“My House is very much interested in buying access to your cement recipe.” Leandra Deeproot approached Ajax as the final duels were getting started.
Ajax was glad that none of his friends were taking part in the duels marking the final day as a clear match between Sylvanthal and the Empire. Emeris was naturally happy to fight, he was looking forward to evening up his record, getting a second win to go with the two losses. Fealin had likewise also maneuvered himself into a favorable duel for himself. The last duel was one Leandra had been challenged but everyone knew it was just insurance in case both elves won so that the Empire wouldn’t end the day in a total defeat.
“That recipe is one my House will be keeping private for a while yet.” Ajax answered as he watched Emeris take the field with confidence. Ajax was sure the elf had learnt from his last defeat and will be taking the time to set up his defences before establishing his Domain. “Not even our royal family is aware of it.”
“Ah but you see, House Deeproot wouldn’t be looking to cut into your profits.” Leandra nodded along with his reasoning. “I spent every morning since coming here trying to understand as much as I could about your new creation and I must say it’s fascinating.”
With that the duel started but Ajax focused more on Leandra the moment he saw Emeris start with a defensive spell, he knew the elf would dominate his opponent once his Domain was set up so there was no reason to pay that close attention to the fight.
“It is also something that is completely unfeasable for us to spread in Sylvanthal. The amount of gravel required alone would make anything besides small showpieces take decades of effort to collect.” Leandra continued. “What my house would be interested in is how your recipe reacts.”
“Oh?” Ajax intentionally raised an eyebrow. “And what is it about cement that would draw the attention of such skilled alchemists?”
“The complete formula has two stable states.” Leandra latched on to his curiosity. “But as Mana infused reagents are used the first stable point becomes more and more unstable. That is something very common. The second stable state however doesn’t change.”
“So far as we’ve seen.” Ajax pointed out while tapping his foot on the stable arena to use as an example. “The highest infusion of Mana ingredients we have used is the equivalent of level seventy in the dungeon.”
“Only 70?!” Leandra was even more surprised, she had assumed it was level eighty infusion from the Mana she could tell was Infused into the arena’s construction. This meant that the recipe also helped compact and refine the materials, not simply combine them. “No, that's not important now. The way your recipe reacts is already unique.”
“How so?” Ajax asked, suddenly eager to get a glimpse at House Deeproot’s alchemy knowledge. “You must have the recipes of numerous concoctions that have two or even more stable phases.”
“We do.” Leandra nodded. “But what all of those have in common is that as higher Mana infused ingredients are used both stable states react. They do so in different ways, sometimes both become unstable, other times only one does but with higher infusion it stabilizes while the other stable state changes. From what I have seen your recipe is one that seems to react in a predictable fashion.”
Ajax knew what she meant. As far as he could tell increasing the Mana infused in the reagents only made it harder to keep the cement dust stable, once it was mixed with water and gravel of equivalent Mana density it would slowly stabilize as it set.
“There is so much we can learn from studying that process. My great grandfather might…” Leandra snapped her mouth shut, she knew she had gotten too caught up. “It would mean a lot to us, and we would be willing to pay for it.”
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Ajax knew what Leandra was about to say. Lexi had informed him that Leandra’s great grandfather was more than just a master alchemist. He was born with a Trait that increased his Alchemy’s Skill limit by twenty, added on to his Viscount title, it meant his Skill could reach level one hundred and fifty. Ajax very much suspected there must have been some significance to that considering the System didn’t yet allow stacking of Traits in such a way that they surpassed that point, more than that his own evolution had happened at one hundred and fifty cleared floors.
The duel happening in the arena was reaching its end. Emeris had established his Domain and was now rapidly firing spells at his opponent, it was only a matter of time until the mage would fall behind or be forced to use quickly cast shields that were too weak to keep up with spells empowered by Emeris’s Domain.
“Hmmm.” Ajax took a moment to think about the situation. It might be very useful to have such a talented alchemist owe him a favor, especially if he ended up returning from the Wild Lands with a bond that might require some very compact nutrition to properly grow. “I’ll come see you off before you leave Gryndor, reach out to your House before then and prepare an offer.”
