Ebony's Fable

‘Ting’ ‘Generic Skill Pain Resistance evolved into Sheer Pain Resistance.’

‘Ting’ ‘Generic Skill Sheer Pain Resistance level up 31 - 32’

‘Ting’ ‘Generic Skill Sheer Pain Resistance evolved into Immense Pain Resistance.’

‘Ting’ ‘Generic Skill Immense Pain Resistance level up 32 - 46’

‘Ting’ ‘Generic Skill Sheer Heat Resistance evolved into Extreme Heat Resistance.’

‘Ting’ ‘Generic Skill Extreme Heat Resistance level up 57 - 89’

‘Ting’ ‘Physique has been tempered into Gluttonous Solar Blooded Phoenix Physique.’

‘Gluttonous Solar Blooded Phoenix Physique (Passive) - Consuming a portion of the Heartblood Essence of the Gluttonous Solar Blooded Phoenix. Every drop of your blood has been boiled over together with your life essence many times over. Gluttonous desire to eat increased by 50%. Metabolism and digestive efficiency increased by 25%. Natural Resistance to heat increased by 25%. Blood’s capacity for heat and energy increased by 100%. Base Health Regeneration increased by 50%.’

‘Ting’ ‘Generic Skill Sheer Agility Conditioning, Strength Conditioning, Intelligence Conditioning, Endurance Conditioning and Perception Conditioning merged and assimilated into Class Skill - Burstflare Witch’s Conditioning lvl 22’

‘Burstflare Witch’s Conditioning (Passive) - Essence Conditioning of the Burstflare Witch. Agility increased by 0.025% per level. Strength, Intelligence, Endurance and Perception increased by 0.01% per level.’

“Haaah..haaa…haa.” Scarlet laid flat on her belly, drenched in sweat. She had survived the tempering of her physique but it hadn’t been easy. Painful didn’t even begin to describe undergoing baptism of getting burnt alive from within. Her blood constantly boiled and dried up, burning the rest of her body with it. It had been a very slow and gruelling process as she wouldn’t have been able to survive if she was unclassed or lower levelled. Being burnt from within for 2 weeks straight without moving an inch had her extremely weak despite no wounds or burns remaining on her.

“GRRH!” There was a loud roar. It was her stomach grumbling, it was the longest she went without eating. Why did her swords or clothes nearby look so delicious? She must have gone mad from hunger.

“Yo… good. You’re alive. I knew that. I knew that. Huuu.” Scarlet’s grandmother walked into her room. She was always so mischievous and never serious. That's why it was so obvious to her that her grandma, who probably already knew the results of her tempering before she even started, was so worried she couldn’t calm down. Though her grin right after really made Scarlet exasperated.

“I didn’t raise you to be so indecent! Still naked? Get up and put on some clothes already. Urgh! Smells like ashes of rotting corpses here, that bed has to be changed.” Her grandma pinched her nose and was back to her usual tone.

“...I…can’t…move..” Scarlet didn’t know what to say since it was her grandma who told her she needed to take her clothes off so they didn’t melt into her skin. She only realised she had been so weak she had difficulty talking too. The protective sheet over her bed was burnt to a crisp but at least it didn’t meld into her skin, her grandma probably tricked her again.

“Oh deary.” At least her grandma stopped teasing her now. She grabbed a random blanket to cover Scarlet before carrying Scarlet over to her own, uncommonly used bed.

“I’m…hungry,” Scarlet complained.

“I know dear. I heard the beast roar already. I already whipped something up, wait here.” Scarlet received a head pat.

Her grandma didn’t even walk far before they heard a loud yell and knocking.

“Heeey! Grandaunt Ning, little Xin! Anyone home!?” Kong Jing hollered.

“Little Jing’s right on time. I’ll bring her in and you two can catch up with each other. You haven’t seen her for a while haven’t you?” Scarlet’s grandma acted like she expected it.

‘Sister? Did grandma call her here today knowing I will be done today? Or is it just a coincidence?’ Scarlet didn’t think it would be so coincidental that her cousin Kong Jing would come back from her wandering just as she completed her Physique tempering. Her grandma probably pulled some strings or played some trick to get this cousin of hers to come back to Xienor.

Kong Jing was her cousin. She was the closest in age to Scarlet in the declining population of Xengs and they were no different from sisters to each other.

If Scarlet was a genius with the sword and fire magic then Kong Jing was a genius at her craft. Anything she fiddled around with for a short while, she could recreate. Even make it better. And she was only 34 when she evolved to Grandmaster rank. As a crafter or support Class? There wasn’t even a single person in their own history much less Elva’s that even came close to her cousin. Scarlet was very proud of this sister of hers that always doted on her.

