Chapter 742 (Patreon)

“Put some power behind your parry or just try and dodge.” Lancel called after his sword left an inch deep cut in Ajax’s bicep after knocking his sword aside. “You know you have less strength so you need to make up for it with technique.” 

Sparring while only using the boost from [Mana Syphon] was hard for Ajax, he was used to using his weapons but now that he was reduced only to his weapons Skills against someone faster and stronger than him he could tell why he hadn’t unlocked any of the higher weapons Skills. 

“Your grip is fine, your stances are correct.” Lancel said as he continued to pressure Ajax. “But you can’t transition cleanly from one move to the next.” 

Ajax couldn’t contradict Lancel as he struggled to get his sword or axe up in time to knock the next strike aside. Years of training but now Ajax realized his shortcomings when it came to weapons. He had started his training with his brother and the city guard and continued with Hatchet, but all of that had been low level training meant for the Common Skill. He had received some better training during his time at the Academy but weapons weren’t a big focus for him at the time as he was more focused on his crafting and magic. 

“It’s easy to say when you are faster and stronger than I am.” Ajax got out through gritted teeth as he struggled to keep up.

“You think I was my strength and speed are the reason you are on the back foot?” Lancel asked a moment before his speed slowed and the weight behind his blows tapered. “I was doing it to keep it simple so that you would have a better chance to learn, perhaps I should show you what it is you should be trying to do first.” 

The people on the sidelines watching still had issues keeping up with the sparing duo even after Lancel slowed, if anything they had a tougher time keeping up with it now since before Lancel’s movements were more exaggerated but now despite being faster and stronger Ajax was feeling more pressured than before. 

Lancel was catching the tip of Ajax’s sword with the base of his own every time, letting leverage do all the work as he controlled the swing and turned it away. A sharp glancing blow given early took his axe off target at the beginning of the strike and left a hole in Ajax’s defense. The cuts Ajax took in the next thirty seconds weren’t as deep as the previous ones but there were a lot more of them. 

By the time the two of them separated Ajax was bleeding from his arms, his legs a few shallow cuts  on his chest and one cut on his cheek a fair distance from his eye however. Everyone gathered was shocked by the result, they had heard rumors of Ajax’s strength and had seen him take apart imperial elites before without issue so seeing him bleeding while drawing in breaths after the exchange left them all frozen, all but two. 

“This isn’t a place for children.” Lancel said, though he did admire both Jari and Nashara for having drawn their weapons and standing between Ajax and the champion. The two children and Jake had only arrived a few minutes ago where Ajax and Lancel had been at it for a while, as could be seen by the dried blood stains on Ajax’s training leathers.

“That’s not how someone looks after a spar.” Jari said. Years as a slave and then a few bullying incidents in the schools that were quickly handled by the adults had showed him what cruelty looked like and he saw it again in the non-lethal but painful and plentiful cuts that covered Ajax.

“It’s fine.” Ajax said as he placed a hand on both their shoulders and gently tugged to signal them to step back. “I learn better this way.” 

Both of them were about to protest when they turned and saw Ajax’s wounds close in front of their eyes. A quick use of Life Mana and Ajax’s body was as good as new though the repeated healing and loss of blood since they started sparing in the morning did mean that Ajax had been getting hungrier since this morning. 

“Uncle Ajax.” Jake also looked worried, though less so now that Ajax’s wounds had closed. 

“Lets call it for today.” Ajax nodded towards Lancel in thanks. The spar had shown him a lot, something to aim towards as well as the bad habits he’d been building by relying on his magic or overwhelming the opponent with speed and power. 

After a quick wash to get the smell of blood and sweat off of himself Ajax joined his family for lunch where they discussed the day before Ajax and Aurexion took off towards the new city for the rest of the afternoon. With Aurexion’s flight speed they covered the distance in one hour. 

“I’ll start making cement.” Ajax told his bond. “Can you take a quick pass over the lake to see if you notice something in the water before you take a look at that lair location?” 

“Fine” Aurexion agreed as he beat his wings, taking a short flight over the water and unleashing a roar that sent all the fish swimming with all their might in all directions. Some of them even reached the shore and jumped out of the water in their fear and attempted to get away.

“That’s our dinner, quick go collect it.” Plenty of the workers building Ajax’s new city had moved here with their families and all of them sent their kids to collect the newly available fish, a few chaperons followed behind them bringing baskets.

Ajax didn’t focus on that and instead headed towards the alchemy lab his House had built to make the cement on site. There were already a few alchemists there working but Ajax’s work station was nicer than all of theirs and it sat empty.

Unlike the sparring session this morning where Ajax felt like a novice before Lancel in the lab Ajax showed his experience and expertise. [Mass Production] [Stabilize Mixture] [Creative Application] all of his higher Skills backed by [Alchemy] [Mana Milling] and [Focused Mind] showed in his efficiency even when dealing with higher Mana density reagents.

Over the entire afternoon Ajax had finished fifteen batches, fourteen of them being acceptable to him and one that he deemed a failure. He had gotten complacent and the already unstable mixture had already started to solidify ruining the fine powder it was meant to end up as.

The builders present were still all impressed by Ajax as he just handed them enough supplies to keep one hundred people busy for three whole days with the work he did in a single afternoon. 

Before returning home to the estate Ajax did make one final stop to a hidden workshop near the new city. The hidden workshop was massive on the inside easily five hundred feet long and five hundred feet wide with a ceiling at fifty feet. Inside the shop were only four craftsmen and all of them were focused on their work, so much so that Ajax needed to flare his Aura to draw their attention to his arrival. 

“My lord.” House Hearthbound’s most promising carpenters and future shiprights greeted him. 

“How is the work going?” Ajax asked as he took in the four different ships each in different stages of completion. 

“We decided to build a ship from scratch by ourselves first in an attempt to gain a Skill before we work together to assemble more.” Ajax wasn’t impressed with four ships none of them competed when he came in but finding out the reason behind it he agreed with the idea. “I do have to ask, however, are you sure your idea will work? Will this large boat float even with people on it.” 

“It will float.” Ajax assured them, though a tiny part of him feared that Mana might make it so it didn't for one reason or another but he paid that part of himself no mind. “It will not only hold people but it will also become a better method of transporting goods across the lake.” 

Despite their own doubts the carpenters didn’t say anything else and continued their work. It wouldn’t be much longer until these first four ships were finished. The city main infrastructure and dock should be finished in a month and by then Ajax expected to have twenty boats that his people could start using to try and gain trailblazer Skills. The mock naval battle he planned to take place in a month and a half once his people had gained a little experience with the ships and he had written an invitation to Xavier and his father to come and watch, though his letter didn’t mention anything about the ships. 

Aurexion return having inspected the first of four possible lair location but he withheld judgement until he inspected all of them. On their way back Ajax was preparing for a short one hour practice with [Elemental Avatar] after dinner before he went to sleep. Unlike his morning workout [Elemental Avatar] wasn’t something he could use for long durations, not just because of a higher Mana cost but also because of the secondary cost associated with using the Skil, that of locking him out of the use of the Mana type.