Ebony's Fable

“Was it really the right choice to use up all your sap?”

“...it was the only choice.” Leaves rustled despite there being no wind underground.

“...”

“I don’t have much time left... his arrival could be fate. The flawless spatial tear no. Distortion? Tore the blizzard cover apart, we moved to the safest areas to get it back up but it just so happens he appeared in our territory.

Just so happens to learn ice magic and body enhancement magic in a short time and that monstrous ability with mana. I never thought the day would come when there is another that can utilise the flames like we do.

It's a pity I cannot last long enough without your essence for you to complete your evolution. If it really comes down to it, don’t give up your life like your predecessors. Just let me die already. Your son and daughter haven't returned with the previous expectant and there would be no one to take care of our descendants. As long as I could survive long enough for your evolution we might not face impending extinction.”

“We can only hope Ebony gets strong enough and is willing to help us. If only I could learn his Persistent Meditation, it's too bad tier 4 skills are so hard to mutate and I don’t understand how it's possible to meditate on the move.”

“The Frostblaze Physique as he said he had, is our only hope left. He is the first with such a physique despite having performed that so many times. Coincidence. Maybe… Maybe not… Come on Gen, let’s move deeper in…The burden on you would lighten.”

“...Yes.”

❅❅❅

The covered flap of the wagon billowed. The [Brawn Rams Lvl 50] trudged through snow at speeds of a car, it was honestly pretty impressive if you took into account the weights of the wagons with inventory and people. Just Roya’s robes alone weighed literal tons. But it was just sooo slow for Ebony now, there was nothing much to do during the ride except practice his mana manipulation skills and humming.

Ebony was wrong about monsters having no survival instincts or acting like normal animals. That was only true for young, low level monsters. They could actually pick the right prey and run from predators.

The front wagon had Wattel and Top at the front seat with Andel in the wagon. The second was driven by Greg with Dina and Fergus on board. The third was driven by Larry with Rowent, Chris and Ebony on board. Enya was sleeping on top of the middle wagon.

It was expected to be a 7 day trip, 3 days to get out of Hoarfrost Glade and 4 more from there to get to Plainston. They were delayed by a new camp of kobolds nearer to Plainston when they were on the way here.

They were moving northeast from Arcta and Ebony looked out to get his Mental Map expanding as they travelled. Chris was asking about Ebony’s sword and where or who he learnt swordsmanship from. Rowent was discussing magic and Classes with Ebony.

Humans were a balanced race. That was to say they didn’t excel in any one area compared to the other races. Physically weaker than most Beastmen and Dwarves and magically weaker than Elfs and Foxmen. A hybrid Class fits other races more since their natural traits cover their weakness. Elves are more magically inclined and a little fewer stats focused on their magical side didn’t hurt them much.

Human warriors are already weaker than Dwarven and Beastmen warriors and human mages weaker than Elven. Hybrid Classed humans widen their variety of skills but the balance between physical and magical stat makes them jacks and masters of none. Of course, that was just in general and with the right Sub-Class and Profession some are able to make it work.

The rams would pull them along for 6 hours before stopping for an hour for water and rest before another 6 hour travel. Only moving 12 hours a day before resting for the night is the limit of their endurance or they’ll risk the rams not being able to move much the next day. Some monsters like the brawn rams that aren’t too violent are easier to influence, domesticate or tame. The Coachmen had some of these skills to keep the driven monsters tame and follow instructions.

The ride was surprisingly smooth and there was no discomfort even though he was just sitting on the wagon floor. Either due to the flat smooth surface of snow or the wagons had a surprisingly good suspension system.

The 1 hour break for the rams was the time when the escort team and Ebony could stretch their legs. Usually, 3 of them would search the nearby area for any game and wild edible vegetation they could find for dinner or breakfast. The remaining 2 will standby and protect the coachmen and Andel, they will swap for the next hour's break. Though it seems like Andel was more than proficient enough at protecting himself from any nearby threat with his short sword and high level.