Ajax words filled Leandra with hope, so much so she hadn’t properly schooled her expression. Thankfully for her Emeris won his duel at the same time so most of the other nobles mistook her reaction as a celebration of the elf’s victory.
“Thank you.” Leandra gave Ajax a bow before she moved away. “If you’ll excuse me I need to prepare for my duel.”
With Leandra stepping away to start preparing for her duel and Fealin taking the field in the arena for his own match that was about to start Ajax was surprised to see Clark approaching him.
“I need a word.” Clark said, his tone making it clear whatever this was, it was more important than anything else that had happened since they arrived. “In private.”
Ajax nodded as he led the imperial champion to a secluded space at the entrance of the tunnels that led under the arena. Despite Clark being stronger than himself Ajax was sure he was now strong enough to buy himself time for Lancel, Rex or Aranor to interfere even if Clark attacked him when they were isolated.
“What is it?” Ajax asked.
“I carry a trade offer.” Clark said. “The emperor wants to buy cement.”
“I won’t be selling the formula.” Ajax swiftly shut down the discussion, he wasn’t even worried about offending the emperor as this was clearly an obvious reaction to a new discovery.
“He is not interested in the formula.” Clark shook his head. “He wants the end product, not mixed with gravel and salt water, we can do that part ourselves.”
“The Mana infused version is not stable without an alchemist and keeping it stable during travel for that long is not an option, sending an alchemist that knows the formula to make it there is also not an option.” Ajax said.
“It’s not the Mana infused version he wants to buy.” Clark’s words finally surprised Ajax though he did not let it show. “He is also not all that keen on buying too much of the city building variety. What he wants is lots of the plain stuff.”
“...” Ajax was left speechless at the request. He carefully controlled his reactions but he couldn’t find the right words, the silence making it obvious how surprised he was.
“You made quite an impression on him.” Clark finally allowed himself a grin. “He looked into you a lot more when you left in such a hurry. We are pretty sure we didn’t find the reason you left so quickly but your roads did impress him.”
“My roads?” Ajax had to give it to the emperor, if he could see what Ajax wanted to do with the roads he was more of a visionary than most of the nobles of Gryndor.
“He wants to make a very large direct road, from the capital to the Wild Lands.” Clark explained and Ajax realized that the emperor was looking at all of it differently. He wasn’t going to be using roads to increase commerce inside the kingdom but as a way to speed up expansion into the Wild Lands. With information about safe expansion being provided in their visit he was looking for a quick way to deploy troops and then send settlers once the lands were conquered. “You can take your time with your response, his immediate focus will be on replacing the workforce that was just lost by a fool. But don’t take too long.”
“My duchy will have priority.” Ajax said before Clark had a chance to walk away. “But as you mentioned I will soon see an influx to my available workforce so production should speed up for the basic stuff. I’ll have my grandfather reach out with an offer.”
Much as Ajax didn’t like the Empire there was no excuse to withhold basic cement from them, especially considering he would be selling it at regular bulk prices, if Ajax wouldn’t be selling it to them directly they would just make the deal with Gryndor to get some. It would cost them slightly more and House Hearthbound would get less as the middleman would need to get a cut of the deal.
The duels ended with Fealin winning his fight and Leandra losing hers in quick fashion. A short dinner afterwards was all there was before everyone took their leave and prepared to leave Lessis. Ajax explained the request to his family and trusted them to figure out the best way forward.
“Looking forward to delving?” Judy said with a cheeky smile as she saw Ajax prepare as he was about to leave for the dungeon as well.
“I need some time to clear my mind.” Ajax admitted. “I’ll be going one floor further than the guards and will clear it out, might even stay an extra day or two in there just to craft in the high Mana density, these last few days have me exhausted.”
“Take Fluffy with you.” Tom said as he approached his siblings. “There is still a lot to deal with in the wake of the nobles and she seems dedicated to her training. Best not to pause it now.”