Ajax sat back and waited for more of the pain to pass but it was taking a lot longer than it did when he just sipped the water. With nothing much left to do he decided to check his stats before meditating to pass the time.

Name : Ajax

Level :25

Experience : 2200/38000

Traits: Divine Witness

Health: 1800/1800

Mana: 1830/1830

Stamina :1480/480

Vitality :180

Strength :146

Endurance :148

Dexterity : 147

Intellect : 184

Wisdom : 183

Mind : 183

Perception : 155

Stat Points :0

Skills :

Common :[Mathematics Lvl 22] [Stealth Lvl 27][Drawing Lvl 30][Athleticism Lvl 27] [Running Lvl 27][Reading Lvl 20][Writing Lvl 20][Cooking Lvl 20][Sewing Lvl 20] [Cleaning Lvl 15][Haggling Lvl 19][Gardening Lvl 20][Axes Lvl 32][Hammers Lvl 32 [Deception Lvl 21][Sword Lvl 26][Shield Lvl 26][Bow Lvl 26][Spear Lvl 27][Throwing Lvl 23][Persuasion Lvl 10][Unarmed Combat Lvl 23][Knives Lvl 27][Skinning Lvl 12][Tanning Lvl 10][Dismantle Lvl 20][Climbing Lvl 17][Tracking Lvl 23][Heat Resistance Lvl 10] [Poison Resistance Lvl 23][Pain Resistance Lvl 16][Trapping Lvl 17] Uncommon :[Meditation Lvl 40][Sense Mana Lvl 41][Expel Mana Lvl 40][Sprinting Lvl 26][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 17][Leatherworking Lvl 10][Alchemy Lvl 10][Mana Milling Lvl 6][Precise Cut Lvl 24][Precise Blow Lvl 24][Judge Threat Lvl 20][ Piercing Shot Lvl 24] [Berserker Lvl 1] Rare : [Manipulate Mana Lvl 33][Water Aspect Mana Lvl 25][Fire Aspect Mana Lvl 24] [Air Aspect Mana Lvl 25][Earth Aspect Mana Lvl 27][Inject Mana Lvl 27][Spot Weakness Lvl 17][Residue Recognition Lvl 12] [Light Aspect Mana Lvl 22][Shadow Aspect Mana Lvl 25][Mana Skin Lvl 3] Epic : [Mana Augmentation Lvl 21][Mana Conjuration Lvl 20][Lightning Aspect Mana Lvl 13][Metal Aspect Mana Lvl 12][Ice Aspect Mana Lvl 12][Magma Aspect Mana Lvl 8][Holy Aspect Mana Lvl 1][Void Aspect Mana Lvl 10] Legendary : [Mana Syphon Lvl 20]

New :

Upgrades :

Stealth 26 -> 27

Athleticism 26 -> 27

Running 26 ->27

Axes 31 -> 32

Hammers 30 -> 32

Deception 20 -> 21

Sword 24 -> 26

Shield 24 -> 26

Bow 24-> 26

Spear 25 -> 27

Throwing 22 -> 23

Unarmed Combat 21 -> 23

Knives 26 -> 27

Poison Resistance 19 -> 23

Pain Resistance 10 -> 16

Sprinting 25 -> 26

Danger Sense 15 -> 17

Precise Cut 22 -> 24

Precise Blow 22 -> 24

Judge Threat 18 -> 20

Piercing Shot 22 -> 24

Spot Weakness 15 -> 15

Mana Syphon 16 -> 20

Mana Augmentation 20-> 21

Lightning Aspect Mana 10 -> 13

Metal Aspect Mana 10 -> 12

Ice Aspect Mana 10 -> 12

Magma Aspect Mana Lvl 7 -> 8

Void Aspect Mana 3 -> 10

Manipulate Mana 30 -> 33

Water Aspect Mana 23 -> 25

Fire Aspect Mana 23 ->24

Air Aspect Mana 24 -> 25

Earth Aspect Mana 25 -> 27

Inject Mana 24 -> 27

Spot Weakness 15 -> 17

Residue Recognition 10-> 12

Shadow Aspect Mana 22 -> 25

Mana Skin 2->3

He had leveled up from the fight with the fish, not only that but despite it not being that difficult of a fight he had already gained another two thousand experience. Ajax found that hard to believe until he took a deeper look at his skill upgrades. He figured that most of the secondary experience all came from how he suffered the mana overload, the massive jump his [Mana Syphon] [Poison Resistance] and [Pain Resistance] made was quite enough to account for it.

That wasn’t the only new thing he learned, upon closer inspection he figured out that he could increase his mana aspects even without using them directly. So long as he used an aspect that was a derivative of it it would work. This made him feel bad about neglecting his light and holy aspects, but light wasn’t all that strong outside of healing and dark places not to mention that he still didn’t even know how to use holy.

