Ebony's Fable

Ebony felt his mind wake but had trouble opening his eyelids as they were frozen shut.

'Ting' 'Evolution completed.'

'Class evolved to Embryonic Chillbrand Martial Sage'

'Embryonic Chillbrand Martial Sage Fortification:

Base Mana and Stamina regeneration increased by 1000%

Mana efficiency with Ice Magic increased by 400%

Mana efficiency with Body Enhancement Magic increased by 400%

Balance and fluidity when wielding a greatsword increased by 400%

Movement speed increased by 400%

Ice Magic is 1000% more resistant to heat

Flames of frost are 1000% more fluent in seeping.

Ice Magic is 400% colder

Ice Magic has an increased effect of 400% Intelligence

Sealing magic is 400% more efficacious at sealing essence

Will is 400% more compelling

Flames of Frost' Synergy and Intensity with Will increased by 500%

Base Will capacity increased by 400%

Aura Layering Condensation increased by 100%'

He'd pushed almost all of them to their 400% and 1000% limits. Ice magic's 100% to 400% boost alone will be massive. He didn't have enough Potential for most of the new Fortifications, but splurging on Will would pay off.

'Ting' '1 Core Skill Slot gained'

'Ting' 'Sub-Class evolved to Gravitational Archive of Resolve

Gravitational Archive of Resolve Fortification:

Mana efficiency with Sound Magic increased by 400%

Mana efficiency with Gravity Magic increased by 400%

Body's natural gravitational flow reversed and increased by 400%

Body naturally reflects physical vibrations with mana vibrations at 400% frequency.

Gravity Magic has an increased effect of 400% Intelligence

Body natural ability to absorb and pad out vibration increased by 400%

Sound Magic has an increased effect of 400% Intelligence
Gravity infusion delays on your body increased by 400%
Vibrational Echoes' impact retention increased by 400%'

The two new Fortifications would probably bring a wealth of experiments for him in the near future.

'Ting' 'Profession evolved to Eminent Arcanum

Eminent Arcanum Fortification

Mana Compressibility increased by 400%

Mana Resilience increased by 400%

Mana Density increased by 400%

Mana Radiative Potency increased by 100%

Mana Radiation - Physical Warping Potency increased by 100%'

'No more enhanced soothing mana, it was surprisingly expensive to increase radiative mana's potency.'

'Ting' 'Remaining Natural Potential Infused to Physique.'

'Dense Frostblaze Frame Physique Mutated into Will of Frostblaze Frame.'

Ebony was already aware since he had his memories retained.

The weakness in his body was more intense than in his past evolutions. But it lasted an extremely short amount of time as his mana and health were regenerating at a record pace. He found himself 100% paralysed.

His naked body lay in a dry bathtub, but his body wasn't wrinkled from the previous water exposure. It was very slick with sweat, though.

With his body numbed, he used a tiny bit of mana to start the shower. He might as well take one after an unknown amount of time stinking up this place. Almost disgustingly, his skin was stuck to the bathtub. An old layer that was being washed away by the showerhead.

He wasn't alarmed that he couldn't sense anyone since his house's privacy settings made it impossible. Even with his supposedly heightened perception after evolution.

"I'm not dead and in one piece. Nice." Ebony started to record his memories of his experience and choices in the evolutionary space. It wasn't fading that fast compared to before so he wasn't that worried. Perhaps he could retain most of his memories.

He was probably out for months already, so he didn't hurry out and let his new stats and physique sink in.

He wasn't able to move even with the quickly regenerating life force, stamina and mana. His mana chassis was throbbing too, and he didn't think it was a good idea to move his body by mana manipulation.

There was one problem: he had close to no sustenance inside his body. This meant conversion to his essence was not possible; he had to break his own body down to regenerate the three resources.

'I guess the change is drastic this time. Status'

Name: Ebony Rime

Priming: Lvl 500 (Ⅵ)

Core Skill:

Boundless Serenity Geyser Lvl 1260 (Ⅴ)

Arsenal of Will Domain Lvl 1050 (Ⅲ)

Hyperlucid Atelier 1219 (Ⅳ)

Empty Skill Slot

Unique Skill: Mireloom Chassis Engine Lvl 1015 (Ⅳ)

Class: Embryonic Chillbrand Martial Sage - Lvl 500

Class Skills:

Phantasmal Shade Sovereign Arts Lvl 1131 (Ⅴ)

Phantom's Flicker Lvl 1112 (Ⅳ)

Ice Mana Decree Lvl 1087

Fabrication of Frostblaze Embodiment Lvl 1087 (Ⅳ)

Ethereal Arctic Rivertide Art Lvl 1109 (Ⅳ)

