Chapter 445

A/N : Last chapter of the year coming a bit early, have a Happy New Year everyone and thank you all for your support!

“That leaves the question, what do we do with this information?” Archduke Silvertongue asked.

Ajax was surprised. “What do you mean?” he asked. “I suggest we stay away from the dwelling of any ascended being while expanding. No reason to risk it.” 

“That’s not what I meant.” the archduke assured him. “But do we share this with other kingdoms? As soon as we start expanding the Empire will follow suit, the way our border works demands it or we will start to surround them. The beastkin have been expanding in search of dungeons for the last century.” 

“Not only that but why would they believe us if we do tell them?” Archduke Steelblade asked. “Admitting that you talked with a dragon when you were ten, few would believe something like that.” 

“I’ll share it with Arianwyn when she comes.” Xavier offered. “I won’t tell her how we know, just that we suspect there is something like that, they’ll look in their own records to confirm it.” 

“That’s not a bad idea.” Archduke Steelblade nodded as he rubbed his chin. “I’ll have Benedict do the same thing.” 

“That’s settled then, depending on what Sylvanthal’s records say we could share this further with the other kingdoms.” the crown prince nodded. “Now, the gauntlet the dragon gave you.” 

Everyone's eyes focused on Ajax as he brought out the gauntlet. It had been with him for more than half his life and even though it was carefully maintained everyone could tell that it was getting worn out. 

“Interesting, looks like a shielded gauntlet.” Duke Manashaper examined the defensive enchantment that covered the bulky cover. “There is also something to disguise and hide, my [Sense Mana] can’t penetrate it.” 

“Underneath that cover there are lots of tiny mana gems, each with a different affinity.” Ajax explained. “By channeling my augmentation spells through them before imbuing them into my attacks it has allowed me to not wear away at my weapons.” 

“I didn’t know about that effect.” Archduke Goldmancer looked closely at the gauntlet. “It would certainly make His Highness's runic hybrid fighting style a lot more viable for the masses who don’t have the money to replace their weapons every four or five engagements.” 

“Is there no increase in power?” Archduke Steelblade asked.

“Not any more.” Ajax answered. “There was a substantial increase back when I first got it, before I spent my free stats. Because the gems hidden are so small however it takes everything they have to just handle my current spells. During my last few encounters on the top dungeon floors I’ve felt a few of the gems shatter when I put too much power behind an attack.” 

“How much power would be too much?” Archduke Manashaper asked curiously.

“It’s hard to tell.” Ajax quickly raised his hands in surrender so they wouldn’t protest. “My best guess is that for whatever size the gems in there are about the strength of a strong spell for a level seventy mage would be too much. It’s hard to tell since even if the gem shatters from the attack it still partially works, taking the brunt of my mana and leaving little damage to my weapons.” 

“That is something we can test later.” Duke Manashaper nodded. “But I am guessing this would need some specific enchantments or runes to work like this or we’d have figured this out before when we used the gems to simply amplify the spells.” 

“I’ve been curious about it for years myself but finding out is very likely to break the gauntlet and I still need it for now.” Ajax said. “After my delve in the Empire will be a perfect time to take a look as not only will I have outgrown the gauntlet but there will also be enough time to create new weapons in preparation for my trip in the Wild Lands as I get my duchy settled.” 

“I still think this trip to the Wild Lands is too risky.” Duke Manashaper mumbled but from his tone everyone could tell that he wasn’t going to push the subject at this time. 

“That brings us to the final topic for this meeting.” the king said. “Visiting the Empire now is much riskier than it was five years ago.” 

“You think they’ll try something while we’re there?” Ajax asked worriedly, he wouldn’t be going alone. At the very least Xavier, Anna and most importantly Lexi would all be going with him, he didn’t care all that much about Anna’s nephew Oliver who had surprisingly survived his return to House Goldmancer.

“It’s hard to tell.” the king sighed. “Even with how strong you’ve grown in such a little time it wouldn’t be worth it for them to try anything.” 

“That changes if they have deep enough informants to have found out about the plan we have in place with Sylvanthal to share Dungeons among the nobility.” Archduke Silvertongue said. “We’ve already sent out missives to every noble family that carry your method of waiting to spend your Free Stats.” 

“Nobles will still have their advantages.” Ajax argued. “Not to mention that this only affects the new generation. 

Ajax’s method was being widely spread throughout Gryndor to all commoners as well. It was one of the things Ajax had insisted upon and the king very much agreed with him. There were more than a few nobles who objected to this but many changed their tune when the king started hinting at the Dungeon exchange.

“You’re missing a very important point, Ajax.” Duke Goldmancer said. “You’re only looking at what your training will mean from the prospect of a fighter, a soldier or a delver. There have always been and will always be commoners who have the power to rival the nobles, now there will just be more and those will need to be managed more carefully but despite your experience the nobles that care about their people are still in the majority.” 

“What do you think will be the biggest change to come from you sharing this training with the commoners?” The crown prince asked Ajax.

“Everyone will grow stronger, they’ll all be able to delve and be comfortable getting the floor clear for most dungeons, maybe not those above a fifteen floor jump but those below.” Ajax answered. 

“That is true for maybe, at most, a twentieth of the population.” the crown prince explained. “And that is counting the standing army and soldiers. Very few people have the drive to push for more and risk like that. Most are content with the lives they live.” 

“You’re saying it won’t make that much of a difference in their lives?” Ajax was a little dejected to hear that. “That most won’t even make use of it?” 

“Oh no, it will make a big difference.” the crown prince shook his head. “Children almost always have that drive to push themselves, in fact I’ll do my best to help foster an attitude to help that along. But by saving their points until they are almost fifteen it also means they’ll spend them with more care.” 

Archduke Steelblade didn’t have the patience to let Ajax come to the correct conclusion by himself and just gave him the answer. “By age fifteen most have found their lot in life. Having twenty to thirty extra Strength, Dexterity and Endurance won’t change things all that much for a farmer, and they’ll know it. It might make things easier but so will skills. Having an extra eighty to one hundred Vitality at such an early age however will increase their lifespan by more than a century and a half.” 

Ajax knew that all of the physical stats affect a person’s lifespan, they just did so in different amounts, Dexterity the least followed by Strength and then Endurance. Vitality however was almost four times more effective than Endurance in terms of lifespan alone. 

Ajax had never looked at it like that but even if the effect he had on the population at large wouldn’t be exactly what he had hoped he was still happy to have given everyone an extra century of life.

“It’s not all good.” Archduke Silvertongue’s words dropped on Ajax like a bucket of cold water. “For many this will double their life span, the population will grow like never before, along with that so will the need for food and homes. Kingdoms will be forced to expand. I still think we need to look at influencing commoners regarding their children.” 

“No.” Both the king and the crown prince said at the same time. They shared a look before the king nodded for the crown prince to continue. “Changes will need to happen to keep the population from growing too much but not yet. We could benefit from an initial increase before we slow it down.” 

It was only then that Ajax processed just what he had almost caused. With double the lifespan but not much other changes it could lead to a catastrophe for the masses. Much as he disliked it, in the end it did fall on the nobles to lead the people. Commoners now averaged three to four children a family, and the population was kept in check by common causes of death. With double the lifespan the number of children per family would grow exponentially and lead to starvation or war. Contraception wasn’t widely available but it was something they needed to look into for their new duchy.