She waited as her stomach grumbled once more. She heard lots of screaming, yelling and complaints that she couldn’t even hear clearly due to how fast Kong Jing was talking. That was confirmation that her grandma probably did something to her.

It didn’t take much longer before her sister teleported in with both her hands carrying a large tray of food each. Grandma’s cooking always had a place in her heart no matter how much better she got at cooking than the non-chef. In her stomach too.

“Little Xin! What happened!? Grandaunt Ning said you’re bedridden and can’t even move a gar.” Kong Jing quickly placed the trays down before checking her body up and down. It was a little embarrassing now that she was an adult already and only had a blanket over her.

“It’s nothing…I just succeeded from Physique tempering…Can…can you feed me Sister Jing.”

“Oh. Grandaunt tricked me again! Of course I can, say ahh.”

“...I’m not a child anymore.”

“You’ll always be my little Xin. Now open wide, what do you want to eat first?”

“...Soup. My stomach’s empty.” Scarlet's flushed face was definitely because her body was still adjusting.

As weak as she looked, she ate and ate. Faster and faster. Nothing was left after a short half an hour.

“...You can really eat. Are you still growing?” Kong Jing looked down at her chest.

“Sister Jing!” Scarlet covered herself with her arms. She hadn’t realised her blanket fell when she was eating.

Laughter echoed throughout the room.

“Stop laughing or I won’t talk to you anymore.” Scarlet threatened childishly.

“Alright alright. I’ll stop.” Kong Jing always pampered her. Showing sides of each other they never showed to others.

Regaining enough strength surprisingly fast, Scarlet found that she could move already and quickly went and jumped into the bath. She was in there for hours, constantly scrubbing herself over and over again. Her sister told her about the different places she went or the monsters she fought. Kong Jing never focused much on food so she didn’t have much to share with her about different local cuisines.

“I’m still hungry. What do you want to eat? I’ll make it now.” Scarlet got dressed before making her way to their kitchen and checked the ingredients they had left.

“Still hungry!?” Kong Jing blinked a few more times. Scarlet already ate more than she would in 5 meals. Even if she hasn’t eaten in weeks her stomach should be packed by now, shouldn’t it?

“...only a little bit. Come on, tell me if you have any cravings now or I’ll just make whatever comes to mind.”

“...chicken. Cubed into small bites and deep fried. I want it a little spicy. But not too much, you know I can’t take anything too spicy.” Kong Jing didn’t know why she would want that. Her new little brother she shared a liquor of bond with didn’t even cook very well but she just felt like eating that right now.

Unbeknownst to herself, Kong Jing smiled a little more, he probably didn’t even know what alcohol she had brought. But that was fine, he didn’t need to know how serious she had been. How would she even bring it up? Share this liquor of bond to be sworn brother and sister with me? That was too embarrassing and she couldn’t bring herself to say that.

“Hmm? Is that a dish from some town or city you visited? Sounds delicious, I’ll try but it probably won’t be anything like you had unless you have the recipe.”

“Nope. It’s fine. Anything you make will be more delicious a thousand times over.”

Scarlet smiled and hummed as she got to cooking. Making Kong Jing think ‘only a little bit?’ with the amount of ingredients she was taking out to prepare.

“So what did grandma do to make you so angry?” Scarlet asked as she sliced some ingredients and diced others.

“Hmph! Talking about it makes me angry again. She introduced me to a student.”

“Isn’t that good? I thought you wanted one for a while already to learn from teaching? If grandma was the one who introduced a student then that person must be pretty amazing. Or at least who grandma would call fated to be your student. She’s always playing pranks but the person she introduced should definitely be related to you in future in one way or another even if she hasn't done so right?” Scarlet knew her grandma well enough, she was playful but still treated family with their future and benefits in mind.

“He’s just an ungrateful punk who ran off after leaching my knowledge and skills.” Kong Jing said unhappily after remembering how Ebony left so quickly without any hesitation whatsoever. Decisive.

“What!? How can that be? Who is he?” Scarlet was so shocked she slammed her knife too hard. Nothing in her grandma’s house was normal so nothing but the chicken thigh separated. She was actually more surprised that someone her grandma introduced was such a good for nothing scoundrel that didn’t know how lucky he was to be her sister’s student than how that person managed to run from her sister. No way her violent sister wouldn’t catch and beat them up.

Kong Jing’s unhappy expression suddenly changed to a familiar grin. It was the same grin her grandma had when she was planning to play a prank and Scarlet didn’t like it. Her sister should be really pissed and annoyed right now, why is she smiling all of a sudden?

“Oh well, like you said. The person grandaunt introduced was amazing in a sense.”

“How so? Another Grandmaster Classed crafter with unique magic or skills to escape from you? Or a King Classed?”

