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With the death of the Lizardman King Shaman, came the recollection of dozens of Cores around this wasteland.

Cores had unique properties and were incredibly durable, even after beginning showered in the powerful Meteor Shower of the Lizardman King, they were just as new but covered in a lot of ashes and debris.

Thankfully, Big Sis could detect magic elements and quickly dug out every Attribute Value Core and Ability Core.

Jon then checked the surrounding of the Dungeon, and only detected very dim presences of lesser and smaller monsters that were actually running away from the area, it seems that for now, the Dungeon was emptied.

However, there was also the sealed dungeon boss door, as long as the actual boss of this dungeon was not defeated, the dungeon would be kept existing, making it an easy place to grind cores and other materials.

"That was quite intense… But we did it, somehow!" said Sakura.

"Indeed, and the amount of Cores we acquired is ridiculous… But I wonder why there were so many monsters in this place compared to other dungeons we had visited," said Timassa.

"Hm, it might be related with the Dungeon type of structure, or even that this Dungeon had been ignored for a few weeks mostly, so the monsters began to accumulate," said Arthur.

"Oh right, this Dungeon is often ignored, as most F-Rank Hunters are usually at Military Schools using the Dungeons there… And no other Hunter visits this Dungeon due to its annoying landscape of jungles, where many mosquitoes and annoying bugs live," said Timassa.

"Alongside that, there could be another reason… My Blood Core ability to warp Dungeons and make them spawn more monsters has intensified after I have unlocked more of its power… This also means that our rise to power will be rather swift, but not easy," said Noah, although he was easily slaying Lizardmen Leaders, the Lizardman King was particularly hard to kill, and it needed the help of all his subordinates to take it down.

"That's amazing if it's really true… We could grind a few more dungeons and finally get to Rank E!" said Iris.

"Indeed… I am beginning to think that we might be able to achieve this tomorrow at night if things go well…" said Noah.

"That's… amazing… so fast?" asked Arthur.

"Well, Master, you can clearly see that this is the truth, by just looking at the immense amount of Cores we have collected…" said Timassa.

"We'll have to hunt on E-Rank Dungeons soon!" said Iris.

"Well it's already near 4 AM, let's keep finding any monster nearby while the War Machine and Arthur farm the underground resources," said Noah, as everyone nodded in agreement and darted through the jungles, slaying large insects, monkeys, or any critter they found.

Meanwhile, Big Sis and Arthur kept mining materials with incredible efficiency thanks to Big Sis's enormous drills, when it was near 6 AM, they had ground three tons of Magic Crystals and Magic Ores, which were all F-Rank, but valuable, nonetheless.

Just like Cores and Hunters, materials that can be mined inside dungeons had Ranked as well, often determined by the dungeon's original rank and their level of Mana capacity.

"We left an enormous hole in here… Will we not get in trouble leaving this like that?" asked Arthur. action

"Well, half of the jungle was burned by the Lizardman King, so they might not realize this before noticing all the wasteland and burned trees," said Noah.

"R-Right…" said Arthur.

"Well, don't dungeons regenerate naturally after some time? After it absorbs enough Miasma from the environment, it will most likely regenerate to its original state, and then make new Lizardman appear," said Iris.

"She's right, there isn't much to worry about," said Timassa.

"Master… Thirst…" said Adamantine, as she moved near Noah, grabbing her arm and glancing at him with puppy eyes.

"You're thirsty? Hm, drink this," said Noah, as he cut off his wrist and let Adamantine drink from his large wound.

"E-Eh?! A-Adamantine gets to do that but I can't?!" asked Iris.

"Well, the last time I checked you didn't have the mind of a toddler… Or maybe I am wrong? I am beginning to think that you might!" said Noah rather annoyed, as Adamantine drank the blood very peacefully as if a baby drinking milk from her mother.

"A-Ah! N-Nooo! Don't get angry with me, Noah-sama…" sighed Iris, as Noah simply sighed and petted her head.

"Let's go back now, there are classes, and we also need to absorb these Cores we acquired. Let's hurry up," said Noah, as Adamantine finally satiated herself and Noah's wound immediately regenerated.

Arthur saved Big Sis and Sakura inside of his Dimensional Storage Ring and ran back to his house atop the building's roofs alongside Timassa, while Noah and the rest moved back to the school.

The party had gathered 202 Attribute Value Cores, and 8 Ability Cores, which they ended up dividing around, until Noah was left with the most, ending at 50 of Attribute Value Cores and 4 Ability Cores, which also included the one that an F-Rank Hunter they killed dropped.

After quickly separating, Noah was finally left alone inside of his room, the sun was about to rise on the horizon, so he needed to quickly absorb the Cores, take a bath, and go to classes.

"Hmph, you did quite well… you're closer to E-Rank… That was… Not even a week has gone by since you acquired my powers! Perhaps… you're truly innately talented?" wondered the Blood Progenitor.

"Thanks for the compliments, Dracula, but I don't need them," said Noah rather coldly, as he began to absorb the Attribute Value Cores.

A surge of new power covered his entire body, as the streams of energy began to cross through his muscles, bones, cartilage, and blood vessels, reaching his Blood Core and nourishing it further.

Noah opened his eyes as they gleamed with crimson red colors, his muscles felt strengthened, his bones became harder, his senses became sharper, and the amount of Mana he possessed increased as well.

Without saying a word, he decided to check his Attribute Panel.

[Noah]

[Bloodline: Vampire (Awakening)]

[Vitality: 69]

[Mind: 70]

[Force: 72]

[Skill Points: 0]

[Skill(s): [Blood Progenitor: - (SSS)], [Undying Body: 56 (A)], [Blood Claws: 62 (C)], [Blood Manipulation: 78 (D)], [Blood Projectiles: 57 (D)], [Champion's Great Perseverance: 48 (C)], [Telepathy: 47 (D)], [Blood Soul: 28 (A)], [Blood Flow Acceleration: 25 (C)], [Blood Sacrifice: 21 (C)], [Blood Retribution: 20 (C)]

"Oh? It seems that my Force Attribute might be the first to reach E-Rank! Interesting… I only need three more points… Hmm, that will have to wait. I do not regret giving the other Cores to my subordinates, they are, after all, my own strength as well. If they grow stronger, I grow stronger as well," thought Noah.

"Hmph… If you were not so caritative with your slaves, you might have already reached E-Rank, foolish human," said the Blood Progenitor.

"Caritative? I am not such a person. I only am not an idiot like you. I know very well that in this world, alone you are devoured. The strength comes in numbers. Even if I am strong by myself, by having others at my side, such strength multiplies several times. Maybe I am more of a leader than you, an SSS-Rank Monster was? How amusing, I guess you were an autistic loner," said Noah.

"W-What did you call me?! I had hundreds of slaves!" roared the Blood Progenitor.

"Slaves? So you cannot even convince people to follow you, so you have to slave them? Pathetic," said Noah.

"T-Tch! What do you even know about that?! I won't talk with you anymore!" roared the Blood Progenitor, cutting his conversation with Noah.

Noah shrugged off such a threat and smiled, glancing at his Ability Cores.

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