From below the Hydra Rat, an outline of a dragon head made of bright pink mana rose up and chomped on the abomination bringing parts of it to the sky before dissipating
Due to the size of the rat hydra, the dragon was only able to take half of its body but it was the part that mattered
The back half of the Hydra and the Rat Shaman were ripped away from the heads of the Hydra
The Rat Shaman was the Hydra's connection to mana and without it, the monster cannot regenerate
The beast shrieks in pain
SKREEEEEEEEEEE!!!!
The rest of the Rat Hydra was squirming and thrashing around before Lyna finally slice their heads off with one swift strike
"W-WHAT WAS THAT?!?" The reporter was nearly speechless
The viewers around the world react wildly to this dazzling display and usage of mana! Such footages of Slayers in action are rarely seen!!
Somewhere in the North American Continent..
"That was an ultimate skill! A ridiculously strong one at that! Watching this fight has gotten me fired up!!" said the silhouette of a man in sitting in a beautiful and spacious office. His spine faintly flare red at his excitement
He was talking to a man with glasses who was standing and watching the broadcast
"Looks like Megalopolis 10 does have capable hunters after all…"
Elsewhere..
Megalopolis 10
Steel Center (Modern day shanghai)
A certain group of elites are watching the same broadcast
"Blast it all!! She has gotten stronger yet again!! Look like our plan will have to be delayed! Call the President of ManaTech right now!"
"Who will be the one to tell him…?"
East Dining Hall
The students in the East wing Dining Halls were stunned. They were speechless at first then like kids with rich parents on Christmas, they bursted into cheers
"WOOOOOOOooHOOO! Did ya see what I saw?! She cleared an A-ranked gate by herself! Very few Slayers in the world that can do what she just did!
"YEEEES!!! She must be a top 10 Slayer in Slayer rankings now! I am so happy! Megalopolis 10 will now be safer with such an amazing hunter!!"
"Let's talk about that last move though!!! A freakin dragon?! How the hell did she construct that out of mana?!"
"She's a goddess I tell ya! A goddess!"
Alex clutched his heart with the only working arm he had
"I'm sooooo glad she's okay! I've been such a fan of her since she debuted as a hunter! Isn't she amazing Jin???"
Jin looked at him with a slight laugh then answered
"Yeah that was indeed pretty awesome"
Megalopolis 10
Outskirts of Konhall
Back at the site of the A-ranked rift
Lyna was standing near the A-ranked rift and watched it slowly separate into blocks of mana and scatter in the wind
She sighs and thought
'What a waste…'
The only way for mana-users/hunters to increase their mana capacity and break through into higher ranks is to clear the dungeons inside the rifts
Once the rift is completed and the monsters inside are slain, the rift will drop a mana crystal of the same rank then the rest of the rift will be absorbed by the hunters inside thus increasing their mana-capacity and strength
For a C-rank hunter looking to break through to the next rank, he/she must clear many C-ranked rifts either with a group (think of it like shared exp)
If the hunter can clear a rift by themselves, they can absorb the rift alone greatly increasing their mana-capacity
However this is not possible for rifts that turned critical. All mana from critical rifts will disperse into the air after all the monsters from it are slain
This means the only chance for mana-users/hunters to break through to the next rank are inside the rifts themselves!
After the A-ranked rift disperses, hunters and workers from the HOA finally arrived to the scene to clean up the mess in the outskirts of KonHall
Mana Comprehension Course
The students of the East Wing were instructed to gather at the indoor training facility for their Mana comprehension course. The indoor training facility is right next to the outdoor facility, where the rift is
The five hundred or so East wing students separate themselves into their assigned groups
Alex went with group B to one end of the facility while Jin stayed with group A at the other end
"Listen up everyone! I will be your instructor for today!" a familiar voices shouts from behind group A
It was Ms.Valentine!
The male students of group A went gaga when they heard her voice and cleared a path for her, to the platform that overlooked one end of the fitness facility. The platform contained a podium and tables with black tokens on it
Ms. Valentine stood on top of the platform and searches for Jin with her eyes
'Where is he...…AH! There he is!'
Ms. Valentine stares at Jin for a couple of seconds
'Some of the students that saw the fight told me Jin took down that fatty yesterday! That can't be true unless…Jin is secretly hiding the fact that he can use mana!…I will find out your secret boy!'
Jin notices Ms. Valentine's laser glare
'…Why is Ms. Valentine looking at me like that?!' A shiver ran down Jin's spine
Ms. Valentine continues with the course
"Today we will be using mana weapons or what we in the industry call Gear"
"Has anyone not use Gears before?"
Jin raises his hand since he had never even heard the term Gear before, however it seems he is the only one
"Can anyone show the new student how to use one?" Ms. Valentine calls out Jin like he's a bumpkin
"I volunteer Ms. Valentine!" said a male student near the front of the group
Ms. Valentine look to see who answered
"Oh it's you…" she said with a dissatisfy face
The student that answer the call was Jaime Sullivan and the reason why he volunteer is to show off
Although he's D-ranked, he was much stronger than the other D-ranks in the East wing which makes him a top student to be advanced to the West wing
"Alright step up and tell me what gear you will be using"
"Ms. Valentine, you look so beautiful today Would you mind handing me the gun gear" he said with a smug attitude. It was also his speciality
'Tch what a creep'
Ms. Valentine picks up a small black token made from carbon fiber and hands it to Jamie
Jamie releases some of his mana into the token and it materializes into two black pistol like guns
Then he shoots a shot of blue energized mana near Jin's vicinity
'This clown trying to mess with me?' Jin stared at him
The projectile was a compressed mana bullet capable of taking down a D-ranked beast and certainly an ordinary human like Jin would have a massive hole in him if he got hit
The bullet hit the ground but bounced off it and disappeared
"The fitness facility is protected by a mana field created from a B-ranked mana crystal. This is why it's possible to train here without damaging the building" said Ms. Valentine
"Gears and Cyber-ware are both made from mana crystals that hunters received after clearing a dungeon. Both Gears and Cyber-wares greatly increase a hunter's power level. The difference being, Cyber-ware allows us to unlock more of our mana in a short amount of time and in high burst since they're integrated into our bodies. This means certain cyber-ware allows the hunter to use a skill such as speed boost, fireball, heals, buffs, and shields. While Gears can only channel our mana into itself and do one function such as shooting a mana projectile or strengthening the blade if it's a sword gear"
"Many hunters use a combination of Gear and Cyber-ware to become even stronger. However most people's body can only handle two or three cyber-ware/gear of the same rank at the same time. If one is not careful and use mana their body can't contain, they will overload and explode!"
...
"Alright enough explaining, I want going to assign students to a light spar using mana"
Ms. Valentine presses a button on the podium and a ring 15 diameters wide and 10 centimeters high rises from the ground near the group of students
"Who will be our first volunteer?" She asks
"Me!! Pick Me Ms. Valentine" Jamie shouts on stage
"Okay fine and your opponent will be Jin the new student!"
Jin had a confused look on his face
'Clearly she is targeting me…what is going on…'
….