Back in the rift, Michael stands in a circle of dead wolves who have had their cores ripped out of their bodies. It's been a week and a half of killing and devouring. He's able to finally use his light elemental techniques at will without delay. He's ready to take on the boss with Uriel's help so they can leave this place and see the outside world again. In the center of the large forest sits a red raccoon the size of an adult male, making it twice as big as Michael and Alicia. They've been ready for two days now, but awakeners are often trying their luck at the rift boss. This is the first time in days he hasn't seen a group of young awakeners waiting by on the outskirts.
(I thought the boss monster would be a lot larger Uriel.)
(It's an E Ranked monster, it's a child compared to the rest of the world.) said Uriel with a hint of a dismissive tone.
(Lay cover fire down on three and I'll go in to start the one on one fight. One, Two, Three!!)
Uriel begins to shoot light bullets from her mana guns at the rift boss while Michael uses his movement technique to close the distance. The boss is surprised and disoriented by the flashes of light and the pain that comes after each shot. It turns to try and run away before Michael appears behind it blocking its way while unleashing a slash from his blade. The boss monster sees this and instinctively dodges to the side. Its instincts take over and it rushes towards Michael in madness. Not one to wait, Michael coats his blade in light mana and uses his movement skill again, this time he uses it on his legs and arms simultaneously. Caught off balance by the speed increase, the Boss monster is hit multiple times by his blade creating two large gashes across its chest and many small cuts elsewhere.
Screechhhhh! The monster screams and begins its attack once more without the fear of losing its life. Michael is still utilizing his movement skill to dodge its reckless attacks while counter-attacking at the same time. This battle of attrition last for twenty minutes. Whenever Michael dodges he attacks, and when the raccoon almost catches him Uriel unleashes a shot to stun him. Finally after all that the raccoon finally slows down while showing exhaustion. Michael is relieved because his constant use of mana is straining his body. Low on mana, Michael waits to see what the raccoon will do in its final moments, all animals normally have a suicide plan once they know they're going to die. The red raccoon just so happens to be emitting smoke from its mouth causing the atmosphere to heat up. Michael's instincts scream at him to get far away quickly and Uriel unloads multiple shots at the boss once she sees what it is doing. Using the last bit of mana, Michael races towards Uriel without looking back once.
(What is going on Uriel, what is happening?!)
(That lowly bastard is self destructing, he was planning on killing you and destroying this area. It probably doesn't want anyone to get it's core after it's dead.)
(How big will the explosion be?)
(For an E Rank like that? Ten feet further away and I will be out of range.) Uriel then runs backwards for a bit before stopping and watching the show.
Michael comes towards her panting heavily while bending over with his hands on his knees. As he turns around he hears the explosion.
Booooommmmmm! The explosion causes flames to swirl around and the heat is blasting Michael forcing him to feel the warmth.
(Don't sit there, go and get it's core! You have the fire element so devour and absorb the heat. We need to hurry before the flames spread, I'm not resistant like you.) screamed Uriel into Michael's mind to wake him from his daze.
Michael after coming to the realization jogs as fast as he can while circulating his devour talent. He feels his mana replenishing as well as the fatigue disappearing. He finally reaches the corpses and goes for the core. This process takes a few minutes before he is seen jogging back through the flames.
(Let's head to the water fall, we can escape the flames that way and have a peaceful place to absorb this core to break through to E Rank.)
An hour later, they're under the waterfall with black soot on their clothes and burn damage everywhere. Their appearances are miserable but the smile on their faces can't be contained. Finally they can break through from F Rank to E Rank. Michael is now holding the large red core and absorbing its essence, he feels overwhelmed for a few minutes before feeling a wave of mana soothing over his entire body. His strength feels stronger and his body feels lighter. If he fought the raccoon boss again, he would still have a tough time but he wouldn't need Uriel's support to beat it again. Feeling her own seal unleash, Uriel knew Michael had succeeded.
"Status"
[Name: Michael Corvinus]
[Rank: E]
[Talent:
Ancient God Physique [Partially Sealed]
Light Manipulation [Affinity: S] [Rank E+]
Fire Manipulation [Affinity: C+] [Rank E+]
Gravity Manipulation [Affinity: F] [Rank F]
Lightening Manipulation [Affinity: C] [Rank F]
Devouring Rank F
Divine Eyes [Rank F]
[Stats]
Mana Pool: 206
STR: 51
SPD: 52
INT: 51
DEX: 53
DEF: 50
STA: 50
"So you ready to leave this place human? We can finally head to a D Ranked rift." Said Uriel happily.
"Yeah, but we may need to steal some clothes again." Said Michael as he looked down at their attire.
Finally we see Michael and Alicia walking towards the portal that exits the rift. They are wearing two blue hoodies and a pair of shorts that they acquired after "bumping" into some early awakeners.
As they step out of the portal they automatically turn invisible using the reflective light skill to avoid the security checkpoint again. They walk pass different awakened and couldn't help but hear that an amber alert was issued recently with a one million dollar reward. Once they clear the security area Uriel undid the skill and couldn't help but follow her curiosity. She then went and asked an awakened that was gossiping about what was going on and why did it pay a million dollars. The awakener explained that there was a missing child and the parents were offering a million dollars to find their son. He then shows her the information and on the picture is Michael with just his first name!