Sable stared at Hajin, her eyes wide with terror while she felt the pressure in the room suddenly shift.

The crimson light that had been threatening to tear her body apart was no longer pushing outward. Instead, it was being pulled back, spiraling toward Hajin’s hand like water down a drain.

’What is he doing?’ she thought, her breath hitching in her chest. ’Is he actually absorbing the core’s energy? He had a skill like that? Hold on, is that even possible for a low rank like him?’

Hajin stood perfectly still, his eyes closed while the dark silver ring on his pinky glowed with a blinding intensity. Every drop of hostile mana that touched his skin vanished instantly, disappearing into the sleek band of metal.

The ten-shard core, which had been vibrating with enough force to level the facility, began to dim. The deep, pulsating red light flickered, turning into a pale pink before fading entirely.

Allen took an involuntary step forward, his hand tightening on the railing as he stared at the pedestal.

"Impossible," he whispered, his usual calm completely gone.

He had seen high-rankers absorb mana before, but this was different. Hajin wasn’t just filtering the energy, he was draining it, stripping the core of its very essence, leaving nothing behind but a hollow shell of glass.

’If he doesn’t stop,’ he thought, his heart pounding fast, ’he’s going to destroy the most valuable artifact in this branch.’

Hajin could feel the immense flood of energy rushing into the ring, and for the first time, the raw power didn’t feel like a threat. It felt connected to him, like a vast body of water that he could simply reach out and grab with his bare hands.

’So this is the power of a ten-shard,’ he thought, his pulse steadying as the ring filtered the chaos into something he could control.

He opened his eyes while a series of system notifications flickered into view.

[ Assimilation in progress... ]

[ Energy absorbed: 12,400 units ]

[ Current Core Stability: 64% ]

[ Warning: Continued drainage will result in permanent structural failure of the target. ]

He looked at the numbers, then shifted his gaze toward the sidelines. He saw the Guildmaster leaning over the railing, his face pale while he watched his branch’s most prized possession start to flicker.

’I’ve taken enough,’ he decided, realizing that actually breaking the core would probably cause more problems than it solved.

He took a slow breath and willed the ring to stop pulling. The connection snapped with a faint, metallic ring that echoed through the arena. The crimson glow in the room vanished instantly, replaced by the standard magical lighting of the facility.

Allen let out a long, heavy sigh of relief, his shoulders visibly dropping as the core settled back into a steady, if slightly dimmer, pulse.

He stood there for a few seconds, just trying to regain his composure while the air in the room finally cooled.

Hajin turned away from the pedestal and gestured for Juna to come over.

She walked toward him with a confused look on her face, but she didn’t hesitate when he reached out and placed his hand directly over the mark on her chest.

Her face instantly turned a deep shade of red while her ears pinned back against her head.

"I’m going to give you some of the surplus," he said, his golden mana flowing from the ring on his pinky through his palm and into her body.

A wave of pure, dragon-tier energy flooded her pathways, making her whole body feel light. Usually, Juna would have snapped at him for touching her so suddenly, but this time she just watched him with a soft smile while he pulled his hand away and started walking toward the other two girls.

"The feedback took a lot out of you," he said, looking at Elise and Sable. "I’m going to lend you some mana to help you recover."

Elise and Sable both took an involuntary step back, their eyes wide as they watched him approach. They moved back on their tiptoes, their arms crossing tightly over their chests while their faces turned bright red.

"Wait, not again!" Sable squeaked, her voice three octaves higher than usual. "You aren’t touching anything! We’re fine, we’re totally fine!"

Elise nodded frantically beside her, her rapier trembling in her hand while she tried to maintain her distance. "We can recover on our own! Please stay right where you are!"

He stopped and blinked at them, his hand still extended in the air.

"I was just going to use the connection I already established," he said, his tone entirely flat. "Why are you making it weird?"

"Are you... were you going to touch our chests like that?" Sable asked, her face still burning as she kept her arms crossed.

He let out a short, unexpected laugh while he shook his head, realizing what they were actually worried about.

"In Juna’s case, it’s different," he said, his expression returning to its usual indifference. "Her mana core is directly tied to the mark I placed on her skin. For the two of you, I just need to touch your back like I did during the synchronization."

Elise and Sable shared a quick look, their posture relaxing slightly while they processed the explanation. It made perfect sense from a mechanical perspective, but a strange, unbidden thought crossed both of their minds at the same time.

’Wait,’ Sable thought, her eyes darting between Hajin and Juna. ’Is he saying she’s special? Are our bodies not as good as hers?’

Elise bit her lip, her pride as a top applicant suddenly feeling a bit stung. She looked down at herself, then back at the beastkin girl who was still smiling softly at Hajin.

’Why do I feel insulted?’ She wondered, her grip on her rapier tightening for an entirely different reason. ’I should be relieved that he isn’t trying to touch me, so why does it feel like I just lost a competition I didn’t even know I was in?’

Hajin didn’t wait for them to finish their internal debate. He stepped around them and placed his palms against their upper backs, sending a controlled pulse of mana through their pathways.

The surge of dragon mana was unlike anything they had ever felt before. It was dense, hot, and vibrated with a raw intensity that made their own mana cores feel like toys in comparison.

He pulled his hands away as the golden light around their bodies stabilized.

"Get ready," he said, his voice cold and focused while he looked back at the ten-shard core.

Juna, Elise, and Sable all took their positions without a second of hesitation. The awkwardness from a moment ago was gone, replaced by a sharp, lethal clarity that only came from being filled with more power than they knew what to do with.

"Don’t worry about holding back," he continued, his eyes narrowing as the ring on his pinky pulsed in sync with his heart. "We’re going to strike all at once. This time, we aren’t going to fail."

They raised their weapons in unison, the air around the pedestal starting to warp as their combined mana began to resonate at a single, perfect frequency.