As he was preparing for his journey Ajax had learnt from his mistakes, despite having a rather large spacial ring Ajax was also carrying a pack that had a very similar enchantment. Ajax wasn’t going to let a chance similar to the one that slipped through his fingers before go, besides a wide variety of alchemical ingredients that he could use for different experiments Ajax had packed no less than four cauldrons, two of them however were of a much lower quality and just in case he was going to try something that a cauldron wasn’t likely to survive.

After the goodbyes to his grandfather and sister Ajax and the rest of their group was approached by the crown prince. “Stick close to Arianwyn while you are in Deepwood.” This advice was met by a collective frown. “My brother will find himself busy and while we can only send him with you there will be no issue with another elf joining your group as protection. Make no mistake, just because targeting you is not the smart play doesn’t mean there aren’t radicals in Deepwood who would take their chances rather than watch you all grow.”

The words were like a bucket of ice water to all of them, the only racist extremists any of them had ever had to interact with came from the Empire, while those were bad enough they weren’t a target there, they couldn’t take any chances.

With that their journey started. While Gryndor had also sent out two carriages to join the elven convoy for their trip, those would be waiting for them in Sylvanthal’s capital once they finished their delves and they were returning to Gryndor.

Despite the presence of Gryndor’s carriages the only one to make use of them was Ajax who stashed his pack on one of them before taking king Sylvanthal up on his offer to join him in the royal carriage.

Unlike the Gryndor royal carriage that was simply a spatially expanded room that took the form of a carriage the elven carriage was a twenty foot tall tree with a thick trunk placed on wheels while the branches formed a large room on top of the trunk complete with seating.

Ajax had a hard time grasping how the carriage was so stable with what had to be a very high center of gravity and a relatively small base. “It’s a dungeon reward.” the prince said as he noticed Ajax staring at the carriage confused. “I prefer our carriage but this one does have a better visual impact.”

Ajax had to agree with the prince there, while Gryndor’s spatially expanded and gave the travelers a lot more room it still looked like a box on wheels, the elven carriage on the other hand looked like a tree with a massive dome made of branches that moved.

“Welcome” The king waved them in as they climbed into the room. “Please take a seat.”

Having less space there were a lot less people in this royal carriage than Ajax had come to expect from their initial trip. Besides the ten people who would be delving, only the king, four guards led by Aranor and Elara’s father were there.

“Oh no…” Lord Ironwhisper was the first to put together the political powder keg that awaited him inside the carriage. Despite his entire house being more combat focused they were still tied to the Silvertongues so his entire childhood was an exercise in social games and manipulation. One look at the rather revealing and decidedly human specific attire the elven princess was wearing was all it took for him to start putting the pieces together.

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The king couldn’t help with but sympathize with the whispers that he was no doubt not meant to hear. He had had the same reaction a few days ago when he realized his daughter’s sudden curiosity in Ajax following their fight. Worse was that despite all his tactical and social skill he couldn’t yet decide if he hoped his daughter’s curiosity was a passing fascination or the start of something real.

The princesses' outfit had the desired effect as Ajax stopped moving once he laid eyes on her, while he had no designs on taking multiple partners and was more than happy with Lexi; he was still a young man who could appreciate the elf’s beauty. A quick prod from Anna’s elbow was all it took to get him moving again and seated next to Lexi on the comfy leaf covered branches.

While Ajax had only been momentarily surprised by the princess, he took the prince, giving Xavier a good shove from behind to get him moving once more after he looked at the princess. “Thank you for the hospitality.” the king’s oldest son responded as he did his best to cover for the awkwardness that was quickly filling up the room.

“She is pretty.” Lexi muttered to herself as she watched Darkclaw all but mimic Xavier’s reaction to seeing the elven princess, her mood was instantly improved by Ajax taking her hand and leaning into her slightly as he took his seat beside her.

Arianwyn was extremely pleased with Ajax’s initial reaction. It had taken her a few days to admit but she was certainly interested in Ajax. She was smart enough to know that this might just be a passing fling brought on by her defeat but she did want to give it a chance to see what could develop.

The start of the journey might have gone exactly as the princess had wanted it certainly didn’t stay that way for long. She had been hoping to engage Ajax in conversation; she quickly realized that politics were very much not his topic as her father and Lord Ironwhisper were the main participants in that discussion.

Realizing Ajax had next to no interest when it came to politics Arianwyn slowly maneuvered the conversation into economics. This showed a slight success as Ajax actively participated when the topic came to Alchemy ingredients but sadly her own knowledge regarding Alchemy didn’t move past the bare minimum.

Three hours into the trip the king’s oldest son took pity on the princess as he could all but feel her disappointment and decided to throw her a bone as he swapped the conversation topic towards dungeon delving.

Much to the princesses delight it seemed like Ajax started being a much more active participant once the topic changed to dungeon delivering.

“You made a very good choice joining such a stable and experienced team.” The king praised Ajax as he learned how Ajax got his start in dungeon delving alongside the Collectors. “Dungeons are usually safe as long as you don’t push too high and are careful with the floor bosses but a bad floor theme can easily kill off even the more powerful teams.”

The prince was quick to put a restraining arm on Xavier’s shoulder after that comment. He could sense Xavier’s wish to brag about Ajax’s ability to at least narrow down the floor themes, while it was inevitable that his ability to do so would be discovered in their first dungeon; now wasn’t the time to just throw it out there.

“I do have to admit, I am curious why you are so focused on dungeons.” Elara’s father asked Ajax. “You could have gotten your nascent House in a much more stable position if you were to focus your trading on that.”

“My House’s growth is tied to myself” Ajax responded. “Delving these dungeons now represents a unique opportunity to gain permanent stats that I will quickly lose based on my leveling speed.”

“Your house also needs to settle into its growth.” Anna joined. “Taking on too much at once is a good way for a house to overextend.”

“Was there anything you would have taken instead of the delves?” Elara asked, looking for anything she could use to get Ajax to agree to help her form her Domain.

“Only a Bond.” Ajax answered.

“Bonds that can keep up with more talented people are truly a rarity.” Aranor commented, he himself had managed to form a bond when he was young but after his bond passed away he wasn’t able to form another with a powerful enough creature that would have been able to keep up with him. “It isn’t uncommon for nobles to have a bond but for elites a bond that can keep up is very much a rarity.”

Almost everyone turned towards Regalia at those words, she was exactly one such bond, so long as she was provided with plenty of goodies to help along her growth she would not only catch up to the princess but would even keep up with her all the way to the top.

“It’s a shame that your chance has passed.” the king said. “With how quickly you grow even if you do manage to find a young beast willing to bond, I doubt they will ever catch up to you.”

Ajax decided not to say anything to that. Despite the trust he was building with the elves he wasn’t going to even hint that he was planning on going into the untamed lands to look for a bond after he was done with the dungeons.