Ebony's Fable

Ebony took a long time but he finally noticed that her two states swap completely changed her personality as well. He had imagined getting to this level of strength was enough to move freely, be unfettered and be turned back by few. But it only opened his eyes to bigger busybodies that can’t seem to ignore him.

‘Battery, both that steampunk guy and the mandate user want me for that…go for other targets like that Elf. I’m not that special.’ Ebony sulked as they did the wholesale grocery shopping before packing up their trailer and giving his bodyguard clones a heads-up about their disappearance.

The shopping trip didn’t take long, she just pointed at what she wanted and swept her hand across the wholesale distributor’s warehouse. Their spatial bags could use an upgrade to weight reduction and he wouldn’t complain if they got bigger either.

At the same time, he got his clones to start learning enchanting magic and one of them was free to leave at any one time if the need arose or they found a more productive way to spend their time. For example, going to the Colosseum as a Duelist. He still wanted the house to be guarded.

“Clones are cheating.” Ning Xin headbutted his shoulder after he dismissed himself and got to packing.

“Get your own. You can still go for scheduled duels, get Sister Jing to be your bodyguard.” All skills were fair game and part of their capabilities.

“Hmphh.”

Ning Xin’s Duelling career was going stellar, a few more months of winning streak and her rank would be high enough to join the tri-annual Capital-wide tournament. If Ebony started now, he should still be able to make it in time as long as he never lost a battle. It was in 5 to 6 months and he could take his clone’s place when the time came.

“I was too harsh with the disappointment of Ant monsters. This is indeed a golden opportunity.” Ebony reflected on himself. He had been too childish. Experience was experience. The Ants were going to die if they continued pushing and acted on their desire to plunder lives, food and energy from Elcra and the Empire. He was silly not to partake.

“It is getting boring. They began to send Emperors at us, their pure strength and hardiness makes it impossible for us to hunt. Their technique and hunting strategy-wise, I’m not learning anything new.”

“Mmm…but the Emperors are indeed a different race altogether from the Kings and below. Spirit Nexus? That thing does not make sense.” Ebony had to learn the hard way that the Tetramyth race’s Emperors were not scientific and nigh invincible. All subspecies of Emperor and above had a skill or ability. They could connect to something Kong Jing called the Spirit Nexus.

It was not their skill. It was their Goddess’s skill.

Fortunately, the Spirit Nexus was not cast by the Goddess of War herself but by her Kin, the Saints who were given the legacy.

The Spirit Nexus connects the Saints to all the Emperors birthed by or under their command. They were the Saints’ eyes and antennae. If only it were that simple.

Spirit Nexus was a famous skill that was beyond mortal imagination. A tier 7 skill.

All entities connected to a Spirit Nexus had their stats controlled by the caster. Typically, the Saint or Tetramyth castor would equalise the stats of all their kin connected. But, they had something referred to as the Powerhouse. It was a secured region of Emperors that did nothing but stay in forced hibernation.

The size of their Powerhouse, was the amount of excess stats the Saint could split between her warriors. If they had 10 Emperors on the battlefield with a Powerhouse that stored 100 Emperors, the 10 warriors had the stats of 110 split amongst themselves.

It was not logical at all.

Thankfully, Ant and insect races in general had terribly low physical stats and physique to begin with.

Obviously, the limit was the caster's skill level, refinement, their Fortification and the usual modifiers. The second limiter was the limit that the Emperor Ant warriors could withstand without dying. After an unknown amount of generations and genetic selection, this limit was sky-high. Stats alone was not everything but to a race whose overwhelming advantage was quantity and numbers? They were ants on magical steroids.

The Goddess of War herself was rumoured to have a higher-tier version.

In a way, the entire ‘war' with the Empire was to grow more Emperors and increase the size of their Powerhouses. The Tetramyths were doing the same thing on numerous worlds.

The method to beat or push the Saints back was information that the Empire had to buy using the Xeng’s connections. They had to find and destroy the Powerhouse that was beyond the portal or the battle would not end.

The Empire was barely pushing the Tetramyths back from their fortress and the main army was so far away from the portals the knowledge didn’t help.

Ebony was only aware of slightly more because Hector and Mallory shared most of the non-essential information. Such as plans of the most elite team the Empire could muster to be formed to charge into their portal but the risks were so high and planning took a long time.

It was a no-brainer that something as exploitable as the Powerhouse would be heavily protected.

Every other ant was expendable, millions of them were not even equivalent to a single addition to their Powerhouse.

They had special units of Emperors to funnel the growth of some ants and make sure their lessers didn’t die that easily. Even in their race of numbers, they recognised that there were talents that shouldn’t be expended. Unless that speculation was completely wrong and they go by random selection.

