The 4th floor wasn't just a river. After half an hour of slinging small shards and balls of ice and fire, they arrived at a larger piece of land. The riverbank opened up and extended to many tunnels and caves, some of which would lead them around to the other side of the river. Mostly connected.
A couple of them should lead all the way back to the caves in the mountains on the 3rd floor. The directions they got here were hardly useful since the cave and tunnels looked roughly the same. The monsters here weren't an issue and few attempted to push them down into the river.
Scarlet didn't seem to have the same hesitation anymore when she hopped around as she was busy aiming mini fireballs at Hector so that was one worry less for Ebony.
They didn't split up and took a stroll, picking the biggest tunnel they sighted. Hector was uncomfortable from the dagger-like stare from Scarlet but they didn't waste any more mana playing around.
"How did you get here so fast?" Ebony asked. He ran for 2 days straight unlike when he travelled with others. Hector didn't even go that fast without 3 enhancements and that wasn't sustainable for him.
"Heh! That's a secret. I wanted to ask you how you were ahead of me too." Hector grinned.
"I just ran normally," Ebony answered truthfully. After leaving the desert his speed increased since he could repel himself forward with Chaotic Repulsive Membrane more stably due to the better footing of solid ground.
"So what's a mana storm?"
"Exactly what it says. A storm of mana. I mean, that's a little inaccurate since it's not exactly just mana. Dungeons just think that it has got enough of whoever or whatever was harming it more than letting it benefit and plans to remove it. Mana or dungeon mana is flooded into the target's body with what looks like a lightning strike but isn't lightning elemental."
"And that's lethal?"
"Extremely. Hmm.. I heard it's kinda like drowning every single cell of your body with concentrated acid. Injects and overload. Mana Poisoning Resistance has been said to help but only to a small extent hence, the theories that the storm isn't just pure mana."
It was common sense here. Even a location with a higher mana concentration than what one was used to could make one unconscious. A dungeon's might concentrated and then injected? Death.
"Why does digging help?"
"This was discovered long ago. The 'lightning' strike has difficulty passing through dungeon material. Like pouring water into a bucket of water. The development of the dungeon shovel was greatly focused on and made such that it digs through most terrains in dungeons with more ease. Outside, it's just a regular old shovel. Did you really think it was just to dig holes to cover your excrement?" Even Hector didn't know the working of the magical shovel so there was not much he could tell Ebony about it.
"Can't the dungeon just lock us out from digging or bury us?"
"They could. If they knew where we were. They would need monsters in the area and it depends on the dungeon itself. All have different capabilities after all. Dungeons are the world's ficklest organisms. After women." Hector whispered almost inaudibly at the end. Scarlet obviously heard it as his hair singed and the surrounding temperature rose. He didn't have a helmet on anymore.
Ebony naturally put his ice hand behind his back. Pushing more mana to compress and keep it from melting anymore. His glove was already moist and darkened from the water.
He didn't expect to get grabbed and his glove removed. Too fast for him to react with how close they were walking together due to the tunnel width. Cat's out of the bag. She probably realised when she grabbed his hands earlier but it only caught her attention now.
"…What happened?" Scarlet appeared lost as the ice hand in her hands melted faster and faster as both the surrounding temperature and her body temperature rose. She wouldn't let go of Ebony's sleeves.
"…I cut it off myself." Ebony paused for a long time. For some reason he felt like it was hard to tell her the truth when she looked so…worried. Ebony wondered if he was imagining things since all he saw on her face were her eyes.
Before they could ask the whys and hows, Ebony explained that the stone mage was some kind of petrification mage. Taking the chance to ask about what type of magic that was. It was lesser known and likely only the caster or another petrification mage that's just as skilled could remove petrification.
"It's okay. It'll regrow."
"What the hell do you mean regrow!? We need to get you to a healer now. We can still make it in time, I know many great healers!" Hector only stayed out of the conversation due to the flirtatious couple but he couldn't stand the loss of such a great talent. A rival was hard to find but harder to keep. However, he wasn't all that worried. He just needed Ebony to be alive, anything else could be healed. Although he may need to pay in some way for it, it was a small price for him.
