Ebony's Fable

“You improved.” Ning Xin stated, “You actually salted mammoth roast perfectly!”

“Eating good food long enough and swapping to terrible meals made my tongue more sensitive.” Ebony was proud of his cooking.

Watching and helping a chef for some time was more than enough for him to improve.

They finished eating within fifteen minutes. He got permission to tear the second floor’s floorboard apart and refreshed the frame’s runes. The chef busied herself with checking both their inventory.

“You ran out of food? I thought I prepared enough. How long has it been?”

“Almost 19 months. I was physically active. Fluid Blitz was refined but I made it give me more power in exchange for more stamina. So I have been eating more.”

“Good…19? We still have seven months.”

“Sister Jing said two years. That’s probably just an estimate. Do you need Natural Potential?”

“Oh yes! Did you know we don’t have to hunt some level thousand monsters?! There’s something called core development! But I don’t know how I triggered it.”

“I got that down recently.” Ebony didn’t bother asking when she found out. He felt that she probably found out earlier than him.

“I can hit all my targets based on my gut.” She bragged.

“Your gut. Impressive as always. I got the core development notification but I’m not sure how many more levels I can get in a reasonable time frame.”

“No rough gauge? It’s quite obvious. I can just tell, and my guess is usually not more than five levels off.”

“I don’t have that kind of instinct.” Ebony’s increased perception did nothing to improve his ability to sense the thing called ‘potential’.

“Want to leave? To be honest, I got bored of fighting apes.” Ebony was not about to say he was getting the daylights beaten out of him for about a year.

“Yeah, I’m ready to evolve.” It was almost painfully obvious but both of their tongues were very sensitive. They could taste unpleasant minerals with greater precision. She hid it well but there was probably something wrong with the pasta sauce.

“What?” Ebony was caught off guard.

If it was about danger, he thought he took it to the limit. If it was about the amount of time spent fighting, there was no way she exceeded him. She had to sleep more and she got exhausted much faster. Even so, he only recently maxed out everything he had to.

“I’m ready, well. My Profession could still use some work but not much.” She clarified while chowing down heartily.

“Then why didn’t you return? And did you forget what happened, you were placed into a cage.”

“I was…doing some outdoor cooking. There are so many different ingredients here!” She seemed embarrassed about fooling around after she finished her training.

“...The cage. Why aren’t you more agitated about that?”

“Why do you think? Your mana is forcing me to stay calm.” She grumbled at the end after being reminded,

“I painstakingly dug a hole in the ground and was preparing oven-baked bird but the smell brought those men over. They didn’t have any hostile intentions at first so my Intuition didn’t warn me. The moment they got closer, that changed. I couldn’t smell or sense them at all and only noticed them once they were within sight.” She paused to push another slice of roast in her mouth.

Ebony sliced another chunk off to fill her plate while waiting for her to continue.

“I believe they spoke Gia but I didn’t catch most of it other than maybe guessing I’m a Xeng. But that man was eyeing me disgustingly. I felt bad intentions from the arrogant one and was going to run away since two of them felt unnerving.”

“Two of them, the arrogant one in charge and the monocle-wearing man?”

“Yeah. I don’t think any of them are stronger than that Frost Elf, Arcta’s previous village chief. But they felt more foreign and there were too many unknowns.”

“I’m surprised you didn’t just attack them.”

“I’m not that stupid.” She puffed her cheeks and put her hands on her hip in response,

“I got dizzy after standing up and fainted right after. It was quite a shock and I tried to pull on my reserves but the drain on my mana exploded. It felt like a mental attack.

I thought it was one of them but in my groggy state, the man with the disgusting look suddenly lost all hostile intentions. Before I lost consciousness, they threw me into that cage. All the vitality I gathered to enhance myself was quickly being consumed but I noticed that they seemed to change topics and forgot about having caught me at all. Then, I woke up here.”

Ebony briefly explained how it was highly likely to be those misty silhouettes and she also confirmed that her version had an upgrade from time to time. It was odd that her change was gradual while he immediately got Entity Evanescence. Especially since he was supposed to be more resistant to the Mandates.

‘Maybe they had to pay some kind of price to cast it on me? Like Koawe's curses that consume a portion of his maximum mana pool or mana regeneration.’

“So…they’re here to train. And hopefully, they completely forgot about us. But perhaps due to my limited mana and the weakened invisibility or mind magic, they might remember me if they see me again. Then those mist bastards know where we are but they can’t chase us while we’re here. They also don’t want to show themselves as much as possible.”

“That’s about right, I wouldn’t go so far as to call them enemies but we’ll have to watch out for them. Fortunately, the silhouette guys aren’t that strong. They have the best stealth but once they show themselves, they aren’t that big of a threat. Except maybe the one or multiple that could force Entity Evanescence on me.”

