Chapter 116

As the entire team stepped through the arch to exit. Unlike the smooth travel to enter the dungeon, exiting was a much different story. The split second in which he traveled back to the outside felt like an entire theme park ride back on Earth condensed. That wasn’t the worst part however, changing from a low mana density to a high one might be hard on the magic senses until they get used to it but it has no effect on his body. Going from a high density to a low one made him feel like he was an orange being juiced and almost had high throwing up.

“Sorry to say but if Nelly is anything to go by repetition does nothing for this sensation.” Bobby said as he stabilized Ajax while his brother did the same to Nelly.

Ajax resisted throwing up as they backed away from the arch. Jones was already speaking with the guards and it didn’t take long for everybody to get in formation. Much like when he first arrived a lot of people formed a unified front only this time he had a chance to be on the front lines as well. A few minutes later the arch had a small infusion of mana before a few dozen snakes came out with a few vultures overhead. Besides them Ajax counted four crocs and a pack of camels.

Everything got handled quickly with overwhelming strength, the snakes weren’t even given a chance to camouflage, much Ajax’s disappointment. The numbers that came out in total were a lot less than the other monster wave he saw before entering. If it wasn’t for the snakes being camouflaged inside the dungeon Ajax thought they could have easily handled activating the obelisk.

“Oh come on, it's just one, we already have three bosses and two normal ones.” one of the melee fighters was trying to cheer the scout up.

“What’s with him?” Ajax asked as he approached.

“Seems the croc boss we missed was the expensive kind, he's not taking it well as usual.” the guys said as one of the ranged members also approached.

“What do you mean just one?” the scout said his voice sounded distraught. “Do you know how much a full corpse is worth? It’s about fifty gold coins.”

That got Ajax’s attention as it was a stupidly high amount of money. The ranged fighter went and collected Ajax’s bags, apparently she was sympathetic to the seasickness feeling he had from exiting the dungeon and offered to carry them for him until the world stopped spinning which he was thankful for.

“I know fifty gold is a lot, but definitely made a lot more than that with just this delve, why is he so upset over it considering you guys have been at this for over a decade?” Ajax asked, he was used to seeing the scout as a happy upbeat person, it was surprising how much the loss of one corpse affected him.

“He’s always been like this.” the melee fighter shared. “It’s not my story to tell but when he was young he lost somebody because he didn’t have a few gold to get him the help he needed. He’s not a hoarder or greedy but any form of waste always hits him hard.”

Considering that healing was free, at least in cases when death was imminent Ajax was quite curious about what the story there was but knew better than to ask for it now. The creatures left nothing to collect, though Ajax did notice that the Reavers had also exited before them and had stuck around, their leader was heading towards Jones already.

“Jones, I thought you said you were sticking to the first floor.” The man called out with an accusatory tone.

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“Yeah that was the plan Anthony but the new kid was better than he seemed so we went ahead and took on the second floor.” Jones responded with a malicious smirk on his face Ajax didn’t understand.

“It’s Blaze not Anthony, how many times do I have to tell you that Jones?” the leader of the Reavers angrily whispered to Jones so quietly Ajax almost missed it despite his high perception stats.

“Just as often as I have to remind you I don’t answer to you just because I was on your dad’s squad when I started out.” he whispered back.

“Whatever” ‘Blaze’ let out a frustrated sigh. “I noticed a few vultures coming out following those snakes. From the looks of it I’d say you had a desert biome which should mean the vultures weren’t a one off, you got a boss you can give to me?”

“Yeah we do.” Jones confirmed.

“Great, do you mind if I pick it up now?” he asked as he looked towards the bags carrying all the loot they collected.

“Can’t do it right now, sorry. I’ll let you have your pick of the lot of them once we get into the city though.” Jones said.

“You best not be trying to snipe my contract here old man, remember you still owe us.” his tone taking a more dangerous edge.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Nothing like that, trust me.” Jones didn’t seem to notice the change, or if he did he didn’t seem to care.

“What was that last bit about?” Ajax thought aloud.

“We still owe the Reavers two favors, one now that we have the vulture for them.” Nelly said from next to him. “Being exterminators they have a lot more pull in the city than us and they helped us get Tristan the training he needs without him having to join up.”

“Is getting healing training that hard?” Ajax asked surprised, after all even the city guards had quite a few healers.

“Back when I was growing up the Healing Union was just getting started, back then only nobles and adventurers had access to healers. Not only that but adventurers were highly specialized and lacking quite a bit on general healing.” She said.

“A few more years down the line and the Healing Union had not only made a foothold, however small, in the capital but they also started branching out. That’s when the royal family took an interest. Mostly because they filed six counts of corruption from the six cities they attempted to expand into. Suffice it to say that the nobles there enjoyed being the only ones with the privilege of magical healing on demand.” she sighed.

“Figures.” Ajax scoffed having seen that attitude once or twice already and knowing all it took was one noble to butt in and the rest just not to intervene for him to get his way. It was why nobles got such a bad wrap, there were more neutral and commoner friendly nobles than anti-commoner ones but they wouldn’t get involved.

“Anyway, the nobles also complained to the crown. To no surprise the royals did an investigation into the Healing Union. The big shock came once they realized that they found nothing, not only that but the royal family also started backing the Healing Union which let it spread like wildfire through the kingdom. This means that healers are more accessible than ever but getting healing training without joining a noble house or giving up a decade of your life to the Healing Union still takes a lot of pull.”

As they approached the forest to head back towards the town Ajax noticed the guards as they marked the bags of the Reavers in front of them and waved them through before turning to them.

“Hey Jones, have any luck today.” the guard asked.

“Sorry for you but we did. A bit too much in fact.” Ajax could also feel the rest of the team's mood rise at that statement, but the guard's face fell into a frown.

“Really?” the guard asked.

“Yep, sorry.” Jones said and the team moved past them.

“What was all that about?” Ajax asked once they were out of ear shot from the guards.

“That’s the usual backwater corruption.” the scout chimed in. “Boss, are you sure we couldn’t just go with it?”

“You know better than I do that we hit the jackpot this time around.” Jones scoffed at the suggestion. “If we slipped the guards a few coins to mark down what we collected and then made a killing selling it we would have been rounded up and questioned before the week is up.”

“So that’s why you wouldn’t just give up the bird, eh?” Blaze and the Reavers came towards us with a much more friendly look that he left with.

“Yeah, found ourselves a water elemental, no way we can smuggle that without declaring it so you’re going to have to wait until we pay taxes on all this before you get your bird, that way I can have it as a tax deductible.” Jones grinned.

The Reavers' eyes all widened a bit upon hearing about the water elemental, some even took a few glances towards the bags but none seemed to be planning on robbing them. Both teams just made their way into the small village before they headed towards the city.