Ebony's Fable

Ebony got 5 levels in his Class, 10 in his Sub-Class and 6 in his Profession. Reaching 60, 42 and 52 respectively.

Excluding the 6 points to Wisdom he still had 100 unspent stat points. Ebony contemplated for 2 seconds. Then he slammed all 100 into Wisdom.

His current stats were more than enough for most monsters but he found himself lacking mana to train all his magic at the same time. Even though he had been getting more and more mana efficient with his skills and they cost less than stated by the skill it just wasn’t enough.

A topic that came up in conversation was that the level of elemental manipulation skill, Ice Mana Manipulation for example actually affects mana efficiency although it’s not stated. The tier 2 for manipulation type skill is mana control and would help further reduce mana costs. The degree of mana efficiency was just said to be too low to matter at low levels.

Ebony is betting people spent years to reach spell level requirement only because it took them so long to recover enough mana to practice magic. Outside of knowledge and spell creation.

Speaking of spell creation, Ebony believes he was close to getting a vibrational blade spell for sound magic.

When Chaotic Repulsive Membrane is on, he couldn’t vibrate the outer layer of gravity mana. Like the spell name suggests the gravity mana never stays in one place and is too messy to form a proper movement with it.

He could either cover his greatsword in a thin film of mana or use the ice mana he imbued into it. Ebony found it to have actual physical effects and to cut smoother already. Just a bit more before it turns into a skill.

As for his problem with speed, not just movement speed, he was thinking more towards gravity magic. Something like Magnified Gravity Field but the opposite and only working on himself. Chaotic Repulsive Membrane actually does repel gravity mana but not as well as other physical objects. Nonetheless, it helped increase his speed as his body feels lighter.

Ebony was still observing Scarlet’s masks and twin swords on how they reflect gravity mana or push gravity mana aside.

For movement speed, he could probably play around with Chaotic Repulsive Membrane. Like how he propels the things he tosses, he just needed to manipulate the spell well enough to repel his body off the ground. He just needed a good grip on the ground for it to work effectively.

He gained a few skill levels here and there but enough to make a big difference. Except for Frost Injection which got 10 whole levels.

After sparring with Scarlet who seems to have mostly gotten over her exhaustion from golem hunting, Ebony prepared his Layered Ice Carapace. It only took less than 3 hours for 1 full powered one now. Ebony prepared 3.

What used to be a short nap was now a full day’s sleep. His mana ores filled again.

Ebony didn’t forget to use the bathroom to clear his system. He hadn’t taken a dump for literal weeks and not peed for days. The increase in Constitution surely affected it and perhaps, the biological need for that would no longer be there after a few evolutions.

The party met at the Quest Hall where Ebony traded in all his ores again.

It was extremely crowded with a lot of people and parties Ebony hadn't seen around. The other parties’ relative strengths were much higher. Ebony only noticed the large number of people over level hundred after seeing them gathered like this.

Most of them probably established parties and not the lot that applied for a party like him. No wonder he didn’t see them in the duelling grounds when he met with his party.

The turtle shell near his back was large and thick enough to hinder people’s movement, together with his half filled bag hung on it.

Ryley was decked out in 3 quivers of arrows. Ebony could see different types but he wasn’t sure what the different types were. There were both wooden and metal arrows. He also carried a large bag like Ebony but it looked half empty.

Tuffock on the other hand had a fully packed bag that he seemed to struggle to carry. He should really invest in some physical stats. From what Ebony could see his Strength and Agility were only 3 to 5 times that of a normal unclassed human. Ebony couldn’t say much about Strength since he was also around 6 times his original stat of 5.

Hector looked ready to rumble and no sign of his previous injuries were on him. He had his helmet that didn't cover his face and line of sight. The set of armour was clean and polished again with no mud or dirt on it any more. His luggage was a leather knapsack on the smaller side.

Scarlet who was nowhere to be found earlier also arrived. She seemed no different from usual. While she didn’t look to be carrying anything other than her weapons, Ebony had long realised that she was carrying a bag like the old drawstring one that Halvis and Roya let him use for his game with his new senses. Just smaller and perhaps more delicate but he had never seen what it looked like since she carried it under her mantle.

Where did she keep all the food? The ones who had smaller luggage probably had bags that had expanded space in them.

Looking around, Ebony could really see that swords were not a popular weapon of choice.