“Nah. A young boy, not even Master Classed. Why would I teach some old man?”

“Then?”

“He’s not even a crafter except maybe a little knowledge in tailoring.”

“??” Scarlet was more and more confused. Why did her grandma introduce a student that wasn’t even a crafter? A space mage? That might explain how he escaped but he was only a journeyman from what her sister said.

“He’s an ice hybrid swordsman. He can use gravity and sound magic too and is quite the monster with mana manipulation. But the most amazing thing is that he is the one my little Xin is gunning for. Your future husband!”

Scarlet’s knife already moved faster when her sister said ice hybrid swordsman. Her sister didn’t pause as she talked and Scarlet’s knife only flashed faster and faster before smashing down hard when her sister finished talking. The poor chicken that was supposed to be diced into cubes already turned to minced meat at this point.

“Wha..what are you talking about?” Scarlet kept her composure as best as she could to hide her emotions.

“Stop acting dumb. Grandaunt already told me everything. That punk is pretty impressive indeed. To steal my little Xin’s heart so easily. I just didn’t see you for a few years and you went and found yourself a husband already. You’re still too young but well… no no. Tch! Can’t make it easy for that punk. Your sister here doesn’t approve! You’re not even old enough to marry.”

“I passed 18 last year! I’m already 19!” Scarlet replied before she could even think. Their marriageable age was 18 instead of the Imperial where they could legally marry once they turned 15 and were considered an adult. She didn’t know why but that was their tradition.

“Oh ho. Not even going to deny anything I said? Damn punk. What drugs did he feed you?” Kong Jing thought her grandaunt was exaggerating but seeing her little sister like that made her think otherwise. Her grandaunt hasn’t been exaggerating at all. Little Xin was doomed, she fell in too deeply.

Scarlet coughed and her face flushed even more when she realised how she exposed herself so easily. She pushed Kong Jing out of the kitchen after claiming she wasn’t gonna make anything for her. Kong Jing teased her further but let herself get pushed out and hammered on the kitchen door jokingly.

Scarlet stuffed herself with food but she didn’t seem to be able to stop herself as she got herself started. Everything in the kitchen just looked so delicious.

Gluttonous Solar Blooded Phoenix. The Heartblood Essence of the Gluttonous Solar Blooded Phoenix was just a small droplet of crystallised blood. There were clean cracks or cuts on it before, clearly broken intentionally. The blood red gem was hard enough that it basically couldn’t be destroyed by her but easily dissolved in her stomach once she swallowed it.

Scarlet didn’t know much about it and neither did her grandma let her in on it. For once, she thought that her grandma really didn’t know much. Her parents went to the Fragadal Sea and obtained it there. She always thought it was weird that the volcanic region was called a sea.

According to her grandma, they contacted her shortly before they disappeared. She had traced them to the outskirts of Cherufe’s Pit and couldn’t trace them any further. That was where she found what Scarlet’s parents left her but she couldn’t even divine their location.

Cherufe’s Pit was one of Elva’s most dangerous areas along with deeper parts of Hoarfrost Glade. Scarlet was going to look for them. They definitely weren’t dead, her instincts told her. She wouldn’t believe they died when barely anything on Elcra could harm them. Her grandma also said their stars haven't disappeared or faded.

Scarlet didn’t know why they went to the Fragadal Sea, her parents didn’t tell her anything when they left one day when she wasn’t even 9 yet. Her mother passed down her swordsmanship and her father, his talent for fire magic. She didn’t even master them yet before they left. Fire magic was mostly her figuring things out herself since she had been too young and didn’t have much mana or magical capability. Books just weren’t enough.

The first year or so after she separated from Ebony and Hector, she just travelled back to Xienor on foot. Declining her Grandma's rough method of travel. Taking a hunting quest or two if she found any interesting monster. She trained up all her skills till their progress slowed greatly. She had long prepared to learn or create a fire-based enhancement spell.

It had been in preparation for her Physique. Hector had been a pretty valuable source of information. There were not many dedicated enhancement mages due to the fact their strength was limited by their mana pool. Untier or tier 1 enhancement skills already had pretty high mana consumption but higher tier enhancement magic just took so much mana it was more of a last resort than a first choice in battle.

Since enhancement mages also need to have a high Constitution they were practically hybrids too. That made them defenceless if their stats were just Constitution, Intelligence and Wisdom. They would be incredibly powerful but only for as long as they lasted.

That’s why Ebony was such a monster. She had never seen him stop casting his enhancement spell unless he didn’t need it or stop casting so that he wasn’t going to take as much damage from heat and fire.

