Ebony’s decision to give Pettock a choice was something that came up on the spur of the moment. Xin probably didn’t like that he took such liberties when on both occasions, it was her life that had been under control.
However, she didn’t say anything and only looked at him. He could tell she was peeved from under her mask.
[Medusan Petrification Warlock Lvl 500| Basalt Spellfist Lvl 500]
Although Appraise hadn’t evolved, it had refined to the point where he could see the actual Sub-Class title. Since he understood that the titles matter, it was good information to have. Warlock or spellfist were both new to him but if he only had Identify, he would be seeing petrification mage and stone mage or martial artist.
It was already rare enough to see someone else keep up with their levelling rate. Tuffock was at the same stage as both of them. Just preparing for their next evolution.
Ebony’s perception could be said to be one of his strongest traits outside of his endurance. And if there’s anything that stood out immediately, it was the stone mage’s far bigger and wider mana pool. It was normal for other mages besides Ebony to be able to learn mana capacity-increasing skills but the problem was age or time since they’d last met.
Mana capacity was hard to increase. It was similar to a muscle. Often, the size of a mana pool was related to one’s age. It felt like Tuffock was almost on par with an Elf of the same level’s mana capacity. Not considering most Elves at the same age of less than a century old would usually be at a low level.
It was slight but the petrification warlock’s overflowing essence was causing his skin to harden and joints to stiffen. It quickly dispersed when his mana regenerated from the usage during their destruction test but it was capable of affecting him when he didn’t have much mana in his body.
Ebony didn’t understand why or how. Elcrians simply didn’t have that…genes. The strongest other person near their age was likely Mallory or Hector and even then, their aura had negligible effects on people of the same evolutionary stage.
He had never known much about the stone mage despite once exploring a dungeon together.
The scrawny mage under a dirty brown hooded robe should have been able to feel both of their rising auras as his mana regenerated and Xin’s charge up of vitality.
“Ha! Forget it? I admit, we made a wrong choice taking hard measures in the past and not completing the job. But me owing you one, and you owing me another is not something we can write off. I should’ve expected that strength from Xengs but…truly what monsters to have gotten so strong, so fast. I can’t have you tossing aside that favour I made.”
A different tone of voice took over. Ebony knew it was another one of their personalities, Hardock. Regardless of who, Ebony did not expect the choice they took. The agreement technically gave him a legal right to take violent measures. Even if they didn’t specifically share what was going on verbally, he would just be investigated by the Nebula Watch who had lie-detection abilities.
“You say monster for fast growth but so are you.”
“We’re not the same, monster. Sure, monsters alike. But completely different monsters. We are merely recovering what was once ours. You however, only gained and grew.” Pettock returned and raised their hands in a casual shrug.
“As interesting as this information may be.” Ebony grabbed the collar of the stone mage’s robes and Flickered out of the store. Dragging the man without protecting him from wind pressure, he pulled the man near the fake sea.
“Someone’s getting impatient to return that first favour.” Hardock yanked his lips along and resisted the wind pressure.
“A spike.” Xin appeared beside him a few moments later. Since she had to be careful not to destroy anything, she had to chase slowly. His movement skills were non-destructive and didn't disturb the environment unlike hers.
“Right here? You are mad, gonna kill me at the cost of killing yourself?”
“Relax, the Nebula Watch knows the law better than I do. Fighting on any station is illegal, but returning a favour is not. This one is simply violent in nature.” Ebony had some of his mental processing power re-reading the Book of Laws. The clauses might be numerous but most were clear-cut.
“...Is that gonna fly?” The stone mage had uncertainty written all over his face.
“It wouldn’t be any of your business.” Ebony felt Xin’s shoulder slump ever so slightly after he spoke.
A bad sign.
Her intuition must have informed her of something.
“Oh no, I can’t have you dead before you return that second favour.” Pettock smiled.
“I was kidding, we’re already in the Nebula Watch’s weird half-illusion when Hardock chose to take this attack.”
