"Ooooh, what is this?" I ask, eyes glinting with curiosity as I lean in toward the crystal sphere in Eris's hand.
It's beautiful—clear and transparent with just the faintest tint of icy blue. Like a frozen droplet of ocean, captured and crystallized.
"It's a monster core collector," Eris explains. "Quite the amazing invention, you know? Before this little guy, we had to collect monster cores by hand. Manually!"
She shudders dramatically.
"Ugh. So tedious."
I giggle.
Eris then toss the Collector into the air.
Whoosh!
The sphere flashes with a sudden brilliance—its surface pulsing with energy—then begins to glow, brighter and brighter, until its light washes over the frozen landscape.
A low hum vibrates through the air.
Then—
FWOOOOOOOM!
A pulse of magic explodes outward in a wide ripple, sweeping across the shattered battlefield. The air thickens with magical pressure, like gravity folding in on itself.
Suddenly, the monster cores—thousands of them—begin to rise.
Drawn upward, they float from the ice like glowing fireflies, spinning in graceful arcs as they're pulled toward the hovering orb. Trails of brilliant blue light follow behind each one, swirling and dancing in the wind.
"Wooooaaaah…" I breathe, shielding my eyes as the radiance intensifies.
The entire field glows. Icy shards littered across the lake reflect the light in a thousand directions, casting glimring patterns across the sky and snow—like watching stars being pulled into a galaxy's heart.
It's beautiful.
srizing.
Like a magical snowstorm made of light and motion.
The hum grows louder. The wind sings around us. The vortex spins faster.
And then—
FWOOMP.
With a final, gentle pull, the last few cores vanish into the orb.
The glow fades.
The wind settles.
And the ball floats back down, weightless, into Eris's waiting palm.
"Ooooooh! It changed color!" I gasp, eyes wide.
Where it was once clear, the orb is now glowing a radiant, crystalline blue—like a tiny star captured in glass.
"Yup," Eris says, giving it an approving nod. "That ans it's nearly full. We really did gather a ton today."
I can't take my eyes off the glowing sphere. "So… what are monster cores even used for?" I ask, curiosity bubbling again.
"Lots of things," Eris says, tossing the orb gently in her hand. "Enchantnts, alchemy, potion crafting… but most importantly?"
She catches the orb with a smirk.
"Magic cultivation."
"Oooh!" I perk up instantly. "You an, like… leveling up your magic?"
Eris giggles.
"I don't know what 'leveling up' ans exactly, but you've got the right idea. Monster cores contain raw mana—and when you absorb it, you can feed your own mana core. Help it grow stronger. Evolve it."
Right!!!
I nod slowly, recalling sothing I read back in Arcane: Chapter One.
Magic Cultivation.
To cultivate—aning to grow your mana core—you have to absorb external mana and then convert it into a kind of nutrient that your core can consu.
Just like feeding a pet.
Or watering and fertilizing a plant.
Mana cores don't survive on their own—they need sustenance.
And their food?
Other mana sources.
It can be drawn from the environnt…
Or extracted from enchanted potions…
Or pulled from magical herbs…
But the most efficient thod?
Dungeon monster cores.
They're raw, concentrated, and brimming with elental energy. But…
There's a catch.
"Wait…" I blink, holding up a finger. "These cores we just collected… they're water attribute, right? But don't we both have darkness mana? Isn't that… you know, incompatible?"
"Good catch," Eris replies, nodding with an approving smile. "Yup, these are water-based cores. But I can just bring them to the market and exchange them for darkness ones."
"Ooooh! That's right!" I exclaim, the realization hitting .
Eris chuckles softly. "There are always people looking to trade. Soone out there will need water mana and have extra darkness cores. It's a perfect win-win."
"Or," she continues, "I can just sell the whole thing back to the Adventurers' Guild. I'll probably pass it off to Karl and let him deal with the paperwork."
"Hehe~ having the Guildmaster as your friend is super convenient," I tease, smirking.
"I know, right?" Eris laughs, stretching lazily, her long hair swaying slightly with the movent.
But just then, another question sneaks into my mind.
A bigger one.
Sothing I've been wondering for a while now.
I hesitate, nibbling at my bottom lip before finally asking—
"Wait, Eris… speaking of mana cores…" I begins. "What stage of cultivation are you really at?"
Eris pauses.
Then, slowly, her smile shifts—curving into sothing playful, but layered with mystery.