Enya volunteered to stay put and shooed all 6 of them to go ‘play’.

Ebony never travelled this direction much but from what he knew they were only monsters like the rabbit, boar and the like there was also a bird type called the [Huffin Puffin]. It apparently uses air magic to either kick up snow or play tricks on travellers with them. A non-aggressive monster that children Frost Elves play with, it was more of a naughty animal than a monster.

“Ebony, our team has a culture of a game of hunt at times like this. Would you like to join?” the Lizardman and leader, Top, spoke out. So far Ebony hasn’t heard any slang or accent differences between races. A slur of tongue at most.

“Sure, what are the rules?”

“Simple. The one who brings back the most number of prey wins, edible of course. The level, size or type doesn’t matter. There is hardly any wild vegetation here so we’ll exclude that. From what we noticed, this current spot doesn’t have any above level 20 so it should not be too unfair for you. The winner is exempted from the day's cooking and washing duties, the rest are losers.”

“What about draws?” Ebony questioned.

“Then all are losers and split the work accordingly.” Top replied.

“That rarely happens, also we have a time limit of 1 hour. Just be back before we move off. Haa… I’m not looking forward to this.” Rowent the fire mage sighed. He was unmotivated for the hunt.

“Of course, I’m going to win by a landslide again.” Fergus the elven wind archer supplemented. The archer probably had quite the advantage in hunting with his range and perception. The limited time and wide area were advantageous for him.

“As usual Ro, burning our dinner again won’t count towards your score. Whatever method you use to hunt only the ones that are in an edible condition counts.” Chris added, followed by another sigh from the fire mage.

“Perfect chance to see if you can carry your own weight and feed yourself.” Dina the rogue said. She was the only one who showed that Ebony wasn’t so welcomed but seemingly reasonable so far or so Ebony thinks.

“Hey! Don’t be so mean to the kid Dina. You know.” Chris called out and whispered.

“Bahh, so what if he doesn’t have any memories? The past is the past, he was lucky enough to make it out he needs to make the best of it. What’s important is that he is an extra mouth to feed and our job doesn’t include babysitting. I have no qualms as long as he doesn’t burden us.” Dina pragmatically said.

Ebony agreed with her views that he should make the best of his time, living in the present for the future not for the past. Though he didn’t lose his memories he had no idea what they were talking about, make it out of where?

“I will prove to be a positive addition.” Ebony stopped Chris from saying more.

“Good. Let the hunt begin.” Top nodded at Ebony’s confidence.

The past few days where Ebony didn’t hunt and physically exert too much effort really showed Ebony that as long as he didn’t spend much stamina he needed much less food to sustain himself. After a normal day of running and hunting he ate almost 3 times as much as he used to during each meal. Devouring a whole leg of a deer and more was quite the experience.

The escort team had an advantage in stats and levels but Ebony was more familiar with the area and the monster's habits.

Ebony tried to move as light as a feather regardless of his now increased weight, he couldn’t measure but if Ebony weighed 90kg or 18 tivs before coming here from his high muscle mass and bone density then he estimated he was now approaching 100kg or 20 tivs.

Ebony was wearing the normal set of clothing he wore to hunt, his leather boots, his new robe or coat, a single left hand casting glove and his trusty sword which he now carries on his hip on the back. Roya even added well placed straps for it on his robe. He finally managed to somewhat sheath and unsheath his blade more fluidly with its current placement.

The bag he used to bring along got too bloodied by his hunts so he was given it, he folded his old bag and kept it inside along with all his belongings which was his old wallet, bottle, a big bunch of frost plums, a short cylindrical wooden container with a green salve inside and 2 more set of clothing and many more sets of underwear.

He still wore his watch which surprisingly didn’t get much damage yet despite his fights. His money was kept in his coat, he was stunned to find 10 Greens in the pockets with a note on what he needed to buy when he got to Plainston, when did they stuff it there, Ebony didn’t know.

