"Now, that we have that settled, your accommodations will be arranged soon," said Krev.
"Ok, but what am I supposed to do till the training," asked Ajax. Though Ajax was a prince, his habits and principles of his past life resurfaced. He had stayed in bed for about 2 months and felt he had already healed. He only experienced a bit of pain when he moved around. It was time for him to get back to using his body so that he would get back to his best state.
"Can I use any facilities to train in the mean time? You know, I am mostly healed and I need to exercise and workout to be back into a fit condition. Also, can I get any decent clothes or anything. I have no money," requested Ajax.
"Can't do anything about that. All I can do is give you a room till your training starts. I will get you two pairs of clothes and I am putting you in a motel outside the military area. Nothing outside of what a new trainee gets. You only get those clothes a week before. You can't stay here either," said Krev.
"You are kidding, right? Didn't Bhairav give you anything?"
"He paid me to keep you safe by any means necessary and nothing to give to you. Your armor and weapons were left to me along with your storage ring, but you won't be using them. They are too distinctive and for the cover that we have prepared, you need to not have anything and earn everything on your own."
"How am I supposed to do that?" asked Ajax. Though he knew quite a few methods to earn money in his past life, in this life as a prince he was always given allowance. Apart from cultivation, his only experience was to play, training to fight and occasionally heard the court proceedings where he hardly observed anything.
"Your mother was a healer. You learn anything or did she teach you alchemy?"
"Very little alchemy," answered Ajax. "I can do that."
"No, you can't. That is a profession of rich people and no way a 13-year-old kid of a travelling salesman could do it," said Krev irritated. "Do you know anything about being a travelling salesman? What kind of thing a person needs to know to do that?"
"Basic mathematics, policies at various places, customs, cartography, riding?" suggested Ajax. "Doubt any of them can give a stable job to earn any money."
"True, the only money usually earned by trainees are guarding and courier services within the fort. These are allowed as you are restricted to stay within the fort and some places close to it during training. I doubt you have any experience," said Krev as he started walking back and forth thinking about that problem.
"Nope, I don't", said Ajax.
"I am very good at it in my past life and would be a fast learner, but I lack experience of this world and can hardly tell him about that past life," thought Ajax. He also sat down and started to think about what he would do as a travelling merchant as his old training kicked in.
He imagined doing every little thing during his travels. Hunting, eating, scouting and marking maps, but he realized that these were just auxiliary things that one he had to do and would at most provide him with an advantage in missions but not a constant source of money. Hard to make these skills into a career at his age.
"Can you identify herbs and other natural resources in the wild. You did tell that you learnt alchemy, you can do that right?" asked Krev looking at him. "You can be an herb gatherer. That would allow you a regular source of income."
"I can identify herbs but not in the wild," said Ajax disappointing him.
"Then, there are only few jobs that I can think about. They are all menial ones like cleaning, washing, but I have connections all round. You need to decide on one of them."
"Anything, is fine. I doubt I would have much options."
"Hehe," chuckled Krev. "A prince doing the jobs of a maid. First time for everything, heh. It is not an issue. At least, after a few months, you will be asked to specialize and then you can choose missions related to scouting and mapping which will allow you to get cultivation resources faster."
"This guy is really enjoying this for some reason but seems to be concerned at the same time," thought Ajax. His behavior kept giving Ajax the feeling that he was not really on his side or at the very least held some kind of little grudge against him or probably his parents and family. It was like he wanted to put him under duress for some reason he couldn't explain.
"I will need to know more about him and his past with my family," thought Ajax. He put it under the list of things that are required to survive. It was his instincts as an agent kicking in that made him feel so.
"Ok, then. I will not be meeting you any longer. I will leave you at a hotel, food and accommodation will be provided for free for the week. Someone will send you clothes and your identification token. When you decide on what job to do, you can ask the concierge. They will help," said Krev before holding onto Ajax's shoulder.
The next instant, Ajax found himself in a wooden room. It had clean clothes, a small window and a bed. The clothes and identification were already on a table.
"I hate this instant movement," thought Ajax. He always felt disoriented after those movements and didn't understand whether it was due to sudden change in the environment around him or due to the movement itself.
"Let me first cleanup and then rest. Everything can be done later," thought Ajax as went to the washroom.
At the same time, Krev was reporting his observation of Ajax to another person inside the fort. The man was about 7 feet tall, middle aged with dark hair and face quite similar to that of Ajax. He was wearing a black shirt, black pants and cloak that seemed to suck the light out of the room.
He sat on a chair drinking wine from a glass, listening to Krev seriously report everything Ajax did and his observations on Ajax's personality. The person had an ethereal aspect to him as he was both present and not present at the same time.
