Ebony's Fable

It was more and more apparent that they were not the first party to reach the second floor. They did find signs of battles as they carried on. Fallen trees, deep gouges in the earth, blood. The dungeon not repairing the damage instantly.

They got closer and closer to the pillar. It was grey in colour and rose all the way to ‘sky’. Ebony didn’t exactly see the ceiling so it was hard to say if there was a fake ceiling.

They didn’t actively look for monsters to hunt but that didn’t stop them from coming for their party. Receiving two groups of attacks from 5 gale leopard riding kobolds and a swarm of over 20 forest weavers. Still, it was not enough for a level for any of them.

Hector kept complaining about how Scarlet and Ebony could come out clean from blood and fat. He started to use air manipulation to push the blood away but with his method of punching monsters to death it was not easy to keep himself blood free. His ‘super panch’ blows everything away but it wasn’t like he uses it all the time.

It was a pretty interesting skill. While Ebony couldn’t copy Scarlet’s twin longsword style, he thought it was possible to copy Hector’s. He would punch out at a spot less than a millimetre away from his target, pull back his fist and punch just almost at the same spot but unnoticeably further away from the target. Doing it extremely quickly merges the forces of multiple punches to land at the same time.

Ebony realised Hector was only able to use it in his fastest and strongest enhanced state. Merging 5 punches in one was the strongest punch Ebony had seen him use. Ebony had his Vibrational senses to thank for being able to notice it. With 1 or 2 body enhancements Hector ‘normal’ attacks were 2, maybe 3 merged punches. It was not a 1 + 1 = 2 kinda skill.

The difficulty of merging the forces of multiple blows to land at the same time basically increases exponentially with the number of blows. The power of the merged forces was also a lot more than the number of blows suggests.

Hector’s footwork or movement skill was similar but not exactly a merging of multiple forces, hence the short but intense bursts of speed.

Sonic Overlay - Induce high frequency vibrations onto an entity directly or indirectly, predominantly used on sharp weapons to increase its cutting edge. Frequency increases by 1.0% per level.

Consumes MP

Classification: Sound Magic

The skill Ebony just acquired in the last fight. The explanation was iffy. The ‘directly or indirectly’ part should be referring to how Ebony was swapping between vibrating the greatsword itself, the layer of ice mana or pure mana that he plastered onto the greatsword. The best so far was directly. There was no point doing it to his ice mana when it was constantly being injected into his foes as he landed attack after attack.

If Ebony had to put a number to it, it was 20,000 hertz or cycles per second, that was the number that was considered ultrasonic on Earth anyway.

It doesn’t scale with Intelligence despite being considered sound magic. Odd.

Its effects are fully physical so, maybe it wasn’t that odd. It wasn’t like he used his mana to directly attack his foes, so the effect of Intelligence was not carried onto the skill.

Currently, Ebony’s blade would have the repulsive membrane ‘cut’ or come into contact first. He made the pushing force of the membrane as sharp as possible. Going through the pushing force, there would be the icy layer chilling anything it touches. Then the high frequency blade would help cut and slash into his opponents.

The interesting thing he observed was how the membrane which was right over his skin, clothes or greatsword was interacting with objects touching him. The webs that shot past his membrane attached to his skin without much problem. The area where the membrane was still working, the webs just stretched and stretched without breaking apart. Ebony might want to collect some of the webs like Dina, to experiment with it.

The remarkable part was how the ice mana that Ebony lets touch the membrane was propelled outwards. That was to say the Chaotic Repulsive Membrane helped push ice mana away from his blade, further and deeper into the body of whatever Ebony cut into. If he allowed it.

It is more effective than it sounded. A good strike at a joint or anywhere important was enough to incapacitate a whole limb or more. With the amount of ice mana he injects anyway.

They stood in front of the massive pillar. Tower may be a more accurate term. It was dozens of metres wide in diameter and of unknown height. There was an entrance or doorway that led inside. Stairs again. It spiralled all the way up.

“It…it’s made of stone.”

“Does it really matter what it’s made of?” Ryley replied in irritation.

“What’s with you? The mana getting to ya? You’d sha stop and adjust then. It’ll likely only get denser as we go up. Don’t want ya to faint on us mid battle.”

“Piss off! I’ve already adjusted to the mana concentration. Let’s just move on.”

And so they did.

The spiral stairs would have been dizzying to look at for most if they looked up for too long.

Ryley walked in front. The stairs were wide enough for three of them to climb up side by side with space to spare but they walked in a single file.

“Wa..wait. Tr..trap.”

“...I know. Skip those 2 steps. Just follow my footsteps.” Ryley said without turning back.

