A few days later, Rift 11-11, Zone 4.
Training, training, and more training.
Mana shortage was a daily occurrence.
The more I sweated, the more stress piled up.
Grumble, grumble.
I couldn't push my pouting lips back in.
"Isn't this too much, Instructor?"
"Don't pass your main body's work onto me."
"But, Instructor, you remember everything as it is!"
If I hadn't barely managed to carve out some free time, I wouldn't have secretly come back to the primeval forest Rift like this.
Training during the day, training at night. I would have just been sweating buckets!
"I'm really tired. No joke."
"I know. However."
Instructor Seraphine said firmly.
"Skills are honed the more you use them."
"Ugh, benefits…!"
It was good that I proved my abilities to Instructor and that Instructor Seraphine became kinder as a result. But her being kind also meant she was more passionate about me.
And this was the result.
Training all day long.
A continuous personal hell training.
It's definitely something to be grateful for… but the increased training time is really not it!
"However, you also agree with the effectiveness of the training, don't you?"
"Well, yes, but."
It's not that I hate training itself.
Of course, it's important. Even in games, if you're a noob regardless of your stats, you're treated like an old man.
But no matter what effectiveness training gives, nothing is as efficient as this 'auto-hunt.'
I gripped the mana stone in my pocket.
The source of the blue-tinged Rift economic society.
Experience points, experience points.
Money, money.
Isn't it obvious that getting both is the top priority?
The reason I'm suddenly talking about money is simple.
"I, I really have no money. I'm short. I've used it all."
"...."
Is Dominant Evil a game where you only grow by leveling up?
No.
Resources, resources, resources.
Resources are needed for enhancement, and resources are needed for crafting.
This mana stone, which is treated as money, is perhaps more important than experience points in some ways.
All Hunter students at the Academy receive scholarships from the state.
But the amount is only enough to cover dormitory fees. It's just pocket money that makes it difficult to even buy a decent meal or equipment needed for training.
'I've always lived in poverty.'
Not all trainees are like this.
Anyway, it's a world where all students are Hunters. With skills, what can't you do?
But it was too fatal for me, who couldn't even make a proper item.
Thinking about it makes me angry again.
But it's different now.
Now that I can enter the Rift with Instructor Seraphine's doppelganger, I can do much more productive and valuable work.
That is, selling the spoils obtained from hunting magical beasts!
The glittering mana stones and various byproducts scattered on the ice path created by Instructor Seraphine were all mine.
"Okay, next is that hill on the left. You can see the spoils that have fallen, right?"
"Why do I have to do your menial labor?"
"Hehe, I'm the one picking them up."
"You really are…"
Instructor Seraphine sighed deeply.
Well, I didn't intend to farm this hard from the beginning either. Of course, I thought it was more important to improve my skills than to make money.
'But the situation has changed.'
I need a lump sum of money right now.
There's only one reason.
It's because of the Mock Rift Project.
The Mock Rift Project.
It is one of the main events that occurs during the protagonist's second semester, a plan for the Academy to introduce a mock Rift on a large scale for trainee training with the help of the Association authorities.
However, the Rift, which was known to be a perfectly designed Rift on the surface, is actually revealed to be an anomalous space connected to the belly of a giant magical beast.
An extremely rare, but not impossible, disaster.
'It was a dormant volcano that had temporarily stopped digesting, but the Academy sparked a fire there.'
Many trainees are injured, and the protagonist stands out among them. That was scheduled to happen in just one year, no, less than 10 months.
You might ask if it's okay because it's not the current time, but you never know.
Perhaps, due to the butterfly effect, there might be much more terrible variables lurking that were not depicted in the game.
"So, what are you going to make with that money?"
"Oh, with my skills? I'm going to buy something, cash down."
"…Didn't you say you were going to win Kraus's favor?"
If I could make something like that, I wouldn't have become a dropout in the first place.
What that old man likes isn't that special.
'A firepower maniac.'
To be exact, he preferred wide-area skills that exploded coolly.
A German-American general, he tended to assess talent based on overwhelming destructive power rather than delicate techniques, like baseball people who scratch fireballer rookies like lottery tickets.
So what I had to aim for was simple.
"More than that, increasing the amount of Magical Power is the priority. Expandability to explode mana at once is also essential."
Instructor Seraphine had always pointed out something similar.
She nodded as if agreeing with my words.
"The direction isn't bad. So what are you going to buy? Don't tell me you're going to buy mana elixirs?"
"Yes. That's right."
"…That expensive stuff? With your finances?"
The Clone Instructor frowned slightly.
Mana elixir. As the name suggests, it is a special drug that significantly increases the total amount of mana.
The price is, of course, murderous. It's to the point where I could barely buy one or two bottles even if I poured out all my assets.
However, if it was impossible to cheat, I wouldn't have even brought it up.
I had my own tricks prepared.
"That's why I have to make money."
I began to rummage through the old leather pouch I was carrying on my back, filling it with the spoils of the magical beasts that Instructor Seraphine had dealt with.
This expansion pouch is also one of the few useful things I've made. The appearance is crude, but the function is reliable, so it can hold quite a lot of items.
But the side effects were considerable.
'Ugh…!'
The more items I put in the pouch, the more I felt my mana being sucked into the pouch, subtly but steadily. This was because I lacked crafting skills and made it in a way that consumed the user's own mana without connecting an external mana source.
Of course, this expansion pouch was also a failure.
