Chapter 741 (Patreon)

Looking up at the night sky Ajax was reminded of one of the first Achievements he had ever gained. The +10 to Perception wasn’t all that large of a gain, not to mention it required discoveries to actually gain, which is why he hadn’t bothered specifically trying to gain the other four Achievements linked to the first one but such an increase would be more valuable to people who didn’t have his absurdly inflated stats. 

“You’re planning something.” Lancel said as he stood by Ajax as he watched the sky. 

“How easy would it be for people to gain five discoveries?” Ajax asked. 

“Ah, that question.” Lancel chuckled as Ajax turned a raised eyebrow towards him. “Many nobles had planned to help their children by having them see all five gods. Discoveries and timing are the bottleneck and not something that anyone has found a solution to. Though your school might be a step in the right direction if you let some things for them to put together on their own before giving them the answer.” 

Ajax took a moment to stop and think about that. He had gained his own achievement with a discovery about fatigue, despite Stamina recovery repeated depletion can have side effects. Something that his school taught and could continue to teach but giving the children a few weeks before telling them the answer might mean a few of them would come up with it on their own and gain a discovery. 

“That might not be a bad idea.” Ajax nodded, he had also been thinking of a way to keep the clouds away for a full year in an attempt to guarantee every one of his people had a chance to gain all five achievements in a single year but that could cause other issues as messing with the weather always did. “You know you might make for a good teacher.” 

“Ha!” Lancel couldn’t hold that back. “With my patience I would make a horrible teacher.” 

“I wasn’t thinking of you teaching children.” Ajax said as he fiddled with his spacial ring where all his weapons were stored. “ I was thinking of myself. 

“That would be an even worse pairing.” Lancel shook his head. “I might be able to teach someone on my own level but you are far beyond me. I’ve seen you move when enhanced and while I can keep track of you that’s the most that I can do, I wouldn’t be able to keep up.” 

Ajax had long felt that his weapon Skills were lacking. Sure his Common Skill had gained levels but he hadn’t unlocked and Uncommon, Rare or Epic Skills. Up until now he had favored the use of magic in his fighting style since that was what gave him an edge but if he was to step into the Wild Lands he couldn’t give up one of humanoids best strengths, the use of tools. 

“I don’t need you to keep up with my Pseudo-Mythic Skill.” Ajax reassured Lancel. “I want to train with you when all I have is my regular boost in an attempt to increase and gain new weapon Skills.” 

“Skills are not so easy to gain.” Lancel warned him. “I’ve known physical fighters who haven’t been able to gain them despite years of dedication.” 

“I’m confident I will be the exception.” Ajax had read that there were even Legendary Weapons Skills. If that was all true, there had to be a Mythical Skill covering all weapons and to gain it he would need multiple weapons already at Legendary level. It would take centuries to do all that but he had the time, he just needed to get started on it while he was still in the duchy. 

“Found your new focus.” Aurexion asked as Ajax joined him. 

“Weapons.” Ajax nodded. Using [Syphon Mana] to power up his body wasn’t putting much of a strain on his Mana channels even if he was using a lot of Mana which meant it wouldn’t interfere with his practice of [Elemental Avatar]. “Though that is a long term project.” 

“Not a bad plan.” Aurexion agreed. “But don’t expect that you will be the only one to know weapons. The sidhe use weapons as well and they aren’t the only ones.” 

Ajax nodded his acknowledgement before turning the conversation to a different topic one he hadn’t approached his bond with before but he had been thinking about due to the earlier conversation with Lancel. “What do you know of the gods?” 

“The big five or the minor ones?” Aurexion answered with a question of his own but that question threw Ajax through a loop. 

“There are minor gods?” Ajax barely managed to get the question out but that in and of itself was an answer to Aurexion who ignored the shock his bond was in and continued with his answer.

