B-Rank Core Absorption
The forest grew heavier with each step, the air between the trees settling into a cool stillness. Then—a rough, breathing vibration echoed from somewhere ahead.
“Jihoon, look over there.”
Arin pointed toward a wide clearing and a small cave. In front of it, a Twin Head Troll was devouring the carcass of a massive Iron Bear. Its body was easily twice the size of a normal troll, thick tree-trunk limbs rippling with grotesquely swollen muscle. Two heads swiveled in opposite directions, their maws caked with crushed blood and fur. They took turns tearing into the stiffened metallic pelt and crunching through muscle, the wet sounds carrying clearly across the clearing.
I watched the gruesome sight for a moment before turning to the spirits with a wry smile.
“…Taking on a B-rank boss monster alone right now would be pushing it, wouldn’t it?”
No matter how much my body had strengthened or how much my telekinesis had improved, a direct confrontation still felt beyond me. That was when a low, heavy resonance rose from deep in my chest—unprompted, unmistakable.
“…I think I can feel the Dungeon Core.”
A steady pulse beneath the ground, completely different from the troll’s presence. Mana seeping up from somewhere deep and hidden.
Arin’s expression tightened slightly. “Jihoon… did you just sense something?”
I nodded slowly. “The Dungeon Core… it feels close. I can’t pinpoint the exact location, but the flow keeps coming from somewhere behind the troll.”
Arin glanced at the Twin Head Troll, then spoke carefully. “Then… wouldn’t it be better to absorb the core first? You could fight it with your current strength, but there’s no need to force it.”
Elly nodded in agreement. “Yes. Fighting right now is too risky. Absorbing the core first will improve the situation considerably. Your power will rise… and the Twin Head Troll will feel weaker than it does now.”
I studied both their faces. No haste, only calm, rational judgment. They had reached the same conclusion: securing the core first was the wiser choice.
“…Right. Let’s find the Dungeon Core first.”
Arin gave a light nod. “Yeah. That’s the right move.”
We circled wide around the clearing where the troll waited and moved forward quietly. The farther we got from the open space, the clearer the vibration became, the mana flowing toward us in steady waves.
“…Over there. I keep feeling it from the direction of that cliff.”
The sensation narrowed with every step. At the end of our detour, a section of rock wall felt different—like it was resonating from within. I placed my hand against it and focused on the mana traces.
“…The Dungeon Core reaction is coming from inside here.”
I drew the sword from my back and channeled mana into it. Blue light raced along the blade as the Mana Sword took shape, and I brought it down hard against the cliff.
Crack—
A deep fissure split the rock surface.
“Good. One more time.”
This time I swung horizontally, carving a cross-shaped crack into the wall.
“Jihoon, I’ll help too.”
Elly, who had been watching, raised her hands and gathered power. “Water Stream Shatter.”
A compressed jet of water spun into the cross-shaped fissure, carving away the stone inside. The cracks widened visibly. With a series of shattering sounds, a hole nearly three meters deep opened in the wall.
“Whew… Elly, you’ve definitely gotten stronger since reaching mid-level.”
“Yeah. It’s much better than before.”
“Hmph. If I were mid-level too, I could’ve melted the wall in one shot… It’s a shame I can’t right now.”
“Just wait a little longer, Arin. I’ll help you rank up soon.”
“Okay. I’ll trust you, Jihoon.”
I leaned into the hole Elly had created. Following the inner stone surface, I carved another cross-shaped crack with the Mana Sword. Elly followed up with another Water Stream Shatter, and the rock wall crumbled further, revealing a deeper space.
At that moment—
Thud… Boom.
The point where the water touched collapsed outward, opening a narrow but unmistakable empty space. In the center of that space, a Dungeon Core glowing with a soft red light floated slowly in the air. It pulsed brighter, then dimmer, as if recognizing my approach, swaying gently in the quiet.
I lowered myself and carefully stepped inside. The core, no larger than a palm, reacted by releasing faint traces of mana the closer I got.
“…Yeah. This is the Dungeon Core.”
I reached out. The moment my fingertips touched it, a short, explosive tremor spread through me. Powerful mana surged from my hand up my arm and crashed deep into my chest. A second wave followed, striking my heart like a hammer.
In that instant, my skeleton and mana circuits realigned all at once with deep, resonant clicks. Hot, rapid mana flooded through my entire body, pushing me into a completely different stage than before.
“Kgh…!”
Heat raced up my spine and sank into my bones. Joints shifted and locked into new positions. Locked rings inside me came undone one by one. Muscle tension and release repeated as new strength surged upward.
Then the real change began.
Mana gathered in the central mana hole burst outward, expanding the space. The expanded mana flowed downward, shaking the lower mana hole as well. The passage connecting the two holes grew far thicker and more stable than before. The flow that started at the center spread through my upper body, then naturally descended into my lower body. Blocked circuits opened under the pressure. Mana from upper and lower body completed a full circulation before returning to the central hole, compressed into a denser, more solid energy.
Internal circuits realigned with crackling sounds. The Harmony Heart Method accelerated on its own, and the amount of mana being absorbed exploded. Pain had already turned into exhilaration. My body felt lighter. Simply breathing made power well up from within.
When I raised my hand, mana naturally gathered at my fingertips and trembled. The surrounding spirit energy reacted to my change, rippling in response.
At that moment, Elly’s water energy surged first, its wave pulling up the fire energy. Strong spirit power also erupted from Arin’s side. The instant the two energies pushed and pulled against each other to find balance, the mana flowing through my body aligned all at once.
