-----
As Frank had dinner with everyone, it was finally time to go to sleep yet once more in Terra, due to the various daily activities, Gwendolyn had a strict schedule, and wanted everyone to sleep early if possible, mostly because everyone would usually wake up early as well.
When Frank made sure that everyone was sleeping peacefully, he used the power of his masks such as Stealth, Camouflage, and Silence to silently escape the house, entering a small, nearby forest.
"I've acquired these three Skills already, so even if I take out the mask, I will still be able to use them… However, the power of the mask stacks with them, making the effect even better," thought Frank, smiling as Ruby jumped out of his shoulder and Ginseng out of his hand.
Ruby was still stuck at level 9, needing a large amount of experience to level to 10, while Ginseng had recently hit level 5, and the size of his body had increased a bit more, reaching the size of almost twenty centimeters, however, it was still a walking radish.
"Hm, maybe we should grind some spiders in here with a Hunting Domain? I am willing to spend the whole night so you can finally evolve, Ruby," said Frank.
"Grawr!" roared Ruby, waving her tail happily after hearing her beloved tamer's intention of raising her level so she could finally 'evolve'.
"Muh…"
Ginseng, however, sat down on the floor. Unlike Ruby, he was a very lethargic and physically weak monster, and because it was a radish, Frank believed that he liked to simply rest beneath soil… or inside his hand.
"Ginseng you're quite weak physically, but it is not like we can fix that easily, after all, it is part of your race… Oh right, there was this lettuce monster… Well, it already became salad… Druid and Botany leveled up to Level 2, meaning that I can have another Plant-type monster stored in my body… What should I pick now? Or should I wait? Maybe a living tree would be good…" thought Frank, as he opened his Inventory and took off four corpses, the ones from the bandits that had tried to assault him and his party.
"Now, now, let's get these guys over with…" said Frank, as he put into some gloves made up of his spider threads and began to take anything precious from the bandits, be it their clothes, equipment, and money. Surprisingly enough, the combined money of the four made up for four silver coins, giving Frank an unexpected fortune.
[You acquired 4 Silver Coins!]
"The equipment that they got isn't much, and reselling it could get me caught, for now, I will simply keep it in my Inventory… Oh, I could always sell it to Matsuo, right? It is all mildly infused with magic, and I could give the excuse that some humanoid-like monster dropped it… Oh right, the Mana Cores…"
Frank quickly took off his new knife, the one he acquired from the drop of the Ogre monster within the Shrine yesterday in Earth, it was sharp and very resistant, being green-colored and possessions sharp fangs around its blade as if it were a chainsaw.
"Well… This will be a tiny bit disgusting…" muttered Frank, gulping some saliva as he began to open the chest of the four corpses, taking out the Mana Cores deeply encrusted within the rib cage near their heart, it was covered in veins and flesh, so it was harder to take out than he imagined, but at the end, he managed to do so.
Guilt was not part of Frank's mind anymore after he had acquired the Merciless Murderer Title, so he only found it disgusting, but his mind did not make him constantly question his own morals and self, he simply did it and was done with it.
"Oh right, I could have asked my Clone to do this instead… Anyways, I will sew up their wounds with my thread," said Frank, sewing up the corpses with his threads, as he practiced the Tailoring Skill with his special Silver Needle.
"Now what do I do with these corpses? I could feed them to monsters or simply let them stay forever inside of my Inventory… I guess the latter one is more secure… Maybe one day I will get some Necromancer Job or Raise Undead Skill, and they will become useful," thought Frank, quickly saving the corpses and forgetting about them for the moment.
What he glanced at were the pile of Mana Cores in front of him, alongside four very shiny ones that he had extracted from the corpses, each one was of a different color, very different from those of monsters who were all purple.
"Fire Mana Core, Water Mana Core, Wind Mana Core, and Dark Mana Core… Were these the attributes of these bandits? So for demi-humans, our Mana Cores turn into a different color… Well, I should have assumed it as it said in the Mana Core Skill within the status of Hilvera, Asterion, and Annabelle…" thought Frank, as he quickly decided to absorb them all for the moment.
