Everyone sat in the carriage, unsure what to even say. They had never expected a newbie like Ning to create something so massive and strong that he could defeat an Essence Manifestation realm fighter all by himself.
Ning himself sat there remembering the size of the rock he had created. He grabbed the sword on his waist as he wondered, 'is this really made from a mountain?'
If not, how else could there be something so large?
"What are you doing?" Sophie quickly asked as she took out her own water blade.
"Woah! Woah!" Ning exclaimed the moment he saw the weapon being pointed at him. "What are you doing?"
"What are YOU doing?" she asked, sneaking a glance to his left hand that was holding his sword's hilt.
"Hmm? Oh, sorry," Ning quickly let go of the blade. "I wasn't trying to do anything. I was just wondering about what happened back then."
"We all are," she said. "Do you really not know or are you not telling us?"
"I told you, I don't know. This sword is something I found randomly. I don't know what it is made up of or what it can do. The only reason I even used it at the start was that it was sharp."
Sophie lowered her weapon and put it back into its sheath. "I see," she said. "It must have been a really massive rock that was turned into a sword. I wonder how strong the person who turned that into a sword was."
Ning badly wanted to ask his system about the information on the sword, but the mystery was just too enticing by itself. 'I will find out the size of the mountain by myself when I get more Essence,' he thought.
"Anyway, thank you for saving us," Sophie said. "Not only did you destroy his sword immediately, you also killed him."
Ning turned toward her. "You mentioned that before," he said. "About me destroying his sword. Why does that matter? He was an Essence Manifestation realm fighter either way."
Sophie slightly frowned when she heard that. "Why do you mean why does that matter? How could making him lose a conduit not matter?" she asked.
"But… he doesn't need a conduit, does he?" Ning asked. "He is in the Essence Manifestation realm after all."
Sophie gave his words some careful consideration and finally understood what was happening. "Ah! You don't know much about the Essence Manifestation realm, do you?" she asked.
"I suppose…" Ning said. "I was told one could use their Essence without a conduit once they reach the Essence Manifestation realm."
"They can, but it's not so simple," the blue-haired girl said. "While they won't need a conduit anymore, they need a technique. Just like you need a technique to absorb Essence, you need a technique to use your Essence in a meaningful way as well."
"You can use your Essence without a technique of course, but it would never come close to being as effective as a technique," she said. "When you destroyed his sword today, you left him with just his physical strength and his two techniques to fight us."
"From what I saw, his physical strength was about as strong as your own, so the battle devolved into one of Essence. However, because you had a conduit and he didn't, there weren't many different ways he could use his Essence, and in the end, died to you."
"I see," Ning said as he finally understood it. "If he had learned some more techniques than just the arrow and pillar, we would've most likely lost, huh?"
"It's not that easy to learn different techniques," the girl said. "Not only is it very hard, it is also extremely expensive to find such techniques. I'm sure that man spent half a fortune to buy those two techniques."
"Also, very useful techniques are hardly sold on the market. If you want to get a proper one, you have to join a school for Essence users."
"I see," Ning said. "Thank you for explaining it all to me."
"Don't be so cordial. You saved us, so it is only obvious that I repay the favor somehow. I will find another way to fully repay you for saving my life," Sophie said.
"Me too, brother," another person said.
"And me."
"I will find a way too."
The people in the carriage spoke afterward and all of them agreed to repay Ning somehow. Ning simply smiled and said nothing.
He wouldn't be so kind as to tell them to forget about it all. If nothing, he wanted some money from them at the very least.
The sun went down a while later, and the carriage stopped for a while so people could make some food and sleep.
The horses needed some rest too, so everyone set up camp in the forest. They all sat by the campfire, talking to themselves, enjoying their time. They prayed to whatever god was out there for letting them live today.
Ning found it weird that most of these people didn't even thank him and instead thanked their gods.
Not that he wanted people to thank him for saving them.
Most people went to sleep with a few taking turns. Ning decided to use the time to improve his Essence, so he sat in the moonlight, absorbing Essences for the rest of the night.
Early morning, everyone got back on their carriages and the journey began once again.
It was the mountain that they had to climb up this time around, so they let the horses take it slow.
The carriages arrived at their destination late noon and everyone finally got off the carriage.
"Where do we go now?" Ning asked.
"Someone should be coming for us," one of the men said.
As they spoke, a group of people did come out from the walls around the fortress.
"Have you all finally arrived?" the man at the lead asked.
"Yes," Sophie answered. "You are brother Erman, right?"
"I am," the man said. "Now that you have arrived, we can begin."
