duke found the table to be in the way.


    ¡°Yes, I am Ajax.¡± Ajax responded somewhat warrily, for the first time he didn¡¯t need his [Judge Threat] to feel that someone was dangerous, he could feel an auraing off the old man and while it wasn¡¯t hostile in any way it still put him on edge.


    Ajax¡¯s response seemed to bring the Duke back on point so he continued. ¡°I am Peter Manashaper, I am the headmaster for the Academy. You¡¯ll have to excuse meing to you so out of the blue but I am fascinated by any form of new magic.¡±


    ¡°How did you know about my magic?¡± Ajax¡¯s thoughts slipped out at the way the man joyously brought up something the guards showed no indication of knowing.


    ¡°Oh that?¡± the man¡¯s casual atmosphere and jokey tone did a lot to put Ajax at ease but it simply wasn¡¯t enough. ¡°My granddaughter told me about it, she saw you almost a year ago when she went to take part in that skirmish. She said she felt an odd and different type of magic from you which drew my interest.¡±


    The old man then let out a deep sign as he sat back down. ¡°Sadly my projectsbined with my duties as headmaster didn¡¯t allow me to make a trip all the way to see you back then. Imagine my surprise when I saw a report saying you¡¯re now in the capital capital. It was simple to find out when your delve was supposed to end so I made some time for a visit. Your stop at the guard¡¯s barracks was longer than my sources told me it should have been?¡±


    Despite not changing his tone the words let Ajax know that the Duke already investigated everything and clearly sided with him on the matter of house Steelboot.


    ¡°The man representing house Steelboot was quite smart about answering while avoiding the question so it took a while before they managed to get something that would be enough to fully clear me.¡± Ajax¡¯s answer quickly cleared up the same question that both Luna and Hatchet had about the matter.


    ¡°Bet they sent Dous.¡± one of the men behind the Duke chuckled silently but not faintly enough for Ajax not to overhear. Judging by the smile on the other man¡¯s face he also agreed with the assessment.


    ¡°Well it¡¯s great to hear that you have been cleared of it.¡± Luna finally spoke with Hatchet, just giving him an encouraging nod.


    ¡°Duke, the time¡­¡± the second man approached to whisper.


    ¡°Right, right¡± the Duke shook his head a little. ¡°I had hoped to have a bit more time for this but sadly my duties are calling. I can see from your uniform that you¡¯ve decided to join the Healing Union. While I won¡¯t try to get you to change your mind on that, I would like us to have a discussion about your magic.¡±


    Ajax was surprised to find that the aura didn¡¯t change at all when the Duke asked the question. His impression of the man grew more positive with that.


    ¡°I had actually decided not to join the Healing Union. this most recent delve cemented that decision for me.¡± Ajax answered. ¡°My rate of growth doing so would be cial, unless I decided to ept an offer from the royal family. I was considering being employed by the guild while Luna here suggested approaching the Academy for an opportunity to reinforce my foundations before growing in level.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a wonderful suggestion.¡± The headmaster''s excitement was higher than before, though he did wonder what that odd expression meant. ¡°One that is appreciated. The new ss has already had its greeting dinner but I suppose we could get you enrolled.¡±


    ¡°Getting enrolled would be a bit of an issue for me.¡± Ajax interrupted before the duke went too far down that thought.


    ¡°Oh, how so? I assure you our academy is the best in the Kingdom.¡± For the first time his aura changed and Ajax could feel the pride the man felt for the academy press on him for a few seconds before it returned to how it was before.


    ¡°I looked into the information avable about the Academy, the way you structure your sses is based on level when entering. The maximum age epted for a first year is twenty and the level requirement is twenty four with a few exceptions made for a close to level up twenty -three.¡±


    ¡°That is true in most cases, though our eptance has made a few exaggerations in a few cases.¡± The auraing off froze with that statement as if looking to give away anything, the man frowned slightly as well. ¡°But I don¡¯t think that should be an issue for you, you had the level required back when my granddaughter met you and you can pass the level thirty-two test for the Adventurer¡¯s Guild.¡±


    ¡°The issue would be that my level is currently thirty-one.¡± Ajax revealed to the surprise of all three people that came with the Duke. ¡°And mybat ability is closer to level sixty.¡± Ajax downyed his strength a little.


    ¡°Now that makes me all the more curious, but I can see how that would be an issue, yes.¡± the man nodded to himself and as he was about to continue a third man wearing the same robes as the ones behind the duke entered the room.


    ¡°My lord, we would need to leave now if you are to make it on time.¡± Ajax¡¯s revtion had caused both of his other attendants to forget about the time limit.


    ¡°Ajax, pleasee see me anytime, preferably in the next two days. I am sure I have a perfect solution to your reservations and I will make time to exin it to you.¡± With that the Duke paid hispliments to Luna for being a wonderful host and left.

 Chapter 161

    Chapter 161


    As the Duke and his followers, as Ajax started to think of them since from the power he felt in the DUke¡¯s aura he didn¡¯t even think he needed guards, exited the dining room everyone else was motionless at the hasty manner in which the duke left. It wasn¡¯t until the door closed with a solid sound that they were brought back to from their shock.


    ¡°Well that was certainly something, it also went a lot better than I expected.¡± Hatchet, who was the one with most experience and no deep understanding about the Duke, was the first to speak.


    ¡°W-What was that p-presence?¡± Ajax couldn¡¯t maintain his strong facade now that he was alone with Luna Hatchet and Alfred.


    ¡°Oh? Was he your first?¡± Luna asked, sounding a bit surprised.


    ¡°Right, you¡¯ve never met anyone with an aura before.¡± Hatchet nodded as if he just remembered.


    ¡°What is an aura?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°An aura is a representation of power.¡± Luna started. ¡°Most living beings have instincts, input up from birth, we may learn to react differently to the inputs as we experience them but we have them, monsters have them and even other intelligent races like elementals have them.¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t exin what I felt.¡± Ajax said as he thought back to when he was in the presence of the dragon back in the forest more than five years ago. He didn¡¯t feel anything then.


    ¡°Everyone also has an intent. Which is how aura first manifests itself. It takes a high level of both stats andbat skills for an aura to form, the first form it takes is killing intent.¡± Luna continued. ¡°It appears around level one hundredbatants, ny-three being the historical record for achieving it and takes strong emotions to produce.¡± ¡°By around level one hundred and thirty-five it starts being ever present without conscious suppression. By level one hundred and fifty there is no suppressing it. Thankfully it seems humans are incapable of perceiving an intent while their perception is below twenty-five. Otherwise most high nobles would be forced to avoid their children and definitely grandchildren their entire childhood.¡± Luna, as one of the only healers to bother with studying trauma extensively in an effort to help her long time friend shivered as she thought what could happen if humans could feel auras before twenty-five perception.


    ¡°The limit is still a hard barrier, that and the fact that prolonged exposure quickly builds up a tolerance means it shouldn¡¯t be a problem for long to you.¡± Alfred said, looking at Ajax. ¡°Now we should address more important things, like what will you be wearing tomorrow morning?¡±


    ¡°Tomorrow morning?¡± Ajax asked, confused.


    ¡°The duke personally invited you for a meeting.¡± Luna said while giving Ajax¡¯s delving clothes once over. ¡°I hope you don¡¯t n on going like that.¡±


    ¡°He also said I shoulde by some time in the next two days.¡± Ajax reminded them with a dumbfounded look on his face.


    ¡°That was an overly polite way for him to saye meet with me tomorrow morning.¡± Alfred facepalmed at Ajax¡¯s answer. ¡°Do you honestly expect the duke to change his schedule so that he is ready to drop everything for you at a moment''s notice over the next two days?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t usually ask such personal questions, but , Ajax, do you have any social skills?¡± Luna asked slowly.


    ¡°I have a few merchant skills.¡± Ajax said a little defensively.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure if I should be more shocked that you managed to go through five years of training with Hatchet, while sessfully learning from him, without picking one up. Or that you reached such a high level at your age without one.¡± Luna said while shaking her head in disbelief.


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    ¡°Oi!¡± Hatchet huffed in mock outrage.


    For the rest of the evening Ajax wasforted over the day¡¯s events as well as assured that tomorrow¡¯s meeting would be nothing more than an offer to join the academy in one capacity or another with perhaps a few questions about his magic which seemed to have sparked the duke¡¯s interest. That Luna didn¡¯t ask a single time about the duke¡¯s granddaughter let Ajax know that Hatchet had told her about that bit beforehand.


    For the second time Ajax spent the night in one of Luna¡¯s guest bedrooms. With the early meeting at the academy it only made sense for him to stay in the noble section of the city. Alfred spent no less than thirty minutes fussing over his clothes the following morning despite all of them having been picked out the night before.


    ¡°Remember, you still have the option to refuse.¡± Hatchet said as Ajax left the manor.


    Ajax didn¡¯t say anything and simply gave his teacher an understanding nod. The short trip to the academy was boring. The roads were practically empty with no nobles having left their houses early in the morning. Every other house Ajax only caught a glimpse of a servant cleaning or maybe rushing back with some shopping.


    The academy was massive. Tall walls secluded thepound from the rest of the noble section while also giving them a straight passage to their exclusive exit and entrance to the side of the capital. Unlike what he expected thepound housed no dormitories, instead there was an even split of the terrain between an enclosed training hall, a school building and a courtyard separating the two.


    ¡°Who¡¯re you?¡± The guards moved to intercept Ajax as he approached the gates, though they were there more for aesthetics than as an actual physical impediment to entry.


    ¡°My name is Ajax, I ha-¡± Ajax didn¡¯t even get to finish his words as the guards moved aside.


    ¡°The headmaster is expecting you.¡± the guard opening the gate for him said. ¡°If you¡¯d follow me.¡±


    ¡°Just like that?¡± Ajax asked with a mixture of surprise and suspicion. ¡°What if I was lying.¡±


    ¡°Then you have the entire trip to the headmaster¡¯s office to admit it and get off easy for lying.¡± the guard that stood by the gate said.


    As they were going through the building the guard pointed out a few of the rooms to Ajax. The building had seven floors, each floor was dedicated to a different ss. The iing first years would be on the bottom while the sixth years were all the way on the sixth floor. Each floor had specially dedicated ssrooms for certain courses like Alchemy or Enchanting as well as offices for some of the teachers.


    On the seventh floor there were five doors. Four of them were split, two on each side of the corridor with a final door at the end of the hallway.


    ¡°All four entrances are for the library, in there -¡± the guard started to exin but Ajax was already tuning him out.


    Ajax found himself in the presence of an aura, it was a different one from Duke Manashaper¡¯s. While this one didn¡¯t feel as threatening it felt, somehow deeper.


    ¡°Are you listening to me?¡± The guard''s hand on his shoulder helped Ajax focus again. ¡°I said you can go ahead and knock.¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯s aura is that?¡± Ajax asked instead of taking a step towards the door.


    ¡°That would be our previous headmaster, he chose to stay on as librarian and advisor when he passed his seat to Duke Manashaper. Now go on.¡± the guard urged him, clearly he was already ustomed to the aura that seemed ever present on the seventh floor.


    ¡°Enter.¡± Ajax head after he rapped his knuckles gently tapped the door twice.


    ¡°Ah, thank you foring to see me, Ajax.¡± Duke Manashaper said as he stacked all the papers scattered across his desk and put them to the side in a pile while also motioning Ajax to take a seat in one of the two chairs opposite him.


    ¡°Thank you for inviting me.¡± Ajax said with a small bow of the head that Alfred had him practice a few times before he let him go this morning.


    ¡°Is there anything you¡¯d be willing to share about your application of magic?¡± The duke said, almost physically vibrating with excitement.


    ¡°I thought you asked me here to discuss a position in the academy?¡± Ajax asked. Being in the man¡¯s aura making him more straightforward than he would otherwise be.


    ¡°That discussion can wait until our third andst member of the meeting shows up, the guard that brought you up should be getting him as we speak so we have a bit of time.¡± The duke waived off the question.


    Ajax simply nodded before he extended his hand and conjured up a small me in the palm of his hand.


    ¡°As I didn¡¯t have anyone to teach me how to use my mana for spells I learned from the only source I had ess to.¡± Ajax exined as he yed around with the control he had over the me. ¡°Cobalt casters were the only thing I had to mimic so I picked up casting through chantless mana maniption.¡±


    ¡°And how do you think itpares to regr casting?¡± the headmaster said after a brief pause, recognising Ajax wasn¡¯t going to reveal anymore right now.


    ¡°In terms of both output and efficiency I am quite a few steps behind.¡± Ajax admitted. ¡°But I do make up for that in flexibility and invocation speed .¡±


    ¡°Fascinating.¡± the duke¡¯s eyes following the me as it red, dimmed and even heated up and turned blue. ¡°I¡¯m guessing visualization matters a lot more for you than it does for us. Do you have any desire to learn regr casting?¡±


    ¡°I do, but I don¡¯t n on practicing it. I would be studying it more for any insights it might offer me rather than using it.¡±


    ¡°And why is that?¡±


    ¡°Because from my experience with the few chanted spells I do know I found that my method of casting is somewhat exclusive with chanting.¡± Ajax let out a regretful sigh. ¡°Much like rune casting the skill actively makes leveling chanting harder, I am not willing to forcefully level chanting up to check if the opposite is true.¡±


    Their conversation is cut short as three knocks sound before the door opens. ¡°You called for me headmaster?¡±

 Chapter 162

    Chapter 162


    Abbot Silvertongue P.O.V


    I was getting a migraine the likes of which I hadn¡¯t gotten since I graduated from this ce. While my time here learning was actually a pleasant memory, the interrogations I suffered through once I got back home were unending and dull.


    It had been more than one hundred years since the family had asked anything all too political of me so it wasn¡¯t like I could refuse but the next six years were going to be some of the slowest and most boring ones of my life.


    It wasn¡¯t that I didn¡¯t understand my family''s position, both Archduke Goldmancer¡¯s only daughter and the son of Archduke Steelde¡¯s golden girl were going to be part of this ss. Both were in a great position to end up with the archduke title a few hundred years down the line and as the politically connected house we couldn¡¯t be left out. Sadly we didn¡¯t have any family members of the appropriate age.


    This is why I was here. Out of all the Silvertongue I wasn¡¯t naturally gifted when it came to politics ormunication skills, what I did have a talent for was magic. This made it so that I was the only one with the qualifications to take the position as homeroom teacher for the newest ss entering the academy.


    ¡°Come in¡± I answered loudly to the two quick thuds that resounded from the door.


    ¡°Sir.¡± The guard saluted politely. ¡°The headmaster has requested your presence in his office.¡±


    ¡°He does this now? Doesn¡¯t he know how much I have to do with thetest addition to the ss?¡± I huff in annoyance before looking back at the guard. ¡°I¡¯ll be right up , thanks.¡±


    The guard rxes after having gone stiff at my outburst. My aura might have something to do with that, I had just gotten to level one hundred and forty-five and it was getting harder and harder to suppress for a while now. My heightened displeasure at the situation I found myself in didn¡¯t help. A quick trip up the stairs helped me calm down a little. Entering the seventh floor my aura quickly picked up both of the others present here.Both were friendly but of the two the Headmaster¡¯s felt far more dangerous, even if it held less stats. I smirk a little when I think back to all the pleasant chats I had with the old fossil that was headmaster back when I went through this ce and pulse out a greeting with my aura as I approach the headmaster¡¯s office and knock on the door.


    ¡°Enter.¡± the voice calls from the other side, he sounds oddly enough both giddy and disappointed.


    As I step into the office my eyes fix on the boy seated in front of the headmaster. He looks young, very much so.


    ¡°Do we have another new recruit for this year¡¯s ss?¡± My question and tone show none of the displeasure I feel when thinking about it. Even without any talent formunication skills I still picked up a few that were rigorously trained growing up as the son of the nominated future head of house Silvertongue.


    The boy didn¡¯t look all that impressive. The quality of his clothes was on the low end, even a marquis¡¯s son wouldn¡¯te to a meeting like this, dressed like that so that made him a baron¡¯s son.


    ¡°I have to say that with already e addition the ss really doesn¡¯t have room for another.¡± The prince might have been able to force his way into the ss despite being only level twenty-two but here I could put my foot down.


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    ¡°Oh I¡­¡± The boy seems surprised at my words.


    ¡°Hmm, yes I guess you could see it that way but young Ajax here isn¡¯t strictly speaking going to be joining your ss.¡± The headmaster says. ¡°You see, he is something of a special case.¡±


    Great another special case, but the wording has me a bit curious. ¡°What do you mean he isn¡¯t exactly joining the ss?¡±


    ¡°You see the academy isn¡¯t a good fit for Ajax and his talents.¡± the headmaster exins. ¡°This is why I called you here, I intend to offer Ajax a different opportunity which is where youe in.¡±


    Isn¡¯t a good fit for his talents? Did his family somehow invent a new spell that they are leveraging to get their child into the same ss as the prince and two archduke direct family members? I know how he is when ites to anything new rted to magic.


    ¡°How is he not a good fit?¡± I ask as sympathetically as I can make it. I need all the information I can get if I am to be able to reject this.


    ¡°You see, Ajax here, despite being only fifteen years old, has already reached level thirty-one.¡± All of my thoughts ground to a halt, what did he just say? ¡°Our first-yearbat course would be insufficient for him, you see.¡±


    A few seconds go by with only processing what he just said before I am able to respond. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be easier for him to just join the third years and do some extra tutoring to patch up the holes in his knowledge?¡±


    ¡°Under normal circumstances, or I suppose I should say less abnormal circumstances, that is what I would have done. You see Abbot, Ajax here is amoner and as such I fear the gap that he has to cover is toorge for him to make up with on the side tutoring.¡± I take this news a little better than I did hisst revtion.


    ¡°Then what are you proposing, headmaster?¡± My shock is obvious even to me since even with my skills my question is blunter than any have been in thest three months I have been here.


    ¡° Ajax is here because I want to offer him a position at the academy. I am also aware of your circumstances.¡± This is the first time in my time here that he makes any mention of how I got the position of homeroom teacher and the reason behind it so this is a big deal to him.


    ¡°I was unaware we had any suitable positions.¡± After all, if there was any the family would have gotten it already just to get more in touch with the ss.


    ¡°There isn¡¯t.¡± he confirms. ¡°But what I wanted to offer him was a position as a teaching assistant, your teaching assistant to be specific.¡±


    Now I could see where he was going. New teachers had to teach for at least five years before they were afforded the possibility of taking on an assistant. Assistants were usually talentedmoners that were too old to join the academy so the teachers took them in to get them educated using academy resources.


    ¡°Since you aren¡¯t in a position to get an assistant for yourself, I was thinking of having Ajax here be the teaching assistant for the first year ss.¡± the headmaster exined. ¡° Unlike a normal assistant he would attend all sses with them instead of attending all of your sses, but since more than 70% of the first year sses are with you he¡¯ll be basically your assistant.¡±


    The offer was obviously news to the boy as he kept looking from me to the headmaster over and over. I also didn¡¯t see any real issue with the idea, in fact having an assistant, even one that wasn¡¯t exclusive to me, would mean I could have him help me out with quite a few of my tasks.


    ¡°This would also mean that you¡¯ll have to wait six years before you can get an assistant of your own.¡± the headmaster adds, hismunication skills and re making his meaning obvious, house Silvertongue wouldn¡¯t get another person shoved in here for the final year of this freshman ss.


    ¡°I¡¯d be very happy with this arrangement.¡± I nod, for once my skills not having to hide any disagreement. After all, if I got a spot for an assistant the family would fill it with somebody who would spend all his time making connections and not actually helping me with any of my work.


    ¡°It¡¯d also mean that you have to take responsibility for Ajax¡¯s perks as an assistant as well.¡± he adds.


    That would make things a bit more troublesome but not by much. The perks an assistant got would usually be help with any difficulties he was having in their independent research, for Ajax this would just be the curriculum, and obtaining some appropriate delve slots for him to do while he studies at the academy. The second might actually get him off my back a little as the family would definitely be interested in having a talented, unaffiliatedmoner that they can connect with.


    ¡°Some level thirty-one delves aren¡¯t much of an imposition to me.¡± I assure them both.


    ¡°That wouldn¡¯t be all that helpful.¡± the boy says, this time he has a determined look and a bit of frown as if myst statement was somehow offensive. ¡°As I have told the Archdukest night, mybat ability is around level sixty rather than level thirty. My single delve in the first floor of the Hignd¡¯s provided me with barely a few hundred experience¡±


    If the first two statements about him were surprising this one is absurd. Despite this my only raremunication skill, [Truthfulness Meter] was indicating that not only was he actually as strong as he imed, but that he was actually underselling himself.


    Ten seconds went by and all I had managed to do was pick my jaw off the floor, only for it to open and shut again as I soaked in the information. Right as I was about to finally form a sentence the door opened wide.


    ¡°Grampa, are you here?¡± The headmaster¡¯s granddaughter as well as archduke Goldmancer¡¯s daughter were in the doorway, thetter frowning at her friend most likely for the way she barged in, as she should I might add.

 Chapter 163

    Chapter 163


    Annabeth Goldmancer P.O.V


    The formalst night was more of a chore than I had expected it to be. Throughout thest eight years, ever since I unlocked my stat points I had gotten some more exposure to the outside world but my father did his best to keep me in a cocoon for as long as he could. At first she had resented him for it a little thinking he was overprotective but if all of those events were likest night she was d he had kept her out of them.


    ¡°Miss Manashaper.¡± The guard at the entrance of the academy saluted and opened the gate as Lexi and I approached.


    ¡°Hi, Dave.¡± Lexi greeted him. ¡°Do you know where grandpa is?¡±


    ¡°He should be in his office right now, but -¡± the guard answered.


    ¡°Thanks¡± she said cheerfully, cutting off anything else he might have had to add before marching off while dragging me behind her.


    ¡°You¡¯re in a really bad mood.¡± I point out.


    Lexi and I were very simr and at the same time pr opposites. We both had very simr core personalities, both very passionate and focused not only on our own field but on almost all fields, we both had picked up at least one weapon and tried all sorts of crafting professions. Where we differed was in how we went about dealing with strangers.


    While I had been mostly isted from the noblemunity atrge for my entire childhood Lexi had been overexposed to it all. This led to us having a very different coping mechanism, I was rewarded with the rare skill [Poker Face] and while I still hadn¡¯t managed to get out her what skill or skills she had that allowed her to maintain that happy go lucky attitude that let her get along with just about anyone I knew it had to be something simr.The formalst night hadn¡¯t started off that badly, our ssmates weren¡¯t all that bad. I had personally expected Sterm to be a hothead that would engage at the slightest opportunity, I was pleasantly surprised to see that he was more of a tactical mastermind instead of a pure brawn warrior.


    The night went to hell in a handbasket once the prince arrived. A surprise to many of us that were there since we knew the prince still had at least a level to go before he could join the academy, it seems he somehow forced his way into this ss.


    To say that the prince was talented was an understatement, having reached level fifty in his [longsword sword] skill before the age of ten was something that hadn¡¯t happened for at least a few thousand years. Sure there had been the odd noble here or there who got amon skill but an umon one was something else.


    Sadly from all appearances it looked like the young prince had taken to looking up at his uncle and not his father when he decided on a role model(Note, yes they are all princes since the kid¡¯s grandfather is kind so they all gain the prince title as they are in the line of session). His uncle, the former crown prince, was actually the older of the two brothers and was also a standout talent when it came tobat. Sadly he was a walking cmity when it came to foreign politics, almost starting a war thest three out of five times he went to visit the Republic for their fifty year tourney.


    I followed Lexi up the stairs to the seventh floor. I had long since gotten used to the stifling effects of aura, still both the headmaster and the librarian were on the high end of the spectrum so I was slow in noticing there was a third aura present on the floor and couldn¡¯t stop Lexi from barging in on what I assumed was a meeting her grandfather was holding.


    This tale has been uwfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ¡°Grampa, you here?¡± she obnoxiously asked as she burst into the room.


    Her tone of voice let me know that she very much did notice the presence of the third aura and was acting as she was as a form of payback. I couldn¡¯t say I didn¡¯t understand since we had both been forced to endure an extra hour at the formalst night because her grandfather waste in arriving and dismissing all of us.


    ¡°This is because I wastest night, isn¡¯t it?¡± he asked with a defeated sigh.


    ¡°Miss Manashaper, I certainly hope you¡¯ll be showing more decorum than this in the uing six years.¡± Mr Silvertongue chided her.


    ¡°Yes sir.¡± she answered while looking at the floor.


    As Lexi carefully inspected the carpet trying to show her non-existent remorse I looked towards the third member of the meeting we had interrupted. The man was young, despite being six and a half feet tall and built with wiry muscles you could see even through his clothes he seemed to be about seventeen years old, he also seemed oddly familiar though I couldn¡¯t ce him.


    ¡°Would you mind waiting outside until I am done with this?¡± the headmaster asked in a much nicer tone than we deserved.


    ¡°You?¡± Lexi asked softly as she finally took in the final member of the meeting. ¡°You¡¯re Ajax right?¡±


    The mention of the boy¡¯s name sparked my memory, he¡¯s the kid from half a year ago, the one Lexi was so insistent we offer some help because of how her grandpa was going to haunt him the moment he got a chance about his new magic.


    ¡°I am.¡± the boy admitted. ¡°I suppose I owe both of you a thank you for helping me out.¡± he said with a slight appreciative nod to both of us.


    ¡°Is he another surprise addition to our ss?¡± I asked in a somewhat frosty voice as I felt [Poker Face] fall into ce and hide my annoyance at how many people were bending the rules.


    ¡°I guess you might as well take a seat.¡± the headmaster said as he sat defeated in his chair. ¡°Not like our little meeting here was meant to be a secret.¡±


    Despite his words and tone the pressure his aura exerted on us made it clear that we were to sit on the side and watch without further interruption. Neither Lexi nor I did anything besides silently moving to the two chairs in the corner of the office after closing the door.


    ¡°Now, where were we?¡± the headmaster asked. ¡°Ah, yes, your position as a teaching assistant. While I am sure procuring your desired delve slots wouldn¡¯t be too much of an imposition for Mr. Silvertongue we would require a demonstration of your ims.¡±


    Teaching assistant? Well that certainly made some sense. Mr. Silvertongue wouldn¡¯t be able to have a teaching assistant under normal circumstances, but with the headmaster probably interested in Ajax¡¯s magic they would give him the position for a year or two while he catches up on his studies before he joins the academy proper, not only that but it would ease up the scut work Mr Silvertongue would need to do.


    ¡°Provided your requests were met, would you be willing to ept the position?¡± the headmaster asked?


    ¡°Yes.¡± Ajax said after he thought for a moment. ¡°With one condition.¡±


    He had a condition? This was basically a golden ticket for him and he still had requests to add on top. What was he thinking?


    ¡°Which is?¡± A slight bit of confusion came through the headmaster¡¯s question.


    ¡°You answer one question for me that may touch on a few matters held secret from most people.¡± he said.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry to say, but I will not be revealing any more magic information to you right now than what the academy provides to all its students.¡± the headmaster denied.


    ¡°The question doesn¡¯t involve magic, or if it does at least not directly,¡± he said.


    ¡°Hmm, alright.¡± the headmaster agreed. ¡°But you have to ask your question after your demonstration.¡±


    Ajax¡¯s eyes instantly turned to take in me, Lexi and Mr Silvertongue. He spent a whole minute just looking between up before he turned back to the headmaster.


    ¡°I ept.¡± he said.


    ¡°Wonderful.¡± gone was the serious expression and now the headmaster was just a jolly old man, I could see where Lexi got her inspiration from. ¡°Let''s head down to the arena, Dave should be on duty and he is level fifty-nine. That would make for a perfect test of your ims.¡±


    ¡°I also have a condition.¡± Mr Silvertongue intervened. He had the good grace to be a little cowed from the re the headmaster turned on him but he still pushed on. ¡°If your ims end up being false I want you to try and teach your deception skill to a person of my choosing.¡±


    ¡°You want what?¡± Ajax asked, confused. ¡°Wait, you have a truth telling skill, and a strong one. That¡¯s why you had such a big reaction, and now you think I somehow got past it.¡±


    He wasn¡¯t talking to anyone right then, it sounded more like he was putting together the pieces of a puzzle.


    ¡°Yeah, your condition is fine.¡± he said after he stopped talking to himself. ¡°I wasn¡¯t lying anyway.¡±


    Both Lexi and I followed the three out of the room. Neither of us said a word both equally interested to see what was going on.

 Chapter 164

    Chapter 164


    Ajax P.O.V.


    I was fighting an internal battle with my own instinct that told me to just go try my luck at the Adventurer¡¯s Guild ever since the two women burst into the headmaster¡¯s office. The only reason I wasn¡¯t was because the offer sounded like an ideal deal for me and that I knew the two of them helped me out less than a year ago.


    I had technically been around them for a few months before, during the skirmish, but at that time I had been doing everything I could to distance myself from them. I found their demeanor odd, all my previous interactions with nobles had them either acting as absolute authority or entitled assholes. Here I could see that one of them was more withdrawn and calcting while the other was a happy go lucky bubbly person.


    ¡°So what was it that you came to see me about?¡± the headmaster finally asked after we exited the office and we were all making our way down the stairs.


    ¡°That can wait until I see what¡¯s going on here.¡± his granddaughter responded with a giddy skip in her step. ¡°This is much more interesting.¡±


    ¡°Interesting how?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Interesting because he somehow managed to get stronger than anyone I have heard of at that age.¡± She said, ¡°Even the prince with his umon level fifty skill isn¡¯t strong enough to fight a level thirty-two guild examiner and win.¡±


    ¡°That is an impressive im, though far more believable than the one you are making now.¡± Professor Silvertongue spoke to me before swapping topics. ¡°So it seems you two came toin about the prince forcing his way into the ss?¡±


    ¡°The ss already had two direct descendants of two of the archdukes, that is alongside the twins and Lexi here.¡± the archduke¡¯s daughter , Annabeth, I think her name was said. ¡°Now the prince added on top. There is a reason that most high nobles have children together but space them out when sending them to the academy, there are only so many high spots in the ss rankings and it will turn into a bloodbath for them towards the end of every year.¡±That was news to me. Figures it was just my luck to get stuck with this kind of ss. ¡°I won¡¯t be in the running for any of those spots will I?¡± I ask hoping I won¡¯t be sticking a massive target on my back.


    ¡°No, those are only for students.¡± Professor Silvertongue answers.


    ¡°You could join in the yearly tournament however.¡± the headmaster adds. ¡°The requirements are being part of the academy, not being enrolled in a higher year than the tournament you wish to join and being younger than the oldest member of said ss. Or you could go for one of the public spots if you want to cut off any arguments about your cement.¡±


    ¡°Come to think of it, you could probably join the tournament for all six years if you went through the public spots.¡± he sounded happy as he pondered this.


    ¡°What tournament?¡± I ask.


    ¡°Every year the members of each ss hold abat tournament, weplete the bracket with open public spots that can be fought for by anyone that matches the same criteria.¡± Annabeth said. ¡° I doubt there is anyone in this year¡¯s freshman ss orst year¡¯s that would be able to go up against someone at level thirty two.¡±


    ¡°Tempting as that sounds, the amount of scrutiny that winning both of those would bring is something I think I best avoid.¡± I answer.


    ¡°Are you sure about that?¡± the headmaster grins. ¡°While the rewards vary from year to year, first ce has always had the option of selecting stat potions.¡±


    I almost tripped down thest few steps at that. Stat potions were the most expensive items I have ever seen, getting a few of them like that would probably save me thousands or tens of thousands of gold.


    This tale has been uwfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Everyone stopped in ce when I almost face nted. Both the headmaster and his granddaughter looked to be holding in theirughter while the other two pretended nothing happened.


    ¡°And would the academy be in a position to stop any interference that mighte my way due to that?¡± I asked a little more pointedly than I meant to.


    ¡°While we won¡¯t interfere with every petty payback that happens on the grounds,¡± the headmaster started. ¡°I can assure you that we would intercept anything that crosses the line.¡±


    Only question left would be what would be considered as ¡®crossing the line¡¯. Something told me I wouldn¡¯t get a straight answer here even if I asked so I let it go. This would be something I have to worry about in almost a year''s time when I have a lot more information.


    With that we arrive at therge training courtyard, or more specifically a small arena with runes surrounding it, standing off to one side already saluting is a guard that I assume is to be my opponent. A quick [Judge Threat] ces him at the same level as Commander Grievous, thankfully it doesn¡¯t seem like he realized I used the skill.


    ¡°Dave, thank you for meeting us here.¡± The headmaster greets the guard.


    ¡°Of course sir.¡± he answers back, finally dropping the salute after being acknowledged. ¡° What can I help with?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll be having you spar with young Ajax here.¡± the headmaster said. ¡°He made some rather big ims.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m more than happy to do that sir, but I should mention I am not all that great at urately holding back my abilities.¡± Dave lightly objected, but still took his spot in the arena as instructed.


    ¡°That will be perfectly fine, his im is that he is around level sixty in terms of ability.¡± Professor Silvertonuge said.


    ¡°¡°¡°What!?¡±¡±¡± Dave, Lexi and Annabeth all reacted with equal surprise, Annabeth¡¯s cold expression finally cracking for once.


    ¡°If you would please use sparring weapons.¡± the headmaster pointed me towards the stacked racks.


    ¡°Is there a problem if I damage them?¡± I ask since I don¡¯t have my gauntlet with me meaning infusing the weapons will result in some material decay.


    ¡°They should be able to hold up to a level sixty¡¯s amount of power.¡± the professor says.


    With an axe and a sword in hand I stand opposite Dave and wait for the start to be given. The weapons are a lot better quality than I am used to, they are simr to the ones I picked up from the five I killed in the forest.


    It seems that Dave was still skeptical of my ims as he was slow to react once the starting was signaled. Something that cost him as I exploded with a decent level of [Mana Syphon] active.


    His trained reflexes and reactions were good, much better than even Commander Grievous, but all that meant was that my blownded heavily on his shoulder instead of his head. The ice mana infusion spread out from the point of impact. Since this was only a sparring session I wouldn¡¯t be using void, that affinity could cause lethal damage even with sparring weapons all too easily.


    I picked up on a few shocked gasps and heard the headmaster''s voice getting excited on the sidelines but ignored all of it in favor of focusing on the fight. Dave was rubbing his shoulder with a pronounced wince on his face from the pain before he took up his stance again and with a nod we both moved into action.


    If it was a matter of raw stats Dave actually surpassed themander, not only that but all the time spent around mages here at the academy clearly made him a lot more sensitive when it came to the use of mana so my spell infused warrior style was much less effective against him.


    Where Dave fell short was inbat experience, his training was solid but he showed ack ofbat experience making a pattern rather easy to pin down. I most likely suffered from the same w but since my fighting style was so unique it would be a lot harder for anyone to pick up on it.


    As we exchanged blows for the next two minutes none of us were able tond a clean hit but I was getting a better and better picture of Dave¡¯s response to certain attacks, sadly it wasn¡¯t fast enough. I felt my mana draining away so I decided I needed to end the bout quickly.


    I upped the consumption of [Mana Syphon] at the same moment as I used two hundred mana to turn the ground in arge area around us into mud. Sure the mud would impede me as well but I was ready for it and knew it wasing. The burst in strength and speedbined withck of footing allowed me to a few quick lightning infused blows against Dave¡¯s joints that quickly debilitated him and ended the spar.


    ¡°What an interesting style!¡± the headmaster materialized before me the moment the fight had stopped. ¡°You infused not only yourself with mana somehow but you also managed to send mana into your weapons. You also use varying elements, I picked up wind, earth, water, fire, metal, lightning and ice at the very least. I see, this is what you meant by damage to the weapons, the mana infusion decayed the metal quite a bit.¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ yes?¡± I vaguely agree with the barrage of questions or assumptionsing at me.


    ¡°Dave, are you okay?¡± Professor Silvertongue and the two women approach as well.


    ¡°My joints hurt a little, but it''s theck of control that is getting to me. I think I¡¯ll be just fine in a few minutes with a quick once over from a healer.¡± Dave responded from his spot on the floor where he still battled to reagins control over his limbs.


    ¡°Oh right, sorry.¡± the headmaster said as he quickly muttered an incantation that sprung forth a massive amount of mana and instantly healed Dave.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± Dave nods. ¡°Don¡¯t suppose you have a spell for my pride?¡±


    ¡°I have been working on a short term memory wipe if you want to give it a try.¡± the headmaster jests, I hope.


    ¡°I¡¯m good, thanks.¡± Dave quickly backs away a little at the offer.


    ¡°I take it this was good enough to prove my im.¡± I ask professor Silvertongue.


    ¡°Oh, yes, yes it was.¡± The grin on his face makes me a little skeptical as to why he is so happy. ¡°I¡¯ll dly take you in for the position of my teaching assistant.¡±


    ¡°His actual position is as teaching assistant for the freshman ss.¡± the headmaster cuts in. ¡°Now what is your question?¡±

 Chapter 165

    Chapter 165


    Out of the four spectators both professor Silvertongue and the headmaster were less surprised by Ajax¡¯s show of strength since they both didrgely believe him when he made his ims. While the headmaster was ecstatic at the show of a new magic style the other two spectators were still stunned at the disy even after the fight was over.


    Both had expected him to be strong, having learned that he had passed the test for a level thirty-two but the show of power now was certainly way above anything they had expected. They finally started paying attention to the conversation again once they were reminded of the question that Ajax wanted answered.


    ¡°What achievements would you rmend for me, if the discovery requirement wasn¡¯t an issue?¡± Ajax asked, knowing that the nobles would be keeping records of strong achievements for sure.


    ¡°You have the Trailzer achievement!¡± the headmaster shouted with excitement. ¡°To think that you are the first to unlock this kind of casting.¡±


    Ajax was about to interrupt and correct him that it wasn¡¯t his magical skills that granted him the Trailzer achievement but he thought better of it. After all most farming skills usually had some attached skills to go with them and if any of them happened to be unique he could refresh his title. He didn¡¯t doubt his beekeeping would be something that would be found out in due time but that should be enough for him to at least corner the market for a while.


    ¡°I do.¡± Ajax admitted.


    ¡°Hmm, what achievements would be good for you?¡± the headmaster now stroked his long beard. ¡°You clearly have enough power for now, some extra stats would be nice but you could work your way up to them slowly in the future. Not to mention that they are some of the harder achievements toplete.¡±


    ¡°He could go for ¡®Investigator¡¯.¡± Professor Silvertongue suggested. ¡°It rewards an Epic inspection skill that allows you to get the level, name, age as well as the top two stats of whoever or whatever you are inspecting.¡±


    That achievement sounded much better to Ajax right now than a few extra stats. His [Judge Threat] was rather reliable in telling him just how dangerous an opponent would be, but it was useless at getting any other information.¡°Yes, a good inspection skill is not to be underestimated.¡± the headmaster turned back to Ajax. ¡°Unless you already have one?¡±


    ¡°I have [Judge Threat].¡± Ajax confirmed. ¡°It has been all I needed as an adventurer but I have yet to really run into its limitations, something I believe I will in theing months and years here in the Academy.¡±


    ¡°The opposite could also be true.¡± Annabeth spoke, making all three of them look at her. ¡°From what I heard he has no privacy skill at all, getting ¡®Enigma¡¯ might be the best option for him.¡±


    ¡°What does ¡®Enigma¡¯ grant?¡± Ajax asked, his paranoia almost pushing for him to give her a hug at the mention of a privacy skill.


    ¡°Enigma is the only achievement I know of that has a Legendary skill as a reward.¡± Annabeth said. ¡°The skill shares the name with the achievement and it allows the user to block any sort of inspection skills, this isn¡¯t just reading your status but also truth telling skills, though the crystals would still work on you.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not all,¡± the headmaster added ¡°The skill, like all other privacy skills would need to be overleveled heavily by one of lesser rarity to be surpassed but it also allows you to fool other inspection skills. While you can¡¯t exactly specify the exact fake information you give out, you can influence it. For example you would have people read something about a level thirty pure mage.¡±


    Stolen novel; please report.


    ¡°What are the requirements?¡± Ajax asked, this definitely sounded like a skill he wanted to get.


    ¡°The requirements are rather easy. First you must not have any sort of privacy skill, secondly you have to be subjected to inspection skills by twenty people within the span of one minute.¡± Annabeth said.


    ¡°That¡­¡± Ajax said thinking. ¡°If it is that easy wouldn¡¯t all nobles just gain the achievement?¡± After all, just getting twenty people with inspection skills together would be easy for them.


    ¡°The achievement requires twenty discoveries.¡± Professor Silvertongue huffed. ¡°Not only that but nobles are often exposed to lots of inspection skills as we grow up so we almost always develop privacy skills before the age of twenty.¡±


    Twenty discoveries was an enormous amount; without Trailzer he would definitely not be able to save up that many for quite a while. With little hesitation he decided that this would be a good use of his Trailzer reward, now he just needed to get everything set up to gain the achievement.


    ¡°Would the school be able to help me with getting the achievement?¡± Ajax asked after a long moment of silence.


    ¡°I can be persuaded into helping out.¡± the headmaster offered. ¡°If you are willing to at least share the name of the skill that gained you the title.¡±


    That made him a little concerned. Ajax thought about how he should deny that request when he thought of an alternative. ¡°What if I said I¡¯d be willing to share the skill at some point in my time with the academy?¡± Ajax made the counter offer.


    ¡°What difference would that make?¡± the headmaster asked, confused by the haggling.


    ¡°The skill was a recent acquisition, I want to see if I can gain anything else rted to it that might also be a trailzer skill.¡± Ajax exined


    ¡°I know the boost in rarity seems tempting but you¡¯d be much better off selling information regarding the skill so others can try for the title as well.¡± the headmaster said, obviously a little cross with Ajax¡¯s greed.


    ¡°Why shouldn¡¯t I go for it again?¡± Ajax asked. ¡°I would also like to get that inspection skill.¡±


    ¡°But you¡¯ve already got the Trailzer title!¡± Lexi finally joined the conversation with an outburst.


    ¡°You don¡¯t know¡­¡± the words escaped Ajax as he made the realization.


    ¡°What don¡¯t we know?¡± professor Silvertongue asked.


    ¡°The trailzer achievement works just like the dungeon floor delving one, every time you gain a trailzing skill you gain the reward again, that would mean I get another free achievement.¡± he exined his train of thought.


    All four of them silently gaped at him at the revtion. ¡°To think that it worked like that.¡± The headmaster broke the silence. ¡°I will have to make the necessary changes in quite a few books in the library.¡±


    ¡°Howe you didn¡¯t know about that?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°Because the very achievement is a myth, or was a myth until now I guess.¡± Lexi sighed with exasperation. ¡°We only know about it from very old texts, and they know about it from other old texts. There hasn¡¯t been a person that imed to have the achievement and had it verified in living history.¡±


    ¡°Given that you could gain more rewards from it I am inclined to agree to your stiption.¡± the headmaster said. ¡°But I will have you reveal the skill within the next six years, just in case you decide to stay on with the academy longer than that. If you can¡¯t get anything more out of it in the next six years others will also have their chance.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine by me.¡± Ajax agreed, even if he didn¡¯t share the skill he was sure that other people would take up beekeeping in two years at the most, it would be practically worthless to withhold the skill after that. Hell, the idea that young stuck-up nobles would be rushing out to start beekeeping in hopes of the title even brought a stupid smile to his face.


    ¡°What are you smiling about?¡± Annabeth asked him.


    ¡°Nothing important.¡± Ajax waved it off.


    ¡°sses for the first years start tomorrow, after the fourth bell, so if youe back here at the second bell we should have enough time to get you that achievement as well as get your uniform sorted out.¡± Professor Silvertongue said.


    ¡°There is a required uniform?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°A uniform isn¡¯t required outside of specific events where the students represent the school.¡± the headmaster exined. ¡°However, a few sets are provided to all students and other members of staff. Our hope is to alleviate any financial difficulties some of our less well off students have in getting appropriate attire.¡±


    Ajax quickly found himself agreeing with the model. He had not liked wearing a uniform all throughout middle school in his previous life on Earth and thought that such a voluntary model was much better, even if he would most likely be wearing it full time since he didn¡¯t have anything in his wardrobe that would be able topete with it in terms of quality, at least not without spending a good amount of gold coins.


    ¡°Oh, and can I please ask that the people with inspection skills tomorrow don¡¯t have anything that can see my stats or skills.¡± Ajax quickly requested before departing, he had almost overlooked that big w with getting inspected by twenty different people who could be hand picked beforehand.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Though he didn¡¯t show it with his posture or tone Ajax was sure that professor Silvertongue was nning on getting Ajax¡¯s skills and stats tomorrow had he not mentioned this.


    His suspicion was proven right when the man turned to the headmaster. ¡°Would you be able to provide five people as well, headmaster, I¡¯m not sure I can get twenty people on such short notice with that restriction in ce.¡±

 Chapter 166

    Chapter 166


    With the arrangements made Ajax quickly took his leave. Walking away from the school however Ajax quickly realized that his ns for today were wed. He had initially intended to spend today setting up all of the bee hives that were made while he was in the dungeon, doing that however ran the serious risk of either getting him an achievement or a new trailzer skill that would mean he would lose a free achievement.


    His destination didn¡¯t change at all however as he made his way towards Luna¡¯s house so he could change out of the fancy clothes he was wearing now and then he nned to go through the city and get some furniture for his newly built house.


    ¡°So how did the meeting go?¡± Hatchet asked him after he got changed.


    ¡°Went really well, I got offered a position as a teaching assistant.¡± Ajax answered.


    ¡°You did?¡± Luna asked, surprised. ¡°I was pretty sure all of the teachers already had their slots filled.¡±


    ¡°They do.¡± Ajax confirmed. ¡°All but Silvertongue. He is starting teaching this year so he has his slot open. The headmaster bent the rules a bit by letting me be the assistant for his homeroom ss instead of him personally.¡±


    ¡°Silvertongue?¡± Luna looked confused hearing the name. ¡°Since when do the Silvertongues have someone good enough to teach at the academy?¡±


    ¡°I am guessing that would be Abbot Silvertongue.¡± Alfred jumped in. While Luna became adept in dealing with politics since she has been a guild master she didn¡¯t have his breadth of knowledge on nobility. ¡°He was something of a ck sheep, a real talent when it came to magic and fighting but not so much in terms of politics. If I was to guess his family forced him to take this position just to have someone keeping an eye on the iing ss.¡±


    That statement certainly cleared up quite a bit about the professor to Ajax, his perpetual poker face and the irritability that he felt through the man¡¯s aura when it came to the functions of his job. He just didn¡¯t want to be doing it but couldn¡¯t refuse it either. ¡°I¡¯m not sure if I should congratte or pity you Ajax.¡± Alfred followed up.


    ¡°Why is that?¡± Ajax asked, confused.


    ¡°Because you are the perfect opportunity to get his family off his back in these next six years. While no doubt every strong noble family will be trying to entice you to join them, his has a duty to provide you with the delving opportunities you need.¡± Alfred ced a tea in front of Ajax. ¡°At least for the first year or so they will be bending over backwards to get you whatever requests you have hoping to give you a good impression of them, all while also trying to recruit you at every turn.¡±


    While Ajax wasn¡¯t excited to hear that, now that he had seen a bit of concrete proof that he wouldn¡¯t be forcibly recruited even with nobles knowing a lot about his abilities, he was willing to put with an aggressive pitch to join in exchange for easy ess to the dungeons.


    ¡°So what are your ns now?¡± Hatchet asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to be buying some furniture today and getting the newly built house ready, thankfully it is pretty close to the academy so I won¡¯t be crossing half the capital every morning.¡± Ajax said. ¡°Tomorrow I have to go in early to get my uniform and Achievement taken care of.¡±


    ¡°Oh? And what achievement is this?¡± Hatchet asked with curiosity.


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    ¡°Right, I totally forgot to mention thisst night since the duke being here caught me by surprise. I got an achievement called Trailzer, part of its reward is that the next achievement I gain will have its discoveries cost ignored.¡± that¡¯s as far as Ajax got with his exnation before he was interrupted.


    ¡°What?!¡± Luna asked, almost crushing the tea cup in her grasp. ¡°What kind of achievement is that? And more importantly how do you get it?¡±


    ¡°The achievement is for being the first to ever gain a skill. It increases said skill by two ranks and makes your next achievement free in terms of discoveries. Not only that but you can gain its rewards multiple times so long as you keep gaining Trailzing skills.¡± Ajax exined.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ actually a fitting achievement. Which skill was it that you managed to gain?¡± Luna asked.


    ¡°I¡¯d rather keep that to myself.¡± Ajax said.


    ¡°Oh! Sorry I didn¡¯t mean to pry, I know howbatants are about their skills.¡± Luna quickly apologized.


    ¡°No, it''s not that.¡± Ajax shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s just that I think there might be some other Trailzing skills thate as an offshoot from it and I would like to get those rewards as well.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not a bad idea.¡± Luna said. ¡°But I would like to ask that you don¡¯t keep it hidden for too long, a big part of gaining skills is natural talent so if you don¡¯t gain any in a year or two could I ask that you share it so that others can have a chance?¡±


    Ajax simply nodded since he had already made a simr deal with the headmaster, after all he wasn¡¯t about to reveal that he had a massive increase in natural potential that meant the only skills he wouldn¡¯t gain would be some that he would be particrly bad at.


    ¡°So what achievement are you getting tomorrow?¡± Hatchet moved the point forward.


    ¡°They¡¯re helping me get ¡®Enigma¡¯ . It''s supposed to grant me a Legendary tier privacy skill.¡± Ajax said


    ¡°You might want to reschedule that, they might have someone reading your skills there to learn your trailzing skill.¡± Luna tried to warn him.


    ¡°I thought of that too, the headmaster agreed that there would be none there who would be able to do that.¡± That Luna actually rxed at that gave Ajax a lot more confidence that he wasn¡¯t being tricked. The only reason he was willing to even risk getting his skills inspected was that beekeeping could be found just as easily by having someone tail him for a week.


    Having changed his clothes and enjoyed a filling breakfast Ajax spent the rest of the day collecting furniture and ferrying another thirty wooden hives to his plot ofnd. He made sure to just dump them there and didn¡¯t even set them up just in case that would be enough to trigger something.


    As night came Ajax had finished setting up the furniture. While he wouldn¡¯t be living in this house all that long as he nned for it to be a gift to his brother and Kate it is still the first house he bought and the first time he was living alone since he was reborn in this world. Sure he had technically slept alone in a tent when he went delving but that didn¡¯t really count.


    Surprisingly sleep was hard to by as heid on the straw mattress. He spent his time trying to remember all that he could about beekeeping. He knew that smoke would make them more docile, not that he had any issues with them since his stats made him practically impervious to the normal bees but more that there might be a skill in there for him. Gathering the honey definitely didn¡¯t have a skill for him as people had been gathering honey from wild hives for centuries if not millenia.


    An interesting thought came to him when he thought about nting flowers all around the hives and infusing them with mana. Would the fact that the pollen came from mana infused flowers matter? He knew different flowers were used back on earth depending on what the honey would be used for after but he didn¡¯t know any specifics.


    Ajax didn¡¯t remember when he fell asleep thinking about honey but he felt rested when he got up the next day. He felt determined to get a cksmith and a leatherworker together and have them make a proper mattress for him sometime soon as he straightened out his back. A quick washter he got dressed, grabbed a sandwich to go and made his way over to the academy.


    Unlike yesterday the guards on duty simply opened the gates for him. Ajax was slightly surprised at that since they weren¡¯t the same guards as yesterday. The wary and incredulous looks they were giving him made Ajax feel like Dave had shared with them the oue of their spar. As he was about to pass the gates he suddenly remembered a small issue.


    ¡°Where can I find Professor Silvertongue¡¯s office?¡± he asked the guards, he had never actually seen where on the first floor it was since he had gone straight to the headmaster¡¯s office yesterday.


    With the specific direction he got it took him another minute to get to the correct room in front of which he saw twenty people talking together with the headmaster and professor Silvertongue besides them.


    ¡°There you are Ajax.¡± the headmaster greeted him. ¡°Everyone, if you could please inspect the young man, I have a rather busy schedule I would like to get on with.¡±


    Ajax was surprised to see the headmastere in person. He even got slightly rmed when he noticed that all twenty people stared at him and yet nothing happened. Ten seconds, then twenty went by yet still nothing came of it.


    ¡°Why is nothing hap-¡± Ajax started to say after a while but he stopped as he got the notification.


    Achievement: Enigma


    Be inspected by twenty different people within one minute.


    Have no privacy skills.


    Requires twenty Discoveries to earn : Requirement fulfilled by Trailzer


    Reward : [Enigma] skill.

 Chapter 167

    Chapter 167


    <strong>Name</strong> : Ajax


    <strong>Level</strong> :31


    <strong>Experience</strong> : 2910/55100


    <strong>Traits</strong>: Divine Witness


    <strong>Health</strong>: 2240/2240


    <strong>Mana</strong>: 2250/2250


    <strong>Stamina</strong> :1850/1850


    <strong>Vitality</strong> : 224


    <strong>Strength</strong> :185<strong>Endurance</strong> :185


    <strong>Dexterity</strong> : 185


    <strong>Intellect </strong>: 225


    <strong>Wisdom</strong> : 225


    <strong>Mind</strong> : 225


    <strong>Perception</strong> : 185


    <strong>Stat Points</strong> :0


    <strong>Skills</strong> :<ul><ul><li><strong>Common :</strong>[Mathematics Lvl 26] [Stealth Lvl 30][Drawing Lvl 35][Athleticism Lvl 35] [Running Lvl 36][Reading Lvl 22][Writing Lvl 22][Cooking Lvl 26][Sewing Lvl 20] [Cleaning Lvl 20][Haggling Lvl 20][Gardening Lvl 20][Axes Lvl 40][Hammers Lvl 40 [Deception Lvl 27][Sword Lvl 40][Shield Lvl 40][Bow Lvl 40][Spear Lvl 40][Throwing Lvl 30][Persuasion Lvl 10][Unarmed Combat Lvl 35][Knives Lvl 40][Skinning Lvl 30][Tanning Lvl 10][Dismantle Lvl 40][Climbing Lvl 30][Tracking Lvl 30][Heat Resistance Lvl 19] [Poison Resistance Lvl 25][Pain Resistance Lvl 20][Trapping Lvl 25][Cold Resistance Lvl 5]</li><li><strong>Umon :</strong>[Meditation Lvl 50][Sense Mana Lvl 50][Expel Mana Lvl 50][Sprinting Lvl 35][Mining Lvl 10][Lumberjack Lvl 10][Smelting Lvl 10][cksmithing Lvl 10] [Chanting Lvl 11][Mana Farming Lvl 12][Increase Price Lvl 10][Lower Price Lvl 10][Danger Sense Lvl 30][Leatherworking Lvl 10][Alchemy Lvl 10][Mana Milling Lvl 6][Precise Cut Lvl 35][Precise Blow Lvl 35][Judge Threat Lvl 30][ Piercing Shot Lvl 35] [<em>Berserker </em>Lvl 10][Cooperation Lvl 20][Berserker Style Lvl 10]</li><li><strong>Rare : </strong>[Manipte Mana Lvl 40][Water Aspect Mana Lvl 40][Fire Aspect Mana Lvl 40] [Air Aspect Mana Lvl 40][Earth Aspect Mana Lvl 40][Inject Mana Lvl 40][Spot Weakness Lvl 25][Residue Recognition Lvl 20] [Light Aspect Mana Lvl 40][Shadow Aspect Mana Lvl 40][<em>Mana Skin </em>Lvl 20][Teamwork Lvl 12][Beekeeping Trailzer Lvl 1]</li></ul></ul><ul><li><strong>Epic : </strong>[Mana Augmentation Lvl 30][Mana Conjuration Lvl 25][Lightning Aspect Mana Lvl 20][Metal Aspect Mana Lvl 20][Ice Aspect Mana Lvl 20][Magma Aspect Mana Lvl 20][Holy Aspect Mana Lvl 12][Void Aspect Mana Lvl 20]</li></ul><ul><li><strong>Legendary : </strong>[Mana Syphon Lvl 26][<em>Enigma</em> Lvl 1]</li></ul>


    New :


    Beekeeping Trailzer 0 -> 1


    <em>Enigma</em> 0 -> 1


    Upgrades:


    Cooking 25 -> 26


    Mathematics 25 -> 26


    Deception 26 -> 27


    Ajax pulled up his status and confirmed the appearance of the new skill. Just like his [<em>Berserker</em>] and [<em>Mana Skin</em>], both of which also came as a reward for an achievement, [<em>Enigma</em>] showed up slightly differently, not only that but it also came with an innate understanding of what the skill did.


    [<em>Enigma</em>] did indeed work just like advertised, he could innately influence a false status screen that would appear if someone without the skill level to prate it would receive while being none the wiser about it. Not only that however it also allowed him to fully block any inspection skill and send a small bacsh instead. This was interesting and something he will have to test out.


    ¡°My Lord, who is this?¡± one of the people that inspected him asked professor Silvertongue, though his eyes never left Ajax.


    ¡°This is Ajax, he will be starting today as the teaching assistant for my homeroom ss. If you could please inform my father that I will be required to provide some delve slots for him in the near future upon your return that would be of help.¡± Professor Silvertongue answered, a brief smugness oozing through his aura before he quickly got it under control.


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    ¡°This can¡¯t be right, sir.¡± another said. ¡°He is only level thirty-one and somehow has one thousand six hundred and thirty-nine stats. Is this some sort of new deception skill?¡±


    Both the headmaster and professor Silvertongue turned to look at Ajax at that. Both had known he was powerful but finding out what his total stats were was still a bit surprising.


    ¡°No, that should be correct.¡± The headmaster said. He was surprised the total was so low, the amount of mana he disyed in his fight should put him close to the eight hundred mark but his physicals should be simr if not slightly greater, add his vitality and perception on to that and it would be close to two thousand. ¡°You are more and more interesting every day, but I realize today is not the day to push on this.¡±


    ¡°Headmaster?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°If you could just humor me. Is whatever you are using to boost your physical abilities easy to replicate?¡± the headmaster asked.


    ¡°No.¡± Ajax said looking at his original Legendary skill.


    ¡°If you are ever looking to test the limits of your methods I would be happy to help.¡± he said as he took his leave.


    ¡°Right then, thank you for your help.¡± Professor Silvertongue addressed the twenty people, most of whom had yet to stop staring at Ajax. ¡°Ajax, follow me we still have to get your uniform sorted out.¡±


    Ajax followed the professor through the halls until they reached arge room marked ¡®Uniform Storage¡¯. The professor offered two quick polite knocks but entered without waiting for an answer.


    ¡°Madam Riggly?¡± he asked as he entered.


    Ajax followed after him and was slightly surprised to see a small old dwarf sitting at a sewing machine. Despite the fine metalwork it was still operated by a pedal underneath the workbench.


    ¡°Is this him?¡± the old dwarf asked as she sprung up from her chair with an agility that Ajax hadn¡¯t expected.


    ¡°Yes¡± the professor confirmed before he turned to Ajax. ¡°Go on then, introduce yourself.¡±


    ¡°Hi Madam Riggly, I am Ajax.¡± Ajax did as instructed.


    ¡°You¡¯re a tall one aren¡¯t you?¡± she said looking up at him, she was about half his size. ¡°Well then let''s get to work, we don¡¯t have much time.¡±


    Ajax wasn¡¯t aware where she got the measuring tape from or how she could get any urate measurements from just swinging and wrapping it around him, though he did stay perfectly still in hopes of not getting in her way.


    ¡°Not too bad overall, shoulders are the only issues with a standardrge uniform a bit tighter around the waist as well. I¡¯ll be done within the hour.¡± she proimed as she disappeared into the back of the storeroom.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Ajax called out behind her.


    ¡°Alright,e on now we will be back in an hour to get you dressed.¡± Professor Silvertongue said as he turned to leave.


    ¡°Where are we going now?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°To get you everything else you¡¯ll need.¡± Professor Silvertongue curtly replied.


    The two came back the same way they came and were heading straight for the professor''s office and went straight past it to the next door.


    ¡°Here we are.¡± he said as he opened the door.


    Inside Ajax saw a neat office, one maybe a third of the size of the one the professor had. The desk was loaded with books as well as a few sharpened pencils and a few nk sheets of paper.


    ¡°This will be your office,¡± he said. ¡°Most teaching assistants have their own research they are doing on the side but this space should be good enough for you to study while taking full advantage of the academy''s resources. Should you want to start your own research, feel free to do so as long as you can keep up with your sses and if you need any help reach out to me.¡±


    Ajax silently inspected the office and found the furniture to be of much better quality than the one he just bought for his own home, he had initially set up an office there but he had a feeling it would just be there for anything he didn¡¯t want to leave lying around here. He had already nned on sharing his discoveries on the Status Page with the nobility as he already did with Luna and doing it as a research project within the academy seemed like a great idea to him.


    ¡°What is this?¡± Ajax said as his eyes drew to a beautiful ring that was left of his desk next to all the books.


    ¡°That would be a storage ring.¡± the professor said. ¡° It is mine but I will be lending it to you for as long as you remain as a teaching assistant, it should help you with the logistics of carrying everything you need to every ss.¡±


    ¡°How do I use it?¡± Ajax asked as he picked up the ring all the while cheering in his head at having found a true storage device.


    ¡°The ring is very basic, it has no locking enchantment on it and is only the size of a one meter side cube. Simply slide it on a finger and will it to ess the space.¡± the professor guided him.


    Ajax did as he was told. It was a weird feeling seeing the empty storage space in his mind without the use of his eyes, definitely something that would take some getting used to.


    ¡°To store an item it has to be touching the ring while you think about pulling it inside.¡± the exnation continued. ¡°It does not work on living things, nor on anything touching a living thing. It also doesn¡¯t work on anything that is infused with mana.¡±


    Ajax pulled one of the books inside the ring and pulled it back out. Everything was instinctively simple to do.


    ¡°Do be careful in your time here. Just because your ring can¡¯t store items that are in contact with you doesn¡¯t mean some of the other students here won¡¯t have one that can.¡± a small frown shed over his face so quickly Ajax thought he imagined it. ¡°I suggest keeping a small amount of mana coursing through your uniform at all times to prevent some unmannered pranks.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Ajax said as he moved the ring to his right hand pointer finger.


    ¡°Now this ring is a loan. I would suggest leaving it in your office when you leave school. That way should it go missing for some reason you won¡¯t be held liable. You are wee to also go home with it but should someone steal it you will have to find a way to rece it.¡± the professor said.


    Ajax spent the rest of the hour practicing with the ring while the professor went to his own office to get things ready for the first ss. Both of them went back to the uniform storage room to collect a veryfortable elegant uniform. After getting changed into it Ajax followed the professor back to his office.


    ¡°Your first ss of every day will be with me in that room over there.¡± he pointed to the room that had a few students going in and out of it. ¡° After that you should follow the rest of the students for their next sses. As a teaching assistant you will sit at one of the desks that have their back to one of the sides of the ss. At the end of every school day do check your office as I will leave any work I need you to do on your desk. Any questions?¡±


    Ajax did have a few questions but it wasn¡¯t anything important or that he wouldn¡¯t find out shortly by simply going to ss. ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Alright then, off you go, always try to arrive before the teacher unless they are teaching in that room since thest lesson. Some of them get cranky about it.¡± With that he entered his office and Ajax set off towards the ssroom.

 Chapter 168

    Chapter 168


    Ajax took five steps towards the ssroom before he realized that the ring on his finger didn¡¯t have anything to write with or anything to write on. He quickly popped into his office and shoved two pencils, a sharpener and a small notebook into the ring before he headed towards the ssroom.


    Looking at the other students that were messing around in the hall, Ajax noticed a few distinctions between his uniform and the one that the students who decided to wear one had. Unlike theirs his had a star surrounding the academy¡¯s emblem that adored the pocket on the chest of the uniform.


    While that was the first thing he focused on the second was the weapons they all carried. The quality of the weapons was superb, more so from the ones that weren¡¯t wearing the school''s uniform and instead they wore their own fancy clothes with a school emblem pinned somewhere on their chest. In terms of ability the swords seemed to match the same level as his own de that he took from one of the recruiters but theirs were obviously lighter and usable by level twenty-threes.


    For the wands and staffs he didn¡¯t have a point of reference however the amount of jewels adorning some of them and the mana he could feel in them made it clear that they were even more valuable. Surprisingly however, of the ten students in the hall only one of them carried a ring that felt simr to the one professor Silvertongue gifted him and the wearer looked a bit younger than everyone else.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± one of the students who didn¡¯t have a uniform on asked him as Ajax approached the entry to the ssroom.


    ¡°I¡¯m a teaching assistant assigned to this ss.¡± Ajax said with as humble of a voice as he could manage. Despite having a better opinion of the nobles in the capital after thest few days he definitely didn¡¯t want to be picking a fight. He directly gave his answer and entered the ss heading straight for one of the desks on the side of the room.


    Inside the ss there were fifteen more students, this would make the ss total twenty-five, well twenty-six if he counted himself as he would always be a tag along for them. In total only ten of the twenty-five were wearing their uniforms. He had been told that on the first days only the children of barons, marquis andmoners would be wearing a uniform as the dukes would be looking to represent their houses but that number should increase as the less well off ducal houses would be in uniform outside of special events.


    The first thing that arrested his attention was the staff Annabeth had lying against her desk, the crown was formed by five smaller gems surrounding a bigger one. The smaller gems were about the same size as the ones other students had as their main gem, as for the bigger one Ajax could fire mana inside it.


    The second object to catch his attention was a sword left unattended on top of a desk in the back. The handle presented two medium size gems in cross guard as well as one in the pommel, judging it by how the formations felt he could tell that the two gems on the sides were used to power an Enchantment while thest one was for a runic magic formation. Whoever it belonged to was clearly a spell wielding melee fighter like himself. As Ajax was setting up his desk he and the other students were measuring each other. Looking at the spread it seems that there were three clicks forming in the ss. The first was formed by the ten students outside, the second was gathered around Annabeth and the third was a group of nine sitting at their desks, with everything prepared waiting for the teacher. As he was looking out over the ss he realized that one person he was expecting wasn¡¯t here.


    ¡°Ajax, you finally made it.¡± Lexi greeted him from the doorway as she made her way towards him with her usually bubbly personality. ¡°I was wondering if you were going to bete on the first day.¡±


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    Lexi¡¯s entrance shattered the standoffish atmosphere. While the students sitting at their desks turned back to talking to each other and only asionally giving him a nce, the ones that were surrounding Annabeth were giving him friendly smiles. It took Ajax a few moments to catch up to what happened. Lexi was clearly part of Annabeth¡¯s group and with her greeting Ajax like that it all but marked him as one of theirs.


    ¡°Ajax, was it?¡± one of the boys that were grouping around Annabeth¡¯s desk approached him. ¡°Those desks are for teaching assistants, why don¡¯t you take this one?¡± he said as he pointed towards one of the free desks on what he realized was Annabeth''s side of the room.


    Ajax was quickly putting together what the social situation was going to be inside the ssroom. The ss had already split into three ording to the powerful houses that had a member in this ss. Annabeth was Archduke Goldmancer¡¯s daughter and the boy in the middle of those seated promptly disyed the sigil of Archduke Steelde which meant that the boy wearing outside in the hall was prince.


    ¡°Oh no, Ajax is really a teaching assistant.¡± Lexi answered for him once she noticed that Ajax was thinking about something else.


    Ajax politely nodded back to her after her answer brought him back from his own thoughts.


    ¡°What? But he looks young enough to be part of the ss, let alone a teaching assistant.¡± the boy eximed. Some of the people here were around the limit of twenty-one years old as their families kept them from enrolling so they would join the ss with a member of the core archducal houses.


    His exmation was heard by all despite not being very loud as all the students outside were entering the ss and heading towards the back of the room. Nobody however had a chance to ask the questions obviously floating in their minds as professor Silvertongue followed thest student into the room.


    ¡°Everyone find your seats.¡± he said as he strode towards the main desk in front of the ss. ¡°As I hope you all remember from two nights ago I am professor Silvertongue and I will be your homeroom teacher for the next six years. Any questions before we begin?¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡± the same boy who questioned Ajax in the hall stood up. ¡°Who is he?¡± he asked, pointing at Ajax.


    ¡°Please stand up Ajax.¡± the professor addressed him before turning back to the ss. ¡°This is Ajax. Due to a few special circumstances Ajax here was assigned as a teaching assistant to your ss specifically and will be joining you for the next six years.¡±


    ¡°If I may, sir.¡± One of the boys who had been seated at his desk before Abbot came raised his hand and waited.


    ¡°Go on,¡± Professor Silvertongue prompted.


    ¡°I was under the impression that the Academy didn¡¯t bend over special circumstances.¡± A few in the ss snickered at his statement but were quickly cut off by a sharp re from Abbot Silvertongue.


    ¡°That is usually the case but your ss as a whole is somewhat special.¡± Abbot said.


    ¡°How so?¡± the boy pushed. ¡°And what makes him so sp-?¡± The boy cut himself off when the member of house Steelde frowned at him.


    ¡°How so? Well first of all your ss has twenty-six students where they normally average around sixteen.¡± Professor Silvertongue started. ¡°Secondly, I am your homeroom teacher despite this being my first year teaching at the Academy. Andstly, His Highness joined the ss roster three days ago despite normal registration limits. While under most circumstances the Academy is removed from politics it isn¡¯t fully insted.¡±


    ¡°As for young Ajax here.¡± the professor nodded to him. ¡°His situation is special due to a different reason. Ajax is a special case of the likes of which the academy hasn¡¯t had to deal with before and this was the best possible solution.¡±


    Ajax felt four people in the ss try to use an identification skill on him at that. Since he hadn¡¯t set up any fake information all four of them suffered the bacsh of [<em>Enigma</em>] and winced.


    ¡°How so?¡± one of the girls sitting by Annabeth asked after she recovered from the bacsh.


    ¡°Ajax is the onlymoner that is part of this year''s ss.¡± the professor started and a number of the students gave disapproving looks towards Ajax.


    ¡°We¡¯ve hadmoners be part of the ss before.¡± the first student to speak chimed in.


    ¡°Yes, I too am aware of that, if you would be quiet I will exin this to you.¡± Abbot rebuffed him. ¡°As I was saying, as amoner Ajax will have quite a busy few weeks at the start catching up with some of the knowledge that your families have imparted to you as part of your basic education. This normally doesn¡¯t stopmoners from joining the ss normally.¡±


    ¡°What is different here is that Ajax has already surpassed level thirty, him joining the ss as a student would unbnce quite a few of our tests throughout the year, as I can assure you he is by a solid margin stronger inbat than any of you. As such this was the workaround that was chosen.¡± The professor''s tone marked an end to the topic.

 Chapter 169

    Chapter 169


    Despite many looking like they had more questions on the subject, professor Silvertongue didn¡¯t give them any more chances to ask questions and moved into the main point of today¡¯s ss. Unfortunately for Ajax this first ss period was focused on exining the purpose of the academy, something all of the iing nobles already knew, meaning most of them were still mostly focused on him. The four pings from [<em>Enigma</em>] in thest ten minutes reassured him of it, even if three of them were from the same persistent boy intent on getting a migraine from the bacsh.


    ¡°The main purpose of this academy is to advance our knowledge in all fields as well as providing as much knowledge to the next generation as possible.¡± Professor Silvertongue said. ¡°One thing that might be different from how some of you may have been tutored in the past is that questions during sses will be kept to a minimum. As many of our lessons as possible are filled with intended nks to allow you to gain as many discoveries as possible.¡±


    This was going to be a big change for Ajax who had spent five years asking Hatchet everything that popped into his mind and the years of schooling back on Earth didn¡¯t help as the schools system there also encouraged questions. Abbott went on about some of the great achievements the academy had achieved in the past using this method for quite some time.


    ¡°This brings up now to your schedules.¡± he said and Ajax focused on what he had to say. ¡°You will be attending in a thirty day cycle. Any absences that are not excused or ounted for by reasonable circumstances will result in punishments, failure toplete a punishment can result in expulsion.¡±


    This drew Ajax¡¯s attention. While the rules seemed strict there were a lot of qualifying statements there. ¡®Reasonable¡¯ circumstances and ¡®can¡¯ being the main offenders as without diving deeper into it could mean people get away with almost anything depending on their background. He was pretty sure the academy wouldn¡¯t stand for too much pushing but he also knew the prince getting expelled wasn¡¯t ever going to happen based on absences.


    ¡°For the first eight days of the cycle you will being to the academy, mornings will be spent in lectures while afternoons the ss will split into physical and magical training. You will have two free days afterwards. ¡° Abbot exined. ¡° The following ten days will consist of preparation, execution and debrief of a ss delve. On average we will look to have these delves be six days in length but with the unpredictable nature of the dungeon it pays to be prepared. The final ten days are yours to with as you please.¡±


    Ajax knew that for their first year there should be no nothing unnned happening in the delves as they would be delving only the consistent first floors.


    ¡°Why are we getting such a long break after the delves?¡± One of the students in uniform asked.


    ¡°The academy and our training instructors will be avable to all of you during that free time. However the academy does realize that some houses still train their members in proprietary techniques and that some of ourmoner students would need the time to earn money and support themselves and their families.¡± the professor exined. ¡° We heavily encourage you not to waste those dayszing about.¡± ¡°Sir you said that the ss will be split into two depending on magical or physical inclination. With Ajax being a teaching assistant for the entire ss wouldn¡¯t it be unfair that he only goes with the physical focused members.¡± This time it was a girl not in uniform that spoke up for the first time that day, the evil grin she sent Ajax¡¯s way cemented that she wanted to find fault with him. Something the others picked up on and Ajax appreciated that most shot her a reproachful look at herment.


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    ¡°Sir, since Ajax and His Highness have a spellde fighting style, which ss would they join?¡± Lexi asked before Abbot had a chance to answer the first question. Nothing in the tone of the question or her expression reflected anything besides innocence yet everyone was well aware of the effect her question had.


    ¡°His Highness would be able to choose on a day by day basis, while Ajax will be going where the instructors would require of him.¡± Abbot answered.


    The following hour was spent with various students asking their professor if he had any specific skills outside of the curriculum that he would be willing to teach them. It was a long back and forward but they finally got him to admit to being willing to try and teach them an Epic tier skill in their fourth year and afterwards.


    The skill¡¯s name was [Mana Break], it was a very mana expensive skill and worked simr to an EMP from back on earth. Pure mana was sent out in an agitated state with the hope of disrupting any spells it encountered. The advantage of the skill was that it worked on runic magic and even enchanted items, though thetter only for a brief period.


    ¡°That would be all for now.¡± the professor said after the third attempt at getting him to go further in depth about his skill. ¡° Your next course is alchemy and since I doubt your professor has changed since I attended this academy I suggest you not bete to his ss.¡±


    With that Abbot walked out of the room and all the students stood up. Predictably most of them headed for Ajax instead of heading for the door. Ajax knew that this is what would being considering the reactions they had to him, both positive and negative.


    Most of the students approaching him were part of Annabeth''s clique and were looking to start forming a positive rtionship with Ajax, Lexi¡¯s interaction with him marked him as someone who would be important in the future. Some were there however to challenge the so-calledmoner anomaly.


    Ajax also knew that him being marked as being above level thirty would be intimidating but it wouldn¡¯t be enough to dissuade some of the stronger students from picking a fight. Six levels worth of stats was something that could be made up for by potions.


    ¡°Hi, I am ..¡±


    ¡°How are you¡­¡±


    ¡°Nice to meet you¡­¡±


    Theck ofmunication skills was hitting Ajax hard now as he couldn¡¯t follow along with all the students talking all at once. All of the ones talking seemed to be well intentioned so they slowly fell silent once they realized that he wasn¡¯t able to keep up with them.


    ¡°Ajax,¡± a voice cut through the recently established silence. ¡° I am Benedict Steelde. Please know that I mean no disrespect but I would like to challenge you to a duel.¡±


    Ajax was taken aback at the deration. He had expected at least two challenges to a duel but he wasn¡¯t expecting the grandson of Archduke Steelde to be one of the people challenging him. He had nned to give whoever challenged him a decent beating since doing so could also be seen as an insult to the headmaster for granting him the position. But getting on the bad side of the Steelde family was a bad idea considering that they were in charge of the army should a war ever descend on the kingdom.


    ¡°Don¡¯t do it Ben.¡± Annabeth spoke for the first time since Ajax had entered the ss to someone other than Lexi, and even now she was holding an arm to her ribs where Lexi had just given her a light poke.


    ¡°And why shouldn¡¯t I?¡± Unlike what he expected following the challenge Ben¡¯s tone was filled with pure confusion and didn¡¯t show an ounce of hostility.


    ¡°Well, let me put it this way, why are you challenging him?¡± she sighed before asking him.


    ¡°Us Steeldes pride ourselves on ourbat ability, a mere six levels should be a gap I could possibly surpass.¡± he said with conviction, however his military bearing stopped it froming across as overconfidence. It was like he was simply stating a fact.


    ¡°That¡¯s what I thought.¡± Annabeth nodded ¡°If that was it there is no point in a duel.¡±


    ¡°And I¡¯m asking why? If he is capable of surpassing me I am eager to learn from my defeats.¡±


    ¡°What she¡¯s saying is that there would be nothing for you to learn.¡± Lexi butted. ¡°If he took you seriously anyway, the difference in power is just too big.¡±


    ¡°Ben, yesterday he won a spar against Dave.¡± Annabeth said. ¡°And Dave wasn¡¯t holding back.¡±


    The statement broke the military poker face Ben had on his eyes opening wide in surprise.


    ¡°For real?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Yep.¡± Lexi nodded emphatically. ¡°I think it took me five minutes to pick my jaw up off the floor.¡±


    ¡°In that case. Please disregard my request for a duel.¡± Ben turned to Ajax and said with a small incline of his head. ¡°That said, I would be interested in sparring against you, since you bear no house sigil I am guessing that your style is self created and I would like to experience it.¡±

 Chapter 170

    Chapter 170


    The respectful request for a spar was like a signal for most of the people who were now mingling around Ajax. All of the people that were part of Benedict Steelde¡¯s entourage almost entirely lost any hostility towards him.


    ¡°Great, but I suggest we all get moving.¡± Lexi broke the silence that had been established. ¡° Professor Vilethorn has a habit of making all who arete take potions of necrotic resistance.¡±


    The statement had two very distinct reactions from the people who were here and split them into two groups. The first looked at her questioningly, not understanding why that would be a punishment, the second had already started walking towards the door while doing their best to repress their gagging at the memory of how the potion tasted.


    ¡°Don¡¯t think you¡¯re getting off without a duel today,moner.¡± one of the boys without a uniform hadn''t left the ss when the prince did, whispered to Ajax as the ss collectively moved towards their alchemyb. ¡°We¡¯re just going to let the archduke get what he wants first.¡±


    Ajax quickly threw a [Judge Threat] over on reflex when he heard the threat but he stumbled into the same limitation he had when he went into the dungeon a few days ago, the person was so much weaker than him that getting a clear read on his level and power was bing more difficult as he got stronger and stronger and the point of reference moved further and further away.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got to get myself another more specific inspection skill.¡± Ajax muttered to himself.


    Arriving into the new ssroom Ajax saw multiple workbenches set up to house two students. Each workstation had multiple small ss shelves as well as a medieval immigration of the Bunsen burners he had seen in his own science sses back on Earth.


    ¡°Ah, you must be the teaching assistant the headmaster spoke to us about yesterday.¡± professor Vilethorn said once she saw Ajax enter ss. ¡° I am Deborah Vilethorn but please address me as professor or professor Vilethorn.¡±


    ¡°Ajax.¡± he responded with a bow in greeting. ¡° a pleasure to meet you, professor.¡± ¡°Good to meet you as well Ajax, now if you would go and help my own assistant with distributing the ingredients for this ss so we can get everything underway.¡± the professor replied.


    Ajax looked towards the teaching assistant section of theb and saw a middle aged man pouring different measurements into multiple vials. With but a nod to the professor he headed over to help as instructed.


    ¡°Ajax you said?¡± the man asked without taking his eyes off the beakers he was pouring into. ¡°I¡¯m Edward Goldenstalk, go ahead and start sharing these, leave one of each here for yourself.¡±


    Ajax did as he was told and quickly got all of the ingredients to each of the workstations before taking a seat at the one he shared with Edward. He was happily surprised to see that he recognised most of the ingredients he saw being given out for today''s ss from his short time apprenticing to the vige alchemist all those years ago.


    ¡°All twenty-five of you are here already?¡± The professor sounded surprised as she looked over the ss once thest of the ingredients was handed out. ¡°Lexi dear, did you warn them all?¡±


    ¡°I might have mentioned something.¡± Lexi slightly fidgeted in her seat next to Annabeth.


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    ¡°Well that¡¯s no fun.¡± She let out a theatrical sign and exaggerated the motion of storing a big sk from her desk in one of the cabs.


    ¡°Wee to your first Alchemy ss.¡± She began once again all jokiness gone from her tone. ¡°Alchemy is somewhat of a niche subject, and one where without talent you won¡¯t find yourselves making much progress.¡±


    ¡°Despite that there is a reason why all of you are attending this ss in your first year.¡± she said. ¡°Even in a ss as big as yours, if we were to look at best we¡¯d find four of you having had previous training in Alchemy and half of that having actually gotten the skill.¡±


    ¡°For those few of you I¡¯m sorry to say that you will not find yourselves very engaged thising year. Our entire curriculum for this year will consist of me trying in every way I can imagine to make sure all of you have a basic capability of creating eptable brews of some of the most fundamental potions.¡± she paused at that to let the information sink in.


    ¡°You¡¯ll find that the most basic potion not only scales decently well with levels as long as the ingredients are of matching quality, but that they also allow for quite the leeway in terms of ingredient substitution. By the end of the year I aim for all of you to know how to make some basic antivenoms, resistance and healing potions. Any questions?¡± she asked.


    There were none. Even those who had a particr disinterest in Alchemy understood how important knowing this information could be one day in the future. With that ss started as the professor walked them through creating a base healing potion.


    ¡°You¡¯re doing very well.¡± Edward said as he watched Ajax easily follow along with professor Vilethorn¡¯s verbal instruction.


    ¡°I spent a few weeks as an apprentice to the vige alchemist before I moved on to try something else.¡± Ajax shared, though he kept quiet that he already had [Alchemy] at level ten.


    ss passed by very quickly for Ajax, only three of the twelve pairs had done badly enough that they had to start the process all over again. The clear star of the show was a girl in uniform that had a station all to herself and was carefully brewing the potion exactly as instructed, showing that she had inherited her family''s calling for Alchemy by finishing well ahead of the allotted time.


    ¡°Well done, all of you.¡± the professor said. ¡° It may have taken some of you an extra try but all of you managed to brew an eptable potion by the end of the ss, now can anyone guess what type of potion we will be doing next ss?¡±


    ¡°Antitoxin.¡± someone shouted out.


    ¡°No, a resistance potion.¡± someone else disagreed.


    ¡°I think it¡¯s a mana or stamina regeneration potion.¡± A third person chimed in.


    ¡°It''s going to be the same potion as today.¡± the girl who finished by herself said cutting off the guesses.


    ¡°Yes, very good, that¡¯s exactly right.¡± the professor nodded, ¡° Will you be so kind as to exin your reasoning to your ssmates.¡±


    ¡°All we had to do today was brew the potion.¡± the girl said, despite managing to keep the boredom out of her face and posture some seeped in in her tone. ¡°Next ss we¡¯ll most likely have to prepare some if not all the ingredients from their raw stages before brewing.¡±


    ¡°Exactly so, though you¡¯ll have to prepare half of them.¡± the profession confirmed. ¡°Like I said at the beginning this ss will be focused on emergency alchemy, using what¡¯s on hand appropriately is more than 70% of this ss so you¡¯ll be doing a lot of ingredient preparation this year. With that said you are all dismissed.¡±


    As almost all of the students quickly gathered their things and made their way out of the ssroom as they headed towards the practice fields where they will be split into physical and magical for their training the professor approached Ajax.


    ¡°You did rather well.¡± Professor Vilethorn congratted.


    ¡°Thank you, I¡¯ve had a few weeks of practice with our vige alchemist.¡± Ajax responded.


    ¡°So I see.¡± She nodded a little dispirited, likelying to the wrong conclusion that he didn¡¯t have much talent for the craft. ¡°Well if you find yourself doing any research and in need of Alchemy do feel free to stop by and ask, Edward of myself may very well be able to help you out.¡±


    ¡°Thanks for the offer.¡± Ajax said as he finished tidying up his station. ¡°Right now I¡¯m focused on just keeping up with the ss but I¡¯ll keep it in mind.¡±


    With that conversation ending Ajax made his own way towards his office where he got changed into hisbat gear. He could have joined the rest of the boys in the locker room equivalent but he had seen enough shows focused on high school and knew better than to do that this early in the year and risk having a confrontation in there.


    As the ss split itself into two based on if they focused on physical stats or mental ones Ajax was surprised to see that for the first time in his life the mental focused group had a three to one ratiopared to the physical one. ¡®I guess talent in mana is somewhat hereditary in humans and nobles tend to marry in order to provide that advantage to the next generation¡¯.


    ¡°You must be Ajax, which one of us will you be joining today?¡± the physical instructor asked while nodding between himself and the magical instructor.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be joining you today, sir.¡± Ajax said as he looked towards Benedict Steelde, he had agreed to a spar after all. He hadn¡¯t realized it until now but he did miss his spars with Cadmael from way back when.

 Chapter 171

    Chapter 171


    Ajax stepped to join the physical fighters, though he didn¡¯t see the prince sighed dejectedly at that as he was on the mage side of the courtyard, he hadn¡¯t heard the conversation that had taken ce in the ss before Alchemy as he had already left by then.


    ¡°First things first then,¡± the instructor started. ¡° I am instructor Anthony Gatecrasher, the man to my right here is Dave and he is my teaching assistant. Some of you may have seen Dave around before as he does take shifts during his days off as a guard for the Academy.¡±


    Ajax finally realized why the assistant looked so familiar to him, it was the same guard that he had fought just one day ago though he no longer supported the guard uniform but instead had some much better gear. Dave caught Ajax¡¯s eye and gave him a respectful nod.


    ¡°Most of our lessons will be split into two, we will have a skill practice session to start with and a spar session to end with. None of you will be graded on anything besides attendance during these lessons, though if I believe you to be cking off I will send you away and mark you absent so feel free to experiment and I will be here to help guide your style.¡± Gatecrasher continued.


    ¡°For today, I want everyone to take up their primary weapon.¡± The instructor pointed them all to pick up the training weapons on a specific rack. ¡°If yours isn¡¯t present,e tell me about it and I will make sure one will be made avable for tomorrow.¡±


    While Anthony had started teaching the ss Ajax joined Dave in watching by the sidelines, he would usually join in with the rest of the ss during any ss activities at the Academy but here his higher stats needed to be ounted for.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t get to tell you yesterday since I had to go get myself patched up but you pack a hell of a punch.¡± Dave started the conversation.


    ¡°Thanks.¡± Ajax said. ¡° You¡¯re pretty good yourself, you managed to keep me fromnding solid blows on you for quite a while despite my magic.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know much about magic, but from what I saw yesterday whoever did your training didn¡¯t do you any favors by not ingraining a style in you to build off of. Style skills are almost as important to melee physical fighters as their weapon skills.¡± Dave said.¡°My teacher didn¡¯t have a style.¡± Ajax admitted, ¡°Didn¡¯t have one myself until a few months ago when I picked up [Berserker Style], though that one isn¡¯t great for training, especially when using magic enhanced attacks.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m so sorry, I didn¡¯t mean to imply anything by it.¡± Dave quickly apologized after Ajax¡¯s answer.


    This apology had Ajax stumped, he didn¡¯t know that Dave was apologizing because he had thought Ajax to be part of the nobility yesterday when he had arrived dressed in some rather fine clothes. His previous statement could be taken as a slight to their house.


    ¡°So, then Ajax.¡± instructor Gatecrasher joined them at the side of the training area by the time Ajax had cleared the misunderstanding with Dave but kept a sharp eye on everyone else in the ss. ¡° I hear you have a style focused on magic enhanced attacks.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡± Ajax confirmed.


    ¡°Risky, style that.¡± the instructor nodded. ¡°You¡¯ll always be hurting for stat points but have more skills to stack on top of one another so the skill level cap will take longer to apply its limitations to you. What weapon do you favor?¡±


    ¡°I trained with every weapon I could get my hands on in the vige.¡± Ajax responded. ¡° My brother is a city guard and my teacher is a retired adventurer turned hunter so I have experience with most basic weapons. Though as Dave pointed out I wasn¡¯t taught any style skill.¡±


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    ¡°Yes, I will have to take a look at the way you fight before I can rmend a few options for you on that front.¡± the instructor said. ¡° Speaking of Dave, however, I heard you gave him a run for his money yesterday.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s putting it mildly, sir.¡± Dave answered. ¡°I always knew mages have an advantage over us in a one on one since they can quickly spend their mana, whereas most of us have trouble getting skills that use stamina so quickly to keep up, but Ajax was something else.¡±


    ¡°Oh, how so?¡± Since Dave was recovering yesterday and sses were starting today Anthony didn¡¯t have time to get a good debrief on the fight from the other day.


    ¡°His spells are definitely a lot weaker than what mages even of his level throw around, but what hecks in direct power he makes up for in versatility and speed. He was actively changing the ground beneath my feet all while also swinging both a sword and an axe at me.¡± Dave recalled the ending moments of the fight with a slight wince.


    ¡°Oh, I see so you favor the sword and axe?¡± for the first time he took a quick nce to gauge Ajax''s reaction before turning his eyes back to the students.


    ¡°I can use a sword, axe, hammer, shield, spear and knife decently well. I do prefer to wield two weapons as it allows me more variety in the enhancements that I imbue my strikes with. Though I much prefer to start at range with a bow.¡± Ajax said.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯ll be damned.¡± the instructor sounded surprised. ¡°For most of them, their first few weeks in this ss will be spent polishing their main weapon and learning a second one thatpliments it but you have enough breadth that we can focus on selecting a good style.¡±


    ¡°What the hell is wrong with these weapons?¡± One of the students yelled after he fell during his normal exercises with the spear.


    ¡°They are a good way to get you used to pressing your advantage.¡± instructor Gatecrasher exined. ¡°As a physical fighter your strength will show in your endurance, unlike the mages who will be spent after the first half hour. These heavy weapons are meant to replicate how your own weapons will feel much heavier once you have gone through half of your stamina.¡±


    Ajax had also gotten his own set of heavy one handed weapons and started practicing with the rest of them. It had been harder on him than he expected since he had no problem usually ending a fight with his magic before his stamina started to run out making using such heavy weapons a new experience for him.


    ¡°Alright now, let''s have you all split up into groups for sparring.¡± the instructor mercifully ended their suffering.


    ¡°Sir, could I spar against Ajax for today?¡± Ben came and asked.


    ¡°Are you sure about that young lord?¡± the instructor asked respectfully. House Gatecrasher was one of house Steelde¡¯s subordinates and Ben was the grandson of the Archduke. ¡°He was able to outmatch Dave and it wasn¡¯t a fluke at all.¡±


    ¡°Yes sir, I am interested in his fighting style. As you know sir I also have a slight talent for mana, though it is much smaller than the one I have for physical fighting. I want to see what I can learn from him.¡± Ben argued.


    Ajax was surprised at the revtion, while skills in mana weren¡¯t unheard of in humans they were still rare so hearing that someone chose to focus on the physical despite having some talent for mana was a surprise for him.


    ¡°Very well then.¡± the instructor nodded. ¡° Dave keep a closer eye on the others as I will be focusing on this bout a bit more.¡±


    Ajax and Ben squared off against each other, Ajax had a hammer and axe in his hands tobat the heavy armor and shield his opponent wielded. A sword would be good if he could get to the joints any opening in the armor but he wouldn¡¯t be trying for that in a spar. Ben''s sword on the other hand was a good choice against Ajax light leather armor as well.


    ¡°Ready?¡± Ajax asked.


    Ben simply nodded and the two charged towards one another. Ajax hadn¡¯t activated any mana skill to start off with yet he still found himself to be faster than Ben. With Ajax seeing the difference in speed he knew he could end the spar at any time if he pushed his [Syphon Mana] but that wouldn¡¯t be productive for either of them.


    The spar continued with Ajax heavily on the offensive for the next three minutes and this left both participants heavily impressed with their opponent but each for different reasons.


    ¡°To think that a spellde can push me like this without spending a single drop of mana while only being a few levels higher than me.¡± Benplimented him as he let out a tired sigh.


    Ajax could see how this fight would end, if he wanted he could lean on his higher stats and just oust his opponent but that definitely wouldn¡¯t count as a victory to him. Despite his higher stats Ajax found it impossible tond a single blow on Ben, his footwork and ability to predict Ajax¡¯s strikes was phenomenal to the point that even engaging [Berserker Style] saw him only putting more pressure and both of them spending their stamina expenditure faster. He had a lot he could learn from Ben. ¡°I have to say I hadn¡¯t expected the difference in skill to be this big.¡± Ajax admitted.


    Ajax finally called upon his mana and this caused Dave to react as all the others had finished their spars and were all watching Ajax and Ben go at it. ¡°Careful sir, he can increase his stats with his mana.¡± This was whispered to the instructor but Ajax picked up on it with his high perception stat. He almost scoffed at the warning since he didn¡¯t n to use [Mana Syphon] at all.


    As Ajax charged towards Ben again he quickly turned the earth at his feet into mud. This will not only impede his impable footwork but will also distract him from the main attack. Ajax wasn¡¯t surprised to find that Ben had managed to adapt to the mud in time to parry the blow and redirect most of the power of the swing to the side. That however was the mistake Ajax was counting on as the lightning coursing through his axe momentarily stunned Ben.


    His hammer had taken on a red hue as he infused it with magma and stopped the strike a few inches before hitting Ben fully in the helmet. Ben didn¡¯t have a chance to get his bearings following the electrocution as the instructor yanked him from behind, should Ajax have followed through on that hammer strike it would have hit nothing but air.

 Chapter 172

    Chapter 172


    ¡°Well, I can definitely see what you meant when you said you weren¡¯t taught any style. ¡° The instructor said as he gently ced Ben back on the ground. ¡°Your attacks were quick, precise and had quite some power behind them. That said they didn¡¯t flow from one to another almost at all.¡±


    ¡°What was that!?¡± Ben eximed excitedly, the instructor''s observation bringing him to the present. ¡°There was almost no time to react from the moment you started to gather mana to when you cast your spell, not to mention you cast a second one right as I had a handle on the mud you created.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s how I cast.¡± Ajax answered.


    ¡°But you didn¡¯t even open your mouth, I was looking for it, your jaw didn¡¯t move.¡± Ben pressed in his excitement.


    ¡°I don¡¯t chant my spells.¡± Ajax confirmed.


    ¡°What? ¡­ But, ¡­ then¡± he tried to make sense of it. ¡° I happen to know quite a few physical focused fighters who would want to learn how to do that.¡±


    ¡°I bet there would be.¡± The instructor confirmed before he changed the topic since the headmaster had warned him yesterday, there were bound to be questions but he wasn¡¯t to let people push Ajax on them if he wasn¡¯t forting. ¡° It¡¯s definitely something you can think about adding to the Academy¡¯s knowledge base once you catch up on the basics a bit.¡±


    ¡°I bet you might even be able to get a noble title out of it if it can be achieved with any sort of consistency.¡± Dave nodded in agreement.


    That was all news to Ajax, but it was a rather nice surprise. Not that he wanted to spread his way of casting yet as that might have people prepare counters for him, but seeing as he was going to spread the knowledge on how to refrain from spending your stats early maybe he could get a title from that. The title wouldn¡¯t help him all that much but it would make settling in the capital much easier for his family in a few years.¡°Maybe one day.¡± Ajax said nomittally.


    ¡°Alright you lot swap partners, Dave you spar with Ben here while I talk to Ajax.¡± Instructor Gatecrashermanded before he brought Ajax to the side.


    ¡°Yes, sir?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°From what the headmaster exined to me I am to treat you as an advanced student, but a student nheless.¡± the instructor said. ¡° Looking at it from that point of view, the best way for me to help you is to try and teach you a style skill.¡±


    ¡°I would really appreciate that, sir.¡± Ajax nodded with excitement at the news, having just seen how much of a difference a style skill could make after Ben fended him off despite the stat difference.


    ¡°Good, now I have a few styles that I think might work for you. All of them are rare styles, I know an epic style that might also work but I¡¯d rather not have you learn that as it is a pure physical style and it would impede you from getting another epic style that is more catered to spelldes.¡± Ajax was hyped at hearing the news, though he also noted that skills actively impeded one from gaining others that are simr in the same or lower tier.


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    ¡°That said, for the next few days you will be sparring with Dave and I will ask that you not hold back much from your usual fighting style, that way I can select the style that will best fit you.¡± With a more focused look Ajax felt the instructor use an inspection skill and [<em>Enigma</em>] told him he had gotten a look at his total and current , mana health and stamina.


    ¡°That¡¯s quite the privacy skill you got there.¡± the instructorplimented. ¡°I could ballpark your physical skills as close to two hundred and thought I should confirm the exact number sorry about that. Would you mind sharing your Strength and Dexterity?¡±


    ¡°Wha¡­¡± Ajax was about to ask about Endurance but he realized he would know that from his max stamina. ¡°I have one hundred and eighty-five in all three physical stats, though I would prefer if you ask instead of inspecting me.¡±


    ¡°Oh,¡± the instructor winced, ¡°Sorry about that, force of habit. Most nobles don¡¯t care if their stats at such a low level are known. I can see why you would be wary of inspecting skills though.¡±


    After the awkward interaction Ajax spent the rest of the ss practicing his forms with the weighted weapons trying to calm himself down from the spike of adrenaline that getting inspected had sent through him.


    Once the ss was over Ajax made sure to drop his ring off in his office before he left the capital via the school gate. He knew the teacher hadn¡¯t meant anything by it but his paranoia was both justified and not something easy to just get over so he went to spend the night in his field near the hives.


    The previous training and the run out here had drained his stamina to around four hundred but he was still sitting on full mana. He spent the few hours before going to sleep injecting that mana evenly into all of the trees spread out around his hive, after all his first use of mana was in helping grow nts and he had vague memories from earth about specific pollen being used to specialize honey, therefor he wanted to see if mana would also have an effect.


    With his mana spent Ajax took a look at the three standing hives and the small fort of unupied hives by the cottage, he should definitely find some time, either after ss or during his free days to get the other hives set up. A look around also confirmed that he should also buy some flower seeds to set up around as the trees that were here wouldn¡¯t be enough for all the bees he was going to set up.


    The rest of the school cycle passed by quickly, most sses were introductory things he had learned in the vige or covered aspects of thew and its interpretation, some covered subjects he was utterly interested in like calligraphy or dance. Nothing there had outright shocked him, though theck of taxation on inherited wealth was a massive surprise to him as someone who had lived in America and had to go through getting his inheritance.


    As for the few hours he had after school he spent most of them nting flowers, setting up his new beehives and infusing mana into the old tea trees. On the final night before his first delve with the ss he visited Luna and Hatchet to talk to them about how his time in the academy had been, after all out here they were the closest thing he had to family.


    ¡°I do have to ask, did you tell anyone anything about interacting with the status screen?¡± he asked Luna as the night drew to a close.


    ¡°No, only Alfred Hatched and I should know about it. Why?¡± She asked.


    ¡°I was nning to use that knowledge for my first research project as a teaching assistant during my first two years at the academy.¡± Ajax answered.


    ¡°Why would you bother with that so soon?¡± Luna asked. ¡° I don¡¯t mean to say you should keep the knowledge hidden, just that I think you would find dealing with the rewards thate with it rather troublesome.¡±


    ¡°Would I gain a noble title for something like that?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°Most definitely, you might even get a Marquis title depending on the ramifications.¡± Luna nodded. ¡°That¡¯s why I am asking, getting a noble title might actually take away most of the spare time you might have outside of ss.¡±


    ¡°And would that title extend to my family?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°Yes, any title earned will also extend to any living family with direct rtion to you. Parents, siblings, children and any current spouses.¡± Luna confirmed. ¡°You will however be regarded as the head of the noble house.¡±


    ¡°My family will most likely be moving here in the next year or two. Closer to one year if my mother has anything to say about it.¡± He chuckled. ¡° Any chance I can pass off the duties to her once she gets here, the noble title might make things a lot easier for her.¡±


    ¡°You would still have the final say in any major decisions and will need to make appearances on any big events surrounding your family but the day by day running could be passed off to your parents.¡± Alfred informed him. ¡°In fact the day to day of most noble households isn''t handled by the head of house.¡±


    While Ajax hadn¡¯t yet made a decision on if he should use the connection he has to his mother¡¯s merchant family he knew that he wanted his mother to have a noble title when she arrived in the capital and met her parents again. With that the night ended and he went to sleep before his first delve with the ss.

 Chapter 173

    Chapter 173


    Unlike his previous eight days at the Academy this time Ajax came dressed in hisbat gear instead of his uniform and he even carried his trust expanded backpack that was filled with his provision. He recognised how useful the ring was but he wasn''t going to risk it somehow getting damaged in the delve.


    ¡°All right now, settle down.¡± Professor Silvertongue said. ¡°I know this is the first time going on a delve for most of you. This is why I as well as healer Ungus will be joining you on it. As we go forward however you will have a volunteer from the healing Union as well as one or two of the teaching assistants of the other professors to go with you.¡±


    Both instructor Gatecrasher and Dave were sitting by the door. Ajax wasn¡¯t paying all that much attention. Unlike all the other sses where he knew the basics but also had to pay attention to fill in some missing gaps that they taught at the Academy, delving was something he had been doing for months in a much more dangerous dungeon.


    The gear that instructor Gatecrasher and healer Ungus had put every other set of equipment he had seen to shame, they all knew it wasn¡¯t required but it was more about sending the message that the dungeon shouldn¡¯t be underestimated.


    The spotlight however was stolen by professor Silvertongue¡¯s mail armor, not only was each individual ring in the chestmail enchanted but they were also arranged so that they would form bigger enchantments when working together. The chainmail was sturdy andAjax could feel the mana concentration in the metal was stronger than what had been in theke he found. To top it all off was the massive shoulder pad that covered his dominant arm to offset the weight of a heavy shield.


    The walk through the city looked a lot like a fashion show or a parade, depending on how you looked at it. Each ss marched in formation as all six headed towards the dungeon. Ajax did notice a few people pointing at him and Dave as they walked behind the freshman ss.


    ¡°Don¡¯t let it bother you.¡± Dave whispered. ¡°They¡¯re all jealous they can¡¯t have as bright a future.


    Him and Dave weren¡¯t the only ones with less than ster gear, Ajax had caught sight of two othermoners, one in the third year and one in the fifth that looked much more shabby. He had found out that in all six sses there were a total of sevenmoners besides him, only two of them hadn¡¯t already joined a house however, and that was because both were holding out for better offers instead of deciding to go at it independently.


    ¡°Howe you don¡¯t have any gear given to you?¡± Ajax asked, after all Dave had already joined a noble house.¡° This gear is higher quality than it looks.¡± Dave said as he pointed to his armor.


    ¡°Then howe none of it is enchanted?¡± Ajax could feel quite a bit of mana infused in the material and knew it could handle quite a few enchantments.


    ¡°Because I¡¯m not actively delving, well at least not anything that would pose any danger for me. I¡¯ve been at the academy for thest four years and I¡¯ll be sticking around for at least six more. Getting it enchanted now will be detrimental to my training if I end up relying on it too much.¡± he exined. ¡°I¡¯ll have it enchanted for myst year here so I can get used to the enchantments.¡±


    Ajax nodded at the exnation and quietly followed behind his ssmates as they all filed into the dungeon area. Just like the other arch, this one was also surrounded on all sides by tall walls that were manned by people and the grounds holding dangerous runes ready to exterminate anything that came out of the arch. The mob before the entrance was consistent with the other dungeon at the capital, only this time a wide path was made for them all to approach.


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    One by one each ss entered until it was finally for the first years. Ajax already knew what to expect having done his research on the dungeon. Despite being called the Goldmine there was no gold to be found anywhere. There were 6 differentyouts that coulde up and all of them were different variations of a forestry mountain covered with caves. For two of theyouts the caves connected to one another but for the other four they were dead ends. It was only called the Goldmine because of how valuable a dungeon that only had a five level jump between floors was.


    Inside the first floor Ajax could already feel the mana in the air of the dungeon. Even with increased efficiency it was not enough for him to maintain any noticeable increase from [Mana Syphon], something he had expected seeing how the expected level of monsters was only twenty-five to thirty but he was still slightly disappointed.


    ¡°Dave, Ajax you two will only step in if someone is about to be seriously injured.¡± instructor Gatecrasher reminded them once they stepped inside. ¡°Despite all their training there is bound to be one or two that get over excited about being in a dungeon and act careless, if it doesn¡¯t look like the blow will be too bad let them get hit a bit before stepping in, might knock some sense into them.¡±


    ¡°Alright, everybody settle down.¡± Abbot silences the chattering. ¡° We seem to have gotten the fifth variation, and I hope that all of you know what that means from your preparation. For your first day we will be splitting up into four groups.¡±


    ¡°The first group will be made up of those who have delved a dungeon before.¡± some slight muttering arose at that as the ideal groups people had nned crashed and burned.


    Five people stepped forward after a moment''s hesitation. To no surprise Ajax saw Lexi, Annabeth and Ben all part of the group, besides them there was one of Ben¡¯s friends and a member of the prince¡¯s group, the same one that had gone out of his way to threaten Ajax that first day of school before Alchemy ss.


    Surprisingly the prince wasn¡¯t among them, though if Ajax thought about it a bit more the prince was only level twenty-one until very recently so it made sense he didn¡¯t have delving experience.


    ¡°You all will be with Ajax,¡± he said. ¡°Now before anybodyins, this is because Ajax doesn¡¯t have experience supervising so I want to make sure none of you will freeze up and this way the groups will be smaller so you will get a better chance to experience the fights.¡±


    ¡°But, Sir there are four other people who could lead the groups.¡± Another student piped up.


    ¡°No, there aren¡¯t. Healer Ungus will be sitting back at the base camp where we all know his exact position in case of an emergency. I would also like all of you to offer your thanks to healer Ungus as he offered to set up the camp all by himself today.¡± he said with finality.


    ¡°Thanks healer Ungus.¡± The ss collectively said in a way reminiscent of the way kindergartners answered ¡®good morning¡¯ to their teacher as a group.


    ¡°These groups are only for today so stop worrying so much about it.¡± instructor Gatecrasher cut in. ¡°The six of you can go, be back in this clearing five hours from now.¡±


    Ajax and the group quickly followed instructions as they jogged off towards the mountain. ¡°And make sure they stay out of the caves for the first day.¡± the instructor called after Ajax


    As they headed away from the rest of the ss Ajax realized the first issue. Unlike what he was used to, this group had their makeuppletely flipped. They had four casters and one physical fighter so he kept a closer eye on the light armored members of the group trusting Ben¡¯s armor to be able to take a hit.


    The first enemy they encountered was, unsurprisingly, a bear. While the secondyout had a tribe of kobolds, they were spread out throughout the case and didn¡¯t wander the forest. That left them with the bears, wolves, stags and a slim chance on one of the few griffins that nested near the top of the mountain but hunted everywhere.


    ¡°I got his legs.¡± Ben¡¯s friend reacted to the bear as soon as they saw it and silently chanted to immobilize his feet.


    Ben started charging before the chant was evenplete. The two showed that they had been training together as none of the four bolts hit Ben and urately froze the bear''s paws to the ground.


    The bear was not standing still however and also charged towards Ben. The frost spell was not all that strong based on the short chant and the amount of mana channeled. The bear in fact had managed to break out one of its paws through the momentum it had. That didn¡¯t do much to help it as it looked down at its paws in confusion only to be decapitated a secondter.


    ¡°So which way do we go now?¡± Lexi asked as Ben wasing back while wiping the blood off his sword.


    ¡°That way for wolves, that way for deer and there should be another bear that way.¡± Ajax pointed in three directions without much thought.


    ¡°Oh, and how do you know that?¡± the noble from the prince¡¯s group asked snarkily.


    ¡°Tracks.¡± Ajax said, pointing to the group. ¡°I learned from a hunter in my vige. "This caused the rest of the group to chuckle as the noble''s face turned a bit red in embarrassment.

 Chapter 174

    Chapter 174


    Lexi P.O.V.


    Hunting through the dungeon like this was a totally new experience for me. Despite having been on a delve before, that was one that was arranged by my father where he sent most of the people around my level with a few higher leveled people to watch out for us. Like most groups that brave the dungeon, that group was heavy on physical fighters with a few mages and made up of fifteen people.


    ¡°Watch your steps, we are getting close to the deer and you might give away your position.¡± Ajax said as he led the way through the trees.


    As we had already downed a bear we decided to go for the deer. A big reason for that was that we wanted to have some freshly cooked meat for dinner tonight and while we couldn¡¯t take the meat outside the dungeon it could still be cooked and eaten inside.


    Ajax stopped and hid behind a tree, I found it hard to keep him in focus despite looking right at him, some sneaking skill most likely [Stealth]. Looking through the trees we could see arge clearing where a herd of six deer and four stags were eating.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go around the side,¡± Ben started formting the n. Out of all of us he was the most suited to lead besides maybe Ajax, who was just here as ast resort observer, so none of us had a problem with him taking the position. ¡°The four of you will prepare a strong initial st and I¡¯ll draw their attention right before you finish casting.¡±


    Anna and I nodded to each other, with a group twice the size of our own and only one physical fighter we would be in real trouble if they got to charge towards the casters with nobody to protect us so we were going to use ourbo attack. One of my grandfather''s discoveries was how air affinity mana could boost the power of fire affinity mana when mixed.


    With a short nod to Ben he dashed from the size hitting his shield with his sword to draw attention to himself as Iunched apressed fire orb in the center of the herd. Anna quickly followed that up by using a wind bolt that detonated my orb. We had done numerous tests and the resulting explosion was almost half again as strong as just both of us using a normal explosive fireball.


    Rick used a spell that turned the entire clearing from an open grassy arena into a muddy swap. He had been fascinated by the application of using water and earth like this ever since Ben had told him how Ajax had used it in their spar and how it was a strong defensive option for when a physical fighter got in close.As for Rupert he went with his tried and true shadow blots. They weren¡¯t all that spectacr but were quick to cast and very mana efficient. I wasn¡¯t sure what Rupert¡¯s problem was with Ajax but he had been trying to goad him into a fight since the start and it had only gotten more pronounced as he questioned everything Ajax said for thest hour we spent tracking. That Ajax seemed to have a logical exnation and reasoning only seemed to infuriate him further.


    The ambush was a big sess and we advanced towards the two remaining deer that were still standing while Ben was finishing off thest wounded stag. Out initial barrage of spells killed everything else and we wanted to make sure not to spoil the meat of at least thesest few so we used wind slices to decapitate them.


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    ¡°Leave this one to me.¡± Ben said as he enjoyed battling with the stag. A quick [Inspect] confirmed that this stag was slightly stronger at level twenty-eight.


    Despite all the stoic persona and brilliant strategic mind Ben was deep down a battle junky who loved pushing himself like this. While Ben was finishing off thest of the herd I looked around to see what Ajax was doing. It was surprisingly easy to find him, his expression was serious however, unlike the easygoing smile he had while he tracked down the deer. He brought his hand up level with his face and lifted his index finger.


    It took me a moment to realize that he was pointing up and by the time I lifted my eyes a screech resounded in the forest. I had failed to ount what being in a clearing meant, yes we didn¡¯t have trees everywhere making hard to fire spells but we also lost the cover above our heads. A griffin the size of arge horse was diving towards us.


    I instantly called out ¡°Above¡± as I dived towards Anna and pulled both of us down and to the side out of the path of the griffin. Rick and Rupert weren¡¯t so lucky. Rick was flung to the side as one of therge wings hit him right in the chest as he turned towards the screech. Rupert however was the worst off as the ws looked to be going straight for his shoulders in an attempt to pick him off and carry him away.


    A quick surge of mana came from Rupert''s ne as a quick mana shield sprung up around him and quickly shattered to the griffin¡¯s ws. It was however enough to bring the griffin to a stop as itnded two feet from him.


    Ben was the quickest to react to the situation as he disengaged the stag and raised his shield while charging towards the griffin. ¡°Finish off the stag.¡± he called out to Anna who was already getting back up and muttering the start of a spell.


    I had no doubt Anna would handle the stag without issues so I focused on the griffin. I quickly chanted the cast for a wide wind burst, my whole n was to use the widely spread wings against it and give Ben time to get in a good position. The n worked as the griffin stumbled awkwardly as the gust pushed it down into the mud.


    The biggest problem we had now was that the griffin was in the middle of our formation following its initial dive. This poor position means that not only would we need to be careful not to hit Ben without spells but also not to hit each other should the griffin dodge.


    Even with Ben moving to engage the griffin in close quarters the beast still seemed focused on Rupert, I wasn¡¯t sure if it saw him as the biggest threat because of the mana shield that came from the ne or if was just his bad luck but it charged towards him.


    Ben was no pushover however and a quick nce saw his enchanted de light up as he brought it down and severed one of the griffins wings as it charged past him. Rupert was quick to tumble out of the way and the griffin missed due to the unbnced weight that came with missing a wing.


    The griffin stood back up ready to engage us but it was toote for it. Anna, Rick and I had all finished our casts and with the griffin no longer being in the center of our formation weunched an Icence, earth spike and fireball respectively quickly bringing the fight to an end.


    ¡°AAAHHH¡± I didn¡¯t even get a chance to catch my breath as two wolves jumped from into the clearing and bit down on Rupert''s arm and leg. In our battle with the surprise griffin we had stopped looking around in the forest and Rupert was the closest to the edge of the clearing after dodging the griffin¡¯s charge. I could see three more wolves running towards us and a forth that leaped going for Ruptert¡¯s neck.


    None of us were in any position to do anything about it when I felt arge amount of mana off to the side before an arrow embedded itself into the head of the wolf mid-leap. The next moment Ajax was a blur as he charged the wolves. Mana was gushing all around him just like it did when he spared with Dave brandishing his axe and sword. With my increased mental stats, my eyes could keep up with Ajax as he quickly killed the two wolves attached to Rupert before turning on the other three and making short work of them as well


    His des were covered in a quick sheath of wind mana and sliced through the wolves with no difficulty. I could see the ground itself change in order to both give him better footholds and also trip up the wolves. He had to be casting three spells at once, maybe four as I was unsure how his physical mana enhancement worked. Despite the spells being highly inefficient in terms of mana his fighting style had clear strong points.


    With the wolves dealt with we all converged on Rupert''s position, though I did catch Ajax¡¯s posture slump as he also approached. ¡°Seriously?¡± he muttered, ¡°Guess I¡¯ll need to be more careful about this in the future.¡± I didn¡¯t know what he was talking about but it didn¡¯t seem like it was the wolf situation.

 Chapter 175

    Chapter 175


    PUNISHMENT:


    Infraction stemmed from Bullying I (Mitigating circumstances : Inside Dungeon, 50% lowered punishment) : 1000 experience lost.


    Punishments until Bullying I upgraded to Bullying II : 1/3.


    Ajax brought up the notification he had gotten in the middle of taking out the wolves and swearing under his breath.


    ¡°Seriously?¡± he muttered, ¡°Guess I¡¯ll need to be more careful about this in the future.¡±


    He brought up his Retribution to double check some things.


    RETRIBUTION :


    Repeated and extended fighting and killing against much lower levels has been noticed. THis is strongly discouraged, Punishment : Bullying I applied.


    Bullying I : all experience and skill gains from fighting substantially weaker enemies reduced by 20%. (A substantially weaker enemy is considered from your level with a baseline. A creature with less than 90% of your level yet no less than five levels below you is substantially weaker.)There it was, the discrepancy that had made him all but ignore the retribution since the day he had gotten it. Nowhere on it did it say that he will be punished by losing experience for going against it. Not only that but two thousand experience was a decent chunk, it took him a full delve to get that much towards the end of his time in Lessis.


    More than that however he didn¡¯t if the cost of the punishment was contant, was only the first of the three for two thousand experience, was the next one more, or would they only cost more once the Retribution upgraded Bullying? And most important of all, what would happen if he was brought below zero on the experience he had in the current level?


    ¡°Uselessmoner.¡± Ruppert hissed as Ben was wrapping his bitten hand after having bandaged the leg. ¡°Couldn¡¯t you have done that before they jumped me?¡±


    Under normal circumstances Ajax would have simply ignored the noble but his attitude had been getting on his nerves the entire time he had been tracking the deer, the punishment and loss of experience is what pushed him over the edge.


    ¡°My job here is to make sure you don¡¯t wind up dead, getting injured is part of delving.¡± He shot back. ¡°Best you learn the dangers of not always being aware of your surroundings with a simple bite, most die learning that lesson.¡±


    ¡°Why you - AGHHH¡± he started to answer back before Ben tightened the bandages around his arm.


    ¡°Leave it be.¡± Ben said. ¡°You know he is right. Seems we still need to get used to the changes in the dungeon, here monsters are more likely to work together to make sure we die and even act slightly outside of the patterns their species would follow on the outside¡±


    This was the reason they were taken by surprise. A griffin would have always gone for the bodies of one of the dead deer as it was simply a bigger prize that came without a fight. Not only that but the wolves would have simply waited out the fight and cleaned up anything that was left behind instead of trying to take on the victor.


    ¡°So, what should we do now?¡± Ben asked, he was a leader that valued the opinions of his party members.


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    ¡°I say we keep going.¡± Annabeth said after storing the two cleanly killed deer in her ring. ¡°Those wounds don¡¯t seem too bad, a light healing spell and we should be able to push on.¡±


    ¡°Our instructions were to turn back if any of us were injured.¡± Rick countered.


    ¡°We should head back.¡± Ajax said as he pointed to the edge of the clearing. ¡°Or at least I¡¯m not carrying him if we have toter.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah, definitely heading back.¡± Lexi confirmed as she looked where Ajax pointed.


    The spiky leafed shrubbery Rupert had rolled through once the wolves let go of him wasn¡¯t all that poisonous, for a level twenty-four like them at most it would give them a slight rash for a few hours. But considering the open wounds it would have gotten in, they all knew his arm and leg would swell up to three times their normal size in less than an hour''s time and the bleeding would be hard to control after that without a proper healer.


    ¡°Yeah, can¡¯t risk it without a proper healer.¡± Annabeth agreed.


    ¡°So we¡¯re going back.¡± Ben nodded at the decision, there was no need to wait for Rupert to give his opinion considering the way his expression twisted when Annabeth first suggested they keep going with just some minor healing and having him tough it out.


    ¡°Which one of you kept track of our location?¡± Ajax asked as they all turned to him.


    ¡°Looking at the mountain.¡± Rick quickly picked up what he meant, after all Ajax wasn¡¯t here as a real member of the party, him tracking down the deer could already be called too much but all that did was just remove some wasted time they would have spent wandering aimlessly, returning to a pre established safe point was something they needed to all keep in mind. ¡°We need to head that way.¡±


    Rick confidently strode off in that direction with everyone moving behind him. ¡°This is the right way.¡± Ajax confirmed as he moved in behind them. ¡°But which way did we juste from?¡±


    ¡°Why does that matter?¡± Rupert snapped.


    ¡°All floors beyond the first have a randomyout.¡± Ajax answered. ¡°You won¡¯t know the map beforehand and they get bigger as you delve deeper into the dungeon. You have to keep in mind where the exit is, especially in maze floors.¡±


    Ajax¡¯s words made all of them freeze for a moment as they looked out through the trees having a hard time locating a direction now that the mountain was obscured by the canopy. They quickly started moving again but remained silent as they thought about it.


    ¡°If you find yourself in a cave or tunnel system without a way to keep track of your direction then change your approach, don¡¯t randomly choose a path.¡± Ajax tried to teach them something he remembered from his sses back on earth.


    ¡°How would we change the approach?¡± Lexi asked, eager to make conversation now that Ajax started to open up a bit.


    ¡°You pick a side,¡± Ajax began to exin. ¡°Left or right it doesn¡¯t matter, and then you follow that wall, if there is a crossroads you always take the first on the side you chose.¡±


    ¡°That fails the moment you hit the first dead end.¡± Rupert shot back, but Ajax also saw the others also nodding along to what he said.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t actually.¡± he let out a small sigh. ¡°You¡¯re still looking at the passage as a whole.¡± he paused for a moment as he tried to remember how hisputer science teacher exined it to him.


    ¡°Imagine that you have to traverse the entire maze by keeping one hand extended and in permanent contact with the wall.¡± He began. ¡°If you ever hit a dead end you¡¯ll find yourself naturally turning around but now but now the side of the tunnel you are touching has changed, when youe back to the crossroads you¡¯ll take the second road in the direction you chose.¡±


    ¡°And what if there is no exit?¡± Ben asked clearly interested in the idea.


    ¡°If there is no exit you¡¯ll eventually end up back where you started.¡± Ajax answered.


    ¡°This isn¡¯t all that much better than going in a random direction, all you have to do is find one tunnel guarded by something you can¡¯t fight and it falls apart.¡± Rick said.


    ¡°It does fall apart if you are looking for another exit and you run into something like that.¡± Ajax admitted. ¡°But in a dungeon you should almost always be able to turn back, all you have to do is switch the hand that is keeping contact with the wall and walk forward, you¡¯ll be retracting your steps all the way back to where you started.¡±


    The next few minutes were quiet as all of them tried to visualize the example to try and find a w with the logic only for none of them to be able toe up with anything. ¡°It does work.¡± Lexi eximed in her usual happy mood. Their discussion ended there however as they all arrived at the camp healer Ungus had set up to find they weren¡¯t the first team back, they were in fact second tost.


    ¡°Looks like even the experienced team slipped up.¡± Ajax picked up the whisper as they entered the campsite.


    ¡°Which of you need medical attention?¡± healer Ungus quickly approached them.


    ¡°Rupert stuffed two wolf bites and the wounds may have been exposed to redpatch leaves.¡± Ben reported quickly, his military bearing showing again.


    As Ajax looked around he saw that Dave¡¯s group was the only one still out there. Both the group led by professor Silvertongue and instructor Gatecrasher had returned and each had a single member patched up and resting on one of the cots healer Ungus had set up.


    It took another two hours before Dave¡¯s group returned unharmed, but judging from the blood sttered on Dave and how it had dry and wet patches it was clear he had had to step in more than once, most likely not being so liberal with letting the nobles get hurt as Ajax or the professors were.

 Chapter 176

    Chapter 176


    As most of the students split back up into their three groups Ajax decided to do something productive and started cooking the deer they had brought back. As he was cooking he was thinking about how he should deal with the Punishment. Clearly he needed to do some more research and a visit to the school¡¯s library would fit in nicely after they returned from this delve. Until he got a chance to do that research however he was going to go out of his way to make sure if he needed to interfere anymore during this delve he would only incapacitate the monsters instead of outright killing them.


    ¡°That smells good.¡± Dave said as he came up to him having finally cleaned the blood off his armor. ¡°I heard one of yours got bit.¡±


    ¡°He wasn¡¯t paying attention to his surroundings after one of the griffins dived in and two wolves got a hold of him.¡± Ajax said.


    ¡°My group didn¡¯t have anyone make any mistakes.¡± he said and that raised Ajax¡¯s suspicions about why he had to interfere.


    ¡°Then why did youe back with blood on your gear?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Had a few of them freeze up.¡± Dave said ¡°If they are to be hurt because they messed up we¡¯re supposed to let them get roughed up a bit but if they freeze, getting hurt will actually make it more likely that they will just freeze again next time.¡±


    ¡°They froze again at the end when we ran into a squad of kobolds. I¡¯m guessing they looked a little too humanoid for them.¡± he shook his head.


    Everyone was ecstatic at being fed a warm meal instead of the rations they brought with them, even if one or two of the students didin about the quality they were quickly told to shut up by the rest as they didn¡¯t want to discourage Ajax from cooking more often.


    The next two days went very simr to the delve Ajax did with the Healing Union. Most of it was boring and he only had to step in once when the team he was with didn¡¯t notice the griffin swooping down on them. A quick electric arrow managed to both take the griffin off target and give the rest of the students time to get in position and brought their attention to it without distracting them from the kobolds they were engaged with. The end of the dungeon clean up on the fourth day of the delve went very differently to what he had experienced before. While most of the monsters had already been killed over the four days there was still enough to form a decent wave at the end. Not that it helped them much as with the number of mages present not a single monster was able to make more than ten feet into the cave before it was sted.


    ¡°So how was your first cycle with the Academy?¡± professor Silvertongue asked him as they made their way back to the academy after exiting the dungeon.


    ¡°The delve was quite a bit more boring than I had expected, but other than that everything was interesting.¡± Ajax answered honestly, he was very excited about all the different subjects he was going to learn about in school.


    ¡°Hahaha.¡± the professorughed at his answer. ¡°You have to be the first fifteen year old to say that the delve was the boring part of the first cycle.¡±


    ¡°The griffins were a bit interesting, I wonder how they can fly around with such a bulky body.¡± Ajax said.


    ¡°They have hollow bones, at least the ones inside the dungeon, there are variations of species that don¡¯t and can¡¯t fly until they get proficient with wind magic.¡± Abbot answered. ¡°Anyway, I have your first delve set up for you.¡±


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    ¡°You do?¡± Ajax was surprised to hear that everything was already set up. ¡°When is it and which dungeon is it for?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s three days from now.¡± Abbot said. ¡°You¡¯ll be going with one of my family¡¯s crafter teams to the third floor of the Hignds.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s a crafter team?¡± Ajax asked as he hadn¡¯t heard the term before.


    ¡°A crafter team is a group whose purpose is to find ingredients for crafters to practice on inside the dungeon. Just because none of the items can be brought out of the dungeon unless you get lucky with a good find they will still keep their skill progress. You¡¯ll even get to meet one of our senior crafters who¡¯ll be there to advise.¡±Abbot said, sounding more enthusiastic than he had at any other time.


    ¡°So this is your family''s n, they want to show me the advantages you give to the people to join you as they work their way up while still giving me exactly what I need to progress.¡± Ajax said, though he had to admit it did sound like the Silvertongues had a great benefits package.


    ¡°Oh,¡± Abbot¡¯s expression went back to his regr stoic look. ¡°What gave it away?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the first time I heard any form of emotion in your voice.¡± Ajax said. ¡° That must be a well leveled skill since you actually sounded excited.¡±


    ¡°This is why I hate politics.¡± Abbot murmured under his breath. ¡° All that aside, joining our family, or any big noble house really but I am partial to my own, will be very beneficial to you.¡±


    ¡°That may be so, but I haven¡¯t had the greatest experience with nobles in the past, even tangentially.¡± Ajax admitted ¡°As things are right now, I¡¯ll see just how far I can get by myself and if I reach a bottleneck I might change my mind based on what I can learn about other noble families along the way.¡±


    ¡°That does sound like a well thought out n. One piece of advice I have for you then is not to leave stat potions as an afterthought. As you gain levels and stats from dungeons try and buy some stat potions while your stats are still low, the price skyrockets for stats once they pass the three hundred and fifty mark.¡± Abbot said. ¡°The team will be gathering in front of the dungeon in the morning, they¡¯ll be the only team waiting out there so it should be easy for you to find them.¡±


    With that Abbot walked away and Dave returned next to Ajax after giving the two of them some space to talk. ¡°Big ns?¡± he asked.


    ¡°I have my first real delve in the Hignds three days from now,¡± Ajax said. ¡°As the ss teaching assistant it still falls to Abbot to fulfill my perks as a teaching assistant, like appropriate delves. I am going with one of the Silvertongue crafter teams to the third floor.¡±


    ¡°See if you can gather a few crafting materials from the second floor for any crafting you might like to do. Most of the time the senior crafter that joins will have time to spare and they have always helped me with my crafting even if it will only ever be a hobby or ast resort.¡± Dave suggested.


    Ajax nodded at the advice, he hadn''t thought of doing that but now it was simply a question of what crafting profession he will be able to find ingredients for. Once they got back to the Academy all of the students were dismissed.


    Since it was still midday Ajax went straight for the library on the seventh floor. Unlikest time he came here he could only feel the aura of the headmastering from his office. Ajax took next to no time at all to get ustomed to the aura now, his time around professor Silvertongue had greatly helped with his ability to withstand non hostile auras.


    Entering the library for the first time was an experience all to itself. Rows and rows of shelves towered over everything all filled to the brim with books. In fact after taking a second look he realized that the shelves themselves were also enchanted to be spatially expanded allowing for more books to be stored. He really hoped there was a good filing system otherwise he would end up spending the rest of the day just to find the right section he should be searching.


    As he walked through the shelves he noticed that they were split up by subject, with Alchemy being the first section and Archeology being the second. He quickly found his way to the Curse section and he began looking through all the different covers hoping to find one on Punishments.


    ¡°Is there something I can help you with?¡± a voice called out to him from right behind him.


    Ajax flinched in surprise and finally felt a second auraing from the old man behind him spread throughout the area. To say that the man was old was an understatement, despite being rather tall the man was hunched over and looked to be almost made up entirely of wrinkles, despite this his aura was undeniable.


    ¡°Well, what are you looking for here boy?¡± he asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m here to look into Retributions and Punishments.¡± Ajax answered his question the second time.


    ¡°Well which is it, Retributions or Punishments? They are two different sections, also why are you looking at Curses?¡± he asked, almost sounding slightly offended at the notion.


    ¡°I want to know about the Bullying Punishment.¡± Ajax was more specific this time.


    ¡°Bullying.¡± the old man scoffed. ¡°When will people learn that power leveling doesn¡¯t do anybody any good?¡± he didn¡¯t wait for Ajax to answer as he started to shamble off. ¡°Welle on then.¡±

 Chapter 177

    Chapter 177


    Ajax had a problem putting together the movements of the old librarian. He had spent a considerable amount of time analyzing his own movement and that of other people with decently high physical stats and yet the old man was unlike anything he had seen before. All of his movements were consistent with the slow shamble of an old man yet somehow he moved as if someone hit fast forward on a recording.


    Despite trying to figure out why the old man¡¯s movement seemed so odd to him he still made sure to pay attention to his surroundings so he was careful to look at the isle they entered, it was marked as Punishments which would have been his second or third try after maybe Retributions.


    ¡°What are you looking at so focused on?¡± the old man asked as he was extending a thick scroll he pulled off one of the shelves.


    ¡°Your movements¡± Ajax answered honestly. ¡°They are different from anyone else I¡¯ve seen with higher stats.¡±


    ¡°This is your first time seeing a full body speed enhancement?¡± he said as his free hand motioned towards the thin cloak that covered his body and wastched with a decent size gemstone near the neck. ¡°That¡¯s odd, but anyway if you have any questions I¡¯ll be over there by the desk for a little while.¡±


    The desk he pointed to was very simr to the one the headmaster had in his office, the only real difference was that this one was sitting in a more open space, it even came with two smaller chairs sitting opposite therge morefortable chair that sat behind the U- shaped desk.


    Ajax nodded his thanks as he took the scroll and headed over to one of the free tables over to one side. He sat down, pulled a small little notebook to take notes and a pencil out of his ring as he rolled out the scroll.


    Punishment : Bullying


    Bullying is a progressive retribution, starts off at the first rank Bullying I and grows linearly up to ranks Bullying V. It has a three step progression and a follow up infinite punishment that doubles the original two thousand experience penalty once Bullying V is reached. The punishments of Bullying never reduce the level of the person even if incurred at zero experience.Bullying is an adaptive punishment thates from several variations of retribution and presents with a different penalty depending on the retribution that triggered it. Progress counted by number of incidents regardless of the number of infractions per incident. Punishment triggered after one hundred incidents for the first time after receiving Retribution and every ten after.


    Variant I : Obtained by consistently killing enemies that are weakened or trapped by others with you lending any assistance before, after or during the fight. Number of incidents required to trigger is unknown but over one hundred. Observation required incidents to trigger decrease rapidly if the helpers are higher level.


    Punishment Variant I : Experience and skill progression when killing enemies that are not at least one tenth of your level higher then you decreased by 20% if helped by people at or above your level. Observation : battles where enemies outnumber allies at least ten to one do not count towards punishment.


    Punishment penalty progresses linearly to 100% loss of experience and skill progression at Bullying V.


    More tests required for this variant when taking on groups of enemies that consist of arge variance in levels.


    Variant II : Obtained by repeatedly weakening or trapping enemies at or below your level for others to kill after. (Note trapping for envement or taming purposes does not count if the new owner paid for them with that understanding in ce even if they killed them after). Number of incidents to trigger is unknown but over one hundred. Observation required incidents to trigger decrease rapidly depending on level difference. (Note : Incidents where you intervene after a fight has already started.)


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    Punishment Variant II : Decreases the experience and skill progress made by all allies when working together by 5% in all forms ofbat.


    Punishment penalty progresses linearly to 25% loss of experience and skill progression at Bullying V. Punishment is active at all times regardless of size of group or level of enemies. Observation : having more people with this punishment stacks up to a 50% reduction in experience and skill progression total for the group.


    Variant III : Obtained by repeatedly making marked increases in experience or skill when fighting and killing enemies that are less than three fourths your level. Number of incidents required to trigger is unknown but over one hundred. Observations required incidents to trigger decrease rapidly as level difference to enemies increases (Note incidents where both enemies and allies number over one hundred do not count).


    Punishment Variant III : Experience and skill progression reduced by 20% when killing enemies lower than 90% of your level. Observation group size affects the level range of enemies that do not trigger then punishment. When fighting at least ten enemies with a level 80%-90% of your level, punishment does not go in effect and incident doesn¡¯t count. When fighting at least thirty enemies with a level 70%-80% of your level, punishment does not go in effect and incident doesn¡¯t count.


    Punishment penalty progresses linearly to 100% loss of experience and skill progression at Bullying V.


    Warning : Multiple Variants of Bullying can be earned. When earning another variant the effectsbine while the Bullying Punishment increases by a full rank.


    Bullying progression and rank can be counteracted by the Achievement : Against Overwhelming odds on a one to one equivalency but lost experience is not refunded. Observation earning the Achievement while at rank Bullying I will lift the punishment. (Note : punishment will be afflicted again should you have five incidents in one month or through the regr requirements).


    The scroll answered a lot of Ajax¡¯s questions. Most importantly he would not be losing any levels due to the punishment, he was also kicking himself for practicing his healing skills on low level animals and killing them after as surely those counted for a lot of the incidents that lead to him triggering the first punishment, that and the snakes quest. The next thing he focused on was the Achievement Against Overwhelming odds that could remove the punishment from him; that was something he had to look into shortly.


    The different variants also exined the disdain that the librarian had shown when Ajax mentioned the punishment. Considering how young he looked it was easy to assume that he had gotten the first variation of the punishment.


    Having gotten what he came for Ajax headed over to the librarian with the scroll in hand.


    ¡°Yes?¡± the librarian asked without looking up from the scroll he was writing.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure which shelf I should return this to.¡± Ajax said with a slight blush of embarrassment, he had been too focused on the old man¡¯s movements at the time and when he went to return it he found two isles marked for Punishments.


    ¡°Just leave it off to the side.¡± The old man gestured without stopping his writing.


    ¡°I would also like to ask if you have a scroll on the Achievement Against Overwhelming Odds.¡± Ajax said after cing the unfurled scroll where he indicated.


    ¡°Of course you would.¡± The librarian finally stopped writing and he looked up towards Ajax and responded with a dismissive tone.


    Ajax felt [<em>Enigma</em>] activate as the librarian used an inspection skill. For the first time he also felt the skill failed at blocking the inspection, though he did know that the old man only got a look at his stats and name, he had also tried to get his level but [<em>Enigma</em>] had managed to block that.


    ¡°That¡¯s a surprise.¡± the old man said as he stood up. ¡°It seems that I owe you some apologies.¡± He also gave a rather deep bow, though that was more because of his already hunched back. ¡°I am guessing that you are suffering from the third variant of the Bullying punishment.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± Ajax said coldly, he also calmed down a momentter when he realized that his own ssmates had done the same thing in trying to inspect him and the only reason he was angry at the old man was that he seeded in getting some information, as long as he didn¡¯t get to read his skill it wasn¡¯t something he was going to make a big fuss about and he knew the old man hadn¡¯t even attempted to read that part of his status, leveling up [<em>Enigma</em>] however rose on his priority list.


    ¡°Ajax you¡¯re still here?¡± Professor Silvertongue said as he entered the library. ¡° I see you have already met Balthazar.¡±


    ¡°In a way.¡± Balthazar responded. ¡°It seems all of my manners have waned with age. I am very sorry about that young man. I haven''t even introduced myself to you, I am Balthazar Young.¡±


    ¡°I am Ajax.¡± Ajax responded with a ck jaw at the name the old man gave. ¡®How can someone so old be called Young¡¯.


    ¡°Yes most people react this way when introduced to Balthazar.¡± Professor Silvertongueughed. ¡° The name used to make sense because of how young he used to look but now that he is approaching four thousand years old it seems more of a misnomer.¡±


    That bomb brought all of Ajax¡¯s thoughts to a grinding halt, this man was four thousand years old? How was that possible? Even kings and heroes didn¡¯t live much past one thousand years at best.


    ¡°Is he one of the freshmen this year, Abbot?¡± Balthazar asked as he gave Ajax a moment toe to grips with what he just heard.


    ¡°Not exactly.¡± Professor Silvertongue said. ¡°Ajax here is a teaching assistant for the freshman ss. His unique situation made it difficult for him to enroll as a student in the Academy.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I can see that.¡± Balthazar nodded. ¡°Well let''s see if we can get you that scroll boy, it¡¯s the least I can do after I was so rude to you.¡±

 Chapter 178

    Chapter 178


    Ajax was only brought back into the moment after Balthazar started walking towards a different aisle. He still could get his head around how the man had been alive for four thousand years, even the two hundred that normal people lived here seemed like a lot to him after he ended his first life before the age of twenty-five.


    ¡°How could you survive for four thousand years?¡± Ajax finally asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m only three thousand nine hundred and seventy four.¡± Balthazar said cheekily but then continued to exin. ¡°It isn¡¯t a secret however, are you aware of the effects that stats have on aging?¡±


    ¡°All physical stats except Perception slow down the effects of aging, physical stats more so than mental ones.¡± Ajax answered.


    ¡°That is correct but it is not theplete truth.¡± Balthazar said. ¡°While all the stats affect aging, even Perception, they do so at varying rates. Perception is by far the worst , then Wisdom and Intellect are next but both are quite a bit better and Mind is a good chunk above them. Then we reach the physical stats, Strength and Dexterity are about the same and are above Mind with Endurance being a decent chuck above them. That leaves us with Vitality, which is the opposite of Perception by being a solid bit better than Endurance.¡±


    ¡°Then why isn¡¯t that knowledge better spread?¡± Ajax asked, confused.


    ¡°First of all, that is because most people don¡¯t make it too far past sixty in their entire lifetime.¡± The old man answered. ¡° Not only that but most people, even in the non-human kingdoms, focus on an almost purely physical build despite ess to magic because of the longer lifespan this grants.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t see the issues with sharing the knowledge.¡± Ajax still answered.


    ¡°The stats also affect an aging body differently.¡± Professor Silvertongue answered. ¡°Did you notice, in the previous question we spoke about the effect of stats on aging. Well the stats have apletely reversed effect on age.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that the opposite of what you just said?¡± Ajax didn¡¯t know what to think.


    ¡°No, what I mean by that is that as your body ages past its prime you¡¯ll start to see your stats be given a penalty. There will be no numerical value reduced but an old man with four hundred strength can¡¯t overpower a young man with even two hundred. But an old man with four hundred Perception still has better senses than a young man with three hundred and fifty.¡± Abbot exined.


    ¡°The final piece of the puzzle is that stats applied only slow down the aging process after they are applied.¡± Balthazar said. ¡° Two people with identical stats and amon average build can have the same stats at around level eighty but one of them has aged half again as much as another simply because of the order they increased their stats in.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t sharing all this mean people would live longer on average?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°Yes, and perhaps one day it might even be a good idea to spread this information, after all making an educated decision on this would bring about a lot of good.¡± Balthazar nodded. ¡°But how manymoners do you know that are getting a good education? This information is being distributed but only to those who also receive enough education to make appropriate choices.¡±


    ¡°If we were to spread this information out wildly, almost every member of the kingdom would spend 80-90% of their stats on Vitality at level ten as that would lead to them living the longest. Can you imagine what doing this on arge scale would mean for society?¡± Abbot asked.


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    That question made it all click for Ajax, vitality was very important inbat, but that was only when it came to defense, Vitality had almost no benefit for offense, meaning that if everyone was focusing on vitality with most of their stat points they would all be extremely weak for their level as they begin leveling, and those other low stats would then affect their skills. Even with low skill their leveling speed wouldn¡¯t change that much since the difficulty factor would still be there but the end product of those skills would be much worse than it is now.


    ¡°I see you can put it together.¡± Balthazar nodded. ¡°Now imagine what would happen if a kingdom that shared that information to itsmon people was attacked forty or fifty years down the line.¡±


    Ajax already knew the oue would be disastrous. Forty or fifty years wasn¡¯t enough to let said kingdom build up a numbers advantage by having its people live longer due to the investment in Vitality but they would be weakened by having their soldiers be much weaker due to the cost of the investment.


    While it may seem unfair that only the poor weren¡¯t given this information while the nobles and the affluent merchants profited from it, sharing it would do more harm than good before something akin to minimum public education was introduced.


    ¡°This brings me back to the initial question, how did I manage to live so long.¡± Balthazar said as he entered one of the aisle and started perusing the shelves looking for a specific scroll. ¡°You see in my youth I was dedicated to efficiency, but I took it to a very far extreme.¡±


    He closed his eyes and shook his head as he struggled to remember those days. ¡° I wanted to get as much out of my stats points as possible, so the day I turned ten I spent all of my stats in the one stat that grew the hardest naturally, Vitality.¡±


    Ajax was a bit surprised at the parallel this took with his own life, he had done almost the same thing at the age of ten, only instead of spending all the points on one stat he simply didn¡¯t spend them.


    ¡°But that wasn¡¯t the end of it, even after that point I continued to stubbornly only spend my points on Vitality while rigorously training my other stats, both physical and mental.¡± he continued. ¡°Right now trying to do the same thing would lead to stagnation, but back then the kingdoms weren¡¯t as stable as they are now.¡±


    ¡°How does that help?¡± Ajax asked, if anything he thought the kingdoms not being stable would be an obstacle for this sort of choice.


    ¡°I can see why you would think that but I was lucky to be born as the son of the head of one of the three Pir houses.¡± Balthazar said.


    ¡°The equivalent of the three archdukes of today.¡± Abbot supplied.


    ¡°Yes, thank you.¡± Balthazar nodded. ¡°As such, my father had the wealth and influence to afford having me taken to delve as many as six dungeons for their full floor achievements. three of them even being five level jump dungeons like the Goldmine. Thatbined with my talents for healing magic and stat potions allowed me to have stats that far surpassed what my level should have been able to achieve even if most were focused on Vitality from a young age.¡±


    ¡°This is the result.¡± Abbot said. ¡°A very aged body, so much so that even with physical stats that surpass yours he has to rely on magical items and mental stats that mark him as a more thanpetent mage.¡±


    ¡°I made my mistake in going too far with my obsession with Vitality.¡± Balthazar admitted. ¡°I managed to gain at least one hundred and thirty points in each of my stats through pure training over the years, with the exception of Vitality of course.¡±


    ¡°Ah here we are.¡± Balthazar said as he picked up one of the scrolls and handed it to Ajax. ¡°The achievement Against overwhelming odds.¡±


    Ajax epted the scroll, while the parchment had the same thickness as the one that contained Bullying the rolled up scroll was a lot smaller meaning that the amount of information on it was much smaller, he quickly unrolled it.


    Achievement : Against Overwhelming Odds


    Requirements : kill an enemy at least twice the level you are alone.


    Two discoveries cost.


    Rewards : skill [Judge Threat].


    In depth requirements : Kill an enemy beast or monster (humanoid are not eptable) that has not been weakened in any way( Previous wounds, environmental damage, environmental disadvantage, exhaustion). Without any help provided, all magical or enchanted gear used has to be selfcrafted, in weapons are allowed, buff skills or effects not allowed. Enhancement potions crafted by others are allowed so long as they only affect you and not the enemy.


    Observations : Hidden reward, remove one instance of the punishments Bullying or Coward if afflicted when first achieved. Hidden rewards are repeatable twice for killing five enemies twice your level alone and again for ten enemies.


    Note: Enemies killed inside the Dungeon only count if you are not part of a party delving the dungeon and are doing so alone, this regardless of any interference orck thereof. Attempting to achieve this in a Dungeon is heavily discouraged.


    Note : Killing a beast that has been well cared for in a natural environment does still count even if said beast was held in captivity as long as all requirements are met. (Monsters used for entertainment in a colosseum or ring fight.)


    Note : Killing boundpanions does count so long as the system believes the fight was genuine and the humanoid bound didn¡¯t interfere to weaken the enemy in any way.

 Chapter 179

    Chapter 179


    Ajax was on his way back towards the bee hives with a full bag of different flower seeds on his back. He had checked a few things that didn¡¯t seem to add up about the achievement description since he had already brought down one enemy that matched all the listed criteria.


    It turned out that there was an extra requirement that the monster be at least level fifty. Ajax was pretty sure that the fish he had faced at theke was close to that but perhaps it was only level forty nine, [Judge Threat] wasn¡¯t the most urate skill to use when getting precise measurements.


    One more rification that took a load off his mind was that you could use buffs on yourself, it was only outside buffs that discounted the achievement. With that cleared up he felt very good about his chances of gaining the achievement, all he needed now was to find a monster that strong, not the easiest thing considering he couldn¡¯t solo dive in either of the dungeons and that entering with a team disqualified him from the achievement. He left that issue forter and started nting the seeds making sure to infuse mana into each one.


    Two days of gardeningter Ajax found himself with another problem, now that he could continue his beekeeping without worrying about wasting a trailzer achievement he had to find a way to move entire hives without killing any of the bees lest they trigger his punishment. With that restriction he decided to resort to Earth¡¯s method of smoking them before attempting to capture the queens and transport the hives.


    This rxing cycle of nting flowers and infusing them with mana, capturing bees as well as spending an hour or so every night recapping all the lessons that he had gone through at the academy. By the end of the second day he had filled the area with 100 hives and had given up on getting any more in the short term since the local bee poption had taken a big enough hit that they were hard to find.


    For the final evening before his first true delve in a capital dungeon Ajax went to have another meal with Hatchet and Luna. He was pleasantly surprised to hear that Hatchet had gotten a job with the Adventurer¡¯s guild as an attendant to help test potential scouts. It had been a long time since Hatchet had done anything to do with the guild but it seems that teaching Ajax awakened a new passion in him so now he was looking for a few more students.


    Not only that but he had officially also joined Luna¡¯s house as one of her retainers, it was more of a formality since they were old friends more than boss and subordinate but it did offer him a level of protection and preferential treatment, after all no adventurer wanted to piss of the Healing Union.


    After the enjoyable meal Ajax returned back to his own house. He took a look at the plot next to it where progress on the second house was starting to be made. This one would take a lot longer, not because it was bigger but simply because he wasn¡¯t overpaying for a rush job.


    The next morning Ajax was in gear and was carrying his trusty backpack. Unlike his ss dungeon trip this time Ajax was fully decked out in gear, had sufficient rations tost him for a month and also brought gear so that he could adapt to any environment. A second mostly empty backpack was stacked on top of the first where he carried items for leatherworking. Out of all the crafting professions Ajax could choose from leatherworking was the most consistent one. Since he didn¡¯t want to make such a big investment in a set of tools that would soon be reced anyway only for them to be unusable he got a set for an apprentice leatherworker after all the chances that both the second and third floor wouldn¡¯t have a single species with workable hide were miniscule.


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    The other thing he brought with him was his arrow making kit, getting a few tips on how to make decent arrows was one of the things he was looking forward to most since that would be a staple for him for the foreseeable future.


    As he made his way to the dungeon Ajax finally caught a glimpse of the team waiting off to the side before the queue. The group was a lot bigger than the team the Collectors had, all in all there seemed to be thirty people in total. Twenty of them were clearlybatants, two of them looked to be there simply to carry all of their luggage.


    Off to the side there were seven more all listening closely to a mousy looking woman that all eight crafters seemed to be giving their undivided attention. All of the members of the delve were young, none of them looked older than thirty by Earth standards though Ajax knew some of them could be in their sixties or seventies.


    ¡°You Ajax?¡± the leader asked?


    Ajax took a good look at the man, he was wearing a set of cloth armor with a number of gems embedded here and there. He wasn¡¯t all that tall and he was a little on the thin side but it was all muscle.


    ¡°I am.¡± Ajax nodded.


    ¡°Good to meet you.¡± The man¡¯s stony face broke with a genuine smile that didn¡¯t look like it shouldn¡¯t belong to him but did as he offered Ajax his hand. ¡°Name¡¯s Trevor.¡±


    ¡°Likewise.¡± Ajax responded as he shook his hand.


    ¡°Let¡¯s move.¡± he called out and the rest of the group quickly picked up all their gear and lined up to go to the dungeon. ¡°We¡¯ll have plenty of time to talk as we get to the third floor.¡±


    The line moved rather quickly though Ajax could feel a disapproving look focused on him from behind though he couldn¡¯t figure out who or why he was on the receiving end of it. Nobody gave the group bearing the archduke¡¯s sigil more than a nce, though Ajax did receive a few inspection attempts though nothing that managed to get past [<em>Enigma</em>]. It seems that the people with a high level inspection skill knew not to try it on people connected with archdukes.


    ¡°Alright, everybody knows the drill.¡± the leader said once they were all inside. ¡° Ajax here is our guest and he is the teaching assistant at the Academy to Abbot. If I have to catch shit from him about how any of you treated him I will make sure the one or ones responsible will catch at least twice as much as I did. Am I clear?¡±


    ¡°Yes sir!¡± All of thebatants and even the two bag carriers answered in unison, with the crafters quick to follow.


    ¡°Don¡¯t look so glum.¡± Trevor said with a cheeky smile. ¡°From what I hear, if you judge him by his age you¡¯re in for a quick wake up call. And that is something that all of you will get to see first hand as Ajax will be taking down the bosses guarding the arches for the first and second floor by himself.¡±


    Ajax knew that soloing the boss before an arch was the easiest surefire way to know you had enough contribution that the floor would be considered cleared for the Dungeon achievement.


    Unlikest time he came into this dungeon Ajax didn¡¯t get the rabbit infestation variation. He was slightly disappointed by that as he would have like to grab a few for cooking on the upper floors


    ¡°Why such a big difference in quality?¡± A gentle yet disapproving voice sounded out from next to him.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Ajax asked the mousy woman that was inspecting his equipment.


    ¡°Your weapons aren¡¯t great but they are at least decent, but your armor wouldn¡¯t be anything more than a mild inconvenience to anything we could find on the third floor.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t yet had the funds to try and rece any of the gear I had when I got to the capital a few weeks ago.¡± Ajax answered as he awkwardly scratched his head. ¡°The weapons I got from a few overeager recruiters but they wore full te which doesn¡¯t match mybat style.¡±


    ¡°I was asked to provide teaching in any crafting professions, is there something you are interested in?¡± she asked.


    ¡°I would like to try my hand at everything.¡± Ajax said excitedly, ¡°but for now I just brought tools for leatherworking and arrow crafting so that¡¯s what I¡¯d like to focus on. Maybe some mild alchemy if we get a good floor for it.¡±


    ¡°I specialize in cksmithing, but I know a thing or two about leatherworking, should be enough to get you started.¡± she nodded.


    Ajax was pleasantly surprised by the attitude the team had towards him, he supposed that Abbot was behind it and the way they were trying to get him to join their house. He still wasn¡¯t going to make a long termmitment but he would certainly be amenable to helping them out if it wasn¡¯t too far out of his way in the future if things kept going like this.

 Chapter 180

    Chapter 180


    The team moved through the dungeon at a decent speed. The one thing that was never the same regardless of it being on the same iteration of the dungeon¡¯s first floor was the arches that lead to the next floor. Ajax knew more about them having found out that the mana types he could feel when touching them represented the main themes that the floor they led to would take.


    Ajax had done quite a lot to try and improve his precision when taking a look at different arches, the biggest issue he had however was the way he was examining the mana. The way [Sense Mana] was locked off even at level fifty and provided no insight. [Mana Syphon] couldn¡¯t do a much better job at prating the arch¡¯s protection needing physical contact to even attempt siphoning the mana unlike spells which he could start draining more than ten feet out.


    With all the tests he had done he found two big issues when it came to identifying floor themes. The first was that he could only get a reliable read on the top two most prevalent mana types at most. The other was that there were many mana types that he couldn¡¯t identify since he hadn¡¯t had contact with them.


    The first arch was found in a little under half an hour after they entered the dungeon and was guarded by a giant snake that was level thirty five.


    ¡°Let''s see what you can do.¡± Trevor encouraged Ajax.


    Ajax didn¡¯t want to waste any time with this. Instead of going to fight the snake up close he simply unslung his bow and drew back an arrow. Since he was going straight for the kill he used magma for as much straight up damage as possible, and he put a full two hundred mana into it.


    His actions got a small reaction from the few mages that were present. The arrow wasn¡¯t all that fast, without the physical enhancements provided by [Syphon Mana] his strength wasn¡¯t all that outrageous, his bow also couldn''t handle him using [Syphon Mana] and he knew he should look into recing it.


    The arrow flew quickly and while the snake did sense it before it struck it was still far toote for it to do anything about. The magma arrow barely made it more than an inch past its scales but that was more than enough for it to scorch the inside of the skull killing the beast instantly.


    ¡°How many of those can you fire?¡± was the first question he was asked Trevor. ¡°Without a break, another ten.¡± Ajax responded truthfully.


    ¡°That¡¯s as powerful as a level thirty mage, I heard he was a hybrid.¡±


    ¡°He can only do it ten more times, mages at level thirty could output that power level for twenty attacks at least.¡±


    ¡°Not with the initial pration power the arrow added on, and definitely not without an incantation¡±


    Murmurs started to rise up all around him. Ajax knew his stats, at least mentally, were at about the same level they would be for a level thirty mage, maybe a bit higher. He just wasn¡¯t as efficient with his mana in return for speed and flexibility.


    ¡°Let''s get going through to the arch.¡± Trevor started to get them moving once again.


    Ajax did take the time to start skinning the snake he killed and others quickly joined him once he started to get it done faster.


    ¡°This skin would work to make yourself a new pair of boots even if it''s only for the duration of this dungeon.¡± the crafter woman said from behind him once he finished.


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    ¡°What happens to craft once we exit the dungeon if they weren¡¯t made from items that can be sustained outside the dungeon?¡± Ajax asked as he hadn¡¯t ever had that much of an interest after he was told they wouldn¡¯t work on the outside.


    ¡°Depends on the construction process.¡± the woman said. ¡°If all of the item is made from them it will simply wither and rot, or crumble into dust. If it contains parts that are sustainable those won¡¯t be affected but the parts that were made from dungeon material will be affected even if it doesn¡¯t look like they were.¡±


    ¡°How can it not look like they were?¡± Ajax asked, since it should be pretty obvious if part of an item was withering away.


    ¡°Best example is when smelting multiple metals together. If even as little as one tenth of the metal can exist outside the dungeon the structure won¡¯t copse but it will be brittle, all but shattering the first time it meets any real power.¡± she exined. ¡° Selling such items is considered a crime and is punishable by at least five years worth of working the mines.¡±


    Prison wasn¡¯t a thing here, at least not long term like it was back on Earth. If youmitted a crime your punishment could be a fine,munity service work or death. Sometimes a mix of the three with your family being left with the fine if you were sentenced to death. Ajax found that to be a better system as it turned criminals into a cheap workforce for the public instead of a drain on taxes.


    ¡°There is one exception to things that you shouldn¡¯t rely on that are made from dungeon material.¡± She added.


    ¡°What are those?¡± he asked, surprised since he hadn¡¯t heard of anything like that.


    ¡°Stat increasing potions.¡± she exined. ¡°If they are created inside the dungeon and consumed inside the dungeon the effects will persist even once you have left. It is why all the noble houses try to recruit experienced alchemists. A lucky few floors in session inside the Goldmine and an Alchemist might end up having more than three quarters of the items needed to make the potions that their strongest retainers need.¡±


    ¡°Are there so few alchemists that even therge noble houses struggle to get even a single one?¡± he asked, surprised.


    ¡°There are that few dungeon crafters, yes.¡± she confirmed. ¡°There is a big difference in crafting inside your workshop and crafting inside the dungeon.¡±


    ¡°I thought a strong team would be able to protect you while you craft, and with a big enough storage ring it shouldn¡¯t be hard to get the required equipment.¡± Ajax thought out loud.


    ¡°While both of those things are still issues they aren¡¯t what I was referring to.¡± she shook her head. ¡°While the increased mana in the air might not have a massive effect onbat, though one should be increasingly more aware of it as they delve higher and higher floors, its effect on crafting is enormous.¡±


    ¡°I hadn¡¯t thought about that.¡± Ajax said as his mind started thinking of the issue.


    ¡°It affects different crafting professions in different amounts. A leather worker would hardly be affected since most leatheres with the affinity of the monster it was skinned from so the mana in the air doesn¡¯t change the vtility much. For a smith he needs to be extra careful when smelting so that the metals don¡¯t be infused with the wrong type of mana. Alchemy just happens to be the most affected, closely followed by enchanting.¡± she said.


    ¡°Finding dungeon crafters is also rare since they are almost exclusivelymoners.¡± Ajax gave her a look at that and she nodded to the crafters that hade with her in the dungeon. ¡°Unlike nobles the dungeon is the only ce where they can afford to find the materials they need to progress their craft. Most of them end up dead long before they reach their prime due to an ident that happens. After all, since they are crafters they usuallyckbat skills and all it takes is for things to go wrong once.¡±


    By the time they finished their little talk the entire team had made it through the arch. Ajax paused briefly to sense the type of mana inside the arch for the second floor and all he could feel was an immense amount of water mana.


    Once he passed through the arch he found himself on a beach looking out into what seemed to be ake or an ocean that was dotted with inds, he could even see another arch on the peach of the ind closest to them. Most importantly however he could see the shing icon in the corner of his vision that let him know his dungeon delving Achievement had progressed and he gained +1 to all stats.


    Most of the team was upset about the theme of the second floor. It was a collection of inds, most inhabited by different species of humanoids, Trevor had seen a tribe of feral worgens, they resembled wolf beastkin but were much closer to the wolf side than the human, a tribe of goblins inhabited a different ind and a few naga could be seen in the water.


    The crafters were ecstatic with the floor theme as they were given a full four hours to build lots of boats from the trees on the ind that they would use to get to the nearest ind. Even if most of them weren¡¯t all that excited about carpentry they knew it was a useful skill to have and most hadn¡¯t started to focus on a specific craft just yet. Ajax also joined in but he only assisted in getting wood in chopping the trees into their proper shapes, leaving the assembly to those who had experience.


    The boss guarding the arch they headfor was an orc chieftain. He had a few champions with him and Ajax was only able to pick off their caster with his bow before they spotted him and charged. With the ambient mana being much denser however Ajax had no issue using [Mana Syphon] to its full extent, and a few elemental enhanced blows made quick work of the orcs. The disy got him a few nods of recognition from the otherbatants on the team.


    As they prepared to enter the third floor the crafter were arguing with the porters about how many barrels of water they should get, after who knew if they would have ess to mana rich water on the next floor?


    While Trevor and Nina, as he learned the head craftsman was called, were sorting that out Ajax ced his hand on the arch. He felt a strong fire mana presence that masked anything else but Ajax was suddenly very much in the favor of grabbing the water now as he took a barrel, filled it and put it inside his backpack.

 Chapter 181

    Chapter 181


    ¡°You too?¡± Trevor asked as he noticed Ajax filling multiple barrels.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to try and get the hang of alchemy.¡± Ajax said truthfully. ¡°Making potions in the dungeon is certainly a lot cheaper and not having potions is a loss of potential.¡±


    The porters grumbled slightly at the amount of weight they had to carry from the second floor but the team quickly got a move on and stepped through the arch.


    ¡°I¡¯m not an alchemist by trade but we do have more than a few spare nts in our provisions.¡± Nina said to him before they stepped through the arch. ¡°Do be aware that we will charge you the price of anything you use after we exit. Alchemy is highly profitable but you never find all the ingredients you need on one floor.¡±


    Ajax took that to heart as he followed through the arch. Getting proficient in Alchemy was going to be a costly endeavor but one that would surely pay offter down the line if he stuck with it. The academy was his best chance to focus on it as they supplied plenty of ingredients for their sses and the instructor was one of the top in the field.


    Stepping through the arch felt the same as always but once he was out on the other side everything changed. The air felt ufortably hot and thick with soot starting a slow burn in his lungs. The ceiling was marked by ck clouds that loomed over the entire floor. The entire expanse was a rocky hot hellscape with a river flowing in the distance that seemed to actually be on fire.


    ¡°It¡¯s an abyssal floor.¡± Trevor called out to the sound of curses from a lot of the team.


    Ajax quickly took his own scarf out of the bag just like everyone else and wrapped it around his mouth and nose to filter the air he was breathing. Demons, as they were called back on Earth, also existed in this world. Much like elementals however, demons only appeared after a certain level, for lesser demons like imps and hellhounds that level was fifty. This level meant that while Ajax did learn about abyssal floors from the guild this would be his first time entering one.


    With the fine scarf filtering the air Ajax finally got around to checking the notification marking his gain of +1 to all stats from advancing another floor. He grinned to himself as just today he got a whole sixteen stat points just from delving and there were more to be gained from the Goldmine in the near future. ¡°Everyone get in formation three! Crafters put that high perception stat to work and keep your eyes peeled.¡± Trevor called out.


    Ajax moved to the center, he didn¡¯t have any prior experience working with this team so he was ced with the crafters so as to not get in the way of the defensive position. While everyone got in the defensive position quickly nobody was tense showing that this was simply a precaution. Both imps and hellhounds traveled in packs and habitually targeted people in lighter armor.


    ¡°What¡¯s with him?¡± Ajax asked as one of the crafters was shaking slightly.


    ¡°He¡¯s just excited.¡± Nina answered with a bit of excitement showing in her voice as well. ¡°Abyssal floors usually have the best variety when ites to all different metals, not to mention the difficulty of crafting in this atmosphere leads to great advances in skill levels. Though as a beginner I don¡¯t think you¡¯ll be able to have any sessful alchemy crafts in this environment, best to stick with leatherworking for this delve as the water just became more important for other things.¡±


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    ¡°I hate to say it but it looks like all that water will have a purpose after all.¡± Trevor cut it having listened in on the conversation. ¡°We¡¯ll still leave you half the barrels but we will need the other half.¡±


    A bit more grumbling came from the crafters at that but nobody outrightined as they understood the situation. With that settled the group started off in the direction of the closest hill, Nina had a skill that would let her sense the presence of the metals if they were close enough to the surface so the group was now looking for the closest mining site they could set up.


    The first encounter with an enemy was very underwhelming for all the precautions they took. A single gargoyle flying in the sky approached for a dive but was quickly killed before it could get too close to the party. Even the stone body of the creature shattering on the ground as it was shot out of the sky.


    ¡°Collect that!.¡± The excited smith quickly piped in. ¡°I¡¯ve always wanted to work a forge powered by gargoyle coal.¡±


    ¡°Stay in formation!¡± Trevor quickly followed. ¡° Hellhounds have a camouge skill that isn¡¯t powered by mana and are almost always present on abyssal floors.¡±


    Nina delivered a quick smack to the back of the guy''s head almost sending him to the floor despite her small stature and light blow. Ajax adamantly promised himself not to annoy the high level smith as she had clearly put some serious points into strength, she might not have had an aura but Ajax would put money on her being the strongest person on the team.


    After the team carefully moved to collect the corpse of the gargoyle they continued heading in the direction of the hill. The way there was rtively safe with only two other gargoyles attempting to impede them but getting nowhere with the attempt only adding to the supply of coal for the forge.


    Once Nina finally got a hit on her metal detection skill the team headed for a cave that opened up near the halfway point of the hill. They could hear something that Ajax could only describe as an evil cackle from a long way off.


    ¡°Sounds like we got imps. Team one stick with the crafters, everyone else with me, Ajax that means you as well.¡± Trevor gave out instructions.


    Knowing a fight was about to break out Ajax started using his [Mana Syphon] the amount of mana present in the air was higher then he had ever felt before, add that on to the increased efficiency perk he got when he pushed the ability past the threshold and Ajax was now having almost half the cost of his full power infusion sustained by the mana in the air.


    As Ajax felt himself absorb the mana he found that it was made from a mana type that he hadn¡¯t encountered before, not only that but it was the same mana type that was predominant in the arch second only to the fire mana that was masking it. Ajax didn¡¯t give it much attention as the battle soon began.


    Thirty imps came charging out of the cave as they approached. They looked very much like he remembered them looking back in the video games he yed on Earth. They were short, no taller than three and a half feet with red skin and freakishlyrge pointy earsing out of their small skulls with a long nose and small pointy teeth.


    While the imps weren¡¯t moving all that fast Ajax was quick to notice the sparks of ck me that materialized in their hands. His mana sense told him that while they looked very much like mes the mana was different in some way from normal fire mana, more like it was a mixture between it and another form of mana.


    Ajax hadn¡¯t even known it was possible for two forms of mana to mix like that. He had certainly added a double effect to his arrows before but that was done byyering the mana infusion while making sure the mana types didn¡¯t mix, this was definitely something he should do some research on before trying it out for himself.


    Most of the fighters either dodged the fireballs outright or blocked them with theirrge shields, the opening volley not managing to find any solid connections. Ajax quickly fired off six arrows, each infused with about one hundred lightning mana before he swapped over to his sword and hammer.


    The reason Ajax swapped weapons was easy to see for all that took a closer look at the arrows thatnded, despite the lightning mana having no issue immobilizing the imps struck the arrows didn¡¯t make it any deeper than half an inch into the skin, since Ajax couldn¡¯t put any more power behind them without breaking his bow he decided to go into melee.


    With his full powered [Mana Syphon] Ajax had no problem overpowering the imps, he was careful to use a wind augmentation on his de and ice on his hammer as he wanted the imp hide to suffer as little damage as possible. By the time he took out three of the imps the rest of the team had also handled the horde.

 Chapter 182

    Chapter 182


    The battle was over quickly, with this being a crafter run team almost all of thebatants were at level fifty-five meaning they were slightly above the strongest monsters that could be found and would have stood a chance going even one floor higher. After all no house would risk its crafters without appropriate protection.


    ¡°Trevor, this ce has a solid vein but I¡¯m not sure how deep the cave goes. Make sure to clear it all out as this will be a perfect base camp for this delve.¡± Nina took her role as leader of the delve even if she was below Trevor in the chain ofmand that only applied duringbat.


    Trevor sent a scout to take a look deeper inside the cave while everyone else already started setting up the crafting facilities on the outside of the cave. Everybody seemed like a well oiled machine as they started getting the base camp set up, Ajax didn¡¯t have an assigned role so he got to work skinning his own kills as he didn¡¯t want to get in anyone¡¯s way.


    For the first time Ajax had forced himself to push past his own feeling of wrongness. Despite goblins, kobolds and imps looking slightly humanoid, Ajax didn¡¯t have any issues when it came to killing them, he understood that this world was different from Earth and that life didn¡¯t have the same value here. Skinning something so humanoid however was something that he did have a reluctance to, one that he had to push himself past.


    Two of the corpses he had to leave off to the side to defrost as trying to skin them otherwise would have damaged the leather. ¡°These are some clean kills.¡± Another of the crafters said as they approached him after he finished with the second kill.


    ¡°Was nning to use the skin for some leatherworking so I took care not to damage it when I killed them.¡± Ajax replied.


    ¡°I can see that.¡± He nodded at the two with a few frozen patches. ¡°You mind if I try skinning those two, the frozen patches should add enough difficulty for me to improve my skill. I¡¯ll use my other skills to quickly tan them as well.¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡± Ajax agreed, happy to have some tanned skins to work with as well.


    While the other crafter had started skinning the other two imps Ajax had gotten started at making a pair of boots out of the snake on the first floor. The boots he had on were sturdy enough for the rocky surface but sadly they were a horrible fit for the hot atmosphere.¡°That¡¯s not bad.¡± Nina said as she looked over his shoulder. ¡°You already have a leatherworking skill?¡±


    ¡°Tried my hand at a lot of things back in my vige.¡± Ajax responded. ¡°My parents weren¡¯t all that keep to have me take up anythingbat rted after my brother joined the city guard so I went through everything else before it came to hunting.¡±


    What he left out was that he had picked up most of those skills, and that his talent in those areas was in question considering his Divine Witness trait meant he could pick up most skills with enough practice. For the next two hours Ajax had put together a more decent pair of boots that would allow his feet to breathe a little without sacrificing defense.


    ¡°There is nothing else inside the cave and I couldn¡¯t find any other exits.¡± The scout then returned. ¡°The cave does run a few tunnels deeper but they are all dead ends and clean.¡±


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    ¡°Alright, everyone with a mining skill pick up a pickaxe and follow me.¡± Nina called out.


    Ajax traded out his boots before heading over to pick up a pickaxe. This action got a n eyebrow raise from Nina when she saw him among the three crafters and twobatants who answered her request.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got to wait for the imps to get tanned anyway.¡± Ajax shrugged at her look which got a nod from her.


    Besides the mining picks all of them also carried a few wooden poles that a carpenter would ce to stabilize the cave when they started to mine. It was a quick ten minute trip before Nina found what she called the best spot and the carpenter quickly got to work setting up the supports.


    With the supports in ce all of them got to work and started picking away at the walls. Ajax was taking full advantage of his [Mana Syphon] but wasn¡¯t using any of his own mana, just whatever he could get for free; thatbined with [Precise Blow] meant he was making good progress in tearing the wall apart.


    In about twenty minutes they had already started to see the Iron vein that was hidden in the wall of the cave and the slowest of the miners was sent up to get a cart so they could start ferrying it up .


    Ajax could feel his body warming up as he kept going while also being careful not to mine outside of the area held up by the supports, thest thing he wanted was to cause a cave in. After about another hour of work, and the third cart of ore the sent up to the top, the cart returned with four more of thebat personnel.


    ¡°They¡¯re ready to start the smelting process.¡± One of the neers informed Nina.


    ¡°Crafterse with me,¡± she said and also nodded at Ajax. ¡°Simon, you stay here and make sure they don¡¯t bury themselves.¡±


    ¡°Yes ma''am.¡± came the quick response from the carpenter.


    Ajax and the other three crafters passed over their picks as they headed back up with the forth cart only half filled. Once they made it up at the top Ajax was surprised to see a gray fire burning in the furnace that gave off a bright blue smoke, clearly the gargoyle coal was quite something to see burn.


    ¡°Were there any incidents?¡± Nina asked Trevor once they were back and the cart was taken back down by one of the crafters who inspected the imp skins before deciding to mine for a bit longer.


    ¡°Only three more solo gargoyles.¡± Trevor responded and pointed to the pile of rocks next to the furnace. ¡°They were quickly brought down and added to the pile.¡±


    While Ajax didn¡¯t join in to help with the smelting process he did stand nearby as he pushed his [Sense Mana] skill. He had felt that the iron had mana infused into it though he didn¡¯t know what kind. He could use [Mana Syphon] on it to figure it out but since the iron most likely was less resistant than the arches if it was found out that he could weaken mana enhanced materials it would cause a shitstorm he didn¡¯t want to deal with.


    Out of the entire team only three people were involved in smelting the ore. One was Nina, one was the eager smith and the final was one of thebat members who had apparently gained the skill but wasn¡¯t interested enough in crafting to make it his focus. Of the three only Nina and the smith were using the gargoyle coal and Ajax could see the difference between them with his [Sense Mana].


    The bars thebatant smelted had a lower mana concentration than those created by the other two, using mana infused coals seemed to lower the concentration loss during the smelting process. As for the bars created by Nina and the smith the difference could be sensed in the flow of the mana.


    The bars created by the smith had a very chaotic manapath whereas Nina¡¯s had a smooth clear orientation. He couldn¡¯t distinguish them once they were finished, without infusing some mana into them anyway, but it was obvious during the crafting process.


    ¡°We¡¯ve got another Gargoyle iing.¡± The scouted shouted while pointing towards a dot in the sky that was slowly getting bigger.


    ¡°Mind if I take it?¡± Ajax asked as he pulled out his bow.


    ¡°It¡¯s all yours.¡± Trevor nodded


    Ajax first fired an electric arrow much like he did with the imps only for it to bounce harmlessly off the gargoyle. Clearly the stone skin was too much for his arrows and his non enhanced strength to break through and the rocky texture was resistant to the electric effect as well.


    His second shot was much more effective, despite it also bouncing off the ice mana froze arge enough patch to affect the wing causing the gargoyle to drop in an uncontrolled dive. The crash wasn¡¯t enough to kill the gargoyle but it did crush one of its knees causing it to lose the leg. Ajax was quick to close the distance however and the gargoyle didn¡¯t even get a chance to stand up before a metal infused hammer crushed its headpletely.


    With the gargoyle crumbling in front of him Ajax lowered his hammer as a wave of weakness traveled through him, a system notification opening in front of his eyes.


    Curse of Weakness


    Type : Temporary


    Strength : Minor


    Effect : Strength lowered by 10.


    Cause : absorbing too much cursed mana


    Duration : 1 hour

 Chapter 183

    Chapter 183


    The instant that he read the notification Ajax quickly cut off his [Mana Syphon], for the first time he had found a downside to his core skill, he had read a few times that there was no such thing as a perfect skill all of them had limitations or downsides only the rumored Mythic skills didn¡¯t and he had finally ran into [Mana Syphon].


    He had paid very close attention to how his skill absorbed mana in the past, even when using it against spells that were cast by others the process was always the same. It would break down whatever structure the mana had before it absorbed it and used it to fuel him. It had never been an issue in the past but it seems that curse mana, even without a structure, was harmful to him. He theorized that there must be a mythic version of his skill that not only broke down the mana but also neutralized it before absorbing it but getting something like that was not realistic.


    ¡°You¡¯re not going to let him keep it right?¡± he heard a voice behind him that broke him out of his pondering.


    ¡°Our rules stand.¡± Nina¡¯s voice was one he recognised so he turned towards the people behind him.


    ¡°But he¡¯s an outsider, not even one of us.¡± the same crafterined.


    ¡°Our. Rules. Stand.¡± Nina¡¯s tone brokered no argument.


    As Ajax paid a little more attention to the pile of gargoyle at his feet he realized what the fuss was about. The gargoyle he had killed was one that could be taken back outside without dissolving into mana. The rules of the delve was that whoever kills it can keep it and that was how house Silvertongue incentivised theirbatants to volunteer for helping out on crafter delves.


    Taking another look at the curse notification Ajax decided that it wasn¡¯t anything he needed to be all too concerned about right now, the duration was only an hour long and ten Strength wasn¡¯t too big of a loss but the phenomenon was something he would be researching the first chance he got. With that settled he nodded his thanks to Nina and quickly packed up the gargoyle coal.


    As he waited around for the curse to dissipate Ajax found himself paying a lot of attention to the tanner as he was using a set of runic magic equipment to speed up the tanning process. Unlike with chanting or monster free casting Ajax could just barely use sense mana to get an idea that mana was being used, let alone find a way to copy the spell or mana type used.¡°Interested in runic magic?¡± the crafter who was tanning them asked.


    ¡°No, it doesn¡¯t mix with my style.¡± Ajax denied. ¡°I am curious what mana type you are using though.¡±


    ¡°I never thought about that to be honest.¡± the crafter said, surprised. ¡°I¡¯m sure the person who made them knows but as long as they help with my crafting that¡¯s good enough for me.¡±


    The hour passed quite slowly as he was basically watching paint dry only with leather but by the end of it he was pleasantly surprised to see that he had gotten a new skill. [Curse Resistance] was the first Rare resistance skill he has seen but it was a wee addition, especially since he had yet to learn anything about how curses worked, all he knew was that using curse spells was ouwed.


    By the time that his curse dropped off quite a few of the ingots had cooled down enough for the crafters to start actually using them. The process was fascinating since the increased stats that people had here meant that some of the smaller works could be done in a few hours despite the high quality metal.


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    A few more of the crafters were adept enough with smithing to try their hand at it, even if it wasn¡¯t their main craft though they were making some much simpler pieces like a knife or a basic sword.


    ¡°Do all of them have the cksmithing skill?¡± Ajax asked Nina when she took another break from smelting the metal.


    ¡°No, but cksmithing even without the skill helps improve other crafting skills.¡± Nina said. ¡°It''s all about watching how the mana dense materials react, when doing something as simple as hammering a metal bar into a longer and thinner shape then sharpening it you still make some progress even if the end product isn¡¯t all that great.¡±


    With the curse gone Ajax went ahead and took up at one of the open anvils as he started crafting a knife. He was hoping to use some of the imp leather for a grip and hopefully make a decent knife.


    ¡°That¡¯s not bad for a beginner.¡± the smith crafter said as he looked over Ajax¡¯s knife.


    ¡°My dad was the vige smith, I watched him a few times.¡± Ajax said. ¡°It¡¯s still not as good as yours.¡±


    Ajax wasn¡¯t lying, the de the smith made was a two feet long two handed sword, it had a good guard and was only missing a handle, the pommel was even detailed into a snake¡¯s head as a symbol for house silvertongue.


    ¡°We¡¯ve got imps iing.¡± the scout called out as he looked out in the distance.


    ¡°Alright.¡±


    ¡°Finally¡±


    ¡°About time¡±


    ¡°Let me at them.¡±


    Despite some of thebatants being handy with crafting some of them were still just sitting there bored out of their minds. With Ajax¡¯s recent windfall all of them were eager to make their own tidy sum and wanted to take a swing at the approaching imps.


    ¡°Get in formation.¡± Trevor shouted over all the excited cheers. ¡°These are still abyssal imps, they may seem chaotic but they have some teamwork when ites to fighting, I don¡¯t want to lose anyone on this delve, you hear me?¡±


    ¡°Yes sir!¡± they all responded and stomped down their eagerness as they quickly formed their formation.


    Ajax was left to sit on the side lines for this battle, which was fine by him as he was really interested in analyzing how the imps casted their ck fire. The reason for this was very simple, the mana type that they mixed with fire to get the ck mes was the curse mana that was prevalent throughout the floor.


    Now that he was fully focused on the imps Ajax got a much better picture of how they were casting their magic. Much like all the other casters he fought before the imps were channeling fire mana quickly through their hands as they brought it into their palms to summon the fireball.


    The difference in their technique was that they weren¡¯t simply channeling the skill during the second or two that spell took, instead during that entire time they were going through a pitching motion at the end of which the mes that sprouted in their hand quickly turned from red to ck before being flung at thebatants.


    With there only being twenty imps in this group the group make quick work of them even without the help of Ajax or any of the crafters. Ajax wasn¡¯t sure if he was d or slightly disappointed that none of the ck fireballs made contact. It wasn¡¯t that he wanted anyone to get hurt but more that he wanted to see what the effects of curse mana was when mixed with other mana types.


    As he pondered this he tried summoning up a small amount of curse mana in the palm of his hand, he had taken precautions to move away from the group and waited until all of their mana users were busy doing something else. There was plenty of mana in the air for him to get a good idea of the feel of it so he had no problem turning three points of his mana into curse mana.


    From there however he quickly found the curse mana connecting to his mana pool and spreading like a drop of food coloring in water, by the time he managed to contain it he felt his entire arm burning.


    Curse of clumsiness


    Type : Temporary


    Strength : Minor


    Effect : Dexterity lowered by 30 with the right arm.


    Cause : Curse man infused in right arm.


    Duration : 2 hour


    Unlike all other forms of mana Ajax found that he couldn¡¯t enforce any control over the curse mana. The result was far from the worst case scenario but Ajax still berated himself over the stupid risk he just took, he knew curse mana was dangerous but so far his prodigious talent had let him turn any setback into an advantage so he got overconfident.


    He should have realized from the start that generating curse mana wasn¡¯t a good idea. He didn¡¯t know how the imps did it but even they only generated it at thest possible moment, even then they only did so when it couldbine with the fire mana that was already severed from their mana pool


    The final test he had for the curse mana, at least until he did some further research in the Academy library, was to try and use his [Mana Syphon] on the curse he could feel in his right arm. That test was a decent sess as while it may have spread the curse it did also break it down and weaken it.


    Curse of clumsiness


    Type : Temporary


    Strength : Minor


    Effect : Dexterity lowered by 10.


    Cause : Curse man infused in the body.


    Duration : 15 minutes

 Chapter 184

    Chapter 184


    Despite the curse being spread out and weakened, Ajax spent the next fifteen minutes feeling like his blood had raised its temperature by twenty degrees, this wasn¡¯t enough to deal any real harm to him especially through his [Pain Resistance] but it did certainly make for a very unpleasant time.


    With that the attacks seemed to have stopped and soon night was upon them. As Ajax was considered one of the crafters for the duration of the mission he wasn¡¯t assigned a position in the night shift. Despite the tents having some silencing runes on them they weren¡¯t strong enough to suppress the sound enough for Ajax Perception so he was woken up both times when a gargoyle attacked.


    The third time he was woken up by the sounds of battle it was close enough to morning that he decided to simply get up. The sight of another gargoyle being added to the pile next to the forge however wasn¡¯t what interested him, what did interest him was the bubble of mana he could feel from next to the anvils.


    As he approached he recognised Nina from her stature but he was still surprised to see the woman bring the hammer down on a piece of metal yet hear no sound. The phenomenon was soon exined by the mana that was swirling around the metal as it easily stopped all the vibrations from traveling.


    ¡°How does that work?¡± Ajax asked when he saw Nina put the hammer down.


    ¡°How does what work?¡± Nina asked him not at all, startled by his presence.


    ¡°The magic that stops the sound from your hammering.¡± Ajax exined, the mana movement was soplex and quick Ajax couldn¡¯t make heads or tails of it even with his [Sense Mana] at level fifty.


    ¡°I have no idea.¡± Nina admitted something that shocked Ajax.


    ¡°You don¡¯t?¡± Ajax all but shouted in his surprise. ¡°No.¡± she said as she turned to look at him questioningly.


    ¡°But then how are you doing it?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°You¡¯re in your first year at the Academy right?¡± Nina asked and Ajax nodded. ¡°That makes sense then, you won¡¯t go over this at least untilter in the year but it is rted to my skill.¡±


    Seeing Ajax still looking confused she decided to exin a bit more of the theory. ¡°Skills are gained through practice in a field that you have talent in, for the most part anyway, but if that was all there was to it why wouldn¡¯t people without the skill not be able to replicate it by simply copying the technique?¡±


    ¡°The answer is that when you gain a skill the system adds the innate knowledge of how to fullyplete the skill to whatever it was you were doing before.¡± she continued. ¡°It¡¯s seen less with lower rarity skills but it gets very obvious with higher rarity ones.¡±


    Thinking over her words Ajax was surprised that he hadn¡¯t put that together himself, after all he had no idea how his own [Mana Syphon] worked, sure he knew and understood the process of absorbing the mana, but turning what he siphoned into a physical increase was something he didn¡¯t know, he did it purely by muscle memory granted by activating the skill.


    ¡°My Epic skill, [Mana Compression] came from me trying to keep all of the mana present in the metal despite forging it, the skill does that but also more that somehow makes my work better.¡± Ajax was surprised that she so easily revealed an Epic skill that his mindpletely switched tracks from the discussion they were having.


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    ¡°Why would you reveal an Epic skill?¡± he asked before he could stop himself.


    Nina simply chuckled at his question. ¡°It is a bit refreshing to see some of the gaps in your learning. After the power you showed and the skill with the few crafts you tried your hand at, it''s a nice reminder that you are still limited despite all that potential.¡±


    ¡°As for your question, I don¡¯t mind telling you about that skill because a lot of people know about it. You said youe from a small vige so I¡¯m sure that your parents drilled it into you not to share any skills that are Rare or higher right?¡± she asked.


    Ajax simply nodded.


    ¡°That¡¯s a good approach as a general rule, but once you have enough power to stand up for yourself, or join a house or guild with enough power¡± she pointed to the silvertongue sigil on her armor. ¡° Epic crafting skills are something you share as advertisements. Combat skills should absolutely be hidden but revealing some skills like this can also help you hide others by having people know you for just the skills you let them know. I¡¯m the smith with [Mana Compression] and that¡¯s what I¡¯ll be to everyone even if I have an Epicbat skill they might only suspect I have.¡±


    Ajax nodded along with her reasoning. ¡°Then I should probably be advertising that I have [Enigma], a Legendary skill should be enough to cover up a lot.¡± Ajax had no issue revealing that since the higher ups of house Silvertongue already knew he had that skill and so did quite a few other parties.


    The look of shock on Nina¡¯s face when she heard the name of the Legendary skill was something to see, her eyebrows made a dash for her hairline and her jaw dropped open as she just stared at him for a few seconds before she regained herposure.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure you should have told me that,¡± she said after she regained herposure. ¡°You do know it¡¯s something I will have to share with the family higher ups.¡±


    ¡°I know¡± Ajax nodded. ¡°But seeing as professor Silvertongue not only knows when I got the skill but also used his connections to help me get the skill they must already know about it.¡±


    It was then that Ajax felt an appraising skill be used on him by Nina. [Enigma] tried to fight it but it was still too low to be able to stop whatever skill she used, what did surprise Ajax was that [Enigma] informed him that all Nina got from him was that his race was human. He hadn¡¯t seen any previous inspection skill collect information on his race.


    ¡°Thanks for that.¡± Nina said.


    ¡°For what?¡± Ajax asked, confused.


    ¡°My appraisal skill just beat a Legendary skill. This should help me unlock an appraisal skill that is a higher rarity.¡± She said.


    Ajax didn¡¯t get a chance to respond as the scout on duty interrupted them with a call ¡° Iing hellhound pack, they¡¯re almost on top of us!¡±


    Ajax quickly reacted and took his bearings, focusing on the pack of horse-sized dark red chihuahuas that hade out of camouge and were charging towards the cave. There weren¡¯t that many of them, only fifteen but they were moving a lot faster than the imps and most of thebatants weren¡¯t in formation.


    Ajax was careful to only use [Syphon mana] on his own mana as he drew his sword and pulled out his Axe, the hammer wasn¡¯t as good against highly mobile enemies, especially when there were allied he might send the hounds crashing into with a strong hammer blow.


    It took him almost no time to decapitate the hellhound he targeted and had no issue spotting the second that tried to jump him. The problem was that he was in no position to dodge so he quickly used earth mana to mold the ground into getting him a way to jump out of the way.


    The hounds jaws snapped shut right where his shoulder had been a second ago. What was even more worrying however was that in thest second Ajax felt a lot of curse mana be released from the hellhounds teeth. Unlike with the imps however this mana quickly dissipated into the atmosphere after the bite missed.


    The second bite attempt ended with an axe splitting the hellhound''s skull, killing it instantly. The rest of the battle was also winding down with Nina having killed three hounds herself and Trevor standing over two despite wearing nothing on the top half of his body, a clear sign he had just woken up.


    For the first time since the delve had begun however the team had finally suffered an injury. One of thebatants had a hound bite down on his arm, despite the te armguard the teeth still managed to get two inches deep into the skin after a few repeated bites on the


    same location.


    Sensing the danger the hound let go of the arm and jumped backwards as a spear barely missed it. Ajax was surprised to see the hellhound breathing so heavily and moving so sluggish, he had read about them before and they should have had more stamina than this. Thest remaining hounds were quickly mopped up while Trevor moved towards the injuredbatant. ¡°Nobody touch the wound.¡± hemanded as he shoved the team''s healer closer.


    ¡°They had a cursed bite.¡± he said as he quickly but carefully removed the damaged armguard to reveal the bite mark that was quickly turning purple.


    Ajax was surprised to see them shove a piece of wood in the injured person¡¯s mouth but it was self-evident why a momentter when the healer used Holy mana on the cursed site. The woundedbatant looked to be in severe pain as the Holy mana cleansed the curse, his jaw tensed so much that Ajax was worried he might bite through the wood.

 Chapter 185

    Chapter 185


    As he watched thebatant battle the agony inflicted by curing the curse Ajax found himself praising his past self for the foresight to not test out the interaction between the two conflicting mana types on his own body without doing any research first.


    ¡°Is he going to be alright?¡± Ajax asked Nina as the fight was over.


    ¡°He will be fine, the hell hounds bite only inflicts a lesser localized curse caused by infusing arge amount of curse mana into the bite site.¡± She exined as she watched over the crafters who started to set up their work stations.


    ¡°Lesser curse?¡± Ajax wasn¡¯t surprised that the curse was different than his own but he wanted to see just how much information he could pull out of Nina, after all the more he got out of her the more he would be able to question Balthazar without it looking suspicious.


    ¡°Curses are set up in different tiers, the known ones are minor, lesser, weak and the basic curse. At least those are all the tiers where the subject has survived getting cursed, there have been curse users who have imed to achieve strong curse variations but no victim has ever survived to confirm it before the culprit was executed for one crime or another.¡± she answered.


    ¡°So curse magic is ouwed?¡± Ajax asked curiously.


    ¡°No, it just so happens that anyone that managed to find a way to curse people has also been dabbling in many ouwed practices, most prominent of which torture by exsanguinate.¡± she exined as a small frown took over her face before disappearing. ¡° At least those who can cast a stronger variant than weak curses anyway.¡±


    With the questioning out of the way Ajax started to reflect on the battle he had just witnessed. Unlike the imps that were clearly a caster type the hellhounds seemed to be an obvious physical typebatant, their speed and strength alone marked them as such for level fifties monsters. So then the question remained, how did they work in curse magic on top of that?


    Despite spending almost an hour thinking over the topic Ajax was no closer to finding the answer than when he started. It wasn¡¯t that he didn¡¯t have any theories of what could be going on, instead it was because of his gaming background from Earth that he had way too many usible theories. After all, the LitRPG genre as well as DND and online video games had many takes on curses or the warlock archetype and he didn¡¯t know which one applied or if they were all wrong.He was broken out of his thoughts when all of the hellhounds were skinned and the tanners started their work on them. With their camp having limited space some of the imp skins were taken down and considered done since the hellhounds were so much more valuable, after all their skin was that of a physically focused creature and as such would be of higher quality than that of caster type of the same level.


    After getting his imp skin back Ajax wasn¡¯t focused on turning it into any proper leather armor, he knew that both his skill and the material wasn¡¯t good enough for him to make anything that would be better than his current equipment. At best he might be able to make somethingparable using the skin of the two hellhounds that he brought down.


    That didn¡¯t mean that the imp skin he had was useless or to be used just for trial and error. The system was known to grant increased experience forplete items, this wasn¡¯t something that could help him, but there was no such thing as te armor that didn¡¯t use any leather, if only for warmth.


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    With that idea in mind he had quickly approached one of the crafters who had been previously working on only making weapons, not only that but the weapons were of a slightly lower quality that any other smith that was working with the metal that was being pulled out of the mine.


    ¡°Hey.¡± Ajax greeted as he approached.


    ¡°Yes? Is there something I could help you with?¡± His slightly annoyed tone quickly turned respectful after he saw who he was talking to. After all he knew that the Silvertongues were invested in recruiting Ajax and he didn¡¯t want to make a bad impression.


    ¡°I¡¯ve noticed you are sticking to only making weapons.¡± Ajax approached the topic straight away as he didn¡¯t want to put too much pressure on the young smith and was just looking to make a fair connection that didn;te with strings attached.


    ¡°I am, but that¡¯s not because I am focusing on weapon smithing, simply because they will grant me the most experience and experience.¡± the smith said.


    ¡°I was wondering if we could make an agreement.¡± Ajax said as he looked at the work the smith produced. ¡°Despite it being worse than the others it wasn¡¯t by much, at least if he didn¡¯t take Nina into ount, and it was a lot better craftsmanship than the few metal pieces that made up his set of armor . ¡°I¡¯ll make the leather iy for your armor pieces, that way you can gain more experience from makingplete works instead of just weapons. And in exchange you can help me with the smithing needs of my own armor once we are back outside.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not going to be focusing on smithing?¡± the boy asked surprised, considering he had seen Ajax talking with Nina quite a bit and he had also seen him going down in the mines to mine out the ore.


    Ajax wasn¡¯t surprised by the question but he knew that he couldn¡¯t overextend himself too much when it came to professions crafting if he didn¡¯t want to fall behind on hisbat skills. In the end he decided that Alchemy would be his main focus as it was by far the most expensive one and the one he could gain the most from by drinking stat potions in the dungeon. The second would be leatherworking as most of his gear and bags were made of leather, meaning that he would have to branch out for the other pieces.


    ¡°I n to focus on Alchemy.¡± Ajax admitted. ¡°Sadly there are basically no nts on the floor, since most of my armor is leather I will put any spare time I have into leatherworking. That¡¯s not to say that I don;t need a good smith, simply that I can;t stretch myself too thin.¡±


    The smith seemed to weigh his offer for a few seconds before he extended his hand towards Ajax. ¡°You¡¯ve got yourself a deal. You make me the leather pieces for a few sets of armor and I¡¯ll be happy to make any smithing pieces you need on the outside.¡± His smile turned into a smirk as he added onest part to the agreement ¡°as long as you provide the ore or metal, ofcourse.¡±


    Ajax had hoped to get one over on the smith with the surprise offer but it seemed he caught on to the trick and asked Ajax to provide the materials. Still it was a good deal and one he dly shook on as he headed back and started his work on the leather.


    Working with such high leather was a lot harder than he had expected. Unlike the level thirty five snake he had worked on the level fifty imps were a lot harder to get to work nicely. The biggest reason for this was the fact that the imps were casters, as such despite the leather being of high quality their lower Endurance made it much harder to work with than the snake had been.


    His work as he finished with the imps was by no means a work of art but it was good enough to be considered padding for whatever amor the smith crafted. Seeing as he had finished a bit of time before the smith had finished with the armor Ajax decided to go back to analyzing the curse mana he felt from both the imps and the hellhounds.


    The more he thought about it the more it didn¡¯t make sense. The hellhound had clearly had a more potent curse mana than the imps, this was clear when he thought back on the amount of curse mana that the hellhounds released with each bite and the amount that the imps were using to mix into their fireballs.


    This didn¡¯t make any sense, the imps were clearly the caster type. Not only that but the hellhound couldn¡¯t even keep a hold of the curse mana after they bit down, regardless of whether or not that bite actually made contact.


    That is when Ajax had an epiphany. What if neither the imps or the hellhounds actually had any control of the curse mana. What if they both simply released the curse mana and it naturally melded with its surroundings, for the hellhounds that would be the atmosphere when they missed and the flesh of their target when they made contact. For the imps it would always be their fireball they were preparing.


    His theory made a lot of sense considering how when he tried to generate curse mana directly it had tried to infect his entire mana pool and ended up cursing him. What if they weren¡¯t generating curse mana from their mana pool, what if they were generating it by sacrificing their stamina instead. Both the constant motion of the imps and the tired hellhound supported this theory.

 Chapter 186

    Chapter 186


    His theory that both the imps and the hellhounds sacrificed their stamina to turn it into curse mana had a solid basis, both when it came to this world as he saw the hell hounds getting tired a lot faster than any monster that level should after the amount of effort they put in, but also in terms of Earth knowledge as a lot of warlock tropes surrounded sacrifice for power, the only difference here was that the caster was also the one bearing the sacrifice.


    With this hypothesis in mind Ajax was determined to sit out the next encounter as long as it was against imps or hellhounds and just observe in hopes of getting a better grip on his theory. This most likely wasn¡¯t anything that hadn¡¯t already been spotting but he wanted to work out his own theory before reading whatever else anybody else had already figured out to keep a fresh perspective and keep his Earth idea untainted.


    As he was thinking about the curse mana theory however his work with leatherworking was finally showing hisck of skill levels. It wasn¡¯t so much that he didn¡¯t know how to make the gear, but as soon as he stopped making basic armor padding, the imp leather was getting too hard to shape into proper pieces, his bracers are the only piece of gear that came out right and they were simple circr pieces of leather. Even his pauldrons didn¡¯te out right and he was going for a light variant.


    As he didn¡¯t want to waste any more of the leather he had earned for himself just yet he took one final look out into the horizon and once he saw nothing he decided to go for another stint down in the mines and work on his mining skill a bit more.


    Ideally he would be able to delve on his own for floors that were still at the same level as he was. He also knew that after floors passed the level one hundred points for their monsters their scaling changed but all that meant was that he had to work that much harder to make sure he could handle floors of his own level on his own.


    Right now he probably would have had no issue taking the first floor of the Hignds by himself nor did he have any problem taking the Goldmine¡¯s second floor on solo with the exception of maybe a few very bad matchups where he couldn¡¯t properly hunt the monsters.


    The issue with this was that the floors at this level weren¡¯t worth a profit to solo. If he was to pay his way to getting a delve slot he had to make sure that he would be making a solid profit and for that to happen he needed to level and make use of the potions he could with his new stat increases.


    As he went back down inside the mine he could actually start to feel the curse mana that had infused the metal ore down in vein. Unlike other forms of mana curse mana had a much easier time attacking itself to physical objects, his gaming knowledge and fiction knowledge however quickly raised a red g as this being a quick way to forge a cursed item.


    Curse items however took many forms, from bloodthirsty des that had gotten their owner killed to des that demanded blood in exchange for power boosting their wielder in exchange for his sanity all the way to items that granted power in the moment for a price paid after the battle was over. Some of these had their ce as strategic items in a persons repertoire and some were best avoided at all cost. His biggest issue yet again was hisck of knowledge on the subject, something he was going to correct as soon as he got back to the library. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    The next few hours were quiet with the exceptions of quite a few gargoyle attacks. It seems that the forging yesterday had led the gargoyles to close in more and more on the location of their base and now the attacks were getting more and more frequent. One of thebatants had even had the good luck to kill a gargoyle whose corpse could be taken outside, something that had taken the spotlight off him as the only one to have gained any tangible loot up until that point .


    Ajax spent the next two days in the mine as he waited for the corpses of the tow hellhounds to be properly tanned. He had found himself actually working up a sweat mining the ore in the intense heat generated by environment now that he wasn¡¯t wasn¡¯t using his [Syphon mana], we wasn;t going to risk exposing himself to another cursed with [Syphon mana] since he didn¡¯t know if that would lead to permanent damage and there was one more test he was hoping to perform when it came to curse mana.


    Without his increased stats the physical work actually wore him out and he knew that he was relying on his one legendary skill to make up the difference. The one issue that he knocked into again and again every time he had thought about taking the focus off [Mana Syphon] for his build was the amount of flexibility and power it provided him.


    In the end Ajax decided that making [Mana Syphon] the core of his build was the best choice, and instead of shoring up his defenses for the one time it would be vulnerable, creating a shield for it was a much better strategy.


    In his past life on Earth the most obvious example came in the form of card games. Very often the game changed extremely based on whichever choice was the most powerful for the given time, that in turn made the counter to that specific deck a good choice simply because of how often you would encounter a favorable matchup.


    He was in apletely different situation, his hybrid build was an outlier, instead of focusing on shoring up his defenses he should focus on making an escape route for himself if he ever found himself countered. This would now only be much easier to do but also had a much less restrictive condition for sess, simply surviving without long term damage.


    As he thought about it his biggest advantage and greatest weakness were both his mana. With [Syphon Mana] it meant that he had ess to much higher stat levels that he should have even if it was only for a short period of time. His weakness therefore was if he should ever be left without any mana or unable to ess it.


    The clear solution to his issue was his curse theory. If he could figure out how the abyssal being managed to make use of curse man, even in its base form, it would provide him with an alternative from his reliance on his Legendary skill.


    His day in the mine focusing on the curse mana inside the ore however proved useless. He did get a good workout from his mining skill but he was no closer to working out how to use curse mana for his own benefit than when he started.


    From the looks of it curse mana instantly became attached to the first thing it came in contact with. When he tried to conjure it from his own mana pool it stuck to him and tried to convert the rest of his mana pool to curse mana. When the imps used it it melded with the fire mana to create the ck mes. Finally when the hellhounds used it dispersed into the atmosphere when they missed but cursed the bite site when their fangs dug in. It was unlike any other mana type he had evere in contact with and if he was to guess [Curse Mana Aspect] was definitely a Legendary if not even a Mythic level skill.


    As he received his two hellhound skins Ajax decided to trade them both for a chance to get his weapons enchanted by one of the crafters once they got a change back on the outside. It wasn¡¯t exactly a fair deal on either side: Ajax couldn¡¯t make use of the two hellhounds skins he had earned due to ack of skill but at the same time two hellhound skins were worth a lot more than a set of enchantments for a sword axe and hammer crafted frommon steel.


    It wasn¡¯t until the fourth day of the expedition, as the mining vein was running dry that a massive attack formed of both imps and hellhounds stuck. Thankfully the imps were not only slow on the open fields but they alsocked camouge giving the team ample time to get ready.


    The surprise of the hellhounds was not something they were expecting but something that they could manage with thebatants at higher levels. Ajax was in the thick of it with the rest of thebatants but he kept a close eye on what both the imps and the hellhounds were doing.


    Surprisingly it was the imps that finally gave it away as the fight drew to a close Ajax finally felt his shed imbue curse mana into both sides of the flesh as he decapitated an imp. He had just gained the Epic skill [Cursed sh].

 Chapter 187

    Chapter 187


    Ajax was overloaded with information following the strike. Not only from the system as the skill imparted the necessary muscle memory for him to use it but also from everything else he was observing as he was carefully monitoring everything.


    With the battle still ongoing he didn¡¯t take a look at the notifications he could feel popping up and simply focused on the fight. He did feel a slight difort in his left arm following the sh so didn¡¯t make any attempts at using the newly gained skill. A few more wind empowered shes made quick work of the imps near him, by the time he was done with that the rest of the team had already finished off everything else so he got back to the camp to review his notifications.


    The first notification to quickly assert itself was an obvious one. One that he should very honestly have expected since the moment he thought about testing this skill.


    Curse of Weakness


    Type : Temporary


    Strength : Minor


    Effect : Strength lowered by 10 in the left arm.


    Cause : absorbing too much cursed mana in the left arm


    Duration : 15 minIn order to generate the cursed mana required Ajax had sacrificed his Stamina. Sadly without the use of a skill to guide the mana in any way a bit of the generated mana got absorbed into his left arm. Thankfully the amount was small enough that the curse was temporary and it wasn¡¯t any cause for concern so Ajax would just have to wait it out.


    As Ajax felt out the skill he knew that he had also gained a method of somewhat directing the curse mana generated, future uses of the skill wouldn¡¯t be affecting him, not only that but they wouldn¡¯t be affecting his sword or axe either, an important boon as even a single brush with curse mana seemed to have had some effect on his sword. Considering the effect on the imp was easily visible he knew that a decent amount of curse mana was generated.


    As he inspected the de Ajax could tell that it would need to be sharpened, not only that but his [cksmith] skill was pointing him towards some minor structural damage as well. Curse mana was definitely more destructive than any other mana type he had interacted with, the only one that came close was Void and that one bypassed defenses to strike at the target.


    The next aspect Ajax examined was the cost, that single strike had lowered his stamina by a staggering two hundred. He knew that he would have to do some tests with his new skill but if the cost hadn¡¯t decreased with him gaining the skill he would have to use it sparingly, That or his reliance on [<em>Berserker</em>] would increase drastically.


    His next notification was one that he had a hard time notughing at.


    Achievement: Maybe Curses are not for you.


    Have the first three curses inflicted by you also have you as the target.


    Requires one Discoveries to earn : Some mana types are inherently aggressive to some hosts. (Has been discovered by others before you)


    Reward : [Curse Resistance] skill.


    All of his inclination tough was lost as he read thest line of the Achievement. How can he gain a reward that he already has? Not only had this Achievement not given him anything, he had in fact lost one Discovery for it. It wasn¡¯t until his next notification that his outrage subsided.


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    Reimbursement


    You have been awarded a Reward you already possess.


    Reward offered : [Curse Resistance] Skill.


    Reimbursement : [Curse Resistance] increased by 10 levels.


    The Reimbursement notification not only meant that he had gained 10 levels, but he was sure that finding out about Reimbursements also meant that he had regained the Discovery he lost gaining the Achievement in the first ce.


    ¡°No you can¡¯t use it!¡± the exmation of the smith brought Ajax¡¯s attention back to the here and now.


    ¡°Why not?¡± thebatant that was examining the sword the smith had spent two days working out asked.


    ¡°I made it, if anybody is going to be using it for the short time it will exist it might as well be me.¡± the smith said as he reached for the handle.


    Ajax hadn¡¯t had the chance to properly examine the de in question but looking at it from afar he had to admit it looked like a very good weapon, not the best he had seen by a long shot after his he took a look at his physical instructors weapons in the first ss delve , but much better than his sword. The workmanship on his de was actually slightly better, just eyeballing it but his was made out of simple steel whereas this de was made out of mana infused steel.


    ¡°None of you are going to use it.¡± Nina interrupted the argument with a stern voice.


    ¡°But why not?¡± the smith asked.


    ¡°Because it¡¯s Cursed.¡± Nina said.


    This statement instantly brought Ajax from barely being aware of the argument to giving it his undivided attention. Was he going to get some information on how curses work?


    ¡°It¡¯s Cursed?¡± thebatant dropped it like the handle suddenly burst into mes.


    ¡°Yes it is.¡± Nina confirmed.


    Nobody questioned Nina¡¯s deration as such everyone in the vicinity was giving the sword on the floor a dirty look.


    ¡°What did I do wrong?¡± the smith asked.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t manage the mana pathways inside the metal when you forged it.¡± Nina said. ¡°Almost all of the equipment forged from the steel we pulled out of the mine is cursed. It wasn¡¯t something you, rather it was what you didn¡¯t do.¡±


    Everyone was quick to put it together that all of the metal was cursed. Two people that were sharing the tent closest to the pile of smelted bars started heading over and moving their tent to a ce further away.


    ¡°Cursed metal isn¡¯t all bad.¡± Nina exined to all the crafters as they had all approached once they found out something was wrong with the steel. ¡° If we manage to find any cursed ore that we can take outside you will find that it is one of the most expensive mana infused forms of steel.¡±


    ¡°Howe?¡± the smith asked, his reluctance turned into fascination as he listened to her exin his craft.


    ¡°Cursed items aren¡¯t all inherently bad. In fact cursed items are some of the strongest items out there. This alles down to the form of curse they inflict.¡± she said. ¡°Your sword simply generates and releases curse mana, this means that the wielder will be constantly exposed while also allowing any cuts made with the weapon to only infect the target with small amounts at a time. With proper care put into the mana pathways of the de the curse can be changed¡±


    ¡°How can the curse be changed?¡± one of the other crafters asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m not all that sure.¡± Nina admitted. ¡°I am not an expert on crafting with curse infused reagents as finding them in cksmithing is not usual.¡± As she said this she pulled out the de that she had crafted in her time in the dungeon.


    ¡°This de here isn¡¯t that much different from the one he made. At least when ites to how it handles the cursed mana¡± her little joke helped loosen the atmosphere. ¡°All I did was make clear mana pathways throughout the metal to lead the curse mana the steel naturally generates to the outside of the de through the edge.¡±


    ¡°This means that unless the wielder cuts himself he won¡¯t be exposed to the mana.¡± she took on a bit of a predatory smile after that. ¡°But it also means that the amount of mana that is infused into the target when cut is a lot bigger.¡±


    ¡°Can you give us an example of a different type of cursed item?¡± one of the other crafters asked.


    ¡°Of course, but I would warn you not to go around spreading the information around as the royal family isn¡¯t too keen on it being spread everywhere.¡± Nina nodded. ¡°They have a cursed rapier that takes stamina from its wielder every time itnds a blow on a living being. In exchange for that it takes two hundred points of mana from the target.¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t sound like all that great of a thing.¡± thebatant who originally wanted to take the de for a spin said. ¡°I¡¯d much rather have a good enchanted de.¡±


    ¡°I never said that the curse de can¡¯t be enchanted.¡± Nina corrected him. ¡°In fact curses can be used to allow for stronger enchantments to be ced on the weapon. The rapier in question is enchanted to store the mana it drains from its victims, that mana can then be used to release wind shes.¡±


    This new information made Ajax extremely d to have received the ten extra levels in curse resistance. He knew that he was overly paranoid towards the mana type because it was new to him and he fully intended to research it further.


    One of the other things he wanted to research was if the Achievement he earned had multiple types. While he had used poisons in the past all of them were bought or extracted straight from an animal, what if he could gain ten levels in poison resistance for creating three different types of poison and using them on himself first.

 Chapter 188

    Chapter 188


    For the next few days the team had finished mining out the iron deposit, not only that but the number of attacks on their camp had increased in number. This was to be expected as both imps and hellhounds weren¡¯t stationary monsters so they had cleared up most of the floor already.


    Ajax spent his time as one of the more popr leather crafters during this time. Most of the reason for this was that he was one of only two that were using the leather as insoles for the te and mail armor the rest were making. As for why he was the preferred option, the reason for that was simple : he was worse at making it and his quality suffered.


    The question as to why he would be the preferred option if his work was worse was one that stumped him. The answer he got didn¡¯t improve his ego, apparently putting together a finished work with subpar materials pushed skills harder and rewarded more experience to the crafter making his subpar work a better use of their time.


    Despite searching the rest of the caves they could find there was no other sizable deposit of steel. They had found one or two more small deposits but they were buried so deep that it would have taken a few days of digging just to get to them so they decided to leave them and finish clearing out the floor.


    As they cleared out the floor Ajax¡¯s luck shone through again, despite not taking part in the fight with the hellhound pack or the two imp hordes that ended up being formed out of monsters that they could then take back outside he did kill off both of the other gargoyles that shared the same traits, leading him to having a sizeable amount of their coal.


    By the end of their delve everyone was standing in front of the archway drenched in sweat. The harsh abyssal climate hadn¡¯t let up in the least and they were all ready for a much needed shower. Ajax was very happy with the oue of the delve however.


    <strong>Name</strong> : Ajax


    <strong>Level</strong> :31


    <strong>Experience</strong> : 53510/55100<strong>Traits</strong>: Divine Witness


    <strong>Health</strong>: 2250/2250


    <strong>Mana</strong>: 1200/2260


    <strong>Stamina</strong> :500/1860


    <strong>Vitality</strong> : 226


    <strong>Strength</strong> :187


    <strong>Endurance</strong> :187


    <strong>Dexterity</strong> : 187


    <strong>Intellect </strong>: 227


    <strong>Wisdom</strong> : 227


    <strong>Mind</strong> : 227


    <strong>Perception</strong> : 187


    <strong>Stat Points</strong> :0


    <strong>Skills</strong> :<ul><ul><li><strong>Common :</strong>[Mathematics Lvl 26] [Stealth Lvl 30][Drawing Lvl 35][Athleticism Lvl 35] [Running Lvl 36][Reading Lvl 22][Writing Lvl 22][Cooking Lvl 29][Sewing Lvl 20] [Cleaning Lvl 20][Haggling Lvl 20][Gardening Lvl 20][Axes Lvl 40][Hammers Lvl 40 [Deception Lvl 27][Sword Lvl 40][Shield Lvl 40][Bow Lvl 40][Spear Lvl 40][Throwing Lvl 30][Persuasion Lvl 10][Unarmed Combat Lvl 35][Knives Lvl 40][Skinning Lvl 34][Tanning Lvl 19][Dismantle Lvl 41][Climbing Lvl 30][Tracking Lvl 30][Heat Resistance Lvl 21] [Poison Resistance Lvl 25][Pain Resistance Lvl 20][Trapping Lvl 25][Cold Resistance Lvl 5]</li><li><strong>Umon :</strong>[Meditation Lvl 50][Sense Mana Lvl 50][Expel Mana Lvl 50][Sprinting Lvl 35][Mining Lvl 19][Lumberjack Lvl 10][Smelting Lvl 10][cksmithing Lvl 10] [Chanting Lvl 11][Mana Farming Lvl 12][Increase Price Lvl 10][Lower Price Lvl 10][Danger Sense Lvl 30][Leatherworking Lvl 21][Alchemy Lvl 10][Mana Milling Lvl 6][Precise Cut Lvl 35][Precise Blow Lvl 35][Judge Threat Lvl 30][ Piercing Shot Lvl 35] [<em>Berserker </em>Lvl 10][Cooperation Lvl 20][Berserker Style Lvl 10]</li><li><strong>Rare : </strong>[Manipte Mana Lvl 40][Water Aspect Mana Lvl 40][Fire Aspect Mana Lvl 40] [Air Aspect Mana Lvl 40][Earth Aspect Mana Lvl 40][Inject Mana Lvl 40][Spot Weakness Lvl 25][Residue Recognition Lvl 20] [Light Aspect Mana Lvl 40][Shadow Aspect Mana Lvl 40][<em>Mana Skin </em>Lvl 20][Teamwork Lvl 12][Beekeeping Trailzer Lvl 3][Curse Resistance Lvl 12]</li></ul></ul><ul><li><strong>Epic : </strong>[Mana Augmentation Lvl 30][Mana Conjuration Lvl 25][Lightning Aspect Mana Lvl 20][Metal Aspect Mana Lvl 20][Ice Aspect Mana Lvl 20][Magma Aspect Mana Lvl 20][Holy Aspect Mana Lvl 12][Void Aspect Mana Lvl 20][Curse sh Lvl 1]</li></ul><ul><li><strong>Legendary : </strong>[Mana Syphon Lvl 27][Enigma Lvl 5]</li></ul>


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    New :


    Curse Resistance 0 -> 12


    Curse sh 0 -> 1


    Upgrades:


    Cooking 26 -> 29


    Skinning 30 -> 34


    Tanning 10 -> 19


    Dismantle 40 -> 41


    Heat Resistance 19 -> 21


    Mining 10 -> 19


    Leatherworking 10 -> 21


    Beekeeping Trailzer 1-> 3


    Mana Syphon 26 -> 27


    Enigma 1 -> 5


    A single delve had just granted him almost fifty thousand experience. He knew that he had never delved such a strong floor before but the result was beyond his expectations. He even suspected that the achievement that earned him ten skill levels in Curse resistance had also granted him the experience rted to raising the skill.


    After such an oue Ajax was nning to practice all of his profession skills a lot more in the dungeon, even if he would never really reach extreme proficiency in most of them the sheer amount of experience he could gain from them was worth considering. In fact getting practice with his crafting professions was something he would be able to do well when he was delving with the ss.


    After their first delve the ss would be given a lot more leeway as such Ajax would be fine setting up in their base camp or on his own in a remote part and then mining, smelting or brewing potions as much as he wanted. In fact the first floors of both dungeons had ample supply of nts that could be used in making very subpar quality potions, trying to make anything worthwhile out of them would do wonders for his [Alchemy], he could even get a good handle on [Mana Milling] as he was sure Nina had the smelting version of the skill but he hadn¡¯t asked for pointers on that just yet.


    ¡°Do you have any idea what you are going to do with those?¡± Nina asked him as they were making their way out from the dungeon grounds.


    ¡°Most likely sell them¡± Ajax admitted as he looked back at his backpack where his share of the mana cores and the remains of the three gargoyle were ced. ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°If they were normal monsters, I would have offered to buy them on behalf of house Silvertongue.¡± she said. ¡°But since they are gargoyles they don¡¯t have an epted market rate, I do however suggest that you sell them somewhat discreetly.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t gargoyles have a market rate?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Because unlike most other monsters their corpses are purely made of coal. Most monsters have different parts that fluctuate in price but as a whole they are mostly consistent.¡± she exined. ¡°I could offer to buy the coal from you as well, but if I were to lowball you it wouldn¡¯t look good for house Sylvertongue and I was asked not to highball you in any way either, the price for the gargoyle has also been vtile thesest months. The best I can do is this warning to be discreet about selling it.


    Ajax nodded his thanks then bid farewell to the team as he headed back home and took a much needed bath. He also didn¡¯t hesitate to toss his armor in soapy water and leave it there for it to soak, as for the clothes he wore beneath his armor those were taken to a corner of the yard outside and burnt before the smell could spread any further.


    On the whole the delve had taken eight days, this gave him a few days off before his next cycle of sses would start again. His n for tomorrow was to go to the library first thing in the morning, after that his schedule would depend a lot on how much information he found there on curse mana.


    He would also be spending most of his nights out in his fields, not only would most of his practice with the curse mana need to happen in the forest and away from prying eyes but he also needed to get back to his mana infusion for the nts his bees will be collecting from.


    He slept in a lot longer than he normally would the next morning. Ajax hadn¡¯t realized just how exhausting it had been to stay in the abyssal atmosphere for those eight days, he could feel his body groan andin, he wasn¡¯t sure if any of that had something to do with the amount of curse mana he had put through it in thest week but he was about to find out.


    As he arrived at the library he gave a polite greeting to the old librarian before he made a beeline for the Curse section. He could have tried to be more discreet about what he was pursuing but he didn¡¯t think he had a chance to sneak anything past a noble that had survived thousands of years of plotting and scheming.


    ¡°And we¡¯re back to curses are we?¡± he heard the man''s voice despite not knowing when he got so close. ¡°Something you might want some help with?¡±


    This conversation however had a bit of an edge to it. Ajax didn¡¯t know it but the reason for his ufortable feeling was the old man¡¯s aura. The old man had lived through wars and this was the second time a prodigy the likes of which he has never seen was looking through the curse section, the sheer cmity that could mean was not something he would let happen without a bit of investigating and prodding.

 Chapter 189

    Chapter 189


    ¡°Yes¡± Ajax nodded eagerly, surprising the old man. ¡°I just came out of an Abyssal themed floor and I was cursed, more than once.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡± All of the righteousness and anger was reced with an undercurrent of guilt as the old man deted. ¡°What, kind of curses, are they progressing right now?¡±


    Ajax realized now that he hadn¡¯t properly expressed himself. ¡°They were all minor and temporary, no longer than an hour. But I want to know if it would have any adverse effects on me in the long term.


    ¡°From three minor ones, you should be fine.¡± The old man said as he turned around and plucked a scroll from the shelf. ¡°Just to be on the safe side you should make sure to avoid getting hit by simr types again so soon. Which types were you hit by?¡±


    ¡°There are multiple types?¡± Ajax sounded surprised since the System didn¡¯t have a Category like that.


    ¡°They do.¡± the old man nodded. ¡°Most lethal but also the easiest to cure if the infection type, applied to a wound directly, targets the flesh. Then there is the mana corruption, curse mana mixes into your mana pool. Causes weakness and weakens the mana channels in your body. Bacsh curses, most oftene from curse weapons but they are mostly a double edge sword, but one you can be sure your opponent took the worst off as long as you connect. And¡­¡±


    ¡°And?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°Controlled, cursed mana attached to you with a purpose. The least immediately dangerous but the most versatile. Not something that would appear on a third floor of a dungeon since none of those creatures can actually manipte the cursed mana.¡± he waved it away.


    ¡°It was mana corruption, all three times.¡± Ajax admitted.¡°That¡¯s not good, lucky enough for you the exposure was minimal.¡± he shook his head a little. ¡°I suggest you take the next few days away from your mana practice and simply focus on expelling your mana, maybe injecting it but definitely no maniption or control of any way. That should refresh your mana channels.¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡± Ajax dipped his head.


    ¡°How did you get cursed three times with mana corruption?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Well¡­¡± Ajax rubbed the back of his head, he wasn¡¯t about to admit to [Mana Syphon] but everything else was easily exinable. ¡°I initially learned magic by copying monsters who could control it, kobold casters to be specific, so I tried the same thing with the cursed mana since I hadn¡¯t run into it before.¡±


    ¡°Well that was stupid.¡± the old man said. ¡°Surprised it passed so quickly, if you generated any cursed mana yourself it would start to infect you mana pool so quickly you wouldn¡¯t even have time to use it.¡±


    ¡°That got me cursed.¡± Ajax nodded. ¡°But I figured out from the hellhounds that you can also get it in exchange for stamina, though using it gets a bit tricky.¡±


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    ¡°Tricky is an understatement.¡± the old man agreed ¡° But the way to use curse mana generated through loss of stamina is by either applying it directly to your opponent or mixing it with some mana you can control that you have alreadyunched. Though I advise you to give up on it, the skills that do that without cursing yourself are Epic rarity.¡±


    ¡°You ain¡¯t gotta tell me.¡± Ajax mumbled under his breath.


    Apparently that was still too loud as the old man turned back, fixing him with a look. ¡°You got an Epic stamina based cursed skill?¡± Balthazar''s next movement was odd for Ajax to watch, it seemed to him like someone put the old man on fast forward and he dashed to him. ¡°Which one?¡±


    ¡°[Cursed sh].¡± Ajax said softly.


    ¡°That¡¯s pretty good, better than the one he has from straight upbat though it would lose some of the assasination potential.¡± it was Balthazar¡¯s turn to mumble loud enough for Ajax to hear.


    ¡°Who are you talking about?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°There is only one other person, that I know of at least, that can use stamina based cursed attacks in the kingdom. He is one of the royal group leaders, high level and skilled too. Combine that with his [Cursed Stab], he is not someone you want to meet in a dark alley.¡± Even the ancient Vitality stacker didn¡¯t seem to want to pick a fight with someone like that.


    ¡°I would also advise you to keep this skill under your hat for a while.¡± the old man continued with a hint of gravitas.


    ¡°I know better than to go around telling everyone I have a skill that uses curses.¡± Ajax retorted a bit aggrieved.


    ¡°That¡¯s not what I meant. Under normal circumstances I would tell you to get as much practice with it as you can once you rest your mana channels.¡± the old man shook his head. ¡°Even now sharing that skill with a few nobles here and there wouldn¡¯t be all that much the idea is for themoners not to hear about it.¡±


    ¡°And why would that matter?¡± Ajax was getting a bit heated, after all he was amoner too.


    ¡°For the same reason the assassin and his entire squad were sent on a mission away from the capital. That brat, what¡¯s his name, just released a que on the capital, then he all but lynched an entire city after he ran away. Commoners don¡¯t know enough to distinguish between disease enhanced by curses and stamina sacrificial curse generation.¡± the old man spread his arms as if it was obvious. ¡°His trial is next week, I say give it at least a month after it¡¯s all done to settle down.¡±


    Ajax could help but agree with Balthazar here. A person was smart, even if they didn¡¯t have much schooling. If you exined it to them they would understand the difference between his skill and the genocidal gue doctor. However people as a collective were dumb, quick to make snap decisions even more so when they were powered by fear and anger.


    ¡°Anyway, you have ess to curse mana now.¡± Balthazar jumped to a different point. ¡°Oh the possibilities. I could never get that muscle head to work with me at all but now we have a chance.¡±


    Ajax felt a little like ab rat as the old man eyed him. The feeling passed in a second ¡° I have an apprentice that is rather skilled with many types of mana, would you be open to working with her and me so we can document what happens when certain mana types mix with curse mana?¡±


    The offer surprised Ajax, more so that it was an offer at all rather than amand that he would help with testing. Ajax was also very much interested in that same result, not only that but he would get a chance to analyze a lot of mana types up close when running this experiment, it was all upside.


    ¡°I would be rather interested.¡± Ajax admitted.


    ¡°Great,e back here tomorrow at noon¡­¡± He drifted off as he took a longer look at Ajax. ¡°No, not tomorrow. You should first rest your mana channels. I¡¯m sure that I should be able to get her toe for three days after school once the new cycle starts.¡±


    Ajax took the hint and grabbed the scroll he was given and read it quickly before he made for his bee hives. Since he was going to just be releasing mana on mass he might as well put it to good use as nourishment for the trees and nts there.


    Ajax¡¯s arms started to feel slightly itchy after the first two hundred mana points. He knew that Holy mana and Curse mana were highly reactive to each other but he couldn¡¯t feel any trace of the curse mana in his channels yet passing holy mana through it to nourish the nts felt like an allergic reaction.


    As for why he was using holy mana the answer to that was simple. He first nned to make use of sustainable qualities of honey for medical purposes, perhaps a honeyed mead or two on the side as well. For that Holy was the best aspect to use, at least from those he had ess to.


    That night Ajax fell asleep the moment his head hit the pillow. Not only was emptying one''s mana pool also a quick way for them to get tired and sleepy but he had done that exact same thing night after night as a before sleep ritual as a child.


    His final thoughts as he went to sleep was that he should visit Hatchet and Luna tomorrow. It had been a while since he had talked to them, not only that but he wanted to start buying materials to start getting his [Alchemy] off the ground again and Luna would be very well connected with at least a few alchemists and their suppliers.

 Chapter 190

    Chapter 190


    ¡°So, you¡¯re not only telling me that you somehow managed to get a stamina based cursed skill, something which only one other person in the kingdom has, but you also decided to focus on crafting?¡± Luna said as she looked to be nursing a headache. ¡°This on top of your hybrid fighting style?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Ajax confirmed.


    ¡°Under normal circumstances I would congratte you for your dedication to see through any and all potential you have but what you''re doing is stupid.¡± Luna said.


    ¡°How so?¡± Hatchet was the one who asked that.


    ¡°Because he doesn¡¯t have the funds to keep that up.¡± Alfred answered from the side of the room. ¡°Had he joined a noble family they would have made sure he had the resources he needs to stretch himself over all these fields.¡±


    ¡°He can also make money by himself.¡± Hatchet argues.


    ¡°That would be true,¡± Alfred conceded. ¡°If all his skills were at the same point and he was splitting his time equally then all he would need is a bit of luck, but even that would slow down his progressionpared to focusing on only one aspect.¡±


    ¡°Alchemy is a very expensive profession.¡± Luna picked up. ¡°He will need to spendrge amounts of money progressing to the point that he can use the nts he will now find in the floors he delves. Not to mention that those materials usually have a short shelf life and he can¡¯t keep anything he finds now forter.¡±


    ¡°What if I already had a starting fund?¡± Ajax asked as he thought of the around one thousand gold he still had left over.¡°That could work.¡± Alfred conceded. ¡°But it would need to be arge amount. Taking your, let''s call it abnormal, progress speed into consideration, the equipment you would need to buy for alchemy will cost you three to four hundred gold by itself.¡±


    The number was like a punch in the gut for Ajax. ¡°Not to mention that you will have problems selling your wares. Few people would trust your skills enough to buy and those that do won¡¯t be paying top prices for a while.¡±


    ¡°Why not?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°Because master alchemists already fill that niche. Progressing is more expensive the further up you go. Master alchemists keep selling near wless potions at almost every level to get as much funding as they can.¡± he exined.


    Ajax had a tough time here. There was just too much to do and too little time, between his magic, his physical skills, his time in the academy and his crafting something had to give. His time in the academy and crafting was also connected since the teachers there could help him progress much faster than he could by himself so hisbat time would have to take the hit.


    ¡°It will still be worth it.¡± Ajax said aloud though he was mostly trying to convince himself.


    ¡°Your meteoric rise in levels will not slow¡± Luna entuated.


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    And that was where the crux of it was. It wasn¡¯t that his progress would slow downpared to normal, simply put it would continue off the back of the rest of the skills he would be progressing. This would mean that he wouldn¡¯t be able to keep jumping that many levels at once since hisbat skills wouldn¡¯t be growing fast enough.


    ¡°That¡¯s fine, their leveling has already started to teau. Maybe a few more stats will be what I need to push them further.¡±


    ¡°If you are so adamant about this I won¡¯t try to persuade you any further.¡± Luna shook her head in dismay.


    The reason why Ajax had be so adamant in getting his crafting to a higher level was that he realized it would only be a matter of time, time that he would have because of how high his stats were, until he would have few people who would be able to delve with him. That would also mean that almost nobody would be skilled enough to use the materials he would need to keep up with the ever growing power of the dungeon, he would need to be his own craftsman in the end so dying his growth in power now would mean he would not need to dy itter.


    ¡°Mydy, not to overstep but maybe he would be a good choice for it.¡± Alfred said as he looked to be thinking about something.


    ¡°Yes, he most likely would but I doubt he will be given the chance.¡± Luna countered.


    Ajax hated the cloak and dagger speak, why couldn¡¯t they just be upfront about whatever it was.


    ¡°Some time in the future there will be an opportunity for you, Ajax. Sadly the king has ensured all who know what it is are unable to inform those who could take advantage of it.¡± she let out a sigh. ¡°The only reason I know is because of my position as guild leader, what I can tell you is that you should make sure to enter the end of year tournaments for the academy and perform well.¡±


    Ajax simply nodded. He could tell that it wasn¡¯t that they didn¡¯t want to tell him, the king most likely did this to ensure that the noble houses didn¡¯t end up in an open war by proxy with their heirs for the opportunity. Though taking it would most likely put a bullseye on his back that would have nothing to do with people wanting to acquire him as much as payback.


    ¡°I will, thank you.¡± he responded.


    ¡°Don¡¯t thank me yet, though I think you would find the opportunity exciting to say the least.¡± Luna said good naturedly.


    With that Ajax had his n set for the foreseeable future. The first thing he did was take a quick trip to the Academy. Sadly he found out that his Alchemy professor wasn¡¯t present, not only that but she would only be back on the first day of the new cycle so Ajax would have to wait until then to consult her. So he made his way to the library.


    As he was walking up Ajax felt the aura of both the headmaster and the librarian, meaning that both of them were present, not only that but he also felt another aura he hadn¡¯t sensed before, one that was stronger than professor Silvertongue.


    ¡°Ajax, why are you here?¡± Balthazar asked as he entered the library. ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you to rest?¡±


    ¡°So, this is him?¡± A woman that looked to be in her early thirties asked. She was dressed in ornate robes marked with the sigil of the royal family, she was also rather short but despite that she had a noble posture and cold eyes. ¡°We could get started right now.¡±


    ¡°Absolutely not!¡± the old man refused. ¡°I will make the official introductions next time. Ajax it would be best for you to leave for now and get your rest.¡±


    Ajax did as he was told, he had a few questions about the woman he was sure would be there to help with the experiments regarding cursed mana but all that could wait a few days.


    As he was passing by Ajax noticed something odd. Bees didn¡¯t naturally form hives so close together in nature, at least not so many of them. Not only that but he had just removed most of the hives that were close to the entrance to the forest. This would have a marked effect on the yield the farming fields would have.


    Whereas before fields closer to the forest would be the to be pollinated now it would be the fields closest to his patch of unwantednd. Sadly he didn¡¯t have any way to take advantage of this as he simply didn¡¯t have the funds to buy the fields near his own.


    A lot of his limitations seemed toe from the fact that he was always without funds. Not only that but any avenue to generate those funds needed start-up funds of their own. Ajax''s respect for what his sister and na had managed to do in a few years grew immensely.


    That¡¯s when he realized, even if he didn¡¯t have the knowledge to act on the idea, there was value in sharing it with another. A merchant organization would be very interested in that information. Not only that but he would need to build a good rtionship with a merchant organization if he was to have a steady supply of materials at a reasonable cost once he started progressing his alchemy.


    He slowly took out the sigil his mother had given him before he left for the capital. He had been thinking whether or not his grandparents deserved a chance or not, after all they had effectively abandoned them once his mother made his choice.


    In the end Ajax decided to pay them a visit tomorrow, if nothing else he wanted to get their take on it, there were two sides to every story and even if he would never agree with their decision he still wanted to hear them out.

 Chapter 191

    Chapter 191


    It was almost mid day by the time Ajax started heading towards the city. He had spent a good portion of his mana that morning taking care of his medicinal nts that were finally starting to sprout flowers. He knew it was early but his mana had always made nts grow faster and he was outputting quite a bit of it for that purpose on a daily basis.


    He hadn¡¯t yet used any of the elemental mana types since he didn¡¯t know what if any effect that may have on the nts andter the flowers. The wide smile on his face however was represented by the fact that he felt some mana take hold in those nts. It wasn¡¯t much, and considering how quickly they were growing by the time they would be perfect for picking in a month they would barely have enough mana to qualify them as mana enhanced nts but they would still be much more profitable.


    Ajax had to assume that the reason for this was his [Inject Mana] skill. It was the only one he didn¡¯t have back when he was a child which meant that he wasn¡¯t wasting any mana and ensuring that everything he spent at least made it into the nt initially before beingter released.


    Out of curiosity he had also tried to use mana injection on a bee but not only was the process much harder but after he put fifty mana into it the bee burst into dust. Clearly you couldn¡¯t make mana enhanced creatures the same way as with nts. Or maybe you just had to go about it the same way and infuse them from infancy? That wasn¡¯t an experiment he was willing to test if the end result was a monster.


    Entering the city Ajax headed straight for the merchant section of the city. He wasn¡¯t carrying much this time, just a small bit of gargoyle coal as well as a core from the hellhounds, gargoyles and imps each. He had debated keeping the higher levels cores for Fluffy as he was expecting the shadow cat to have the biggest progress out of his entire family the next time he saw them but he decided against it since he could still feel the curse mana inside the cores. Sure curse was one of the mana types that would go well with the darkness affinity already present in the cat, still everything besides strength was all but sure to take a wrong turn.


    Ajax spent the first two hours getting a good look at the ce. All he did was go from store to store and big front to big front trying to get an idea of who were the big yers and how the organization his grandparents had was positioned.


    After a thorough inspection Ajax had to admit he was rather surprised by all the small stores that were found there. What surprised him was that some of them looked to have been there for some time, an idea that sounded ludicrous since the big stores could always target them and put them out of business before returning the market to the status quo.


    The market was split up into four levels. The top and the bottom were easy to pick out, the bottom were the small mainly crafter run operations that all specified on one small domain to edge out a profit. The top were split up into two further groups, the local yers made up by the ducal houses that were vying for the seat of Archduke Goldmancer and the international trading groups that went so far as to have branches in other kingdoms and used their widerwork topete with the nobles.


    Working with anyone from either group was a non-option for him at this point. If he went to the top organizations they would request massivemitments from him just to form a contract, even those that wouldn''t have would have members that would be happy to sell any information on him they might have for a good price. The bottom shops were not only too specialized to make them good partners since he would be selling off most of the stuff he didn¡¯t need from dungeons but they were also in a position for someone to juice them for information like an orange if their partnership made the rounds of nobility.That left him with the low and high levels. Unlike the bottom and top they were actually rtively close together and contained around 80% of the shops in the section. The difference between the low and the high was whether or not they had opened a good size branch in another big city.


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    From his short reconnaissance he found out that his grandparents actually had the best organization from the low level ones, in fact many believed they were a lot better than a lot of the high level ones but they simply never expanded leaving them in the low tier.


    Besides investigating the market ce he had also asked around and gotten a good idea about what the market price for the coal and the cores should be. Surprisingly, or maybe unsurprisingly depending how you look at it, his cores actually dropped in value significantly every time he mentioned they were from abyssal creatures. The uing trial of a curse user was clearly having an effect. In the same vain everyone wanted to get their hands on the gargoyle ore as they thought the idea of burning the remains of such a creature was a good thing.


    With all that taken care of he went ahead and entered the shop. Well, calling it a shop is not doing it justice, it was more like the food courts that you found in malls back on Earth, a lot of small sections that had their dedicated space only they weren¡¯tpeting with each other as they all offered something different.


    In the back center of the shopping floor was a counter that blocked off the stairs leading to the second level. Ajax wasn¡¯t sure if the offices were on the levels above but from the vertical size of the building he was sure that there had to be at least one floor that was dedicated to VIP¡¯s if not more before you got to any offices.


    Ajax wandered through the first floor as he saw the man at the counter was busy and had a small line waiting for his attention. In the meantime he decided to take a look at what exactly this ce had to offer.


    The first thing he noticed when he focused more on the products sold was that all of them were finished, they weren¡¯t selling any materials anywhere. This ofcourse didn¡¯t mean that they couldn¡¯t procure them but more likely that they only dealt in bulk order or previously agreed upon deliveries.


    The second thing he noticed was that the range of items was thergest he had seen in any of the organizations he entered in terms of quality. They had a few poor quality beginner gear all the way to gear that was clearly expertly made for level seventies at the very least. Despite therge selection everything seemed to have what Ajax thought was a fair price, at least until the gear started being advertised towards level fifties where he lost his frame of reference.


    From what he could see most of the customers that came in went straight for the items they wanted, bought them and went back out, very few were browsing the wares like him. He also noticed the two guards that were moving around discreetly, he was sure they had some sort of stealth skill since had lost track of them a few times even though he was trying not to. He didn¡¯t want to use [Judge Threat] on them so he couldn¡¯t be sure of their strength.


    When the Line finally disappeared Ajax approached the counter.


    ¡°Hello, sir.¡± The man behind the counter greeted politely. ¡°Is there anything I can help you with?¡±


    ¡°I am looking to sell a few cores and some other things I pulled out of the dungeon.¡± Ajax responded.


    ¡°I¡¯d be happy to get all that appraised for you.¡± the man said, though he did give Ajax a surprised look. ¡° Would this be a one time affair or are you looking for something long term?¡±


    ¡°I want to see what kind of long term deal I could get.¡± Ajax confirmed. ¡°I would also be looking to buy items I require from here as well.¡±


    ¡°Very well.¡± the man nodded politely. ¡°Do you have a form of identification? An adventurer¡¯s Guild badge would do.¡±


    ¡°I have this.¡± Ajax responded as he ced the token his mother had given him on the counter.


    The man gave an impressed nod before picking up the token to take a close look at it. The moment he did his eye widened in surprise for a moment so brief Ajax thought he¡¯d imagined it. After that ced the token back in front of Ajax and pulled out a piece of paper to scribble something on, something he hadn¡¯t let Ajax see.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid you¡¯d have to wait for a moment while I get that identified as it looks like one of our older models.¡± he said as he passed the piece of paper to a man that stood guard behind him at the stairs to take it up. ¡°Could I have a look at what you are hoping to sell in the meantime?¡±


    Ajaxpiled and pulled out the three different core types as well as the piece of wrapped up gargoyle ore. The man took his time inspecting all three cores and then unwarping the ore.


    ¡°Hmm,¡± the man said as he rubbed his small beard. ¡°Cores from an Abyssal floor, a low one judging by the strength. I can see why you would want a long term contract, the market price on these just fell off a cliff. The ore on the other hand should you a tidy-¡±


    Ajax didn¡¯t listen anymore as he dodged to the left as his [Danger Sense] activated, he did so just in time to see the hand of one of the guards that was wandering the floor grasp the empty air where his shoulder had been.


    ¡°What is this?¡± Ajax said as he whirled to see that the other guard had moved into position to cut off his line to the exit.


    ¡°The owner would like to have a private talk with you sir.¡± a third guard said from the top of the steps. This one was better equipped than the other two and a quick [Sense Threat] Put him above Ajax¡¯s power level by a decent chunk, though nowhere near anyone the level of professor Silvertongue. ¡°I¡¯m afraid he insists on it, though your safety for the duration and your freedom following it are guaranteed.¡±

 Chapter 192

    Chapter 192


    Elija P.O.V.


    Thest few months have been hard. That foolish power hungry little nitwit had done massive damage to the local economy with his curse infused sicknesses and looking over the contracts we had to fulfill I was starting to get annoyed again.


    I knew that the crown had little recourse but to seize all the goods present at the time, not only that but there was no way we would get a market value rate on them but couldn¡¯t they at least make sure we would be getting our stores replenished at the same const in the following months?


    This was not the first time in thest few years alone, and I knew for sure that it wouldn¡¯t be thest time that something like this would happen. Incidents like this made merchant organizations in the low ssification rise and fall like a tide. Those that were on the high and top level had many branches that could cover the local loss and absorb the damage. We weren¡¯t hit too hard this time since we weren¡¯t heavily invested in the food section of the market but it will still take months to recoup the losses.


    It was times like this that I regretted not expanding a secondary branch after all this time. I knew I was overly paranoid for not taking a chance on doing so again after my first apprentice decided to start a branch in a different city only to cut off all ties two years down the line. That event nearly crushed us. The only person I could trust to open a secondary branch even now was my wife and that would mean we would barely see each other. A decision we had both disregarded.


    This line of thought always brought me back to thinking about my daughter Silvia. Unlike in the past when I thought about the choice she had made to leave with the man she selected I couldn¡¯t muster the same emotions of hurt and disapproval.


    We had always had someone living in that small vige of theirs keeping an eye on them and sending us updates on her every few months. Thest update we had gotten on her however was a little over a year ago. We hadn¡¯t even realized something was wrong until it had been six months without any updates.


    Two months ago we had gotten the news of the attack on the vige by smanders from a nearby cave. It was that attack that had cost our informant his life, but there was still no news on what happened to Silvia. Both my wife and I had spent almost an entire month in a depressed state that hadpounded with the curse crisis.


    ¡°Sir Elija.¡± one of our newer attendants burst into the room. I was about to chide her for not knocking when I saw my wife Aurora follow her with a look that seemed to be undecided between hope and horror.¡°What is it?¡± I asked but instead of answering all she did was give a folded up note.


    The note was short, no more than a few words written in Sebastian handwriting ¡®There is a guest here carrying a token with the family crest.¡¯. The words token with a family crest sent me to my feet in an instant as the only family crest in cirction was the one we had given Silvia the day she left. All that hope and joy turned to dred as I recognised the message, a guest meant that he didn¡¯t recognise the person and he had met Silvia before she left, not only that but as we had established beforehand the way the letters were nted signified that the guest was a man.


    ¡°Have the guest broug -¡± I started to say.


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    ¡°Knuckles is already going to bring him.¡± Aurora interrupted me with an unsteady voice I haven¡¯t heard from her in years.


    Knuckles was our head enforcer. He was an average solo adventurer a little over ten years ago whose sister took ill only for him to be scammed by an alchemist for the medicine. Our choice to invest in him that day had proven wise as he not only sold everything he got while delving through us but he also worked part time as our guard for a very reasonable pay when he wasn¡¯t delving. More important than anything else was that he was loyal.


    ¡°Do you think?¡± Aurora asked me as we waited.


    The question may have been ambiguous but I knew exactly what she meant, ¡®Do you think he knows what happened to her, if she is alive?¡¯. ¡°He must.¡± I replied. ¡°There was ofcourse a chance that the token could have been lost in the attack and somebody just picked it up but it seemed a little too soon for that person to be here if that was the case.