Click.
It felt as though every flow had found its proper place.
“Jihoon! I… I feel like I’m overflowing with power!”
Arin’s voice trembled. The small flame she carried swelled and grew, releasing red waves as her entire body shook violently.
“Huh… what? My body—!”
The flame blazed upward. Her small, childlike form stretched along a red outline, growing larger and clearer. With a soft pop, Arin’s body transformed smoothly. Like Elly, she now took the form of a middle-school-aged girl—the completed mid-level spirit shape. Her light burned far deeper and more stable than before, and the waves of her spirit power gently shook the surrounding space.
“Jihoon! I… I think I really became mid-level! Power keeps welling up… This is real!”
Elly caught her breath and nodded. “Yeah… me too. My body feels much lighter.”
Once the Dungeon Core absorption ended, the mana that had filled my body settled calmly, its flow neatly organized. Just inhaling told me my body had been renewed. I raised my hand and clenched a fist.
“…At this level, I’ve definitely crossed into a new stage.”
My body was astonishingly light, and my strength ran far deeper than before. Movement and mana flow felt effortless and natural. By feel alone, I had reached the upper ranks of A-class—perhaps beyond.
I looked at the cliff and drew a deep breath. I threw a punch—
Boom!
The cliff surface rippled like a wave and caved inward deeply. I had expected my fingertips to sting, but there was no pain at all. It hadn’t even felt like I’d used excessive force; the impact had simply sunk in naturally.
“……It’s definitely different.”
Next, I tried jumping. I gathered power in my toes and launched upward. In the blink of an eye, I lightly reached the top of the cliff. The sensation of landing felt weightless, as though my body was being pulled skyward on its own.
I immediately activated telekinesis. Mana flowed around me and I rose effortlessly. Staying airborne felt far more stable than before. I climbed higher, then leaned forward. My body naturally shifted into a forward posture and began gliding through the air. When I increased speed, I streaked across the forest canopy. Altitude control and direction changes followed smoothly.
After testing movement thoroughly, I released the power and descended. The impact of landing was absorbed by my body itself, vanishing softly.
“Good… Now for speed.”
I sprinted toward a distant cliff. The distance that would have left me gasping after a few round trips before now felt light. I returned with only the slightest shortness of breath and almost no fatigue. The change in my body wasn’t just a feeling—it registered as clear numerical improvement. Strength, speed, reaction, balance—everything had jumped to a higher level.
I weaved rapidly between trees. Even when slipping through narrow spaces at high speed, there were moments my senses couldn’t keep up. A sharp turn sent me crashing straight into a tree.
Boom! Boom!
Bark tore away and several trees toppled, yet my body barely registered the impact. At the moment of collision, mana had wrapped around me on its own, dispersing the shock. All that remained was a mild awareness: “Ah, that was a solid hit.”
“Hmm… My body still needs time to adjust to the speed.”
I tried telekinesis again. Mana flowed from my fingertips and several large scattered rocks rose simultaneously. I had been able to lift multiple objects before, but now the size and weight of the rocks were on an entirely different scale. The floating stones aligned in the air without shaking. I rotated them slowly, then hurled them all forward at once.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The massive stones flew like bullets, leaving deep impact marks on the cliff.
Next, I tested mana manipulation. I gathered and compressed mana above my palm. A bead of glowing mana formed with clear shape—far more stable in density and texture than before.
“Good… Let’s see how far this goes.”
I threw the mana bead at the cliff.
Crackle— Boom!
A powerful explosion blew a hole in the cliff large enough for a person to enter. The interior was carved nearly two meters deeper, and spiderweb cracks spread widely around it.
“This level of power is already enough…”
I created another mana bead and compressed it even harder. Once the light trembled from the density, I hurled it with full force.
Thud—!
The moment of impact released the compression. Instead of penetrating, the explosion spread outward as a shockwave. Rock dust burst out and the cliff surface was carved away in a wide circular depression.
I gathered mana in my palm once more. The bead that formed was even more solid and stable than before. This time I stretched it into a long shape, added rotation to the surface, and turned it into a spinning, rod-like projectile. The long, flowing blue mass of mana spun forward at high speed.
Whoosh—!
When the elongated mana projectile touched a large rock, it sliced smoothly through the surface. The instant the compressed mana released inside, a short explosion sounded and the entire rock burst outward from within.
I gathered mana again and created a new bead. While lifting the fully condensed sphere, I slightly altered the flow. At the moment of launch, the compressed mana bead curved left and right exactly as I intended. The direction changed without any wobble.
“Good… Let’s try consecutive shots.”
This time I kept the mana connected, compressing multiple beads in succession and firing them one after another. The rapidly flying spheres struck the cliff in a continuous barrage, spreading cracks of various sizes across the surface. My energy barely depleted. Thanks to the strengthened circuits, the flow remained steady even during continuous manipulation.
“……This will be more than enough in actual combat.”
I looked at the final mana sphere still hovering at my fingertips.
“Yeah. From now on, I’ll call this technique… Mana Bullet.”
The moment I named it, the compressed mana sphere felt one step more stable.
“……This is seriously upper A-rank or higher.”
We left the area and walked slowly back toward the clearing. After passing through a short stretch of forest, the view opened up. The metallic scent of blood mixed with the heavy breathing that filled the clearing.
And—
The Twin Head Troll’s two heads turned slowly toward us at the same time.
In that instant, my sharpened senses rang with warning.
