Winter calmly passed by just like any other season in 4 months.
Arcta received many visitors. Many a [Grand Ice Mage Lvl ???] popped up in Ebony's Identify. They returned to spend the winter here as it was tiresome for some to continue staying in the other village since it got really damn dangerous. They stayed hidden in some random empty houses and were shut-ins so he didn't see them much.
It was a very peaceful 4 months for Ebony. He didn't have to do any more escorting or protecting since no children went out. He himself stayed in the village to learn about the endless things he could, about making clothes with the thousands and thousands of types of materials there were.
Ebony's level didn't change but his skill levels did.
Name: Ebony Rime
Core Skill: Everlasting Tranquillity Lvl 179
Class: Meditative Swordsman of Frostblaze - Lvl 100
Class Skills:
Treading Step Lvl 129
Ice Mana Control Lvl 131
Icebody Enhancement Lvl 132
Flowing Greatsword Mastery Lvl 116
Frost Injection Lvl 130
Ice Sword Lvl 114
Ceaseless Onslaught Lvl 109
Layered Ice Carapace Lvl 124
Frost Mist Perception Sphere Lvl 137
Empty Skill Slot
Empty Skill Slot
Empty Skill Slot
Empty Skill Slot
Empty Skill Slot
Empty Skill Slot
Sub-Class: Orchestral Gravity Conductor Lvl 100
Sub-Class Skills:
Battle Song Lvl 112
Mana Vibration Lvl 106
Gravity Mana Manipulation Lvl 122
Magnified Gravity Field Lvl 105
Chaotic Repulsive Membrane Lvl 129
Vibrational Gravity Sense Lvl 122
Sonic Overlay - Lvl 117
Empty Skill Slot
Empty Skill Slot
Empty Skill Slot
Profession: Mana Meister - Lvl 100
Profession Skills:
Mana Moulding Lvl 119
Sheer Mana Compression Lvl 133
Mana Perception Lvl 136
Reinforced Mana Chassis Lvl 68
Empty Skill Slot
Health: 500/500
Stamina: 500/500
Mana: 5300/5300
Unallocated stat points: 0
Strength: 50
Vitality: 50
Constitution: 250 [505]
Endurance: 50
Agility: 250
Intelligence: 376
Wisdom: 530
Perception: 100 [279]
Generic Skills:
Stealth Lvl 14
Identify Lvl 14
Sheer Cold Resistance Lvl 51
Running Lvl 34
Mental Mapping Lvl 19
Kicking Mastery Lvl 45
English Lvl 8
Elcrian Lvl 8
Mental Arithmetic Lvl 18
Dish Washing Lvl 20
Physical Conditioning Lvl 16
Magical Conditioning Lvl 16
Sustained Optimum Condition Lvl 52
Tracking Lvl 12
Game Processing Lvl 10
Heat Resistance Lvl 30
Sheer Divination Resistance Lvl 12
Gardening Lvl 16
He had mostly focused on his lagging Profession so his Class and Sub-Class didn't get all that much training in despite it having been a whole 7 months, excluding his perception-type skills. With his Natural Potential having been increased by 5 times, his generic skills also saw some improvement here and there. It may or may not affect his evolution since there was a pretty good chance he would be able to kick it into one of his classes as a slight change to them.
When all the skills that he had got to obtain his Meditative Swordsman of Frostblaze Class reached level 110 he had received a prompt for evolution. Saying that he had reached the requirement for a Class Evolution. Ebony obviously chucked that aside.
Now only his greatsword mastery was pulling him back more. When some of his other skills reached the 110 or 125 mark they were added to the skill requirement list together with an additional prompt for evolution. When many skills reached that mark, he got multiple similar prompts with only some skills being included and some not.
From Scarlet's and Hector's combined knowledge. It was known to both that the most amount of additional Fortification from evolution a person is recorded to have is 3 more for one's Class, 2 more for their Sub-Class and 1 more for their Profession.