“So the big five then.” Aurexion continued. “Not much is known about them specifically, dragons are pretty sure they created the world and rule it from the shadows as the absolute. They almost never get involved outside of instances of cataclysmic devastation.” 

“So they do get involved?” Ajax was still coming to grips with the existence of multiple gods the question just slipped out. 

“Very rarely, the most recent was about five hundred thousand years ago.” Aurexion pushed on. “The Phoenixes had a particularly powerful generation, at that point their strongest five could each rival a dragon emperor but where the emperors are divided they stood together. All of them were casters and they tried to unleash a spell to attune the entire world to Fire Mana.” 

The imagery that brought forth in Ajax was something else: a hellish landscape of a fiery wasteland was just the first to come to mind before that changed to something he had seen on Fire themed dungeon floors where flaming trees were everywhere as rivers of fire and magma worked their way through the red and black rock. 

“They wisely tried their ritual during summer, with Summer being in charge of the world at the time the punishment was merciful for divine intervention. All the Mana they channeled was redirected into their own lands enhancing the Fire Mana presence there, the ritual was ripped apart and three of the five phoenixes were killed for good with the stronger two forced to go through rebirth on the spot losing a lot of their power.” Aurexion’s version of events wasn’t all that detailed and Ajax could recognise that some aspects might have been blown up over the years as stories tended to be but even if the truth wasn’t a perfect match the outcome would be correct. “If they had tried something like that in winter they might all have been killed and the Mana redistributed to dungeons.” 

“What about minor gods?” Ajax asked. 

“Minor gods are mortals who gained a Divine Skill.” Aurexion answered. “We know more about them, because of their mortal origins their attitudes and preferences are easier to guess at though their interventions are limited by each other and the big five.” 

“Is the Reaper a minor god?” Ajax asked, the Reaper was the strongest person he had ever heard of. 

“No, he never managed to get a Divine Skill.” Aurexion shook his head, the reaper was someone the dragon had been interested in and learned of because of how much influence he was able to get over the Ascended races. “Power isn’t how you gain a Divine Skill. It works the same way your Pseudo-Mythic Skills does. You need five Mythic Skills that can combine to work as a Divine Skill.” 

“How many minor gods are there?” Ajax asked. 

“Nobody knows for sure.” Aurexion answered. “There are a few that are more well known since their disappearance left a big mark on the world but since they are so limited in interaction with the world the answer is unknown.” 

“Who are some of the minor gods?” Ajax asked. 

“The one I know most about is the platinum dragon lord.” Aurexion said. “Back when all dragons were united as a race a long time ago he was the leader. When he ascended to deity his seven followers started bickering and that led to the seven dragon emperors we still have now.” 

Ajax was surprised to find out that dragons had a similar history to humanoids, where they were all united under the Reaper but after his passing they had split into different factions. 

“Next there is Yggdrasil.” Aurexion continued. “She was the weakest at the time of her ascension only in the mid four hundred if the stories are correct but the dryad had a powerful connection to Life Mana and anything related to growth. The disappearance of her tree at the time of her ascension actually caused Spring to intervene since her tree was so large it left a massive scar on the world. There are a few others like the Bottomless pit, the devourer who ascended and plenty of leviathans are guessed to have ascended as well.” 

“How do they interact with the world then?” Ajax asked. 

“Direct intervention is only allowed when something threatens the domain the focused on when ascending.” Aurexion explained. “It’s why dryads are so secure in their homeland, nobody can just attack and try to destroy the forest since attempting to do so will allow Yggdrasil to step in, its why she is perhaps the most well known since she intervened a few times in the past. Besides that they can intervene on dungeon floors, granting specific items or relaying messages. I think Khalysstra believes that the Death gem you found was granted to you by the platinum dragon lord.” 

Not long after the talk Ajax made his way to bed with a lot more to think about. Laying next Lexi for the next hour his mind struggled to process all that information before relegating it to things he could do nothing about for now and embracing his fiance as he tried to get some sleep.