Oplot didn't spend many years on Earth. Like Ebony, he was born there, but he left after he turned twelve in Earth years. Coincidentally, he appeared on Elcra and this was where he was raised.

As part of his tradition, Elcra was the start of his pilgrimage. He couldn't leave if he couldn't free himself of this place. He had grown attached.

To free himself, he needed peace of mind that Elcra would be able to protect itself even without him. Or so he believed.

So, until he trained people that could take over him, he couldn't leave. He was always chaining himself to come back. No matter if he goes through the World Dungeon portal or through the Tetramyth's portals. He always returned.

When he could put this place behind him is when he truly belongs as one of his people. As a member of the Wandering Celestial Monastery.

Ebony was reconsidering many things during and after the conversation with Oplot.

'This place won't do it permanently. It cannot be our home.' He decided to start making plans whenever he could. It would help temporarily but in the end, it was up to him to protect his family and himself.

"North from here, thank you," Ebony asked the local and got the answer he wanted immediately. He wasn't far from a known area of a level 1000 monster breeding ground.

"Hang on a moment, I've brought my students for the same reason."

"Anything stronger?"

"The strongest around would be the local tyrant, Opalfang Leopard. An alpha, Grade 4 Emperor comes around every few decades, I haven't been able to hunt this one down. It can't hurt me, hence I don't have any power to hunt it either. It's good at stalking but it should be in this mountain range or the forests further up ahead."

"Only Grade 4…can't be picky." That estimation did tell him that Opalfang should be stronger than Apa in at least some aspects. The Grade 5 Grandmaster Apex Ape was still merely a Grandmaster.

Ebony practised a bit of showmanship, cupping his hands and uncapping them for hundreds of Pigeon Scouts to fly out. Sleight of hand and redirection of focus with minor distractions were more than just a 'magician' trick, it was useful even at battles for him. As long as the people or creatures watching him were creatures that depended on their eyes, a little bit of showmanship could distract them from his main goal.

However at this point, there was no main goal. Conjuration through his hands was marginally more efficient.

The Pigeon Scouts flew far and beyond and less than two hours later, he found a couple of gravitational patterns that resemble what he knew as leopards.

"It was nice meeting you again," Oplot said his farewells.

"Mmm, I hope to see you in your best state next time. Shi Ling wants to fight you when you're at your peak condition."

"So they say but I'm not looking forward to ending my life by challenging them to get some energy stored. I know my limits."

"…What do you do with that information?" Ebony felt something odd, he linked it to Oplot's weird aura.

"What do you mean?" The bald giant wiped his fingers across the fur waist band that held his pants. The half naked man looked barbarian but valiant Viking.

"Your limits." He clarified.

"Not to overstep my bounds." And he answered with a head nod, as if to bow.

"Would you say that people normally use that information in the same way?" Ebony searched for confirmation.

"I suppose."

"So that is the difference. Thank you."

"You've been enlightened in that moment…although I know I won't be able to experience the same sensation, may I know what revelation you've just uncovered?" Oplot's way of speaking got him to register that he was similar to the stereotype of monks that he was used to but also one that hasn't been in touch with monks or the ways of a monk for centuries.

"Self-awareness of one's limits. The difference between people is how we use that information. I was explicitly taught this, but awareness of my limits isn't for me to know when or where to stop but how to exceed them, what direction I have to take to exceed them. That is the difference." Ebony answered since the man helped him.

His core had developed again at this moment. Although he could immediately tell that his maximum skill levels didn't increase by more than 5 across his classes it was still helpful.

"That road leads to-"

"Unexplored lands for oneself. That is what I seek, what's beyond my limit. And I'm already standing before this limit. Curious."

Oplot had a weird skill affecting him right now. He knew, so he was grateful since it was beneficial to him.

Ebony had imagined he was moving forward for no reason, but he always did. He just had a proper answer to what he wanted in life that he could put into words now. Beyond just protecting Xin, he simply wanted to know what was beyond the limit. His limits, not just in power but in his choices and his character.

Seven and his Clones, what were their moral limits? That might have been what some of them were sub-consciously testing.

Before he could Flicker away, "Wait a moment!"

Wondering what the Lizardman had to say, he paused, manually combining his Pigeon Scouts into Wolf Explorers. His hunt began thousands of kilometres away and he was in no rush to leave.

"Ebony, you were the challenger back then. Now, let me see why Teacher thinks we can't protect our home in his stead."

"Okay." He drew Icicle out and had it rest by his side. The resting stance was still his favourite and worked well with the elusive and reactive style.

Lucas nodded and tightened his shoulder, bursting into a lunge as his mana converged into his thick film of what seemed like a sea serpent spearheading his charge. He moved first but Ebony's simple horizontal swing arrived at his target before the spear did.

