Still trying to process the words that just came out of the blue-haired Elite's mouth, I stand with a blank expression on my face. He really said...
"You have 8 hours to make a cut all the way through this mountain with nothing but your mana, magic skills, and a sword."
The corners of my mouth begin to curl as he stares at me with a very serious look on his face. I turn to Rylan, but he just shrugs... This doesn't help me out one bit.
Unable to hold myself back, I let out a loud laugh while bending over and holding my knees. I continue to process what the swordsman just asked me to do.
"Cut it all the way through? You want me... do cut this mountain in two? Who do you think I am?"
Fisher reaches into his item box and takes out his sword. Without a moment's hesitation, it begins to glow light blue. He turns to a jagged cliff overhang about 200m away from us and gracefully swings his sword.
A paper-thin crescent of almost invisible blue mana leaves his blades, flying through the sky toward the cliff nearby.
Preparing for an explosion followed by an avalanche, I take out my own blade and get ready to air-step away. On impact, quite the opposite happens...
The thin blue blade of energy hits the rocky overhang and doesn't even make a sound. I watch closely, eagerly waiting to see what will happen next...
The blue energy attack comes out of the top of the overhand in complete silence. I open my mouth but no words come out as I watch the massive ledge of rock separate from the mountain and fall to the dungeon floor moments later. A perfectly straight and glossy smooth cut has been made through the entire cliff side letting a huge chunk of rock hit the ground with an earth-shaking thud.
Fisher grins, putting his blade away and turning toward me. The dust cloud from the fallen rock settles as he speaks.
"By the end of this training session, hopefully, you'll be able to release an attack similar to that."
Still, wide-eyed and in shock at the precision of his blow, I let the Elite continue.
"Maybe I phrased myself incorrectly before. I meant, you'll need to learn to create an attack that can cut through this entire mountain, uninterrupted."
I raise an eyebrow.
"What kind of training is this...? Cutting through rock? How does this help me with mana control?"
Fisher throws me two small pink bottles, then points to my sword.
"I've seen you charge up at least that much into one of your blades. Try the same attack as me, throw one at the ledge. Once you can make a slice half as clean as mine, we can move on to the next stage of training. Got it?"
I catch the two bottles, examining them and confirming that they're just C-Class MP potions.
"Sure- I can do that..."
Clenching my jaw, I ignite my sword into flames, uncork the first bottle, and begin to charge up. Drinking both potions with one hand, and gripping my weapon tight with the other. I manage to imbue a full 5000MP in just under 20 seconds.
Dropping both bottles to the floor, I grip my flaming blade with both hands and plant my feet locking my vision on the cliff's half-cut ledge in front of me. Its glossy shine from Fisher's last attack glimmers in the artificial sun's light.
I focus on making my mana as dense, fine, and powerful as possible. With a grunt, I swing my sword and let the black crescent of dense fire rip through the skies.
Trails of crimson-red fire residues are left in its tracks. Heat waves make the air ripple behind it, distorting our visions as the hot slash rockets toward the ledge high above us.
It makes contact with the side of the mountain, letting off a loud crack. It pierces through pretty smoothly at first but begins to expand on impact creating an eruption of flames. Medium-sized boulders and smaller rock fragments fly off in all directions.
This is what tends to happen with all my attacks, they're precise on impact but always explode into a ball of energy once disrupted in any way.
The dust and fire residue clears up, and I'm left staring at a jagged crater on the side of the cliff. Fisher smirks.
"Not bad for your first day. For someone with your lack of technical knowledge, it's impressive you've made it this far in the first place. How'd you manage to train your mana control at such a young age? I looked at your file before you got here, you're only 20, right?"
I nod.
"The Director said you've already made it to level 400 as well."
I freeze, trying to think how and when the Director could have ever figured this out... His Appraisal skill shouldn't even show levels. Even if it does, I'm positive I was using [Conceal] every time I entered that office.
Fisher keeps talking.
"I'll take that as a yes? Come on, you've got to tell me how you did it."
I continue to stand there without saying a word, leaving the 3 of us in silence for a few seconds. Then, I reply once my thoughts are in order.
