Mana Perception skill leveled up.
You have improved your magical core: Rank E- → E.
He groaned. “Oh, great. Just great. The moment I jump to a new letter, the mana cost for upgrading skyrockets like some greedy dev thought ‘hey, let’s punish the players for progressing.’ That’s just bad game design! I’m filing a complaint!” He shook his fist at the ceiling in mock outrage, as if the universe—or the devs behind it—were watching.
Still grumbling, he wandered over to the second pile of monster cores stacked neatly by the tireless robots. He stared at it, lips pressed into a line. It was bigger. Much bigger. The kind of pile that promised another round of numb jaw and buzzing veins.
David turned on his heel. “Nope. Not today. I refuse to be a crystal-processing factory 24/7.”
Instead, he decided to reclaim something that resembled a life. He flicked on his smartphone to scroll through movies, already imagining the comfort of shutting his brain off for a couple hours. His body still tingled faintly, mana prickling along his skin like static, but after a bit of focus he forced it to go away. With a deep breath, he walked deeper into the building, determined to actually relax.
After a quick snack and a couple of mindless sitcom episodes, David felt his mood improve. Recharged (ugh not the right word), he returned to the glowing mountain of monster cores—larger now, since the bigger hounds were still spawning outside—and resumed his bizarre gourmet feast.
Another hundred crystals later, David paused, rubbing his aching jaw. Something was wrong. If the monsters kept getting bigger, their cores would too. How the hell was he supposed to cram something the size of a melon into his mouth? A panther’s core, maybe, but beyond that? His jaw wasn’t built for this.
“Okay, idiot,” he muttered to himself. “You’re doing this wrong.”
He focused, activating Mana Perception to its maximum. Picking up the next crystal, he swallowed it as usual—but this time he paid close attention to what was really happening. The act of eating didn’t matter. His body wasn’t digesting them. What mattered was his mind focusing on the core as a target, forcing his mana channels to shift and spiral in response.
He grabbed another crystal, set it on the floor, and raised his palm above it. Concentrating, he tried to replicate that inner twist he had just felt. The crystal shimmered, then dissolved into particles of light—exactly as if he had tossed it into his mouth.
David’s eyes widened. “Yes! That’s it—wait… crap.”
Instead of flowing into his core, the crystal’s mana dispersed into the air, like a puff of smoke on the wind. A complete waste.
He clenched his teeth and grabbed another, this time ready to control the mana that will flow out. The crystal unraveled again, but now the stream of mana surged inward, funneling into his core with a satisfying pull.
He grinned, shaking his head. “That’s more like it. Grow, damn you, grow.”
David slipped into a strange trance, dismantling crystal after crystal with practiced focus. His movements became mechanical, faster than the robots tirelessly delivering new cores to the pile. For the first time, he managed to outpace them, reducing nearly the entire mountain of monster crystals to flowing mana that sank into his core and…
You have improved your magical core: Rank E → E+.
David exhaled sharply, sweat on his brow. "Ugh, perfect. That’s enough for today," he muttered. The thought of sleep tugged at him, but first, he decided to stretch his legs before that.
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The perimeter stood secure, every robot diligently doing its part. Watching them scuttle about was oddly reassuring, almost peaceful. For a moment, David let himself enjoy the view of order in a world that had lost its sanity.
But as he walked, he realized he’d overlooked something. That buzzing sensation lingering in his body—the strange aftereffect of crystal absorption—still thrummed in his veins. It wasn’t painful. It wasn’t even uncomfortable. It just felt... charged. Like every nerve in his body was vibrating. Harmless, he told himself. Probably. He hadn’t exploded… yet.
Movement caught his eye. Beyond the perimeter, a dog-monster crept closer, still outside the kill zone. David smirked. Fine. One lightning bolt, and I’ll shut this state down.
He raised his hand, aiming at the beast. Mana surged, sparks itching at his fingertips. He braced for the crack of thunder and the flash of blue light.
Only—nothing went as expected.
[Ability Unlocked]
A chain of lightning erupted from David’s palm—except it wasn’t lightning anymore. It looked like a beam, something between a laser and raw plasma, white-hot and impossibly bright. The air cracked, the ground shuddered, and the monster dog in front of him didn’t even have time to yelp. One moment it was there, the next it was nothing, disintegrated. The beam didn’t stop there; it carved through a row of trees behind the beast, leaving smoking stumps.
The backlash hit David like a sledgehammer and he fell on his back. The only thing he managed in his panic was to keep his arm extended, refusing to bend—because the torrent of power was still pouring from his palm.
The searing stream shot upward, a pillar of condensed destruction, until it smashed into the dome above. The invisible barrier rippled like a pond struck by a stone, concentric waves spreading across its vast curve. But it held. No cracks, no fractures, nothing. Just silent defiance.
The beam didn’t fade. It dragged on, ravenous, sucking the mana from his core faster than he could comprehend. His vision swam, the edges darkening. His body buzzed violently, like every cell was on the verge of bursting, but he couldn’t stop it, couldn’t control it.
Only when his reservoir ran dry did the torrent finally sputter out. Darkness rushed in to claim him.
David woke up drenched in sweat. For a heartbeat he thought it was the air conditioner again—but no, the world around him was still dark. He was lying on his back in the same place. He hadn’t died. No reset. No new iteration.
His chest rose and fell in shallow gasps as he blinked open his status window. Mana: zero. But there, at the very bottom, a new line shimmered faintly.
Abilities:
- …
- …
- Overcharge (Lvl. 1)
David stared at it, dry-mouthed. “Huh… and how long have I been able to do that?” The question rang hollow in the quiet evening.
He forced himself upright, legs wobbling, and half-crawled to the lobby. A pile of monster cores gleamed in the dim light. He scooped up two, dissolved them, and felt mana trickle back into his empty core. The familiar warmth steadied him.
Still, the question gnawed. Did he really need to devour an entire mountain of crystals just to trigger this Overcharge again? That couldn’t be the only way. There had to be a method that didn’t involve turning himself into a living mana furnace.
Shaking off the thought, David trudged back outside. He raised a hand toward the night sky and willed the ability to awaken. Nothing. Not even a spark.
“Figures,” he muttered, narrowing his eyes. He stretched his Mana Perception through his body, probing the flows of energy. Everything seemed normal. But then—
Of course. Even the name said it: Overcharge.
David returned to the pile, grabbed more crystals, and filled his core to bursting. The reservoir inside him was larger now—noticeably so. Once full, he took a single core, walked outside again, and crushed it into motes of mana, forcing the energy straight into his already-packed core, like he did when he was growing.
And then he pressed the mental button on the ability.
Overcharge engaged.
This time, he didn’t collapse. Bracing himself, David angled his arm slightly above the treetops and let the torrent flow. A lance of plasma-lightning roared from his palm, bright enough to turn night into noon. His mana drained at a terrifying pace, but the sight—
The sight was glorious.
David laughed maniacally. “YES! YES!” he screamed as the beam carved through the sky, defiant against the unyielding dome above.
When the blazing torrent finally sputtered out, David braced himself for the inevitable blackout. Yet nothing happened. He remained standing. Maybe it was the new ability? Maybe it had stabilized whatever had nearly torn him apart before?
With these thoughts, David wandered off to the office to sleep. He would figure out what to do with his newly acquired ability TOMORROW.