Ebony meditated as best he could until he heard movement. He clearly wasn't very deep in meditation.
He would have opened his eyes, but they were frozen shut with a patch of snow across them for so long that he might have forgotten how to blink.
At the same time, he wasn't in any rush to rid of his blindfold.
The amount of information sight gives him would really flood his senses at this point.
After all, his mental range of control and perception had more than doubled to almost 70 metres.
The gravitational waves weren't much of an issue. It was the vibrations. If there were many things going on at the same time within a radius of 70 metres, let's say hundreds of spells clashing, he would have trouble even keeping track of what was happening.
With the gravitational waves working together it was still possible for him to understand the situation around him so it wasn't that bad. It only meant his senses and perception weren't perfected yet.
"Morning Gen." Ebony didn't just greet randomly. He was pretty sure it was morning.
His internal clock has improved enough to tell. He didn't know the date since he didn't check the hue of the moon but he could tell when the moon was up or not even underground. It would be embarrassing if he was wrong after his long sleep.
"...Mo…Morning. Ebony. Oh yes…" Gen forced his eyelids apart. The snow across his eyes just slipped off after Gen greeted.
"Thanks. For training me as well. It was fruitful."
No light entered Ebony's eye even when his blindfold was removed. No surprise. Even if you didn't consider how long his eyes haven't been exposed to light, his eyes were completely pierced through and filled with holes by Gen's snow anyway.
Ebony placed two fingers above his eyelid and quickly pushed in and plucked his eyeballs out. Surprisingly less pain than he thought. There was hardly any feeling really, they were completely frozen through together with his nerves for who knows how long already.
It would be faster to regenerate two new ones than to attempt to repair something he had no idea how to.
"...Merely helping ourselves…I will be going into deep meditation soon. It would do you good to ask your whatever you want now." Gen seemed to have had enough of dealing with Ebony.
"Sorry for disturbing your rest. I'll come back at level 300 like Ful suggested. Anyway, I only have a few questions."
"...She said that…"
"...Can I check out your progeniturtle's shell's internal structure? I know that's a little too rude, if not, can I check yours out?"
Gen didn't even reply in time before a huge shadow came flying at Ebony. It was flying slowly so it wasn't hard to dodge.
Whatever it was, it was larger than Gen himself.
"Go ahead. It might not help as much as you think. That fell off but it already decayed over time." Ful was the one that sent the massive scale over.
How?
Ebony didn't know or care.
He didn't want to waste Gen's time so he quickly touched the scale. It was freezing cold but smooth to the touch.
Ebony gently pushed his mana in but it just slid over the surface. A more forceful approach was necessary. He tried his best but it was useless. The scale's surface structure was so tight that his mana couldn't even enter.
That was a first, even metals couldn't stop Ebony's mana.
"Trying to copy the structure? Well, you can try again when you come back…That reminds me. You're a partial mana being, can you control your own structure?"
"Mmm. In a sense. I can manually regenerate parts of myself so maybe."
"Any related skill? About your body and mana."
"I guess."
"Once. Rue and I were taking a swim, searching for our partner's favourite underwater glacial caves. We encounter a strong creature. No, a race. Charbie or Charbbu, something like that. They were tough. Sea creatures are generally the toughest but they were on another spectrum all together. They look and shape the same as you so you might want to check them out if you ever go to sea."
"Mmm. I'll remember. Sorry for troubling you with the scale. My other question is just how can I find you guys again?"
"Exactly how you found us this time. We are hidden for a reason. Haha. A tip, we are in the icy regions when it's hotter. Anyway, the stronger you get the easier it is to find us. We'll be able to sense you and let you in when you're near."
"Alright. One last thing, I was really curious for a long time now. How did I become a partial mana being?"
"..." Silence filled the underground dome.
"You're asking us?" Gen replied for both of them.
"Mmm. When I just got my physique I just trusted what it said about me melding my mana into my body but if that was all it took to become a mana being every enhancement magic user would become one and that didn't make much sense to me when I found out." He had been thinking about this for a long time but only wanted to bring forth the question to Gen since he would be the clearest on his physique. Now that he found out that the progeniturtle's tree spirit wasn't dead either, he just had to bring the question up.
"Rue was well read, it's a vague...'instinct' but if I'm not wrong no amount of usage of enhancement magic of any type would turn one into a mana being, partial or not. More often than not, a good enhancement mage would attain a physique sooner or later. It should be the same for warriors after a certain stage. But a mana being is fundamentally different, enhancement magic strengthens the body with mana and your body on the other hand is made of mana. I can tell you that my sap has no such properties or effect, I would've been cut down from Rue by some random guy that our father cannot stand up against long ago if my sap could turn people into mana beings." Ful explained.