    We were put even more on edge as the sounds of a physical altercation came from the bottom floor through the open door. Both Aurora and I made for the door, unable to hold our curiosity and unwilling to let the chance at finding something out slip us by.


    We both stopped after a few steps recognising that we would be liabilities in whatever was going on down there. Despite both of us being above level eighty we were merchants. Despite themon belief that people specialized into fighters, crafters or mages there was a fourth ssification. Much like crafters mirrored the stat distribution of fighters, thinkers mirrored the distribution for mages despite not relying on mana skill, merchant and tactical skill were limited by your mental stats. This wasn¡¯t an issue so much in the first thirty skill levels but the requirements grew in line with everything else after that, this was also why most battlefieldmanders were mages or hybridbatants as they could increase their strategy skills.


    The sounds quieted down in only a few seconds, but it didn¡¯t seem that way to me. We could all hear the stairs creak slightly in a familiar way I recognised as Knuckles heavy boots slowly followed by two more sets of footsteps.


    If I had thought the few seconds ofbat before had passed slowly, waiting for them to climb up the stairs made it seem like they were scaling a mountain. Thankfully, my merchant nature took over and I started clearing up any signs of the desperation I felt at getting any information on my daughter. After all one of the core tenants of all merchants was not to leak anything about just how much you value what you want to obtain. A quick nce at Aurora let me see her walking over to my side doing the same thing.


    Knuckles¡¯rge frame was all I saw as he led the way into my office, behind him I could see the boots of the guest and another of our guards from downstairs. The guest stopped at the door and angled himself in such a way that he wasn¡¯t turning his back to anyone whereas our other guard mirrored him on the other side. Knuckles on the other hand crossed halfway through the office before he moved from my line of sight though he still stood between me and the guest.


    The first thing that took me by surprise was how young the guest was. Despite him being even bigger in stature than Knuckles¡¯ already tall frame I wouldn¡¯t have thought it possible for him to be older than twenty. The second thing I noticed was the split lip that our other guard was sporting, and the usatory re he was keeping on the young man.


    ¡°This is Sir Elija and Madam Aurora.¡± Knuckles introduced us. ¡°They have a few questions for you.¡±


    ¡°Interesting way you have to ask a question.¡± the young man said with hostility. ¡°Do you usually just try to grab clients without a word of warning?¡±


    Themotion from downstairs suddenly made a lot more sense. I couldn¡¯t remember the guard''s name off the top but I knew that he was a recent hire who was eager to prove himself. This most likely triggered that altercation we heard.


    ¡°We apologize for that.¡± Aurora said. ¡°He is a new hire and a little eager. We wanted to ask you about the token you used when you identified yourself. Where did you get it from?¡±


    The young man frowned at the question. It was a look I had seen many times before in this line of work but one I couldn¡¯tprehend from him, why would he be both surprised at the question and angered by it at the same time. Did he think we were using him of stealing it?


    ¡°Why does it matter where I got it from?¡± He snapped back. ¡°From what I looked into your group before, your tokens are used as an introduction point.¡±


    ¡°What did you do to the woman you took it from?¡± I said my temper got the better of me for the first time in almost twenty years.


    There was a reason why my wife and I made such a good merchant team, that was because weplemented each other so well. While I could see the market as a whole she dealt with the bartering and the talking.


    All my anger drained from me and was reced by shame as I heard the next words the man said. ¡°You have some nerve using me of hurting my own mother after you disowned her.¡±

 Chapter 193

    Chapter 193


    Ajax had been on edge from the moment the guard had made a grab at him. The cold calcting front he was presented with the moment he entered the room only went to exacerbate this. Why even act like they cared so much?


    Worst of all however was the guard that had led Ajax up here. The man was slightly stronger than he was now, if they could have someone like this around then Hatchet wouldn¡¯t have needed to give up an arm defending his parents. As much as he didn¡¯t want to admit it the disaster back at the vige still affected him alot since he remembered what losing his parents back on Earth had been like.


    The moment Ajax opened his mouth to talk he could feel his [Persuasion] skill hadn¡¯t liked his approach to the conversation. Right after he finished his words however he felt [Enigma] trigger in response to his grandmother. As was to be expected of a merchant he hadn¡¯t been able to block her skill at all, he did however know that all she managed to get from him was his name, age, race as well as his level. He did also find it surprising to know that she also inspected every single item that was visible on him with just that one use.


    Aurora¡¯s eye shed with some recognition, something that Ajax also noticed. What he didn¡¯t notice was the suspiciousness she built because of his level. Regardless of the sole inconsistency she still decided to approach this carefully just in case it really was her grandson.


    ¡°We apologize for that.¡± Aurora said. ¡°He is a new hire and a little eager. We wanted to ask you about the token you used when you identified yourself. Where did you get it from?¡±


    Ajax was surprised by two things. First was the undertone of care he could feel for his mothering across in the question, whether this was the result of a social skill or genuine he wasn¡¯t sure. The second however was that the eager guard was a new hire. That guy had been coordinating with the other two guards perfectly so he frowned as he shot a nce at the split lift he had delivered following the grab attempt.


    ¡°Why does it matter where I got it from?¡± He snapped back. ¡°From what I looked into your group before, your tokens are used as an introduction point.¡± He decided to push and see if what they cared about was his mother or just not giving out the hefty discount that the token should have earned him.


    ¡°What did you do to the woman you took it from?¡± Elija finally entered the conversation no longer able to hold back, his usual legendary patience nowhere to be seen.


    The question pleased Ajax as he could tell that they still cared about his mother and that this wasn¡¯t an act, had it been they would have lost much more than a simple discount by having the head of the organization get rattled so quickly. However the insinuation that he would hurt his own mother, and for it toe from those who abandoned her for the choice she made also enraged him enough to stop with the guessing games.Even before he opened his mouth to answer he could see Aurora had taken a vice grip of Elija¡¯s should, not that he noticed however. ¡°You have some nerve using me of hurting my own mother after you disowned her.¡±


    The words sapped all the strength from Elija. The weakness in his posture made the grip Aurora had on his shoulder start turning the chair towards her. The first to react however was the guard standing across the doorway from him.


    ¡°That¡¯s quite the im you¡¯re throwing around.¡± he said as a ¡®click¡¯ was heard from the sword on his waist.


    Ajax didn¡¯t even get a chance to respond as two voices thundered at the action.


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    ¡°Sheath that sword you fool.¡± Knuckles growled as his hand quickly went to his own sword, though he didn¡¯t draw it.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you dare draw that de.¡± Aurora said as if spewing poison at the action.


    Each had said it for a different reason. Aurora was almost certain that this person was actually her grandson Ajax, they had gotten some reports on the existence of all three grandchildren though they didn¡¯t know too much about them, thest few months wallowing over a mistake made so long in the past made her overly protective of him.


    Knuckles however had a much different reason why he was rmed. The moment Ajax had entered the room he had unconsciously rxed slightly. Years of experience in dealing with bandits when protecting shipments let him figure something out from that action alone. Where Ajax had been on edge about an ambush before he was now confident of one form of victory.


    In Knuckles mind there was only one scenario where that would be the case and it was also the worst case if it came down to a fight. The only reason why he would stand a better chance here was because he knew that by targeting Sir Elija and Madam Aurora he would be forced on the defensive. This meant a fight should be theirst resort.


    ¡°Dear?¡± Elija asked, hope filling his voice as he knew that for his wife to take that tone she had to know something he didn¡¯t.


    ¡°Knuckles, please remove your hand from the de.¡± Aurora said sternly.


    Knuckles was quick to obey but he also drew a few steps backwards. Essentially this was an invitation for Ajax to just escape instead of going for an attack on his employers if it came down to it.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Aurora said her voice returning to what it was at the start. ¡°It won¡¯t do to have my grandson threatened in my own home.¡±


    The statement however had an opposite reaction as it only served to enrage Ajax again. ¡°So you were keeping tabs on us?¡± he hissed out. ¡°That identification you used on me confirmed the name and age and they should match what you knew. Would it have been so hard to help them through that attack disaster?¡± his voice almost turned to a shout at the end.


    Both Aurora and Elija were surprised that he noticed the identification but Aurora was quick to exin. ¡°We only had one person keeping an eye on her, not only that but they sent reports only twice or three times a year. They died in the attack on the vige so we had no idea the attack even happened until a few months ago. We still don¡¯t know anything that may have happened to her.¡± her voice went quiet as both her and Elija couldn¡¯t lift their eyes from the ground.


    A lot of Ajax¡¯s anger had started to burn out by now, not just because he was getting an exnation but also because remembering the attack moved that anger back on the noble who had been the cause of it.


    ¡°Both my parents made it out alive.¡± Ajax finally said after about a minute of silence.


    Joy instantly lit up both Aurora¡¯s and Elijas face as they looked up at him. ¡°Thank the gods!¡± Ajax could hear his grandfather murmur.


    ¡°Can you tell us where she is?¡± Aurora pressed.


    ¡°They are staying in Lessis. Judy and Tom took care of them following the attack.¡± Ajax didn¡¯t have any issues sharing that information as he knew that they would have gotten it soon anyway. Not only that but they were also under Commander Grievous¡¯ protection.


    ¡°It¡¯s long past due that we apologized.¡± Aurora said. ¡°Not just to her but to Sam as well. It seems we might have been a bit too quick to judge.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right, I should look into inviting them toe back here.¡± Elija agreed as he stood up ready to go and give the order.


    ¡°No point in sending out that offer now.¡± Ajax took the wind out of his sails.


    ¡°Why not?¡± Aurora asked, her voice quivering at the prospect of her daughter now rejecting them.


    ¡°Because they¡¯re already nning oning down here.¡± Ajax exined. ¡°Though that won¡¯t happen until Tom finishes his time with the guards and Judy finishes shoring up her main branch. Not to mention that Kate has amitment to the Healing Union which would take a few months to approve a transfer for her to the capital." He didn¡¯t mention that the Healing Union was most likely a non-issue since Luna could handle that.


    ¡°Kate?¡± both Elija and Aurora asked. Neither was aware of a fourth child named Kate, let alone one that had shown any talent with healing magic.


    ¡° Tom¡¯s girlfriend, maybe even wife now, they¡¯ve been together for about eight years now.¡± Ajax just shook his head. ¡°The n was for them to follow me here in about two years.¡±


    The reason Ajax was even willing to share any of this was because he knew how torn his mother was when it came to her parents. He had decided that the final decision on the matter would be hers when she came down here, he would go along with whatever she decided.


    ¡°Why follow you?¡± Elija asked absentmindedly as he was already starting to think through a n to speed up the timeline. Aurora however turned a spective look on Ajax as she thought on the level she saw.


    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s because of my level.¡± Ajax confirmed it for her, taking her by surprise once more as he revealed more of her skill. ¡° Which brings us back to why I came here in the first ce.¡±


    His words brought his grandfather''s mind to a halt as now both his grandparents were focused on what they could do to start making amends.

 Chapter 194

    Chapter 194


    Aurora P.O.V


    The day had already been full of ups and downs but from the tone of Ajax¡¯sst words it seems we weren¡¯t finished just yet. The boy was clearly full of surprises, his level and the fact that he knew so much about my [Analyze], it was an epic inspection skill mostly dedicated towards items than people but this was a first for me. The biggest issue was that I didn¡¯t feel any resistance, whatever skill he had that had let him know about my own skill wasn¡¯t strong enough to block me but was good enough for me not to detect resistance while also giving him information.


    I put that realization aside, there was more toe now, I will talk all of this over with Elijater, he was always the better thinker between the two of us once he had all the information. I needed to focus on Ajax now, this was our grandson and the first meeting wasn¡¯t shaping up to be a good interaction despite the joyous news.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± I asked.


    ¡°The reason why I came here today wasn¡¯t to reconnect with family.¡± My [Lie Detection] let me know that his statement there wasn¡¯t all true, but what worried me more was that it wasn¡¯t all false. ¡°I came here looking to establish a cooperation agreement.¡±


    I stayed silent for a moment, trying to think what the best way to approach this would be. From the feeling I got from the boy I felt that trying to push anything right now wouldn¡¯t get a good reaction from him.


    ¡°What do you mean you didn¡¯te here to reconnect with family?¡± Elija responded, he was still a little off bnce. I ced my arm on his shoulder trying to calm him down.


    ¡°I did my research into this organization.¡± Ajax said, something that rang true to my skill. ¡°My earlier point about the token granting me a better deal should still hold. That is the main reason I chose toe here first.¡±


    A tight squeeze on Elija¡¯s shoulder stopped him from responding this time. Thankfully we understood each other well enough that the look he saw when he turned to me was enough to not only let him know that I should do the talking but also that he should be focusing on the details of the deal.¡°From what my mother said when she gave me that token the night before I left for the capital she hasn''t decided on the attitude she has towards you.¡± Ajax continued seeing us not respond. ¡° With that being the case my decision on considering you family rests with her, a decision she will no doubt have to make once she moves here and one I will not be influencing simply respecting.¡±


    The truth of his statement was chilling. Right now he would be fully prepared to treat us like strangers if Silvia decides that¡¯s what our past choice means. But since the part about SIlvia being undecided was also true helping him couldn¡¯t hurt our chances in that decision.


    ¡°What type of agreement are you looking for?¡± I asked, switching back into the practiced role of merchant.


    ¡°I am currently affiliated with the Academy,¡± he said. ¡°This results in me having a lot to learn, sufficient ess to the dungeon, but not much time when ites to gathering materials or selling any spoils, something I hope to rectify by having a contract with a merchant organization.¡±


    ¡°And how long would this contractst?¡± I asked.


    ¡°For others, I would start with the reminder of this academic year to see if it is a good fit,¡± he answered.


    ¡°But not with us?¡± Elija said, his tone calm and collected for the first time in the discussion.


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    ¡°No, not with you.¡± He shook his head. ¡°Considering what that token I have means I doubt anyone will be able to give me a better deal, at least not one that doesn¡¯t tie me to them.¡±


    ¡°So then how long will the deal be?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Until my mother arrives,¡± he said. ¡°When that happens our rtionship will change and the deal wee to today will end regardless of which choice she makes.¡±


    ¡°That would be fine.¡± I confirm after Elija signals to me it is eptable. ¡°What materials would you be looking for?¡±


    ¡°My main focus will be Alchemy.¡± The reveal was big, all the high level alchemists were quickly swept up by nobles especially those that could craft in dungeons which is something I assumed he would be doing. ¡°But I will be trying my hand at a few other crafts as well.¡±


    ¡°Like what?¡± I asked at Elija¡¯s prompting.


    ¡°Leatherworking, mining, skinning, farming and a bit of cksmithing.¡± he rattled off an impressive number of professions, no wonder he had little time for trading. I also had to stop myself, and thankfully Elija did as well, from reacting when he mentioned cksmithing, afterall the whole reason for our disagreement with Silvia was over her choosing a young cksmith as a husband.


    ¡°That is eptable.¡± Elija says. ¡° On the raw items that you bring in we can offer you almost full market price, current or usual depending on which is higher we won¡¯t be making almost any profit on them. For anything that you make we''ll give you 90% of the price after taxes.¡±


    The deal was not just good, this kind of a deal was only seen with master crafters signing for at least a century at a time or high level adventurers signing exclusivity. Elija obviously knew that and had somehow turned the short maximum three year lifeline on the contract in our favor.


    ¡° Materials and tools for most of your professions should be easy to get on short notice, as long as you are not looking for anything too specific or rare. The sole exception is Alchemy, that¡¯s not to say we can¡¯t get them but it may take some time.¡± Elija continued ¡° These we would be willing to sell to you at cost if the item you make from them is sessful and sold back to us and at 110% of cost if it isn¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°That works for me.¡± Ajax said. ¡° We have a deal.¡±


    Elija was quick in drawing up the contract. Unlike our usual deals this one was so straightforward and easily defined that it fit on a single sheet of paper that the three of us signed.


    Right after the contract was signed Ajax already presented his first materials. Abyssal cores from imps, hellhounds and gargoyles as well as gargoyle coal. The total worth of the items wasn¡¯t all that impressive, even with the inted current price of the coal it totaled up to a little under seventy gold coins. A price that Ajax asked to be put towards his Alchemy equipment before he left.


    ¡°What did you find out?¡± Elija asked the moment the two of us were alone. We had canceled any other meeting we had for today as none were all that important.


    ¡°Almost everything he said was true.¡± I started, which got an eyebrow raise from him since I had a habit letting him know about any lie the moment it was spoken, even if I didn¡¯t make it obvious to anyone else that I knew the statement was a lie. ¡°It was a partial lie about reconnecting, I¡¯m sure that he also did want to meet us but everything else was true.¡±


    ¡°Seems like the situation is worse than we feared considering Silvia is alive and well.¡± he nodded. ¡°But it¡¯s far from the worst possible oue, we still have a chance to make this right.¡±


    ¡°We do.¡± I smiled back. ¡°Or at least Ajax believes we do.¡±


    ¡°Anything else?¡± he asked, his mind already starting to n the best way to earn our daughters forgiveness as he scoured for certain documents.


    ¡°Yes, but this is strictly about Ajax.¡± He stopped and turned towards me. The information was so astounding I wouldn¡¯t be sharing outside the privacy of our enchanted office. ¡°Firstly his level is thirty-one.¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± he gasped out incredulously. ¡°Isn¡¯t he only almost sixteen?¡±


    ¡°He is.¡± I confirmed. ¡°Elija, that¡¯s not all. I¡¯m sure he has a Legendary skill.¡±


    ¡°A Legendary skill? But your [Analyze] doesn¡¯t read skills.¡± he said.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t.¡± I confirmed. ¡°But I also didn¡¯t feel any resistance when I used it on him. He did however know that I used it, not only that but he also knew exactly what information I got even if it didn¡¯t stop me from getting it, all of this without me feeling anything odd until he mentioned it. It has to be a low leveled Legendary skill, either a form of precognition letting him know about anything that targets him or a privacy one. I think it¡¯s thetter but I can¡¯t be sure.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll have our people look into him.¡± he said, believing in what I told him.


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t that be likely to alienate him?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I won¡¯t have them approaching him,¡± he denied. ¡°He mentioned the Academy, have you ever known the young nobles going there not to spill information?¡±


    As always Elijah was quick toe up with a n. As always the first step was to get all the information he could.


    ¡°We need to increase our information gathering budget for the year.¡± he said as he got back to ruffling through the document ¡°I think triple will be enough but best to quadruple it.¡±


    ¡°What else are you having them look into?¡± I asked, knowing that such an increase wasn¡¯t ounted for only by Ajax.


    ¡°He said Tom was a guard, his wife Kate a member of the Healing Union and his sister Judy had started a tradingpany.¡± he rattled off all we knew about the rest of our grandchildren. ¡°Since they are all that are tying Silvia to Lessis I want to see what I can do about speeding up that two year timeline.¡±


    On that I fully agreed, two more years would be too long to wait. With that in mind I sat down across from him ready to spend the rest of the day building the foundations for getting our daughter back.

 Chapter 195

    Chapter 195


    Ajax spent hisst few free days getting used to working with his new alchemy equipment as well as tending to his nts by infusing them with mana. From the looks of it his first batch of honey should be ready around the same time that his first year at the Academy ends and they all go on their two month long school break.


    As for the alchemy equipment it was all very high grade. It would be if he needed to pay three hundred and fifty gold even after the biggest discount they could give him. Two hundred and fifty of that price he would be paying on his next visit when he would be selling things and picking up supplies to take with him into the dungeon.


    The return to school wasn¡¯t as awkward for him as the first day. Now that everyone had gotten a bit more used to him and begrudgingly respected his level of power a new dynamic had sprung up around him. The prince¡¯s faction had maintained their distance, not looking to interact with him all that much. But considering his friendly interaction with Annabeth and Lexi as well as his constant sparring sessions with Benedict he found himself with a foot in both camps.


    Personally Ajax was leaning more towards the Goldmancer camp but unlike the students of the ss he didn¡¯t have to make a definite choice. Not only that but the less determined members of the two sides used interacting as a bridge to interact with the other group without the usualpetitiveness. This wasn¡¯t something he enjoyed but he could see the benefit as it got him his first dedicated social skill [Conversationalist]. It was only a Common skill but it was a start towards [Detect Lie] which he really wanted to get.


    Unlike their first cycle the opening homeroom ss with professor Silvertongue was a lot more interesting to him this time around. He had moved on from the basic concepts of mana saying that anything more advanced will be something that the mages will focus on in their training with thebat instructor as it wouldn¡¯t make sense for the physically focused students to have dedicated ss time for that.


    ¡°Then what was the point of having us learn that during the first cycle?¡± on of said physical students asked as soon as the announcement was made.


    ¡°That cycle was actually done more for you physical students as well as for the benefit of catching up any students who didn¡¯t have it drilled into them as part of growing up.¡± the professor responded.


    Despite the politically phrased answer everyone knew that he meant that the curriculum had been made with specific lessons introduced to cater tomoners who sometimes joined the ss. The more curious students who had pestered their older sibling or parents about their time in the academy would have already known that if nomoner was part of the ss those lessons usually ended up getting skipped.


    ¡°We will now be moving on to something that could pertain to all of you.¡± the professor continued. ¡°How to lead mages in battle.¡± ¡°Why is that something all of us have to learn?¡± Another physically focused student asked, this time one that was the son of a Marquis.


    ¡°Because, despite the fact that a physically focused fighter shouldn¡¯t be the squad leader of a mage squad in practice, that has been known to not always be the case.¡± the professor blew out a sigh of disappointment at that, this was something he personally despised.


    ¡°Why is that something that shouldn¡¯t happen?¡± one of the people in Benedict''s camp asked as he looked towards the archduke¡¯s grandson. ¡°Many of our generals are physically focused.


    ¡°I don¡¯t mean that you¡¯ll be learning how to use a mage battalion. Thankfully our kingdom has made enough progress thatmand and tactical positions are always given out by merit. What I mean is that you all need to learn how to lead a squad of mages.¡± Ajax had a confused look on his face at that exnation.


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    ¡°The royal family is aware enough to know that such positions almost always go to the highest ranked nobles. With the importance of mages during a battle their squads are the best protected, meaning it''s the best spot formanders to put inexperienced members of houses who would hound them should their members die inbat¡± professor Silvertongue drew another breath. ¡°As such the least we can do is make sure that when that happens you at least know what to do so that you aren¡¯t a detriment to the squad you end up on.¡±


    The exnation had left quite a few of the students indignant, the idea that they would take such a position for the sake of personal safety seemed insulting to them. Ajax however was 100% sure that as soon as they were faced with a real battle most if not all the ones who acted insulted would forget their reactions right now and would be thanking theirmander as they headed for the squad assigned to them.


    The rest of the ss was very interesting for Ajax. Not only because this was information that he hadn¡¯t already gone over as with most of the mana lessons in the previous cycles but because of the skirmish he had participated in before he joined the Collectors and started delving.


    He still remembered a lot of the battles that had taken ce back then. During those battles he hardly ever focused on the mages as they mostly only canceled each other out, with it being a skirmish the winning mages wouldn¡¯t really start bombarding the infantry as this would lead to heavy casualties.


    Magic squadbat mostly resorted to three simple steps. The first was positioning, getting the squad in a good position, this meant that not only could they not be ambushed but also that they could target the enemy infantry, protect their own infantry and also be prepared to engage with enemy mage squads.


    The second step was fortifying their position. The only reason why he had managed to ambush a few mage squads during the skirmish was because they were always in transition and they were inexperienced, once the mages had time to set up ditches and small walls anything short of a warrior with arge level advantage or another mage squad will pose little threat to them.


    ¡°Next lesson we will move on to talk about the best way to engage with another mage squad. I will end this by saying that if you are physically focused and end up leading a mage squad the best thing you can do after you get yourself positioned is work as a scout to ensure your squad doesn¡¯t get surrounded by a nk or a stealth focused assassin somehow slips in.¡± With that the professor ended his lecture and walked out.


    On their way to the next ss Ajax was excited. Despite knowing that the alchemy ss in and of itself would probably still be something basic Ajax was actually hoping to ask a few questions of the other teaching assistant as well as professor Vilethorn after the ss finishes. Ideally he would get their input for crafting inside the dungeon.


    Much to Ajax¡¯s disappointment however not only did the ss cover something very basic that he had already learned from a vige apothecary but the material also needed to have both the professor and the teaching assistant helping the students, more so because those not interested weren¡¯t putting in all that much effort.


    Today the ss focused on preparing ingredients. Where their first ss had focused on crafting some basic increased regeneration potion they were now learning how different types of ingredients could be prepared. Some nts could be used as picked, others needed to be crushed, shredded, or dried. Not only that but they had to be prepared in an easy way to measure.


    The ss had started rtively controlled so Ajax quickly set to prepare his ingredients before he could start asking questions however the ss went off the rails. Out of the twenty five students almost fifteen had no interest in alchemy so they just wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible. This seemed fine however where physically focused students had an easier time preparing the materials due to their higher Dexterity the mental focused students ended up making a lot of mistakes trying to keep pace with them.


    ¡°Stop just trying to rush through it,¡± professor Vilethorn snapped after passing by the eighth student who wasted his vibrant pound grass by mincing it at nearly half the length he was supposed to. ¡°Alchemy takes time and patience.¡±


    The few chastised students muttered a group apology that came off slightly insincere despite their social skills. This only served to upset the teacher more as she decided enough was enough.


    ¡°You had all better pay attention and make sure you learn how to do this as for the rest of the year you will be responsible for the ingredients you ruin with improper preparation.¡± she threatened.


    The threat wasn¡¯t anything that worried the students as anything they worked with in the first year ss wasn¡¯t going to be all that expensive and their families would easily be able to afford a few recements here and there.


    ¡°You¡¯ll also be paying for them by working as a gardener in the school alchemy gardens, don¡¯t think you can get out of this by just tossing a few coins at it.¡± This time the threat made clean contact as the students started requesting help and rification.


    ¡°Oh, is there something I can help you with?¡± professor Vilethorn asked Ajax after he remained behind despite the rest of the ss moving on, he had seemed dismissive after their first lesson when she approached him about him possessing some skill for alchemy.


    ¡°Yes professor.¡± Ajax answer. ¡°I''d like to ask you about crafting potions and elixirs inside the dungeon.¡±

 Chapter 196

    Chapter 196


    ¡°Dungeon crafting?¡± Professor Vilethorn raised an eyebrow in surprise. ¡°Well that¡¯s quite the leap from ourst lesson, what prompted the change?¡±


    ¡°Need¡± Ajax answered. He also continued when he saw the gaze that invited him to. ¡°The cost of the potions I will need in the future is something I most likely can¡¯t afford. But if I am able to make them inside the dungeon using the abundance of materials in there that changes things.¡±


    ¡°It takes a lot of time and wasted resources for any crafter when they start crafting inside the dungeons.¡± the professor challenged. ¡°More so for alchemists, will you have the resources for that, let alone the time to study it during your delves?¡±


    ¡°From what I read on the matter, learning to craft inside the dungeon works almost like apletely separate skill.¡± Ajax said. ¡°While doing so increases the difficulty and speeds up skill growth, once someone gets the hang of it their sess tends to remain consistent. So if I learn how to do it while I am still at the beginning of learning alchemy the materials should be cheap and most are in abundance provided by the Academy.¡±


    ¡°And what will you do about time?¡± the teaching assistant asked. ¡°With you having the normal amount of sses on top of being a hybrid fighter and spending your free part of the cycle delving at an appropriate level you¡¯ll never find the time for it.¡±


    ¡°That would be true.¡± Ajax admitted. ¡°But I happen to have a whole part of the cycle dedicated to delving way below my level. I checked and there is nothing stopping a teaching assistant from practicing his crafting profession while assisting with a ss delve.¡±


    That statement surprised both the professor and her assistant. Both had been thinking of Ajax as just another student with a few specialties so they didn¡¯t consider the free time he could carve out for himself while on the ss delve.


    ¡°Well now¡­¡± Professor Vilethorn said as she stroked her chin and a smirk broke out on her face. ¡°That could work out well for you.¡±


    With that she went over to her desk and started to go through her drawers one at a time ruffling through the books, loose sheets of paper and scrolls that were there while muttering something about ¡®where the hell did I put that?¡¯.¡°As precise as she is when ites to brewing a potion, she has to be the most disorganized person I know.¡± the teaching assistant shook his head in defeat as he watched his teacher tear the desk apart.


    ¡°Aha! Here they are.¡± Professor Vilethorn said triumphantly as she held a few pieces of paper and then proceeded to ce them on the desk and write something on each of them before bringing them over and handing them to Ajax. ¡°These are the recipes for some basic potions that should help the most with raising your skill level as well as getting you ustomed to crafting inside the dungeon.¡±


    Ajax gratefully epted the recipes and took a quick nce over them. The list of ingredients matched the style of the first recipe she handed out in the ss''s first alchemy ss with one simple exception, on the left side of the ingredient the amount required looked to be crossed out in such a way that you couldn¡¯t tell what was written there before.


    ¡°Why are the quantities crossed out?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°Crafting inside the dungeon, especially when working with low levels of [Alchemy] is best done by experimentation and substitution.¡± the professor exined. ¡°Once you have managed to create all three of these recipes the next ones I will provide you with will contain the amounts required but not of the nt but of the effect the nt has.¡±


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    ¡°You will be sure to find that while crafting deeper in the dungeons trying to brew recipes as they are written down will be impossible due to the affinity of the mana present on the specific floor. Starting by learning like this will have you prepared to improvise and adapt even if it might mean it takes you a bit longer to rise through the low levels.¡± she added on. ¡°Come by my room the morning before you depart for the delve to collect the ingredients.¡±


    With that Ajax headed for the door ready to go to his next ss when he noticed the teaching assistant following him. ¡°For this first cycle I¡¯ll prepare the ingredients for you but for every time after that I suggest you show up a day early to prepare them yourself, that will save you time in the dungeon.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Ajax said as he dipped his head. He was a little angry at himself for not thinking about that, he also didn¡¯t know why he had somehow expected the ingredients to be already prepared for him.


    The rest of the sses for the day passed quickly much like they did the previous cycle, unlike with alchemy Ajax chose to keep his focus on only one crafting profession only learn the others through his sses at the academy.


    The next change in how the cycle yed from the previous one was when they got to the afternoon practice. The prince had joined the physically focused part of the training meaning they already had an even number and he would make it odd.


    ¡°Ajax if you would join us this time around.¡± the magic instructor asked.


    Ajax simply nodded and joined the casters. There were a more casters than physical fighters but that didn¡¯t seem to disturb the teacher.


    ¡°Now, whilest week I was content to simply have you go through you spells while working on having everyone get at least eptable with their aim.¡± everyone turned to a single student at that remark, clearly he had been a weak link for a while. ¡°Now we will work on your control of magic in a different way.¡±


    ¡°Will we finally get a chance to duel each other?¡± one of the students asked.


    ¡°Not just yet¡± the instructor denied. ¡°Unlike physicalbat, starting magical sparring too early is very likely to lead you into forming bad habits that are hard to breakter on.¡±


    The wave of disappointed groans was silence with a single re from the instructor before he continued. ¡°Now, while you were all practicing your aim during thest week I observed the form of your spells for each one of you, well with one exception.¡± he turned his gaze on Ajax after that statement.


    ¡°Sorry.¡± Ajax said, aware that he might have focused a little too much on physical training. He couldn¡¯t help it though as his spars with Benedict had been very fun, for the first time in a while he was on the backfoot in terms of skill but not in terms of stats.


    ¡°That however won¡¯t be an issue.¡± the instructor continued. ¡°Now that we can control where our spell is going we need to control how the spell is formed.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that what the incantation is for?¡± one of the lower ranked nobles asked.


    ¡°No, the incantation simply gives you a mold.¡± the instructor exined. ¡°Now while the general idea has been known for a while it is our current headmaster that has not onlye up with an enticing theory as to why but has taken great steps in proving it to be true.¡±


    ¡°Luxim¡± the instructor chanted and a regr ball of light sprung up from his palm.


    ¡°This is the base spell, you all know it and this is the result most people will get if they cast it without any intent behind it.¡± he said as he waved his hand through the orb and dissipated it.


    ¡°Now the headmaster¡¯s theory states that the chants we use only for a base idea for a spell. In the case of the previous spell that idea is ¡®ball of light¡¯. As we get better with our intent you will find that we can change the output of the same incantation.¡± he continued.


    ¡°Luxim. Luxim. Luxim.¡± he chanted once again.


    The first time he chanted a ball much bigger and brighter than the previous one was summoned. The second time there were three orbs and all were dimmer and smaller than the first one. The third one however was exactly the same size and brightness as the first only instead of it being a bright white light it was a bright blue light.


    ¡°All four of the spells took the same amount of mana.¡± the instructor said. ¡°The first sacrificed duration to be bigger and brighter. The second exemplifies that a spell doesn¡¯t usually restrict the amount of replications it generates, this is however sometimes limited with stronger spells that have a longer chant.¡±


    ¡°What about the third one?¡± that one had been the most interesting as quite a few of the students hadn¡¯t seen a color variation of the spell.


    ¡°As I said, all the spells cost the same.¡± the instructor answered. ¡°If mana input was to be increased you could replicate the first spell. The second however requires a change in intent, the third requires you to possess and add [Light Aspect Mana] to your intent in order to change the color of the light.¡±


    This was a massive revtion to Ajax, chiefly for the effect this could have on his use of fire. Ethanol fire not only could not be put out by water, but as long as the are was well lit it would burn invisible to the naked eye.

 Chapter 197

    Chapter 197


    While Ajax was shocked at the implications he also realized that most of the power presented from this discovery wasn¡¯t something that could be used by most mages as it required a level of scientific knowledge they would have ess to. The second part was that the power bestowed by such means might also not be as strong as he first suspected it might be.


    One of the first things he tested once he got strong enough was throwing a stone and hitting it like a baseball with a bat. The reason for this was simple: he wanted to see if he could cause a sonic boom. Strangely however the sonic boom wasn¡¯t produced, Ajax was surprised by that since thews of physics didn¡¯t seem to be changed so why would breaking the sound barrier not produce a sonic boom?


    The only answer he could think of was that the presence of mana has an effect of the way physics work, a new factor that the people of Earth never had to deal with, as such all Ajax can do is test things to find out if they are affected by mana.


    ¡°For now I want all of you to show me the base version of your most usedbat spell.¡± The instructor said.


    The students grumbled at something so basic but they stillplied quickly. What Ajax saw from most of them were a series of elemental bolts, the mostmon was a fireball but some used ice or earth. He wasn¡¯t surprised to see that Lexi and Annabeth used wind and fire respectively, after all he had seen them even work together tobine their spells into a massive st.


    When it was finally his turn Ajax had a small dilemma. His most used spell was clearly his augmentation, but that came with a number of different elements. If he was to narrow everything down to one element his earth maniption would have to be his most used spell but he didn¡¯t want to work on this with earth.


    In the end he decided to go with simply using fire augmentation to light his sword on fire, though he was careful not to burn himself.


    ¡°Interesting.¡± the instructor said as he examined Ajax¡¯s de. ¡°There was no incantation but this also clearly isn¡¯t just pure fire generation and maniption.¡±


    Ajax had no desire to exin how his Epic skill worked and he was pleasantly surprised to see that the instructor didn¡¯t push him to do so either. ¡°This might be a very good way for you to train your intent.¡± As he said he also extended a small armband towards him. ¡°I will have to insist that you wear that as you do so, at least for the beginning.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± Ajax asked slightly suspicious of the item, he could feel a mana stone powering and enchantment with his [Sense Mana].


    ¡°It¡¯s an item made to restrict the skill [Fire Aspect Mana], it should work with skills all the way up to level sixty, though that is as long as it is the only restraining enchantment you have on, the crafters haven¡¯t yet been able to find out why they interfere with each other.¡± the instructor exined.


    ¡°But then why do you want me to use it?¡± Ajax asked perplexed. ¡°I thought you said that maniption through aspect mana skills was part of it.¡±


    ¡°It is.¡± the instructor confirmed. ¡°But from what I can feel you are constantly supplying this spell with mana, this means that you are using that skill to control it and not your intent. I even suspect that this has probably pushed your skill quite high but unless you want to lose efficiencyter on and with stronger spells you need to learn how to direct spells with your intent.¡±


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    Ajax did admit that the instructor did have a point and strapped on the armband. The sensation that flooded him was weird. Despite the armband being almost loose on his arm it felt like it was tightly squeezed on. Not only that but feeling wasn¡¯t one he could lessen or increase by flexing his arm, like an itch he couldn¡¯t scratch.


    For the rest of the training time all of the students practiced their intent. Some of them, like Lexi, had a very easy time using their intent allowing them to modify their spell visibly from one cast to the next. Clearly this wasn¡¯t the first time they heard about the concept or practiced it. Others didn¡¯t manage to get any serious progress, their spells indistinguishable from their base form.


    ¡°Don¡¯t let yourselves be discouraged.¡± the instructor said as the ss time ended. ¡°It takes time to learn how to use your intent to morph a spell.¡±


    Ajax did manage to make some progress, at the start he had trouble with even keeping the mes away from his hands, this incident made him swap the sword for a broad axe so that the me would be further away from his hand. By the end of the lesson however he had managed to use his intent to keep the mes burning the handle of the axe.


    With the ss over Ajax went over to his office for a short but much needed break before he would go to meet up with the old librarian for their experiments with curse mana. Ajax thought that joining the mage side of the ss was actually a good idea since despite only having five hundred mana remaining his stamina was still above seventeen hundred and that¡¯s what he would need to use [Cursed sh].


    Thinking about it now, it was actually a good thing that a few of his sses were mostly refresher courses on what he had already picked up with only a dash of new information, between his delving crafting and now research he was very busy.


    As he made his way up on the seventh floor Ajax once again felt the same two auras he did thest time he came here, one belonged to old Balthazar and the other to the woman he was bringing in to help with the experiments. Ajax also noticed that he couldn¡¯t feel the headmaster''s aura meaning that he wasn¡¯t close at the moment, that or he had found some way to hide his aura.


    ¡°Ajax!¡± the old librarian greeted him excitedly as he entered. ¡°Great to see you looking so much better now.¡±


    Ajax gave a deep nod in greeting to the old man yet his eyes were inspecting the woman standing next to him. She seemed to be giving him the exact same treatment as he felt her gaze wash over him. Surprisingly [Enigma] didn¡¯t trigger which could mean something good or something very bad.


    ¡°Oh, where are my manners?¡± the old man said with a bit of giddy in his voice. ¡°Ajax met Evelyn, Evelyn this is Ajax. He will be helping with our research.¡±


    ¡°Evelyn of the Forth.¡± The woman said coldly as she extended her hand.


    The name however was something that drew Ajax¡¯s attention and made him freeze for a second. The name of the Forth wasn''t really a name, it was more of a title. Of the elite squads under themand of the king the leaders of the top five always had theirst names reced with ¡®of the Number¡¯ for as long as they held the position.


    This was meant as a show of devotion to the crown instead of whatever family they may havee from. While this didn¡¯t mean that she had cut ties with her family or even prevented her from using her influence to help them it did mean that she had the option and full royal backing to do so. It also marked her as one of the strongest people in the kingdom.


    ¡°A pleasure to meet you.¡± Ajax said as he grasped the outstretched hand, his delivery a bit wooden however.


    ¡°Good, now if you¡¯d both follow me.¡± the old man interrupted, ¡° This isn¡¯t the ce for such experiments.¡±


    As the three of them moved through the halls of the Academy the old man decided to start discussing their topic of research. ¡°So, which element do you think we should start off trying to see a reaction with?¡±


    ¡°Any of them will do, we will have to see how they all react eventually.¡± Evelyn said. ¡°Though perhaps not holy as I doubt we will be able to get much from that interaction to start with.¡±


    ¡°I think fire would be a good ce to start.¡± Ajax suggested.


    ¡°Oh, why is that?¡± The old man seemed very interested in why fire was where Ajax started off with.


    ¡°The imps inside the abyssal dungeon, I could feel that the way they were making their ck fireballs was by casting a fireball with magic while generating curse mana with their arm movement. I think the curse mana simply attached to the fire magic and turned it into the ck mes. I want to see if we can maybe recreate that.¡± Ajax exined.


    ¡°Hmmm, that does seem like a promising ce to start with.¡± the old man agreed.


    ¡°If that works the same for us as it did for the imps I can already think of a few situations where this could be useful.¡± Evelyn said, a small smile briefly shing over her lips for the first time since Ajax met her.

 Chapter 198

    Chapter 198


    Evelyn of the Forth P.O.V


    As much as I may personally hate admitting it there were some things where experience trumped all. The ability to spot potential and opportunities was one of them and despite some of my personal opinions one the walking relic Balthazar had gained a lot of experience in his nearly four millennia of living.


    I was the second youngest leader of the royal squads, not only that but the only one younger than me was the leader of the tenth and he was a lot weaker than the rest of us only being a squad leader because he was the future king''s right hand man. I knew that in my pursuit of power I had to leave some things by the wayside but that didn¡¯t mean I couldn¡¯t befriend others to make up for it.


    The kid Ajax was quite the phenomenon. He bore little interest for me specifically as I was almost four hundred years older than him but he was definitely stronger than I was at his age and yet the old man picked to back him and now I was going to benefit from it.


    When I heard his hypothesis about how cursed mana worked I couldn¡¯t suppress all the joy I felt. Out of the other three leaders of the numbers I knew I wouldn¡¯t be able to outmatch the leader of the first and second squad. Simply put they were more than three hundred years older than me and would start to decline and retire before I could take their spots honorably.


    Jekkle of the Third was different, while he was still one hundred and fifty years older than I was, the difference in our power wasn¡¯t all thatrge, at least not when it came to fighting monsters. The problems came when it came to directbat as his preferred curse mana attacks had very little research done on them so I had yet to defeat the cocky bastard in a duel.


    ¡°For now we should just observe your skill and see if we can learn anything from it alone.¡± Balthazar said. ¡°What is the skill specifically called again?¡±


    ¡°[Curse sh].¡± the kid replied.


    ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± the old man nodded with a grin as he pulled out a strange weapon and tossed it to him. ¡°You¡¯ll be using that for at least our first few weeks of research. Safety when dealing with cursed mana cannot be overstated.¡± The boy caught the long spear shaft with a look of surprise. The weapon was odd as the shaft had the length of a spear yet the de at the end was asrge as a short-sword. It took the kid a few practice shes to at least get the bnce of the weapon right before he executed his skill.


    The curse mana trail that was left by the de was so reminiscent of Jekkle¡¯s skills. I had felt it a few times before but I never had the chance to truly study it as it was in the middle of a duel. Not to mention that Jekkle¡¯s assassin inclinations meant almost nobody had ever seen him in action and lived to share about it.


    ¡°It seems like giving you a longer handle was useful in more ways than one.¡± the old man smiled as he started taking notes with his enchanted quills. ¡°The curse mana is generated by you and then quickly directed to the de by your skill. Tell me, do you feel and curse mana lingering inside of you? Also how much stamina did that cost you?¡±


    What was also very telling was that the curse mana was generated almost exclusively from his hands. I would definitely have to get him to use the skill when he was dual wielding des, if my conjecture that the skill only generated mana in the limb closest to the weapon I could use the generation of curse mana as an early warning signal of where the attack woulde from.


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    ¡°There is nothing affecting me now, all of the curse mana generated was directed to the edge of the weapon.¡± the kid answered. ¡°The skill also cost more than I had hoped, it took a hundred stamina.¡±


    That was quite a shock, that little curse mana took a hundred stamina to generate? A hundred mana could generate three or four times as much elemental mana. To think that all these years that bastard had tricked me, I had always fought to end the battle as quickly as possible since a mage is known to run out of mana faster than a warrior runs out of stamina but from the sounds of it curse users bottom out even faster.


    ¡°We¡¯ll go ahead and add some basic fire mana to it now in the form of a fireball.¡± the old man said, his three enchanted quills never stopped writing and had each finished with the first scrolls they were scribbling down and moved on to the next. ¡°Throw a slow moving fireball, Ajax go ahead and to a sh just in front of where it will pass.¡±


    The kid and eye nced at each other and he gave me a small nod to let me know he was ready. I muttered the simple incantation and released a particrly slow moving fireball, the kid read the direction well and ced the sh right in the path of the fireball.


    ¡°Well, that certainly is not ck fire.¡±mented as I watched the fireball explode harmlessly against the ground leaving a small scorched patch. Oddly enough the curse mana did seem to attach to the fireball but the mes didn¡¯t seem to turn ck, if anything it seemed to consume the fireball.


    ¡°Yes, it was rather anticlimactic.¡± the old man agreed as he rubbed his beard.


    ¡°Can we try it again, only this time try putting less power in the fireball.¡± the kid asked as he seemed to have thought about something.


    I indulged him but the second attempt was just as fruitless as the first, if anything the one thing we did manage to figure out was that the curse mana actively consumed the power of the fireball as with this one having less power it was almost wholly consumed.


    ¡°Hmmm, maybe fire wasn¡¯t such a good point to start with.¡± Balthazar said a little dejectedly, I fully understood where he wasing from as these results weren¡¯t what I had been hoping for when I agreed to help with his experiments.


    ¡° ¡­ but what if¡­¡± the kid was mumbling something to himself, his eyes moving left and right as if they were following some imaginary trail. ¡°Can you do it again with the same power as the first one?¡± he asked after he seemed to have finished his trail of thought.


    ¡°Ajax, trying the same thing over and over until it works isn¡¯t how you get good research results¡± the old man started to exin but I was intrigued and proceeded to start my chant again.


    The moment my mouth opened the kid took a quick step towards me and started his shing motion, it took every ounce of my willpower not to paste his on the spot for it. The only reason I didn¡¯t was because [Iing Attack] didn¡¯t trigger, the skill was an Epic variation of danger sense that let me know every time an attack was heading towards me.


    Sure enough the de passed harmlessly two inches above my palm without even touching my robe, what it did was leave a trail of curse mana right above my open palm as the fireball started to take shape.


    Unlike the usual process I felt all control over my own spell get ripped away from me. I had been able to change the specifics of my fireball spell right up until the moment itunched since I was thirty but now I lost control just as the ball was taking shape.


    Instead the fireball that formed was made of ck mes whose heat I could feel almost burn my palm. The ball of mes thenunched and followed the initial path the normal spell would take if it had received no influence sttering against a bench at the side of the training ground.


    ¡°What were you thinking!!!¡± the old man screamed at the kid who at least had the good sense to look suitably chastised.


    ¡°Sorry, I got ahead of myself.¡± The kid apologized looking a little embarrassed.


    ¡°Well it worked.¡± I said as I watched the ck mes consume the bench. ¡°Though while I have to admit your deductive skills were good, I do question your survival instincts.¡±


    The amount of water it took to douse the mes, the remains of the bench that was left not only scorched but also slightly rotten and even the ashes were all quickly looked over and documented by the old man.


    ¡°It is interesting, it seems that curse mana can only merge with fire mana when the spell is taking shape.¡± the old man seemed to have forgotten his earlier outrage but I knew from experience that he had only put it aside, the kid was going to be in for a scolding once we finished experimenting for the day.


    As it turned out we were finished quite quickly after that, the kid could barely use the skill fifteen times before his stamina got too low so we called it a day at that. We didn¡¯t find anything extraordinary today but it was a start. I could already feel the advantage Jekkle had over me had started to shrink. It was only a matter of time before I¡¯d know enough toe up with a n to win.


    As I was walking away I did turn to look at the kid again. Despite him being too young to be of any interest to me from any point of view other than as a possible recruit when he got older he was definitely going to be somebody. It seems like I will need to go make a report to the royal family.

 Chapter 199

    Chapter 199


    The research into [Curse sh] took a deep toll on Ajax¡¯s stamina and most of his mana was spent on training with the mage instructor on controlling his intent and what remained after that was put into his nts.


    On the upside his nts had already taken deep roots and some bushes were already starting to grow, it might only be a couple more months until all of them would start sporting flowers and his bees could get to work.


    As for his research into the curse mana Ajax still wasn¡¯t sure if it was something he should be doing right now, curse mana was getting dicey especially since the goddamn gue doctor had managed to buy himself a one week stay of execution through some legal loophole. Ajax had only taken a single peek into the infected city and he wanted the guy to hang.


    Hanging was not in the literal sense obviously, with the way stats and skills got people could survive hanging for hours at a time and executions had gone the way of the French and relied on a guillotine to put a definite end to a person. Ajax was inplete agreement with that change though he couldn¡¯t help but wonder if duhans was something that existed in this world where so many magical beings had already been found.


    The research however did prove rather fruitful. Almost all of their testing had been focused on fire magic so they could get a sense of it and the results were promising. When it came to fire mana it seems that curse mana was onlypatible with it before the spell formed, afterwards it was almost as good as water mana at snuffing out a fire.


    When they didbine however the result was a lot more deadly but alsocked almost any control. The mes not only burned but corrupted and rotted everything they touched, the worst part was that some materials would be morebustible as they rotted and that could cause small explosions that would spread the mes.


    As for their research partner Evelyn, Ajax found that she had little to no interest in him at all. The one time that she showed any interest outside of their curse mana research was when she asked him point nk if whatever he did to put himself so far ahead of the curve could still be used by her. After Ajax had told her that she couldn''t, she didn¡¯t broach the subject again.


    The second element they had half a session with was ice. Unlike fire Ice was not onlypatible with curse mana but it didn¡¯t lose itspatibility once the spell was fully formed. The pitch ck ice that was formed as a result was much heavier than regr ice, not only that but just like the fire spells the caster lost all control over them once the ice mana mixed with the curse mana.


    What really interested Ajax and Evelyn however was the fact that this new ice gained a very odd property to shatter reflectively to physical damage, the effect meant nothing when it was hit with an arrow as the range seemed small, norger than a few feet. However those few feet could mean that a knife wielder would be pelted from head to toe by some very sharp ice shards. They had yet to test if those ice shards would also infect the target with a curse or if it would remain as ck ice but Ajax had a strong feeling that it would work as a delivery device which could prove invaluable against melee fighters.


    Evelyn also seemed extremely pleased at the news, so much so that she shared with Ajax that an opportunity would arrive in a month''s time for all the freshmen at the Academy, an opportunity that the nobles had been waiting for. With their progeny reaching past level twenty they were now at a spot where they could form their first bond with a monster of a simr level.


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    ¡°Why do they form bonds with fully grown creatures?¡± Ajax had asked when he found that out.


    ¡°Because they are not meant to be lifetimepanions.¡± the old man exined. ¡° In most cases a strongpanion simply won¡¯t form a bond with a human, at least not an inexperienced one.¡±


    ¡°And having apanion gets them experience?¡± Ajax asked incredulously. ¡° I would have thought a dead bond would be a warning g to avoid that human.¡±


    ¡°That is the reason they also choose such low level creatures. Even if they are treated well and progressed most of them would still die in a century, one and a half at most. The bond skill might not have a level but any creature you attempt to bond with after the first will be given a lot of information on how you treated your first bond.¡± the old man exined.


    While Ajax didn¡¯t find that method all that agreeable he had to admit it was a lot better than the practice of forming a bond just to kill it in hopes of unlocking some extra skills. That the treatment of thepanions was recorded was also a point in its favor as it would mean thepanions would be treated very well.


    Even with all of that going on Ajax simply pushed all of it to the back of his mind, he had something else to focus on now as the entire ss was heading towards the goldmine for their second delve as a ss.


    Unlike their first delve where they had their professor, two instructors, two teaching assistants and a very high level healer joining the students their second go around was much different. They quickly made their way inside the dungeon before professor Silvertongue addressed all of them.


    ¡°Alright everyone, quiet down.¡± he raised his voice and all of the chitchatter died out. ¡°Now as you are all aware for the next four cycles the delves will be apetition that takes the form of a tournament.¡±


    That got a small cheer from the morepetitive students as they were all looking forward to the game. Ajax had been slightly dejected when he heard about it since he had been hoping to simply practice his alchemy during these low level delves, but he was pleasantly surprised to find out that he would have all the time he needed for his brewing.


    ¡°Two rules that will stand and are not to be broken under any circumstances.¡± the professor continued. ¡°You are not, and I repeat not, allowed to trigger the obelisk. Any student, regardless of who they are that is found to have done so will not only find themselves expelled but they will be fully prosecuted for recklessness or murder depending on what happens afterwards.¡±


    That rule made perfect sense. Even with Ajax¡¯s ssmates abilities being strong enough to delve this entire floor a stampede like the one caused by triggering the obelisk would be lethal to all of them.


    ¡°The second rule is that you are not tounch damaging attacks towards other students. Stealing is allowed but should you be caught in the act you will be eliminated for the rest of the delve. You are only to steal things that were collected from this floor of the dungeon.¡±


    A few students looked around trying their best to appear innocent at that. ¡°Don¡¯t think I am kidding, if I get a whiff of anything else being stolen I will find out who it was and they will be cleaning all the toilets in the Academy with a toothbrush for an entire month.¡±


    ¡°Now, we are in variation one of this floor. You all should know the location Ajax will head to and I will be moving around the floor keeping an eye on things, Dave will be here by the arch as well.¡± The professor said as Ajax grinned at the idea that he could stay in one spot for essentially a few days to just practice his crafting, he had stocked up on ingredients and he was hoping to make some progress.


    ¡°Everyone, go ahead and split up in your teams.¡± With that everyone split off into six man teams.


    Ajax thought that the tournament was well thought out. It was not only a test of skill, where killing and collecting the most from the dungeon floor would determine the winner. Since the teams were to be formed of five students and a novice healer from the Healing Union and all team members had to be different every week for four different delves this involved both strategy and political maneuvering to win.


    It was a foregone conclusion that Annabeth, Benedict or the prince will be the ones taking the first spot, Lexi was mentioned as a dark horse but as the heads of the three factions in the ss the battle for first ce was clear. As was to be expected the teams this week were split into the usual factions but starting with the next delve it would be near impossible not to have an infiltrator from another faction in your team.


    With that Ajax had already started his trek towards the clearing he would be staying in for the next few days already looking eager to get started with his crafting.

 Chapter 200

    Chapter 200


    Benedict Steelde P.O.V


    All five groups were keeping their distance from one another as they huddled together going over their n once again. Thispetition was going to be the first point of contention for ss ranking. While this year wouldn¡¯t be the most impactful, all the high nobles came from different backgrounds it will still affect the noblendscape.


    Worse of all is that everyone had a somewhat decent chance to win. Out of their entire ss the stand out strongest are me, Goldmancer and Manashaper. While Goldmancer having Manashaper on her side would usually be enough to push me out of contention this trial system focuses a lot more on stamina giving me a chance to make up for the disadvantage.


    That left the prince as the other contender. While he was much weaker than us he had the advantage with numbers, the difference between the seven on my side, eight on Goldmancer¡¯s and ten on him wasn¡¯t all that big since we were not only a bit stronger but also from stronger families with more money to spend on their gear. The problem came that he now had two full teams that he could go with whereas both me and Goldmancer would have to drag dead weight after the first round.


    When I looked around before we left I was shocked to see that not only was Goldmancer not on the same team as Manashaper but she wasn¡¯t in a team made up of only her people she was part of the split team. It seems she was going to save her full team run for when she had experience as well as notpeting with me. It was a smart n but one that would also mean I would have more to hunt this time around.


    ¡°Okay everybody can go.¡± Silvertongue said about five minutes after Ajax headed off. He also took off but I knew he would be roaming around us until we all started to split off at least.


    As one we all dashed into the forest, only one of the prince¡¯s group didn¡¯t head towards the mountain, instead choosing to head behind the arch. We all knew the area there was small and limited but if they were the only ones there they stood to gain quite a bit before they could pick things off around the side as they spread to the rest of the floor. It was a smart move as nobody would gopete with them as they would also then be left splitting a small area.


    The wolves and deer we encountered were pretty much a non issue, as long as we didn¡¯t get sloppy and taken by surprise we should have no issue taking on most of them. Not only that but after the experience we hadst time I was constantly aware of what was going on above our heads, no way I would let a griffin sneak up on me a second time.


    ¡°Kobolds a hundred feet in front of us.¡± our scout called out. Most of my team was getting ready to charge them while the healer assigned to us was starting to hang back. Since kobolds had casters in their rank that was a necessity as if a spell hit the healer there could be nobody to heal him. It was a good strategy but it would also slow us down.


    ¡°Focus on their casters¡± I called out. ¡° Their weapons can¡¯t get through our armor but spells might just bypass a part of it.


    In truth unless one of us took a clean spell to the head I doubt the spells could do all that much to us with the gear we had on, but I knew the healer would insist that they had to heal any injury that we took. Unlike the rest of the team they cared little for the score on the exam and just wanted to get as much experience from the delve, this meant healing as much as possible.


    A quick icence went right over my head taking out one of the kobold casters with a clean hit through the eye socket. ¡°Got one, bombard them while I take out the other.¡± Rick called out as the fireballs took the kobold front line by surprise.


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    None of us got so much as a scratch as we cut apart the ten kobolds. We were even lucky enough to find a few staples of alchemical ingredients as we waited for the healer to catch up to us. While they were worth a little less than the kills there was no reason to leave points lying about.


    The whole day had gone about as well as we could have expected. The one regret I had was that the griffin we found had gotten away. Rick had managed to get a good hit with his icence but sadly all it did was take out the back paw and not the wings he was aiming for. The griffin had been smart enough to fly away as it saw us charging towards it. Griffins were worth the most but there were so few of them.


    ¡°Let''s head towards the help point.¡± Rick said as it was starting to get dark. ¡°Not like we¡¯ll get much more done today, better to start fresh tomorrow with full stamina.¡±


    I nodded my agreement. These first two days were going to be the most stamina intensive as everyone rushed through the forest and the mountain to get as many of the abundant creatures that were there. After the initial rush died down people would need to take things slower as there wasn¡¯t enough prey that you could run mindlessly and still find it.


    As we arrived at the predetermined cave I was surprised to see Ajax was working at brewing a few potions. The guys had three cauldrons going at once and he looked to be mixing another set of ingredients.


    ¡°You lot need any help?¡± he asked without lifting his gaze from his work.


    ¡°We¡¯re fine.¡± the healer answered. ¡°Decided to make camp here that way all of us can get a good round of sleep without having to keep watch.¡±


    That was the main reason for camping here, without a watch rotation we could all wake up earlier and get started again.


    ¡°You find any useful herbs?¡± he asked finally looking up from his work.


    ¡°Have found a few of them.¡± Rick said.


    ¡°Can I have them?¡± he asked as he stretched out his arm.


    ¡°No you can¡¯t have them, they are worth points.¡± Rick sounded indignant, he still had a bone to pick with Ajax after the way thest delve went despite my hopes that the two would patch things up.


    ¡°I¡¯ll still mark you down for the points they are worth.¡± Ajax said with a shake of his head. ¡°This way however I get to save on some ingredients and you get to carry around less things, win-win.


    Rick remained silent but handed over the herbs at my nod. I saw Ajax not down what we had brought before he started chopping them up and getting them properly prepared.


    To be honest I was d he was only an assistant for this tournament. Despite the budding friendship we had struck upst cycle through the physicalbat training and spars my families informants had found out that he had a much deeper bond with the Goldmacers family. Not only that but he was a skilled hunter and that would be invaluable in a hunt like this.


    All of us went a bit deeper into the cave and were quick to fall asleep in the next few minutes. When we woke up the artificial sun hadn''t yet risen. I didn¡¯t know how the dungeon worked but it seemed that at least this first floor shared the same night day cyle as the outside world. I had been warned that as we delved deeper that won¡¯t be the case, some floors would have the same schedule, others would have an opposite schedule, some might have a sped up schedule and others were stuck at one point. I would hate to find a permanent night floor.


    ¡°Have you just kept going throughout the night?¡± the healer exined as he was standing next to a small pile of potions Ajax had ced on one side of the table. They formed a small pile which was honestly rather impressive. ¡°And these would actually work like normal potions!¡±


    That was indeed impressive. Unlike the ve we had learned to make in our first alchemy ss, a proper potion was much harder to make. It seemed that he also had a bit of a knack for alchemy, especially since I didn¡¯t see much of a puddle on the floor from failed attempts. I had expected to see one considering he was crafting inside the dungeon making things more unstable.


    ¡°Managed to make something from the herbs you gathered.¡± Ajax said as he pulled out threerger vials.


    ¡°And why would we want healing potions?¡± Rick asked, and this time I agreed with him we all had better healing potions given to use by our family, the little stand next to them said each potion cost ten points to get.


    ¡°These aren¡¯t healing potions.¡± the healer said as he took up the muchrger sk.


    ¡°They are Bait.¡± Ajax said. ¡°Should work on the kobolds and the wolves but won¡¯t do much for the deer.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re the real deal.¡± our scout said as he took a look at them with his item inspection skill. ¡°Their quality is only fair but it might be worth getting one of them if we use it sparingly in theing days.¡±


    We were only allowed to bring healing and protective consumables with us so a chance to get some Bait potions would swing the odds in our favor. ¡°Can anyone buy these from you or just us since we brought the herbs?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Anyone¡± Ajax replied. ¡°It was agreed upon with the professor.¡±


    ¡°Damn it!¡± I cursed, this is where Goldmancers change of approach worked in her favor as now I couldn¡¯t have the other two of my people use their points to buy the other two sks so that the main teams would get them.

 Chapter 201

    Chapter 201


    Prince Xavier P.O.V


    The first two days had gone well but quite as well as I had originally nned. About 80% of the monsters on the floor had already been killed by now and it came down to who would be able to hunt down those that remained. Most importantly however it seemed that half of the griffins were still alive somehow, simply flying above and choosing not to engage. If I could get two of them I¡¯d be pleased but it wouldn¡¯t be easy.


    Goldmancer seems just as crafty as her father. Despite being almost as foreign to our ssmates as I am, and I just forced my way into the ss and among my peers a few weeks before school started, she had managed to leverage her money to buy off two of the outer circle from Steelde. They weren¡¯t helping her by any means but they weren¡¯t dragging her back either.


    She would certainly not be in the top three when the points would be tallied up at the end of this round. Usually this would mean that me and Steelde would take a wider margin but I never expected she would split up from Manashaper in this first round. With a full team on her side she even snatched a few groups from right under my nose.


    Despite it being Goldmancer¡¯s entourage and her family name backing the group, her and Manashaper had a big trump card for this littlepetition. Both of their names were high enough that either of them winning would count as a win for them, this meant that me and Benedict couldn¡¯t let our guard down just in case they decided that Manashaper would be their representative.


    ¡°Your Highness, are you okay?¡± Johnson asked.


    I recognised the wariness in his voice was because of the smile I sported despite our position not being as good as it could be. Johnson was smart enough to realize that Goldmancer was most likely toe out ahead after this round even if me and Steelde would be number one and two when the points were counted up.


    Then again how could I now smile, this was exactly why I had chosen to join this ss : The challenge, the opposition, I would actually have to work to win. I still remember my uncle as he reminisced about his days in the academy and how he had to go head to head with the Silvertongues and the Steelde heirs of his time.


    ¡°I am just fine.¡± I assured him. ¡°Let''s head for the caves. I¡¯m sure there have to be quite a few kobolds we can find if we go and explore them. Who knows maybe we might even end up finding a griffin nest in the caves near the top.¡± When it came tobat I knew that I was a ways behind Benedict. Not only was I a hybrid fighter but I had invested my initial points into a heavy Vitality and and Mind build hoping to get as many forced points before I used thest few levels and potion to correct the values. Even if my skill with the sword was better he was just stronger and faster than I was and I couldn¡¯t put up any strong spells to tilt the fight in my favor just yet.


    The moment we engaged the kobolds inside the mine I did my job to hold their warriors in ce and give our mages time to wipe them out. These kobolds weren¡¯t all that bright, their moves were easy to read and with a well ced shield you could deflect their blows and unbnce them. After that getting a good hit in or knocking them into their allies was easy in the narrow corridors of the mine.


    Going through the mine ended up being even better than we expected with the way things were going. I would only need one of the remaining five griffins to set the foundation for a good start.


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    ¡°I hear fighting up ahead.¡± our scout said.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go, I want to see who we¡¯repeting with.¡± I knew we wouldn¡¯t be the only team in the tunnels. With most of the beasts in the forest cleared out everyone would head for the tunnels, especially since the outside patrols had also been taken out so the change of getting attack from in front and behind was low, almost impossible if at least three teams entered at the same time.


    ¡°You¡¯re justte to the party.¡± A friendly bubbly voice called out as we reached the other group.


    The fight was already over and most of the people were already collecting the spoils and proof of kill from the corpses. Manashaper gave me a quick wave before focusing back and cutting the left ear off a kobold.


    ¡°Oh well, maybe you won¡¯t make it to the next one.¡± I fired back. I couldn¡¯t tell with Manashaper, by now almost everyone who has been to at least five big events in thest two years in the capital knew that the girl had two sides to her. The bubbly, fun-loving sweet girl, and the mischievous schemer that held grudges like no other. Still I don¡¯t think anyone knows which one of her personalities is her true self or if she¡¯s just a mix of the two and she chooses which side she shows.


    ¡°Your Highness, we finally found you!¡± a voice called out from another tunnel that led into this area.


    ¡°What are you lot doing here?¡± Johnson asked usingly.


    It was a good question as they were supposed to be scouring the forest so they could lead us to the final wolves and deer after we were done with the tunnels, either tomorrow or on thest day depending on how many they found.


    ¡°Steelde has the lead.¡± he puffed out, everyone from that team was breathing heavily from the quick pace they took to get here. ¡°He¡¯s already taken out three of the five griffins.¡±


    That statement was like a bomb as it wiped not only the yful smile from my face but also the teasing grin that Manashaper was sporting. So far each of the five teams had taken a griffin for themselves, I suspected that had something to do with Silvertongue as all of us were attacked in the middle of a fight with deer or wolves. But now Steelde killed three more and shot himself into the lead by a good margin.


    ¡°How?¡± Johnson asked.


    I sadly wasn¡¯t quick enough in telling to shut up, I didn¡¯t want to give the answer away as Manashaper also seemed to have no idea how they did it but he had already given away too much with the first word.


    ¡°Themoner!¡± he spat out. ¡°He¡¯s doing alchemy in that little cave of his and he turned some of the herbs they gathered into Bait.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s helping the Steeldes?¡± Manashaper asked incredulously.


    ¡°No he¡¯s doing it for himself.¡± the man denied. ¡°Apparently he worked it out with professor Silvertongue that he can take the herb we gather and mark us the points we should receive for them. After that he crafts Bait with them and we can use those points he just gave us to purchase it from him.¡±


    ¡°If they have Bait why didn¡¯t they kill all the griffins?¡± I asked, secrecy was a lost cause at this point.


    ¡°Because they only had enough herbs for three sks of bait, they are out in the forest gathering more now.¡± he puffed out.


    That was all the signal we needed as both Manashaper I and both of our teams dashed down the tunnel going straight for the spot where Ajax was. From the sounds of it professor Silvertongue made sure Ajax wasn¡¯t putting his finger on the scale with thispetition but if two groups arrive at the same time he would be able to choose who to help first so we had to get there before Manashaper could. It¡¯s a good thing I was a hybrid with stronger physical stats.


    As I was running however I couldn¡¯t help but feel that I was finding myself disliking this Ajax. It was not so much personal as I didn¡¯t have anything against him personally. If anything I think he is the person who is closest to me in terms of raw talent.


    No, what I dislike about him is the attention everybody gives him and how he got it by exploiting a cheat in the System. I didn¡¯t know what cheat he had found, not even my father or grandfather knew and they were the King and the crown Prince. But apparently it couldn¡¯t be used by them or me anymore. Not only that but he would make it public in a year or two at most ording to the guild head of the Healing Union.


    I didn¡¯t want to end up like my uncle but from the looks of it my little brother, who doesn¡¯t have as much talent as me will end up benefiting from this when I couldn¡¯t and might close the gap. Not only that but both father and grandfather think I should try to befriend Ajax in hopes of having him take the spot of Ajax of the First should I evere to rule. That spot is usually reserved for a talented mentor usually at least a century older than the king who focuses on being the strongest and they want me to focus on somebody the same age as me?


    I can¡¯t focus on that now, first let''s win this contest then I will have a few free days to think over the meeting with father and grandpa.

 Chapter 202

    Chapter 202


    By the time the whole floor was clear Ajax had managed to finish brewing over two hundred potions of restoration and a total of twenty batches of Bait. Out of all those creations Ten batches of Bait were even of inferior quality and the rest were failures, though that had more to do with the fact that he was substituting ingredients so that he would only use herbs found on the first floor of the dungeon. As for the regr potion he managed to create one hundred and forty of inferior quality, ten of basic quality and one of Umon quality.


    While all that might have seemed like great progress it was clear that repetition wasn¡¯t the best way to get his alchemy skill higher. Over the whole exercise he had gotten a total of eight points in alchemy, three came from the one hundred and forty inferior quality potions, two of theming in the first fifty when the recipe was still a novelty to him, another point came with the ten basic quality, two points he got for the batches of bait though he suspected that was more for the first time he ever substituted ingredients in a recipe. Finally the single umon quality potion got him two whole points by itself.


    One other thing that the dungeon pounded into him was that his [Mana Milling] skill became much harder to use inside the dungeon. Not only did it allow him to infuse his own mana when preparing ingredients but it also opened the ingredients a lot more to the dungeon''s free flowing mana. The one umon potion he made had also used the best ingredients his mana milling had produced from the environment in exchange for the same regr ones he brought in.


    Overall the delve was still very much a sess as it did give him thest one and a half thousand experience that he needed in order to level to thirty-two. This new level up did mean that he had to enter the second floor of the Goldmine before he leveled up again if he wanted to im the +1 to all stats for clearing the floor at an appropriate level and he was hoping that his uing delve in a few days would do the trick.


    As for the first leg of the tournament the order of the first four cements was exactly as he expected them to be once he saw how the teams split up. In first ce was Benedict Steelde, Prince Xavier took second, Lexi Manashaper came in third and Annabeth Goldmancer took fourth. The next person in the standing didn¡¯t even have half the points Anna had gotten so it was clear that the points had been funneled into them but that was all expected.


    ¡°With an astounding lead Benedict Steelde has managed to rack up one hundred and fifty points.¡± Professor Silvertongue praised the leader of thepetition before everyone was ready to head out of the dungeon through the archway.


    The lead was truly remarkable as the Prince only managed to get one hundred and twenty five points, while Lexi gobbled up one hundred and fifteen. The big surprise was Annabeth managing to get herself to a solid one hundred. Her team had been the second to find out about Ajax¡¯s Bait operation and snagged the final two griffins, getting her within striking distance.


    While things did seem to look up for the prince who would be getting another round with a full team backing his problems would crop up in the other two. Unlike Annabeth, Lexi and Benedict the prince wasn¡¯t all that much of an offensive powerhouse meaning that the dead weight he would be carrying at that time would slow him down a lot more.


    ¡°How was crafting in the dungeon?¡± Dave asked Ajax as the two of them brought up the rear with everyone leaving the dungeon. ¡°Harder than I expected it to be.¡± Ajax admitted. His skill had been good enough to sessfully make the potion five times in a row outside the dungeon and even get one of basic quality from five tries, inside however his sess rate dropped to 75%. ¡°But it did bring equal gains with it.¡±


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    What excited Ajax most about this delve however was the Rare skill [Dungeon Crafter], he had unlocked it early on in his attempts, most likely due to his Divine Witness trait, but it hadn''t even gotten to level two despite all the crafting he had done afterwards.


    The biggest regret Ajax had about the run was that he had to leave behind his single Umon rarity potion. Even if only a few of the ingredients hade from the dungeon that was enough to make it so the potion wouldn¡¯t be able to leave the dungeon with him, another forty of the inferior and two of the basic potion also shared the same fate and were left behind.


    When it came to the remaining eight basic potions Ajax was going to give them to his grandparents to sell, he had to start paying back the money they had fronted him in getting the alchemy equipment. As for the one hundred inferior quality ones he was going to donate them to the Healing Union, his grandparents shop did have a reputation to maintain so selling inferior quality potions would actively harm that. Not only that but he did want to do something, even if it was only a good will gesture, for all the help Luna had given him since he arrived in the capital.


    On their way back to the Academy Ajax had noticed something strange. He thought that it was his imagination during thest few days of the delve but even now the Prince was actively hanging back, closer to Ajax that he had been standing before this trip. Not only that but while he had been very cordial in all their interaction Ajax did feel a little hostility in the res the Prince threw at him when he thought he wasn¡¯t looking.


    ¡®Does he know that I have ess to [Curse sh]?¡¯ Ajax wondered. The execution of the curse user had happened a day before they went on their delve. It was the weirdest thing Ajax had seen from the popce in this new world. Most of the capital had taken to the streets to see justice served however the execution grounds had barely any people present as everyone was afraid of ast second curse the culprit might release upon death.


    Ajax was reassured by both thazar and Evelyn that him having ess to [Curse sh] wasn¡¯t going to be an issue for him, though both did urge him not to make it public for at least a few months. The human reaction to fear was one thing that hadn¡¯t changed from back on Earth, even here if you took a random person off the street and asked him if there was something wrong with the skill now they would say there wasn¡¯t as one of the king''s own squad leaders used curse attacks. However while a person was smart, people as a group were dumb, all it took was one person with a few social skills and there would be a mob out to lynch him.


    Immediately following his dismissal from professor Silvertongue, dismissal that thankfully only happened after the man confirmed that Ajax¡¯s next delve with the Silvertongue house would take ce in the Goldmine in three days, Ajax made a beeline to professor Vilethorn.


    ¡°Good afternoon professor.¡± Ajax greeted as he entered theb/office.


    ¡°Ajax¡± the professor greeted with a slight incline of her head.


    ¡°You¡¯re back already!¡± The teaching assistant greeted him more excitedly.


    ¡°So how did it go?¡± professor Vilethorn asked, with a bit of eagerness present in her voice.


    ¡°Worse than I had expected, I only managed a 75% sess rate when it came to only getting apleted potion.¡± Ajax admitted. ¡°Thanks once more for the ingredients.¡±


    While Ajax did have to pay for the ingredients, they were already prepared for him and sold to him at a quarter of the market price, something he knew wouldn¡¯t happen a second time and was only done to motivate him to pursue Alchemy.


    ¡°75% is a great result!¡± the teaching assistant quickly answered. ¡°Most beginners don¡¯t get past 50% their first time crafting inside the dungeon.¡±


    ¡°How many basic quality potions did you manage to make?¡± The professor however focused more on the quality rather than the quantity.


    ¡°Ten.¡± Ajax answered. ¡°Though I did manage to get an Umon rarity one as well.¡±


    ¡°Really?!¡± the professor stood up at this and reached out her hand. ¡°Can you let me see it?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t.¡± Ajax shook his head dejectedly remembering the potion he left behind while taking a basic potion and putting it in the outstretched hand. ¡°I only managed to get that by using some of the mana infused herbs from the dungeon so I couldn¡¯t take it out, the same is true for two of the ten basic potions.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a shame¡± the professor said as she took her seat again and examined the potion in her hand. ¡°The use of mana infused herbs does lower the achievement of having created one on your first delve doing so but not by all that much. I expect that I¡¯ll be seeing you in my sses throughout all six years you¡¯ll be at the Academy?¡±


    ¡°That you can be sure of.¡± Ajax agreed before giving his goodbyes and heading home.


    For the next two days he nned to rx, mentally at least following the five days of concentration he put into crafting potions. This means that he will be emptying his stamina with basic physical exercises and his mana by infusing the trees and nts he nted around his bee hives.

 Chapter 203

    Chapter 203


    One of the biggest new things Ajax had found out in his days of rxation was the mana limit the trees that had been nted on his patch ofnd had. All matter had a mana limit, some had it higher than others and living beings were dependent on their growth not only their species. The other big difference between organic and inorganic matter was that organic could be filled to its current upper limit in seconds with a strong enough source whereas doing so with inorganic matter wasn¡¯t possible.


    One thing that both had inmon was that when the maximum threshold was exceeded both organic and inorganic matter would vaporize to release the mana. Ajax saw this as the branch he was infusing mana into did exactly that once the tree had been filled up to the brim.


    As for the flowers and bushes Ajax had nted their mana tolerance was currently lower than the trees, however they were also much young and with enough care and infused mana Ajax will be able to actually cultivate some mana infused herbs in the long run. That wasn¡¯t to say that the mana wasn¡¯t having a positive effect on the trees as they had started sprouting a much healthier foliage, however they were already too old to be able to absorb any of the mana.


    After his few days of rest were over, Ajax geared up and packed his kit before heading towards the capital. He had thought about paying his grandparents a visit to deliver the potions but decided to hand those over along with anything he picked up in this delve that he would end up selling. He did however drop by one of the branches the Healing Union had set up in the middle of the slums where his one hundred inferior quality potions were gratefully epted by the administration.


    As he came into view of the dungeon team he would be joining this time around Ajax could easily tell that this time would be a lot differentpared tost time. While none of the members of this delve seemed to have the power or levels that Nina and Trevor had Ajax could easily tell that they were all around level sixty, that was a bit of a jumppared to thest team. Not only that but this team all looked to be younger than the other team still seeming to be in theirte twenties, though Ajax was sure they were all at least closing in on seventy.


    ¡°Ajax, it¡¯s good to see you again.¡± Nina greeted him from the side. Ajax was surprised to see the smith here.


    ¡°Nina?¡± Ajax answered with surprise. ¡°Are you going to join this delve as well?¡±


    ¡°No, no.¡± she denied. ¡°I wasing to pick through the markets for anything useful at low prices and was asked to handle the introductions.¡± saying that she lead Ajax to approach the team that looked ready to head out.


    ¡°Trevor, this is Ajax. I trust you know about him already.¡± the way she said it seemed more like a threat than an introduction to Ajax. ¡°No need to worry Miss Nina, dad already pounded into me that we shouldn¡¯t do anything to haze him.¡± Trevor said while rolling his eyes like he heard the same thing a few times in thest few days.


    ¡°Good.¡± Nina nodded. ¡°Ajax, this is Trevor II. You¡¯ve met his fatherst time, know that he is the leader of one of our top two elite youth teams. Despite hisck of interest in anything regarding crafting he is quite adept when ites tobat.¡±


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    ¡°You¡¯re only saying top two because the other team is led by a Silvertongue and we¡¯ve somehow never had a chance topete with them.¡± one of the twenty members spoke up with a cocky grin.


    It seemed to be a universal truth that the strong and talented would be given some leeway in terms of discipline even in the big noble houses as long as they were loyal when push came to shove.


    ¡°Good to meet you Ajax¡± Trevor II said as he offered Ajax a handshake. ¡°Dad had quite a bit to say about you.


    Ajax simply epted the handshake with a nod of his head, though he did make sure to make it a deep nod so that it wouldn¡¯t be taken as a sign of disrespect.


    ¡°Well you¡¯re as antisocial as he said, I just hope everything else checks out.¡± Trevor said, cracking a smile for the first time. ¡°Yourst delve with our house was an eight day long camp defense. We¡¯re hoping this one won¡¯t take as long, our job is simple: get to the eighth floor and clear it, grab anything of value that we can bring back out.¡±


    Ajax was ecstatic at the news, getting to floor eight would mean he would get the bonus for seven new floors, that would mean an extra seven to all his stats. Not only that but floor eight would be filled with monsters with levels between sixty and sixty-five, even just the cores from such strong creatures were sure to sell for a pretty penny.


    ¡°You lot watch yourselves, the dungeon is no joke.¡± Nina said, though judging by her tone and expression even she knew the warning wouldn¡¯t do much to the group of young elite at this point. ¡°Also do try to bring me something nice, who knows I might even make one of you a custom piece if you do.¡±


    That piece of encouragement quickly had the attention of every single member of the team as they all cheered with greed at the news. With the morale handled they all made their way towards the arch that marked the entrance. Unlikest time Ajax only had the bare minimum for any Alchemy crafting with him this time. Not only did he not want to risk the new equipment in a non-crafting delve but it was also heavy and it would have taken up a lot of room.


    ¡°We¡¯ll simply be taking the first seven arches we find and get to the eight floor as fast as possible.¡± Trevor II said. ¡°Ajax will be the one to clear all of them as apparently he still has something to gain from those floors.¡±


    After that he turned to the rest of the team with a serious look. ¡°Just because he will be handling it solo does not mean you are out on a leisurely stroll, keep your eyes peeled for any materials that we might be able to bring with us.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir!¡± the rest of the team responded at once.


    As Ajax took a look at the teamposition he found that it was made up of one healer, four mages, five archers and ten melee fighters. He also noticed the two bison acting as porters as well as the three mountain lions and one falcon that seemed to be bonded with different members of the party. All of the bonds were monsters and were above level fifty; they also had no affinity to any element marking them as having already reached their full potential. The only other bond present was a bear, this one was not only in the sixties but also had a bit more room left to grow, fitting that it was Trevor¡¯s bond.


    Once they entered the first floor of the dungeon much of the rx attitude had dropped, not because of any danger the floor may pose to the team but because they wanted to get past the easy stuff quickly and they all made a beeline for the location of the nearest archway, starting from the second floor they would actually need to explore a bit to find the first archway but on the first floor to location was set.


    Ajax made quick work of the stag defending the archway, he briefly used his [Mana Syphon] and crushed right through the antlers and the skull of the boss dropping it dead with a single quick blow.


    ¡°I like your style, kid.¡± one of the short members of the team said. The man was five foot three at most but on his back he carried a massive metal sledgehammer that Ajax knew to keep well clear of duringbat.


    Floors two, three, four, five and six were quickly dealt with in much the same manner. Floor four did them the courtesy of providing a pack of bloodthirsty bunnies whose corpses they could take outside. The monster in question reminded Ajax of the bunny from Monty Python, on the fourth floor the monsters were capped at level forty-five but Ajax knew he didn¡¯t want to meet them on ater floor as their small size, high speed and piercing attack could prove devastating.


    The monsters were carefully preserved as their fur was of very high quality and the meat was supposed to be extremely good, so much so that a few of the members had managed to pester Trevor in doing a small detour to kill another pack, this one they couldn¡¯t take out of the dungeon but they could cook it for themselvester.


    During their descent into the dungeon Ajax had checked each archway to get an idea of the next floor, but he wasn;t too fussed about what they ended up with as he knew they would quickly pass through. This changed however on floor seven where the first gate they found had a very strong concentration of magma aspected mana.

 Chapter 204

    Chapter 204


    Ajax was forced to make a very difficult decision. On the one hand he could try and warn the team about the magma mana he felt when he siphoned the arch and this would most like lead to a much safer run if they were to take a different arch. On the other hand revealing something like this wasn¡¯t something to be done on a whim. In the first ce it would basically be outing that he had a Legendary skill as Rare skills weren¡¯t hard to find when u had a kingdom¡¯s worth of people and none had been discovered that could tell what the next floor would be like.


    ¡°Well let''s get to it¡± the leader said as he took a step towards the arch. ¡°Also where the hell is -¡±


    Trevor II¡¯s question was cut off by the scout that had just appeared from the foliage of the dense jungle floor theme. Not only that but from the way he was breathing and the greed in his eyes it was clear that something good just happened, this meant that at the very least Ajax¡¯s choice was postponed, for now.


    ¡°Boss!... Boss!...¡± He heaved as he tried to get some air, the speed he rushed back at as well as the excitement had left him winded. ¡°I found a small camp of spawns. Ones we can take outside.¡±


    Ajax frowned slightly when he heard of spawns. He knew the term but he hadn¡¯t run into any of them before as they simply weren¡¯t something a dungeon would choose to use on lower floors. In simple terms spawns were humanoids spawned by the dungeon. Unlike kobolds these weren¡¯t monsters but could be humans, dwarves, beastkin, elves or any of the other hostile humanoid races. Most noticeable about them would be that they never dropped a core, also once the levels got past ny chances were they had better gear than delvers did so a team could get all new gear for the rest of the delve. Now that there was a camp whose weapons they could take outside was one of the biggest jackpots the could hit.


    ¡°Yeah!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s more like it!¡±


    ¡°I told you guys I was due some good luck.¡±


    A few members of the team already started celebrating their early payday. A few of the people didn¡¯t seem all that excited and were instead more cautious. ¡°What are we dealing with this time?¡± ¡°Foxkin.¡± the scout replied. ¡° I could see six of them.¡±


    The biggest challenge with facing spawns was that they were essentially bloodthirsty humanoids. The worst part of all this was that they wouldn¡¯t know what to expect from them. Unlike usual monsters where you could mainly assess their attributes, humanoids were extremely versatile, they could be ss cannon mages, bulwark tanks or anything in between.


    ¡°Did you get a look at their equipment?¡± Trevor asked.


    ¡°Not a good one, I didn¡¯t want to risk giving myself away if one of them was perception based.¡± the scout replied.


    That was the other problem with dealing with spawn. Unlike regr humanoids they didn¡¯t have to level, the dungeon created them at the appropriate level for the floor meaning they could have builds that would be totally impractical to use to actually get to that level, the lesson most prominently shared by the Adventurers guild being the one cast mage. A mage that had practically no Mind or Wisdom but was stacked with intelligence, the could fire one spell and one spell only but that spell could be on the level of something twenty levels higher. The story was something of a myth or legend, only somewhat confirmed by teams when they met them as they were climbing to the floor they wanted to get to so they overleveled said mage with no public record of any team meeting one at an appropriate level for them. Then again it could be that no team had met them and lived to tell the tale.


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    The team made a careful approach, Ajax had his bow drawn and was ready to release a two hundred mana magma arrow, he was looking for a sure kill on his opening shot. Sadly it wasn;t to be a perfect ambush. The foxkin had gotten a whiff of them before they all got in position and the jungle exploded with movement.


    Ajax¡¯s arrow was quick to hit its mark, prating the staff holder right between the eyes before releasing a small amount of magma right inside his skull killing him instantly. It wasn¡¯t enough to even melt the spawns face but it doesn¡¯t take much magma to the brain to get a solid kill.


    The rest of the foxkin were also quick to follow. All three of their physically focused meleebatants were quickly swarmed in one versus three and dispatched. The other staff wielder did manage to give the team''s assassin a good shot around the head, turns out it was a monk staff wielder and not a caster so the dagger through the back wasn¡¯t enough to kill him. The seven arrows that turned him into a pincushion after were however.


    As for the ranger foxkin, he did well to get some distance from the melee, and even managed to get a few shots off towards the teams bow wielders, though none of themnded. The issue was with him being away from the main fight he turned himself into a clear target for the three mages that sted him with spells the moment they had a clear shot.


    ¡°Everyone good?¡± Trevor asked once it was clear the fight was over.


    ¡°He will be in a minute.¡± The healer said as he was patching the assassin up, blood now colored his hair where his skull cracked slightly.


    ¡°I want that staff.¡± the assassin cried out, a small hiss of pain following his cry. ¡°I took it to the head so I get to take it home.¡±


    The rest of the team did make some over the top rebuttals andments about his hard head but it all seemed in good fun. It seems that when it came to finds like this the loot was given out in a pick order. The order was determined first by the most injured in the fight, there was only one this time, then by kill contribution. The healer was getting the short end of the stick there but a high level healer had the easiest time making money on the side outside of dungeons.


    ¡°Alright, fine you can get the staff,¡± Trevor conceded. ¡°But I also expect you to turn in an ident report for the hit.¡± That was a hit as it would put a spotlight on his carelessness.


    ¡°What do you want, Ajax?¡± Trevor then asked.


    ¡°Damn, you can make it spew magma inside their skull?¡± one of the people that was investigating the corpses asked as he inspected Ajax¡¯s kill.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take the other staff.¡± Ajax said as he picked up the staff. Most important thing about it was the obvious enchantment runes that were running all across it. Ajax hoped it was a mage¡¯s staff and not a healer¡¯s but that was forter.


    The rest of the gear was quickly distributed, the mages were also given a stern talking to. Reason for the talking was that they didn¡¯t use ice spells to kill the archer and ruined most of his gear in the process, all that was salvageable was his bow and arrows.


    Having seen the team in action Ajax had now determined to not share what he knew about the magma archway. After all the team had made preparations for any type of floor even if this would be one of the more dangerous ones. Ajax was mostly worried about thepanions. Bisons and bears didn¡¯t mix all that well with high temperature environments. And none of thepanions was in their sixties yet, though that would be an issue regardless of what floor they would go to.


    Progression Achievement : Delver


    Pass through an advancement arch inside a dungeon.


    Reward: +10 to all stats.


    Progress : Passing arches to levels you haven¡¯t been to advances this achievement.


    Reward: +1 to all stats for any progress made.


    Ajax took a fond look at the that had stacked up so nicely during this delve as they entered the floor. It had started as a +1 to all stats back when he got to the second floor in the dungeon near Lessis, went up to +3 after the delve he had done a few weeks ago. But this dungeon truly deserved its name as the goldmine as it gave him seven floors of progress so quickly.


    ¡°We¡¯ve got an environmental floor, heat based by the looks of it.¡± Trevor called out and everyone started swapping their gear to its correct configuration. ¡°Any of you want to send yourpanions out now¡¯s your chance.¡±


    Nobody took him up on the offer though a few of them did look tempted. One thing that Ajax was thankful for was that despite the magma theme the floor wasn¡¯t a deep cave with tunnelsyout or a desert type. Instead it seemed to be a full nt ecosystem that adapted to the rough rocky terrain as well as the rivers of magma that could be seen flowing.

 Chapter 205

    Chapter 205


    Fighting on the eighth floor of the Goldmine waspletely different to the other times Ajax had been in the dungeon. The closest he could get to it was when he first started going into the dungeon back in Lessis, but even then The Collectors had a bigger level and skill leadpared to the creatures that showed up, now however most of the party was on the low level range for entering this floor and they were pushing their skills to make up the difference.


    The biggest thing Ajax noticed was that the passive mana he could use [Syphon Mana] on counted for 75% of the cost when he was running at maximum absorption. This was also the only reason why he had any mana left after the fifth fight they encountered. Thankfully there was nothing like curse mana on this floor that would negatively affect him or else he would be screwed.


    The elite team on the other hand dealt with the delve a lot different than he would normally see things done. First of all the mages almost never took part in a fight. Mainly to maintain mana and they only jumped in when something looked like it would go wrong. Second they picked their fights carefully so that they always outnumbered the monsters they were facing, at least two to one though three to one was preferable.


    So far the team had found giant scorpions, and worms. A weird mix between a hippo and a rhino that liked to bathe in magma, the mages had needed to take care of that one with a bit of ranger support as nobody wanted to let those things get close to them. An immovable treent type that seemed to root inva and try to eat them. Lastly they also ran into more than a few golems.


    ¡°Good thing they¡¯re golems and not rock elementals.¡± Trevor let out a sigh after the team decided to on a spot to set up camp after clearing a group of golems.


    Golems were made of stronger rock than earth elementals of the same level but they paid for that in a few ways. Firstly their core was locked in ce either in the center of their chest or the head. Secondly while the rock they were made from was stronger it also took a lot of time to rece should it be damaged, unlike an earth elemental that had a stronger healing factor than Wolverine and Deadpoolbined while in contact with the ground.


    Thepanions the team had brought with them were of next to no use in directbat. With them being at least ten levels behind they could little more than buy time. Their use for logistics and scouting however really endeared them to Ajax. The two bisons were given a rushed haircut once the floor theme was revealed, same with the bear, leaving just enough of their fur and hair for a little protection and Ajax could swear he could see the sweat forming and dripping from them.


    Nobody actually bothered to set up a tent during the night. Unlike previous desert themed floors the night time here wasn¡¯t actually freezing but the same persistent heat that the floor had to start with. The team simply put down their bedrolls and decided to sleep with just a bit of cover and a few people on watch.


    ¡°GOLEMS INCOMING!¡± The shout woke Ajax up from a deep sleep. ¡°At least fifteen of them!¡± That wasn¡¯t good, there were far too many of them and the team had kept almost all engagements to seven opponents at most. Ajax was quick to jump up and take out his hammer and shield. He knew that shing damage meant little to the hard rocky bodies and that a hammer was the way to go, more than that the shield was a requirement as the golems were surprisingly quick for the huge power they packed. Most of thating from the fact they had practically no joints limiting their limbs movement.


    The first thing Ajax saw was Trevor''s bear getting punted across the camp by one of the golems. Thankfully that wasn¡¯t enough to kill the bond but it was clear its front paw was broken as it couldn¡¯t put any weight on it.


    With no option left Ajax went right to his [Void Aspect Mana]. For all their strengths a golems core was actually quite fragile, this made void attacks that bypassed their impressive amor devastating to them yet Ajax had hoped he wouldn¡¯t be forced to show it.


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    With his [Mana Syphon] running at maximum capacity Ajax pushed himself to move quickly and try to even to drop a few golems with a surprise void offensive. The nt worked well and the first golem took a hammer to the head that barely chipped the rock there only for it to suddenly drop dead a secondter as the core shattered inside its body.


    Ajax pure offense took out another two golems before he caught a bad deflection with his shield sending him flying much like Trevor¡¯s bear. Ajax could feel that while his arm wasn¡¯t broken the blow had dislocated his shoulder and the arm hung limply by his side.


    He didn¡¯t let that stop him as he charged again. While his speed hadn¡¯t dropped the rest of the team had gotten into formation and with the three kills Ajax got they had been given enough of a reprieve to start making good progress themselves.


    With the initial surprise over and the mages not sitting on the sidelines the battle quickly turned into the teams favor as golem after golem was turned to rubble. Ajax got another two kills before the rest of the physical fighters brought four down and the mages depleted their mana pools to finish off thest six.


    Most of the team let out a sigh of relief as thest golem dropped but that didn¡¯t mean they were fine. Nobody was dead yet but one of the rangers had gotten surrounded and took a ncing blow to his little armored head. He was now in a pool of blood with the team''s healer there trying to patch him back up.


    ¡°Help me out with my shoulder.¡± Ajax asked Trevor as he walked up to him. ¡°It¡¯s not broken, only dislocated and I need to get it back into the socket.¡±


    ¡°On three.¡± Trevor nodded to him as they both got into position. ¡°One¡­ Two¡­¡±


    There was no three, and while Ajax knew that this was the correct choice to prevent any damage from him flexing on three the surprise that came with the sharp pain caused him to let out a mix between a growl and a yell.


    ¡°The table is set up.¡± came the announcement as a table filled to the brim with their rations was ced in the middle of camp.


    Nobody really had any appetite to eat right after the fight had ended but all of the injured members, which was more than half the team at this point, started shoveling food. Even the ranger with the cracked skull was given a medieval form of IV. All of it was to help out with the mana cost of the healing, this way there would be more nutrients for the healing spells to pull from instead of consuming the mana to repair the wounds.


    For the mages, eating wasn¡¯t all they were doing. While they didn¡¯t have skills, knowledge and spells needed for proper healing all of them knew one spell or another that could pause or slow a deadly wound while they waited for a healer to get to them.


    Ajax had already taken care of his shoulder the best that he knew how. It wasn¡¯t perfect as the shoulder still had a weak dull throb but it was good enough for now until the team¡¯s healer could see him. Having shoveled three meals worth of rations down his throat Ajax stood up and headed towards the bear.


    Out of the bonds it looked like the falcone was the only one to have gotten out unscathed. One of the mountain lions had lost an ear, one its tail and a third had a few chipped teeth that had been grinded as it tried to restrain the arm of a golem. All of those wounds were something Ajax couldn¡¯t help with.


    The two bison had each lost one of their horns and both had a fewrge bruises across their bodies. It would take a healer to regrow the horns but Ajax was optimistic about the bruises but first on his list was the bear''s shattered paw.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Trevor II asked him as he saw him approach the bear.


    ¡°I have a non chanted spell version for healing as well.¡± Ajax answered. ¡°Unlike mybat magic however I¡¯m the only person I¡¯ve ever tried it on and nobody is that badly injured that I need to experiment on them. I have healed a few bears before however.¡±


    ¡°Oh, your spells sure are something.¡± one of the mages said having heard the conversation. ¡° What the hell was that thing you used on your hammer? Your wound up blows barely chipped the rock, far less than a non-spell enhanced blow should yet they would drop dead right after.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s one of my ¡®aces¡¯.¡± Ajax answered.


    All of the people looking questioningly at him right now simply nodded at that exnation. Professor Silvertongue had told him that even members of their house had skills or abilities they kept hidden from all but the decision makers of house Silvertongue. Those abilities were their ¡®aces¡¯ and once someone identified a skill or ability as such they wouldn¡¯t push for more information on it. Ajax knew that his void aspect would definitely be reported back but the wouldn¡¯t be pressing him for more information.


    With that conversation handled Ajax took a look at his mana 250/2340. Those extra seven points in mind gave him a bit of extra mana to try to help the bear with but he knew it wouldn¡¯t be enough.


    ¡°Here¡± Trevor said as he extended a mana potion to Ajax. ¡°Do what you can for him please.¡±


    Ajax took the potion and chugged it, it tasted like minty mouthwash but Ajax could already feel his mana regenerate quick. In a matter of seconds he now had 600 points of mana, enough to hopefully take care of the bear¡¯s paw so he got to work on it.

 Chapter 206

    Chapter 206


    Out of the entire team of young talents the healer was the one most shocked to see Ajax go to heal the bear. He was busy but now that he finished with the skull fracture nobody else had any lethal wounds, there were some crippling wounds that he will be taking care of for the rest of the night and a good chunk of tomorrow but there was no way he could ignore something like this.


    Most healing magic was either buried in a deep vault of a noble family or under the protection of the Healing Union yet here was this new healing spell that didn¡¯t even require a chant. Most healing spells that did anything more than first aid worked on more of a chanel with the spell starting after an initial chant and a second chant being required to keep the spell going, that was how the healer examined and made sure all of the damage was fixed. The method was advanced yet it had one key issue, if you were chanting a healing spell you couldn¡¯t chant an offensive spell so it meant that mages could only be off healers afterbat had ended.


    ¡°I¡¯ll need a mana break.¡± the healer said as he took out a potion and chugged it down before moving over to Ajax¡¯s side. Unlike the potion Ajax took that instantly recovered some mana for him this one increased his mana regeneration, meaning he would get more mana but it would onlye in ten minutes.


    Much to the healers'' relief, the healing spell Ajax was using on the bear was slowly working to piece the shattered bone back together in the paw. He had been at it for thest three minutes and the pieces weren¡¯t even put together yet meaning the spell wasn¡¯t all that quick when it came to any serious damage. It was still a great medical discovery but from the looks of it would be one that affected high end healers, or maybe even dedicated healers at all.


    ¡°There could still be some bruising but he should be able to put some weight on it now and swipe with it if ites down to it.¡± Ajax said as he blew out a tired breath.


    With only two hundred mana left Ajax was ready to go back to bed. He went over to his sleeping bag and didn¡¯t even bother removing his armor as he copsed and fell asleep in seconds. Nobody in the team chastised or moved to wake him, a good part of the members who suffered very little injuries even copied him and went back to bed so that they will be better rested if another attack happened.


    ¡°How strong was that mana potion you gave him?¡± the healer asked Trevor.


    ¡°I am not a mage, all I have are the basic potions.¡± Trevor responded.


    With that information the healer knew that not only was Ajax¡¯s healing slow it also wasn¡¯t all that efficient but that was only true when it came to healing a bear. All healers knew that your efficiency when healing yourself was much higher than when healing others since you had a much better idea of what was wrong when you were the one sporting the wound. Even if it was improved, however, that healing wouldn¡¯t do much to massive injuries.The healing ability would be a godsent equivalent to an Epic skill for a physical fighter. Inbat with others ofparable strength it wasn''t a massive killing blow that won the fight and it wasn¡¯t a slow bleed out, at least not in most cases. The fight usually ended because of a debilitating blow that shifted the match heavily to one side. This could be anything from a shattered elbow to a cut hamstring. Those wounds weren¡¯t massive and as such Ajax would be able to heal them, not only that but he could also use the fact that he healed them as a surprise attack. When your opponent took a quick step with the foot you thought was limp there was every chance you could lose your head.


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    ¡°How are you doing buddy?¡± Trevor gently asked as he scratched the bear behind the ears.


    ¡°GRRRR!¡± with a mix between a purr and a growl the bearmunicated his affection as well as a request to be fed.


    ¡°Yeah, yeah, I¡¯ll get you some food just be a little patient.¡± Trevor shook his head with amusement at his bond. ¡°Everyone that is not injured and taking watch, get to work gathering those golem bodies. The rock they are made of is solid so set up a few defensive barriers. If we are attacked again I want a few solid walls up around us.¡±


    The rest of the night went by peacefully as did the next morning. The watch shift had swapped with the first rays of light. The new shift took over for the previous and continued building up their local defenses, Ajax had used a good chunk of the mana he recovered overnight to finish up healing the bear¡¯s paw as well as the bruises on the bisons. While this may not look all that impactful it actually allowed the team to get a move on since their pack carriers could now move.


    It was a little past noon when the team finally got moving again. None of the mages were at their full mana and Ajax was sitting at around halfway but it was still enough for them to get moving. They spent the rest of the day clearing a perimeter around their temporary base hoping to ensure they wouldn¡¯t be attacked again the second night. The day went well, they didn¡¯t find any more golems but the dide across both scorpions and massive worms.


    Ajax was more careful during the battle with the scorpions this time around. Unlike when he faced them on the first day he wasn¡¯t just going for the kill this time and took extra care not to crush the poison sack. The poison these scorpions carried was more akin to acid than poison being very corrosive to anything but the delicate organic material that made up the poison sack. It was so corrosive in fact that the number one method for killing the scorpions was to simply picture the sack and have the poison kill the scorpion afterwards by corroding it away from the inside.


    ¡°Oh no you don¡¯t.¡± Both of the people bonded with bison quickly approached Ajax the moment they saw what he was doing after the fight was over. ¡°You want to take that with you fine but you¡¯re carrying it.¡±


    Ajax opened his mouth to argue but stopped before he spoke his first word. He did see their point of view, all it would take was a small rip in the sack and not only would it spill all over the rest of the equipment it would also most likely ground the bison for a whole day of healing at the very least.


    The second night was thankfully quiet. The team still didn;t get all that much of a restful sleep as all of them were still very much on edge after the attack the previous night but they were much more rested the following morning and they were ready to head off down river to see where the rest of the monsters on this floor were.


    As they made their way through the rocky jungle the team had its first profitable find. They were also d to see that it didn¡¯te in the form of a monster. In the middle of a ratherrge clearing was a massive rock covered in volcanic moss. The moss resembled the forest moss in texture but was a bright red in color, not only that but they could take this moss outside the dungeon where a skilled alchemist would be able to use it. The mostmon use for it would be for a fire resistance potion or in the creation of a fire resistant coating for a piece of armor.


    Ajax was shocked to find out that you don¡¯t actually drink resistance potions. All of his years of gaming just to find out that the elemental resistance potions were used by dousing yourself with them, he was thankful that came up in conversation before he had to use one as he would have made a fool of himself by drinking it.


    Their journey came to a pause as they followed the magma river to a small pond. The pond¡¯s most prominent feature was therge swirling whirlpool that looked to be stirring the magma.


    ¡°Well at least now we know why the magma doesn¡¯t just cool and harden.¡± someone said as they carefully approached the edge.


    ¡°I think I see something swimming in there.¡± the scout said as he noticed ripples break away from the circr motions to head towards them.


    ¡°Furnace smander!!!¡± Trevor shouted, a bit of panic creeping into his voice. ¡°Everyone back the way we came quickly.¡±


    The team didn¡¯t waste a second. They weren¡¯t even doing a tactical retreat away from the smanders; they were clearly advancing in a different direction, not even stopping to take a pot shot towards the bloated lizards that had crawled out of the magma and were waddling quickly towards them.

 Chapter 207

    Chapter 207


    The furnace smanders were waddling out of theva but their speed took a severe hit as they finally wed their way up the rocky edge. From there their round forms didn¡¯t allow them to make fast enough progress so the team managed to put enough distance between themselves as to disengage before either side managed to get a blow off. The mages simply took a moment to raise an earth wall before they also retreated quickly.


    ¡°What rotten luck. Not only do we get an environmental floor but we have to deal with furnace smanders.¡± One of the rangers said while everyone else was catching their breath following the impromptu sprint.


    ¡°Are we¡­ going to be leaving¡­ that pack forst?¡± Ajax asked while heaving. ¡°There were¡­ two level sixty-five bosses there.¡±


    Having seen the two arches that were on opposite sides of the small pond Ajax determined that both of the bosses and their small pack had mixed together in theva pond and were now acting as one big group.


    ¡°I say we don¡¯t fight them at all.¡± the healer spat out as hey on his hands and knees heaving in air. ¡°Let theme out of the dungeon after us and get sted.¡±


    ¡°No, we¡¯ll kill them.¡± Trevor countered with a tone that said he had made up his mind.


    ¡°Trevor are you crazy?¡± the scout that had been closest to them asked. ¡°How do you n for us to take on that many of them?¡±


    Ajax had to admit that it was a question he himself had. The age old question in this world was what came first, the dungeons or life? Did life evolve first and then the dungeon copied it to create the denizens of each floor or were the dungeons first and they spat out the first forms of life. It was a question that humanoids had no answer to and one that Ajax wondered if the dragons knew. Regardless this meant that they knew the exact characteristics of the furnace smanders.


    Knowing the specifics of a beast and killing it however were two very different things. Furnace smanders arerge horse sized lizards that resemble a mix between the komodo dragon with the head of a king cobra. They are highly, with an extremely scaly and durable skin that is also highly resistant to most elements but in particr heat. Besides their extreme durability the lizards are usually also quick on their feet easily being able to dash around.Their name however came from their unique characteristic of swallowing magma. Not only were furnace lizards highly resistant to heat on the outside but they were also resistant to it on the inside. For their extreme defense and speed the lizards had sacrificed all direct forms of offense. The only offense they had was theva they swallowed, with their stic insides that allowed them to puff out like a blowfish to storeva they couldter spit out. They are usually herbivores with little territorial behavior but that was changed by the dungeon.


    The question of how they could take on a dozen furnace smanders was a great one. Their defense meant it would take a lot of effort to bring one down. Not only that but after they had emptied their load they would regain their usual speed and make a quick dash back into the pond to reload.


    ¡°We¡¯ll clear the rest of the floor first.¡± Trevor said. ¡°After that we¡¯ll use the obelisk to get them to leave their pond, that way they¡¯ll only have one load each.¡±


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    Everyone gave a sigh of relief once they heard Trevors n. Attacking into the smanders at their pond would mean they would take at least three or four fatalities but drawing them out using the obelisk was a good n. It would take a lot of preparation as they didn;t want anything else to join the smanders in their final battle.


    With the new n established the team spent most of the afternoon making for the highest point they could see to get a betteryout of the floor. They then spent the rest of their time setting up the camp there in such a way that a nocturnal attack would pose little threat to them.


    Their nning paid off in spades as despite their defenses they were once again visited by golems during the night. The defenses and strict watch they kept meant that everyone was woken up in a timely manner and the golems were dispatched without anyone taking and significant damage.


    The next six days the team spent meticulously clearing out the rest of the floor. Now that they knew what to expect it wasn¡¯t all that difficult as the worms, golems and scorpions were easy for them to handle and everyone was too on edge after the nocturnal attacks and the smander ambush to be careless.


    Besides finding a group of three golems whose bodies they could take back outside the dungeon and a few patches of moss, the whole delve wasn¡¯t all that remarkable. The big surprise for them however came on day five when they happened upon another, smaller group of furnace smanders. The big difference however was that this time the reptiles weren¡¯t near a magma pond.


    ¡°Now this is much, how do you like that you useless fucking reptile?!¡± one of the team''s heavy knights yelled as he grappled with the smander.


    Without any magma all the smanders had was speed which meant that once they came in contact with a physical fighter that focused on strength they could actually pin them down without any fear as they had nothing to threaten them with.


    The team knew better than to just kill them off quickly and instead used the weak pack as a test for their final battle. While everyone had read about the furnace smanders not all of them had encountered one before so theyunched their attacks to see how much damage they could do to their tanky scales.


    It came as almost no surprise to himself but Ajax quickly found out that his void attacks were the best choice against the smanders. More surprising however was the fact that his void element became almost entirely useless if the attack hit the smanders anywhere except their skull. This made his void an all or nothing blow where a headshot would mean an instant kill and anything else was a waste of mana. This was all well and good until you remembered that their head is also the source of theirva jet.


    ¡°What are you doing now?¡± the warrior holding on to one of the lizards asked Ajax as he approached slowly.


    ¡°I want to see if this is effective against them.¡± Ajax said as he carefully sliced into the scorpion poison sack and allowed it to drip onto the back of the lizard''s scales.


    ¡°Hey, be careful with that thing!¡± The warrior was quick to withdraw his legs and tighten his grip as the smander started to struggle harder, throwing a little of the acidic poison around.


    The scorpion venom took all of five seconds to get soaked up into the stic scaly skin of the smander. A quick normal strike with his hammer afterwards let Ajax find out that the scorpion poison was the natural counter to the smander''s tough skin as the soaked patch cracked and peeled off the struggling reptile.


    ¡°New standing order, any scorpions that we find are to be carefully killed and the poison sac collected.¡± Trevor was quick to act once he saw the results of Ajax¡¯s experiment.


    Ajax and two of the rangers had also taken the time to skin all five of the smanders after they killed them, they would use any of the non damaged skin toyer over the shields they brought that way they would have a defense against the opening volleyter.


    By the end of the sixth day the team had cleaned out the floor and was setting camp around the obelisk. The location of the obelisk was on a ratherrge open ne and the entire team was thankful it hadn¡¯t been a mile to the left as that would have ced it at the bottom of a depression. Everyone was taking a good rest tonight as tomorrow would be a hard fight.


    Everyone already knew their part of the n, the only exceptions were the bonds. They were all told to stay back and out of range. Despite theirck of offensive tools the sheer level difference meant that their physical attacks would be enough to injure the bonds, not to mention theva they could spit out. The only exception was the eagle as it had been given leave to fly high above and keep and eye over the battle, its main objective was to ensure that if they missed any creature they would be given a heads up before it arrived.

 Chapter 208

    Chapter 208


    Ajax P.O.V


    For once everyone had gotten a good night¡¯s sleep and I felt refreshed as I got up and started getting ready. Since we knew which direction the smanders were going to being from we formed a small moat in that direction and covered it with some rocks, inside the moat we had ced all of the poison sacks we had collected from the scorpions. Ideally we would have tossed the poison sacks at the smanders but that presented too much of a risk as having one rupture during the toss could fling the poison everywhere. What we hoped now was that they would misstep in the moat and cover their legs in poison removing some of their mobility.


    Even with all that preparation everyone was nervous, some quiet mutters about whether or not we should even be doing this were going around and I knew very well why. Furnace smanders were in the top three most dangerous monsters that had been documented at this level bracket of the dungeon. This extreme single focus tactic fell off a cliff in terms of efficiency at around level eighty but for now it marked the single biggest threat.


    The only two monsters that were more dangerous could be found in a cold or strom floor respectively. The shivering python, took second ce when it came to the deadliest creatures around the early sixties. The animal was small, fragile and extremely fast. Once it got close to you however it would syphon away heat and could leave someone with frostbite in under a minute.


    Number one was the thunder pigeon. This one didn¡¯t have any remarkable attributes besides its immunity to lightning damage. That and the ability to attract lightning bolts. One moment of carelessness and you could find yourself fried. Once our levels became higher we wouldn¡¯t be so vulnerable to elemental damage and I wanted to reach that point more than ever.


    ¡°Everyone get ready.¡± Trevor shouted after he activated the obelisk before running back into his position.


    What followed next was the calm before the storm. I had suddenly gotten a much better idea of what the people manning the walls of Helm¡¯s Deep would have felt in the second Lord of the Rings movie. Simply having made preparations in a defensible position waiting for the cmity to strike.


    ¡°I see them.¡± the scout shouted and not more than a few seconds after I caught sight of the dozen or so wadling little balls of scales making their way towards us. It was also at that point that we all realized we had overlooked something. Yes we knew that the smanders were in the magma pond, but what if they weren¡¯t alone. A half dozen of the ming hippo-rhino mix were also barrely towards our defensive position already zing with magma covering them.


    Mages were the first to open fire. While both archers and mages of simr level usually had the same range, mages had much more leeway here in terms of precision, archers needed to be almost pinpoint urate to get past the durable scales. I was in somewhat of a middle ground with my enchanted arrows I could let loose before the others. My opening shot was a lightning arrow, fire was useless same with magma and wind didn¡¯t have the necessary pration power. A well ced void shot may have killed them but I wasn¡¯t urate enough for that and ice wouldn¡¯t do more than slow them down a little, at least before they expelled all that magma.


    Four of the smanders fell before they got to the moat, sadly the rhino hippo hybrids were the first to barrel through it. The poison was a lot more effective on them than it was on the smanders but after the first three tripped and copsed as the poison was eating through their feet their bodies formed small bridges for the rest of the monsters to barrel over.


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    The remaining three hippo hybrids were enraged by the loss of theirrades so they broke into an all out sprint charging towards our frontline. The scale covered shield did their job turning the already manageable monsters into easily dispatched nuisances. My only problem was that their mad charge had broken down all of the barriers we had set up through sheer momentum.


    By the time the smanders got into effective range there were only six of them left, that didn¡¯t make me feel confident however as I could easily pick out the two level sixty-fives stilling towards us.


    ¡°Defelect with the shields.¡± Trevor shouted as the first fewva sprays were sent out. ¡°Watch the ssh.¡±


    I wasn¡¯t sure how much the call helped but five out of the six streams were properly redirected off to the side, thest one however hit the shield face head on sending blobs of magma in all directions.


    That''s when the screaming began from the archers and the mages that were hidden behind that particr shield. Chucks of magma had gotten into contact with the flesh and the sick sizzle that came made a shiver run up my spine.


    Then the screams began. It wasn''t the two archers that had been sttered that were screaming, I was assuming that they had the physical stats as well as the [Pain Resistance] to hold it in. The mage however was another story, he was yelling his lungs out as a massive blob of magma hadnded on his left shoulder and was now dripping down the side of his chest.


    The horrible stench of burnt meat soon filled the air as everyone tried to stay focused on the fight. With some of the magma expelled however the smanders had started to regain some of their speed. Their bellies weren¡¯t as round and their weight had dropped making everyone miss their initial attack.


    In seconds the smanders were on top of our frontline following the path the hippy hybrids had opened for them and from there the battle changedpletely. We had hoped there would be three left alive at most by the time they got to this point, not six so everyone had to adapt on the fly.


    I swapped from the bow to my hammer and shield and went forward to help the shield wall. From there an odd game of peek-a-boo began as the smanders tried to get past the shield to spay the fighters in the back but the fighters also tried to go around the other side to hit the smanders in the ass.


    Seeing how none of the strikesnded by the other melee warriors did much to them, the smanders initially ignored me as I charged in with my shield up. Unlike the rest of the shield wall I didn¡¯t have a wide tower shield so I had to be careful in case any of them decided to aim for my legs.


    Their attitude towards me changedpletely following my first blow. Inded a powerful hit directly on top of the viper head of one of the two level sixty-five. The result was exactly as expected, a slight chipping of the rocky scales followed by the monster dropping dead, blood flowing out of its outballs and nose as the brain had to have beenpletely squashed under the power of the blow.


    The next moment I poured out eight hundred mana into forming a small earthen wall in front of my legs and infusing my shield with ice as three magma jets got sent towards me. Two of them made contact with my shield and while I had deflected them properly to a harmless position the momentum behind the flyingva was more than I had expected as it sent flying backwards right off my feet.


    The rest of the team was thankful on the ball and had taken advantage of the change in target and quickly lowered the number of smanders from five to one. Seeing it was left alone the second level sixty-five charged right at the shield in front of it, instead of ramming it however ittched on to it and pulled to expose the frontliner holding it.


    The rash move had given all of the other units a clear and exposed target that they quickly fired upon. The monster had barely more than a two seconds before it got riddled by both spells and arrows yet that was enough time to empty most of theva it had stored right on the ted frontliner.


    The healer was quick to leave the side of the wounded mage and rushed over to the frontier that was now getting cooked alive inside of his te armor. The rest of the frontliners were also quick to dash towards their fallenpanion and did their best to strip his armor from him without getting any of theva on his skin.


    By the time the breastte had been removed the man had gotten a nasty third degree burn that covered his abdomen and the healer was chugging a mana potion while trying to heal any of the lethal damage.


    ¡°I¡¯ve done all I could for him. Quickly take him out and have another healer take a look at him.¡± The healer coughed out after his mana ran dry.


    Two of the rangers along with their two mountain lion bonds were quick to set up a makeshift stretcher and were quickly rushing towards the entrance arch. The silence of victory stretched out slowly from their departure yet nobody was in a celebratory mood just yet. All of us were too tired following the battle that ended up being much harder than we expected. A few people slowly dragged themselves to the grounded hippo hybrids and put them out of their misery before everyone simply took a seat on the rockyndscape to rest.

 Chapter 209

    Chapter 209


    All in all the delve seemed like it would be particrly barren, the only truly worthwhile things gained being the experience and equipment that they collected from the previous floor. Ajax however wasn¡¯t content with that, mostly because he had sensed a particrck of magic inside theva pond and he wanted to know what was there. There was only one issue, he couldn¡¯t exactly dive in the magma to get it.


    After exining the issue to Trevor the man got the mages to go on a small fishing expedition to look for said item. It took the mages two hours before they found it, mostly because even Ajax couldn¡¯t remember the exact location as he was more focused on running from the smanders at that time.


    ¡°Holy shit is that what I think it is?¡± One of the mages eximed as they looked at the red oval that was dragged out of theva.


    ¡°We¡­ we found an egg... an actual egg¡± the other mage was just as stunned as the first.


    While the two mages were busy breaking out of their shock and celebrating their good fortune Trevor was left with a very difficult decision. How would they deal with the egg? His initial n had been to give whatever was there to Ajax as he was the only one to argue for going to get it and maybe give him a smaller cut of armor and weapons they took from the previous floor if it actually turned out to be valuable but a furnace smander egg was something else.


    This was all the more true for the Silvertongue family as Nina, their best smith had also been bonded previously. The monster had died almost a decade ago and the furnace smander would be a massive boon. While the monster didn¡¯t scale all that well into the higher levels it was one of the best bonds for a smith as they would have an on demand furnace, not only that but it would be one that was extremely precise.


    ¡°An egg bond.¡± Trevor said letting all the mirth at the event fill his voice as he stood next to Ajax hoping to judge his reaction to it.


    Ajax had much the same reaction as all of them being extremely surprised by the egg that was found. While no youngling found in a dungeon guaranteed a bond hatching an the egg itself was sessful nine times out of ten for people who had previous bonds and three out of four times for others.


    Ajax¡¯s issue with the egg was that the bond wouldn¡¯t fit him at all. The smander would be slow to grow and would most likely cap out at around level one hundred, maybe one hundred and twenty-five if it was well fed from early childhood. Other than that it was also long lived easily surviving for five hundred years meaning taking it would be a long termmitment unlike the bonds most people tried to form early in life that would survive half a century to a century at most.¡°It sure is something.¡± Ajax acknowledged. ¡°An idealpanion for a smith.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯d be willing to give you all of the armor and weapons we got from the previous floor if we can keep the egg.¡± Trevor offered.


    Ajax was initially taken aback by the offer. The egg was much more valuable than those pieces. Thinking on it however the egg wasn¡¯t his, despite him pushing for it it was still part of the shared loot so being given all that equipment for his one twentieth share of the egg did bring things in perspective.


    ¡°Wasn¡¯t the agreement that we just sell everything we find and then share the profits?¡± Ajax asked as he felt an opportunity, afterall he was dealing with house Silvertongue so they wouldn¡¯t begrudge him a little bargaining.


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    ¡°We¡¯d like to keep the egg, for Nina.¡± Trevor said as he trusted his social skills when they told him to reveal the reason. The idea worked as Ajax was quite appreciative of the smith after having such a positive first delve under her watch.


    ¡°I¡¯ll agree to that.¡± Ajax said, making Trevor almost breathe out a sigh of relief, that was interrupted as Ajax continued. ¡°Under the condition that if the bonding is sessful she¡¯ll craft me a weapon when I graduate from the Academy in six years.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll keep you an open slot and charge you nothing for the work but you¡¯ll provide the materials yourself.¡± Trevor had almost agreed on the spot but thought better of it after he took a closer look at Ajax, who knew how strong he would be in six years and how expensive the materials for a weapon for him would be.


    Ajax begrudgingly epted the deal and felt his few merchant skills level one they shook hands. When Trevor went over to exin the deal to the mages their expression dropped instantly for a moment once they realized that Ajax held some small im to the egg. Their jubtion quickly returned once Trevor exined the deal but the moment of panic was still funny to Ajax.


    Trevor was carrying the egg like a newborn baby as the four made their way towards the exit archway, he didn¡¯t want to risk anything happening despite the shell being strong enough that it would simply bounce harmlessly if dropped.


    ¡°What the hell took you all so long?¡± one of the frontliners asked as he got up seeing them all approaching at a casual pace. ¡°Do you know how long we¡¯ve¡­¡±


    His words died in his throat as he caught a glimpse of the egg that was in Trevors arms.The momentary quiet was quickly broken as everyone broke out into cheers simr to the two mages previously.


    In a moment of petty vindictiveness the mages quickly rushed up to exin the deal that had been reached with Ajax regarding the egg. The whole team reacted exactly as the mages expected with a few even cursing them out for not mentioning that a deal was in ce before bringing up Ajax.


    Once the realization that they would be keeping the egg set in a few of the more heavy spenders and gamblers did groan a little about how they wouldn¡¯t get any of the weapons and armor they had collected from the seventh floor. While they were being generously provided for by the Silvertongue family they would also be expected to give up the egg without any immediate mary rewards.


    ¡°Ignore them¡± Trevor told Ajax as he stroked the egg gently. ¡°They¡¯ll get over it real quick once they find out what benefits our team will get as a whole for bringing this out.¡±


    ¡°On that note we¡¯ll be happy to take you with us anytime.¡± Trevor¡¯s voice turned more serious now. ¡°Your skills are no joke and you can look after yourself, I have to admit I did still have my doubts when I first saw you. I look forward to our next delve together, who knows you might just be our good luck charm.¡± He said thest part with a bit of amusement in his voice.


    Ajax was surprised to find Nina, Trevor senior and a bunch of healers waiting on them as they exited the dungeon. It seems that they had taken quite a bit longer than he thought to retrieve the egg as the higher ups came prepared for some heavier casualties.


    As the rest of the team came out with only a few scratches, burns and bruises Nina had startedying into them to give her such a fright. All of that cut off instantly as she saw Trevor II carrying the egg as he came towards her.


    ¡°Is that what I think it is?¡± Her words were high in pitch as she acted like a school girl who just found a puppy under the Christmas tree. ¡°Hit me, hit me, somebody hit me so I know I¡¯m not dreaming.¡±


    Trevor senior was quick to give her the requested backhand as she was making a fool of herself and attracting too much attention. Nina however didn¡¯t let that stop her and took it as the confirmation she requested, and then proceeded to go up to every member of the delve team and individually hug them.


    ¡°Er¡± her smile froze on her face as she got to Ajax who was standing next to Trevor .


    ¡°We already have a deal in ce.¡± Ajax quickly exined, he didn¡¯t think Nina would do anything to him but he also hadn¡¯t expected such a reaction from her so he covered all his bases quickly. ¡°The egg belongs to house Silvertongue.¡±


    ¡°Thank you!¡± her excitement quickly returned as she hugged Ajax. The only one to not receive a hug was Trevor II as he was holding the egg. ¡°I¡¯m buying for all of you at The Tapped Barrel, I just need to go and get the little one all set up you can all go start my tab.¡±


    ¡°After you get looked over by the healers.¡± Trevor senior was quick to intervene before everyone took off towards the tavern. ¡°We did drag them all the way here after all.¡±


    ¡°You joining us?¡± Trevor II asked Ajax after he transferred the egg from his arms to Nina¡¯s embrace.


    ¡°Sure I just have to go get these taken care of.¡± Ajax said as he patted the storage bag that contained all of the armor and weapons that were now his. ¡°Do you mind if I take the bag and bring it to you at the tavern?¡±


    At Trevor¡¯s shake of the head no Ajax picked up the heavy bag that strained his strength to the limit and made his way towards his grandparents shop looking to wipe out the debt the had expected would take at least half a dozen delves all at once.

 Chapter 210

    Chapter 210


    For the first time in a while Ajax felt his muscle strain under the weight on his back, the oddest part of the feeling was that the ground wasn¡¯t sinking beneath his feet. As someone who studied architecture back on earth the foundation was an extremely important part of a building yet somehow it seemed the ground here wasn¡¯t affected by extreme weight.


    This came as a shocking surprise to him since he had seenrge creatures and even warriors leave footprints whenunching themselves at extreme power and more so because of how easy it was for him to shape the ground, if mildly, around him. The only exnation he coulde up with was the same as for the sound barrier, somehow the presence of mana was ensuring that high level people wearing very highly mana infused items didn¡¯t just sink straight into the ground.


    The only issue he had with this was that it very obviously didn¡¯t apply to him. The heavy gear of six high fifties spawn was furtherpressed into a pack that he carried on his back. To say that the changes to his center of gravity were big was an understatement. More than once he had found himself almost tripping when his foot hit a pothole, the presence of which he couldn¡¯t understand due to the extreme rigidity of the road.


    All that said he slowly continued as he made his way to his grandparents house. His effort was actually rewarded when he earned the Umon skill [Unnatural Bnce]. Sweat was pouring down his back as he arrived at the store, with his mana being close to empty from the fight this trip squeezed his stamina to low levels as well.


    ¡°Mr Ajax¡± The guard at the door respectfully greeted him and opened the door as he approached.


    Ajax was a bit caught off guard by the treatment but chose to acknowledge it with a nod as he entered. Once he entered he made a quick eye contact with Sebastian who was still behind the reception desk towards the back of the store. By the time he made it to the desk the man already brought out a rather short cloak that he offered to Ajax.


    ¡°What is this?¡± Ajax asked curiously.


    ¡°Something to help you carry your load.¡± Sebastian answered as he draped the cloak over the heavy backpack and Ajax felt the weight reduce drastically. ¡°Master Elija and Mistress Aurora are here to see you, both were looking forward to your next visit.¡±


    Ajax still wasn¡¯t used to the forms of address that were used here in the capital. Back in Lessis, ''Sir¡¯ and ¡®Lady¡¯ were the usual forms to address those of high standing, once he got to the capital he quickly learned that using them for people who had no noble title was frowned upon with the title of ¡®Master¡¯ and ¡®Mistress¡¯ being the recement. The history that those titles came about due to the profitability of ve trade in the past didn¡¯t help ease the transition for him either.With his burden made lighter Ajax quickly made his way up the stairs where Sebastian led him to a different room fromst time. Inside the room both Elija and Aurora were present with their head guard standing behind them with his eyes fixed on Ajax from the moment he entered the room. The simple fact that the guard wasn¡¯t standing between them signified that they had looked into him and believed he meant them no harm.


    ¡°Ajax, wee back.¡± His grandmother greeted him, his grandfather taking his usual stance of simply nodding in greeting, though his nod was much deeper and slower showing that he meant no disrespect by it. ¡°Would you like something to drink?¡±


    ¡°Yes please.¡± Ajax said as he slowly took the seat opposite them and ced his pack on the table, it was obviously there for disying the items he would be selling to them.


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    Sebastian was quick to provide Ajax with a choice between ale or wine. Ajax much preferred the ale so he went with that being quickly brought a pint.


    ¡°How was your delve?¡± Aurora asked, trying to introduce some familiarity while keeping the topic of the conversation business minded as Ajax had made clear at theirst meeting.


    ¡°Profitable.¡± Ajax said with a small smile that turned into a grimace as he finished. ¡°Though a little more risky than I¡¯d have hoped.¡±


    ¡°I take it this wasn¡¯t a crafting delve like your previous one.¡± Aurora continued, Ajax wasn¡¯t surprised they had investigated even hisst delve. ¡°How did you find the Goldmine¡¯s floors?¡±


    ¡°The small level difference was definitely a boon¡± Ajax said with a deep grin as he thought about the +7 he gained to all stats from the single delve. ¡°Though the quick change in environments took some adjusting.¡±


    Ajax followed his statement by starting to unload all of the armor and weapons on the table while also piling up his share of the manacores in a corner.


    ¡°These all belong to spawn from the seventh floor.¡± Aurora said as she expertly identified the items.


    The head guard straighten up at that information as while the seventh floor wasn¡¯t too much of a challenge for him anymore he had to keep his guard up, add that onto the danger that spawns presented it was quite the achievement.


    ¡°Yes, finding a camp whose weapons we could take back outside was quite a boon.¡± Ajax confirmed.


    ¡°They are all pretty standard pieces of equipment.¡± Aurora continued, Ajax had kept one of the one-handed axes for himself as it was well bnced for him but he was willing to sell all the rest. ¡°The staffs are both standouts, this one is clearly a melee weapon with an enchantment to store impacts from iing attacks and release them on use. The other staff is more impressive, it has a few mana replenishment runes alongside a few fire and earth amplifications.¡±


    Ajax was d about that, though he did feel a bit bad when he remembered the look the assassin had on his face when Ajax took the staff that was meant to be his once the deal for the egg was struck.


    ¡°The other big ticket item here is the gloves, they increase the speed that healing magic casted by the wearer works at, this should mean less blood loss and therefore less mana for healing. Total value for the lot is between four hundred and fifty and five hundred gold coins.¡± Aurora finished her inspection and looked to Elija.


    ¡°Current price for it all I¡¯d say is four hundred and ny. The novelty effect on the melee staff isn¡¯t popr right now, people are looking for consistency, so it loses a bit of its value, the mage staff is always in high demand as for the healer gloves those are at a premium since with all this talk of curses speed is looked for by all healers right now. We¡¯ll offer you four hundred and fifty for all of it.¡± Elija showed his merchant abilities by understanding the current market and offering Ajax a prince that was generous but stillted them a good profit.


    ¡°I do have to admit to being surprised you got so much out of one delve.¡± Elija continued. ¡°This amount of loot is on the very low side for a delve but that is when counting the entire party, how do you have all of it?¡±


    ¡°These mana cores are from magma agesent creatures ande from the eighth floor.¡± Aurora said as she looked through the cores.


    ¡°We found a furnace smander egg on the eighth floor and they gave me all of the weapons and armor to buy out my share of the egg.¡± Ajax calmly revealed.


    ¡°A furnace smander egg!¡± Aurora was surprised and ecstatic at the news.


    ¡°Thank you for this.¡± Ajax¡¯s grandfather said.


    The information meant a lot for the merchants. While word that a bond egg had been retrieved by house Silvertongue had already gotten out following the disy outside the dungeon, knowledge on the species of the bond could still be leveraged by merchants in the offering of gifts when hoping to reach a good deal.


    ¡°I do hope you were careful.¡± his grandfather continued, the words quickly bringing concern as the realization set in for Ajax¡¯s grandmother.


    ¡°You¡¯ve faced furnace smanders!!!¡± Aurora eximed. ¡°Are you alright? Do you need a healer?¡±


    Her tone calmed down quickly as her merchant instinct quickly suppressed her protective grandmotherly ones.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± Ajax confirmed ¡°I¡¯ll take the four fifty for the gear here if you¡¯ll throw in ten more for the cores.¡±


    The price for the cores was a little on the high end but with the new information Ajax had delivered his grandfather would have taken the deal even if it was offered by a stranger and offered an outstretched hand to Ajax.


    ¡°With this you¡¯ve already repaid the full four hundred gold debt you had for the Alchemy equipment and are already walking out with sixty more coins,¡± he said. ¡°Quite the windfall you¡¯ve had this time around.¡±


    Ajax shook his hand before epting the bag of gold from Sebastian and then finishing off his ale. The ale was good but it was a little bitter for him having always preferred sweeter things he thought that a portion of his uing honey might be purposed into making honey mead.

 Chapter 211

    Chapter 211


    For thest few months Ajax started to settle in with his new routine as well as his time at the academy. One thing he wasn¡¯t too happy about, but that he could understand, was that he wouldn¡¯t always have a dungeon delve during his free period of every cycle. He did however get two more delves with the crafting team.


    During these delves he learnt that his strongarming of the Silvertongue house hadn¡¯t gone quite as well as he had expected. Because Nina was going to be focused on raising a bond in the near future her skills wouldn¡¯t progress for a good long while before they have explosive growth once she starts integrating the furnace smander into her creating style. That wasn¡¯t to say that he wouldn¡¯t be getting a good weapon, it just wouldn¡¯t be quite as good as he hoped.


    <strong>Name</strong> : Ajax


    <strong>Level</strong> :33


    <strong>Experience</strong> : 29760/61600


    <strong>Traits</strong>: Divine Witness


    <strong>Health</strong>: 2430/2430


    <strong>Mana</strong>: 2460/2460


    <strong>Stamina</strong> :1940/1940<strong>Vitality</strong> : 243


    <strong>Strength</strong> :204


    <strong>Endurance</strong> :194


    <strong>Dexterity</strong> : 204


    <strong>Intellect </strong>: 246


    <strong>Wisdom</strong> : 246


    <strong>Mind</strong> : 246


    <strong>Perception</strong> : 194


    <strong>Stat Points</strong> :0


    <strong>Skills</strong> :<ul><ul><li><strong>Common :</strong>[Mathematics Lvl 30] [Stealth Lvl 37][Drawing Lvl 35][Athleticism Lvl 38] [Running Lvl 38][Reading Lvl 24][Writing Lvl 24][Cooking Lvl 30][Sewing Lvl 20] [Cleaning Lvl 20][Haggling Lvl 23][Gardening Lvl 24][Axes Lvl 45][Hammers Lvl 45 [Deception Lvl 28][Sword Lvl 45][Shield Lvl 45][Bow Lvl 45][Spear Lvl 45][Throwing Lvl 37][Persuasion Lvl 23][Unarmed Combat Lvl 36][Knives Lvl 45][Skinning Lvl 37][Tanning Lvl 20][Dismantle Lvl 42][Climbing Lvl 31][Tracking Lvl 35][Heat Resistance Lvl 21] [Poison Resistance Lvl 28][Pain Resistance Lvl 25][Trapping Lvl 26][Cold Resistance Lvl 15][Conversationalist Lvl 5]</li><li><strong>Umon :</strong>[Meditation Lvl 50][Sense Mana Lvl 50][Expel Mana Lvl 50][Sprinting Lvl 40][Mining Lvl 21][Lumberjack Lvl 10][Smelting Lvl 15][cksmithing Lvl 10] [Chanting Lvl 11][Mana Farming Lvl 21][Increase Price Lvl 15][Lower Price Lvl 15][Danger Sense Lvl 33][Leatherworking Lvl 25][Alchemy Lvl 30][Mana Milling Lvl 21][Precise Cut Lvl 37][Precise Blow Lvl 37][Judge Threat Lvl 32][ Piercing Shot Lvl 38] [<em>Berserker </em>Lvl 17][Cooperation Lvl 27][Berserker Style Lvl 11][Unnatural Bnce Lvl 3]</li><li><strong>Rare : </strong>[Manipte Mana Lvl 40][Water Aspect Mana Lvl 40][Fire Aspect Mana Lvl 40] [Air Aspect Mana Lvl 40][Earth Aspect Mana Lvl 40][Inject Mana Lvl 41][Spot Weakness Lvl 31][Residue Recognition Lvl 23] [Light Aspect Mana Lvl 40][Shadow Aspect Mana Lvl 40][<em>Mana Skin </em>Lvl 25][Teamwork Lvl 20][Beekeeping Trailzer Lvl 7][Curse Resistance Lvl 154][Dungeon Crafter Lvl 1][Battlemage Style Lvl 1]</li></ul></ul><ul><li><strong>Epic : </strong>[Mana Augmentation Lvl 30][Mana Conjuration Lvl 25][Lightning Aspect Mana Lvl 23][Metal Aspect Mana Lvl 23][Ice Aspect Mana Lvl 23][Magma Aspect Mana Lvl 23][Holy Aspect Mana Lvl 15][Void Aspect Mana Lvl 23][Curse sh Lvl 11]</li></ul><ul><li><strong>Legendary : </strong>[Mana Syphon Lvl 27][Enigma Lvl 10]</li></ul>


    New :


    Conversationalist 0 -> 5


    Dungeon Crafter 0 -> 5


    Unnatural Bnce 0 -> 3


    Battlemage Style 0 -> 1


    Upgrades:


    Mathematics 26 -> 30


    Stealth 35 -> 37


    Athleticism 35 -> 38


    Running 36 ->38


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    Reading 22 -> 24


    Writing 22 -> 24


    Cooking 29 -> 30


    Haggling 20 -> 23


    Gardening 20 -> 24


    Axes 40 -> 45


    Hammers 40 -> 45


    Deception 27 -> 28


    Swords 40 -> 45


    Shield 40 -> 45


    Bow 40 -> 45


    Spear 50 -> 45


    Throwing 30 -> 37


    Persuasion 20 -> 23


    Unarmedbat 35 -> 36


    Knives 40 -> 45


    Skinning 34 -> 37


    Tanning 19 -> 20


    Dismantle 40 -> 42


    Climbing 30 -> 31


    Tracking 30 -> 35


    Heat Resistance 19 -> 21


    Poison Resistance 25 -> 28


    Pain Resistance 20 -> 25


    Trapping 25 -> 26


    Cold Resistance 5 -> 15


    Sprinting 35 -> 40


    Mining 19 -> 21


    Smelting 10 -> 15


    Mana farming 12 -> 21


    Increase Price 10 -> 15


    Lower Price 10 -> 15


    Danger Sense 30 -> 33


    Leatherworking 21 -> 25


    Alchemy 10 -> 30


    Mana Milling 6 -> 21


    Precise Cut 35 -> 37


    Precise Blow 35 -> 37


    Judge Threat 30 -> 32


    Piercing Shot 35 -> 38


    <em>Berserker </em>10 -> 17


    Cooperation 20 -> 27


    Berserker Style 10 -> 11


    Manipte Mana 36 -> 40


    Inject Mana 40 -> 41


    Spot Weakness 25 -> 31


    Residue Recognition 20 -> 23


    <em>Mana Skin </em>20 -> 25


    Teamwork 12 -> 20


    Mana Conjuration 25 -> 27


    Lightning Aspect Mana 20 -> 23


    Metal Aspect Mana 20 -> 23


    Ice Aspect Mana 20 -> 23


    Magma Aspect Mana 20 -> 23


    Holy Aspect Mana 12 -> 17


    Void Aspect Mana 20 -> 23


    Mana Syphon 26 -> 28


    Beekeeping Trailzer 1 -> 7


    Enigma 1 -> 10


    Curse Resistance 12 -> 15


    Curse sh 1 -> 11


    Looking at his new Status Ajax was both very pleased with his progress as well as a little underwhelmed on different sides of it. During thest months his magic had seemed to have mostly stagnated with the few ranks he was gaininging from the innovation of researching the exposure of the curse mana to different Epic affinities.


    For as much as his magical side had stagnated however as Ajax learned to control his intent better his physical side had finally started to break past its bottle neck. Anthony Gatecrasher had followed through on his promise and just yesterday Ajax had finally managed to gain [Battlemage Style] and he could now use this as a base to fuse it with his [Mana Syphon] in order to hopefully create an Epic style unique to him.


    His other great strides had been made in his crafting and gardening. Taking care of the nts and injecting mana into them on a regr basis had paid off in spades with the nts even radiating a very tiny amount of mana by themselves. This hasn¡¯t had any visible effect on the bees just yet but Ajax was looking forward to the honey that he would be collecting.


    The biggest difference Ajax had experienced since arriving in the capital was just how much his social circle had expanded. He would now regrly hang out with Benedict, Lexi or Annabeth on his days off. He had spent lots of time in professor Vilethorn¡¯s ssroom as well learning as much Alchemy as he could. asionally he would have dinner with Luna and Hatchet though despite all of their attempts he had yet to unlock any more conversational skills.


    His rtionship with his grandparents hadn¡¯t moved at all in terms of familiarity choosing to keep it to a strictly business arrangement. He knew that they respected that but he also had the feeling that they were making the preparation to go beyond sooner than the initial timeline he presented them with.


    Unknowingly his grandparents were going to profit from their approach. In order to try and make it easier to get closer to Ajax and their daughter''s family the couple had bought up all the farnd that surrounded Ajax¡¯s own lot. With the bees pollinating any crops they nted there with pollen that had traces of mana they were sure to have a richer yield than expected. Not only that but they had also bought the two houses across from the plots that Ajax had purchased in the city as well.


    All of this led Ajax to be extremely surprised when he received a letter from his parents letting him know that they would soon be on their way to the capital. Apparently Judy and na had gotten to work with anotherpany in the capital and thatworking as well as the profits they made had sped up their timeline considerably. Not only that but Tom had been given special permission to transfer over to the capital on ount of Fluffy¡¯s growth and the fact that she started to require higher level cores than wereing out of the dungeon to continue her growth.


    The final piece of the puzzle was surprisingly Kate being called to finish her required tenure at the Healing Union in the capital on ount of her discovery regarding alcohol being used as disinfectant. While those may be all the official reasons given, Ajax could see that his grandparents had put their feet on the scale to get his family to the capital faster.


    With the letter arriving today and it mentioning that they would set off in a week¡¯s time this meant that they were only a week or so from arriving. While both houses had already been built for a while since he wanted to get that done in advance they were not furnished yet.


    Ajax now faced another problem as while he had gotten some furniture that would be enough for himself he knew next to nothing about actually furnishing a house. Not only that but of all the people he knew they were all of too high social standing to help him decorate a house formoners.

 Chapter 212

    Chapter 212


    Silvia P.O.V.


    We were all done packing and by the end we had more than a few of the wagons from the caravan filled up just with the things from all of the things we had decided to take from our personal homes. The rest of the wagons were of course filled up with everything else na and Judy decided to take with them in hopes of turning a big profit in the capital.


    This made the news we had gotten two days ago a very messy affair to celebrate and would turn our first few years in the capital a lot more logistically difficult than we had expected. It was still very much something we all celebrated and while I was a bit guilty that it wouldn¡¯t be in the letter we sent to Ajax seeing the look on his face when we told him in person would be its own reward.


    Kate had gotten pregnant. She and Tom had been trying for a few months after Tom had reached level twenty-five, the idea being that they could handle the added stress while we were still in Lessis and their workload was manageable and then their child could benefit from growing up in the capital. Conception between humans and beastkin was known to be more difficult than just between humans.


    ¡°How are you feeling darling?¡± I asked Kate who was already seated on afortable seat while Tom and Sam were finishing loading up thest of the wagons.


    ¡°I¡¯m just fine.¡± She said and I knew all of us were treating her a little too much like she was all of a sudden made from ss but I couldn¡¯t help it.


    ¡°We¡¯re all set and ready to go.¡± Tom said with an excited cheer as he climbed up and took his seat next to Kate while Sam and I moved to the wagon in front and took our own seats as the caravan finally started to move.


    ¡°I still don¡¯t like this.¡± Sam said with a small frown as we took our own seats. ¡°Are you sure we shouldn¡¯t have just told them?¡±


    Sam had already put together the same thing I had, someone was pushing us to move behind the scenes, not only that but we both knew that it was my parents that were doing so and we decided not to share that with Tom, Kate, Judy or na. ¡°Yes, this is for the best.¡± I said. ¡°The sooner we get to the capital the better it will be for all of them, I don¡¯t want them to stall themselves over this.¡±


    ¡°And there isn¡¯t any way that this will end up hurting them down the line?¡± He asked with a bit more venom in his voice. Venom I understood considering I had been practically disowned when we married.


    In the year-long period following the attack on the vige I had been working with na and Judy. While both of them were focusing on expanding and making sure all of the branches they had opened were running smoothly I had been in charge of the main branch here in Lessis and keeping it on track. Doing so not only raised me to a very high position in their organization but also offered me a chance to level some skill I hadn¡¯t used in a long while and I even leveled more than once from the high workload.


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m sure.¡± I nodded. ¡°I looked over all of the contracts they signed and while they were a bit suspicious of just how favorable they were, all three of us made sure that there was nothing there that would tie us down ore to bite uster in any way .¡±


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    This mystery benefactor organization that was looking to help us in exchange for using our branches up north had been working with us for months but it hadn¡¯t been until recently that I put together that it was my parents who were behind it. What finally tipped me off was the news that Kate was being called to the capital and that Tom was also being moved there as well.


    That kind of move was actuallymon with the Healing Union being able to lean on the guards and make the move happen but they never brought the spouse along with their recruit. It was always their member going first than them asking the guard to bring their spouse down as well. Marriages between the Healing Union and the guards were actually quitemon considering how often the healers treated the guards.


    ¡°But then why would they have us all brought to the capital?¡± Sam asked.


    ¡°I can only think of two reasons.¡± I answered quietly as the two choices were so different thatparing them as I had for thest few weeks still made me feel uneasy.


    ¡°Two choices?¡± Sam was surprised here since he could onlye up with the first of the two.


    ¡°Yes,¡± I confirmed. ¡°The first is that they are actually sorry that they sent us away and after hearing about the attack they wanted to make amends and have changed their positions.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what I thought as well, what else could it be?¡± he asked, thinking that this was the only option was probably the only reason that he went along with it.


    ¡°The other is that Ajax¡¯s potential is so big that they are looking for any reason they can to bring him into the fold and benefit from it.¡± this option would be one I will investigate and will always be on the lookout for, I won¡¯t let them hurt Ajax Tom or Judy in the same way that they hurt me. ¡°In this case that would be the reason the conditions were all so favorable for Judy and na, they were not the ones they were targeting by helping them.¡±


    ¡°Hrrr¡± a purring noise sounded from right next to me as I felt Fluffy rub her giant head against my arm. The shadow cat was now the size of a small pony and had already reached level thirty surpassing even Tom and was showing no signs of slowing down. All estimations from the guard was that by the time fluffy was fully grown in two years it would be level sixty and that her full potential might be as high as level one hundred and fourty. This was also the reason the guard down in the capital used to bring Tom down for specialized training.


    ¡°I¡¯m just fine Fluffy.¡± I said as I scratched the cat behind the ears. This cat had all but eaten Tom, Kate, Sam as well as myself out of a house and home after Ajax had left and we ended up having to procure the cores for her diet instead of Ajax providing them from his share of the delve. Still we had always made sure that she had as much as she needed and that was the reason why her potential was estimated to reach as high as one hundred and forty in her prime.


    The road through the countryside was like a trip down memoryne. I still remembered my first reaction to these types of open nes back when Sam and I first left the capital behind and moved all the way out here. I hadn¡¯t appreciated the quiet living in a small vige like we had would bring back then, all I was focused on was theck of nobles. Now I was wondering how I would manage to adapt back to the lifestyle of the capital.


    The trip to the first city on our route was thankfully uneventful, this despite the fact that we were moving at half the speed a normal caravan would because of our massive size. Once we arrived however na and Judy were well on their way to scour the city for any opportunity and that left me in charge of the caravan and selling anything that I thought could bring us a profit.


    By the time we were ready to move on again I had sold off as much as I could from the items that had the lowest value for volume. Almost everything we had would sell better in the capital so I had to make space for us to buy some of the more expensive things that would bring with them a bigger profit when resold.


    ¡°The next city is clear.¡± our scout said as he returned to us when we were a quarter of the way to the next city.


    All of us had learnt from Ajax''s letter that told us about the situation he encountered one city before the capital and with the amount of goods in the caravan we couldn¡¯t afford to end up having them seized under a royal decree.


    ¡°You¡¯re looking a lot more rxed now.¡± Judy said as we made camp for the night. I also noticed that na, Kate and Tom were all there as well with a determined look. ¡°Maybe now you can tell us what it was that you were holding back all thest two weeks before we left?¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­ you knew.¡± I said a little defeated. It seems my acting skills are not as good as I hoped they were so it seems like I will have to let the cat out the bag a little sooner than I had nned. ¡°I think I know who it is that worked to get us all to move to the capital so soon.¡±


    As I started telling them everything I hoped they wouldn¡¯t hold it against me once I told them the reason for it was for their own good.

 Chapter 213

    Chapter 213


    Ajax had only read the contents of the letterte at night after he had just finished emptying his mana into the trees on his plot ofnd so he decided to sleep on it and deal with the uing rush in the morning, not only that he also knew that he needed the time to calm down a little before he did something rash.


    The next morning Ajax quickly dropped by the woodworker who made his beehives and ordered quite a few beds be made and delivered to his two sister houses, afterall the only thing that his family would care about after the long trip to the capital in a caravas was where the closest bed was.


    With that taken care of he took off towards his grandparents shop where a tough conversation awaited him. It was obvious to him that the only way the two to three year timeline they were on could be sped up to a couple of months was by his grandparents'' heavy interference. Most likely they had started to get involved from the first week after they met him.


    ¡°Mister Ajax, wee.¡± Sebastian weed him as he made his way into the shop with slow heavy footsteps.


    ¡°I need to have a chat with them.¡± Ajax said trying his best to remain calm.


    Jumping to conclusions was a bad idea, something he had learnt the hard way back in his time on Earth when he was struggling to make ends meet after a few bad choices was not to jump to conclusions about a person''s motives without talking to them first. Still considering the level of interference with a family they had essentially abandoned , he was having a hard time keeping his cool regarding his grandparents.


    ¡°Ajax.¡± Aurora greeted him warmly as usual though she kept herself behind the desk after she got a look at his standoffish attitude. ¡°What is the matter?¡±


    ¡°I just got this letter¡± Ajax said as he produced a transcribed version of the letter that kept anything personal out and just had the clear message of a mystery organization speeding up the timetable for them to move. ¡°I thought it best to talk it through before I jump to conclusions.¡±


    Both Elija and Aurora quickly nced at the piece of paper on the table and got the gist of the message, unlike their usual dynamic however it was Elija that talked first. ¡°It seems you already have a conclusion.¡± Ajax¡¯s grandfather said.


    Throughout their interactions over thest few months Elija had found himself being more talkative as both he and Aurora familiarized themselves with their grandson, the one exception to this was whenever they were talking business.


    Ajax was about to quickly answer back with a retort before he took stock of the situation he ced himself in. His grandparents hadn¡¯t given him any indication that they were looking to take advantage of their connection with the rest of his family. They also hadn¡¯t given him much indication that they weren¡¯t, but that was mainly because he had shut that down from their first meeting, choosing to leave the decision to his mother.


    ¡°Not a conclusion.¡± Ajax finally answered after a moment of quiet. ¡°I can see the worst case scenario however and I would like to be prepared for it.¡±


    ¡°You can rest assured that all we have done was to speed up the timetable of their move here we discussed at our first meeting.¡± Aurora said. ¡°Here are all the contracts we have in ce with them.¡±


    Ajax took a quick look over all of them and quickly found himself well out of his depth. Despite some basic merchant skill theplexity of the contracts was something that eluded him. One thing that was perfectly clear however was that his sister¡¯s organization was the only one of the two parties to have a buyout use on all the contracts, not only that but the total sum of the contracts amounted to about five hundred gold coins.


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    ¡°I can buy them out myself at no loss to them at any point.¡± Ajax said softly as he looked through them for anything that would prevent the buyout use and found nothing.


    His personal finances had been steadily growing ever since wiping out his debt, to the point that he now had gone from having four hundred gold in reserves to being at close to six hundred. It would have been a lot closer to eight hundred if he hadn¡¯t been spending as much as he had on his alchemy ingredients.


    ¡°And you didn¡¯t think I should know that they wereing this way so I could start setting up their houses?¡± Ajax asked his voice, much warmer than it had started out. ¡°I¡¯ll barely get proper beds installed in the few days I have left before they arrive.¡±


    ¡°You have more than a few days.¡± Elija said, causing Ajax to look at them confused.


    ¡°They areing in with a big caravan, at least thirty wagons, meaning they will be moving much slower than the messenger of this letter¡± Aurora exined. ¡°Not only that but they are also bringing a lot of their furniture with them so I suggest you leave plenty of space for them to ce it.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡± Ajax said, somewhat satisfied for the moment with the exnation, he would need to talk with Judy, na and his mother to verify the rest but for now this was enough to assuage him.


    ¡°It¡¯s not a trick.¡± Elija said as Ajax stood up and walked towards the door.


    ¡°I hope so.¡± Ajax responded.


    ¡°Thest few months just talking with you made us realize just how much we missed our daughter.¡± Aurora said.


    Ajax found himself truly believing thest remark, so much so that he would have thought he was under the influence of a skill if it wasn¡¯t for the apanying notification letting him know he had earned an Umon skill, not only that but it was a skill that he had been trying to get for a long time, [Basic Truth Detection].


    The skill was the lowest quality of all truth detection skills, Ajax was well aware of that as he had taken a deep look into the records of all known truth telling skills. Unlike truth there was no dedicated lying skill, as such when it came down to which skills won out truth telling skills had an advantage of about twenty skill levels over deception skills. [Basic Truth Detection] could actually beat out even Epic deceptions skills with enough skill levels. The problem was that the Umon skill did nothing when it came to anything other than a straight up lie. Unlike the Rare or Epic variants that would at least put up a fight against deception skills, a lie by omission or anything of the sort would straight up bypass the skill.


    Despite the tion Ajax felt at the notification and ray of hope that came with knowing his grandmother¡¯s statement to be true, Ajax pushed both feelings down as he made his way towards the Academy. Even with the assurances given in the contract Ajax was going to trust but verify.


    ¡°I like the energy Ajax but we don¡¯t have a session set up for today.¡± Balthazar said when he saw Ajax enter the library.


    ¡°That¡¯s not what I am here for today.¡± Ajax said as he approached the old man with confidence. ¡°Something I was expecting to take a lot longer is now happening in a dozen days or so and there¡¯s something I need to do in regards to it.¡±


    ¡°Oh is that so?¡± Balthazar said. ¡°And is it good news?¡±


    ¡°It is if all goes well.¡± Ajax said.


    ¡°Then you best make sure it does.¡± the old man smiled. ¡°Anything I can help you with?¡±


    ¡°As a matter of fact there is, I was hoping you would walk me through the process of getting a discovery published through the proper process so that I can im the benefits after sharing it.¡± Ajax said.


    ¡°Oh?¡± the old man stood up straighter, something that he felt all the way down his back as his body protested the quick movement. ¡°Finally going to share that magic style of yours?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Ajax said knowing that trying to teach a Legendary skill without an achievement was a fool''s errand. ¡°I¡¯m looking to share the way I got my abnormally high stats, or at least the basis of it.¡±


    ¡°Well now that is quite something.¡± the old man nodded. ¡°How reliably can the method be replicated?¡±


    ¡°Everyone can make use of it.¡± Ajax said with confidence. ¡°Though the increase in stats they will get will vary on a few factors.¡±


    ¡°Now that is quite the discovery to make public, do you mind me asking what prompted you to share it now if you were nning to do soter?¡± Balthazar asked.


    ¡°The rest of my family is going to be joining me in the capital soon and I want to try to get myself a noble title to make sure the transition goes smoothly.¡± Ajax said honestly. ¡°Can you help me put it all together in a few days?¡±


    ¡°Sure, I¡¯ll point you in the right direction but you¡¯ll be doing all the tedious parts.¡± the old man joked with him. ¡°You do know that if this method of yours leads to any substantial stat growth you¡¯re looking at a Baron¡¯s title right after sharing it, and it will be brought up to Viscound or maybe even unded Duke depending on how big the stat gains are.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯m counting on.¡± Ajax said. ¡°Though it will take years before the results from it will be seen.¡± With that the two got started at putting together the written instructions.

 Chapter 214

    Chapter 214


    Ajax P.O.V


    Thest seven days had blurred together as I pushed myself to stay awake working deep into the night every day making sure that I had all I needed to publish the discovery in my name and ensure I would get the rewards for doing so. The biggest obstacle to this was the simple fact that we were in the school day part of the cycle so half of my day was spent in ss learning or in the training yard.


    My main helper throughout all this was Balthazar, the old man had sped up my efficiency by leaps and bounds having taken it upon himself to guide me through the process of reporting a discovery. All the old man asked for in return was that he be listed as my guiding professor for the specific project, this was something I was more than willing to let him have as it didn¡¯t take away anything from my reward and simply let him gain something for helping me.


    The first two days we had worked together deep into the night as he helped me word the process correctly. Admittedly he had called me an idiot when I first exined what my discovery was and the next hour was spent by showing him how it worked and then listening to him as he yed with the disy setting on the status page.


    It was after thest five days that had been a lesson in frustration for me. An idea in theory was all well and good but you had to obtain backed officiated proof of it working before you could make the im that it did. For the rest of the five days I would go to sses in the morning, training in the afternoon and spend the rest of the day running around either showing the discovery to a few more trustworthy people and then getting all of their statements officiated with a truth telling stone.


    Despite the medieval setting of this work it seemed like the scientific method was still alive and well as I had to get different tests to prove that it worked. The samples had to contain all different categories too, people with a noble title, people without, men, women, children, people with free stats points avable (finding someone like this had taken three hours of searching by itself and the rest of the day to convince him to try and then get that testimony recorded).


    All of my hard work was going to pay off as I stood in front of the royal pce and approached the gates. This was a formal process where I would present my work and it would be taken before the royal court for scrutiny, this world''s version of peer review. Evelyn was standing there to meet me, her presence made the two pce guards a little jumpy but me and the old man had asked her to deliver this in person to ensure that some ambitious guard and cunning guard didn¡¯t take all of my hard work for themselves.


    ¡°I submit my discovery for review.¡± I stated loudly as I handed the box filled with scrolls to Evelyn.


    ¡°It is epted and shall be delivered to the court.¡± She spoke in her normal voice and then simply left with the box. With that finally done I let out a heavy sigh as I started my trek towards my bed, it was out of my hands now and with the royal court convening today I would, ording to both Balthazar and Evelyn, be granted a baron title by tomorrow at noon.


    Duke Goldmancer P.O.V.


    The Royal court was just as boring today as it always was. I knew well why it was necessary for it to be held two to three times a month as it offered the nobility ample opportunity to air out grievances while they were still small so they wouldn¡¯t fester into civil war. The issue was that for thest decade and a half I was forced to take a more active role in the management of the house due to the internal fracture the birth of my daughter had caused.


    ¡°It¡¯s just a little longer father.¡± she whispered from the seat next to me.


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    I had taken to having her join me for court since she started attending the Academy in hopes exposing her more to noble society after keeping her so isted in her youth but after the first few gathering the shine had worn off and I knew she was just as bored as I was with the petty squabbles of knights and barons even if her face betrayed nothing but interest in the ims brought forth.


    ¡°Is there anything else?¡± the king asked as thest grievance over an annulled wedding between two knight families had been dealt with.


    ¡°There is the matter of a discovery being brought forth before the court.¡± I was surprised to see that Evelyn of the Forth was the one bringing the discovery in person, rules dictated that for chain of custody the person to receive it at the gate had to bring it forward.


    Groans and frowns of displeasure rose quickly from the Knights, Barons and Viscounts present while the dukes and my two fellow archdukes seemed to have some life breathed into them. Rules of the court said that a representative of all Ducal houses or above had to be present for every meeting as well as the royal family whereas the rest of the nobles could attend more sparelying .


    ¡°Who is the author of the discovery?¡± the king asked.


    ¡°Ajax, a teaching assistant at the academy.¡± Evelyn said. ¡°The guiding professor is Balthazar Young.¡±


    The name Ajax sounded familiar, though I couldn¡¯t recall why off the top of my head. Balthazar Young however was a different beast, while he might not have looked it he had been considered old since my grandfather had been born and I knew for a fact certain nobles had bets going that he would outlive us all.


    My memory however was quickly refreshed as I noticed Annabeth, Alexis and even Benedict stiffen at the name. None of them should have reacted to Balthazar so this Ajax was the same Ajax that was the teaching assistant for their ss, my memory skill quickly brought up the information packet I had read about the boy previously.


    The boy was a certified genius, having not only an astounding level but even more unbelievable stats for his age and to top it all off he had managed to get Trailzer achievement, using it to unlock [Enigma].


    ¡°The discovery imed it is a method to increase all stats of a person by somewhere between ten to thirty points.¡± Evelyn continued but following her words a deafening silence filled the throne room.


    Everyone knew just how absurd an increase of thirty to all stats was, a total of twelve levels for free. If the method worked the boy had just won himself a dukedom. You could see the greed in everyone''s eyes as they listened intently. Archduke Steelde looked ready to jump down from his seat and yell at her to get on with the exnation quicker.


    The next hour however saw all of the nobles present go from greedy and excited to angry and regretful. The method did seem to work, I knew because during the exnation myself and most likely most of the nobles who had followed the instruction had been able to change our status screens. The outline of the method was also truthful as if used at the age of ten most anyone would see a gain of ten points to each stat and maybe more depending on how they exercised.


    The issue was that this method was extremely limited and specific, nobody present could even take advantage of it but I knew that the future potential of this discovery was going to have overarching effects that I sadly wouldn¡¯t live to see.


    ¡°I move that we grant the boy a Viscount title.¡± Steelde was equally wise to the overarching effects of the discovery but his proposition drew frowns from quite a few of the barons and knights present.


    ¡°With all due respect to Archduke, I believe that the title of Viscount is a bit much. Afterall nobody of note can benefit from this method.¡± the shortsighted were always quick to speak sadly. ¡°Perhaps knighthood would be a better reward.¡±


    ¡°Knighthood?¡± Steelde, like most everyone who grasped just how big this discovery was, seemed shocked into silence for a moment, sadly for the baron who had spoken Steelde was the first to regain his speech andid into him for his foolishness.


    ¡°The only reason I proposed he be granted a Viscount title and not a ducal one is that he is still only sixteen years old. Despite this Discoveries extremely limited potential for our current forces it is invaluable in the long term." Despite the Archduke¡¯s high diplomatic skills his voice had started to get louder as he talked.


    ¡°I agree with Archduke Steelde.¡± Archduke Silvertongue quickly jumped in. ¡°The fact that this method has no cost beside the period of weakness extending from age ten to age fifteen it can be implemented en masse among themoners. In the next two hundred years we could see the average stats of our entire army rise by up to five or six levels worth.¡±


    Five to six levels was a very conservative estimate in my opinion, with the increase in statsing at such an early age it would allowmoners to safely delve the first few floors of the dungeon while gaining the floor clearing bonuses, I expected to see the growth to be at least eight levels.


    ¡°The ims of this discovery are as magnificent as they are unbelievable.¡± the king¡¯s tonemanded silence as he spoke. ¡°With the proof provided I am going to grant Ajax the title of Baron here and now.¡±


    Muttering started almost immediately but the king continued talking before myself or any of the other Archdukes could protest the decision. ¡°This is not to be considered the reward. This is simply a ceholder, the court will review this discovery in ten years after extensive trials have been run to decide on a worthy reward.¡±

 Chapter 215

    Chapter 215


    As Ajax got up the next morning he quickly made his way towards the Academy, ording to his grandparents his family would arrive sometime tomorrow afternoon or evening so he had already discussed with both professor Silvertongue as well Balthazar to get some free time. Both Professor Silvertongue and Balthazar were very understanding of the situation, as such the former made sure not to set up a dungeon delve for Ajax in this cycle and even allowed him to miss the ss scheduled delve in two days. Balthazar was also understanding and put their research into the curse mana on hold and would instead spend the time carefully drafting their discoveries into their final format.


    With this understanding Ajax was now going to meet with the old man as well as Evelyn who would be bringing the verdict of the royal court on the matter of his discovery. As was usual for their meetings Ajax was still thest to show up. This meeting however was a little different than the usual as Evelyn wasn¡¯t simply wearing her usual getup. This time she was wearing her full set of enchanted gear bearing the colors of the royal family.


    ¡°Morning.¡± Ajax offered as he entered the library.


    ¡°Good morning Ajax¡± Headmaster Manashaper offered, Ajax hadn¡¯t seen him when he entered the door. ¡°That was quite the surprise I had yesterday.¡±


    While the tone was a little sarcastic and conveyed there was no ill will for having kept the discovery a secret Ajax did recognise that the headmaster had felt a little hurt that he hadn¡¯t shared the discovery with him before presenting it.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry about not sharing my Discovery with you headmaster, it was something morest moment as I had initially only nned to make it public in a few years.¡± Ajax said with a bit of remorse. ¡°My family already moving into the capital so early pushed all of that up.¡±


    ¡°Sir, Ajax.¡± Evelyn finally addressed him, the simple title of Sir was enough to tell Ajax that he had gotten a noble title in the events ofst night. ¡° I am here to bestow a gift from his Majesty as well as inform you of the decision reachedst night concerning your discovery and the reasoning behind it.¡±


    Both Balthazar and Duke Manashaper¡¯s eyebrows rose at the final part of the announcement. The king had made an executive decision in postponing the reward for ten yearster and hadn¡¯t done much to share his view on the matter, as such both were interested in what the reasoning was.


    ¡°A gift?¡± Ajax asked, confused, anything that came as a result of his discovery should be considered a reward and not a gift. ¡°Yes,¡± Evelyn nodded. ¡°His Majesty has hereby granted you the title of Baron as a gift. The plot ofnd for your estate in the capital shall be bestowed to you along with yourst name after you present your banner to the royal family. You are expected to do so within a moon¡¯s time.¡±


    Ajax was ecstatic at having received a noble title, which by itself should give him enough renown to offer his family the protection it needed to get settled in the capital. Having to provide a design for his banner in a month¡¯s time however was something that he will have to consult with his family on.


    ¡°I graciously ept His Majesty''s gift.¡± Ajax said as he bowed deeply after Evelyn red at him a little as he stood silent before her, this was a time where proper courtesies had to be observed even in private.


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    ¡°As for the reward for your discovery, His Majesty has decided to postpone that discussion.¡± Evelyn continued ¡°The discussion on the topic of your reward shall be revisited in a decade''s time.¡±


    ¡°In a decade?¡± Ajax asked, confused.


    ¡°I have to admit I am curious as to the reasoning on this decision myself.¡± Duke Manashaper said as he looked between Ajax and Evelyn. ¡°It is not often that His Majesty has postponed a decision during his entire rule, not to mention that this reward will probably be hisst big decision before he passes the crown to the crown prince.¡±


    ¡°Yes, in a decade.¡± Evelynpletely ignored both thementary from the duke as well as the old man who was nodding along to it. ¡°Publicly this is being represented as a period to test your discovery on a wide range in order to better determine an appropriate reward.¡±


    ¡°And privately?¡± Ajax asked.


    It was at this point that Evelyn finally somewhat rxed her exemry posture. ¡°Privately His Majesty has quite a few concerns with rewarding you appropriately for your discovery at this point.¡±


    Ajax had to fight himself to not scowl at the remark, more and more as ofte he had managed to keep himself from jumping to conclusions and wait to gather all of the information before reaching a decision, it was something that he prided himself on.


    ¡°His main concern is that your Discovery is, even at a lowball, worthy of a ducal title. There is even a small chance that your reward may end up rewarding with not only a ducal title but grant you anded Ducal title, with part of the crownnds being put under your name.¡± Evelyn continued.


    ¡°It is in fact His Majesty¡¯s hope that your discovery is that rewarding as granting both the title andnds will build a stronger connection between you and the kingdom. His concerns are what plunging you into the politicalndscape with a ducal title right now will lead to.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I can see that.¡± Balthazar cut in. ¡°Even with a healthy mary reward, the other nobles will be in a good spot to climb at your expense, having a decade to get used to things as a Baron and form some connections is a clever way around it. Especially since you are told about the intention.¡±


    ¡°The king¡¯s other concerns regarding this are your already somewhat troubling experience with some noble families. As the head of a ducal household you would be expected to marry someone of an appropriate standing only, while we haven¡¯t been able to find any evidence of any partner you have in the capital limiting the options of one so young was not seen in a pleasant light. Especially should there have already been a rtionship we were not aware of which you would then be forced to end due to expectations.¡±


    ¡°Yes, as a Baron marrying amoner wouldn¡¯t be an issue.¡± Balthazar once again nodded. ¡°Once you were married and other titles bestowed upon you would make no difference, at worst you might be expected to take another wife of appropriate background.¡±


    ¡°So, essentially the reason for postponing my reward is for me to enter the noble life on a trial basis as a Baron, giving me time to get my feet under me without the responsibilities of a duke?¡± Ajax asked surprised as the possibility of anded duchy was not something he thought was even part of the discussion.


    Ajax had to admit, with all the facts presented like this he was in fact thankful for the king¡¯s decision. The gift of a Baron title was enough to offer him the protection of a noble title while not putting him on the bottom of the totem pole with the Knight¡¯s still being below him, while also giving him time to grow into his eventual title.


    ¡°A word of caution.¡± Evelyn said quietly yet the sentence quickly focused Ajax back to the discussion.


    ¡°Caution?¡± Ajax asked, surprised. ¡°Would I be targeted early for the rewards I will receive in the future?¡±


    Ajax thought that this did in fact make sense, both greed and envy would make him a target for quite arge part of the nobility to take advantage of since the announcement was made in the royal court.


    ¡°Not as such.¡± Duke Manashaper denied. ¡°While some petty nobles will try and make moves they will almost certainly have their ns foiled by others looking to make honest mutually beneficial agreements, the only way you will actually suffer from that will be as a result of enormous ignorance or stupidity. Should you have issues due to those, the price for them is something the king most likely considers fair for the lesson you will learn. I was put in a simr position when I was granted my title.¡±


    ¡°The caution is advised in regards to the eldest son of the crown prince.¡± Evelyn rified. ¡°It is widely known that the young prince is very talented, however your Discovery will offer his younger siblings a chance that he never had. While steps will be taken to prevent any rtion he is still a prince who may bear a grudge for making him feel less special among his siblings.¡±


    Thinking about his interaction with the prince over his time in the Academy Ajax came to the conclusion that they had both reached a silent understanding to simply ignore the other. His discovery however unintentional could be seen as him breaking that unspoken agreement, in fact the same could be said for pretty much all young heirs who have siblings that might use his discovery as a way to push themselves up the line of session.

 Chapter 216

    Chapter 216


    Ajax spent the rest of the day burning through his mana and stamina before heading back home and making the final preparations for his family. ording to the chedual they were following they should arrive sometime towards tomorrow evening and Ajax was nning to head out early in the morning to meet them on the way and join them for thest leg of the journey.


    While the training he didn¡¯t didn¡¯t take all that much focus Ajax was concentrated more on what his new noble title would bring with it. His original n of getting a title just to offer his family noble protection wasn¡¯t as well thought out as he had thought, had he been given a sizable mary reward along with a Viscount title like he had expected quite a few things could have gone badly for him in the long term.


    As for the king''s ns for himself Ajax was a little at a loss. Even back on earth the ns of politicians involved hidden schemes, bribes and strongarm tactics, this made trying to figure out what the king was doing very difficult. As far as he could put together the king was definitely looking to influence him, that influence however wasn¡¯t subtle it was given a parade and being announced at every step, all with one simple goal : to get Ajax invested in his kingdom.


    His healthy sense of paranoia kept trying to figure out what other ns could the king have but as far as he could tell there were none. Putting that aside for the moment Ajax started things on the more immediately important aspects of his title. Now that he was going to be part of the nobility this opened a lot of doorways that he had personally shut off before.


    Tradition andmon sense in the kingdom dictated that no nobles were going to invest heavily into amoner without them formally joining their family, as such Ajax had shut down all those who approached him in order to maintain his autonomy. With him bing a noble now however those choices were open once again as nobles often invested heavily into smaller and weaker houses with just the promise of their house being owed a favour. Favours that sometimes weren¡¯t called in for a few generations down the line.


    As his mind ran with one idea after another Ajax hadn¡¯t managed to fall asleep until well into the night. This resulted in him sleeping in and only waking up once the sun shone through the window on his face. Despite being beside schedule Ajax still took the time to clean and properly dress himself, after all it was the first time he would see his family in months.


    With all the preparations made Ajax was finally walking towards the city gates and he broke off into a run once he got past. There was something rxing about the high speed job lightly powered by [Mana Syphon] as he made his way down the main road.


    It was only a little past noon when he caught sight of the long caravan and he picked up speed for a quick final sprint. It didn¡¯t take him long to pick out his family''s wagons as he made straight for them.


    As he stopped off to the side of his parent¡¯s wagon Ajax didn¡¯t even get a chance to offer a greeting as a furry wall of shadow crashed into him. The first to pick on his presence was Fluffy ofcourse. Ajax hadn¡¯t expected the shadow cat that had been the size of arge dog to now be the size of a horse and was pinned to the ground as Fluffy intimated how much she missed him by rubbing her face into his neck. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you girl?¡± Tom asked as he quickly followed after the shadow cat once she dashed and shadow jumped away. ¡°Ajax, is that you under there?¡±


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    ¡°Woah, you got big didn¡¯t you?¡± Ajax said as he pumped [Mana Syphon] so that he could lift Fluffy off of him.


    Once he got up into a sitting position he quickly pulled out a level sixty monster core and used that to bribe the feline to get off him. Despite the increase in size the cat was just as responsive to the cores as she had been thest time Ajax saw her giving him a chance to get to his feet.


    ¡°Ajax!¡± he didn¡¯t even get a chance to dust himself off as his mother wrapped him up in a strong hug. ¡°I¡¯m so d you¡¯re okay.¡±


    ¡°I thought I told you in myst letter that everything had been going just fine.¡± Ajax teased though he returned the hug with just as much strength.


    All of Ajax¡¯s family was quick to gather around him as they settled in the biggest wagon where they had space to catch up. Despite the warm greetings Ajax was quick to focus on the unnned aspect of their quick relocation to the capital.


    ¡°I know the n was for us only to follow you to the capital in a few years but we happened to have some good luck.¡± Judy said.


    ¡°I know.¡± Ajax said as he looked towards Silvia.


    ¡°You know already?¡± Tom, Kate, Judy and na were shocked as they had only learned the specifics of their mysterious benefactor after they had already started the trip.


    ¡°You could say that in a way I am the reason why it all happened so quickly.¡± Ajax said as he started his story of exining the dynamic he had with his grandparents during his time in the city.


    Everyone was quiet by the end of the exnation, most didn¡¯t know what to think. On the one hand Elija and Aurora had gone out of their way to help Ajax as much as possible but on the other hand they are also the ones that sent Silvia away.


    ¡°So, what do you think we should do?¡± Tom asked, the ingrained instinct of a guard to get the opinion from the man most familiar with the situation.


    ¡°That choice isn¡¯t up to me.¡± Ajax said as he shook his head. ¡°I made that clear from the start. Mom and dad are the ones who get to make that choice, I¡¯m just going to make sure they have all the options avable.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not really all that much of an option.¡± Sam said, though each word was like pulling teeth.


    Despite their initial reaction to him Sam couldn¡¯t say that there wasn¡¯t a part of him that didn¡¯t understand where Silvias parents wereing from when they didn¡¯t want their daughter to marry a nobody cksmith apprentice, not to mention all of the help they had offered to the rest of their family after they found out about the attack on their vige. What really pushed him past the denial however was Ajax¡¯s confirmation from the moment he got his truth telling skill.


    ¡°With a baby on the way even if we could buy ourselves out of the contracts that will have a rough time standing on our own two feet.¡± Ajax was shocked by the statement.


    ¡°I have another sibling on the way?¡± Ajax asked his mother, surprised. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell me in the letter?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no sibling on the way.¡± his mother denied it with a small smile.


    ¡°You¡¯re going to be an uncle little brother.¡± Tom said with a wide proud grin.


    Ajax found that he felt happy knowing he won¡¯t be the youngest of his family any longer. With a grandson to focus on his mother wouldn¡¯t be as focused on him anymore and he knew just how much she had worried when he was dungeon delving almost every week back in Lessis so someone else taking the spot as the youngest in the family was a good thing.


    ¡°You don¡¯t actually have to worry all that much about our standing in the city.¡± Ajax said as he awkwardly rubbed the back of his head. ¡°You see, I went ahead and made sure you had the leeway to make whatever choice you wanted, not the choice you felt you needed to make. Though I do admit I have found myself needing some help in that regard.¡±


    As he said this Ajax slowly pulled out the king¡¯s letter that marked him as a future baron and showed it to them all.


    ¡°What is this?¡± Judy said as she quickly but gently grabbed the solid parchment only to freeze as she got a couple of lines in.


    The reaction was mirrored by everyone else as they all quickly gathered around to read the letter until it got so quiet the wheels turning on the road was the only sound you could hear. ¡°Is this for real?¡± Kate was the one to break the silence.


    ¡°I mean it,¡± Ajax said with a small satisfied smirk. ¡°I really do need help with designing a house sigil, considering that my title wasn¡¯t earned by a feat on a battlefield. The king will take inspiration from the sigil when giving us ourst names so it has to be good.¡±


    The remaining few hours turned from a nice family reunion into a family interrogation as the they got everyst detail out of Ajax about his discovery and how he understood the situation.

 Chapter 217

    Chapter 217


    On the way back the entire family was gathered around Ajax as they intently listened to how he spent his time in the capital. As all of them listened to everything that he had gone through they congratted him on all that he had already managed to achieve. All of them had been left speechless as the idea that the title he was gifted would most likely be upgraded into a ducal title in a decade but overall this was a great opportunity for the family.


    Judy and na were especially happy because it was a known fact that when a new noble house was promoted and they tried to establish an organization most other noble houses would look to help, or at the very least made sure themoner organizations didn¡¯t actively disturb them for at least a few months.


    Not everything was turning out better because of the new title granted however. As much as the title would help Judy, na and Silvia as well as grant some piece of mind to the whole family there would be a few repercussions. While it wasmon for all nobles'' houses to send any one of their members that showed any talent to the Healing Union to train, the same could not be said about the guards.


    Tom¡¯s career into the guards had just taken a sharp turn that will quickly reach a road block. Despite some of the guard officers taking some bribes from the nobles it was a rule that anyone openly attached to a noble family was prevented from climbing too high in the chain ofmand. It was a trade off Tom was more than happy to make but it would inconvenience him slightly.


    Getting inside the city was a whole other mess for which Ajax simply sat at the side and offered his physical strength as na and Judy dealt with logistics of getting the entire caravan past the gates. Silvia had offered to handle their personal carts and let Judy and na head over to the warehouse and at least take a look at it before they arrived at their new home.


    With all the merchant affairs out of the way, Fluffy instantly became the focus of attention from the guards once they heard that not only was Tom going to be joining them but that the massive shadow cat was as well.


    ¡°Do make sure to get her registered before you even register yourself.¡± was the advice all of the people gave him since a non-registered bond was not allowed to set foot in the barracks.


    As all of their wagons had finally made it into the city and Ajax led them to the two adjacent houses he had built for his family he was met with a massive surprise. Waiting for them by the gate he saw four different couriers, one belonging to each of the Archduke families and one carrying the sigil of house Manashaper.


    Each of the curious publicly approached him and loudly offered a letter of congrattion for his new title from their masters. Ajax was shocked that they were so quick to move on all this considering he hadn¡¯t even formally been given the title as that only happened when he would also be given hisst name. Thankfully for Ajax Luna was there along with Hatchet, Alfred and a good amount of Luna¡¯s household servants. Besides the congrattions being offered in person by Luna for his new title everyone else got to work emptying the wagons.


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    ¡°Thank you so much for the help.¡± Ajax said as they started moving everything into the two houses. ¡°But there really was no need toe all the way here to help us unpack.¡±


    ¡°The unpacking is more of a gesture done for show.¡± Alfred said. ¡°The main reason for this is to show the allegiance between your house and that of Lady Luna.¡±


    While Ajax had picked up quite a bit of political movement while at the Academy that was true only when it came to individuals and not whole houses. As such Alfred had taken it upon himself to see him educated.


    ¡°So what was the meaning of the couriers then?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°They were a show of support and eptance. It is also expected that you will invite all of the houses who sent congrattory messages for your inaugural party, receiving a courier and not sending an invitation in return is seen as having a public disagreement.¡± Alfred exined.


    ¡°What is the inaugural party?¡± Ajax asked, confused.


    ¡°All nobles are expected to have a party marking their and their family integration into the noblendscape. If thend you are granted along with the title is barren it is expected to have the party outside on said spot to bless it for good luck.¡± Luna said. ¡° I remember how confused I was during my own inaugural party so don¡¯t worry about anything too political happening at it. Mostly it will be a ce where you can meet all the houses that are looking to have a friendly rtionship with yours.¡±


    ¡°Look at us helping you move into these houses already.¡± Alfred said as he pointed at the servants wearing Luna¡¯s sigil. ¡°This is an open deration that our your houses will be strong allies as the day after the offer was made we were here to help you.¡±


    Ajax had no issue making his friendship with Luna public. He owed the woman a lot for all the help she gave him ever since he arrived here so if she could get anything out of simply making their contact known he was happy to help.


    While Ajax was being given a crash course in politics the rest of the family was gathered around and admiring Hatchet¡¯s new arm. Fluffy was the most shocked of them all as for the entire time that she had known Hatchet the man had only had one arm.


    ¡°Easy there Fluffy, yes I know I didn¡¯t have itst time you saw me but that is no reason to try to pull it off.¡± Hatchetined with a joking tone as Fluffy pulled on the regrown appendage. ¡°You sure have gotten bigger since Ist saw you.¡±


    As the family started to get settled in it was decided that Tom and Kate were going to be taking the bigger of the two houses and share it with Ajax until he got his newnd and started building a mansion on it. July and na would also sleep there while Silvia and Sam would take the smaller house that came with a smithy attached.


    As he stepped out for one of the final times to grab the remaining luggage Ajax caught a glimpse of his grandparents standing off to the side of the road and simply observing the procession. Both parties knew that this wasn¡¯t the time for an introduction to take ce but the two of them couldn¡¯t help themselves and wanted to catch a glimpse of Silvia again after all this time.


    As soon as everything was ced inside the houses the whole family came together for a big dinner that everyone made quick work off before they headed off to bed as they were all very tired from the long weeks of travel. While everyone else went to sleep Ajax took a walk over to see his grandparents and see their reaction to his newly gained title.


    ¡°Congrattions are in order, Baron.¡± Aurora greeted him as he entered the room.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Ajax simply responded.


    ¡°I have to admit this wasn¡¯t something I had even taken as a possibility.¡± Elija praised Ajax. ¡°When I set everything up for them toe here so quickly I thought that you bing a noble in the future was a possibility but I couldn¡¯t have guessed that you were sitting on a sure way to achieve it.¡±


    ¡°I had hoped to keep that discovery to myself for a little longer but I wanted to make sure that any decision mom took wasn¡¯t influenced much by external factors.¡± Ajax admitted. ¡°Tomorrow I will be taking all of them to see my small patch ofnd in the morning, in the afternoon Judy, na, Kate and Tom will be busy setting themselves up so I will bring mom and dad to see you both then.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s been a pleasure doing business with you.¡± Elija¡¯s words rang out as Ajax left the room. Regardless of tomorrow''s oue Ajax and his grandparents would no longer be business partners.


    ¡°Now I have a party to worry about, not only a sigil, why do none of the stories people tell their kids seem to ever have any of these details.¡± Ajax quietly muttered under his breath as he made his way back home.

 Chapter 218

    Chapter 218


    Waking up in the foreign room felt weird and the feeling didn¡¯t change regardless of how often I had gone through it in thest year. As I stretched out my arms I could feel Sam still asleep next to me. Yesterday had been a long day that went even longer with the weing party. I was so tired that I didn¡¯t have any problems sleeping in a new house, not only that but the beds Ajax got us were really well made, much better than any we had previously had.


    As I woke up however more and more things started toe into focus from yesterday. It wasn¡¯t a weird dream and I really hade back to the capital after my parents sent me away. Not only that but my own daughter was doing business with them, and the shock I had the biggest troubleing to terms with was the fact that I was about to be a noble.


    Sure Ajax was the one receiving the title but not only would a noble title be passed down to any and all generations of the person it was granted to as it followed the line of session but it would also be granted to one generation up should the parents still be alive. It would be very much a title for show as Ajax would be the head of the house but it would still be a title.


    As I got out of bed to wash I felt a strange feeling walking through the house. I knew most of the furniture as we had brought it with us but theyout was all different. The house Ajax had prepared for us was smaller than the one he had gotten ready for Tom but it was still half again as big as the one we had back in Lessis which gave the furniture a whole new feel with so much more space.


    One thing that had remained the same from all the way back in our small nameless vige however was that my house still had the big, after a deep and thorough cleaning that I very much needed from the time on the road I started getting breakfast ready. Ajax had made sure that we had plenty of everything in the cer and by the time I was halfway done I could hear Tom had gotten up and proceeded to clean himself as well.


    Much as had bemon ofte, Fluffy stuck her big head through a window next to me as the food was almost ready, the smell enticing her as she licked her fangs.


    ¡°Go bother Ajax.¡± I told her as I threw her a small bit of bacon. ¡°Knowing him he probably has a bag full of cores already saved up for you.¡±


    The shadow cat snapped the bacon out of the air before her eyes got big and she darted away back towards the other house. Ajax had clearly known that Fluffy would grow as one of the windows was big enough for Fluffy to leap through as she made her wait inside. He had already shown us where the three recement frames and ss sheets were in case Fluffy ever tried to jump through the window when it was closed.


    A predictable side effect of sending the hungry feline back was that no more than ten minutester the entire family was now awake and taking a seat around the breakfast table. It had been a long time since all of us had gotten together like this and I had missed it greatly. ¡°It¡¯s nice to see everybody so rxed but what is everyone doing today?¡± I asked more to make sure that Sam, Ajax and I could go see my parents alone at some point, even if I hadn¡¯t fully made up my mind on what decision we should make regarding them.


    ¡°We have to go down to the warehouse and start sorting everything out, by mid afternoon some of our bulk items that we already have contracts for are going to be picked up.¡± na said.


    ¡°I still have a while before I am required to report in but it''s expected that I at least show up sometime today,¡± Tom said. ¡°More so since I have a bond.¡±


    The showcat in question was chewing on a core as she purred loudly.


    ¡°I¡¯ll have a check-up scheduled with the healers for the afternoon.¡± Kate said as she protectively lowered her hand to her belly.


    ¡°I actually have something else I want to show everyone this morning.¡± Ajax said as he finished the food on his te.


    I wasn¡¯t sure what other surprise Ajax could have up his sleeve and at this point I was too afraid to ask. The knowledge of how to interact with the System as well as the noble title that came with it were enough surprises for me, there is such a thing as too much of a good thing and that would alwayse to bite us in the ass at some point.


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    As Ajax took us on the outside of the city my imaginations started to run wild. If he found a secret third dungeon and was keeping a secret from the king this was something that could quickly mark us for execution.


    I finally started to rx once he pointed out the slightly nted hill area filled with trees and flowers that he brought us to. With the amount of bees I was seeing he had also gotten lucky enough for a hive to have formed on hisnd and that was something that I would want to grab since the jar we had at home was only half full.


    ¡°Ajax, what are those?¡± Judy asked as we started at the dozens of wooden wardrobes spread out throughout the field surrounded by trees as well as the multitude of bees that were buzzing around us.


    ¡°Those are hives.¡± Ajax said, slightly distracted by the fact that all the bees kept well clear of us. It took me a second to realize that Fluffy¡¯s monster aura was the reason for that, though if those wooden things were actually hives the bees would quickly attack Fluffy if he got any closer regardless of the power difference.


    ¡°Fluffy, I think it''s best if you stay here.¡± he said as he handed all of usrge hats that had a thing see through mesh drop down and cover us. ¡°Let me show you.¡±


    With that he beckoned us closer to the nearest hive. I could feel the slight wind Ajax was creating to make us a path as it pushed most of the bees away as well. After that Ajax quickly pulled up a panel from the box and exined to us in detail how the bees would create their hexagonal wax structures and fill them with honey only for us toe and collect most of it at ater date without destroying the hive and therefore having a constant supply from the same bees.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t heard about this before.¡± na became interested as she watched how the wooden box worked. As the daughter of a vige head she was someone who would have heard about such odd creations.


    ¡°I know, I even got a trailzer achievement for beekeeping.¡± Ajax said proudly.


    He then asked us to help and see if there was any trailzing skill we could pick up from the craft before the discovery was picked up and spread across the kingdom. None of us took any convincing to try our hand at it over theing months. With that we all returned to the city and everyone else went their own way as Ajax led Sam and I towards a store I remembered well from my memories.


    The outside of the building hadn¡¯t changed much from how I remembered it but that was no longer true once you stepped inside. They had clearly expanded the building, probably by buying the one behind it and uniting the two.


    Ajax led the way and the receptionist weed us up the stairs once he saw him. While none of the floors were the same as I remember, the key concept of each higher floor catering to more exclusive clientele had remained the same.


    As we entered the main office I was surprised how unchanged the room waspared to the rest of the building. Just like the entrance outside, almost all of it was exactly the same as I remembered, even my mother and father hadn''t seemed to age all that much in the two dozen years I had been gone.


    ¡°Silvia¡­¡± Both my mother and father stood up as I entered the office and for the first time ever I saw my mother speechless as she looked at me.


    I also froze up as all sorts of pent up emotions rose up again inside me. It was only Sam¡¯sforting hold on my hand Ajax¡¯s stoic stance in front of me like a guardian that kept me from breaking down into tears of anger? Frustration? Yearning?


    ¡°Mother, Father.¡± I briefly nodded to them, my tone cold and low.


    Mother went toe towards me but Ajax took aforting step in between thankfully. He knew I wasn¡¯t ready for anything like the hug she had intended to give. His action however cause the guard they leaning against a wall behind them to also stand up and put himself between Ajax and them.


    ¡°No, stand down.¡± My father directed him instead.


    ¡°I think this would all move along better if we all simply sat.¡± Ajax said as he pulled out a chair for me opposite my father. The move did a lot to put all of us more at ease by setting things up more like a business meeting, something both my parents and I were more used to.


    ¡°We¡¯re so sorry darling.¡± my mother broke the silence as a few tears slipped down her cheeks. ¡°It took us a long time to realize that we were wrong, and by that time we didn¡¯t know how to approach you.¡±


    ¡°And what changed?¡± Sam asked, his anger very much justified seeing as him being unworthy of me was the reason we were sent away.


    ¡°We realized that you made her happy.¡± Father said, his words few as always.


    ¡°We wanted to reach out to you once we realized that your kids were grown and you would have to move from that small vige you settle in if only not to hold them back.¡± mother exined further. ¡°But then the attack happened and the man we had been looking out for you died. We had no news for months and once we finally found out what happened we had no idea where you were or how to go about looking for you.¡±


    ¡°Ajax showed up before I could make a proper n for looking for you.¡± Father said as he indicated to Ajax who hadn¡¯t sat down and instead stood behind me with aforting arm on my shoulder.


    ¡°And what do you want now?¡± I asked, my tone no longer as cold. Was I hoping for them to wee me back?


    ¡°We just want a chance to make up for the mistake we made.¡± mom said, the tears not stopping as she wiped them away but the smile hadn¡¯t left her face following the shock of seeing me. ¡°And we hope that eventually you mighte back.¡±


    I took a quick look at Ajax, he had exined how his truth telling skill worked and even if I suspected it wouldn¡¯t be strong enough to work on my mother I still felt a lot more relieved seeing him nod that his skill said they were telling the truth.


    I turned to look at Sam and found him looking back at me. A small shaky nod of my head was all it took for him to take over the conversation since he knew this was as much as I could deal with right now.


    ¡°It will be a while before we think of you as family again.¡± Sam said with a flinty voice. ¡°But we are willing to give you the chance to make it up to her.¡±


    ¡°It would also be best if you were to wait before you approached Judy or Tom.¡± Ajax continued ¡°A first impression like the one you made on me might be enough to bring everything crumbling down.¡±


    I wasn¡¯t sure what he meant by that but I could clearly see shame cover my dads face and mom choked back a small sob while nodding her agreement.


    With that the meeting ended and Ajax led us back to our home where I crashed into bed mentally drained and quickly fell asleep.

 Chapter 219

    Chapter 219


    While Ajax, Silvia and Sam were busy trying to get a handle on the mess that was the rtionship the rest of the family would have with Ajax¡¯s grandparents, everyone else was busy receiving their wee into the capital.


    Kate¡¯s wee was by far one of the most weing anymoner had ever received when first arriving in the capital. While the Healing Union was under the control of the royal family in all but name, that fact wasn¡¯t a well known fact for themon people. Therefore the fact that the Guild Master had been there in person the night before to wee Kate¡¯s family to the capital had instantly boosted her up the social standingspared to all the other healing trainees.


    Under normal circumstances this would also brew jealousy from the people previously in the spotlight but that didn¡¯te to pass as they were affiliated with the nobility strongly enough to know the truth about how the Healing Union was run, not only that but none of them wanted to make it seem like their house would bully a new noble house unprovoked.


    Time spent during their lessons was very simr to what Kate had experienced in the past. Sure the books and scrolls they were using were in much better condition than what she was used to but everything else was mostly the same. The big difference came when it was time for their practical experience.


    As a fully dedicated healer with her level in the early twenties Kate had always been seen as only a novice. Here however the difference in capability between her and her instructors felt like the difference between a puddle and ake. The strongest healer they had teaching them back in Lessis was level fifty and even then he wasn¡¯t a fully dedicated healer having gained a lot of those skills as a mage early in his life before deciding to head in the path of the healer and spending years picking up the skills to match his level. Here the professor was so much stronger and more skilled than her that anything she could do for a patient they could do with a wave of their hand from across the room. They wouldn¡¯t because of the inefficiency but they certainly could.


    ¡°Miss Kate.¡± Her teacher approached her after she had expended her mana on thetest patient and went to sit down and recover. ¡°Do you have a moment?¡±


    ¡°I do.¡± she nodded with a smile. ¡°But it¡¯s Mrs.¡±


    As she said this she lifted the pinky finger of her right hand to show the simple but elegant ring resting on it. Beastkin customs for rings were slightly different from humans where the cement of the ring had more significance than simply showing the existence of marriage. Wearing the ring on the left hand would signify that they already had children, while wearing it on the right meant that they hadn¡¯t. At the same time wearing the ring on the little finger signified that the woman was currently pregnant.


    ¡°I see, my mistake. Congrattions are also in order.¡± The professor said before switching the topic to the reason for his approach. ¡°I want to ask, what was it that inspired you to make your very interesting work on alcohol as a disinfectant?¡± ¡°Mostly it was the infection I noticed from people who traveled to us from their healing.¡± Kate answered, she wouldn¡¯t disclose Ajax¡¯s involvement but simply show things from her own perspective. ¡°Some of the most damaging cases I had to treat were always from people who traveled to us specifically to get healing. In those cases it was vigers from small hamlets that didn¡¯t have a dedicated healer that would ignore minor wounds as they weren¡¯t a massive concern, only for them to get infected.¡±


    ¡°Yes I can see how a more remote region may promote those kinds of patients.¡± the professor nodded. ¡°Thank you for your time, I do suggest that you go rest in the next room over. We hire a bard regrly and while their music isn¡¯t always the best it does have mana regenerative properties.¡±


    Tom was weed to the city guard as more of an afterthought by his fellow guards. Honestly he couldn¡¯t even me them as everyone was excited to meet the new shadow cat that was going to join the guard, the bonded human wasn¡¯t all that interesting.


    ¡°Guard Tom.¡± a man that couldn¡¯t be more than a dozen years older than him approached. ¡°If you¡¯ll please follow me, themander wants to see you.¡±


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    Tom was quick to put together that this man must be one of the assistants for themander. He moved to follow the man but then turned back to look at Fluffy who was surrounded on all sides by guards petting and feeding her.


    ¡°No need to worry about your bond, it won''t take long and I¡¯m sure our men will keep a close eye on her for the next few hours.¡± the assistant said with a smirk as he watched the poprity of the feline.


    Tom spent an instant more thinking about it before he nodded and moved to follow the assistant after giving Fluffy a signal to wait for him there, thest thing he wanted was for the shadow cat to think he had disappeared and start scouring the barracks for him.


    The assistant led him to an inconspicuous office, pounded twice on the door and entered without waiting for a response. This seemed odd to Tom who was used to Commander¡¯s Grievous way of doing things, but he also knew that eachmander was different.


    As he entered the door room Tom was hit with a feeling of dizziness. He wasn¡¯t sure where it came from originally but as he took a few unsure steps inside he pinpointed the origin to an odd feeling of pressure emanating from the Commander.


    ¡°Tom I presume. Please take a seat.¡± Themander said after briefly looking up from a scroll on his desk. ¡°Thank you for bringing him, dismissed.¡±


    With that the assistant quickly took his leave as Tom took a few wobbly steps before he all but dropped into the chair. Commander Grievous had warned him previously that the caliber of the guards in the capital would be much stronger than him, he had even warned him about what feeling an aura would be like but words weren¡¯t enough to prepare him for the real thing.


    ¡°Is something wrong?¡± themander seemed genuinely concerned watching Tom shamble over to the chair. ¡°If you needed a day to settle in from the long road you should have asked.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not it, sir.¡± Tom said while doing his best to stand straight in his chair. ¡°This is the first time I felt an aura. The feeling is both a little unsettling and disorientating.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± themander said with an understanding nod. ¡°I always seem to forget that people from outside the capital and specifically those from the more¡­ remote regions of our kingdom don¡¯t have the built up resistance that those who grew up in the capital do. Repeated exposure to auras far stronger than mine even as they simply walk down the road builds up a tolerance, I expect you will too in short order.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll try my best, sir.¡± Tom said.


    ¡°Good. Now onto the reason why I brought you here.¡± the man said as he looked at him. ¡°Originally. I had nned to fast-track you up the chain ofmand. If nothing else your file hinted at you being a guard for a long time.¡±


    ¡°That was the original n.¡± Tom said.


    ¡°The decision was also a simple one, your glowing rmendation as well as the bond made that simple, s I¡¯m afraid that isn¡¯t possible anymore with your brother being granted a noble title. You do understand, yes?¡± he asked.


    ¡°I do.¡± Tom said with a small sigh, he also exined when he noticed themander frown at the answer. ¡°The more¡­ remote parts of our kingdom you mentioned aren¡¯t as sessful in removing noble influence from their guards.¡±


    Themander winced a little at that but gave an understanding nod. ¡°This presents us with a new issue. With your brother¡¯s new title you won¡¯t ever be able to lead any patrol. Not only that, you also won¡¯t be moving up to anymand position in any of our sections.¡±


    ¡°I understand that, sir. But I don¡¯t see why that would pose a problem for you.¡± Tom said, surprised.


    ¡°That would be your bond.¡± themander sighed. ¡°While outside influence is very much diminished inside the guard here in the capital this does have a rather unintended consequence. Personal strength brings a lot more respect and influence not only with those of the same rank as you but even direct superiors if the difference is big enough.¡±


    ¡°That shadow cat of yours is already above level forty and it¡¯s not even mature, with the right care, which your file says you have been providing, and the correct diet, which I am sure your brother will supply, it will reach level eighty if not ny in the next two years, after which it will spend the next hundred years or so slowly wing up to level one hundred and twenty to one hundred and forty at its peak. Yourmitmentsts at least another eight years, and in that time your bond will grow to overpower anyone even close to your rank.¡±


    ¡°Leading to me having undue influence inside the guard.¡± Tom finished the thought.


    ¡°Exactly.¡± themander said. ¡°That being the case I thought I¡¯d offer you an alternative.¡±


    ¡°An alternative, sir?¡± Tom was confused.


    ¡°I¡¯ll have you spend the first year on patrol, gettingy ofnd in the capital and how we do things. Following that you will spend the rest of yourmitment as an assistant to as manymanders as you can, do a good enough job you might even get to serve one of the five Wardens towards the end.¡± themander proposed.


    ¡°To what end sir?¡± he asked confused as to why he would be moving around so much as an assistant.


    ¡°Each of usmanders have our specialties. I know that the news of your brother¡¯s title is fresh but I¡¯d have thought you¡¯d be looking to be themander of his house¡¯s guard in due time. Moving around as an assistant to all of us should give you plenty of real experience.¡± Themander dangled the juicy fish that he was hoping would keep the potentially problematic recruit from causing too many problems.


    Tom¡¯s eyes widened as his eyebrows made a break for his hairline. Though the more he thought about it the more he found that the position as head of the guard for his family''s house appealed to him more and more, doubly so considering Ajax¡¯s paranoid nature. ¡°I¡¯d like that very much, sir.¡± He said with a smile as he gave the best salut he could while under the influence of the aura.

 Chapter 220

    Chapter 220


    While Kate and Tom were being weed slowly both na and Judy were having a hard time keeping up. They had spent most of their trip making ns of how establishing their temporary headquarters would go once they finally arrived but the age old saying kept true. No n survives first contact with the enemy.


    All of the other merchant organizations had kicked their interference into high gear. Under most circumstances a new face trying to make their way in the capital would provide them with a juicy target to exploit until they finally got their feet under them and that had been their initial n. The recent announcement of a noble title hadn¡¯t just changed the game map, it had flipped the board entirely, all of the noble backed organization simply took a step back as they couldn¡¯t be seen bullying someone new.


    ¡°Has the ¡®ident¡¯ been cleared out?¡± Judy asked as a headache started to take ce.


    ¡°Yes we got the goods out but they are trying to slow us down by having every one of our deliveries be anonymously reported so they will be checked by every guard patrol passing them.¡± na sighed exasperated.


    Both of them knew that they would only have to weather the storm for a week at the most, once Ajax delivered his sigil their family would officially be nobles none of these otherpanies would try anything more.


    ¡°Perhaps I can be of some assistance.¡± a slick but well-meaning voice said from the entrance of the office.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± Judy asked.


    ¡°My name is Sebastian, I believe we have conversed through letters so far. I can tell that the situation has drastically changed so we decided to help you wait out the storm.¡± Sebastian had quickly left after ushering Ajax Silvia and Sam into the office with Aurora and Elija in order toe help here.


    ¡°And what are my grandparents going to ask for in exchange?¡± Judy asked, her tone only conveying her skepticism and no outright hostility, she had the entire journey toe to terms with who their mysterious partners were. ¡°This is but a simple gesture of goodwill from thepany, as for your grandparents this is merely the first of many overdue apologies.¡± Sebastian answered.


    ¡°So be it.¡± na nodded as she epted the offered help.


    ¡°I have to say I am more than a little surprised, even after months of tangential business your brother has yet to even so much as ept an apology.¡± Sebastian remarked.


    ¡°I am a merchant, Tom is a guard and Kate a healer.¡± Judy sneered. ¡°All of us understandpromise and have had to deal with making the best of a situation we didn¡¯t like with a smile on our face. If my grandparents'' intentions are genuine our forgiveness would be much easier to win. Ajax is a delver and an adventurer, there is little he has had topromise with.¡±


    ¡°On the bright side once you do get his forgiveness he won¡¯t hold a grudge over it like the rest.¡± na said with a slightly evil grin.


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    ¡°Yes, looking back I do have to agree with your assessment of him.¡± Sebastian nodded as he scratched his chin. ¡°Though that does make me wonder how he will handle bing the head of a noble household.¡±


    ¡°The same way he always had, with his family to help him.¡± Judy answered.


    From there things got a lot easier for both na and Judy as with Sebastian¡¯s help and their grandparents'' infrastructure inside the city everything started to go their way once again.


    Ajax had noticed that nobody else had returned yet by the time he and his parents returned home so he went off to do a little alchemy while he gave them a little space toe to terms with the decision they had made.


    In all honesty Ajax was d that his mother had decided to give her parents another chance as he had be slightly fond of them over thest few months, this fondness was also the main reason he hadn¡¯t weighed in at all until the decision was reached as he didn¡¯t want to influence her one way or the other.


    The next few hours passed peacefully before Ajax could even notice. It had been almost two weeks since he hadst done any alchemy because of how much time getting his presentation ready for the royal court had taken. While he didn¡¯t find the practice as enticing as delving it was a close second.


    This new rxed state of mind had also proven useful as he had finally been able to brew his first sessful stat increasing potion. The quality of the potion was barely passable on increasing a random attribute by one point, not only that but if the random attribute chosen was over fifty the potion would have no effect. Nevertheless it was a sess and the first step on the path to crafting his own potions for free as he delved deeper into the dungeon.


    As he came out of his room happy with his achievement he found that most of the family had returned already, with the obvious exception of Judy and na who would most likely have a very long day. Not only had they returned but they started making dinner already, it had been a while since he had had his family so close and this was a nice surprise.


    ¡°Ajax, have you put any thought into what the sigil will look like?¡± Judy asked as soon as she got home looking dead on her feet as she crashed into a chair.


    ¡°No.¡± He answered back but decided to exin a bit more considering the deadly re both her and na fixed on him. ¡°If you had given me more than a week and a half notice that you wereing I would maybe have had the time to do more than just gain the title.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯lle with you girls tomorrow and help sort out everything.¡± Silvia said. ¡°Not to mention that those bees will most likely more than cover any initial losses we experience.¡±


    Everyone knew that honey, while not scarce, was extremely expensive unless it was in season. Since it was mostly collected by young adventurers in the forests surrounding the capital this meant that it was also all gone within weeks of the hives going dormant.


    ¡°I actually think you might be able to get a full harvest in even before the season hits.¡± Ajax said.


    ¡°How do you figure that?¡± Tom asked.


    ¡°Well I have been using [Inject Mana] on all the trees and flowers on that field, while the bees have not had any major changes to them it seems like honey production has sped up considerably. At the rate they seem to be producing I think we will have to empty those hives three times just so they have room to store it.¡± Ajax exined.


    ¡°All these yearster and you are still ying with nts and mana.¡± Tom chuckled.


    ¡°What¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡± Silvia asked.


    ¡°I suspected once I found out he had mana but now it makes so much more sense. The reason why his small garden back in the vige always produced all those rich and valuable nts was because he would pump them full of mana.¡± Tom exined.


    ¡°I actually wasn¡¯t using [Inject Mana] back then.¡± Ajax corrected. ¡°I just expelled mana near them, with [Inject Mana] I am losing a lot less mana, though giving too much at once seems to be destructive instead.¡±


    ¡°So when are you going back to the Academy?¡± Sam asked.


    ¡°Well my ss is having a delve tomorrow but I was given the time off, what with all of you arriving.¡± Ajax said.


    ¡°Oh no! You are going.¡±


    ¡°Absolutely not, you have to go.¡±


    Both Judy and Silvia jumped on that, sharing a quick nce and nodding at each other.


    ¡°What?! Why?¡± Ajax asked confused.


    ¡°You were just essentially granted a noble title, sure they may have given you the time to keep to yourself but now is the time to actually start forging connections with other nobles.¡± na exined. ¡°Those people in your ss are the highest standing nobles of your age and I guarantee you more than one of them might have an issue with the discovery you made and how it will impact the line of session in their family.¡±


    By the time the meal ended and Ajax went back to bed he was now thinking what he could do to help smooth over any grudges his new discovery may causee morning.

 Chapter 221

    Chapter 221


    The following morning Ajax was no closer to the design of a sigil for his new house and to be honest he wasn¡¯t even inclined to try his hand at it. Despite the training he had as an architect back on Earth he knew that creativity was not his strong suit. Therefore before Ajax left along with most everyone else from the family he had a request to make after breakfast.


    ¡°Hey, dad.¡± Ajax said as he put away thest of the tes. ¡°Can I leave the house sigil design to you, creativity was never a strong point for me.¡±


    Sam was very d for this to happen as while his smithy wasn¡¯t yet properly set up he couldn¡¯t do anything and he knew he would be left alone with everyone else already having their jobs.


    ¡°I¡¯ll have a few choices made by the end of the week.¡± His father confirmed with a wide smile.


    With that bourden taken off his shoulders Ajax got suited up in his basic gear and grabbed him dungeon alchemy set-up and headed for the Academy. Despite going on a delve with the rest of his ss it would still be only to the first level of the dungeon, they had all already been told that they would only be going to the first level of the other dungeon for their final exam of the year, delving to the second floor was out of the question due to the randomness factor it presented.


    One thing Ajax did manage to note was that everyone in the ss had made serious progress growing at least one level, with a few that were close to the level point at the start of the year gaining two.


    ¡°Oh good, you came.¡± Professor Silvertogue poked his head into his office as Ajax was getting ready to head to ss.


    ¡°What do you mean good I came?¡± Ajax asked, surprised.


    Ajax was perfectly justified in his confusion as he had cleared his leave of absence with professor Silvertongue repeatedly.¡°Next time you n on making any big revtions, how about you drop a hint about it before asking for some time off.¡± The professor let out an annoyed sigh. ¡°Do you know how much shit I would have been in with my family if you didn¡¯t show up at your technically first social engagement after presenting your discovery because I gave you some time off?¡±


    Professor Silvertongue crashed into a chair inside the office ¡°I thought I would need to send someone to get you, and that would have been a whole other political issue on top of it being awkward.¡±


    Ajax was suddenly d everyone from his family told him toe otherwise that awkward moment would havee to pass and if there was anything Ajax handled worse than social interactions with nobility it was awkwards social interactions with nobility.


    ¡°Here, I was also asked to give you this.¡± the professor said as he ced a ring on Ajax¡¯s desk while also picking up the old one he gave him. ¡°Is this one empty?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Ajax asked confused, ¡°But why?¡±


    ¡°The main reason? Simply because before the ring was the sign of my family¡¯s investment in you despite you not officially joining.¡± The professor said, ¡°Now with you being given a noble title and with a reward waiting in the wings this whole dynamic changes.¡±


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    As Ajax infused his mana into the new ring and found that it was much bigger than his previous one. Not only that but he felt the ringtch on to his mana once he fed it and even sensed a scroll already being inside.


    ¡°This ring now symbolizes our support for an up anding house as such the quality needs to be higher.¡± he said with a serious look before slumping down. ¡°There are also another five to ten other smaller reasons that one of my siblings can spend five hours exining to you in detail if you are interested enough to ask. Suffice to say, I wasn¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°You forgot a scroll inside it.¡± Ajax said as he pulled out the scroll.


    ¡°No, we didn¡¯t.¡± the professor corrected. ¡°Like I said before the ring has a different meaning, you can keep this one with you at all times as not only is it locked to only your mana until you unbind it but that scroll is tied to a locator rune, if someone steals it you can track it down really fast.¡±


    The size of the ring was a real upgrade as now Ajax didn¡¯t even need to take a bag with him despite carrying all of his alchemy set-up, he simply shoved everything into the ring and headed towards his ss.


    As Ajax opened the door to the ssroom everyone threw a nce towards the door and froze staring at him once they realized who it was. People¡¯s reaction to seeing him varied wildly, some were happy to see him, some couldn¡¯t care less and others shot him venomous looks, some attempted to mask them but the feeling was obvious regardless.


    The first to approach him however wasn¡¯t the fuming prince, nor was it Lexi or Anna. It was Benedict who came up to him with the most neutral expression of the bunch giving nothing away.


    ¡°Thank you so much for your hard work.¡± Benedict said as he ced a hand on each of Ajax¡¯s shoulders and his neutral expression turned into one the happiest expression Ajax had ever seen the guy make. ¡°I¡¯m not sure if you realize just how big of an effect all of this will have on our armies and humanoids as a whole in a few centuries but it could be the start of not only a revolution but also the starting point of the first expansion humanoids have made in living memory.¡±


    The ending part of that sentence made Ajax quickly freeze up for a second as he digested what was said. Could his discovery end up leading humanoids to try to expand their territory, ording to the history lesson the dragon gave him the only reason nobody of real power bothers with humanoids is because they stay in their ce and as such are protected by the old ord, this has the potential of going very wrong. Thankfully anything of that sort is still centuries if not millenia away at this point so he will have time to find a solution for it.


    Despite Ajax¡¯s thought spiral at the idea Benedicts approach broke the ice and both Lexi and Anna came over to congratte Ajax on his awarded title. Despite both groups seeing Ajax¡¯s discovery as a positive thing there were a few nobles who just stood there keeping their mouths shut and looking like they just bit into an unripe lemon.


    ¡°I had thought you were just extremely talented.¡± A raspy voice cut through the chatter.


    Ajax turned to see iting from the prince. ¡°Then again I suppose that having the good fortune of discovering a new way to interact with the system can be considered a talent. You should however keep a close eye out as while luck can be considered a talent it¡¯s the only one that eventually runs out.¡±


    With that the prince and his whole entire entourage left the ssroom, though a few of the nobles that followed him out gave Ajax a few looks of pity, signifying that they had no issue with him but they knew that showing that would have them join him on the prince¡¯s shit list.


    ¡°Don¡¯t mind him.¡± Anna said after the prince left. ¡°It will take him a while to get over the fact that his lead in the battle for session was cut down but he¡¯lle around.¡±


    ¡°Still probably a good idea to give him a bit of time and space to do that.¡± Lexi butted in. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t hurt to keep a closer eye on your surroundings until then either.


    ¡°Oh just forget about him.¡± Benedict''s best friend Rick said as he stretched up in order to put one arm around Ajax¡¯s shoulders dragging him a bit down in the process. ¡°After we are done with this delve I am taking you drinking.¡±


    Rick quickly picked up on Ajax¡¯s confused face, they hadn¡¯t really gotten along all that much ever since the first delve they did as a ss and even with Benedict''s approval Rick had kept a bit of grudge.


    ¡°My big sister is a right bitch and you should have seen the look on her face when she found out that my little sister might be in a better position to inherit the main title. That alone made my day.¡± Rick exined. ¡°And that¡¯s not to say anything of how much this all means to my little sister.¡±


    ¡°You might have a few people holding a grudge, and most of them will be focused in the academy both in the sses that are above us and the next few that areing after.¡± Lexi said. ¡°But I doubt you can enter any tavern in the noble district for the next year without somebody deciding to buy you a few drinks as thanks.¡±


    Ajax simply nodded in agreement. He hadn¡¯t thought about the nobles fighting for session who would be happy about his discovery yet and found that to be a pleasant thought. As for the prince Ajax already nned to try and teach him his own weird style of casting, though after thatst interaction the timeline for those lessons changed from in a few weeks to in a few months.

 Chapter 222

    Chapter 222


    Looking at how the morning started Ajax would have assumed that the positive or negative reaction to his discovery would be the biggest change he would see in his interaction with his fellow students. Well it turns out that said statement was a little more than half right.


    That is to say that as Ajax walked down the street beside Benedict and Rick he was quickly made aware of another massive change in his position when it came to nobility, one that he hadn¡¯t taken into consideration when he came to the Academy that morning. This is the fact that the Academy also serves a purpose in allowing young nobles to interact with each other and pursue rtionships.


    Since they had left the ssroom no less than five girls had attempted to flirt with Ajax. Now while Ajax is not oblivious to this it is also something that he has little to no experience in. Back on Earth he never had time for a girlfriend and in his new life the friends with benefits rtionship he had with na is the extent of his experience. Suffice it to say that when ites to courtship of any sort Ajax is a novice.


    ¡°What is with them?¡± Ajax muttered under his breath. ¡°I know I¡¯m not that good looking or there would have been some sign before.¡±


    ¡°It depends how you look at it actually.¡± Rick countered. ¡°Objectively you are not ugly, in fact you could be called handsome. Most of the girls who attempted to make overt moves on you are second or third daughters to knights and barons.¡±


    ¡°What difference does that make?¡± Ajax said as he couldn¡¯t ce the social situation.


    ¡°Most of their marriages have already been determined in advance for political gain.¡± Benedict exined. ¡°Compared to some of the people that they have been promised to you are downright dashing, add that on to the fact that a rtionship with you is one any baron or knight family would take no questions asked and you have a few people who see you as the perfect way to escape their tragic fate.¡±


    ¡°HUUUHHHGGG¡± Ajax groaned as he rubbed his eyes at the thought.


    ¡°Wait, does that mean that my brother and sister will now have suitors?¡± Ajax asked concerned about what else he could have brought down on his family''s head. ¡°Your brother is out of the picture.¡± Rick said. ¡°At least for a year or two while he still has a baby on the way and for a short while after the birth. As for your sister, nobles do have a certain level of decorum as to not haggle her until she gets her business off the ground, but she can start to expect them as soon as that happens.¡±


    ¡°Hell, even your cat might have suitors.¡± Rick chuckled good naturedly at Ajax¡¯s panic.


    ¡°Fluffy?¡± Ajax asked surprised.


    ¡°Oh yeah.¡± Rick nodded. ¡°Most monster species of the same family can breed amongst themselves. You should expect a few people toe by with whatever feline bond their family has to try and arrange a litter for when the shadow cat is done growing.¡±


    In his mind Ajax has already assigned the job of Fluffy¡¯s pimp to his older brother Tom, after all they were bonded and there was no way he would let him just stand on the sidelines while he and Judy suffered.


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    ¡°Remember not to grow overconfident.¡± Professor Silvertongue¡¯s words brought Ajax back to the task at hand. ¡°I know all of you have made significant progress since the first delve we have done here but keep in mind that we have also started splitting you up more and more. You no longer have the same safety.¡±


    Following the first disastrous ss tournament that had mercifully ended after four delves with a draw between Anna and Benedict who had ended up forced to team up against the prince to keep him from abusing superior numbers, all challenges had changed.


    From now on all challenges were one delve long and announced only after entering the dungeon. This was always a risk when one of the stronger andrger overall ss came together this year, time to develop long term strategies always ended up badly for at least one student.


    This delve however was no joking matter. The idea of the exercise was care and efficiency. People would be forced to split into teams of two for the duration of this delve. A much lower numberpared to the minimum of four they were previously. The idea was to give them an idea of how it would be to get separated from your team during a delve.


    ¡°Also everyone is aware of the markers.¡± instructor Gatecrasher said, ¡° if you find yourselves cornered, and I do mean as ast resort, make for the closest arch and go to the second floor. Make sure to also mark the arch you entered so that one of us knows where to go look for you.¡±


    It came as no surprise when most people split off into groups with their friends, something both instructor gatecrasher and professor Silvertongue covertly winced at as they remembered just how many fractured friendships came from this exercise back when they went through the Academy. Few friendships survive a few split second decisions made with your life on the line.


    ¡°Winner of this exercise will be the first team to reach the base with at least five points collected.¡± Professor Silvertongue finished.


    ¡°Where is the base?¡± the prince askedpetitively.


    ¡°Clues will be given out to all of you depending on whichyout we get, after all we do have to give the thinkers among you an edge.¡± Professor Silvertongue said with a small smirk.


    To the surprise of almost everybody the challenge ended up being conquered almost four hours in as the prince made his way into the temporary base. A few muttered arguments had been made about him cheating when he chose to follow Ajax¡¯s tracks instead of reading through the clues, after all where else could Ajax set up shop and start cranking out potions.


    ¡°Have you thought about what you are going to have your house focus on for starters?¡± Lexi asked once she also found the hidden base, a little miffed that the prince had beaten her and Anna to it.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°One of the downsides of noble families is that they have to pay much higher taxes thanmoners. In order to keep up with said taxes each house usually focuses on one field to start off with and create a reliable source of ie.¡±


    ¡°Under most circumstances the means that got them the title are also the means by which the house makes a steady ie.¡± Anna said. ¡°Which is also where you hit a little bit of a wall seeing as how your mary reward is still ten years away.¡±


    ¡°Hmmmm.¡± Ajax said as he thought about the issue. ¡°I think a subset of farming might be the best thing to go with.¡±


    Ajax said as he thought about the bees. After all, there was going to be a massive shortage of honey in theing season. The reason for the shortage should be obvious, Ajax basically plundered massive amounts of the bee poption from the surrounding grounds. The bees haven;t had proper time to repopte meaning that his honey may just be a scarce luxury, and those were something that nobles would always pay top coin for.


    ¡°Farming?¡± Lexi asked confused.


    ¡°Well we doe from a small little vige by a forest, that and I doubt hunting for game would be all that profitable or sustainable long term.¡± Ajax exined. ¡°How about your family, what did you do when your grandfather was first given the title?¡±


    ¡°Dad leaned into his magic by offering training to the most promising mages of other nobles, though I am not all that sure of the details as by the time I was old enough to remember anything we had already expanded enough that we had a few means of ie.¡±


    ¡°You could always offer that fancy purple magic you were casting.¡± Anna said, referring to void mana. The spy''s house Goldmancer had inside house Silvertongue had provided that little fact.


    ¡°It¡¯s not all that useful for mages.¡± Ajax said honestly. ¡°Stand alone that magic isn¡¯t all that useful without physical strength to back it up.¡±


    The prince seemed to forget his animosity towards Ajax at this moment as he heard the topic of conversation. A new type of element that was useless without physical force but devastating when used with it, this was something he could use to take his next step on the path to being a hybrid fighter.


    Ajax gave Anna a shallow thankful nod when he noticed to expression the prince had, she had purposely mention void mana in an attempt to bring it to the prince¡¯s attention.

 Chapter 223

    Chapter 223


    ¡°That element is basically useless to all other mages or hybrids I have met.¡± Ajax was quick to point out. ¡°My style of casting uses more mana for a lower effect but doesn¡¯t rely on chanting. Not only that but much like rune casters the style activelypetes with chanting. If anyone wants to try this element it can¡¯t be a chant caster.¡±


    ¡°Why not a chant caster?¡± Lexi was quick to ask as she was also interested in the new element, though this was more for novelty sake than for the power it possessed.


    ¡°Very simple, I have no chanted spells that use it so there is no starting point for trying to use any chants with it.¡± Ajax said, even if people had figured out certain words or phrases there was no word for the void element that any of them knew.


    ¡°Just how inefficient are your spells?¡± Lexi asked now curious.


    ¡°Throw a fireball at that wall.¡± Ajax said instead of answering.


    Lexi was quick to chant and throw a decent fireball that left a ck mark on the wall. Ajax simply stood up and copied the effect tossing an equivalent fireball with a word leaving a second mark on the wall.


    ¡°How much mana did that fireball take from you?¡± he asked afterwards.


    ¡°About thirty.¡± she answered, it was a very weak spell she just tossed out to make a point.


    ¡°Mine took about one hundred and fifty.¡± Ajax said ¡°and I suspect my intelligence is slightly higher than yours is. My style focuses on having spells empower physical attacks, it focuses on speed and flexibility but in a battle of attrition at long range I would be forced to use my bow or I would empty a lot faster than even a mage usually does.¡± Ajax didn¡¯t mention anything about his Legendary skill. [Syphon Mana] was going to be featured on his house''s sigil and would only be divulged to the king in person as Ajax wanted to build a simr foundation to duke Manashaper on the back of his Legendary skill. Thesest few months of living in the capital had gotten him to trust in most of the higher nobles a lot more.


    Void however was out of the question, he wasn¡¯t willing to teach anyone anything about that element. His Legendary skill will be nigh-impossible to copy but the void element was and always will be the ace us his sleeve. Much like how curse attacks were not divulged in any way by one of the King¡¯s top people Ajax would keep void to himself at the very least until he had a working counter to the element.


    If he was true to himself however Ajax did find that he was willing to try and teach void to one being, that being was Fluffy and even for her it was in the far future once she had finished maturing. Ajax had developed void by focusing on shadow element mobility to move the point of impact but that was as far as he would take it before he got apanion of his own.


    ¡°Well done, your highness.¡± Professor Silvertongue interrupted their discussion as he got to the base. ¡°Though your methods were slightly questionable they were within the rules and as such your team is the winner for this cycle¡¯s delve.¡±


    ¡°But he didn¡¯t decipher, they didn¡¯t decipher the clue.¡± one of the other students murmured, even if they knew better than to try andin about the crown prince on a day when he was this pissed off.


    ¡°The rules never said that they had to.¡± Professor Silvertongue chose not to ignore the mumble and use it to teach them all a lesson. ¡°These sort ofpetitions are how nations decide conflict in order to prevent wars, you¡¯d do best to learn that sometimes loopholes to the written rules exist.¡±


    ¡°But wouldn¡¯t using such a loophole be more likely to cause a war or at the very least a battle to break out.¡± Anna asked.


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    ¡°That depends, but the answer is mostly yes.¡± Silvertongue nodded. ¡°However, having you think about the existence of such loopholes is what is important here. If you use any that you find will have to be a case by case decision but making sure you are not blindsided by another side using it is something else entirely.¡±


    For the reminder of the delve the prince had been trying to catch a moment where could talk to Ajax alone but none presented themselves. Ajax had noticed his attempts but wasn¡¯t in the mood to deal with the prince trying to force him to teach him about void. He knew there was nothing the prince could do to force him but the attempts themselves could prove annoying.


    For the rest of the delve Ajax had barely managed to get any more alchemy done, for the first time since he had joined the Academy he had primarily used his time to socialize with the other students in his ss.


    It had taken a few hours to get the point across that he wouldn¡¯t be entertaining any talks regarding marriage at the moment but the discussion focused more on how each of the noble houses had made their start when they were first granted the title. All houses made it a point to document their beginnings, though some saw those beginnings as a point of pride while others chose to look at them as something to learn from.


    ¡°How does a house get its name?¡± Ajax asked the most pertinent question in the presence of the nobles, after all not only him but his entire family line will carry the name they are given.


    ¡°Most often they are named for a trend in the family or the specific actions of the house head that gained them the title.¡± Lexi exined. ¡°My house is named Manashaper because of grandpa''s ability to experiment with chants. House Shortsilence however was named for their renowned ability as interrogators, though the specific methods remain a mystery it is well known that after one of their members enters the dungeon prisoners start talking quickly.¡±


    Ajax had to fight the grimace that fought to make its way on his face after hearing what house Shortsilence was known for. In hindsight it made sense for a line of effective interrogators to be rewarded even if the thought of their practice made him want to regress to his much more paranoid days.


    ¡°In cases like yours you will have to present your sigil to the king. Considering your strength you will most likely be alone with him in the room so you will have a chance to appeal for a different name should you not like the first he gives you but be careful with that since if you are too picky you may end up worse than you started.¡± Lexi said with a teasing grin on her face.


    Ajax did make a note of it and was very thankful for all of the exnations that the rest of his ssmates gave him, if nothing else he now knew he had at least a few connections in specific industries moving forward should he need them to get on his feet.


    Handling the family finances wasn¡¯t going to be his area, his job began with gathering this information and passing it along to his sister and mother and ended with being the one making any formal request or offers if they deemed it necessary.


    ¡°We¡¯ll be going to the Watered Horse tonight!¡± Rick shouted loudly as they were on the way back from the dungeon.


    Ajax appreciated Rick¡¯s care when it came to choosing the local, the Watered Horse was one of the lower ss taverns in the noble section of the capital and one where Ajax wouldn¡¯t stand out like a sore thumb for showing up in his regr day clothes.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be buying for everyone so stopining.¡± Rick continued when a few people started to suggest some higher end ces.


    While that offer wouldn¡¯t have been all that persuasive in their currentpany, all of theints died down pretty quickly once they saw that Benedict, Anna and Lexi were all going along with the choice.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be seeing you all ten days from now.¡± Professor Silvertongue said as he dismissed everyone.


    With that everyone went their own way looking to get out of their delving gear and into some regr clothes before heading to the Watered Horse. Ajax however wasn¡¯t so lucky as the prince had followed him following their dismissal and had caught up to him just as he got to the door of his office.


    ¡°I want to know more about this peculiar element!¡± The prince demanded, it was much harsher than even he had originally intended to approach the subject but his patience had been worn thin thest few days.


    ¡°I know you were taught better manners than that.¡± A voice came from the side as the door to professor Silvertongue¡¯s office opened and two women were exiting.


    ¡°Aunt Cleo?¡± the prince''s jaw dropped in surprise. ¡°What are you doing here?¡±


    ¡°I came here to follow up and clear the air about the stupid threat you made towards a newly promoted noble a few days ago. Imagine my surprise to see you also pushing things further by hounding him for something that I know for a fact is private information.¡±


    ¡°But -¡± the prince started.


    ¡°But nothing!¡± she said, cutting him off. ¡°You¡¯ll being with me and exining this to your father, keep going in this manner and you¡¯ll end up like your uncle.¡±


    The prince''s face fell at that and he quietly bowed his head in frustration. His uncle had been first in line as crown prince and had been passed over for the crown despite being stronger than his father, all of it was due to poor diplomatic skills and a few international incidents.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry you had to see that, Ajax. Congrattions on the noble nomination.¡± Princess Cleo, the current king¡¯s oldest daughter, said. ¡°You certainly have had great timing for my daughter.¡± she finished with a nod at the girl standing behind her.


    ¡°Thank you very much for your discovery, Sir Ajax.¡± the other woman said while executing a perfect curtsy. ¡°I¡¯ll be turning ten in a week and will be the first of the royal family to make use of your discovery.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re very wee.¡± Ajax said as he returned with a bow towards the two.


    With that the two left with the prince in tow as Ajax headed into his office to get changed before heading out.

 Chapter 224

    Chapter 224


    Evelyn of the Fourth P.O.V.


    Today I will finally get my chance again. After all the effort I had put in thesest few months I will finally have a chance to advance and im the name of Evelyn of the Third. The man standing opposite me in the ring has the same ck mask covering his face as his tight leather armor is covered by the loose cloak. Today I will put everything I picked up about curse mana in thest few months into practice.


    As the signal was given he charged in same as he always does, I used to think that he did this to unbnce me and because he wanted to make me go on the defensive and turn the battle into one of attrition but now I knew that his resources were just as limited as mine if not even more so because of the constant strain the body puts on stamina during a fight.


    Unlike every other spar we had I willing went along with his n and defended the strike easily with a timely conjured wall of ice. The ice quickly turned ck upon contact with the curse mana which is why my follow up was to use an earth spell to move the ground below the ice. Despite not knowing it, my opponent just gave me a very durable shield.


    Seeing that his opening trick didn¡¯t work he quickly took some distance and tried for a few long range shes, sending arcs of curse mana towards me. The massive me wall Iunched back wasn¡¯t enough to burn through the curse mana but it certainly weakened the shes to the point that it only severely cracked the ice wall instead of going through it. An added bonus was that the mes did a lot to get rid of the baggy cloak he used to hide his movements.


    I could tell that he was suspicious, both of my reactions to his attacks were something I practiced heavily while preparing for this fight and now it was time to show him just how much I picked up while he was away.


    I took his next charge head on, focusing more on the timing of his curse skill activation that the direction of the de. That turned out to be a mistake as he simply didn¡¯t activate and curse skill leaving me on the backfoot as I pumped a solid chunk of mana into summoning a strong wind explosion to create some distance once again. As sure as I was that I had the counter to his curse skills I still had to be careful of his regr sword techniques as all of my spells still required a chant, regardless of how short it was and how quick I had gotten at casting it.


    The sh between us repeated a few times and while he hadn;t managed tond a single cursed attack on me I was starting to rack up a good amount of cuts.


    ¡°I think you should just stop there.¡± The king said as he looked down from the balcony. ¡°Evelyna you proved that you have improved but I don¡¯t think it''s enough just yet.¡± I defiantly shook my head as I motioned for the fight to continue.


    ¡°Have it your way.¡± the king shook his head in displeasure as he motioned for one of the guards to call the healer.


    Realizing a clean win wasn¡¯t in the cards for me today I chose to bank the spar on mutual blow. I gave the shadowy assassin an open path to my shoulder that he took, the tip of the sword amining to pierce straight through. The few earth spikes Iunched were all cleanly side-stepped as he clearly felt the mana taking shape in the earth.


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    Right as his stab was about to make contact he finally activated his curse skill just like I¡¯d hoped. As the curse mana was being called up so was my me spitter spell from the same arm that was about to be hit.


    The metallic taste of blood started to cover my mouth after I bit my tongue. The chant had been finished barely in time that I hadn¡¯t had the time to clench my jaw for the impending stab, the reflexive biting motion I made once I felt the pain radiating from my shoulder caught the tip of my tongue.


    It was all worth it however as I saw the ck cloak getting tossed aside as the ck mes spread. The pain I felt was nothingpared to what I was about to inflict. Despite taking the worse end of that exchange I had managed to not only keep myself curse free, but absorb his curse mana into my me spitter spell andunch it back on him.


    My next move seemed to show the spectators as the didn¡¯t understand why I would use a strong holy cleansing spell right after. My opponent was experienced enough with cursed mana to know what I was trying to do. Sadly for him there was nothing he could do as he had no protection against the beneficial spell I cast in his general area.


    As the holy light washed over him it brought with it a wave of pain that left him thrashing on the ground as the curse mana the mes had inflicted on him were getting exorcised with holy mana in the middle ofbat.


    I didn¡¯t even waste the time to stop my own bleeding as I didn¡¯t know just how much curse mana actuallytched on to him from that one attack, My next spell formed a quick earthen coffin around him locking him in ce and giving me time to chant a longer lightning strike thatnded three inches from his head.


    With the final strike given, I fell to my knees, my free arm moving quickly to staunch the bleeding from my shoulder but my eyes could stop staring at he ck scorch mark the lightning bolt left next to his head. The mark of my victory.


    The healer quickly rushed to me and began his work, despite winning the spar I was in a much worse shape. Despite my n working out in the way I wanted, eventually my execution left a lot to be desired. The gap between us wasrger than I initially thought and that made the taste of victory so much sweeter.


    ¡°What were you thinking?¡± the healer berated me. ¡°That stab went clean through the muscle and even chipped the bone! Do you know how lucky you are that none of his curse strike got on you, if it had you would have had to wait three days before we could have even attempted to heal this.¡±


    The king had also made his way down to the courtyard, his hair a mix of gray and white the clearest sign of his age as he still maintained his body in shape forbat. His frown however let me know that he wasn¡¯t pleased with my choice and agreed with the healer.


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t¡­ It wasn¡¯t luck.¡± The one to break the silence was my opponent, he still heaved from the pain inflicted on him by cleansing the curse.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± the king asked, turning the re onto him.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how but¡­ but she knew my final cursed strike wouldn¡¯t¡­ wouldn¡¯t work.¡± He heaved out. ¡°She counted out the fire spell consuming the curse mana, hah, not only that but she even knew it would end up inflicting me with a weak curse if I got touched. A curse that was weak enough to be cleansed a few moments but that was all she needed.¡±


    That¡¯s when he removed his mask, still heaving for air and with his arms still shaking from the previous pain and a predatory and evil smirk cut across his face. Both of his eye were fixed on me.


    ¡°Not even I knew you could imbue mes with cursed mana like that, where did that ideae from?¡± He asked, ¡°No, don¡¯t tell me yet, let me think about it.¡± he contradicted himself.


    ¡°I look forward to our next spar,¡± he said, his voice quieter and filled with joy and anticipation that made me shiver a little. ¡°You¡¯ll tell me if I got it right or not before we begin.¡±


    ¡°Oh not you too.¡± The king let out a sigh as he looked between the two of us like petnt children.


    ¡°I¡¯ll give her a month before I challenge her to regain my title.¡± he reassured the king.


    I didn¡¯t get a chance to gloat as one of the messengers approached us in the courtyard and made straight for the king. The man wisely stopped a good ten paces away from the king where he bowed and then slowly covered the rest of the distance aware that any rash movement in the presence of the king will see all nine of thebatants on the training field moving to kill him


    ¡°Your Highness, one Ajax has arrived at the pce.¡± He said. ¡°He posses an invitation and has brought with him the sigil for his new house.¡±


    So the kid is moving quickly, good for him. Hopefully my shoulder will be patched up quickly because I want to see what his sigil looks like.

 Chapter 225

    Chapter 225


    Ajax was oddly surprised at the interaction he had with the two princesses. While he had known that the royal family had chosen to try and have a group of children around the same decade as a way to keep them connected as siblings he hadn¡¯t known their exact birthdays. The young princess should thank his grandparents a lot more than they did him as that was the push that made him reveal his trick.


    Once he finally arrived back home Ajax was treated with a number of different sigils that his family was gathered around. His father had taken the opportunity very seriously and had made a few very detailed pieces that would work as a sigil.


    The first one was also one he sadly had to remove from the running simply due the fact that it focused heavily on his bees. As much as he decided to share a few of his secrets he wasn¡¯t prepared to make that one public until his family all had a chance to try and get a trailzing skill of their own. Not to mention that a sigil showing the bee would work much better for his sister¡¯spany seeing as honey was going to be their exclusivemodity.


    The second sigil was decorated with lots of weapons and magic. Ajax could clearly make out fire, ice and lightning alongside a hammer, shield, axe and bow. The sigil even included the pawprint of a shadow cat. This was a choice he found himself agreeing with, it did represent his versatility. The small bag of coin and anvil on either side represent as well as the presence of Fluffys paw representing the rest of his family.


    The third sigil was one that was a little bittersweet to him. It showed an edited version of their old house back in the nameless vige near Lessis. The fields were bigger and Fluffy could be more clearly seen in the shade of a tree, along with the smithy and all of his weapons prepared around his training spot.


    Both of the sigils did a great job of representing what he wanted his house to develop into, a self-sufficient power that could stand up for itself. In the end what cinched in for him however was the more varied focus of the second sigil. The second sigil was too war-themed, and Ajax didn¡¯t want to make it seem like he was nning to make a try for the Steelde title. The third sigil however would actuallynd him outside of the sphere of influence from all three Archdukes. This neutrality was what decided it for him.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you going yet?¡± His sister, na and even his mother were looking at him once the decision was reached. Their days hadn¡¯t been easy and they all knew once he was granted a title and a plot ofnd in the capital all hostilities would end overnight, at least for a time.


    ¡°I was thinking of going tomorrow.¡± Ajax said honestly, he was still slightly tired from his time in the dungeon.


    ¡°Nonsense,¡± Judy pushed him towards the bathroom to wash up. ¡°We even have a proper suit all ready for you.¡± It didn¡¯t take a genius to get the message so Ajax took a long bath as he got himself presentable for his second trip to the royal castle. This time he would actually be entering and not just delivering a message at the gates.


    Despite the suit fitting him like a glove Ajax couldn¡¯t help but feel a little ufortable in it. It wasn¡¯t anything to do with feel of the clothes but rather with just how attention grabbing they were. His original start as a hunter had seen him progress with stealth being a very important factor in his outfit. As such Ajax much preferred ck outfits along with gray or even green patches. The golden ents on the silver clothes made him think more of knights or priests, the centers of attention and very much not his style.


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    ¡°Now you definitely look the part of a noble.¡± na said as she straightened out his cor, "though you will need to fix your expression from one of difort to one of joy when you go before the king.¡±


    With that Ajax picked up the sigil and made his way towards the royal pce, he seriously hoped showing up unannounced wouldn¡¯t be an issue even if he had been given an open invitation toe and im his title.


    Unlike thest time he was here the guards visibly straightened up once he approached them.


    ¡°What can I help you, milord.¡± one of them asked.


    ¡°I have an open invitation from the king.¡± Ajax said as he presented the parchment Evelyn had given him.


    ¡°Right this way.¡± the guard who read the scroll said as he led Ajax into the castle.


    As they were walking towards the castle two more guards moved towards them from inside. One walked right past them after a small bow towards Ajax and moved to take the spot of the guard guiding him while the second took a look at the scrolled and dashed away in a dignified manner.


    ¡°The king will be informed of your presence momentarily, you are invited to wait for him.¡± Ajax figured he would now be led through to a waiting room, one much grander than he had seen back in Luna¡¯s house but a variation nheless.


    ¡°Hold on a moment.¡± A voice came from one of the side corridors as Ajax was being led through the pce.


    Ajax turned to the side to see an entire unit of people that possessed Auras he could clearly sense approach him. While he didn¡¯t know who they were specifically he knew of them, one of the king¡¯s squads, much like the one Evelyn led, all of them had to be in mid hundreds in terms of level and extremely dangerous. Definitely not people he should anger if he could avoid it.


    ¡°Lady Quinn.¡± the guard guiding Ajax sprung to attention.


    While Ajax was confused at this interaction since they had passed a few other people without any of them giving him more than a ncing look. His confusion also seemed to be shared by the rest of the squad beside Quinn.


    ¡°What is it, Quinn?¡± The leader of the squad asked.


    ¡°I thought I recognised him.¡± Quinn said triumphantly. ¡°Why is he here?¡±


    Quinn addressed the guard that was leading him despite this being considered quite rude. Something that seemed to strike an odd scene with the rest of the squad.


    ¡°Quinn, you should be more respectful, at least in the royal pce.¡± Her squad leader Patrick got out through gritted teeth.


    ¡°He¡¯s here to receive a noble title.¡± The guard dutifully provided.


    ¡°Hmm.¡± She nodded with a touch of respect towards Ajax at that answer before turning back towards Patrick. ¡°Seems like you were right after all.¡±


    ¡°Quinn, how many times do I have to tell you, not all of us have your point investment into the mind stat, where do we know him from?¡± he asked.


    Ajax was also very confused about this turn of events since he definitely had no memory of meeting this Quinn, considering her level of strength he hoped his doppelganger hadn¡¯t pissed her off.


    ¡°Five¡­ no six years ago.¡± Quinn said as she rolled her eyes. ¡°Back in that backwater when we were hunting that vampire, he¡¯s the kid whose arm I fixed.¡±


    The exnation did a lot to rx Ajax, now he knew why he didn¡¯t remember her. He had been unconscious when she patched him up and she had left long before he woke up. This revtion also told him exactly which squad they were, the Eighth.


    ¡°AHHHH¡± a pained groan resounded through one of the open windows putting Ajax on edge once more.


    ¡°Why does Evelyn not learn she just can¡¯t beat him.¡± Quinn said with a shake of the head, despite her flippant words however her expression showed concern and a little sadness.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be so sure about that.¡± One of her squadmates said. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure that wasn¡¯t Evelyn.¡±


    Ajax was caught off guard by thement though he felt happy for Evelyn. Balthazar had told him how impatient she was and this proved that the two weeks they had taken off the curse research had pushed her to challenge her fellow squadmander early.


    ¡°Come on, let''s go see.¡± The rest of the squad already moved, with their stats however even the proper dignified walk looked like a sped up tape of someone walking as they made their way towards the training field.


    ¡°Congrattions on your title kid.¡± Patrick said before he followed his squad. ¡°I¡¯m d we got to you in time back then.¡±


    Ajax was brought back into the present by the guard. ¡°Right this way sir, the king will be with you shortly, sadly you aren¡¯t allowed ess in the training yard.¡±


    The dejected tone let Ajax know that he wasn¡¯t the only one not enthused on not being able to go see the fight.

 Chapter 226

    Chapter 226


    The following wait was a little nerve racking, a mix of anticipation of how Evelyn¡¯s fight had gone mixed with the fact that he was waiting to meet the king. While the wait itself hadn¡¯t been longer than another twenty minutes it felt much longer to Ajax who ended up pacing for thest five minutes of it.


    ¡°The king will see you now.¡± A different guard, one with much fancier armor entered the waiting area and invited Ajax inside.


