Chapter 476

The opportunity to delve into Brightstone's dungeons was something Ajax would very much like to do but it wasn’t something he was in a position to take advantage of, at least not just yet. It took a bit to convince himself that slowing his leveling wouldn’t be the right choice just to get a few more dungeon floors out of Brightstone but after talking it over with Lexi they agreed it wouldn’t be the smart move for him. It would however be a good choice for her, she could slow down her leveling to ensure she gained as many stat points as possible while also readying herself for reaching her own evolution quickly.

“Are you sure you want to wait?” Ajax asked Lexi when she decided she didn’t want to follow his footsteps and use potions to raise her own stats. 

“I’ve still got to get used to casting with the stats I've gained already.” Lexi with a small shake of her head. “I don’t get how you adapt so quickly to the increased stats.” 

“It’s probably because of how I fight.” Ajax said. “I’m always pushing my body beyond what my physical stats should be capable of with [Mana Syphon] and my spells are a lot weaker than a mage’s with the same stats would be, though I do tend to go through my mana at about the same speed, I just use more spells at once.” 

Ajax understood why Lexi was having a hard time getting used to her stats. Her physical stats increased a lot more than he did during the delving spree, at least as a percentage. While the increase happened over more than half a year it was still a lot of physical stats and he could still see her almost pulling some of the heavier doors off their hinges when she wasn’t paying attention to her increased Strength. Years of muscle memory with much lower strength slowly adapting to the new reality.

Lexi's magical stats had increased a lot less comparatively but with a Domain and Vibration mana there was a lot she had to work on before she was ready for another sizable increase in her stats.

“How long do you think it’ll be before your grandfather comes by to ask you about Domains?” Ajax asked as they both prepared for their delve. 

“He’s still busy trying to work on spells with Vibration mana.” Lexi answered. “Intent has a lot to do with a spell especially when he is trying to make new ones so I think he’ll spend a few months on that. But we can expect him to come around after he grabs all the low hanging fruit there.” 

That made sense. As unusual as it might seem right now Lexi was the premier Domain specialist in Gryndor, being the only mage to have a Domain guaranteed her that position and Ajax wouldn’t be surprised if a few of the mages in the royal squads had already started making inquiries in the subject. 

“How about you, have you practiced at all with your staff?” Lexi asked, a bit of worry filling her voice. 

Ajax had to suppress a small grimace at the question. “I tried it a few times but not with anything close to how much mana I’ll be wielding in the dungeon.” Ajax answered.

“How much were you using?” Lexi asked, curious. 

“About three to five thousand per cast.” Ajax answered.

“Only that much?” Lexi exclaimed. 

Three to five thousand mana in a single cast was an enormous amount of mana. Even as mages became stronger and spells became a lot more powerful a lot of that was down to how efficient they became with their mana. Sure the amount of mana in a single also increased as a mage increased in level but while the mana used increased linearly the output of the spells increased exponentially. Three to five thousand mana was the amount a mage champion would use for one of their bigger spells. 

At the same time that amount of mana was nowhere close to what Ajax would be using in the dungeon. He would be getting the mana of ten people, of which Lexi Anna and Xavier were three of them and their stats were slightly inflated compared to what they should be. More than that he would also be getting a third of all their Stamina in mana as well, for a group focused on Endurance that would be a sizable Stamina pool as well. Ajax would be closing in on thirty thousand mana in a single cast.

“It’s not easy to practice with, and it’s not like we had a lot of time.” Ajax knew his excuse wasn’t the sturdiest but the only time he had to practice with the staff had been on their journey from Lessis to the capital. The only people who were there to help him were the royal squads who were also on guard so they would only donate a small amount of their resources. “I will say that using someone else’s mana is a lot more inefficient. I think I’m about three times as wasteful as I am when using my own mana.” 

“We’ll definitely have to practice a lot more with the staff.” Lexi nodded as she looked towards the ring that Housed the massive ettin caster weapon. “It’s currently our House’s last resort defense and there is a lot we need to learn about it. Does the efficiency increase if you add your own mana to the mix?”

“I haven’t tried that yet.” Ajax answered. “So far I’ve only tried casting with other people’s mana.” 

“In that case at least stick with a more concentrated element for your opening spell.” Lexi said as she looked towards Ajax. “Even if you only get one third the efficiency that will still add up to about ten thousand effective mana, the staff might spare your mana channels but that will cost you in control.” 

“So no Fire.” Ajax joked with a smile.

“Definitely no Fire.” Lexi smiled back. “Ice, Earth, Lightning are probably your best bet. It’ll also depend on what you are fighting.”

Ajax had to agree, of his Mana affinities Ice Earth and Lightning were probably the best in terms of an opening attack. Metal, Light and Shadow spells simply wouldn’t do as much damage, Holy was out of the running unless the floor boss had Curse mana and he had no confidence in properly aiming ten thousand mana Void strike, he would for sure miss the point of impact. Fire, Wind, Water and Magma on the other hand were a danger to the people with him, all four of the elements were known for having wide area of effects at high mana usages and with lowered control a group of people at level fifty that had just been drained of their Mana and Stamina would be sitting ducks.Vibration Mana was even more out of the question than any other, with that much mana powering it Ajax wouldn’t be sure if even the squad present would be safe should any of them be in the general direction of the spell backed by a Legendary Mana affinity. The one option Ajax was still considering however was Life Mana. 

Unlike all the others using all that mana in a single Life Mana creation would not only be the most likely to waste as little mana as possible in terms of his lack of control due to how mana intensive the affinity innately was but by creating a construct it would be something that he could rely on for help for a good portion of the fight instead of being simply an opening attack.

“Good luck.” The words were echoed by everyone who saw Ajax and Lexi off from the Manashaper manor. Despite Ajax being the one fighting the wishes were all aimed towards Lexi and having a Floor Boss whose boon would best fit her.

“Good we’re all here.” the squad captain said as he took everyone in before he they all piled inside two carriages and headed for the dungeon.

As they traveled towards the dungeon Ajax couldn’t help but flex his right arm open and closed. The loss of his gauntlet was still not something he had grown accustomed to but he was sure the weapons he had from the royal family would hold up well before his commissions on affinity dedicated weapons were completed.

It also wasn’t just Ajax who was uncomfortable in their gear. Lexi, Anna and Xavier were all a little stiff as they adjusted to the exclusively defensive armor they were wearing, it was meant to help them endure any extremely wide area of effect attack the Floor Boss might have without the squad having to step in as that would invalidate the Achievement.

Their group got a few odd looks as they entered the dungeon, the guards at the entrance however did nothing but straighten their back and salute the royal squad the moment the group approached before waving them in.

The climb up through the floors was extremely uneventful. The group straight up headed towards the first arch they could find on each floor with Ajax using the arch guardians as practice for his new weapons while also taking the corpses. There was no point in hiding his loot boon as everyone who was here was well aware of it seeing as they hoped to get a variation of it. 

“Well, you guys finally get to do something.” Xavier joked with the squad as soon as they reached the sixteenth floor of the dungeon where they would challenge the floor boss. “I hope the floor boss isn’t an ent.” The jungle they were in could house all sorts of creatures but an ent wasn’t out of the question. That hardly mattered however as a floor boss wasn’t even always linked to the floor it spawned on.