The green salve was made by their resident herbalist family the Lasil family, and was an ointment that could stop bleeding and increase healing speed by quite a bit on the affected area. He didn’t think he needed it but you never know. He left the knapsack-like bag on the wagon.

The hefty coat was causing him to sink into the snow despite his Treading Step at its current level. It really pulled him down by a bit. Yet the speed he took off surprised the escort team. Everyone split up due to the relatively safe area they were in, except Rowent who opted to follow Dina.

The hour quickly passed and they converged and counted their scores. Top caught 3 rabbits all cleanly decapitated. Chris got a single boarlet and a tern. Rowent came back with nothing. Dina got 2 rabbits but Ebony couldn’t see any blood or damage on them. Fergus got a decisive 4 terns and 3 rabbits. Ebony eked out 3 rabbits and 1 tern.

Clearly showing his hunting skills, Dina was placated and the others were impressed. Ebony’s tern was too damaged by his Ice Spike and the frozen bits weren’t desired either so his score was 3. Still, coming in second when he was so at a much lower level wasn’t too bad. He had a pretty good advantage as he was already familiar with where rabbits hid and what tracks they left.

They skinned, gutted and treated their dinner with care and hung them on hooks outside the wagon as they moved on unbothered by attacks. The rams were enough to discourage most monsters from attacks. The side of the wagons were also hanging familiar looking handheld oil or kerosene lamps but filled with phos to sun charge. Giving them some light when needed at night.

Night quickly came and they cleared the snow on the ground and got some wood to burn and start a fire. It was simple enough with a fire mage around. The good thing that the escorts loved was that they didn’t have to carry much personal luggage when they slept on the wagons; they didn’t need to make tents either.

A giant ass pot big enough to stuff a whole deer if he tied the legs up together was used. Top unscrewed his waterskin and pointed the round cap at the pot. A stream of water came out of the cap and into the pot. The normal vegetables like carrots, potatoes and onions were placed in, together with rabbit meat and bones to make rabbit stew. The terns were roasted over the fire. They had salt and pepper on hand too.

“Ebony, meet our company's most popular product amongst travellers!” Andel said as he showed a rectangular brown object tied up in a thin rope like a bento to Ebony. The escort team and even the coachmen just facepalmed at the attempt of advertisement.

“Try some, just take a piece and drop it in your bowl of stew. Don’t you dare drop it in the pot okay.” Andel passed it to Ebony.

It was actually a paper like material but the surface was smooth and felt a little like plastic, probably waterproof. Ebony untied and unwrapped it to find brown cubes roughly 1 cm in length, width and height. He counted 5 by 10 by 3 so there were 150 of these cubes in a pack. He tossed a cube into his bowl of stew or soup. He watched as the cube expanded almost 3 times in size as it absorbed the liquid. He took a bite.

… it was just bread.

“Hahaha what do you think? We call it the Souper Bread. Compact and easy to bring around, you can have bread anywhere you go. A single small pack like this can keep travellers or dungeon clearers fed for long enough.”

“...” no one reacted to the horrible naming.

‘Souper Bread? Seriously.’

The stew didn’t taste too bad but it was obvious none of them were cooks, though they might have the skill. Andel and the coachmen left for their wagons after dinner. It was quite easy to wash the dishes with the bottle cap water tap.

“So what do you plan to do when you get to Plainston?” Chris asked.

“I plan to freelance for a start.” Ebony answered. Freelancers were basically adventurers from the stories he heard and read.

“I guess that’s how most people start off.” Chris shrugged.

“Plainston is a small town, freelancing will get you nowhere. There aren’t even many quests that will allow a freelancer to stand out and get commissioned or job offers.” Dina added constructively. She seemed to approve of Ebony's presence now. The quick change in attitude didn't matter much to Ebony.

