Gamer Reborn
Chapter 511

Chapter 511

The first thing House Hearthbound did when they got the news was send word to the capital about what they just found out. Including the time it would take for the message to arrive they knew there was no chance even the royal family could stop the visit from happening but they should be able to send some more people to accompany Arianwyn so that there will be more control surrounding the meeting.

“The letter mentions that they will be bringing some friends.” Silvia points out.

“Talented young nobles.” Lexi nodded. “They will be looking to duel their elven counterparts for sure. With the number of spies the Empire must have looking for information right now I wouldn’t be surprised if they would be able to match the elves to the age for each one of their people.”

“Do you have anything to be worried about?” Ajax asked his fiance. She would be the one challenged after all.

“No.” Lexi shook her head. “I won’t be dueling people my own age, the only people of my age that have a chance against me right now are Anna and Xavier. Well and you but you are in a different league to us. I will be dueling people older than me, some in their mid or late thirties. Even if I lose it won’t be seen as a bad result as long as I put up a decent fight.”

“Won’t they also be sending someone who can fight Ajax?” Judy asked.

“No.” Lexi shook her head. “Ajax’s power level is in an odd spot for challengers right now. Anyone around the same strength as him would be too strong to be allowed to delve, they would need to be around level one hundred and thirty. At the same time the boosters will be champions and they still surpass Ajax by a fair margin.”

“The question we are left with is how will we handle Tom’s fights?” Kate asked.

Tom was in an odd spot as well, just not in the same way Ajax was. While he was on the weak side for his age amongst nobles, having just recently pushed his level above his age by a bit his combat prowess was far above thanks to Fluffy.

“I’m sure Fluffy would welcome the experience.” Tom said. “I can always forfeit the match early if I need to but a bit of experience would be nice.”

“Speaking of Fluffy,” Lancel drew attention to himself. “I think the Empire might very well be bringing a potential breeding partner.”

“There is a Shadow Cat in the Empire?” Ajax was surprised to hear that.

“Not a Shadow Cat.” Alana shook her head. “A Wind Lynx.”

Alana had looked into potential breeding partners for Fluffy before and there weren’t all that many. While there were plenty of Mana infused feline species they very much mirrored their regular creature counterparts and cared very little for truly bonding with humanoids.

“The lynx is stronger than Fluffy, at least for now.” Lancel continued. “It would make for a very good pairing. It’s at about level one hundred but it is almost past its prime, it won’t really get much stronger.”

“This would also be a great time for Fluffy to become a mother.” Kate jumped in. “Her body is done growing but having kits would not only bring a resurgence of Mana through her but it would also invoke her natural instinct to protect and help her push herself further before reaching her prime.

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“What do you think they would want in exchange for that?” Tom asked.

“Depends how they want to frame the deal.” Lexi answered. “If they are selling their services it could be pretty expensive, two thousand gold at least probably more. Unless they are giving us a discount as part of the engagement gifts they are using as the excuse to visit.”

“How else could they go about it?” Ajax asked.

“They might just ask for half the kits.” Kate said but it was clear from her tone she wasn’t in favor of this option.

“That’s not an option I’d be willing to consider.” Ajax shook his head. “Fluffy’s first litter will remain with House Hearthbound, what about the compatibility? Wind and Shadow don’t mix all that well.” ŗ𝓪NőΒĘṠ

“That won’t be an issue.” Lancel assured all of them. “The felines are about the same size from what I hear so the elements shouldn’t affect things at all in any kits that survive past the first few weeks.”

“What does their size have to do with anything?” Ajax asked.

“As you already know based on their Mana infusion monsters and creatures grow bigger the more Mana they have. This is exponential.” Lancel explained. “In this case here Fluffy is of a much higher quality than Wind lynx since cats are a lot smaller compared to lynxes.”

“Wouldn’t that mean that it won’t be a good match between them?” Sam asked. “Shouldn’t we wait and find an equal at least.”

“That would be the case if they were the same species of felines.” Lancel nodded. “Since the species is different the litter will be down to luck. What we would be hoping for is a kit that gains the most of the lynx’s physical body but inherits Fluffy’s Mana potential. Since Fluffy’s Mana potential is quite a bit higher, almost all of the kits should be Shadow aligned.”

Ajax had to admit he was fascinated by this. As much as he enjoyed humanoids' ability to excel in multiple fields there was something to say about monster’s ability to pass on their genes with some reliability.

“Are we worried about them trying to steal information about the school system?” Lancel asked, moving the topic back to the visit of both the Empire and Sylvanthal.

“No.” Ajax shook his head, he realized that Lancel was also asking only out of politeness and to swap the topic but there was no point in even trying to hide the school system as a whole. “We will have the lesson plan secure but over the next few years every single spy in our duchy will have sent back an outline of what is going on.”

The discussion progressed from there as they rejoiced in their decision to build the arena, it would become all the more important for the duels they were all but sure would be thrown out.

“What about cement?” Judy asked. “Isn’t this the perfect opportunity to secure a few deals for export?”

“It will be.” Elija nodded. “According to Sebastian one of the elves that will be coming to visit is part of House Deeproot.”

“The Viscount House we have a long term deal with.” Ajax felt proud of himself for how quickly he had recognised and placed the name.

“They specialize in alchemy,” Silvian nodded. “I bet they’ll be very interested in not just the product but also the creation process.”

“They won’t be able to create it.” Ajax shook his head. “There is practically nowhere for them to mine the stone they would need in that forest.”

“They might just use it for inspiration.” Aurora joined the conversation. “Or simply collect it for their records. You would be surprised how often old noble Houses are willing to spend excessive amounts for something that might not be useful to them for millenia.”

Aurora had some experience with that. Her Skills being geared towards recognising the value of objects meant that more than once she had come across something with niche uses and it was always bought for more than she had initially expected by an old noble house who was willing to take the short term hit just to have the object should they need it in the future. The only such objects that didn’t follow this pattern were those that couldn’t be preserved until the right time eventually came.

“I don’t want to sell the formula just yet.” Ajax shook his head. “Besides, they'll probably get more out of it if they try to work backwards from the finished product to get the ingredients if they really want it for research. Though that would be quite expensive.”

With that breakfast was over and everyone went on about their day. Lexi and Ajax continued with their planned training while Jake, Jari and Nashara all left for school. Everyone else had their schedule at least a little thrown off due to the news.

While Tom was traveling towards Lessis his mind was focused on how to best house their guests when the time came. Having all of them reside at their manor was a recipe for disaster even if they did have the rooms. The best approach might simply be to have them on opposite sides of Lessis simply to minimize their interactions.

Tom put all of that in the back of his mind once he arrived at Nestor’s residence. One of the letters he had gotten the day before came from them and mentioned that their eldest son had managed to form a bond with the salamander and Tom was interested in just what he could find out. He had Knight Bonehammer with him as well as Theron who would be picking Jake, Jari and Nashara from school once their lessons were finished.