Chapter 396

Ajax was very impressed with Xavier’s new style. From what little he had shared about his breakthrough it seems that besides the usual five skill types that were used as the basis for this style, he had also added the Uncommon skill [Battle Rhythm].

Before getting his battle style skill Xavier had used [Battle Rhythm] to help predict an opponent's next move but now he could not just react, but by carefully orchestrating the fight to happen on his terms he could rely on his opponents own ingrained movements from training to get them to stick to the rhythm he was dictating even when they initially wanted to diverge. What was even scarier was that he had done the same thing to Ajax and he hadn’t even realized for how long he had been going with it. 

That one spar was the only one Ajax took part in before they arrived at the next dungeon. He had spent the rest of his time working on his Vibration mana with Lexi, though he could tell something was up with her ever since he showed her he had gained the same affinity. It wasn’t that she wasn’t happy for him but something was eating away at her. 

“What’s going on?” Ajax asked as they retired for the evening the night before they arrived at the dungeon.

“It’s nothing.” Lexi said. 

Despite Ajax not being the most perspective person when it came to social situation he could tell it most certainly wasn’t nothing. “It’s not nothing. You can tell me.” 

“Fine…” Lexi let out a deep sigh as she turned to look Ajax in the eye, as she took in a deep breath Ajax could tell she was building up the courage to admit what was wrong. “I’m afraid you are going to just leave me behind.” Lexi admitted. 

Ajax’s instinctual reaction was to deny that he would ever do that but he caught himself. He took a moment to digest what Lexi had just said. Throughout their entire relationship Ajax had always been a few steps stronger than Lexi, that hadn’t been a problem for them then so what was it that caused it to be a problem now. 

There were two things that Ajax’s mind went to. The first was that not only was Ajax stronger still but that the gap between them was actively increasing as time passed. Had the gap between them stayed the same Lexi wouldn’t have started to have these feelings of inadequacy. 

The second thing was that Ajax had gained the same Legendary affinity Lexi had. Before they had gone on the expedition outside of Gryndor Ajax had access to all the affinities Lexi had and even a few more on top of that. For a moment there both of them had also gained a Legendary affinity each but now not only had Ajax gained two affinities one of them was the same one Lexi had. This on top of all the extra stats Ajax was gaining with each dungeon not to mention his most recent Achievement, as he thought about all this Ajax felt a pit form in his own stomach about how he might actually pull too far ahead of Lexi to the point she couldn’t join him on any of his future adventures. 

“You see it too…” Lexi whispered as she noticed Ajax’s eyes widened, a small part of her had hoped that he would just deny it, while this response was better for them in the long run in the short term it increased the pressure she was feeling. 

“I don’t know how to help...” Ajax finally said as he hugged Lexi closer. “But don’t give up hope, after this trip your stats will have increased enough that your grandfather may be able to teach you further.” 

Ajax’s words actually brought Lexi’s spirits up. Before they left Gryndor Lexi had hit a wall in terms of what her grandfather could teach her because she simply couldn’t push her skills any further because of her limited stats. This was one of the big issues many people who were extremely talented faced in that their skill would grow too quickly, once they capped out due to stats they had a much harder time gaining the experience to level to push the cap further out. 

Ajax was actually one of the best examples for this. Despite the fact that his skills were actually a little under the level expected of someone as talented as he was, at least for his level, he had only gotten to that high of a level because he had about three times as many skills. 

“I’ll make sure you’ll get to delve more in the future as well.” Ajax promised as much to Lexi as he did to himself. “It will be a decade, maybe two, before you reach the point where you’ll lose out on the stats any of these dungeons can provide for you and I’ll make sure there is another delve ready for you to push further.” 

Ajax’s promise helped not only with his own determination but it also helped ease Lexi’s own fears a little as they both cuddled together before going to sleep. Tomorrow they would be delving and they needed to be as rested as possible. 

The fourth dungeon in Deepwood had a thirteen level jump between floors and started with a floor that housed monsters between levels thirty two and thirty seven. Ajax was slightly disappointed by how the math worked out as he would only be able to get the clear stats for only four floors. 

More than that everyone was slightly more relaxed as they got ready to enter this dungeon because of how the breakpoints worked out. While none of them were going to be leaving their guards down, the floors worked out in such a way that all of them would be fighting a few levels below the highest floor they had already cleared in other dungeons. This was especially true of Lexi who had managed to just barely defeat a level seventy and would now only be fighting a level sixty three. 

“I hope you’re not thinking-” Ajax said as they stood before the entrance of the dungeon. 

“No, I’m not thinking of trying to kill the level seventy six.” Lexi cut him off before he finished, she had entertained the idea for longer than she’d like to admit and while she knew the danger she would be exposed to would be limited with the prince there to interfere the gap was just too big. “I would need to be pushing the limits of my abilities to even try something like that.” 

While running through all of the dungeons like this one after the other was a big boost for each of them because of the stats they gained it did also mean that as they went further and further along their journey they were also losing out on just what percentage of their full power they could bring to bear. 

Before she had left Gryndor Lexi was confident that she had mastered what she was capable of and could bring out close to one hundred percent of what her stats, skills and spells could do. While she was stronger now than when she began the added stats, skills were not yet fully mastered. More than that because they were doing so many dungeons the increase in power was one of the largest ones she had ever experienced in such a short span of time. 

Lexi had only seen such a dramatic change in her stats two times before, the first was when she reached the age of ten and had finally gotten to spend all of the stats she had been gathering, the second was when she had first consumed all of the potion she could get a use out of across four months under her grandfather’s guidance. Both times it had taken her years with her family's support to once again be able to leverage all of the power she was capable of.  

“Ajax, a word.” The prince approached Ajax once they entered the dungeon. 

“Yes?” Ajax was confused why the prince would want a private word like this. Lexi’s recent confession had him worried that it would also be something bad. 

“I am not sure what happened as you cleared the last dungeon, nor am I sure just what the new skills you gained from killing the assassin mean in terms of your full abilities.” the prince was deadly serious as he spoke, not an ounce of his usual joking attitude could be seen. “But you are not attempting the seventh floor.” 

Ajax was surprised by what the prince said. In a moment of stunned silence Ajax redid the math to make sure he wasn’t mistaken but no, the prince was saying that Ajax shouldn’t try killing a level one hundred and forty one miniboss. Something he had no intention of trying anyway.

“I had no intention of trying that.” Ajax said. “Why wouldn’t I do so if I could?” 

“Because I can’t clear the eighth floor.” the prince responded. “ The risk is just too great.” 

The eighth floor would have level one hundred and sixty seven minibosses on it, while they would be strong Ajax had no doubt that the prince would be able to clear all of them in time without much issue, at worst they might have to spend some extra time on the seventh floor to make sure the main mana type of the floor was favorable for the prince. The big problem was the floor boss, since a floor boss of that level could very much kill even the prince if a bad matchup came up. 

“I see.” Ajax acknowledged. “No need to worry, I’m not there just yet.” In an odd twist it was Ajax making the joke with cocky grin and the prince that was looking at him with a serious air.