    As Ajax was led into a small throne room he could see that he and the king wouldn¡¯t be quite as alone as he expected. Present inside the room were almost two dozen other people all of who exuded a powerful aura, Ajax recognised the members of the Eighth as well as Evelyn who looked like she had gone ten rounds with a feral cat from the number of shallow cuts she had on her. Despite all of the shabby clothes the smile on her face informed him about the oue of the fight.


    The residual manabination of curse and holy hanging around another of the people let Ajax know who her opponent was as well as the tactic she had used to gain her victory. One of the crueler methods they hade up with, first infecting a curse and then using the interaction with holy mana to cause excruciating pain. The method was particrly effective as the healing was considered positive by the system so the second part of thebo would bypass most shields.


    ¡°Your Majesty.¡± Ajax greeted with a deep bow once he entered the small throne chamber.


    ¡°You must be Ajax.¡± The king was an old man, despite the wrinkles on his face and his white hair however he appeared a lot more like the old men from asian animated cultures than those seen in western media, with a strong tall build that showed that he still possessed a lot of power despite having aged past his prime. ¡°I have to say I have heard a lot about you in thest year, it¡¯s a pleasure to finally meet you.¡±


    ¡°While you might know Evelyn here,¡± he said with a wave of a hand towards her. ¡°Everyone else taking part in this meeting is a part of the Third, Fourth or Eighth squad, you can be sure that the contents of this meeting won¡¯t be leaked.¡±


    ¡°I appreciate that Your Majesty,¡± Ajax said as he wrung his hands a little nervously. ¡°There is something I was hoping to share with you at this time that would not be spread.¡±


    ¡°Would that be your ability to use a curse skill?¡± The king asked. ¡°Surely you can¡¯t have expected Evelyn not to inform me of your capacity in all this time?¡±¡°No Your Majesty-¡±


    ¡°Please call me Terenas, at least for now.¡± the king interrupted. ¡°King Terenas if you must.¡±


    ¡°Ofcourse Your Ma- King Terenas.¡± Ajax corrected. ¡°And no my [Curse sh] skill is not what I was referring to, I did in fact believe that you were already informed of that.¡±


    ¡°Oh, another surprise.¡± The king seemed giddy like a kid on Christmas morning at the news.


    ¡°Yes, it is about my Legendary skill.¡± Ajax said.


    ¡°A lot of people are aware of the fact that you possess [Enigma], though there are a few differing theories as to the trailzing skill that allowed you to gain it.¡± the king deted a little at the topic. ¡°Would you be inclined to shed a little light on that debate?¡±


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    ¡°Not at this time, King Terenas. There are still a few things I am investigating regarding that skill.¡± Ajax said as he shook his head. ¡°I also wasn¡¯t referring to [Enigma] but mybat Legendary skill.¡±


    That statement got everyone to freeze for a moment before everybody in the room was fighting a smirk, though a few of the participants did ce a hand on the handle of their weapons. The king took a moment to unfreeze before he was shaking with excitement.


    ¡°That is quite the news, I had expected that this meeting would be quite something, which is why I made sure we would have a certain level of privacy but this has exceeded my expectations.¡± The king said. ¡°How much would you be willing to share regarding this skill?¡±


    As a future high ranking noble the king definitely didn¡¯t want to pressure Ajax before he had a chance to set down some deep roots inside the kingdom. He was in fact even thinking of a way to tie him to the royal family through a marriage.


    ¡°I am willing to disclose a few general aspects as well as how I managed to achieve the skill.¡± Ajax said.


    ¡°Please, by all means.¡±


    ¡°The skill is called [Mana Syphon]. The essential of the skill is that it allows me to absorb any mana from my surroundings and convert it into increased physical stats.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like an upgraded version of my [Mana Physique].¡± the man Ajax assumed to be the leader of the Third said. ¡°Being a Legendary skill I am guessing he gets a much better efficiency than I do, possibly even has a higher maximum input.¡±


    ¡°I doubt the efficiency is higher,¡± Ajax said as he hade across [Mana Physique] in his research ¡°I actually suspect that it is a bit lower, though the maximum input is likely higher forparative skill levels.¡±


    ¡°That wouldn¡¯t be enough to make the skill Legendary.¡± another member argued.


    ¡°The Legendary aspect of the skill is also the one that gives it its name syphon.¡± Ajax exined. ¡°Unlike [Mana Physique] I am not limited to only consuming my own mana but any mana source that is close enough. This includes high mana density in the environment as well as casted spells.¡±


    ¡°That is quite the upgrade.¡± The king acknowledged. ¡°You said you are willing to also disclose the method by which you obtained it?¡±


    The next fifteen minutes devolved into a recap of Ajax¡¯s encounter with the vampire as well as his self-taught method of learning magic from monsters. Much to the king¡¯s surprise the Eighth were actually able to confirm part of the story.


    ¡°While this is certainly interesting, and definitely something we should investigate, if only for the chance of getting some of the lower rarity skills with the mana syphon effect it is a matter for another time. We have gotten quite a bit sidetracked I must say.¡± The kind said. ¡°We are here to grant you your noble title, if you would present your sigil.¡±


    Ajax did as he was asked and he presented the sigil his father crafted. To his surprise the king tried to suppress a small chuckle.


    ¡°You geniuses sure are alike.¡± Hemented as he observed the sigil. ¡°Duke Manashaper sigil is also highly detailed and not very suited for branding. While I do ept this as your sigil I do suggest youe up with a moremon mark, possibly even a specific color scheme to represent your house as mass producing such sigils does end up being quite the challenge.¡±


    It was at this point that Ajax had to fight very hard not to facepalm at this oversight. He had put a lot of thought into what he wanted the sigil to signify that he had forgotten almost all noble houses disyed their sigil on anything and everything that had a connection to them and that being simple enough to produce was also a factor.


    ¡°Kneel please Ajax.¡± The king said as he stood up from the throne and approached him with the sword in hand.


    Ajax did as the king said and went down on one knee, his [Danger Sense] being absolutely calm was the only reason he was able to calmly get through the procession of having the sword ced on his shoulders and then stabbed in the ground an inch from his face.


    ¡°Rise now Ajax as a Baron and the head of House Hearthbound.¡± the king announced in an official tone that echoed throughout the chamber.


    Ajax found that he was happy with the name. In all honesty he had expected the name to have more to do with his discovery or the Legendary skill he had just revealed but he was d that the chosen sigil had so much more sway. He was also sure that the king hoped the name would foster more loyalty towards the kingdom but Ajax was sure it would be a name his family would also be happy with.


    With that Ajax rose up to the thunderous apuse of the two dozen Squad members present.


    ¡°I do hope your house will prosper for a long time toe.¡± the king said as he returned to his seat.


    ¡°Thank you, Your Majesty.¡± Ajax replied.


    ¡°Now that you are officially a noble I will assign you thend plot A231 from the noble district, for you to build your mansion and for it to serve as yournd.¡± the king said.


    There was a mixed reaction to this from the members of the Squads as they processed the king''s intention. Plot A231 wasn¡¯t all that special aside from the fact that it was empty and anything could be built on it. The important part was that it was one of the plots neighboring a certain Viscount House that just recently lost its noble title. The king''s intention clearly being to grant that plot to Ajax as well when he raised his title from Baron to Duke in the near future.

 Chapter 227

    Chapter 227


    ¡°You¡¯ll find that plot is empty, as such you can begin building your estate on it, a Viscount plot neighboring it has also recently been vacated due to all that curse gue business earlier in the year.¡± Evelyn told Ajax. ¡°I suggest you take into consideration that plot being added to yours in ten years whenying down any ns.¡±


    ¡°I will, thanks Evelyn.¡± Ajax said. ¡°Also congrattions on the win.¡±


    ¡°What gave it away?¡± the other fighter asked Ajax, seeing as his clothing was rtively undamaged it was a very fair question.


    ¡°I could give the technical answer that you have both curse mana residue and holy mana residue lingering on you and I doubt anyone can reasonably be expected to continue a spar once exposed to both.¡± Ajax said before smirking a bit. ¡°But I¡¯ve known Evelyn for a few months now and this is the first time I¡¯ve seen her smile, I doubt it was following a loss.¡±


    Evelyn''s smile dimmed slightly at that but it wasn¡¯t enough to wipe it off her face. The king also got a kick out of thement but soon reasserted order over the room.


    ¡°ording to your records from the Academy I can see that you are doing well at filling in the gaps in your knowledge, that will serve you well as you grow into your new title.¡± The kind said. ¡°That being said, it does leave the matter of the end of the year tournament to address.¡±


    ¡°What is there to address?¡± Ajax asked, though this was more him feigning ignorance.


    ¡°Your ability to enter all the open non-student tournaments that lead to spots for the ss tournaments.¡± The king pointed out. ¡°Given your level of power I could only see a spectacr sixth year actually giving you any trouble at all.¡±


    I doubt even one of them could, after all the stats I gained from running both dungeons, Ajax thought back to the dungeon floor bonus stats he gained.¡°Having you make a straight shot effortless run through the tournaments would have been problematic before but now that you also gained a noble title it would be disastrous. As such a more beneficial arrangement can be made for you on the side.¡± the king said.


    ¡°A more beneficial arrangement?¡± Ajax asked a hint of greed shining in his eyes, all that time he spent around his sister and his grandparents working overtime to let him know of a potential opportunity.


    ¡°Essentially, for the following six years I will have you only participate in the sixth year tournament, even that spot will be given with a seeded pass so as to not disturb the open entry tournament.¡± the king exined. ¡°The rewards you will gain for winning will bepensated for having you not enter all six tournaments.¡±


    This was already an arrangement Ajax was ready to jump at, a way to gain all those rewards without pissing off every noble with a representative in the first five years was a golden opportunity.


    ¡°On top of that, should you manage to keep your winning streak for the duration of the six years you will be attending the Academy, I will be willing to give you a spot as a representative for our under fifty group in the uing challenge for the deep iron mine.¡± the king offered.


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    Ajax¡¯s time in the Academy had already informed him of the way nations split any newfound resources when they decided to go the peaceful route. A tournament will be held where the representatives of each nation fought for a % of the resource. The tournaments would be split in an under fifty years old category, an under level one hundred category and a no restriction category.


    The unrestricted category always influenced more than half the ownership of the resource but quite a lot of money was up for grabs in the other categories as well. Seeing as how the tournament would be held in only a few years Ajax knew he had no chance at the under level one hundred bracket, that was filled with one trick ponies who spend at least two centuries training a few specific skills while achieving level ny-nine, but the under fifty years old was where he might stand a chance.


    ¡°What is the reward split for the mine?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°Twenty - twenty - sixty.¡± the king answered. ¡°With the country gaining half and the representative the other half.¡±


    ¡°I ept, King Terenas.¡± Ajax said with a deep bow.


    ¡°That is great news.¡± the king smiled. ¡° With that being handled now, you are dismissed Baron Hearthbound.¡±


    Ajax¡¯s future just came into a much clearer focus, from the blur of nebulous possibilities it had been a few weeks ago he had now gained a title, a home as well as a target to aim for. All of that in mind Ajax made his way home as quickly as he could while still looking somewhat graceful in his fancy clothes. This was something he would want to share with his family and celebrate.


    ¡°Are you sure letting himpete is wise Terenas?¡± the first Squadsmander and the king¡¯s best friend asked him.


    ¡°I doubt anyone but you has a chance to take the openpetition from the elves.¡± the king answered instead. ¡°And I am not willing to risk you over a mine filled with luxuries. Seeing as their witch was also married into their royal family they will owe a majority of the mine regardless.¡±


    ¡°Then what is it you are after?¡± themander asked.


    ¡°The biggest y is to have him associated as a representative of Gryndor.¡± the king said. ¡°Should he actually manage to win his part of the reward will provide ie for his noble family should he have trouble securing a revenue stream, or preferably a bargaining coin he can use to gain a delve in one of our neighbors'' capital dungeons.¡±


    ¡°You think a single delve will be worth that much?¡± the king''s friend asked.


    ¡°He cleared up to the eighth floor as a level thirty-two old friend.¡± the king said. ¡°That single delve in a capital dungeon will give him seven to all his stats even if he doesn¡¯t grow the level gap he can delve in the next few years.¡±


    ¡°That much power will make him dangerous in the future, is it wise to have him continue like this without a tie to the royal family?¡± the squad leader asked.


    ¡°You heard the rumors just as I have, the beastkin dichotomy is being unified. With two capital dungeons under a single nation, how long do you think it will be before they dere war once again, one hundred years? Two hundred?¡± the king asked. ¡°Worse yet what if they decide not to push towards the rest of us but try to expand outside oh humping territory, who knows what they might bring down on us?¡±


    ¡°They really did pick their timing well.¡± the squadmander was forced to admit. ¡°Having started their unification on the heels of a peace treaty as tenuous as this one was means that nobody will be willing to go to war with them unprovoked. All for the simple reason as we don¡¯t trust each other enough to leave an opening to our own allies.¡±


    While Ajax had gone to finalize the noble title his family had received an arguable overdue visit for Silvia¡¯s parents, the only issue being that they had made it a surprise visit not knowing today will also be the day Ajax was going to the royal pce.


    ¡°Grandmother, grandfather.¡± Judy said coldly.


    ¡°Grandmother, grandfather.¡± Tom repeated the same greeting.


    ¡°Mother, father, these are my children : Tom and Judy.¡± Silvia introduced them trying her best to make the effort she said she would back when she epted her parents'' apology. ¡°Beside them is Katy, Tom¡¯s spouse, as well as na, Judy¡¯s business partner.¡±


    ¡°Where is young Ajax?¡± Sebastian said as he tried to ease the tension, his presence here was helping as he had made a good impression on both Judy and na as he helped them with the move. ¡°I heard he just returned from his delve today.¡±


    ¡°Ajax is at the royal pce.¡± Sam said. ¡°epting his noble title andnd.¡±


    Sebastian winced a little as his attempt to move the topic of conversation along wound up with them in even more ufortable territory. Thankfully the awkwardness was quickly shattered by the sound of the door being all but mmed open.


    ¡°Why this couldn¡¯t wait until tomorrow I still don¡¯t know.¡± Ajax could be heardining despite his tone revealing he wasn¡¯t feeling as annoyed as his words originally sounded. ¡°Oh, am I interrupting something?¡±


    Ajax stopped as he caught sight of the packed dining table they had recently gotten. ¡°Not at all, sweetheart.¡± His mother was quick to stand up, hug him, and then drag him towards a seat reserved for him at the table. ¡°How did it go?¡±


    Her question reflected the thoughts of everyone else seated as they looked at Ajax filled with curiosity.

 Chapter 228

    Chapter 228


    Ajax was surprised to find that his grandparents were also there, less surprising was the tense atmosphere that he could cut with a knife from the moment he walked in the door. It was also pretty clear that everybody wanted a new topic of conversation, not only that but all were also interested in finding out how the meeting had gone.


    ¡°We¡¯re officially nobles.¡± Ajax said.


    The announcement was met with sighs of relief from Judy, na, Silvia and Sebastian who had been taking it in the teeth for thest few days as every one of theirpetitors was getting their licks in before the announcement.


    ¡°We are officially house Hearthbound and have been given plot A231.¡± Ajax continued. ¡°From what I understand its an empty plot so that celebration party will have to be an open one.¡±


    ¡°What plot did you say?!¡± While that number might not have meant much to everyone who came from Lessis, Aurora Elija and Sebastian were all quick to react.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with the plot?¡± Silvia asked.


    ¡°Nothing¡¯s wrong with it exactly¡­¡± Aurora said as she chose her words thinking carefully how to phrase it. ¡°But it neighbors a recently vacated Viscount plot, the king essentially announced he ns to grant him a ducal title in ten years as long as he doesn¡¯t mess this up too badly.¡±


    Ajax had mentioned something like this beforehand but having it be confirmed in such an obvious way got everyone to go and hug Ajax, congratting him on his sess.


    ¡°How did the meeting go?¡± Silvia was curious about everything.It took some convincing before Ajax took a seat with a mug of ale in his hand as he started to narrate his experience inside the royal pce. His family did show quite a bit of a surprise when Ajax mentioned that he met the members of the Eighth who saved his life from the vampire before.


    Both of his grandparents found a very interesting spot on the floor to focus on as the family reminisced their encounter with a vampire. It was in a way partly their fault as Ajax wouldn¡¯t have met that vampire had they not been ousted from the capital.


    ¡°So apparently house sigils aren¡¯t usually as detailed as the one we have.¡± Ajax said while scratching the back of his head, he had been the one to reject the more simple designs his father had first presented him.


    ¡°I told you so¡­¡± Sam muttered under his breath.


    ¡°I know, I know.¡± Ajax raised his hands in surrender.


    ¡°But wait, how were you given the name without a sigil?¡± Judy asked.


    ¡°Well the king did ept the sigil.¡± Ajax exined. ¡°He just suggested that we keep it for letter seals and other important markers and that we get a more simple designed one to use for marking everything.¡±


    ¡°There are quite a few noble houses that do this.¡± Elija weighed in. ¡°Mostly it is seen in houses that had battles over inheritance, each side of the family chose a new simple sigil to show their allegiance and those marks remained even after the new house head was elected.¡±


    ¡°With this official announcement and the honey you should have no problem setting down a good foundation.¡± Ajax said as he grinned towards Judy and na.


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    ¡°Do you think it is time?¡± Judy asked.


    ¡°The hives are almost full already.¡± Ajax stated.


    ¡°What bees?¡± Aurora asked curiously. ¡°It¡¯ll still be another month and a half until the hives will have enough to be worth gathering.


    ¡°Not if you are farming bees.¡± Ajax said with a grin.


    ¡°You¡¯re farming the bees!?¡± Sebastian eximed.


    ¡°Are you sure you should have shared that?¡± na asked as she eyed the two experienced merchants.


    ¡°It¡¯s not like it makes all that much of a difference.¡± Ajax said. ¡°Even if they wanted to get in on the market it¡¯s a littlete to start importing it now and the locally sourced stuff will be hard to find.¡±


    ¡°Honey isn¡¯t that hard to find in the forests near the capital actually.¡± Elija said.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure it hasn¡¯t been in the past.¡± Ajax said. ¡°Give it two to five years and it will be again, but I pretty much took over most of the bee poption when I set up my hives and that will take time to replenish. The supply of honey from outside our hives is going to take a massive dive.¡±


    ¡°With that being said.¡± Ajax brought the conversation back to the original point. ¡°I was hoping to take a step back from direct leadershing in the near future.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± His brother asked.


    ¡°The king has offered me a way to earn a spot in the next under fifty tournament in about six years.¡± Ajax told them.


    ¡°You¡¯ll barely be older than twenty at that time!¡± Silvia was horrified at the prospect.


    ¡°I know.¡± Ajax nodded. ¡°Which is why I will need to focus on getting as strong as I can for that time.¡±


    ¡°The riches from one tournament aren¡¯t worth the danger.¡± Aurora backed up her daughter.


    ¡°It¡¯s not the riches that I am hoping to get out of the tournament.¡± Ajax said with a slight shake of his head.


    ¡°Then what is it?¡± his grandmother asked.


    ¡°You want a chance to delve.¡± Elija answered instead with his nk calcting look, his eyes however weren¡¯t focused and were moving around following a train of thought only he could see. ¡°You want a chance to delve at least one, maybe two more capital dungeons.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Ajax nodded. ¡°The more different dungeon floors I can clear while I am so low level the higher my cap will grow.¡±


    ¡°And do you think they will leave you alone if you are to do that?¡± Tom asked.


    ¡°Actually they will.¡± It was Elija who spoke up again, to Ajax¡¯s surprise.


    ¡°Why?¡± Silvia was the one who asked though everyone focused on the the merchant wanting to know his exnation, Ajax included since he didn¡¯t know the answer.


    ¡°Because he is only one man.¡± Elija said.


    ¡°One man can beat an entire army if he is strong enough.¡± Tom argued.


    ¡°That he can, but he can¡¯t be in two ces at once.¡± Elija acknowledged.


    ¡°What does that have to do with anything?¡± Tom asked


    ¡°Where do you think the strongest fighters are positioned during a war?¡± Elija asked.


    ¡°On the front lines.¡± Tom said.


    ¡°Protecting the king.¡± na also guessed.


    ¡°No,¡± Elija said with a weak shake of the head. ¡°The strongest fighters are always guarding the dungeons. All of those defenses surrounding the dungeons aren¡¯t just to handle the monsters that sometimes slip out, but also to allow the kingdom to decide who enters.¡±


    ¡°The most devastating tacting that can be employed in a war is to have one man infiltrate the capital dungeon of the other nation and delve as deep as they can and unleash a full floor from that point.¡± Aurora joined in.


    ¡°The strongest fighter in the kingdom right now is a little north of level two hundred and twenty.¡± Elija picked up again. ¡°Even if you cut off twenty levels because he is diving solo in the dungeon can you imagine what would happen if a full level two hundred floor was unleashed right next to the capital?¡±


    ¡°Despite the practice being ouwed and condemned by every nation, the possible tragedy should it be used is so impactful that all nations have their strongest people guarding the dungeons each and every time war is called.¡± Aurora said. ¡°That¡¯s why the other nations would be willing to tolerate one anomaly, because all he will be is a strong defender.


    This certainly exined a lot to Ajax as to why all the wars always ended with a treaty, nobody wanted to push the other side far enough to attempt something like this, it was the war equivalent of flipping the board and a strategy everyone had ess to since the five level floor difference dungeons were just so important the were always next to if not inside the capital.


    ¡°With that looming on the horizon, Mom, do you think you can take care of setting up the celebration party we are supposed to hold for receiving the title? I will provide you with a few names that we have to invite from the Academy but other than that you can invite whoever you want for whatever reason.¡± Ajax¡¯s party nning skills were sub-par to say the least.


    ¡°HRRR¡± Fluffy rubbed her head into Ajax''sp at that news.


    ¡°Of course you are invited, you overgrown fur ball.¡± Ajax said as he started scratching the shadow cat.


    ¡°Ajax, at least get changed from those clothes before you y with Fluffy.¡± Silvia was quick to point out. These were his best clothes after all and while it wasn¡¯t much Fuffy still she the asional hair every now and then.

 Chapter 229

    Chapter 229


    As Ajax woke up the following morning he felt more refreshed than he had been in months. With the tournament looming in the future like a ck cloud he finally had a goal to charge towards and a good reason for getting stronger in the near future. Before he got to that however he still needed to settle a few matters.


    That morning Ajax had spread out most of the duties that came from being the head of the household. He had left his sister in charge of the money, the bee hives should be enough to let her establish herself and from there the backing of her own noble name should help her prosper.


    As for the party he was supposed to hold, he let his mother and grandparents work on that together. The event represented an opportunity not only for the three of them to reconnect but also one where they could present a united front.


    ¡°If you need me to give out any invitations in person do let me know and I¡¯ll do it but I need to be focused on this.¡± he had told them before turning to his brother.


    Ajax knew that his brother and Kate still had theirmitments to the guards and the Healing Union respectively, the only thing he asked them for was to keep an eye out for anyone they could recruit into to work for their house. Ideally he would have Tom be the leader of his guards and fighters and Kate would be their head healer.


    All that was left was his father. Ajax had asked him to look into recruiting any craftsmen. Despite taking time away from heavily pursuing his craft their family had lived off Sam¡¯s crafting for a long time meaning that his skills were still decently high. Not only that but he had started out as an apprentice in the capital so might still have a few connections that he could reach out to.


    The only thing Ajax had left for himself was the design of their official home. Having been an architecture major back on Earth he would find the project as the perfect way to rx after a long day of pushing himself. With that Ajax picked up his training gear and headed towards the Academy, it was time to see if instructor Gatecrasher¡¯s open invitation still held up.


    Finding the instructor took no time at all and the man was eager to help him train as well. One thing Ajax quickly realized was how different it was having someone as good as instructor Gatecrasher instruct you as an individual instead of as part of a ss.


    With the instructor being close to level one hundred Ajax didn¡¯t need to hold back at all during their training. Anything he could throw out was easily dodged or parried, so far none of his strikes had even managed to make decent contact with the instructor''s guard. Twenty minutes into their training and sweat was pouring down Ajax¡¯s forehead and back. ¡°Your new form works much better for you.¡± the instructor praised, though it didn¡¯te off as genuine with him not having broken a sweat despite staying on the defensive for their entire spar. ¡°You¡¯ll have to find an outlet for your stamina however.¡±


    One of the biggest problems Ajax¡¯s fighting style suffered from was that his mana would dry up a lot quicker than his stamina, and that was without taking his [<em>Berserker</em>] into ount as the skill would let him get more stamina as he got injured.


    The issue wouldn¡¯t be as pronounced once Ajax started incorporating his [cursed sh] into his attacks but that alone wouldn¡¯t fix the issue entirely. ¡°What do you suggest?¡± he asked between heaving breaths.


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    ¡°There are two ways you can go with this, one is simpler to achieve than the other but there is no guarantee you have the aptitude for either choice. In that case I would suggest that you progress deeper down your magic path relying on your enhancement to keep you relevant in terms of physical ability.¡± the instructor said.


    ¡°The easier path, and the one I can already see you made some steps towards is a more rogue focused physical style.¡± the instructor exined.


    ¡°How would that work to help me?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°I see, you view fighting beasts and monsters as totally separate from fighting other people.¡± the instructor nodded. ¡°Not the worst idea as trying to approach humanoidbat in the same way one would a monster has gotten a lot of good adventurers killed, but in your case it is holding you back a bit.¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t gotten all that good of a look at you fighting the beasts on the first floor of the dungeon but it matches up with your origins as a hunter, you don¡¯t so much fight them as you hunt them down, traps, ambushes, ranged attacks.¡± the instructor said. ¡°Now you just need to adapt that to your style against people. Like this¡±


    With that the instructor finally went on the offensive, instead of the powerful swings and tight defense he usually held up during ss his movements were very different. He had changed from a longsword and shield to a double shortsword style and his movements were intentionally tricky. His center of mass was never well ced until the moment his blow made contact and he needed to back it up with power.


    More than that his usually useless bright red cloak had started taking an active role in his offense by concealing the angle of his strikes. In seconds Ajax had been put on the backfoot as lots of little nicks and pokes started appearing on his arms and legs. The one angle he had managed to finally read had ended up being a trap as [Danger Sense] yelled at him for his foolishness.


    His parry was perfect but there was no pressure from the instructor''s sword, it got tossed easily to the side as Ajax felt a knife press to his throat, a small drop of blood shoving that the instructor didn¡¯t quite have the same mastery over this style as to stop before he drew blood on the fight ending strike.


    ¡°Despite your mobile leather armor, when you fight people you fight like a warrior or a berserker. You can get away with that for now but ideally you would lean into more tricky movements and hidden weapons. The high stamina cost thates with the isn¡¯t as big a burden to you as it would be to others.¡± the instructor Gatecrasher said. ¡°That is to say nothing of the potential for poisoning targets this style would give you, seeing how you have also decided to pursue Alchemy.¡±


    Ajax put down his weapons as he let himself fall to the ground and started healing all the open cuts thest minute of fighting had left him with. ¡°And what is the other way?¡± Ajax asked, despite feeling like this path is one that seemed suited for him.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± the instructor asked, slightly confused.


    ¡°You said I have to clear paths,¡± Ajax reminded him. ¡°This is one of them, what about the other?¡±


    ¡°The other isn¡¯t as realistic.¡± the instructor said. ¡°It''s the same path that the captain of the Tenth squad has taken. As a fully physically focused warrior he doesn¡¯t stand out all that much from others of his level. Everyone who surpasses level one hundred and fifty has a quality all of their own but among them he isn¡¯t special like the other squad leaders are.¡±


    ¡°So it¡¯s a skill.¡± Ajax surmised.


    ¡°Indeed,¡± the instructor nodded. ¡°And a Legendary skill at that, [Hero¡¯s moment]. One of the very few Legendarybat skills possessed by anyone in our kingdom. Despite it being a Legendary skill it stilles with a massive drain on one¡¯s stamina. In exchange however it grants a massive corresponding spike in power, speed and dexterity.¡±


    That was a less appealing way to go but one that was simpler to achieve. His unique and overpowered trait would most likely make this path much easier to achieve than the instructor thought.


    ¡°It is also a very poor choice for you specifically.¡± the instructor dashed his hopes.


    ¡°How so?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°Besides the massive increase in stamina the skilles with another downside, a strong bacsh.¡± the instructor exined.


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t make sense, such a powerful skill shouldn¡¯t also inflict a bacsh and have a massive cost.¡± Ajax argued, he knew that Legendary skills were much stronger than ordinary ones.


    ¡°This bacsh doesn¡¯te from the skill but from the squadmander¡¯s body. Using that skill puts such a pressure on his body that he is weakened once he releases it. The length of the bacsh is proportional to the length of time and how hard he pushed his body while using the skill. In fact the only reason I suspect you haven¡¯t been feeling simr effects from your own empowerment skill is because your physical stats are still high enough that your body can handle it.¡±


    ¡°Adding a skill like that on top would probably make the bacsh much worse for me.¡± Ajax murmured as he understood the implications.


    ¡°Exactly.¡± the instructor nodded. ¡°If you don¡¯t manage to get the skill required for a more rogue inspiredbat I suggest focusing on your magic and getting a recuperation skill to help with the bacsh your own skill will end up causing you.¡±

 Chapter 230

    Chapter 230


    Ajax¡¯s whole body was sore. He had spent thest few days sparring with instructor Gatecrasher as the man pushed him with the very skills Ajax was hoping to pick up for a rogue styledbat. The only issue there was that rogues focused more on shallow cuts meant to push their advantage as well as killing blows with not much in between. Furthermore his instructor had the skills and knew how to use them but wasn¡¯t good enough to do so without having some of the blowsnd on Ajax.


    His training was pushed even further by Ajax practicing his [Cursed sh] attacks with any leftover stamina he had once his mana ran out. The only reason he was taking a break now was because he was doing some alchemy. Much as he might want to ignore crafting he knew that wouldn¡¯t turn out well in the long term so Ajax kept on at it doing his best to master the skill.


    Much to Ajax¡¯s surprise he found that none of his family members were having any difficulties as they started to adapt to their new roles as part of a noble house. A lot of this was thanks to his grandparents who not only understood this world but were trying their best to get into their good graces.


    Sleep came easily to him after he filled three vials with the resulting potion. His sess rate had improved by leaps and bounds, he was no longer getting any failed potions, most of them came out atmon quality with one in ten being inferior and one in ten being Umon. This was true for all of the basic potions he had learned how to craft, it was now time to start trying to have them maintain their quality as hu upped the quality of the ingredients. This was going to be an expensive process and one he will not start before a few dedicated discussions with professor Vilethorn.


    As Ajax got downstairs the following morning he found his family was already awake. Much like in the past few days his grandparents had joined them all for breakfast as it also served as the daily family gathering to discuss anything that had happened throughout the previous day.


    ¡°I had another five people approach me yesterday.¡± Tom said as he loaded up his te.


    Out of everybody seated at the table Tom¡¯s daily work was the only one actively improved by having been named a noble. The guard was filled to the brim with people who would be finished with their service in a year, two or five and they were always looking to make a good impression on any noble family that might employ them afterwards.


    Kate¡¯s whole social status had also flipped with the announcement. With the vast scarcity of healers however the change wasn¡¯t an upward move on the socialdder like Toms but ateral one. Whereas before she was being groomed for taking an official position as a member of the Healing Union she was now being moved over to the rest of the noble learners.


    ¡°Things are almost ready, are you sure Ajax should be giving a few samples as gifts?¡± na asked. Judy and na had spent all of the free time that came from the announcement preparing for the first honey honey harvest. Most of the work was done by them and a few trusted people so the news wouldn¡¯t be leaked ahead of time.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure.¡± Aurora responded. ¡°We must first make a big dealunching the product and only after will we have Ajax give out a few samples. Doing it this way will give all the nobles a chance to overlook the initialunch and regard it as another failed new noble house attraction before being brought back to it. Doing it like this will have them reevaluate everything else you are selling as well and will help you build a loyal customer base in all the high quality things you sell.¡±


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    ¡°These are the invitations you will give out today sweetheart¡± his mother said as Ajax sat down. She had already loaded up his te and had four invitations on the table already.


    ¡°Only four?¡± Ajax asked, slightly confused.


    ¡°Houses Manashaper, Silvertongue, Goldmance and Steelde.¡± his mother exined. ¡°They were the first to send their congrattions and did so in an open and supportive manner.¡±


    ¡°No invitation for the royal family?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°That invitation will be sent out separately via messenger.¡± his grandfather shared ¡°It is customary to have it delivered by a messenger with a gift and it invites a representative of the royal family to attend. The gift is given as a show of thanks for the received title.¡±


    Today was the first ss day since he received his title that Ajax will meet the rest of his ssmates and the changes were already clear. First of all Ajax was no longer wearing his usual uniform but instead he wore a fashionable suit his grandparents had made for him. Being only a baron he would go back to wearing the usual uniform after the first day but this was a show of pride.


    Everything about the day would be more of an inconvenience to Ajax. After he had given out the invitations he had been bombarded by congrattions from all sides. Despite the positive attitude of his ssmates Ajax was simply not that much of a social person. This was especially solidified as he got the skill [Feigned interest] before the first ss had even started. The Umon skill was a lifesaver as it allowed Ajax to still retain some of the information despite not really paying much attention to any boring topics such as thetest fashion.


    Much like the students the teachers also took a moment upon entering the ss to congratte Ajax on his new title. Thankfully that was the only acknowledgement they had made regarding it and had treated him exactly the same after that.


    It was two hours before dark that Ajax had finally said his final goodbyes to his ssmates for the day. Following their usual day at the Academy Ajax had taken a good part of the ss, with the exception of a few people who had been openly antagonistic towards him ever since discovery was made public, and shouldered the bill for a visit to the tavern following sses.


    Ajax now knew more about the noble current noble gossip than he had ever cared to. Sure he had picked up a few interesting topics before he had received his title but now he was being actively engaged on some of these subjects.


    Not all of the topics were uninteresting to him however. He had quickly perked up the moment he heard talk about how a few different houses had started pushing their under fifty representatives to start training harder. Ajax knew the reason for this was the tournament the king had also mentioned to him so he kept his ears open for any scrap of information he could gather about his futurepetition.


    It was sadly too early to gather anything solid. The tournament was six years out at least and right now a lot of people were being trained, nobody that knew about it would put all their eggs in one basket so a lot of the people being discussed now wouldn¡¯t even be selected to participate. Nevertheless it was a topic Ajax enjoyed much better than the discussion about single or double lined garments.


    Having ced a rather heavy coin bag in the hand of the happy bartender, Ajax finally let out a long sigh as he made his way towards the Academy. The day was almost over yet he had one more invitation to give out. Unlike the others this one wasn¡¯t one he was making a public spectacle of and it wasn¡¯t in return to any open show of support.


    As he entered the library Ajax heated straight towards the ancient man sitting at the far desk and ced the invitation scroll he had personally written in front of him.


    ¡°Oh, what is this?¡± Balthazar chuckled as he took a look at the scroll, not needing to open it to know exactly what it was. ¡°I see congrattions are in order.¡±


    ¡°No need to get all mushy on me now old man.¡± Ajax enjoyed the banter that had developed between the two across the long days of getting the discovery ready.


    ¡°Are you sure you want an ¡®old man¡¯ like me toe to something like this?¡± he asked as he took the scroll and opened it simply to get the specifics.


    ¡°You did a good 20% of the work writing up that discovery, if anyone deserves an invitation it¡¯s you.¡± Ajax said with a teasing smirk.


    ¡°What do you mean 20%?¡± the librarian quickly took the bait ¡°I¡¯ll have you know I¡¯m responsible for at least 40% of it.¡±


    ¡°40% is a bit much, I can go up to 30%.¡± Ajax countered. ¡°But that still means you shoulde take part in the celebration of the achievement.¡±


    ¡°Fine, fine. I¡¯ll be there.¡± Balthazar relented. ¡°I can expect you to continue showing up for some more experimentation with that curse mana now that all of this has blown over?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be back here at the usual time starting tomorrow.¡± Ajax responded as he started making his way back home.

 Chapter 231

    Chapter 231


    Today had started much the same for Ajax as all the other days but that all changed once he got to the Academy. The changes started from their meeting ce which was on the training grounds instead of inside the ssroom.


    ¡°Today is the day you will all be given a chance to form a bond.¡± Professor Silvertongue stated. ¡°Your usual sses have been canceled and you will all be dismissed once all of you have gone through the process.¡±


    Ajax couldn¡¯t help but notice that the prince was conspicuously absent today. Thinking back on everything had learned about bonds back when his brother had gotten one he remembered that the reason for this was that one of the few privileges that the royal family kept was their specific beast groomers. Members of the royal family would have their options of trying to bond with slightly older magically weak creatures at ater time in their development. While the first bond being a magical creature didn¡¯t affect their power that much it was still a boost the royal family kept for themselves.


    Being the TA for the ss Ajax will be thest one to be given a chance at forming a bond, despite this he was intently watching everyone else as getting a bond of his own was something he very much wanted.


    The first one up was Benedict and he approached the first of many cages that had been lined up. All of the creatures inside had not only been born to bonded parents but had grew up around them and their bonds, now they were approaching their prime and it was the best time for them to be bonded.


    The beasts were trained to not attack humans, this made the prospect a lot safer than the normal way of getting a bond which was trying to find it in the wild. None of the creatures in the cage would show any aggression towards a human with a single exception, a challenge would be extended if they found them to be a potential bond.


    Being challenged wasn¡¯t enough to guarantee you a bond. Neither was winning that challenge, winning was a requirement but simply not enough, the fighting style had to be a match and this was a ce where the bond made the decision. Benedict was halfway through the cages that were presented before any creature had done more than look at him.


    The bear was the first to approach the bars of the cage so Benedict stopped there for a moment. Sadly the bear decided Benedict wasn¡¯t quite what he was looking for and returned to the far side of the cage. The young noble was nearing the end of the line but he didn¡¯t look at all disheartened and kept projecting the same steadfast presence he had at the start of the line.


    His resilience was rewarded by the third tost cage. The massive gray wolf inside hadn¡¯t even waited until Benedict stood in front of him before he started growling and wing the corner bars of the cage. Benedict''s face took on a gratified smirk but his eyes narrowed in concentration. de at the ready he stepped in front of the cage as he unlocked the lock and jumped back when he opened the door wide. The wolf''s extremely aggressive demeanor changed once he stepped outside of his cage. The threatening snarl was still present but the reckless aggression was gone as both he and Benedict started circling each other, both were ready to lunge at a moment''s notice.


    The moment the wolf''s paw found itself slightly swallowed by the sandy ground as it stepped into one of the small depressions that were prevalent throughout the area Benedict charged towards it. Much to Ajax¡¯s surprise Benedict''s fighting style was ever so slightly different from his usual one. This one seemed both more decisive as well as more careful than what he was used to.


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    The engagement didn¡¯tst long. The creatures were around level twenty-four and as such the wolf didn¡¯t stand a chance against the scion of an archduke''s house. The wolf admirably managed to defend the opening sh with a w but could do nothing to the kick that followed. The boot took the wolf in the neck before the man back off leaving the wolf coughing, it only took ten seconds for the fight to leave the wolf as it realized the blow crushed his throat and Benedict was back on the defensive waiting for him to make another mistake.


    It seems that Benedict passed the wolf''s criteria as it bowed his head in recognition and Benedict closed his eyes, taking a deep breath as he felt the bond take hold. One of the healers present was quick to move to the wolf''s side once the match had ended and started to heal the beast.


    ¡°Why did you change your style?¡± Ajax asked Benedict as he came back towards the group of students.


    ¡°I changed it to better match the style of the creature I was trying to bond with.¡± Benedict answered. ¡°They are more likely to bond with people more simr to themselves, a wolf stalks his prey, takes any opening tond a blow and leaves his prey to struggle or bleed to death.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t keeping true to your style help you find a better bond?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°It would.¡± Benedict confirmed as he watched his bond get up and move to his side. ¡°But when making a temporary bond like this, forming the bond and treating it well is more importantpared to howpatible we are.¡±


    To Ajax¡¯s surprise Lexi was the next one to stand before the cages, Anna and another student were both standing off to the side. Ajax knew the boy already had a bond as he had previously bragged as such, it was a fish that lived in theke close to his family''s mansion. This did however beg the question of what bond Anna had and why he hadn¡¯t seen it before.


    For the next few hours all of the students had moved in front of the cages in order of their noble rank. The reason for this was clear, any creature that was bonded would be one less chance they would have to bond and the higher nobles were given the best chances.


    Lexi had gotten herself a weird lizard bond. The creature very much reminded Ajax of an ostridge, with its long legs and crushing stomp attacks, as well as the small T-rex arms, the only difference was the slightlyrger head with sharp teeth and the slightly smaller and thicker neck.


    Almost half of the students had gotten a chance at a challenge and less than a third of them had managed to walk away with a bond. Despite all of them winning the challenge some worth found unsuitable by the creature, this lend itself nicely to Benedicts words about the manner in which the challenge is fought and why he changed his style when fighting the wolf he had affectionately called Step, in memory of the wrong step it took that sealed its fate.


    Not all of the challenges had been directbat either, while most of them had been the bison had made his a contest of strength, much to his own surprise as the mountain of a boy he challenged had cleverly leveraged his strength by applying it to only one side causing the bison to tip over and admit defeat.


    The oddest and least interesting ones were the ones given by the rat that was present. The rat had the biggest cage of them all and its challenge had been to find him in the tall grass covered maze that made up its cage. The challenge was boring to watch and the fact that it had been given out twice had annoyed the ss to no end. The first challenger had used a wind spell to tten out all the grass and quickly found the rat but that method hadn¡¯t been appreciated. The second more methodical tracking had been enough for Whisker to earn the eptance of his new bond.


    As far as Ajax¡¯s attempt to walk down the line it was the strangest of them all. More than any other student it had quite a few creatures approach him when he stood in front of their cage. Each and every one of them had only evaluated him for a few moments before they backed away with their heads held low in submission.


    ¡°I suggest you try bonding with some stronger creatures should you find any in the wild.¡± Professor Silvertongue suggested. ¡°Quite a few different breeds seemed interested in you whiches as a surprise since that doesn¡¯t usually happen, but clearly your level of power is too high for any of the ones here to extend a challenge.¡±


    ¡°Finding a creature that has this level would mean that I am looking for a permanent bond from the start.¡± Ajax responded. ¡°Anything else at my level would be either too old and stubborn to bond or would have so many more years to live getting another once it dies would be toote.¡±


    ¡°That is true, it would seem like your first bond will have to be a magical creature if you are to have one.¡± The professor said, before continuing with a grin ¡°Let¡¯s hope that trait runs in the family.¡±

 Chapter 232

    Chapter 232


    Ajax was a bit disappointed in not being able to form a bond. Not only that he knew that in order to find any creature that would be of an eptable level he would need to head out towards the edge of humanoidnds as creatures strong enough to bond with him would have been culled already.


    This disappointment was quickly suppressed by the dedicated training and research he was conducting with Balnazar as well as Evelyn. Finding out about Evelyn¡¯s official promotion was a cause of celebration only she didn¡¯t see it that way, instead she focused on pushing him harder so that she could be ready for the rematch that would soon follow.


    ¡°Are you sure you don¡¯t need some healing boy?¡± Balthazar asked as they finished for the day.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure.¡± Ajax confirmed. ¡°I have [Curse Resistance] and it¡¯d be best to let that work a little.¡±


    A look of pure jealousy shed over Evelyn¡¯s face hearing that but she simply shook her head and decided it to ept it as just another oddity of his, she did however decided to not cleanse the few specs of cursed mana that had infected her and instead let them run their course in hopes of getting the skill.


    Ajax¡¯s hands we both nketed in cursed mana. He had spent a good part of his stamina for today trying to adapt him [Cursed sh] into a [Cursed Shot] for his bow. Much like the beginning of cursed sh he was doing this by transforming cursed mana from a stamina sacrifice and simply releasing it.


    As it turns out Ajax¡¯s natural talent for archery is lower than his talent for des, not only that but in order to unlock cursed sh he can release the cursed mana at any point before the sh makes contact, for his cursed shot to work the timing needs to be much cleaner coinciding perfectly with the moment the arrow is released.


    Generating cursed mana without the guidance of the skill was not only more dangerous for Ajax but it also consumed a lot more stamina, once he got home he gave a tired greeting before crawling into his bead and falling asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.


    Going to sleep that early had a few benefits as Ajax woke up a lot sooner than he would otherwise feel refreshed. Not only that but the remnants of the cursed mana were fully gone from his arms after a good night''s sleep. Ajax made good use of the extra time and took a quick trip to his hives where he used up half of his mana pool injecting the nts that had started to run a bit low, it had been longer than a week since Ajaxst paid the ce a visit.It also came as no surprise to Ajax to find that people were already collecting honey from the hives as he instructed his sisters that it was time. What was surprising was that a few of these trusted aides had no idea what he looked like and started walking towards him telling him to go away only to be dragged to one side by of the other workers who recognised him. A few people were left very embarrassed that day but Ajax didn¡¯t mind it as he appreciated how seriously his sister¡¯s people took their jobs.


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    ¡°CAN EVERYBODY PLEASE CALM DOWN AND TAKE A SEAT!¡± for the first time since Ajax had met professor Silvertongue he had felt the man angrily re his aura.


    Having a bond was a reason for celebration but the early days of a bond were fragile, this meant that separating the person from their bond wasn¡¯t ideal and as such ss now had to happen with numerous bonds also taking part.


    Ajax clearly remembered just how energetic Fluffy had been back when Tom had first bonded, now while the current bonds weren¡¯t as young as Fluffy had been but some of them were also muchrger.


    Benedict¡¯s bond was the picture of obedience, heid down at his feet as it calmly looked over the chaos of the ss. Lexi however was very much getting a taste of the own medicine, her scaly bond wasn¡¯t being too much of a nuisance to the rest of the ss but it had taken a personal mission to poke and prod her new bond every time Lexi stopped paying attention to it.


    The most unruly bond of them all had to be the rat, despite it not being very disruptive Ajax had counted and the rodent had already taken five wholeps around the ssroom, each time having taken a different route as it looked to be doing its own version of parkour.


    The problem and the reason for professor Silvertongue¡¯s anger was the second most energetic bond of the lot. Unlike the rat who could reasonably burn off the excess energy without being too much of a headache, the bison had a much tougher time moving around. Ajax hade to dread their uing Alchemy lesson as it seemed the idiom bull in a china shop was going to be reenacted by the bison and the shelves filled with ingredients.


    Despite the fact that all the students had plenty of experience being exposed to auras the same could not be said for their new bonds. All of them instantly froze before cowering submissively as they ced their new bond between themselves and the professor.


    In a twist of irony it was Benedict''s bond, the one who was causing no trouble at all, that was most affected by the st of aura. Its instinct to submit to the much stronger presence warred with the instinct to help protect its new alpha causing the bond to agitated for the first time since it walked in the door.


    ¡°Those of you who cannot keep your bonds under control please take them outside and ensure they dispense their energy, you will have to make up today''s lesson on your own, a repeat of what happened here will not be eptable in your next ss.¡± the professor quickly regained hisposure following his outburst.


    Lexi was the first to stand up and lead her bond out the door, the malevolent glint in her eye as well as the teasing smirk however betrayed the fact that she was doing so in order to get back at her bond and not because she couldn¡¯t keep it under control. Quietly three other people also left the ssroom with the rat, bison and yful fox following them out. Benedict and his wolf as well as the girl with a falcon were the only one to remain.


    The rest of the ss had passed without any more incidents and Ajax was sent ahead by the professor to warn professor Vilethorn about the iing bonds. As it turns out this wasn¡¯t needed as the professor had fully expected this and had prepared for today''s ss to be a lesson on how to gather ingredients in the wild.


    The professor had set up all sorts of different flowers, vines, moss or bushes that needed to be properly collected. Not only that but quite a bit of thought had clearly gone into making a special set-up for Ajax. At first nce his set-up wasn¡¯t that much different but at a closer look he would be forced to careful manoeuvre in enclosed space as well as carefully dig out roots in a rocky area.


    ¡°This is perhaps one of the most important things I can teach you.¡± professor Vilethorn said as she tapped him on the shoulder almost making him flinch and ruing the flowerhead he was collecting.


    ¡°Thank you, professor.¡± Ajax said a little awkwardly as he wasn¡¯t sure how to tell the professor not to bother him as he needed to concentrate.


    ¡°Gathering things inside the dungeon as a dungeon crafter is not only your best source of nts for experiments but you will often fight ingredients in odd spots that would almost never naturally ur in nature.¡± She continued. ¡°Learning to collect them while remaining vignt of being ambushed is also something you must pick up.¡±


    It was only after thest sentence that Ajax realised he had never noticed when the professor approached him. He was fully focused on not ruining the extraction of the nt that he had fully dropped his guard. This was not something that was eptable in the dungeon.

 Chapter 233

    Chapter 233


    Increasing amounts of pressure started to be applied to all the students of the Academy. The end of the year exams and tournament were quickly approaching and it was starting to show. The students in the first year who managed to bond had it the worst as they needed to not only focus on getting in sync with their bond but also not be too reliant on it as it was not something they could bring with them for the tournament.


    Ajax was initially surprised that the bond couldn¡¯t take part alongside its partner but the theory behind it quickly made sense as his brother would have had a decent chance at winning the third year tournament off simply letting Fluffy do all the work.


    If Ajax thought the week in the ss was bad with the new bonds the delve that followed it was an even bigger headache. Not so much because the students couldn¡¯t work well in tandem with their own bonds but because the new bonds were all beastsmonly found in the forest.


    Comints of friendly fire started from the first day and by the second a few fights had almost broken out, if it wasn¡¯t for professor Silvertogue quick intervention more than one or two people would have gotten hurt.


    Much to Ajax¡¯s surprise Annabeth had also brought herpanion with her. Much to his surprise the creature was magical in nature despite its small size, not only that but it looked like a massive chipmunk with a kangaroo pouch.


    ¡°What is that?¡± Ajax asked as he looked at the creature curiously.


    ¡°You brought Grubby?¡± Lexi excitedly bounced around her friend before picking up the tiny creature. ¡°Who¡¯s a good boy? Yes you are, yes you are.¡±


    As she said Ajax could see her taking out a silver coin, polishing it on her tunic before offering it to the little guy. Grubby having Lexi¡¯s undivided attention didn¡¯t sit well with her own bondedpanion who tried taking a chunk out of the furball.


    ¡°No! No!¡± Lexi was quick to rebuke the reptile. ¡°Grubby is not food.¡± It was at that point that Ajax felt a very strange manae off Grubby as he put the silver coin in the pouch he had.


    ¡°What was that?¡± Ajax as he peered close to the little creature.


    ¡°What was what?¡± Lexi asked as she refocused on the furball.


    ¡°I sensed a strange mana when he ced the coin in his pouch.¡± Ajax said.


    ¡°That would be space mana.¡± Annabeth filled it as she recuperated her bond.


    ¡°But I thought the whole idea of getting a non magical first bond was to prepare the skill for bonding a stronger magical greactureter on.¡± Ajax said without taking his eyes off the creature.


    ¡°Hoarders are one of the few exceptions in that regard.¡± Annabeth said. ¡°Despite being magical creatures their lifespan is only sixty years.¡±


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    ¡°How is their lifespan so low?¡± Ajax was surprised since he knew Fluffy¡¯s lifespan was already at least over two centuries.


    ¡°Their lifespan is actually very simr to a human.¡± Lexi answered as she petted her own bond. ¡°It¡¯s just that their natural instincts focus only on gaining and hoarding wealth, there are very few skills that can be gained for such a task and this usually results in them never getting past level ten.¡±


    ¡°As a first bond they are actually one of the best you can get.¡± Lexi continued. ¡°Not only can they only be bonded as a baby and that will help your skill develop faster and further as you apany it throughout their entire lifetime but you also make yourself look more favorable to any other bonds with magic. The jackpot however is the chance at getting space mana affinity, more than any of their treasure rted skills.¡±


    ¡°Why is that?¡± Ajax asked, now a lot more keen on trying to figure out the creatures trick with the disappearing coin.


    ¡°Space mana is a Legendary affinity.¡± Annabeth exined. ¡°Not only that but it is one of the best defensive affinities to have.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah.¡± Lexi said as she nodded her head. ¡°Trying to defend against attacks by creating a space shield isn¡¯t all that effective as they are easily overwhelmed and broken, redirecting attacks through a portal in the enemies blind-spot is however a top tier ability.¡±


    Ajax found himself fully agreeing with that, he had no idea how mana expensive it was to open a short range portal like that but he could definitely see the appeal.


    ¡°There are also a few downsides to being bonded to one.¡± Annabeth said with a sigh.


    ¡°Oh?¡± Ajax was curious about that.


    ¡°First of all they are extremely expensive to keep happy, they are constantly appropriating anything shiny from their environment and get easily depressed if they haven¡¯t had anything new in a while. Not only that but by bonding one of them you essentially be their babysitter as they aren¡¯t all that self-sufficient and bonding young makes them heavily dependent on their bond, failing to care for them will also mark you as a bad bond.¡± Annabeth said.


    Ajax couldn¡¯t help but agree with the sentiment, spending sixty years as a babysitter for a greedy baby seemed like a pretty bigmitment to make for simply improving one¡¯s bond skill.


    ¡°Ajax I heard a very interesting rumor in thest few days.¡± Benedict said as he approached, his wolf loyalty following a step behind. ¡°Are you going to participate in the 6th year¡¯s tournament?¡±


    Ajax wasn¡¯t surprised to hear that word had gotten around, with him being granted a seeded spot among the rest of the 6th year ss he knew that quite a few people had been made aware of his participation.


    ¡°Yes I will be.¡± Ajax confirmed.


    ¡°Oooohhh, are you looking to break His Highness''s record?¡± Lexi asked conspirationaly.


    ¡°What record?¡± Ajax asked not having looked into anything like that.


    ¡°The crown prince¡¯s older brother had joined the academy at sixteen but from the time he was twenty to the time he was twenty-six he participated in the sixth year tournament and won every time giving him the record for winning it six years in a row.¡± Benedict exined.


    ¡°Exactly!¡± Lexi said as she nodded her head. ¡°If you win this one while still being only sixteen you have a chance to double his record.¡±


    ¡°Seventeen¡± Ajax said by instinct. ¡°I will be turning seventeen before the tournament begins¡± he exined when they all turned to look at him.¡±


    ¡°Oh that¡¯s right you have your birthdaying up.¡± Lexi said doing her best to infect everyone else with her boundless energy. ¡°What are you nning to do for that?¡±


    ¡°Nothing all that special¡± Ajax admitted.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Lexi said sounding a little confused.


    ¡°Besides the tenth birthday, which is a pretty big one, I haven¡¯t had all thatrge celebrations for my birthdays before.¡± Ajax exined.


    Benedict looked a little awkward hearing that while Annabeth gave him a sympathetic look, having been kept isted for most of her childhood she had at least a small point of reference to rte with. Lexi however looked downright horrified at the prospect.


    ¡°Oh no, no, no, no, no, no.¡± She said as she shook her head more in an attempt to deny such a reality. ¡°You are a baron now, you can¡¯t just not celebrate your birthday.¡±


    ¡°It really isn¡¯t that big a deal.¡± Ajax tried to convince her.


    ¡°I know, this year I will throw you a birthday party.¡± she grinned victoriously at the idea. ¡°It falls perfectly as a way to destress before the tournament.¡±


    Ajax looked like he wanted to attempt to talk her out of it but Annabeth patted him on the shoulder with a slight shake of the head. ¡°Don¡¯t try to talk her out of it, it will only make it worse.¡± From the looks of it it seemed like she was talking from experience.


    Just great, that will be two parties that he will have to attend in the near future. Ajax could only hope that one of them would actually end up being a little rxing for him, for all her entricities Lexi was actually very insightful. If anyone could end up throwing a party where he might actually have fun it would be her.

 Chapter 234

    Chapter 234


    Training and alchemy weren¡¯t the only ces where Ajax was pushing himself as much as he could in order to advance, delving had also been taken one step further as he pushed heavily into the 4th floor of the Hignds, but his limits were starting to show.


    Much as Ajax might not like it, fighting groups of level sixty monsters was not something he could do safely just yet. It wasn¡¯t so much that he didn¡¯t have the necessary level of power as he could very much hold his own inparison to the rest of the party. What Ajaxcked was the experience of working in a team at that level.


    His time with The Collectors were a good first step for him to get the hang of fighting as part of a delving team, in fact what he had learnt with them was more than enough for him to frence as an open adventurer. The reason for this was that someone of his power level wouldn¡¯t be able to get a frence job anywhere higher than the sixth floor of the Goldmine.


    Changing teams so frequently meant that Ajax got to delve a lot more often than almost anybody in the capital but this came at a price of never getting to find his ce with any of house Silvertongue¡¯s teams. Teamwork was something that allowed people to push almost an entire floor higher than they would otherwise inside the Goldmine.


    It was this exact strength however that caused Ajax to witness his first death inside the dungeon. While delving into the Goldmine the team had pushed all the way to the 8th floor when they got one of the worst possible themes. They had gotten a maze floor, not only that however they had gotten a mirror maze.


    This type of floor was known as a slow killer. The floor didn¡¯t start out any more dangerous than any other, the problem came with the mirrored surroundings and the light elementals that called the floor home.


    In their sixties the elementals still had a very low level of intelligence and consciousness, they acted more like a venus fly trap that would try and eat anything that stepped into its trap regardless of what it was.


    The mirrored surroundings not only let the elementals bounce their offensive attacks off the reflective surfaces but it also led to non-magical fighters to stop focusing on their sight all that much. Just because it looked like an elemental was right in front of you didn¡¯t mean that was always the case, unlike mages who could trust their stronger [Sense Mana], [Detect Mana] wasn¡¯t good enough to give them the position of the elementals.


    By the end of the fourth day clearing out the floor most of the team had their brains fried from the constant focus required, all of them got jumpy from the slightest sound as that was one of the senses that the elementals couldn¡¯t mess with. The tragedy happened at arge intersection. Arge reflective pir signaled the center where seven different paths converged. Not only that but there were two different arches ced around the pir so the team knew both woulde with their own guardian boss.


    What the team hadn¡¯t expected was that one of the two bosses would be a shadow elemental instead of a light elemental. Unlike most other opposite elements, light and shadow elementals were often found in the same environment in the outside world. This however wasn¡¯t the case in a dungeon floor that was entirely created of mirrors.


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    The team had created a solid strategy of smashing any mirrors surrounding them in the event of a fight, sure the dungeon floor would repair them in a few minutes but at least they wouldn¡¯t have to worry about the light elemental attacksing from beneath them and above them at the same time.


    It was that exact assurance that had given the shadow elemental the opportunity it needed to gut one of their rangers from navel to chin in a smooth strike that none of them had been quick enough to react to. The elemental itself had even gotten itself killed from the iing strike of the light elemental that the ranger had been prepared to dodge.


    It was that experience that had gotten Ajax to not push so far into the dungeon too quickly, he needed to build up a rapport with some of the teams delving higher before he could push any further, ideally it would also be after the uing tournament where he would be get a few more stat potions for himself to increase his power further.


    When it came to the crafting teams Ajax¡¯s spot had been cemented. Every single one of house Silvertongue¡¯s crafters knew of the furnace smander egg that Nina had gotten, not only that but the little bugger had also hatched and bonded with the master smith. What was more surprising to Ajax however was just how closely Nina had bonded with the smander.


    Every time he had seen Nina after the egg had hatched he could also see the baby carrier that housed the little lizard strapped to her chest. This included the one time that she had gone delving with them.


    Ajax thought it was insanity to bring such a low level creature into and delve into the dungeon because of how fragile it was. What he hadn¡¯t taken into consideration was that the lizard consumes any mana infused reagents inside the dungeon in the same way that he could brew potions out of the nts. Taking young magicalpanions into safe dungeon delves like the ones done by the crafting team was a cheap, if random way that noble houses hunted for a few pieces of mana enhanced food for them.


    Sadly none of the floors they had delved that day had contained anything that would be beneficial to the little lizard. Ajax however had seen a few things Fluffy could have used and a nt started to take shape in his mind.


    The first step was to apply for a delve slot. He had been told that it would take months before he would get his chance but that was fine by him, the whole idea was to go alone with Fluffy into the dungeon and then rely on his [Syphon Mana] and ensure all of the floors would end up being shadow themed floors. A single delve could be worth upwards of a thousand gold even if they stopped on the fourth floor of the Goldmine. But for now all of that had to wait.


    Ajax¡¯s noble title party had be one of the most opportunistic events in decades. With the title he was receiving being only that of Baron the event was open to all noble houses, something that most had wanted desperately to attend since all three of the Archdukes were going to send representatives to if note in person. This one little party would grant low Barons and Knights a chance to make connections with Viscounts as well as Dukes.


    The low rung nobility weren¡¯t the only ones chomping at the bit to get an invite to the party. Most affluent merchantmoners wanted to get an invitation more than the low nobles did, not only that but unlike the nobles they had a way in.


    Every single merchantpany that had any rtion with Ajax¡¯s grandparents or his sister had starteding out of the woodwork looking to get themselves an invite. Needless to say that from the moment that the three archdukes had RSVPed his grandparents had taken both Judy and na to one side and had a talk with them about the mountain of people that woulde and ask for a favor.


    In an odd twist of fate the biggest unquestionable reason that they had to reject people was the harsh opening week they had when they first got to town. Much like Ajax they had a few people who were owed a first day invite for the show of solidarity they had put up in helping them find their feet but after that the invites dried up faster than a desert after a light rain.


    Ajax himself was hoping to just get the party over with, the only thing he was looking forward to was that the whole thing stood a good chance of helping him get another social skill. Well that and the chance to watch his brother squirm for once as he would get assaulted by people looking to try and get a match between their magical felinepanions and Fluffy.

 Chapter 235

    Chapter 235


    Judy P.O.V.


    I had to admit that the way nobles lived was starting to get to me at this point a little bit and I had only been a noble for less than a month. The ess we had going into any section of the city, the interconnectedwork helping each other profit, but what really pushed it over the top was how Duke Manashaper had just decided for the rain cloud to go around the plot where we were hosting the party. I knew that that was more of a power status then a noble one but having the weather amodate for the outdoor party you were throwing was not something I could have ever imagined.


    ¡°So you must be Jude.¡± A man that looked to be my fathers age asked as he offered me a cup of wine.


    If there was one thing that quickly confirmed that bing a noble wasn¡¯t a dream was the constant marriage proposals I had been getting during this announcement. Most of them came from people like him who were easily one and a half to two centuries old. Nobles usually lived to four hundred or higher depending on how much they focused on leveling.


    ¡°I am, thank you.¡± I responded as politely as I could before leaning into my social skills as much as possible to convey how much I wasn¡¯t interested in his courtship.


    Ajax and Tom both had it easy. Tom was already engaged and not many noble women were willing to y second fiddle to amoner, much less a beastkin one at that, despite the peace treaty eptance was still a work in progress. As for Ajax he was the head of the family and had often been seen in thepany of both Annabeth Goldmance as well as Alexis Manashaper, not many people couldpete with either of them and nobody wanted to make and enemy of either house, since neither of the family heads had denied the idea of a union there everyone was being careful not to step on any toes.


    With that most of the pressure for marriage was on myself, mom and dad. With both of them being so young by noble standards and monogamy being in minority, though by no means rare, in noble circles both of them had to fend off quite a few proposals themselves.


    The other big surprise my grandparents had helped Ajax pull off was managing to attach na to our family as one of the branch families despite there not being a blood rtion, something about all of us growing up in the same vige and being closer than some real noble siblings allowed her to take the family name and gain the noble title for herself. This of course meant that she was hounded with marriage proposals as well.


    Speaking of my grandparents I turned around to see my grandfather eyeing a te of food not two feet from where Ajax was talking to my grandmother. Thetest of my little brother''s surprises had ended up being a rather odd if very sessful idea, one that came to him on a whim yesterday. He had gone out and bought a staggering amount of oil, not even the refined olive oil but basic vegetable or flower oil, he then filled a pot with some of it and let it heat up on the fire before cooking potatoes and small chunks of meat coated in flour and egg. The result was surprisingly good, while not as good as the food provided by our skilled caterers, its novelty allowed it to stand out withouting off as lesser. Something truly remarkable considering not only the lower cooking skill used in making it but also how cheap the ingredients were.


    For safety it was agreed beforehand that both of our grandparents would hover around Ajax for the day. This would not only allow our family to be seen as more stable by having two merchants established in the capital for decades advising the young family head but it would also let them intercept any mistakes Ajax might end up making after having focused so much on his training and studies.


    ¡°It was a pleasure meeting you Judy.¡± the noble finally took his leave, at least having actually learnt my name during the conversation.


    ¡°The pleasure was all mine Baron Oakenshield.¡± All of my social skills urged me to use his family name as a very polite but clear way to cut off any future talk of marriage.


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    It took no more than five seconds since myst ¡®suitor¡¯ departed before another started to head towards. A prim and proper voice with just a hint of shyness making it way through however cut him off before he could speak.


    ¡°You¡¯re Judy, yes?¡± she asked. ¡°I just met na and I wanted to make your acquaintance as well.¡±


    ¡°I am, your Majesty.¡± I said as I did my best to curtsy. My attempt was clearly good enough as I unlocked the skill [Noble Manners]. This was the third non-Common social skill I had unlocked since I was granted the Trait Baron.


    The royal family representative hadn¡¯t ended up being just one of the head butlers like we expected after Ajax exined the bad rtionship he had with the son of the crown prince in his ss. We were instead surprised by the appearance of the youngest royal princess, apparently Ajax had previously met both her and her mother. Her showing up already had my grandparents questioning if the king was looking to tie Ajax to the royal family through marriage.


    ¡°It¡¯s so great to meet you.¡± she smiled and returned the courtesy with one of her own. ¡°It''s so great to have a few more people joining our generation.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, how do you mean?¡± I asked, confused.


    ¡°Usually nobles, or at least high nobles, try to keep their generations together.¡± she exined. ¡°To discourage any issues regarding seniority most houses wait a good few years before having children following the royal family and the otherrge houses.¡±


    ¡°The current generation is based around my cousin, as well as Benedict Steelde. Annabeth was a surprise pregnancy that happened to coincide, whereas the Manashapers took a lot less time to get pregnant than is expected of people their level.¡± The princess continued. ¡°This is all well and good, but most of the people from this generation are still only six or seven years old, as such it will be a while before they are mature enough.¡±


    The next hour or so I spent absorbing all the stress the princess had experienced from dealing with her brother in the wake of Ajax¡¯s discovery, while she helped let out all the stress I had umted since moving to the capital. Not only that but nobody else approached me while I was talking to the princess which was a wee reprieve, one na joined us for halfway through.


    With dusk finally starting to set the desert was finally being brought out and my stress started to build up again. As we had initially expected, out of season honey was quickly overlooked by most and the higher than normal price tag meant that there were few buyers.


    Those that did buy however turned into repeat customers and word was slowly spreading. Most of the deserts served today featured honey we had supplied to the caterers and we were hoping that this would be the big spread we would need to really drive up demand as well as traffic to our shop.


    The initial talk with the caterers had them asking for us to sell them more honey, though that was mainly because it had helped more than one of the cooks push their skill level up. The problem was that we didn¡¯t know if that was because the honey was slightly mana infused from the nts, because it was harder to work with or if the taste of the end result was that much better. All of us had tried it of course and we all agreed it was good but none of us had anything topare it to.


    I could feel my stress melt away as loudpliments started flying once the guests started trying out the deserts. It seems that my grandparents'' nning had worked out and we could expect quite a few more customers starting tomorrow.


    ¡°How could you say that!?¡± the words rang out above the chatter and I turned with dread to see that the voice came from the noble talking to Ajax. ¡°I demand a duel from house Hearthbound, I will be representing myself.¡±


    ¡°I -¡± Ajax¡¯s frown deepened but he stopped talking as my grandmother ced a hand on his shoulder and he seemed to calm himself. ¡°House Hearthbound epts your challenge.¡± he said in a calm cold tone afterward.


    ¡°I will ept any extent except a duel to the death and only ask that it be done to the limit of our abilities.¡± the noble responded before turning around and leaving.


    The party wound down quickly after that with most of the guests still gossiping about the interaction. All of us were tired as we made our way back home, the party had gone as well as could be expected except for the ending.


    ¡°What was he trying to do?¡± Ajax asked after we got home.


    ¡°Most likely, raise his status by having you fight him yourself.¡± grandfather said. ¡°He miscalcted badly though.¡±


    ¡°The boy is young, not even twenty-five, this should be a move made to further himself in his own family''s situation and you are simply the one he targeted to use.¡± grandmother exined.


    ¡°How did he misscalcte?¡± Dad asked. ¡°Even I know someone only twenty-five years old can¡¯t expect to beat Ajax regardless how self-impressed he is.¡±


    ¡°Because Ajax won¡¯t be the one fighting him.¡± Grandmother said with a smile. ¡°Tom will be.¡±


    ¡°I will?¡± Tom asked, surprised. ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Because a duel without limits allows your bond to join you!¡± I eximed as I put the pieces together. ¡°They didn¡¯t know Tom was young enough to also ept.¡±


    ¡°Hear that?¡± Tom said as he scratched Fluffy behind the ears. ¡°You¡¯re going to be good for something other than breeding.¡±


    It seems he was still a little resentful of the amount of people who had been approaching him about his bond siring the new generation. It was also something that wouldn¡¯t happen for a while as doing so now would affect Fluffy¡¯s growth with the amount of mana it would drain from him.

 Chapter 236

    Chapter 236


    Ajax¡¯s whole family was taking the day off to rx following the party as all of them had been mentally exhausted by the end of it. Ajax had been the least pressured seeing as all he had to do was basically greet people and socialize as any of the hard questions were taken by his grandmother who never left his side. Despite all of this he still hadn¡¯t managed to get through the event without a challenge being issued but everybody had epted that it simply wasn¡¯t something feasible and having just one challenge was seen as a win.


    As Ajax and Tom were making their way through the city Ajax was surprised at just how much livelier the city seemed at this time of the year. Everyone he looked he could see young men and women lining up at one stall or another to get their gear patched up or buy some potions.


    ¡°Were there always so many people here?¡± Ajax asked rhetorically.


    ¡°No, it¡¯s because the tournaments are happening soon.¡± Tom answered him.


    ¡°The tournaments are in a month and half, that isn¡¯t soon.¡± Ajax said.


    ¡°Maybe the big official ones are in a month and a half.¡± Tom said. ¡°And for prestige those are the ones that matter. But for people like them the real tournaments start next week.¡±


    ¡°How is that?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°The official tournaments are more of a noble show to pass the time, very expensive to get in and watch and a way for young nobles to show their house¡¯s power. A good showing there might affect a noble house but it won¡¯t change things too much.¡± Tom exined ¡° For them the tournaments that start next week are the real opportunity. If they do well enough they might just have a noble house interested in recruiting them and that will mean that not only are they pretty much employed for life but that their family also don¡¯t have to worry about all that much either.¡±


    Ajax could see how that would work out and why these tournaments, despite not being at the same skill level as the ones hosted by the academy, were much more important to the popce.¡°GRRR¡± Fluffy growled as he floored a man that was running past Tom cing both paws on his back. Much more interesting to Tom however was the coin pouch the man dropped that looked surprisingly like his own. A quick tap at him confirmed what he suspected, the pouch was indeed his.


    ¡°Oh, look at that Fluffy, what have you got there?¡± Tom asked in a childish tone that he was sure would annoy the thief.


    ¡°Get this¡­ goddamn thing¡­ off of me.¡± the thief heaved out from under the weight of Fluffy¡¯s front paws.


    ¡°I will, but first how about you tell me where did you get such an interesting coin pouch?¡± Tom said with a bit of a malicious grin. ¡°I could have sworn I had one just like it, had being the keyword there.¡±


    ¡°Guards help, I¡¯m being robbed.¡± the man quickly shouted when he saw a patrol uniting around the corner.


    The guards were quick to respond to the shout but they also froze the moment they got a good look at what was happening and all of them broke out into augh, all but one who had a pitying look directed at the man.


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    ¡°I¡¯m not going to im that you are lying but if you are I suggest you just admit the truth.¡± the man said.


    ¡°I¡¯m not lying, the cat just pounced on me and he wants to take the pouch.¡± The man was quick to defend himself, Ajax also noticed that his statement was technically correct. Fluffy did just pounce on him and Tom did intend to get his pouch back, if nothing else the man was experienced enough to get past basic lie detection.


    ¡°Let the man dig his own grave.¡± one of the other guards said. ¡°I heard they needed more people down at the mine since the curse business meant less people went there.¡±


    ¡°Down at the mine?¡± Ajax asked, confused, drawing the attention of the rest of the guards.


    ¡°Simple theft gets you two weeks of vebor as a lumberjack for the capital.¡± Tom said. ¡°using a noble guard of a crime however alwayses with an inquiry and lying on that means three years in the mines, at least. With the current shortage I wouldn¡¯t be surprised to see him get four.¡±


    The man on the ground paled as he heard noble guard, Ajax however focused on another part of the sentence. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t the punishment bemensurate with the crime, why does there being shortage matter?¡±


    It wasn¡¯t like Ajax actually cared about the thief but he was interested in how the system worked in case he ever needed to make use of it for his own ends.


    ¡°Three of four years is mostly discretionary, not to mention that an argument could be made that making a false usation within a month of me bing a noble is damaging to our reputation that could even push it up to five.¡± Tom exined. ¡°As for the reason, it¡¯s better for the city if thieves are sent to work rather than sent back out to steal again.¡±


    Ajax could definitely see that line of thinking, after all it wasn¡¯t like this was a little kid who had no other choice, from the looks of it the man seemed to even be a higher level than Tom, seeing as he got the pouch without him reacting in time, though not high enough to measure up to Fluffy.


    ¡°It was a lie, I¡¯m the thief, I¡¯ll take my two weeks.¡± The man was quick to backpedal once the stakes wereid out.


    ¡°We¡¯ll take it from here, Tom.¡± one of the guards said as he picked the man up and tied his hands.


    ¡°So this your little brother Tom?¡± another one asked.


    ¡°Not so sure about that ¡®little¡¯ part.¡± another chimed in, it was a fair question seeing as Ajax was the tallest of them all.


    All of them had a good quickugh at that before they turned to Ajax in unison and bowed slightly. ¡°Greetings to you Baron Hearthbound.¡±


    Ajax noticed no mockery in their bows but he was d for their joking attitude which got him to rx before they greeted him.


    ¡°Also Tom, I know it''s your day off but you should see about going by to see the boss I hear he wants to talk to you.¡± one guard said as they took their leave prisoner in tow.


    It was at that point that Tom and Ajax parted ways. Ajax continued his shopping as he made his way over to the carpenter who made his beehive, Ajax thought it was only fair to give the man a heads up about his uing business seeing as once the hives were public knowledge he might want to have a few in stock ready to sell, it was the least he could do for the man after he had agreed to take on the work back when he needed it done at a fair price.


    As for Tom he quickly made his way to their barracks where he was quickly let up to the Commander''s office.


    ¡°You wanted to see me sir?¡± Tom asked after he was asked to enter.


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t that urgent that you had toe in on your day off.¡± themander said as he looked at Tom and sighed. ¡°You¡¯re going to have to get used to being a noble, unlikemoners, people will always expect you to have things nned for at least a week unless something is urgent.¡±


    ¡°Yes sir.¡± Tom nodded.


    ¡°That aside, congrattions on getting through the party without sticking your food in your mouth, I have to say I didn¡¯t expect it. Some of those bastards are crafty and always looking for a reason to level a challenge.¡±


    ¡°The peopleing to me were more interested in asking about Fluffy¡¯s¡­ avability.¡± Tom said as he scratched his head in embarrassment. ¡°Not to say there weren¡¯t a few who tried to get a duel but they were all told to ¡®get lost and let them talk business¡¯ by the rest. In the end Ajax still ended up challenged.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I can see why that would happen.¡± the Commander said as he stroked his beard. ¡°Anyway, your house''s challenge is the reason I wanted to talk to you. I assume you will be the one representing?¡±


    ¡°I will, sir. Is that an issue?¡± Tom asked.


    ¡°No, just the opposite.¡± the man said as he stood up from behind the desk. ¡°With it happening at the same time as the tournaments I wanted to ask if your house was open to having you fight while in your guard uniform. Might get us a few talented recruits¡±


    ¡°I am open to the idea but I will have to discuss this.¡± Tom answered.


    ¡°That is fine,now go enjoy your day off.¡± Tom knew a dismissal when he heard one so he headed on out.

 Chapter 237

    Chapter 237


    Tom P.O.V.


    I woke up much earlier than normal and I couldn¡¯t help but be a bit anxious. Today was the day of the duel and no matter how many other matches I may have seen with themoner tournaments that started I was still a little antsy about my own match.


    Unlike me Fluffy seemed to not care at all as he was sleeping without a care in the worldid up next to our bed. I took extra care not to wake Kate up as I got out of bed, flicked Fluffys ear and headed downstairs.


    The oue of the duel was almost a foregone conclusion and both sides knew it. My opponent had made quite a few attempts to call off the match once he learned that not only was he not going to be facing Ajax but that the level forty-two shadow cat was going to stand opposite him in the ring.


    With the amount of gossip the event had generated however Ajax had let my grandparents handle the negotiations about calling the whole thing off. Needless to say a deal wasn¡¯t struck so I will be going ahead with the fight.


    I made sure to do my research into my opponent and despite him being only a few months older than me he had three levels on me. He clearly wasn¡¯t good enough to get into the academy but those three levels, equipment and any stat potions he may have drunk would give him a massive advantage. The only issue being that he didn¡¯t have a bond and there was no way for him to deal with Fluffy.


    ¡°Are you nervous?¡± Ajax asked as I took a seat at the table.


    I¡¯m not sure how he managed to keep such a tight training schedule, between his sses at the Academy, curse mana training and alchemy he still took time to care for the flowers and trees surrounding the beehives.


    ¡°A little. I know the match heavily favors me but I can¡¯t help it.¡± I admitted. ¡°I know just how you feel.¡± Ajax said. ¡°My own tournament is going to start in about a week, I shouldn¡¯t have any problems with anyone from the 6th year but I am already anxious about it.¡±


    Even the strongest 6th years were at best level forty-five, Ajax had been delving and fighting level sixties so there was no real pressure on him from them but everything could change because of an enchanted item.


    ¡°You¡¯re already awake!¡± Aurora said as she entered followed by Elija.


    Ajax and myself seemed to be the slowest to warm up to our grandparents, my mother seemed happy to have her own parents back in her life and Judy and dad had been worn down with the amount of help they provided, going even as far as to get dad set up with a section in their own shop for his smithing works.


    As for the reason Ajax and myself were slower to adapt it simply came from the reduced exposure. With Ajax constantly training and me doing my job as a guard we simply didn¡¯t have the time to spend with them, even Kate had gotten closer to them than I had and I was her connection to them.


    ¡°Here you are Fluffy, it took us a while to find a concentrated shadow core but we got one in time.¡± Aurora said as she brought out a small ck crystal that seemed to be sucking in the light around it.


    ¡°What is that?¡± Ajax and I both asked as we noticed Fluffy¡¯s eyes lock on to the gem.


    ¡°You could call it a natural potion for a beast.¡± Elija exined.


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    ¡°Beasts can take potions?¡± Ajax seemed very interested at this development.


    ¡°Yes and no.¡± Aurora exined. ¡°Unlike humanoids beasts aren¡¯t quite as adaptable and their bodies are much more rigid as a result. ¡°


    ¡°A humanoid can receive an extra 10% of their stats in potions.¡± Ajax said, something that was well known. ¡°A beast can only get 5%?¡±


    ¡°No, quite the opposite.¡± Aurora answered. ¡°A beast can get close to 20% by the time they reach adulthood.¡±


    ¡°Then how are they not as adaptable?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Because they need to constantly build their way up to it.¡± she continued. ¡°Unlike us humans who can take the potions at any point after we gain our stats a beast would have to constantly get them as they grow.¡±


    ¡°Despite only being one year old this little guy is already entering his juvenile phase.¡± Elija jumped in. ¡°he received his newborn treasure from the cores he got from his mother as well as that bear and fish Ajax killed. Sadly he didn¡¯t have a chance to receive his boost as a child, but this crystal should take care of his juvenile phase.¡±


    ¡°What about all the cores we fed him?¡± I asked surprised.


    ¡°A steady diet of cores would be enough for their regr growth, the supplement needs to not only be of a higher density than their current phase but it also needs to be elementally simr.¡± Aurora said. ¡°This crystal is the equivalent of a level one hundred core and heavily shadow infused.¡±


    ¡°As long as he gets his adult supplement in the next ten years and his peak one in the next half a century he should still end up with over 15% of his stats as a bonus, but it will be very expensive.¡± Elija said as they watched Fluffy swallow the crystal.


    It took a moment where we all watched before all of us could see small wisps of shadow start to emanate from Fluffy. I would have been worried if I hadn¡¯t been able to feel his contentment through our bond, that and the loud pur he emanated as I scratched his ears.


    The next few hours were a blur for me as everyone woke up, I got geared up and we all headed towards one of the fancier arenas. Being watched by what had to be at least two thousand people was nerve racking, even more so was the expensive look of the armor my opponent wore.


    ¡°I expect you both know the rules.¡± the barrier mage that will be refereeing the duel said. ¡°I will be here to intervene should any lethal blows be made. That said don¡¯t rely on me fully and defend yourselves at all times, not only that but should I intervene on your behalf I will hear no argument about you having lost the duel.¡±


    I simply nodded at the words. The reluctant look my opponent had as he kept ncing at Fluffy was doing wonders for me and helped me calm down as we both started walking towards our starting spots.


    ¡°Ready?¡± the mage shouted. ¡°Begin.¡±


    Fluffy dashed towards my opponent at the signal, but despite the level advantage he wasn¡¯t the one to make the first move. My opponent pulled a crossbow, a heavily enchanted one at that from what my [Detect mana] was saying and fired the first attack of the match.


    My training paid off as I raised my shield cleanly cing it in the arrows path. What was unexpected was the strength of the pushed my shield aside, merely deflected off the metal before breaking through my shoulder pad and embedding itself in my shoulder.


    It took a moment for me to realize what happened but after than the pain came in clear as I felt it spread like wildfire from the point of impact. Thankfully, despite the arrow having gone all the way through, its shaft was still lodged in my shoulder and kept my bleeding to a minimum.


    Whatever that crossbow was, it had to be pushing the boundaries of what could be used by someone of our level. This was perfectly shown as firing that single shot was enough to throw my opponent cleanly off his feet and into a backwards roll, the crossbow loose from his grip and dropped on the sand of the arena.


    With my main arm injured I wouldn¡¯t be able to use a bow and arrow as I hoped to help Fluffy, so once my bond got close enough that I was sure another long range attack wouldn¡¯te towards me I dropped my shield along with my bow and quiver and brought out the a short one handed spear as I made my approach.


    Fluffy was quick to make the difference in power between them obvious. His regr swipes creating long dents almost cutting right through his enchanted amor and that was just the beginning. Taking advantage of the fact that he wasn¡¯t paying much attention to me once I started to approach I uncorked a sk at my belt and tossed it high into the air above us after dropping a small ball inside.


    My aim was far from good considering the arrow sticking out from my shoulder but as therge ck cloud exploded above us and started rising higher it created arge shadow around both Fluffy and my opponent.


    Fluffy had been jumping through shadow ever since he was a cub, what had once been uncoordinated yful games turned into thrashing ambushes from an unexpected angle. By the time I had made it in range for my spear to y any part in the battle Fluffy had already jumped three times each resulting in a sh that drew blood.


    My spear thrust once I got close enough didn¡¯t achieve much as he took a solid stance and knocked it aside with a shield of his own. But that moment of paying attention to me was all Fluffy needed to jump on his back mping his jaws down on his shoulder, his teeth going straight through the enchanted metal and tearing a chunk out as heunched himself off my opponent''s back.


    The match ended on the next attack as a barrier came to life stopping Fluffy from repeating his bite on my opponent''s undefended neck, a gap left open by him clutching his now shredded shoulder.


    ¡°The match is over.¡± the mage announced.


    As much as I wanted to celebrate at that moment I had my one working hand full trying to keep Fluffy from liking my face and smearing it with blood.

 Chapter 238

    Chapter 238


    Despite being ready for their most likely tactic Tom had still taken a solid blow to the shoulder and that alone had left Ajax feeling furious. The referees had inspected what was left from the crossbow after the match and had found that it technically didn¡¯t vite any of the duel rules.


    The way they achieved this is by creating the crossbow to be a specifically single shot use, none of the runes were meant to do anything but give more power to the shot resulting in the crossbow breaking in more than one ce after the arrow was shot. The single focused creation added on to the fact that it was clearly a one use item and not technically a weapon meant it just made it under the rules for a level twenty five duel.


    The weapon however didn¡¯t just surprise one side of the duel as numerous members of the other side seemed to have no idea that such a weapon was going to be used. As much as Tom was patched up right after the duel ended by a skilled healer, their opponent''s reputation was going to suffer much worse and there was no quick way to mend it.


    The real repercussions of the duel however weren¡¯t seen until the next day when dozens of somewhat talentedmoners swarmed the guards barracks looking to join up. Tom had worked wonders for the guards PR team, and as a reward he would spend hisst remaining two years building trust with some of the guards most talented members and looking to recruit them once their service was finished.


    The rest of the week had felt somewhat mundane for Ajax following the duel, he had spent most of his time training, very little of his time was dedicated to his alchemy nowadays. The reason for that was that he was finally past the beginner phase. He now needed to work with mana infused ingredients and that simply wasn¡¯t something he could afford all that often outside the dungeon.


    With the new week starting, Ajax''s academy sses hade to an end for the year. All they had left were their exams but those wouldn¡¯t happen for another month as all the focus was now on the tournaments that will be starting up.


    For once Ajax and the rest of his ss were separated. With the first year tournament being the first to start Ajax was given ample free time to watch them as he waited for the sixth year tournament to begin.


    The first round of matches did exactly what it was supposed to do. Withmoners being limited to twenty-one years of age to join for the first year tournament none of the people who made it to the twenty-five spots were even level twenty-three. Every single match had been a blowout.


    That¡¯s not to say that there weren¡¯t a few surprises among themoners. While most were finished in the first two or three attacks, there were three who made it all the way to six and one who made it to seven before finally losing. Three of them had promptly been given offers for joining the retinue of quite a few noble houses. The biggest surprise there however was one of the three who took six attacks to bring down. The surprise was that he was only eighteen years of age. The boy was offered a position from a lot of houses as they hoped to spend the next year training and pushing him so that he could join the 1st year academy ss when he turned neen.


    Ajax could see the appeal of this system, and while he did agree that it worked there was also a darker side to it. It was pretty obvious from the look of themoner stand-out. The reason why he had made it that far at such a young age was simple. He didn¡¯t focus all that many of his stat points into Vitality. This would give him a much stronger fighting base but it also made everything far riskier as his health was much lower. Not only that but his next two levels worth of points would need to be put into Vitality so while his level might grow hisbat prowess did not.


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    The second round of the tournament was much more engaging however. With all of the students now facing each other the matches started to branch out in terms of oue. Since the brackets weren¡¯t randomized but based off of their scores in training a few matches ended very quickly. Benedict, Annabeth and Lexi all finished their opponents in dominating fashion.


    It was the princes¡¯ match that caught Ajax¡¯s attention however. Despite being the youngest in the ss by almost two years, if one didn¡¯t count Ajax, the prince was definitely up there in terms of strength. What surprised Ajax was the mirage illusion magic that the prince employed.


    The princes¡¯ opponent was a mage and despite being able to tell when a mirage was used with him [Mana Sense] that didn¡¯t help all that much. Being a spellde meant that faces were much harder to tell apart from genuine casts. By the time the first few exchanges happened the prince had already managed tond a few slices on his opponents arms.


    ¡°Whatever that marriage spell is has to be based on a Rare skill at least.¡± Ajax murmured as he watched the fight. ¡°He isn¡¯t chanting anything so it isn¡¯t a spell.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a decent first guess.¡± a voice to his left surprised Ajax.


    ¡°Headmaster!¡± Ajax jumped a little.


    ¡°The skill is one he gained from his bond,¡± headmaster Manashaper continued without even acknowledging Ajax¡¯s surprise at his presence. ¡°It¡¯s too early to tell if the skill is a Rare or an Epic variant but it certainly is perfectly suited to a hybrid spellde.¡±


    The match below sung heavily into the prince''s favor once his opponent started panicking and sting out all of his mana in wider spells that the prince couldn¡¯t dodge. The potency lost by spreading the spell out so much meant that it wouldn¡¯t be enough to make it past the defense provided by the high quality gear the prince had.


    ¡°Looking at it you could say that it''s the opposite solution to your style.¡± the headmaster continued as they both watched the prince lower his somewhat battered shield to reveal that nothing did more than lightly dent and scratch the firstyer of defense.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°A hybrid spelldes worst problem is being forced to exchange spells with a true mage on even ground.¡± the headmaster exined. ¡°A physical fighter would rarely be a match for an equally powerful spellde, their only chance being staying defensive until their endurance wins out. In the battle with a mage the roles are usually reversed.¡±


    ¡°The hybrid tries to stall out the mage.¡± Ajax put two and two together.


    ¡°Exactly, something that illusion skill is perfect for.¡± the headmaster went on ¡°Your solution is more unique. You force the situation back into the first scenario even against a mage. What your spellsck in power they make up for in flexibility and casting speed. Essentially allowing you to outmuscle a mage with a multitude of weaker spells at the cost of arge mana cost.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not my only choice.¡± Ajax said, a little defensively.


    ¡°Oh but it is, from what I¡¯ve seen anyway. Your boosting skill relies on your mana just as much though the conflicting reports I''ve seen on it so far haven¡¯t let me work out why the end result is still the same. You burn through your mana quicker than normal mages do. If you run out before your opponent is dead, or before you escape, you lose.¡± the headmaster said.


    ¡®Not exactly seeing as I can use his spells and mana to fuel my physical enhancement¡¯ Ajax made sure not to say that however, clearly the king had kept his Legendary skill under wraps so Ajax wasn¡¯t going to spread it further just yet.


    ¡°I do have to say however that out of everyone in the first year ss, besides you maybe, Lady Goldmacer is the scariest to have as an opponent.¡± the headmaster said as he got up and left towards his daughter who finally entered the viewing stands, changed from her battle gear to a more luxurious attire.


    Ajax couldn¡¯t help but agree with the headmaster. Few people had figured it out and by the time they did it was toote to stop it. Annabeth had a few trusted member of their circle intentionally hold back during their practice sessions or go all out even with the tournament approaching.


    Her n was finally revealed in the second tost day of sses as the brackets for the tournament were revealed. She had not only managed to work out how the sses were scored but by changing the result of a few people she had managed to set up favorable match-ups for group, not only that but she had even managed to set herself on the opposite side of the bracket from both Benedict and Lexi, who would most likely meet in the semi-finals and push each other to show any hidden tricks.

 Chapter 239

    Chapter 239


    Ajax was lookie out at the sand in the arena. All of the other years had already started their tournaments and now it would be time for him to start his as well. His breathing was quick, his hands grasped his sword and axe tightly as he prepared himself for the first round.


    Ajax wasn¡¯t at all nervous, he had no doubts that he could beat every single person that was taking part in the tournament. Ajax was angry at what he had found out this morning but there wasn¡¯t anything he could do about it.


    Already entering the sands in a furious charge was his opponent. An eight and a half foot tall mountain of a person who despite his height managed to still look short in proportion to the width of his muscled body. Two horns on his head as well as the cloven legs were the biggest features the beastkin took from his animal side, recing his human face with that of a bull would be all that it took and he would pass for a minotaur.


    The reason Ajax was angry was that he found out that he would be the beastkins first opponent. Ajax knew that the nobles would be given a strategic cement in the tournament brackets to keep the matches interesting, on that ount he was happy to have been ced away from any of the top three spots, meeting them only in finals or semi-finals.


    What angered Ajax was that themoners who fought to win a chance to fight in this tournament were supposed to be given a random opponent. As one of the people who had scoured themoner tournaments looking for any people that he might want to recruit he knew that this match wasn¡¯t a random coincidence.


    The bull beastkin was by far the bestmoner this year. Being twenty-seven years of age this was the only tournament he could enter but the man was already at level thirty-six, even higher than Ajax¡¯s own level. More than that his beastkin body gave him a strong strength advantage, one that while not enough to beat out some of the stronger people in the 6th year it was more than enough to at least give any of them a good match.


    This first round of the tournament was meant as a show of strength. To exemplify the difference between nobles andmoners. That isn¡¯t to say that there hadn¡¯t been one or two matches already this year that had been close, or that somemoners hadn¡¯t gone on to win a round in the past. Three times, twice in the first year tournament and once in the second year amoner had won the whole thing.


    Anymoner who won their first round match had always had at least one offer of marriage into a Baron¡¯s house. What annoyed Ajax most however was that they sought to rig the brackets so that he would face the beastkin. This bull-man was the first beastkin since the treaty had been signed and their eptance had been pushed intow that had a chance at a good showing and they rigged the match so that he wouldn''t.


    As he stepped out onto the sands Ajax could see his opponents eyes tracking him. The man wasn¡¯t handsome by any means, while his face was human his bull lineage could be seen in the smaller and spread apart eyes as well as hisrge red nose.Ajax was arge man himself, his muscles wererge and corded across his body from years upon years of training but looking at the beastkin across from him Ajax knew that if they had an equal strength stat he would avoid taking any direct blows from the massive axe he held.


    ¡°BEGIN¡± The referee shouted the moment Ajax got into position.


    The beastking charged forward at full speed. Despite the obvious power-focused strategy Ajax had watched the man enough in the past month to know he wasn¡¯t a dumb brute that many thought he was because of his looks.


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    Sadly for the beastkin however Ajax wasn¡¯t going to be holding back. One thing that all of thepetitors of the tournament took seriously was that nobody was to hold back. The only exception to this was lethal blows as well as any aces they were hiding for whatever reason in their regr spars.


    Ajax red his [Syphon Mana] at full power. This brought his physical stats from the low thirties range to the mid fifties. Ajax copied his opponent by going into a direct charge. Much to Ajax¡¯s surprise and to his slight regret his opponent had managed to react to his movement.


    The beastkin had noticed not only the difference in their speed but also the difference in their power from the way the sand had shifted as Ajax started his charge. He even managed to get his axe into a good position but none of that mattered.


    Ajax¡¯s lightning infused de knocked the axe aside, the lightning making its way through the handle and jolting the beastkin¡¯s body left him defenseless as Ajax nted the sole of his food in the center of his opponents chest knocking him on his back and cing own smaller one-handed axe at his throat.


    ¡°FINISHED¡± The referee was quick to call the match, Ajax even noticing the barrier that had appeared between the de of his axe and the beastkin¡¯s throat, even if he hadn¡¯t pulled stopped the swing the barrier was angled up to that the swing off course. ¡°WINNER : AJAX!¡±


    As customary the winner had stayed for a few minutes in the arena waving at the crowd. All of them cheered despite the quick fish as this was exactly what they were here for, they all knew today was the day that a long match would be an odd find and despite the quick ending Ajax¡¯s match was entertaining.


    The moment he left the arena however Ajax had made his way to look for his opponent. It didn¡¯t take long to find him as he had just finished getting dressed in his regr clothes after finishing a shower following his defeat.


    ¡°You¡¯re good¡± Ajax said, drawing the beastkin¡¯s attention to him.


    The man¡¯s face changed from defeat to anger, eptance and then humility. ¡°Clearly not good enough, you brought me down in an instant.¡± A little quieter, something that Ajax thought the man hadn¡¯t meant for him to hear ¡°A man at least five years my junior.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m what you might call¡­ a special case.¡± Ajax said not knowing how to answer that without making it seem like he was looking down on him. ¡°Had it been anyone else you would¡¯ve pushed them, probably could beat about half of them.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for your kind words, milord.¡± Ajax was ready to believe the epting tone if it wasn¡¯t for his social skills telling him he didn¡¯t really mean it.


    ¡°My name¡¯s Ajax.¡± he said as he offered the beastkin his. ¡°And I¡¯m willing to prove it to you.¡±


    A skeptical look entered the man¡¯s eyes as he looked down at Ajax. ¡°How will you do that.¡± A little more of the aggression making it into his tone.


    ¡°As a participant I can make sure you have a seat in for all my future matches. I¡¯ll show you that all of them will fall to me in a simr manner that you did.¡± Ajax said with a smirk as an idea took hold in his mind. ¡°But let''s make this a wager.¡±


    ¡°What sort of wager?¡± then beastkin frowned at the extended hand.


    ¡°If in any of the uing matches anyone so much as puts up a fight against me I¡¯ll split half the winnings from any ce I get with you.¡± Ajax said.


    ¡°What if you win?¡± the man asked.


    ¡°If I win, you join my House as a retainer.¡± Ajax said.


    ¡°Hmph.¡± the beastkin red his nostrils as a cocky grin crept slowly on his face. ¡°That¡¯s a deal I can take.¡±


    ¡°I look forward to having you sign up, Theron.¡± Ajax said as they shook and he took his leave. The beastkin looked shocked that Ajax knew his name considering the names for themoner challengers weren¡¯t announced.


    ¡°It¡¯s not what you think.¡± Professor Silvertongue surprised Ajax as he rounded the corner out of the changing rooms.


    ¡°What¡¯s not what I think?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t nobles who rigged the match-up.¡± the professor said.


    ¡°Really now?¡± Ajax said.


    ¡°They couldn¡¯t.¡± the professor continued ¡°the rules are made in such a way that they can¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°If they didn''t, who did?¡± Ajax questioned.


    ¡°The bookies.¡± the professor said with a shake of the head. ¡°They¡¯ve been bleeding money this year. There have been close to no upsets, do you know what happens when the favorite wins almost all the time?¡±


    ¡°So they rigged what was supposed to be the blind match?¡± Ajax asked, surprised.


    ¡°They did, the odds that Theron would not only lose but get stomped were one hundred and fifty to one.¡± Silvertongue continued. ¡°You made a few people a lot of money and got most of the bookies out of the red with that single win.¡±

 Chapter 240

    Chapter 240


    As Ajax was working on getting a handle on his anger, something that came much easier to him as he thought about the quality of the first retainer he gained, he was unaware of the issues that the bookies he was angry at were going through.


    All of the gambling leaders had been in the arena to watch that match, despite all they had heard about the child prodigy who had been named a noble at the age of sixteen very little was leaked of his actual power outside the academy. To say that their meddling was a sess was an understatement as they all watched him crush the beastkin.


    It was only once they had gotten back to their offices that the victory turned to ashes in their mouth. All of them had massively profited from thetest fight, so much so that even with some unusually bad oues they would still end up with a decent gain by the end of the tournament. There was just one thing that they hadn¡¯t ounted for.


    As they looked at the one thing had be clear, nobody would be able to actually stand up to Ajax. Their best chance to minimize their losses there was to give out absurd odds for him to lose and hope to recoup the losses they will have from everyone that was betting on him to win. Their issue however came from the post announcement bets.


    While no betting house would allow people to be on the nobles winning in the first round of the tournament, it would be a pure money sink for them, other types of bets were allowed once the noble participant list was made avable. To their shock all of them had bets on their books made for Ajax to win the whole tournament, not only that but those bets were many and made in sizable amounts, not enough to draw too much attention but not cheap by any means. Add that on to the high odds that aplete unknown had to win the whole tournament and they could forget about staying in the ck, they¡¯d be lucky to even remain open after the tournament ended.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t worry about those gamblers getting toofortable.¡± na said after she listened to Ajaxin about the set-up Theron had to endure.


    ¡°Oh?¡± Elija was the most interested in whatever scheme she had cooked up, after thest few months he had started to recognise her talent for strategy.


    ¡°I¡¯ve bet almost one thousand gold in total on you winning the whole thing, and this was back when the odds of you doing so were fifty to one.¡± she said with a smile. ¡°That should get us enough working capital to help us procure any of the more rare items that the customers we gain from the honey sales might request.¡±


    ¡°That is very well executed.¡± Elija said as he stroked his chin slightly frowning as he thought over the situation. ¡°A bit too excessive but seeing as they meddled with the tournament themselves it¡¯s not something that will result in a bacsh.¡± ¡°But if this was something that would work, why didn¡¯t you do it as well?¡± Sam asked the same question Ajax was pondering.


    ¡°We weren¡¯t in a position to do it.¡± Aurora exined. ¡°The only reason why na managed to pull it off is because none of her trusted people are widely known yet. Had we tried to do the same thing they would have recognised our people by the first day, or one of the intermediary people we used would sell the n out.¡±


    ¡°Speaking of retainers, is there anyone else you would want to get?¡± Tom asked.


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    The biggest issue their family had when gathering retainers was that none of them were strong enough to try and entice any strong retired adventurers. This left them with two options: either they would slowly build up their retainers over the next century at the fastest, or they would have a strong enough person marry into the family and have them control any unstable retainers they try to get. Needless to say all of them were leaning more towards the first option


    ¡°I can¡¯t think o¡­¡± Ajax trailed off as he thought of all the teams he had gone into dungeons with over thest few months but none of them would join his house as retainers. ¡°There would be one team.¡±


    ¡°Which one?¡± Tom asked. ¡°That duel has given me some leeway to use my time and position to help along with recruiting.¡±


    ¡°The Collectors.¡± Ajax said as he fondly remembered his first delving team.


    ¡°The Collectors?¡± Elija mumbled as he thought he heard the name before. ¡°Yes¡­, new team¡­, arrived in the capital in thest year. They were already approached by both house Goldmancer as well as Manashaper.¡±


    ¡°I thought you got along with both of those houses.¡± Aurora said.


    ¡°Yes, it would be a good idea to get them as our retainers.¡± Tom acknowledged as he thought about it. ¡° Houses Goldmancer and Manashaper were simply paying out a reward, not only that but they have a very good idea of your fighting style, it would be best if they were to join us.¡±


    They were a solid team with good fundamentals that had already proven they could help them start building up strong retainer force. Not only that but they already knew about Ajax¡¯s prodigious talent and wouldn¡¯t take all that much convincing that their currently weak house was one that will grow quickly.


    From there on the tournament continued for Ajax in very much the same way as it started. Everybody he was up against would get bodied in the opening moments of the fight, a mage had attempted to go for a strong shield chant but quickly found out that there wasn¡¯t enough time to set up the shield before Ajax crossed the small distance separating thebatants.


    ¡°And he does it again.¡± thementator shouted as Ajax had the mage on the ground with a sword point at his neck. ¡°The head of House Hearthbound in truly unstoppable.¡±


    ¡°Not only that but as he is only age seventeen he will be eligible to participate in the tournament for the next ten years as well.¡± The othermentator picked up. ¡°He will be the first to break the former crown princes¡¯ record of six consecutive victories. Not only that but he might push that record all the way to eleven!¡±


    Whereas the sixth year tournament was only halfway through at this point the first year tournament was almost finished. With Annabeth having imed one of the final spots, Benedict and Lexi were set to fight for the other.


    Benedict knew that this was a fight he wasn¡¯t likely to win. Alexis Manashaper was a gifted and powerful mage, not only that but she was someone who, despite her somewhat aloof persona, was a first ss analyst. She might not have had a mind for schemes and strategy like Annabeth but she could take apart a person''s fighting style in moments.


    Despite all of his hard training Benedict was at a massive disadvantage by having to fight a mage in a straight up duel. Seeing as both fighters would being into the fight well rested and with their resources topped up.


    From the moment the referee started the match Benedict had the urge to start cursing. The first thing Lexi did was put up a strong wind cocoon around herself to ensure she wouldn¡¯t be taken out by a stray ranged projectile. Not only that but her defensiveyers only expanded from there as she created a small moat that she filled with fire around herself in her next two casts before she started peppering Benedict with spells.


    For his side Benedict had tried to replicate Ajax¡¯s sessful strategy of rushing the mage before they managed to get their defenses up but he was simply not fast enough, he had barely covered half the distance between them before the wind wall as well as the fire ring were put in ce.


    From there the match simply came down to whether Benedict could oust Lexi¡¯s remaining mana pool or not. This wasn¡¯t the first time Benedict was faced with this situation in the tournament but there was one big difference between Lexi and every other mage in their ss.


    Whereas all the other mages in their ss had taken to focusing on one, maybe two elements, Lexi had the advantage of having her grandfather teach her his wide repertoire of spells that span across multiple elements. In much the same way Benedict¡¯s family Steelde had a wide array of weapons that could counter specific elements but Benedict simply couldn¡¯t bring all of them with him.


    By the end of the fight Benedicts armor had patches frozen over, scorched ck, soaked wet, entirely missing(thanks to a nasty little ball of acid Lexi had thrown at him). What brought him down in the end however had been a shadow spell. By pelting him with all sorts of different elements Lexi had forced him to take a defensive position behind his enchanted tower shield. Benedict hadn¡¯t seen the shadow chainsing before locked around his body letting Lexi walk around his shield and finally end the fight.

 Chapter 241

    Chapter 241


    Annabeth P.O.V


    ¡°I¡¯m so proud of you. Sorry I couldn¡¯t make it in time for your other matches.¡± Dad said with excitement that dropped off because of the implications.


    Dad had been gone from the capital for almost two months. In fact he left about a week after Ajax¡¯s discovery was made public. But I knew just how important this auction was. I tried hard to keep the guilt I was feeling off my face, hopefully I had gotten a better handle on it with my social skill leveling.


    This had been the third auction in thest five years that had contained one of the fruits of Longevity. The fruits came in four varieties: apples, cherries, pears and coconuts. The fruits were extremely rare, as for their value it could range from priceless to less than nothing depending on who they were for. All four of the fruits did the same thing, they reduced one of the four mental stats of the person eating them in exchange for making them slightly younger.


    Thest two auctions had offered apples and coconuts respectively. One lowered a person''s Wisdom and the other their Intellect. Thistest one however announced that they would be offering not one but two cherries, the most valuable one of the four fruits seeing as it would trade Perception for youthfulness.


    Dad¡¯s representatives hadn¡¯t managed to win either one of the fruits in the previous two auctions and I knew it was the work of one of my cousins. My being born and dad wanting to pass the family head position over to me meant that he was trying to push back the clock as far as he could and they were working against him, all because of me.


    ¡°Now, now.¡± he said as he ced a hand on my head and stroked me gently. ¡°None of this is your fault. How about you tell me more about thisst match of yours.¡±


    ¡°Lexi is the worst match-up in my entire ss¡­¡± I pause for a moment at that. ¡° With the exception of Ajax, but he isn¡¯t taking part in this tournament.¡±


    The idea that someone younger than me was already so far ahead of me that he was winning the 6th year tournament without anyone to provide even a challenge was a little disheartening. Not only that but from what our people have noticed over thest year his rate of improvement seemed to match mine despite him already being so much higher. At least if the teams he was joining on his sponsored delves were any indication.¡°Focus on the match.¡± father gently admonished.


    ¡°Right¡­ As I was saying she is a bad match-up.¡± I got back on track. ¡°She is a mage, that already makes it harder to prepare againstpared to a physical fighter, what really gets to me however is her versatility. Despite not having the same amount of power behind her spells as I can put behind my fire she knows the chants for all sorts of different elements.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I imagine her grandfather has been extra generous with her.¡± dad said, and he was right. Lexi had gone through a bit of slump shortly after the start of the year. Not enough for anyone who didn¡¯t know her to notice but Ajax¡¯s versatility as a spellsword had made her question her own path. Her attitude changed, back to the same mischievous one she had before, if a little morepetitive, after a few extra lessons with her grandfather over the course of a month.


    ¡°She¡¯s never shown me those shadow chains before, I couldn¡¯t even feel them as the spell traveled.¡± I eximed a little as I thought back to how the other semi-finale ended.


    ¡°Yes, a more advanced application.¡± father said. ¡°The spell actually started at her location the moment she finished her cast. Shadow magic has always been one more focused on subterfuge, as long as there are shadows connecting the start and end point of a spell feeling them travel is much harder. ¡°Do you have a n in mind?¡±


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    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll¡­¡± I didn¡¯t get to finish my sentence as the door opened.


    ¡°Apologies for the interruption , my lord.¡± My fathers head informant said as he and one of his people entered.


    ¡°What is it?¡± my father asked.


    ¡°We have a more detailed report on the recent change in the market for honey,¡± he said. ¡°The report is extensive and the situation is both delicate and rather urgent. Not only that but our details are iplete.¡±


    That wasn¡¯t a great situation, an urgent situation withoutplete details is a bad spot for one to be, though it isn¡¯t something unusual for him to be informed about as the current head of the Goldmancer family.


    ¡°Go on.¡± Father prompted, and his head informant nodded to the other man.


    ¡°Yes.. Yes, sir.¡± the man faltered when he didn¡¯t see me leave the room, he must be one of the juniors as dad has been having me attend these meeting for a while now.


    ¡°As reported on previously almost the entire capital¡¯s supply ising from a single organization, one led by Judy Hearthbound.¡± I felt my spine straighten slightly at the mention of herst name. ¡°Not only that but we have also confirmed that the honey they sell is in fact mana infused. A simr result to the elve¡¯s mana rich tea leaves if not to the same extent.¡±


    ¡°Is a confirmation all we have after a week of investigation?¡± there was nothing in his voice or tone that showed any annoyance though I could tell he didn¡¯t like being interrupted for just this.


    ¡°No, my lord.¡± the informant bowed. ¡°We have also learnt that their stranglehold on the marketes from having the beehives stored in wooden crates in the middle of the farming plots. Further inquiries have confirmed that the bees were gathered from the surrounding forest and¡­ effectively rehoused there.¡±


    ¡°The mechanism for the container is not thatplicated.¡± the informant continued. ¡°We have purchased one from the same carpenter that has created all of his, much like a lot of other people, he has been making a killing selling them at almost twenty silvers each, yet none of us have had any sess in getting any bees to actually stay there.¡±


    ¡°You are dismissed.¡± the head informant said and only continued once the three of us were alone. ¡°This seems to have given House Hearthbound a monopoly on the market, our information suggests that stealing one of the hives off hisnd will have the bees remain regardless of their relocation, though everyone is wary of doing so.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± I ask not seeing how all the pieces fit together.


    ¡°All information suggests that the hive must remain in an open ce.¡± the informant continues.


    ¡°With nobody else seeding anybody that steals it will also be essentially announcing that they are the thieves.¡± I cut him off as my mind worked putting the puzzle together. ¡°A new noble house having a legitimate sustainment methold stolen from them within months of being granted the title will have everyone looking to get their two licks at punishing the thief.¡±


    I left out that some wouldn¡¯t be condemning the thief out of honor or duty but because they want to see what they could learn about the method by questioning the thief.


    ¡°Exactly so, mydy.¡± the head informant said. ¡°That would be all sir.¡±


    With that the informant awaited my father¡¯s signal and took his leave with a deep bow once it was given. ¡°Well, how would you approach this situation?¡± dad asked me once the door closed.


    ¡°The market for honey is too small and not profitable enough to be worth angering an entire faction.¡± I think aloud. There were quite a few viscounts and barons who were granted a title and almost saw their houses fall from thieves like that, not only that but they were almost exclusively granted their titles as a reward forbat making quick to violence now that they were more established and could get their hands on another thief. ¡°The real prize is the method of enhancing the honey, if it is like the elven method and can be replicated that is the real prize. I would approach and see about trying to extract that method in exchange for protection and guarantee of leaving the honey market for them.¡±


    ¡°Not a bad approach.¡± father said. ¡°From the reports however it seems like there are two different unknown factors at y here. One is the enhancing method and the other is the bee taming method.¡±


    ¡°How does that affect us?¡± I asked, unsure of why we would be interested in the bee taming method, it wasn¡¯t something big enough to affect us especially once others got back into the market once the bee poption recovered.


    ¡°We could approach them in regards to their bee method with a generous deal. Having them share that method with us and having us use our reach to profit outside the capital while sharing arge portion of the profits would buy us good will. Not only that but it would build a working rtionship that we can use to work our way to trying to get the enhancing method.¡± dad exined. ¡°Not only that but who knows, we might even be able to figure out the enhancing method just from learning about the bee method.¡±


    DONG!


    The bell from the central tower of the capital rang.


    ¡°That¡¯s enough for today.¡± dad said hearing the bell. ¡°Are you all set for tomorrow?¡±


    ¡°I am.¡± I confirmed. ¡°I have a n that I am 70% sure will work.¡±


    ¡°That is good.¡± he said with a smile. ¡°Now off to bed, you need to be rested.¡±

 Chapter 242

    Chapter 242


    Ajax battered his way through to the semifinals with a quick application on overwhelming power. Much like his previous matches there simply wasn¡¯t anything that his opponent was able to do against the monstrous stats Ajax was sporting. It also didn¡¯t help that he had won his previous match with a quick arrow shot before switching to a closebat strategy for this one.


    ¡°You¡¯re making quite the name for yourself, kid.¡± an old man said as he took a seat in the stands next to Ajax.


    It took Ajax a moment to ce the sigil on his extremely high quality, if not overly sh, clothing before Ajax put a name with the old man, Goldmancer.


    ¡°No need to tense up so much, I am just here to watch my daughter¡¯s match.¡± the old man reassured once he saw the Ajax tense a little.


    While those words were meant to be reassuring any ease of mind theck of specific focus on him had been wiped away as Ajax confirmed the man''s Identity as The Archduke Goldmancer.


    ¡°Making a name for myself?¡± Ajax asked with a little caution.


    ¡°Oh yes, your repeated nearly effortless victories are getting your name out there.¡± the archduke answered.


    Ajax had already been informed by his brother that quite a few of his fellow guards whose contracts were close to finishing had asked about him. Apparently they were very interested if joining his house would get them some training time with the ¡®Prodigy Child¡¯. Most were left disappointed when they were informed that Ajax was focusing heavily on his own progression and that the only training from him they would get woulde in the form of group delves in the delve slots granted to his family every other month. A few had taken the news in stride, praising Ajax for continuing his dedicated training despite his sess and chose to put their name up for consideration as retainers.


    ¡°They weren''t effortless.¡± Ajax mumbled, he hadn¡¯t held back anything beside his void element and [Cursed sh], every one of those battles had his full effort put into it.¡°Yes¡­ effortless might not be the best way to phrase it.¡± the archduke surprised Ajax having heard him. ¡°Quick is much better.¡±


    An awkward pause in the conversation had started to form for a moment there when archduke Goldmancer changed the subject. ¡°I also have to say I am quite impressed with how quickly your noble house has gotten a foundation. It¡¯s not solid by any stretch but even a shaky foundation is quite the achievement in a few weeks.¡±


    ¡°Most of that was thanks to the support of my family.¡± Ajax said with a bit of embarrassment at how little he had contributed to the day to day activities of his own noble house.


    ¡°Delegation is definitely important.¡± the archduke admitted, Ajax also thought he saw a deep frown cover his face but it was gone as quickly as it appeared. ¡°But I heard that you started working with those bees almost from the moment you got to the capital.¡±


    ¡°Beekeeping is one of the least time intensive agricultural pursuits.¡± Ajax said, unaware that his words had already slipped up and revealed a very relevant piece of information.


    ¡®Beekeeping¡¯, the archduke thought, scouring the deep retches of his memory back to his lessons regarding any form of farming. Never heard of such a skill before, not only that but he gained Trailzer title only after he arrived in the capital, most assumed that it came from his odd application of magic, but what if it was from simple bees?


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    ¡°Low time investment and a limited market.¡± the archduke nodded , not giving away any sign of his conjectures. ¡°Though a profitable one due to the buyers. I would be very interested in offering your house a partnership for a share of the profits in exchange for the method of setting up the hives.¡±


    The offer sounded extremely good to Ajax, a good upside of not having to look into expanding themselves and one that promised almost guaranteed and consistent ie in a quick timeframe.


    ¡°This is no ce for business.¡± a voice interrupted them before Ajax could respond. ¡°Besides such techniques should first be studied before they are spread to ensure that the most efficient forms are spread.¡±


    ¡°Headmaster!.¡± Ajax bowed politely to the man who joined them at the front of the stands.


    ¡°Duke Manashaper.¡± the archduke greeted with a smile. ¡°I wanted to congratte you on your granddaughter¡¯s dominating run through the tournament. Though you¡¯ll have to excuse me if I hope that she loses thistest match.¡±


    ¡°Not at all archduke Goldmancer, in fact I could say the same thing about your daughter.¡± the headmaster replied.


    Ajax had to admit that he was thankful for the headmaster¡¯s timely appearance. It didn¡¯t take long for him to realize that the open-ended deal the archduke had proposed was very much open to interpretation and not the promised jackpot he had initially thought. Ajax was also much more wary of the man¡¯s skills as with the immensely favorable feeling he had gotten towards the deal Ajax knew he didn¡¯t want to sit opposite the man at the negotiating table.


    ¡°My Lords and Ladies.¡± the conversation was cut short by the announcer as he used a skill to project his voice over the entire arena. ¡°Thank you foring to the Finals of the first year tournament.¡±


    The crowd was suitably hyped up for the match, many of them could be seen wearing the the sigil of house Goldmancer and house Manashaper in support of their preferred contestant.


    ¡°I will have to ask you to pay very close attention to this year¡¯s match. Both contestants are aggressively focused mages and as such the match could end at any moment.¡± the crowd roared its approval for an action-packed match.


    ¡°Despite needing no introduction it is my pleasure to announce this year''s finalists : Alexis Manashaper and Annabeth Goldmancer.¡± The crowd reached a deafening level that made Ajax d for his higher than average Perception allowing him to reduce his ear¡¯s sensitivity to the noise.


    Both Anna and Lexi had entered the arena in a very different set of armorpared to what they had worn in the semi-finals. Not only that but the gear heavily contrasted from onepetitor to the other, with Lexi sporting the ssical mage robes and Anna bedding encased in a solid te suit or armor.


    ¡°ARE. YOU. READY?¡± The Announcer''s voice could be heard through the weak sound enhancements ced around the arena despite only addressing the two people closest to him.


    Both fighters simply nodded, neither taking their eyes off the other. ¡°BEGIN!¡±


    Both casters instantly brought their staves forward as they started chanting their opening spell. Despite both of the fighters aggressive nature Lexi had started the fight with a defensive water wall that sprung up to meet the zing fireball that Anna had tossed out. The power advantage was clearly in Anna¡¯s favor as even with an elemental counter a few embers from the fireball had made it to Lexi forcing her to sidestep out of the way.


    From there on their styles started to diverge even further. Where Lexi had started throwing out one element after the other Anna had doubled down with one fiery attack after another. As the fight progressed Ajax found himself doubting Anna¡¯s fire centered strategy. With elementalbinations such as earth and water Lexi was starting to take control of the match. Nevertheless Ajax got a feeling deep in his gut that he was missing something


    It had taken Ajax almost two full minutes to realize what it was that felt odd about the battle. From the very start Anna had not used a single defensive spell, instead every time a spell got to her one of the indicated designs on her armor would light up slightly before disappearing along with a good chunk of the armor itself.


    ¡°She¡¯s really going to be kicking herself over this one.¡± the headmaster said with a resigned sigh. ¡°This was her match to lose and she knew, it¡¯s why she was being more restrained than usual.¡±


    Ajax did have to admit that Lexi wasn¡¯t usually this defensive but he had thought that to be a reaction to the opponent and not a change in approach.


    ¡°A risky all or nothing approach.¡± the headmaster continued. ¡°Though one that will pay off this time, I do believe congrattions are in order.¡±


    ¡°Much appreciated.¡± the archduke replied but the headmaster had already started to mutter a chant as Ajax felt Anna dumb a massive amount of mana all at once just as a lightning bolt caused the enchantment on her helmet to activate revealing her face as it disappeared.


    As Anna mmed the butt of her staff into the ground Ajax could feel a pir of fire mana fight to erupt from beneath Lexi, not only that but he also felt a quick release of mana from his right as a shield formed beneath Lexi¡¯s feet nullifying the attack.


    Despite the attack being fully blocked Lexi still lowered her head in defeat as Anna lifted her staff victoriously.

 Chapter 243

    Chapter 243


    Ajax watched the result of the match with surprise, he had quickly managed to figure out that Anna had bet everything on this being a short match. Her armor basically ate chunks of itself in order to provide a shield. Not only was such craftsmanship not cheap but even the metal that it was created from was nothing to sneeze at, she probably spent at least two hundred gold just winning this single match.


    But while Anna¡¯s defense had made perfect sense her offense had not. Ajax couldn¡¯t get his head around how someone lower than level thirty like her had managed tounch a single spell strong enough to even harm him.


    ¡°What do you thinkdies and gentlemen?¡± The announcer tried his hardest to take the spotlight from Anna but wasn¡¯t having much sess. ¡°Was that [Dyed Release] or abination of [Gap Casting] and [Overinte].¡±


    Of the three skills Ajax only knew about [Overinte], a Rare chanting skill that allows mages to supercharge weaker spells by repeating the chant over and over and pumping the spells with more mana. The issue was that Anna wasn¡¯t stuck casting fire pir ten times to get that result, she had been constantly throwing out one fireball after another.


    [Gap Casting] and [Dyed Release] are pretty self exnatory from the context that the announcer made. [Gap Casting] allows one to pause on chant and pick inter, unknown to Ajax this is an Epic skill much like the other possible culprit [Dyed Release], allowing a mage to set a timer after which an already cast spell goes off.


    Going just by what he had been able to feel the moment the attack was released Ajax was pretty sure Anna had gone with thebination of [Gap Casting] and [Overinte], as he hadn¡¯t felt multiple small spells join together but a single big st being released all at once.


    ¡°Annabeth Goldmancer is the first Champion for this year¡¯s tournaments.¡± the announcer shouted. ¡°Join me in congratting the young Lady for her hard work, dedication and cunning.¡±


    Ajax wholeheartedly joined in, much to the surprise of a few lower nobles who were watching him for a negative reaction. To them Annabeth¡¯s armor strategy was simr enough to the crossbow strategy that had been used on Tom.


    Ajax however didn¡¯t see it that way. First of all the expensive piece of gear was defensive only, secondly it had a short shelf life with chunks of the armor corroding away to create a defense, and finally she had forgone wearing any other type of enchanted armor, had Lexi managed to prolong the match she might have ended with not only and advantage in spell flexibility but even damage from her own armor amplification.With that Ajax made his own way down from the stands and went over to congratte both of the finalists. He wasn¡¯t surprised to see just how quickly Lexi was back to her joyous hyper self skipping around the group, that was just how she showed herself. Ajax did however manage to pick up on a few tells that showed she was a little disheartened at the loss, afterall he had spent almost an entire year around her and his Perception was high enough to pick up on it.


    Ajax didn¡¯t stick around for long after the fight however. Unlike the rest of his ssmates the tournament wasn¡¯t over for him, he still had both the semi-finals and finals left. On top of all that there was also the deal that archduke Goldmancer had offered him, Ajax was going to take that straight to Judy, na, his mother as well as his grandparents. He knew that a good deal could be reached, he just had to make sure he wasn¡¯t the one representing his house and that the archduke wasn¡¯t who any of them had to haggle against.


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    Later that night Ajax house was filled by multiple voices as five people surrounded the main table, unlike the usual food that was served on the table however it was entirely covered in scrolls and maps.


    ¡°I still think they are fishing for something, otherwise giving us a long term profit share seems a little too good.¡± na said.


    ¡°I¡¯m not saying they¡¯re not, the only problem is I can¡¯t see what it is they are angling to get. So either they think we have something we don¡¯t, in which case we get the better end of the deal.¡± Elija responded. ¡°Or we really are in possession of a valuable technique and we¡¯re not aware of it, who''s to say we can¡¯t also make use of itter after we see what they get up to?¡±


    ¡°How do you get the bees to stay in the hives?¡± Tom asked as he sat on the bench outside watching Ajax and Fluffy spar.


    ¡°Simple, they have a hive mind.¡± Ajax answers.


    ¡°What does that mean?¡± Tom asked.


    ¡°There are multiple different types of bees that make up hive.¡± Ajax exined.


    ¡°What does that matter?¡± Tom still wasn¡¯t convinced.


    ¡°One of them is unique, there is only one like it in the entire hive, not only that but it rules over the rest of the hive, a queen.¡± Ajax said. ¡°The whole trick is to catch that one in a small cage and relocate her in the wooden hive. From there the rest of the bees will move in on their own.¡±


    Despite Tom¡¯s initial instinct to say that it can¡¯t really be just that simple, he did remember just how some other types of insect based monsters have an alpha that they never challenge and even sacrifice themselves for.


    ¡°MREOW!¡± Fluffy joined the conversation loudly as Ajax had managed to somehow get him from the side and performed an underpowered yet extremely satisfying suplex on the unsuspecting feline.


    ¡°That should be enough for today.¡± Ajax announced as he made his way to bed knowing that he had a match tomorrow.


    Standing across from Ajax in the arena the next morning wasst year''s champion,e back to defend his title as is tradition for thest champion of the 6th year tournament so long as he is young enough to qualify for the event.


    For the first time in the entire tournament Ajax¡¯s opening charge wasn;t enough to outright win him the match. Ajax hadn¡¯t gone for a bow shot opening and heplimented himself on that decision once he saw what was in store for him. His opponent managed to parry away his sword and still withstood the lightning enhancement that coursed through their body to intercept the axe with the shield.


    Despite the opening attack not ending the match outright, that isn¡¯t to say that Ajax¡¯s attack was worthless. The perfect block had still transmitted enough momentum to fly his opponent clean off his feet and toss him into a hardnding.


    Just because his opponent was down however didn¡¯t mean that Ajax was going to give him a chance to get back up, following the heavy blow by pulling out his trusty bow and letting an arrow fly. A bright sh covered the arena as the former champion¡¯s medallion cracked and shattered while producing a barrier that managed to block the arrow.


    Having survived the arrow, the former champion had been quick to go back to offense, throwing lightning and ice spells alike. Ajax was paying very much attention to the lightning spells. Just because his stats were higher didn¡¯t mean that an electric shock wouldn¡¯t hurt him.


    The round went downhill from that point fairly quickling. Now that Ajax had actually seen how he ns to fight getting inside the man''s guard was rather easy. Pulling a trick out of Lexi book Ajax had used shows to grasp at the man.


    Despite his shadow not being strong enough to restrict his opponents movement fully all Ajax needed was a moment before he rested his axe on his opponent''s shoulder with the de digging into his flesh.


    ¡°And we have our first finalist for the 6th year tournament.¡± the announcer yells out, he had figured it out pretty quick that he simply didn¡¯t have time toment on Ajax¡¯s fights before the fight was over. ¡°The final will be held four days from now once the rest of the tournaments have also concluded. And don¡¯t forget toe tomorrow to see who Ajax will be facing for the title!¡±

 Chapter 244

    Chapter 244


    Despite having beatenst years winner Ajax knew the final will end being a more difficult match, it wasn¡¯t so much that the person he was fighting would in any way be at the same level that Ajax is, after all they were barely level forty and Ajax had been able to clear dungeon floors with monsters going all the way up to level sixty-five.


    The difficulty came from a multitude of factors, first and foremost being that the mage he was going to be up against was a runic mage, his ability to quickly dump all his mana into attacks might actually result in something Ajax would have to look out for. The second issue was that he was an earth and wind mage and the sand in the arena would give him a slight edge. The biggest problem however was that he came from a ducal house. Not only that but he was one from their main family so he will have quite a bit invested in gear to specifically counter Ajax.


    ¡°So, do you think that is a deal we should make?¡± Ajax asked as he was training his [Inject Mana] on the nts.


    ¡°The market for honey is small, that said most of the demandes from the high end of society so there is quite a bit of money to be made.¡± Elija exined. ¡°How do you get the bees to stay in these hives?¡±


    ¡°Why does that matter?¡±Judy asked.


    ¡°One of the biggest things to take in consideration if we should take the deal is how likely it is that others will figure out how to do it.¡± na said. ¡°Just because nobody has done it yet despite knowing it is possible only means the method isn¡¯t obvious.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not hard,¡± Ajax said and everyone present focused on him. ¡°All you have to do is carefully relocate the queen and momentarily trap her inside.¡±


    ¡°The bees have a queen?¡± Aurora asked.


    ¡°Every hive is built around a queen.¡± Ajax exined. ¡°It¡¯s the one that looks a lot bigger than every other bee in the hive, here let me show you.¡± With that Ajax approached the closest hive and after smoking it for a little while he opened it up from above. It took him a few moments to find the queen in the mass of bees but once he locked on to it he pointed it out.


    ¡°There, see that one that is bigger than all the rest.¡± Everyone else had also gathered around the hive.


    ¡°That¡¯s a queen?¡± his mother asked. ¡°I thought you said you had to trap it.¡±


    ¡°You do at first,¡± Ajax exined as he pointed to the little wooden cage that was now covered in wax and stuck to the bottom of the hive. ¡°After about a week you can let it go free since they will have already settled in.¡±


    ¡°I definitely rmend making a deal with the Goldmancer¡¯s.¡± Aurora said. ¡°It isn¡¯t going to take people all that long to figure that they just need to take the big bee to get the others to stick around.¡±


    ¡°Say nothing about the mana infused nts.¡± Elija said. ¡°I¡¯m not sure how you even got them to be mana infused but that is something we are not going to let get out.¡±


    ¡°Is it that important?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°We¡¯ve had every single bigger organization that we owe a favor toe and try to use the favor we owe them in an attempt to know you got the honey to even have the small mana infusion it has.¡± Aurora exined.


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    Getting anything to take mana infusion was a massive pain. Ajax had quickly found that out as he had grown his nts and bees. Firstly not only did anything living need to be injected with mana from an early age, but everything surrounding it had to be as well. For the Bees that meant individual infusion in small doses as well as the mana infused nts. For nts you also had to ensure to infuse the soil regrly. All this had to be done without overloading, Ajax theorized that over a few generations you could get more than just the slightest amount of mana to stick but you had to take everything gradually.


    ¡°I think that House Goldmancer is more interested in learning how to get any mana infusion to stick to something than the honey market itself.¡± Elija said. ¡°That¡¯s a good thing too.¡±


    ¡°Why is that a good thing?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°Because it means they¡¯ll give you a good deal on the bees hoping to figure it out by themselves from there.¡± Aurora said. ¡°And even a fair deal on such arge scale would set us up as one of the bigger unded Baron houses. A good deal we might end up as top five for the next few years while the monopoly will hold and the wild bee poption recovers.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll talk to Anna about it.¡± Ajax said. ¡°Hopefully we can get a negotiation meeting with someone who isn¡¯t her father.¡±


    Ajax still felt a chill run down his back when he thought back to how much of an effect the archduke¡¯s skill had had on him during their simple conversation.


    ¡°You just worry about your fight.¡± Judy said. ¡°We¡¯ll worry about the deal.¡±


    Ajax very much appreciated how quickly his family had taken to his delegation of tasks. With that he focused back on his training and made sure to get enough rest so that his Mana and Stamina would be full in the morning.


    The next morning the arena stands were filled up once again. Ajax was d to see that almost his entire ss had shown up to watch the match, though some of them were there to cheer on his opponent (All of those however hade by and told him it was because of a family rtionship with the ducal house).


    As he stepped into the arena Ajax could clearly feel the mana in the gems that studded his opponents armor. Unlike the first year tournament, the 6th year allowed for some much moreplex gear to be brought in and people always paid up for the finals.


    Unlike in all the previous matches Ajax¡¯s opponent¡¯s cocky personality was nowhere to be seen. He was fully focused on Ajax and had already taken a fighting stance, he didn¡¯t even look away when the referee asked him if he was ready and had simply given a nod.


    The moment the fight began Ajax had started with a metal infused arrow before moving to close the gap. For the first time in the tournament however his opponent was just as quick as he was with getting an attack going as wind desunched towards him.


    None of that mattered much to Ajax as he simply started to syphon extra mana from the iing attacks as he dodged them with his increased physical stats. As soon as Ajax got in melee range of his opponent however the staff he had been using was swapped out for two shields.


    It was then that Ajax got a taste of how annoying a prepared runic mage could be on the defensive. Despite Ajax switching his [Mana Augmentation] on every strike his opponent seemed to have a defensive shield of the opposite element ready go.


    This was the second time that his opening charge was repelled. But Ajax wasn¡¯t discouraged, if a frontal assault wouldn¡¯t work he would just have to keep adding pressure. Besides his [Mana Augmentation] he now started adding some environmental magic into the mix. His first attempt at messing with the sand below his opponents feet had almost let him decapitate the man, the only thing that protected him was a wind enchanted ne that triggered a strong wind burst separating the two fighters.


    The moment his opponent had Ajax at range he quickly swapped out his shields for the staff again and started to go on the offensive again, his slightly pale expression did however show just how close Ajax had gotten with that surprise attack.


    Ajax knew he could simply oust his opponent, with the amount of spells he was throwing out Ajax was not even paying half the cost of [Mana Syphon] from his own mana pool. He did however want to put a quick end to the match so he charged again.


    The simplest way Ajax had to finish the match quickly was to finally show one of the aces he normally kept hidden. As soon as he got back into striking range and his opponents brought out the shields Ajax used a solid amount of mana tounch a fireball. His opponent was quick to bring up a water wall but that simply wasn¡¯t enough as Ajax used his [Cursed sh] to turn the fire ck.


    Despite the mes going out quickly once they made it through the water wall they had already done their job and applied the curse. From there all Ajax did was release a pulse of holy cleansing magic.


    More than one of the experienced fighters had winced sympathetically once they saw Ajax¡¯s n, despite the weak curse that was applied the amount of pain inflicted from the sh of curses and holy mana was something they all knew. Oddly enough the ones who best dealt with thisbo were those who had a high Perception stat as that allowed them to minimize the amount of pain they felt.


    Ajax¡¯s opponent had been lucky to fall unconscious a moment after the pain hit, he hadn¡¯t even managed to let out a proper scream as all that came out was a short grunt before he dropped like a rock.


    ¡°And there you have my Lords and Ladies.¡± Thementator was quick to jump in after the match had finished. ¡°Another interesting surprise from our champion Ajax Hearthbound. At only seventeen years of age I am expecting we will see a lot more of him in theing years.¡±

 Chapter 245

    Chapter 245


    The reaction from the arena to Ajax¡¯s casual use of [Cursed sh] 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 disyed by the crowd watching.


    Ajax had failed to take into ount that most of the poption 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 ess 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 thebat 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 ess to a while back. Unfortunately that element seemed to be one of hisst 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 ofbining it with other elemental mana. His ck mes weren¡¯t all that devastating but as a surprise attack the cleanly set up abo 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 finallymented. Unlike his usual self there was no joking tone and his rxed 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.


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    ¡°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 congratted 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 ament 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 Goldmancercked 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 ess 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 istion, 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 spellde.


    ¡°From what he¡¯s said his method apparently shes 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 ys a big role in controlling the spells we cast outside of a set path.¡± my brother exined. ¡°For a chanted spell, regardless how short that chant is, you have a lot more time to infuse that intentpared 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 be a chanting spellde.


    ¡°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, ess to curse attacks as well as two Legendary skills. I would have to take a much closer interest in him.

 Chapter 246

    Chapter 246


    Ajax had just finished his nonbat exams, all in all the subjects weren¡¯t all that hard but he knew that Alchemy was the only subject he was getting a perfect score on. With these exams out of the way his ss only had their final dungeon delve to go through before the Academy would take a three month break before the start of the new year.


    ¡°Howe we are given such a long break?¡± Ajax asked as they moved through the city.


    ¡°The break is mainly for the third years and above.¡± Benedict chimed in. ¡°They have this time to set up trips to the other dungeons where they can get the benefit of clearing some floors.¡±


    Benedict, Ajax, Lexi, and Anna were all heading towards the royal pce where they will be receiving their prizes for the tournaments. Quite a few people had thrown some curious nces towards their group but not a single person had dared to even approach them.


    The reason why everyone was keeping a respectful distance was the tall and wide bodyguard that followed them. Ajax had recognised the man as the same person who had apanied Lexi and Annabeth back at the improvised war. Ajax was able to better approximate his levelpared tost time but he was still sure that the man was over level one hundred and someone he didn¡¯t want to mess with.


    ¡°I think we are being followed.¡± Ajax said.


    He had caught nces and it seemed like quite a few people were following them.


    ¡°Of course we¡¯re being followed.¡± Lexiughed.


    ¡°Interesting that you caught on to them.¡± the bodyguard said.¡°Most likely because of how many there are.¡± Anna filled in.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Ajax asked, surprised.


    ¡°I always have at least two people watching over me.¡± Anna exined. ¡°Because of my family situation my father insists on it.¡±


    ¡°Then there''s you and I who just became prime targets for every other nation.¡± Lexi said. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if Benedict also had a personal guard.¡±


    ¡°Wait what?¡± Ajax was confused.


    ¡°There is no way that at least one noble who watched the tournament didn¡¯t sell the information to a foreign nation by now.¡± Benedict said. ¡°And you and Lexi and new priority number one and two to be eliminated. Though I do have to admit I am curious which of you ranks higher.¡±


    ¡°Why the two of us?¡± Ajax asked, though he didn¡¯t stop tracking the people following them.


    ¡°Your potential would mark you as a target nobody would like to let grow but I doubt all that much came out besides your age and weird fighting style. That was a really good choice you made getting [Enigma].¡± Benedict said. ¡°As for Lexi, she is a pure multi elemental mage, nobody wants to meet one of those on the battlefield.¡±


    Ajax knew why that was, unlike when multiple mages casted together a mage proficient in multiple elements could cast over a wide area without having their spells interfere with one another if they were just a little careful. For all of Anna¡¯s firepower with her fire magic armies could take some precautions against her beforehand.


    ¡°I¡¯m not surprised the royal family has people following us.¡± Lexi said with augh. ¡° I bet there are also specific counter-intelligence people following you and me looking to catch assassins and get information out of them, though good luck trying to find them.¡±


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    ¡°They¡¯d be at least level one hundred and twenty and focused on stealth.¡± Annabethmented.


    Ajax was very conflicted about the information. On the one hand he didn¡¯t like it that the royal family had put him under constant watch, on the other hand he did feel a lot better about having some high level people looking over his shoulder just in case assassins were sent out after him. He knew that this was one of the most vulnerable times in his life as he was pushing to grow his power.


    Unlike his previous visits to the royal pce Ajax found that today his entire group was ushered inside without having to go through all the usual security measures. He also quickly found out that this was because they weren¡¯t taken deep into the pce but just to one of the greeting halls.


    ¡°The crown prince himself is giving out our rewards.¡± Lexi eximed in her usual manner once they entered the hall.


    They weren¡¯t the first ones there as the crown prince was already talking to the top ces from the second and fourth year tournaments. The prince however didn¡¯t miss their entrance, his eyes hovering over the four of them, lingering a split second longer on Ajax, before he invited them inside with a nod and returned to the conversation.


    While Ajax knew that his rewards had been substantially increased as part of the bribe to keep him from entering all six tournaments and winning all of them he was still surprised to see that everyone got their own personalised rewards.


    ¡°Wee,¡± The crown prince said to them once they approached their little group. ¡°I also believe that I owe your entire ss a small apology on behalf of my son. He now agrees that he should have waited an extra year and not forced his way into this year¡¯s ss.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing to apologise for Your Majesty.¡± Benedict responded as all four of them bowed in greeting.


    From there the prince made a bit of small talk about the exam they had all just taken as well as the uing delve exam, all the while he handed out the rewards to Benedict, Anna and Lexi.


    ¡°Ajax if you¡¯ll please follow me for your rewards.¡± the prince said.


    ¡°Got something to hide?¡± the fourth year winner asked Ajax. ¡°Something to do with those curse attacks?¡±


    While the words seemed confrontational the tone they were delivered in only showed pure curiosity and no aggression. That wasn¡¯t to say that there weren¡¯t a few antagonistic res thrown his way from some of the otherpetitors but none of them would be willing to bring it up with the crown prince present.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure,¡± Ajax responded honestly. He doubted there was anything there connected to his curse skill but he did suspect that it might be something like that considering that they weren¡¯t giving them out to him openly.


    ¡°The reason for the privacy is the amount of his winnings,¡± the crown prince exined. ¡°A wager of sorts was ced with him in regards to winning the whole thing.¡±


    ¡°What sort of wager.¡± another of the participants asked, clearly jealous he hadn¡¯t been afforded that opportunity.


    ¡°In exchange for an increased prize as well as his seeded spot in the tournament, the Baron agreed to only take part in the sixth year tournament.¡± the prince admitted.


    ¡°Why would the royal family agree to that?¡± the first boy asked. ¡°You have to have known how strong he was.¡±


    ¡°That we did, but we were looking to avoid him carving a path through all six tournaments from an open entry position.¡± the prince exined. ¡°As it is the sixth year tournament seems to have its winner locked in for the next ten years, we wanted to avoid having all the tournaments end up like that.¡±


    That statement left the greeting hall quiet as a graveyard as everyone present thought quietly thanked the royal family for their foresight. Having Ajax dominate all six tournaments would have been a p to the face to all of noble society and nothing good would havee of it.


    While Ajax was collecting his tournament rewards, his exam results were already being analysed in a room by a number of powerful figures.


    ¡°He certainly has a knack for alchemy.¡± the king said as he looked at the perfect score along with the glowing rmendation professor Vilethorn had written. ¡°Though he could do a bit better on his history.¡±


    Ajax had just barely scraped by in history. ¡°It¡¯s not his knowledge of history that needs work, it''s his attitude.¡± The king¡¯s oldest son said as he looked over the test.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Balthazar asked, while both the king and duke Manashaper looked on with interest.


    ¡°He knows what happened and when, he just doesn¡¯t know who.¡± The prince said with augh. ¡°You had to break me of the same habit back when I was seven, never cared much for which general came up with the n but I knew when the battle took ce and what the n was.¡±


    ¡°His etiquette was also unfavourable.¡± Duke Manashaper chimed in. ¡°His introduction and greeting were spot on, but anything more advanced went right past him.¡±


    ¡°Not like he¡¯d need them all that much.¡± Balthazar said. ¡°That greeting and introduction will get him by for a while as everyone will let the rest of the things go since he was born amoner. By the time that passes he¡¯ll be strong enough that people won¡¯t care anyway.¡±


    ¡°Perfect scores on both physical and magicalbat, but that was expected.¡± the king continued. ¡°A lot of near perfect marks in all crafting sses, that''s certainly odd.¡±


    ¡°Previous experience.¡± Duke Manashaper said. ¡°Overprotective parents from a young age, they had him go through every single profession he could apprentice under before they let him try out as a hunter.¡±


    ¡°Oh that¡¯s new¡± the prince jumped in again. ¡°Could exin his quick levelling if he gained a few skills from all of them. Good to see that he is focusing on Alchemy and not stretching himself too thin.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll have to keep an eye on him now that he is done with his exams.¡± Balthazar said. ¡°If he decided to go on a trip to other dungeons we need to have someone there in case he is targeted.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s already been handled.¡± the king said, though he turned a look to duke Manashaper ¡°You¡¯re having him skip the delve exam?¡±


    ¡°No point in him taking it, at least not this year.¡± the dean said.


    ¡°In that case I will let his house have an early delve slot for theing week, best to give him options.¡± the king said.

 Chapter 247

    Chapter 247


    ¡°Wee to the final exam, this also marks the end of your first year at the Academy.¡± Professor Silvertongue said as he entered the ss. ¡°Before we begin does anyone have any questions?¡±


    ¡°How are the grades going to be imparted since the teams aren¡¯t equally bnced?¡± The question was asked without fail every year as not everyone was informed by their family or backers.


    ¡°While each team will have an examiner following them, they will be grading each and every one of you individually.¡± Professor Silvertongue exined. ¡°Your individual contribution as part of the team will be scored for your results. I do hope that those of you who have tried to join people much stronger than yourselves have something to provide.¡±


    As this was an individual evaluation everyone was allowed to bring theirpanions with them. While bringing them was heavily encouraged they had all been warned that any who brought will have their dynamic with the bondedpanion subject to evaluation as part of the exam.


    ¡°If there are no more preliminary questions?¡± the professor said as he looked around the room. ¡°First order of business, Ajax will not be participating in this exam.¡±


    Ajax had been informed of this change beforehand so he wasn¡¯t at all surprised. From the looks of more than a few people they had also been informed or they had outright expected this to be the case.


    ¡°Why is he exempt from this?¡± The question was quick to follow the announcement.


    ¡°The exam requires you to tackle the dungeon in the most efficient way possible while maintaining personal and team safety¡± one of the proctors answered this time. ¡°It does not require you to take into ount the safety of other teams.¡±


    ¡°Leaving aside the imbnce that will be formed in any team that actually has Ajax as part of it, even having him by himself will make scoring the rest of you a nightmare as he will actively be hunting down everything around him in moments.¡± the professor said, ¡°Not to even mention that his most efficient route at this point will be to simply trigger the obelisk from inside a cave or with his back to a cliff and simply kill everything as it rushes towards him.¡± Nobody had anything to say when that point was brought up. If they were taking the exam in the first floor of the Goldmine a simr strategy might be feasible from the top two teams, seeing as the Exam was not in the Goldmine and that the level of the enemies ranged from thirty to thirty-five everything changed drastically.


    ¡°Secondly, the entire team will be subject to a major point deduction should your scorer ever be forced to intervene to save any member of the team.¡± the professor continued.


    ¡°What if someone is purposefully trying to lower their team''s score?¡± Ajax very much agreed with the question.


    ¡°Then it will be a good thing that the rest of the team learned the lesson about properly vetting their team members and all it cost them was the score on the exam and not their lives.¡± one of the proctors gave the harsh response but it had the desired effect as everyone fell silent and reviewed their choices. ¡°That being said the teams aren¡¯t finalized until you set foot inside the dungeon.¡±


    Unlike most exams there was no such thing as a set group size, at most there was a ten person limit to the group sizes but everyone knew the maximum size was a pitfall that would make it impossible to show off enough for a good score. There was no lower limit however and someone could go in by themselves should they choose to do so.


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    ¡°Thirdly : should the floor take on the feeder variant, a three day limit shall be ced on the exam. Otherwise there will be no time limit, though a penalty will start to umte should the team not leave in an appropriate time frame.¡± the professor continued. ¡°And it saddens me that this has to be pointed out, not to mention that I will be actively trying to expel any who fall under this category but if you any one you persist in remaining in the exam past the point where your scores have dropped to zero as a result of overstaying your examiner will notify your team to simply leave the dungeon.¡±


    Abbot Silvertongue was particrly peeved on this point as there had actually been a team to do just that the year he had taken the exam, the annoyance he felt at waiting an extra two weeks for the exam results because of them was something he still hadn¡¯t managed to fully forget.


    With all of that out of the way the entire ss started making their way towards the dungeon entrance. It could be argued that some of the students weren¡¯t quite ready to delve the stronger of the capital''s two dungeons, having started the year as level twenty-threes some had only managed to improve three levels meaning they could end up with a nine level difference.


    At the same time some of them had progressed as many as five levels after starting at twenty-four. Despite most ssmates starting with a two level difference at most at the start of the first year in the academy the gap had been known to increase as high as ten levels by the third year between the highest and lowest in the ss.


    ¡°Are youing to cheer us on?¡± Benedict asked Ajax as he moved together with the ss towards the dungeon.


    ¡°No,¡± Ajax denied. ¡°That was the initial n I had in mind, but my house was given the delve slot after the exam so I will be making use of that.¡±


    ¡°I still don¡¯t get how you delve so often through random dungeon floors.¡± Lexiined. ¡°You go every chance you get, with both crafter and clearance teams. Don¡¯t you get tired of delving?¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t be going past the first floor today either.¡± Ajax tried to reassure her. ¡°I¡¯m just taking some of the potential retainers my brother and his wife have managed to round up for a trial delve.¡±


    ¡°I still think you spend way too much time in the dungeons.¡± Lexi said, it was a point of view that was shared by both Sam and Silvia. Ajax had only managed to appease them by telling them he will be halving the time he spent delving once the Academy took a break seeing as he won¡¯t be joining the ss delves every cycle.


    ¡°Is that Theron?¡± Benedict asked as he spotted the bull beastkin that stood two heads taller than most of the crowd. ¡°How did you manage to convince him to join you? I know for a fact a few other houses were aiming for him.¡±


    ¡°Talked with him after our fight, made a small wager about me being able to crush the rest of the tournament in a simr manner to what I did to him" Ajax admitted openly.


    ¡°It could be argued that you didn¡¯t outright stomp the semifinals and the finals.¡± Anna jumped in, analyzing the situation from a merchant''s point of view. One that she was familiar with as a lot of betting houses had been having the same argument, each betting house taking the side that cost them the least money overall. Some even trying to argue both sides with different customers.


    ¡°He said it was good enough, but that I¡¯d have to make sure his terms were a bit better since it was a bit murky.¡± Ajax said, he had been d the bull beastkin had not only made the choice to join his house, despite being able to argue against it, but that he was also smart enough to try and gouge them for a better deal.


    ¡°Is that Fluffy?¡± Lexi quickly locked on to the massive shadow cat bringing the discussion to a halt.


    She had of course had a chance to see Fluffy back during Ajax¡¯s party but at that time she was not just the granddaughter of duke Manashaper but the representative of House Manashaper and it would have been unseemly for her to y around with a bond instead of conversing with other nobles.


    This was not a restriction she was under now as she took off like a shot straight towards the massive ck feline under the curious gaze of the rest of the ss.


    ¡°Fluffy!¡± she eximed as she threw her arms around the neck of the beast. ¡°You¡¯ve grown up so much! Do you remember me? I was there around the time you got your bond.¡±


    Despite Fluffy having grown in size and power he was still very much a young kitten in spirit as it took him only a few moments to recognize Lexi from as the girl who would fawn over him every time Tom took him into themand tent before he flipped down on his belly and managed to score himself a few treats from her spatial storage.


    ¡°Those are your rations for the exam, you shouldn¡¯t be giving them to Fluffy.¡± Anna chastised her best friend. It came across as very hypocritical as she herself had also sneaked Fluffy arge steak from her own provisions.


    While Fluffy was getting reacquainted with Lexi and Anna, Ajax had gotten to thanking the potential retainers foring. He had already met them once for an interview but was now getting a much bettery of thend as they were now fully geared up for a delve.

 Chapter 248

    Chapter 248


    Both groups swiftly merged as they started to make their way towards the dungeon. Ajax¡¯s entire ss had their eyes trained on Fluffy. An elemental attuned inferior version of a feline or a wolf is considered the peak as a startingpanion.


    While Fluffy is far too young to be considered optimal as well as surpassing being an inferior version, his current age does represent what a mature inferior version like his parents were. This added on to the yful personality he disyed towards Anna and Lexi on top of his soft coat made him the centre of attention.


    While the rest of his ssmates were fawning over the shadow cat, Tom introduced Ajax to all the possible retainers and there was quite a lot to be said about the variety he was presented with. In terms of strength not a single one of the guards could stand up to Theron, this despite half of them being older than eighty with a strong focus on Vitality.


    One of the former guards did stand out to him however. Ogre, was theplete opposite of his namesake. He was a slim man with sharp eyes and was the only one to notice that Ajax had used [Judge Threat] on them. That isn¡¯t to say that he managed to stop the skill, however the result did surprise Ajax.


    Ogre¡¯s power level was around level thirty-five, one of the lowest of all the guards present and certainly no threat to Ajax. Oddly enough the skill also imparted the feeling that the man was slippery, most likely a stealth specialist that would even give Ajax trouble. He was naturally a dedicated scout.


    Where the guard recruits were more mediocre, as a result of all who were slightly talented usually having already joined a different house, the two healer recruits that Kate had managed to persuade were not only younger but seemed to be decently talented, not only that but they were also younger and as such had more time to grow in their potential.


    Once they finally entered the dungeon Ajax could see the change in all of the former guards. Despite theirck of outstanding talent all of them did have plenty of experience with dangerous situations as a result of a long service as part of the capitals guards.


    Fluffy did seem a little upset that Tom would have to remain outside, his level simply not being high enough to safely enter the dungeon. While Tom was slightly underleveled for the dungeon Fluffy was already strong enough to head towards the next floor so Ajax sent the feline forward together with Ogre to scout for them.


    It was here that the dungeon flooryout proved problematic for Ogre. Despite his high Perception and a long time spent practising his skills, he had very little experience in how to scout through the tall grass on the hilly open nes. His skill could barely find any footing to grasp onto the structured tunnels dug underground by snakes, spiders or rats. Ajax could only sigh as they didn¡¯t get the feeder floor variant. The extra levels the creatures would gain would be a good opportunity to allow for a small increase in difficulty without having to go up a full floor. Not only that but he would have been able to make a good impression on the potential recruits by sending them all home with a sack full of high quality meat from the rabbits as the floor ended.


    Theron was quick to show his prowess once the first battle began. The bull beastkin had managed to catch a decent size snake by the back of the head mid leap with his massive size. Even more impressive was the fact that he looked to be squeezing the life out it.


    The rest of the guards also showed their expertise, their teamwork was wless as they formed a solid perimeter around the two healers making sure nothing could get to them. Their experience protecting civilians during brawls showed as they didn¡¯t let a single rat break through their formation.


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    Whereas the healers had a lot more potential it quickly became clear that they didn¡¯t have all the neededbat experience, their only known tactics being to close ranks with Ajax as he was the only mage currently present.


    Ajax didn¡¯t make a single motion to join the fight. The people here were stronger than needed to handle the first floor and he was mainly here to observe them and would only interfere under dire circumstances.


    Just as the rat numbers were starting to lower Ajax started hearing odd whistlesing from somewhere. Oddly enough he could only narrow down the general direction, he should probably look into working on his tacking skills once more as he had neglected them ever since he had first spent his free stat points.


    The whistles were obviouslying from Ogre and the rest of the guards properly changed their formation to intercept iing attacks. Theron stood out like a sore thumb whenpared to the practised movements of the rest of the guards. Despite his massive size and power he wasn¡¯t getting anywhere close to his full efficiency being unused to fighting as part of a group.


    The first wave swiftly ended and Ajax noticed that it wasrger than the usual packs that this floor was covered with. Despite that the beast all came in as a smooth flow instead of as a crushing wave and he counted enough there to mark three full groups.


    Once the fighting was over the healers finally had a chance to show their own skills. With most of the beasts being rats and moles each guard had more than one or two scratches to show for it but none of them were deep. It took barely a cast to have all of the wounds swiftly close up but Ajax noticed that there wasn¡¯t anything done for the small amount of blood loss. That wouldn¡¯t be an issue with how small the wounds were now but it was something to keep track of.


    From morning until night the group had fought through another five more simr battles. They mostly yed out the same way but with every single encounter Theron was getting more and more included into the team dynamic.


    Their first attempt at including him had ended in an almost disaster as they tried to include the beastkin into their formation as a normal guard. Theron¡¯s size and fighting style however did not mesh well with the tight formation and ended with more than a few close calls where Theron''s heavy blow cut cleanly through the rat hound sized rat but the blow carried forward embedding the axe into the shield of the guard next to him.


    Their formation evolved from there to a more wavy circle shield formation that sported Theron on the outside, this let the bull charge around the circle formation and attack any beat from the side while the rest of the guards made sure nothing attacked him from behind.


    Ajax¡¯s first show of magic came when the light dimmed and the dungeon turned to night. He quickly used his ability to summon magma and water to create arge solid ne on which they set up their camp. Not only that but Ajax also stored all the provisions for this trip in his spatial storage.


    Tom had told Ajax that he was only looking to recruit about half of the guards he had brought today, those that hadn¡¯t yet given up on advancing in level and were still looking to push. A few of them were clearly done with progressing and were now only looky for a cushy job to partially retire on.


    The night had been uneventful with nothing trying to get at them and everyone changing shifts without too muchining. The one problem that did creep up on them was that Theron snored loudly, not only that but he had also been part of the first shift meaning that after he fell asleep everyone else also had a much harder time doing so. Ajax made a note to ensure there were some silencing runes ced on Theron''s tent for next time.


    The second day yed out much differently than the first. The team had only gone through two fights before they had reached the obelisk. It was there that Ajax had them set up a defensive position in a cave and told the healers to look into restoring the blood the guards had lost.


    Most of the team looked a little worried when Ajax activated the obelisk despite arge portion of the floor still not being cleared.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take care of most of them, take up a defensive position just in case a few run past me.¡± Ajax said as he strode to the front of the cave.


    All of the guards shared a few concerned looks with both healers going a little pale when they started seeing the wave of rodents rush towards them. The only one calm and collected beside Ajax was Theron.


    ¡°He¡¯s got this.¡± therge beastkin reassured them.


    What followed next was something that left a deep impression in the minds of the guards and the two healers as Ajax perceded to single handedlyy waste to everything the dungeon threw at him.


    Both Tom and Kate had told them that Ajax was special but there was a difference between being told and being shown. His weird fighting stylebined with the fluent change from one element to the other was a mesmerising experience. Their trance was only broken by the thunderp that came from Ajax¡¯s final and overcharged lightning spell that finished off thest of the beasts using therge puddle he had spread in front of the cave.


    ¡°That should be¡­ all of them.¡± Ajax heaved out, despite not getting hit he had run through most of his mana as well as a good two thirds of his stamina. ¡°We can¡­ head out.¡±

 Chapter 249

    Chapter 249


    Ajax could still make out the hushed whispers that the rest of his team were trying to slip by him as they headed towards the exit of the dungeon, his performance at the end seemed to have convinced at least one of the two healers that his house would be a good one to join, especially if they could get in before it grew. This would be the shortest delve Ajax had ever been on,sting only a day and a half in total to clear out the first floor of the dungeon before leaving.


    With a simple nod after exiting Ajax let the guards know that they cleared the floor and there was nothing expecting toe out the arch. A closer look at the battlements that surrounded the dungeon brought back one of the final lessons he had been given in his first year at the academy.


    ¡°Champion and hero always somehow end up dying in battle.¡± Professor Silvertongue had said. ¡°This would normally convince the strongest to hide their strength out of a desire to live longer but that is not the case.¡±


    Ajax remembered the confusion he had felt back then as he took in theyout that was officially there to keep anything froming out of the dungeon and into the capital.


    ¡°The absolute strongest teams in the kingdom will always be left at the capital.¡± Professor Silvertongue had said. ¡°Their post will be to safeguard the dungeon entrances. Because one of the worst things that can happen is a level one hundred and sixty enemy fighter getting inside and unleashing a whole floor of level one hundred and forties or fifties in the heart of the capital.¡±


    The idea hadn¡¯t even entered Ajax''s mind until that lesson but it made perfect sense. Any country on the edge of ruing could attempt to simply ruin the capital of their opponent by unleashing a full floor of high leveled creatures and all it would take is one man.


    ¡°The whole reason why the Republic managed to establish a peace contract with all four of its neighbors in under a decade of the first treaty being signed is that their top talent revealed themselves to be a level one hundred and ny stealth specialist.¡± The professor had exined.


    That¡¯s what Ajax wanted for himself. One person that had enough personal power that it could make a whole kingdom wary of them. And best of all it seemed like the royal family was nning for the same as it actively looked for ways to help him push himself further faster.


    ¡°Thank you all foring.¡± Ajax said once they cleared the dungeon defensive surrounding. ¡°My brother and Kate will be getting in touch with most of you in the next few days. It was a pleasure to meet you all.¡± Ajax was careful not to indicate to any of them except Theron who was already epted that he was leaning towards epting them. After a quick goodbye he headed towards the small outpost the school had outside the dungeon for the delving examinations.


    ¡°Anyone made it out yet?¡± Ajax asked his instructor Gatecrasher who he saw waiting outside the dungeon battlements.


    ¡°Not just yet. It¡¯s only been a day.¡± Instructor Gatecrasher responded. ¡°I¡¯m surprised you got out so quickly.¡±


    ¡°Today was as much about drawing them in as it was about testing them.¡± Ajax exined. ¡°I cleaned up a good portion of the floor by activating the obelisk.¡±


    With a quick goodbye Ajax headed straight back home. When he got there he was surprised by the small surprise party that had been prepared for him. Besides his family both Luna and Hatched were also in attendance, as well as Theron who had somehow gotten there not only faster than him but also without him noticing. Despite him graduating the first year at the academy, as well as any other year to be fair, being a foregone conclusion at this point it still felt nice to celebrate.


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    ¡°Any of them catch your eye?¡± his brother had asked him after the party had run its course and they were thest ones awake in the middle of the night.


    ¡°The scout¡­¡± Ajax slurred out having had a bit too much to drink and trusting his [Poison Resistance] a bit too much. ¡°Ogre.¡±


    ¡°He is a crafty one, that''s for sure.¡± Tom said as he nodded. ¡°We¡¯re lucky to be getting him even if he is a bit old for his level.¡±


    ¡°How are we getting him anyway?¡± Ajax asked. ¡°There has to be others that want someone with his experience if nothing else.¡± Finding someone with that much city scouting experience was valuable even if they were close to past their prime and low level.


    ¡°Same way we are getting anyone besides Theron interested.¡± Tom answered as he swayed a little himself. ¡°We are still a small enough house that we offer family inclusion to all. Ogre was a bit of a yboy for most of his life. Only got tied down a year ago and he¡¯s got a kid on the way. We¡¯re the best chance he can give that kid.¡±


    Having a noble house promise that your family will be taken care of even should something happen to you was something only very talented people usually got and it was the promise that paved the way for new houses to gather any retainers at all.


    ¡°How many of them are joining us after all?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°Five.¡± Tom said. ¡°Possibly seven if the healers decide to tag along.¡±


    ¡°One of them seemed sure they were going to as we were leaving the dungeon. The other could go either way.¡± Ajax said.


    ¡°That¡¯s not a bad start.¡± Tom said with a nod. ¡°I¡¯ll have my work cut out for me turning them from guards into retainers, especially since I have no experience of what that entails.¡±


    ¡°Any news about the Collectors?¡± Ajax prodded.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t approached them yet. They¡¯re still getting their feet under them in the capital.¡± Tom said.


    ¡°Is it taking them that long?¡± Ajax was surprised. ¡°I know they are more adaptable than that.


    ¡°They haven¡¯t been in the capital as long as you have.¡± Tom said. ¡°A month after they arrived they took off again with a contingent from House Goldmancer. Everyone is saying they did a round to all the dungeons inside the kingdom and got boosted for some extra stat points. But that long a journey took them months. They¡¯ve only been back for four months now.¡±


    ¡°That makes sense, I should look into doing a round like that as well sometime, maybe next summer break.¡± Ajax pondered aloud as he took another gulp of his drink.


    It was close to sunrise by the time Ajax and Tom had dragged themselves to bed. This was the first time since Ajax hade to the capital that he finally rxed and simply enjoyed himself without worrying about the future for a while.


    It was past noon by the time Ajax woke upter that day. He had a pounding headache as he washed himself and grabbed a small lunch before he headed off to the dungeon. He had nned to show up early in the morning and wait with instructor Gatecrasher for his ssmates to finish the exam for the next few days, butst night''s surprise party had gotten in the way of that.


    ¡°Still haven¡¯t had anyone finish?¡± Ajax asked surprised as he got there.


    ¡°Not yet, we usually have a team that drops out by this point and theye out early but maybe everyone will pass this year.¡± instructor Gatecrasher said.


    The dungeon delve exam was the only one of the three exams that a student could fail without having them be kicked out of the academy. The tournament was too luck dependent to count losing a round as a failure and most people could put up enough of a fight that almost nobody ever failed that exam. The written exam was given in such a way that a low level ofmon knowledge was required to gain a passing mark with the higher grades requiring exponentially more. All who failed the delve exam still passed the year but if they failed two years in a row they would be kicked out all the same.


    It was close to dusk by the time the first team came out of the dungeon. Unlike their pristine and clean gear when they went in Ajax could see the scratches and teeth marks that the rats and ferrets had left of them. Most telling of all however Ajax could see that three out of four sported multiple twin holes in key areas of the body.


    ¡°First group to be eliminated.¡± the examiner said as he brought up the rear. ¡°They all pass though.¡±


    Thatst remark made the frowns all of them were sporting vanish in an instant as they started congratting each other.


    ¡°Any key remarks?¡± the instructor asked.


    ¡°Yeah, they need to be exposed to more monster variety.¡± They got so used to the defensive fighting of the wolves, stags and griffins as well as the humanoid style of the kobolds that all four of them were poisoned in the first two hours by the hidden ambush style of the snakes.¡±


    The words were like a bucket of cold water dropped on their heads, though that did little more than internalize their joy at passing the exam.


    ¡°They solidly dealt with pushing forward after getting poisoned and managed it well but even the antivenom wasn¡¯t enough as they kept getting bit.¡± the examiner continued. ¡°They were smart and realized that much on their own and retreated before theirbat ability was toopromised.¡±


    That was the only team toe out of the dungeon today and Ajax returned home and got to bed at a reasonable hour determined to show up in the morning the next day.

 Chapter 250

    Chapter 250


    Teams continued to exit the dungeon every couple of hours for the next two days. Depending on the skill of the team they would have more or less scratches covering the armor, some even sporting some partially healed wounds. The one constant Ajax had noticed however was that all teams had at least half their members with snakes bites on their ankles.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, by the second half of next year we¡¯ll start delving the second floor of the Goldmine, that should help with theirck of experience.¡± instructor Gatercrasher said as he noticed where Ajax was looking.


    ¡°Ajax, good to see you here.¡± Professor Silvertongue said as he also came by. ¡°Your delve tomorrow will be thest one you will be doing as my teaching assistant until the next year starts, you¡¯ll of course be weed on delves just as usual in between but you¡¯ll be doing that as part of the group not as a guest.¡±


    While the difference between delving as a guest and delving as part of the team wasn¡¯t all that big it did mean that Ajax would no longer have a few of the benefits he currently did, most notably his right of refusal on iming anything that he killed or found as part of his share at the end of the dungeon.


    ¡°Well there we have it, the perfect delve.¡± Instructor gatecrasher eximed as he inspected Anna¡¯s and Lexi¡¯s team. ¡°Not a single scratch on you.¡±


    Ajax couldn¡¯t say that he didn¡¯t expect this as both of the mages had exceptional gear and a good head on their shoulders to go with their strong magic it was still very impressive.


    ¡°Hmm, it does look like the battle for first ce will not be as close as usual this time around.¡± professor Silvertongue said as he looked over the scores.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be so sure, Benedict, Rick and the prince aren¡¯t back yet.¡± instructor Gatecrasher said.


    As the words left his mouth Ajax spotted the trio approaching them. While their gear was in very good condition and none of them looked to have taken any serious hits, a few marks here and there could be seen from an errant w strike. ¡°It does seem like I was wrong.¡± the professor said as he took a look at the team''s results. ¡°Maybe this year will be even closer than most.¡±


    With all the calctions done however it did seem like the test had ended with Benedict, Rick and the prince winning by a not insignificant amount.


    ¡°I will have to talk with the headmaster a little about these point values.¡± the professor muttered as he looked over the results with Ajax. ¡°There should be different scoring sections for physical fighters, mages and hybrids.¡±


    Ajax very much agreed with the statement. Benedict¡¯s team won mostly because they were a three man group with one and a half physical fighters, this allowed them to keep pushing further and getting a lot more kills than the other teams who had at most on physical fighter. The biggest problem however came from how little the perfect delve counted for Anna and Lexi. For a mage not taking a single hit was a lot more important and should be scored higher.


    The whole ss had managed to finish with the delve by the second day and all of them had decided to go to a tavern and celebrate. Ajax had joined them but he had learnt a lesson from his own recent celebration and had called it quits early in the evening as he still had a delve scheduled for tomorrow.


    ¡°We should really look into getting you a uniform.¡± Trevor II said as he saw Ajax join them. ¡°I¡¯ve led more delves with you as part of the team than without.¡±


    Ajax really did feel like part of the team, he had already synergised with the team, added on to his [Teamwork] skill and Ajax reacted as part of the team to set up everyone else and cover for them. Theck of skill did mean that the rest of the team wasn¡¯t on quite the same level when covering for Ajax but they were getting closer with every delve.


    ¡°What do you say boss, should we go up a floor?¡± one of the frontliners asked. ¡°I want to see what a level seventy can do.¡±


    The man was quickly booed for making such a suggestion. With the exception of Ajax the rest of the team¡¯s average level was in the early sixties. With their gear and enhancements they would definitely be able to clear out another floor up if it housed regr monsters.


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    The issue was that as they were pushing higher more and more creatures were now avable to the dungeon to popte its floors with. While humanoids were the most bnced of the races, with monsters sacrificing intelligence in exchange for stats, things like elementals were a whole different matter. Elementals sacrificed a big weakness for nket protection.


    A water elemental was extremely weak to cold magic as well as lightning magic , but in exchange it did decent against other types of magic and was nearly immune to physical attacks. Getting another mirror world floor at level seventy would be all but a death sentence for the team to attempt.


    Once everyone was there and ready the team began its quick ent through the early levels. As much as Ajax found the process borning and wasteful when he was delving with the pushing team he knew just how important it was for the crafting teams as they collected different ingredients from different floors. The mana concentration difference in the ingredients did start to cause issues if there was a more than two floor difference between them but that extra level of challenge did wonders for increasing skill level.


    Nothing much happened as they climbed up towards the eighth floor, the only thing of note was the arch boss on the fourth floor being extractable, allowing them to store the twenty foot long snake corpse into a storage ring to be taken out of the dungeon. The snake was an ambush predator and Ajax wanted to get a hold of that level forty-five shadow infused core for Fluffy as part of his split.


    The other big discovery was a massive diamond the size of a fist that one of their scouts found on the seventh floor. That was surely going to cause an argument between house Silvertongue¡¯s smiths who could use it to purify the mana in their forge and enchanters who could use it as the core of a powerful staff.


    ¡°Looks like it''s going to be easy to clear.¡± the same cock frontliner eximed after their first few encounters into the jungle themed eighth floor.


    Ajax had to bite his tongue as every ounce of his being wanted to chide the man for jinxing them. He knew it was very superstitious and that jinxing didn¡¯t really exist as many times when things had been jinxed they had gone perfectly fine. That wasn¡¯t how the human mind worked however as every instance of jinxing that had gone wrong instantly jumped to the forefront of his mind as soon as he heard the words.


    The jungle floor had a ratherplex ecosystem where they encountered lizards, fishes in rivers, small birds that could maneuver throughout the treeline and, most annoying of all, monkeys.


    Despite monkeys not being the strongest of the creatures, their habit of throwing their shit as their primary engagement method quickly brought them to the top of the eradication list.


    ¡°Anyone else think something fishy is going on here?¡± Ajax asked on the third day as they worked their way killing throughout the floor.


    From the start of the floor Ajax hadn¡¯t seen a single boss monster. The arch guardians were usually slightly empowered versions of the monsters themselves yet Ajax hadn¡¯t seen a single one since the floor started.


    ¡°I think this is what they call a swarm floor.¡± one of their healers shared their opinion.


    Different floor models started to appear as one ventured deeper into the dungeon. Besides the regr floor and the environment there were multiple others, though hitting a swarm type floor was a one in fifty chance at level sixty-five. Not only that but Ajax felt that the numbers of enemies were too low for it to be a swarm floor.


    ¡°My first time seeing one.¡± Trevor chimed in. ¡°I have to say that it doesn¡¯t feel like there are that many more monsters than usual. But it could be because of the dense vegetation that makes each encounter so separated from the next.¡±


    ¡°Lone humanoid approaching.¡± one of their scouts returned to warn them.


    ¡°Humanoids on this floor as well, I have to say it has a lot of variety.¡± Trevor said as he waited for more information.


    ¡°Fox beastkin from the looks of it.¡± The second scout came in. ¡°Female, wielding a staff, white hair and fur that ends in red coloring at the end.¡±


    ¡°Careful with her speed and watch out for freights, foxes are tricky.¡± Trevor reiterated, the one good part about dungeon beastkin was that they actually resembled their beast side. ¡°Open with a volley.¡±


    Both Ajax and the other two archers loaded their arrows and fired the moment they had visual of the humanoid. Oddly enough however instead of dodging the fox beastking simply raised their hand as a mana shield shimmered into existence and the arrows bounced off. The front line was ready to charge the caster when the beastkin took a fighting stance and red her twin tails, one to each side.


    ¡°RUN!¡± Trevor instantly shouted as his face paled looking at the kitsune. ¡°Everyone clear line to the arch, we¡¯re getting out of here now!¡±


    Even Ajax felt the pressure as mana started to surge towards the kitsune. ¡°What were the fucking chances¡± Ajax swore as the whole team ran for the arch. ¡° Getting a floor boss at level sixty-five is a one in ten thousand.¡±


    Despite the extremely low chance to spawn everyone on the team knew about floor bosses. Most often taking the form humanoid beastkin with extremely developed beast sides or additionally evolved monsters. They became a staple of every floor after the top monster level reached one hundred and only spawned after half the floor had been cleared out.


    ¡°Why couldn¡¯t it have been a minotaur?¡± one of the teamined as they all ran. ¡°That one we at least had a chance with.¡±


    Floor bosses were known for their abilities to take on whole teams but kitsunes were known as team killers. Very few people had the required defensive measures to pierce the illusions they used and their mystical mes had always had fire mages looking on enviously.


    The whole team had managed to make it to the entrance. Thankfully despite their insane mastery over mana, kitsunes were slow. One after another the team piled through the arching out the other side heaving.


    ¡°Iing¡­ eighth floor¡­ a quarter or so left uncleared, jungle theme.¡± Trevor heaved out towards the guard. ¡°There¡¯s a¡­ two tailed kitsune¡­ with them.¡±


    The guard had been listening from the moment Trevor started reporting but at the word kitsune he quickly straightened up and started calling out orders. Ajax felt the change as everyone waiting in line was pushed back further than usual and a team strong enough that [Judge Threat] had four out of five of them as : they will kill you quickly, with thest one being immune to the skill as a whole.

 Chapter 251

    Chapter 251


    Ajax and his team had made it past the security barrier that had appeared to surround the arch, isting everyone but the team of five from the arch as they prepared to handle the uing floor boss.


    It only took a minute more before the first jungle creatures started to pour out of the arch. To call what happened to them anything but a ughter would not do it justice as waves of mes erupted and turned all of them to ash.


    The arrival of the kitsune was memorable as the wave of orange mes suddenly gathered around the floor boss¡¯s silhouette before they turned green and blue exploding outwards. The five man team were quick to gather behind the massive tower wall shield of their guardian.


    Ajax watched in awe as the ephemeral mestched on to the barrier. His [Sense Mana] told him clearly that the mes weren¡¯t actually doing any physical damage to the barrier but were instead burning the barrier mold. He could feel as the mes focused in small areas looking to make a hole.


    The five guardians were quick to respond, as soon as the mes passed them their archer quickly shot the arrow he had drawn back. Ajax could even keep track of the arrow as it cut through the air but he clearly felt as the kitsune put up a manashield to block it. The arrow shattered the shield but the trajectory of the arrow sent tilted sending it into the kitsune¡¯s shoulder instead of her heart.


    The floor boss¡¯s next move even left him confused as the boss split into multiple copies of itself, all of them looking identical as they spread out. He logically knew from his previous information that these weren¡¯t actual clones but an illusion, yet nothing he had could tell the difference. His [Sense Mana], [Judge Threat], even his [Mana Syphon] felt like it could pull mana from all of the kitsune¡¯s present.


    The protection team was clearly suffering the same issue as him as the swords went cleanly through illusion after illusion, their spells not being able to take any of them. The only one to seem different was the archer as his second arrow cleanly sunk into the kitsune¡¯s leg. Ajax assumed he had a way of tracking his previous arrow and picked out the correct target that way.


    Ajax¡¯s enjoyment of the fight quickly disappeared as the first holes in the barrier finally appeared, not from the fire damage but from the barrier structure no longer being there. Had he been able to focus on the holes he would have seen the barrier trying to pump mana into them only for it to be released harmlessly into the surroundings.


    Ajax¡¯s focus was quickly brought back onto himself as his sense of bnce all but disappeared. If he thought walking had been difficult a few days back when he had gotten drunk, he could even stand on his feet as he felt the world start spinning quickly. He quickly activated his [Mana Syphon] but all it did was weaken the illusion to the point where he could bring himself up on one knee. Ajax had barely had enough time to get his bearing again, looking around at all the people who had also dropped from the mass illusion that was released before its effectspletely disappeared. A quick nce towards the arch let him see the kitsune¡¯s head flying through the air, the body crumbling beneath the body of a ted warrior wielding a two handed sword.


    The fight couldn¡¯t have taken longer than ten seconds. The level difference between the party and the floor boss was toorge for it to truly stand a chance. The power of a floor boss was something that was no longer just information given to him. Kitsune¡¯s definitely deserved their name as team killers as Ajax looked around to see people still on the floor more than a few of the puking from the illusion assault on their senses.


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    ¡°Everyone, okay?¡± Ajax asked the rest of the team as he stood back up.


    ¡°Good as can be expected.¡± Trevor answered as he slowly got to his feet as well. ¡°I see now why the illusion protection enchantment is mandatory for anyone delving floors with levels into the nies.¡±


    The chance for a floor boss to spawn quickly grew, from a one in a hundred thousand at level sixty to a one in two at ny five and a sure thing once levels reached the triple digits. All floor bosses were specialized with few and small weaknesses, but one thing they all had inmon was that they were apt in dealing withrge groups of people.


    ¡°Ugh, did we have to get a kitsune though?¡± another one of their party membersined as they got to their feet. ¡°Why not give us a monster variant, something we could fight.¡±


    ¡°Stopining.¡± Trevor said. ¡°We got lucky, it could have been an elemental variant or worse yet a werewolf.¡±


    Elemental floor bosses were a lot weaker individually than their counterparts but they had the nasty effect of instantly changing the entire floor to an environmental one based on their element. This sometimes came with nastybos like a water floor with a lightning elemental.


    Ajax shivered slightly as he thought about a werewolf variant. While it might make for an actually favorable matchup for him in particr, the werewolf had had its secondary focus on speed with a primary one on its venom. If the venom was anything on the level of the illusion powers of a kitsune Ajax could see why nearly all encounters with that boss variant ended in at least one casualty.


    ¡°What the hell happened to it?¡± Ajax subconsciously muttered as he approached the edge of the barrier where he could see bits and pieces of the enchantment melted from the stone it was inscribed on.


    ¡°Spirit fire.¡± The mage from the guardian team said with a mix of disgust and admiration. ¡°It doesn¡¯t burn anything on a physical level, it instead burns through the raw mana and any connection it forms. One of the beastkin champions had managed to get the Legendary Affinity about two thousand years ago. No mages fighting them could use shields on the army out of fear the shield would be hit by it and burn them from the inside out. Nasty stuff.¡±


    ¡°Did you happen to lose anyone?¡± the mage asked with a measure of concern one she got a look at the crest most of the teams had.


    ¡°All of us made it out.¡± Trevor answered. ¡°Thankfully we had a clear run away from the boss and towards the arch, if anyone had been close enough to it that they got hit with that illusion we would have had to leave them behind.¡±


    ¡°A kitsune in a jungle floor, without an illusion enchantment.¡± the mage shook her head. ¡°If you were even one floor higher the range on the illusion would have been big enough that some of you might have been in range on sight.¡±


    ¡°If the spirit fire is already legendary, then would that illusion be simr to what a Mythic skill would be like?¡± Ajax asked, still looking at the burn marks on the stone. He was trying to remember how the mes felt in his mana sense but the illusion had hit him before he had a chance to get more than a moment to feel it.


    ¡°People have imed that but nobody¡¯s seen a Mythic skill in their life.¡± the mage said. ¡°Speaking of the illusion, how did you resist it? I saw it take a hold on you fully, so it wasn¡¯t a passive skill but you somehow weakened it, enough to start getting up.¡±


    ¡°I gained [Illusion Resistance].¡± Ajax said, and while he wasn¡¯t lying as he had in fact gotten the skill, his first Umon resistance skill both of them knew that wasn¡¯t all there was to it. Not only that Ajax had also gotten the rare skill [Impervious Senses]. He wasn¡¯t going to mention that or his [Mana Syphon] however.


    ¡°I see.¡± the mage nodded and let the matter drop.


    With that the entire protection team quickly made their exit, returning to their surveince duty. Ajax and the Silvertongue team did much the same, though a few of them were still wobbly on their feet much like the rest of the crowd.


    ¡°It¡¯s not my fault.¡± the scoutined as they were making their way out.


    ¡°Oh yes it is.¡± one of the top mages said. ¡°It¡¯s just like you to find a diamond the size of your fist and the moment you take it out of the dungeon you throw up on it.¡±


    ¡°You threw up as well.¡± the scoutined.


    ¡°I did, but did you notice how none of it got on my bags or gear.¡± the mage boasted.


    ¡°That¡¯s because you fell on your front with your face to one side.¡± the scoutined.


    ¡°Yes I did so skillfully.¡± the mage countered as he rubbed the small bruise forming on his chin.


    Ajax agreed with the scout that it had all been down to luck that the mage hadn¡¯t soiled himself, but that didn¡¯t mean that he mentioned that or that he skipped out on the good natured jokes made at the scout¡¯s expense.

 Chapter 252

    Chapter 252


    The encounter with a floor boss had Ajax change his focus now that he had a few months all to himself while the academy let out for break. After seeing just how powerful a floor boss was he had first looked into traveling, the kingdom had two more dungeons and he didn¡¯t want to waste the first floor stats by clearing itter. This turned out to not be that big of a challenge, both the other dungeons had their base floors cover level thirty-four to thirty-nine nad thirty-five to forty, this along with a floor jump of eleven and fifteen respectively made the dungeons all but forgotten, but it also meant he could be level forty-one at the highest and still get those extra stat points.


    Even with his new pace and hard work Ajax doubted he would get a whole eight levels in a single year. With the dungeon trip left by the wayside Ajax changed his focus to Alchemy and research. While he still maintained his daily training routine that just emptied his stamina and mana pools.


    His study in alchemy started to branch out. From his original focus on stat potions Ajax started to branch out into boss counter consumables as well. While there was nothing even close to the anti-illusion enchantment when it came to the kitsune, the same couldn¡¯t be said about other floor bosses. Elemental resistance potions were the top of that list and something that would be useful in any environmental floor as well.


    ¡°Why are you so obsessed with floor bosses?¡± Tom asked him one day.


    ¡°Because of how unique they are.¡± Ajax answered. ¡°I think that the dungeon grants all of them a Legendary skill as well as a pseudo-Mythic one.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean by a pseudo-Mythic skill?¡± Tom questioned.


    ¡°The kitsune¡¯s illusions¡± Ajax said thinking back. ¡°I couldn¡¯t do anything to her illusions, but I could weaken the ones she ced directly on me. If they worked like a normal skill I should have either been able to affect both applications or neither. I think the dungeon restricts the Mythic skill it grants somehow.¡±


    ¡°That makes sense, still don¡¯t get why you are so interested in floor bosses.¡± Tom mentioned.


    ¡°It¡¯s not the pseudo-Mythic skill that I am interested in.¡± Ajax denies. ¡°As far as I can tell it is given to them like a racial skill, not something that would help me all that much. But the Legendary skills are true skills.¡±¡°I first learned how to use mana by copying monsters.¡± Ajax continued. ¡°I got my Legendary skill by trying to copy a high level monster, what if I can adapt some more of their Legendary skills? All I need is a chance to fight them and observe.¡±


    As far as he could tell from his research the biggest downside of the Legendary skills the floor bosses used was therge amount of mana, stamina or health they drained from the user. Floor bosses offset this by naturally having near bottomless reserves on resources naturally. But they would also fit well in his tool kit.


    ¡°How can you even tell that you¡¯ll be able to pick up those skills?¡± Tom was a little worried as it seemed his little brother was now actively looking to face floor bosses.


    This was where Ajax¡¯s answer got stuck in his throat. He had told his family about most of his secrets, the only one that remained was his inborn trait ¡®Divine Witness¡¯. It was one thing he didn¡¯t n on sharing with anyone.


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    ¡°I don¡¯t.¡± Ajax admitted in the end. ¡° But there are a lot of different floor bosses, I don¡¯t see why I wouldn¡¯t bepatible with one or two of them. Besides, it''s not like I am nning to go after them now.¡±


    This was a long term project he had started working on because he now had the time. One other thing Ajax was actively on the lookout for was any appearance of high level monster nests. Ajax knew that he wanted to try his hand at apanion but for that he would need one that was already partially grown or one that would quickly grow to catch up.


    Tom P.o.V.


    It still feels like I am letting Ajax down. I know he doesn¡¯t see it that way but it sure feels like it. At first I thought it was the whole nobility thing, then it was the end of the school year, but even now that he has some free time he is still pushing himself so hard.


    ¡°Do you know where I can find the collectors?¡± I asked the guild receptionist.


    With the indication given I made my way towards their table. This was the best thing I could do to lower the pressure on Ajax. Thankfully I had managed to get my hands on one of the guard¡¯s delve slots so I could set up this job as an interview.


    ¡°Hey Jones, how¡¯ve you been?¡± I ask the leader of the Collectors as I approach their table.


    ¡°You know this guy boss?¡± Bobby asks as he gets up in my face. He was doing a good job being intimidating seeing as he was a head and a half taller than me but he picked the wrong target.


    ¡°Yes the boss knows him¡± Nelly answers as she stands up and closes the distance to us. ¡° I know him, even you know him, so sit your ass back down.¡± with that she has to stretch but she manages to cuff the back of his head. ¡°How¡¯ve you been Tom?¡±


    ¡°Tom?¡± Bobby murmured a bit confused as he looked me up and down. ¡°Wait, Ajax¡¯s older brother Tom?!¡±


    ¡°One and the same.¡± Jones nodded to me with a smile. ¡°I¡¯ve been doing good Tom, not as well as you but then again few have.¡±


    ¡°Sorry about that.¡± Bobby said, sitting down and scratching the back of his head. ¡°Didn¡¯t recognise you with those clothes on, we¡¯ve been houndedtely by quite a few noble houses.¡±


    That I already knew. Once both houses Manashaper and Goldmancer made it clear they weren¡¯t looking to recruit the Collectors they had been swarmed with recruiting offers from all the small houses. Then again that was also partially why I was there.


    ¡°That¡¯s not all that unrted to why I am here.¡± I said, but the atmosphere turned more tense and serious once the words left my mouth.


    ¡°You¡¯re here to recruit us?¡± Jones asked with a small frown. ¡°I would have expected Ajax in that case, heard he did the delve with those guard recruits.¡±


    ¡°Ajax is already stretched thin.¡± I said trying to cover the guilt I felt at that. ¡°Only reason he could even do that much was because he was given a free pass on his delving exam at the Academy.¡±


    ¡°Anyway, I¡¯m not just here to ask you to join us.¡± I changed the topic. ¡°I¡¯m here with a request.¡±


    ¡°Oh, what have you got for us?¡± the frown disappeared from Jones¡¯s face.


    ¡°I have a delve slot, and I was looking to get the first floor stat point for both myself and one of our retainers.¡± I said as I slid the written request to Jones.


    ¡°You want us to join your House?¡± Nelly asked while Jones looked over the request. ¡°You know you¡¯re not the best offer we have.¡±


    ¡°Not in the short term, no.¡± I agree. ¡°But you¡¯ve all seen how Ajax improves and pushes, I think we are your best offer longer term. Not only that but you¡¯ve gotten to know pretty much all of us that half a year you spent delving with Ajax, do you trust any offer as much as you¡¯d trust ours.¡±


    ¡°Yes¡± Nelly said but then deted a little. ¡°But those offers aren¡¯t that much better than yours in the short term either.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t see how you¡¯ll kill a level thirty-five to meet the requirements for that stat point Tom.¡± Jones said as he finished reading the request.


    ¡°I got a trick for that.¡± I answered with a grin. ¡°Turns out you can have your familiar help you and you still get the point because of the link with the bond. As long as I do something besides sitting and watching I¡¯ll get the credit.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll definitely take the request, then,¡± Jones said. ¡°Any extra delve to the second floor is one we¡¯ll take, our new healer could use it.¡±


    Nelly¡¯s son was just a few years older than me and he had only managed to start delving a year ago just as Ajax left for the capital, I knew the team would want any extra delve they could get their hands on so they could help him catch up with them.


    ¡°Think of this request as an interview¡± I said as I stood up. ¡°Me and the beastkin will be the ones you¡¯ll have to work with if you decide to join us.¡±


    ¡°One more thing.¡± Jones said as I started to walk away. ¡°What¡¯s with the fancy clothes, I can¡¯t even me Bobby for not recognising you.¡±


    ¡°My grandparents insisted on it when I am out of the guard uniform.¡± I answered back to his grinning face, there was also no way I was going to admit that while my grandparents had insisted on my clothing it was also so much morefortable.

 Chapter 253

    Chapter 253


    Ajax¡¯s constant work and experimentation with Alchemy took most of a week before it finally paid off. His obsession with floor bosses led him to mixing all different sorts of nts in absolutely asininebinations, most leading to nothing more than a horrible tasting sludge. His sess came in one of the most unexpected forms however. Since their finances weren¡¯t yet all that solid Ajax was left to experiment with only in nts, none of them having an ounce of mana.


    Ajax¡¯s big discovery came in the way of a poison. Not just any ordinary poison, as his new skill informed Ajax [Alchemist¡¯s Examination] was his second inspection skill, unlike his [Judge Threat] however this one was Rare ranked and highly specialised. The skill worked best with potions, followed closely by alchemical ingredients, anything after that however was pretty much dead in the water, used on monsters or other people Ajax would only get their species.


    The poison Ajax had managed to brew had been his first ever Rare alchemical craft, [Minor Pacifist Royal(Rare)] his skill had informed him as he examined the result carefully. Minor was to be expected , it took a master to get anything of a higher grade than that when using mana deficit ingredients.


    The Pacifist Royal was a well known poison as one progressed up into higher levels bing one of the must have potions when delving into the higher floors of the dungeon. Though the name did a poor job of exining the concoction.


    The Pacifist Royal had a clear progression of symptoms when used on anyone of appropriate power for the grade it was made to. It started with headaches, stomachaches, diarrhea, severe shortness of breath and finally death. The symptoms were by no means mild but what was special about the poison was that it progressed through the symptoms only ording to the amount of poison ingested.


    The poison¡¯s other notable trait was that it disdained any other poison, essentially making the user immune to the same quantity of any other poison of the same grade. The poison¡¯s title came from the fact that it was one of the strongest broad range antidotes for weak to mediocre poisons, requiring an Epic poison to surpass it.


    ¡°Well ,that¡¯s something.¡± Ajax muttered as he grinned at his result.


    The recipe for the pacifist Royal was public, at least for the lesser version. The same was true for the non-lesser version. The greater and especially the major recipes however were guarded secrets to the few alchemists who could brew them.


    Ajax was sure that he wasn¡¯t the first to discover a way to brew the minor variant of the poison. The reason why this recipe wasn¡¯t being spread was most likely because its targeted range wasn¡¯t all that useful. The minor variant of the poison was only effective up to just before level thirty, this meant it wasn''t even useful in what was the first floor for most dungeons.Theron P.o.V


    It was a weight off my shoulders when I heard that already a second delve had been nned, not only that but that it would be one going to the second floor of the dungeon. I had been starting to doubt the decision of joining House Hearthbound after Lord Ajax had retreated into his training and alchemy after only doing a single delve.


    It did make sense however if I stayed and thought about it. Lord Ajax was far above my level, even the family pet was above me in strength, though the same could be said about most of the house members. There was no way someone on his level would consistently go with someone on mine.


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    The team that was joining us for this delve however were a much better match. I wasn¡¯t sure if the Collectors had agreed to formally join House Heathbound but from their interactions with Lord Tom it seemed that they were on good terms with the family.


    The Collectors were a very physically focused group, something trulymon when it came tomoner formed adventure teams. In fact it was surprising to see that they not only had their own healer but also a mage. From the looks of things however they were very capable people.


    Entering the first floor of the dungeon it doesn¡¯t take me long to find a boss level ferret and kill it. The fights had been even harder thest time I was here as back then I didn¡¯t have people stronger than me assuring a one on one fight.


    Much more interesting was to see Lord Tom and Fluffy fight their own boss threat. Despite the Systems loosening the rules when it came to contribution Lord Tom couldn¡¯t just rely on Fluffy to take care of the creature, he truly needed to take part in the fight.


    Their chosen opponent was a boss version of the snakes that could be found on this floor. Their tactic relied on Fluffy taking up most of the snake''s focus while Lord Tom tried to run interference from outside the snake¡¯s reach.


    Despite Lord Tom only being a couple of years younger than me the difference in our strength was easy to see. Even with this I could tell that he knew how to take advantage of his bondedpanion.


    The snake didn¡¯t stand much of a chance. It took Lord Tom three strikes before the snake made the fatal mistake of cing fluffy in its blind spot in order to strike out towards the person that was hammering on its tail with a literal hammer. From there Fluffy delivered the killing blow in moments.


    With the first floor of the dungeon out of the way it was finally time for the real reason we all came here. The second floor of the dungeon started all of us in the face as we stood before the archway the snake had guarded.


    As I stepped through the arch I could feel the small power boost that came from conquering a new floor. That small +1 to all stats quickly added up and it could end up making the difference between a good fighter and a great one. This was the third time I had felt it, having already cleared the first and second floor of the Goldmine.


    The floor that greeted us as we exited the arch wasn¡¯t all that much different from the one we just left. Whereas the previous floor was a massive stretch of open hills with a smattering of trees, the savannah biome we found ourselves in looked very much the same, save for the omnipresent green having turned to yellow and the temperature having risen substantially.


    Despite the nine level increase in the monster on this floor it seemed obvious two fights in that this floor didn¡¯t really pose a problem for the Collectors. They had obviously lost any of the carefree attitude they had put on during the first floor but the only one that seemed to be struggling was the young healer of the group.


    While the monsters found here ranged from a decent fight to difficult for me to take on, it was clear that Lord Tom had finished what he had set out to do. He had carefully taken his ce next to the mage of the group and had taken more of amander role to the battlefield.


    As for it was he was ordering around, that would be the second one of us with a massive change in style. Fluffy had gone from the proud upfront feline that had kept the snake focused on itself while Lord Tom gave it an opening to a ck blur of fur, ws and fangs.


    I had watched the feline fight multiple times prior to this delve, I had even sparred against it myself a few times and hadn¡¯t found it to be all that impressive for its level. Sure I had lost those battles but I was also behind about eight levels. This was somethingpletely different.


    Now that it was no longer forced to act as the frontline or participate in a one on one fight the shadow cat was a true ambush predator. It, no not it, he, Fluffy was quick to move around the battle, jumping from one shadow to another as Tom gave him clear instructions on where and who to maul. Nothing on this floor was equipped to deal with the shadow cat, not only that but the tall dried grass and the setting sun were turning the battlefield into the feline''s favor with every passing moment as shadows stretched across the floor.


    Not even the elephants we had run into had a thick enough hide to be safe from Fluffy¡¯s ws, though they were the first to survive a bite to the neck. As much as their size and endurance was an advantage they were by far the worst suited to fight Fluffy. The feline was quick to jump up on their unprotected backs and quickly bleed them out from there.


    This delve had truly shown me just how much a favorable position in a team can change someone''s threat level, not only that but I was truly d that in the future when Fluffy would be lunging out of the shadows it would be towards my enemies and not me.

 Chapter 254

    Chapter 254


    Recruiting the Collectors as retainers didn¡¯t take that much more after the delve had finished. Unlike their other retainers they did get to have a sit down with Ajax¡¯s grandparents to ensure that they would have some exclusive ess to a few of the more exclusive things the established merchants had ess to, but after they were reassured none of them had any real reservations about joining.


    The Collectors also knew that they needed to join a House if they wanted to keep progressing at a decent pace, with the Goldmancers and Manashapers having given them a boost in power with their favors that brought them up to the top ss of their levels for adventurers. By doing all that and not recruiting them however they also took them off the list for any of the strong houses as they could have been spies.


    For the remainder of the Academy break everything seemed to have slowed down and set into a rhythm. Ajax had still joined House Silvertongue on their delves in order to push himself further. All four of their delves had been uneventful, with general biomes spawning for the 8th floor, they didn¡¯t run into anything more than a few nasty injuries that their healers had to path up with a bit of speed.


    While his deep delving had been kept on pace without his position as a teaching assistant Ajax didn¡¯t get to join House Silvertongue for their crafting dungeons, in exchange Ajax had managed to score a delve slot in each of the capitals dungeon for his own House. He joined his retainers for both runs but while the Collectors and the guards were focused on pushing themselves and clearing the appropriate floors Ajax had focused on his crafting.


    Despite his slow progress into Alchemy Ajax had managed to sessfully and consistently output +1 strength potions that worked all the way up to two hundred strength. This wasn¡¯t something that he could use himself but plenty of his new retainers had been more than happy to grab the extra few potions he had been able to make during the delves, not only that but all of them were bragging about the oundish bonuses House Hearthbound were giving.


    ¡°Oh no you don¡¯t!¡± Aurora was quick to p Ajax¡¯s hand away from the new shipment of herbs they just received.


    ¡°The Academy is starting again next week.¡± na joined in. ¡°You¡¯ve cost us enough over the summer.¡±


    His two crafting delves hadn¡¯t been enough to sate Ajax¡¯s need for alchemy reagents. Despite being much more conservative with ingredients procured by his sister and grandparents Ajax still didn¡¯t have a high enough mastery that his potions and elixirs would sell for more than the sum of their parts. More than anything his constant consumption on reagents had helped build asting bond between na and Aurora as both had taken on the job of protecting their stock from Ajax¡¯s stick fingers.


    ¡°Fine, fine!¡± Ajax relented and headed for out towards their hives. In the end Ajax had managed to strike a good bargain with house Goldmancer and had shared their bee raising techniques. From what his grandfather had said after he returned from the meeting with their representative the archduke had pressed on the scales in order to give them a better deal than they would otherwise get. Despite the good deal they had gotten all of their upfront payment was used for the cost of the families noble estate inside the capitol, this meant that they would need to until the following year for a cut of the honey profits.


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    That had made Ajax feel a little guilty when he noticed just how many experts had shown up along with the archduke himself when Ajax came by to teach them in person. Despite both Annabeth and the archduke having maintained theirposure, some of their experts couldn¡¯t hide the disappointment that came when Ajax taught them how to identify a queen and how to relocate a hive. That small amount of guilt however wasn¡¯t enough for Ajax to spill any more secrets though he did drop by a few dayster with a few jars of honey that had a tinge of mana to them.


    As he headed towards their beehives Ajax could see the spectacr harvest that wasing in all around his specific plot. His grandparents had made a very lucrative investment buying up everything around his plot as the relocation of the bees and their slight mana infusion had clearly helped turn thend plots from some of the least favorable to ones able topete for the best plot status. More than that his grandparents had confirmed to him that the farmers they had hired to tend thosends had seen a noticeable increase in their farming skills.


    ¡°You¡¯re already back, sir?¡± Theron called out as Ajax approached their small training corner made out of a rock patch of ground. ¡°I wasn¡¯t expecting you untilter tonight.¡±


    Once Theron had officially joined his House he had started treating Ajax very differently, gone was the casual and friendly address. This was something that Ajax had spent the summer breaking down into a more informal and friendly interaction in private. Despite that, Theron had always maintained a respectful tone and always addressed Ajax as sir or Lord Ajax.


    ¡°I¡¯ve apparently cost them enough profits and I am to give Alchemy a break until the Academy starts back up.¡± Ajax grinned as he joined a few of his retainers in the small training arena they carved out for themselves.


    Their small training corner was only temporary, once their official residence was finished they would have a proper training field inside the city and their temporary time here was dubbed as rock removal to expand the flower fields some more.


    ¡°You ready?¡± Ajax asked as he took the field opposite the bull beastkin.


    ¡°Always, sir.¡± Theron responded as he took up a battle stance.


    Despite how their initial battle back during the tournament had gone, the summer had seen the match-up flipped on its head. That wasn¡¯t to say that Theron could now thrash Ajax, but rather that Ajax had taken to training against Theron without using his mana and relying only on his skills and stamina.


    Theron still had quite a bit of room left to grow his raw stats with potions, despite this and all the increases Ajax had umted through his training and dungeon boosts he still came out behind when it came to raw physical stats. The physical stat difference added on to Theron bull beastkin physiology on top of his years of training meant that Ajax was below him in both skill and stats.


    The one equalizer Ajax had was more of a double edged sword. His [Cursed sh] showed why high rarity skills were so important, despite his inability to use it frequently due to the high Stamina cost the simple fact that Ajax could use it forced Theron to fight extremely defensively.


    As they started their spar Ajax quickly leaned into his [Berserker Style], as it turned out the style was almost a perfect match with [Cursed sh], not only that but Ajax had finally started to get some use out of his [<em>Berserker</em>] skill, with [Cursed sh] eating up so much of his stamina the stamina regeneration it provided every time he got hit did wonders in keeping him from tiring out.


    Ajax however wasn¡¯t the only one to gain a lot from these spars. Theron had been forced on the defensive by a slower and weaker opponent for the first time in his life, his defensive skills with the massive two handed axe had grown immensely over the summer as he battled against Ajax¡¯s duel-wielding style.


    The biggest winners of the spars however had to be Kate and the two healers who both decided to join Ajax house, they would always be needed after Ajax and Theron finished one of their spars and healing either fighter brought with it more knowledge and experience.


    Healing Ajax would mean getting a feel for his own self-healing, as it turned out healing someone at the same time they were healing themselves made for good training as the healer had to be careful not to disrupt the patient''s mana.


    For Theron on the other hand the healers had gotten the chance to work actual battle inflicted curses for the first time. Since Ajax¡¯s knowledge of curses was still nearly non-existent the extent of his [Cursed sh] boiled down to simply infecting someone with cursed mana. This inefficiency proved to be a solid training method for their healer to try and heal cursed injuries without the use of Holy affinity healing spells. The process was slow and required extreme focus but it allowed them to build up their techniques. Kate and both of the healers were actively working on a paper to share this discovery with the Healing Union on behalf of house Hearthbound.

 Chapter 255

    Chapter 255


    Council of the Republic


    ¡°What is old Gryndor up to now?¡± one of the beastkin high councilors asked. ¡°What does he stand to gain by putting on a show for us?¡±


    ¡°Are we sure this is a show, what if the boy¡¯s skills are true?¡± an elven high councilor responded.


    ¡° ¡¯Course it be a show.¡± the dwarven high councilor said. ¡°Ain¡¯t nobody dum¡¯ enough to show their tricks like tis.¡±


    ¡°I heard whispers that they might have figured out the elves technique for saturating mana into their products.¡± one of the human councilors offered. ¡°Perhaps they are trying to put so many rumors out there just to mask it.¡±


    ¡°Thed be no immediate threat to us.¡± the dwarf pushed forward. ¡°With our reliable High Shadow, I say we focus on getting out hands on anything new they have to offer, did you ¡®ear about their possible war training method?¡±


    The councilors discussed the sparse spy information for hours before dispersing.


    ¡°What do you think, old friend?¡± the beastkin councilor asked the High Shadow as they were walking away.


    ¡°Too many rumors to say for sure¡± the High Shadow responded. ¡°But I doubt the boy is a toothless pup propped up for show, his power might be exaggerated but not by much.¡± ¡°You think old Gryndor is making use of the stalemate you provide to all out war to train his own asset with less secrecy, giving him more opportunities?¡± The beastkin¡¯s eye widened slightly. ¡°Yes, that would be something old Gryndor would do.¡±


    Diamondbeard Castle


    ¡°Me king, there be no need to fear the humans, the Republic will buy us time even if they decide on war.¡± A member of the council of hammers addressed the dwarf king Dimondbeard. ¡°But think of the opportunity, a new magic simr to our own runic one, we should focus on learning more about it.¡±


    ¡°Forget the magic, everybody and their mother knows that all magic stylespete with one another,¡± Another member of the council chimed in quickly. ¡°My king, it is their new secret soldier training method that we should focus on. After all, look at what a specimen it produced.¡±


    ¡°One talent is not enough to prove a methodology correct.¡± King Diamondbeard himself interjected. ¡°The overall method can be put to the side for now, the Republic will buy us times if there is to be war with them, focus on their new industries.¡±


    The Proudrock


    ¡°I WANT THE LEAK FOUND!¡± the lion beastkin roared ¡°I WANT THEM BROUGHT BEFORE ME SO I CAN RIP OUT THEIR ENTRAILS MYSELF¡±


    ¡°There is no leak.¡± the tiger beastkin said with disdain. ¡°If there was the kingdom of Gryndor wouldn¡¯t be the only ones making preparations for war. Though the so-called ¡®golden child¡¯ seems to have an affinity for beastkin, maybe we can nt a deep spy in that house.¡±


    ¡°That would be a waste of spies.¡± the rat beastkin offered, though he kept his head bowed to the king and duke. ¡°What old Gryndorcks in personal strength he makes up for in cunning. He¡¯s already been burned by spies and informants, no way he will let them foil his final act as king.¡±


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    ¡°Waiting until he retires will be advantageous.¡± the tiger nodded.


    ¡°If only that useless son of his had remained the crown prince.¡± the ratmented.


    ¡°Do. Not. Call. That. Bastard. Useless.¡± the lion beastkin said as he grabbed the rat beastking with one arm, slowly applying pressure to the joint. ¡°He may not have his fathers mind for politics but he is worthy of respect for his power.'''' The lion beastking rubbed a long scar that worked its way up from his shoulder to the neck and ended cutting into part of the cheek. ¡°I look forward to getting my vengeance.¡±


    ¡°Focus on learning what you can about this new soldier training they are doing.¡± the tiger beastkin smiled. ¡°We might have time to implement it ourselves before all of this gets into motion.¡±


    Capital City of Sylvanthal


    ¡°As productive as this long piece has been formerce it is lousy for gathering information.¡± the elven kingmented.


    ¡°Such is the price and benefits of peace my friend.¡± another elf sat at the table that held the goblets of wine. ¡° This is the beginning of a long protracted peace.¡±


    ¡°That damn High Shadow.¡± the king sneered. ¡°There is nothing wrong with peace in and of itself. I just have a disdain for peace ensured by mutual destruction, it allows the unprepared and the weak to rise. You sure you cannot beat the High Shadow.¡±


    ¡°Oh I can beat him alright.¡± the elf at the table said as he flexed his wiry muscles. ¡°Problem is I can¡¯t stop him from running. I would rather try to catch a space element aspected eel dipped in grease.¡±


    ¡°We need this uing tournament.¡± the king sighed. ¡°Loathe as I am to speak ill of my father, he was a solid figurehead and a pir of inspiration, but he had no mind for management and ruling.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about the tournament, inside the arena Gryndor and the Republic don¡¯t have anyone that can match me¡± the elf said as he gracefully sipped his wine. ¡°Not to mention that your niece is a force to be reckoned with. Even if the boy is everything old Gryndor is propping him up to be he is way too young to present a threat in the uing tournament.¡±


    ¡°There is still too much uncertainty.¡± the king sighed. ¡°Not to mention the political freedom a king gets in hisst few years before he abdicates.¡±


    ¡°You just need to make sure we take the rewards¡± the elf said as he filled up both goblets to the lip and brought the king one of them. ¡°After all, you can always try and haggle for the winners'' shares, not everyone is as devoted to their kingdom''s unity as we are.¡±


    The Empire


    ¡°Emperor,¡± one of the advisors enters the throne chamber in a slight rush. ¡°House Goldmancer has offered a trade.¡±


    ¡°Regarding what?¡± the emperor frowned from his high polished seat.


    ¡°They are willing to trade the secrets of beekeeping, Your Majesty.¡± the advisor said.


    ¡°And what do they want in return?¡± the emperor asked.


    ¡°They asked for one tenth of the honey we will harvest in the next decade.¡± the advisor said.


    ¡°That is a good deal your majesty.¡± the spymaster chimed in from the shadows of the room, startling half the guards who didn¡¯t know he was there. ¡°I have it on good authority that baron Hearthbound obtained a trailzing beekeeping skill, we might be able to gain one from the more rare ones as well.¡±


    ¡°So be it!¡± The emperor dered. ¡°Have you learned anything more about their new so-called soldier training method?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid not yet your majesty.¡± the spymaster said with dejection.


    ¡°How can this be, we have one kingdom we need to spy on and you can¡¯t even do that properly.¡± the emperor¡¯s patience was at its end with his spymaster after all these surprises that came from their only neighbor.


    ¡°The problem isn¡¯t getting information rted to the training method, its finding out which information is reliable.¡± The spymaster fought with every instinct to not spit on the throne room floor in disgust at the tactics their neighbors used.


    ¡°They know that if they are to employ the method in high numbers there will be leaks long before their first squads are ready, so instead they shared four or five different so called methods, all of them are equally ridiculous and we have no idea which one is the correct one yet.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s most likely abination, each of the fakes holds a bit of the truth that makes it harder to decipher.¡± the emperor nodded as his anger lessened slightly. ¡°Why are you still here?¡±


    ¡°One tenth of the honey was not their only demand, my lord.¡± the advisors fought to keep his legs from trembling at attracting the emperor¡¯s ire.


    ¡°What else did they want, it''s a fair deal?¡± the emperor sounded outraged at the Goldmancers greed.


    ¡°They asked for a writ of safe passage and a delve for each of our capitals dungeons for one team of people under level forty.¡± the advisor quickly said.


    ¡°I¡¯ll allow it so long as they do not break thew.¡± the emperor said. ¡°I will not have any of the inferior races step foot inside our capitals dungeons. Us humans are above them, there is a reason why the word used to describe them is humanoid.¡±


    ¡°Honestly, I used to respect the conniving Gryndor until he made peace with the inferiors.¡± the emperor said as the rest of the room nodded.

 Chapter 256

    Chapter 256


    It had taken the entire Academy break for House Hearthbound to have their mansion finally ready but with two days before the Academy¡¯s first day back Ajax and his family had started moving over.


    That wasn¡¯t to say that they were the first to move in as priority had been given to one of their small barracks buildings and their few retainers had already moved in a week prior. This move was also very different from their arrival in the capital as they weren¡¯t the ones to do any of the actual work. Ajax¡¯s grandparents had hired the people who made sure that the manor was fully furnished and then transported most of the family''s personal possessions. It would be unseemly for nobles to do their own carrying after all.


    As for Ajax¡¯s grandparents themselves, they had been given their own room inside the manor, that said they still hadn¡¯t moved in there. While their presence was much more epted nowpared to a few months back there was still a bit to go before they would be fully integrated.


    That wasn¡¯t to say that the entire manor had been finished, there were still two more barracks to be built, the training field hadn¡¯t had more than its foundation set up. Most importantly Fluffy¡¯s specific stable hadn¡¯t been finished either so for now the oversized feline was wandering the halls of the manor full time.


    ¡°Just take a seat.¡± Tom said. ¡°I¡¯ll take care of it, you take it easy.¡±


    Tom hadn¡¯t been all that attentive to Fluffy for a short while now as Kate¡¯s pregnancy had started to show and as a first time parent he was fussing over every little thing.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine, I¡¯m not due for another two months and I can still do some things around here.¡± Kateined though she did remain seated to cate him.


    ¡°I was just like that the first time Silvia was pregnant.¡± Sam said as he remembered back to fond times. ¡°Thankfully that turned out well, he will calm down by the second and third children.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m thinking there will be a bit of a break before we have anymore.¡± Kate said as she rubbed her extended belly. ¡°With the resources we have now our lifespan isrge enough that we can leave that for a bitter, I don¡¯t want to put anymore pressure on Ajax by extending the family.¡±¡°Extending the family won¡¯t put any pressure on Ajax.¡± Luna said as she came in and took a seat at the table. ¡°In fact, seeing as he is being prepped for an advancement to Duke in a decade or so having arger family would in fact take some of the pressure off.¡±


    Luna had be a moremon sight around the family ever since Ajax received his noble status. Hatchet had formally joined Luna as one of her trusted retainers and Luna¡¯s house and Ajax¡¯s had be allies formally.


    ¡°How so?¡± Kate asked.


    ¡°The higher a family¡¯s status the bigger it is expected to be.¡± Luna exined.


    ¡°But your House basically only has you.¡± Tom said.


    ¡°My titlees with the position as head of the Healing Union¡± Luna answered. ¡°For a Baron your family is on the small side but still eptable. For a duke you are all way too small and there will be pressure on you to extend it through marriage.¡±


    ¡°House Manashaper is one that rose in a simr manner.¡± Aurora said. ¡° The key difference there was that the Duke was much older when he got his title and he had a few children, it was their marriages that grew the family to the size it is now by adding a Viscount and Baron to the fold.¡±


    Both Aurora and Elija had been orbiting Kate more as ofte as well. Unlike Tom they weren¡¯t overly concerned about the pregnancy as they had gone through something like that before, instead they were adamant about not missing the chance to spend some quality time with their first great-grandchild in the same way they did with all three of their grandchildren.


    ¡°Nice to see you take a day off, I know you were always pushing yourself but make sure you don¡¯t go overboard.¡± Hatchet said as he saw Ajax enter the room.


    ¡°It was only a bit of beekeeping.¡± Ajax defended himself, not mentioning that he also emptied out most of his mana in the ground and nts surrounding the bees.


    Ajax had taken it a bit easier on the training ever since he heard that house Goldmancer had started talks with the Empire and that a possible delve in their capital¡¯s dungeons was potentially on the table. He wanted to make sure he didn¡¯t push past level thirty seven just in case the delve would only happen halfway through the year at the Academy.


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    <strong>Name</strong> : Ajax


    <strong>Level</strong> :34


    <strong>Experience</strong> : 42860/65000


    <strong>Traits</strong>: Divine Witness, Baron


    <strong>Health</strong>: 2480/2480


    <strong>Mana</strong>: 2510/2510


    <strong>Stamina</strong> :1950/1950


    <strong>Vitality</strong> : 248


    <strong>Strength</strong> :208


    <strong>Endurance</strong> :195


    <strong>Dexterity</strong> : 208


    <strong>Intellect </strong>: 251


    <strong>Wisdom</strong> : 251


    <strong>Mind</strong> : 251


    <strong>Perception</strong> : 195


    <strong>Stat Points</strong> : 0


    <strong>Skills</strong> :<ul><ul><li><strong>Common :</strong>[Mathematics Lvl 30] [Stealth Lvl 38][Drawing Lvl 35][Athleticism Lvl 39] [Running Lvl 39][Reading Lvl 24][Writing Lvl 24][Cooking Lvl 30][Sewing Lvl 20] [Cleaning Lvl 20][Haggling Lvl 23][Gardening Lvl 27][Axes Lvl 46][Hammers Lvl 46 [Deception Lvl 30][Sword Lvl 46][Shield Lvl 46][Bow Lvl 46][Spear Lvl 46][Throwing Lvl 38][Persuasion Lvl 23][Unarmed Combat Lvl 38][Knives Lvl 46][Skinning Lvl 39][Tanning Lvl 20][Dismantle Lvl 43][Climbing Lvl 31][Tracking Lvl 35][Heat Resistance Lvl 23] [Poison Resistance Lvl 29][Pain Resistance Lvl 26][Trapping Lvl 26][Cold Resistance Lvl 18][Conversationalist Lvl 6]</li><li><strong>Umon :</strong>[Meditation Lvl 51][Sense Mana Lvl 51][Expel Mana Lvl 51][Sprinting Lvl 40][Mining Lvl 21][Lumberjack Lvl 10][Smelting Lvl 15][cksmithing Lvl 10] [Chanting Lvl 11][Mana Farming Lvl 23][Increase Price Lvl 15][Lower Price Lvl 15][Danger Sense Lvl 35][Leatherworking Lvl 25][Alchemy Lvl 34][Mana Milling Lvl 24][Precise Cut Lvl 38][Precise Blow Lvl 38][Judge Threat Lvl 33][ Piercing Shot Lvl 39] [<em>Berserker </em>Lvl 20][Cooperation Lvl 28][Berserker Style Lvl 19][Unnatural Bnce Lvl 3][Feigned Interest Lvl 1][Illusion Resistance Lvl 1]</li><li><strong>Rare : </strong>[Manipte Mana Lvl 42][Water Aspect Mana Lvl 41][Fire Aspect Mana Lvl 41] [Air Aspect Mana Lvl 41][Earth Aspect Mana Lvl 41][Inject Mana Lvl 42][Spot Weakness Lvl 32][Residue Recognition Lvl 23] [Light Aspect Mana Lvl 41][Shadow Aspect Mana Lvl 41][<em>Mana Skin </em>Lvl 28][Teamwork Lvl 21][Beekeeping Trailzer Lvl 9][Curse Resistance Lvl 19][Dungeon Crafter Lvl 10][Battlemage Style Lvl 9] [Impervious Senses Lvl 2][Alchemist¡¯s Examination Lvl 5]</li></ul></ul><ul><li><strong>Epic : </strong>[Mana Augmentation Lvl 31][Mana Conjuration Lvl 27][Lightning Aspect Mana Lvl 24][Metal Aspect Mana Lvl 24][Ice Aspect Mana Lvl 24][Magma Aspect Mana Lvl 24][Holy Aspect Mana Lvl 20][Void Aspect Mana Lvl 23][Curse sh Lvl 13]</li></ul><ul><li><strong>Legendary : </strong>[Mana Syphon Lvl 29][Enigma Lvl 12]</li></ul>


    New :


    Illusion Resistance 0 -> 1


    Impervious senses 0 -> 2


    Alchemist¡¯s Examination 0 -> 5


    Upgrades:


    Stealth 37 -> 38


    Athleticism 38 -> 39


    Running 38 ->39


    Gardening 24 -> 27


    Axes 45 -> 46


    Hammers 45 -> 46


    Deception 28 -> 30


    Swords 45 -> 46


    Shield 45 -> 46


    Bow 45 -> 46


    Spear 45 -> 46


    Throwing 37 -> 38


    Unarmedbat 36 -> 38


    Knives 45 -> 46


    Skinning 37 -> 39


    Dismantle 42 -> 43


    Heat Resistance 21 -> 23


    Poison Resistance 25 -> 29


    Pain Resistance 25 -> 26


    Cold Resistance 15 -> 18


    Meditation 50 -> 51


    Sense Mana 50 -> 51


    Expel Mana 50 -> 51


    Mana farming 21 -> 23


    Danger Sense 33 -> 34


    Alchemy 30 -> 34


    Mana Milling 21 -> 24


    Precise Cut 37 -> 38


    Precise Blow 37 -> 38


    Judge Threat 32 -> 33


    Piercing Shot 38 -> 39


    <em>Berserker </em>17 -> 20


    Cooperation 27 -> 28


    Berserker Style 11 -> 19


    Manipte Mana 40 -> 42


    Inject Mana 40 -> 42


    Spot Weakness 31 -> 32


    <em>Mana Skin </em>25 -> 27


    Teamwork 20 -> 21


    Mana Conjuration 25 -> 27


    Water Aspect Mana 40 -> 41


    Fire Aspect Mana 40 -> 41


    Air Aspect Mana 40 -> 41


    Earth Aspect Mana 40 -> 41


    Shadow Aspect Mana 40 -> 41


    Light Aspect Mana 40 -> 41


    Lightning Aspect Mana 23 -> 24


    Metal Aspect Mana 23 -> 24


    Ice Aspect Mana 23 -> 24


    Magma Aspect Mana 23 -> 24


    Holy Aspect Mana 17 -> 20


    Mana Syphon 28 -> 29


    Beekeeping Trailzer 7 -> 9


    Enigma 10 -> 12


    Curse Resistance 15 -> 17


    Curse sh 11 -> 13


    Mana Augmentation 30 -> 31


    Mana Conjuration 25 -> 27


    Battlemage Style 1 -> 9


    Dungeon Crafter 1 -> 10


    Despite not gaining all that much experience, Ajax had finally seen some progress that reignited his excitement. Many of his mana skills had managed to break through their most recent bottlenecks. He finally had skills that pushed beyond level fifty.


    His physical skills had made some gains but outside of his [Berserker Style] that had gotten quite a bit of practice against Theron most were small as they too approached the same bottlenecks.


    [Enigma] had not only broken through its first bottleneck but had also already started to progress further. This was a more recent development as Ajax had started to feel more inspection attempts on him almost every time he walked through the city. So far none of them came from people that had any power and even the strongest inspection skill hadn¡¯t managed to get anything more than his name but Ajax knew there were more eyes on him. He will approach his teachers at the academy to find out if it was something he should be worried about.

 Chapter 257

    Chapter 257


    Despite it being the first day back the Academy didn¡¯t have the small introductory period that it started withst year and got right to work in teaching its students. The basic homeroom and general knowledge sses still fell to Abbot Silvertongue to teach.


    ¡°Moving forward this ss will also start to delve into some of the secrets that the kingdom of Gryndor is keeping from the general public.¡± Professor Silvertogue said as the lesson approached the end. ¡°The first one being that the first year in the academy is also the time when you are vetted for whether or not you are a spy. I highly suggest that you do not miss out on these lessons as they are most likely something even most of your prodigious families were not allowed to tell you.¡±


    Ajax had a feeling that the word most wasn¡¯t part of that speech usually but given that two possible archduke heirs and a prince were part of the ss amends had needed to be made. Despite this he had no intention of missing any sses. Despite him passing off most of the responsibilities that came with nobility to his family, it was his job as the head of the House to gather important information like national secrets.


    ¡°Ajax, a word.¡± The professor held him back as the rest of the ss dispersed.


    ¡°As you have been made aware, the two periods you have free from now until your afternoonbat training are for your own chosen study.¡± the professor reiterated. ¡°Sadly, your scores on the written test was not high enough to get you off the remedial list.¡±


    ¡°They weren¡¯t?¡± Ajax sounded surprised as his scores weren¡¯t the lowest of the ss yet he was the only one that would be taking them.


    ¡°Overall your scores in the crafting disciplines were more than enough to put you in the top end of the ss however with crafting taken out you were deadst.¡± the professor exined. ¡°Your reluctance to learn historic names has been particrly gged.


    ¡°Why are the names important?¡± Ajax questioned. ¡°I know where it happened and how.¡±


    ¡°Because of noble pride.¡± the professor answered and Ajax couldn¡¯t fight the impulse to roll his eyes.¡°No, you will learn.¡± the professor cut him off harshly, Ajax could feel the professors aura press down on him. ¡°This is not noble pride that we want people to learn our names. There is a reason why we only focus on thest two thousand years my seriously than anything that came before, regardless of the difference in the scale of the achievements.¡±


    ¡°And what is that?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°You will not be required to learn the name of great tacticians. For them your current approach is fine, learn from their actions. It is the naturally gifted that you have to study, they form Houses and dynasties that work in a simr manner. Not only that but noble pride demands that they disy their sigil.¡± the professor said.


    ¡°Take me as the best example.¡± the professor pointed out. ¡°Anyone taking the field against an army led by me will always be wary of their own allies because of my families widespread political achievements. A scout¡¯s glimpse of a sigil can tell you that the enemymander is a strong fire caster, or a powerful swordsman. But that is only if you know what to look for.¡±


    Ajax had to lower his head at that chastisement. The professor was objectively right and he knew it. With the tendency of high nobles to live for more than a few centuries it could happen that a standout hero from a battle that happened five hundred years ago would be the one leading in a battle they were about to take part in.


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    ¡°That said, going forward this year you will be spending one or two of your days from each cycle with me. If you can prove to be self-reliant in this these lessons will stop and we will simply provide you the information and test you on it.¡± the professor said.


    ¡°Speaking of scouting.¡± Ajax said. ¡°As ofte I have been having a lot more people try to inspect me as I make my way through the city.¡±


    ¡°Did any of them gather anything important through [Enigma]?¡± the professor was suddenly serious and on edge.


    ¡°No, most are blocked outright, but one or two managed to confirm my name.¡± Ajax said.


    ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± The professor rxed. ¡°That would just be the regr spies.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m being spied on?!¡± Ajax reacted.


    ¡°Investigated is more the way I would put it.¡± the professor said, but at Ajax¡¯s maintained frown he went deeper. ¡°Your sudden appearance and dominance of the tournaments as well as your ascension to nobility is public knowledge, add your other achievements on top and it makes sense that you would be investigated.¡±


    ¡°Why would it take this long then?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°Because it''s other nations that are investigating you. It takes time for their spies to get the information back and get new orders so you had a somewhat quiet break but by now all of their spies should have you near the top of their ¡®find out what is going on with him¡¯ list.¡± the professor exined.


    ¡°That¡¯s not to say that the royal family has hung you out to dry,¡± the professor reassured him. ¡°I¡¯m sure you have a constant defense team following you in public. This is why it¡¯s important, if you ever feel someone managed to break through your [Enigma] and gather something sensitive lock your gaze on to him and look startled and panicked. That will mark them for capture or elimination.¡±


    ¡°That would be enough?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°Well, this is lesson was scheduled for the middle of the year but I guess I can move it up to tomorrow. Essentially it boils down to this : as royals reach the end of their reign they get a lot more freedom. Even if the crown is passed down peacefully internally, externally it can be used as a piece of theater to get certain unsavory things done.¡± the professor said.


    ¡°Things like what?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°The most recent example is the elves. They had their king step down shortly after peace with the republic was reached. Their royal family had him step down, hated by the popce because he struck trade deals with the republic. The current king keeps those deals intact as a sign of respect to his fathers final actions as king.¡± the professor said.


    ¡°And our own king is nearing the time when he will be passing on the crown to his son.¡± Ajax said as he put it all together.


    ¡°Oh that¡¯s not even the half of it.¡± the professor said. ¡° Uncle Gryndor was known for his conniving tricks. Hell if I hadn¡¯t ended up as your teacher and only heard of you from the tournaments I would think that you are definitely a nned centerpiece in his final actions as king.¡±


    ¡°But I¡¯m not.¡± Ajax said.


    ¡°You¡¯re not nned, that part is true.¡± the professor nodded along. ¡°I wonder just how many ns you derailed for Uncle Gryndor, but let me assure you, you are the centerpiece now. There might have been some doubt but the simple fact that you have [Enigma] and are so well protected against spies because of it makes you the perfect point of focus.¡±


    ¡°I can feel the headache this conversation is giving me.¡± Ajaxined as he rubbed his forehead.


    ¡°Don¡¯t think about it all right now, you¡¯re going to bete to your next ss.¡± the professor said as he usher Ajax towards the door. ¡°If you want one positive take away from all this however, know that you have the king backing you for now. As long as you don¡¯t do somethingpletely uneptable you¡¯ll find that you can get away with a thing or two.¡±


    ¡°Something like what?¡± Ajax asked as he exited the ss and started heading towards the Alchemy room.


    ¡°First thing thates to mind is that when the inspectorse to look over your farming plots, you can tell them all to take a hike. Everyone knows you¡¯re doing something there and I wouldn¡¯t bet against one of them leaking it. But a noble refusing an inspection is always brought up to the king for review.¡± the professor said. ¡°I can already hear Uncle Gryndor scoffing at the request to sanction you just for refusing an inspection.¡±


    That bit of news did help Ajax¡¯s mood as he entered the Alchemy room. ¡°Ajax there you are, I was beginning to worry.¡± Professor Vilethorn was quick to greet him. ¡°Now that we are all here, let me begin by weing you all and informing you that on the third and ninth day of the cycle the ss will not be held on the ount of the first years.¡±


    Ajax took a look around the ss to see that it had students from all sses, starting from the second and all the way to the sixth. Crafting sses following the mandatory first year schedule worked more like clubs where the different grades interacted with each other and students picked one or two of them to focus on in depth instead of the previous variety approach.


    ¡°Second year, you are all going to be taking a test.¡± the professor continued. ¡°Those of you who do not pass will not be wee in this ss.¡±

 Chapter 258

    Chapter 258


    While Ajax and both of his ssmates were given the exact same opening exam he could see that all of the other students were given exams that werepletely different, with there being more than a dozen people there had to be at least two from the same ss so it confused him as to why nobody was taking the same exam as their ssmates like he was.


    The exam had been very easy for Ajax, he had pushed his Alchemy both inside a dungeon and outside on top of his experiments throughout the summer. The potions he was asked to make had a number of steps but could easily be brewed at the same time if you knew what you were doing and could pay attention to it.


    ¡°These are eptable,¡± professor Vilethorn said as Ajax turned in his exam. ¡°Though I have to say you might have wanted not to do so well from the beginning.


    The professor¡¯s ominous warning was filled in by her teaching assistant as he helped Ajax set up a personal workstation that would be his going forward until he was kicked out of Alchemy ss or he finished at the Academy.


    ¡°Your first exam sets the baseline.¡± the teaching assistant said ¡°going forward your exams and goals will be structured so that you are constantly pushing yourself and not cking off due to previous hard work.¡±


    Ajax could admit that it was a good system, doubly so since all the sses wereing together so there was no way to have a ss for everyone''s skill level so a more individualistic system was halfway required anyway.


    The rest of the ss had also finished the exam, his ssmates turning in their own potions not long after Ajax himself as they had the easiest test by far. While nobody had failed the exam, two people were told that their creations were subpar and that they would be expected to cover the difference between what the potions they made sold for and the price the academy paid for the ingredients.


    ¡°I thought he was a teaching assistant, why is he taking ss with the rest of us?¡± Ajax¡¯s Perception was high enough that he could pick up the questions that the other students were asking his ssmates.


    ¡°They did that as a formality to handle a few of the issues he would have presented as a regr student.¡± one of his ssmates answered. ¡°Why not just have him enroll sooner, or put him in a higher ss?¡± by this point that entire section of the ss was interested in the topic of conversation while the professor was grading thest few potions.


    ¡°He only recently became a noble, he¡¯s not got a lot of the education we have grown up with and he still needs to make up for it.¡± The answer came surprisingly from someone outside his ss.


    ¡°I still think they should have just enrolled him in a higher ss, no need to make such an exception just for onemoner.¡± one of the nobles in the conversation said.


    ¡°And where would you want him ced?¡± the same noble who knew his situation spoke up again. ¡°He put down most ofst year¡¯s sixth grade without breaking a sweat. This is a better solution that also gives us the chance to build a rtionship with him.¡±


    ¡°You might want to have that talkter,¡± one of his ssmates said looking at the noble who called him amoner. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen his limits yet but I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if his perception was high enough to hear us clearly.¡±


    As one the entire group turned to look at him warily. ¡°Now that you are all done with your exams we will simply take the short remainder of this lesson to look over a simple concept of Alchemy¡± the professor drew all of the attention back to herself.


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    ¡°As your alchemy skill grows and you start working with higher mana concentration in your ingredients you will find that the temperature of your mixture will start to vary.¡± the professor started her lecture. ¡°Not only will there be variation in temperature during different stages of the boiling process but different ingredients that are added in will need to be at different temperatures despite being added at the same time.¡±


    ¡°How can that happen?¡± Ajax murmured as he thought about it, while the requirements did seem possible as he knew different ingredients had different optimal temperatures adding multiple at the same time at their peak temperature seemed irrational.


    ¡°A good question.¡± the professor nodded. ¡°It is here that mages, specifically those favoring the fire element, have an innate advantage as they can control the me that powers their cauldron a lot better if they generate it, but that can be replicated with time and effort.¡±


    As she mentioned this professor Viletorne slid her hand under the small coudron on her desk where, after a quiet incantation, a me ignited and started to heat it up. Ajax could sense the waves of mana that the professor put out to control the me, not only that but he could sense how the fire focused more on one side of the cauldron than the other.


    ¡°As the mana concentration starts to rise so does the importance of temperature.¡± the professor continued. ¡°While initially theck of controlled heat application can be made up for by pre-heating or cooling the ingredients before adding them, that will take away from the quality of the resulting mixture.¡±


    ¡°From ingredients beyond the point in the dungeon where the monsters reach level one hundred, alchemists who do not possess the fire control for the potion they are making will often end up having custom made cauldrons for specific recipes.¡± the teaching assistant said as he passed an odd cauldron with multiple chambers around.


    ¡°To this day these cauldrons are by far the most expensive crafting tools out of any profession.¡± the professor continued, pausing every so often to chant again switching the mes in a bit way underneath the couldron. ¡°The precise form and sometimes specific make-up of their alloy make them so infuriating that there are cksmiths with above umon skills who have taken specific bottleneck choices to focus on their creations.¡±


    For the remainder of the ss each of the students was provided with a different recipe that they were to attempt, despite the skill required by each recipe all of them focused on the temperature aspect of the craft in one way or another.


    ¡°As your skill and power grows this topic is one that you will find particrly limiting.¡± the professor said to Ajax and two other students towards the end of the ss, all three of them being positioned closely together. ¡°As all of you are also dungeon crafters you will have to take the ambient mana density as well as its elementalposition into ount when calcting the temperature variations.¡±


    ¡°Is this why you openly discourage any alchemist that is notfortable with fire magic from doing alchemy in the dungeon?¡± one of the other two students asked.


    ¡°Very much so.¡± the professor nodded, ¡°The quick temperature changes that need to happen at that level are simply beyond them, I am in fact quite curious to see just how adaptable your form of magic is for it, Ajax.¡±


    ¡°Yourck of efficiency between power and mana cost is more of a positive than a negative in this regard.¡± the teaching assistant said. ¡°It gives you a much easier control of the temperature, especially without a repeated chant that needs to be corrected through intent and maniption.¡±


    As Ajax heard this he knew he had made the correct choice by going into alchemy, not only because of his casting method but also because with a refined enough application he can use [Mana Syphon] to somewhat control the ambient mana inside a dungeon making alchemy there that much easier for himself.


    ¡°Baron Hearthbound.¡± one of the students called after him as they exited the ss.


    Ajax turned to look at the man and found his face both familiar yet foreign. ¡°Yes?¡± Ajax dragged on the word as he finally ced where he recognised the face from, it was early simr to the one his opponent in the second round of the tournament had. Despite that Ajax could tell that this man and his opponent were closely rted.


    ¡°As a member of House Stonewall I would like to thank you.¡± the man said as he walked with Ajax towards the training fields.


    ¡°What for?¡± Ajax asked, confused.


    ¡°Your victory over my twin brother. It left asting impression on him.¡± came the answer.


    ¡°Uh¡­¡± Ajax didn¡¯t know what to say to that, the match had ended quickly with him utterly dominating his opponent. Not only that he had still been angry on Theron¡¯s behalf and had taken it out on his opponent, making the battle end more humiliatingly for the noble than the beastkin.


    ¡°It took him a week to get over the loss.¡± his fellow student picked up on the reason for Ajax¡¯s awkwardness. ¡°But the results from his training since then have been better than ever before. His drive to improve has increased manifold. As such my grandfather has asked me to thank you, not only that but also offer you his support should you require it.¡±


    ¡°That is too much.¡± Ajax knew that the support of a Viscount¡¯s house such as House Stonewall was not something to take for granted, especially not to be won over a simple duel in a tournament. Obviously the support wouldn¡¯t be endless but it essentially meant that so long what he was doing wasn¡¯t negatively impacting House Stonewall they would at least put the weight of their name behind him.


    ¡°His support also with a request and an apology.¡± the conversation quickly became slightly awkward. ¡°The apology is for the duels that my brother will challenge you to in theing years, with the request that you do not finish them as decisively to crush his spirit a second time.¡±

 Chapter 259

    Chapter 259


    Ajax was shocked by the request. It was at once both something rather basic as well as something annoying. The idea that he would be hounded for duels from people looking to prove they had improved sounded tiring, at the same time having a few well ced noble houses owe him a favor or two wouldn¡¯t be the worst thing in the world.


    ¡°Don¡¯t look all that pleased.¡± Stonewall said when he examined Ajax¡¯s face. ¡°While most noble houses wouldn¡¯t bother with it or would just ept the oue of a fight in the tournament there are two other options in the minority that remain. The first is the one my grandfather has chosen but the second would be to return the perceived humiliation in kind.¡±


    Ajax silently cursed at that. Despite knowing that almost all noble houses tried their best to have the most capable heir take over the position as house head there would always be some that were starved for a good choice. These people sometimes also ended up with a lot of power depending on how their ancestored ruled.


    Ajax and his ssmate went their separate ways as they approached the training fields. Much like their homeroom sses their afternoonbat training was done in their respective sses. Not only that but it also seemed that their instructors hadn¡¯t changed from the previous year.


    As Ajax stepped onto the training field for the second year he could clearly see the difference in set-up between their new field and the first year one. Where they had previously been given a lot of open space, targets and a robust selection of weaponry, their new training grounds were very different.


    Therge selection of weapons and targets had remained, their open space however had been reced by a small firing range as well as a tiny dueling circle, arge part of the area was taken up by a small forest that measured a little more than the size of a football field.


    ¡°Going forward your training field will change daily.¡± instructor Gatecrasher''s voice resounded once everyone had arrived. ¡°There are a few specific biomes that have been carefully nurtured on the grounds of the academy and you will be using them.¡±


    As Ajax listened he also noticed that a few of his ssmates already had a few scuffs and scratches on their gear, not only that but they also had built up a bit of sweat, most notable of them the prince who¡¯s de even looked to have drawn a sliver of blood as well as Benedict. They must be the ones who chose to forgo a crafting profession in exchange for morebat training.


    ¡°Going forward your training will be focused more on group tacticspared to individual operations.¡± Instructor Gatecrasher continued. ¡°And no this is not to prepare you for future delves.¡± Ajax seemed surprised by that. Why would you have them prioritizing groupbat as well as well as different biomes if not to prepare them for dungeon delves.


    ¡°Your dungeon training will mostly be happening inside the Goldmine, with all delves happening on the second floor of the dungeon this year you will have the chance to experience the randomness of a dungeon floor at that time.¡± The instructor exined have seen some skeptical looks at his previous announcement.


    ¡°The different biomes you will be training on have been carefully created to resemble the biomes from every single battle this kingdom has fought in thest thousand years with the exception of open fields.¡± the instructor ignored the looks of understanding that dawned on the faces of some of the students. ¡°For the next five years all of you will be training to survive and thrive on a battlefield.¡±


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    ¡°Instructor Gatecrasher, is it true that we will have wargames against the third years?¡± one of the students asked excitedly.


    ¡°That is correct.¡± the instructor confirmed. ¡°Unlike in your first year your cycle will no longer be a ten day academy, ten day delve and ten day free time. Moving forward you will have three different types of cycles one after the other : one will be the same as your first years giving you at least ten open days to get anything you need done.¡±


    ¡°The other two however will have that free time reced with a deep chaperoned delve as deep as the sixth floor of the dungeon with the specific intent of having you craft or they will have the free time reced with a delve to the first floor of the hillside dungeon.¡± the instructor exined ¡° That delve will see the floor quickly cleared by the instructors of the second and third years before a small war simtion will follow. Do keep in mind that each simtion will be given a scenario that won¡¯t always be a straight forward sh.¡±


    ¡°We may end up being the first second year ss to clean sweep the third years.¡± Ajax heard one of his ssmates whisper.


    As if having heard the whisper their magic instructor was quick to cut that idea down. ¡°In order to maintain a bnced field the third years will be given a level sixty asset during these simtions, not only that but Ajax will also not be allowed to take a main or secondary leadership role.¡±


    Ajax frowned at that, not because he disagreed with what they were doing. He knew very well just how unfair it would be to have the third years go up against him without anything to keep him in check, he was d that they were letting him participate. The part that Ajax had a problem with was that the third years were given a level sixty asset, sure that might be close enough to match him as he was now but Ajax very much expected them to need a level sixty-five by the time half the school year had gone by at thetest.


    ¡°I suppose I should mention that while all crafting sses will have the option of joining the crafting delve, only students that actively practice dungeon crafting will be allowed to attend.¡± the instructor said.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°How is that fair?¡±


    A few of the students were quick to take issue with thest second announcement. Dungeon crafting was much more difficult than regr crafting, at least without a skill to make up for it and even then it was still harder. Depending on the profession the number of crafters who could do it varied between one in ten and one in a hundred.


    ¡°This decision was made years ago.¡± the professor continued raising his voice over the protests ¡°It was made to ensure sufficient crafting ingredients for the students who actively pursue dungeon crafting. The rest of you will be offered extended lessons during these delves from your professors.¡±


    ¡°Won¡¯t the professors be delving?¡± was a question that quickly came.


    ¡°No.¡± The response didn¡¯te with any exnation.


    Ajax, of course, knew the exact reason why there would be no professor. Dungeon crafters needed to be creative and be able to make the best with what they could find and adapt, it was better for them to go through the process without an experienced teacher that would be nothing more than a crutch.


    For the remainder of the ss the instructors had them practice small squad movements throughout the forest biome. While the students had little issue keeping in formation for basic marching as soon as some speed was added in their formations quickly broke down.


    After finishing hisbat training Ajax took his time getting himself cleaned up before heading for the library. Despite the time he had spent up there during the break Ajax had done so alone on the fact that Balthazar had returned to his estate.


    ¡°You sure took your time getting up here.¡± the old librarian taunted Ajax as soon as he stepped in.


    ¡°Next time I¡¯ll make my way here right afterbat training.¡± Ajax quickly responded with a malicious smile.


    ¡°On second thought you¡¯re not thatte you can take the time to clean yourself first.¡± The old man quickly backtracked, Ajax had figured out that while old age had diminished the old man¡¯s sight and hearing a little he still got the full effect of his Perception when it came to smell. After a few thousand years, even with mostly forcibly increasing the stat it had to be up there.


    ¡°What is this?¡± Ajax asked as he looked at the sole scroll sitting on the librarians desk.


    ¡°This is a very basic curse.¡± the old man said. ¡°The first that you will learn.¡±


    Ajax was ecstatic to hear that. Right now his [Cursed sh] simply generated cursed mana, but with training he should be able to learn some nonplex curses to channel that mana into. This would not only make the curses more efficient that basic curse mana infusion but it would also allow him to specialize them. Applying a curse of reduced speed to one arm and reduced strength to the other could ruin a two handed weapon wielder stylepletelypared to just having both arms hurt while moving and be a little bit slower and weaker.

 Chapter 260

    Chapter 260


    Ajax was dripping with sweat as he returned home. Hours of training and yet he had almost nothing to show for it. For the first time since he came to this new world Ajax had finally hit a wall. He had previous experience withck of talent, even after three weeks of apprenticeship he hadn¡¯t unlocked the [Farming] skill, in fact he didn¡¯t have it even after all the farming he¡¯d done with mana all this time.


