The ‘slow’ drive took him to a few towns where he stocked up on local specialities to fill his new home and satisfy his gluttonous partner.

  Strengthening Dusk to protect his home was a priority so he was already taking it fast. Sending mana across vast distances was very wasteful since they would disperse into the surroundings but he had a lot to spare. Will on the other hand, didn't disperse much over these distances.

  The other clones needed another two weeks or so before they were done spreading Will Relay Buffers to cover the entire continent of Elva.

  The difference between his clone and his main body had vastly increased since they couldn’t use a Will Augmentation or a Domain buff on themselves. Their storage of mana depended on their size and the level of Coagulated Mana Repository; its levelling rate was very slow now.

  His clones also didn’t have the benefit of mana chassis, which meant they didn’t have Mireloom Chassis Engine nor do they have his capability of regenerating mana so quickly. Ebony could send his mana to them through the Will Relay Buffers but if they were on the other side of the continent, most of it would be lost before his mana reached them.

  In fact, he had checked and found that Fabrication of Frostblaze Embodiment doesn’t even give his clones much of a power increase.

  It was almost time for the Frost Elves to contact him so he kept his trailer and Flickered to Hata town.

  The smell of coffee was in the air.

  Ebony had no interest in finding people here. He didn’t know anyone well other than some passing Grandmasters and the Noble who was in charge. After asking around, he found a restaurant that was also famed for selling the best-roasted coffee beans.

  He bought 50kg of an assortment of coffee beans and left. Since neither he nor Xin was a coffee maniac, this should last them decades with proper storage and preservation magic.

  With the shopping trip complete, he hurried back to Hoarfrost Glades to wait for a signal. He camped outside where Arcta should have been, having a cup of coffee inside his trailer while reading a book in his mind.

  The divination mage was right. He didn’t even need to wait for a day before he received a call from his callstone that still had the Thoya’s link.

  “-ony, -nd. How are --?” A familiar voice got through.

  “Halvis? The connection is spotty.” He identified the voice immediately.

  “-n way.”

  “Someone’s on the way to get me?”

  He was evidently right when a disruption in gravitational mana appeared near his trailer.

  “Welcome back, Ebony.”

  “Hello to you too, Orren.” He greeted the adult Frost Elf, the village chief of Arcta personally picked him up.

  ‘He evolved into a Grandmaster.’ Ebony didn’t use Appraise but sensed through Orren’s mana purity. The village chief of the non-combatants had always been a level 300 Master despite being a few hundred years old.

  Evidently, the presence of a few Frost Elven elders from their main village had urged them to improve their combat ability.

  He wasn’t sure what genetics Orren had but despite being Grandmasters, the Frost Elf’s mana wasn’t quite as powerful as Korben the village guardian. And very clearly not in the same league as Korta, Christy and the one that could not be named who were all Kings from what was equal to Nobles amongst the Frost Elves.

  He couldn’t say anything about Vent, as he didn’t manage to get a good feel of that hunter’s mana. Even when he saw the man fight the Nebulians. It was like Vent fought the Nebulians without using any mana.

  Ebony gave Orren a proper Elcrian tet as a greeting before he was escorted into the mist that appeared with a whisper from the taller and leaner person.

  ‘Mist camouflage, illusion and redirection just like the Nebulian’s hidden village.’ Ebony walked through the small portal-like gate.

  Greeted by the familiar village that didn’t change one bit, he found his feet moving towards the Thoya’s immediately.

  The Thoya’s were as warm as he remembered, with Roya and Halvis giving a hug after the high five as tets.

  This time, he didn’t hesitate to give a tight hug back. “I’m back.”

  Even Clovis who matured and physically grew a bit was that warm.

  With one exception, a girl who reached his hips stared at him behind the entrance door.

  The pretty girl looked almost the same as Clovis had been when Ebony just arrived on Elcra. A little smaller and more delicate but not as skinny as Clovis had been. Her skin colour was a bit deeper blue, closer to Halvis than Roya.

  ‘She should be…seventeen years old? Has it been that long?’ Ebony remembered that Kiva was born a bit before he returned to Arcta to evolve from a Journeyman into a Master. To think it had already been sixteen years since then, and he was preparing for his evolution to a King now.

  Ebony met Clovis when the boy was at that age too.

  Seeing Kiva’s apprehension of him made him wonder if she had forgotten about him because they’d not met for over a decade, more than half the life she had experienced.

  “Ba...Ba da?”

  “Mmm.” Ebony stayed still not to frighten the precious doll that recalled who he was. The creature didn’t take the bait and remained half-hidden behind the door to her family’s amusement.

