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...'

Monica took a step in the

she appeared in the room, she

"Sorry."

the one you

sit back down on a sofa. Once she sat down, her line of sight paused on an unfinished cup of wine that was resting on the table in front of

leaned back on the chair. Taking a

at the age of 32,

"Mhhh, it's not that."

shook her head once

opposite of her, she

The fact that the

of the wine, Donna nodded her

"I have."

putting the

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

"That's a good idea."

Monica nodded her head.

her brows, Donna decided to switch the

now that you've reached rank, you probably won't

"...You're right."

look on her face when she replied. Scratching her neck, she looked at the crack in the

blame me for

fingers touching each other,

know yourself that I really can't control the fact that a huge crack

you're not

the situation. Similarly glancing at the

that you won't be able to help

"Wait."

snapped in her direction. Snapping her fingers, she

there's a perfect replacement for me. Well, not perfect. After all, no one

are you

"Isn't it obvious?"

a mysterious smile, Monica leaned back

you. Plus, the mission isn't even that hard, and he owes

"Ah..."

Monica's sentence, her eyes opened up as she finally caught

on Monica's face deepened when she saw

you say? He's the perfect replacement

her lips before she closed

hate to admit it, but your suggestion is quite

there was no need

her phone, just as she was about to dial a number,

the right time to tell him. I'll call him in

[Ren Dover]

that she was about to press, Donna

the time he has been away. It would be unfair of me to ruin

***

looks like the situation has

no more shaking, I finally relaxed and looked toward the others. After my words,

direction, I tapped on my

"Hein, catch."

"Uh..what?!"

Hein who had his feet on the table almost fell off

"Watch it."

her hand behind his chair, she managed to stabilize the chair he was sitting

to easily catch the thing I threw

catch the thing I threw at him, he threw

"Thank you."

seem to be too amused

you to sit properly

expect him to throw something

"Sure."

legs on the table, Hein turned his hand and opened his palm

"What's this?"

he examined

at the bottom of the flask, the look of confusion on his