The original ones that one had would strengthen according to the skill levels reached. The Fortification would likely depend on which skills are included in the skill requirement of the evolution choice. The 2 very well informed people were insistent that it was more important that one trained, practised or took action more in accordance to what they wanted their Fortification to be.
Ebony threw caution to the wind because he was sure 250% Fortification buff was no secret and asked them about it too. Scarlet definitely had them.
Hector was as open as ever and was proud to inform that he had one. He even shared, it was 250% more resistant to mana poisoning and its effects. It fit him to a tee as he really needed it for the type of enhancement mage he was.
They already knew or guessed Ebony's but sadly, Scarlet didn't say what hers was.
She was more knowledgeable about this topic than Hector.
250% Fortification buff was obviously broken but there was a limit to how much Fortification one can handle or so she says.
A person can withstand a limit of 3 and only a Class can withstand it.
Neither Scarlet or Ebony noticed Hector's tiny frown when he heard her explain this part. The constant smile hid it.
Meaning even if he got his Sub-Class and Profession skills to the required level he would not get a 250% Fortification buff for them.
Ebony was willing to bet that if the Xengs knew so much then Scarlet definitely had all 3 already. She later confirmed the 2.0 times required level so he would need to reach level 200 for the skills he wanted.
It was a pretty good find that he could add information that he wanted to see on his status page like the amount of Constitution he got from his passive skill.
He couldn't do the same for other stuff on his status so Ebony thought it was only possible due to Reinforced Mana Chassis being a passive skill and maybe also because he had the Mental Arithmetic skill. Just like his Perception.
Ebony had learned all that he could about tailoring within a mere 5 months. It wasn't that Roya had nothing left to teach, it was just that there was little left that she could teach that he could do with just mana and the knowledge on structure and properties of materials and clothing.
[Robe of the Ice Swordsman (Rare) - Tailored for both an ice mage and a swordsman]
It was similar to his old robe but now it was full length to his ankles. It was really more of a coat but he's just gonna call it a robe because that's what Roya called it. She didn't forget to make it more form-fitting around his waist and hips so that the extension to his legs wouldn't flutter and cause difficulty moving about. He asked her to forget about the hoodie function since he never used it so she just made the collar a little higher to cover the back of his neck.
The design was a little different but the biggest difference was the capabilities of the robe. Minus the addition of frost plum blossom on his cuffs and lining at the bottom of his robes. It didn't take up a lot of space and was made as a small, inconspicuous decoration.
Similarly 3 layers of materials that are not too different from his old one but are able to do everything better. Once again frostsilk cotton but the best of the best that Halvis had kept.
The older Frost Elves that heard about Ebony's act of protecting Palom with his body also randomly took some stuff out but Roya admittedly wasn't able to work with those materials. The snow serpent's skin was also a Rare material but it wasn't suitable as the toughness and durability that he liked weren't its forte. It was also more of a snow elemental material than an ice one.
Another plant-based material was used in place of a snake's skin. Hoarfrost Jutial, he didn't know what that was but it was supposed to be a plant that was just one large leaf that regrows every 3 years. Sponsored by the Lasil family, they wouldn't accept any use of poor materials. They were immensely grateful to Ebony who saved their child and they wouldn't accept him just taking some pills that they could dish out with the materials at hand. They gave a lot of these so that it could be incorporated into his robe.
Lastly was once again the web of a spider, spider webs were wondrous materials. Simply a stronger and Rare version of the metal magic using one. Koawe volunteered to go get it from some city or perhaps hunt the spider himself. He was gone for a week before coming back with a ton of it in his spatial storage which even Palom had.
Ebony felt bad making the village move for him but they kept saying there was no need to feel bad. That it was just grass that kept growing in their garden or Koawe already planning to take a walk outside Hoarfrost Glade since it was winter it wouldn't be that bad outside either to visit a friend or two.