  The girl ran away quickly after that, up the stairs.

  “Don’t worry about that, she got a bit more shy after we closed the village up.” Halvis gave him a back pat. They tried not to worry about it but these Frost Elves were far more sensitive to mana and were able to sense what he was trying to hide.

  ‘At least they shouldn’t be harmed by my mana right?’ Ebony hoped that was the case. He had to be extra careful with any leaks of mana with weaker people around him. The drain to convert mana to credit was very helpful here.

  Fortunately, his Will also helped to change the effect that his overflowing mana had to a soothing effect.

  He was quickly invited in for frost plum juice and it was a delight, to say the least.

  Ebony tried his best to be talkative but couldn’t help summarising his stories. He did his best to be a better story teller when Kiva peaked her head out from behind the wall.

  The Thoyas barely changed. Clovis’s change was more obvious since he was younger but a span of decades wasn’t much to the long-life species. Even humans back in Tidal barely felt the passing of the years much less this village.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  The reclusive race was eager to hear some stories, especially Clovis who had always had his mind of leaving the village.

  “What? Vent fought a Saint?” When it was time for them to share with him the ongoing events with the village, it was his turn to be surprised.

  Vent was the strongest fighter and hunter that the Frost Elves had to offer on Elcra. At least, that was what it seemed like.

  The man could listen in to Ebony’s conversation in Fifth Tide amongst millions of soldiers and Trolls fighting from Arcta. Single-handedly fought 3 Emperors using mandates and was the dominant party throughout the exchange.

  Ebony even wondered if Vent could have stopped Xin from taking the spatial transfer bullet from Ezekiel in that split second. However, Xin might have planned for that to happen to begin with, through her Intuition.

  Her Intuition was centered around herself. It has always been that way.

  In hindsight, he was reasonably certain that Ning Xin’s Intuition told her to be sent to Teheil. Or at least, to take Ezekiel’s bullet. To meet the Altarbound Kin and get their power of Faith in one way or another.

  As a hunter who also trusted their instincts more than their thoughts, it was not too far-fetched to think that Vent sensed Xin’s intent and hesitated for a brief moment.

  Ezekiel also showed a weird advantage over Vent while being nearly helpless against the Nebulians.

  Vent warned Dusk who left a message to Ebony before Dusk left his body. It was that fighting a Saint as a mortal was futile for a Grandmaster or King like they were.

  That warning left Ebony some apprehension when he was facing Gearhart.

  Now he was hearing that the very same person fought a Saint.

  “Chief Orren also doesn’t know much, you would have to ask Iceheart Lady Christy or Glacial Lord Korta. Uhm, how would you like us to address-”

  Ebony waved Roya’s sudden tightness away. “I’m just Ebony.”

  They also referred to Vent as the Winterborne. Ebony took note of the address.

  After a few more cups of juice, the ice between them melted again. He would like to believe that his personality didn’t drastically change these years. It was something the long-life species were afraid of with a hasty evolutionary and levelling rate.

  The Thoyas were a normal family. They did not have vast knowledge and lineage of evolution but they were aware of tales. Tales about their kin who evolved quickly and somehow changed.

  Ebony guessed that they were tales about Frost Elves who evolved faster and were of older lineages who knew how to genetically edit themselves. It was very real for someone to change their baseline trait and inadvertently mess with their personalities.

  The Thoyas likely didn’t even know about Eidolon. Ebony didn’t share that with them. He learned that certain knowledge was not suitable to be learned in certain circumstances.

  If Clovis learned of Eidolon and the God of Knowledge’s library, it would benefit him. Ebony could buy another bracelet and Hex’s module for Clovis and everyone would be none the wiser since the God of Knowledge didn’t allow Clovis to share the knowledge he obtained that way.

  But Ebony wasn’t sure how Clovis would react. Would he study in peace, not using any such knowledge and putting it into practice?

  It didn’t seem that way to him. Clovis was holding back from leaving, from researching.

  Whatever the case, his gut told him that Clovis was not able to carry the burden of knowledge yet. The Thoyas couldn’t protect themselves.

  “That’s an interesting thesis.” Ebony was mildly intrigued.

  Clovis was already a Master. By their family agreement, he could actually leave the village already. But not after the village had closed off.

  For a Scholar to evolve, they had to have at least a main thesis to research and find some proof to backup their idea.

  Clovis studied Snow, Flora and Toxins.

  During their ritualist hunt all those years back, the young boy used a frog venom with a cold nature so he wasn’t too surprised that Clovis was interested in poisons.