At his fingertip was a sharp spike of ice with all the cube’s gravity mana he could control. He had no choice but to make it such that no environmental damage was done or he would be dead at the Nebula Watch’s hands. But that was perfectly fine, it fit the spell’s needs for an eye for an eye. He aimed for a spell with enough projectile force to break a skull and snap a neck, together with sealing magic that was equal to petrification to him.
This spell was all about repulsion and pure force and no vortex. The freezing would come automatically with just about all of his ice spells. Now that Ebony was off-world from Elcra, he did his best not to use frost flames. Letting the Nebula Watch watch was fine, but his use of flames had been limited, be it on Cinderash or Teheil. But that was just the visual aspect, all solid ice would burn whenever Will-infused spells noticed that ice had hit flesh or the target and they would only burn within roots of solid ice that would decrease their temperature and increase their ability to spread.
The spike of ice turned dark red, dipped and then surrounded by a blood halo.
They didn’t take long before he released the spell at the stone mage’s forehead. It was a faster attack than any physical attack he could pull off at the moment.
A stone helm was conjured in record time but the castor was still flung through the air cutting across the waters.
Disappointingly, the stone mage’s body stopped short of the area where Ebony didn’t dare push his mana senses too.
‘How is he so strong? A slight neck dislocation and my ice is getting tackled so fast.’ Ebony’s Will in the spell was still around and there was no disturbance so the stone mage was not a Domain mage. He might have exhausted his Will during the destruction test but he held nothing back with the spell. It was a spell that should do more than hurt.
Ebony watched the stone mage kneeling on the surface of the water and fighting the occasional explosion of ice and flames on his forehead. He saw some blood get completely through the mask when the stone mage screamed in pain. His mana should have gotten into an eye along with Xin’s conjured blood.
But not any longer as his mana was erased from its effects.
“That’s that. Don’t forget that second favour.” Panting, the stone mage stone up on the grey platform he conjured and pointed at Ebony. He couldn’t open his left bloodied eye but other than that, he was practically unharmed. This was a spell Ebony was confident could kill most Kings on Teheil if magic wasn’t weakened. Maybe some Savants could survive if they were armoured but Savants don’t use aether well until they are Emperor ranked. They could survive the physical force but not the magical after effects.
“What is it that you want, for you to take this risk?” Needless to say, he wasn’t going to do ‘whatever’ the stone mage wanted him to do.
“Nothing complicated, you just need to fight someone for me. I don’t even need you to kill, just fight and distract someone while I kill a netherfaeing festering plague.” Hardock replied.
“I don’t kn-”
“Don’t worry, you will be doing good by helping me kill that scum. In any case, you’re too weak now. It wouldn’t be anytime soon. Don’t go dying on me.” Pettock flew off without looking back.
“Tuffock, how have you been doing?” Ebony used sound magic to carry his voice further.
After a moment, the stone mage stopped flying briefly. Turn a head, nodded with a wry smile and they continued on their flight.
“...Let’s go back.” Xin grabbed his sleeves again.
And so they did.
“You do you, I want to check out the exotic stalls.” She let his arm go and hopped forward.
“Be careful, and come to the bank for the card-rock-jewel-gem thing when you’re free.” Ebony could feel that she wanted some alone time but she wasn’t in her combat state and it took a lot longer than he remembered for her to switch states.
Still, he wasn’t going to force her to stick together if she so clearly wanted to split. He might have used Hardock’s words of agreement as a ‘loophole’ but the Nebula Watch wouldn’t let violence and many more crimes fly here. They were better bodyguards than Ebony.
The bank and main module were very easy to find, it was very crowded despite the size.
‘Five hundred public computers with the same ticket system as the ejection shuttle. I suppose that means a computer or module is expensive if so many people have to use it. And there are different computers, there should be a difference in function or speed. Wait…I didn’t sense him here.’ Ebony saw someone he didn’t expect, yet again.
