Chapter 419

The party was held at House Blackthorn’s manor, with the manor only being House Blackthorn’s residence in the capital it wasn’t a fortress tree but it was easy to see how hard they had tried to recreate one, in aesthetics if not in function. 

“Are you sure that’s not one of their special trees, it looks a lot like the palace?” Alana asked as she took in the grandeur of the many trees that intertwined themselves.

Having so much more freedom in Sylvanthal one of the first things Ajax did was explore, he was very surprised to find that the capital city was smaller than both Gryndor’s capital as well as the Republics. At the same time however the capital was a lot taller, unlike the elven section of the Republic almost every tree in the capital was at least five stories tall with the capital being built more like a series of apartment flats.

“I’m sure.” Ajax confirmed as he looked upwards towards the tangled mess of tree trunks that somehow managed to look artful. “The trees barely have any mana going through them, it's why there are so many fixtures added to the exterior, they needed a place to put their enchantments since the bark won’t support them.” 

Their entire group was welcomed into the estate by polite servants that led them towards the large ballroom. Much like Deepwood the nobility were dominated by elves, the only difference here was the odd human, dwarf or beastkin was a lower noble instead of a slave. 

Arianwyn was quick to go and greet them once they arrived. “I’m so glad you made it.” she said in greeting. “I was worried you would miss it when I heard you wanted to stay behind and try your hand at alchemy.” 

“I wouldn’t have missed this.” Ajax said with a smile as he lied through his teeth. 

“CoughCough” Alana was forced to hide her laughter at his words under a fake cough though it was clear from Arianwyn’s face she hadn’t done that good of a job in her deception.

“I’m sure.” Arianwyn laughed good naturedly at the looks of doubt the rest of them were throwing Ajax. 

“I’ll have to ask that you forgive my son,” Silvia said as she bowed to the princess. “While his older brother seems to have taken after both of his parents, his sister has taken after me and he after his father.” 

Everyone here had done their research on Ajax and knew that his father had always been a blacksmith, one that worked alone in a village for most of his life following his quick apprenticeship in the capital. It was no surprise that Ajax would inherit his less than social minded attitude.

“It’s nothing to apologize for.” Arianwyn reassured her. 

It took no time at all for Arianwyn to be joined by her mother as well as her uncle and cousin, while Ajax wasn’t yet important enough to be greeted promptly by the hosts the same could not be said about Xavier and the prince, even Anna, Lexi and Darkclaw couldn’t be left waiting too long without political ramification.

“It’s a pleasure to have you here, Your Highness.” Duke Blackthorn said with a bow towards Xavier and the prince.

The exchange of greeting alone between such a diverse group of nobles took almost two minutes and Ajax could already feel the toll it was taking on his social energy, luckily enough he had found a kindred spirit in the young Blackthorn.

“Happy birthday.” Ajax congratulated the youth once he caught his eye as he was standing off to one side.

“Thank you.” The boy's response had initially been prim and proper showing his extensive lessons in social interactions, it was all quickly undermined by his excited follow up. “Is it true you managed to beat my cousin using a new type of mana?” 

Ajax had initially felt a little awkward discussing his fight against Arianwyn but as the discussion moved away from the fight and more to his hybrid fighting style in general he became more and more engaged in the conversation.

“Is your son looking to become a hybrid combatant?” the prince asked duke Blackthorn as he kept a close ear on the conversation not looking for a repeat of the royal meeting where Ajax let slip a bit of information.

“It is more of a fascination. Unfortunately he doesn’t possess the talent for the physical combat side.” the duke responded. The prince couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow at this as he inspected the elf’s solid body. “ What he lacks in combat prowess however he makes up for as a crafter, he just might become one of the few smiths our people can be truly proud of.” 

It took all of the young’s elf power to hold back a whimper as his father and aunt dragged him away from Ajax to greet the nobles his mother was greeting thirty minutes after Ajax’s arrival at the party. “What did you say to him?” Arianwyn asked. 

“I disagreed with him.” Ajax said as he scratched his head also somewhat sad that their conversation had been cut short. “And it seems he was receptive to my argument.” 

“What about?” Arianwyn asked.

“He maintains that the best hybrid fighter would be one that was reliant on stamina skill for a boost in physical power and spells for attack enhancers.” Ajax said. 

“That is the widely accepted point of view.” Arianwyn nodded. “Not all hybrid fighters follow that model simply because they don’t all have the talent for a stamina based boosting skill, what do you think would be better?”

“Both a mana and stamina based boosting skill, as well as stamina based curse attack enhancers to compliment the use of spells.” Ajax said. “Though I will admit they wouldn’t be able to remain active for long.” 

“The chances that someone would be able to unlock so many different skills is so slim.” Arianwyn said as she shook her head. “I can see why he was so excited about the possibilities.” 

For the majority of the evening Ajax had mainly stayed by his mother’s or Alana’s side as he greeted some of the more enterprising elven nobles, when he wasn’t socializing with them he was talking with the birthday boy or with the royal gardener who had joined the party closer towards the evening.

“The king is here.” the prince whispered so that Ajax would hear him as the time was nearing midnight.

Ajax quickly extricated himself from the discussion and joined the prince as they headed for the monarchs. “Could you grab your cousin for a moment.” Ajax asked Arianwyn as they made their way across the ballroom.

“Now?” she seemed a little surprised but once she saw the serious look on both Ajax and the prince’s face she simply nodded. 

““Your Majesty”” Both Ajax and the prince greeted the king. 

“Is something the matter?” The king asked a little suspiciously as he saw his daughter bringing the birthday boy towards them with a serious face. 

“If we could have a more private talk.” the prince requested. 

The king took a moment to think about it before he nodded to his wife who led them out of the ballroom and to one of the adjacent small rooms. 

“What is this about?” the queen asked, a little more suspicious than her husband as she hadn’t had much of a chance to interact with Ajax previously and suspected him of being up to something. 

The prince stepped back and let Ajax take the lead as this was still his gift. “Thank you for this,” Ajax said. “This is regarding my gift, it is a rather sensitive matter.” 

“The gifts are to be opened in a few hours.” the queen said, a little frosty. 

“It can also be time sensitive I’m afraid.” Ajax said, peeking the elves' curiosities. 

Ajax then turned towards the birthday boy with a smile and proceeded to explain the method for manipulating his status so that he can preserve his free stat points for later use and how that would maximize the natural stat point gained during the Apprentice period. 

“I would like to ask that you don’t share this as the method will only be made public in two months or so.” Ajax finished his explanation.

“That…” While the queen’s face didn’t give anything away her lack of words spoke volumes as the room decedened into silence.

“It works!” the young boy exclaimed with a happy voice as he had started trying to change his status interface once Ajax explained how it works.

“That is quite the gift Baron.” the king said with a shallow nod of acknowledgement. “And quite a lot of trust to put in us not to share it early, I thank you for that.”

With that out of the way the six of them returned to the party and the queen headed straight for Duke and Duchess Blackthorn to explain what had happened. It was important for the two of them to know since they had been planning for their son to give a performance of his newfound strength after he spent his points but that would need to be prevented for obvious reasons.