  Clovis had evolved into a Cryobloom Botanist.

  His father who dealt with plants must have influenced parts of that evolution but to the Frost Elves, this was a rare Class.

  Clovis had him promise not to share it but the boy trusted him enough to tell him his Profession. Sylvan Venom Shaper.

  This was the opposite of what Elves did and naturally gifted towards.

  Clovis’s Class and Profession told Ebony all he needed to know, the boy was one for experiments. He wouldn’t keep knowledge to be purely theoretical.

  Elves, Frost Elves, it didn’t matter what sub-species of Elves. They all had an affinity to plants and generally life force magic for healing and natural elements like wind and wood. The Frost Elves also had some wind and wood affinity but were much weaker. Instead, they had ice, snow and some with mist.

  ‘This village also had a Frost Elf with Death magic affinity, didn’t it? Koawe’s a curse mage and now they have a poisoner. The trends are changing, they are veering off from their baseline.’ It wasn’t anything surprising, veering off baseline was a big reason for races to change planets and environments to live in.

  But the direction that the Frost Elves' evolutionary traits were veering off into did not quite make sense according to their environment.

  “Did you get a combat Sub-class?” Sylvan Venom Shaper wasn’t exactly for combat in Ebony’s eyes. It was more of an experimental scientist type of class.

  From what they’ve discussed in the past, Clovis should have a full combat Sub-Class now.

  “Ye-yeah, Cryoseed Marksman.”

  Ebony nodded, it was not a bad specialisation for a half-combatant. Clovis also had a perfect evolution with his Class, Sub-Class and Profession evolving together.

  ‘I’m guessing he specialised in range and accuracy, sending arrows to plant his cold-ice poison plants to bloom in his opponents.’ Ebony wasn’t new to ice magic tactics.

  Ice magic's basic usage was to slow and weaken their targets and wear them out or create an opportunity to target a weak point.

  While Ebony was slowly getting lightning magic up to speed to double down on the slowing effect, Clovis chose cold poisons and toxins.

  Hoarfrost Glades was home to many poisonous, toxic and venomous creatures so he had plenty of experimental poisons. Poisonous plants weren’t common in the Glades but weren’t very rare either.

  “That’s very fast for you Frost Elves. Did you get 250% Fortifications?”

  “Only for my Class. My master told me to get it from this evolution onwards. She said with my talent, I’m never going to hit the skill level requirement without a couple hundred years.”

  ‘That’s the usual rate for them. He was born from a pair of Masters…his capacity and total volume of Natural Potential is low.’ Even Ebony himself was not able to recover the lost 250% Fortification until he evolved from Master to Grandmaster. “Your master?”

  “Iceheart Lady Christy said I had a desirable quality and I have been under her branches for almost a decade now.”

  ‘A pure combatant or Elf with lineage should be aware of baseline traits, they are using the word talent broadly.’

  Christy probably understood that her genetically disadvantaged kin had little reason to slowly get through their earlier levels. With more strength, it was easier or more efficient for Clovis and other Frost Elves who didn’t have high-level parents to first evolve and find a way to obtain more Potential.

  Clovis likely faced the issue the most out of all the young Frost Elves, because his parents gave birth young and barely evolved. There was no reason for him to dawdle as a Journeyman for centuries like his compatriots with better genetics and have a much bigger chance at obtaining 250% Fortifications.

  It was already a feat for Clovis to have any Fortifications with a 250% amplification.

  While Ebony was doing his best to communicate instead of listening passively, a thin wire tugged at his feet.

  ‘This is Kiva’s work? This thread of mana is so thin and fine, and it’s not breaking…’ Ebony already appraises the tug with awe.

  A mana thread thinner than hair controlled by an unclassed wasn’t breaking even when she was pulling at him with as much force as an adult human can pull a rope.

  He looked down at his ankle to see a cute doll in the shape of what he recalled to be a rain doll. It should be a coincidence since it was just a ball with a cloth tied around it. Another one crawled to the other leg.

  ‘She’s a weaver alright.’ Ebony could already tell how happy Roya must be that her daughter has shown talent with moving mana threads.

  Two more floating dolls connected to a mana thread tugged at his hands.

  ‘Quadra casting…she’s gonna make my past classmates cry.’

  “Looks like she’s jealous that I’m getting you all to myself.” Clovis smiled and stood up, acting as if he was getting another cup of snow tea.

  Ebony took that as a sign that the shy girl had been waiting for him to play with her instead of talking to her brother about boring topics.