The Author's POV

Thud—!

Softly landing on the ground, Monica's hair gently fell over her shoulders. Opening her eyes, she lowered her head and glanced at her hand.

"So this is how it feels to break through to rank."

She quietly mumbled.

The sensation was completely different from when she was rank. She couldn't quite explain it, however, if she had to put it into words, it felt as though her connection with the mana in the air had significantly improved.

With just a simple thought, she could will the mana in the air as she wanted.

Raising her hand, she waved it in the air. What followed after the simple gesture was an incredible scene.

The moment Monica's hand swiped right, the red particles that were floating in front of Monica all froze in the air. Following this, as though Monica's hand was a magnet, they all rushed toward her hand.

A thin bright red coating soon formed on Monica's hand, creating some sort of gauntlet.

Gazing at her newly formed gauntlet, a look of amazement appeared on Monica's face.

"....So this is how it feels to truly agglomerate mana."

Mana agglomeration.

A technique that she was able to replicate when she was rank and was supposed to be something that only rankers could use.

If before her technique was unrefined and still weak, it was now no longer that as the mana expenditure had decreased drastically, and so did the power that was held within it.

Clenching and unclenching her hands repeatedly, Monica looked towards the sky as her pupils started to shine with an orange glow.

Arching her back, Monica clenched her fists as tightly as possible and punched towards the sky.

At the exact moment she punched out, the space around her distorted and a massive orange beam shot towards the sky with unprecedented speed and power.

BOOOOOM—!

A defeating explosion akin to that of the sound barrier breaking apart rang through the sky as circular pressurized wind gales began to expand out from the area Monica punched out, spreading throughout the sky like forever expanding rings.

"...Not bad."

Gazing at the sky, Monica muttered in a satisfied tone.

"Let's try adding a little bit more power."

Still excited by her newfound power, Monica decided to test out her powers once again.

Arching her body backward once again, the red particles floating in the air gathered around her at an even faster rate as the glow around her arm intensified considerably. As a result of this, the gauntlet in her arm thickened up.

It didn't take long for Monica to gather enough mana to once again release another attack, however, just as she was once again about to punch out in the air, a voice rang from the distance.

"Monica stop!"

Frowning, Monica looked toward where the voice came from, and there she saw Donna looking at her from the glass window of the building she was previously in.

"Donna?"

The moment she recognized Donna, her eyes returned to their normal color and the glow in her hand disappeared.

"What's wrong?"

Monica curiously asked as she looked at Donna. In response to her question, Donna looked toward the ground.

"Have a look for yourself."

Following her line of sight, Monica's face froze.

"Wha...err."

Gazing at the sea of people that were staring at her from below, Monica finally realized just how much of a scene she had caused.

'I messed up...'

a step in the sky and reappeared in front of

in the room, she instantly

"Sorry."

the one you should be apologizing

out a long sigh and proceeded to sit back down on a sofa. Once she sat down, her line of sight paused on

the chair. Taking a sip of the wine, and savoring the

rank at the age of 32, you truly are

"Mhhh, it's not that."

head once she heard

down on the seat opposite of her, she looked at the crack in the

The fact that the mana

the wine, Donna nodded

"I have."

and putting the wine glass down,

already contacted the Union and Douglas about the situation, they've told me that they currently don't know anything about the crack and that they are still studying it. For now, they told us to stay put and conserve our

"That's a good idea."

Monica nodded her head.

brows, Donna decided to switch

rank, you probably won't be able to help me

"...You're right."

face when she replied. Scratching her neck, she

really blame me for

each other, Monica pursed her

that I really can't control the fact that a huge crack appeared in the sky and the

know you're

not blame her for the situation. Similarly glancing at the crack in the sky,

you

"Wait."

off, Monica's head snapped in her direction. Snapping

perfect replacement for me. Well, not perfect.

are you talking

"Isn't it obvious?"

smile, Monica leaned back on her

he should be good enough to help you. Plus, the mission isn't even that hard, and

"Ah..."

when Donna heard the last part of Monica's sentence, her eyes opened

smile on Monica's face deepened when

you say? He's the perfect replacement

Donna smacked her lips before she

hate to admit it, but your suggestion is

was no

she was about to dial a

the right time to tell him. I'll

[Ren Dover]

that she was about

more time to rest, he must still be tired after all the time he has been away. It would be unfair of me to

***

like the

looked toward the others. After my words, everyone

my bracelet and

"Hein, catch."

"Uh..what?!"

Hein who had his feet on the table almost fell off the

"Watch it."

to him. Placing her hand behind his chair, she managed to

Hein was able to easily catch the thing

threw at him, he threw a grateful look

"Thank you."

be too amused with Hein

tell you to

that have to do with anything? I didn't expect him to throw something at me. I was just

"Sure."

table, Hein turned his

"What's this?"

said as he examined the contents of

his head to the side, and raising his head to look at the bottom of the flask, the look of confusion on his face