The Empire was busy seeking seers or scouts capable of obtaining more information on the Powerhouses they had to deal with.

Ebony and Ning Xin lay on their sofa and waited in their gear with their bags packed. They needed the one and only special transport to fetch them. The ordinary way of reaching their destination would take 2 to 3 days and they had to get through customs, it was troublesome.

Navin might be able to do something about it but all he needed to do was give Kong Jing unspoken permission to do as she wished.

“Can we still return once or twice a month? I want to visit Aroma Alcove.”

“Why? You want to see the beautiful elven waitresses again?”

Ebony felt a guillotine inching towards his neck. Her calm words were dripping in blood.

“There’s a rare Elder Elf who is open to sharing or trading skills…”

She shifted towards him and pushed him while getting her mask to almost touch his nose, “is that really all?”

“Of course not.”

Her fingers grip onto his collar.

“They have plenty of desserts we haven’t tried since their menu changes daily.”

“...That lady is a master of teacakes. I will make them better in future.” She leaned back and got pulled away before patting and smoothening out his robe.

Tension between the two of them and their interactions had been rising and they were both aware of it. She was funnelling her embarrassment to the back of her mind and it would explode when her hair turned red. Hence, she had been doing a lot to get more than physically close to him.

They spent an awkward hour of silence before boarding and alighting the space taxi.

“Let’s get to work.” Ebony stretched his neck.

“One meal a day.” The woman with half a head of red hair grabbed his hand without much control, any further than this point and she wouldn’t even be able to converse normally so she was already showing restraint.

“I’ll remember to keep an area clean,” Ebony recalled his forearm getting crushed when she casually held onto him the last time.

❅❅❅

“Dusk, cushions please.”

Ebony hid within Dusk’s bomb shelter while Ning Xin fell unconscious right as they slipped inside.

He carefully placed her head onto a pillow and made sure she lay comfortably. Her wounds clotted naturally but he sealed her uninjured body parts and organs in ice to speed up her healing.

“Dusk, one-way transparency. I want to see what’s going on outside.” Ebony asked and his pet tree responded.

Holding his left arm, he pushed the cut stem back where it should be and let his body reconnect itself. He lost a foot outside so it would take a minute before his leg decides to regenerate. He could kickstart it himself but this way healed the vitality portion faster and the period of physical weakness from regeneration wouldn’t last as long.

“Haha, so they learned from me and are camping outside. Dusk, full defence. Let’s call it hibernation mode. Save your mana on any attack or sealing spells. They are not going to have a slip in defence since they don’t get tired or drop their guard so we can forget about getting away with Torrent Path.”

Ebony decided that his only move now was to pathetically wait for someone to save him.

Unbelievably, time flowed away like water down a river. They had been down with the Tetramyths for another year and a half after his luck with Aroma Alcove’s Mistress.

They completely missed the Capital-wide tournament a year ago. He only found out after but his clones lost a total of 2 battles and didn’t keep an undefeated win streak. So he didn’t meet the rank to join the tournament in time. During the day of the tournament itself, both of them were locked in combat for over a week and Ning Xin didn’t have a clone to duel for her.

The situation with the Tetramyths continued to evolve or devolve depending on one’s perspective.

The Divine Pests had good arithmetic ability because the number of Emperors on their side increased over time. Those meant to feed the Powerhouse did not need a perfect evolution, just the bare minimum.

The fighter caste took a bit more time and effort but even those have seen a rise in numbers on the battlefield. They might not have evolved in the meantime but were just sent through their portal to decrease death rates or increase the productivity of experience farming from war.

Ebony and the Empire had assumed they had been fighting strong Emperors but they had those who had been from the worker or scout caste. They were just pre-buffed with stats while doing reconnaissance and gathering intelligence on the noteworthy fighters of the Empire.

Half a year ago, these Emperors skittered back into their portal. And in another two weeks, these real fighters walked through. It was either a delay due to a large land mass over the portal or a possible transmission lag with the Spirit Nexus skill.

They did not try to open a separate path or eat the natural materials of the underground. The Granite Hall Family had good craft but the incomplete flooring couldn’t stop these fighter castes if they were serious; however, that wasn’t the Tetramyths' aim at all.

The fortress of people was the resource these Ants were here for.

Battle. War. Experience.

That was what they were farming.

The overall quality of natural metals on Elva might be alluring but the quantity was lacking due to Elcra’s small size compared to their population’s need.

The worst thing that happened?

The Empire put up a good resistance.

Good enough that the Saints called upon their sisters.

