Ajax woke up around noon. Despite the time being late he was still one of the first not on duty to wake up and headed over to eat breakfast by himself. He had heard Kate and Tom get busy last night before getting to sleep so he decided not to disturb them so early. Fluffy on the other hand had no trouble getting up and following him despite the midnight snack he had.

Before heading out he poured the shadow cat a small bowl of mana infused water as they had gotten into the rhythm of doing so every morning. Despite her usual lazy nature she finished the bowl in the time it took for him to place the waterskin back into his concealed space in the travel pack.

He got his serving and went over to a table and started to eat. Halfway through his meal however someone joined him at the table.

“Morning, rookie.” The head hunter greeted him as he took a seat across from him and Fluffy.

“Morning.” Ajax kept his greeting short as he usually did with the people of the unit considering he wasn’t going to be sticking around once this whole mess was over with.

“Now, usually I would have addressed this last night, but there were too many people here when you were eating and then the whole thing with the battle happened so I never got around to it.” the old man rambled on. “Anyway we should discuss your extracurricular activities.”

“What do you mean by that?” Ajax asked, tensing up a little.

“No need to get all worked up. You’re not in trouble yet. With having joined our unit you skipped the conscripted orientation since it wasn’t all that pertinent. As such you have been given no warnings yet on anything, which is what I am here to do. In the interest of openness I should also mention that I have a weak skill that helps me spot through lies, most older guards do.”

At this reveal Ajax started patting himself on the back for all the effort he took with technical truths he had used throughout his time with the guards unit.

“Now, like I said you’re in no trouble just yet. But let’s just say I think you found something out in the woods, something you have been keeping to yourself.” The accusation rang out in his ears, seeming a lot louder than the words were spoken.

First taking a look around to check for anyone else he decided to take this face on. “What gave you that idea?”

“You might be good at erasing your tracks kid, but you have ventured out farther than the perimeter of the camp three times total since the start of us setting up camp here.” He said, holding out his hand ready to count on his fingers. “ First was with the entire group, even then you somehow found the cub and mother. The second time you went by yourself and found an even more impressive specimen. This by itself would not amount to much since it would be a reasonable deduction for a hunter to search for a nest, especially since you found out the true rarity of the creature before us.”

“Where it doesn’t add up is that on your next day off you headed out again by yourself, all determined. Not only that but you came back apparently empty handed but not looking angry or displeased, instead you looked pleased.” he lowered his hand and his relaxed look turned serious. “ You see how something like this might be cause for suspicion? Even if I am the only one to figure it out so far.“

Ajax froze a little at the explanation. It was true, due to his low amount of free time he hadn’t thought about the perception of his actions would look if someone took a closer look. Seeing how the man didn’t go to report this up the line but decided to confront him instead Ajax had already discussed with Kate and Tom what he should do if someone came up to him like this. The only reason they didn’t spread this around was that one corrupt soldier or turcoat would ruin everything if they found out.

“I will admit that I looked into what should happen with any untapped resources found surrounding the contested area. I will also say that I have no intention of hoarding them for my own profit. If I should find something and not report it immediately there is a reason, beneficial to our side, for why I would act how I act.” he and Kate had both worked for over an hour to construct this specific answer, one that will not be marked as a lie by any truth skill and also not reveal enough that their plan to have the pond and stream be part of their winnings of this war.

It was his turn to see the veteran hunter and guard freeze and think about what he said. The statements about hoarding were both true, though they didn’t mention the benefits he was keeping for himself in the form of the water fed to Fluffy or the training against the bear and the fish.

“Hmm, that’s an interesting statement” he grinned but turned serious a moment later. “But I will ask this, can whatever you are planning blow back badly on us?”

“No” Ajax was quick to answer. After all there was no real downside, the only cost to his plan was the amount of time the other baron had to monopolize the spring. That seemed a fair price to pay in exchange for a decent chance to claim both the spring and the pond without another skirmish starting

With a simple nod he was now again sitting at the table with only Fluffy to keep him company. The feeling of his deception skill going up a rank coming in made him take a look at his status, interested to see just how far his skills had progressed.