    The difference this time however was that Ajax very much wanted to learn how to wield curse mana into moreplex curses but he simply didn¡¯t have the talent for it, not only that but because of the nature of his curse mana generation his Divine Witness trait didn¡¯t help him with getting started at all.


    While this didn¡¯t mean that Ajax would give up on his work with curses he did realize that it won¡¯t be anything more than a small part of his toolset. He still nned to learn some basic curses to improve the damage done by his cursed sh but his hopes of having curses be as big a part of his style as [Mana Augmentation] were cut short.


    Ajax''s ideal path to increased power, beside an increase in stats, was all of the scientific knowledge he had learned back on Earth. There was a lot to being an architect and physics was a good chunk of it, even if it did focus more on the mechanical side he had been forced to learn a much wider range during his college days.


    The problem there was that he had a lot of things that he would need to not only relearn but actually rediscover in this world. Just as mana and mana concentration affected the speed required to break through the sound barrier so could it affect the rest of the physics he had learnt, this would mean that all he really had was solid guessed and not actual hard facts.


    The second issue here was with the things that were so basic that they must be ssified as their own category of magic. Ajax was willing to bet his left arm that gravity mana was thing, even with mana messing with things he had experienced gravity all his life and in all sorts of mana concentration and found it to work simrly in all of them. The problem here was that he had no idea what gravity mana felt like in the first ce.


    All of his current mana types came from either directly copying the mana type used by a monster or mage, or by ying around with his existing mana types in order to create new ones. It was already a minor miracle that he had stumbled upon void mana from shadow but currently there was nothing to help him gain gravity mana.


    ¡°What are you thinking about?¡± Theron asked as picked up on Ajax¡¯s mood.


    ¡°The different mana types.¡± Ajax made sure to keep his answer ambiguous enough as he thought about it. ¡°Trying to figure out how I can get a better look to understand some of them.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t you do the same thing you did with the bees?¡± Theron asked.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Ajax was confused how his bees were the answer to different mana types.


    ¡°Well you got a little mana infused honey from infusing raw mana into the creation process, can you do the same thing to say wood and then set it aze to see if the mana turns into fire mana?¡± Theron asked.


    Ajax slightly froze at that remark. While the process for fire wouldn¡¯t work since the mana in the wood would affect the wood¡¯s properties and not transform the idea into sound, Theron''s mistake was in trying to apply it to a process that wasn¡¯t natural to the infused item.


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    The more he thought about it the more he realized that the idea itself had a lot of potential, so much so that Ajax was close to kicking himself for not having thought about it before. Sure there were few things it would actually work on but the things that it would work on should give him a lot to work with.


    Ajax didn¡¯t know if it was because he was thinking about it beforehand or just random chance because he now had an idea of how to get gravity mana. The answer was in how gravity worked, though its practical application was having things fall down gravity worked by having two things attract one another.


    There was one other force that had two objects attract one another, maism. Sure enough there were natural mas in this world but infusing one of them with mana would only affect its output directly without actually changing the mana into maic mana. An electroma hower was a natural process formed by metals when electricity ran through them.


    If Ajax could learn maic mana he could eventually work it to find gravitational mana. This was clearly a long term project but one that he almost could wait to get started on.


    ¡°That¡¯s a great idea.¡± Ajax said as he quickly picked up speed as he headed towards the house.


    ¡°Thank¡­ you.¡± Theron was left slightly confused as he watched Ajax dash off in a hurry. Despite the confusion however Theron was proud, even if he didn¡¯t know exactly how he had clearly helped his Lord.


    ¡°Hi grandpa!.¡± Ajax excitedly greeted Elija as he plowed into his office. ¡°Quick question, in which of your warehouses do you keep your metal ores and ingots.¡±


    Despite the joy Elija felt when seeing his grandson''s joy whileing to see him the question quickly brought him up short as a small pit in his stomach quickly grew bigger.


    ¡°Now, Ajax I am sure you are very talented but I think its a bit early to be thinking about trying this.¡± Elija said after a long moment of silence.


    ¡°What?¡± Ajax was very confused, not only by the fact that his grandfather imed to know what he wanted to do but that he also thought he wasn¡¯t skilled enough to do it.


    ¡°What is going on?¡± Judy asked as she, na and Aurora were quick to follow Ajax here as they saw him dashing through the mansion.


    ¡°Ajax here is asking about our supply of ores and ingots.¡± Elija said as he felt a bit of cold sweat start to drip down his back.


    ¡°Now honey, are you sure you want to be focusing on that now.¡± Aurora tried a more diplomatic form of denial, her attempts were quickly dashed however as her granddaughter joined the conversation.


    ¡°Absolutely not!¡± Judy said as she looked at Ajax. ¡°You are not trying your hand at transmutation!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve started learning alchemy seriously for almost a year, most people have at least a decade of experience before they try it, and it''s almost always a failure.¡± na tried a logical exnation. ¡°Trying to work at it now would just be a waste of ingots, ores and other expensive ingredients.¡±


    ¡°But, I don¡¯t want to try my hand at transmutation yet.¡± Ajax said.


    ¡°You don¡¯t?!¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t?!¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t?!¡±


    While na, Aurora and Judy had the exact same reaction Elija was quick to move the conversation away from transmutation, just in case the conversation would lead his grandson to once again start hounding them for ingredients as he did over the summer. ¡°What is it that you need to know about the ingot and ore warehouse for then?¡±


    ¡°I need a few samples from different metals and ores so I can experiment with them using mana.¡± Ajax said.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you just say so,¡± Elija said as he heaved out a relieved sigh. ¡°No need to go to a warehouse for that, just go to our main shop and ask Sebastian for what you need, we should have a few samples of most ores and ingots to use as show pieces when making deals.¡±


    ¡°I was going to exin if all of you didn¡¯t jump to conclusions.¡± Ajax grumbled to himself as he headed back out of the estate and towards his grandfather''s shop.


    The more Ajax thought about the process of getting ess to gravity mana the more he realized that he had been neglecting a lot of his knowledge when forming his mental images when casting some of his elemental spells. The biggest failure of this being his ice magic, he knew perfectly well that it was the moleculesck of movement that represented the cold and that the best way to make his ice magic colder was to have that as the basis of his image and intent, yet he hadn¡¯t been doing that.


    The same could be said for fire but Ajax knew that there were multiple types of mes and that mana had a bigger say there than it did when creating ice. Nevertheless there was a lot more he could be doing now to increase his power and the first step for it would be getting those samples.

 Chapter 261

    Chapter 261


    ¡°Today¡¯s lesson will focus on trade regtions, specifically on trades with other kingdoms.¡± professor Silvertongue said as ss started. ¡°Now while our kingdom tries to stay out of it and respect the autonomy of its noble houses when not at war, there are a few regtions that are kept quiet from the public.¡±


    Ajax could see that almost half the ss had been just as clueless as him when it came to these unpublishedws. There were also those who already knew the information and were just sitting in for a refresher. Anna however had almostpletely tuned out the lesson and was reading through a scroll. The professor was clearly aware but chances were that she already knew all of this.


    ¡°Now while any individual sales are not subject to scrutiny, sales that involve a noble house as a whole are. The main reason for this is obviously so that anything that could be considered a national secret or resource can¡¯t be traded away. The second reason is for fair taxation purposes.¡±


    ¡°What does fair taxation have to do with it?¡± Ajax asked, he clearly understood the first part but this didn¡¯t make sense for him.


    ¡°Taxation is not always straightforward.¡± the professor exined. ¡°Take the deal that the Goldmancers are making with the Empire right now as an example.¡±


    Ajax felt a bit awkward considering just how personal that deal was, not only that but he could also see that Anna looked up and focused on the conversation.


    ¡°That deal isn¡¯t finalized yet but I can guarantee that a member of the royal family or one of the king''s advisors is a silent participant in those discussions.¡± the professor said. ¡°His involvement here will be minimal if the whispers going around are anything close to the deal being put in ce.¡±


    ¡°I hear that there is talk that the Goldmancers will get 20% of all honey gathered in the Empire for the next ten years.¡± another noble spoke up.


    ¡°Yes, and that is something that would make taxation easy for the kingdom.¡± the professor nodded. ¡°Seeing as how a farming method is being traded and the talk hasn''t been shut down it means the kingdom doesn¡¯t deem it to be a national secret, otherwise the royal family representative would have shut down the discussion.¡± ¡°On that note I highly advise that all of you have a discussion with a royal family representative before even starting talks of selling anything that isn¡¯t already widely known, whether that be a farming method, an unique item or even the first output of a new mine.¡± the professor said, ¡°Charges of treason can be brought for doing so.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t the royal family just get whatever information we are trading for free in that case?¡± one of the students asked.


    ¡°No,¡± it was Anna who spoke up. ¡°All royal representatives take an oath to not divulge anything learnt in that session, it is heavily enforced, each representative has at least ten active contracts binding that promise of secrecy.¡±


    Depending on the strength of the skill, breaking ten contracts at once could be fatal for almost anyone and Ajax doubted the economic advisors and other representatives were all that high of a level.


    ¡°As I was saying, taxation on this contract would be easy as the 5% would be easily taken from the honey that house Goldmancer would collect.¡± The professor refocused the discussion. ¡°But what if they were trading it for a new family heirloom? The crown can¡¯t take away 5% of an item.¡±


    ¡°The amount taxed would be something that the representative would discuss separately with the House before the agreement is finalized. Do any of you know what the current punishment is for finalizing a deal without notifying the royal family.¡± the professor asked.


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    ¡°The taxed amount is doubled.¡± Benedict answered.


    ¡°And what if the deal was for a single item?¡± the professor prodded.


    ¡°The House in question would be asked to ce a value on the item.¡± Anna said. ¡°From there it would be up to the royal family to decide whether to buy the item or ept double the taxes on the valuation.¡±


    The whole premise was that while giving you the opportunity to name the price made it seem like the royal family wasn¡¯t in control it actually stuck the House in question between a rock and a hard ce. A too low value and the royal family would pay 90% of it and take the item in question, too high and you¡¯d end up paying 10% of it.


    ¡°A big incentive to have said meetings supervised is included in taxation.¡± the professor continued. ¡°Things like a ten man delve in another countries dungeon, or usage of a natural treasure can be baked into the deal where they are then relinquished to the crow in exchange for taxes.¡±


    From there the lesson continued down the rabbit hole of edge cases and beneficial reasons to have the meetings monitored. While Ajax could see the incentives he also recognised that this lesson focused a lot on the downsides of getting caught and the upsides of being upfront.


    ¡°There is one exception to this.¡± the professor said as the ss time was running out. ¡°Any asset obtained as a reward from an international tournament can be traded away tax free within two weeks of it being obtained provided the royal family is given the chance to counter on the price.¡±


    ¡°Why are tournament prizes exempt?¡± one student asked.


    ¡°Mainly because of how manymoner winners there have been.¡± the professor said. ¡°The exception is put in ce to stop them from trying to hide the deal in fear of taxation and end up severely undercharging for it.¡±


    The kingdom was smart here, using that same greed that would lead someone to hide the deal to get them to bring it forward, after all there was no downside if the crown didn¡¯t want it but they could always offer to pay even more for it.


    ¡°Do you have a moment?¡± Anna asked Ajax after the ss.


    ¡°Sure.¡± Ajax nodded, today would be one of the days where the first years would have an alchemy ss and as such he will be having his one on one remedial lesson with professor Silvertongue.


    ¡°Since the deal my family is making was brought up anyway I thought I''d give you an update on it.¡± Anna said . ¡°The deal is almost finished and the n was to let you know once it was all done but I don¡¯t want you to feel like we are hiding anything.¡±


    One of the things Ajax had learned about Anna during all the time that he knew her was that despite the calcted and calm strategist and business women she had been raised as, whenever it came down to regr social interaction her isted childhood started to show. Ajax himself hadn¡¯t been all that social during his childhood and this manifested in a more quiet and reserved personality. Anna on the other hand tended to babble and go on tangents to fill the air and prevent any awkward silences.


    ¡°I wasn''t,¡± Ajax said with a smile. The deal they had made when they sold the farming method to the Goldmancers was good and ording to his grandparents they had gotten enough upfront that even if they were shafted on a resell to other kingdoms they would still have gotten a good enough deal for something that would be reverse engineered quickly.


    ¡°Dad managed to get them up to 22% of all honey produced.¡± Anna said and even Ajax could see how proud she was of her father, he also wasn¡¯t all that interested in the raw amount since his House wouldn¡¯t be getting any of that but he didn¡¯t let that show. ¡°As for the dungeon delves he managed to get a slot for both of their capitals dungeons.¡±


    This is what Ajax was interested in. More than anything he wanted to delve as many of the small floor gapped dungeons as quickly as he could for the extra stats. He knew that all kingdoms ced level caps on how long people could delve and foreign nations would never let anyone even remotely close to their cap from another nation attempt the delve.


    ¡°For their main Dungeon, it¡¯s a five level floor gap and it starts with a level twenty -nine max level on floor one, we have a five man delve team made up of under level forty members. Your House will nominate one of the five people.¡± Anna continued.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be going with you.¡± Lexi who had quickly followed after them jumped into the conversation. ¡°So will Anna. The prince will most likely im the spot given to the royal family and one of Anna¡¯s nephews or nieces will also join us.¡±


    It was almost a foregone conclusion that Ajax would be the member of his family to im the spot but he was surprised to see that four out of the five people going would be from his ss. He had obviously expected Anna to get one of the spots as the head of House Goldmancer wanted her to take over but the other two were a surprise.


    ¡°Only a five man delve?¡± Ajax asked as he refocused on the main bit of information. Delves were usually at least a dozen people and could be as many as three dozen depending on the purpose of the delve.


    ¡°For their main dungeon, yes.¡± Anna confirmed. ¡°The secondary dungeon, it has a ten level floor gap and starts at level thirty-three, we have a twenty man delve team and your house will be given three spots, they are to be under level eighty.¡±


    Ajax could feel his eyebrows reaching for his forehead at the level cap, that was surprising to say the least. He couldn¡¯t help but feel like there was something odd about the deal.


    ¡°This is why we didn¡¯t want to tell you about the deal until it was finished.¡± Anna let out a sigh. ¡°Dad said the only reason he could push so hard with his skills on the rest of the deal was because you are targeted here, the delve on their main dungeon is there to essentially analyze your strength.¡±


    Ajax didn¡¯t know what to think here. On the one hand he was already in the crosshairs of a neighboring kingdom, on the other the way they were going about investigating him also provided him with a great opportunity to get stronger.

 Chapter 262

    Chapter 262


    Ajax¡¯s remedial lessons turned out to be a lot more concentrated than he had thought. He had only been to two of them so far and already they had covered one third of the previous year''s curriculum. All of this was built on the back of Ajax¡¯s previous knowledge but he now found that he could identify important names.


    All of that was nothingpared to everything else he had picked up in the previous days. His newbat training focused a lot more on learning how to lead, unlike their first year where the ss was divided into mages and physical fighters they were now fully integrated and focused on learning how to lead a squad.


    Exciting as the new training was, Ajax was also quick to pick up that he was a terrible squad leader. It wasn¡¯t so much the power difference or that he wasn¡¯t good at nning, the issue came from Ajax¡¯s perfectionism and micromanagement of the squad as a whole. His previous experience with strategy games had shown him to be a decent strategist but in the field he always found himself front and centre of the formation.


    ¡°Your best chance is going to be leading as a result of your position.¡± the mage instructor had told him. ¡°You have no problem hatching a n, good ones at that, but the moment anything goes wrong you micromanage too much and focus too much on getting everything back to the way it should have been.¡±


    What Ajaxcked as a leader however he made up for in spades as a second inmand. On all of the different biomes they had run drills on Ajax had quickly shown both the issues with his leadership over a squad as well as his value as a right hand man.


    Both Anna and Benedict had clearly noticed his value in the chain ofmand. So long as Ajax had someone to make the overall decisions he could freely focus and obsess over his own specific task.


    ¡°I can¡¯t say I¡¯m surprised.¡± Benedict said as he was talking with Anna and Lexi.


    ¡°How so?¡± Lexi asked.


    ¡°Are you both aware of what method he used to get so much stronger for his level?¡± he asked, not wanting to speak out of turn.¡°Yes.¡± Both of them confirmed.


    ¡°Think about it.¡± He said. ¡°Not only that but out of all the professions he could have chosen he picked alchemy. Biggest surprise I have is that he doesn¡¯t suffer from an obsessivepulsive disorder seeing how he does things.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve seen quite a few obsessive squad leaders.¡± Lexi said.¡± In fact they are some of the better ones I have seen.¡±


    ¡°And they are.¡± Anna said. ¡°Being obsessive is a good trait in a nner and a squad leader in means you make back-up ns. His issue is that he also has another trait that makes for a good leader, one that whenbined with an obsessive turns a squad leader into a tyrant.¡±


    ¡°Oh,¡± Lexi sighed, ¡°He is a bit paranoid isn¡¯t he.¡±


    ¡°Considering his life before he came to the capital I¡¯m pretty sure he would have been dead if he wasn¡¯t.¡± Benedict nodded. ¡°But where an obsessive leader is good and a paranoid leader is good, an obsessive and paranoid leader will lead a squad to ruin.¡±


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    ¡°First person I¡¯d want as a second inmand.¡± Anna continued. ¡°He¡¯s the kind of person who does well when watching the big picture in small glimpses between focused tasks. Once you give him something to do you can rest assured that it will get done.¡±


    ¡°Think he¡¯s going to be joining a team again?¡± Lexi asked as they all walked towards the dungeon for their first delve on the second floor.


    ¡°Doubt he will give up the chance to practise his alchemy some more.¡± Benedict answered and Anna nodded along.


    The ss cut a very different sight as they made their way towards the dungeon. Unlike their first year when everyone had been simrly equipped when heading to the dungeon a clear status distinction could be seen when watching the ss head towards the dungeon now.


    The difference came from a simple item, a storage ring. Students whose families had given them a storage ring for their school delves had only a regr suit of gear on, some kept a weapon on them as well but that was it. Those without a ring however could be seen carrying big heavy packs where consumables as different gear sets were held for anything a random floor might throw at them.


    Much to his surprise Ajax had been asked to take a more active role during their delves. ¡°You want me to go around with a group again?¡± Ajax asked professor Silvertongue.


    ¡°At least for the first two or three delves, yes.¡± the professor said.


    ¡°But why me?¡± Ajax asked. ¡°If you needed another person to watch out for them I¡¯m sure you could have gotten them.¡±


    ¡°Because, for a few of them, you feel like a ssmate and not a watcher.¡± the professor exined. ¡°Having you go with them won¡¯t make them feel like they are being watched over and will give them the genuine feeling of delving without a safety.¡±


    ¡°Benedict, Lexi, Anna, Rick and to a certain extent prince Xavier.¡± Ajax rattled off the names. ¡°Outside of them everyone else has been a lot more wary of me since they saw me take part in the tournament.¡±


    Ajax couldn¡¯t understand why prince Xavier seemed to be so reactive to him, he had no way of knowing that this was all because of Xavier¡¯s uncle who had clearly marked Ajax as someone who had the potential to be the strongest champion across all the kingdoms.


    ¡°That¡¯s the group.¡± the professor confirmed. ¡°You can still pick up anything useful for alchemy that you find along the way and you¡¯ll have time in thest day when they will all be waiting as a group to craft in peace.¡±


    With his crafting time assured Ajax had no more real objections so once the ss entered the dungeon they quickly made their way to the closest arch and one on the other side they split into their groups.


    ¡°Ajax,¡± the prince said once they were on their own, him speaking up caused the entire group to freeze for a moment as all of them knew there had been some tensions between Ajax and the prince towards the end ofst year. ¡°First let me apologise forst time we talked, it seems I was a bit harsh and spoke without a good understanding of the facts.¡±


    ¡°What gave you a better understanding since then?¡± Lexi was quick to jump into the conversation after Ajax epted the apology with a nod.


    ¡°My uncle, he dispelled some of the wrong assumptions I had jumped to when I learned about his stat gaining method.¡± the prince said. ¡°He was more than impressed with you when he saw you fight in the tournament.¡±


    Benedict was quick to turn towards the prince. More than anyone else here besides prince Xavier he knew just what that meant. The king¡¯s oldest son might not be the kingdom¡¯s strongest fighter, yet anyway, but he was its most gifted fighter. ording to his father the only person stronger for their level that he had seen was Ajax himself.


    ¡°Firstly?¡± Ajax said, curious about what else the prince had to say besides the apology.


    ¡°I also bring a request from my grandfather.¡± the prince said.


    Those words were quick to focus Ajax¡¯s attention. So long as the request was nothing too excessive Ajax very much wanted to get on the king''s good side.


    ¡°Is this about the dungeon delves in the Empire?¡± Anna asked, it was the only reason why the prince would approach Ajax about the request in this group instead of when he was alone.


    ¡°Yes.¡± the prince confirmed.


    ¡°You managed to get a delve slot in the Empire?¡± Rick was the only one shocked at the news, despite the rumours about the deal that house Goldmancer was making with the Empire getting a delve slot was something very rare.


    ¡°Rick!¡± Benedict was quick to chastise his friend. ¡°My house will be very interested in talking about a possible deal regarding any delve slots you may acquire.¡±


    ¡°I can set up a meeting.¡± Anna nodded.


    ¡°What is the request?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°The request is for the main dungeon delve.¡± the prince said. ¡°He asks that you apany me, as well as anyone else delving, and give us a fair chance to push as high as we can with you keeping us safe. We might be able to get one floor higher if we can focus on the boss and we never know if we will get another chance to delve that dungeon.¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t sound too bad.¡± Ajax nodded.


    ¡°He also wants you to fully clear thest floor you delve to if at all possible.¡± the prince continued. ¡°The Empire will certainly make assurance of having them clear anything thates out after you but ideally you wouldn¡¯t give them any indication of how high you reached.¡±

 Chapter 263

    Chapter 263


    That request had brought not only Ajax up short but also the rest of their party, all four of them sported frowns on their faces but Lexi and Rick had theirs trained on the prince while Anna and Benedict were looking at Ajax.


    ¡°You expect him to leave at least a floor¡¯s worth of stats if not two?¡± Rick sounded offended on Ajax¡¯s behalf. ¡°That¡¯s all some people get when they get a chance to delve in another kingdom¡¯s dungeon.¡±


    ¡°Doing it that way is actually the smart move¡± Anna cut in, though from the look Lexi threw at her she agreed with Rick. ¡°Not doing so could put a very big target on your back.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s right,¡± Benedict agreed. ¡° House Slivertongue has done a great job of keeping how deep you delve secret but just from the party you are going with you have to be at least able to handle floors holding level fifties.¡±


    Ajax was surprised at that, House Silvertongue had done a really good job if all Benedict could be sure about was that he delved up to level fifty instead of the sixty five he had been to multiple times, dubbly so considering the incident with the kitsune.


    ¡°If the word spread that you can delve that high up to enemy nations you will have assassins going after you.¡± Benedict said.


    ¡°Would they do that with the recent peace that was just established?¡± Ajax asked. ¡°I thought nobody wanted to make a move because of that stealth users the Republic had.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re more likely to do it because of him.¡± Anna cut in. ¡° With war taken off the table tournaments are the way that any point of conflict will be resolved. There is no way your current level hasn¡¯t already been leaked, a simple check of the Adventurer Guild will have that pretty urately and at your level of growth you may very well dominate both the under fifty years old and the under level one hundred for a good long while.¡±


    ¡°Not to mention that you will extend your own period of forced peace if you grow strong enough.¡± Benedict added on.¡°And that¡¯s if they see you doing only floors with level fifties.¡± the prince spoke again.


    ¡°ONLY!?¡± Rick was the only one to exim but everyone now had their eyes trained on him, clearly the royal family had much better information and knew that Ajax had cleared floors with level sixty-fives on it.


    ¡°In exchange my grandfather will be willing to sell you a spot for the team that will be delving the Republic¡¯s dungeon when you go there for the tournament.¡± the prince continued. ¡°Despite that delve being a few years away you¡¯ll be going in with level one hundreds and will have no reason to hold back there.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll be able to push as hard as you want in their secondary dungeon.¡± Anna seemingly saw his inner conflict and tried to cate him. ¡°The cap for that one seems to be eighty so you¡¯ll be able to push as far as you can go.¡±


    It was here that Ajax had to realize that despite how much this world felt like a game he couldn¡¯t simply min-max everything. Ideally he would get to delve into each and every dungeon and get the bonuses from every single floor but that simply wasn¡¯t feasible. Not only that but it would also be the highest floors that he wouldn¡¯t be collecting, he would have quite a bit of time to gain a delve into that dungeon before he passed the level where they wouldn¡¯t be giving him the stat points any further.


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    ¡°I¡¯ll do it.¡± Ajax said finally. ¡°I make no promises but I¡¯ll do my best to try and not leak just how far I can go.¡±


    Ajax was pretty sure that the king would give him a spot in uing delve in the Republic dungeon regardless of how his first foreign delve would go, that said it didn¡¯t mean that he didn¡¯t want to be on the good side of the royal family, so far they had been straightforward with him and had given him a space to built his own ce in their kingdom.


    For the remainder of the day the group had decided to stick to small talk following the serious discussion. Rick, Benedict and to a lesser extent Lexi and Anna had been throwing looks at Ajax as they made their way through the swamp biome that the dungeon had thrown at them. The revtion that what he disyed during the tournament wasn¡¯t his full power had been a lot to take in. Ajax was also drawing quite a bit of attention to himself by intercepting everything that got close to any of them. He was given clear instructions to be more protective of them on the first day while they got used to the theme, especially once they saw it was a swamp.


    As for Ajax himself he was beyond pleased with the floor theme. The specific swamp biome that the dungeon had spawned was filled with poisonous and venomous creatures, Ajax had counted at least three different types: a giant wasp,rge toads and massive snakes. Not only that but the floor had also presented him with specific nts and fungi that he could use in his alchemy.


    When creating an alchemical antidote to a poison the temperature of the ingredients was very important as the poison was usually only effective at specific temperatures. This flooring after days spent in ss practicing and discussing this exact phenomenon was the perfect dungeon floor.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± professor Silvertongue asked him once all of their group got back to the meeting spot before night fully fell. ¡°I thought we agreed you would be doing alchemy at the end of the delve.¡±


    ¡°The toads are poisonous, not only that but the snakes and wasps are venomous.¡± Ajax said as he kept setting up his dungeon alchemy station. ¡°I wanted to try make an antidote for them.¡±


    ¡°We have antidotes.¡± the professor said as he pointed towards the rings. ¡°I know we gave you a few specific supplies just in case a weird floor theme showed up.¡±


    ¡°Those are too good.¡± Ajax said as he now started pulling out all of the things he had collected throughout the day. ¡°They¡¯ll cure the poison the moment they are taken like it was never there. The best I can do is make one on short notice that will partially work.¡±


    ¡°I know, that¡¯s why I said you can do it at the end of the delve.¡± the professor said with a little exasperation in his tone.


    ¡°If it will only partially work it will give them a proper experience of how it will be delving without a chaperone, not only that but taking a partial antidote will also give them a good chance of developing [Poison Resistance].¡± Ajax countered.


    ¡°Fine.¡± the professor relented after he stopped to think things over for a moment. ¡°But only until the first watch is over, after that you go to sleep as well you need to be rested for tomorrow.¡±


    Ajax was tempted to argue but he just opened his mouth and closed it again simply nodding his eptance of the terms. With the floors being bigger and uncharted, their delve here wouldst longer than the simple three to four days they did in the first year, he could look forward to five, six or maybe seven depending on how hard the floors were to fully clear.


    By the time the first shift had ended Ajax had already made ten attempts at creating an antidote for each of the three poisons he encountered. Twenty-four of those attempts had beenplete failures, learning to improvise with the ingredients avable was one of the main challenges when crafting in the dungeon and the first twelve attempts had been wasted just on figuring out which ingredients definitely didn¡¯t go together well.


    Of his six sessful five of them were [Minor Antidotes] and one of them had advanced a stage to a [Lesser Antidote] ording to his [Alchemist¡¯s Examination]. Despite that they weren¡¯t evenly spread, he had only managed to get one of the minor antidotes for the wasp¡¯s sting, never having dealt with this type of poison before. He had a little more sess with the toad¡¯s paralytic poison having two sessful minor antidotes. His biggest sess by far was with the snake hemotoxic poison as he had a better understanding of what the poison was doing, essentially just not allowing blood to clot and managed to make two minor and one lesser antidote for it.


    Come morning Ajax had kept four of his creations to himself though he did give one of the minor snake and frog antidotes to professor Silvertongue. Not only that but all of the helpers were going to be taking a big step back going forward now that the students had had a full day to get used to the unfamiliar floor theme. Ajax wondered if it was mean for him to hope that someone in his group got poisoned just to see how effective his antidotes were.

 Chapter 264

    Chapter 264


    Ajax didn¡¯t have to wait too long before somebody got poisoned, that isn¡¯t to say that they weren¡¯t trying but without Ajax giving them a heads up about where the enemies were it would always be just a matter of time before one of the snakes managed tond an opening ambush bite.


    Much to Ajax¡¯s surprise however it was the prince that got bit. Ajax had put prince Xavier as one of the least likely to be poisoned simply because of how much more useful physical stats were when reacting to an ambush. To be fair however he did get bit as he intercepted the snake that was diving towards Rick.


    The fight ended within seconds of their enemies making themselves known, despite the lower levels this was still a group that had multiple mages all of whom were not only skilled but also supplied with some of the best gear and preparation possible.


    ¡°How are you still moving around?¡± Rick eximed, pointing at the prince.


    ¡°Because the snake¡¯s poison is a hemotoxin you knucklehead.¡± Benedict grumbled through clenched teeth as he gave Rick a light tap to the back of the head. ¡°I¡¯ll tell your father you need a refresher on the different types of poison.¡±


    Rick¡¯s good mood quickly plummeted as his face turned a little pale and he dragged Benedict off to one side quickly in an attempt to persuade him that it wasn¡¯t something worth bringing up with his father.


    ¡°Do you have [Poison Resistance]?¡± Ajax asked the prince as he approached.


    ¡°No.¡± the prince shook his head.


    ¡°You have two options then.¡± Ajax offered the choice to the prince between his lesser antidote and the one provided by the teachers. Both would counteract the poison and get the blood clotting again the only difference was the time it would take to happen. ¡°Well three technically but I¡¯m not risking the minor one.¡± The problem with the bite was that it had been close enough that Ajax was sure it nicked a major blood vessel in the leg and the minor antidote would be too slow before severe anemia would creep up on them.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take the weak one.¡± the prince quickly grabbed the antidote Ajax made before he looked at it oddly. ¡°Is this an antidote you drink or one you apply?¡±


    ¡°It should work either way but with how shallow the wound is I think direct application would work best.¡± Ajax responded.


    The prince simply nodded as he doused the wound with the antidote, the action followed quickly by a sharp draw of breath as he felt like his thigh caught on fire as the antidote started to neutralize the poison.


    ¡°Damit¡± Ajax cursed slightly as he started inspecting the surroundings after seeing the prince¡¯s reaction to applying the antidote. ¡°There needs to be something like a yarrow root around here.¡± He mumbled as he started inspecting the nearby trees for anything that would work to make the poisons reaction when meeting the antivenom have a small numbing sensation as opposed to the clearly painful one.


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    ¡°Can you walk?¡± Anna asked.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be okay.¡± the prince nodded ¡°I¡¯ll stick to just defending the mages until the bleeding stops however.¡±


    The rest of the day moved slowly with two more snake bites and one wasp sting happening before the group called it a day and headed back to the camp spot. Ajax was slightly disappointed nobody had been poisoned by the frogs since he wanted to see the result of his antidote, his best bet right now was to hope another group had had a mild poisoning and they refused the antidote initially since this poison was only a local paralytic.


    The delve continued in much the same fashion for the next four days as the ss slowly but surely started to clear out the entire floor. Ajax¡¯s antidote production had improved with each passing night, by thest day he was consistently creating lesser versions of all three antidotes, his crowning achievement however had been a snake antivenom that had surpassed lesser and was simply marked as [Antidote] by his skill.


    Ajax wasn¡¯t the only one to see progress throughout this delve, both the prince and the son of a Baron had both managed to gain the [Poison Resistance] skill after using Ajax¡¯s antidotes and just putting up with mild poisoning for extended periods of time.


    The princes sess had been called a fluke but once the second [Poison Resistance] was gained the observers had all been driven to their witt¡¯s end, actively having to step in just to stop people from intentionally letting themselves get poisoned just so they would have a better shot at gaining the skill.


    ¡°Why did you let them know you gained [Poison Resistance]?¡± Ajax asked the prince as they were all heading out of the dungeon.


    The concept of openly revealing skills was a totally foreign one to Ajax who had spent years hiding as many skills as he could, even now there wasn¡¯t a single person who knew all of Ajax¡¯s skills.


    ¡°Because it¡¯s much safer for me to have it be known that I have [Poison Resistance].¡± the prince said.


    ¡°How, wouldn¡¯t people just try to kill you in different ways if they knew that?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°Subtle applied poisons are thest resort when ites to killing high nobles.¡± Anna said. ¡°If you have any other alternatives you would go with those regardless of the fact that the target had [Poison Resistance] or not.¡±


    ¡°I still don¡¯t see how that makes having the skill known helpful.¡± Ajax said.


    ¡°Because it''s a Common skill.¡± Lexi joined in. ¡°Common skill are hardly more than padding, they don¡¯t offer the best protection, not only that but they are also limited. It¡¯s that limitation that makes it an asset you want others to know about.¡±


    ¡°The skill works a lot better on slow acting poisons.¡± the prince cut straight to the point. ¡°It wouldn¡¯t matter to an assassin who coated his weapons if I had the skill or not he would add poison anyway. But having the skill be known would make it so people were more likely to use fast acting poisons when trying to slip me something since they work better against the skill.¡±


    ¡°And how are fast acting poisons better?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°Taste testers would exhibit symptoms sooner, reducing the chance to have it slip by testing.¡± the prince said.


    Ajax remained silent at the cold remark. Ajax imagined that the prince¡¯s food taster was going to be cursing his name once he found out that he had helped the prince gain the skill. The idea however also made him consider if there were any skills that he would benefit from putting out there about himself.


    ¡°I want to congratte all of you.¡± Professor Silvertongue said as they all got back to the academy. ¡°Despite the high number of mistakes and idents all of you performed very well. The floor theme was one of the harder ones to tackle while underleveled and all of you showed great progress as you adapted to it better and better day by day.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s debateable considering everyone¡¯s suicidal tendacies on thest day.¡± one of the observers whispered loudly, clearly intending for everyone to hear him.


    ¡°Yes I do have to admit your surprising dedication to trying to unlock [Poison Resistance] has surprised and inspired me.¡± Ajax had a shiver run down his spine as he watched the malicious smirk creep on the professor¡¯s face. ¡°As such I will do my best to help you unlock it by offering you a mild poison you can take every day during our first lesson.¡±


    Ajax had to bite his cheek to keep himself fromughing as he watched most of the students turn a shade whiter at the announcement, he was d to have already unlocked the skill and was looking forward to what the first poison would be. He was also silently deciding if he should provide a mildxative for the professor to use.


    As soon as they were all dismissed however Ajax bade his goodbyes quickly before he hurried towards his manor as quickly as he could without rming anyone. He finally had a little over twelve days all to himself and with the help of his sister and grandparents he had gathered all the samples needed so that he could begin testing his theory about maic mana.

 Chapter 265

    Chapter 265


    Ajax P.O.V.


    I could barely pay any attention to thest few announcements the professor made before he dismissed us, something about us being allowed to bring ourpanions on school delves going forward along with a long speech about how the school takes no responsibility should something happen to them inside the dungeon if we do decide to bring them. It didn¡¯t really matter or apply to me as I didn¡¯t have a bondedpanion and I was too excited about finally getting to try out my theories for maic mana.


    I all but dashed through the noble section of the capital as I made my way towards our estate. I was so absorbed into my own theories about what could and hopefully would work that I didn¡¯t even notice how many people were following me, that there were more than there should be inside the noble district or that they were getting a lot closer to me than usual.


    ¡°Sorry about that.¡± A man said as we bumped into each other as I turned a corner.


    The man made to move along like it was no big deal but that small contact was all it took to bring me back to the present at the speed of light. [Enigma] triggered defensively the moment he touched me and despite that he still managed to get a full read on everything but my skills, he had my name, level, stats and even my age and for the first time from somebody else¡¯s skill that I was a human.


    I didn¡¯t hesitate for a moment longer as I quickly pulled both my axe and my hammer from my spacial ring and swung both as I turned [Mana Syphon] up to its maximum setting. My axe was aiming to take his head off his shoulders whereas my hammer was trying to cave in his chest.


    The spy, as there was no way he was anything else, didn¡¯t even hesitate the moment I made my move and stopped his acting as he broke off at a run. My [Judge Threat] quickly returned a medium threat designation on the man letting me know that while he wasn¡¯t somebody who could kill me in a straight up fight I definitely won¡¯t be catching up to him any time soon considering his stats would be skewed towards speed and perception.


    The spy hadn¡¯t made it more than two steps away from me, I hadn¡¯t even finished the swing with my weapons when I felt a mana membrane spread out all around us, not knowing what it was or who cast it I didn¡¯t use [Mana Syphon] to drain it just yet. From the spy¡¯s reaction to the membrane it clearly wasn¡¯t something he was happy with.


    ¡°Damn it¡± I swore as I withdrew both weapons into my ring and quickly brought out my bow and one arrow. Hopefully I would be able tond a good shot that would allow me to catch up. I drew back the arrow and held almost nothing back, for the first time ever I supercharged the arrow by dumping a full one thousand mana in a lightning enchantment as I fired it, anything so much as a scratch and it should send his whole body into an electric seizure.


    Unfortunately it seems that I was too slow toe to that decision, by the time I loosed the arrow the spy was already more than a dozen feet away from me, not only that but his aplices had also made a suicidal dash in hopes of slowing me down. One of them even threw themselves in front of the arrow.


    Even with the power tradeoff that my casting style suffered from one thousand mana was arge amount to pump into a single spell, not only that but I had fully envisioned the lightning enhancement as a paralyzing current rather than a prative force, the moment the arrow sunk into the aplice¡¯s shoulder lightning arcs started to spread out from the point of impact.


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    One of the arcs even managed to hit the spy but unfortunately it didn¡¯t do more the have him almost trip and lower the speed his was building up to in his mad dash. The poor sod who got hit dropped to the ground and started shaking uncontrobly while the third one came straight towards me.


    ¡°ARRGGHH¡± I swapped out my bow and arrow for my hammer and axe once more but as I went to infuse them magma and iron I felt my mana channels revolt in protest. The one thousand mana arrow Iunched had clearly been a step too far, I wasn¡¯t used to outputting that much mana all in one go and never mind doing it without any build up.


    At least I could maintain [Mana Syphon] as I leaned into my [Berserker Style] andshed out with a curse sh. It seemed that thisckey had learned from his downed friend as he was prepared for me to retaliate, despite that he was simply not strong enough or fast enough. He might have dodged a meaningful hit but he still got hit by my curse.


    It was a valiant effort, sadly for him even the light scratch was too much of a hit for someone of his level. I quickly stored my hammer again and light channeled as little holy mana as I could while still getting a cleansing spell to gather in my hand. The pain was quick to reappear but with the lower mana amount it was still manageable.


    A wail of agony greeted me the moment I made contact with thecky, his legs gave out from under him as the curse was swiftly cleansed. Considering the small amount of curse mana that I managed to inflict on him I knew the pain didn¡¯tst for more than an instant and he would be back to normal shortly, that moment of weakness however would be too much for him as I swung my axe towards his throat.


    ¡°How much did they learn?¡± a cold voice sounded off to my left as I felt an iron grip take a hold of my hand stopping me from decapitating my attacker.


    I quickly turned my eyes to look at the person holding my hand, [Judge threat] put him solidly above me, definitely someone I should think about fighting currently, it was only the royal family sigil on his leather armor that let me calm down and look around for the spy. I found two more royal assassins each standing next to one of the other two spies. The runner had two spears going through his thighs and was tied up in chains. I was feeling a bit smug to see that the third assassins hadn¡¯t done anything more than tie the hands and feet of the spy I hit with my lightning arrow.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± I asked after I took in the situation.


    ¡°His Majesty''s orders regarding any spies that make contact with you are clear, we are to get your approval before taking them in for interrogation.¡± the assassin said. ¡°The barrier we deployed stopped them from transmitting whatever they gathered to anyone else but he might have already passed it along to the two of them, your privacy skill should let you know what information they managed to take, how important was it?¡±


    I took a moment to process what he was telling me. It seems the king was well aware that I was still keeping a few things from him despite revealing my second Legendary skill to him. I have to admit I appreciated that he let me make the decision on the interrogation just in case they might have collected something sensitive that I was keeping from him. Then again I had no way of knowing if they had already learned all of it from when they interrupted his attempt atmunication but my gut told me they didn¡¯t.


    ¡°You¡¯re fine to take them.¡± I said as I came to a decision. ¡°The king already knows everything they managed to get a peek at, though I am surprised how much they managed to get a look at.¡±


    ¡°Two Epic skills will do that.¡± the assassin that stopped the running spy said as he dragged the man across the ground by the chains that tied him up. ¡°This here is one of our own knights that seems to have betrayed the kingdom, he has the epic skill [Investigation] as well as [Empowering Restriction]. He must have limited his skill to a touch requirement to boost its power.¡±


    I let out a low whistle as I thought about the potential of such a skill especially inbination with my already varied kit. ¡°Thanks for the help there.¡±


    ¡°Do take it easy for the rest of the day, you really overtaxed your mana channels with that arrow.¡± the third assassin finally chimed in. ¡°Hard to argue with the results though.¡± he said as he prodded the spy who was still twitching here and there from the lightning in his system.


    Thatment nearly sent me into a fit of curses as I thought that I will have to postpone some of the experiments with maic mana until tomorrow at the earliest and I would be relegated to simply so light observation of phenomenon for the rest of today.

 Chapter 266

    Chapter 266


    Ajax P.O.V.


    I spent a few more minutes talking to the three guardian assassins to find out as much as I can about this incident and anything I can about future incidents that may happen.


    ¡°We are actually expecting them to happen a few more times in the next month or two now that the first attempt has been made.¡± the assassin says.


    ¡°Even with them being captured?¡± I asked, surprised.


    ¡°It''s because of this quick reaction.¡± the assassin says as he shakes his head. ¡°Unfortunately the information that you have [Enigma] has already been leaked.¡±


    ¡°How?¡± I questioned him, despite [Enigma] not being something that I was invested in keeping secrets there were very few people that knew it was the specific privacy skill I had.


    ¡°It¡¯s because of an Achievement.¡± the assassins answers. ¡° The achievement is called ¡®Poor Detective¡¯, the requirements are for your first twenty uses of the inspection skill to be on different people and for all of them to be resisted. The Achievement makes it so if your attempt to inspect is resisted you know the exact skill that blocked you.¡±


    I felt my face scrunch up at that, annoyed that I didn¡¯t have a chance to pick up that achievement simply because the information was restricted.


    ¡°It''s a lot harder to get than you think.¡± the assassin says. ¡°When unlocking a skill the action usually has a massive sess increase, not only that but receiving it is almost dependent on sess. Those who have the achievement are extremely inclined towards the skill but they unlock its use against someone with a privacy skill that is like yours or a high ranked Epic. Not only that but they then have to resist the urge to use the skill until they have it resisted by twenty people.¡± ¡°Most people who get the achievement got their inspect skill before the age of ten and even then they received a Common version like [Inspection], they are then trained for low level spy work.¡± a second assassin says. ¡°Every nation has a few of them but they never go deep undercover, with you walking in public it was only a matter of time until one of them was sent.¡±


    ¡°If they know I have [Enigma] why would they be trying more often now?¡± I stick back to the main point.


    ¡°How high is your level in [Enigma]?¡± the third assassin asks, I must have had quite the re as he quickly followed up. ¡°Don¡¯t answer, just think about it, this guy has two Epic skills in the high thirties or low forties, even with them working together they still couldn¡¯t break past your skill fully. This is the only chance they have before you get too many levels in it.¡±


    When he put it like that it did make a good point, they all had a small window that was closing quickly. ¡°Not only that but our reaction to the attempt has been seen so now they will know there is something to hide.¡± another adds on.


    ¡°Going forward you will still have at least two of us shadowing you but we will also get one of the squad leaders to stay close in case we need to call them in¡± one of them says.


    I thank them for the intervention one more time before I continue making my way home, despite this little distraction there is still a lot for me to do today, not only that but this interaction also added another entry to my to-do list, I have to look into how I can get [Empowering Restriction], the skill sounds just too versatile to not pick up.


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    As I walk I try to ignore the dull ache that has spread throughout my body, it is specifically focused on my right arm and isn¡¯t anything more than a mild annoyance but it clearly marks another point for improvement. I need to do something about my vulnerability to extreme mana discharges.


    Using more than a third of your mana in a single moment is not something realistic for most mages but my style is perfectly built for exactly those kinds of power bursts. Mana channels work very much like other muscles and it¡¯s clear than despite the constant pressure I put on them with my fighting style there is little in the way of heavy exertion.


    The altercation earlier also has my guard up as I travel thest hundred feet towards the gates of my mansion. I am keeping track of everyone who is following me and am d to see that one of the three assassins didn¡¯t leave with the prisoners but instead continued to shadow me.


    ¡°How was the delve?¡± my father asks me as he sees me enter thepound.


    ¡°It was fine, we stuck to the second floor of the Goldmine so there was no danger for me.¡± I answer.


    ¡°Did you find anything for me to use?¡± he asks as he wipes the sweat from his brow.


    I chuckle at that, it seems obvious that I wasn¡¯t the only one to throw myself into my crafting over the summer. With my mother taking up such a big role in coordinating my sisters and grandparents merchant enterprises dad focused on his [cksmithing], unlike his time back in the vige he now had much more challenging work and metals that he could use so his skills started improving much quicker.


    ¡°It was a jungle biome.¡± I say and I can see the disappointment spread across his face. ¡°See if you can make anything useful out of this.¡±


    His expression changes as I toss a good chunk of snake skin at his feet. ¡°The snake could have it camouge with the surroundings, see if you can get it to retain that aspect while turning it into a piece of armor.¡±


    It¡¯s still early enough in the day that my father is the only one who is home: mom, Judy, na, my grandparents, even Tom and Kate are all still out working. It''s the perfect time for me to get started on my trials with Maic mana.


    As I enter the Alchemyb that I have set up in the mansion I find a nice pile of different metals all set up to one side, ¡®This is all you¡¯re getting, don¡¯te asking for more for at least a month¡± Judy¡¯s handwritten note sits on the top of the pile. I smile as I toss the note and start setting up my first trials.


    One thing I am extremely wary of is the presence of mana. I already know how it can mess with thews of physics so I have to take that into ount at every step of the process. I had initially thought I would try to run some of my own spell cenerated current through the metal to see if it would generate the maic effect but the arrow for earlier put that n on the back burner.


    It was times like these in my new life that made me appreciate some of the things I had considered useless or a waste of time back in my old life, more than anything however it turned out that some obscure college sses turned out a lot more useful as I still remembered a few interesting facts.


    This world was both rather advanced yet medieval at the same timepared to Earth, the presence of mana greatly hindering yet at the same time driving innovation meant I didn¡¯t have easy ess to an outlet to simply plug in for electricity. I quickly started creating small discs made from silver and zinc I had so I could create my own battery. The small tower of salty water soaked cloth and metal discs should produce a low if stable current that I can then run through the metals to see if they produce any maic field, and more importantly maic mana.


    My first experiment proved to be both a sess and a failure at the same time. While the homemade batter worked well enough to power the maic piece of metal and did in fact cause a small maic field to appear there was no change in the mana that I could notice. At the very least it seems that the small amount of mana in the atmosphere didn¡¯t prevent the electroma from forming it wasn¡¯t enough to generate any mana.


    My second test was to swap out the regr piece of metal connected to the battery and rece it with one that was mana infused. The change was immediately obvious as the power of the maic field increased, sadly the nature of the mana in the metal didn¡¯t change one bit.


    Creating a batter from mana infused metals I reced my original battery and used a normal bit of metal. The power of the maic field increased this time as well but that was because the amount of current generated was much higher. Despite my lessons telling me that the current produced by these sort of batteries was supposed to be low this one even produced a few sparks in the circuit.


    When I rece the piece of metal with a mana infused metal however I finally felt I serious change with my [Sense Mana], both the battery and the piece of metal were slowly being drained of their mana and a new mana type was being emitted out from the metal. Not only that but the power of the electroma grew again, to the point that I had to intercept the rest of my samples just so they wouldn¡¯t get drawn in from across the table. It was a sess.

 Chapter 267

    Chapter 267


    Ajax¡¯s first sess was short lived, the moment he could feel the new type of mana being produced he quickly disconnected the circuit. A quick reorganizational break followed where he secured that nothing will actually be drawn in by the ma this time around he reconnected the circuit and started to focus heavily on his [Sense Mana].


    The first thing Ajax noticed was that maic mana had a much fainter presence in his senses, it wasn¡¯t quite as light as the space mana he felting off Anna¡¯spanion but it was a middle ground between it and other mana.


    The second thing Ajax picked up was that the mana infused metals were quickly running through their mana as more maic mana was released into the air where it would break down into ambient mana. While this might not seem like that big a deal Ajax did notice that the amount of ambient mana generated by the maic mana breakdown was ten to twenty times higher than the amount that the metals were losing.


    As the mana kept dropping lower and lower Ajax could feel that the rate of transfer wasn¡¯t being affected in the slightest. While with a regr batter you would have a slow drop-off in output as the charge was getting lower the circuit formed by the mana was maintaining it at a constant speed. This maintained transfer of current started to form cracks throughout the metal piece that became a ma.


    As it turned out it was the small metallic tower that made up the battery that ran out of mana first and that is where things took a big turn away from regr Earth based physics. Despite the absence of new iing mana current still flowed through the circuit, if at a lower speed. Theck of maic mana being produced caused the metal sample to explode.


    The power of the explosion wasn¡¯t all that great, the shock wave generated didn¡¯t throw away the broken chunks off metal at great speed, though it did knock the rest of the circuit including the batter off the table, it was what came next that brought with it a lot of potential.


    Ajax¡¯s [Sense Mana] felt something that felt akin to a small ck hole that formed in the ce where the ma had been and it was sucking up all of the ambient mana it could. Worse yet Ajax could feel the suction force take hold of his own personal mana, it wasn¡¯t powerful enough to actually drain him in any way but that extra pressure exacerbated his already stressed mana channels and increased the dull pain to a searing sting.


    The whole process took no more than two seconds and Ajax silently cursed as he had been distracted by the increased pain, on the table however Ajax could see a small bit of metal inside the small creator the initial explosion produced. The original sample had been the size of his pointer finger, what was left was barely the size of his fingernail, despite that this remaining piece had twice as much mana infused in it than the full sized original piece.


    As Ajax picked up the small new piece carefully he could sense the instability in the structure, whereas before it had been a well produce ingot this nes piece would break further into pieces even from a light tap with his hammer.Despite theck of immediately useful oues Ajax knew that with a bit of research into the topic this could lead to some very big discoveries in cksmithing, so much so that once he got a bit more of a handle on things Ajax nned to pass off the entire project to his father to focus on.


    Ajax¡¯s time with Balthazar showed once more as the first thing he did after examining what remained from the aftermath of the experiment was to quickly grab a piece of parchment and start to scribble down what he had observed in as much detail as possible.


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    Once he got to the portion on the formation of the new metal Ajax paused for several minutes where he vented by cursing the entire lineage going back a few thousand years for the stupid spies that forced him to damage his mana channels earlier in the day.


    As he finished writing down a full ounting of the experiment Ajax felt a little lost on what to continue with. He had gotten a good long look at maic mana but unlike any of his previous instances of picking up a new mana type this one was simply being generated instead of actively channelled and used in a spell, even his Epic affinities had been picked up as he discovered them while channelling spells from theirponent or rted affinities and not from simply observing them get created and break down.


    To make matters worse Ajax wasn¡¯t yet willing to try and channel any more mana for the day without a good reason so he decided to simply call it a day for now. The setup for all of the experiments had taken a couple of hours already and it was just about dinner time, he could pick all of this back up tomorrow after his mana channels had a chance to recover.


    _________________________________________


    King Gryndor P.O.V


    ¡°So the first attempt took ce?¡± I ask one of my trusted shadows.


    ¡°It did your majesty.¡± the shadow confirmed.


    ¡°And he let us interrogate them even after they got something from him?¡± I am pleasantly surprised at this turn of events, first he willingly revealed his second Legendary skill and now this, even if it was all information we had it went a long way to showing we had built back some of the trust the nobles in Lessis had torn down.


    ¡°He did, while they didn¡¯t bring much new information on the Baron we did manage to gather quite a bit about some other matters.¡± the shadow confirmed.


    ¡°Wait, there was something new on the Baron?¡± that was interesting, is this his way of sharing something else with me, was it something that he had just overlooked? ¡°What was it that you found out?¡±


    ¡°Comparing his stats from our original information there is a disparity that is hard to ount for.¡± the shadow continued. ¡°It seems there are six stat points that can¡¯t be justified.¡±


    ¡°Let me see that.¡± I say and take a side by sideparison of Ajax¡¯s stats from the time he came to the Academy and first unlocked [Enigma] to now. ¡° He levelled three times, I am not seeing any disparity.¡±


    ¡°None of our reports show him as having used any stat potions since that time, this despite him receiving some after the tournament.¡± the shadow says. ¡°It seems odd that he would use potions only on the stats he gained from levelling.¡±


    That was a good point, this was also something that could have slipped Ajax¡¯s mind, or maybe he had discovered a way to push his stat points further even after he spent his free points, did he only give us the first half of the method?


    ¡°Make a full report of this discrepancy and have it brought to me, after that do a thorough clearing of any other records mentioning this, furthermore nobody is to look into this any further.¡± This could very well be a test from him to see if we will hound him for answers, even if it isn¡¯t he has more than earned a bit of trust from our side as well and he will share when he is ready or not, that is all there is to it. ¡°What other information were you able to retrieve?¡±


    ¡°We got the identities of seven more spies that made up their unit.¡± the shadow says. ¡°Sadly they were all working for the Empire.¡±


    Damn. The Empire''s view on human supremacy means that their spies will never make contact with those of any other nation, at least for those working inside our borders, those working even further out will work with some of ours at times but that means the information train will stop with this.


    ¡°We also managed to discover that the tomes on curses that were used in the previous outbreaks were brought over from the Empire.¡± the shadow says. ¡°Apparently they were part of a bigger plot to smuggle them into the republic in hopes that a resurgence of curse users would break the fragile peace and restart the war. We were truly unfortunate that the nobles who intercepted the illegal transport started using them here instead of destroying them or turning them over.


    I smother down a wave of frustration that rises at that piece of information. ¡°Thank you for your report, dismissed.¡± I dismiss the shadow and go back to thinking of the other request that was made of me.


    House Steelde has managed to buy three of the fifthteen slots for the lesser of the Empires dungeon in the deal with the Goldmancers but they want my help with putting pressure in getting young Benedict one of the few coveted spots in their main dungeon. The problem is that doing so will remove the only person in the group that outlevels Ajax and that will strip away the already weak information protection that he will have while delving at that time. To do so after I already asked Ajax to hold back in the hopes that no information will be leaked will be quite the backtracking.

 Chapter 268

    Chapter 268


    Goldmancer P.O.V.


    The news of the altercation that happened earlier today is being suppressed from all sides, the royals don¡¯t want to risk an incident that will gain them nothing, Ajax is being his usual reclusive self despite the fact that he could use attack to gain some concessions and the Empire is trying to get as far away from the whole thing as possible. It¡¯s a good thing I had one of our own people follow the kid and just report on what happens.


    ¡°A pleasure to see you again, ambassador.¡± I greet the man visiting my mansion, despite the warmness in my voice we both know that all of it is more for show and because it is expected of me. ¡°If you¡¯ll join me.¡±


    We both enter one of the secure and warded meeting rooms that are dotted around the estate, it is almost spartan with the expectation of two in looking if extremelyfortable chairs. The other expectation of course being the two representatives of the royal families that are here to monitor the exchange.


    ¡°Are you any closer to lowering those ridiculous demands of yours?¡± he asks.


    I can feel as his skills try to influence me, bargaining is a lot harshers in the Empire, it mostly stems from the fact that they are surrounded on all sides except from one by untamed wilds where monsters ruled. This gives them a more plentiful ess to higher level monsters but it also makes their merchants a lot gruffer from dealing with the frontier scavengers as the vultures are called.


    ¡°I was actually leaning that way when I woke up this morning.'''' This isn¡¯t a lie as I really had been willing to lower my requests on the terms he deemed as ridiculous but I was also nning on asking for a lot in return by increasing the demands he thought weren¡¯t ridiculous, just excessive. ¡°However I¡¯m sad to say that things have changed since then.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure they have.¡± he harrumphed, good, that reaction means he doesn¡¯t have any skill that is able to detect lies strong enough to get my measure, his response wouldn¡¯t havee like this otherwise. ¡°Let''s get on with it.¡±


    I have to admit I do admire their sense of expediency, unlike most merchants in this kingdom who gained their starting fortunes from birth, the phrase time is money rings doubly true in the Empire.¡°There is the small matter of today¡¯s altercation to consider.¡± I say.


    I feel myself pressured as both representatives lock their eyes on me and I feel the pressure of their skills push down on me. They do so for only a moment before they stop the pressure long enough to take each other¡¯s measure, notice they are in agreement before redoubling their efforts on me.


    Unfortunately enough for them whatever skills they have do nothing but alert me of their attention, all of the pressure is easily washed away by [Golden Opportunity] the first Epic skill I gained and the only Epic skill I have to surpass the second bottleneck and surpass level one hundred.


    ¡°Your men have tried to steal away the secrets of beekeeping without paying for them by going directly to the source, that is categorically against the spirit of this negotiation.¡± I exim in outrage.


    The king has already informed me of the information he managed to get from the spies who targeted Ajax, not only that but one of them even happens to report directly to the ducal family I am trading with. The information didn¡¯te for free of course as the king traded it in exchange for some extra weight put on gaining some more cover for Ajax¡¯s delve if at all possible.


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    ¡°Or are you saying that isn¡¯t why you targeted Baron Hearthbound?¡± I ask and feel my trap snap into ce.


    Despite their political skills I can clearly see the confusion that spreads across all three of the people in the room. All of them know that what happened earlier today had nothing to do with bees, not only that but they also know that I know it too. My only regret here is that I can¡¯t have Anna with me in this meeting so she can learn from this.


    It takes no more than a moment for the confusion to develop into something else, here however is where they each go down their own path. The crown¡¯s representative¡¯s look quickly turns to glee as his skill stops working on me and he turns to enjoy the look on the ambassador¡¯s face. The Empire¡¯s representative frowns but also turns to put more pressure on the ambassador whose face shows dread at what he knows ising.


    It would be all too easy for him to deny that this is the reason they target Ajax but by doing so he would risk a full blown political incident, not only that but he would effectively be forced to me the Empire¡¯s ruling family for the attempt.


    ¡°So what are your new terms?¡± he says with a sigh of defeat.


    ¡°In consideration for your earlier request I am willing to lower my end of the bargain to 20% of the honey harvested for the first ten years.¡± I say as I feel a greedy grin cross my face as I turn towards the royal representatives. ¡°All I ask in return is that the delve inside your main dungeone with an included booster to clear the final floor.¡±


    This was one of the few times that people would willingly let someone above level one hundred and twenty enter the dungeon, so long as the contracts were well written he wouldn¡¯t be allowed to attempt to delve past whatever floor the highest boostie could sessfully reach on his own. It would also fully unleash Ajax to delve as far as he wants without exposing anything to the Empire.


    The ambassador''s look of defeat morphs into one of joy as not only had my demands of his House lessened but the Empire was taking the full brunt of the cost for my concession.


    ¡°That is uneptable.¡± the representative¡¯s voice slices through the offer.


    I can¡¯t fight the frown that works its way on my face, [Golden Opportunity] is still telling me I have a perfect deal that I can finalize here yet I can¡¯t seem to see one.


    ¡°While the Empire is willing topromise given the situation, the terms for the delve into our main dungeon are considered fixed.¡± the representative continues.


    I find it most troubling as the finality of the statement doesn¡¯t just not weaken the feelinging from [Golden Opportunity] but it in fact makes it even stronger. There has to be something I am missing, an angle that not only lets me get what the King wants but now something that would also let me profit much more.


    I feel as time slows down as my other Epic skills take effect, I know that thisst offer from the crown is the key to figuring out the golden deal that is on the table. It¡¯s time to break it down and analyze everything that I can gain from it.


    Firstly it is clear that the Empire is very interested in Ajax, that doesn¡¯t seem at all surprising considering their human supremacy rhetoric and the importance that Ajax would have in showing humanity''s superiority. This also means that his other statement is also irond, the rules for this delve won¡¯t change since they need them in ce to evaluate Ajax.


    Secondly, the representative said that the Empire as a whole is willing topromise, this means that they see this deal going through as a national objective, surely it isn¡¯t the taxes on the honey that has drawn them in so this once morees around to Ajax. No, not only that but also into seeing if they can get any insight into king Gryndor¡¯s ns and schemes.


    The third and subtle part thates across is the clear bribe offered to me specifically, trying to get me to use my newfound leverage in order to gain something for myself. A tempting offer, certainly one King Gryndor wouldn¡¯t mind me taking seeing as his request is clearly beyond reach now. The thing that stops me is the simple question, would Ajax also see it that way? If he finds out I used the leverage of his ambush for my own family when he had already facilitated this deal. While I hope he would be open minded enough to do so he was also very young and unpredictable.


    I feel all my skills fizzle out and time resumes its normal pace as an idea strikes me, not only that but I can feel [Golden Opportunity] gain a level and I know I have the perfect answer.


    ¡°What if I were to add another rule to the ones regarding the first delve without changing any already in ce?¡± I ask, a glint of greed must be shining in my eyes but I simply can¡¯t help it, the return on this deal is way too good, not only that but the Empire won¡¯t be able to help themselves and they will have to take it.


    ¡°And what do you have in mind?¡± the representative asks.


    ¡°What if I request that the same team that delves the dungeon gets to do a second delve twenty years down the line.¡± I offer a chance not only to observe Ajax now but alsopare it to twenty years down the line, they can¡¯t pass this up.


    ¡°It¡¯s eptable.¡± the representative says, though his tone sounds a lot more like the words are ¡®it¡¯s a deal¡¯.

 Chapter 269

    Chapter 269


    Ajax wakes up the following morning almost as tired as he was when he went to sleep, despite going to bed rtively early and sleeping in; he still feels like his body is moving underwater as he gets out of bed. A quick look at his mana and the 1780/2510 tells him everything he needs to know.


    Taking a small amount of mana Ajax quickly brings up a small me on the top of his fingers, he sighs in relief as he feels the mana smoothly pass through his channels without causing any pain or difort. It seems like it may have taken most of the night for his body to recover and his mana rezerves haven¡¯t had time to fill back up yet.


    ¡°You look dreadful.¡± Hatchet says as Ajax sits down at the breakfast table. ¡°OW!¡±


    Hatchet throws Luna an offended look as he moves to massage the leg she just kicked. ¡°Is this to do with what happened yesterday?¡± Luna asks as she ignores her ex-teammate and focuses on Ajax. ¡°Can I help?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s from yesterday.¡± Ajax confirms, and that has his mother drop the papers she was looking at and focused on him protectively. ¡°But there is nothing you can do, the problem is already fixed. And it was self inflicted¡± he then quietly murmurs but everyone at the table hears him clearly.


    ¡°What did you do to yourself?¡± his brother asks him.


    ¡°I overtaxed my mana channels.¡± Ajax says and both Kate and Luna freeze for a moment before looking at him more intensely.


    ¡°How much mana did you put in one spell?¡± Kate asked.


    ¡°And how quickly did you channel it?¡± Luna follows up without giving him time to answer. ¡°About one thousand, in¡­ a quarter of a second.¡± Ajax says slowly as he thinks back to the fight.


    ¡°What was the most you ever used in one spell before that?¡± While Luna seemed more hesitant to ask as this was very personal information Kate had no such filter and she was very concerned with the wellbeing of her extended family.


    ¡°Four hundred.¡± Ajax responded and Kate let out a sigh of relief. ¡°In about one second.¡± Both Luna and Kate wince a little at the massive drop off in time-frame.


    ¡°Okay¡­¡± Kate says as her eyes unfocus and she starts thinking up the correct treatment. ¡°Your channels should have repaired themselves with a good night¡¯s rest but they are still fragile, for the next week don¡¯t exceed the four hundred in one second.¡±


    ¡°Healers are the most prone to mana channel damage.¡± Luna fills in. ¡°Lack of exact knowledge, need for improvisation and the sometimes instant application required means that we are often overloading spells with mana so we try and train our mana channels to support such efforts.¡±


    ¡°If you want I can work with you and set up a training schedule to safely increase your limits.¡± Kate offers. ¡°But only after your week of rest.¡±


    Ajax is quick to agree, happy that he has someone he can trust leading him down a known path instead of having to make it up along as he goes. Speaking of making things up as he goes, Ajax quickly finishes his food and with a polite, if rushed, farewell he makes for his alchemyb.


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    Without any strain on his mana channels Ajax quickly goes through the exact same experiments as yesterday, the only difference today is that he is able to pay much more attention to the mana emitted.


    Upon the electromas shattering Ajax now has a clear feel for the mana generated, much to his surprise at the moment of the shattering the shockwave is actually formed by a sudden release of Void mana. The small remaining piece of metal sucks up all the mana in its surrounding and turns it into two other types, one of them is pure space mana, and the second is of a type he does not recognise.


    These revtions are all useful, first and foremost because he now has a source to exemplify Void mana should it evere out that he has a new element and secondly he has a source of space mana that he can observe independent of the whims of Anna¡¯s bond.


    Despite all this Ajax clearly recognises that space is a much tooplex mana type, it clearly deserves its Legendary rating and Ajax is forced to ept that the cost to truly study it by recreating the phenomenon is simply too exorbitant for now.


    This doesn¡¯t discourage him however as he focuses on his initial task of attaining maic mana. He now has a good feel for the mana, despite not having seen it be used in a spell he focuses on channeling it himself. The channel is two seconds long and Ajax only uses two hundred mana for it, easily staying within the parameters set by Kate.


    Much to his surprise nothing happens as his mana gathers, at the end of the channel it simply changes into maic mana and Ajax quickly finds himself pelted by every single piece of metal that wasn¡¯t tied down inside theb.


    A few things be clear following his first trial with maic mana, the first is that he gathers every piece of of metal and makes sure it is secured, he doesn¡¯t want a repeat of the ineffective firing squad. Secondly, for the first time ever Ajax had used a mana type without possessing the skill for its affinity.


    ¡°Is this what it¡¯s like to cast without having a skill for the affinity?¡± Ajax thinks aloud as he reys the trial in his mind. ¡°No wonder chanted spells have all their intent transmitted during the chant itself and that runic spells have it preset by the runes.¡±


    Trials two and three don¡¯t work any better, in fact Ajax can¡¯t see any improvementpared to his first attempt. He had thankfully reduced the mana used to one hundred in each but this clearly wasn¡¯t working.


    ¡°If I can¡¯t copy it outright, what if I can recreate it piece by piece.¡± Ajax mumbles as he brings out the metal samples once more.


    Despite maic mana clearly only being a Rare mana type it was oddly enough created by two Epic mana types, Lightning and Metal. Not only that but Ajax had ess to both.


    Ajax quickly recreated the circuit but this time intentionally didn¡¯t use a mana infused metal to act as the electroma, instead he gently infused his own metal affinity and felt it interact with the natural electric mana. Despite the maic mana still being produced Ajax could feel that the process wasn¡¯t exactly the same, this was extremely obvious when the metal didn¡¯t shatter once he withdrew his metal mana.


    His next task was to recreate the other half of the fusion, using a mana infused piece of metal Ajax skipped the improvised batterypletely and powered the circuit by directly generating Lightning mana. Unlike the first trial this one proved much trickier, whereas before all that mattered was that he provided mana, doing the battery half of the equation meant that he needed to maintain a steady and stable current in order for the experiment to be of any use.


    It took up three hundred of his mana before he managed to get a handle on it but Ajax also noticed the biggest difference between the experiment when it used his mana and when it didn¡¯t. The biggest difference was clearly theck of explosion but a more subtle one was that when his mana took up one half of the creation process the mana released in the surroundings was barely a fifth of what mana infused metals could output.


    Having gotten consistent results with both half Ajax then moved on to both providing the current and infusing regr metal with his metal attuned mana at the same time. This did result in some maic mana being generated but the amount was pitiful, barely a fifteenth of what the mana infused metals produced, though in hindsight this did make some sense, he was actually surprised at how high his efficiency was.


    Once he got a handle at generating the maic mana through the intermediary the next step was to generate the mana without the help of the circuit. Much like when he experimented and gained his Ice and Magma affinities Ajax mixed his Metal and Lightning mana directly.


    This direct fusion finally resulted in a source of maic mana that Ajax could actively mold, with a quick movement he brought out his shield and carefully infused thebination into it, after all what could be more useful than a shield that actively drew your opponent''s weapon to it.


    The initial augmentation was clearly inefficient, despite this Ajax kept going and tried to increase the power of the ma only to then lower it in a controlled manner. His mana had run dry in ten minutes and Ajax all but copsed onto a chair heaving out breaths of exhaustion. Despite all this a victorious smirk was etched on his face as his eyes unfocused at locked onto the text present in his Status screen [Maic Aspect Mana].

 Chapter 270

    Chapter 270


    Ajax started working with Maic mana the next day, the only reason he didn¡¯t start sooner was because he had run his mana dry getting it. That night he had gotten some very much needed rest after how tired he had been that morning.


    In the following days Ajax started to get a very clear understanding of why Maic mana was only Rare, not only that but he was d that this was only a stepping stone as he tried to approach Gravity, and in the future Attraction and Repulsion. He had been a little disappointed when he didn¡¯t receive a Trailzer achievement for gaining the skill but he had held little hope of doing so considering that there had to be a metal elemental out there that had managed to obtain it before him.


    Once he obtained the skill for maic mana affinity his ability to manipte maic mana started to mirror what he was able to with all of his other Rare mana types when they were first obtained.


    The problem with maic mana was one that all fire users also dealt with, while they may be able to control the fire, not only in terms of direction and power but also intensity they were unable to exert any control over the heat that fire released.


    Much like his experiment Ajax was capable of creating maic mana by simply molding his own mana into it but maic mana would very quickly deaspect and simply break down into the ambient mana. This could be countered by increasing the amount generated but that presented a whole different issue. His biggest challenge with maic mana was that Ajax was unable to affect the maic field it generated.


    This was immediately obvious as he saw his own weapons stick together the moment he tried to augment one of them with a powerful enough maic mana. By the same token trying to use maic mana with a strong enough field anywhere close to him would cause all the metal pieces in his armor to get dragged towards the source as well.


    These initial results had almost resulted in Ajax excluding maic mana from his melee fighting repertoire if not for an obvious interaction he had initially overlooked. While simply creating one ma that was close to him was clearly not going to work without massive amounts of training, creating two mas was something else entirely.


    Mas had the same attraction properties towards all metals around them, but they had a moreplex rtionship towards other mas that entered their maic field, namely they could work together and attract each other or they could repel each other. It took a few tries but Ajax found that with the use of mana he could create mas that had no south and north pole but were entirely made up of one pole.


    The only issue with this approach was that right now it took Ajax almost ten seconds to change the pole alignment of his mana, this was currently far too long to be useful inbat but he hoped that the time would get lower as he got more experienced and the skill level grew. Unlike the application in meleebat, maic mana did have an immediately useful application for his rangedbat. Much like his massively overcharged electric arrow from a few days prior firing an overcharged ma could prove highly beneficial. Sure the arrow was all but guaranteed to hit armor, making precision strikes all but impossible sticking two heavily ted knights together with one arrow was something he could see himself doing.


    Loathe as he did to admit it Ajax had been forced to concede that maic mana would most likely be highly popr should he spread his existence. The reason for this was fairly obvious, it gave mages, who traditionally wear little to no metal on theirbat gear, a great way to deal with physical fighters that managed to close the distance. The practicality that a powerful maic bolt didn¡¯t actually have to hit the target to knock them off bnce and pin them to ground with their own armor would raise its poprity even higher amongbat mages.


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    There was only one issue with this line of thinking, despite having generated the mana type and sessfully copying it Ajax had no idea what rune would signify maic mana let alone any chanted spells with it.


    Determined not to get too focused on his new mana type Ajax had picked up his usual training after a few days and just slotted maic mana as another mana type to regrly practice. Not only that but Ajax was paying very close attention using his [Sense Mana] to see if he couldn¡¯t find a way to achieve Gravity mana.


    ¡°What the fuck was that?¡± Theron cursed as he felt his axe swing going off course.


    ¡°I felt it too,¡± Bobby said as the two stopped sparing.


    ¡°Is this what you meant when you said you wanted to try something out?¡± Donnie asked Ajax as the three te wearers were called out to help him with his training.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Ajax confirmed.


    ¡°What was that?¡± Nelly was obviously the most shocked person there.


    Unlike the others Nelly had a well developed [Sense Mana] skill, she was not only able to follow Ajax¡¯s invisible projectile but she also noticed that it only affected the metal armor they were all wearing, she herself had felt a decent tug on her buckles as the bolt left Ajax¡¯s hand.


    ¡°It felt like a weird wind spell,¡± Bobby said. ¡°I could feel my swing being pushed to one side. It wasn¡¯t all that powerful and it definitely didn¡¯t have the slicing power that wind spells usuallye with.¡±


    ¡°That wasn¡¯t a wind spell.¡± Theron said, unlike Bobby who used a sword, Theron had gotten a much better idea of what happened from his axe as it had a wooden handle. ¡°It¡¯s like it only messed with my axehead.¡±


    ¡°It did a lot more than that.¡± Nelly turned to them once she noticed Ajax¡¯s wasn¡¯t going to answer her question just yet. ¡°It might have been too faint for you to notice in the moment but it also affected your armor, there was just too little mana in the bolt for it to have arge effect.¡±


    ¡°How do you mean?¡± Jackson asked, also curious about the development.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure what spell that was but he basicallyunched a ball of mana that had no color, it was invisible to the eye I could only track it with [Sense Mana].¡± Nelly exined. ¡°That ball seemed to suck all metal towards it, not only that but the closer the metal got to it the harder it pulled on it. It almost knocked me off my feet just by pulling on my buckles when heunched it.¡±


    ¡°It didn¡¯t feel that strong.¡± Bobby said.


    ¡°The bolt went over your heads.¡± Nelly said. ¡°Not only that but it seemed to get weaker the further it traveled.¡±


    ¡°Not quite.¡± Ajax finally decided to answer. ¡°It has nothing to do with distance, the mana just breaks down once it is released so it gets weaker.¡±


    Stepping into the dual area Ajax grabbed a wooden hammer off one of the training racks before he squared off against Donnie who was also in full gear.


    ¡°You sure it''s a good idea, Ajax?¡± Donnie asked, unlike his brother Donnie had hisrge shield and small sword.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be fine, just fight to the first clean strike.¡± Ajax said.


    The mismatch in the fight was obvious, if Ajax was to use his [Mana Syphon] Donnie would be the one at a disadvantage but without it he had Ajax beat in terms of both Strength and Dexterity not to mention Endurance.


    As both fighters charged Ajax quickly started to channel his mana, unlike his previous fifty mana bolt Ajax was putting a whole two hundred mana into this next one, not only that but he was also increasing the output at the expense of longevity.


    Right as they were about to enter striking distance Ajaxunched the bolt right at Donnie''s feet. Therge fighter had been around mana long enough to get a feel for the projectile that Ajaxunched but was utterly confused when he saw it wasn¡¯t aimed at him.


    That confusion cleared up very quickly as he felt himself topple forward as his shield and armor were sucked towards the mana. Unlike the previous bolt this one stopped a few inches off the ground right in front of him. By the time he had regained his bnce he had already dropped to one knee.


    The horrible stop to his charge wasn¡¯t the worst of his problems however, with all the extra weight he couldn¡¯t even bring up his shield in time and Ajax got a clean open shot as the wooden hammer rattle his head inside the metal helmet.


    Despite the seriousness of the situation everyone had a hard time notughing as mere moments after the spar ended Donnieunched himself from a kneeling position a good few inches off the ground and onto his ass once when the force pulling him down abruptly disappeared.


    ¡°That is one hell of a trick.¡± Jones said.


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Ajax nodded. ¡°Too bad I can¡¯t use it when I have anything made of metal on me.¡±


    ¡°You should look into getting some weapons made of bones or ws, just on the off chance.¡± Jackson suggested giving Ajax a lot to think about.

 Chapter 271

    Chapter 271


    Jones¡¯s suggestion was something Ajax hadn¡¯t thought about, not because he forgot but because of the financial impracticality of the idea. Sure monster parts were known to have an extreme value when it came to crafting, their high mana density was renowned, the only issues with the idea was that they were only useful as a partial ingredient. With extreme mana affinities they made for a great addition to potions, alloy mixes and especially mana conduits.


    Using only monster parts however was not only extremely expensive but also seen as wasteful, from the tooth or w used to fashion a single sword you could have made at least five superior swords so long as you mixed them with a metal of equal quality.


    It was this knowledge however that convinced Ajax that he should in fact be actively sharing his discovery of Maic mana. Sure he had no way for other casters to use it directly as he didn¡¯t know any chant or rune but that was hardly a hard limit.


    More than that Ajax was actually hoping that word of his maic mana would spread. Unlike all his other types of magic, maic mana was harmless by itself, sure it could immobilize an opponent but that was also the extent of what it could do. A really obvious counter to this would be a very strong defense that wouldn¡¯t care if someone was immobilized. After all its limited offensive uses were as likely to spread as the extremely high mana cost that came with using it like this.


    All of this would culminate with the reveal of his ¡®secrete¡¯ mana type being easily countered by strong armor. While the idea was good, in reality anyone attempting this tactic against him would run head first into his actual hidden ace : Void mana. Void would simply ignore all of the armor and let him dispatch people with rtive ease.


    By the time the first day of the next cycle came around Ajax had practiced teaching his maic mana to Nelly. Unlike with Void, Ajax might not be able to formte a chant or a rune with maic mana but he did know how to create it artificially. Despite this being even more mana inefficient.


    ¡°How did youe up with this?¡± Nelly asked in awe after they finished their lesson. She had managed to not ask this exact question in their first or second lessons as she was in shock with the new application but now she couldn¡¯t hold herself back.


    ¡°Unlike chanting mages, I can use two different mana types at the same time.¡± Ajax answered as he called Lightning mana in his left hand and Metal mana in his right.


    ¡°Rune mages can do that as well.¡± Nelly countered. ¡°True, but rune magic has little to no time for intent to be imparted, not only that the runes'' rigidity would mean the resulting mana type would be rigid and brittle.¡± Ajax said. ¡°I¡¯m sure maic mana had been noticed before, however it would most likely have happened when users of metal and lightning mana fought each other.¡±


    As Ajax walked towards the Academy he was resolute in his decision to share maic mana. His recreation of a battery however was something Ajax would keep to himself. The creation of consistent current wouldn¡¯t be all that big of a discovery in this world, with mana taking the role as societies main source of fuel it would do little in terms of inventions. What it would do however is allow others to recreate the same experiment that Ajax hoped to useter on to learn about space and whatever that other mana type was, and that he did not want to share just yet.


    The school day passed quickly as Ajax focused on his studies, leaving the new topic for after they were all finished with their training. One thing that did stick out to him was that Anna seemed to be a little nervous about something. She was maintaining herposure well, Ajax doubted anyone else had noticed but whatever it was seemed to concern him as well from the way she kept stealing nces at him.


    ¡°Ajax, a word?¡± Anna asked once they were dismissed from their physical training.


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    ¡°Sure, but is it sensitive?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°Not very, why?¡± Anna confirmed.


    ¡°Could we talk as we make our way to the headmaster, there is something I want to talk to him about.¡± Ajax answered. When it came to a new mana type the headmaster would be the most interested as he could then attempt to create chants for it with his Legendary skill, especially so since this mana type wasn¡¯t all that violent.


    ¡°Grandpa?¡± Lexi, who had been with Anna quickly perked up. ¡°Of course we¡¯ll join you.¡±


    ¡°My father has finished the negotiations with the Empire¡± Anna began when they started making their way up the stairs. ¡°I¡¯m sorry to hear about your¡­ incident with some empire spies the other day but it seems that gave him quite a bit of leverage in the negotiation.¡±


    Both Ajax and Lexi twitched a little at the awkwardness that rose as Anna mentioned the incident. ¡°Well, at least somebody got something good out of that.¡± Ajax said, unaware that the king had already squeezed quite a bit of information out of the captured spies.


    ¡°It seems like the Empire is also very interested in what you can do.¡± Anna continued. ¡°They were adamant on the conditions they outlined for their main dungeon, this rigidity let dad push for a lot more.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Ajax perked up a bit at this. ¡°How much of this am I getting?¡± he asked, unable to keep the greed from his voice.


    ¡°Don¡¯t drool now.¡± Lexi teased as she picked up on it.


    ¡°You get will get exactly what I outlinedst time.¡± Anna said, and Ajax frowned as he was expecting he would get at least a taste of these unexpected extras. ¡°The only change is that the team delving their main dungeon will get two delves.¡±


    ¡°What does that matter?¡± Lexi asked while Ajax processed the information. ¡°So what if he can delve it two times, if he can¡¯t take a booster with him the second time it¡¯s going to be almost the same thing as only going once.¡±


    Ajax¡¯s thoughts went in the same direction as Lexi¡¯s but one idea stood out to him that would make this second delve a lot more valuable. ¡°When?¡± The single word was all that Ajax said.


    ¡°The first delve is going to be three months from now, we¡¯ll leave for the Empire in one month.¡± Anna said. ¡°The second will be in six years.¡±


    There it was. Just like Ajax thought he was going to get a chance to collect the extra stats from a lot more floors than he had expected. It was such a good deal that Ajax berated himself for the moment of doubt and ungratefulness he had felt towards the Goldmancer patriarch moments before when Anna said he would only get delve slots.


    ¡°Dad tried to get the second delve in twenty years but it seems the Empire wants to take a look at what you can do after they see you in action in the tournament as well.¡± Anna quickly tried to exin when she interpreted Ajax¡¯s silence as displeasure with the timeline.


    Ajax was actually ecstatic with the six year timeline, a twenty year timeline would have actually been detrimental to him. The reason for this was simple, ess to the dungeon became extremely limited as one got higher in level. Considering his leveling speed Ajax thought he would be able to reach level eighty, maybe eighty-five, in twenty years so long as things went his way. At that point, considering his stats after all of the extra floors he would be able to clear in his two delves in the empire now and the delve in the Republic, it wouldn¡¯t be a surprise for the Empire to break the agreement justify it by iming that allowing him to delve could pose a serious security threat to the capital.


    ¡°That''s a great deal.¡± Ajax said with a smile, one that brought a wave of relief for Anna.


    ¡°You¡¯re done right?¡± Lexi asked as they all stopped in front of the headmaster¡¯s door. At their nod Lexi simply burst into the room without even a short knock. ¡°Grandpa, how are you? Did you miss me?¡±


    Ajax could swear he could see the vein on the headmaster¡¯s forehead pulsing before he let out a long sigh and calmed down. ¡°How many times have I asked you to at least knock once before you open the door?¡±


    With his Perception Ajax managed to make out a long line that cut across the parchment in front of the headmaster and even continued off the paper and onto the desk, not only that but its starting point was from thest word written on the page.


    ¡°Yes grandpa, sorry grandpa.¡± Despite the words it was clear to all that Lexi was only pretending to be chastised. ¡°Ajax said he had something he wanted to discuss with you.¡±


    ¡°Oh, what is it?¡± the headmaster asked.


    ¡°It¡¯ll cost you a coin.¡± Ajax said with a small smirk as he had practiced the unveiling of his new mana type.


    The headmaster raised an intrigue eyebrow but nevertheless pulled out arge gold silver coin. Once the coin was in his hand Ajax released a strong pulse of maic mana from his own hand and towards the coin making it jump from the headmaster''s palm towards his own. While his trick worked perfectly on the coin, Ajax hadn¡¯t expected that therge candle stand that was pulled off bnce was also falling towards him now.


    Ajax¡¯s reflexes were quick enough that he managed to catch the candle stand without making a mess in the office and he quickly apologized. ¡°Sorry about that, I¡¯m still getting used to using it.¡±


    The headmaster was staring wide eyed at him as he fumbled to stabilize the candle stand. ¡°Forget the candle stand, what was that?¡± The calm andposed voice was gone and in its ce was one that reminded Ajax of the old librarian when they were experimenting with cursed mana.

 Chapter 272

    Chapter 272


    ¡°What is going on here?¡± Balthazar had made his way into the room before Ajax had a chance to answer the headmaster¡¯s question. ¡°I felt some weird manaing out of here, I thought you knew better than to experiment on the premises, Manashaper, let alone with students nearby.¡±


    ¡°That wasn¡¯t me.¡± Manashaper waved the former headmaster of the academy off without taking his eyes off Ajax. ¡°More importantly I have no idea what that was, I am hoping you are willing to share something regarding it and aren¡¯t just here to show off.¡±


    Despite the annoyed sounding words the headmaster''s tone still gave away his excitement.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t bring this to me?¡± Balthazar asked, a little taken aback by the development.


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t a good fit for you.¡± Ajax said. ¡°Not only that but what is needed for this is advanced magic theory.¡±


    ¡°And what do you think I can provide?¡± Balthazar sounded a little offended.


    ¡°You have a vast experience but for anything than isn¡¯t based off of Vitality you simply don¡¯t have the stats to match up to that experience.¡± Ajax said honestly. ¡°You are who I would go to if I was ever starting the first few steps into a known field, like I did with curses. You have the experience and the skill to help a novice but this requires more advanced knowledge.¡±


    At this Ajax lightly tossed the coin towards Balthazar before releasing two more light bursts of maic mana, the first stopped the forward momentum of the coin and the second drew it threw it back towards his palm. This time he made sure to keep a good hold on the candle stand so that it wouldn¡¯t fall.


    ¡°If this is something that can be researched beyond just my ability to use I would have invited you as well.¡± Ajax reassured the old librarian. ¡°What do you mean beyond just your ability to use?¡± Lexi asked. ¡°What even is that? I never felt that kind of mana before.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s called maic mana.¡± Ajax said, the odd looks he was given at that let him know he should add some context. ¡°It¡¯s what the affinity skill called it anyway.¡±


    ¡°A new mana type?¡± the headmaster muttered his eyes wide. ¡°That great where did you find it? Was it from a monster inside the dungeon? Did he use chants, or maybe runes? Please tell me it was humanoid.¡±


    Ajax was quickly overwhelmed by the barrage of questions but he did his best to answer them. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s a new mana type. No it wasn¡¯t from the dungeon. It was a humanoid. And the chants and runes question is why I came to you.¡±


    ¡°Where did you find a humanoid monster that has this kind of magic outside the dungeon?¡± Both Balthazar and Manashaper dropped their curiosity in the new mana type and focused on the possible threat to the kingdom.


    ¡°I never said it was a monster.¡± Ajax shot back.


    ¡°What?¡± Manashaper looked confused. ¡°Then how?¡±


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    Ajax let out a long sigh and conjured metal mana in his right hand and lightning mana in his left. When he put his hands together a pulse of maic mana stronger than any before was released and a number of metal pieces around the office fell off their shelves.


    ¡°This is another reason I didn¡¯t bring this to you.¡± Ajax said as he looked towards Balthazar. ¡°I remember you saying that you don¡¯t have Lightning mana affinity.¡±


    ¡°A weird interaction.¡± the headmaster said as he looked at the objects that fell around his office. ¡°Only metallic objects were affected yet not all of them equally, proximity seems to be a factor but it''s not the only one.¡±


    ¡°As far as I can tell there are three factors that determine how reactive a metal is to this mana.¡± Ajax said. ¡°Distance, the metal itself and how much mana it contains.¡±


    ¡°What is the best metal you found and which one is the worst?¡± the headmaster asked.


    ¡°Iron is the best and gold is the worst, the higher the mana infused in the metal the more powerful the attraction.¡± Ajax said. ¡°I didn¡¯t do all that many tests with highly concentrated mana.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why you¡¯reing out with it.¡± Anna spoke for the first time since Ajax revealed the new mana type. ¡°It''s not just for the recognition and for their expertise, you need funding to really look into it.¡±


    Ajax chose not to say anything to that. Sure he had a few other reasons but he couldn¡¯t disclose those without also hinting at his void affinity that he was hoping to keep truly secret.


    ¡°Well you certainly made the right decisioning to me.¡± the headmaster said as he nodded at Anna¡¯s reasoning. ¡°With the absence of runes or chants others might not be so willing to sink too much money into it. But Duke Young is right, this is not the right ce to look into this.¡±


    At that the headmaster covered his mouth and all Ajax and everyone else could hear was the muffle whisper of what had to be a long cast. A short minuteter Ajax saw a clone of the headmaster appear next to him and this time it was his turn to be shocked.


    ¡°There now we can go.¡± the headmaster started to herd everyone out of his office.


    ¡°How did you do that?¡± Ajax asked as they were all leaving.


    ¡°I¡±m sorry to say that it isn¡¯t as impressive as it may look.¡± the headmaster said. ¡°That is abination of Illusion magic with a little Life magic to give it some sentience. The projection isn¡¯t capable of exerting more force than a person with twenty in their physical stats, not only that but it is also bound to the room and unable to leave until the mana eventually runs out and it will disappear.¡±


    ¡°Without the affinity for life magic that clone won¡¯t have the mental faculties to do anything more than tidy up the office and maybe grade some multiple choice tests or such boring activities.¡± Balthazar also jumped in.


    That extra information flipped Ajax¡¯s entire thought process when it came to Life mana. Previously he had thought the mana type was lifestyle focused one as it came with the ability to create and raise crops but with the idea of granting even basic and temporary sentience to a construct he realized that it truly did deserve its Legendary rating.


    From there the odd group of five made their way to a secluded area where they could more thoroughly test the new mana type. Unfortunately despite testing the mana type until Ajax was almost out of mana they had made little progress in terms of anything besides some more concrete numbers on its effectiveness.


    ¡°You¡¯re definitely right.¡± The headmaster said at the end. ¡°This mana type will definitely prove to be a mage¡¯s go to spell when dealing with a surprise assassin, since we usually wear so little to no metal at all. Unfortunately it will be useless until we can learn a few chants for it.¡±


    ¡°I think there is a way it could be useful now?¡± Ajax pressed.


    ¡°Sometimes I forget just how young you are.¡± the headmaster said with augh that the old librarian shared. ¡°It''s when your impatience like that shows up that reassures me of your age. Sure you can use the mana type bybining metal and lightning mana but unlike you other mages can¡¯t cast two spells at the same time.¡±


    ¡°If there is only one mage, sure.¡± Ajax admitted. ¡°But what if there are two mages? I remember Lexi and Annabining their air and fire magic back during the mock war, since the two mana types react so well together wouldn¡¯t it just take both of them being put together for it to appear. I thought that this would actually be easier since maic mana is much more stable than abination of air and fire.¡±


    Theughter of the two dukes died off at that, not only that but both Anna and Lexi perked up and came close from the edges of the room where they stood to watch the testing.


    ¡°We can try it.¡± Lexi said with excitement.


    ¡°I think some more testing would be best before we try something like that.¡± the duke''s concern for his granddaughter showed up.


    ¡°Well there won¡¯t be any more from Ajax, he¡¯s run through his mana reserves.¡± Anna said. ¡°Besides we know that maic mana isn¡¯t harmful so as long as we start off with a small amount we should be fine.¡±


    It took a few more minutes before Lexi and Anna were able to convince the headmaster that letting them try wouldn¡¯t be dangerous. The girls did make a few mistakes when they first tried generating the mana, the main issue they had was that they generated too much lightning mana and not enough metal resulting in stray small bolts striking them after they generated the mana.

 Chapter 273

    Chapter 273


    Manashaper P.O.V


    What sort of monster is this kid? I can¡¯t help but ask myself as I look at him sitting on the side lines drawing in deep breaths. Balthazar is helping Lexi and Anna with the safety precautions before they try their hand at the new mana type so I can focus on Ajax.


    I knew that he had an odd and possibly new mana type at his disposal. I couldn¡¯t do much with the knowledge since my silence on the matter was part of the favor that I owed to house Silvertongue and they asked me about something he managed to pull of during one of their delves but this ¡®Maic¡¯ mana as he calls it seems nothing like what they described.


    So the question is were they lying to me and trying to throw me off the scent? That theory makes no sense, why would they do something like that only for him toe to me like this. There is ofcourse a second option, one that seems just as unlikely but that is only ifmon sense is applied. What if he gained two new affinities that haven¡¯t been explored by humanoids.


    I know exactly how difficult something like that is to pull off. After all I managed it once myself, though my achievement was arguably harder to seed in, Cold mes were still just a Rare affinity. Managing to keep the easy generation and spread of fire with the cold attribute of ice proved to be a true headache, and even then I only achieved it after the inspiration I gained from an Elemental floor boss with the attribute.


    What is even more ingenious, the perfect defense against this ¡®Maic mana¡¯ is clear, simply wear nothing metallic. Besides that however the next best thing is to bring up a strong defense the moment you are hit by it. That would be too extreme a weakness for anyone to pick this up as anything more than ast ditch option. From what the Silvertongues told me however he has a way to bypass defenses with his other affinity. By revealing this one to the world he is setting up the perfect trap for all who would go after him directly.


    ¡°Are you girls ready?¡± I hear Balthazar ask and I refocus on them.


    ¡°How much mana should we put into it?¡± Lexi asks.


    ¡°Let''s start small.¡± I say. ¡°See if you can generate together only ten mana each.¡± The oue isn¡¯t ideal but it is a sess. While they did seed in generating maic mana, the use of two people clearly shows the issue with approach, ten mana from each did not generate an equal amount of the affinity mana and a bit of Anna¡¯s leftover Lightning mana shocked Lexi.


    ¡°Ow¡± Lexi eximed. ¡°Well at least it worked, kind of.¡±


    ¡°You definitely got it.¡± Ajax said. ¡°You just need a bit of practice to ensure you are each outputting the same amount of attuned mana and not initial mana.¡±


    The small tests go off without anything else of note, a few more shocks here and there but nothing all that big. Where the first big difference happens is when the girls start putting in a lot more mana.


    ¡°I¡¯ll put in three hundred.¡± Anna says.


    ¡°I¡¯ll do four hundred then, just to be safe.¡± Lexi nodded.


    The result there was surprising to say the least. Despite a few bits of metallic mana being wasted by the wayside I suspect they put about six hundred and seventy mana into thatbination.


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    Unlike any of Ajax¡¯s previous demonstrations however this is a lot stronger of a release. The most Ajax ever put in was three hundred mana but the power is more than double in size, close to five times as strong. Whereas that preview managed to pull the training weapons off the rack this sent all of the flying towards the girls at high speed.


    ¡°<em>Rhamb Sus</em>¡± I mutter as I spawn a windwall blocking all of the weapons.


    ¡°Does it scale that well with more mana?¡± Balthazar asks after everyone stays staring at the pile of weapons now on the ground.


    ¡°It¡¯s not so much a matter of scale.¡± Ajax says.


    ¡°They used a bit more than double the amount of mana you did but the effect is four times as strong, how do you exin it?¡± he asked, but I already knew the answer there.


    ¡°That¡¯s the downside of your casting style,¡± I said. ¡°Isn¡¯t it? You get the flexibility, speed, even multicasting. But you sacrifice power.¡±


    Ajax simply let out a sigh as he nodded in confirmation. Despite the massive upsides there are also strong downsides. If the king¡¯s oldest son is to be believed those downsides also extend to limiting the caster to only using mana types they received an affinity skill towards. If that is true however the difficulty andpatibility will mean that his leveling pace will slow down much slower, he might even manage to keep a three level a year average for the next decade.


    ¡°Since you came to me with this so openly I am guessing you are willing to share it beyond just the two of us?¡± I ask.


    ¡°Sharing this is just me being through.¡± The kid surprises me once again. ¡°I mean I obviously want to add this mana type to my abilities but they way I discovered it is something that I will not only keep the whole credit for but also something the king may want to keep more tightly controlled.¡±


    ¡°They way you discovered it?¡± Balthazar asks.


    ¡°I know I¡¯m not always a model of efficiency when training but not even I spent my time randomly mixing my mana types to see what would happen.¡± Ajax says this is clearly rted to their previous work together on curses. Knowing how much the old man cares about efficiency I can see why someone so young would take a chance to fire back.


    ¡°So then how did youe up with it?¡± Lexi asks.


    ¡°I was training, after thetest incident, I focused on something that seemed to work particrly well and came upon the odd interaction.¡± Ajax said. ¡°Do you have a full set of armor here that is made out of mana enhanced metal?¡±


    ¡°I do, but it''s not all that high of a mana concentration.¡± I answer.


    ¡°That¡¯s perfect, I wouldn¡¯t want to use an expensive one for this anyway.¡± Ajax says and that has me more interested.


    After I bring out the suit Ajax quickly puts it on one of the target mannequins. ¡°Go ahead and use a lightning strike on it.¡±


    I do as he says. Even without putting all that much mana into the strike I still knock the helmet off with a precise blow. This clearly surprises Ajax and it was obviously not what he expected me to do.


    ¡°Can you do a more prolonged spell with the intent to immobilize instead of strike down.¡± he says after he puts the helmet back in ce.


    I see why he was surprised now, for him Lightning is much more of a control affinity than one used for pure power. The effect of lightning on muscles is one that is well known and used when dealing withrge creatures, though mages prefer the prating power it offers in conflicts with other humanoids. Nevertheless I do as he says.


    ¡°I still don¡¯t see what you mean.¡± I say following my second use of lightning mana.


    ¡°You will now.¡± he says after he takes a fully metal mace and ces both hands of the mannequin on it. ¡°Hit it again.¡±


    I do so again but this time something is different. Unlike my previous attack I actively shift away from my intended pattern. Instead of radiating outward from the point of impact the Lightning mana travels in repeated circles through the armor and the metal warhammer. Not only that but I can also feel the release of maic mana. A very interesting phenomenon, with this mages would just need to carry a piece of mana infused metal and they can simply strike it with lightning mana to achieve the desired effect. Though I can¡¯t help but feel there is too much maic mana being released from the small lightning I sent.


    ¡°That sure is a more convenient way of generating it than training two mages to cast in synch at a moment''s notice.¡± Balthazar says. ¡°But I don¡¯t see why the king would care about keeping it hidden.¡±


    ¡°It takes both Metal and Lightning mana to generate Maic mana.¡± Ajax says and I get a bad feeling. ¡°If we are getting it from here despite only casting lightning, where does the metal onee from?¡±


    I¡¯m the first one to catch on as I focus my [Sense Mana] on the suit of armor. Just as I feared, the density of the mana is lower now. Not only that but I¡¯m not the only one to catch on.


    ¡°You¡¯re taking it from the mana infused in the metal.¡± Lexi exims, she was always a quick study.


    ¡°The king will definitely want to keep this quiet.¡± I say. A way to weaken any pieces of equipment that contain mana infused metal, with proper precautions and good timing in ce this could be used to turn a war on its head. I know for a fact the king will have me researching this as well as a way to stop it from being used against us the moment he hears about it.

 Chapter 274

    Chapter 274


    Following Ajax¡¯s revtion and with a clear example in front of them about the truth of his allegations both the headmaster and the librarian quickly started walking the three students away from the secure training grounds and towards the royal castle.


    Neither of the older men were acting in their capacity as faculty; however, both had taken out a clear sigil of their house, ced it visibly on their chest. They were now being escorted by Duke Manashaper and Duke Young. More than that Duke Manashapr ced a powerful illusion over them before they even made it out of the training grounds.


    ¡°What is going on?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°Something you should have learned in your fourth year.¡± Duke Young said.


    ¡°We¡¯re going to be informing the king of this discovery, right now.¡± Duke Manashaper said.


    ¡°This is too big.¡± Anna exined for him and Lexi. ¡°The ability to wear down armor like that is already powerful enough in a war setting, but there it is even more terrifying in a revolt.¡±


    ¡°You will all be made aware of this in your fourth year, it is one of the more undisclosed rules that the kingdom has.¡± Balthazar said. ¡°What it boils down to is that no more than two houses can share ess to a specific technique or skill while also maintaining it as a secret.¡±


    ¡°It is there so that the royal family doesn¡¯t change with every new discovery of a powerful trick, a fewrge noble houses would share it and then they would start a revolt.¡± Duke Manashaper chimed in.


    ¡°Even if we were to overlook House Hearthbound as a new Baron house we already have two Ducal houses and one of the three archdukes.¡± Balthazar said. ¡°It is usually the first lesson taught in the fourth year of the Academy since around that time is when most prodigies hit level thirty-five and start experimenting with creating their own style and niche skills.¡± Everyone threw Ajax a look at that. Funnily enough he hadn¡¯t broken the mold there as he was around level thirty-five now that the innovations started, he simply did it a whole two years early.


    As they made their way through the city Ajax had plenty of time to get a good look at the illusion magic used by Duke Manashaper. He was sad to admit that it wasn¡¯t the best he¡¯d ever seen, that honor went to the kitsune, but this was a solid second ce. Despite not being the target of the illusion and spending the entire trip towards the castle looking at it he couldn¡¯t find any weak point in it. His only answer to it would be to simply brute-force it with [Mana Syphon].


    ¡°Halt.¡± the pce guards called out once Duke Manashaper removed the illusion surrounding them.


    The five of them stopped, none of them said a word but Duke Young threw an obvious look behind them before turning to re at the guards.


    ¡°You may wait inside but don¡¯t approach the second gate before one of the squadses to get you.¡± the guard said after a few seconds.


    It took no longer than five minutes before one of the Squads Ajax didn¡¯t know opened the second gate and made their way towards them, all of them were in theirbat gear and had stern looks on their faces. The gear they had on marked them as the Fifth.


    In contrast to them the king¡¯s oldest son was sporting a cheeky grin as he made his way towards the group of five. ¡°Well this was rather unexpected. What good thing have you found out?¡±


    Oddly enough despite never having met him before the prince was talking to Ajax.


    ¡°How did you¡­?¡± Ajax trailed off at that.


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    ¡°One of the people we had protectively tailing you reported in about your meeting.¡± the prince said. ¡°You then show up right here under an illusion, clearly you found something good and shared it, the only question I have is if you didn¡¯t know the implication of what you found or if you had a few questions you wanted to ask them about it.¡±


    ¡°He had questions.¡± Balthazar replied with a wide grin. ¡° It may have taken a while but I think I finally found a student that¡¯s more of a problem child than you.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± the prince said with clearly faked outrage. ¡°You¡¯ve always been an old man but I think it''s finally starting to catch up to you. Nobody is more of a problem than me.¡±


    Anna, Lexi and Ajax all stared in shock at the prince while Duke Manashaper who was clearly experienced in dealing with the prince and his entricities was simply rubbing his forehead in an attempt to prevent the oing headache.


    ¡°We have something that needs to be brought to the king¡¯s attention.¡± Duke Manashaper said.


    ¡°Follow us, the King has granted you a private audience.¡± the leader of the Fifth said, he was just as eager to get past the initial stages of this interaction where a bit of suspicion had to be maintained.


    All of them walked in a heavy silence as they made their way towards the throne room. Or at least most of them did, the seriousness of the situation was heavily undermined by the prince and Balthazar catching up with each otherpletely ignoring the situation at hand.


    ¡°I was right.¡± the prince dered the moment he set foot in the throne room. ¡°He simply had questions!¡±


    ¡°None of us disagreed with you.¡± the crown prince said as he looked to be having a much tougher time fighting off the same headache that Duke Manashaper wasbating.


    The audience for this meeting was bothrger and at the same time smaller than the previous time Ajax hade to report to the king. Whereas previously there were three full squads in attendance this time it was only the Fifth and the leader of the First. Besides them and the king all three of the king¡¯s children, the queen, Xavier and the king¡¯s only granddaughter were all in attendance.


    ¡°I take it that this is something different thanst time, Ajax?¡± the king asked.


    It was Balthazar, Anna, Lexi and duke Manashaper who were surprised at that question. They all understood that Ajax had to have shared something with the king that he was looking to keep secret.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Ajax confirmed.


    ¡°Why not bring it to us first?¡± the leader of the first Squad asked.


    ¡°The main research is still far from ready to be applied.¡± Duke Manashaper answered. ¡°Ajax came to me with questions that I know will at least take years for me to find answers to.¡±


    ¡°Then why did you rush here?¡± the king asked.


    ¡°One of the steps involved in the discovery has more immediate and more serious consequences.¡± the duke answered. ¡°Ajax himself already refused to share more than a basic demonstration with me before you were informed of it and even that was to answer an obvious question regarding his discovery.¡±


    From there the Duke went on to exin in detail everything he had learnt in the past few hours about Maic mana. It¡¯s applications, it¡¯s strengths, it¡¯s weaknesses as well as the most obvious uses. They even had Ajax show them examples of it both being directly created as well as fused from metal and lightning. Lexi and Anna both did their part too in showing how it could be used by two mages even without the affinity in question.


    ¡°Without any known runes or chants this mana affinity currently has little potential to be developed. What we know so far has provided me with a clear path for testing. In a few years I hope to develop at least one chant that sessfully implements it.¡± the Duke finished.


    ¡°Certainly noteworthy, and I can see why you are the one he would approach with this.¡± the king nodded. ¡°I don¡¯t see the immediate and dire impact however.¡±


    It was then that Duke Manashaper exined the process that Ajax imed led to him discovering the existence of maic mana. The air in the room turned instantly shifted once he was done exining the previous congrattory and somewhat rxed mood was now serious and focused.


    ¡°What effects can this have on mana infused metals that are already sporting runic magic?¡± the prince asked, for the first time since meeting them at the gate he had lost his cheery attitude and looked on edge.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± the duke admitted. ¡° Other than the most basic of requirements for the maic mana generation to ur I have done no testing.¡±


    ¡°With two ducal families as well as one of the three archduke we thought it prudent that the royal family be informed.¡± Balthazar said.


    ¡°You have done well.¡± the crown prince said. ¡°This is indeed something that must be considered carefully. Duke Manashaper if I could ask that you focus your research on this primarily for at least the next few months so that we can get a foundational understanding.¡±


    ¡°Yes, your highness.¡± the duke responded.


    With everything exined Ajax took the opportunity to change the subject, everyone was too on edge with the previous revtion but there was nothing they could about it before more testing was done. ¡°Your Majesty, about your request to me¡­.¡±


    ¡°Yes?¡± the king appreciated the change in subject.


    ¡°Would it be possible for me to have ess to a few attempts at solodelving before the trip to the Empire. I would like to at least be prepared so that I can reach as high a floor as possible.¡± Ajax requested.


    ¡°Yes, that is a reasonable request.¡± the king nodded. ¡°I must insist however that you have someone escorting you while you do so, I do not want to see you kill yourself over this.¡± the king said.


    ¡°Ah¡­¡± Ajax found himself speechless at that since he didn¡¯t have anyone that was strong enough to act as minder for him.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go with him.¡± the king¡¯s firstborn, having regained his cheery attitude with the change in subject was quick to involve himself in the discussion. ¡°We can head out tomorrow."

 Chapter 275

    Chapter 275


    While all of the strong people in the room had a very good poker face, the same thing could not be said for the royal family''s younger generation. Besides Xavier¡¯s jealous nce towards Ajax the king¡¯s granddaughter was also looking shocked at the statement.


    ¡°Why you?¡± Duke Manashaper asked.


    ¡°You¡¯re going to be busy looking into this new potential discovery, not to mention that so long as he wears a little bit of a disguise before he enters the dungeon nobody will question it and they will just y it off as one of my whims.¡± the king¡¯s oldest son said. ¡°Besides I also want to see what he can do in the dungeon.¡±


    ¡°Hah¡­¡± the crown prince let out a deep sigh. ¡°In terms of power and cover he is indeed the best candidate to let you have your training without anyone else finding out.¡±


    ¡°Also one of the best to analyze anything I might have kept to myself.¡± Ajax responded.


    ¡°I am fine with signing a contract about no revealing anything I find out about you.¡± the excited prince continued.


    ¡°And what happens if you break it?¡± Anna asked, knowing full well that there anything he might guarantee that might harm him could be counteracted by a good enough skill.


    ¡°His family gets a hundred million gold coins.¡± the prince said offhandedly


    ¡®Ack¡¯ Ajax choked when he heard the number. Not even a decade ago Ajax had be the richest person in the vige he grew up in because he had received a hundred gold coins, a hundred million would be enough to rocket his family into contention for the title of archduke Goldmancer.¡°Mary deals are the best to make.¡± Anna murmured. ¡°No skill will let him skip out on the tab.¡±


    ¡°So it¡¯s settled then.¡± the prince pped his hands. ¡°I¡¯lle get you in two days.¡±


    _________________________________________


    Two dayster Ajax found himself standing in queue for the dungeon alongside the king¡¯s oldest son. Even with a few days to discuss this with his family he hadn¡¯t managed to find a better option.


    The sole limitation that Ajax put on himself for this delve was that he was going to be keeping Void mana concealed no matter what happened. The n was for him to delve all the way to the sixth floor of the dungeon and no further. Despite having delved even as deep as the eighth floor as part of a team, solo delving was a lot more risky and required different skills.


    ¡°Finally.¡± Ajax said as they entered the dungeon and he removed the mask from his head. ¡°This thing is so stuffy.¡±


    ¡°It might be but with the enchantments it carries it made sure that nobody got a read on you.¡± the Prince said as he also changed from hismon clothing to his battle gear.


    It was now Ajax¡¯s turn to be shocked. The prince''s gear easily ranked as some of the best gear he had ever seen. The only ones that couldpete with it was the one he saw some of the royal squad members wearing. Even then the prince¡¯s gear waspletely different from the others he had seen due to the numerous runes that were etched on every open surface of the armor.


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    ¡°First time seeing a good runic set?¡± the prince asked.


    Ajax didn¡¯t open his mouth to respond and simply nodded his head.


    ¡°Well don¡¯t look too impressed two third of the runes you are seeing are illusions and even the rest are a little distorted to all senses.¡±


    Ajax knew the reason why that was, much like how chanting mages made sure to muffle and cover their mouth when chanting runic mages did much the same thing with illusion magic to protect their runes from being copied.


    ¡°Well go on then.¡± the prince said ." The first few floors will be a snoozefest anyway.


    Ajax was quick to prove the prince correct as he easily cleared the way to the closest arch he could feel and then simply overwhelmed the boss guarding it. The same scene also yed out on the second, third and fourth floors. Ajax did make sure to get urate readings on the arches he chose, he even ended up clearing four different arches on the fourth floor before he got to one that he felt good about.


    His ability to at least somewhat narrow down what type of floor he will be facing next will be one of the key abilities he will rely on to ensure that the floor he wants to fully clear out won¡¯t be something that would counter him.


    The quick dispatching of monsters and bosses ground to a halt in a very fast manner once Ajax got to the fifth floor.


    Even with the monsters only being level fifty at most he now found himself on the other side of the numbers game. Whereas on his previous delves a group of fifteen to twenty people took on each pack of monsters he was facing simr odds against him from those very same small packs.


    ¡°Wow so you really can keep on sucking up mana from the air without even getting tired.¡± The prince let out a low whistle once the fight Ajax was having with an ogre patrol group ended. ¡°You are definitely going to be a menace when delving the dungeon as it naturally provides you with denser and denser mana at each floor. Well at least so long as you don¡¯t hit a mana drought floor.¡±


    No adventurer in their right mind like drought floors. While all of the books Ajax had read on the subject had reinforced that the drought floor challenge effect didn¡¯t mix with other environmental challenges that was only true for the lower floors. One thing that all drought floors did have inmon however was the fact that the monsters spawned there would have at least one adept mana consuming ability so that they could keep a hold of their mana.


    Ajax was d for the praise and gave a shallow nod at thepliment while he caught his breath/ ¡°This next floor will be the one I clear out.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re going up another floor?¡± despite the questioning structures the princes tone made it clear that not only was he not against the idea but that he was a strong supporter


    Ajax took his time on the fifth floor hunting for a suitable archway. He made sure to y it off as a luck based skill to the prince, that turned out to be a splendid idea as the prince himself had a luck skill and it was one he relied on whenever he went delving in deeper floors to pick a good floor theme.


    ¡°A forest?¡± the prince asked as he took in his surroundings once they got to the sixth floor.


    ¡°Forests are my best biomes.¡± Ajax said with confidence.


    ¡°Oh howe?¡± the prince asked.


    ¡°I spent five years training to be a hunter and an adventurer in a forest before my leveling speed really picked up.¡± Ajax shared.


    Besides the much stronger density of mana in the air the forest seemed exceedingly normal to Ajax as he started exploring it. That is until he almost bumped into a eight foot tall hairy bipedal monster that seemed to resemble some descriptions of Big Foot from back on Earth. Unlike on earth however this specimen wasn¡¯t a solitary one but instead traveled in packs of five.


    Oddly enough the forest was dense enough that the space between trees was small enough to give therge monster issues when maneuvering. Ajax took full advantage of this as he quickly made short work of two of them. His sword and hammer were finding their mark and easily made it past the thick protectiveyer of fur they had. Or is that just thicker body hair?


    Despite their apparent intelligence the remaining three Big Foot¡¯s didn¡¯t try to escape and instead focused on attacking Ajax. Their n was quickly foiled as Ajax used his Ice mana to no only slow them down with the cold but to create a very slippery surface on the ground resulting in the monsters not able to keep their footing while also attacking him.


    Once there was only one monster left, the survivor decided he had seen enough and tried to make a run for it. Unfortunately for him he followed his instincts to get away from Ajax as quickly as possible. Even with the tight spacing of the trees this meant that he had taken off in a straight-ish line away from him. This madending a headshot with an arrow almost too easy for Ajax.


    ¡°That wasn¡¯t so bad.¡± the prince said as he inspected the bodies Ajax left in his wake. ¡°They don¡¯t really have the agility needed to fight you in a ce light this. Let''s hope that there is something interesting for you to fight on this floor.¡±


    ¡°AAAAAUUUUUOOOOOO¡­. GRRRR¡­.AAAAUUUU¡± Ajax didn¡¯t get a chance to respond as a strong howling and growling filled the air. More than that Ajax could tell that this howl didn¡¯te from a wolf and that was making him second guess his life¡¯s choices.


    ¡°No need to look so scared.¡± the prince waved him off. ¡°These are wendigos, not a werewolf boss.


    Ajax did let out a sigh of relief at that reassurance, he still remembered well the power that the kitsune had wielded and didn¡¯t want to end up facing another floor boss just yet. With that he swapped out his sword for his axe as he prepared to engage with the cannibalistic creatures.

 Chapter 276

    Chapter 276


    ¡°They won¡¯t be approaching us.¡± the prince said as he and Ajax stood around the fire. ¡°You can keep cooking that would more likely turn them away since they only eat raw meat.¡±


    After the fight with the big foots they finally decided it was time to make camp. Unlike the previous floors that all passed in a couple hours at best this floor would be one Ajax was going to fully clear out all by himself so they were going to be spending at least two or three days here.


    ¡°How do you know that?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°Monsters inside the dungeon mimic their behavior on the outside.¡± the prince said. ¡°Or the ones outside mimic the behavior of the ones inside depending on where you stand on the theory that everything is a descendant of a being from the dungeon.¡±


    ¡°Wendigos would hunt us in a forest.¡± Ajax said, briefly remembering what he once skimmed over on the creatures.


    ¡°If you were alone maybe.¡± The prince said. ¡°Wendigos are the werewolves'' weak, sickly and twisted cousins. They don¡¯t like fire and they always try to separate their prey, with two of us here and a fire the only way they would attack is if I started using my stealth skills.¡±


    ¡°Had to deal with some before?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°Yes, both inside and outside the dungeon.¡± the prince said. ¡°The dungeon makes everything more aggressive but it doesn¡¯t change them that much.¡±


    ¡°Why did you volunteer for this?¡± Ajax extended a te of food. ¡°You are perhaps the most talented person ever.¡± the prince answered as he took a bite. ¡°Hey this is actually pretty good. Besides your talent you are different from everyone else with potential I met.¡±


    ¡°How so?¡± Ajax was curious.


    ¡°Everyone else I met were either already past level one hundred when I met them or they were just like me when I grew up, surrounded by a protective bubble.¡± the prince exined. ¡°I feel like watching you will give me a chance to make a breakthrough, if nothing else it¡¯s an easy time to be earning good will from you, something that will be a lot harder as you grow in power.¡±


    After he finished eating Ajax got started on putting up borate defenses. ¡°Why are you doing that?¡± the prince asked.


    ¡°Because I¡¯ll have you start using those stealth skills once I am done.¡± Ajax answered. ¡°I won¡¯t have anyone with me to keep watch so I need to practice setting up temporary denses for when I rest.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a pretty good idea.¡± the prince acknowledged. ¡°So how do you n to clear out this floor?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Ajax was confused. ¡°I¡¯ll just go around and clear as much as I can before using the obelisk to clear out whatever remains.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the slowest safe option you have, not only that but its not even the safest of them all.¡± the princeined. ¡°You¡¯ve been doing too many crafting and training delves. It doesn¡¯t help that the team you joined when you first started delving in that backwater dungeon faced little to no threat on that floor.¡±


    ¡°Why¡¯s that?¡± Ajax got defensive.


    ¡°You missed out on any floor progression delves.¡± the prince answered. ¡°It¡¯s what pushes the adventurers who make it to the top and hit the wall where they are getting restricted from entering the dungeon strong enough topete with noble grown talent. It¡¯s also what kills most adventurers as they try the climb.¡±


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    ¡°I¡¯ve faced hard floors before.¡± Ajax said as he thought back to the magma floor where they almost got soaked inva by smanders.


    ¡°It¡¯s different.¡± the prince said. ¡°Without backers adventurers are forced to go into bad floor matchups, not only that but they also go to floors where they are outleveled just because the spot was open and they can¡¯t afford to just retreat and hope for a better theme next week.¡±


    ¡°But what¡¯s that got to do with now?¡± Ajax asked as he conceded the point, he did remember a few delves where after a few hours on the final floor the team simply decided to retreat since the risk was too high.


    ¡°You haven¡¯t learnt to use the restrictions and environment of a floor to their fullest.¡± the prince says. ¡°You can scout pretty well, but what can you tell me about this environment and how it rtes to clearing the floor?¡±


    ¡°We are in a dense forest.¡± Ajax started. ¡°Besides the regr animals we have run into two more humanoid monsters meaning there likely isn¡¯t anything else. No birds of prey. Great for hit and run tactics.¡±


    ¡°That is pretty much a textbook answer.¡± the prince nodded. ¡°But you left out a few key details, let me know if you see an answer when I frame it for you a bit differently. You are in a zoned off, dry forest. You are facing physically enhanced monsters that mostly hunt in packs yet are antagonistic to one another. The forest is filled with mana infused trees, and none of those monsters are resistant to fire, most are in fact weak to it.¡±


    Ajax¡¯s eyes went wide at that. Was the prince suggesting that he start a massive forest fire? Not only that but it could actually work, there was no need to worry about the fire spreading too far the floor was closed off. Sure the mana in the trees would make them resistant to weak fire but once he started a fire with a powerful me it would also consume that man infused wood to keep its strength and spread.


    ¡°See, that¡¯s what you are missing, what almost every powerhouse raised by a noble house is missing. They wouldn¡¯t consider such a strategy because it is too risky when the floor is of appropriate strength for the party or because it would cost them almost all their profit from it when they are with high level watchers.¡± the prince said with a grin.


    ¡°I¡¯m starting to be d you volunteered.¡± Ajax said with a smirk. ¡°But I¡¯ll need you to start using your stealth skills.¡±


    ¡°You call this a defensive position?¡± the prince said looking around at the small amount of defenses Ajax set up.


    ¡°No point training when I have as much time as I want to set it all up.¡± Ajax responded. ¡°With you here I can afford to see how well I can defend myself when my preparations are more bare bones.¡±


    With a simple nod the princepletely disappeared from Ajax¡¯s senses and once he jumped out of his line of sight he lost himpletely. All there was to do now was wait. Ajax took a few of the stockier branchez and used his magma mana to set the aze. Just because he was expecting an attack didn¡¯t mean he would give up the advantage that a big fire would give him.


    The snap of a twig close by woke Ajax up. It couldn¡¯t have been more than twenty minutes since he had fallen asleep and now the forest was eerily quiet. The fire was the only sound he heard but he still decided to get up to take a look. Him getting up seemed to be the signal that they were discovered as the wendigoes attacked.


    The monsters were tall, easily nine feet if they weren¡¯t standing so hunched over. Their bony frames certainly not what Ajax was expecting as he could see they had almost no muscle on their bodies. What they did have was two rows of sharp triangr teeth, a prominent nose and ws on their hands and feet.


    Despite their wiry frames deep w marks could be seen on the trees as theyunched off them and towards Ajax. A quick application of [Mana Syphon] easily made Ajax a match for them in speed and gave him a solid step up in strength. First things first however Ajax had to make sure he wasn¡¯t surrounded.


    He charged straight for the closest wendigo, looking to break out of the encirclement by forcing the fight to turn into a one on one for a quick moment. The action didn¡¯t seem to surprise the wendigo but the small pit managed to get him to stumble.


    A clean swipe of his magma infused axe easily cut its way through the ribcage and made it a good halfway through the torso before it lost its momentum, the blow killed the monster but Ajax knew he didn¡¯t have much time as he threw the corpse behind him and turned to face advance further away from the remaining four enemies.


    Much to Ajax¡¯s surprise none of the other four wendigos were charging for him as he turned. Instead they had alltched on to the body of their fallen packmate and started tearing into it looking to devour it.


    It was surprising to Ajax to see how the flesh ripped and blood and organs were spread. Worst of all however was the smell of burnt flesh that came from the wound that killed the monster. Despite having butchered things before thebination of the gory sight and smell made him hesitate for a moment.


    That time all the other wengoes needed to strip the little flesh and skin from the body though none of them approached the charred part of the corpse. Even with the stick thin body shared to all four Ajax could see their stomach now bulging out of their abdomens. This was when he felt the curse mana radiate from them.


    Their red eyes started to glow and their stomachs started to shrink as they all growled and charged towards Ajax once more, this time faster than before. The growl knocked Ajax out of his disgust-induced shock and he used a good amount of mana to freeze the ground around him.


    Despite mana''s weird interaction with physics there were some aspects that he could still use to his advantage so long as a skill didn¡¯t actively reverse the process. The high speed and low weight of the wendigos meant they quickly slipped on the ice and Ajax took the opportunity to kill two of them right there.


    Much like before the wendigos fully ignored him and went straight for the new corpses. This time however Ajax wasn¡¯t surprised by that reaction so he quickly brought out his bow and killed one with an arrow to head.


    The final wendigo reacted quickly to the range attack, Ajax¡¯s second arrow only managed to ember in the monster¡¯s thigh as it jumped away, the curse quickly consuming the new food and turning it into more power was simply not enough as Ajax¡¯s hammer made swung with a metal augmentation broke clean through the arm the monster was using as defense and crushed the skull.

 Chapter 277

    Chapter 277


    ¡°That was pretty good¡± Ajax jumped as he didn¡¯t sense the prince at all despite hearing the voiceing from within three feet of him. ¡°Freezing up after you took out the first one was pretty bad but you recovered well.¡±


    ¡°I knew they were cannibals,¡± Ajax said as he looked at the two half eaten corpses ¡° I just didn¡¯t know they would eat a fallen before dealing with a threat.¡±


    ¡°Despite thecking powerpared to most other curses the wendigo is one of the worst possible fates for someone to sumb to.¡± the prince said his usual cheery mood was gone. ¡°It¡¯s why curse users are so limited in all civilized ces and any curse mage is kept under surveince.¡±


    ¡°People can be turned into things like these?¡± Ajax asked, horrified.


    ¡°No, the ones created from actual people would be a lot stronger as they would still have ess to all the skills they did beforehand.¡± the prince said. ¡°You really should start burning the bodies before they attract all the other packs.¡±


    Ajax didn¡¯t need to be told twice as he quickly gathered up all the remains and tossed them in the fire. He also made sure to use one of the backup pairs of gloves he brought with him and simply tossed them in the fire as well once he was done.


    The rest of the night passed quietly and Ajax managed to finish building up a strong defensive position and then managed to get a few good hours of undisturbed sleep. But once the light returned to the dungeon floor Ajax awoke. It was time to hunt.


    Taking the advice of the prince, Ajax first scouted a good portion of forest around where he built his defensive base of operations. Once he found a small pack of big foots, a pack of wolves as well as some wendigo¡¯s in the distance it was time to try using the floor to his advantage.


    He carefully lit the forest aze, he made sure the fire wouldn¡¯t be extending towards his own base and also started it in such a way that it would lead the pack of bigfoots into a direct confrontation with the wolves. Lighting the forest wasn¡¯t nearly as easy as TV shows back on earth had made it seem where one errant match could set off an inferno. Ajax had used up more than four hundred mana with his magma affinity before the fire had really taken off. But once it did it started to spread quickly. Each new tree that caught the mes would quickly explode with heat.


    When the two packs came face to face an odd little staredown happened. Both the wolves and the big foots were part of the monster ecology of the floor. Under normal circumstances in the outside world the wolves would simply join the big foots in their evacuation. But inside the dungeon the creatures were much more aggressive, the only reason they hadn¡¯t attacked each other yet was because of the small suggestion the dungeon floor also provided them with that they should work together to kill the intruders.


    That stalemate was broken once the mes got a little closer and the two packs engaged. The wolves were on the losing side at the start, the much bigger size of the big foots, not to mention their more humanoid frame and tool use let them score a few strong opening attacks. The wolves however were not to be underestimated, what theycked in individual strength they made up for in numbers. Following the strong start of the big foots the wolves were quick to respond by throwing bodies at the problem and ambushing their bigger foes.


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    Ajax watched in surprise for about ten minutes as the dungeon floor was clearing itself and all he had to do was start one little fire. By this point a quarter of the wolves and big foots had died and those that were still standing were by no means in top condition. The fight however was brought to a close as each force slowly backed away recognising the others power.


    That was when seven wendigos dashed into the middle all going for the corpses that littered the battlefield. Unlike their first meeting both packs were quick to charge towards the third party, even inside the dungeon the monsters had a good enough understanding of each other to know that the wendigo would just hunt them down once they finished the corpses and gained more power.


    Not for the first time Ajax had a front row seat to the absoluteck of teamwork that the wendigos disyed. They weren¡¯t a pack, no they were simply a collection that stuck together for intimidation. A wendigo would only fight if it was attacked, otherwise it would keep on feasting on the fresh meals provided.


    ¡°Can curse mages control the wendigo they create?¡± Ajax asked as he watched the wolves and big foots systematically take the wendigos apart.


    ¡°Not through the original curse.¡± the prince responded. ¡°There are, however, examples in history of curse mages who managed tobine other control curses to achieve a simr effect.¡±


    The second tost wendigo had its spine snapped over the knee of a bigfoot while a wolf dangled from his neck with its jaw locked. That¡¯s when the battle took an unexpected turn. Thest remaining wendigo wasn¡¯t just a normal mob like all the rest that Ajax had faced so far. No he was a mini-boss variant that had an arch to defend.


    With its stomach filled the mini-boss finally went on the the attack. It¡¯s speed was even quicker than what Ajax could manage, though there was quite a bit to be said about the uracy or grace of his movements. For the wolves and big boots however that didn¡¯t matter the miniboss had to have consumed at least five corpses before it engaged and was now a menace tearing through the survivors.


    Worse yet Ajax could see that the mini-boss clearly didn¡¯t care about self preservation. It simply existed to eat, each time he would attack he would ensure to take a good size bite of his target before retreating to swallow the mouthful and attacking again.


    After ten more minutes the wendigo was the only one standing as he ferociously started devouring the new corpses. That wasn¡¯t to say that he hade on top unscathed, he had lost half of the teeth on his jaw, one of his arms all the way down from the shoulder, his left knee was bent the wrong way and both his ears had been bitten off.


    Much likest time Ajax took full advantage of the wendigos unending gluttony and took out his bow. Unlike his opening shotst time, the mini-boss had good enough reflexes from the empowered curse that he managed to dodge a perfectly aimed headshot. Unfortunately for him the arrow still managed to embed itself in his stomach. The holy augment on the arrow was quick toe into conflict with the wendigo¡¯s cursed mana as the already thin body was sent into what had to be the most violent seizure Ajax could imagine. The shaky movement was powerful enough to pop one of the mini-bosses'' eyes right out of its socket before Ajax brought down his hammer and crushed his head.


    ¡°Not bad at all for your first time.¡± the prince said as he slowly pped from the side. ¡°But for next time you would do better to scout the edges of the floor closest to you before putting such a n in action.¡±


    A pained battlecry announced theing of the second wave of monsters. Despite the forest fire heading away from Ajax¡¯s position the monsters could only run away so far as the floor design allowed. Ajax now found himself with at least seven monster groupsing towards him, most of them suffering from a severe burn or two.


    That was when the prince jumped into action. Ajax could have debated that he didn¡¯t really require the prince''s help, he could always outrun the monster wave and pick it off one by one. Still he had to agree that doing things that way wouldn¡¯t have been all that good for his training.


    Despite the intervention Ajax was fully focused on analyzing the way the prince fought. To say that his style was mesmerizing was an understatement. Unlike the expectation that a prince woulde with back on Earth the prince¡¯s style was in no way elegant.


    While calm elegant movements of a knight or samurai were usually depicted with an underscore of ssical music, the prince¡¯s style was a clear example of heavy metal. Runes were being activated one after another from any part of his suit as he chaotically maneuvered through the beast wave killing everything that entered his range.

 Chapter 278

    Chapter 278


    Watching how quickly the prince wiped out all the iing packs, Ajax knew he still had a long way to go before he got close to his level. That said, the prince would actually be a very good match-up for Ajax if they were even close in power level.


    While the prince clearly had more power in the small spells he usedpared to Ajax¡¯s, [Mana Syphon] would work wonders on messing up the precise outputs all those small spells the runes were constantly putting out.


    ¡°Not bad for your first attempt.¡± the prince praised. ¡°Next time however make sure you don¡¯t have so many of theming back to get you.¡±


    Ajax actually agreed with the prince¡¯s evaluation. He spent the next two days perfecting his approach as it came to setting sections of the dungeon floor aze in a more controlled manner. While not all of the attempts he made were a resounding sess his failures didn¡¯t manage to gather a strong enough group of monsters to overwhelm him at any point.


    While his days didn¡¯t present much of a problem for Ajax, his nights were apletely different issue. With the prince activating his stealth skills Ajax was left all alone to fend for himself. That wasn¡¯t all that big of a issue as Ajax could easily handle a single group of monsters it did present him with a new challenge.


    By the end of their third night there Ajax was starting to really feel the fatigue setting in. While his stats might mean that he could stay awake for a few days straight it was by no means a good idea. Ajax had little problem actually falling asleep, it was actually staying asleep that posed the challenge.


    After two close calls during the first night where he woke up just as the monsters were closing in on him, Ajax¡¯s sleep became very light. So light in fact that a strong breeze rustling more than a branch at a time would wake him up.


    Theck of sleep wasn¡¯t just a challenge for his mental state however. While sleeping a person recovered both mana and stamina a lot fasterpared to when they were awake, a clear solution to that would be to use his high level [Meditation] to make up for it but that posed a very simr issue by blocking off his senses from the outside world.


    ¡°We¡¯ll definitely need to make sure you take an rm formation with you.¡± the prince said as he looked Ajax up and down on the fourth day. ¡°That way you should be able to at least get one night of sleep.¡± ¡°That would help.¡± Ajax agreed as he got to work starting the fourth and final day on the floor. ¡°Are they all that expensive?¡±


    ¡°Depends what floor you need them to work on.¡± the prince said. ¡°For something like this they aren¡¯t cheap but I¡¯m sure we can provide you with one seeing as how not only are you not pushing yourself as far as you can be even clearing the entire floor at our request.¡±


    Ajax just nodded in appreciation and chose to focus on clearing out the floor rather than making conversation. Unfortunately for him the prince clearly had gotten a bit bored over thest few days.


    ¡°Have you decided which dungeon you will tackle first?¡± the prince asked.


    ¡°Their main dungeon.¡± Ajax responded.


    ¡°Oh?¡± The prince was surprised at that. ¡°Howe, you could make it easier for yourself by going to the other one first and getting a few floors worth of stats.¡±


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    ¡°Because with the stats from the floors I clear in their main one I am hoping I can push one floor higher in the other.¡± Ajax exined. ¡°My leveling speed isn¡¯t fast enough that I will end up surpassing level sixty-two in the next five years so I¡¯ll be able to clear all of those floors in my second delve.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± the prince eximed as the idea clicked. ¡°I forgot your level is only in the mid thirties. With this you¡¯ll be able to gain quite a substantial number of bonus stats, especially seeing as you will also be getting a chance to delve into the Republic dungeons before the tournament.¡±


    ¡°You have any useful advice regarding that?¡± Ajax asked, more out of a desire to change the topic than actually expecting something insightful from the prince, their styles were just too different.


    ¡°Thepetition itself might actually pose a problem to you.¡± the prince said. ¡°I was already level eighty by the time I turned fifty so you can expect thepetition to be at least around level seventy-five.¡±


    Ajax did a quick bit of math in his head, he was almost level thirty-five now, if he kept up a three level a year average he would be around level fifty-one or fifty-two by the time the tournament came around. Not an insurmountable level difference but by no means an easy one.


    ¡°Our styles are too different to me to help you there.¡± the prince continued. ¡°All I could suggest is to make sure you get everyst stat point you can from potions before it starts. After the tournament however you might have a nice opportunity.¡±


    ¡°What opportunity is that?¡± Ajax asked curiously.


    ¡°The elves are broke.¡± the prince said without sugarcoating it. ¡°Everyone knows they are going to win the mainpetition since nobody is willing to face their champion in a straight up fight. If you win your bracket I can guarantee you¡¯ll be able to make a deal selling the rights to the elves for something that includes a delve in their main dungeon as well.¡±


    Ajax had to physically stop at that. Would it be worth it? Sure he wanted to gain as much power as possible but would he be able to justify spending all that money he would win in the tournament on just one delve?


    ¡°Don¡¯t look so focused, you¡¯ll make a decent bit upfront just from selling the other spots on that delve to other interested parties.¡± the prince spoke up once again. ¡°Oh look here theye.¡±


    WIth that the prince blended into the shadows and Ajax turned to look at the monsters that escaped the inferno. There were more of them than usual getting close to a full dozening towards him but all of them had severe burns. The wolves and bigfoots were clearly limping and none of them had all four limbs functional, the biggest danger came from the stags as both of them still sported their antlers.


    Ajax was quick to cull their numbers using his bow, even with a light retreat he managed to kill half of the iing enemies before they even made it into melee range. From there he made short work of them with his axe and sword, he had no need to use the hammer considering all the easily essible weak spots that were given to him from the severe burns.


    ¡°That was very well executed but I do have a question.¡± the prince said after Ajax finished all of the attackers and started to head towards the obelisk.


    ¡°What is it?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°Why do you always channel your magic through your glove when you are fighting in melee?¡± the prince asked.


    Ajax almost stumped over a tree root after hearing the question. He should have expected the prince to find out about that, the only reason nobody else had managed to figure out that he was doing that was because he made sure not to use his glove in front of anyone that was all that skilled with [Sense Mana].


    ¡°Oh, is it something good?¡± The prince seemed happy at that reaction.


    That was when Ajax realized that he had no reason not to admit the reason, the prince had promised to keep anything he found out during this delve a secret, Ajax was sure he would be kicking himself soon enough.


    ¡°It¡¯s so that the mana won¡¯t erode the weapons.¡± Ajax shared. ¡°There are a number of small elementally attuned gems in the glove and by channeling the mana through there first it doesn¡¯t harm the weapons regardless of which mana type I use to infuse them.¡±


    It was the prince who almost tripped hearing this. ¡°Wait, so you mean you can use different mana types to empower the same weapon without damaging it so long as you channel them through a correct elemental stone first?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Ajax nodded.


    ¡°That¡¯s great!¡± the prince eximed. ¡°You can make runic pieces so much more flexible with this, even if it would cost you a bit in maximum output.¡±


    It didn¡¯t take more than five more steps before the tion on the prince''s face turned into dread. ¡°Nooooo, why did you answer me?¡± the prince cried out as he turned on Ajax. ¡°I could have figured that out in time if I just thought about it.


    Ajax had a hard time keeping a straight face at the prince''s antics, the deal the prince made specifically stated that he couldn¡¯t directly or indirectly reveal anything he learnt from Ajax during this delve. While he could apply ideas to his own style and training he couldn¡¯t share the discovery with a crafter to make him different gear as that would be indirectly sharing Ajax¡¯s secret. This wouldn¡¯t have applied if he came to the same conclusion without Ajax spelling it out.

 Chapter 279

    Chapter 279


    Activating the obelisk didn¡¯t do much more than draw in thest few stragglers, fortunately enough for Ajax thosest few stragglers were enough to give him thest push he needed to get to level thirty five.


    ¡°Besides the one big group following your first attempt at burning the forest you weren¡¯t in any serious danger.¡± the prince said. ¡°Are you looking to try the next floor to see if you can solo that?¡±


    ¡°No, this is enough for now.¡± Ajax said. ¡°This whole training is about making sure I can safely clear the entire floor, if even with a good match-up like this I still had a close call there is no point in pushing further.¡±


    ¡°Whatever you say.¡± the prince shrugged. ¡°You¡¯ll have one more delve to get used to this before you depart.¡±


    With the floor finally cleared Ajax put his mask and cloak back on as they excited the dungeon. He was tired and more than ready to just get back home and sleep for two days straight before he had to go back for the start of the new school cycle.


    When Ajax got home he was weed and quickly questioned by his mother.


    ¡°Are you hurt anywhere?¡± she asked worriedly.


    ¡°No.¡± Ajax responded, ¡°Why are you looking at me like that?¡±


    ¡°Because you look like someone that died, my lord.¡± Theron answered. Theron''s straightforward demeanor was something that Ajax very much appreciated. Despite his newfound nobility the bull beastkin simply added a respectful form of address but nothing else changed. This approach, while very much encouraged by Ajax, was one that had to be curtailed in any social gathering. This meant that the beastkin, much to his delight, had been excluded from the list of guards to be present for social events.


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s just because I haven¡¯t gotten a good night¡¯s sleep since the day I left.¡± Ajax waved away their concern.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you know how important sleep is?¡± his mother scolded him. ¡°How do you expect to keep your edge, especially in a dungeon if you don¡¯t get any proper sleep?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not forck of trying.¡± Ajax defend himself. ¡°I was waking up every time the wind rustled some branches because I was too on edge about anything sneaking up on me. For next time and for the actual delve I¡¯ll be given a proper rm barrier that should help with this.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± With that Silvia had the wind taken out her sails, ¡°In that case let''s have a bit of an early dinner and then send you off to bed.¡±


    Dinner was a quick affair where Ajax silently demolished a small heap of food while being reassured that nothing requiring his attention had happened in the time that he was away. A quick cleaningter and Ajax was asleep in his bed.


    As Ajax woke up a littlete in the next morning he got to experience the upside of high stats, namely that once he got a few decent hours of sleep to rejuvenate his mind his body perked back up to peak performance.


    ¡°Ajax! You¡¯re up great, mother wouldn¡¯t let anyone wake you up.¡± Ajax hadn¡¯t taken more than a few steps outside his room before Judy quickly ambushed him. ¡°Follow me.¡±


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    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°The details of the deal were made public by the royal family yesterday.¡± Judy informed him ¡°ording to Elija some of these meetings need to be handled by you personally, not only that but he also needs your input on what our n as a family is.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean, what deal? I thought we all knew about the details of the deal for a while.¡± Ajax asked, confused.


    ¡°Yes, we did.¡± Judy nodded. ¡°However our House now has one of the five delve slots for the Empire¡¯s main dungeon and another four out of the twenty-one for their secondary one, and every other noble family also knows this. A few have already sent representatives to discuss buying one of them.¡±


    That¡¯s when it clicked for Ajax. Of course the royal family will make anything they agreed to in the deal public, that would allow a fair market where the noble houses could trade fairly with one another. Ajax was quickly ushered past the halfway filled with representatives and into his grandfather¡¯s office.


    ¡°I thought Silvia said not to wake him up.¡± Aurora said when she saw Judy bring Ajax in. ¡°Though it¡¯s great that you brought him.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t wake him up.¡± Judy quickly denied. ¡°May have been stalking outside his room.¡± she whispered out the second part.


    ¡°Judy told me what was going on¡± Ajax said as he took a seat. ¡°Do you need me to sit in on any of these meetings?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Elija answered.


    ¡°But I thought you said¡­¡± Judy frowned at her grandfather.


    ¡°I thought we agreed that his presence would be needed, just from a social point.¡± Aurora said.


    ¡°All of the houses just sent representatives.¡± Elija exined. ¡°They all also just saw Ajax walk in here that should be enough. The bigger question is how many of the three slots do you want to keep and what do you want to sell them for.¡±


    Ajax very much appreciated that his grandfather knew him well enough to put aside his spot knowing there was no chance he would be giving any of those up.


    ¡°I was nning on having Tom take one slot but he¡¯s not strong enough to clear even the first floor of the secondary dungeon yet.¡± Ajax said.


    The secondary dungeon started off with a floor of level Twenty-nine to thirty-four. Unfortunately the mini-bosses that needed to be defeated were all level thirty-four and Tom didn¡¯t have a chance against them.


    ¡°I think I should keep one for Theron, he is still level thirty-six so he can take full advantage of that.¡± Ajax said, at level thirty-six Theron would still gain the stat points for clearing the first floor and he would still stand a chance at killing one of the level forty-four mini-bosses on the second floor so long as he got a good match-up and started with a good ambush to gain two floors worth of stats.


    ¡°That leaves us with two slots to sell, what are you looking to trade them for, anything specific, pure mary value, some influence or favors?¡± Elija focused on the merchant side not even questioning Ajax¡¯s decision.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to focus one on getting a better footing in alchemy, be that in terms of recipes or rare ingredients to experiment with.¡± Ajax said. ¡°But I¡¯m not sure what else to get, this is not my strong suit.¡±


    Aurora gave an encouraging nod as Ajax was leaning on her and her husband''s experience and expertise. ¡°Investing in your future as an alchemist is bound to pay off for us in the long run.¡± Aurora agreed. ¡°Just from the rate you are growing at now you¡¯ll be able to offset the cost of your training in half a century at most by delving with our retainers and making potions for them inside the dungeon out of whatever you can find.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll get you the best deal I can for your alchemy. What about the second delve slot? Are you in need of armor and weapons?¡± his grandfather asked.


    ¡°Right now I am just starting to outgrow my weapons and armor.¡± Ajax nodded, despite the high level craftsmanship none of his equipment had mana-infused materials and he was starting to use more power than his weapons could handle.


    ¡°Is that really the best use for it?¡± na, who had been inside the room from the start finally entered the conversation.


    ¡°I¡¯m not saying that getting Ajax improved equipment shouldn¡¯t be a priority.¡± na was quick to add once Judy Elija and Aurora quickly frowned at her. ¡°Just should we really be selling a delve slot for it at this time, almost anything that he can use now he will quickly outgrow in the next few years.¡±


    It was hard for Ajax to find fault with her logic, especially when he was taking into ount all of the possible extra stats he would be gaining from dungeons.


    ¡°I think it would be much better to sell the delve slot in exchange for influence to grow both of our tradingpanies and than simply spend some more gold in getting him some better equipment even if it''s not the best for his current power level.¡± na finished.


    ¡°Yes, that is a better choice.¡± Elija nodded as he thought things over. Despite his extensive experience from his years as a sessful merchant he had overlooked the speed of Ajax¡¯s growth. He knew just how hard truly top end equipment was to obtain so he had focused on that instead of how long it would remain top grade in Ajax¡¯s hands. ¡°It would put us in a bit of bind financially with both buying the equipment and expanding into the new opportunity but that should be covered by the gold influx from the honey deal.¡±


    With the n made Ajax and Judy left as na Elija and Aurora prepared to receive the representatives. Judy had initially wanted to also remain for the discussions but it was agreed that since nothing would be finalized in any of the uing interaction her presence there would actually prove as a hindrance since here close familial rtionship with Ajax, the head of the noble house, would give her seniority and undermine Elija¡¯s authority.

 Chapter 280

    Chapter 280


    The days started to blend together for Ajax following that meeting. He was very busy all day every day from there forward as he attended the Academy. After most school days ended he would be spirited away by the headmaster as he started his experimenting with Maic mana.


    Oddly enough for him Ajax found that the king had put almost no pressure on the headmaster in terms of how quickly he was to make headway, the only thing the king was adamant on was the secrecy of the project.


    On the days that he did have off Ajax found himself split between his Alchemy or his curse training. He was pushing himself so hard that the most rxed days Ajax had were the ones where he joined the ss for a delve and was stuck on a low level floor of the dungeon.


    His second delve with the prince went much better than the first. Despite the dungeon floor biome not being as good for him as the forest had been, all of the preparations and equipment that he had been given prior to entering had allowed him to slowly but surely clear out the floor without having a close call.


    Before Ajax knew it the day of departure had snuck up on him. He had been so focused in getting together everything he could that he only realized he was leaving the next day when he walked in on a farewell party set up by his family at dinner.


    That night Ajax had gotten very little sleep, he had spent a good portion of the evening and night reassuring each of his family members as well as a few close friends that he would be careful, only to have to do it all again the next morning.


    As Ajax and Theron got to their departure spot they quickly found out that what they had thought to be a small caravan had turned into a rather sizable convoy. Beside the already numerous fifty people that were set to travel it seemed that the crown prince had decided to take this chance as one of thest few trips he would be able to take before he would be crowned as king.


    ¡°He didn¡¯t have to go that far, I think I¡¯m rtively safe.¡± Ajax mumbled, unlike hisst long term trip he now had a storage ring meaning all of his belongings were already packed and ced on his finger.


    ¡°This isn¡¯t for your protection.¡± Archduke Goldmancer said as he heard Ajax¡¯s mumble. ¡°The crown prince is going to ensure the safety of his own son.¡± ¡°How does him going with a few non-too high level guards ensure anyone''s safety?¡± Theron asked the question Ajax was thinking.


    ¡°Because everyone knows that the crown prince won¡¯t leave the empire without his son.¡± the archduke said. ¡°Your ssmate is only good as a hostage if his father stays here and ascends the throne so him going with you means there is no value in capturing him.¡±


    ¡°Couldn¡¯t they just capture the crown prince?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°They could, but that would start a war they would quickly lose.¡± the Archduke exined. ¡°If I could have a word in private Ajax.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir?¡± Ajax asked as he and the archduke moved to a more reclusive spot and the archduke ced a privacy screen.


    ¡°I am here to make a request of you.¡± Archduke Goldmancer started.


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    ¡°What kind of request?¡± Ajax asked, unsure of what he could achieve that the man couldn¡¯t easily get for himself.


    ¡°I''d like to ask you to take care of Anna.¡± the archduke said.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry to say that if anyone can get past your guards there is nothing I could do to stop them.¡± Ajax said as he looked towards the three guards that were in the high nies and wereing along to act as the boost crew for the final floor of the Empire¡¯s secondary dungeon.


    ¡°It¡¯s not there that I am worried about.¡± the archduke said. ¡°It¡¯s inside the dungeon.¡±


    ¡°I can assure you that Anna is more than capable of handling anything that the first or second floor of the dungeon can throw at her.¡± Ajax said. ¡°With a good biome she might even be able to clear the third.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m also worried about Oliver.¡± The archduke said.


    Ajax now realized what the old man was getting at. Oliver was the fifth and final person taking a slot in their delve and he was a level forty mage, not only that but Oliver was also Anna¡¯s nephew and Ajax could understand the trepidation of his father asking Oliver to kill Anna inside the dungeon for a better chance at taking over the family once the Archduke dies.


    ¡°Please always make sure they are not on the same floor without you there.¡± the Archduke requested.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take care of it.¡± Ajax reassured him.


    ¡°What was that about?¡± Tom asked after Ajax came to rejoin his family before the convoy started to move.


    ¡°He wanted to make sure of a fewst details on the delve.¡± Ajax was careful to watch his words so he wouldn¡¯t give anything away to anyone eavesdropping.


    ¡°Be careful, alright darling.¡± Ajax¡¯s mother said for what had to be the tenth time that morning as she gave him a hug.


    ¡°I will be.¡± Ajax reassured her.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be overconfident, there is no shame in retreating from a bad position.¡± Hatched said the advice meant so much moreing from him since Ajax knew just how long it had taken him to take that same advice following the nearplete wipe-out of his team.


    ¡°HHHHHHRRRRRR.¡± Fluffy, not one to be left out was quick to cuddle up to Ajax.


    ¡°Yes, yes.¡± Ajax said as he stroked the massive feline. ¡°I¡¯ll make sure to bring you back something good.¡±


    With that Ajax and Theron climbed in one of the carriages and shortly after that the convoy started to move. Unlike a usual caravan the convoy not only wasn¡¯t transporting heavy merchandise via carts but consisted only of carriages and riders meaning their pace was much quicker than Ajax¡¯sst journey.


    ¡°We¡¯re moving quickly.¡± Ajax noticed. ¡°Will the trip really take a whole month?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll be making a few stops on the way, the crown prince and his son won¡¯t be able to simply pass through some of the Dukes and Viscount territories without spending a day or two.¡± Lexi said.


    Ajax had ended up sharing a carriage with Lexi, Anna, Theron, Oliver and one of the three Goldmancer guards. Out of all of them Oliver seemed to be the most displeased with the arrangement because while none of them were squeezed in too tightly he ended up sharing a side of the carriage with Ajax and Theron.


    ¡°I still don¡¯t see why we had to share a carriage.¡± Oliverined. ¡°Even as a newly promoted Baron surely you could afford one.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d be nicer to Ajax if I were you.¡± Lexi was quick to cut in.


    ¡°And why is that?¡± Oliver asked. ¡°Sure his status as a Baron might ce him higher than me as an individual but I doubt he would mess with someone from the Goldmancer family.¡±


    ¡°Because it will be up to Ajax if he will help you fight to clear the fifth floor.¡± Lexi said.


    ¡°I have heard that he won the sixth year tournament but I assure you I am stronger than the previous sixth year ss, even if they do approach me in level.¡± Oliver said.


    It was here that talent seemed to weaken peoplepared to their peers in terms of level. For most people who were talented and gained their level quickly it usually meant they had done so through multiple skills meaning they are more spread outpared to someone older who focused on a smaller number. This spread of skills required for quick leveling was why the Academy only took people in if they qualified as first years.


    As a mage Oliver was definitely stronger than the sixth years but he was also older than them by at least a decade. Not only that but in another decade those same sixth years would outlevel Olvier.


    ¡°Ajax would at least be aiming for the fifth floor.¡± Lexi stated confidently, she in fact knew that the n was for Ajax to fully clear out the sixth floor.


    ¡°Ajax hardly broke a sweat as he swept through the tournament.¡± Anna joined the discussion. ¡°I¡¯d be more careful about insulting him if I were you, after all what was it you said to me ¡®anything can happen inside the dungeon¡¯.¡±


    Both Oliver and the guard went still at those words. Oliver was now trying to steal a glimpse at Ajax who was hidden behind Theron¡¯s size, the guard had quickly moved his hand towards the sword and was now trying to burn a hole in Oliver¡¯s head with his stare.


    ¡®Why does everything have to be soplicated.¡¯ Ajax silentlymented as he tried to catch up on some sleep.

 Chapter 281

    Chapter 281


    It took only until the first stop before Oliver made a quick change of carriage. Not only that but Theron also decided to borrow a horse for a part of the travel as sitting inside a carriage did not suit his massive size. Everyone was more than happy to amodate the beastkin, especially considering that all of them had some expectation of how he would be treated inside the Empire for his race alone.


    Left with only Anna, Lexi and their guard Ajax found himself picking Anna¡¯s brain about the Alchemy market, he was trying to find the best way to progress while also obtaining recipes for on demand potions and elixirs.


    With the advantage offortable carriages and a trip mainly funded by the royal family on ount of the crown prince tagging along, the first stop they made was three dayster at a Viscount¡¯s home.


    Seeing how they would only be staying for the evening and morning, Ajax wasn¡¯t surprised to see that the Viscount in question had taken the opportunity to throw a party in honor of their visit.


    What did take Ajax by surprise was the number of people who knew about him. Despite being a new Baron it was clear that even the nobles that weren¡¯t staying in the capital had learnt of him and his apparent rising star as a potential powerhouse of the kingdom.


    Even more shocking was the number of women that were interested in him. It took him all of an hour before he realized what was going on after about five dances and decided to stick together with Anna and Lexi just to get a reprieve.


    ¡°What is going on?¡± Ajax muttered as he finally caught a break just by being in Anna¡¯s and Lexi¡¯s presence.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Anna asked.


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t like this in the capital.¡± Ajax said. ¡°There were a few families who approached with an offer but nothing this direct.¡± He had already gotten at least four proposals from the women themselves. ¡°That¡¯s because you never go to social events.¡± Lexi exined while she giggled. ¡°You are already a Baron, over 80% of nobles never even get close to having the title in leadership. You not only have the title but you are very young and single.¡±


    ¡°Couldn¡¯t the same be said for Anna?¡± Ajax asked. ¡°Sure she doesn¡¯t have the title yet but from what I hear her father is looking to pass it to her in the near future.¡±


    ¡°The difference is that my father will have to approve any marriage offer for it to count as legitimate.¡± Anna answered. ¡°As far as your position is concerned so long as you give the go ahead the deal is as good as struck.¡±


    ¡°Even now the only reason they aren¡¯t approaching you is because they don¡¯t want to offend our families in case either of us are in the running.¡± Lexi said.


    Following the revtion Ajax began to look at the dance invitations a little differently. Sure he was tempted by more than one or two of the women but he knew better than to make a decision that would have such far reaching consequences based only on a few minutes of talking.


    Ajax was sure to officially meet and thank the Viscount that was hosting them before he made an early retreat to bed. Going to bed early after a day of not doing much more than sitting in a carriage however also meant that Ajax had gotten up early the next morning.


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    ¡°You¡¯re already awake, your Lordship.¡± one of the three Goldmancer guards greeted him as he walked outside.


    It took Ajax a moment to realize he was being addressed, despite Theron also making a point of always using his title with respect when talking to him Ajax still had a hard time getting his head around actually being a noble. Ajax simply gave the guard a nod in response.


    ¡°I hope it isn¡¯t presumptuous of me but with you being awake already this would be a great opportunity.¡± the guard said as he took a careful look around them. ¡°The royal family has provided some equipment that they are willing to let you borrow. Would you like to go over it now?¡±


    ¡°I thought the whole point of me using my old equipment was so that they wouldn¡¯t be able to tell just how powerful I really was.¡± Ajax answered. ¡°They will obviously be checking any spacial ring or bag I take with me.¡±


    ¡°This equipment isn¡¯t for the Empire¡¯s main dungeon.¡± the guard exined. ¡° It was given in the hopes that you can use it to clear an extra floor in their secondary dungeon, nobody would question a spare set of equipment that is carried inside that dungeon since the level ranges of people going there is much wider.¡±


    Ajax¡¯s eyes widened at the news. With the secondary dungeon¡¯s first floor having enemies from level 29-34 and a floor level jump of ten levels Ajax had fully expected to only be able to clear four floors, even with the extra stats from the main dungeon killing a level seventy-four by himself would be too much even with a good match-up. Some stronger gear however might just be enough to push him over the edge and get him an extra floor.


    ¡°Why go over it now?¡± Ajax asked. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t that risk it being discovered?¡±


    ¡°There are a few crafters at our next two stops before we get to the Empire where we could take the items you select for somest minute fittings.¡± the guard said.


    As Ajax and the guard moved to an out of the way room and the guard ensured their privacy he quickly produced a much more ornate spacial ring than the one Ajax himself had. It was there that Ajax found himself shocked with the amount of gear that the royal family had decided to loan him. There were five different longswords each made with a differently attuned metal that would not only better handle a specific Elemental augmentation but it would actually further empower it. They had also provided an assortment of axes, hammer, shields, spears and daggers. There were only two bows however there were more than a few arrows present each having a specially made shaft and tip to further enhance an element that was channeled through it.


    When it came to armor Ajax was surprised to find that the royal family had provided everything from light mage robes to a full pdin te set-up, though there were only three different sets of each and all of them were defensively enchanted.


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t bringing all this gear bring too much attention?¡± Ajax asked as he evaluated the gear to be extremely high level equipment for somebody between the levels fifty to sixty.


    ¡°The royal family has basically loaned the gear out to the entire team delving the secondary dungeon, it ismon with boosting groups to bring specialized gear like this in hopes of encountering a favorable match-up that might push the boostie one floor higher.¡± the guard exined.


    Seeing how this was a once in a lifetime opportunity to enter another nations secondary dungeon Ajax should have guessed that high end nobles wouldn¡¯t even blink at spending a ridiculous amount of gold just to push their hopefuls even one floor higher, after all these were extra stats with no downside or cap.


    The first thing Ajax checked were the sets of leather armor. It greatly pleased him to find that unlike most of the gear he had seen when window shopping more than a one or two of the defensive enchantments ced on this gear weren¡¯t simple barriers but actual bursts of speed that could be activated by the wearer at a moments notice, though with a hefty recharge time.


    ¡°Is there any way that these leather sets can be made with a little more flexibility in mind?¡± Ajax asked.


    Because of consistently using the same set of unenchanted gear Ajax had gotten used a set of armor that had not only been regrly used but also pushed by somebody for whom it had long been time to upgrade. This meant that his gear had a lot more give and that made these higher quality sets feel a lot more restrictive.


    ¡°I¡¯ll definitely have to look into changing my armor once I get back as I now see that my is in need of an upgrade but mobility is more important when for a leather wearer when facing something on the level I will be up against and I¡¯d rather not be adjusting to a more restrictive set.¡± Ajax exined.


    ¡°I¡¯ll see what can be done at our next two stops.¡± the guard nodded as he made notes of not only Ajax¡¯s requests but also certain measurements where the gear had been restricting his movement.


    Ajax had only had the time to test out the two bows before the rest of the convoy had woken up and their absence would be felt. Both of them had felt a little heavy on the draw even with [Mana Syphon] at full power. The guard assured him that this was something they could adjust at least a little and he would get a chance to fine tune it as the crafters at both stops were skilled enough to handle it.

 Chapter 282

    Chapter 282


    Oliver P.O.V.


    Do these people have no eyes? How oblivious can he be? Just how special is he? All these questions go through my mind all night throughout the party. Ajax Hearthbound, newly elevated Baron, and a genius ofbat yet besides all that there isn¡¯t much there at all.


    The half a day we spent together in the carriage on the way here was more than enough for me to take his measure. He is without a doubt a peasant born brute who at best belongs as a head knight to a true noble. He doesn¡¯t have the upbringing to enter our world.


    Despite all that he was pointed out to me as the biggest impediment in my mission to kill Annabeth. It is a true shame that someone of her standing has to die. Unlike the brute she has a constant poker-face, none of her inner emotions are showing. She was raised to not just be one of us but even lead us, if she wasn¡¯t an obstacle to my father taking over as the head of the house she would have been showered with support by every single branch of our family.


    Killing her is by no means a difficult task, sure I only have a dozen or so levels on her but that is close to half her level, not to mention that she has to have spread herself in multiple directions to level so quickly so her powers as a mage shouldn¡¯t even approach mine. The problem is that I will only have one chance to do so, inside the dungeon.


    ¡°He certainly is¡­ unique.¡± The Viscount, our host, mentions to the crown prince as he watches Ajax dance his fourth dance with a different potential spouse for him.


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to ask that you forgive young Baron Heathbound.¡± the prince says with a wry chuckle. ¡°His first brush with nobility came barely a year ago when he was epted into the Academy. Despite that he has provided tremendous gains to our kingdom in this short amount of time.¡±


    The crown prince is burning goodwill like kindling and the peasant can¡¯t even mask his own leering. Almost all of the house would dance with one maiden after another in such a fashion as a great slight yet all of them look to be understanding thanks to the crown prince¡¯s words.


    ¡°What¡­¡± even with my training his next actions are enough to pull the words from my throat before I regain myposure. To think that after that he would simply go and attach himself to Alexis and Annabeth, even if he finally figured out what all those dances were actually for doing this is almost like using our family as a shield. Thankfully he doesn¡¯t linger around for much longer before he approaches the Viscount.


    ¡°Good evening.¡± He greets our host. ¡°I would like to thank you for your hospitality this evening. I am Ajax Hearthbound.¡±


    Despite his previously disastrous behavior his meeting with the Viscount is at least passible, the polite and humbled greeting followed by an apology for any uncouth behavior before an early end to the evening is about as good an oue that can be expected.


    ¡°He is certainly polite.¡± the Viscountments following his exit.


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    ¡°He not only has a talent forbat and discovery but also a passion.¡± one of the members of house Silvertongue who joined managed to buy a slot in the secondary dungeons joins the conversation. ¡°He will have time to learn our more intricate customs but to halt his upward trajectory would be a crime just to have him do so sooner.¡±


    I walk away at this point, there is only so much I can stand hearing all of them defend the bumbling idiot. I quickly make my way towards my aunt looking to question her own actions this evening.


    ¡°Why did you allow him to use our family as a shield?¡± I don¡¯t bother beating around the bush, we both know how antagonistic my fathers branch has been towards her so all we need to worry about is the perception of our interaction from the rest of the guests.


    ¡°Because he clearly needed it.¡± she answers simply.


    ¡°It¡¯s not just your own value as a bride that you lower with something like this but that of any young woman in our family.¡± Despite my calm tone I can feel the anger burning inside me.


    ¡°And you would do well to remember that our family owes him.¡± she responded. ¡°And we don¡¯t turn on our allies.¡±


    ¡°What does our family owe him?¡± I ask instead.


    ¡°Do you not realize just how much we gained from this deal?¡± she asks, a brief moment of surprise shing in her eyes. That more than anything enrages me as it clearly shows her belief that I am an idiot.


    ¡°We owe him nothing for this deal.¡± I say back. ¡°He gained his part.¡±


    ¡°His part?¡± She maintains herposure but I alone can feel the sarcasm in the statement, clearly a result of her skills. ¡°He provided everything of value, despite us only being middle men for selling his discovery in a timely manner we walked away with 80% of the benefits.¡±


    There it is, despite his exquisite mind and talent, this sense of fairness and loyalty is what stopped our family from taking the seat of Goldmancer at least a century earlier than we did. It seems Annabeth had gotten that from her father as well.


    ¡°Getting any more than that would make them a target.¡± I responded. ¡°This is also the best oue for him.¡±


    ¡°He could have gotten nearly as good a deal from any of the top twenty noble merchant houses, and he knows that. Despite all that he chose us and didn¡¯t try to bind us with any long term favors.¡± She says, her skill letting me know how much she disapproves of my view on things.


    ¡°Hisck of experience in negotiations is not our burden to bear.¡± If he could have made a more favorable deal he should have.


    The conversation ends there as she simply walks away. At least now that he left the event I can finally enjoy myself. This would be a perfect time to try and make some contacts regarding my own value.


    The evening progresses well from there, despite myck of a mind for the merchants trade my skill with magic more than makes up for it. I even managed to make a few good impressions on a few Baron houses, father should be able to use this connection to set up a good supply line should they be called for a war or skirmish.


    By the time I wake up the sun is already high in the sky and our convoy is starting to make its preparations to leave. My biggest issue is that I can¡¯t seem to locate Ajax anywhere, it¡¯s like he straight up vanished despite us being less than half an hour from departure. I knew he would wake up earlier than me but where could he have gone?


    To my surprise I quickly catch a glimpse of Ajax and one of our family boostersing out of a little out of the way shack all ready for travel. Relief fills me but only for a moment. Despite their rathermon appearance there are a few details that don¡¯t add up.


    Why would Ajax be sweating? More than that, why is there a small but clear dent in one of the guards shoulder pads? Most pressing of all however is the guard wearing the storage ring that the crown prince had when he showed up before we took off from the capital.


    I know exactly what that ring contains, inside that spacial ring are the weapons and armor that the royal family so generously are going to loan out to all the people who will be entering the secondary dungeon. But that is peak gear for levels fifty to sixty, so how can he even properly wield it. More than that, how can he make a dent on the armor of a level ny-five.


    Perhaps he will turn out to be a much harder obstacle in my mission to kill Anna than I originally thought. With every passing day on this journey I grow more and more sure that engaging him in battle inside the dungeon will end with my death not his.


    Such thoughts are disgraceful, a peasant born boy, lower level than me and a third of my age can not just pose a threat to me but is actually favored to win?


    It doesn¡¯t matter. I quickly try to regain myposure. This sort of talent would be the reason why so many high nobles would be willing to overlook his many blunders and unintended insults. I can¡¯t focus on my pride now. If the direct approach won¡¯t work like we thought, it means I only have a couple of weeks toe up with a new n to kill Anna inside the dungeon.

 Chapter 283

    Chapter 283


    The convoy spent another week and a half traveling through the kingdom before they made it to the border with the Empire. In this time Ajax had a good chance to get a good look at all of the gear the royal family made avable for him and in their two spots along the way the leather armor as well as the weapons were given an once over so that they would fit him better.


    Much like their first stop the other two stops had also prepared a weing party for the crown prince. Unlike his first stumble into a noble party Ajax was quick to move away from the young people his age and approach the heads of Houses. To his surprise most of the heads of the noble families were more than happy to have him join the conversation.


    In those two parties Ajax had gotten a very quick overview lesson on party etiquette, he could barely suppress a wince as he was all but pointed out about all the missteps he had made during his first party.


    The noble families were likewise very interested in discussing early development and stat distribution with Ajax, though they did avoid specifically asking about Ajax¡¯s training method in detail. Many of them were surprised by Ajax''s encouragement of manualbor for their young offsprings.


    ¡°Surely you jest?¡± a noblewoman eximed when Ajax mentioned it. ¡°Farming, mining and wood cutting?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not saying they should be doing all of that.¡± Ajax was quick to exin. ¡°But those three are the most widespread jobs among vigers, though it¡¯s rare to find one that has any two or by some coincidence all three. This means that there is a good chance anyone can gain the skill for at least one of them.¡±


    ¡°And how would that help them?¡± another noble asked.


    ¡°The first few levels of those skills are all easy to gain. The bigger advantage is in the amount of effort that needs to be put into them. Regardless of skill level for a child, doing any of them for a two to three hour period will strain their strength, dexterity and endurance.¡± Ajax said. ¡°This will not only reward them with decent experience but also with a solid way to increase their stats.¡±


    While not everyone was willing to push their offsprings into such training from an early age, they would however be more than happy to push their private soldiers to do so from an early age. ¡°Ajax , a word.¡± the crown prince approached him as they took theirst rest stop before crossing the border.


    ¡°Yes, your highness?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°It would be for the best if you had Theron drive one of the carriage from here on.¡± the crown prince said. ¡°A beastkin riding on horseback or inside a carriage would just antagonize the empire needlessly.¡±


    Despite Ajax very much wanting to antagonize the empire for their racist views he knew very well that doing so at this moment wasn¡¯t a smart thing to do so he acquiesced with the prince''s request. Theron himself didn¡¯t seem surprised and had no issue going along with it.


    ¡°We shouldn¡¯t stay for longer than two weeks inside the empire capital. Not to mention that you¡¯ll be inside a dungeon for a portion of that.¡± Ajax said to the bull beastkin.


    ¡°Are they even going to let me enter?¡± Theron asked the one question that had been on his mind the entire trip.


    ¡°They hadn¡¯t said anything to deny this in the deal we brokered so you should be fine.¡± the Goldmancer guard said.


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    It was a pleasant surprise to see that despite a few raised eyebrows from the border guards there were no realments on Theron¡¯s presence in the convoy. What dide as a surprise was themotion that followed their clearance of the checkpoint. Not twenty seconds after they had started inspecting the final carriage a group of twenty beastkin emerged from the forest and made a mad dash for the border.


    The best Ajax could make out most seemed to be some sort of equine beastkin, either horses, deer, zebras or gazelles. Most telling however were the thick ck cors they all wore around their necks as they darted towards the kingdom.


    ¡°Dammit Edgar.¡± the guard that was closest to Ajax cursed as he looked out at the fleeing ves.


    ¡°Sorry, Sir.¡± a younger voice came from the watchtower. ¡°I¡¯ll go after them, sir.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll do no such thing.¡± the guard was quick to ignore the carriage. The moment that a young man in a guard uniform exited the tower and took two steps toward the runaways he was tackled and his head was pushed down into the ground. ¡°Are you trying to cause an international incident?¡±


    ¡°But sir¡­¡± the young man started.


    ¡°But sir, nothing. You¡¯ll never catch them before they cross the border.¡± the guard cut him off then leaned much closer to whisper in his ear. ¡°We might have some leeway on the border to chase them for a short distance usually but you want to do that with their crown prince right here, are you daft boy!?¡±


    ¡°Gods damned sympathizers.¡± the other older checkpoint guard swore as he spit off to one side. ¡°Don¡¯t let it get to you kid, they do it all of us, every time there is a new sentry they always find out their watch schedule to get a few groups past. If it¡¯s any constion you¡¯ll be building those scouting skills quickly.¡±


    Ajax waited until they were once again on their way past the checkpoint before he started to ask Anna and Lexi questions about what just happened.


    ¡°Howe we don¡¯t have a checkpoint at the border crossing?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°We do.¡± Lexi answered. ¡°We passed about three miles back.¡±


    ¡°What¡­ but¡­¡± Ajax could get his head around that logic.


    ¡°The royal family decided to pull back our checkpoint with the Empire border close to a century ago.¡± Anna exined. ¡°The royal family imed it was to show goodwill and friendly rtions towards the empire but it was mostly the opposite.¡±


    ¡°How is pulling back the checkpoint the opposite?¡± Ajax asked, confused.


    ¡°Because runaways like the group we just saw wouldn¡¯t happen with our checkpoint on the border.¡± Anna continued. ¡°Now the group will still be spotted at our checkpoints but since they are only spotted inside our borders there is deniability in sheltering them. That decision is what opened peace talks so quickly with the Republic.¡±


    ¡°From the sound of it seems like they regrly cross the border to chase down anyone fleeing.¡± Theronmented from the driver¡¯s seat. With the silencing enchantment down he could still partake in the conversation.


    ¡°They do,¡± the guard answered. ¡°So long as they don¡¯t go too deep into the kingdom¡¯snds we don¡¯t make an issue of it so we don¡¯t antagonize the Empire.¡±


    ¡°How is defending the border antagonistic?¡± Theron asked, though Ajax could hear some anger in his voice.


    ¡°I did a punishment stint at the border early in my career before I got picked up by House Goldmander, so trust me when I say we are always watching the border. But if we react every time their guards cross it a little we can¡¯t turn a blind eye to any of the ves that cross either since it would mean we knew they came from the empire.¡± the guard said.


    Ajax, Lexi and Anna spent the rest of the trip in silence following that downward turn in the conversation. They instead decided to focus on their magical training as they all burnt through half their mana pool as they practiced.


    It was already getting dark by the time they made it to the first city inside the Empire and unlike inside their own kingdom they wouldn¡¯t be traveling throughout the night here. Thankfully they had already sent people ahead to make sure they all had amodations for the night.


    Ajax was surprised as he first got a look at an Empire city. Unlike the cities in the kingdom of Gryndor the Empire¡¯s not only had walls surrounding it but high towers that even now looked manned and even a small moat with a drawbridge. The moat wouldn¡¯t do anything to stop anyone above level fifty from scaling the wall but it would stop any siege vehicle from getting to the wall.


    Theyout of the city was also very different. Whereas the cities in Gryndor were obviously overgrown viges that just kept expanding until they wererge enough for a wall to be built with a bit of extra room for expansion. This city had a much more standardyout, all of the buildings seemed to be built in their own quadrants withrge open streets but no small back alleys anywhere.


    ¡°All of their cities are built around former military bases as humanoids pushed further and further to expand their territories.¡± the guard said as he saw Ajax look around. ¡°Following their civil wars even the cities closer to other kingdoms follow the same model.¡±


    Pushing further to expand their territories sent a shiver up Ajax¡¯s spine as he remembered the dragon¡¯s warning about humanoids who pushed outside their territories and challenged any of the other recognised races.


    ¡°Best get a good night¡¯s sleep, we¡¯ll be in the capital tomorrowte in the evening and I guarantee you won¡¯t be able to slink away early from whatever party is waiting for us.¡± Lexi jokes with Ajax.

 Chapter 284

    Chapter 284


    Ajax woke up the following morning after his first uneasy night¡¯s sleep in a while. He had been keeping one ear open the entire night to ensure the wouldn¡¯t be any attempts at having him identified by a spy in the night.


    ¡°I thought I told you to get a good night¡¯s rest.¡± Lexi chastised him as he yawned while eating his breakfast.


    ¡°Kept tossing and turning in my sleep, more than a few times I felt like there was someone targeting me.¡± Ajaxined as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.


    ¡°He¡¯s not wrong.¡± one of the guards that overheard them said. ¡°We caught at least three spies trying to sneak in.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean at least three?¡± Ajax asked, confused.


    ¡°There is a question on if the forth was a spy or really as drunk as he acted.¡± the guard admitted with a good chuckle.


    As they left the city Ajax had to admit that he coulde around with the Empire architecture, there was practically no line at the gate for inspection and people were quickly getting checked and sent on their way. He couldn¡¯t get a real appreciation for their efficiency however as something else grabbed his attention.


    ¡°What the hell is that?!¡± Ajax eximed as he almost stuck his head outside the window of the carriage .


    Outside the carriage there was a fifty foot long, ten foot wide worm that was loaded with crates casually following the road after their convoy.¡°Are those the still-worms?¡± Anna¡¯s voice betrayed a bit of her excitement as she joined Ajax near the window.


    ¡°They are mydy.¡± the guard confirmed.


    ¡°What are still-worms?¡± Lexi asked just as confused as Ajax.


    ¡°They are a new monster that appeared not far from the Empire¡¯s frontier.¡± The guard provided. ¡°The worms are surprisingly docile and despite the somewhatrge diet they will eat anything, meaning feeding them just bes waste disposal.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not even the best part.¡± Anna cut off the guard with excitement. ¡°They keep on growing until their original set of back legs are cut off, so they can get longer and wider than the one following us. They move as fast as a horse of the same level would but because of their multitude of spider-like legs terrain doesn¡¯t affect them. Best of all however is that their back stays perfectly level during movement!¡±


    Ajax took another look at the monstrosity following them and realized that the few hundred pairs of spider legs were in fact maintaining the body of the worm in a steady position very much in the same way a chicken head would stay perfectly still on a boat in the sea.


    ¡°If trained properly they are some of the most reliable mode of transportation for a merchant besides a spacial ring.¡± Anna was keen to try and get her hands on one of them during their visit. ¡°Do you think they will have any for sale?¡±


    ¡°They were only discovered five years ago, mydy.¡± the guard said. ¡°Not only that but apparently while themon worms are tameable their matriarchs are not so there is no breeding program avable for them.¡±


    The entire caravan got a front and center look at the worm in action when the merchant behind them decided they were moving too slowly and the worm got off the road and simply moved past them. Despite the scary looking shell Ajax did have to agree that it made a very useful transport.


    Following the excitement with the worm, Ajax actually got to catch up on some sleep for the reminder of the journey only being woken up as they got to the gate of the capital. Unlike their entrance in theirst city however this time they were quickly weed by the royal guards and their entire convoy was quickly marshaled towards the imperial pce.


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    Members of the imperial family were also waiting for them once they arrived. While Ajax hadn¡¯t had a too in depth lesson on imperial nobility he knew enough to recognise their own crown prince, his wife, as well as their children who were waiting surrounded by guards to wee them.


    By the time Ajax¡¯s carriage got to the gate the crown princes had both already entered along with the Xavier and the eldest son and daughter of the imperial crown prince. That did leave them with the prince¡¯s wife as well as their youngest children, a set of twins a boy and a girl that were the same age as Lexi and Anna.


    As far as Ajax was concerned the less members of the imperial family there were to greet him the better, more than that however Ajax was wondering what it is that Theron will be doing now since he doubted they would allow a beastkin to enter the pce.


    Theron himself had taken to wearing a scarf around his neck to avoid drawing attention, not only that but he had actually managed to pick up the [Carriage driver] skill on their way here so he had no problem controlling the horses to drop off Ajax andpany.


    ¡°Wee, Lady Manashaper, Lady Goldmancer, Baron Hearthbound.¡± the imperial princess greeted them.


    ¡°Thank you, your Highness.¡± the three replied in unison.


    Ajax took a look back towards Theron unsure what to do about him. ¡°Unfortunately your beastkin will have to leave along with most of your guards for today, Baron Hearthbound. My grandfather is already making quite the exception by allowing him to delve, he will not host him in the pce.¡± The young imperial princess said as she followed Ajax¡¯s gaze.


    ¡°Not to worry my lord, we¡¯ll take care of Theron for the evening.¡± A group of royal guards who didn¡¯t follow the crown prince into the pce offered and Ajax felt more at ease leaving Theron with them.


    From the looks Theron was receiving from the three imperials Ajax guessed that not all of the imperial family held such humanist views, that didn¡¯t mean that they would go against their emperor¡¯s word.


    _________________________________________


    Theron P.O.V.


    After lord Hearthbound entered the pce I followed the rest of the guards and stowed the carriage at therge inn that was reserved for our stay here. Thankfully it seems that my participation in the delve was already ensured through from the wording of it, It sounds like the imperial representative who forgot to mention not to include beastkin will be publiclyshed.


    ¡°Let''s go to this one next.¡± I have a hard time remembering the name of the guards seeing as they all look so simr in their official armor however this has to be the fifth bar we¡¯ve entered tonight. All of the others have sent us away not long after we entered but this one is a lot bigger.


    Surprisingly this wasn¡¯t because they insisted that I also be served a drink but because a group for twenty high level soldiers made short work of their supply of alcohol and moved to their next target.


    ¡°I pity themander,¡± one of the guards said. ¡°He has to stay on guard in the imperial pce while we all get the night off.¡± The bar seems to have a massive fighting arena built underneath it.


    ¡°No more bets, no more bets.¡± the announcer yells as we enter the bar and see two brawlers with their faces already swollen square up to one another in a ring. ¡°Final round, FIGHT!¡±


    For the next three minutes the brawlers take turns slugging at each other, it¡¯s fairly clear that both have little left in them and they are both just about ready to fall over, the only question is who will get the lucky punch.


    ¡°And Ironjaw is your winner tonight!¡± the announcer exploded after one of the fighters copsed. ¡°The rookie has done it.¡±


    While our entire group is being seated and taking up a whole quarter of the room I see the next two fighters being brought forward.


    ¡°And now for the main event. Will our reigning champion Toothy finally meet his match, or will he rack up his ninth consecutive win?¡± the announcer eximed.


    Toothy seems to be a tiger beastkin, a rather old one but from the cold fury in his eyes one I certainly wouldn¡¯t fight without a good reason. His opponent however is a speed based fighter, from [Measure Opponent] it seems like the human has a few levels on the beastkin.


    ¡°ce your best now, who will win?How many rounds? Remember that this fight¡¯s biggest payout also leaves with our fabulous mystery prize.¡± the announcer tried to rile up the crowd.


    Ajax made sure I have enough coins for myself and when I see how many people are betting on the human I can¡¯t help but try and stick up for one of my own. I put down a whole two gold coins on Toothy winning the match in the first round. Unlike most feline beastkins tigers traded away most of their stealth and endurance for upfront power, if he is to win this fight despite the level disadvantage it will be by rushing him down in the first round.


    ¡°FIGHT!¡± the moment the words are out the beastkinunches himself at his opponent with ferocity. The quick rogue however manages to easily duck under one of the beastkin¡¯s arms and tried to create some distance only to stumble over the beastkin¡¯s tail.


    It¡¯s only a moment of vulnerability but that is already too much. Most beastkin fighters lean into their animal¡¯s parts strength, I myself rely on the power and endurance thates with a bull, so the tiger is quickie to pounce on the opening. Once he actually has a hold of him the fight ends in seconds as the beastkin¡¯s ws leave the human with some nasty marks.


    ¡°Well now, nobody could have expected this!¡± the announcer says with glee. ¡°Toothy wins in the first round!¡± boo¡¯s sound from the entire bar as people curse out at the result, it seems this isn¡¯t the first time this bar managed to pull one over on the ods using the beastkin fighter.


    I can¡¯t wipe the smug grin from my face as I walk to collect my winning, there was a ten to one odds on the beastkin winning in the first round and I was going to collect my twenty gold. ¡°Congrattions to our big winner tonight!¡± the bookie says once I turn in my ticket, you walk away not only with your bet but also with tonight¡¯s mystery prise, two infant still-worms!¡±


    With that two foot-long worms with spider legs are also ced in my arms alongside the bag of gold. What am I going to do with those? Lord Hearthbound seemed interested in the one that went past us, maybe he¡¯ll like them.

 Chapter 285

    Chapter 285


    Ajax had to admit to himself that while the imperial parties were by all ounts a lot more brutal than the ones held by his own kingdom theck of required decorum was much more his wheelhouse.


    The partygoers watched intrigued as two participants battled in the center of the ballroom over a perceived slight followed by a few sharp words. The imperial ways were not all that different on paper from what they were in the kingdom of Gryndor, a simple change that made demanding immediate conflict resolution throughbat at a noble level meant that almost all parties developed into abat portion towards the middle and end of the evening.


    Parties that weed foreigners did not force them intobat but since most kingdom nobles did have one or two good connections in the Empire their friends would usually step in to ept any challenge that was thrown.


    Ajax knew that the rules demanded that thebatants actually taking part be no higher level than seventy and within three levels of each other for the sake of fairness but the two level sixty fighters going at it didn¡¯t make this seem like a simple disagreement.


    ¡°I still don¡¯t see why I can¡¯t just challenge him.¡± the young imperial princeined to both his sister and his mother. ¡°Grandfather would be pleased to see his views supported and we¡¯ll even get a look at what he¡¯s been hiding.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll do no such thing.¡± His mother was quick to interject. ¡° He hasn¡¯t been taught of our old way of doing things, not only that but from what I hear that bull beastkin is one of his only retainers with some high potential. There is a reason we make exceptions for newer nobles.¡±


    ¡°Not to mention in terms ofbat it wouldn¡¯t even be a fight.¡± the young imperial princess piled on her brother. Herment however did draw the attention of not only her father, the imperial crown prince but also her elder brother, the visiting crown prince and Xavier.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± the imperial crown prince asked. ¡°Did your skill catch something?¡±


    It was well known that the young princess had ess to an Epic inspection skill. ¡°Just barely, not only that but he also noticed I peeked.¡± ¡°That¡¯s impolite, darling.¡± Her mother chided.


    ¡°And what did your skill say?¡± her elder brother pressed.


    ¡°That I¡¯d have a better chance fighting you than I would him.¡± she answered.


    The answer was certainly eye opening for the imperial family considering that the eldest of the crown prince¡¯s children was no only twenty-five years old but he was also already level forty and by no means weak.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be happy to stand in for him if you are looking for a match closer to your level.¡± Xavier joined the conversation. Despite being almost two years younger than the imperial prince Xavier was actually two levels up on him and was confident in winning the fight.


    ¡°You¡¯ll lose this one too.¡± his sister tried to warn him but that warning only pushed him further into agreeing to the fight.


    ¡°Sure I¡¯ll ept that challenge.¡± the prince smiled.


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    Ajax hadn¡¯t been close enough to listen to the conversation so he was taken by surprise when he saw Xavier and the young imperial facing off in the center of the room once the first battle ended.


    He also wasn¡¯t the only one surprised as all the nobles present were a lot more interested in this fightpared to the previous one. Despite the fighters being much weaker it was still one royal family against the other.


    As the battle started Xavier quickly found out that his opponent had him beat in terms of raw physical stats. That wasn¡¯t much of a surprise to him since he knew his opponent was a fully physical fighter who wasn¡¯t talented in using mana.


    Despite the lower physical stats, Xavier had no issues keeping pace with his opponent. His [Longsword] skill was closing in on level sixty and there was a reason why he was seen as the star of his generation before Ajax showed himself.


    ¡°You do know we aren¡¯t dancing.¡± the imperial prince taunted as Xavier maintained a safe distance and deflected his attacks.


    ¡°Well, if you insist.¡± Xavier replied as he jumped back and started chanting.


    The retreat surprised the imperial, he hadn¡¯t had almost any experience fighting hybrid fighters at this level for the sole reason that most would only be able to fight as weaker mages the difference in physical stats too much for them to ovee.


    By the time he realized what was going on and attacked Xavier was most of the way through his chant, all it took was two more deflections before heunched his fireball at almost point nk range.


    Ajax was surprised to see the spell had simr power to what he might be able to unleash if he were to try and release a direct fireball, chanting would make up for the stat difference between the two spellde fighters.


    Xavier was good enough that he didn¡¯t miss point nk and the fireball also marked the end of the match as it put the imperial on his back. ¡°Should have listened to your sister.¡± Xavier said with a cocky grin as he pointed his sword at the undefended chest of his opponent.


    ¡°I see he takes after his uncle.¡± the emperor said with chuckle as he watched the wry smile form on Xavier¡¯s father.


    ¡°Hopefully not too much, your majesty.¡± the crown prince replied. ¡°While I do hope he has my brother''s sense forbat I hold on to hope that he will pick up my sense for politics.¡±


    While the fight was ending nobody saw a frazzled servant sneak his way into a party and approach one of the viscounts. ¡°My lord, there has been a small issue at the Ring.¡±


    ¡°So deal with it.¡± the Viscount said.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid it''s a bit moreplicated than that, my lord.¡± the servent started to fidget with fingers. ¡°It¡¯s about the mystery prize.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s happened?¡± the viscount asked. ¡°Is someoneining about two juvenile worms that will take at least a year before they can carry anything. Whoever isining can just go buy their own. They may be rare but it shouldn¡¯t be that hard to find one.¡±


    ¡°My lord, the problem is that a foreigner won the prize.¡± the servant exined.


    ¡°WHAT?!¡± the noble quickly nced around to notice that his little conversation has attracted quite a bit of attention. ¡°I specifically told you to simply exclude any foreigner bets from winning the mystery prize.¡±


    ¡°The bookies didn¡¯t know they were a foreigner until after they already gave out the prize.¡± the servant tried to exin his side.


    ¡°The emperor made a point to not sell the worms to foreigners, how could they not know they were a foreigner.¡± the viscount was getting angrier by the minute.


    ¡°It was a beastkin, my lord.¡± the servent said. ¡°Everybody thought it was a ve that was cing the bet for his master, who would¡¯ve thought that it would be part of the visiting convoy.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re telling me that not only did you give the worms to a foreigner but that you gave them a non-human as well?!¡± The viscount made sure to whisper thatst part though that didn¡¯t help much with the people who already seemed interested in the conversation. Especially as the servent could only nod in affirmation.


    ¡°Theron, how the hell did you manage that?¡± Ajax mumbled as he was one of the people eavesdropping on the conversation.


    ¡°What did Theron manage?¡± Xavier asked as he came to grab Ajax as his father requested to introduce him to the emperor.


    Ajax quickly exined what he overheard to Xavier as he was led over to where the emperor was consoling his grandson for a well fought battle. Greeting the emperor was actually surprisingly swift, despite a fewments about bringing a beastkin the emperor actually dismissed Ajax, Lexi, Anna, Xavier and Olvier since they would start their delve tomorrow and simply insisted that they have a longer talk after they are done with both of their delves.


    ¡°What were youughing at?¡± Lexi asks Xavier who could barely hold hisughter when thement about Theron came.


    ¡°Apparently Theron managed to win two young still-worms tonight.¡± Xavier said as he finallyughed openly.


    ¡°What how?¡± Oliver was quick to focus at that since he knew the worms weren¡¯t supposed to be exported outside the empire.


    ¡°Something about a bet at a fighting ring.¡± Ajax said as he chuckled along with the prince. ¡°Apparently they thought he was a ve so they just gave them to him as a bonus on top of the winnings for his bet.¡±

 Chapter 286

    Chapter 286


    ¡°A full year¡­¡± Ajax murmured, unlike everyone else here, a year was a decent chunk of time for him to n out.Ajax and the rest of the team delving tomorrow weren¡¯t the only ones who decided to call it an early night. While Theron might not have had the political know-how to know what it meant that he received those infant warms the rest of the royal guards were a bit more in the know so they all collectively left for the small courtyard the kingdom was renting out.


    By the time Ajax and the rest made it back they came upon a very strange sight in front of the stables. Theron was surrounded by the rest of the guards as they all took their turns feeding anything they could get their hands on to two worms the size of Ajax¡¯s arms.


    ¡°What is going on here?¡± Xavier asked, as a member of the royal family he did have some authority over the guards.


    ¡°Look, your highness, they¡¯ll eat anything.¡± One of the youngest guards said with excitement as they fed a small chunk of unprocessed ore to one of the worms. A quick elbow to the side from one of his buddies did make him realize who he was talking to however. ¡°I mean, we are keeping an eye on a potential political incident.¡±


    ¡°And I thought we had a potential political incident with us.¡± Xavierughed good naturedly at the guards words as he also stepped closer to get a better look at the worms.


    ¡°They¡¯re so young.¡± Xavier wasn¡¯t the only one interested as Anna quickly approached the worms, her usual aloof attitude nowhere to be seen. ¡°You still have around three months before they need to start with their taming. Also if you can get them some earth or life attuned cores to eat they will start their growth phase a lot quicker and you can get them into cirction in under a year.¡±


    ¡°A year is not that bad¡± Anna quickly picked up. ¡°If our sources are correct the Empire is looking to maintain their monopoly on the worms for at least another decade. You¡¯ll be able to get a few delivery contracts for them just for the prestige of otherpanies having their goods delivered by still-worm.¡±


    ¡°A year is still a little too long-term for me to n out in advance.¡± Ajax said as he rubbed the back of his head slightly. ¡°About a year and a half ago I hadn¡¯t even set foot inside the capital.¡±


    ¡°Well you better start.¡± Oliver said with distaste. ¡°A noble always looks not only to their future but that of their house as well.¡± Ajax frowned at thebative attitude but chose to ignore him, instead he focused on Theron. ¡°What are you nning to do with them?¡± he asked the beastkin.


    ¡°I won them as a bonus for a bet I ced with the money you gave me.¡± Theron said with a bewildered look. ¡°I was nning to just give them to you, my Lord.¡±


    Ajax was very much tempted to leave the worms with Theron, but that simply wasn¡¯t how things worked in this world. Theron was his retainer, and while that meant that Ajax and the rest of his noble house supported him, it did mean that they also got to profit from his aplishments. Seeing as Theron was initially getting a slot to delve into a dungeon that was very much in demand there was no reason for him to reject the worms.


    ¡°Judy and na are going to throw you a party when we get back.¡± Ajax said with a grin. ¡°Interesting as they are, however I best turn in for the night.¡±


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    ¡°That¡¯s a good idea.¡± Xavier nodded before turning to the guards and Theron. ¡°Keep an eye out for the worms, make sure to keep them fed, I also suggest not taking them outside thepound before it¡¯s time to leave.¡±


    ¡°Thank you and have a good evening, your highness.¡± Theron nodded back politely while the guards all snapped a quick salute to the royal.


    Unlike their previous stay in the Empire, Ajax didn¡¯t have any issues getting to sleep on this night. With a fullpound secured by the guards there was nobody that could get past them, or at least nobody that he could do anything about, so he simply fell asleep.


    When he woke up the next morning he quickly washed up and put on his proper equipment. Despite theck of enchantment the gear still looked to be very high end for a level thirty-five, it was actually very much in line with what a baron¡¯s main heir might actually use.


    ¡°Are you all ready?¡± two of the guards that the Goldmancer family sent with them were going to be escorting them to and from the dungeon.


    While Ajax didn¡¯t really feel any more stress than he normally did, the same couldn¡¯t be said for the other four people. For three of them this would be the first time they will be entering a dungeon without a dedicated guard shadowing them at all times, for the forth he had a mission to fulfill that could very well get him killed if he wasn¡¯t careful.


    ¡°It looks so simr.¡± The silence that had stretched out during the walk to the dungeon was broken by Ajax as he looked at the defenses that surrounded the dungeon arch. To the untrained eye the defenses looked very simr to the ones the kingdom had set up around their own dungeons through Ajax was pretty sure that they were in fact quite different.


    ¡°Ah the quests of honor.¡± The guard captain in charge of the dungeon was there to greet them as they moved past the line to the front. ¡°Please pass all storage devices to mypanion here for examination.¡±


    Ajax was careful to pass his storage ring to one of the two Goldmancer guards. No way he was risking making any sort of contact with a trained analyst, he had learnt his lesson from the first spying attempt he had had to deal with. The analyst actually took his time to go through all the spacial rings before he returned them to the guard and whispered in the guard captain''s ear.


    ¡°While everything seems to be in order, you did seem to have quite a bit of camping equipment. Be assured that you can exit the dungeon at any time and we will clear out anything thates out after you.¡± the guard captain addressed all of them but his eyes were fixed on Ajax.


    ¡°Thank you for the offer.¡± Xavier responded with a polite tone that also marked the end of the conversation as he headed for the arch.


    While the prince was the first of them to enter, Ajax was actually the first to follow. This could be seen as a little rude considering that everyone else was part of a ducal family both of the guards were actually pleased that Oliver wouldn¡¯t even get a moment unsupervised with Anna.


    ¡°Mannerlessmoner¡­¡± Oliver cursed under his breath as he followed Lexi and Anna into the arch.


    Inside the dungeon the first thing that hit them was the warmth of the desert biome. Much as it added insult to injury, not only did the Empire not have good trading rtions with most other nations on ount of their more radical views, the first floor of their main dungeon was also based on a desert biome leading to very little consistent gatherable resources to train the craftsmen in.


    ¡°Well, I guess it''s time to find the three of you a mini-boss to clear.¡± Ajax said as he quickly took a look around. Unfortunately he already surpassed the level thirty-two limit that would grant him the stat point for clearing this floor. ¡°I doubt there is anything here that can threaten any of you.¡±


    That was very much not the case as while the prince, Lexi and Anna would have no problem killing anything here in solobat they could easily be overwhelmed through numbers. It didn¡¯t take them long to find the first arch to the next floor and Xavier made quick work of the scorpion defending it while Ajax wiped out the rest of the pack.


    ¡°There is another mini-boss in the oasis.¡± Ajax nodded towards the decently concealed alligator. With it being submerged in water Lexi was the one to handle it since Anna was more of a fire focused fighter.


    The final mini-boss of the first floor was a camouge smander which was actually half coiled around the arch it was defending, blending in perfectly with the surrounding rock. Unfortunately it¡¯s perfect camouge did very little to fool any of their sense mana from picking up on the constant heat spell it had active around its body.


    Ajax was actually d to see Anna use ice to kill the reptile as the surrounding temperature rapidly cooled to a much more pleasant range. It was here that the group seemed to face the first issue, who would be the first to enter the next floor.


    Objectively it should be either Oliver or Ajax to ensure that there wasn¡¯t any roaming monster near the entrance that could ambush them; however neither of them made a move to approach the arch, both looking at the other.

 Chapter 287

    Chapter 287


    The whole group seems to feel the tension, yet only Xavier is confused on what could be causing it. Despite that Oliver is the first to back down as he simply enters the archway without a word once he realizes that there is nothing he can do.


    ¡°What was all that about?¡± Xavier asks.


    ¡°We¡¯re not letting Anna alone with Oliver.¡± Lexi got out through clenched teeth.


    ¡°Oh right¡­¡± Xavier said awkwardly. ¡°The whole next head of House Goldmancer thing.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m tempted to just go to another arch and be done with it.¡± Ajax offers. ¡°There isn¡¯t anything on this floor that worries me but the next floor and if any of you want to try the one after that I might need to intervene with the person under attack and I can¡¯t keep an eye on him all the time.¡±


    ¡°No chance I am clearing the third floor.¡± Xavier said with a shake of his head.


    As an hybrid fighter it did also mean that Xavier was more spread out so he couldn¡¯t push a specific weakness of a monsters as much as a pure mage might in a good match-up.


    ¡°We can¡¯t just leave him.¡± Anna said. ¡°He would be able to use that against you.¡±


    With that everyone entered the arch one by one with Anna goingst. The second floor biome turned out to be a multitude of snowy and icy mountain peaks. The cold wasn¡¯t as extreme as the heat from thest floor but the change in temperature got all of them to change their outfits in a hurry. Oliver is already standing there bundled up in a warmer set of clothes.¡°Is this an elemental floor?¡± Xavier asks with a tinge of hope.


    ¡°¡°No¡±¡± Both Ajax and Olvier respond at the same time. ¡°It would be much colder if it was an elemental floor, this is just a cold biome.¡± Ajax continues.


    ¡°Don¡¯t go near any cave entrances, most mountainous biomes have either a bear or humanoid inhabitants.¡± Oliver cautioned as all of them started to move from the entrance arch once they finished getting dressed.


    ¡°We¡¯ve got iing.¡± Ajax quickly turned and looked up to see arge eagle easily twice his sizeing towards them from above. ¡°It feels like a miniboss, I¡¯ll handle the rest of the pack if one of you wants to get their fight out of the way.¡±


    With that Ajax started to fire arrows towards the other three birds apanying the mini-boss. As much as Xavier wanted to get his fight out of the way he knew that a flying enemy wasn¡¯t a good match-up for him until his magic got a bit stronger so he let Anna take care of it.


    The eagle quickly focused on Ajax after he let loose two arrows that easily put down two of its pack, unfortunately that left it unprepared for therge fireball Anna threw at it. The eagle did manage to react and a strong beat of its wings infused with mana conjured a small wind shield but that wasn¡¯t enough to block the entire fireball.


    Ajax used the explosion as a smoke cover to take out thest of the smaller eagles and put away his bow as he watched Anna engage with the eagle. For her part Anna didn¡¯t let up on the attack and threw two firences one after the other. The first was the eagle managed to evade as it started its dive towards her but the second one connected and scorched its right wing leading it to crash into the ground and taking away its flight.


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    The eagle wasn¡¯t ready to quit with just that as it fired a wind de towards Anna that was powerful enough to have Ajax reaching for his mana. Anna was prepared however as she quickly put up an earthen wall. This is where the difference in levels shows however as despite using a good counter the wall still crumbled and a few of the rocks were sted back towards Anna, fortunately she intercepted the attack far enough away that they didn¡¯t reach all the way to her.


    From there it was just a matter of a few more spells before the eagle burned away. As they all moved further into the floor it was actually Ajax who took out the next mini-boss as his required kill to clear the floor. The reason for this was that it was a pr fox that snuck dangerously close to them before any of them detected it and Ajax responded with his full power as he crushed its head with his hammer.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take the bear.¡± Lexi volunteered once they found their first cave on the mountain and she was eager to get her required kill. What followed was a perfect example of why a mage with good versatility is a menace to deal with even when you are up in levels.


    She utilized earth to trip up the bear and ice to slow its movement further, lightning to make approaching her even harder and finished by slowly bleeding it out with cuts from her wind attacks. Despite the rtive safety of her attempt she did run through a full three quarters of her mana taking the mini-boss down.


    From there they were attacked three more times by eagles and foxes but none of those attacks had a mini-boss with them so Ajax and Oliver were quick to take them out. Despite finding an arch to the next floor, and also the obelisk by a sheer stroke of luck they still needed one more mini-boss for Xavier before they were done.


    ¡°There is another fox here.¡± Ajax said as he picked up on the sound. ¡°Feels like a mini-boss you want to take it?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, let''s get this over with.¡± Xavier said as he pulled out his sword.


    Ajax was quick to throw a water balloon filled with bright green paint at the fox. This did nothing to harm the creature however it severely hampered its stealth capabilities without taking anything away from Xavier should he defeat it in singlebat.


    Even with that advantage the fight wasn¡¯t as straightforward as Lexi¡¯s. Xavier had a bigger level gap to ovee and a melee fight didn¡¯t allow him to put the mini-boss in quite the same bad spot that Lexi and Anna had put their respective opponents. His skill with the sword did shine through however as he managed to kill the boss with only a few mild scratches.


    ¡°Should we go back to the arch we saw?¡± Lexi asked once the fox was dead.


    ¡°I think I see an arch there that¡¯s closer.¡± Ajax denied, this time he did check the arch and what he felt was a lot of water mana, it definitely wouldn¡¯t have affected him enough but there was almost no chance for Anna or Lexi to clear another floor if the bosses they had to kill were submerged.


    There was another bear guarding this arch but Ajax was having none of it so while Oliver distracted it with an opening ranged attack Ajax was quick to get close and m his axe into its skull killing it quickly.


    Ajax was ready for a confrontation about who would go through this arch first since with the monsters on the other side being close to level forty there was a good argument for him being the first one through.


    ¡°Come on already, just go, I want to get out of here.¡± Xavier made sure the argument didn¡¯t take ce by simply pushing Oliver through the arch and following behind him. The mage was surprised and simply didn¡¯t have the physical stats to respond as he was pushed through the arch.


    The three of them left on this floor shared a quickugh at Xavier¡¯s quick thinking and Oliver''s surprised expression that they got to see for all of two seconds, before they followed them to the next floor.


    ¡°What the hell?¡± Ajax muttered as he took a look around at the new floor while also dismissing the prompt letting him know he gained an extra +1 to all stats. The oddyout of the floor did exin why he hadn¡¯t recognized the primary mana that he felt in the arch.


    ¡°I think we just found a jeweler''s wet dream.¡± Lexi joked as she also stared out the the spacious cavern made of crystals.


    ¡°Well this is where I leave you.¡± Xavier said while ignoring the deathly re Oliver was sending him following his stunt of pushing him through the arch. ¡°There is no way I am killing anything that is level forty and made of rock or crystal. I¡¯ll see you all soon.¡±


    Following that simple deration he quickly made his way towards the arch they just entered the floor from and stepped through it to get back outside. The words however were very on point for Anna and Lexi as well, despite them not being in quite as bad a spot as Xavier who would have to get into melee range of his enemies crystal and rock monsters were known for their high defense and endurance which could make this a futile effort for both mages.


    ¡°How about you, do you think you can kill a miniboss?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°Of course she can, there has to be one or two golems here with an obvious core that they can destroy from range, even if it does take them an attempt or two we can just let them try a few times.¡± Oliver didn¡¯t even give Anna and Lexi a chance to respond as he desperately tried to put on a supportive face, he couldn¡¯t let them back down and exit the dungeon here and now.

 Chapter 288

    Chapter 288


    ¡°Well, what do you think?¡± Ajax asked before he lowered his tone a whisper only for Anna and Lexi. ¡°He doesn¡¯t have as much freedom on this floor, the monsters here will be level forty so he will also have to be on guard against them.¡±


    ¡°I want to keep going.¡± Lexi was the first to answer, unlike Anna she wasn¡¯t as disadvantaged by the crystal nature of the monsters on this floor.


    ¡°I¡¯ll give it a go as well.¡± Anna finally decided after a few drawn out seconds of silence. It was all Oliver could do to not let out a sigh of relief. ¡°Now what?¡± she asked


    ¡°Now we pick a direction and go.¡± Ajax said as he looked out towards the threerge tunnels their chamber split opened into. ¡°Stay close to me, I don¡¯t know if they can dig through the crystal yet.¡±


    Therge crystal cavern was a little disorienting to the team of four, first and foremost because while the cavern didn¡¯tck a source of light with the wall all shining they were also letting out colored light that changed as they progressed. Arge upside to the cavern however was the loud sound that echoed from the monster''s movement.


    ¡°Something ising this way.¡± Ajax and everyone else could clearly hear the screeching sound of crystal dragging across crystal.


    Arge crystalline worm made out of connected rings was what quickly approached them. It wasn¡¯t all thatrge, its thickness about the same as a regr person with a length of about twelve feet. Ajax however was very surprised that he couldn¡¯t feel the presence of a core inside of it.


    Despite not feeling a core he was still clear that crystals like this were weak to blunt force damage so he quickly pulled out his hammer as well as his shield and prepared to engage. With the monsters being level forty they were finally getting to the point where Ajax had to use his mana in order to fight, this meant that he could be worn down. Using [Mana Syphon] with the mana concentration on this floor meant that he could maintain a high stat advantage for cheap.


    The worm wasposed of about forty rings that moved together and Ajax¡¯s fight swing of his hammer shattered five of them straight away while also sending the monster flying backwards. This also led to some good news for the team as they watched the monster prepare to charge again. ¡°It¡¯s not healing.¡± Lexi pointed out.


    ¡°They are golems not elementals.¡± Anna also breathed out a sigh of relief as golems could be worn down by breaking down their bodies without them simply regenerating from the environment.


    Once Ajax knew he was dealing with a golem and not an elemental he t out charged the worm all butunching himself at it. The impact of the shield easily crashing through another eight rings and the hammer swing that followed took out another seven. With half its body smashed to pieces the rest of the worm finally stilled and died. It was one of the advantages of the golems that they could keep going regardless of what they lost so long as enough of them was still left intact.


    ¡°That didn¡¯t look so hard.¡± Lexi said as she examined the crystals the worm had broken down into.


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    ¡°Too bad it wasn¡¯t a miniboss, I expect them to be a bit harder.¡± Ajax shared his view on it.


    With that the team kept on moving, for the first time since they entered the dungeon however Oliver was sticking a lot closer to Ajax. Unlike the young Baron the level forty mage was much more susceptible to being overrun especially when faced with their next group of foes.


    ¡°We¡¯ve got iing, and it''s either a centipede or there is more than one of them.¡± Ajax called out as his hearing locked on the constant tapping that seemed to approach them.


    What rushed towards them were arge group of four legged spiders. They legs much thicker than a regr spider and ced in a square formation allower the two feet tall monsters to move around quickly. The bigger issue was the eight feet tall fully eight legged miniboss that was following in their wake.


    ¡°I can take this miniboss.¡± Anna was quick to call out once she saw the big spider.


    Despite the bosses much bigger size the eight legs it had were all rather thin. With such an obvious target Anna was quick tounch some exploding fireballs aiming for the joints in hopes of immobilizing the boss.


    As for Ajax he was quick to react to Anna''s im on the boss. Armed with his hammer and his axe he got to work thinning out the dozen or so smaller spiders while making sure not to engage the boss at all. The tiny spiders however weren¡¯t his main worry as he periodically nce towards Oliver, thankfully he wasn¡¯t the only one as clearly Lexi had the same idea of keeping an eye on the caster.


    The miniboss was quick to move but evidently slow to adapt, once Anna took out its first leg she had a much easier time all but immobilizing the spider within the first six attacks by taking out all of the legs on one side of its body, and even those two attacks that failed to take out one leg had managed to connect on the body of the creature slowly chipping away at it.


    ¡°How are you doing, do you need a potion?¡± Lexi offered, she knew that despite the clear effectiveness of the exploding fireballs they weren¡¯t cheap to cast by any means.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± Anna said as she heaved in breaths before using an icence spell to crush the head of the spider as well as a good part of the torso, with the spider being imobile she had no problem aiming and killing the creature.


    The next mini-boss they encountered was a rainbow colored version of the worm they had first found on the floor, not only that but this worm was also twice the size of his predecessor, In the end however its size didn¡¯t mean much as Ajax took it apart in much the same manner as the first worm if only this one taking a whole five swings of the hammer before dying instead of two.


    ¡°Hey this can be taken outside the dungeon.¡± Ajax eximed in surprised as his senses washed over the corpse of the worm.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Oliver sounded outraged as he watched Ajax shove the entire body of the worm into his spacial ring. ¡°The whole reason you are clearing out an entire floor is so that they can¡¯t figure out which you cleared, you do know they will check your ring on your way out.¡±


    ¡°Exactly¡± Ajax nodded. ¡°If all they find are some third floor gems they will think the reason I stuck inside to clear the floor was because I was greedy, especially since there are so many colors here. I don¡¯t care if they think I only got to the third floor, in fact I prefer it.¡±


    It didn;t take long for them to find another spider miniboss for Lexi to kill however Ajax was sure to stay within two feet of Anna as they all got close to clearing the floor. As for Lexi, she very much copied Anna¡¯s trick of taking out the legs before killing the boss.


    ¡°There is a worm boss up ahead guarding an arch, kill it and let''s go.¡± Ajax nodded towards Oliver as he made sure to always put himself between Anna and Oliver.


    Unlike what he expected Oliver simply nodded at his instructions before he entered smaller cavern. Despite the man¡¯s attitude Ajax did have to admit that Oliver did have some talent for ice magic. It didn¡¯t take long for Oliver to shatter enough of the worm for it to be considered killed.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go through first.¡± Ajax said much to Olivers surprise, his smile however fell off his face as he saw Ajax leading Anna with an arm around his shoulder towards the arch. ¡°She apparently used too much mana.¡±


    Ajax¡¯s excuse was a clear lie to all four of them however since Anna was going with it there was nothing Oliver could say. Despite turning his back to Oliver Ajax didn¡¯t release his [Mana Syphon]. In fact he extended its range as far as he could. It was a good thing he did as he was able to syphon off a good bit of mana off the icence that was heading straight for Anna just in time for him to pull out his shield and shatter the ice as it closed in on them with a shield bash.


    ¡°So you¡¯re finally showing your true colors.¡± Ajax said as he turned to face off against Oliver as Lexi and Anna both raised their staffs against him.


    ¡°Come now Ajax,¡± Oliver started. ¡°This can still end up going in your favor in a big way. All you have to do is help me out here.¡±

 Chapter 289

    Chapter 289


    Anna P.O.V.


    My heart rate jumped as I felt the mana gather behind me and then approach quickly. I had been told more than once that it was a possibility, the standoff at the first arch had also been a nudge in the right direction but I never thought it would actuallye to this. When Ajax suggested that I pretend to have hurt my leg so that he would carry me through the arch I thought he was going too far.


    ¡°So you¡¯re finally showing your true colors.¡± Ajax seemed calm, his voice even despite having just shattered the projectileing for me like it was nothing.


    Both Lexi and myself raised our staff instinctively, years of training shining through despite my emotional turmoil and shock. But all of this was nothing more than posturing, almost moved as well all looked to one another while Lexi slowly stepped closer to me.


    ¡°Come now Ajax,¡± Oliver started. ¡°This can still end up going in your favor in a big way. All you have to do is help me out here.¡±


    Well at least Oliver was quite as far gone as I thought, the ambush was one thing but it seems he isn¡¯t that narcissistic as to think he can actually fight Ajax.


    ¡°My father has a good chance to take over the family once she is out of the way. Your family will be rich, we¡¯ll make sure of it.¡± Oliver continues to tempt him. ¡°You can name your price.¡±


    To my great surprise a sinister chuckle rose from Ajax, at that moment I could feel [Emotionless] struggle with all its might to suppress the surprise and slight fear that he could actually be tempted. Should I make a counter offer, is he actually considering this?


    We were no more than fifty feet from the arch, once we passed through it all we had to do was pass through the one we came out of on the next floor and we would be free. With Lexi next to me now we might have a chance to get out of here alive against Oliver who exhausted some of his mana with the mini-boss and was quite a bit away from us. But it would alle down to Ajax''s choice, even if he wasn¡¯t right next to me and across the room it wouldn¡¯t matter since he would still be able to stop us. Ajax¡¯s chuckle cut off abruptly as the coldest tone I ever heard from him was spit out from behind clenched teeth. ¡°It¡¯s clear why the Goldmancers had you only focus on magicbat, even without the other skills. How you can be this dumb with all those points in Intellect and Wisdom is shocking to me.¡±


    His words instantly calm me down, without my emotions running so high I internally berate myself for even thinking that Ajax would even consider the bribe.


    ¡°Are you that attached to her?¡± Oliver¡¯s desperation rose with every word. ¡°Do you know what it would mean to choose your own reward from a family like the Goldmancers?¡±


    ¡°Do you see me as a greedy short sighted fool?¡± Ajax asked back, his rage regressing or just being suppressed as the conversation continued. ¡°Do you even process the offer you just made me?¡±


    ¡°Even if I was a greedy psychopath who would be willing to kill two friends on the word of someone he met a month ago this deal would be just bad all the way through.¡± Ajax continued with disgust. ¡°Even in the best case scenario I still lose out.¡±


    He wasn¡¯t wrong there, this is why it is so surprising to me that Oliver would even try anything. Ajax taking any bribe here would make absolutely no sense, I knew Oliver looked down onmon born people but this much?


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    ¡°You could ask for more gold than the average ducal house has and you think this is a bad offer?¡± Oliver sounded shocked by the refusal.


    ¡°Let''s assume that the offer would hold true, let''s also assume your father takes over the House next and honors that promise, lets also assume that killing both Anna and Lexi, since just killing one wouldn¡¯t be a kept secret, wouldn¡¯t get traced back to me in any way. That still has me losing out.¡± Ajax took out his hammer and made a step towards Oliver.


    ¡°You think saving her would get you more?¡± Oliver asked. ¡°They¡¯ll just say it was expected of you and give you a pat on the back.¡±


    ¡°Nothing changing in my current situation is better than taking your deal.¡± Ajax shook his head as he continued to advance while Oliver was slowly backing away. ¡°Your father would at best take the head position in three decades. What I need is for my rtionships to hold strong now, at this moment.¡±


    Ajax was definitely right there, now was when he needed support the most. With his once in a lifetime talent and potential he just needed help now to set solid foundations, what good was a promise to him thirty years in the future, not that the estimate was even close to correct since I knew dad had at least another half a century in him.


    A big questionable disaster like this would cut off most of Ajax¡¯s allies from him just from him not having stopped it regardless of what other me gets put on him.


    ¡°I tire of this conversation.¡± Ajax started his charge, sudden change in speed almost more than I could keep track of, I should raise my Perception at least a little.


    I start channeling my own mana to help only for Lexi to put her hand on my wrist. ¡°No need to bother the fight won¡¯t be long and chances are we might get in the way just as much as we help.¡± Lexi¡¯sforting smile did a lot to help with the feelings of betrayal I was pushing down as I thought through how my own family ordered me killed.


    I chose to focus on the fight just to take my mind off it. Oliver started retaliating, despite being overmatched without a doubt, he was still a very talented fighter. His casting speed was faster than anything I have ever seen from anyone so low level. I knew chanting was his best skill but to think he broke through the level 75 barrier already and even unlocked the ability to shorten the phrase.


    Walls of ice sprung up between him and Ajax as icences started to take form. The most shocking thing of all however was what I was feeling from Ajax. I knew he had a way to empower his body with magic, I also knew from our first meeting during the skirmish he had a way to wipe away mana residue. But my [Sense Mana] was telling me he was actively weakening Oliver¡¯s spells and using the mana he took from them to empower himself.


    I had never heard of any skill that could do anything close to that. It had to be a Legendary skill since he was always using it without any drawbacks and it granted him so much power. It also finally made sense why he always seemed to get better the deeper in the dungeon we got, with more ambient mana to take the less he would use his own mana.


    Ajax stored away his shield and axe and took out his bow as the sightline was broken by one of the ice walls, he drew back an arrow and infused it with wind mana as he stepped back into view and released. The arrow would have pierced Oliver through the throat if it wasn¡¯t for his defensive amulet that knocked the arrow aside and into his shoulder.


    The oue that was all but guaranteed from the start was now upon us. Despite his skill and power with magic Oliver didn¡¯t seem to have had any training in managing pain as he simply crumpled to the floor wailing as he held his shoulder in pain. I should look into getting a skill like [Pain Resistance] or even better [Ignore Pain].


    ¡°Don¡¯t kill him.¡± Lexi¡¯s interruption surprised me. ¡°Tie him up so we can bring him back out.¡±


    ¡°Why not just kill him here and be done with it?¡± Ajax asked, he showed pure confusion however as if the difference between killing Oliver and restraining him was just the annoyance the second would be for the extra effort.


    ¡°If we take him out he can be interrogated.¡± Lexi said. ¡°Stopping the assassination is one thing but if you help them root out the conspiracy publicly you¡¯ll give old man Goldmancer the excuse he needs to give you a reward.¡±


    Lexi was right, dad did mention that he asked Ajax to look out for me but this way no other branch couldin about him giving him a reward without also lookingplicit.


    ¡°It¡¯s not like I¡¯m doing this for the reward.¡± Ajax said as he shrugged but also turned away, was that a bit of embarrassment I saw. ¡°Stupid idiot actually thought I could be tempted to kill some of my only friends.¡±


    We probably weren¡¯t supposed to hear that second part but we had walked closer, I could also see Ajax deliberately squeezing the shoulder that still had an arrow stuck inside as he tied and gagged Oliver.


    Too bad Oliver would still get the point for this floor as we all passed through the arch but it would be too much of a hustle to drag him to the entrance of this floor and thene back just so he won¡¯t get the reward. Ajax dragged the tied up Oliver through the arch and Lexi and I followed.


    ¡°Thanks for the help, and good luck!¡± Lexi gave Ajax a hug that only slightly lingered, I wonder when she will finally admit that she has a crush on him?


    ¡°Good luck¡± I also wished him with a smile as I grabbed Oliver and the three of us exited through the arch.

 Chapter 290

    Chapter 290


    Ajax wished that we could keep Oliver¡¯s betrayal under wraps but unfortunately that would be too much of a security risk. Without the option to descend back down to lower floors they would have to exit the dungeon or follow Ajax and exit together to make sure they all came out at the same time. Since following him past this floor was clear suicide for the both sub level thirty casters they all just chose to exit now and deal with the consequences of a more public betrayal.


    Ajax quickly shook his head and turned away from the exit, the public perception and politics would have their turn but for now he was to be focused on getting this dungeon over with. The biome of the fourth floor wasn¡¯t all that great for him, a dark shadowyndscape filled with jagged edges. It was what he imagined hell would look like if someone extinguished all the fire and just let the ce fall to darkness.


    None of this matters to Ajax however as the strongest monster to be found on this floor would only be level forty-five, unless he did something monumentally stupid like activating the obelisk the risk to him on this floor was minimal. More than that he didn¡¯t even have to care about the theme of the next floor since he would be going one above that so all he needed to do was find the first arch, kill the mini-boss defending it and push forwards.


    Much like Ajax expected it didn¡¯t take him all that long to find the first arch, the only problem was that he could feel just how much curse mana was in the ambient mana so for once he wouldn¡¯t have all that much time to use [Mana Syphon]. Unwilling to suck in curse mana he would have to rely purely on his own reserves to kill his enemies this time.


    The shadowy creatures turned out to be very simr to cephalopods, the only difference being that they were pitch ck and they had a massive maw in the center of their head they could use to swallow a dog in one bite.


    Ajax¡¯s fist hit on them quickly got him to switch his weapons from the more defensive heavy hitting shield and hammer to his axe and sword. The slimy shadowy fiends all but shrugged off his initial hammer blow, the heavy metal gliding off their skin.


    His attempts with a ded edge turned out much better as he quickly cleaved through the small minions as the main boss stumbled to create some distance with three of the tentacles sliced off. Despite their speed and resistance to blunt attacks the small wind mana des his swing released had gone through them like a hot knife through butter.


    ¡°This is why an adventurer always brings different weapons to a fight.¡± Ajax muttered one of the rules Hatchet had drilled into his head all those years ago, ¡°specializing in one area means opening a weakness in another.¡±


    Ajax passed through the arch without another thought after he sensed an oddbination of metal and lightning that he shouldn¡¯t have any problem fighting against. He was going to have to spend some time on the fifth floor as he hunted for a good arch from which to enter the sixth and final floor he nned to step on.As he took in his new surroundings Ajax could only stare ck jawed as he carelessly dismissed the screen informing him of the extra stat points he received for clearing another floor.


    How was this possible, was it because of him? Is it the gods ying a prank on him? Standing in front of him was a droid, one that very much reminded him of the ones he had seen in the Star Wars prequels if they were made a bit more solid,plete with a ster and everything.


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    ¡°Intruder! Intruder!¡± The droid turned on him and opened fire, real ster fire actuallying out from the rifle.


    Thankfully Ajax could only thank whoever was ying this sick game with him that despite the somewhat clear resemnce to the droids fighting in a gxy far far away, this droid not only had a level of forty-eight but his ster firecked not only in uracy but also in power, the two shots he had taken when caught by surprise had done barely more than heat up his armor and give him a small circr second degree burn on the exposed skin it hit.


    ¡°Is this because this is the first time I am truly alone on a floor?¡± Ajax couldn¡¯t help but mumble as he brought his hammer and shield back out. The droid didn¡¯t even have a chance to recover for a response as Ajax vaulted over his cover toe rushing towards the droid shield first pinning it to the wall before a well ced hammer swing left it without a head.


    Ajax wasn¡¯t done there though as he wasn¡¯t taking any chances as he separated every limb from the torso of the droid before he could finally rx, and even that proved to be a moment too soon as [Danger Sense] howled at him.


    ¡°Chances of sess 0% initiating self-destruct¡± the bashed in head of the droid got out before every piece exploded, fortunately Ajax was quick enough to get away without being hurt any further.


    ¡°You¡¯re fine, you¡¯re fine¡± Ajax kept whispering to himself as he started to explore thebyrinth of tunnels that, surprisingly enough, were nice enough to open the doors for him.


    His moment of peace and quiet was very much short lived as the rolling ball of death he knew as a droidicar rolled out from the next door only to spring up from the ball shape, snap on its force field and begin sting at him.


    Despite the novelty of his new enemy Ajax was more than ready for a fight to break out this time, he wasted no time blocking the ster fire with his shield as he approached the droid. Much to his surprise the droid had no issue with the insignificant damage it was doing to the shield and even refused to back away.


    His answer as to why that was was made clear when he felt his hammer swing lose close to a third of its momentum the instant it made contact with the force field. Even that wasn¡¯t enough however as the force field proved to be good enough that the droid simply bounced four times off the walls like a pinball before turning to return fire.


    ¡°Too overconfident¡± Ajax was quick to mumble as he once again close the distance from behind his shield with the droid doing nothing more than scratching at the shield Ajax was using to protect himself.


    As Ajax swung the hammer a second time, unlike the first however this blowpletely stopped the moment it made contact with the force field. Not only that but the hammer¡¯s dark purplish radiance vanished at the moment of contact as well only for the droidicar to crumple to the floor in a pile of bent metal as the void blow finished it off in one swing. ¡°I¡¯ve got nothing to hide if there is none to see it¡± he said smiling as he examined the half-crushed round droid.


    Much to Ajax¡¯s pleasure the rifle from the first droid he had met on this floor was still very much in a working condition as Ajax picked it up and fired off a few practice shots. Despite the first one going rtively straight the second third fourth and fifth all went far astray as the ster clearly had some severe recoil that also came in from odd angles on every consecutive shot.


    ¡°I take back everything I said about bad aim in the movies.¡± Ajax silently begged as he still carried the ster everywhere with him. ¡°If they were shooting with anything that even resembles this it¡¯s no wonder they can¡¯t hit anything.¡±


    Four doors and three basic droidster Ajax was once again carefully exploring theyout of the dungeon floor. ¡°Easy does it, just don¡¯t run into a Jedi or a Sith.¡± Ajax tried to encourage himself as he continued looking for the next arch.


    Ajax¡¯s bad luck seemed to continue as he made his way through the tunnels as he left behind a pile of scrap metal, surprisingly his [Mana Syphon] had no effect on the droids at all, it seemed despite their clear use of magic that presented in the way of magically enhanced short from the ster. The same couldn¡¯t be said for his lightning as more than one or two droids were sent into a sporadic seizure as he shot them with a lightning arrow.


    The droids fragile nature being only disyed further when the jerks from the current passing through them leads to them breaking their own limbs off as they hit them against the floors and walls.


    It takes Ajax two more hours to finally find an arch he is happy with as he senses a bnce of Earth and Life in the arch as well as a bit of water. Instead of entering the next floor however Ajax decides to rest here for the night before heading into the new floor soon.

 Chapter 291

    Chapter 291


    As he stands in front of the arch Ajax can¡¯t help but look back down the corridors that make up thebyrinth that is this floor. The high tech panels on the walls, the constant whirr of machinery, before his parents died in his first life experiencing something like this dungeon floor biome was something he had always wished for.


    He was also very much tempted to stay on the floor until he finally found one droid that could be taken outside so that he could keep that ster. It wasn¡¯t even for the sake of power, Ajax didn¡¯t know how the dungeon or the system did it but the sters fire here was more of an irritant than anything else. Sure if you could handle the kickback and continue to aim the fast fire rate, almost instantaneous projectile speed andck of ammo would make the weapon very powerful for a level fifty but it was clearly bnced so as to not be overpowering.


    The main reason why Ajax decided not to try getting that ster was because he knew it would simply be taken away from him. There is no way the Empire would allow him to keep it once they saw it in the inspection his storage ring would go through and he would much rather not get his hopes up only to see them dashed.


    ¡°At leasts the fun¡¯s not over yet¡± Ajax murmured as he ran his hand down the best ster he managed to find on his way to this arch. Sure the ster would burst into mana motes after he felt the dungeon but that didn¡¯t mean he couldn¡¯t keep it for one more floor as he climbed, not only that but he might even be able to push his skills further by seeing how his magic interacted when it was used to amplify a ster.


    As he stepped past into the arch and onto the next floor Ajax felt the familiar pull on his body for an instant before appearing in front of another arch. What awaited him on the sixth floor of the dungeon was nothing as novel as the fifth floor. Despite that Ajax was if anything much more content with this floor theme as he took a look around.


    Surrounding him were miles and miles of ss greenhouses as far as the eye could see. All neatly arranged in a gridyout with pathways connecting all of them. He all but shouted in joy as his [Sense Mana] took in the world around him and he felt all the different mana herbs and nts that were being grown, the only thing that stopped him was the fear of attracting whatever monsters were on this floor.


    ¡°Good to know that I can start a fire here if I really need it.¡± Ajax said to himself, though he could feel the pain that doing something like that to all these alchemical ingredients would cause him.


    With a careful step the first thing Ajax did was go back to the arch and start focusing his [Mana Syphon] on it. He was going to do this absolute best to remember the mana makeup of this type of floor. With all of his portable alchemyb stored away neatly in his spacial ring Ajax stepped away from the arch with a silent apology.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry but I am going to worry all of you for a little while.¡± Despite there being none to hear him Ajax knew it would take him at about three days to clear out the floor but he nned on spending at least a week in here if not more just to progress his [Alechemy] as much as he can with the variety of mana infused herbs that are around the same level and the mana rich atmosphere of the dungeon floor.His moment of silent apology was interrupted by a sharp ping from [Danger Sense], most troubling was that the danger wasing from below him. Ajax quickly jumped andunched himself into the air only to feel the power of his jump be the final straw causing a small copse of the ground he was just standing on.


    What he saw there under the ground sent a frosty chill down his back. Two hippo sized moles with ws the size of longswords were shifting through the rubble and looking for him. The chill that went down his back had nothing to do with being attacked, that much he expected from the dungeon.


    The problem that came up was that the moles could and would destroy some if not most of the garden if they were left alone. Ajax simply wouldn¡¯t stand for that as he summoned his axe and swords before he charged down the moles looking to follow down their tunnels and quickly clean up the entire mole poption of the floor before they destroyed too many of his precious ingredients.


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    It was only twelve hourster that Ajax finally decided to take a break from his hunt. He carefully made sure to set up his base camp and barriers before he got ready for a good night¡¯s sleep. He didn¡¯t even get a proper chance to wash out his gear from theyers of mole blood and dust that he had built up in his tireless crusade before he fell on top of his bedroll and went to sleep.


    It took four hours before the next mole stumbled upon his little haven but to Ajax it felt like barely seconds had passed betweenying his head down and the rm barrier waking him back up. The only thing confirming the passage of time to him was the refilled mana and stamina he had.


    He quickly took care of his uninvited guests before repacking everything and for the first time since he entered the floor he once again headed towards the surface. Despite only spending three hours underground Ajax knew that he had done serious damage to the mole poption, from the looks of things this seemed to be a fairly standard if very rewarding floor biome so he should have killed more than half the moles present on the floor already with his initial hunt.


    ¡°Might as well start on some alchemy now¡± Ajax muttered to himself. ¡°I won¡¯t be able to keep any of the potions I make anyway so I might as well make something that will help me clear the rest of this floor quicker.¡±


    Once he finally found an exit to the underground tunnels Ajax had to face his next challenge on the floor, one however that he was more than happy to have. He was spoilt for choice in terms of what nts to use for his alchemy session. Being on such a high floor all of them approached the quality of some of the best ingredients Ajax had ever worked with before now, add on the natural interference from the ambient mana and Ajax found his first three attempts to all end in failure.


    ¡°Professor Vilethorn told me that the more mare rich the ingredients were the harder it would be to prevent a failure but I definitely didn¡¯t expect this.¡± Ajaxined to himself as he emptied out histest failed attempt.


    Despite having previously used ingredients of this mana concentration before, the biggest difference here was that he had always used them inbination with other inferior ingredients. Even in his previous delves he would collect different nts from different floors before starting his alchemy. Now all of the ingredients being this high quality meant that there was no low quality ingredient that he would have topensate for and saturate with the mana of the better ones as he did before.


    His fourth attempt finally saw a sess as he carefully poured thepleted potion into a vial for his [Alchemist''s Examination] to inspect. Much to his shock the [Mana Potion - Common] was one of the best potions he had ever created. Despite the imperfect brewing this potion would still grant the drinker an instant infusion of two hundred mana as well as an increase in their mana regeneration of twenty times over the next minute.


    His moment of celebration was quickly interrupted as he heard voicesing from the ss greenhouse he had collected his ingredients from. He had no idea whatnguage they were speaking but from the sounds of it this floor definitely would have some humanoid monsters that he was going to have to take care of. This was the perfect chance to practice with his ster.


    As Ajax carefully approached the sound of the conversation he leaned into his [Stealth] skill as much as he could, with only a Common skill however his progress was rtively slow he would definitely need to look into getting a few higher rarity skills that would synergise with this one.


    Despite it taking him a bit of time he silently climbed one of the trees outside the greenhouse to where he had a clear view of the orcs that seemed to be having an argument while pointing to the empty plot inside the greenhouse from where he had collected his ingredients.


    To start with Ajax didn¡¯t use any mana augmentation on the ster as he wanted to get a baseline for the weapon against these enemies, despite this he turned [Mana Syphon] all the way up to max and even used the tree he was sitting in to help with the recoil.


    Beside the initial shot which urately took one of the orcs right in its left eye Ajax felt like at most ten of the next thirty shots even hit his target however they did seem to do some burn damage. It was then that he tried his first [Mana Augmentation] on the the ster as he infused it with void mana.


    Much to his surprise the ster bolts had turned from a bright red to a pitch ck, unfortunately they also went from low damage to no damage at all. In hindsight that might have made sense seeing as void helped bypass armor after the point of impact but the bolts carried no force to speak of to damage the orcs.


    Changing the augment to magma however turned out to be a great sess as the bolts now left small patches of magma on impact that the orcs had to quickly wipe off. His fun and experimentation quickly came to an end however as he felt [Danger Sense] let him know to store the ster and pull out his shield just in time for the third orc, a shaman by the looks of it, to throw a wind bomb at him. He managed to syphon enough mana from it that the wind st released on contact with the shield did nothing more than violently remove him from the tree he was in.


    Back on ground he saw the two orcs marred with wounds from the ster charging towards him as he took out his hammer from the spacial ring. Experimenting and trying to increase skills was all well and good but you always went back to the basics.

 Chapter 292

    Chapter 292


    Changing back to wielding his usual melee weapons Ajax wasted no time in taking out all three orcs in moments. The only reason he was able to dispatch level fifties quite that easy was because of the irritating damage he had done with the ster but also because they weren¡¯t expecting him to dash into a melee frontal assault after a ranged sneak attack.


    Once he was done with the orcs Ajax chose to continue ying around with the ster instead of starting a second round of alchemy. Thistestbat had shown him just how much some of his skill could go. For all intents and purposes the ster was simply a weapon that focused small bursts of radiance magic. Ajax had known that such enchanted wands and staff did exit but he had been told in no uncertain terms that they suck.


    This wasn¡¯t a wrong opinion to have either, considering that enchantments use an external mana source unlike runes it means that with all the different variety of attacks creating one static way to attack wasn¡¯t all that useful. Though the ster had clearly proven that so long as you pushed enough you coulde up with something decent.


    What surprised Ajax however was the interaction between the ster and his [Mana Augmentation] skill. It seemed that he could use the skill in order to create a stable mix of radiance and whatever mana type he added afterwards. The results were marginally useful for the amount of mana they cost but their experience of mixing mana like that with his skills was invaluable.


    Aiming the ster at one of the orc corpses nearby Ajax went ahead and proceeded to fire an Ice augmented shot. The result was much as expected, the shot itself was unaffected in its travel time but upon contect it released a small sh freeze.


    Just as there were certain mana types that mixed very poorly with radiance some were a perfect fit, both magma and holy were great choices as the holy would purify anything in the small area of the shot while the magma had its slow travel time covered.


    The unruly kickback of the ster also helped Ajax unlock the Umon skill [Focused Aim], not only that but he could actively feel his mana control improving as he started fine tuning how powerful the augmentations on each st are.


    He finally stopped when his mana dropped to one quarter, from there he had moved on to collecting the ingredients for his next [Alchemy] session.


    _________________________________________While Ajax was slowly working his way through his ideal dungeon floor biome things on the outside of the dungeon weren¡¯t going quite as smoothly. A small wave of panic went through the guards waiting outside the arch when Lexi and Anna exited together with a tied up Olvier.


    Thankfully for all of them the Empire guards were more than understand about political assassination attempts inside dungeons, this meant that while they offered them the courtesy of not interrogating Oliver they did scour through every single spacial item that exited the dungeon.


    ¡°There was one more with you when you went in.¡± the guard finally said as he was handing everything back. ¡°Did he die?¡±


    ¡°I thought it would be a good idea to make sure we had time to properly process everything by the book considering the situation, he is still alive inside so no monsters came out when we exited.¡± Anna said diplomatically.


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    ¡°He also mentioned something about hunting for crystals.¡± Lexi jumped in with the cover story already established.


    Oliver simply remained silent throughout the entire process. It wasn¡¯t just the depressioning from the failed mission that was making him so obedient. Rather it was his desire to not bring an international incident to his father¡¯s doorstep along with the failed mission.


    Having been cleared Lexi, Anna and Oliver were escorted by one guard through the city towards their courtyard while the other guard remained to wait for Ajax should he deem to exit the dungeon. Little did the poor guard know that they would be waiting a fair amount of time for this.


    _________________________________________


    ¡°You don¡¯t seem all that surprised by the assassination attempt.¡± The emperor addressed Xavier as he had joined his father for lunch with the imperial family.


    ¡°We were warned ahead of time that something like it may happen during our trip and stay here.¡± Xavier answered neutrality, inside however he was cursing the emperor for using his high social skills against someone so young in order to get a better hold of the situation.


    ¡°That¡¯s good, one unexpected surprise is as much as any trip requires.¡± the emperor sneered as he referred to Theron¡¯s lucky break. Multiple offers had been made by the empire to the beastkin in hopes to recover the worms. Unfortunately for them all that did was lead to a few angry merchants as they were forced to treat the beastkin with respect while making their offers only to be rejected.


    ¡°Is there anything you would be willing to share about the tournamenting in a few years?¡± This time the emperor addressed the crown prince much to Xavier¡¯s relief.


    ¡°The elves are expected to win it.¡± the crown prince offered. ¡°They are simply in too deep of a financial hole following their most recent monarch. Seeing how their champion is yet to follow its king into retirement their victory is all but assured. The only question remaining is how much we can get from them for it.¡±


    None of this information was new to the imperial family, their spies had kept them well in the loop concerning the big moves. ¡°What are you hoping to get from them?¡± the imperial crown prince asked.


    ¡°We are looking to see about obtaining delves into their dungeon as well.¡± the crown prince answered.


    ¡°That¡¯s a lot of dungeons your nation will be visiting in the next few years.¡± the emperor chimed in. ¡°Our dungeon here, the elf¡¯s, I¡¯ve heard rumors about your father finally cashing in that dungeon delve favor from the republic and you will being back to mine after all that.¡±


    ¡°With how fresh this peace is and the somewhat assured longevity of it based on their champions'' good health now is the time to start preparing our next generation of champions and giving them a good start should help keep them motivated to push forward.¡± the crown prince answered.


    Xavier felt a small pang of jealousy at that. He had mostly gotten over it after being repeatedly exposed to Ajax¡¯s talent and hard work. That didn¡¯t change the fact that there had already been a n in the works to help strengthen the kingdoms next champion, with Ajax¡¯s appearance he had been moved down from the central position. Oddly enough Xavier knew that focusing on Ajax was the correct choice yet he still failed to smother everyst ounce of jealousy. His earlierbat win did a lot to appease his own ego.


    ¡°That¡¯s great to hear.¡± the emperor praised. ¡°I do wish all of your talented youths the best of luck.¡±


    Despite the emperor¡¯s opinion on other races he still knew very well that if even two or three were to ally together they would be able to beat them due to sheer numbers. This meant that the stronger the human kingdom next to them was, the stronger their defense was since that was the only way to reach them.


    Just like that three whole days had passed without Ajax showing any intention of exiting the dungeon. Suffice to say that the imperials had started worrying about him trying to do something on the inside that they had missed in the inspection.


    After the fourth day ended with still no sign of Ajax the kingdom¡¯s people were starting to get worried as well and outright dread had started to set in by the fifth day. The entire breakfast table was eerily quiet as Xavier, Anna, Lexi, the crown prince and a few other nobles ate.


    ¡°Do you think something happened to him?¡± Lexi asked anxiously.


    ¡°Something definitely happened.¡± the crown prince answered. ¡°Most likely it was something good and he is simply taking advantage of the opportunity, ording to my brother the risk of him actually dying is very low.¡±


    ¡°What sort of opportunity takes so long?¡± Lexi didn¡¯t give up.


    ¡°I remember a recent abandoned city floor theme where they managed to find an Alchemist¡¯s shop that had potions that increased skill growth for an hour when drunk.¡± The crown prince offered. ¡°They sadly weren¡¯t able to get any clue as to what the recipe to make them was but they took five days on that floor alone as they ran through the entire¡¯s city supply of the potion and all of the team members broke through at least one skill bottleneck.¡±


    During all this time Ajax could only guess at how much he worried people but he had only just managed to finish killing every monster on this floor. Despite that he had gone through only half of the ingredients that could be found in the various greenhouses and that was despite his extremely wasteful approach to experiments.

 Chapter 293

    Chapter 293


    ¡°So stupid.¡± Ajax mutters a little downcast as he rubs his left shoulder.


    It had been about ten days since he first entered the dungeon as part of the group of five and Ajax was nning to exit the dungeon today. Ideally he would have liked to stay a lot longer on this floor theme but he knew that evening out like he nned he would just get the night to rx before the delve into the next dungeon began.


    As for why Ajax''s shoulder hurt, he had nobody to me but himself. After having activated the obelisk four days ago he had spent ten hours killing everything that was left on the floor before he started back up on his Alchemy. Turns out one of the orc patrols was far enough away that they had gotten the drop on him when he was just setting up his equipment and nailed him with a well ced arrow.


    Not only had Ajax not been running his [Mana Syphon] at the time but his defense was much more focused on evading rather than blocking so the arrow reached deep. It wasn¡¯t enough to actually do more than inconvenience him when he was taking out the remaining patrol but the poison on the arrow made it so he could still feel some difort despite the healing potions and rest time he had.


    Before he steps out of the arch to exit the dungeon Ajax takes another look around to see the greenhouses he picked clean. Despite spending almost a week just practicing his alchemy in one of the most wasteful ways possible he has still just barely managed to go through all of the ingredients. Before he stepped through the arch he made sure to once again ce his hand on it and try his best to memorize the mana he felt from it.


    When Ajax excited the ce he had made sure to make it look like his alchemy set was totally unused why his armor and pickaxe would be damaged and dirty. All this was done to better convince the Empire that he had stopped on the third floor out of greed.


    ¡°Ajax!¡± It took a moment for the one guard that was left to watch the dungeon to realize who he was looking at after most people on the expedition had already written Ajax off as dead due to noting out in so long. ¡°What took you so long boy? Do you know how worried we were?¡±


    The guard made to approach him but was quickly intercepted. ¡°Stay back, not before we examine him.¡± The dungeon guards quickly made sure nothing could be passed or hidden.


    Ajax knew to expect something like this. Even now everyst bit of space in his special ring was filled with the ore from the rainbow mini-boss he killed on the third floor. Everybody expected that he either died or found something special and they wanted to see what it was.The guard was shocked when he took the ring and looked inside it. Like most spacial items he got an instant knowledge of what was inside and he felt a headacheing in from how full it was. Most shocking however was that most of it was taken up with jewels. Not ore that may contain jewels but the straight up gems with a lot of them being on the veryrge side of the scale as far as gems went being bigger than his fist.


    ¡°That is quite the find you made there, I can see why you would stay inside so long for this.¡± the inspector says, despite the gems only being from the third floor their quality is still something else to normal people. Not only that but the amount he brought out is about equal to the amount that gets brought out of both dungeons in total in two months, let alone the fact that it is made up from arge variety of gems. ¡°There is of course the tax the empire ces on goods taken from the dungeon.¡±


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    The amount of gems brought out by one person would be enough to speed two or three jewelers and enchanters through some of their early level bottlenecks. ¡°The deal states that there is no tax to be ced on this delve.¡± The Goldmancer guard finally manages to approach as he also motions for the spacial ring to be returned to Ajax.


    ¡°You¡¯re going to have a lot of questions to answer and not much time to do it when we get back.¡± the guard whispers to Ajax once they finally start moving away from the dungeon. ¡°Was it worth it?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± This is the only word Ajax actually spoke since he exited the dungeon but the conviction he had when he said it along with the gems collected let him know the young man had made great strides.