He had to walk up to a fellow Elcrian if he wanted to go back, didn’t he?
“Hello.” Ebony casually walked up to the man he was unfamiliar with, Hector’s bodyguard, Welser. The man was sitting around what looked like a waiting area.
The butler looked up in surprise before standing up to surprise Ebony with a hug and pat on the back. “Young master’s friend, I’m very glad to see you alive.”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
“You too, how has Elva and the Empire been? Tetramyth? Hector?” He forget to use tone in his speech again so it probably didn't transmit his insignificant concern.
“The war is still ongoing. We have been trying to get a foothold here on the station but it has been difficult getting the right people to get out of Elva who wholeheartedly works on behalf of the Empire. The young master…hadn’t been more driven to get stronger ever since that incident.”
“Good to hear he’s doing fine.” Ebony took a number and listened to Welser who was more than open to share the ongoings with the Empire with a person who spoke the same language.
The ‘incident’ was a rather huge matter to the Empire. The public might not know that a couple of Emperor-ranked people had just shown up like nobody’s business but a few hundred metres of frozen buildings and stone that had already been molten was a big incident to the normally safe Capital City. Thanks to Muse, not many people actually knew or saw what happened and there were no casualties.
But they did find out about the Cinderashians. It wasn’t a world that they were connected to by World Dungeons and it spooked them a little because one of the other ways of travelling to Elcra was by true space magic and that was a lot harder. Gearhart might have swept Ezekiel’s involvement under the rug back at their home, but as a user of space magic, Ezekiel was quite a big name.
In recent years, the Empire have been trying to get a branch of Z&Z up on this station. They had to pay extravagant fees to get to this station because every station was not built on a Worldcore. The lack of a Worldcore meant the lack of dungeons as there was nothing for dungeons to parasite on. Without World Dungeons, they only had ejection shuttles to rely on to get here. Elcra didn’t have an especially strong space mage, spirit mage or anyone with similar abilities that allowed them to use other Realms as a mode of travel.
They were lucky that their world had Elves, automatically raising their worth in the grand scheme of things. It made other powers look at them as more than a place to plunder.
They hadn’t managed to open a store but Z&Z had the owner herself present, selling wares on the roadside of this station. Their specialities included Navin and Yvette’s spell-imbued healing barriers. The half golem owner of Z&Z wasn’t around though. Dwarven goods were not the worst but compared to other advanced planets, they had few advantages. However, there were rumours that past Archdukes of Dwarves who left Elcra had noticed that Elcra had advanced this much and might be willing to lend a hand in terms of earning them opportunities or making use of the connections they’ve made. The humans and beastmen of the Empire had very little to offer that other worlds couldn’t already do or have. The average and even elite Elcrain did not qualify for jobs that required strength.
Welser’s turn came quickly and he said his farewells after telling Ebony the shuttle service he used to get here. It was a different company than the one that went to and fro from Teheil. The ticket price was more expensive because of distance but the shuttle was known to be a cheap model because it was rated for planets that didn’t have ridiculous gravities or magic that prevented entry and exit.
‘There are other modes of transport I can pay for like a good spirit mage but that would require me to go through the spirit realm and that place is known to be deadly…’ He considered ways to move around vast distances.
It took another hour before his turn on the module and he was finally able to feel the filling sensation of mana in his body. Ever since he got off the shuttle, he had been using so much of it. On the shuttle, it just kept compressing and storing itself.
The only module he could use for free was the smallest module, a green screen but it was still twice as big as the one on the shuttle.
“Ah, you’re back. Good, I’m ready this time.” The ball of green lights were more abundant here.
“Why did you ignore me? It's rude to hang up without a reason.”
“Heey hey, are you trying to kill me? You can say it safely but us hearing it might make us think about it. If we think about it, we might be dead! I had to get my hands on a Medallion of Secrecy.”
