Chapter 745 (Patreon)

After a few days to get caught up with everything Ajax finally had some time to go over a few things with Duke Manashaper. Benedict had yet to return from Sylvanthal, him, Xavier and Anna were all on their way back but they didn’t have a dragon to fly them over in a single day. 

“So the Skill provides some intuition as to what the correct movement would be to amplify a certain Mana type.” Duke Manashaper asked. “Is that because it is a Rare Skill? It still seems a bit too strong for even a Rare Skill.” 

Duke Manashaper had to rely on his Legendary Skill to even attempt to create new spells with any degree of safety so his interest in the new casting method was warranted as was the implied jealousy in his question. 

“It’s not [Spell Direction] that helps with the intuition.” Ajax corrected him. “I think it’s my Style Skill.” 

Duke Manashaper was already aware that Ajax had [Battlemage Style] but that Skill shouldn’t be able to help with a new casting method. This meant that Ajax had another style, most likely an Epic or higher one that could help him with it. Since Ajax had yet to share [Physically Enhanced Battlemage Style] with Duke Manashaper. 

“I see, so your new style is a cumulative one.” Duke Manashaper nodded. “That explains the focus on training weapons.” 

Style Skills could come in two forms, the more common one was the focused type. [Battlemage Style] and [Berserker Style] both fit into it as did Xavier’s Legendary style, the guided the body to a specific goal, two people with the same Style could see minor differences but they would be very similar to each other. The other type of Style Skills were cumulative, there was less of direction from the Skill and more the Skill just creating a structured connection that smoothly allowed one to make use of the Skills they did have that were compatible with the Style. 

Since [Physically Enhanced Battlemage Style] was a Legendary Skill that could work with [Spell Direction] it would naturally push Ajax into movements that would incorporate additional amplifying movements for whatever spells he was trying to cast, even if Ajax wasn’t aware that movement worked for that Mana type.

“I’m hoping the higher rarity weapons Skills I get will also be compatible with Mana.” Ajax confirmed the Duke’s guess. “But for now I am just hoping for a few Uncommon and then Rare weapon Skill, I know just how important good foundations are.” 

The discussions and Mana practice continued until Ajax went through about one thousand Mana, it might not have sounded like a lot but after his morning training with Lancel his Mana and Stamina were both already rather drained. 

The rest of the afternoon Ajax spent with Jake as well as Jari and Nashara. It wouldn’t be long now until the first ships would be finished and his attention would be drawn away there while the rest of his budding fleet would be built so Ajax dedicated what time he could to his nephew and his friends. He also didn’t spend it by training with them but instead allowed them each to brag about how their more crafting orientated Skills were doing.

Jake’s budding garden was starting to see a small increase in Mana density, a true achievement so close to the dungeon as well as the Mana focusing sapling they had planted. The bees they kept made this possible of course but possible didn’t mean it was easy. 

Jari and Nashara had both taken to working with Ajax’s father Sam. Nashara’s interest in blacksmithing and Jari’s interest in enchanting were both fostered as Sam finally had the chance to teach apprentices of his own that were genuinely interested in the craft, unlike Alana’s brother who while willing to learn hadn’t been interested in blacksmithing as craft but more for the respect the position assured him in the future of the village.

While the school had helped both Jari and Nashara unlock the basic Common Skills that would build the foundation of their crafting Skills, Sam had worked with both of them showing them how those Skills would become useful in their chosen crafts.

“Are they going to start actually enchanting or smithing sometime soon?” Ajax asked. 

“Not until they start at school.” Sam shook his head. “I don’t want to risk them getting the profession Uncommon Skill and have them miss out on even one extra helper Common Skill. Though the wait for Jari should only be another couple of months.” 

Since Jari was older by one year that meant that he was in the accelerated learning plan so his crafting schooling was moving faster to make up for that missing one year. Nashara was still  three months away from actually starting blacksmithing.

“I managed to unlock [Penetrating Gaze].” Nashara bragged, the scales on her neck gleaming in the light as she nearly vibrated with excitement. 

[Penetrating Gaze] was a useful Skill that allowed one to see through obscuring effects, it was especially useful for mages when trying to disrupt another mages spells when combined with [Sense Mana] as it helped them find weak points. Nashara had unlocked her Skill by focusing on her heat vision when heating up pieces of metal to ensure the core of the metal had also heated well and it wasn’t cool. Considering how the Skill was unlocked it would need extensive training before it could be applied in combat but that was just effort needed with the Skill unlocked.

Nashara wasn’t the only one to gain a coveted Uncommon Skill however. Jari had managed to gain [Reinforced Tail]. All the messing around the monkey beastkin had done when he got competitive and started using a tool with his tail had unintentionally gained him a Skill that at higher levels would allow him to use his tail almost like a fifth weaker limb.

“How is it for him?” Ajax asked as he stood next to Kate as they body watched the three of them join the rest of the young children at the manor as they chased each other. “Being raised as the first generation of House Hearthbound?” 

“It’s not easy.” Kate admitted. “Especially so with you being so independent and Tom taking on so much of the day to day duties. But I think we managed to instill the right core values in him.” 

There was a little resentment in Kate’s answer, there were moments in the past couple years where she would have preferred for them to not be nobility and trying moments when they could have better focused on Jake, that wasn’t to mention the incident where Jake had let the way other nobles were treating him get to his head a little. Both Kate and Tom had presented a unified front to help steer Jake away from feeling like he was above others just because of who his family was. While there were tough moments Kate also knew if she was given the choice she wouldn’t have traded away their status, the opportunities it presented not only for Jake but also for her and Tom far outshined the downsides.

“Anything I can do to help?” Ajax asked. 

“Just be present in the little time you can spend with him.” Kate answered, she knew that Ajax’s time was extremely limited so that was the only reasonable request she could make. One she knew Ajax would do his best to follow through on. 

“I will be.” Ajax promised before turning the topic to Kate’s day job. “How are things with the Healing Union?” 

“Luna is making things manageable here.” Kate answered. “A lot of the middle ranking people are here since the main headquarters of the guild is in the capital. The middle ranking people don’t know that we are essentially a under the royal family in all but name and see us as a stand alone guild like the alchemists or blacksmiths. They have issues with the influence our House gets since it is our duchy.” 

Kate also knew that all those arguments would all but vanish if Ajax’s project of unlocking Life Mana for their retainers that were part of the Healing Union had any sort of success. Until that time however she was the main representative when it came to the Healing Union and she always looked forward to Luna’s visits. 

The week passed with everything slowly settling into a routine. The one exception being Ajax’s experimentation with [Elemental Avatar] as he didn’t want to lock himself out of more than two different Mana types at once. By the end of the week Tom had returned from his delve and the carpenters had finished their initial ships. It was time to try them out.