Ebony's Fable

Ebony surprised the blond man by raising the hand that treated himself as the weaker person as the blond man did the same.

Ebony already got used to the awkward greeting of touching fingertips but it was rare for someone at a higher level to raise the hand that a junior should use.

“I’m Gregory from the Pallard House. The Empire is willing to pay a generous sum to purchase this set of materials in bulk.“ Gregory was a Count’s representative. Count Pallard acted as the district’s in charge and the person that was synonymous to the manager of the Quest Hall they left moments ago.

These ‘districts’ used to be fiefs but it changed to being in charge of the Quest Hall for the area. To Ebony, it was the same difference. In any case, the Empire was selling land and property without much care. With some money, being a landowner wasn’t too hard. Having fiefs didn’t count for much if some random store owner down the street legally owns the land.

“The Empire. Not the Pallard House?” Ebony assumed the person in charge would take what good materials they could find. It didn’t have to be said that he knew the value of bones that could withstand a mountain of mass.

“We don’t have that kind of wealth, no. Are the two of you freelancers? I see no reason to sell this to the Quest Hall if you weren’t.”

“You can say that. I’m Ebony.”

“Scarlet.”

“Are you Rimestone and…Red Reaper from Fifth Tide? Hmm, did I remember wrongly?” The blond man might not be wearing armour and was dressed in a neat high-quality cloth textile that brought out a sharp and bright look but it only showed off his well-trained body. First impressions was that Gregory was a relatively strong warrior.

“We prefer to go by our names but that should be us. How do you know us?” Ebony could almost see the visible confusion on the blond man’s face. There wasn’t much ‘red’ on the Red Reaper at the moment. Even her mantle was closer to black than red now.

“One of my uncles mentioned the two of you. Jacob Pallard?”

“? Never heard of a Jacob. Or a Pallard as a matter of fact.” Ebony cocked his head at the name.

Gregory blinked twice, “Radiance mage?”

“Oh was his name Jacob? He didn’t act like the other nobles in the army. Or introduce himself as one.” He had a stronger impression as he only knew one radiance mage. The Troll and battlefield-melting mage with a cannon-sized magnifying glass was quite a sight to behold. In terms of artillery prowess, they probably haven’t surpassed Jacob.

“Ahahaha! That sounds quite like him. The Pallard family doesn’t really deal with politics and Uncle Jacob actively dodges any socialising.”

“Enough introductions, the evaluation is almost done.” The old employee quipped.

“I haven’t gotten your name,” Ebony questioned and extended his greetings to the old man. Ning Xin had always been extra polite to the elderly despite her prickly nature towards most strangers and also offered her right hand. Unlike her assertion of dominance with Gregory when she raised her left without hesitation.

“Lang’s fine. You’re new here?”

“Just moved into Tidal earlier today.” Ebony tried his best to start conversations but it’s always difficult when the other party doesn’t follow up.

Oddly, without Everlasting Tranquillity, he seemed to care even less about other people’s business. He cared less about asking about things that didn’t matter to him. Lang’s stories about his past were interesting but Ebony just nodded through the story.

After two more sets of appraisals and a brief meeting among the Appraisers, they gave him a rough price range by weight. He mentally converted it to roughly 6 Blues per kilogram but ribs, legs, tusks and more had different prices. The tusks were worth far more.

In terms of how good the material was, it was not the best thing around. The ice and earth elemental mana in the bones increased its value but the use for staves and wands dropped because the demand for staves that strengthened ice magic was very low. It means that the mammoth's bones were more limited to armour. They could be made into other weapons that carried a chill but fewer blacksmiths would be able to handle or bring out the best of the material.

‘If it's by weight, this is so much cheaper than the tungsten rime that I bought to upgrade my old sword.’

6 Blues was like an astronomical figure for some bones in his opinion. Just the extremely small portion of mammoth bones they transported could buy them a few more houses if Purples weren’t a must.

“Weighing them would take two days.” Lang’s colleague whispered to him. The employee might not understand just how good a combatant’s sense of hearing was.

