A few minutes had passed, with Damon silently lamenting the destruction of the mana cores. Ashborn was both flame and shadow… the shadow devoured flesh, but the flame? The flame obliterated the first-rank mana cores inside the Wraithwood Stalkers. A shame there were no more left to kill—he'd gotten carried away and burned them all at once. Using Ashborn was dangerous, but it was a powerful trump card. And with his new mastery in Pain Resistance, he'd wanted to see just how much agony he could endure. Even at level 3, the resistance barely dulled it. Any more, and he risked mental burnout. He'd have to avoid using it too often… unless he wanted his mind to snap. He paused, breathing out. Mental anguish. He wasn't feeling it—not really. Not even after enduring ten times the pain of burning alive. His gaze dropped to the Pale Crown armor hugging his body. Passive. Light. Calming. It helped relive the anguish in his mind. Heavy is the head that wears the crown… Pale Crown was designed for the lord of Lysithara—enchantments forged into the armor meant to ease the crushing weight of leadership. He sighed. He'd have to explain to Evangeline why he didn't have any mana cores. "She's so going to nag…" And then he'd have to explain to Sylvia why he was using Ashborn when it wasn't even necessary. Another sigh. Turning around, he saw the others had finished off the Wraithwood Stalkers—and from the looks of it, they'd carefully extracted the cores. His lips twisted. He was going to return empty-handed. He straightened his shoulders, adopting the posture of a party leader, and strode forward slowly. "Good job, everyone. We've all grown… Now, as discussed, half of the mana cores will be used for the group, the other half to empower Evangeline." The others nodded. Damon exhaled quietly, almost relieved. Maybe they hadn't noticed he hadn't added a single crystal to the pile. Leona tilted her head. "Where's yours?" 'Damn it, Leona. She always notices…' He coughed, looking away. "Ahem… as I was saying, we will continue our march to the—" Evangeline cut him off, frowning. "Yeah. I almost didn't notice." Xander sighed, rubbing his temples. "Don't tell me you're hoarding them for yourself…" Damon gave a deadpan nod. "That's exactly what I'm doing." Evangeline held out her hand, voice flat. "Well, give them. This was your idea, remember?" Damon placed his hands together slowly. "Ahem… in terms of mana cores… we have no mana cores." Matia let out a quiet sigh, already seeing where this was headed. She sat next to Leona, resting her chin on one hand. Evangeline narrowed her eyes. "Who is 'we'?" Sylvia groaned. "He used Ashborn and ended up destroying the mana cores—along with the corpses. I watched the whole thing. And worst of all, our fearless leader here was using that extremely dangerous skill without rhyme or reason…" She walked up to him, arms on her waist. "Am I right?" Damon muttered, "I think you're a bigger stalker than the Wraithwood Stalkers…" "I heard that." "I wanted you too." Evangeline sighed, brushing back her hair. "Let's just get going." Damon nodded, clapping his hands. "Great! We can divide the mana cores and be on our way—" Evangeline raised an eyebrow. "We… means us. Not the guy who destroyed the mana cores. These were the weakest monsters here." Damon blinked, realization dawning on him. "No way… you guys aren't still sour about me gloating after saving all our lives from the Beldam?" Xander snickered. "You killed a rank four monster with a single hit… surely you don't need a few measly rank one mana cores." Damon glanced at Leona. She looked away awkwardly. "You did say that…" she muttered. He clicked his tongue. "Fine…" Sylvia couldn't help but smile at his childish expression. This… this was the most relaxed they'd been in a while. It felt like a day back at the academy. Maybe, if they survived this hell, those days might return. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮 She stood up and handed Damon a single mana core with a small smile. "Here. Have one. We're not stingy." Damon grinned. "I have no pride, I'll take it. In fact—" "You pride yourself on having no pride. We know." They all said it at once—except for Matia, who blinked, clearly hearing it for the first time. Damon smiled, crushing the mana core in his hand. Its magic surged through his body. Warmth spread through his mana circuit, his heart beat stronger, and his mana felt… purer. [Your shadow grows stronger…] Damon blinked. This was the first time he was hearing this kind of message from the system—"Your shadow grows stronger." His shadow energy didn't increase. No stat gains, no numbers. Just that phrase. It didn't make sense… unless it wasn't talking about energy at all. 'Was it referring to my soul…?' He paused, closing his eyes briefly as he focused inward. His mana felt smoother, more refined. Its flow was cleaner, faster. His body felt more grounded, more… whole. A pleasant surprise. Without hesitation, he picked up another mana core and crushed it, watching as the crystalline energy shimmered up and into his hand, flowing into his circuits like molten silk. His party didn't stop him. They'd only been teasing earlier anyway. He grabbed another. And another. By the fourth core, he noticed it—a small but noticeable shift. Not in his stats, but in quality. His muscles didn't bulk up, but they felt denser. His body didn't grow faster, but it moved with more precision. His soul—or whatever that shadow part of him was—felt… tougher. More defined. Even his sight sharpened. The world had more edges now. He stared at his hand, curling and uncurling his fingers slowly. 'So this is the difference… this is why first class advancement are monsters compared to others. The ability to absorb mana cores doesn't just boost stats. It refines you.' His eyes flicked to Evangeline. Her aura had become weightier, more forceful. She'd taken in the rank four core, and the others had agreed to give her extra on top of that. It made sense—she was becoming a proper first class. And Damon? He grinned darkly to himself. 'I'm going to have to squeeze her for every last one of those cores…' His eyes drifted to the treetops. The Whispering forest was still crawling with monsters. That meant opportunity. "We need to gather as many cores as possible before we reach Lysithara," he muttered. His hand clenched tighter. 'That place… it's where my next step lies.' He didn't know how, but the Pale Crown Armor was proof. Its weight… its voice in the back of his mind… it all pointed to something waiting in Lysithara. And now, the system had confirmed it. [Level Up Requirement: Mist Knight Souls Consumed — 0/10] He was certain, killing even one of them wouldn't be easy….. "Lysithara"