"No." Ebony firmly stated.
"Pleease!" Ning Xin objected, dragging her words out.
"...Not anytime soon."
"Why?! It was amazing."
"I'm mentally weak." He cleared his mind as best he could before he could remember what happened last night.
"That's the last thing that can describe you!" She felt like a newborn with no strength in her hips and legs. Her shoulders and arms aren't as tight or tense as it constantly was after training.
"I mean when it comes to you."
He slapped himself with both hands and continued his morning exercise. He never had such difficulty clearing his mind, it was as if there was a recorder in his head constantly replaying her soft moans. He tightened his grip as if to remove the muscle memory on his fingers and palms..
They didn't spar because she was afraid she couldn't control her body or even magic well enough and accidentally kill him. She was just a blur in his vision when she moved.
She was going to try attempting new exercises that she wasn't able to do as a Journeyman to push her Conditioning up a tier as soon as possible. But he could tell she was disorientated with her brand-new body.
Kong Jing wanted to go back to Plainston to barge in on Mark's research so she had no issue sending them to Arcta which made things convenient. They would be leaving in two or three days, allowing Ning Xin to get used to her body a little and Ebony to continue regaining Conditioning levels.
He really wondered what the training square outside her house was made of because it could withstand just about anything even the evolved Ning Xin could throw. At least, the ground didn't crumble from her explosive speed.
"Just Epic stone compressed by one of our stone mages." Was what sister Jing told him. Needless to say, it was enchanted in some form as well.
He personally never Identified a rock or stone higher than Common rarity. The platform wasn't made by Kong Jing either, nothing in Xienor was made by her except maybe her own house. She wasn't as old as he thought. No, she was much younger than he initially imagined.
Sister Jing was an anomaly amongst anomalies. Those were the words Ning Xin described her with and understandably so. He knew it took more time for support or crafting Classes to level and advance. For perfectionists like the Xeng it should take much longer yet she was only 20 to 30 years older than he was. He didn't manage to get her exact age since she popped up and shut Ning Xin up.
'Maybe she didn't get a complete evolution and is only a Master space mage? I doubt so.'
He swung Icicle hard. His attempts to distract himself were backfiring on his usual clarity.
❅❅❅
The heavenly massage that seemed as if her body had been reborn aside, she felt disorientated.
It wasn't just her body, the entire world appeared to be in slow motion. The Journeyman Ebony felt…small. When she first woke up, it was as if her very existence was at a higher plane. It was no wonder people didn't think much of those an evolution under them. It wasn't just strength, power or race, it just didn't seem like they were the same human as they had been once.
It clearly wasn't just her imagination or the sudden increase in power that led her to think that either. The world appeared smaller to her.
'I didn't expect to be able to affect my Physique to benefit this much either. I should be able to stably use my Core Skill now.'
Name: Scarlet Rhael Ning Xin
Core Skill:
Rampaging Mortal's Pulse Lvl 203
Empty Skill Slot
Class: Burning Blooded Sword Witch Lvl 100
Class Skills:
Compounded Sprint Lvl 201
Fire Mana Command Lvl 208
Cascade Dual Longsword Style Lvl 215
Cascading Mutilation Lvl 189
Inflamed Amplification Lvl 185
Spear of Flame Lvl 168
Precise Perforation Lvl 193
Sphere of Immolation Lvl 185
Blood Boil Lvl 154
Burstflare Witch's Conditioning Lvl 68
Blood Mana Manipulation Lvl 66
Witch's Blood Halo Lvl 62
Incensed Meditation Lvl 25
Fortified Heart Lvl 1
Empty Skill Slot
Sub-Class: Gale Storm Butcher Lvl 100
Sub-Class Skills:
Wind Mana Manipulation Lvl 178
Lightning Mana Manipulation Lvl 182
Pulsating Gale Enhancement Lvl 180
Lightning Inoculation Lvl 174
Revolving Razorwind Film Lvl 172
Static Palpitation Lvl 1
Empty Skill Slot
Empty Skill Slot
Empty Skill Slot
Empty Skill Slot
Profession: Chef of Slaughter Lvl 100
Profession Skills:
Combat Cooking Lvl 177