“I don’t see why you have to be here Gregory.” Ning Xin got to the point.

“Haha, I’m going to have to buy off and transport these immediately. Is the price satisfactory?”

“Mmm, I have a request. Trade them in for Purples.” Ebony took the opportunity while he could. Even if their equipment and staff had limitations, he had a rough gauge that they brought around.

He made it sound like he brought a lot of bones but that simply wasn’t true. The bones were just large and took up a lot of space. There were less than a thousand odd pieces that they carried in their bags. Varying in sight and shape, they probably weighed a few thousand tons at best. If it wasn’t for Kong Jing’s impressive bag, there was no chance they would have packed up as much as they did.

Mountains were large and rocks were dense. Even a mountain on Earth was measured in the billions to trillions of metric tons. That was using the low-density rocks and earth found on Earth. The Berg Mammoth was a creature of immense proportion that could easily step or sit on him to kill him. Heck, they could flatten a mountain.

Ebony’s experience with evolution and the crystal monolith allowed him to hypothesise that the Berg Mammoths just had a physique completely poised towards strength and sheer physical size. Even if they had a strength stat of 1000, they probably still had more strength than some humans with a stat value magnitudes higher. Skills and strength multipliers were the only way to gain enough strength to be any threat to them.

“That…give me a moment to make a call.”

He listened to Xin getting the local recommendations for restaurants, clearly looking for places with stuffed fouls after they skipped the recommendations while they were on the western side of the Capital

‘Purples must be rarer than I imagined if the noble family in charge can’t dish them out as they wish. Should have made use of Sister Jing’s mana compressor more. But those can’t be used for most enchanted spell circles unless it just took in ambient mana.’ Ebony reevaluated the value of the industrial mana compressor.

Although it usually ran in the background, the singular mana compressor did not produce enough for the Craftswoman herself, much less share it with him. Setting it to only consume his or Ning Xin’s mana was just for personalised mana ores that fit their equipment.

“The best I could do was ten.”

“That’s sufficient.”

They returned to the Quest Hall together. He just took the Purples as prepayment but didn’t buy the house yet. It was a different Quest Hall but they shared information extremely quickly. Even so, they were new to the Capital and might find a more suitable place. He received some form or receipt that was signed by Gregory and his mana-filled ink. Ebony had one of those pens that could inject one’s mana into the ink as well.

They would get the rest of the pay when they finished calculating the total mass of bones he sold. They even gave him a 10% discount on the Blue to Purple conversion. He didn’t know what the rush was but Gregory was busy shipping off a portion of the bones to different parts of the city.

“Let’s hurry and get new furniture, then dinner.”

“Mmm. We can take a walk around after to search for a better location.”

They had an uneventful but leisurely shopping trip and dinner. Hiding their auras as best as they could helped keep things quiet and few strangers were so free as to probe everyone they came across.

The restaurant Lang and his colleagues recommended was also one of those that were recommended in her book. It was the top 672nd restaurant according to the author and food reviewer.

“One of every item on the menu please.” They weren’t able to get a private table, but the seats here all had tall backrests. Like a board that acted as a partition so it had some level of privacy. The floor was clean and the tables were wiped down to a shine.

On the other hand, the smell wasn’t pleasant. The variety of scents was mixing to form a bitter stench. It was extremely subtle but those with a good nose like most Beastmen would be able to sniff it out.

“Sir? We have over two hundred menu items.” The waitress who wore a black dress with a white apron couldn’t comprehend the order.

The restaurant was three storeys tall. The kitchen seemed to be on the top floor while the first and second were dining occupancy. There were seats for hundreds and dozens of waitresses walking around. The business was successful and the menu mirrored the scale.

“Did he stutter?” Ning Xin replied.

‘She’s hangry.’ Ebony noticed the waitress’s predicament, the table wasn’t large enough. “They can come in batches.”

He glanced at the prices on the thick paper menu and passed a pouch for Blues over. He didn’t bother looking for Greens or lower forms of currency since he knew he didn’t have many of those.