Ebony might have gotten forced to the ground but that was only because they were truly unnoticeable until they touched him. Even if Gen didn’t help him then, the grasp on him was so weak they could only catch him while he was barely augmented.

“I’ll call Sister Jing. Maybe she’s free to give us a ride.” Neither of them forgot table manners despite the long time spent outdoors but almost felt fresh to dine properly again.

“Oh, that’ll be convenient.” Ebony forgot the convenience of a phone.

“I want to try out on the surface but I’ll wait. Gen’s going to move us towards Trailane Plains?” As expected, the callstone was not as reliable. The call didn’t go through.

“I didn’t know your training was done so, no. We haven’t moved much. Where would you want to go? Tidal? Or back to Xienor for rice.” Ebony stood up and stacked the empty plates to carry them over to the sink.

“Rice.”

Ebony nodded. He caught the smile on his chef’s face or just her lips to be specific.

“What?”

“Nothing. It’s just nice to sense things so clearly. You can’t hide anything from me anymore!”

“When have I ever?”

She stuck her tongue out and turned around with another stack of dishes.

‘I was fully expecting her to be more bloodthirsty and aggressive but I guess not. Fantastic.’ They washed the dishes together.

“I found some glacial eggplant, I left some for you to try! I think you’ll like it as a salad.” She dried her hands and ran to get her bag.

Based on the situation and time limit that they were following, it didn’t feel like peaceful days were coming but Ebony couldn’t help but feel that way.

He strongly felt that slow, peaceful days were on the way.

❅❅❅

Within half a day of saving the damsel in distress with the help of some phantom weirdos, Ful reported that the otherworldly Emperor and their clique disappeared. They got the couple Berg Mammoth King and Queen mad and got eaten.

The young man had to be saved and his bodyguards chased after his spit-covered figure. Too enraged to even remember they had a high-quality cage and a kidnapped person disappearing.

Ebony might have gotten much stronger but beating the Berg Mammoths was a different kind of challenge. They were so big he needed a chance like Ning Xin to get into their weak spots to kill. The leader couple of the Berg Mammoths were probably far stronger.

The one they killed was also the weakest of the lot so it was hard to say how powerful the arrogant young man was. Especially when he got eaten and had to be saved.

Gen drove them out to the Chilly region and let them out after checking the coast.

Surprisingly, Kong Jing picked up the call.

More surprisingly, she was staying with the Thoyas.

He thought the village was sealed to everyone but she must have found a way. Hopefully, there wasn’t any kind of drama when she barged in and out.

The sisters were having a private conversation and he wasn’t able to cut in.

“She’ll pick us up.”

“Mmm. Let’s bid the others farewell.”

They didn’t have much to say to the turtle family but thanks for the protection. Gen hadn’t plucked the sword hilt out of Ful. He was worried he couldn’t seal the hole that had stayed open for thousands of years after pulling it out.

Since he could sustain the tree now, there was no rush. Ful seemed to be getting healthier despite being asleep more. Before Gen’s evolution, Ful was dying. Extremely slowly.

After more than a year, Gen still hasn’t fully gotten the hang of his new body and skills. Partially thanks to watching both of them so closely the entire time.

Ning Xin didn’t even ask for a duel with Gen to vent her anger for having her swords taken away. Perhaps breaking the underground dome and taking her swords back already vented all her frustrations from that incident.

Ebony double-checked their luggage and made sure everything was packed neatly. With each of them carrying some supplies of their own.

They were already in the Chilly region. Arcta wasn’t that far away and the space mage found them with ease now that the magical stealth skill wasn’t ripping their mana away.

“Let’s go!” She didn’t stop to give greetings and ripped them all away.

“We’re not going to stop by the village?” Ebony questioned but he already saw them pass Plainston before he finished his sentence.

“Why have you gotten even harder to shift!” Kong Jing complained. Her handling of space and moving them had improved vastly. Getting harder to move by magic was definitive proof that his general magic resistance had increased in some manner.

“I wanted to see Kiva…” Ning Xin’s voice had a harder time travelling to their ears amid spatially assisted transport.

“We’ll come back once you get rice and I get my purchases anyway. Then we can stay still for some time.”

“Weren’t you supposed to be working in Clatter Rattle?” Ebony asked. He was pretty sure that was her plan and Mark should be there with her after his vacation.

“I was busy bartering information with Roya and the other craftsmen. Those old fools are just like all my clansmen, tight-lipped! Right, the hunter said there was someone dangerous in the Glades. You didn’t meet them, did you? He was going to land a hand but returned almost immediately.”

