Ebony's Fable

“What is magic.” Rowent said rather than asked. Top, Fergus and Ebony sitting around the campfire to watch the soup boil.

“There are technically infinite types of magic. Mana forms the world and everything boils down to mana. To be considered the most base form of magic would be to manipulate the said mana. Manipulating fire mana is fire magic, ice mana would be ice magic. Why can some perceive different elements of mana while others don’t? Everyone has different levels of… attune-ness to different elements. Affinity perhaps. Race plays quite a role in determining this affinity with different elements.” Rowent went on explaining.

Top could apparently use water magic but he was no expert according to the lizardman himself.

“Elves in general are more attuned towards more common natural elements in nature. Air, water, earth, wood and so on but not limited to. Dwarves tend to be able to perceive metal, earth and fire. Beastman and humans are more out there and other than the most common 4, water, fire, earth and air which is almost everywhere and their derivative elements. They always have a certain few that have affinity as Rowent calls it, to other rare elements. Ice for example is uncommon amongst humans. Since ice mana doesn’t naturally exist in many areas ice mages are a little more rare.” Fergus continued on.

“Logically speaking as long as one can perceive the mana, manipulate it with your own and turn that to actually manipulating that element they can learn any type of magic. If you’re trying to learn new magic your first step is really just to try feeling out another type of mana.” Rowent said.

“...what about body enhancement magic? There is no body enhancement mana is there?” Ebony asked and Top was interested too.

“Body Enhancement magic is arcane in nature. There are also many other types of magic like body enhancement magic that uses just your mana alone to bring out different effects. Body enhancement magic is fundamentally reinforcing one’s body with their own mana based on the inherent properties of pure mana itself. The fabled healing magic is also said to be arcane in nature. Now that you mention, I guess you can consider arcane type magic to be the most common and one that everyone can use since many high level combatants even and actually especially warriors pick up body enhancement magic sooner or later.”

“What other types of arcane type magic are there? I would like to try to see if I can perceive it like you say.” Ebony asked. Since he was planning to get a magic type or mage type Sub-Class, he needed to learn another type of magic. Any other ice magic he learns now would just get placed under his Class.

“Hmm…I’m not really sure. What do you say, Fergus?” Rowent asked the Elven archer.

“It's hard to say. Body enhancement and healing magic would be the most common examples I can think of. The key point of arcane natured magic is using the inherent qualities and properties of mana to produce different effects. It brings me the question if healing magic is really arcane. In a sense, every being is capable of arcane magic as long as they can use their own mana to a certain extent. Yet, healers are oh so rare that only cities have them and only because the Empire dispatches at least one to each city. And even that is because the Life Queen opened a school in the Capital to teach healing magic. For free.” Fergus gave his opinions.

The Life Queen was actually the current queen of the Empire and also the greatest healer in all of their continents’ history. The current king was just as much a hero as the queen in how many lives they protected and saved. He was supposedly the strongest barrier mage and every town and city’s barriers are produced by him or the royal family. Casualties and destroyed towns and cities from dungeon breaks or monster hoards are at an all time low the past century or so.

“So as long as I can use my mana to produce certain effects without altering their properties to other elements’ it’ll be considered another type of magic.” Ebony asked.

“Well… yeah I guess. Wait, you can alter your mana’s properties already? Please, please don’t tell me you’re a conjurer!” Rowent desperately begged.

“Ha ha, wow that would make you a second order mage under the mage association’s classification. Andel got us to ask if you were planning to buy ice mana ores to cast magic but it seems unnecessary now.” Fergus laughed.

All mages can be considered to be part of the mage association. A first order mage is able to cast magic by manipulating said element and can cast a single spell. Warriors who can use body enhancement magic don’t count as mages.

A second order mage needs to be able to conjure the element with their own mana and not just manipulate the surrounding mana and be able to double or triple cast. Rowent just got recognised as second order mage a year or two ago. Considered a very talented mage amongst humans based on his young age and it won’t be long before he, Fergus and Top be transferred to a bigger branch. Chris and Dina were younger at 25 and 23, still considered new and inexperienced in the Z&Z company’s standards.

Levels and skill tiers don’t matter in their classification. You can be level 200 but still be considered a first order mage if you can’t conjure and double cast. Only second order mages and above are actually considered actual mages by the bulk of them.

Third order mages are few and far between. They are said to be able to influence any mana of their element with their thoughts or words within their range. They should at least be able to quadra cast too. To put that into perspective if someone cast a fireball at a third order fire mage they would be able to stop it, take over control over it or just outright dispel the fireball as long as the fireball wasn’t cast by an equally strong or stronger third order mage.

The Intelligence stat supposedly affects one’s control over their own mana too so lvl 200 third order mages aren’t necessarily able to dispel a level 250 second order mage’s spell. They might be able to stop or slow the spell, redirect the spell a little and exert different levels of control over another mage's magic.

