“Ya mute?” As a person who traversed worlds, all of them spoke Gia. There were four gate guards letting farmers and their wagons through. The walls were heavily patrolled.
“No,” Ebony replied. He was quite satisfied that these people didn’t needlessly draw their weapons like the Cinderashians would have.
“Hang on here, let me get the Deception Banishers.” The short 1.83-metre guard gave his fellow guards a quick glance before jogging away.
“Where did you come from? We know every single person who was transferred over so don’t bother lying. Although you do have the smell of Cinderashians on you, it’s not bone deep.” The only other free guard walked up to him and kept a comfortable distance where they didn’t have to look up to meet Ebony's eyes.
“This bracelet is something like a prison and a trophy from the Cinderashians. I was a prisoner on Cinderash, escaped and ran here. Before that, I was on Elcra.” Ebony saw their gazes towards his new bracelet.
“Uh…Elcra? Where’s that?” Utterly confused, the young man cocked his head slightly. They weren’t wearing helmets so he could tell how young the man was. Also, just a Grandmaster like Ebony was.
“You can stand down boy.” Evidently, the Deception Banisher was just behind a door a few steps away from the gate check because he came out before Ebony could answer the guard.
The Deception Banisher dressed like a priest, his garb was a long, flowing robe made of fine, heavy silk, dyed a deep blue that shimmered subtly in the golden light. Intricate silver embroidery adorned the hem and sleeves and Ebony recognised the runic language as one of the many that Kong Jing taught him but he wasn’t sure what the formulation was without running his mana through them since most of the formulation would be hidden under layers of cloth.
The man had a silver beard flowing down to his chest and his solemn demeanour silenced the farmers and carriages who noticed his arrival.
“You speak the truth, ex-prisoner of Cinderash. Are you Cinderashian?”
“No.”
“What is your purpose coming here?”
“Restock on supplies. Get a pass to one of your Golden Fields in Central Teheil.”
“I can understand the supplies but why do you want to go to Central? In case you didn’t know, that’s where the war is. If you want to get on your way home, you can work your way to pay for the tickets, though depending on where your home is, the number of transport you would have to take would differ.”
Ebony knew a little about transport between planets. Teheil was one of the special places that were only reachable through these advanced portals. The spirit realm wasn’t connected and World Dungeons did not exist on Teheil. Not even normal dungeons exist. And the main form of travel, he reckoned was a spaceship equivalent.
Within clusters of inhabited planets, they travelled in vehicles and common people just paid for a ticket on a commercial trip. It was cheaper than finding someone capable of moving through realms or space and safer compared to trusting someone strong enough to move through those means.
There were larger vehicles for movement between clusters but it was both more expensive than any normal person would be able to pay for and also dodgy in safety.
“My home‘s likely not a destination by spacecraft. And no, I have someone to pick up before going home. Money, right how can I earn money around here?”
“We’re going to have to take a step back, you presume you’re entering too early.”
Ebony thought the situation was looking good by the flow of conversation but it seems not.
He was asked a string of questions that were crafted to remove as much wordplay manipulation as possible but it was along the lines of "are you planning to harm anyone in the Golden Fields,” “are you threatened by the Cinderashians,” those types of questions. It wasn’t that hard for him since he just had to tell the truth though it was honestly testing his patience when the fiftieth similar question was asked
“Are you aware of any foreign mental alterations?”
“They’ve tried.”
“...That, it was going well, but I need some elaboration now.”
“They had their Telepaths attack me. I kicked them out.”
“What is your danger classification? Both individual and hazard rating.”
“Oh, by the Nebula Watch? I don’t think I have one. But I’m a mage, it shouldn’t matter on Teheil.”
“Now that’s good to hear. No offence to your personal safety and I’m sure the headaches are not fun, it’s just a lot safer for us. I believe I’ve heard enough. Nice to meet you, I am Deception Banisher Tod.” The lie detector put his hand out.
“I am Ebony.” Ebony was glad that these people didn’t think handshakes were weird like the Elcrians. It was pretty much universal manners.
“Banisher Tod.” The guard behind nudged the priest-like man.
“Now Ebony, I’m going to have to detain you till we get your identity checked out before we let you roam free within our Golden Fields. As for the pass to Central, or even the supplies I would not be able to help you there. Money is earned the same way everywhere, work.”
“I doubt he has any money, sir.” One of the farmers wearing his exoskeleton suit commented when he walked through the gate. They were just standing at the corner of the gate as they did not invite him into a guard or interrogation room.
“How long would it take?” Ebony did not care about the farmer’s truthful comment.
“It could take twenty standard days. It could take a year.” Banisher Tod shrugged.
“Then you are not detaining me. I don’t have time for that.” The mood changed the moment he said that.
