Over the next 8 hours, as the night slowly returns to day, I farm billions of MCP, hundreds of skill orbs, and an additional 15 firestones from the 39th floor to imbue with my mythic-grade plunderer skill and collapse rogue dungeons out in the desert.
An interesting thing I find when absorbing skill orbs is that they stay at the exact grade they are labeled on the monsters I take them from. I'm unable to change basic, special, or legendary skills farmed from lower grade monsters into Mythic just from absorbing them. Whatever they are farmed at is their current grade. This makes the Mythic Grade orbs I farmed from the 41st, 42nd, and 43rd floor even more valuable than I thought.
Another rare priceless resource I continue to farm is luminite.
The low D-Grade dungeon I was working on farming before the war eventually collapses, and in addition to that, I find two more E-Grade dungeons to fully plunder and collapse as well.
Three more fragments of luminite, and just about 150 billion MP in containment stones float inside my storage now.
I still have the unstable isolation pods of my teammates floating in suspended animation too, there's just about 100 billion MP in each of these pods. I try to think of ways to use up this extra mana and a safe way to actually extract it from the unstable pods, but there is no where to preserve it all or use it properly yet.
"There are more important things to do right now."
I crush a teleport crystal after collapsing the last dungeon of the day and find myself back in the underground bunker while the sun begins to rise above the Crimson City.
Everyone begins to wake up and go about their new routines and normal daily lives as I walk outside.
I sense two high-level ranked-up Qi wielding individuals on the roof of the guildhall, standing next to the silver throne that I created after the battle, and float up to see Luna and Arie watching the sunrise.
I speak up as they see me.
"Ready to head off to Sector 4? You have quite the adventure ahead of you."
They both have serious expressions on their faces, but lighten up when I smile, reaching into my item storage.
"I have some last minute gifts for you that I managed to farm last night."
The first thing I do is give them both handfuls of teleport crystals and explain briefly how I managed to make them and that they can come back here in an instant whenever they wish.
Next, I reach into my storage and pull out the Mythic Grade Stealth Skill Orb I managed to get from the 41st floor in my right hand, and an assortment of extreme grade element skill orbs in my left.
I motion for Arie to take the stealth orb, and he does, holding it in his hand and examining it closely while I let an earth, wind, fire, water, and ice skill orb float above my left hand in front of Luna.
Each of them has a slight color tint, indicating which one they are, but I point out each of them individually.
"These are skill orbs. A product of my new soul energy awakening mixed with my upgraded absorption skill. It allows me to give you each a single skill, adding it to your status permanently."
I turn to Arie, using my own mythic-grade stealth skill for him to see for himself, completely vanishing from his radar, then reappearing.
"The one I've presented to you is Mythic Grade Stealth, and it's the highest grade I could get my hands on. You would need to level up 1300 times to normally achieve a skill of that caliber. Considering you already use spirit arrows as your main attack and energy control trainer, and have dagger mastery for close-range combat, I think this would be the best option for you, It is very convenient to be invisible to your enemies."
He smiles and throws the orb up and down in his hand.
"Thanks. I agree with you, this is a good option."
I turn to Luna next.
"For you, I thought about giving you a combat skill, like swordsmanship or dual wielding, but I think an elemental combat power would be more useful. You could improve your natural mana control and manipulate dungeon mass far easier with a skill like this. Take your pick."
The blue orbs float around above my hand for about a full minute before Luna picks one with only white energy inside it.
"Wind magic? Good choice."
We make our way to the canyon of dungeons as the sun rises, and both of them continue to examine the small blue marbles curiously the whole way until we enter one of the nearest dungeons.
I read out all of the details of these skills' perks, along with showing them a few other options of skill orbs I farmed, then finally share the exact skills that I offered to them through my rising emperor's domain so they can test them out to see how they like them before committing to anything. After about twenty minutes of playing around with many skills, both of them agree with my initial reasoning and decide these are their best options.
They each swallow their blue orb, and I watch blue system energy spread throughout each of their bodies in an instant, then disperse into thin air moments later.
Both Mythic Grade Stealth and Extreme Grade Wind Summoning now appear on their status windows without me having to share the skills.
Luna flies through the sky on gusts of wind, and Arie disappears and reappears in and out of thin air all over the dungeon, even trying out his ranked-up buffs with this skill too, and finding that he can shoot arrows and keep them invisible up until they make contact with their target.
Both of them come down to thank me again, then I place a hand on both of their shoulders, and bring us to the Solaran Dungeon Hub in Sector 4.
The morning sun fully rises, and they walk out into the busy streets, off to the Abyss outside of the city. I wave them off.
"I wish you two the best of luck again. I hope to see you soon after you've found what you're looking for."