He didn't need anyone to tell him that all the 'Rare' rated materials would cost a bomb and a half not to mention putting it together. Roya didn't let him pay for it either, saying it was a test of her own skills as well or that she gained many levels just from making it.
Roya overdid herself with the masterpiece that she made. She also used liquefied tungsten rime to soak both the frostilk cotton and hoarfrost jutial in it. There was so much used that he could bathe in it. It was the 'easiest' to obtain material for them. It could easily take millions of his mana, ice mana to be specific.
She even made it such that it could store it as excess mana he could use to cast with. It was like a staff or wand that contained the elemental mana of the mage that they could use instead of conjuring. As long as he precharged it, running out of ice mana in the middle of the battle was getting more and more unlikely. It didn't mean he would have millions of ice mana to cast in battle since he would still need to use his own mana to control it, like any other mage who uses elemental mana in their weapons. It would definitely conserve a lot of mana if he were to use the stored ice mana though.
Roya dissected his Layered Ice Carapace skill, he had cast the spell for her many times. Mostly in their singular scale form. He was involved with the robe's creation this time round. The robe had one ability, expending the stored ice mana to form similar scales across itself. It was a very cool scale robe that would defend him from blunt attacks too. He was advised against using it for the time being as it would be way weaker than the base durability or toughness of the robe itself now due to the defence of this ability being dependent on his ice mana, spell power, Intelligence stat and all that.
Ebony didn't want too many miscellaneous abilities on the robe, he had enough skills to worry about. He didn't want to worry or forget about anything that the robe can do that he didn't use. So, Roya made her either rune or enchantment to do one thing and that was the toughness and durability of the robe using charged mana. She could have made it do many things, like with the spell glove she could make it 'save' more precast spells or have mana move smoother in it and all the magical stuff like weakening a certain type of elemental attack on it.
The problem and why he thought they overdid it with the materials and making it was because he couldn't wear it without falling to the ground and just flaying his limbs around on the ground. It was heavy even with Icebody Enhancement on but at least it wasn't impossible to move in it.
While he wouldn't say he was impossible to kill since his head was an obvious opening and a good hard blunt hit could still smash him to death, at least nothing that could destroy his Layered Ice Carapace could even scratch his robes. Magic could harm him without much issue though, those wide-area types.
Ebony planned to leave before he became too comfortable but he didn't have that issue since he never got too comfortable with the weird chill that slowly intensified over time. That odd imaginary pain he had never felt before was more on his mind than the pain his body undergoes when his mana chassis was being reinforced.
He had stayed for a bit longer than he thought as he didn't want to miss the frost plum flowers. He had become a frequent visitor. Also, he was waiting for winter to pass and the Lasil family wanted to observe his health a little longer.
Ebony had become more and more distant with the Frost Elves, even Clovis and it was worrisome. They then said it was because he was still human and perhaps staying in Hoarfrost Glade for an extended period of time wasn't doing him good. It was the perfect chance for him to say his farewells.
Ebony didn't make many or any promises at all, he firmly believed promises were made to be kept so he never promised Clovis that he would bring any books or stories of his travels the next time he comes back. Because he knew that there was a chance that he wouldn't be able to come back.
Unlike the promise he made to Gen about keeping the location or the full details of his Physique secret or the time he promised that he wouldn't hunt until he was level 10. Those were within his control, he thought. His life and death? Currently, he had no confidence in saying it was under his control. Especially seeing all the incredibly powerful Frost Elves and the monsters of Hoarfrost Glade. Heck, even the weather was enough to kill him if he went deep enough.
He thought he wouldn't receive any more and be able to give back but he was too naive. Why did he even come back to take more?
The Frost Elves weren't dissatisfied with Ebony but he was dissatisfied with himself. Yet, he didn't blame himself. He was weak, sure, but everyone had a starting point. Like they had told him multiple times, he was just a young child.
With the supposed extension of his lifespan, he had even more time. He wasn't rushing for anything so why not take it slow.