Seeing Top, Chris, the loud bandit and Scarlet made Ebony think that swords were the main close range weapon of choice. He was obviously wrong. Other than [Warrior]s there were also [Axeman]s, a rare [Hammerman] who was a dwarf. A few carried halberds as well. The common point was that most carried thick heavy weapons

People were tapping their feet impatiently. Some started complaining to the staff, asking why they aren’t done with the preliminary checks yet. What was the point of asking the staff? It's not like they were out in the field.

“SILENCE!” A large man stood from the second floor and shouted.

The murmuring dulled down.

[Warrior Lvl 100]

The man was clad in a full plate of silver armour, minus the helmet. It was the first time Ebony had seen someone wearing full plate armour. The man looked not quite middle aged but not exactly very young either. He was a large and buff man.

Ebony had heard the whispers and found that the man shouting was the city lord. Baron Foil or something. Apparently, he had just taken over the role of baron from his father. His level was pretty damn low after all.

The people, especially those higher levelled parties weren’t happy with his attitude. They were higher level than the noble but no one voiced a loud complaint.

“I’ve just received the report from the dispatched dungeon clearer party. The details will be posted shortly, I declare the dungeon of Plainston named Ordina to be open!”

Ebony could hear the sentence even from outside the Quest Hall, it was probably announced to the whole city.

Deafening cheers resounded throughout the city.

It was honestly hard on the ears so Ebony silenced it out for himself with a bubble of mana that he forced still. He had been able to do it to silence his own music for others so it was easy to do. Seeing Scarlet annoyed by the noise too he extended it to her. She looked confused for a moment before looking at Ebony.

Hector was busy cheering along while Tuffock was nervously pulling his hood over his head. Ryley was also annoyed but it was obvious he was kinda excited for the dungeon run as well. It was likely all of their first time into a dungeon.

Some parties just up and left but others were looking at the details posted. Of course, only the first floor's details were posted.

Ordina 1st Floor:

Size Classification - Large

Environment - Plains/Grassland

Behaviour (Subject to change) - Very Aggressive

Mana density (Subject to change) - 2.1 MPC

Time Ratio - 1 : 1

Gravity Ratio - 2.8 : 1

There was some other info like the prevalent elemental mana in the dungeon but that was all about the same as where they were. It was supposedly very humid, perhaps due to the summer heat. There was sunlight in there but they were unconfirmed on the day and night cycle.

The unit for mana seems to be Mana Particle Concentration or MPC. It was useless information for Ebony and most people actually. He didn’t even know what the mana density was now.

Hector said it didn’t matter much since it would probably drop as the dungeon just got sealed or stabilised. According to his estimates the current mana density was 0.7 MPC so it was around 3 times denser in the first floor of Ordina.

There was nothing surprising about the time ratio. Since dungeons take in mana and essence from the surroundings when they are forming they tend to copy the natural environment of where they form.

The average time ratio for most dungeons was only around 0.8 to 1.2 of the normal time flow. The gravity ratio stunned many people though.

There were many reasons why a new dungeon was so popular. A large one, even more so. It was known that dungeons either shrink when sealed or gradually expand over a couple of years before stabilising in size. Whether it was because of the seal or just a normal behaviour of dungeons to expand many times over in a few years was debatable. This was the chance to shorten travel time and expedition length so it was a great opportunity to push for appropriate levels depending on party and monster levels.

Their party said little as they moved off towards the dungeon. It was about 1200km northeast or over 200 gors away. It shouldn’t take much longer than when they came back from Bubble Hills if they travelled fast.

Only Ebony would bother ‘wasting’ the energy and stamina to run at full speed to travel. The others would be exhausted before even fighting. Ebony carried Tuffock on one of his shields again. They were still one of the faster parties to arrive.

The dungeon entrance was not what Ebony expected. They were in the middle of an open grassland with a black screen about 30 or so metres in height and half as wide.

Ebony walked around, it was extremely thin with nothing different seeing it from the front or back.

He could tell the stone fence built around it was made by man and the ‘gate’ bordering the black screen was also made by people, mages.

Ebony imagined a cave or tall tower since it was called a dungeon tower but got a portal styled dungeon instead. It wasn’t disappointing though. They just had to have approved party composition and they were free to enter. At least they didn’t need a fee to enter a dungeon.

The sensation of passing through the black screen was…unsettling to say the least.