She had thought her Core Skill was ridiculous enough but a tier 3 meditation type skill that he could have on at any time without a drawback was just nonsensical. Especially the part about the drawback. Her restriction was just her stamina and her heart, since her body was also toughened by her Core Skill her stamina was usually a bigger problem than the strength of her heart. At the moment, she never forced her heart rate above what it could handle, so it wasn’t like she had no limit. Base Constitution was still an issue.

Scarlet’s physical control of her heart’s muscle was good enough that she could stop it anytime she wanted to and start it back up at will too. Not to mention her increasing Blood Mana Manipulation. She had gotten a Class Evolution prompt to evolve into a Burning Blooded Sword Witch.

Her Sub-Class only got its general evolution without anything new. It still needed more work.

Her Profession had a new Evolution path. Gluttonous Chef of Slaughter. Maybe she killed a little too many monsters just to speed her skill levelling. It had not been a very good idea. The fast skill levelling doesn’t allow her to adapt very well. Just like with fast increase in stats. The past months of conditioning and training let her assimilate her growth and her body fully adjusted to her own style of fighting.

Her Conditioning skills becoming a Class Skill was what she had been aiming for for a long time. Obtaining it directly after her Physique made her think that it was probably related.

Surviving the ordeal of getting internally burned was all due to her Core Skill. She had controlled it to give her just enough health regeneration to overcome her blood boiling her to death. Sure, it sped the blood around her body and exponentially increased the pain she underwent.

The sharp rise in the level of Pain Resistant had really helped keep her sane. It didn’t even have time to level more than once before the sharp pain she went through caused her Resistance to evolve once more. That was when she immediately started Violent Heart Acceleration so that she didn’t dry out instantly.

What she truly didn’t expect was her Heat Resistance to get to tier 4 in a single jump. It was rare for people who got tier 4 resistance to live long enough that it was useful. They usually just get it and die right after is what the rumours say. Resistance skills were all about forcing one’s physical body to grow and adapt. It only evolves when the body undergoes through someone past their natural limits.

Tier 1 was simple enough. Taking a certain amount of damage from that certain element for a short amount of time for example, is enough to get it.

Tier 2 required an instant shock that the closest believed estimate was more than a fifth of one’s health and needed to survive or adapt to the element for long enough to normally kill one.

Tier 3 meant letting the body take more than half their health instantly and still stay alive long enough for the body to gain resistance against the spike in the degree of damage.

Tier 4 should kill one almost instantly or so it was believed.

Few alive to tell the tale that tier 4 resistances were real. Of course, not everything was related to how much damage to the body was taken since it was more about body adaptation. Like pain or exhaustion resistance. She didn’t know what repercussions there were to divination resistance but there certainly were other forces at work since it was not her body getting more resistant.

Her grandma probably knew more about the workings of divination resistance but said that she wouldn't understand even if she was told.

The shocking thing was that she had a tier 4 skill when as a Journeyman the highest tier skill she shoul be able to have was tier 3. The Imperials might be unaware but everyone had a limit of skills being 2 tiers higher than oneself. 'Resistances are an exception?' was the only thing she could think. After all, even Xengs weren't crazy enough to throw their lives away to get a resistance three tiers above their own. There might be some that have it but just didn't share the news.

Back to her Conditioning skill.

Conditioning skill was another area of research where they were far ahead of the Imperials. They had been studying it since the First Empress decided it was a basic but crucial skill. That was long before the Cruel Empress was called as such. The Imperials didn’t even have much recorded history before the birth of the Empire. Perhaps some of the longer living races like the Elves and Dwarves would remember those times. They probably didn’t remember the First Empress if they dared to call the Cruel Empress by that title.

It was a weak passive. At tier 2 of 0.025%, that was only a 2.5% increase in stats when it reached level 100. But as one rises through the levels and their base stat gets higher and higher. A 2.5% or even 1% increase gave one a sizable advantage over others without the skill. Furthermore, the Conditioning skill can still level up once a person levels along.

To push a Generic Skill to become a Class skill was possible when one Classed and when one evolved. Otherwise, they would have to make it a related Class skill from the start or mutate a generic skill such that it conforms to one’s Class’s workings and limitations. To make a conditioning skill a Class Skill would require one to really understand what their Class was meant to do and bend their style of training to one that truly fits their Class.

It was hard to understand even for them. Conditioning skills also had level limits but it had nothing to do with Natural Potential. One of the skills where they found out that talent or Natural Potential had no relation to. Condition skills’ level limit was the Class level of the person itself. The only other limit was time and effort. So her Burstflare Witch’s Conditioning will never level past 100 until she evolves and reaches a higher level.