Fortunately, there was a type of stuffed bird on the menu and the glutton’s cravings were satisfied.

“Dinner was delicious wasn’t it?” They left the surprised waitresses with hundreds of empty plates and bowls. Sadly for the restaurant, they served each batch of dishes slower than the two of them could finish it. On the bright side, the food was pretty much better than anything he ever ate.

Including her dishes.

The gluttonous one was satisfied but also peeved. Be it dishes complex in flavour or simple roast meat, every single dish had more depth of flavour. Ebony wasn’t a connoisseur and didn’t know how to explain taste any better.

Some of the dishes provided stamina recovery and muscle relaxation buffs. But none of it contained someone’s mana.

“The ingredients here might just be higher in quality.”

“No. You don’t have to make excuses for me, the recipes are just better.”

They speed-walked through the streets and found that the new house’s location was already one of the quietest and less populated areas that weren’t too far from the ‘city’. They didn’t stray far and he mapped a small portion of it but they had enough and wanted to get the house ready.

Brand new, ready-made furniture was surprisingly easy to find. There were plenty of stores that held inventory. Likely because the Capital was getting an influx of people moving in daily. However, most people rented or bought houses that were already furnished. They didn’t mind the hassle if it meant furniture that no one else used before.

The entire night was spent on interior decoration. Unfortunately, the small manor’s privacy settings weren’t the best. His mana could slip through gaps and sense past doors.

“Should we get a specialist to work on it?”

“No need. It’s just the two of us here. Are you going to do anything sneaky?”

“I won’t.”

“Then there’s no need for additional protection.”

“True.”

Ebony wouldn’t invade other’s privacy on purpose but he imagined the option of greater hardware would put her at ease.

Late in the morning, they were finally satisfied with the placement and furnishing and left for the Quest Hall yet again. This time, for the underground training grounds. Taking a room each, they ran their Conditioning by themselves and met up six hours later.

They showered at their new home and went out for dinner again, hitting up multiple spots since breakfast was skipped. There was so much variety in the menus that he tried at least a hundred new dishes in one evening.

Only then did they spend their first night sleeping on a new bed.

❅❅❅

Ebony and Ning Xin spent a week exploring their neighbourhood and visiting restaurant to restaurant.

He got the locations of the Academies in the vicinity but there was no list of Academies for him to peruse. They needed better advertisement tactics.

Today, they split up to their objectives after the six-hour morning conditioning.

Ebony found a few Academies that he was interested in and was going to apply for. As for Tidal Academy, it was more structured and only accepted student applications once a year. It required recommendations from a noble or five students currently attending the school as well.

Ning Xin was going around for market research. In a single week, they’d already tried hundreds of new dishes with even greater amounts of ingredients that he had never had or seen.

They tried to contact their Royal friends but neither the Prince nor the Princess picked up. The connection cut off mid-path, so it seemed like an issue of bad signal rather than out of range.

Ebony walked onto the premises of one of his choices and could sense the lightning mana shooting across a field at the edge of his senses. After evolving, his mana sense’s range has been increasing by the day. He wasn’t even focusing his training in that regard.

In any case, his range was perhaps one of his weakest points compared to aged mages. It was something that required time to expand and talent had its limits.

There was no reception so he had to find a teacher or the equivalent here.

It was a relatively small Academy with less than thirty students currently in the field. Many of them were young children shorter than Clovis. It seemed like only one instructor was taking the class at the moment but there was another person on the premises. With the size of the buildings and number of classrooms, it should accommodate up to two hundred students.

‘Oh, she noticed me. That makes things faster.’ Ebony ignored the woman who sat in her office that noticed his mana spreading through the building and intruded the training field.

The instructor teaching was a young woman, a Great Lightning Mage at level 300. The students were a mix of teenagers who were Unclassed or Lightning Mages who were Journeymen.

A spark of electricity tickled him when he stepped into the training field.

‘Lightning elemental perception skill, they cast a subtle pulse of lightning mana around them and pick up on anything that attracts lightning. Interesting but I don’t really need it.’

