Chapter 592

“It would be best if we got moving now.” Verya said as she pointed towards the direction they were to head in. “ There is a chance Elduin is going straight to complain to his parents about what went down and if they decide to humor him…, it's best they not find us here.” 

“They’re that petty?” Ajax asked. “I didn’t do anything, and you were trying to help him.” 

“Oh, no it won’t be because they are petty.” Verya shook her head. “But like all sidhe they are opportunistic, combine that with the difference in strength between you and them and your conversation with them might not be as pleasant as the one you are having with me.” 

‘Not to mention that your little trick wouldn’t work on them.’ Verya thought to herself. Ajax’s trick of limiting the ways he can agree to a deal might work on someone around his power level but as the difference grew that would be overlooked in favor of how the sidhe would or could interpret his actions. The mayor of their village would be able to take an errant nod of the head as a sign of agreement from Ajax as he was now, his trick might add a few restrictions to that but any verbal affirmation would still seal a deal.

“After you then.” Ajax offered. “You know the way. I do hope you won’t specifically be going around any of the more interesting places unless they are truly too dangerous.” 

“I’m sure you’ll find plenty of entertainment along the way.” Verya responded before she took flight. 

“How does my golem affect our trip?” Ajax asked as he looked towards his rocky horse. “It shouldn’t last much longer but I don’t want it to cause any issues.” 

“You’re right, probably best if we got rid of it.” Ajax didn’t have a chance to say anything after that as Mana pulsed from Verya. Her casting style was different from what he had seen before yet at the same time it was similar. Mana traveled through her body as she charged the spell before throwing an ice lance that mashed his golem to bits. “There we go, that shouldn’t cause any more issues.” 

“That was different.” Ajax pointed out as he followed behind the flying sidhe as they started to move. “You cast the same way I do, the same way monsters do. But you also added something. It feels like that movement was specific to the spell, but unlike chanted spells it wasn’t required you could have launched the same spell, if weaker, even without the added movement.” 

The first thing Ajax’s mind went to was [Empowering Restriction], an extra requirement for extra power but this seemed like it was purely an optional addition for extra power not something that was enforced.

“Humans chant.” Verya tapped her pointer finger to her lips as she thought about his observation. “Best not mention that if you meet with a sphinx. They are very much devoted to their casting method and hearing that humanoids have been using it and developing it in exile will get them curious enough to capture and interrogate you then other humans that leave your lands.” 

With that simple revelation Ajax was already feeling better about the deal he had made with Verya, despite not trusting the sidhe he was pretty sure the deal they had made was binding and her help would mean he would not only be able to travel faster and more efficiently through the Wild Lands but he would also have a knowledgeable person guiding him.

As much as Ajax wanted to start asking more questions of the sidhe he didn’t want to push it before they got to know each other a little better. Even so, the silent company was pleasant, he hadn’t realized it as much and the interactions with the other races had helped a little but he had started to feel lonely as of late. The feeling just added another reason as to why he wanted to find a bond, that way he would always have a companion with him. 

“Something’s following us.” Ajax said as he tracked the movement of Mana behind them. The first two times he thought it was just an odd movement of the ambient Mana but now he was sure it was a mark that something good at stealth was following them, more than that however it was closing in.” 

“What is it?” Verya sounded worried and Ajax didn’t take that as a good thing as he brought out his axe and shield as he turned to face the direction he suspected their pursuer of approaching from. 

Ajax used [Mana Syphon] to try and remove the stealth spell whatever was chasing them was using. It didn’t help much but he felt the Skill grab on to something. The Shadow Mana he felt gathered in his Mana pool gave him at least a hint of what he was up against.

“It’s using a spell to remain hidden.” Ajax said as he and Verya closed ranks a little, he didn’t want to share everything about how his Skill worked but he also wouldn’t stay quiet when this could be something that could kill them both.

After another intricate movement Ajax felt a wave of Mana blast outward from Verya. He could sense the Mana slow down as it touched him, once it got past him the wave picked up speed again. While the wave continued to spread Verya was already preparing a follow up spell as Ajax started to push some of his own Mana into the ground hoping to prevent any ambush from below. 

“There.” A flame lance was launched from Verya straight towards where he felt the Mana slow down and deform slightly from the sphere as it met the hidden creature. 

The lance missed the creature but the blast from the impact of it on a nearby tree along with the sudden movement required to dodge was enough to let both of them see what they were facing. Ajax didn’t waste any time with [Inspector’s Eye]. 

“Shadow elemental.” Ajax said with surprise, this was the first time he had seen any form of elemental outside of the dungeon. The Mana based life forms were so rare Ajax wasn’t sure there would be any records of them inside of Gryndor if not for dungeon breaks. Now that he knew the dungeons were responsible for lower the ambient Mana however he had a better idea of why that was. 

The elemental itself wasn’t that high level, only just passed level one hundred. This did a lot to put Ajax at ease since he was pretty sure he wouldn’t have an issue killing it, the only reason it had managed to stalk and somewhat sneak up on them was because it was made of Shadow Mana and that gave it a natural stealth.

“Don’t kill it.” Verya said. “Just scare it away.” 

“What why?” Ajax was surprised to hear that. 

“Elemental cores are rare and valuable.” Verya explained. “Seeing as it stalked us and was getting ready to attack us, or rather me specifically it means another sidhe ran into it and they are most likely keeping track of it as they wait for it to grow stronger.” 

Ajax was about to protest why that kind of behavior would mean that but then again he didn’t know anything about the regular behaviour of inferior elementals outside of the dungeon.

Putting his axe back in his spacial ring Ajax aimed his shield at the elemental and using Light Mana blasted a strong beam of light at it. While harmless to most things Light Mana did do a bit of damage to the elemental but his attack clearly had the right effect as it sent the elemental running away from them at a very high speed, even going so far as to shadow travel and do at least two shadow jumps from what Ajax counted as he observed closely with [Sense Mana].

“I have to admit I am curious how come the sidhe have their lands so close to not one but two dungeons.” Ajax asked. 

While neither dungeon was that close to the sidhe lands the dungeon Ajax was coming from and the one he was heading towards were of either side of this particular area that was claimed by the sidhe.

“We use them more than other ascended races so we are more willing to sacrifice a little in terms of ambient Mana in exchange for easier access.” Verya answered. “Our crafters specifically have a much easier time learning to craft inside the dungeon with the abundance of reagents they find on the floors.” 

Ajax was tempted to ask if that was also why they seemed to remain shapeshifted into a humanoid ish form but he was sure that would come across as rude or invasive so he decided to leave that for later, they would be traveling together for weeks if not months so he would have time to ask questions later. 

Cutting across the sidhe territory and with a guide to lead him, Ajax was sure it wouldn;t be too much longer until he reached the dungeon. At that point he would have to make a decision if he would be going inside with Verya or just having her wait for him to exit.