Ebony's Fable

After the introduction, none of them wanted to stay for the team duelling with other parties.

Hector suggested going for a drink, only Scarlet declined. Hector seemed unexpectedly happy about that while Ryley almost declined to drink as well but changed his mind on second thought.

Ebony did like alcohol. The inns and taverns are open in the day even though only breakfast and dinner are proper meal times. People here drink during the day and have snacks too.

Beer, ale and mead were the most common with wine and hard liquor being stuff not really sold in small taverns and inns.

The best compliment Ebony could give to the beers he tried here was that it was horrible. The ales were decent at best, it was interesting to try. Mead was good and more expensive but too sweet for his liking. He would like to try the wine or other liquors when he got the chance to as well. Ebony knew there was wine made in Arcta too, Roya never let him touch those since he was considered underage to them.

They walked out the Quest Hall and Hector led the way to an establishment he recommended.

The city walls and many important buildings and structures were complete but the city itself was widely empty.

Many empty plots of land were getting filled up with construction material, wood, stone etc. There were many areas filled with tents.

The only reason the city walls were built so quickly was that the city management and government prioritised it and got conjurors to create and strengthen stone. The conjurors are mostly all the older and higher level mages. The young ones couldn’t conjure these materials and took building quests instead. There weren’t many young mages either.

With so many people coming into the city there were more people who didn’t have a roof over their head than those that had. Mostly the freelancers that flocked in. The noble in charge had given the notice and allowed people to lay out tents at certain unused areas. It usually wasn’t allowed.

There were plenty of workers and architects that could build houses in literal days but there was a lack of building materials. Every single day lines of caravans bring in food and construction materials.

The amount of food consumed a day skyrocketed and there was a lack there too. The monsters in the plains and nearby woods were basically almost wiped out. They even started sending people to start cutting the forest down for wood.

Rhoats were a common regional monster despite their usefulness as an ingredient they could easily be found in many forests, caves and such. Sadly for them, it meant no one was worried about wiping their population out.

Plainston also had difficulty getting food transported from the 3 great farm cities. Cities that Ebony was quite interested in visiting. The Empire dedicated 3 cities to solely farming and food production. The 3 cities were only smaller than the capital. Their overall land space was many times larger than any other city. They were all too far from Plainston and centralised so that food could be distributed to different parts of the continent that way.

All the greatest farmers and food produce comes from these 3 farms that are humongous according to Halvis and Roya. The 3 city lords are also the 3 greatest producers of all things foodstuff on the continent and have as much if not even more authority than nobles in their land.

Prices for food have been skyrocketing in Plainston and families have resorted to eating from their own stock till things die down and the freelancers get the hell out of their town or rather, city.

Less well to do freelancers hunt their own food if they even managed to find any game. If not they ate zee’s rations, the merchant company hardly raised their prices if at all but even they had limited stock.

Z&Z or zee’s had many escort parties but didn’t actually require them when the road here was crowded and pretty much cleared from monsters.

Hector brought them pretty far out, about half an hour walk. It was out of the range of the old town so, likely a newer establishment. Henry's Bar or so it says on the signboard. It was a quaint little store, Ebony could see space for a dozen round tables that can fit 5 with plenty of space in between tables.

“Old man, 4 of your best ales over here!” Hector called out as soon as they entered and took a random table since only 2 other tables had a couple of people drinking and chatting. It was still early morning and not exactly a peak hour for drinking.

The man at the counter was skinny with a full mustache and beard but it didn’t hide some of the wrinkles on his face. He was busy wiping a large wooden mug from a pile of them. Probably from the night before. Putting it down he got 4 mugs to the wooden barrel labelled Henry’s Fantastic Ale.

“The ale here is not too bad. To reintroduce myself, call me Hector. Wind, water, earth and fire enhancement mage, Sub-Class Regimental Fist, Profession Body Builder. Ah, you don’t have to share if you’re not comfortable with it, I just thought it would be better for us if we are aware of what each other can do.”

“Ryley, grandson of viscount Vigoureed. As I’ve said earlier, heavy archer and scout.”

“Tu, Tuffock Tile. S..Stone mage, no. no Sub-Class. Doctor but, skills are still low in level. Better to bring some of your own medical supplies.”

Ebony was pretty surprised that he had no Sub-Class yet despite being level 85 already. He didn’t have Appraise like Scarlet and Hector. More like most people only had Identify.

