Ajax was a little surprised to find out that Archduke Goldmancer was actually in the capital as well and awaiting their arrival at his manor.
“Ajax, Lexi, it's so good to see you both again.” The archduke greeted them both with a hug after he gave one to his daughter. “Benedict, Xavier I trust the delve went well. And you must Aurexion, there are so many rumors about you at court.”
Ajax had always liked Archduke Goldmancer. He was not only one of the first to help him in his dealings with nobility but as a man who moved his House from lower nobility to Archduke in one lifeti he knew better than to underestimate the potential of a single person.
“It’s a pleasure to see you again as well.” It had been years since Ajax saw the archduke if one doesn’t take into account a passing greeting during his court appearance. With his vastly increased stats however when taking a closer look at the man Ajax noticed just how weak he seed.
Unlike the king, Duke Manashaper or even Archduke Steelblade, Archduke Goldmancer had gotten his start a lot later in life and it was starting to show now that he was pushing eight hundred years old. It also didn’t help that he was focused mainly on his ntal Stats so his body was already starting to fail him. It wasn’t easy to see since all of his clothes were enchanted to make his movent easier but that in and of itself told Ajax enough. It also answered the question as to why Anna was being grood to take over so much sooner than Benedict or Xavier and why she had been able to help Lexi with setting up their duchy.
“I have to say the Wild Lands were nothing like I was expecting.” Ajax confessed as he started to go into all the small villages of Awakened races he had co across and how their communities survived and dealt with the Ascended races. Silently however he promised himself he would ask Aurexion if he knew of any way to extend lifespans. He was already planning to look into such things the next ti he went into the Wild Lands for his family and eventually for Lexi but it seems Archduke Goldmancer’s needs were rather dire. “The Mana density alone threw
off a little, once you get far enough away from our borders it almost gets to the sa level as the first floor of the Goldmine.”
“Goldmine?” Aurexion perked up.
“It’s just the na of a dungeon.” Ajax sliced his bonds enthusiasm.
“Why not just call it the dungeon?” Aurexion was peeved at getting his hopes up.
“Because the capital has two of them.” Ajax pointed out the obvious.
“So interesting.” Archduke Goldmancer said as he looked towards Aurexion. “I’ll have to apologise but this is the first ti I’ve had a conversation with anyone that is not a humanoid. Would it be too much to ask a little about why you decided to choose Ajax as your bond?”
“I take no offense to that, though I do want to point out that I didn’t just pick Ajax as my bond.” Aurexion answered. “Unlike the bonds I’ve seen here, what we have is a bond between equals, he picked
just as much as I picked him. We are now extensions of each other, and will continue to be so until one of us dies.”
“Is the difference in bond that big?” Xavier asked, with his own bonding coming up hopefully in the next couple days he was interested in the topic.
“Very much so.” Aurexion looked towards Ajax silently asking if there was an issue with sharing the knowledge. Ajax gave the dragon a nod of confirmation. “Unlike a subordinate bond there is a lot less effort from the System in creating the link aning that not only is it easier for us to gain benefits from each other in ti but we even have access to each other’s System screen.”
Stolen novel; please report.
That revelation ca as a surprise and was followed up by more questions from everyone else. Ajax could feel Aurexion’s displeasure at being treated like a font of knowledge building with each question. “Archduke, do you think it would be possible for Aurexion to take a look at your vault here in the capital?”
“I’m sure that won’t be an issue…” Goldmancer trailed off as he took another look at the dragon. “Well, he might find it a little cramped to squeeze through the last corridor before entering. Though that is a rather sensitive subject for obvious reasons.”
“I understand.” Ajax nodded. “But you see dragons have a certain affinity for treasures. Despite this not being your House’s main estate I believe taking a look would give him a deeper appreciation for what he can expect to find here in humanoid lands and what he might want to trade sothing from his own hoard for.”
The remainder of the evening passed quickly once Aurexion got a chance to take a look into House Goldmancer’s vault. He particularly showed interest in so of the manufactured armors that were made from fire affinity treasures that were refined to bring out the Fire affinity as much as possible.
“The old man doesn’t have much ti left.” Aurexion said as they were on their way back to House Manashaper’s estate.
“What?!” Lexi was the only one not to notice the signs as clearly as the other three walking with her.
“Dragons look at ti differently than we do.” Ajax tried to reassure her. “Though I doubt Archduke Goldmancer has any more than two decades or so left in him.”
“He pushed himself a lot when he was young.” Duke Manashaper gave an explanation. “He leveraged his stats to help grow his Skills but that ant he delayed the investnts into Vitality. He tried to make up for them later but since he is also not a physical build there is only so much he can prolong it.”
“Do you know of a way to extend his lifespan?” Ajax asked his bond.
“I know that there are ways.” Aurexion said. “For his low level they shouldn’t be all that rare either but getting access to them would be rather difficult. Our best bet would be access in dealing with other dragons or the elental hawks and their favorable view on humans. Unfortunately neither of us value lifespan extensions, us dragons because we live so long already it would do little for us and the hawks because of their rebirth.”
“You don’t know?” Lexi asked, her tone filled with a little accusation. Ajax put his hand around her shoulder as he pulled her into a hug, thankfully Aurexion understood this wasn’t Lexi insulting him and just her being worried about her best friend's father. Though Ajax could feel the irritation Aurexion felt through the bond.
“I may seem old to you being a little over four and a half centuries old but I have only spent a little under a century wandering the world before I holed up with my hoard to increase my power.” Aurexion defended his lack of knowledge.
“Once the war is over I’m sure Aurexion and I will be going back to the Wild Lands and we will look for a solution.” Ajax promised.
“The war could last for decades.” Lexi turned to him, her eyes a little wet from how helpless she felt and dealing with the idea that her friend's father and soone she saw as an uncle was so close to death. “The last one lasted more than fifty years.”
“The last one was a free for all between a lot of nations and led to the centing of the Republic.” Lexi’s father cut in. “This is a two sided war, unless the Empire, Deepwood or Highmountain decide to try and conquer their neighbors I doubt the war will last more than a year and half at most.”
Ajax had so questions about whether the three more extremist supremacist nations would remain quiet considering what would follow after the war ended and with Sylvanthal Gryndor the Republic as well as Brightstone trading dungeon delves among their nobles and how over ti the discrepancy in power would continue to grow. But he kept that to himself as he didn’t want to upset Lexi any further and instead wanted to give her ti to calm down and process the information.
“You plan for us to join the war?” Aurexion asked.
Ajax and Aurexion had discussed briefly the possibility of joining the war on their way to the capital. “Once I get used to my arm, hopefully I can do a delve in our own dungeons here before we leave and get so extra Stats but I think that would be the best avenue for us to grow while also extending the influence of our House.” They had already talked about how the war would be the best scenario for them to learn to work together and provide them with the perfect challenge seeing as they were both pretty much champion level though Ajax just barely.
“I can’t say I’m not looking forward to it.” Aurexion’s excitent flooded through the bond. “It’s been so long since I cut loose and I have gotten a lot stronger since then.”
Ajax went to sleep that night ready for his hand to be fully healed the next day and his return to his duchy to follow soon after. With Aurexion’s flying speed the distance between Lessis and the capital could be covered in one day, the vast territory of the humanoids seed so much smaller to him now after his return from the Wild Lands.
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