Chapter 706

Aurexion’s statement froze both the prince and Evelyn in their steps, at the same time Ajax continued walking but missed their reaction as he was processing the opportunity. To Ajax the idea wasn’t all that outlandish; it just wasn’t as big a deal to him since he was still low enough level and there were still four nations worth of dungeons he hadn’t touched yet.

The sudden stop almost caused panic among the two squads they had just freed who were outside the privacy barrier. A few reassuring signals got them to calm down but even weakened from weeks of captivity they were ready to fight at a moment’s notice.

“Your aunt… would be willing… to boost us…” The prince’s words drew Ajax’s attention as he turned around to watch him process something like that. “How strong… is your aunt?”

“One question at a time.” Ajax fought his own curiosity, despite having felt Khalysstra’s aura for himself there he didn’t have anything to compare that to, all he knew was that Khalysstra was a lot stronger than him.

“Right, would your aunt be willing to boost us?” The prince focused on what was immediately important, they already knew that the Ascended races wouldn’t set foot in humanoid lands without a massive incentive and that they were much stronger than humanoids, he just didn’t know Aurexion had a close connection to one that could easily wipe out a kingdom.

“You, no.” Aurexion’s flat answer was almost enough to knock the prince over. “Ajax on the other hand she would.”

Ajax knew the reason for this was the Death Mana crystal he had gifted to Shifty. Even without that she might have been convinced but it would have required some real effort from his side for her to waste her time doing something as pointless from her point of view as boosting him through a dungeon, maybe the first one would be an exception since she might be interested in the achievement for killing something three times his level.

For the prince and Evelyn this idea was much more important. They had reached the point where they could no longer progress their humanoid racial trait, since they would need to enter the next floor after they clear one to get its Stat bonus; it would mean unleashing a massive dungeon break of whatever that floor was. This was their first chance in centuries to progress their stats in a meaningful way.

“And how strong is she?” Evelyn asked, already starting to do the math to see how far she could boost.

“That’s a much harder question to answer, not in the least because I don’t know exactly.” Aurexion’s answer surprised them.

“What do you mean that’s a harder question to answer?” The prince asked.

“You look at strength from your perspective. Where not only are your strongest people barely past two hundred and even they haven’t made much use of their racial trait, I at level eighty one am comparable to them.” Aurexion explained. “One thing that is similar for us as it is for you is that as you look at people who reach the higher levels the average talent goes up since the untalented get stuck much earlier.”

That was an easy comparison to make, a talented level fifty and an untalented one would be a very uneven matchup, a talented level one hundred and fifty and one not considered all that gifted would be a lot closer since the talent needed to even get to one hundred and fifty provided a high minimum threshold.

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“Where does it change?” Evelyn as a true scholar was fascinated by this prospect and was eager to learn as much as Aurexion was willing to share.

“Once levels get past three hundred, a twenty to thirty level difference isn’t as important, fighting style and matchup matter a lot more.” Aurexion answered. After a moment to process this it made sense to both the prince and Evelyn, after all at those high levels six hundred extra stats was still important but they were a much lower percentage of the total stats available, especially with ways to increase stats dramatically outside of free stats granted every level. “Not to mention terrain and getting a surprise attack can make up for a lot.”

The last few points also mattered in the lower levels, a strong mage could still be assassinated by a much weaker physical fighter if caught by surprise in close range, this was one of the main reasons why after prolonged wars most champions remaining were hybrid fighters or physical fighters, any mages that survived were highly paranoid.

“While I don’t know my aunt’s exact level, and I wouldn’t share it with you even if I did, she did take up the position of Duke after my father died.” Aurexion shared. “This means at the very least she is getting close to level four hundred.”

That answer sent a shiver down the backs of not only the prince and Evelyn but even Ajax. Sure Aurexion was considered extremely powerful even for an Ascended at level eighty but like he just mentioned since Khalysstra was so high leveled she was certainly a talented dragon as well. Her being almost five times Aurexion’s level.

“She could decimate all our kingdoms if she wanted to.” The prince's face went one shade paler as he thought about it.

“Not alone.” Aurexion scoffed. “Without help not even she could channel enough power to decimate such a large area and if she didn’t finish within three days at most one of the kings, dragons or another race, would show up to kill her before she got to finish.”

The idea that there were multiple beings much stronger than Khalysstra out there didn’t do much to reassure the prince or Evelyn. Ajax on the other hand was inspired, the initial realization at the gap in power between him and the truly powerful still surprised him but he also remembered that a human had previously gotten a lot stronger than any of the kings, strong enough to force them to give humanoids a level of respect unseen in other Awakened races.

“It might be a good idea to reach out to Khalysstra once we get back to schedule this delve.” Ajax said, looking to move the topic along. “I still have a little while before I catch up to your level but there are things to do in our duchy. By the time they are all done the gap should be close enough.”

Since Ajax and Aurexion were bonded any such Achievement would be based on the highest level amongst the two of them. With Aurexion being level eighty one and closing in on eighty two it would most likely mean they would need to kill a level two hundred and forty six enemy. They couldn’t delay this too long since if Aurexion or Ajax reached level eighty four it would push them past the level two hundred and fifty jump in power the dungeons experienced.

It was obvious the prince and Evelyn also wanted to expand on the topic but now wasn’t the time, with them arriving back at the camp they had to drop the privacy barrier. The former prisoners were quickly spirited away towards the healer tents while the rest of them were gently guided towards the command tent where they could share the terms they agreed to.

“I’ll be taking a nap while you all do that.” There were a few frowns but nobody questioned Aurexion as the dragon headed for a spot shaded by a few tall trees. Now that Ajax was finally back on his feet and any immediate danger had passed he could finally sleep.

“Go for it buddy.” Ajax encouraged his bond. “I’ll get you if Highmountain decides to offer an extra snack for you.”

Ajax’s parting words did a lot for the morale of the common soldiers while also ensuring nobody would be disturbing his bond. Half the camp had heard him refer to a possible surprise attack by Highmountain’s champions as a meal delivery for the dragon.

“That insult might cost you.” Shadow warned as he was one of the people who arrived to meet them following their meeting with the beastkins.

“I doubt it.” Ajax whispered back. “From the way our talks went I think you’re very likely to be dealing with both Highmountain and the beastkin for your own peace talks.”

With no privacy barrier Ajax’s whisper was heard by a few of the higher levels among the people coming to meet them and that was exactly the news they were waiting for. His words not only implied that they would be able to get a peace agreement from Highmountain as well ensuring they wouldn’t invade during the peace with the beastkin, leaving them time to actually rebuild. But it also meant that they might be able to play the dwarves and the beastkin against each other in their negotiations, even if they were working together for now they clearly weren’t long term allies.