Now there were 5 portals side by side and another two completely different sub-species of Tetramyths. They had the weaker lot retreat to fill up the space with soldiers of higher quality and split the numbers perfectly between 5 of the sub-species.

One of the newer additions was a subspecies with acidic and corrosive spit and excrement ability, the Venom Legion. Their carapace and mandibles all had the same properties which made attacking and defending them a pain to deal with for the Imperial Army.

The last wasn’t the most deadly but the most troublesome opponent for the Empire. Ebony wasn’t even sure if they were ants at all.

Undead Ants.

Necrotic bites that revived their fallen kin if they had a body to recover. They would all be carried back to one specific portal and in a week, the same ant would be back but turned into a different race.

Any Ant body part left on the battlefield from an undead ant could be recovered and sent back to the Saint, and a brand new ant would come out with uneven, mix-and-matched body parts.

This was the leader of the current swarm.

There were no horrors of people turning into zombies so far. It seemed to only infect fellow Tetramyths.

The status of the undead ants, the Necrochitins, was higher amongst the Tetramyths. The different sub-species started to coordinate with the Necrochitins’ Emperors.

They were angry.

No, they were furious.

Navin had cursed their Saint.

Not with words but with magic.

‘All five of them…curse magic is scary.’ The man himself was still walking as if he didn’t lay a strong curse on 5 Saints because Yvette the Life Queen seemed to have combination magic spells with Navin that paid the cost of his curse spells.

Ebony didn’t manage to find out the details of the cost.

The titled Emperor of the Empire, Oplot Qoriq began to shine on the battlefield after the Necrochitins arrived.

Ebony could only say that his title of ‘Indestructible’ was apt.

The Necrochitins had the largest and most numerous Powerhouses stored behind their portals but none of that mattered. The giant of a man didn’t need Navin to back him up with barriers. He just wouldn’t take damage no matter what, who or how many. With just his fleshy body.

He had a massive white greatshield with gold rims but it remained on his back because he didn’t need to use it.

It was almost a miracle that Ebony still hadn’t personally interacted with that person when he saw the man at the edge of his perception multiple times throughout the duration he had been fighting down here.

It felt like circumstantial coincidences were piling up that prevented him from introducing himself to the man.

‘Necrochitins frankensteins, allochrome’s carapace, silversonic legs, arcanite cortex mandibles and venom legion’s venom gland…we’re not that much of an issue if they only sent this newer and less optimised ants.’ Ebony was relieved he didn’t get the elites of the Necrochitins. Dusk would not keep him safe for long if that was the case.

The Necrochitins have frankensteins with better parts, from other wars and her other sisters and mothers most likely.

Dusk shook but no vibrations disturbed his bomb shelter.

Ebony cleaned the gunk off of Icicle and Xin’s twin swords before he relaxed and decided to check out how far he’d come. He stopped levelling for almost 2 months now, giving him time to catch up to utilising his stats.

The high-intensity training and their constant conditioning might have helped because he recently allocated and made use of all 122 levels, 4270 stat worth. He had extremely balanced levelling. A single level up in his Class gave 20 stat points and 15 points for Sub-class while Profession gave his Wisdom a 5 point increase at every level.

A total of 610 stat points were added to Wisdom.

The rest of his stat distribution was nothing astonishing. He already had the ratio down, he just altered it a little due to the change in his Physique and skillset. He needed to cover up the Endurance lost thanks to his Physique sacrificing it for mana regeneration. He could let Perception lay back since his Core Skill raises it.

The spare stats from the balance he desired were mostly put towards Intelligence

Name: Ebony Rime

Core Skill:

Perpetual Tranquillity Spring Lvl 827 (Ⅳ)

Arsenal of Will Domain Lvl 752 (Ⅲ)

Empty Skill Slot

Class: Frigid Tranquility’s Martial Grace - Lvl 422

Class Skills:

Ethereal Form Arts Lvl 433 (Ⅳ)

Phantom’s Flicker Lvl 786 (Ⅳ)

Ice Mana Decree Lvl 813

Woven Frostblaze Augmentation Lvl 799 (Ⅲ)

Arctic Rivertide Greatsword Technique Lvl 788 (Ⅲ)

Woven Frostblaze Melding Lvl 602 (Ⅳ)

Perennial Everfrost Armament Lvl 603 (Ⅳ)

Ethereal Fluid Blitz Lvl 572 (Ⅳ)

Frigid Tranquility’s Martial Grace Conditioning Lvl 360 (Ⅳ)

Entity Evanesce Lvl 1291

Veritable Ice Clone Lvl 701 (Ⅲ)

Blossom of Shimmering Chill Lvl 600 (Ⅲ)

Stalactite Sunder Lvl 600 (Ⅲ)