There were apparently fourth order mages but they didn’t bother sharing what fourth order mages could do. They might not know themselves.

Moving on to their individual training after another spar. Ebony's Profession skills continue to rise through the levels. His Class remained the same level but he did get a level or two in his skills, Layered Ice Carapace and Icebody Enhancement improving the most.

During his watch with Dina, she offered to spar again which Ebony obliged. This time she used both the wired throwing knives and dagger wielding. Quite the menace she was, Ebony’s single layered shield got sliced in half without so much as slowing down the wires. Blocking with his ice mana imbued greatsword let the wires coil up his sword which Dina pulled hard. Ebony didn’t let go and let himself get pulled forward, pulling his own lower body forward into a flying side kick.

She tried to stab Ebony’s foot but two icicles flew at her from different directions, she cut both down but resorted to dodging the kick without enough time to counter. Her wires were frozen and stuck to Ebony’s blade. She only used 1, perhaps to go easy on Ebony. Ebony skidded to a stop and quickly tugged back hard with his greatsword like a fishing rod.

It was like pulling a rope stuck to the wall and Dina didn’t budge. He dashed forward as Ice Spikes continued being formed and shot at times where she least expected. A two-handed power stab stopped just short of reaching Dina. Not because he was holding his blow back but because he didn’t realise where another wire coiled around his blade and was holding it back from reaching Dina.

The wire reached out from behind him, seeing the shine from where his Frost Injection was moving towards. It was connected to a thicker tree branch and Dina showed that she was pulling on something. He didn’t see when she threw out another throwing knife or when it managed to entangle his sword to a tree.

Dina got Ebony to remove the ice before her wires got significantly damaged.

Back to rest, Ebony kept thinking of different types of magic he read about from web novels as he hummed a soft lullaby so as not to disturb the others’ sleep. One of the things he was asked to get was an Elemental Sensitivity Potion or Pill. It will increase his ability to perceive different types of mana present and from there he could try to manipulate it and learn another type of magic. Enhancing the value of being a Mana Meister.

They were sold by the mage association and were the to go to when most wanted to be a mage. It was an almost miraculous item in mosts' eyes. In a world where so many believe talent to be a deciding factor this potion or pill allows one to circumvent it somewhat. Some nobles even rely on constant use of it to learn rarer and more obscure magic.

Ebony was pleasantly surprised to hear that as a second order mage he has some benefits from the association. One of them being a discount to things sold by them.

Still, Ebony was getting bored of doing almost nothing during the trip other than training his Mana Meister skills. Yet, he can’t think of any magic that is arcane in nature. Different novels have different explanations after all. Some say lightning was arcane, some say lightning was a derivative of air or wind.

Thinking back on the properties of mana that Roya taught him, he’ll have to move in that direction. Other than ice mana he really doesn’t think he can perceive any other. When he deeply meditates it seems like there is another type of mana all around him at all times but it was imaginary at best.

Pure mana was inert. Its normal state is similar to gaseous elements like air or fire. The mana in the air, not air mana but just pure mana, in Hoarfrost glade was said to be denser and it was also what hindered the low level escorts to feel Ebony’s mana above his head since his own mana was less dense or just as dense at the moment.

Compress it enough and it would have some liquid-like properties, some of its other properties change a little too. Compress it even further and you can technically make your own mana ore.

Mana ores are not exactly ores, they are not minerals or gems but like what Identify tells him it was just solidified mana. When mana is dense enough to solidify it gains a weird property, that its solid form doesn’t disappear immediately when its mana is used up. It basically turned into a rechargeable battery. The inferior ones, or Blacks can be emptied out and recharged up to 5 times before dissolving into nothing.

Ebony couldn’t come up with any ideas on what mana can do that isn’t elemental. Body enhancement magic was reinforcing one’s body with mana itself, his version being using ice mana instead. But what else can he do with pure mana that wouldn’t be considered mana manipulation skills like his Mana Meister skills? Moving it, shaping it, condensing it were all just manipulating mana not bringing any sort of physical effects.

Ebony was going to give up and go to sleep after waking the next shift up but stopped himself as his lullaby echoed in his head. ‘What about sound?’ Ebony thought.

Since there was an infinite number of magic, sound magic should be a type of magic too. But what was sound? Just vibrations aren’t they? He tried just making his mana spheres vibrate but it obviously didn’t work. First of all, it was just manipulating his mana as he also did. Second, it wasn’t like he was hearing any sounds from his mana in this dark and quiet forest.

Time passed with Ebony failing through the night.

“We should be out of Hoarfrost Glade before night falls.” Andel estimated. Ebony could feel it getting warmer already.

“Gahh that means uneven hills for days after that, my poor butt can’t take it.” Fergus complained. A stretch of short hills apparently divided Hoarfrost Glade from Imperial lands.

“If you’re taking the front, watch out for attacks.” Chris told Ebony. Monster attacks seem to be more frequent in the range of hills.