Gen was listening in as well, he was not aware of this and just randomly accepted what Ebony said previously. As for Ful, she didn't bother bringing it up since she thought it was Ebony's inherent racial trait.
"So what are mana beings? How do they come about? Any idea what would turn someone into something made of mana?" He remembered Ful saying that the Life Grafter modified a dragon to have part of its body to be made of mana.
"That's a question even our father would not be able to answer properly, except maybe the last question. I'm not too clear on this but I'm pretty sure that the only reason he was able to change our youngest sibling at that time was due to it already having the inherent properties of a mana being. I had imagined that was the case for you when you explained your physique to Gen."
"Alright. Thanks. That's really all for now. I'll be back." Ebony had the same stone-faced expression as usual despite what he just heard.
Ebony could feel Gen's lazy gaze but it was full of pressure. Gen can't wait till Ebony get the hell out so that it could rest well.
Gen had to personally let him out of the blizzard as he was the only one who could control it. He literally tossed Ebony out with a single "Take care." before quickly disappearing underground again.
Ebony could feel the snow on his feet. Courtesy of Gen to bring him back out to this region. Probably the Chilly region and not the Icy one.
'...Which way's which?'
He hadn't recovered his sight and had no idea which direction was eastwards, away from Hoarfrost Glade and back through Bubble Hills.
He didn't expect to feel his myriad bracelet or rather, his callstone to 'ping' right after he exited the blizzard that was quickly disappearing into the distance.
Getting a call was completely out of his expectations and the timing was a little perfect too. There were only so many people that could contact him so he just used his mana to accept the connection.
"OHH YESSS! Y..you fi…fibally bi..bi..bi..bicked up! Youu'ree aaabbriivvvee!"
Hector's annoying voice came over. Ebony would've preferred anyone else with his contact but it was better than no call.
"Mmm. Alive alive." Ebony answered into his wrist noncommittally.
"Then hubbrry the ell up and SAABBUU MEEEE!" Hector was as energetic as ever even when he couldn't speak properly.
"What's wrong? Keep talking, I'll try to follow the mana vibrations to you." Ebony already started moving towards where mana vibrations of sounds were coming from.
He wasn't able to sense the mental link but the vibrations were obvious to his Vibrational Gravity Sense.
"I…th..the Green habentt rran out. No..mott farr." It was not hard to gauge distance based on the mana consumption of one's callstone, the amount they have linked up and then calculating how long the call could last.
A Green or Uncommon ranked mana ore has up to 10,000 mana. Using 0.1MP/km/s, they would be able to connect for 1 second if the distance was 100,000km or using their measurement was 20 Gurs.
Ebony didn't know how mana efficient Hector's callstone was but, it shouldn't be any better. They had been connected for a couple of seconds and Hector was still mumbling about how hard the past years had been on him.
His shivering voice told Ebony enough. Hector was in Hoarfrost Glade as well.
Ebony was only bubbling away all his mana regeneration into Frostblaze Augmentation. It was a weak enhancement but he needed it to even move and carry his burdensome equipment.
358MP/min divided by the 1125 MP/min times 100% would mean that Ebony was running the skill at roughly 31.8% of its maximum effectiveness or output.
He still regenerated normal density mana. A completely uncompressed Frostblaze Augmentation was weaker than his fully compressed Icebody Enhancement. Even considering the tier 2 and much higher base increase in buff.
No wonder he could easily overpower some Master ranked people. Even Hector, the enhancement mage likely doesn't do something like compressing enhancement magic. At least definitely not to the extent that Ebony does.
Due to the nature of Frostblaze Augmentation and how instantaneous it consumes his mana, he hasn't found out how to compress it. The only way was to have a full mana pool. Compressed. Meaning his limit was 147% compressed Frostblaze Augmentation.
Previously, his limit of 40% of his maximum was way more than 147%. Since that was according to his Sheer Mana Compression level together with his Fortification. Now it depended on his Reinforced Mana Chassis.
Altogether, for a short period of time, while his mana pool lasts, he was stronger with a lesser compressed Frostblaze Augmentation than his very compressed Icebody Enhancement. Not to mention the Agility buff.
❅❅❅
Hector was freezing his ass off here in search of Ebony.
He was no mana being and he wasn't Ebony. He couldn't spare so much mana to warm himself up with his fire body enhancement. There were too many dangers around where he needed all the mana he had.
Hector ran away from home. The call back home was suddenly cancelled the moment he reached Tidal. Since he was already there he trained and refined his skills.
Having got bored of that after a few years and also reaching what he thought was his best, he ran off. The Troll threat was no longer breathing down on Elva.
'Running off' might not be very accurate since he had the excuse that he was off to get Natural Potential from Ordina.