There was no known Fortification related to Conditioning Skills. Multiple reasons such as the incredibly slow levelling speed, no Class evolution requirements for the skill and no one bothering to spend years and years maxing it out before they evolve except every Empress. After a couple of them actually managed to wait out one of their evolutions to max it out and still have no known Fortifications, it could be said that they ended their research and experiment long ago.

There was no known benefit to maxing the skill level before evolution so Scarlet didn’t have to worry about that.

Obviously, none of them knew that all their research was not complete or accurate.

Scarlet put on her training clothes and got Ignite and Flare. Wearing her mask again before going out to their training square right beside. She was so grateful she was born after they improved the mask so much that wearing it didn’t feel like there was anything on her face until she touched it. It would be so uncomfortable to wear it all day otherwise.

She warmed up and started her routine training. It didn’t even take a second before she noticed something odd already.

‘It’s harder to start Violent Heart Acceleration up.’ Scarlet took a deep breath, relaxing and calming her nerves.

It was not a big change but clearly noticeable. She relaxed further when she found that there were no issues to her skill and physical control. The skill got harder to start up again, the breathing techniques Ebony taught her really helped.

She recalled her new Physique’s information.

Gluttonous desire to eat increased by 50%. Should be what made everything in her kitchen storage look so delicious.

Metabolism and digestive efficiency increased by 25%. She assumed that meant her body was even more energy efficient than her base Constitution and Journeyman body would suggest. So less bodily waste would be produced and she would digest food faster. That might mean she needed to eat more or her increased energy efficiency would balance it out.

Natural Resistance to heat increased by 25%. Much less than she expected after she almost died burning herself. It was possibly because the portion of the Heartblood Essence she ate was small or maybe her Physique was not much on resistance to heat for her entire body.

Blood’s capacity for heat and energy increased by 100%. This was what likely affected her the most. Capacity should be referring to a storage limit of some kind. If she took it literally, does it mean her blood can hold or withstand twice as much heat and energy?

That would be amazing for her newer fire enhancement skill. The part about the capacity for energy gave more questions. Heat was also a type of energy after all. What would her blood being able to hold more energy really entail?

Base Health Regeneration increased by 50%. This was pretty good, her base regeneration of 1% max health per hour would be 1.5% per hour instead. With her Core Skill running high, her regeneration should rise quite a lot. It probably wouldn’t be anywhere near enough to regenerate more important parts so easily like organs, nerves, tendons or bones but flesh wounds would not be as deadly. Ebony’s partial mana being Physique was very enviable in that sense.

No amount of health regeneration will heal parts that their race itself isn’t able to heal from. The Lizardmen for one could regenerate limbs and organs with time and if they evolve to Grandmaster ranked it may even be possible to regenerate half a body or even part of their heart as long as they were given a safe place to rest and nothing was further injuring them.

It may take months to years but it was much better than humans whose injuries if not healed in time properly would lead to lifelong ailments. The wear and tear of the body was something Vitality couldn’t help no matter how high it got. Only the evolution of one’s very life would affect that.

Scarlet continued her training and discovered as many changes to her body as she could. The rise in difficulty to pump her heart faster might be due to the fact that her blood could hold more energy. Perhaps that had meant it was more difficult or required more energy to move her blood faster.

After an hour or so of training, she found out that It had not been as bad as she thought. She improved at controlling her heart again pretty quickly. Maybe her new body just wasn’t used to it yet and it hasn’t ‘woken up’ in a sense. That made more sense, it was the weakness of her body after just waking up from a 2 week torture. She had estimated that she’ll be back in tip top shape in 3 to 4 weeks of rehabilitation.

That was pretty long but reasonable and a good chance to let her get used to her Physique.

Her skills were mostly where she wanted them to be minus a few more levels here and there. After some more focus on merging her 3 Classes to meld together and improving her Sub-Class skills where she could, Scarlet was going to restart her travels again.

Ordina.

She would return perfected. Pilfer all the Natural Potential she could. Reach her limits and break past them once more. Then she would open the doors to the next stretch of her path. Ascension.

It had been almost 2 years but Ordina’s monsters shouldn’t have gotten to normal strength yet. Scarlet might be prideful and might not want to resort to fighting weakened opponents to get what she wanted but pride was useless when she needed to get as strong as she could as fast as possible. Natural Potential was too juicy a fruit to neglect because of worthless pride.

Nobles had a tradition of keeping death row inmates for their descendants to execute as long as their descendents were strong enough to kill them without any other outside help other than chaining and maybe sealing the person being executed.

The Royals couldn’t come up with a good reason to ban the practice. It wasn’t even worth discussing. The people getting executed would have to die one way or another. Why not make use of that and let anyone at max level kill them to gain Natural Potential? Another reason for high bounties for those criminals that were wanted alive. It had further cemented the noble’s power after all.