"Can't you see? It's no longer a clean cut." It was going to take a pretty long time to regrow. It might have been just the limitations of his body or that he wasn't familiar with the internal makeup of a human hand. It may even be some other reason he was unaware of but regrowth appears likely.
"Physique?" Hector signalled to soundproof their conversation, he had decided to make use of Ebony's ability quite often. It was a simple twitch of his right ear. Ebony held the dome area around the 3 of them still so vibrations don't travel through.
"Mmm. I'm partially made of mana." Ebony didn't mind sharing this since Hector knew about physiques. He actually wanted to use this chance to dip into Hector's knowledge about the subject. Both of them were visibly surprised, though it wasn't because he had a physique.
They stopped where they were, looked for a more open area in the caves and made camp early. Scarlet insisted on camping early, she was planning to make a nutritious feast. They were leaving the dungeon and she still had plenty of food and ingredients. She set up her mobile kitchen and started her preparations. She never rushed when cooking. Food was one of the few things she could stay patient for.
"There are a few types of physiques or rather methods of getting them. Naturally born with it like me and I believe practically every Xeng since they have such ridiculous strengths and capabilities. Inherited Physique. Class, Fortification & skill influenced physiques. Attained Physique. External influences like consuming some magical fruits or ingredients of nature, going through some kind of baptism or going through some kind of magical or engineered change to the body. Acquired Physique."
"Inherit? From parents?"
"With all the changes the body, mind and soul undergo as one evolves it is obvious that one's children would be affected. Sad to say that's a big reason for nobles to arrange marriages and favour the strong. Though they only get new blood when they are desperate to control the possibilities of their offspring's physique."
"Possibilities of what?"
"The most compatibility with their lineage skill. Still, having special physiques is rarer than rare. Children of Master Classed have practically zero chance of inheriting any physique. If they even had one. Chances are that a water mage's child is likely able to use water magic. Mages are hot stock for most common people as partners. Status and mana come along with them after all. But that's just elemental affinity and nothing as prominent as a Physique."
"So there's only a chance for Grandmaster ranked and above to have children with physiques?"
"…yeah, a small chance. Maybe 3-5%? Of course, this is only when the parents themselves have physiques. It doesn't give one a big head start since it'll usually be a weaker version. Inherited Physiques only get weaker every generation if it is passed down if they didn't carry on the same Class and Skillset. Since the first generation would either be an Attained or Acquired Physique.
Attained Physique or the first generation of Physique before it becomes an Inherited Physique really depends on luck and the strength of the first generation holder of the Physique. If it does pass down, it would usually be a whole lot weaker. The good thing is that if the child follows the Classes and skills of their parents they have a pretty good chance of refining their Physique to the same levels of their parents and even surpassing them.
The best example for Acquired physique would be Zenin. I doubt his child would be a half-golem if he could even sire a child. Pretty sure many are interested in seeing their child. There actually aren't many known Inherited Acquired Physiques but it really depends on the type and workings of the physique."
"How would the ones who get Inherited Physiques know that they have it?" Ebony accidentally tipped Hector off that he didn't inherit a Physique. Hector noticed, it only made him more interested.
The type of Physique Gen was referring to, was likely the Acquired type that was harder to gain the stronger he got. It wasn't that Physiques were not possible for people to Attain as they strengthened themselves in some unique fashion.
"It's one of the first few things they find out when they turn 15. It's also pretty obvious for long time complete lineages to just know these things. After all, a kid much stronger than normal kids their age or has a high ability to use certain elements isn't that hard to tell apart."
"I see."
'So it's just plain obvious or a notification when they turn of age.'
"Can you have more than 1 type of Physiques?"
"Heck no. It doesn't work that way. It is very possible to refine, mutate and though I never heard of any, evolving your own should be within the realms of possibility. It is attainable after all, just like learning and improving skills. If what you meant was for someone with Inherited Physique to mutate their bodies with some ingredient then yes but, ultimately it is considered 1 Physique."
Hector went on telling Ebony about some kinds of Physiques, the most famous ones that some nobles didn't keep secret. Rare. Almost everyone kept such things secret after all. Most if not all Physiques have some kind of drawback or weakness like Ebony's weakness to heat and fire. Of course, they didn't share their weaknesses with the public.
There were even known ways to obtain some Physiques though none was easy or safe.