Ebony was just unsure if he even passed through the entrance as the view as he passed through was almost exactly the same. A wide open light yellowish green grassland. There was a sky, though no sun or clouds were in sight there was daylight.

There were a few minor differences.

People vomiting on the ground all over. Ryley was one of them. Tuffock seemed a little uneasy but was still okay. The other 3 of them were perfectly fine and normal.

The increase in weight. The force pulling their bodies down was heavy. The gravitational waves of gravity mana in Ebony’s senses even thicker. Ebony had Chaotic Repulsive Membrane on together with some relaxing bgm. His mana dropped by about 2 MP per minute, almost breaking even with his current regeneration.

It was hot. Humid.

Enough that Ebony would be sweating in a few moments.

The mana was denser but didn’t make much a difference to Ebony. It apparently causes spells to react differently though.

They said the dungeon behaviour was very aggressive but not a single monster was in sight. Perhaps the first party here cleared them all. There was no body or blood or sign of battle at all though.

Some archers who got their bearings together were shooting arrows into the distance. They probably had fantastic eyesight and Perception. Whether they were just trying to get their aim right with the increase in gravity or actually shooting at monsters was unknown to Ebony.

The people started to move away from the crowded entrance as they got used to the increase in gravity. Ebony still kept track of Scarlet’s mask and twin swords that seem to be unaffected by the increase in gravity.

“Ugh. How are all of you fine?”

“Haha Ryley, it’s common sense to wrap yourself in mana before going through a spatial gate like a dungeon’s.”

“Ye..yes, I heard of that too. It..it worked better than I tho…thought it would.”

Scarlet nodded to their comments.

‘What? Wrap myself in mana?’ Ebony did no such thing.

“What?! And you couldn’t tell me that earlier? Damn mages and hybrids! Ugh, the mana density here is high…”

“I thought everyone knew.” Hector replied as if a matter of fact.

Ryley's expression was indescribable but he had no time to argue. He was busy getting used to the mana density levels. The added weight from the increased gravity wasn’t all too bad when your strength stat was high. Just needed some getting used to.

They walked in a randomly picked direction. Ryley, who got over the vomiting, reported the monsters to have an average of level 80 which was surprisingly high for a new dungeon, especially for the first floor. It was already beyond everyone’s expectations.

The current plan was to search for the way up or down to the next level. They assumed it was up.

Downward dungeon towers tend to be underground cavern-like or maze-like, dark and enclosed spaces were not uncommon. Of course, that was only the general trend. Dungeon towers that go downwards also have wide open spaces or bright daylight. Dungeon towers that require climbing up also might have cave or maze-like floors. So there was no guarantee which type this was at the moment.

[Geoat Lvl 82]

“What is that?” Ebony was looking at a gazelle like monster with 2 long and thin horns but, its neck was all muscle with no skin or fur and so was its torso area. It had claws for hoofs and shorter limbs. A group of 7 of them stood ahead of them.

“Du..dungeon work. Merged monsters. I..I guess it's the plain’s gazelle mixed with some Rhoat elements and maybe something else.” Tuffock replied.

The moment the Geoat or whatever the heck it was saw them, it charged like no tomorrow. Without rhyme or reason.

Ryley showed his prowess by shooting a single arrow from the side that managed to cleanly punch through 2 of them through the chest area that wasn’t muscle. They dug through the ground a long way and didn’t stand up again. Presumably dead.

His rate of fire was a little slow but he still managed to land an arrow on another Geoat before they arrived near the party. It missed the mark and landed on its torso as the Geoat had its front half leap forward, stretching its muscled torso.

One of the 4 other Geoat stretched out its neck like a bullet shooting forward. Horns pointed out poised to shoot through Hector’s body.

Hector slammed his fists into each other before sidestepping with a burst of speed and punching the Geoat right on its face. Similar to how he deflected Scarlet’s sword in Ebony’s opinion.

The Geoat stood on twos as it clawed out with its front legs and screamed in rage.

Hector deftly punched the claws aside with his right hand and his left followed up with a hook to the jaws. The Geoat's neck limb snapped backwards before returning like nothing happened. Like the Rhoats, it didn’t seem to have bones in its neck or any part more Rhoat like than gazelle like.

Hector laughed and got to having a solo punch out with the Geoat.