After listening to the entire report, the man put his glass aside and stood up. "So, quick witted and hard willed," said the man as he walked towards Krev looking him in the eye. He had a smooth and charming voice while giving a magical effect that made others want to express themselves more and inform him of all their deepest thoughts. It was like compulsion of the mind.
"Yes, emperor," said Krev. "Your grandson, actually reminds me more of you than Varas or Gayatri. He seemed to have your talent for observation and cunning than any of your sons. He adapted far too easily to the life of a common man for such a young boy. He will definitely be a good asset. His body also seemed to have healed well. It is rare for a someone whose core has been crippled but it looks like that amulet of Lady Gayatri saved him. He can cultivate again."
"Good, Then, keep him safe. My sons are all fighters and ego maniacs. They are strong but fail to understand the subtlety of politics of a ruler. They have the political acumen of nobles than that of a royalty. Maybe this one will be better," said the emperor.
"In that case, shouldn't I put him in a better place?" asked Krev. "At the very least, he should have a better cover that would allow him to use his talents as an alchemist and improve his strength and value faster."
"No, I believe that the failure of my children is because I haven't been tough enough on them. A merchant's son is good. Let it be. An empire is a business on a much larger scale and tricks of governance of an empire can be learnt by extrapolation. Even if he doesn't end up like me, it is good to have him here. Even I can't afford to get on the bad side of Gayatri's family. Just keep the kid hidden from others. Inform me if anyone gains knowledge of his actual identity," said the man as he disappeared into the air.
"I really can't understand these people," thought Krev as he looked at the place where the emperor's apparition disappeared.
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Ajax suddenly woke up as he felt someone was spying on him. It's like an instinct that he had gained after numerous missions in his past life. As he woke up he looked around and found nothing.
Then he realized that there was literally nothing around him. He was lying in just empty space. The bed, the table, the floor everything around him was missing. All he could see was black all around him and himself. "General, what is happening," yelled Ajax as his first thought was Krev Dustblade who was able to move him from place to place.
But then he realized that this might be a dream as he was standing mid-air. He wasn't on the floor and he wasn't feeling any force. He walked around and he could move his body as he wished without any obstruction.
'YOU DONE PLAYING AROUND," sounded a loud booming voice that came from all directions at once. It was like he was experiencing an ultra large voice surround system. Ajax quickly looked all around him but he couldn't see anything.
"STOP LOOKING AROUND LIKE A SHOCKED BUG AND CALM DOWN."
"Who are you?" asked Ajax and immediately he found the surroundings changing.
A large amount of smoke appeared around him from the void covering all that he could see, even his hands and rest of his body. Then, it slowly disappeared leaving him safe.
First, a floor suddenly appeared beneath his feet, then as the smoke cleared there was furniture and walls. As the whole smoke disappeared Ajax found himself in a large white hall. It looked like a large library filled with books and tables. Ajax immediately was able to feel the floor beneath his feet and he walked towards a bookshelf to check that.
Before he could touch a book, he heard another sound. But this time it wasn't from all around him like a theatre. It was the sound of footsteps came from a corner of the hall where he found a middle-aged man walking out of the wall like he was a ghost.
He had green eyes, thin nose, long face and square jaw, neatly shaved and red hair dangling over his shoulders. He wore embroidered maroon shirt and trousers with a dark blue cape draped over his shoulders giving him a regal look.
"Don't bother looking at the books. They are no words in them. This is just something I created based on a memory of mine," said the man.
"Who are you? Is this an illusion?" asked Ajax.
"Well, it is an illusion but not in the traditional sense. This is your dreamscape or mind and I am an artifact spirit," said the man.
"Huh, dreamscape. What is that supposed to be? Wait are you in my mind?" asked Ajax. As soon as he heard that there were in his mind, he didn't care about the man's identity. Reading minds was a very formidable skill and from his knowledge as a prince it would usually render the man an invalid or fool.
"Ya, that is right. All in your mind. You are currently sleeping. I know everything about you and also everything you know and think. Don't worry, this won't make you a retard as might have heard."
"What do you want?"
"To talk to you. To inform you of my existence."
"Why?"
"So that I can be of assistance to you."
"Why?"
"Shhhhhhhhhhh" said the man holding his head. "Though you have the experience of an adult, you are behaving like a kid. Why are you actually acting like a kid rather than the ace agent of the MI8?"
As soon as Ajax heard the words, he put his guard up. No one knew of his past life. This was the first mention of his past life from someone in this world. In his experience, with knowledge like that a person would only contact him if he wanted to make use of him or wanted him to do something for him. Blackmail or imprisonment were the only two things that he expected from that man.