"Dinner." Scarlet cut into his lecture. Ebony didn't forget to thank her and tell her that it was delicious after dinner. Hector went ahead to clean and maintain what's left of his armour after taking down 2 [Mollerar Lvl 100], a mole-like cat that dug from the ground and attacked them.
Scarlet directly asked the question Hector has been meaning to but was busy explaining things and the conversation never steered back. Oddly for Ebony, he had found himself silencing their conversation more and more often. This was another one of those times.
"You're a partial mana being?"
"A quarter. Mana being?"
"A being of mana. Mana is your lifeblood, entwined into your vitality. No wonder there's traces of vitality in your mana. A mana being's lifespan is much longer than even an Elf's. Your lifespan should be extended quite a bit even though you're only partially one."
"Extended lifespan?"
"Time doesn't wear down mana as well as it wears down the body, mind and soul. Races more attuned to mana like the Elves have longer lifespans due to this reason."
"I see…do you have a physique?"
"No. Not yet… I'll be getting one before I undergo evolution. I will…likely take some time. What are your plans from now?"
"Probably going to Arcta in Hoarfrost Glades for a visit and look for someone. Learn crafts and train if possible. If not then I'll travel, finding somewhere to study my magics. I believe you're going somewhere to train?"
"Mhmm. I'll only get my Physique when my grandma thinks I'm ready. I might be going here and there too, then back to Xienor. How long do you think you'll take?"
"…When I feel like I already reached or went over my limits. I'm not sure how long that would be. How about you?"
"I'm not sure either. It may take 3 years, it may take 5 but definitely not over 10."
"I see…"
"…"
"…Let's stay in contact. I want to see you again."
"…"
"What happened? Does your neck hurt? You're steaming again."
"I'm fine! Go..good night!"
"Oh…alright. Rest up, good night. See you tomorrow."
"…see you too."
❅❅❅
"What's wrong?" Ebony asked Scarlet who walked out of her tent after a short hour. He had been studying his own left hand and checking if he could speed up his regrowth.
"I can't relax, let's spar." Scarlet asked for the most natural thing for her.
"Mmm."
Ebony's transitions, accuracy, dexterity and strength were clearly greatly affected. Scarlet didn't let it go. He also took advantage of her stiff neck motions and line of sight. Just because they were both injured didn't mean they would go easy on each other. In fact, it was training like this that pushed them further.
Ebony made a bold guess, Scarlet was afraid of the river or water. She avoided the river and just the sight of the gushing river behind made her slip up. They went far but not that far, he had Mana Vibration training to silence their battle. It was not easy if he wanted to be specific but if it was just keeping noise to a certain area it was simple enough to do in battle.
The spar panned out poorly for both of them. Ebony's last remaining set of clothes that was in 'okay' condition was burned in some areas. The state of his robe was getting worse and worse and he received a couple of burns himself. Roughly the same thing happened for Scarlet but it was just frosted over and not really damaged. Her equipment was really good stuff.
They just stayed around at the outskirts of their camp with Hector not inside his tent. Likely ran off for his own training or perhaps did not want to bother the two of them anymore. They rested and Ebony took the chance to guide Scarlet's breathing again, he could tell it wasn't easy for her. Haggardness in her breath after a rapidly beating heart slows down too much too fast was as painful for him to watch as it was for her.
It was too hard to change. She was attempting not to vomit as much as possible. Mostly taking very quick and short breaths. Ebony hoped there was a skill that could help with that, he'll have to find out someday.
"You don't know how to take attacks. I know you heavily focus on evading but you should at least learn how to mitigate damage just in case." Ebony said in their post review. It was actually about her taking the needle on without any defensive measures. She clearly had enough time to react to it.
Scarlet was a little confused by the 'mitigate damage' term. She admitted that not having many or even a single defensive skill might have been her overconfidence in speed and reaction but she just never had the time to train that when she never got hit much in any spars or actual fights.
Ebony had never been praised for his ability to fight by his mother while his father only said he was better than most for his age. But his ability to reduce the damage or injury on himself with split-second decisions was uncanny. Abnormal. He had heard his parents quarrel about whether it was due to his mother's physical 'training' or his father's mental ones more than once. In any case, it was something they said they were proud of and Ebony took pride in that too.
