Chapter 180

The team moved through the dungeon at a decent speed. The one thing that was never the same regardless of it being on the same iteration of the dungeon’s first floor was the arches that lead to the next floor. Ajax knew more about them having found out that the mana types he could feel when touching them represented the main themes that the floor they led to would take.

Ajax had done quite a lot to try and improve his precision when taking a look at different arches, the biggest issue he had however was the way he was examining the mana. The way [Sense Mana] was locked off even at level fifty and provided no insight. [Mana Syphon] couldn’t do a much better job at penetrating the arch’s protection needing physical contact to even attempt siphoning the mana unlike spells which he could start draining more than ten feet out.

With all the tests he had done he found two big issues when it came to identifying floor themes. The first was that he could only get a reliable read on the top two most prevalent mana types at most. The other was that there were many mana types that he couldn’t identify since he hadn’t had contact with them.

The first arch was found in a little under half an hour after they entered the dungeon and was guarded by a giant snake that was level thirty five.

“Let's see what you can do.” Trevor encouraged Ajax.

Ajax didn’t want to waste any time with this. Instead of going to fight the snake up close he simply unslung his bow and drew back an arrow. Since he was going straight for the kill he used magma for as much straight up damage as possible, and he put a full two hundred mana into it.

His actions got a small reaction from the few mages that were present. The arrow wasn’t all that fast, without the physical enhancements provided by [Syphon Mana] his strength wasn’t all that outrageous, his bow also couldn't handle him using [Syphon Mana] and he knew he should look into replacing it.

The arrow flew quickly and while the snake did sense it before it struck it was still far too late for it to do anything about. The magma arrow barely made it more than an inch past its scales but that was more than enough for it to scorch the inside of the skull killing the beast instantly.

“How many of those can you fire?” was the first question he was asked Trevor.

“Without a break, another ten.” Ajax responded truthfully.

“That’s as powerful as a level thirty mage, I heard he was a hybrid.”

“He can only do it ten more times, mages at level thirty could output that power level for twenty attacks at least.”

“Not with the initial penetration power the arrow added on, and definitely not without an incantation”

Murmurs started to rise up all around him. Ajax knew his stats, at least mentally, were at about the same level they would be for a level thirty mage, maybe a bit higher. He just wasn’t as efficient with his mana in return for speed and flexibility.

“Let's get going through to the arch.” Trevor started to get them moving once again.

Ajax did take the time to start skinning the snake he killed and others quickly joined him once he started to get it done faster.

“This skin would work to make yourself a new pair of boots even if it's only for the duration of this dungeon.” the crafter woman said from behind him once he finished.

“What happens to craft once we exit the dungeon if they weren’t made from items that can be sustained outside the dungeon?” Ajax asked as he hadn’t ever had that much of an interest after he was told they wouldn’t work on the outside.

“Depends on the construction process.” the woman said. “If all of the item is made from them it will simply wither and rot, or crumble into dust. If it contains parts that are sustainable those won’t be affected but the parts that were made from dungeon material will be affected even if it doesn’t look like they were.”

“How can it not look like they were?” Ajax asked, since it should be pretty obvious if part of an item was withering away.

“Best example is when smelting multiple metals together. If even as little as one tenth of the metal can exist outside the dungeon the structure won’t collapse but it will become brittle, all but shattering the first time it meets any real power.” she explained. “ Selling such items is considered a crime and is punishable by at least five years worth of working the mines.”

Prison wasn’t a thing here, at least not long term like it was back on Earth. If you committed a crime your punishment could be a fine, community service work or death. Sometimes a mix of the three with your family being left with the fine if you were sentenced to death. Ajax found that to be a better system as it turned criminals into a cheap workforce for the public instead of a drain on taxes.

“There is one exception to things that you shouldn’t rely on that are made from dungeon material.” She added.

“What are those?” he asked, surprised since he hadn’t heard of anything like that.

“Stat increasing potions.” she explained. “If they are created inside the dungeon and consumed inside the dungeon the effects will persist even once you have left. It is why all the noble houses try to recruit experienced alchemists. A lucky few floors in succession inside the Goldmine and an Alchemist might end up having more than three quarters of the items needed to make the potions that their strongest retainers need.”

“Are there so few alchemists that even the large noble houses struggle to get even a single one?” he asked, surprised.

“There are that few dungeon crafters, yes.” she confirmed. “There is a big difference in crafting inside your workshop and crafting inside the dungeon.”

“I thought a strong team would be able to protect you while you craft, and with a big enough storage ring it shouldn’t be hard to get the required equipment.” Ajax thought out loud.

“While both of those things are still issues they aren’t what I was referring to.” she shook her head. “While the increased mana in the air might not have a massive effect on combat, though one should be increasingly more aware of it as they delve higher and higher floors, its effect on crafting is enormous.”

“I hadn’t thought about that.” Ajax said as his mind started thinking of the issue.

“It affects different crafting professions in different amounts. A leather worker would hardly be affected since most leather comes with the affinity of the monster it was skinned from so the mana in the air doesn’t change the volatility much. For a smith he needs to be extra careful when smelting so that the metals don’t become infused with the wrong type of mana. Alchemy just happens to be the most affected, closely followed by enchanting.” she said.

“Finding dungeon crafters is also rare since they are almost exclusively commoners.” Ajax gave her a look at that and she nodded to the crafters that had come with her in the dungeon. “Unlike nobles the dungeon is the only place where they can afford to find the materials they need to progress their craft. Most of them end up dead long before they reach their prime due to an accident that happens. After all, since they are crafters they usually lack combat skills and all it takes is for things to go wrong once.”

By the time they finished their little talk the entire team had made it through the arch. Ajax paused briefly to sense the type of mana inside the arch for the second floor and all he could feel was an immense amount of water mana.

Once he passed through the arch he found himself on a beach looking out into what seemed to be a lake or an ocean that was dotted with islands, he could even see another arch on the peach of the island closest to them. Most importantly however he could see the flashing icon in the corner of his vision that let him know his dungeon delving Achievement had progressed and he gained +1 to all stats.

Most of the team was upset about the theme of the second floor. It was a collection of islands, most inhabited by different species of humanoids, Trevor had seen a tribe of feral worgens, they resembled wolf beastkin but were much closer to the wolf side than the human, a tribe of goblins inhabited a different island and a few naga could be seen in the water.

The crafters were ecstatic with the floor theme as they were given a full four hours to build lots of boats from the trees on the island that they would use to get to the nearest island. Even if most of them weren’t all that excited about carpentry they knew it was a useful skill to have and most hadn’t started to focus on a specific craft just yet. Ajax also joined in but he only assisted in getting wood in chopping the trees into their proper shapes, leaving the assembly to those who had experience.

The boss guarding the arch they headfor was an orc chieftain. He had a few champions with him and Ajax was only able to pick off their caster with his bow before they spotted him and charged. With the ambient mana being much denser however Ajax had no issue using [Mana Syphon] to its full extent, and a few elemental enhanced blows made quick work of the orcs. The display got him a few nods of recognition from the other combatants on the team.

As they prepared to enter the third floor the crafter were arguing with the porters about how many barrels of water they should get, after who knew if they would have access to mana rich water on the next floor?

While Trevor and Nina, as he learned the head craftsman was called, were sorting that out Ajax placed his hand on the arch. He felt a strong fire mana presence that masked anything else but Ajax was suddenly very much in the favor of grabbing the water now as he took a barrel, filled it and put it inside his backpack.