Not much sap was spilt on him but Ebony couldn't feel his hand anymore, losing the ability to move his fingers. Having taken damage to his health from that, Ebony could feel the dense ice mana slowly creeping up his skin going into his flesh and finally bones.
'Hmm...if I used ice mana manipulation to remove the ice mana from my body could I essentially thaw myself?'. Recalling the information Identify gave him, the sap is essentially liquified and condensed ice mana that the tree produced so Ebony should be able to manipulate it.
After playing around with ice mana for a night he noticed that they do not bend to his will as he initially thought. He could faintly feel something leaving his body and controlling them to move ice mana was what the skill Ice Mana Manipulation refers to. That something was most likely his own mana, he could not see his mana but it felt extremely natural to move to him as if it was another limb he had all along.
It explained why so much mana was used to do so little, it was extremely inefficient and when his mana leaves his body he can feel that his control over it weakening the further away it is from him. Now he understands why magicians are usually depicted with them forming fireballs atop their palms. It was very easy to focus his control over mana on his palm making manipulation faster and more efficient mana-wise.
From the experiments he did Ebony found that he could form 3 ice cubes simultaneously but his mana scattered and escaped his control when he tried to form the fourth. At least he found out that his control was based on his ability to focus and multitask.
Right before Ebony was going to push the ice mana out of his hand he paused, 'If a tree can use ice mana to strengthen itself can't I do the same?'.
Following that train of thought, Ebony began manipulating the ice mana to spread up his arm. No expression of the stabbing pain from the cold and damage he was taking could be seen on his deadpan face as Ebony's hand turned pale to purple. Much less effort and mana were used to manipulate ice when it was in his body but Ebony was beginning to feel stupid when his entire left arm was frozen stiff and he was almost down to a quarter of his MP and only 38 HP remaining.
'Did I really think I was a freaking tree when I had this idea? Maybe I'm doing this wrong.' What Ebony was doing was like taking a knife and spreading the ice mana like butter over his arm basically thinning out the density of ice mana from his hand throughout his arm leaving the ice mana where it was to save mana.
Thinking back to the description 'Ice mana absorbed by the Frostblaze Amur Maple Tree condenses in its sap before being circulated throughout the tree to strengthen it.'
'The tree could clearly absorb ice mana from the surroundings to strengthen it but it didn't directly infuse ice mana onto itself but rather condensed the mana before circulating it...Circulating.' Perhaps he had to keep the ice mana moving in his body instead of just leaving them in place.
Popping in a crabapple, Ebony focused on moving all the ice mana throughout his body. He had trouble at first but a mental visualisation of his blood circulating through his body helped to smoothen the process. Ebony shivered as he ate his healing fruits as he took damage, hardly half a minute passed when all the ice mana had dissipated through his body together with his MP.
Ebony had no idea if it had strengthened his body but it definitely didn't feel good to be semi-frozen internally. At least he no longer had any ice mana in his body and his left hand was back to his normal state, broken. A crabapple or two helped remove the remaining cold.
'Ting' 'Generic Skill Persistent Meditation level up 27 → 30'
'Ting' 'Generic Skill Cold Resistance level up 23 → 24'
'Ting' 'Generic Skill Ice Mana Manipulation level up 5 → 9'
Ebony had no idea how Persistent Meditation is levelling faster than Cold Resistance when he literally froze himself but he'll take when can get.
'Ting' 'Generic Skill Icebody Enhancement learned'
Icebody Enhancement - Assimilation of Ice Elemental Mana into your physical body increases your Constitution by (15% + 1.0%) of Intelligence, Strength and Endurance by (10% + 1.0%) of Intelligence. Agility is decreased by a static 20% and damage from heat based attacks are increased by 30%.
Consumes 50 MP/min
Classification: Ice Magic - Body Enhancement Magic
'How are these skills considered 'Generic'?' putting that thought aside, it seems that Ebony was right. Though it doesn't permanently strengthen him, getting a skill was pretty damn cool too. The skill was as inefficient as it can be, at full mana, Ebony could only use it for 2 minutes tops. Even decreasing his agility when in use. At least at its current level, it was practically useless for Ebony right now.
'But how would the skill work? Will I need the Frostblaze maple sap for the ice mana required to use the skill or will my MP alone be enough to activate the skill?' Ebony wanted to test his new skill so badly but even with Persistent Meditation at lvl 30, a quick calculation told Ebony that it would take almost 8 hours to fully recover his MP or slightly under 4 hours to use the skill for a minute.
Before he could continue complaining about his mana regeneration speed, he was 'nudged' again by mama turtle. Only a little ligher this time.
