Ebony's Fable

“Can’t believe this…this nonsense mandate is still in effect here?” Kong Jing clicked her tongue watching Ning Xin still asleep, knocked out by the constant mana drain.

Ebony didn’t ask where they were, it was pure white like he was told and could only see the people present. “You can see us.”

“Duh, it’s not that hard. I just have to whip a pseudo-omniscence potion up. I kinda whiffed on the ingredients and used runes to fake its effect so it won’t last.” The full-time crafter, part time alchemist rolled her eyes.

“You look translucent.”

“You’re in my mask, the me you see is just an illusion. My real body’s still outside. Gotta see who’s stalking my siblings so hard.”

“Be careful.”

“Just someone that doesn’t even dare to come into the city. Don’t worry, let your big sister protect you.”

“...” It was a pity that they weren’t reliable enough to protect the crafter who was conveniently a space mage.

‘We haven’t caught up to her yet.’

“They ran away, I couldn’t even see what they looked like. Stick around, I’ll let you out when your mana drain disappears.”

It didn’t take long before he got a report about their stalkers outside the city, so far away he couldn’t see them.

“The mana drain weakened.”

“Then wait here and call me when it’s gone.”

Ebony had nothing better to do than be obedient. The white space or privacy screen prevented him from seeing what was around them. Meditating the time away was pretty easy.

“Can you show us outside? I think the Emperor is doing his parade walk now.” Ebony opened his eyes when an entire night passed. Ning Xin woke up in the meantime and was tying meat up in a roll and putting them in bags of marinade.

“What’s so interesting about some random man walking down the street?”

“Just joining in on the fun of what the fuss is about.”

“Let me find where--found it, just watch from there.” A holographic screen popped up in front of them to see a busy street packed with people on both sides.

A row of earth and stone mages was walking behind the giant of a man, fixing the floor as he walked on the road and waved to the public.

“Oh wow, those statues of him are life-sized? He’s practically a small Troll, shorter but wider. Is he human?” Ebony knew what the Emperor looked like but he didn’t expect the creature to tower over humans at 2.6 metres tall but he looked even wider. Yet, he somehow didn’t appear like a ball as the thick muscles on him were well-defined and packed tight.

Emperor Oplot didn’t wear a shirt, he had a massive great shield on his back that covered his entire body from head to toe. Under the shield was a rod that was 3 metres long. Every step he took dug into the stone floor and the earth underneath.

‘I can only use sight to guess but…that mass is impressive if he’s only casually walking and not using any skills. Even at my most compressed state, my weight and mass aren’t enough to sink into Tidal’s roads.

The math doesn’t check out. Based on my estimate after testing a road tile, the paved road should have tensile strength about 6 or 7 times that of Earth’s asphalt road. About 20 megapascals, while the area of his feet is somewhere around 0.4 to 0.5 meters square. Pressure equals force over area, so roughly 9 million newtons of force. The gravity in Central is less than twice that of Earth, magically enough considering it’s way more than twice as big. But that would still mean he weighs over 450,000kg at minimum. Nonsense. That’s like the weight of a commercial aircraft compressed into a human body.

I don’t believe my math for once, I need to be out there to check his gravitational signature. The logical assumption is that he’s using an active skill but it doesn’t feel like it. Maybe that shield?’

Instead of assuming, Ebony just asked the camera women.

“Is he heavy or is that shield heavy? Do you think a shield can weigh 90 tovs?”

“Of course it can, there are plenty of materials that dense. That shield is made of an Ancient ranked Singularity Meteor, a very special star. It was crafted by one of my uncles. But that particular shield only weighs 8.2 tovs.”

‘That’s still 41,000 kg. Icicle is currently sitting around 5.5 tons or 5500kg and it has already peaked, no longer getting heavier or harder. Only its recovery speed is still growing a little. It’s a pity but I’ve been breaking and chipping it a lot, it can’t keep up with me if I don’t get new materials for it to be reforged.’

