Chapter 590

Ajax was starting to sweat but he did his best not to show it. The two winged people had really managed to get so close without him realizing. When he saw they wanted to talk he simply didn’t filter himself as he went about confirming some theories from Earth stories about fairies. 

‘I know they are shape shifters. They look humanoid but that isn’t their real form.’ Ajax’s biggest concern right now was making sure he didn’t provoke them by mistake. It wasn’t his own actions that he was worried about but his three legged golem was still active and despite its lack of mobility if it saw them as threats to Ajax it could very well attack. 

Ajax was glad they were the first ones to use Inspection Skills on him, it gave him an excuse to use one back and from the reaction he saw they clearly hadn’t expected that he would do that. The weaker of the two was still in his stealth spell but now that Ajax was focusing it wasn’t strong enough to hide him. 

“I didn’t mean to offend.” Ajax offered when he saw that not only had the two of them stopped talking after his mention of accepting and deals being sealed with his stamp of approval but they even frowned at him 

If there was one bright spot in all this for Ajax it was how powerful the two Ascended were. One of them was a lower level than Ajax himself was, even if it was only by a few levels. The other was in the mid eighties and according to [Judge Threat] Ajax was stronger than her as long as there weren't any others with them it shouldn’t be an immediate threat to himself. Just the fact that they hadn’t stepped past the boundary of their territory gave some credence to his theory. 

“You didn’t offend.” The answer made Ajax relax a little more. Though he was pretty sure fae were all tricksters he was also pretty sure they couldn’t lie outright, though that might have just been an Earth only story he hoped it was based a little in truth like some of the stories had turned out. “Though I have to say this is the first time I am seeing a human, let alone an Ascended one.” 

Ajax couldn’t blame them for that, as far as he knew he was the only currently living Ascended human, judging by their level Ajax doubted they either of them were more than a century old but that also depended on how quickly they leveled.

“That’s good, I was making my way towards the dungeon on the other side of this mountain but I didn’t want to trespass.” Ajax recognised the feeling from [Enigma] when the hidden fae had used the inspection Skill on him. He didn’t know how he did it but it was clear that this was the person who had been following him for a while now, almost right after he left HelSotHein’s lands. This meant they should probably know where he was heading already so it wasn’t like it was anything he was supposed to hide. 

“I’m sure we can reach an agreement about that.” Ajax was surprised to see the stealth spell drop as the other fae joined the conversation. 

Ajax’s eyes widened as he saw how eager he was. He also might have missed the grimace on the other fae’s face but thanks to [Diplomat] he was able to catch it. That’s why she was frowning, my throw away quip about making a deal must really mean something. 

“So the stories about fae and deals are real.” Ajax tried to put as much wonder and awe into his tone to mask that it was a probing question. 

That was clearly the right thing to say as both fae betrayed their surprise. More than that Ajax pleasantly surprised with an Epic Skill [Wordsmith], he didn’t know why but it seemed his interaction with Ascended races and really all the races in the Wild Lands were doing wonders for his Skills.

“Our word is the most important thing we have as a sidhe.” The weaker sidhe said. “We will not break it once given.” 

“So that’s how it works.” Ajax nodded with as much excitement as he could. “So it's not that names have power over you or that you can’t lie but once you give your word on something you are bound by what you said. In a way you make a bargain with yourself to uphold your word. It all comes down to bargains. It’s nice there was some truth to the stories.” 

Ajax tried his hardest to lower any defenses he had to truth telling Skills, he was slightly worried about trying to pull a move like this on the fae but he was hoping to trick them by passing off the stories from earth about the fae and the sidhe specifically as something he heard back in Gryndor in an attempt to gain more information and wait out the Mana drain on his golem.

“Why would names ha-” the weaker sidhe sounded a little outraged but he was quickly cut off by the stronger one. 

“I had high expectations since you’re the first Ascended human I’ve met but it seems I have still underestimated you.” Veyra said as she approached Ajax stopping right next to the marked tree that formed the boundary of their lands. “ If you want any more information however you will have to trade for it.” 

“I can do that.” Ajax nodded hoping that by showing he was willing to deal with them would make them less likely to be hostile to him. 

“Deals are the basis of almost all interactions for us sidhe, so how about we start with a simple one.” Ajax could feel the Mana around them move as she spoke but it was weird. This wasn’t a spell or anything else he had seen before. “What would you like in exchange fo-

“What are you doing?” the young sidhe exploded. “You are supposed to be helping me. This is supposed to be my merit.” 

Ajax didn’t interrupt, his Skills were telling him that while the stronger fae was playing a game it wasn’t him that was the target but rather the younger fae, he was just a prop she was using. When he was sure the weaker sidhe wasn’t focused on him he raised his eyebrow in question. 

“I am doing this for your merit.” Veyra insisted.

“What good will this talk do, he won’t make a deal.” the sidhe’s eyes widened. “It's all my merit, even if it goes bad. You’re using the deal to put all the blame on me! I’ll rather take a small loss, I consider your help fulfilled.”

Seeing the younger fae leave in a hurry did make Ajax a little worried, what if it was all a show for them to get someone stronger.

“I clearly have some value.” Ajax said with a bit of worry now. “I can’t help but question if that was staged or not however.” 

“A show of good faith then, I’ll put your fears to rest in exchange for that rock at your feet.”  Veyra pointed lazily to the rock at his feet. 

“The rock in exchange for you putting my fears to rest with the truth.” Ajax countered, from the smile on Veyra’s face Ajax was sure that she had specifically made the deal like that to make him feel like he had seen through her trick. 

“Agreed.” She nodded. 

“I am Ajax Hearthbound and I approve this deal.” Ajax said as he kicked the rock over to her. 

The moment the words left his mouth even before he kicked the rock Ajax felt the Mana inside himself and the Mana Veyra was slowly expelling shift in an odd way. His own Mana shifted again once he kicked the rock over. 

“What you just saw was a trick but it wasn’t played on you but on Elduin.” Veyra explained. “Him being responsible for the outcome of this conversation was dangerous since it could go very badly and his parents would have taken it out on me. Thanks for playing along.”

Ajax did feel like his fears were put at ease by the explanation but he also knew it was minimal, but that hadn’t been part of the deal.

“How about a deal to help me get through your territory and to the next dungeon.” Ajax asked. 

“You must really overestimate what I can do if you think I have the power to guarantee your safety.” Veyra shook her head but Ajax could tell she was excited he was willing to make another deal. The question was if it was real excitement or if she was trying to make him think it was.  

“I didn’t ask you to guarantee my protection.” Ajax countered. “I simply asked that you help get to the dungeon safely.” 

“That wouldn’t be too hard,” Veyra acknowledged. 

“It also won;t make it that much safer for me so I won’t trade something all that valuable for it.” Ajax smirked. 

“That thing about making deals only by saying a certain phrase. Where did you learn that?” Veyra asked. “I haven’t heard anything even similar from a non-sidhe.” 

“That sounds like a fair trade.” Ajax nodded, he would have to be careful about the wording of this deal or he would end up having to share information about his reincarnation.

“Perfect, so my help to get you safely to the dungeon. In exchange for the information about the phrase to limit any deals you make.” Veyra offered.

The wording wasn’t invasive, it didn’t require him to share anything about Earth as far as he could tell. Based on how she had used the previous deal to make the truth not count as the whole truth he wouldn’t be forced to share too much. More than that, her side of the agreement meant that Ajax hadn’t specified the dungeon, he could have her help getting to both the remaining dungeons and treat the first one as just a stop on the way to the second.