Chapter 714 (Patreon)

Aurexion watched his bond walk away as he struggled to process the Trait he could now see on the Stats screen. The information from another world was valuable, clearly a big deal and from the mentions of Trailblazer titles clearly something that would help the entirety of House Hearthbound. Especially if they managed to use those Trailblazer rewards on the evolution Achievement giving them an increased experience gain. 

That wasn’t what mattered to Aurexion however. He read one line of the Trait ‘Divine Witness’ over and over. ‘Affinity with all Skills greatly increased.’ Simple, not at all flashy and certainly easy to overlook, after all Ajax was young.

Aurexion knew the way potential worked, you never really knew what it was you were good at. It’s why young ascendants are given both the freedom to explore for potential Skills but also rigid training to ensure a wide array of topics are covered. Ajax had also done the same but because of the Trait he had gained a lot of Skills spreading his focus, the bigger downside was that some of his higher rarity Skills lacked the support of some early Skills. 

Aurexion was surprised by how on point Ajax’s paranoia had been to keep this Trait hidden from all but his family. It was a bigger deal than even his Mythic Skill, in fact Aurexion was sure he had only gained his Mythic Skill so quickly thanks to this Trait. Now that they would have a few years of peace Aurexion promised himself he would help Ajax lay down proper foundations and work towards unlocking more Mythic Skills. 

Entering the throne room Lexi was still a little distracted as she processed Ajax’s reveal of having lived another life in another world. The whole idea of another world was a wonder to her and she could almost feel her social Skills growing as they struggled to mask how distracted she was.

“Cutting it a little close there.” Duke Manashaper gently rebuked the two of them as they joined their friends and family as they watched each new matter brought before the court. 

“We were discussing an… important topic and lost track of time.” Lexi said with a small blush as she tossed an apologetic look towards Xavier. “Did we miss anything?” 

“Rumors about what the announcement is are spreading among all the nobles.” Xavier said, it wasn’t hard for the nobles to put together what the announcement was, the king had delayed certain requests for another day, all of those had been sensitive topics that the crown didn’t support one side or the other too much. With a small laugh Xavier looked over the gathered nobles. “It’s causing a bit of a panic.” 

With the king stepping down his last few rulings were clearly not going to be overturned by his son anytime soon after he took the throne. The nobles were smart and experienced enough to figure out what was happening as the king started delaying some decisions. Now all of them that had important matters coming up were worried the king might call them up now and rule against them. 

Ajax watched a few requests be made. The process oddly reminded him of the legal shows he had watched back on earth in a way. The king was acting as judge while the nobles played layers. They brought evidence, and historical precedents to reinforce their case. Unlike a trial back on Earth the decision made would take effect instantly and any appeal would have to happen in the background while complying with the order.

Just by listening to whispers all around him with his Perception Stat it was easy for Ajax to pick up the mood in the room. The alliance with Sylvanthal was stronger than ever according to the nobles and the decisions the king made regarding some disputes about increasing taxes on goods imported from them. The peace treaty with the Empire was in a similar place. 

“That is enough for today.” The king said as he waved off the next appeal in line and rose from his throne as Xandor also rose from his seat off to one side and approached to stand with him. “Some of you know what my announcement is, and many of you have certainly guessed it by now as well. But that doesn’t make it any less important.” 

Ajax appreciated that the king didn’t try to play this off like a surprise. From how close he had been with the royal family he knew that the king would have stepped down sooner if it hadn’t been for the instability and the threat of war from the beastkin. 

“Today is the day I stepped down as king.” he said as he carefully removed the crown from his head and placed it on top of Xandor’s head. “It is time for my son Xandor to fully take on the responsibilities he has been helping me carry these past few years.” 

Everyone knew that Xandor would still have help and that his father would guide him but going forward Xandor would have the final say.  The room erupted into cheers and well wishes for the new king. Not all of the nobles meant them but all of them had high enough social Skills to mask it. The end of court extended for another hour as servants of the palace brought food and drink to celebrate the announcement.

“It still feels like you are leaving too soon.” Xavier said as Lexi and Ajax were making their preparations to leave. 

“We’ll be back in two months.” Ajax reassured him. The official coronation was scheduled in two months. All the heads of all the noble Houses would have to make their way to it so they could pledge their loyalty to the new king. “You know you could always come with us.” 

Xavier was very much tempted to take Ajax up on his offer. While not much would have changed in the day to day for his father since he was already essentially taking over running the kingdom the announcement had also made Xavier the new crown prince as his father’s only child. Xavier was more affected by the announcement than his father was. 

Ajax and Lexi weren’t the only ones heading to the Hearthbound duchy. Duke Manashaper as well as Benedict were also heading in the same direction though neither of them would make it there as fast as the two of them will courtesy of Aurexion. 

“I can’t.” Xavier shook his head. “Sylvanthal is being pressured by Deepwood and with father officially being the king, handholding Sylvanthal’s ambassador has fallen to me as the crown prince.” 

Once they departed Lexi quickly put up a privacy bubble as Aurexion carried her in his claws before asking Ajax something she had been holding back since his reveal of his previous life. “What is it that you are planning for this new city?”  

“My plan is for it to be the first port.” Ajax answered. 

“All that effort because you wanted more fish?” Lexi didn’t believe that for a second but that was the only thing a port city would be good for, plenty of rafts to paddle out and gather fish.

“All that effort for boats actually.” Ajax corrected her, there was no word in the language for ships. The largest seafaring vessel they had was a large raft. “I’m planning to make them bigger than any you have seen before. Not only will they be able to transport goods much easier to the Empire, almost straight to their capital in fact. But they will make for a great invasion threat.”

“That makes a lot more sense.” Lexi nodded. “But you know you have to be careful of large changes in Mana density or you might find your ships sinking or being flipped over. Still doesn’t explain why you were so secretive about it.” 

That was one of the things Ajax was worried about. It was also why he knew that for a ship to work in the Wild Lands they would need to be enchanted specifically to better handle the  Mana density and changes in Mana density. 

“I’m not sure how much of this planet is covered in water but back in my old world water covered more than two thirds of the world. Without Mana, boats were the way countries built empires for hundreds of years.” Ajax explained. “Since those kinds of large boats were never built here I am imagining there will be plenty of Trailblazer Skills we can earn. In fact a small training war like the one where we met could be just what we need to make sure our soldiers collect all the ship combat specialized Skills.” 

Lexi was left speechless for a moment as she processed the amount of Trailblazer Skills that could be gained. House Hearthbound already had two farmers with Trailblazer Beekeeping Skills, how many could they gather when it came to not only trade but also combat on water. 

“Best we prepare for the backlash of this.” Aurexion chuckled darkly. “The other nobles were prepared to make a fuss over you not paying a few taxes, how will they react to you monopolizing this opportunity." 

“That sounds like a good way for my brother and mother to push their Skills and level.” Ajax said knowing he won’t be the one dealing with the backlash, because if it got to the point where he had to get involved it wouldn’t be social or leadership Skill that would be put to use.