'Oh crap I forgot about her…'. Looking back at it, Ebony thought he could see the mirth in its eyes when it opened its jaws wide. 'Oh… shit, it's going to make me into a popsicle because I didn't fall into its honey trap.' Ebony didn't get the chance to roll out of the way as he was too close to it before its jaws came closing down on his waist. More like half his body from the sheer size of the turtle.
'Didn't expect being eaten by a giant magical turtle to be how I will die.' It wasn't as if he gave up but there just wasn't anything Ebony could do against it, literally in the jaws of his predator he couldn't even run. Ebony was at the mercy and whims of the creature and oh how he hated it. Helplessness.
Yet the tearing of his flesh, the splatter of his blood and the crunching of his bones didn't come as the mama turtle lifted Ebony off the ground and onto its back before letting him go. Papa turtle was in front and started walking when the hatchlings head came out of its shell and they started... sliding?
The snow was parting on the ground under them, pushing them forward. They were kinda adorable to Ebony with the heads stretched out and legs tucked in their shell moving around like a sledge. Mama turtle followed behind with Ebony atop its shell, not exactly the most comfortable seat.
Having no idea where they plan on taking him to, Ebony was kinda interested to see where they were going and didn't see a reason to resist, not that he could resist the kidnapping. They were moving at about a quick jog's pace which was pretty fast considering they were turtles. If the sun over here rises from the east as well then they were moving towards where Ebony decided was north-west, he kept a mental map of the place since he came to this world or wherever the heck he was. Believing it was going to be helpful someday, it was also one of the things his father taught him to do while travelling.
It was noticeable that the temperature was dropping where they were going with the Frostblaze Amur Maple Tree bursting into flames as they passed by them. Unsure if it was his imagination the flames of the rare variety of the tree were of a lighter shade of blue than the uncommon ones. Ebony didn't see any other animal or perhaps monsters would be more accurate, the whole time. Making it a silent road trip other than the sound of them moving through the snow.
The hatchlings slowed to a stop after about half an hour when papa and mama turtles retracted their legs into their shells as well. They burst of with a swoosh. Ebony almost flew off the turtle as they accelerated to insane speeds, they were on a whole nother level compared to their hatchlings. Faster than a speeding car, they carried Ebony and their hatchlings along while weaving between the trees and shrubs with a finesse that Ebony didn't think they had.
The journey continued like that for 2 hours, the piercing cold winds ramming into Ebony allowed him to gain another level in Cold Resistance. Persistent Meditation and Humming gained a level each as well, his skills seem to have greatly slowed down in levelling.
There was no change in scenery the entire time. The forest was freaking large if anything was to be said about it. Thinking that they either stopped for a break as they didn't have any mana left or were just tired, mama turtle got Ebony off its back and they picked another random tree for another drink.
The ride was honestly pretty fun at the start, it wasn't every day that you get to ride on a giant turtle sledge but it wasn't exactly the most comfortable ride with his arms numb from holding on to its shell. At least his butt didn't hurt since the ride had been relatively smooth. The increasing cold and layer of frost on his skin and hair did make things a little less comfortable.
After the hatchlings had their fill, they hid back in the shells like earlier most likely to deal with the dense ice mana in their bodies. Parent turtles stared at Ebony as if expecting him to do the same, he just waved and shook his head to decline but they were having none of that. Pushing him towards icy hell, 'Do they think I'm their child or something, which part of me do you think looks like a turtle?'
Taking his flask out to show them that he already had some didn't work, what more when he tried to uncap his flask he realised it was tightly sealed shut, probably frozen from the inside. Negotiations have failed and it seems like Ebony has to freeze his own tongue off.
Worst comes to worst he has enough mana to use Icebody Enhancement for almost a minute, though he won't be able to test if he could use the skill without the sap at least he wouldn't have to risk turning into a popsicle if it was just a sip of sap.
Being forced to kiss a tree by a turtle, magical or not was a secret Ebony was going to keep to himself. He went in for it quickly and swallowed even quicker, pushing the skill to circulate the ice mana around his body as he pushed his first kiss away. It worked, but not before it froze his mouth shut. Keeping his eerie calmness, he noticed it took much less mana to run the skill when he used the ice mana from the sap compared to the advertised mana consumption that his skill description had.
Ebony's body felt stiffer under the effects of the skill. Although he can't feel if his endurance is increased, his body felt tougher and the stiffness in his joints were probably the effect of decreased agility. The giant turtles seemed to be satisfied by that as they sealed the hole up and waited for the hatchlings to be done. Probably doing something similar to Icebody Enhancement, maybe that's why they took Ebony along.