The instructor had blond hair and wore a tight-fitting scholarly robe. She looked over at his intrusion, instructed her students to carry on their practice and walked over.

“Greetings, I’m here to apply for a course in lightning magic here.”

“I-I’m not sure if I ca-” The woman was cut off but a flash of light and another figure stood before her protectively.

‘That wasn’t enhancement, an external lightning movement skill? Maybe Xin can learn it.’ The figure’s movement skill was quite the sight.

“Good day, Sir. My apologies, our humble academy is only taking in Journeymen and under. Although we do have a few Great Lightning Mages as students we are unable to offer anything worth your time.” The new figure looked very similar to the instructor. They were probably sisters or mother and daughter. It was hard to tell age when evolutions, stats and an array of factors help keep youthfulness intact.

“That’s not true, I’ve already seen two interesting spells in under a minute. I’m also new to lightning magic, other than spell power, I should be no different from a new lightning mage.” Ebony was impressed with these people’s senses, he wasn’t leaking mana and he was hiding his Class with the obfuscation jewel on his bracelet.

“That- “

“Why don’t you introduce what courses you have outside of full-time training.” Ebony did not understand her reluctance, he was technically a customer.

“Okay. We mainly teach a full range of skills for holistic development as a functioning lightning mage. For more advanced students that know the basics of manipulation and battle, we also offer skill courses.” She took a deep breath before regaining her composure and releasing her defensive stance.

“Can I enrol for basic classes, theory-wise. I believe I know nothing about lightning magic.” He had a better idea of how dilute his mana had to be and tried to calm them since his mana already filled the area.

“Do you have lightning affinity or the lightning manipulation skill?” It worked but the mages’ expression turned into one of alarm before calming down.

“Yes, and two spells. Generic, tier 1 around 150.” Although he determined not to share his skills information with strangers, he was applying to be a student and it was only natural to let his future teachers know of his current abilities.

“Two spells, may I know their names, what they do, who taught you or what spellbook you learnt it from?”

“I created them, I can show you instead.”

Magic is also better explained by showing rather than telling. He assured them of his control of power and cast both spells one after another. A thin trail of Lightning Tether connected him with the floor around him and Electroshock zapped one of the targets that no one was using.

His control and accuracy were obviously beyond the Unclassed or Journeymen.

“Second order. That makes things simpler but also more complicated.”

“I’m flexible, I can unlearn should I deem it necessary. I can’t unlearn multicasting but I can focus on a single task.” They reached the same conclusion, learning something new while already knowing a little wasn’t always a good fit. Especially if the direction of training was completely different.

Ebony pulled out the interview skills he learnt in the past but it had never been exceptional.

“...Alright, you can sit in. Please try not to disturb or mislead the younger students. Raika, get-” The

“Ebony.”

“Get Ebony the schedule and enrol him. Sorry for the delayed introductions, Third-Order Grand Lightning Mage, third generation Head Mistress of the Piercing Tempest Academy, Laika.”

‘That’s how they do introductions here?’

“Fourth-Order Ice Mage, Ebony.” Ebony managed to stop himself from embellishing his introductions.

“Pfft!” Raika stifled a laugh.

“Raika!”

“But mother, that’s the first I’ve heard someone make that joke with a straight face.”

“Hmm. Yes, I’ve never actually called myself that before. Miss Raika, please.” Ebony gestures for her to lead him through the enrollment process, assuming all he needed to do was fill up some forms and make payment.

“We usually conduct tests for new students but you’re clearly an experienced mage so we can skip that.” Raika witnessed his spell control and accuracy and determined his competence.

“Whaaat! That’s unfair Miss Raika.” They weren’t speaking in a private setting and the sounds of lightning striking wood stopped at the right moment.

“That’s right, if there’s a test I need to pass I should take it.” He wasn’t about to use his strength to force his way into a school. He took note of the boy who cried out and nodded his head in appreciation for the reminder.

Since he already come so far, he would go through the proper channels.

‘An academic test, I haven't taken one in years.’