Ebony's Fable

He was about to unpack their personal belongings in the trailer but got a suggestion to buy new furniture instead. The trailer had to be fully furnished for any time they wanted to move out so it was not a bad suggestion.

To avoid stores closing, they flew about instead of getting a carriage.

Ebony liked the sizable field outside their house, the land might be rented but he thought it would be fine to grow something and cultivate a garden. The soil looked amazing for plant growth too.

“Let’s sell the mammoth bones and fur and free up bag space. It’s heavy.” Ning Xin shifted her bag without visible discomfort.

He was carrying the bulk of it and a lot was left with Gen since the mammoth was the literal size of a mountain but the bones were extremely heavy. Thanks to the increased capacity of their bags without an increase in weight reduction, they had been lugging around a portion of a mountain. Less than a single percent by mass maybe.

“Not going to change into a dress.” Ebony tilted his head as the question mark.

“Are you crazy, can’t you sense the empty hostility since we passed the walls? We’re being watched.”

“I know, they’re not watching us in particular. But you’re right, we should be careful here.” Ebony could feel the eyes on them when they entered the central walls but it passed by quickly as the eyes were scanning just about everyone.

To be fair, his ‘eyes’ were also on many people. He had his senses spread out so it was highly likely that many perceptive individuals could sense the miniscule hint of mana that he spread out over a kilometre wide.

Ebony didn’t need Appraise to tell that out of ten people, barely 1 or 2 were Masters and the rest were Grandmasters. Of course, the ratio was higher towards the Masters back when he was outside the second set of walls.

However, he wasn’t so worried. Out of the ten Grandmasters he sensed, zero had an aura that concerned him. A lot was not too dissimilar to Masters. It was thanks to his increased perception of purity of mana. The Grandmasters had purer mana, now that he focused on feeling that out he knew why it was so obvious as to what ranks a person was.

Even Identify or any other tier one version could tell a person’s general rank and it was likely thanks to the purity of essence.

However, the density and capacity were a completely different issue. A lot of the weak auras were from crafters, blacksmiths and support classes. There were plenty of differences between the essence of a fighter and a non-fighter but it was usually too weak to tell. He felt like he could soon Appraise someone without looking at them but through his mana sense alone. For people stronger than an average Grandmaster anyway.

Once again, they were on their way to visit a Quest Hall.

Ebony estimated the size of the central sector of Tidal to be at least five times larger than the continent of Asia. When he looked at it that way, it was no wonder the population density was pretty small compared. The residential areas were too large for each individual family compared to Earth’s.

It was convenient though, residential areas were quieter this way and it made finding a suitable house easier. Moving to places with shops was inconvenient since carriages didn’t exactly park outside each house. Transport wasn’t a big issue for most people capable of living here.

“hmm…I’m starting to get annoyed.” Ebony said when they were sensing the thousandth wash of mana sense or other perception skill when they were nearing the Quest Hall.

It was a shopping district with plenty of stores be it restaurants, blacksmiths, alchemists, herbalists, tailors or the hundreds of other specialised stalls. They decided to land and speedwalk instead of flying to get to know their local shopping district.

Now that they were here, the ratio of Master to Grandmaster turned to 9 to 1. It appeared that the concentration of high-level people changed greatly depending on where they were. But most Masters were sitting between level 280 to 300 with a large percentage of them just sitting at 300.

“It’s because we’re hiding our auras, so they used an active search to test if we’re threats.”

“Alright, let’s show them th-” Ebony prepared to let the public sense what they wanted so that he didn’t have to face active skills washing over them but the masked swordswoman stepped in front of him and put a stop to his actions.

“Stop! You were about to cause thousands of people to faint even in their own shops and homes.”

“Come on, I’m self-aware now my control isn’t that bad.”

“You’re self-aware but you don’t know what normal is.”

“Look, one per cent should be fine. Let me change my mindset, I want them to calm down and ignore us.” Ebony got the gist of how his Will and mana worked together.

With a different state of mind, his mana would feel different. It could be heavy or it could be soothing. With his Profession’s Fortification making his effect on individuals he recognised as allies to be beneficial.