“So the person is the one that’s really heavy, assuming he’s not using any skills.”

“Yes, he’s the heavy one. I don’t see any equipment or luggage on him that would suggest otherwise.”

‘My calculation can be off by a huge factor since I didn’t account for how deep he’s sinking with each step, he might even weigh millions of kilograms. A physique and a bunch of other passives, maybe fortifications. Just his mass can kill most people, like the Berg Mammoths. Oh well, maybe he’s carrying an extremely full spatial bag, no point thinking so much about a broken floor.’

By nightfall that day, the two of them were released from their hiding spot.

“Hey, we heard about your stalker and the presence of that other worlder who activates the odd mandate.” Hector was in his living room again, to check on them because they didn’t show up at the parade. Hector was used to not wearing shoes in the house. He was used to not wearing shoes anywhere after his time on Tova. Hence, Ebony gave him a hot towel to wipe his feet.

Kong Jing must have told him about their situation.

“So, know anything about them?”

“I haven’t heard anything about the stalkers but I do know about mandates, it's an old school of magic but no race uses it. It just appears in some historical excerpts but damn, it sounds really strong.”

“What about the other worlders?”

“Mal is checking which specific one you’re talking about. She directly asked Uncle Oplot to check with the Guardian Knights records but we don’t find a match at the moment. There’s a good chance they directly trespassed with the use of space magic instead of going through Lacuna the world dungeon.”

“That means,” Ning Xin tilted her head wishing Hector would get to the point.

“Bad news. Strong, rich or both. Usually, these people throw their weight around thinking our world is underdeveloped as we’re not well connected with other worlds. Thankfully, we have more to show nowadays be it technological or alchemical. The ones that come through peacefully still make fun of the fact that we don’t speak the common language. At least that's what Mal tells me, I don’t deal with politics.”

“Common language, Gia?” Ebony asked, he should’ve known better about who to ask.

“You know it?” The Prince didn’t casually ask while making himself comfortable in their living room.

“I know what it’s called but I’m still figuring the language out. Can you get some reference books for me?”

“I’ll ask Mal if she has any.”

“When are we leaving?” Ning Xin asked while serving up a simple fried rice.

“In two days, Lucas is escorting the Elven Matriarch.”

“Like The Matriarch?” Ebony knew that both the Elves and the Frost Elves had their leaders, caring not for the Empire’s Royalty.

“Yes, the strongest mage of Elcra. They’re even calling their ancestors over, I have been left out of the loop so I don’t know much more but I do know that they are taking these ants seriously. It's not so easy to travel across worlds. If we’re lucky, the Elves can call their family and get the ants to go away.”

“From what I’ve been hearing, I believe planets would be more accurate.” Ebony realised that Elva does indeed have protection.

“Whatever. Can you tell me what the ells is that tree outside now?” Hector rudely pointed the spoon outside after licking a mouthful clean. Unlike Ebony, the rest of the people in his house cared little for the terms used and thought the same of worlds and planets.

“She’s Dusk. My Domain.”

“Wait what?” He sat up faster than a bullet.

“You heard me. Don’t rip our sofa.” Ebony was too late as a grip mark on his sofa was permanently marked.

“Bu-did you get permission?” The Prince looked embarrassed and made a silent apology.

“Permission for what.” Ebony relished in the fried rice that was just a late-morning snack.

“Setting up a domain here.”

“I need permission for that? From who. For what.”

“The Royal family and nobles don’t care, the only ones that care are the Elves. Do you see the forest in the city? That’s their domain. We don’t understand what that is except for a few statements from past and current human domain mages but it's something to do with territory and exerting control over an area.”

“That’s pretty much it. I see, so this place is already booked. Thanks for telling me in advance, no one came to stop me yet so it shouldn’t be too late to take it away.”

“Ta-take it away? You can do that?”

“It's no different from my domain skill.”

“Not just a strong area of effect?”

“...we’ve gotten out of touch. I’m a beginner domain mage, still figuring things out so don’t ask me about anything too specific. I can’t answer you any better than the statements you have.”