Ryley was also surprised to learn that he didn’t have a Sub-Class yet. It meant that all of them stopped his shot though not his strongest shot despite the advantage he had in level.

Hector didn’t say anything and continued smiling as he looked at each of them as they introduced themselves. He didn’t believe Tuffock’s lies for even a second nor did he call him out for it.

“Ebony, Ice Swordsman. Sound and gravity mage. Mana Meister.”

“Gravity mage?! Mana Meister? You’re trying to fool us right?” Ryley’s eye’s opened wide along with Tuffock’s surprise as well.

The owner or bartender brought the ale over.

“4 ales, it’s on your tab Hector.”

“Alright, thanks old man.”

Ebony used Magnified Gravity Field, pushing the range down to only their table. He was kinda embarrassed. It was too weak to even feel much of the effect if they weren’t sensitive to it. The original 250 mana per minute was halved by his efficiency and when range is brought down from the standardised 5 metres, the mana cost was acceptable.

He raised his hand to tet with Ryley, having Repulsive Body on all along. Ryley was confused since they already exchanged greetings earlier but he played along after Ebony’s silent insistence.

“What are you trying to do? Didn’t we already exchan… what.” Ryley quickly pulled his hand back when he felt the weird feeling coming from Ebony’s fingertips. The feeling was a little creepy honestly. It didn’t feel like wind was blowing against him more like he was pushed away, repelled though the force was weak.

“I just classed my Sub-Class 2 days ago.” Ebony was hoping he didn’t seem weak in front of his party members since he was already the lowest level.

The Stone mage not having a Sub-Class made him feel a little better. Hector’s classes were interesting, a full enhancement mage with multiple elements that buffs his sub class and not the other way around. A Body Builder Profession probably gave him Constitution but any other physical stat sounds possible too. It might have good passive skills too.

Hector was a little stunned that Ebony levelled to 30 in 2 days but it was not as impressive as it sound when his main class was already 50 and over so it was only an initial surprise. Gravity mages were rare but he had seen his own share and even got gravity resistance training along with a plethora of other resistances.

He wanted to know what Ebony did to make the noble who suddenly turned to being moderately bearable, surprised. Ebony obliged when he put his hand close too. The weak push when nothing was in between their almost touching hands made him tilt his head.

It was not the first time he saw a gravity mage nor was it the first time he witnessed or read about gravity magic. Whatever Ebony did was not gravity magic that he knew of. He never even heard of such a spell or anything similar.

Hector was wondering more on what fortifications Ebony got from being a Mana Meister. A lot of the artillery line up of mages in the Imperial army tried to get Mana Meister with a small percentage of them actually being one. Many or maybe all Elven mages or not kept the Profession blank till they can get Mana Meister so it was not a surprise.

With Ebony being a Meditative Class it made even more sense to be a Mana Meister. It was widely known that it was impossible to get 2 of the same fortifications even if the classes were similar in skill scope.

Hector read a lot but he could only guess at what fortifications Ebony had since almost no one was willing to share their fortifications with people.

“What can you do with sound magic?”

“...little.” to lighten his embarrassment though it wasn’t shown on his face Ebony played Enchanter, one of the tavern or bard music that he liked. He was in the mood, being in a tavern-like bar and all. He usually suppressed sound so that only he can hear it but sound magic had by far the largest range since he just had to increase the volume and mana vibrations will pass on in the air and surrounding mana as well.

They didn’t understand the language but seemed impressed by the song. The bartender looked over while other patrons were pleasantly surprised by the service.

“What is this tune called? I have never heard of it.”

“Enchanter.” Ebony replied Hector.

“There’s a strength enhancement?”

“You can tell? It’s probably less than a single stat point. I wanted to use mana compression to strengthen the buff but it doesn’t seem to work for some reason.” Ebony was impressed that he could tell.

“I can feel that you’re just letting the mana push into our bodies. Being sensitive to enhancement magic and all, sound magic is similar.”

“Ma.mana compression should work…” Tuffock said.

“Yeah, there are many bards who are sound mages. I heard it’s a common technique or skill to compress mana in their instruments before sending compressed enhancements to their allies. They're a welcome addition to many parties.” Hector said.

“My grandfather’s old party had a bardic cum sound mage. He shared some stuff about sound magic to his party which they told us a little about. I don’t know the specifics as I’m no mage but it should be something about sending compressed sound mana into your target.” Ryley constructively added after putting down the mug of ale with a single sip. Clearly not liking the ale.

