Ajax P.O.V

“Sorry about the shout everyone.” is the last thing commander Grievous says before he leaps back up to the open window.

I am very much still unsure what happened, after the first strike I had the upper hand during the entire match, not once did any of his counters do more than just lessen the pressure I was putting on him. Even now the dizziness hasn’t fully dissipated, and more than that I didn’t feel any mana at all.

This could only mean that this wasn’t a mana based attack. From the fact that it affected everyone, if to a lower degree than me meant it was most likely a physical skill. That it messed with my senses and head without mana meant I, as I was, had no defenses for any such skills. This is something I will definitely have to look into fixing, and soon.

“That was amazing.”

“How did you do that?”

“The commander actually looked hurt at the end there.”

The exclamations and whispers started all around me. The last one got my attention, it seems people didn’t get as good a read on the fight as I thought. Sure my last attack is the only one that actually got through to do physical damage to the commander but I know for a fact his armor needs to be sent to a blacksmith for repairs after the blows it took.

“That really was something little brother.” Tom congratulated me, he was crouching by Fluffy and giving her a scratch, it seems she got hit worse than everyone by that shout.

“It definitely took a lot out of me.” I admit looking at my mana and stamina 850/2250 and 600/1850.

End of P.O.V

With that Ajax gave a hearty goodbye to his brother and the rest of the guards he knew and then headed back home. The afternoon was reserved for his mother as they would go shopping for all the provisions he would need, not only for the road but also to get started once he gets to the capital.

The two of them are strolling through the Market District with Ajax dragging a small cart behind him. Most of his essentials were already taken care of, his sister and Alana had already gotten the rations sorted, his father had already done a final repair and maintenance on his armor and weapons and Katy had already packed a full set of medical supplies.

“Let's get you a decent map.” His mother offered and dragged him towards a little out of the way shop that was tucked in a corner.

“Welcome, what can I get you?” The unenthusiastic greeting came shortly after the bell at the entrance announced them.

“We’re here for a map.” Silvia said as she started looking at all the different odds and ends the store had.

Surprisingly this store had quite a lot of different wares, from the ropes, pikes, tents and other such supplies Ajax put together that they must cater to travelers.

“I might be able to help you with that, what region are you looking for?” The merchant looked like someone breathed life back into him at the news.

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“A map of Gryndor” his mom said, then after a second of pause she added. “We’re not all that interested in perfect geographical accuracy as we are with the territory spread.”

The man nodded at that and headed into the back as Ajax turned to his mother.

“Isn’t a map used for its geographical accuracy?”surprised at her request.

“Any map you can get in this place, you can find one that is twice as cheap and three times as accurate once you actually get to the capital, not to mention that you’ll be following big roads to get there, no real danger of getting lost.” she patiently explained to him.

“Then why get a map at all?” Having just blown through thousands of golds he found himself being much more frugal.

“The other thing you’ll be doing on your trip is getting very bored. Some of the time you’ll be spending with your caravan can be put to good use.” As she spoke the shop owner came back with three of the biggest maps Ajax had ever seen in his hands.

“Here we are.” he said, placing them on the counter. “I have three different maps that show territory, one at two silver , ten silver and fifty silver.”

Instead of looking at the maps for more than a cursory glance followed by a small nod Silvia turned to look at the merchant. “Which of these is the most recent?”

The merchant’s wince at the question was rather pronounced despite his best attempt to keep his face from showing his feelings. “This one.” he said, pointing to the ten silver one.

“We’ll take it for eight.” his mother's voice changed a little and he knew she was putting her merchant skills to work. Having spent the last six months in the city with no children to raise her merchant skills had gotten quite the workout and were showing a growth almost comparable to Ajax’s own.

The merchant tried to offer a counter offer but the best he could do was open and close his mouth a few times until he finally got out an “Eight and a half.”

“Deal.” his mother said and started folding the map as Ajax placed the coins on the counter and left for home.

“Now Ajax,” Silvia started once they were out of the shop. “The capital is going to be a very different place. It is filled with representatives of all sorts of noble families, most often looking to get one up on one another of similar standing.”

“This map isn’t for you to use in case you get lost. It’s for you to study and get a general idea of who the archdukes, dukes, marquis and barons are and where their lands are. Most importantly the map also has their house sigils.”

This was something Ajax had overlooked. His focus on training and gaining strength had left a gaping hole in his preparations. The protection he benefited from here wouldn’t extend in the capital, while he wouldn’t have to go into hiding or anything he would have to pay more attention to noble families.

One look at the map once they got home and Ajax could already tell that very little effort went into the geography of it. Most rivers, hills, forests were evidently wrong and the scale of some were much smaller or larger than the reality and this was just from his quick view of the areas he had seen on other maps.

His final night in the city was spent at his parent’s house, both he and Hatchet would sleep here tonight and leave early the next morning so the entire family gathered for an early dinner.

Everybody showed a happy and encouraging attitude but most of the people at the table thought it was still a little too soon for Ajax to be heading off. The exceptions were Tom and Katy, Katy because she best recognised how quickly the entire family would need to relocate from this backwater region and Tom because of Ajax’s performance against the Commander.

“Ajax are you still awake?” his mother knocked gently on his door a few minutes after he headed off to bed.

“Yeah, come in,” he answered.

As his mother walked into the room her face betrayed that she was fighting a battle with herself.

“Is everything alright?” he was slightly worried now looking at her face.

“What? Oh, everything is fine” she forced a wry smile on her face.

“I know I never went into all that much detail about my family before.” she started as she clenched her first around whatever was inside. “But I think now is the time to tell you a little bit.

“When I decided to leave with your father my family cut me off.” She took a deep breath. “That isn’t to say they disowned me, just that so long as I kept to this decision I wouldn’t have access to any help or support from them.”

“A few months ago I learnt that they were still keeping an eye on me. A letter came in from my parents asking if I needed some help to get back on my feet after the attack on the village.”

“After all this time I have no intention of relying on them for support.” she said with conviction as she opened her hand to present a token with an emblem marked into it. “This is the insignia of the Open Plains Trading Company that my parents gave to me and I want you to have it.

“They were just some middle level merchants back then but even if that hasn’t changed you’ll still be able to get a better than average price on anything you may need to sell with less questions asked about how someone of your level managed to delve that deep into the dungeon.”

Ajax took the offered token but didn’t have time to process everything as his mother gave him a hug and left the room.