"The mana control is simple. I just do a lot of training... Every bronze coin earned goes back into mana refinement. Ever since I awakened, it's been the only thing on my mind."
I gulp, but Fisher nods with a smile
"I've done the same thing. Ever since I was picked up by the association as an E-Class 4 years ago, fresh out of high school. Every coin earned has gone into mana, I like your style."
He grins at me with a satisfied look on his face.
I nod, doing a few simple calculations in my head to assume Fisher is 22. Just 2 years older than me. He speaks up while I'm lost in thought.
"The levels, how'd you manage that? Brutus told me you managed to take down a few Titans too, but they don't even drop exp. So that couldn't have even been how you leveled."
He looks up at the sky, thinking hard about something.
I shrug, looking at the ground while trying to think of a reply. To my relief, after a few seconds, I get cut off as he decides to end this conversation short.
"Whatever, I'm not one to pry too much. That's enough gossip for me. Time for you to get to work."
Fisher reaches toward his item box and pulls out a few handfuls of C-Class MP potions. I raise an eyebrow at the ocean of glass bottles pouring out of his tiny leather item pouch doesn't seem to end... They just keep on coming... The blue-haired swordsman pours out almost 400 potions into a large pile on the dungeon floor.
"I- Are.. these all..."
He smirks.
"Welcome to the Association. Life as an Elite isn't half bad."
"..."
"This is what the higher-ups gave me for your training this week. It seems like they're in quite a hurry to get enough Dark Continent squads ready. Spending 100 gold on mana for a newbie like you during his 2nd week under contract is pretty unheard of. You must have really made a good impression on the Director."
I don't reply, nor am I listening to much of anything Fisher is saying. I just grin, walking toward the pile of potions before me. It's my lucky day... The moment I run out of mana crystals, nearly 1 million MP worth of potions happens to fall right into my lap.
The pink glow of potions reflects off my goofy grin as I approach. Fisher speaks up, pointing at the 1km wide mountain in front of us as I throw my sword to the ground and dive both hands deep into the glowing pile of pink treasure.
"When I did this training, my mentor let me figure things out for myself. I have a feeling you learn in a similar way, so I won't make this easy."
Too mesmerized by the potions, I still don't bother replying. He continues.
"Hey listen!"
I shake my head and snap out of it. He finishes up his speech.
"As you know, the regeneration rate in this dungeon is roughly 8 hours. Your task is to cut a hole all the way through this mountain, by any means necessary. I want to see an exit hole on the other side."
"..."
"I'll be back to check on you in 8 hours if you don't come to the Inn's lobby before then. If the hole through this mountain doesn't reach all the way through, you've failed and must try again tomorrow. Take as many hits as you want, but brute forcing a tunnel may be a lot harder than it seems. You'll have to get much stronger than you are now, in more ways than just pure power. Got it?"
I nod.
"Whatever you say...."
He bows his head slightly with a smile.
"Best of luck, we'll be back soon."
Rylan throws his hands up in the air from a distance.
"Hey come on that's it? No explanation? No guidelines? Not even a hint? Nothing? How is he going to-"
Fisher throws an arm around the redhead's shoulder, cutting him off.
"He's got this. It may take all week, but if I figured it out with I was younger, he can too."
I watch the two of them walk off back in the direction of the Inn, leaving me at the base of the mountain all alone...
One by one, I put all the newly acquired MP potions into my item storage. It's not my preferred way of replenishing MP, but it's a whole lot better than nothing.
Once that's taken care of I grab my sword off the ground. That strike I threw at the cliffside was the first one in a while that wasn't a dual attack.
I'm supposed to be training. Concentrating on one blade may help with my focus, that's what Fisher does, so why don't I give it a try? The way that crescent of blue energy came out of his blade is like nothing I've ever seen. It was such a pure, dense, and concise attack.
My goal this week is to get to that level... I just have to figure out how...
I walk closer to the flat stone wall, giving myself about 30m of space to launch another attack.
With a smirk, I take out 2 C-Class MP potions and begin to charge up my blade.
This training session is about to begin.