"No. You're going to get kidnapped or follow some stranger into a prison again." Ning Xin denied.
"Don't worry, there's no one to kidnap me or for me to follow here," Ebony assured.
He was planning to explore Hoarfrost Glade while she remained to consume her blood treats. Plenty of places he didn't dare to go to were open to him now.
"Relax, I'm not that easy of a target now. I know the glades relatively well too." He added to the silence.
"...Come back for meals as often as you can."
Ebony was going to go either way but her permission made it such that it wouldn't weigh on his mind. Just like that, he left Arcta after just 2 days. The seal meat had been amazing.
The snow felt crunchier than he remembered, he might have heard that the colder the snow the louder the crunch and it was indeed slightly colder than it should be at this time of the year. He attempted to fly as much as possible, training his flight ability even though it meant slower travelling speed. Multiple Glacial Models ran under him, they could use Treading Stride and he wasn't controlling them manually. He just got them to stick close to him as they scout the area.
"I need to be able to conjure gravity mana, just manipulating what's around is a heavy restriction and honestly, pretty weak." Ebony spoke out loud. The 'hack' that he had was that he could conjure ice and hence, gravity mana that came with any sort of matter. The rushed levelling didn't give him any time to improve his skills on a foundational degree.
Name: Ebony Rime
Core Skill:
Everlasting Tranquillity Lvl 294
Icy Weighted Quiver Domain Lvl 52
Class: Serene Blade of Blistering Frost - Lvl 212
Class Skills:
Treading Stride Lvl 215
Ice Mana Control Lvl 244
Frostblaze Augmentation Lvl 244
Blazing Flow Greatsword Mastery Lvl 208
Frostblaze Cladding Lvl 237
Ice Sword Lvl 205
Ceaseless Onslaught Lvl 208
Imperishable Frost Scales Lvl 244
Serene Swordsman of Frost Conditioning Lvl 110
Waning Presence Lvl 88
Glacial Model Lvl 92
Empty Skill Slot
Empty Skill Slot
Empty Skill Slot
Empty Skill Slot
Sub-Class: Weighted Will Lvl 212
Sub-Class Skills:
Battle Song Lvl 205
Mana Vibration Lvl 210
Gravity Mana Manipulation Lvl 228
Chaotic Repulsive Membrane Lvl 228
Sonic Intrusion Lvl 210
Guided Path Lvl 142
Empty Skill Slot
Empty Skill Slot
Empty Skill Slot
Empty Skill Slot
Profession: Runic Mana Maven - Lvl 212
Profession Skills:
Inscripted Mana Moulding Lvl 208
Stock Mana Compressive Chassis Lvl 210
Empty Skill Slot
Empty Skill Slot
Empty Skill Slot
Health: 4110/4110
Stamina: 1500/1500
Mana: 15060/15060
Unallocated stat points: 0
Strength: 400 [411]
Vitality: 400
Constitution: 900 [4211]
Endurance: 150 [155]
Agility: 600 [616]
Intelligence: 626 [643]
Wisdom: 1466 [1506]
Perception: 250 [985]
Generic Skills:
Identify Lvl 17
Immense Cold Resistance Lvl 87
Running Lvl 40
Mental Mapping Lvl 42
Kicking Mastery Lvl 68
English Lvl 8
Elcrian Lvl 10
Mental Arithmetic Lvl 35
Dish Washing Lvl 48
Sustained Optimum Condition Lvl 70
Tracking Lvl 18
Game Processing Lvl 30
Immense Heat Resistance Lvl 102
Sheer Divination Resistance Lvl 12
Gardening Lvl 45
Cooking Lvl 43
Integrated Trance Speed Reading Lvl 55
Korun Lvl 14
Slumber Survival Instinct Lvl 22
Immense Hunger Resistance Lvl 42
Sheer Exhaustion Resistance Lvl 25
Lightning Resistance Lvl 26
Blood Resistance Lvl 22
Wind Resistance Lvl 23
Poison Resistance Lvl 14
Everlasting Tranquillity seemed to be blasting through the levels after he evolved as well. Icy Weighted Quiver Domain was originally level 37 after 4 of his skills merged he didn't use it much hence it's low level. For his Class skills, it was the same as usual. He didn't get much of a chance to utilise Waning Presence properly while he used Glacial Models and Imperishable Frost Scales interchangeably and was in use almost all day.
