Chapter 569

Getting away from the dungeon was easy over the next few days. Ajax took the risk and kept pushing straight through the night as covered a large distance without engaging in combat. Slowly but surely the level of the creatures started to drop, not only that but their numbers were also growing. 

On the second night Ajax pulled out the same trick as before where he found a convenient tree for cover and tunneled underneath its root to make a small chamber where he could spend the night. Rather than going straight to sleep however Ajax summoned a small ball of light and held it above the maps he had.

“They differ…” Ajax let out a sigh as he looked over the maps.

Ajax had multiple copies of maps taken by others on their own expeditions into the Wild Lands, a few of them even bringing people with Skills dedicated to map making yet as he traveled further and further from Gryndor the maps started to lose more of their details and clashed with each other. He couldn’t even say that one was wrong since some of the maps had been made centuries ago and the landscape could have very well changed in that time. 

One thing most of the maps he had with him agreed on however was that there was a small area with a higher Mana density about a day or two from his current position. It wasn’t too high of a density, about the same as one would be able to find on a level sixty dungeon floor but that alone was able to give rise to some very valuable reagents or resources over a long enough time span.

That night Ajax didn’t bother setting up a way to wake himself from his [Meditation], instead he focused specifically on healing himself back to perfect condition. With the added boost from [Meditation] Ajax was able to scour through and remove all the wounds he suffered from the two fights he fought. Not only that but he also wiped out every last drop of poison from his body. Once he was recovered Ajax turned his attention to the progress he made. 

Name : Ajax Hearthbound

Level :55                                                 

Experience : 146831/154000 

Traits: Divine Witness, Duke, Aura

Health: 4770/4770     

Mana: 4920/4920

Stamina : 3980/3980

Vitality : 477 -> 478

Strength :432 ->433

Endurance :398 -> 400

Dexterity : 444 -> 446

Intellect : 492 -> 494

Wisdom : 478 -> 479

Mind : 492 -> 493

Perception : 399 -> 400

Stat Points : 0 

Skills :

• Common :[Mathematics Lvl 40] [Stealth Lvl 67][Drawing Lvl 40][Athleticism Lvl 58] [Running Lvl 65][Reading Lvl 30][Writing Lvl 30][Cooking Lvl 40][Sewing Lvl 22] [Cleaning Lvl 29][Haggling Lvl 30][Gardening Lvl 40][Axes Lvl 76][Hammers Lvl 76][Deception Lvl 45][Sword Lvl 75][Shield Lvl 74][Bow Lvl 71][Spear Lvl 69][Throwing Lvl 53][Persuasion Lvl 41][Unarmed Combat Lvl 50][Knives Lvl 62][Skinning Lvl 52][Tanning Lvl 23][Dismantle Lvl 60][Climbing Lvl 46][Tracking Lvl 55][Heat Resistance Lvl 43] [Poison Resistance Lvl 66][Pain Resistance Lvl 54][Trapping Lvl 31][Cold Resistance Lvl 37][Conversationalist Lvl 27][Cataloging Lvl 6][Scheduling Lvl 7][Bookkeeping Lvl 3]

• Uncommon :[Meditation Lvl 77][Sense Mana  Lvl 82][Expel Mana Lvl 79][Sprinting Lvl 61][Mining Lvl 41][Lumberjack Lvl 21][Smelting Lvl 20][Blacksmithing Lvl 15] [Chanting Lvl 12][Mana Farming Lvl 44][Increase Price Lvl 23][Lower Price Lvl 23][Danger Sense Lvl 68][Leatherworking Lvl 29][Alchemy Lvl 74][Mana Milling Lvl 61][Precise Cut Lvl 64][Precise Blow Lvl 66][Judge Threat Lvl 59][ Piercing Shot Lvl 57] [Berserker Lvl 36][Cooperation Lvl 39][Berserker Style Lvl 25][Basic Truth Detection Lvl 26][Unnatural Balance Lvl 28][Feigned Interest Lvl 21][Illusion Resistance Lvl 10][Focused Aim Lvl 23][Focused Mind Lvl 15][Accounting Lvl 5][Emotional Suppression Lvl 3][Second Breath Lvl 1]

• Rare : [Manipulate Mana Lvl 73][Water Aspect Mana Lvl 65][Fire Aspect Mana Lvl 66] [Air Aspect Mana Lvl 64][Earth Aspect Mana Lvl 66][Inject Mana Lvl 62][Spot Weakness Lvl 58][Residue Recognition Lvl 41] [Light Aspect Mana Lvl 62][Shadow Aspect Mana Lvl 68][Mana Skin Lvl 61][Teamwork Lvl 34][Beekeeping Trailblazer Lvl 21][Curse Resistance Lvl 27][Dungeon Crafter Lvl 58][Battlemage Style Lvl 43] [Impervious Senses Lvl 23][Alchemist’s Examination Lvl 47][Stabilize Mixture Lvl 43][Mass Production Lvl 25][Magnetic Aspect Mana Lvl 23][Assassinate Lvl 6]

• Epic : [Mana Augmentation Lvl 57][Mana Conjuration Lvl 51][Lightning Aspect Mana Lvl 55][Metal Aspect Mana Lvl 55][Ice Aspect Mana Lvl 54][Magma Aspect Mana Lvl 56][Holy Aspect Mana Lvl 49][Void Aspect Mana Lvl 57][Curse Slash Lvl 44][Reckless Researcher Lvl 13][Unstable Alchemist Lvl 25] [Empowering Restriction Lvl 15][Creative Application Lvl 8][Vibrating Strike Lvl 10][Limit Suppression Lvl 11][Alchemical Researcher Lvl 6][Gravity Aspect Mana Lvl 4][Shadow Dweller Lvl 1][Sense of Dread Lvl 1]