The only problem he had was the stiffness of Will. Unlike how flexible he was with his body or spells, his Will mostly did one thing at a time. It either made all his mana aggressive or all of it was soothing. Swapping from one to another required time and a change of mental state.

As for what ‘soothing’ mana did, the effects were sketchy. Fortunately, the mana regeneration buff he could give people was quite substantial. Most people couldn’t withstand his fully compressed liquid mana. For the Frost Elves, he could give them a range of 10 to 30% increase in mana regeneration speed. Just by staying within his range.

For Ning Xin, it was closer to 50%.

Ebony tested it on the Guardian Beast and her daughter, Arti and even the Orcas. They all received varying amounts of buffs.

He managed to boil the reason for the variation to race, base regeneration, the presence of a meditation skill and most importantly the gap between his and their mana’s strength. It would work worse on individuals with a stronger or more efficient meditation.

The Guardian bear and the Orcas barely got a 5% increase. They were a bit unaffected by his mana so it was pretty amazing he was able to buff Kings and Emperors. The baby bear got a minuscule buff because it barely regenerated any mana to begin with.

Ning Xin was practically on par with him in level but it was thanks to her pathetically low Wisdom and comparatively weak Meditation that she got a stronger buff in terms of percentage.

Now it brought his ‘Compelling Will’ into question. He strongly believed it was thanks to it that they got such a substantial buff. It was instinctual, like when a skill activates.

Despite his confidence, multiple people walking on the street wobbled on their feet.

‘They look drunk.’

“One per cent of your compressed mana huh, you should’ve used one per cent of your base mana.” She pointed out that he could compress his base mana to roughly 65 to 66 times its natural density just based on his skill.

With his fortifications taken into account, he was wondering when he could solidify mana by himself without Kong Jing’s industrial mana compressor. A compressibility increase of 300% made it 4 times more compressible. Unlike his original assumptions, it just made it easier to compress and level the skill. However, his massive mathematical mistake aside, he wasn’t wrong about mana density’s fortification.

“It’s okay, look.” He turned and gestured, “They’re all standing, people in Tidal are more accustomed to mana. The mana density and even purity here is a lot higher than Plainston.”

“At least everyone within my range stopped probing us.”

“I guess.” They left the bustling shopping district and arrived at the large and lavishly decorated Quest Hall.

“The set-up’s the same everywhere, convenient,” Ebony noted the same interior design for every single Quest Hall he entered. Whenever they expanded, it expanded proportionally so it was easy to find where he could toss large amounts of raw materials and ingredients for bulk sale.

The Quest Hall was not the best place to sell things but they didn’t care for profit and they were the most convenient. As long as the materials were good, they could sell it even if there was no immediate demand.

As usual, the people in charge of monster materials were all men. Bushy beard and thick head of hair or bald, they usually had the same look as if it was a uniform. It was a lucky find to spot four or five lanky dudes instead of muscular ones this time.

“Nature of material?” Ebony picked the oldest employee’s line, they usually spoke the least and cut straight to business.

“Bones. Slightly ice elemental, slightly earth. I might be wrong about the earth.”

“Volume.”

“The mammoth’s larger than this building, I think I can fill three of the rooms we’re in with what we have brought.”

Unperturbed, the well-built white-haired employee continued asking questions. “Bring out a smaller sample I can analyse.”

Ebony slipped his bag out from under his robe and fumbled for the smallest piece. He dragged it out of his bag and it expanded.

He continued to pull on it but stepped back as he pulled the bone out. From the counter to the entrance, he managed to pull out half of the bone that was three times thicker than his waist. The tip of the bone left the weight reduction range but he was a gravity mage so it didn’t strain his unenhanced body.

“This looks comical. Should I continue walking out.”

“This is enough,” The experienced employee didn’t even look at him and was using an enchanted monocle to appraise the tip of the bone right above his desk.

Everyone else was either freaked out or annoyed at the giant lug in the room.