"Hmmm?" Her voice drops to a teasing purr. "You really wanna know?"
Gulp.
I nod.
Formless Core?
Enlarging Core?
Pulsating Core?
How many Rebirth Cycles has she gone through…?
Up until now, whenever I used my Mana Sense, I only ever saw her core at Stage 2: Enlarging Core.
But that was clearly a lie.
She was holding back.
Hiding her true power.
Eris chuckles under her breath and steps back slightly, her eyes glinting.
"Alright. See for yourself."
She raises her hands slightly, giving permission.
I take a slow breath and focus, activating my Mana Sense.
It's not like using mana directly, so I won't suffer any backlash or heartache. Just sensing is fine. No big deal.
And then—
"WOAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!"
The mont I see it, my entire body stumbles back, knees buckling.
I nearly fall on my butt.
Because what I see—
It isn't just powerful.
It's terrifying.
Eris's mana core pulses with unimaginable energy—a massive, shifting sphere of pure darkness throbbing in the center of her chest.
It writhes like a living thing, swirling with tendrils of black light that spiral around it in an endless loop.
The energy radiating from it is heavy, dense, overwhelming.
It's like staring into a miniature black sun, and feeling it pull at you.
Beating.
Living.
Alive.
And surrounding it…
Four rings.
Not one.
Not two.
Four!!!
"F-F-Four rings?!" I stamr.
"Yup!" Eris says casually. "Pulsating Core stage, fourth ring."
I gape at her like she just told she's a goddess.
"Holy shit…. Just one more… and you'll be S-rank!"
"Yup," she nods.
In this world, becoming an S-rank adventurer ans you've reached one of two conditions:
— A physical rating of 500 or more (which basically ans you're stronger than 500 people combined),
— Or a mana core with five rings.
Eris is this close.
"H-How far are you from the fifth ring?" I ask eagerly, eyes wide. "You must be super close, right?"
She chuckles, scratching the back of her head. "Well… actually, I still need like… a hundred more of these."
She holds up the Mana Collector Orb, which is already glowing bright blue, heavy with absorbed cores.
"WHAAAAT?! A HUNDRED?!"
"Yeah," she shrugs with a grin. "Ice frogs are just D-rank monsters. Their cores aren't super dense or rich in mana. It takes a lot of them to even make a dent. Even if I had the money to buy more high-rank cores, it still takes ti for my core to digest and cultivate all that mana."
"Damn…" I mutter, shivering a little. "That's terrifying."
Eris casually tucks the orb away, securing it back in her backpack.
"Alright," she says, dusting off her hands. "We've wrapped up everything we ca here to do. Ready to head out?"
"Nn!" I nod, though a part of deflates a little.
"…Wait. Are we going ho?"
Honestly…
This is so much fun…
I don't want to leave yet…
But… knowing Eris, she may has other things to do.
I just can't be unreasonable and bother her too much.
Eris raises an eyebrow, then smirks as she sees my ears droop and my tail stiffen.
"Hehe, look at you," she teases, reaching out to boop my nose. "You don't wanna leave yet, huh?"
I pout. Then slowly, nod.
"…C-Can we explore just a little more? Just a tiny little bit?"
"Of course," she says, as if it was never even a question.
"Huh? We can?" I mutter.
"Why not?" Eris grins.
"YEEEESSSSS~!!!"
HECK YEAH!!!
I practically jump in joy, bouncing in place like an overexcited kitten.
Eris laughs and helps climb back onto Inky, who huffs affectionately as I settle onto his back.
I wrap my arms tightly around Eris's waist as she sits in front of , ready to fly.
"Are you sure you want to keep going?" she asks. "We'll have to drink another potion, you know."
I pause.
Well, the potions are absolutely disgusting.
But—
"I don't mind!" I grin.
Because this mont? Flying through a magical frozen wonderland on the back of a shadow wyvern, with the most amazing catgirl ever?
Totally worth the suffering!
So going ho?
NO THANKS!
"Okay, okay~" Eris chuckles, "I will take you to other places then, hang on tight!""
"Nn!!!"
And just like that—
We take off once more, Inky's wings slicing through the wind.
Through icy valleys, enchanted groves, shimring caverns, and hidden waterfalls—
We fly.
Sightseeing.
Exploring.
Laughing.
Side by side.
Just , Eris, and Inky.
It was literally the best day ever.
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