The public didn’t even have any complaints since a criminal less was better for them too. It really didn’t matter who was the executioner.

Her training and skill levelling frenzy had kept her mind busy but she couldn’t stop thinking of Ebony since returning to Xienor.

‘Wait. Ebony was Sister’s student?’ Scarlet only just realised that meant her sister spent time with Ebony.

“Sister Jing!” Scarlet ran back into the house.

“She already left after you kicked her out.” Scarlet’s grandma said after sipping her tea.

“Where is she now?”

“No one took her spot so she should be there. Where are you going in such a rush? It’s late, you can go see her tomorrow.”

“...oh wait. It was you grandma!”

“What was me?”

“Why did you get Ebony to be Sister Jing’s student? And how? Did you kidnap him?”

“What do you mean why? Do you not like that? There’s no better teacher for him right? How can you say that about your grandmother, is grandma the type of person that goes around kidnapping people? Couldn’t I have invited him to come with me politely?”

“Yes and no!”

“Oww. This old lady’s heart cannot take this anymore.”

“Stop acting…I guess there’s no one better than Sister Jing when it comes to crafting but why crafting? I thought he would focus on getting stronger…”

“That’s where he was lacking. Life isn’t just about fighting, you should know that. I hope you do. You have your love for cooking and eating. He needed something similar. I stopped you from becoming a killing machine only wanting to get stronger. I did the same for him. Does that make you unhappy?”

“...No.”

“You practically emptied the kitchen, stock up tomorrow. This old lady’s going to sleep.” Her grandma yawned for real. She probably hasn’t slept for a long time, she had been standing outside of her room the whole time when Scarlet was digesting the Heartblood Essence.

“Okay, good night.”

“Night. Get some rest yourself, your body needs it.”

“Yes grandma.”

Scarlet washed herself up again before joining her grandma because her room still stunk. She slept like a baby.

She was never very close to the people in Xienor with the exception of her cousin and grandmother. She was not completely Xeng after all. Her father is apparently one of the men who married in after defeating her mother. Though she wasn’t exactly an outcast or ostracised in Xienor, she didn’t know how to interact with other people. There were no other kids her age as well, Kong Jing was already the closest to her in age.

The people were still amiable with her as she walked the sparse market. Buying some deep sea fish from the [Fisher King Lvl ???] and chests full of cuts of monster meat from the [Grand Butcher Lvl ???]. She wondered when the fisherman who reached King Classed would decide to leave Elcra. He would progress faster on some other worlds or realms.

Scarlet continued her shopping for vegetables, seasonings and spices. Cooking up breakfast for 6 but only she, her grandma and Kong Jing were eating.

“He…he didn’t just run off did he?” Scarlet asked Kong Jing, she didn’t believe Ebony would just learn her teachings and run off.

“Who are you talking about?” Kong Jing acted dumb and poked bacon into her mouth.

“...Maybe you don’t want breakfast.” Scarlet said as she dragged Kong Jing’s plate away

“Okay okay, leave my plate alone. My cute little sister made this for me.” Kong Jing hugged her plate back.

“Where is he now?” Scarlet already finished her 4 servings of breakfast. She told herself it was because her body was still recovering and needed the nutrients.

“I don’t know. He didn’t run off but he didn’t tell me where he was going either. Why don’t you call him and find out?” Kong Jing ate a little faster when she saw Scarlet eyeing her breakfast.

“No. It’s okay. It’s not time yet. I can’t be weaker than him the next time we meet.” Scarlet said resolutely.

“Don’t you want him to be stronger so you can marry him?” Kong Jing couldn’t help but tease. She had never seen her little sister act this cute before.

“Sister!” Scarlet blushed and stabbed her fork onto the closest sausage.

“Hey! I was saving that for the last bite!”

A small food fight later.

“Sister Jing, I broke the armour dolls already. Could you make me new ones? At least 5 times stronger and faster.”

“All of them?”

“Yes.”

“...fine. How many do you need? Oh, I analysed your husband-to-be's magic. Just whatever he has shown me so far. Want me to replicate one of him into an armour doll?”

“30 to 50 should be enough. As long as they don’t break. No need to replicate his skills, I’d rather fight with him again than a replication.”

“I’ll bring them in a few days.”

“I’ll get back to training now.”

“Don’t push yourself too much, you’re still recovering right?”

“I know, I will take it slow for now.”

Scarlet resumed her training. She had to use all her Class Skills with Sub-Class and Profession skills together as seamlessly as possible but it was hard to use her Profession skills without targets. That was okay for now since she would have targets soon.

Scarlet spent the next month rehabilitating and understanding what she could about the changes her Physique brought her. She had fully recovered faster than expected but at the cost of her admittedly excessive eating.

