Ebony's Fable

“Where are you Tewa?”

“Bo..bosses. Ordina doesn’t seem to want to mass produce on the 8th floor for some reason. My party scouted ahead first, the 8th to 11th floor is just like a smaller arena inside a larger one. The elevation from the 8th floor leads to the 9th which is also a desert with the same monsters, slightly higher in level. The 9th floor is the same, the edges lead to a slope that you could climb onto the 10th floor and the same to the 11th.”

“So you’re on the 11th floor already?”

“No. All of us are on the 12th. I made sure there were no more deaths after we gathered, obviously spreading out so that the large group doesn't catch the dungeon’s attention. The 11th floor to the 12th floor is through the triangular looking sand dune found against the dungeon walls. There were many rooms inside, some trap rooms, some monster filled but we didn’t explore many rooms.

The 12th floor is also the same desert environment with the same monsters. There was no hole in the middle of the 12th floor to the 11th, 10th, 9th and 8th floor. It was just one big desert that was as big as the 11th if all the middle floors from the 8th to 11th were at the same elevation. Since they focused on rushing up, not much exploration was done.

Teen Giant Sandworms are 125 to 140, mostly solo on the 8th floor, dozens on the 12th. Desert Wolves spotted to be from 115 to 140, completely avoided. Arrowtail Scorpions 130 to 150, the most dangerous of the lot. Always in even numbers. Alone, nothing special. When paired up together, caution is required. In fours, they were pretty deadly. In a group of 8 they were a force to be reckoned with. Teamwork between them is impeccable.”

“...Okay. Good job.”

Tewa was stunned. Their bosses praised him?

“Ha! To think my previous estimations were way off. Prepare to gather every single living thing you can on the 12th floor.” Tewa’s boss ordered.

“Fi..five hundred? We must have been joking.” Tewa’s boss commented.

“Hmm.. would five thousand be enough for those beasts I wonder.” Tewa’s boss pondered aloud and then he went on chuckling like he always did when he found something amusing.

Boss was happy but the number he said scared Tewa shitless. That was not far to be considered a monster horde. They wanted to send half a monster horde onto a single party? No, they didn’t want five thousand. They wanted every single monster.

“Bosses. Won’t the dungeon interfere when it realises the large-scale movement?”

“Silly… Just get our men ready at the nodes and wait for our signal. Hit and run strategy.”

“On second thoughts. The rest can die. Just the mana slave is enough.” There was an awkward pause from his bosses after one of them said that. They were probably contemplating something from Tewa’s understanding of them.

“What? I thought there was a Xeng woman we were not to touch.”

“She’s too damn dangerous to keep alive. And killing her may now bring some good benefits at bringing the mana slave over. Your party would act as the perpetrator, the others would work with me.”

“So you’ll swoop in to save him right after the rest die. Use my party as the common enemy that you and him want revenge against to get him to work with us. Our party just has to have our faces covered. We have Class concealment crystals for all of us and a spare set of equipment we can use.”

“At least you’re not so dumb. Do you still have the present I gave you?”

“Yes Boss! There really isn’t anything or one that is worth using that shot on.”

“Go ahead and use it. I can always make more.”

“Alright Boss! I really want to break those masks of theirs and see just what they are hiding.”

“Whatever, you guys can piss off Ordina as much as you want and power level the guys by taking its node for the time being. It should take them a while before they reach the 12th floor.”

“Where are you, boss? Are you following them in secret?”

“...”

“Never mind. I understand.”

“Put some men on the 11th floor.”

The call ended.

“Rejoice! For we can piss the Ordina off as much as we want. First, scout out every single spawning node. Assess and report each node’s capabilities and we’ll go at them safely. When we get the signal from our bosses we’ll start the lure!” Tewa opened a connection to the other party leaders.

The cheering echoed over the connection. He ordered the 2 more elite parties, the Master Classed to go back down. They needed to be Master Class if he wasn’t there to watch after them. Their levelling had been extremely fruitful, the 5 110s have reached mid 120s while the low 100s reached high 110s. The deaths and rush up to higher floors have been a little hard for their men. The environment was difficult for many, it was hard keeping them alive really. What better encouragement than the bosses' permission to play around with fire?

❅❅❅

“Young Sire.”

“Wel? What’re you doing in Ordina? Aren’t you a little too old for dungeoning.”

