The ceiling continues to crumble, and my red aura extends further into the endless forest around us. Past the decimated area of woodlands that were disintegrated by the divine energy waves, and deep into the thick trees in all directions. It drains the air, ground, trees, rocks, and every living thing that comes in contact with this crimson mist. The abandoned forest stretches thousands of kilometers in diameter, extending even further to the west. Its landmass is even larger than the 8 Great Regions, though the pure mana here is slightly less abundant. In my previous use of my plunderer skill, there was an extremely high concentration of mana in the hundreds of dungeons, high-grade shielding, city technology, vaults full of mana crystals, and tens of thousands of hunters with full MP bars to pull from. That was just 100 kilometers, and I was able to gain roughly 40 quadrillion MP in mere minutes. However, that Region won't be recovering anytime soon. While it doesn't affect the average citizen, and neither does it any hunter below the B-Class rating, there are no dungeons left in the Vice Region that hold monsters above level 500, and the labyrinth has been decimated as well. The only other Region with mana that dense is the Apex Region. It has a labyrinth with enough mana to instantly heal Raven right now, along with thousands of dungeons and hundreds of thousands of citizens to drain from, but I have other plans for that energy. The white glow around Raven's body becomes much brighter. I watch the particles of white marble evaporate, and her flesh regrows at a microscopic level in real-time. My aura finally fully retracts back into my body, and my double that was hovering above this new forest region flies back to the dark continent to get supplies to reimburse the villages that were just drained of all their resources. A long sigh escapes my mouth as my footsteps echo throughout the empty mansion. "That was not easy... but I wasn't expecting it to be, after all..." The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. I can't help but laugh to myself in the middle of an abandoned region as I can finally relax and think straight, appreciating the new boost in power I received from killing another True Core. Dozens of statues still fill this entrance hall. Some of them are broken to pieces from the fallen portions of the ceiling, and others have managed to survive with luck. I scan the entire eerie building and float back up to the top floor to see the marble orb now split in two below the petrified dragon angrily frozen in time with its set of claws reaching to defend its master. As I touch down on what's left of the cracked flooring on the upper level, and peer into the blackened, charred inside of the orb, I see the body of the frail, lanky old man inside, and an odd intuitive feeling rushes through me. At the same time, a blue notification pops up over the pile of ash. [Use Superior Mana Manipulation] Superior Perk: [Eternal Minion] Enter Desired Level: 0-9620 I instantly plunge my hand into the second, and there's about two thousand orange fragments this time. I drop both of these into my storage, and shove my hand into the third and final item box to find over 800 pristine yellow divine fragments. I pull one out just to look at it, and the reflection of the beautiful glowing stone shimmers in my eyes. The final item box drops into my item storage, and I use my new True Core's ability to cover the one stone that was in my hand in a thick layer of mana and pure silky divine energy. In seconds, the stone dissolves, and all of its energy is streamlined directly into my core. It doesn't feel like much, as draining an entire True Core is far more efficient. If I absorbed every single fragment in that box, I would feel slightly stronger, maybe a ten or twenty percent gain, but my teammates back in the Dark Continent would benefit from these fragments far more than me. For the next hour as I continue to rummage through all of the containment cases and item boxes in this entire mansion, I'm not upset at the fact that there aren't any other interesting items to take with me. I've managed to snag more than enough from this unexpected encounter. Smiling, I walk past the old petrified man next to the white dragon, and hop down to the bottom floor. Then, I take a seat on the cold hard marble next to Raven. A large portion of the white stone on her body has completely vanished, and her bare skin and blood-bonded armor have repaired themselves in place. Her core is growing brighter as well. My body double has come back and visited all of the nearby villages and left to continue working with Bri and Rodrigo to schedule a perfect time with the other Regional Directors and higher grade hunters, relaying that I won't be back until my business is done here. Join the discussion! Login to share your thoughts and connect with other readers. No comments yet. Be the first to comment!