    Ajax barely made it four steps into thepound the kingdom was using for their base of operations before he was mmed into and hugged. ¡°What took you so long?¡± Lexi, who had been slightly depressed from the floating rumor that Ajax had died, wasted no time before quickly letting him go before it got awkward.


    ¡°Yes, I will have to insist that you answer Lady Manashaper¡¯s question.¡± The crown prince along with Xavier and Anna stand not too far away looking at him with slight frowns marred with a hint of relief. ¡°Though it might be best if we do it somewhere a bit more private.¡±


    Once they made it to the private room the first thing the crown prince asked Ajax was for a confirmation of the story Anna and Lexi had presented him with, despite fully trusting their version of events he had a duty to verify everything.


    ¡°The dungeon guards really looked like they bought the cover story, Your Highness.¡± the guard mentions once Ajax mentions how he stored most of the body of the miniboss in his ring for the crystals. ¡°It helps that he all but stumbled on a literal fortune.¡±


    From there Ajax makes some slight mentions of the next two floors all but glossing over them and making sure not to mention the droid or ster. The crown prince had high enough social skills to see that he was masking something but not he simply decided to let it go as simply some word opportunity the dungeon presented him with.


    ¡°There was what?¡± Everyone was left ck-jawed however once Ajax described the theme of the sixth floor.


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t just let the opportunity slip away, that was tens, maybe even hundreds of thousands of gold worth of alchemy reagents.¡± Ajax defended his actions. ¡°The alternative was toe back here and attend some noble parties.¡±


    Ajax couldn¡¯t wipe the grin off his face as he thought about the progress he made in alchemy, the experience he gained and especially the two Rare skill [Stabilize Mixture] and [Mass Production].


    ¡°I won¡¯t argue you made the wrong decision, you clearly haven¡¯t.¡± the crown prince says. ¡°But you do know you can¡¯t just keep avoiding social events, it isn¡¯t that big a deal doing it here in the Empire but once we get back you may have to attend a few more.¡±


    Ajax knows the crown prince is right in his assessment, he even gets more than one or twomiseratory looks from Lexi and Xavier both of whom have had to put up with social events they wanted no part in.


    With the interrogation over, Ajax quickly makes the rounds of thepound in order to find Theron. He is not surprised to find out that Theron had already made arrangements to have the worms looked after while he is in the dungeon. He could clearly see the anticipation in his retainer as he looked forward to delving the dungeon for extra stats after spending the better part of two weeks in thepound being haunted by merchants looking to buy his prize.


    ¡°Great to see that reports of your death were greatly exaggerated, my lord.¡± Theron greeted Ajax with a voice that sounded extremely respectful despite the amusing memories the words brought Ajax from his previous life.


    Everyone delving in the morning got to bed early and Ajax all but copsed onto the bed and was out like a light before his head even hit the pillow after so many days of extreme concentration. He was so tired that he ended up getting woken up by one of the servants before quickly getting geared and heading out.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry this delve will only take two, maybe three days.¡± The Goldmancer booster guards grin as they take in his tired state.


    Ajax simply nods his thanks but he knows that it¡¯s in this dungeon that the true challenge truly lies. The first day won¡¯t be anything special; they might get through two or three floors if they move quickly as the lower leveled people get their stats. The second day however Ajax knows he will have to face a level sixty-four and if he gets a decent match-up on the next floor maybe even a level seventy-four.

 Chapter 294

    Chapter 294


    The full twenty people entered the first floor of the dungeon, despite Oliver now being locked up and awaiting a trial once they returned to the kingdom it was clear that a substitute had been found to take his spot.


    Despite there being twenty people altogether only five of them could actually gain anything from the first floor, with the monsters highest level being thirty-four Anna, Lexi, Xavier, Ajax and Theron were the only ones who could gain the stat points for the floor.


    Unfortunately for Anna and Lexi they would both have to step out with Xavier on the next floor as while they might have been able to take out a level forty they simply don¡¯t have enough mana to kill a level forty-four even with a good match-up.


    The fights against the bosses on this floor ranged from hard won battles for Xavier Lexi and Anna, to a weak resistance the monsters managed against Theron who was thirty-six and Ajax who all but one shotted his own opponent without issue.


    Going from the first floor to the second still took them a couple of hours as they did have to search for five different mini-bosses but it was a rtively short journey. Entering the second floor of the dungeon the team was ready to grow smaller.


    ¡°Don¡¯t linger around this time as well or I¡¯ll get the impression you just don¡¯t like us.¡± Xavier joked with Ajax before he, Lexi and Anna stepped out. The young prince had started making an effort to befriend Ajax ever since he came back from his perceived demise inside the dungeon.


    The second floor theme wasn¡¯t all that special, a rocky mountain range much like Ajax had encountered in the previous dungeon, this one however wasn¡¯t set in such a high altitude as to have snow and that cold of a weather.


    Much like in the previous floor Ajax had no trouble killing the level forty-four miniboss, the challenge would only start to ramp up from the next floor. Two more of participants were only level forty so this was the only floor they could gain stats from but despite the four level difference they had no problems killing a bear and an eagle respectively.


    The big challenge on this floor came down to Theron. As a full physical fighter fighting up eight levels was a lot tougher for him than it was for a mage like Lexi and Anna or even a spellde like Xavier. Not only that but he simply didn¡¯t have a high enough proficiency with ranged weapons in order to use them in such high levelbat. It took the team almost three hours before they finally managed to find a mountain goat miniboss scaling one of the cliffs. The reason for picking a mountain goat was simply that is was Theron most favorable match-up in this environment, despite the eagle being weaker and more fragile Theron had no way to deal with its flight and a bear was too offensively inclined to take on in meleebat.


    Throughout the entire battle Theron showed off his great reflexes as he continuously dodge the goat¡¯s charge while alsonding a blow as it zoomed past him. It only took six hits before he managed to cripple one of the legs and sent the goat face nting into the rocky floor. From there Theron kept the pressure up as it used the cripled leg as a way to keep his stance from the sharp horns.


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    It took Theron ten minutes before he finally brought down the oversized mountain goat and he had an open gash on his left arm from where the goat managed to graze him with a horn on one of the charges.


    ¡°Not bad, you¡¯re only level thirty-six and you can handle something like this.¡± some of the other noblesmented as they measured Theron¡¯s performance. ¡°Too bad you¡¯ve already joined a house.¡±


    Despite the words paying lip service to Ajax¡¯s presence he was sure that once they exited the floor Theron would be presented with at least one offer to join another house. Ajax wasn¡¯t worried about him taking the offer so he didn¡¯t even mention it when he congratted the bull beastkin on his fight.


    As they entered the third floor the group lost another three of its members, of the remaining fourteen people eight of them were going to be leaving after they cleared this floor. This would just leave Ajax, the three guards and one other person going on to push past the fourth floor.


    These people were all considered to be young having just barely passed forty years of age and being already above level fifty they were the next generation of noble talents that every house was giving every opportunity they could to grow stronger in a time of peace.


    Without Ajax checking the arches they used to go up a floor in the dungeon a small issue cropped up when the third floor turned out to be one of the dreaded water dominant biomes. If there was one silver lining it was that there were plenty of birds flying above the hundreds of small inds and that with the increased aggressiveness it only took ten hours before everyone managed to get a solo kill on a miniboss of their own.


    It was only once they entered the fifth floor and most of the party left that things turned serious between the remaining five people.


    ¡°You do understand your role in here Rex?¡± one of the Goldmancer guards asked thest member of their team, he was the one to receive Oliver''s spot in the dungeon.


    ¡°I do, after I get the upgrade for this floor I¡¯m to stick around for another twenty hours near the next floor¡¯s arch and only exit after that.¡± Rex replied with a grin at his fortune to be selected for the newly opened spot.


    Ajax had spent most of the time on the second floor skinning the minibosses so that he would have something to show for himself as a reason to stick around inside the dungeon, after his previous stunt it was believable enough that he would just need someone else to cover as being thest person boosted.


    For the first time since entering the dungeon Ajax was finally also given the stronger gear that had been prepared for him ahead of time as the mini-bosses on this floor would be level sixty-four.


    Ajax could feel the enchantments on the gear as the armor though much sturdier than his usual set felt even lighter, not only that but he had been given a metal mana attuned warhammer, this meant that he would be able to use a metal augmentation without feeding it through his gauntlet. The same applied to the wind attuned sword, fire attuned axe and ice attuned shield that had been loaned to him.


    Ajax was used to fighting level sixty-four monsters but he had only done so as a part of a team in a group battle, while the guards would ensure that the battle remained a one versus one with the miniboss it should still prove a good warm-up unlike the rest of the floors.


    Funnily enough the floor seemed to be of a simr biome to the first floor of the Goldmine dungeon back in Gryndor. Despite the muchrger floor size the forest surrounding a mountain with griffins flying up above was a very familiar sight for all of them.


    Ajax was slightly disappointed with encountering such a biome on this floor instead of the next, despite how deadly they are as a pack wolves are one of the best monsters to find on a floor for boosting as a lot of their poweres from their group tactics while boosters can iste the boss in a one versus one.


    It didn¡¯t take the group long before they ran into the first pack of deer on the floor but Ajax was content to simply let Rex take this mini-boss as he simply watched. Rex more than lived up to his level sixty-five expectations. The man was a full on rogue with two daggers that he used to slowly bleed out the stag while always keeping well away from the reinforced antlers.


    The fightsted about twenty minutes, unlike Theron¡¯s however the Rex was the one on the offensive throughout the entire fight simply content to keep prodding the stag until it got slower and slower due to blood loss before he slit its throat.


    ¡°We¡¯ll make camp here for now.¡± the guards said after the battle. ¡°That should give you some time to rest before you have to fight. Even with us being level ny-fives we won¡¯t risk setting up a camp on the next floor.¡±


    Despite higher level people being able to stay awake for a few days straight Ajax knew that it would still affect them so taking a break now seemed like a very good idea. Tomorrow he would have a wolf to fight and hopefully a good biome for a level seventy-four.

 Chapter 295

    Chapter 295


    Ajax woke up refreshed the next morning. The booster had made sure that anything they needed to take care of was killed quietly without disturbing the two people they brought with them who would need their rest.


    ¡°Are you ready?¡± The Goldmancer guard asked him. ¡°We have been tailing a small pack with a wolf mini-boss.¡±


    Ajax simply nodded as hu stuffed a few rations into his mouth before he quickly secured his loaned armor and followed after the booster. Now that he was quickly moving through the forest Ajax started to feel the difference between his loaned gear and his usual one. Despite the one he had on now being substantially better it still felt odd to him as he didn¡¯t have a chance to break it in.


    ¡®That¡¯s what this fight is for.¡¯ Ajax thought to himself as he called upon the wind enhanced sword and the fire axe. There was an argument to be made for the shield but the hammer definitely wasn¡¯t the weapon to use against a speedy opponent like a wolf.


    ¡°There they are.¡± The guard pointed out the pack of six wolves. The miniboss stood half a head taller than the rest and seemed to be scanning the surroundings.


    Despite having amon more strength focused warrior build the booster had no problem attacking and wiping out the other five wolves, with a thirty level lead on them they proved easy pickings as Ajax tried to ambush the alpha.


    For the first time in a long time his opening shot from the bow was dodged, this was even more impressive considering that the wolf wasn¡¯t even focusing on him when he attacked but on the booster who killed the other five. As soon as Ajax engaged the booster backed off making sure to take none of the credit in the eyes of the system.


    With the high ambient mana on this floor Ajax had no issue keeping his [Mana Syphon] turned all the way up with only a small amount being provided from his own mana supplies, despite this he was barelynding small ncing blows against the wolf. It was easy to see that he had the wolf on the back foot but this was slightly troubling as this was merely the warm up fight.


    The wolf was doing its best looking for any opening Ajax might present but there was simply nothing. All it could do was try and get out of the way in time as the ming axe and the wind de were getting more and more hits in.A minute in, Ajax managed tond a more deep cut on the inside of the wolf¡¯s front leg, from there all it took was a well timed application of his earth mana to get the wolf to slip cing even more pressure on the injured leg. Ajax was sure not to miss that opening as he lodged the axe straight into the wolf¡¯s skull.


    ¡°Not bad¡± the booster congratted him. ¡°We might want to make sure the one on the next floor isn¡¯t so dexterity focused.¡±


    Ajax could only nod as they headed back to their makeshift camp before heading towards the next floor.


    ¡°How long am I to wait?¡± Rex asked as he stood by the arch leading to the next floor.


    ¡°About ten hours should be enough.¡± one of the three boosters answered. ¡°He¡¯ll most likely be done in an hour or two but if anything too dangerouses for you here just leave.¡±


    Ajax had gotten a chance to evaluate the arch with his [Mana Syphon] and found it eerily simr to the mana from this floor, there was something strange about it however that he couldn¡¯t ce his finger on.


    Entering the new floor Ajax and the boosters found themselves in the oddest jungle Ajax had ever seen. They were surrounded byrge green trees that seemed oddly thin for how wide they were.


    ¡°Dammit, the foliage is thick here.¡± one of the guards cursed.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be here for about ten hours.¡± Rex confirmed as he stood leaning against the arch ready to jump through at any moment.


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    The more they moved through the massive jungle the more Ajax felt there was something odd about it, it seemed like he recognised his surroundings somewhat but he didn¡¯t know why.


    That¡¯s why it all seemed so weird, we aren¡¯t in a jungle.¡± Ajax eximed as they came upon the first monster on this floor. The monster in question was an oversized ant about the size of a dog.


    ¡°I hate supresized floor.¡± one of the guardsined, clearly this wasn¡¯t the first time they had to fight on a floor where the dungeon increased the size of everything but the people entering.


    The others also seemed ready toin but Ajax felt his [Dangers Sense] go off. Two of the boosters also seemed to have a simr reaction as while Ajax quickly jumped aside from his current position both of themunched an attack in the direction the danger wasing from.


    The spider that tried to jump Ajax was quickly killed off, itsnding had been slightly off as the prey he expected tond on had moved out of reach and two attacks met it instead.


    ¡°Great, they have ambush predators.¡± Ajax silently cursed his luck.


    ¡°Let¡¯s find a mini-boss and get off this floor quickly.¡± Ajax very much agreed with the guards suggestion.


    It took no more than another fifteen minutes before they managed to find the first mini-boss on the floor. ¡°That one¡¯s no good.¡± The booster shook his head as he looked towards the centipede.


    ¡°That one should work actually.¡± Ajax surprised them.


    For most people a defensive type monster with some form of magically increased defense like they were sensing from the centipede would be a non-starter to push their limits against. For Ajax however this was most likely his ideal match-up as with the massive amount of ambient mana he would spend next to nothing on [Mana Syphon], more than that he could actively use the same skill to also weaken the monster''s defensive skill.


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± The boosters double checked with him.


    At Ajax¡¯s nod they were quick to move and surround the centipede, they wanted to make sure nothing else would get the jump on Ajax during the fight. Much like with the wolf Ajax opening attack was fired from his bow, unlike the wolf however the centipede didn¡¯t have the same awareness and took the opening arrow right through one of its eyes.


    Considering how little centipedes relied on eyesight this wouldn¡¯t do much to limit its senses but it was the perfect weakpoint to ensure his lightning infused arrow didn¡¯t just bounce off the armored exoskeleton.


    Much like he expected the centipede wasted no time using the tworge antennas to sweep in his general direction, the jerky spasms and awkward movements showed that the lightning arrow had done its job in affecting its movement. What he didn¡¯t expect was the way mana radiated off the antennas as his [Sense Mana] let him know exactly how the centipede was taking in its surroundings.


    Ajax tried firing a few more arrows as the centipede advanced on him but now that it was paying attention to him he could do little more than bounce them off the durable exoskeleton. Much like the arrows Ajax knew that a wind enhanced sword wasn¡¯t likely to do much better against that thick armor, the warhammer was the clear option the only question was would he use a shield or the axe with it.


    In the end Ajax went with the shield, with the mana potential of the monster there was no reason to go all in on offense only to be blindsided by a spell. The fight yed out in an odd mirror of the one he had earlier in the day against the wolf.


    Just like against the wolf Ajax was the faster of the two, where the fight differed was that Ajax was now the one who was spending most of his time dodging attacks while looking for an opening tond a few strikes.


    Every time his hammer managed to connect Ajax made sure to augment the strike with a solid bit of metal mana. The attacks were effective as they were slowly but surely cracking through the tough shell that protected the head of the centipede. The only issue was that Ajax couldn¡¯t maintain his offense without the centipede trading a few blows back.


    Each of the blows Ajax took he made sure to try and redirect. Despite that even the ncing blows he was taking caused the defensive enchantments on his shield and gear to activate. Ajax could actively feel himself bruising despite the extra protection and he knew that had he still been using his own gear he wouldn¡¯t be able to oust the centipede.


    Five minutes into the fight and Ajax¡¯s started heaving his breaths, he had gone through half of his entire mana pool and a third of his stamina. His health was doing much better, still sitting high above 80%. The centipede on the other hand looked like a vase that was glued back together, the exoskeleton on its head was now arge series of cracks.


    ¡®This would be so much simpler with void¡¯ Ajax silentlyined to himself but that was one secret he wasn¡¯t ready to let slip just yet. Despite all this Ajax was still grinning, he knew that the fight was going his way, all he had to do was continue like this and it wouldn¡¯t be long until the centipede died.


    The centipede was obviously of the same opinion as it started fighting more and more recklessly. Ajax could feel each blow he knocked aside with his shield reverberate through his bones, each attack was now more telegraphed but at the same time carried more of the centipede''s body weight.


    Thick blue blood started pouring out through the cracks in the exoskeleton as Ajax had focused most of his strikes there. A surge of mana was quickly released, it was a trick Ajax recognised as usually he was the one messing with the ground beneath his opponents feet, unfortunately even with [Mana Syphon] and his own casting he wasn¡¯t able to overpower the centipedes maniption entirely.


    For the first time during the fight Ajax was now in range of the centipedes fangs, he pushed a solid two hundred ice mana through his shield letting it withstand one side of the bite while his chest piece dented and his ribs broke on the other side. Sadly for the centipede that simply wasn¡¯t enough, despite the pain Ajax endured and now had an open shot and buried his warhammer straight through the broken exoskeleton and crushed the head of the centipede.


    ¡°Easy there kid.¡± The boosters were quick toe after he tanked thatst attack. ¡°You killed it. Good job, because if you hadn¡¯t we would have after you took that hit.¡±


    Ajax said nothing but simply focused on his light magic as he left his safety in the hands of the boosters as he focused on patching up his broken ribs.

 Chapter 296

    Chapter 296


    Ajax was focusing on his healing and holy magic as the guards surrounded him looking ready to move on.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know which part is more unbelievable: that you are seventeen and you brought down a level seventy-four or that you are only level thirty-six and did the same thing.¡± One of the guards said as he looked over the dead mini-boss.


    Ajax was surprised to see a shing system icon in the bottom right of his vision. While keeping up his healing spell to mend his ribs from where the centipede crushed him Ajax opened it up.


    Achievement : Pick on someone your own size


    Solo kill a dungeon mini-boss that is more than twice your level without using the environment or a temporary boosting consumable (At least a thirty level difference)


    Requires no Discoveries


    Pick a skill to gain : [Aura Immunity] [Enigma] [Inspectors Eye] [Pain Immunity] [Truth Sense]


    Cost : For the next twenty levels (reaching level 56)bat with enemies twenty levels above you or less grants vastly reduced experience


    Ajax was shocked reading what the rewards for his Achievement was, it was clear all those skills were Legendary ones and the cost that came with getting them wasn¡¯t all that high for him, the only question was which one should he get?¡°Let''s get moving.¡± The three boosters started herding Ajax towards the arch the centipede was protecting.


    Ajax hesitated for a moment before he decided to make his decision. While all of the skills seemed very good there was one that would always be useful to him and he had little hope of unlocking on his own.


    Before he went through the arch to the sixth floor Ajax made sure to change back into his regr gear and give the borrowed one back to the boosters. With nothing else to do on the floor they all passed through the arch.


    Once on the sixth floor Ajax wasted no time dismissing the +1 to all stats notification before heading back straight back through the arch and out of the dungeon. Unlikest time since Ajax came out of the dungeon on schedule he found quite a few Kingdom personnel waiting for him, not only that but he didn¡¯t even blink when the Empire demanded to check his spacial ring he had something much more important to check.


    <strong>Name</strong> : Ajax


    <strong>Level</strong> :35


    <strong>Experience</strong> : 67890/68500


    <strong>Traits</strong>: Divine Witness, Baron


    <strong>Health</strong>: 1000/2600


    <strong>Mana</strong>: 530/2630


    <strong>Stamina</strong> :615/2030


    <strong>Vitality</strong> : 260


    <strong>Strength</strong> :219


    <strong>Endurance</strong> :203


    <strong>Dexterity</strong> : 219


    <strong>Intellect </strong>: 263


    <strong>Wisdom</strong> : 263


    <strong>Mind</strong> : 263


    <strong>Perception</strong> : 203


    <strong>Stat Points</strong> : 0


    <strong>Skills</strong> :<ul><ul><li><strong>Common :</strong>[Mathematics Lvl 30] [Stealth Lvl 40][Drawing Lvl 35][Athleticism Lvl 40] [Running Lvl 40][Reading Lvl 24][Writing Lvl 24][Cooking Lvl 30][Sewing Lvl 20] [Cleaning Lvl 20][Haggling Lvl 23][Gardening Lvl 30][Axes Lvl 48][Hammers Lvl 48 [Deception Lvl 31][Sword Lvl 48][Shield Lvl 48][Bow Lvl 48][Spear Lvl 46][Throwing Lvl 38][Persuasion Lvl 23][Unarmed Combat Lvl 38][Knives Lvl 46][Skinning Lvl 40][Tanning Lvl 20][Dismantle Lvl 44][Climbing Lvl 31][Tracking Lvl 35][Heat Resistance Lvl 23] [Poison Resistance Lvl 29][Pain Resistance Lvl 28][Trapping Lvl 26][Cold Resistance Lvl 20][Conversationalist Lvl 9]</li><li><strong>Umon :</strong>[Meditation Lvl 52][Sense Mana Lvl 52][Expel Mana Lvl 52][Sprinting Lvl 40][Mining Lvl 21][Lumberjack Lvl 10][Smelting Lvl 15][cksmithing Lvl 10] [Chanting Lvl 11][Mana Farming Lvl 31][Increase Price Lvl 15][Lower Price Lvl 15][Danger Sense Lvl 35][Leatherworking Lvl 25][Alchemy Lvl 45][Mana Milling Lvl 35][Precise Cut Lvl 40][Precise Blow Lvl 40][Judge Threat Lvl 34][ Piercing Shot Lvl 40] [<em>Berserker </em>Lvl 20][Cooperation Lvl 30][Berserker Style Lvl 20][Unnatural Bnce Lvl 3][Feigned Interest Lvl 1][Illusion Resistance Lvl 1][Focused Aim Lvl 2]</li><li><strong>Rare : </strong>[Manipte Mana Lvl 45][Water Aspect Mana Lvl 46][Fire Aspect Mana Lvl 46] [Air Aspect Mana Lvl 46][Earth Aspect Mana Lvl 46][Inject Mana Lvl 45][Spot Weakness Lvl 33][Residue Recognition Lvl 23] [Light Aspect Mana Lvl 46][Shadow Aspect Mana Lvl 46][<em>Mana Skin </em>Lvl 28][Teamwork Lvl 23][Beekeeping Trailzer Lvl 9][Curse Resistance Lvl 19][Dungeon Crafter Lvl 23][Battlemage Style Lvl 11] [Impervious Senses Lvl 3][Alchemist¡¯s Examination Lvl 15][Stabilize Mixture Lvl 5][Mass Production Lvl 3]</li></ul></ul><ul><li><strong>Epic : </strong>[Mana Augmentation Lvl 36][Mana Conjuration Lvl 31][Lightning Aspect Mana Lvl 29][Metal Aspect Mana Lvl 29][Ice Aspect Mana Lvl 29][Magma Aspect Mana Lvl 29][Holy Aspect Mana Lvl 27][Void Aspect Mana Lvl 29][Curse sh Lvl 13]</li></ul><ul><li><strong>Legendary : </strong>[Mana Syphon Lvl 30][Enigma Lvl 15][Inspector¡¯s eye Lvl 1]</li></ul>


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    New :


    Focused Aim 0 -> 2


    Stabilize mixture 0 -> 5


    Mass Production 0 -> 3


    Inspector¡¯s eye 0 -> 1


    Upgrades:


    Stealth 38 -> 40


    Athleticism 39 -> 40


    Running 39 ->40


    Gardening 27 -> 30


    Axes 46 -> 48


    Hammers 46 -> 48


    Deception 30 -> 31


    Swords 46 -> 48


    Shield 46 -> 48


    Bow 46 -> 48


    Skinning 39 -> 40


    Dismantle 43 -> 44


    Pain Resistance 26 -> 28


    Cold Resistance 18 -> 20


    Conversationalist 6 -> 9


    Meditation 51 -> 52


    Sense Mana 51 -> 52


    Expel Mana 51 -> 52


    Mana farming 23 -> 31


    Danger Sense 34 -> 35


    Alchemy 34 -> 45


    Mana Milling 24 -> 35


    Precise Cut 37 -> 40


    Precise Blow 38 -> 40


    Judge Threat 33 -> 34


    Piercing Shot 39 -> 40


    <em>Berserker </em>17 -> 20


    Cooperation 28 -> 30


    Berserker Style 19 -> 20


    Manipte Mana 42 -> 45


    Inject Mana 42 -> 45


    Spot Weakness 32 -> 33


    <em>Mana Skin </em>27 -> 28


    Teamwork 21 -> 23


    Mana Conjuration 27 -> 29


    Water Aspect Mana 41 -> 46


    Fire Aspect Mana 41 -> 46


    Air Aspect Mana 41 -> 46


    Earth Aspect Mana 41 -> 46


    Shadow Aspect Mana 41 -> 46


    Light Aspect Mana 41 -> 46


    Lightning Aspect Mana 24 -> 29


    Metal Aspect Mana 24 -> 29


    Ice Aspect Mana 24 -> 29


    Magma Aspect Mana 24 -> 29


    Holy Aspect Mana 20 -> 27


    Void Aspect Mana 23 -> 27


    Mana Syphon 29 -> 30


    Enigma 12 -> 15


    Mana Augmentation 31 -> 36


    Mana Conjuration 27 -> 31


    Battlemage Style 9 -> 11


    Dungeon Crafter 10 -> 23


    Illusion Resistance 0 -> 1


    Impervious senses 2 -> 3


    Alchemist¡¯s Examination 5 -> 15


    His status had made great strides since thest time he checked it. His level had been barely a couple thousand experience points into level thirty-five and after only two delves he was almost level thirty-six.


    His resources showed just how difficult the fight against the centipede had been but his stats showed the biggest change and the prize he hade here for, after two delves all of his stats grew by nine points just from the floor clearance bonus.


    The battle with centipede could be seen in the increase to his physicalbat skills while his research into different applications of mana could be seen in the leap all of his mana skills made. The biggest winner by far had to be [Alchemy] and the rted skills. The week-long extended trip was clearly showing its worth as the skills progressed by leaps and bounds.


    When he was given back the ring Ajax noticed that the skin from the monster he killed on the second floor was missing. Ajax didn¡¯t know how they knew which one belonged to the monster he killed but he knew they would be analyzing it to try to find out more about it but decided not to make a fuss about it here.


    Once he got back to theirpound Ajax found himself taken straight to the crown prince, not only that but this time nobody else was taken along with him.


    ¡°Yes, your highness?¡± Ajax asked once he was brought in.


    The crown prince waited until they were left alone in the room before he took out an amulet to create a privacy screen around them. ¡°What were the rewards like?¡± his voice giddy with anticipation.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry?¡± Ajax sounded confused.


    ¡°We know that killing a dungeon boss that is twice your level on your own grants you your pick from a selection or Rare skills. Doing so without making use of a boosting potion or the environment grants you an Epic skill, the cost of taking that skill however is too high as most are unable to keep on leveling at a steady pace unless they are crafters. Does doing so without either grant you a Legendary skill?¡±


    Ajax was shocked to have that question brought straight up. ¡°Ehh¡­ It¡­¡±


    ¡°So it does!¡± The prince eximed. ¡°Not only that but if a social skill is part of the selection you clearly didn¡¯t take it.¡±


    ¡°Yes, it does grant that offer .¡± Ajax admitted once he saw the crown prince already put it together.


    ¡°That is all I wanted to know.¡± The royal cut him off before Ajax could tell him any more. ¡°My father may ask you more about the options you were given but not even my privacy screen is secure enough that I would go into detail about what you may have selected while inside the Empire capital. I will say congrattions.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Your Majesty.¡± Ajax nodded. ¡°I would like to mention that the empire did take the skin from the monster I killed on the second floor after I came out of the dungeon.¡±


    ¡°That is quite unfortunate.¡± the prince frowned at that new, his excitement gone reced by a calcting look like flipping a switch. ¡°Ideally you wouldn¡¯t have brought that particr skin out with you even if it would have looked suspicious.¡±


    ¡°Nevermind, what¡¯s done is done.¡± The frown only showed on his face for an instant before it was reced with a smirk. ¡°That little overextension actually gives us the perfect excuse to have you miss tonight''s party on ount of you being tired.¡±


    Ajax was over the moon at the news that he wouldn¡¯t have to attend another party with the Empire¡¯s nobility. ¡°I really am tired.¡± Ajax dropped any pretense of hiding his exhaustion after the fight and even yed it up with his few social skills.


    ¡°You better get a good night''s rest since we are leaving tomorrow at noon,¡± the crown prince said before he dismissed Ajax.

 Chapter 297

    Chapter 297


    The trip back was very much like the trip to the Empire yet for Ajax they might as well have beenpletely different. The only part that hadn¡¯t changed for him was the noble parties that he dreaded to attend.


    ¡°Are you sure that¡¯s what you want to focus on now?¡± The Goldmancer guard that had joined them in the carriage asked.


    ¡°If I wait any longer than thising summer break I know I¡¯ll lose out on a floor worth of rewards.¡± Ajax was adamant.


    ¡°You do know those dungeons have an insane floor leap, there is a reason why no viges have survived anywhere near them.¡± the guard asked again.


    ¡°I know.¡± Ajax confirmed.


    Ajax had spent a good portion of the trip trying to n his progression into the two remaining dungeons that the kingdom had. Both dungeons started higher than the regr 30-35 with them being 31-36 and 32-37 for their first floors but their real challenge came from the fifteen and twenty respective level leap between floors. This made progressing from one floor to the next an impossibility for any delver, it was also the reason why the dungeon arches were always surrounded by the monsters left by thest group of people to go and gain their extra stat points.


    Ajax was hoping to be able to gain a three floor bonus from the twenty level leap dungeon and four floor bonuses from the fifteen level leap dungeon. This however would mean that he would need to be able to defeat a level eighty-one level monster by summer time. The seven level leap might not seem all that insurmountable in half a year but Ajax couldn¡¯t surpass level thirty-eight if he wanted the reward from the first floor.


    ¡°As long as you can afford it I¡¯m sure House Goldmancer will let you hire their booster, but don¡¯t expect me toe do it.¡± the guard shrugged with helplessness.


    Even now Ajax could see that the boosters had a much tougher challenge than expected, sure they were all level ny-five but the three of them had managed to clean an entire level 79-84 floor in less than twenty-four hours which was truly impressive. ¡°Dad will probably get you a really good deal.¡± Anna joined the conversation.


    ¡°Will he though? I all but promised him I would take care of anything that would happen to you inside the dungeon.¡± Ajax replied but his tone made it clear it was a joke, his confidence actually stemming from the fact that he had done House Goldmancer another big favour.


    ¡°Saving me was part of the deal, but you also managed to get him a gift wrapped prisoner to interrogate about who was involved, that¡¯s worth a bonus at the very least.¡± Anna decided to go along with his joke.


    ¡°My lord do I really have to hold them?¡± Theronined again.


    Since the second trip of their return journey the worms had hit their first growth spurt. This wouldn¡¯t have usually been a problem however along with that growth spurt came arge release of slime as they constantly outgrew the soft exoskeletons for the next two months. Already they had grown to be almost as thick as Theron¡¯s legs and had his height in length.


    ¡°Yes, Theron.¡± Ajax sighed having had this discussion before. ¡°It¡¯s only one more day before we get home¡­ and you¡¯re already slimed.¡± he only whispered the second part as he really did feel a little guilty for what Theron had to put up, he¡¯d make sure both July and his grandfather would learn of his plight and have them reward him for bringing back the worms.


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    _________________________________________


    Emperor P.O.V. as Ajax was departing


    ¡°Well? What did we manage to find out about the boy?¡± I asked my advisors.


    ¡°There is definitely something special.¡± my spymaster said. ¡°Despite their best efforts to hide what he can do we are confident he can fight as well as a level fifty.¡±


    ¡°An almost fifteen level jump in power from a seventeen year old, that certainly is something.¡± Iment. ¡°Are we any closer to figuring out how he did it?¡±


    ¡°Yes, sire!¡± my head advisor chimes in. ¡°We¡¯ve uncovered that he somehow managed to hold back on assigning any points in his stats until he almost turned fifteen.¡±


    ¡°That can¡¯t be everything.¡± I say.


    ¡°It actually fits pretty well.¡± I am surprised to see the general answer.


    ¡°Go on.¡± I urged him.


    ¡°Most nobles only manage to gain an extra twenty stats through sheer effort between the ages of ten and fifteen.¡± The general says. ¡°Commoners manage twenty-five to thirty. If he found a way to hold on to those points it means that not only his challenge in gaining extra points didn¡¯t spike like most people does when they reach ten but as a spellde fighter he would have been pushing all of his stats daily.¡±


    The argument certainly got more traction when you looked at it like that. How much would it be worth, an extra twenty points in every stat maybe. Add on stats from potions and dungeons, as long as he is a talentedbatant it makes sense that he would be able to hit fifteen levels above even at his age.


    ¡°Find out the method he used, if it is easy to replicate we need to start teaching it.¡± I order.


    ¡°And what about the boy?¡± the spymaster asks.


    ¡°Leak the information about his performance.¡± I decided after a moment to think about it. ¡°Mention nothing of his technique but let the pointy ears and the animals know what he can do. If we¡¯re lucky they might just make a move and push him straight to us with a more understanding outlook on our views.¡±


    _________________________________________


    Sylvanthal as Ajax was arriving in Gryndor¡¯s capital


    ¡°So the empire is hoping we will bite?¡± the elven king asked his old friend and champion.


    ¡°It certainly seems that way.¡± the champion responded.


    ¡°The boy will be a problem.¡± The king sighed.


    ¡°He will be outmatched by more than fifteen levels in the tournament, some of our people will be above eighty by that time.¡± the champion sounded shocked.


    ¡°Maybe he will not y a big part in this contest.¡± the king admitted. ¡°But he is young, give him another two decades and Gryndor will have him win everything under fifty years of age.¡±


    ¡°Are you suggesting we kill the boy?¡± the champion frowned at the idea.


    ¡°No, disgusted as I am to say it, we might just use the boy to make sure we extend this forcefully peaceful.¡± the kingments. ¡°We just need to make a good impression on him.¡±


    _________________________________________


    The Proudrock as Ajax was arriving back in Gryndor¡¯s capital.


    ¡°We have news on the boy, my king.¡± the rat beastkin said as he bowed to the lion and tiger beastkin.


    ¡°That¡¯s great to hear!¡± The king said with a roar.


    ¡°The imperials managed to confirm that he is able to fight fifteen levels above himself.¡± the spymaster squeaked out.


    ¡°And where did you get this information?¡± the duke asked, his mind already running through different scenarios.


    ¡°It was actually surprisingly easy to gather, it came from at least ten sources.¡± The rat beastkin revealed.


    ¡°You think it isn¡¯t urate?¡± the king asked, his enthusiasm dampened.


    ¡°No, it¡¯s urate.¡± the duke responded quietly as he began to pace as his tail flicted. ¡°It might be a lowball actually, but the empire is leaking the information.¡±


    ¡°Why would they?¡± the king asked.


    ¡°They want us to make an attempt on his life.¡± the duke answered. ¡°We either kill him for them or push him more towards their views where they might recruit him.¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯re saying we should leave him alone?¡± the spymaster asked surprised, knowing the duke¡¯s usual tactics.


    ¡°Unfortunately, yes.¡± the duke let out a remorseful sigh. ¡°It was a good n by the imperials, under normal circumstances I would still rmend that we eliminate him early due to his potential but doing so would tip our hand too early, maybe we will get lucky and one of the other kingdoms will take him out for us.¡±

 Chapter 298

    Chapter 298


    After his return from the Empire Ajax¡¯s day to day life settles into a repetitive schedule of studying and training that is only interrupted by delves and the asional party. He had a clear goal, the tournament, and this time his opponents will be the best of the best selected from people twice his age.


    Whereas Ajax¡¯s life got a lot simpler the exact opposite is true for Judy, na, Elija, Aurora and Silvia. Ajax¡¯s return from his months-long trip marked the end of their new noble protection. The reason for this was obvious, simple greed. While Ajax¡¯s exploits in the dungeon were considered a secret to protect, the massive influx of crystals along with the acquisition of not one but two of the Empire¡¯s exclusive transport worms was too much.


    Unlike Ajax¡¯s battles when a merchant faction engaged in a fight it was usually stretched out over months as many small moves were being constantly made by one side then the next. It all started with a united front by most factions to make it hard for them to quickly make a profit on the new crystals they had just gotten for themselves. Fluffy reserving all the shadow attuned ones for eating didn¡¯t help matters much either.


    For the first time in decades Elija had started to see a quantitative increase in his experience gain as the casual game he used to y with most of his contacts turned serious at every negotiation.


    The onlyrge faction to staypletely neutral in this affair was the Goldmancers. This trial by fire was a hallmark that all noble merchantpanies that operated on a scalerger than a single city went through, if they survived they were good enough to join the big leagues. Having a house be considered at that level so soon after receiving their title however was unusual.


    The first big challenge that House Hearthbound faced was finding a tamer to work with their newly acquired worms once they were sufficiently grown. While the worm''s novelty made them a huge attraction it also meant that only the higher level and skilled tamers could actually train them, amodity that was easy for others to deny them. Elija still had to physically restrain his eye from twitching every time he thought of the amount he paid for the tamer in the end.


    The other great change that the nobility as a whole had to deal with was first attempts at replicating Ajax¡¯s sess when ites to forcefully increasing stats. The exact method was being kept secret for as long as possible so it hadn¡¯t yet been spread to themon popce but Ajax was assured that it was only a matter of time in order to give their uing generation an edge over other kingdoms who would surely copy them once it was public knowledge.


    This particr change was met with mixed results from the nobility. While some were ecstatic to try out a way to get stronger, most of the children weren¡¯t pleased when told to wait five more years before spending their hard earned points. The biggest reaction however came from the families that had their owning of age traditions that now became impossible without spending the stat points.


    Another big change that came to the Hearthbound House during the end of Ajax¡¯s second year was that both his brother¡¯s and Kate¡¯s mandatory service period came to an end and they took a much bigger step in not only building and training theirbat and healing retainers but also leading them. Both of them gained a couple Umon leadership skills.Over the course of his time in the Academy the biggest change for the family was still Ajax himself. While he had always been a bottomless pit when it came to grabbing mana infused resources but as he got more and more practice and his skills increased the bottomless pit started to give back.


    Stolen story; please report.


    It had started off slow with the beginning of Ajax¡¯s third year in the Academy as he became able to refund half of the cost of the materials he used in his alchemy experiments by selling the sesses. By the end of the third year Ajax had gotten good enough that his work would break even every time.


    By the middle of his fourth year at the Academy Ajax had finally gotten consistent enough that he was being headhunted as a delving alchemist. His extensive experience with crafting inside dungeonsplimented by an ever increasing track record of sesses had more than one or two noble families offer Ajax expensive materials and a spot inside their delve slot in exchange for him crafting them stat potions.


    That wasn¡¯t to say that Ajax wasn¡¯t still emptying his Houses coffers as during both the end of his second and third year he raided the family vault in order to hire boosters so he could delve as far as he could in every single dungeon that existed inside the borders of the Empire.


    Despite their individual growth, House Hearthbound was still one of the weakest noble houses in terms of actual power. The collectors were still their strongest retainers as they simply hadn¡¯t found any others that were stronger and they were willing to trust. Theron had also emted his lord with his daily training and was actively closing the gap, getting closer and closer to being good enough to earn a permanent spot in the Collectors line up.


    One of the funnier changes that were seen throughout the years came in the form of Ajax¡¯s odds when it came to the end of the year tournament. Betting houses were giving insane odds for him to lose but by his third year his odds given by betting on him to win the whole thing from the start were less than a 10% extra on your money.


    The spectacle was interesting during the second year tournament and it still got a few chuckles during the third year. By the fourth year tournament the nobles had startedining about Ajax not only winning but doing so effortlessly. More threatening being that he would be able to keep up this dominance for another seven more years.


    ¡°Do you really intend for the boy to represent us in the uing tournament?¡± one of the dukes asked during the weekly meeting of the court.


    With the tournament approaching the king''s announcement made a few years back has turned from a joke used to motivate a talented youth into reality, a reality not all nobles were ready to embrace.


    ¡°I have no issue with granting Baron Hearthbound one of our three spots for the tournament.¡± The king said softly. ¡°Should you have a more worthy candidate I will give him the spot.¡±


    ¡°What makes a candidate more worthy?¡± another noble chimed in. ¡°The Baron has already made substantial contributions to the kingdom.¡±


    During the past five years Ajax had gained more than one or two supporters in the political arena. Even more surprisingly was the fact that his father was the one who did most the work in obtaining these supporters.


    Unlike everyone else in the family Sam wasn¡¯t talented enough or that dedicated to cksmith that he could simply dive in it for thest five years. Instead Sam had focused on keeping the family united and connected while they each did their own thing. During this time he would invite one or two of the young nobles who were trying Ajax technique to visit and get a few tips from the source.


    ¡°All they have to do is beat Ajax in singlebat.¡± the king said looking to cate.


    A long moment of silence passed over the camp that objected to Ajax¡¯s participation. Much as they might not like him some rumours of how deep in the dungeon he was delving were starting to pop up here and there and they were terrifying.


    ¡°Your Highness, he is not even twenty-five years old. It would be seen as an insult.¡± Seeing their main avenue of attack cut off the nobles tried another way.


    ¡°It may seem like it at first but all doubt should be washed away after the first battle.¡± the king¡¯s eldest son chimed it.


    ¡°What about the bnce?¡± another noble tried. ¡°Someone in their twenties evenpeting could damage the fragile bnce we have now.¡±


    ¡°The nations are more stable than they have ever been.¡± The fear of war argument had been made plenty of times in thest few months as the departure drew near and it had never been sessful but they were running out of reasons.


    ¡°The elves need this win, everyone knows they are still hurting for gold after theirst king. Is provoking them such a good idea?¡± A new angle was brought forth, ignoring most of the other nations and focusing only on one.


    ¡°All our participants will be encouraged to trade away any winning to the elves in exchange for some benefits.¡± the king wasn¡¯t cating here as his tone showed his decision was final. ¡°It seems like Baron Heathbound will be maintaining his spot as no challengers were put forward.¡±

 Chapter 299

    Chapter 299


    Ajax felt a deep sense of aplishment as he looked towards the Academy. Despite still being wee toe in as his position had been that of a teaching assistant instead of a student Ajax knew that he probably won¡¯t being by all that often unless it was to scour the library for something specific.


    Looking back at the life he spent on Earth and the one he spent here they felt like almost mirrors of themselves. Whereas his life on Earth had started with him breezing through school without a care in the world before tragedy struck and the end of his highschool and college days had been rough.


    Here his early life was spent always alone and training as his mature mind and young body didn¡¯t match properly for him to have a normal childhood. That all go fixed as his days in the academy had provided for him the college life experience he had missed out on during his time back on Earth.


    He was now ready to take the next step as his life moved forward, he had a loving family that was counting on him, friends he could rely on, mentors he was hoping to one day surpass. His days at the Academy had ended with him even having a girlfriend.


    The rtionship between him and Lexi had an awkward start to say the least. Both of them had been dancing around each other whenever they interacted following their return from the Empire. Ajax out of concern for his status and ability to maneuver in the politicalndscape and Lexi because this was the first she had any such feelings towards another person.


    Who knows how long their little drama would have yed out for if it hadn¡¯t been for Anna putting an end to at the start of their third year after Ajax returned from his first trip delving into the kingdom¡¯s less favorable dungeons. That wasn¡¯t to say that it had been smooth sailing from that point onward.


    While Ajax and Lexi had started beingfortable moving forward with their rtionship into courting, Lexi¡¯s overprotective grandfather was not all that on board with the idea. It also didn¡¯t help that Ajax was spending at least two afternoons a week working with the man as they tried to further the research on maic mana.


    It had taken Duke Manashaper most of the third year to ept the rtionship between the two fully but Ajax¡¯s respectful attitude and their attendance as a courting couple to the few parties Ajax did attend outside his training schedule meant that most of the nobility had epted their courting.


    Despite his more active social life, most of Ajax¡¯s time had still been spent training and studying. Most of his family''s gold ie was spent on the same thing if he was honest, between the boosters who joined him for delves every summer and the few stat potions he needed that he couldn¡¯t yet create himself Ajax was a bottomless pit. His status sheet however showed all the work that he had put into it.<strong>Name</strong> : Ajax


    <strong>Level</strong> :51


    <strong>Experience</strong> : 16790/133000


    <strong>Traits</strong>: Divine Witness, Baron


    <strong>Health</strong>: 3400/3400


    <strong>Mana</strong>: 3430/3430


    <strong>Stamina</strong> : 2630/2630


    <strong>Vitality</strong> : 340


    <strong>Strength</strong> :298


    <strong>Endurance</strong> :263


    <strong>Dexterity</strong> : 298


    <strong>Intellect </strong>: 343


    <strong>Wisdom</strong> : 343


    <strong>Mind</strong> : 343


    <strong>Perception</strong> : 262


    <strong>Stat Points</strong> : 0


    <strong>Skills</strong> :<ul><ul><li><strong>Common :</strong>[Mathematics Lvl 35] [Stealth Lvl 51][Drawing Lvl 40][Athleticism Lvl 50] [Running Lvl 50][Reading Lvl 30][Writing Lvl 30][Cooking Lvl 40][Sewing Lvl 22] [Cleaning Lvl 28][Haggling Lvl 25][Gardening Lvl 40][Axes Lvl 65][Hammers Lvl 65 [Deception Lvl 41][Sword Lvl 65][Shield Lvl 65][Bow Lvl 65][Spear Lvl 60][Throwing Lvl 50][Persuasion Lvl 35][Unarmed Combat Lvl 50][Knives Lvl 60][Skinning Lvl 51][Tanning Lvl 23][Dismantle Lvl 55][Climbing Lvl 42][Tracking Lvl 47][Heat Resistance Lvl 35] [Poison Resistance Lvl 41][Pain Resistance Lvl 39][Trapping Lvl 31][Cold Resistance Lvl 31][Conversationalist Lvl 15]</li><li><strong>Umon :</strong>[Meditation Lvl 67][Sense Mana Lvl 67][Expel Mana Lvl 68][Sprinting Lvl 50][Mining Lvl 35][Lumberjack Lvl 21][Smelting Lvl 20][cksmithing Lvl 15] [Chanting Lvl 12][Mana Farming Lvl 42][Increase Price Lvl 16][Lower Price Lvl 18][Danger Sense Lvl 47][Leatherworking Lvl 29][Alchemy Lvl 58][Mana Milling Lvl 49][Precise Cut Lvl 53][Precise Blow Lvl 53][Judge Threat Lvl 45][ Piercing Shot Lvl 52] [<em>Berserker </em>Lvl 27][Cooperation Lvl 39][Berserker Style Lvl 25][Unnatural Bnce Lvl 19][Feigned Interest Lvl 13][Illusion Resistance Lvl 10][Focused Aim Lvl 15]</li><li><strong>Rare : </strong>[Manipte Mana Lvl 55][Water Aspect Mana Lvl 54][Fire Aspect Mana Lvl 54] [Air Aspect Mana Lvl 54][Earth Aspect Mana Lvl 54][<strong>Inject Mana Lvl 50</strong>][Spot Weakness Lvl 41][Residue Recognition Lvl 31] [Light Aspect Mana Lvl 54][Shadow Aspect Mana Lvl 54][<em>Mana Skin </em>Lvl 40][Teamwork Lvl 34][Beekeeping Trailzer Lvl 21][Curse Resistance Lvl 25][Dungeon Crafter Lvl 40][Battlemage Style Lvl 29] [Impervious Senses Lvl 11][Alchemist¡¯s Examination Lvl 31][Stabilize Mixture Lvl 19][Mass Production Lvl 12][Maic Aspect Mana Lvl 15]</li></ul></ul><ul><li><strong>Epic : </strong>[Mana Augmentation Lvl 45][Mana Conjuration Lvl 41][Lightning Aspect Mana Lvl 41][Metal Aspect Mana Lvl 41][Ice Aspect Mana Lvl 41][Magma Aspect Mana Lvl 41][Holy Aspect Mana Lvl 41][Void Aspect Mana Lvl 41][Curse sh Lvl 29]</li></ul><ul><li><strong>Legendary : </strong>[Mana Syphon Lvl 37][<strong>Enigma Lvl 25</strong>][Inspector¡¯s eye Lvl 21]</li></ul>


    New :


    This tale has been uwfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    Maic Aspect Mana 0 -> 15


    Upgrades:


    Mathematics 30 -> 35


    Stealth 40 -> 51


    Drawing 35 -> 40


    Athleticism 40 -> 50


    Running 40 -> 50


    Reading 24 -> 30


    Writing 24 ->30


    Cooking 30 ->40


    Sewing 20 -> 22


    Cleaning 20 -> 28


    Haggling 23 -> 25


    Gardening 30 -> 40


    Axes 48 -> 65


    Hammers 48 -> 65


    Sword 48 -> 65


    Shield 48 -> 65


    Bow 48 -> 65


    Spear 46 -> 60


    Throwing 38 -> 50


    Unarmed Combat 38 -> 50


    Knives 46 -> 60


    Persuasion 23 -> 35


    Deception 31 -> 41


    Skinning 40 -> 51


    Tanning 20 -> 23


    Dismantle 44 -> 55


    Climbing 31 -> 42


    Tracking 35 -> 47


    Trapping 26 -> 31


    Heat Resistance 23 -> 35


    Poison Resistance 29 -> 41


    Pain Resistance 28 -> 39


    Cold Resistance 20 -> 31


    Conversationalist 9 -> 15


    Meditation 52 -> 67


    Sense Mana 52 ->67


    Expel Mana 52 -> 68


    Sprinting 40 -> 50


    Mining 21 -> 35


    Lumberjack 10 -> 21


    Smelting 15 -> 20


    cksmithing 10 -> 15


    Chanting 11 -> 12


    Mana Farming 31 -> 42


    Increase Price 15 -> 16


    Lower Price 15 -> 18


    Danger Sense 35 -> 47


    Leatherworking 25 -> 29


    Alchemy 45 -> 58


    Mana Milling 35 -> 49


    Precise Cut 40 -> 53


    Precise Blow 40 -> 53


    Piercing Shot 40 -> 52


    Judge threat 34 -> 45


    <em>Berserker </em>20 -> 27


    Cooperation 30 -> 39


    Berserker Style 20 -> 25


    Unnatural Bnce 3 -> 19


    Feigned Interest 1 -> 13


    Illusion Resistance 1 -> 10


    Focused aim 2 -> 15


    Manipte Mana 45 -> 55


    Water Aspect Mana 46 -> 54


    Fire Aspect Mana 46 ->54


    Air Aspect Mana 46 -> 54


    Earth Aspect Mana 46 ->54


    Light Aspect Mana 46 -> 54


    Shadow Aspect Mana 46 -> 54


    Inject Mana 45 -> 50


    Spot Weakness 33 ->41


    Residue Recognition 23 -> 31


    <em>Mana Skin </em> 28 -> 40


    Teamwork 23 -> 34


    Beekeeping Trailzer 9 -> 21


    Curse Resistance 19 -> 25


    Dungeon Crafter 23 -> 40


    Battlemage Style 11 -> 29


    Impervious senses 3 -> 11


    Alchemist''s Examination 15 ->31


    Stabilize Mixture 5 -> 19


    Mass Production 3 -> 12


    Mana Augmentation 36 -> 45


    Mana Conjuration 31 -> 41


    Lightning Aspect Mana 29 -> 41


    Metal Aspect Mana 29 -> 41


    Ice Aspect Mana 29 -> 41


    Magma Aspect Mana 29 -> 41


    Holy Aspect Mana 27 -> 40


    Void Aspect Mana 27 -> 40


    Curse sh 13 -> 29


    Mana Syphon 30 -> 37


    Enigma 15 -> 25


    Inspector¡¯s Eye 1 -> 21


    Each and every one of his skills had seen some measure of growth throughout thest few years. His focus onbat and alchemy could clearly be seen however as most other crafting skills had barely moved. His gathering skills had all seen some growth as he would always make sure to gather anything that the dungeon provided him on his delves.


    Hisbat skills however were the true winners. Despite the clear difference in the quality of his physical skills and his magic ones both saw tremendous growth over the past few years. His biggest achievement by far however had been the year and a half he had spent pushing [Manipte Mana] and each of his rare Mana Aspects past the level fifty barrier.


    Unlike [Mana Syphon] that presented many different upgrades his Rare skills initially presented none, it took a lot of hard work to get [Manipte Mana] to upgrade, increasing the amount of influence his intent had on how any spell he cast reacted. The mana aspects were all easier to upgrade as continued use eventually allowed all of them to get the increased potency upgrade that somewhat made up for the weakness that was inherent to his casting style. This change had actually made it so his Rare affinities actually packed more of a punch than his Epic ones until they would even the ying field. And both [Inject Mana] and [Enigma] were stuck on that same wall.


    Looking again at his raw stats Ajax noticed that his distribution had finally started to show as his Vitality, Mind, Intellect and Wisdom pulled ahead of the rest they were getting four points every time he leveled. Strength and Dexterity were sitting middle of the pack as they received three points for every level. His potion stats of Endurance and Perception were down at the bottom.


    Throughout thest few years Ajax had made sure to push each dungeon as far as he could, managing to gain the bonus from any floor where the mini-bosses were level one hundred or lower. This resulted in him clearing an extra twenty-four floors spread across the kingdom¡¯s five dungeons.


    The final floors of each of the dungeons still sent shivers through Ajax when he thought about those battles. Each time he had taken enough boosting potions that in the aftermath of the fight his [Poison Resistance] got a good workout trying to oppose the weakness period that followed the boost.


    ¡°Are you ready, son?¡± Ajax heard his father ask.


    ¡°All packed.¡± Ajax confirmed as he showed off the spacial ring.


    Unlike their short delve trip to the Empire this next outing would be made by a muchrger group. The king himself was going to spectate the tournament and many people would be joining the massive envoy into Republds. Ajax¡¯s sister and grandparents wereing with him leaving his mother and na back home to keep everything running smoothly.


    A few different noble houses were sending entire retinues in support of the nine tournament participants. Unlike the previous short trip this expedition was expected tost more than six months, it not only included the tournament but also Ajax¡¯s delve into the Republic¡¯s main two dungeons.


    ¡°You best get going then, Lexi is probably already waiting for you.¡± his father said.


    Much to both Ajax¡¯s and Lexi¡¯s joy Duke Manashaper would be staying behind to run the Academy, as such the couple would be left with much less stern supervision on this trip and they were both looking to get more in that an hour or two stolen away here and there.


    Ajax hugged his father before he left but as he moved to pull away he felt his father squeeze a little harder. ¡°Do your best in the tournament but don¡¯t risk your life, the prizes aren¡¯t worth it.¡±


    Ajax knew what he meant, despite the tournament being a more friendly way to distribute resources during a time of war deaths during it weremon.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be careful, I promise.¡± Ajax said as he left his family estate.

 Chapter 300

    Chapter 300


    While Ajax left his father at the estate as he was working on something, the rest of his family was either going to be joining him or were waiting to say goodbye at the convoy. Both Kate and Tom would be staying behind, Ajax¡¯s nephew wasn¡¯t yet old enough to travel and neither would handle being away from their only child for months at a time well.


    Ajax had taken a great interest in his nephew Jake. Not only did he want to give him as good of a head start as was possible but he was also keeping a close eye on him to see if he was also a reincarnation like was. As much as Ajax knew that the chances of that were slim it wasn¡¯t something he was going to overlook.


    Being half beastkin it wasn¡¯t that much of a surprise to Ajax when he noticed that Jake had managed to sense mana after he had been using it around the child for the first few years of his life. Ajax had taken to y with his nephew in hopes of him unlocking as many skills as possible.


    ¡°There you are!¡± Aurora scolded Ajax once he finally arrived. ¡°It¡¯s a good thing you don¡¯t take meetings all that often; your punctuality would be the nail in the coffin for our reputation.¡±


    Much as Ajax wanted to refute that he knew very well how urate the statement was. He would always get absorbed into one thing or another, his schedule was more of a guideline of where people could find him throughout the day than an urate list of what he was doing.


    ¡°You be careful out there.¡± his mother said as she crushed him in a hug. ¡°I know what happenedst time you went into a foreign dungeon so don¡¯t take any chances, and no going past level one hundred.¡±


    Ajax was still kicking himself for leaving Lexi alone with his mother so early in their rtionship. Lexi had spilled the beans on just how Oliver had tried to kill Anna in the dungeon and Ajax had been hearing about it to no end.


    The level one hundred warning was a prudent one however. Once the monster level range passed one hundred the level jump between floors doubled, even worse it would happen even if it was by a single level, a dungeon with a nine level jump between floors would go from a 87-92 floor straight to a 105-110. This big increase in floor ramp up was why most nations didn¡¯t let people past level one hundred and five into dungeons, the reward was too small and the risk of something going wrong too high, especially when considering that all floors had a floor boss waiting to be unleashed.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be careful, I am only doing a single delve of each dungeon in the Republic and it will most likely be with some very high level people going along for the ride.¡± Ajax tried to cate her.Unlike most other nations the Republic was the only one to only have four dungeons instead of five. Much like the other they had two high step dungeons with sixteen and eighteen levels between floors but also two very small step dungeons with the five and eight floor dungeons.


    ¡°We¡¯ll be sure to take care of him.¡± Ajax¡¯s grandfather tried to help him, considering his usually silent nature a whole sentence was already him going above and beyond.


    Ajax¡¯s section of the convoy was the strangest by far, or it was more fair to say that his Judy¡¯s and his grandparent¡¯s section was the strangest as the worms belonged to them. The empire had only started distributing extremely limited amounts of worms to the other nations using Gryndor as an intermediary about two months ago so the king had requested that the Hearthbound family bring both of their worms with them as it would add to the prestige.


    This narrative has been uwfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    Ajax did have to admit that now that they were more grown the two hundred-feet long worms were quite the sight. Unlike their previous slimy and squishy nature they had a toughyer of skin and a very t back where goods could be loaded on. Despite the number of people going, the worms going one after the other made up a quarter of the length of the entire convoy.


    ¡°Bye-bye uncle Ajax, bye aunt Judy¡± Jake gave both of them a hug before returning to stand by Kates side holding her arm.


    It wasn¡¯t even noon by the time the convoy departed. This however didn¡¯t mean that Ajax could just sit in a carriage and rx likest time. He quickly left his sister and grandparents to worry about the cargo as he made his way over to the kings moving pce of a carriage.


    ¡°Your Majesty.¡± Ajax bowed as he entered.


    ¡°Wee Baron Hearthbound, take a seat.¡± the king joyfully invited him inside.


    Despite the king¡¯s carriage looking like an unimpressive 9 foot sided cube on wheels from the outside with a few decorations ced around it the inside was easily ten times that big. Ajax had known about the carriage that came from a dungeon floor where the top level was 167 but it was still a very impressive sight. Despite being in the royal family for millenia now no enchanter had figured out how it worked.


    Inside the carriage about half of the tournament participants had already gathered. The members of the first squad we obviously inside but so were quite a few members of the Steelde family, including the patriarch himself.


    ¡°Ajax, take a seat.¡± Benedict offered the open seat next to him and Ajax took it.


    Throughout their years at the academy Ajax had gotten along great with Benedict, even Xavier had be a lot more friendly once he stopped looking at Ajax as a potential rival, at least not for the time being


    ¡°Baron Heathbound, I heard you were also participating.¡± Benedict''s cousin Richard greeted.


    Richard Steelde had turned forty-eight earlier this year and was one of the deadliest fighters of the new generation. A person was considered an elite when their leveling speed by the time they turned fifty averaged one and a half levels a year, true geniuses approached the one and three quarters mark. As a level seventy-eight was decently into that camp with most of his levelsing directly frombat.


    ¡°Lord Steelde.¡± Ajax nodded in return.


    Despite not having met Richard before today Ajax knew that there was nothing to wary about with him like there had been with Oliver. The Steelde family¡¯s session wasn¡¯t as tumultuous as the Goldmancers.


    Much like most members of the Steelde family Richard was abat nut. He specifically specialized in leading small elite strike squads and was a very versatile burst caster. He was also not someone Ajax was worried about when it came to the tournament, a ss cannon caster would be dangerous but without the element of surprise Ajax was confident in keeping his distance and taking him out from range while he used [Mana Syphon] to weaken his spells.


    ¡°Professor Silvertongue!¡± Ajax was surprised to see his previous ¡®boss¡¯ also present in the carriage.


    ¡°Did you miss me, Ajax?¡± Despite the pleasant and rxed tone Ajax could help but give the professor a pitying look.


    Both of them knew that House Silvertongue had dragged Abbot Silvertongue into this due to his connection to Ajax, Benedict, Lexi, Anna and Xavier who were all going but after six years being forced to teach Abbot wanted nothing more than to go back adventuring.


    ¡°I hadn¡¯t expected you to also being.¡± Ajax replied honestly.


    The pristine poker face Abbot Silvertongue had on dropped for a moment at those words and an expression of helplessness showed for a moment.


    ¡°We finally got moving eh father?¡± the king¡¯s oldest son came barreling into the carriage. He was dressed in his full heaviest runic gear that Ajax could help but marvel at. Despite having his own set of highly enchanted and improved gearset it was nothingpared to the former crown prince. He would also be one of the participants for the tournament but he was going to be part of the unrestricted bracket, his style was the one Ajax was most looking forward to watching.


    ¡°Close the door ande in, Your Highness.¡± the leader of the first squad said as the king was rubbing his bridge of his nose in an attempt to avoid facepalming at his son¡¯s actions.


    ¡°I¡¯m not alone so that would be rude.¡± With an obnoxious had gesture the prince cleared the entrance and Archduke Goldmancer, Anna and Lexi entered the carriage.


    ¡°Your Majesty.¡± They all greeted politely with a bow.


    Lexi quickly made her way to sit next to Ajax and Anna and her father followed. Anna because she wanted to sit next to her friends and her father because she wanted to seat next to Anna.


    ¡°Now that most of us are here I think it¡¯s time to discuss why we are leaving four months before the tournament is set to begin.¡± the king spoke once the door close.

 Chapter 301

    Chapter 301


    With the king¡¯s oldest son in attendance all of the main tournament participants were in the enchanted carriage. Only a single participant from the under level one hundred was here, the other two choosing to stay in their own carriages, the king didn¡¯t much care as this didn¡¯t pertain to them as much. All three of the under fifty year old participants were here however as this was mainly about them.


    ¡°This here is the peace treaty I signed decades ago when epting the Republic¡¯s offer for peace.¡± the king started. ¡°Many thought that I got the worse end of the bargain and there is a reason that I never made the treaty public. That reason is the opportunity we have now to fortify our future.¡±


    As the king said this all of the participants were listening closely. Ajax, having already been promised a delve inside the Republic''s dungeon, could guess what the intangible the king bargained for were.


    ¡°There are quite a few details but it all boils down to this. We are allowed an almost full raid group to enter each of the Republic¡¯s four dungeons. The only restrictions on the group is that one of the participants is a booster, that they are under level one hundred, and that one of their people joins the group inside.¡± the king exined.


    Half the carriage erupted at the news, despite the golden opportunity most were in fact outraged at the fact that a spy would be sent along. Ajax¡¯s initial reaction was also one of rejection, his ingrained habit of hiding his ability rising back up. But after a moment that rejection diminished.


    His hard work over thest few years as he attended the Academy had allowed him to reach a high enough level of power that he wasn¡¯t the easily removable target he had been before. Sure there were plenty of people who would have no problem killing him but doing so in a quick or quiet manner was no longer the case. More than that Ajax knew he wouldn¡¯t be able to hold back during the tournament and he didn¡¯t n on it, so what if the Republic got a bit of a preview if it meant more dungeons to clear and more stats to gain.


    ¡°SILENCE!¡± the king''s oldest son didn¡¯t have to shout, the glowing locket around his neck amplified the word making everyone shut up. In all the years Ajax had known the entric prince this was the first time he had seen him drop his usual jocking persona in exchange for the veteran warrior he was.


    ¡°The forty-eight spots have already been assigned, my son has offered his services as the sole booster we will be sending.¡± the king continued in a calm tone after the silence had settled. ¡°These individuals are the most promising talents, some of which have already managed to visit more foreign dungeons and I am hoping will build stronger foundations than even our current champions.¡±


    Much as he appreciated the words Ajax knew they were only partially true. It¡¯s true that doing this had been the king¡¯s initial n when he signed the agreement but his current actions weren¡¯t in line with the n.In order to build the strongest foundation for a new generation of champions Ajax knew the king should have waited another few decades before chasing in. Nobody else besides Ajax and the royal family were aware of just how sessful Ajax¡¯s method had been with the young nobles and the first batch that started practicing it when Ajax first published it were now turning fifteen and spending their points.


    Before he had spent his points Ajax had managed to close in on getting seventy points in every single stat. Nobody has yet evene close, and most likely nobody would but the general consensus was that almost all had managed an average of forty in each stat with hard working ones getting as high as forty-five.


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    While that may not seem that high in increased on the average the nobles would get of seventeen in each stat by age ten by twenty-three points. Even if one ounted for the twenty to thirty points nobles would get during the apprentice period it was still close to a hundred and fifty more stats in total. The crown was now making ns to spread this out from high nobility to all nobility in the next decade and to allmoners within the next century.


    The reason the king wasn¡¯t waiting to prop up this uing generation with higher stats was simple: he was betting a lot on Ajax, how powerful he would be, how strong of a deterrent he would be, and what kind of leverage having someone like him will allow him to provide for the others following behind.


    The one regret Ajax had when it came to having shared his training method was the extra pressure it was cing on Anna. Unlike Benedict who would have his father be the head of the House before him, or Lexi who¡¯s family head position didn¡¯t matter that much as they weren¡¯tnded Dukes and their power came from the spells they had knowledge of. Anna would have to face pressure from experienced and older branch family as well as the next generation growing stronger from the extra stats. He was d she was able to take advantage of an opportunity like this to close the gap.


    ¡°These spots weren¡¯t sold.¡± the king continued. ¡°Each of you have been awarded a position based on your reputation and feats. That said all of your spots have been insured by your families.¡±


    This took Ajax by surprise. He was the head of his House, no way something like that would go down without him being told. Even more so nobody from his family would ept the contract and then not tell him about it. He didn¡¯t know what was going on.


    ¡°What do you mean the spots are insured?¡± The son and heir of a small Baron asked.


    The man was in his fifties though he didn¡¯t look older than histe twenties. His progress hade, managing to reach level seventy-six before turning fifty. This despite his less than ster family financial situation.


    ¡°Depending on your level each of you is expected to clear and gain the reward from one or two floors from the Republic more unfavorable dungeons and two or three from their main dungeon.¡± the king continued. ¡°Boosting potions will be provided for you as will gear should you need it, but failing to earn the expected minimum would mean that your family will be charged for the full price for the slot you took up.¡±


    This threat sobered up most of the youth present. The joy they had experienced moments before at gaining an opportunity that would bankrupt a Viscount for free was washed away with the cold knowledge that failing to show results meant their families would need to pay.


    The sole exception to this was Ajax, he now realized why he wasn¡¯t included. There was no chance he was going to stop with one, two or even three floors. While some were looking to gain the stats from seven cleared dungeon floors to maybe ten if they were lucky Ajax was hoping to get that many just from the main dungeon. The punishment conditions all but didn¡¯t even apply to him.


    ¡°With that said, is there anything else of immediate concern?¡± the king asked.


    A few of the youth had questions about how the expectations would be set, clearly expecting them to clear two floors from a dungeon with a eighteen level jump would be suicidal for some of them depending on where on their current level fell in regards to the floor benchmark. Ajax ignored these questions, they simply didn¡¯t apply to him and he instead focused on Lexi leaning against him.


    With the meeting over about half of the nobles were getting ready to leave the royal carriage, despite the opulence andfort present here it also came with the pressure of being in the presence of the king and some of them would rather rx their mind on their journey even if the trip was a bit more bumpy.


    ¡°Onest warning before you leave.¡± The king said as the first nobles neared the door. ¡°I know that some of you have your own views on things and that is your right. For the duration of MY stay in the Republic, any of you who are found to be using any form of racial slurs will be unceremoniously sent back to our kingdom.¡±


    This warning actually made Ajax frown. Not because it was in any way addressed to him but because of the memories it brought up of thest few years. Despite most of his time during parties being taken up by his ssmates as the head of a House he had been expected to mingle with some of the older nobles on more than one asion.


    It wasn¡¯t very often but a few times during his discussions with some of the older and lower ranked nobles that he had found out that some in the kingdom still held simr views to the Empire rhetoric. He had learned enough about noble etiquette to not make a scene at the party but he had quickly removed any dealings he or the rest of the family had with any of the nobles who made any views towards Kate or Jake. It only took a few months before his stance was widespread and nobody brought it up again around him but even those few encounters left a bad taste in his mouth.

 Chapter 302

    Chapter 302


    There was more than a little grumbling at the king''s threat. While the majority of the kingdom had adapted over the decades since the peace treaty nobility tended to live for much longer. Even then the ones most resistant to the change were the old low rank nobles who were already approaching their death at the age of only three hundred years. They had been born into nobility but didn¡¯t amount to much so thinking of the other races as inferior brought them up higher in their eyes.


    Ajax spent the majority of the trip swapping between his own carriage, the Goldmancer carriage that Lexi and Anna shared and the king¡¯s mobile reception room. The first big revtion of the trip had been when they first arrived at a city.


    Despite having already been told that the Republic was a melting pot for the four humanoid races, theyout of a city took himpletely by surprise. Unlike the usual fully stone buildings he had expected, the city was spread into three different areas.


    The first area was the usual stone housing Ajax was familiar with. This took up about a full half of the city. The more awe-inspiring half of the city was the sparse forest that took up the other half of the city, it was filled with massive trees that had their trunks hollowed out in order to provide housing. Even more surprising was that those trees were still alive despite the dwellings that were carved inside them.


    The final part of the city was the dwarven undercity that sprawled out beneath both parts of the city, it was indigenous to see how the dwarven poption had used the roots from the elven trees to secure their own habitat inside the city.


    ¡°We¡¯re only a few hours away from the first dungeon.¡± Lexi said as they traveled through the elven part of the city taking in the odd nature filled city.


    Despite the city basically being a sparse forest it still very much had the foot traffic and ambiance of the city. ¡°I think we will be delving into it tomorrow.¡± Ajax nodded. ¡°We are simply waiting for whoever the other booster is toe.¡±


    ¡°Who do you think it will be?¡± Lexi asked.


    Ajax had thought this over many times and there was only one clear answer. ¡°They¡¯ll send their champion.¡± Ajax was sure of it. The stealth based powerhouse was the perfect selection to both scout out new talent and ensure that no funny business is happening inside the dungeon.A very odd sight entered the pair¡¯s eyes as they turned the corner. Arge worm with spidelike legs was wrapped around one of the housing trees.


    ¡°What are they doing?¡± Lexi looked at the same time both curious and a little worried.


    ¡°As it turns out the worms ability to remain perfectly level is highly desirable when making delivery inside the woond part of the city, especially so since they can easily deliver to any floor they need to without taking it up the stairs.¡± Ajax exined. ¡°It took Judy about thirty minutes since we arrived to have four days worth of work for the worms already fully booked.¡±


    As much as Ajax was joking about his sister''s mercantile nature the truth wasn¡¯t very far off. The potential the worms represented was quickly shown off and then capitalized on. It wasn¡¯t just his sister that had been quick to do so but his grandfather as well, most interestingly they had gone as far as to auction off time slots and this worked with a raging sess.


    ¡°Oh sorry, excuse me sir!¡± An elf with light brown hair murmured as she bumped into Ajax. She did her best to assume a submissive posture asking for forgiveness while extenuating her ratherrge bust before turning to walk away.


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    She didn¡¯t get very far however as Ajax¡¯s had mped on to her wrist like an iron manacle. ¡°My pouch¡± he said threateningly, ¡°now¡±.


    The elf didn¡¯t waste any time producing his small pouch that barely held more than half a gold coin in silver and copper. The meek demeanor was gone however, she put up no resistance to him taking back his money but instead of the usual apologetic tirade that came from pickpockets she just sneered back at him knowing he won¡¯t be taking this any further.


    As for the reason Ajax bothered with a coin pouch, the answer was very simple: almost all street vendors had issues with young people that openly used a spacial storage item anywhere near their stalls. Ajax very much agreed with their logic so he had taken to having a small pouch with a bit of money around. Since the pouch wasn¡¯t part of his regr outfit however it stood out and this wasn¡¯t the first pickpocket he stopped today and he knew it won¡¯t be thest.


    ¡°It still seems very odd to me every time I see it.¡± Ajaxined to Lexi, not for the first time.


    ¡°It took me a bit to adapt to it as well but that¡¯s just how elves are.¡± Lexi said.


    Ajax wasn¡¯t talking about the attempted theft, instead he was talking about what he learned about the elven aging process. Apparently while elves had the same life expectancy as humans their bodies aged very differently, they would mature as normal until the age of ten, meaning they would look like an eighteen to twenty year old back on Earth. After that however their bodies simply stopped aging until the final few years of life where they aged all at once.


    The way to track an elves'' age was by the color of their hair. At birth all elves had pristine snow white hair. As they aged however their hair would start turning more and more the same color as their eyes. While this made them very suited for physical builds as they would essentially remain in their prime condition for most of their life it dide with the disadvantage that their bodies were more suited to magical and hybrid paths that pure physical ones.


    The rest of the day proceed in much the same manner for the couple as they explored the city, their evening entertainment however was taken up by an urgent meeting inside the king¡¯s carriage.


    ¡°I do not know what gave you the impression I was not being serious but I hope this is the only example I will need to make.¡± the king seethed as two of his guards held on to one of the barons.


    ¡°Referring to elves as ¡®knife-ears¡¯ on the first day since we arrived in the city.¡± the king continued angrily.


    ¡°He was a thief,¡± the baron defended himself. ¡°Would you have me give my coin pouch to a pickpocket?¡±


    ¡°I would have you capture him and take him to the guards.¡± the king snarled. ¡°Cut off his hand if you want to meet out justice yourself. The only things Imanded of you was no killing and no racial slurs!¡±


    ¡°With that unpleasantness out the way we also asked you here to let you know that our other booster arrived earlier tonight.¡± The king¡¯s oldest son changed the topic once the baron was escorted out, being sent back to the kingdom with his carriage and any people he brought with him.


    ¡°Who is it that they sent?¡± The patriarch of house Steelde asked.


    ¡°The shadow.¡± despite the price all but whispering the words they carried though the entire room and pandemonium descended.


    ¡°You can¡¯t be serious.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re expecting us to go into a dungeon with him?¡±


    ¡°I am not going into a dungeon with a foreign master assassin!¡±


    ¡°Enough!¡± Unlike previously the prince didn¡¯t use a skill to instantly silence the room, he recognised that theirints were valid so he let them settle down on their own, but the decision was already made. ¡°This is the way it will be. I will be along with you to keep an eye on things but anyone who wants to drop out of their spot can do so now with no repercussions.¡±


    Despite all theining and more than one fearful look from the selected delvers not a single one volunteered to give up their spot. Giving up four foreign dungeon spots wasn¡¯t that easy and everyone knew that some rewards were simply worth the risk. The chances that the elite assassin would actually do something were very small.


    ¡°Good.¡± The prince said when he saw that nobody wasining further. ¡°We will be leaving tomorrow morning after sunrise.¡±


    With that the meeting was dispersed and Ajax exited the carriage and started to make his way towards the inn he had booked with Anna and Lexiing with him. He had only made it a few steps outside the carriage before he felt [Enigma] activate. Unlike the other times it had activated throughout the day [Enigma] was actually broken through for the first time in a while.


    Ajax was quick to turn and survey his surroundings but despite his quick reaction he couldn¡¯t find anything.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Lexi asked also on high alert.


    ¡°Someone broke through [Enigma]¡± Ajax answered. ¡°They didn¡¯t get my skills and my exact stat numbers but they got my level, name, age and even how my stat distribution presents. More than that I don¡¯t have any idea who did it or where they did it from.¡±


    ¡°That was quite rude of me, I apologize.¡± all three of them jumped a little as a tall panther beastkin materialized behind them. None of them had any idea how he got there.


    ¡°It was indeed rude, though I remember you letting me slide on more egregious offenses.¡± The prince was out of the carriage with a smile on his face as he approached the beastkin, his eyes however were on Ajax silently asking if he was okay. ¡°You just couldn¡¯t wait until tomorrow, Shadow.¡±

 Chapter 303

    Chapter 303


    Ajax P.O.V.


    It had been a good while since I had ever felt so vulnerable. From the looks of it there was no real danger as the panther beastkin in front of us was the very champion that everyone was expecting to show up so in theory there was nothing to fear. Not only that but the information he had gathered wasn¡¯t all that valuable since I was more than willing to show what I was capable of in the uing dungeons and the tournament, I had thought I was strong enough to handle it.


    I couldn¡¯t follow the pleasantries between the two kingdom level fighters as the prince and the beastkin were still having a casual conversation. While I had told both Lexi and Anna what happened to me I left out a few things.


    First thing I left out was the process. Sure his identification skill only managed to get my name, age, level and stat distribution. What I left out was that he got that on a casual use of his skill, [Enigma] was good enough to give me feedback on how any battle with a skill targeting me went. If this person inspected me again and focused on getting my skills I knew he would get them.


    This meant a lot of things but the clearest one of them all was that he had a Legendary Inspection skill. No doubt about it, a casual use left [Enigma] in the same state a rock leaves a window with a gaping hole and cracks throughout. Despite that crushing defeat I could feel that [Enigma] also finally broke through the bottleneck, soon I will have to make a decision on its advancement.


    The second big thing that happened was that I instinctively used [Inspector¡¯s Eye] on him the moment he appeared. While he might have a Legendary inspection skill his own privacy skill was clearly not in the same league.


    One of the most valuable things we had been taught as part of the Academy, one that was still strictly kept away frommoners, was the difference in skill quality. The gaps between qualities were very different.


    The difference in power between a Common skill and an Umon one was big, this came at the price of breadth, most easily exemplified with the weapon variations [Swords] weremon [Short Swords], [Long Swords], [Great Swords] were all Umon. It could also be seen in the regr mana applications [Farming] was Common and [Mana Farming] was Umon, this despite thetter being included in the former. This meant that the difference in grade ounted for about thirty skill levels.


    The difference in power between an Umon skill and a Rare one was medium. The change being that with that jump in power the skills recovered their wide breadth [Swords Master] and other such variations. The difference between such skills was about twenty skill levels. Between a Rare and an Epic skill the difference in power was small. What made the difference here wasplexity. While Rare skills had breadth they were simple in their execution usually only including one action, Epic skills weren¡¯t that much stronger but each was more of abination of actions. The difference in power here was only about ten skill levels.


    Between Epic and Legendary however the gap was massive. Legendary skills got nothing except power over Epic ones, but that power was overwhelming. It equated to about forty-five skill levels. Now obviously when skipping more than one grade it wasn¡¯t a simple process of adding the average difference in power, for every grade you jumped past the first we were taught to decrease the gap by about five levels. That still meant that a Common skill like [Swords] would need to be ny skill levels above [Sword Legend] in order to equal it. This didn¡¯t take into ount the bottleneck bonuses but it drove the point home.


    <strong>Name</strong> : Whisker ¡®Shadow¡¯ ckw


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    <strong>Level</strong> : 209


    <strong>Age : </strong>679


    <strong>Difficulty </strong>: Lethal


    <strong>Traits </strong>: blocked


    <strong>Resources </strong>: blocked


    <strong>Stats </strong>: blocked


    <strong>Skills</strong> : blocked


    Whatever the champion''s privacy skill was, I had managed to get some information on him. I wasn¡¯t sure what surprised me most, that such a deadly figure was called Whisker, that it was the first time I was seeing a situation where the system added a nickname to a person as a middle name of sorts. Or most likely the most important part, I finallyid eyes on a humanoid above level two hundred.


    ¡°You can alsoy off me.¡± The beastkin¡¯s words brought me back to the present. ¡°The kid might not have gotten as much as I did but he also inspected me, color me surprised that he broke through.¡±


    Being called a kid frustrated me a little, there were very few people who still called me that to my face. The only people who still used it were the king and the librarian. Then again I suppose I couldn¡¯t get all too upset about it seeing as the person was close to thirty times my own age.


    ¡°Sorry about being so impatient.¡± the beastkin was now addressing me directly. ¡°I just wanted to see you for myself, there is a wave of people who are starting to believe and depend on you so I wanted to make my own opinion.¡±


    ¡°People who would depend on me for what?¡± I ask.


    ¡°To be my sessor of course.¡± the beastkin smirked, showing off a long sharp canine. ¡° Right now it¡¯s just a bit of hope but based on your track record there is some legitimacy to it. Who knows in a couple of centuries when I¡¯m truly past my prime you mind end up being the war deterrent. And like any good sessor you¡¯re on track to be a much better version of the original. ¡±


    ¡°How so?¡± I ask.


    ¡°If I were to ask you, out of all the prodigies who are seen to be on the rise, which gets targeted for elimination the most?¡± Shadow asked.


    ¡°Area caster.¡± My answer was instant, it had been drilled into us in every single ss on war strategy, if the enemy has a talented area of effect caster you don¡¯t let him grow even if you have to lose the battle, because he might cost you the war.


    ¡°Hmph¡± he chuckled slightly. ¡°That¡¯s certainly the ¡®correct¡¯ answer.¡±


    ¡°Stealth prodigies, assassins.¡± Anna answered right after me.


    ¡°Point for thedy.¡± Shadow nods to her. ¡° In times of war they have an equal ranking as both can swing the tide one way or the other. Area casters are openly touted as the priority because the nobles want the popce to look on them favorably.¡±


    ¡°The reality is if an assassin prodigy ever springs up any kingdom will do their absolute best to keep them under wraps.¡± The prince decided to exin it to all of us after activating one of his items to create a privacy bubble around us. ¡°Because if one manages to reach their prime like Shadow here it all but forces mutual assured destruction for their enemies.¡±


    ¡°A good mage might kill half your army but you can just send your ten best people after him and know you will kill him. If he is very strong you make an alliance and have two or three kingdoms do the same.¡± Shadow exined. ¡°Someone like me, however, if any kingdom managed to win the war against the Republic. My first move will be to sneak into their main dungeon and get as far as I can before going one floor higher and unleashing it all in the heart of their kingdom. We get hunted and killed off even in times of peace.¡±


    ¡°It also doesn¡¯t help that the people in charge are sometimes selfish enough that they are willing to let a threat to the people live since they are safe but an assassin could be a threat especially to them.¡± Lexi chimed in.


    ¡°You¡¯re not wrong there.¡± Shadow acknowledged. ¡°Which brings us back to you, some people think that you have the potential to grow so powerful that you might be able to enforce the same peace I do without having to unleash a dungeon on a kingdom.¡±


    ¡°I already know I need to watch my back.¡± I answered.


    ¡°That was pretty obvious from your reaction to me.¡± Shadow said. ¡°You seem to have your guard pretty high up, it¡¯s also not what I wanted to imply, I already know you know to look out for yourself.¡±


    ¡°Then what are you implying?¡± I asked.


    ¡°That there are people who are looking to examine you more closely than a person with one thousand Perception.¡± he said. ¡°But half of them, if not more, are looking at your character and personality. So long as you prove to them that you are peaceful and want to keep the peace they would be more than happy to help you get that power because they want to keep the peace.¡±


    This wasn¡¯t something I had considered before. I knew that more than one noble in the kingdom was getting behind me as I will be a good war deterrent or asset. I had never considered however, that there might be nobles from other kingdoms who would be willing to help me just as long as they are assured I will be looking to keep the peace and not head to war.

 Chapter 304

    Chapter 304


    Ajax slept a lot better that night after the conversation with Shadow. It led him to make a lot of realizations about who might be a potential ally. Of course his subconscious chose that exact night to prove just how wrong he could be. Two nightmares back to back where he was chased down by the dwarves and elves from their Empire equivalent kingdoms left him panting in cold sweat.


    Despite the bad dreams Ajax still managed to get enough sleep that he wasn¡¯t more than grumpy in the morning and he was definitely ready for the dungeon. An entire procession of the best young fighters in Gryndor marched up to the dungeon that morning.


    With a floor jump of sixteen Ajax was nning on clearing four floors. With the way the jumps should y out the final boss was going to be the only challenge and he was only going to be a level ny-seven, not the biggest level difference he had taken on but definitely not something he was going to attempt without a temporary boost potion.


    Much likest time they did a dungeon like this the group started bleeding members as soon as they passed from one floor onto the next. With a high start of a full fifty man raid team the weaker members started being dropped off once they cleared their assigned floor, What was new was that there were four people besides the boosters that were going to try the floor instead of only a single one.


    This clearly must have been a special asion that the dungeon didn¡¯t want Ajax to miss out on as the floor that spawned around them took all of them by surprise, not all for the same reason however.


    Much like how the dungeon had managed to create a star wars themed floor before when Ajax was all alone, it had somehow decided that this floor will be a steampunk theme. The worst part was that Ajax hadn¡¯t even had a clue that the floor would end up like this or that the dungeon could pull in things from his world into this new one.


    Unlike the sci-fi machines from star wars steam powered machines are something that would actually do a lot better integrating in the technology of this medieval world, mainly because all steampunk does is turn water into energy which is a cheaper and more tedious way of turning mana into energy.


    ¡°What are these humanoids?¡± Richard Steelde asks as he takes in the site of the sprawling steampunk city that took up the entire floor. ¡°Are they all infected by metal?¡±


    Much like Ajax read in his sci-fi when he was young, steampunk upgrades tended to slowly and methodically rece as much of their body as they could with working appendages.The constant hissing caused by the numerous steam based machineries did no do a lot to put most of the party at ease. The prince and Shadow were the most excited about the floor as they had never seen anything like it before and they had already started hunting for anything permanent that they could take out with them.


    Underestimating the brawler minibosses turned out to be a very big mistake. While they were all a lot slower than usual humanoid bosses would be at their level, their steampunk armor provided a turtle like defense as well as a power killer blow every time enough steam had built up.


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    Neither of Ajax¡¯s other two tournamentpetitors had managed to kill a miniboss. The prince had ended up intervening both times to ensure the survival of the bosstee.


    ¡°Alright kid you¡¯re up.¡± Shadow nodded to Ajax. ¡°I expected you to call it quits after thatst floor but it seems like you are going all the way.¡±


    The reason why they were taking turns fighting the minibosses they ran upon was simple. It was the most efficient way to manage downtime after having already used an enhancement potion.


    Ajax wasted no time chugging a potion of his own. His entire body felt so light and responsive all of a sudden. His brain worked overtime catching each and every small twitch of all the other people around him. Both of hispetitors looked like death and Ajax was finally ready forbat.


    Ajax¡¯s opening move might be a controversial one as he had never done this before. Instead of infusing his arrow with a strong prative force that he knew had next to no chance of hitting it. No he had infused the arrow with as much cold mana as he could manage


    The effects of the arrow were immediate as the holder was covered in a small sheet of snow that was already melting off, the steel engine had dropped its high temperature and the pressure powering the bosses armor was starting to run low.


    Without the pressure there the armor stopped being as effective in aiding its wearer to fight others . The strong defense it provided was still there and not to be underestimated but without a high amount of steam his speed was almost non-existent.


    Unfortunately the humanoid was still strong enough to ruin Ajax¡¯s day if he yed around too much and his potion ran out and he entered the weakening period. The fight was by no means easy but it did turn out rather simple. Ajax¡¯s chosen method of winning was death by a thousand curts and he slowly cut deeper and in more dangerous ces as he was simply keeping up the pressure until he ran out of blood.


    ¡°How did you do that?¡± hispetitors were still picking their jaws off the ground as the fight ended.


    ¡°I simply made his armor as useless as I could.¡± Ajax replied


    What followed was a two hour conversation on the state''s water can be found in and any way to exploit it. Despite the quick and rushed lesson everyone remaining knew that the secret to beating the humanoids was to cool down their exotic armor rendering it dead weight.


    It took Ajax another two hours to get past the bacsh of the potion he used, unlike him his twopetitors didn¡¯t look all that well as they were forced to take a second potion when they tried for the second time, the bacshpounded with such potions so even drinking only two granted rather debilitating fatigue.


    Walking through the final arch and passing the level one hundred monsters Ajax made sure not to step away from the arch. Both boosters would be clearing this following floor themselves and AJax very much intended to be long gone by then.


    ¡°You did very well.¡± Shadow congratted him. ¡°That was four floors just here. I am almost afraid to let you go through our main seeing how many stats that would gain you. You will definitely make quite the showing at the tournament.¡±


    ¡°Are you looking to back out of the deal?¡± The prince was quick to pounce on the topic.


    ¡°Not at all.¡± Shadow says with a shake of his head. ¡°I think I will find the experience a motivational one.¡±


    Ajax didn¡¯t stay to listen to them bicker, as soon as he swiped the increase in stats by one from clearing the floor he was quick to back out. He knew these monsters would be way out of his range in terms of what he can deal with.


    ¡°He is definitely something.¡± Shadow says once he and the prince are the only ones left as they look to kill the entire floor to ensure nothing too powerful is released outside.


    ¡°Any chance he is prejudiced towards other races?¡± Shadow continued to ask.


    ¡°No!¡± the prince responded as the two were methodically smashing through each monsters as it got in their way.


    ¡°Of what makes you so sure?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Because his brother¡¯s wife is a feline beastkin and his niece is also part beastkin.


    ¡°I¡¯m not going to lie, a lot of people are going to be happy to hear that.¡± Shadow let out another sigh of relief.


    ¡°The Empire was thrilled.¡± The prince threw it out there.


    ¡°I am looking forward to seeing how the elves react to him.¡± Shadow smirked. ¡°I can see however why you decided to go through the dungeon first, even as strong as he is right now I still think he has a bit to go until he can stand up against the ice princess. Who knows maybe those extra stats would be enough.

 Chapter 305

    Chapter 305


    ¡°What¡¯s our next stop?¡± Ajax asked once he entered the carriage of the Goldmancer family. All of the guards knew he had a standing invitation so he didn¡¯t have to bother with formalities.


    ¡°The initial n was to head straight to the other¡­ lesser dungeon, the whole n was to get them out of the way so that we would get as much time as possible in the capital for all of the politics.¡± Archduke Goldmancer answered.


    ¡°From your wording I am guessing that changed?¡± Ajax asked a little worried about what could cause a change of ns.


    ¡°Your unique semi-final floor is to me for that, the thi-.¡± the archduke was quickly cut off by his own daughter.


    ¡°You, the prince and the champion pulled out some one of a kind collection pieces.¡± Anna cut in swiftly with a dull tone but an using re at her father. ¡°Everyone that got their hands on one and is looking to sell it asked for an audience with the king to change our route so we pass through Darkcavern.¡±


    Ajax knew that despite the Republic being a full melting pot there were still a few cities that weren¡¯t as inclusive in their architecture. Darkcavern was a fully dwarven city that was built upon an old giant ant colony tunnel structure. While it wasn¡¯t on the other side of the kingdom it was pretty out of the way for them.


    ¡°What is in Darkcavern?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°Their century auction.¡± Lexi provided. ¡°The n is to sell a few in the auction to build up their price for when they will sell them around the tournament.¡±


    Now that he thought about it Ajax had heard both his grandfather and sister mention Darkcavern more than once or twice in their recent plotting so it did make sense. After all of the sixty-seven total pieces of steampunk gear that were recovered from the dungeon Ajax had managed to im fifteen of them just from stumbling onto them inside what looked to be a golem assembly nt. Both the prince and shadow had collected a lot more from the defeated enemies as they all but cleared out the floor with twenty-three and twenty-eight respectively, a single piece was taken by one of the other people who had joined them on the floor. The big difference was that all of Ajax¡¯s pieces were in pristine condition while most of the others were damaged in some way from the fight to kill their users.


    ¡°I¡¯m not surprised if that¡¯s what¡¯s going down there.¡± Ajax said. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen such a predatory look on my sister''s face since she saw the worms we brought back from the Empire. Did you manage to snag any of them cheap?¡±


    ¡°We got our hands on ten of them.¡± The archduke replied.


    Since the run had been a boost none of the boosters were allowed to keep anything they got from the delve, they had to sell them to the highest bidder from the people who participated in the run. While this may have meant that the prince could sell most of them to the royal family through Xavier¡¯s participation he still had to spread a few around along with Shadow as a sign of good faith. Ajax was under no such restriction.


    ¡°Your performance was quite something once you showed what you had.¡± Lexi giggled as she teased him.


    Ajax had been very quick on the uptake when the loot show and tell was done. It had taken him two seconds of feeling every merchant''s skillnd on the weakest link in the group before he loudly and repeatedly dered that ¡®I will be having these appraised and handled by my grandfather as the head merchant of my House¡¯. Not even his grandfather could get away with keeping all of them but he could get a much better deal and save Ajax the headache.


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    ¡°Your grandfather did admirably, managed to hold onto all but three pieces without building up too much resentment.¡± the archdukeplimented. ¡°Though he could have done without losing the full leg prosthetic.¡±


    Considering that this wasing from the best merchant the kingdom had to offer Ajax took it as high praise. Sure the leg was a rather interesting piece but the two arm prosthetics he had held on to were fully functional limb recements and since they were around level ny-seven they were the next best thing after limb regrowth avable.


    ¡°Seeing as the arms he kept actually work I think he did pretty well.¡± Ajax responded with a smirk.


    ¡°You know how these work?¡± Lexi eximed as she pulled the aforementioned leg prosthetic out of her spacial ring. She also wasn¡¯t the only one to focus on him at that.


    ¡°I know how to get them to work, not how they work.¡± While Ajax knew the basic principles of steampunk he was no inventor. ¡°Much more in the way that knowing how to swing a sword doesn¡¯t make you a cksmith.¡±


    A privacy enchantment was activated and the outside world fell away from the carriage. ¡°Would you mind giving us a demonstration?¡± the archduke asked, a predatory gleam in his eye.¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡± Ajax said as he took the leg from Lexi. ¡°The hard part is getting them properly attached.¡± Ajax exined as he topped up the water canister.


    Pressing a button on the leg started the boiling process and heated up the water. Ajax had no idea where the energy for that came from but it was done by the adjustment the system made to the steampunk idea when it brought it over.


    ¡°You see while the leg looks like a normal leg it has much more limited options of movement but theye with a greater range.¡± Ajax demonstrated as he showed that the knee and ankle were the only joints on the leg, followed by showing that they could fully rotate, the hip attachment was rigid. ¡°That and the nerve connections are pretty tricky.¡±


    The medical industry had discovered that the human body operated based on electricity from the prevalence of lightning mages throughout history, the small currents that ran from the brain to get muscles to move were already well known.


    Using his lightning mana Ajax gently applied some to the sensors at the top of the leg once the steam started pumping the machine. The leg jerked in his hand at that and on its own rotated fully mming into the side of the carriage with a loud THUMP leaving behind a dent. Not strong enough to do any serious damage to an archduke¡¯s carriage but certainly not harmless.


    ¡°That does seem like it will take some getting used to.¡± the archduke looked wide eyed at the leg and the dent. ¡°It also seems like quite the addition and surprise for any mage to have.¡±


    The archduke wasn¡¯t wrong there, without the help of full body movement even the level ny-seven equipment could only output a level eighty¡¯s raw power it was a hell of a surprise for a mage to suddenly spring a level eighty physical build level of meleebat.


    ¡°The only question is when should we do a live demonstration?¡± the archduke mumbled lost in his own world as he calcted market fluctuations all over again with the new variable.


    ¡°What does he mean?¡± Ajax asks.


    ¡°He is wondering if we should keep the secret a bit longer and only show it in the capital or if we should reveal how they work in Darkcavern.¡± Anna let out an exhausted sigh. ¡°Lets go tell your grandfather about this since he will want to know. My dad is going to be at it for a while.¡±


    ¡°He should know that not all of them would be functional.¡± Ajax mentioned offhand as he made to stand up.


    ¡°What now?¡± Both daughter and father quickly focused on him.


    ¡°They might be high level equipment but the insides are fragile.¡± Ajax exined. ¡°I got mine raiding a spare parts armory but the others, the prince and the champion, took them off the bodies they killed. They weren¡¯t going all out but I wouldn¡¯t use them of being gentle, wouldn¡¯t surprise me if half of theirs don¡¯t work as intended anymore.¡±


    ¡°Let''s keep that between us for now shall we.¡± Anna got a sneaky look in her eye. ¡°I might want to go see what pieces I might be able to trade with the others.¡±


    ¡°Try to find out how many working ones there are.¡± the archduke asked her as he got back into his calctions.


    ¡°Mydy, did something happen?¡± The archduke¡¯s right hand man asked as Anna, Lexi and Ajax exited the carriage.


    Despite the privacy enchantment someone sitting on the carriage would have felt the impact from the leg. ¡°Dad just found a new variable.¡± Anna said nonchntly and the guard simply nodded as he looked inside the carriage before the door closed.


    ¡°Yes, that will be a few hours.¡± he spoke from experience.


    Ajax spent the remainder of the trip to Darkcavern with his grandfather and sister. They had first put him to work trying to find out how much he could figure out about their merchandise before keeping an eye on him to make sure the information didn¡¯t spread any further.


    ¡°You do know I can keep a secret.¡± Ajaxined on the third day of being under strict watch.


    ¡°We weren¡¯t even the first people you told about this.¡± Ajax had nothing to say to his sister¡¯s retort so he silently decided to just try and sleep. The beds installed on the worms were some of the mostfortable in the entire convoy as they didn¡¯t sway at all.

 Chapter 306

    Chapter 306


    Darkcavern¡¯syout was very different from any other city Ajax had seen. Having first been a giant ant hive it made perfect sense that its topsidendscape would look like a small hill filled with holes, there were a few human houses dotted around but it mostly looked like two or three viges surrounded by holes.


    The underground however was a much more expansive series of tunnels that rivaled even the dwarven capital in structure if not in size. The convoy made good time as it managed to arrive an entire two days before the auction giving everyone time to add whatever steampunk item they wanted to the festivities.


    ¡°Which one do you think we should put up for sale?¡± Elija asked Ajax.


    ¡°Come on now, don¡¯t pout.¡± Judy poked Ajax in the side as he remained silent at the question.


    ¡°Three whole days you kept me in here.¡± Ajaxined though he wasn¡¯t all that upset as Lexi and Anna just changed to spending most of their time in this carriage instead. ¡°But fine, I¡¯d say you should sell this.¡±


    The piece Ajax selected was part of a half mask that covered one eye. It was the smallest of all the items he had collected but also the most technologically advanced as evidenced from the eye it sported.


    ¡°Does that one not work?¡± his grandfather asked.


    ¡°It does seem to work but that¡¯s not the issue with it.¡± Ajax responded. ¡°The problem with all of them is that we don¡¯t know how to attach them and that will take some trial and error. Doing so with hands, arms, legs , even shoulder and back armor isn¡¯t all that dangerous, if the connections are imnted incorrectly all you do is remove them, heal up and retry.¡±


    ¡°The same could be done with the eye.¡± Judy said. ¡°The person that will be getting it would be blind in that eye already anyway.¡± ¡°Yeah but the optic nerve is too close to the brain forfort.¡± Ajax pointed out. ¡°You make a mistake connecting it you might hit the brain and just kill the person, as far as I know there is no healing that.¡±


    ¡°So the mask goes.¡± his grandfather agreed with that logic, especially since they, and duke Goldmancer, decided to keep their functionally secret until they got to the capital.


    ¡°Too bad it''s so risky, it seems to have a filtration system.¡± Ajax let out a sigh.


    ¡°How do you mean?¡± Judy asked.


    ¡°The mask covers the mouth and nose so it has to let air enter. It also seems to be filtrating it when it is powered up. I am not sure just how many types of poisonous or deadly fumes it would keep out but I think a few of them at least.¡± Ajax answered.


    ¡°Any way we can separate the mask into the eye and the lower face cover?¡± his grandfather was quick to look for ideas.


    ¡°Maybe?¡± Ajax answered with a shrug. ¡°But I don¡¯t know how we would do it and you might just ruin both if you try. At worst you could just not connect the eye at all and just have it sit in the socket and you can use the filtration part.¡±


    ¡°Alright,e on then.¡± his grandfather nodded. ¡°You¡¯reing with us to add it to the auction and after that you can go explore the city.¡±


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    ¡°Why do you need me toe with you?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°Because you collected them, you can vouch for their uniqueness, or at least their source, under a truthstone, that will increase the value.¡± Judy exined.


    The three of them weren¡¯t the first to show up at the auction house, already there were four other nobles in line to get their items added so Ajax just headed towards the back of the line.


    ¡°Oh please go ahead.¡± the noble in front of the quickly spotted who he was and was quick to get out the way.


    The same thing happened over again as Ajax andpany jumped to the front of the line. All of the others hoped to increase their value after having him authenticate the item¡¯s source.


    The organizers were more than happy to add their item to the auction. Their audience did seem a little strange to Ajax however as halfway through a second representative entered. Ajax could see from his clothing that he was of a higher rank than the one currently assisting them. This representative drew attention from the others in the room but with a simple hand signal they all ignored him and got back to haggling.


    ¡°Three thousand gold seems like a fair starting bid.¡± The first representative finally finished the agreement with Elija and Judy. ¡°As for our cut we would take a modest f-¡±


    This was when the higher ranked representative stepped in. ¡°It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance Baron Hearthbound.¡± he bowed slightly towards Ajax. ¡°As a thank you for your testimony and a meeting gift we will lower our cut to 1% of the final price. We do hope that you have a sessful run in the uing tournament.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s taking part in the tournament, why he can¡¯t be older than thirty-fiv¡­¡± The employee that hade in carrying the truth stone slowly lost his voice as he figured out what Ajax¡¯s participation meant about how strong he was. More frightening was the re both representatives had locked onto him.


    ¡°Do enjoy your visit to Darkcavern and this is an entry ticket for you to attend the auction.'''' The representative¡¯s voice was a little strained following their employee''s outburst but he maintained a pleasant smile until Ajax and the rest of his family left the room.


    With his freedom finally gained, Ajax and Lexi took to exploring Darkcavern on their own. They would have taken Anna with them but instead she joined Elija and Judy as they went to scope out the local markets.


    Unlike a normal city the tunnels dug by the ants made the underground city have a very different structure to even other dwarven cities. The biggest difference was theplete absence of side streets. All of the houses were built into the side of the tunnels. This meant that instead of their being a bad side of town there were only tunnels that the locals knew to keep away from unless they wanted trouble.


    ¡°Look what we have here boys.¡± A voice came out from in front as three dwarves approached Ajax and Lexi. ¡°A couple foreigners who look like they could use a guide.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll be happy to offer our services, in exchange for something in return.¡± A voice came from behind the pair as two more dwarves approached.


    Ajax was quick to identify all of the dwarves, all of them had their levels in the mid tote fifties, certainly impressive for amoner living in the city but not enough to pose any sort of threat to him. He casually summoned his sword from his spacial ring, instead of having ite out in his hand however he just summoned it on his hip sheath and all.


    Frowns followed the appearance of the sword as all five dwarves got intobat position. Despite how young Ajax and Lexi clearly were, Ajaxmended them on not underestimating them that much, a lesson that the five had learnt long ago the hard way.


    Ajax finally felt an inspection skillnd on him, surprisingly enough it was one he knew well as [Enigma] let him know it was [Judge Threat]. Instead of blocking the skill Ajax simply let the skill pass, it wasn¡¯t as if it would gather any in depth information on him.


    One of the dwarves froze as dread worked its way over his features and his skin paled a few shades. ¡°Now, now. We don¡¯t want this to get ugly in front of the prettydy.¡± Despite the change in bodynguage the leader still spoke with a surecocked tone. The words however caused the dwarf frozen in fear to move as his head jerked towards his boss with a ¡®what the fuck are you doing he¡¯ll kill us all expression¡¯.


    ¡°H-how about w-we just le-let them go, boss.¡± the dwarf managed to shakily get out.


    ¡°What are you on about?¡± one of the others shouted but the leader simply turned and looked at the speaker with a serious yet questioning look.


    ¡°I <em>judge </em>this to be a very bad idea.¡± he said, trying his hardest not to give away what happened, having no idea Ajax already knew.


    The leader took no time to catch on and quickly course corrected. ¡°Actually it seems that you know exactly where you are going, please have a pleasant evening.¡±


    ¡°Wait a moment.¡± Ajax said as they slowly started backing away causing them all to freeze as all five had understood the situation. ¡°Which way was the auction house? We would hate to miss the start.¡± Ajax was having a bit of fun as he put his hand on the sword handle.


    The leader was quick to give some very precise directions before the five quickly got away from the scene. ¡°What did you do to them?¡± Lexi asked once they were out of earshot.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t do anything.¡± Ajax said as he showed the most innocent expression he could. ¡°One of them had [Judge Threat] so I simply had [Enigma] let the skill through.¡± Both had a bit of chuckle at that as they made their way towards the auction house.

 Chapter 307

    Chapter 307


    Once inside the auction house Ajax had no use for his ticket. Despite them being received as a show of good will for his testimony of the steampunk gear Ajax, Lexi, Judy and Elija had all been invited to the Goldmancer private balcony.


    Due to the instability that had been dragged out of Oliver the archduke was a bit light on people he trusted as far as mercantile people went. Those he did trust he left behind to keep watch over the others. This left him with a space for a few friendly faces to join him in enjoying the auction.


    ¡°You two finally made it, I was sure it was going to start without you!¡± Ajax was surprised to see the king¡¯s oldest son in the room as he was brought in by the attendant.


    ¡°What are you¡­?¡± Lexi left the question unfinished but it was pretty clear to everyone what the question was.


    ¡°Dad¡¯s room has all those nobles in there, he and my brother can deal with that.¡± the prince shamelessly said. ¡°I can actually enjoy the auction from here.¡±


    Most of the nobles that hade from the kingdom were actually expected to socialize a little, it had been one of the king''s requests in exchange for making the detour that the nobles were not focused as merchants try to create some favorable connections with the Republic.


    As the sole experienced merchant from his family this meant that archduke Goldmancer was allowed to take the opportunity and teach Anna about how to handle auctions in other countries so he was exempt. Ajax was exempted for the very simple reason that it was better for all involved, while he had made great strides in handling social situations he was barely at the point where he could attend any event without unintentionally insulting at least a few participants.


    ¡°Wee my lords anddies¡­¡± the host began the weing speech up on the stage only to be silenced as the prince pressed on an enchantment near the ss window.


    ¡°I doubt any of you are interested in the opening speech.¡± the prince said as he retook his seat. Both Elija and Judy looked like they wanted toin, neither doing so because the person who drew their ire was a prince, instead they were focused on the presenter and trying to lipread the weing speech hoping to gather any extra information they could about the local situation and any extra tidbit about the items in the list they were given.


    ¡°So what is your impression about old Whisker?¡± the prince asked Ajax.


    The question drew more than a few frowns from the Goldmancer guards present in the room, despite him being a foreign champion his strength did inspire respect from all of them.


    ¡°He¡¯s definitely something else, very scary.¡± Ajax said honestly.


    ¡°Managed to get any information on him?¡± For the first time this evening the prince lost his joking mood, this time it was the champion of Gryndor asking the question not the aloof prince who threw away his position as heir. ¡°Don¡¯t worry the room is secure.¡±


    Ajax took another short look around before he answered the question. ¡°He¡¯s got a Legendary inspection skill, high leveled too. If he wanted to he could break right through [Enigma] and take a look at any part of my status.¡± At least he could before Ajax chose the upgrade to provide a reinforced defense to the more guarded sections of his status, though he kept the part about the upgrade to himself.


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    ¡°He didn¡¯t take a look at anything that others haven¡¯t already gotten, but he could have.¡± Ajax continued to calm down his family and friends who were surprised at the reveal. ¡°His defense to being inspected is much lower quality, I would guess it''s a high Umon or a middle of the way Rare.¡±


    ¡°From the way you knew who I was talking about I am guessing you got his name. What else?¡± the prince nodded.


    ¡°He is a lethal threat to me, level 209¡± there were a few sharp breaths drawn in at that but the prince didn¡¯t seem surprised in the least. ¡°And he is 679 years old.¡±


    Thatst remark caused both the archduke and the prince to stare at him with wide eyes. ¡°You¡¯re sure about that?¡± the both asked at the same time, sparing a small nce at each other for a split second before focusing on Ajax once more.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure.¡± Ajax confirmed. ¡°Why does that matter?¡±


    ¡°Because the Republic has been leaking out that he is closer to nine hundred.¡± archduke Goldmancer answered. ¡°If he is only 679 years old, and looks as old as he does, that means he doesn¡¯t have as much time left as a deterrent as they want, it does exin why they are so interested in you and your session as the war deterrent.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll let father know but other than that the information doesn¡¯t leave this room, by royalmand.¡± The prince unleashed his aura to punctuate those words and everyone in the room felt the pressure.


    The solemn air in the room was dispersed as the opening speech ended and the auction began in truth. The prince returned to his rxed, carefree state and the silent enchantment on the ss was turned off.


    The items being auctioned off were a solid mix of actually useful items, items meant for vanity and prestige as well as curiosities obtained from one of the other kingdoms. While none of the items were anything Ajax was especially interested in he found himself in awe of what he was seeing.


    From the start of the auction fifteen items had gone by and there was only one that the archduke hadn¡¯t made a bet on, that item had been won by kind Gryndor. On every other item brought up the archduke had been very active, despite all that he didn¡¯t win a single item. This might seem like a poor showing to the untrained eye but both Elija and Judy were looking at him like they wanted to ask for his autograph but didn¡¯t dare disturb him while he was working. Ajax assumed that he had already raised the princes on the items he had been active on by 30-40%.


    The archduke was so good that Ajax was at the same time thankful for the chance to see him in action but also a little worried, he silently promised himself to leave this balcony before the end of the auction so that nobody would associate him with the raised prices.


    ¡°That¡¯s the one you put up, what¡¯s it do?¡± Anna asked as the half mask with an eye was brought out, this was also the first of the steampunk items.


    ¡°What do you mean what¡¯s it do?¡± The prince interjected before Ajax got a chance to answer.


    ¡°Some of the items were still usable.¡± Lexi said with a smirk as she brought out the steampunk leg, started the steam process and caused it to jerk with a small eclectic pulse at the connection. ¡°Depending on how damaged they were, some are still usable as prosthetics, with a bit of a learning curve.¡±


    Ajax did his best to ignore the dumbfounded look on the prince''s face and answered. ¡°No idea what the eye is good for, I wouldn¡¯t try attaching that since messing up has a good chance to kill the wearer. The lower portion however should be some kind of filtration system for gasses and poisons.¡±


    ¡°Woah there, back up. Some of the things there might still work.¡± The prince was still catching up. ¡°Is there anything in the pile that me or Shadow had that might be very useful?¡±


    ¡°Uh, I think so.¡± Ajax said as he thought back through any of the things they had taken for anything that might be useful. ¡°That connected suit from the mini-boss who didn¡¯t fully rece anything on his body. You took off his head so I think the suit should still be whole and functional.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s so good about that suit?¡± the prince asked.


    ¡°Not sure how long it can keep going since you killed the boss pretty quick.¡± Ajax answered. ¡°But since it''s an exoskeleton with all four limbs and chest connection with the steam engine on the back it should be usable by anyone, not only that but it would increase anyones physical capacity up to a level sixty-five physical fighter.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s very good for an enchanted piece of gear.¡± the prince eximed.


    ¡°It does have some drawbacks.¡± Ajax warned him. ¡°When not powered up it should be quite heavy. Not only that but you saw how this gear works, much better at short burst releases of power than continued use.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true, their opening attacks were a lot deadlier than anything else they had.¡± the prince nodded as he pondered the suit in question. ¡°I hope that thing still works, my niece wanted to be a mage but with those extra stats she got from your training method the extra weight shouldn¡¯t be that much of a problem.¡±


    Ajax was very much surprised to see his grandfather enter a bidding war for a small ruby gemstone. ¡°I know someone looking for one of those back home, it¡¯ll bring us quite a bit of profit.¡± Elija''s smile didn¡¯t show that he had spent over 40000 gold coins on a single rock.


    ¡°Okay kide on time to move.¡± The prince started to lead Ajax and Lexi towards the door. ¡°This thing is almost over and thest time I came out from the same balcony as old Goldmancer I had to spend five parties mending fences with the nobility in that city.¡±

 Chapter 308

    Chapter 308


    Ajax was mentally exhausted by the end of the night. The prince had managed to spare him and Lexi the wrath of the nobles who lost their money to archduke Goldmancer¡¯s schemes, he did so by taking them to the king¡¯s balcony where they were exposed more than a few nobles


    What Ajax had lost in willpower that evening however his grandfather''s people had managed to gain in terms of alchemy reagents. Having left the kingdom of Gryndor Ajax now had ess to some differentmon reagents than the ones he was used to for alchemy. The idea of trying out new recipes all the way to the next dungeon filled him with energy.


    It had already been a month since the convoy left Gryndor by the time that they made it to the next dungeon and this was their first mail stop. Any non-emergency mail was going to being for everyone that was part of the convoy and with the amount of nobles here most would be getting an update on their estates or families.


    All Ajax got was an indepth update from his mother and father about how his niece was growing up and how Tom and Kate were keeping on top of their responsibilities. Even with such mundane information it had been a long ten page letter that hade.


    Elija, Aurora and Judy got a whole stack of papers from na and Silvia who had remained in charge back in the kingdom. It seems that the massive gap that formed in the market from the absence of everyone who had left wasn¡¯t something they had appropriately nned for and now they were ying catch-up.


    Their nning issue thankfully was one of oversaturation of the market, while still a screw up it was something easily ovee by simply not selling at the current prices and waiting for the market to pick back up. It would mean that they would be left with a lot less liquid capital than they would have liked but the situation was manageable which it is why it was a non-priority mail.


    ¡°It¡¯s been decades since thest tournament we took part in.¡± Aurora let out a sigh. ¡°We only looked at the market changes after thest tournament held but since we didn¡¯t take part in that one we didn¡¯t ount for the amount of crafters that would be leaving or losing their customers.¡±


    ¡°At least we know we aren¡¯t the only ones to make this mistake. Almost everyone else reacted the same.¡± Elija let out a breath.


    ¡°Ajaxe on, they finally caved and they are going to let us take a look.¡± Lexi burst into the small boxy room on top of the worm. ¡°Really? I¡¯ming too.¡± Judy was quick to join up, even Ajax dropped the preparations he was making for his next potion and headed out.


    The main attraction of the auction and the one item that Ajax was disappointed not to see being auctioned off from the Goldmancer balcony had been a griffin egg. Much like the smander egg he had helped house Silvertongue secure way back when this one had a very high chance of hatching, the hatchling would then have a high chance of bonding the person who raised it. Unlike the smander however the griffin was not only an almost exclusivelybat bond, it also doubled as a flying mount making it one of the best choices out there.


    The winner of the very heated finale to the evening had been House Steelde. It had cost them a substantial sub of 150k gold but Benedict¡¯s cousin and fellow tournamentpetitor had recently had his bonded fox pass away and was in prime age to pick up a baby griffin that would all but surelyst him the remainder of his life.


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    ¡°You all got here so quick.¡± Benedict teased them as Lexi, Anna, Judy and Ajax all arrived at the carriage that now exclusively housed Benedict¡¯s cousin and the egg. ¡°Make sure you all mp down on your mana emission, there should be no leakage.¡±


    Surrounding the eggs in their mana was something that a lot of monsters did, griffins being among their numbers, it had also been heavily researched that following the same pattern after obtaining the egg by the one who is looking to bond it increases the chance of a bond forming by 30%.


    Despite there being no tests done to see what happens if multiple different types of mana were used to surround the egg nobody was willing to risk their investment and good luck by allowing others to leave their mana around it.


    The egg in question was much bigger than the smander egg Ajax had seen, while the smander egg had been the size of an ostrich egg this one was easily four times as big. More than that this egg wasn¡¯t red in color it was instead a silvery gray and it stood nestled against Benedict''s cousin.


    Ajax could feel the mana surrounding the egg, this time however he had more than a few skills he didn¡¯t havest time he saw an egg and was quick to put them to good use. [Inspector¡¯s Eye] was quickly used and the information it brought was quite good.


    <strong>Name</strong> : Swiftwing Griffin Egg


    <strong>Level</strong> : N/A


    <strong>Age : </strong>12 months


    <strong>Hatchling : </strong>Healthy


    <strong>Incubation time left : </strong>1 month


    <strong>Alchemical uses : </strong>Strong mana catalyst, unstable mana catalyst, high quality sample.


    ¡°How long is he going to stay with the egg like that?¡± Ajax asked as it seemed rather ufortable.


    ¡°For as much time as he can until it hatches.¡± Benedict answered. ¡°Apparently it was retrieved four months ago so he¡¯s got a good long while. At least our appraisers tell us its a viable egg.¡±


    Ajax had to bite his cheek to not let it slip that it only had a month to go. Despite the friendship he had developed with Benedict it wasn¡¯t as close as his connection with House Goldmancer or Manashaper, this meant that he wasn¡¯t willing to reveal his high tier inspection skill on something so irrelevant.


    ¡°There are more than one type of griffin?¡± Ajax asked instead.


    ¡°There are. This one is a swiftwing.¡± Benedict confirmed. ¡°How did you know?¡±


    ¡°[Alchemist¡¯s Examination]¡± Ajax answered, it was something he didn¡¯t mind people knowing he had and provided a good cover. ¡°It¡¯s also a strong mana catalyst, an unstable mana catalyst, as well as a high quality ingredient.¡±


    ¡°That is not an ingredient!!!¡± Everyone present had joined in on that, if not all for the same reason. While Benedict, his cousin and Lexi were all outraged at the idea of using a potential baby griffin as part of a fancy omelet and calling it alchemy Anna and Judy were outraged on having something that costs 150k gold be used as part of an experiment in a fancy omelet hoping it would turn out well.


    ¡°Come on now don¡¯t look at me like that, I¡¯m just telling you what the skill told me.¡± Even Ajax wasn¡¯t that wasteful as to actually use something so expensive in one of his alchemy projects. More than that however Ajax very much wanted to find a Bond for himself and from the looks of things it seemed that raising one from a baby might just be his only choice as his power was starting to dwarf anything he could find wandering humanoid areas. ¡°Are you bringing it into the dungeon?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Benedict''s cousin confirmed. ¡°The prince offered to safeguard it and keep it isted from outside mana while I fight.¡±


    Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how you look at it, the delve that took ce over the next three days was nothing out of the ordinary. With a level difference of eighteen between floors even Ajax had only managed to gain a stat boost for three floors.


    One of the only highlights of the delve was that the second floor had been a feeder floor and the group had managed to grab a rather sizable amount of meat and fur. The animal in question seemed to be a giant version of chinchi as far as Ajax could tell. While he wasn¡¯t keen on eating the giant rodent he was forced to admit that it had some of the softest fur he had ever felt and made sure to skin as many of them as he could before they left that floor.


    With the second dungeon cleared and no other reason for a detour the convoy finally started heading towards the capital where thest two dungeons awaited and the tournament was getting closer with each passing day.

 Chapter 309

    Chapter 309


    The Republic was the most intimidating city Ajax had everid eyes on. Deep down he had always known that it would be impressive, the history lessons had made that perfectly clear but to see it now a mix of beastkin, dwarves, elves and humans all working to build an imprable city, followed by settlements slowly springing up around the external walls over time.


    Ajax knew that at one point in time all humanoids had been part of a massive empire that spanned further than the current kingdoms; the dragon had informed him of that history. But of the current eight kingdoms the Republic is the second oldest of them all. The only reason for this is that officially the beastkin kingdom hasn¡¯t yet split into two like all the other races, for all that their people had.


    This city had been the beginning of the Republic millenia ago. Formed by a council of likeminded people from different races they stood against four other kingdoms all deadset on their race''s supremacy and carved out their piece ofnd from the center of the battlefield.


    ¡°Greed and hate is the only reason any of this was possible.¡± Ajax still shuddered after all this time when Shadow appeared next to him like this. ¡°Strong as the first councilors were, the only reason the city held was because they managed to convince the enemies to fight each other first and then only the winner would fight them for the city.


    Obvious as the poly had been even to the generals back in those times there was simply no better alternative. Attacking the city state without fighting off the other armies was asking to get ambushed and crushed from two sides. The winners had never been strong enough to take the city afterwards so the Republic persevered into the full kingdom it was now.


    ¡°Are those the dungeons?¡± Ajax asked as he looked towards the two secondary smaller forts that could be seen on either side of the capital.


    ¡°They are.¡± Shadow nodded. ¡°You¡¯ll get your chance to see them as well.¡±


    Ajax was excited thinking about the dungeons. The previous two had only given him +7 to all stats in total but these two would be a much bigger boost. The smaller of the two would give him +7 seven to all stats all by itself while the Republic¡¯s main dungeon would give him +11 to all stats. That was more than seven levels worth of stats.


    ¡°Do you think I have a chance?¡± Ajax asked. ¡°To win that is.¡± ¡°Not from what I¡¯ve seen from you so far.¡± Shadow said. ¡°You are a bnced fighter, you might get lucky and beat our dwarven fighter, but the beastkin will rip you apart and from what I hear even he is a long shot for beating the elve¡¯s ice princess.¡±


    Ajax felt the pressure mounting, despite wanting to disregard the words because he had made sure not to show his hand; he knew that the panther beastkin had a pretty good assessment of his strength.


    ¡°That said you¡¯re about to gain a lot of stats from those two dungeons.¡± Ajax knew Shadow knew his level and he couldn¡¯t help but grin at that. ¡°With those you¡¯ll beat the dwarf, have an even match with the beastkin as well. If it¡¯s enough to beat the princess however only time will tell. Time and whatever tricks you are keeping hidden.¡±


    As they entered the city the convoy was quickly routed towards the Gryndor estates. Because of their central position on the map and as the host of almost all resource tournaments the embassies located in the Republic capital wererge enough to house an entire convoy despite usually being manned by a very minimal political group.


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    ¡°Oh no.¡± Archduke Goldmancer was quick to put his hand on Lexi''s shoulder as they were all going to get settled into their new amodations. ¡°You¡¯ll be rooming with us, officially at least. It¡¯s the least I promised your grandfather.¡±


    ¡°What¡­ but¡­¡± Lexi started.


    ¡°I would be-¡± Ajax also started but stopped when the archduke raised a hand.


    ¡°I don¡¯t particrly care where it is you actually sleep, in fact I would actually prefer it if I didn¡¯t know.¡± the archduke continued. ¡°But your luggage and official residence will be with House Goldmancer. This will ensure the reputation of both your houses as you are both only courting officially. Not only that but it will also keep the protections house Hearthbound still benefits from.¡±


    Neither Ajax nor Lexi had anything to say to that. Despite there being almost no nobles who actually maintained the same standards when it came to purity and marriage the facade still had to be maintained in public. More than that a simple Baron House hosting a Duke¡¯s granddaughter despite the number of higher ranked or older Houses present would paint a target on them.


    The Gryndor estates were a small district in the noble section of the city. It was highly secure like all other embassies and had plenty of suitable amodations for all of the members of the convoy such that each House almost got their own actual residence as long as they had three or more members present.


    House Hearthbound had barely arrived before Elija, Aurora and Judy all dashed off towards the market looking to get they of thend. Much as their spot on this convoy hade because of Ajax the three had joined in order toy foundations of their international trades as well as earn some serious profit.


    Much like the rest of his family Ajax was also eager to explore the capital city. Unlike their focus on its market he was simply looking forward to the break he would finally be getting here.


    Unlike with their previous dungeon stops Ajax would have a couple of weeks before he would be delving into these dungeons. With the capital being their final destination there was no need to rush through and get moving again so Ajax decided to simply take a walk with Lexi through the city.


    ¡°Is this your first time here as well?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°No, I¡¯ve been here before when I was five.¡± Lexi answered. ¡°Grandpa was finally allowed in the city and he brought me along, I do want to see how different it will seem to me from back then.¡±


    ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t he be allowed in the city?¡± Ajax asked, confused.


    ¡°Most high level mages like that aren¡¯t allowed into such highly popted areas during time of war. Someone like him can charge up a self detonation spell as much as he can and still be sure to survive thanks to a skill however. It took some time after the treaties were signed before he was weed.¡±


    Ajax simply nodded as he let Lexi lead him around the city. Despite her already having been through there once before more than a decade ago the sights were still very much new to her, despite the boost her mental stats granted her the sheer change in perspective from a young child to an adult was enough to make this a whole new experience for her as well.


    It waste in the afternoon when the pair finally stopped exploring the city and went to a restaurant to eat. While Ajax might not have had the upbringing and would have been fine with just having some food from a street vendor as they explored, Lexi did drag him to a more fancy looking ce in the Elven section of the noble part of the city.


    ¡°The wait time for a table is twenty minutes.¡± the hostess informed them as they got to the front of the line.


    The two of them didn¡¯t even have the chance to walk to the side before an elf all but materialized at the hostess¡¯s side. The elf looked very young like almost all of them did but her deep crimson hair gave away that she was well past her prime,bined with the aura around her Ajax knew that she was not only strong but at least half a millenia old.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure you can find them a table Berry dear.¡± the woman said, from the way the hostess¡¯s eyes bulged, Ajax knew they would be getting a table in seconds. ¡°It¡¯s great to see you again Alexis, it feels like only yesterday you and your grandfather were exploring the city.¡±


    ¡°Of course, mdy.¡± The hostess was quick to adjust and didn¡¯t make a scene despite a few drops of sweat being visible on her forehead. ¡°Right this way.¡±


    ¡°Are you staying in the city for a while or just passing through?¡± the elf asked.


    ¡°Ajax here will bepeting in the tournament so we¡¯ll be around Lady Brightash.¡± Lexi responded with a soft smile and a nod of thanks.


    ¡°What was all that about?¡± Ajax asked as they were led away from the entrance to the displeased murmur of some of the others that were in line before them.


    ¡°You don¡¯t see it as much in the kingdom since the king regtes it but how much influence do you think a family who¡¯s patriarch is constantly working on new spells has?¡± Lexi asked him. ¡°Last time I was here grandpa made a deal with Lady Brightash for two spells. And her family wasn¡¯t the only one.¡±


    Despite the king and crown prince of Gryndor being in the city, Ajax just got the distinct impression that Lexi was actually the noble with the most positive rtions among the Republic nobility.

 Chapter 310

    Chapter 310


    Ajax barely dodged the iing sword sh. Much as he preferred his hammer and axe to his sword he did have to admit that swords were the preferential choice for the tournament. Despite his preference to the other weapon type he most often ended up using a sword in his main or off-hand simply because of how versatile it was.


    ¡°Almost¡­¡± His opponent hissed out in a breath as he charged again.


    Ajax could feel his stamina and mana both reaching their limit, he barely had anything left. He couldn¡¯t drop [Mana Syphon] or he would be overwhelmed by the sheer difference in physical movement. This next exchange will determine the fight.


    Ajax used thest of his mana to shoot out a wave of ice looking to freeze his opponent''s feet as well as a bolt of lightning in hopes that the small paralysis would buy him enough time. With the spells thrown out he dashed to the left looking to dodge the tower shield.


    Ajax brought down his sword only to have it parried after a small cut to his opponent''s arm. His hammer was fully neutralized as the tower shield was back in position just in time. Ajax pulled out his final ace as he dropped [Mana Syphon] and threw out a holy purification wave hoping the cursed sh hended earlier would be debilitating enough.


    ¡°AGRHHHH¡± Ajax¡¯s opponent fell to one knee from the spike of pain radiating from his right arm. Despite the pain however the tower shield in his left arm fully blocked off any opening Ajax might have had.


    As the wave of holy mana faded so did the pain it generated and Ajax¡¯s opponent was on the move again. Without his augmented stats Ajax could barely deflect the iing longsword, not daring to attempt a parry out of fear it would overpower him and cut straight through. Three swing was all it took for Ajax to find himself with a sword at his exposed throat.


    ¡°That makes it four to three for you.¡± Ajax let out an exhausted breath as he copsed where he was from theck of mana and stamina.


    Despite technically winning the bout Richard Steelde knew it was simply a false victory. This was training for the uing tournament and despite winning four rounds to Ajax¡¯s three he knew it wouldn¡¯t matter in the tournament. All Richard could do in the first bout of the training session was try and hold out against the onught that Ajax brought out, the sheer number of types and their applications left him simply trying to buy time. The second round had felt much better but that was simply because Ajax had started to conserve his resources.


    In the third round Richard had managed his first victory. He had spent year training his fighting style and his opponent was clearly more used to fighting monsters than humanoid opponents. The fourth round had been the exact opposite of the third where Richard had the lead only to be surprised by Ajax as he took the win. The final three fights were a slow repeat of Ajax bleeding down his resources until he had nothing left.


    ¡°I hope I don¡¯t meet you in the tournament.¡± Richard said as he offered Ajax a hand to get up from where he all but copsed once the spar ended. ¡°I couldn¡¯t do anything against you at the start.¡±


    Ajax just showed a polite smile as he thought of the 1500 mana he had used in that first bout. Physical fighters were simply at a disadvantage in the tournament format, with only one fight a day mages could always recharge their mana and spent their entire pool every single fight.


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    ¡°That was very well done, from both of you.¡± the oldest prince pped as he had been watching the fight. ¡°There are a few things we need to go over but overall a very solid performance.¡±


    As Richard helped Ajax walk off the field he couldn¡¯t help but be amazed. Richard had spent thest decade of his life before the tournament both training and overseeing the kingdom''s open border. During this time he had faced a variety of different monsters that approached from the untamednds but he had also heard stories about the talented prince that was born and as ofte the baron prodigy.


    At first he had believed it all to be an exaggeration but now he thought if anything they had underestimated Ajax. They were both set to delve both of the Republic''s main dungeons but as where he could at best hope to gain +7 in all stats from both Ajax was looking at more than double that.


    The prince gave both of them some general feedback on their fighting style. Despite neither Ajax or Richard using the same style as the prince he was experienced enough to at least see their ws and point them out.


    ¡°Alright, level with me here, what is going on?¡± the prince asked Ajax as he pulled him aside after they left the sparring area.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°I¡¯ve seen you in the dungeons, you don¡¯t get tired that quick so what is going on?¡± the prince asked. ¡°Are you taking it easy on Richard, because you shouldn¡¯t be.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not.¡± Ajax said as he noticed the disconnect. ¡°There simply isn¡¯t any other mana than my own to fuel [Mana Syphon] out here. In the dungeon the concentration is high enough that I can mostly just pull it from the air, even after that I can take it away from the monsters on the floor, he doesn¡¯t have any mana for me to syphon.¡±


    Ajax had been pretty open with what he could do, the only trump card he was keeping up his sleeve right now was Void mana, that said he hadn¡¯t given anyone but the king a breakdown on how his Legendary skill worked and even that had been a brief overview.


    ¡°Wait, so you can just take your physical power from your opponent?¡± The prince was surprised as he pulled out his sword and started channeling mana through a rune that caused the edge to heat up until it was red hot.


    Ajax had figured out what the prince wanted to check so he cooperated and started siphoning his mana directly from the runic spell that was working on the sword. He could feel his body strengthen as his skill drank the manaing from the spell, it was still harder to syphon from an active spell than a mana rich environment but he still could draw quite a lot.


    ¡°He he he¡± the prince chuckled as he released the spell. ¡°Those elves are going to hate you so much.¡±


    ¡°Why is that?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°Because none of the ones they havepeting against you use Earth.¡± the prince said with a malicious grin. ¡°Elves love using their high mana affinity to conjure uprge shields when dealing with physical fighters or spelldes like us. From what I can see however you siphon can draw in more therger the area the spell covers. You¡¯ll bleed their mages dry just running around their shields.¡±


    Ajax couldn¡¯t help but smirk in return. Ever since he headed out for this tournament he had heard that the elves were the ones to beat and that he would be hard pressed to beat their ice princess as he was now. Ajax had intimate knowledge of how ice magic worked and knew he could syphon the mana from conjured ice without issue.


    ¡°This does raise a few issues about the beastkin however.¡± The prince brought Ajax back down as quickly as he raised him up. ¡°I took a look at him and he focused on a number of boosting skills, mana and stamina based. I had thought you¡¯d have no problem ousting him but that might prove to be an issue so you need to look into another way of beating him just in case.¡±


    Ajax couldn¡¯t stop the frown that appeared on his face. He had tried for thest few years to get himself a stamina based boosting skill but none of them had seemedpatible with him. The only exnation the professors coulde up with was that they all ovepped too much with his Legendary skill, despite using a different resource, and that made gaining them impossible. If he was to gain a stamina based boosting skill it would have to be a Legendary one.


    ¡°Anyway off you go, you have to suffer through tonight, and tomorrow you get to enjoy yourself all day on your date.¡± the prince patted him on the back as he led him towards the exit. ¡°The day after that however you get to delve the first dungeon in the capital.¡±


    It was all Ajax could do to stop himself from cursing aloud. He had managed to avoid anyrge noble gatherings since arriving at the capital by always using his training for the tournament as a deflection. That wasn¡¯t to say he hadn¡¯t interacted with foreign nobility but it was always in small groups with Lexi at his side when they went out and to visit.


    Unfortunately this uing feast was in weing the kingdom''s tournamentpetitors and he couldn¡¯t just skip out on a dinner in his honor, much to his chagrin this wouldn¡¯t be the only one he would be expected to attend as another would be held once the elven participants arrived.

 Chapter 311

    Chapter 311


    As Ajax entered therge ball room he was surprised by the variance he could see in attendance at the party. Even after all this time in the Republic he was still used to a more segregated split between the races. This wasn¡¯t out of need but preference since most elves would stick to the elven side of the city, dwarves to the underground and so on.


    While humans were the most numerous at this event there were arge number of noble elves, dwarves and beastkin as well. It was the elves in this mix that really threw him off, since elves didn¡¯t really physically age after their teen years besides their hair color; a lot of the older groups of noblemen simply contained what looked to him like teenage elves with deep hair colors.


    ¡°That¡¯s going to take some getting used to.¡± Ajax mumbled as he walked in with Lexi.


    ¡°I thought you did fine when we met with the elves.¡± Lexi asked as she looked at him confused.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t have a contrast for their age then, it''s odd looking at someone who seems so young and knowing they are the same age as the old man next to them.¡±


    ¡°If it helps, the prince is older than most of the people here and he looks to be middle aged.¡± Lexi said with a teasing smirk.


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t help and you know it.¡± Ajaxined.


    As they made their way towards the center of the room where the other four tournament fighters were waiting Ajax asked another question that had been bothering him. ¡°Howe the republic only gets two spots while both we and the elves get three?¡±


    ¡°It makes the tournament easier to arrange if there are only eight participants. Not only that but since they get a spot in any tournament that happens since they have a border with each of the other races they agreed to only get two spots.¡± Lexi exined. While this might seem like a prettyrge detriment it wasn¡¯t all that big a loss. The prize only went to the winner of each section so they weren¡¯t giving up much by only sending their best and second best representatives.


    Tonight was also the first chance Ajax got to see the Republic representatives in person. Both the dwarf and the feline beastkin looked young, this was almost a given considering their age was only fifty and their levels closing on eighty.


    His eyes however weren¡¯t on hispetition. His sight was drawn towards the next tier ofpetition instead, those under level one hundred. All of these people people looked old, Ajax knew that it was because they had specifically trained and even invested their stat points around being representative champions for their nation.


    Their builds were focused around a fewbat skills that were trained obsessively to increase the amount of power gained within the limited one hundred levels, next was their stats that were less focused on vitality meaning they had a much shorter lifespan and much lower health pool for increased power. With most of them being full mages, Ajax was legitimately worried that a stiff breeze could kill one of them if it managed to make contact.


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    Thest people in the center were the no limit champions. This included the prince as well as the leader of the first and second squads from Gryndor as well as Shadow and an elf Ajax didn¡¯t know from the Republic. These were the true powerhouses and strongest people in their respective nations and people Ajax did not want to piss off until he got stronger.


    ¡°Thank you all foring.¡± An old man joined by a beastkin, an elf, a dwarf and king Gryndor himself loudly announced one Ajax had joined the other tournamentpetitors. ¡°It is our great pleasure to celebrate the best that our nations have to offer in our champions that will be taking part in the tournament. I invite all of you to celebrate and enjoy yourselves tonight.¡±


    Ajax recognised the four with the king as the members of the council that rules the Republic. He also silently cursed the old man about the ¡®enjoy yourselves¡¯ part of his speech. Ajax knew for a fact half the champions would much rather be doing something else tonight than attend a party. This was easy to spot as well as the level one hundred limited champions didn¡¯t have the social skills to mask their emotions.


    ¡°Oh noooo¡­.¡± the princeined as he pulled Ajax and the other two young participants close once they epted their apuse from the guests. ¡°I really hoped he wouldn¡¯t show up tonight.¡±


    ¡°Who -¡± was all Ajax got to get out before the prince pointed all of them towards a table.


    Sitting at the table was a kind looking older man that seemed to draw no attention to himself talking animatedly with the beastkin opposite him. The dog beastkin made for aedic sight as he had numerous empty beer tankards and a chicken leg in each hand as he chewed.


    ¡°That right there is Archduke Goldenmouth, the best politician in the Republic.¡± the prince said. ¡°It is widely known that he is more than nine hundred years old and in that time he managed to get the Legendary [Talker] skill past the level 100 bottleneck.¡±


    ¡°I heard about him.¡± Richard Steelde said as a small shiver ran up his spine. ¡°It¡¯s said that even the best politicians have to constantly be eating and drinking when talking with him so that they don¡¯t identally let something slip.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t care how rude ites off as, you Ajax are not to talk with him without the king or my brother present and by your side, if he approaches you a polite greeting and a hasty exit from the conversation is exactly what you will do.¡± the prince said.


    At first the instruction surprised Ajax until he realized that it wasn¡¯t any of the secrets he was still keeping to himself that they wanted to hide, it was the secret behind his training method. Over the years all the other nations had managed to find out almost all the information behind Ajax¡¯s method to strengthen their young nobles despite all the false information the kingdom spread.


    Thest line of defense the kingdom had used however was that only the children in question were taught how to specifically make their system screen transparent. The information of what they were doing was out there in detail but the linchpin was still secret after all these years because so few people knew it. Considering the ages of the people here Ajax suspected that it was only him, the king, the crown prince as well as Archduke Goldmancer that actually knew the trick and could leak it.


    As Ajax headed off in the opposite direction from the Archduke and towards Lexi he felt [Enigma] activate. He quickly turned towards the direction he felt the inspection skilling from wondering who would be using an inspection skill on him at such an event.


    As he turned his gaze met that of the feline beastkinpetitor. [Enigma] let him know that the inspection got nothing but his threat level, from the confident walk and smirk on the beastkin¡¯s face Ajax couldn¡¯t help but wonder if he was really that strong or if somehow [Enigma] managed to fool his skill.


    ¡°Good, you¡¯re a real threat.¡± the beastkin said as he stopped a foot away from Ajax. ¡°When I heard someone younger than twenty-five was going to bepeting I thought it was a joke but you¡¯ve got the strength to take part. I hope I get to face you in the ring.¡±


    That¡¯s when it clicked for Ajax, it wasn¡¯t that [Enigma] fooled the skill, it was that the beastkin was happy Ajax was strong, he was looking forward to the fight. ¡°You might end up regretting that after we fight.¡±


    ¡°Nonsense, the only thing I might regret is if one of us is knocked out before we get to meet.¡± the beastkin responded. ¡°Win or lose I can tell the fight will be a close one, two or three hundred years from now I¡¯ll be able to im I stood against the monster you¡¯ll be in the ring and put up a fight. That¡¯s an honor I¡¯ll be happy to risk losing for.¡±


    Ajax couldn¡¯t help the smile that broke out on his face at that. He was starting to like the beastkin and could clearly tell that he was part of the faction that was hoping he would be the future war deterrent. ¡°In that case how about we agree to a duel after the tournament if we don¡¯t get to face each other in the ring?¡± Ajax extended his hand towards the beastkin.


    The beastkin champion gave him as strong a handshake as he had felt from a pure mage before showing his race¡¯s enhanced physical prowess. ¡°That just made my night.¡±

 Chapter 312

    Chapter 312


    Ajax woke up with the worst hangover he had ever had in this life or his past life. Archduke Goldenmouth had managed to interject himself into a conversation he was part of and Ajax could actually feel himself slipping up. While he wasn¡¯t normally a fan of wine that was the only thing that was close at hand and he had ended up eight sses deep by the time he had managed to extricate himself from the conversation.


    Ajax frowned even more as he remembered the awkward meeting he had with the Republic''s second representative in his group. The dwarf was the first pure runic caster he had met, unlike the prince who was a spellde he was a pure mage with the power and speed that runes offered.


    ¡°What happened to him?¡± the beastkin asked Lexi after he noticed that Ajax¡¯s demeanour had changed from earlier in the evening when they first met.


    ¡°He had an encounter with the archduke and only the strong wine was close at hand.¡± Lexi exined with an awkward smile.


    Neither of thepetitors seemed to take offence of the fact, in fact the brief look of fear that crossed their faces followed by the pitying look they gave Ajax let everyone know that they knew exactly what he was going through. More than that it seemed that everyone he met at the party afterward seemed to be very understanding of his situation.


    Despite the hangover Ajax was more than ready for the dungeon delve they were going to in the afternoon. Since they were startingter Ajax would only have to fight on the second floor since they were going to camp out before going to the third floor.


    ¡°Howe we haven¡¯t yet held an auction for the rest of the steampunk gear?¡± Ajax asked his sister as they were on their way to the dungeon. Word had gotten out about the unique items their team had pulled out of the dungeon.


    ¡°We¡¯re waiting for the elves to arrive.¡± Judy told him. ¡°Just because their kingdom as a whole is currently hurting for money that isn¡¯t true of their high nobles. More than that because elves are so focused on magic they will ce more value on them.¡±


    It was a cruel twist of nature, despite the elves retaining their physical prime for most of their life they were also naturally inclined towards magic, the few fully physical champions they had throughout the years had all gone down in history, not for their feats so much as for the amount of time they remained active.¡°Do you think you can get me something for them?¡± Ajax asked.


    It was well know that since their entire nation was almost entirely made up of arge forest elves had ess to a muchrger sample and variety of alchemical ingredients, more than that they were vastly different from the ones Ajax could find in the Republic, Gryndro or the Empire since all three were mostly dominated byrge open grasnds.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we¡¯ll be looking into setting up a long term trade route with one of the elven nobles so you can get your roots and leaves.¡± Judy teased him.


    Ajax was ecstatic at the news, with a regr route even if the deliveries were months apart he would have regr ess to what he had previously considered exotic ingredients. ¡°How do you n on setting up a route, we are too small a noble house for that.¡± Ajax was slightly skeptical.


    ¡°With their help.¡± Judy said as she pointed towards the fully grown worm that was curled around one of the elven treehouses. ¡°na and I had both gotten our start by being traveling merchants. Our organization and grandpas are both slowlybining under our noble house. Much as it raised us to a new level na and I are simply outmatched.¡±


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    Ajax now understood the problem, Judy and na weren¡¯t ready to be dealing at that level. While the initial move up had proven useful for their skills as it was a new and challenging experience they hadn¡¯t caught up yet in terms of skills and levels and the novelty has worn off. They were actually being stifled at the top and forced to rely on Elija and Aurora.


    ¡°Any trade route to the elves will have to pass through the Republic as well.¡± Ajax said more to himself. ¡°You and na will be going back to traveling merchants but you won¡¯t simply be going a step back down, as international merchants I feel a few more skills may open up to you.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not all, hopefully with us traveling so far so often we should be able to make a few connections with foreign nobles for our house.¡± Judy said. ¡°It won¡¯t be long until we gain that ducal title after all.¡±


    Ajax knew she was right, it had been six years since Ajax had gotten his Baron title and he knew the king nned on granting him a ducal title in four years. While nobody expected a baron to have connections across national lines, dukes were an entirely different matter. Duke Manashaper was a prime example of a duke who had more political currency than the royal family with nobles of other kingdoms.


    All of this turned out to be too much for Ajax to think about so soon after a night of heavy drinking so he simply rxed and hoped the headache would go away as he got ready to head to the dungeon.


    Unlike the previous two dungeons Ajax noticed that almost all the participants were now fully equipped with enhancement potions, with the jump between floors being only eight levels it was possible that the potion could make enough of a difference for all of them to get one more floor.


    The fifty man procession got a lot of attention, especially with the prince and Shadow leading it and heading towards the dungeon. [Enigma] had gotten a good workout, Ajax had stopped counting the failed inspection attempts on him after he got to thirty but none of them managed to get anything more than his name.


    While Ajax wasn¡¯t as bothered by the attention, not everyone shared his outlook on the issue. More than once a spy had ended up being chased down the busy streets hoping to pass on whatever information they had managed to collect.


    Unlike the other dungeons they had gone to despite the small level gap on the floors, the first floor started with the level thirty-six to forty-one range. All of Ajax¡¯s former ssmates were at the level forty-two or forty-three meaning it took a lot longer than usual to get past the first floor.


    The level of difficulty on the second floor wasn¡¯t that much higher, the boss monsters were only at level forty-nine the number of people who could benefit from them was muchrger and they ended up clearing a good portion of the floor by the time everyone who needed a kill got it.


    It was after they finished with the second floor that the first issue cropped up for Ajax. The arch they decided to use for the third floor was one that was full of metal mana, Ajax was almost sure that it would house metal elementals and even with the help of boosting potions Lexi, Anna, Benedict and Xavier wouldn¡¯t be able to kill a metal elemental at level fifty seven.


    ¡°We¡¯re not using this arch.¡± Ajax approached the prince when they made camp for the night.


    ¡°Why not?¡± The prince was surprised, he wasn¡¯t against using a different arch but he didn¡¯t know why Ajax cared.


    ¡°Too much metal mana in it.¡± Ajax exined. ¡°Metal elementals are a bad match-up for everyone that is down a fair number of levels.¡±


    ¡°And how do you know th-...¡± he stopped midway through his question. ¡° [Mana Syphon].¡±


    It wasn¡¯t a question but Ajax nodded his confirmation all the same. ¡°You just lost me a bet.¡± the prince said.


    ¡°What?¡± Ajax wasn¡¯t the only one surprised. Lexi, Anna, Xavier and Benedict were all still in shock when they figured out Ajax could somewhat determine the theme of the next floor.


    ¡°You got too many nt based floors during your delves over the years.¡± the prince exined. ¡°I bet my brother you had an intuition or a specific dungeon skill to increase your odds. Never thought it¡¯d be something like this.¡±


    Lexi was the first of the others present to react. She quickly stood up, walked over to Ajax and gave him a hug and a kiss. ¡°Thank you.¡± She realized that he was sharing a secret to make sure that she and the others would clear an extra floor.


    ¡°I¡¯m thanking you too but don¡¯t expect a kiss from me.¡± Xavier broke the ice as he patted Ajax on the back. ¡°You¡¯re going to be the most requested person for crafting delves when we get back.¡±


    Everyone had a chuckle at that. ¡°That exins why you were heading for specific arches in the previous dungeons.¡± Shadow grunted. ¡°Though I¡¯ll appreciate it if you can keep us away from wet floors going forward.¡±


    Shadow had noticed how in theter floors Ajax had been heading towards specific arches after finishing thest miniboss even if they weren¡¯t the closest ones. It made perfect sense why now that he knew he could intuit the type of floor they would house even a little.

 Chapter 313

    Chapter 313


    The reveal of Ajax¡¯s ability put all of his former ssmates in a much better mood causing them to try and turn the night of rest between delves into one of celebration. This idea was quickly shut down, just because they only had one more floor to clear tomorrow didn¡¯t mean that others had just as little to do. This didn¡¯t stop Lexi from attempting to sneak over to Ajax¡¯s tent once or twice but the difference in stats and skills meant that she couldn¡¯t take two steps outside her tent without the oldest prince knowing about it.


    ¡°Can¡¯t you just turn a blind eye?¡± Lexi asked as she was led back to her tent. ¡°His tent has a silencing enchantment.¡±


    ¡°No.¡± the prince replied firmly as he pulled open her tent p. ¡°Now go to sleep.¡±


    Lexi huffed as she retreated into her tent. How was she going to get any sleep when she was so excited and happy? The prince simply rubbed the bridge of his nose as he felt a headacheing on.


    ¡°What¡¯s the harm in just turning a blind eye?¡± Shadow asked as he appeared next to the prince. ¡°My sources haven¡¯t told me that Gryndor cares all that much about remaining ¡®pure¡¯ for marriage, well besides a few families.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not the issue.¡± The prince said. ¡°Everyone knows they are together, almost everyone knows they aren¡¯t waiting either. The problem is everyone else with us.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re the best of the new generation, what¡¯s so bad about that?¡± Shadow asked.


    ¡°You heard what is going on with the generation after them?¡± the prince answered with a question.


    ¡°Yes, you¡¯re somehow getting them to hold their points until fifteen before spending them with no drawbacks.¡± Shadow answered. ¡°Care to share how?¡± The prince just gave him a ¡®nice try¡¯ smile at that and didn¡¯t bother to answer that question. ¡°We are, that means that their generation will slowly be surpassed. Maybe not them since they are getting these extra stats but their friends, their siblings. Both Ajax and Lexi will end up leaders.¡±


    ¡°I see the issue now.¡± Shadow nodded. ¡°Ajax was the source of this discovery, it¡¯s what got him his title, and its sess is what would see it upgraded. Some might resent him for it and having sex in the dungeon, during a boost in a foreign dungeon of all times, that could be used against them.¡±


    It was the prince¡¯s turn to be surprised. He knew that it had gotten out that Ajax was the source of the discovery long ago but from the way Shadow talked he was sure of Ajax¡¯s short term path to Duke and that was something that was a closely guarded secret.


    ¡°I¡¯m more worried that his less talented peers will band together against him out of envy.¡± the prince let out a sigh. ¡°He was born amoner, but became a duke. He has more than one Legendary skill. He made more than one discovery. We both know how some members of the nobility feel about people reaching above their station and the less eptable objections they have to him the better.¡±


    The morning after had gone about as Ajax expected it to, when they got to the next arch he was all but interrogated about what to expect from the floor, after all despite them trusting his word they were curious just how urate his ability was.


    ¡°So what will it be?¡± the prince asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Ajax said with a frown as he looked at the arch. ¡°There is a bit of air mana, some life as well, the rest however is all nt.¡±


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    ¡°Sounds like a forest.¡± The prince said.


    ¡°It''s not a forest.¡± Ajax said with surety. ¡°There is no Earth mana I could feel there, at all.¡±


    ¡°That ever happened before?¡± Shadow asked curiously.


    ¡°Yes, a few times. Frozen floors set on ice, flooded floors, even happened upon a floor made up entirely of mirrors.¡± Ajax answered.


    ¡°That can¡¯t have been that hard.¡± One of the younger people with them tried to join the conversation, his words however caused both the older prince, Shadow and the more experienced delvers among them to wince.


    ¡°How bad was it?¡± Shadow asked instead, his serious mood let the others know that such floors were no joking matters.


    ¡°Bad, light elementals mostly.¡± Ajax shared. ¡°Turns out there were shadow elementals too, we lost someone thinking we were safe after we smashed the mirrors underneath us.¡±


    ¡°Should we be going here then?¡± the same person asked.


    ¡°Yes, nt life and wind. All of them should make it easy to get a kill with fire based attacks.¡± Ajax nodded towards the arch. ¡°If this was a normal delve and not a boost I would stay away but nothing there should be a threat to us with them around.¡±


    With the decision made the whole party started walking through the arch. Exiting out the other side however came as a real surprise to most of them, as they swiped the system notification about extra stat points away and came face to face with a long drop.


    ¡°It''s a tree.¡± Ajax whispered in awe as he looked up at the massive tree that stretched out and covered his entire field of vision. ¡°The whole floor is happening on a giant tree.¡± Ajax couldn¡¯t help but wonder if this was what Yggdrasil would look like from up close.


    While everyone else was marveling at the odd floor they got, the two boosters were staring intently at one another, the serious atmosphere slowly spread as everyone slowly backed away from them and towards the arch just in case something happened.


    ¡°Seventy - thirty.¡± The prince said atst, breaking the silence.


    ¡°Too much.¡± Shadow responded. ¡°Fifty - fifty.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s our run and our boost.¡± the prince countered.


    ¡°It¡¯s our dungeon, runs have been halted and postponed for less.¡± Shadow didn¡¯t back down.


    ¡°Ajax led us to it.¡± Ajax felt himself start to sweat as Shadow nced at him when the prince brought that up.


    ¡°Sixty - forty.¡± Shadow finally got out after a long moment of pause. He raised his hand when he saw the prince go to speak again. ¡°And we round in your favor.¡±


    ¡°Deal¡± the prince¡¯s serious face was reced with his usual friendly smile as he extended his arm towards the beastkin.


    ¡°Deal.¡± Shadow said as he took the arm.


    ¡°Alright everyone, sorry about that.¡± the prince said as he turned towards the group. ¡°SOrry for the inconvenience but we will be fully clearing this floor.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t be serious.¡±


    ¡°Well at least it¡¯s an interesting floor.¡±


    ¡°Floors like this are just too rare to pass up I¡¯m afraid.¡± the prince said. ¡°You will be free to keep anything you can get, the only exceptions are any seeds from the tree that can be taken outside. Those will all be collected and retained as a national resource. There are usually twenty to thirty of them on a floor this size.¡±


    ¡°I heard about these.¡± Xavier whispered conspiratorially to his former ssmates. ¡°The seeds are an emergency measure.¡±


    ¡°Emergency measures for what?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°For famine.¡± Xavier answered. ¡°It''s pretty obvious but no matter what if you nt a seed from this tree you won¡¯t get a tree this size.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a good thing,¡± Benedict pointed out. ¡°If you could get it to grow it would be a national weapon. All you have to do is nt it by the border and cut it down while making sure it falls on your enemy. I don¡¯t see what you can do about something like that.¡±


    ¡°The seeds basically dissolve in the soil.¡± Xavier waved away talk of a super weapon. ¡° It takes about a hundred of them to rece an entire kingdom¡¯s harvest. So long as you have the fields and workers you can nt and harvest every farnd in the kingdom in about a month.¡±


    Ajax could see how the seeds weren¡¯t all that valuable to an individual if that was all they were good for. They were too situational even if a noble could use one to massively increase his yield they were more useful as an emergency measure. ¡°Are there seeds that we can¡¯t take out of the dungeon?¡± Ajax asked as his mind fixed on the wording of the prince¡¯s announcement.


    ¡°There should be, why? What do you want those for?¡± Xavier asked.


    ¡°I want to see what they can do in alchemy, from the sounds of it they could be used to amplify the potency of a potion by empowering the ingredients during the brewing process.¡± As always Ajax had his alchemy tools on him as well as a few sets of supplies for some specific recipes he knew well. He was eager to see if he could document a solid result, especially if the kingdom had hundreds of such seeds in its coffers for a rainy day.


    ¡°I suggest we all watch our step.¡± Anna¡¯s serious tone brought their focus to her. ¡°We¡¯re some of the weakest here and while the monsters might not be an issue this whole floor is much like abyrinth, there could be a trap anywhere. Even worse since it''s all nt life the trap might be instinctually smart enough not to go for the first person that passes over it and try to aim for someone more fragile.¡±

 Chapter 314

    Chapter 314


    ¡°Am I going to be fine using fire here?¡± Anna asked as they got ready to start exploring the floor.


    ¡°You¡¯ll be fine.¡± The prince said. ¡°This is a healthy tree not some dried out husk, I suggest you get your fire as hot as you can in hopes of making your enemy catch fire, don¡¯t worry about it spreading.¡±


    Ajax couldn¡¯t help but agree, one other thing however was on his mind as he looked down at all the branches. ¡°What happens if we fall out of the tree?¡± he asked.


    ¡°You die.¡± Both Shadow and the prince answered instantly.


    ¡°What if I have a way to stop my momentum before I reach the ground?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°Won¡¯t matter, besides the fact that you can¡¯t see the limit of the floor and you will smash into it before you reach the base of the tree, it''s not the fall that will kill you.¡± Xavier said. ¡°I mentioned it before but there are detailed texts on this type of dungeon. Once you get low enough on the main trunk of the tree where no more branches grow you will find intense bouts of wind. The lower you climb the stronger the wind will be until it rips you apart.¡±


    That answer left Ajax with an unpleasant visual in his mind, this made him somewhat restless. Luckily enough they soon ran into a perfect outleft for his energy as the team found their first boss. It shouldn¡¯t have been surprising that treents would be a thing on this floor but the hulking wood humanoids were much bulkier than he had originally expected.


    ¡°There, you see that there.¡± the prince pointed behind the Treents and to the side of the arch next to them. ¡°That¡¯s what a seed looks like. Now who wants this mini-boss?¡±


    While the prince was talking Shadow showed his exceptional prowess, all the treents but the miniboss were dissected from top to bottom, more impressively however was that Ajax hadn¡¯t been able to catch a glimpse of his weapons. He had been able to somewhat track him with his eyes as a blur covered in shadow mana dashed through the group but he didn¡¯t see even the gleam of a de.¡°I¡¯ll take it.¡± Ajax offered happy for the fight even though a monster at level fifty-seven wasn¡¯t much of a challenge for him.


    Despite being able to take the monster out with sheer force Ajax wanted to see just how effective fire would be against the nt based enemies.


    ¡°Already?¡± the prince was surprised to see his go first since he usually waited until others had their shot and would take the harder variants.


    ¡°That seed you pointed out, is it one we can take outside?¡± Ajax answered with a question.


    ¡°No, why?¡± the answer came.


    ¡°Because I want to see what happens when you use one of them for alchemy.¡± Ajax said with a hungry smile.


    ¡°How wasteful and greedy can you be?¡± one of the other nobles with them asked. ¡°Those are natural resources and you want to waste them on alchemy?¡±


    ¡°That one isn¡¯t.¡± Ajax pointed out. ¡°I wonder just how much that will help me increase my skills. Would it be less wasteful to leave it behind on this floor?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not what I meant¡­ uh¡± the noble quickly backpedaled.


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    ¡°Fine, go for it.¡± the prince said. ¡°Just don¡¯t make any of your explosive vials.¡±


    Ajax had developed a big fascination with the morebat focused applications of alchemy outside of potions, he had been looking into using alchemy to create sh bangs as well as dynamite.


    Everyone besides his ssmates were quick to give Ajax an extra few feet of space when they heard that. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t do that.¡± Ajax defended himself. ¡°Not to start off with anyway.¡± He followed up as he looked away.


    With all of its friends dead the treent didn¡¯t take all that long to find the group ande charging towards it. Ajax had no intention of trying traditional fire to kill it, it would simply use up too much mana. He instead charged straight ahead and using his axe left a long deep sh on the chest of the treent, the entire gash was filled with magma that quickly started to burn its way deeper while also cooling and forming a crust on the outside that proved to be an inconvenience for the mini-boss¡¯s movements.


    Another thing Ajax quickly noticed was that the treents used mana to move. It was quite obvious when he thought about it since bark while more durable was much more rigid than muscle, he quickly alsotched [Mana Syphon] and the treent slowed down considerably.


    With its movement slowed Ajax quickly got behind it and went to work with his axe, the fightsted no longer than thirty seconds before Ajax turned the treent into arge pile of magma covered kindling.


    ¡°Probably best you don¡¯t take on a treent Anna.¡± The prince said after watching the fight. ¡°With the level difference I doubt you will be able to kill it before you run out of mana.¡±


    ¡°What am I supposed to kill then?¡± Anna asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll find some birds or lizards here somewhere.¡± The prince reassured her.


    That information appeased the fire mage but Ajax was already closing in on the seed. The seed was covered with a thin veil but Ajax still found the basketball sized object a little big for an ingredient.


    ¡°Whatever you do, don''t cut it.¡± Shadow said, when he saw the weird look Ajax gave him he decided to be more clear. ¡°The moment you cut it you will release all its power into the surroundings, the seeds are valuable and contain a lot of energy but they are barely stable.¡±


    Ajax nodded and slowly picked up the seed but he was quickly interrupted by the prince. ¡°Oh no, not now. Put that in your storage ande on, you can y with it once we set up camp.¡±


    For the rest of the day the team focused on clearing as much of the floor as they could. With the prince and Shadow there it went much quicker than a normal floor clear would go and Ajax was pretty sure they had cleared away half the floor already. Out of all the people who needed to get a kill however Xavier was the only odd man out.


    He didn¡¯t have the mages burst potential nor the physical fighters endurance to face a monster that many levels above him, the first fight had been close but he simply ran out of both mana and stamina before he could finish it.


    ¡°Fine, yes we¡¯ll set up the camp so you can y with the seeds now.¡± The prince said with exasperation as he found Ajax looking at him. They had managed to find twelve seeds they could take outside so far so he was happy with it considering they were only halfway through.


    Ajax wasted no time stepping aside and pulling out his alchemy crafting set. This was a newer set he had gotten about a year ago when he outgrew his beginner set and had set him back almost a full one thousand gold coins.


    The first trial he wanted to run was going to be for a rejuvenation elixir. The portions were supposed to restore stamina mana and health and the recipe was one of the most stable ones he knew. Ajax also made sure to use the exact ingredients required with no substitutes, not only that but he wasn¡¯t making a single potion but arge batch of twenty as he wanted to dilute the seed as much as his cauldron could allow.


    The final reason he chose this specific recipe for his first trial was that each ingredient had a separate preparation and they all came together at the same time instead of slowly being added to the mix one after another, that would be the perfect moment to add the seed.


    As the ingredients came together Ajax removed the seeds protectiveyer and added it to the cauldron. He could feel every ingredient soak in the mana the seed practically pulsed as the potion started toe together.


    It was then that Ajax realized there was a small problem. While he realized that the seeds held a lot of power he didn¡¯t take into ount how he would deal with all that power being released into the mixture. It wasn¡¯t a problem at the start as the ingredients were soaking up most of it but once they got all they could take Ajax realized the seed was not only still producing more mana but it was still growing in the amount in released every second.


    Ajax quickly started using [Mana Syphon] to drain the excess mana of the seed while also using his own mana supplies to smother the seed but none of it was enough. It was pure hubris to think that he could control thatrge amount of mana after all it took a hundred of them to revitalize the entire farnd of a kingdom.


    Ajax kept pushing until [Danger Sense] started screaming at him, at that point it was all he could do to kick away the cauldron as he jumped back towards the camp. The lid had been securely ced so the bouncing cauldron drew the attention of the entire camp as they had just finished setting up the tents.


    The cauldron had almost fallen off the wide branch they were on when its enchantments had finally given up and it exploded. ¡°What the hell was that?¡± The prince said as they all watched chunks embedded into the area around them, the most embarrassing one for Ajax was the one he saw Shadow holding in his hand, though he didn¡¯t know if it would have hit someone or not. ¡°I thought I told you no explosive stuff.¡±


    ¡°That was the most stable recipe I knew.¡± Ajax responded in a daze. Despite his expensive cauldron exploding and danger he was in, Ajax was focused on the notifications he received.

 Chapter 315

    Chapter 315


    ¡°If that was the most stable recipe you know how do you exin the cauldron exploding?¡± the prince asked more than a little annoyed at Ajax¡¯s vacant stare.


    Ajax didn¡¯t even hear the prince¡¯s follow up question as his eyes were locked to the change in his status screen. [Sense Mana] grew by four levels, [Expel Mana] grew by three, [Manipte Mana] Grew by three, [Alchemy] grew by a whopping six levels, [Mana Syphon] grew by two, [Danger sense] grew only by one. But these were just the tip of the iceberg.


    The meat of his reward were two Epic skills [Reckless Researcher] and [Unstable Alchemist], while the first one would prove hard to level and won¡¯t show massive benefits in the short term it was something to consider for the long term and his future in alchemy once he started getting ess to ingredients others simply couldn¡¯t get because of the difficulty required.


    His second Epic skill on the other hand was one that was bound to prove useful and see a lot of use straight out the gate. Almost all crafting done with substituted ingredients or inside the dungeon was inherently unstable and the more substitutions made and the deeper you delved the more unstable things got. Ajax would be ecstatic with the gains he sacrificed his cauldron for if this was the end of it. But there was still the crown jewel.


    [Life Aspect Mana]. His first Legendary mana aspect. Ajax had felt the life mana as tried to syphon away as much as he could, not only that but with his senses trained on the mixture he got to see it in action as all of the ingredients slowly absorbed the infusion of life mana. Despite having no previous knowledge on this type of mana from his previous life Ajax felt that he had a solid foundation on which to start exploring thetest addition to his arsenal.


    As great as life aspect mana was Ajax had also gotten a clear showing in why it won¡¯t do much to increase hisbat capacity in the short term. The short answer was his mana pool simply couldn¡¯t support it, sure he might be able to create a few short lived elementals bybining his life mana with his other aspects but the amount of mana he had couldn¡¯t create anything truly threatening at a moments notice.


    In terms of his Alchemy and to a certain extent beekeeping however the sky was the limit. His daydream was unfortunately cut short rather abruptly by a sharp hit to the back of the head. ¡°Did you hear me?¡± the irate prince asked his face two inches away from Ajax¡¯s own.


    ¡°What? No! Oh¡­ sorry.¡± Ajax started startled and ended with a sheepish apology. ¡° Can you repeat the question?¡±


    ¡°I asked : If that was the most stable recipe you know how do you exin the cauldron exploding?¡± The prince took a deep breath to calm down.¡°The seed had too much mana.¡± Ajax said as he reyed and reviewed the brewing process. ¡°Everything was going fine at the start, the problems started once the ingredients couldn¡¯t ept any more from the seed, it had nowhere to go except for ¡­ out.¡±


    ¡°I hope this teaches you a lesson about being more careful in the future.¡± Lexi said as she started examining him for injuries. Ajax could guess how guilty he must have looked from the way Lexi¡¯s expression changed the moment she looked at his face. ¡°Of course you didn¡¯t learn anything from it, because why would you?¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say that¡¯s an urate assumption.¡± Shadow spoke as he brought the shard of cauldron to Ajax. ¡°If I were to guess I would say that the gains he made from this¡­ experience would actually tempt him into doing it again rather than staying away.¡±


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    Lexi felt a shiver run down her back at that and her eyebrows scrunched up as she scrutinized Ajax¡¯s face more closely. ¡°Oh god! I think you¡¯re right, if he could he¡¯d absolutely do it again.¡±


    The words washed over Ajax like a bucket of ice water, not just because he wasted the expensive cauldron but because he now no longer had a cauldron to experiment with any other seeds he had collected.


    ¡°Does anyone happen to have a cauldron they would be willing to sell to me?¡± Ajax asked, he wasn¡¯t shameless enough to only ask to borrow one as he knew very well that anything he might try to brew with a seed would end up exactly the same as this attempt, the sheer practice of using the seed was invaluable however.


    ¡°They don¡¯t.¡± the prince said. ¡°You¡¯re not only the only alchemist here but also the only dungeon crafter, so nobody would have spare tools for you, even if they would be willing to let you break them.¡±


    Ajax had the good sense to look a little embarrassed at those words but he didn¡¯t deny anything, instead he nodded as he made his way to inspect what was left of his cauldron. It was a testament to just how well made the his cauldron had been made when he found the entire one third of it still in one piece. More importantly however there was liquid still inside it.


    The batch he tried to create should have resulted into thirty potions. What little was left in the remains of his cauldron could barely fill up three potion sks but even that was more than enough for him. [Inspector¡¯s Eye] and [Alchemist¡¯s Examination] told him exactly why his skills had grown so much. Spectacr elixir of rejuvenation - level 55.


    Ajax had studied for years and even after all that training the best he had been able to create was Major potion. In the racking it went minor, lesser, in, superior, major, greater, excellent, spectacr and wless. His personal best had skipped greater and excellent andnded all the way at spectacr. He knew that his skill had nothing to do with this and that it was the overflow of mana but it was still technically his creation.


    More importantly however was the reason why his creation was Spectacr, like all other Spectacr creations it had a unique attribute courtesy of the method in which it was created, for his elixir that was something his skills told him was overgrowth. His elixir wouldn¡¯t trigger the usual potion restriction, this meant that he could empty his mana out four times in a row since he could down them one after another. It was such a shame they couldn¡¯t be brought out of the dungeon for they would definitely have been useful for the tournament.


    ¡°Hey Xavier.¡± Ajax called out as he started carefully recovering the small amount of liquid inside the ruins of his cauldron. ¡°I think I have a solution for your fight tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°You want me to drink something that not only exploded but did so in a violent enough manner as to tear apart a cauldron created for dungeon crafting?¡± Xavier asked skeptically. ¡°Did you by any chance hit your head when you jumped away from the explosion.¡±


    ¡°He didn¡¯t, I checked.¡± Lexi cut in. Unlike the prince she had full faith in Ajax¡¯s assessment. ¡°How good are they?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re my first spectacr creation.¡± Ajax said with pride.


    ¡°Spectacr!¡± Lexi cheered. ¡°That¡¯s like three whole tiers better than your previous best!¡±


    ¡°What is the extra effect?¡± Anna asked she also closed in to congratte Ajax. A born merchant she knew very well that while all Spectacr creations were valuable, certain effects were simply better than others.


    ¡°Overgrowth.¡± Ajax answered.


    Most people didn¡¯t react, it was a rare effect, one exclusive to alchemy so it was normal that even most of the elite nobles wouldn¡¯t know of it. The prince and Shadow however joined Anna in widening their eyes and locking their sight on the vials.


    ¡°Those elixirs¡­ they don¡¯t trigger the¡­ potion cooldown.¡± Anna said mechanically before she recovered. ¡°It¡¯s too bad you can¡¯t take them outside but I still think they would go for a fair amount even here.¡±


    While the rest of the nobles might not know what overgrowth was they all knew exactly what having a refill of their stamina and mana could mean inside the dungeon. Those three little vials could make the difference in whether they cleared an extra floor or not.


    ¡°Thank you so much for the offer Ajax.¡± Xavier quickly turned around on his previous stance.


    ¡°I thought you didn¡¯t want to drink my explosives.¡± Ajax threw him a shit eating grin.


    ¡°That was just a joke, how could I insult you like that?¡± Xavier didn¡¯t even stumble showing his social skills as he went with the flow.


    ¡°You can peddle your ware tomorrow for now all of us need to get some sleep. We have the rest of the floor to clear and the rest of the delve to follow it.¡± the prince said as he waved everyone back towards their tents. ¡°We¡¯ll discuss the gains you made from this after the dungeon.¡±


    Ajax nodded to the second part that was whispered only to him. He had followed along with the prince and quickly moved the conversation away from his gains. Unlike before he didn¡¯t fear discussing his newly gained skill with the royal family or even his friends, that didn;t mean that he was willing to go yelling about his new Legendary skill however.

 Chapter 316

    Chapter 316


    Ajax had a lot to think about as hey awake in his tent unable to get to sleep. The most painful thing for him was the wasted opportunity when it came to the seeds, if he had another cauldron he could have tried different ways of infusing part of the seeds since it didn¡¯t matter how much waste there was as they would be worthless after the delve anyway.


    His next biggest worry was just how useful was this Legendary mana aspect. Unlike his [Mana Syphon] that could passively boost hisbat ability by leaps and bounds in the dungeon or against mages, Life affinity came with a cost. So long as he was using it to amplify his own healing the gains weren¡¯t massive but there was some improvement.


    When it came to actually creating life Ajax barely managed to create a ringer sized Earth golem for around fifty mana. That might sound impressive, and in terms of entertainment maybe it was, but this golem had the same strength to size ratio as a human meaning it could do almost nothing, more than that the life mana ran out in about a minute. He was clearly going to mold his future fighting style around this but the tournament was too close to make anyrge changes now.


    For his two new Epic skills Ajax currently faced the same problem as with the seeds, he simplycked the tools to try them. Unlike the seeds however both skills had clear pathways and both will have their moment to shine in the future.


    One big upside to a Legendary mana aspect was that despite its rarity, because of its power it was almost a sure fact that it had been previously studied and the kingdom would be able to give him a starting point for it. WIth that positive thought Ajax finally fell asleep.


    ¡°What do you want for the three vials?¡± Anna wasted no time the following morning once Ajax was awake.


    ¡°You want to buy them?¡± Ajax sounded confused since there was no way Anna could do another floor even if she used a boosting potion and all three elixirs, the level difference would just be too big.


    ¡°I want to sell them for you.¡± Anna said. ¡°This is a perfect opportunity to push my skills in a way that my father¡¯s fortune won¡¯t diminish the difficulty.¡±


    ¡°I see now.¡± Ajax caught on quickly. ¡°I want my cauldron reced once outside.¡± Anna winced at the initial ask. The cauldron would be very expensive and just three elixirs that had to be used inside this delve would have trouble gathering such an amount. Once she thought about it a little more she smiled however as this would be the perfect challenge to push herself against future noble powerhouses.


    ¡°I¡¯ll try my best.¡± Anna said as she took the three elixirs, she kept true to her father¡¯s number one rule : ¡®never promise unless you are sure you can deliver¡¯.


    While Anna got to work getting Ajax a deal on those elixirs he fully joined in the floor clearing effort. It came as almost no surprise that Xavier bought one of the elixirs very quickly and got his mini-boss kill out of the way, everything became a lot simpler when you had a lot more mana and stamina to burn.


    As the floor was finally finished and Shadow was doing a finalp to make sure no seeds were missed, Ajax started on his new idea for using the seeds. Without a cauldron to somewhat control the release of mana and without the ingredients to soak up the initial release the seeds were going to be unstable almost as soon as their protective film broke.


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    Without anything to lose Ajax simply stood on the edge of the tree next to the regr earth water wind and light arch Ajax had identified as a good option for a regr floor. From there he would break open the seeds and then use both [Mana Syphon] and [Manipte Mana] in hopes of dying the explosion. For the first seed Ajax had only held on to it for two seconds after opening it up before he dropped it off the tree where it exploded and released a potent wave of Life and nt mana.


    Despite Ajax trying his best to get a feel for the nt mana he could only barely feel it as an afterthought after the seed detonated, he couldn¡¯t get so much as a hint of it while the seed was in his hands. Ajax theorized that this was because the nt mana was in the core of the seed. By the time he got to the twentieth seed his time had improved considerably from two seconds all the way to seven.


    ¡°Are you seeing any results?¡± Both the prince and Lexi got close after he dropped histest seed.


    ¡°Not much,¡± Ajax admitted. ¡° The first time I was able to keep a hold of it and direct the mana for a lot longer, doing this seems almost pointless inparison. The only reason my time increased so much is because I am working out a puzzle on how the seed tries to explode and I patch it up for a bit first.¡±


    ¡°Then why do you keep doing it?¡± Lexi asked.


    ¡°I thought about giving it up after the third one.¡± Ajax exined. ¡°But then I realized that it was affecting me.¡±


    ¡°Affecting you how?¡± Both the prince and Lexi stepped closer.


    ¡°You both know how I discovered curse mana.¡± Ajax went off on a tangent instead. ¡°I was constantly siphoning it from the air until it built up inside me.¡±


    ¡°Are you trying to do that with nt mana?¡± Lexi sounded worried. ¡°You should really stop, unlike curse mana, nt mana has a very real physical element: you could be growing things inside your own muscles.¡± Of course she had insight into nt mana, Ajax made a small mental note to bring Lexi in on the experiments with life mana from the start.


    ¡°It¡¯s not the nt mana.¡± Ajax said. ¡°That¡¯s too deep inside the seed, it onlyes out when it explodes.¡±


    ¡°Then, the life mana?¡± Lexi gasped a little since she knew that was a Legendary mana type.


    ¡°Then you should definitely stop.¡± the prince chimed in. ¡°Unlike curse mana, life mana won¡¯t poison you but it also won¡¯t go away. You¡¯ll keep gathering more and more until you explode just like a seed.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what I also thought would happen until just before I dropped the third seed.¡± Ajax nodded.


    ¡°What changed?¡± The prince threw up a privacy veil seeing that Ajax had no intention of stopping messing with the seeds.


    ¡°If I was absorbing the mana like I usually do in a fight that might be the result.¡± Ajax continued. ¡°But just like with the gates I can pull the mana a lot better if I have direct contact with what I am siphoning. This also changes the entrance point so that all the mana enters my body through my hands.¡±


    ¡°That would be too much for you.¡± Lexi said with confidence as she had been training with him for years now. ¡°I felt how much mana you are pulling your channels can¡¯t hold up against that much.¡±


    ¡°No they can¡¯t.¡± Ajax agreed. ¡°But they also wouldn¡¯t just burst, since the mana is still being spread throughout my body it''s just moving around my body slower than I bring it in my channels it just forms cracks.¡±


    ¡°That might be a good way to reinforce your channels but you are doing too much too quickly.¡± Lexi said as she took his hands in hers.


    ¡°No he isn¡¯t.¡± the prince said as he looked towards Ajax with an odd look that bordered on admiration. ¡°The life mana does nothing to him because he is in perfect health, if his channels crack the life mana would then start working to repair those cracks.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re increasing the strain your hands can take when charging mana!¡± Lexi eximed, she even covered her mouth after the shout in embarrassment and looked around to see if anyone heard her, forgettingpletely about the privacy barrier.


    ¡°That will certainly help in the tournament.¡± the prince chuckled. ¡°Is there anything else you need?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, more cauldrons.¡± Ajax said a little dejectedly. ¡°While this might still be useful it is still a wastepared to what I could have used them for. Also Lexi after you exit the dungeon on the next floor see what you can gather for me on life mana.¡±


    Thisst piece of information causes both Lexi¡¯s and the prince¡¯s jaws to drop. Lexi was the first to recover as Ajax caught her in a hug and a kiss as she excitedly cheered ¡°You got a Legendary mana aspect. I¡¯ll see what I can find, though grandfather alwaysined that it was very mana intensive to try anything other than healing with it.¡±


    ¡°This certainly exins the look on your face after the cauldron exploded.¡± with that the prince dropped the silence barrier as they all moved to join the other as they made their way to the next floor. Ajax still kept hold of about ten more useless seeds since he could y with them anytime before he left the dungeon.

 Chapter 317

    Chapter 317


    For the next few floors the entire team pretty much took it easy. The prince and Ajax decided that there was no use in going for the more exotic floors when they didn¡¯t have the equipment to take advantage of it so they focused on getting as normal of a floor as possible.


    One thing Ajax noticed over time was that on average a floor became more valuable as the number of many types on it decreased. There were of course exceptions to the rule like the garden floor he had found back in the empire but on average that was a good sign.


    ¡°So we should focus on floors that have a mana or two dominating the spread?¡± The prince asked.


    ¡°No,¡± Ajax corrected him. ¡°You can find a floor that is 90% water, and 8% air, if you can feel another dozen mana types mixed in that won¡¯t be a good floor. If you find a floor that has a four way split of 25% that''s the floor you want, with as little variety as possible. As a side note I advise avoiding floors with over 50% water mana because you may end up on ake floor.¡±


    ¡°The simple fact that you can guarantee no floor will be one of those flooded ones is something that will make you a staple of any crafter''s delve.¡± the prince chuckled as he thought the idea through.


    Just like before there were hardly any people left when they got to the arch leading to the final floor of the boost. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± the prince asked as Ajax frowned after he touched the arch.


    ¡°There is a mana type that I don¡¯t recognise.¡± Ajax exined.


    ¡°Is that unusual?¡± Shadow asked, curious just how wide a breadth Ajax had.


    ¡°No, I mostly have a feel for what things rte to but there are a lot of mana types out there. The odd thing is that this time it takes up 40% of the floor, and I can¡¯t seem to connect it to anything I know.¡± These situations should show less and less as Ajax¡¯s spectrum got wider but he had noticed that certain affinities don¡¯t show up until certain levels and he barely had any delves that went into the high nies.¡°I say we go for it.¡± The prince said. ¡°There are plenty of other mana types so there should be enough things you can kill there and getting more information for you is valuable. Not to mention that I doubt there is anything that would pose a challenge for me on such a low floor.¡±


    It was easy to forget with hisid back attitude but the prince had over one hundred levels on everyone in the dungeon besides Shadow. Ordinary people died by the time they got to level sixty, soldiers on average died at level eighty, nobles averaged level eighty-five. High nobles like dukes and royals averaged level one hundred and ten. The highest bracket was actually retired adventurers, they died around level one hundred and twenty five, but they were all veterans who survived centuries as adventurers so it wasn¡¯t a fairparison.


    As everyone stepped onto the next floor Ajax could feel the wrongness of the mana in the air. Much like how curse mana felt unpleasant this mana type felt much worse than that. Ajax knew there was no chance he would be using a syphon on this floor.


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    ¡°So that¡¯s the mana you felt.¡± Shadow said as he took a deep breath.


    ¡°Gods damn it.¡± the prince cursed. ¡°An undead floor.¡±


    ¡°Undeath?¡± Ajax asked. ¡°That must be the mana I didn¡¯t recognise.¡±


    The prince¡¯s eyes shed wide as he turned to look at Ajax before he rushed over to him. To Ajax it almost looked like the prince teleported to his side as he leaned in close. ¡°Whatever you do, don''t syphon the mana on this floor.¡± The prince whispered.


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t nning on it.¡± Ajax was firm. ¡°The undead mana feels wrong to me.¡±


    ¡°This isn¡¯t like the curse mana you could y with before.¡± the prince shook his head. ¡°Undeath is a Legendary mana type, not only that but unlike curse mana if any of it enters your body it will slowly start to increase by itself. Even with holy mana you can barely purify it down to a decay mana that is resistant to holy. You¡¯d need li-¡± The prince stopped before he finished the words.


    Ajax realized what they were, however, he¡¯d need life mana to undo any damage undeath did to him. But he did have life mana, that said undeath was the first mana type Ajax encountered he categorically wanted nothing to do with. He knew even if he had a perfect affinity with it and by some miracle got the skill he still wouldn¡¯t use it, his body¡¯s rejection to the mana type was that strong. It did lead him to wonder if that had anything to do with the Life man skill he had recently gained.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get through this quickly.¡± Richard spoke up. ¡°I heard too much exposure to such a high concentration of undeath mana is very bad for you.¡±


    ¡°We will be out of here in four hours at the most.¡± the princemanded. ¡°If you haven¡¯t gotten your kills in that time, too bad.¡±


    ¡°You should also make sure that any undead creatures don¡¯t scratch, bite or spit on you.¡± Shadow added. ¡°They are known for spreading their mana type.¡±


    The forest they ended up in had plenty of decayed trees, worse than that however was the fact that their enemies seemed to be undead animals. Unlike the usual ghouls, undead wolves still maintained their pack mentality, this added on to their toxic ws and jaws made them a nightmare for normal delvers.


    Much as they disliked the undeath mana aspect it was universally agreed as one of the best aspects to get for a boosted floor. Unlike most zombie movies Ajax had seen back on earth the undead monstrosities here actually suffered from the amount of muscle and flesh that they were missing. Sure the level ny-seven wolf alpha he was squaring off against had toxic ws and fangs but he was also missing half the muscture on one of his front legs making him wildly unbnced.


    Ajax didn¡¯t even hesitate as he took out one of the three seeds he had remaining and after destabilizing it threw it at the wolf. He had gone through with the idea so fast that he hadn¡¯t even had time to hear the prince yell at him not to do it.


    The explosion from the seed turned the wolf into a massive version of itself three times its previous size with none of the flesh missing. He didn¡¯t have a chance to notice anything else about it as a massive pir of fire obliterated the area as the prince dropped on top of the creature impaling its head with his spear.


    ¡°What were you thinking?¡± The prince asked Ajax.


    ¡°I thought the life mana would hurt it.¡± Ajax said, still in shock at the wolf¡¯s transformation, he was under no illusion that he could actually take on the enhanced wolf in singlebat.


    ¡°Life and undeath mana mirror the rtionship that curse and holy mana have but you got them mixed up.¡± The prince calmed down once he saw Ajax''s surprise at the result and exined. ¡°But here undeath mana is the one that counters life. Life mana gets corrupted by undeath mana. If you are infected with undeath mana you have to first purify it, then cut away the area before you can regrow it with life mana. Simply adding life mana will actually make the undeath mana spread faster.¡±


    Ajax very much took that lesson to heart. For his next opponent he chose to stick with the undead despite having the option of fighting a normal flying bird mini-boss. This fight turned out very differently as Ajax focused and infused holy mana into his weapons for the first time. His strikes were devastating to the undead stag. Each blow would purify sections of the beast turning the flesh from undead to simply rotten dead meat.


    Everyone was keeping a good distance from Ajax after he finished off his fight however. ¡°If you wouldn¡¯t mind staying downwind from me please.¡± Shadow said from a distance, his sensitive nose reacting to the stench that the purified undead had also spread to Ajax.


    When the team exited the final floor they had no trouble getting out from the busy area of the dungeon, in fact they were all but escorted out of there will haste seeing as the entire team smelled of the final undeath floor.


    ¡°Get yourself cleaned up and then after that bring your grandfather and Lexi, we have a few things to discuss regarding your recent gains and revtions.¡± the prince said to him.

 Chapter 318

    Chapter 318


    Despite the parting words impling speed was of the essence Ajax was sure nobody wouldin if he spent a good amount of time washing the stink of undeath off himself. His usual bathing routine took only fifteen minutes but Ajax had to go through it five times before he finally felt like the smell was gone.


    ¡°You finally came out.¡± Judy greeted him as he entered theirmon room after he got dressed. ¡°What were you doing in there?¡±


    ¡°Undeath floor.¡± was all Ajax said and both Elija and Aurora winced.


    ¡°I think it''s best that he took his time.¡± Aurora said catingly. ¡°You haven¡¯t yet had to deal with any merchandise thates from undeath but trust me when I say you want to make sure it''s properly packaged.¡±


    ¡°It took us weeks to air out the shop.¡± Elija shuddered at the memory.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t bring anything back from that floor did you?¡± Anna asked.


    ¡°No, the prince was very clear when he said that even if we found something we were to leave it there.¡± Ajax confirmed. ¡°Speaking of the prince he requested my presence tonight, as well as grandfather¡¯s and Lexi¡¯s.¡±


    ¡°That can wait a moment.¡± Judy said. ¡°What is this I hear about you blowing up the cauldron we found for you?¡±


    na and Judy had searched the capital thoroughly to get his dungeon crafting cauldron that should have been able to handle anything he would need for the next half a decade or so. Neither had imagined the kind of things Ajax would be willing to toss in there however. ¡°I managed to make enough with it to get it reced.¡± Ajax quickly defended himself as he pointed to the cauldron he saw next to Anna, she had quickly gotten the new cauldron ready in the two days Ajax had been inside the dungeon.


    ¡°Is this about¡­¡± Anna looked around warily since they had no silencing enchantments on the room. ¡°The other use of your skill?¡± She had been there when he revealed what [Mana Syphon] could do to floor arches.


    ¡°That and some things I found out while on that tree floor.¡± Ajax answered and Lexi just nodded as she knew what a big deal his Legendary mana aspect was. ¡°I think we can all go as you¡¯re all going to learn about what''s being discussed anyway.¡±


    The group quickly made their way to the royal family¡¯s amodations. The guards looked surprised to see all of them but they said nothing as they let them pass and the maid waiting by the entrance led them inside.


    The embassy had a room that while much smaller than Gryndor¡¯s throne room filled much the same purpose, it was here that they were all received. As the group entered, Ajax took note of who was present.


    The king and both of his sons were in attendance. The entirety of squad one as well as Xavier¡¯s mother and future queen were also there, all people he expected to be present. Besides them there were two people he didn¡¯t expect, one of them was Xavier, the other he didn¡¯t know yet.


    ¡°Thank you foring so quickly, Baron Hearthbound.'''' The king weed him. ¡°I am sadly familiar with the aftermath of an undeath floor.¡± Both Ajax and the king¡¯s oldest son still had wet hair from their recent bathing.


    ¡°Your Majesty.¡± Ajax bowed politely followed by everyone else who came with him.


    ¡°Pleasee take a seat.¡± he offered as the entire party moved to sit down at a ratherrge round meeting table that was set up. ¡°My son has brought forth lots of exciting news following what was supposed to be a regr boost delve. Before we go any further however I don¡¯t believe you have my good friend and royal treasurer.¡±


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    The man in question took the que as he approached Ajax and extended his hand. ¡°Lord Percival Vaultmore, it is a my great pleasure to meet you Baron Hearthbound.¡±


    Ajax shook the man¡¯s hand. ¡°Is the name a coincidence or?¡± Ajax asked as he took in the man.


    ¡°I would like to think of it more as a self fulfilling prophecy.¡± Percival quipped. ¡°But I am the first in my family to hold this position and have always had this name.¡±


    Ajax got a good first impression from the man though he would still be a little wary since he wasn¡¯t sure if he had a skill for that or not. With the introductions out of the way however everyone except squad one took a seat at the table with Ajax sitting close to the king.


    ¡°Let''s start with the simplest issue,¡± the king offered. ¡°The seeds collected from the tree. We were able to gain twenty of them. They will all be taken to the royal vault, but I was informed that you attempted to use them in alchemy, to some¡­ well I wouldn¡¯t call it an outright sess but some results.¡±


    ¡°I have some brief documentation that I wrote inside the dungeon after my attempt but it is something I will need to go overter as they are just notes at this point.¡± Ajax said as he produced a small stack of papers.


    ¡°Would you mind us making a copy of those?¡± one of the members of squad one asked.


    ¡°Not at all.¡± Ajax said as he offered the notes.


    ¡°I will have to advise that the seeds not be used for alchemical experimentation, Your Majesty.¡± Percival jumped in. ¡°Despite the recent gain they are very rare and when they are required we use them inrge numbers.¡±


    ¡°Rest assured Percival, I have no intention of using the seeds in our treasury for experiments.¡± the king said. ¡°Their rarity however may not be asrge an issue anymore. The second topic would be your ability to predict the type of floors that are hidden behind the different arches.¡±


    ¡°That is not, strictly speaking, correct, Your Majesty.¡± Ajax answered. ¡°I do have the ability to feel the mana types present inside the arches, which corresponds to the mana present on their floor. I do not know what form that mana takes.¡±


    ¡°If that is true how did you enter an undeath floor?¡± one of the members of squad one asked with suspicion.


    Ajax didn¡¯t exin and instead summoned a small amount of maic mana in his palm. ¡°What kind of mana was that?¡± he asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± the man answered with a frown.


    ¡°It is the same in my case. While I could feel the undeath mana before entering the arch it was also the first time I came across undeath mana so I didn¡¯t know what it was.¡± Ajax exined. ¡°What I can say is that I will no longer be going onto those floors in the future.¡±


    ¡°And is this ability something you are looking to keep for your own House?¡± the king asked.


    ¡°I am sure we will be able toe to an understanding regarding my grandson¡¯s presence in helping more than just our house when ites to favorable floors,¡± Elija said. ¡° Any research into more urately predicting the exact floor based on the mana types in the arches however is something I will keep for our own house. Should we find more skills capable of perceiving mana in the future that is something we will be keeping to ourselves.¡±


    Ajax was pleasantly surprised at the interjection. Despite the well maintained poker face Ajax could see a little sweat form as Elija was suddenly the center of attention. Ajax had never even thought about such an option. He knew he could continue to keep the ability for himself alone but he stood to gain a lot more by sharing it with others since that meant more delve slots. When the eyes turned back to him Ajax simply nodded in support of his grandfather.


    ¡°That is an agreeable offer.¡± the crown prince said.


    ¡°But Your Highness.¡± Percival tried to interject.


    ¡°Noble houses are allowed their secrets in our kingdom, Lord Vaultmore.¡± the crown prince talked over the treasurer. ¡°Now there are of course exceptions when the benefits are too high to allow one house to hoard them all, a good example of this would be the training method Baron Hearthbound shared for increasing stats during a child''s youth.¡±


    ¡°Being able to predict the next floor of the dungeon is something I would argue is on the same scale as that, husband.¡± Xavier¡¯s mother said.


    ¡°It most certainly is.¡± the crown prince agreed. ¡°However they don¡¯t have a way of sharing the method. We all already know it¡¯s a Legendary skill. Keeping research regarding such a skill a House secret is within their prerogative.¡±


    Both the treasurer and the future queen nodded at that exnation. Ajax felt his own insecurities regarding secrecy rise up at the way the conversation had gone but he pushed them down, he knew they were simply looking out for the kingdom¡¯s best interests.


    ¡°This brings us to thest topic of the evening.¡± the king said. ¡°Percival, I¡¯d like to thank you for your presence here but this final topic doesn¡¯t concern the treasury.¡±


    Ajax wanted to disagree with that statement. From what he had seen with the seed he theorized that life mana could be used in alchemy to help create massively improved potions that would then be stored in the treasury. He said nothing however as all that was still conjecture and guesswork and simply watched as Percival took his leave.


    ¡°It is with great surprise and my heartfelt congrattions that I say this, Ajax.¡± the king said after Percival left. ¡°You have gained a fourth Legendary skill, not only that but [Life Aspect Mana].¡±


    Almost everyone in the room stared ck-jawed at Ajax. It seems that the king was informed in private about histest achievement so only Lexi, the king and his oldest son were the only ones not surprised by the news.

 Chapter 319

    Chapter 319


    The more experienced people recovered a lot quicker, Elija, Aurora, the crown prince as well as his wife broke out of their shock almost as quickly as it hit. The four of them had known the seeds weren¡¯t a big enough reason to set up the meeting and the floor guessing hadn¡¯t been focused on enough to be the focus of the evening. Xavier and a few non-politically inclined members of the first hadn¡¯t even picked their jaws up even after a good few seconds.


    ¡°I have.¡± Ajax confirmed the king''s words. ¡°That particr floor made for a particrly eye opening experience.¡±


    ¡°The first of many I hope.¡± the king said as he waved his hand and a stack of notes appeared out of his ring. ¡°Unlike [Mana Syphon], [Life Aspect Mana] is not only a skill we have heard about before but as a mana aspect one that has been studied in depth.¡±


    Ajax¡¯s eyes were drawn to the documents. He instinctively knew they held information that would speed up his training with his newest mana type tenfold. Ajax was surprised to see the king pass the papers not to him but to the crown prince, the meaning was clear to him. So far Ajax had mostly interacted with the king and his oldest son as members of the royal family, it was finally time to set the foundations for a rtionship with the future king as well.


    ¡°It is our custom to try and educate any Legendary skill owner on the use of said skill.¡± Despite the entire situation being a clear surprise the crown prince instantly shifted gears, beginning his exnation to Ajax as he skimmed the papers for any information he may need right now. ¡°Do you know how many Legendary skill users there are in our kingdom?¡±


    Ajax stopped to think for a moment. He was almost positive the king¡¯s oldest son had a Legendary skill, it was the only way he would be able to even fight on the same level as Shadow. Next he obviously knew about the squad captain that had the stamina draining empowerment as well. With him and maybe one more hidden user Ajax was fairly confident in his guess. ¡°Four or so?¡±


    ¡°Not a bad guess.¡± the crown prince nodded. ¡°However the actual number that we know of is ten.


    ¡°There are ten people like Uncle?¡± Xavier asked, sounding as shocked by the answer as Ajax felt. He quickly covered his mouth as he realized what he had just exposed. ¡°Sorry,¡± he offeredmely.


    Despite the slip-up nobody was worried about it, they had thoroughly investigated the characters of everyone present at this meeting and they knew none of them would cause an issue with the knowledge.¡°While all people who gain a Legendary skill are extremely talented, you can break them into three different groups.¡± The crown prince kept the discussion on topic despite the outburst. ¡°The ones who are driven, the ones who are desperate and the ones who are both.¡±


    Ajax knew he clearly fell in the first category. ¡°The first and the third category sadly make up less than half of the people.¡± the crown prince continued. ¡° Those whoe by them out of desperation usually find themselves stalling as the power of the skill eases the pressure that caused its creation.¡±


    Ajax now realized why his guess had been so far off the mark, difficulty and danger were weighed heavily by the System but of those who barely made the cut to gain such a skill how many would be willing to push even close to those same skills to their limits in the pursuit of more power.


    ¡°Over half of our Legendary skill users wallow in mediocrity.¡± the crown prince sighed. ¡°Nevertheless we always strive our best to help those who look to push further. We are finally in a position to help you with at least one of your Legendary Skill.¡±


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    ¡°Before we begin on the skill itself, is there anything you can share about how you got it?¡± Xavier¡¯s mother asked with a small frown as she was reading the same information her husband just skimmed over.


    ¡°I gained the skill from experimenting with the seeds.¡± Ajax started as he continued with a short retelling of how his alchemy experiment started. ¡°When the seed started to release a lot more mana than I knew what to do with I started siphoning it. The exposure and understanding from the experiment granted me the mana aspect as well as two Epic skills.¡±


    ¡°What skills?¡± the king¡¯s oldest son butted in with enthusiasm at the new information.


    ¡°[Reckless Researcher] and [Unstable Alchemist].¡± Ajax had no reason to hide them. ¡°Both are sure to be pirs of my future progress in alchemy.¡±


    While his brother all but lost his interest at the answer the crown prince was jumping for joy on the inside, with these skills it was finally reinforced that Ajax wouldn¡¯t just be dropping alchemy after he squeezed it for the levels it would grant him and he would instead be a very talented crafter as well, more than that a crafters path was one the royal family was more than capable of helping one walk down.


    ¡°That does exin the anomaly.¡± the future queen said.


    ¡°What anomaly?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°We have records of six previous users of your Legendary skill in our history.¡± the crown prince answered. ¡°Three elves, one human, one beastkin and one dwarf. Five of them were also nt casters while the dwarf was an earth caster, all six of them however were ritual casters.¡±


    Ajax understood now why he was the anomaly, thinking it over in fact he recognised that rituals were in fact the perfect way to take advantage of Life mana. Regardless if one used runic or chanted magic ritual magic offered the same advantage to both. In exchange for increasing the minimum amount of mana used for each spell to an insane degree it allowed for a spell to be cast over multiple sessions or by multiple casters, giving the caster or casters time to recharge their mana andunch a final spell with a lot more mana than their entire mana pool should allow.


    ¡°That perfectly leads into the first issue I ran into with life mana.¡± Ajax piggy backed off the idea and took out a few pebbles he had brought in preparation for this example. As he used his new Life mana with just a touch of Earth mana to fuse the pebbles into a small golem that moved around by itself. ¡°Even something as simple as this golem took three hundred mana.¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t match with your fighting style one bit, what was the System thinking?¡± the king¡¯s oldest son all but shouted in outrage.


    ¡°It does seem less than ideal.¡± the crown prince said more politically. ¡°That said, I do hope this information does help with your progress.¡± he pushed the paper towards Ajax. ¡°They mostly outline generalities and any weaknesses we have found, once we return home more specific details that we have on any of their spells will also be made avable to you.¡±


    Ajax now understood why the information was so limited to a few pieces of paper. This was simply the barebones information they had on how to counter a life mana used that the king had on him in case he ran into one that was aggressive. He now looked forward to what more specific knowledge the kingdom had back in the royal library.


    ¡°Is something the matter?¡± the king asked as he saw Ajax¡¯s frown deepen more and more as he quickly read through the information.


    ¡°There is no mention here of alchemy.¡± Ajaxined, there were pages here used to describe how life mana could lie dormant before activating in ntlife leading to many unexpected ambushes but nothing on what Ajax had experienced during his crafting. ¡°Not even as a side note.¡±


    ¡°Attempts were made.¡± the king answered. ¡°Unfortunately any invigoration or infusion didn¡¯t persist through the crafting process and any spell used during the process interfered with the alchemy. The process unfortunately does not work.¡±


    Despite not having anyone who had a life aspect mana skill there were one or two spells left over that talented mages could cast with enough practice. The king had previously attempted to have them increase the quality of ingredients for his alchemists with life based spells but none had worked.


    ¡°It does.¡± Ajax said with conviction. ¡°It worked with the seed. What little remained of the elixir maintained the benefits of the life mana the seed released. It may be that infusion does not work without disturbing the alchemy however by simply adding the life mana it would be naturally absorbed during the brewing.¡±


    ¡°To do this sessfully, at least for anything more than the most basic of potions, you would not only need someone with the skill to generate the pure life mana that has no direction but you would also need them to work in perfect unison with the alchemist so as to not disturb them.¡± one of the squad mages said.


    ¡°Or you would need the alchemist to add in the life mana themselves.¡± Ajax answered with a grin.


    ¡°As excited as I am about the results I am sure you will produce, could I ask that you focus on the uing tournament for the time being.¡± the crown prince interjected. ¡°In the following three weeks you will have the final and main dungeon of the Republic to delve, the elves'' arrival and their weing ball. The tournament will start in less than a month.¡±

 Chapter 320

    Chapter 320


    Ajax took the king''s request to heart as he fully focused onbat for the uing tournament. More than that however he also focused on gathering as much information as he could about his future opponents.


    It came as no surprise to find out that of the eightpetitors Richard would be the only physical fight and he was the only hybrid fighter. At this point mages simply had an advantage that was hard to beat in a tournament setting.


    As for the mages, Ajax was pretty sure that he wouldn¡¯t have to worry about thest of Gryndor¡¯s representatives making it out of the first round so he discarded him. That left him with one rune caster dwarf, a close range caster beastkin and three elves. A fire mage, a wind mage and the ice princess.


    Ajax was pulling out all the stops for this. Winning here would most likely give him ess to five more dungeons so that was a boost he wouldn¡¯t be passing up. His delve in the Republic¡¯s main dungeon was as straightforward as boosts ever got. The prince wasn¡¯t willing to risk anything so they moved from one forest biome to an open field and back again the entire way. Ajax still gained the +11 to all stats from the dungeon even if the level one hundred final mini-boss didn¡¯t feel all that challenging as the one he fought months ago back in Gryndor.


    More than that Ajax even made sure to take some extra potions for another twenty stats that became avable from his dungeon gains he was squeezing every once of power he could.


    <strong>Name</strong> : Ajax Hearthbound


    <strong>Level</strong> :51


    <strong>Experience</strong> : 120790/133000


    <strong>Traits</strong>: Divine Witness, Baron<strong>Health</strong>: 3650/3650


    <strong>Mana</strong>: 3680/3680


    <strong>Stamina</strong> : 2980/2980


    <strong>Vitality</strong> : 365


    <strong>Strength</strong> :323


    <strong>Endurance</strong> :298


    <strong>Dexterity</strong> : 323


    <strong>Intellect </strong>: 368


    <strong>Wisdom</strong> : 368


    <strong>Mind</strong> : 368


    <strong>Perception</strong> : 298


    <strong>Stat Points</strong> : 0


    Besides his Alchemy skills there wasn¡¯t much change to his skills from before the start of this trip but his stats got a solid upgrade. Even with all that Ajax couldn¡¯t help but feel a bit down about how close he was to another level up. So close yet he knew that there wasn¡¯t enough time to push the rest of the way there.


    ¡°Why so serious?¡± the king¡¯s eldest son asked him as he joined him on the training ground. ¡°Don¡¯t worry I¡¯ll show you how it''s done before you get out there.¡±


    Ajax had been shocked to his core to find out that the main tournament was just the opening act. It made sense once he thought about it a bit more but the fact that the champions would be the first to fight to warm up the crowd seemed absurd.


    ¡°It won¡¯t be much of a show for most people¡± Shadow had told him when he asked. ¡°Unlike the two limited brackets, champions do have to hold back to ensure they don¡¯t kill their opponent and start a war. More than that however the fights are simply too quick for the spectators to properly take in.¡±


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    Thinking about it that way it made sense why the main tournament wasn¡¯t the main attraction for the spectators. If the champions were the warm-up the youngsters were the antre. Their fights would be the easiest to follow but would still be grounded in a level of power that was normal as far asmon people were concerned.


    The level one hundred bracket was the main attraction. Unlike both the champions and youngsters thepetitors here weren¡¯t the cream of the crop geniuses. They were dedicated fighters who molded their entire build around fighting in such a tournament, from the low amount of skills taken so they could be pushed further to the low Vitality investment to increase their power. Ajax wouldn¡¯t have been surprised to hear that thosepetitors could actually delve twenty-five to thirty-five levels up inside dungeons had they been allowed.


    ¡°Did you find out if any of them have bonds?¡± Ajax answered the smug prince.


    Bonds were allowed to participate however they weren¡¯t offered the same protection as the participants, meaning they were fair game when it came to getting killed. For that reason most youngsters wouldn¡¯t have any with them as the risk didn¡¯t match the rewards, at their age getting a strongbat bond was too hard and taking in a subpar one would be a liability as the bacsh from the bond being killed would take out both.


    ¡°The dwarf has a mole and the beastkin a mountain lion.¡± The prince got serious when he provided the information. ¡°Both are below level sixty so they won¡¯t be making an appearance.¡±


    ¡°What about the elves?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°We¡¯ve heard nothing, but they only arrived yesterday, there is still a week until the first round takes ce.¡± The prince shook his head. ¡°We¡¯ve got a party to go to tonight.¡±


    Ajax groaned at the reminder, he wished he could skip the entire event. One thing he knew for sure was that he would take extra care to make sure Archduke Goldenmouth didn¡¯t corner him again, he could already feel the hangover headacheing on just from thinking about it.


    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t be like that.¡± the prince patted him on the back so hard he almost sent him face first in the dirt. ¡°Parties like that are great fun, besides the Archduke will mostly be focusing on the neers.¡±


    ¡°If you say so.¡± Ajax said half heartedly as he turned to walk away and get ready.


    ________________________________________


    ¡°Are you sure you want toe?¡± Ajax asked his sister as he, Lexi, Anna and Judy were getting ready to enter the pce.


    ¡°You might have convinced me to mix one chance at making connections with a foreign country but no way I am passing up the chance where there are two of them.¡± Judy gave him a slight re.


    ¡°It¡¯s your funeral.¡± Ajax mumbled.


    ¡°What was that?¡± Judy still caught his words.


    ¡°I said stay away from Archduke Goldenmouth.¡± All three girls chuckled as they remembered what happened to Ajaxst time the Archduke was involved.


    For the first time ever humans weren¡¯t the majority as Ajax entered the massive ballroom. While they still had a solid representation it was clear that less people showed up tonight from their convoy and a lot of elves were present.


    Different from thest party was also the fact that Ajax wasn¡¯t thest of the tournament participants to show up, none of the elven champions had arrived yet with the exception of their main champion. A seven foot tall elf with wide shoulders, gray eyes and pitch ck hair. Much like the first time he saw Shadow, Ajax didn¡¯t need to use his inspection skill on the elf to know not to provoke him. Tempted as he was to try and inspect the elf however Ajax knew better than to set that precedent at the party.


    It didn¡¯t take long for the beastkin champion to find Ajax and attach himself to the group. The closer the tournament got the more excited the feline beastkin became. The group moved around the room together greeting all the relevant parties while making sure to not get too entangled in the conversation.


    A quiet fell upon the room however when the elvenpetitors arrived. Ajax¡¯s attention however was quickly taken by the first old elf he¡¯d ever seen. Despite looking as old as Archduke Goldmancer the elf with hair that was such a deep shade of blue you¡¯d think it was ck stepped forward with pride and confidence.


    The elf was one of the level one hundred participants and despite Ajax having killed level one hundred mini-bosses he wanted no part of fighting the elf, at least not yet. The elf met his eyes across the room and Ajax felt a deep desire for him to live long enough for them to have a fairly matched fight.


    ¡°Woah¡± Judy eximed as she switched Ajax¡¯s focus from the old elf to thest participant that was escorted by the elven king.


    The ice princess had to be the most beautiful woman Ajax had ever seen. It shocked him for a moment before he shook himself out of it. Ajax made sure to squeeze slightly on Lexi¡¯s hand. Despite the initial shock Ajax still preferred thepany of his girlfriend and didn¡¯t want her feeling self conscious.


    ¡°Hrrr.¡± the beastkin purred slightly. ¡°I guess it¡¯s true what they say about ckthorn women.¡±


    ¡°ckthorn?¡± Ajax was sure the family name for the royals was Sylvian.


    ¡°Her mother¡¯s side.¡± Anna exined in a whisper. ¡°The ckthorns were a notorious bandit group that raided both elven kingdoms at the time of the split. They were nomadic and powerful enough to survive for a few thousand years until they backed the correct family in a coup and had their crimes forgiven and a ducal title granted for their support.¡±


    ¡°They were also known for stealing some of the women of the ces they raided.¡± the beastkin chimed in but he still hadn¡¯t taken his eyes off the princess. ¡°As the old saying goes ¡®the ckthorns didn¡¯t bring back the ugly ones¡¯.¡±

 Chapter 321

    Chapter 321


    Arianwyn Sylvian P.O.V.


    The Republic is nothing like I had expected. Despite there being ample representation of the other humanoid races in Sylvanthal they aren¡¯t enough to even form a minority, here however all four of the humanoid races live with bnced representation.


    The firstrger settlement had shocked me with their different districts but nothing could prepare me for the capital. Unlike the other ces we had visited the capital had a multitude of districts each split up in their own little districts of elven, dwarfish, human or beastkin architecture. For all of its beauty two locations still drew my attention like nothing else.


    ¡°No.¡± my father said as he let out a sigh.


    I had made sure to mask my interest, he didn¡¯t even have to look up to know that I was nning to sneak into the dungeons. ¡°Fine,¡± I answered with a pout.


    I couldn¡¯t bring myself to add another problem to the pile my father was working through. Much as he had always made it a point to speak with respect of my grandfather in front of me, I had managed to overhear him a few times when he didn¡¯t know I was listening.


    For all of his good qualities he had been afraid to let go of his power at the end. He held on to the crown even as his aging mind was diverging further and further away from reality. He had thankfully retained enough of his faculties as to not spoil the rtions with our neighbors but he hadn¡¯t just blown the vault of the royal treasury open, he had left a crater in its floor as well.


    ¡°I¡¯ll look into getting an expedition together for you after the tournament, princess.¡± Aranor Starfury said. Father¡¯s right hand man and our strongest warrior. ¡°We still have a few maps that lead to dungeons stranded out past civilization.¡±


    The promise put me at ease while also flooding me with excitement. I hadn¡¯t been allowed to leave the safety of our borders until now, I had asked in the past but I was always told I needed to grow stronger, that anything could happen out there. A dragon could descend and kill everyone. ¡°Thank you.¡± I offered before rxing back in thefort of the carriage. ¡°Has there been any unexpected changes with the tournament?¡±


    I had spent thest year going through the right of passage. Every ckthorn goes through it the year before they turn fifty, while I was technically not a ckthorn they were more than happy to make an exception for the princess not to mention my mother was the daughter of the duke. With the tournament falling so closely I had to go a bit sooner but that left me devoid of any recent information on the tournament.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Aranor surprised me. ¡°It seems the humans have called in a rather shocking favor. They spent thest few months delving into all four of the Republic''s dungeons.¡±


    ¡°They did what!?¡± I shouted. Despite my yell it wasn¡¯t anger that fueled it, it was jealousy. I wanted something like that. If we weren¡¯t in such dire financial straits I would have happily traded anything I won in this tournament for such an opportunity.


    ¡°At least we finally know what that cked out favor was.¡± Father said as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. He was under so much stresstely, I was seriously worrying about him being the first elf to develop frown lines before the final aging started.


    ¡°Maybe the humans will at least put up a challenge.¡± The previous information had told me that the only person I should be worried about was the Republic¡¯s melee caster. He was a true prodigy and someone I had spent countless hours preparing a various number of counters for.


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    ¡°Arrange for a meeting with Xandor.¡± Father said as he opened his eyes and drew his hand away from his face. ¡°He¡¯s here and it would be good to get a feel for what he is nning.¡±


    ¡°Why do you think he is nning something?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Because apparently their training method isn¡¯t a bluff.¡± father said. ¡°It makes no sense to call in their favor for this generation when the next one will outstrip them. Unless he needs them to be stronger for something.¡±


    I spent the rest of the trip to the embassy in silence. Fighting with the small amount of guilt I felt. Despite how the news seemed to worry and stress father I couldn¡¯t help but be happy that the humans were stronger. They might make it interesting for me, I had always had problems finding worthy opponents in my age group and the problem only escted as I got older.


    _________________________________________


    ¡°Pleaseeee¡± I tried a final attempt at getting father to budge as we were getting ready to walk into the ballroom.


    ¡°No.¡± his answer was the same. ¡°You are to not engage Archduke Goldmouth under any circumstances.¡±


    I loved events like this one almost as much as I enjoyed fighting. I had to have gotten it from my mother''s side but I simply enjoy confrontations. It doesn¡¯t matter if they are handled with words or with spells. To think that it all started with the simplest of bullying.


    Back home more than one of the noble families that had made the transition and offered fealty to the new rulers my mother¡¯s family had helped crown had always disliked me. Exining that to a four year old who was upset aboutments made about her was difficult however so mother taught me to treat it like a game I could win, and win I did.


    The moment we entered the ballroom my eyes were drawn to the other tournament participants. Shadow was the first one I focused on, he and Aranor were the benchmark I was trying to surpass. One was the strongest person in singlebat and the other the most feared ace up his nation''s sleeve.


    ¡°Why did he dye his hair?¡± I was surprised as I finally turned my eyes to thepetitors in my own bracket. ¡°More importantly why is an elf fighting for Gryndor?¡±


    Among the Gryndor representatives had to be one of the most built elf I had ever seen, his shoulders were far too wide. His hair covered his ears and the ck coloring made it seem like he was hundreds of years old instead of fifty but he could only be in my bracket since I already knew everyone else there in the other brackets. But there was no way to hide the ageless features of an elf.


    ¡°He¡¯s not an elf.¡± Father said as he noticed who I was staring at.


    ¡°What is a human who put more than one thousand points in Vitality doing in thispetition?¡± I asked bewildered, he¡¯ll be crushed.


    ¡°I intend to find out.¡± Father said as we separated, he was going to join the other high nobles as I took my own spot among the celebrated participants.


    Curious as I was to get to the bottom of who that human was and why he waspeting I made no move to approach and confront him. It took no time at all to notice just how much he disliked being here, much as I like a verbal spar. It was no fun beating someone that was so far outssed.


    ¡°Wee, princess.¡± Shortly after the participants disbanded I was approached by a young elf who looked to be about my age. ¡°Though I suppose you¡¯d feel more wee if you came uninvited during the night and fled by morning leaving chaos in your wake.¡±


    A quick look at the House sigil prominently disyed on the elf¡¯s suit exined his hostility. He was part of the few noble houses who fled to the Republic during the rebellion. They would have a grudge not only with my family but with the royal family as well.


    ¡°I¡¯m not quite sure what you mean, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve been in the Republic before.¡± I say as innocently as I can and I watch his satisfaction grow. ¡°After all, I wouldn¡¯t be a coward who runs from my home when troublees.¡±


    I delight in the way the smile drops from his face. Despite managing to keep the blood from rushing to his face I still notice the way his vein is throbbing in anger at the insult. ¡°If I could borrow you for a moment princess.¡± Aranor pulls me away.


    ¡°Aaaww¡± I tease Uncle Aranor. ¡°It¡¯s just like you to ruin my fun.¡±


    ¡°My mistake, princess.¡± The tone in his voice tells me I made a mistake teasing him. I''m as excited to find out why as I am dreading my uing defeat. ¡°And here I had assumed you''d be interested in Baron Hearthbound seeing as you may end up fighting him in a few days.¡±


    I never heard of Baron Hearthbound before but it isn¡¯t hard to make the connection. ¡° What can you tell me about him?¡±


    I¡¯m surprised to see Aranor drop the joking demeanor. ¡°He¡¯s human, around level fifty but his stats and power surpass anything we can expect from that. He¡¯s a hybrid fighter who at only twenty-three years of age has managed to defeat a level one hundred mini-boss inside the dungeon.¡±


    My jaw drops, for the first time in a decade, as all my willpower is focused on keeping me from scanning the room so I can zero in on the human. He¡¯s better than me, sure I may have defeated a level one hundred and ten mini-boss and cleared an extra floor but I didn¡¯t do that at level fifty. More than that I was barely forty at age twenty-three. I want to fight him, all the years I was called a genius and now I finally get a chance to fight someone who now only makes me feel like I don¡¯t deserve the title, but is so far ahead that he belongs in a ss of his own.

 Chapter 322

    Chapter 322


    While Ajax did his best to keep to himself as much as possible throughout the evening there were members of his little group for whom that was very much not the case. Both the beastkin and Xavier all but made a beeline for the elven princess not long after the presentation was done.


    Seeing them approach Arianwyn kept her guard up but was hoping for a pleasant interaction. While she normally would have maintained an air of superiority both of the people approaching her were at her level in one way or another. The beastkin was the second favorite to win his tournament and Xavier was the son of the crown prince that would be taking the throne in a couple of decades at the most.


    ¡°Greetings princess.¡± They both greeted her as they approached.


    While Xavier also went on to greet the other elven participants as they were still children of high ranking nobles the beastkin solely focused on the single elf he saw aspetition. This annoyed both of them but they were in no position to say anything about it, both had fought him in previous matches in thest decade and the beastkin had beaten them soundly.


    The two royals quickly burnt through the small talk about the woes of traveling to the tournament before the first dangerous question was lobbed in like a grenade by one of the two elvenpetitors. ¡°How was running the dungeons on your way here, your highness.¡±


    The conversation fell silent, all of them waiting for Xavier¡¯s answer. Gryndor not only hadn¡¯t bothered keeping their delving secret, they had all but advertised it to everyone else. While all the nations knew the peace treaty Gryndor and the Republic had made had a big favor cked out they were all suspicious, them calling it in would calm things further.


    ¡°Everyone made substantial gains.¡± Xavier answered diplomatically after a brief silence. Normally Xavier wouldn¡¯t be so on edge about the question but during those delves they not only gained more than a handful of giant tree seeds, but Ajax had revealed his ability to narrow the scope of floor designs and gained a Legendary mana affinity. ¡°I¡¯m looking forward to what I suspect would be an entertaining tournament.¡±


    At the mention of the tournament, the princess¡¯s hand went to her belt, almost as if reaching for something. Xavier did notice the action but thought nothing of it. ¡°It is most definitely shaping up to be an interesting tournament.¡± The beastkins eyes narrowed into slits as hispetitive spirit bore down on the princess. ¡°I am sure it will be one that will be remembered for a long time.¡±


    The princess was a bit surprised at how quickly the beastkin went from 0 to 60. She had known that unlike her cold calcted andposed fighting style the beastking was more of a berserker. He would charge recklessly using his family''s signature close range spells to devastating effect.¡°I should have guessed, you battle nut.¡± one of the elves shook his head disparagingly.


    Despite both being exemry fighters neither of the elvenpetitors enjoyed fighting. For them fighting had always been a chore, something that was part of their responsibilities and they just happened to be skilled at. It was the reason why princess Arianwyn was cordial but not actually friends with them. ¡°I¡¯m guessing you are hoping to face the princess in the finals?¡± the other elf chimed in. ¡°To make it poetic.¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter when we fight, only luck can determine the order.¡± the beastkin replied with a ferocious smile. ¡°But if I were to choose I wouldn¡¯t want to meet her in the final.¡±


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    ¡°Are you really so impatient as to hope we fight in the very first round?¡± the princess asked, slightly insulted at hisck of forethought and unwillingness to scout an opponent.


    ¡°Not the first. The second.¡± the beastkin replied. ¡°Much as I would like to get two rounds to pick apart your style, there is someone in this tournament more shrouded in mystery than you and I put together. I would save him for the final.¡±


    ¡°So he¡¯s not just a stunt.¡± the princess murmured as she turned her gaze back towards Xavier. ¡°I do have to admit that the change to your roster to bring in somebody younger than twenty-three was surprising.¡±


    ¡°He came as a surprise to me too the first time I met him.¡± Xavier said as he thought back to when he first started at the Academy. ¡°Back then he was still a nobody, not in terms of talent or power, just recognition. People used topare my talent to you actually princess, when he showed up that spotlight just fell off me.¡±


    ¡°Clearly your people were wrong, I haven¡¯t heard much about your talent and Her Highness was renowned throughout the kingdoms at your age.¡± the elvenpetitor spoke up.


    ¡°Oh I wouldn¡¯t be quite so sure.¡± Xavier said with a small smile. He had a lot to be proud of, despite being two years younger he had already gotten to the point where his spars with Lexi or Anna could go either way. Considering the advantage pure mages had at lower levels it showed that his hard work over the years at the Academy had also paid off. ¡°Ajax is just simply on a different level.¡±


    ¡°That almost sounded jealous.¡± the princess said with a smirk as she recognised in Xavier the samepetitive drive she had.


    ¡°Oh I was.¡± Xavier admitted. ¡°For longer than I¡¯d like to admit, even now there is a small part of me that hopes he doesn¡¯t beat the odds to win this whole tournament. It took my uncle months before he got me to stopparing myself to him.¡±


    ¡°That sounds exciting.¡± the princess said with the first true smile she had worn all evening, though it was indistinguishable from the practiced one. ¡°I¡¯m looking forward to this tournament even more. It was a pleasure to meet both of you but if you¡¯d excuse me I do have to go greet our host.¡±


    It was at this point in the evening that Ajax could finally withdraw from the event. He had managed to avoid most of the politicians this time around and had kept a solid twenty feet between himself and Archduke Goldenmouth.


    The final week passed in a whirl as all of the participants focused on consolidating thest few gains they had made. Inside the small training courtyard of Gryndor embassy two men shed covered in sweat.


    ¡°That bad, eh?¡± Ajax said after he knocked Richard off his feet and ced his axe at his throat for the sixth time since they started.


    The most recent dungeon had gone to expand the gap between the two fighters but even that wasn¡¯t enough to ount for theck of concentration Richard was showing.


    ¡°He was the worst match-up I could have gotten.¡± Richard heaved out as he thought back to the announcement that was made two hours ago regarding the drawing. ¡°The only worse match-up for me in the entire tournament is you and we can¡¯t fight in the first round.¡±


    The tournament brackets had been pretty much forced the moment the first pick was made. With the first match selected being Richard and the Republic¡¯s beastkin, the other three matches had the elves split up amongst the remainingpetitors.


    The beastkin¡¯s hopes had ended uping true as princess Arianwyn had drawn Gryndor¡¯s second representative as the other spot in the first half of the brackets. This left Ajax along with the Republic¡¯s dwarven representative each facing their own elf on the other side of the brackets.


    ¡°I know you won¡¯t lose in the first round.¡± Richard said as he stood back up but made no move to get into a fighting stance. ¡°But you better beat the dwarf and gain a spot in the finals at least.¡±


    ¡°You worry about your own match.¡± Ajax answered, more sure of himself as he knew that he actually countered every single mage to some extent thanks to [Mana Syphon]. ¡°You¡¯re also aiming too low, I don¡¯t just n to make it to the final. I n to win the whole thing.¡±


    While Richard was in a bad mood, Gryndor¡¯s final representative was in an even worse state. Unlike Richard who would at least have a chance to get a lucky strike on his opponent who would being in close, the fire mage was going up the most prodigious ice caster in thest few thousand years. He knew for a fact that he was going into the fight down in levels, down in mana aspect tier, and if rumors were to be believed down in terms of skill as well.


    ¡°How much are you nning to show?¡± the king whispered to Ajax the following day as they were heading towards the arena.


    ¡°As much as it takes to win.¡± Ajax¡¯s answer was short and full of conviction, it brought a smile on the king¡¯s face.

 Chapter 323

    Chapter 323


    Being one of the participants Ajax got a really good seat to watch as the main tournament got underway. The first match would see the king¡¯s oldest sonpeting with one of the elven champions. All three elves were mages, as they were naturally inclined towards magic. The Republic was fielding a hybrid in Shadow and a mostly physical fighter in a dwarf. Besides the Prince Gryndor was fielding a mage and a mostly physical fighter in the leader of the first squad.


    ¡°What are the expectations?¡± Ajax asked as he took a seat in Gryndor¡¯s section of the stands.


    ¡°We got lucky with the draw.¡± the crown prince said. ¡°Neither Shadow nor Arnor picked my brother or the leader of the first. All four matches should be fairly one sided.¡±


    The discussion cut off there as the prince walked onto the sands decked out in his ck gear mired in colorful runes. His opponent looked almost equally impressive as Ajax¡¯s mana sense could feel the enchantments all but bursting from his gear. Most eyecatching however was that this mage wasn¡¯t wearing a mouthguard.


    ¡°I thought all mage¡¯s wore mouthguards?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°Not once you get [Chanting] past 75.¡± Xavier answered. ¡°There is an upgrade there that lets you shorten the cast by skipping words. It not only removes the need for mouthguards but also makes hybrid chanters viable.¡±


    For the sake of fairness the start of the fight was marked with a thrown stone. Neither fighter could do anything before the stone hit the ground but both tensed in preparation as the announcer threw it up in the air. Unlike the other tournaments this one didn¡¯t have referee¡¯s and would be taken on good faith of the participants and the people actually able to see what was going on.


    The moment the rocknded on the ground Ajax didn¡¯t even get to hear the sound it made as the prince sprung into action. Ajax felt a good number of the runes on his armor light up as he pumped them with almost as much mana as Ajax had in his entire mana pool. Ajax''s eyes could barely track the ck blur that charged towards the elf, yet he could keep focused only on the prince.


    The elf had already started chanting the instant the stone hit the ground. Independently from that however he also mmed the butt of his staff into the group. Everyone in attendance was forced to cover their ears from the sonic attack despite the dampeners and protective wards that surrounded the field. This was the first time Ajax saw such a pure sound based attack. The initial vibrations seemed to be powerful enough that they managed to stop the prince in his tracks. Slowing down Ajax could once again make out the details of the armor adorning the prince¡¯s body as different runes activated. Oddly enough however while Ajax could tell that different runes were activated he saw the same ones light up. Was this a defensive measure, was this an advanced runic formation. He didn¡¯t know what to think.


    Whatever it was it clearly seemed to have worked as the prince was once again on the move, the distance between the two fighters less than twenty paces now. Ajax was actually starting to worry about the amount of mana the elf was chanting as it was closing in on twice his mana pool.


    Unfortunately the elf wouldn¡¯t get a chance to use it as a shadow spike took him in the shoulder. The attack hade from behind the elf and Ajax hadn¡¯t even felt the mana being sent out by the rune when the prince first started his charge. The surprise attack from behind wasn¡¯t enough to end the match but it was more than enough to let the prince skewer the mage straight through the stomach with his sword.


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    Just like that the match was over. It could have hardly been more than a few seconds since the start. Ajax had barely been able to process everything he was seeing and that was with [Sense Mana] at seventy one and almost three hundred points in Perception.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Xavier had, unfortunately for himself, closed his eyes when he covered his ears in reaction to the sound attack and missed the rest of the fight. ¡°Is it over already?¡±


    ¡°It is, son.¡± the crown prince nodded.


    ¡°But he didn¡¯t do anything.¡± It was a good thing there was a privacy barrier around the royal family''s balcony or Xavier''s observation would have been very rude.


    ¡°I told you before, the oue of these matches are all but known.¡± Xavier¡¯s mother chided him. ¡°The mage was clearly banking on his big spell as his only way of victory, he just didn¡¯t get to cast it.¡±


    Healers were inside the arena in moments, they healed both the shoulder and around the sword while the prince was slowly pulling the weapon out of his opponent. The elf didn¡¯t seem to be all that bothered by the wounds anymore, clearly some form of pain nullification skill or spell, if anything he looked as bothered by his defeat as Xavier was to have missed his uncle''s whole fight.


    Once the wounds were patched up everybody cleared the field of the arena. It took barely any time at all as the arena not only started to mend itself but was actively changing theyout of the field. Gone was the sandy diator field, in its stead there were two small hills separated by a small river.


    ¡°How does that work?¡± Ajax asked as he started at the field.


    ¡°We don¡¯t know.¡± the king answered. ¡°And the damn council refuses to share.¡± Clearly he was a little peeved about that.


    Once the arena finished establishing itself the second set ofpetitors stepped out onto the field. Despite winning the first match everyone in the royal family¡¯s section could only look at the two figures with helplessness. Gryndor¡¯s magebatant stood on one of the hills staring across at Shadow, the beastkin was this time covered head to toe in leathers so ck they seemed to draw in the light.


    Much as the prince was all but sure to win this next fight Ajax was pretty sure Shadow had even better odds to win his match. ¡°This won¡¯t be pretty will it?¡± Ajax asked as he looked out at the field.


    ¡°No it won¡¯t.¡± The king¡¯s oldest son had managed to already make his way to the seating. He was now out of his armor as he was finished for the day but he looked just as serious as he observed the match.


    As the referee threw the stone into the air Ajax watched bothbatants tense up. As soon as the stone plopped into the water however, Shadow¡¯s figure dispersed like a mirage. Ajax wasted no time as he pushed every one of his sense and detection skills to their limit yet he got nothing in return. If he didn¡¯t know for sure this wasn¡¯t the case he would have thought that the Shadow standing there second before was an illusion that was simply dispelled.


    Unlike almost everyone in the stands the mage already started chanting and quickly released a weak fire nova. The idea of trying to locate the assassin was clear. As the nova was halfway across the arena Ajax¡¯s senses were finally able to pinpoint something, more than that however they managed to find two things.


    The first was a dagger that went straight through the fire nova and headed towards the mage at a speed Ajax wasn¡¯t even able to track. The second however was Shadow as he dashed straight through the fire nova before once again dissolving into thin air.


    The mage had managed to use his staff¡¯s defensive enchantments to swat the knife out of the air but he hadn¡¯t managed to do anything else in the brief moment Shadow was visible. Undeterred by the first failure the mage quickly chanted and released a second nova.


    ¡°It¡¯s over.¡± Ajax barely heard the prince¡¯sment as he felt Shadow appear once more, this time much closer to the mage at the edge of the nova. More surprising than that however was the fact that Ajax was sensing a decent amount of mana being expended by Shadow. He estimated it to be around four hundred which was a pretty big chunk to use all at once for a mainly physical fighter.


    In the next instant Shadow wasn¡¯t on the edge of the nova, he had appeared from the mages own shadow as his dagger left a stter of gore on the burned grass as it cut six inches deep into the mages shoulder.


    It was only now that Ajax actually noticed the mage¡¯s shadow had elongated. Whatever magic Shadow had used clearly needed there to be a direct path through the shadows, so it wasn¡¯t direct teleportation but it was obviously a close second.


    Ajax had barely gotten the chance to think that mages seemed to be as disadvantaged by this format as they were in the youth tournament before the prince not only guessed his thoughts but brought them up short. ¡° Mages do just fine, you¡¯ll get to see it in the next match.¡±


    The next match would have the strongest elvenpetitor, the one who was favored to win the whole thing taking the field against the physically focused dwarf.

 Chapter 324

    Chapter 324


    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 likest time all of the damage the arena had taken disappeared as the scene was reced with arge 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 te. More than that Ajax could feel that the te was very thick as he could feel an extrayer 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 icence 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 thews 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 icence 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 dy spells you finished chanting for a few seconds.¡± Lexi added more detail. ¡° For each time the chant ispleted again during that dy 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 sess 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 thest one also be so straight forward?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± The king answered. ¡°Proud as I am of my son¡¯s aplishments 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 thest 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 te 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 ce. ¡°Not the worst option.¡± the kingmented 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 itnded 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 nt 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 oue 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 nt 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 exined. ¡°A favorite of nt and puppeteer mages, it works extremely well inbination 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 daggernded 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 nt 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 dered.


    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.

 Chapter 325

    Chapter 325


    In a shocking surprise for Ajax the spectators cheered a lot louder for Richard and the beastkin as they took their ce in the arena than they had for any of the previous matches. He knew the reason for that was that this match wouldn¡¯t be over after thirty seconds of people blurring around and they could actually enjoy it but it pushed the point.


    Richard got into his fighting stance and waited for the signal. Unlike the previous matches this tournament and the next would have actual referees that were meant to stop anything lethal fromnding and deciding the winner. The sparse trees that were part of this fight¡¯s geography helped Richard as he quickly dashed behind a tree. Just because the beastkin specialized in close quarters magic didn¡¯t mean he couldn¡¯t bombard a physical fighter from range.


    Ajax could feel Benedict tense up as a few long range spells thrown in a blind curve exploded around Richard. The spells weren¡¯t all that strong, menat only to ensure Richard wouldn¡¯t get a chance to see the beastkin approach but Ajax didn¡¯t think that telling that to his former ssmate would be of any help.


    The beastkin wasted no time charging towards the tree Richard was hiding behind. The crowd loudly cheered at this as without any points specifically put into his physical stats the beastking could actually be followed by every spectator as he closed the distance.


    Despite not getting a chance to look Richard wasn¡¯t oblivious to what his opponent was doing. He had spent years fighting monsters on Gryndor¡¯s untamed border and throughout all of that he had pushed any skill that heightened his senses, after all the mostmon monster found so close to the border was an ambusher.


    As soon as the beastkin was close enough Richard charged out, ring his stamina charge skill as well as the enchantments on his gear as he rounded the tree where he found the mage chanting, he couldn¡¯t see the beastkin¡¯s mouth because of the faceguard he wore but he knew from the look in his eyes that he was in trouble.


    Richard instinctively raised his shield hoping to block as much of the spell that he knew wasing. It was the correct move as he felt arge impact put a dent in his shield. Despite not taking much direct damage from the attack thanks to his gear¡¯s enchantments Richard was still thrown back.


    Ajax watched the fight like a hawk. Every spell the beastkin threw Ajax was analyzing. Richard was holding up very well considering he had neversted more than five minutes against Ajax in their first sparring round and the beastkin¡¯s spells hit harder than what Ajax usually threw around.


    Ajax was surprised by the breadth of spells the beastkin had at his disposal. Earth, water, fire, wind, ice and lightning all came out, not only that but he had two or three different spells for each element. Despite all this however Ajax knew that the beastkin only had the affinity for Earth mana as part of his skills.This exined how the beastkin moved so quickly on his feet as he was using a earth slide spell to increase his mobility as he pelted Richard with spells while still keeping outside the range of his longsword.


    ¡°Those movements seem odd.¡± Ajax mentioned as he watched the beastkin circle Richard while he constantly chanted out weak spells.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Both Benedict and Lexi were intrigued, though one sounded a lot more desperate than the other.


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    ¡°More than once he used his earth movement spell despite having enough space and time to dodge the sword with his regr speed.¡± Ajax said. ¡°Not only that but it seems odd how wasteful he is with his Earth spell considering he has the Earth mana affinity.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure Earth is his affinity?¡± Lexi asked, she was also monitoring the spells and knew what inefficiency he was talking about.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Ajax affirmed. ¡°Feel how flexible his earth spells arepared to all the others after he finished his chant.¡±


    As Ajax was trying to help his girlfriend with her [Sense Mana] acuity, Anna frowned as she watched the fight. ¡°He¡¯s not using the earth spells to move around¡± She said. ¡°The movementponent is there as a distraction. I can¡¯t tell what he is aiming for however.¡±


    Both Lexi and Ajax tried to ovey every single earth movement spell that was used in the fight to backtrack what it could all be for, they didn¡¯t get a chance to put any theories together as Benedict gripped his seat as he shouted at his cousin despite knowing all too well he wouldn¡¯t be able to hear him.


    ¡°Get away from there!¡± Benedict called out, even while knowing that even if Richard realized the trap the beastkins attacks would make any attempt at retreat painful if not actually lethal. ¡° He¡¯s creating a massive pitfall.¡±


    Anna, Lexi and Ajax all felt their eyes widen at the revtion. With the answer in front of them all of the spells made perfect sense but it was toote for Richard. The beastkin¡¯s next earth spell put in three times as much mana, instead of move him away however the human felt the earth give way under his feet as fell towards pointy stone spikes.


    Despite perfectly springing his trap the beastkin even went the extra mile tounch a quick follow-up lightning attack, this made sure Richard would be briefly paralyzed with no hope of reacting to the perfectly executedbo.


    An instant before Richard was impaled on the stone spikes Ajax felt a strong windspell that had been charged and waiting in the background to be released. Both fighters were securely captured inside their respective wind spheres as they were taken out of the ring signifying RIchard¡¯s loss.


    Ajax wasn¡¯t happy with the result of the match but he did feel happy with Richard¡¯s performance. The physical fighter had been on the backfoot from the start, yet despite never managing to surprise the beastkin his defensive effort had allowed Ajax to get a very good look at his futurepetitions style and more importantly he got a decent idea about how the mage¡¯s stats were distributed across his Mind Intellect and Wisdom.


    The crowd was ecstatic. The whole fightsted around five minutes, more than the four previous fightsbined but it had been full of action from start to finish. With the tournament being hosted by the Republic it was clear that the beastkin was the crowd favorite. Despite all that Ajax did notice that the nobles of all three nations didn¡¯t see the fight as one sided as it appeared. All of them knew the situation favored the mage heavily and Richards performance marked him as someone to look out for in the future.


    ¡°He did well.¡± Ajax patted his friend on the shoulder, Benedict¡¯s eyes still trained on the tunnel Richard disappeared in after the wind orb pulled him out.


    The action seemed to reset Benedict as he got himself under control, the future heir of house Steelde regained hisposure. ¡°He did a lot better than I expected when ites to his endurance and defense. I will see to it that he gets a lot more experience when ites to strategy, he spent too long with only monsters for opponents.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the best way to grow in levels, besides constantly delving dungeons anyway.¡± Lexi said.


    ¡°He made great gains.¡± Benedict nodded. ¡°After the extra stat points from the dungeons we ran I think it¡¯s time hees back home, he''ll join me in consolidating the gains I made in the academy.¡±


    As Ajax and his friends were chatting, the next match was being prepared. Ajax hoped to get just as much information on the ice princess in this next match as he did the beastkin but it seems that fate wasn¡¯t as kind to the human mage.


    The arena had reshaped into a snowy open field. As they entered the arena the mage frowned, Ajax even noticed slight shivers run up his arms and while mostmon spectators with a high enough Perception to catch them would assume theye from the cold Ajax knew the mage felt warm enough. The human was going into this fight afraid.


    Arianwyn imperiously entered the arena. She glided along the snowy field as the undisputed ruler of the cold. More than that Ajax noticed just how high quality her mage robes were as their enchantments were clearly trying to draw in power from the ice and snow surrounding her.


    ¡°This match will end quickly.¡± Ajax said with a sigh, he had deeply hoped someone would contradict his somewhat inappropriate statement. The silence that answered him felt like the final nail in the coffin.

 Chapter 326

    Chapter 326


    The moment the match started both mages began their chanting. Seeing as this was the first chanter vs chanter match of the day it was a little anticlimactic as both fighters simply tensed up as they started their chants for the first few seconds of the match. Ajax could almost feel the excitement drain out of mostmoners who were watching. Anyone who could sense the mana that was being focused in those chants was fully engaged.


    Ajax was surprised to see the human was the first to finish his chant, the moment he released his spell however the princess was already moving. She was slow, maybe fastpared to regr mages but after watching the beastkin Ajax couldn¡¯t help but feel she would be too slow to dodge the iing fireball.


    The fireball was halfway to its target when the elf finished chanting and an immense amount of mana was released. Ajax had initially thought she had a skill that allowed her to bluff the amount of mana she was conjuring but now there was no doubt. She had used almost as much mana as Ajax had in his entire mana pool to release a blizzard around the arena.


    ¡°[Ice Aspect Mana], [Snow Aspect Mana], [Water Aspect Mana] and [Wind Aspect Mana].¡± the king''s oldest son let out a low whistle. ¡°And to top it all off she has [Winter Domain] too.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s [Winter Domain]?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°An Epic skill that allows you to maintain control of any Ice, Wind or Snow mana you release.¡± Lexi said. ¡°It¡¯s very rare since in order to develop a Domain type skill you not only need to spend absurd amounts of mana all at once but also possess at least threepatible mana aspects.¡±


    ¡°So she can basically use that to mimic my casting form without the power drawback?¡± Ajax asked more than a little peeved at the idea.


    ¡°No.¡± Lexi answered. ¡°It isn¡¯t you she is mimicking with the domain, it¡¯s the elven champion.¡±


    ¡°She must have some extreme level of concentration to keep that much mana under control.¡± The prince said. ¡°She is now probably going to be using one or two word spells and reinforce them with the mana she released.¡± Ajax watched as their predictions turned true. The princess followed up the initial mana release with a quick ice wall spell to protect herself from the roaring fireball. The wall was very thin for a split second as it appeared but the surrounding mana quickly poured in to thicken it to the point it could stand up to the fireball.


    Following the ice wall the princess started tossing one icence after another at the human mage. The poor mage in question had little choice but to bring up one small earth wall after another in order to protect himself. Fire was usually all but worthless on defense by itself so he was forced to go with a generic defense spell he had no affinity for.


    ¡°How much mana does she have?¡± Ajax muttered though quite a few people picked up on it. ¡°She has to have used more than five thousand mana already and she isn¡¯t heaving her lungs out.¡±


    ¡°All mages that unlock the domain skill are split into two types. The Mind - Intellect focus and the Mind - Wisdom focus.¡± Lexi exined. ¡°From the power I see in her spells I am guessing she is Mind - Intellect. I bet she¡¯ll be downing potions to get her reserves back in time for tomorrow¡¯s match.¡±


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    ¡°They all start out putting almost all their points into Mind.¡± Benedict continued, he was also familiar with the fighter type. ¡°Funnily enough by doing so they manage to achieve a decently close result to your child training method where they end up with significantly more stats since the rest of their attributes grow through the low levels without points for quite a long time.¡±


    The princess looked quite bored to Ajax now that she had set up the field. A few more icencester Benedict pointed out that she was throwing them in such a way that the earth walls her opponent used to block them ended up trapping him in one spot. The match then ended when she summoned an avnche on top of his head as Ajax felt almost another thousand mana flow from the princess before it was increased by her [Winter Domain].