Sadly, Ebony was a bad teacher. Just like teaching how he fought he couldn't explain well about how to adjust one's body's toughest part to a position that would let one receive the least damage. How or when to move slightly back or forth or anywhere else when an inevitable attack was about to land. When to tighten the body's muscles, when to relax them and then tighten them again. It was really a reflexive kinda thing and he was a little worried it'll mess up her own style if she forcefully learned it. He made sure to tell her it worked for him but it may make things worse for her if she was not suited for it.
It didn't deter her from learning, she also noticed these things when Ebony fought monsters stronger and faster than him. It was really minor but a survival skill and knowledge nonetheless.
"Just how large is your manapool?"
"I have 530 Wisdom so 5300 mana."
"Only 5300?"
"Yes."
"I thought it would be closer to 20000."
"My Fortification is for mana and stamina regeneration. That's why I'm healing so fast."
"…Mana being. You. You're really able to heal completely right?"
"I believe so. Don't worry."
"I.I'm not worried! …Don't you have skills like Mental Supersaturation or Mental Expansion. Mana pool expanding skills." Scarlet looked away before changing the subject.
'Hot damn. There are skills to expand mana pool?' Ebony thought.
"Never heard of them." Ebony answered honestly.
Scarlet was nice enough to share and teach him about her skill and experience with Mental Supersaturation. Ebony sadly just realised how few skills he has and that there was nothing he could share with her that she didn't already know or can do. Magic excluded.
"I'll find or learn a stamina related skill or a body strengthening one and teach you in exchange." Ebony offered.
"I've never heard of stamina pool expansion skills." Scarlet commented. She was taught swordsmanship by her mother and her father was an infernal blood mage. Sadly she only managed to learn fire magic from him before they left, she only recently learnt Blood Mana Manipulation. Her affinity for it only strengthened a little after Classing.
"I'm sure there are some out there, if not I'll create one myself." Ebony had no doubt. From what he knew and learnt, the phrase 'nothing is impossible' is even more likely to be true with infinite numbers of skills.
"…Thank you."
Hector most probably had body strengthening skills. It was just questionable whether they were Conditioning skills or something more direct or stronger. He did say his Profession was a Body Builder.
There may not be a skill to increase stamina pool but reducing stamina consumption could bring the same effect. Like mana efficiency, maybe a stamina efficiency Skill or Fortification?
The concept behind Mental Supersaturation was more simple than Ebony expected. The mind or mana pool's default state was saturated, meaning it held as much mana as it could. Basically, supersaturation was forcing freshly regenerated mana to stay within his mana pool and holding it there as long as possible. When he was able to do it for a long duration and he wasn't talentless with the action it would form the Mental Supersaturation skill.
It was not a secret skill, almost like Mana Compression. Simple in theory but difficult in practice. Mana Supersaturation was supposedly dozens times more difficult. It was like trying to stuff food in when you're already so full you could feel food at the back of your throat and then keeping it in. According to Scarlet she almost gave up on getting the skill since it hurt her head too much but the benefits of the skill were obvious. Too bad only the size of mana pool is affected and not regeneration.
"So you have Combat Meditation and can regenerate mana while you fight?"
"Everlasting Tranquillity. Tier 3 Core Skill, it evolved when we were on the mountain top on the 3rd floor. It's almost like a passive skill, I can regenerate more stamina and mana at any time and not just while I'm fighting."
"You… Shouldn't go around telling just anyone things like your Core Skill…" Scarlet almost sounded exasperated at Ebony's weird openness with all his skills and abilities.
"You're not just anyone to me." Ebony constantly irritated Scarlet with his serious tone when he said such things. So many times in their conversation did she have to pause and keep herself calm.
"Violent Heart Acceleration. Tier 2 Core Skill. Every percent increase in average heart rate increases my Strength, Agility, Constitution and Vitality, only health regeneration and not max health directly proportionally. It's…embarrassing but it isn't all that impressive since I can't use it at full power. I noticed my Perception is narrowed when I'm in a focused state and my heart pumps too fast. Intelligence can't keep up with my Agility either." Scarlet whispered, finding it fair to share her own as well. She didn't sense a hint of a lie from Ebony and wasn't so shameless to lie about her own.