Guided path was added to his fighting style very heavily. Although he had been using it to increase his offensive capability he knew another usage was to repel himself from an attack. So far, he didn't see a need to since nothing much could hurt him other than his own compressed mana. Overall, he was dissatisfied with the gains in his Sub-Class.
As for his Profession, he was even more unhappy about how he was wasting its potential. He had been attempting and practising the formation of a new spell. The reason his Glacial Models could even remotely keep up with him was that they have the runic body spell within them. The effects tend to defer from one model to another due to the fine-tuning he had to do in an instant as he cast them and when they get damaged it loses most of their effect. When he gets proficient enough that they are consistent a skill would likely be formed. The problem might have been that Inscripted Mana Moulding is not a proper tier 2 skill.
Inscripted Mana Moulding - Mould raw mana with or without any physical materials with mana manipulation. Weaving runic endeavours into or on your creations with increasing efficiency and accuracy. Increases familiarity with repeated mana pathways and their effectiveness by 20% + 1.0% per level. Increases fine control over mana by 2.5% per level.
Familiarity, rather than researching new mana pathways he should finalise and practise to be a better photocopy machine. When he pushes the familiarity increase to 2.5% and maybe increase the base percentage he should be able to be more consistent with his rune casting. Since it's runic-based and uses non-elemental mana, he was pretty confident it would be a Profession skill.
His Generic Skills were able to level for those that he used more often. It was nice to see his skills level again despite simply being numbers. He would've liked a bunch of resistance but he needed potent magic to damage him in any way.
He needed this chance away from dedicated hunting to improve his skills and spells.
Ebony found a clearing and had his Glacial Models surround and protect him. He could sense that he was extremely close to forming a new Profession skill.
He let his mana leak out around 5 metres from him, creating a sphere of mana with his leaking mana. He learnt the method from the Frost Elves long ago but never managed to get the skill. With his experience using a domain spell and usage of excess mana, it was a lot easier to prevent the overflowing amount from slipping through his mental grip.
After evolving, his perception of Vitality or what Ning Xin called life force was improved. She could manipulate it well while all he could do was sense and maybe nudge it a little after these few months. He tried to sense the life force in his mana, it was vague but it didn't matter for now. He forcefully attempted to nudge at the lifeforce from mana to mana, pushing them to the corners of his mana sphere surrounding him. He felt relieved that the excess mana wasn't slipping through the thicker layer of lifeforce anymore. He let loose of his desperate hold over his mana and redid the same exercise over and over again.
"1782 times." He did not realise that he was speaking out loud instead of thinking. It took him 1782 attempts before he could prevent any excess mana that he regenerates to leak through the mana sphere that was lined with lifeforce. To a small degree, he managed to move his lifeforce better as well.
Waning Presence levelled in the meantime.
Now he had to try to maintain the bubble as he moved and that was exactly what he did. It only took slightly more than half a day to make 1782 attempts. If he bumped into Gen's and Ful's forest that would be nice but he wasn't actively looking for them at the moment.
"Just what is my goal?" A truly random moment for him but he acted as if he didn't hear his own words.
With him busy trying to control a new type of energy, he did not fall into a trance as he was having a difficult time with life force. If only it had been as easy to control as mana he would have gotten a skill from it already.
He found that moving around didn't really affect his control over the lining of life force which made it simpler for him. His excess mana continued to leak but stayed confined in the mana sphere, he allowed them to compress but they started slipping through again soon after. He tried using the mana that already escaped his control but was still within his sphere, it was less efficient but they have the same strength and properties.
Ebony continued his flight as he experimented.
Something attacked one of his Models but it was dealt with relatively easily even without his involvement. It needed help from another Model but considering how he only had 643 effective Intelligence, the monster that attacked must have been pretty weak.
"I will never be able to increase Intelligence if this goes on." Ebony thought about how his body was unable to withstand his mana. This would not change as Stock Mana Compressive Chassis continues to level; it would only get worse. He needed some way to make his body more resilient to mana than his Constitution suggests and he needed to find a way fast so that he would have a chance to make it a Fortification in future.
Ning Xin used life force even when she was a Journeyman but he didn't have as much talent when it came to life force.
"Physique. I need to refine or maybe mutate it somehow. But how?"