    In what ended up as a rather big shock to Ajax the following match looked somewhat simr to this one. The moment the match started the elf started chanting a long spell before he released arge amount of fire looking to cover the arena.


    ¡°He has a Domain skill as well?¡± Ajax asked, surprised.


    ¡°That¡¯s not a Domain¡± Lexi said.


    ¡°This is the elves putting all their eggs in one basket.¡± Richard said from behind Ajax. The man had been assessed by the healers and returned near the end of the previous match. ¡°Both the other elves are there to see how their opponents react to her fighting style, just in case there is anything she needs to look out for.¡±


    The exnation made a lot of sense but Ajax couldn¡¯t help but feel a little bad for the elf in question. The fire he released onto the field at the start of the match did nothing more than get the dwarf to repeatedly use a water rune on his gear that doused him and his surroundings in water.


    Not only was the initial spell all but useless now it also left the elf with next to mana as he scrounged up everything he had left and threw it at the dwarf. In terms of raw power it seems the elf was no slouch as Ajax could feel the fireball packed a serious punch.


    It was here that Ajax got a good look at the dwarf¡¯s defenses as multiple runes lit up. Ajax counted a water bolt, Ice shield and wind wall. The dwarf had to spend quite a bit more mana to neutralize the fire attack. That didn¡¯t matter however as the dwarf then showcased why people used runes as he struck back with three earth spikes in quick session, even faster than the elven princess had managed tounch her ice ones.


    Much like the human mage the elven fire user was woefullycking in terms of defense as he barely managed to deflect the first spear before the other two stuck him in the shoulder and hip.


    Unlike the high end tournament those wounds weren¡¯t enough to call an end to the match. The dwarf ended up sending a fourth spike that impaled him through the stomach before the match was finally called.


    As the arena started to reshape itself Ajax stood up and headed for the tunnels. ¡°I know you don¡¯t need it but good luck¡± Benedict said as he patted Ajax on the shoulder.


    ¡°Show them what Gryndor can really do.¡± Richard nodded to him.


    ¡°Be careful out there.¡± Lexi offered as she gave him a quick hug and a kiss before Ajax finally descended the stairs.


    ¡°He¡¯ll be alright.¡± Xavier tried to reassure the noble girl as she still looked in the direction her boyfriend had gone.


    ¡°Ha, only alright.¡± the princeughed at the idea. ¡°I have to say this next match-up is the most skewed one out of your entire tournament.¡±


    ¡°They all have at least twenty levels up on him, how can you be so calm?¡± Lexished out.


    ¡°Because his opponent will use up at least half his mana pool and all he will aplish is to make Ajax stronger.¡± the prince grinned as he looked across to the elven seats. The prince didn¡¯t even n to watch the match until he saw the expression on the elves'' faces once they realized what Ajax could do to the mana Domain their princess was so proud of. ¡°I know I can¡¯t call him my apprentice but he really seems to be following in my footsteps.¡±


    ¡°You can hardly look at it like that.¡± the crown prince countered his brother. ¡°You were giving it your all to create incidents that left foreign nobles gaping, he¡¯s not going out of his way.¡±


    ¡°End result will still be the same so it counts.¡± the prince said with a cheery voice.


    As odd as the argument seemed to be it did work in the sense that it put almost all of Lexi¡¯s worries to rest. Ajax was unaware of the discussion as he looked out at the open grassy space the arena had turned into from the exit of the tunnel. He finally ced his helmet on his head and took the first step onto the grass ready for the fight toe.

 Chapter 327

    Chapter 327


    Arianwyn Sylvian P.O.V


    I couldn¡¯t help but feel a little bad as I watched Firandel lose. I knew I was our best chance to win this tournament but even so, him being forced into wasting so much of his mana just for my sake left a bad taste in my mouth.I hadn¡¯t really gotten to know him but he was friendly the few times we did talk.


    As I watched the arena take the form of an open grasnd I felt a lot better about ra¡¯s chances. Unlike Firandel, ra was actively working towards forming a domain of her own, she might not have gotten to that point yet but with her Wind, Water and Lightning mana affinity skills she was all set to form [Storm Domain].


    ¡°Have we found out anything about this Ajax?¡± I ask for what had to have been the fifth time today.


    ¡°Nothing more than what we knew before.¡± Aranor answers me. ¡°He has some capacity for magic, be that as a hybrid or an all out mage. He is barely above level fifty but he is around the same level of power as a level eighty elite. He has delved into at least nine dungeons, three of them being capital dungeons.¡±


    We knew the most barebone information. This uing fight was going to be eye opening but I simply felt bad sending ra into it blind even if she should be on even footing at the very least.


    Both of them entered the arena. I recognised ra¡¯s armor, her robes and staff all enchanted to provide different types of shields so she could focus on offense. She had more options than even I did when it came to offense as she used her wind for light shing attack, her lightning for armor pration and her water for control.


    Baron Ajax Hearthbound on the other side of the field was covered in a full suit of enchanted leather armor. Oddly enough the armor seemed at the same time too heavy for him and a perfect fit, his legs clearly straining too much for him to move into position. Why wouldn¡¯t they give him better armor even if only as a loan for the tournament?


    ¡°What can you see?¡± Father asked the royal treasurer.It was one of the few loopholes that could be used during the tournament. Having anyone use an inspection skill on the human would have caused a political shitstorm but there was nothing wrong with us inspecting the gear he was using.


    ¡°Enchanted leather. Good for level seventies I would guess, he is clearly some form of hybrid fighter. The gear looks too heavy for him but I can¡¯t be sure it¡¯s not an act.¡± the treasurer responded. ¡°The defensive enchantments seem focused on t damage mitigation, I can¡¯t make anything else out past the privacy enchantments.¡±


    That is so contradictory, he is slow in his armor but it''s almost as if he is only worried about smaller hits. Does he really think he can dodge the stronger ones? Especially against a lightning user?


    The starting stone is tossed into the air and I see the human take an odd defensive stance. What could he be thinking showing that side profile while wielding a sword and a hammer. He should know he has a few moments at the start to close the distance while ra releases her domain mimic.


    The stonends on the grass and ra begins her casting. I feel my eyelids pop however as the hammer and sword disappear into a spacial ring to be reced by a bow and arrow. His stance makes a lot more sense now and it takes everything I have for my jaw not to drop as I feel him channel mana into the arrow before he releases it.


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    The arrow disappears from my sight the moment he releases it. ¡°Shadow mana.¡± ra¡¯s father spits out while I see ra¡¯s eyes widen for a moment as she loses sight of the arrow. It is only a momentter that I see the enchantment on her staff light up as the arrow ms into the shield that springs up.


    I have to give ra credit, despite the surprise and despite the somewhat slow dash the human is making towards her she managed to keep her cool and maintain the chant perfectly. He isn¡¯t even halfway across the ring when she releases a decent amount of wind, lightning and water mana that spreads itself around the arena.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see how you do on the defensive.¡± I can hear a small amount of malevolence in ra¡¯s father¡¯s voice. It is odd since the duke is usually a lot moreposed but I can¡¯t say I me him after that starting shadow arrow.


    The human is barely past the halfway mark as ra finishes her second chant and I feel the wind mana circte around the arena as it picks up speed, that leather won¡¯t be enough to stop those shes, when ites to Wind mana she has better control than I do.


    Looking at the human however I see him smirk as the spell starts, what could he be nning that wind covers arge area so he won¡¯t be able to simply dodge it like he would be able to with devastating lightning strike. The next moment however is when I feel something very bad is happening.


    Something is wrong with ra¡¯s spells. I can feel the mana weakening, it''s happening uniformly all over the ring, her spells are gradually losing mana density and power but I don¡¯t feel anything interfering with it. Turning my eyes back to the human he is flying across the second half of the field.


    ¡°He was holding back¡± ra¡¯s father growls in outrage. ¡°What a dirty trick, human¡¯s and their honorless fighting.¡±


    I don¡¯t agree with the racist part of hisment and while I agree with the strategy I don¡¯t think it belongs in a tournament for resources like this one. ¡°He wasn¡¯t holding back.¡± Aranor''s voice is frigid. Looking at him I see he isn¡¯t looking at the fight right now but across to Gryndor¡¯s royal family.


    ¡°How can you say he wasn¡¯t holding back when he just sped up like that!¡± na¡¯s father argues back. He hasn¡¯t taken his eyes off the fight and is too focused on it to pick up the oddities in Aranor¡¯s behavior. Looking at Gryndor¡¯s balcony however I can see their champion is looking straight towards us. The prince in fact seems to be staring Aranor straight in the eyes, but where I had seen a yful grin throughout the ball a few days ago there is now a smug challenging grin.


    ¡°Because he was always moving as fast as his body could.¡± Aranor exined. ¡°His body just got a boost in what it could do.¡±


    ¡°And how did he do that?¡± the duke asked with sarcasm. ¡°I would have felt a stamina boosting skill and he hasn¡¯t gathered any mana or taken any potion.¡±


    The human is now in range of ra but she is clearly unsettled by whatever is weakening her spells, she quickly ms her staff into the ground and I can see all the remaining mana power the enchantment as a strong wild bubble forces the human to retreat for a moment. Even that bubble is weaker than it should be however.


    ¡°Because he is using ra¡¯s mana for his power increase.¡± It takes me a moment to process what Aranor said but I feel my jaw drop as everything clicks in my mind.


    I am not the only one taken by surprise as I can see everyone else has a simr reaction as everyone in the privacy bubble slowly turns to look at Aranor, looks back at the human and then turns to look at Aranor again. Not everyone is showing the surprise on their faces as their social skills manage to suppress it but there are plenty of open mouths beside my own.


    A cold shiver descends down my spine as I look towards Gryndor¡¯s prince once more to find him openlyughing. He clearly knew about all of this and while he is polite enough not to point he was clearly looking forward to our realization of what the young Baron could do.


    Turning back to the fight I spot ra finally managing to get a spell to connect with the human. The wind de however is far too weak to leave more than a small scratch on the leather after the enchantments activate. Those enchantments make so much more sense to me now.


    ¡°How is he doing it?¡± My father asks as the human is closing in on ra once more, not only that but I also feel him imbuing his weapons with two more mana types. More than that he is using two Epic types as Magma and Metal mana infuse each weapon.


    ¡°It¡¯s a Legendary skill.¡± Aranor whispers softly, yet all of us hear it all the same. ¡°It looks like their prince has taken up a disciple, another hybrid fighter that will surely surpass his master as a mage killer.¡±


    I can¡¯t help but agree with that description as I watch ra il about as not only her spells but even her enchantments fail her. The human however has no issue throwing magic around not only with his weapons but even freely channeling it through the earth at his feet.


    Schee. I hear Aranor¡¯s sword click from its sheath slightly as the fight is called. For a moment there the human had even been draining the protection spell but he quickly stopped once he realized what it was. ra has a burnt and shattered elbow as the molten hammer had crushed it straight through her enchantment¡¯s protection before the fight was called.


    ¡°He¡¯s the real deal.¡± Father says as we all watch the young human walk away to the cheers of the crowd. ¡°It¡¯s a good thing you know what you are up against Arianwyn.¡± I couldn¡¯t agree with him more, fighting him in the first round would have been devastating for me but at least now I can prepare. I look forward to returning the favor for my friend, before that however there is a beastkin I have to take down.

 Chapter 328

    Chapter 328


    Ajax made sure to walk tall and show no weakness as he made his way out of the arena. From an outside perspective the fight would have looked totally dominated by him but Ajax was actively using his Light and Life mana to patch up the massive bruises that were extending on his arm and torso.


    Unlike the initial fire mage elf this storm wielder clearly knew what she was doing using the initially released mana to empower her follow up attacks. Despite Ajax draining some of their power and the enchantments taking a bite out of their damage Ajax was sure he would be sporting these bruises for a few hours if he wasn¡¯t heading to a healer right now.


    In the healing ward I could see my opponent getting patched up. Her arm was still bent at an unnatural angle but there was nothing the healer could do as they first had to remove the small crust of magma that had formed on her arm and ribs.


    ¡°What is he doing here?¡± an outraged elf came shouting from behind me, closely followed by the elven princess and their champion Aranor. ¡°Come here to gloat?¡±


    Ajax wasn¡¯t sure what to do in this situation, his initial instinct was to defuse the situation even if it meant apologizing but he didn¡¯t need advanced social skills to know that showing any kind of weakness in front of the enraged elf would only escte the situation.


    ¡°All contestants have toe here after the match.¡± Ajax replied slowly in a neutral tone.


    ¡°You better watch yourself you little ¡­¡± The outraged elf began but he never got to finish his sentence.


    ¡°Or what?¡± The king¡¯s eldest son had just shown up from the opposite end of the tunnels, not only that but he wasn¡¯t alone as both the leader of the first squad and Shadow were with him as they all stepped into the infirmary. The smug grin still on his face. ¡°What will you do?¡±


    Ajax couldn¡¯t help but notice that both the leader of the first squad and Aranor took on the same defeated and resigned expression, clearly it wasn¡¯t the first time either of them had to deal with the walking political disaster that was the prince.¡°Let''s stop this pissing contest early.¡± Shadow took the middle ground before things could get any traction.


    ¡°You¡¯re no fun Shadow.¡± the princeined with faux disappointment.


    While all this was going on the healer had finished healing ra. ¡°You¡¯re done. I made sure there were no issues but like with all newly restored joints take it easy on that elbow for the next day or two.¡± ra simply nodded at the healer as she got up off the table and the healer focused on Ajax. ¡°Anything wrong with you?¡±


    Ajax didn¡¯t want to mention anything but the leader of the first squad beat him to it. ¡°You can go ahead and show it, Ajax, both Aranor and Shadow got a good look at you taking those impacts, even if the rest haven¡¯t caught on they can just tell them.¡±


    While Shadow, the prince and Aranor were not surprised at the two massive bruises Ajax sported. ra, her father and the princess were shocked to see them, before the elf could brag in any way about Ajax¡¯s wounds however the healer nipped that in the bud. ¡°Large but almost superficial bruising, whatever runes you are using must have spread the damage well over the area, I can heal these fully in a minute.¡±


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    While she had been present since the start princess Arianwyn didn¡¯t say a word in the entire discussion, she had been pleasantly surprised to see that the human prodigy wasn¡¯t the unwavering frontline anti-mage she had thought of him after she watched the match.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go darling, no need to stay here any longer.¡± ra¡¯s father tried to lead her towards the door but to the surprise of the elves she didn¡¯t take a step as she focused on Ajax as he was getting healed.


    ¡°How much did you see?¡± ra asked Ajax. The question confused most of the people in the room but it redoubled the grin on the prince¡¯s face. ¡°No it doesn¡¯t matter, I am out of the tournament, can you keep whatever you saw to yourself?¡±


    Unlike anything else about the duel only ra and Ajax were actually aware of [Inspector¡¯s Eye] being used at the start of the match. Even then ra was barely informed by her Umon [Privacy Veil] that an inspection skill tore right through her privacy and got a good look at her information, she didn¡¯t even know just how much he had gotten.


    ¡°Ajax you naughty boy, did you sneak a peek at the noble elf?¡± The prince was right back to his usual shenanigans but from the looks of it the leader of the first was considering joining the enraged elf in pummeling the upstart royal.


    ¡°We¡¯ll keep any of your status private enough.¡± The leader of the first squad quickly joined the conversation hoping to stop it from escting but it was already toote.


    ¡°An inspection skill?!¡± The duke would usually have a much better handle on his emotions but the fight had opened the panel and the prince was pushing all the right buttons. ¡°We¡¯ll best make sure things are even on that front.¡±


    While the duke had a fairly level Epic inspection skill it was also one that was focused on items instead of people, this meant that he ran face first into [Enigma]. With the recent bottleneck the skill had broken through [Enigma] was stronger than ever so the duke barely managed to get Ajax¡¯s name, age and level before his skill was rebuffed along with a spike of pain.


    ¡°What?!¡± the duke muttered as he massaged the bridge of his nose.


    ¡°I apologize for the rude behavior, we¡¯d be happy to discuss rpense for this overstep after the tournament when tempers cool.¡± Aranor took control of the situation as he grabbed the duke and all but marched him out of the room. ¡°Have you lost it? Every spy worth a damn already knows the kid has [Enigma].¡±


    Ajax was sure the Aranor had meant for them to hear that and it gave him a much better impression of the stoic champion. It was momentster that his own healing was done and he joined the prince as they headed towards the king¡¯s balcony to enjoy the final tournament set to take ce today.


    ¡°How was it?¡± the prince asked him, a lot of the provocation in his voice gone but not all of it.


    ¡°Easier than I expected in terms of strategy.¡± Ajax answered as he analyzed the fight. ¡°A lot harder when it came to the hits I took.¡±


    Ajax had been surprised just how much [Mana Syphon] and [Inspector¡¯s Eye] had thrown the elf off her battle n, tactically he had been expecting the fight to go on longer than this and he was almost sure he¡¯d be forced to reveal more. In terms of pure power he was now sure he couldn¡¯t let the princess get a clean hit on him. Even with [Mana Syphon] as long as one of those icences was empowered by her domain it would be more than enough to pierce into him.


    Ajax spent the remainder of the afternoon enjoying the main tournament. Despite it being the least impactful one for him overall it was definitely the most interesting to watch. All of the participants were at a much higher level than him in terms ofbat, not only that but their proficiency with their skills actually matched those of Shadow and the rest of the champions from the first tournament. More than that however without the massive stats and support skills Ajax got a much better look at how those skills had been developed.


    For most people this tournament still had people moving as a blur, the only difference was that it was a blur they could at least keep track of. More than that however the power level of the fighters was close enough that they would regrly deadlock. Each of the fights took at least fifteen minutes to conclude from start to finish and it had been a masterpiece of strategy and skill between each fighter.


    ¡°Ajax, would you be joining us for dinner?¡± the crown prince asked once they arrived back at the embassy.


    ¡°Fighting in the tournament is draining, brother, you should just let him go to sleep.¡± the king¡¯s oldest son just became Ajax¡¯s favorite person as he quickly pushed both him and Lexi towards his bedroom before quickly closing the hallway door behind them. The young couple didn¡¯t need more encouragement than that to turn in for the night.

 Chapter 329

    Chapter 329


    Ajax woke upte the following morning as the sun was already bathing the entire room in sunlight through the window. Despite he had no desire to move Lexi who was still sleeping with her head on his chest. He let her have five extra minutes before he finally gently nudged her awake.


    ¡°Is it morning already?¡± She asked while yawning.


    ¡°I think we¡¯re alreadyte.¡± Ajax answered.


    ¡°You can¡¯t bete today.¡± Despite the urgency in her words her tone and actions had her moving in slow motion as she got out of bed and Ajax did take the time to appreciate that sight before he followed her and quickly got washed and dressed.


    As he was heading downstairs Ajax couldn¡¯t help but think back a little on the small secret his inspection spell had found on ra. It was the first time a person he was inspecting had a trait that ranked so highly.


    Witch


    Increases mana based curse skills limit by 40. Small increase in affinity and progression of mana based curse skills.


    Increases mana skills limit by 20. Minor increase in affinity and progression of mana skills.


    Increased bond affinity with felines and toads.The only traits that he saw which surpassed it in his opinion were Royal, increasing the limit of all skills by 50. And his own Divine Witness, which was head and shoulders above everything.


    Now Ajax hadn¡¯t seen so much as a spec of curse mana during their entire fight so he was guessing that she either didn¡¯t have any curse skills or that she might have picked up a few early in life for the experience and didn¡¯t push them much after that as she focused on her storm domain. The main theory right now was that she was focusing on removing curses, such skills would also benefit from her trait after all as they were curse skills.


    ¡°Good morning Ajax. Good morning Lexi.¡± Xavier greeted them as they joined the royal family for breakfast.


    Both Lexi and Ajax were a bit embarrassed at arrivingte to breakfast together like this but they simply blushed slightly, nodded back in greeting and pushed through it. Breakfast was light since Ajax, the king¡¯s oldest son and the first squad captain would all have to fight today, not only that but all of their fights were going to be much harder than the first round had been.


    As they finished breakfast everyone left with the exception of Ajax, the king and the crown prince. ¡°You managed to find something damaging about ra?¡± the king asked.


    Ajax was a little surprised that it was only the three of them here for this discussion, then again it was only concerning a young noble who won¡¯t be a concern for some time so it was best to limit ess to this information as much as possible. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say it¡¯s damaging, but in the right circumstances it could provide a lot of distrust.¡± Ajax answered. ¡°She has the Witch trait.¡±


    Both the prince and the king were a little surprised at what the news turned out to be. ¡°A witch.¡± the prince started thinking out loud. ¡°There is almost no way that she managed to push her magic so much while also focusing on curses, at best she might have dabbled a bit and found it not to her liking or she focuses on dispelling curses.¡±


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    Having so recently had their own issue with a rogue noble curse user they both knew that the trait wouldn¡¯t make that much of a stir, but the moment any curse rted outbreak happened she would always be the first suspect and the one themon people would first focus on.


    ¡°Thank you for that.¡± the king said. ¡°Keep this confidential.¡±


    Ajax simply nodded and the three of them walked out of the room. Ajax went to grab his gear while the two royals went to make their own preparations for watching day two of the tournament.


    The small trip to the arena was a lot more somber today than it had been yesterday. Yesterday nobody had known who it was they would be fighting, today would see the prince fight Shadow, and the captain of the first squad fight Aranor. Both of them were going in as the underdogs.


    Ajax¡¯s match was actually the one where the people representing Gryndor had the best odds of winning. Seeing as how in the level one hundred tournament yesterday only one of their three representatives had managed to win and they would be fighting the old elf in their second round today.


    The biggest change could be seen in the king¡¯s oldest son. Gone was his careless attitude and gone were the jokes, he was now serious and marching with perfect posture towards the arena. He still sported a grin on his face but instead of the smug or teasing grin he usually had on this was one of excitement he barely ever showed as he knew he would be fighting a strong opponent.


    ¡°You got this uncle.¡± Xavier had caught on to the negative atmosphere but despite it he still pushed through it and continued to believe in his idol.


    The king¡¯s oldest son didn¡¯t answer the encouragement from his nephew with fake bravado, he knew most of all how the fight was most likely going to y out. ¡°It¡¯s going to be fun.¡±


    As everyone was entering the arena Ajax felt [Enigma] spring to life. He had been targeted by about ten very weak inspection skills. None of them had managed to even break Enigma¡¯s thin wall protecting his name, but that wasn¡¯t the point. Ajax knew that this was a warning sent by both the elves and the Republic about Ajax¡¯s own inspection skill and what he does with any information he gains on their next generation of elites.


    ¡°Should I not be using my inspection skill any further?¡± Ajax asked. He knew it was way too strong, he had gotten everything about ra except her skill list in their previous match.


    ¡°You can keep using it.¡± the crown prince answered. ¡°Just be sure that after the tournament is over you are willing to make a promise about disclosing any of the information you found out. That way if the information ever does leak they¡¯ll be forced to target our kingdom as a whole for retaliation and not just you.¡±


    ¡°May I have a word?¡± ra¡¯s father the Duke intercepted Ajax before they all got to the Gryndor seats. ra was also there as was Aranor.


    Seeing as how the oldest prince was going to be taking part in the first match the captain of the first squad looked questioningly towards his kings. At the king¡¯s nod he, Ajax and crown prince all moved to a more private location to the side.


    ¡°I would like to apologize about my behavior yesterday.¡± the duke started. ¡°I had gotten a bit emotional especially towards the end of the match. I would be in your debt Baron Hearthbound if you were to forgive me.¡±


    ¡°Your apology is epted, Duke.¡± Ajax responded, he had already talked with people he trusted and all of them had told him not to make a big deal about the Duke¡¯s behavior and ept any apology gift he offers. A nk favor like this was on the high end of what they expected him to offer.


    ¡°Would you be willing to spar with me after the tournament?¡± ra asked, much to the surprise of her father who was turning to walk away.


    ¡°I don¡¯t see how sparring against me would be beneficial to you.¡± Ajax answered honestly. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t mind but my style is unique and almost a perfect counter to your own.¡±


    ¡°I want to experience your mana drain field again.¡± ra confessed. ¡°I felt so close to gaining my domain as I was struggling to maintain control of the mana as you were drawing it.¡±


    Ajax wasn¡¯t all that surprised to hear her reasoning. More than a few mages had expressed a small increase in their mana control skills for a short while as they adapted to fighting against [Mana Syphon]¡¯s constant pull. None of the mages had managed to even slow down the drain but they did seed in keeping their spells stable as they were drained away.


    ¡°I would be willing to help¡­¡± Ajax left it open ended as he turned towards the crown prince just to see if there was anything the royal wanted to add.


    ¡°A few days of joint training between the promising youths that came here for the tournament would probably be the best way to do this.¡± the prince offered. ¡°I¡¯m sure they all have a lot to learn from one another.¡±


    The duke managed to keep his face neutral as he nodded to the prince¡¯s request before everyone went back to their seats. The arena was the same sloped mountainside Aranor had fought on the previous day, the only difference was theck of snow. It seems that the arena was a lot more limited in terms ofyout and it only tried to make up for it with different weather.

 Chapter 330

    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 nce 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 sted 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 limating to the mana surrounding him as the person shaped spot slowly adjusted, Ajax was sure in a few moments there would be no mana irregrity.


    Ajax didn¡¯t get a chance to see that change as the prince was already on top of Shadow. An audible sh 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 sh 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 st. 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 st into a low crouch, his tail seeming to help with his bnce. He quicklyunched 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 exined. ¡°Shadow has somewhere close to twenty levels up on him.¡±


    ¡°That much?¡± Even Ajax was surprised at the difference.


    ¡°The higher you get in levels the less a single level matters.¡± the captain exined. ¡°While this means thatrger 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 forbat. ¡°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 couldst 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 oue 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 iting.¡± 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 [Camouge].¡± 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 session. Ajax could feel fire, wind and earthing but he couldn¡¯t help but grimace as he saw the shadows of both fighters deepen slightly before they moved and connected.


    Arge st 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 ce 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 fallenbatant 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 thest 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 attackunch. All for it to end with Shadow only carrying a few scratches on his legs from where the stone spikes started to pierce.

 Chapter 331

    Chapter 331


    The fighters left the arena quickly and the change in setting for the next fight began. Xavier was still staring at the arena with a nk gaze as the open diator sandpit took the ce of the mountainndscape.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be disheartened.¡± the king called out to his grandson as he patted him on the shoulder. ¡°It was an expected oue. In truebat your uncle would always be able to retreat instead of getting pinned down like that.¡±


    Xavier seemed to perk up at the words, determined to grow stronger recing the nk hopelessness that had been there before. Ajax chose not to mention that in a real fight Shadow could also get the drop on anyone participating in this tournament and stand a good chance to actually assassinate them.


    Aranor and the captain of the first squad both took to the sands quickly. Unlike the first match he fought, the captain was actually sporting a tower shield alongside his spear, showing the increased need for defensive capabilities.


    The moment the stone hit the group the captain charged. Arnor also wasted no time as he started chanting. The spearman was halfway to the mage when the icence was thrown. Ajax knew just how much power those things packed from the amount of mana he felt went into it.


    What Ajax hadn¡¯t expected was for the captain to toss his shield at the icence. Enchantments activating midair as the shield knocked the spell off target. For the first time this tournament it became relevant that the entire arena was surrounded by protective shielding. Both the shield and the icence smashed into the barrier with extreme force following their collision, the icence even leaving a few cracks around the point of impact.


    Ajax had no time to marvel at the power of the spell however as the mage was almost in striking range of the spear. The captain however wasn¡¯t the only one with enchanted gear. For the first time Ajax saw an enchantment structure that wasrge enough to epass not just the entire surface of the staff but also a full sleeve of the robe the mage wore.


    As the elf activated the enchantment and mmed the staff onto the sand at his feet a tornado formed around him. The powerful wind not just knocked away the spear but even lifted the captain off his feet and threw him thirty feet. The captain adapted quickly to his change in momentum as a backflip had himnding on bent knees ready to spring towards the mage.


    All of it was a little toote however as the mage had time to chant throughout all of this. The renewed spear charge was met by a powerful bolt of lightning. The enchantments on the captain''s armor were strong enough to disperse a lot of the force that hit him in the center of his chest but the attack still threw him to the edge of the arena.From there the fight was all but over. It took five more icences before the captain was defeated however he didn¡¯t get a chance to close the gap again. Ajax had to admit that Aranor¡¯s ability to control ice even after finishing the chant was something scary. Ajax was pretty sure he didn¡¯t have the same level of control over his own spells once they got that far from him and from what he saw of the spell none of it came from the innate chant. His skill level with [Ice Aspect Mana] had to be above 100.


    ¡°Don¡¯t look at me like that.¡± Lexi protested as the members of the first squad all threw nces her way. ¡°I wasn¡¯t even born when grandpa sold him that icence spell.¡±


    Ajax now realized why his girlfriend was feeling self conscious so he leaned into her as he gave her a supportive side hug. ¡°Nobody mes.¡± Ajax meant the words to beforting but he wasn¡¯t sure his tone had managed to convey that after seeing some of the nces.


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    ¡°A lot of the morale is riding on you now Ajax.¡± the crown prince said as they all watched the sandpit turn into a sparse forest. ¡°We lost both fights, Gryndor doesn¡¯t have a representative in this next one so you¡¯ll be up next.¡±


    Ajax nodded in reply. With both the princess and the beastkin entering the arena Ajax was once again focused on the fight happening in front of him. He didn¡¯t want to miss anything as the winner of this match was the person who will be waiting for him in the finals.


    ¡°Who do you think will win?¡± Xavier asked.


    ¡°The beastkin will win it.¡± The king¡¯s oldest son had been released by the healers and he had already changed and made his way here. His rxed attitude was back, from all appearances it looked like Xavier took his loss harder than he did. ¡°He got a good look at her Domain in the first match, I think he¡¯ll be ready.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not so sure.¡± the king answered. ¡°Mages already have an advantage this early and inside the arena the Domain leans into that a lot more, he¡¯s not a physical fighter who could try to oust her.¡±


    ¡°He doesn¡¯t have to oust her.¡± the prince said as the tossed stone was falling towards the ground. ¡°They might both be mages and her elven physique might let her keep up with him in terms of speed but he still far outsses her in terms of strength.¡±


    The prince finished his words just as the stonended and while both mages had already started chanting the beastkin started a quick dash towards the elf. Ajax was curious what type of spell he would use for his opening attack. Everyone already knew what the princess was going to open up with.


    As the beastkin finishes his chant six fireballs sprung into existence around him, one of them headed straight for the princess while the other five seemed to surround his right hand.


    ¡°Not a bad choice.¡± the kingmented as he watched. ¡°He is giving himself a way to put her under pressure while also weakening her domain around her position.¡±


    Ajax hadn¡¯t had time to do any deep research into domains just yet so he didn¡¯t know how that would work, thankfully Lexi was there to exin it for him. ¡°That fire spell will let him start to chant his follow up spell while he slowlyunches the remaining five fireballs.¡± Lexi said. ¡°The spell isn¡¯t very powerful in terms of output but it is one all fire mages want since after the initial attack the remaining five fireballs have their trajectory dictated by the throwing motion made.¡±


    Her statement was being proven true by Anna who had her eyes fixed on the five rotating fireballs. ¡°The fire mana from the explosion of the attack would also weaken her winter domain, it will be quickly suppressed but every little bit helps.¡± As she said that the first fireball exploded against the enchanted shields of the princess, the attack wasn¡¯t strong enough to push through the shields but she did feel an increase in temperature.


    What Lexi didn¡¯t mention was that her grandfather was also slightly obsessed with the spell. Not because he wanted to use it for himself like the fire mages, however, the reason he wanted the spell was because he wanted to work out which part of the chant was responsible for linking the arm movement with the subsequent attacks.


    The princess wasn¡¯t foolish and she had also started moving away from her initial starting position all while chanting. The second fireball had alreadynded and the third was in the air as she finally unleashed her domain.


    Just like the first time he saw it Ajax couldn¡¯t help but be impressed by the winter domain. Therge amount of mana that was at the same time released into the surrounding yet still connected to the will of the caster was something to see.


    More than that the domain also granted the princess passive increased defense. Ajax could see how the domain actively fought against the earth spell the beastkin had cast. The ground around the princesses feet wanted to turn into a wet sloshing mud yet the presence of the domain weakened that.


    ¡°Even with the spell weakened he¡¯s going to catch up to her quickly.¡± the king¡¯s oldest son grinned as his prediction was getting closer to bing reality.


    As the princess threw her first offensive spell of the match she quickly found it intercepted by all three remaining fireballs. It wasn¡¯t enough to match the domain infused spell but it did weaken it enough that the beastkin¡¯s own defensive enchantments were able to tank the rest.


    As the distance between the two of them dwindled to a mere six feet the beastkin proved his preparation for the match. Both of them used a wind spell, but where the princess was looking to create distance and throw her opponent away the beastkin hadunched a spell specifically to counteract another wind spell. The princess¡¯s spell was empowered by her domain however the beastkin had enough time to chant a powerful enough spell to match her.


    It was all over now, neither had enough time to cast anything else and once the beastkin physically got his hands on the elf he could ensure she didn''t get a chance to chant anything else. So why was Ajax feeling like it wasn¡¯t over and what was the odd mana he was feeling being channeled?

 Chapter 332

    Chapter 332


    Ajax didn¡¯t know why the mana he was sensing felt so odd. It was clearly an affinity he hadn¡¯t felt before but neither fighter had the time to chant anything, more than that however the mana wasn¡¯t a rigid spell the way enchantments activated either.


    ¡°Seriously?¡± the king¡¯s oldest son sounded a little shocked, he had figured out what was going on, Ajax wouldn¡¯t have the time to put the pieces together before the reveal.


    The leather belt that was securing the princess¡¯s robes turned out not to be a belt at all. As the snake wriggled loose andunched itself towards the beastkin it started to grow mid leap, the original two foot long snake was visibly growing.


    ¡°She has a bond?¡± Lexi quickly put together why the officials hadn¡¯t interfered.


    ¡°She has a sizing python?¡± Anna was a lot moreposed but she hadn¡¯t expected the surprise either.


    To his credit the beastkin did well reacting to the bond joining the fight from such a close range, he had managed to dodge the bite by twisting his body out of the way. Unfortunately for him however the snake went from two feet long and the girth of a baseball bat to triple that in the space of the jump, making the follow up tail strike to the stomach break through the enchantments and knock the beastkin away.


    ¡°What the fuck is a sizing python?¡± Ajax asked, it was hard for him not to break the rules and use his inspection skill on the bond.


    ¡°An extremely rare creature.¡± Anna began to exin as the snake continued to grow at the princess¡¯s feet. ¡°Almost impossible to bond unless the bond is formed as the snake is born, not only that but they have a slow initial growth period for the first two years where they require high amounts of mana rich food.¡±


    ¡°They make up for it with a very quick increase in power during their adolescence.¡± the prince continued, not taking his eyes off the fight. ¡°This one here is at about halfway mark, I¡¯d guess a little lower than level seventy.¡± ¡°That must be why she wasn¡¯t openly unting it.¡± Ajax thought aloud. ¡°The snake by itself is very vulnerable to the other contestants.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not the biggest reason.¡± Anna corrected him. ¡°While sizing pythons do have great control over their mana their core is also very specialized. In exchange for that power the snake gives up on most of the innate benefits monsters gain from mana cores, like shoring up elemental weaknesses.¡±


    The beastkin was already back on his feet and chanting but so was the princess, not only that but she had actually started chanting before him, with the quicker chant and the power of her domain it was looking like the match just swung in her favor.


    ¡°You mean her snake is affected by the winter domain?¡± Ajax asked as the princess unleashed a small avnche that forced the beastkin to retreat further.


    ¡°Until she has better control over her domain, yes.¡± the prince answered.


    ¡°So what can that snake do besides grow?¡± Ajax asked as the snake was now fifty feet long and coiled defensively around the princess.


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    ¡°It can shrink.¡± The prince answered. ¡°Hiding away as a belt was most likely as small as it can get.¡±


    ¡°When the snake grows it¡¯s mana core focuses on reinforcing the body, making it a lot stronger and sturdier.¡± Anna continued the exnation. ¡°When it shrinks the mana is mostly focused on empowering its venom.


    From there the fight quickly shifted further and further into the princess¡¯s favor as she used her spells power and quick chanting to slowly corner the beastkin until shended a devastating icence to his liver ending the match.


    The crowd went wild as the two fighters left the arena, the snake had shrunk down but only until it was ten feet long, it remained fully visible as it coiled around the princess as she returned to her seat in the stands.


    Much as he wanted to ponder on those revtions Ajax pushed everything to the back of his mind as he started making his way down to the arena, he had his own fight now against a powerful rune mage.


    As he stepped into the arena Ajax silently cursed as he saw the diator sandpit be theyout. As much as he didn¡¯t want to stereotype people it was simply a fact that the dwarf was naturally inclined towards earth magic, so giving him ess to sand without grass or trees on top of it was to his advantage.


    ¡°They look so odd facing off against each other.¡± The king¡¯s oldest son couldn¡¯t help butugh as he looked at the two fighters. Ajax was two feet taller than the dwarf yet he was fully geared in leather, the dwarf on the other hand was bulked up in thick te armor covered in runes.


    As the starting stone hit the group the oddness of the match really showed. While Ajax was the hybrid fighter who would usually look to close up on a mage he simply took out his bow and began aiming. The dwarf on the other hand started pumping his short legs looking to close the distance.


    ¡°Why is he trying to get close to Ajax?¡± Xavier sounded surprised.


    ¡°Rune mages cast spells a lot faster than chanters.¡± the king¡¯s oldest son replied. ¡°If he closes the distance he will limit how much Ajax can weaken his spells.¡±


    Ajax was very tempted to put an end to the fight early by firing a void mana infused arrow, Against such a heavy defense something like that would guarantee him a win but Ajax wanted to keep that up his sleeve for the finals. Not only that but a well ced Void arrow stood a good chance at actually killing the dwarf as he had no physical stats to endure the blow.


    The first arrow Ajax shot bounced harmlessly against the wind shield the dwarf created. Ajax hadn¡¯t even empowered his physical stats with [Mana Syphon] before shooting it. The moment the dwarf activated his wind wall however Ajax started draining it.


    Looking to conserve as much mana as possible the dwarf lowered his wind wall as soon as the arrow stopped. What he didn¡¯t expect was for the arrow he was stepping over to suddenly detonate, soaking him in water while also tripping him.


    ¡°Why would he bother with that?¡± Anna asked, confused.


    ¡°To make him mad.He wants him as enraged as possible so he won¡¯t notice iting.¡± Lexi answered. ¡°That and water makes using lightning a lot easier.¡±


    ¡°Wait, he wants to do that?¡± the king turned shocked towards Lexi. He hadn¡¯t expected Ajax would show off his maic mana discovery so publicly while using the dwarfs high quality metal armor in the process.


    The second arrow Ajax shot bounced off the wind wall the same as his first. The dwarf however didn¡¯t get a chance to prevent his earlier mistake as the arrow released a burst of water while it was still falling to the ground. This sent a wave of water directly through the slits in his helmet.


    Much like Ajax had hoped the dwarf had gotten quite angry by this point after two attacks that on the surface seemed like nothing more than a joke. Atst however he had managed to get close enough to Ajax that he could start using his runic weapons.


    Unlike chanters a runic mage is actually a lot deadlier in closebatpared to at range. The runes inscribed on their swords, axes or hammers are fully specialized to increase the power of an attack with almost no control since the target is the point of impact.


    ¡°Oh no¡­¡± the king¡¯s oldest son felt a little self conscious as he watched the dwarf pull out a ratherrge one handed hammer out of his spacial ring. He was reliving a memorable spar against Ajax where he had agreed to limit his power, he had a feeling the dwarf was about to do the same thing he had done.


    As soon as the dwarf started the motion for his swing Ajax quickly withdrew his bow and arrow and focused on releasing two spells. While his spells were weaker they were just as fast as the runic ones which meant that his maic bolt and lightning bolt quickly made contact with the dwarf.


    The dwarf hadn¡¯t expected Ajax to free cast magic, the wind wall shield he brought up did almost nothing as the lightning and maic mana passed straight through and both hit his non-dominant arm.


    The lightning bolt wasn¡¯t all that strong, barely managing to cause a small jerk in half the dwarf¡¯s body making him turn at an unnatural angle. That odd pivot added to the maic bolt that hit him however was enough to bring the hammer swing back into his own body. The impactunched the dwarf backwards as he felt the bone in his non dominant arm snap from the blow.

 Chapter 333

    Chapter 333


    The reveal of a new mana aspect might not have been that impactful to the dwarf who was now trying to recover from his own blow, the same couldn¡¯t be said of the numerous people who were watching the fight.


    ¡°What was that?¡±Arianwyn asked as she tried toprehend what happened.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Aranor said, surprising the princess. ¡°I¡¯ve never felt a humanoid use that mana type before.¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯ve seen it somewhere else?¡± the king asked.


    ¡°Only inside the dungeon, even then it is extremely rare.¡± Aranor answered. ¡°The mana affects metals, sometimes drawing them towards it, sometimes pushing them away.¡±


    Ajax didn¡¯t let the opportunity in front of him slip, with the dwarf on the ground from his own strike Ajax was quick tounch a follow up attack. Ideally he wouldnd a decisive blow from close range but despite the hit he¡¯d taken Ajax wasn¡¯t yetfortable being anywhere near the dwarf and his runes.


    Ajax decided to attack with more direct magic. Creating his best Darth Sidious impersonation, Ajaxunched a stream of lightning from both arms towards the dwarf. Despite the attack looking dangerous Ajax intent had nothing to do with actually harming the dwarf, instead he used his full focus on getting the lightning to circte through the dwarf¡¯s armor as quickly as possible.


    The dwarf was quick to react to his new circumstance. Even without seeing the new lightning attacking at him he quickly activated hisst line of defense. A shield made of unaspected mana formed around his flesh, the shield was very durable however its efficiency was rock bottom.


    The moment Ajax felt the shield snap into ce he started his [Mana Syphon] once more. In the heat of the battle Ajax was actually hoping the dwarf wouldn¡¯t realize how little damage the lightning was actually doing thanks to the additional drain of his Legendary skill. ¡°Why isn¡¯t he standing up?¡± Xavier asked confused as he looked at the dwarf waddle around on the ground.


    ¡°Because his bnce and movements are all thrown off.¡± the prince replied with a predatory grin as he looked at the struggling dwarf. ¡°His shield might be protecting him from the lightning¡¯s muscle spasms but Ajax just made his entire set of armor attracted to itself. Not only that but the force of attraction isn¡¯t constant, the closer two pieces are together the stronger the pull.¡±


    This technique had taken Ajax two years before he was confident in using it against a live opponent. The whole reason why Ajax wanted to get the dwarf soaked was so that he could fire off multiple chains of lightning, turning each individual piece of armor struck into its own ma as opposed to the entire armor set bing a giant ma. On the upside despite the extreme concentration required the mana cost was not that exorbitant.


    ¡°That is really impressive, or maybe it¡¯s a trick¡­¡± Aranor mumbled as he took in the odd scene.


    ¡°What trick?¡± Arianwyn asked.


    ¡°It seems like he is holding up ten different spells at once.¡± Aranor exined. ¡°Five separate bolts of lightning and using that odd mana type on five different pieces of armor, perhaps he needs the lightning there to be able to use the new mana type?¡±


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    Ajax didn¡¯t know it but by using lightning inbination with maic mana for the first attack had actually given all the high level mages watching him the idea that lightning mana was required in order for maic mana to activate.


    It took the dwarf almost an entire minute before he was able to finally get back on his feet. For the first time since the start of the tournament themon people had actually gotten a little bored of one of the fights. SInce almost all of them couldn¡¯t properly analyze what was happening between the two fighters, all they had seen for thest minute was a mage trying to break a shield with lightning.


    For his part Ajax was more than happy with the result. As he saw the dwarf finally gain some stability on his feet he simply took a few steps back to give himself more time as he continued releasing his lightning. By this point he had burned through half his mana pool but he was finally ready to meet the dwarf head on in meleebat.


    The dwarf slowly approached with careful steps moving only slightly faster than Ajax who was slowly back away. As soon as there was only three feet between them however Ajax dropped his lightning spell and quickly pulled out his axe and his shield. Much as he preferred his aggressive dual wielding style, not using a shield here would have taken much of a risk.


    Even as he was expecting it the dwarf was still caught on the backfoot by the sudden change. That split second it took him to adjust from the presence of maic mana back to normal was enough to force him on the defensive as Ajax began swinging his heavy axe infused with Magma.


    Now just because both fighters had started fighting within arms reach of each other didn¡¯t mean that any of their blows actually connected. If it ever came down to a contest of physical strength Ajax empowered by his [Mana Syphon] would see the dwarven mage squashed in less than a second. Each swing of the axe did howevernd heavily on the shields the dwarf was generating.


    It was here that Ajax found himself on the backfoot for the first time in this fight. Despite his prodigious talent Ajax had almost no experience fighting a rune mage in closebat, his only sparring partner being a prince more than three times his level. The dwarf on the other hand had faced plenty of hybrid close ranged fighters, even if they used runes instead of Ajax¡¯s more unique casting methods.


    Exchange after exchange Ajax was slowly being caught scuffed more and more, either by the swing of the hammer or by the edge of a spell, it was nothing all that serious his enchantments being enough to weaken the ncing blows to something that his healing could manage but Ajax was being pushed back.


    A minute of constant shing was all it took for Ajax to finally make a big mistake and give the dwarf an opening. The dwarf didn¡¯t hesitate, he saw the opening and went for a match ending blow.


    As the mana channeled through the rune on his right gauntlet the dwarf hadn¡¯t expected for the metal to shatter. The metal had been severely weakened during the minute that Ajax had spent channeling his lightning into it, all it had taken was for the rune to be pushed with a bit of mana for arger blow for the armor to break.


    This came as a surprise to everyone, even to Ajax, but while it was still surprising that it happened now it was something he was expecting to happen. The situation had flipped on its head from Ajax being vulnerable to him gaining a massive advantage, one he didn¡¯t waste as he pushed himself tond a deep cut down the now exposed arm of the dwarf.


    ¡°It ain¡¯t over yet.¡± The dwarf growled as he saw Ajax¡¯s victorious smirk bloom on his face.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry to say but it is.¡± Ajax responded as he rxed hisbat stance in order to bring up his arm and release a wave of Holy mana.


    For the second time in this match the dwarf dropped to the floor. Whereas the first time was from his own blow he now crumbled due to the excruciating pain that radiated from the cut on his arm.


    ¡°He¡¯s a curse mage?¡± the elven king scowled as he took in the scene.


    ¡°Not a mage.¡± Aranor''s voice was soft, theplete opposite to the deep frown as he took in the end of the match. ¡°He generated the curse mana from his Stamina.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m more interested in why the dwarf¡¯s armor shattered.¡± one of the elven royal guards spoke. ¡°There is no way it was in anything other than peak condition before the match started, for it to have a critical failure like that is absurd.¡±


    ¡°He caused it.¡± Arianwyn said, her eyes still wide open in surprise as she saw the match end with Ajax cing his axe to the throat of the dwarf. ¡°He didn¡¯t know when it would happen but he was expecting the armor to shatter. It¡¯s why he reacted so fast when it did.¡±


    ¡°It would seem so.¡± the elven king nodded as he processed his daughter¡¯s words. ¡°We will have to visit Gryndor for dinner tonight, too many odd things have happened in this fight.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure we won¡¯t be the only ones there.¡± Aranor said as he watched the dwarven member of the Republic¡¯s Council send a messenger to Gryndor¡¯s king.

 Chapter 334

    Chapter 334


    Ajax was tired as he moved to exit the arena. Despite being the more heavily injured of the two fighters the healers weren¡¯t prioritizing him. Ajax didn¡¯t know if this was favoritism because he was one of the Republics champions, because he was the loser of the fight, or just because he experienced excruciating pain tear through his body towards the end of the fight.


    It wasn¡¯t long until the healers agreed that there was nothing they could do for the dwarf other than let him try and process the pain he had felt and they all moved to patch Ajax up.


    ¡°What are you doing to help us along?¡± one of the healers asked as they were almost finished with his injuries. ¡°It¡¯s like I hardly need to focus and my healing spells go right where they should.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯ll be keeping that to himself.¡± the crown prince said as he arrived at the healing quarters, half of the members of the first squad behind him. ¡°You alright, kid?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be fine.¡± Ajax responded, normally he¡¯d be a bit peeved at still being called a kid but the crown prince was older than four hundred years old so he more than qualified as a kid in his eyes. ¡°Got a killer headache.¡±


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you say so?¡± the healers asked as they moved to try and inspect him.


    ¡°Because there¡¯s nothing you can do about it.¡± Ajax responded. ¡°It¡¯s self-inflicted by overuse ofplicated spells.¡±


    All of the healers winced at that. Focus headaches passed a lot quicker than low mana headaches and most casters weren¡¯t familiar with them as most spells didn¡¯t require that much focus. Any healer however was more than familiar with focus headaches and every one of them knew the only thing worse than a focus headache was to have both a low mana and a focus headache at the same time.


    ¡°How bad is it?¡± Ajax asked after they left the healing ward.¡°You just rx for now.¡± the crown prince said. ¡°Best to go over the shitstorm you caused once you have a clear head.¡±


    Ajax returned to the royal seating to thunderous cheers. Everyone was content to let him rx for a while as they prepared for the final tournament. For the first time since the start of the tournament Ajax was actually going to watch the remaining fights as a normal spectator. With his headache there was no point in trying to break down the fight using his mana sense in search of any small bit of insight.


    ¡°How are you?¡± Lexi whispered to him as she pulled harder into the hug.


    ¡°I¡¯m just fine.¡± Ajax tried to assure her but they both knew thatst fight had been very close, if the dwarf¡¯s armor would have held up to the pressure the rune output the match could have ended very differently.


    By the end of the day Ajax was the final representative Gryndor had in the tournament. In the end the finals would be elf versus beastkin, elf versus human and elf versus dwarf. The old elf was a wonder to behold, Ajax was honestly shocked how he had managed to get so good when he focused solely on wind magic.


    ¡°Are you better now?¡± Lexi asked as she tried her best to get Ajax to lean on her as they walked back.


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    ¡°Just a little tired¡± Ajax said as his stomach rebelled and decided to inform everyone that he was also in need of maintenance. ¡°A bit hungry as well.¡±


    ¡°Sorry to say this but you won¡¯t get to pull your disappearing act again tonight.¡± The king burst Ajax¡¯s bubble.


    ¡°Why not?¡± it took everything in his power to get the question toe out without sounding like a whimper.


    ¡°More than a few people have questions after what you pulled off in the arena today.¡± the king said. ¡°We might have been able to postpone the maic mana until after the tournament but since you also showed your [Cursed sh] they focused on that to get at least a small glimpse tonight over dinner.¡±


    ¡°How could they do that?¡± Ajax asked. ¡°I thought there was nothing wrong with Stamina based curse attacks.¡±


    ¡°There isn¡¯t.¡± the crown prince confirmed. ¡°But you¡¯re the first hybrid fighter to ever gain a stamina based curse skill, most other hybrids or mages just focus too much on magic for that to happen.¡±


    This was why Ajax hated politics. Everyone who was important knew that Ajax hadn¡¯t used something that was over the line. His situation could be used to make it look like he could have ess to something that was forbidden and they used that as leverage.


    ¡°What¡¯s the n for tonight?¡± Ajax asked with a defeated sigh.


    The king actually deferred to the crown prince for this one. This meeting was something that would most likely not affect anything in the short term so as future king it was up to him how he wanted to y this.


    ¡°I was actually thinking of revealing some of the facts about your specific training method.¡± the crown prince revealed.


    ¡°What?¡± Both Ajax and the king turned in surprise to look at the crown prince.


    ¡°I have to say that your training method managed to both overperform and underperform what I expected from it when I first heard about it.¡± the crown prince confessed.


    ¡°How could it do both?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°You were the initial end result, the only end result we had seen until two years ago when the first people who followed in your footsteps spent their free stat points.¡± the crown prince confessed. ¡°The increase in power is significant, easily five levels worth of stats even in some of the worst cases, but nothing like the increase you¡¯ve shown.¡±


    ¡°Okay, so if that¡¯s where it underperformed, where did it overperform?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°That was with the fact that anyone who tried got results.¡± the crown prince said. ¡°I was expecting it to work on one in five people, maybe one in four and one in three when it came to nobility. Yes the results varied on effort but all but theziest of people got to reap the main chunk of the reward.¡±


    ¡°So if it¡¯s so good then why are you going to reveal it?¡± Ajax tilted his head questioningly.


    ¡°Because it¡¯s going to get out, so we might as well choose how it does and profit from it.¡± the crown prince exined. ¡°Every single child born into nobility has ess to your method by now, there is no way it won¡¯t leak in the next year or so. But if we release it to everyone now every other nation will have a big problem that we don¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°You want them worried about rebellions.¡± Anna spoke up as she looked towards the crown prince. ¡°Our noble lines have all had years to get ahead of themoners'' talents who woulde after. You let everyone know how it¡¯s done now we¡¯d still have a group of nobles older than themoners who will keep their lead enough to curtail any revolt. Everyone else however will have to put in a lot of effort to make sure there won¡¯t be an uprising in a century or two.¡±


    ¡°It won¡¯t be very long, about a decade at most but it should keep their focus away from you.¡± the crown prince nodded to Ajax. ¡°You were nning on heading outside the kingdom after your delve in the Empire, that should ensure the big yers aren¡¯t too focused on you.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re nning on going on an expedition?¡± Lexi asked him, a pang of regret in her voice as she knew she couldn¡¯t join him. The next decade would be essential for her to set her foundations by learning and mastering as many of her grandfather¡¯s spells as she could, sure she could postpone all that but it would simply continue to grow the gulf of power between her and Ajax.


    ¡°I want to try for a bond of my own.¡± Ajax admitted. ¡°There is nothing inside the kingdoms that is a strong enough variant to bond with me, my only chance would be to hope for an egg to drop in a dungeon, that¡¯s not even to mention the gains I could make by delving dungeons that are spread outside any kingdom¡¯s borders.¡±


    What Ajax didn¡¯t mention was how he knew that all the ruins he saw asndmarks on the maps he studied during his time at the academy came from a humanoid empire. The royals of the nation seemed to be under the impression that the humanoid kingdoms were slowly expanding. While that was technically true, what they didn¡¯t know was that their empires were pushed back millennia of development every time a ruler decided to challenge one of the superior races and give it justification to strike back at humanity.


    ¡°Who are you expecting toe tonight?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°Three members of the Council, the elven royal family, and a few dukes from both countries.¡± the king¡¯s oldest son flippantly said with a sadistic smile as he watched Ajax take a mental blow after each mention.


    ¡°We managed to exclude Archduke Goldenmouth, if that is any reassurance.¡± the king offered, and as much as Ajax didn¡¯t want to admit it the words were like a security nket to him.

 Chapter 335

    Chapter 335


    Arianwyn Sylvian P.O.V


    There was a lot I didn¡¯t understand about the human champion called Ajax Hearthbound his Legendary skill was unlike anything I had ever seen, his way of casting was a passing curiosity but evenbined it didn¡¯t seem like it would be something I would need to worry about for this tournament.


    All of that changed in hisst fight, the reveal of an unusual mana type we had little to no knowledge of was already troubling even with the diminished effect it would have on my non-metallic gear. The ability to use not only curse but also holy mana was a much bigger problem, I knew I would fold just as the dwarf had done if he ever got to use them on me at the same time.


    ¡°You are to be polite and respectful.¡± Father was talking to ra¡¯s dad who would be joining us for this impromptu questioning disguised as dinner. ¡°And if you find your willpower slipping step away from the boy.¡±


    Father had made it very clear where he stood when it came to Ajax. While he may be a little below my level at the moment this would not be the case in a few decades, as long as his attitudes towards non-humans continued to be opposed to that of the Empire having him take over Shadow¡¯s position as a war deterrent would be the best oue for us, if only because war wouldn¡¯te as we were struggling to regain our financial footing.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± I asked ra.


    ra had been feeling down since yesterday, I had initially thought that it was just from losing in the first round but while the disappointment in herself had abated she seemed to sink deeper into the start of a depression.


    ¡°He saw it.¡± she whispered so quietly I barely heard it.


    ¡°Who saw what?¡± I whispered back, trying to figure out what she meant.¡°He saw <em>it</em> in the m-match yesterday.¡± her voice quivered a little in fear.


    Then it clicked, Ajax had seen her trait. Somehow the human prodigy had a good enough inspect skill that he managed to get a look at her Witch trait. Now it made sense, why the duke was ready to assassinate Ajax, the only reason he didn¡¯t do it without consulting with father was because by now the Gryndor royals all knew about it so there would be no point aside from misguided revenge.


    ¡°It¡¯ll all be okay.¡± I gave her a hug as I tried my best to reassure her but deep inside where my skills didn¡¯t affect the words I could feel how hollow they were.


    ¡°We won¡¯t mention his use of cursed attack.¡± Father now spoke to the entire party. ¡°If the republic brings it up we will stay quiet on the issue and that is all.¡±


    ra¡¯s eyes fell to her feet. She knew why we were all to stay away from that issue, humans had a very apt saying about this situation ¡®he who lives in a ss house shouldn¡¯t throw stones¡¯.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry to have to ask you of this considering the circumstances but the more we know the better.¡± Father said to both ra and me. ¡°Try to get to know him during this dinner, ignore the tournament and whatever it is that he is hiding and try to see what kind of person he is.¡±


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    As the only people even close in age to Ajax who were going to the party I could see why it fell to us to investigate, the situation rubbed me the wrong way anyhow. Not just because I should be focused on tomorrow¡¯s match but also because I knew ra would have wanted to keep her distance and I would have joined her. My nervous tick of running my finger along Regalia¡¯s scales as she stayed wrapped around my waist returned as we made our way to Gryndor¡¯s embassy.


    The ballroom we were led to once we arrived to the party was on the smaller sizepared to what I was used to, in terms of attendance however this was the most exclusive dinner I had ever been to. That wasn¡¯t to say I hadn¡¯t been to other events that just as many high status people but they were always diluted by lower nobles.


    The guest list only saw names that belonged to one of the royal families, the council, ducal families or champions like Shadow and Aranor, the only exception was Ajax. I quickly scanned the room in search of Ajax, unsurprisingly he was off to one side with most of the youth in attendance: Goldmancer, Manashaper Steelde, Xavier Gryndor and Darkw, the beastkin I defeated earlier today.


    As much as father may have said that today wasn¡¯t apetition and it had nothing to do with tomorrow¡¯s match I wasn¡¯t sure Ajax saw it the same way. ra and I made our way toward the group as I got ready for a confrontation.


    ¡°Good evening¡± ra offered as neutrally as her skills let her as we approached.


    ¡°Evening¡± I can¡¯t say I was surprised by the short and abrupt way Ajax greeted us, what did surprise me was the reserved attitude and the short glimpse of guilt that crossed over his features as he looked at ra.


    ¡°Good evening.¡± Darkw greeted us before he singled me out. ¡°Princess, that was one hell of surprise you pulled on me earlier today.¡±


    It seems like his personality matches his reputation to a T. The beastkin was a battle maniac who wouldn¡¯t hold a grudge over a defeat. Some people might call pulling out a bond like I had with Regalia a cheap dirty move but he just seemed excited and already nning on how he would approach our next fight.


    ¡°Now, I won¡¯t leave today before we schedule a fight.¡± Darkw turned back to Ajax.


    ¡°I¡¯d be more than happy to schedule a fight for you.¡± Goldmancer offered.


    From the merchant smile on her face I knew agreeing to such an open ended statement would ensure that fight never saw the light of day, it seems like the beastkin was of the same opinion as he quickly amended his statement.¡± schedule a fight before you leave the Republic.¡±


    As I watched the discussion I initially thought that Ajax might have an issue with Darkw, perhaps because of his beastkin heritage, but the more I watched the more that didn¡¯t seem to be the case. It was almost like he didn¡¯t feelfortable with the event as a whole. More than that it was like he wasn¡¯t used to being in this type of gathering, sure he didn¡¯t do anything insulting but he was clearly out of ce.


    ¡°He¡¯s not used to it.¡± Xavier Gryndor said from next to me.


    ¡°What?¡± I asked surprised.


    ¡°You¡¯re trying to get a read on Ajax and it isn¡¯t going well.¡± Xavier said with confidence. ¡°It¡¯s because he¡¯s not used to it and he doesn¡¯t like attending events such as this.¡±


    It wasn¡¯t much of a surprise that he caught on to what ra and I were doing, with his upbringing he would have figured it out easily, even if he hadn¡¯t his father would have warned him about it.


    ¡°How can he not be?¡± I focused on the part I couldn¡¯t make sense of. ¡°Someone as talented as him?¡±


    Despite being born amoner I couldn¡¯t piece together how he would still be ufortable at a party after being given a noble title and living in Gryndor¡¯s capital for thest almost seven years.


    ¡°The nobles who ruled his original home didn¡¯t have a good attitude towardsmoners.¡± Xavier admitted with a grimace, one I almost sympathetically mimicked as my mind jumped straight to a few nobles back home that had the same attitude. ¡°He tries to avoid things like this as much as possible.¡±


    I could see it, he was clearly in a rtionship with Manashaper (that match was something I would definitely be informing father of) and she was fielding most of the nobles who drifted by our little group to greet the man of hour.


    ¡°He has been a Baron for six years and lived in your capital during that time how did he not get used to parties?¡± I asked Xavier, a little frustrated now that I couldn¡¯t engage Ajax in a battle of words.


    ¡°I used to think I was special.¡± Xavier¡¯s words confused me a bit. ¡°I know I¡¯m talented but before I got to know Ajax I used to think I was very special, almost unique.¡±


    ¡°What does that have to do with it?¡± I asked.


    ¡°As talented as Ajax is, you don¡¯t get to where he has gotten so quickly without a lot of hard work.¡± Xavier said. ¡°By the time he made his first ssh in the capital he had shown his potential. It was simply agreed to allow him his privacy to focus on whatever he wanted. In thest six year I would be surprised if Ajax attended more than thirty noble parties.¡±


    Only five events per year?! I attended at least fifty.


    ¡°Surely you can at least reveal a little as to what happened to the enchanted armor.¡± my trail of thought was interrupted by the loud dwarven council member who was talking to king Gryndor, he had evidently had enough of beating around the bush.

 Chapter 336

    Chapter 336


    Shadow P.O.V


    Something was definitely going on with the kid called Ajax. Everyone could see he was talented even just from the Legendary skill that he had unlocked at such a young age. But what was extremely strange was for him to have ess to physical based cursed attacks. There was a good reason that history wasn¡¯t filled with hybrid fighters who could curse their opponents then bring them to their knees with a wave of holy mana. Physical generated cursed attacks almost required a full investment into physical stats. Whatever was up with the kid it must have lowered the requirements for him to gain skills. This would also exin the number of different mana types he has ess to, the question was how.


    ¡°We need to find out what it was that he did to weaken that armor.¡± Councilor Deepforge exined for the fifth time as we were making our way to Gryndor¡¯s embassy. ¡°And if it was that odd mana type we need to figure out how to protect against it.¡±


    He had nearly blown a gasket after he examined the armor following Ajax¡¯s match. It¡¯s not like I didn¡¯t understand his point of view, he was a cksmith for the past seven hundred years, one so good with enchantments and runic magic that he had worked his way onto the council after having been born amoner. But I did think he was pushing his influence too much over this matter. In the end Gryndor didn¡¯t actually do anything wrong and there was nothing they had to exin to us.


    ¡°Maybe we should still bring Goldenmouth with us.¡± he sounded confident in the statement, after all it wasn¡¯t himself he was trying to convince.


    ¡°They were clear that he wouldn¡¯t be weed at this dinner.¡± I stepped in, there was no reason to provoke them after they agreed to thest minute party by breaking their sole request.


    ¡°What do you¡­¡± I could see the moment his mind caught up to his mouth as it remained open for a few moments before snapping shut and letting the point drop.


    This was why I liked the Republic over any of the other kingdoms. As The Champion here I wasn¡¯t more important than I would be in any other kingdom, however no council member was as important by themselves as a king was everywhere else. This meant that if I was insulted the beating I would give out would be overlooked.


    ¡°Let''s just get moving.¡± the counselor said atst.Once we arrived at the embassy I could see from the arrangement what the n was. With the way people were spread around the room it was clear that they were looking to keep anyone with too high social skills away from Ajax by cing him with the young people. Any answers we would be getting would be from the royal family.


    ¡°Your brother seems a little flustered.¡± I nodded towards the crown prince as I spoke to his brother. ¡°I take it this evening came as a surprise for you as well.¡±


    ¡°Ajax is not someone we are looking to limit.¡± the prince replied. ¡°I will admit we did know he could do what he did in the arena today, but it certainly wasn¡¯t the n to provide a demonstration. Your fighter took a lot out of him.¡±


    The words of praise took some of the sting out of the fact that we went from having two fighters in the semifinals of that tournament to nobody in the final.


    ¡°My brother needs practice anyway.¡± the prince said with a grin. ¡°I think this is the first time such a big political incident happened without warning and it''s good that he gets to go through it with father by his side.


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    ¡°Practice, eh?¡± I raise an eyebrow. ¡°So there is already a n for how tonight is going to y out.¡±


    ¡°What can I say?¡± the prince said as he looked towards the far side of the room. ¡°For all the headaches the kid causes he hands out just as many tricks to put up your sleeve.¡±


    The elves were surprisingly neutral throughout the evening. I had expected the duke who¡¯s daughter had lost in the first round to be just as aggressive as the counselor was, but despite the clear irritation on his face he remained a neutral party. It was almost like the elves hade today as spectators, they sent their princess to get a look at Ajax and their king to monitor the remaining royalty.


    ¡°Surely you can at least reveal a little as to what happened to the enchanted armor.¡± Deepforge finally lost what had remained of his patience after he had tried to gently lead the conversation back towards this topic indirectly.


    ¡°The aftereffects of the magic was known to us.¡± king Gryndor admitted. ¡°However the specifics are currently a specialty of House Hearthbound, they are not something we will be making public.¡±


    And there it was the line in the sand. I can¡¯t say I didn¡¯t expect it, let''s hope it wouldn¡¯t be too much work for me to keep everything here civil.


    ¡°For a house that uses cursed mana to also keep those kinds of secrets to themselves¡± Deepforge pressed on regardless of how rude it was. ¡°You expect us to ept that when that house has no history or reputation to ease our worries.¡±


    I tried my best to tune out the bullshit that was being spewed and turned to look at how Ajax was reacting to all this now that the topic was brought into the spotlight for everyone. I was d to see that he didn¡¯t look any more ufortable now than he was a second ago, clearly he had been prepped for this.


    ¡°House Hearthbound has already made considerable contributions over their admittedly short history.¡± the crown prince said with a smile that told me Gryndor was now putting their n in action. ¡°I know that a lot of you have been trying to find out about Ajax¡¯s initial training method that led to his rise. We will be making that method public one we return home from this tournament.¡±


    Out of everything they could have said this was not something I or anyone else was expecting. Everyone quickly threw their nces towards Ajax and then back towards the prince.


    ¡°You are saying that you will give all of us a method of training that will make our future generations fight against an over 50% level disadvantage?¡± The elven king truly joined the conversation for the first time.


    ¡°While the specifics on the method do have to wait I can tell you what the results of it were when practiced by our youths.¡± the crown prince said. ¡°Much as he has proven time and again Ajax is a special case on a far extreme. The average increase in stats is around five or six levels worth.¡±


    ¡°What determines how effective the method is?¡± I ask as something doesn¡¯t feel quite right.


    ¡°Effort and dedication.¡± king Gryndor answers. ¡°Thezier people saw an increase of only three levels while the dedicated people saw seven or eight. There are extremes at both ends of only one level or a full nine levels worth of stats.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t see what their y was. Yes that was arge variance and arge number of stats but I can¡¯t see how this improves their situation. Even if the younger generation have something to focus on soon the older generation will still be focused on the new mana type and its war applications.


    ¡°Is there a way to sort out who is eligible for this training method?¡± the elven king asks once again.


    ¡°Yes, and no.¡± king Gryndor replies with a cheshire smile. ¡°Everyone can use this training method.¡±


    And there it was. Just like that their entire n clicked. This was how they were forcing us to focus on something else. For the next few decades every single other kingdom will be forced to keep a very close eye on theirmoners so that a rebellion doesn¡¯t start a civil war.


    ¡°Why are they all looking so serious?¡± I could hear Darkw ask, the battle maniac not putting everything together just yet. ¡°Everyone gaining about five levels worth of stats won¡¯t make that much of a difference at higher levels.¡±


    ¡°Not for nobles maybe.¡± For the first time Ajax sounded cold, it seems that there was some truth in the information about him having an initial bad interaction with nobles. ¡°An extra five levels worth of stats at the start would meanmoners would be able to get a few dungeon floor clear bonuses even without paying for a boost.¡±


    I could see it as the realization hit Darkw and the two young elves. In a few generation the power gap between the nobles andmoners was going to close dramatically all on the back of this one discovery. ¡°He was only made a Baron after such a big discovery, even if it was only a theory that seems underwhelming.¡± the words slipped from my lips without meaning to, it''s a good thing almost nobody heard me.


    ¡°We didn¡¯t want to toss him in the deep end.¡± the prince next to memented. ¡°The original n was to wait a decade for his ducal title but I think those ns have been sped up a little.¡±

 Chapter 337

    Chapter 337


    While Ajax hadn¡¯t quite yet made the corrtion his training method was a lot more impactful for humans than it was for any of the other races. Unlike humans most other races all had regr ess to mana. Since hybrid builds were extremely rare this meant that they all practiced Ajax technique on their non focused stats unintentionally. The extra points in their more valued Stats however were going to be much more valuable.


    The sole Empire ambassador in the room looked like he wasn¡¯t sure if he should be jumping for joy or trying to pull his hair out in rage. While on the one hand this technique would work wonders in bridging the small gap in power that existed between the average soldier it would no doubt also spread like wildfire.


    The empire knew that a few of their nobles were sympathizers and all it would take was one of them to get a good rebelionunched. More than that it wasn¡¯t like they could even say anything to Ajax about this since he did in theory keep this discovery for humans almost exclusively until it got too big to keep hidden.


    One by one a multitude of nobles slowly shuffled by the youth gathering, all looking to meet Ajax and congratte him on his discovery. Everything had been going ording to n until the elven ambassador made his way over. Unlike most of the elves here he wasn¡¯t from Sylvanthal, he was the ambassador from Deepwood, the elven version of the Empire.


    ¡°Congrattions on such a big discovery young man.¡± the elf said as he offered his hand with a friendly smile. ¡°What led you to make it?¡±


    There had been plenty of people around Ajax that were looking for foul y at that time but the question had seemed innocent to all of them, after all Ajax had answered the exact question before and the answer had always been he had seen not doing it as a waste of stats. While this was true it wasn¡¯t his driving motive.


    ¡°The increased effectiveness of my Prodigal Apprentice Trait.¡± Ajax answered casually under the effects of the elf¡¯s social skills.


    As soon as the words had left his mouth Ajax¡¯s mind cleared of the influence and a deep frown took over his face. Everyone around him was shocked by the words only the elf sported a victorious smirk on his face.


    The elf didn¡¯t get to keep that smirk on his face for long as Ajax pushed [Mana Syphon] to its maximum as he squeezed his hand as hard as he could. The loud POP was enough to bring everyone else out of their surprise as the elf dropped to his as his other hand went to grab his wrist while Ajax tried his best to turn every bone in his grip to dust.The exchange was over in a moment as Shadow himself separated the pair but the damage was done. Ajax¡¯s social skills did nothing to hide the anger that was clear across his face, he had wanted to do much more than just crush the bastard¡¯s hand. The elf on the other hand was finally getting himself under control as he adjusted to the influx of pain.


    ¡°He assaulted me!¡± the elf shrieked. ¡°I demand justice.¡±


    ¡°The boy did nothing but defend himself.¡± king Gryndor himself said as he approached, his face a mirror of Ajax¡¯s own rage.


    ¡°Defended himself from what social skills are perfectly allowed during social engagements.¡± the sneered back, the triumphant smile only held back by the pain he felt. ¡°The treaties state that quite clearly.¡±


    ¡°The treaties also offer protection to children.¡± the king¡¯s voice boomed in the silence that had gripped the ballroom. ¡°As a boy who has not yet reached the age of twenty-five using any social skills topel an answer is seen as a direct attack, he only defended himself.¡±


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    That specific section of the Treaty was the exact reason why Archduke Goldenmouth was such a menace, his [Talker] skill didn¡¯t actuallypel an answer but seeing as it was such a high level Legendary skill the difference was only a technicality. This was also the reason Ajax only spent a little time with most older nobles as they also had skills that would slowly get answers out of him withoutpelling them.


    The king¡¯s usation had an immediate effect as the elf¡¯s slightly pale face and victorious demeanor quickly took a turn into a ghostly-white horrified one. With Ajax¡¯s participation in the under fifty tournament he had overlooked Ajax¡¯s actual age provided him the extreme safeguards.


    ¡°Do you fool even realize what you may have cost your nation?¡± Shadow asked as he tried his best not to let guilt grab a hold of him.


    With Shadow as a deterrent for war every nation could collectively take this opportunity to start a war and gang up on Deepwood. Even Sylvanthal would join in if for the sole reason that they would be the ones who get to take control of their dungeons after the nation is destroyed. The beastkin knew that it wasn¡¯t his fault that all those people would die but emotions weren¡¯t always logical.


    Watching the look of horror appear on the elf¡¯s face did a lot to calm the inferno that was Ajax¡¯s rage. As the rage withdrew however Ajax was finally able to take in the looks of everyone else in the room. Everybody seemed outraged but with the exception of a certain few they all also looked grim. The Empire¡¯s envoy made no attempt to keep himself from looking like he just won his weight in gold ten times over.


    ¡°Ajax¡­¡± Lexi whispered as he turned and looked her in the eyes. Despite everyone having a much harsher outlook on the value of life on this worldpared to Earth that didn¡¯t mean everyone was ruthless. This war would cost countless innocents their lives.


    ¡°I demand that Deepwood grant me a free boosted delve in their dungeons.¡± Ajax¡¯s words came out as an unsure whisper but they had everyone around him turn to him in confusion.


    ¡°I demand that Deepwood grant me a free boosted delve in their dungeons as reparation for this grievance.¡± Ajax¡¯s words were not just louder but filled with a lot more confidence the second time. ¡°I will take ten people of my choosing and my own booster.¡±


    Everyone in attendance now bounced their eyes from looking at Ajax to looking at the elven emissary. For a moment there they were all shocked. Technically the treaty was broken but Ajax had just offered the elf a way to make amends for his transgression to the only aggrieved party.


    ¡°Deepwood epts your generous offer.¡± The ambassador was the first of the stunned nobles to react as his mind had already been running through every scenario it could to stop the war from happening. What Ajax offered cost Deepwood almost nothing. ¡°You have both my deepest apologies and most sincere thanks Baron Hearthbound.¡±


    Despite the broken hand the elf quickly produces a parchment and printed out the terms of the deal before signing it. As an official ambassador he had the authority to make promises in the name of Deepwood¡¯s royal family meaning that something like a delve in the dungeons couldn¡¯t be contestedter even if the royals wouldn¡¯t want to agree.


    While his actions may have been selfish from a certain point of view as Ajax both the people of the Republic and Sylvanthal just had most of their doubts regarding Ajax¡¯s attitude towards non-humansid to rest in the brief exchange.


    The party wouldn¡¯t recover from this and everyone in attendance recognised that. While the elven ambassador was the first to leave, all but scurrying out the door after he handed Ajax the signed document while making sure their hands made no contact.


    The party had certainly been eventful, almost everyone leaving was both displeased by how it all ended yet very happy with the result of the evening as a whole. The Empire¡¯s ambassador was one of the clear exceptions, even all of his social skills could do nothing to prevent his face from looking like it just bit into the world''s most sour lemon.


    ¡°Thanks kid.¡± Shadow said to Ajax. ¡°Your quick thinking is probably the only reason I¡¯ll get a good night¡¯s sleep tonight.¡±


    The remaining elves quickly bid their own goodbyes from a distance, the princess not even taking a parting shot regarding their match tomorrow like she had nned. It took less than ten minutes before the only people remaining in the ballroom were members of the royal family, the royal families attendants or friends of Ajax.


    ¡°That was some great quick thinking there, Baron.¡± The crown prince praised Ajax. ¡°This was a favorable oue.In the future I do however rmend consulting with me before making a decision of such magnitude, you could have asked for a lot more before they might have even considered not immediately epting.¡±


    Out of the corner of his eye Ajax could see Anna nodding along with the prince¡¯s words. ¡°That was some quick thinking there.¡± the king¡¯s oldest son said with his usual carefree smile. ¡°I thought you might be walking in my footsteps but you already surpassed me by far, I hadn¡¯t managed to be involved in an incident like this until I was a century old.¡±


    The king¡¯s oldest son soaked in the groans everyone else let out as they no doubt remembered the incident he was referring to. ¡°I do have to say however I am quite curious about this Prodigal Apprentice trait.¡± the prince continues as he pointed out the big elephant in the room.

 Chapter 338

    Chapter 338


    Just like that Ajax was once again the center of attention in a room where you could hear a pin drop. Unlike when he first revealed something like this, Ajax was now much stronger than the average soldier but in this room he was still the small fish in the big pond.


    ¡°That sounds different from the ¡®Genius Apprentice¡¯ trait I got.¡± Xavier threw in his two cents.


    ¡°It is different.¡± the crown prince confirmed. ¡°In fact I never heard of a Prodigal Apprentice before. Is it from pushing a skill to seventy-five? I haven¡¯t seen anything from you that would suggest you have a skill at level one hundred now let alone twelve years ago.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not skill rted.¡± Ajax put an early stop to the guessing game. ¡°What does Genius apprentice grant?¡±


    Ajax tried not to show his envy as asked about the opportunity he lost just because he didn¡¯t know about it, he was sure he would have been able to push one of his mana skills all the way to level fifty if he knew to focus on it.


    Genius Apprentice - Temporary trait


    Status points allocated increased by 10%


    Aging stopped for the duration.


    Ease of forcibly increasing stat points increased.Ease of forcibly increasing stat points rted to skills above level fifty greatly increased.


    Experience earned for activities rted to skills above level increased.


    Ease of adapting to increase in stat points increased.


    Ease of adapting to increase in stat points rted to skills above level fifty massively increased.


    Ease of unlocking new skills rted to skills above level fifty greatly increased.


    As Ajax was told the increases granted he couldn¡¯t help butpare it to his own apprentice trait.


    Prodigal Apprentice - Temporary trait


    Status points allocated increased by 20%


    Aging stopped for the duration.


    Ease of forcibly increasing stat points greatly increased.


    Experience earned for doing skill rted activities slightly increased.


    Ease of adapting to increase in stat points massively increased.


    Ease of unlocking new skills on the basis of skills earned before gaining this trait slightly increased.


    Status bes harder to reveal or approximate making appraisal and scan abilities harder to use.


    Of the two it was clear that his own was the superior title, at the same time it was a lot harder to reach level ten before the age of tenpared to getting just one skill to level fifty. What really irked Ajax was that he was sure the two traits would have stacked.


    Sure maybe the allocated stat points wouldn¡¯t have added but he would have absolutely double dipped in the massive increase to forcibly increasing stats. Not to mention the increase in experience earned. Most valuable however was the great increase in gaining rted skills, there was a good chance Ajax would have had a few extra general Epic tier magic skills if not an extra Legendary one had he gotten the trait.


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    ¡°This is more focused.¡± Ajax broke the silence as he thought over the Genius Apprentice trait. ¡°My trait was gained based on my level.¡±


    ¡°Based on your level?¡± The crown prince was surprised that he hadn¡¯t considered that option.


    ¡°Level ten before the age of ten.¡± Ajax said to the surprised gasp of many in attendance.


    ¡°How many skills¡­¡± Xavier¡¯s words died out before he finished his sentence but he had simply given voice to what everyone else was thinking. If Ajax had managed to get to level ten without having a single skill over level fifty, just how many skills had he had at such a young age.


    As Ajax shared the details of his own trait he noticed one of the members of the first squad jotting it all down furiously on a piece of parchment before rolling it up and cing it inside his spacial storage.


    ¡°It¡¯s a lot more focused on short term gains.¡± the king¡¯s eldest son rejoined the conversation. ¡°It¡¯s quite a bit stronger as well. I can see why you would think of hoarding all of your stat points if you received a massive increase to just working for all of them.¡±


    Xavier couldn¡¯t help but be surprised at the spark of envy that reappeared in him at the reveal. He had thought he waspletely pastparing himself to Ajax but it seems having his own traitpared like this pressed on an old wound. His biggest regret however was not taking advantage of Ajax¡¯s training method, his Strength and Dexterity could have gained a much bigger increase if he hadn¡¯t used his free points right as he turned ten years old.


    ¡°This certainly exins why your results were so much better than anyone we had using your method.¡± the king nodded. ¡°Sadly it is also something that is near impossible to recreate, after all it isn¡¯t like we weren¡¯t already trying to get our children to as high a level as possible at an early age.¡±


    ¡°With how publicly the information was revealed I doubt we will be able to gain all that much from sharing it with the other nations.¡± the crown prince scratched his chin. ¡°They will all put some pressure into finding the answer but it was never something we could have really sold. Getting a delve in each of Deepwood¡¯s five dungeons is a better price than we could have expected for something like this.¡±


    ¡°Not to mention with this out in the open people will stop spying so closely.¡± Lexi said quietly. Unlike usual she was actually keeping a fair distance between her and Ajax. Despite understanding why he hadn¡¯t volunteered the secret she was still slightly upset that he hadn¡¯t shared it with her. She knew it was hypocritical of her considering how many family secrets she had from him but this one wouldn¡¯t affect anything.


    ¡°I can safely say that nobody is going to be suspecting you of developing another Legendary skill that¡¯s for sure.¡± the king¡¯s oldest son said with an upbeat tone. ¡°At least the end results were what we wanted, even if we didn¡¯t get there exactly as we nned.¡±


    While most of the people couldn¡¯t help but let out a sigh at the prince¡¯s antics there were a few people who almost choked at the words. ¡°YOU HAVE ANOTHER LEGENDARY SKILL?¡±


    Benedict had the good sense the blush and cover his mouth at the outburst, he had managed to contain himself the entire evening, he had even been quite pleased with himself for some of the verbal sparring he had managed with the elven princess but finding out that Ajax had gained a fourth Legendary skill broke the dam.


    While Ajax wasn¡¯t keeping the fact that he had Life mana a guarded secret after the discussion he previously had with the royal family about it he still gave the prince the stick eye for revealing it like this. Benedict hadn¡¯t been the only one whose skill finally gave up as the crown prince failed to resist the urge to facepalm.


    ¡°Oh, oops I forgot that some people didn¡¯t know about that yet.¡± the prince said with a strainedugh that fooled absolutely nobody. Ajax was sure that the prince was just trying to stir the pot since while he did let the cat out the bag he didn¡¯t actually say what the skill Ajax gained was. ¡° My bad, I¡¯ll make it up to you.¡±


    While most people were ready to ept that this was simply the prince¡¯s attitude and there was nothing they could do about it there was one person he wasn¡¯t about to let him get away with this free of charge at her friend¡¯s expense.


    ¡°It¡¯s so kind of you to volunteer as the booster for Ajax¡¯s delves in Deepwood as an apology, Your Highness¡± Anna said with such a pure and innocent smile that anyone who didn¡¯t truly know her would have thought was genuine. ¡°For someone in his position he might have needed to give up two of the ten spots just to secure an adequate booster considering just how high the floors he would reach might be.¡±


    ¡°That wasn-¡± the prince didn¡¯t even get to object before he was cut off.


    ¡°How truly generous of you my son.¡± The king joined in and sealed the prince¡¯s fate. This wasn¡¯t because he wanted to do Ajax a favor or because he wanted to punish his son a little, those were simply perks. The real gain would be having an excuse to send his son into Deepwood with what amounted to full immunity. ¡°I fully approve of your idea.¡±


    The prince¡¯s reputation for oundishnessbined with the fact that actually attacking any member of the party without an irond reason would absolutely lead to war considering how the delves were gained meant that it would be the perfect opportunity to send him in as reconnaissance.


    ¡°But¡­ but¡­¡± the prince knew he had flown too close to the sun and burnt his wings so he decided to let the matter drop. ¡°Oh whatever, I¡¯m going to bed.¡±


    Ajax was very much of the same opinion considering that he had a fight tomorrow, the hardest fight of the entire tournament. He was going to pull out all the stops for that one.

 Chapter 339

    Chapter 339


    Unlike the previous night Ajax went to sleep alone, something he very much needed as the previous day had drained him both physically and mentally with the fight and the dinner after. While he was physically fully replenished after a good eight hours of sleep the same could not be said about him mental fatigue.


    ¡°Baron Hearthbound, if you have a moment¡­¡±


    ¡°Good morning Baron, about¡­¡±


    ¡°Baron¡­¡±


    Ajax hadn¡¯t taken more than two steps inside the ballroom for breakfast when he was osted by a number of high ranking nobles.


    ¡°Any discussion regarding the delve spots for the Deepwood dungeons are to wait until after the tournament.¡± the king¡¯s voice boomed from the head of the table silencing all the nobles.


    ¡°Oh thank the gods!¡± Ajax was surprised to see his grandfather worn out for the first time ever. It seemed that haggling with multiple of the country''s high nobility was too much even for the veteran merchant.


    ¡°Sorry about that.¡± Judy said as she looked just as haggard as her grandfather. ¡°Telling them that you haven¡¯t made any decision on the spots was the only way to get the more insistent of them to drop it.¡±


    ¡°Why are they in so much of a rush?¡± Ajax asked, surprised. ¡°It''s not like I¡¯ll be going for at least a month, they have plenty of time.¡± ¡°You¡¯re kidding right?¡± Judy asked.


    ¡°Your visit to Deepwood will be as official guests.¡± his grandfather exined. ¡°Anyone you bring with you will be able to buy and bring back as many rare goods as they can afford and manage to carry back. Those were all merchants who will most likely sell the spot to another house with the condition that whoever they send acts as their merchant while there.¡±


    Much the same as in the Empire Deepwood was speciest, this meant they exported very little, the opportunity for non-elves to enter and be weed was one no merchant wanted to pass on.


    From there breakfast was a quiet affair and that let Ajax get his mind back on his uing fight, everything else could wait until this evening. But while everyone did let him focus and get himself ready for the fight, luck just wasn¡¯t on his side that day. On the way to the arena he spotted an odd familiar looking object in the window of a store.


    ¡°Excuse me sir but what do you think you are doing?¡± The store clerk threw an using re at Ajax as he had dashed in off the street and bee lined it for the disy.


    It was only with this interruption that Ajax realized what he had done, it couldn¡¯t be helped however as that was simply the reaction the object produced, in an attempt to salvage what remained of his coin purse Ajax quickly picked up the mana core near the object and pretended to inspect it for a moment before letting out a defeated sigh.


    ¡°My apologies, I thought this was of a different mana type.¡± He said as he put the mana stone back. ¡°How much is it for this?¡± He then picked up the item he wanted.


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    ¡°That came from a level seventy floor, it would have to be at least two hundred gold.¡± the merchant said.


    Ajax knew he was overpricing the item, they clearly didn¡¯t know what it was and despite his act he hadn¡¯t managed to throw the merchantpletely off. ¡°I¡¯ll take it.¡± He said as he produced the bag of gold coins and ced it in the merchant''s open hand as he stared at him ck-jaw as he left the store without even trying to haggle the price.


    Once back outside Ajax rejoined the small procession that was heading towards the arena. He was a bit embarrassed by the fact that all of them had stopped and waited for him, this was also why he hadn¡¯t tried to haggle, he wanted toplete the transaction before people realized who was interested in the item and it¡¯s price would soar.


    ¡°Something catch your eye?¡± the prince asked smugly.


    ¡°It just gave me an idea.¡± Ajax said as he ced the taser into his spacial ring.


    ¡®Howe the dungeons produced a floor where a taser would be found without me there?¡¯ Ajax couldn¡¯t help but ask himself. He had previously been under the impression that the floors inspired by his Earth knowledge required his presence but that was clearly not true. The dungeons did in fact require his presence to obtain the knowledge, but once the knowledge and ideas were obtained the dungeon could then use it in any floor created after his delve.


    ¡°So what does it do?¡± the prince asked.


    ¡°It produces lightning.¡± Ajax saw no need to try and hide what the taser did. The whole reason he bought besides sentimental value was in the hopes that the kingdom could recreate it and apply their maic degradation with it.


    ¡°We could have gotten you an enchanted staff or wand that does the same thing.¡± the prince said.


    ¡°Hold out your shield¡± Ajax said to one of the armed guards traveling with them.


    The guard looked confused but did as he was told. Ajax wasted no time in pulling the trigger and everyone was surprised to see the two probes mmed and connected with the shield. As the current passed through the wires the shield started emitting a decent amount of maic mana.


    Ajax didn¡¯t hold the trigger for more than a second but that was enough for everyone to figure out why he had made such a big deal out of it. ¡°Metal armor prices will plummet in theing century, best focus on leather or chitin armor.¡± Anna muttered to herself.


    ¡°Scour the city, discreetly.¡± the crown prince told one of his people. ¡°If there are any more of those, buy them all.¡±


    With the demonstration over, Ajax reloaded the taser and ced it back into his spacial ring. He very much doubted it would be of any use against the elven princess however it could prove useful against that snake of hers.


    Before he had to step out onto the field however he would get to enjoy the fight between the two strongest people inside the city. Aranor versus Shadow promised to be a longer match than any of the others had been as far as their tournament went.


    A fast casting mage wouldn¡¯t be forced in the same position that the prince had been where he had to keep Shadow engaged or risk being unable to find him, at the same time he wouldn¡¯t be caught between casts the same way Shadow¡¯s first opponent had been after he managed to find the assassin.


    As Ajax looked across at the elven seating area he was surprised to see the princess¡¯s bond was no longer ying an innocent belt. Yes the snake was still wrapped around her waist but its head now rested up on her shoulder in clear view of everyone.


    ¡°No point in keeping it hidden anymore.¡± Ajax said with a hint of jealousy, he wanted to have a bond of his own. ¡®After the delves I¡¯ll go out and look for one of my own.¡¯


    ¡°I¡¯m sure we can find an egg for you.¡± Lexi said as she leaned into Ajax¡¯s side as she followed his line of sight. ¡°These things just take time.¡± She knew that Ajax was looking for a bond, almost all of his friends around his age had one including his older brother.


    Both of them knew that there was no way Ajax would be able to find anything that was strong enough to bond inside the kingdom borders. Ajax was also sure that if he wanted a bond he wouldn¡¯t be able to get one from an egg, at least not the eggs that were sold. Those bonds just wouldn¡¯t grow fast enough to catch up with him in any form of reasonable time frame.


    Ajax simply nodded nomittally as he watched the arena ground take the shape of the sand filled arena once more. ¡°Who¡¯s the arena better for?¡± Ajax could see how each could take advantage of the sand filled open field but he didn¡¯t have the experience to know who had the advantage.


    ¡°Aranor,¡± the prince said. ¡°There¡¯s nothing for Shadow to put between him and any spells.¡±


    Both fighters stepped onto the field at the same time. The cheering section for Shadow far outnumbered those that cheered for Aranor, they were in the Republic capital after all. As soon as the match started Shadow once again dispersed into dust as he activated his stealth skills.


    Aranor¡¯s answer to this was to release a massive shockwave after chanting a few words. The shockwave traveled almost as fast as a lightning attack as it quickly made contact with the beastkin and broke his stealth skill.


    ¡°Was that sound?¡± Ajax asked, shocked. One of the things he had overlooked when he noticed that people didn¡¯t break the sound barrier as easily was that sound actually traveled faster as well. Since all sound was actually vibrations that would make for a very powerful mana type.

 Chapter 340

    Chapter 340


    ¡°Yes, it was sound.¡± The king heaved a long sigh as he responded to Ajax¡¯s awed remark. ¡°As far as we can work out Sonic mana is a Legendary mana type, a rather devastating one at that.¡±


    ¡°Legendary?!¡± Ajax was even more surprised and slightly more ashamed that he had overlooked this for so long. ¡°He doesn¡¯t have the affinity.¡± Ajax¡¯s follow up statement was very sure of himself.


    ¡°Nobody has managed to get that affinity in any of the records we possess.¡± the king said. ¡°Despite that there are more than one or two spells that have been recovered from ruins throughout the years that have allowed mages to use the mana type.¡±


    ¡°After a certain volume sound causes vibrations.¡± Lexi tried her best to help Ajax understand the basics of what made the mana type so dangerous, not knowing that he knew some things even better than she did. ¡°More than that sound actually travels faster the denser the mana is in an area.¡±


    As the conversation was going on both fighters were going for one another. After his stealth had been broken Shadow was forced to rely on his throwing knives in order to keep pressure on the mage as he closed the distance as best he could. Aranor had fallen back to his trusty overchanted icences as he fired them one after another.


    Aranor quickly realized that his tactic wasn¡¯t sustainable, for every threences he threw out only one connected with the beastkin. Under normal circumstances this would be a good oue for him but the icences that missed smashed full strength into the arena¡¯s defensive barrier and that couldn¡¯t take too much of a pounding.


    ¡°But how does the world sync up with sound travels faster in mana dense regions?¡± Ajax knew that the world as they saw it was a lie, it was something that his highschool physics teacher had done a memorable demonstration on. Sound traveled much slower than light and it was the brain that picked up the information and processed it correctly to make the sound line up with the movie his eyes recorded. Not only that but could sound spells be stopped with a shell devoid of air? Would the mana powering the spell allow it to travel through space even?


    ¡°Impressive that you figured so much out yourself.¡± the crown prince said with a raised eyebrow. ¡°But you underestimate your own body. There is a reason why everybody can feel when they are in a highly dense mana zone or one that is dry. Your body learns to make the adjustment, though big sudden changes have been known to cause migraines as the brain adapts to the change.¡±


    As Shadow managed to slowly close the gap he had finally gotten close enough to pull out his favorite trick. A quick release of the shadow mana he had been gathering influenced both his own shadow and Aranor¡¯s to shift andbine. Unlike every other time he did this however Aranor was not only expecting it but he had a counter in ce. The enchantment on his staff surged with mana as a shower of powerful rays of light emitted from the top of the staff, more than one of which shined down on thebined shadows.


    ¡°RRRRGGGGGHHHHHH¡± Shadow roared in pain as he was violently ejected from his shadow travel. His advanced mobility spell clearly came with a few drawbacks when it came to vulnerability. This was clearly evidenced by the few chunks of flesh that were missing across his body. Unlike a normal cut or burn the wound simply looked as if the flesh that was there was simply erased from existence.


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    ¡°That was risky.¡± Xavier said as he looked at the bleeding beastkin. ¡°It seems he could have done some serious damage with that.¡±


    ¡°It was controlled.¡± the king¡¯s oldest son corrected. ¡°Every single one of those light beams only hit the edges of the shadows, you can see the wounds are limited to his limbs.¡±


    It was so easy for Ajax to forget that despite the fierce battle going on both fighters were actually giving each other a good safety margin. Seeing how the topic of the conversation shifted, Ajax returned to an early point as he whispered to Lexi ¡°What did you mean sound causes vibrations when it¡¯s loud enough?¡±


    ¡°Just what I said.¡± Lexi doubled down. ¡°We don¡¯t know why but a loud enough sound will generate vibrations.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not what I meant.¡± Ajax said as he shook his head. ¡°Why do you say only when it¡¯s loud enough, I thought all sound was vibrations.¡±


    Despite being whispered their conversation was easily heard by everyone in attendance with a high enough Perception stat, Ajax¡¯s observation drew odd looks from all of them.


    ¡°Wait, not only do you think that all sound produces vibrations.¡± Lexi said as she frowned a little. ¡°You say that all sound is vibrations. You¡¯ll have to exin that to me sometime.¡±


    Lexi wasn¡¯t the only person there that was interested by Ajax¡¯s theory, especially considering his previous aplishments, but everyone knew now wasn¡¯t the time to ask for an exnation, the fight was moving into its final stages.


    Now that the fighters were so close to one another they both had to focus on speed. Shadow¡¯s shes barely had any power behind them focusing more on making contact in time. Aranor on the other hand could barely do a single chant of his spells before releasing them.


    This essentially turned the offensive abilities of both opponents into wet noodles. Neither of their attacks was strong enough to make it past the enchanted protections runes they each wore but the with everynded attack the momentum of the blow let them gain a better position while also slowly draining through the enchantments of their adversary.


    ¡°Why is he using such wide attacks?¡± Ajax couldn¡¯t help but asked as he watched Aranor release a wind burst that covered everything in front of him. ¡°He was so precise at the start.¡±


    ¡°Because his body can¡¯t keep up.¡± Anna answered. ¡°Most spells, especially the shorter variations, have the hands as aunch point. Sure any fine tuning is done with your mana control but the general direction is decided by where you point your hand.¡±


    ¡°When Shadow was far away his hand would just need to point in his general direction and he would be able to use his mana to target the spell correctly.¡± Lexi said with a hint of bitterness that told Ajax she had gone through something simr during her training. ¡°Right now Shadow is moving around faster than Aranor can turn his hand.¡±


    This was the advantage of physical fighters. Even from ten paces away Shadow could actually run halfway around Aranor before the man could rotate his body and arm in the same manner.


    Then it happened, for the first time since the fight started Shadow had managed to actually draw blood from Aranor as his knife shed across the elf¡¯s open palm. Despite the pain however Aranor was smiling.


    A wave of frost traveled up the bloody de over Shadow¡¯s hand and halfway up his arm, all the way to the elbow. The move clearly surprised Shadow and in the moment of shock as the beastkin registered his frozen limb Aranor was quick to release a frost nova that locked Shadow¡¯s feet to the ground.


    ¡°The elves must be more desperate than we thought.¡± the king said as he watched Shadow break his feet free of the ice. ¡°To use frozen touch in the arena.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with that spell?¡± Xavier asked.


    ¡°It bypasses defensive enchantments.¡± the king¡¯s oldest son said. ¡°Certain rules are there for safety that we have to follow. The only reason the match wasn¡¯t stopped was because Aranor used that spell passively as his hand was shed.¡±


    Despite Shadow reacting too quickly he was put fully on the defensive. With his left hand now frozen it was only a matter of how long he could hold out as the mage started to ramp up the volley of spells he was churning out.


    It didn¡¯t take long for Shadow to signal his surrender. Unlike the other matches in this tournament, despite the official match ending the fight wasn¡¯t as clear cut. In an open field Shadow would have been able to disengage and recover without issue. Still rules were rules and both fighters silently walked out of the arena, for once the healers waited on the sidelines with no massive injury requiring them to dash in the arena.


    Ajax didn¡¯t even wait for the arena to start remodeling as he stood up. He looked across the field towards his next opponent as she also stood up at the same time. The challenge was clear in her eyes, even her snake was staring at Ajax and though he couldn¡¯t hear it from so far away he was sure it was hissing.

 Chapter 341

    Chapter 341


    Arianwyn P.O.V.


    I hadn¡¯t been able to focus all day. Ever sincest night I was all over the ce, Ajax had gained something different than I had. I had managed to push my [Meditation] skill all the way to level fifty before the age of ten and gained the Genius Apprentice trait, but it sounds like he achieved something even better.


    I wished that would have been the end of it but his quick thinking following the reveal saved all of us a war. Father was beyond pleased with the results of yesterday evening, not only because he had gained a lot of information at no personal cost but also because it showed that Ajax had chosen to spare an entire kingdom of elves despite the fury he had to have felt at that moment. This boded well for all of us considering that followingst night¡¯s reveal of the training method for extra stats everybody would be too busy to try and take out Gryndor.


    Even uncle Aranor¡¯s fight was barely keeping my attention. He can¡¯t be happy about having had to use frozen touch in order to win but the kingdom couldn¡¯t afford to not win the main tournament so he didn¡¯t have the leeway to take risks in the fight. It was now time for my fight.


    I stood up and looked across the arena at my opponent. I was slightly surprised to see our eyes met, I felt all the chaos and concerns about the future settle down. All that mattered now was this uing fight, everything else could wait until after.


    As I stepped down the stairs and into the tunnel heading for the arena I could already make out the map that was chosen. It was the same rocky mountain scape that I had been used to but it was all slick with water. This was one of the best environments that I could have gotten, with only the snow covering being a better fit.


    The moment I set foot into the arena I felt Regalia uncoil. The element of surprise was gone, even without that I would most likely have kept her with me under normal circumstances but this fight was anything but normal. My bond already started to grow to her full size as she distanced herself from me.


    Regalia gave my hand a final squeeze with her tail before she put some distance between us. I knew that this was our best chance to win this but I couldn¡¯t help but be worried. Regalia was still only level sixty-eight, she wasn¡¯t even fully grown, most of all however unlike me killing her was frowned upon but an epted strategy. The bacsh from her death would knock me unconscious at the very least.


    I couldn¡¯t make out the human¡¯s expression underneath his helmet but if the way his head moved between Regalia and me was any indication he was surprised to see we had separated.We both gave the official a nod that we were ready and I could feel my grasp tighten around my staff, my mouth slightly open ready to begin casting as soon as the stone hit the ground. The human didn¡¯t have any of his weapons out, not looking to show his hand as he could summon any of them the moment the match began.


    Both of our eyes followed the stone as it was tossed into the air, time felt like it slowed down more and more the closer the rock got to the ground until it almost stopped right before it sshed down in the small puddle. As soon as it hit the water however it sped right back up as I started the chant for my domain.


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    By the time my eyes were raised to my opponent he had already taken out his bow and was pulling back an arrow. I could even feel his strengthening skill already at work, it didn¡¯te as that much of a shock as he had already revealed that he could power it himself instead of relying on outside mana when he crushed the ambassador¡¯s hand.


    Everything was going ording to n. Before he got a chance to take aim and release the arrow he was pelted by a multitude of rocks that Regalia had smashed and thrown sent at him. He was far too strong for her to charge at him head on without my support but even something like this would be enough to slow him down and not give him the chance to end the fight before I raise my domain.


    The surprise attack didn¡¯t faze him for long, he nimbly dodged all the rocked as he pulled his arrow back once more, an odd mana type I could recognise was infused into it as the tip started to glow slightly purple before he released it.


    It must have been his Shadow mana, that mana type always feels different depending on the person who is using it and its stealthy nature. I didn¡¯t even bother trying to track the arrow as I knew my Perception wasn¡¯t high enough for that, I simply trusted in my bond and my armor.


    Unlike me however Regalia was more than capable of tracking the arrow, more than that with her Perception, Intelligence and instincts she had even managed to knock the arrow out of the air with a barrage of rocks thrown right in front of me, looks like my enchantments won¡¯t be tested so quickly. The spike of worry I felt through the bond however had me confused however as I could feel Regalia wanted nothing more than to return to me and smother me in her coils.


    Ajax seemed to have realized that his bow wouldn¡¯t be enough to win this fight so he swapped over to a shield and hammer as he started making his approach. His early advantage was gone however as I poured out a quarter of my mana as my spell finished and I established my domain.


    Unlike the previous match where I spent half my mana pool to cover the entire arena, spending a quarter to cover less than an eighth of the arena around myself made the mana density inside my domain higher than I was used to. ording to ra he mana stealing is dependent on the amount of area mana is spread throughout so this should make it so my domain will be drained a lot slower.


    By making the domain so much smaller it also meant that Regalia could stay out of it, much as I didn¡¯t like admitting it my control over my domain was even close to good enough to exclude her from the low temperatures that came with winter, at least not yet.


    As soon as my domain sprung up I could already feel somethingtch on to it and start draining it. ra had mentioned it felt weird but she hadn¡¯t yet managed to gain her own domain skill. To me it felt like my will was fighting a battle to keep my domain as intact as it could as it was slowly being drained away.


    This wasn¡¯t a contest of will however, Aranor had mentioned that when two domain images both try to unleash their domains in the same space it can feel like a tug of war between the wills as one starts to subjugate the other. This was more like trying to hold a cracked ss. My palms surrounded it and tried to cover all the leaks in hopes of slowing down the inevitable trickle of water. There was no contest about who was superior, just a question of how long I can hold out.


    With my domain in ce I wasted no time starting my chants as Iunched a quick icence towards Ajax. If ra''s wind had managed to leave bruises on him through those defensive enchantments he had I knew he shouldn¡¯t be able to take a direct hit from my icences.


    I was fully surprised to him not even attempt to dodge as he instead brought up the heavy tower shield and I felt magma mana envelope it as my icence smashed into it. The spell was strong enough to force him to stop and brace himself but other than that it did nothing.


    As he lowered his shield he looked just as surprised as I did by how little the attack affected him. Instead of continuing to advance towards me he now simply stood ready. I threw two morences that were just as effective as the first as I realized his strategy was now to oust me by draining away my domain. He didn¡¯t even need to get close to me and risk entering inside the domain.


    It was a smart n I granted him, if he could simply withstand my spells by draining them as they fly and using magma the match would be his. But that was only the case when it came to my quickly thrown icences, if he wasn¡¯t advancing towards me and my domain I could also take a bit more time to build a stronger spell.


    The moment my mana started to gather he was on the move again. I expected he would realize what I was doing but the direction he took off in sent a cold shiver down my back. Instead of charging towards me he had taken off straight for Regalia who was stuck outside my domain thanks to her weakness to the cold.

 Chapter 342

    Chapter 342


    Ajax P.O.V.


    I had been prepared to end the match before it began with a well ced Void infused arrow. I have to say I was rather surprised when that didn¡¯t work, the way the snake hissed right after it intercepted my arrow told me she realized the danger even if the princess hadn¡¯t.


    I was ready to bite the bullet and rush into the small dense domain the elf created but I was surprised by how well my magma infused shield managed to hold up to an icence. Unlike ra the princess had limited her domain to conserve mana, not only that but her icences had to start from her palms unlike the unpredictable wild shes so I could easily just oust her.


    My n there was to force her to get close to me, that way I wouldn¡¯t have that far to go inside her domain before I got in range. It is unfortunate to say the least that she quickly figured out how useless it was to keep throwing icences, worse yet instead of getting closer to me she took advantage of the fact that I stopped moving in order to cast a stronger spell.


    Was I back to square one? Did I have to charge into her domain after all? It took her seconds to adapt to my strategy, do I have to risk brute forcing a win? Can I even do it? There has to be some vulnerability.


    Should I try another Void arrow? Even with her domain active she most likely will only create a small ice shield in front of herself instead of intercepting the arrow. Since Void works by moving the point of impact I¡¯ll just have to infuse this arrow with more mana to make up for the difference.


    No that won¡¯t work, if I try that the snake would still knock the arrow out of the air with a wave of rocks. Wait, the snake! I can force her hand by going after the snake. The whole thought process must have looked like it took no more than an instant, I have to say there is something to be said about investing heavily into your mental stats.


    Going after the snake wasn¡¯t a sure way to victory, unlike us the snake can retreat from the arena without disqualifying the fighter. I stopped my [Mana Syphon] from dipping into my own mana supply and simply used the generous amount the princess had donated.


    Without my own mana I felt myself grow a bit slower and a bit weaker, this might mean I wouldn¡¯t be able to finish the snake as quickly as I¡¯d like but it should give me some longevity into the fight. It would do me no good to just run the snake out of the fight and face the elf without any mana. The snake itself isn¡¯t all that dangerous. Barely level seventy is something that I should be able to handle with ease by this point, especially when it isn¡¯t even fully grown. The snake itself seems to recognise my n so itunches another wave of rocks towards me with its tail while at the same time digging a small moat in front of itself.


    Dodging the rocks from such a close distance is a lot harder but still something I can manage. The same cannot be said by the small cyclone that hits me from the side as the princess finishes her stronger spell. Damn it, Winter also contains wind, she''s not just limited to ice.


    Thanks to my defensive enchantments I am only slightly inconvenienced by the attack, unfortunately this also means that my mana expenditure grows once more as I start using my Light and Life mana to start healing the bruises I will no doubt be forming as a result of that attack.


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    During this entire time the snake has been slowly retreating towards the exit gate of the arena at the behest of the princess. Despite her telling it to just run however the snake has never taken its eyes off me, sensing that I would pounce the moment it showed any vulnerability.


    I¡¯m almost at the snake when I abruptly stop as an icence much stronger than any of the previous ones flies by centimeters in front of me. It¡¯s a good thing that my [Sense Mana] can keep track of all the princesses'' attacks as I close it on the snake with it only thirty feet from safety.


    Realizing it won¡¯t be able to simply escape the snake wastes no time mming its heavy tail into my shield. I have to admit that it packs quite a punch, unlike the icences the princess was sending at me, however this attack isn¡¯t going to push me back only to the side so I have no issues using the attack''s momentum to get closer to the head of the snake.


    I fully infused my hammer with metal mana as I went for a heavy swing. There is an argument to be made for using Void instead however with how slippery the snake is I¡¯m more worried about onlynding a ncing blow that Void wouldn¡¯t be able to contact after, with the increased weight from metal even a ncing blow should be enough to finish the snake.


    As I take the swing I feel the snake start activating its own mana, it is currently trying to make itself smaller while also leaning back to dodge the attack. I waste no time using [Mana Syphon] to slow the process as much as I can.


    My swing cleanly connects with one of the snake''srge fangs as his still toorge head is too slow moving back. I had briefly shed the full power of my [Mana Syphon] for this blow so ites as no sunrise to me when I see the fang shatter as the snake''s head is propelled into the wall of the arena only two feet away from safety.


    ¡°Regalia!¡± The princesses voice is filled with anguish and rage and that is the only warning I get as I juice my shield with magma and hold it up as a small avnche falls on top of me.


    The power of the avnche smashes me into the side of the arena as well and I can feel my legs give out from underneath me as I sit down hard. Is it over? Will I lose? It takes me a moment to reorientate after the power of the blow and only then do I realize why the fight isn¡¯t over. The spell had consumed thest of the mana in the princesses domain so she has nothing left to attack for now.


    I got to my feet as quickly as I could, unfortunately the snake managed to get out of here in time. This leaves it as a battle between me and the princess. She is casting as quickly as she can looking to establish another domain, unfortunately she was smart enough to leave a wind wall separating us so I can¡¯t just take her out with an arrow.


    I waste no time taking my shield and my hammer back into my spacial storage and re my [Mana Syphon] back to full power as I charge straight for the mage. I can feel how hard I¡¯m pushing both my [Running] and [Sprinting] skills.


    I am halfway to her when she releases her domain for a second time. It is clear that her fight has taken a toll on her, while there is the same amount of mana packed into this domain as the one she used at the start of the fight, this was muchrger and less dense. With the return of her domain however I also have to bring my hammer and shield back out, slowing me down slightly.


    As I see her casting I slow down and brace myself for an icence that neveres. I feel more mana gathering and quickly pick up more speed as I realize she is going to try and finish this with another powerful spell, her second domain was less dense because she ns to run through it much quicker, it wasn¡¯t a mistake.


    I¡¯m one step away from her when she unleashes a frost nova with at least two thousand mana poured into it. My magma infused shield is quickly cooled and frozen over as it hangs limply in my hand yet it managed to protect my top half from the spell. The same unfortunately cannot be said about my legs as the ice roots me to the floor all the way up past my knees.


    Just a step away from her but the fight isn¡¯t over yet. I pour as much mana as I can spare, using magma, fire and even ice to break my legs free in a final struggle to get myst swing tond. My hammer is fully infused with everyst drop of mana I can squeeze out. Eight hundred mana turns out to be more than my gauntlet can handle as I feel the Void gem inside the dragon¡¯s gift crack as I throw my hammer as a projectile over hoping to cover thest foot of distance and m into her ribs.


    The wall of ice quickly rises in the path of my hammer and stops it almost as soon as I threw it. The deep purple glow surrounding it winks out as soon as it makes contact with the wall of ice, as does all the momentum it carried.


    I see the princesses face start to form a triumphant smile when her robes enchantment activates. There was enough Void mana in that blow to move the point of impact past all of the magical shields and icending cleanly on the princesses left ribs.


    The elf is sent flying by the impact as I hear her ribs snap from the blow and the all too familiar protective orb forms around both of us as she coughs out blood signifying my victory. The healers are rushing towards at breakneck speed and I feel a surge of mana surround me as Shadow, and the captain of the first squad both all but teleport next to me as I feel Aranor¡¯s mana surgeon threateningly on the side lines.

 Chapter 343

    Chapter 343


    The whole situation turned into a powder keg soaked in kerosene. Aranor¡¯s magic and rage washed over the entire arena as his mana churned while Shadow and the captain of the first both stood protectively over the bubble Ajax was encased in. None of them moved or spoke but the arena was garbled by noise anyway.


    The air was filled with shouts of joy and dismay from the spectators who had started cheering as soon as the match ended and didn¡¯t notice the reaction of the powerhouses. All of this was contrasted to the despair that filled the voices who saw this as the start of a new war.


    ¡°Calm down Aranor.¡± the king¡¯s oldest son said as he stood only a few dozen steps away from the elven royal family box. ¡°This isn¡¯t the way any of us wants this to go.¡±


    ¡°You would say th-¡± Aranor started to retort only to be cut off.


    ¡°Stand down, Aranor.¡± the elven kingmanded.


    ¡°But¡­¡± Aranor turned to protest yet the sight that greeted him when he turned to look at his king took away his words.


    The young king had an expressionless face, a result of all his social skill, that did little to help however as despite addressing the situation his eyes never once left his daughter and the splitters of the ruined armrest started to fall to the ground one after another as his hands slowly loosened their deathgrip.


    The following final was supposed to start soon after this one had ended yet it was understandably dyed. While the elven princess had been quickly evacuated to the healer chambers she was swiftly followed by Ajax, Shadow, as well as most of the present leadership of all three countries.


    ¡°She¡¯s going to be fine.¡± The head healer was more nervous than she had ever been in her life up to that point as she addressed the two royal families as well as three councilors.¡°What caused the initial problems when healing her?¡± the elven king asked calmly. ¡°Was it a curse?¡±


    ¡°No, Your Majesty.¡± the healer answered with a quiver in her voice. ¡°It was her own enchantments that interfered with the healing spells we were trying to apply. She will need rest, the injuries were substantial.¡±


    ¡°I - I¡¯ll be fine.¡± the princess struggled to as she slowly started to rise off the bed, only for a spike of pain from her ribs to force her back down.


    ¡°Stop moving.¡± the healer wailed in a mixture ofmand and fear. ¡°You had two broken ribs as well as two shattered ribs that went on to shred your lungs and even damage your heart a little. There is a limit to how much we can heal at one time.¡±


    As she had attempted to stand the princess had dislodged the nket covering her slightly as she showed a massive bruise that covered her entire left side from hip to armpit. Despite the ugly wound however the mood in the hallway improved considerably as the princesses outlook was no longer in question.


    ¡°Get to his back-¡± the head healer began to direct everyone as Ajax had been left wholly untreated as everyone was hands on with helping the princess survive.


    ¡°Start with my legs.¡± Ajax gasped out through thebored breaths and pain.


    This tale has been uwfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure if you can¡¯t feel it because of a skill or because of the battlelust but that avnche that mmed you into the wall of the arena would have paralyzed you had it not been for your armor, your legs can wait.¡± the healer regained more of herposure as she had experienced this situation more often than she wanted, everyone thought they knew better than the healers.


    ¡°My own healing can slowly deal with that, I can¡¯t do anything to stop the frostbite.¡± Ajax growled, thest fumes of his mana using the Life aspect to fix his back.


    Both Aranor and king Sylvian felt much better seeing just how hurt Ajax was as the healers slowly chipped away at the ice that still encased his legs. They knew it shouldn¡¯t make them feel any better, revenge wasn¡¯t worth it, but they just couldn¡¯t help it.


    It barely took the healers a minute to unfreeze Ajax¡¯s legs and while they were still a little frostbitten in parts the healing could now start. Arge gasp went out from a few ofbatants that had gathered in the hallway as Ajax¡¯s leather chest piece was removed. If they thought the princess was sporting a big bruise Ajax¡¯s entire back was a solid shade of purple that deepened in certain parts.


    ¡°Now that we know that both of them will be fine, how about we continue this discussion elsewhere and let the two of them rest?¡± one of the councilors suggested.


    With no further objections everyone made a slow retreat after a few well wishes given out to the twopetitors, much to the relief of the healers.


    The group had barely made two turns down the corridors when Shadow silently grabbed the king¡¯s oldest son by the shoulder right as he was about to take the corner and pushed him back against the wall.


    ¡°Was that Life mana I felt from Ajax?¡± The cat beastkin hissed as quietly as he could hoping not to draw the attention of everyone else yet too impatient to wait for a more opportune moment. ¡°He has a Legendary affinity?¡±


    The prince didn¡¯t so much as twitch at the mention of Life mana, a credit to hisposure. ¡°I¡¯m not sure what you expect me to-¡± his answer was one that all members of the royal family had rehearsed to the point no Epic or below skill could read anything into it.


    ¡°Right, why did I even ask, I know my sense.¡± Shadow shook his head and didn¡¯t even let the prince finish the script. ¡°Let me phrase that differently, I know he has Life mana. Did he get that in the dungeon when he was ying with the seeds?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure wh-¡± the prince started once again.


    ¡°You can either confirm it for me and I will keep it to myself, or I will have to ask people if such a thing is possible.¡± Shadow said. ¡°The people who even have a chance at giving me a somewhat reliable answer will also be smart enough to put together why I am asking that question.¡±


    ¡°Tsk!¡± The prince clicked his tongue in annoyance. That was the problem with schrs, you went to them to get an answer to a theory and all of a sudden they were hip deep into your businesses looking at why you would ask a question like that. ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°He must be the first person to gain that skill without being a ritual caster.¡± Shadow murmured to himself. ¡°Just how widespread is his talent?¡±


    With that Shadow and the prince both got moving again as they followed and entered the meeting room where both of them moved to blend into the background. Neither of the them had the right skill sets to be at the forefront of this meeting and even the prince knew better than to y around after how close to disaster this had gotten.


    ¡°Can we now let this be?¡± the crown prince asked king Sylvian.


    With everything calming down king Gryndor dly took a step back and gave his son an opportunity to build a rapport with the elven king, after all they will most likely be dealing with each other shortly.


    ¡°You both have my apologies for the way I reacted.¡± king Sylvian said as he inclined his head slightly towards both the crown prince and the councilmen. ¡°Now that I know my daughter will be fine I do agree it wasn¡¯t the best reaction.¡±


    ¡°That said, my reaction was still appropriate.¡± the king continued. ¡°The tournament is held as a peaceful resolution. That attack falls outside those bounds.¡±


    ¡°The under fifty tournament does not hold the same safety minded restrictions as the true tournament.¡± the crown prince responded. ¡°We¡¯ve always had the young treat the fight as a true battle where we simply intervened. In terms of damage caused, the princesses'' avnche spell and her frost nova were much more powerful.¡±


    ¡°It is not a question of power.¡± Aranor joined the discussion. ¡°It is a question of intent. There was no interference with either of those spells because Ajax was deemed to be able to take them. Which of you made the judgment that the princess could take that final strike?¡±


    In an effort to keep abilities hidden, each nation had their own representative that could initiate the protective spheres, they were meant to judge how destructive their own representatives'' attacks were and intervene if it was the case.


    ¡°What even was thatst attack?¡± Aranor asked the question everyone in the room was thinking.


    At that same moment the same exact question was being asked in the now almost empty healing ward. ¡°What was that?¡± the princess asked once she and Ajax were alone. ¡°You tried to use it with an arrow first¡­ I still don¡¯t know what happened.¡±


    As Ajax sat in silence not knowing if or how he should answer the question the princess couldn¡¯t bring herself to look away from him. She couldn¡¯t help but be amazed at how his body was slowly fixing itself, any remnant of racial superiority she had towards the other races faded away at that moment.

 Chapter 344

    Chapter 344


    Ajax was more than happy to discuss most of the match with the princess. A fighter on her level would be an ideal person to bounce ideas off of.


    ¡°You left yourself too open when you attacked Regalia.¡± the princess said. ¡°It would have been well worth it to bring up even a very thin earth wall that would block my vision so I couldn¡¯t drop that avnche on you. Quite a lot of mages rely on direct line of sight for their spells until they get better and have a lot more experience.¡±


    Ajax nodded in eptance as he thought over the fight. ¡°You should have depleted your first domain faster, or at least not infused as much mana into it.¡± Ajax said. ¡°Following the opening of the fight, having Regalia with you after you set up a second domain would have made it all but impossible for me to get close enough for a solid blow.¡±


    A brief moment of silence passes through the room as both of them digest the feedback. ¡°That just leaves the final exchange.¡± the princess said as she tried her best to sound nonchnt.


    ¡°I¡¯m still not telling you what that was.¡± Ajax said with a sigh, he had spent the first ten minutes of their conversation just getting that point across.


    ¡°Why not?!¡± if she could have the princess would have stomped her foot in tandem with that statement. Bits and pieces of her how spoiled she had been by her grandfather, the previous elven king, started to peek through.


    ¡°That¡¯s something we would all like to know.¡± Aranor said from the entrance to the healing ward.


    ¡°I¡¯m not that curious.¡± the king¡¯s oldest son said as he walked between Shadow and Aranor towards Ajax.


    ¡°Yeah right,¡± Shadow said. ¡°A gold coin says the moment he gets in the embassy he is getting sat down and asked how he did it.¡± ¡°Is it over?¡± Ajax asked, referring to the finals of the final tournament.


    ¡°It is.¡± the prince nodded. ¡°The elves won two out of three.¡±


    The prince said that with a wide smile as he entuated Ajax victory in one of the tournaments. ¡°Looks like you¡¯ll be spending a lot more time with the elves sharing that mine.¡±


    ¡°We would be interested in setting up a meeting with you regarding perhaps selling your share of it.¡± Aranor said quickly.


    ¡°Not with me you won¡¯t¡± Ajax¡¯s statement surprised all of them, even the prince seemed shocked at the remark. ¡°With my trading skills I might as well give it all away for free and it won¡¯t be too much of a difference. You¡¯ll be discussing that sale with my grandfather and sister.¡±


    Both the princess and Aranor breathed out a sigh of relief hearing that Ajax was willing to bargain for his share of the winnings. ¡°I¡¯m starting to think that the Goldmancers should look into marrying your sister into their family.¡± the princemented with a chuckle. ¡°The amount of pressure this entire trip put on her merchant skills I¡¯d be surprised if she didn¡¯t gain five or so levels in thest few months.¡±


    Ajax didn¡¯t correct the prince that Judy had only gained four levels, after all with thistest appointment she might just get to five. ¡°Can you walk?¡± The prince asked as he offered Ajax a hand.


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    ¡°Just barely¡± Ajax said as he slowly got out of bed, his knees shook under the pressure of his own weight but after a few seconds they proved strong enough to hold him up.


    ¡°You seem well on your way to recovery.¡± Shadow said with a knowing grin. ¡°Darkw will be ecstatic to hear that your spar with him won¡¯t have to be postponed too much.¡±


    Ajax couldn¡¯t suppress the groan as he heard that, it wasn¡¯t that he wasn¡¯t looking forward to the fight with the beastkin but after thest two fights even he could use a bit of a break. The only silver lining was that even with his Life mana it would take him at least a week before he would be more or less recovered and by that time he should be pretty restless from being bedridden for a while.


    Shadow¡¯s prediction turned out almost exactly on point. The moment Ajax stepped inside the embassy he was quickly directed to a room with the royal family, the first squad, members of his own family as well as most of his friends.


    ¡°There is quite a lot we have to discuss.¡± the kings said as he wearily rubbed his forehead.


    ¡°It¡¯s not that much is it?¡± Ajax asked sheepishly.


    ¡°Well lets see, there is the somewhat settled question of what you are looking to trade your tournament winnings for.¡± the king said as they had already gone over the fact that Ajax was looking to get as many alchemy ingredients as he could in addition to delving through all of Sylvanthal¡¯s dungeons. ¡°After that we have your new mana affinity that apparently makes enchantments malfunction without even making contact, your theory on sonic affinity mana, andst but certainly not least the ten slots you have for a boost in every single dungeon in Deepwood.¡±


    Ajax tried his best but he still looked pretty guilty after everything that happened in less than thest twenty four hours got listed. ¡°It doesn¡¯t make enchantments malfunction.¡± Ajax said with as much of an affronted tone as he could manage.


    ¡°What does it do?¡± the king¡¯s oldest son asked, he was one of the most interested in the odd mana affinity since from the way it bypassed defenses it was something that he would love to get a rune of.


    ¡°It¡­ moves the point of impact.¡± Ajax struggled to find a way to exin Void. ¡°You saw how the hammer didn¡¯t leave so much as a scratch on the wall of ice right, it simply dropped as soon as it touched it.¡±


    ¡°Yes, that was the part that didn¡¯t fit with the enchantment disability theory we had going.¡± the prince nodded. ¡°The blow certainly wasn¡¯t all that hard considering how it bypassed almost all the enchantments yet still didn¡¯t kill a full mage, this despite all of the mana you put into it. Something we are all very d about¡± the prince added thest part in a hurry as both the king and his younger brother were ring at him.


    ¡°Void doesn¡¯t strengthen the blow at all.¡± Ajax shook his head.


    ¡°Void?¡± Lexi interrupted his exnation.


    ¡°It''s what the mana affinity is called.¡± Ajax answered. ¡°The more mana you put into it the further it moves the impact point from the point of contact.¡±


    ¡°Considering you put that much mana into it and it barely moved the point of impact by a foot I guess this would be a rather niche use mana type.¡± the crown prince pointed out.


    ¡°I don¡¯t normally use it to get around a mage¡¯s shield.¡± Ajax said defensively.


    ¡°What do you use it for?¡± the captain of the first asked.


    ¡°Mostly it is for anything that has very strong armor or skin.¡± Ajax said. ¡°Works wonders against insect type monsters, it only takes a regr blow amount of mana to put the point of impact right past their shell. Most powerful defenses really focus a lot on the initialyer actually.¡±


    ¡°That sounds a lot like Space affinity.¡± the captain of the first squad said. ¡°Instead of using a spell to hit the exact ce you want it¡¯s a lot more restrictive and relies on the powering from the physical swing. I shudder to think what even a light blow to the head from it would do.¡±


    Ajax did his best not to remember the nausea inducing experiments he had done with Void when it came to crushing a brain inside a skull, he did however give a nod in confirmation to the man¡¯s guess.


    ¡°Void is something I will want to keep to my own House, at least for the time being.¡± Ajax added on. ¡°With it being an Epic affinity with no known runes or spells it¡¯s not like there is much to go on.¡±


    ¡°Yet you think that there is someone in your House that can use it?¡± Benedict was quick on the uptake of Ajax¡¯s words.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure that they can but I am optimistic about it.¡± Ajax confirmed.


    ¡°Who?¡± Judy asked. ¡°I know that Kate doesn¡¯t cast like you and all the other mages that we have are chanters.¡±


    ¡°Fluffy doesn¡¯t.¡± Ajax said in a quiet voice that carried throughout the room leaving most people confused as they ced the odd name.


    ¡°Let me get this straight.¡± Benedict said as his face paled for a moment. ¡°You want to try and teach an ambush predator that can already teleport through shadows how to effectively bypass the armor of its prey?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m also hoping that if Fluffy gets the skill he might pass it onto Tom through their bond afterward.¡± Ajax offered.


    ¡°We will ask that you keep a monitoring spell on the bond at all times if it does pick up the affinity.¡± the crown prince said. ¡°The rest of this is up to the schrs, same as the sonic theory.¡±


    ¡°That just leaves the nine spots in the Deepwood dungeons.¡± Ajax shifted in his chair closer to his grandfather in hopes that the merchant will do most of the heavy lifting in the uing discussion.

 Chapter 345

    Chapter 345


    Elija Hearthbound P.O.V.


    In the past seven years since I first met the boy named Ajax I have been more nervous and stressed than I had been in all the decades as a merchant before that. Not only that but the amount of work I put in rivaled some of my busiest seasons. The profits I made however were bigger than I ever expected I could make in my lifetime. I had apologized to Silvia and Sam the day I met after their return to the capital but I still didn¡¯t think I did enough to make up for my earlier mistakes.


    Having watched Ajax in the arena yesterday almost gave me a heart attack from the way my blood pressure jumped. Still he had done his part, he won the tournament, he prevented the war and he had gotten us the spoils. It was now up to me and Judy to make the most of them.


    A slight nod from her as we stole a nce at each other was all themunication we needed as Ajax leaned back in his chair to rx after passing the attention of the nobles onto me. It¡¯s for exactly moments like this that I wish I could have brought Aurora with us but somebody had to stay behind to ensure everything ran smoothly, na and Silvia simply didn¡¯t have the experience necessary yet.


    Of the nine spots we had to trade, a few of them were already spoken for, Xavier, Anna, Benedict and of course Lexi would be getting one of those spots. The only question was just how much they would pay for them.


    Judy was the first to make a move as she simply took Lexi off to one side. That negotiation was going to be easiest of them all but it would also go very differently from any other. It wasn¡¯t hard to admit that when it came to the matters of how nobles'' houses traded in exchange for magical knowledge she had me beat.


    ¡°Lord Steelde.¡± I greeted the first of my first trading partners and the easiest one to handle by a long shot.


    ¡°Lord Hearthbound.'''' The older man greeted me in return with both his son Richard and his nephew Benedict at his sides. ¡°I was looking to discuss purchasing two of those dungeon spots from you today.¡±


    That was simply a non-starter, no family was going to be getting two of those spots. We were already down to five and giving two to any family would also mean we would have to sell two to the royal family just so it wouldn¡¯t look like we were ying favorites. ¡°I¡¯m sorry to disappoint you but we will be limiting the transactions to one spot only.¡± I could see Richard hold in the disappointed sigh, getting to join in on the delves throughout the Republic before the tournament had helped him make great progress but he knew that Benedict as an heir for the position of house head would be prioritized.


    ¡°That is disappointing, yet not entirely unexpected.¡± lord Steelde nodded. ¡°What are you looking to gain in exchange for the spot?¡±


    While the Steelde family would be the easiest to negotiate with in terms of the negotiator they presented a bigger difficulty in terms of things we needed. As such a martial house they had plenty of skilled warriors, impressive armor and dangerous weapons they had stockpiled throughout millenia, the problem was that we had nobody who could truly make use of them.


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    Trading them for retainers would be beyond foolish as anyone we gained would instantly be our strongest people. Any armor and weapons we could get would either not be valuable enough or so powerful that they would be crutches for our own retainers and limit their growth by getting them so early. I focused first on settling on a minimum amount of money that would be part of the agreement as I thought about something more exclusive that I could trade for.


    ¡°Twenty thousand gold coins should be a decent sum to cover the monatery part of the deal.¡± I offered.


    ¡°Twenty thousand is something that we would be agreeable to, depending of course on what the non-mary part is.¡± The man in front of me gave away nothing, he hardly even took a moment to consider my ask. His experience as a supply officer in the family army was showing.


    ¡°We would like House Steelde to share their knowledge in regards to the expeditions they have made outside our kingdom''s borders into the untamednds.¡± I finished my offer.


    I knew that Ajax was going to be heading out in search of a bond of his own after he finished delving into every dungeon he had ess to. As such a militaristic house the Steeldes had kept their people sharp by sending out more expeditions in the untamednds than all the other noble houses in the kingdombined. Their maps and scout work should not only make it easier for Ajax to travel but it would also give him a direction to head in as he searched for his bond.


    ¡°That¡­¡± I could see that my request had taken them by surprise. This wasn¡¯t a request they had expected. Even Ajax was surprised at my request, I was also d that he was still sitting in his chair out of sight of the Steeldes as his face would have given away just how valuable this part of the deal was for our House. ¡°Is something we can agree to. On the condition that your house doesn¡¯t spread the information further.¡±


    A handshake sealed the deal, Ajax also standing from his chair and joining us for this to finalize the agreement. It was hard to gloat a little when I saw the Steeldes victorious mood drop after he noticed how excited Ajax was about the information he had traded, no doubt he realized he could have asked for us to drop the mary amount by half and we would have epted.


    With the first discussion finished I moved towards the next house. Annabeth Goldmancer would be bartering for her own spot yet I had no doubt that despite being more than five times her age she was not someone I could take lightly.


    Unlike the previous conversation this one was much longer as the discussion moved from one offer to the next. Halfway through Judy joined us having finished her own bargain with Lexi who went to help Ajax rx after the stressful day he had.


    ¡°Fifteen thousand gold coins as well as help with setting up your international trade roots seems like a fair deal.¡± Anna said after more than half an hour of us going back and forth.


    That help was something we would surely need. With Ajax¡¯s renown throughout the Republic and Sylvanthal following this tournament it was vital that we establish trade with both as a way of showing Ajax¡¯s willingness to work with others and help take a target off his back. Even with all that it still felt like the deal favored the Goldmancers even if just slightly.


    Judy seemed ready to ept the deal but I wanted a little more. ¡°You¡¯ll also let us buy the best growth elixir your family has in store for Fluffy at a fair price.¡± After a certain point scarcity of certain goods became so high that while the market price for them wasn¡¯t obscene because of how niche their use was, it always took favors to be able to buy them. There was a good chance that almost all of the money we got from the Goldmancers on this deal would be returned for their growth elixir.


    With two three slots already traded I was starting to already feel the fatigue. When I saw the crown prince approaching it took everything I had not slump a little.


    ¡°Perhaps it would be best if we end the dealings here for the night.¡± the prince said. ¡°Rx for the rest of the evening so that you can be well rested when dealing with Sylvanthal tomorrow regarding the tournament winnings. Our offer for a delving slot can wait until after that.¡±


    Despite the soft words the prince¡¯s voice carried throughout the room and swayed everyone else in attendance from attempting to approach us for a deal for the remainder of the evening.


    This afterparty was the first time I actually got to see Ajax enjoy a noble party. While not everyone was pleased with our results when it came to the tournaments nobody had anything toin about Ajax. He had spent the evening eating, drinking, dancing and being congratted on his performance by everybody he talked to.


    ¡°Where did your brother go?¡± I asked Judy after I lost track of Ajax.


    ¡°Lexi pulled him away half an hour ago.¡± She answered.


    ¡°OH!.¡± I chuckled at that thought. ¡°I see.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not what you''re thinking.¡± she said, but then corrected herself. ¡°At least not right away, her patience ran out and she pulled him away to talk to him about his theory on the sonic mana affinity.¡±

 Chapter 346

    Chapter 346


    ¡°So what did you mean when you said that all sounds are vibrations?¡± Lexi asked once she finally had Ajax alone in his room, both of them were on his bed with Ajaxying his head in herp as he rxed from a stressful day.


    ¡°Just as I said, I think all sounds are actually vibrations, each different sound is slightly different just the same as we see different colors.¡± Ajax was thinking as he tried to piece together how this discovery wasn¡¯t already made. ¡°I think it''s easier to see it if you remove as much mana from the surroundings as possible.¡±


    Ajax¡¯s primary theory on why this information wasn¡¯tmon despite them already putting together that loud noises produced vibrations most likely had to do with the affect mana had on sound, if every researcher was using enchanted equipment for their projects that could very well affect measurements that had to do with low levels of sound.


    ¡°You can see it in the waymoners try to soundproof rooms.¡± Ajax went on to exin. ¡°They put as much padding as possible around the walls so that the vibrations don¡¯t make it out the other side. I doubt it would do much to a sonic spell since that would also be using mana to deliver the sound.¡±


    ¡°But if sound really is all vibrations how could Sonic mana be Legendary?¡± Lexi asked.


    This was also something that Ajax had issues with, Sonic mana was supposed to be Legendary ording to the texts they had found yet if it was limited to only sound would that make Vibration mana Mythic?


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Ajax admitted. ¡°But you can also tell that all sound is vibration by looking at how it reacts. Think of an army marching, if they are just walking at their own pace the result is much subdued. If all of them are marching in step, cing their feet down at the same time the vibration builts, arge enough army could even cause the ground to shake as they pass.¡±


    Lexi started to mutter a spell as she threw her mind back to her grandfather¡¯s lesson on sonic spells. As the premier researcher he had ess to copies of the texts where the spells had been written down and then tranted.


    While she was doing that Ajax was trying his best to think how to build a tunic fork. A really easy way to prove that all sound traveled through vibrations and all the different frequencies would be to hit one tuning fork and show how that low sound gets the second one to vibrate.As Lexi released her spells she couldn¡¯t help but fix her eyes on the ss that sat on Ajax¡¯s night stand. Ajax had mentioned that different sounds vibrated differently and that how high or low pitched they were could also affect the vibrations.


    The high pitch beep that Lexi released surprised Ajax yet when he leaned his head back to look at her he noticed how focused she was on the ss. With his high perception Ajax managed to see in real time how the ss started to vibrate from the sound produced by the spell.


    ¡°It really does work.¡± It took Lexi a moment longer to notice the vibration yet despite the beep not being loud the high frequency did get the ss to vibrate slightly. ¡°In that case what if the trantion was wrong? What if Vibrations as a whole is the Legendary mana and not just Sonic?¡±


    ¡°The presence of mana and its effect on sound and vibrations makes it really hard to study.¡± Ajax continued to try and give out hits. ¡°You can hardly even create shockwaves consistently because how mana affects the speed sound travels at.¡±


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    ¡°What do shockwaves have to do with sound?¡± Lexi was confused by the link.


    ¡°Shockwaves are formed when something travels faster than the speed of sound.¡± Ajax exined. ¡°It''s why whips make that sound in low mana areas, with a low mana density the speed sound travels at is low enough that the end of the whip travels faster than sound when flicked releasing a small shockwave.¡±


    Ajax¡¯s words finally made everything click for Lexi as she thought back to the one spell that her grandfather couldn¡¯t understand why it didn¡¯t work. From the descriptions the spell was supposed to release a powerful shockwave, yet the spell never worked. What if it didn¡¯t work because their intent was all wrong?


    What if in order to create a powerful shockwave the spell had to first create a very low mana density at the point of origin in order to lower the speed of sound as much as possible? Lexi¡¯s mind was now running a thousand miles an hour and she didn¡¯t even realize that she had lifted one of her palms as she started whispering the words for the useless spell that never worked. In her focused state Lexi didn¡¯t realize how much mana she was pushing into the spell since she never had a frame of reference for it.


    When the chant finished Ajax was almost thrown off the bed as a powerful shockwave was released turning Ajax¡¯s room upside down, the doors were rattled and almost taken off their hinges and the windows didn¡¯t stand a chance as they all got smashed and thrown outwards.


    ¡°Lexi what the fuck?¡± Ajax shouted in surprise as he turned to look a little angry towards his lover.


    Lexi however hadn¡¯t heard a word as her eyes were unfocused as she stared at something no more than a few inches in front of her nose. For more than a few moments her brain was still ying catch-up with everything that happened before she finally rebooted and started to process everything.


    ¡°It worked, you were right¡­ I¡­ I got it.¡± the words came out staggered and softly yet Ajax could make them out clearly.


    ¡°What worked?¡± Ajax said calming down not that he noticed that Lexi didn¡¯t intend to do what she did. ¡°What did you get?¡±


    Ajax words got Lexi to focus on him for a moment and she quickly leapt to give him a hug. ¡°The spell even grandpa could get to cast, it worked. You were right vibration and sounds it''s all connected." Then in a small voice that Ajax barely heard as she leaned in with her arms going around his neck and he lips close to his right ear she whispered. ¡°I have the Legendary mana affinity for Vibrations.¡±


    It was now Ajax¡¯s turn to slowly process everything that happened, his body however was much quicker on the uptake than his brain as his arms quickly went around Lexi waist and back as he returned the hug.


    Ajax didn¡¯t even get a moment to process everything that had happened as the door that had barely survived the shockwave was shattered, throwing splitters everywhere as both princes and a good number of members from the first squad piled into the room ready for battle.


    ¡°Fweeuuu ?¡± the king¡¯s oldest son whistled as he took in the room. ¡°Must have been quite the argument, though it¡¯s great to see that you made up so quickly.¡±


    ¡°What the hell happened?¡± the crown prince said as he threw his brother an usatory re for his jokingment. ¡°It looks like an explosion went off in here.


    Both Lexi¡¯s and Ajax¡¯s faces were a little red from the firstment but Ajax was surprised how urate the crown prince¡¯sment was since a shockwave was exactly what a bomb going off would have caused.


    It was at that moment that Anna squeezed her way past all of the high-level people gathered in the door and dashed over to her best friend''s side and started looking her over. ¡°What happened? Are you hurt? Do you need a potion?¡±


    Lexi¡¯s excitement redoubled in the presence of her best friend and her answers returned to the excitable drivel that hade right after she had read her notifications. ¡°Ajax was right! The spell finally worked! I got it, I won¡¯t be left behind.¡±


    Different people focused on different parts of her answer. While Anna was relieved by the fact that her friend was okay, both princes started looking at Ajax with interest when they heard he was right, the casters perked up at hearing the spell worked and Ajax focused on the small insecurity Lexi had felt about being left behind that he hadn¡¯t picked up on until now.


    ¡°What was Ajax right about?¡± the crown prince asked.


    ¡°And what did you get?¡± his brother continued.


    ¡°Sonic mana, Ajax was exactly right.¡± Lexi praised as she started to get her excitement under control. ¡°I have a Legendary mana affinity.¡±


    No sooner had the words left her mouth that the king¡¯s oldest son and all members of the first squad jumped into motion, some were heading for the broken windows while others took a small step back out into the corridor.


    ¡°My most heartfelt congrattions.¡± the crown prince said as he was also moving to herd Ajax, Lexi and Anna out of the room. ¡°But not another word until we are in a more secure location than one with windows that were just shattered.¡±


    Lexi quickly realized her mistake and nodded her eptance as all three of them were led back to the party room. Ajax and Lexi couldn¡¯t help but feel a little guilty as they watched every single guard on high alert following their mishap.

 Chapter 347

    Chapter 347


    As they entered the party room Ajax could see that everything looked very different from how it was when they left. All of the tables had been moved against a wall as the remaining members of the first squad had formed a protective circle around the king and the nobles that remained in the room, Judy and Elija were not exempt as everyone looked very worried.


    ¡°Everything is¡­ well it''s not fine but under control.¡± the king¡¯s oldest son told his father as they entered the room. ¡°Brother is going to await the inevitable visit from the Republic to exin that we can handle this on our own.¡±


    ¡°There is no danger.¡± one of the members of the first reported to their captain who was staying by the king¡¯s side. Only at those words did the defensive ring break as the group huddle started spreading out throughout the room.


    ¡°You¡¯re at the center of this aren¡¯t you?¡± Judy used Ajax as soon as he, Lexi and Anna joined them.


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t his fault.¡± Lexi quick stepped in to defend him.


    ¡°Great, he¡¯s center adjacent.¡± Lexiined as she figured out who the center was from the guilty look on Lexi¡¯s face.


    ¡°I swear boy.¡± Elija let out a heavy sigh. ¡°Most days I thank the gods for the opportunities you provide and how much my level has grown as ofte. But on days like this I can¡¯t help but think you will be the death of me.¡±


    Despite the all clear being given it was clear that the party mood was gone, add the fact that the prince was doing his best to clear most of the nobles from the room it wasn¡¯t long until the royal family, the first squad, Ajax and his friends as well as their family members were the only ones to remain inside the room.


    ¡°What did you do this time?¡± the king asked, unlike the usatory tone his sister had previously had, the king could barely contain his excitement. ¡°Is it another Legendary skill?¡± ¡°It is.¡± the king¡¯s oldest son answered before anyone had a chance, the sly grin he had when he said that confirmed to Ajax that he was looking for a bit of entertainment from the situation.


    ¡°A fifth Legendary skill?¡± Both Benedict hissed out in disbelief.


    ¡°Oh, not a Legendary skill¡­¡± The king¡¯s excitement quickly dampened as unlike most people he had plenty of experience with his son''s jokes so he could tell from his grin and the way everyone had looked at him that he was up to something.


    ¡°There is a Legendary skill.¡± Ajax began. ¡°It just¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m the one who got it.¡± Lexi finished.


    ¡°Which one?¡± The king¡¯s excitement was back so quick Ajax was surprised it didn¡¯t give the man whish.


    ¡°[Vibration Aspect Mana]¡± Lexi answered. ¡°Ajax was right in his theory about sonic spells and sound.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s called vibration? Not sonic?¡± the crown prince asked surprised as he entered the room after ensuring all the Republic officials that everything was fine.


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    From there everyone quieted down as Ajax and Lexi went through the exnation of sound vibrations and the effect they suspected mana had on sonic booms. The first part had everyone nodding along as all of them had heard Ajax¡¯s theory at the arena, the second part however was something new all around.


    ¡°So this [Vibration Aspect Mana] is not a skill you are inclined to?¡± the king asked Ajax after they had finished with the exnation.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Ajax answered honestly. ¡°I only saw my first sonic spells today, I haven¡¯t tried to use vibration mana before. It was seconds from when Lexi released her spell and everyone barged into the room.¡±


    While Ajax did answer that as carefully as he could, he was a bit nervous that it would take him a while to unlock the skill as his second Legendary affinity. On the upside he doubted he would have any issues convincing Lexi to share the chants for a few sonic spells with him so he could try to get the affinity as well. For the first time in years his [Chanting] skill was about to be useful once again.


    ¡°That is true, just because you know the theory is still a Legendary skill, chances are Lexi will be the only one with the affinity in the entire kingdom.¡± the crown prince nodded as the hope that it would be a skill more people would be able to unlock crumbled.


    From there everyone was headed off to bed after a full day. Even with his room in shambles Lexi had dragged Ajax off to her room to end the day with a final celebration and thanks before they both fell asleep.


    Ajax had the best sleep he¡¯d had in a while. He only woke up once the sun was high up in the sky and his legs seemed to have made a full recovery overnight. His back was still one big bruise and tender to the touch but he should be fully healed in another day or so.


    As Ajax went to lunch he met his grandfather and Judy who already looked a little drained. They had just finished the negotiations with the Royal family, and while they had managed to get a lot more than they had initially expected, mostly based on Ajax¡¯s contribution on the vibration mana, they still had to work for it.


    ¡°Ajax, I hope you had a restful night.¡± the king greeted him as he took a seat at the table.


    ¡°I did Your Highness.¡± Ajax responded as he piled his te high with food. ¡°My legs have recovered and my back should heal by tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°That is good.¡± the crown prince nodded. ¡° I hate to spring this on you first thing after you wake up but today will already be pretty busy and it¡¯s best for you to know in advance. Once we return to Gryndor we will be making the official announcement of your rise from Baron to Duke.¡±


    It was a good thing Ajax didn¡¯t have anything in his mouth at the time as he would have surely choked. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ being made¡­ a Duke?¡± Ajax was shocked at the development, he had expected that it wouldn¡¯t be long until he ascended to Viscount but a jump from Baron to Duke in six years was unheard of outside of war.


    ¡°The original n was for it to wait ten years, give you enough time to build a foundation.¡± the crown prince exined. ¡°With how big a mark you left here however ns have to be moved up.¡±


    Elija was awestruck by this development, the fork in his left hand frozen halfway to his still open mouth as he processed what was happening. For decades he had worked trying to better himself, deep inside he had hoped he would be a noble but he had never imagined being part of a ducal House.


    ¡°Wait, what is happeningter today?¡± Ajax¡¯s mind circled back to the earlier statement.


    ¡°The festival is starting of course.¡± the king¡¯s oldest son said with a wide smile. ¡°After every tournament there is a festival to celebrate the peaceful resolution. As one of the victors it is expected that you at least have a noticeable presence for the first couple of days.¡±


    ¡°Usually people would give you more time to enjoy your victory before approaching you about your winnings, especially when it¡¯s all but agreed that Sylvanthal¡¯s royal family will be the ones to purchase the rights from you.¡± the crown prince exined. ¡°With how many witnesses saw your agreement about ten delve slots for Deepwood¡¯s dungeons however I expect they will all be in a hurry.¡±


    Elija took the news in stride as he reached over and added another helping to Judy¡¯s te. ¡°Eat up darling, it seems it will be another long day.¡±


    Following lunch Elija and Judy were invited to join Percival Vaultmore, the crown prince, Anna and, much to his chagrin, Xavier. They were all going to discuss the five remaining slots that Ajax will be selling. This wasn¡¯t the royal family angling for another spot, it was instead a discussion on what rare resources they should be on the lookout for from foreign nobles.


    Ajax chose to simply lean into tradition as he took Lexi out on a date as they went out to experience everything the festival had to offer. Every time he was approached about business he would point whoever it was in the direction of his grandfather.


    Much to Ajax¡¯s surprise not only were all of the nobles amodating of dealing with his grandfather despite him not being the head of the house, his delegating had actually earned him even more approval from them.


    ¡°Best not get used to this.¡± Anna burst his bubble. ¡°They only ept this now because they want something you have and because you are so young.¡±


    Ajax nodded at the words, deep inside his heart however he reinforced his wish to grow stronger. Strong enough that nobody will have any problems with him delegating.


    ¡°You¡¯re thinking something rude.¡± Lexi poked him in the side as she dragged him down the street towards the next stall.

 Chapter 348

    Chapter 348


    Ajax spent the next two days enjoying the festival and recuperating. That isn¡¯t to say that there weren¡¯t a lot of people looking for a moment of his time but Ajax skillfully directed all of them towards his grandfather and sister. Darkw had done his best to restrain himself and give Ajax time to recover but the dam finally burst and a spar was scheduled to take ce at the end of the week. It was on the evening of the second day that a small conference formed to discuss his options for the remaining five spots.


    ¡°Did any royal family approach you about a deal?¡± the crown prince asked as he joined Elija, Judy, Lexi, Anna and Ajax.


    ¡°None of them so far.¡± Elija shook his head. ¡°We do have a meeting with the Sylvian family tomorrow morning to discuss Ajax¡¯s tournament winnings. You¡¯ll need to be there for that by the way.¡±


    ¡°Closest we have is a member of the Council, they offered a really good deal to get Darkw one of the spots.¡± Judy nodded.


    It seemed that the best case scenario just wasn¡¯t meant to be. Ajax had also hoped to be able to trade one or maybe even two of the spots to the beastkin or the dwarves in exchange for another kingdom¡¯s dungeons to delve but even he knew it was a long shot.


    ¡°What are the best offers we have so far?¡± Ajax asked, curious.


    ¡°So far there are two offers that far surpass all the others we have gotten. The Council¡¯s offer for Darkw was generous enough that it will push our house into the top ten merchant Houses in Gryndor.¡± Elija said with a look that told Ajax his grandfather was ready to ept that deal.


    ¡°The second offeres from ra.¡± Ajax was slightly surprised to hear that house had made such a big offer considering how their interactions had gone. ¡°While it wasn¡¯t as valuable as the Councilor¡¯s offer for Darkw they will be making their payment almost exclusively in rare alchemy ingredients.¡±


    ¡°There are still offers that should being in over the next few days.¡± The prince gave his own opinion. ¡° Quite a few of the present representatives simply don¡¯t have the authority to make suchrge offers but I can assure you that all of them sent out ravens days ago the moment you gained that deal.¡± ¡°You should ept the top two offers.¡± Anna offered her counsel. ¡°Doing so will not only improve the dispositions of our hosts with us and repair your rtionship with a ducal house, but by also lowering the supply it will loosen everyone else''s purse strings.¡±


    Ajax found himself very much in agreement with Anna¡¯s suggestion. epting the top two offers would increase the price of the remaining spots but it will also show them as reasonable since they aren¡¯t holding and squeezing people dry.


    ¡°That¡¯s a solid proposal.¡± Ajax nodded in affirmation. ¡°But when do you think I should go?¡±


    ¡°As soon as possible.¡± The crown prince didn¡¯t miss a beat. ¡°Going straight there from here would be best. The more time passes from when the incident urred the less protected you will be. Not to mention that going into dungeons at a lower level is always better since you will have more floors avable to you.¡±


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    ¡°That¡¯s probably for the best.¡± Ajax nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll go through the Deepwood dungeons and on the way back I¡¯ll delve into Sylvanthal''s dungeons depending on how the negotiations go tomorrow. After I return to Gryndor I¡¯ll go to the empire for the final delve before I head out to find apanion.¡±


    ¡°Good luck exining that to your mother.¡± Elija threw out there with a shake of the head.


    The words sent a cold shiver up Ajax¡¯s spine as he thought through the timetable. They had already been gone for almost half a year, in his initial n he would have had time to delve one kingdom¡¯s worth of dungeons before returning home and spending a month in Gryndor before heading to the Empire at least. With two kindom¡¯s worth of dungeons Ajax would need to travel quickly as they delved from one dungeon to the next just to get back to the Empire dungeon in time.


    ¡°See if you can add a nice gift for my parents in the deals for thest three spots.¡± Ajax asked his grandfather before he went to his new room to sleep.


    While most people from that meeting went to sleep as it was getting ratherte the crown prince was meeting with his father and brother.


    ¡°Something is going on with Arborea and Predator¡¯s Pride.¡± the crown prince said as he referenced the two beastkin kingdoms to the south of the Republic.


    Unlike the human, elven and dwarven kingdoms the beastkin had split themselves differently. Where the other races split themselves between those who thought themselves the superior race and those who didn¡¯t the beastkins split themselves more along whether their animal counterparts were herbivores or carnivores. Not only that but because of the savannah and desert geography of their kingdoms the borders between them were not as clear cut.


    ¡°What makes you say that?¡± king Gryndor asked.


    ¡°Ajax hasn¡¯t received a significant offer from a noble family from there for one of the spots in the Deepwood dungeons.¡± the crown prince exined.


    While the same was true of the dwarven kingdoms, the dwarves as a society were much more focused on craftsmen and pure skill. The stat points from a dungeon wouldn¡¯t be so alluring to them as they were to the beastkin¡¯s more brutal and physical society.


    ¡°We have lost contact with an unusual number of our agents there in the past decade as well.¡± the king said as he rubbed his temple in hopes of preventing the headache he felting. ¡°We will have to send more people to take a closer look at what is going on.¡±


    _________________________________________


    Ajax started the following morning with a quick training session with Lexi. He spent the first half an hour doing his best to get a feel for it as he used both [Syphon Mana] and [Sense Mana] to get a good look and feel for the spells Lexi was using. Much to her credit Lexi was not limiting herself to sound spells only as she also tried to add the mana to her earth spells in hopes of creating an earthquake like effect.


    ¡°This is a lot harder than I remember.¡± Ajaxined after his tenth attempt at chanting the sonic spell fizzled out in a waste of mana.


    ¡°You hardly practiced chanting in thest few years.¡± Lexi said. ¡°These spells are a lot more advanced and we both know that different casting methods interfere with one another.¡±


    Ajax knew she was right. He only ever used chants for cleaning, he was still a little peeved that he hadn¡¯t figured out how that particr spell worked and couldn¡¯t replicate it with pure mana control.


    ¡°How about that shockwave spell?¡± Ajax asked. ¡°I think I have a better visualization of that one, not to mention that it relies more on mana control to create a small area that is very mana sparse.


    Ajax¡¯s guess had been right, it had only taken him eight attempts until he finally got the spell to cast. Unlike Lexi¡¯s first cast of the spell he only fed the spell with a bit of mana creating a shockwave that only kicked up the dust in their training area.


    ¡°You did it!¡± Lexi congratted him. ¡°How did it feel?¡±


    ¡°Odd.¡± Ajax answered. The advantage with casting the spell himself was that he could get a much clearer picture of how his mana changed from neutral into the Vibration mana so that he could try and replicate the process. ¡°It felt odd.¡±


    Just like Life mana, Vibration mana was superiorpared to the normal affinities Ajax used, there was a reason they were Legendary after all. Unlike Life mana however, Vibration was very much an aggressive and offensive mana type and he could feel the raw power the mana type could bring to his kit once he mastered it.


    ¡°You might as well end this session on a high note.¡± Lexi said as she started herding him out the training area. ¡°Best you go get ready for your meeting.¡±


    Ajax didn¡¯t put up more than a token struggle as he headed to take a shower and a change of clothes. His mana pool was also quite depleted from the numerous failed casts. Lexi was right he should focus on the uing negotiations, there would be plenty of time for him to train as he traveled from one dungeon to the next over the next few months.

 Chapter 349

    Chapter 349


    Ajax entered the negotiation room joined by his grandfather, Judy and both of Gryndor¡¯s princes. The room was empty at the moment but the elves were expected to join them momentarily. The crown prince was there as both advisor and as a representative of the royal family, his older brother however was there as protection.


    The door to the opposite side of the room opened and four elves stepped inside. The elven king, Arianwyn and Aranor were all known to Ajax; he suspected the fourth man to be an advisor, most likely working for the kingdom¡¯s treasury.


    As both sides silently lined up to greet each other the first move was definitely not one Ajax expected. Regalia the princess¡¯s snake was quick to stretch out slightly and hiss at Ajax.


    ¡°Regalia, no!¡± Arianwyn tried her best to grab a hold of her bond and bring her back as she flushed in embarrassment.


    Ajax simply entered abat stance as he prepared himself to pull his hammer out of his spacial ring, his grandfather and sister however were a lot more panicked. The rxed attitude disyed by Aranor, the king and the crown prince did a lot to calm Ajax down.


    ¡°Quite the bond you¡¯ve got there.¡± the king¡¯s oldest sonmented. ¡°Despite the beating it took, it''s not feeling intimidated at all, if anything it seems almost curious.¡±


    Unlike his usual attitude the prince remained professional as he took his role as security seriously in front of another nation. With Regalia in her grasp Arianwyn was doing her best to regain her ownposure as both sides took their seats around the table, Aranor and the prince the only people that remained on their feet.


    ¡°You are full of surprises Baron Heathbound.¡± the king opened. ¡°Is it still Baron Hearthbound?¡±


    ¡°For now.¡± Ajax responded. ¡°Though I am not sure how full I am after this tournament.¡± Ajax went into the tournament fully prepared that he might not win even with all the advantages he had. What he hadn¡¯t been all that prepared for was for how he would feel now he had shown every trick he had kept in reserve. He was feeling a little vulnerable without an ace up his sleeve, that was the main driving force behind him putting all his mana into trying to train and unlock Vibration mana.


    ¡°We do foresee a celebratory announcement once we finally return home.¡± the prince responded. ¡°But that is not what you are here for now.¡±


    The king nodded in acknowledgement. ¡°You are correct, and I do imagine all of us have a few pressing matters that we can¡¯t postpone too much longer so let us begin.¡± with that the king brought out his own copy of the mana rich mine that was the prize for the tournaments. ¡°We evaluate your 20% of the mine to be worth in the neighborhood of one hundred thousand gold coins. What would you like in exchange for it?¡±


    ¡°That seems like a low valuation.¡± the crown prince answered.


    ¡°For a more established house I would agree, Your Highness.¡± the fourth elf joined the conversation. ¡°House Hearthbound simply doesn¡¯t have the infrastructure to warrant a higher valuation, for his House the asset would represent arge drain on their funds and it will be years before they recuperate their investment and start turning a profit.¡± The argument was one nobody could disagree with.


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    ¡°Our main ask for this would be a full ess delve into all of the dungeons that Sylvanthal has.¡± Elija joined the negotiation.


    Ajax might not have been all that skilled in negotiations but even he noticed a look of relief on the unknown elf¡¯s face, clearly everyone would be happy to give Ajax ess to the dungeons he wanted.


    ¡°That is something we are prepared to agree to.¡± the king nodded towards his treasurer.


    ¡°I think you would find that a valuation of eighty thousand gold coins would be a fair ask for something of that nature.¡± Ajax had been prepared for the cost to be a lot higher than the average twenty thousand gold coins he had been getting in exchange for his own delving spots but eighty thousand was more than he expected.


    ¡°Now that seems like a high valuation.¡± the prince said with a small smile of his own.


    ¡°That valuation is one that is often given to a round of delves when they are part of a trade.¡± the king argued.


    ¡°That may be true, but just as you pointed out that young Ajax is not in a position to make use of his newly gained asset, you are not in a position to spendrge amounts of material wealth.¡± the crown prince responded. ¡°Something more immaterial thates at no direct cost to your kingdom would have a proportionally lower value, say seventy thousand.¡±


    From there the negotiation shifted into high gear as the king and treasurer battled Elija and the crown prince with the asional offer from Judy. For once Ajax was fully invested as he saw one offer after another being thrown out there by each side as they ever so slowly moved the value of their offers closer and closer to somewhere in the middle.


    The negotiationsted for almost two full hours, surprisingly enough the two hardest negotiators had been the treasurer and the crown prince. Ajax was sure that despite the exhausted smile the treasurer was sporting after an agreement was reached the real winner was the crown prince, maybe not in terms of the deal they struck but certainly in terms of the information he managed to gain about the elves'' financial situation.


    The end agreement had been for Ajax to receive his delves, five thousand gold coins worth of different elemental mana gems native to Sylvanthal as well as a deal for House Heathbound to be distributor of a few regted export goods from Sylvanthal to Gryndor.


    ¡°It was a pleasure doing business with you, Your Majesty.¡± The crown prince said with a smile as the final terms were agreed upon, Arianwyn was unable to fully suppress a small re, not so much for how much the prince had cost but more for how long the negotiation had gone on for.


    ¡°So it was.¡± the king nodded towards the crown prince with a matching smile before he turned to Ajax. ¡°On to the next item, what would it take for my daughter to join her friend ra?¡±


    Ajax couldn¡¯t help but be slightly surprised. It couldn¡¯t have been more than an hour before the meeting that his grandfather and sister finalized the deal with ra¡¯s father and the king already knew that it had been epted, that was quite the loyalty the ducal house had for the royal family, doubly so considering that they only bought a spot and not ced ra¡¯s name on it.


    That question seemed to kickstart the negotiations once again. Unlike the previous discussion however the elven treasurer found himself contending with Elija while the crown prince had mostly settled in to watch, throwing a word or two of support every now and then.


    Half an hourter and Ajax was starting to feel the tension building in the room. Despite the previous negotiation taking longer both parties had simply been taking the smallest steps they could as they worked towards the middle, that was not the case this time.


    Because of the extremely diminished reserves of the elven treasury and the previously agreed upon bargain Elija couldn¡¯t find a single offer he could reasonably ept. Ajax had mentioned that he wouldn¡¯t be against gaining some good will from the elven royals but none of their offers were even close to some of the best ones they had already gotten.


    ¡°This is taking too long.¡± the king¡¯s oldest son let out a giant sigh, finally breaking his serious guard persona.


    ¡°Brother, this is not the time.¡± the crown prince tried to stop his older sibling from interfering.


    ¡°They are simply going in circles. Elija, you¡¯ll ept the best offer out of the ones they already made.¡± The prince¡¯s words brought joy to the tired treasurer but neither Aranor nor the king rxed as they awaited their part of thepromise. ¡°You¡¯ll add two tree of life seeds on top of the offer.¡±


    ¡°Tree of life seeds?¡± the king asked, surprised by the request.


    It took everything he had for Ajax not to show any reaction. He had been explicitly told that there was no way the royal family could sell him any for a long while. Sooner orter it was going to get out that Ajax had managed to gain his Legendary Life mana affinity with help of a seed and if it was found out that the royal family then sold some to him despite their restricted status as a kingdom resource there would be serious consequences.


    ¡° ¡®Baron¡¯ Hearthbound.'''' The prince entuated the word baron. ¡°May find himself in need of revitalizing anynds he may or may not gain in the near future. As the facilitators of this meeting the royal House Gryndor will noty im to the obtained seeds as a kingdom resource.¡±


    There was a long moment of silence before the king agreed to the proposal.

 Chapter 350

    Chapter 350


    Ajax was very happy with the deal he had made, not as happy as his grandfather and Judy were however as they had made some great gains in their skills after their hard work.


    ¡°I got an Epic skill.¡± Judy tried to keep her excited whisper as quiet as possible as they were making their way through the hall.


    ¡°What did you get?¡± Elija asked, interested.


    ¡°[Firm Price].¡± Judy said with excitement. ¡°That¡¯s one of the best seller skills out there!¡±


    [Firm Price] was one of the more limited Epic merchant skills. It did only one thing minimize the effect of any other skill on getting a seller to lower their price. It was also one of the most coveted skills by any merchant organization, though mostly they looked for it in their lower level employees who were selling items with a posted price instead of a haggled trade.


    ¡°That will be really good if we ever start creating high end items with any regrity.¡± Elija said as he stroked his beard. ¡°Once we get back home you should probably spend a few months behind the counter to grab the easy levels for it, that way once your brother starts making high end potions you can keep some healthy margins selling them.¡±


    ¡°How do you think we did on the deal?¡± Judy asked Ajax now that they were alone.


    Ajax didn¡¯t even have a chance to start answering before Elija cut him off. ¡°Not on the second one, we know how you feel about getting those seeds, the first deal the one we actually reached an agreement without going outside the normal conventions.¡±


    Ajax took a moment to consider that. The end deal got them some valuable trade agreements and a decent amount of mana gems. Both of those were good for their future, if a littleckluster in the short term. The trade agreements would grow their budding merchant organization internationally and the gems would eventually be used by any promising non-alchemy focused crafters to improve, like his father¡¯s smithing. Both of those things were good. The delves were the main prize. Because the agreement had been for each of the dungeons in Sylvanthal instead of just the best three as most people cared about, Ajax had only gotten nine slots.


    ¡°I think we made out rather well, three slots in each dungeon along with the gems and trade agreement should be enough to help us prepare for the future as well.¡± Ajax answered the question.


    The kingdom had taken their share of the reward, since they had little use for the trade agreements at a national levels and the royal family had plenty of mana gems they had taken a bigger share of the slots, in exchange for providing the booster the royal family had walked away with five of the remaining slots while Ajax was left with three. The only question was who could they sell the two empty slots for the most?


    ¡°You two should go and rx for the rest of the day, I¡¯ll go do some physical training.¡± Ajax said as he took off towards the training grounds, his mana hadn¡¯t yet recovered from his pre meeting training.


    ¡°He¡¯s right grandpa, you should go rest.¡± Judy said with a caring innocent voice. ¡°You did most of the heavy lifting in that meeting.¡±


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    ¡°And what are you going to do?¡± he asked with an eyebrow raised suspiciously.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to go train my skills as well¡± Judy said with as much determination as she could muster. ¡°Not my new one since we don¡¯t have all that much to sell on hand but my others should work just fine here.¡±


    Judy was gone before Elija had time to object to her. ¡°Aurora, you shouldn¡¯t have thought her about that at this age.¡± Elija stayed there shaking his head for a moment before he started making his way to his own room to rx.


    As for the training Judy was going to be doing she was heading straight for the local casinos. Unlike her grandfather or her partner na Judy wasn¡¯t a strategist merchant. What she specialized in was finding the hidden value in what seemed to be ordinary items at first nce and her skills helped her in that endeavor.


    None of the skills would help with any of the house games, casinos would have quickly gone bankrupt or banned merchants if that was the case. They did however work in poker, if only slightly. With her value appraisal skills Judy could get a sense for how good a hand was, not only that but she could use her skills on other yers cards as well. The only issue was that she could only determine the current value, more than once she had been sure of victory only for a bad beat on the river to cause her to lose most of her winnings.


    ¡°Ten gold coins.¡± Judy said as she handed the employee a small back and picked up a rather full rack of chips.


    With chips in hand Judy quickly made her way over to the Texas hold¡¯em tables in the casino. With her youthful looks andrge amount of chips she was quickly weed by the yers at the table, all of them happy she hade, for the moment at least. Judy settled in ready to spend the next few hours training ¡°Can I get a cherry cocktail please!¡±


    ¡°So what¡¯s it going to be?¡± the muscled adventurer asked as he looked towards Judy as she furrowed her brows and looked at her cards.


    In the past hour Judy had managed to grow her pile of chips from ten gold worth to twelve and the bet was heads up to her on a one gold coin to call.


    ¡°I call.¡± she finally said as she threw a chip towards the pot much to the adventurer¡¯s disappointment.


    ¡°Gods damn it.¡± the adventurer mucked his bluff without even checking what Judy had. ¡°That¡¯s it I¡¯m done for the day.¡± he stood up from his chair and walked away.


    ¡°You¡¯re a pretty good merchant for someone so young.¡± An elven woman to her right said as she racked in the chips.


    Despite her best efforts to hide it the more experienced yers had picked up that Judy was a merchant, she had done her best to hide it giving her social skills a true workout but even if she didn¡¯t give the game away with her reactions the facts would do that for her. After all, merchants would never call a value bet on the river and lose.


    ¡°You¡¯re a better scout.¡± Judy answered back, the elf in question had taken a few of Judy¡¯s chips over the past hour.


    Merchants weren¡¯t the only ones that had an advantage at the poker tables. It wasn¡¯t feasible to swap out the deck for every single hand that was yed so while they did go through four separate decks in the past hour a good scout would be able to surreptitiously mark a few cards and use that to their advantage before the deck was reced. Not only that but with their high perception they could better read their opponent.


    ¡°You¡¯ll get better returns at the lower tables.¡± the elf suggested. ¡°They aren¡¯t as good, not only that but they¡¯ll underestimate you because of your age you¡¯ll be able to get away with more of your bluffs.¡±


    While betting when you had the better hand was simply a matter of merchant skills, there were situations when a skilled merchant could win with the worse hand as well. So long as they knew the winning hand was also low value, just a better low value they could bluff their way into getting them to fold it.


    ¡°I¡¯m here to train,¡± Judy answered as she shook her head. ¡°The money is just a bonus.¡±


    ¡°If you say so.¡± the elf said as she looked at the two new cards she had gotten leaving a small nail scratch on the corner of one of them that only her and the other scout yer at the table would be able to notice. This was actually a trap she was making since she had hidden her hand from the sight of the other scout as she made the marking in the exact same spot as the mark he had made on a different card the previous hand. ¡°But you¡¯d best get that skill under control.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Judy was actually surprised since she didn¡¯t know what the elf meant.


    ¡°It¡¯s subtle, but by your reaction it is also probably new.¡± the elf said. ¡°It¡¯s a subtle instinct to all call instead of raising against you.¡±


    ¡°Would you like to make aint?¡± the dealer asked instantly. The rules of these tables were clear, the house even warned you, you can observe anything and you can mess with the cards so long as it¡¯s not anything obvious but any skill that influenced the bets made would get you kicked out quickly.


    ¡°Noint.¡± the elf waved her off with a smile. ¡°I¡¯m just helping with her training.¡±

 Chapter 351

    Chapter 351


    Ajax focused on his training until his spar with Darkw. He had no issues getting the shockwave spell to cast after getting it right the first time but getting used to the vibration mana in order to learn how to use it without an incantation was taking a while.


    While that was happening Elija and Judy finished the sale on all of the remaining delve slots for decent profits. Of the two slots he had for Sylvanthal¡¯s dungeons one was sold to Lexi for a fair price and the other the Council bought for Darkw by overpaying. As for the final two slots for Deepwood¡¯s dungeons one was sold at a lower price to the Silvertongue family who called in a few favors that they had earned by helping Ajax out over his years as a teaching assistant and the other the Republic bought out for their second under fifty fighter.


    As for Xavier, Anna and Benedict all of them had managed to gain a slot from the five the kingdom had gotten out of the deal. Ajax¡¯s extended trip was taking a turn and bing an extended post graduation trip for his academy ss.


    ¡°I see you got so attached you decided to join our little trip to the forest.¡± Ajax teased Darkw as they took their stance in the sparring ground.


    ¡°What can I say, you¡¯ve all just grown on me.¡± the beastkin responded as he stretched out his ws.


    The moment the spar started Ajax shot directly towards his opponent, he knew the beastkin would be too quick to hit with an arrow that he was expecting so he decided to close the distance to the point where his faster movements would give him the advantage.


    Unlike his fights in the arena Darkw stuck to his starting spot and used his first few casts to prepare the terrain around him by turning it into a slippery mud pit that was infused with his mana. This would make it almost impossible for Ajax to use his usual earth casting for a short while, until his [Mana Syphon] took away all of that mana.


    The strategy didn¡¯t surprise Ajax as he knew that it was one of the most basic things any caster did if they were ever up against a hybrid fighter so he was prepared. While Ajax already started siphoning the mana he wasted no time freezing the topyer mud.


    ¡°What the¡­¡± Darkw¡¯s battle hungry smile faltered for a moment as he ced his foot down on the ice.While an icy surface is usually slippery the ice nket Ajax put down was intentionally a little bumpy. The entire area looked like the sole of a studded football boot with very small studs, not only that but the studs weren¡¯t all that strong and they were easily crushed underfoot. This gave the ice patch enough grip that Ajax could continue his speedy approach without issue.


    Ajax wasn¡¯t underestimating his opponent, he quickly went straight to void mana for his opening attack hoping to end the fight quickly. His hammer picked up the ominous violet glow as soon as Ajax was two steps away from melee range. It was there that Darkw made his move.


    The beastkin released a small wind wall and put it two steps forward straight in the path of Ajax¡¯s hammer. Despite the wall being weak it wasn¡¯t weak enough for Ajax¡¯s [Mana Syphon] topletely disrupt over such a small distance. As the hammer made contact with the wind wall one of Void mana¡¯s weaknesses was revealed.


    Every single nation besides Gryndor had spent a considerable amount of time following the tournament finals trying to analyze Void mana. Ajax¡¯s spar with Darkw was the clear opportunity to test their theories and the first one employed was one that Shadow had theorized.


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    Despite the extremely weak obstacle Ajax¡¯s hammer instantly lost all momentum as the void blow was generated. Darkw couldn¡¯t help the smile that was forming on his face as he saw his n working, but the smile wouldn¡¯tst for long.


    The sudden loss of momentum from his heavy hammer quickly unbnced Ajax, thatbined with the still slippery surface of the ice turned Ajax into a human projectile that the beastkin wasn¡¯t expecting.


    Darkw could only thank his defensive enchantments as they not only mitigated the impact of Ajax crashing into him but it also ensured that the two of them didn¡¯t fall over in a pile following the impact. Had Ajax managed to grab a hold of the beastkin right there the fight would have been all but over.


    It was only thanks to the years of extensive training that Darkw had managed to continue his chanting despite the unnned collision. A quick jump brought the beastkin back to his feet from where hey on his back on the ground right as his chant finished and he released arge wave of fire towards Ajax.


    Ajax wasted no time bringing up his shield and using both an ice coating as well as the shield''s enchantments to protect himself. Darkw was extremely surprised by the amount of mana he felt pouring out of Ajax as he protected himself from the spell. Darkw was sure Ajax had spent two thirds of his mana in thest few moments.


    Emboldened by the amount of mana Ajax had just lost, Darkw quickly looked to press the attack while Ajax was still on the defensive. He brought up two lightning bolts looking to break through Ajax¡¯s defenses. Lightning was extremely good at prating through wards so he was hoping this would be enough to finish the match.


    Ajax reacted just as quickly, wasting no time in tossing the shield at the beastkin. The shield was batted aside by the first lightning bolt but because Ajax had thrown it there was no path for the current to take to reach Ajax as he rushed towards Darkw.


    As Darkw was throwing the second lightning bolt at the defenseless Ajax he felt his foot get dragged out from underneath him. The unexpected movement sent the lightning st way off target as the beastkin was sent falling forwards and towards Ajax.


    Darkw didn¡¯t understand what had happened. He knew that Ajax hadn¡¯t yet siphoned all of the mana that he infused into the ground around them so there was no way he should have managed to trip him up like this. The answers came with a shocking revtion as midfall the beastkin looked towards his legs.


    The sight of a bulky mud golem no taller than Darkw¡¯s knee that had grabbed onto the beastkin¡¯s leg as he pulled it out from under him exined everything. The massive amount of mana Ajax used as he blocked his fire attack now made a lot more sense. The beastkin didn¡¯t have enough time to put together that Ajax had a Legendary mana affinity before his face met the ground.


    Darkw had no time to waste being shocked. He quickly tried to push himself up but he had barely gotten his face a few inches from the frozen mud as a strong impact from Ajax¡¯s hammer crushed through the ice having missed his head by less than an inch as it showered him with mud.


    ¡°I win.¡± Ajax announced with a victorious grin on his face.


    ¡°Yes yo-¡± Darkw didn¡¯t manage to finish his sentence as the golem had pulled further on his leg, the unexpected movement dragged the beastkin off his hands and gave him a mouthful of mud for his troubles.


    ¡°Hey, hey. Let go of him, little guy.¡± Ajax quickly sprung into action to help his friend as he realized that he needed to add controlling the golems created by his Life mana to his already busy training schedule. ¡°It¡¯s over, we won.¡±


    The golem clearly wasn¡¯t the brightest as he let go off the leg and looked towards Ajax with a confused frown as thest of the mana in him was consumed.


    ¡°Ha ha ha ha ha ha.¡± the king¡¯s oldest oldest son appeared next to them as he approached from his vantage point watching the spar. ¡°Did you see that!?¡±


    ¡°Hmph hmph hmph.¡± Even Shadow who followed him had a hard time but at least he was trying to restrain hisughter. ¡°It''s not¡­ that funny.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean it¡¯s not that funny.¡± the prince sounded almost outraged. ¡°The way you could see it on his face as he epted his defeat and at the same time you could see the golem getting ready to give his leg another good pull. It was a masterpiece, the way all but bit right into the mud.¡±


    ¡°Argh ¡­ kuh .. kuh¡± the beastking in question started coughing as he was trying to spit out all of the mud he just ate.


    ¡°You okay there?¡± Ajax asked, his tone a mixture of concern and theughter he himself was trying to hold back at the situation.


    ¡°He¡¯ll live.¡± Shadow said as he dragged the beastkin up to his feet before he proceeded to pound on his back lightly with his palm.


    ¡°Not¡­ kuh kuh¡­ not like ¡­ kuh kuh¡­ this.¡± Darkw coughed out his next sentence.


    ¡°What?¡± Ajax lost all of his amusement as he thought something was genuinely wrong with the beastkin.


    ¡°We¡¯re fighting again.¡± the beastkin got out. ¡°There is no way my story of fighting on even footing with the future strongest man in the world ends like this. I¡¯ll be aughing stock to all of my children and grandchildren.¡±

 Chapter 352

    Chapter 352


    The spar between Darkw and Ajax had no stakes, despite this by the end of the match most of the notable figures that had shown up to watch left with one less worry on their mind. If the tournament finals had shown just how powerful Void mana was this spar had shown that it was also situational.


    ¡°What is the name of this mana type?¡± Shadow asked Ajax.


    ¡°Void.¡± Ajax answered.


    ¡°Curious,¡± Shadow pondered. ¡°It seems to be a mix of Shadow mana and Space mana. The result is a weaker mana type than Space but a stronger one than Shadow.¡±


    Ajax had spent countless days while attending the academy working with headmaster Manashaper where the theory regarding mana types was drilled into his head. The higher rank the mana affinity skill was the more powerful the mana was. This didn¡¯t mean that higher mana types were always the better choice; the ranking was simply a corrtion between cost and control requirements.


    Maic mana was only Rare despite both Metal and Lightning being Epic, this was because of how simple it was to control as well as the low mana draw to keep active. In the same way Void was cheaper to use than Space and more easily controlled though it did sacrifice power and versatility for that.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure if it was intentional or not but your disy here today did a lot to calm people.¡± Shadow praised Ajax.


    Ajax didn¡¯tment on that, he had used Void in an honest attempt to end the match quickly, he was also looking to give them a second look at it, with more information it would stop people from putting a target on his back.


    ¡°You should both get ready to leave.¡± The prince addressed both Darkw and Ajax. ¡°All of the delve slots had been sold so we will be leaving with the elves in a few days.¡± Ajax knew the route for their trip was nned for optimal speed, they would go start with two dungeons in Sylvanthal as they traveled to Deepwood, they would then do a full circle in Deepwood before returning to finish thest three Sylvanthal had to offer. He did not know that they were leaving that quickly.


    ¡°Then we should have our second fight tomorrow morning while we still have a chance.¡± Darkw was quick to adapt.


    ¡°You¡¯ll have plenty of time for that as you travel.¡± Shadow cuffed the back of the beastkin¡¯s head.


    Ajax was quick to retreat back to the embassy after that as Darkw tried to argue his point about a rematch. Once back he went to find his sister and grandfather, since he now had a more concrete timeline it was best to get their opinions on it.


    ¡°So we are splitting up?¡± Judy asked, not all that happy at the premise.


    ¡°We have to.¡± Ajax exined. ¡°Only the people actually delving will be allowed to enter Deepwood.¡±


    ¡°Not only that but both the king and the crown prince have been gone for more than a few months.¡± Elija continued. ¡°They can¡¯t extend their stay here to wait for them to return. With the amount of valuables we managed to get traveling back without a full escort is just asking to get robbed.¡±


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    ¡°Fine¡­¡± Judy reluctantly agreed. ¡°But you best just keep your head down and do the delves, no more international stunts or you really will start a war.¡±


    ¡°I promise.¡± Ajax assured her before quickly switching the subject. ¡°What have the two of you been doing thest few days?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve been training my skills.¡± Judy answered for herself.


    ¡°There was something all of these nobles missed in the market?¡± Ajax was shocked, with how many merchants there were, that was quite the aplishment.


    ¡°Oh no, everything was picked clean already.¡± Judy¡¯s shoulders dropped a little since that was the first thing she checked. ¡°I¡¯ve been practicing in the casino¡¯s, so far I am up to ten gold.¡±


    Ajax wasn¡¯t sure how he should react. His life back on Earth had taught him that going into the casino for anything other than counting cards or poker was a sucker¡¯s move. Then again training her skills head to head like this was definitely worth losing a few gold coins over, that she had managed to not just break even but actually win some he was tempted to send her back to the casino for extra practice.


    ¡°Adjusting the ns for the next few years to now include everything we gained after selling the delve spots.¡± Elija answered. ¡°Your grandma is going to be especially pleased with the opportunity to travel to the Republic and Sylvanthal, her skills have been stagnating with Gryndor¡¯s market.¡±


    Much like Judy, Aurora was more of an appraiser merchant, the chance to put her skills to work in two new totally different markets is something that she will jump at. ¡°We¡¯ll try and time it so that na and grandma can meet you at the end of your delves in Sylvanthal¡¯s capital.¡±


    That was a smart move. It would ensure that for their first trip not only would Ajax be there as additional support but even the king¡¯s oldest son as well as Anna who could provide a strong shield should anything happen.


    Following the talk with his family Ajax went looking for Lexi. Besides simply wanting to spend time with her there was also something he wanted to ask her following the earlier spar, specifically rted to the intelligence of the golem he created. The only instance of animation via Life mana Ajax had seen was in the form of the headmaster¡¯s clone spell and while he was sure that spell was moreplex the difference in the intelligence of the two creations was too big.


    ¡°Baron Heathbound.¡± a voice called out to Ajax as he was moving through the embassy.


    ¡°Lord Ironwhisper.¡± Ajax politely greeted the man who approached.


    To nobody¡¯s surprise House Silvertongue had managed to secure three of the initial spots for the Republic delves where they sent all of their most promising people. What was surprising however was that only one of those spots was taken by someone holding the name Silvertongue, the other two went to House Ironwhisper who was their known vassal house.


    The strongest and most promising of the three people House Silvertongue sent was Harold Ironwhisper, he was fifty five years of age and already a level eighty physical fighter with a speciality in assassination. Harold was a small wiry man that one could easily underestimate, a mistake Ajax hadn¡¯t made ever since the first time he saw the man in action inside a dungeon.


    ¡°I would like to express my gratitude as well as be the one to inform you that I will be joining you for your extended trip.¡± the man said with a deep bow.


    ¡°Why gratitude?¡± Ajax asked. If there was one thing he had learnt after years of hearing Abbot Silvertonguein was to always rify anything ambiguous when dealing with House Silvertongue or any of their retainers. ¡°House Silvertongue paid for your spots.¡±


    ¡°Because without your actions not even House Silvertongue would have been able to buy me a spot for delving into all these dungeons.¡± Lord Ironwhisper said. ¡° It seems Instructor Abbot was right about you, I even have a ce in the Generation of Prodigies.¡±


    ¡°The what now?¡± Ajax suddenly stopped as he heard the words.


    ¡°It¡¯s what the nobles are calling the group that is delving into so many dungeons.¡± Lord Ironwhisper exined. ¡°They are mainly referring to yourself, Lady Manashaper, Lady Goldmancer and Prince Xavier since the four of you will have delved into the dungeons of four different nations at such a young age that you are all expected to reach very high levels. Lord Benedict and myself were also added since we are only one dungeon off.¡±


    Ajax supposed it made sense that the nobles would look to separate them from everyone else. After all, after delving an additional sixteen dungeonspared to others of their generation would skew anyparison greatly. Even if they assumed they only cleared on average two floors per dungeon that would still be an extra +32 to all stats.


    ¡°In that case you are very wee.¡± Ajax restarted his search for Lexi with renewed motivation. ¡°I look forward to yourpany on our journey.¡± Despite the words Ajax was really hoping that having an assassin in training along with them wouldn¡¯t cause any issues once they got to Deepwood.


    It didn¡¯t take Ajax much longer as he found Lexi in one of the sitting rooms along with Anna, Xavier and Benedict. Ajax wasted no time as he sat down next to her and clung to her as he tried to restore his depleted social batteries.


    ¡°Ajax? What¡¯s wrong?¡± Lexi could tell that whatever it was wasn¡¯t a big deal but something was certainly bothering Ajax.


    ¡°Did you hear what the nobles are calling us?¡± Ajax asked as he forcefully stopped himself from cringing.


    ¡°Sadly yes.¡± Benedict answered with a sigh as Anna and Lexi nodded.


    ¡°I like it.¡± Xavier said with an upbeat attitude as the other four people groaned.

 Chapter 353

    Chapter 353


    As he was preparing for his journey Ajax had learnt from his mistakes, despite having a ratherrge spacial ring Ajax was also carrying a pack that had a very simr enchantment. Ajax wasn¡¯t going to let a chance simr to the one that slipped through his fingers before go, besides a wide variety of alchemical ingredients that he could use for different experiments Ajax had packed no less than four cauldrons, two of them however were of a much lower quality and just in case he was going to try something that a cauldron wasn¡¯t likely to survive.


    After the goodbyes to his grandfather and sister Ajax and the rest of their group was approached by the crown prince. ¡°Stick close to Arianwyn while you are in Deepwood.¡± This advice was met by a collective frown. ¡°My brother will find himself busy and while we can only send him with you there will be no issue with another elf joining your group as protection. Make no mistake, just because targeting you is not the smart y doesn¡¯t mean there aren¡¯t radicals in Deepwood who would take their chances rather than watch you all grow.¡±


    The words were like a bucket of ice water to all of them, the only racist extremists any of them had ever had to interact with came from the Empire, while those were bad enough they weren¡¯t a target there, they couldn¡¯t take any chances.


    With that their journey started. While Gryndor had also sent out two carriages to join the elven convoy for their trip, those would be waiting for them in Sylvanthal¡¯s capital once they finished their delves and they were returning to Gryndor.


    Despite the presence of Gryndor¡¯s carriages the only one to make use of them was Ajax who stashed his pack on one of them before taking king Sylvanthal up on his offer to join him in the royal carriage.


    Unlike the Gryndor royal carriage that was simply a spatially expanded room that took the form of a carriage the elven carriage was a twenty foot tall tree with a thick trunk ced on wheels while the branches formed arge room on top of the trunkplete with seating.


    Ajax had a hard time grasping how the carriage was so stable with what had to be a very high center of gravity and a rtively small base. ¡°It¡¯s a dungeon reward.¡± the prince said as he noticed Ajax staring at the carriage confused. ¡°I prefer our carriage but this one does have a better visual impact.¡±


    Ajax had to agree with the prince there, while Gryndor¡¯s spatially expanded and gave the travelers a lot more room it still looked like a box on wheels, the elven carriage on the other hand looked like a tree with a massive dome made of branches that moved.


    ¡°Wee¡± The king waved them in as they climbed into the room. ¡°Please take a seat.¡±Having less space there were a lot less people in this royal carriage than Ajax hade to expect from their initial trip. Besides the ten people who would be delving, only the king, four guards led by Aranor and ra¡¯s father were there.


    ¡°Oh no¡­¡± Lord Ironwhisper was the first to put together the political powder keg that awaited him inside the carriage. Despite his entire house being morebat focused they were still tied to the Silvertongues so his entire childhood was an exercise in social games and maniption. One look at the rather revealing and decidedly human specific attire the elven princess was wearing was all it took for him to start putting the pieces together.


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    The king couldn¡¯t help with but sympathize with the whispers that he was no doubt not meant to hear. He had had the same reaction a few days ago when he realized his daughter¡¯s sudden curiosity in Ajax following their fight. Worse was that despite all his tactical and social skill he couldn¡¯t yet decide if he hoped his daughter¡¯s curiosity was a passing fascination or the start of something real.


    The princesses'' outfit had the desired effect as Ajax stopped moving once heid eyes on her, while he had no designs on taking multiple partners and was more than happy with Lexi; he was still a young man who could appreciate the elf¡¯s beauty. A quick prod from Anna¡¯s elbow was all it took to get him moving again and seated next to Lexi on thefy leaf covered branches.


    While Ajax had only been momentarily surprised by the princess, he took the prince, giving Xavier a good shove from behind to get him moving once more after he looked at the princess. ¡°Thank you for the hospitality.¡± the king¡¯s oldest son responded as he did his best to cover for the awkwardness that was quickly filling up the room.


    ¡°She is pretty.¡± Lexi muttered to herself as she watched Darkw all but mimic Xavier¡¯s reaction to seeing the elven princess, her mood was instantly improved by Ajax taking her hand and leaning into her slightly as he took his seat beside her.


    Arianwyn was extremely pleased with Ajax¡¯s initial reaction. It had taken her a few days to admit but she was certainly interested in Ajax. She was smart enough to know that this might just be a passing fling brought on by her defeat but she did want to give it a chance to see what could develop.


    The start of the journey might have gone exactly as the princess had wanted it certainly didn¡¯t stay that way for long. She had been hoping to engage Ajax in conversation; she quickly realized that politics were very much not his topic as her father and Lord Ironwhisper were the main participants in that discussion.


    Realizing Ajax had next to no interest when it came to politics Arianwyn slowly maneuvered the conversation into economics. This showed a slight sess as Ajax actively participated when the topic came to Alchemy ingredients but sadly her own knowledge regarding Alchemy didn¡¯t move past the bare minimum.


    Three hours into the trip the king¡¯s oldest son took pity on the princess as he could all but feel her disappointment and decided to throw her a bone as he swapped the conversation topic towards dungeon delving.


    Much to the princesses delight it seemed like Ajax started being a much more active participant once the topic changed to dungeon delivering.


    ¡°You made a very good choice joining such a stable and experienced team.¡± The king praised Ajax as he learned how Ajax got his start in dungeon delving alongside the Collectors. ¡°Dungeons are usually safe as long as you don¡¯t push too high and are careful with the floor bosses but a bad floor theme can easily kill off even the more powerful teams.¡±


    The prince was quick to put a restraining arm on Xavier¡¯s shoulder after thatment. He could sense Xavier¡¯s wish to brag about Ajax¡¯s ability to at least narrow down the floor themes, while it was inevitable that his ability to do so would be discovered in their first dungeon; now wasn¡¯t the time to just throw it out there.


    ¡°I do have to admit, I am curious why you are so focused on dungeons.¡± ra¡¯s father asked Ajax. ¡°You could have gotten your nascent House in a much more stable position if you were to focus your trading on that.¡±


    ¡°My House¡¯s growth is tied to myself¡± Ajax responded. ¡°Delving these dungeons now represents a unique opportunity to gain permanent stats that I will quickly lose based on my leveling speed.¡±


    ¡°Your house also needs to settle into its growth.¡± Anna joined. ¡°Taking on too much at once is a good way for a house to overextend.¡±


    ¡°Was there anything you would have taken instead of the delves?¡± ra asked, looking for anything she could use to get Ajax to agree to help her form her Domain.


    ¡°Only a Bond.¡± Ajax answered.


    ¡°Bonds that can keep up with more talented people are truly a rarity.¡± Aranormented, he himself had managed to form a bond when he was young but after his bond passed away he wasn¡¯t able to form another with a powerful enough creature that would have been able to keep up with him. ¡°It isn¡¯t umon for nobles to have a bond but for elites a bond that can keep up is very much a rarity.¡±


    Almost everyone turned towards Regalia at those words, she was exactly one such bond, so long as she was provided with plenty of goodies to help along her growth she would not only catch up to the princess but would even keep up with her all the way to the top.


    ¡°It¡¯s a shame that your chance has passed.¡± the king said. ¡°With how quickly you grow even if you do manage to find a young beast willing to bond, I doubt they will ever catch up to you.¡±


    Ajax decided not to say anything to that. Despite the trust he was building with the elves he wasn¡¯t going to even hint that he was nning on going into the untamednds to look for a bond after he was done with the dungeons.

 Chapter 354

    Chapter 354


    As the journey continued Ajax started spending more and more time in Gryndor¡¯s carriage as he worked on his alchemy. While he wasn¡¯t yet brave enough to try brewing mixtures in a wobbly carriage he had started infusing his avable ingredients with as much life mana as he could manage every day.


    The first thing he found out was the limit of how much mana his more plentiful ingredients could hold before they started to deteriorate, he had spent a good few days worth of mana finding that out and ruining a few sets of nts. The second thing he learned was that Life mana didn¡¯t have all that good of a shelf life in what were essentially dead nts, as time passed more and more of the mana would slowly leak, the upside there was that when the mana all leaked away the ingredient was of slightly higher quality than before the infusion.


    So Ajax¡¯s daily grind of infusingrge amounts of mana into ingredients only for it to slowly ebb away and leave them slightly better than they started, all this only to repeat the process as he tried to improve the quality of his avable materials.


    Infusion of mana was a very mana intensive process, this meant that while Ajax was draining his mana pool every morning and evening it only took about an hour each time, the rest of the time would be spent in the royal carriage at the king¡¯s open invitation.


    While Ajax¡¯s dedication to alchemy was fully exemplified the princess¡¯s infatuation had started to ebb away. She still felt a certain interest in Ajax as a member of the opposite sex but as the days went by she started to notice more and more how ipatible they would be.


    While Arianwyn enjoyed the social game nobles yed Ajax was very much not a fan of it, this big disconnect between the two of them as well as her position as a princess and Ajax¡¯s future role as the head of a ducal House would damn any rtionship between them to nothing more than a short fling as the differences between them would push them away.


    As the princess started to realize that there was no romantic future for them her repeated attempts at approaching Ajax hadid the foundation of a solid friendship between the two. Not only that but the princess¡¯s budding friendship with Lexi as the former had resigned herself to only befriending Ajax pushed her to change her goals.


    Much to everyone¡¯s surprise however as the chances of a match between Ajax and the princess were bing more and more a thing of the past a new unnned rtionship was forming between Benedict and ra.


    ¡°This should be my brother¡¯s problem to deal with.¡± the eldest prince of Gryndorined as he privately met with the elven king. ¡°I would also prefer to discuss this with your brother but as the sole royal representative it falls onto you to handle this.¡± the elven king agreed with a sigh. ¡°This rtionship could be the foundation of a long fruitful cooperation between our kingdoms or the start of a disaster.¡±


    While ra¡¯s family still only held a ducal title they were not far from iming the Archducal deleaf position, with the close rtionship between ra and the princess as well as ra¡¯sbat proficiency and budding Domain it was all but a matter of time until they imed the position. A rtionship between the heirs of both kingdom¡¯s most prominent military families was something that had to be handled delicately.


    ¡°I still think it¡¯s a bit too early but I¡¯ll send a message to my brother and father about any future steps.¡± the prince said with an exhausted sigh as he made his exit to send out a message. ¡°The only time sensitive issue is her father, I¡¯ll leave that one to you.¡±


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    ¡°That is¡­¡± the king started to object.


    ¡°I am not known for my discreet and politically sound aplishments.¡± the prince cut him off. ¡°In fact I am sure I built a reputation for the exact opposite, I will y messenger but any immediate action is best done outside my influence.¡±


    The king had nothing to say to that as he knew full well just how reasonable the statement was. ra¡¯s father was something that he needed to handle, the elf was usually at the very least politicallypetent but not even the king could me him for his recent instability. The elf¡¯s previous beliefs of elven superiority had been all but shattered by Ajax¡¯s sheer existence, the man¡¯s dislike for the boy however would influence his opinion towards humans in the near future until he regained his bnce.


    ¡°A rtionship between Benedict and ra?!¡± king Gryndor didn¡¯t even try to hide the exasperation from his tone as he got the report from his eldest son through the enchantedmunication device.


    ¡°What about Ajax and the princess?¡± the crown prince asked, while Ajax may have been oblivious to the initial signs back during their negotiations the prince had picked up on them.


    ¡°That was a more one sided infatuation on the side of the princess.¡± the eldest prince reported. ¡°Not only that but it seems to be cooling down, though a strong friendship seems to be forming between her, Ajax, Lexi, ra, Anna, Benedict, Xavier and Darkw.¡±


    ¡°Thank the gods for small mercies.¡± the crown prince let out a relieved sigh.


    Even the brief prospect of there being a rtionship between both ra and Benedict as well as Arianwyn and Ajax was terrifying. In such a situation not only would all the other kingdoms be more inclined to cut them off at the knees but they would also be in danger of internal conflict depending on how Ajax¡¯s existing rtionship with Lady Manashaper was going.


    ¡°Have Ajax try and soothe any ruffled feathers.¡± the king suggested.


    ¡°And how would that happen?¡± the eldest prince asked. ¡°Even if the duke would be willing to hear him out with an open mind Ajax is at best as politically inclined as I was at his age.¡±


    ¡°See if you can convince Ajax to help ra with forming her Domain.¡± the king exined.


    ¡°That¡­ could work.¡± the eldest prince acknowledged as he considered the idea. ¡°I¡¯ll see how that works out, we are almost at the first dungeon, I¡¯ll be in contact again two days after we exit the dungeon to report on their reactions to Ajax¡¯s ability to navigate dungeon floors.¡± With that the prince cut themunications as he didn¡¯t want to waste any more mana.


    The first dungeon dungeon they were approaching had monsters on its base floor ranging from levels twenty-nine to thirty-four, not only that but the dungeon also had an eleven level jump between floors. This would mean a five floor clear bonus for Ajax and a two floor clear for everyone else. Before the caravan arrived there however it would take two more days.


    ¡°Ajax,¡± the prince greeted Ajax as he exited one of Gryndor¡¯s carriages following his daily mana dump into alchemical ingredients.


    ¡°Your Highness.¡± Ajax greeted back. ¡°Something I can do for you.¡±


    ¡°There is actually, I would like you to start helping ra with forming her Domain with your Legendary skill.¡± The prince then proceeded to exin the delicate situation and why Ajax helping ra would help the situation. ¡°Would that be a problem?¡±


    ¡°I can do that.¡± Ajax nodded, since using [Mana Syphon] wouldn¡¯t drain his mana it wouldn¡¯t interfere with his daily training, if anything it would give him a chance to see if he can somehow use his Legendary skill to not only strengthen his body but maybe even help regenerate his own mana.


    Before he went ahead and offered ra help he first went to discuss it with Lexi. Ajax had been impressed with how maturely Lexi had handled Arianwyn¡¯s initial approach, he wasn¡¯t sure if he would have been able to do the same if someone would have tried making a move on her. As such he first wanted to let her know what was going on.


    ¡°You should have Benedict extend the offer.¡± Anna said after she had also heard the n as Ajax brough Lexi up to speed.


    ¡°Why is that?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°A few reasons.¡± Anna answered. ¡°For starters the Duke would be less suspicious if the offer came from anyone other than you, not only that but this would also improve the Duke¡¯s opinion of Benedict.¡±


    Ajax was nodding along with Anna¡¯s reasoning however Lexi had known Anna for way too long. ¡°And the merchant¡¯s reasoning?¡± Lexi asked her friend with a raised eyebrow.


    ¡°Never do something for free when you can get something for it.¡± Anna whispered softly as her cheeks blushed in slight embarrassment. ¡°You can get Benedict to owe you a favor depending on how you present the idea to him.¡±


    Benedict had quickly agreed to the idea, much like Anna had mentioned he had even offered Ajax a personal favor. With that Ajax¡¯s and ra¡¯s training was set to start as they made their approach to the first dungeon.

 Chapter 355

    Chapter 355


    ¡°I can feel it¡­, it¡¯s so close.¡± ra heaved out as she took a seat to catch her breath after emptying out her mana pool.


    ¡°Are you sure it works and that it¡¯s not your imagination?¡± her father asked her.


    ¡°No, it does work.¡± Arianwyn answered as she took ra spot standing in the open space to release her own domain.


    This was the second evening in a row that this training was happening. After the prince¡¯s suggestion that Ajax help ra with her domain all it took was Lexi mentioning something about it around Benedict for him to connect the dots to a favorable oue and asked Ajax to help her train.


    The training was actually proving helpful to Ajax as well who could now do his physical training under the full effects of his [Mana Syphon] as he wouldn¡¯t be using his own mana to power the skill. Seeing what was going on Arianwyn was quick to get in on that and train her own domain.


    ¡°How can you be sure?¡± the duke asked, ¡°Are you starting to resist his skill?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t resist his skill.¡± The princess¡¯s words came from behind clenched teeth as she tried her best to control her domain as it was slowly drained away. ¡°It¡¯s like a water sk that was poked full of holes. I can cover the holes and slow the drain with enough effort but I can¡¯t stop the leak.¡±


    For his own part Ajax could actually feel a little resistance from the princess¡¯s Domain. There were only two other things he had ever felt a resistance to [Mana Syphon] from. The first was elementals, but their resistance didn¡¯te in the form of slowing of the drain but as a form of mental pressure which made some sense since he was effectively draining their life force. The other was a much more advanced form of what he was feeling from the princess and came from the dungeon arches, what the princess was doing was a far cry from the touch base drain only resistance of the arches but it was simr in its resistance.


    ¡°Also, I¡¯m sure it works¡­ because¡­ between the tournament fight and¡­ yesterday, my skill went up three levels.¡± the princess barely got the words out. Ajax didn¡¯t know it but trying to resist his skill had the same effect on the princess that draining elementals had for him. In the middle of a short fight it was an inconvenience but only holding out against the drain meant that her domain wouldst for more than ten minutes and that was a lot of pressure.¡°It¡¯ll work, dad.¡± ra said, her voice containing a joking undertone like she wasughing at a joke only she was aware of.


    The answers were enough to silence the duke to look at his exhausted daughter that wasying down next to Benedict as he tried to help recover from mana exhaustion. Despite his initial dislike of the coupling he couldn¡¯t help but approve of the young man¡¯s actions. Since she wasn¡¯t yet actively fighting Ajax like the princess she didn¡¯t have to deal with the mental pressure as she tried to control her mana to mix and form her domain under Ajax¡¯s skill.


    ¡°That¡¯s enough for tonight.¡± the prince said as he approached the impromptu training area. ¡°We¡¯re going in the dungeon first thing tomorrow so all of you best get as much rest as you can.¡±


    The princess had been so focused on controlling her domain she hadn¡¯t even heard the prince; it came as a surprise to her when Ajax abruptly stopped his skill. ¡°I could have kept going.¡± She said despite the breath of relief she took.


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    ¡°Apparently training time is over, we still have a delve in the morning.¡± Ajax said as he nodded towards the prince.


    The prince in question however was looking at Arianwyn with a very perplexed look, one that was exined by Aranor¡¯s words as he quickly approached. ¡°How did you do that?¡± he asked the princess.


    ¡°Do what?¡± the princess asked, surprised.


    ¡°You pulled in your Domain.¡± The prince followed Aranor¡¯s curiosity. ¡°The area it covers is a lot smaller but it has the same density as back when you cast it.¡± the ¡®how did you get it to do that¡¯ was left unsaid.


    ¡°Not even Viscount Embercrest can do that.¡± Aranor followed up.


    Viscount Embercrest was the elf¡¯s current strongest Domain user, his was a desert storm domain made from earth wind and fire but his skill with it was undeniable even if his overall strength as a mage wasn¡¯t enough to put him in contention for the title of champion.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­¡± Arianwyn said with a hint of confusion as she once again tried to affect her domain only for it to react the same as it always had.


    ¡°You¡¯ll have to try and recreate the effect.¡± Aranor said seriously.


    The ability to adjust the density of a domain would be a huge advantage for the princess in the future. Mages that used a Domain focused on spells that were quickly cast and then empowered as they traveled through the domain, as a domain¡¯s density became sparser the defense it offered against spells that looked to manipte anything already inside the domain like the earth at the caster¡¯s feet weakened.


    If the princess was able to spread out her domain when she attacked to give her spells a bigger distance in which to be strengthened and then pull her domain back in for defense it would give her unparalleled flexibility, not to mention if she was somehow able to learn how to move her domain through a simr trick.


    ¡°Let go again.¡± the princess said with renewed vigor as she thought about her potential.


    ¡°We can continue as we travel to the next dungeon.¡± Ajax said as he approached Lexi. ¡°Do you mind, I¡¯m still low on mana.¡±


    Lexi simply nodded as she conjured a small waterfall above Ajax and he quickly used it as an impromptu shower to wash away the sweat he had worked up during his physical training.


    ¡°But¡­¡± the princess started but was quickly cut off.


    ¡°He¡¯s right.¡± Aranor siad. ¡°You¡¯ll have months traveling all over the kingdom from dungeon to dungeon. It¡¯s best if you just try and remember the feeling for now instead of trying to recreate it.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s awesome.¡± ra whispered to Arianwyn as they both retreated to their sleeping carriage. ¡°Once you figure it out you can help me learn how to do that as well.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll have to get your own Domain first,¡± Arianwyn said, trying not to bring down her friend''s excitement.


    ¡°Yeah, about that¡­¡± ra tried to cover the true reason of her excitement but Arianwyn saw straight through it.


    ¡°YOU GOT YOUR DOMAIN!¡± Arianwyn¡¯s shout made the two of them the center of attention for everyone who was slowly going their own way for the night as they stopped and stared at the two of them.


    ¡°I was trying to keep that to myself¡­¡± ra said though her tone didn¡¯t sound like she was ming her friend at all. ¡°But yes I got [Storm Domain], it¡¯s only level one but I have it.¡±


    This had to have been the first time Ajax saw the elven duke look at all happy since the first time he met him, for a second there he looked like he wanted to run over and pick his daughter up in celebration before his social skills kicked in and hid his emotions.


    Following the duke¡¯s initial joy overload Ajax could see as his eyes traveled from his daughter to Benedict and himself before repeating the cycle. The duke slowly approached both, his movements stiffened further as he slowly bowed his head towards both of them and offered them a heartfelt ¡°Thank you.¡± before making his retreat towards the royal carriage, no doubt to celebrate the birth of another Domain wielding mage with the king.


    ¡°Thanks for this, Ajax.¡± Benedict said as his grip around Ajax¡¯s shoulders tightened for a moment after they got back to their carriage. ¡°I¡¯ll make it up to you.¡±


    Ajax found it a little awkward how serious Benedict was being, as far as he was concerned this was just a favor he was doing to the royal family, it wasn¡¯t even anything all that significant for him and he would have done it anyway had only Benedict asked, there was no reason for his friend to feel so indebted.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be that thankful if I were you.¡± Ajax said, trying to lighten the mood. ¡°You have a long way to go if you are going to catch up with her now.¡± Seeing that this wasn¡¯t enough to dissuade Benedict he also added ¡°Plus it¡¯s not like it was a great effort on my part, it¡¯s just what friends do.¡±


    Benedict took a moment to internalize what Ajax said before giving him an understanding nod while at the same time promising himself to return Ajax¡¯s friendship if he was ever in the position to.

 Chapter 356

    Chapter 356


    The first thing Ajax noticed as they passed by the town on their way to the dungeon the next morning was that this Town was a lot bigger than Lessis. This was strange as outside of the capitals almost all towns near dungeons were specifically smaller so that there wouldn¡¯t be that big a loss should a higher floor be released, by mistake or deliberately.


    Ajax didn¡¯t give this much thought as it was but a passing curiosity, what captured most of his focus was ra¡¯s father who was doing his best to act in a much more engaging manner with Ajax. The only issue was that despite the nobles now having a different opinion of Ajax than he had initially he hadn¡¯t quite ovee the initial feelings of dislike he had making any interaction between the two of them more awkward.


    Benedict¡¯s interactions with the Duke had improved by leaps and bounds following ra¡¯s breakthrough, this was mainly helped by the fact that both of them were part of military families giving them lots of talking points where they could agree or intelligently argue their opinion. It got to the point that both the elven king and the prince had to step in a few times during their discussion as both of them and ra approached some sensitive internal matters during their discussions.


    ¡®That¡¯s also strange.¡¯ Ajax thought as they arrived at the dungeon arch, unlike the small circle of trees that surrounded the dungeon in Lessis and all other non capital arches Ajax had seen, this dungeon had a well maintained road leading straight back to the city. More than that some basic defenses were set up around the dungeon and some more permanent stalls instead of the usual tents.


    Nobody gave them any issues as the group quickly made its way to the dungeon. Their delve had been scheduled in advance and while some of the adventurers waiting for their turn did throw them a few jealous and displeased looks nobody did anything as they all got ready to enter the arch.


    ¡°You¡¯reing as well?¡± Ajax was surprised to see ra and Arianwyn getting ready to enter.


    ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t we be?¡± ra asked.


    ¡°Because you already gained the bonus from this dungeon.¡± Lexi supported Ajax¡¯s question.


    ¡°We want to see what the delves would be like with you before we get to Deepwood.¡± Arianwyn said and she brought out her staff.Nobody could argue that point and it wasn¡¯t like they would lose anything by allowing them to tag along, Aranor was already joining them as a representative of Sylvanthal to ensure they weren¡¯t creating a massive dungeon break.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go already.¡± The prince said as he simply walked straight into the dungeon not waiting to see if anyone had anything to say.


    It barely took a few seconds after he arrived on the dungeon¡¯s first floor for Ajax to quickly put together why the area outside the dungeon as well as the city were so different from what he had previously seen. The big reason was that the first floor of the dungeon was a veritable treasure trove of alchemical ingredients.


    ¡°Seriously?¡± Ajax murmured as his senses took in therge amounts of different ingredients that were scattered around their entrance point throughout the slightly dry marsnd.


    Ajax hadn¡¯t taken the time to research the first floor of dungeons for a long time, there was simply no point as with his power it was simply a formality. The same way that Lessis was gaining high quality wood from the dungeon that was near it, this dungeon was providing high quality ingredients for alchemists.


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    ¡°What is it?¡± Lexi asked.


    ¡°There are so many alchemy ingredients here.¡± Ajax answered.


    Ajax wasn¡¯t tempted to go around and collect everything this time around, for the first time ever his alchemy skill had already surpassed the point where the abundant ingredients could be used to further his training, he would need to find ingredients on a floor with at least level forty-fives for them to draw his attention but he was still slightly jealous.


    ¡°Ah yes,¡± Anna spoke up. ¡°Smokeleaf ismonly also called the boiling cauldron of Sylvanthal because all of their alchemists get their start here. Each variation of the first floor had different ingredients on it so all the alchemists had a much longer road before they hit the drought of resources that inevitably slows the progress of all alchemists.¡±


    Xavier spent the short two minutes it took the group to find the first arch by ribbing Ajax about his time obsessively practicing alchemy during their first year at the Academy. Since none of them were low level enough to actually benefit from the first floor they dispatched the boss guardian and simply walked through to the second floor.


    The second floor let all of them out on a sandy beach. Ajax hadn¡¯t bothered with trying to locate a good floorbination since Benedict, Xavier, Lexi and Anna could all easily take care of a level forty-five even if they were to have a bad match-up.


    It was here however that Ajax started his alchemical ingredient collection. Being asndlocked as they were, Ajax was quick to dive into the salty water and start collecting the saltwater nts in hopes of using them, as far as he was concerned this was the only thing that such water floors were good for.


    ¡°What¡¯s he doing?¡± ra was shocked to see Ajax just split off and dive into the water after he pulled off most of his gear.


    ¡°It¡¯s saltwater.¡± Lexi exined. ¡°Very specific nts grow in saltwater so he is going to grab a few for his alchemy. Dungeon crafting alchemists like him are the only ones who can reliably use saltwater nts as they are otherwise too rare for the usual alchemist to have any experience with them.¡±


    Xavier, Benedict, Lexi and Anna all had no issue killing the crab, shark, seagull and even pather bosses they found scattered around as they all circled the ind. With their skills and stats they were a true menace for monsters that were around their own levels, even dungeon mini-bosses.


    ¡°Not this one.¡± Ajax shook his head after he touched the arch that was closest to them.


    ¡°What?¡± Darkw asked, surprised at the turn of events.


    ¡°Why not?¡± ra followed up.


    ¡°High concentration of light mana.¡± Ajax answered as if it was no big deal. ¡°The floor that this arch leads to isn¡¯t a good one for them since it''s hard to defend against a light mana based enemy when you are down levels.¡±


    Darkw, ra and Arianwyn were all left ck jawed for a few seconds before Arianwyn broke out of it and asked ¡°And how do you know that?¡±.


    ¡°My Legendary skill.¡± Ajax answered knowing that putting the reason out there would mean less headaches in the future as they no doubt would have spies try to corroborate the information and that will just be a pain in the ass for him. ¡°Same way I drain the mana from your spells I can also drain mana from the arch, depending on the mana type I drain I know what mana types the floor it leads to is based on.¡±


    Throughout his exnation Ajax had approached Arianwyn, right as he finished he grabbed her by the wrist making sure to make skin contact and used [Mana Syphon]. Pulling mana directly from a living being was something he hadn¡¯t been able to do in the past regardless of contact but with the recent training against both of their domains he felt more confident, not only that but other people he had tried it with before had all been able to feel something when he tried and failed to drain them directly.


    ¡°You¡­¡± Arianwyn stuttered at the odd sensation that passed through her as she felt two points of mana being drained from her at the point of contact. ¡°You drained mana directly from me.¡±


    ¡°It worked?¡± Xavier eximed. ¡° Do it to me next, I want to know what it feels like.¡± Xavier quickly rushed over to Ajax and extended his arm.


    ¡°Which arch should we head to?¡± the prince asked as he was gleefully patting Aranor on the arm as the mage had managed to close his own gaping jaw after finding out about Ajax¡¯s ability to somewhat predict the next dungeon floor.


    ¡°Third one we found¡± Ajax said as he started to drain Xavier a little. ¡°Has a good mix of everything but is primarily earth and nt.¡±


    ¡°Woah, that feels weird.¡± Xavier said with a shiver as he watched his own mana slowly drop. Unlike with Arianwyn, Ajax kept up the drain on Xavier for longer than just two mana points, as he got closer to fifty being drained Xavier spoke again. ¡°I can feel my hand going numb.¡±


    Both the prince and Aranor raised their eyebrows at that statement. Both had been in the situation of facing a monster in the higher floors of the dungeon that could more reliably drain their resources, be they mana or stamina. Both were wondering if Ajax¡¯s skill could be used to help gain a resistance skill since very few people who ran into those types of monsters lived to tell the tale.

 Chapter 357

    Chapter 357


    As the group made their way to the arch Ajax rmended the prince was quick toe to his side. ¡°Try draining my mana.¡± the prince said as he offered his hand.


    Ajax attempted to do the same thing he had done with Xavier and Arianwyn but to no avail. The prince felt exactly the same as everyone else did before Ajax¡¯stest training in draining Domains. ¡°It¡¯s not working.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± the prince nodded in satisfaction. ¡°Now try again.¡±


    As Ajax attempted to use [Mana Syphon] a second time he actually felt ittch on to something and began slowly pulling mana from the prince. The rate it worked at was much slower however, barely managing to pull three points of mana in the same amount of time it took to take thirty from Xavier. Not only that but the prince was able to stop it as soon as the fourth point was taken.


    ¡°Even when it works it''s much slower on you.¡± Ajax said, thinking back it was also slower on Arianwynpared to Xavier but the difference wasn¡¯t this big.


    ¡°That¡¯s because I know how to defend myself against drain skills.¡± the prince said. ¡°They start to appear in dungeons at level one hundred and thirty and above, they are one of the main reasons why high level people aren¡¯t allowed to delve.¡±


    ¡°They are that big a problem?¡± Ajax asked, surprised.


    ¡°Unlike you, those monsters are all very specialized in draining. They are almost exclusively without another form of offense, on their own one of them wouldn¡¯t be that big of an issue but they are all swarm monsters and they don¡¯t have your touch requirement limitation.¡± The prince exined. ¡°They are still rather rare in dungeons but the mortality rate when first encountered is above 80%, and that is just from the groups that had someone survive to report what killed them. A big reason why is because people can¡¯t figure out what it is that is draining them, they exploit stealth and all of the drained resources are funneled into a defensive skill.¡±


    Ajax could imagine it. A couple dozen chameleons following you around slowly draining you of your stamina mana or health as they empowered their shields. He knew from experience just how debilitating going below the final hundred points of mana was for him and if something was to keep draining after there was nothing left he would survive for long.¡°You instinctively learn to fight it and slow down the drain as you experience it, not only that but the more total stats you have the harder you are to drain, it¡¯s why even when I am not fighting you it takes so much time to drain from me.¡± the prince said. ¡°As the difference in stats between us closes I won¡¯t be able to shut you out fully.¡±


    ¡°Doubt I¡¯ll be using this inbat.¡± Ajax said honestly, while the ability to drain mana from people was interesting it didn¡¯t have any current practical applications, not unless he would choose to pick a specialization based on it on his next upgrade of the skill.


    ¡°It won¡¯t do you much good inbat but be careful when using it aroundmoners and children.¡± the prince advised. ¡°They mostly don¡¯t have all that much mana and you should outlevel them handedly by now. Draining them can be a really elegant way of subduing them but it can also be very harmful if you drain too much, and it¡¯s not easy to know how much mana someone has left. The big problem they cause is that if they are released from the dungeon a single hive can kill an entire city in a few hours with the swarm just passing through.¡±


    ¡°Is there a resistance skill to it?¡± Ajax asked.


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    ¡°There is but it¡¯s hard to unlock, once you thin out the swarm enough it flees and stops draining so you can¡¯t just keep one alive in hopes of unlocking the skill.¡± the prince said. ¡°Most who have it now also have mental scars from unlocking it as they are the sole survivors of the team that got overwhelmed.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to see if I can help people unlock the skill.¡± Ajax said, a little said that he couldn¡¯t help himself unlock it.


    ¡°The Adventurer¡¯s Guild will want you to help its high end teams experience a drain.¡± the prince said. ¡°Even if none of them get the skill there are so few adventurer parties that are allowed to delve at that level that they will be willing to invest in giving them the experience to fight back against the drain at all.¡±


    As Ajax was left to think on that the group quickly made it to the correct arch and crossed over to the third floor of the dungeon. A sickly green hue illuminated the otherwise dark tunnels of the third floor as the party entered.


    ¡°Damn it, I was hoping for a dry forest.¡± Ajax swore as he took in the floor setting. ¡°Should have realized there wasn¡¯t enough light mana for that.¡±


    ¡°I hate underground floors.¡± Anna muttered as she pulled an enchanted item from her spacial ring to light up her surroundings. ¡°Fire is so much harder to use.¡±


    Fire spells weren¡¯t as reliant on oxygen to work since they could simply use mana as a fuel instead, this didn¡¯t mean that they wouldn¡¯t use up all the oxygen avable first however if the caster wasn¡¯t being careful.


    ¡°Most of the monsters here are probably nt based.¡± Ajax informed them as he was busy scraping some of the moss off the wall. ¡°There was too much nt mana in the arch for it to be exined just by this glowing moss.¡±


    Despite knowing that the moss was probably nothing special Ajax just couldn¡¯t resist taking a small sample to mess around with. From his memories of Earth he couldn¡¯t help but associate the green glowing moss with radiation and found himself fascinated.


    It didn¡¯t take more than ten minutes of walking down the tunnel before the group found their first arch, interestingly enough it lookedpletely undefended but none of them were stupid enough to actually believe it.


    ¡°Here we are, who wants the first boss? it¡¯s looking like a tough one.¡± the prince said with a cheery voice as he looked towards Anna, Lexi, Xavier and Benedict.


    ¡°What is it?¡± Anna didn¡¯t buy into the prince¡¯s game and much to his disappointment looked to strategize.


    ¡°A vine predator.¡± Aranor answered her, clearly also looking to get through this as quickly as possible. ¡°The root and stem are a few meters buried behind that wall but the vines surround this tunnel and cane from all sides.¡± he said pointing to their right.


    ¡°How stable is this tunnel?¡± Lexi asked as she excitedly thought of something.


    Ajax quickly caught on to her n and sent out a wave of mana through the ground looking to reinforce the tunnel before answering her. ¡°It feels pretty stable, I say go for it and I¡¯ll make sure it doesn¡¯te down on our heads.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Xavier asked as he looked with more trepidation towards the cracks in the walls.


    Lexi however wasn¡¯t going to stand around and already began chanting as she slowly started to walk towards the wall Aranor indicated. Once she was twenty feet away all of them became aware of the slowly slithering vines that had starteding out of the cracks and were slowly heading towards her.


    ¡°That¡¯s quite a bit of mana.¡± Aranormented as he felt Lexi gather more than five hundred mana in her spell.


    The vines started moving slightly quicker as they closed in on the mage but they hadn¡¯t yet given up on their attempt at stealth, the monster unaware that it had already been spotted. It was only when Lexi was two steps away from the wall that the monster finally sensed the mana Lexi was channeling and the vines lost any attempt at subtlety and darted straight for her.


    ¡°Toote.¡± Ajax muttered with a grin as he channeled his own mana ready to react once Lexi cast her spells.


    Lexi finished her chant right as her arm extended and made contact with the wall, following therge release of mana the entire tunnel started to shake and Lexi released a powerful shockwave straight towards the root and stem of the nt.


    Rubble started to fall from the ceiling as the nt abandoned any already created pathways and the vines pushed as hard as they could towards Lexi but it was already toote as the shockwave squashed the nt while a massive spider web of cracks formed from the point where Lexi touched the wall.


    Ajax wasted no time, as soon as he felt the nt die with his [Sense Mana] he quickly released a five hundred mana spell of his own to stabilize to tunnel, he couldn¡¯t do it beforehand as he wanted to make sure Lexi got the solo kill and he reinforcing it earth beforehand could have been counted as interference with the vines.


    ¡°That was awesome, how did you do that?¡± ra was surprisingly the first person to react as everything stopped shaking. ¡°Was that sound mana? That would fit so well in my storm Domain, thunder is sound after all.¡± she quickly got a hold of herself as soon as she finished talking and followed up with a slightly embarrassed voice. ¡°We should discuss a deal in private after this dungeon.¡±

 Chapter 358

    Chapter 358


    It didn¡¯t take long for everyone to find a boss and finish this floor. Unlike the previous floor they weren¡¯t so picky about the specific nature of the next floor and they just went with whatever arch was closest.


    ¡°This is where we part ways.¡± Aranor said as he turned towards the low leveled members of the group.


    Lexi, Anna, Benedict and Xavier already knew that they were exiting this floor as soon as they set foot on it. They had no chance against a level sixty-seven and they all knew it.


    ¡°I¡¯m going as well.¡± ra said cheerfully as she quickly approached Lexi, already eager to try and get any information about Vibration mana.


    ¡°Do you think they¡¯ll make a deal?¡± The prince asked Ajax after all of them exited the dungeon.


    ¡°I can¡¯t be sure.¡± Ajax said. ¡°I know what Lexi will ask for, the only question is if they¡¯ll ept.¡±


    ¡°What will she ask for?¡± Aranor was curious as well since this was a Legendary mana type they were talking about.


    ¡°Information on forming a Domain.¡± Ajax answered.


    Ajax knew that humans as a whole didn¡¯t have all that much information about Domains. The main reason for this was because of how rare mages were for humans, forming a Domain wasn¡¯t so much about having affinity with a specific skill as it was about forming a synergy between at least three different mana types you already had the skills for.¡°They¡¯ll take it.¡± The princess said confidently. ¡°Information on a Legendary mana type is too important for them, even if ra doesn¡¯t unlock it all they need is for anyone from their house to be able to use it and they will be guaranteed to rise as the next Archduke house.¡±


    ¡°Let''s get this done.¡± Ajax said as he headed away from the entrance arch of the dungeon.


    The delve team had an odd split amongst its people. Lexi, Benedict, Xavier and Anna were all around level forty-five, everyone else besides Ajax was at or slightly below level eighty. This meant that only Ajax needed a miniboss on this floor. They quickly found out and moved on to the next floor.


    ¡°It¡¯s all rock elementals.¡± Harold Ironwhisper whispered with a dejected sigh, as a fully physical fighter rock elementals were a pain for him to deal with.


    Ajax didn¡¯t much like this floor either though he did take a moment between minibosses to try his hand at using some of the nts he had found on the earlier floor. With the help of Life mana Ajax found that alchemy changedpletely. Having his ingredients be so infused made them not only much more valuable but also a lot harder to work with. Out of the four attempts at an underwater breathing potion only one was sessful.


    ¡°Finally made one that works.¡± Ajax said proudly as he wiped the sweat off his forehead after a good half an hour of hovering over a cauldron.


    ¡°Was it worth it?¡± Harold asked, he had paid enough attention to tell that Ajax was doing something to the ingredients he was using even if he didn¡¯t know what.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure.¡± Ajax said as he inspected the potion, his [Inspector¡¯s Eye] worked together with [Alchemist¡¯s Examination] to get the information on his most recent creation. ¡°The time it works for is the same but it also improves eyesight and hearing underwater as well.¡±


    Despite the result of this test not being clearly worth the extra investment it did answer Ajax¡¯s question on whether or not it was worth trying to work with Life mana for [Alchemy]. Just these four attempts got him an additional level in the skill, not to mention that having such additional effects that were rted to the initial effect was something he would have to look into for each of his recipes to see if there was anything truly outstanding that could be made.


    ¡°What options do we have for the next floor?¡± Darkw asked excitedly as soon as he noticed Ajax had finished with his Alchemy.


    Darkw had been fascinated with Ajax¡¯s ability to gain insight into different floors. Darkw¡¯s style as a melee range caster while usually advantageous against other humanoids put him at a disadvantage against most different type of monsters, the reason for his specialization was that the Republic was surrounded on all four sides by humanoid nations and didn¡¯t do much monster fighting outside of the dungeon.


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    ¡°This arch here is leaning towards wind and lightning, the previous one is more of a fire and earth attuned one.¡± Ajax answered. ¡°I am guessing this one is elemental of some sort and the other is a desert, take your pick.¡±


    ¡°What about the first arch?¡± Darkw asked not liking either of the options all that much.


    ¡°Undeath.¡± That was all Ajax had to say for everyone else to quickly disregard it as an option.


    ¡°You figure out how to create something based on your skill that can detect when an arch will lead to an undeath floor and your house will forget about any financial issues.¡± Aranor said as he threw Ajax an envious look.


    ¡°Desert is better than elementals.¡± Darkw said as he looked towards everyone else, when nobody objected he started making his way back to the previous arch.


    Ajax¡¯s guess was spot on this time around as the floor ended up actually being a desert floor. ¡°How urate is he?¡± Aranor asked the prince when they entered the floor.


    The elf¡¯s question was understandable, he had only seen Ajax predict floors two times and while he had been right both times when it came to the dominant mana type he had only guessed the correct theme to the floor once.


    ¡°He¡¯s pretty good.¡± the prince replied.


    ¡°It depends a lot on which mana types are present.¡± Ajax chose to exin. ¡°There are only so many choices when you have Fire and Earth but no Magma. nt water and earth can be any type of forest or swamp.¡±


    What Ajax didn¡¯t mention was that the higher the level of the monsters on the next floor the more resistant the arch became and the more limited the information he had to work with became.


    Ajax wasted no time on the desert floor. He had nothing to gain here so as soon as he found the first miniboss on the floor he went straight for it. The monster in question was a ratherrge rattlesnake.


    Ajax pulled out his hammer and using abination of a quickly lightning bolt to paralyze and Void to enhance his hammer turned the snake¡¯s brain into mush. Noticing that the miniboss was one whose body he could actually take outside Ajax went to work using his [Skinning] and [Dismantle] skills to break the monster down into usefulponents for the first time in thest few months.


    ¡°HHHHSSSS¡± Regalia hissed at Ajax as he started skinning the snake.


    ¡°Now, now, Regalia.¡± the princess cooed towards her bond. ¡°I¡¯m sure he won¡¯t do that to you.¡±


    ¡°I dunno.¡± Ajax said as he threw Regalia a pondering look. ¡°I think boots in that color would look pretty good.¡±


    ¡°No!¡± the princess jumped defensively between Ajax and her bond. The snake''s emotionsing through the bond made it so she didn¡¯t realize it was only a joke until she noticed everyone elseughing.


    ¡°That¡¯s not funny.¡± the princess said with a pout.


    ¡°It¡¯s a little funny.¡± Darkw followed up.


    As they moved on the heat started to be a more serious issue. While all of them were used with high temperature a desert floor always had an environmentalponent as part of its difficulty and since they were all below the level of the mana present in the environment despite their highbat power it was taking its toll on them.


    Arianwyn quickly became the center of the group as her ice magic, while less effective in terms ofbat power, was ideal forbating the environment. The next miniboss they came upon was based on an animal only Ajax recognized, a camel.


    ¡°That one doesn¡¯t look all that dangerous.¡± Harold said as he drew his sword. ¡°The legs aren¡¯t all that muscr and the skin doesn¡¯t look all that armored.¡±


    Ajax wanted to warn the man about his suspicion on the animal¡¯s abilities but he had no way to exin his guesses. Camels were known for their strong bites and despite their slim looking legs they still packed a serious punch. Both of those were things that Ajax expected Harold to be on the lookout for nheless it was something else that he was wary about.


    As soon as Harold moved to engage, Ajax''s fears came true as the camel wasted no time spitting straight at Harold.


    ¡°Fuck, they spit acid.¡± Harold swore as he heard the slight sizzle as the spit started to eat through his shield.


    Despite the surprise the camel stood no chance, Harold had the skills, gear and additional stats following delving in the Republic to quickly bring the animal down even if his shield could use some maintenance.


    The end of the floor came when Darkw made short work of a second camel miniboss they happened upon. The beastkin¡¯s managed to simply nuke the monster by quickly draining his mana pool.


    From there the group as a whole started preparing for the final floor of the dungeon, this was the most dangerous one where they will face a level one hundred mini-boss.


    ¡°That¡¯s predominantly a crystal floor.¡± Ajax said with a shake of his head, he remembered the mana type from his time in the Empire dungeon. ¡°Best go for a different one.¡±


    Crystal based monsters were very annoying to fight since while their health was low they made up for that with a very high defense andparable attack power. Aranor shot the arch a longing look, he would have very much wanted to clear that floor for the amount of wealth that could be found there.


    ¡°This one is our best bet.¡± Ajax said as he pointed them towards a different arch. ¡°It is a humanoid floor.¡±


    Humanoid floors had monsters take the form of the actual humanoid races, also including orcs or goblins. The floors were a nightmare to progress through with a team of appropriate level but they were a godsend for boosts since the boosters could iste the miniboss and the boostee, as a stand alone the humanoids were a lot easier to kill than other boss monsters especially in a favorable match-up.


    The floor turned out to be a second mine tunnel only this time it was one inhabited by dwarves instead of carnivorous nt life. Ajax, Harold and Darkw had no issue ambushing their own minibosses with the help of boosting potions as both Aranor and the prince made sure nothing interfered to help the minibosses. From there Ajax was kind enough to identify both of the arches they found and let their boosters pick which one they would clear after they exited the dungeon. Ajax was happy with the five extra stat points to each of his attributes, this was a good start.


    As they exited the dungeon Ajax and the delve team were getting ready to separate from the rest of the royal escort. They had been fine traveling together up until this point but the king would be going towards the capital while they would make their way towards the next dungeon and Deepwood.

 Chapter 359

    Chapter 359


    Ajax, Harold, Darkw and Arianwyn quickly made their way away from the dungeon. Unlike the rest of hispanions Ajax took his time walking up to all the different potion stalls that were dotted around the small outpost.


    As he walked around Ajax was being avoided by everyone, even the vendors seemed worried as he approached their stalls. This had nothing to do with Ajax himself and more with the quality of the gear he was wearing. Just by his gear everyone saw him as a well off noble and that is not the kind of attention adventurers andmoners wanted to draw out of the blue.


    A lot of the merchants breathed a sigh of relief two hourster after Ajax left though a few of them were still worried about the small piece of parchment he had been walking around with and taking notes.


    As he returned to the convoy Ajax could see that everyone was getting ready to camp out for the night. The sun was already getting low and Ajax knew the prince and Aranor would take at least ten more hours clearing the final floor of the dungeon. Aranor hadn¡¯t been lucky enough to find a second crystal themed floor but one of the ones they did find led to a high metal mana floor, which should also be rather valuable in a kingdom that was essentially dominated by only forests.


    ¡°How¡¯s it going?¡± Ajax asked Benedict as he saw his friend watching over a meeting held by Lexi, Anna, ra and ra¡¯s father.


    ¡°So far pretty good, the king gave the duke permission to trade the secrets of forming a Domain for a favourable exchange, that was hours ago and since then they¡¯ve been going back and forth.¡± Benedict reported.


    Ajax didn¡¯t know the two elves well enough to read their bodynguage but he could tell that Lexi had run out of steam for the negotiation a while ago already, Anna on the other hand could probably go for another few hours without issue.


    Ajax said a quick hello to Lexi and Anna before he went to grab a quick nap. He was still waiting out the bacsh from the boosting potion he used on thest floor and he wanted to sleep off thest of the effects.


    Two hourster Ajax woke up and drained most of his mana pool into his alchemy ingredients. Much to his excitement Ajax managed to push his [Inject Mana] past the level fifty threshold with that. Now he had a decision to make about which way he would take his skill. Unlike his Legendary skills he was only presented with two options, increased efficiency for short term or increased efficiency for long term. The branching choices each represented one of the ways he used his skills. The short term infusion he used forbat and the more recent addition of long term infusion that he was doing for crafting.


    ¡°Aaargh.¡± Ajax grunted as he couldn¡¯t make up his mind. ¡°I guess it¡¯ll have to wait for the prince.¡±


    The reason for Ajax¡¯s indecision wasn¡¯t his passion for alchemy. If the choice was down to fighting or alchemy he would have already selected the short term efficiency increase, after all it would just take him a bit longer to prepare his ingredients. The hesitation came with thebat applications of long term efficiency increasesbined with Life mana.


    A small golem already took about a third of his mana pool and it barelysted twenty or so seconds, even with the increase in efficiency he was bound to get from practice he wasn¡¯t sure if that would be enough to make his Life manabat viable outside of helping with healing.


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    Walking out of the carriage where he took his nap Ajax went around to find Lexi. He was a little worried when he found Lexi, Anna, ra and her father still sitting together but he rxed once he saw that Benedict, Xavier and Arianwyn were with them and none of them looked all that serious, at least the negotiations were over.


    ¡°So how did it go?¡± Ajax asked her as he took a seat next to Lexi and gave her a hug.


    ¡°We had to share the information regarding Vibration mana upfront but we will have a lot of information regarding Domain formation and ra and I will even help each other during this trip.¡± Lexi answered with a bright smile. ¡°How about you, do you want to try and form a Domain?¡±


    ¡°Nah.¡± Ajax didn¡¯t even take a moment to think about it since he had alreadye to that conclusion a while ago. ¡°A Domain wouldn¡¯t fit my fighting style at all. I also doubt it will bepatible with my syphon skill.¡±


    Ajax had left the answer specifically a little vague. While the elves may have thought that Ajax said that because it wouldn¡¯t work because of him syphoning his own domain, which would be a problem it wasn¡¯t one that couldn¡¯t be solved with the correct threshold upgrade. The issue Ajax had with Domains was that it used up too much mana, if he ever had to fight against anything that was physical based and tried to use a Domain and [Mana Syphon] without syphoning the Domain he would run out of mana in minutes.


    ¡°What Domain are you going for?¡± Ajax asked. ¡°You have a few mana types to choose from.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m starting with Fire, Wind, Water and Vibration mana to form a [Disaster Domain].¡± Lexi was smiling brightly despite the fearsome deration. ¡°That Domain should be wide enough in definition that I can add any other mana types I may wantter.¡±


    Ajax couldn¡¯t help but be a little worried about the Domain she had chosen. Once they were alone he would talk to her at length about the decision. The reason for his worry was that a Disaster Domain wouldn¡¯t be able to empower long term defensive spells.


    Much like how a Winter domain wouldn¡¯t be able to empower a fire spell, a Disaster happened quickly, the aftereffects couldst for a long time but an earthquake, a tsunami or a tornado didn¡¯tst all that long in one ce, an inferno might be useful for a prolonged period but fire was never all that great of a defensive element.


    ¡°I think your grandfather will be very jealous of you if you manage that.¡± Ajax said with a grin as he could already imagine the old headmaster questioning Lexi for hours as he would no doubt want to form a simr domain, after all with the help of a Domain to empower them a lot of weak spells he had managed to discover over the years would be viable. ¡°If you need help getting it to work just ask.¡±


    ra and her father showed no reaction to that, clearly they had thought this through already, however Ajax could see the surprise on Arianwyn''s face as she put together what Lexi might have ess to if she formed a Domain.


    The small group broke apart shortly as Lexi and Ajax went off on their own as did ra and Benedict, they left Anna, Xavier, Arianwyn and the duke talking about something political that Ajax had no interest in.


    It waste into the following morning and almost noon by the time Aranor and the prince returned from the dungeon. From the look of Aranor¡¯s robes and the jokes that the prince was making Ajax could guess that the elf had spent a good amount of time since hest saw him digging out metal.


    The tables had quickly turned on the prince however, as soon as they entered the camp site a messenger quickly informed both of them that the king wanted to hold a quick meeting before the delve group separated.


    Ajax had no doubt that he was the topic of that discussion. Arianwyn would have surely given her father a full report on his ability to predict floor themes, if anything he was rather appreciative of the elven king for having left him out of the meeting.


    ¡°He¡¯s waiting until you visit the capital for your delves.¡± Anna said from beside him.


    ¡°What?¡± Ajax asked, confused at what she meant.


    ¡°The king probably wants to ask you for something but considering the time table we are under he will want to ask you about your ability and his request when you are a guest in his home.¡± Anna exined. ¡°This will let him gather more information about how it works from the delves Aranor, Arianwyn and ra will join you on and give him time to make a n.¡±


    ¡°What do you think he will ask for?¡± Ajax asked, trusting Anna to have a good sense for these things.


    ¡°Something small at first, have the royal family owe you a little that way you¡¯ll be more inclined to reach out to them about something you want or need.¡± Anna answered. ¡°I think he¡¯ll ask for collection teams to join you during your delves in the capital. ¡°You¡¯ll probably send two or three people to separate floors each targeting something else. It¡¯ll cost you nothing but maybe an extra day on thest floor but they will stand to gain a lot, especially if you start pushing past the level one hundred jump in power in dungeons.¡±


    Ajax had to admit it was a win-win situation. And one he would take the king up on if he asked, no reason not to build some good will with the royal family.

 Chapter 360

    Chapter 360


    As soon as the meeting between the elven king, Aranor and the prince was over the convoy started to move. Both Aranor and the prince joined the rest of the delve group but both went straight to sleep after the long hours they spent awake.


    Having nothing better to do after he finished draining his mana into his Alchemy ingredients yet again Ajax quilt got to work on making a checkers board. He nned on introducing chess as well but for starters checkers was much more rxing and easier to understand.


    ¡°Does this mean I win?¡± Anna asked with an innocent voice after doing a ten jump move to eliminate all of Ajax¡¯s pieces.


    After havingpleted his game board Ajax taught Lexi the game and proceeded to y and win three games as she learned to y, Anna had been watching them all that time and decided to give it a go after Lexi¡¯s third loss.


    ¡°Yes¡­¡± Ajax whispered still a little in shock at how quickly he lost hispetitive edge. A little defeated by losing to someone ying for the first time. Ajax relinquished his ce and let others attempt to beat Anna.


    It wasn¡¯t all that surprising to find that Benedict was at the same level as Anna, games between the two of them always ending way before anyone lost all their pieces as they surrendered a game they knew was lost.


    As the prince woke up he took a curious look at what Xavier and Arianwyn were ying before he dragged Ajax to another carriage for a private talk.


    ¡°Okay, this is important.¡± the prince said as he activated a number of privacy items. ¡°First of all, you can recognise floors with humanoids on them?¡± the prince asked.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Ajax didn¡¯t know why that was so important. ¡°Most of them anyways.¡± ¡°Okay¡­¡± the prince let out a long sigh. ¡°Do you know what that mana type is? More importantly if you pick it up do you think you could use it and Life mana to create people?¡±


    Now Ajax saw why the need for secrecy. It wasn¡¯t even that much of a leap to make but Ajax only knew the answer to one of those questions. ¡°No idea what mana type it is.¡± Ajax answered honestly. ¡°I also don¡¯t know if it could be used together with Life mana to create new people.¡±


    ¡°If you don¡¯t know what type of mana it is how do you know that humanoids were on that level?¡± the prince asked.


    ¡°Because humanoids have a specific mana type, in fact if you look into it deep enough you can probably find the specificbination for any creature on any floor.¡± Ajax exined. ¡°On a low enough floor with enough time to experiment I think I might be able to even pin down what type of humanoid there is.¡±


    ¡°Why only humanoids?¡± the prince asked.


    ¡°For the same reason I can only tell that some floors have humanoids.¡± Ajax exined. ¡°Specifically the ones where you can only find humanoids.¡±


    ¡°What if there is something else as well?¡± the prince asked.