Heat Perception Lvl 182
Live Ingredient Processing Lvl 180
Empty Skill Slot
Empty Skill Slot
Health: 1500/1500
Stamina: 2500/2500
Mana: 3000/3000 [4200/4200]
Unallocated stat points: 0
Strength: 122
Vitality: 150
Constitution: 330
Endurance: 250
Agility: 180 [540]
Intelligence: 215
Wisdom: 300
Perception: 110
Generic Skills:
Xenese Lvl 10
Elcrian Lvl 10
Appraise Lvl 20
Running Lvl 75
Housekeeping Lvl 42
Silent Step Lvl 24
Immense Pain Resistance Lvl 48
Combat Tenacity Lvl 68
Sheer Exhaustion Resistance Lvl 61
Immense Divination Resistance Lvl 62
Mana Compression Lvl 35
Mana Expansion Lvl 52
Extreme Heat Resistance Lvl 89
Sheer Poison Resistance Lvl 21
Sheer Cold Resistance Lvl 53
Earth Resistance Lvl 16
Sheer Wind Resistance Lvl 42
Sheer Lightning Resistance Lvl 55
Mental Supersaturation Lvl 40
Scent Tracing Lvl 44
Sheer Mental Acceleration Lvl 53
Heightened Instinct Lvl 70
Regulated Breath Lvl 28
Fortifications:
Class: Burning Blooded Sword Witch
Mana Efficiency with Fire Magic increased by 500%
Fire Magic increased in heat by 500%
Casting Speed with Fire Magic is increased by 200%
Attack Speed when dual-wielding longswords increased by 500%
Agility increased in effect by 200%
Blood density is increased by 100%
Resilience of heart is increased by 100% relative to Constitution
Mental processing speed is increased by 100% relative to Intelligence
Sub-Class: Gale Storm Butcher
Casting Speed with Lightning Magic is increased by 200%
Casting Speed with Wind Magic is increased by 200%
Mana Efficiency with Body Enhancement Magic is increased by 200%
Natural Reflex speed increased by 100%
Conjured Winds are naturally 100% sharper.
Profession: Chef of Slaughter
Control of heat increased by 200%
Control of precision when handling ingredients increased by 200%
Ability to understand unknown ingredients is increased by 100%
Getting all 3,2 and 1 additional Fortification for her Classes was expected. Getting her Physique refined a little was a nice surprise. But having her heart actually enlarged by a fair margin was completely unexpected. She could literally feel her heartbeat against her lungs and it will take some time to get used to it. She couldn't tell if her lungs were enlarged or not since she didn't have the kind of senses Ebony had.
By manipulating blood she could somewhat feel that her lungs shouldn't have changed or had a very small change. She was slightly taller, her limbs slightly longer. Causing her to miss and misjudge distance, the small change required lots of practice to get used to.
Her movement skill was barely tier 3, requiring a lot of refinement before it met standards but still surprising that it evolved.
Fire Mana Command was unexpected as well. For some odd reason, Manipulation was considered tier 1, Control was considered tier 2 even though it has a 1.0% amplifier and Command was the next. Just like Mastery over weapons, Manipulation wasn't easy to improve. The fact that her sword Mastery evolved into a Style was not completely unexpected but still a very nice improvement.
Lesser used fire spears and immolation only got a tiny refinement while her physical skills got great benefits. Blood magic was indeed pulled into her Class without much potential used. The process of evolution was a little weird. She just sort of instinctively knew what she could do and what she couldn't with the 'resource' or 'energy' that they theorised to be Natural Potential in some form.
She used a large bunch to create the Fortified Heart passive skill, it was something she had been trying to do when she was recuperating but she was likely far from successful. Now, she could physically, with the help from blood manipulation, toughen her heart. Increasing its Constitution by 1.0% per level. Although insufficient at the moment, it was a start.
Her memories of the evolution process started to dissipate the moment she woke up so she couldn't remember what she did. Another reason why all she had to go on with were vague information since the same thing happens for everyone.
She didn't like the 'witch' part but Blood Halo was amazing, it had a mind of its own. No greater than a toddler but can understand extremely simple commands best used as a rotating disk either around her to protect or as a ranged attack. The link between her body and her Blood Halo was also strengthened.