“Hunter? Yes, we did meet that someone but we got away.” Ebony was pleasantly surprised. There was someone else who was watching after them.

“The tall, disgustingly powerful one that could see us in Fifth Tide from the village.”

“He can see us from the village?” Ebony blinked twice, was it possible to sense things in the Icy region from Arcta?

“I doubt so, he just knew someone dangerous entered the glades.”

The trip didn’t take longer than 4 days. They stopped for meals and even a casual picnic in a forest. Not forgetting the routine conditioning either. Just watching the scenery change drastically for 4 days was boring for the ladies.

Xienor didn’t change.

It was a quiet lakeside village with few people.

The lake was massive enough to be considered a coastline line for the village but it made little difference. It was a beautiful lake, one created by a Saint’s attack. The biggest one on Elva and supposedly connected to the sea. One couldn’t see the ends of the lake from ground level.

Ning Xin only bothered to greet one person and that was the fisherman who usually fished in the lake not far from her house. She even kept some Jetfin flesh for the man she called Uncle Wu. It wasn’t fresh but it didn’t lose much of its freshness with their preservation containers.

Uncle Wu only glanced at her, nodded and returned his attention to the lake. Even so, Ebony could tell that the man was glad to see the two ladies in one piece. Right, he also tossed a bucket over. Four fat flounders were casually swimming in the bucket.

“Thank you!” She perked up at the prospects of a wider variety in their diet.

Dinner was gonna be fish. It had been a while, discounting the Jetfins. Seafood had been almost nonexistent because the entire sea was covered by the Troll’s conjured battlefield.

Kong Jing had no reason to go anywhere else, her house was left at Clatter Rattle with Mark doing his research there.

They were uncomfortable about the dust and got to cleaning before cooking. The space mage was sent to get rice while she was on the way to get her material orders.

Unexpectedly, Dishwashing mutated into Housekeeping.

Housekeeping - Ability to keep the house in order and do chores such as cleaning, washing, sewing and more increases by 1.0% every level. Slightly increases housekeeping speed and efficiency every level.

‘And more? What a lazy description…I’m guessing anything that’s considered keeping a house neat and tidy. Including our trailer? Maybe it helps with fixing and optimising floorboards and roofs.’

The flounders were plump and juicy. She made one hot and spicy for him while Kong Jing got a grilled and salted version. The chef’s personal choice was a savoury, pan-fried dish. It made the fish skin nice and crispy. He found it amusing when she reluctantly offered to let him the last slice of crispy skin that had bathed in hot oil.

He wasn’t sure if it was thanks to his Perception increasing once again, but he felt more. Everything felt…more.

It was odd to think that. Wind caressing his skin felt pleasant. Food tastes better. Walking on the ground felt as if he could sense the earth better. Colours were more vibrant. Breathing was less than pleasant but he quickly got used to smelling more…range of scents.

More importantly, every little thing that happened made him feel more.

It was interesting but he was perturbed. His Core Skill doesn’t even feel like a meditation skill anymore.

The outdoor training field here was interesting. It wasn’t just tough, it could expand. Not made by Kong Jing but some spatial shenanigans were going on. But Ning Xin didn’t even know how to activate that function so they needed help for that.

He foresaw a big problem with this function. It was possible to be trapped within this field because controls were done by a third person from outside the field. The Xengs were rich and this training field was also used by Ning Xin’s parents. It meant the field could handle Emperors fighting without effects spilling out to the environment.

It would consume a lot of energy for functions like barriers or spatial expansion. She had never used all of the field’s functions since there was never a need to. The field was already relatively large.

They exercised in the morning. Had breakfast. Spent two to three hours sitting by the lake fishing. Late morning to mid-afternoon spar. Showered. Prepared dinner while putting on some movies. Had dinner with Kong Jing. He would have tea while reading and moon gazing. Ning Xin would study new recipes or perfect her existing repertoire.

Suffice it to say, the swordswoman had achieved straightforward power. As always, she focused on building on her strengths while he shored up all his weaknesses. The further along on their paths they went, the more obvious their differences.

Trying to beat her in terms of direct power was never going to happen. He had long strayed from that. No matter how much he beefed up enhancement magic or his compression, she would go even further.

Kong Jing didn’t know they were here for her sister’s evolution. She got busy preparing the room for the evolution when she learnt that the stay was going to be longer than just picking up rice and crafting materials.

There was nothing special being done. Just filling up Ning Xin’s room with fire and lightning mana ores. She had to ask around for blood elemental items. The room wasn’t going to explode or burn up.

Since there was time before the Chef shored up her Profession skills, she had to place an order for blood elemental items. No one was carrying such things at the moment. They were mostly here for vacation.

In under five days, Ning Xin fell unconscious and started her evolution.