• Legendary : [Mana Syphon Lvl 49][Enigma Lvl 34][Inspector’s Eye Lvl 32][Life Aspect Mana Lvl 20][Vibration Aspect Mana Lvl 14][Telekinesis Lvl 9]

New :

Second Breath 0 -> 1

Shadow Dweller 0 -> 1

Sense of Dread 0 -> 1

Upgrades:

Mathematics 38 -> 40

Stealth 60 -> 67

Athleticism 58 -> 60

Running 61 -> 65

Axes 73 -> 76

Hammers 73 -> 76

Sword 73 -> 75

Shield 72 -> 74

Spear 65 -> 69

Climbing 45 -> 46

Tracking 55 -> 58

Heat Resistance 41 -> 43

Poison Resistance 57 -> 66

Pain Resistance 50 -> 54

Meditation 75 -> 77

Sense Mana 79 -> 82

Expel Mana 77 -> 79

Sprinting 58 -> 61

Danger Sense 60 -> 68

Mana Milling 58 -> 61

Precise Blow 62 -> 66

Precise Cut 61 -> 64

Judge Threat 53 -> 59

Berserker 33 -> 36

Unnatural Balance 27 -> 28

Focused Mind 10 -> 15

Emotional Suppression 1 -> 3

Manipulate Mana 69 -> 73

Water Aspect Mana 63 -> 65

Fire Aspect Mana 62 -> 66

Air Aspect Mana 62 -> 64

Earth Aspect Mana 64 -> 66

Light Aspect Mana 61 -> 62

Shadow Aspect Mana 63 -> 68

Inject Mana 59 -> 62

Spot Weakness 53 -> 58

Residue Recognition 38 -> 41

Mana Skin 55 -> 61

Dungeon Crafter 52 -> 58

Battlemage Style 42 -> 43

Impervious Senses 20 -> 21

Alchemist’s Examination 45 -> 47

Stabilize Mixture 37 -> 43

Assassinate 3 -> 6

Mana Augmentation 54 -> 57

Mana Conjuration 49 -> 51

Lightning Aspect Mana 53 -> 55

Metal Aspect Mana 54 -> 55

Ice Aspect Mana 52 -> 54

Magma Aspect Mana 53 -> 56

Void Aspect Mana 55 -> 57

Curse Slash 39 -> 44

Reckless Researcher 12 -> 13

Unstable Alchemist 22 -> 25

Empowering Restriction 11 -> 15

Creative Application 7 -> 8 

Vibrating Strike 5 -> 10

Limit Suppression 9 -> 11

Alchemical Researcher 5 -> 6

Gravity Aspect Mana 1 -> 4

Enigma 31 -> 34

Inspector’s Eye 29 -> 32

Life Aspect Mana 16 -> 20

Vibration Aspect Mana 9 -> 14

Telekinesis 4 -> 9

Whereas before Ajax was finally able to see his own personal affinity towards his oldest Skills as they stopped growing in lockstep from training Ajax was getting a much better image of how his activities would influence his growth as well, especially when it came to the danger he was in when he pushed those Skills. 

One thing that did bother him was that two of the Skills he had been waiting to reach a threshold still eluded him. Both [Alchemy] and [Mana Syphon] hadn’t yet ticked over, this despite the rest of his alchemy related Skills growing and a number of his Mana related ones doing so as well. 

He had seen this before with some of his other Skills as they were on the precipice of a threshold they had to be used in a new way to tick over or used extensively in high stress situations. [Alchemy] he could see why it wasn’t there yet, he hadn’t done all that much besides getting better at stabilizing his creations inside of volatile dungeon floors but that was not true of [Mana Syphon], the only guess he had was that it would be a lot harder seeing as this was a second threshold and not just the first, not to mention that it was a Legendary Skill. 

It wasn’t just his Skills that had made great strides, Ajax gained a lot of experience in a short amount of time. At this rate he would blow past even his generous estimates of six levels a year, yet that was the whole point of this expedition into the Wild Lands.

After he looked over his gains Ajax got back up and came out from his little hiding space, it was still night outside but the sun would rise in about half an hour so Ajax had no issue starting his journey once more. 

Just like the previous day there wasn’t anything to challenge Ajax as he made his way across the forest. Since he no longer had to heal a poison inside of himself Ajax got a much better chance to experiment with shadow walking. With his new Skill and without using other Mana types while inside the shadows Ajax found that he could stay in there for almost two hours, all while being essentially a ghost to the rest of the world and moving even faster through the shadowy terrain.

Interestingly enough Ajax found himself moving much slower once he finally reached the more Mana dense region in the evening. He had expected to be able to move faster with there being more Mana not slower, and that was if shadow travel was affected at all. Instead it felt like the water he was floating through had suddenly turned into honey and his speed dropped considerably. 

Ajax didn’t mind it that much, he simply exited the shadow. This was something he would have done anyway as he wanted to get a much closer and undistorted look at the reagents he could find in this area. Not only that but he was also looking for any strong creatures he could find. If he got lucky he would be able to push both his stubborn Skills to the threshold before he moved on towards the ruins.