Two weeks, that was all the ‘free ti’ Ajax had to enjoy spending ti with his family, take a more active role in ruling his duchy as well as get used to his newly regrown arm whilst also pushing to unlock so Skills.
Ajax was happy with his progress in all the things he was looking to do. He had worked with his family and shared what little he could from his knowledge of Earth, but the changes he made regarding the ruling of his duchy were minor. Much in the sa way the ti spent with his family was great but it still felt all too short. Helping his father unlock the [Enchanting] Skill being a particular highlight of the past two weeks, the extra runes he had found helping him enough to gain the Uncommon Skill.
In terms of getting used to his arm his progress had been explosive from the mont he started to really focus on it. While the arm wasn’t yet as responsive as it had been before he lost it wasn’t too far off, the rest of his relearning would have to take place against a real opponent and not just training.
In terms of Skills Ajax had managed to gain [Precise asurents] as well as the Uncommon Skill [Enhancing Reagent Preparation], the latter in particular was valuable as it allowed him to feed small amounts of Mana as he was preparing his reagents and they would keep the increase.
The end of Ajax’s free ti however was marked by the arrival of Rex. The presence of the champion ca without warning one morning. “Rex, it's great to see you but I do have to ask why you arrived unannounced?”
“I’m here to help you as a booster.” Rex answered. “I have with
written permission from the King for you to delve up to level one hundred and fifty. That should let you clear one extra floor past your previous record in two of the three dungeons before you return to the capital.”
“It’s already ti?” Ajax asked, the two weeks had felt so short.
“We have about one week before we need to start making our way over to the front lines.” Rex explained. “You weren’t planned to be part of the group initially but word of Aurexion has spread far. The boost in morale his presence will make for the war effort is substantial.”
Ajax could feel through the bond the warring pride in Aurexion. On the one side his ego was happy his re presence would affect his allies and terrify his enemies but on the other he was annoyed soone, not an Ascended, dared to command what he would do. Ajax knew he could refuse and simply join the war a little later but there was little to gain from doing so besides so extra ti spent with his family. Refusing on the other hand would have so significant downsides in terms of not only Gryndor’s politics but also foreign ones as well.
“We’ll delve the dungeon here later today then.” Ajax nodded in agreent.
For the first ti since he first left Lessis to go to the capital Ajax’s delving progress was once more locked behind the following floor being cleared instead of his ability to kill a miniboss on the floor he was trying to clear. It was a hurdle that had stumped the Collectors for a long ti before he joined them on the second floor of the sa dungeon he was going to clear before they left for the capital. The last floor Ajax had cleared here was level ninety seven, with a twelve level jump that doubled to twenty four past level one hundred Ajax and Auraxion would have to kill one miniboss on the level one hundred and twenty one floor before clearing the following one hundred and forty five floor.
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Ajax wasn’t just confident in killing the miniboss on the level one hundred and twenty one floor but he was also confident in soloing a miniboss on the following floor. The only problem with that was that pushing forward wasn’t sothing they could do. Even with Aurexion and Rex to help him, Ajax wasn’t sure about facing the floor boss of a level one hundred and sixty nine floor that would follow, sothing the King had already taken into account when he set the floor limit.
“You’re confident in clearing the floor?” Ajax asked Rex as they were on their way to the dungeon.
“I’m sure nothing other than the floor boss should be too much of a problem for .” Rex answered. “Even then the few floor bosses that might give
pause would be ones particularly vulnerable to your Skills.”
Unlike the prince, Rex wasn’t one to banter. He was pretty much the embodint of the silent serious veteran soldier. Once they arrived at the dungeon they got to cut the line, surprisingly nobody complained but Ajax was sure that was more to do with all the people being under level fifty five and them wanting Aurexion’s domineering Aura to disappear as fast as possible.
The delve itself was one of the fastest Ajax had taken part in. They didn’t even stop to check the type of floor they were heading into until the level one hundred and twenty one floor where they ensured they wouldn’t be heading into a more intangible floor, enemies like fire, wind or light elentals would still fall to Rex but it would take him a lot longer to kill them.
The floor ended up being a rocky hellscape filled with ogres. A pleasant surprise for Ajax as it ant their ti on the floor wouldn’t be wasted as long as he got to collect at least one enchanted item from the ogres, crude as their enchantnts might be they could provide his father with a new rune.
Fighting the level one hundred and forty five ogres was exactly the challenge Ajax needed to better work on adapting to his new arm as well as properly integrating the two Legendary Skills into his combat style. Unlike the level one hundred and forty worm he had faced back in Sylvanthal the last ti he was in such a high floor Ajax was confident in fighting two ogres at the sa ti, with Aurexion by his side taking on groups of ten wasn’t even a challenge as the dragon’s massive size and enormous strength perfectly complented Ajax’s ability as more of a glass cannon combatant.
The floor boss ended up being not much more of a challenge than the floor had been. A full mage ettin
had found itself in a really bad position as Aurexion had the size to pin it down while Rex could demolish its comparatively weaker caster body and Ajax weakened its spells to the point where the other two had no issues killing it in under two minutes.
Despite the lack of any real challenge in clearing the floor its size was not to be underestimated. It took them four days to finish clearing the floor, accounting for the ti dilation that was still almost two days on the outside. This left them with only five days to make it to the other dungeon before heading to the capital and clearing the dungeons there and heading off to war.
“I don’t think we have the ti to do all the dungeons.” Ajax said dejectedly as he, Rex and Aurexion were returning to his manor.
“It won’t be just
helping you clear out the floors in the capital. We’ll have three squads with us so clearing them will go a lot faster.” Rex reassured him. “But you’re right we don’t have much leeway. The King wanted to give you as much ti with your family as he could before he sent
here to get you moving.”
Ajax dropped off the odd runed totem he had collected from one of the shaman ogres with his father and spent the evening saying his farewells as well as reassuring his family that he would be careful before spending a passionate night with his fiance and leaving in the morning for the second dungeon.
For the second dungeon Ajax’s last cleared floor had been only level eighty six yet with a fifteen level floor jump that doubled to thirty it was eerily similar to his previous delve where he had no issues with clearing the level one hundred and sixteen miniboss before taking about two days to clear the level one hundred and forty six floor.
The floor boss this ti was more of a pain to deal with, the fire elental was resistant to a lot of Rex’s attacks leaving him in more of a supportive roll, Aurexion’s size made him a good cover for Ajax but most of the damage to kill the floor boss had co from Ajax as well as the few but powerful spells Aurexion threw into the mix. It was a good chance for Aurexion to work on his Magma Mana. By the end of the fifth day Ajax, Aurexion and Rex were entering the capital, the fast pace of the last five days had Ajax looking forward to their trip to the front line that should take about a week and would be the perfect place to relax while also asking the veterans he was traveling with what he could reasonably expect from the war.
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