Ebony couldn’t see anything different with the steps of the stairs since nothing was moving, his senses didn’t feel anything out of place either. Tuffock probably felt it with his stone mana perception or the like.

Ryley was a self proclaimed scout so maybe he had a trap spotting skill.

Whatever Ryley missed, Tuffock pointed out. They got up without setting any traps off. To Ebony, it just felt like they were messing with him and there weren't any traps at all. They climbed onto flat ground, the stairs they just climbed were in a hole on the ground.

“Whoopie. A mountain range.” Ebony couldn’t have sounded more dead but there was no difference from his usual tone.

Like he said, the third floor was a mountain range. It was tightly packed and the terrain was many times more rugged than Bubble Hills. They were much taller too.

“Let’s get on top of that one there for a better view.”

They crossed the second floor pretty fast but still took a couple of hours even with its relatively smaller size. Moving at a pretty ridiculous pace was not easy on any of them. Most of them.

Still, they climbed the closest and tallest mountain to get a good view of the area.

It was pretty steep, and Ebony estimated them to be an average of 4 to 5 kilometres or the people here would call it a gor. For the shorter mountains.

Ebony helped Tuffock again to speed things along.

Still, they took 4 hours to get to the summit. Mountain climbing was not running in a straight flat line and they weren’t moving anywhere near their top speed. The relatively fast climb was not easy on the body.

They don’t look good. Hector still seemed relatively fine, huffing and wiping his sweat away. Scarlet didn’t seem any different than Ebony. Tuffock with the lowest physical stats didn’t have time to acclimate to the lower oxygen levels. He even had pills for that, which was a little surprising, but he was down for the count lying on Ebony’s shield now. Ryley’s complexion looked pretty bad and almost purple but he didn’t say anything as they took a break on the summit.

He was the highest level but obviously not big on Constitution as an archer focused on Strength and not even as fast as Scarlet.

Ebony had oxygen deprivation training before, his physique’s need for sustenance including air was also reduced. Together with Constitution, basically 10 times better than when he was a normal human made it pretty easy on Ebony.

Adding any amount of stats will require breaking into them. It takes time and practice to get used to increased physical or non-physical stat. It was a reason why one shouldn’t dump a large amount of stats in one go.

It was hot enough for Ebony to sweat but not enough to raise his heat resistance reasonably so he finally gave up and had misty frost cooling him down the whole time. Hector and even Scarlet sneaking closer to him during the climb. Ebony didn’t think the fire mages needed or wanted to cool down.

Ebony took in the view. It was amazing.

The mountain range and valleys went on for as far as he could see. Smack dab centre at the edges of his vision was a blurry shadow that overcasted any mountain. Ebony had to look up even standing so far away from it.

“That’s probably where we need to go.” Ryley spoke up.

There were a few large rocks where each of them looked for a spot to sit. Taking a uncontested break.

Ebony took out his jerky, chewing on it.

The stares he was receiving were so heavy but Scarlet didn’t reply when he asked what was up or even when he offered some.

“Aren’t you thirsty?”

“There’s a water mana ore under this.” Scarlet tapped her mask.

‘Convenient. Maybe she’s hungry as well but doesn’t want to take her mask off.’ Ebony thought as she kept staring at Ebony eating. Her stamina consumption was probably extremely high if she constantly fought or moved with such speed and power. He truly doubted there was a jerky or food mana convertor. There wasn’t even one for light.

She was a chef who cooked monsters live. She’s got to be a foodie.

Ebony tried playing calming, relaxing music for them. He didn’t think they noticed the increase in their mana regeneration but at least music was appreciated.

An hour later, they discussed their plans for real for the first time.

“So far I see a bear type monster, the gale leopards are here too. Kobolds again, I suspect they are high kobolds though. They look bigger with more armour. Leather and metal. Too far to Identify their levels.” Ryley reported.

“They shouldn’t exceed a hundred. We should move and fight together from now on. Honestly, we ain’t got a lick of team play.” Hector proposed.

“O..okay. I think so too, we..we should not rush through this floor.” Tuffock looked down on the ground as he fumbled his fingers under his robes.

“Mmm.” All 3 of their vanguards were fighting by themselves so that they don’t interfere with each other and get experience split up previously but it would not be a good idea to keep that up. It was more difficult for Ryley and Tuffock to support them if they split up.

Ebony honestly thought they really needed to adjust to the low oxygen levels and higher gravity as well. It was easy to see that it affected every one of them. Including Ebony himself.

Ebony had been copying Scarlet’s mask and longswords but whatever he was doing to push away gravity mana from pulling him towards the ground was slightly different in the way they worked. He was merely pushing aside the gravity mana. Scarlet’s equipment was as if the gravity mana couldn’t latch onto them. Hence, making them feel lighter.

