"I just need another 5 levels..."

Although a shockwave of excess magic and debris is flying my way at an alarming speed, all I can do is stare down at my status and smile.

I've gained 4 levels from the hundreds of slain mutants and another 10 levels from defeating the boss itself. This brings me up to level 495.

There are only 5 more until I hit "B-Class" eligibility. I know there's an exam available to hunters that hit level 500... but it's not brought up in the news often. Not many make it this high.

Without upgrading my plunderer skill to special grade, taking out this boss would have been near-impossible. I have plenty of other skills, yes, but the only thing that mattered in the end was my ability to wield mana at an accelerated rate.

It seems this is the second large bottleneck in the hunter's natural rank-up process.

There's one that occurs on the level 300-350 range, the introduction to mana control that allows only those with rare element aptitudes to progress at a quicker pace. The ones that are funded enough, whether that be government or private aid can one day make it to the level of the Elite Status.

The next pause in progression has to be focused around Tier 2 mana control. Monsters that near level 500, becoming ranked-up beings, able to take in MP through advanced mana control seem to be unbeatable opponents for a magic user that can't keep up with their endless shielding.

Sure, not impossible to defeat, but very unlikely.

This is why there are so few B-Class Hunters in the world.

I wonder how much mana control would be necessary to achieve this rate of natural environmental mana absorption without a special skill like mine...

I let out a sigh, then turn my focus back to the white and blue energy wave coming my way.

Opening my link with Ember, I point to the sky.

"We'll fly above it. Before the Dungeon Collapses entirely, I'd like to see if the Boss drops any loot."

With a powerful flap of his wings, we soar up into the air. The body of this beast is gone, but it must have left something behind.

Ember replies.

"Very good. That was an impressive victory, Master. We're so close to ranking up. Maybe I'll finally get to evolve after our next big battle."

I smirk.

"Maybe... even before."

The shock wave of energy and flying rocks ripples beneath us as we travel higher into the air.

Weaker energy makes it up to our altitude, but I teleport us into the zone of the obliterated mountain that has already weathered the shockwave. We avoid the blast entirely.

Activating all my perception skills, two items pop up on my radar. One of them seems to be a ring the Ogre was wearing with an incredible mental strength buff, the other item is one I've never seen before...

The mana readings it's giving off are unbelievable.

Not just their mana residue stands out to me, but also their information on my appraisal skill.

"This changes everything..."

We glide forward as I point Ember in the right direction, then start digging through the piles of rubble and half-melted boulders.

Using mana manipulation, I easily part the stone and find exactly what I'm looking for, the first item drop.

________________________________

Platinum Ring of The Blue Ogre King [+100% Mental Strength]

________________________________

Silver in color, I toss the ring up and down in my palm a few times. It feels even heavier than gold....

I take off my desert troll's charm, only giving me a 45% metal strength boost, and put on this ring with 100%. Immediately, I feel a small shift in my power as the buffs are recalibrated.

Next, I turn toward the real treasure.

Peeking out of another large rock pile, the bright blue glow of another item calls to me. I move all the surrounding rock out of the way with ease revealing what's underneath in all its glory.

A palm-sized dark blue crystal gives off a loud low-frequency hum rests on the rocky floor.

Wisps of blue and white mana trail off of it as I pick the crystal up from a distance using telekinesis.

It floats in the air as I appraise it.

__________________________

Blue Ogre King's Essence [Core]

Info: The Accumulated Essence of the Blue Ogre King. Excess mana from a Blue Ogre King's Dungeon Break has been contained in crystal form.

Class: B++

Type: Consumable

Durability[MP Output]: 101.4M/101.4M

__________________________

"One hundred... Million...."

The crystal floats toward me as I grasp it between my fingertips sitting firmly on Ember's back.

The rings on my finger clink against the crystal's hard structure. The deeper I look inside this gem, the more endless the swirling mana within seems to become.

Before I can get out another thought, a flash of light engulfs me on all sides. The dungeon collapses, consuming both Ember and me in the blinding whiteness of transfer magic.

I feel Ember's feet thud against the sandy yet rocky floor where we entered this dungeon.

Opening my item storage I throw the blue vibrating gem inside and immediately open my link with Ember.

"To the sky!"

It's nearly pitch black out, and I can barely see a thing. A sliver of sunlight escapes the horizon telling me the approximate time, but I already knew that I slept all day before this raid began.

My only worry and reason for being so quick to the sky is the off chance that someone were to see me with a dragon come out of the break, it wouldn't be good... Thankfully, after a quick enemy detection scan finding not a single soul around, I'm put more at ease.

Ember flaps his wings and carries us high up into the fly above the cloud line.

To my surprise, the sunlight gets brighter the higher we travel upwards...

The sun has really just gone down, but I'll have the opportunity to see the sunset again.

I let out a laugh while opening my link with Ember as the cool air passes through my hair.

"We have to head north. About an 18-hour ride by camel, and my team should be over halfway there by now. It'd be best to slow time the flight speed down so we arrive just as they do. We're off to Solara."

"Understood."

The sun sets again, leaving us in the cool darkness of night.

As I begin to relax, the built-up battle fatigue hits me all at once.

The aching bones, tired muscles, and tingling skin start to take a toll on me making my eyes close yet again. I make sure to drink water, and eat enough to satisfy my hunger, but drift off to sleep within the hour.

A few questions race around in my mind as I fade away into dreamland on Ember's back.

How can I use this new item to my advantage... 100 million mana will surely do irreversible damage if I try to consume it all at once.

However, I could use Plunderer at its new special grade rank to absorb the mana while Abby constantly Restores my MP...

This is a possibility.

I also have almost 60 million MP worth of mutant fragments from Ember's farming escapades too... My teammates will most likely be able to handle 100k MP at a time if they push themselves.

That dungeon is gone, but we've made some serious gains in a short time. Once I meet back up with them after a long sleep, we'll have a final upgrade session before facing off against the Labyrinth in the capital.

I'm feeling a lot more confident in our abilities as a team than I did just a few days ago.