“Monsters in the surrounding area of Plainston don’t even exceed level 50. We are considered elites of Plainston to be able to be hired by the Z&Z Company. Yet we are hard-pressed for advancement in that small place. There aren’t any dungeon towers around either so it is a safe but quiet town.” Top said.

“Freelancing is a good idea if you want to keep your freedom to move around but it's hard to achieve much by freelancing. Even more so in such a small corner of the Empire. Getting attached to a big and influential company might not be a bad idea if you’re capable enough to get job offers.” Chris continued.

“I prefer to move about freely. Freelancing will only be a means to earn enough for my travels. Isn’t it restrictive for you guys as your advancement is hindered by a contract?” Ebony asked.

“Well it's not so bad, we get teamed up with almost equally competent party members and when the company decides we’re good enough to handle escorting trips at another branch we can still fight reasonably levelled monsters.” Chris said.

“Getting contracted to a company like this is basically a slow and steady but safer route of advancement. Freelancing at dangerous areas allow for much faster advancements with enough luck, but many unprepared parties die without anyone knowing.” Rowent joined in.

“Another benefit is obviously knowledge, if you prove loyal and capable enough the company offers chances to pick up some skills they kept obtaining over the years. You also gain connections as you move up the ladder and move from branch to branch. Only famous and reputed freelancer parties are trusted enough for important, well paying jobs.”

“If you really want to be on the fast track then the best thing would be to find a dungeon tower close to your level. It is the most lucrative and dangerous way and high level dungeon clearers have immense prestige since they are at the forefront of stopping dungeon breaks.” Top said

“Too bad low level dungeons are so rare there aren’t any around the towns and city surrounding Plainston either. Monster populations aren’t that high either so most of us advance elling slow in these parts.” Fergus complained.

“Enough chatting. Let’s see what you’ve got, Ebony! The night is the time we have for training.” Top concluded the conversation with an invitation for a spar.

“Okay.”

1vs1 seemed to be their standard and they would rotate. For the first match Fergus against Rowent. Dina against Top and Chris against Ebony.

Fergus and Rowent went into the trees. Dina did as well but Top stayed where he was. Chris and Ebony remained in the clearing they were in.

“Let me see what a swordsman can do. I won’t go easy on you.” Chris stated.

“Okay. Good.” Ebony couldn’t ask for more.

With Icebody Enhancement running all along, Ebony took the initiative since he was the weaker party he wanted to get Chris off guard. Ebony pushed off and drew his sword back handed as if trying to throw a right hook. The speed at which Ebony closed the distance indeed surprised Chris but he seemed to have expected the right side swing and already poised a hanging left sword guard.

Not letting himself stop short there Ebony quickly spun and adjusted his grip to a normal one. Only for a punch to crash into his side, it didn’t hurt much but it easily pushed him away.

“Ouch, crap how are you so tough? The Thoya branded robe? I didn’t think I would get to see one of the branded works.”

Ebony was on the offensive as he swung and swung. All his blows were parried, blocked or countered. He was slower and weaker by a lot when it came to physical stats.

Ebony didn’t do too badly himself, his vast experience in fighting people helped him avoid, counter with kicks and predict attacks. On the other hand animal hunting or monster fighting was one of his weaker points in comparison, it could be seen from his first few fights where he got heavy injuries where he didn’t expect certain monster actions. His weakest point was his swordplay. He always fought hand to hand, sometimes with a knife but he had basically zero experience in swordfighting.

Plenty of combat experience helped with his hunting but his swordsmanship held him back, mistakes in judgements in battle was what caused his elbow to pop out as well. It improved over the week but this was his first actual sword fight.

“Wow. You’re good but why not a warrior? your swordsmanship seems... self taught? I’ve not seen that style but why on Elcra would you wield a greatsword designed for 2 hands with one?” Chris said as he stopped the spar when neither got a hit in after a while.

