The Runic Alchemist

Damian also checked Einar and Yovan, confirming them progressing to their next job successfully. It was damn impressive, to be honest—just goes to show how many they'd had to kill to reach this level at such a young age.

Damian had managed it in just a few weeks, though he'd killed a third ranker. These soldiers, however, had fought for six relentless months, dived a dungeon, and directly clashed with the Ashenvale army in a chaotic battle for an hour to get here. Even so, it was rare for any unit to see its pathfinders advance so quickly. Damian was sure even some of the mundanes could face another trial and earn a class if they had an ascension stone and the chance, depending on how many times they'd tried and their penalty time for trying again. There were stories of people in their middle ages earning their first job and still going on to become admired warriors.

Out of respect for their customs, Damian didn't ask for their status details. He knew it was just religious propaganda, but it was something they'd lived with all their lives. For many, revealing it to a stranger would be uncomfortable. Though he suspected Einar and Yovan might answer if he asked, it was better not to. They'd tell him if they wanted to.

Seeing so many first rankers upgrade, Damian gathered them near the campfire to give a small congratulatory speech. "You've all worked hard, and this is the reward for your amazing efforts. It's genuinely commendable that so many of you have leveled up so quickly, and to choose this time of need to do so is honorable. No one will offer extra thanks or tell tales of it, except perhaps the countless people we've saved and will continue to save, regardless of species."

"As a congratulations for all who survive this ordeal, I'll share 5% of my share of rewards, equally distributed regardless of your rank. Mundanes will also receive two mana stones each from my funds, so you or your family can try again for a class. For all those we've lost or will lose, 10% of the overall rewards will go to their families and loved ones. They deserve much more to be honest, but for now, this is what we can do.."

For a moment, everyone stood silent, staring at Damian, then suddenly erupted into shouts, applause, and lines of praise. The noise drew even the beastmen mundanes working by the river, who approached to see what the commotion was about. After calming them down, which wasn't easy, Damian continued, "We probably have 40-45 minutes. Prepare yourselves, rest, do whatever you do—we still have a battle to win.."

That prompted another round of excited shouts before they dispersed to do their own things before returning to the battlefield.

"That's too generous… Do you ever talk to other captains about how they use their unit rewards?" Einar asked as he, Sam, and Yovan came over.

"Yeah, you're already giving them half. That alone isn't typical," Sam agreed.

"I liked it, though," Yovan added. "Even with the enemy's overwhelming numbers, our troops are determined and smiling. They couldn't be better prepared to fight again."

"I just did what felt right," Damian replied. He looked into the distance, sensing the fox mage coming his way. "I'll be going now. I have some things to take care of."

"Yeah, I need to test my skills too." The three went their own ways, eager to explore their newfound power, while Damian walked to meet the old fox mage.

"Maximus boy," the fox mage called, "Kazak told me to send all our mana stones to you. Is that right? What are you planning?"

As they met in the middle and walked toward Damian's stash of wooden spears for monster hunting, Damian replied, "Hopefully something that will help us deal with one of our two problems."

He received a basic iron slab with runes on top with limited spatial storage capacity, filled with mana stones of various colors. Accessing it, Damian picked out three stones of different colors—red, green, and blue. They indeed had a lot of it inside. These mana stones, encased in a strange glass-like substance, appeared like crystals. Hard to say if they were just some odd water mixture with mana or an element of their own, but they were likely some composition impossible to create without mana that stored elemental mana inside. Stay updated through мѵʟ

The old fox watched as Damian placed two stones down and kept the blue one in his hand. It was his affinity water element and the least dangerous of the three. When crushed, it would explode in a high-pressure moistened smoke, but that wasn't Damian's goal.

With a deep breath, Damian activated his Mana Extraction skill. Immediately, he saw five bright white dots appear on the blue mana stone, seeming to guide his fingers. Taking the risk, he gripped the stone at the five spots and stepped back from the fox mage, who was observing him with curiosity. Damian crushed the stone with a powerful grip. As it shattered, he sensed a massive energy ready to disperse. Time seemed to slow, though it was merely his heightened senses mixed with the skill effect. The blue energy was explaining by the second and Damian felt his hands feel tingly inside the cloud, but he also felt like,

'I can absorb it?'

Focusing on his hand, Damian tried to draw the energy into himself, but instead of the powerful mana energy entering his body, a cold, painful mana seeped through his skin, leaving a bright blue powder on his palm and wrist as the energy was absorbed.

"What the hell?" the old fox exclaimed, mirroring Damian's own shocked expression.

This was not what he had expected from mana extraction.

The energy entering his body was neutralized by his own mana, as if they were at war, causing him a headache and physical pain unlike any other throughout the process, and that was with his nerve shield active. So this was what the skill meant by relying on INT and STR…

Finally, the energy cloud was gone, absorbed or turning into a fistful of glowing blue mana dust, while Damian's mana neutralized the waste, harmful energy entering his body, granting him some mana in return—though it only comprised about 10-20% of the hostile energy.

Fortunately, his own mana wasn't depleted in the process; after neutralizing the energy, it returned smoothly to his core. Damian suspected that even Elder Runebreakers weren't aware of this neutralization by their own mana processes, but with his high mana sensitivity, he could grasp the full, complex process.

It made sense: this energy must be what caused explosions. He could only take in as much as he could handle, so while it wasn't a game-breaking ability, it was a highly useful skill for someone who wanted ample mana dust and had runic knowledge to use it—perfect for Damian.