Woven Frostblaze Melding Lvl 1087 (Ⅳ)

Perennial Everfrost Armament Lvl 1087 (Ⅳ)

Ethereal Fluid Blitz Lvl 1107 (Ⅳ)

Waning Presence Lvl 1000 (Ⅱ)

Rimeforged Apparition Lvl 1011 (Ⅳ)

Blossoms of Smouldering Frost Lvl 1087 (Ⅳ)

Crystalline Avalanche Lvl 1031 (Ⅳ)

Frigid Distorted Refraction Lvl 1087 (Ⅲ)

Ice-Lightning Respite Lvl 1107 (Ⅳ)

Empty Skill Slot

Sub-Class: Gravitational Archive of Resolve Lvl 500

Sub-Class Skills:

Resolve's Cadence Lvl 1018 (Ⅳ)

Extreme Mana Vibration Lvl 1018

Gravity Mana Command Lvl 1068

Mantle of Reservation Lvl 1068 (Ⅴ)

Sonic Reverberation Lvl 1018 (Ⅲ)

Torrent Path Lvl 1068 (Ⅲ)

Gravity Quelling Vortex Lvl 1068 (Ⅲ)

Quaking Impact Lvl 1018 (Ⅳ)

Soul Basilisk Pseudo-Imitation Roar Lvl 1001 (Ⅲ)

Empty Skill Slot

Profession: Eminent Arcanum - Lvl 500

Profession Skills:

Runic Mana Shaping Lvl 1007 (Ⅳ)

Coagulated Mana Repository Lvl 1015 (Ⅳ)

Tolerant Stalwart Foundation Lvl 1007 (Ⅲ)

Mana Chassis Implosion Lvl 1095 (Ⅲ)

Mana Metabolismic Circulation Lvl 601 (Ⅲ)

Health: 527 /290,628

Stamina: 530 / 295,099

Mana: 10,402 / 59,595,758

Will: 844 / 6075

Prime Rate: 53%

Unallocated stat points: 0

Strength: 1200 [x9 - 10800]

Vitality: 1300 [x9 - 11700 ]

Constitution: 1500 [x9 - 13500]

Endurance: 1100 [x9 - 9900]

Agility: 1500 [x9 - 13500 ]

Intelligence: 3506 [x9 - 31554]

Wisdom: 4350 [x5 - 21750]

Perception: 800 [x7 - 5600]

Generic Skills:

Stolen novel; please report.

Mana Discern Lvl 32 (Ⅱ)

Extreme Cold Resistance Lvl 232 (Ⅳ)

Running Lvl 220 (Ⅰ)

Mental Mapping Lvl 208 (Ⅱ)

English Lvl 8

Elcrian Lvl 14

Housekeeping Lvl 142 (Ⅰ)

Sustained Optimum Condition Lvl 315 (Ⅱ)

Advanced Mana Tracking Lvl 209 (Ⅲ)

Game Processing Lvl 115 (Ⅰ)

Extreme Heat Resistance Lvl 426 (Ⅳ)

Sheer Divination Resistance Lvl 12 (Ⅱ)

Gardening Lvl 222 (Ⅰ)

Cooking Lvl 219 (Ⅰ)

Integrated Trance Speed Reading Lvl 315 (Ⅱ)

Korun Lvl 382

Slumber Survival Instinct Lvl 184 (Ⅱ)

Immense Hunger Resistance Lvl 188 (Ⅲ)

Immense Exhaustion Resistance Lvl 326 (Ⅲ)

Lightning Resistance Lvl 280 (Ⅰ)

Sheer Blood Resistance Lvl 289 (Ⅱ)

Wind Resistance Lvl 268 (Ⅰ)

Poison Resistance 28 (Ⅰ)

Preservation Bubble Lvl 300 (Ⅰ)

Sustenance Regulation Lvl 155 (Ⅱ)

Lightning Mana Manipulation Lvl 334

Adaptable Bow Mastery Lvl 91 (Ⅰ)

Sheer Mana Poisoning Resistance Lvl 51 (Ⅱ)

Swimming Lvl 76 (Ⅰ)

Lightning Tether Lvl 334 (Ⅰ)

Soul Resilience Lvl 79 (Ⅰ)

Lunar Bioclock Lvl 109 (Ⅱ)

Gia Lvl 14

Will Relay Buffer Lvl 568 (Ⅲ)

Vigour Kneading Lvl 52 (Ⅱ)

Adamant Mental Tolerance Lvl 388 (Ⅵ)

"My Prime Rate increased more than expected. With a change this drastic, I'm going to need a lot of training to get full control and precision of control. I'm pretty sure I didn't change my size, but I grew….must be the small percentage connected to my physical stats that leads to size and links with muscle density and all the others." Ebony was also almost dead.