Ebony knew that it was not necessary to get external stimulus to refine a physique, most warriors or mages who used enhancement magic often would form their own physique after a couple of evolutions. Some even got it through training which meant they didn't exactly need to wait for their next evolution.
His physique was likely inherited from his father but one that was weak or he barely inherited much since he needed external stimulus that was slightly different from a pure mana being. He managed to get it by 'melding' his mana into his body but if it was enhancement magic that was everything he depended on to fight anything stronger than him and he was constantly casting it.
There was some change in his physique after his evolution but it was not an obvious change that didn't even warrant a refinement notice.
Right now, Ebony was not calm and he didn't understand why. He felt something off since Muse tried to 'heal' him.
❅❅❅
"Can you teach me how to raise children?" Ning Xin asked Roya.
Roya was shocked before looking at her belly. "You…already!?"
"What?! No!" She denied Roya's accusation vehemently.
"Making plans for it already?"
"No…playing with Kiva is fun. Just thought to get an experienced mother's opinions on how to care for children. My upbringing has been…different and from what little I've heard, he probably wasn't raised normally either…"
"Experienced mother?" Roya seemed really happy at the comment.
Although Ning Xin hasn't been interacting with the Frost Elves for a long time, she knew that none of them would consider Roya to be an experienced mother just because of her age. To her, a mother of two was plenty experienced.
The first thing that was recommended to her were a bunch of books. She didn't like studying.
She didn't think that there were so many things to note. Even the development stage of a baby requires different types of attention. It was news to her that babies started developing their sense of self really early, they absorb their parents' every expression, tone of voice and body language.
Roya made it sound complicated like needing to praise little things to improve their self-confidence but have just the right amount of discipline as well. How would she determine what 'little things' or 'right amount' is?
There was no answer to that and no matter how she tried to recall, she didn't have memories of her early childhood. At least, definitely not when she was a baby.
Other than staying in to play with Kiva, digesting crystalised blood and spending a short time reading she would follow the villagers to fish if they made a trip. Halvis invited her and although she didn't have the patience in the past, she found it relaxing now. It wasn't like she didn't leave the village every day to do her conditioning somewhere far away so she didn't raise the temperature around the village but she didn't spend that much time on that.
She was being careful, unsure if her mask was really completely purifying essence. The mesh of Earthfly and beetle gave her a measly 3 stat points. She was done with an eighth of all that she managed to absorb from the Gorpede after a week but already got a total of 16 stat points. Basically, a level's worth without even levelling. The sheer difference in their rank and level helped but it was likely the volume of fresh blood that she got.
'Who is that Blood Saintess? I should ask grandma when she returns.' Ning Xin didn't have any doubt that the Blood Saintess had the same, probably stronger version of this ability.
She shook her head thinking that she was overreaching herself as she wasn't at the point where she could start thinking about anything outside Elcra yet.
Today, Ebony was back for dinner and to sleep for a night before he left after breakfast the next morning. She wondered what he was doing but he appeared out of it. At least he wasn't kidnapped.
Now that she got used to it, she should be able to safely extract and consume the blood faster and faster.
10 days later, Ning Xin sensed fire mana from the direction of the village gates.
'A fire mage maybe?' She thought it was a nice change of pace to see who was entering the village but the closer she got to the source of fire mana, the more uneasy she felt. When she finally got close enough to sense the overflowing essence that she recognised she forcefully held herself back with the thought of the village around her. If she were to blow, the village would probably burn down.
Being cool-headed did not suit her but it was an amazing asset most of the time. She turned back before running into the person who was exuding his aura without restraint and went to play with Kiva to calm herself further.
"Clovis." She had gotten slightly closer to the huge bookworm.
"Yeah?" Clovis was doing some physical exercise that his father said was their conditioning skill. His movements were a tiny bit better than when she first saw him, they didn't waste as much stamina. His breath control was pretty good in comparison, she wondered if it was a farmer thing. Anyone who worked the field was said to have good stamina control.
"Can you help me check out the person who arrived earlier today? When you go to the playground tomorrow." She asked.
"Someone came to our village today? It's been getting more frequent these few years. Sure I can ask around." Clovis wiped the pieces of ice that formed on his skin, the Frost Elves had different types of sweat and this was the type that formed after strenuous physical activity. It was weird.
She polished her swords in peace and night seemed to take forever to pass but also seemed to pass in an instant.
