Gamer Reborn
Chapter 512

Chapter 512

Arianwyn P.O.V.

Leaving the capital of Gryndor felt liberating in a way I hadn’t expected it to when we had first arrived. My interest in the way humans lived was still there but it was stifling when compared the political mayhem that took place as nobles from three kingdoms met daily at court. More than that with all three kingdoms heavily in favor of maintaining the peace it left the nobles with plenty of options to make and break deals with each other since such minor actions wouldn’t affect the stability.

“So how did you find our dungeons?” Xavier asked me, finally we were getting a better chance to talk, we weren’t alone as everyone delving was also there along with one or two retainers from their families not to mention a few noble youth from Gryndor and their own retainers were following behind us as well.

“We sadly didn’t get the feeder variation.” I answered, it was the only thing that was special about their dungeons as far as I was concerned, besides the first floor all dungeons were the same in all regards except the level jump between floors. “I had wanted to see those giant rabbits of yours.”

Gryndor had the only dungeon with a stable feeder floor. This might not matter all that much when it came to the populace at large but it did have quite the effect on the high level bonds that were raised in the kingdom. Just the availability of Mana infused meat was a great boon for any growing carnivore or omnivore bond, in particular the griffins the royal family was known to raise every century or so.

“I can assure you a few of them can be prepared by the time we return so that you may take them with you.” Xavier offered.

“That’s a fairly cheap price for you to pay after ambushing us like this.” Emeris cuts into the conversation. “The Empire just so happened to travel to the same city at the same time that we did.”

I sent Emeris a frigid glare that despite not being backed by any of Ice Mana sent a shiver down his spine. We all knew it was no coincidence that the Empire was going to be sending their own small delegation to meet with us but we also knew that Gryndor were just as surprised by this as we were.

I couldn’t fault that it did put them in a better position for the upcoming small conflicts, with the Empire present we would be happy with Gryndor just taking a neutral position. Despite this being in Gryndor’s favor however it was clear that this was just an attempt from the Empire to force Gryndor into a closer tie with them, something I am not surprised about seeing as they will rely on Gryndor to have their prodigies go out and delve the dungeons of other kingdoms.

Deepwood was doing something similar with us, only instead of forcing our hand they were more than willing to pay for the privilege and father was happy to accept their coin as our financial situation recovered quicker than we could have ever imagined.

“You might want to try harder to hide your glee if you are pretending to be angry or offended.” Harold’s voice might as well have slapped Emeris across the face with how effective the words were.

It was no secret after two days' travel that Emeris was ecstatic about both Gryndor being embarrassed and looking to make amends for the surprise visit of the Empire as well as for the chance to duel the Empire’s people and prove himself as one of the best of our generation.

“Though I have to admit you do have startling potential. Far better than my own and I am considered quite gifted.” It was easy to see the influence of House Silvertongue in Harold’s upbringing, while he was just great for his age instead of a prodigy when it came to combat he also matched that with his great political talent.

Stolen novel; please report.

While Emeris might not have been as quick to level as I had been at his age he was close to getting his own Domain faster then I had. This was part of the reason I feared the duel that would most certainly take place between him and Lexi, they would be very close in terms of age and level, with the dungeons Lexi has cleared making it something of an even duel.

“The people in this carriage are probably the most gifted people you have ever seen.” Emeris preened at the compliment and offered one in return even if he went about it in a backwards sort of way. “Just being counted among us is already great praise.”

“Hard to argue that you all are certainly part of the greatest of your generation, but we are missing a few people.” Aranor spoke and everyone turned towards the corner of the carriage where the two champions were sitting and talking. “As things stand I believe Lady Manashaper is well on her way to surpass your own talent seeing as she already unlocked a Domain of her own.”

That wasn’t even the scariest thing about Lexi. Unlocking a Domain this quickly was one thing but already having added a fourth Mana type to it and having that Mana type be Legendary was something that left me wondering how long it would be until she would be able to go toe to toe with me.

“Do you think Ajax had time to come up with anything new now that he has a duchy to run?” Elara asked Benedict in a loud voice, clearly looking to move away from the subject of who was strongest.

It was a repetitive trend but one that was consistent. Every day or two Emeris would find his way to talking about who the best of our generation were but would just as quickly drop the topic once Ajax’s name was mentioned. It wasn’t difficult to see why, with the rest of us Emeris was still comparable but Ajax was in a class of his own. The first interaction between the two of them had the chance to go extremely poorly or revert all of Emeris biases against humans.

“Er….” From the way Benedict was scratching the back of his head as he looked away from Elara and the way Xavier had jolted when she asked what was supposed to be a harmless question just to get Emeris off topic something was clearly up.

“The two of you might want to join Lord Leafsong in those lessons regarding keeping your emotions hidden.” Anna said with a sigh as she took in their reaction and shared a commiserating look with Harold.

“What has he come up with now?” I find myself whispering to Xavier, over the last couple weeks we had grown closer together. Those fluttering feelings that had mellowed since we hadn’t seen each other for months since he left Sylvanthal returned in force over the last few weeks.

“That isn’t for me to say.” He whispered back, clearly enjoying our little game of whispers as much as I was.

“You owe me a small favor still don’t you.” Aranor addresses his champion counterpart. “How many shocking ideas has Ajax come up with since I last saw him?”

There it was. This is something that Emeris had been trying to push us towards since we arrived in Gryndor. Champions operated by their own set of rules, at their level even the laws of the kingdom bent, sometimes more than they did for royalty simply because of their strength. It was a known fact that they kept in somewhat close contact with one another and had wagers and favors that would see anyone else tried for treason. It also helped that they didn’t flaunt it, the only reason we were getting a glimpse was because they recognised that we would eventually reach their level with all the dungeons we were going to soon be delving.

“Three, as far as I am aware.” The champion's words shook me to my core, it has only been a few months and already Ajax had three more potentially earthshaking ideas? “One of them has been fully confirmed, one partially but is looking good and the last one he is just trying out.”

“So they’re pretty obvious.” Aranor nodded as he processed the information.

“You’ll see the first one before we even enter Lessis and you’ll find out about the second within a day of being there.” the champion confirmed. “But that’s all I’ll tell you.”

“I’m pretty sure Ajax will tell you if you ask him.” Anna said as she looked towards me and Elara.

“When did he have the time to come up with all that!?” Elara exclaimed. “He’s a newly landed duke.”

I fully understood Elara’s feelings on the matter, both she and I had started taking a more active role in helping our fathers with their duties and it took a serious chunk of time and effort to handle even a small portion.

Xavier and Benedict chuckled at that, even Anna let slip a smile through her poker face. “Ajax isn’t a hands on Duke.” Benedict explained. “He seems to have picked a style similar to his future grandfather-in-law. He might set the direction the House and duchy are moving towards but he hardly steps in when it comes to implementation of how to get there.”

That was something I could actually see happening from how I knew Ajax, in fact his position mirroring that of Duke Manashaper made a lot of sense. Nevertheless I was now even more excited to reach Lessis and see just what Ajax had managed to come up with.