"Teacher! What is that!? We're gonna die!" The usually excitable Lizardman felt his words slow down as they weren't rolling off the tongue like usual.

His fellow disciple, Demi Barlow's usual stony facade was gone as sweat dripped between her straight brows.

Their giant of a teacher gulped down the head of cabbage he was chewing raw. "Don't falter. They're friendly. Hopefully." Seemingly unaffected by the dastardly mana, more overwhelming than any creature Lucas Lucero had ever faced in the Lacuna Expanse.

He'd met the Elven Matriarch once, a bonafide Emperor. Her mana was all-encompassing, gentle but overwhelming nonetheless. From his first to the last scale, this new mana from a creature couldn't even be placed on the same pedestal.

This foreign mana was anything but gentle.

It was quiet.

Heavy.

More importantly, it was vast and endless amounts were pouring into their cave.

Lucas felt the surface of his scales pitter and patter when the mana tried to get close to his body. He immediately realised that the mana was attempting a mental influence on them. For a fraction of a second, there was no effect.

But all of a sudden, the entire cave of mana turned…calm. The mental influence kicked in without any of his mental defences honed with the help of his Teacher holding up.

Lucas took a deep breath when his mana regeneration jumped up by almost 40% and his muscles laxen even though he was tensing them. A breath of energy hit his body and it was coming from within.

He was already hungry but this breath of energy made him hungrier since the energy was from his own body.

The spear that he reflexively raised when their alarm detected an intruder was trembling in his hands. He wasn't afraid of an insurmountable opponent with his Teacher right beside him.

He simply couldn't grasp the logic of what he was sensing. The mana that stunted his mind for a moment, then turned into a breeze of calm supportive energy was vastly suppressed.

Being trained to sense overflowing essences was one of the basics. Unless their target vastly surpassed his perception with their skill, they could generally tell how much their target was suppressing their essence.

Lucas couldn't figure out how this overflowing mana wasn't active suppression on targets. The siphon into the floor. The siphon into an object of the creature. It was a person, one with a Myriad Bracelet absorbing almost all of one's mana.

All he could tell was that this…individual was doing everything they could to toss their mana somewhere else instead of having it flood their cave.

Lucas struggled to push away the effects of the overflowing essence. No matter how beneficial it was, it was basic self-preservation to deflect foreign influences. Who knew what other effects there were?

There were no footsteps but Lucas felt the water vapour in the cave shift. It was a human form. Demi must feel ten times worse with her perception of mana being naturally higher than his.

The concentration of mana increased with every slow step the man was making towards them.

A low hum resonated and the familiar mantra his Teacher always recited covered Demi and him. Protecting their entirety from body to mind to soul and spirit.

The weight on his shoulders and knees didn't disappear completely but reduced significantly.

Dreading the monster in human skin, Lucas was confused to see a face that made him think for a second before recalling that he had seen it before. A weird human with some connection with the Xeng who their Teacher warned them not to get on the bad side of before.

'What was his name again…Ebony. He was a Master when we met.' Lucas hit the level and skill level required to evolve years ago but he wasn't ready to evolve till he passed his Teacher's test.

He wasn't convinced. He'd already beat everyone his Teacher had him up against in single combat. Barring the Barrier King and the Dukes themselves, most King-ranked combatants amongst the Imperial Nobles weren't a match for him.

But he was convinced now.

He couldn't even do the basics of standing tall in front of overflowing essence from another individual of the same evolutionary rank.

How were they supposed to take over their Teacher to allow him to leave Elcra like this?

"Oplot."

"Ebony, what a coincidence."

"Indeed."

As a Lizardman, sweating wasn't something his body did but his throat did go dry waiting for them to continue speaking.

They held hands weirdly, not tetting. Grasping each other's hands and giving them a solid swing down.

"You're catching up."

"You did have two hundred years of head start."

"So you've met them."

"I did. You knew my mother."

"My parents did. Around these parts, she's forgotten but you just have to travel closer to the Central Regions. People remember there, those alive of course. It's been a long time."

Question marks were raised above Lucas's head. His Teacher changed the way he talked. He rarely talked in short sentences.

Then, they changed languages leaving Lucas and Demi standing.

They exchanged greetings with Ebony but were quickly left alone when the two of them continued their conversation in a foreign language. Ebony was treated to their meal and they got tea in exchange.

Tea that sped up muscle recovery.

Lucas shared glances with Demi, or so he hoped but she was already sleeping the moment she sensed the lack of threat.

He wished he could be so carefree!

Before he knew it, he was lying beside the human. Sharing their sleeping spot.

Why?

How did it come to this?

❅❅❅

"I hear…you're keeping prisoners." Oplot straightened up and stared straight into his eyes.

"You can put it that way." Not one to shy away from eye contact, Ebony stared back.

"You are aware that I am the one who abolished mana slavery." The giant of a man lowered his tone and shifted his feet towards him.

"I am."

"Are you aware that what you're doing is no different from mana slavery?" Oplot was activating a skill, foreign energy encompassing both of them.