[Berserker] was another skill he hadn’t had the opportunity to use at all. Its counterpart from the mana stats was seeing a bit of use as an extra layer of defense but this one put him in quite a bind. He was careful and fought in a strong unit in the war meaning he wasn’t getting hit to trigger it, and in the fight against the bear and fish the recuperative effects on his stamina weren’t worth the danger of the extra damage he would take.

He didn’t worry so much about this, as an adventurer the party groups would be much smaller and the need for extensive amounts of stamina mixed with fighting strong enemies would mean he would end up getting hit once or twice. So long as their party had a healer in it all would be fine.

With everything else being fine Ajax started meditating, and he kept it up until he finally felt that the pain subsided enough for him to move. It was already almost the next morning, so Ajax wasn’t sure when time had passed that quickly but he wasn’t worried. He knew he would have until evening before the first soldiers showed up.

The reason he told his brother to delay relaying the report was so that contacting the other side on the same day would not be feasible. They wouldn’t dare send any soldier here without first launching their accusations for fear it might be used to say they knew about it all along. Ajax made sure to wear a cloak so as to not be mistaken as part of the army for that very reason.

As he stood up he noticed the change to his surroundings. The crow-like birds had picked the fish almost clean. While he lamented the loss of the meat it was not that big a loss considering that the scales and teeth were still left. He collected them and stored them into his pack before looking up at the blasted fruits that laid him out.

The tree was filled with them and they still looked plumb and smelled delicious despite him knowing that even one bite would be enough to kill him in the state he was in. A quick count let him know there were more than one hundred fruits on the tree so he decided to take five more for himself just in case they had a use he didn't know about. After all, the army wouldn’t know how many fruits there were initially.

With that taken care of, Ajax started walking slowly towards where the first village should be according to the map. He would be heading back the long way around to ensure he doesn’t meet up with the army. Not only that but this path would take him through the village closest to the nearest known dungeon, at least according to the other guards in his unit.

He knew better than to put too much stock in what they said but it was all still useful information to have. Knowing the way to the village and getting a lay of the land would help his resume when applying to join adventurer parties. He was under no illusion that with his age, lack of experience and low level he wouldn’t be taken seriously. Sure his age and level combination would impress people with his dedication but seeing how the weakest level in the dungeon started with level thirty-five creatures nobody would trust him to really have their backs.

He resigned himself to being a supporter for the first trip he ever made where hopefully he would be able to make a good enough showing to stick with them and get his full membership acknowledged. The nearby dungeon was a ten step dungeon, this meant that the second level would have level forty-fives as base and the third level fifty-fives. That was excluding the bosses who guarded the entrance to the next floor, they would be much stronger.

His ideal level would be the second as that would push him the most while having a team at his pack would allow him to tackle the stronger boss monster that should rival the fish and bear without weeks of preparation. He would have to start at level one and prove himself, hopefully he would be able to tag along with a stronger team that was looking to relax in level one and that would be his way into entering level two sooner.

To be honest with himself this dungeon was quite a bad range for him. By himself he couldn’t push himself all that much on the first level but the second level was too dangerous to take on alone. This left him to rely on the kindness of other adventurers.

The way back took him a little more than a week. The first few days he didn’t cover all that much ground and even took to exploring the village a little so he would have an idea of the prices and availability of items. Once his bout of mana poisoning passed and he could once again use his mana without training his [Pain Resistance] his speed towards Lessis picked up.

The entrance to the city was clear when he arrived towards the evening of the eighth day. Not only that but one of the guards on duty recognised him.

“Ajax, you finally made it back!” He greeted him. “You didn’t think to send a message you would take your sweet time on your way back? Your brother, sister and parents have all been worried sick for the last two days.

His words made Ajax feel bad about his lack of communication, at least until he fully processed them. Why were his parents here? They had no reason to come to the city. He said his goodbyes to the guard and started moving deeper into the city.

As he got deeper and deeper he met more and more guards that knew him, the only difference was that these knew him from the skirmish and were now given their time off. He was honestly shocked at the welcome he received. The first two groups offered to buy him a drink the moment they spotted him. It wasn’t until the third when he bowed out of another round saying he’d already had some and wanted to get in touch with his brother that he found out why everyone was so friendly.

Apparently the baron’s son had no qualms about giving him some public credit about his exploit regarding discovering the pond and how it meant that they could avoid a second skirmish. This was the reason why every guard under commander Grievous was so magnanimous with him as they knew it would have still been them that would have been drafted for the second war.

He was honestly glad for the public recognition for once. It meant that not only did the nobles here decide not to kidnap him, otherwise they wouldn’t be drawing attention to him, but it would also help him join his first party as an adventurer.

As he now stood in front of the door to his brother’s house he could hear his sister’s and parents' voices coming from inside as he went to open the door.