No one chased him except Wel who followed in secret. Hector knew it was only a secret to others.
Ordina should have strengthened or rather, recovered a bit but there should still be some years before it is of average strength or fully recovered. It usually takes a decade or two but with overcrowding and many deaths perhaps it was recovering faster than expected.
From there, the dungeon starts growing.
Hector had the adventure of a lifetime just hopping from one expedition to an escort party to solo travel. Or so he hoped for.
The overbearing older cousin of his just had to catch him in the middle of his nighttime escape and follow him.
The only good thing about that was that she was the best goddamn support any party could have. Her personality to anyone else was okay. More than okay, most people liked being around her. To Hector, she was the devil in human skin.
Even in this forsaken snowy forest, she was just complaining and blaming Hector for bringing her here when she was the one who forced herself onto him.
Hector tried to contact Ebony and Scarlet every once in a while as he travelled somewhat leisurely. Ryley was dead. It was too bad. He was beginning to be less unbearable before he died.
Tuffock…
Hector actually didn't remove his contact. There was no word from him though.
As for getting traced, that was the last thing on Hector's mind.
The results were not positive.
Hector's callstone doesn't even react when he tried to link to Scarlet. She was out of range or in a dungeon.
Out of range? For Hector that was pretty much ruled out after he travelled around a little. He assumed she was in a dungeon.
Once he got to Trailane Plains, he felt his callstone working as it tried to connect to Ebony. It was weird, he felt his callstone start the linkage but it snaps off after some time.
Hector tried again and again.
Mental magic was one of his lesser talents but sensing the direction his callstone was attempting to go was simple enough.
Besides, so close to Hoarfrost Glade, Hector would be dumb not to guess where the cold man was.
He was intrigued about diving into Hoarfrost Glade too but even he wasn't going to go in unprepared.
His overbearing cousin just scoffed, completely unbothered that 2 Journeymen with maybe some hidden bodyguards were going into one of the most dangerous places on Elva.
The only real preparation was extremely warm clothing as they have everything one would need in most environments. Fortunately, Plainston was pretty advanced in terms of warm clothing even before they expanded. They were the closest to Hoarfrost Glade and sometimes, low-level crafts were better because they were more specialised.
The cousin of his had her own winter wear and only window shopped but nothing caught her eye. So he was the only one getting many sets of warm clothing. He had to admit the clothes here were nothing fancy.
Hector brought his cousin along into Hoarfrost Glade. He kept trying to contact Ebony but the link kept getting cut off somehow.
If Ebony was in a dungeon the mental link wouldn't even start-up or it would go all over the place only to fail so where the heck was he?
Was the mana density so high wherever he was that the mental link was disrupted and broken off? That shouldn't be with his callstone. There should be some kind of interference.
Months and months they went deeper and deeper.
Hector thought that he was lucky that it was around the end of spring when they entered. It was summer in the bulk of their early exploration.
It was very cold but with their skin-tight innerwear that traps body warmth, his armour and then all the thick furry clothing he got kept him warm.
Hector wasn't with the crazies. At best, he was walking fast to cover the distance, his cousin wasn't much of a physical classer either. Even if he wasn't with his cousin he needed his stamina to fight off any dangers. Ebony was just a madman and Scarlet probably thought that Ebony's speed was just a slow jog.
Hoarfrost Glade was weird. It was always said to be extremely dangerous but the forest was dastardly quiet most of the time. It succeeded in creeping Hector out but, more importantly, it bored him out.
It was true that any random monster here was roughly the same as an elite monster out of Hoarfrost Glade but they were nothing too special.
The only noteworthy point was that most of them had pretty impressive magical prowess.
Then summer ended.
The Glades awoke.
Hector couldn't beat the daylights out of any monster his level with a single punch. That had been interesting.
More monsters and friendly-looking animals showed themselves. They were smart. Not all attacked Hector and his cousin. Those that did were all tough fights. Some were just lazying about as if still in hibernation and had no intent to hunt.
They didn't act like the monsters he knew.
Hector had fun.
Till winter came.
Their supplies and mana ores used to keep them warm and alive were starting to run out a few days into winter. They went a lot deeper than even an average level 200 or 250 Master may not dare come. Even if the level 200 had their equipment and supplies. They probably wouldn't unless they were so rich they didn't have to work for a century.
Getting constant complaints about being brought on a wild goose chase to this forsaken place wasn't helping but he couldn't complain after the numerous times he was saved.
Fighting with half his body under the snow was not for humans.
They had to turn back immediately. Even his cousin couldn't keep him unharmed any longer. The same monster at the same level had an immense increase in stats all round.
Hard to spot. Hard to kill. Hard to evade. Hard to escape.
The Glades have truly woken up. Dangers too numerous to count.
