Much like the first time when he saw an obelisk activated on the first floor on his previous delve, Ajax could feel a mana pulse as soon as it was activated. This mana pulse was a lot stronger however, he had a random thought if he could syphon part of the pulse and only have half a dungeon come charging. It was a random idea and not one he would be testing much later, maybe when he was level thirty-five and on the first floor of the dungeon, at that point a ten level advantage for him should let him at least be able to escape on his own.

The other thing he noticed was that the obelisk also moved back into position meaning that it could probably be triggered again after it was left alone for some time to recharge mana. The next few hours of waiting were rather boring as nobody had anything to do, a few bats had shown up here and there but nothing else. They had already gathered everything and recovered, they were all ready in case a massive worm showed up.

“That’s it, I am calling it here.” Jones said. “There is no worm and we cleared this place out or if there is one it got stuck somewhere.”

That was met with a few cheers and grumbles about wasted time from various members of the team. Nothing else arrived for the last hour but they had been all on a hair trigger so some of them were looking to blow off some steam.

“Does that actually happen?” Ajax asked. “Can monsters or bosses get stuck?”

This wasn’t something that Ajax had covered in his training with Hatchet, most likely since it wasn’t something that ever had a negative effect or something extra to be on guard about.

“Oh yes, they can even get themselves killed.” Nelly said. “Just because the dungeon changes their behavior to be more aggressive doesn’t mean it makes them any smarter.”

“Anyone down for a race to the entrance?” the scout called out. “Double the standard since we are in a cave.”

Two of the more speed based members lined up next to him as they looked for someone to signal the start.

“How about you Ajax care to enter, only two gold coins and the winner takes all.” one of the other two members tried to entice him.

Ajax just shook his head but he couldn’t say he wasn’t tempted. He had a decent map of the whole place in his head and was pretty proud of his speed, what kept him from getting involved was that his mana had only regenerated to the eight hundred mark and he would need more to push himself enough to win.

Bobby took position ahead of the three racers and raised his axe above his head. The race began with a massive ‘Bang’ as a sizable crack opened up in the floor threatening to trip all of the participants as they got off the line. None of them looked all that surprised though he did notice all of them flip off the grinning warrior.

“Is that safe?” asked Devin as he looked after the three who dashed off in the darkness.

“Nothing showed up for a while now so that means anything that could have already did.” Jones said.

The rest of the team didn’t race off towards the exit but they weren’t slow by any means. With nothing to be on the lookout for they were moving much faster than they did on the way here. As they moved Ajax also took a look at the progress he made.

Name : Ajax

Level :26

Experience : 25470/40600

Traits: Divine Witness

Health: 1880/1880

Mana: 1900/1900

Stamina :1550/1550

Vitality :188

Strength :154

Endurance :155

Dexterity : 154

Intellect : 191

Wisdom : 190

Mind : 190

Perception : 162

Stat Points :0

Skills :

Common :[Mathematics Lvl 22] [Stealth Lvl 30][Drawing Lvl 30][Athleticism Lvl 30] [Running Lvl 30][Reading Lvl 20][Writing Lvl 20][Cooking Lvl 20][Sewing Lvl 20] [Cleaning Lvl 15][Haggling Lvl 19][Gardening Lvl 20][Axes Lvl 33][Hammers Lvl 33 [Deception Lvl 21][Sword Lvl 30][Shield Lvl 30][Bow Lvl 30][Spear Lvl 30][Throwing Lvl 24][Persuasion Lvl 10][Unarmed Combat Lvl 24][Knives Lvl 31][Skinning Lvl 22][Tanning Lvl 10][Dismantle Lvl 27][Climbing Lvl 20][Tracking Lvl 26][Heat Resistance Lvl 17] [Poison Resistance Lvl 24][Pain Resistance Lvl 16][Trapping Lvl 18] Uncommon :[Meditation Lvl 41][Sense Mana Lvl 44][Expel Mana Lvl 44][Sprinting Lvl 29][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 22][Leatherworking Lvl 10][Alchemy Lvl 10][Mana Milling Lvl 6][Precise Cut Lvl 27][Precise Blow Lvl 27][Judge Threat Lvl 24][ Piercing Shot Lvl 27] [Berserker Lvl 3][Cooperation Lvl 5][Berserker Style Lvl 2] Rare : [Manipulate Mana Lvl 36][Water Aspect Mana Lvl 30][Fire Aspect Mana Lvl 30] [Air Aspect Mana Lvl 30][Earth Aspect Mana Lvl 30][Inject Mana Lvl 30][Spot Weakness Lvl 20][Residue Recognition Lvl 15] [Light Aspect Mana Lvl 28][Shadow Aspect Mana Lvl 30][Mana Skin Lvl 5][Teamwork Lvl 4] Epic : [Mana Augmentation Lvl 25][Mana Conjuration Lvl 21][Lightning Aspect Mana Lvl 15][Metal Aspect Mana Lvl 15][Ice Aspect Mana Lvl 15][Magma Aspect Mana Lvl 15][Holy Aspect Mana Lvl 9][Void Aspect Mana Lvl 15] Legendary : [Mana Syphon Lvl 24]