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    ¡°Depending on how varied the something else is and how low the floor I might still be able to tell but definitely not on a high floor.¡± Ajax said. ¡°One thing humanoids have inmon both in the dungeon and outside of it is that they don¡¯t allow anything else of equivalent power to live amongst them.¡±


    ¡°We do.¡± the prince said as he thought about a few specific bonds that even he kept his guard up around.


    ¡°One or two examples maybe, but not another species as a whole.¡± Ajax acknowledged. ¡°We take over the entire ecosystem and have it rebuilt with us on top. The floors that have humanoids but also have something else are floors that have all of the rest of the monsters living on a separate part of the floor from the humanoids. With that little diversity I managed to learn and recognise the mana type that means humanoids are there since it is so exclusionary. Took hundreds of delves to do it as well.¡±


    The prince took a moment to think on Ajax¡¯s answer. He thought back to the thousands of delves he had done in his long life and while he could remember one or two examples that were different from Ajax¡¯s statements but they were more the exception to the rule.


    ¡°Okay, good.¡± The prince lost his serious demeanor and the cheeky smirk he usually sported was back. ¡°We can go back to the others now, when you get stronger however I want you to lead me to a few of these high end humanoid floors, I want to see just how good the weapons the dungeon cane up with are.¡±


    Considering that if you wanted to find a weapon in the dungeon it had to be one that was wielded by a dungeon humanoid Ajax realized that his ability to identify humanoid floors was a lot more valuable than any other single floor type. What need would you have for high quality materials if you could already grab the finished item directly.


    ¡°There is something I wanted to ask you about.¡± Ajax said as the prince started to take down the privacy items.


    ¡°Oh? What¡¯s that?¡± the prince asked.


    Ajax spent the next few minutes exining the choice that he had to make in regards to [Inject Mana]. His crossroads choice of increasing hisbat power now and giving his Life mana a chance to be much more of a centerpiece in his nned ambushes or defensive holdouts.


    ¡°That¡¯s a good question.¡± the prince said after Ajax finished exining. ¡°It¡¯s also one that possibly has a correct answer however. What level is your [Mana Augmentation]?¡±


    ¡°Why does that matter?¡± Ajax asked, while he had been more open about his skills, giving out the exact level of hisbat skills was not something he was willing.


    ¡°Because [Inject Mana] has be a feeder skill in terms of yourbat.¡± The prince answered, not pushing to find the exact level. ¡°Once you upgrade [Mana Augmentation] , taking the short term upgrade for [Inject Mana] will be almost inconsequential. Threshold upgrades stack if the skills are of the same rarity but in simr upgrades from different ranks, the lower skill makes almost no difference.¡±


    Ajax nodded as he took in the information. [Mana Augmentation] was almost at level fifty. Given that Ajax couldn''t help but agree with the prince that there was a correct answer. With that thought he finalized the selection and [Inject Mana] leveled to fifty-one with the long term efficiency upgrade.


    ¡°Not for nothing but I think you should definitely go with the long term upgrade.¡± the prince continued, not knowing Ajax had just done that.


    ¡°Why¡¯s that?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°Because after you get back from running the Empire¡¯s dungeon you will be named a Duke.¡± the prince said. ¡°Even with the help you will receive early on you will still need to stand on your own two feet eventually, with your spreading reputation that will be sooner thanter. I can¡¯t think of anything making a better statement that your house is not to be fucked with that having the first people who dare attack your estate crushed by a giant golem created from Life mana. Or maybe an entire squad of justrge golems? Or maybe both, a small squad with argemander.¡±


    Ajax found himself very much in agreement with the prince there. Every nobles estate had the usual defensive enchantments but his family deserved the best, of course he would create a ritual for Life mana to create protectors for his own estate. This was made even easier by the fact that all his ritual would have to do is storerge amounts of his mana that he would then direct when activating and creating the defenders.


    ¡°Thanks.¡± Ajax said as he nodded towards the prince who finished taking down the privacy equipment.


    With that the two of them returned back to the main carriage where they found an odd sight. Anna, ra, Benedict and Arianwyn were all huddled together on one side of the checkers board discussing in hushed whispers. On the other side Aranor was sitting in a rxed posture not looking all that interested in the game.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Ajax asked Lexi.


    ¡°Aranor started ying and he beat everyone.¡± Lexi answered him as Benedict finished the discussion and reached out to move a piece. As soon as the move was finished Aranor instantly made his own move. ¡°It¡¯s always like that he takes almost no time to answer any move.¡±


    Ajax looked at the old elf in a new light. He knew that the game of checkers had technically been proven as solved back on Earth, but it had taken a team of people working with AIputers sixteen years to prove it. Was it possible that the elven champion could do something simr regarding the board state? Could he possibly think that many moves in advance?


    Ajax wasn¡¯t sure if that was the case but he was suddenly a lot more wary of ever taking part in a war where the elven champion would be on the other side.

 Chapter 361

    Chapter 361


    Silvia Hearthbound P.O.V.


    Even after all these years, whenever I find myself a free moment I always end up looking out the window over the courtyard trying to convince myself it¡¯s all real. It¡¯s been more than six years now since we moved to the capital and since our family was officially dered nobles but to me it still feels like I¡¯m behind and just catching up with my own life.


    This was brought into sharp focus just recently as the crown prince¡¯s sister and her daughter arrived to give us a surprise a couple of weeks ago. As it turns out Ajax had managed to gain delve spots in Deepwood¡¯s dungeons, not only that but he did so rather publicly so their visit was more of a show of force to ensure nobody got any ideas.


    ¡°Already looking for them?¡± na asks me as she sees me looking out the window.


    na and Judy were inseparable since they were children. Even now she is one of the fixtures that helps me keep track of the quick changes that happen as we work together with my mother to manage the business.


    ¡°They should arrive today.¡± I answer, referring to Judy and my father.


    Both had left with Ajax and they were supposed to apany him for his entire journey, onlying back around two months from now. Like any meticulouslyid n however itsted until the first major event. Ajax¡¯s pass into Deepwood for the delves meant they would have to separate for a few months so it was simply better for them to return and for us to go out and meet him in Sylvanthal¡¯s capital as he was on his way back.


    ¡°Is that them?¡± na asks as we hear the gate open.


    ¡°No, it¡¯s Tom and his delve team.¡± I respond as I move to wee Tom back after a few days when he went delving. Tom has fulfilled his duty as a city guard a while ago but instead of slowing down he pushed himself forward taking his role as amander of our house guards very seriously. Two years ago he even managed to have his level surpass his age as he and the rest of our retinue delved into the dungeons as often as possible.


    ¡°How was it?¡± I do my best not to let worry and anxiety I feel looking at his roughed up clothes and the few dents in his armor that weren¡¯t there a few days ago when he left for the delve creep into my voice.


    ¡°Everything went well,¡± he said with a smile. ¡°Didn¡¯t even have any close calls thanks to Fluffy and Theron.¡±


    Even with Tom¡¯s surge in levels he has only barely begun to put a dent in the gap that opened up between him and Fluffy. Therge shadow cat still being more than enough to handle almost anything that might show up on the floor Tom delves.


    ¡°Daddy! You¡¯re back.¡± We are quickly interrupted as the one thing Tom puts more effort into than being amander dashes straight at him.


    ¡°Hey there kiddo!¡± He said as he picks up his child. ¡° Have you been good while I was gone?¡±


    ¡°Of course I was!¡± Despite the conviction the answer was given with it didn¡¯tst long.


    ¡°Are you sure about that?¡± Kate asked as she walked up, her hands already glowing with a spell ready to make sure that her husband wasn¡¯t just pushing through any injuries he sustained.


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    ¡°I thought I was quite clear when I said to listen to your mother.¡± Tom said in a fake upset tone.


    He didn¡¯t even get an answer as the child already ran back inside the mansion looking to escape a second punishment. ¡°Wee home.¡± Kate said as followed up with a wide area heal that went over the remainder of the retainers who were unloading their delving packs.


    ¡°It¡¯s great to be home,¡± he replied. ¡°Are they back yet?¡±


    ¡°No but they should be here today.¡± Kate answers him as she helps him unbuckle the armor.


    As if called by the words at that exact moment I see the head of one of our tworge transport worms start to push its way past the open gates. ¡°Seems they were waiting for you to wee them yourself.¡± I tease Tom.


    The rest of the afternoon until dinner is spent weing them back and just letting Judy and Elija settle back in after being away for so long. All of us do our best to give them some time before we set upon them with questions about everything that happened. The letters we got simply weren¡¯t enough.


    ¡°You wouldn¡¯t believe how different their cities look.¡± Judy gushed as she described the Republic''s capital. ¡°The dwarven tunnels and the elven tree houses, not to mention the more basic beastkin huts and tents, all seamlessly interwoven.


    As the story moves on to the tournament I can¡¯t help but praise Sam¡¯s idea of reinforcing the chairs in our dining room, the incredibly detailed recount of Ajax¡¯s fight in the final has my knuckles turning white as they clench onto the armrest.


    ¡°That was when he showed a new mana type.¡± all of us were drawn in to Judy¡¯s retelling. ¡° He threw his hammer only for it to bounce stop dead into the ice, a momentter however the princess was tossed like a ragdoll across the rocky arena.¡±


    Despite the pride I feel in Ajax I can¡¯t help a small part of myself from wishing that he would just slow down and not take so many risks. For a small moment there I daydream of what it would be if Ajax would just focus on his Alchemy going forward. The daydream is broken however by arge wave ofughter.


    ¡°That¡¯s when the golem pulled on his leg a second time dragging Darkw¡¯s face through the mud right as he was talking.¡± Judy finished regaling us with Ajax¡¯s post tournament spar.


    ¡°Speaking of his Life mana.¡± Father said in a sobering tone. ¡°There are a few things that he has asked us to get started on once we return home. Things that wouldn¡¯t have been safe to entrust via a letter.¡±


    For the next ten minutes or so Elija exined how Ajax had passed a message through the royal family to have them bring back home in preparation for his return.


    ¡°So he wants us to start decorating?¡± Tom said with a hint of amusement.


    ¡°This will be a lot of work.¡± mother said as she rubbed her forehead in thought. ¡°We¡¯ll have to throw a celebratory party, one where the royal family is invited.¡±


    ¡°What, why?¡± Judy asked, taken aback, considering how much the high quality statues Ajax requested would cost. I can see why she would be worried about an extravagant party on top.


    ¡°We need a justifiable reason as to why we are getting the statues.¡± na exined to her friend. ¡°Otherwise every nosy merchant and gossipy noble will be looking into why we are getting statues made from mana rich stone.¡±


    ¡°Ughhh, fine.¡± Judy relented. ¡°But in that case all of them have to be cute.¡±


    ¡°That might not y out the way you want.¡± I will try to point out . ¡°You do remember they will be killing machines. Do you really want to be cute?¡±


    My question brings Judy¡¯s enthusiasm to aplete stop. ¡°Now that I think about it¡­¡±


    ¡°We should have Kate go and ce the order.¡± Tom suggests.


    ¡°Why Kate?¡± I can¡¯t help but ask.


    ¡°Because it would be best if the statues were of beastkin or monsters.¡± Tom exins. ¡°Sharp ws and fags would work much better than a dull stone edge on a sword.¡±


    ¡°MREOW!¡±


    ¡°Of course we¡¯ll have a statue made in dedication to you!¡± Kate quickly pacified therge shadow cat while scratching him behind his ears.


    ¡°We can always attach metal to the ws and fangster.¡± Sam says.


    Sam¡¯s work as a cksmith has seen a simr increase in progress as Tom¡¯s level has ever since he started working with higher quality materials that Ajax and our retainers were pulling out of the dungeon. His work could nowfortably be used by a level seventy adventurer.


    ¡°It¡¯s nice to at least see that Ajax is at least consistent, we only need to worry about his absurd skills.¡± Iugh as I shake my head thinking of this.


    ¡°I¡¯m not so sure about that¡­¡± Father says with a bit of an awkwards smile.


    ¡°Oh what¡¯s he done now?¡± Tom said with an overly dramatic sigh.


    ¡°It¡¯s not so much something he did¡­¡± Father has me a little worried with how much he is beating around the bush. ¡°It¡¯s just that, a certain elven princess seemed to have taken a strong liking to him¡­¡±


    My thoughts grind to a halt. ¡°What do you mean an elven princess?¡± Kate sounds a little aggressive as she and Lexi had been getting along very well.


    ¡°It seems to be entirely one sided,¡± Father quickly backpedals. ¡° I doubt he is even aware of her intentions, at least he wasn¡¯t during the meeting where we sold his tournament winnings.¡±


    ¡°And he better keep it that way.¡± Kate said with a small huff. ¡°Lexi is such a nice girl.¡±


    ¡°He could always have two.¡± Sam says.


    ¡°Could he now?¡± his eyes instantly widen at my tone as he begins his own backpedaling.


    I can¡¯t wait until my little boyes back.

 Chapter 362

    Chapter 362


    Without arge caravan the group''s travel speed increased considerably, not only that but with them not making stops at every city and taking a much more direct route it also meant that their usual training time was cut down and adapted to be practiced inside the carriage as much as possible.


    While Ajax wasn¡¯t d about the loss of his physical training he had no issues dumping his mana into his Alchemy ingredients twice a day. Lexi was also in the same boat as she had no issues dumping out her own mana in repeated attempts of forming her Domain.


    ¡°Come with me.¡± The prince told Ajax in amanding voice the first time they stopped to renew their provisions.


    ¡°What are we doing?¡± Ajax asked curiously.


    ¡°Starting your training.¡± The prince said, a small smile on his otherwise serious face. ¡°Originally this was supposed to have waited until you epted your position as Duke and had a much deeper tie with Gryndor, considering the amount of good will you managed to create in thest few months however it¡¯s been epted that you can begin earlier.¡±


    ¡°What training?¡± Ajax was confused as he was already training for multiple things.


    ¡°I was informed that a few years ago you showed a high level of interest in learning [Empowering Restriction].¡± the prince exined. ¡°As one of my most used skills I can see why a hybrid fighter would be interested in that.¡±


    Ajax was a little conflicted at the news. One the one hand he was extremely eager to learn the skill, on the other he couldn¡¯t help but question if they really needed to wait this long.


    ¡°The first thing I need to tell you about this skill is that it will also be detrimental to you.¡± The prince¡¯s words brought Ajax out of his internal debate. ¡°Unlike most other skills [Empowering Restriction] actively slows the progress your skills will make, this is another reason it isn¡¯t taught too early. The only reason why you are even a candidate at your current age is that you have an abnormal number of different skills already.¡± That was a reason Ajax agreed with a lot more but there was one thing he wanted to rify first considering the possible downsides. ¡°Does it also make it harder for me to gain new skills?¡± Ajax was aiming for things like Vibration mana and most likely a number of additional mana types, he wasn¡¯t ready to sacrifice all that just yet.


    ¡°Yes and no.¡± the prince answered with one of the least useful answers there was. ¡°Skills brand new to you like for example an additional mana type will not be affected. Derivative skills however that are in part recreated with the use of this skill will be almost impossible to gain and if gained even harder to level.¡±


    ¡°Derivative skills? Like what?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°You currently have [Sense Mana].¡± The prince exined. ¡°That is an Umon skill. [Mana Sight], [Mana Scent], [Mana Touch] are all Rare examples of Derivative skills that you can recreate by using [Empowering Restriction] on [Sense Mana].¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it just be better to get [Empowering Restriction] since they can be recreated?¡± Ajax questioned as he thought about it.


    ¡°As a stand alone skill yes.¡± The prince nodded. ¡°I however have both [Sense Mana] and [Mana Sight]. The way [Empowering Restriction] works after it is initially gained is that only a short restriction can be ced on a skill, it is only after it passes level fifty that a more detailed or multiple restrictions can be used. Restricting [Mana Sight] from both eyes to only one would create a much stronger skill than simply restricting [Sense Mana] to sight only.¡±


    Ajax took a moment to think through the consequences of getting such a skill this early when he was already pretty sure he would live for millenia. In the end however the answer he always came back to was that at worst all this would do would be to offset the advantage his Divine Witness trait gave him in acquiring certain skills.


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    ¡°I¡¯m ready to start training.¡± Ajax said with determination.


    ¡°Allright.¡± the prince nodded. ¡°The best way to unlock this skill is by adding non-beneficial restrictions to your skills.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that something that anyone can figure out?¡± Ajax sounded a little bummed out as that was something he had already tried back when he first heard about the skill.


    ¡°The skill isn¡¯t that easy to figure out.¡± the prince said with a pitying smile, no doubt guessing he had already tried that. ¡°Unlike most other skills [Empowering Restriction] is meant to be exclusively a support skill. Focusing on the restriction you voluntarily ce on your skill won¡¯t help you unlock it.¡±


    ¡°Then why are we doing it if I am not focusing on it?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°So that you can also add a punishment.¡± Ajax could swear that the prince¡¯s smile turned a little sadistic as he answered. ¡°The restriction isn¡¯t meant to be focused on since maintaining it is what the skill will do once you gain it. You must instead strive to show you can use a restricted skill as intended by adding a restriction, not focusing on it, and finally paying a penalty every time you break your own restriction.¡±


    ¡°Okayyyy¡± Ajax didn¡¯t sound so trusting but he was willing to give this a go.


    ¡°The first and easiest skill to start this with is an [Inspect] skill.¡± the prince continued. ¡°It is very often used and the touch only restriction is very limiting while also being rtively simple.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± Ajax acknowledged.


    ¡°Now the most important part.¡± the prince exined. ¡°The penalty has to be something either challenging or personally unpleasant. You don¡¯t have to tell me what you decided to go with. I always make it a small game every time I teach someone this skill to figure out what their penalties are. It also works better if the penalties get worse at each breach.¡±


    Ajax had just been about to start a brainstorming session for just what his penalty should be but stopped once he heard the prince¡¯s exnation.


    ¡°Once you are able to go three days without breaking the condition let me know and we can get started on the next one.¡± the prince said as he turned to leave.


    ¡°The next one?¡± Ajax asked, surprised.


    ¡°Oh yes, once you get the hang of one restriction you add another different restriction to a second skill.¡± the prince nodded. ¡°The restrictions also have to be as diverse as possible, after three days of no penalties you add another. The quickest anyone I ever taught gained the skill was after adding the fifth restriction. The average for those who actually gain the skill is usually ten.¡±


    With that both Ajax returned to the carriage in silence as Ajax tried to think of a good penalty for himself. Initially he had wanted to add some form of training punishment simr to one hundred push ups but that wasn¡¯t something he considered a true penalty any more, rather it was just quality training.


    By the time they returned to the carriage Ajax finally settled on afort penalty. Every time he broke the restriction he would have to go one night without sleep. Considering how all of his stats were already past three hundred going a few days without sleep in a row wouldn¡¯t be dangerous for him it but it would ce additional mental pressure on him, he could only hope that since the penalty would also make it harder for him to remember the restriction it would help in unlocking the skill.


    With that settled Ajax tried his best to put his restriction out of his mind as he focused on interacting with the others as they each returned and got ready to leave, their next stop wouldn¡¯t be until they reached the next dungeon.


    The first day back on the road it hadn¡¯t been all that hard for Ajax to stick to his restriction, on the second day however he had caught sight of an odd movement through the trees on the side of the road and he had activated [Inspector¡¯s Eye] more by reflex than anything else.


    Name : N/A


    Speciase : Stufftailed Squirrel


    Level : 14


    Health : 500/500


    Mana : 200/200


    Stamina : 760/1000


    Vitality : 50


    Strength : 40


    Endurance : 100


    Dexterity : 105


    Intelect : 20


    Wisdom : 19


    Mind : 20


    Perception : 80


    Skills : [Climbing][Running][Danger Sense][Grooming]


    Ajax managed to hold in the curse as he realized he had broken his restriction.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Lexi asked him, noticing him tense up for a moment.


    ¡°Nothing¡­¡± he said a little dejectedly. ¡°Just failed at something.¡±


    Lexi had learned over the years they had been together that Ajax was always doing something or other odd, she had also learned to not always question it until he was ready to share as it was usually something odd that most of the time ended up working out for him.


    ¡°And so my watch begins.¡± Ajax mumbledter that same night as he stayed looking out the window of the moving carriage. He had at first been tempted to move away from the window so that he wouldn¡¯t fail again on a twitch reaction but that would go against the focusing on the restriction part of the training.

 Chapter 363

    Chapter 363


    It took Ajax two whole weeks, basically the entire way to their second dungeon before he was finally able to go three days while following the touch restriction he had imposed on his [Inspector¡¯s Eye].


    ¡°It¡¯s not as easy as you think, is it?¡± the prince asked as Ajax notified him of his sess.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect it to be that hard.¡± Ajax admitted, he had almost always found himself failing towards the end of the third day just as he was about to finish.


    ¡°That¡¯s the whole point of starting with an Inspect skill.¡± the prince nodded. ¡°You need to get used to breaking ingrained habits when using this skill. The second skill we are going to be working with is your [Mana Syphon].¡±


    ¡°Right as we are about to go into a delve?¡± Ajax was surprised and a little worried at that.


    ¡°Yes.¡± the prince confirmed. ¡°The added pressure should help you unlock the skill faster.¡±


    ¡°So you don¡¯t want me to use the skill on anything I¡¯m not touching?¡± Ajax was more than a little skeptical of that.


    ¡°The exact opposite actually.¡± The prince shook his head. ¡°You can use the skill on anything except something or someone that is making contact with you.¡±


    Ajax was surprised at that. He had expected the limitation to go towards his tactile since it mirrored his first restriction and it was something he just learned he could use on people.¡°The point of this restriction is to teach you that more niche restrictions can also be a source of power for you when you are sure you will not need them.¡± the prince exined. ¡°A simr example for me is by limiting my own [Runic Casting] skill to now work with certain elements when fighting certain opponents. At my level you can know who you¡¯ll be facing and give yourself an edge this way.¡±


    Ajax found that to be a really good tip. There were many times when using certain elements wouldn¡¯t make sense almost at all, limiting himself would actually make a lot of sense.


    ¡°Remember, your first restriction hasn¡¯t gone away.¡± the prince reminded him. ¡°I hope you¡¯ll be able to get some sleep in the next few days.¡±


    Ajax couldn¡¯t help butugh a little at the obvious nudge, the prince having figured out his self imposed punishment. With a simple shake of the head he headed towards the next dungeon. The starting range for this one was thirty three to thirty seven with a fourteen level floor jump and he was looking forward to the four extra stat points in each of his stats.


    ¡°Are you ready?¡± Ajax asked Lexi.


    Lexi was feeling much better about this dungeon. While she would only be able to gain stats from two floors as long as she had a good matchup, that second floor wouldn¡¯t be that much of a challengepared to the previous dungeon. Two levels may not seem like that much but it was quite a bit.


    ¡°I am.¡± Lexi confirmed. ¡°You¡¯re not going to try for it yet are you?¡±


    Lexi had been getting progressively more worried about Ajax. She knew that he wanted to push past the level one hundred barrier that he had been stuck at for a while now, especially after all of the stats he gained back in the Republic. She knew however just how big a jump in difficulty this was.


    ¡°Not just yet.¡± Ajax reassured her. ¡°I¡¯ll wait until Deepwood¡¯s capital dungeon.¡±


    The capital dungeon in Deepwood would be the second dungeon they would reach after this one, this gave Ajax about another month and half or two until they would get there in which to get stronger.


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    As the team made it close to the dungeon entrance they found this dungeon to be a lot more in line with the others that weren¡¯t close to their kingdom¡¯s capital. The dungeon was out of the way, well removed from nearby settlements and with a wall of trees forming a physical barrier to discourage any monsters that leaked out from going towards the vige.


    ¡°What do you think is happening?¡± Xavier asked as they saw elvesing running out through the trees from the direction of the dungeon.


    Aranor wasted no time as he quickly approached one of the people in uniform that were running away. ¡°Soldier, report what happened.¡±


    ¡°We h-have to¡­ to run.¡± the soldier babbled as he tried to work his way free from Aranor¡¯s grasp.


    This wasn¡¯t the first time Aranor had dealt with a panicked person evacuating so he moved slightly away from the group before he fully released his aura and directed all of it at the guard.


    Ajax had been in the presence of auras for a while now but everyone who had passed level one hundred and a bit had started to learn how to control them. The full pressure of someone who had passed level two hundred was enough to make all of them except the prince hold their breath as their bodies momentarily froze.


    Surprisingly enough this massive burst of existential dread that quickly passed over the guard before Aranor restrained his aura once again managed to stop the mans panicking and he took in the situation he was in.


    ¡°S-s-sorrrry a-ab-about th-that, s-sir.¡± The man did his best to give Aranor a proper salute as while his mind was ying catch up the fear hadn¡¯t yet cleared his system.


    ¡°Report.¡± Aranor simply asked again.


    ¡°A vis-visiting team just got w-wiped, sir.¡± the guard answered, starting to calm down the more he talked. ¡°They were going up to the third floor and their scout just came out the self p-proimed lone survivor. He had to go up a floor to escape.¡±


    Ajax just put together why everyone was so worried as he heard the hissinging from the direction of the dungeon. That was the issue with out of the way dungeons like this, just the same as the one near Lessis where he first started as an Adventurer.


    ¡°Mid to high seventies.¡± Arianwyn mumbled as she took out herbat robe from her spacial ring.


    Once the level jump between floors rose over ten most people who were consistently delving the dungeon didn¡¯t delve higher than the actual second floor of the dungeon. The collectors back in Lessis were the same, once they managed to surpass the second floor the jump to the third would be toorge and they were good enough to move to the capital. The second floor here was level fifty one, the guards on duty weren¡¯t going to be able to handle a full floor worth of level seventies, running was actually a good response.


    ¡°I¡¯ll make sure none of them get too far away if you take care of them.¡± The prince offered.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± as soon as the first word left Aranor¡¯s lips the prince was already gone looking to make sure nothing got too far from the dungeon arch.


    ¡°I want to help.¡± Arianwyn said as she got ready to fight.


    ¡°Your Highness, are you cert-¡± Aranor didn¡¯t even get to finish his question as he was interrupted.


    ¡°So do I.¡± ra also followed up ready to join her friend.


    Seeing that he would only be wasting time trying to take them out of it, Aranor could only give up and ept it. ¡°Stay close to me, they might just be in the mid to low seventies but there will be a lot of them.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll help as well.¡± Darkw offered as he cracked his neck pulling his battle robe out of his own spacial ring.


    ¡°I¡¯ll guard the rest of them, just in case anything slips through.¡± As much as Ajax would have also wanted to help his meleebat style would have hindered as much as helped with such a powerful mage already doing the main clean-up. He knew his biggest contribution would be making sure Lexi, Anna, Xavier and Benedict were safe as the escaped monsters posed a serious threat to them.


    Aranor was pleasantly surprised by Ajax''s cool and collected response, he had honestly expected the young human to have jumped head first into the fight but instead he calmly analyzed the situation and assigned himself in the best position even if it was the least morous one.


    The whole interaction took a grand total of twenty seconds, the guard was still gathering himself following Aranor¡¯s aura st when the entire group got moving. Aranro had already dashed ahead and Ajax could feel thergest amount of mana he had felt from one person gathering.


    ¡°Stand back a little.¡± Arianwyn said as they were approaching the trees and following in Aranor¡¯s footsteps.


    ¡°What spell is that?¡± Xavier asked, what they were all thinking as all of them could feel the massive amount of mana gathering.


    ¡°Chill breath.¡± Arianwyn said quietly.


    ¡°What now?!¡± Everyone except ra looked at her with shock. The question had been a rhetorical one that had just slipped out, nobody had expected an answer.


    ¡°The spell to make your drink cold?¡± Ajax asked, since he didn¡¯t rely on chanted magic as much he wanted to make sure he wasn¡¯t mixing them up.


    ¡°That¡¯s the one.¡± ra said.


    As the group slowly moved through thest few threes before the wide open clearing surrounding the arch they got to see Aranor open his mouth and blow a huge wall of air that froze the lizard type monsters that were swarming the clearing from the dungeon.


    ¡°How many times did he chant it?¡± Ajax asked as he remembered Aranor¡¯s skill to repeatedly stack the same spell on top of itself by repeating the chant before finally releasing it; it had barely been two minutes.


    ¡°It¡¯s only a two word chant so, with his [Chanting] lowering that to one.¡± ra took a moment to think. ¡°About two hundred, maybe a bit more.¡±


    The opening cast had easily taken care of at least half the monsters that were loose but there were still plenty more left as the three fighters joined the mage on the offensive while Ajax started creating a defensive position around his friends just in case something sneaked up on them.

 Chapter 364

    Chapter 364


    The massive wave of frost pulled the attention of all the reptiles. Unlike inside the dungeon where they would be attracted to anything foreign there was nothing on the outside to suppress that lizard brain reaction of getting away from something that dangerous.


    ¡°So it begins.¡± The prince said as he felt the mana bomb go off as he decapitated another lizard.


    With that the prince started to pick up speed as he pumped the runes on his armor looking to get as much speed as possible as he circled the woods killing the lizards as they ran away.


    With the lizards running in all directions a good number headed for the rest of the group. ra and Arianwyn wasted no time in putting a little bit of distance between themselves before both of them released their domains.


    Ajax mostly stayed on the defensive, besides hardening the earth beneath their feet and creating a small earth wall he purely focused on using [Mana Syphon] on as many lizards as he could, pushing its range further and further.


    ra and Arianwyn started firing off spell after spell, their domains letting them bombard the wave of lizards. Unlike Aranor the two elves give off the same impression of danger to the lizards so instead of running from them the lizards charged right for them.


    Darkw wasted no time jumping in to y protector for ra, he would have done the same for Arianwyn but not only did she already have Regalia filling that role but her winter domain was much better defensively than a storm one and the cold would also negatively affect him.


    ¡°We¡¯ve got fliers.¡± Benedict called out as he pointed towards the arch as a wave of flying lizards that Ajax would call pterodactyls took to the air. The pterodactyls were much more fragile than their ground locked brothers, in exchange however they were not only faster but from the wind mana Ajax could feel surrounding their wings they wouldn¡¯t even need to slow down as they attacked.


    ra was quick to change her priority. While Arianwyn continued to focus on the giant lizards on the ground she almost exclusively started to shoot the fliers out of the sky with bolts of lightning.With the increasing number of enemies something finally made it past Ajax''s small perimeter and headed towards the group. Being only a level seventy five non miniboss monsters Ajax had no issue dodging the bite attack before crushing a molten infused axe straight into its skull.


    The problem there came when Ajax tried to exclude the lizard from his [Mana Syphon]. Not wanting to use his skill while technically making contact with the lizard, Ajax tried to stop his skill from working on it. The sh exclusion however not only removed the lizard itself but all of the other lizards as well for a brief moment.


    The brief boost in power from Ajax shing his [Mana Syphon] off then back on once he killed his enemy came as a big surprise to the rest of the lizards as most of them ended up tripping and face nting into the dirt before they started moving once again. Not everything ended up going well however as Ajax himself suffered the reverse effect, with his physical enhancement going away for the brief moment his skill excluded the lizards, Ajax front foot ended up twisting his ankle as it tried to support the momentum Ajax had built up.


    Aranor had finally managed to make it to the arch in this time, this was lucky for the team that happened to be exiting the dungeon at this exact time. A group of twenty people with their levels in the low fifties were shocked at what awaited them on the outside, they had just finished clearing the second floor of the dungeon and they were not ready for something like this.


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    ¡°Is there anythinging out after you?¡± Aranor asked them in a strict tone.


    ¡°No, sir, I don¡¯t think so.¡± The leader quickly grasped the situation and adapted. ¡°We triggered the obelisk and cleared thest of them.¡± with that he turned his attention back to his team. ¡°Form a defensive perimeter to protect the mages and Caelithra.¡±


    The entire battlested no more than twenty minutes from the moment Aranor and the prince joined in culling the beast, not only that but nobody had died following that moment. Darkw had his shield integrity lowered to about 50% and Regalia was missing a few scales here and there.


    Ajax had only faced four more lizards following his first encounter and he took care of all of them with his bow as he used his Light and Life mana to fix his leg and Harold took the job of the frontman. This didn¡¯t mean that nobody had died as a result of the break. Aranor and the team that came out during the battle had started looking for survivors but had so far only found the torn up leftovers of what had been the elves not fast enough to evacuate.


    ¡°Well that was a good warm up, '''' the prince said as he joined Ajax and the rest of the people from Gryndor, his armor was governed in lizard blood but Ajax couldn¡¯t see a single scratch on it. ¡°Good thing there was no floor boss.¡±


    Ajax was amazed as he looked out over the battlefield, since the lizards were just monsters breaking out from the dungeon they left behind no bodies, more than a few of them did however leave behind empty shells of ice when they had died to Aranor¡¯s initial attack.


    ¡°How was your first dungeon break?¡± The prince asked all of them.


    ¡°This wasn¡¯t my first.¡± Ajax answered as he thought back to the kitsune floor boss that forced his entire team to run.


    ¡°It''s the first one you saw outside of the capital, they are almostmon there with how many people delve, but we also have proper defenses in ce.¡± the prince said as he looked with pity down at the corpse of what remained of an elf. ¡°Far fewer casualties there.¡±


    An elf sprinted past their group as ra, Darkw and Arianwyn were returning. From afar Ajax could also see Aranor and the group that exited moving towards them as well.


    ¡°He¡¯s probably the scout.¡± the prince said. ¡°They sent him to let the others know it''s safe to return.¡±


    That was a dark thought for Ajax. He had gotten a lot more used to death as he lived on this world but even then he had been sheltered from most of his second life as well. The people returning now wouldn¡¯t be any safer the second time around if a break happened. With a shake of his head he put the thought out of his mind, it wasn¡¯t his issue to solve, everyone knew the risks all he was responsible for was clearing thest floor when he was not being boosted.


    ¡°We can go ahead and bring the carriages inside the clearing.¡± Aranor said as he joined them. ¡°We won¡¯t be able to enter until tomorrow as they will be reestablishing order.¡±


    ¡°Did the guards make it?¡± the prince asked.


    ¡°Most of them did, I didn¡¯t see many uniforms.¡± Aranor replied. ¡°I doubt they¡¯ll be the onesing back.¡±


    All in all there were less than twenty casualties in total thanks to the quick response from Aranor and the prince. Messengers were sent out to all the small viges in the surroundings warning about there possibly being lizards still out there if they had made it past the perimeter the prince had kept.


    Ajax moved on to the newest notification blinking for his attention in the corner of his vision. As it turns out it had been well worth the twisted ankle he had gotten by following his restriction. He had managed to gain the skill [Empowering Restriction].


    ¡°What is it?¡± the prince asked as Ajax pulled him aside.


    It was Ajax¡¯s turn to throw him the same cocky smirk he was usually on the receiving end of. ¡°There is a new record for the number of restrictions it takes to unlock [Empowering Restriction].¡±


    The prince¡¯s face first saw a shadow of confusion fall over it before his eyes opened wide in realization and shock. ¡°You already got it?!¡± The prince tried his best to keep his voice low as he quickly activated a privacy item.


    Ajax knew that there was no chance he would have managed this with his Trait but he didn¡¯t let that keep him from basking in his sess. ¡°I did, it happened when I twisted my ankle by following the restriction on [Mana Syphon].¡±


    ¡°That makes no sense, your restriction wasn¡¯t that big.¡± the prince said as he stroked his chin.


    Ajax blushed a little in embarrassment. ¡°When I tried to stop using [Mana Syphon] on one lizard for just a brief moment I ended up stopping it from working on all of them.¡±


    The prince quickly put together what happened and even matched it to the moment all of the lizards tripped during the battle, still something wasn¡¯t adding up for him. ¡°Is it because both skills you limited were Legendary?¡± he couldn¡¯t help but wonder since unlocking the skill after only two restrictions was unheard of.


    ¡°Now that you have the skill however we need to talk about how you will use it.¡±

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    Publishing News


    I have joined Mango Media and will be having looking to publish. There are a few changes that will take ce but nothing major that should affect anyone currently up to date.


    I. Title change - One of the things I was really not happy with was the title of Ajax''s story so that has been updated along with the cover art.


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    II. The first 95 will soon be updated to reflect the changes as they will appear in the published work before being taken down when the book is released on Kindle Unlimited.


    III. The Monday Wednesday Friday schedule will not change.


    IV. All chapters will be first released here on Royal Road and will stay avable for at least one month before for everyone to have a chance to read them for free.


    Thank you so much for reading my story and I look forward to writing more of it

 Chapter 365

    Chapter 365


    Gaining the skill Ajax could intrinsically feel a lot of what the ability could do, he knew that he could put a restriction, and he could set a time, he could even influence what the buff provided. That is where the innate information stopped however.


    ¡°First thing we need to talk about is how the restriction works.¡± The prince said. ¡°One thing people mistake about this is that the restriction works as a limit ced on your system as a whole, that¡¯s not correct.¡±


    ¡°How do you mean?¡± Ajax asked


    ¡°Your restriction for [Mana Syphon], when you tried to turn it off for that one lizard you turned it off for all of them.¡± The prince pointed out. ¡°Putting up that same restriction with the skill won¡¯t magically make you able to exclude just one person because they are touching you.¡±


    ¡°How does it work then?¡± Ajax was confused since that¡¯s how he had assumed the skill would work.


    ¡°The skill works by adding amand in your own mind.¡± the prince exined. ¡°This means that you would instinctively turn off [Mana Syphon] just to make sure you wouldn¡¯t use it on anything you make contact with. If you have the skill to exclude only one lizard then it would do that, otherwise it would do it for all of them.¡±


    ¡°Does that mean that I could still use the skill on something that was touching me so long as I didn¡¯t know they were touching me.¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°Yep.¡± the prince confirmed. ¡°A good example of that is putting a restriction not to attack an elf. If an elf covered head to toe in bulky te armor fights you, until you find out they are an elf you would gain the benefit of the restriction despite breaking it.¡±


    Ajax was at once both happy and sad, the skill working this way would mean that he had a way of creating loopholes for himself but he couldn¡¯t use the skill to make the system verify things for him.¡°Next, the duration of the restriction.¡± the prince continued. ¡°There are three important points. The first is the soft minimum, one day. Any restriction that is shorter than that can be ced, however the benefit would be nearly zero.¡±


    That made sense to Ajax, switching restrictions from one to another was clearly not in line with the way the skill was intended to work having close to no effect before a minimum time limit would fix that though it would still let him use the restriction part of the skill for shorter periods of time if that was what he needed.


    ¡°The second is a week.¡± the prince continued. ¡°This is simrly the longest duration you should be cing a restriction for, you can do it for longer but the increase in time past that point makes the increase in power minimal.¡±


    That was good to know, Ajax imagined that he would be spending a lot of time ying around with the restrictions as he got a better feel for it. ¡°Is thest one a middle point? The best time to power ratio.¡±


    ¡°No.¡± the prince shook his head. ¡°Thest one is a permanent restriction. This is only ast resort.¡±


    ¡°Why is that ast resort?¡± Ajax questioned, he knew why it wouldn¡¯t work well for his purposes but depending on the power it could lead people to forming a whole style based upon multiple such restrictions.


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    ¡°The most obvious reason is that the skill can only handle one restriction at a time.¡± the prince exined. ¡°Sure the power gain from a permanent restriction is pretty big but unless you pushed the skill past the first threshold and managed to get the ability to ce more restrictions at the same time you will basically lose the skill.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t that mean that you could grow this skill specifically so that you could ce multiple permanent restrictionster for a big boost in power?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°In theory, yes.¡± the prince acknowledged. ¡°The skill is however very hard to level, not to mention that actively working to level it could limit your other skills. There are two reasons I am mentioning the permanent restriction, one so that you don¡¯t ce one by ident when ying with the skill. And the second so that you actually do know it is a big power boost there for you to use in order to survive something. Any questions so far?¡±


    Ajax could think of a few on how the restriction worked in terms of the loopholes he could use regarding not being aware he was breaking the restriction but that could all wait.


    ¡°Okay now for the more varied portion.¡± the prince said. ¡°You can use the skill to ce many different types of restrictions but they all fall into two types. Restrictions ced on yourself as a person, and restrictions ced on your skills.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that the same thing?¡± Ajax asked, if he ced a restriction not to use mana it would obviously affect his skills as well.


    ¡°It could have the same effect but the way it is achieved makes the skill work differently.¡± The prince exined. ¡°A restriction to wield anything but a sword and one to only use the [Sword] weapon skill will both do the same thing, you can only use a sword. A restriction on yourself however can be channeled into any type of bonus even if it has nothing to do with the restriction in question. A restriction on a skill however can only boost the skill restricted, though the bonus is much better.¡±


    ¡°So if I use a restriction to only use fire mana I could put the bonus of that into increasing my physical power, but if I limit [Mana Augmentation] to only work with fire mana I can only use the boost to strengthen the skill.¡± Ajax caught on.


    ¡°Exactly.¡± the prince nodded. ¡°For now I suggest you y around with only restrictions on yourself.¡±


    ¡°Why is that?¡± Ajax thought he was missing something.


    ¡°Because of how [Empowering Restriction].¡± the prince answered. ¡°While a restriction is active the skill will slow down any other skill from leveling, but if ced specifically on a skill it will slow that specific skill down a lot more and it can even affect the threshold options offered. This is not a skill you want to use while training or practicing to increase other skills.¡±


    Ajax wasn¡¯t happy to hear that, how was he supposed to get used to using the skill if he couldn¡¯t practice with it? Then again the skill would be useful when it came to results, he might not use it when he was practicing [Alchemy] but he would definitely use it if he was making something important to make the result better.


    In the end Ajax currently decided that the skill would best fit as a reactionary element of his fighting style. If he was facing an ice elemental and he needed the power boost he would restrict his ice magic, or if he broke an arm he would restrict use of that arm. Until the skill gained a few levels it wouldn¡¯t be all that powerful anyway.


    With that Ajax and the prince returned to the group as Ajax had a lot of things to consider. He was very happy that he managed to unlock the skill he had been interested in for a few years now, he would just have to find a way to practice the skill without it crippling the rest of his progress.


    It was interesting to see all the elves streaming back into the clearing now that the danger had passed. The guard outpost by the arch was already back up and a few more teams had returned from the delve, two of which brought with them a few monsters that needed to be killed but nothing as strong or as numerous as the lizards.


    The first thing Ajax did after his talk with the prince was to let Lexi know about his new skill, the reaction he got was not one he had expected.


    ¡°Don¡¯t use it on any of your mana aspect skills.¡± Lexi all but shouted at him once she heard about the skill.


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t nning on it, the prince already warned me not to use it on skills as a whole.¡± Ajax tried to reassure her.


    ¡°Using it on skills isn¡¯t ideal but using it on mana aspect skills can get you stuck at a threshold.¡± Lexi exined. ¡°The first threshold for most mana types is the level fifty, that¡¯s rtively early and almost everyone breaks through it with the efficiency upgrade since it¡¯s the only one you unlock. Using [Empowering Restriction] on aspect skills can make it so that option isn¡¯t there and it will get you stuck at level fifty until you manage to get another option.¡±


    Ajax was feeling quite smug as he knew all of his Rare mana types had already gotten past that threshold so that wouldn¡¯t be an issue but he would make sure to be careful with his Epic ones. He wasn¡¯t worried about his Legendary affinity as Life was so versatile he was expecting to be spoiled for choice when it came time for that Threshold.


    ¡°I won¡¯t.¡± Ajax promised her.


    ¡°Good.¡± Lexi hugged him. ¡° Congrattions on unlocking the skill, it can be very powerful despite the downsides it brings.¡±

 Chapter 366

    Chapter 366


    The team had no issues entering the dungeon the following morning, the guards at the entrance in fact insisted that the Viscount responsible for thend surrounding the dungeon had been sent a message about what happened and there was every chance a gift would be waiting for them as they exited.


    Ajax had started ying around with his newest skill as they were walking through the first floor of the dungeon. There wasn¡¯t enough time for him to ce any proper restrictions so that he could see how the benefit behaved but he could ce ten second restrictions to see how they would feel.


    The first trick Ajax noticed as they were moving was that the restriction for having an arm fall limp had the same beneficial effect as the one for him not being able to move the arm. In essence the restrictions were pretty much the same thing if his arm was by his side, if he was holding his shield however the second restriction would still prove rather useful while providing the same benefit.


    The first floor was an easy clear where they found the first arch and went through it. The prince had been so impatient Ajax didn¡¯t even get a chance to see what the miniboss guarding the arch was as the prince had already dealt with it by the time they got there.


    The second floor was where the progression truly began. ¡°Some sort of metal and fire floor.¡± Ajax let them know, while Benedict, Lexi, Xavier and Anna should have had no issues even with a bad match-up against a level fifty one he still wanted them to know what they were walking into.


    Anna frowned a little hearing the dominant mana types, her preferred fire style was particrly bad against either element at a simr level, still with all the extra stats she had gather from the extra dungeons she did in the Empire and the Republic she was confident a five level difference would actually mean she outmatched the monsters.


    The floor they walked in on looked to Ajax like they had just stepped into a giant¡¯s forge. Oddly enough he could actually see a good amount of the entire floor from his position on the table where he saw a mug the same size as himself.


    ¡°It has been at least a decade since Ist saw an erged contained floor.¡± the princemented as he looked around.


    ¡°Twice that for me.¡± Aranor mentioned.¡°I just hope the cksmith doesn¡¯t show up.¡± Ajax said as he warily looked towards the closed door.


    ¡°He won¡¯t.¡± the prince assured him as the group moved towards the first arch that was by one of the many tool boxes scattered around. ¡°Though I will tell you to be careful if you find floors like this at higher level ranges, once the levels go past one hundred and fifty bigger objects are eptable as monsters, even something like the table we are walking on.¡±


    Even though Ajax knew that bigger didn¡¯t always mean better he was still a little wary when it came to fighting a monster the size of a small city, for all that he may very well be able to chip away at it while the behemoth could barely move against something in that weight ss a single minor mistake would be enough to kill you.


    The first thing to engage onto them was a hammer. Unlike the cartoons he had seen back on earth the hammer didn¡¯t open a set of eyes, it simply used mana tounch itself towards them.


    ¡°It¡¯s all metal.¡± Xavier said as everyone had plenty of time to get out of the way before the hammer actuallynded on any of them. ¡°How are we supposed to kill it?¡±


    ¡°All monsters on this floor are golems.¡± Anna said. ¡°There has to be a core inside it, since it¡¯s made of a solid material the core can¡¯t change position. All you have to do is break it.¡±


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    ¡°I want this one.¡± Lexi said with glee, she knew exactly what to do to destroy something that was stuck inside a hard shell.


    ¡°Careful it¡¯s going to spin!¡± Ajax called out as he felt the hammer pull another load of mana.


    At around the same time a pair of tongues also jumped from the tool box and looked to enter the fight. ¡°Herees the second one, who wants this one?¡± The prince asked with a wide smile.


    ¡°The core is at the screw point.¡± Aranor provided.


    ¡°I¡¯ll grab that one.¡± Benedict said, happy to find something a physical based fighter had a good chance against.


    Lexi wasted no time dashing towards the handle of the hammer after it missed its spell and sending a powerful shockwave through it and killing it the same way she did with the nt back in the previous dungeon.


    ¡°Thank you so much for helping me get this, I love it.¡± Lexi dashed back towards Ajax and gave him a hug after she finished her encounter, it was a testament to both her skill as a mage and how strong Vibration mana was that she had managed to kill something like this in a single hit.


    ¡°Do you see anything you want to fight?¡± Ajax asked Anna as he started looking around for something that fire might be decent against.


    ¡°Right there.¡± Anna pointed across the room as they waited for Benedict to finish his own battle.


    The ce where Anna pointed was a sack of what Ajax could only assume to be coal. He quickly got what his friend was thinking, it didn¡¯t happen often but it was in moments like this one that he was reminded of Anna¡¯s pyromaniac streak, the size of the coal bag had to be at least as big as some of thergest mansions he had seen. It would of course take more than an errant spark to light it all up but once the fire was started the amount of heat it would radiate would surely match if not beat out the worst deserts and volcanoes Ajax had encountered even on higher level floors.


    ¡°What about you?¡± Ajax asked Xavier.


    ¡°A fire elemental.¡± Xavier said as he pointed close to where the coal bag was.


    As Ajax looked more carefully he saw a very high quality crucible that he would bet his entire fortune his father would love to work with. Next to the crucible however was a stack of many different already smelted bars of metal.


    ¡°I say we go for the elemental first.¡± Elena suggested, Ajax could absolutely understand her reasoning,ing from an elf who lived in a forest. The way she was looking at the bag of coal suggested she didn¡¯t like the way Anna was looking at the bag.


    Once Benedict smashed the core of the tongs the group as a whole made its way towards the crucible. ¡°Howe there aren¡¯t more golems or elementals?¡± Ajax asked as they carefully made their way towards the other side of the enormous room.


    ¡°Because the floor is much smaller than a usual floor would be, there are only mini boss level monsters.¡± Anna exined. ¡°This is one of the worst floor types for boosts because of how strong the monster types are, it is however one of the best ones for regr clearing. The mortality rate on these types of floors is one tenth of what it usually is.¡±


    Ajax had to agree, even if the entire floor was almost asrge as the capital that was on the extremely small side when it came to dungeon floors, even just looking around he could also see at least ten different arches already, something that definitely wouldn¡¯t be the case with a regr floor.


    As they approached the crucible Ajax could see multiple elementals there. Besides the pure three pure fire elementals Ajax counted at least four ember elementals and one molten elemental that was inside the crucible.


    ¡°I¡¯ll leave one of the fire ones for you.¡± Aranor said before he began one shotting all the other elementals with icences that matched the power of the ones he used in the tournament.


    The molten elemental was one Ajax found rather troublesome to deal with, it didn¡¯t have the usual weakness of a liquid based elemental because of the high density of the liquid but it kept the benefits of a liquids flexibility. It was also however particrly weak against the cold and ice specifically which meant Aranor made short work of it.


    As Xavier took on the final remaining elemental Ajax couldn¡¯t help but be curiously drawn towards therge stack of smelted ingots off to the side. He was even more surprised when his [Sense Mana] picked up on one that he could actually take outside the dungeon buried deep at the bottom of the stack.


    Ajax squeezed his way to the ingot and tried to draw it into his storage ring only to find out he didn¡¯t have the space for it. He quickly headed back and started pulling things out of his ring and handing them to Lexi to hold before he returned to collect the ingot.


    ¡°What did you find?¡± Lexi asked curiously once Ajax returned with a triumphant smile.


    Instead of answering, Ajax simply pulled out the ingot and patted it proudly. ¡°My father is going to love this.¡± The ingot was close to the size their house was back in the vige.


    ¡°Oh!¡± Anna made a pained sound as she looked at the ingot. ¡°Who would do something so wasteful? That¡¯s a steel magicite alloy, the magicite would be much better used for enchanting and runic engraving.¡±


    ¡°Is it any good for a cksmith?¡± Ajax asked, a little worried about the souvenir he was taking for his father.


    ¡°It would actually be very useful in helping to grow their skill level since making the alloy is so wasteful they almost never work with it.¡± Anna answered, her voice still a little pained at the waste of magicite.


    ¡°We should make up our minds regarding which floor to head to next quickly.¡± Lexi whispered as she saw Anna heading towards the pile of coal. The mage knew her friend well enough that instead of looking for an elemental she was going to take out her outrage at the waste of valuable materials by setting the whole pile of coal aze.

 Chapter 367

    Chapter 367


    ¡°Was it really that bad?¡± Ajax asked Anna as they made their way through the next floor.


    Anna had proven her mastery over the element of fire as she not only lit the mountain of coal but also followed it up with a spell to make them burn faster releasing a heat wave that would have done quite a bit of damage had it not been for his [<em>Mana Skin</em>].


    You don¡¯t understand how wasteful it would be to make a bar that size.¡± Anna defended herself as she blushed in embarrassment at her own actions. ¡°Magicite has no mana concentration, there isn¡¯t high or low quality which is why it is used sparingly in enchanting and runes.¡±


    ¡°Surely someone has used it before to make this alloy before.¡± Ajax reasoned since not even Anna would know about it if it was such a niche application.


    ¡°Yes, there are times when using it is worth it.¡± Anna let out a long sigh. ¡°The resulting alloy however always matches the steel used, you used the same amount of magicite for steel around level fifty like the one you have or steel at level one hundred and fifty. Only at the higher levels is it ever eptable financially to form the alloy.¡±


    Now this was something that Ajax could understand, Alchemy had a simr situation with the use of catalysts, curtain catalysts would work for almost any level mixture but using it on something with low end materials would be nothing but a waste.


    ¡°Is this type of steel any good for anything?¡± Ajax asked. ¡°Besides getting a few skill points in [cksmithing]


    ¡°Very much so.¡± Anna nodded. ¡°Since the steel is of lower quality it can be molded by lower level cksmiths, since the alloy is already part magicite it will take enchantments and runes a lot better than normal materials, it would be ideal in helping any journeyman or higher cksmith in unlocking the [Engraving] skill that is needed for enchantments and runic spells.¡±


    Ajax couldn¡¯t help but wonder why they wouldn¡¯t create such an alloy in small amounts if that was the case. People could keep resmelting the same piece in order to unlock the skill. ¡°It won¡¯t work.¡± Anna said as she looked at him. ¡°You only get one chance after melting this alloy to work it, if it sets for a second time and you melt it down it will lose its properties, that¡¯s why it takes a journeyman cksmith.¡±


    ¡°Let me know if there is anything left of this bar after your father unlocks the skill.¡± Lexi said as she listened to their conversation. ¡°Dad is in charge of the cksmiths in our House and he will very much want to buy whatever you have left from you.¡±


    As they were talking Ajax quickly picked up on a small pack of shadow wolves that wasunching towards them, the stealthy predators had made it surprisingly close before their stealth failed them as it was drained by Ajax¡¯s [Mana Syphon].


    The wolves were normal level sixty-three monsters, not even minibosses but they were too quick for Ajax to have time to warn Lexi and Anna, all he managed to do was take defensive position in front of Lexi to intercept the wolf heading for her whileunching a spell at the one heading for Anna.


    With his sword and axe Ajax wasted no time killing both the wolf that attacked Lexi and the one that was going for him, outside of their stealth and speed the level sixty three wolves didn¡¯t really pose a threat to Ajax at all.


    ¡°This is not the ce for a casual chat.¡± the prince said from in front of Anna where he took care of the final wolf before Ajax¡¯s spell even made contact. ¡°Especially on a floor theme like this.¡±


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    The floor theme the group had decided to go with for their third floor of the dungeon had been one that had what Ajax recognised as the usual forest distribution with an overwhelming amount of shadow mana.


    The group decided that this would be the best choice as shadow mana was mostly focused on stealth meaning that once the enemy was located taking down one that was several levels higher wouldn¡¯t pose as much of an issue.


    ¡°Sorry.¡± Lexi and Anna said at the same time as they retreated more towards the center of the group.


    Ajax had already killed a miniboss on this floor, so had Anna, Lexi and Xavier. They were simply looking for a final one for Benedict before they could leave the floor. ¡°Found one up ahead.¡± Aranor said. ¡°It¡¯s a snake.¡±


    All of the monsters on this floor had been a half beast half elemental hybrid, these creatures were simr to the phoenix in that while they did have the physical form of a creature their bodies were entirely made up of elemental magic, in this case shadow magic.


    Benedict took out his own sk of boosting potion as he prepared his enchanted sword and shield. Since the creatures were formed of shadows attacking them with regr physical attacks would be pointless, using a weapon crafted from magic infusedponents was the only way a physical user could fight them.


    The fight started as Benedict threw a torch at the location of the snake and used the light to finally locate his enemy. Despite being a physical fighter Benedict did still have magic skills, most notably [Sense Mana] that he used to lock onto the snake as he dashed towards it, not letting it get in position to lunge.


    The snake was coiled around a few different branches and had to be at least forty feet long, despite its nimble reflexes Benedict had caught it unaware and managed tond a good opening sh on one of its eyes.


    Ajax didn¡¯t know how but apparently even partially elemental creatures still relied on their sensory organs, unlike full fledged elementals who didn¡¯t. From there Benedict pressed his advantage beautifully as he stuck to the snake''s blind side as it jumped from branch to branch following the head and looking to finish the battle quickly.


    It was here that the level difference showed, The snake had about twenty levels on Benedict, not only that but unlike Lexi, Anna and Xavier Benedict had missed out on three floors worth of additional stats in the Empire, not only that but the disadvantage hadpounded on floors in their previous dungeon runs through the Republic where his physical fighter limitation stopped him one floor sooner that the mages. The snake was quick enough to keep retreating while only taking shallow wounds.


    Despite the disadvantage in speed Benedict showed his genius in carefully leading the snake right where he wanted as he finally trapped it and dropped down to impale it right through the head. The snake had nowhere to go as its body was tangled around the branches all around them.


    Feeling the snake expel arge amount of mana, Ajax suddenly worried for Benedict as the snake phased its shadowy coils right through the branches that were restricting it and tightened its coils right on Benedict as he was dropping towards the head.


    It was only thanks to the protective enchantments on Benedicts armor that the snake didn¡¯t have enough time to crush Benedict in its grip as his sword prated straight through the snake''s skull dispersing the body into shadowy fumes.


    ¡°That was close.¡± Benedict said with a grin as he approached the group.


    All of them congratted him, none of them making any mention of the blood that was dripping from his nose, clearly some of the blow from that final attack had made it past the defensive enchantments.


    ¡°What floor next?¡± Ajax asked as he presented the options while ra cast a few healing spells on Benedict.


    With Benedict, Xavier, Lexi and Anna bowing out at this point the next floor was an earth floor, selected more for its valuable potential instead of any ease of clearing, the floors inhabitants would all be below level eighty and nighter Harold, Darkw or Ajax would have any problem dispatching them.


    They quickly made their way through the earth golems, unfortunately they hadn¡¯t managed to find anything they could take back out by the time they cleared all the minibosses they needed.


    ¡°So we have a light and fire floor, a lightning and wind floor or a nt and something you don¡¯t recognise.¡± the prince Harold asked as he took in their options.


    Out of the three of them Harold was the weakest and he would have the hardest time killing the level ny fives. ¡°I say we go for the nt one, at least that should have something I can kill.¡±


    Nobody else had any reason to object as the group made their way onto the next floor. Ajax barely had enough time to clear the +1 to all stats notification before the smell hit him like a ton of bricks.


    ¡°Urgh.¡± it took a lot out of the princess to not retch at the stench.


    ¡°What is that?¡± ra asked as she covered her own nose.


    ¡°Holy shit.¡± Ajax mumbled as he looked out over what he could see of the floor.


    ¡°You¡¯re only half right there.¡± the prince said, his usual grin unaffected by the smell, on a closer look however Ajax noticed the prince was in fact holding his breath. ¡°I guess we found out what that mana type you didn¡¯t recognise was, Decay.¡±


    Ajax cursed under his breath, just his luck to find a floor based around natural nt fertilizer.

 Chapter 368

    Chapter 368


    Ajax¡¯s initial reaction to the floor was negative but that quickly changed as he looked towards the look on the elves'' faces.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± he asked as he saw the princess and ra look gleefully towards the floor.


    ¡°Nothing.¡± Aranor said as they all put on a neutral expression.


    ¡°So this is how you do it.¡± Harold said as he let out a low whistle he quickly regretted because it caused him to take a deep breath.


    ¡°Do what?¡± even the prince was curious what Harold had pieced together.


    Aranor, ra and Arianwyn kept their neutral look on their faces but all of them turned towards Harold.


    ¡°Every merchant House has been wondering for years how the established elven households have such prosperous ess to specific high quality nts.¡± Harold exined. ¡°What was specific about it however was that it was mostly quick growing nts or collectable parts of older nts. They have been trying for years to get their spies to learn those secrets.¡±


    Ajax quickly put together why Harold was aware of this, something this big would be of great importance in a political arena so of course House Silvertongue would be aware of it, the question was what could they get for it.


    ¡°What is it?¡± the prince asked, he was also aware of the secrets but he wasn¡¯t all that invested in the crafting or procurement side of the nobles.Darkw had the good sense to understand that this wasn¡¯t something that would simply be handed out so he wasn¡¯t surprised when the prince put up a privacy screen around all of them, the elves were included just to confirm Harold''s hypothesis.


    ¡°They harvest anything with the decay attribute theye across in high dungeon floors and use it to rejuvenate a small garden where they can actually grow the higher end ingredients or just nurture some high end trees.¡± Haroldid out his theory. ¡°Finding decay floors isn¡¯t reliable but they would only need one twice a decade at most just to rejuvenate their gardens, if the floor is as plentiful as this one can be they can probably stretch it out for longer.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t someone have figured this part out if that was all there was to it?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°They probably have gardeners with specific skills tenting them.¡± Harold exined. ¡°Without arge amount of fertilizer it would take a long time on incremental improvement to raise a garden like this while also raising the farmers and gardeners, everyone who has tried it was going for a quick version.¡±


    ¡°I remember that.¡± the prince eximed as he remembered being part of a ¡®boring¡¯ briefing regarding the subject. ¡°They had some sess with the first and second harvests but the garden lost its mana concentration soon after.¡±


    After listening to the exnation Ajax couldn¡¯t help but be a little mad at his own oversight of this. For years now he had been pumping a lot of his own mana into his garden by topping up the nts, infusing it into the ground and even releasing it into the air around them to increase the mana concentration but he hadpletely overlooked adding highly mana infused fertilizer.


    ¡°We should scour this floor then and see if we can get any results with this theory.¡± the prince said.


    ¡°It won¡¯t do you that much good.¡± Arianwyn spoke for the first time since entering the floor. ¡°The mana level here is too high to start with, trying it with this would just be a waste.¡±


    ¡°The statement is truthful but she¡¯s trying to cover something with it.¡± Harold advised the prince, clearly his rtion to House Silvertongue was paying dividends.


    Thinking about the situation Ajax could see the problem they would have, it was the same problem he encountered every time he infused more mana in one area too quickly where the mana would burn out anything living in the area. While this discovery will help along his own gardens progress it will take time before he could use anything with mana levels equivalent to the low to mid nies as they were on this floor.


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    ¡°It won¡¯t work for us because you have to slowly work up to the point they can handle this level of mana.¡± Ajax offered his insight.


    ¡°You¡¯ve been trying this in your little farming plot?¡± The prince¡¯s question moved the elves'' stares from Harold to him, a bit of surprise briefly showing on Arianwyn and ra¡¯s faces.


    ¡°No, I was trying to get the same result without anything but regr fertilizer, this is what I was missing.¡± Ajax silently cursed his oversight. ¡°It¡¯s been really slow going and the few attempts I had in trying to speed things up set me back.¡±


    ¡°So it''s worthless to us?¡± the prince asked.


    ¡°No.¡± Ajax¡¯s answer quickly put a damper on the elves'' happy thoughts. ¡°We can still use what we take to grow some high end ingredients for one or two harvests, it won¡¯t help us long term but it''s still useful.¡±


    ¡°But¡­¡± Arianwyn started to talk but Aranor cut her off.


    ¡°What do you want for it?¡± Aranor asked instead, quickly picking up on Ajax¡¯s n.


    ¡°This is high quality, we can¡¯t make best use of it but it''s not worthless.¡± The prince also picked up on Ajax¡¯s thoughts. ¡°Since it''s not a restricted resource however it belongs to us, well to the crown and Ajax since the delve spots are ours. You want to sell it to them, what for?¡±


    ¡°People delving this high up is pretty rare.¡± Ajax thought aloud. ¡°With how restricted the dungeons are for high end delves I doubt there are more than one decay floor a month even being spawned in a kingdom at this level range. Since this is still kept secret I would guess a lot of those go to waste since the people who get them don¡¯t know what to collect.¡±


    Ajax could also feel the satisfaction at learning of this, with his ability to determine the floor types and lower floors with any decent amount of Decay mana on them could be something he could collect from.


    ¡°Let''s trade whatever they can collect on this floor.¡± Ajax offered. ¡°In exchange they can give us five times the amount in less mana infused fertilizer they have stockpiled, the best we can use.¡±


    ¡°Deal.¡± ¡°Ten times.¡± Both Aranor and the prince spoke at the same time. A staredown starting between the two.


    ¡°Six times.¡± Aranor said and at this moment Ajax deeply wished that Anna was still there with them.


    ¡°Nine.¡± the prince rebutted.


    ¡°Seven.¡±


    ¡°Eight.¡±


    ¡°Seven.¡± Aranor repeated and Ajax could see the prince concentrating, neither of them were merchants but clearly the both had at least one merchant skill they had trained at least a little, unfortunately for Ajax Aranor was almost twice the princes age and he had traded far more.


    ¡°Seven.¡± The prince agreed in defeat as his own skills lost out.


    ¡°You need to start with level forty stuff, any higher and it won¡¯t work.¡± the princess said.


    ¡°I need something higher.¡± Ajax said with a smile. ¡°My garden is already above standard, I am thinking level fifty should do.¡±


    ¡°That wasn¡¯t¡­¡± Arianwyn started to say only to stop as she went over the deal one more time. The terms were they would be traded for the best that Ajax can use, since Ajax could use higher quality they would need to provide that higher quality.


    ¡°What will you be doing while they scour the floor to collect all of it?¡± the prince asked since it would probably take Aranor a while to do that.


    ¡°I¡¯ll get the miniboss out of the way first but after that I will use as much as I can for alchemy. I might be able to make something that should help Harold kill something on this floor as well.¡± Ajax said.


    Harold looked excited at the prospect, fifteen levels was a lot for him to jump considering he wasn¡¯t quite as much of an outlier in terms ofbat as Lexi, Benedict, Xavier or Anna. Not to mention he hadn¡¯t delved the same number of floors rtive to his level as them either.


    Despite therge Decay presence on the floor the main element was still nt mana. More than that Ajax found that the nts on this floor seemed to have a much sturdier base and they could take more of his Life mana before they were in danger of disintegrating.


    ¡°Fuck!¡± Ajax eximed as he dived for cover putting arge tree between himself and the cauldron he was working with, an instantter to cauldon detonated like a grenade throwing shrapnel everywhere.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± the prince asked as he inspected the st site to see that it was one of Ajax¡¯s cauldrons specifically for explosive ingredients.


    ¡°Overfilled the explosive ingredients.¡± Ajax said as he came out from behind the tree. ¡°Turns out even if the ingredient can handle that much mana without disintegrating it bes too unstable to work with.¡±


    ¡°What were you making?¡± Harold asked curiously.


    ¡°Herbicide.¡± Ajax answered. ¡°Since it¡¯s made from this floor the dungeon should have no issues with you using it to kill a nt miniboss.¡±


    ¡°Did you make anything sessful?¡± Harold regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth but he was a little disappointed in the failure.


    ¡°Oh yeah.¡± Ajax said without even noticing the unintended criticism in his excitement as he pulled out two sks. ¡° This is a physical booster, it will grant about a 10% increase in physical stats for five minutes.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s almost twice as good as the ones I have.¡± Harold eximed and even the prince looked interested since that was the same effect as some of the best boosting potions the royal family had ess to.


    ¡°Yeah but the bacsh is twice as bad,sts twice as long and it also causes diarrhea for the duration.¡± Ajax said. ¡°This other one is a quick acting short term paralytic. Takes about two seconds after the poison is applied to fully paralyze something for five seconds. Subsequent applications take longer to take effect but the paralysis period should be consistent up to four applications.¡±


    ¡°That should be enough time for me to kill something.¡± Harold said with glee.


    ¡°It won¡¯t work on nts, only on flesh sadly, and it¡¯s for something asrge as an adult human needing arger dose for something bigger.¡± Ajax said. ¡°I¡¯ll give the herbicide another go, I know where I went wrong.¡± with that Ajax took out his second cheaper cauldron and got to work, Harold quickly backing off to a respectful distance just in case it exploded again.

 Chapter 369

    Chapter 369


    It took Ajax multiple attempts before he was finally able to create a herbicide he was happy with, thankful none of his other failures ended in an explosive manner, despite this Ajax couldn¡¯t help but feel that he wascking. No matter what he did Ajax didn¡¯t think he was getting everything out of the ingredients he was using.


    ¡°This should be good enough to help you kill a miniboss.¡± Ajax said as he passed the herbicide and the booster potion to Harold.


    ¡°What went wrong?¡± the prince asked as Ajax was collecting his alchemy equipment.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Ajax said a little exasperation leaked through as he got to the core of the matter. ¡°I tried multiple different approaches until I ran out of prepared ingredients but it never felt right.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not unexpected.¡± the prince said with an understanding smile. ¡°If anything that you managed to even make something as good as you already did is a reason for celebration. Most people take at least half a century of dedication after they finish their apprenticeship before they can properly use ingredients from this high a floor.¡±


    Looking at it that way Ajax could see how he was expecting too much from himself. He could feel his alchemy skill being pushed to the edge as he tried to adapt and react during the brewing process just to keep the mixtures stable. His [Dungeon Crafter] skill was almost at its first threshold as well.


    ¡°Unlike yourbat prowess your crafting doesn¡¯t scale as much off stats, give yourself time to grow your skills.¡± The prince knew that Ajax had recently gained two Epic alchemy crafting skills that will speed up his progression. ¡°I know it might not seem like it because of how young you are but you have centuries to go before you even hit your physical prime, let alone start to grow old.¡±


    That was something Ajax still had issuesing to terms with. Unlike most other things his experience from Earth was actually more of a detriment in this case as his previous perspective on age didn¡¯t match the one present in this world. He was not even twenty five and he would easily live another forty times that long considering how quickly he had raised his Vitality and how it would continue to grow.


    Watching Harold as he battled the miniboss was rxing. With the boosting potion and herbicide the battle actually favored Harold, the only thing he needed to look out for was the five minute timer on the boost but he managed to win with twenty seconds to spare as he opened up arge gash in the center stem of the giant venus flytrap looking nt where he poured his remaining half a vial of herbicide. ¡°That was closer than I would have liked.¡± Harold heaved out as he returned to Ajax, Darkw and the prince.


    ¡°You still had plenty of time left.¡± the prince said. ¡°If you were down to thest ten seconds I would have started to worry.¡±


    ¡°Here.¡± Ajax said as he extended another vial to the man.


    ¡°You¡¯re giving me this now?¡± Harold asked while epting the potion.


    ¡°It¡¯s an antidote.¡± Ajax exined. ¡°Won¡¯t do anything for the bacsh of the potion but it should negate the diarrhea.¡±


    Harold looked like he wanted toment on that but five minutes since he took the boost had psed and an ominous gurgle from his guts was all it took for him to uncork the sh and down the potion.


    ¡°UGHHHH¡­¡± Harold tried his best to hold it down. ¡°Can¡¯t you do something about the taste?¡±


    ¡°Once I can make them consistently I¡¯ll worry about that.¡± Ajax responded.


    With that taken care of the group moved back to the rendezvous spot where they would meet the three elves, seeing how they were the first ones back despite the almost twenty hour long session alchemy they had clearly found something worthwhile.


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    ¡°Do you think something happened?¡± Ajax asked after two hours of waiting.


    ¡°Nothing here on this floor could pose even a mild threat to me, let alone someone like Aranor.¡± The prince reassured him. ¡°Collecting might be taking them a while however as mages are not known for their physical stats.¡±


    Half an hourter the first change they felt in a while happened. A massive heatwave washed over all of them, it wasn¡¯t quite as strong as the one Anna unleashed on the lower floor but it wasparable.


    ¡°They¡¯ll being soon.¡± the prince said as he activated a rune that formed a small win barrier around them.


    ¡°What is going on?¡± Ajax asked, a little surprised.


    ¡°Floor boss spawned.¡± the prince answered.


    ¡°Is this your first time seeing how an elemental floor boss affects the floor?¡± Darkw asked.


    Ajax simply nodded in affirmation. Over the years he had seen twenty floor bosses after the kitsune. Despite the higher chance for them to appear as the floors got close to level one hundred it wasn¡¯t guaranteed. Of those twenty he had even killed four of them, the others forcing them to retreat and have the dungeon guards kill them on the outside.


    None of those twenty encounters had been with an elemental type boss. He had learnt about them and knew that they would affect the climate of the entire floor but it was his first time seeing it.


    ¡°The heat wasn¡¯t that bad.¡± Harold said as he waved his hand towards the wind bubble.


    ¡°It¡¯s not for the heat.¡± the prince said, a small shiver traveling through him. ¡°It¡¯s for the smell, if you thought it was bad before, imagine how it would be after warming it all up.¡±


    Nobody made any other mention of the barrier but they all threw grateful looks towards the prince as their noses scrunched up at even the idea of the repulsive smell. It only took ten more minutes before the elves finally made their appearance confirming the prince¡¯s prediction.


    ¡°I take it you found something?¡± the prince asked.


    ¡°Half the ring.¡± Aranor said as he passed the ring over for the prince to inspect.


    ¡°Does that have a preservation enchantment?¡± Ajax asked as he looked closely at the ring.


    ¡°It has to.¡± Arianwyn exined, ¡°Decay mana naturally wants to spread and ¡­ well decay. Even with the enchantment it will only prolong the time until it takes for the mana density to lower.¡±


    This made sense to Ajax, the enchantment wasn¡¯t temporal in nature after all it worked to keep things fresh by keeping them isted from outside influences, this wouldn¡¯t matter all that much to something that was already decaying.


    ¡°Let''s get out of here¡± ra said as she looked around for an arch. ¡°I don¡¯t want to stay on this floor any longer than I have to, even as valuable as it may be.¡±


    ¡°What choices do we have for the final floor?¡± the prince asked Ajax as they started moving.


    ¡°Earth, fire, lightning.¡± Ajax answered as he nodded in the direction of each respective arch, he kept his answer down to a whisper, since the next floors would have levels as high as one hundred and twenty three Ajax could only get the dominant mana type.


    ¡°Earth it is.¡± the prince nodded and took the lead towards the first arch.


    ¡°We¡¯ll wait for the both of you at the nearest city.¡± Arianwyn said as they made their way towards the arch. ¡°All of us could do with a shower.¡±


    Nobody objected to that and Ajax was sure that as soon as the people outside got one whiff of them as they exited there would be no objections from them either. As they got to the next floor and Harold Ajax and Darkw got their increased stats they all left Aranor and the prince to clear the floor.


    ¡°Finally you¡¯re back, I was so worried.¡± Lexi wasted no time tackling Ajax as he exited the arch, something she very much regretted as her nose protested Ajax¡¯s new fragrance.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Anna asked.


    ¡°We¡¯ll exin on the way.¡± Harold said as he started moving towards the carriages, everyone around the arch gave them a wide breadth after ra reported the status to the dungeon guards. ¡°Some of us could use a shower and we¡¯ll wait for the two in the nearest vige.¡±


    Ajax spent the way towards the vige exining what happened to Anna and Lexi, he had also offered to share with Benedict and Xavier but both of them were content to wait and not get closer to Ajax than they had to.


    ¡°That is very interesting.¡± Anna nodded as she also quickly put together the same theory Harold had once she heard that the floor that dyed them was a nt and Decay floor.


    ¡°So what is the next dungeon?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°That would be the first Deepwood dungeon and also their worst one.¡± Arianwyn said. ¡°It¡¯s one of the worst ones with a neen level floor jump and it starts with a thirty one to thirty six range.¡±


    Ajax could help but agreed, even for him the dungeon would only provide three stat points to all stats while everyone else would be limited to one because of how the floors jumped.


    ¡°We¡¯re going into Deepwood.¡± Ajax said with a small frown as he remembered the start of his interaction with Deepwood¡¯s ambassador.


    ¡°In Deepwood we must stick together.¡± ra said. ¡°All of you will have assassins after you, it¡¯s too big of an opportunity for some of the more bigoted nobles to let slip.¡±


    ¡°Will it be that bad?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°Aranor won¡¯t be able to join us in the dungeons since we don¡¯t have the spots for him, once you all exit early stick close to him.¡± ra warned. ¡°Not only that but always exit with a shield up and ready for an attack, other races aren¡¯t allowed to delve their dungeons so humansing out will get a dungeon break reaction.¡±


    The conversation continued on the topic as they made their way to the vige as all of them started mentally preparing themselves for how Deepwood would be.

 Chapter 372

    Chapter 372


    The situation was tense, thankfully the attack had beenunched by an academy student whose level was in the early thirties and could be ignored as a reflexive attack since he had his bow in hand.


    ¡°What are humans doing in the dungeon?¡± One of the more racist students directed his question towards Lioriel, that she had also justmanded him also didn¡¯t sit well with the young noble.


    ¡°Their party has been given permission to delve the dungeon by the queen herself.¡± Lioriel didn¡¯t bother to exin further even when the silence stretched ufortably.


    ¡°At what cost can we have other races enter the dungeon?¡± The silence was broken by an elven boy who didn¡¯t look at the four humans with distaste.


    While the boy wasn¡¯t racist he had no issue letting very work out positively for his own fortune. His family had built a rather sizable wealth by buying and training ves, it was simply what they were good at. They also had one of thergest stand alone armies, it was mainly formed ofmoners who signed the right for the noble house to conscript them into a militia in exchange for training. This had been their way for years and almost all of themoners who had entered the contract never ended up being called upon, the simple threat of being able to call them was worth a lot more to the family than the cost to train them.


    ¡°This was a one time dispensation.¡± Lioriel quickly crushed his hopes.


    ¡°So this is the group from Gryndor.¡± the duke''s son finally joined the conversation as he cut short his examination of the four humans. ¡°Mother told me that they would being.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re not even ves and they are in our kingdom and delving our dungeons.¡± The racist elf began to heat up again. ¡°What possible price would move our queen to ept such an insult?¡±


    ¡°I suggest you calm down Thaniel.¡± the duke¡¯s son said coldly. ¡°This special dispensation was given to prevent all out war.¡± Both Aranor and Lioriel frowned at just how well informed the student was, despite that neither said anything as the boy was clearly smart and helping the situation go smoothly. The young noble had quickly herded his ssmates and guards and moved them to one side of the clearing. While thankful for his actions Lioriel was feeling a little troubled by the fact that they weren¡¯t leaving.


    The whole situation had blown over and for over two hours and thirty minutes nothing seemed to be amiss before one of the students once again approached the humans, the rest of the group following behind her with a variety of different looks on their faces.


    ¡°Are you Xavier Gryndor?¡± The girl asked Xavier.


    ¡°I am.¡± While Xavier hadn¡¯t joined in the previous interaction he wasn¡¯t at all intimidated by the elves.


    ¡°Did you really already graduate from the Academy?¡± The girl¡¯s excitement grew as she stared at Xavier¡¯s ssically handsome face and the blonde locks that framed it.


    ¡°Who cares if he graduated from the Academy?¡± one of the elven boys asked jealousy not giving Xavier a chance to speak.


    ¡°He¡¯s half a year younger than I am and I still have two more years, he qualified at the age of sixteen!¡± The girl defended Xavier.


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    ¡°The human academy is just a lot easier.¡± The boy said as he nodded towards the humans with a sneer. ¡°Barely any of them can use magic so they have to make it easier. He¡¯s the same age as me but I could beat him, same as I could any other human my age.¡±


    The boy¡¯s had meant the statement as a challenge and an insult, however the reaction he got from the humans was one that nobody had expected. Instead of being offended and outraged or dismissive all four of them broke out intoughter. Their reaction even caught Aranor and Lioriel by surprise as they had been prepared to end any conflict.


    ¡°You think I am a joke.¡± The boy yelled as he took an aggressive step towards them.


    ¡°I very much doubt you could beat me.¡± Xavier said his face once more stoic an intimidating look contrasted to his previousughter. ¡°We just cleared the second floor of this dungeon while I am guessing you were here for the achievement of clearing the first. That however is not the reason I¡¯mughing.¡±


    The change in Xavier¡¯s deminorbined with his social skills was enough to intimidate the elf into retreating a step backwards unconsciously. That act in and of itself once registered only fueled the boy¡¯s rage further.


    ¡°You think so little of me you -¡± The boy''s words were cut off as the duke¡¯s son put a hand on his shoulder to silence him.


    This brought the entire group''s attention on the duke¡¯s son for a quick moment before it shifted back to Xavier as he started talking once more. ¡°From what my inspection skill is telling me you¡¯d have maybe a one in twenty chance to beat me in a fight, one in fifteen if I¡¯m being generous. I know for a fact however that you wouldn¡¯t be able to give Ajax a fight even if he took it easy on you.¡±


    ¡°Oh is that so?¡± the boy angrily yelled as he used his inspection skill on Xavier only for it to be blocked so he turned towards Benedict and tried it again. On Benedict the skill managed to take hold enough to let him know that challenging Benedict was a colossally stupid idea, just not yet a suicidal one. ¡°Are you this Ajax?¡±


    As if on queue following the words five more people stepped out from the arch, two elves, two humans and one beastkin. All five of them had abat ready stance with three of them also holding a mana power shield around them.


    Their entrance should have been a simple curiosity but the identity of one of the people was too much for the academy students to ignore.


    ¡°Is that¡­¡± one of them whispered.


    ¡°It¡¯s her!¡± another barely got the words out as she stared in awe.


    ¡°The ice princess.¡±


    As princess of their neighboring kingdom Arianwyn had previously made a trip into Deepwood about five years ago. On that trip she had taken part in a tournament and despite being five years younger than the tournament limit she had managed to pull out a hard fought win.


    The students'' trance-like states were broken by a slightly panicked scream ¡°Ajax!¡± Lexi cried out as she dashed towards him, her eyes focused on a rather nasty looking cut that adorned his left arm. ¡°What happened? Are you alright?¡±


    Ajax didn¡¯t hesitate to catch Lexi in a hug with his good arm while being careful to keep her away from his injured one. ¡°I¡¯m fine, I just got a little careless.¡± Ajax waved away her concern. ¡°This mantis type monster however had a very interesting poison. It¡¯s hemorrhagic but its strength is based around disrupting healing magic.¡± for the next part Ajax leaned in even closer to her ear and activated the privacy enchantment on her earring. ¡°It¡¯s right at the edge of my [Poison Resistance]. Both my Light healing and [Poison Resistance] should progress nicely.¡±


    Ajax knew that he could easily heal straight through the poison by simply adding a Life mana based healing spell, he had in fact done that exact thing to heal Harold who had gotten more than a single cut during his own battle with a simr monster that gave Ajax his souvenir. But since the poison was actually inflicted during proper and appropriatebat Ajax¡¯s skills would benefit from it a lot more than any self ingested poison so he was content to take advantage of it.


    ¡°So you¡¯re Ajax.¡± the elf who had been previously screaming at Xavier murmured as he tried his inspect skill on Ajax only to be rewarded with a sharp jolt of pain that further fueled his rage.


    As the elf took a step towards Ajax he was quickly obstructed by every single female in his ss. His murmur hadn¡¯t been as quiet as he had thought and none of the girls wanted to risk having this idiot attitude affecting Arianwyn¡¯s impression of them.


    ¡°So that¡¯s him?¡± the duke¡¯s son addressed Xavier as he looked towards Ajax. ¡°I have to admit he looks intimidating enough.¡± Ajax¡¯s taller frame with wide shoulders but still slender buildbined with his pitch ck hair were rather intimidating.A brief twitch of pain cued Xavier in that he attempted to inspect Ajax. ¡°The human prodigy who beat the ice princess.¡±


    Those words sent another ripple through the group of students as they not all watched Ajax closely, most of them wincing in pain as they tried to inspect him.


    ¡°I thought humans aged like dwarves, is he half-elf?¡± Thaniel asked the duke¡¯s son, he had calmed down following his first outburst and seeing how their enraged ssmate had done when confronting Xavier he was d his friend had calmed him down.


    ¡°He isn¡¯t and they do.¡± The duke¡¯s son said. ¡°But just like prince Xavier mentioned earlier he is younger than us.¡±


    Those words caused a nket silence tond upon the group before a flurry of whispers broke out amongst the elves. The duke¡¯s son didn¡¯t miss the opportunity he was looking to create as he approached Lioriel. ¡°Would it be possible for us to apany you on your way to the capital, with their presence here I feel that the roads would be more dangerous than usual.¡±

 Chapter 371

    Chapter 371


    As the group approached the dungeon they started running into a fair number of different types of monsters. They were all fairly weak for the most part around the low fifties but every now and then a stronger one around level seventy would show up.


    ¡°Why are there so many of them?¡± Ajax asked, confused, no kingdom should have a section filled with monsters of this level just out in the open.


    ¡°It¡¯s because of the level jump between floors.¡± the prince answered.


    ¡°We have a dungeon with a twenty level jump but I never saw anything like this there.¡± Ajax said as he thought back to that dungeon, he had to admit that the entire area around it was rather deserted.


    ¡°That¡¯s because it is more centrally located.¡± the prince said. ¡°The monsters are routinely cleared out as punishments given out by the Adventure society. There is no reason for Deepwood to clear out the monsters in this area, in fact it¡¯s better for them if they don¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°I doubt these monsters would slow down any invasion force.¡± Ajax said. ¡°We are cutting through them with no problem and there are so few of us.¡±


    ¡°They aren''t a deterrent for invasion, it''s for runaways.¡± Benedict chimed in. ¡°Our border with the empire is mostly open ins, and runaway ves are an issue. In a forest like this just leaving the monsters alone will be a strong enough deterrent for anyone under level fifty.¡±


    Despite his disdain for their methods Ajax had to agree that it was a smart move. Why waste resources to deal with something that not only isn¡¯t a problem but is actually a benefit.


    ¡°The quicker we get through these dungeons the better.¡± Lexi said darkly. Arriving at the dungeon arch Ajax saw that it very much resembled the dungeon from back in Gryndor. There were no people setting up small stands in the surrounding area, simply a small guard outpost that was there to register anyone entering and send out an emergency signal should there be a dungeon break.


    ¡°There are eleven of you.¡± The ranger leader of their new protection detail said as they poured out of the carriages next to the dungeon. ¡°The agreement is ess for ten.¡±


    ¡°I will be staying outside.¡± Aranor said simply.


    ¡°What do you think you are doing?¡± one of the guards on duty at the dungeon said as he saw the group head towards the arch. His re filled with disgust as he looked towards the humans and Darkw.


    The man was quickly pulled aside and silenced by his partner who covered his mouth while lowering his head to the elf. ¡°Are you suicidal? She¡¯s a queensguard, just record and report anything else is going to be handled way above us.¡± With his Perception Ajax had no issues hearing the rushed whispers, but he paid them no mind as they all stepped inside the arch.


    The first floor they entered was a massive cornfield that surrounded arge fortress town. It didn¡¯t take long for them to find the first arch that was guarded by an oversized roon. The beast didn¡¯t even stand a chance as Harold decapitated it with a swift swing of his sword as it tried to jump him.


    ¡°Earth, Water and Darkness.¡± Ajax said as he touched the arch. ¡°No light at all so I¡¯m thinking some type of cave themed floor.


    ¡°Let''s look for another one.¡± the prince said. ¡°A flooded cave is one of the few things I am not certain I can protect you from.¡±


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    There was no argument there as nobody wanted to risk drowning and they moved on to the next arch, one defended by a small pack of coyotes that quickly followed the roon¡¯s fate.


    ¡°nt, Life, Water, Earth.¡± Ajax said as he touched the arch. ¡°Some light as well, this should be a swamp or a forest or field with a river going through it.¡±


    There were no objections to this theme so the team entered and found themselves in a swamp. ¡°Be on the lookout for mud golems, there was quite a bit of Life mana.¡± Ajax warned them as he took in his surroundings.


    Everyone nodded as Lexi, Anna, Benedict, Xavier and Ajax started their hunt for a miniboss.


    _________________________________________


    Aranor P.O.V.


    It would only be two or three hours before the low leveled nobles would return, this dungeon would be one of the quickest the team would boost since there would only be five total floors including the quickly passed first floor and the final one that the prince would clear by himself. Even then Ajax was the only one who needed to kill a miniboss on the second floor and that would speed everything up even more.


    ¡°Spread out and search the surrounding areas.¡± Lioriel Shadowstridermanded, I didn¡¯t know the girl all that well but I remember fighting her father on multiple asions. Their House had always produced skilled rangers and while she wasn¡¯t yet at the same level as me she was still young.


    Half of the elite guard force she wasmanding headed into the forest to check. It was clear to me at a nce as they split themselves into teams of two that this guard force was thrown togetherst minute. They were allpetent but they didn¡¯t have the fluidity that came from working together for a long time, they had likely been selected for their strength and the fact that they had no issues with humans.


    ¡°What is going on?¡± the smarter of the two dungeon guards asked me after he got nowhere with Lioriel following his partner¡¯s insulting questioning of the queen¡¯s decision to allow non-elves into the dungeon.


    ¡°The ambassador in the Republic almost caused a war when they used a skill on a human child during a feast.¡± My answer was calcted to share specific information that was not sensitive and would only build goodwill. ¡°The head of their House was quick in asking for ess to Deepwoods dungeon for the slight.¡±


    ¡°Why are there so many humans then, and why only one beastkin and no dwarves?¡± the guard asked.


    ¡°The House in question came from Gryndor not the Republic.¡± I responded. ¡°They sold a few spots to Sylvanthal and the Republic but most of them went to their own kingdom.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s enough.¡± Lioriel said as she approached and sent the guard back to his post. ¡°Those were some misleading answers.¡±


    ¡°Everything I said was true.¡± I said.


    ¡°You also left out that the child in question was the head of the House, let alone his¡­ unique situation.¡± she said as joined me in watching the arch.


    ¡°Just assuring the political importance of our short trip here is reported.¡± I contine.


    ¡°It is also undermining the royal family''s credibility.¡± her tone now using.


    ¡°Hardly,¡± I waive my hand. ¡° The mistake will simply be one more thing reinforcing the reason why the king stepped down from the throne and let his daughter take over as it was his decision to send that ambassador.¡±


    I could tell that while she didn¡¯t much like my reasoning she epted it. After a minute of silence she moved on the next point, one I knew would being. ¡°Is everything they¡¯re saying about the human true?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what rumors have made it all the way here.¡± I say nothing and preempt any further questioning on this topic. ¡°Nor would it be my ce to share any information on this topic. All I will say is that he is still a child, by noble standards anyway, and that he won the tournament.¡±


    ¡°What about his views on elves?¡± She moved on epting my answer.


    ¡°He has no issues with elves as far as I could tell over the weeks we traveled together.¡± This was a point His Majesty had asked me to make sure was made perfectly clear. ¡°A bad encounter here so early in his development is the biggest risk.¡±


    Our conversation was cut short as a group of twelve elves exited the dungeon, two of them were above level one hundred.


    ¡°Identify yourselves.¡± Lioriel said as her hand snapped to her bow.


    What followed was a tense half an as Lioriel verified that the people who exited were who they imed to be, the youngsters among them were Academy students from the fourth year and the two veterans were guards of a ducal house whose scion was part of the ss.


    I also tuned out the ten minutes Lioriel spent chastising the guards for not informing her that there was already a boost happening.


    ¡°There is nothing in the surrounding areas.¡± At that moment the teams that surveyed the surrounding returned, their words putting the two veterans on guard.


    ¡°Is something going on?¡± the senior of the two veterans asked. ¡°And may I ask why you have a spell ready?¡± The second question was addressed to me.


    ¡°That¡¯s Aranor Starfury.¡± the second veteran said, recognising me, his words putting the first veteran on a hair trigger.


    It was at that moment that the four humans I was expecting stepped out of the arch. I wasted no time releasing the spell and creating a protective wind wall around them. My actions were well timed as one of the students was quick to fire an arrow as he saw humans exit the dungeon.


    ¡°You are to stand down!¡± Lioriel shouted as she notched an arrow of her own.


    I quickly made my way over to the four while silently cursing. Why is it that anything that can go wrong always does.

 Chapter 373

    Chapter 373


    The first reaction to the question had been a resounding no. Both Aranor and the prince knew that there was no way it was a coincidence that the students were here. After thinking on it for a bit however they decided to allow them to tag along but only if they could keep up.


    As a whole the group wanted to spend as little time as possible in the kingdom of Deepwood so they would be heading straight for the capital from here. Their timeline would have them exiting the kingdom in under two months. So they started their ten day journey towards the capital.


    It didn¡¯t take long for the first radical to make the first attempt on the group. Two days into their journey as they were passing through thends of a small-time Baron whose house had fallen from Viscount three generations ago the group was charged by a small army numbering two hundred people.


    ¡°We¡¯re under attack.¡± The prince calmly ryed as he entered therge carriage.


    ¡°By what?¡± ra asked uncertain how to take the prince¡¯s nonchnce.


    ¡°Baron¡­ I didn¡¯t pay attention to the name.¡± the prince said with a shrug after a moment of silence. ¡°Small force of two hundred.¡±


    It was here that Ajax got to see countries put so much emphasis on their elites. The group that was escorting them was formed of twenty one people, with the exception of Lioriel they ranged in level from the high eighties to the early hundred. The people ambushing them were justmon guards of failing House most being in their high fifties with a few standouts reaching higher.


    The fighting Ajax had seen before as part of the skirmish between two local nobles was nothingpared to what he was seeing now. Outnumbered ten to one their escorts had no issues carving a bloody path through their ambushers. The difference in stats and skills was too high for there to even be a question of who woulde out ahead.


    Shortly after the fighting started the students also joined the rest of the group in the spacious carriage as the most defensible position, though both Aranor and the prince insisted that their guards remain outside as a security precaution. Despite them being on the losing side Ajax couldn¡¯t help but pay very close attention to the ambushers'' fighting style. It was clear that despite some of them not being mages, or even hybrid fighters they were still using spells as part of theirbat.


    One archer summoned a small fire in front of himself that he used to ignite the arrows he had dipped in some sort of elerant. A warrior had used a weak wind spell centered on himself that caused a swift breeze to flow towards him from all directions giving himself a way to know if someone was behind him.


    As he watched Ajax made a small note to himself to spar a few of the physically focused elves once he got to Sylvanthal to see if he could pick up a few tricks that humans might not havee up with because of how rare magic was for them.


    ¡°Did the baron note himself?¡± Ajax asked after watching the carnage for a few minutes.


    ¡°He did.¡± the prince said as he pointed towards the man in the center of a defensive circle formed by the remaining forty ambushers. ¡°The idiot who can¡¯t cast focus well enough to cast a spell properly.¡±


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    Ajax was utterly unimpressed by the noble. During his time in the capital he did learn that most low nobles andmoners weren¡¯t all that different, the big difference came that nobles were given a big push early in life to level, that they were boosted through dungeons and had ess to stat increasing potions.


    Nobles who lived in the capital were more refined by their environment. With peers and external pressure the quality rose. Out in the countryside the only difference between nobles andmoners were a few extra social skills and arge number of points added to Vitality that waspensated for by bought stats.


    ¡°Will they just kill him?¡± Ajax asked as he watched the defensive formation be taken apart with almost no effort.


    ¡°No, it¡¯ll be a public execution.¡± The duke¡¯s son answered. ¡°They¡¯ll capture him and the royal family will make it a spectacle to outline their stance on any attacks on your group.¡±


    The flicker in Anna¡¯s expression as she digested the information was missed by almost everybody, it was only her best friend who caught it. ¡°What¡¯s wrong Anna?¡± Lexi asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure how to feel about this development.¡± Anna answered honestly. ¡°He was a sacrificial pawn.¡±


    As Ajax thought about what that could mean it dawned on him. If students in the academy hadn¡¯t known they were here how would a nobody baron? He was clearly leaked the information. Considering the presence of the escort and the public execution it was all nned out by the royal family.


    ¡°Though that does beg the question, are you here as part of the n or is your father ying a different angle?¡± Anna asked the duke¡¯s son.


    The man in question didn¡¯t have the social skills high enough to hide the apologetic look he threw his ssmates as some of them stared daggers at him for dragging them into something without letting them know. Ajax also made note of the three of them he picked out that had not been surprised by the revtion, either they knew in advance or put the pieces together before Anna pointed it all out.


    ¡°It¡¯s a different angle.¡± Harold said the Silvertongues had given him a full debrief on the royal families, archdukes and dukes of both Sylvanthal and Deepwood. While they didn¡¯t have perfectly up to date information as shown by the surprise news of a chance in ruler.


    ¡°Father is looking to make use of your visit to take care of a few problematic minor nobles in hisnds.¡± the duke¡¯s son didn¡¯t hold back the information. ¡°Us traveling with you like this would give me the pretext of being ¡®offended¡¯ at any disparaging remarks about some new friends I might have recently made.¡±


    The whole n relied solely on them making the journey to the capital together, something that had already happened.


    ¡°And do you have anything to provide for us?¡± The prince didn¡¯t even skip a beat as he asked for payment for their part in the n.


    ¡°I was hoping to pass this along once we arrived in the capital but I see no reason not to tell you now.¡± the duke¡¯s son answered. ¡°There is a kidnapping nned for one of the nights you are in the capital. I am not sure who is the target or whose n it is but I do know they are using the Fade Leaf mercenaries who have more than one person working for them at the Springwood inn.¡±


    There was a deep silence as the group was slightly surprised to hear the name of the inn they had actually nned to stay at instead of their decoy arrangement.


    ¡°That¡¯ll do.¡± the prince nodded with a grin not giving away any effect the information had despite thecking poker faces of the rest of them.


    Ajax would have had trouble holding in augh when confronted with some of the expressions that some of the students had when they heard the exchange of information between. This was all overshadowed however by the realization that he might very well not be the target. He subconsciously got closer to Lexi and ced his arm protectively over her shoulder.


    ¡°The threat has been dealt with and their leader captured.¡± Lioriel¡¯s voice broke the silence. ¡°We can continue on our way.¡±


    ¡°What happened?¡± Ajax asked, probing to see what she would say.


    ¡°The crown has removed an inconvenience while strengthening the security of your group.¡± Ajax was pleasantly surprised to see that Lioriel didn¡¯t try to hide that they expected the ambush.


    ¡°Did they also order this attack?¡± Ajax¡¯s voice turned a little flinty. Much as he despised certain types of nobles he also took issue with betrayal.


    ¡°No,¡± Lioriel answered. ¡°All nobles whosends we would be passing through have been notified of your arrival. They were not notified of my presence, we expect at least another ambush before we reach the capital, possibly two. The road we are taking specifically goes through thends of nobles whose personal forces don¡¯t pose a threat to your escort and whose financial situation would not allow them to hire more experienced people.¡±


    Ajax was satisfied with that answer, he couldn¡¯t be sure if it was the truth but while it wasn¡¯t a situation he endorsed it was one he could ept.


    ¡°Why go through all this to remove them?¡± Ajax asked after he returned to his seat. ¡°Couldn¡¯t the queen just take away theirnds?¡±


    ¡°In theory she could.¡± Arianwyn answered. ¡°Unfortunately it is an unwritten rule that a king or queen who removesnds from nobles for simple mediocrity and slight ipetence sets a precedent that would see them removed. She just needed them to give her a better reason.¡±

 Chapter 374

    Chapter 374


    Having an escort and a group of academy students tagging along hadn''t been that much of an inconvenience at first but that was solely down to the fact that it had only been a few days. Being apanied at all times meant that Lexi couldn¡¯t practice forming her Domain, and neither could Ajax practice to unlock his Vibration mana. It was a blessing for Ajax that he could keep practicing his Alchemy or he would have gone a little stir crazy.


    The second ambush the small convoy met had gone down far differently than the first. Unlike the first Baron they happened upon this one had at least scouted the people he was looking to ambush and had wisely chosen to forgo hostilities.


    ¡°Baron, what a surprise to see you here.¡± Lioriel greeted him and his three hundred fighters.


    ¡°It is a pleasure to see you again, Lady Shadowstrider.'''' While the Baron¡¯s words were polite his delivery was wooden. ¡°May I ask why you are traveling through mynds?¡±


    ¡°The Queen has tasked me with escorting our guests to ensure no international incidents ur.¡± Lioriel answered. ¡°Is there something going on in yournds that you have such a force with you?¡±


    ¡°We are merely ensuring that there are no thieves lying in wait.¡± Even Ajax could spot the lie a mile out but nobody called the Baron out on it. ¡°I do wish you safe travels.¡±


    ¡°Looks like the n failed.¡± Ajax mentioned once they were out of the Baron¡¯s earshot.


    ¡°Not entirely.¡± Harold said. ¡°It¡¯s the beauty of a n like this, even though the Baron still lives, that was a very harsh warning he just got. Either he cleans up his act or, considering he could very well have died today already, there most likely won¡¯t be a third chance.¡±


    Their convoy was halfway to the capital by the time the students had managed through sheer persistence to convince Arianwyn to give them a small personal demonstration. ra was also roped into helping by having a little spar. Ajax was watching the two of them face each other with deep seated interest. Despite this being a short spar where neither would even be seriously fighting it would still be the first time Ajax would see two Domains ovep in direct confrontation.


    The moment both Domains were deployed Ajax felt how the Storm and Winter fought for supremacy. The blizzard surrounding Arianwyn could be seen taking the lead, no doubt helped by the fact that she had a higher level in her Domain skill.


    More interesting however was what Ajax noticed was happening as spells started flying. The whole point of a domain was to have weaker spells travel through it to absorb mana and gain power. With two domains ovepped however when a spell drew power from the Domain by draining the mana along its path it would allow the opposite domain to take dominance.


    The clearest example of this happening was when ra opened with a lightning bolt that cut across the battlefield and cracked the ice wall Ariawyn had opened with. Not one to let go of an opening however the elven princess was quick to send a powerful gust of wind down the same path the lightning bolt took and air st perfectly connected to send ra flying backwards into a tree.


    As the fight dragged on it became clear that ra not only didn¡¯t have the same experience with using her domain as Arianwyn but the princess had experience fighting against other Domain users as well.


    After a few exchanges the spar ended but the power both of the elves had wielded left a deep impression on the students that were watching them. Almost all of them promised themselves to talk to their family about finding a way to incorporate a Domain into their fighting style.


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    ¡°We¡¯ve entered the final Viscountcy before we reach the capital.¡± Lioriel warned them as they were only a little over a day away from the capital.


    It didn¡¯t take a genius to figure out what she meant by that so everyone traveled morepactly into the main carriage for protection. The third ambush seemed to follow the theme of the first where the ambushers didn¡¯t bother to talk and just attacked.


    This group was a bit stronger than the first but what they had in quality theycked in numbers. The attack was only fifty people, this wasn¡¯t enough to seed and it was something the Viscount leading them also figured out quickly as he tried his best to retreat.


    Lioriel and the rest of her escort wasn¡¯t about to let the Viscount live as they moved to chase down the retreating stragglers. She hadn¡¯t made it more than one hundred paces from the carriage when her attention was drawn back to it by the door being ripped open.


    Ajax could barely track what was happening as [Danger Sense] started yelling at him. A foot in front of him Ajax could clearly see the hand of an elf dressed in full ck leather holding a longer dagger that was pointed towards him. Holding the elf by the wrist was the prince whose runes were flooded with mana.


    The assassin tried tossing the knife at Ajax as soon as his wrist was caught but the prince sted the dagger off course with a quick spell that left a sizable dent in the walls of the carriage. The assassin¡¯s next move however caught Ajax by surprise.


    The assassin didn¡¯t even try to free his hand from the prince¡¯s iron grip, he instead drew another knife and cut himself free by sacrificing everything from the elbow down. The assassin made a concentrated effort to have some of the blood spill towards Ajax as yelled out amand.


    ¡°<em>MARKED!</em>¡± the assassin yelled before he exploded into shadows.


    Ajax recognised the technique used as it was the same one Shadow had used for moving through the shadows. He also wasn¡¯t the only one to do so as Aranor sted the area with a powerful light spell as the assassin retreated out the already ripped open door.


    As the assassin exited the shadows and ran for his life Ajax could see the trail of blood that he left in his wake.


    Everything happened in but a few moments. Ajax had been left feeling a little defenseless as he was barely able to do anything to defend himself. Still as he looked towards his right hand that still held another needle ready to throw Ajax couldn¡¯t help but smile a little at having fought back against someone so much stronger than him.


    ¡°What did you hit him with?¡± Aranor asked as he had noticed Ajax throwing the needle without any hesitation.


    ¡°Poison I came up with.¡± Ajax said proudly.


    ¡°Oh!¡± The prince looked like he forgot all about the attack as he quickly put up a privacy barrier around him and Ajax. ¡°What¡¯s it do?¡±


    ¡°The opposite of a hemorrhagic poison.¡± Ajax tried to exin his creation.


    ¡°So his wounds would stop bleeding quickly?¡± the prince frowned as he didn¡¯t seem to understand.


    ¡°If he doesn¡¯t get it treated quickly enough there is a good chance that a clot will form in his heart or brain.¡± Ajax''s smile looked a little evil as he exined his poison. ¡°It might look like it''s actually helping him right up to the point he has a heart attack or a stroke.¡±


    ¡°Can you do something about the mark?¡± The prince said after a short moment to process.


    ¡°The mark?¡± Ajax asked unsure what the prince was talking about. He had heard the assassin yell ¡®<em>MARKED!</em>¡¯ but he didn¡¯t know what he could do about the skill.


    ¡°It¡¯s a Rare skill that works off of Shadow mana.¡± the prince exined. ¡°Focus on where the bloodnded on you and see if you can remove it with [Mana Syphon].¡±


    Despite his best effort Ajax didn¡¯t manage to sense any mana, surprisingly however his [Mana Syphon] did find something to drain so Ajax kept at it until there was nothing else there.


    ¡°Did you catch him?¡± the prince asked as he lowered the privacy barrier and looked towards Lioriel who was standing in the doorway of the carriage.


    ¡°No, he got away.¡± Lioriel said as she lowered her head slightly in shame.


    ¡°He got away from you after the beating he took despite leaving a long and deep trail of blood?¡± even Aranor raised a brow at the ranger.


    ¡°I prioritized killing the Viscount before he could escape.¡± Lioriel didn¡¯t feel guilty about that, her orders were clear and she knew that with both the prince and Aranor here, there was nothing she could personally do to stop an assassin from seeding that they couldn¡¯t.


    ¡°I see.¡± The prince said with a frown. ¡°In that case you best send one of your men ahead to make sure we can enter the dungeon when we arrive tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°The delve wasn¡¯t sch-¡± She started to answer but didn¡¯t get to finish.


    ¡°He was marked.¡± the prince said as he pointed to the blood spots on Ajax, while Ajax might have gotten rid of the mark nobody else knew that. ¡°The quicker we finish the trip the better.


    Lioriel had nothing to rebut there and she silently cursed the assassin as she sent one of her people to make sure there were no issues when they arrived at the dungeon.

 Chapter 375

    Chapter 375


    ¡°What is this mark?¡± Ajax asked, it wasn¡¯t something he had heard about before.


    ¡°It¡¯s an assassin group thing.¡± The prince said darkly.


    ¡°Pretty much every assassin group picks it up.¡± Benedict chose to exin. ¡°It also bes part of their initiation along with some blood ritual and hunting. Hardest part is the initial hunt to unlock the skill for the founders.¡±


    ¡°You get marked with the blood of one of them.¡± ra joined in. ¡°That basically puts a tracker on you and marks you so that any attacksing from the group be stronger. Not only that but with every failed attempt the mark can stack up.¡±


    ¡°Any way to get rid of it?¡± Ajax asked. He was pretty sure that he had gotten rid of the tracking part of the mark but the damage amp was still there.


    ¡°The mark only fades when thest group member dies.¡± Aranor answered before he turned darkly towards Lioriel. ¡°The mark does lose half its power if the person who marked you is killed however.¡±


    ¡°So they won¡¯t stop?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°No chance for that.¡± Benedict said with a scowl. ¡°There is a reason why despite the almost guaranteed way to get a rare skill that stacks like that almost all nobility avoid it like the gue. Every single person in the group just became allergic to your survival, it won¡¯t mean anything for a few weeks but after that it will start with rashes, then shes of pain, migraines. It will keep escting until you die or they all do.¡±


    Hearing that Ajax got a malicious thought. ¡°What would happen if I just decided to enter a dungeon and live there for a few years.¡± Ajax had no sympathy for the assassins. ¡°That¡¯s one of the crueler ways to deal with the skill.¡± ra said. ¡°We have records of assassin groups going mad and killing their employer for putting them through this after five years of torment after their target did exactly what you are suggesting.¡±


    As much as Ajax would love to give karma a chance to serve the group their just deserts, he simply couldn¡¯t afford to waste a few years in a dungeon even if he spent the time practicing his skills.


    At that moment Ajax could once more feel the mark on him pulse one more time before dimming down and fading away into the background once more. His poison worked, together with all damage the prince and Aranor did it was enough to finish off the assassin.


    ¡°The crown will add a few more high level guards to your escort following this development.¡± Lioriel promised. ¡°I assure you we will do our best to finish your trip as quickly and safely as we can make it.


    As the convoy made it to the dungeon the students finally all went their own separate ways. Most of the students were extremely friendly towards Arianwyn and ra with a few of them even being friendly with the non-elven members of the group. By the same token a few were ecstatic to be able to finally get away from them and they didn¡¯t bother to hide it.


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    Ajax and the rest didn¡¯t care all that much, they were all focused on the arch in the middle of all the defensive formations. A capital dungeon, the initial floor started from twenty-five all the way to thirty with five level increments per floor. Ajax was doing his best not to drool as he thought about the +11 to all stats that were waiting for him, hell with such a low increment he was willing to try for a +12 and go past the level one hundred threshold.


    As the humans and beastkin made their way towards the arch confidently they were greeted by the jeers of the crowd. If he had to find a way to describe what it was like the best Ajax could havee up with was a peaceful protest. A small contingent of guards opened up a path for them to reach the arch but on either side of that pathway elven adventurers were spitting out vitriol towards them. Despite the hate and outrage nobody even tried to escte things to a physical or magical altercation and the group simply ignored as they entered the dungeon.


    The first three floors were a joke. Since none of them could gain any stats from them they simply barreled through the first arch they saw. On the second floor Arianwyn didn¡¯t even bother killing the miniboss guardian simply freezing its feet in ce as the entire team walked through the arch.


    The fourth fifth and sixth floors were a steady step up in difficulty for all of Ajax¡¯s ssmates but none of them were a true issues for any of them. The floors took a lot longer to clear since they had to travel and find one miniboss for each of them to take on alone so they called it a day at the end of the sixth floor and set up their camp in front of the arch that would take them to the seventh floor.


    ¡°What are you thinking about?¡± Ajax asked Lexi as he snuggled into her around the campfire they had set up.


    ¡°I¡¯m a little worried about tomorrow.¡± Lexi admitted as she returned his affectionate gesture.


    ¡°You¡¯ve got nothing to worry about.¡± Ajax wasn¡¯t just trying to reassure her he genuinely meant it. ¡°The eighth floor should only go up to level sixty-five, as long as you don¡¯t choose to go into a bad fight I have no doubt you should be able to win with Vibration mana.¡±


    ¡°I want to clear the ninth floor.¡± Lexi whispered, almost like she was admitting it to herself.


    That confession struck Ajax silent for a moment. He wanted to tell her not to risk it, that there was no need for that but the words died in his throat as he thought about the risk he was taking by going past the level one hundred barrier for the same increase.


    ¡°I¡¯ll make sure you get a good match up.¡± Ajax promised her.


    With that all of Ajax¡¯s ssmates called it an early night as the following day was going to be much tougher for them than it would be for Ajax since with the number of floors left to clear they would take at least another two days.


    ¡°The assassin died.¡± Ajax told the prince now that everyone else was asleep.


    ¡°That¡¯s good, did you get a skill from killing him?¡± The prince asked.


    ¡°Nothing.¡± Ajax said and he saw the confusion on the prince¡¯s face. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°I guess it was too much assistance.¡± the prince said with a light sigh. ¡°Seems like your poison isn¡¯t as lethal as I thought it was. That doesn¡¯t mean that I don¡¯t want to buy a batch once we get back to Gryndor, imagine that a poison that makes your opponent overconfident by seemingly slowing their blood loss only for it to give you an opening a littleter.¡±


    ¡°Hold on a minute there, What do you mean by too much assistance?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°You just killed a trained fighter that was almost three times your level who was trying to kill you.¡± The prince¡¯s voice was low and serious. ¡°Even if you had help younded the killing blow yourself. About what level would you say the nts you used to make the poison were?¡±


    ¡°Before I started topping them up, mid to high fifties.¡± Ajax wondered where he was going with this.


    ¡°Do you have the ingredients to make a stronger one?¡± the prince pushed on.


    ¡°Might have to substitute a small bit on one of them but I can get a mid to high sixties one.¡± Ajax said as he looked through his special ring. ¡°If I can get it to work at that level.¡± the second part he whispered to himself as he remembered how many failures it took to get the working variant he had now.


    ¡°Great, see if you can finish it before we leave the capital.¡± The prince''s grin turned a little evil. ¡°We might be able to get you a good skill off the next idiot thates after you.¡±


    Leaving it at that Ajax went to join Lexi in the tent their shared, seems like tomorrow would also be a difficult day for him as well as he only had three attempts to get the poison right before his ingredients ran out.

 Chapter 376

    Chapter 376


    As the team woke up they quickly made the transition to the seventh floor, while this floor wasn¡¯t a breeze for any of Ajax¡¯s ssmates the level sixties could only be counted as a good warm up.


    Ajax had carefully chosen the eighth dungeon to make sure he got one where he could find a few alchemy reagents so that he could get in the swing of things before he started his attempts at the poison using the ingredients he brought in with him. Not only that but he was hoping that whatever he could make to help give Lexi a better shot on the ninth floor.


    ¡°What are you making?¡± Harold asked Ajax as he saw him ving over the cauldron while everyone else was hunting in the jungle that was the eighth floor.


    ¡°This is a strong freezing agent.¡± Ajax said as he carefully bottled the mixture while using his air magic to ensure there was no contact with the air.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t feel cold.¡± Arianwyn said as she picked up one of the sks he bottled.


    ¡°It isn¡¯t cold.¡± Ajax confirmed as he sealed the third sk. ¡°The mixture doesn¡¯t stay in liquid form when it is in contact with the air. While evaporating it draws in all the heat it can from the surroundings so quickly that it freezes everything. It¡¯s why the sks are so big and sealed.¡±


    ¡°You mean to say you don¡¯t even open it, you just throw it and smash the sk?¡± ra nodded as she looked at the sk Arianwyn was holding. ¡°I¡¯ve used ones that exploded before but I have heard there are freezing ones as well.¡±


    Ajax didn¡¯t mention that the freezing ones were a lot trickier to create. The difference between the two was that the explosive one became unstable in contact with air and exploded, while the freezing one was stable in both stages, this meant that a skilled alchemist could use his mana to stabilize the explosive mix during the creation process even if it made contact with the air.


    After he had five sks filled with the freezing potion Ajax swapped over to make a very sticky substance. The main reason for this was that the arch guarded by the miniboss he had defeated had a very strong earth mana present. Using both the freezing and sticky mixture Ajax was pretty sure that Lexi could use her Vibration mana to best an earth golem.Ajax only needed to make two sks of the sticky mixture before he finally decided to give the poison a try. Unlike the two previous mixtures the difficulty when making the poison didn¡¯te from how the mixture reacted to the outside but from getting the ingredients to properly mix.


    Ajax silently worked for over thirty minutes as he blocked out everything that was happening around them as he trusted Harold to keep an eye out for him. Unfortunately even that wasn¡¯t enough as the mixture separated instead of neatly fusing. Much as he wanted to give it another go it was time to get going as he finally noticed that everyone had returned.


    ¡°Here you are.¡± Ajax said as he passed the sks over to Lexi.


    ¡°What are these for?¡± Lexi asked.


    ¡°That arch there leads to a primarily earth dominant floor.¡± Ajax said as he pointed to the arch. ¡°Not only that but I can also feel a good amount of Life mana as well so we should be able to find earth golems there, these should let you stick them in one ce, freeze them and then you can use your Vibration spells to shatter them.¡±


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    ¡°Thank you!¡± Lexi quickly stored the sks in her spacial ring and wrapped Ajax in a very tight hug.


    ¡°You¡¯re going for one more?¡± Xavier asked incredulously.


    Lexi simply nodded as all her ssmates looked at her supportively and with a very slight hint of envy. Out of all of them Lexi was the only one who stood a chance on the next floor as she was the only one with something as powerful as a Legendary skill to make up the twenty-five level gap.


    As the team stepped onto the floor Ajax noticed that they found themselves on a hillside covered by white marble. Everywhere he looked Ajax could see massive temples with white coulombs that reminded him of the Acropolis of Athens with the surrounding filled by moving statues of all different sizes made from the same material.


    ¡°Woah!¡± Xavier eximed as he closed the notification for getting an extra boost in stats from clearing the floor and took in the architecture all around them.


    ¡°It¡¯s certainly something.¡± Arianwyn said as she also looked interested in the odd buildings. ¡°Seems very simr to the way dwarves build their underground support pirs but with the stark white color and the non-cramped space squeezed beneath the earth.¡±


    Seeing as none of them could recognise the Greek architecture made Ajax a little worried about what that could mean. Was he the reason that certain odd floors kept popping up? It had happened before, the most obvious example had been the floor that belonged in a gxy far far away but he had left that aside as a technological understanding. This however was basic stone work. One thing was for certain Ajax had no intention of clearing this floor any more than they had to on the slight chance that the floor boss was actually a medusa.


    It didn¡¯t take long for the first group of statues to attack them, just like Ajax had expected however they weren¡¯t any harder to handle than the usual earth golems he was used to fighting, the only difference was that these had a much sleeker frame that depicted a very fit human instead of a vaguely humanoid shaped mound of earth or rock.


    ¡°There is your target.¡± Ajax said as he pointed Lexi towards a small temple inside of which a statue was guarding an arch.


    ¡°Why that one? It¡¯s rather big.¡± Lexi questioned the one Ajax selected for her.


    ¡°It¡¯s too big to squeeze between the coulombs.¡± Ajax exined his n. ¡°Throw the sticky mixture through the door and then use A shockwave on one side of the temple to bring the whole structure down on it.¡±


    ¡°Then I can use the opening when it¡¯s digging itself out to toss the freezing sks and set up my spells.¡± Lexi quickly caught on to his n and was fully on board.


    Knowing she wouldn¡¯t have much time once the fight began, Lexi urately tossed the sks so that the sticky mixture would spread just past the entrance to the small temple. She then moved to the right side where she could see the statue had started following her movement.


    Lexi took out her boosting potion and downed it before she quickly began the chant for her Domain. This wouldn¡¯t be a battle of attrition like the one on the previous floor where she chose a defensive monster and slowly whittled it down, either she could kill this statue before it got to her or the prince would intervene before it killed her.


    As soon as she unleashed her Domain the statue started sprinting for the exit of the temple as she started the chant for the shockwave she nned to use to know the temple down. It was frightening to see therge rock giant dash so quickly towards the exit, but her fear subsided slightly as the giant tripped right at the entrance as her cast was almost finished because its leg got stuck in the ck tar-like substance Ajax had provided.


    Seeing the crater that formed where the statue¡¯s knees made contact with the temple floor convinced Lexi that there was no way she could take a direct hit. Her shockwave spell was finally ready and she tried to help it along as much as she could with the mana from her domain spell as she unleashed it towards the support coulombs.


    The spell worked even better than she hoped as not only did it bring down the coulombs but it also caused the statue to lose its bnce right as the roof copsed on top of it. Despite the tion at her sess Lexi moved on straight to the next spell that she would prepare to unleash as soon as the statue dug itself out.


    With a sk at the ready in hand Lexi carefully approached the pile of rubble that was moving as the statue broke its way to the surface. The previous pristinely sculpted muscles were now chipped and scratched, a thickyer of dust covering everything. Lexi didn¡¯t hesitate as she tossed three sks of the freezing mixture Ajax had given her and was prepared to unleash her spell as soon as it finished taking effect.


    What Lexi hadn¡¯t expected however was that the statue would mimic her n and toss a rock from the rubble towards her before even standing up properly. It was only thanks to her defensive enchanted equipment that the rock was deflected to only clip her shoulder, shattering the joint in the process.


    Anna and Harold both worked together to keep Ajax from rushing in there as soon as he heard her shoulder crunch from the impact. Despite the pain Lexi grit her teeth and watched to see the head, neck and top right part of the statue freeze as an odd steam rose from where the sks spilled their contents. She carefully aimed her spell and unleashed a powerful shockwave that crushed the frozen part of the statue to small pebbles.


    Lexi was able to hold on to her consciousness long enough to make sure the statue didn¡¯t get back up before she sumbed to the pain andck of mana. The whole world started going ck and Lexi was sure she was out before she hit the ground.

 Chapter 377

    Chapter 377


    Ajax panic left just as quickly as it arrived, the moment he felt the statue die he knew that Lexi wasn¡¯t in anymore danger. Despite knowing that it didn¡¯t make him any slower in pushing himself to make sure he caught his girlfriend before she dropped to the ground after she passed out.


    Lexi was only unconscious for a few seconds as Ajax used his Light and Life mana to help her enchanted items in healing her following the battle. As she woke Ajax could see the confusion as her memories of the fight were reviewed, despite that he was happy that even when waking up like this she made jerky motions to stand up, simply learning even more into his embrace.


    ¡°How are you doing?¡± he asked her after she got her bearings.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got a killer mana headache.¡± Lexi said in a quiet whisper before her voice picked up some volume and pride. ¡°But I did it.¡±


    ¡°I never doubted you.¡± Ajax¡¯s lie was almost perfect, nothing about him gave away that he had almost crushed that statue the moment the blow on Lexinded, the same could not be said of Harold and Xavier who were right next to him.


    ¡°Yeah, right.¡± Harold who had held him back mumbled.


    ¡°Bullshit.¡± Xavier delivered the least believable cough of all time.


    Lexi kindly chose to ignore the two of them as she got back to her feet before checking her notification and breaking out in an exmation. ¡°I did it!¡±


    ¡°Lexi?¡± Ajax¡¯s tone now had a quiver of concern as he examined her head for any injury he might have missed. ¡°No, not that.¡± Lexi waved him off. ¡°I got my Domain, the skill is finally there [Domain - Dizaster(Fire, Wind, Water, Vibration)].¡±


    A new wave of congrattory cheer went out from all of them as Lexi did her best to ovee the exhaustion she was feeling.


    ¡°Anyone else want to try and clear this floor?¡± the prince asked after he gave them a moment.


    Nobody spoke up, Anna knew that she didn¡¯t have the defense required to take a direct attack and fire just couldn¡¯t kill anything fast enough for them not to retaliate. Xavier looked like he was thinking about it but in the end he decided not to push it and simply shook his head no.


    ¡°Fine then, Ajax go take out your frustration because we need to get moving.¡± the prince said.


    ¡°Actually we aren¡¯t in that big of a rush.¡± Ajax said.


    ¡°You do remember we are trying to get out of Deepwood as quickly as possible?¡± the prince said with a serious voice.


    ¡°I know but this floor is perfect for my Alchemy¡± Ajax said. ¡°Earth and Life mana perfectlypliment my poison, I only have two attempts so it will be two hours at most before we move on to the next floor, it''s just not that big of a rush.¡±


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    Following hisment Ajax dashed off in search of his own mini boss to kill in order to bleed off some of the restless energy that had built up as he watched Lexi¡¯s fight. It didn¡¯t take him long to find a target and with it being only level seventy Ajax used his hammer and Metal mana infusion to turn the hydra statue into a massive pile of rubble.


    As soon as he was finished with that Ajax let out a relieved sigh before taking out his cauldron and reagents. The first mixture Ajax started with was a simple healing potion, he was only making it to get a good sense of the ambient mana before he tried the poison.


    While the healing potion came out great the same could not be said for his first attempt at the poison. Sure the abundant earth mana in the surrounding air had made it a lot easier for Ajax to get his ingredients tobine; he hadn''t ounted for the side effect of so much Earth type mana. While his mixture dide out just as toxic as he would have liked it to be it also came out with the same consistency of honey. There was no way to use it as a poison since it would more likely than not simply plug the wound it was applied to than enter the bloodstream.


    His second attempt did wind up better than the first but it was still nothing he could proudly call a sess. The second try hade out as an inferior version of the poison to his identification skill, it was still stronger than the original poison he had used to kill the first assassin, but only marginally so despite the much better reagents used.


    ¡°How did it go?¡± The prince asked once he saw that Ajax was finished.


    ¡°Not great.¡± Ajax said with a sigh as he tossed a small tin with the first result. ¡°That should work as an antidote to hemorrhagic poisons that are resistant to healing, just make sure to only apply a little, wipe it away quickly afterwards and don¡¯t use it for any wounds above the neck or close to the heart.¡±


    ¡°I thought it was a poison opposite the hemo-¡± the prince cut off his own sentence as he opened the tin and saw the viscosity of the mixture that might as well be a cream. ¡°I¡¯m sure it will have its uses, what about the other attempt?¡±


    ¡°That one went better.¡± Ajax said as he showed a small vial of the poison. ¡°Still very close to a failure but it''s a little stronger than the one I had previously.¡±


    ¡°That will have to do unless you find some other ingredients in the dungeon that you can take outside.¡± The prince followed that with an evil smirk. ¡°You still finished off thest kill, we''ll just have to make sure not to hurt the next one that badly once he starts running.¡±


    After the team stepped on to the tenth floor all of Ajax¡¯s ssmates exited the dungeon. With only Ajax being able to gain anything from this floor he made quick work of it and moved on to the eleventh. It was here that the delving speed started to slow down for the first time since they started their trip. With Arianwyn and ra also needing the floor clears they now had two more people scouting and soloing bosses.


    While the eleventh, twelfth and even the thirteenth floor weren¡¯t all that hard to handle, the same could not be said about the fourteenth floor that pushed Harold to the limit.


    ¡°I got this.¡± Harold grunted even as the snake he was fighting sank its fangs into his leg.


    The prince respected Harold''s determination and watched as Harold brought down his sword with so much power that it went straight through the snake''s scales, brain and flesh to pierce out the snake''s mouth and into Harold''s own leg.


    As soon as the snake was dead the prince was there to apply a tourniquet to Harold¡¯s leg to both stop the blood loss and to stop the poison from spreading.


    ¡°It¡¯s a hemorrhagic poison.¡± Ajax quickly analyzed what remained of the venom sac from the snake corpse. ¡°It won¡¯t stop the healing but make sure you keep the tourniquet in ce until the wound is sealed or he will lose too much blood.¡±


    The prince nodded as he gave Harold a supplement snack to eat, that should help him rece the blood he lost without interacting with the boosting potion he took before the fight.


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t your poison cream work as well?¡± Darkw asked as he prodded Ajax jokingly about his failed attempt.


    ¡°In theory, yes.¡± Ajax nodded. ¡°But it was still an attempt to make a poison, I wouldn¡¯t try it out without a proper healer present and especially not on someone who can¡¯t take a potion.¡±


    Once Harold was stable the team moved on to the fifteenth floor where Harold bowed out and the rest of them remained to battle the level one hundred. Since Ajax had managed to find a humanoid floor none of them were that worried about the uing fights. Yes, they wouldn¡¯t be easy but all four of them had already cleared simr floors in the main dungeons of their own respective kingdoms.


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± Arianwyn asked Ajax once they were all standing in front of the arch to the sixteenth floor. ¡°The jump in power is a lot bigger than just the ten levels, the dungeon bes a lot harder, the monsters are stronger if more solitary.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure.¡± Ajax said as he followed the prince onto the sixteenth floor.


    Once there everyone but Ajax and the prince exited while Ajax took a deep breath feeling the increase in ambient mana as he swiped away the extra stat notification to take in his new surroundings.


    The sixteenth floor was forest themed. Out of all the options they found on the previous floor this was the best one, not only that but it seemed like fate for Ajax considering the first floor of the first dungeon he entered was forrest themed so his first floor past level one hundred should be the same.

 Chapter 378

    Chapter 378


    Ajax P.O.V.


    The dense forest stretching out all around us ispletely unfamiliar, [Danger Sense] is constantly pulsing despite the fact that I haven¡¯t moved from the spot right in front of the exit arch.


    ¡°I know this was briefly covered in the Academy but you haven¡¯t yet faced a monster above level one hundred, take your time to inspect and analyze them.¡± the prince reminds me as I scan the trees surrounding us.


    The academy did a deep dive on monsters but even then they mostly focused on monsters that can be found inside the kingdom or the lower floors of the dungeon. The main progression of a monster is the stages of growth, from infant to young, adolescent, adult and finally peak.


    While the beating heart of a monster''s power, its mana core, was covered in depth as it forms early on, monsters also have a level dependent evolution, the mana channels that connect the mana core to every inch of the body. This happens at level one hundred andes with a massive jump in power. It is that jump in power that keeps almost all adventurers from making the push past level 100 inside the dungeon.


    A few stomps and snapping branches behind me along with a much stronger pulse from [Danger Sense] lets me know that something is approaching quickly. I don¡¯t waste the time to look behind me as I roll out of the way, I move quickly enough that I have time to really take in the stag that tried to gore me with itsrge antlers.


    ¡°It''s level 107.¡± the prince tells me. ¡°Should be good for a warm up. If you can¡¯t take this on you won¡¯t kill a mini boss.¡±


    As I dash in with my shield held firm I bash the stag¡¯s head away as I open a clean path for my axe to open up its throat. I can feel the mana pulsing through the stag''s body, more than that because it''s all happening internally [Mana Syphon] can¡¯t touch any of it. The stag doesn¡¯t just feel like seven levels higher it feel more like twenty seven levels higher.


    My axe shes down covered in wind magic to help cleave straight through and while it does manage to break through the fur and skin the wound isn¡¯t as deep as I¡¯d like it to be. The stag¡¯s mana pulses much harder, I can see it gathering in its antlers.During the fight the prince has already started his duty. My battle with stag must have drawn some outside attention since I can feel the prince¡¯s mana being channeled as he dashes through the trees surrounding us. I can¡¯t focus on that just yet, I need to first kill my opponent.


    As soon as the mana starts to level the stag¡¯s antlers [Mana Syphon] find a hold and I can feel my own mana reserve not being emptied so quickly. The attack is clearly wind mana, a massive wind st is being sent towards me but my drain is clearly something the stag didn¡¯t anticipate as it takes him far too long to channel the attack, by the time heunches it I am already moving out of the way.


    Impressively enough the stag has the ability to dual cast. While charging up his wind attack he was also managing to keep me from binding his feet into the ground with my Earth magic. The stag isn¡¯t all that skilled however as while I might not be able to cover his feet and I did manage to form arge hole under him by pushing three hundred mana into it.


    Our second sh happens as the stag is trying to leap out of the hole, this time however I have a better idea about how to handle the exchange. I am clearly not the only one as a small puff of air is released right before the antlers make contact with my shield, killing a lot of my momentum and not forcing the stag to expose his neck.


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    The defensive maneuver works perfectly as I have no opening to strike at its neck a second time, unfortunately for the stag that wasn¡¯t my n at all as I swing my hammer glowing with the eerie glow of Void mana. The hammer connects cleanly on the stags ribcage to the right of its mana core.


    The split second longer it takes the void attack to travel from the point of impact is enough for the stag¡¯s front leg to m into my thigh breaking straight through my defensive enchantments and still hitting hard enough that I can feel my bones crack.


    The battle however is over as soon as the void attack finishes its travel. I can see the bug eyed expression as the internal damage forces the stag to vomit a mouthful of blood and its previous study stance starts to lose its bnce.


    I¡¯m not willing to let this chance go as Iunch myself off my good leg and follow up with a second void strike to head. The stag tries its best to put up a defensive wind wall but with its mana core cracked the power and control over its own magic diminished greatly and with [Mana Syphon] still working away the spell can¡¯t take form.


    The battle ends with a gentle tap of my hammer and a brief look of confusion crosses the stag¡¯s eye before blood gushes out of its eyeballs and nostrils as it falls to the ground, dead.


    ¡°That was harder than I expected.¡± I say to the prince who returned as I use my Light and Life spells to heal my leg, I¡¯m sure I have a massive bruise where the hoof connected with my thigh. ¡°I¡¯ll need maybe two or three hours to recover but I¡¯m confident in taking on a miniboss.¡±


    ¡°You did well.¡± the prince says as he examines the wounds on the stag. ¡°Wind was a bad choice to use for your first attack, those mana channels let it answer your wind mana with its own so it did almost nothing.¡±


    We spend the next twenty minutes waiting for me to finish healing my leg before we start moving and searching for my target. As we move through the forest I can see the monsters finally putting up some resistance against the prince. It isn¡¯t anything impressive, all of them are killed with a single attack but they are at least able to perceive and try to react to him now before they are killed. One wolf even managed to dodge his initial attack as it channeled Earth mana and tried burrowing through the ground.


    It takes only another hour before we find the miniboss we were looking for. A small pack of three wolves surrounds arge alpha that is guarding an arch to the next floor. ¡°I¡¯ll distract the three of them while you deal with the mini boss.¡± the prince offers.


    As soon as I am in position the princeunches an attack at one of the wolves by throwing a dagger at it. As soon as the attack connects I follow up in the moment of distraction andunch an lightning infused arrow straight towards the alpha.


    The distraction was enough for the three wolves to ignore me as the alpha yelped as the lightning surged through him. A pair of beady ck eyes locked onto me, despite the obvious pained yelping I could see the anger and hate in its eyes.


    Unlike the stag I don¡¯t want to give the wolf any chance and draw a second arrow. This one is infused with magma. I can see the wolf tracking the projectile yet despite its best efforts it still can¡¯t seem to move its body well enough because of the lightning coursing through it. The arrow doesn¡¯t strike the head as I nned but it does take it in the shoulder releasing magma insides the wolf body.


    The fight is almost over but therge amount of mana being channeled unsettles me as the wolf releases a howl and I brace myself by switching to my shield. I¡¯m surprised to feel that nothing happened. In my confusion I lower my shield to take a look and see the wolf crouching on its back legs right before it leaps and disappears as it finally uses the mana it was channeling.


    My [Danger Sense] screams at me as the wolf jumps from my own shadow going straight for my throat. This isn¡¯t good, I can¡¯t stop it, the best I can do is try to minimize the damage. I flood as much mana as I can into summoning an ice shield around my neck while also swinging both my hammer and shield looking to make sure I kill it after its attacknds.


    None of that happens however as the wolf¡¯s skull is shattered by a flying knee from the prince as he intercepts its ambush. ¡°This is why I told you to be careful.¡± the prince chides me. ¡°Until you get a sense for what mana type a monster favors don¡¯t leave openings like not infusing your own shadow with mana.¡±


    I have nothing to say to that, not that it would matter as the ice surrounding my throat wouldn¡¯t let me open my mouth anyway. I got ahead of myself, thest few dungeons had been getting easier and easier as my stats kept increasing, I wasn¡¯t expecting such ast ditch effort.


    ¡°Good reaction.¡± the prince says as he makes sure the alpha is dead while I remove the ice surrounding my throat. ¡°Good chance you might have won that even if I didn¡¯t interfere, but it was too close for me to chance it. How long do you need before we try again?¡±


    ¡°An hour for my mana to regenerate.¡± I answer as I take a potion to help me with my regeneration. I won¡¯t mess up next time, I promise myself.

 Chapter 379

    Chapter 379


    Ajax wasn¡¯t taking any chances with his second fight, both him and the prince had wandered through the forest as they waited for Ajax¡¯s mana to recharge back to full and they both searched for the next mini boss.


    ¡°That eagle looks like a good choice.¡± The prince said as he pointed to a bird with a wing span of twice Ajax¡¯s height.


    Ajax nodded in agreement as he saw the bird using a Wind affinity spell. With the knowledge of the monster''s mana affinity he felt a lot more sure of his chances, not only that but while birds were usually more dangerous than other animals they were also more fragile.


    Unlikest time Ajax now had the opportunity to take a potion before the fight began since the timing wouldn¡¯t be so close as it had been when the prince needed to distract the three wolves that had surrounded the alpha.


    As he drank the potion Ajax felt his muscles flex as he felt light as air and pulled out his bow as he loaded his first arrow. Rather than go for his usual opening shot of Lightning mana, Ajax decided to go with Magma. He had learnt early on in his days with The Collectors that flying enemies were best grounded with a sneak attack, while lightning might also achieve that having one wing covered in magma was a much surer way of achieving this.


    As Ajax pulled back the arrow he could feel the bow starting to struggle under his strength. The gear he had been given by the crown was supposed to see him through his delves in the Republic and maybe Sylvanthal but with the stats he had now after going through so many dungeons already as well as a boosting potion he was reaching the limit of his bow.


    Ajaxbined [Inspector¡¯s Eye],[Spot Weakness] and [Dismantle] to find the best spot to ce aim his arrow before using [Focused Aim],[Piercing Shot][Mana Augmentation] and [Mana Syphon] to put as much power behind his arrow as he pumped three hundred mana into the Magma augmentation.


    To the eagle¡¯s credit it did well in trying to use a wind wall to deflect the arrow and while it still managed tond on its wing the blow didn¡¯t hit the spot Ajax was aiming for. As soon as the arrow embedded itself in the wing arge amount of magma was released covering half the wing around the center where the arrow embedded.


    The eagle was quick to take to the air, though its previous swift and refined movement was now clumsy, slow and discoordinated. Ajax wasted no time pulling back his second arrow, now was the perfect time for him to switch to his Lightning as the eagle started to gain more altitude, even if the paralysis was only temporary it would still send it crashing into the ground. Unlike his first shot Ajax was no longer aiming for any specific point and instead he was doing his best to predict the eagles flight path as all he needed was for the arrow to make contact for his augment to do its job. Unlike his opening attack Ajax only used a hundred and fifty mana for his second shot.


    The second barely missed as the eagle was able to deflect it by an inch using its wind magic before locking on to Ajax as the enemy that was attacking it. Ajax wasn''t deterred and fired a third shot identical to the second, this one was much easier tond as the eagle was doing its best to dive towards him.


    The third shot almost suffered the same fate as the second due to the eagle much smaller form as it dove towards Ajax, the arrow barely made contact with one of the eaglesrge sharp ws but that was enough for the Lightning to discharge and the muscles spasms ruined the dive as the eagle plummeted thest thirty feet straight into the ground only a dozen feet away from Ajax.


    Ajax didn¡¯t waste a single moment as he pulled out his hammer and axe as he charged. He had felt the eagle using its magic even as its body refused to listen and it created a small air cushion to brace itsnding, the spell had been made less efficient by [Mana Syphon] but it was still enough that the eagle was mostly just inconvenienced by the crash.


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    Unlike most other monsters Ajax didn¡¯t choose to go with his Void mana, instead he infused both his hammer and axe with Metal mana. Birds had hollow bones so crushing damage was highly effective and its feathers would be almost negligible in terms of defense.


    Ajax could feel the bones snap and shatter as his hammernded on the eagles'' already injured wing. Instead of being able to follow up with his axe for a second strike however Ajax was forced to roll out of the way as the eagle¡¯s beak shot forward the moment the hammer knocked the defensive wing out of the way.


    The eagles attack was still too fast to fully dodge however what it gained in speed had been lost in raw power, the attack had managed to break past the enchanted shields on the armor it wasn¡¯t enough to more than leave a nasty scratch on the leather.


    Unlike the stag Ajax had fought as he entered this floor the eagle wasn¡¯t as used with being wary of the ground beneath its feet and Ajax managed to use his control over Earth mana to bury one of the eagle ws into the ground while also solidifying the earth following that.


    With the eagle stuck to the ground Ajax quickly switched his hammer for his shield as he went straight for the injured wing. Following the hammer strike Ajax could now clearly see the hollow white bones breaking out through the skin and swung his axe looking to cleanly sever the wing.


    Neither the eagle¡¯s remaining free w nor its beak were able to break past Ajax¡¯s Ice infused shield as the axe imbued with Wind mana made a clean cut taking the wing cleat off. The sudden loss of weight unbnced the trapped eagle further giving Ajax an opening for an open attack to the body that he infused with Fire mana and added [Cursed sh] leaving a trail of burning ck mes on the eagle¡¯s chest.


    With the curse applied Ajax quickly switched to his Holy mana as he started to remove the curse directly from the eagle while also switching back to his dual-wield hammer and axe. This proved to be Ajax¡¯s first serious miscalction as unlike the humanoid opponents he had previously hit with thebo it seems the monster was able to much better handle the agony inflicted by the curse removal with a clean w strike breaking through Ajax¡¯s defensive enchantments, cutting through the leather and leaving a nasty cut on his shin that reached all the way to the bone.


    Ajax was d for [Pain Resistance], as he molded the earth to temporarily give himself the support he lost as his leg started to give out under him while also starting to apply Light and Life mana to the wound.


    Despite his crumbling form Ajax relied on [Unnatural Bnce] to push forward with his attack as he brought his Metal infused hammer with [Precise Blow] down on the eagle¡¯s skull while his axe was following it with a Wind augmentation and [Precise Cut] to the throat.


    The eagle was able to lessen the hammer strike by raising its beak and spreading the blow between the skull and beak but the blow was strong enough thatbined with [Mana Syphon] itpletely disrupted the eagle''s ability to control its mana. This meant that Ajax¡¯s axe swing was able to cleanly decapitate the eagle bringing the rough fight to an end.


    Once he was sure the eagle was dead Ajax stood back up and leaned on his intact leg as he heaved lungfuls of air. The battle hadsted no more than a minute since his opening arrow but it was intense, Ajax had burnt through a third of his mana quicker than he had ever done outside of using Life mana to animate anything.


    ¡°That was a good fight.¡± the princeplimented him. ¡°Something you might want to keep in mind for the future however is that mini bosses past level one hundred, with the exception of humanoids, almost always have some form of [Berserker Rage] and inflicting pain isn¡¯t all that effective.¡± a nod towards the closing cut on Ajax¡¯s shin made his point.


    ¡°I¡¯ll remember that.¡± Ajax huffed as he cleaned the wound and pushed more mana into healing it.


    The only thing Ajax could pick out about the two arches he hade across was that the first led to a floor where Water mana was dominant and the second to one where Lightning mana ruled. The prince preferred to deal with the lightning floor rather than spend days swimming and looking for the obelisk.


    Ajax didn¡¯t even waste time to properly take in the next floor as he turned back around and exited the dungeon as soon as he confirmed the notification for extra stats. Despite the hurry Ajax was careful to exit the dungeon with his helmet on and his shield in hand. The helmet was mostly there to hide the fact he wasn¡¯t an elf and buy himself some extra time before anyone trigger happy enough thought he was a monster exiting the dungeon.


    This time there was no issue as he exited the dungeon, Lioriel was on the lookout and quickly picked him up and dragged him away from the dungeon arch and towards the rest of his group. It was there however that the issues began.


    As they approached the group Ajax could hear an irate elf spewing hatefulments. While Ajax had no way of knowing one of the elves that had been part of the group of students had had family die at the hands of Duke Manashaper a few hundred years ago. With the news of the Duke¡¯s granddaughter being in the capital one of the student¡¯s slightly older cousins made a beeline for her.


    Ajax had no idea what the situation was or what was going, he had expected he would have to ignore such behavior as they made their way here, tired as he was however Ajax¡¯s hadn¡¯t even known he had done anything before everyone in the area turned towards him suddenly.


    While Ajax slowly made his way towards Lexi, the elf¡¯s mouth had snapped shut. The elf was barely over level sixty and his face rapidly paled as he looked towards Ajax. Lexi had turned towards him as well both having felt the same thing though they were reacting to it very differently.


    Despite being on the weak side as far as these things go Ajax¡¯s disdain for the elf and protectiveness of Lexi could clearly be felt as his aura pushed out without Ajax even realizing.

 Chapter 380

    Chapter 380


    While Ajax might not have felt or even noticed his own Aura he quickly registered the two Auras that sprung up and smothered his own. Lioriel had unleashed her Aura looking to suppress Ajax seeing his use of it as a method of intimidation, her efforts however were in vain as both her Aura and Ajax¡¯s werepletely smothered by Aranor¡¯s Aura that was pushing his stoicism and crushing everything else.


    ¡°What is the meaning of this?¡± Lioriel hissed out, offended at how heavy handed Aranor had been. ¡°That was clearly an attack.¡±


    ¡°What?...¡± Ajax was dumbfounded at what was happening all around him.


    ¡°That was undirected Aura.¡± Aranor said calmly. ¡°It is also the first time I have seen the boy use it, I am guessing he just unlocked it and it reacted to the way he saw his beloved being treated.¡±


    Lioriel took a moment to consider what Aranor had said, that moment was enough for her to process the true extent of what Ajax having an Aura truly meant. ¡°He is not even twenty five years of age, he is barely past level fifty. This is unheard off.¡± Lioriel muttered to herself so quietly only Aranor and Ajax heard her.


    While Lioriel awe wasn¡¯t heard by everyone they were all independently aware of what Ajax possessing an Aura meant. ra, Arianwyn and Darkw all threw Ajax piercing looks as they were trying to pry out his secrets.


    ¡°His skill levels can¡¯t be that high if he is not yet twenty five years of age.¡± ra whispered to Arianwyn and Aranor. ¡°Just how high are his stats, the previous record for unleashing an aura was just under level eighty but it was done with some very high skills, was he holding back his stats the entire time?¡±


    ¡°He might be making up for skill levels with both quantity and quality.¡± Arianwyn whispered back. ¡°Sure his skills aren¡¯t absurdly high but he must have a lot of them and there should be quite a few Rare and higher.¡±


    Ajax wasn¡¯t so much concerned with the whispering as he was with inspecting his Status to see what had happened.<strong>Name</strong> : Ajax Hearthbound


    <strong>Level</strong> :53


    <strong>Experience</strong> : 20355/143300


    <strong>Traits</strong>: Divine Witness, Baron, Aura


    <strong>Health</strong>: 3650/3650


    <strong>Mana</strong>: 3680/3680


    <strong>Stamina</strong> : 2980/2980


    <strong>Vitality</strong> : 397


    <strong>Strength</strong> :353


    <strong>Endurance</strong> :322


    <strong>Dexterity</strong> : 353


    <strong>Intellect </strong>: 400


    <strong>Wisdom</strong> : 400


    <strong>Mind</strong> : 400


    <strong>Perception</strong> : 322


    <strong>Stat Points</strong> : 0


    <strong>Skills</strong> :<ul><ul><li><strong>Common :</strong>[Mathematics Lvl 37] [Stealth Lvl 59][Drawing Lvl 40][Athleticism Lvl 53] [Running Lvl 53][Reading Lvl 30][Writing Lvl 30][Cooking Lvl 40][Sewing Lvl 22] [Cleaning Lvl 29][Haggling Lvl 29][Gardening Lvl 40][Axes Lvl 70][Hammers Lvl 70][Deception Lvl 43][Sword Lvl 70][Shield Lvl 70][Bow Lvl 70][Spear Lvl 60][Throwing Lvl 53][Persuasion Lvl 39][Unarmed Combat Lvl 50][Knives Lvl 62][Skinning Lvl 52][Tanning Lvl 23][Dismantle Lvl 58][Climbing Lvl 43][Tracking Lvl 48][Heat Resistance Lvl 40] [Poison Resistance Lvl 46][Pain Resistance Lvl 43][Trapping Lvl 31][Cold Resistance Lvl 35][Conversationalist Lvl 21]</li><li><strong>Umon :</strong>[Meditation Lvl 69][Sense Mana Lvl 75][Expel Mana Lvl 75][Sprinting Lvl 50][Mining Lvl 35][Lumberjack Lvl 21][Smelting Lvl 20][cksmithing Lvl 15] [Chanting Lvl 12][Mana Farming Lvl 42][Increase Price Lvl 20][Lower Price Lvl 20][Danger Sense Lvl 55][Leatherworking Lvl 29][Alchemy Lvl 67][Mana Milling Lvl 55][Precise Cut Lvl 58][Precise Blow Lvl 58][Judge Threat Lvl 50][ Piercing Shot Lvl 56] [<em>Berserker </em>Lvl 27][Cooperation Lvl 39][Berserker Style Lvl 25][Unnatural Bnce Lvl 25][Feigned Interest Lvl 15][Illusion Resistance Lvl 10][Focused Aim Lvl 20]</li><li><strong>Rare : </strong>[Manipte Mana Lvl 63][Water Aspect Mana Lvl 59][Fire Aspect Mana Lvl 59] [Air Aspect Mana Lvl 59][Earth Aspect Mana Lvl 59][Inject Mana Lvl 55][Spot Weakness Lvl 46][Residue Recognition Lvl 31] [Light Aspect Mana Lvl 54][Shadow Aspect Mana Lvl 54][<em>Mana Skin </em>Lvl 48][Teamwork Lvl 34][Beekeeping Trailzer Lvl 21][Curse Resistance Lvl 27][Dungeon Crafter Lvl 51][Battlemage Style Lvl 36] [Impervious Senses Lvl 13][Alchemist¡¯s Examination Lvl 40][Stabilize Mixture Lvl 28][Mass Production Lvl 15][Maic Aspect Mana Lvl 20]</li></ul></ul><ul><li><strong>Epic : </strong>[<strong>Mana Augmentation Lvl 50</strong>][Mana Conjuration Lvl 46][Lightning Aspect Mana Lvl 48][Metal Aspect Mana Lvl 48][Ice Aspect Mana Lvl 48][Magma Aspect Mana Lvl 48][Holy Aspect Mana Lvl 47][Void Aspect Mana Lvl 48][Curse sh Lvl 32][Reckless Researcher Lvl 9][Unstable Alchemist Lvl 13] [Empowering Restriction Lvl 2]</li></ul><ul><li><strong>Legendary : </strong>[Mana Syphon Lvl 43][Enigma Lvl 28][<strong>Inspector¡¯s Eye Lvl 25</strong>][Life Aspect Mana Lvl 7]</li></ul>


    New :


    Empowering Restriction 0 -> 2


    Life Aspect Mana 0 -> 7


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    Upgrades:


    Mathematics 35 -> 37


    Stealth 51 -> 59


    Athleticism 50 -> 53


    Running 50 -> 53


    Cleaning 28 -> 29


    Haggling 25 -> 29


    Axes 65 -> 70


    Hammers 65 -> 70


    Sword 65 -> 70


    Shield 65 -> 70


    Bow 65 -> 70


    Throwing 50 -> 53


    Knives 60 -> 62


    Persuasion 35 -> 39


    Deception 41 -> 43


    Skinning 51 -> 52


    Dismantle 55 -> 58


    Climbing 42 -> 43


    Tracking 47 -> 48


    Heat Resistance 35 -> 40


    Poison Resistance 41 -> 46


    Pain Resistance 39 -> 43


    Cold Resistance 31 -> 35


    Conversationalist 15 -> 21


    Meditation 67 -> 69


    Sense Mana 67 ->75


    Expel Mana 68 -> 75


    Increase Price 16-> 20


    Lower Price 18 -> 20


    Danger Sense 47 -> 55


    Alchemy 58 -> 67


    Mana Milling 49 -> 55


    Precise Cut 53 -> 58


    Precise Blow 53 -> 58


    Piercing Shot 52 -> 56


    Judge threat 45 -> 50


    Unnatural Bnce 19 -> 25


    Feigned Interest 13 -> 15


    Illusion Resistance 1 -> 10


    Focused aim 15 -> 20


    Manipte Mana 55 -> 63


    Water Aspect Mana 54 -> 59


    Fire Aspect Mana 54 ->59


    Air Aspect Mana 54 -> 59


    Earth Aspect Mana 54 ->59


    Light Aspect Mana 54 -> 59


    Shadow Aspect Mana 54 -> 59


    Inject Mana 50 -> 55


    Spot Weakness 41 -> 46


    <em>Mana Skin </em> 40 -> 48


    Curse Resistance 25 -> 27


    Dungeon Crafter 40 -> 51


    Battlemage Style 29 -> 36


    Impervious senses 11 -> 13


    Alchemist''s Examination 31 -> 40


    Stabilize Mixture 19 -> 28


    Mass Production 12 -> 15


    Mana Augmentation 45 -> 50


    Mana Conjuration 41 -> 46


    Lightning Aspect Mana 41 -> 48


    Metal Aspect Mana 41 -> 48


    Ice Aspect Mana 41 -> 48


    Magma Aspect Mana 41 -> 48


    Holy Aspect Mana 40 -> 47


    Void Aspect Mana 40 -> 48


    Curse sh 29 -> 32


    Reckless Researcher 1 -> 9


    Unstable Alchemist 1 -> 13


    Mana Syphon 37 -> 43


    Enigma 25 -> 28


    Inspector¡¯s Eye 21 -> 25


    Maic Aspect Mana 15 -> 20


    Seeing his progress following the brief engagement with the wolf alpha and the fight eagle was satisfying but the addition of Aura to his traits had his focus. Ajax had expected that he would break the record for the earliest Aura unlock but he had still expected to be around level sixty before that happened.


    While Ajax was watching his status and the rest of his group was considering the implication of what Ajax unlocking his Aura already meant the elf berating Lexi and the rest of his entourage finally got a hold of themselves after being subjected to Aranor¡¯s full Aura, even as friendly as he had deployed it. Not only that but they had also put together that the first Aura they felt, the one that had destain and slight malice towards them came from one of the humans.


    ¡°You dare attack us?!¡± The elf prepared himself to go on a tirade.


    Lioriel cut him off at the knees as she had her entire squad surround Ajax¡¯s entire group, instead of doing so protectively however all of the guards were facing inwards with hands on their weapons. The guards however made no further movement, the two closest to Aranor even had a slight tremor in their hands as the elven champion raised a brow at their actions.


    ¡°Is that it?¡± The elf lost the mocking grin once he saw that nothing else happened.


    ¡°They were allowed entrance by the grace of her Majesty.¡± Lioriel answered him. ¡°They are now under arrest and it will be up to her how to handle this incident.¡±


    This answer annoyed the elf and his entourage to no end as they all knew nothing wille of it, they had looked into the reason for the group¡¯s presence before they came to antagonize them. While attacking a Deepwood citizen would be just cause for having their protections removed and Aura attack from someone who had just unlocked it and towards someone who was openly antagonistic would never hold up.


    ¡°Are you certain that is the best course of action?¡± One of the elves'' guards asked as he slowly extended a small sack with a bribe towards Lioriel. ¡°We would be happy resolving things ourselves, no need to bother the queen.¡±


    ¡°Are you stupid?¡± Lioriel¡¯s blunt attitude was clearly not what anyone had expected but she continued to berate them. ¡°Starfury would turn you into an extremely realistic ice exhibit within seconds.¡±


    ¡°L-Lord Starfury isn¡¯t who we have some to settle with,¡± the guards voice quivered a little at even the idea of fighting the elven champion. ¡°It''s the human.¡±


    ¡°Baron Hearthbound as well as everyone else in our group is under my protection.¡± Aranor cut the conversation off there. ¡°I would insist on hearing the queen¡¯s decision regarding the incident. Unlesssss¡­¡±


    Thest drawn out word got a lot of surprised looks. ra, Arianwyn and Lioriel especially looked surprised at what almost everyone interpreted as asking for a bribe.


    ¡°Yes of course, you would bepensated for your trouble my lord.¡± The guard was quick to pounce.


    ¡°You misunderstand me.¡± Aranor answered with a grin. ¡°A duel to settle the incident would be eptable to me, so long as it takes ce between the two parties in question.¡±


    Everyones surprised and for the most part slightly resentful looks at Aranor turned straight towards the previously mouthy elf with schadenfreude. They all knew exactly what would happen in a fight between him and Ajax.


    ¡°You would have the young lord fight someone close to level one hundred? ¡° The guard asked in mock outrage. ¡°He is barely level sixty two and the aggrieved here.¡±


    ¡°Of course I wouldn¡¯t stand for such an unfair fight.¡± Aranor responded, his social skill pulling their wait as he seemed offended by the implication. ¡°I swear on my name that the human is not only younger but also lower level than the young lord.¡±


    That statement left the entire group of elves stunned, their faces turning from shock to horror as one by one they turned towards Ajax who had now moved on from the event and was ignoring them in favor of trying to cheer Lexi up.


    With the situation at an impasse the group of elves retreated and Lioriel now approached the Aranor. ¡°As soon as the princees out of the dungeon you will all be taken before the queen to deal with this¡­ encounter.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure that won¡¯t be a problem, though I will have to ask that one of your guards is sent to make arrangements for our amodations.¡± Aranor agreed. ¡°Following our audience with the queen we would need a good night¡¯s rest before we move on to the second dungeon.¡±


    Lioriel agreed to the offer with a nod and the rest of her squad red out a little around them isting them to ensure another incident doesn¡¯t happen

 Chapter 381

    Chapter 381


    Waiting for the prince was usually a boring affair where the team would normally already have headed towards their next destination but that wasn¡¯t an option in Deepwood and especially not in their capital. This wait was also an exception however as there was something very interesting that everyone was invested in, namely Ajax¡¯s Aura.


    ¡°I don¡¯t get it.¡± Ajax said, ¡°I thought you could only have one trait.¡±


    Ajax¡¯s mother had mentioned that to him at the beginning, he hadn¡¯t questioned it when he got his noble title since his mother mentioned that those titles usuallybine with others but not only was the noble title temporary there was nothing it could do to boost Divine Witness¡¯s effects like it would do for other Traits, that and the trait also mention it couldn¡¯t be detected so maybe it couldn¡¯tbine at all.


    ¡°That is themoner view on it but not correct.¡± Aranor answered. ¡°It¡¯s just the one that applies most often. Any traits that have oveps willbine to provide a boost that is stronger than the individual effects of either trait. An Aura or a Bond however have nothing to do with the skill level cap so they are separate. Oddly enough Aura and Bond alsobine, providing not only a stronger Aura for both parties but it also lets the both parties know their exact location over short distances when the Aura is extended.¡±


    ¡°Why do theybine?¡± Ajax asked. ¡°What do they have inmon?¡±


    ¡°An aura is an expression of your soul, which is why one only gains it when their stats and skills are high enough.¡± ra exined. ¡°A bond is formed between the soul of two beings.¡±


    ¡°Congrattions on breaking the record for unlocking your Aura.¡± Xavier said as he patted Ajax on the back. ¡° I was hoping for that myself but I¡¯m pretty sure you¡¯ll hold on to both the Age and Level records for a long time.¡±


    That remark prompted a few more congrattions before the group settled in to wait once more. Unlike theirst dungeon, the floor the prince would have to solo would only go up to level one hundred and twenty so it shouldn¡¯t take all that long.


    They in fact didn¡¯t need to wait all that much as the prince was done in just under three hours, as soon as he exited the dungeon however the group was marched towards the royal pce. The pce itself was unlike anything Ajax had ever seen before. He had seen the royal pce of Gryndor which looked like an overlyrge medieval European castle and he had seen the massive council building of the Republic that looked a lot like the house of Parliament without the big clocktower, the elven royal pce was unlike anything couldpare to what existed on Earth.


    How the elves had gotten so many trees to merge their tree trunks was a true mystery, more than that he could feel just how potent the mana that was though he was unable to feel anything else about it, most likely because of the wards that no doubt littered the ce.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t look all that secure.¡± Ajax muttered as they walked over the roots that took the position of stairs, he couldn¡¯t see any gate or a perimeter wall. All there was was guards all over the ce.


    ¡°Elves don¡¯t rely on structural obstacles for defenses like the rest of the humanoids.¡± Arianwyn whispered to Ajax as all of their escorts turned amused gazes at him hearing his words. ¡°Because we live in trees our guards have ways to ess an extra source of mana from the trees themselves.¡±


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    Ajax stopped dead in his tracks hearing that, almost causing the soldiers behind him to run him over but he couldn¡¯t pay attention to that at the moment as he was processing that new piece of information as it fit like a piece of a puzzle he didn¡¯t know was missing.


    In hindsight it also made sense that there wouldn¡¯t be that great a need for walls and gates when all elven cities were just trees that were part of a veryrge forest, the difference between the regr trees and the trees where the elves lived was that the cities were influenced by the elves that lived there.


    Another big implication of this discovery however had to do with the fertilizer Ajax and the prince had so generously provided to the elves. He had initially though that the elves would just use it for their high end resource gardens but there was nothing stopping them from using it to grow the mana level of the trees their own pce was grown out of, essentially increasing security as a whole.


    ¡°Come on.¡± Lexi said as she lovingly intertwined their arms and started pulling Ajax along as the group restarted their pace towards the pce. ¡°You can walk and have and have a revtion about what that means at the same time.¡±


    ¡°What revtion?¡± Lioriel asked quickly, her voice harsher that she had used previously.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Lexi answered honestly with a smile. ¡°He¡¯ll most likely share after he finishes organizing everything he¡¯s realized.¡±


    ¡°This happens often?¡± Aranor asked curiously, he hadn¡¯t gotten to experience the event besides the first time Ajax realized about the use of fertilizer.


    ¡°He just views the world differently, I think.¡± Lexi said. ¡°He was already far above his peers when he joined the Academy anding from a backwater region he had a few revtions that have caused simr reactions.¡±


    As he continued walking Ajax paid no attention to the conversation happening around him. Instead his mind went through all the new possibilities that could apply when it came to dealing with high end trees as the basis for a defensive position.


    His first thought had been towards how mages could use the increased mana pool. It was now no wonder that none of the other races had managed to encroach on the elves, he was ready to bet that there were simr fortresses set up all around the entrance of the forest where a war would be fought and few things were as terrifying to an army as artillery mages with an increased mana pool.


    The second thought his mind drifted to was how this extreme advantage could also turn into an achilles heel. If something like a lizard bond with a venomous bite that could infect nts and travel through their mana then a single spy could get the defenders to poison themselves as soon as the attack started.


    The final and biggest revtion came to how different the approach to defenses could be. Booby traps could take on a whole new meaning if they were linked to the trees themselves, the usual problem with everyone not aware of a trap triggering it could be bypassed by making use of the nts own instincts to anchor it while also supplying the mana required.


    As Ajax thought about this possibility something else came up that he hadn¡¯t considered before, could a nt be a Bond? He turned to ask the prince but he was quickly shut down before he could even open his mouth. ¡°Don¡¯t say a word.¡± the prince said. ¡°We¡¯ll discuss whatever it is in privateter.¡±


    Ajax opened his mouth to protests when he took in his surroundings to find that he was now deep inside the pce and they were heading towards arge set of doors that reminded him of the smaller private throne room King Gryndor had for official meetings that had to happen outside of the more public throne room where the nobles of the court usually gathered.


    ¡°Wait to be called upon.¡± one of the guards at the door said as the group approached.


    Ajax was very tempted to take a deeper look at the wards and see if he could use that as a catalyst for a breakthrough for [Inspector¡¯s Eye] but he was almost certain that not only would his actions be noticed but also that they wouldn¡¯t be looked upon as simple curiosity and chance for improvement.


    It took five minutes before the doors were opened and an elf called them in ¡°The Queen will see you now.¡±


    The elf didn¡¯t seem all that remarkable to Ajax but from the reactions of both the prince and Aranor there was clearly something he was missing as both of them had much stronger reactions to him than they had to Lioriel. Ajax was also very tempted to use [Inspector¡¯s Eye] on the elf as well but could tell that would be even less well received than using it on surrounding wards.


    As Ajax entered the small throne room there were multiple things that fought for his focus. The armed guards spread throughout the room, reminiscent of the squads that were ever present whenever he met King Gryndor. The nonbatants that should have been members of the royal family or trusted advisors. Most of all however was the throne that looked to be grown out of the floor upon which stood the elven queen, an intricate crown on her head that was actually connected to the throne and through it to the entire pce.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure what surprises me more.¡± the queen said as they entered. ¡°That there has already been an incident of this nature despite the recent arrival in the capital, or that it wasn¡¯t Gryndor¡¯s eldest prince who caused it.¡±

 Chapter 382

    Chapter 382


    The queen stood stoic on the throne and while her words were not friendly and her tone neutral it wasn¡¯t her that Ajax was the most wary about. That honor would go to the a few members of the group he suspected to be the royal family. There was no defining trend on those that looked at him and the rest of the non-elves with hostility, there were both young and old that disliked them and that were indifferent.


    ¡°I would hardly qualify that as an incident, Sylvaris.¡± the prince responded, his non-respectful address drew annoyed and even hateful nces from everyone in the room apart from their group and the queen herself. ¡°The first time someone awakens their aura it¡¯s always unstable.¡±


    The prince knew he had no reason to hide the fact that Ajax had only now managed to awaken his Aura, it takes people with a weak Aura decades to learn to fully suppress it so Lioriel would know exactly what happened since she hadn¡¯t felt it during their entire trip from the border.


    The queen herself was well acquainted with the prince and his antics so she wasn¡¯t surprised by his informality, nor did she really consider what had happened an ¡®incident¡¯ she only wanted to get a read on the group. From their reactions she could tell that the boy Ajax was a little worried but trusted the prince¡¯s judgment, the beastkin was slightly worried as well but not because he didn¡¯t recognise her game it was simply because he had no champion from his own country there to back him up. The rest of the humans and the elves all knew exactly what she was trying to do and their social skills prevented them leaking anything.


    ¡°While this is a more private matter I am here in my official capacity as queen, you would do well to address me as such prince.¡± The queen said imperiously as she activated the runed ring she wore that released a wind de, the attack passed an inch away from the prince¡¯s face doing nothing but ruffling his hair before it harmlessly dispelled as it hit the wards on the walls in the back of the room.


    An awkward silence filled the room at that and the queen was happy to let itst for a few moments before her stoic face morphed into a grin Ajax recognised as one simr to the one the prince oftentimes wore. ¡°Or if you prefer a more rxed atmosphere I¡¯m sure Nimerien Corroder would be happy to catch up with you.¡±


    The prince nearly flinched as he heard the name. Nimerien was one of Deepwood¡¯s current champions, more than that he and the prince were only a couple years apart in terms of age. While the prince had always been a step ahead of Nimerien in terms of strength, Nimeriens fighting style focused on the use of acidicpounds that were a direct counter to the prince¡¯s reliance on runed equipment.


    ¡°It would be best that we keep this formal, we are in a bit of a time crunch.¡± the prince said before adding a dyed. ¡°Your Majesty.¡±


    ¡°Very well.¡± the queen nodded, a spark of anger briefly shing in the back of her mind as she was reminded of Ajax¡¯s status as a ¡®Marked¡¯ target. While she had nned to use his visit to reinforce her foundations early in her rule by eliminating a few troublesome nobles she had also made it crystal clear to the more powerful that the boy wasn¡¯t to be in any real danger. ¡°I¡¯ll ensure your escort is sufficiently upgraded to make up for the circumstances.¡± While the queen and the prince were talking one of the royal family members with green hair so dark it was almost ck approached the group, his eyes briefly passing over the humans and beastkin with disdain before finallynding on Arianwyn.


    ¡°Arianwyn dear, it has been so long since Ist saw you.¡± the elf said in warm voice.


    ¡°Almost a decade, Your Highness.¡± Arianwyn replied with a bow.


    The elf in question was the former king of Deepwood, he was now technically a prince since he stepped down from the throne but only someone politically ipetent would not recognise the amount of sway he still held.


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    ¡°Far too long.¡± the former king nodded. ¡°You¡¯ve even managed to develop a Domain now, not only that but second ce in a tournament is nothing to be embarrassed about.¡±


    As the king said thest part he threw Ajax another disgruntled look. ¡°I¡¯m sorry to say that I underestimated the tournament, not only did I lose in the final-¡±


    ¡°Just barely.¡± the king quickly said, clearly he had been well informed of what happened in the tournament.


    ¡°But the semi-final was also much closer than I would have liked.¡± Arianwyn finished and the king now turned his hostile looks onto Darkw.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing that you should let get you down¡± the king reassured her.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure she¡¯d do better now that she won¡¯t be surprised by Baron Heathbound¡¯s unusual fighting style.¡± one of the guards near them joined in with the conversation.


    Arianwyn couldn¡¯t help but wince slightly at the statement. She was fairly certain that she could still beat Darkw despite the few extra dungeons floor he had gained in her kingdom but she was now sure the distance between her and Ajax had in fact increased.


    The king caught the wince as well as the slightly guilty look she turned towards Ajax for a brief moment before her social skills masked it with the usual noble poker face. During the entire interaction Lioriel had briefly approached the queen to whisper something to her.


    ¡°You are quite the bright young man.¡± the queen said as she rose from her chair and approached Ajax. ¡°More than your talent, even an extremely important discovery is credited to you. One that is so poorly mistimed for my own rise to the throne.¡±


    The queen was finally getting to the point she wanted. She would have assured a meeting with Ajax even without the excuse of an incident but this provided her the best leverage to try and pressure the method of increased stats out of Gryndor so that she would have some extra time to prepare before everything was made public and the noble hierarchy was thrown into chaos.


    ¡°That is something that will be shared to all in time.¡± the prince tried to intercept. ¡°Gryndor will also be making it an official public announcement as a show of good faith so there will be no misinformation through spies.¡±


    ¡°Hmph.¡± the former king snorted at the prince¡¯s words. ¡°It¡¯s just like you humans. A discovery of this magnitude and the advantage of it being discreetly provided to your royalty and he is barely rewarded with the title of Baron.¡±


    Ajax and the prince briefly traded nces before the prince gave Ajax a brief nod to answer the usation. ¡°My title as Baron is only the initial part of my reward.¡± Ajax said and drew the attention of the former king to himself. ¡°As I was the only one to sessfully implement my method some more testing was required to prove I wasn''t a unique urrence. Not only will my title be increased to Duke upon my return to Gryndor but the title of Baron was in itself a way to help me and my familyy down solid foundations for my House.¡±


    The former king looked like he had just bit into a particrly sour lemon as he had nothing to rebuke to that, the queen however hadtched on to a certain part of his answer. ¡°I very much do believe you are a ¡®unique urrence¡¯. Why I¡¯m told you had an epiphany just by walking into my pce.¡±


    The temperature in the room seemed to drop a few degrees as all the guards zeroed in on Ajax at this new revtion, the prince was quick on the uptake however and tried to intervene. ¡°This is not an interrogation, Your Majesty.¡±


    ¡°It may not be but this could pose a very serious threat to not only my life but also that of the entire royal family.¡± the queen countered with a steely voice. ¡°What would your father or brother do if they were in my situation?¡±


    For once the prince had no response as he knew very well that if the situation was reversed and he was in her ce he would also insist on answers, he wouldn¡¯t actually harm a guest but he would demand some answers.


    ¡°I will not be unfair, if the information is valuable he will be fairlypensated. Even if the information is something I was already aware of so long as it is even somewhat sensitive he will be rewarded." The queen¡¯s words displeased her father as he didn¡¯t believe the human to deserve that much consideration but he still kept quiet.


    Ajax didn¡¯t say a word to that, instead he turned towards the prince and waited to see what decision he made. As much as the prince would have wanted a chance to curate what Ajax had to say he knew he wouldn¡¯t be given that chance and there was no way to fight their way out of it. With a resigned sigh he simply nodded to Ajax.


    ¡°It was the first time I was informed of your mages ability to tap into an additional source of mana from the tree that forms the pce itself.¡± Ajax said. ¡°I couldn¡¯t help but wonder if it was possible for someone to form a Bond with a nt, like the tree itself for example.¡±


    As Ajax finished his sentence a deadly silence settled on the room. The prince, Ajax¡¯s ssmates, Harold and Darkw looked at him intrigued by the possibility. ra, Arianwyn and Aranor looked at him with the same wide-eye look the Queen and most of the elves in the room did. The big shock however was the furtive nces some of the younger members of the royal family were throwing towards one specific guard that had stayed at the queen¡¯s right shoulder when she was on the throne and now followed behind her like an attendant. That in and of itself was enough to answer Ajax¡¯s question.

 Chapter 383

    Chapter 383


    ¡°So¡­ I¡¯ll take that as a yes.¡± Ajax broke the silence and everyone focused on him once again. ¡°Seeing as I never heard of any such bonds it probably takes some very special nts or some farmer somewhere would have already shared it.¡±


    All of the elves present focused on Ajax as he spoke, even ra, Arianwyn and Aranor had been shocked since having an elf bonded to tree fortresses was the way the elves not held their capital pces but even secured their border fortresses, this was one of the reasons their borders hadn¡¯t grown all that much since they were established, it took ages for a new fortress to be grown.


    ¡°Since I went through a few elf cities on my way here I am going to guess that this specific species of tree is the only one you have that you can actually bond with.¡± Ajax continued to exin his train of thought. ¡°Seeing as there were some young looking roots around the outside of the pce whose thin trucks had barely started to merge I am guessing that the supply for seeds isn¡¯t an issue. That leaves either a question of bonding to them extremely difficult or that the resources to nurture them are rare and valuable, or both.¡±


    Aranor looked at Ajax with renewed respect. He had long since respected Ajax as a fighter but after watching him in a social setting his opinion of him had somewhat settled, his skill when it came to any strategy based game also let him know that he would never be a master strategist. With this however Aranor marked Ajax not only as the future powerhouse of Gryndor but the most important person even at the current moment.


    Queen Swiftleaf could only me herself as she did her best to not look towards the beastkin that was in the room.She had pushed for the interrogation but that was all she could do. With Ajax cooperating so readily she didn¡¯t even have grounds for aggressively confirming he wasn¡¯t holding anything back, she knew he wasn¡¯t because of her Epic truth telling skill that had passed its second threshold. All she could do was ask herself ¡®why didn¡¯t I tell the beastkin to wait outside for this, now The Republic would also have ess to information about the Fortress guardians.


    ra was impressed with Ajax¡¯s deductive reasoning. He had been right on all ounts so far. Thest guess was a little off, he was technically correct. It was extremely resource intensive to not only grow but even maintain the fortress trees and that bonding with one was hard and only got harder as the tree aged. Thest point was moot however as the elves had figured out a way to guarantee the tree would ept a bond but preparations needed to start from the birth of the new fortress guardian and those could only begin after thest guardian died. Her own younger cousin was the new Fortress guardian for their own estate after all and she had witnessed the process.


    ¡°You are correct.¡± the queen said with a sigh. ¡°My nephew is the fortress Guardian for the pce.¡±


    ¡°Nephew?¡± Ajax couldn¡¯t help but exim, with a single sentence the queen tore down a lot of his theories and started a new bunch in their ce.


    ¡°Ugh!¡± the queen groaned as she realized her own slip-up moments toote. ¡°You have a way to get someone bonded with the tree.¡± Ajax wasn¡¯t paying attention to his surroundings any more as he started thinking aloud as he had done many times over the years when researching anything with Balthazar or duke Manashaper. ¡°From the title however there can only be one person bonded at a time, since your nephew holds the position despite being in the same generation as Arianwyn it suggests the preparation has to be started early in life, not only that but it can¡¯t be started until the previous guardian has died. If the guardian was to be killed it would be a while until the next one could step up.¡±


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    That was a very dangerous realization toe to, and while most people present were smart enough to have schooled their expression after the queen¡¯s little slip-up the prince had good enough social skills that not all of them could guard their expressions well enough from him. By focusing on the younger members of the royal family the prince was getting all the confirmations he needed. The prince hadn¡¯t initially been happy about the interrogation but he was very satisfied with the results, they wouldn¡¯t even need to test Ajax¡¯s theories now since he was confirming them all as they left his mouth.


    ¡°But why?¡± Ajax continued. ¡°Does the tree need to be old enough before it can bond? Can it not be moved after it was bonded? What would happen if the small sapling that was added to the main tree had someone bonded to it? Would one of the bonds be broken? Would it be like the smaller tree died?¡±


    ¡°Wait what?¡± Ajax was interrupted as one of the younger elves in the royal family turned confused towards his own family. ¡°Does that work?¡±


    The queen herself was starting to get a little flustered now, it was only her father¡¯s presence next to her that helped her keep herposure as she thought about the possibilities of Ajax¡¯s theories.


    The elves knew the answers to some of the questions Ajax had posed but others hadn¡¯t ever been attempted. The queen could almost feel the pain from her vaults at the cost of the experiments.


    ¡°You never tried?¡± The previous outburst had brought Ajax back to the present and he had enough awareness to not question the queen so the question was posed to Arianwyn.


    ¡°It''s very difficult to get a new tree to grow outside of the area where one is already present.¡± Arianwyn exined. ¡°It would take years to even attempt the experiment.¡±


    Left unsaid was that it would obviously be tried as soon as she returned to her kingdom. Despite the exorbitant costs it represented a chance that the elves could remove the period of vulnerability that came as fortress guardians died and were reced.


    ¡°Well, that was a rather interesting theory.¡± the prince said with a grin so smug he was almost radiating. ¡°I think it¡¯ll be worth a lot.¡±


    ¡°I agree.¡± The former king nodded wisely. ¡°The boy just proved he deserves the greatest reward we can offer someone like him.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t ept.¡± Anna¡¯s voice was barely a whisper meant for Ajax but quite a few other people also heard it and turned to her in turn.


    ¡°Why?¡± Ajax asked, confused.


    ¡°You¡¯re human.¡± Anna didn¡¯t hesitate and now that everyone was focused on her she didn¡¯t bother to whisper. ¡°The greatest reward they can offer a human is their freedom since all humans here are ves. You ept and you walk away with nothing.¡±


    The look of wise benevolence on the former king¡¯s face was briefly reced by a snarl for a moment as his scheme was revealed. The queen was quick to take control of the situation.


    ¡°That is enough for today.¡± the queen spoke as she returned to her throne. ¡°You are dismissed. An appropriate reward for your information will be prepared and presented to you before you leave following your delve.¡±


    The group was more than happy to take the queen up on her offer. Ajax himself was all but leading as he hurried to get out of the pce and he was not the only one. For thest few days the entire team had either been inside the dungeon or waiting around right outside the arch. The prince and Aranor were both strong enough that they could go days without sleep and even they were starting to get affected let alone everyone else.


    ¡°Thanks for that.¡± Ajax told Anna once they were a decent distance away from the throne room.


    ¡°No need for thanks, my consulting fee is 10%.¡± Anna replied without skipping a beat. Her delivery was so good Ajax had thought she was serious for a moment before a smile reced the stoic emotionless look she always used during a negotiation.


    ¡°That went about as well as I could have hoped for.¡± The prince tried to bring up everyone¡¯s spirits. ¡°Though Xavier you best prepare for a duel after the delve.¡±


    ¡°What why?¡± Xavier sounded surprised.


    ¡°The royal family will want a chance to prove their might, that will be with a duel.¡± the prince exined. ¡°Now while it is Ajax who showed them up they know for a fact there is no way a duel with him will show that. As a prince of Gryndor you will be the target.¡±


    ¡°We can deal with that when it happens.¡± Lexi said as she wrapped herself around Ajax¡¯s arm once more but there was no need to drag him this time. ¡°I just want to get some sleep.¡±

 Chapter 384

    Chapter 384


    As the group went to sleep in their inn surrounded by Lioriel and her guards that night only one person remained awake.


    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty.¡± Aranor responded. ¡°She is just fine.¡±


    ¡°What about Ajax?¡± the king asked.


    ¡°He¡­ He caused quite a bit of trouble.¡± Aranor answered.


    ¡°He did?¡± the king sounded surprised considering what he knew about Ajax. ¡°You sure the prince didn¡¯t just use him as a scapegoat?¡±


    ¡°One of the noble brats here was insulting Lady Manashaper, you see.¡± Aranor exined. ¡°Ajax unlocked his Aura at that scene.¡±


    ¡°An Aura so young!¡± the king eximed. ¡°It shouldn¡¯t be a big problem, Sylvaris isn¡¯t her father at most she¡¯ll push a little for some information on Gryndor¡¯s mystery technique.¡±


    ¡°She already tried that, the prince didn¡¯t budge.¡± Aranor summed up. ¡°She did get a sneak peak at Ajax¡¯s thinking after the first time he saw a fortress tree however.¡±


    ¡°Oh, what was his reaction to seeing one like? It''s always funny to see Alchemists seeing one for the first time, especially when it''s the pce.¡± the king asked with excitement. ¡°He was shocked¡­ shocked and inspired.¡± Aranor said.


    ¡°Inspired?¡± the king sounded a little confused at the tone Aranor said that with.


    ¡°He figured out that fortress guardians could exit.¡± Aranor couldn¡¯t see the king but in such a private setting he would bet his own estate the king¡¯s jaw had fallen. ¡°More than that he questioned what would happen if we were to add a young tree that is already bonded to the fortress when it already has a guardian.¡±


    ¡°That¡­¡± the king now experienced the same shock Deepwood¡¯s royal family had earlier in the day.


    ¡°I¡¯m guessing we have no records on this matter?¡± Aranor asked.


    ¡°None that I remember seeing.¡± The king regained hisposure quickly as he started putting a n in action. ¡°I¡¯ll have the archives scoured and will contact you if we find anything. If you don¡¯t hear back from me before you have to leave the capital, offer Sylvaris a partnership, we share the results of the experiment and we will provide the sapling.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± theck of formal address meant that Aranor wasn¡¯t questioning his king as a champion but merely showing concern for his friend. ¡°A sapling is very valuable and costs a lot to grow.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure my friend.¡± the king¡¯s voice was filled with warmth at the concern. ¡°My father used a lot of the wealth he spent on growing the royal pce, a few years without growth during my reign won¡¯t matter, especially if it can potentially save the life of one of my people.¡±


    Aranor was ready to argue a little but the king¡¯s final thought made the words stick in his throat. In all the excitement about the possibility of multiple fortress guardians Aranor had overlooked the possibility that the guardian attempting to join the bond through the sapling could very well suffer, he would not physically die but the mental or spiritual harm that was possible could be just as bad if not worse.


    Before the conversation could continue Aranor¡¯s attention was drawn to the noise he hearding from the outside. A battle was taking ce, something he very much expected to happen but had hoped wouldn¡¯t.


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    ¡°I¡¯ll never hear the end of it¡­¡± Aranor mumbled before bidding the king a short emergency goodbye and already started moving.


    The entire group was sleeping in a singlerge room that was partially sectioned off by multiple dividers. The prince had insisted that this was the best way to not only protect them but to also let them rest properly even in the event of an attack. Aranor had been ready to argue the point but fell quiet when both Arianwyn and ra agreed with the prince. In the end it turned out he was right.


    A short activation of themunication device was all it took for him to wake up the prince, the four hours of sleep the prince had gotten wouldn¡¯t be a lot but it was enough for someone of his level to push through the rest of the night and the following delve in the morning.


    With the prince awake and on alert Aranor could now go outside and see what was going on. Much like he had interpreted from the noise he heard the streets surrounding the inn had been turned into a battlefield. Lioriel as well as three more champion candidates the queen had assigned to their protection detail and the other twenty elite soldiers they already had escorting them were fully engaged inbat against eight elves.


    The attackers were all dressed in ck but that was just a simple covering, with his Perception if he squirted hard enough he could almost make out the House sigil that was covered by the dark paint on the armor the attackers wore. Something he found deeply disturbing as anyone who was doing so little to conceal their identity wasn¡¯t afraid of the queen finding out what they had done, the disguises were simply for the benefit of themoners.


    The battle had been heading towards a slow victory for the eight attackers before Aranor joined. The moment Aranor unleashed his fist volley of icences the tides turned immediately. Powerful as the attackers were, Aranor was something more, his experience in such high level battles showed as he threw out his spells while not only urately predicting his opponents moves but even those of their allies despite not having fought side by side with them before.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Lioriel said as she caught her breath now that the tides were turning, her voice however quivered with shame.


    ¡°What is it?¡± Aranor asked harshly, he was in no mood for a conversation during the fight and he could feel Lioriel wasn¡¯t done with just the appreciation.


    ¡°Try not to kill them if you can.¡± Lioriel said, not even able to meet his gaze as she made her request.


    Anger rolled through Aranor and the elf made no effort to stop the emotion from filling his voice as he figured out what had happened. ¡°The former king sanctioned this.¡± Aranor sneered at Lioriel. ¡°And you want me to try and preserve the young talented elves he sent to do his dirty work.¡±


    Despite the anger coursing through him, Aranor''s fighting style didn¡¯t change. He had long ago learnt that anger didn¡¯t make you stronger regardless of how much it felt like it would. More than that however he had also changed where he was aiming his spells, he knew that his anger was only tangentially targeted at the people he was fighting now and most of it was reserved for the former king.


    With Aranor¡¯s change in focus the sounds that dominated the battlefield had also changed. Whereas before the sound of spells being thrown dominated the background of shing metal it now all took a backseat to the whimpering, crying and anguish filled cries. Aranor was no longer trying to kill the attacker, he was instead trying to inflict as much pain as he could while debilitating them.


    ¡°Did you learn?¡± Aranor asked coldly as he put as much pressure as he could to stop the bleeding he himself had caused on the final attacker that remained. The bandages he was using to stop the bleeding were special in that not only were they enchanted to help stop bleeding but they also nullified any Common rank pain resistance skill in the area they covered.


    ¡°Yes, yes!¡± the attacker said as he tried to rip his hand away from Aranor¡¯s iron grip. ¡°Go after thest one!¡± the elf tried anything to get him to let go.


    ¡°Thest one?¡± Aranor made a show of looking around what was left of the ruins around the inn where all the otherbatants were strewn about in a simr situation to the one he was holding. Aranor was thankful that whoever was behind this at least had the good sense to evacuate the civilians so there were no innocent casualties.


    ¡°She was meant to kidnap the Manashaper girl while we distracted you.¡± The elf howled as the pressure exerted as he tried to pull his hand free from Aranor increased the pain.


    Aranor didn¡¯t even have enough time to process the information as he felt arge amount of manaing from the inn behind him before a body crashed into the street no more than three feet away from him showering both him and his captive with rubble and dust.


    Unlike the other eight attackers this one was different. The initial difference was that she wasn¡¯t wearing the ck outfit but instead was dressed like one of the maids at the inn, the other more important difference was that unlike the punishing way in which the attackers were handled she wasn¡¯t given the same care.


    ¡°Marycell!¡± one of the other attackers cried out as heid eyes on what was left of the elf.


    The maid uniform was all covered in blood and the elf in it was just as unrecognizable. Her skull and fave were both caved in and her torso mangled by straight cuts that went four inches deep going in all directions and crossing each other over her heart.


    Looking in the direction she came flying from Aranor could see the prince in his armor standing behind a broken window and looking down, some of his runes still glowing slightly from the mana he had just pushed through them. In his right hand the prince held a sword that despite having just carved through a person didn¡¯t have a drop of blood on it, his left gauntlet however had blood dripping from the clenched fingers.


    ¡°Why?¡± Lioriel couldn¡¯t help but ask, slightly shocked at the sudden turn in the narrative. With Aranor¡¯s help they had managed to cleanly capture all the attackers.


    ¡°Former king Swiftleaf isn¡¯t the only one who was looking to send a message tonight.¡± Aranor said, much to Lioriel surprise the elven champion¡¯s voice held no sympathy for the talented elf that had died.

 Chapter 385

    Chapter 385


    Despite everything going on during the night the team had slept peacefully, blissfully unaware of what was happening outside thanks to the silencing runes the room was equipped with.


    ¡°How many years?¡± Aranor asked.


    He knew exactly what was going to happen to the survivors of the attack. All of them were going to be found guilty in court but their punishments would be reced with voluntary enlistment. During this time they would be closely monitored and answer to the queen or her representative.


    ¡°Fifty years.¡± Lioriel said as she looked a little disappointed in the direction of the small crater the ninth attacker had left before she died. ¡°It would have been one hundred if none of them had died.¡±


    ¡°Are there going to be any more known threatsing?¡± Aranor asked, his patience starting to run low after the number of times the royal family has used their small delving expedition to handle their political affairs.


    ¡°This was thest one.¡± Lioriel answered while shaking her head. ¡°The only one we know about will be the followers of the ¡®Mark¡¯ on Ajax.¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­¡± one of the new members of their security awkwardly looked to join the conversation. ¡°Prince Xavier will be challenged after he exits the dungeon.¡±


    ¡°What why?¡± Aranor couldn¡¯t understand the reasoning behind a duel.


    ¡°The ¡­ more racially proud among the nobility heard the interaction in front of the dungeon yed out,¡± he exined. ¡°The duel will be fair and honorable¡­ I¡¯m just not sure the challenge will be extended in the same way.¡± This news left deep frowns on the elves keeping the perimeter outside the inn but for the prince who was listening carefully outside the door where the team slept a n started to form, a n for Gryndor¡¯s royal family to get their hands on a fortress tree sapling to go with the high mana manure they had already secured.


    When the team finally woke up none of them had any idea what happened that night though ra, Anna and Benedict all suspected that something had happened and they simply hadn¡¯t been made aware of it.


    ¡°Are you going to be pushing past level one hundred on this one as well?¡± the prince asked Ajax privately.


    The dungeon started from level twenty eight to level thirty three on the first floor, with a nine level jump per floor Ajax would be able to gain the stats from six floors before it would pass level one hundred and the final floor would have him facing against level one hundred and fourteen.


    ¡°I¡¯ll do it.¡± Ajax said confidently, despite the big step up in power at level one hundred the rest of the growth was consistent with previous growth, having won against something at level one hundred and ten Ajax was confident one hundred and fourteen wouldn¡¯t be all that difficult.


    The group¡¯s trip to the dungeon was slowed down slightly as the passed through the merchant quarter of the city. Anna had moved to spend the favor she only guessed they were owed after whatever had happenedst night. She had used one of the members of their escort to buy certain unique products that she thought her family could reverse engineer.


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    When they got to the dungeon they were quickly led to the front of the line where they entered without any further issues. As soon as they entered Aranor moved off to one side where he wouldn¡¯t be in the way, popped up a privacy screen and quickly activated hismunication item to finalize the report he had been makingst night as well as update it with everything else that happened.


    Inside the dungeon the prince had a very simr reaction, once they were inside and out of earshot of anyone else the prince didn¡¯t even bother with a privacy screen as he pulled Xavier to one side before the team could start heading for the first arch.


    The prince quickly exined what the elves were nning in regards to Xavier and he quickly proposed that Xavier, Anna, Lexi and Benedict would finish their floor and get a good night¡¯s rest before exiting the dungeon. Following that they were to y how tired they were as they exited so that Xavier would have a better chance of getting whoever they sent to challenge him in offering him a nc prize for winning a duel right there and then.


    ¡°You think we might be able to get our hands on one of those trees?¡± Xavier asked, excited at the opportunity to do something meaningful to help his family and kingdom.


    ¡°Are you sure that is a good idea?¡± Arianwyn asked.


    ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t it be?¡± Xavier asked quickly, energized by the chance to do something meaningful and unique.


    ¡°With the prince here with us and Aranor preupied with the duel who would be guarding Benedict, Anna and Lexi?¡± Arianwyn pointed out.


    ¡°That could be an issue.¡± the prince acknowledged Arianwyn''s point, ¡°Especially if we take into consideration the kidnapping attempt fromst night.¡±


    ¡°There was a kidnapping attemptst night!?¡± Ajax was the only one truly surprised at the revtion. He wasn¡¯t surprised that there had been an attempt since they had been preparing for one, what surprised Ajax was that he had slept through it without ever realizing.


    ¡°He can push the duel until after wee out.¡± ra suggested. ¡°All Xavier needs to do is insist that the duel happen when ¡®his revered uncle¡¯ is there to watch him fight.¡±


    ¡°Then there¡¯s no need to spend an extra night in the dungeon for us.¡± Anna pointed out.


    With everything sorted the group started their search for the nearest arch that would take them to the second floor. The search wasn¡¯t long but this time there was no guardian patrolling around the arch.


    ¡°A roaming guardian on the first floor?¡± Ajax asked. ¡°That can be pretty dangerous for people who are at the appropriate level for the floor.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not a guardian.¡± the prince said as he inspected the area surrounding the arch.


    As the prince finally found what he was looking for he took an exaggerated step as he activated a few runes causing a very minor earthquake to take ce around them. As the ground started to shake decently sized moat gave way around the arch, the smallyer of thing rocks dropping down on the sharp points of the spikes below.


    ¡°A trap arch.¡± Ajax said with a raise of his eyebrows. ¡°Haven¡¯t seen one of those in a while.¡±


    Almost all the arches one could find in the dungeon were defended by a guardian. One tenth of those had a roaming guardian but that still left a very small minority that were only protected by a trap or in even rarer cases the arch would have a locked set of doors that needed a key to open before that specific arch could be used.


    Lexi wasted no time in chanting an earth maniption spell to create a small crossing over the spike. ¡°Let go.¡±


    Xavier was the most excited of them all to get to the second floor of the dungeon. Having joined the academy so young Xavier had started off at a lower level than the rest of his ssmates. While he had managed to surpass most of the more mediocre students in the ss he hadn¡¯t been able to close the distance with Anna, Lexi and Benedict. This time his lower level would benefit him since he was still level forty four he was still eligible for the extra stat point from this floor.


    Ajax hadn¡¯t bothered to check what the theme of the second floor would be since they would simply be pushing straight through with the first arch they found. This was something he had immediately regretted as soon as he stepped foot on the second floor and promptly face nted.


    ¡°What type of spell is this?¡± Harold asked, annoyed as he picked himself off the ground having tripped as soon as he had entered the floor as well.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure, I haven¡¯t encountered anything like this before.¡± the prince said as he carefully took a few steps while raising and lowering his arms to get a feel for the new sensation.


    ¡°I¡¯m not feeling any spell structure.¡± Lexi said as she focused on her surroundings as Ajax offered her a hand to help her up after she had tripped as well.


    As he helped Lexi to her feet Ajax was carefully examining the mana prevalent throughout the floor and found that it was of a type he hadn¡¯t encountered before. Despite that he had a pretty good idea of what was happening. Taking out his hammer from his spacial ring Ajax held it out to one side and dropped it to the ground to confirm his theory.


    Watching the speed at which the hammer fell confirmed exactly what Ajax had though was happening. If he was fair with himself Ajax had been expecting a floor like this since he started delving but he had finally found a floor where the strength of gravity was different that what it was outside.

 Chapter 386

    Chapter 386


    Despite the initial shock the prince was nothing if not an experienced warrior. He might not understand what was happening, how it was happening, or even why it was happening. What he could do however was assess what the effects on him were and how topensate for them. A few runes activated and the prince felt power surge through him the power boost was precise enough that it almost perfectly counteracted the additional gravity


    ¡°Is this a trap?¡± Harold asked as he covered himself with his shield on the floor where he hadn''t bothered getting up. ¡°Did the elves figure out how to mess with the dungeons?¡±


    Ajax was very surprised at the angle Harold¡¯s mind went to, though to be fair Harold was still deeply linked to House Silvertongue so it was only natural for his first instinct to be a political plot when something didn¡¯t add up.


    ¡°It¡¯s the dungeon floor doing this.¡± Ajax said as he ced his hand on the arch and used [Mana Syphon] to confirm his theory, just like he expected he recognised the main elements of the floor, all but the primary one which he now guessed to be mana. ¡°A new mana type.¡±


    ¡°There was a Legendary mana type like this that we didn¡¯t know about?¡± Xavier sounded shocked and he regained his feet, Arianwyn nodding along with his words.


    ¡°¡°It¡¯s not Legendary.¡±¡± Both the prince and Ajax spoke at once surprising everyone else and each other into silence.


    For a few moments the two of them just looked at each other silently inviting the other to exin, the silence was broken by Lexi who was too impatient when it came to anything rted to a new mana type like this. ¡°One of you exin already!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s too weak to be Legendary.¡± Lexi''s words startled the prince a little and he exined. ¡°This is Rare or Epic.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s Epic.¡± Ajax said and everyone turned their eyes to him. ¡°How do you know that?¡± the prince asked. ¡°Did you encounter this before inside the dungeon?¡±


    ¡°No, I never felt this type of mana before.¡± Ajax denied. ¡°It¡¯s just that I¡¯ve been searching for it.¡±


    That was as much as Ajax would volunteer as he turned towards the ra, Arianwyn and Darkw. The meaning behind his action was clear as he returned his gaze to the prince and tilted his head questioningly. ¡®How much should I say?¡¯


    Arianwyn however was in no mood to wait for permission as something just didn¡¯t add up to her. ¡°The mana type you were researching has to do with metals, mainly getting them to stick together or push themselves apart. What does that have to do with this?¡±


    Both Ajax and the prince turned surprised looks on to the elven princess while Lexi threw her a more hostile look as she came to the obvious conclusion. The existence and research or Maic mana was spearheaded by her grandfather and kept rtively secret, Arianwyn having knowledge of it and to this extent meant that there were spies infiltrated rather deep with decent ess to House Manashaper.


    The further they got along their journey the more and more Ajax had started to consider ra, Arianwyn and Darkw as simply friends. It felt odd for him to keep things like this from them despite giving them fully to the royal family who would then distribute them further.


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    ¡°Just a bare bones exnation.¡± the prince finally relented under the elf¡¯s gaze as he weighed the pros and cons.


    ¡°The other mana I use is Rare, it works in all directions but only on metal.¡± Ajax tried to exin the link he conceptualized between maism and gravity without exining gravity itself. ¡°Whatever this is works on everything but only has a single direction. If it was a Legendary mana type it would work on everything in any direction.¡± Ajax had personally dubbed that mana type Attraction/Repulsion and it was something he very much wanted to get his hands on.


    ¡°I still don¡¯t see how it¡¯s working.¡± Xavier said as he processed Ajax¡¯s exnation. ¡°I have a decent enchantment meant to repel outside spell influences and it wasn¡¯t triggered by this.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s because it''s not us that are affected.¡± Ajax said.


    ¡°You ate dirt just like the rest of us, how are we not affected?¡± Benedict asked.


    ¡°If a skill increases the strength of your muscles it will also increase the strength of your swing.¡± Ajax tried to exin. ¡°When you throw something up it falls down, when you jump you fall back down. You don¡¯t notice this because its been happening to you ever since you were born, if whatever it is that is dragging you down suddenly increases though it would feel like a spell applied to you.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why you dropped your hammer.¡± Lexi perked up as she started looking at this from the same perspective her grandfather had drilled into her from a young age. ¡°You tested to see if it would fall faster than it did outside!¡±


    Ajax simply nodded in confirmation. ¡°Fascinating as all of this is, what do we do now?¡± Darkw asked, he was a researcher or an inventor he stuck with what was tested and knew it worked. This odd mana type would have to be reported back to the Republic but he wasn¡¯t as invested as the others.


    ¡°Nothing much, most of us will just head for the closest arch and have Xavier get his clear of the floor and move on to the third floor.¡± Ajax said.


    ¡°Why only most of us?¡± Xavier asked.


    ¡°This floor is low enough that nobody is in any real danger on it.¡± Ajax exined. ¡°While you amodate to the changes and get the kill you need I am hoping your uncle can scour the floor and find me something infused with this mana type that I can study on the outside.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like a n.¡± the prince nodded and got ready to dash away as his runes sucked up more mana.


    ¡°Sylvanthal would also be very interested in buying such a sample.¡± Arianwyn called out as the prince started to run.


    ¡°As would the Republic¡± Darkw left no pretense as he followed the elf¡¯s example and yelled after the prince.


    What happened next was an exercise in frustration for Ajax. Unlike everyone else here he was the only one who had spent years training to manage a continuous changing physical boost. He wasn¡¯t as skilled as the prince who took seconds to adapt but after five minutes he had [Mana Syphon] providing him a strong enough boost to simply counteract the increased gravity.


    This wasn¡¯t what frustrated Ajax however. What frustrated him to no end was that despite the massive presence of gravity mana on the floor as a whole he hadn¡¯t found any monster capable of using it. It was just passively there in the ambient mana and he could barely analyze it when it was doing nothing more than existing


    ¡°How the fuck did my uncle adapt so quickly?¡± Xavier cursed. Out of everyone Xavier was having the hardest time adjusting as he was also a hybrid fighter, he had no issues walking normally but hisbat ability had suffered.


    ¡°Curse users.¡± Benedict replied nonchntly.


    ¡°What?!¡± Ajax, Lexi and Xavier turned towards him at that flippant answer.


    ¡°He faced a lot of curse users during the wars.¡± Benedict exined. ¡°In the field hybrid fighters are mage killers, unlike in a tournament there is no arena limiting them and giving a clear start. Their biggest weakness is that their stats are spread across six stats plus Vitality and Perception where everyone else spreads theirs across three and Vitality and Perception.¡±


    ¡°Curse fighters are mostly physical so they can react and curses would target the lower stats best since they apply a t reduction.¡± ra continued for him. ¡°Your uncle had specific squads that had people who could use cursed attack hunting after him during the war.¡±


    As she said this, ra''s eyes unintentionally shed over to Ajax for a moment. He was also a hybrid fighter but from the way he was going he wouldn¡¯t have the same weakness. This wasn¡¯t something the others missed so the discussion dropped off there as everyone returned to their exercises to adapt to the increased gravity.


    It was only once Xavier felt ready and the group started their search for an arch leading to the third floor that the silence was broken. ¡°If you ever figure out how to work with this mana type I¡¯ll want to hire you. It would work wonders for military training.¡±


    Funnily enough Benedict wasn¡¯t addressing Ajax but rather Lexi. Out of the two of them Ajax had a higher chance of getting the affinity but that wouldn¡¯t help with anything outside of him using it. If Lexi learnt if on the other hand there was a much better chance she and her family could figure out how to enchant an area to mimic the effects of the floor.


    It didn¡¯t take more than half an hour before they found the arch and its guardian, halfway through Xavier¡¯s fight the prince had also returned with a nod of confirmation at having seeded in his task.


    Not wanting to be surprised again Ajax didn¡¯t even wait for Xavier to finish killing the mini boss as he beelined towards the arch to check the mana type of the next floor.

 Chapter 387

    Chapter 387


    There was no issue with the next floor, from what Ajax could feel it seemed to be a standard fire and earth based floor, either a desert or a volcano depending on how the properties were applied. If he had to bet Ajax would have gone for desert for the simple reason that it was missing any metal mana that was usually found in any volcanic themed floor.


    ¡°Did you find any creatures that can use this mana type?¡± Ajax asked the prince as they watched Xavier fight.


    ¡°No, though I do have to say some of the creatures on this floor look¡­ I can¡¯t quite find the words¡­ odd.¡± the prince answered.


    ¡°Odd how?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°Their bodies were misshapen.¡± the prince said. ¡°More pudgy and with denser muscles.¡±


    ¡°Adaptations to the increased downward force.¡± Ajax pondered. ¡°The dungeon added monsters that would be uniquely suited to the environment.¡±


    The prince instantly pulled up a privacy screen before he frowned a little as he turned to Ajax. ¡°This is the second time you do that. I am not sure what you know about this downward force but you do know something.¡± Ajax¡¯s eyebrows made a break for his forehead in surprise as he looked towards the others with a little trepidation.


    ¡°I doubt any of them has a good enough lie detection skill at a high enough level to pick up on that since everything you said was technically truthful.¡± the prince reassured him. ¡°Maybe Harold, despite being a fighter it would all depend on how gifted he is in the political arena. That doesn¡¯t matter since he knows discretion. Do make sure you keep this in mind however because I assure you Aranor would also see through it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll exin moreter but it''s ratherplicated¡­¡± Ajax started but as soon as the wordplicated left his mouth the prince quickly cut him off. ¡°In that case you best just prepare to give a presentation once we are back in Gryndor.¡± Despite the prince¡¯s fascination with magic he was not a researcher or a schr.


    ¡°Can I see one of the samples?¡± Ajax asked as he extended his hand towards the prince.


    Instead of a single item the prince ced two pieces of rock in his hand. Both were about the same size but one felt much heavier than the other. Both of the chunks were filled with Gravity mana, in fact they looked almost identical to Ajax¡¯s senses.


    ¡°Does one of them amplify the force while the other diminishes it?¡± Ajax was shocked as he realized what was happening.


    ¡°You think so too?¡± the prince grinned. ¡°I¡¯ll be selling only one sample type to the elves and the Republic so keep quiet about the second.¡±


    The prince¡¯s voice was much sterner as he took back the samples and lowered the privacy field just as Xavier was finishing his fight. The mini-boss was two levels lower than Xavier and while he didn¡¯t pose a real threat to him in terms of offense the mini boss''s mobilitybined with the increased gravity let it survive a lot longer than it otherwise would have.


    ¡°Finally!¡± Xavier gave a frustrated cry as his sword cut open to the monsters hearth and the spell he followed it up with froze the monsters internal organs. Once he saw how close Ajax was to the next floor he quickly followed up with a question. ¡°Tell me the next floor is normal.¡±


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    ¡°Should be a desert or a volcano.¡± Ajax responded. ¡°Seemed regr enough.¡±


    The next floor was nothing out of the ordinary but the one after that did have something a little more special. The first was a desert floor just like Ajax had guessed while the second was an open in that housedrge herds of pack animals that very much resembled the bison¡¯s of Earth only the were muchrger. It was one of the few times where the non-mini boss groups on the floor were actually a lot more dangerous than even the arch guardians due to the sheer numbers.


    Thankfully for all of Ajax¡¯s ssmates the floor also had small groups of beastkin guarding each arch. Nobody had a hard time clearing either of the floors, the desert floor was too small of a level difference for their increased stats to not make up for it and for the second floor the humanoidbatants were easily dealt, they simply ambushed the mini bosses while the prince took out all of the others leaving it to a one on one.


    Despite the ease with which they cleared both floors it had taken them a decently long time to do so. Both a desert and an open ne had two things inmon. One, neither needed much vertical space leaving the floor to expand horizontally a lot more, and two clear lines of sight meant that the arches were even more spread out so it took the group a while go from one to the next.


    ¡°Remember they will most likely challenge you but they could also try Benedict depending on which nobles decides to make their move first.¡± The prince cautioned his nephew.


    Benedict wasn¡¯t happy to be excluded based on the fact that mana had almost no ce in his fighting style, nevertheless it was something that elves emphasized and the more racist ones saw a human that chose not to use mana heavily as less than. Lexi and Anna however were excluded because of other reasons.


    For Lexi it was clear that nobody wanted to be the cautionary tale for whatever new spell her grandfather hade up with in the years since he hadst been seen on a battlefield. That she had openly shown her affinity for multiple different elements only served to further push the same narrative.


    The reason why Anna was going to be left alone was very different. The wealth of Archduke Goldmancer was widely known, not only that but his affection for his only daughter and his overprotective tendencies were as well. None of the noble families were willing to risk an open contract put out just for a little pride by defeating her, not when there were better targets avable.


    ¡°I know.¡± Xavier nodded with conviction. ¡°I¡¯ll get us one of those trees.¡±


    Despite Xavier¡¯s ego being reigned in a lot since his teenage years, both by the maturity that followed adolescence and the simple fact of Ajax¡¯s presence, he still retained a healthy ego regarding hisbat prowess.


    Once the lower leveled in the group exited the dungeon the rest of the group had a decision to make.


    ¡°Do we stop to sleep now or do we push on?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°Only you have anything to gain from this floor and it won¡¯t even take you long to dispatch a mini boss.¡± Harold offered.


    ¡°That will also be true after we wake up.¡± Darkw said as he spread his arms wide and took a deep breath as he looked towards the trees that surrounded them. ¡°I say we rest here where we know what the floor theme is.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re resting here.¡± the prince said, putting an end to the discussion.


    The reason the prince wanted them to rest here was simple, nobody was in any danger on this floor. With even the highest levels being only at level sixty the prince was sure any of them could solo the floor, the only question would be how many were good enough to solo it by finding and using the obelisk instead of slowly clearing it out. With such a safety margin the prince could actually rx and sleep as well to catch up on some of the sleep he missed thanks to the attack the night before.


    As Xavier and the other exited the dungeon they were pleasantly surprised not to be attacked by any of the elves despite more than a few drawing their weapons at their presence. The arch guardians seemed pretty peeved at not getting to interrogate them about what happened to the rest of their party and what floor they had gotten to but Lioriel was quick in intercepting them and bringing the team to Aranor.


    Unlike previously the elven champion wasn¡¯t alone while he was waiting for them, rather he was caught in an rather animated discussion with a number of other elves. That in and of itself wasn¡¯t an issue, the issue was that Benedict, Lexi, Anna and Xavier all recognized most of the elves surrounding them. It wasn¡¯t that they had met them before but that they had been part of their education as each was a very powerful fighter in their own right.


    Despite the elven kingdoms being rivals the same did not always apply to their champions, adding that the two kingdoms hadn¡¯t gone to war with each other in thest two generations of rulers and it meant that Deepwood¡¯s champions didn¡¯t have any bad blood with Aranor and in fact some of them were quite friendly.


    ¡°Look at that, what do we have here?¡± one of the elves asked as he turned towards the four humans.


    Lioriel tensed at that. She knew she wasn¡¯t strong enough to beat any of the three neers but she still moved her hand towards her weapon just in case, she wasn¡¯t going to fail her queen without at least trying.


    ¡°Let the children handle the children''s games.¡± Aranor waved the elf off.


    ¡°Oh, I didn¡¯t know you had such a soft spot for humans, Aranor.¡± One of the other elves said.


    ¡°It¡¯s not a matter of race but one of honor.¡± Aranor shut down the teasing. ¡°We all know why the challenge wille before Ajax exits the dungeon, just let the young ones sort it out.¡±


    Despite the frown Xavier was giving Aranor on the inside he was singing the elf¡¯s praises. By keeping the older elves out of the interaction Aranor was making it easier for Xavier to set the stakes such that he could walk away with a fortress tree if he won.

 Chapter 388

    Chapter 388


    The situation quickly turned a little awkward for the noble elves once their powerful supporters followed Aranor¡¯s suggestion, clearly they hadn¡¯t expected it to go this way.


    ¡°Not even a shred of courage.¡± Xaviermented with a snicker to his friends as he saw the nobles their own age look to each other to make the first move.


    ¡°What¡¯s that supposed to mean mana-starved?¡± The most hotheaded of the elves sniped back.


    Xavier¡¯s eye twitched at the racial slur. Despite his extensive training as a talented member of the royal family there were things that he just hadn¡¯t experienced, it took all of his willpower to hide the anger and push on with the script he was ying out.


    ¡°It¡¯s clear none of you are courageous to the point of stupidity.¡± Xavier continued as he put on a smirk reminiscent of his uncle. ¡°They would havee before we entered the dungeon, challenged Ajax and been sent to the infirmary.¡±


    The elves could do nothing but look around awkwardly at that, all of them knew it was true. Some of them had in fact had family members or friends that had wanted to challenge the human genius but their families went as far as to imprison them to ensure that wouldn¡¯t happen.


    ¡°But to not even have enough courage to challenge one of us without any support.¡± Xavier continued while shaking his head in mock disappointment. ¡°You might as well leave now.¡±


    This was what Xavier¡¯s entire n hinged on, he would need to be challenged and not the challenger. While the challenger had an advantage in deciding the stage where the fight took ce the challenged could set the terms for the prizes.


    ¡°You¡¯ll regret those words mana-starved.¡± the same hotheaded elf responded. ¡°I, Ruffius Leafde, grandson of Duke Leafde, challenge you to a duel!¡± ¡°What are the terms of the duel?¡± Xavier asked.


    Xavier was smart enough not to jump into this head first, a duel to first blood would not be one he would ept against a family of wind mages who specialized in long range attacks with wind currents that carried poisonous leaves.


    ¡°Duels are traditionally to first blood of course.¡± Ruffius said with an evil grin.


    ¡°Is that so?¡± Xavier seemed to ponder, Lioriel was on the verge of challenging that im but the looksing from the elves around Aranor quickly stopped her in her tracks. Clearly they wanted to enforce Aranor¡¯s words on any help the humans would receive as well. ¡°Is that also the most prominent format in thest ten duels you took part in?¡±


    Xavier¡¯s question turned Ruffius¡¯s grin into a scowl as he admitted that eight out of hisst ten duels had been under the rules of surrender or unconsciousness with no lethal attempts. Ruffius further spent another ten minutes trying to change the format but none of his arguments held any sway and it quickly became clear that this format was the only one Xavier would ept from someone slightly older than him. Ruffius was prepared to push more on the matter but he quickly changed his tune once he noticed one of the others with him was willing to take his chance away from him.


    ¡°So be it, have the format you prefer, not like it will change the results.¡± Riffius said. ¡°Lets go and settle this in the closest arena.¡±


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    ¡°You don¡¯t seriously expect me to follow you right now?¡± Xavier sounded outraged at the premise.¡±


    ¡°Why not?¡± Ruffius took his refusal as a sign of fear. ¡°Scared you will lose?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not leaving Aranor¡¯s size without my uncle present, and I know he won¡¯t leave this courtyard until my uncle exits the dungeon.¡± Xavier said.


    ¡°You insult my honor by suggesting I would have you attacked on the street.¡± Ruffius¡¯s face went a little red as he growled the words, clearly his social skills left a little to be desired.


    ¡°Who said anything about you?¡± Xavier waved away hisint. ¡°My inn was attacked justst night!¡±


    Ruffius had nothing he could say to that, any attempt to have the fight now was lost, he could now only hope that his father would be understanding if Ajax chose to challenge him that he will refuse that duel.


    ¡°Fine!¡± Ruffius said as he turned to walk away. ¡°We will have our duel after your uncle exits the dungeon.¡±


    ¡°Lord Leafde, aren¡¯t you forgetting the stakes for the duel?¡± Xavier asked pushing his social skills to the limit to make himself sound simply confused, from the looks the elves around Aranor trained on him he wasn¡¯t as sessful as he thought.


    ¡°And what do you think we should wager?¡± Ruffius asked more reserved than before, despite his ego he knew that his family''s wealth paledpared to any royal family.


    ¡°We are still young members of our family so the prize shouldn¡¯t be all that high.¡± Xavier said as he tried to make his request sound more reasonable. ¡°The winner can choose one renewable resource from the loser¡¯s family.¡±


    Ruffius¡¯ eyebrows rose as he was shocked by the opportunity. A royal family had ess to all the resources of a country, the elf was tempted to pinch himself to check if he was dreaming. Even the elves around Aranor seemed pleasantly surprised by the terms Xavier offered.


    Lioriel on the other hand saw straight through Xavier¡¯s n, after all they had just learnt about fortress tree¡¯s the previous night with her there to witness it! And despite their great value, fortress saplings were technically a renewable resource that each high ced noble family had ess to in order to maintain and grow their own house¡¯s main estate. She was however unable to put a stop to this as Aranor had slowly made his way next to her, a simple hand ced on her shoulder allowed him to unleash his full aura on her alone keeping her from reacting for a few moments.


    ¡°Those terms are agreeable!¡± Ruffius quickly agreed to the terms out of fear that Xavier would change his mind and left the area.


    ¡°That was almost too easy.¡± Xavier said as he turned back to his friends.


    ¡°You best make sure not to lose.¡± Anna''s words sounded like a bucket of ice water. ¡°The same way something like a fortress tree can be considered a renewable resource so can the next hatchling of your family''s griffins.¡±


    Those words brought Xavier up short as he spotted the mistake he made as he focused on keeping anyone from suspecting that everything had already been nned out. His uncle had told him to make the best for a renewable resource currently in the family vault as the mated pair of wild griffins the royal family kept only mated once a century and even the only one offspring would appear. The next one was still two decades away but with the wording of the prize the next griffin pup could be imed.


    Xavier was still sure of his victory but this added pressure was something he wasn¡¯t looking forward to for the next day until his uncle exited the dungeon and he could put all of this behind himself.


    Inside the dungeon the group¡¯s sleep break extended to over ten hours as they looked to push to the finish for most of them before another break would be needed. The next three floors didn¡¯t pose a challenge for any of them, even Harold breezed straight through the level eighty seven mini boss. The strength gained from their previous dungeons was starting to show more and more.


    ¡°What¡¯s with the sad face?¡± the prince asked Ajax as he noticed him looking a little dejected as they traveled to the arch for the next floor.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing,¡± Ajax shook his head. ¡°I was just hoping for an achievement but it seems this isn¡¯t one of them.¡±


    ¡°What achievement?¡± The prince was excited now.


    ¡°The previous floor I cleared marked my one hundredth dungeon floor clear.¡± Ajax said. ¡°I was hoping there was a bonus for it but there doesn¡¯t seem to be anything.¡±


    The prince started coughing as he choked on his gasp of surprise. ¡°You¡¯ve cleared one hundred floors.¡± the prince said as he looked at Ajax intently. ¡°I guess I was aware that you just kept stacking more and more but it feels different now to hear you have an extra one hundred to all stats just from dungeons.¡±


    Ajax agreed that the number was extreme, made even more so by the fact that it could be increased further by 10% just from potions since stats gained from dungeons also increase the amount of potions you can take, more than that those 10% could be allocated however you wanted so long as you had powerful enough potions.


    ¡°I know it¡¯s already a lot.¡± Ajax said with a wistful sigh. ¡°I just hoped there would be a bonus for the hundredth one, even something as small as it giving +2 to all stats instead.¡±


    ¡°You should just be grateful there is no diminishing returns on it.¡± the prince said. ¡°The system sometimes limits progressive gains like this, I have to imagine there is one for this as well but further along than one hundred. For your sake I hope it is as far away as possible.¡±

 Chapter 389

    Chapter 389


    Ajax and the prince were the only two to remain on the seventh floor of the dungeon, despite the increase in stats Arianwyn, ra and Darkw didn¡¯t yet feel up to challenging such a high floor though everyone knew once they made it to Sylvanthal¡¯s capital all three of them would be taking on the level one hundred and ten mini bosses.


    The floor theme was arge mountainside that was filled with caves that lead into a mine shaft. In the skies above Ajax could feel the manaing off the griffins that were circling them.


    ¡°So what will it be, the griffins or whatever we find in the mine?¡± the prince asked.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take my chances with the mine.¡± Ajax said as he threw a wary look towards the sky because of the weak pulse [Danger Sense] sent out. The pulse disappeared as soon as he looked up and made eye contact with one of the griffins.


    Unlike the lower floor this mine was not only dark to Ajax¡¯s eyes but even his [Mana Sense] didn¡¯t let him identify any creatures as if any where there they all seamlessly integrated with the ambient mana.


    ¡°I don¡¯t like this floor.¡± Ajaxmented as they made their way deeper into the mine by torchlight.


    ¡°Then you best get out of here quickly.¡± the prince said as they descended deeper into the cave without any sign of hostility.


    The two of them continued their walk for another thirty minutes and while they hadn¡¯t made contact with any form of life they had been attacked numerous times by the traps that wereid out all around their path.


    ¡°This doesn¡¯t make any sense, how can there be inbuilt traps in the walls when the shaft is naturally formed and no humanoids are part of the floor.¡± Ajaxined as he bandaged a cut on his leg.¡± Even the prince couldn¡¯t save Ajax from the damage as the traps had a quick activation with minimal movement, more than that they didn¡¯t use any mana, just a simple cause and effect based on the trigger.


    ¡°Quitining, look we already found an arch.¡± the prince said as he pointed at the chamber at the end of the tunnel they were moving through. ¡°Let''s hope it has a miniboss guarding it and we¡¯ll be done with this.¡±


    Ajax and the prince carefully approached the arch carefully checking for any guardian but there was none to be seen. ¡°Do you think it¡¯s a trap?¡± Ajax asked. ¡°I can¡¯t see any lock for it to be a key passage.¡±


    The prince didn¡¯t have a chance to respond as Ajax stepped too close to the arch and a massive hand made of stone ripped itself seemingly from the floor toe swinging in his direction.


    Despite the surprise attack Ajax didn¡¯t hesitate to jump out of the way as he took a boosting potion out of his spacial storage, removed the cork and chugged. The guardian didn¡¯t give Ajax any time to spare however the confines of the mine and the size of the mini boss meant that it couldn¡¯t move all that well in the space given.


    Ajax wasted no time as he brought out his hammer and charged it with Void mana. ¡°Earth golem!¡± Ajax hissed, figuring out why he hadn¡¯t sensed it. Earth golems were known for their durability however their defenses based themselves on the attacknding on their outermostyer that distributed the impact evenly in arge area. Ajax¡¯s void strike bypassed that defense and took the golem¡¯s arm from the elbow down.


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    An earth golem would have been a good match for Ajax given their environment. It was only wishful thinking on his part to be facing a golem. As the guardian stepped towards Ajax its leg sank into the ground as its mana started flooded out.


    It was only Ajax¡¯s [Danger Sense] that let him react in time to bring out his shield to lessen the impact and the guardian sent Ajax flying into the wall with a powerful enough punch that he left a small outline of his body on impact.


    ¡°Not a golem.¡± Ajax coughed as he spit out a mouth full of blood staring at the earth elemental with a mix of determination and slight trepidation.


    Fighting a full fledged elemental is something Ajax had done before however none of those elementals had been past level one hundred. To make matters even worse he was fighting an earth elemental in an underground mine, this put him on a timer as the elemental had practically endless resources to reform its body regardless of the damage he took. Ajax¡¯s only chance was to destroy the core inside of the body.


    ¡°You sure you don¡¯t want to give the griffins a go?¡± the prince asked from the sidelines where he had finished taking out another earth elemental that had been drawn by the fighting.


    ¡°No.¡± Ajax response was short but on the inside he felt a little doubt that perhaps it was the smarter idea to not face the elemental.


    ¡°Suit yourself.¡± the prince said as he settled himself in a stance to interfere should there be a need. ¡°At least we figured out how the traps were made.¡±


    That realization did nothing to help Ajax currently as he flooded his body with Light and Life mana to heal the damage he had taken as he prepared to charge the mini boss. For the next three minutes Ajax danced around the elemental as he smashed through his arms, legs, torso and even its head one after another in search of the elemental¡¯s core to no avail.


    ¡®This isn¡¯t working¡¯ Ajax thought as he watched the elemental restore the lost mass by simply taking it from the rock around them. ¡®Normally an elemental¡¯s core is easy to sense as it is the source of their mana, not only that but it takes much more for an earth elemental to move their core inside their body, but I can¡¯t sense it anywhere. The mini boss¡¯s entire body is infused to the point the core could be anywhere.¡¯


    ¡°Get ready to pull me out.¡± Ajax shouted as he formted a new n. ¡°If this doesn¡¯t work we¡¯ll go for the griffins.¡±


    The prince tensed up at those words, even more so when he noticed that Ajax was charging the elemental head on with only his shield. The elemental didn¡¯t seem to be disturbed or surprised or suspicious as to why his recently slippery opponent changed to a forward charged and simply threw a punch with all its power just as it had been doing since the start.


    As the punch made contact with his shield Ajax was sent flying towards the walls once more, this time the impact was even stronger than the one he endured at the start of the fight. More than that his shield had shattered moments after the impact and the prince was already moving towards Ajax.


    Unlike the first punch Ajax endured in the fight he wasn¡¯t the only one hurt this time. The elemental and the entire mine shaft as a whole vibrated violently from the impact.


    ¡°Crazy kid.¡± the prince cursed as he picked Ajax up while the kid in question was trying to regain his bearings.


    Ajax¡¯s n had been simr to the one Lexi had used to defeat the massive nt inside the cave a few dungeons ago, since he didn¡¯t have a good enough handle on Vibration magic to use it naturally he had nned to tank the impact from an attack on his shield and then use his magic to amplify that resulting vibration.


    The n had not only worked but it had in fact worked too well. With Ajax pushing over seven hundred mana in just amplifying the vibration instead of also creating it the result of the attack was much stronger than even he intended, this was the reason that his shield had shatter, it was the reason the elemental had died and most importantly it was also the reason the prince was rushing with Ajax towards the arch in the middle of the room before the entire mountain came down on their heads following the local earthquake Ajax had just unleashed underground.


    Ajax was still a little disoriented as the princeid him down on the next floor before getting him to sit up. ¡°You best have gotten the stats for that.¡± The prince said with a bit of harshness in his voice that Ajax¡¯s couldn¡¯t condemn seeing as he had almost gotten both of them killed.


    ¡°I got it.¡± Ajax said as he closed the notification and looked at a second one that made a shit eating grin bloom on his face. After all the hours of training Ajax had finally managed to gain [Vibration Aspect Mana]. ¡°I really got it!¡± his voice going slightly higher the second time.


    The prince had been nodding in eptance but when he heard Ajax repeat himself his eyes narrowed as he took in the young Baron¡¯s slightly battered body. ¡°You also got Vibration mana didn¡¯t you?¡± it didn¡¯te across as a question so much as it did an usation.


    Ajax didn¡¯t even need to respond, all he did was make eye contact with the prince and maintain it while his alreadyrge grin seemed to grow even more. The prince let out a series of expletives that would have had drill sargent¡¯s reaching for a pen and paper to take notes.


    Ajax¡¯s amusement only seemed to grow as he took in the prince¡¯s reaction and closed the notification for his new skill when his entire body froze as he took in another notification that he hadn¡¯t expected.

 Chapter 390

    Chapter 390


    After he didn¡¯t receive an Achievement for pushing his dungeons stat bonus to +100 Ajax hadn¡¯t expected to get one but there it was sitting right in front of his face.


    Achievement : Truly Skilled


    Gain 100 skills


    Reward : Each skill grants +1 to the stat they rely on most.


    Each skill grants an additional +1 to the stat they rely on most for each threshold passed.


    Slight increase to obtain skills based on already earned skills.


    Slight increased speed of skill increase. (Experience gained through skill application increased topensate for faster leveling skill with less effort.)


    ¡°What is it?¡± the prince asked, slightly worried about Ajax¡¯s reaction.


    ¡°Nothing.¡± Ajax simply waved his question away. As much as Ajax trusted the royal family with some of his more sensitive secrets he wasn¡¯t yet ready to give away the exact number of skills he had. Ajax was pretty sure they already knew about this achievement anyway, sure it would be extremely unusual for someone as young as him to have it but with hundreds of years people had plenty of time to gain skills.


    ¡°Was that something to do with Legendary skills?¡± the prince pushed a little but when Ajax didn¡¯t answer he just let the topic drop. ¡°Okay, wait here and drink another potion so you recover, there is no rush.¡±


    Ajax simply nodded as he took out another healing potion and put it on the ground near him. It was too soon since hisst potion so he would have to wait a short while before it would be safe to take another.


    To take his mind off the pain Ajax instead chose to focus on his newest affinity, Vibration. Unlike Life affinity there were so many different ways that Vibration affinity could be used inbat. Unlike regr mages he wasn¡¯t so locked in to the casted spell aspect so he could use Vibration in many different ways.


    The main way Ajax nned to add Vibration to his fighting style had nothing to do with anything he had used to unlock the affinity. His n was to make his sword and axe vibrate really quickly to increase their cutting power, this would require the sword and axe in question to be specifically built for it otherwise they would quickly end up just like his shield had.


    The next thing Ajax did once he thought of that was to check if the gauntlet he still had even could channel his Vibration mana, for the first time since he tried Ajax finally found a mana type that the dragon hadn¡¯t added to the glove. After checking Vibration Ajax thought to also check Life mana, since there was no use in channeling Life mana through his items he hadn¡¯t thought to check before but the glove was also missing a Life mana stone. Ajax was pretty sure now that no Legendary mana types would be there since a Life one would be one of the easier ones to get considering the number of stories he heard about Life based natural treasures.


    As soon as Ajax took his potion he also got up, he wasn¡¯t fully healed yet but it was good enough for him to exit the dungeon. He ced his helmet back on his head to hide his ears and he took out a spare shield from his spacial ring. This shield was much weaker than the one he used previously but with the rate his strength was increasing he would need to update his items shortly anyway, especially so considering the increased stats from his Achievement.


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    As Ajax left the prince to clear the final floor of the dungeon he exited and found himself back in the center of therge containment area built around the dungeon. For once nobody paid him too much attention as he exited the dungeon, the guards simply approached him to get their statement.


    Lioriel was quick to intercept them and then lead Ajax towards the rest of his group. As soon as Xavier caught sight of Ajax he started bouncing from foot to foot in excitement, Ajax took this to mean that the n had worked and now Xavier was both excited and a little nervous about the uing duel and had nowhere to channel all the energy before he could confirm his suspicion however he felt [Enigma] activate.


    The identification attempt hade from multiple sources, Ajax usually ignored most of the Inspection attempts on himself but something was different about these ones. The most important part was that all of them broke through [Enigma] to certain sess.


    The identification skills had alle from the group of elves that were around Aranor and while none of them had gotten ess to his skill list or stats Ajax felt that two of them were close to getting ess to thetter.


    Naturally Ajax¡¯s first response was to return the favor as he used his own identification skill [<strong>Inspector¡¯s Eye</strong>]. For two of the elves Ajax hadn¡¯t managed to get much more than their names, ages and levels. Thest one however must have had a weaker privacy skill, more than that [<strong>Inspector¡¯s Eye Lvl 25</strong>] had managed to pass its threshold after the first two identifications so on the third one Ajax was able to get his entire stat list.


    Getting that was a wee surprise that made the entire interaction much more pleasant so Ajax chose to ignore the elven Champions for now and went to talk to his friends instead, or at least that was his n.


    ¡°What do you think you¡¯re doing?¡± thest elf asked in a more controlled voice than Ajax would have expected, he guessed the man¡¯s social skills must be working overtime since he hadn¡¯t blown a gasket in anger yet.


    ¡°He¡¯s doing the same thing we did to him.¡± one of the other champions surprisingly took Ajax¡¯s side. ¡°I do have to say his identification skill is stronger than I expected.¡±


    The brief look of embarrassment that passed over the angered elf¡¯s face was all Ajax needed to put the situation together, the others hadn¡¯t caught on that he had seen the man¡¯s stats and was now torn between exposing that fact himself or letting Ajax off the hook. Ajax wasn¡¯t the only one who put that together as both Anna and Benedict had their eyes open wide as their eyebrows made a break for their hairlines for a brief moment as the second elf¡¯s words made them realized that Ajax had gotten ess to something more before they also schooled their expressions.


    ¡°Best keep to those on your level, kid.¡± Thest elven champion addressed Ajax directly. ¡°You may be an unmatched prodigy but right now any of us could crush you like a bug.¡±


    Ajax wisely chose to keep his mouth shut and simply nod in acknowledgement however all of the other elves surrounding them gasped as they looked between Ajax and thest champion. For them to hear someone of his status call Ajax an unmatched prodigy was shocking.


    ¡°How long do you think it will be until my unclees out?¡± Xavier who had barely reigned in his nervous and excited energy enough that he wasn¡¯t hopping from one foot to the other hadn¡¯t really caught the finer details of the exchange and wasser focused on something else.


    ¡°It should still be a couple of hours.¡± Ajax said but he wasn¡¯tpletely sure, that would alle down to what the floor boss would be, none of the floor bosses would pose a threat to the prince since they would only be level one hundred and thirty two but depending on what they were it could take him a while to take them down. ¡°I take it from the excitement that the n worked?¡±


    ¡°It sure did.¡± Xavier bragged.


    While Harold, Arianwyn, ra and Lioriel were surprised to hear Ajax expose that everything had been nned out, Benedict, Lexi, Anna and even Aranor had caught onto what Ajax was doing as both Lexi and Benedict activated a privacy field around the delving group.


    ¡°Except for the small part where he put more on the line if he loses.¡± Anna quickly cut Xavier down. ¡°What happened in there, you look pretty rough.¡±


    To entuate Anna¡¯s words Lexi was already giving Ajax a look over as she inspected every dent on his armor to make sure he was really okay.


    ¡°I may have taken one or two direct hits from an earth elemental¡± Ajax waved it off. ¡°Nothing that will kill me.¡±


    ¡°What about the champion?¡± ra asked. ¡°What did you learn about him?¡±


    As someone who had felt quite vulnerable under Ajax¡¯s identification skill she had managed to put everything together. The elf¡¯s reaction, Ajax¡¯s exposure of the n as a misdirection and an excuse to put up a privacy shield all while ying into the stereotype that he was amoner who didn¡¯t know how to y the noble¡¯s game by revealing the existence of the n.


    ¡°Got a look at his stats.¡± Ajax said as he didn¡¯t think there was a need to keep that hidden now that ra had all but called him out for looking. ¡°In my defense they all tried to identify me first.¡±


    The topic quickly changed from there to Xavier¡¯s uing duel. Still while ra simply listened to the conversation she couldn¡¯t help but evaluate Ajax once more. He didn¡¯t have the social skills of a noble and he definitely wasn¡¯t used to the social aspect of nobility, when it came down to thinking like a noble however Ajax was one of the best among their peers.

 Chapter 391

    Chapter 391


    As he recovered more and more Ajax found himself feeling odd in his own skin, it wasn¡¯t enough for him to have any real issues but it just felt a little odd. It took him a few minutes to realize that this was because of histest Achievement. He had just gained a little over one hundred and ten stats all at once on top of the eight he got for the final floor of the dungeon. While this wasn¡¯t a big enough change to affect him as much as the first time he took potions, now that his body was getting back to his peak condition he would need a short while to get used to everything. This usually wasn¡¯t an issue with dungeon floor rewards as they came one point at a time evenly spread and he got an entire floor to get used to it before the next ones came.


    ¡°Are you going to hold back?¡± Harold asked Xavier.


    This was an interesting question, as a prince and more than that a future powerhouse of Gryndor the prince wouldn¡¯t be keen on showing everything, then again it was likely that he wouldn¡¯t be able to hold back if he was hoping to win.


    ¡°No.¡± Xavier said as his excitement died down a little at the question and his expression turned serious. ¡°What we stand to gain from having a sapling of our own far outstrips what we stand to lose from me showing everything I can do now. I¡¯d be more worried if I was the strongest in my generation but¡­¡±


    Nobody needed him to finish that statement to know what he meant. Ajax''s existence gave the kingdom of Gryndor and especially their younger talentedbatants so much more freedom in what they had to keep close to their chests. This in turn would mean that he should have kept his own powers secret and not disyed them during the tournament, the problem with that was that Ajax was so versatile and his casting style was new enough that having it be seen when he is younger isn¡¯t that much of a hindrance either.


    As they lowered the privacy bubble the conversation turned towards other more mundane topics like their impression on Deepwood¡¯s capital. One of the things Ajax was secretly curious about was the ve auctions, while not as numerous as they were in the Empire they still existen and Ajax hoped to get a look at them in hopes of not only freeing a few people that seemed more talented with the help of Arianwyn, ra or Aranor but maybe to even recruit some new people for his own House that would bring with them any information they had gleaned from Deepwood.


    It was only a few hourster that the prince finally exited the dungeon. To Ajax¡¯s surprise the prince was highly frustrated and annoyed, despite his armor not being damaged it was covered in a thickyer of a shiny substance that looked both slimy and sticky. Even more than that his [Sense Mana] could feel one of his runes still active as he made his way towards them.


    ¡°Ha ha ha!¡± All of the elven champions present except Aranor broke intoughter as they took in the prince.


    ¡°A slime floor boss?¡± Aranor asked his look abination of both pity and slight amusement. ¡°Yes¡­¡± the prince let out a sigh.


    Looking at it more closely Ajax could even tell how the slime that covered the prince was disintegrating into mana and being released into the atmosphere so there was no use in trying to store any of it. It was curious to him why the process took longer than others since most things that exited the dungeon straight up dissolved into mana in under a second once they were dead.


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    ¡°You¡¯re finally done.¡± Xavier said as he approached his uncle and looked to pat him on the back. ¡°You can finallye see my duel.¡±


    At the same time the prince dodged out of the way and Harold caught Xavier by the wrist. ¡°Wait for the slime to disappear.¡± thetter instructed the prince. ¡°Slime floor bosses can give their bodies any properties they want, it¡¯s why its also dissolving so much slower it counts as an attack, most likely a corrosive one.¡±


    Ajax was now much warrier of the slime since it came from a very high level floor boss. At the same time he was also very interested in it so he started inspecting it with every skill at his disposal.


    Over the next five minutes the group made its way out of the dungeon¡¯s protective perimeter while the slime also finished dissolving. The prince also joined Aranor¡¯s conversation with the other elven champions though he did pick up on the fact that one of the champions was shooting Ajax a re every time he looked in his direction.


    ¡°Finally, how long does it take toe out of a dungeon.¡± the same elf that had previously challenged Xavier to a duel ambushed them right outside the exit.


    Ajax wasted no time using [Inspector¡¯s Eye] on him, unlike with the champions however he didn¡¯t focus so much on learning what the elf could do but rather on his identification going unnoticed. Seeing how nobody batted an eye it must have been sessful through Ajax had to frown a little when he saw that the elf was not only four years older than Xavier but also five levels higher at forty nine. Both of those things were definitely pushing what was eptable for a duel of youngsters in terms of both levels and age.


    Ajax could see that the prince wanted to step forward and help his nephew stare down the group of House guards and other younger elves that were backing up the loudmouthed elf but couldn¡¯t do so without the other elven champions present also stepping in.


    ¡°What issues do you have with my friend?¡± Ajax asked as he stepped forward to show his support. With his six foot six frame Ajax even towered over the elves by an inch or two.


    The identification attempts came in quickly but all of them were swatted aside by [Enigma] after getting nothing more than his name, more than that they also came with a spike of pain. Ajax returned the favor without trying to be discreet only to find that the guards in question were barely level eighty despite being close to one hundred and fifty years old, more than that neither of them cave even close to the threat level his skill responded when it evaluated Arianwyn, Darkw or even ra after gaining her Domain.


    ¡°Who told you to get involved?¡± The elf snapped back but while his words were haughty and aggressive his body instinctively took a step back from Ajax. ¡°Not only are you a manastarved retch but you¡¯re amoner too.¡±


    Ajax¡¯s stern look broke out into a predatory grin as he couldn¡¯t have asked for a better response from the elf. ¡°Why only a few hours ago I was told to stick to my own level. I¡¯m more than willing to prove I am in no way inferior, or did you perhaps mean to say you are inferior?¡±


    The whole area went quiet, while Ajax¡¯s provocation didn¡¯t have any of the fineness that was expected of a noble and clearly showed that he still had much to learn in that respect his words were very well chosen as none of the younger elves could challenged him and none of the champions could interfere right after they told him to do exactly that.


    ¡°Ajax, that¡¯s enough. The duel has already been arranged¡± Aranor was the one who broke the silence. He didn¡¯t end with that however as he looked towards the young duke¡¯s son. ¡°As for you young lord, I¡¯d advise against trying to start conflicts you are unable to face.¡±


    Ajax had no qualms about stepping back at that. He had achieved exactly what he had wanted, theck of any aura response from him throughout the entire exchange showed that everything had gone as he expected and nothing surprised him. He had managed to not only raise Xavier¡¯s confidence while crushing the elf¡¯s but he also publicly showed Aranor respect by backing down without any fuss.


    ¡°Think we¡¯ll get to see it?¡± Harold whispered to Ajax.


    ¡°See what?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°The royal family''s dueling trick.¡± Harold answered. ¡°Only one out of every five members gains enough of the required skills to pull it off, even his uncle can¡¯t use it. It¡¯s not very useful against multiple opponents or opponents who have much higher stats than you.¡±


    ¡°He can use it.¡± Benedict joined in absentmindedly rubbing his shoulder as a memory of a duel between him and Xavier shed to the front of his mind. ¡°The only question is if he will be pushed to use it.¡±


    That was something Ajax hadn¡¯t know about but it simply made the uing fight even more interesting.

 Chapter 392

    Chapter 392


    The walk to the duelling field wasn¡¯t long but with the suspense building Ajax felt it took forever. Ajax wasn¡¯t sure how the royal family had kept an entire style to themselves, especially when it took abination of skills big enough that only one in five people who were taught could actually gain it.


    When they arrived at the small arena they were allowed to enter without a single word in exnation, not only that but Ajax also noticed that they were not alone, two people wearing the sigil of the royal family were waiting for them, one of them led the group to the stands as the other led the twobatants to the field and prepared to referee the match.


    ¡°The format favors Xavier doesn¡¯t it?¡± Ajax asked.


    It wasn¡¯t the surround or unconsciousness that favored Xavier so much as it was theck of killing attacks that Ajax assumed would favor Xavier.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t.¡± Arianwyn shook her head. ¡°The Leafde scion is a physical fighter, or at least as much of a physical fighter as we elves tend to go.¡±


    While it was only in humans that being born with magic was the rarity instead of being born without it like the other humanoid races both the dwarves and the beastkin had people that chose to focus on physicalbat and invested most if not all of their stats in that domain. Elves were unique in that even their heavy physical based fighters spent at least 20%-30% of their stats in mental stats.


    With both fighters being hybrid fighters the format wouldn¡¯t favor either of them. Thankfully the arena was set on hard ground instead of a sand pit, Leafde would have had an advantage with his wind by using the sand as a way to obscure Xavier''s vision otherwise.


    As they stood across from each other both fighters took out a sword. While Xavier held a longsword with a two handed grip Ajax knew he was proficient in wielding the weapon in a one handed grip with either of his hands.


    Leafde on the other hand held a rapier with his right hand, his left hand was empty but Ajax noticed multiple small knives sheathed all around his body where they could easily be reached. One thing that Ajax very much took note of was that the rapiercked therge handguard he had seen back on Earth in a museum and instead sported a regr cross guard. Ajax saw this very much as a downgrade not only because of the exposed hand and less pleasing aesthetics but also because the handguard could be shaped into an enchantment. Ajax would wait until he saw Leafde in action before passing judgment just in case his fighting style would sh with a more borate handguard. Once the duel began Ajax was surprised to see Leafde back away with a defensive posture while Xavier charged forward. That surprise was instantly reced by understanding as Leafde finished his first spell and Ajax could now feel a physical boost that had the same efficiency as his own [Mana Syphon] surrounding the elf.


    Using his first spell for a boost however left Leafde wide open for Xavier who wasted no time swinging while also releasing a bolt of lightning from his one hand.


    ¡°There are empowerment spells that continue without being channeled?¡± Ajax asked very much surprised since he hadn¡¯t been given the option to learn any of them.


    ¡°There are very few.¡± the prince said as he watched Leafde neutralize the lightning bolt by throwing one of his knives in its path. ¡°Of the ones we are aware of, the elves have at least two different ones among their nobles, the beastkin have one used by certain feline nobles and the dwarves also have one that focuses much more on increasing strength and durability. So far no human has a non channeled spell to physically boost themselves.¡±


    Ajax didn¡¯t need to look at the rest of Leafde¡¯s entourage to know they were smiling at them with a gloating expression as the heard Ajax¡¯s remark. That look of superiority made Ajax want to follow up the question with ¡®but why is it so much worse than my skill¡¯ but he knew better than to give away so much information about [Mana Syphon]. And there was no way that [Mana Syphon] wasn¡¯t far superior to whatever spell Leafde was using, they may have had the same efficiency when it came to mana spent for boost but Ajax could use any mana near him, including that of enemies, while Leafde was forced to provide his own only.


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    As the fight progressed Xavier was being driven back more and more. Both of them were using quick short spells to try and unbnce each other but while Xavier¡¯s spells were a bit stronger and he seemed to be the more skilled swordsman it wasn¡¯t enough to make up for the increase in power and speed the elf had.


