Two gems no more than 3 centimeters wide fall to the floor where the massive Blue Ogres were defeated.
They’re both pale white, semi-transparent, with a glossy finish, and radiate with light blue energy just like the mana shielding from the monsters that were just killed.
Instantly I activate Appraisal to see what these odd-looking gems are.
“I’ve never seen anything like this…”
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Blue Ogre’s Essence [Shard]
Blue Ogre’s Essence [Shard]
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I look closer and activate my All-Seeing Eye. The [i] icon shows up next to each shard on their appraisal text.
I open the new information tab as all my teammates stand around the two crystals not daring to touch them just yet.
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Blue Ogre’s Essence [Shard]
Info: A shard of the Blue Ogre’s essence. Excess mana from a Blue Ogre Dungeon has been contained in crystal form.
Class: C+
Type: Consumable
Durability[MP Output]: 50.2k/50.2k
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Blue Ogre’s Essence [Shard]
Info: A shard of the Blue Ogre’s essence. Excess mana from a Blue Ogre Dungeon has been contained in crystal form.
Class: C+
Type: Consumable
Durability[MP Output]: 49.7k/49.7k
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My eyes dart over the text that hovers above the two small white crystals, then I read every line out for my teammates to hear as well.
Abby gulps, then picks one of the shards up in the air, keeping the glossy white gem at eye level.
“So they’re mana-based consumables. Basically, overpowered and uncontrollable MP potions. So, 50k MP means they’re 20 times stronger than a C-Class mana potion.”
She smirks, then turns to Maria. The blond-haired hunter lifts the other white gem and stares down at it in her open palm.
I speak up.
“So… we can potentially use them for mana control training.”
Arie comes over with his arms crossed.
“That’s exactly what I was thinking. If it takes Abby and Maria under 10 potions each to farm these gems, that’s a 2 times MP profit multiplier. It’ll most likely take me less, and Jay, near 0 I’d assume. If we stock up, we could have enough for months worth of training after this mission.”
Maria’s eyes widen as she continues to look down at the white gem.
“But… 50 thousand MP… Won’t that be painful…Or dangerous? The recovery time for using that much mana so quickly would take days, no, maybe weeks!”
I nod slowly but don’t say a word yet.
Maria is right.
These shards must work similarly to the strengthening fragments I’ve harvested from Titans. Although, by the sound of it, these shards are much less intense.
A strengthening fragment allows the user to release as much MP as possible from an endless void of energy. In my experience, the more It’s used, the more it releases until an unknown timer finishes.
Without an incredibly high mana tolerance, strengthening fragments can easily be fatal for the wrong user.
I have a feeling these shards work in a similar fashion, but cap out at around 50k MP.
Before I get a chance to voice my point, Abby does in my place, making eye contact with each of us, then looking back down at the shard.
“I’ll try one.”
Arie and Maria look at her with surprised expressions, I keep a blank face while trying to figure out why she’d say such a thing. Abby continues to talk while rubbing the small white gem between her thumb and index finger.
“50 thousand MP will be a lot, but I can handle it. I have my restore skill if anything goes wrong.”
Maria replies.
“Are you sure that’s a good idea? We should focus on collecting more shards before we do any tests, and more importantly, clear this break while we’re all at full strength! You could put yourself out of commission for a long time by exerting mana like that. Didn’t your elite guide teach you about these things last week?”
Abby nods slowly.
“Yeah, I learned a lot. Especially about my newly upgraded legendary restore skill.”
None of us answer as the green-haired woman looks down at the small white crystal in her palm with a grin.
The light trickle of water fills my ears from the small streams behind us, and the low buzzing sensation of the blue-tinted mana all around us still flows through me. Other than that, all I’m focused on is my heart beating slowly while watching Abby raise the small white gem to her eye level.
She speaks up again.
“On average, I’m able to comfortably consume about 100k worth of MP per day in training. I can push myself to use closer to 200k, but the fatigue that follows after passing the 100k mark is very detrimental to the days that follow.”
Maria turns to her.
“H-Hey, but we used up over 15k in that Ogre battle alone, and probably close to 50k each in the Griffin dungeon earlier today. If you use that now you’ll already be nearing your upper limit. Will you be able to keep fighting today? Or tomorrow? Are you thinking straight??”
She nods.
“I’ll be fine. Trust me. If this works, we’re all getting a lot more powerful than we could have ever imagined.”
Then right in front of all of us without a hint of hesitation, the green-haired healer throws the small white gem into her mouth and shallows it whole.
I immediately re-activate my All-Seeing Eye.
Abby isn’t stupid, she definitely has some kind of plan here, but I’m not sure what it is…
Maria, Arie, and I all quickly jump back as the gem disappears from sight.
Almost immediately, my perception skill begins to pick up increased mana output. In the center of Abby’s chest, a bright white glow starts to leak out excess MP just like a strengthening fragment would.
It’s happening much slower, and the mana looks pure white instead of the black swirling abyss of unstable energy I’m used to seeing with consumables.
Over the next 10 seconds, the white glow in her chest grows to take over her whole midsection and starts creeping down her arms.
Abby is just standing upright with her eyes closed, breathing heavily, and holding a very stable stance.
More and more mana is radiating outwards. After 10 more seconds pass, the outline of her full body is completely white. It’s blinding to the naked eye.
Instead of staying completely contained, mana particles start leaving in the same slow and controlled fashion. The white energy around the healer begins to fade and is completely gone after another 10 seconds pass.
Just half a minute, and it’s already over. She didn’t even let out a single attack. The mana just flowed right through her body.
Abby falls to her knees, sweating and breathing heavier than I’ve ever seen her before.
Her skin looks pale and her MP remaining is nearly non-existent to my perception skill.
Maria runs over with a wavering tone in her voice.
“A-Abby, why? Why’d you do this?”
The green-haired hunter reaches into her item box with a shaky hand to pull out an MP potion while slowly standing to her feet.
Before Maria can reach her, she’s already drinking the potion and using her restore skill just like after the battle against the Ogres.
Green and white lights flash, outlining her body with mana for a split second once again.
Once the energy fades she looks as good as new. Still covered in sweat, but her breathing is normal and her skin is back to its tan healthy coloring.
I blink a few times, then realize what she just did. My eyes go wide as Abby speaks.
“My restore skill is able to erase the effects of mana fatigue. As long as we have MP to continue training, I believe I can heal us indefinitely.”
Maria stops in place just a few meters in front of Abby.
“That’s… great… But you could have told us that first!”
Arie lets out a laugh.
“I was wondering what kind of upgrade that skill got. Legendary upgrades are no joke, I would know.”
Maria pouts as I walk over, mumbling something under her breath.
“I wish I had a legendary skill…”
Arie continues.
“It looks like we have another secret to keep between the 4 of us.”
I make it over to the group after this line and we all nod in unison. I reply.
“This also means we have a lot more farming to do before we clear this break. We’ve stumbled into a gold mine, and we’re not going to waste this opportunity for a minute.”