Both groups swiftly merged as they started to make their way towards the dungeon. Ajax’s entire class had their eyes trained on Fluffy. An elemental attuned inferior version of a feline or a wolf is considered the peak as a starting companion.

While Fluffy is far too young to be considered optimal as well as surpassing being an inferior version, his current age does represent what a mature inferior version like his parents were. This added on to the playful personality he displayed towards Anna and Lexi on top of his soft coat made him the centre of attention.

While the rest of his classmates were fawning over the shadow cat, Tom introduced Ajax to all the possible retainers and there was quite a lot to be said about the variety he was presented with. In terms of strength not a single one of the guards could stand up to Theron, this despite half of them being older than eighty with a strong focus on Vitality.

One of the former guards did stand out to him however. Ogre, was the complete opposite of his namesake. He was a slim man with sharp eyes and was the only one to notice that Ajax had used [Judge Threat] on them. That isn’t to say that he managed to stop the skill, however the result did surprise Ajax.

Ogre’s power level was around level thirty-five, one of the lowest of all the guards present and certainly no threat to Ajax. Oddly enough the skill also imparted the feeling that the man was slippery, most likely a stealth specialist that would even give Ajax trouble. He was naturally a dedicated scout.

Where the guard recruits were more mediocre, as a result of all who were slightly talented usually having already joined a different house, the two healer recruits that Kate had managed to persuade were not only younger but seemed to be decently talented, not only that but they were also younger and as such had more time to grow in their potential.

Once they finally entered the dungeon Ajax could see the change in all of the former guards. Despite their lack of outstanding talent all of them did have plenty of experience with dangerous situations as a result of a long service as part of the capitals guards.

Fluffy did seem a little upset that Tom would have to remain outside, his level simply not being high enough to safely enter the dungeon. While Tom was slightly underleveled for the dungeon Fluffy was already strong enough to head towards the next floor so Ajax sent the feline forward together with Ogre to scout for them.

It was here that the dungeon floor layout proved problematic for Ogre. Despite his high Perception and a long time spent practising his skills, he had very little experience in how to scout through the tall grass on the hilly open planes. His skill could barely find any footing to grasp onto the structured tunnels dug underground by snakes, spiders or rats.

Ajax could only sigh as they didn’t get the feeder floor variant. The extra levels the creatures would gain would be a good opportunity to allow for a small increase in difficulty without having to go up a full floor. Not only that but he would have been able to make a good impression on the potential recruits by sending them all home with a sack full of high quality meat from the rabbits as the floor ended.

Theron was quick to show his prowess once the first battle began. The bull beastkin had managed to catch a decent size snake by the back of the head mid leap with his massive size. Even more impressive was the fact that he looked to be squeezing the life out it.

The rest of the guards also showed their expertise, their teamwork was flawless as they formed a solid perimeter around the two healers making sure nothing could get to them. Their experience protecting civilians during brawls showed as they didn’t let a single rat break through their formation.

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Whereas the healers had a lot more potential it quickly became clear that they didn’t have all the needed combat experience, their only known tactics being to close ranks with Ajax as he was the only mage currently present.

Ajax didn’t make a single motion to join the fight. The people here were stronger than needed to handle the first floor and he was mainly here to observe them and would only interfere under dire circumstances.

Just as the rat numbers were starting to lower Ajax started hearing odd whistles coming from somewhere. Oddly enough he could only narrow down the general direction, he should probably look into working on his tacking skills once more as he had neglected them ever since he had first spent his free stat points.

The whistles were obviously coming from Ogre and the rest of the guards properly changed their formation to intercept incoming attacks. Theron stood out like a sore thumb when compared to the practised movements of the rest of the guards. Despite his massive size and power he wasn’t getting anywhere close to his full efficiency being unused to fighting as part of a group.

The first wave swiftly ended and Ajax noticed that it was larger than the usual packs that this floor was covered with. Despite that the beast all came in as a smooth flow instead of as a crushing wave and he counted enough there to mark three full groups.

Once the fighting was over the healers finally had a chance to show their own skills. With most of the beasts being rats and moles each guard had more than one or two scratches to show for it but none of them were deep. It took barely a cast to have all of the wounds swiftly close up but Ajax noticed that there wasn’t anything done for the small amount of blood loss. That wouldn’t be an issue with how small the wounds were now but it was something to keep track of.

From morning until night the group had fought through another five more similar battles. They mostly played out the same way but with every single encounter Theron was getting more and more included into the team dynamic.

Their first attempt at including him had ended in an almost disaster as they tried to include the beastkin into their formation as a normal guard. Theron’s size and fighting style however did not mesh well with the tight formation and ended with more than a few close calls where Theron's heavy blow cut cleanly through the rat hound sized rat but the blow carried forward embedding the axe into the shield of the guard next to him.

Their formation evolved from there to a more wavy circle shield formation that sported Theron on the outside, this let the bull charge around the circle formation and attack any beat from the side while the rest of the guards made sure nothing attacked him from behind.

Ajax’s first show of magic came when the light dimmed and the dungeon turned to night. He quickly used his ability to summon magma and water to create a large solid plane on which they set up their camp. Not only that but Ajax also stored all the provisions for this trip in his spatial storage.

Tom had told Ajax that he was only looking to recruit about half of the guards he had brought today, those that hadn’t yet given up on advancing in level and were still looking to push. A few of them were clearly done with progressing and were now only looky for a cushy job to partially retire on.

The night had been uneventful with nothing trying to get at them and everyone changing shifts without too much complaining. The one problem that did creep up on them was that Theron snored loudly, not only that but he had also been part of the first shift meaning that after he fell asleep everyone else also had a much harder time doing so. Ajax made a note to ensure there were some silencing runes placed on Theron's tent for next time.

The second day played out much differently than the first. The team had only gone through two fights before they had reached the obelisk. It was there that Ajax had them set up a defensive position in a cave and told the healers to look into restoring the blood the guards had lost.

Most of the team looked a little worried when Ajax activated the obelisk despite a large portion of the floor still not being cleared.

“I’ll take care of most of them, take up a defensive position just in case a few run past me.” Ajax said as he strode to the front of the cave.

All of the guards shared a few concerned looks with both healers going a little pale when they started seeing the wave of rodents rush towards them. The only one calm and collected beside Ajax was Theron.

“He’s got this.” the large beastkin reassured them.

What followed next was something that left a deep impression in the minds of the guards and the two healers as Ajax perceded to single handedly lay waste to everything the dungeon threw at him.

Both Tom and Kate had told them that Ajax was special but there was a difference between being told and being shown. His weird fighting style combined with the fluent change from one element to the other was a mesmerising experience. Their trance was only broken by the thunderclap that came from Ajax’s final and overcharged lightning spell that finished off the last of the beasts using the large puddle he had spread in front of the cave.

“That should be… all of them.” Ajax heaved out, despite not getting hit he had run through most of his mana as well as a good two thirds of his stamina. “We can… head out.”