Ebony took the initiative to climb atop one of the turtles. This time the mirth in their expression didn't escape his eye. He didn't gain any skill level despite almost freezing his tongue off; perhaps it was because he was not actually in danger of freezing his tongue off, but who knows.
They were about to start moving off when a screeching hoot rammed his eardrum, a white flash in the corner of his vision flew atop them and stopped a couple metres short of reaching them. It looked no different from a snowy owl but Identify told him otherwise.
[Snow Gale Strix Lvl ??]
Aiming at Ebony it dived, only to be met by a wave of white frost. It landed encased in ice and mama turtle under Ebony raised a foot and slammed down on it. The sound of crushed ice echoed even with the layer of snow muffling it, the turtle moved on as if nothing happened and their journey continued.
Slightly spooked, Ebony saw that the owl or strix was frozen down to its bones. Seeing how it was a creature living in such a cold environment he could only assume it was resistant to cold, what more with levels. Obviously, the turtles didn't give a damn about any of that and Ebony had to think twice about getting away from them. They weren't hostile and could be considered his protector now anyway.
Fatigue was starting to kick in as Ebony hadn't slept a wink since coming here but he wasn't going to fall asleep on his magical sledge anytime soon. Another mundane hour of meditation and humming passed when they stopped again. Thinking they were going to drink maple sap again, Ebony attempted to get off of mama turtle only to be stopped by a head nudge.
They started sinking into the snow fast, seeing no panic from the giant turtles Ebony could tell they were using magic to do that. Getting a gaze from papa turtle, Ebony vaguely thought that it was telling him to hold his breath and keep his mouth and eyes shut. Of course, it was just his imagination. When the snow went up to his neck a large pocket of space or air was kept around his head. Courtesy of either one of the large turtles.
Ebony grabbed onto mama turtle's shell as they accelerated downwards into the cold darkness. There didn't seem to be much resistance from the snow which showed much about the magical finesse that they're showing off.
They continued this way for more than half an hour, the snow was only halfway up his calves when standing so he had no idea how in the world they could dig downwards as fast as they did for so long. His heart rate couldn't help speeding up as he was running out of air but his mind only went deeper into meditation as he calmed himself down.
Feeling the change in direction as they 'walked' forward they slowly exited the snow only for Ebony to see something he would never forget. "Beautiful…" he couldn't help but exclaim under his breath. Exploring the sights of nature could be said to be in his blood as what his parents always told him as they were born travellers too, but this was a sight to behold.
Something in the air here was boring down on him, his heart rate usually calm as a lake was starting to accelerate for some unknown reason. Ebony thought it was just from the lack of air earlier so he ignored it. It felt like something was pushing down on him as well, making his body feel heavy but he also got used to it quickly. What's worse was that his sense for ice mana was blind as he was completely drowned in them. He felt a large majority of them retreat from his immediate surroundings and go towards mama and papa turtle before he froze. Figuratively.
It was an underground dome but the ceiling was at least dozens of kilometres tall, he couldn't see the other side of the dome from where he emerged from. Why? Because a literal mountain of a turtle was smack dab in the middle of the dome, from where he was he estimated it to be at least 200 metres long, perhaps just as wide and even taller or thicker. How could he even see underground? Because the thing catching his eye wasn't even the massive behemoth but what was towering above it.
It wasn't something new as he had already been seeing it for hours on end, it was a Frostblaze Amur Maple Tree and it was frickin majestic.
It was alight in flames practically white in colour, standing hundreds if not thousands of metres tall with its crown easily covering the entire behemoth under it and more. Staying a few kilometres away from it didn't seem to matter as Ebony could feel the biting cold on his skin. He was pretty sure that he was not frozen solid thanks to the turtles. He was too far away from it to Identify or see any other detail. The turtle family was leisurely walking towards the snow domes or igloo-looking snow lumps surrounding the behemoth. There were dozens of them around each of different sizes.
'Are they all Ice Crystal Turtles?' recalling that the lumps of snow were similar to the snow lumps the turtle family came out from, Ebony watched as they passed them by without incident. Arriving at a lump much larger than the ones containing papa and mama turtle, they stopped and hissed towards it.
Moments later the snow collapsed, revealing another turtle thrice as large. A wave of mental pressure hammered into Ebony, slowing his thoughts as if he was swimming in mud. Papa and mama turtle hissed as if communicating with the creature, the soft hisses was deafening to his ears and his head felt like it was going to split any time now.