The shot of mana wave was sent through pressure alone, evaporating the huge water serpent spell before Ebony watched as Lucas's spear absorbed the vibrational impact and dispersed the heat generated from the outer layer of Ebony's mana. Even the repulsion backed by his gravity cube was being absorbed, allowing Lucas to physically resist and shatter the ranged manifestation of mana.

The disciple managed to resist for a full second before he was swung back as the tip of his spear couldn't hold on any longer. To his credit, he managed to stick his landing without being pushed away by repulsion.

His body didn't betray him and his spear was reflexively raised to block the heavy blow from Icicle, Ebony didn't bother questioning himself how or why the Lizardman could absorb kinetic energy well, or how his gravity magic was repelled at the moment.

Oplot must have gotten their resistance to Tier 4 at the very least. As someone who also uses vibrational mana for increasing impact or shock, his student must have the relevant counters to it.

The feeling of his strikes being absorbed was similar to the Cushioning on Teheil where his force was taken away by the environment, now concentrated on his target.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

A silver of movement in the mana had Ebony stomp his feet and light the grassy floor on fire, freezing any water spells that were about to be formed to attack him.

A water ball tried to form above his head but was frozen and exploded into cold flames.

Two more water serpents leaked out from his spear, unable to exert external elemental conjuration, Lucas could only depend on his magic body and enchanted weapon to display his magic. The Lizardman already showed symptoms of frostbite.

Looks like Oplot's resistance training could only go so far when it comes to natural disadvantages. It couldn't be helped that Lizardmen were naturally weaker to cold.

Lucas got down and dirty, fighting tooth and nail. But he was both magically and physically disadvantaged against Ebony. Almost a rare occurrence with the opponents he had been picking recently.

Ebony didn't hold back with the exception of Will enhancing compressed Domain augmenting himself and the still incomplete runic curse brand.

While having fewer enhancement options, Lucas's passive skills and probably Fortifications made him extremely durable to physical force. Ebony changed his offence focus to magic after that but even with that, the disciple was resilient. The fact that he was mainly a spearman did make things worse for him but only marginally.

The Lizardmen generally had longer limbs than humans and Lucas's techniques seemed to have evolved greatly over the past decade or so. The Art was clearly built for bigger, badder creatures and not so much humanoid targets but the uniqueness came from the fact that his spear techniques depended a lot on water magic and those water serpents of his. That changed things a lot compared to a purely physical spear art or one supported by gravity.

"Oplot." Ebony charged his legs with another blast of mana.

Lucas's hazy self charged into Ebony feet, attracted by a torrent flow of gravitational force.

"Yeah?" The observer replied, watching his student knock himself out cold.

"Looks like it's only a matter of time before you get out." By personality alone, Lucas would go far when it came to how much stronger he could get. Ebony believed he wouldn't misjudge that after the Lizardman fought to the bitter end. He might have kept it up with Ebony didn't blast Will-infused 'go-to-sleep' mana into the man's head.

"I'll pass the message on, and thank you for the high praise in his stead. What do you truly think, how ready is he?"

"With Elcra becoming more dangerous as the days pass, your bar might have to be set higher but he lasted longer than the Opalfang Leopard." Ebony looked back where he sent his Pigeons. The Wolf Explorers had already split back into numerous Pigeons and some of them planted themselves into the ground, turning themselves into Will Relay Buffers after surrounding a good piece of rock or any suitable material.

It was a bit tougher here, but Ebony was in range for manual control or support with mana, the short distance of thirteen thousand kilometres cut his mana loss short. Something that Dusk couldn't support for the entire continent.

'I can place a few facilities, maybe stationary Turtle Forts to absorb and convert mana across the continent to reduce the effect of distance but I don't have enough of Sister Jing's power sources.' There was nothing he could do about that, anyway, he wasn't looking for complete control and surveillance of the entire continent.

Double confirming, 'Ting' 'You have killed an [Opalfang Leopard Lvl 1000]. No experience is gained due to maxed level. Enemy 500 levels or more above your own, sufficient potential experience accumulated. Experience converted to Natural Potential.'

'I'm done with this too. What now let's test that.' Four minutes after he thought that one of the Turtle Forts received his message and broke down into Pigeons, one larger than most to hold their power source.

They were further out than he expected but should take no more than 5 days to fly to where he was from the Sea.

In the meantime, he overtook Oplot's resting cave while they left to continue their training trip. Meditating and consolidating his Will, he cut all Will links with the Buffers, trusting Dusk had enough to last and maintain all the Clones and buffers.

Everything went still in his mind, no more information infusing into him every so often.

Six nights passed in stillness till the swarm of Pigeon Scouts combined back into a Turtle Fort. They were delayed by a storm and a beastial creature that hid in the clouds but every Turtle Fort was worth more mana than the clouds themselves. As long as the mini power source wasn't lost and they were within Ebony and Dusk' Will connection range, they were essentially unkillable to normal means.

