Gamer Reborn
Chapter 513

Chapter 513

The cold winds and low temperatures didn’t bother the elves or any of the other people who joined them. They all had enchanted items that would help with temperature control so long as Mana wasn’t involved.

“What is that?” one of the retainers outside the carriage asked.

“I don’t know. I’ve never seen this kind of rock before.” another answered

“Do you think he spent all that empirical gold on a stonemason to craft all this?” While the carriage did have sound dampening enchantments they were all aimed at keeping sound from leaving while letting those inside hear what was going on outside. The conversation was drawing everyone's attention and Xavier was now wearing a cocky grin as he watched their interest.

Then there was a shift, all of a sudden the carriage stopped wobbling. Even with the enchantments it had it would occasionally tilt a little or jolt as it hit a bigger ditch in the road but that all ended.

“Clearly didn’t do that good a job, looks like it's already cracked over there.” the outside conversation continued and Aranor moved to open the door, his curiosity just as high as everyone else's but much better concealed.

They were still a fair way away from Lessis but they could at least see the city walls now. More attention however was given to Ajax’s cement road, despite being built within the last few months there were already a few cracks here and there building up at the edges of the road following Winter and now enduring Death.

“What are those people doing?” Arianwyn asked as she pointed off close to the city walls.

Building space inside the walls had almost run out, what little remained Ajax was saving for anything he might need to build later so he started building outside the city. The initial distaste at the idea disappeared immediately once he mentioned that a new wall would be raised once the city stopped expanding so aggressively.

The sight they were all watching must have been very odd for them. The bones of the structure was something they could probably identify and the presence of a warm fire wouldn’t be too far of a stretch given how cold it was. What confused people however was the presence of a massive cauldron that masons were actually using.

“Are they doing alchemy?” It was a good thing that Aranor’s body was blocking the exit of the carriage as his body was all that was stopping Leandra from running over to take a look at what was happening.

In the next moment something changed. Aranor was channeling his mana and his staff appeared from his spacial ring in his hand.

“Easy there Aranor.” Lancel said as he approached the carriage. “I’m just here to verify who you are.”

“Lancel.” Aranor put away his staff as he nodded to the man. “I didn’t think I’d see the day you left Manashaper’s side.”

“The man cares a great deal about his granddaughter.” Lancel nodded. “He asked me to look out for her.”

“He has you babysitting.” Aranor laughed.

“I’m in danger of getting bored during this ‘babysitting’ assignment.” Aranor was forced to concede that point, he would have likely responded too but their discussion was interrupted by Leandra who was more animated than she had been on their entire journey from Sylvanthal.

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“Are they doing alchemy, out in the cold like that?” Leandra sounded a mix of curiosity and outrage at the harsh conditions.

“You would be hard pressed to call that alchemy, Lady Deeproot.” Lancel said with a smile, one that turned into a grin that had Aranor cursing internally. “The base version doesn’t require an alchemist for the mixing like the Mana dense stuff.”

Leandra was thrown through a loop by Lancel’s words. Despite not being told all that much she had already figured out a large part of what it was Ajax had discovered but she had no idea how it worked. The suggestion that he could create and perfectly shape Mana dense rock however was a massive discovery even if it required an Alchemist present throughout the entire process.

“What are they mixing?” Arianwyn asked.

“Cement.” Lancel answered as he waved his hands towards the road the carriage was on. “As you can tell, despite some initial doubts Duke Hearthbound’s most recent creation has become rather popular with the people of Lessis -”

“It’s different.” Leandra said as she looked towards the massive cauldron and then towards the road. “Was this an old failed formula?”

“Certain changes were made in the formula for building cement over the road stuff.” Lancel nodded. “I am not aware of the exact differences but I do know the building variety is not just more difficult to create but also requires some more unique ingredients. I’m sure Lord Hearthbound would be happy to talk to you more about it.”

“There’s a lie if I ever heard one.” Fealin murmured not quite as quiet as he had intended to be drawing everyone’s attention.

“It’s not technically a lie.” Elara said, smiling a cheeky smile. “Ajax would be very excited to discuss alchemy with you and once he gets going you could easily lead the conversation towards this new discovery and he’ll probably let slip more than he should. Lexi will step in long before that has a chance to happen however.”

“If you head towards the manor there is a welcoming dinner awaiting you.” Lancel directed them to follow the road that led around the city and towards Hearthbound manor.

“Not even a feast?” Emeris grumbled as the carriage door closed and they started moving again.

“It’ll be a feast in all but name.” Benedict reassured the proud elf. “Ajax wouldn’t risk calling it a feast and having other nobles use that as an opportunity to invite themselves over.”

“So it’s true that he’s antisocial.” Fealin nodded as he confirmed information gathered by his family.

“I wouldn’t call it antisocial exactly.” Arianwyn defended Ajax. “He just doesn’t like big gatherings, with all the people we have with us our group is already pushing his comfort level, he wouldn’t risk anything that would mean another sixty young nobles with something to prove that are doubtlessly in the city already inviting themselves over.”

“That’s good.” Leandra said as she settled back down into the cushioned seat now that they moved past the alchemy happening. “We’ll at least get a chance to rest after the journey here before the nonsense with the duel starts.”

“You don’t think we’d challenge Manashaper? Or the mayor, I heard his bond is decently high level.” Fealin asked.

“I don’t care if you do.” Leandra shook her head. “I know none of them will challenge me so I get a day to rest before one of the nobles here waiting for us does so or someone from the Empire.”

The mention of the Empire left a lasting silence for the last ten minutes or so as the carriages entered the courtyard of House Hearthbound’s manor.

“What’s with all the feline statues?” Emeris asked as he looked at the statues that were sprinkled all over the estate.

“And why do they have a Mana storage?” Fealin’s words put Emeris on guard as he hadn’t sensed the presence of the Mana.

The questions were left unanswered as the exited the carriages and were welcomed inside the manor by all the members of House Hearthbound. Jake showed his age, after a perfect noble greeting he rushed off towards Xavier to give him a welcome back hug. Tom struggled to hold back his laughter at the interaction while Kate struggled to hold back a facepalm. She had been very specific in how Jake was to greet their guests but she forgot to give any details on what was to follow the greeting.

The evening progressed slowly with introductions taking place before dinner was served. Despite his initial plan Emeris found not bringing up the challenge to a duel, this was clearly influenced by Ajax’s aura that reflexively got protective every time the elf approached Lexi. Emeris had been exposed to auras far stronger than Ajax’s but there was something about his aura that was different that all the others, he wondered if it was because it came from someone younger than him.

“Thank you for joining us.” Lexi said as the group returned to their carriages after the meal. “Tomorrow we’ll have a more official welcoming party for you. For now our people will lead you to the accommodations we have prepared.

“Well the cement is clearly one of the three things Ajax discovered since we last saw him.” Aranor whispered to Arianwyn after they got back on the carriage. “I’m certainly looking forward to finding out the other two.”

“Tomorrow it’ll start, are you all ready?” This time Aranor addressed the entire group. He was referring to the string of duels they would all participate in. Unlike Ajax’s travel trip they would spend a lot longer than a few days for every dungeon and each of them would most likely have a duel happening the following day.