Unlike his previous delve where they just skipped through the floors seven floors past level on hundred Ajax and the group of Gryndor champions made sure to take at least a few hours on each floor as they scoured for any alchemical reagents Ajax could make use of. More than that Ajax also targeted Floors with as much plant life as he could to ensure a healthy selection.
“The value of all this could bankrupt a large number of Viscount Houses.” Evelyn said as she looked at the number of reagents they had all gathered, the reagents from the last two floors at level on hundred and sixty and one hundred and seventy accounted for over 50% of the value but it did move something for Evelyn.
“Your Highness, I think I must insist when I say the royal family can’t afford to invest as much as they have been in non-delver crafters.” Evelyn approached the prince during the small break they were taking before entering the last floor.
A silence settled upon the group as reality caught up with them as well. Evelyn might have been the first to put the pieces together but once it was pointed out all of them could see why. The level of the elites would surely grow in the coming centuries, with that the proficiency of the crafters was likewise expected to grow, access to higher level reagents would lead to a jump in Skill.
“With nobody to teach them, the advantage of having access to the dungeon floors for harvesting is too large to bridge with talent.” The prince nodded in understanding.
Right now talent and a rich enough backer and a knowledgeable teacher were enough to help a new crafter grow regardless of them crafting in the dungeon or outside. But with how rare high level reagents were, and considering their extraction rate actually decreased as the levels in the dungeon grew despite the increase in floor size, there would quickly be a bottleneck even Houses like Goldmancer wouldn’t be able to fund. At the top level dungeon crafters would be needed to pioneer the next advancement of the humanoids. This might revert back after a couple millennia of progress but until then the crown would need to only sponsor craftsmen who could push the craft forward.
Everyone present was thinking with regret about all the promising pure crafters they knew that would be forced to give up or worse force themselves to delve in order to progress and could end up dying in the dungeons. Everyone except two of the people present.
The first was Aurexion who despite not knowing much about crafting saw a second option none of the humanoids seemed to consider. With the increase in the power they would also be in a better position to make contact with the Ascended races, sure, few of them were crafters like humans but some races were extremely invested in a single profession. Working out a deal for them to teach was also an option. This was an opinion Aurexion kept to himself however as he knew what reaching out too soon when the humanoids weren’t powerful enough would mean for them.
The other person rethinking things was Ajax. Unlike the others Ajax couldn’t believe how he had missed this before. All of his time was spent thinking how to delve as many dungeons as he could to gain as many Stats as possible yet he hadn’t considered the development of young crafters in a similar manner. That he had access to a dungeon at his fingertips back in his duchy only made all of this easier.
Having a child gain any sort of Achievement by clearing a dungeon floor before the age of ten was a pipe dream. Even with his Trait increasing Stat gain in those early years he wasn’t anywhere near strong enough to even look at a level twenty five monster at the age of ten, without their Stat points Ajax was sure it would be almost impossible for a child to actually kill a dungeon monster before they turned ten. Doing so might grant an Achievement for the ages but it was impossible. Doing so after the age of ten was meaningless as after that Stat requirements blocked Skill gains, something that was uncapped during the Child Trait.
The same however did not apply to crafters. As long as they were escorted even children could go inside the dungeon to craft before the age of ten. Learning to work in the Mana dense environment from such an early age would doubtlessly see their Skills improve quickly and would set up their foundations as dungeon crafters from childhood. Something he would be implementing the moment he returned to his duchy.
“You’re planning something.” The prince said as he looked at Ajax’s focused face.”Think you can make something new out of all this?”
“No chance.” Ajax shook his head. “Everything also depends on what I can find on the final floor since those will be the most valuable reagents but from what we have now, I’ll be wasting most of these over the next few months and all I’ll have to show for it is a higher yield, some Skill levels and Experience.”
“So what were you planning then?” Evelyn asked.
“Something to think more on later.” Ajax waved away the question but he could see that while they let the matter drop none of them thought it was nothing.
‘Tom and Kate are going to want to kill me.” Ajax shivered slightly as he thought about his brother and sister-in-law’s reaction to his suggestion that over school break their son should spend weeks in the dungeon farming the Mana Dense soil to increase his Skill. Another sad thought to follow was how all the poor families in his duchy would be the first ones to jump on board with his delving idea as it would mean they wouldn’t have to feed their children for a few days while they went to the dungeon to do their crafting. No matter how he looked at it, implementation was not going to be easy but he couldn’t shake the feeling that it would make a big difference.
With their short break ended everyone got ready to enter the final floor. Ajax had chosen a floor with a dominating Life Mana presence and he was hoping to run into another hive floor. Most of the dominant Life Mana floors he had encountered had been dominated by plant life.
Taking his first few steps on the floor Ajax dismissed the notification about gaining +1 to all stats and took in the floor theme. The humidity hit him first, he was surrounded on all sides by deep foliage, his feet slowly sinking slightly into the damp mud of the marshy jungle they all found themselves in.
“Was this what you were hoping for?” The prince asked.
“This will do nicely.” Ajax nodded.
“Let’s hope the floor boss doesn't mess it all up.” Ajax’s glare at Aurexion’s words was powerful enough even the dragon seemed a little uncomfortable.
With time on their side the champions spent the first day setting up a base camp on the floor as they got acquainted with the creatures that inhabited it. Large snakes, alligators, a jaguar and even a small school of piranha were easy to find in the first hour. More exciting for Aajx was the venus fly trap the size of a small house that tried in vain to snap shut on Aurexion’s claw. The mismatch was immediately apparent as the size difference between the dragon and the oversized plant meant even once the plant went all in and uprooted itself as it tried to ensnare the dragon it was quickly dealt with while Aurexion only felt slightly inconvenienced.
“Careful approaching it.” Evelyn called out. “It released some sort of poison in the air.”
The mention of the poison only served to make Ajax happier as it would make for a much more versatile ingredient when it came to alchemy, though he did show the level one hundred and seventy eight plant some respect by waiting until the poisonous pollen dispersed before approaching the corpse and harvesting it.
The floor seemed to run on a day night cycle, unlike a regular sun that slowly set as day turned to night the change on this floor happened from one second to another. Having the light go out mid combat against a level one hundred and eighty alligator meant Ajax had to put his healing Skills to work after one of their champions ended up losing a limb, the alligator had clearly not been surprised by the change in lighting and took the moment to snap its jaws onto a leg before it proceeded to deathroll ripping the limb off.
“I’m not sure which is worse: the humidity or the bugs.” The prince said as he stayed close to the fire.
“I’m just glad the bugs aren’t oversized and high level.” Ajax said as he slapped a mosquito dead, he wasn’t sure how the mosquitos were even strong enough to pierce his skin despite not seemingly having a level.
Despite a few annoyances on this floor almost everything Ajax could have hoped for, deep down he was hoping his bond hadn’t jinxed him seconds after they entered the floor and that the floor boss wouldn’t ruin the alchemist's paradise he found himself in.