“You are just using your mana to create sound and letting it move through and air mana aren’t you? Compressing your own mana obviously wouldn’t work if you don’t compress the mana that is absorbed or sent into your target.”

Hector replied with enough logic that Ebony felt stupid for just compressing the mana he manually vibrates but not letting them move away or into his body. Ebony usually just puts himself into a mana sphere like the Frost Mist Perception Sphere and uses it like a speaker vibrating and compressing the mana and letting sound travel by itself.

The ice mana that he absorbs from a Frost Mist Perception Sphere is usually pushed to Icebody Enhancement to conserve mana.

He never really tried just letting his compressed mana just seep into his body and not do anything with it. How was he so stupid not to know that the mana that he allowed to buff his body wasn’t exactly compressed?

His mana was being gently pushed towards the 4 people in his party including himself, the mana consumption being 4 times higher than usual. Even so, it hardly cost half as much as the stated 30 mana a minute or even 15 which included the mana efficiency.

One thing he found out was that he needed to adjust his Mana Vibrations when using compressed mana since the sound produced was slightly changed. It was lower and deeper.

Ebony started filling the area around their table with his mana. Compressing it as much as he could, Battle Song stopped for now. He regenerated quite a bit of his mana in the time they took to get to this bar and his regeneration still exceeds his output.

Based on Mana Compression’s skill level he can compress mana up to 235% more, with fortification it was 470% or 4.7 times more dense. Not yet visible to the naked eye but to a mage’s senses?

When the air was filled with Ebony’s mana, Hector and Tuffock already realised since the current ambient mana density was painfully low. Ebony closed his eyes and even shut his senses off for a bit. He needed to concentrate and hold the mana so that it didn’t disperse. He didn’t need to but it was his first time trying so he wanted to be in his best state.

When it was condensed by 1.5 times and still being denser, Tuffock started to get fidgety.

2 times and Tuffock seemed to be excited for some reason. Hector had a raised brow. Ryley noticed a weird feeling in the atmosphere too and it was getting uncomfortable

2.5 times and Tuffock put a hand to his head and another on the table preventing himself from falling onto it and started breathing and blinking faster. Ryley felt giddy, like something was getting into his head. His head felt like it was filled with mud. Hector, who was chugging on his ale like nobodies’ business, stopped drinking and a ‘ho?’’ slipped out of his mouth.

3 times and Tuffock had a nosebleed. Ryley noticed something wrong and moved away from the table in slow steps, shaking his head to clear it when he suddenly felt like his mind cleared when he got out of range. Not even a minute has passed since Ebony suddenly ignored them. Hector stopped drinking and his expression darkened but didn’t look like anything was wrong with him.

3.5 times. Tuffock fainted, Hector carried him out and left him on another chair with Ryley who was asking Hector what was happening. He was shushed by Hector. Hector returned to drinking as he contemplated in silence. He could somewhat guess what the profession’s fortification was.

4 times. Hector was no longer as composed. He tried to meditate but it always takes him time and effort to get into the state of meditation. The mana in the air kept distracting him. It wasn't like that during his high mana density exposure training. Hector wouldn’t even call this high mana density but there was something else in the mana that wasn’t just mana. Mana this thin shouldn’t affect him much.

4.5 times. Hector was feeling the reaction slowing effect. The world around him seems to have sped up a tiny bit when in fact he was thinking and processing thoughts slower. ‘What the? His mana is so…heavy.’

He was not unfamiliar with the feeling, there are many dangerous areas with higher than normal mana densities. The effect was extremely weak to him, he could completely ignore it since he had long adapted to this level of mana density but not so much to normal people.

The reason he couldn’t seem to be able to meditate was that it wasn’t just mana density that was disturbing him.

Dungeons obviously had different mana densities in them and even warriors and non-magical fighters should get adapted to it or they wouldn’t be able to move and fight like they usually do.

It was natural as the overflowing mana or wisdom of higher level magical or not monsters and mages was on a different scale. The natural mana density in some cities was a lot higher than normal.

Not many knew but, the city or town barrier had absorption capabilities. Even when not in operation the mana that people leaked out was absorbed though not exactly efficiently and most of the mana would be lost to the atmosphere or unabsorbed.

The Quest Hall’s underground duelling and private training grounds had similar technology. That’s the only reason why the duelling grounds were so cheap or even free to use. Private training rooms were tougher and had more functions so it costs to rent it.