Ebony stayed longer because of that, taking things slow. See the sights and enjoy living. Sadly, he found himself tasting things less and less.
Perception also increased the sensitivity of his taste buds but he knew he tasted things a little lesser ever since he turned into a mana being and that it wasn't the ingredients of Elcra tasting different from Earth's. Even so, Ebony gradually lost the sense of taste with the increasing chill in his heart. He believed it was time to leave as it was doing him no good to stay here any longer.
Spring was here and he restarted or rather, started his travels for real this time. At least, that had been the plan.
Ebony said his goodbyes to all the friends he had made here, Thoya family, Lasil family, Palom and her suitors who became pretty close with him, Mr and Mrs.Calhy, the village chief and his wife, Korben the village guardian, Koawe, Tiha and Enya.
Roya was worried Ebony didn't want to come back anymore for some reason, maybe the fact that she had nothing much left to teach him was what led him to want to leave so quickly.
Ebony had to say that he would definitely come back here, he could come back here to complete his evolution when he was ready. That was more than enough to reassure her. It showed the trust he had in them as one was completely defenceless when they were evolving and everyone needed to be protected or at least in a place that was safe when they were evolving.
He got his belongings and didn't hesitate to leave. Still carrying along the heavy ass block of wood. A wood mage helped confirm that it was a type of wood but he didn't know what type. Since it was dungeon material it was probably some new variant he had never seen or heard of.
There were wood mages/workers here but he didn't want them to make anything with it when they were not confident of even deducing the properties and whatnot of the material. It's not as if he wanted a bow which they were the experts to ask.
Over the duration he was here, the block of wood didn't stop absorbing the small amount of ice mana in the surrounding that managed to land on it. Now he was certain it was heavier than it had been at the start. It didn't change in look or colour or even feel cold so that was surprising. However, Ebony was now able to sense the ice mana inside it.
In his bag were a dozen sets of clothing for himself and made by himself. Wear and tear was quite a problem when one moves so fast and has a lot of strength. Quite an impressive number of Blues that was filled up in his sleep over the 7 months. Buying a good greatsword should not be a problem with the sum he had.
Wearing the impressively heavy robe and the block of wood made him slow down a lot before he was able to reach Plainston. He had to have Icebody Enhancement on constantly to even carry all that weight.
Plainston was mostly filled up with new buildings already and was fully functional as a city now.
The Quest Hall was the second largest building now. The arena or coliseum took over it, though that was only above ground. The underground of the Quest Hall was probably larger by a big margin. The mage tower was also open already.
Ebony easily qualified as a second order mage to the desk receptionist that easily recorded that down into his quester crystal which served somewhat like an identification at this point. The mage tower was a little disappointing. There were hardly any books on gravity or even sound magic that was available for a second order ice mage like him. He also wasn't allowed to read many books because he never contributed as a real member in terms of either knowledge or work like research or defence.
He had found out that Top and Chris died in Ordina when he made a previous visit. The other 3 had split up to different places too and they wouldn't tell him where. There was nothing he could do besides mourning for the friendly acquaintances he had made. It also reminded him that he wasn't even able to carry Ryley's remaining body out to bury and had to leave him for Ordina to devour.
He made one final check at Z&Z for spatial storage but there weren't any. He also wasn't able to order any, they didn't say why but they were a business. It was clear that it just wasn't profitable for them to send one all the way out here unless he paid ridiculous transportation fees.
Propping the block of wood up his shoulder, he was ready to leave Plainston and move further east. Just the general direction of the Capital, Tidal. Ebony was just planning to go where his feet took him. Making stops at any town or city and checking them out or staying a night or two. If he found something worth his time he would check it out too.
He took a step outside after the city guards let him through without stopping him.
"Ahh～that hurts you little rascal!"
Ebony felt himself bumping into something, someone in this case. His alertness rose. He didn't even sense her getting close to him with his Vibrational Gravity Sense.