“Your choices are to leave and brave the cushioning for who knows how long, or be detained but be fed and sheltered for who knows how long.” The guard that went to get Banisher Tod butted the odd rod into the ground. It should be a weapon of some kind.
“Goodbye.” Ebony was slightly disappointed but he didn’t wait any longer. He had delayed and waited long enough. He Flickered at full force and went towards the Ferroquads’ territory.
The Cinderashians couldn’t keep him.
The Mirellan and Veilarans didn’t stop him.
The cushioning couldn’t stop him.
Ebony would go wherever he wanted and he would do it fast.
He got a rough gauge on how both the grey and the gold light indicated the strength of cushioning. The darker the hue of grey or the brighter the hue of gold, the stronger the cushioning and even absorption of mana. This planet was like a natural version of Cinderash dungeons and their placement.
Every bit of barren land was barren because the energy went into the Golden Fields where there were rich fertile lands. There were small patches of undeveloped and inhibited Golden Fields where the gold light was dim here and there. He could find broken tents or leftover traces of people in these fields but they might not have the manpower or desire to take control of these fields.
He had seen people on the ground while he Flickered through the skies. They marched at speeds like the humans back on Earth. Their stamina consumption was high, and the effort required to transport supplies was immense. An utter waste of time if he was supposed to move with them.
Undeniably, he was still slowed down by a huge degree since Augmentation was suppressed so badly and it would die off the moment he broke his coagulated mana down for use. But he might as well be teleporting compared to these invaders.
Finding Ferroquads wasn't that difficult since he knew their rough direction and his perception range was so wide.
‘Woah are they the Ferroquads? Four-legged, across each other. Human upper body with four arms. Grey fur. Facial features are no different from humans other than a lot of facial hair but they are not considered sub-humans right?’
The Golden Fields he found were smaller than the humans' and likely not the main base of the Ferroquads but he decided to land and walk up to them. It was a very different scene here. There were no majestic walls, machinery or advanced technology.
Just normal 8-limbed people farming half naked with linen pants.
“Human!” One of the male farmers raised his rake and screamed when Ebony waved.
“Oh. He doesn’t smell like them?” His fellow farmer stepped forward and sniffed. Ebony learned and had long washed himself off which took a lot of effort considering the difficulty it was to use mana for his runes.
“Back up.” The biggest farmer ran forward to meet Ebony face-to-face.
He left dozens of steps between them in case they felt threatened by a human that walked up here alone. In any case, they probably assumed he couldn’t run up to them before they could retreat.
“You! Human, what are you doing here?! You don’t smell like any of the other humans on Teheil.”
“I am indeed not Cinderashian, Mirellan or Veilarans. I escaped from the Cinderashians after being locked up for years. I am here to look for a job, for money and hopefully get a pass to Central where I can get out of Teheil and make my way home.” Having experienced the questioning once, he just summarised what he said once to the humans a few days ago.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
“Huh…since you know all of them, why don’t you go to the humans Mirellan or whatever?”
“They don’t trust me, even after all the Deception Banisher’s questions.”
“HAHAHAHA, typical humans. You don’t smell like lies. We need hands, if you can work you can earn. I hope you have more muscle than you’d look. You would need double to work as efficiently as these bad boys.” The farmer at the front flexes all four of his arms with pride.
“I am stronger than all eighteen thousand five hundred and fifteen of you combined,” Ebony reassured them that he could work.
The couple dozen of them that put their tools down and looked over to listen with their superhuman ears laughed it off like a joke before they turned stern.
“How do you know how many of us there are here? A skill?” The muscular farmer frowned and put his flexing arms down.
“You can say that but it’s more of a natural perception.”
“Farmers, leave this man to me and get back to work.”
“Steward Koray! We weren’t slacking!” The farmers scurried back and rose their tools when a properly clothed Ferroquad jogged over. The Golden Field was rather dim in light and so was the cushioning so it wasn’t an amazing feat to be able to jog. It was more amazing that 4 legs that were crossed in a plus sign could jog so smoothly.
‘What made them evolve into this kind of form?’ Ebony had to say that these Ferroquads were handling the cushioning and gravity much better than the humans but he couldn’t see how their legs were suited for combat.
“Stranger, I heard. Money and home, I understand completely. We could use every pair of hands we can get, hearing your confidence and desire to go to Central I can only assume you are a combatant. What can you do, I’m sure I can get you a fair remuneration.”
Ebony was nodding internally, this was going so much smoother than with the humans. The Ferroquads don’t seem to care who or what he is. They were very casual about his sudden appearance.
“Hmm…” Ebony didn’t know what to say, he was not going to fight a war for them that’s for sure. As much as he didn’t like the Cinderashians, he wasn’t about to fight them for no reason. The ones he had spite with was Gearhart, Ezekiel, Mr Guru and possibly Percival Gearhart.