“This is rare stuff. Did it come from Hoarfrost Glade? Berg Mammoths, a pack migrating species. This is from a younger Grandmaster. Three of this room huh, come with me I’ll bring you to a warehouse you can unload.” He stood up from his seat with slight excitement.

Ebony’s brows raised.

“Are all employees so well-read?”

“Berg Mammoth, last recorded hunt, 231 years ago by Duke Giles. We still have armours made out of it that are circulating. This came at a good time. Hey boy, send a letter to the Count and ask for a representative to be sent to warehouse 4.” The old man’s worn-out aura woke up and he bellowed for one of his colleagues.

Ebony put the name in mind. He wanted to ask more about how the man hunted the Berg Mammoth or if the man was still alive but they were quickly ushered onto a six-legged horse’s carriage. The Empire’s flag and crest decorated the carriage which gave them a clear path on the roads.

“Where’s the rest of the body, didn’t manage to harvest it?”

“We couldn’t carry that many bones. We’re keeping the meat.”

“Tusks?”

“We have them.”

“Great. That’s hundreds of thousands of bone weapons you’re carrying. How long ago, is the rest of the body still sitting in the wild?”

“If you’re thinking of sending people to get it, forget it. There’s nothing left.”

“Should’ve expected that from the Glades.”

“Uncle, you seem to know a lot.” Ning Xin was more polite to elders than you'd expect.

“Used to be a freelancer, I’ve explored dungeons across the continent including two from the Glades.”

“Have you seen a Berg Mammoth?”

“From a distance, I assumed they were just mountains till my leader got us out of the Glades on the double.”

“You must be strong.”

“Nah, I was the party’s first aider and appraiser. Mostly took care of logistics. Those muscle heads don’t know a treasure when they see one. The good'ol days.”

“If it's not too rude, how long ago was that.” Ebony massaged his throat, it felt a little odd to change back.

“Hmm, close to 3 centuries. I think. Ah, I’ve gotten old.”

“You’re not going to try to evolve? You’re level 480, higher than anyone I’ve seen today. By about a hundred levels.”

“Kid, a century ago I was level 475. I’m squeezed dry, I’ve reached my limit. Why do you think I’m living my retired life? I’d say I did a good job surpassing my parents' level by over a hundred.”

“Is it that hard to level.”

“...You’re grandmasters. New, I presume.”

“Fresh, it’s been less than a month for me and a little longer for her.”

“How young are you kids?”

“Let me count,” Ebony stopped for a split second, his age wasn’t something he kept in mind while he trained. “I turned 24 years old exactly 4 months ago.”

'I'm already 24? So I've been on Elcra for over 7 Elcrian years. It certainly doesn't feel like it. Doesn't this mean I'm almost 30 Earth years old?'

“Damn it all. You didn’t harm your foundations did’ya. Should’ve gotten the best, I didn’t know about a two-times skill level requirement till I was a Master. A damn shame, they better be teaching to kids these days.”

“We’re fine in that regard.”

“Wait, did you hunt this Berg Mammoth?”

“With some luck.” Ebony replied with the truth, he might not be able to replicate it even though he evolved. Unless it was a two-on-one again.

“What about its pack? How’d you do it? You didn’t just find a dead one?”

“I’m a tasty bait.”

“Do you have some of its meat? Just a small amount for a feast for ten is fine, I’ll buy it off you.”

“Sure. But it's not very fresh. I preserved it well but it's been almost two years since we hunted it.”

“That’s still mighty fresh! Heheh, now I can show off to my family. We’re here.” The old man leapt out of the carriage on a light foot. Ebony could tell that the old man knew how to use a movement skill. A pretty good one at that.

‘His footwork’s interesting.’ He focused on how the old man walked. The old employee bellowed for his men to come over.

Just taking out the bones from their bags and placing them in the huge warehouse already took them an hour. It would take a long time to weigh their materials and they weren’t about to waste their time. However, they were stopped by the old employee who withheld their receipt.

He brought over a younger man who had bright blond hair with a small scar on the left of his forehead.

The three fighters eyed and appraised each other for half a second before sending out their greetings and tapping their fingertips.