Chapter 551

After the last fight against a Floor Boss Ajax was feeling excited about facing off against another Floor Boss. Unlike the fights against unusual bosses in the dungeon, the Floor Boss was more than just something that outstated him, that he needed to outplan or outsmart. The fights against a floor boss were a lot more complex, more than that they weren’t so much stronger than him that a single misstep would leave him dead.

“Are you sure you want to keep pushing afterwards?” the oldest prince of Gryndor asked Ajax. 

“Right now I am.” Ajax nodded. “I might change my mind depending on how the fight against the Floor Boss goes.” 

Ajax was certain that he could clear at least another four floors, maybe even five. With a squad and the prince there was no worry about a dungeon break happening and Ajax wouldn’t want to regret not having the extra stats when it came time to face the Wild Lands.

This boost was unlike Ajax’s previous boost for nobles. Not only was the number of nobles with him twice what it was before but it was clear that the nobles had learnt from last time. It wasn’t simply the most talented that they sent to get the boon. It was those who specialized in delving. With the boon’s effect being so random they decided to focus on a certain part of the boon, the ability to reliably loot the dungeon.

“House Smithmade really sent three crafters.” Ajax was surprised by the choice but he couldn’t blame them for it. He suspected the boons would be very much drawn towards combat since they were a reward for a combat Achievement but they could be useful in crafting as well. “That’s a pretty big gamble to take.” 

“They know the exact wording of the boon.” the prince explained. “They are all dungeon crafters, they are hoping that the boon would work in such a way that anything crafted with parts of the creature they kill can be brought outside” 

Ajax’s eyebrows rose at that. That was a possible interpretation. With the wording on the boon it was possible that the delving crafter would be able to recreate his own stronger version of the boon where he could collect something from every floor of the dungeon and take it out without the downside of having to solo kill the creature for the benefit.

It didn’t take long until the group had ascended all the way to the sixteenth floor. A forest on what looked to be an inclined slope spread out all around them. The squad quickly split into two groups and spread out to clear the floor.

 “What are you hoping for?” Ajax asked the crafters, he already knew that each combat focused person would want something for their specific traits but crafters were different. 

“An elemental.” one of the three crafters answered, receiving glares from the other two. 

It was no secret that House Smithmade wasn’t friendly towards House Hearthbound. Besides Ajax’s close relationship with the Goldmancers that House Smithmade was looking to dethrone and regain their status as an Archduke House there was also the direct competition House Hearthbound was creating with their public school that pushed for the creation of crafters.

Ajax could see the point. Regardless of what type of crafters they were, an elemental Floor Boss would most likely give them a boost in specializing in crafting anything to do with that element. It was a solid gamble. 

“That would be a good option.” Ajax nodded.

“What makes you think the talented few among the commoners you find will choose to stay with your House?” the crafter asked him. “Loyalty is a rare value.” 

Ajax could see that this crafter was not just a retainer of House Smithmade but one of their scions. He had the political training, and as a dungeon crafter he was on the young side for a noble reaching level fifty five by thirty five years old.

“Because I’ll provide the best benefits." Ajax answered with a confident smile. “I wonder if you know what your House had to pay to get you a spot here, me taking my retainers is something I can do on a whim.” 

Ajax knew he was bluffing with that statement. There were severe limits on what he could do on his own. With Lancel’s help the safety of his people and clearing the floor afterwards weren’t an issue but his own level was. Ajax was growing too quickly to give him time to raise up those crafters. What he was hoping for was raising a generation of people who were strong enough to earn the boons by themselves in groups of thirty or so people the way the achievement was intended to be earned instead of having them rely on one person.

“The royal family won’t let you simply amass…” the words of House Smithmade’s scion died in his throat. It was during this conversation that everything House Smithmade had told him about Ajax came together and he didn’t like the picture it was painting.

With how powerful Ajax was becoming as well as the connections he was building those rules might not apply to him in a few decades. There had already been precedents where the House of a Pinnacle was given preferential treatment. 

The fear he could see on the man’s face as he realized just how much influence Ajax had was what scared him about leaving for the Wild Lands. He was sure that other nobles had already made that connection and while targeting him was out of the question, finding ways to cut the legs out from under his House was not. 

“You’re aiming to become an Archduke.” the noble accused him. 

Four of the others there for the boost had reacted much as he had hoped but much to the crafters surprise most of the other people there reacted with laughter to his accusation. It was an understandable reaction. Most of the people there were from Houses that had a close relationship with Ajax so all of them had been told in advance how Ajax ‘ruled’. At best it could be interpreted as aggressive delegation of duty, the idea that he would push for more responsibility like an Archduke seat was ludicrous to them.

“I wouldn’t use my influence for something as headache inducing as that.” Ajax said with a chuckle. “It sounds exhausting.” 

What Ajax didn’t mention was how he was sure that all speculation on his ambitions were surely going to lessen once more people became aware of the evolution humans could go through. With the increased leveling speed and stats it wouldn’t be hard to see how any ambition of ruling the current humanoid lands would be undermined by the opportunity to expand.

Ajax didn’t get a chance to expand on that as a sudden change took everyone by surprise. A fog started to rise throughout the forest causing a sudden rise of fear in all the nobles there. The Floor boss had spawned.

“What is this?” 

“Are we being attacked?” 

“I don’t feel anything.” 

“It looks and feels like fog but it doesn’t act like it.” 

All of the people here were experienced delvers, while they were initially panicked, that was more as a result of the massive Mana density in the air and their knowledge that any monster on this floor could go through all twenty of them like a hot knife through butter. They quickly regained their composure and tried to cooperate despite this being the first time they had all formed a team together. 

“Is this a Steam or Mist elemental?” Another of the three crafters asked. 

As much as Ajax might have wanted this to be a Steam elemental as it was one of the Epic affinities he hadn’t yet managed to unlock and experiencing a fight against a Floor Boss elemental might be enough to push him to unlock it he quickly realized that the observation made initially was correct, this wasn’t fog or steam. 

“It’s not an elemental.” Ajax said as he started to clear out the fog with [Mana Syphon].

If it was fog or steam caused by elemental Mana the steam would have slowly thinned out but instead it was being erased completely as Ajax’s Skill consumed the Mana surrounding them. 

“It’s an Illusion.” Ajax was certain of this. 

Not two seconds after Ajax’s statement did Frank return with the news. “Floor Boss is a Kitsune.” 

Ajax couldn’t help but smile savagely at the news. As much as he might have wanted an elemental boss now that he knew it was a kitsune he couldn’t be happier. A kitsune was the first Floor Boss he had ever seen and he had been forced to run out of the dungeon to survive. He had gained two Skills from that encounter and it was now time to see how he would do in a rematch.

“Let's go.” Ajax nodded as he moved to follow Frank.