A quick scan of himself told him he had gained more height and width, with longer limbs. Once again, he wasn't supposed to change in physical size much at his stage of evolution but perhaps that was the notion of the Elcrians, who didn't have many who evolved to this stage with maxed Fortification and enough Potential to spare for Physique, hence the misinformation on his part.

Then again, there weren't giants amongst the Xengs either. They were mostly physically smaller...oh well, it wasn't anything to worry about.

Standing at 2.31 metres tall, the difference between before and after was the biggest this time around. That would throw him off for sure.

His mana scan alone had told physical control was the least of his issues as his mental control was not optimal either. He was wasting too much strength to manipulate too little mana. Fortunately, his shower was built durable and he was trying to be gentle with his mana movement.

His muscular and bone densities were a lot higher than before. His brain mass was…filling up more of his skull. That might let impact rattle his brain a little easier than before. He needed to take note. His bones were slightly thicker too.

Ebony who had readied multiple versions of Tolerant Stalwart Foundation scaped all his formulas. It wouldn't fit this body; he didn't expect the changes to be this vast. On the bright side, thicker and denser bones and muscles gave him more freedom and more space for his runic endeavour.

'My Mireloom can't get started….I need to edit the skill now that my chassis has changed a little?'

After a few minutes, he was able to clench his fists.

Despite this being the biggest change, he didn't have the sensation of withholding immense power.

It felt familiar.

This body.

This mind.

This strength.

It felt like it had been his for a very long time.

'Priming back to perfect control might take a much shorter time than I expected.'

He praised his wife's foresight for asking him to seal a set of clothes in ice before he evolved, so it wasn't damaged during his evolution and he would have a 'fresh' set to change into immediately.

He stepped out of the bathroom, stretching his body. Assuming he would smell roast meat the moment he opened his door.

Yet it was his wife's blood he smelled.

Taking in the clues and Mana Discern attempting to find as many details as he could, such as the old foreign signature or blood. The blood was fresh, but that was because his wife's blood stayed that way for a long time.

Dusk was…not responsive. It seemed like it was mostly asleep during his evolution. Dusk's Unfading Will was weak to begin with since it was barely a few years old after the staff ate it up, and he had to recharge it. He didn't regret or think he was being hasty with his evolution, but he did think there were a lot more he could've done to keep them protected while he evolved. For one, he could asked for Vent's help or two, he could've asked for Navin to cast a barrier.

Vent was busy, he had to do something for his family. The villagers of Arcta were made aware. Even the Death Tailor had to leave the village. Not that he felt like it was right to ask someone to protect him for months.

'….it's over a week old, did I take too long?' He already broke the rule of using magic in the house when he turned the shower on with mana, he did it again by opening his door and sluggishly conjuring a few Scout Pigeons.

As for himself, he was busy breaking his fridge open and chowing down on salad and fruits to handle his grumbling belly. He was out cold for too long and he body was starved. His mind was also still waking up.

'More than 60% of my relay buffers are uprooted or destroyed?' He tried to reconnect his Will but realized that a blank space around the civilization was opened. The forests and wild lands still had a good portion of his crystals.

He let his Scout Pigeons that were able to fly faster and faster continue to reach their Will out but without a crystal node, it was a bit harder. Finding random rocks to cast his skill on didn't work, his mana overloaded them and his Will doesn't seem to fit inside a common rock anymore. He could only blame himself for a lack of precise control at the moment but his mind was still sluggish as it hadn't even been ten minutes since he woke up from…7 months or so his Lunar Bioclock was informing him.

Not eating for that long, even if he didn't fight or consume physical energy was not easy on the body.

He was essentially blind to what was going on on the continent now.

'Gotta recover quickly.' He pushed all the fruits around and searched one of the freezers' boxes and found his Wife's hyper-dense stock. This was jelly form and he chowed everything down, using Mana Digestion to help his body take in the influx of energy.

At the very least, there didn't seem to be immediate danger around him.

The Apex Apes were not around.

Apa wasn't around.

Hector wasn't either.

Just a few camps of Kings and a couple of Emperors, a distance away from his house.

'Since when did Elcra have a couple of Emperors? Did they get so many visitors in merely 7 months? Are they here to harvest rare ice-elemental materials?' The Kings present had stronger aura than Entras but quite a lot. Yet Mana Discern showed that they weren't that high level, all things considered.

They were deterred by something, and their positions was rather odd, they seemed to surround his house.

Holding the Tupperware of nutrient jelly, he walked out of the house.

