It was hard to tell the time underground hence, they didn't stop trespassing into houses until midnight. Ebony was pretty sure it was midnight. Ning Xin's stomach agreed. Since none of them got tired easily, more time must have passed than they thought.
"Want some of my blood?"
"Yes please…"
She probably ran out of his blood. He had some trouble making himself bleed so he got her help. Her twin sword was thirsty and got some too, they must have recognised him at some point as they didn't drain him as fast as they could when they were drunk from monsters.
"Hey! No more for you!" She scolded Scorchie, it was the name she gave one of them. According to her, Scorchie and Scorchy were both girls.
Ebony was very curious how Na, a dungeon self identified himself as a male while her twin sword had female spirits. Is gender something spirits just declare themselves or was Ning Xin the one that decided it?
Also, how was she communicating with them?
"What do you think Icicle?" He gave Icicle's grip a rub.
He wondered if its body getting slightly cooler was a response or just it consuming the storage of ice mana in it. It fed itself whenever it wanted, so he would find the storage of ice mana decreased. At least, Icicle doesn't consistently eat anymore and stops for most of the day. As if it was copying meal times.
Kong Jing smelled food and returned.
She told them about how the factories are so close to each other. If they really wanted to get anything from it and attack one of them, they would just gain attention from the other factories and their patrols.
"Most of them just stand still all the time instead of patrolling. I mean, the ones in the buildings were just staying in there like statues." Mark commented. It didn't really mean much unless they could destroy them quickly and quietly.
Even by herself, the space mage was having difficulty moving around so having her teleport them was out of the question and she hadn't figured out what was affecting her space magic. She was also completely unable to teleport into the factories or get anywhere close to the gravestone. At least, that's what she told them.
She was sidelined to join them in their efforts instead of moving by herself.
"Found any important structures?" Mark asked
"The buildings within the circle of factories looked different but I got attacked even when I'm in the air when I got near. That Dwarf must have run past the factories to get to the tower in the centre. Had to make my way around but the Gravestone was more heavily protected. Almost died, they might be grade 6 or something." She casually reported.
"The building here feels like a box for the golems rather than houses." He commented. No one asked about what she meant by grades because Kong Jing graded things oddly.
"Coffins." Their chef was satisfied with dinner.
All of them disagreed because of the doors and layout. A coffin didn't need a door or windows right?
She was not happy about getting shot down three times.
"Are we going to sleep in one of these…coffins?" Mark was getting tired. They hadn't exactly slept well when they were making their way down.
"The others are making camp near the tower." He was able to see people making their way there.
The tomb city wasn't dark but it wasn't all that bright with the towers shut down, the runic buildings had a constant glow on their walls.
After the idea that the houses might be coffins no matter how unlikely, they didn't want to sleep inside anymore. It would be hard for them to spot any monster attacks. Democlus informed them that shutting the towers down meant that other underground monsters might show up anywhere and it wasn't just golems or homunculus any more. They haven't spotted any so far but it was a possibility that they would climb up from below or drop from the ceiling.
They set up their tent together with the others near the tower.
Ebony kept watch for them from a rooftop, he was going to meditate for rest tonight. He doesn't get sleepy so often and was a bit bothered about this place.
A city deep underground was something he could expect and accept from a magical world. It being devoid of living people was odd at best but he believed it was not as odd as the fact that Kong Jing didn't recognise the runes here.
Democlus didn't stay with this group so that was another thing to look out for. He was the most dangerous man present after all.
When Mark woke up to take over him, he decided to do some investigation of his own. The main reason was actually to train Waning Presence.
Mages with good mana sense could spot him even if he stood still and out of their sight. There weren't many of these mages but it was his flaw. Rogues tend to have good perception and archers have amazing sight most of the time.
He wanted to go to the other towers and check out what the other 2 groups were doing. As long as he stayed hidden from the high level Grandmasters, his skill level should increase quickly. He was probably going to try going to the factories without getting spotted too. It would be like hide and seek that he never got invited to play.
Waning Presence was a mix of hiding from mana sense and physical camouflage. Like Hector's bodyguard, Welser wasn't able to hide his gravitational waves Ebony couldn't either. He wasn't invisible in any sense, just harder to perceive.