“Thank you for your concern, Sire. But these old bones are still more than enough for an infant dungeon like Ordina.”

“Yeahh yeah. What’s up?”

“Sire, you are required at the main family branch in Tidal.”

“WHAT!? Why now!? Didn’t they let me explore free till I’m Master Classed at least?”

“The Patriarch calls. As with every noble.”

“...I see. Something big huh…How long do I have left to get to Tidal?”

“3 months.”

“Prepare the Tempestwing and its rider for me. Any idea what this call is about?”

“Already done, Sire. I’ll look for you in 2 and half months. Trolls. Enjoy your time, Sire. I look forward to training with you again.”

“As expected I guess… You mean beating me up don’t you?”

“I dare not beat you up, merely a side effect of training.”

“At least try saying that without a chuckle. Ha, Wel. I’m having fun, I’m sure you’ll like this guy as well. He fights a little like how you tried teaching me but I couldn’t get it.”

“Ho ho. For Sire to say that is indeed interesting. Perhaps a meeting could be arranged in future.”

“I’m sure there’ll be a chance for that. See ya.”

❅❅❅

“Yes.”

It might have been a difficult question to answer for anyone else but it couldn’t have been more simple to Ebony. He was no liar and even more towards Scarlet. He didn’t want to lie to her. For any reason. He might hesitate to answer if someone else's life and death was on the line but if it was his own then it was not enough to lie to her.

Ebony was fully ready to protect himself if Scarlet was about to slay and cook a meal out of him. Ice mana raring to go, prepare to sacrifice themselves in a blaze if necessary. He just needed to wear out her rage, he should be able to survive right?

In spite of Ebony’s readiness to fight for his life, no sword came flying after his neck. No rise in temperature. Not even a slap or scream. Just the loud beating of her heart. Ebony couldn’t tell what Scarlet was thinking or see what expression she had with her mask on. There was only awkward silence before Scarlet turned around and made her way back to their camp.

Ebony could only hear thumping getting louder and louder as Scarlet ran faster and faster. Leaving him in the dust.

By the time he was back he could only see a visibly angry Hector together with an eye rubbing Tuffock. Scarlet was nowhere in sight but he could sense her back in her tent. Though it was not easy to sense with the tent and everything, he was pretty sure she was hugging her bolster and tossing around. Cute.

He was so going to improve his senses and Perception. It was cute for sure, but he had to start worrying for his life. There was the story about them cutting people's heads off in their sleep after all.

Still, he fell asleep a lot easier than he thought he would. Waking up more refreshed than ever.

Ebony was even prepared to not have breakfast anymore but Scarlet still made his portion. It looked quite a bit more than usual too. It was just that instead of ignoring him she was avoiding him. That worked fine for Ebony.

The party continued along the slope and it really was a circle. They knew they were not ready to continue upwards so they went into the centre to start a more dedicated hunt. There were still more unexplored areas which may contain treasure like the hidden room and they needed the levels.

The monsters were less dangerous than Ryley expected. He only just remembered the few monsters he had in his party that went to hunt Mud Golems at level 50s and 60s. The monster density was also lower than the previous floors and he was surprised at how well the hunts had been going.

Ryley avoided lesser and lesser groups of monsters. Letting the party go for bigger and bigger groups. Things got a little spicy for him when they went up to pick a fight with 6 Arrowtails with 2 Giant Sandworms hiding out and waiting underneath them. Thankfully, he had some kind of skill that helped sense them before they ambushed him and Tuffock.

Each of their vanguards took on 2 Arrowtails beyond their levels. Their rear support gave accurate fire support, both of them using more mana than they would like for each attack. Ryley had added most of his recent stat points into Wisdom so that he could last longer and use his special arrows to the best of their abilities. Even though his Class didn’t level, his Sub-Class was actually just level 62 before he came into Ordina. Still, since he hardly engages monsters at such high levels in close range with his dagger it was getting less experience.

Scarlet has been increasing her use of magic as well. Her battles kept ending faster and faster but she seems a little absent-minded for some reason. There should be no problem since it didn’t seem to affect her battle capabilities.