Her Blood Simmer evolved to Blood Boil. A tier 2 fire enhancement spell that increases her Strength and Agility by (50 + 2.5%) of Intelligence but decreases her Endurance by a static 15%. Blood Simmer couldn’t even heat her blood up much and the skill became redundant as it didn’t increase her stats much. She always had to weaken and dilute her fire mana so that her blood didn’t dry up but she no longer had to do that with her new Physique.

Blood Boil consumed 600 mana per minute, with her mana efficiency for fire magic that was about 170 mana per minute. If she didn’t use her mana for anything else she could only keep it up for about 20 minutes. 600 mana was a lot more than the usual tier 2 enhancement spells from what she knew.

It was definitely a side effect of her blood requiring more energy and heat to heat up. It wasn’t all cons, the base of 50% was higher than the usual 20 to 30% of other elemental tier 2 enhancements. The skill itself is still considered a little unpolished by their standards. She should try to refine it further to increase the base 50% while keeping the mana cost constant or lower. It would be impressive if she could bring it up to 80% or higher.

The skill made her uncomfortable, always making her sweat. It worked concurrently with her Core Skill, the synergy between the 2 skills was amazing. She could probably merge the skill if she wanted and tried to train them concurrently but she didn’t want that yet. Her Core Skill didn’t require mana, she wouldn’t want to run out of the choice of getting a manaless buff. Although if it merged, it wouldn't be like she couldn't use her Core skill without mana, there was a high chance she would not get skill effect.

She didn’t see herself getting Combat Meditation anytime soon. She didn’t even have Meditation, with no patience to sit and clear her mind or whatever. Perhaps she was just lacking in talent when it came to Meditation. It was thanks to Kong Jing that made the Calming Pearl to increase her speed of mana regeneration. Together with the rune that encompassed their entire house. If not, training her magics would take much longer.

As for the part about her blood’s capacity for energy doubling, it was pretty awesome. She found her stamina to have increased by a lot. It was hard to say if it had doubled since stamina consumption had always been hard to gauge. She needed food. Food was her energy source. Her increase in digestive speed was good and all and her increase in metabolism really helped balance it out so that she didn’t need more food.

She had tried to force herself to eat as 'much' as she used to. After a short work out, she could already tell her stamina was dropping faster than when she ate till she was full. She wouldn’t feel hungry if she ate like she used to but she wouldn’t feel anywhere near full either. The food in her body seems to be converted to energy in her blood faster, it was weird that she could somewhat feel that. A vague feeling, she would probably be able to heighten her sense for that after she evolved.

Her blood could hold more energy, meaning that eating more let her stockpile more energy in her. Essentially doubling her stamina pool if she ate till she was full. It had curbed her need for stamina but only for a short term and the cost was her needing to eat twice as much.

The increase of her desire to eat wasn’t necessary when she loved food and it didn’t matter much when she was here but it might be troublesome when she was on the road. Still, it was just desire and she could curb it with a little willpower.

One problem was somewhat solved but it made her lacking base Constitution an even bigger problem. She had 3 types of enhancement skills right now. Streamline Wind Enhancement only affected her movement speed based on Intelligence. Pulsating Lightning Enhancement only gives her a rhythmic burst of speed based on Intelligence with a high base of 80% + 1.0%. She controlled the lightning pulse at will and didn’t use it too many times in a battle due to its 150 mana per pulse cost.

All of her enhancement increases her Agility. Using 2 with her Core Skill at almost half its capacity was fine but any higher and it was problematic. Furthermore, the tier 2 fire enhancement one affected her more due to the larger buff. It wasn’t the biggest problem now with its lower level but it would be soon.

She would never be able to use her full power as long as she couldn’t solve the problem of her comparatively weaker body. She would rather not evolve rashly and let the problem of a weaker body fester and trouble her even more in future. Just adding more stat to Constitution will never solve the issue, only curb the symptoms.

She could perhaps do something with blood magic. She didn’t know if she would get a skill that increases her Constitution.

Xengs were strong and mighty but they had a family based heritage, not unlike the Imperial noble’s lineage. They wouldn’t pass or teach any skills to others. Kong Jing didn’t have any family remaining on Elcra and all the craftsmen had been wacky. The craftsman didn’t care much about family heritage, the person they taught just had to fit their personal criteria.

Since blood magic was one of the magics her grandmother really didn’t know much about, she would have to figure things out herself.

Blood Boil was a fire magic and enhancement magic despite the ‘blood’ in its name.