Her wind and lightning enhancement was merged since she always used them together. She could originally merge it with Blood Boil as well and then have it as a core skill but she put Fortified Heart as a priority. Static Palpitation was a Stemmed skill from her actions of using lightning mana to excite her heart. Now, electrical shocks could either strengthen or even imitate her heart, she could use it to beat her heart even if her heart fails to beat. It was dangerous but useful.
It was not surprising that her Sub-Class and Profession didn't change too drastically since they were more limited to begin with and she pushed most of her 'potential' to her Class. It was too bad she didn't have enough to shift Mental Supersaturation or any other generic skills as she would have loved to have a large mana pool.
The Butcher and Slaughter didn't sit well with her but it didn't sound so bad since Chefs were the greatest slaughters.
Her old Fortifications increased by the expected amount which pushed her fire magic to be really mana cost-effective and conjured fire to easily melt metals. Her newfound speed snapped the training blades she was using and she lost her footing with her increased Agility.
Lightning and wind magic was practically instantaneous now, although it still takes time for wind to gather. Her reflex speed increasing was good but she thought she was impulsive enough, her body might move before her mind could think things through. It was still a positive thing to have since it might save her in a crisis.
Conjured winds being naturally sharper was nice and could be controlled to a degree if she doesn't want to slice.
The ingredient one was odd but she hasn't got her hands on unknown ingredients so she didn't know how it worked at the moment. What did she do that led to that Fortification?
'Wait… maybe I can understand an unknown monster's strengths and weaknesses more easily. Edible ones anyway.' She speculated.
'Vampiric Gluttonous Solar Blooded Phoenix Physique (Passive) - Consuming a portion of the Heartblood Essence of the Gluttonous Solar Blooded Phoenix. Every drop of your blood has been boiled over together with your life essence many times over. Gluttonous desire to eat increased by 50%. Metabolism and digestive efficiency increased by 50%. Natural Resistance to heat increased by 25%. Blood's capacity for heat and energy increased by 100%. Base Health Regeneration increased by 50%. Able to digest and absorb 25% of essence from blood. Body can store up to 50% excess foreign energy for a short duration. Exceedingly minuscule chance of absorbing a minuscule percentage of stats from creature's blood. Base Blood production is increased by 50%'
The refinement of her Physique was only on the 'blood' portion and not the gluttony portion. Except for her metabolism and digestive efficiency increasing from 25% to 50%.
She used to be able to absorb 10% of the amount of stamina and mana from blood while the lifeforce or healing factor was much weaker. Now it was 25%. She could store more excess energy that isn't completely foreign since she could digest and change it enough for herself to use. She naturally produces more blood and would not have to worry about boiling out all of her blood as much.
'Just wait till I can conjure my own blood.'
The stat gain was…useless at the moment. All the blood of spiders she had drank didn't give her any, at least, she hasn't seen change in her stat count. The relative strength and amount of blood she had to drink most likely mattered.
The increase in her blood density wasn't a boon yet. It went immensely well with her Physique, most likely what affected her to get this Fortification to begin with. After she evolved, Ebony noted that her resting body temperature had dropped till it was about the same as his. She guessed it was because her blood required a lot more energy to heat up. Although she was compressing blood mana in her body in attempt to copy Ebony, she might have made a mistake.
Sure, her blood could store and withstand an even greater amount of energy and heat but she had been feeling short of breath whenever she got hungry. She required more oxygen! Although the energy part was satiated by her increase in metabolism and her eating habits the need for air wasn't.
Regulated Breath wasn't enough and she didn't manage to push it into any of her Classes since it didn't match and required more 'potential' than she had left or so she guessed as she couldn't recall.
She needed to experiment with wind magic to help her in some manner.
She actually swapped out the original Fortification which was Blood Magic related so that she could have a stronger heart.
Her mask had changed as well, she didn't know the extent of the change but the common changes were the increased ability to extend the mask to cover more area. Her grandma's could form a complete helmet while sister Jing's could cover up to the top of her head. Less common was the closing up of the eye slits but that was only useful if she had the sensory skills to cope. Physical changes were the only thing in common, the magical changes were dependent on their evolution.
Were they too hasty? Not really, they wouldn't get much even if Na somehow managed to level to 250 and let them kill him.
