“So, you’re not only telling me that you somehow managed to get a stamina based cursed skill, something which only one other person in the kingdom has, but you also decided to focus on crafting?” Luna said as she looked to be nursing a headache. “This on top of your hybrid fighting style?”

“Yes.” Ajax confirmed.

“Under normal circumstances I would congratulate you for your dedication to see through any and all potential you have but what you're doing is stupid.” Luna said.

“How so?” Hatchet was the one who asked that.

“Because he doesn’t have the funds to keep that up.” Alfred answered from the side of the room. “Had he joined a noble family they would have made sure he had the resources he needs to stretch himself over all these fields.”

“He can also make money by himself.” Hatchet argues.

“That would be true,” Alfred conceded. “If all his skills were at the same point and he was splitting his time equally then all he would need is a bit of luck, but even that would slow down his progression compared to focusing on only one aspect.”

“Alchemy is a very expensive profession.” Luna picked up. “He will need to spend large amounts of money progressing to the point that he can use the plants he will now find in the floors he delves. Not to mention that those materials usually have a short shelf life and he can’t keep anything he finds now for later.”

“What if I already had a starting fund?” Ajax asked as he thought of the around one thousand gold he still had left over.

“That could work.” Alfred conceded. “But it would need to be a large amount. Taking your, let's call it abnormal, progress speed into consideration, the equipment you would need to buy for alchemy will cost you three to four hundred gold by itself.”

The number was like a punch in the gut for Ajax. “Not to mention that you will have problems selling your wares. Few people would trust your skills enough to buy and those that do won’t be paying top prices for a while.”

“Why not?” Ajax asked.

“Because master alchemists already fill that niche. Progressing is more expensive the further up you go. Master alchemists keep selling near flawless potions at almost every level to get as much funding as they can.” he explained.

Ajax had a tough time here. There was just too much to do and too little time, between his magic, his physical skills, his time in the academy and his crafting something had to give. His time in the academy and crafting was also connected since the teachers there could help him progress much faster than he could by himself so his combat time would have to take the hit.

“It will still be worth it.” Ajax said aloud though he was mostly trying to convince himself.

“Your meteoric rise in levels will not slow” Luna accentuated.

And that was where the crux of it was. It wasn’t that his progress would slow down compared to normal, simply put it would continue off the back of the rest of the skills he would be progressing. This would mean that he wouldn’t be able to keep jumping that many levels at once since his combat skills wouldn’t be growing fast enough.

“That’s fine, their leveling has already started to plateau. Maybe a few more stats will be what I need to push them further.”

“If you are so adamant about this I won’t try to persuade you any further.” Luna shook her head in dismay.

The reason why Ajax had become so adamant in getting his crafting to a higher level was that he realized it would only be a matter of time, time that he would have because of how high his stats were, until he would have few people who would be able to delve with him. That would also mean that almost nobody would be skilled enough to use the materials he would need to keep up with the ever growing power of the dungeon, he would need to be his own craftsman in the end so delaying his growth in power now would mean he would not need to delay it later.

“My lady, not to overstep but maybe he would be a good choice for it.” Alfred said as he looked to be thinking about something.

“Yes, he most likely would but I doubt he will be given the chance.” Luna countered.

Ajax hated the cloak and dagger speak, why couldn’t they just be upfront about whatever it was.

“Some time in the future there will be an opportunity for you, Ajax. Sadly the king has ensured all who know what it is are unable to inform those who could take advantage of it.” she let out a sigh. “The only reason I know is because of my position as guild leader, what I can tell you is that you should make sure to enter the end of year tournaments for the academy and perform well.”

Ajax simply nodded. He could tell that it wasn’t that they didn’t want to tell him, the king most likely did this to ensure that the noble houses didn’t end up in an open war by proxy with their heirs for the opportunity. Though taking it would most likely put a bullseye on his back that would have nothing to do with people wanting to acquire him as much as payback.

“I will, thank you.” he responded.

“Don’t thank me yet, though I think you would find the opportunity exciting to say the least.” Luna said good naturedly.

With that Ajax had his plan set for the foreseeable future. The first thing he did was take a quick trip to the Academy. Sadly he found out that his Alchemy professor wasn’t present, not only that but she would only be back on the first day of the new cycle so Ajax would have to wait until then to consult her. So he made his way to the library.

As he was walking up Ajax felt the aura of both the headmaster and the librarian, meaning that both of them were present, not only that but he also felt another aura he hadn’t sensed before, one that was stronger than professor Silvertongue.

“Ajax, why are you here?” Balthazar asked as he entered the library. “Didn’t I tell you to rest?”

“So, this is him?” A woman that looked to be in her early thirties asked. She was dressed in ornate robes marked with the sigil of the royal family, she was also rather short but despite that she had a noble posture and cold eyes. “We could get started right now.”

“Absolutely not!” the old man refused. “I will make the official introductions next time. Ajax it would be best for you to leave for now and get your rest.”

Ajax did as he was told, he had a few questions about the woman he was sure would be there to help with the experiments regarding cursed mana but all that could wait a few days.

As he was passing by Ajax noticed something odd. Bees didn’t naturally form hives so close together in nature, at least not so many of them. Not only that but he had just removed most of the hives that were close to the entrance to the forest. This would have a marked effect on the yield the farming fields would have.

Whereas before fields closer to the forest would be the to be pollinated now it would be the fields closest to his patch of unwanted land. Sadly he didn’t have any way to take advantage of this as he simply didn’t have the funds to buy the fields near his own.

A lot of his limitations seemed to come from the fact that he was always without funds. Not only that but any avenue to generate those funds needed start-up funds of their own. Ajax's respect for what his sister and Alana had managed to do in a few years grew immensely.

That’s when he realized, even if he didn’t have the knowledge to act on the idea, there was value in sharing it with another. A merchant organization would be very interested in that information. Not only that but he would need to build a good relationship with a merchant organization if he was to have a steady supply of materials at a reasonable cost once he started progressing his alchemy.

He slowly took out the sigil his mother had given him before he left for the capital. He had been thinking whether or not his grandparents deserved a chance or not, after all they had effectively abandoned them once his mother made his choice.

In the end Ajax decided to pay them a visit tomorrow, if nothing else he wanted to get their take on it, there were two sides to every story and even if he would never agree with their decision he still wanted to hear them out.