'She silently got close enough to me that I couldn't react to until after she bumped into me without making any violent waves in the surrounding mana?' whoever the hell bumped into him was keeping his danger alert at all time high. His current range with his mana control and senses was 28 metres. A pretty impressive improvement in 7 months.
Ebony looked at where he was bumped into to see a short old lady rubbing her shoulder as if he really hurt her by bumping into her. She had a full head of grey hair mostly tied into a bun with some bangs and loose hair hanging on both sides of her face filled with light wrinkles. She was only about 145cm tall with a hunched back, a small old lady but she should be a human as far as Ebony could tell. He had to Identify her even if he didn't think he could beat the old lady if she wanted to beat him or even if he didn't feel any danger from her.
[Gnarly Old Lady Lvl 6969]
'The hell?' Ebony knew it was just some scam, he wouldn't be able to Identify something or someone that high level. Neither did he think anyone or thing would identify as 'Gnarly Old Lady' the colour of the result was black too.
"Little rascal. How are you going to pay me for making me wait so long? Aii～never mind. Hold out that naughty hand of yours that you used." the gnarly old lady complained before asking something he couldn't comprehend. Seeing Ebony hesitate to do anything at all, she shook her head in disapproval before looking up to the sky then sighing.
"It must be this one. Come on, you made me wait long enough." The old lady randomly grabbed Ebony's left wrist before walking out of Plainston. Dragging him along with her vice-like grip, disregarding him who cast Chaotic Repulsive Membrane the moment he realised she bumped into him. Her eyelid raised before she crushed into his wrist causing it to creak under pressure.
He had no idea who she was but she wasn't letting go. She said she was waiting for him but he had never met her.
He eased up on Chaotic Repulsive Membrane, it wasn't doing crap and the old lady didn't seem to mean any harm.
'Just what did my left hand do to deserve all the nonsense it's going through? She called it naughty, is that what it looks like?'
They got quite a distance away from the city before the old lady bent her knees a little and jumped. His arm threatened to rip off from his shoulders as they broke the magical sound barrier many times in a second. He would've been knocked out if it wasn't for Everlasting Tranquillity but Ebony was as calm as ever. The old lady was too strong to resist and she clearly wanted to bring him somewhere.
Ebony took note of which direction they went in. She didn't fly, only jumped hard enough that the extremely compact and tough dirt ground had a crater almost 3 metres in diameter and half as deep. Of course, he was too far to see that by the time he noticed he was getting dragged. They went up high and he could see Plainston turning into a small dot before disappearing from sight as they landed on a random mound of earth.
He compressed Icebody Enhancement even further so that his arms wouldn't hurt that much.
"Oh, smart boy! I can go faster this way. It would be a waste of time otherwise." the old lady exclaimed. Her next jump was one filled with more power and dizzying speed. He wasn't dizzy, calmly taking note of whatever features or landmarks he passed by. Everything was a blur at the height and speed the old lady was carrying him.
One thing he was sure of was that he passed by a town or 2 with every single one of the old lady's jumps. The scenery changed a little as dirt roads became grey paved roads. They were even road signs that Ebony spotted when the old lady landed and complained about him being heavier than he looks and how jumping was bad for her knees. Then she asked if he could strengthen his body any further because she had to slow down too much so that she wouldn't break him.
Population density also increased quite a bit. Ebony saw some caravans travelling with the freelancers or contracted escort parties protecting the cargo and requester or contractor.
The old lady didn't stop at any town or city, even travelling through the night without sleep or rest. Ebony realised even the road and cities were more brightly lit up at night. One good thing was that they were travelling east where he originally wanted to go. The 'screens' in towns were larger.
Ebony hoped he would be able to get some of those memory light ores he had heard about from Roya and Halvis, they even showed him some of their collection.
Memory light ores were basically ores that contained 'videos'. There was even a profession called Memory Lighter. Practically an actor and memory lights mainly contained movies, series, educational and documentaries. Well, they used to mainly contain educational, spell and skill content before entertainment was even a priority but the idea came up quite a while back after the current King, Queen and Emperor rose to power and Elva got immensely safer. Population shot through the roof and whatnot.