The perfect image that his cousin had managed to keep up was starting to fall as well. They could rest well at night thanks to her but not anymore.
The weather and environment were enough to kill them off with time. The mana density is high enough to cause dizziness and headaches to a strong level 200 mage with high Wisdom if they had never been exposed to high-density mana.
To Hector and his cousin, those were the least of their problems. High-density mana could easily be trained to be accustomed to. They had the proper training too but those were hardly enough here.
"Hect! No way a Journeyman is any deeper. Even if he was as amazing as you say. He might have an advantage as an ice mage but that's all."
"He's in there." The shivering Hector was so sure that he managed to speak without a stutter.
"Alive? What if his bracelet and callstone are inside some random beast?"
"...He'll break out if that happens."
"Let's assume he is. We can't stay here anymore. Let's go." Hector's cousin turned around and left.
Hector followed after a moment of hesitation. He was not desperate to look for Ebony but he would be lying if he said he wasn't worried.
He continued trying to contact Ebony as they doubled back out before they ran out of supplies. It didn't take that much mana if he didn't actually connect the call.
It didn't even take long before they were surrounded.
Everything here required Hector to have at least 4 of his elemental enhancements on. With his cousin watching his back, they were doing well against a few level 140+ creatures. In the past.
Now, Hector was scared of any random movement or sound.
Every battle seemed to attract other creatures and it was always a mess with all sorts of monsters, big and small tearing each other apart.
They ran.
They were chased.
They couldn't keep it up for long and the hungry and active Glade were unrelenting. They would usually fight back but Hector couldn't copy Ebony and charge into an endless horde. With large numbers, all they could do was run while they still had the strength to do so.
Pathetically hiding in his cousin's last resort. A small barrier they had to snuggle uncomfortably close to each other to conserve its mana and not weaken it by expanding its size.
Honestly, neither of them was that worried for their lives.
His cousin coldly glared at him because it was all his fault that they were in this situation but she was the one who followed so there was little she could say.
Hector himself was freezing up as he didn't have clothes as warm as hers. His mana already ran out and he couldn't even warm himself up.
It was a habit to constantly try to contact Ebony. He didn't expect Ebony to actually pick up after so long.
Ebony's irritatingly calm voice that probably wouldn't change even if the world exploded irked him a little. It sounded dismissive and Hector almost regretted worrying about him and coming all the way out here.
Hector cried out all the frustrations that built up over the months.
His cousin rolled her eyes before she concentrated on sustaining the barrier that was slowly being broken by a few persistent [Frost Mane Lvl 164]s. It was low level in these parts, precisely why they were preying on them.
Their surroundings had other territorial wars, fortunately ignoring the horses that were trying to kick the barrier down.
The barrier cracked a few times and she was doing her best to repair it with her diminishing mana pool.
Then Hector saw a speeding figure.
The figure was glowing light blue. He had a cloth wrapped around his eyes, it looked more like a torn sleeve. The signature massive greatsword, massive for a human, and coat that had the same colour scheme of dark blue.
The glowing light seemed to bubble. Then he burst into blue flames.
They watched as a few creatures scattered and ran off. The rest clambered to get a bite of the figure. Once again, ever the monster magnet. Hector made some sense of it after finding out that Ebony was partially a mana being.
His mana with vitality and body with mana made him a really delicious target and easy to digest his essence. High-quality food.
The man who was burning alive danced.
A single swing of his massive sword separated heads from bodies. Numbers never meant anything to the man.
His greatsword glowed under the flames too. It was hard to see what was under the flames.
Nothing was spared.
The two of them watched the creatures of snow and ice freeze up into headless statues after the fires went out.
Hector's cousin poked his unarmoured side hard.
"Ouch! Wa..what was th..that bor?" Hector's heated complaining session made him shiver less.
"You never said he was a dashing man." His cousin started straightening her dress and dusted snow and frost out of her hair. She was actually still pretty spotless from the mess, always taking care of her appearance.
"?? I'm pretty sure I did." Hector went on and on about Ebony.
There was no way he didn't mention it. Ebony wasn't exactly handsome but he had a good face and was really cool. Especially his nonchalance. Hector didn't think or want to copy but there were some things he could learn from to look cool other than noting down impressive-sounding lines and phrases.
Ebony walked over as the flames on his body died down and he sheathed his greatsword. He was still glowing under his skin. No longer the icy body, his skill probably changed or it was a different enhancement skill.
"Eboonnyy!" Hector rushed to hug the blindfolded man right after the barrier was down.
A freezing cold palm met his face as he was stopped from getting any closer. Hector gripped his face and quickly warmed himself up with the little mana he recovered.
"Nice to see you too, Hector." Ebony high fived Hector as a tet and greeting instead.