“Can we just get to registering me?” At this point, he just wanted to get this internet account going rather than care about the implications that a name was giving him
“O-of course, let me double-check if the Medallion is working.”
“Name, Ebony. Level 500 Frigid Tranquillity’s Martial Grace. How are you going to take my blood?” Ebony didn’t give the bundle of green particles much time to probe the hidden bronze medallion they were circling.
“Kehme…no need for that. Birth World?” The group of particles cycled faster and coughed ignorance.
“Earth. As far as I’m aware.” Ebony told the truth while probing for a reaction.
“Ahh, right. Earth.” There was indeed a reaction. And it was one of boredom as if Ebony just confirmed what it knew.
“Will you tell me about Earth?”
“I could.”
“For a price?” Knowing that this was a money-grubber made to be ‘fair’, he asked knowing the answer.
“For a price.”
“What’s next?”
“Guarantor? That Xeng girl will not do, she doesn’t have any reputation to back your identity. Should I put her grandma as well?”
“You can do that? Sure, I doubt she’ll mind.” Hex was both polite and helpful in speeding the process up.
“Oookay. And…you’re done. You are E-HEX-6666666644444445. Right after that girl, I saved the spot for you.”
“...Right.” This was one weird artificial intelligence. Also, how could Xin not remember a straight string of 6s and 4s?
“So, your services-”
“Get a good Myriad Bracelet from an approved vendor. They will have a stamp or mark of this beautiful green Hex in front of you. Those with my stamp are rated for the entire region, if you ever get a portable module of me, those can connect through the entire Hex region. Yes, I am named after the region like my brothers and sisters from other regions. I can say this for free, I am made up of 115 sectors. You are in one of them. Oh, there are fewer worldcores in each sector than most would think. In Hex, most has been plundered and wiped out. The only ones left are natural Worldcores that are still growing and protected by the Law.”
“Tell me the differences between your modules.”
“Generally the bigger I am, the more range I have. Most portable ones are rated for within 4 to 5 sectors but it depends on which sector you’re in or trying to connect to. My main module can reach throughout the region. There is also a difference in connection speed and update of information from further distances. For users, it's all about the market size. Most people care little about information from a few sectors away so transmission lag doesn’t affect them. Physical trade and job offers for worldcore exploration or dungeon exploration is the most common. Transportation merchant groups are also extremely popular. The one you’ve used to get here is quite reputable.”
“How does the reputation system work?”
“Every successful trade, job or deal between two or more parties would increase one’s reputation. There are individual and group reputations. Registered merchant group, exploration group and many more. How much you gain depends on the trade, the individual or group you are dealing with and of course, the difference in your perceived abilities. For example, a grandmaster successfully completing a trade or job for a Saint with good reviews would receive higher points compared to helping another grandmaster. When the difference is that huge, you can even place the accomplishments in your profile.” Hex explained comfortably, seemingly happy that he was doing a normal job and not dealing with an anomaly that required it to get a Medallion of Secrecy. Whatever that was.
“...I see. How about buying things from a merchant group?”
“A lot less, but as long as you paid them and you received the goods you paid for, both of you would increase your reputation. It works a little differently for a group, it is harder for them to increase their reputation.”
“Does the bank have conversion services?” Ebony started to piece how Kong Jing had a mana converter and compression. The half-golem of Z&Z company likely found a different World from the World Dungeon and had brought some of the technology over. It was more surprising that she didn’t get the technology from the Xengs.
“Of course, every bank has a mana conversion facility. With inhabitants from every Worldcore having their unique traits to their mana, God standardised it for convenience. The facility here can convert every creature’s mana into the standardised version, at differing efficiencies of course. But since all natural Worldcores have been standardised, their creatures’ mana should be quite easy to convert so they don’t have to fear low efficiencies like some old races or unexplored new races.” Hex’s voice turned shaky and uncertain near the end.