At least, her heart was further strengthened and she would have less trouble with her mind keeping up with her own speed now.
She was constantly held back by some problem with her body.
One step at a time.
"This time. I will protect you." She murmured to herself as she looked at Ebony who was very distracted. His movements were without his usual clarity.
❅❅❅
"What do you think?" Ning Xin asked his opinion on her next Core Skill.
It was an extremely important decision and she wanted his view. She told him about how she wouldn't hesitate if she had managed to merge all 4 of her magics into a single body enhancement spell since she would have many Fortifications working in tandem.
As wonderful as her new passive that strengthened her heart was, it wasn't all that great of a choice as a Core Skill. Barely any of her Fortifications would help it.
Kong Jing never chipped in as she transported them through the air. She wasn't as much of a fighter and it wasn't her choice to make. Their discussion wasn't going anywhere and her little cousin would take her time to decide. It may or may not be beneficial to just wait and pick up or train another skill.
"Damn!" Kong Jing yelled when she appeared beside a giant bird of some kind.
She brought them further away immediately but was already targeted by the bird. Her spatial compression wasn't good enough to get completely out of sight of a bird with good sight but she looked back to see a circular spray of blood from the giant bird's neck.
"Nice use of your blood disk." Was what she heard from her little brother.
She was a little embarrassed that she was shocked by the bird's size and how close she brought them that she didn't feel how weak it was. It was dead so she didn't know its level.
"Oh, I have a neat new ability from this halo."
They watched as the falling bird shrivelled as her halo enlarged. The mass of blood flew back to them before they got out of range. They were so far away but her blood still managed to find its way back to its master. Into her mouth, but only a small part of it.
She licked her bloody lips, "ugh, metallic taste is stronger than I'm used to."
"You look like some witch out for blood." Was Kong Jing's only comment but it affected her little cousin more than she thought.
"My blood isn't enough for you?" Was what her cute little brother teased her with.
❅❅❅
17.01.5537
Winter just ended not too long ago and it was over two weeks into spring. Arcta was still freezing cold.
They travelled here from Plainston as their express ride got tired of bringing them around.
"I'll introduce you to the people who cared for me when I just arrived. They are all nice people. Oh, Roya is also a chef."
"Mmm." She scanned the surroundings carefully. It was her first time travelling into Hoarfrost Glades. She didn't even have a new pair of swords yet. Just another pair of training blades that cannot withstand much heat but at least strong enough not to snap from her swings.
Whoever kidnapped Ebony was obviously aware that he already escaped, who knew if they would send people to capture him again? As low as the chances were she had her guard up. He told her that his captors were very weak so she wasn't so concerned.
"You don't have to be so uptight. Sister Jing isn't far off and I doubt they would come after me again so fast. Not to mention we're reaching Arcta."
"How strong are the Frost Elves? You said they were a bunch of non-combatants."
"The herbalist wasn't all that much weaker than before I used my flames sustainably. There should be some elders from a different village staying to protect this village. You should be able to sense the overflowing essence soon."
It wasn't anywhere close to Xienor or Tidal but the overflowing wisdom from the cluster of Frost Elves was enough to persuade most of the weak monsters nearby from attacking. She had better senses for Vitality than Wisdom and nothing from the small village in front of her would persuade her from attacking.
White mist escaped from her mask. It was colder than she expected even though winter was over. She didn't want to warm her body up with fire mana, getting used to cold temperatures would be a boon sooner or later.
"I just remembered I have a new set of battle wear from sister Jing. I can open it up now."
"Then I have another thing to look forward to waking up to."
He waved to the guards at the gate. They were young, he recognised them. The winter threat should be over if the young were standing guard.
"Hey Ebony!" The two Frost Elves suddenly jumped back in fright when they saw Ning Xin. Fortunately, they didn't aim their bow at her.
"Can we enter?"
"...haha. Of course. My apologies for the overreaction…miss. It's just…" The archer on the right hemmed and hawed.
"Nothing! Go ahead." His buddy stopped the guard from saying something that might be offensive.
But the villagers kept a distance from them even when he greeted them.
They were at the Thoya's doorstep before long.