Icicle wasn't resting on his sword stand.

Dusk wasn't responding, he kickstarted Dusk with a gentle stream of Will and tried to read whatever memories it had.

It was foggy, but he saw what happened.

'This guy…. his stealth can hide from Xin's intuition? And he's strong but far from Boiler Knight strong.' He found the traces of footsteps in his house and linked it to this armoured man that Dusk sensed after it attacked Xin. To think that Dusk was so laggy and useless while he was evolving. He overrelied on a Tier 3 Budding Domain by too much. Without a big enough Unfading Will stockpile, he couldn't trust it to protect him when he's evolving next time.

Dusk didn't know everything that happened, but he knew what little Xin had spoke on calls.

He knew Tuffock came by.

He knew Lure was taking heavy-handed measures to collect souls.

His Will Relay Buffers weren't targeted since they didn't contain any of his Will as they returned to him to evolve. They were either destroyed by some battle or gathered by someone and stored in a warehouse. Perhaps members of Lure found them and sold them. Every single crystal that no longer housed Will was Ancient-quality and could earn them a buck or two.

With his hands on Dusk, Scout Pigeons gradually spawned one after the other from the tree. Each one carried a new crystal, as he had a large stockpile for new Will Relay Buffers.

He'd already had sufficient information to determine that these people surrounding him were extracting mana at the edges of where he was evolving. Not to mention the armoured one had even trespassed on his house without taking his boots off.

The phenomenon was something he was aware of. He might be using all of his mana for his evolution but supposedly old mana is being expelled after it is used to purify or edit his body, mind and soul. This mana wasn't mana per se, but it could be purified once again for use.

However, he couldn't help but be curious.

Why haven't they just barge in and take him for mana or kill him for his soul?

Ebony took out a torchlight and flipped the switch on.

A warm orange light appeared and pointed out of the Glades.

Relieved, his wife was still alive. On this plane and still on Elcra.

Arcta was not where it was supposed to be.

'No signs of destruction. I hope they hid their village in time. Ah, they see me awake. I don't have Entity Evanescence anymore.' His old Waning Presence being at level 1000 was a nice surprise. It might have unnaturally got that level because he evolved with proper skill levels for full 250% Fortifications but once Entity Evanscence went away, it couldn't go back to its original level.

His starved body received the nutrients it so desperately needed. The sleeping functions of his body and mind slowly turned back on.

His chassis breathe in the effects of his meditation. His factories ran up after his mental input sank in them.

He found Icicle since it was within his mental range, it had his mana signature all over it after all.

At the moment, it was on the back of an unknown King. He must have picked it up after Dusk tried to attack the trespasser and it was knocked out of Dusk's range.

'I should embed a crystal into Icicle.' A passing notion didn't stop his mind from bending gravity to recall Icicle. As the sword had been melded into a new material by his frozeblaze, it helped him connect directly and got past the man's magic body.

In any case, his mental hold seemed to bypass the magic body very easily. The increase in the base effect of Intelligence was already showing results.

The person who took the weapon as if it was his obviously noticed and fought back by augmenting himself with his mana or elements.

The people around him watched with curious smirks but it didn't take long before one of the few Emperors near him put their hands on the man's shoulder.

Ebony's mana couldn't get close the moment the Emperor overlapped his magic body over the King's. He'd not seen this technique of controlling the reach of one's magic body before.

Those on Cinderash didn't use mana and only the elites could use aether. Those on Teheil didn't have mana to use as the Worldcore absorbed them all. This also weakened their magic body to almost nonexistent levels which gave Ebony a huge advantage as he had mana hard to break down after his experience being imprisoned and having his mana forcefully taken.

Outside of that, the only Emperors he seen were the Xengs and his bodyguard group during his honeymoon trip.

He couldn't reach Tidal within a few minutes with his Scout Pigeons so he could only hope they haven't fallen.

It annoyed him more that some of these people shot his Scout Pigeons down, and succeeded. His Scout Pigeons merely reformed around the shards of crystal and continued flying. Ancient quality they may be, but the raw crystal didn't seem to be able to take the hit, even with impact and shock distribution with sound magic.

Inexplicably, he wasn't looking for equivalent exchange now.

All of them had hostile intentions.

"Greetings fellow—you're only a King?" The fully armoured Emperor with his hand on Icicle's new carrier's shoulder spoke up from dozens of kilometres away.

They could hear and see each other just fine.

"Your next sentence will be an explanation for your transgression." Ebony took this seriously; he was far from good condition and their auras were indicative that they were not the Elcrain average. Although not quite amazing compared to the Royal couple or Duke Truewater, auras were hardly everything.