    ¡°Is the difference in their effective stats too big now for the technique to work?¡± Ajax asked with a little worry as Xavier took a cut on his right arm, one that was thankfully shallow.


    Both Harold and Benedict remained silent at the question, neither of them knew the answer but both of them were afraid of the same thing. ¡°No, it just takes a bit for it to get going.¡± The prince said as he watched the fight with a small smile that was starting to grow.


    Seeing the smile Ajax focused back on the fight and looked for what he missed. In the next thirty seconds Xavier took two more cuts that were not all that shallow but Ajax finally figured out what to look for.


    Slowly but surely it looked more and more like Xavier wasn¡¯t simply reacting to Leafde, in fact Xavier was starting to take control of the entire fight. He was slower, and he was weaker but with every exchange Xavier started to gain ground and force Leafde back. It wasn¡¯t through power or speed but rather the location of where the contact happened.


    As he noticed that his de wasn¡¯t finding its mark any longer, Leafde tried to rely more on his magic but it had been clear from the start that Xavier¡¯s magic stats were higher than Leafde and that his spells perfectly neutralized Leafde¡¯s.


    Then it happened, Ajax could see the exact moment that seemed like everything fell into ce.The fight turned from one where it looked like Xavier was going to slowly push Leafde into one mistake after another into a slow but inevitable victory to one of total dominance.


    Xavier hadn¡¯t gotten any faster or any stronger but Leafde¡¯s form when their swords crossed went from less than ideal to outright atrocious. More than that however Xavier started to step in with confidence and perfect timing as he scored two more deep cuts one on Leafde thigh and the other on his ribs pushing straight through the defensive enchantments.


    Everything came to a head for Ajax when he saw Xavier duck under a swing in order to retaliate with a cut across the stomach. The move initially seemed bad to Ajax as it left Xavier exposed to the knife in Leafde¡¯s other hand but he simply twisted out of the way, though this did leave his back exposed to the elf. When Xavier had managed to perfectly deflect Leafde¡¯s follow up strike while swinging his sword behind him Ajax had a theory of what was happening.


    As he turned to look at the prince Ajax¡¯s words died in his throat as he saw the previous smirk be reced by a look of surprise and the prince leaned forward as if trying to get close to the fight so he could see it better.


    Ajax decided to wait a moment as he tried to fully digest his realization as he watched Xavier finish the fight in the next few moments putting the edge of his de to Leafde¡¯s throat as thetter was forced to surrender.


    Once the match was called and the group was left waiting for Xavier to join them in the stands Ajax approached the prince, a look more pointed look was all it took for the prince to activate a privacy bubble before Ajax¡¯s startedying out his thought process. ¡°He¡¯s predicting him!¡±


    The prince said nothing as Ajax pushed forward. ¡°That¡¯s why it doesn¡¯t work with too big of a difference in stats, if the speed and strength is too far apart being able to predict the next move won¡¯t help since you can¡¯t keep up, too big a difference in mental stats and the opponent will be relying on magic more and they will be able to think and process everything quickly enough that they can change their next move after you started reacting to the prediction. But how can he be so good at it?!¡±


    Thest question came out as more of an usation as Ajax was slightly angry at how Xavier hadn¡¯t even tried to use the style against him even once.


    ¡°Xavier was worse than most who had learnt this fighting style.¡± the prince answered.


    ¡°Worse!!¡± Ajax was shocked to hear that what he had seen was the inferior version.


    ¡°I said ¡®was worse¡¯.¡± the prince corrected. ¡°While I won¡¯t exin how everything works I can tell you that pulling it off relies on a number of different skills that alle together to create a battle style skill. Up until now Xavier had gained a version of all the types of skill needed for the style but he hadn¡¯t gained the style skill. I think that changed during this very duel.¡±


    That answer was enough to snuff out the small amount of anger Ajax had felt as it all started making more sense to him. Thinking back to how the predictive fighting style was when Xavier first started pushing back he could see how it wouldn¡¯t have helped the prince even a little versus Ajax, hell it wouldn¡¯t have been useful against Anna or Lexi either as they relied more on big spells. WIth that out of the way however Ajax chose to focus on the two other things the prince had said.


    First was that the style was based on multiple types of skills but different versions of those types could be used, meaning there wasn¡¯t one set skill that was needed. The other thing he mentioned was that Xavier had just formed his style. Seeing how big the difference was from one moment to the next as Ajax himself had taken note of when Ajax¡¯s approach gained a boost he couldn¡¯t help but wonder just what rarity was the style that Xavier had gotten.

 Chapter 393

    Chapter 393


    Everyone present to watch the duel started to make their way towards the infirmary where Xavier and his opponent were being treated. On the way there one of the other young elves kept throwing looks towards Benedict, clearly looking to return the favor by challenging him. Ajax put a stop to that immediately as he didn¡¯t want to waste any more time and they were going to leave the capital. As soon as the elf took even one step towards their group and mirrored him.


    The challenge died on the elf¡¯s tongue as he came face to face with Ajax, his victory over Arianwyn already made the rounds and since the first incident after he exited the primary dungeon everything had been clearly discussed by all the local nobility.


    ¡°You mana starved, half orcen cur.¡± They were close to the infirmary when the obscenities started flying. ¡°That was not part of the wager!¡±


    ¡°Oh please, like you wouldn¡¯t have asked for the next griffin cub had you won.¡± Xavier''s voice wasn¡¯t as loud but had a hint of schadenfreude. ¡°The stakes were clear and concise.¡±


    ¡°What did you bet?¡± the prince¡¯s voice boomed as he entered the infirmary, finally finding out about the slight mishap it a very unexpected way


    Xavier¡¯s smug smile died on his face as he slinked back into the bed to make himself look smaller as he turned to face his uncle.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter, it hasn¡¯te to pass.¡± Xavier quickly moved to leave the past behind. ¡°I did win us a fortress tree.¡±


    All of the elves from Leafde¡¯s entourage gasped as they heard that before turning an almost fearful expression on the elf that was still being healed.


    ¡°The wager and the duel have been witnessed by agents of the queen herself.¡± the prince turned towards Leafde¡¯s guards. ¡°I assume the duke has a specimen on hand?¡± ¡°He does.¡± Lioriel provided.


    ¡°Perfect, contact the estate and have it delivered to us as we are about to leave the capital.¡± The prince didn¡¯t even wait for Xavier to get healed as he dragged his nephew out of the bed pped him on the back roughly to channel of his healing runes through him and started marching him outside. We will see what your punishment will beter.¡± After that he wraps one arm around Xaviers shoulder as he gives him an affectionate side hug. ¡°As well as the reward for your spoils.¡±


    Their quick ride through the city wasn¡¯t as peaceful as everyone had hoped. As they were stopped at the checkpoint between the merchant and noble quarter all of them were required to exit their carriage. That¡¯s when the attack happened.


    The prince moved to protect Xavier, thinking that this was Duke Leafde reacting after hearing what had happened but that wasn¡¯t the case. There wasn¡¯t just one attacker either, there were in fact three elves donning fully ck outfits, two of them leather and one of them cloth, their target was Ajax.


    [Danger Sense]¡¯s warning wasn¡¯t enough for Ajax to be able to react to the first spell that broke all of the shields his enchanted equipment provided him but it was enough to give him time to use [Mana Syphon] on the other two assassins.


    Both the leather wearers were using physical enchantment spells but unlike Leafde¡¯s theirs were much stronger but also channeled. The pressure exerted by [Mana Syphon] was enough to cause one of their spells to break as the user simply wasn¡¯t good enough to maintain it.


    Ajax¡¯s first reaction to seeing that was to react to the elf still charging at him but he dismissed that line of thought once he realized [Danger Sense] no longer gave him a reaction to the more skilled assassin. A momentter he could feel the manaing off of Aranor coalescing in the direction of the assassin so he focused the two remaining threats.


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    He quickly discarded the mage, even with a perfect ambush his spell had barely managed to break through the admitted numerous shields he had around himself. While that level of power was a danger to him on his own, he knew the mage wasn¡¯t strong enough tounch any attack with any real strength before the prince took care of him. That left him with the final assassin whose boosting spell he had broken.


    Ajax was sure he could dodge the attack but that wasn¡¯t good enough for him, instead he took advantage of the small moment of disorientation the assassin suffered to use every one of mana he had recovered since exiting the dungeon.


    In total Ajax spent just a little over one thousand five hundred mana, even with all of the training he had undergone to build his mana veins resistance this was still over what he could handle, Ajax knew there would be a price to pay for choosing this path.


    Those fifteen hundred points of mana however weren¡¯t used in a single spell but in multiple. The first had made the earth around Ajax mushy like wet mud, this wouldn¡¯t give the elf anything to find good purchase. The second sent out a lighting bolt towards the assassin. The third infused his own armor with Metal mana to ensure it provided better defense now that his shield enchantments were gone. The fourth and final spell however Ajax was channeling through his dagger, it was a Vibration spell that he hoped would be enough to bypass the assassin¡¯s defenses.


    Time seemed to slow down for Ajax as both him and the assassin struck. It was a good thing he had infused his armor with metal mana as while the assassin¡¯s sword still cleaved through it the armor forces the attack from slicing over his heart to a four inch deep gash into his shoulder. The armor and the elf¡¯s failing footwork was all that saved Ajax¡¯s life.


    Ajax¡¯s attack on the other hand wasn¡¯t as sessful, his dagger shattered as it tore through the assassin¡¯s leather and shielding enchantments. Despite that thanks to the amount of Vibration mana infused into the stab some of the pieces still managed to break through the skin and imbed themselves into the assassin¡¯s flesh, it wasn¡¯t too deep but it was right over his heart.


    ¡°<em>Marked!</em>¡± The word resounded in the wake of the assassin as he dashed straight past to run away, not even giving a thought to his allies or even the condition of his target, all that mattered now was escape.


    Ajax felt the mark on himself return stronger than before, he would have to excise curse mana that provided the assassins his location but there was nothing he could do to the vulnerability effect. Right now however he couldn¡¯t care about that, his first reaction would have been to heal himself but he had just spent thest of his mana.


    Ajax would have bet anything that there was a powerful poison on the Assassin¡¯s de so he wasted no time grabbing a small container from his spacial storage and carefulling covering his wound with ayer of magma.


    The pain from the burning sludge was enough to cause Ajax to falter, thankfully Lexi was quick enough to react as she quickly scraped the smallyer of magma away from his now charred wound and started chanting a healing spell, all the while she was also feeding Ajax a mana potion so that he would regain ess to his Life mana quicker.


    Both of the other assassin¡¯s had already died. The more skilled leather wearer was encased in a two inch thickyer of ice, as for the mage she sported two of Lioriel¡¯s arrows embedded in her chest as well as having been cleaved in two from her midsection by the prince.


    ¡°After him!¡± Liorielmanded.


    ¡°Don¡¯t¡­ Don¡¯t engage!¡± Ajax heaved out as he was using every ounce of mana that he was regenerating to heal his wound with Life mana.


    Lioriel and everyone else turned to Ajax with shocked looks, all of them silently demanding an exnation.


    ¡°Chase him but¡­¡± Ajax took another deep breath as he had to focus his mind through the pain that was radiating off his shoulder. ¡°But don¡¯t engage, don¡¯t let him slow down or recuperate but give it ten¡­ no, fifteen minutes before you attack him.¡±


    ¡°You poisoned him!¡± both Aranor and the prince eximed at the same time, remembering what had happened to the first assassin.


    ¡°Arrest the perpetrator.¡± Lioriel shouted after her people that had dashed off not even slowing down when Ajax tried to stop them from engaging. Hermand would have the soldiers attempt to get the assassin to surrender first before attacking him, that time was all the leeway she would allow for Ajax¡¯s n before he people would engage.


    ¡°How are you?¡± the prince said as he kneel next to Ajax who was sitting on the ground while activating a number of runes on his armor, a considerable amount of mana passing through the runes as more healing spell started to take effect.


    ¡°I got him right over his heart.¡± Ajax said with a mix of pride and anger.


    ¡°I don¡¯t care about the assassin.¡± the prince erupted. ¡°You did all you could now forget about him and focus on healing yourself.¡±


    Ajax took the prince¡¯s advice to heart and used [Meditation] to increase his focus while oveing the pain, two minutes after the pursuit had started however a small smile crept over Ajax¡¯s face as a notification demanded his attention at the corner of his vision. He chose to ignore it for now as he focused on healing himself but a few more minutester his suspicion was confirmed.


    ¡°He just dropped and started shaking on the ground.¡± one of the elves said as he held the assassin¡¯s corpse. ¡° A minuteter he was dead.¡±


    ¡°Take the body to the royal alchemist, he¡¯ll want to examine it.¡± Liorielmanded, the prince turned to object but she cut him off before he could speak. ¡°Baron Hearthbound¡¯s request not to engage was respected, we would however im the body as the price. He did just get as much of an unassisted kill as is possible on a level one hundred and fifty seven.¡±


    The prince epted thepromise as fair by closing his mouth and giving a nod.

 Chapter 394

    Chapter 394


    Ajax¡¯s [Pain Resistance] was getting the best workout it had ever gotten as his arm sent a spike of pain every time he moved the massive cast that encased the entire right side of his torso.


    ¡®Two damn levels off¡¯. Even though the attack had happened four whole days ago Ajax couldn¡¯t help but still curse the assassin, not for the attempt on his life so much as for being only two levels off from increasing Ajax¡¯s achievement of killing something triple his level without assistance.


    ¡°Just let it go already.¡± Lexi broke Ajax out of his musing as she carefully wrapped him in a hug without jostling his injured side.


    ¡°What?¡± Ajax was surprised by her words.


    ¡°You were daming that assassin again for not being two levels higher weren¡¯t you?¡± Lexi could calmly state that since they were alone in a worded carriage. ¡°Don¡¯t deny it, I can see it from the look on your face. Just be grateful about the skills you did gain and focus on getting better before we make it to the next dungeon. I want to get out of this country as quickly as possible.¡±


    Ajax wanted to put up at least a token of resistance but couldn¡¯t help but agree with her. Hertter point about getting out of this country was a solid one as with a second application of the <em>Mark</em> on him the assassin would feel the side effects stronger quicker and would be more motivated to kill him.


    More than that however Ajax was also severely inconvenienced by the wound that still lingered. The poison the assassin had used was of a very high grade as well as magical in nature. Not only would it have killed him in seconds had he not doused the area in magma but even the small amount of time it had to work on his wound before he could burn it out was enough to make the area very resistant to healing magic. It wasn¡¯t to the point where it could repel his Life mana but it was still taking him time and care as he carefully worked his Life mana to remove all traces of the poison as well as any of the scarring on the wound. Once all of that was done the rest could be healed in one go with the usual healing magic.


    Going back to her first point Ajax could ept that despite not improving his achievement he was happy enough with the results of his victory. The system had seen fit to give him five skills as reward for his aplishment.


    [Focused Mind] was an Umon skill he had gained most likely from the concentration he pulled off in quickly reacting to his own wound and for not only maintaining consciousness but urately and effectively working towards his own treatment despite the pain, exhaustion and blood loss he was faced with. The Rare skill [Assassinate] was just as easy to see the reason for. He had essentially killed his target with a single well ced strike, one that sacrificed his weapon for, to simply inject the poison into the assassin.


    Both of these skills were well documented by the kingdom of Gryndor, while the first was mostly prevalent among crafters instead of soldierbat healers were also known for getting it. [Assassinate] was a skill everyone was aware of and while gaining it was objectively a good thing it would best be kept under wraps that the head of a future ducal family had it so as to not influence the nobility''s perception of them as the royal family¡¯s personal hit men.


    The third skill wasn¡¯t as well documented or seen as that particrly impressive. The Epic skill [Limit Suppression] was one that allowed people to push past their own limits. They spected that Ajax received this because of how far he had pushed with the number of concurrent spells he used, the amount of mana he pushed out in the initial exchange and for the way he maintained his consciousness and continued to spend his renewed mana following the exchange.


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    [Limit Suppression] was also the skill Ajax was most excited about. It hadn¡¯t started out that way but one piece of information he had received from the prince about the skill had raised its value in Ajax¡¯s eyes. At a threshold the skill could be upgraded to allow the user to suppress their usual limitation for a different cost instead of the normal period of weakness. Ajax''s whole n for the skill was to lead it so that he could burn through his stamina so he could bypass the amount of mana he could push through at any one time.


    This build wouldn¡¯t have him leaning so much into the physical boosting narrative he had initially envisioned by acquiring a boosting skill that ran off of stamina simr to the way he could power [Mana Syphon] with his own mana. This change would make it a lot easier for him to overwhelm people with multiple different affinities as it would allow him to take full advantage of the fact he could simultaneously cast multiple spells so long as he could bring forth enough mana for all of them.


    [Vibration Strike] was the mostmon sounding of all the skills he gained. The Epic skill was simply a different version of [Precise Cut] and [Precise Blow] that was based off his newest Legendary mana type. That wasn¡¯t a negative in his eyes however as he could see multiple ways to push the skill further by applying the VIbration mana in multiple ways, not only that but by using the skill he hoped he could apply Vibration mana to his attacks without having to sacrifice the durability of his weapons.


    [Creative Application] was the fifth and final skill Ajax had received in the wake of the encounter and it was one that perplexed him the most. The Epic skill seemed more like a crafter skill but he couldn¡¯t realize what had led to him getting it. Was it the use of magma to sear the wound and burn out the poison?


    ¡°Stop questioning why you got the skill.¡± Lexi once more read him like a book and broke his trance once his mana got low enough that he stopped using his Life mana. ¡°Let''s go join the others.¡±


    Lexi was very careful to help Ajax along, so as to not trigger his injury, as they moved from the private carriage back into Sylvanthal¡¯s royal carriage to join the others.


    ¡°The valiant hero finally graces us with his presence.¡± The prince was quick to make a joke as soon as Ajax entered the carriage. Once they had gotten past the checkpoint Ajax had been moved to the carriage where only Lexi and the prince had seen him for the past four days.


    ¡°You just had to upstage me.¡± Xavier joined in as he shook his head in mock disappointment as he pped Ajax on the back, despite being careful enough to do so on the opposite side of his injury he had still put too much strength behind the friendly p and Ajax flinched as his wound pulsed. ¡°Sorry.¡± Xavier said with remorse as he saw his friend flinch. He was also quick to put some distance between him and Lexi as he didn¡¯t need his new fighting style skill to tell him how she would respond to his negligence.


    ¡°How did you do it?¡± Lioriel¡¯s voice was ice cold as she entered behind Ajax and Lexi.


    ¡°Do what?¡± the prince asked.


    ¡°Are you sure you want me to say that aloud?¡± Lioriel asked but her gaze didn¡¯t leave Ajax''s surprised face as he took his seat to look at the elf.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure what you are implying.¡± Ajax took a moment to gather himself before he presented a united front with the prince.


    ¡°Fine, have it your way.¡± Lioriel shrugged, her posture turning a little aggressive as she interpreted their confusion for a cover story. ¡°It took the royal alchemists and medics three days to figure out what happened but you used an antidote to kill the assassin. So again I ask, how did youe up with that?¡±


    More than a few people gasped at the implication while Ajax¡¯s mind was already running at a hundred miles an hour after he seemingly received the missing piece of the puzzle. This was why his ¡®poison¡¯ had felt different to his skillspared to the weaker first iteration, this was also why he had gained the skill [Creative Application] that he hadn¡¯t disclosed to anyone else. Most importantly however this was also why almost every person in the carriage was looking at him with a slightly worried expression.


    Coming from Earth Ajax was already aware that a lot of medicines could end up being poison if taken in toorge a dose or when taken in absence of the sickness or poison they were supposed to counteract. This was not the case in this new life. Creating an antidote that could function as a poison was groundbreaking not because of the new application but because the system recognised the concoction as an antidote certain skills wouldn¡¯t work on it. Skills like [Detect Poison] or [Poison Resistance].


    The way most antidotes work in this world was that they targeted the ¡®bad¡¯ agent affecting the body and removed it. Ajax¡¯s clotting ¡®poison¡¯ worked by forcing the blood to clot despite any other interference, this making it act like an antidote for a powerful hemorrhagic poison that would dissolve in the blood of the victim.


    ¡°You made a deadly antidote?¡± Aranor found himself shocked at the possibility, despite all his powerful and highly leveled social skill his jaw was hanging low in acknowledgement of the achievement.


    As Ajax processed all of this he turned to look at the prince, silently asking what their response to this would be. Ajax knew for sure that this wasn¡¯t something that he could cover under the guise of House secret, more than that it wasn¡¯t even something he would be able to keep hidden from the other two kingdoms, the only question was what could they get in return for the sensitive information.

 Chapter 395

    Chapter 395


    Ajax was d that Lioriel had at least waited until he had recovered and rejoined the others before she started asking questions but he was in no mood to be answering them.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how I did it.¡± Ajax answered honestly. ¡°This result was a happy ident.¡±


    From the way Lioriels face went from a frown to surprise Ajax guessed she had a decently good truth telling skill that confirmed what he just told her.


    ¡°Really?¡± The question was rhetorical as it just slipped out before Lioriel moved on. ¡°What poison were you trying to make that counts as an antidote? Whatever you are working with is new to us.¡±


    Ajax wasn¡¯t surprised to hear that, long term poisons that have no immediate symptoms are rare but not unheard of, a poison that actively helps the victim in the short term while also being deadly is a muchrger leap that hadn¡¯t yet been made. Ajax was looking forward to how the system would count his discovery of this whole debacle? From theck of achievement he wasn¡¯t the first ever to discover the interaction but he was hoping for more than a single discovery toe from this.


    ¡°A novel poison.¡± the prince responded, his continued silence being an answer in and of itself.


    ¡°Are you willing to sell the initial poison to them?¡± Anna¡¯s question drew everyone¡¯s eyes towards her however she didn¡¯t waver her gaze from Ajax.


    ¡°That could cause some issues regarding safety.¡± the prince went to say but Anna cut him off with a shake of her head. ¡°He¡¯s not selling the recipe, and he¡¯s not selling the improved version that is treated as an antidote. By selling the initial poison he can get in front of any questionable political intentions, after all even if your poison is seen as an antidote by the system they will have a version that works like a poison so it won¡¯t be this nebulous unsee killer.¡±


    ¡°What would you ask for in exchange?¡± Lioriel was quick to adapt andtched on to Anna¡¯s idea so she could at least get something. ¡°Alchemy ingre-.¡± Ajax was ready to jump straight into it but was cut off by Anna¡¯s hand on his non injured shoulder.


    ¡°Samples of some more exotic alchemy reagents native to deepwood.¡± Anna said in Ajax¡¯s stead, her merchant skills pushing as hard as they could. ¡°Live samples that can be transnted.¡±


    Ajax couldn¡¯t help but be impressed with Anna¡¯s foresight. If he had a few samples to transnt into his own fields he might be able to grow his own depending on what conditions they required.


    ¡°The ones with the least specific environmental factors required for their development and growth would be best.¡± Anna pushed on.


    Lioriel stood silent for a moment as she activated her privacy barrier. It took her no more than ten seconds to drop the barrier.


    ¡°Three species, one sample of each.¡± Lioriel¡¯s offer closed off the first part of the negotiation and opened the second.


    ¡°Seven species, three of each.¡± Anna countered.


    ¡°Four species, two samples of each.¡± Lioriel shot back.


    Anna opened her mouth for her next counter but no words came out. Ajax looked at her in surprise while she seemed to contemte what was happening with a look of deep concentration.


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    It was only then that Ajax realized that Lioriel was most likely one of their most gifted merchants, at least among the queen¡¯sbatants. The reason she got the job of being the leader for their protection detail wasn¡¯t because her strength was perfect for it, it was because her strength was high enough to qualify her and she had the merchant skill to negotiate.


    ¡°Five species, two samples of each to transnt and one of the end result.¡± Anna¡¯s counter took Lioriel by surprise as she had expected her skill to assure her victory in the negotiation.


    ¡°Fine.¡± Lioriel said as she let out a sigh after thinking over the terms of the agreement. ¡°But you are paying up front.¡±


    With a nod from Anna Ajax took out a vial full of his initial clotting poison and offered it to Lioriel.


    ¡°Why give it up so easily?¡± the prince asked after Lioriel exited.


    ¡°It wouldn¡¯t take them all that long to figure out how the poison works if they keep examining the body of the assassin.¡± Ajax answered. ¡°Even more so if they get their hands on the body of the other assassin I killed and see the simrities.¡± Both bodies had died because of blood clots, they might have been initially dismissed since it would bemon from blood to clot in an injured person that then sumbed to poison but it wouldn¡¯t be long until they realized the clots could also be the means of killing, more so since hemorrhagic poison was one of the most well known.


    ¡°So, how about that royal technique of yours?¡± Ajax asked Xavier eager to no longer be the focus of the conversation.


    Xavier¡¯s smile widened at the question. ¡°Once your wound heals up I look forward to showing you.¡±


    ¡°But I thought¡­¡± Ajax stopped himself there realizing he was about to mention how it didn¡¯t work on too big a stat difference.


    ¡°You¡¯ll see.¡± was all that Xavier said with a smirk reminiscent of his uncle¡¯s.


    The next week of the journey Ajax spent finalizing his healing. That wasn¡¯t to say that the journey was uneventful, two times the assassin had tried to ambush them. Unlike their previous attempts however both of these attempts were a shameful disy.


    Both of the ambushes were simple attempts of opportunity based on proximity and terrain, there was no other distraction, there was no clear shot to Ajax. Their target hadn¡¯t even been aware of one of the attacks until after everything was already handled by Lioriel and the rest of their escort.


    One thing both ambushes did have inmon however was that the attackers were all sporting rashes all over their bodies. It was clear that their side of the bargain with the <em>Mark</em> wasing due and it clearly wasn¡¯t a pleasant experience.


    ¡°Are you sure about this?¡± Ajax asked Xavier as he entered abat stance.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure.¡± Xavier answered as he also took abat stance.


    The prince was there to monitor the spar while also providing a privacy bubblerge enough to keep their spar from prying eyes. ¡°Begin already, the item eats a lot of mana to extend the bubble so much.¡±


    Xavier needed no further encouragement as he charged towards Ajax. Ajax on the other hand was taking it easy, he wasn¡¯t using the boost from [Mana Syphon] and even then he was also holding back on his speed and strength as he wanted to work on his skill and not dominate the fight through his stats.


    The fight started off pretty even. With Ajax constantly swapping between his sword, axe, hammer, shield and dagger constantly he was able to cycle through arge variety of attacks despite not having used more than one spell at a time to counter Xavier¡¯s chanting.


    As the fight continued however Ajax could feel Xavier pushing him harder and harder. Despite his skill with the weapons he was wielding it almost looked like his form was crumbling more and more with every exchange.


    Ajax was already expecting this however. The prince had even partially confirmed his guess about how the fighting style worked so he knew what to look for. By holding himself back in terms of speed and strength Ajax had plenty of time to analyze both his and Xavier¡¯s movements to see that Xavier was more and more reacting to Ajax¡¯s move before he even made it. Sure if Ajax wanted he could focus on reacting to Xavier¡¯s moves instead and the sheer difference in dexterity and intelligence would allow him to gain the upper hand.


    The big surprise came when Ajax felt [Danger Sense] faintly hum almost four minutes into the spar as sweat ran down Xavier¡¯s forehead as he pushed himself. Ajax had intended to start using a second spell and swapping over to his spear for the first time to take Xavier by surprise. It was instead he who was surprised as he found himself with his sword in his hand while only canceling out Xavier¡¯s own spell.


    Ajax stopped holding back his stats and even pushed a little with [Mana Syphon] to react, his high Intelligence giving him plenty of time to make the decision. What happened next surprised Ajax even more as his body seemed to move almost on autopilot as he pushed himself closer to his body''s limits. The axe in his other hand had swapped over to a hammer, Ajax had made the choice to use an air augment instead of the metal one to specifically soften the impact before he sent Xavier sprawling.


    ¡°What was that?¡±Ajax in surprise. ¡°It felt almost like my body wasn¡¯t listening to me.¡±


    ¡°Ugh.¡± Xavier groaned as he picked himself off the ground. ¡°Almost done in by my own skill.¡± Ajax hadn¡¯t meant to hit Xavier so hard, only now did he realize that his body had actually been moving exactly as he had throughout their entire spar despite him wanting to switch it up on Xavier.


    ¡°Are you not just predicting my movements but enforcing a pattern?¡± Ajax asked as he firmly situated Xavier skill as a Legendary one.


    ¡°Not a pattern, a rhythm.¡± Xavier said as he stored his own armor and weapons. ¡°It will probably get easier to spot the more you are exposed to it but if you analyze the fight with that in mind I think you will see just how repetitive your attacks get on a seven attack loop. Sure the weapon is different but every seventh attack you¡¯ll see it has the same purpose. It even held out once you stopped holding back, I just couldn¡¯t react to it.¡±

 Chapter 396

    Chapter 396


    Ajax was very impressed with Xavier¡¯s new style. From what little he had shared about his breakthrough it seems that besides the usual five skill types that were used as the basis for this style, he had also added the Umon skill [Battle Rhythm].


    Before getting his battle style skill Xavier had used [Battle Rhythm] to help predict an opponent''s next move but now he could not just react, but by carefully orchestrating the fight to happen on his terms he could rely on his opponents own ingrained movements from training to get them to stick to the rhythm he was dictating even when they initially wanted to diverge. What was even scarier was that he had done the same thing to Ajax and he hadn¡¯t even realized for how long he had been going with it.


    That one spar was the only one Ajax took part in before they arrived at the next dungeon. He had spent the rest of his time working on his Vibration mana with Lexi, though he could tell something was up with her ever since he showed her he had gained the same affinity. It wasn¡¯t that she wasn¡¯t happy for him but something was eating away at her.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Ajax asked as they retired for the evening the night before they arrived at the dungeon.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing.¡± Lexi said.


    Despite Ajax not being the most perspective person when it came to social situation he could tell it most certainly wasn¡¯t nothing. ¡°It¡¯s not nothing. You can tell me.¡±


    ¡°Fine¡­¡± Lexi let out a deep sigh as she turned to look Ajax in the eye, as she took in a deep breath Ajax could tell she was building up the courage to admit what was wrong. ¡°I¡¯m afraid you are going to just leave me behind.¡± Lexi admitted.


    Ajax¡¯s instinctual reaction was to deny that he would ever do that but he caught himself. He took a moment to digest what Lexi had just said. Throughout their entire rtionship Ajax had always been a few steps stronger than Lexi, that hadn¡¯t been a problem for them then so what was it that caused it to be a problem now.


    There were two things that Ajax¡¯s mind went to. The first was that not only was Ajax stronger still but that the gap between them was actively increasing as time passed. Had the gap between them stayed the same Lexi wouldn¡¯t have started to have these feelings of inadequacy. The second thing was that Ajax had gained the same Legendary affinity Lexi had. Before they had gone on the expedition outside of Gryndor Ajax had ess to all the affinities Lexi had and even a few more on top of that. For a moment there both of them had also gained a Legendary affinity each but now not only had Ajax gained two affinities one of them was the same one Lexi had. This on top of all the extra stats Ajax was gaining with each dungeon not to mention his most recent Achievement, as he thought about all this Ajax felt a pit form in his own stomach about how he might actually pull too far ahead of Lexi to the point she couldn¡¯t join him on any of his future adventures.


    ¡°You see it too¡­¡± Lexi whispered as she noticed Ajax¡¯s eyes widened, a small part of her had hoped that he would just deny it, while this response was better for them in the long run in the short term it increased the pressure she was feeling.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how to help...¡± Ajax finally said as he hugged Lexi closer. ¡°But don¡¯t give up hope, after this trip your stats will have increased enough that your grandfather may be able to teach you further.¡±


    Ajax¡¯s words actually brought Lexi¡¯s spirits up. Before they left Gryndor Lexi had hit a wall in terms of what her grandfather could teach her because she simply couldn¡¯t push her skills any further because of her limited stats. This was one of the big issues many people who were extremely talented faced in that their skill would grow too quickly, once they capped out due to stats they had a much harder time gaining the experience to level to push the cap further out.


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    Ajax was actually one of the best examples for this. Despite the fact that his skills were actually a little under the level expected of someone as talented as he was, at least for his level, he had only gotten to that high of a level because he had about three times as many skills.


    ¡°I¡¯ll make sure you¡¯ll get to delve more in the future as well.¡± Ajax promised as much to Lexi as he did to himself. ¡°It will be a decade, maybe two, before you reach the point where you¡¯ll lose out on the stats any of these dungeons can provide for you and I¡¯ll make sure there is another delve ready for you to push further.¡±


    Ajax¡¯s promise helped not only with his own determination but it also helped ease Lexi¡¯s own fears a little as they both cuddled together before going to sleep. Tomorrow they would be delving and they needed to be as rested as possible.


    The fourth dungeon in Deepwood had a thirteen level jump between floors and started with a floor that housed monsters between levels thirty two and thirty seven. Ajax was slightly disappointed by how the math worked out as he would only be able to get the clear stats for only four floors.


    More than that everyone was slightly more rxed as they got ready to enter this dungeon because of how the breakpoints worked out. While none of them were going to be leaving their guards down, the floors worked out in such a way that all of them would be fighting a few levels below the highest floor they had already cleared in other dungeons. This was especially true of Lexi who had managed to just barely defeat a level seventy and would now only be fighting a level sixty three.


    ¡°I hope you¡¯re not thinking-¡± Ajax said as they stood before the entrance of the dungeon.


    ¡°No, I¡¯m not thinking of trying to kill the level seventy six.¡± Lexi cut him off before he finished, she had entertained the idea for longer than she¡¯d like to admit and while she knew the danger she would be exposed to would be limited with the prince there to interfere the gap was just too big. ¡°I would need to be pushing the limits of my abilities to even try something like that.¡±


    While running through all of the dungeons like this one after the other was a big boost for each of them because of the stats they gained it did also mean that as they went further and further along their journey they were also losing out on just what percentage of their full power they could bring to bear.


    Before she had left Gryndor Lexi was confident that she had mastered what she was capable of and could bring out close to one hundred percent of what her stats, skills and spells could do. While she was stronger now than when she began the added stats, skills were not yet fully mastered. More than that because they were doing so many dungeons the increase in power was one of thergest ones she had ever experienced in such a short span of time.


    Lexi had only seen such a dramatic change in her stats two times before, the first was when she reached the age of ten and had finally gotten to spend all of the stats she had been gathering, the second was when she had first consumed all of the potion she could get a use out of across four months under her grandfather¡¯s guidance. Both times it had taken her years with her family''s support to once again be able to leverage all of the power she was capable of.


    ¡°Ajax, a word.¡± The prince approached Ajax once they entered the dungeon.


    ¡°Yes?¡± Ajax was confused why the prince would want a private word like this. Lexi¡¯s recent confession had him worried that it would also be something bad.


    ¡°I am not sure what happened as you cleared thest dungeon, nor am I sure just what the new skills you gained from killing the assassin mean in terms of your full abilities.¡± the prince was deadly serious as he spoke, not an ounce of his usual joking attitude could be seen. ¡°But you are not attempting the seventh floor.¡±


    Ajax was surprised by what the prince said. In a moment of stunned silence Ajax redid the math to make sure he wasn¡¯t mistaken but no, the prince was saying that Ajax shouldn¡¯t try killing a level one hundred and forty one miniboss. Something he had no intention of trying anyway.


    ¡°I had no intention of trying that.¡± Ajax said. ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t I do so if I could?¡±


    ¡°Because I can¡¯t clear the eighth floor.¡± the prince responded. ¡° The risk is just too great.¡±


    The eighth floor would have level one hundred and sixty seven minibosses on it, while they would be strong Ajax had no doubt that the prince would be able to clear all of them in time without much issue, at worst they might have to spend some extra time on the seventh floor to make sure the main mana type of the floor was favorable for the prince. The big problem was the floor boss, since a floor boss of that level could very much kill even the prince if a bad matchup came up.


    ¡°I see.¡± Ajax acknowledged. ¡°No need to worry, I¡¯m not there just yet.¡± In an odd twist it was Ajax making the joke with cocky grin and the prince that was looking at him with a serious air.

 Chapter 397

    Chapter 397


    The team started clearing the dungeon at a breakneck pace. Only two hours into the delve and already most of the group had already finished their kills for the third floor. The only holdout was Benedict, unfortunately for him the monsters on this floor were very defensively focused so he was at a disadvantage being a physical fighter.


    ¡°Found a frog type!¡± ra returned to the group with a wide smile.


    Most of the monsters they had been facing had been earth or rock based turtles with very hard shells for their levels, while a frog type would be much faster and more offensively dedicated; it was something Benedict would have no issue handling.


    The fight between the two didn¡¯t take all that long. Benedict focused on taking out the frog''s knees first and once its mobility was crippled it was easy to catch up and finish it.


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± the prince asked the group as they headed for the next floor.


    ¡°It all just seemed¡­¡± Lexi started unsure how to express what she felt without sounding delusional.


    ¡°Too easy.¡± It was Xavier who finished the sentence. ¡°It feels too easy, at the same time it also feels like a bit of a waste.¡±


    ¡°If we spent even a few months easing into our gains we probably could have pushed one floor further.¡± Anna also threw in her own contribution.


    ¡°You¡¯re looking at it all wrong.¡± ra said as she shattered the mncholy atmosphere that was starting to form. ¡°This might feel like you are wasting a priceless opportunity but that isn¡¯t exactly the case.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± even Arianwyn was confused by her friend.


    ¡°For a long time now ess to another countries'' dungeons has always been very limited.¡± ra exined. ¡°All of this has been for a very good reason but I have a feeling all of that is going to change soon. And it¡¯s all because of you.¡±


    Everyone turned to Ajax who she was looking at. ¡°You¡¯ve managed to not only give yourself a big head start in terms of stats at an early level but fate or good nning also granted you ess to almost five countries worth of dungeons. You¡¯re missing a few floors here and there but not much else.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­¡± Benedict caught on to what she was saying. ¡°Just to have people who in the future could at least join together to at least confront Ajax countries would work together in an exchange more often, with us getting all of the lower floors now even though we would be higher levelter on when the exchanges start we will be simply picking up where we left off.¡±


    Ajax couldn¡¯t help but feel a swell of pride fill his chest with just a hint of guilt. On the one hand he was pushing the humanoid nations to work together and increase the powers of humanoids overall just through his own dedication to getting better. A small part of him however felt guilty that this progress mostly came by due to fear, he pushed the guilt aside knowing that it was a byproduct of Earth¡¯s view of dictators who rules with an iron fist that caused it.


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    ¡°If anything I would advise all of you to ensure you don¡¯t try and leverage your stats into leveling as quickly as possible.¡± ra continued. ¡°As with almost all things, politics will still take a long time to work out.¡±


    Anna and Xavier were the most excited by this potential future. With their families influence the two of them were all but guaranteed to have a spot on the first such deals that went through. Lexi was also excited at the prospect of eventually catching up to the stats Ajax gained from dungeon floors even if it would take her a while to do so.


    While Ajax¡¯s ssmates were all uplifted by the news the same couldn¡¯t be said of everyone else. ra, Arianwyn, Darkw, Harold and even the prince couldn¡¯t help but feel a touch of envy that they were simply born at the wrong time to take advantage of such an opportunity.


    More than that for ra, Arianwyn and Darkw the new state of affairs would meant that they might just have to stagnate their own leveling for a short while just so they will get at least a taste of the same opportunity, otherwise in a century or two they will simply be left behind by the new generation.


    Once they entered the fourth floor all of Ajax¡¯s ssmates exited the dungeon and the prince felt no trepidation sending Ajax by himself to quickly clear the floor while he stood behind to talk.


    ¡°I can talk to my brother and father about getting a head start with the exchange delving.¡± the prince offered the three of them while Harold watched with practiced disinterest. ¡°The three of you won¡¯t have to dy yourselves for too long but it will be expensive.¡±


    Both ra and Arianwyn couldn¡¯t help but grimace at that, their kingdom was in a very poor financial situation at the moment, that was the entire reason why Ajax had even gotten his own chance at delving their dungeons. There was no way they would be able to pay a premium just to speed up the process.


    ¡°Don¡¯t misunderstand, it won¡¯t be materially expensive.¡± The prince was quick to catch on to what they were thinking. ¡°To everyone else it will y out as more of a courtesy and goodwill for having helped Ajax, probably a part of the original deal that allowed him to delve. The price for it however will be more along the lines of a binding defensive pact.¡±


    One thing nobody but the prince knew about was that both king Gryndor and the crown prince would all but jump at any chance to set up a binding mutual defense pact. The reason for this was that everyone will very soon see the true extent of Ajax¡¯s power in a very clear way.


    Thest dungeon on Ajax¡¯s delving route is the Empire¡¯s capital dungeon, unlike all the others he won¡¯t have a booster to join him for that one and while he can boost Xavier, Lexi and Anna he would be forced to unleash a dungeon break after he squeezes out as many stats as he can out of it.


    ¡°That would be up to my father.¡±


    ¡°That decision lies with the Council.¡±


    Both Arianwyn and Darkw answer at the same time neither looking to undermine their own countries'' leadership. ra however is sure that once her father hears of the opportunity he will push in favor of epting the deal, it¡¯ll most likely mean some concessions for their family to ensure that she is one of the few chosen for the opportunity and the concession may even be so far as a political marriage for herself.


    ¡°I¡¯m not here to pressure you into a decision.¡± the prince lifted his hands defensively. ¡°I myself don¡¯t have the authority to put forward such a deal but I can at least mention it. I should also mention that we should leave this kingdom as soon as possible. It won¡¯t be long until others start putting together what little ra did.¡±


    This was the biggest fear the prince had right now. He himself hadn¡¯t put the pieces together as well as ra did but once he saw the whole picture it put him on edge. While a future of delving exchanges seemed to be to the benefit of all on the surface that wasn¡¯t exactly the truth. There were a few nations that would be left out in the cold.


    The Empire, Deepwood and Highmountain were all supremacist nations, at best they might form an exchange with their non-supremacist neighbors but that was it. It wouldn¡¯t take longer than a millennium, maybe two before the four more central nations would grow too strong for them to even contend with. Should Deepwood decide that they would prefer a decisive fight over a slow death they may just break the agreement and get rid of Ajax now to put a stop to anything and take their chances with rebuilding after the war.


    ¡°That¡­¡± Arianwyn¡¯s eyes open wide, a flicker of fear passing through them. For the first time she feels that her own life is also in danger on this expedition as Deepwood would definitely eliminate all of them and not just the non-elves, worse yet they might hold her and ra hostage to try and strong arm her father in keeping Sylvanthal neutral.


    ¡°We¡¯ll stay behind on the sixth floor.¡± ra suggested. ¡°We¡¯ll set a countdown for us to exit so that wee out at the same time as Ajax before you clear thest floor, that way we will downy his abilities. He barely stumbled out of the dungeon thest time so it would look better if he isn¡¯t pushing a floor above us consistently.


    ¡°That might buy us some time.¡± Harold nodded. ¡°Even if they catch on to what we are doing, figuring out what is going on might add a day or two before they put everything together.¡±

 Chapter 398

    Chapter 398


    For the first time in a while Ajax actually had a rather easy time in all the floors of the dungeon. Even the final floor didn¡¯t pose that much of a challenge for him because of the extra stats he gained from his skills. If anything the floor was the perfect wet stone for him to get a decent handle on how his spells worked with all the extra stats.


    ¡°That was quite the increase in power.¡± the prince said as they waited together in front of the arch. ¡°Can you tell me if it''s replicable?¡±


    Ajax remained silent for a moment as he debated what to do. ¡°In a way.¡± He finally answered. ¡°But it''s not practical.¡±


    ¡°The increase looks close to one hundred stats.¡± the prince raised an eyebrow. ¡° That¡¯s a rather big increase that practicality can be left aside.¡±


    Ajax chose to remain silent and the prince respected that, he had something else on his mind. ¡°Once you exit the dungeon I have a mission for you.¡± the prince decided to switch topics.


    ¡°What are those?¡± Ajax asked as he saw the prince take out two items that shined to his mana sense showing they contained a fair amount in their storage.


    ¡°My privacy shield and themunicator for my father.¡± the prince said. ¡°You, ra and Arianwyn will all exit at the same time, it will be almost a day before I exit and I need to make sure no deal is struck at that time.¡±


    In actuality it would take the prince two to three days to clear the following floor, it was only thanks to the dungeon¡¯s time anomaly that it would seem like only a single day to the outside world. Past the mana level to house level one hundred time passed two times as fast inside the dungeon and with each level after that it ramped up further and further. This helpedbat the issues of floors also growing in size meaning that level one hundred and fifty going for a delve didn¡¯t spend a whole month just clearing the floor.


    ¡°What kind of deal?¡± hearing who was involved and the time sensitive nature of the agreement he couldn¡¯t put together what could have happened. The prince took a moment to exin the situation and ramifications to Ajax. Ajax very much understood everyone¡¯s point of view, in terms of both politics and simply from the innate urge to progress further as a species and an individual such an agreement would make perfect sense. More than that it would also provide the nobility a way to ensure they maintain a stat advantage once themoner¡¯s baseline power grows thanks to Ajax¡¯s training method.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± the prince asked as he took in Ajax¡¯s awkward expression.


    ¡°Nothing.¡±Ajax waved it off. ¡°I just didn¡¯t think I would be such a catalyst for change.¡± His thoughts however also added ¡®Am I really going to be the evil overlord who is defeated by the power of friendship?¡¯.


    The most important part of the agreement was that Ajax himself wouldn¡¯t really be able to take advantage of the delving since he had already cleared most of those floors and no country would let outsiders delve floors past level one hundred and fifty. The sheer number of high level monsters unleashed by a dungeon break at that level would be enough to level a capital even if their elites would survive and eventually even kill off the monsters that escape.


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    ¡°But why is this so time sensitive?¡± Ajax asked. ¡°I don¡¯t see your father and brother rushing headlong into a deal without waiting to run it by you.¡±


    ¡°I doubt they realized just how quickly you would grow on this trip.¡± the prince answered. ¡°They both have a great mind for ruling and even some of the more advancedbat strategy is well understood but they don¡¯t have the same grasp when ites to one person¡¯s ability to progress.¡±


    Ajax was taken aback by that but as he thought about it more he realized that the prince was right. The king was close to twice the same age as his son, he was a higher level and Ajax was certain he even possessed more overall stats, despite this the prince registered as the stronger of the two to his [Judge Threat]. This was the difference between someone who leveled as abatant and someone who only dabbled inbat.


    ¡°I expect ra¡¯s little revtion toe as a surprise to them.¡± the prince continued. ¡°That in and of itself will be enough to rattle them as had they realized the risk they may not have been so enthusiastic about the extension to your trip. epting the delve exchange and allowing other to delve our dungeons first with no coteral should they break the deal would a great political move to show goodwill.¡±


    ¡°I think just going for the goodwill might be the better way of going about it.¡± Ajax as he thought about it.


    ¡°In an ideal, hell even in an okay scenario, I¡¯d fully agree with you.¡± the prince nodded. ¡°But in those cases you would anyway have enough time to grow and progress. Having those defensive agreements in ce would be paramount if something unexpected should happen.¡±


    With that Ajax let the topic drop. With nothing else to do Ajax decided to scrounge up any or the flora present and try his hand at [Alchemy] using such mana dense ingredients. They still had another three hours before it would finally be time for him to exit the dungeon since the n was made to allow for the case that Ajax didn¡¯t kill the first miniboss he faced and needed to find a second.


    ¡°Will we take our time a little more once we step back into Sylvanthal?¡± Ajax asked. While he had initially been prepared for an extended trip the addition of Deepwood had turned what was supposed to be normal dungeon circuit into a driveby where they hit the dungeon as they raced passed.


    Ajax had expected the journey to be a lot more like thep they did of the Republic where they would spend a few days in the city around each dungeon before moving on. The danger of Deepwood as well as the timer with the Empire delve had meant all of them had spent thest three months on the road with barely a few days stopped and even those were only to delve.


    ¡°You¡¯ll have about ten days to rx in Sylvanthal¡¯s capital on top of the days you will be delving for, for the other two dungeons we will stop for a day to rest before and after we all exit the dungeon.¡± the prince reassured him.


    With the time to depart rapidly approaching Ajax and the prince stepped onto the next floor. Ajax didn¡¯t take the time to look over his new surroundings, he barely spared a second to give [Mana Syphon] a chance to take in the ambient mana to see if he could push the skill¡¯s ability to predict dungeon floors before he exited the dungeon with the prince¡¯s privacy andmunication items.


    As Ajax exited the dungeon and took in his surrounding it urred to him that they hadn¡¯t taken one thing into ount, they had ounted for the difference in the speed of time as it rted between the dungeon and the outside but not between the two floors of the dungeon. Since Ajax and the prince were one floor higher time would pass slightly faster for them and Ajax who was supposed to be thest to exit by a few seconds found himself all alone outside the dungeon hoping for the other to exit quickly.


    Unlike the dungeons in the capital there was nobody around this dungeon that could pose a threat to him besides Aranor and their own escorts, even the dungeon guards weren¡¯t strong enough to pose a threat to him so he simply did his best not to show his distress at having messed up the n.


    ¡°What happened?!¡± Another deviation from the original n was Aranor¡¯s reaction. Since the n had been hatched inside the dungeon he couldn¡¯t have been informed, having Ajax be the first to exit despite Arianwyn and ra having almost always excited a floor earlier caused some serious distress to the elven champion.


    While Ajax had actually gotten to the level where he couldfortably track the champion¡¯s movements as he was a full mage it did little to help with the mana that was leaking from the arms that were fastened to Ajax¡¯s shoulders, the elves previous question hanging ominously in the air.


    Fortunately enough for Ajax the rest of his team exited before he had a moment to give his best attempt at an exnation. Harold, ra, Arianwyn and Darkw were all very surprised to find Ajax waiting for them outside the dungeon with Aranor¡¯s Aura exuding a murderous presence.


    Their reactions to the situation were different. Harold and Darkw looked on confused while Arianwyn quickly moved to sooth Aranor and ra facepalmed as she quickly figured out what happened and couldn¡¯t help but be disappointed at her past self for failing to noticed the hidden variable.

 Chapter 399

    Chapter 399


    The situation quickly calmed down once everyone exited the dungeon. ra muttered a very quiet curse, disappointed at herself for not having thought about a temporal difference with something so precise.


    Ajax knew their n had failed but even in failure it would still do its job in confusing people. As Arianwyn took Aranor to one side so she could use a privacy screen where she could exin everything Ajax contemted doing the same in order to get in touch with king Gryndor.


    As soon as the privacy bubble went up around Aranor and Arianwyn [Danger Sense] started losing its shit. Ajax had no idea what was going on so he maximized [Mana Syphon]¡¯s defensive potential in a way he very rarely did; he let it drain everything around him at maximum capacity with the exception of his own gear.


    There was no way the skill could convert as much mana as it was drawing in into a physical boost but it should weaken any form of magical attack before it made contact. More than that Arianwyn lowered her privacy bubble as soon as they sensed that something was going on.


    While a privacy bubble did mostly iste the people inside from those outside it did work the other way around to a much lower effectiveness. As soon as the bubble lowered Aranor turned straight away to the confluence of mana he was sensing gathering in the distance and started chanting.


    Ajax followed Aranor¡¯s gaze but there was nothing he could see, not even the elven champion could see anyone yet he knew their position solely from the mana gathering. Then the mana was gone from Aranor¡¯s senses. He braced for arge effect and released a good amount of mana into the earth at their feet to at least interfere with any attack that looked to take control of it.


    Ajax¡¯s initial defense of [Mana Syphon] was what saved him in the end. His skill had managed to drain the shadow mana of the arrow fired towards him revealing it a moment before it made contact.


    With his legs already braced that moment was all Ajax needed to try and jump out of the way of the arrow. His attempt at escape wasn¡¯t a total sess, funnily enough he didn¡¯t yet feel the pain and more noticed the wound from his [Sense Mana] as he montiered his defensive equipment.


    A chunk of flesh about four inches in diameter was missing out of Ajax¡¯s left side and blood was gushing out at a prodigious rate. Ajax wasted no time casting his Life regeneration as well as three different Light based spells in order to get the wound under control. Throughout all this however he was sporting a grin.Multiple elves from their escort quickly rushed towards the predicted position of the shooter though none of them expected to be able to find him.


    ¡°No!¡± Lioriel''s voice was a mix between denial and rage, she was standing next to where the arrow was embedded five feet deep into the earth despite it being reinforced by the presence of Aranor¡¯s mana. A final quiet whisper passed her lips ¡°We have failed.¡±


    It took a moment for Lioriel to regain herposure before he gave the signal and the pursuit of the attacker was called off by her second inmand.


    ¡°Why did you stop the pursuit?¡± Xavier demanded in anger.


    ¡°Because they won¡¯t be able to catch him, and that¡¯s even if they are able to track him.¡± Lioriel answered in a measured tone, she buried her outrage at beingmanded by a visitor so much younger and weaker than herself in light of the circumstances.


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    ¡°You know who attacked?¡± Anna interjected.


    ¡°I know who¡¯s calling mark that arrow is, it even lets us know which assassin group was targeting your friend.¡± Lioriel said as she pointed towards it. ¡°The leader of Shadeblossom is the one who attacked.¡±


    The name of the group didn¡¯t mean much to the delving group but Aranor fixed the elf with a look once the name passed her lips. He clearly recognised the name of the ¡®weakest assassin¡¯.


    ¡°That coward is behind this?¡± Aranor cursed.


    Seeing the looks of confusion Aranor exined who the assassin was. ¡°He is an assassin with next to no engagement skills. His entire kit is based around hiding, shooting, running and poisoning. He would lose to people even thirty levels lower than himself in a straight fight, his ability to poison someone with an arrow is next to unmatched.¡±


    A flurry of concerned looks turned towards Ajax who could help but chuckle a little at the situation.


    ¡°You best say your goodbyes, he doesn¡¯t have long.¡± Lioriel offered in a remorseful tone.


    As soon as the group gathered around Ajax he activated the prince¡¯s privacy bubble. The drain on his mana was unexpected so he also quickly turned it off only for Arianwyn to bring up her own privacy bubble.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± Arianwyn quickly apologized, she felt extremely guilty for thoughtlessly dragging Aranor into a privacy bubble while the prince was still inside the dungeon. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be fine.¡± Ajax tried to wave her off.


    ¡°You won¡¯t.¡± Aranor said though his words contained some doubt as he notice Ajax¡¯s situation seemed to be improving instead of deteriorating. ¡°His poison is very potent and his skills should nullify any skill you have to help you. With just your stats and healing you won¡¯t survive the poison.¡±


    ¡°I might not.¡± Ajax nodded in assent. ¡°But I wasn¡¯t poisoned.¡±


    Ajax¡¯s words suddenly drew everyone¡¯s undivided attention to the wound they had all been unconsciously avoiding. A pink freshyer of skin was visible around the edges of the armor that looked to have torn off.


    Since his initial chest te was ruined following his previous assassination attempt Ajax had fallen back on using his own armor. His was very much inferior to the one the royal family provided in nearly all respects but it did have one very odd attribute.


    ¡°That¡¯s the armor Kate, Luna and my grandfather worked on.¡± Lexi sobbed as she rushed to run her hands over the edges of the armor around the wound with tears still in her eye. ¡°It worked.¡± she finally gasped with augh as sheunched into a hug and gave Ajax a deep kiss.


    As much as Ajax would like to take credit for the armor he was at best tangentially involved. It had all started from a discussion Ajax had with Kate in terms of whether there was ever a moment where it would be better for him to simply take an attack and heal it instead of trying to block it.


    The timing of the talk had matched up with Kate¡¯s lessons on dealing with poisons. From there Kate and Luna approached Duke Manashaper with help in their little project. Their idea had been to add an enchantment to te armor that was centered around the Detect Poison enchantment.


    They had worked for a long time before they finally managed toe up with a set of enchantments that would have the armor intentionally break and reinforce only at the point in contact with the weapon. In this way the small patch of reinforced armor would wrap itself around the weapon and tear through the flesh, more than likely doing more damage than the blow itself would have but preventing poison from being effective.


    It had taken Luna, Kate and the few of the people Duke Manashaper had assigned to the project two years before they had finally finished the enchantment. Despite their work being a sess, its uses were too niche topete with the multitude of enchantments already avable for the amount of space it took up. This wasn¡¯t to say that it was a failure as multiple sets of armor were created as they were ideal for weaker people to wear when defending from assassins but it wasn¡¯t revolutionary on arge scale.


    ¡°The only question remaining now is how do we react to this?¡± Ajax asked.


    The following conversation took thirty minutes, all of which Ajax had spent in silence as he knew he wasn¡¯t the most skilled person in those matters. With the decision finally made Ajax asked for a moment of privacy as he pulled out the prince¡¯smunication device intent on fulfilling his promise to the prince as well as reporting the newest development and getting the king¡¯s take on their situation.


    Almost everyone agreed to Ajax¡¯s demand but Lexi simply remained silent as she still clung to him and just gave a shake of the head ¡®no¡¯ while tightening her grip on him. Despite the fact that his wound was already fully healed, a simple pink shade all that differentiated the skin where the wound had been from the surrounding area, it had been a close call.


    As Ajax activated the prince¡¯s privacy bubble once more and themunication device he was surprised to find it took a few moments before the line connected. Even more surprising were the words that came from the other side, it was a voice he recognised in a tone he hadn¡¯t heard before.


    ¡°Who are you? And my son better be alive!¡± king Gryndor voice came out as a growl.

 Chapter 400

    Chapter 400


    King Gryndor P.O.V.


    Thest few months had me considering investing a decent amount of my own wealth into Luna. The royal healer had told me that my headaches were psychosomatic or something like that, essentially I was doing this to myself, so there was nothing to heal but like her recent discovery with poisons she might be able to find something with enough funds.


    A single nce at my desk was enough to double the strength of the pulsing in my head. Dozens of letters stood there, all of them from some of the highest Dukes and Viscounts in the kingdom, all of them moring about favoritism and their own share.


    Much like all things as ofte they all tied back to Ajax. The kid¡¯s first reward of getting ess to the dungeons in the Empire wasn¡¯t something anyone looked at too closely, it was the first time it had happened and technically it was all handled by the Goldmancers on the logistical level, a few people were upset a Baron had gotten two slots in the less important dungeon but it wasn¡¯t that hard to swallow considering the circumstances.


    The delves into the Republic were something nobody couldin about. Not only were there plenty of spots, so many that all of the most talented people in the kingdom had gotten a chance to go, every important noble had managed to secure a spot if they had a very promising fighter. It was what came after that kicked off this shitshow. Even worse, I was still traveling back when it started so I couldn¡¯t snuff it out before it grew toorge.


    If there was a saving grace it was that the people Ajax had chosen to take with him from our kingdom were connected to the three Archdukes and that the young Manashaper¡¯s rtionship with Ajax was well known in the capital¡¯s social circles.


    On a more bittersweet note my son and the rest of the convoy had been repeatedly attacked during their trip through Deepwood. While they hadn¡¯t always escaped unscathed nobody had died yet and with every attack that managed to break through the escort they were followed by, it meant arger andrger payday for me from Deepwood.


    WIth what they had endured so far I would receive more than enough of a variety of resources that my initial n of having Ajax be a simple Duke with arge manor in the capital was changed. On his return Ajax would be anded Duke, more than that I would see to it that hisnds would include the city of Lessis, the dungeon and its surrounding mountain range.


    This would give them enough space to grow and expand. More than that with ess to a dungeon so close to home and away from most prying eyes it would be a while before anyone would suspect Ajax¡¯s ability to predict floor themes. The one worry I did have was that having them so close to a dungeon could lead to an orchestrated dungeon break in the near future could wipe them before they had a chance to properly settle.¡°Your Majesty!¡± the door to my study was flung open and both of the guards stationed outside it were securing my head of intelligence.


    ¡°What is it?¡± A cold chill went down my spine as I knew the man was one who respected social obligations. For him not to knock and wait it meant something dire must have happened.


    ¡°It¡¯s your son, Your Majesty.¡± The man struggled to wave his restrained arm which grasped amunication device that was pulsing with mana. ¡°Someone else is using hismunication device.¡±


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    My blood ran cold. It took every ounce of my social skills to get both my fear and anger under control. The device wasn¡¯t sophisticated enough for us to tell who was using it, in fact I couldn¡¯t even tell if it was my son or not but my head spy had a high enough Perception and skills that he could tell minute differences and the person on the other end was not my son.


    This was not a situation in which I could show weakness, perhaps the elves were considering the remunerations they would need to pay too much and they wanted to negotiate them with my son capture but I would not let that stand.


    ¡°Who are you? And my son better be alive!¡± My voice wasn¡¯t as controlled as I hoped, thankfully it was the anger and not the fear that showed.


    The whole room went silent as we all waited for an answer. With every second that passed my anger died as fear took over, fear and a good amount of guilt for sending my son out there. ¡°I¡¯m Baron Ajax Hearthbound, Your Majesty. The prince should be alive and well.¡±


    The words killed my anger and put most of my fears to rest but I had to know more. ¡°Ajax, why do you have my son¡¯smunication tool? Was he captured?¡±


    Over the next five minutes Ajax exined what my son had discussed with Arianwyn and ra inside the dungeon, during that time my other son and heir had also joined us and we couldn¡¯t help but trade guilty looks as Ajax exined the reasoning behind him getting in touch with us so quickly.


    ¡°I hate to say it but he was right.¡± my heir said with a sigh. ¡°A chance to look less warmongering by giving others a chance to catch up with Ajax early, I¡¯d have jumped at it.¡±


    A single nce was enough for all of us to agree we would have mishandled the situation without this early warning. That being said this wasn¡¯t the time to discuss this, it would be debated over the next few hours at length but there was no reason to have Ajax burn through his mana as he waited for that.


    ¡°Other than that, how have you been following the assassination attempt, I heard they got quite close.¡± The question was one I asked both as a king worried about a very important future asset of the kingdom but also as an old man who looked at Ajax as somewhat of a nephew. Our families might not yet be tied together by marriage but considering how small his family was and how close he worked with us over thest few years I had developed a fondness for the boy.


    The answer that came was entirely unexpected and plunged the room into silence as all of us sat with baited breath as Ajax detailed thetest attempt on his life that happened no more than minutes ago.


    This was simply too much. The discussion about Sylvanthal¡¯s offer would have to wait for a few hours. As soon as my talk with Ajax was over I would be sending Deepwood¡¯s new queen a very pointed message containing a barely veiled threat about the safety of my people in her kingdom.


    Ajax hadn¡¯t even finished speaking and I was already drafting the message in my head.¡°Try and bring back the arrow.¡± The words of my head spy brought me back to the present. ¡°That along with your newest discoveries into poisons will let us take a big leap forward when ites to the field.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll do my best.¡± Ajax responded, but from the tone he said it with I knew exactly what it meant, he¡¯d pass the negotiation off to Annabeth Goldmancer. Good, those particr bastards deserved everything she would dish out and more.


    With that Ajax cut off the connection and the room was silent once more. ¡°At least you won¡¯t have to worry about his safety for a while once he returns if he brings back that arrow.¡± My head spy chuckled. ¡°And knowing young Ms. Goldmancer I am confident we will have it.¡±


    My head spy was right about Ajax¡¯s safety. Dark as his humor might be about half of the assassins that worked under him were all psychopaths. Seeing as they had no emotions we trained them from an early age with a deep sense of loyalty and a code. Ajax pushing the field of poisons this far would have them all bound to repay the favor. In fact I might need to make sure none of the other nobles try anything out of jealousy once he returns since my own assassins might just react once the catch wind of it.


    ¡°I thought we couldn¡¯t get headaches once our stats got this high.¡± my heir said as he massaged the bridge of his nose.


    ¡°Perhaps we should have someone check the breakfast we had.¡± I nodded in agreement. ¡°That or it might be gic.¡±


    ¡°Should we discuss the Sylventhal offer?¡± my son asked as he retook his seat.


    ¡°Gather our strategists.¡± I shook my head. ¡°We need to take into consideration how all the other friendly nations would react to such an agreement.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re leaving this up to me?¡± My son was slightly surprised as I stood up and went to exit the room. ¡°I won¡¯t disappoint you, father!¡±


    ¡°I trust you and it should be you who makes this decision, you¡¯re the one who¡¯ll have handle the fallout.¡± I nodded towards him. ¡°I¡¯ll join you shortly in an advisory position but first I have a message to send to Deepwood.¡±

 Chapter 401

    Chapter 401


    Ajax felt a lot better after he finished his report to the king, despite that however he was starting to get more and more worried. With every attempt the assassin got closer and closer to killing him. The only reason thest one didn¡¯t kill him was because the poison never made contact with him.


    As he lowered the privacy bubble Ajax was prepared to grab Anna, he knew he would need her help to have any chance at getting the arrow. Much to his surprise Anna was already in what looked like a heated discussion with Lioriel and Benedict was standing next to her.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on over there?¡± Ajax asked Lexi as he subtly nodded towards the exchange.


    ¡°Benedict was quick to grab Anna and head that way once we knew you were okay.¡± Lexi informed him. ¡°He started arguing that we should retrieve the arrow since not only does it have part of your armor wrapped around it but there is also your blood which we wouldn¡¯t want to let them get their hands on. Rare as curse users are, it''s frightening what they can sometimes do with the blood of their target even across such ranges.¡±


    For once Ajax wasn¡¯t all that worried about the prospect of being targeted like that. Despite the flexibility of how curses worked they still relied on the most basicyer of all magic, mana. His [Mana Syphon] would allow him to neutralize any long range attack that came in the form of a curse.


    ¡°I trust them.¡± Ajax chose to be specifically vague outside of a privacy field, he didn¡¯t want to give away information and undermine Anna and Benedict while reassuring Lexi.


    Ajax tried to move closer to the negotiations but he found his arm snared as Lexi hadn¡¯t let go of him, if anything her grip had tightened. ¡°Don¡¯t scare me like that again.¡± Lexi whispered as she blinked away the tears that were blurring her vision.


    Ajax pulled Lexi back into a hug. While he had been the main target of the assassination attempts it seems he had forgotten just how those incidents affected those close to him. ¡°I can¡¯t make that promise.¡± Ajax whispered back. ¡°But we¡¯ll be away from here soon and once we are back home I¡¯ll be able to take it easy for a few years.¡± Left unsaid was that he was nning to use those few years to not only help stabilize the foundation of his new Ducal house but also prepare for his trip outside the kingdom¡¯s borders and into the untamednds.


    Over the next few hours Ajax developed a small sense of respect towards Lioriel. The elf and Anna had been negotiating for hours and everyone could see that the facts gave Anna a dominating edge when it came to the negotiations. The simple fact that Lioriel hadn¡¯t yet been forced to capitte or add more me to Deepwood by iming the arrow and poison as a national secret. Four hours in and the haggling mercifully came to an end. For her part Lioriel didn¡¯t even seem to take the loss as a defeat, it seemed more like she was resigned to just let nature take its course. The mangled flesh, armor and arrow were all stored by Xavier as he had the best ring to preserve everything while also keep it secure in a ring that was only essible to him.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Ajax said to Anna as she was taking a drink following the hours of verbal sparring.


    ¡°Oh no, no no no no no.¡± Anna said as she shook her head. ¡°It is me who should thank you! You have no idea what this negotiation has meant for my skills. This is the best progress I have ever made as a merchant. The only thing that even came close was the trading games I yed with father.¡±


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    Over the course of the negotiation Anna had managed to gain two Rare skills and one Epic skill. This had been the first time she had ever been in a situation where everything was real and not just a manufactured incident, her opposition outmatched to such an extent but the facts backed her up enough to ovee the difference in skills.


    The atmosphere had barely settled down over the next five or so hours when everything was thrown back into chaos as two elves wearing the royal sigil all but materialized next to their group. Ajax¡¯s stats had grown enough to where he was able to not only track their movements but even understand them, one thing he knew for sure however was that whoever these two were they were above Lioriel in terms ofbat.


    ¡°What¡¯s the emergency?¡± Lioriel asked. Her neutral tone and voice were all thanks to her social skills, seeing the two of them so drenched in sweat.


    ¡°We are here as reinforcements.¡± one of the two answered her. ¡°Her Majesty has decided that an increase in our manpower here is now required.¡±


    Ajax was slightly worried about the presence of the two. Sure they would be a stronger protective force against the assassins but with their presence he was worried that for the remainder of their time in this kingdom their escort would actually be strong enough to take down Aranor and the prince.


    Ajax wasn¡¯t the only one worried by their presence however, Lioriel had reported thest attack as soon as it happened. Looking at the two champion candidates in front of her she could tell they had been sent out at most one hour after she finished her report, more than that they had to have sprinted over here to cover a quarter of the kingdom in under half a day.


    ¡°Baron¡± the second elf bowed shallowly towards Ajax as he approached him. ¡°Her Majesty has sent you what you are owed along with a small remuneration for the suffering you have endured as ofte.¡±


    With that the elf extended an armguard towards Ajax. It didn¡¯t take long for Ajax to realize that it was spatially enchanted, though he did question why they didn¡¯t just use a ring instead.


    Ajax¡¯s question was quickly answered when he sensed just howrge the spatial storage was. It was a hoarder¡¯s wet dream being half the size of a warehouse Judy used in the capital, while most of the space was empty Ajax was surprised to find that not only were there a lot of alchemical ingredients but there were a lot more samples of each type of reagent that they had agreed upon, it was more than double the amount.


    ¡°Only for his suffering?¡± Aranor asked as he raised an eyebrow.


    Both of the neers frowned at the elven champion for interfering, clearly they disagreed with his actions. After a moment of silence however one of them answered. ¡°Only for his suffering, the Queen still ns to make amends for the attacks themselves as well.¡±


    The conversation ended there and Ajax proceeded to spend the rest of the time they spent waiting for the prince to exit examining the new alchemical reagents he had at his disposal. He had to admit he was most pleased to see that not only had the elves given him the raw form of the nt be they even included the finished process reagent for a few of them. He was slightly dejected when he realized they hadn¡¯t also included instructions for the refining process but he was sure the alchemists in Gryndor would be more than happy to help him figure it all out.


    Once the prince exited the dungeon the ever growing convoy was on the move once again. Ajax was quick to tell the prince everything that happened since he exited the dungeon when he returned themunication and privacy items to him.


    The more Ajax said the more he could see the prince slump ever so slightly. It was only then that Ajax had realized he had overlooked just how much strain the prince was under. Unlike him and everyone else delving the dungeon he was always on guard while outside the dungeon, more than that he had been like that for months on end now while also being forced to solo high end dungeon floors, everything was starting to add up and for a brief moment Ajax even considered if doing thest dungeon was worth it over just leaving this kingdom.


    ¡°You did well.¡± the prince said with a smile as he patted Ajax on the shoulder. ¡°I expect the reason why those two dashed over here so quickly is because my father sent a message of his own to the Queen.¡± The prince''s smile widened ever so slightly as he knew his father had acted so quickly because he was feeling overly protective from even the idea that his son might have died.


    ¡°Are you worried about them?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°Not for now.¡± the prince shook his head. ¡°Right now they will actually provide protection. It is only after thest dungeon as we start heading towards the border that we will need to keep a more wary eye on them.¡±


    Over the next three weeks of travel the prince¡¯s words had proven true. There had been five more attacks by the assassins during this time yet with the new reinforcements to the protection detail as well as the increasingly unhinged behavior of the assassins none of those attempts had even made it close to Ajax and the rest of his group.

 Chapter 402

    Chapter 402


    Looking at the captured assassins gave Ajax a much better understanding of why the skill they had all gained was only considered Rare. A tracking mark with increased damaged to the target that can be used by any member of the organization as long as one of them applies it is something that should be a Legendary skill.


    The assassins that were captured weren¡¯t starving but that was the only difference he saw between them and the portrails he saw of drug users going through withdrawal in movies back on Earth. All of them had bloodshot and baggy eyes, messy hair, rashes, uncontroble twitches.


    Each and every one of them however was sensitive to his presence. If they happened to catch a glimpse of Ajax they would focus on him, their uncontroble twitches would continue but all their struggles would change from just random escape to a way to get closer to him.


    ¡°Why aren¡¯t they just killing them?¡± Ajax asked.


    Ajax wasn¡¯t feeling any sort of sympathy for the assassins, he just didn¡¯t see the value of keeping them alive. Usually criminals this high level that were caught were kept alive for one of two reasons, either they could be talked into epting a forceful conscription in a time of need or they needed a public execution.


    Neither reason seemed usible here to Ajax. These people could never be released and expected to do anything other than mindlessly try and chase after Ajax so that ruled out conscription. A public execution of high level elves for attacking a human inside of Deepwood so close after a change in ruler would almost certainly spark riots from the more indoctrinated citizens.


    ¡°Two reasons I can think of.¡± the prince answered. ¡°The first is that it gives them a sure way to know if you died. As long as their bacsh is enforced it means that you are alive, after another year I doubt they would be able to recover their minds even if you did die but the signs that the bacsh ended would still be visible.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the other reason?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°Testers.¡± Benedict answered. ¡°Perfect way to see how a high level reacts to a skill or a poison. The usual problem with keeping such a high level prisoner is that the method of restrain affects the tests or you risk them escaping. Their bacsh is one of the best restraint methods though you do need to ount for its effects in the test results.¡± That went a bit far for Ajax¡¯s taste. His sense of morality had changed dramatically since he arrived on this world but keeping a tortured prisoner as ab rat was something he wouldn¡¯t do.


    ¡°Any word about their leader?¡± Ajax asked, looking to change the topic.


    ¡°Nothing so far but we have sent one of our squads in the area to secure thest dungeon; that way he won¡¯t be able to set up an ambush there.¡± Lioriel shared.


    With every day that passed the danger the assassin represented to Ajax got lower and lower. The bacsh was now starting to affect their fighting prowess and even someone as strong as their leader would be severely weakened because of how much his style relies on precision. Both stealth and long range sniping be a lot harder with tremors, twitches and unending itchiness.


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    Ajax wasn¡¯t at all worried about thest dungeon they had nned. The dungeon had a sixteen level jump between floors and started with a floor at level thirty one to thirty six. This unfortunately meant that the highest floor Ajax could clear would be the fifth floor of the dungeon spanning levels ny five to one hundred. Trying the sixth floor was out of the question since the seventh would push the prince into clearing a floor with a level one hundred and sixty floor boss.


    What Ajax was more worried about was the third floor of the dungeon. Lexi had already defeated a level seventy floor boss but that had been a close call, the one she will be facing now would only be two levels lower, more than that he was sure that Lexi wouldn¡¯t be the only one to try and push to clear that one.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be fine.¡± Lexi said as she came to take a seat next to Ajax who was watching her practice. ¡°I gained a few stats since thest boss and this one will be a couple of levels lower. And if anything goes wrong you¡¯ll be there to step in.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe I¡¯m saying this but I can¡¯t wait until we get back to delving dungeons to clear out entire floors instead of just pushing for the stats.¡± Ajax answered as he leaned into Lexi.


    ¡°I also got word back from my family.¡± Lexi said excitedly. ¡°Grandpa thinks there might be a way to speed up my progress with certain skills by practicing them on floors where the ambient mana of the same type is prevalent.¡±


    Ajax had to admit that it sounded like a solid idea. The only reason it hadn¡¯t been tried before was that in order for ambient mana to increase progress it would have most likely needed to be at a concentration surpassing the level of the user. This meant sending the trainee into dungeon floors that outleveled them, all for a chance at getting the right theme. With his use of [Mana Syphon] the chance became guaranteed so every time Ajax would take a crafting team into the dungeon he could also grab Lexi so she could practice the mana type that matched the floor theme they were hunting.


    Their conversation was suddenly interrupted by a loud thunderp that echoed from nearby. In order to not slow down everyone did their training as they moved alongside the caravan. Everyone¡¯s skillset was fairly well known to each other and since both Lexi and Ajax were trying to keep Vibration mana from Deepwood they hadn¡¯t been using it in public.


    ¡°THAT WAS SO LOUD!¡± ra was all but yelling as she excitedly jumped up and down once she realized that the notification in front of her eyes was real.


    ¡°ra, darling, you¡¯re shouting.¡± Arianwyn tried to calm her friend down while also pushing down her own excitement for her sess.


    ¡°WHAT DID YOU SAY?¡± ra asked a little quieter now as she started to hear some light ringing.


    ¡°That should be better.¡± Aranor said as he used a healing spell on her. ¡° Can you hear now?¡±


    ¡°I CA-¡± ra started to say loudly but stopped as she realized just how loudly she was talking and blushed in embarrassment. ¡°I can hear you.¡± she whispered.


    ra had taken a different approach to unlocking Vibration mana that Lexi and Ajax had. Since her family didn¡¯t have any easily essible shockwave spell she had instead focused on using her domain and recreating a natural lightning bolt with her lightning bolt spell.


    ¡°I know a storm domain isn¡¯t all that defensively focused but you might want to make sure you protect yourself from your own attacks.¡± Ajax suggested.


    Unlike the lightning bolt the thunderp went out in all directions, even if the owner of the domain was slightly more resistant to their own spells while inside it thanks to the skill it didn¡¯t make them immune by any means.


    Once their protectors returned to their post Arianwyn quickly put up a privacy bubble, she hadn¡¯t bothered excluding anyone from Gryndor as they were already in the know before she asked the important question. ¡°Did you get the mana affinity?¡±


    ra was nodding her head so rapidly that Ajax was d the dungeons provided +1 to all stats, having seen her stats before that he would have been worried she would snap her own neck if her Endurance hadn¡¯t increased since their duel.


    ¡°Did you manage to integrate it in your Domain at the same time?¡± Aranor asked.


    ¡°Not yet.¡± ra answered. ¡°But I¡¯ll get there.¡±


    Thest two days of their trip to the dungeon passed without any excitement. Once they arrived there however Ajax was slightly worried to see that instead of the usual makeshift market area that sprung up around the non-capital dungeons of a country this dungeon seemed to be surrounded by a temporary army base.


    This change gave him the confidence the assassins wouldn¡¯t be trying anything but it did make him more worried about what would happen when he exited the dungeon while the prince stayed to clear the final floor.


    The thought of unleashing a dungeon break themselves and making use of the chaos to ensure they weren¡¯t attacked was a tempting one. They were less than a weeks ride from the border and they could cover that distance much faster if they were were all running there instead of traveling by carriage

 Chapter 403

    Chapter 403


    Ajax¡¯s idea about unleashing a dungeon break was quickly shut down. It wasn¡¯t so much about the damage that doing this would do to Deepwood or the loss of anypensation Gryndor was due for their ill fated encounters. The sole reason the idea was vetoed without so much as a discussion was that it would be breaking one of the core principles signed in their most recent peace treaty, having a prince of Gryndor be party to that would all but invalidate that treaty.


    ¡°It still feels like they are getting away with too much.¡± Ajaxined after how quickly his idea had been shot down even if he hadn¡¯t been all that keen to go through with it.


    ¡°They will pay for a lot of this.¡± the prince said as he tried to calm Ajax down. ¡°You also have to remember that while the Queen did set up a few ¡®attacks¡¯ her own guards took care of those, these assassins weren¡¯t sent by her.¡±


    ¡°That her father is responsible doesn¡¯t make this any better.¡± Ajax huffed.


    The group quickly made their way through the first jungle themed floor with no issue. Ajax checked the first arch they reached. What stood out the most was that while there was a plethora of different mana types present there they were all sparse out rather evenly, only Life mana took a big chunk being almost half the dominant mana type.


    Entering the next floor they quickly found themselves on an endless expanse of dirt that was studded with pits. Each of the pits seemed to contain a different Element with some of therger ones also containing an arch.


    ¡°Why would there be such arge concentration of Life mana if there is no life?¡± Ajax was very upset as he had hoped this would provide him with a perfect floor to practice his [Alchemy].


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say there is no life.¡± the prince said as he crushed the earth at his feet with a powerful stomp, picked up a rock that had formed and tossed it into the closest pit. ¡°I do have to say I am surprised these floors are very rare, the only reason they are known is that they can appear at any level range.¡±


    The rock crashed into what initially seemed to be a small crystal clear pond with arge ssh sending out ripple. The ripples however became stronger and stronger as they traveled away from the rock''s impact point until they reached the edges of the pit and the slimes climbed out of the pit.¡°Too bad we got this floor theme so early.¡± the prince said. ¡°It would have been perfect for the next one.¡±


    One of the things that was known about the golem floor was that it never had anything that could be taken outside the dungeon. Every time one had appeared people had scoured it for a chance to gain ess to some of the more unique elements but all hade up empty. The amount of wealth a single of the diamond golems would have been able to bring left many a delver salivating with greed.


    The other agreed upon fact was that the floor represented the best chance a person had at finding both a challenging encounter, an easy encounter and a perfect counter. With so many different elements present it was simple for everyone to find what they were looking for, even more so at the higher levels of this theme where elementals started to make an appearance, storm elementals alone were prized for the amount of insight one could gain in mixing different elements.


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    ¡°I wish we could have gotten this for the next floor.¡± Anna said as she looked towards the seemingly endless pits knowing there was an ice one among them where her mes could really shine.


    The floor was by no means difficult with the highest level being only fifty two, to make things more interesting for themselves Xavier, Anna, Lexi and Benedict all chose to go up against their own elements.


    Anna was the first to suggest this as she faced off against a fire golem while pushing her spells to burn as hot as possible. This approach let the elemental get a good attack in forcing her to rely on her enchanted gear before the heat of Anna¡¯s spell overcame what the golem could withstand.


    Lexi faced an ice golem with her ice mana to simr results. Due to theck of elementals she knew she wouldn¡¯t be able to find a wind or lightning one variant on such a low floor. Benedict''s fight against the steel golem left his warhammer fairly deformed by the time he imed victory.


    Xavier¡¯s hybrid style didn¡¯t leave him with any equivalent element to take on, despite that everyone stayed well away from the sewage slime pit despite a few good natured jokes that the prince take on one of the slimes.


    Once everyone killed their own miniboss the discussion began focused upon which would be the perfect theme for their next floor from the ones they had avable. The big issue came that none of the six arches they had found offered them a clear advantage. The closest one was one that had a strangebination of fire light and earth with the presence of humanoids.


    The presence of humanoids was what ended up being the deciding factor as the group entered the third floor of the dungeon. Ajax was slightly surprised to find that while the floor did appear to be a desert theme it wasn¡¯t one that was flooded with sand. This floor was a vast expanse of earth with a bright sun above them but other than somerge cracks the dry ground beneath their boots was solid.


    ¡°I thought you said there would be humanoids, all I¡¯m seeing are those birds up above.¡± Xavier said as they started to explore the floor.


    Therge vultures overhead and the cacti dotted across the gave Ajax an odd feeling he couldn¡¯t ce until they reached the first fence. The wooden fence was much taller and sturdier than the ones he remembered and they were capped with barbed wire but the resemnce was too uncanny not to recognise as he spotted therge bovines that were walking around the field munching on whatever small patch of grass they could find.


    ¡°Now that is more like it.¡± Xavier said with enthusiasm. ¡°I could go for a stake.¡±


    As Xavier started to make his way past the fence Ajax caught some movement off to the side. It took him a moment to recognise what he was looking at but the brief sh of mana was all the warning he got before the crack of the rifle pulled the attention of the rest of the group.


    Ajax hadn¡¯t been the only one to feel the brief sh of mana so he wasn¡¯t the only one to take defensive measures as he pulled Lexi close to his chest and raised his shield to cover them both. Surprisingly there was no sound of impact.


    ¡°Interesting.¡± the prince said as he held the small steel bullet between his index finger and thumb.


    As Ajax lowered his shield he noticed the prince was no longer by their side and instead he was now standing between Xavier and the man with the rifle inspecting the bullet he had caught out of the air.


    Ajax turned and saw the look of utter surprise the rifleman sported for a brief moment before a look of fury took over. Ajax could once more feel as the rifleman channeled his mana into the gun before taking aim towards the prince as he pumped the rifle for the next shot.


    The man didn¡¯t get to fire his second shot as with a flick of his wrist the prince sent a knife flying towards the man with almost the same speed as the bullet he had just caught. The knife embedded itself in the man¡¯s neck.


    Being close to level seventy the man didn¡¯t die straight away, the sheer fact he was still standing despite the momentum of the knife showed he had some serious physical stats. He did however drop his rifle as both his hands went to his neck trying to stem the bleeding to no avail. Two unsteady steps forward were all he managed before he dropped down face first onto the ground.


    Ajax quickly focused on the iconic wide-brimmed and high-crowned felt cowboy hat the man was wearing. Everything was too big of a coincidence so he had to fight every instinct in his body to not dash towards the weapon to see if he could find some new technology.


    First things first Ajax took a good look around making sure there was no other shooter that could threaten them. The prince himself was doing the same thing before he went over to cuff Xavier around the back of the head for leaving his guard down on such a high floor.


    Only once he was sure there were no other shooters did Ajax go over and pick up the gun. He made sure to be careful, reminding himself that while it looked like what he remembered, the fact that it used mana in some form meant that it wasn¡¯t a gun as he knew it. More importantly he also didn¡¯t want to seem too familiar with the weapon as that would lead to some very pointed questions being asked.

 Chapter 404

    Chapter 404


    Few people truly paid any attention to anything inside a dungeon that they couldn¡¯t take with them. It was a defense mechanism so that they wouldn¡¯t regret all the wealth they had to leave behind. While Ajax was ying with the rifle they had found Xavier took on the bull mini boss.


    After ten minutes of examining the rifle Ajax fiy brought the sight up to his eye and aimed for the cowboy hat he ced on top of one of the fence posts.


    BANG!


    The sound distracted everyone from Harold who was putting his limited skill as a chef to use searing a chunk of the mini boss. Some of the people there however were already looking towards Ajax since before the sound came, an instant before a strong pulse of mana could be felt.


    ¡°You figured out how to use it?¡± Lexi was very interested in that.


    ¡°You squeeze this and it releases the projectile.¡± Ajax said as he pointed to the trigger. ¡°Works a lot like a crossbow.¡±


    What was a lot more interesting to Ajax was that the bullets didn¡¯t have any sort of gun powder packed, they did however have a small gem attached at the end that was packed with mana.


    Looking towards the hat Ajax could see that he missed his target by a few inches despite not being more than fifty feet away from it. Wanting to see if this could increase his [Aim] skill Ajax slowly loaded the next bullet, took aim, and finally pressed the trigger.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Lexi asked as the bullet''s mana was released in a burst into the surroundings. ¡°I¡¯m not sure.¡± Ajax said confused, how did the dungeon break guns? They weren¡¯t all that hard to figure out in his old world. Hammer hits bullet, gunpowder ignites, bullet isunched out the barrel by the tiny contained explosion.


    ¡°The runes on the inside of the barrel are all damaged¡± Lexi said as she examined the rifle¡¯s other end while Ajax was inspecting the hammer. ¡°Maybe it only works a few times.¡±


    That could very well be the case but Ajax doubted it. The floor theme was clearly based on the historical West and that should mean that as long as you had ammo and took care of your gun it would shoot, this wasn¡¯t the era of muskets.


    Thinking back to what the cowboy had done, Ajax realized he had missed a step. The cowboy had infused the gun with mana, Ajax had thought that he was loading the bullet but all of the bullets were already loaded so where did the mana go?


    Inspecting the handle of the gun Ajax found a set of runes that were intact. Even more interesting was the fact that they were clearly part of the gun however he couldn¡¯t find any way for them to connect to the mana released by the bullet. Ajax slowly started to inject a small amount of his own mana into the runes.


    He went much slower than the cowboy had done both out of wariness as well as curiosity as he paid very close attention to what the enchantment did.¡±It restored the runes!¡± Lexi was happy as she saw the runes inside the barrel of the gun look usable again.


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    Looking to see if that was what he was missing Ajax loaded another bullet and this time the rifle fired when he pressed the trigger. Once again however the runes inside the barrel were damaged, oddly enough however it wasn¡¯t the bullet that damaged them. Instead the mana that was released to activate them was more than the runes could handle, effectively burning out the runes after every shot.


    After restoring the runes a second time Ajax carefully removed the barrel of the gun and split it in two so that he could get a closer look at the runes.


    ¡°What an odd take.¡± Lexi murmured as she inspected the runes. ¡°It¡¯s almost like they are the same runes but not quite.¡±


    Lexi had spent a long time with her father looking at runes and while some of the ones inscribed inside the barrel were simr to ones she had seen before they weren¡¯t exactly the same. If she were to guess the difference would be that while the runes she had avable focused on the integrity of the rune structure and material it was inscribed on surviving an overinfusion these runes would instead focus onpleting the activation regardless of the damage to the structure and the material.


    Lexi wasted no time taking out an empty scroll as she started carefully and meticulously copying the runes. None of the others had realized what was going on but as soon as they saw Lexi so focused on copying the runes they figured out that there must be something special about them.


    Darkcalw and ra wasted no time joining Lexi as they did their best to perfectly copy the runes on their own pieces of parchment. ¡°What¡¯s so special about these runes?¡± Arianwyn asked.


    ¡°They work based on a different fundamental principle.¡± Lexi squealed with excitement. ¡°At least that¡¯s what I think. Grandpa and dad would need to try them out a few times once we get back so that we can do some tests but it''s looking pretty likely.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the difference between them and normal runes?¡± Arianwyn asked.


    Lexi took a moment to think as she finished copying thest of the individual runes on the barrel and moved over to start copying the restoration enchantment that was on the handle. ¡°The inscribed rune on an enchanted object works like the mana vein of a mage. Our usual enchantments are created so that if more mana than the enchantment can handle is pushed through the enchantment fails at the first step doing little damage to the rune and the material it''s inscribed in while also releasing the mana outwards.¡±


    ¡°These runes however activate the enchantment with as much power as they can regardless of the damage to the runes themselves.¡± Lexi said as she pointed towards the barrel. ¡°It is like Lord Starfury¡¯s overloading of spells. Since the runes aren¡¯t backed by a Legendary skill they break but they do manage to put out an overloaded spell.¡±


    ¡°The enchantment on the handle looks to be made to repair the damage done.¡± ra said as she thought about the process. ¡°Every time its activated however more and more of the material is lost in recreating the runes.¡±


    ¡°So after enough uses you¡¯re saying that there won¡¯t be enough material to recreate the runes?¡± Ajax asked, interested in how his old world¡¯s technology was recreated.


    ¡° From what I saw it wouldn¡¯t take all that many uses before the integrity of the material would fail.¡± ra confirmed.


    With so much new information avable the remainder of the floor turned out to be a cakewalk for Benedict, Anna and Lexi. All three of them knew to focus on disarming their human targets of their guns. Without the firearms they had little problems finishing them off.


    On more than one asion however the prince was forced to step in. Anna had been the first to try her hand at fighting a human miniboss and while she had managed to expertly ambush him so that he would lose his rifle the pistol he drew surprised all of them.


    Another of the mini bosses had a spring loaded pistol up his sleeve, thankfully Lexi¡¯s hastily created ice wall was strong enough to slow the bullets enough that they didn¡¯t pierce through her enchanted shields.


    In the end the prince had ended up scouring the entire floor trying to find a gun that he could take outside the dungeon but he still couldn¡¯t find one. He did manage to find a rather sizeable mound of manure that he stuffed into one of his spacial rings but there was no gun to be had.


    As they headed on to the next floor the group wasn¡¯t at all worried about the theme, Harold would be the only one who would be troubled by the theme of theirst floor but other than that all of them were more than strong enough to demolish a level eighty four.


    While the prince pushed on with Ajax, Arianwyn, ra, Darkw and Harold to the fourth floor, Lexi, Anna, Benedict and Xavier all exited the dungeon. All four of them were prepared for things to have gone sideways, seeing Aranor waiting for them as they exited let them rx for a brief moment before they realized the chaos they found themselves in as they took in the military camp that surrounded the dungeon arch.

 Chapter 405

    Chapter 405


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Xavier asked as he saw the elves setting uprge defensive structures.


    ¡°We¡¯re expecting another attack, only this time it might be more than one or two assassins.¡± Aranor said with a dark look crossing his face. ¡°A mercenary group was found and stopped by our reinforcements as they were about to cross over into Deepwood.¡±


    ¡°Mercenaries?¡± Benedict asked, surprised.


    ¡°Turns out it wasn¡¯t the old king behind the assassins.¡± Aranor said with a sigh. ¡°The beastkins are making a move. Some of their people inside our own kingdom hired mercenaries. Their target was Ajax but it was mostly a target of opportunity; their main job was making sure a war kicked off.¡±


    It was easy for all of them to understand the point of view for the people who took the job. They were simple mercenaries, more than that their target was a pontiac future tyrant from another kingdom. From Aranor¡¯s exnation the mercenaries were upfront when questioned but it seemed like the n had almost seeded anyway.


    ¡°Ajax needs to do a better job of spreading some information about himself.¡± Lexi huffed in annoyance as she had tried to get him to do some outreach events in the past five years but any sort of social function, whether they contained nobles ormoners was something Ajax treated like a cold, he couldn¡¯t always avoid them but he could take precautions. ¡°Right now only the important nobles have any decent information about him and even that is brand new from the tournament, he needs to undercut any fear mongering that can be caused.¡±


    ¡°More importantly Deepwood is innocent?¡± Anna asked, very much surprised at the turn of events.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t exactly call them innocent.¡± Aranor said with a shake of the head. ¡°The did take a very rxed attitude to our safety and all but invited the attempts on Ajax¡¯s life by taking advantage of the visit to scour their own nobility. But it¡¯s more down to negligence and indifference than anything malicious.¡±


    With the time dtation everyone knew that the final two floors wouldn¡¯t take the group more than five hours on the outside to clear. Following that it would be another half a day or so before the prince finished clearing the final floor and they could finally start to move. ¡°What reinforcements are waiting for us at the border?¡± Benedict asked.


    ¡°Two ranger teams, the equivalent of your squads.¡± Aranor said after a moment to think if he should disclose that.


    That answer wasn¡¯t one any of them had expected but it did clear up the reason why they were waiting by the border and didn¡¯t advance into Deepwood to meet them halfway. ¡°As long as we make it to the border we¡¯ll be safe. One more week.¡± Lexi said as she calmed herself to better analyze their situation.


    That was when the first attack hit. The attacking force was only ten people but their levels allowed themunch a brutal initial offensive against the defensive perimeter the army had set up before quickly retreating.


    The two new high level guards the queen had sent didn¡¯t sit idly by as this happened however. The attack was well ced as far away from where the two of them were keeping watch but both covered the distance in seconds before dashing into the woods after the attackers.


    ¡°If the mercenaries were stopped at the border, who is attacking now?¡± Xavier asked.


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    ¡°One is a mercenarypany that has gone rogue.¡± Lioriel who had been close enough to listen in on their discussion finally chose to join in. ¡°This was their first move against Ajax, they are also few in number which is why the royal family wasn¡¯t keeping such a close eye on them before. That said the limited members that they do have are all decently high leveled and havebat experience.¡±


    ¡°What about the other assassins? Figure out who they were?¡± Anna asked.


    ¡°Underground syndicate that we have tried to find for years.¡± Lioriel nodded in confirmation. ¡°Formed by the remanence of a noble family the previous king dismantled early into his reign. It seems that some of the survivors were more capable than initially anticipated. They took this job not only for the payday but also in hopes that once the war wipes out the royal family they can regain a high position in what¡¯s left of Deepwood.¡±


    ¡°What are the beastkins up to?¡± Anna murmured her rhetorical question as she tried to fit all the information she had into something that made sense.


    Unlike all the other races the beastkin didn¡¯t have two separate kingdoms. Because of the sheer variety that beastkins as a race came with, racism wasn¡¯t an issue for them. Their country was divided between two spheres of influence, the herbivores and the carnivores. With ten dungeons at their disposal instead of the usual five the average adventurer with the means to travel had a much stronger baseline.


    The bigger problem for the beastkins was that a good 60% of their country was a sandy desert, the rest of theirnds weren¡¯t all that rich in high quality resources. The poor stretch ofnd meant that they were almost never the target for an invasion. Because of therge amount of desert andck of resources however their own army didn¡¯t have the poption or the equipment to start a war for conquest. At best they would invade during or after the end of a war to try and extort or steal.


    This could have all changed in thest few decades from what Anna knew. Her father had mentioned that in thest forty years trade with the beastkins had slowed to a crawl, for a country that was so reliant on trade that had been surprising. ording to the Gryndor royal family a spy purge had also taken ce twenty years ago and infiltrating additional spies hadn¡¯t bore any fruit yet. Now they were trying to cause a war.


    ¡°It does seem like they are up to something.¡± Aranor acknowledged. ¡°With thetest treaty signed with the Republic nobody has been too keen on sending all that many spies to infiltrate.¡±


    The republic acted like a big shield for the beastkin. Unlike the untamed area that separated the elves from the humans or the elves from the dwarves the beastkin had big mountain ranges followed by long stretches of desert; any movement against them would need to pass through the Republic. In much the same way however the beastkin themselves would need to go through the Republic to attack any of the others. This sense of safety let them rx their vignce a little and it seemed like now they were paying the prince.


    ¡°Those animals are going to pay for this.¡± One of the two elven champions said as he approached Lioriel while throwing the decapitated head of one of their attackers.


    Lexi frowned as she heard the insulting term, she had grown close to Kate in the past few years, knowing that they would be sisters-byw once she married Ajax she had spent a lot of time getting to know the healer and her daughter. In the end however she chose to say nothing, there was no point antagonizing the elves any further at this point.


    The hit and run tactics continued for the next few hours, each attack killing anywhere between five and ten soldiers. The two champions had also managed to get two more of the attackers as they chased after them but on theirst chase an ambush awaited them in the forest and one of them came back missing his left hand from the wrist down.


    ¡°The coward is with them.¡± was all he growled as he bandaged the stump.


    It was easy for all of them to put together what happened. The champion had managed to block the arrow with his hand but was then forced to cut it off at the wrist to prevent the poison from spreading.


    It wasn¡¯t long until Ajax, Darkw, ra, Harold and Arianwyn all came out of the dungeon. Harold looked battered and bruised, obviously the final floor mini boss had done quite a number on him, from the smile on his face however everyone could tell he hade out victorious in the end.


    Getting all of them up to speed on what was happening didn¡¯t take long. The news that it wasn¡¯t Deepwood¡¯s royal family or even their nobles that were behind everything but the beastkin made Ajax frown deeply.


    It wasn¡¯t that he was feeling guilty for having med the Deepwood nobility, he still did, if to a lesser degree. What troubled Ajax was how easily he had overlooked the possibility. He had been so focused on the danger and his anger at the elves that he hadn¡¯t considered the possibility that someone was using them to start a war.


    It hadn¡¯t even been two minutes since Ajax exited the dungeon that Aranor reacted. This time however Ajax¡¯s [Danger Sense] didn¡¯t react at all, he only registered the attack once the arrow mmed into the ice wall Aranor had put up.


    ¡°The bacsh is getting to him.¡± one of the elven champions chuckled as they examined the arrow. ¡°Serves the coward right.¡±


    From the angle the arrow hit the wall it was clear that the attack would have missed Ajax by half a foot, that was why his [Danger Sense] hadn¡¯t reacted. The drop in skill didn¡¯t do much to reassure Ajax as he also saw just how desperate the assassin had be. He couldn¡¯t wait for the prince to finish the dungeon so that they could leave and reach the protection of the two ranger squads waiting at the border.

 Chapter 406

    Chapter 406


    The longer the battle drew on for the more hateful res the group received. Surprisingly enough however Aranor was on the receiving end of most of the res, the elves were ming him for their casualties since he stood by guarding the group rather than respond to the attacks.


    As the hours dragged on the losses started to lessen, every attack iming less and less lives. The two champions had done their job well as they picked off half of the enemies highest levelbatants.


    ¡°Start uprooting the camp and get ready to move.¡± Liorielmanded.


    ¡°You can be serious?!¡± one of hermanders yelled back. ¡°We¡¯re still under attack here.¡±


    One of the things that have picked up in frequency as time slowly ticked by was the number of yelling matches Lioriel had found herself in. While her advanced social skill did wonders in calming down eachmander, that didn¡¯t help as much when a new one would show up more enraged than thest half an hourter.


    The prince had managed toe out slightly quicker than they expected, it only took him eleven hours on the outside to clear the floor though that was closer to two whole days on the inside.


    ¡°What¡¯s happening out here?¡± the prince asked as he saw the elves moving with the edges of the camp armed and ready.


    It took about two minutes before a quick overview of the situation was briefly exined. ¡°You¡¯re back, perfect.¡± Lioriel was clearly on edge as some of her sarcasm made it through despite her social skills. ¡°Let''s get moving the quicker we get you out of here the fewer of my people get hurt.¡±


    Nobody had any objections to the n. Ajax couldn¡¯t help but be slightly troubled by how tired the prince was. More than that he wouldn¡¯t even get a chance to rest until they crossed the border and were safely under the ranger squads¡¯ protection.¡°Not going to contact the king?¡± Ajax asked once he saw that the prince didn¡¯t excuse himself in a privacy bubble when they finally got moving.


    ¡°This isn¡¯t all that time sensitive.¡± the prince responded, surprising Ajax a little. ¡°Chances are he already knows about this as the Queen would be quick to prove her innocence. Even if he doesn¡¯t however my mana reserves are best saved for anybat we might get caught up in.¡±


    Three dayster and the group was very much behind schedule but nobodyined about that. Moving a convoy guarded by over a hundred soldiers in such a dense forest was touch work on the best of times, even more so when they were getting attacked.


    ¡°The mercenaries gave up.¡± Lioriel updated them. Despite the constant fighting Aranor had only needed to interfere once when an ambush on a tight portion of the road got near the carriage.


    ¡°The attacks are over?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°Not yet.¡± Lioriel shook her head. ¡°There is still the syndicate and their assassins. They are the strongest of the bunch but they just lost most of their support. More than that the mercenaries turned on them when they gave up to earn some good will.¡±


    ¡°More likely a requirement of epting their surrender so conveniently.¡± Harold piped up knowing how politics worked.


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    ¡°Along with a very discounted contract signed to enlist with the military for the next century.¡± Benedict also joined in.


    ¡°Leadership also had to give up their employer, that won¡¯t look good for them going forward.¡± ra finished.


    ¡°I can neither confirm nor deny the terms of their capittion.¡± Lioriel said diplomatically ¡°I am only here to inform you that the following attack or the one after will be their most desperate attempts.¡±


    Both Aranor and the prince gave a thankful nod before Lioriel moved back into formation. ¡°Its a waiting game now.¡± the prince said. ¡°They have one more chance and they¡¯re not going to hold anything back so be ready.¡±


    Ajax was in a tough situation right now. His instinct was to unleash his [Mana Syphon] to weaken any sneak attack heading for him, especially since he knew that they had a stealth and ambush specialist. The issue was that doing so would hinder the soldiers all around him and even Aranor who was already preparing himself.


    It was only a minuteter when Ajax realized that Aranor¡¯s chant changed. He couldn¡¯t clearly make up the words of his spells but he noticed that they weren¡¯t the same ones he was saying until just now.


    ¡°[Spell Storage].¡± Lexi gasped as she picked up on the same thing.


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Ajax asked curiously.


    ¡°It''s an Epic skill that allows the caster to prepare spells in advance. You can hold an extra spell for every threshold.¡± Arianwyn gave him a quick rundown.


    ¡°Expect the spells slowly lose the mana they are charged with the longer they remained stored.¡± Lexi continued unhappy with the iplete exnation. ¡°It takes about a week for a high mage¡¯s spell to fully drain. The mana cap each spell can hold, how quickly it drains and even the strain releasing them puts on the body can be shored up through the thresholds on top of the increase in capacity.¡±


    ¡°You seem to know it well.¡± ra pointed out.


    ¡°Grandpa has spent centuries on that skill.¡± Lexi made sure to remain vague on the subject, her grandfather hadn¡¯t actually managed to unlock the skill but that wasn¡¯t something she wanted to confirm for anyone, even those from Gryndor. ¡°Be sure not to hurt yourself.¡±


    Lexi¡¯s final statement was directed towards Aranor who had started chanting his third spell. Unleashing all three of his charged up spells at once would undoubtedly wreck the mage¡¯s mana channels seeing as each spell held more than one thousand mana.


    The attack came as the caravan was getting around a turn in the road. Three people were all that remained of the initial ten that had started harassing the elven army days ago. The attack wasn¡¯t too much of a surprise, they had expected it toe here since it was one of the most exposed positions on the road.


    ¡°Remember they have a long range archer still out there.¡± Lioriel called as the assassins charged straight for the carriage.


    None of the three elves had bothered with their face coverings any more, instead sporting helmets that while exposing some of their features provided better protection for their heads. WIth their faces more uncovered it was easy to see the crazed eyes and the patches of rashes that each of them had even from the neck up.


    The opening defensive move went to Aranor who bought time for their protectors to get to work. In an instant the elven champion unleashed a massive amount of mana with a single word. From his extended hand and fingertips a powerful wall of wind and snow pushed back against the attackers not only stopping their forward momentum but sending them backwards until they made contact with a tree.


    None of the assassin were injured but that wasn¡¯t the point of the spell. Their momentum had been stalled and now the two other elven champions could finally engage them on even footing.


    WIthout the element of surprise and their numbers reduced to only three the battle was lopsided to the extreme. It only took three exchanges before one of the assassins lost an arm and two more before another of them died.


    With the numbers now even the elven champions had no issues working together to kill one of them off but they remained wary of the hidden archer. As soon as he was alone the final assassin took out a few potions and chugged them.


    Even from inside the carriage Ajax was monitoring the fight with [Mana Sense] and he could tell that something very wrong was happening. The assassin¡¯s body was clearly rejecting the alchemical mixture but the assassin didn¡¯t care and instead focused on sending a powerful of a final attack towards the carriage before his body gave out.


    The attack had easily two thousand mana enhancing it and more a more physically oriented fighter that was a lot, but it wasn¡¯t enough to phase the elven champions. They had known what he was doing the moment he pulled out the potions and they perfectly deflected the powerful wind slice off to one side where it felled twenty trees easily before it stuck the ground.


    That was the moment the final assassin had been waiting for. Knowing his arrows wouldn¡¯t be able to hit their mark he had instead chosen to rely on his stealth and with his aplice drawing all their attention he moved past Aranor and broke his way into the carriage.


    Unfortunately for him the first thing he saw as the door gave way was also thest thing he would ever see. The prince had been ready for him, the moment the door gave way his sword was already in motion, the assassin¡¯s body was sliced in two so quickly the momentum of the strike sent both halves out the door.


    ¡°Why do all this for a human?¡± In his final moments the assassin red hatefully towards Aranor. ¡°Sylvanthal could have had four dungeons.¡±


    Aranor didn¡¯t even have a chance to answer as the light went out in his eyes as soon as the final words left his lips.

 Chapter 407

    Chapter 407


    For their final few days in Deepwood everyone was on edge, despite that nothing more came of it. They were safely escorted all the way to the border where two ten man squads of some of the strongest elves in Sylvanthal were waiting for them.


    ¡°Do take care of yourself Baron.¡± Lioriel addressed Ajax as they were crossing the border. ¡°I hope you take no offense if I don¡¯t invite you to visit in the future.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯d be up to her Majesty.¡± Ajax responded with a small grin. ¡°She is the one who decides who her ambassadors are.¡±


    ¡°Lord Starfury.¡± Lioriel gave a deep bow towards the Sylvanthal¡¯s champion. ¡°Your next visit is eagerly anticipated.¡±


    Aranor only answered with a deep nod of confirmation as the group continued into Sylvanthal. Ajax chose to ignore the exchange taking it as a small bit of payback for hisstment but Anna wasn¡¯t so quick to overlook it.


    ¡°What trade agreement did they offer?¡± Anna asked as soon as they were outside of earshot of the border.


    ¡°What makes you so sure we were off-¡± Arianwyn tried to cut her off but Anna interrupted her as she exined her reasoning.


    ¡°Your kingdom is in financial straits, despite this your and ra¡¯s existence as future powerhouses bodes well for your father¡¯s reign.¡± Anna said. ¡°Since they only offered a deal now I suspect the Queen learnt of your agreements to delve Gryndor¡¯s dungeons and of the reciprocal deal for more of the nobles to delve multiple dungeons.¡±


    ¡°They don¡¯t want to be left out so they are offering to pay you to pass off some of the royal family''s potential powerhouses as your own.¡± Lexi snapped her fingers as she put things together. As everyone turned towards her at her outburst she blushed slightly ¡°Sorry.¡± ¡°Deepwood, the Empire and Highmountain can¡¯t publicly take part in the exchange. Their radical views on other races would cause a civil uprising if they were to ept others in their own dungeons.¡± Xavier reasoned. ¡°Even with that being the case it would be too much to miss out on.¡±


    ¡°While they won¡¯t be able to send anyone who is already well known, that is not really an issue for any of their royal families. The royal families purposefully keep their prodigies secret, so they could all pay their nearest kingdom handsomely to add a few people to their rosters.¡± Anna nodded. ¡°Gryndor, Sylvanthal and Brightstone all have a rather sizable source of ie in their grasp.¡±


    While Gryndor and Brightsone were more financially secure Sylvanthal were much more likely to ept taking the deal. Seeing how Deepwood had lost some potential assets already as they attempted to kill Ajax they would be that much more hard pressed to increase the potential of their next generation.


    ¡°Interesting as this all is, I''m going to get some sleep.¡± the prince cut into the conversation. The financials aspects as well as the political rtions between kingdoms weren¡¯t all that interesting to him, there was a reason he didn¡¯t even try to hold on to his original position as crown prince and passed it to his younger brother. ¡°Wake me up in a day or two.¡±


    The groups next stop would be Sylvanthal¡¯s capital but that was weeks away. Without the added danger they were in while in Deepwood the group had no issues going slower and stopping here and there on their trip instead of keeping the carriage moving 24/7.


    Uwfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    Ajax in particr was excited to be back in Sylvanthal, if for no other reason than the simple fact that the prince would no longer be their only booster, Aranor had joined them inside the first two dungeons and he had no doubt he and maybe even some of members of the ranger squads would also join them now. With some many high level people there Ajax will no longer have to give up on certain floors just because the following one could pose a threat to their booster. Sure the agreement they had didn¡¯t state that they would help with the boost but Ajax was sure they would be agreeable if he could help them with the floor¡¯s dominant mana.


    Without the haste the group now also had much more freedom with their training. Considering all of the stats they had gained from Deepwood¡¯s dungeon it wasn¡¯t a surprise that they would be looking to shore up their defenses.


    It didn¡¯te as much of a surprise to Ajax that Darkw, Arianwyn and ra were all spending numerous hours working on their physical training. While all of them were mages and extremely focused on their mental stats this also meant that their physical stats had thergest percentage increase from the recent dungeons.


    Ajax himself was more focused on the [Alchemy] side of this. With his most recent gift from the Queen of Deepwood Ajax knew he wasn¡¯t yet prepared for all the possibilities these reagents could provide him with. Considering the number of ingredients he hadn¡¯t even heard of before and Divine Witness he was all but sure he could gain a Rare skill just from experimenting. This would all have to wait until he was back in Gryndor, until then all he could do was reserve most of his mana for infusing arge amount of his new reagents with Life mana.


    Months spent on guard had finallye to an end and everyone could breathe a sigh of relief. This became all the more obvious when one of the ranger squad leaders reported to Aranor.


    ¡°Aranor, there are about fifty people two and a half miles ahead.¡± Ajax, Lexi, Anna, Benedict, Xavier, Darkw and even Harold all tensed at the news hands going for their weapons.


    ¡°Assassins?¡± Aranor asked.


    ¡°Common bandits, even the kids could take them, some of the higher level ones are close to level sixty. They are about to ambush the merchant caravan ahead of us.¡± the leader said with a wave of his hand. ¡°My squad is already moving to handle the situation.¡±


    This showed the difference in their escorts between here and Deepwood. Ajax couldn''t help but feel the difference, back in Deepwood they had had twenty people who were around the same level of power as himself led by Lioriel who was much stronger. Here however they had twenty or so people around Lioriel¡¯s power level led by people who were around the prince¡¯s level of power. Unlike back in Deepwood their guardians weren¡¯t even worried about their mission, simply mentioning the bandits while they were already being dealt with.


    As they continued their travels Ajax had more and more time to think about his House. This most recent expedition had made him certain that he wanted to help push his own people higher. Even with how new his own ducal House would be they did have something very valuable that they could trade.


    Ajax was sure that he would be able to sell his services as a dungeon floor detector to Sylvanthal and the Republic in exchange for some of his own people and family delving the dungeons. The deals would be pretty easy to close since the people getting ess to the dungeon weren¡¯t future powerhouses but instead just slightly talented people who had connections.


    ¡°Are you looking forward to seeing your family again?¡± Ajax asked Arianwyn as she took a break from her training.


    ¡°I¡¯m d I made it back before my cousin¡¯s tenth birthday.¡± Arianwyn said with a smile. ¡°I promised him the tournament would be over well before his party but with this trip we would be cutting it close.¡±


    This cousin wasn¡¯t part of the royal family. Arianwyn¡¯s mother had married into the royal family and it was her sister¡¯s son that was turning ten soon. ¡°You¡¯re all invited to the festivities of course.¡± she followed up as she finished her break and started her training again.


    This news left Ajax with a small conundrum. Should he make an exception and tell Arianwyn''s cousin about the trick to increasing his Stats slowly until the age of fifteen? The king of Gryndor had made an announcement that it would all be public soon enough, there was no doubt that if he told Arianwyn¡¯s cousin that the royal family of Sylvanthal would find out as well. Then again did that really matter as much considering there was no going back once the free Stat points were spent.


    ¡°Are you okay?¡± Xavier asked as he noticed Ajax was struggling with the choice.


    Ajax asked Xavier to put up his privacy bubble before he exined the situation. ¡°What do you think I should do?¡± Ajax asked. ¡°I don¡¯t want to undermine your grandfather, or worse cause a political incident by letting the cat out of the bag early with Sylvanthal. On the other hand this is a great opportunity for me to not only build some international connections for my House and prevent some bad blood.¡±


    Both Ajax and Xavier knew there would be some pretty strong resentmenting from everyone who had turned ten close to when the announcement was officially made. Not sharing this would upset Arianwyn a lot, not so much that it would endanger their budding friendship but she wouldn¡¯t let this go easily either.

 Chapter 408

    Chapter 408


    The discussion quickly expanded from just Ajax and Xavier to include the prince and through themunication device the king and the crown prince as well.


    ¡°I want this to be my present.¡± Ajax stated. ¡°It will only be shared with the boy, Arianwyn and their king.¡±


    Ajax wanted to make a good impression and while he had plenty of valuables he could use as a more than worthy gift from a somewhat newly titled Baron all of those items were also valuable to him, not to mention that the information he wanted to share would be infinitely more valuable to the boy.


    ¡°Fine, but make sure they keep it to themselves.¡± King Gryndor said. ¡°If they have any other very promising kids, have them do what we did where we only tell the child and swear them to secrecy, at such a young age even a weak contract would be fully binding.¡±


    The king wasn¡¯t happy with the turn of events, in his initial n the news would have be public before the boy¡¯s tenth birthday, Ajax¡¯s extended trip however messed up their schedule, sharing the trick early would undermine the royal family a little, but after discussing it with his son the crown prince he agreed that the loss would be bnced out by reinforcing their alliance with Sylvanthal.


    Unlike in Deepwood the group didn¡¯t head straight for the dungeon as soon as they arrived, instead they all headed for the royal pce. They would be spending at least two weeks in the capital outside of their designated delves so they weren¡¯t in a rush.


    Only seeing it from the window of their carriage the capital city looked a lot like the one in Deepwood this time however Ajax was looking forward to exploring the city to get a feel for how the day to day life of the elves living here was.


    As they arrived at the royal pce Ajax didn¡¯t even feel it when his jaw dropped as he took in the majestic fortress tree. While the royal pce of Deepwood had been impressive in Ajax¡¯s opinion Sylvanthal¡¯s was superior.


    The most ring difference was that where the trunk of the massive tree spread intorge thick roots to enter the ground, Sylvanthal''s pce towered over a crystal clear pond. Ajax could follow the multitude of roots as they twisted around each other deeper and deeper until they reached the bottom of the pond and entered the ground at the bottom.¡°It¡¯s¡­¡± Ajax was at a loss for words as he took in the gigantic tree.


    The awe he was feeling taking in the pce as well as the weeks of unwinding on the road had led to Ajax dropping his guard enough that he hadn¡¯t even noticed someone was approaching him until he heard the steps no more than two feet away from him.


    As Ajax quickly turned it was only theck of reaction from [Danger Sense] as well as his high Intelligence allowing him to quickly process the information that stopped him from striking his own mother as she hugged him.


    ¡°I missed you so much.¡± she muttered as she buried her head into his chest.


    Silvia and na had arrived a few day before them and they had been fully informed of most of Ajax¡¯s adventures in Deepwood, seeing her child again after that news made Silvia ignore the decorum of nobility she and the rest of the family had been trying to integrate over the past few years and rushed to hug Ajax. na was a few steps behind her doing her best to suppress her giggle.


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    ¡°Hi, mom,¡± Ajax said as he returned the hug. ¡°I see you made it here before us, I hope they didn¡¯t tell you anything that made you too worried.¡±


    Both of the guards that had been escorting Silvia and na developed a sudden interest in the boots as soon as they heard Ajax words.


    ¡°Maybe you should slow down and stop getting into trouble, that way when people tell us what you¡¯ve been up to we don¡¯t get all worried.¡± na chided him with a smile.


    In the past five years na had joined house Hearthbound as its top retainer, while her father and brother had returned to the vige after the ground had been retaken. Every noble living in the capital knew that na had taken on the familiesst name and was treated as Judy¡¯s sister.


    ¡°I see you¡¯ve been enjoying your time here.¡± Ajax said with a smile, ignoring her prodding. ¡°You already received a tour of the pce?¡±


    ¡°We did and it¡¯s beautiful.¡± na nodded. ¡°I¡¯m sure they saved the really interesting part for when you came, however, they haven¡¯t shown us the tunnels beneath the ground yet.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Arianwyn words startled na but it also froze the two guards who were closing in on her.


    ¡°How do you know about those?¡± Aranor asked, his usual stoic face sporting an eyebrow raised in intrigue.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± na¡¯s assured voice cracked with fear, she wasn¡¯t used to this level of pressure.


    ¡°Who told you about those tunnels?¡± Aranor pressed.


    ¡°Is this really necessary?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s rather important, those tunnels should be secret.¡± Arianwyn said. ¡°We¡¯d rather their existence not leak, we know she isn¡¯t a spy but we do want to know where she learnt of them.¡±


    ¡°It was a fair guess.¡± na said fear leaving her voice now that she saw the elves weren¡¯t angry at her so much as the fact they thought the information was out there.


    ¡°None of our spies show any of the other nations other than Deepwood even suspect their existence.¡± ra joined in, more interested in her logic process than that she had the information. ¡°How did you make that fair guess?¡±


    ¡°Well Ajax¡¯s message told us how we messed up by not considering mana infused fertilizer for his own garden.¡± na exined. ¡°Our farmers would also till thend and put fertilizer before that, the whole point was that it needed to reach the roots so the nt could feed on it. Since the pond is so clean it must mean that there are tunnels underneath to feed the tree.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± Ajax had a hard time holding back hisughter as na left Aranor at a loss for words.


    ¡°I suggest you do a whole overhaul of your defenses.¡± Ajax suggested. ¡°With the fortress tree Xavier won I¡¯m sure there will be more than a few experiments done and since it will be something too big to keep hidden, spies will have ess to it.¡±


    ¡°How about we give you that tour now?¡± Arianwyn changed the topic. ¡°It will be the same one I¡¯m sure na received but I still think you¡¯ll enjoy it more than the one you got in Deepwood.¡±


    Ajax nodded, a little absentminded as his [Mana Sense] examined the small pond. The mana density of the water was something he had only felt in floors that had level seventies on them, he was very tempted to gather a few sks for his [Alchemy] when another thought hit him.


    ¡°Xavier, is there a spot already nned for the fortress tree to be nted?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°Maybe?¡± Xavier answered unsure. ¡°Father¡¯s researchers might already be preparing a spot. Why?¡±


    ¡°Because I just thought of a perfect little pond with a small patch ofnd in the center where it would really flourish.¡±


    Both Lexi and Anna were quick to catch on to what Ajax was suggesting as his discovery of the mana rich pond had caused waves with the nobles, both those directly involved with the skirmish as well as all of the gossip mongers in the capital upon their return.


    ¡°That might not work out as well as you¡¯d like.¡± Anna said. ¡°The noble that owns thosends leaks more than a sieve.¡± She knew this because with the amount of information her father¡¯s spies gained he was able to perfectly predict all their moves on the market and profit.


    ¡°It¡¯s worth considering.¡± the prince said with a smile as he knew what they were referring to and was also aware of the n for Ajax¡¯s future dukedom to include thend.


    With consideration for the recent defensive agreement their two nations had recently made, the elves of Sylvanthal were much more open to discussing the fortress tree¡¯s defensive capabilities with Ajax. While none of the guards got very specific about what they could do individually they did answer general questions he had.


    Much like in Deepwood Ajax and the rest of their group was received a small private throne room by the royal family as well as many of their high tiered retainers. Unlike the tense atmosphere in Deepwood upon their entrance in the room they were weed like guests instead of used to be interrogated, with one exception.


    From the moment he entered the room Ajax could feel the queen¡¯s gaze flicker from him to Lexi and to Arianwyn. It didn¡¯t take more than a moment for him to realize why that was as he remembered Arianwyn had had a crush on him when they had parted ways with the king, who doubtlessly shared the situation with his wife. His wife, who was now analyzing their every move.

 Chapter 409

    Chapter 409


    The group received a warm wee , the king took a moment to hug his daughter before he weed the rest of them and invited them to help themselves to the buffet that waited for them on the table along the side of the room.


    The queen was quick to realize that there was nothing going on between her daughter and Ajax as it took less than a minute for her to stop analyzing them, at the same time her attitude warmed up considerably now that she only saw them as friends of her daughter.


    The same could not be said for ra¡¯s father who had also been in the room and was now judging every move Benedict made. Just as it was obvious to the queen from their interaction that there was nothing going on between Ajax and Arianwyn it was equally obvious that Benedict and ra were circling each other.


    ¡°Should we help him?¡± Ajax asked in a whisper.


    ¡°It won¡¯t do any good.¡± the queen said with a warm smile. ¡°He¡¯s a lot like me and it will just take some time until he reaches his own decision on how he feels about their rtionship. Once he reaches that decision and if he doesn¡¯t approve then you can help.¡±


    ¡°Any chance you can skip that next time you think I am in a rtionship.¡± Arianwyn called out her mother as she had also noticed the way she had been sizing up Ajax and Lexi after they entered.


    ¡°No, darling.¡± the queen said with the same warm smile, the cheerful tone making Ajax feel a little sorry for whoever dated Arianwyn.


    ¡°Get a good acting skill and pretend to date a really bad match for a month before starting to date the person you¡¯re really interested in.¡± Anna said with a deadpan face. ¡°The positive emotions from dropping the walking disaster and the size of the upgrade should be enough to override the vignce period out of sheer relief.¡±


    Arianwyn looked at Anna with a look of awe while the queen had a look of mixed outrage and dred at the idea. ¡°You are not doing that.¡± the king said with a perfect poker face, the fact that he wasn¡¯t even looking towards Anna giving away just how hard his social skills were working to maintain said poker face.


    For most of the evening nobody ventured into any important topics, the royal family had realized quickly how stressed the journey into Deepwood had made everyone and decided there was enough time for them to have a night to just settle in.


    ¡°I would like to apologize for my previous behavior, Baron Heathbound.¡± Once ra¡¯s father stopped his deep interrogation of Benedict he moved towards Ajax.


    ¡°I took no offense, Duke.¡± Ajax said with a wry smile.


    Ajax¡¯s defeat of ra in their fight during the tournamentbined with him sharing that she had the Witch Trait with the Gryndor royal family had made the Duke very hostile throughout their initial joint travel towards the first of Sylvanthal¡¯s dungeons.


    ¡°It was still very inappropriate of me, especially after you sold my family one of the slots for delving Deepwood¡¯s dungeons.¡± the duke pressed on.


    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    ¡°I think you will find such chances are going to be more abundant in the near future.¡± Ajax said as he tried to downy his actions, his difort in the social situation was so obvious that Lexi was holding herself back from simply interjecting and acting as a middle man between all of Ajax¡¯s conversations for the rest of the evening.


    ¡°Oh?¡± The Duke was very interested in this. ¡°Why is that?¡±


    Benedict was quick to answer the question as he not only noticed Ajax¡¯s difort but also sensed an opportunity to improve the Duke¡¯s impression of himself. He went on to quickly exin their thoughts on the delve exchange between Sylvanthal, the Republic, Gryndor and possibly Brightstone.


    The queen had also taken notice of Ajax¡¯s awkwardness and asked her daughter about it. ¡°Does he have an issue with elves? Or is he just shy?¡±


    ¡°Hmph.¡± the prince suppressed a chuckle.


    ¡°No, he didn¡¯t strike me as shy and he definitely doesn¡¯t have a problem with elves.¡± Arianwyn blushed a little in embarrassment as she remembered the outfit she wore back when she was trying to seduce Ajax and the way it had drawn his attention.


    ¡°Best enjoy that while itsts.¡± the prince said with his trademark smirk.


    ¡°Oh,¡± the queen said with a challenging tone, showing her ckthorn heritage and not backing down. ¡°And why is that?¡±


    ¡°Ajax was born amoner.¡± the prince let out a dejected sigh. ¡°Not only that but the nobles that were ruling over the area weren¡¯t ideal.¡±


    ¡°Is it nobles he has an issue with?¡± A slight bit of panic entered the king¡¯s voice. ¡°He wasn¡¯t mistreated, I hope.¡±


    ¡°Not directly, there was an issue with management but there wasn¡¯t anything specific to him, thank the gods. His upbringing just steered him towards an admittedly healthy level of paranoia that took a while for him to ovee, even now I doubt he has fully outgrown it.¡± The prince exined.


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t look like paranoia.¡± the queen nodded towards the conversation Ajax was having.


    ¡°Oh no, like I said he has mostly outgrown that.¡± the prince said as his smirk returned in full force, even growing a little predatory. ¡°It¡¯s the overly polite and indirect way nobles interact at these events that make him ufortable. Something I am sure he will ovee once he has the power to ignore any perceived slights. With the speed he is growing at I don¡¯t see that taking too long.¡±


    The longer the party went on the more rxed Ajax got as everyone started to drop the formalities more and more. While Ajax hadn¡¯t realized that this was all led by exampled by the king and queen most everyone else did with Lexi even pulling Arianwyn aside to thank her for it.


    As Ajax¡¯s sociability grew it didn¡¯t take him long until he found himself talking with the fortress guardian. The elf was on the younger side being only one hundred and fifty years old with a level of one hundred. It didn¡¯t take long for Ajax to start talking about the maintenance of mana infused nts and the elf was more than excited to discuss the subject.


    The situation ended up as a small issue for the king and queen, Ajax and the fortress guardian had slowly retreated to one side of the room and while they would wee anyone in their discussion about growing mana dense nts nobody else was that interested in the topic to listen for more than a minute.


    As the night had started to drag on the king and queen were looking to bring the small weing party to an end but Ajax looked so animated talking off to one side that they didn¡¯t want to send him away like that after how the evening started.


    ¡°You can call an end to the evening.¡± Lexi even went to reassure them as she noticed the nces they kept throwing at him. ¡°He¡¯ll keep going well into thete hours of the morning if you let him.¡±


    ¡°We can have the royal alchemist set aside a few hours to teach him about some of our more area specific ingredients and recipes.¡± Arianwyn also joined in, she had seen just how dedicated Ajax was to the profession. ¡°He also won¡¯t mind, as soon as he leaves he¡¯ll just be d it''s over and think that this wasn¡¯t such a bad party.¡±


    The king was just about to call an end to the evening now that he was reassured it won¡¯t be making a bad impression when everyone¡¯s attention was drawn towards the pair discussing things off to one side.


    ¡°WHAT?!¡± the fortress guardian eximed in shock. ¡°BEES?!¡±


    Nobody had any issue¡¯s reading the clear look of ¡®I fucked up¡¯ on Ajax¡¯s face. Silvia, na and Anna were working very hard not facepalm as Ajax slipped up and revealed something in his excitement. The prince didn¡¯t even attempt to resist as he brought his hand up to his forehead and started shaking his head. ¡°We were so close to the end,¡± he muttered.


    In the end the king didn¡¯t have to call an end to the evening as the groups started reforming after the outburst and it wasn¡¯t long before their guest from Gryndor and Darkw departed. Unlike Deepwood both the Republic and Gryndor had a staffed embassy in Sylvanthal so there was no need to go to an inn. Ajax spent the entire trip to the embassy with na ring usingly at him for revealing something for free and Lexi reassuring him that it wasn¡¯t that big a deal.

 Chapter 410

    Chapter 410


    The knowledge that bees help with prization was new to the elves, they knew that bees were attracted to flowers but they hadn¡¯t pieced together that the flowers had adapted to make use of the bees.


    One of the things Ajax was more cognizant of needing to keep a secret was that he had figured out how to infuse mana into the bees. During his time in the academy the hives were now on their third queen. The first had onlysted between a year or two depending on the hive but the second queen hadsted almost four years for all the hives.


    More important however was the fact that with every new queen the amount of mana each bee was infused with seemed to grow. Their study into this was still new but Ajax theorized that if everything surrounding a creature was infused with mana their offsprings would naturally be better adapted to mana.


    Bees were the perfect test subjects for this since they had enough hives for variety and every queen would birth thousands of bees before the new generation. Thetest generation of worker bees had be active only a couple of weeks before Ajax had left yet it was clear that these bees were different from the hives he had initially brought, the only question remaining however was what would happen once the bees crossed the level twenty threshold that seemed to differentiate animals and monsters?


    Even now the stings from thetest bees had started to actually cause some damage to some of their nonbat retainers and they were only level five. Thankfully none of the hives were aggressive, one of the things Ajax had known to look out for every time a hive changed its queen was if the new queen was aggressive towards humans, twice now he had had to remove and kill said queen and simply wait for the hive to provide a recement.


    As they arrived at the embassy Ajax noticed that it wasn¡¯t as nice or asrge as the one Gryndor had in the Republic, he was sure this would change in theing decades as nobles would start traveling more often but even now the building was a definite step up to their housing in Deepwood.


    ¡°How do you want to do this?¡± the prince asked once Ajax took a seat. ¡°The ckthorn heir¡¯s birthday party is in five days and we are invited to attend.¡±


    This was a true invitation that Ajax could reject if he wanted to without causing a political incident. The easiest way to do so would be to simply delve Sylvanthal¡¯s main dungeon starting tomorrow. Like all other main dungeons it started with a base floor from level twenty five to thirty and grew by five levels per floor. Given the chance Ajax would most likely push all the way to challenging a level one hundred and thirty miniboss, that would be on the eighteen floor of the dungeon. There was no way they would clear all that in time for the party.


    ¡°We¡¯ll delve their secondary dungeon tomorrow.¡± Ajax said after taking a moment to think about it. ¡°Do you know who will join us?¡± Their secondary dungeon started with levels thirty one to thirty six and had a nine level jump each floor. The group would only have to clear as many as ten floors, and the tenth floor was already a stretch seeing as the miniboss there would be level one hundred and thirty five. Even with a favorable match-up Ajax was worried about it.


    ¡°Aranor, Arianwyn and ra will all join us.¡± the prince said. ¡°I¡¯m not sure if they will tag along for the final dungeon in Sylvanthal but they¡¯ll delve with us for both of the ones here in the capital. Along with them two of the ranger squads will also join to help clear the final floor, or on the off chance that two arches on the final floor have a valuable element for their main theme they will split up to clear both.¡±


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    Despite knowing that Sylvanthal made a verypelling reason for sending two ranger squads, Ajax''s initial thought when he heard was tinged with a bit of spection about how much power they were sending. In an odd twist of fate it was the idea that a single ranger squad was enough to handle all of them inside a dungeon that calmed Ajax down, what would be the point of sending two if that was their aim.


    With that settled nobody spent any more time as they headed straight to bed. Ajax and Lexi simply cuddled together as they both prepared for the trying fights they would face in theing days.


    Of them all Anna was the most nervous, despite heading straight to bed she spent the first hour twisting and turning in her bed before she finally fell asleep. The reason for this was the fear she felt. It wasn¡¯t the uing fight she was afraid of however, it was that Lexi would leave her behind.


    Anna and Lexi had been best friends from the age of ten, more than that however Lexi had been Anna¡¯s only true friend until they had joined the Academy. Throughout all this time they had been inseparable and while Lexi had almost always been the better mage they were still rtively close in terms of power.


    As ofte this dynamic had started to change. It had started with Lexi gaining a Domain, followed quickly by her gaining the Legendary affinity for Vibration mana. This had been a massive jump in power but because of how offensive both gains were Anna hadn¡¯t truly grasped the difference because Lexi couldn¡¯t truly bring them to bear in their sparring without putting Anna in danger. The realization came when Lexi managed to push one floor further than any of them.


    Anna¡¯s sleep that night was anything but restful, she had barely gotten five hours of sleep before she woke covered in a sheen of sweat.


    ¡°I¡¯ll do it...¡± she promised to herself in a whisper between deep breaths. ¡°No matter what, I''ll bring down the level seventy two.¡±


    Despite knowing that she wouldn¡¯t be able to fall back asleep Annaid back down in bed as she tried her best to rx, she knew it wouldn¡¯t be long until sunrise.


    The news that they would be delving Sylvanthal¡¯s secondary dungeon brought a big smile on Arianwyn¡¯s face. She knew that if they were delving them main dungeon not only would she possibly need to leave early so that she would not miss her cousin¡¯s party but also that Ajax, and by extension everyone else, would also attend.


    That night the queen and king had questioned Arianwyn as to why she was so attached to this group. It wasn¡¯t like she hadn¡¯t had friends before, there weren¡¯t all that many of them on ount of both her position as princess and her sheer talent, but that didn¡¯t seem to be a problem for her here. Other than Darkw, everyone else was either a lot younger or much weaker than her, in most cases it was both.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Arianwyn admitted. ¡°Maybe it¡¯s because I know that they all have the potential to catch up with me. You always told me that a few decades wouldn¡¯t matter as we got older, I guess I just realized that now.¡±


    Both the queen and king had shared those words in hopes of having Arianwyn befriend some of the older elves who could spar with her when she was younger but they were still very happy with this turn of events. It was clear as day to both of them that not only Ajax but Lexi, Anna, Xavier and Benedict would all be future champions, seeing their daughter make lifelong friends who would live that long brought them both so much joy.


    The group that entered the dungeon was a lot bigger than usual. A total of thirty one people entered and as soon as they were inside one of them couldn¡¯t hold back any more.


    ¡°Can you really do it?¡± one of the widest elves Ajax had ever seen asked him before he even had a chance to look around the floor.


    ¡°Rimthel!!¡± the ranger squad leader shouted to chastise his subordinate before turning an apologetic look towards Ajax. ¡° Forgive him, he¡¯s very passionate about smithing and it has been more than twelve delves since he has seen any floor with quality metals above level ny.¡±


    Ajax was surprised to hear the elf was a smith. He knew that there were elven smiths just the same as there were human mages or dwarves farmers but that one of them was not only a good enough smith to work with such mana dense metals as well as being strong enough to be part of the ranger squads was not something he expected.


    Once the squad leader turned away Rimthel slowly crept close to Ajax and whispered so softly Ajax could barely hear it. ¡°Can you?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll just have to wait and see.¡± Ajax responded with a grin the prince would have been proud of.

 Chapter 411

    Chapter 411


    The first floor of the dungeon wasn¡¯t all that special of a setting, the rathermon forest theme was one Ajax had grown very used to. What made this floor different from most he had seen was that the trees grew about twice as thick and four to five times as tall, more than that this floor also had elven enemies defending it.


    ¡°I can see now why so few crafters get their start in the capital.¡± Ajax mentioned as he looked around.


    The presence of humanoids on the first floor all but guaranteed that the market would be flooded with weapons and armor that was collected from them, since a decent number of teams would clear the first floor there would always be a steady supply of items people were looking to unload quickly.


    ¡°Has the royal family or the Guild tried to stop the flood?¡± Anna asked, curious about how something like this would affect the market.


    ¡°Both have tried.¡± Arianwyn answered. ¡°It has failed every time for the same reason, directly or indirectly.¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯s always the same reason why not fix that before trying again?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s hard to fix the nobility.¡± the prince joined in clueing Ajax in on what the reason was. ¡°Almost every ruler tries but it takes many generations of rulers doing their best to put a decent dent in the corruption of nobles and if the line is ever broken by one bad or ipetent ruler all the work must start again.¡±


    ¡°Also how do nobles ruin things when the royals attempt it.¡± Ajax knew that nobles could band together to oppose the royal family but he doubted they would do so for something as trivial as low to mid level thirty weapons and armor, he could see them uniting against the guild for the same reason just on principle.


    ¡°Only way to stop the flood on the market is for all the spoils to be bought before they can enter it.¡± Anna exined. ¡°That means everyone¡¯s storage is checked when they leave. If everyone¡¯s storage is getting checked as they leave it won¡¯t take long for nobles to bribe the ones checking to find out about any other valuablesmoners are taking out. Once that happens the system soon copses because the Guild will oppose it in order to protect its members.¡± The first arch they found on the first floor was guarded by a giant beaver. Ajax felt rather bad about the poor thing as Aranor dispatched it before it even made a move to defend the arch. With the guard handled Ajax wasted no time cing his hand on the arch.


    ¡°Well?¡± the leader of one ranger squad asked with a raised eyebrow. It wasn¡¯t so much that they doubted Aranor¡¯s word about Ajax¡¯s ability as the im was so outrageous they still didn¡¯t fully believe it was possible despite the reliability of the source.


    ¡°Earth and Magma primarily.¡± Ajax said. ¡°There doesn¡¯t seem to be much Air or nt. I¡¯m guessing either an underground cave system or the inside of a volcano.¡±


    Ajax felt a shiver go up his spine when he remembered thest time he had been on a floor theme that imitated the inside of a volcano. At some points the ledges got very thin and more than once one of his teammates was thrown off the sides and left dangling by the ropes everyone had tied around themselves above ake of magma. That floor had had level ny enemies however and he wasn¡¯t at all worried about one with enemies half that level.


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    ¡°I¡¯ll be, he was actually right.¡± Rimthel looked on with a mix of awe and glee. ¡°So you can just go to whatever theme you want?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Ajax shook his head in denial. ¡°I can feel the mana types dominant on the floors, but I don¡¯t know how they will be expressed, more than that if I don¡¯t recognise the mana type it will be useless. Also the higher we delve the fewer mana types I can see.¡±


    ¡°More importantly is that the arch is already set.¡± Arianwyn spoke up as she fixed the ranger squads with a warning look. ¡°He can¡¯t change it, only see what it is.¡±


    ¡°What she means is don¡¯t me him for the themes we getter on, he can¡¯t change them.¡± Aranor tranted, left unsaid was the ¡®or else¡¯ Arianwyn implied about anyone harassing her new friend.


    The second floor turned out to be a multitude of tunnels that were dug around a few rivers of magma. Because of how low level the floor was there were always light mana rocks embedded in the walls to provide visibility. The monsters on this floor were also basic worms and other digging animals, while all of them had some sort of fire affinity none of them were strong enough yet to handle the heat of the magma.


    With Benedict, Lexi, Anna and Xavier needing to kill something on the second floor they now had a number of different arch options to choose from, at least initially. Once the third arch was identified to have Crystal mana as its third mostmon mana on the floor with Life and Earth as the top two it was a foregone conclusion what arch they would choose. Gems were always in short supply no matter the mana density, more than that they were used by all types or armor and weapon crafters meaning a very high demand for a very low supply, it wasn¡¯t umon to find master crafters who were still novices in working with gems because of their poor beginnings andck of backers.


    ¡°Hopefully the next floor theme isn¡¯t a cave.¡± one of the rangersined as they moved through the third floor.


    ¡°Speak for yourself, I just hope it has some ore deposits.¡± Rimthel responded.


    Up until this point the ranger squads hadn¡¯t seen anything to be impressed by. They could admit that the Ajax¡¯s ssmates were stronger than any other people their level they had seen but that was to be expected considering the number of different dungeons they had delved so far. This changed however as Lexi faced off against her crystal scorpion.


    With the miniboss being only level fifty four Lexi didn¡¯t consider it strong enough to even be a warm up. The rangers had all tensed a little when they saw that Lexi allowed the crystalline arachnid close in but seeing nobody else react they didn¡¯t interfere.


    When Lexi unleashed a full power shockwave that turned the miniboss into rubble the rangers were impressed. Not only were they impressed with the power of the spell but also with the control Lexi showed as her attack demolished the miniboss yet didn¡¯t do more than leave a few small cracks on the wall of the tunnel.


    ¡°That was an affinity.¡± one of the mages broke out of their shock first. ¡°You have the affinity for shockwaves?¡±


    All of the casters and even some of the more melee focused rangers were very much interested in this development. Shockwave was one of the spells all of them made use of regrly because of how versatile it was, depending on which variation of the spells was used it could be a defensive spell to intercept a projectile, a defensive spell to force an enemy away or an offensive spell as Lexi had just demonstrated. There had been many attempts to unlock the affinity but so far none of them had seeded.


    ¡°What rarity is it?¡± another ranger followed up, the question was innocent in his mind, he had asked because he had a long standing bet with his teacher on if the affinity was Rare or Epic.


    ¡°It¡¯s Legendary.¡± Lexi answered with a sweet smile.


    The answer floored both squads, not so much for the power of the affinity but rather by the admission of possessing a Legendary affinity. ¡°Wh - why would you admit something like that?¡±


    ¡°Because ra has it as well.¡± Lexi¡¯s answer was flippant but the effect on the rangers was immediate, a wave of congrattions fell on ra.


    ¡°I see the Baron is not the only future powerhouse.¡± The ranger leaders approached Aranor, the three of them knew they would be ranger leaders for most of their new king¡¯s reign so being up to date about such powerful people would be a requirement for them even if they were allies. ¡°This defensive agreement is looking like a better deal with every day that passes.¡±


    ¡°All five of them have the foundations to be more powerful than anyone currently alive.¡± Aranor warned them. ¡°I will admit Lady Manashaper has started to pull ahead of the others and Baron Hearthbound is like nothing I¡¯ve ever seen before.¡±


    ¡°You think he needs to be taken care of?¡± the other squad leader whispered.


    ¡°Gods no.¡± Aranor shook his head. ¡°Despite some ring weaknesses when ites to social interactions the boy¡¯s mind is just as valuable as his personalbat prowess.¡±


    ¡°How do you mean?¡± the squad leader asked.


    ¡°I have a feeling that we are living in a historic time.¡± Aranor said as his gaze focused on Ajax. ¡°With the discoveries he has made and the change his very presence is causing on the nations I foresee us all expanding our borders in theing centuries.¡±

 Chapter 412

    Chapter 412


    For the fifth floor of the dungeon the team collectively decided to go with one of the random arches. The reason it was random wasn¡¯t that Ajax couldn¡¯t feel what the predominant mana types were, it was simply that he didn¡¯t know those represented. He had felt them in present in small quantities on other floors but he hadn¡¯t been able to get a clear reading on what they represented.


    Since the floor would only have levels up to sixty two it would be a perfect warm-up for Anna, Lexi and Xavier. Benedict knew that with his physically focused build he wouldn¡¯t have a chance at tackling the following floor, it wasn¡¯t something he was happy about but it was something he had epted, as a melee physicalbatant the fight would simplyst too long for any boosting potion to remain effective and the level difference was too much to ovee for him.


    ¡°What is this?¡± one of the rangers asked as they noticed a sticky substance on the ground.


    ¡°Ajax, is this what I think it is?¡± Lexi asked as she took in her surroundings, she was pretty sure she was right with her guess but wanted Ajax to confirm it for her.


    ¡°Yes it is.¡± Ajax confirmed excitement and awe in his voice. ¡°Judging by the size of the honeb I¡¯d say we should be expecting them to be about four feet in length.¡±


    ¡°Honeb?¡± Anna asked confused for a moment before her eyes opened wide in surprise. ¡°Is this entire floor a big hive?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure about the entire floor but this part of it certainly seems to be.¡± Ajax said as he looked at the sheen of what he very much suspected to be honey glistening on the walls. ¡°Anna also do be careful with your fire, pure honey like this is mmable.¡±


    ¡°You think the minibosses might be swarm types?¡± the prince asked Ajax.


    ¡°Could be.¡± Ajax nodded. ¡°That would mean that their defense and endurance is low so they should be no issue for any of us.¡± ¡°It¡¯s an interesting floor I¡¯ll grant you but can we get going.¡± Aranor said. ¡°I¡¯ve been in an anthill version of this floor and they are dangerous, after a certain point it''s like the obelisk was activated on you and the entire floor swarms you.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s because they have a hive mind.¡± Ajax said. ¡°If you¡¯re careful that won¡¯t happen.¡±


    For the next five minutes Ajax very loosely exined how a hive worked as one organism and that if they wouldn¡¯t let any bees live long enough they wouldn¡¯t be able tomunicate their presence throughout the hive.


    ¡°Anything you want off this floor Ajax?¡± the prince asked, knowing that Ajax¡¯s ideas could be a little out there.¡±


    ¡°Oh yes.¡± Ajax nodded rapidly. ¡°There has to be some honey we can take out and I¡¯ll want some of that. Less likely to be found are eggs or royal jelly.¡±


    Thatment brought everyone up short, not because of the food or the presence of a type of jelly they hadn¡¯t heard about but the eggs. ¡°You think there could be eggs?¡± Aranor asked, his wordsing out slowly one at a time.¡±


    ¡°Most likely not ones we could take with us.¡± Ajax sighed as he admitted, he had found floors that seemed to have shrunk the person entering before and while they had found eggs of creatures on those floors they weren¡¯t ever able to take them out. ¡°The dungeons don¡¯t seem to allow that.¡±


    ¡°Then what do you want to honey?¡± one of the rangers asked. ¡°Or the¡­ what is royal jelly?¡±


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    Lexi was quick to catch on why Ajax wanted both the honey and the royal jelly. Ajax had exined how bees worked before and she knew that if Ajax managed to get any of the honey from this hive and feed it to his bees he might be able to get them to integrate the mana infusion quicker, the royal jelly would be especially valuable since that would should be able to boost a future queen helping speed up the process by a few generations.


    ¡°He¡¯s an alchemist, you know how they are about odd mana-rich ingredients.¡± Another ranger whispered to the nod of everyone who heard. Even Lexi was nodding along not just because she didn¡¯t want to exin everything she knew about bees but she actually agreed with the statement and knew that Ajax would also keep some of the honey for his [Alchemy].


    ¡°We¡¯re clearing the entire floor anyway so what does it matter.¡± the ranger squad leader said, all the royal ranger squads had standing orders to scour floors where there was a reasonable suspicion that eggs of magical creatures could be found. ¡°What does this royal jelly look like?¡±


    ¡°It should look simr to regr honey only instead of the golden color it would be more like milk it''s surprisingly sour, it¡¯s actually how the bees-¡± Ajax started to exin only to be interrupted.


    ¡°Now isn¡¯t the time for a lesson on bees Ajax.¡± Lexi said.


    ¡°So white honey.¡± the ranger leader nodded. ¡°No offense but if I find some white sticky substance I won¡¯t be tasting it.¡±


    With a few chuckles both rangers'' squad started to head out and clear the floor. ¡°Don¡¯t forget to leave a few of the arch guardians alive, some of them still need to clear the floor.¡± the prince called out.


    ¡°Anything we should watch out for?¡± Benedict asked Ajax, recognizing that this time his friend might actually know a lot more about their enemies.


    ¡°Yeah the stinger.¡± Ajax said.


    ¡°You don¡¯t say.¡± Xavier chuckled along with Anna and Lexi.


    ¡°I mean it.¡± Ajax said in a serious tone. ¡°Judging by the size of the hive these bees are maybe sixty timesrger than the normal ones, bee stings hurt and itch for so long because they inject venom. With this much more venom and the mana concentration one sting might not be immediately fatal but it would incapacitate any of you, two or more would be fatal regardless what body part they hit.¡±


    This information brought the joking to a halt, a swarm type enemy with this strong of a weapon was a real threat for all of them. ¡°Anything else, weak point?¡± Benedict asked.


    ¡°Yeah their jaws.¡± Ajax nodded. ¡°Bees have an exoskeleton, if you put a sword or spear through their mouth you won¡¯t hit bone so you can crush their brain. Ice magic should also work well but I¡¯m not sure how that works with the mana they have ess to now.¡±


    Ajax was the first of them to go up against the bees to see what they could do. A miniboss swarm seemed to be made up of seven four and a half feet long bees. Ajax wasted no time and made short work of them, with his speed and power half of the bees were dead before they even had a chance to react to his attack. Before killing thest bee however he did let it sting him in the thigh, it wasn¡¯t often that he could find a chance to expose his [Poison Resistance] to such an odd venom.


    ¡°Argh.¡± Ajax groaned as he endured the pain while also crushing the final bee with his hammer.


    ¡°Are you sure that was a good idea?¡± the prince asked Ajax, only slightly worried about him willingly being hit with a venom.


    ¡°Actually I¡¯m starting to regret this already.¡± Ajax said while keeping his voice as emotionless as possible yet his hands had started clenching and unclenching.


    ¡°Are you in danger?¡± the prince was a little worried but because of the calm look on Ajax¡¯s face he hadn¡¯t started panicking.


    ¡°No, I just failed to consider the aftereffects of the poison.¡± Ajax said.


    ¡°Oh god it must itch like crazy.¡± Lexi eximed as she remembered how the pain from the sting wasn¡¯t pleasant but it faded quickly.


    Anna and Lexi had no issue dealing with their own swarms. While Vibration wasn¡¯t all that good against an exoskeleton, both of the girls were powerful mages that had a very strong advantage by opening the fight with a very powerful spell that hit the entire swarm. Lexi went with ice while Anna stuck with her trademark fire


    Xavier and Benedict didn¡¯t have such an easy time, both of them started with a very aggressive opening attack and then switched into a defensive fighting style as the slowly killed off one bee at a time while keeping well away from the stingers. Both of them were a bit roughed up from where the bees had managed to gnaw on them a little but neither of them had gotten stung.


    The ranger squads had also shown their prowess as it barely took four hours for them to clear and scout the entire floor. ¡°You were right, no eggs.¡± the rangers said as they returned. ¡°At least none that we can take out.¡±


    ¡°What about the honey and royal jelly?¡± Ajax asked, only slightly disappointed with the news about the eggs since he had been expecting them.


    ¡°We did manage to find about ten¡­ honebs, you called them, of honey and one of the royal jelly that we can take with us.¡± the ranger nodded. ¡°The honey ones were scattered all over the floor.¡±


    The amount was something Ajax was very happy with. Each honeb could hold about fifteen gallons so that was a lot.


    ¡°Anything specific you are nning?¡± the prince asked him as he could tell Ajax was holding something back.


    ¡°Yeah, we need to be careful with the royal jelly.¡± Ajax said. ¡°With it a dedicated farmer could raise his own queen, with the right skills they might be able to tame it even if they won¡¯t Bond with it and through it they would control the entire hive.¡±


    ¡°As long as they grow to this size I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll be fine.¡± the prince said. ¡°Lets go to the next floor.¡±

 Chapter 413

    Chapter 413


    Anna P.O.V.


    Fighting the bees on the previous floor had been a great way to warm up and it was something I very much needed if I was to kill a miniboss in this frozen hellscape. The fifth floor of the dungeon was and of eternal winter. While I had seen snow outside the dungeon it never got any higher than my knees, father told me the worst winter he ever experienced it got as high as his waist.


    ¡°This is amazing.¡± Arianwyn shouted with glee as continued to practice her Domain. This was the perfect ce for it, her winter domain was right at home with the theme of the floor. Oddly enough the presence of her domain was the only reason the wind had slowed down around us and we weren¡¯t pelted by hail.


    ¡°Let''s go find some of the minibosses.¡± Ajax said with a rxed posture, it was as if the cold didn¡¯t affect him at all while I could feel it burrowing through my enchantments with every moment that passed. ¡°Since the floor is environmental we the minibosses might be weaker than usual.¡±


    I appreciated the heartwarming encouragement, while Ajax¡¯sck of subtlety wasn¡¯t something I appreciated there was something to be said about his willingness to support his friends. The encouragement was mainly geared towards Benedict who had all but given up on clearing this floor before we even stepped foot on it, but it was also slightly directed towards me.


    The winter theme of the floor wasn¡¯t a disadvantage for me, while snow and ice could both easily put out a fire so could a fire melt them. This would alle down to one thing for me, could I be efficient enough with my mana to bring down my enemy before they got to me or not. I know I could blow all my mana quickly but that might not be efficient enough to kill something at level seventy two, I also knew with enough time I could use my mana efficiently enough to bring it down. The problem with the second scenario was that I was alone and a full on mage so I had to win before they got too close to me.


    Am I even a full on mage anymore? I know I spent every one of my free stat points in either my Vitality or my Mental stats but I had also delved more than fifteen dungeons. All of my stats had more than an extra fifty added on just from clearing floors, my body wasn¡¯t as weak any more. I know for a fact Benedict is nning on working out a deal with ra¡¯s family to help build his foundation more like the elven physical fighter after his Metal stats had increased so much from delving. Once I returned home I would need to work hard to get ustomed to my new limits, especially when ites to my physical attributes which will have all gained almost a 50% increase in under a year.


    As soon as we crossed the boundary of Arianwyn¡¯s Domain the chilling wind returned with a vengeance. I bundled myself tighter with the fur coat my father had gifted me, more than that I could also admit that he was right. Despite the presence of the soft fur not doing anything to keep me warmer than regr leather would have with the same enchantments the fur just made it feel like it was keeping out the cold and even that little bit helped.


    ¡°We¡¯ve got iing.¡± Ajax warned us but I knew none of us would even lift a finger unless there was a miniboss. There were more than twenty people above level one hundred and fifty on this floor, even if half of them split off so they could stay with Arianwyn as she practiced her domain, nothing would get the jump on us.¡°What is it?¡± Benedict asked curiously, the nature of the enemy was important to see if it was a favorable match-up for him.


    ¡°Foxes.¡± Ajax answered, a little sadness in his tone.


    It didn¡¯t take me long to see why he wasn¡¯t pleased. While the monsters the elves were toying with did resemble foxes they were also only slightly smaller than an average horse, not only that but they were pure white, their fur would sell for a premium. Their increased size didn¡¯t seem to affect their usual quickness and to make matters worse they could somehow dig through the snow in the same way a mole monster would through the earth. I could feel their mana working but that small bit of warning wasn¡¯t enough for any of us except Ajax to even consider fighting them.


    ¡°There¡¯s a miniboss there for you Ajax¡± The prince said, he obviously agreed with my assessment of the monsters.


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    Ajax didn¡¯t hesitate to engage, I could feel him activating [Mana Syphon], my own [Sense Mana] painted a clear picture of a vortex centered on Ajax where all mana would surge towards as he consumed it to increase his own physical prowess.


    As Ajax engaged the fox I braced myself for the wall of Aura that washed over us. It wasn¡¯t all that powerful, I¡¯ve felt many more powerful Aura¡¯s but all of those had been constrained or offset by another Aura. Nobody else other than Ajax was unleashing his Aura now and while it wasn¡¯t intentional I could tell Xavier, Benedict, Lexi and myself were all slightly pressured by it.


    With his sword in hand Ajax¡¯s hand turned into a blur. I knew his hand hadn¡¯t actually turned invisible, it was simply moving faster than my eyes could track, a single exchange with the fox was enough to bring it down. The only reason I knew he had made five cuts was by counting the wounds on the fox.


    ¡°You¡¯re getting sloppy.¡± the prince teased Ajax.


    Despite getting a lot stronger in the past half a year, even more than all of us, it was getting more and more obvious that Ajax wasn¡¯t used to his own stats. The cuts that covered the fox¡¯s body weren¡¯t precisely grouped. Back when we left Gryndor Ajax wouldn¡¯t have needed to sacrifice any of his speed for his cuts tond exactly where he wanted them to.


    It didn¡¯t take more than five more minutes before we found our first arch on this floor. The guardian was a creature I hadn¡¯t seen before but one I had read about as being rtivelymon in frozen floors. A penguin.


    ¡°I¡¯ll fight it.¡± [Noble Bearing] keeps my face emotionless and my voice even as Iy im to the miniboss.


    Penguins are slow, and not particrly tough. Their threates mostly from their magic and their pack tactics. This whole fight wille down to how quickly I can overpower the penguin¡¯s defensive magic while ensuring my own defenses aren¡¯t breached.


    While getting in position I get a round of nods from the rangers as three of them have their bows drawn, ready to kill all the surrounding penguins and leave only the miniboss for me to fight. I bring out the potion and remove the cork before downing it in one gulp. The moment after I swallow I begin to chant.


    The potion is one specifically made to influence the drinker¡¯s mana towards fire. I can feel the potion take effect as the cold and wind stop bothering me entirely as a wave of warmth radiates out from my core, with this my fire spells would pack that much heat.


    Halfway through my chant the penguin¡¯s feel my mana gathering and move to engage me. A few brief but powerful shes of mana spring up in my surroundings as this happens but I force myself to ignore them as the rangers remove the minibosses¡¯ helpers.


    The surprise attack confuses the miniboss and that is thest of the help I will get as I channel almost a tenth of my entire mana pool into a single mence that I sent hurtling towards the penguin. I don¡¯t even wait to see the effects as I already start chanting my second spell.


    My [Sense Mana] is locked on to mynce, as soon as it gets within ten feet of the penguin it¡¯s met with a frozen barrier. Mynce loses its form as it breaks through the barrier and the mes wash over the penguin.


    The miniboss whines in pain as the mes flow over it and for a moment it seems like it wants to run away. If this was a real penguin I¡¯m sure it would attempt to flee but in the dungeon the monster''s base instincts are suppressed and the angry creature starts to retaliate.


    The brief moment of indecision it had was enough for me to finish chanting my wall of mes. A defensive spell isn¡¯t something I would normally use to follow up my initial attack with but in this case it is essential as the flood of fire mana very much limits my opponents range.


    Over the past six years I have be increasingly proficient in dealing with caster type monsters, in fact I am sure there are very few people at my level that can im the same mastery as Lexi, Xavier and I have. The reason for this is our constant sparring with Ajax, my friend¡¯s casting is almost identical to the way monsters cast their spells.


    With my defenses established I quickly turn up the aggression with a few quick spells, I can¡¯t allow the penguin to channel a powerful attack or it will break straight through my defensive enchantments.


    The next few minutes feel like an eternity as a deadlock form where both of us areunching a volley of spells at one another. While the penguin¡¯s spells aren¡¯t strong enough to outright shatter my defensive enchantments I can feel the barriers starting to crack with every shard of ice and frostbolt. At the same time my own spells have managed to break through the penguin¡¯s renewed ice shell and I¡¯m finally starting to deepen the initial burns it suffered.


    I¡¯m down to a fifth of my mana but that¡¯s more than enough to finish this, that¡¯s when I feel an icy shiver pass through my body. My potion has finally run out and my spells have started to lose some of their heat. While the boost in power wasn¡¯t enormous without it the damage my spells would do to the monsters has dropped considerably, without the added heat the penguin¡¯s own magical defenses smother them too much.


    I was so close. No, I won¡¯t give up, this isn¡¯t over yet. A brief sh of Ajax and Lexi leaving me behind as they push forward and I can feel my emotions burn as they refuse to allow it to be reality. Then everything clicks into ce.


    I¡¯m not sure what changed but as i release my next fireball I can feel the heat of the mes almost strong enough to burn my own hand as Iunch it, it¡¯s more than powerful enough to break though the penguin¡¯s defenses and as the attacknds the mes persistentlytch on to the creature, almost like they are enforcing my will for it to burn.


    The battle ends with my next attack as the creature dies while my mes continue burning through the blizzard without a care in the world as they turn the corpse into ash. I quickly open up my status looking for an exnation of what happened.


    There it is, down at the bottom, my news skill, my only Legendary skill. [Pyromancer]

 Chapter 414

    Chapter 414


    The group watched Anna¡¯s battle with the penguin with bated breath. It was obvious when her potion ran out and Ajax could feel Lexi¡¯s grip on his hand tighten, they all knew that with the bacsh of the potion the best Anna could hope for was a slow defensive struggle until the monster twenty five levels above her would finish her off.


    The next fireball Anna released showed herck of power, Ajax was tempted to end the fight there just to spare Anna the despair of fighting an inevitable loss. Mid-flight however the fireball¡¯s heat shot up, so much so that it was now even hotter than before the potion ran out so much so Ajax was worried if the spell had burnt Anna¡¯s fingers.


    Her fireball wasn¡¯t the only thing to get hotter as the small wall of mes surrounding Anna also increased in heat as the penguin struggled to put out the mes that would soon im its life. With the penguin¡¯s attention on putting out the mes Anna has enough time to chant one of her stronger spells and her me pir spell leaves the miniboss a half charred lump that is slowly turning to ash.


    As soon as the battle is over Anna copses to her knees, her eyes zed with a faraway look consistent with someone inspecting their status. The prince wastes no time as he snuffs out the intense mes surrounding her before applying first aid. Anna¡¯s hands suffered some second degree burns that are at odds with the few patches of frostbite that adorn her body.


    By the time Lexi managed to cover the distance and wrap her arms around Anna she had finished inspecting her status, with a tired smile Anna leaned into her friend''s hug ¡°I did it.¡± falling unconscious after getting the words out.


    ¡°She¡¯s out of mana, but otherwise fine.¡± the prince said. ¡°Whatever happened at the end her mana usage spiked very high.¡±


    Lexi had a much easier time dealing with the following penguin they met, by leaning into her domain and overall aggressive strategy the fight was over much quicker than Anna¡¯s. Going all in on offense did have its price however and Lexi¡¯s right arm had turned entirely blue after she used it to block one of the penguin¡¯s frostbolts.


    Ajax hovered around Lexi like a worried mother hen while the healer of the ranger squad worked to reverse the frostbite. ¡°I¡¯ll be fine.¡± Lexi reassured him but they all knew that the fight had been just as close as Anna¡¯s, had the frostbolt hit her head or chest she would have died.


    Benedict knew he had no chance against a fox or a penguin, there were chances they could find an ice golem or a weak elemental on this floor but he wouldn¡¯t do any better against one of those either. His only chance was to try and take on the behemoth pr bears they had seen traveling alone. His first attempt was also hisst, Benedict understood quickly that he wouldn¡¯t be able to bring down a pr bear. WIth their thick muscles and touch skin covered inyers of furbined with an enormous body meant that he would need to fight wlessly until he was almost entirely out of stamina to bleed them out. All the bear needed to win was tond anything more than a ncing blow.


    ¡°Your chances will improve once you start to integrate some magic into your fighting style.¡± na reassured him.


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    ¡°I don¡¯t think I stand a much better chance that he did.¡± Xavier said as he took in the oue of the fight.


    As a fellow melee fighter Xavier would be hard pressed to keep up with the speed of the bear, even if he did have the damage to kill it the stat difference was just too high for him as a hybrid fighter.


    ¡°You could try it.¡± Ajax said as he examined the pr bear. ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem to be attuned to the ice mana at all.¡±


    ¡°What does that have to do with anything?¡± Xavier asked.


    ¡°You could manage to remove arge amount of fur with your opening attack, the bear would lose its instion, slowly the cold would kill it by itself.¡± Ajax exined his theory, he knew that Benedict couldn¡¯t remove enough fur without magic but Xavier had a chance.


    Ajax¡¯s n worked well in theory but as they soon found out Xavier simply didn¡¯t have the stats to keep up on the defensive long enough for the cold to start having enough of an effect.


    ¡°No need to look so down.¡± the prince patted Xavier on the back. ¡°I can barely kill something twenty five levels higher than myself and that¡¯s a much smaller difference for me than it is for you.¡±


    They had already been on the floor for more than six hours by the time all of them had finished or admitted they wouldn¡¯t be able to clear the floor and they moved to return to Arianwyn who was still practicing her Domain. On the way there Anna had regained consciousness but kept silent about what had given her the increase in power.


    ¡°Has she taken a break at all?¡± ra asked Aranor as she looked at just how tired Arianwyn looked and the fact that her Domain was still active.


    ¡°Not yet.¡± Aranor answered. ¡°She used up the mana in her first Domain in about two hours and after releasing it a second time she has just focused on drawing in the Air, Ice and Water mana from the ambient mana into her Domain.¡±


    All of them could feel that Arianwyn was sessful but this was a slow process. This wouldn¡¯t be something that would help increase herbat power directly but it would instead only slightly increase her reserves in a prolonged fight so long as she could draw on specific mana types from the surroundings.


    ¡°Any interesting arches for the next floor?¡± Arianwyn asked as she finally stopped practicing after noticing their return.


    ¡°Hard to say.¡± Ajax answered, with the level of the arch¡¯s so high he could only glimpse the top two mana types present, maybe a third if they were all above 20% of the arch split.


    Of the five arches they had found none of them had three overly dominant mana types, what¡¯s worse was that all of them had either nt or Earth as one of the two he could see with two of them having both. This did very little to narrow anything down.


    ¡°We¡¯re not going for the water one.¡± Ajax said as he excluded the arch that was 50% water.


    ¡°I say we go for the Earth and Shadow.¡± Rimthel suggested hoping very much it would lead to an underground cave system that would have some metal ores.


    ¡°We¡¯ve had too many underground floors in this run already.¡± Aranor shook his head. ¡°We¡¯ll also be clearing the floor and leaving it in a few hours at most, let''s just go for the nt and Light.¡±


    None of them were worried about taking on the level eighty one minibosses, even the level nies on the next floor wouldn¡¯t really pose a challenge to any of them, Harold would be the only one who would have serious issues against the level ny nines and Ajax would be the only person trying anything past level one hundred.


    Support quickly built up around the idea of the nt and Light floor, with it also being the floor where the group would camp for a night of sleep. Anna, Lexi, Benedict and Xavier didn¡¯t waste any time and exited the dungeon as soon as they got on the next floor ra and Arianwyn also joined them. The former was looking to spend time with Benedict while thetter was going to make preparations for her cousin¡¯s uing birthday party.


    The following floor turned out to be a simple hilly in covered by deep grass. It was exactly what the group had hoped for as it was easy for them to clear arge enough patch to set up camp where they all got a few hours of sleep, Ajax Harold and Darkw getting a full eight hours so they would be ready for finishing this floor and then clearing out the next two as well.


    ¡°We might need to change our ns.¡± Aranor said to the two ranger squads once they made camp. ¡°It might not be worth keeping both of you just to clear two floors around level one hundred and fifty. It might be better to break one of you up and send you one or two at a time in some of these lower floors where we know two mana types.¡±

 Chapter 415

    Chapter 415


    The level nies didn¡¯t turn out to be that much more of a challenge either, the most eye opening thing about the floor was a deeper understanding into how the mana affected different floors of the dungeon. The floor they had chosen Ajax had recognised as a primarily humanoid floor, which was technically true. What was unexpected was that Wendigo¡¯s were ssified as humanoids despite their bestial natures andck of tools or armor.


    ¡°I was expecting elves or beastkins when you said nt and humanoids.¡± the prince said as Ajax and Darkw were watching Harold finish his own fight for the floor.


    ¡°So was I.¡± Ajax answered. ¡°But at least now we know this is also a possibility.¡±


    Ajax had already experienced that goblins, orcs and even kobolds were listed as humanoids by the dungeons, while he had never seen orcs or goblins outside of dungeons he had some experiences with kobolds and they were pretty much feral. This did lead him to question if orcs or goblins would be simr to their aggressive dungeon counterparts or if they could be reasoned with, if any of them existed outside of dungeons at all.


    Harold didn¡¯t take long to finish his fight. Back when they started fighting a level ny wendigo would have been a hard fight for him, not something wouldn¡¯t be confident in handling but certainly not easy, now it was only a good warm up for him despite only increasing his level by one during this time.


    ¡°Let''s see which floor we want to try next.¡± Harold said as he sheathed his sword after wiping the blood off of it.


    ¡°Actually Ajax, could I trouble you to take a look at a few other floor options.¡± Aranor said seeing that they were finished. ¡°We cleared a few more.¡±


    Ajax certainly didn¡¯t mind, so far their options were a Metal Fire floor, an Air Lightning floor and whatever this final arch ended up being, he even said as much, these floors were all horrible options for Harold. ¡°Which one is the Metal Fire?¡± One of the ranger leaders asked.


    ¡°The first one we found.¡± Ajax responded, with a single nod two rangers dashed away, no doubt to clear the floor and scour it for anything useful.Ajax had barely touched thetes arch as he felt an icy shiver travel down his spine as he recognised the mana types and pulled his hand away like he had been burnt. ¡°Definitely not this one, where is the next one?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with this one?¡± the prince asked. ¡°Never seen you have that reaction to a floor.¡±


    ¡°Undeath and Curse.¡± Ajax¡¯s words were said very lightly but every member heard him clearly, all of them giving the arch a wary nce. Nobody wanted to enter that floor even if it hardly posed a threat for most of them.


    ¡°Maybe we should clear that one.¡± one of the rangers said, he then defended his opinion when everyone collectively threw him a ¡®why would you say that¡¯ look. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen what happens when undead and curse mix, there could be some very powerful things in there.¡±


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    ¡°Nobody is going in there.¡± Aranor said with finality. ¡°There very well might be something very powerful there, but even in the best case scenario it would be something that empowers a curse user. I don¡¯t want to imagine what tragedies mighte from a weapon that draws the user to both curses and necromancy.¡±


    The conversation fell quiet with that and Ajax was slowly led around to three other arches. An Ice Wind floor, a nt Decay floor and finally a nt Earth floor.


    ¡°Seems like we are all going to the nt Earth floor.¡± One of the ranger leaders said.


    ¡°I suggest you clear out the Decay floor.¡± Ajax said. ¡°Good chances to find fertilizer.¡±


    It was funny for Ajax to watch the rangers process that information, they went from confusion, to happiness, to realization and finally to eptance. Unlikest time it wasn¡¯t as simple as a nod before two rangers walked in, nobody wanted the ¡®shit¡¯ floor even if said shit was valuable. It took five minutes for the remaining rangers to settle who was going with a game simr to rock paper scissors, the losers having a resigned look on their faces as they entered.


    The nt Earth floor turned out to be a mountainous forest area, it also turned out to have a very deep Shadow influence that as almost every creature there seemed to be a forest animal that could tap into Shadow magic.


    Ajax had no issues as he dealt with a shadow wolf, his [Mana Syphon]¡¯s weakening of the wolf¡¯s magic caught the beast by surprise giving Ajax a basically free hit when the wolf failed to jump through the shadows. With his strike taking out one of the wolves¡¯ legs the fight quickly ended without Ajax even breaking a sweat.


    Darkw had a much tougher time handling one of the eagles that called the mountain peak home. The fight took almost ten minutes toplete and Darkw almost ran out of mana by the end of it, on the upside the eagle hadn''t managed to even get Darkw to move from the spot where he started or evennd a blow past his shields.


    ¡°You managed to pull that off without even using a potion.¡± Ajax praised him. ¡°I think you might be ready to try to push past the level one hundred floors.¡±


    ¡°Maybe.¡± Darkw said with a smile and a nod, he was excited, he very much wanted to try pushing to the level one hundred and ten in their next dungeon.


    Harold had a much tougher time fighting a shadow wolfpared to Ajax. As a fully physical fighter he had no way to prevent the creature¡¯s mobility. This led to more than one instance where the wolf managed to grab a hold of his ankle and tried to use his leg as a chew toy.


    ¡°Wolves are rather intelligent hunters.¡± Ajax had to respect the creature''s cunning. ¡°They might not have a bear¡¯s raw strength but they urately target their opponents mobility and a single opening is all they need to go for the throat.¡±


    The biggest problem for the wolf was that Harold was also very well acquainted with their fighting tactics. Every time he would feel the wolf bite down on his legs following a shadow just he would quickly jerk the leg while also swiping with his sword behind him. Unlike Ajax and Darkw, Harold was much more resilient as a result of having invested all his points into his physical stats meant that he could take a beating from a creature that relied so much on its magic even if it was almost twenty levels higher.


    ¡°I need a minute.¡± Harold said after he finally killed the wolf. As soon as he had made sure the wolf was dead he copsed on the ground and took off his helmet as he sucked in as much air as he could.


    The fight had taken almost thirty minutes. Harold boots and arm guards were riddled with teeth marks and covered by a good amount of blood.


    ¡°We¡¯ll have to see about getting your armor repaired.¡± Ajax mentioned as he examined the damage.


    Ajax, Benedict and Xavier¡¯s gear would also need to be repaired after how hard they pushed it over thest ten dungeons. Unlike their casterpanions it was much more likely that their armor would take a ncing blow, when those ncing blows came from enemies twenty levels higher than them it would slowly wear it down. With the amount of stats he had gained Ajax¡¯s gear was actually in need of a full on upgrade.


    When it came time to take a look for their next floor Ajax wasn¡¯t surprised that he could only see one of the mana types present on the floor. The only exception to this was one arch that had both Life and nt mana and the two of them took up 85% of the mana in the arch. Since the other six arches he looked at all had nt, Air or Water as their main mana the entire group decided to go with the Life and nt floor.


    ¡°Don¡¯t walk out right away.¡± Ajax asked Harold before they went up to the next floor.


    ¡°Why not?¡± Harold asked, confused.


    ¡°I need to take a look to see if the next floor is any good for alchemy and I want you to let them know we might be a while if it is.¡±


    Harold was happy to agree to that and the group quickly made its way to the next floor.

 Chapter 416

    Chapter 416


    The ninth floor of the dungeon was a wild jungle that provided Ajax with arge variety of ingredients to use in his [Alchemy]. It didn¡¯t take long for him to set up his cauldron and portableb equipment and he began working while ignoring the rest of the world.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± the prince asked as he approached Ajax after a few hours.


    Ajax was starting to look more and more defeated every time he took a small break to grab new ingredients, despite this he never moved to store any of the resulting potions.


    ¡°I got too arrogant.¡± Ajax said with a defeated tone. ¡°All seven of my attempts at brewing something failed.¡±


    It had been a very long time since Ajax had experienced something like this. Thest time this happened was more than a decade ago in his old vige when he was attempting to unlock the [Alchemy] skill.


    It wasn¡¯t just that he had failed to brew a potion seven times in a row that made Ajax feel so defeated, it was that he recognised this for what it was, ack of skill on his part. Unlikebat his massively inted stats didn¡¯tpensate enough when it came to alchemy. The same was true of his Legendary skills, Ajax simply wasn¡¯t yet ready for ingredients of this quality.


    ¡°Why not try a more stable recipe?¡± the prince asked.


    ¡°I have no clue what to try with ingredients like these.¡± Ajax answered honestly. ¡°The only thing I can do with them is mix them with some of my existing ingredients, their quality will only ease the creation of the recipes I already know, it won¡¯t increase the quality of the oue.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about this.¡± The prince waved away Ajax¡¯s concerns. ¡°You¡¯ll have years to practice your alchemy skill as you get used to your increased stats. Most alchemists back home were actually very surprised that your skill with alchemy remained proficient within one floor or what you could consistently delve. At your level most crafting adventurers are barely now getting used to consistently using mana infused reagents.¡± The encouragement helped Ajax a little but it was by no means enough to cancel out the frustration he was feeling. Luckily enough for him he still had to clear this floor so he was nning on taking all his frustration out on the miniboss he would have to face.


    Battling an ent turned out to be exactly what Ajax needed. While unlike most depictions of the living trees back on Earth these ents were rooted to the ground, the control over the ground still forced Ajax to adapt.


    While Ajax¡¯s [Mana Syphon] was good enough to weaken any spells the ent tried to unleash the ent¡¯s ownrge underground manaworked left Ajax with no options but to slowly whittle away with [Mana Augmentation].


    By the time he won Ajax was down to a little under half his mana pool, not only that but his armor also sported a few tears here and there where one branch or another had broken through his defenses.


    During the time that Ajax fought the prince and Aranor watched over him, the rest of the elves had spent all the time Ajax spent crafting and killing one miniboss scouring the floor for anything they could take back out, the jungle was filled with exotic ingredients that might be novel enough to help push the skill of some high end alchemists.


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    More than a few of the elves didn¡¯t seem happy to split their spoils 50 - 50 with Ajax upon their return. None of themined however, all of them were aware of the agreement that the simple fact they got to keep everything they found on the floors Ajax wasn¡¯t clearing would make up for it.


    For his final floor Ajax surprised everyone when he decided to go with the fire theme. ¡°Are you sure it¡¯s a good idea?¡± the prince asked him once he heard his decision.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure.¡± Ajax nodded. ¡°Even with how dangerous fire is there are plenty of ways for me to weaken it with water and ice, not only that but it''s also the only element that wouldn¡¯t be instantly lethal for me when wielded by a level one hundred and thirty five.¡±


    With such arge level difference almost every other element could end the fight pretty much instantly, that was something Ajax had been made keenly aware of when he was fighting against the assassins back in Deepwood. The nt floor could lead to a poison he had no way of counteracting, the earth floor could see him crushed with a single swing, Lightning, Shadow and Light each came with their own big issues.


    ¡°You do make a good point.¡± the prince nodded before he turned towards his newest live entertainment. ¡°How about you Rimthel, have you made a decision?¡± The prince made no effort to mask the glee in his voice.


    Rimthel was stuck with a very hard decision. One of the arches Ajax had inspected as he was looking for a good floor did end up being primarily Metal mana. The only question left was if Rimthel would be part of the clear team sent there, where he would most likely spend days on end smithing away at the mountains of metal they couldn¡¯t take outside, or if he would pass on this arch and hope that another primarily Metal floor was avable after the next floor.


    Unlike thest floor this time all the remaining members of the second ranger squad split up into two man squads along with Rimthel as they each chose one floor to go clear. Ajax didn¡¯t pay much attention to that as he also moved on to the next floor where his next challenge awaited.


    The first thing Ajax noticed as he stepped through the arch was the way the air seemed to burn his lungs as he drew breath. The flooryout was a stretched out hillyndscape that was covered in geyser-like holes that periodically released a column of mes.


    ¡°Well this is certainly a strange floor.¡± the prince said as he took in the surroundings. ¡°Let''s find you something to kill other than an elemental.¡±


    Ajax very much agreed with the sentiment, while an elemental would be among some of the more fragile creatures they were likely to find, the sheer versatility and mobility of a me elemental would quickly overwhelm him. That wasn¡¯t even mentioning the issues pure physical attacks would have on doing any damage at all to the creature.


    It didn¡¯t take long for the group to be attacked by a roaming pack or worms. Or better said worm-like creatures, while the monsters did have the same body type as a worm that is where the simrities ended.


    The creature''s heads could split along an X shape revealing rows of serrated teeth and their flesh open like a blooming flower revealing a direct express ess to their stomach in the center. Unlike the normal fleshy skin he was used to, these worms were covered inrge scales with small gaps here and there from where they could release a me jet.


    ¡°Those look promising.¡± the prince said as the ranger squad jumped into action. There wasn¡¯t a miniboss present in the roaming group that attacked them so there was no need for Ajax to take part in the fighting. That wasn¡¯t to say his eyes weren¡¯t fixed on the fight to examine the worms for any strengths they might show and more importantly the weaknesses that would be made obvious.


    ¡°Yes they do.¡± Ajax agreed after a short while where he examined the creatures as they were being taken apart by the rangers. The worms were more physically focused than Ajax would have wanted but the limitations of theirrge body with no appendages was enough to make up for it.


    It took the team a few tries to find the first worm mini boss. The first two arches they found were both guarded by elementals. ¡°Third time¡¯s the charm.¡± Ajax said with a smile as they finally found arger worm easily measuring thirty five feet long and five feet wide coiled around an arch.


    Unlike his usual fights Ajax didn¡¯t start by drinking a potion, instead he ced an opened sk in his spacial storage, with just how physically imposing the creature was if he started the fight with the potion he wouldn¡¯t be able to finish it before the bacsh kicked in.


    Ajax¡¯s opening move was an empowered Lightning arrow, he very much wanted to see what effect lightning would have on the giant worm and he was not disappointed. As soon as the arrow made contact the worm wriggled unnaturally exactly as Ajax expected, what was unexpected however was therge discharge of mana as me jets erupted all around the creatures.


    ¡®Its magic is somehow linked to its organs!¡¯ Ajax was almost too shocked by the discovery to continue with his n. He hadn¡¯t even thought it was possible to directly link a part of your body with a magical reaction and that was something he was very much looking forward to try. But first he had ming giant worm shooting towards him like a freight train to deal with.

 Chapter 417

    Chapter 417


    Ajax P.O.V.


    The worm wasing for me faster than I had expected. This meant that it would find it hard to change its strike area, theck of limbs also meant that once I was out of the way of its charge I shouldn¡¯t have to worry about its physical attacks.


    Right as I prepared to jump off to my right I felt my [Danger Sense] re for a moment so I changed the angle of my jump andunched myself to the right and high above the ground. The decision turned out to be the correct one as the moment I jumped the worm opened its massive maw and managed to turn right to follow me by munching on the ground, the only reason it didn¡¯t barrel into me was that I was above it.


    Just because it missed a direct collision didn¡¯t mean it didn¡¯tnd an attack. me jests much hotter than before rushed out of the worm''s side in my direction, thankfully the creature''s magical potential was low enough that between [Mana Syphon], my enchantments and a small coating of ice around me I fully mitigated the fire.


    This wasn¡¯t an opportunity I was willing to give up however and I used a small st of air to send myself towards the worm¡¯s body as it passed under me while preparing a Void mana infused strike with my hammer.


    Like always the moment my hammer made contact with the worm¡¯s scales it killed my entire momentum without any obvious effects, the surprise came a momentter when the worm¡¯s body jolted slightly during its charge.


    ¡°RRRRRGGGGHHHHH¡± The monster took about thirty feet to stop its momentum before it turned and roared at me. Oddly enough this didn¡¯t seem to be a roar of pain, like I had experienced many times following my Void attacks, it seemed like I had just made it angry.


    ¡°Don¡¯t bother with Void.¡± the prince¡¯s voice came from afar. ¡°Even if it bypasses the scales all you¡¯ll hit is a denseyer of muscle.¡±


    That¡¯s when I realized it, the worm¡¯s internal organs were all deep inside in the center of the massive tube of meat, the amount of mana I would need to infuse into Void to bypass all the muscle and scales would be enormous, more than that with the size of the organs even hitting its brain once might not be enough to outright kill it since Void didn¡¯t actually bolster the strength of my attack.The worm was charging at me again, for all its defensive ability it was very much a one trick pony. This time Iunched myself upwards towards the left side only for the worm to open its maw, eat a chunk of the ground and pass right under me again. This time I infused my axe with Metal mana as Iunched myself through the me jets tond a blow on its scales.


    Unlike my previous attack there was a clear action and reaction at the moment of impact. I could feel tremorsing up my arm as well as see how the scale cracked slightly. As the worm slowed down to a stop again it didn¡¯t seem all that impressed by my attack. For the first time in a long time it seemed like my axe, hammer and sword wouldn¡¯t be viable.


    It was times like this that I congratted myself for so diligently training with my spear despite my preference for the shorter reach weapons. This was clearly going to be a battle of attrition whether i like it or not, the extra foot or so of reach the two handed spear would give me wouldn¡¯t be as impactful as the amount of mana I would save by using a shield so I swapped my weapons for the trustymonerbination.


    On the worm''s third charge I didn¡¯t bother with right or left and simply jumped straight up, this turned out to be a mistake as [Danger Sense] started humming the moment my legs extended. It didn¡¯t take long for me to figure out why that was as I could see the worm already rising the tail end of its body, more than that it didn¡¯t have to slow down at all since it wasn¡¯t using its mouth to turn. I had to channel a big st of air through my shield to move myself out of the way, limiting the impact to a ncing blow on my shield that sent me flying to one side.


    This wasn¡¯t good, I was already down a third of my mana and I had barely managed to do any damage to this thing, the only upside I could see was that the worm didn¡¯t seem to have any other option than tiring me out, I would need to make the most out of every strike.


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    Without waiting I took out my enhancing potion out of my storage space and chugged it all as the worm charged for me once again. I jumped out of the way to the left once again. As the worm rushed by beneath me slowing down slightly as its now open maw gnawed on the rocky surface my opportunity to strike came.


    With the longer reach of the spear I had more options, I infused it with Lightning mana and this time I aimed my spear for one of the opening the worm was using tounch its me. The tip of the spear went about eight inches deep before I even felt any resistance, the thickness of the scales was more than a little surprising. Once it bit into the flesh however it discharged a powerful current but, it was half as strong as the one created by my opening arrow but it seemed to be just as effective since it was administered directly to the flesh and past the scales of the mini boss.


    While the damage the lightning did was good, more impressive was the damage the worm did to itself. The sudden jolt of lightning caused its body to spasm mid charge, with its maw already digging slightly into the rock the uncoordinated movements sent its entire head crashing into the ground and the rest of its bodyunched upwards from the sudden stop.


    This wasn¡¯t an opportunity I was going to let slip. Not only was the worm¡¯s maw stuck underground but it had also only stopped ten feet or so from me so I dashed straight for it and stuck my spear through another of the openings in the creature''s scales. This time my attack was infused with Ice mana.


    ¡°RRRRRRGGGGGEEEEE¡± THe worm¡¯s screech this time seemed to be one of agonizing pain. I wasn¡¯t sure if that was because of how effective Ice mana was against it or just because of how much it hated the cold.


    I managed to get two more stabs in with Ice mana in the same area before the worm dug itself out of the ground and I was forced to back away once more. The mini bosses¡¯ next charge was a lot slower, maybe half as fast as the previous ones were, not only that but its head was no longer close to the ground but lifted about two feet off the ground. Despite its simple attacks the creature was clearly somewhat intelligent as it realized the damage potential of my lightning and altered its pattern to something that wouldn¡¯t leave it so exposed to it


    With the speed of its charge reduced and the head no longer being close to the ground however I had no more issues dodging directly to the left or right of the creature. The next five charges I alternated between Lightning and Ice, it was clear from the marks on the worms body that Ice was much more effective as the scales surrounding the point where I had stabbed it three time were scraped off in the subsequent charges leaving an open section of mangled flesh that was started to bleed more and more as the ice thawed from the me jets.


    The only issue remaining was that despite the damage I was doing the mini boss would still most likely oust me. The creature had over eighty levels on me and as I dodged it¡¯stest charge I made sure to time my attack tond in the already wounded area. I needed to focus my attacks and break through the wall of muscles in one spot so I could go for the kill.


    Two chargester and the entire area was now frozen solid. I briefly swapped over to my hammer for its next charge and augmenting it with Magma mana I scraped broke away chunks arge two feet wide section of flesh about one foot deep.


    Seemingly sensing the danger the worm didn¡¯t charge towards me again, it instead raised its head like a snake and opened its maw wide, [Danger Sense] red stronger than ever before and [Sense Mana] let me know exactly what it was trying to do.


    I kneeled down and curled myself into as small a ball as I could manage behind my shield. Not only that but I also infused the shield with Ice mana while using Earth mana to bring up the rock around me. I couldn¡¯t see it but I felt it when the worm spit a massive column on fire directly on top of me. I was casting spells with Ice and Wind to prop up my shield while also focusing my [Mana Syphon] to take as much power away from the attack.


    The attack seemed to go on forever, by the time it ended it felt like a few minutes had gone by even if I knew it couldn¡¯t have been more than twenty seconds. The small patch of cked rock I now stood on was surrounded by a small two feet wide moat of magma and I was forced to toss my shield to one side as the rock I had brought up to shield myself also melted as now covered my shield.


    I could feel the burns on my arms and legs, the only upside seemed to be that the attack had taken a lot out of the worm as well. As he came for me once more I couldn¡¯t even call what it was doing a charge, more of a dash in my direction. My problem was that I only had about five hundred mana left, casting continuously with three spells at the same time had eaten up arge chunk of my mana.


    I wasn¡¯t ready to give up yet however. I would put everything I had into thisst attack. I held nothing back as I used [Empowering Restriction] to not only boost the power of my [Mana Augmentation] by limiting it to only one more use in the next week but I also limited myself to only using my Ice affinity for the same amount of time.


    Without my shield avable I swapped out my hammer for my two handed spear, getting out of the way of the monsters attack wasparatively easy as I pushed four hundred and fifty mana into my spear lunging straight for the open gash that left a long trail of blood.


    [Empowering Restriction] had definitely earned its name, I felt the ice affinity gem in my gauntlet not just crack but shatter as the mana I pushed through it was imbued into the tip of my spear. Once the tip made contact I felt a chilly breeze as a wall of ice seemed to explode from the point of impact.


    Unlike my previous attacks I didn¡¯t have the strength to pull back the spear after the attack, despite the rtively slow speed the worm moved at I was thrown off my feet and to one side as my spear remained stuck in the side of the creature.


    Thest thing I saw before my vision went ck were the prince¡¯s boots, a soft ringing in my ears not letting me hear anything, my consciousness faded before I knew the oue of the fight.


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    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

 Chapter 418

    Chapter 418


    Ajax wasn¡¯t unconscious for long, especially with the prince healing him quickly after they confirmed the worm had died. He woke up two minutester with a headache that would put any hangover to shame.


    ¡°Ugh,¡± Ajax groaned as he rubbed his forehead in a futile attempt to lessen the throbbing pain. ¡°What happened?¡±


    Even with the pain he was still quick to look around and survey his surroundings. Sadly the surroundings didn¡¯t tell him anything, sure he could see a good portion of the worm corpse but he didn¡¯t know if he had gotten the kill or if they had been forced to intervene after he lost consciousness.


    ¡°You did it.¡± the prince confirmed for him with a grin. ¡° It was closer than I would have liked, next time let''s not go for something with that much vitality and endurance. But you did it.¡±


    Ajax couldn¡¯t suppress the wide smile that broke out on his face, the smile didn¡¯tst long as it turned in a wince following a particrly powerful pulse of pain from his head.


    ¡°I¡¯m dry on mana.¡± he rasped out.


    ¡°Well you have at least ten more minutes before you can take a potion to help with that so you¡¯ll just have to bear with it.¡± Aranor said as he approached him.


    During his fight the ranger scout had left to cover asrge a portion of the floor as he could. Much like on the other floors he wasn¡¯t looking to kill anything but simply looking for anything that could be brought out of the dungeon, the rest of the squad had watched his fight however. This fight raised their opinion of Ajax considerably, they had all seen aristocats being boosted, even those who had talent, it was Ajax¡¯s attitude and dedication to ept the duel of attrition that impressed the rangers.


    As he went to stand up Ajax was d to see that his physical body was fully healed, the burns he had before had been healed, the same couldn¡¯t be said about his mana channels, his final blow had over-stressed them. ¡°Where¡¯s my spear?¡± Ajax asked as he got to his unsteady feet.


    ¡°I got it.¡± the prince said as he pulled out the two handed spear and the shield Ajax had tossed aside out of his spacial ring. ¡°You did quite a number on them.¡±


    The shield looked exactly how Ajax expended it would, deformed from the pressure and heat, the deformation rendering its enchantments broken and even a few patches of rock stuck to the surface where the molten rock had cooled.


    The spear on the other hand came as a surprise for Ajax. While he had fully expected the shaft to be in rough shape he hadn¡¯t expected the structural damage the tip had suffered. It was only then that he remembered that his glove had failed partway through that final attack, with the gemstone shattered his weapon ended up channeling the Ice mana without a buffer to prevent the structural damage.


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    Ajax had a back-up shield but he didn¡¯t have a back-up spear, it simply wasn¡¯t a weapon he expected he would have to use all that often, not only that but in the situations where he would have to use it he very much didn¡¯t expect for it to be damaged. He was also partially right, he simply hadn¡¯t expected the gauntlet to fail on him.


    It was only now that Ajax realized he had be overly reliant on the gauntlet, sure he had initially made ns to have his weapons crafted with material that had the same affinity as the mana he most often used with them but he had kept pushing those ns back further and further, the materials would have been expensive and he hadn¡¯t really needed them.


    ¡°I¡¯m surprised there¡¯s anything left of that spear tip.¡± Aranor said as he examined the weapon. ¡°With the amount of mana you pushed through it and the fact that this is barely steel from a level ny floor I honestly expected it would freeze during the attack and shatter as well.¡±


    None of the elves theremented on how the spear was actually a little weak to be Ajax¡¯s weapon. All of them knew that it had been not just adequate but in fact towards the limit of what he could use back before he left Gryndor, this just perfectly exemplified how much Ajax had grown during thest year.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see what thisst arch is, hopefully for your sake it''s better than the Water and Shadow we found before.¡± Ajax said as he headed towards the arch the worm had been coiled around.


    As Ajax put his hand on the arch he could parley pry any mana away from it with [Mana Syphon], the floor it would lead to would contain level one hundred and fifty three creatures, Ajax had barely managed to get a read on the mana primary mana type but he had no idea about how prevalent even that would be, it could be 10% or 80% and he would be none the wiser.


    ¡°You¡¯re in luck, nt.¡± Ajax said with a small smile before the entire group pushed on to the next floor.


    The floor seemed to be some sort of jungle theme at a nce but Ajax didn¡¯t really care, as soon as he confirmed his +1 to all stats both him, the prince and Aranor quickly exited the dungeon leaving the ranger squad to scour the floor for anything useful as well as fully clearing it.


    As they exited the Dungeon the guards surrounding it moved towards them for a moment before they recognised who they were, once they saw Aranor however they quickly saluted and resumed their posts while letting them leave. They were almost all the way out of the area before the dungeon started spitting out monsters.


    ¡°Leave it.¡± the prince said as he saw Ajax turn. The monsters weren¡¯t even all that strong, barely level eighty, meaning the delvers had died on the sixth floor. ¡°They have it handled and you need to sleep, you have a party to go to tomorrow.¡±


    Ajax didn¡¯t argue, he had noticed Aranor had gone back to help so he knew there was nothing he could do to help, hell even without Aranor¡¯s help this was one of the capital¡¯s dungeons and there were plenty of protections put in ce to stop any monster outbreak from happening.


    Once Ajax arrived at the embassy he found himself congratted by everyone once they heard that he managed to clear the tenth floor. They were also understanding about his need to sleep despite it being the middle of the day, while nobody said it Ajax was well aware he looked like the worm had chewed him up and spat him back out even if he did win the fight.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, you barely even had the chance to try [Alchemy] with level ny five reagents consistently,¡± Lexiforted Ajax as he got ready for bed once he told her about his failure to make even one sessful potion. ¡°Now that the royal family knows about your ability to predict floor themes I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll have more than enough chances.¡±


    With that Ajax crawled into bed and put his head on the pillow, Lexi had stayed and cuddled with him until he fell asleep but she then carefully left the room without waking him to join everyone else.


    The party would start tomorrow around noon, everyone was attending and they all had a lot to do in preparation, everyone except Silvia and na. Since both of them were part of Ajax¡¯s house they would usually be the ones in charge of preparing a gift for the birthday boy, with House Hearthbound¡¯s gift being knowledge both of them could rx and simply enjoy themselves. na however had taken it upon herself to help Benedict as he was looking to make a good impression on Sylvanthal¡¯s nobility considering his intentions with ra.


    Ajax woke upte the next morning feeling refreshed, gone was the mana headache and even his mana channels were doing much better than before. His good mood didn¡¯tst all that long however as he had to quickly make himself presentable as they would be leaving the embassy in about one hour to go to the party, a party that wouldst well into the evening.


    ¡°A headache just passed and herees another.¡± Ajax muttered as he got dressed.

 Chapter 419

    Chapter 419


    The party was held at House ckthorn¡¯s manor, with the manor only being House ckthorn¡¯s residence in the capital it wasn¡¯t a fortress tree but it was easy to see how hard they had tried to recreate one, in aesthetics if not in function.


    ¡°Are you sure that¡¯s not one of their special trees, it looks a lot like the pce?¡± na asked as she took in the grandeur of the many trees that intertwined themselves.


    Having so much more freedom in Sylvanthal one of the first things Ajax did was explore, he was very surprised to find that the capital city was smaller than both Gryndor¡¯s capital as well as the Republics. At the same time however the capital was a lot taller, unlike the elven section of the Republic almost every tree in the capital was at least five stories tall with the capital being built more like a series of apartment ts.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure.¡± Ajax confirmed as he looked upwards towards the tangled mess of tree trunks that somehow managed to look artful. ¡°The trees barely have any mana going through them, it''s why there are so many fixtures added to the exterior, they needed a ce to put their enchantments since the bark won¡¯t support them.¡±


    Their entire group was weed into the estate by polite servants that led them towards therge ballroom. Much like Deepwood the nobility were dominated by elves, the only difference here was the odd human, dwarf or beastkin was a lower noble instead of a ve.


    Arianwyn was quick to go and greet them once they arrived. ¡°I¡¯m so d you made it.¡± she said in greeting. ¡°I was worried you would miss it when I heard you wanted to stay behind and try your hand at alchemy.¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t have missed this.¡± Ajax said with a smile as he lied through his teeth.


    ¡°Cough*Cough*¡± na was forced to hide herughter at his words under a fake cough though it was clear from Arianwyn¡¯s face she hadn¡¯t done that good of a job in her deception.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure.¡± Arianwynughed good naturedly at the looks of doubt the rest of them were throwing Ajax. ¡°I¡¯ll have to ask that you forgive my son,¡± Silvia said as she bowed to the princess. ¡°While his older brother seems to have taken after both of his parents, his sister has taken after me and he after his father.¡±


    Everyone here had done their research on Ajax and knew that his father had always been a cksmith, one that worked alone in a vige for most of his life following his quick apprenticeship in the capital. It was no surprise that Ajax would inherit his less than social minded attitude.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing to apologize for.¡± Arianwyn reassured her.


    It took no time at all for Arianwyn to be joined by her mother as well as her uncle and cousin, while Ajax wasn¡¯t yet important enough to be greeted promptly by the hosts the same could not be said about Xavier and the prince, even Anna, Lexi and Darkw couldn¡¯t be left waiting too long without political ramification.


    ¡°It¡¯s a pleasure to have you here, Your Highness.¡± Duke ckthorn said with a bow towards Xavier and the prince.


    The exchange of greeting alone between such a diverse group of nobles took almost two minutes and Ajax could already feel the toll it was taking on his social energy, luckily enough he had found a kindred spirit in the young ckthorn.


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    ¡°Happy birthday.¡± Ajax congratted the youth once he caught his eye as he was standing off to one side.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± The boy''s response had initially been prim and proper showing his extensive lessons in social interactions, it was all quickly undermined by his excited follow up. ¡°Is it true you managed to beat my cousin using a new type of mana?¡±


    Ajax had initially felt a little awkward discussing his fight against Arianwyn but as the discussion moved away from the fight and more to his hybrid fighting style in general he became more and more engaged in the conversation.


    ¡°Is your son looking to be a hybridbatant?¡± the prince asked duke ckthorn as he kept a close ear on the conversation not looking for a repeat of the royal meeting where Ajax let slip a bit of information.


    ¡°It is more of a fascination. Unfortunately he doesn¡¯t possess the talent for the physicalbat side.¡± the duke responded. The prince couldn¡¯t help but raise an eyebrow at this as he inspected the elf¡¯s solid body. ¡° What hecks inbat prowess however he makes up for as a crafter, he just might be one of the few smiths our people can be truly proud of.¡±


    It took all of the young¡¯s elf power to hold back a whimper as his father and aunt dragged him away from Ajax to greet the nobles his mother was greeting thirty minutes after Ajax¡¯s arrival at the party. ¡°What did you say to him?¡± Arianwyn asked.


    ¡°I disagreed with him.¡± Ajax said as he scratched his head also somewhat sad that their conversation had been cut short. ¡°And it seems he was receptive to my argument.¡±


    ¡°What about?¡± Arianwyn asked.


    ¡°He maintains that the best hybrid fighter would be one that was reliant on stamina skill for a boost in physical power and spells for attack enhancers.¡± Ajax said.


    ¡°That is the widely epted point of view.¡± Arianwyn nodded. ¡°Not all hybrid fighters follow that model simply because they don¡¯t all have the talent for a stamina based boosting skill, what do you think would be better?¡±


    ¡°Both a mana and stamina based boosting skill, as well as stamina based curse attack enhancers topliment the use of spells.¡± Ajax said. ¡°Though I will admit they wouldn¡¯t be able to remain active for long.¡±


    ¡°The chances that someone would be able to unlock so many different skills is so slim.¡± Arianwyn said as she shook her head. ¡°I can see why he was so excited about the possibilities.¡±


    For the majority of the evening Ajax had mainly stayed by his mother¡¯s or na¡¯s side as he greeted some of the more enterprising elven nobles, when he wasn¡¯t socializing with them he was talking with the birthday boy or with the royal gardener who had joined the party closer towards the evening.


    ¡°The king is here.¡± the prince whispered so that Ajax would hear him as the time was nearing midnight.


    Ajax quickly extricated himself from the discussion and joined the prince as they headed for the monarchs. ¡°Could you grab your cousin for a moment.¡± Ajax asked Arianwyn as they made their way across the ballroom.


    ¡°Now?¡± she seemed a little surprised but once she saw the serious look on both Ajax and the prince¡¯s face she simply nodded.


    ¡°¡°Your Majesty¡±¡± Both Ajax and the prince greeted the king.


    ¡°Is something the matter?¡± The king asked a little suspiciously as he saw his daughter bringing the birthday boy towards them with a serious face.


    ¡°If we could have a more private talk.¡± the prince requested.


    The king took a moment to think about it before he nodded to his wife who led them out of the ballroom and to one of the adjacent small rooms.


    ¡°What is this about?¡± the queen asked, a little more suspicious than her husband as she hadn¡¯t had much of a chance to interact with Ajax previously and suspected him of being up to something.


    The prince stepped back and let Ajax take the lead as this was still his gift. ¡°Thank you for this,¡± Ajax said. ¡°This is regarding my gift, it is a rather sensitive matter.¡±


    ¡°The gifts are to be opened in a few hours.¡± the queen said, a little frosty.


    ¡°It can also be time sensitive I¡¯m afraid.¡± Ajax said, peeking the elves'' curiosities.


    Ajax then turned towards the birthday boy with a smile and proceeded to exin the method for manipting his status so that he can preserve his free stat points forter use and how that would maximize the natural stat point gained during the Apprentice period.


    ¡°I would like to ask that you don¡¯t share this as the method will only be made public in two months or so.¡± Ajax finished his exnation.


    ¡°That¡­¡± While the queen¡¯s face didn¡¯t give anything away herck of words spoke volumes as the room decedened into silence.


    ¡°It works!¡± the young boy eximed with a happy voice as he had started trying to change his status interface once Ajax exined how it works.


    ¡°That is quite the gift Baron.¡± the king said with a shallow nod of acknowledgement. ¡°And quite a lot of trust to put in us not to share it early, I thank you for that.¡±


    With that out of the way the six of them returned to the party and the queen headed straight for Duke and Duchess ckthorn to exin what had happened. It was important for the two of them to know since they had been nning for their son to give a performance of his newfound strength after he spent his points but that would need to be prevented for obvious reasons.

 Chapter 420

    Chapter 420


    Following the party Ajax had ns to put in a lot of time and effort into his Alchemy, he had almost an entire week before he could delve into the other dungeon. His ns didn¡¯t have a good chance to get underway before they were interrupted the following morning.


    ¡°What did you dost night?¡± Both Silvia and na sprung on him the moment he took a seat at the breakfast table.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Ajax asked, confused as he filled his te with food.


    ¡°A representative of House ckthorn just left.¡± his mother said.


    ¡°They were here to finalize a few contracts that we would take over to help establish a stable route to Sylvanthal.¡± na continued. ¡°What did you do at that party?¡±


    ¡°They move quick.¡± Ajax was surprised at how quickly House ckthorn seemed to move, clearly they appreciated the gift Ajax had given them a lot more than he had thought. ¡°I shared my training technique with their son, this way he won¡¯t be among the weaker of his generation.¡±


    In theing months Ajax very much expected that his family as well as the Gryndor royal family would receive several letters all but dering open hostilities from families whose main heirs missed out on being able to hold their points by a few months.


    ¡°With the four contracts we picked up just from them we have enough to break even on sending out a regr caravan all the way here every four months.¡± na said with a smile. ¡°Those worms are going to be worth their weight in gold over the next few years with how much we will save on actually buying the carriages and carts and maintaining them.¡±


    ¡°We also have an invitation from ra to visit her manorter this afternoon.¡± Silvia reminded him after he finished his meal. Unlike what Ajax expected there wasn¡¯t a party at ra¡¯s house, thankfully for Benedict¡¯s sake her father wasn¡¯t present either. The only people present were the rest of ra¡¯s family as well as the delving party.


    ¡°Why not just do all this at the party yesterday?¡± Ajax asked as he recognised most of the people from yesterday¡¯s festivities.


    ¡°The invitation was mainly about having Benedict visit to meet her family.¡± Lexi exined. ¡°Only inviting him however would be the same as telling everyone that the two of them were courting so they invited the rest of us as cover.¡±


    The visit turned out to be very interesting for Ajax once they moved on to their training area, as a primarily military based House just like House Steelde. The way they trained their retainers as well as the amenities was something Ajax was taking mental notes on for how his own House could do things.


    ¡°These are our sharpwing falcons.¡± ra¡¯s mother beamed as she presented the aviary. ¡°Every one of our retainers has to raise their own from the moment their training begins.¡±


    ¡°Are you looking for them to form bonds?¡± Ajax asked as he watched the younger retainers call their falcons to them.


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    ¡°We do encourage any bonds to form but they are more of a secondary objective.¡± ra said with a sad tone. ¡°The average sharpwing falcon only lives for a total of ten years, while most of our potential retainers are recruited at the age of nine.¡±


    ¡°There is a lot we can¡¯t know about a potential retainer given the short time we observe them for when scouting them.¡± ra¡¯s mother continued the exnation. ¡°As for once they arrive at our estate the militaristic atmosphere can cover up some daming character ws. How well they take care of their falcon as well as how well trained it is tells a lot about a person.¡±


    ¡°For most who don¡¯t fail earlier in their training the falcon can also be something of a final test.¡± ra said with her head bowed.


    ¡°You have them kill them?¡± Ajax¡¯s voice was very usatory.


    ¡°We most certainly do not.¡± ra¡¯s mother responded quickly. ¡°We are training loyal retainers not spies and assassins. Most falcons do die around the end period of the training, the test is on how they handle the grief of losing someone they care about so much.¡±


    Ajax had to admit that this was a very good way for young children to be both trained and tested, more than that with such a low life expectancy the falcons made for the ideal first bond preparing the retainer for bonding a young more magically infused creature early in life. Ajax made a mental note to inform na about a potential buyer for any of the kits Fluffy might have in the future once they find one or multiple suitable mates for the shadow cat.


    The visit ended with a series of spars between Xavier, Anna, Lexi and Benedict and some of the younger retainers, though all of them were four to five years older than Benedict.


    ¡°I must say, while I had heard about the so-called Generation of Prodigies, you do live up to the name.¡± ra¡¯s motherplimented them after Lexi took her sparring partner out with just four spells. ¡°Most shocking is that I can still see room for improvement despite the overwhelming victories.¡±


    ¡°Therge consistent influx of stats over thest year will take us some time to get ustomed to.¡± Ajax said as he watched from the sidelines as Benedict finally took the field. ¡°I expect all of us will stagnate a little in our levels for a few months as well fully adapt to our increased stats before we start pushing our limits once again fully clearing out dungeon floors.¡±


    Benedict¡¯s advantage over his opponent showed more than any of the others, while all of them had won handedly they all did so through the use of spells. Benedict, still being a fully physically based fighter up against an elf who while mostly physical, had also invested a little in his mental stats, could truly show their superiority.


    Benedict showed his own genius in that he didn¡¯t engage the trained retainer in a disy of skill, knowing he hadn¡¯t adapted to his stats just yet he instead forced the fight into a series of engagements where he would exchange a blow or two before backing away and circling his opponent once more.


    It only took five exchanges in the span of twenty seconds before the retainer¡¯s footwork failed him and Benedict rested the de of his sword on the man''s shoulder next to his exposed neck.


    ¡°That will be enough.¡± ra said as the fifth retainer stepped up with his eyes locked on Ajax. She was very happy with Benedict¡¯s showing as a potential suitor and wanted that to be the match her family remembered.


    ra knew that these were some of their most promising retainers, having them defeated by Xavier, Anna, Lexi and Benedict who were younger than them would push them to train harder and curtail any overconfidence that might have developed. In the same vein however, showing them the difference between them and Ajax could very well have the opposite effect and demotivate them as the gap was just that big.


    ¡°I am still recovering from mytest delve.¡± Ajax tried to let the guy down gently, the retainer nodded at his words and stepped back.


    As they were walking away from the training grounds Ajax could hear ra¡¯s mother talking to the older retainer in charge of training. ¡°Best increase their training in recognising deception.¡±


    ¡°My Lady?¡± the retainer asked, confused. ¡°Was the baron lying?¡±


    ¡°No, which does surprise me since he doesn¡¯t strike as hindered in any way, but we won¡¯t be looking into that.¡± the duchess shook her head. ¡°But while it might not have been a lie, it was an excuse.¡±


    ¡°He didn¡¯t want to fight?¡± the retainer asked.


    ¡°He didn¡¯t want to offend or embarrass us.¡± the duchess exined. ¡°He is the one who defeated ra in the tournament and since then he has been through eight more dungeons, any fight would have ended in an instant or he would have had to hold back considerably.¡±


    While the retainer had good enough social skills to not show how surprised he was that did nothing for his curiosity. His curiosity earned him a sharp spike of pain as his inspection skill hit the wall that is [Enigma].


    Ajax had enjoyed this visit much more than the usual parties he was invited to; his day took a turn for the worse as he arrived back at the embassy to find an elf waiting for him.


    ¡°Baron Hearthbound.¡± the elf greeted with a nod. ¡°I am Viscount Deeproot, I am here to discuss the possibility of an arranged marriage between our houses.¡±


    Ajax was so shocked by what he heard that for a moment he doubted if the treats they had been served before leaving weren¡¯tced with something extra.

 Chapter 421

    Chapter 421


    Ajax¡¯s jaw dropped and he remained silently shocked by the offer, the elf clearly interpreted the silence as a positive view of his offer. The same thing could not be said about his girlfriend who had been right behind him as he entered the embassy.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Viscount Deeproot I think I misheard you, what was it you said?¡± Lexi¡¯s words and tone were sweet and polite but the cold look on her face and the piercing stare in her eyes revealed her true emotions.


    Viscount Deeproot opened his own mouth to respond before he took a look at Lexi¡¯s face and froze with a facial expression simr to Ajax. The elf knew exactly who she was but he couldn¡¯t see a reason why she would be so upset until he thought back to the exact words he said.


    ¡°M-My apologies for t-the m-misunderstanding Lady Manashaper.¡± Viscount Deepwood staggered out before heposed himself. ¡°I can see how my words could be construed, what I meant was arranging a marriage between one of my family members with one of yours, perhaps your sister, Baron.¡±


    Lexi¡¯s frosty demeanor cleared up along with the misunderstanding though she was very much invested in the conversation that was sure to follow. ¡°I see Viscount.¡± Lexi nodded with an infectious smile. ¡°Then perhaps it''s best if we continue this discussion inside.¡±


    The viscount had no objection, not to the change in location to a more private area nor to Lexi inviting herself along. When they reached the first private room that had refreshments ready Lexi invited the viscount to enter. ¡°If you¡¯ll give us a moment we¡¯ll be right with you.¡± Lexi made a small gesture pointing out thebat attire both her and Ajax were wearing following the visit to ra¡¯s manor.


    ¡°What is going on?¡± Ajax whispered having recovered from his shock but wisely staying silent while Lexi was handling the situation.


    ¡°A mixture of ambition and inexperience.¡± Lexi said as they both headed to get changed. ¡°Grab your mother, she should also be part of the discussion.¡±


    Ajax nodded and went to put on one of the sets of clothes he had that were purely meant for social events and were emzoned with his House¡¯s mark. He didn¡¯t have to go looking for his mother as Silvia found him as he stepped out of his room followed not a momentter by Lexi who stepped out of her room opposite his. ¡°So what does this Viscount want?¡± Silvia asked.


    ¡°An arranged marriage between our families.¡± Ajax wasted no time and felt a little vindicated to see his mother¡¯s jaw drop in the same way his did a few moments earlier.


    ¡°He¡¯s actually being rather¡­ friendly.¡± Lexi said as she struggled to find the right words.


    ¡°How¡¯s that?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°Viscount Deepwood is rather young, only a hundred and fifty years old but because of the passing of his father he is now the head of his House.¡± Lexi exined. ¡°My guess is that he is not as well informed as he should be but he is trying to build a good rtionship with you.¡±


    ¡°And he¡¯s nning to do that by having my son marry a girl he¡¯s never met?¡± Silvia asked, rather shocked.


    ¡°No, we already cleared up that the marriage won¡¯t include Ajax.¡± Lexi corrected her. ¡°Even the most cursory look into Ajax would find my rtionship with him and I am the granddaughter of a duke.¡±


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    ¡°Then how is he trying to be friendly as you put it?¡± Silvia asked.


    ¡°Take a step back first, arranged marriages aremon among the nobility, don¡¯t take the offer as an insult because it isn¡¯t one.¡± Lexi said as she started leading them towards the room the viscount was waiting for them. ¡°My guess is that he doesn¡¯t know that Ajax will be a duke in his own right once we return to Gryndor.¡±


    ¡°A brand new Baron marrying the talented granddaughter of a duke, that does seem rather hard to believe.¡± Ajax acknowledged. ¡°Especially with you joining my family instead of the other way around.¡±


    ¡°I see, a marriage with a viscount would lend more support behind Ajax.¡± Silvia nodded as she understood the situation.


    ¡°Not only that but Sylvanthal¡¯s royal family have been very weing with us since we arrived, not only that but rumors of a deeper alliance between Sylvanthal and Gryndor are starting to circle in noble circles. An interkingdom marriage would help secure those rtions.¡± Lexi said. ¡°He very much believes you will go far and he wants to secure a strong bond between your Houses while also helping you as much as he can.¡±


    ¡°So we should let him down gently.¡± Ajax said.


    ¡°Oh, I think you can push the decision on to your sister.¡± Silvia said with a smile. ¡°I think she has a thing for elves.¡±


    With that the three of them joined the viscount, Ajax and Silvia were both much more rxed as they settled in to talk with the elf. Their impression of the viscount improved as he didn¡¯t push the discussion towards talks of marriage but instead chose to get to know more about Ajax and even showed some interest in finding more about Silvia.


    ¡°I hope you don¡¯t take this in a different way than I intend but I also believe that a marriage between our houses would help pave the path for your own rtionship with Lady Manashaper to continue.¡± The viscount mentioned after he praised Ajax for his results in the most recent tournament.


    ¡°There is no need to worry about anything in that regard.¡± Lexi said with a warm smile. ¡°My dear Ajax has a ducal title waiting for him once we return to Gryndor.¡±


    The news clearly shocked the viscount but he revered much quicker than Ajax. ¡°Congrattions!¡± The viscount toasted to the news. ¡°In light of those news I do see how an arranged marriage between our families might not be the best way forward for your own House.¡±


    ¡°While I won¡¯t bemitting to an arranged marriage from this meeting today it doesn¡¯t look like I¡¯d be opposed to a marriage between our Houses.¡± Ajax said with a kind smile. ¡°As I am sure you already know I am a first generation noble so at least for now the marriage prospects of any of my family members would always require the direct input of said family members.¡±


    The rest of the meeting didn¡¯tst much longer with the Viscount bidding his goodbyes but not before he secured an agreement from Silvia regarding a delivery from their merchantpany to ensure future interaction between their representatives at the very least.


    ¡°That was a rather enjoyable meeting.¡± Ajaxmented as he stretched as he rose from his seat following the viscount¡¯s departure. ¡°He looks to be someone I wouldn¡¯t mind meeting and talking to at parties.¡±


    Ajax could even see himself bing more friendly with the elf as time went on but for now the age difference between them still made interactions quite troublesome, even ounting for his time on Earth the elf was more than three times older than Ajax.


    ¡°I hope so because this won¡¯t be thest such meeting you¡¯ll have to have this week.¡± Lexi said with a teasing smile.


    The smile on Ajax¡¯s face froze as he turned and looked at Lexi with horror. ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°Viscount Deeproot wasn¡¯t the most well informed which is why he approached you so quickly despite not knowing about your future ducal title.¡± Lexi said. ¡°His youthful approach as head of the house also meant he was the first to move but there will be many more.¡±


    ¡°He also didn''t think too deeply about how Sylvanthal¡¯s royal family would feel about the connection, basing everything on rumors.¡± Silvia said as she took a sip of her tea. ¡°Those who are better informed will soon find out about the trade agreements I have recently obtained from House ckthorn and put it together with your short disappearance where you met with the king and queen as well as the young Lord ckthorn during the party.¡±


    Those words seemed to be prophetic in nature as Ajax found his training interrupted almost every hour in theing days, so much so that he even considered changing his sleep schedule so he could train during the night and sleep in the day.


    Not only that but while none of the nobles approaching him with an arranged marriage had any malicious intentions very few of them were as well meaning as Viscount Deeproot had been, most of them were much more greedy and self serving. The more foolish among them even offered a daughter, niece, sister or three to Ajax in hopes of tempting him, they quickly found themselves escorted outside the embassy at Ajax¡¯s request for offending Lady Manashaper.


    ¡°Finally.¡± Ajax said as the group got ready to delve into the capital¡¯s main dungeon. ¡°I can finally have some peace.¡±


    This caused some amusement among the ranger teams joining them.


    ¡°It can¡¯t have been that bad.¡± Xavier said with augh as he patted Ajax on the back.


    ¡°It was, at least by the end.¡± Lexi mumbled though everyone clearly heard her. It was telling how trying this must have been for Ajax if even Lexi¡¯s social energy had been so diminished.

 Book Launch - This is not a Chapter

    Book Launch - This is not a Chapter


    Ajax''s Ascension : The Divine Witness is live starting today.


    Reborn on Gryndor with the mythical trait [Divine Witness], Ajax swears to live a life of no regrets. This time, he will seize every opportunity, fight every monster, and plunder every treasure as he enjoys life to the fullest, while remaining wary of human nature he learnt about in his first life.


    If only it were that easy. Humanoids are suppressed as one of the weakest sentient races by dragons, elementals among others. Being confined to their patch ofnd but that hasn''t changed their nature as they fight amongst themselves forced to split their sources of power instead of uniting for the greater whole. In order to see the entire vast richness of the world, Ajax must practice and train with ancient weapons of war as well magic, gaining levels and forcing the other races to acknowledge his and humanoids worth.


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    Ajax¡¯s ascension to the top will not be quick or easy.


    I started writing Ajax''s Ascension over two years ago as a way to rx and it has grown from that more than I could have ever imagined. Thanks to all who read and supported my work I look forward to continue bringing you Ajax''s adventures.


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 Chapter 422

    Chapter 422


    Since none of the party could gain anything from the first three floors of the dungeon the group went through them all in under one hour by simply finding the first arch and going through it to the next floor.


    ¡°I look forward to clearing floors once more after we finish with the boosting.¡± Lexi said as she stepped foot on the fourth floor.


    ¡°You do know that you¡¯ll also be doing this when we get back to Gryndor as well?¡± Ajax whispered in her ear with a teasing smile. ¡°You¡¯ll most likely be delving the seventh or eighth floor in the Goldmine so you¡¯ll be passing through floors like this every time.¡±


    Ajax had experience in this since he had already been doing that for a few years. ¡°On the upside can see a lot more floor themes and can choose to clear a lower floor if you think it has a chance of getting you something you want.¡±


    The biggest prize for those floors were chances at a bond egg that could be taken outside the dungeon but adventurer groups often cleared any odd floor just for the chance at something unique that they could then sell. What Ajax didn¡¯t know was that the amount of ¡®odd¡¯ floor had increased dramatically since he arrived in the capital of Gryndor and entered the dungeons; the same was being observed in theEmpire, the Republic and Deepwood.


    The fourth and fifth floor each took close to one hour to get through simply because four people needed to kill a miniboss and that meant they had to find four of them, this meant finding three arches and they would stumble upon one of the roaming minibosses in their search.


    It was with the seventh floor that things started to slow down, not because there was any doubt that the creatures would be killed but not only did Ajax also need to kill his own miniboss but Anna, Lexi, Xavier and Benedict couldn¡¯t just one hit kill their enemies at this point with a well ced ambush attack, or at least they shouldn¡¯t have been able to.


    ¡°Is that really infernal pir?¡± Xavier asked in shock as he watched Anna turn the miniboss into ash with a single spell.


    ¡°What was that?¡± Benedict was also surprised but instead of being awed he quickly switched to curiosity.¡°That was amazing.¡± Lexi was just as curious as the rest of them if not even more but for her that curiosity could wait forter as her best friend just showed she had taken a big step forward. ¡°There¡¯s not even bones left, you turned everything to ash.¡±


    Ajax¡¯s eyes were locked onto Anna but for a different reason, after he was sure that the boss had been killed Ajax had used his [Mana Syphon] wanting to get a better understanding as to why her mes were that much stronger. To his shock he actually felt a level of resistance from the mes to his skill, that hadn¡¯t happened even when he used the skill on Legendary mana types.


    Breaking out of his shock Ajax also joined Lexi in congratting Anna, once they started moving on in search of the next miniboss he put up a privacy bubble around him, Anna and Lexi.


    ¡°You have a Legendary skill as well.¡± Ajax hugged Anna, unable to contain his excitement any longer.


    ¡°It¡¯s Legendary?!¡± Lexi quickly joined the hug with renewed excitement.


    ¡°W-what, h-how could you tell?¡± It was Anna¡¯s turn to be shocked.


    ¡°I tried using [Mana Syphon] on the remnants of your infernal pir, it worked maybe three quarters as well as it usually does, if your new skill was the same level as my [Mana Syphon] I bet it would only be half as effective as it usually is.¡± Ajax exined.


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    ¡°Well I couldn¡¯t have you leave me behind.¡± Anna muttered, her surprise and embarrassment mixed were enough to shine through her social skill and leave her a little flushed in the cheeks.


    ¡°With your mes so much stronger I think you have a chance at killing a level seventy five.¡± Ajax continued, he knew that since this skill was purely a boosting one gaining it would add a lot more direct damage than obtaining a Legendary mana type would since it didn¡¯t really offer the user any flexibility. ¡°What¡¯s it called?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s rude to ask that!¡± Lexi chastised him but from how weak her objection sounded she also wanted to know.


    ¡°You both know the name of all five of my Legendary skills.¡± Ajax defended himself.


    ¡°It¡¯s [Pyromancer].¡± Anna was quick to share with her friends as she was swept up by the excitement the two of them exuded. ¡°I got it at the end of the fight with the penguin, when I pushed my mes to be¡­ more.¡±


    Anna¡¯s words reminded Ajax of how he gained his first Legendary skills all those years ago. Back then he had been helpless against a vampire that he could now kill in moments but not only had he been trying to copy what the vampire was doing to syphon the shield protecting the crystal he had smashed but he had also been pushed to the very limit. All of the other Legendary skills he had gained since then hade from either an achievement or were mana affinities, maybe will and dire straits were a prerequisite for gaining other Legendary skills.


    ¡°Your father is going to be so proud when you tell him.¡± Lexi said with a smile.


    ¡°He¡¯ll also be worried.¡± Anna said with a wry smile. ¡°He always wanted me to focus more on being a merchant than a mage or a noble. I¡¯ll just have to gain a Legendary merchant skill as well.¡±


    ¡°You think that¡¯ll be easy?¡± Ajax asked.


    ¡°Can¡¯t be that hard.¡± Anna said with a teasing grin. ¡°You¡¯ve got five of them.¡±


    Ajax justughed at that as he lowered the privacy bubble and joined the rest of the delve group as they watched Benedict make short work of his own mini boss. While the physical fighter didn¡¯t manage to kill it in a single attack he had no trouble running circles around the creature as hended one devastating sh after another. The fight was over quickly and the best the creature had been able to do was put a few scratches on Benedict¡¯s shield.


    ¡°Anything you want to share?¡± the prince asked as he noticed the privacy bubble dropped.


    Both Ajax and Lexi kept quiet, while they had both put a bit of pressure on Anna to share the skill with them neither would share anything without Anna¡¯s express permission to do so. Anna remained silent for a moment as she nced at Aranor, the ranger teams with them and finally her gazended on Arianwyn and ra.


    ¡°I¡¯ll say that it¡¯s a Legendary skill, but nothing more.¡± Anna said.


    ¡°Thank you for the confirmation.¡± Aranor gave a thankful nod of the head. ¡°I had my suspicions that it was when the spell didn¡¯t pack all that much more mana than your previous infernal pirs but it''s nice to have it confirmed.¡±


    The team took two hours to get past the sixth floor, three hours to push past the seventh and almost five hours for all of them to get their kills on the eighth floor before they all decided to make camp and recuperate before the ninth floor. The fights had steadily been getting harder but with a carefully selected forest themed floor for their eighth floor none of them had any real issues killing the level sixty five mini boss.


    ¡°I want to try the tenth floor.¡± Anna said as they gathered around the fire. ¡°I feel like I can do it.¡±


    ¡°So do I.¡± Lexi joined in.


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± Aranor asked them. ¡°You know there is no rush, you¡¯ll have more chances to delve this dungeon, there is no need to push yourselves.


    Anna and Lexi shared a nce before they both spoke as one ¡°We¡¯re sure.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll be there to intervene if anything goes wrong but with an almost thirty level difference there will be some actual risk.¡± the prince warned them. ¡°Are you sure you want to take it?¡±


    When Anna and Lexi just nodded the prince turned towards Ajax. ¡°You¡¯re inspiring more and more people to push their limits.¡±


    ¡°I actually want to try to clear the sixteenth floor.¡± Arianwyn said.


    ¡°Me too.¡± ra joined in.


    ¡°I -¡± Ajax didn¡¯t get to finish his sentence before the prince cut him off.


    ¡°If I hear you want to try the twentieth floor I wille over there and knock some sense into you.¡± the prince waved his fist menacingly ¡°You might stand a chance against a well chosen one hundred and forty but even that is a stretch.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not what I was going to suggest.¡± Ajax said defensively before he murmured ¡°Though I doubt you¡¯ll think much better of my actual idea.¡±


    ¡°Well go on then, spit it out.¡± the prince said as he prepared himself for whatever hairbrained idea Ajax hade up with.


    ¡°For the sixteenth floor, I want to kill the floor boss on my own.¡± Ajax¡¯s words had everyone focus on him. ¡°I could bet there is a very good achievement for killing a floor boss twice your level.¡±


    A silence descended on the group broken only by the roar of the fire they were all gathered around. ¡°Depends on what the floor boss is.¡± the prince said after a couple of minutes thinking it over. ¡°As long as it isn¡¯t something like a werewolf where even a scratch could be lethal I¡¯m willing to let you try.¡±

 Chapter 423

    Chapter 423


    Ajax was happy with thepromise, he also didn¡¯t want to risk it by going against anything that had the chance to kill him with even a ncing blow and was focused on speed. It wasn¡¯t long until everyone but the night watch went to sleep.


    ¡°So Aranor, what do you think of them?¡± the captain of the ranger squad asked.


    ¡°What do you mean by that?¡± Aranor asked.


    ¡°How much of a problem are they, politically? The captain asked.


    ¡°There might have been a small issue or two when we first started, we did target Goldmancer merchants during thest war for supplies, but after traveling with us for months I¡¯d say all of them are making fast friends.¡± Aranor gave his opinion. ¡°At this rate they might even be personal connections that Arianwyn can call on as favors.¡±


    ¡°And what about their power, I know they are all promising after all the stats they just gained but you know that those kinds of leads don¡¯t alwaysst, people stagnate and rest on theirurels.¡± another ranger asked.


    ¡°Unless something extremely traumatic happens all of them will be champions.¡± Aranor said with a focused expression. ¡°With the dedication they are showing they might just all do so in a century and a half.¡±


    ¡°That quick?¡± all of the rangers looked towards the tents with a troublesome expression.


    For someone to be considered a champion they would usually be around level one hundred and seventy five, it wasn¡¯t the level that determined it but the power so some gained it a few levels quicker and someter depending on the synergy of their skills and fighting style, anyone who made it that far had the skills to back it up. Most champions achieved that around the age of five hundred with the prince of Gryndor being a rtively young champion having gained the title at only four hundred and twenty three years of age. The thought that troubled the rangers however wasn¡¯t just the number of champions Gryndor might stack up with the addition of six champions it was also that by achieving such a high level this quickly and with the amount of dungeon stats they were gaining already these champions could very well live to be one and half millenia or older, and they would have all that time to push themselves further.


    ¡°If you think that¡¯s quick you shouldn¡¯t dig any deeper into Ajax.¡± Aranor said with a snort. ¡°He¡¯s the catalyst for all this, I feel that all of them apart from the Ironwhisperd are only pushing so hard to keep up with him.¡±


    ¡°I might regret asking this but how soon until he reaches the level of a champion?¡± the captain asked as focused some mana in his eyes with his Epic skill to look through the fabric of the tent and focus on Ajax¡¯s sleeping form.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Aranor was forced to admit.


    ¡°We¡¯re not asking for an exact time frame here, teach.¡± one of the rangers who had actually once been Aranor¡¯s student eximed. ¡°You gave us a time frame for the other, why can¡¯t you do that for him?¡±


    ¡°Because his strength is so far outside of what I know.¡± Aranor said with a sigh. ¡°At the longest it¡¯ll take him four decades, more likely in a bit over three.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re saying he¡¯ll be around Arianwyn¡¯s age when he bes a champion, I heard he barely fought a level one hundred and thirty five to a draw?¡± the captain said.


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    ¡°He did.¡± Aranor nodded. ¡°But he is also barely past level fifty, in three decades I fully expect him to have gained fifty levels.¡±


    ¡°If you¡¯re this sure why even bother saying you don¡¯t know, teach?¡± the ranger asked.


    ¡°Because he could very well reach that point much quicker.¡± Aranor¡¯s words left a total silence among the rangers as he went to sleep.


    The following day the rangers got a front row seat at seeing what Ajax¡¯s former ssmates could do, since these were different squads than the ones who had joined them for thest dungeon; all of them had only seen what little the four of them had shown when punching down on the previous floors.


    ¡°Damn, you were right again.¡± the ranger said as he took in the ogres that were roaming the dark foggy marsh. ¡°You have a way to teach someone else how to do anything simr? I¡¯ll pay fifty thousand gold to teach my nephew, he¡¯s good with mana.¡±


    Ajax had shown his ability to predict floors yesterday as well but showing he could find floors that had humanoid enemies was much more valuable and showed just how much detail he could gather about floors, at least when they were so low in the dungeon.


    ¡°Haven¡¯t figured that one out.¡± Ajax shook his head much to the ranger¡¯s disappointment.


    Benedict was the first to take on the ten foot tall blue skinned humanoids and he quickly found out that while they were slow and not all that durable they made up for it with a lot of strength, earth magic and a seemingly passive regeneration spell.


    ¡°I can¡¯t tell if he¡¯s talented or dumb.¡± one of the rangers muttered as he watched on five minutes after the fight had started.


    ¡°It¡¯s talent.¡± ra said with a cutting tone. ¡°Before his journey to delve all these dungeons he was purely physical fighter, all of the mana that you no doubt saw is from naturally pushing his mental stats and dungeon stat increases, he already knows he¡¯ll have to take some time and angle himself towards a more hybrid build to get everything out of the stats he has now.¡±


    ¡°Their healing is based on being in contact with the mud.¡± Ajax said with a bit of disappointment as he watched Benedict wisely predict a wave of mud beingunched at his position and stepping around it tond a deep cut across the ogres belly. ¡°I think he¡¯s also figured that out but he can¡¯t do anything to cut off the connection so he just has to rely on the enchantment to do the heavy lifting.¡±


    Benedict was almost out of stamina and barely standing on his feet twenty minutester, he wasn¡¯t asfortable with the bastard sword he had wielded as he was with his usual short sword but this was the weapon that had the strongest anti healing enchantment from the ones he brought.


    While Benedict had impressed the rangers with his tenacity and focus by not making a single misstep in a twenty five minute fight his strength didn¡¯t strike the rangers as something all that impressive.


    ¡°How is he doing that?¡± This was the third time the question had been asked in sixty seconds but nobody answered it.


    Xavier¡¯s fighting style was now backed by a Legendary skill, having analyzed the ogre¡¯s fighting style during Benedict''s battle he had no issue fully predicting their next move, his fight barelysted two minutes and while he was heaving from the mana expenditure the whole fight had looked choreographed as Xavier dodged everything by less than an inch and the ogre seemed to jump into the path of his de.


    As dominant as Xavier¡¯s showing was, he still had nothing on Anna. Unlike both Xavier and Benedict, Anna¡¯s approach hadn¡¯t taken advantage of the more fragile nature of humanoid fighters and their reliance on using armor for protection. With help from her own Legendary skill she had pushed so much heat into the surrounding that the ogre¡¯s earth based regeneration had been cut off because the ground beneath his feet had all the water evaporated and then melted intova, the ogre itself was burnt to ash with only a few red hot pieces of armor floating on the magma to mark his presence.


    ¡°Easy there.¡± Ajax said as he propped Anna up as she was about to fall over. ¡°You pushed way too much of your mana out in thirty seconds.¡±


    While Anna still had a third of her mana left over and her mana channels were used to handle the strain of her more costly spells, using two thirds of your mana in thirty seconds would leave anyone lightheaded.


    Lexi had followed the lead of her best friend and dealt with her own ogre quickly, unlike Anna however Lexi had not only leaned into the ogre¡¯s humanoid fragility she had also made use of her Domain to spread out the use of her mana and amplify her attack, her wind spells inside of the Domain were strong enough they had actually lifted the ogre fully off the ground until she managed to get a killing blow.


    ¡°That has to be one of the most aggressive domains I¡¯ve ever seen.¡± the ranger captain let out a low whistle. ¡°And I¡¯ve seen a storm domain in action.¡±


    Even with all these fine showings there was still no question about who had the most dominating performance on the floor. Ajax¡¯s fight ended in seconds as he blitzed the ogre with an ambush using his axe and Air mana to decapitate the creature. He then sealed the stumpy neck withva while frying the loose head with a lightning bolt killing the beast.


    ¡°Hmph, show off.¡± Xavier grumbled with a smile as he reached on his toes to put his arm around Ajax¡¯s shoulder.


    ¡°He¡¯s in his mid twenties and his level is in the low fifties?¡± The ranger captain approached Aranor. ¡° I can see how you think he¡¯d be champion level before he¡¯s fifty if he¡¯s already be this strong.¡±


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 Chapter 424

    Chapter 424


    The tenth floor of the dungeon was amon hillside meant to make things as easy as possible for Anna, Lexi and Xavier, Benedict knew he didn¡¯t stand a chance as he was now a full physical build like his simply didn¡¯t have a way to deal enough damage at this much of a stat discrepancy while remaining safe.


    ¡°Why is everything getting bigger?¡± Ajaxined as he watched a mole the size of a bus get dispatched.


    ¡°Stats.¡± Aranor responded. ¡°You see this less in humanoids but it gets pretty noticeable with the few physical champions, after a certain point physical stats need to increase your size to keep your power increasing in line with the numbers.¡±


    ¡°If you ever find yourself past the borders into the Wilnds and you see anything that is above level two hundred and smaller than you know that it is very heavily focused on magic and can most likely wipe you from existence.¡±


    Anna¡¯s battle against a falcon that was three timesrger than her was very different from the quick match she had on thest floor. The bird was clearly heavily invested into wind mana and this made it less physically sturdy than the ogre had been but wind also provided a bit of a defense against Anna¡¯s mes.


    ¡°I hate boosting these kinds of stat differences.¡± one of the rangers gripped. ¡°You¡¯re forced to fight aggressive creature because you¡¯ll simply run out of resources against the defensive ones.¡±


    Anna¡¯s only upside was that her new mes seemed to be able to consume the wind mana from the attack the falconunched, this wasn¡¯t the case with normal fire attacks and drew everyone¡¯s attention.


    In the end Anna was lucky she had managed to focus her mes on the birds eyes so that the creature''s final dive missed her by a few feet and crashed straight into the ground where she was able to finish it off.


    ¡°Those mes of yours are really something.¡± Aranor congratted her. ¡°But I suggest you stop focusing on any other magic type outside of raw mana barriers, you need toe up with proper defenses for when your enemy is well suited to fighting you instead of you being their weakness.¡± Xavier was the next one to try their hand against a snake, unfortunately for him even with his Legendary skill he simply didn¡¯t have a way to fight against anything that could fly or tunnel underground.


    The fight had started off well, he had taken the time to watch Ajax dance his way around a non-mini boss version of the snake and got a good read on its fighting style. In the opening exchanges not only was he perfecting his understanding but he had also managed tond a good few shes backed by some powerful spells.


    Unfortunately for Xavier the snake had caught on to his strategy before enough damage had been done and instead of going for precise devastating hits it started throwing its entire body in hope of connecting a blow. Xavier had been able to predict the change in movement but with his stats split between mental and physical he still couldn¡¯t keep up and dodge. The prince had interfered and killed the snake once the snake¡¯s body threw Xavier to the ground and the tail was following up with another wide swipe.


    ¡°I saw iting.¡± Xavier¡¯s fist struck the ground in frustration as he got back up. ¡°I just can¡¯t keep up.¡±


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    Ajax didn¡¯t want to put any salt on Xavier wounded pride so he handled the next snake miniboss they ran up against by ambushing it with a void empowered hammer blow straight to the brain. The snake barely had a chance to coil ready to strike once Ajax¡¯s hammer made contact with its scales before its eyes bugged out a little and blood started seeping from its eyes and nose as the brain was squashed.


    ¡°That affinity is something else.¡± Arianwyn said as her hand instinctively went to her ribs that were shattered in a simr manner when his void infused hammer had stuck past her ice wall.


    Lexi had a much easier time against her falcon than Anna did. While her Vibration affinity didn¡¯t have the same raw damage that Anna¡¯s [Pyromancer] did, its versatility showed when she was able to batter the bird left and right with well ced shockwaves. Her fight had taken longer than Anna¡¯s and she was nearly out of mana by the end with her Domain entirely drained but at no point did she let the falcon within five feet of her.


    ¡°You think she could have been louder if she tried?¡± one of the rangers grumbled, Lexi¡¯s shockwaves had sounded like thunder and drew in monsters from every direction that they all had to deal with to ensure her fight wasn¡¯t interrupted.


    Xavier had tried a second attempt against a snake but it ended up much like his first. After an even better start than his first encounter the snake had eventually given up on precise attacks and the fight ended once it switched to wide sweeping attacks that Xavier had no way to dodge. He had managed to jump over the snake¡¯s first tail swipe by seeing iting but the second time the snake reacted to his jump and while the tail had only managed to clip his legs it was still enough to send him to the ground and unable to react to the follow up attack.


    ¡°We¡¯ll just have to leave this floor for next time.¡± Benedict said as he tried tofort Xavier.


    Benedict knew that he wasn¡¯t as close to being a match for these creatures as Xavier was but he was also the only other person in the group who hadn¡¯t been able to kill them. What made this even more frustrating for Xavier however was that he could reliably best both Lexi and Anna in a duel, his build simply wasn¡¯t as effective in covering such arge gap in levels even with a favorable match-up.


    Once the group got past the tenth floor and Xavier, Lexi, Anna and Benedict left the floor clear time shrunk considerably. Floors eleven, twelve, thirteen and even fourteen barely took a two to three hours each as Ajax, Darkw and Harold cleared their mini bosses rtively easily, a less than ideal match-up did mean that harold had needed two tried on the fourteenth floor but even with that he was confident that a better match-up would mean he would be capable enough even against a level one hundred on the fifteenth floor. Before that however it was time for their second night in the dungeon.


    ¡°What¡¯s your n?¡± ra asked Ajax. ¡°After you are done delving in our kingdom.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be passing through home before I head to the Empire to delve their main dungeon.¡± Ajax said.


    ¡°You got them to let you go into that again?¡± Arianwyn asked surprised, she had found out he had already had that chance once a few years ago but it had been essentially a solo delve and not a boost for him.


    ¡°Part of the same deal actually.¡± Ajax said. ¡°Archduke Goldmacer managed to get us two delves into the main dungeon, sadly I won¡¯t be able to push as far into that one as I can here.¡±


    Ajax wasfortable enough going up against a level one hundred and thirty, he knew it would be extremely close if he was to face a level one hundred and forty, when it came to actually delving into a dungeon he wouldn¡¯t go past level one hundred and twenty with a group of people at the same level, on his own he would stay one floor below that to one hundred and ten since multiple enemies and sneak attacks would be enough to get him killed.


    ¡°What did he give them in exchange for that?¡± Arianwyn asked. ¡°And howe you got a spot?¡±


    Ajax didn¡¯t answer that and just smiled, while he wasn¡¯t the most politically apt person he knew not to give away information for free. ¡°It¡¯ll be a short trip, I should be back by the time you make your way to Gryndor to delve.¡±


    While the trip would take a couple of months there and back Ajax knew it would take longer than that to finish ironing out the current exchange in dungeon delving. Both royal families knew that whatever agreement they would make now would be the basis for the nobles exchanges that would take ce to keep nobles abovemoners so they would need to be much more thorough than any usual deal between countries with a solid alliance.


    ¡°And after that?¡± ra asked. ¡°What will you do once you get back and get your ducal title?¡±


    ¡°It won¡¯t just be a title.¡± the prince said with a smirk.


    Ajax had trouble containing his surprise as he realized that he would be one of the fewnded dukes of Gryndor. He knew that it would be a possibility further down the line as he got stronger and became much more influential but it wasing now.


    ¡°It seems I¡¯ll be quite busy.¡± Ajax said as he watched the others try and hide their own surprise, all the while he was making ns to take care of everything that needed his personal presence while he was adjusting to the influx of stats and delegate everything while leaving for his trip to the Wild Lands in search of a bond.


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