Many people such as Rowent and his party, Ebony's own party, asked him why he had focused so much on defensive skills.
It seemed like such a stupid question, whether it was the King, Queen, Emperor, many other previous Emperors and Empress recorded in the Sovereign Temple of Heroes. Those that were known to be alive for a long time had a strong defensive lineup.
The Barrier King, Life Queen and Oplot the Indestructible and the many different titles he had for being untouched or undamaged. Ebony didn't see the need to explain himself that however powerful he got he needed to first survive to get the last laugh.
Watching movies and tv series was such a nice way to pass time that he would one day be able to indulge in once again. It was a hobby for the nobles and rich merchants but Ebony didn't think he was that poor. The countryside that was Plainston just didn't have such stuff. 'Let's just hope the lady is not going to throw me into some dungeon or somewhere without civilization.'
The night passed together with another day and night about to come again before the old lady slowed down. Fake huffing and puffing with both her hands on her knees. The moonlight was turning from a dark purple from after the middle of winter to a lighter shade. It would be a purple to almost pink shade before turning back to white in summer apparently.
"Gah finally here. At least it was a few hours earlier than expected. Little rascal, follow me." The old lady said.
"Mmm. Where is this?" Ebony didn't bother asking who she was or why she brought him here since he thought she would explain sooner or later.
They had crossed an unimaginable distance according to his rough estimate and calculation. Walking towards a city gate, the walls were at least 200 metres tall, over a tenth as thick and the materials of the walls were sandy in colour but the texture looked like rock or stone. From the sky, the city was at least 3 to 4 times bigger than Plainston and may even house tens of millions of people.
"We are in Clatter Rattle City. Almost anything that can be found on Elva can be found here. A city of collection, craft and thievery." The old lady introduced as they walked past the [Master Warrior Lvl ???] after paying the city entry fee of 3 Greens each.
"What are you looking for?" Ebony asked.
"Someone."
"Who?"
"Come on dust yourself and be presentable. Let's hope her mood is good or you won't be able to snag a good teacher."
"A teacher? For me? What will she be teaching?" Ebony didn't even ask who this old lady was but if she was finding a teacher for him, he had to know what he was there to learn.
The old lady hailed what looked like a carriage pulled by horses the size of warhorses. [Dart Horse Lvl 150]. The ride was comfortable and even faster than him. There were no bumps due to uneven roads or suspension issues. The city probably had higher speed limits. The horse sped and slowed down as the [Master Coachman Lvl 161] turned corners and switched onto another road.
The ride took over an hour. There was traffic and safety to take into account when it was a city packed with people and structures so they could only move so fast. Stopping in a street that was a lot quieter and had much fewer buildings around. The old lady alighted and tossed some ores to the driver.
They walked at normal speeds and stopped at a large cottage looking building. From the outside, it looked about 200 to 300 square metres and was 3 floors tall. Ebony knew the buildings here were made taller on average so it might not have 3 floors.
The wooden walls were dark brown in colour with the roof tiles being black. There was a fence but the old lady just pushed the unlocked fence gate open. The yard was full of weeds and untended grass, the porch had dry mud footprints. Overall, a slightly dirty outlook on the building. The interesting thing was that after he followed the old lady and walked past the fence gate he began to hear the many noises mixing at the same time.
The ground was vibrating softly, the cottage had ringing and then banging noises, the air was thick and smoky. Illusion, mirage and sound magic were what he was guessing. He didn't manage to sense the sound magic that was at play probably due to the illusion or whatever magic was going on.
"Little Jing, come out! This old lady is here to visit!"
'Little Jing?' That was an odd name out of all the names he had heard here on Elva. Ebony wondered what race the person would be from since different races tend to name their child slightly differently from one another. It was a familiar naming sense to what he was used to hearing.