"That's not how a mere King should speak before us now, is it?"

When his augmentation was spawned forward, he was surprised at the curiously natural and smooth flow of his Will from his mindspace into his flames across his body.

'Coreflame of Preservation was almost automatically used for my augmentation? Is it the synergy that caused it to move so easily? But it feels too natural, this is the first time I'm doing this.' He realized that despite the thrumming of mana, he wasn't even glowing much less lit aflame. Attunement to frostblaze must be why.

When his calves and ankle flexed as he tried to snap them exactly like the Shi Clan skill now that his Strength stat should allow him to copy the Shi Clan skill. He overdid it as his Flicker was not quiet, leaving a crater on front porch that he would have to fix later.

Hands on Icicle's hilt, he Flickered once more.

He didn't know if both of them holding his sword was caught off-guard or not but he was able to rip Icicle out and Flicker away succesfuflly.

Yet again, he was stunned by his reflex when he melded flames into Icicle. It was carrying the Will for Coreflame of Sequester now.

'Its moving faster than I'm thinking. This only happens after training but I'm unfamiliar with imbuing the coreflame's Will…. My Fortifications doesn't explain that.'

When his Flcikered up into the air, his upward momentum was followed by a downward flow of gravity from ever particle of gravity mana within his mental range and his dear cube. There was so much more force behind his mental push that the spell had strengthen significantly even without the abundance of gravity mana.

Yet practically all the people was able to remain standing.

'All reacted fast and reinforced themselves with mana or activated armour skills or effects. Seal them first, think later.'

Just as he imagined a flaming petal above them, as close as he could within the influence of multiple magic bodies. His skin frosted over and he had to look up.

'I need control training as soon as possible.' A few hundred metres in diameter above his head was a singular petal of flames that torrented downwards like a giant waterfall.

He was bathed in the same flames but extracting himself was simple enough. He noted that the flames barely harmed him this time.

It was unfortunate, but he woke up with nearly empty Will. Empty after he just used the Coreflames. It was slowly regenerating, and his lack of control meant that he nearly emptied himself out once more, especially with this waterfall of flames with the Coreflames of Preservation.

His targets were impressive. The Emperor who spoke up was able to crack out of the ice seal with just a nudge of his shoulder and the other 2 Emperors were pushing their mana within and already attempting to break free. Several Kings were able to start breaking his spell down. One even escaped from his human ice shell directly. Ebony assumed it was space magic but he knew what space magic felt like with mana detection and this wasn't it. Since the woman appeared right outside her ice shell, Ebony was ready to intercept her escape but his sword swing was parried by a frozen Emperor.

'He's forcefully moving with the ice encasement even though he hasn't broken free yet…' He couldn't exert direct control over the ice even at this point against these people. Yet it wasn't the time or place to be impressed by their magic body.

Lacking control, Will, time and about half dead from his evolution. Ebony resummoned his waterfall of flames and had the waking Dusk spread their Domain over this area to make sure that no one leaves or at least leave a mark on them should they successfully escape.

He immediately Flickered out of the Domain.

His increasing number of Scout Pigeons were still finding people he knew and surveying the lands.

It sadly wasn't the time for a martial exchange or learning other people's skills and techniques.

Dusk toss over the Myriad Bracelet he forgot. Connecting to Eidolon and his Callstone both at once, he called.

The callstone failed due to distance or mana in the surroundings.

Eidolon failed as no one picked up the calls.

'No one at all.' He went through everyone on Elcra he would contact but not even one picked up. Mallory had a portable module of Eidolon too but no one else so he supposed that's not a lot of people.

With people strong enough to directly bleed her in their own home and his current imperfect state, he cautiously snapped Resolve's Cadence on and back off instantly.

His dehydrated mana pool swung from nearly empty to fully filled in seconds. It was ridiculous only because he needed time to grow his Mireloom and mana pool.

'That's not great.' Ebony's belly rumbled once more. With an increase in all 3 resource regeneration rates, his food requirement seemed to have increased despite the same increase of 9 times to his Constitution. Unlike most people Vitality and Stamina wasn't taking the bulk of his physical nutrients. His mana regeneration was making him hungry.

Taking ready made food from the spatial storage in his bracelet, they were all well preserved and he chowed down.

His Scout Pigeon's finally found a trace of Hector's chaotic elemental signature. Massive holes in the ground and mountains were left by his punches.

He immediately Flickered over with his mouth full. Calming rushing, he pushed food down his throat without chewing. Vibrations broke them apart as he swallowed.

'Crap…' Ebony felt his heart wobble around his chest.

"I forgot I removed my lungs."

His missing lungs left a space that an expanded stomach didn't fill.