A couple of hours after the group had finished harvesting and consuming the mana cores of the dead Rock Crabs, they had all sat down together next to the van.
After the level of exhaustion they had accumulated fighting the army of Magical Creatures, they desperately needed a break to recover their strength.
Not only that, but they also needed some time to passively absorb mana from their surroundings and refill it.
They could have also used the mana from the Rock Crab's mana cores to replenish their mana, but that would have been a waste.
It was infinitely harder to gain enough mana to increase a mana core's overall capacity than simply replenish it.
If they wanted to replenish their exhausted mana storages, one or two cores would be enough to do the job.
But expanding the capacity of their mana cores? Moreover, to their absolute limit? That would take hundreds, if not thousands, of mana cores from Magical Creatures and Unknowns.
And that was for 1-Stars.
When a 1-Star became a 2-Star, their absolute mana limit would double, just like a creature with an Imp core would have its absolute mana limit double when becoming a Goblin.
If the Goblin became an ogre, it would gain an entire imp core's worth of mana on top of its already immense storage.
Its mana capacity would then be three times that of an imp.
The same rule applies for increasing one's rank.
A 3-Star would have an absolute limit three times larger than a 1-Star.
If the 9-Star rank existed, those humans would have as much mana as a Rank 1 Leviathan!
However, while their amount of mana would be the same, the 9-Star human would have mana infinitely more potent and pure than that of the Rank-1 Leviathan.
While humans couldn't have mana cores above the Imp class, their higher mana purity and intellect helped bridge the gap between them and other creatures.
Following this logic, a Rank-9 Leviathan could theoretically possess a mana capacity of eighteen times Blaine's absolute limit.
Which… It was a horrifying thought, to say the least.
Though if filling a 1-Star Imp core was already taking Blain so long, it would probably take an entirety for such an entity to fully fill a core of that rank.
As he sat idly on the dirt floor of the tunnel, Blaine couldn't help but feel a strong pang of hunger.
Although he had gorged himself less than twelve hours ago, he had completely exhausted his energy reserves.
Just as Blaine debated what to eat, considering that the MREs didn't offer too much selection, one of the various Rock Crab corpses entered his peripheral vision.
Blaine suddenly had an epiphany while remembering his trusty Portable Magitech Stove, which he had packed in the back of the van.
Getting up off the ground, he approached the deceased crab monster.
As he did this, the others sitting nearby couldn't help but look at him with slight confusion.
"Did he find an unlooted body? I thought we were quite thorough?" Rick asked as he turned towards Delsie.
However, the latter shook her head.
"The one he's approaching is already completely looted… I harvested the core of that one myself. I don't know what he's doing."
Ginny frowned as she looked at Blaine's retreating body.
"Blaine, is everything all right? Did you see something?"
Instead of turning, Blaine simply raised a hand to show that everything was okay.
Lorie shrugged her shoulders as she leaned her back on the van.
"He seems alright. Maybe he just wanted to stretch his legs for a bit?"
Just as she said this, Blaine bent down in front of the crab monster's corpse and unsheathed his sword.
Delsie frowned as she saw this.
"Is he trying to harvest some of its carapace for some reason?"
Rick shook his head.
"I already thought of that, but we don't have enough space in the van to bring them with us. Although we can try to salvage them on the way back if they somehow still remain that long."
Ginny chuckled lightly.
"I'm not surprised you tried to do that."
Lorie giggled lightly as well.
"Yeah… Amongst all of the 2-Stars stationed in Redpine City, you're the most thrifty by a long shot."
Feeling a flush rise on his face, he turned his head away in embarrassment.
Watching their banter, Cecelia felt a sudden curiosity.
"Is there a specific reason you need the carapaces? If recalled correctly, the army didn't use traditional armour but uniforms made from specialized silk."
Delsie smiled and pointed to the man beside her with her thumb.
"This guy here is always strapped for money, so he's probably looking to sell them to mercenaries or hunters instead. His parents died when he was just a kid, not too much younger than you are now, princess. Not only that, but he also needs to take care of his several younger siblings. Rick here belongs to a family of six, with him being the oldest at twenty-seven."
Lorie nodded her head and added:
"Now that his siblings are growing older, he needs the funds to put them through college. So 'big brother' over here does anything he can to either earn money or save some extra coin here and there."
Cecelia couldn't help but look at the hammer-wielding captain with a newfound sense of respect.
She was someone who had been given everything from birth, so apart from some challenges that arose in later parts of her life, she didn't struggle too much growing up.
Delsie gazed at Rick with a mixture of admiration and mirth in her eyes.
"It's to the point where he's taking forever to propose to his girlfriend, someone he's been dating since he first entered the army… Isn't that right, babe?"
Unable to withstand the combined attacks from the surrounding girls, all Rick could do was cough awkwardly as he used his cream-coloured hand to desperately cover his face.
If only his green-coloured hair was slightly longer, that would have helped hide him better.
"I… I haven't forgotten…" He awkwardly mumbled after several seconds of enduring everyone's stares.
A small smile broke out on Delsie's lips as she slapped his back.
"Well, don't keep me waiting too long, okay? I may not be able to wait forever for you, you know?"
Ginny lifted her head and looked at the dark, earthy tunnel ceiling.
"I wonder how it feels like to be in a relationship…"
Given that she was an oriental beauty who had reached the 2-Star rank, she had received more than a couple of confessions from boys, even though she had rejected all of them without fail.
Mostly because those boys were looking at other parts of her body instead of looking at her face.
…Namely, her sizable chest.
However, given that she was going to turn 27 in the coming year, her parents were starting to pester her to hurry up and find herself a man.
On the other hand, Lorie shook her head with a desponded smile.
"While the two lovebirds over there somehow made it work, most army folk don't have it easy, especially for 2-Stars like us. Maintaining a proper relationship is hard if you need to be ready for deployment at any time for an emergency. I've had more than one relationship fall apart due to this."
"Ah… That's right. Maybe I'll use that as an excuse next time my parents call," Ginny joked.
Just as she said this, Ginny saw Blaine walk back over to their group, seemingly having finished what he was doing.
Though… He seemed to be carrying something red in his arms.