"I didn't go out to catch them. They came for me. I am merely being fair. Exacting equal exchange. I can't kill them if they never had any ability to do the same to me. It would be easier if they had a bounty on them but no, so this is the only equivalent method I came up with." Ebony used Will to push back every foreign energy, it was a vague thought hence he wasn't too surprised at his failure to completely push back Oplot's influence.

"That changes nothing. Have you been victim to these-"

"Yes. I am not going out to catch mana-producing people. They are coming for me. What other suggestions do you have for exacting equivalent exchange, I am open to suggestions." Cutting people off wasn't a habit of his but he found himself predicting what people wanted to say more often.

"You said it yourself, they are no threat to you. You could forgive and let them go." The benevolent man persuaded.

"Non-negotiable. Their intent was to hunt and collect my bounty. Their actual capabilities don't change that. Letting people go, I have already done that. I have gained that experience. That Will. Oplot, I don't go around looking for trouble, I'd rather be left alone…not completely, but you get the gist." A face came up to mind which forced him to change his words.

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"I received the reports, I know those people were the aggressors." The man answered with great understanding.

"Tell me, is this any different from an Imperial prison? I am allowing them to be bailed out for an equal price that they were going after when they came for me."

"Bounty hunting is no crime. Placing bounties, on the other hand, is cowardly."

"I would also like to know who placed the bounty on my head. But that has no relation with me exacting equivalency from the hunters."

"Do you feel at peace doing what was done to you upon others?"

"There's no positive or negative to this situation. After they've paid off what they were here for, I owe them nothing and they owe me nothing. I will be alive, and so will they. They acted on their intent to obtain 🜋20 million from me, and I have acted on the same. Their success and failure has no relation with mine."

"Is that your way of life?" Oplot's eyelids raised.

"I can't say for sure. I can only try for I am not truly equal in everything I do either. I ask people questions, only selfishly for answers that I want. I do my best to return the favour. But…I still ignore just about anyone I meet if I don't have to interact with them. Societal norms tell me, conversation may bring out something of interest but…the more my Will grows, the less I want to care." He still believed himself to be human.

And that he wasn't exactly living life completely equal. His current hunt for monsters was one. Being actively on the hunt instead of passively fighting back in self-defence.

Regardless of the fact that he would eat the flesh and use their materials was unprovoked. He recognised the hypocrisy and here he was, still carrying it out.

"…The Lord Girlie said you were getting married soon." Oplot changed the subject abruptly.

"Mmm." Inwardly, he was thinking about how people could just share just about any piece of news.

"Congratulations. Keep her safe. I fear the birth of a Great Devil should she pass." Oplot was searching for something. That was the feeling Ebony got when the hulking human was looking into his eyes.

"I understand your good intentions, but you may want to learn how to phrase your words properly. If I wasn't thinking hard, I may have just taken that as a threat." How dare he speak of her passing.

"HAHAHAHA. Well, I'm a toothless threat right now, have been for more than a century." The man laughed away Ebony's Will sharpening into weapons.

"The Tetramyth Saintesses couldn't fill you up?" He eased up, following suit with the giant's energy scattering.

"Most of them are commanders, not fighters. They are more evolved towards self-preservation over destructive or straightforward power. At this corner of the galaxy, only the most shunned of the Tetramyth have come looking for food."

It was almost humorous to think of those suicidal creatures as self-preserving but it may be true for those who evolved to the point of being Emperors and above.

"Let's make a deal Ebony." Oplot got back to being serious rather quickly.

"Go on."

"Put a scratch in my life force. Even a single point and you win. If you can't, then let those bounty hunters go. And no more sealing new hunters up for you to drain dry."

"I don't own them. I have no say in putting them at stake on my accord." For once, Ebony wasn't that excited to test his powers against another.

If all Oplot was going to do was stand there and take hits there was little point. He could find so many other standing posts to hammer at.

More importantly, he truly didn't think he was holding custody of those people. "How about this, the Empire can bail them out or discourage them from disturbing me."

"You want the Empire to publically protect you." The man understood immediately.

"That solves everything. I won't be disturbed, you won't have to see what you think is mana slavery. They aren't exactly good decorations for my house."

"I accept. But…" The man who had strong ties with the Royal family paused.

"Mmm. How far do the words of the Empire go? I've been learning, it would fall upon deaf ears." Ebony managed to catch onto the unspoken reason.

"Internally. I will take any Imperial citizen from you, before the week ends I'll make sure none of us will go after you again." Oplot nodded his head seriously.

"Outsiders?"

"I cannot promise you on the Empire's behalf. They would make enemies too big for them."

"Then that shall be it." Ebony pushed his hand forward, shaking their hands to officiate the deal.

"Ebony, perhaps you could show my students a thing or two. How about a spar?" Oplot gestured to himself, not offering his students up for the spar.

"Maybe when you're not an empty shell." He wasn't interested in fighting someone that would just throw back his spells at him.

Oplot was in a sad state of not being able to fight at his best. At most, he might have some of Shi Ling's capabilities tossed at Ebony but he could fight the real one whenever he wanted.

From the chatterbox, it seemed like Shi Ling was once again impressed as she wasn't able to instantly put a mark on Oplot. That said a lot about the man before him.