Their fighting style was not so different from a Rhoat but with a set of hard and sharp horns with claws on their hoofs. Ebony had no trouble keeping up with them once Icebody Enhancement kicked in. He was eating into his mana pool with Chaotic Repulsive Membrane and a relaxing Battle Song on but it was of no concern. He didn’t think he needed a proper physical buff from Battle Song so he used it for the slightest increase in mana regeneration.

The muscle parts were weak to freezing and cold like Rhoats and Ebony took the Geoat that aimed for him.

Tuffock had the 2 large stone hands grabbing onto the neck of another Geoat. Strangling it didn’t seem to do much. Tuffock raised his staff a little and the stone hands lifted the poor thing up into the air as it tried to stretch out its lower body for his claws to kick at Tuffock.

Tuffock got to swinging the Geoat and smashing it into the ground. Over and over again. It only elicited rage filled screams but didn’t seem to do much damage.

One of the stone hands let go of its neck, back off a little and turned into a lance. Tuffock swung his staff forward, the lance propelled and pierced into the floating target. It wasn’t dead yet as the stone lance that stuck into the ground was manipulated to remove itself. Tuffock stabbed the lance at the Geoat again and again, the Geoat’s tough body and strong vitality extended its torture.

Ebony turned to look at Scarlet’s battle but there was none.

On the ground beside her was…

‘Hot damn.’

There were pieces of fur, a bunch of bones, a pile of organs, some cooked sliced meat that had smoke rising from it and a bundle of roast meat. It even smelled delicious.

“I thought dungeon meat was toxic?"

“Hmm? Oh. Habit.” Scarlet looked where Ebony was looking at and scratched her mask with a finger as if embarrassed. Unable to look straight at Ebony.

‘What kind of habit is that? She cooked the Geoat alive as she processed it? With her swords and fire magic? While fighting?’

“Woah! This dungeon is thirsty for blood, man.” Hector came back with bloodied fists.

Ryley dealt with the one that he didn’t kill with a single shot already.

“This is so unfair, none of you got dirtied.” Hector complained.

He was the only one fighting with his fist. Ebony could now let the blood, fat and all that sticky icky gore slide off him with his membrane. Wonderful.

Tuffock was one thing for not fighting in close combat but how did Scarlet not get any blood on her if she sliced the monster. Her swords didn’t get any mud on them from the golem hunt either.

Ebony watched as the dead bodies on the ground including the processed one dissolved into liquid goo and into the ground.

“N..noo. I..I forget to retrieve my stone” Tuffock softly exclaimed.

“This is one really thirsty dungeon. It’s retrieving whatever it can so quickly. It must still be unstable from the world’s seal, it should usually be unable to absorb foreign mana and matter by now. I mean, not at this ridiculous speed anyway.” Hector commented. Ebony saw some of Tuffock's stone pieces get absorbed into the ground as well.

“We..well. At least we can look forward to the raw materials produced by the dungeon.”

“Hahaha! Well said.”

Ebony was glad to see Ryley just as confused, it seems like only Ryley and Ebony were so clueless about dungeoning.

Apparently, dungeons have loot but equipment loot was just the dungeon picking up dead people’s equipment and putting them in chests to attract more people in them.

Dungeons are not able to absorb foreign matter after that black cylinder of light landed on them. Some say it’s due to the world sealing them that they lose the ability to do so. Though they would be able to change the equipment of dead people by adding their own elements into them. So some people said that the dungeon just chooses not to absorb the equipment but leave it to attract people.

Spells are deconstructed to mana and moved elsewhere to form other kinds of raw materials that also serve to attract people or monsters in. The dungeon can absorb a tiny bit of essence this way.

Spawned dungeon monsters are the eyes and ears of the dungeon. Each dungeon reacts differently to monsters being killed or whatnot. If the party killing them was too strong some dungeons might have monsters avoid the party to lose less. Some would send more monsters to get rid of the threat.

They are also the mouths of the dungeon used to devour dungeon delvers for essence and eventual growth.

It was pretty weird for dungeons to just collect the monster corpses like that. They usually leave it for dungeon delvers to eat or collect their parts. It was another form of attraction for people.

Basically, the more people that die in the dungeon the better. Better for the dungeon and also other people, since the loot gets better.

‘No wonder they don’t collect an entrance fee.’

The government also expects people to report deaths so that they can predict the growth of the dungeon. They might stop warriors from going in if too many of them died in there.

It seems like people dying here is always good for the economy.