Chapter 353

Chapter 353

As he was preparing for his journey Ajax had learnt from his mistakes, despite having a rather large spacial ring Ajax was also carrying a pack that had a very similar enchantment. Ajax wasn’t going to let a chance similar 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 play 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 placed on wheels while the branches formed a large room on top of the trunk complete 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 relatively 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.

“Welcome” 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 had come to expect from their initial trip. Besides the ten people who would be delving, only the king, four guards led by Aranor and Elara’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 more combat focused they were still tied to the Silvertongues so his entire childhood was an exercise in social games and manipulation. 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.

The prince was quick to put a restraining arm on Xavier’s shoulder after that comment. 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.” Elara’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?” Elara 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.” Aranor commented, 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 uncommon 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 planning on going into the untamed lands to look for a bond after he was done with the dungeons.