“Yes, self-taught. One of my arms was too injured to hold the sword when I first got the skill, I tried wielding it somewhat normally but can’t seem to get the mastery skill.” Ebony explained.

“Gahh, that’s just bad luck. Still, you need some serious work on swordplay to get rid of its kinks. I can see you tried to use fluidity to smooth it out but your movements are still wide and any warrior can see where you aim to strike from a mile away. Any attack you carry out leaves you wide open, incorporating kicks and your weirdly impressive footwork helps but there are still glaring openings for any decent warrior let alone other swordsman.”

“Swap out.” Fergus came over at this point and called. Chris waved and went to spar with Top while Dina spared against Rowent.

“You can have a gir handicap.” Fergus told Ebony. Standing just 5 metres away from Ebony despite being an archer. Unsure if he was confident or arrogant. Ebony didn’t even need to take a full step for his blade to reach Fergus.

Fergus reacted with insane speeds and a gust of wind rustled Ebony's hair as Fergus jumped back and onto a tree, drawing his bow at the same time.

‘Hot damn… invisible arrows of wind?’ Ebony thought as he saw no arrows on the bowstring. Two Ice Spikes formed in seconds while Ebony chased to close the distance. Firing them whenever a shot was ready, completely missing them at the speed they were moving at.

Ebony was faster than Chris when it came to movement speed but Fergus seemed to keep the distance between them constant as he was jumping backwards and shooting arrows of air. Every single time Fergus lets go of his bowstring Ebony would get knocked back by a strong gust of wind. Fergus didn’t make them piercing since it was just a spar.

Ebony tried to predict the trajectory of the invisible arrows but he didn’t manage to dodge a single freaking arrow. Betting that Fergus could control the arrows’ trajectory with magic to some extent. Wind arrows landing on his legs caused him to sprawl onto the snow face down, but he quickly got used to it and rolled with it, literally.

He cast a single layer shield to stop the knockback effect of the wind arrows while he continued his chase but it didn’t help one bit. Whether he puts his shield in front, behind, above, closer or further an arrow always seems to find its way around the shield, knocking him around like a ragdoll.

The spar ended soon. This was his biggest loss yet. He couldn’t chase him, couldn’t land a hit with his projectiles, couldn’t even block, dodge or shrug off a single attack.

“Are you sure you’re human and not half frost elf or something?” Fergus asked as they made their way back.

“Yes, why do you ask?”

“Well for one, you’re a freaking triple caster. Even amongst elves, only the average adult can triple cast. And then of course there’s your insane mana, the others haven’t noticed but even a meditative class doesn’t have so much mana. Don’t keep enhancement magic up for too long, you’re going to get mana poisoning and it's not going to be pretty.”

“...thanks for the advice.”

“No problem any elf would treat meditative Classers well after all.”

Ebony couldn’t ask for the reason and what mana poisoning was before they swapped out again. Ebony with Dina, Fergus with Top and Chris with Rowent.

If Tiha was aggressive and fast, then Dina was agile and skillful. She used a similar twin dagger style but she was blinding fast and agile with it. Changing directions of her swings numerous times mid swing, Ebony’s bulky sword couldn’t keep up to block it.

His movement speed helped in dodging blows and prior spars with Tiha helped him predict and anticipate better. Easily taking advantage of Ebony’s blind spots while she kited him, Ebony back hooked with his legs to keep her at a distance so that her short dagger is harder to reach him.

Dina dodged Ebony's slow blows with ease but was getting pissed that she was actually having a hard time landing any real blows. All in all, it was thanks to Ebony’s abundant experience in combat that let him do well enough despite the level and stat difference.

The fourth round was Fergus with Chris, Top with Dina and Ebony with Rowent.

“Finally another mage to battle with. There just aren’t many in Plainston, even Fergus is mainly an archer.” Rowent express.

“I have not practised magic for long, please excuse my terrible display if any.” Ebony spoke out as he sheathed his greatsword.