Ryley made it a point to let the party rest and catch their breath after every battle. No matter how many times he saw it he was just going from impressed to terrified that Ebony was never out of breath. No amount of magic used drained his mental stamina, no length of battle made his body falter in strength and energy. They all saw it, he exhausted a golem’s mana reserve… Ryley would never believe it if someone told him that. He got migraines just from charging too much mana into his arrows.

They hunted pretty safely until they caught the attention of a pack of over 60 wolves. The numbers were very small for a pack but fatal to them. Mostly level 115 to 118 with the pack leader being 120.

Ryley panicked a little and ordered for them to retreat. That was silly, already within the pack’s prey radar. Even if they could outrun them, they couldn’t outlast a group like them when the dungeon has eyes on them. Furthermore, probably only Scarlet could outrun them.

The outcome put them in the worst situation their party has gotten into since coming into the dungeon.

A desert wolf bit into Ryley’s right shoulder, right into the bone. Ryley has never been subjected to such pain, always training in safety. Hunting similarly levelled monsters at a good vantage spot. He cried out and fell to the ground along with the body weight and strength of the wolf. Tuffock’s stone mace only came in time to knock it away from Ryley. The persistent thing bit hard and that violent force that pulled it away caused even more pain for Ryley.

He screamed at Tuffock but knew that it wasn’t the time for that. Tuffock did save him in the end.

Oddly, over half of the wolves were throwing themselves at Ebony. Literally. It stopped Ebony from trying to help their rear support. The leader of the pack was looking from atop a nearby sand dune and howled orders. 3 wolves jumped and bit onto each of his shields, it ripped control of it from Ebony. All the others were fiercely attempting to take him down. Ryley still didn’t see a shred of fear or any sort of panic on his face.

Scarlet was already low on mana at this point so she was mostly fighting with her twin swords. Hector was in a similar condition. They were trying their best to keep the wolves off Ryley and Tuffock but they were surrounded and could only face so many wolves at once.

Scarlet didn’t have the leeway to ‘process’ the wolves. Power filled her body as a single swing sliced the stronger beast in half and half again. Taking the front legs of another wolf and the head of another, her gaze not on any wolf attacking her but elsewhere. Hector noticed that and a punch extended into the belly of a jumping wolf going for her neck. Those that were near her were blocking her feet so that the further wolves had to leap for any openings. The 3 wolves going for him shot through the head with a stone projectile.

Ryley couldn’t shoot any arrows with his arm the way it was, but Tuffock had no free time to attend to him either.

“Damn! If only I had more mana to cast triple enhancements…Grh!” Hector got a clawed on his belly just when he complained about his lack of mana.

Two enhancements were only enough for him to somewhat break even with the desert wolf's speed and power. That was only the beginning as he barely dodged the claws going for his neck and back at almost the same time. It landed across his back and knocked him forwards, cutting into his armour but not through it.

His belly was bleeding badly. It would be hard to punch well in his state. Fortunately, they only had around 20 wolves attacking them and there were 4 left that Scarlet was dealing with.

Tuffock quickly attended to both Hector and Ryley after giving a swift assessment at who was in more danger. It was obviously Hector who would bleed out first.

Scarlet didn’t dash off into where the desert had turned into a frozen land. They could see inside the mist somewhat. Ebony was not in a big crisis. He thrived against flesh monsters affected by his ice magic.

❅❅❅

The wolves were still just slightly faster than Ebony, even with his movement skill and fortification. It was no wonder people avoided wolf packs. Even so, the slight disadvantage in speed was not enough to trip him. Besides, a concentrated Frost Mist Perception Sphere over some time was enough to bring the advantage down.

Ebony has gotten more used to casting a single scale or two to timely block a claw here or a bite there. Injecting dozens of ice mana into a slash was enough to cause a little ice to dig into their joints, affecting their jump, attack and evasion. Hundreds into a good stab that pierces into their bodies with some ease was enough to give a blast of freezing through their heart or brain.

He wanted to move closer to help his party but was held down in place. Since that was the case he didn’t really need his shields so he didn’t bother attempting to struggle with wolves over control. Ganging up on him was not that useful unless they had interesting team play like the Arrowtail Scorpions. To think they can join their tails and show such an increase in power yet still move in sync and dodge attacks.

One last swing in his dance cut the head of the leader of the pack who joined in some time during the battle. Ebony got his shields back and tried to absorb all the ice mana in the air back into his shields to mend the bite and claw marks. It was better than nothing.