“Bear…” Ebony whispered to himself as they started to move off down the mountain peak.

“What about bears?” Hector heard Ebony whisper.

“...Nothing. Just nostalgic. I was forced to fight bears before I came here.”

“What’s so special about those bears?”

“Nothing at all. They were normal bears. I was thrown into a jungle filled with them when I turned 15.” Ebony said. He wasn’t going to take that back since counting the years here, he wouldn’t have been 15 but younger.

“Bears for you? It was falcons and snakes for me.” Scarlet said something that could be easily understood but the conversation steered towards Ebony and Scarlet sharing their experiences when they were thrown somewhere dangerous when they turned 15.

Scarlet was more and more sure Ebony was a Xeng or part Xeng like her. The imperials are so babied they don’t do something like throwing their kids into a monster infested forest.

She remembered her Trial as well. Gust falcons chased her for hours on end. She had to escape with paralytic poison in her system from those Stinging Bolt Snakes. She had to survive for a month and get the heads of 5 monsters including the falcon and snakes.

Ebony didn’t share the feeling of fighting magic wielding monsters but the similarities in their experiences were striking. He even heard Scarlet say her ‘Trial’. His suspicions grew.

“You didn’t have any weapons? And you can’t use magic?” Scarlet was stunned by the high difficulty of Ebony’s Trial. Having no weapons or magic, unclassed meant they had normal human stats and because they were sent to their Trial right as they turned 15, any skill or skill levels were pushed and gained during the Trial itself.

Of course, they trained before they turned 15 but that would be jumping into Trial with literally nothing. Scarlet at least had 2 training blades and she was long proficient with fire magic despite the little use it had with the tiny bit of mana she had. It had kept her warm on cold nights.

“Mmm. My mother kicked me off the cliff to start it off. I had to escape from a bear with a broken leg, arm and a few fractured ribs.”

❅❅❅

‘Come here, Ebony. I watched a movie about lions some time back.’

‘Why are you talking about lions now? Why did we come here on my birthday anyway?’

‘It's said that lions throw their cubs off the cliff due to their love for their cubs and desire for them to grow up strong.’

‘...were you watching lion k.’

‘Don’t interrupt me. You turn 15 today. I love you more than some dumb lion over their cub, but I find their tradition rational. 2 weeks. You need to get the head of a bear, tiger, wolf, fox and vulture.’

‘Lions don’t have such traditions. It was just a mov..’

Ebony remembered getting kicked down like that, he didn’t scream but he sure got terrified out of his wits. At least she wasn’t so cruel and there was thick foliage under, Ebony had remained as calm as possible and slowed his fall by hanging onto dear life.

He landed on a thick branch after getting swatted here and there with cuts, bruises and broken bones all over his body. Coincidentally or not, there was a bear on the ground who happened to look up to the commotion Ebony made while falling. He didn’t scream but the leaves and twigs sure did make noise. Fortunately, the bear was busy tearing its meal apart.

Ebony had managed to get away. Field first aid with his clothes and whatever sticks he could find. The fox was the easiest. He didn’t need a weapon for that. The vulture was just impossible to find, he didn’t even think they were vultures there.

The weird fact was how there were so many bears. Just where did his mother bring him? Ebony didn’t know till this day since he woke up on the cliff, having been moved in his sleep somehow, without him noticing.

He made a makeshift stone axe to hunt the wolf. Fighting wolves weren’t all that difficult if he could single them out. Shameful or not, Ebony took one out in their sleep. He was pretty heavily yet not fatally injured after all. Hacking its head off and using its body as bait.

Waiting 4 whole days before a vulture even showed itself. It was not easy to hide from them, if they sensed him there and alive they wouldn’t even bother flying down. A prepared trap and a long sharpened wooden stick was all that was needed to take it down once it got baited.

The tiger hunt went almost as smooth as the fox hunt. The tiger was alone and using the same bait strategy, he got a group of wolves and incited their battle without showing himself. He wouldn’t have been able to outrun wolves in his state. Even if he was trained to fight with a broken body.

The bears were the worst. Every single one was violent like they were starving for weeks. For odd reasons, after Ebony took the other 4 down and just needed the bear last. The other animals seemed to disappear from the jungle and he couldn’t find any to incite a fight between the animals to reap the benefits.

It was probably his parents' work. He knew it deep down. They wanted him to fight the bear in a head on fight.

His memories here, which were foggy even now, showed how badly the fight went. Ebony fought the bear with his bare hands when the stone axe he used broke and somehow pulled apart the bear’s head from its body. He didn’t remember how he did it but it should’ve been similar to how he pulled the marmots’ body apart.