Ebony would really like to ask about ‘natural’ Worldcores that he had been hearing so much but it was not free information. Something told him that Hex was already being generous with the information they were sharing. He also didn’t bother asking which ‘God’ Hex was referring to now. He learned that it was better to keep his mouth shut on some things when words held power.
The biggest market group was Eidolon themself. Ebony saw them as the biggest company that dealt with goods. They were the indicator for ‘market’ price. Commodities were best bought from them but rare items would not be worthwhile because people would rather do personal trading instead of selling at a low price.
“I suppose there is a fee for using the facility.”
“Yes! It depends on the efficiency but a general range is 40 to 70% of the converted mana!”
“...There must not be many people using it.”
“Sadly, you are right. But I have to eat too! I’m barely earning anything with that fee because the conversion uses a lot of power. In terms of profits, I’m earning less than 5%!”
“Then market it that way, no one’s gonna like to hear that half of the mana they inject to convert is going to be taken away.”
“We’ve tried. It didn’t work since it didn't change the fact that more than half their mana would go to waste. At most, a few naive individuals would be tricked when they first come to a station with a bank.”
“Where does standardised mana ores come from?”
“Many Worldcores that had their populations wiped out are used as fields to absorb ambient mana. Those are converted and compressed. Production facilities. A limited amount is in circulation and our bank holds the physical storage of those ores.”
“I see…oh well, you’re going to get another customer today. I need some capital to buy the bracelets and a portable module.”
“...OF COURSE, COME RIGHT UP! It’s on your left two blocks down the street! Wait, let me get an employee to guide you over!” The sales spirit shouted.
“Loud.”
“...Apologies.”
The most common apparel or fashion seemed to be sort of like tight-fitting techwear fashion. Hex’s or Eidolon’s employees wore similar clothing but with proper tactical armour, two separate chest pieces with one main torso metal piece and their leggings had multiple overlapping metals fitted down to the boots. There were gaps between the armour that showed their clothing underneath but Ebony only saw those as weak spots he could use. The armour set was imprinted with Hex’s stamp on the left chest plate.
Anyone who wanted to be an employee could apply directly with Hex. It was practically a government job with stable pay and close to no risk.
A tall furred woman came jogging over right after Ebony took his hands off the module. He spent a few minutes quickly browsing through the Myriad Bracelet prices and asking about the portable modules. Hex’s recommendations should suffice instead of browsing through thousands of other small merchant groups or individual craftsman trades. They were all Hex-branded or approved so their quality shouldn’t be a problem.
‘That is some unique aura…’ Ebony was impressed straight away. He had retrieved his mana senses not long ago, after he sensed too many people probing angrily at his perception. At this distance, this lady’s vitality was toxic.
It was interesting to see that her armour was specially made to absorb the toxic aura she was exuding. Also, she was probably stronger than any Cinderashian Savant he had come across. Though less intense than a Boiler Knight.
“Hell-hello dear guests, I’ll lead you to the bank.”
“Mmm.” Ebony did not realise that he took so long with Hex that his mana from shooting a spike at Pettock was about to fill up.
It had been over ten years since he had to care about holding his mana in his body or redirecting it to the floor. He also wasn’t familiar with the difference in quantities he had to deal with.
Just as he took a step following the employee with toxic vitality, his excess overflowing mana just exploded outwards.
He had quick reflexes so he concentrated and redirected his mana in one direction. Looking around, he rubbed the back of his head in slight embarrassment. ‘That was embarrassing, I’m like a kid that can’t hold his bladder back. Still, they didn’t have to act so surprised.’
Ebony spoke his mind, “accident, won’t happen again.”
People who tripped quickly glanced away. Those who were forced to the ground stayed there and his guide’s muscles tensed and trembled after she hid the fact that she stumbled on nothing.
‘I’m going to have to pay for those broken chairs don’t I?’ The only thing on his mind was his hopes that the chairs in the module waiting area weren't luxury items. He didn’t have anyone else to blame, some people were just so heavy they broke the chairs they sat on after his mana leaked and increased gravity on them.