He spent a few seconds looking around and having his perception sense within the compounds and tents of the Golden Fields.
‘They have terrible equipment. Let’s just say I can make equipment, make them more durable and that I’m a support mage. No, mage doesn’t work…maybe I can just say I can enhance fighters’ stamina regeneration through aura fortification? Let’s do that.’
“I can make your equipment more durable. I can increase people’s rate of recovery and most importantly, I can help speed up traverse out in the wilds. Can you feel it?”
“Yes, I’m sure all of my men here can feel the effects of your calming aura. You are not one of those humans that is for sure. Come, I’m sure you will fit in straight away. Can you work immediately?”
“The faster I can get to Central, the better.”
“Good. I will introduce you to our captain right now.”
Ebony liked these people. Straightforward and efficient.
The small Golden Fields was only in charge under a King.
“Greetings human! I felt your aura and heard your conversation. Call me Captain Ironclad!” Ebony wanted to cover his ears because Captain Ironclad leaned towards him and shouted at the top of his lungs.
Captain Ironclad was the biggest person around but not much taller than Ebony himself. With a lot more muscle and armour but that's beside the point. He had darker fur and a metallic sheen on them but it still flowed softly in the breeze.
As someone who could hear from literal miles away with just ears alone, he wasn’t surprised other people could do the same. The lack of walls and the smaller number of people helped a lot.
“Captain Ironclad, I am Ebony. So can I get the pass to Central? And the job I suppose.”
“I will have to see what you’re capable of first. I am most curious about what you mean by increasing our traversal speed. What are the costs?”
“You can say I’m something of a mage that can still work a bit of his magic on Teheil.”
“So you don’t work with mana. Qi, Spirit, Will, Intent, Mental, Soul energy, pure essence, vitality or something else entirely?”
“Will. My aura is somewhat enhanced by Will.” Ebony didn’t expect the Captain to be so unfazed. It meant there were others out there using these energies that were present and may produce magical effects just like he could.
“Domain Mage? Your Aura tells me King-ranked. My nose says Grandmaster. My skin and fur scream Emperor. You are a scary creature, Ebony. But even Domain Mages can’t use magic here and you are no more than an Emperor for sure.”
“Yes, my Domain and Will aren't that strong. I can increase the durability of all your armour, let’s say how its done is a trade secret. You already feel the stamina regeneration effects. I can show you traversal speed.” Ebony Flickered about for the Captain.
The Captain had a glint in his eyes and didn’t hide his ecstatic expression.
“What is your asking price?”
“A pass to Central. Introduce me as a crafter and auxiliary support to wherever you want to post me. I want to get there as soon as possible.” Ebony was not up for testing his abilities against the combined ability of the four groups fighting in Central.
The pass he was looking for was the only thing that would prevent him from being targeted by everyone. There seemed to be a handshake between the current people at war that they would do everything they could to prevent another force from joining in on the battle for Teheil. Teheil was also a natural Worldcore, Saints were prohibited from fighting or harming this place or its inhabitants but, other than the Natives, everyone else wasn’t considered ‘inhabitants’ but invaders.
Ebony’s clones couldn’t find out much if the people on Cinderash talked little about the situation on Teheil so he had no choice but to figure things out on his own. Knowing Saint Gearhart’s family defences, he knew better than to charge in without information. His escape was only due to the fact that people didn’t know he existed, they underestimated his clones, and their terrible natural perception and countermeasures were underprepared due to the confidence they had in his cell.
“There is more you are looking for. But that’s okay, as we all do. How long would you work for?”
“How long before I can properly leave? For two people.” Since the 8-limbed man seemed nice, Ebony had no reason to hide his desires. All he knew was that Xin was last in Central. He didn’t know what she was doing or which group she was with. Eleven had been trapped in a test tube the entire time in hibernation, the Will transmission wasn’t perfect either.
“That depends on your contribution, it is too early for me to say. Ah, but there is no working portal to the sector’s station. You would have to use human transportation. I’m sure that can be done with a successful overtaking.” Captain Ironclad must have been referring to a space station, a hub.
Cinderash had a direct portal to one but he was likely in a different region at the moment. His clones never got close to that portal due to the extreme security. It might not exceed Gearhart’s home security in power but it surely exceeded it in breadth of coverage.
“Do you need some kind of written contract?” Ebony questioned. As he was talking to Captain Ironclad, he was listening to every conversation being carried out within the small Golden Fields. Few were talking about him and they were the farmers. Their race’s perception was good but his entry was quiet so it seemed like very few knew a human entered their premises.
Information gathering was going swell and he didn’t even need ambient mana to sense vibrations. Just his ears were enough and his mind was used to sieving hundreds if not thousands of conversations going simultaneously.