The pack leader was not useless and took the chance when its pack was keeping busy to land a bone crushing bite on his right calf before he decapitated it.

He rejoined his party but didn’t expect them to be so grievously wounded. Hector was taking short but heavy breaths, Ryley was bitching about pain.

“Your… your leg!” Tuffock, who was busy attending to the screaming archer, shouted in surprise. Ebony looked down to see the wolf’s head was still attached and teeth dug deep in. He tried to kick it off but the stiff corpse didn’t let go so he had no choice but to pluck it off himself.

“Do..does that not hurt at all?” Hector asked. Seems like he would live, Ebony thought.

“Of course it does.” Ebony tilted his head at the stupid question.

“...doesn’t look that way. You don’t even look like you’re in pain, much less arghh! Can’t you be gentler!...much less screaming in pain.” said the pampered archer.

“Sto…stop moving around so much. The bandages have to be tight to prevent the wound from reopening so easily. You…” Tuffock paused.

“Does changing my facial expression make it hurt less? Will yelling out in pain make it hurt less? Both of those are just a waste of energy and effort, I would rather use that energy to remove the cause of pain than to react to it.”

“...” Ebony’s reply was met with silence. They have never heard of such nonsense. Wasn’t screaming out in pain and the twitch or contortion of facial expression a natural reaction? It was more of a reflex really. They had to give it to him when he said it saves energy not to scream.

“You shouldn’t use a bow for some time.” Tuffock cut in.

Ryley knew. He knew but it was devastating news when heard it spoken aloud. His injuries were bone deep, without a healer it was questionable if he could ever fully recover. He could get a hang of a healer outside but he was useless in the dungeon already.

Hector was pretty lucky, only a flesh wound. His organs were protected with his earth elemental enhancement.

Seeing Ebony’s injury, it might be time to call for them to just climb back down. The hidden room alone gave them enough benefits. The Earthen-Topaz from the core golem was a small prize to top it off, useless to Ryley as it wasn’t worth much. Ryley didn’t want to delay his own treatment and be a crippled archer.

“Take this. Bone mending. You should be fine in less than a week. Just get checked by a specialist healer for bones, best one with bone regeneration too since this pill doesn’t help in that regard.” Hector dug something out of his bag. It was a smaller bag, Ebony saw many glass vials. Hector took one filled with white pills half the size of a grape. He offered it to both Ryley and Ebony.

Ebony didn’t know what it was but ‘bone mending’ told him enough. He never saw or heard of that pill in the Zees so perhaps an alchemic speciality. The fact that Hector had so many vials of potions and pills was one thing. Seems like even Scarlet never heard of a pill that could mend bones.

Tuffock was interested in it but not an expert that can tell what the pill could do by looking at it. Ryley stared at the pill for a long time before swallowing it and thanking Hector. Tuffock was tending to Ebony in that period of time.

“Could you stop casting your ice enhancement?”

“It’s alright Tuffock. It didn’t break my bones, I don’t need the pill either Hector.” Ebony didn't say that his bones were starting to heal, it was true that his enhancement helped to stop the wolf from biting off his entire leg but the bones in his calf were more than just broken. Ebony started to manipulate his bone fragments right after he plucked the head off. He would probably be fine by the next morning, it would impede him a little due to the loss of strength in one leg but nothing he hasn’t dealt with.

Ebony likes to think of it as the regaining of vitality. The repaired or mana-regenerated body parts needed to be regenerated physically too. This took much longer from his experience, adding stat points to Vitality would likely help.

Food and nutrients seem to help speed up healing as well. Obviously, proper sleep and rest helps as well.

It took some convincing but he managed to not let them force feed him drugs.

Ebony was just sad that his clothes were getting so ripped up. He had limited sets of clothing and large holes like bite marks couldn’t be mended without extra fabric on hand.

They decided to rest for the day even though it was not late yet.

Scarlet kept avoiding Ebony’s gaze. Always turning the other way and showing her back to him.

He just sat on the sandy ground after he set his tent up to meditate and focus on manually fixing his legs when Scarlet suddenly walked towards him and shoved a paper bag full of steaming hot buns.

“I made too much,” Scarlet said before running off into her tent.

‘To think such a famous line would be used on me.’ The corners of Ebony’s lips rose at the thought about the worst excuse of ‘making too much’.