“Not just from monsters. Report any suspicious movements.” Top added.

“Yeah, roadside thugs or some of the more well informed bandits always seem to know where we’ll be and wait out to ambush us. The merchandise from Arcta is quite valuable since it's one of the few sources for ice elemental items and materials in the surrounding towns and cities. The number one priority will be the Thoya’s mage robes. We’ll debrief some edited strategies tonight with Ebony now coming along.” Andel said.

Their movement and route to Arcta was kept secret but it never hurts to be careful.

““Yes Boss.”” they called out.

Back on the move, Ebony asked Rowent’s and Fergus’s opinions on whether sound magic was viable or if it was considered arcane in nature.

“Good question. Now that you mention it is kinda weird how many bards end up learning sound magic like a rare few doctors learning healing magic to become a healer. I never thought about it much but it would make sense. I always thought they were just pushing mana into their instruments as they play music. I would presume it counts as arcane and we should all be able to learn it. Do you play an instrument?”

“I dabbled in some. It's okay, I don't need an instrument to test if it's possible.” Ebony replied but was a little shy to just start humming here.

Ebony tried to move some mana to his throat or vocal cord as he hummed some motivational training montage music. He was going about it wrong since he didn’t get any sound magic or sound mana manipulation after a long time.

Seems like he would really have to manipulate sound to get sound mana manipulation. Rowent didn’t seem to know the concept of sound just being vibrations through the air heard by people.

A strix dropped down and landed on Ebony’s lap as he was sitting out front. He didn’t react since he knew it was dead already.

“Aww can’t you at least act scared or something?” Fergus called out from the second wagon.

“I told you so now gimme that Black.” Rowent said and Chris nodded along. They were betting on whether Ebony's facial expression would change…

Ebony hasn’t seen Fergus use a single arrow from his quiver. The strix was bloodless, it was strangled to death by Fergus arrows of wind. Ebony had seen the skill on the previous day's hunt. Fergus would let loose an invisible arrow, the birds or rabbits neck would twist harder and harder as they struggled against the now rope of wind trying to twist their necks off.

It was supposedly a very weak skill only good against monsters much lower level than himself since he needed to concentrate a lot, it was not feasible in an actual fight.

Ebony focused on vibrating mana itself when he hummed, not too different to when he first tried to combust ice mana.

The day went peacefully without hailing again and night came when they thanked Enya for her help again and said their goodbyes. Ebony asked her to thank Roya and Halvis for him again.

‘Finally another colour.’ Ebony thought as he saw green in the distance. It was white, grey, white, brown, white, blue, white everywhere in Hoarfrost Glade. Red was only his blood and his preys’, there were also the maples he saw when he just arrived but only the lowest rarity ones were red.

They set up a campfire and started preparing dinner. Fergus was almost always the winner for the hunts, but he still helped anyway.

“Okay, we probably won’t come across any thieves or bandits tomorrow but the chances are higher on the second and third day.” Andel started.

“Yes. Likely, they seem to be getting more active recently. It wouldn’t surprise me if a few thief groups from the surrounding towns have made the Bubble Hills their home.” Top added.

Bubble Hills was the name of the hill range past Hoarfrost Glade, named after how the hills look like bubbles formed when water boils. The winding paths of the hill range were what dissuaded Ebony from going travelling himself, it was easy to get lost.

“We should not have to worry about individual thieves since they wouldn’t dare attack our company’s caravan when they know every one of our caravans has an elite escort group. Unless they are very strong and confident to take us down. In case of such individuals, we’ll mark them with the company's stainer and give up the goods. Well, no strong individual dares to rob us anyway so it’ll unlikely happen.” Andel briefed. The confidence in the largest company’s influence was real, their caravan marked with their logo.

“Small groups of thieves numbering 3-5 around our levels we fight, capture if possible, kill if not. Ebony you can give support with your projectiles but you’re not allowed to join the battle if any. Use your shields and run if needed, but try not to gain their attention to begin with. With your speed perhaps only runners or rogues at your level can chase you.

Larger groups from 5-20 should not have many of our level in this corner of the continent so we’ll fight and react accordingly, only leave capture for those with bounties in this case. We wouldn’t have the option of letting them live in a messy fight. In this case, Ebony can go ahead and help pick off the weaker members of the group, thugs around here are hardly even close to your skill. Capture only if the situation allows.

Any group larger than 20 we run as Fergus, Rowent and Ebony would keep them at a distance. Chris, Dina and I would hold off any leaders or those that passed through with enough persistence. Wattel, Larry and Grey we might need you to push the rams harder if this happens. The 3 on the wagons will be on protection duty for them as well, look out for arrows or rocks. I would bet my tail there wouldn’t be a mage but just be cautious.” Top gave the outline of the dos when attacked. Everyone nodded in agreement since it was nothing complicated.

They were convinced an attack was going to happen.

‘Oh man, I finished my frost plums already.’ Ebony nonchalantly thought.