After a nod from the creature, the mental pressure receded as if it was never there. Ebony didn't even realise when he was already let down on the ground in front of it, with the family of five walking off and covering themselves in makeshift snow blankets.
[Glacial Snow Crystal Turtle Lvl ???]
Receiving the lazy gaze the creature gave him with his own they stared in silence for what felt like hours. It wasn't translucent light blue like the turtle family but opaque white instead, intelligence gleaming in its eyes. The additional question mark and blue colour in its level didn't escape his notice but it made no difference to Ebony in his situation but he did gain a level in Identify. Wondering what he was brought here for he heard a deep voice echo.
"Greetings... Human." The thought reverberated in Ebony's mind; it wasn't in any language he'd heard or if it was a language at all but he understood the contents. 'Telepathy? Magic? Cool, just didn't expect the first one I'd communicate with in this world to be a turtle.'
"Hello turtle." Ebony replied in thought unsure if it would work since he didn't know telepathy.
"You can call me Gen." the glacial crystal turtle replied unamused.
"Nice to meet you, Gen. My name's Ebony, may I know why have I been brought here or where are we to begin with?" Ebony responded, hoping to know what the creatures wanted from him.
"Ebony. My apologies for Sei and Ton's rudeness, my brethren have brought you here as you have the potential to help us." Gen said.
"Help you?" Ebony questioned, nothing came to mind that he could do for some giant turtle with magical means, Sei and Ton were probably mama and papa turtles. Ebony thought it to be a load of bullshit.
"There lays our progenitor and on it lays the gift it left for its offspring. The Frostblaze Amur is not just our sustenance it is our faith and source of power…" Gen said, weariness apparent in his voice. The giant turtle probably didn't see the need to point or even look at the even more massive turtle for Ebony to realised who or what Gen was referring to.
"You have displayed talent and potential in reinforcing your body with ice mana despite being unawakened, hence you have been invited to our home." Gen continued.
"...That doesn't explain what I can help you with, I have only just learnt how to manipulate ice mana and I highly doubt there's anything I can do that you are unable to." Ebony replied, he was doubtful that they brought him here to help them just because he could use Icebody Enhancement, after all, they could do it too and probably much better than he can.
"The Frostblaze Amur grew on our progenitor by absorbing its essence while they were still living... In the battle long past against the eastern barbarian. Our progenitor was victorious but did not expect the last blow of the eastern barbarian to be aimed at the Frostblaze Amur instead, desecrating it with his weapon. Unable to remove it, our progenitor's essence slowly seeped out. The Frostblaze Amur forest above merely the last vestiges of our progenitor's bled essence." Gen explained.
'...is it saying the whole forest grew from some leaked essence, whatever essence was that turtle was a mad lad.' Ebony thought.
"The eldest in our generation fed the Frostblaze Amur with its essence in our progenitor's place to keep it alive. However, we have grown weaker with every generation as the Frostblaze Amur weakens. I am the third generation to sustain it but none of our kind has gotten strong enough to keep it fed… Without the fourth generation this is where our lineage will end if the Frostblaze Amur continues to leak essence… Fewer and fewer have come anywhere near our forest as it is bare with the exception of Frostblaze Amur and us. Seeking help in the removal of the weapon plaguing us we have invited other sentient creatures like you to aid us over the generations but remain unsuccessful to this day." Gen continued, exhaustion in his mental voice.
"So you want my help in removing that weapon? If not even your progenitor was able to remove it, it would be impossible for me to do so either." Ebony replied.
"Naturally I am aware of that, the weapon has been soaking in its sap for generations even I would not be spared from being frozen if I so much as touch the weapon. Removing it would not only require a strong warrior like that of the eastern barbarian but an even stronger body and resistance to cold and ice magic… The closest sentient settlement to us for the time being is home to the Frost Elves. While they are extremely proficient with ice magic, warriors are almost non-existent in their race and neither are they talented in body enhancement magic... You are unawakened and yet have talent in both ice magic and body enhancement magic. We merely hoped that you will grow stronger and help us before our lineage ends. I plead with you, Ebony, save us. In exchange you can have that which plagues us, the sap of our progenitor Frostblaze Amur and our eternal gratitude." Gen said, laying his head on the ground which Ebony assumed was their gesture for bowing.
"I can't promise you anything but sure I don't mind lending a hand if I ever get capable of helping you. You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours." Ebony replied in his monotonous and nonchalant tone.
"...Thank you. I don't require any back scratching." Gen thanked.
"Can I ask you something?" Ebony asked.
"Of course, I will answer you to the best of my knowledge." Gen replied.
"What do you mean by unawakened?" Ebony asked.
"..."