Name : Ajax

Level :24

Experience : 6320/35500

Traits: , Divine Witness

Health: 1730/1730

Mana: 1690/1690

Stamina :1360/1360

Vitality :173

Strength :134

Endurance :136

Dexterity : 135

Intellect : 171

Wisdom : 169

Mind : 169

Perception : 132

Stat Points :0

Skills :

Common :[Mathematics Lvl 22] [Stealth Lvl 26][Drawing Lvl 30][Athleticism Lvl 26] [Running Lvl 26][Reading Lvl 20][Writing Lvl 20][Cooking Lvl 20][Sewing Lvl 20] [Cleaning Lvl 15][Haggling Lvl 19][Gardening Lvl 20][Axes Lvl 31][Hammers Lvl 30 [Deception Lvl 20][Sword Lvl 24][Shield Lvl 24][Bow Lvl 24][Spear Lvl 25][Throwing Lvl 22][Persuasion Lvl 10][Unarmed Combat Lvl 21][Knives Lvl 26][Skinning Lvl 12][Tanning Lvl 10][Dismantle Lvl 20][Climbing Lvl 17][Tracking Lvl 23][Heat Resistance Lvl 10] [Poison Resistance Lvl 19][Pain Resistance Lvl 10][Trapping Lvl 17] Uncommon :[Meditation Lvl 40][Sense Mana Lvl 41][Expel Mana Lvl 40][Sprinting Lvl 25][Mining Lvl 10][Lumberjack Lvl 10][Smelting Lvl 10][Blacksmithing Lvl 10] [Chanting Lvl 11][Mana Farming Lvl 12][Increase Price Lvl 10][Lower Price Lvl 10][Danger Sense Lvl 15][Leatherworking Lvl 10][Alchemy Lvl 10][Mana Milling Lvl 6][Precise Cut Lvl 22][Precise Blow Lvl 22][Judge Threat Lvl 18][ Piercing Shot Lvl 22] [Berserker Lvl 1] Rare : [Manipulate Mana Lvl 30][Water Aspect Mana Lvl 23][Fire Aspect Mana Lvl 23] [Air Aspect Mana Lvl 24][Earth Aspect Mana Lvl 25][Inject Mana Lvl 24][Spot Weakness Lvl 15][Residue Recognition Lvl 10] [Light Aspect Mana Lvl 22][Shadow Aspect Mana Lvl 22][Mana Skin Lvl 2] Epic : [Mana Augmentation Lvl 20][Mana Conjuration Lvl 20][Lightning Aspect Mana Lvl 10][Metal Aspect Mana Lvl 10][Ice Aspect Mana Lvl 10][Magma Aspect Mana Lvl 7][Holy Aspect Mana Lvl 1][Void Aspect Mana Lvl 3] Legendary : [Mana Syphon Lvl 16]

New :

Berserker 0 -> 1

Mana Skin 0 -> 2

Upgrades :

Stealth 23 -> 26

Athleticism 23 -> 26

Running 24 -> 26

Cleaning 13 -> 15

Axes 30 -> 31

Hammers 27 -> 30

Deception 16 -> 20

Sword 20 -> 24

Shield 20 -> 24

Bow 20 -> 24

Spear 20 -> 25

Throwing 20 -> 22

Unarmed Combat 20 -> 21

Knives 25 -> 26

Skinning 10 -> 12

Climbing 15 -> 17

Tracking 20 -> 23

Poison Resistance 18 -> 19

Trapping 12 -> 17

Sprinting 22 -> 25

Danger Sense 10 -> 15

Precise Cut 20-> 22

Precise Blow 20 -> 22

Judge Threat 13 -> 18

Piercing Shot 20 -> 22

Spot Weakness 13 -> 15

Mana Syphon 14 -> 16

The status showed clearly the lack of improvement in most of his mana skills. The fact that he only used a few in the second combat with the bear besides [Mana Syphon] meant it wasn’t enough for them to grow. That said he could also see the difference in how the skills that he used often and in new ways differed from those that he just kept up with. [Poison Resistance] being the obvious standout as one that he had been training for a long while with very little improvement as his own natural resistance independent of the skill started to grow to the poisons he had access to.

The amount of experience was also something he was glad for. A little less than half of the amount gained had come from the two encounters with the bear and fish, showing that his constant combat with the two would lead to maybe even getting to level twenty-five by the time he defeated them both.