He would've knocked but Halvis already saw him as he was outside.
"You're back." He smiled.
"Mmm. Halvis, meet Scarlet. Scarlet, Halvis." He tried his best to introduce them to each other.
"Nice to meet you." There was a tiny pause before he raised his fingers for a tet. She returned it, not caring about which hand meant what. This man took care of Ebony and she wouldn't fuss about seniority in strength.
"What's wrong? The others have similar reactions."
"It's nothing…no offence, Scarlet. Your aura is a little uncomfortable for us. As if your vitality is melting us."
"...I'll try to restrain it." She answered. She wasn't so fluent in restraining overflowing Vitality but she should be able to do something since her Core Skill was about controlling lifeforce and vitality.
"She's very important to me, I hope you can allow her to stay during my evolution." Ebony knew he might be asking for too much when they were uncomfortable around her. He also hoped he could stay true to his words and evolve here.
Halvis only smiled wider, "someone important to you is someone important to us, welcome back."
Ning Xin took it upon herself to take charge of shopping for fresh ingredients. She was very serious about the pre-evolution nutritional needs and also the gifts for the Thoyas. They shopped together and he also bought more of the Torox series books.
Before they reached the door, a loud cry echoed from inside.
"Is that?" Ebony knew that Roya would've given birth by now. It was a pity he wasn't here for emotional support but they didn't need him to be here for that with Halvis and Clovis around.
"Yes, it is…uhmm. Could you wait here, I'm not sure if she can take your presence." Halvis was embarrassed to stop Scarlet from entering after he said there was no problem. Even he was feeling uncomfortable, his newborn might not be able to take it.
"Congratulations."
He waited outside while the joyful father went to his daughter to appease her.
Clovis was the one who ran down the stairs to welcome them in. Staring at the tall lady that smells like frost plums but rotten from heat. He was already prepared so he wasn't taken aback.
Ebony was amused by the height difference even though they were extremely close in age. Clovis would definitely grow taller than either of them but that was much later in the future. He wondered how long their babies stayed a baby with their physical growth being so slow.
"It's been a while." He high fived Clovis. The boy nervously reached out to Scarlet, a little scared by the hot touch. Their body temperatures were way lower than Ebony's and she was little nervous, causing her heart to speed up.
The cry got louder and Scarlet felt like it was a good idea to excuse herself. Ebony grabbed her wrist and prevented her from leaving so quickly.
He could sense 2 massive figures and 1 tiny one coming down already.
"Hey Roya, I'm back."
"Welcome back." Her smile was radiant as usual despite the cold features. "You must be Scarlet, welcome. Feel free to stay as long as you like."
"I think it's not such a good idea. I don't want to hurt your baby…" Ning Xin spoke out before he could.
Roya got closer with the tiny, human-sized baby. Her skin wasn't that far from a human's, just a very light blue. Apparently darkening a little with age.
"Look, she's not crying." Roya carefully rocked her child.
Her next action scared everyone a little, even Ebony.
She just pushed her baby into Ning Xin's arms.
Ning Xin was more than a little shocked. She didn't know how to carry a baby! The little grub was pushed into her arms and she was so scared of burning the little baby when their body temperatures were much lower than hers.
Fortunately, the little baby was wrapped up in a very cold blanket of sorts and she didn't hurt the child.
The baby surprisingly locked eyes with her.
"Za Sa!" The baby who she was trying her best to be gentle with reached out to touch her mask before giggling.
'Adorable!'
"She likes you!" Roya exclaimed, not nearly as worried as the other 3 men.
"What's her name?" Ebony asked.
"Kiva. Kiva Thoya."
'I thought she would take parts of Roya's name. Maybe it clashes with Thoya?' He wondered
"She's lovely." Ning Xin commented as she passed Kiva back before she really hurt her.
"I know it's a sudden visit but I'm here to evolve like I said I would."
"So fast? Why don't you take your time?" Roya objected a little.
"I already hit and broke through all my limits. At least, to the point where I shouldn't have any regrets."
"Tonight?"
"Mmm."
"Then I have to get busy now."
"I'll cook!" Ning Xin suddenly raised her voice before getting a little shy at her outburst which shocked Kiva.
"Meet my personal chef and bodyguard."