Gamer Reborn

Chapter 624

Judy’s thoughts stopped cold as a fight broke out over the disbelief of seeing a real life dragon warred with the reality that not only was the dragon here but it was eating their gold.

“Hey buddy,” Ajax said as he approached his bond. “See I told you we have refined gold ore.”

“You really did remove all the rock.” Aurexion was impressed. “I heard stories of this but if my father’s horde had any of it aunt Khalysstra must have taken it.”

“It’s also not food.” Judy pointed as menacingly as she could at the dragon.

“Certainly not for you humanoids.” Aurexion misunderstood her point completely. “Your bodies would not process the metal especially considering the Mana density of this here.”

“That... That... That’s not what I meant.” Judy's awe at seeing a dragon was slowly going away, the same could not be said out her views on Ajax’s bond eating their gold.

Ajax was also surprised by the turn of events yet he was a lot more perspective of his environments after his trip to the Wild Lands, before commenting on Aurexion eating some gold he looked around the Vault to see it was overflowing with wealth. Mana gems, highly Mana dense ores, numerous unprocessed pelts and bones. Aurexion had clearly dumped his own hoard together with Ajax’s own. Some things Ajax was sure were priceless in humanoid lands since there was no way to get them outside of risking entire nations by delving a level two hundred floor.

“Uncle Ajax, you really brought a dragon home!” Jake, having picked his jaw off the ground upon seeing a dragon, quickly rushed to pet the massive creature.

Jake only made it within twenty feet of Aurexion before he felt crushed by the dragon’s Aura. Unlike Ajax who unlocked his Aura as a combination of Stats Skills and emotion Aurexion had forced his own with raw Stats meaning he had a lot less control over it for now. Fluffy dashed through Jake’s shadow to stand protectively over him, but it was clear to all just how scared Fluffy was of Aurexion as well now that she was so close.

“Aurexion, this is my family.” Ajax said, trying to smooth over everything. “I have to say I like what you’ve done with the place, is this what’s left of your hoard?”

“Yes, best to keep everything in one place, makes it easier to defend.” Aurexion answered as he partially uncoiled from the golden statue and lowered his head to approach Ajax’s family. “They seem uncomfortable in my presence, was this not your hoard?”

“We handle our hoards a little differently.” Ajax tried to explain. “The entire House’s wealth is stored here, not just my own, though I do have access to spend it. I am also not the one managing all this wealth, since we cannot consume it to gain power directly. Also the main reason they are uncomfortable is your Aura.”

Ajax felt a sense of pride and superiority through the bond at his explanation though he could see Aurexion fight the impulse. It stocked the dragon’s ego to know his mere presence marked him as so superior.

“Jake got his Perception to twenty five?” Ajax asked his family, surprised his nephew could feel Aura’s now.

“He worked a lot on his Perception Skills.” Tom answered, he was trying to get a handle on the spike of fear coming through his own bond.

Taken from novelhall, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

“You certainly feel stronger than the Duke.” Lancel said as he approached Aurexion. “Physical build according to my Skill.”

Out of everyone here Lancel was the only one Ajax thought could actually beat the dragon and even that wasn’t a sure thing. “And that’s saying a lot considering how he feels stronger than when he left despite missing an arm.”

“There is a lot more to see from my bond than just regrowing his arm.” Aurexion’s chuckled rumbled throughout the vault. “We haven’t been bonded for very long so there is a lot we have to train with together.”

Aurexion recognised that Ajax could most likely help him gain a number of Skills with the affinity he seemed to have over gaining them. At the same time Aurexion would help Ajax form his Pseudo-Mythic Skill.

“Can we agree on not eating gold for now.” Judy tried to get everything back on track. “Taxes might grow with war and depending on how it progresses, especially since our duchy hasn’t sent anyone.”

“Probably best you wait until you gain a few Skills, maybe even a level or two before you continue building your power.” Ajax suggested. “The one Epic Skill you gained seemed to already have helped a bit with your mood.”

“Hmmm.” Aurexion took a moment to think, his initial response was to write it off but after thinking for a moment he realized his bond was right, he had been feeling less impatient and irritated despite the lack of Mana dense treasure surrounding him for the two weeks they had been traveling. “Perhaps you are right.”

What followed was an introduction of every member of Ajax’s family. Most of them couldn’t get too close to Aurexion but Ajax was glad when he introduced Lexi as his fiance and mate that she was able to approach Aurexion and he felt through the bond that Aurexion wanted to protect her. It was purely based on Lexi’s relationship to Ajax but it was a good start.

“A merchant.” Aurexion said as he took in Judy, Elija, Aurora and Silvia. “This profession doesn’t really exist among Ascended races.”

“We act as middlemen.” Aurora took the chance to explain, looking for an explanation that the dragon would understand. “Say you found a Mana dense treasure you had no affinity for, and I trade you a slightly weaker one that you did have an affinity for. Then I took that treasure and found another Ascended being that had a good affinity for it and took something more valuable from them that they had no affinity for in exchange. You both got something you wanted more than what you traded while I gained in absolute value since I work based on demand of what is traded.”

“Sounds a lot like a sidhe.” Aurexion grumbled. “Good to have a few of those on your side, if you can trust them which you can’t really with the sidhe. Good thing you are family.”

The most interesting family member to Aurexion however was Ajax’s father Sam. “You can remove the earth from the metal?” Aurexion asked after learning he was smith and working to be an enchanter. “I have a number of ores in my hoard that I would like purified.”

Sam inspected the ores Aurexion brought in with excitement. Half of them were things he knew he wasn’t ready to handle but there were also plenty that he was just barely good enough to work with and he was sure they would push him further.

“I will do my best.” Sam promised. “Though I will have to work my way up to some of them, even I can feel the Mana density from some of them and I have little talent for it.”

Ajax was glad that Aurexion didn’t need a good Mana connectivity from the metals, since he was going to consume them instead of forge them; it meant that having his father with no [Sense Mana] Skill forge them wouldn’t ruin the metal in any way.

House Hearthbound didn’t get a good chance to get to know Aurexion before they were interrupted.

“I knew it, I just knew it.” the king's eldest son was chuckling as he was being shown in by Theron. “The moment we approached the barony I knew it would be related to you. It’s nice to see you made it back here so quickly, Duke Hearthbound.”

The eldest prince wasn’t alone. With him there were a number of people, Ajax only knew Rex, one of Gryndor’s strongest champions as well as the leader of Squad four, Evelyn, and the entirety of squad eight. There were another dozen or so people and Ajax was sure they were all around the same power level.

“Your Highness.” Ajax didn’t bow but only gave a nod, as a duke with people coming unannounced in his home he wasn’t expected to be all that deferential. “What are you all doing here?”

“A dragon flies into our kingdom and you think we won’t be checking on that?” Rex chuckled. “Especially after what you figured out about Ascended beings. There was a good chance you pissed it off and we needed to defend against it.”

With the group assembled Ajax was sure that while there would be some collateral damage from the way Aurexion would fight they wouldn’t have a hard time beating his bond.

“Why have you not healed your arm yet?” Quinn asked as she approached Ajax. “You have access to Life Mana. It should be easy for you.”

“No!” Aurexion’s growl instantly put the entire group on edge.

“The situation with my arm is a little more delicate.” Ajax said. “But that’s not a conversation for the vault. How about we all go outside to eat, I’m sure Judy is excited about serving Aurexion here some meat.”