Black, red, pink, and golden aura fill the room.

The green restoration magic blends with the blue swirling residue to combine with my own aura and make a light purple glow resonate through the entire training room.

The entire facility shakes and trembles under the intense pressure of over 100 million MP flowing through it, but it holds together.

An hour passes...

I feel like the power coursing through my veins is on a level incomparable to my prior strength.

*Click*

The door of the training room opens and I walk out.

Visible light purple mana residue floods out from the white-walled room and fills the stairway. Some rises up to the 3rd floor, while most sinks down the steps to invade the lobby of the shop.

Abby and I make our way down through the dispersing purple-tinted mana fog and I hear every footstep echo throughout my mind.

The full outline of the man sitting in the lobby is so clear in my mind's eye. The minuscule vibrating particles of mana in his body are as clear as day...

My All-Seeing Eye isn't even activated.

I've started to develop a new understanding and control over my environment.

I lift my hands through the air letting the excess mana swirl around my fingertips. Then, without my plunderer skill, I'm able to feel small amounts of the particles enter my skin.

It's not nearly enough to use in combat. Only 3-5MP can be absorbed per minute at this rate... but still. It's a sensation I had no idea was impossible without my skills until now.

I'm on the cusp of Tier 2 mana control. This is an entirely new level.

A shaky voice rings out from the shop's lobby.

"H-Hello?"

The now much more nervous store clerk's voice rings out through the fog.

I can sense that the front door is open. Most of the residue is pouring out into the street and dispersing, but it's still very thick inside the room.

He continues in a quick manner as I slowly walk through the shop with Abby behind me.

"I hope your session went well. I- Uhm, please stop by again any time."

I smile, looking up at the outline of the city through the glass windows as we approach them.

"Sure, thanks."

We walk out the front door and the morning sun hits us in all in all its glory.

I take in a breath of fresh air and slowly move my eyes back and forth over the busy street.

It feels like everything and everyone is moving a lot slower. My ability to perceive reality has shifted immensely... In just a few hours, I've grown 3 times as strong...

Solara has become much more lively now too.

The streets are filled with more vendors as well as townspeople heading to and from their work. Just like in the Vice Region, 50% of the people walking around are covered in good-quality magic gear and look like hunters.

The laughter, constant chatter, and vendors shouting fills my ears.

Staring off into the endless streets, I'm finally interrupted by Abby's voice as she unties the camel and brings it over to me.

"Ready? We'll be late if we don't head out now."

Still staring out into the entire city. Lightly activating my perception skills, I can sense everything... and I mean everything.

Every single person's average mana controls reading, level, magic items, and even the locations of the closed-off dungeon breaks.

Everything becomes clear.

I reply promptly, but still distracted.

"Right. Let's go."

We hop on and head through the bustling city toward the Tower of Dreams. Both of us put our hoods up like before, but I can't help looking around at every new market square or unique we pass.

The world looks crystal clear.

It's like I've been missing out on all of this information in front of my face this whole time.

Nothing looks necessarily different... it just all has new meaning.

I slowly begin to adjust to my newfound sensory abilities as we approach the shining silver towers. The one we stop under is curved on all sides creating a long, yet thin point nearing the top. There must only be a single narrow penthouse up on the 30th floor.

As soon as we come to a Halt in front of the blindingly silver and white entrance, Abby speaks in my ear.

"You should probably use that disguise skill... Your eyes are glowing pretty bright."

She takes out her transmission tablet and flips the backside toward me. I see two glowing white reflections in it.

Immediately, I activate my special grade conceal perk and calm down their glow, reverting my appearance back to its darker dull state.

"Good call..."

Abby hands the camel to a vendor nearby with other similar rides. An old man is taking care of nearly a dozen of them for 20 bronze each a day. He smiles and thanks us, then we walk near the building's entrance.

Once close enough, the front sliding door opens and I immediately see a few familiar faces.

Arie, Maria, and....

Fisher.

He smirks and waves to me from behind my teammates, speaking up in a loud confident voice.

"Who would have guessed they sent you 4 after us? Good to see ya Jay."

Before I can respond, I'm distracted by a tall fair fair-skinned, white-haired woman who walks out with a light white and blue aura trailing behind her.

The woman's eyes are the same as her aura. She puts on a thin smile, only making her presence more alluring.

She wears black clothing with no armor. It contrasts with her skin and hair making them pop even more. On her side, she carries two curved swords in light blue sheaths.

From this distance, I can already sense her mana control is incredibly refined. Possibly nearing mine in my recently upgraded state.

I instantly appraise and inspect the woman to find her level and skills.

_________________________________

[Lv. 504]

Active Skills:

Combat Magic [Advanced Ice Summoning]

Dual Wielding [Legendary Grade]

_________________________________

Then, my eyes shift to those swords.

_________________________________

Enchanted Katana Set [Ice Aspect][Agility +131%][Speed +106%][Strength +105%]

_________________________________

She's an Ice magic user, with a legendary sword-wielding skill... Interesting.

Also, with a level this high, she'd technically a B-Class hunter.

My eyes shift back to the blue-haired swordsman, Fisher. He's still waving to me with a smug yet happy look on his face.

I can sense his approximate mana control output too. As I assumed, it was just a bit higher than mine when I entered the training room.

Now, I'm at least 2 times more refined than him.

He speaks up again.

"These two told me you were getting in a little extra training before the raid? Ha, looks like you'll need it."

I let out a sigh, walking over to the 4 of them and replying.

"Good to see you too."

We all greet each other with smiles outside the tall silver building on the road's sidewalk.

I introduce Abby to Fisher, and it seems like the others have already been acquainted in the hour we were gone.

Maria is the first to introduce me to her trainer.

"Jay, meet Lydia. Lydia, meet Jay."

The dual-wielding Ice mage eyes me up and down for a solid 3 seconds. Her blue eyes pulse every so slightly, I doubt anyone else can pick up the mana readings.

She puts out a hand while speaking in a smooth and steady voice.

"You're much stronger than I was expecting, maybe the director hasn't lost it. It's nice to meet you, Jay."

I take her hand and shake it.

"You're much stronger than I was expecting too. This break must be much more difficult than I was led to believe."

Everyone else in the party doesn't say a word. We all watch as she turns to the center of the city, beginning to glow much brighter white and blue.

"Yes, there's a lot to explain. We have a difficult mission ahead of us. Now, I'm feeling much more confident about our odds of success."