New :

Teamwork 0 -> 4

Berserker Style 0 ->2

Upgrades :

Sword 28 -> 30

Shield 29 -> 30

Bow 29-> 30

Spear 28 -> 30

Skinning 20 -> 22

Dismantle 25 -> 27

Tracking 24 -> 26

Sprinting 27 -> 29

Danger Sense 21 -> 22

Precise Cut 26 -> 27

Precise Blow 26 -> 27

Judge Threat 23 -> 24

Piercing Shot 26 -> 27

Mana Syphon 23 -> 24

Magma Aspect Mana Lvl 13 -> 15

Void Aspect Mana 14 -> 15

Light Aspect Mana 23 -> 28

Holy Aspect Mana 1 -> 9

Mana Skin 4 -> 5

Cooperation 5 -> 8

Berserker 1 -> 3

The first thing he noticed was that he gained quite a bit less experience for this delve compared to his last despite fighting more than he did last time. Not only that but he also saw that his skills had started to slow down the rate at which they improved.

His attempts to bring the mana aspects more in line with each other worked very well with the exception of light and holy, but considering he had only started on those he knew it would be a while before they caught up.

Taking note of just how much he improved Ajax finally focused on his [Mana Syphon]. Common knowledge said that Uncommon skills had a threshold at level seventy-five and rare and epic at fifty and one hundred, but it was rumored that Legendary skills would have them every twenty-five levels. This meant that he was almost there.

While the knowledge that he should be expecting a threshold as soon as his skill leveled up was something he had been able to glean from public knowledge, what exactly a threshold was is another matter. He had asked a few people, his parents and Hatchet most notably but neither had an answer for him. It might not even be that it was knowledge that was restricted to commoners, just that the people around here in a backwater and all of them were so low leveled that only the nobility and those they employed had reached them.

Another point of interest for him was why Rare and Epic skills would share a threshold unlike all the others. As far as he could tell from having numerous skills that were both Epic and Rare it was because the skill jump was different at that point.

Epic weren’t inherently better than Rare skills in the same way Rare skills were better than Uncommon ones. Epic skills were just more complex or focused compared to rare skills. His Ice mana wasn’t stronger than either wind or water but was much harder to use as it required both of the elements to create. Void mana on the other hand was much stronger than Shadow mana but it was only useful in terms of destroying something sacrificing utility like stealth.

The other argument for his point of view was the power jump from Epic to Legendary. True his sample size was very limited but his [Mana Syphon] skill was much stronger than any Epic skill he had. The difference was much bigger than the one between Uncommon skills and Rare ones. It also made him wonder just how powerful Mythic skills were but that was a rabbit hole he didn’t want to go down.

When they reached the arch they entered from, the team caught sight of three racers. One of the rangers had a smug grin on his face while the other seemed to be trying his best not to laugh, the scout looked like he had just bitten into a lemon. Ajax knew that the situation was very much a barrel of gunpowder and wouldn’t touch it with a ten foot pole, Bobby however didn’t have any such reluctance.

“So how did it end up?” he asked, though the answer was pretty obvious.

“I am four gold richer than I was at the start.” the smug ranger proclaimed.

“Only because you cheated.” the scout complained.

“How did I cheat?” he asked.

“Rules say you can’t do anything to other racers.” the scout pushed on.

“But I didn’t do anything to you.” he proclaimed his innocence.

“You snuffed out my torch!” he all but shouted.

That was when everyone put it together on how the nimble scout lost. The ranger must have snuffed out all the torches at once and used the fact that he was prepared for the ensuing darkness to take the win.