Frigid Distorted Refraction Lvl 588 (Ⅲ)

Frostweave Vital Bolster Lvl 650 (Ⅲ)

Sub-Class: Oppressive Resonance Lvl 422

Sub-Class Skills:

Battle Hymn Lvl 455 (Ⅱ)

Immense Mana Vibration Lvl 508 (Ⅲ)

Gravity Mana Control Lvl 523

Tempestuous Lull Pelt Lvl 510 (Ⅳ)

Sonic Reverberation Lvl 503 (Ⅲ)

Torrent Path Lvl 502 (Ⅲ)

Gravity Quelling Vortex Lvl 452(Ⅲ)

Quake KickLvl 482 (Ⅲ)

**** ******** Pseudo-Imitation Roar Lvl 502(Ⅲ)

Empty Skill Slot

Profession: Mana Adjudicator - Lvl 422

Profession Skills:

Runic Mana Sculpting Lvl 681 (Ⅲ)

Coagulated Mana Repository Lvl 797 (Ⅳ)

Tolerant Stalwart Foundation Lvl 550 (Ⅲ)

Mana Chassis Implosion Lvl 502 (Ⅲ)

Empty Skill Slot

Health: 5,012/16,060

Stamina: 10,082/15,768

Mana: 95,051/204,589

Unallocated stat points: 0

Strength: 1050

Vitality: 1100

Constitution: 1500

Endurance: 900

Agility: 1200

Intelligence: 2326

Wisdom: 3460

Perception: 600

Generic Skills:

Appraise Lvl 21 (Ⅱ)

Extreme Cold Resistance Lvl 232 (Ⅳ)

Running Lvl 152 (Ⅰ)

Mental Mapping Lvl 108 (Ⅰ)

English Lvl 8

Elcrian Lvl 14

Calculated Hunch Lvl 248 (Ⅱ)

Housekeeping Lvl 112 (Ⅰ)

Sustained Optimum Condition Lvl 251 (Ⅱ)

Tracking Lvl 65 (Ⅰ)

Game Processing Lvl 94 (Ⅰ)

Immense Heat Resistance Lvl 256 (Ⅲ)

Sheer Divination Resistance Lvl 12 (Ⅱ)

Gardening Lvl 122 (Ⅰ)

Cooking Lvl 109 (Ⅰ)

Integrated Trance Speed Reading Lvl 205 (Ⅱ)

Korun Lvl 102

Slumber Survival Instinct Lvl 84 (Ⅱ)

Immense Hunger Resistance Lvl 88 (Ⅲ)

Immense Exhaustion Resistance Lvl 166 (Ⅲ)

Lightning Resistance Lvl 158 (Ⅰ)

Sheer Blood Resistance Lvl 101 (Ⅱ)

Wind Resistance Lvl 77 (Ⅰ)

Poison Resistance 20 (Ⅰ)

Preservation Bubble Lvl 205 (Ⅰ)

Sustenance Regulation Lvl 115 (Ⅱ)

Lightning Mana Manipulation Lvl 234

Adaptable Bow Mastery Lvl 61 (Ⅰ)

Sheer Mana Poisoning Resistance Lvl 51 (Ⅱ)

Swimming Lvl 46 (Ⅰ)

Lightning Tether Lvl 275 (Ⅰ)

Electroshock Lvl 263 (Ⅰ)

Soul Resilience Lvl 37

Lunar Bio Clock Lvl 14 (Ⅱ)

His resource pool indicators were a good way for him to confirm how skill multiplier increase was calculated. Conditioning was the first one to be taken into account. It was the closest to the base stats and worked directly upon them.

A Vitality of 1100 should have given him a maximum health of 11,000. Conditioning didn’t get any refinements yet, at level 360, it gave him a 46% increase of all base stats. He had an effective Vitality of 1606.

His stamina regeneration was reduced but the maximum value of his resource pool based on Endurance did not change. His Physique also increased the ‘base effect’ of Endurance which made regeneration calculations iffy but maximum stamina value wasn’t that hard to take into account. His Physique worked first, so an Endurance of 900 had the effect of 1080 in maximum stamina value calculations. Only then did Conditioning come into play and increased this base effect by 46% to a total of 1576.8 Endurance.

Wisdom and maximum mana pool worked in the same way. 3460 base was increased by 46% to 5051.6. A further refined version of Preservation Bubble increased his max mana pool size by 305% at its current level. Giving his maximum mana pool size to be equivalent to 20,458.98 Wisdom or 204,589 as shown since decimal points do not show and it never rounds up in his status.

Ebony had limited success with Marsh’s Grove Conduit even though over a year had passed but he had a feeling he was almost there, editing the skill to fit him.