Training and alchemy weren’t the only places where Ajax was pushing himself as much as he could in order to advance, delving had also been taken one step further as he pushed heavily into the 4th floor of the Highlands, but his limits were starting to show.

Much as Ajax might not like it, fighting groups of level sixty monsters was not something he could do safely just yet. It wasn’t so much that he didn’t have the necessary level of power as he could very much hold his own in comparison to the rest of the party. What Ajax lacked was the experience of working in a team at that level.

His time with The Collectors were a good first step for him to get the hang of fighting as part of a delving team, in fact what he had learnt with them was more than enough for him to freelance as an open adventurer. The reason for this was that someone of his power level wouldn’t be able to get a freelance job anywhere higher than the sixth floor of the Goldmine.

Changing teams so frequently meant that Ajax got to delve a lot more often than almost anybody in the capital but this came at a price of never getting to find his place with any of house Silvertongue’s teams. Teamwork was something that allowed people to push almost an entire floor higher than they would otherwise inside the Goldmine.

It was this exact strength however that caused Ajax to witness his first death inside the dungeon. While delving into the Goldmine the team had pushed all the way to the 8th floor when they got one of the worst possible themes. They had gotten a maze floor, not only that however they had gotten a mirror maze.

This type of floor was known as a slow killer. The floor didn’t start out any more dangerous than any other, the problem came with the mirrored surroundings and the light elementals that called the floor home.

In their sixties the elementals still had a very low level of intelligence and consciousness, they acted more like a venus fly trap that would try and eat anything that stepped into its trap regardless of what it was.

The mirrored surroundings not only let the elementals bounce their offensive attacks off the reflective surfaces but it also led to non-magical fighters to stop focusing on their sight all that much. Just because it looked like an elemental was right in front of you didn’t mean that was always the case, unlike mages who could trust their stronger [Sense Mana], [Detect Mana] wasn’t good enough to give them the position of the elementals.

By the end of the fourth day clearing out the floor most of the team had their brains fried from the constant focus required, all of them got jumpy from the slightest sound as that was one of the senses that the elementals couldn’t mess with.

The tragedy happened at a large intersection. A large reflective pillar signaled the center where seven different paths converged. Not only that but there were two different arches placed around the pillar so the team knew both would come with their own guardian boss.

What the team hadn’t expected was that one of the two bosses would be a shadow elemental instead of a light elemental. Unlike most other opposite elements, light and shadow elementals were often found in the same environment in the outside world. This however wasn’t the case in a dungeon floor that was entirely created of mirrors.

The team had created a solid strategy of smashing any mirrors surrounding them in the event of a fight, sure the dungeon floor would repair them in a few minutes but at least they wouldn’t have to worry about the light elemental attacks coming from beneath them and above them at the same time.

It was that exact assurance that had given the shadow elemental the opportunity it needed to gut one of their rangers from navel to chin in a smooth strike that none of them had been quick enough to react to. The elemental itself had even gotten itself killed from the incoming strike of the light elemental that the ranger had been prepared to dodge.

It was that experience that had gotten Ajax to not push so far into the dungeon too quickly, he needed to build up a rapport with some of the teams delving higher before he could push any further, ideally it would also be after the upcoming tournament where he would be get a few more stat potions for himself to increase his power further.

When it came to the crafting teams Ajax’s spot had been cemented. Every single one of house Silvertongue’s crafters knew of the furnace salamander egg that Nina had gotten, not only that but the little bugger had also hatched and bonded with the master smith. What was more surprising to Ajax however was just how closely Nina had bonded with the salamander.

Every time he had seen Nina after the egg had hatched he could also see the baby carrier that housed the little lizard strapped to her chest. This included the one time that she had gone delving with them.

Ajax thought it was insanity to bring such a low level creature into and delve into the dungeon because of how fragile it was. What he hadn’t taken into consideration was that the lizard consumes any mana infused reagents inside the dungeon in the same way that he could brew potions out of the plants. Taking young magical companions into safe dungeon delves like the ones done by the crafting team was a cheap, if random way that noble houses hunted for a few pieces of mana enhanced food for them.

Sadly none of the floors they had delved that day had contained anything that would be beneficial to the little lizard. Ajax however had seen a few things Fluffy could have used and a plant started to take shape in his mind.

The first step was to apply for a delve slot. He had been told that it would take months before he would get his chance but that was fine by him, the whole idea was to go alone with Fluffy into the dungeon and then rely on his [Syphon Mana] and ensure all of the floors would end up being shadow themed floors. A single delve could be worth upwards of a thousand gold even if they stopped on the fourth floor of the Goldmine. But for now all of that had to wait.

Ajax’s noble title party had become one of the most opportunistic events in decades. With the title he was receiving being only that of Baron the event was open to all noble houses, something that most had wanted desperately to attend since all three of the Archdukes were going to send representatives to if not come in person. This one little party would grant low Barons and Knights a chance to make connections with Viscounts as well as Dukes.

The low rung nobility weren’t the only ones chomping at the bit to get an invite to the party. Most affluent merchant commoners wanted to get an invitation more than the low nobles did, not only that but unlike the nobles they had a way in.

Every single merchant company that had any relation with Ajax’s grandparents or his sister had started coming out of the woodwork looking to get themselves an invite. Needless to say that from the moment that the three archdukes had RSVPed his grandparents had taken both Judy and Alana to one side and had a talk with them about the mountain of people that would come and ask for a favor.

In an odd twist of fate the biggest unquestionable reason that they had to reject people was the harsh opening week they had when they first got to town. Much like Ajax they had a few people who were owed a first day invite for the show of solidarity they had put up in helping them find their feet but after that the invites dried up faster than a desert after a light rain.

Ajax himself was hoping to just get the party over with, the only thing he was looking forward to was that the whole thing stood a good chance of helping him get another social skill. Well that and the chance to watch his brother squirm for once as he would get assaulted by people looking to try and get a match between their magical feline companions and Fluffy.