Chapter 658 (Patreon)

A/N: sorry about that, was thinking of the other prince, his reaction will come later my bad.

“Will you and the rest of the elites be going with me to the capital?” Ajax asked once he got a moment to speak with the prince. 

“We’re happy to escort you there, if you want.” the prince offered. “But the beastkin might take that as a chance to try and pick you off since it’s impossible to hide movement of a unit that size. I understand if you want to just fly off with Aurexion.” 

That might have been a nicely worded offer and since most people who could overhear them didn’t know all that much about their relationship it was hard for them to see what the prince was really asking. Ajax however read the intention clearly, the prince was asking if he was feeling up to acting as bait to try and get some more kills and prisoners or if he was really too weakened by the use of his Pseudo-Mythic Skill.

“Aurexion and I would appreciate your company, Your Highness.” Ajax answered with a bow. 

“Captain, have our people make camp for the night but make sure they are ready to depart in the morning.” The prince gave out his orders. 

“Cough… Cough” Ajax scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. “Afternoon might be better, Aurexion has a tendency to sleep until noon and after he pulled me out of the battle and watched over me I am not waking him up. If you have someone willing to wake him we can leave in the morning.” 

“Actually captain, the men have pushed hard to make it here so quickly so let them know they can sleep in tomorrow and we will leave in the afternoon.” The prince quickly course corrected without batting an eye, though some of the Republic’s captains felt their eyes widen at the display the prince was known for. 

The conversation didn’t get a chance to evolve further as their attention was drawn by a nearby altercation, a quick look also told them it was happening between the quartermaster and Aurexion. 

“... are valuable resources some of our own champions can put to good use.” Ajax had to admit as he stepped closer that he respected the quartermaster a lot more than most of the captains he had seen leading the Republic’s forces. 

Despite the man being barely passable as a combatant and only at level ninety he had put himself between Aurexion and something the dragon wanted. Ajax knew the quartermaster had already made numerable concessions for his bond, half his job since they arrived was to find a way to ensure Aurexion had some higher Mana density food which was not easy for a dragon outside of a war, let alone on the front lines of one. 

“Those are our spoils of war.” Aurexion growled back, most of the people working under quartermaster backed away at that unwilling to face the dragon’s ire. “I brought them back myself.” 

It was only then that Ajax saw what it was Aurexion was trying to get his claws on. The armor of the champion they had captured. Since the champion was a hybrid fighter runic mage the armor was actually quite valuable, the runes would work for any runic mage who knew how to cast with them and while Ajax had damaged a good portion of the armor, the shoulder plates, helmet and both arms were still intact. A good portion of the chest plate survived as well but the portion covering the man’s hip had been broken from Ajax’s strike, the damage was small enough that it would only need a few repairs before it was serviceable. The beastkin boots were also in decent shape as were the twin swords.

“Do you know how much effort it took to remove them from him?!” The quartermaster said through his teeth. “I spent twenty hours struggling with a squirming champion that was doing everything he could to trigger one of the self-destruct enchantments before I managed to peel this armor off him.” 

“A champion that we captured and delivered to you.” Aurexion pointed out. “We’d be happy to compensate you for your time but that armor will become part of my horde.” 

Ajax could feel the possessiveness Aurexion was feeling through the bond. He wasn’t sure why his bond wanted that armor so badly but he was sure the dragon’s fondness for the quartermaster’s personality or his previous service in procuring food for him wouldn’t keep him safe for much longer if he insisted on taking the spoils. 

“What happened to the staff of the first mage I killed?” Ajax asked. 

“It was collected in the aftermath of the battle.” The response came from one of the quartermaster’s people who had heard the question. “There was nothing usable left from the second mage you killed, it was all melted, burned and crushed.” 

“You can have that staff” Ajax decided. “Its just a chanting focusing item so it should be much easier to find a use for than the armor, but we will be taking the rest of it with us.” 

Despite not being sure why Ajax wanted the armor the prince didn’t budge an inch when the quartermaster turned to him after realizing arguing with the dragon any further was liable to get him chewed out, literally. 

“Why did you want the armor so badly?” Ajax asked Aurexion after it was only him and the prince in the privacy bubble. 

“That is our trophy, even after the armor rusts it will have a place in our horde as a reminder of you gaining a Pseudo-Mythic Skill.” Ajax was touched by how much pride the dragon took in his achievement. He understood on a logical level that the dragon saw their bond as much more than he did, a bond between equals was different and he could feel that but his impression of the bond was still colored by the way humanoids looked at bonds.

“You got a WHAT?!” The prince’s eyes popped open and he didn’t even bother trying to quiet himself. “What even is that? We have stories and legends about so-called Mythic Skills but none have even been recorded. And you have a Pseudo-Mythic Skill, what is that? how is it different?” 

“The reason why there might not be any record of it is because of how rare they are added on top of the fact that if any humanoid got them in the past and walked out into what you call the Wild Lands there is a good chance whatever Ascended happened upon him first was attacked in arrogance.” Aurexion said. “And while a Pseudo-Mythic Skill isn’t far off in terms of power from a Mythic Skill there are still a number of differences.” 

Ajax and Aurexion extracted a promise from the prince that the information would not be recorded and that it would only be shared with the king and his brother who would follow the same stipulations before they explained how Pseudo-Mythic Skills worked. They mentioned nothing about what Ajax’s Skill was or which Skills were part of it.

“Five Legendary Skills working together.” The prince muttered once it was all laid out for him. It seemed like an impossibility to him, he had only one Legendary Skill himself and he knew just how difficult it was for him to gain that one. Gaining more Legendary Skills let alone some that might synergise enough with the one he already had seemed like something that would take millenia more. “You have five combat Legendary Skills.” 

Once he knew the requirements the prince better understood why Ajax and Aurexion were so adamant about them not being shared, just sharing that essential piece of information would be equal to sharing Ajax has five Legendary Skills. 

“You’ve made some real gains in the Wild Lands.” The prince didn’t know about [Last Stand] or Ajax’s fighting style but he knew he had to have gained at least one Legendary Skill during his time away. “Taking that into consideration I think the highest you should try to go is level one hundred and eighty, even with all the other champions to help you clear trying to push further would make people very uncomfortable.” 

Ajax could see why the prince gave the advice he did. Forget level one hundred and eighty, Ajax was pretty sure he and Aurexion working together with his newest Skill could take down a level one hundred and ninety, even a two hundred if the match-up was favorable, miniboss. But it wasn’t the miniboss that was the problem, it was clearing the floor that came after. When it came to floor bosses Ajax was sure that a good number of the level one hundred and eighty would be able to kill him and Aurexion without others to aid them. 

After talking with Ajax the prince went to see the prisoner he was collecting. The wounded champion was a mess of blood wraps and restrains that couldn’t have been comfortable yet the moment he entered the cell he was kept in the prisoners eyes locked on to him. 

“You… cough… really lucked out… cough… with this war.” The prisoner coughed. “The entire war… cough… is a perfect distraction that will allow your monster to grow… cough…, by the time all the others realize what he is… cough… it will all be too late.” 

Those words were the only ones the prisoner spoke to the prince for the entire two hours he spent in the cell yet they were impactful enough that the prince knew he had to contact his father and brother. They couldn’t let the Republic interrogate this prisoner. 

He had fought against Ajax’s Pseudo-Mythic Skill and unlike the others who survived without being captured the words of a prisoner were easier to believe than those coming from the enemy. The prince knew Xandor wouldn’t like it but there was a real chance fear might get some people to do something really dumb if they didn’t.