The rest of her description of their duels had been 'whoosh and bam' and other sound effects Shi Ling vocalized.

Ebony chatted with Oplot without either rushing off for the first time. He found out that he did copy Oplot's offence method. Using vibrations of mana as an arcane support for impact and penetration of kinetic force.

Nowadays, he uses it for defence too but it was hardly impressive compared to all his other defensive spells. The layer of mana shield that he vibrates over any ice construct, including his clones works as a destructive defence compared to repulsive gravity.

Steel would melt if they were shot at him with a gun. Swords would melt if they were swung at him. With his mana, warriors who didn't have mana control and imbuement as strong as a mage of the same rank would have their weapons destroyed if they managed to get through his repulsion.

He could choose to cast it over his repulsion instead but that might lead to accidental destruction of things he didn't want to destroy so it was currently the other way around.

Still, he wasn't very familiar with Oplot. He could tell the man was reluctant to interact with him much.

Ebony was impressed by the layer of essence Oplot was covered under. The most potent was an unfamiliar energy. He couldn't tell in the past but it wasn't mana or life force but there was a good mix of both of them.

It wasn't Will either but it was more similar to Will than it was to mana.

The 'Emperor' of the Empire and his two students were here on a camping trip for training. Admittedly, they couldn't always go to the Lacuna Expanse and be uncontactable for long periods.

Oplot brought up an interesting topic. He was curious about who Ebony thought were strong, on a wider scale.

Ebony already had a list of strong people and creatures so writing them down in order was an easy task.

First Gen Xeng

Second Gen - Shi/Ning/Wen

Demi-God Hydra

Second Gen Xengs

Third Gen Xengs

Vent

Saint Cormac

Saintess of Blood

Fourth Gen Xengs

Fifth Gen Xengs

Saint Gearhart

Saint Kael Ignatius

Saint Garric

Sixth Gen Xengs

Boiler Knights (Group)

Oplot

Boiler Knights (Individual)

Navin Lord

Elven Matriarch

Duke Truewater

Tetramythian Saintesses

While he was writing down the people he knew more than stories online, he had to reevaluate Oplot. He was gauging purely based on gut feeling after shaking the man's hand. Ebony didn't know if he could hurt the man with the weird body. When they shook hands, it was as if the physical force he used to shake hands disappeared into the man's body.

A few simulations from that alone made him curious how far this effect could go.

Purely speculation, he put the first generation of Xeng, The First on top.

As for the three Saints of Xengs being stronger than the Demi-God in charge of the Section's station, he was unreasonably certain that was the case. The rest of the second generation were still mere Emperors.

As for Saint Cormac, Ebony was also speculating since it took Shi Tao's personal involvement. That was proof to Ebony that Vent was someone who defeated a Saint and sent his soul to the Netherworld.

Ning Xin's Grandmother and cousin went to the Blood Realm to ask for something. The Saintess of Blood also took Xin away and her Grandmother allowed it. Ebony didn't know anything else about her.

At this point in the list was when Oplot peek over his tall beefy shoulders. The shirtless man bellowed with laughter.

"As impressive of a list of people you know, you're sorely mistaken with one individual on this list."

"That is?"

"There is only one Saintess of Blood that people refer to so I'm gonna assume this is the same individual. Origin Blood or True Vampire. God Drinker. Phoenix Exterminator. 'She' goes by many names. 'She' can be mentioned with the Cosmic Tyrant. Since the Cosmic Tyrant had evolved, it's unknown who's stronger now and I would place my bet on the Cosmic Tyrant but you're setting your people up too high. And also, too low. Who is Saint Gearhart? Never heard of him, any of the Xengs could beat him."

"...I see. What do you think about your chances against a Saint? Any, excluding the Tetramyth." Ebony took note of the comment. He wasn't always searching Eidolon Hex and he'd never heard of any stories regarding the Saintess of Blood.

"Interesting question…if it's a freshly evolved combatant Saint, I might survive a Skill attack. Maybe two." Oplot scratched his chin in consideration.

"Can you use that damage storage and reflection ability of yours to send it back?"

"You overestimate me, in my current state even if I managed to send it back once or twice my body would explode into pieces after a few attempts. Or my mind."

"What if you were fully charged up?"

"If the stars align and I can get one ambush in, while they were bound. It's not impossible for me to gravely hurt them."

"..." Ebony pondered hard on what he just heard.

"You have a rather high opinion of Truewater." Oplot words didn't manage to disrupt his simulations.

"He is not weak." He replied, knowing that Oplot couldn't tell him more about the Saintess of Blood. During the Tetramyth battle, Truewater's name came up more than Navin himself.

As a mage who wasn't locked as a defensive specialist like Navin, Truewater was the true controller of the majority of the battlefield. Past Ebony or Ning Xin's area control couldn't compared to Truewater and his family's magic.

That was after Ebony left the battlefield as the Truewater was held up elsewhere during his active period so he didn't see the man or his capabilities for himself.

"Indeed, he would have been the Empire's King. The Truewaters had the title a few times in the Empire of Ebbing Waves' short history."

Ebony didn't have any interest in that, other than what spells and knowledge they had.

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