I run down the canyon's stone path using wind magic to accelerate my movements. High white stone walls fly by on my sides and the reading on my enemy detection skill of my teammates nearby gets closer and closer.
Soon, I see the 3 of them waiting beneath a small stone overhang on a very flat section of rocky ground. Each of the holds two glowing crystals in their open palms.
I wave while making my way over, then take the 6 base level gems from my item box as well.
Arie is the first to speak as I glide to a halt.
"Anything interesting out there?"
I shake my head, handing each of them a shard, to make it even for all of us to have 3.
"One mutant, but it wasn't an issue. I have its shard saved in my storage... its a bit more powerful than the others.
Then I pause.
"Well, it may be an issue. If any of you want to be able to face one of those, I think you'll need to consume at least..."
I look up at the sky doing a few calculations.
"Well, you'll have to each consume at least 300 of these shards."
Arie nods, replying almost immediately without a shred of doubt.
"That's what I was thinking as well. If they're much more powerful than these base levels, I'd have to agree. 300 shards equals about 15 million MP. If I consume that much, my control will nearly double."
Abby speaks up.
"If I take in 15 million more MP, I'll be over 3 times as powerful the I am now..."
Maria chimes in last.
"Same! 3 times for me too."
I nod slowly, thinking to myself about my past training sessions in the Titans domain. On my last trial, I gained over 25 million MP, bringing my own controlled accumulated MP to around 50 million.
For me to add 15 million, it would be a nice boost... but not a 2-3x addition like my teammates. There must be a way to get more....
I speak up.
"Well, let's see how much we can handle. One shard at a time until we know for sure there's no side effects. Plus we have to see if Abby can actually use her skill indefinitely. There has to be a limit. Right...?"
We all nod in agreement, then look down at the glowing white gems in our hands, I turn to the archer.
"Well, I think it's our turn. How about it?"
He smirks, placing two gems in an item box and tossing the other in his mouth without hesitating for a second.
After a gulp, he responds while taking a step back.
"I was thinking exactly the same thing."
Maria and Abby jump backward as I laugh, throwing two of my gems into my item box and swallowing one whole while stepping away from all 3 of them as well.
"Now, let's see what these can really do."
A few seconds pass, then a warm feeling starts to form in my chest. A white glow grows in its place and begins to shine brighter and brighter. It's not nearly as erratic and violent as a strengthening fragment.
I was expecting much worse.
All of the mana from this tiny gem is filling my chest with smooth and controlled pure light. It begins to flow into my shoulder and down my arms like trickles of water. The slow drip of mana falls down my legs as well.
Over 10 seconds pass and the flowing mana grows more and more until the slow drips turn into fast-moving streams of steady magic coursing through my veins.
My entire body lights up, making a bright white silhouette in the blue-tinted dungeon.
I can feel every individual particle of the warm magic flowing through me, mixing with my own dormant MP supplies, and now beginning to drift out of my body at a constant rate.
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It feels like I'm using my mana manipulation skill to create shielding. Instead of holding it like a barrier, it just flies off to be free.
An odd sensation to say the least.
Not painful at all, but the wasted MP just flowing out into the open dungeon is an uncomfortable sensation. Usually, when exerting this much mana, there's a purpose behind it. Now, I'm being forced to use mana for the sake of using it...
After just under 30 seconds pass, I can tell the process is coming to an end.
My body feels like it's being sucked dry of energy, every last drop of pure white mana is flowing out into the open dungeon air until the MP bar hits 0.
To avoid the lightheaded, unmotivating feeling of having an empty MP bar, I activate plunderer and begin taking in energy from the swirling dense air around us.
I haven't tried this method of MP restoration in a dungeon for a while, but the dense mana-filled air around me makes it feel like just the right time.
It works.
Slowly and inefficiently, but it works.
My plunderer skill brings in about 100 MP over the next few seconds as I steady my stance and let my eyes adjust back to the atmosphere around me.
To my left, Arie is kneeling on the floor breathing heavily. Abby runs over to start healing him with Restore.
A bright green and white light fills half my vision as I peer down at my empty hands still a bit flustered.
It sure feels like I just used 50k MP...