“At least tell me how this territory thing works.”

“From my understanding, Will can be imbued into an object, perhaps land can be considered an object. I don’t know how the Elves do it but mine is Dusk. I have a feeling it's more stable if the object is firstly, big enough to handle the caster’s Will. Secondly, the stronger the domain, the less mobile it is since it requires a bigger frame or container for Will. This is a recent discovery but Dusk has a wider range of mental…mana control and sense than I do. I suspect it’s because it technically carries a larger capacity of Will than I do. Thirdly, its form needs to be compatible with the caster’s Will. Lastly, it’s not just a demarcation of territory, it's a massive advantage for every mage. I don’t think I have to go into specifics of what a domain can do.”

“Yeah, I know the last part. Excluding individual effects based on the domain mage, the common points are massive pains in the butts. To differing degrees, everyone else within someone else's domain has more difficulty casting any form of magic, and manipulating mana becomes harder. For elements, a domain mage practically rules over their personal elements. It would take another mage of a far greater affinity and calibre to wield the same elements at the same effectiveness. And of course, all of the domain mage’s spells are greatly enhanced.”

“Generally.”

“What happens when two domains meet?”

“Too advanced for me, but they probably fight for dominance over that space. Maybe both domains weaken each other, maybe they don’t interfere with each other. I don’t know.”

“Well, don’t try to find out. I don’t want you to be wrapped up with the Elves. When it comes to territory or their rights and demands, they’re not the most polite.”

“Understandably so.” He replied thinking about the benefits of being within the range of Dusk. She was technically a pool of my mana stocked up for use

“I guess they’re just cowardly.” Ning Xin added. With her hair beginning to turn red at the tips since she woke up, her entire aura began to change as well. Her mood was bad, in a different way from Ebony's.

“Let’s just go first. Is Commander Wil free?” He let the woman of the house do the washing while he checked his bag for food stock.

“Go ahead? Ell. It’s my break.” Hector complained but was already dialling someone on his bracelet.

“We can just go slowly, you said it takes two to three days of travel.”

“Fine! Hello Wilson, Ebony here is asking to push the schedule ahead.”

“Ah? Sure, let me get my booze first! I’ll come over when I’m ready. His house or yours?”

Hector looked towards Ebony who nodded. “His. We’ll be packing, I gotta deal with a nosy princess too.”

“You can just tell us the direction, no need to cut your break short.” Ebony realistically answered.

“Bah, I got bored. None of my friends are around and I’m just not feeling in the zone with chicks.” Hector jumped onto his sofa once again

“Because of that archer girl right?” Ning Xin commented.

“What are you talking about?”

“You know, the orphans who partied up together with their caretaker and used the same last name. The caretaker. You were practically entranced by her. Tracy Velas I think was her name.” The lady blabbed on for once.

“Nonsense, I barely remember her. We just passed by each other in Ordina. Are you throwing assumptions around to divert my attention from you huh? So what’s going on with you two, you gotta be married and I missed your wedding didn’t I?”

“In the middle of preparation so you didn’t miss anything.” Ebony replied the lazy bum who made himself at home. Ebony could see why it looked that way to most people.

“What?”

He caught the flying plate without looking.

“I see, I won’t miss it.” Hector turned back and got the television playing.

“Mmm.” I placed the plate on the dish rack over the tall lady’s shoulders.

“What?” She repeated herself as if to make herself clear.

Ebony walked out to their trailer parked outside to rearrange his rations and also to take inventory. He ignored the third call that demanded an answer to his satisfaction. ‘That was nice payback for the harassment that she’s acting as if she doesn't remember.’

“Hey! What were you saying earlier?” She ran in to pester him.

“Take this, and this. Can you help me check if any of the packaging broke? I don’t want to carry around mouldy rations.” Ebony handed her the packs of souper bread and meat jerky that sat at the bottom of his bag.

Ebony swatted her attention to the food inventory with seriousness.