“Good work out there newbie.” One of the sentries tells Ajax. The delve team had set up camp for the night.

Ajax simply nods and continues staring into the fire, supposedly men used to do this back when they lived in caves, just gazing at the fire. At least that’s what a documentary he once watched on Earth said, it likened it to their watching of TV in modern days.

Unlike what was said in that documentary however Ajax wasn’t simply mindlessly gazing into the fire. Ajax was instead thinking of the last few days. After his conversation the night of the ambush Luna’s predictions seemed to be pretty spot on, at least as far as he knew.

The next two days Ajax managed to finish all of his chores, set up a few more bee hives and even arranged to have his own house built inside the city. He knew he had overpaid severely, the cost of fifty gold was way too much even if the size and quick timeframe he wanted but it was within what he was willing to accept. By the end of the following week he would have a house of his own inside the capital.

With that out of the way he was swapping between two thoughts over and over. The first, and most importantly was what he should do now that laying low would no longer be an option? Initially he had planned to just sit tight in the Healing Union for a little while longer but the last two days inside the dungeon had thoroughly dissuaded him of that idea.

The expedition was formed of twenty-five people, ten of whom were healers in training. The highlands, like the name suggests, was a large open field covering a large hilly area. The monsters here were not very diversified and consisted of oversized snakes, moles, porcupines and a few birds of prey.

What was new was the huge rabbits that also called this floor home, they were only found of this variation out of the seven the floor had. Unlike any other dungeon monster he had met, despite them being level thirty and above, none of them were at all aggressive, choosing to flee at the first sign of aggression made towards them. They were also a much bigger pain in the ass than he would have originally thought.

The rabbits hide and skin was thrash, barely as good as hide from a level five bear, their meat on the other hand was juicy and delicious. The rabbits were a type of monster called a feeder. Unlike other monsters inside the dungeon, they actually reproduced and grew quickly. Not only that but any that were birthed and grown since the dungeon floor spawned were not made of pure mana and could be taken outside.

The appearance of feeder type monsters in random floors beside a dungeon’s first was a one in ten thousand chance. Most teams who found one either died on it or came out with enough materials to fund a new city depending on how high level they were.

This feature meant that the dungeon itself prevented any food shortages the capital would ever face, simply sending a high level team would allow them to fill a whole street of warehouses with food after a month inside the first floor. Their role inside the dungeon however made the floor a challenge for those of appropriate level.

The rabbits were also hunted by every other monster on the floor, catching and eating these rabbits would also allow the other monsters to grow in level, meaning in a few days time the bosses could surpass their starting level of thirty-five and reach close to forty. A common tactic was to quickly scour the floor and kill all the rabbits to stop the exp generation.

Ajax found the whole delve to be boring. Nothing inside here posed any credible threat to him and he started to see Luna’s point of view, staying with the Healing Union might be the safest choice for him but it would also be one that would see him stagnate. Much of his down time this delve had been spent deciding between joining the Adventurer’s Guild or trying for the Academy.

The guild represented a known reward, a good way to quickly grow stronger by doing what he has been doing for the past half a year, it would also come with substantial money and an option to be somewhat isolated from nobles, at least most of the time should he choose it.

The Academy was a slower road, he wouldn’t be delving as often and would most likely be bogged down with distractions. It also represented the best way for him to fortify his foundations and pick up any knowledge Hatchet didn’t know. He was already way ahead for his level, let alone his age. If that was all he would pick the Academy in a heartbeat, but going to work for the Academy meant a massive and constant exposure to nobles. Something he has been avoiding for as long as he could remember.

The decision wouldn’t come today, it all came down to the same thing it did the previous times he thought about it. He should take an interview and iron out exactly what the terms for his employment at the Academy and the Guild would be before he could decide which to choose.

With that matter going nowhere Ajax turned back to the other matter that had been on his mind, a much more positive one, the skill one he received the night before the expedition after installing three more bee hives on his patch of land [Beekeeping Trailblazer]. It was a Rare skill and his first non-combat Rare skill, not only that but it came with an Achievement attached.

Achievement: Trailblazer

Be the first to receive a skill.

Reward :

Skill rarity is increased by two ranks up to the limit of Legendary All experience gained from this skill is doubled CHOOSE ONE : increase efficiency of the skill by 100% or increase the effectiveness by 50% Your next Achievement earned has any Discovery cost reduced to nothing

This achievement is repeatable.

It was this Achievement in fact that pushed him so much towards the Academy. The Discovery cost exemption to his next earned Achievement was something that he would almost surely waste if he was going to forge straight ahead.

As for the choice, that one was simple. Beekeeping required minimal effort at best, unlike a combat skill where reducing the cost by half or increasing the output by half would need to be carefully considered here it was a clear choice. He picked the increase the night it was offered.

His thoughts were interrupted by a soft hiss that had him on alert in seconds. The grass throughout the whole floor was dense and tall to about knee hight, this made spotting snakes the size of a fire hose a challenge. He had learned their distinctive hiss as quite a few members of the delving team had been bitten shortly after he heard it during the first day.

The camp had cleared the grass ten feet in every direction before night fell but he knew that distance wouldn’t mean much if you were caught unaware. He wasn’t technically on night shift, the snake's presence on this floor meant that all newbies wouldn’t be put on night shift to prevent accidents. The large number of healers they had available would mean nothing if you died before they got to you.

“I hear one.” He announced loudly. The three that were on watch stiffening for a moment before slowly scanning the surroundings with care. That care was all that saved one of them from having a chunk taken out of his neck.

The snake was easily half again as thick as any they had encountered so far. A quick [Judge Threat] confirmed for Ajax that this was not only the first boss version of the snakes but it was also around level thirty seven, clearly it had had its fill of rabbits before stumbling upon them.

“Boss variant” the sentry that was attacked called out as he applied pressure to his shoulder. He hadn’t been fast enough to avoid getting hit at all.

“Get to the healers!” one of the other sentries said while the other rang the alarm bell to get everyone up.

Ajax had little patience for this. He was slightly annoyed by the sound the bell made. It was specifically enchanted to make a noise that would not only wake people up quickly but also unsettle monsters into backing away or charging forward. A great counter to ambush predators, sadly it also grated on the ears of friendlies as well.

He drew back an arrow and infused it with ice mana. He had found that spreading ice mana through the bodies of the snakes was the next best thing to a killing blow. Like reptiles back on Earth the snakes here were also cold blooded and were highly susceptible to the cold.

His arrow cleanly penetrated the neck of the snake, about half a foot from its maw. The shot had been carefully aimed to neuter the snake's lunge attack. Ajax had packed a hundred mana into the arrow and could already see a sheen of frost form around the shaft. A second arrow followed and took the snake's right eye. It also sealed the beast fate as the two sentries took advantage of the cripled snaked to decapitate it.