That was all he remembered before fainting and waking up in his bed, all healed up. A letter from his parents and never seeing them till this day. There was originally some contact from them but it died down.

The similarities with Scarlet’s Trial were striking.

No point thinking about when he couldn’t find out anything more about his parents so Ebony chunked the thought away.

❅❅❅

Ebony pushed his flashback away as fast as it came.

He actually loved bears, especially the cubs. They were just too cute.

Ebony and Scarlet kept chatting about their experiences. They talked slowly and softly, using very few words to describe it. Their party kept inching away from them.

‘...Crazy bastards. What kind of childhood is that? It doesn’t make sense though. If his mother did that to him when he was 15 then did he get kidnapped to be a mana slave after that? Or was he caught when he was much younger than trained to be a mana slave then, got saved and went back to his family? But mana slavers today would guarantee that they managed to erase their slaves memories, then either explanation wouldn’t make sense…’ Hector couldn’t get his head around it, he did have a speculation but didn’t bet on it.

Their party descended the mountain and moved towards the shadow slowly. Ryley scouted ahead but remained close enough to reach in a minute or two.

They delayed themselves by stopping and actively looking for battles.

Ryley gave orders. They tried to follow. They really tried.

It failed horribly. Ryley wanted to be the party leader but evidently didn’t have any prior experience. Hector even got a deep cut on his belly from the [High Scythe Kobold] because of a call that got him in a tough spot. Every kobold here carried scythes reminiscent of Obsius or the Cysarus’ scythe arms. They wielded it decently. Better than the archer or axe wielding kobolds.

Most of the monsters were mid 90s to a hundred. The gale leopards were no different from the second floor’s.

The bears were [Earthen-Hide Bears Lvl 100], unevolved. They didn’t use magic but were so tough that Scarlet couldn’t even cause it to bleed until a good amount of time passed. The bears smacked Ryley’s arrows away like a toy.

It wasn’t as if they were uncooperative and didn’t listen to Ryley’s words but Ryley didn’t even give orders when Hector asked. Both were put in a tight spot at that time.

Surprisingly, Tuffock 2 appeared to save the day.

“You useless shits! You call that working together?! Ice boy! Support that dumbass of a noble with your shields till he backs up. HEY! Stinking archer! Is your aim so bad you have to stay so close to us? Go up that slope or tree, get cover or height advantage. Isn’t that common sense for archers?! Miss. Almighty take both of the gale leopards, only you’re fast enough for them while the noisy one is down. I’ll back the noisy one up till Ebony gets back and freeze these ellers.” Tuffock 2 screamed.

The party moved but faced obstruction. Ryley arguing back.

Words like ‘who are you to give orders?’ or ‘what the ell did you call me?’ went over Ebony’s head but he didn’t register any of them. Ebony didn’t wait anymore when he got to Ryley. He tried to pull him away but Ryley was like an unmoving statue, too strong to pull away.

Ebony just smashed the inner side of his shield into Ryley and got another shield to encase him in between both of them. Lifting and sending him all the way up onto the peak of a shorter mountain nearest to them. It didn’t take long with Treading Steps pushed to its limits. He ignored the complaints and yelling as he let Ryley go and disappeared back into battle.

The battle didn’t take much effort and they would have taken them down if they split them up like they did previously. The saying that a god-like opponent was not anywhere close to how bad it was to have a pig-like team mate really couldn’t be any more true.

“I see I was shitting right about your trashy aim.” Tuffock 2 said as he got Hector to remove his shirt and shift his armour for him to patch up. The armour took the brunt of the cut but the area he got hit was one of the thinnest parts of his armour.

Ryley blamed the increase in gravity for his bad aim.

What’s next was an exchange of insults and shouting that Ebony didn’t bother listening to.

Ebony was ruminating over the applications of his Layered Ice Carapace. Ice was commonly used to freeze, slow down people or monsters. Common ice elemental spells in novels were those cage, prison or sealing kind of spells.

Even whatever spell Gen used on him was a kind of seal. That spell was more incomprehensible to Ebony though. How he kept his senses or his half-frozen state was achieved was not something Ebony could copy for now.

His Layered Ice Carapace was a spell made by forming individually formed scales or shells that copies Gen’s or the progeniturtle’s shell. That was to say he could easily resize it or reshape it at will by arranging the scales differently. For example, an orb trapping someone or something inside. Like how he trapped Ryley earlier.

Ebony decided to try it after dinner.

It was already dark. They looked for a good vantage point, a mountain peak and made camp. It was nice and cool at night.