With a protector by his side, he began his experiment. 'Vermin Paradise should be good, that old mana slave facility that the Numbers found is still there, though they did manage to escape the Numbers till now.'

Bit by bit, he sent his Will to the Relays in Vermin Paradis, every bit he was recovering was sent as well. Only as fast as the Buffers themselves could take without overloading, a low rate of 3 points of Will per minute. It was quite a pitiful rate, but one enough to support the Numbers as long as they don't clog up the Buffers with all of them transferring information simultanously and if they do, they use different Buffers. If it wasn't for this limitation, along with the mana transfer rate limitaion before the Bufers break they would've had less trouble with expansion of their network.

Creating a body for himself at a distance, he had the transported Will inhabit the body.

No matter how much Will he recovered, he sent them all to the new body. He found that he was unable to empty himself of Will below 3% of his capacity no matter how hard he tried.

That was enough for his test. It already went better than he expected.

Losing almost all sensation in his body, Ebony found himself gripping his ice hands in Vermin Paradise.

Feeling every entwined ice muscle he formed under his skin crunch over each other when he gripped his fist. The movement of the ice muscles, the blinking of the eyelids he conjured.

The fake lungs he made for himself compressed to push air out his nostrils.

He felt all of them clearer than any of the memories Numbers sent back to him with their tiny Will capacity.

'The mana required to maintain this body is a few dozen times higher, just like how Dusk's body has a higher mana requirement to take in that much Will. My ice is already fully Will-saturated so this current body has to be bigger to embody my fake teleportation. And the loss of feeling over my real body is a pain to deal with. But…experiment success.' Even my mental capabilities are embodied in this ice construct, or rather, bound with my Will. Hmm…there is a range limit away from my main body. I'm losing Will faster than any of the Numbers lose them, so my range limit would be when the rate loss equals my recovery.'

Sadly, Vermin Paradise was too far away for Ebony now. The nature of emptying his Will meant his Will recovery was also rock bottom. The test ended rather quickly as he tried to send most of himself back, hopefully not killing himself or losing pieces of his Will on the way back.

'Hmm?' Ebony was hit by a shock of breath when he returned to his body. 'Did someone notice my Will…sure felt like someone or something set their eyes on my travel between Relays.' He was hurrying back since it was dangerous for him, so he wasn't sure if anyone sensed his Will or some part of his experiment had an unknown variable.

The dissociation of leaving his own body didn't affect his balance and he was able to stand up without so much as a wobble.

'Ting' 'Cored developed.'

'Ting' 'Class Skill Veritable Ice Clone evolved into Rimeforged Apparition'

Rimeforged Apparition - Create a clone made of ice into any forms you desire that mimics yours vitals and mana. Saturated and condensed Will is placed onto the conjuration of a Rimeforged Apparition. Capable of sending your near complete Will into one of your Apparitions, a true clone to take a greater and more accurate form. Range of will that connects you and your Rimeforged Apparition increases by 1800% + 10.0% per level. Rimeforged Apparition's retention of Will increases by 1500% + 10.0% per level. Has static 90% of your Intelligence stat but one with your complete Will has 100% of your Intelligence stat.

Consumes MP

Classification: Ice Magic

'Nothing left on the to do list…' Ebony referred to his physical self since his mind and Clones--Apparition were all busy with their skill experiments and training. So he sat on a larger Wolf Explorer and head out to Sea with his Turtle Forts. The increment in range was useful but the retention of Will was far better for him since it raised their lifespan should they be disconnected from him.

Looking for the home of the Jetfins, it was going to be one of his honeymoon destinations. Their sashimi was delicious and they were supposedly the rulers of the ocean in these oceans.

'Natural Potential is gained doing just about anything, just by staying alive. The less possible something is for me, the higher chance I am gaining more Potential if I do succeed. Feats recognized by the Ubiquitous Providence so to speak. Core development, hunting higher level creatures with higher stats, crafting something useful for people above one's skill level and tier. All that counts, while the smaller improvements come from eating, drinking, breathing and living in general. I'll have to attempt more things.' Using the all-powerful entity known to him as the internet, he browsed Hex's web while riding his Wolf Explorer and its pack towards the Sea.

One by one, he added lists of minor goals.

Freezing an underwater and maybe above-ground volcano.

Melting a natural iceberg with vibrations alone

Shooting a hole as deep into the surface of the planet as he could with gravity alone.

While creating this list, more unlikely possibilities appeared in his mind.

Beating a Boiler Knight.

Getting back at Gearhart.

Finding Xin who the Nings were hiding from him.

'My newer skills levels and curse brand formula aren't done yet. I suppose, why stop at a level 1000.' Ebony packed a gravity plum inside the Wolf Explorer he rode. If a Turtle Fort was nearby to support them, he could have a couple of Wolf Explorers keep a plum bomb or two within them. With him present, there was no such limitation.

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