4.7 times and Ebony started the Battle Song and opened his eyes and senses. Seeing that Tuffock and Ryley was not at the table confused him a little.

He felt his mana seeping into him and Hector, it went into their bodies. He tested his grip, it was still a small buff but there was definitely a huge improvement. He could easily keep the mana density around him high though the consumption increased a lot if he was extending Battle Song to other people. It didn't actually take as much effort and focus as he thought.

Maybe he should just extend a string of compressed mana instead of a dome or sphere of compressed mana to surround them next time.

“Thanks for telling me that. It was really helpful. Can you tell me more? About sound or gravity magic or just magic in general.” Ebony asked. He learnt some tricks and whatnot about ice magic and ice already felt completely natural to him.

There were only mentions of sound and gravity magic in the books that Clovis had. There weren't any spells or properties of those magics.

“Shouldn’t your teacher or master already have taught you? These should be pretty much basic to a sound or gravity mage.” Hector asked in confusion. If the Xengs were willing to save him and he was following one of them around, it wouldn't be too weird if they taught him some things.

“I learnt magic by myself and some knowledge from books and some friends.” Ebony was referring to Rowent and Fergus’s help. He didn’t talk to them about sound and gravity magic though.

“You taught yourself sound and gravity magic?”

“Yeah.”

“...No elling way.”

“Yes.” There was nothing Ebony could do if Hector didn’t believe him but his monotonous voice and tone always had its way of convincing people. Ebony was also an extremely good liar. He just rarely ever lies, he doesn’t even remember if he had told a lie.

Tuffock had woken up and they walked back to the table seeing Ebony talking to Hector with music in the air again. The weird sensation was not gone but they felt something on their skin. Others in the bar could hear the music but the compressed Battle Song using his mana to buff his party was only limited to them.

“What happened?” Ryley asked.

“Ebony increased the surrounding mana density. The 2 of you know that dungeons have higher mana densities don’t you? You should train and adapt to it. The Quest Hall here might not have one of these rooms that stimulate high mana densities though.”

“Can..can you help me train, Ebony? It would help when we go in as well.” Tuffock asked.

It was also useful to get them used to it so that they can get the buff but there was no real point in that due to Ebony short range and how weak the buff was even 4.7 times stronger.

“...I would like that as well.”

Ryley also knew common sense like dungeon mana density being higher but he never thought it would have such strong effects. He didn’t think it would matter and was expecting it to be the same as when they were out here.

Being the first to walk away earlier, he was now afraid that he would embarrass himself in front of Scarlet when they started dungeon diving or climbing. Dungeon towers always go either downwards or upwards, therefore the name dungeon tower.

Ebony thought he was showing his weakness of sound and gravity magic but he was actually standing out to be more and more impressive to all of them.

“If it’s for a few hours a day, no problem.”

After filling the surroundings with mana he could still train his other magic once he regenerated his mana back. He couldn’t just fill a room with mana and let them stay there while he walks away since the mana would dissipate.

According to Hector, the Quest Hall in Plainston didn’t have a room that could retain mana density levels.

There was actually a unit or gauge for mana density. Created who knows how long ago. Ebony wondered why no one told him something so useful.

Hector and Tuffock seemed to be the only ones aware. Maybe it was a mage thing but the Frost Elves, Rowent and Fergus didn’t tell him either.

The equipment used to measure it was too expensive but the Quest Hall should have such equipment. Mana density was one of the things they would measure when the first party goes into a new dungeon.

They continued drinking and chatting about all sorts of stuff starting from skills and spells. Hector getting more and more drunk, rowdier and rowdier. Ryley also drank some and appeared to have gotten over his disgust over the ale’s taste.

Tuffock controlled himself but was looking flushed.

Ebony facial expressions or mannerisms didn’t change at all. He felt that it was a pity but meditation made him so clear headed alcohol didn’t work so well on him. He would have to drink a ton to even feel some effects.

“So.. hic. What’s up with you and Scarlet huh? You applied for a party together didn’t you?” Hector muttered. Ebony didn’t realise that it was weird that Hector knew about it.

“... They. They came into the duelling grounds. Together. As well.” Tuffock shrugged to complete the sentence.

Ryley, who didn’t speak much either, was interested in the topic.

“You know Scarlet before this?”

“...”

‘I don’t like where this conversation is going.’