"One of them is someone the village has worked with a few times. I heard they're leaving for the Icy region tomorrow morning." Clovis reported.
"Someone that the village worked with?" Ning Xin was a little stunned.
"We don't have enough combatants after all, the adults hire freelancers to clear overpopulated dungeons deeper in from time to time. They tend to be users of fire magic since fire magic is usually effective against most dungeons here so it is a little rare that only one of them seems to use fire magic. I didn't get any of their names but the fire user seemed acquainted with the village chief and uncle Koawe." Clovis ate the breakfast she cooked. It reduced the workload on Roya and she wanted to cook anyway. Koawe wasn't his uncle and it was just an address that he used for almost every adult.
"I see." She got a little conflicted especially with the mentions of Koawe but only for a second. Ultimately, she didn't care about that little detail.
"Oh yes, Ebony called me to pass him something. I'll probably be out for a while tomorrow." She lied through her mask.
"Sa?" Kiva seemed to be trying to understand her words before she was distracted by the spoon touching her lips. Ning Xin was perfectly fluent at feeding her now.
"Thanks for breakfast!" Clovis ran to his mother's workshop, she was waiting for him to start their secret training.
Ning Xin took care of Kiva for a short while before Halvis took over after he was done with his croft. A place she didn't go so that she didn't destroy the crops with her overflowing essence.
She took her conditioning extremely seriously, hoping not to bump into the group who came. Clovis didn't say how many people there were but her best guess was 5 since most Imperials move in parties of 5. Then again, that was a bad method of guessing.
She informed Roya that she wouldn't be around to care for Kiva and left the village in the middle of the night. She waited near the village gates and the moment the gates opened, her speculation was confirmed.
A Grandmaster warrior carrying a large halberd walked out with a dark-coloured robed Grand Earth Mage. Unlike her initial guess, there were only two of them.
"Trust me, it's a cushy job. We get paid and there's plenty of experience. It's only a 3 floor dungeon, the only difference is the stronger and more intelligent monsters." The warrior walked with confidence. He didn't even wear any coat or fur clothing in this cold but it wasn't as if she was wearing anything like that either.
Ning Xin waited for them to go further, she didn't have good stealth abilities but she could easily follow their scent and heat signatures from afar.
When she deemed that she was far enough that she wouldn't alert the village, she let her presence be found by releasing all the life force she built up in her heart in a single heartbeat. Mortal's Pulse.
The crunchy compressed snow shattered in a web-like structure around her and even the earth underneath tore. Even then, she didn't move to attack. She waited for the Grandmaster warrior to turn back.
The ugly look on his face was…satisfying to see.
The earth mage disappeared instantly but she saw that he just dived into the ground. That might be troublesome since she didn't have Ebony's perception but she truly couldn't be bothered about the earth mage.
The rage that she had been withholding all came back the moment she exploded forth with all her strength.
It wasn't exactly unexpected from a man that escaped her cousin but the warrior only smiled and swung his halberd with excitement. Accurately parrying her initial charge.
She instantly understood that he had been fooling around with her previously, even after her first use of Mortal's Pulse.
She wasn't holding back one bit but the Grandmaster warrior was truly worthy of his rank. The air melted when he started using his fire enhancement to combat her. Fortunately, she had her own supply of air.
"Little lass! You sure got stronger quick!" He wielded his halberd with unmatched efficiency and deftness. The bulky weapon was hardly at a disadvantage against her twin blades when it was wielded by him.
She laughed.
"I guess I have to thank you for strengthening my skill!" She was glad that she learned Incensed Meditation because she was mad right now. Very mad.
'There still such a big gap between us…' It wasn't hard for her to tell after the very first exchange. She could beat some Grandmasters, more than just a few, that she was sure of.
That she wasn't able to chop his head off immediately made her mad. That she was still weaker made her mad. That she skipped meals just to follow them through the night made her mad.
"I heard the boy escaped. Is he here with you?" The warrior used his halberd like a spear and thrust at her belly as she pushed too far in her attack. He was right that she was still inexperienced despite her quick levelling. He might have used a bit too much strength despite his lack of killing intent as her impressive-looking mantle was torn and the amount of blood had been exaggerated. Luckily, most of the blood that splattered had been from her defensive disk of blood but she wasn't unharmed.
Now she was really mad.