Name: Scarlet Rhael Ning Xin

Core Skill: Violent Heart Acceleration Lvl 173

Class: Genius Sword Witch of Flames Lvl 100

Class Skills:

Streaking Sprint Lvl 143

Fire Mana Control Lvl 188

Cascade Dual Longsword Mastery Lvl 201

Cascading Laceration Lvl 141

Heated Blade Lvl 142

Spear of Flame Lvl 132

Pinpoint Perforation Lvl 157

Sphere of Immolation Lvl 139

Blood Boil Lvl 52

Burstflare Witch’s Conditioning Lvl 25

Empty Skill Slot

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Sub-Class: Wind Lightning Butcher Lvl 100

Sub-Class Skills:

Wind Mana Manipulation Lvl 136

Streamline Wind Enhancement Lvl 140

Lightning Mana Manipulation Lvl 143

Pulsating Lightning Enhancement Lvl 143

Lightning Inoculation Lvl 136

Revolving Razorwind Film Lvl 132

Empty Skill Slot

Empty Skill Slot

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Profession: Combat Chef Lvl 100

Profession Skills:

Combat Cooking Lvl 147

Heat Perception Lvl 139

Live Ingredient Processing Lvl 145

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Health: 1500/1500

Stamina: 2500/2500

Mana: 3000/3000 [3750]

Unallocated stat points:

Strength: 122

Vitality: 150

Constitution: 330

Endurance: 250

Agility: 180 [360]

Intelligence: 215

Wisdom: 300

Perception: 110

Generic Skills:

Xenese Lvl 10

Elcrian Lvl 10

Appraise Lvl 19

Running Lvl 54

Housekeeping Lvl 36

Silent Step Lvl 23

Immense Pain Resistance Lvl 46

Combat Tenacity Lvl 48

Sheer Exhaustion Resistance Lvl 57

Immense Divination Resistance Lvl 62

Mana Compression Lvl 28

Mana Expansion Lvl 42

Extreme Heat Resistance Lvl 89

Sheer Poison Resistance Lvl 21

Cold Resistance Lvl 28

Earth Resistance Lvl 16

Sheer Wind Resistance Lvl 39

Sheer Lightning Resistance Lvl 53

Blood Mana Manipulation Lvl 52

Mental Supersaturation Lvl 25

Scent Tracing Lvl 36

Mental Acceleration Lvl 41

Sublime Instinct Lvl 33

Regulated Breath Lvl 17

Scarlet didn’t pick up many additional skills. She already had many skills keeping her busy. Getting Regulated Breath made her really happy.

Regulated Breath - Controlled breathing matching your body’s muscle contractions and expansions. Increase efficiency in oxygen supply to the body by 1.0% per level.

It didn’t outright decrease her stamina consumption but the originally painful skill got easier and easier on her body. The burden on her lungs dropped very slightly as the skill levelled. The consumption of her stamina also started to drop noticeably as she could sustain herself longer whether in a hunt or training. If she manages to push the skill into one of her classes, she would increase her sustainability in combat by a long shot.

Scarlet packed her bag. 2 additional sets of battle wear together with another stronger set for after she evolved. Courtesy of Sister Jing. It was packed up and she was told not to open it till she evolved, maybe just for the surprise. She would at least respect that and keep it closed till she was ready for it. 12 sets of pyjamas and underwear, together with 5 sets of casual clothing she hardly ever wore.

Preserve boxes, half chilled half not. Some new, some old, some smaller than the others. She could feed a few parties for months. From fresher fruits and vegetables to meats and seafood to herbs and spices to seasoning. She had it all. Her portable kitchen stove and sink were cleaned and tidied up with her cooking tools.

Her tent by one side, near her clothes. All the random stuff she had properly stored this time. Things like the illusion ward so that she could sleep with more ease out in the wild. She can’t let Ebony catch her just tossing everything she had inside just because she had been too lazy to tidy her personal belongings again!

She had almost been as embarrassed about that as to when he pulled her underwear out.

“Sister Jing! I’m ready to go. You can just drop me off wherever your destination is.” Scarlet called out to Kong Jing who was waiting for her.

“Alright let’s go!” Kong Jing returned Scarlet her mask that she fiddled with. Adding more functions to it. The one she asked for was for the lower mask to be able to be hidden so that she could eat without taking her mask off like her sister's.

“See you, grandma. Don’t play around too much.” Scarlet said as she put her mask on. There were even more incomprehensible runes with embedded gems and crystals in them.

“...Take care, my beloved granddaughter. Don’t be so rash. Ah Jing, you can just bring her there.” Her grandmother was acting a little weird all of a sudden. She was more serious than usual but maybe she was just worried about her like always. She definitely knew a lot more than she let Scarlet in on.

Kong Jing just “yeah, yeahed” and said bye before disappearing from their house with Scarlet without a trace left behind.

“The next ordeal’s gonna be much bigger than a simple rebuilding of your Physique my dear girl… I better be able to see you soon.”