“Haha no problem, you’re so young and a hybrid at the same time so it’s only natural if your repertoire of spells is still growing. Okay, let’s begin.” Rowent laughed. They were 3 girs apart, further than his previous spars.

Rowent raised a single hand forward as a spear of fire formed in a second. The snow around Rowent melted as Ebony could feel the sweltering heat from where he was. Starting to sweat from this distance.

‘Crap. My heat resistance decreased by 30% from my physique and I’ve always hated the damn heat.’ Ebony realised as he quickly started casting his Layered Ice Carapace with his left hand, casting glove on. Even so it still takes him 6 seconds to form a single layer shield at the moment.

He quickly jumped aside as he felt like he was getting roasted alive as the spear passed by him. Still it was enough to disrupt his cast or mental state. HP: 244/250

‘Hot damn. The thing didn’t even touch me. Wait a minute, does the 30% debuff from Icebody Enhancement to heat based damage stack with my debuff from my physique?’ Ebony hastened his cast as he ran around, sweating more than a full day's hunt. He was firing Ice Spikes as he ran but he realised that Rowent’s spear of fire didn’t just fly off and dissipate; it was actually still within his range of control as the spear flew towards Ebony.

Rowent was no slouch of a mage that stood still. His feet were on fire as he chased after Ebony, on fire as in, flames were propelling his feet. He was melting all the snow in his path. Though he was still much slower than Ebony he somewhat kept up as he controlled the spear of fire to slow Ebony down.

The spear spun horizontally at Ebony’s neck as he quickly ducked and rolled. The spear didn’t stop there as it rotated in air and started piercing at Ebony. Not letting Ebony get up and run off. Ebony’s lousy attempts at Ice Spikes was just wasting his mana. He already shut off Icebody Enhancement so that he doesn’t take damage just by being near the spear.

He needed all the mana he could get and didn’t have to worry about overflowing mana since he was not full on mana anyway. His shield manifested in time to block a stab from above. The spear landed on the shield, Ebony somewhat expected it to just melt through his shield instantly but that didn’t happen.

Something worse happened, just like what would happen if you splashed water on a wall. The spear of flames spread out over the entire shield and engulfed it. The flames encroached the whole shield but was still under Rowent’s control as a thin needle of fire stabbed out and stopped short in between Ebony’s eye. Ebony raised both hands in surrender and Rowent dissipated his magic. Ebony’s shield was largely melted. The night darkened again with the withdrawal of flames.

“Haa..haa… y.. you..you elling bastard making me run like that. TRIPLE FREAKING CASTING ARE YOU KIDDING ME? TERRIBLE DISPLAY MY ASS, YOU SHOW OFF!” Rowent panted and panted but it didn’t stop him from shouting.

“My control, range and speed of casting is nowhere near how adept you were in controlling your flames.” Ebony replied honestly awed by Rowent’s mastery with manipulation. He could actually quadra cast but he wasn’t about to add oil onto fire.

“Haa..haa. You’re only 16 this year aren’t you? I’m already 29 this year, it took me 3 years of suffering from poverty before I even got my Class at 18. I trained my control for 5 years, heating up bath water at an inn as a job before freelancing at 23, Dina’s current age, for 4 years. Getting an offer to join Z&Z was only 2 years ago. 11 years. 11 years and I’m still at lvl 53 and just learnt how to double cast while you've had a Class for weeks, you’re already lvl 33 and you can triple cast.” Rowent said as he tried to catch his breath. He whispered something too softly at the end for Ebony to catch.

“Control and speed can be improved through training, my conditioning skill increases range and speed. I also heard that Wisdom also increases range a tiny bit but I’m not sure if that’s true.” Rowent explained.

He shooed Ebony away to Top as they rotated, Rowent and Ebony haven’t sparred with Top while Fergus and Chris haven’t spared with Dina. Rowent and Fergus sat out for a break and watched while the close ranged fighters sparred.