My body tingles a bit, and the sensation of mana overuse fatigue is beginning to set in. This is how I feel when I release too many MP-imbued attacks in a row too quickly. The after-effects are just like a strengthening fragment, but a bit less extreme.
A quick self-regeneration would heal me up almost all the way up back to full, letting me continue my training. I'm able to handle nearly a million MP in a single day if I really push the limits, but that's not the point of all this.
This is about Abby's power. It could help me surpass my limits.
I nod firmly at the ground, then raise my head to meet the green-haired healer's gaze as she begins to walk over to me.
Arie stands up, looking refreshed, while taking an MP potion out of his item box and drinking it before coming to watch.
Abby speaks up.
"Looks like you're able to handle the shards a bit more efficiently than the rest of us."
She comes around my back and places both hands firmly on my shoulders.
I begin to feel another warm sensation.
This time, the energy entering my body feels like it belongs to me. It's much different than the shard from a moment ago that felt like a foreign mana source leaving.
Abby's green and white mana is welcoming and cozy, seeping into my entire body and becoming one with the skin, bones, and muscles. Seconds later, the light stops and I let out a refreshing gasp, opening my eyes wide.
"I'm... completely healed..."
I move my arms around, and hop around not sensing any sign of fatigue or minor pain.. none remains.
With a grin ear to ear, I turn to meet Abby's green eyes and speak.
"There's really no downside for you to use this skill? We can just heal over and over again as long as we have the MP?"
She shrugs.
"So far, that seems to be the case. You 3 are the only one that knows about this. I only unlocked this legendary grade rank recently."
She pauses, looking around at the others, then back to me.
"Other than the few minor tests I did alone with some MP potions in the capitals training rooms last week, I don't have any other data. Whatever we figure out today is all new to me too."
Maria jumps in, disregarding our conversation and grabbing Abby's hand.
"Our turn, let's go!"
Arie joins in, taking out his other two gems and lifting them in the air.
"Let's take turns and consume these as fast as possible."
He turns to me.
"Then, we'll have to farm a lot more."
On that note, Maria and Abby both start their next shard consumption processes. Just 30 seconds later, Arie and I go for it again.
A few minute pass and each of us has grown a little stronger just from a few flashes of light. Abby heals each of us with ease, and there's no sign of fatigue on her end or ours.
This is going to work.
I activate my enemy detection skill, and being searching the dungeon for more Ogres within my teleportation range.
I've cast a wide net all the way around the largest mountain in the dungeon, it's a perfect place for new monsters to respawn and wander in from the surrounding land.
The twisting tunnels and paths of the canyon we're in are filled with new monsters as well. I can sense 4 more nearby and another 6 deep in the mountains.
We hash out a plan and all take out our weapons, preparing to fight.
They all grab a hold of me and we begin.
"Dungeon Walker."
Over the next 3 hours, we blip back and forth from the canyon below, to high up in the mountains, and even back to the waterfall-covered region near the dungeon's start point.
I leave each of them with opponents they're able to handle, and come back once they've collected the shard to teleport them to another.
In my downtime, while waiting for my teammates to kill their targets, I explore the dungeon further to keep expanding my teleportation range.
There are incredible rivers and valleys or crystal clear water, enormous waterfalls, and hidden alcoves. Everything is tinted light blue by the dungeon's magic.
The longer we fight, the denser and darker the blue tint becomes. It's only just slightly, but there's a difference. I can't tell if we're just heading deeper into the dungeon and it's a natural phenomenon, or if the excess mana released by us farming is changing the environment.
We fight 188 Ogres in total, and surprisingly, I only find 2 more mutants. They both drop larger shards, but no other new gear just yet.
The base mobs, on the other hand, drop 3 large clubs. A 2% drop rate is low, but the item has a 1250+ strength buff. It's one of the highest I've ever seen, so it must go for an excellent price. Abby holds onto the gear for now.
I make it to level 445, and my teammates share a similar success. Each of us consumes over 2.3 million mana and we're refreshed, good as new by Abby's skill.
This is more than double the output I've ever consumed in a single day, and it feels like I'm just waking on a freshly healed body after every [Restore].
At this rate, we'll be able to hit our goal of 15 million each within 24 hours. It'll give us just enough time to make it to Solara.
Assuming all goes as planned...