'Hot damn. What a ridiculous skill. If it's level 100 that would mean a 250% increase in base stats, adding that to her base that itself like normal would mean a 3.5 times multiplier. It even increases her Constitution so her body can actually handle all that power… she's definitely going easy on me by a longshot.' Ebony also recalled that even without that Core Skill of hers, her swordsmanship mastery or skill also increases in speed and power as time goes. Fortunately, he tried not to allow her to build up power using that and managed to force her to use her Core Skill.
Hector walked back a little bloodied, complaining a little about needing to clean himself up again. Ebony didn't feel the need to soundproof their conversation anymore.
"How strong are we compared to other level 100 Journeymen?" Ebony was curious, Hector appeared to know a lot and Scarlet was strong and since she was one of the legendarily strong people she should have seen many strong people. Ebony wanted to have a comparison to know how strong was strong. Levels were a horrible way to gauge strength, a level 90 Cysaru could beat a level 130 Mud Golem with enough ease. The level 150 monsters here were supposedly weakened quite a bit since the dungeon was just sealed and everything. Making new dungeons the perfect target to increase Natural Potential.
Panic Attack who was lower levelled than the gunmen seemed stronger than them too. They were just disadvantaged with all of them being close-ranged combatants.
"Hmm. Definitely over the 70th percentile or so." Hector thought for a second before answering. Stripping armour pieces off and taking out cleaning equipment as he answered.
Ebony was more than a little surprised internally. Seems like he somewhat overestimated himself by more than just a bit. He had thought that Scarlet, Hector and himself were already near the peak of power of what a Journeyman could achieve. Sure, all their skills had room for levels and improvement but their stats would stay constant as long as they remained at their level.
70th percentile. The population was probably as large as Elcra or rather, Elva continent's landmass. Although population density was unlikely to be anywhere as close as Earth's, that was still a lot of people.
"Only if you count Elcra alone." Scarlet added.
"Ah, that too. Well, every Elf would take the upper percentile. Then there are the gifted noble children. The Xengs. The small group of Dryadic Humans hidden somewhere are said to be really strong too, never seen them though. The perfectionist group of people who kept building their skillset and power to get the most out of their evolution. Generally, the people who still had a heck of a lot of time due to how young or how long their lifespans were were the largest group." Hector listed out.
"Yes. Every combat Class Elf is strong as long as they are already an adult. I am interested in encountering the Dryadic Humans as well. According to what I was told they are the only group outside of the Elves that my elders hold any regard to. Based on power alone, youths travelling out of Xienor were told not to provoke them unless provoked." Scarlet didn't tell them that there were barely any other 'youth' travelling out of Xienor.
"Hooo? They're that strong? I've never even seen many records of them so I'd never known but to think they could make your people guard against them." Hector was intrigued and so was Ebony.
Ebony didn't see many Elves after he left Arcta, Fergus was one of the very few he saw. Fergus was too young to be moving out of their reclusive villages actually. Based on his age of 57 he was still a very young child, they weren't close enough and none of his party shared why Fergus was already active as a Freelancer. Though the 4 main Races lived mostly harmoniously together, there were few Elves to begin with and the majority didn't want to leave their forests and villages. Many still travel around now so it was not rare to spot an Elf these days.
With their long lifespan, Elves had a lot of time to train and adjust to their power. Ebony levelled a little too fast for him to fully adjust to his speed and strength. Every single one of them was skilled beyond their levels. 250% Fortification was probably not a secret to them, perhaps Clovis just hadn't learned about it when Ebony asked about it.
"Good. So we still have a long way to go." Ebony voiced out. He was glad, so there were so many stronger than himself even at the same level. He was far from the strongest, which meant he still had a lot of room for improvement. Wonderful.
"HAAHA! That's right!"
"Yes."
"After I evolve to Master Class, neither of you would be my match! I'll be the most powerful Master to have lived!" Hector proclaimed.
"Mmm. Can't wait for that to happen but I won't lose." Ebony was internally happy about the challenge.
"I'll be victorious next time we meet." Scarlet said to no one in particular.
"Let's clear Ordina together, one day." Ebony proposed.
"Sure!"
"Okay."