“No, do you?”
“No.” Ebony shook his head.
“Are you up for leaving with my troops to Central as reinforcement in 4 days? You came at a good time.” Ironclad surprised him with an immediate offer.
“I am.” Thinking he already delayed for a few years and was too busy running to cover the distance, he could use the chance to incorporate all of the skills his clones had refined.
Magic was fine, he received the improvements immediately as his mind could do whatever his clones could produce. But physical skills were different, his mind knew the improved techniques but his body didn’t. He had to figure out how to operate runic formulas when mana was sucked out of everything as well. Conjuring ice doesn’t seem to trick Teheil that it’s a natural or necessary element either.
“It is done. I’m sure we have free tents, don't we Steward Koray?” The slightly shivering warrior nodded and turned back to the Steward.
“Come with me.”
“In the meantime, you can send me sample equipment. I haven’t been on Teheil long and I’m not sure how my abilities are affected. Carts and wagons first, I should be able to whip up load reduction for your cargo and you can see if it works.”
“Fantastic.” Ironclad crossed both pairs of arms in front of his chest in greeting and turned away. To get logistics done.
‘So they are an assault group. They stopped by for rest, resupply and to transport fresh supplies to Central. The assault group consists of roughly three thousand men. Nine thousand farmers and various other support classes, the other six thousand guards the Golden Field, are backup reinforcements and generally train here…’ Ebony followed Steward Koray to a worn-out tent.
He didn’t complain, the tents all around were in similar conditions if not worse. They felt like a nomadic race. Few to no permanent buildings made out of rock or wood were around. While there were Golden Fields with quarries or mines, this was a purely farming and fertile soil Field.
‘Food preservation runes would be useful.’
“Can you get me the carts and crates you use? I’ll get to work immediately.”
The Steward was up to speed with his conversation with their captain so he bowed and left without questions.
Ebony unsheathed Icicle and conducted his first maintenance on it for years. It was dry on ice mana but it seemed like the nearly permanent gravitational activation to increase its weight was left alone. That was weird but he figured out it was due to Kong Jing’s runes. The runes weren’t affected in any way.
“You did good surviving being tossed into that magical volcano,” Ebony muttered and gave Icicle an injection of mana that was quickly being absorbed. His sword wasn’t tip-top shape. It was already surprising this piece of wood didn’t turn to ashes and his clones were enough to allow it to regrow and stay in good condition.
The instant he broke down coagulated mana, it was almost all gone.
‘Magic is out of the question for others. How can I allow them to use load reduction runes…let’s try.’ Ebony very forcefully pushed coagulated mana as it was, even letting his Unique Skill deactivate. Thankfully, all the punching of his chassis and coagulated form mana made it rather simple to push them around.
On the first attempt, Icicle successfully took in the coagulated mana. But it was slowly being drained.
‘It's no longer in the safety of my chassis so it’s easier to break down?’ He did a quick test and got results quickly. As long as he injected his coagulated mana, he could allow runes to operate temporarily. He just needed some Will to program coagulated mana to break itself down in controlled amounts.
He could design runic formulas that could do that for him but he didn’t have that kind of time. Will was very convenient in that regard.
Before the first ten-metre long and three-metre wide wagon arrived, he already calculated how much mana he needed to sustain one of these wagons for two days. Not significant.
Tapping the wagon in front of him and letting his mana carve out the formulas in a jiffy, he found that these wagons were made of Epic-ranked pine wood. Luxury doesn’t even begin to describe it.
Taking a better look, although the tent was worn out the fabric it was made of was also of high quality. Rare at minimum. Though the craftsmanship wasn’t good.
The materials he saw weren’t exotic, the crops grown were all familiar types. But they grew fast. Extremely fast. He was watching seeding and germination happen in real-time as minutes passed. Appraising Inferior quality wheat grows into Common quality ones within hours.
These Golden Fields were a source of immense wealth.
Listening to the farmers, pine trees grow into Epic rarity within 3 years from seeding and they were always harvesting. Always seeding. The lands weren’t big but they required a large number of farmers to make full use of them.
Of course, the seed quality had to be taken into account. It was possible to continue increasing their quality if they simply left the trees alone while occasionally applying fertiliser but it would take a much longer time if the tree itself just wasn’t supposed to grow to higher ranks. A good portion of the trees and land here were allowed to sit for long durations so it explained the high number of defending troops, as higher quality materials were being grown.
“Men, this is our new Spirit Blesser. He will be part of us Raizers from today!” 4 days passed in a flash as Ebony inscribed every single wagon and crate containing food and proved his abilities. Ironclad had him stand in front of all his troops just to introduce him.
Too much flair for his liking but he liked the fake class that Ironclad created for him.