How could he make himself physically harder to spot? He wasn't sure how to use cool temperatures to distort light and that wasn't a good idea here since many underground creatures are sensitive to temperature. Heat might be better than chill in that aspect but he wouldn't know without experimentation.
He can move silently with Mana Vibrations. His weight was barely a problem with gravity manipulation and even flight. Preservation Bubble made it harder to blend in since the density of mana around him changes but that only worked Waning Presence harder so it wasn't that bad.
His 2 fresh Glacial Models followed him as he manually tried to make them stealthier as well. It wasn't hard to hide from a couple of True Topaz Golems and he found the north tower with ease.
'They are all resting near the tower too…' Ebony tried to shift around their watch guards. He was not spotted by all of them but he knew some were aware of his presence. He nodded to those who found him, looking around to see that the buildings here were a little different indeed.
He left for the last tower furthest from the original one he was at but it was the same situation. Just fewer people who noticed him. The shadow or darkness lady was here too, it was nice to see her still alive even though he didn't know her well. Once again, he was spotted by her but she got so wary of him this time. He nodded to her and left.
By the time he returned, most people were awake and preparing for the day's activity.
"Where did you go all morning?" Their chef served him breakfast, she didn't seem so happy.
Ebony was pretty sure he understood her emotions better than others. She was quite easy to read even for him.
"I went to look at the other towers. The situation is about the same there, at a certain point the building's runes change a bit but I have no idea what functional difference they have."
"So you didn't sleep at all?"
"I'll sleep tonight."
He got 2 levels in Waning Presence already, he wasn't going to stop soon but he could make time for some rest.
Over the next 3 days, practically all of the streets and buildings were emptied out of their residents.
That was when there was movement from the factories. Large-scale movement.
Tens of thousands of them marched onto the streets, leaving their factories. The individual scouts reported it to their individual parties and each had the same plan. Hide.
Thanks to Kong Jing, their fiery party member didn't lash out to start a massacre. They kept low on the rooftops, for magical moving humanoids Ebony assumed they had good mana sense but apparently not.
They watched as the army marched on slowly. It took hours before the march ended.
The houses were filled up and the streets regained their general population density. Those parties that hid inside houses had to fight their way out but overall, everyone was familiar with fighting these creatures already so there were no casualties.
That was it.
It wasn't a movement sent out to destroy them, they were just refilling the houses and streets. The only problem for them was that it was impossible to move back to the tower without getting spotted and these Golems always attacked on sight.
Not to mention, the surroundings of the tower were refilled as well and they would have to redo the operation should they desire a relatively safe camping spot. After the initial operation, it was clear to see that not everyone knew each other and they mostly worked and moved in smaller parties.
It was questionable whether they could work together again.
The good thing was that there was no Homunculi.
They didn't see it happen but quite a few people died that night and they gathered again to wipe out the area around the tower. Once again, Ebony's party cooperated with the majority.
There were no deaths during the operation despite being outnumbered. Camp was established again but he could sense the tension amongst the others. He heard their whispers.
Many of them ran out of the potion that protected their weapons and allowed them to attack the golems without their weapons breaking.
Obviously, no one was willing to share unless it was within their own party. Even then, there were quarrels.
"It's a good opportunity, let's get past the factories tonight." Kong Jing was practical and they all agreed on the plan.
It was already dinner time by the time the operation to clear the surroundings was complete. They didn't know how fast the production rate of the factories were or if they were even producing anything currently but the earlier they went the better.
No one else was interested but they didn't openly invite them either. It was just that quite a few people talked to them or thanked them for helping since it was clear to all that they played a massive role.
Ebony informed them about the less densely populated areas like the outer region farms but they had to go past a long stretch of heavily populated streets to get there. It was just in case they needed a different safe spot. They were oddly insistent on staying near the tower hence the combined effort to make it safe again.
Mark meditated to recover his mana and stamina, they needed to be at their peak for tonight's movement.
The three of them got 2 or 3 levels over the past few days. Mark had been lower level than two of them but he killed far less as well.
Ebony's daily focus on Waning Presence pushed it to level 100 already. He used Sonic Intrusion and Guided Path every second of any battle and they gained a fair push to their levels too. The low level Stalwart Endowment was skyrocketing through the levels too. Preservation Bubble as a Generic Skill wasn't so lucky but it got its fair share of training whenever he rested. He wasn't proficient with Vitality or life force yet and found it impossible to train as he fought.
