Ajax was surprised to find that his grandparents were also there, less surprising was the tense atmosphere that he could cut with a knife from the moment he walked in the door. It was also pretty clear that everybody wanted a new topic of conversation, not only that but all were also interested in finding out how the meeting had gone.

“We’re officially nobles.” Ajax said.

The announcement was met with sighs of relief from Judy, Alana, Silvia and Sebastian who had been taking it in the teeth for the last few days as every one of their competitors was getting their licks in before the announcement.

“We are officially house Hearthbound and have been given plot A231.” Ajax continued. “From what I understand its an empty plot so that celebration party will have to be an open one.”

“What plot did you say?!” While that number might not have meant much to everyone who came from Lessis, Aurora Elija and Sebastian were all quick to react.

“What’s wrong with the plot?” Silvia asked.

“Nothing’s wrong with it exactly…” Aurora said as she chose her words thinking carefully how to phrase it. “But it neighbors a recently vacated Viscount plot, the king essentially announced he plans to grant him a ducal title in ten years as long as he doesn’t mess this up too badly.”

Ajax had mentioned something like this beforehand but having it be confirmed in such an obvious way got everyone to go and hug Ajax, congratulating him on his success.

“How did the meeting go?” Silvia was curious about everything.

It took some convincing before Ajax took a seat with a mug of ale in his hand as he started to narrate his experience inside the royal palace. His family did show quite a bit of a surprise when Ajax mentioned that he met the members of the Eighth who saved his life from the vampire before.

Both of his grandparents found a very interesting spot on the floor to focus on as the family reminisced their encounter with a vampire. It was in a way partly their fault as Ajax wouldn’t have met that vampire had they not been ousted from the capital.

“So apparently house sigils aren’t usually as detailed as the one we have.” Ajax said while scratching the back of his head, he had been the one to reject the more simple designs his father had first presented him.

“I told you so…” Sam muttered under his breath.

“I know, I know.” Ajax raised his hands in surrender.

“But wait, how were you given the name without a sigil?” Judy asked.

“Well the king did accept the sigil.” Ajax explained. “He just suggested that we keep it for letter seals and other important markers and that we get a more simple designed one to use for marking everything.”

“There are quite a few noble houses that do this.” Elija weighed in. “Mostly it is seen in houses that had battles over inheritance, each side of the family chose a new simple sigil to show their allegiance and those marks remained even after the new house head was elected.”

“With this official announcement and the honey you should have no problem setting down a good foundation.” Ajax said as he grinned towards Judy and Alana.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

“Do you think it is time?” Judy asked.

“The hives are almost full already.” Ajax stated.

“What bees?” Aurora asked curiously. “It’ll still be another month and a half until the hives will have enough to be worth gathering.

“Not if you are farming bees.” Ajax said with a grin.

“You’re farming the bees!?” Sebastian exclaimed.

“Are you sure you should have shared that?” Alana asked as she eyed the two experienced merchants.

“It’s not like it makes all that much of a difference.” Ajax said. “Even if they wanted to get in on the market it’s a little late to start importing it now and the locally sourced stuff will be hard to find.”

“Honey isn’t that hard to find in the forests near the capital actually.” Elija said.

“I’m sure it hasn’t been in the past.” Ajax said. “Give it two to five years and it will be again, but I pretty much took over most of the bee population when I set up my hives and that will take time to replenish. The supply of honey from outside our hives is going to take a massive dive.”

“With that being said.” Ajax brought the conversation back to the original point. “I was hoping to take a step back from direct leadershing in the near future.”

“What do you mean?” His brother asked.

“The king has offered me a way to earn a spot in the next under fifty tournament in about six years.” Ajax told them.

“You’ll barely be older than twenty at that time!” Silvia was horrified at the prospect.

“I know.” Ajax nodded. “Which is why I will need to focus on getting as strong as I can for that time.”

“The riches from one tournament aren’t worth the danger.” Aurora backed up her daughter.

“It’s not the riches that I am hoping to get out of the tournament.” Ajax said with a slight shake of his head.

“Then what is it?” his grandmother asked.

“You want a chance to delve.” Elija answered instead with his blank calculating look, his eyes however weren’t focused and were moving around following a train of thought only he could see. “You want a chance to delve at least one, maybe two more capital dungeons.”

“Yes.” Ajax nodded. “The more different dungeon floors I can clear while I am so low level the higher my cap will grow.”

“And do you think they will leave you alone if you are to do that?” Tom asked.

“Actually they will.” It was Elija who spoke up again, to Ajax’s surprise.

“Why?” Silvia was the one who asked though everyone focused on the the merchant wanting to know his explanation, Ajax included since he didn’t know the answer.

“Because he is only one man.” Elija said.

“One man can beat an entire army if he is strong enough.” Tom argued.

“That he can, but he can’t be in two places at once.” Elija acknowledged.

“What does that have to do with anything?” Tom asked

“Where do you think the strongest fighters are positioned during a war?” Elija asked.

“On the front lines.” Tom said.

“Protecting the king.” Alana also guessed.

“No,” Elija said with a weak shake of the head. “The strongest fighters are always guarding the dungeons. All of those defenses surrounding the dungeons aren’t just to handle the monsters that sometimes slip out, but also to allow the kingdom to decide who enters.”

“The most devastating tacting that can be employed in a war is to have one man infiltrate the capital dungeon of the other nation and delve as deep as they can and unleash a full floor from that point.” Aurora joined in.

“The strongest fighter in the kingdom right now is a little north of level two hundred and twenty.” Elija picked up again. “Even if you cut off twenty levels because he is diving solo in the dungeon can you imagine what would happen if a full level two hundred floor was unleashed right next to the capital?”

“Despite the practice being outlawed and condemned by every nation, the possible tragedy should it be used is so impactful that all nations have their strongest people guarding the dungeons each and every time war is called.” Aurora said. “That’s why the other nations would be willing to tolerate one anomaly, because all he will be is a strong defender.

This certainly explained a lot to Ajax as to why all the wars always ended with a treaty, nobody wanted to push the other side far enough to attempt something like this, it was the war equivalent of flipping the board and a strategy everyone had access to since the five level floor difference dungeons were just so important the were always next to if not inside the capital.

“With that looming on the horizon, Mom, do you think you can take care of setting up the celebration party we are supposed to hold for receiving the title? I will provide you with a few names that we have to invite from the Academy but other than that you can invite whoever you want for whatever reason.” Ajax’s party planning skills were sub-par to say the least.

“HRRR” Fluffy rubbed her head into Ajax's lap at that news.

“Of course you are invited, you overgrown fur ball.” Ajax said as he started scratching the shadow cat.

“Ajax, at least get changed from those clothes before you play with Fluffy.” Silvia was quick to point out. These were his best clothes after all and while it wasn’t much Fuffy still she the occasional hair every now and then.