Perhaps I'm barely holding on because I'm constantly absorbing at least a little mana from Instructor Seraphine.
"Instructor, wait a moment, I'm going to absorb some mana. Pause."
Smooch. Chuuup, chupp.
I'm quite used to it now.
After stopping the doppelganger, I unilaterally pressed my lips to her sweet lips. Then, without hesitation, I pushed my tongue in, and her soft, squishy tongue naturally intertwined with mine.
The subtle fruity scent and the strangely sweet taste of saliva that I feel in her mouth. Now, all of this has become a very familiar sensation to me.
'If saliva is mixed, my mana will naturally flow to Instructor, but…'
To say that I've gotten used to it means that I can now control that flow.
Taking advantage of the gap where mana mixes and sticks together, I feel like I'm sucking in the entire string of connected mana.
Chuuup. Chuuup. Chuuuut.
After exploring her mouth for a long time, I swallowed my disappointment and took my lips away. Transparent saliva stretched out long between our lips as before.
"Huu… I should be able to endure it a bit with this."
Feeling that my mana had recovered to some extent, I gave her the 'resume' command with satisfaction.
"...."
The Clone Instructor blinked a couple of times. Her breath was slightly ragged from the effects of the deep kiss, and a slight blush crept onto her cheeks. I was inwardly nervous, but she didn't seem to notice what had happened.
"…Are you done?"
"Yes, shall we go to the next area then?"
"Follow me."
Her reaction was somewhat awkward, but now was not the time to dwell on that subtle change. I had to make money as soon as possible. I nodded as if nothing was wrong and followed her.
[11-11, Zone 5.]
The fifth of 20 zones.
I arrived at the quarter mark.
A landscape quite different from the previous primeval forest unfolded. The densely packed giant trees had disappeared, and instead, white, oddly shaped rock cliffs and small blue ponds nestled between them appeared one after another.
Instead of humid air, a dry and cool wind blew, and small pebbles were laid on the ground instead of soil.
Perhaps because the leaves that covered the sky had disappeared, the surroundings felt brighter.
"The atmosphere is a bit different here."
"The frequency of magical beast appearances may be lower than in the jungle, but that means there's a higher possibility that stronger ones are hiding. Be careful."
"Then shall we fly over the cliffs?"
"No. We go down. This white cliff is also a place where mana stones are produced."
Mana stones!
Those are words that make my eyes light up.
"…The amount is insignificant. Don't expect too much."
Instructor Seraphine took the lead, cautiously guarding her surroundings as if she was used to it. Certainly, this place had a different kind of tension than the areas we had passed through before.
We moved carefully along the narrow path between the cliffs.
The white cliffs towering to the left and right gave off an oppressive atmosphere.
As if something was about to pop out…
It was then.
Splash─!
Suddenly, sprays of water erupted from the quiet ponds around us.
Dozens of fish-type magical beasts with sharp teeth flashing. As soon as they jumped out of the water, they began to climb the cliff face like a wave.
Fish climbing the wall?
"I, Instructor!"
"Calm down and circulate your mana."
"Suddenly!"
Why aren't you dealing with them directly!
The movement was so fast and bizarre that I was momentarily breathless. It was like dozens of sharp harpoons flying at the same time.
I reflexively turned to Instructor Seraphine. But she still had her arms crossed, just watching me with cold eyes.
"Crap…!"
Are you really trying to kill me!
In that short moment, I barely gathered cold Magical Power and concentrated it in both hands. Instinctively recalling the scene of Instructor Seraphine hunting, I widely emitted cold air in front of me.
Splash─!
I briefly stopped the movement of the approaching magical beasts.
However, a mere release of cold air was not enough. A swarm of magical beasts continued to rush in from both walls of the cliff path in front of me. The number showed no signs of decreasing at all.
Damn it, what should I do?
Why aren't you helping me yet?
As if my head was working exceptionally well when I was in danger of dying, I was soon able to come up with an idea.
'Okay, cast Ice Magic, sideways…! Build a wall on the cliff!'
I rolled on the ground and stretched out my right hand upwards.
Not on the ground, but on the wall. Imagining ice rising from the wall.
"Kuh…!"
"Crude, but the shape is roughly right."
"Ugh, damn it, what the hell are you talking about…! You're not even helping me!"
"Look ahead yourself."
At her words, I stared straight ahead with trembling eyes.
Crackling─!
An ice wall erected vertically on the cliff. The wall instantly covered the face of the cliff that the magical beasts were climbing, forming a huge ice wall.
The fish that were trying to climb the ice wall from the cliff were either blocked by the ice wall blocking their path, or they became part of the rising wall and froze stiff.
Only then did I breathe heavily and sit down completely on the floor. An extreme sense of exhaustion washed over me, as if not a single drop of mana was left in my body.
"Haa… Haa… Instructor, why…!"
My lips trembled.
You're not even helping me, what kind of summon is this!
I turned to Instructor Seraphine with a voice mixed with resentment and a little anger.
However, Instructor Seraphine approached the ice wall without saying a word. Then, she picked one of the fish magical beasts trapped inside the wall and opened its mouth.
And from inside, she showed me a small mana stone emitting a brilliant blue light.
"It's because of this."
"Huh? Ma, mana stone? Why, that…"
"I said that mana stones come out here, but I didn't say it was a mine."
Ah, really!
Instructor Seraphine shrugged.
"They're quite fragile, you see. If I had done it, they would have become ice shards and broken. Mana stones and all."
"Ha…"
I had nothing to say.