He didn't get Topaz Resistance sadly. He was never hurt by it and his body didn't need to do any healing from it.
Mark got the tier one resistance for it, he was lucky he was only grazed by it but he didn't say how he got rid of the topaz mana. Ebony thought that he probably just flooded the topaz mana with his own mana.
Not once during his nightly scouting did he see Democlus. As if the man left the city.
Chances were, he was in the centre of the city. They had to get past the heavily fortified circle of factories to check if that was true. So far, he didn't see anyone trying to leave but he assumed some of them had Democlus's callstone link. The only other method was to scream as loud as Democlus could so that the whole city could hear them but he wondered if anyone dared to do that other than the Shield King himself.
Rested, recovered and filled up with delicious food they cleared themselves a path.
He got them to wait at a rooftop the closest they could get without getting attention. Just to test if he could get in without being found now that the numbers thinned out so much.
What he found was that it was impossible since he wasn't invisible and there was no cover for him to hide behind. What became possible was for them to run or fly past the factories without getting overwhelmed by firepower.
He had 8 Glacial Models in good condition now, they don't get destroyed as often and he was able to amass them. He would have more if it wasn't for the second tower-clearing operation. He could perfectly control up to 5 so it was nice that he didn't need to manually control them.
They could recognise friends from foes so he was not too worried that they would attack other people when they were out of his range. They also had his passiveness and so far, only attacked after being attacked unless he controlled them to do something else.
Using 8 Glacial Models worth of Imperishable Frost Scales, they easily withstood all the spells shot at them while they flew past the circle of factories. It took a little more than 4 Models worth of ice so he still had 3 complete and one less compressed one after they got past but it seemed like all of the Golems who shot at them were going after them.
Mark took root in an alleyway, he set up his domain for the first time in a long while. It was the second time Ebony had seen it but it was very different. Mark simply tapped the ground with the butt of his spear and the entire runic circle was placed.
They were coming from a wide cone but generally only one direction, the three of them covered as much ground as possible. Flying might not have been the best idea since the left and right closest factory's guards also spotted them.
"How do you feel about the training here?" He asked. Although he was actually only asking Ning Xin and he also wasn't referring to this city but just the underground in general.
"...Boring. The golems are all single-toned with their fighting ability, they are only good for levels but not improve our fundamental skill."
Both the runic yellow and blue golems were stronger in terms of stats compared to many dungeon monsters they have encountered but the two of them were not really on the losing end with the enhancements. As for their technique, it was fresh the first time they fought them but the golems only had a few variations in terms of their patterns and they never stray from the built in techniques making them extremely predictable.
The only strong point they had was their topaz which was effective against most people. The fiery swordswoman purposely took a hit as well but it seems like the topaz mana melts away before it can damage her, even the True Topaz only resists about 3 times as well to heat. So she didn't exactly need her new robe mantle. She could get overloaded with their magic but she doesn't even get hit unless she purposely stood still. True Topaz Golems could overwhelm her with numbers because she couldn't kill them in one or two hits but the yellow ones were just experience points.
Ebony was in a similar position where he could cut the yellow ones in half with a single strike and the blue ones don't really trouble him much either.
He had the same assessment, so far, this place was only good for experience. With how many there are, there was no difference from a dungeon's spawning ability.
"Oh, there's a difference."
"Hmm?"
"No storms, no kicking us out."
That seemed to cheer her right up as they increased their efforts.
Mark was too busy trying to keep himself alive to care about the two's glee. He clearly didn't share their difficulties of being kicked out of dungeons.
Although Mark was given the robe mantle because the swordswoman didn't like or need it as much, he looked as if he was on the verge of death when they took care of all their pursuers and went to help him. He was just exhausted and the mantle looked like it took many hits but he was relatively unharmed.
"Your domain is pretty limited." Ebony was referring to how Mark's domain was completely reliant on the power source that was in his spear. He managed to get a better look so he was aware that Mark had more than 1 type of domain that he could set up. Each for different effects but he wasn't sure since Mark rarely used it. The man couldn't even conjure fire mana so he couldn't charge his spears by himself. Only letting the runes he created do the work.
Mark kept panting as he rested against the closest wall, gesturing a middle finger to him.
It was not new to Ebony that the middle finger was another common similarity between cultures but it was the first time it was used on him.