He had considered giving the Fire Mana Core to Ruby and the Wind Mana Core to either Hilvera or Asterion, but he thought that it was better to experiment what could happen if he absorbed the Mana Cores of a person and not a monster by himself.
Ding!
[Mana Cores have been detected]
[Required World's Source Energy to break through Mana Core Cultivation of Rank 1 Initial Stage: 18/100]
Ding!
[Do you wish to absorb 14 Mana Cores (F-Grade), 3 Mana Cores (D-Grade), and Fire Mana Core, Water Mana Core, Wind Mana Core, and Dark Mana Core?]
[>YES NO]
"Very well, let's see what happens…" said Frank, pressing the 'Yes' option with his index finger, as the Mana Cores within his sight suddenly turned into particles of light and were absorbed by his body as if it were a sponge.
Flash!
Frank suddenly felt a strong rush of power, as his own Mana Core began to release a large quantity of Mana that began to permeate itself.
Frank could feel as his Mana Core began to grow by a few millimeters before the feeling of exhilaration stopped, giving him peace once more.
Frank, however, felt as if his whole quality as a living being had been upgraded…
Ding!
[You gained +82 World's Source Energy (Terra)]
[World's Source Energy (Terra): 100/100]
Ding!
[Congratulations, you have broken through Rank 1 Initial Stage, ascending into the Middle Stage!]
[All of your stats have increased]
[The Levels of the [Gust: Level 4], [Dark Magic: Level 1], [Water Torrent Palm Technique: Level 2], and [Flame Arrows: Level 2] Skills have increased!]
"Eh? That fast?!"
Frank was left a bit startled, it seemed that absorbing the Mana Cores of demi-humans could bring him to higher Stages of cultivation way waster than those of Monsters.
"This is most likely because those Mana Cores from those guys were all Middle Stage or more…" thought Frank, grasping his newly acquired strength.
[Required World's Source Energy to break through Mana Core Cultivation of Rank 1 Middle Stage: 000/200]
"Now I need 200? Oof… And I bet that I get even less now due to the quality that I require being higher… Well, I am not going to get out in the streets to kill random innocent people, so I will stick with monsters, I bet that a Boss Monster will still give me a nice boost, right?" thought Frank, as he thought about defeating a Boss Monster from within the Dark Lair Dungeon.
"Hm, what a bummer, I had high hopes on getting something like Fire Magic from absorbing the Mana Cores of Demi-humans, but at least some skills leveled up, I guess," said Frank.
Ding!
____________________
[Reach Rank 1 Middle Stage!] Completed!
Congratulations! You have reached the Middle Stage of your Mana Core Cultivation!
It seems that having killed those bandits really did help your growth more than you thought…
…Although you are still Rank 1, how weak!
____________________
[You acquired the Quest Rewards: A Large Amount of EXP, 250 APP Points, [Rainbow Commemorative Reward Package (C-Grade)]
"How nice of you to shower me in regards to having killed people, System…" said Frank, as the System gave him no response.
"Now that I think about it, I still got these items, I might as well use them all now…" thought Frank, opening his Inventory yet again and pilling up several rainbow-colored metallic chests, alongside ancient-looking scrolls.
These items were the ones that the System gave to him when he completed a special mission, which could help him hasten his growth even more.
The items that Frank had taken out of his Inventory were as follows:
[Rainbow Commemorative Reward Package (C-Grade)] x4
[Random Skill Scroll (C-Grade)] x2
[Rainbow Commemorative Reward Package (D-Grade)] x1
"Let's go for the Skill gacha then… Please, something overpowered… Last time I got a Skill that literally produces a handful of dirt, so I hope I can get something better…" said Frank, crossing his hands as he prayed RNGesus for a good pull.
Although these scrolls were technically not gacha, due to their randomness, they felt like one to Frank, and he, as a gacha player himself, instinctively prayed to the greater entity of RNG (Random Number Generator), RNGesus.
Frank decided to use both Scrolls at the same time, as his mind suddenly entered a different place, where two roulettes began to spin, choosing an option each within the literal millions that there were.
Ding!
-----