Once I get back to Sector 2, I have a similar conversation with all of my other teammates, giving them teleport crystals and showing them skill orbs, presenting the option to gain a single permanent new ability if they wish.
Monk refuses to add any skills to his status while Abby and Maria don't find anything they particularly like. As soul energy users, their fighting style and battle strategies are honed to their current skills, and the only mythic-grade options I have left right now are swordsmanship and body hardening.
They feel as though I'll most likely find something better in the future, and don't need to use their one chance at acquiring a new skill right now.
I feel the same but thought I might as well give them the option.
Fisher and Lydia, on the other hand, may already be element and Qi users, but additional skills added to their arsenal would be very helpful.
I go down my list and let them try out each skill I have available for them to try over the next 30 minutes before they come to their conclusions. Fisher wants a legendary intimidation skill, as he's a very head-on battle-oriented fighter, while Lydia is more of a technical fighter and wants the lifesteal skill to give her an edge in longer battles where she may not be able to outclass her opponent in some fronts.
I picture my battle against the 43rd floor boss last night and decide Lydia has made a very good choice.
Fisher's need for a scare factor using intimidation may be a very useful trait when leading troops into battle, or overwhelming similarly strengthened opponents to give a mental edge.
I give him a few other personal recommendations for other skills but he stays fixated on intimidation, his stubbornness on this point may actually be for the better. From an army's standpoint, this is probably the best thing he could pick to target opponents and work as a leader of a team. It's a powerful tool, especially when paired with Lydia's skill, so I nod with approval.
I take out the two legendary grade skill orbs and they both swallow them on the spot, erupting with blue system energy, and having these new skills added to their status instantly.
We all talk for a while longer about the future, and I bring them in the loop about the upcoming B-Class exams and the investigation I have planned in the Apex region. We all come to conclusions about what we should be doing in the meantime.
Monk wants to bring his sleeping master back to the monastery and see if he can use some old Qi techniques to wake him up or speed up the recovery process.
I believe this is a good idea, as maybe it will give us more clues on how to wake everyone else up in the Galeheart Tower too.
Fisher and Lydia still have yet to awaken their Soul Energy, so during Monk's off time, they want to train with him to improve their hand to hand combat and absorb more Qi in an isolated environment inside the monastery.
Maria and Abby want to work on their Soul Energy too; they've decided to go into closed-door cultivation beneath the 3rd tower where the high-density Qi crystals are growing.
This will not only stimulate their Soul Energy cores, but will also be a much-needed extra layer of security.
I inform everyone that I will continue overseeing the construction process here, and use my MCP sharing perk to make the Flame Emperor's army far stronger than before. I invite them to come back to Sector 2 and join me to farm MCP whenever they wish.
The monsters in the labyrinth on floors 30-39 aren't a higher level than us anymore, so the mana control gains are lower % wise than when we first farmed there, but even so, it's still much more efficient than learning mana control the old-fashioned way.
They agree, and I see them off to Sector 1, carefully transporting Monk's sleeping master with them to the monastery and ensuring that the security protocols for the final Tower in the Royal Coin district are being held true.
Once they have all been situated, I get back to the Crimson City and receive the new order form from Maurice's construction team and take a trip back to Vice City in order to place a 25 platinum order.
It's almost 5 times the volume as the last one we placed, but I saw the many sheets of plans that he has outlined, and this is exactly the direction I'd like this growing city to head toward.
The Unity Building Supply Co promises that my order will be fulfilled and ready in a warehouse in under 3 days. There are many unique materials and an extremely high quantity this time around, so a little longer response time is within expectations.
I pay in full and leave immediately, thanking them with an extra platinum bar just like last time to ensure they keep our dealings a secret between us. I can tell the farther and son duo are still in disbelief at my order volume. Their wide eyes and shocked expressions at the pile of precious metal on the table make me chuckle a bit as i walk out the front door.
"This has been a very productive morning. Now, there's only a few more things to do."
I finally make it back to the Crimson City in Sector 2, and head over to the portion of the apartment complex where most of the Army Recruits that fought alongside me in the War against the Dark One reside.
There is a lounge area where many of them hang out and socialize in the morning.
Unlike the common villagers I walk by in the town, the Elite members of the army recognize my face the moment I enter their lounge, and many stand at attention with respect, stop the conversations they were having, and await orders.
I reach into my item storage and pull out five elemental skill orbs, letting them spin around slowly in a circle while I speak up.
"Alright, I hope you all had a good celebration and a nice time off after the war. I'm going to need all of you that fought by my side to meet me here by noon. Be geared up and ready to fight some monsters. Spread the word to those who aren't here in the lounge. I have a special gift for everyone and a decision I need you all to individually make. Then, we'll be heading back to the dungeons to train."
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