Early the next morning Ajax was ready to go. He was going to leave the pack Hatchet had gotten for him here and instead carried a small personal bag that was much smaller in space expansion. The reason for this was that the team told him they would be bringing him the carry pack they used. It was very different being specifically made to focus the weight as close as possible to the human center of mass to help alleviate the problems that would come with a bag that would end up weighing north of six hundred pounds.
“I know this will all seem very easy to you. And for the first floor it will be, but once you reach the second floor you should try your best to integrate with the rest of the team when fighting. The best use of your time here besides leveling would be to try and unlock [Cooperation] and if you are lucky [Teamwork].” Hatchet and his parents were giving him a send off for the second time.
“You didn’t mention those skills when I left before.” Ajax said.
“I was expecting you to stick around in this region and lay low. That and all your skills would be needing some work because of the way you saved your stat points meant you would learn about them in due time. Now your other skills have caught up a little and you can try and gain them without splitting your focus too much.” Hatchet said.
“What is so good about them?” Ajax asked.
“They are a selling point for mercenarie adventurers who don’t have a set team. [Cooperation] allows anyone with the skill to intuit what another person who has it will do as long as they are working together. [Teamwork] does much the same, if to a lesser extent, but it is not limited to one person nor does it require all participants to have it. It is a rare skill however so getting [Cooperation] is more likely as an uncommon one.”
Ajax could definitely see the appeal of the skills. Being able to easily adapt to new teams without having to train with them for weeks would be a big advantage for someone who was going to be leaving by himself to go to a different city.
With that he left and met up with the team at the city gates. They cut a very different picture compared to the easygoing half a dozen middle age party drinking at the bar. They were now armed to the teeth with expensive looking armor that Ajax could feel some enchantments on. Not only that but two of the people that weren’t there last night were absolutely massive, easily standing over seven and half feet tall in full plate gear, one wielding two shields and the other an axe as tall as him.
The thing standing out to him was the lack of casters. Out of the entire group only one of them could use mana, a woman who also hadn’t been there the previous night and whose son was going to be the healer joining their party. What drew a raised eyebrow from him was the leaders choice of weapon, a bladed whip and small vials of what he guessed were poinsons littered his belt and tunic.
The greeting went by quickly and Ajax was presented with a heavy new pack and they all started on their way towards the dungeon.
“Since we will be clearing out the full first floor I went ahead and picked up a few collection contracts for it.” Jones said once they were more isolated on the road, it was important to keep this kind of thing on the down low or it would just invite others to rob you.
“Can’t we just go straight to the second floor like we usually do?” one of the other members chimed in.
“No.” Jones cut off that road cleanly. “I know the nobles just said the reward was for recruiting him, but it would be improper to take him into a situation where he can’t develop. Just think of this as a trial run for when Tristan joins us.”
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Ajax silently disagreed with the assessment. He was most likely strong enough to handle anything the second floor threw at him but he didn’t blame them for their fair assumptions.
“That and the fact that with as much interest the nobles showed in him he will likely end up as a big shot in the not too distant future. Building a positive rapport with him now might pay off more than what the nobles are offering upfront.” the mage said, seeming not to care that Ajax heard.
“That is a good point.” A deep gravelly voice came from within the suit of armor that had a tower shield on his back. “Nelly if you would.”
At this prompting the caster woman muttered an incantation and a small wind dome settled around the group.
“Now we have a bit of privacy.” he rumbled “Think you can share with us at least a big picture of your abilities?”
Ajax frowned unconsciously at the question. Despite knowing it was probably alright to share some details now his fifthteen years of paranoia had clearly not vanished overnight.
“We don’t need anything too specific.” Jones cut in. “But if we are to help you get as much out of this as you can before all of us move on to bigger and better things we need to know a little about you. We will all learn about each other anyway in the time we will spend together in the dungeon.”
Ajax did have to concede that point if he kept to his usual one man team style, what was the point of joining a team to delve into the dungeon with. So with a nod he began to share.
“ Alright.” he began “ I am level 25.”
He didn’t get to say anything after that as he was interrupted by a few colorful curses. Mainly from the caster as it was her job to pull people out of shit with her magic. They all got quiet when Jones cleared his throat loudly.
“Sorry about that, please continue.” he said.
“It’s no problem.” he waved off the apology. “ I use a hybrid fighting style of mana and physical combat. It is most versatile in melee but keeps some of its versatility with elemental arrows from range.
He could see some interesting gazes fix on all the different weapons he carried. Clearly they had a better impression of him but he decided to offer a little more so that they would feel more comfortable in going to the second floor. “My total stats are also above nine hundred.”
This caused the entire party to freeze, Ajax almost walking into the member in front of him as he stopped. What had been a few interested gazes before turned into everyone staring at him. So much so that he second guessed himself for not saying eight fifty. He also wondered what would happen if he told them his total stats were actually above thirteen hundred.
“ I can see why those nobles were so interested in him now.” The tank's deep voice broke everyone out of their shock.
“Yeah the first floor should be easy for him. He might actually get more of a benefit from going to the second floor.” another chimed in.
“Anything specific you are looking to train while you are with us?” Despite Jones’s expression returning to his normal one his tone towards Ajax changed slightly. Ajax didn’t know it but the information he shared changed the view the team had of him from a necessary burden to a possible asset they were paid to have.
“I am hoping to gain the [Cooperation] and maybe [Teamwork] skills.” Ajax openly admitted the things they could influence the most.
“Well aren’t you aiming a little high?” the other plated giant with an axe chimed in. “You do know that [Teamwork] is a rare skill right?”
“Lay off it Bobby.” the caster lightly chastised him
“There isn’t much we can do about Teamwork.” Jones said. “But Donny has [Cooperation] so teaming up with him before you get settled into the team dynamic will give the best chance to gain the skill.”
Ajax turned towards the tank. But it wasn’t the skill possibility that had him flicking his gaze from him to Bobby.
“Are you two…” he started.
“Brothers? Yes, twins in fact!” Bobby cheerly answered as he draped his arm across his brother's shoulders.
“Sadly.” Donny admitted with a resigned tone that showed he was used to and also fed up with his brother's antics.
“[Cooperation], unlike [Teamwork], only comes into effect between strangers” Donny returned back to the point. “ If you don’t unlock it before you get used to fighting with us you probably won’t unlock it with our help at all. As for teamwork I suggest you don’t focus on that as getting a rare skill is a matter of inborn talent.”
Ajax pondered that statement. He knew in the abstract that he had a lot more skills than anyone he had ever met. In fact most people would have less than a quarter of what he did because of his Divine Witness trait allowing him to gain almost any of the common and uncommon skills. Not only that but he was in the position to target and try to forcibly unlock some rare skills in the same way others did for common ones.
The rest of the road was spent with the team going over the known dangers of the first floor and more specifically where they could fulfill the contracts they had picked up. The journey was made at a constant, not particularly fast pace, but one that they kept up for two whole days without rest arriving at the village as night fell on the second day.
“Get a good night’s rest” Jones advised Ajax as the team of twelve split into four rooms at the inn. “Tomorrow morning we head straight for the dungeon.”