Chapter 16 — One Percent
Sam and Serena each took a random core from the pile. They were all identical, so there wasn't much to contemplate. After that, they moved a short distance away from the rift before settling down to absorb.
Sam closed his fingers around the core in his grasp and swiftly went over the technique described in the book.
The first step was a no-brainer—you had to be able to sense mana before you could manipulate it.
Closing his eyes for maximum concentration, he extended his awareness toward the core, feeling for the mana contained within.
This part wasn't hard.
He had been repeatedly exposed to mana ever since the proliferation of the rifts, and compared to the days when it had still been scarce, this felt like lighting a flame in complete darkness.
It was too bright not to notice.
A short distance away, Serena sat cross-legged, doing the same.
The next step was to draw the mana into his own core.
This came even easier, as the energy itself felt almost… too eager.
With only the faintest brush of his consciousness, the mana surged outward, flooding from the crystal and rushing into his body without hesitation.
The sensation was hard to describe.
It felt like falling into a pool of water—except his body was a vacuum, and the water sank in through his pores.
Invigorating at the start but the experience was sure to became uncomfortable rather quickly.
And so was true at the moment.
At the beginning, the mana flooding his body with such intensity made him feel bloated—yet alive.
(It is actually the first time he had truly experienced this—despite the raw mana inside the tank earlier, he had gone unconscious almost immediately after entering.)
But then it quickly became overwhelming.
A prickling sensation spread through him, as though countless needles were stabbing at him from the inside.
It was too much.
Especially for someone who barely had two units of mana in his body, it wasn't nearly enough to endure this volume of unprocessed energy flooding his system.
A warning from the book surfaced in his mind.
Yes—just like in cultivation novels, it was entirely possible to explode from mana overload.
It was to be expected, really. As his father had said in that recording, awakeners were the true source of most of those myths.
A quiet shudder passed through his seated form at the thought of bursting to death—even though he was fairly certain this amount of mana wasn't nearly enough to cause that, it did nothing to lessen his rapidly beating heart.
Still, he quickly mobilized his willpower, forcefully ignoring the sweet sensation and focusing on what came next—the refinement.
Indeed, the next step after successful absorption was to refine the mana into usable energy while guiding it into his core.
This part was moderately difficult, but it went almost smoothly.
With a long exhale, the last of the refined mana settled beneath his navel—where a human's core was located.
Opening his eyes, the first thing he noticed was the empty core dissolving into dust in his palm.
He sighed.
Shifting his gaze slightly, he found Serena still locked in the process of absorbing the energy from the mana core in her hand.
She sat cross-legged, eyes closed, brows drawn together in concentration. Her expression was peaceful, her breathing steady and rhythmic, as though detached from worldly affairs.
Like a monk in deep meditation—
Until, of course, you took in the rest of her body, and the sleek, sci-fi-worthy armor instantly shattered the image.
Shaking his head with a quiet chuckle, he muttered, "I wonder what her expression will be like when she wakes up."
Then he reached for another core and began the process all over again, keeping one eye on his status screen this time.
Time passed.
Only after he finished his third core did Serena finally open her eyes.
"Hhhhh… finally done!" she exclaimed, stretching slightly before looking around.
Her gaze met Sam's just as he opened his eyes from his fourth.
She sat ahead with a grin, clearly she had been waiting for him. In fact, if she'd had a tail, at this moment it would've been wagging.
"Oh. You're done," Sam said awkwardly.
"In your face!" she giggled. "Told you I'd beat you to it!"
Then she suddenly put on a contemplative expression.
"Now, as for what you're going to do…" she tapped her chin. "Let me think about it. Hehe."
Yeah—that was why Sam felt awkward.
Before they'd started absorbing, Serena had proposed a bet.
Whoever finished last would have to do one thing for the winner.
And from her perspective, she had finished first—then even had to wait several more minutes for Sam to finally open his eyes.
Seriously…?
This girl…
Sam didn't know what to say. Inside, he could only chuckle while shaking his head.
"Why don't you go ahead and check how many cores are left," he said, gesturing toward the pile.
"Huh? What are you—"
Serena's laughter froze mid-sentence as she glanced over.
"Oh…" at once all her excitement deflated and dispersed.
With the cores removed, ATLAS had already disposed of the bodies, throwing them back into the rift. Now only Sam, Serena, and ATLAS remained, surrounded by ruined furniture left behind by the earlier orcs.
The remaining cores lay plainly on the floor.
They were easy to count.
Sam deadpanned.
This girl… she hadn't even bothered to look.
"How did you…?" Serena sulked. "Well, whatever. What do you want?"
Sam felt exasperated—but that didn't stop him from replying with a smug,
"Hmm… I have no idea, I would have to think about it."
A shit-eating grin spread across his face.
Serena shot him a side-eye.
"Hmph!"
She crossed her arms, sulking.
"What? It's not my fault you were so slow," he defended, a quiet chuckle slipping out.
"Bully!"
Now Serena's eyes were really glistening, she was about to cry. Sam finally decided to not tease her any more.
"Alright let's continue, we still have to enter the rift today—yes?"
"Hmph."
With that the core absorbing section continued. But on the next one—Sam's fifth—something finally changed.
It began with a subtle sensation.
A click—not audible. No, internal.
Like a lock turning somewhere deep inside him, a heavenly wave washed over his body.
He felt himself sinking into invisible clouds, soft yet dense enough to support his weight. Every ounce of tension drained away. Even the deepest parts of his bones relaxed.
For a fleeting moment, he forgot where he was.
But in the next moment, his body detonated with impossible strength.
Muscles stretched—then snapped tight. His heartbeat thundered in his ears. His senses flared outward, sharpening, expanding, as if the world itself had suddenly come into focus.
He sucked in a sharp breath.
When it finally ended, Sam slowly clenched his fists. The sheer power coiled within them made his eyes widen.
"…what the—"
Disbelief lingered for half a second before a sharp, familiar ding cut through his thoughts.
A translucent panel materialized before his eyes.
Saturation +1%
All stats +3
"Oh. Finally!" He exclaimed, a sharp grin splitting his face in two.
According to the cultivation book, every twenty-five percent increase in saturation granted a major stat boost, but even fractional progress came with minor enhancements.
Even so, the first increase in saturation was special—it marked the beginning of one's ascension away from the ordinary.
He had been quietly aiming for this first percent since they started, only to nearly give up hope after burning through four cores with nothing to show for it. The supply was limited—and he'd wanted to be able to leave the rest for Serena.
Thankfully, the fifth had done the trick.
He let out a contented and relaxed sigh.
It was also at this moment that something began to change with Serena—and Sam, with his newly enhanced stats, felt it almost as instantly.
He turned sharply, but mouth quickly dropped open, his pupils widening to their extremes.
Before his eyes was Serena.
And she was… glowing.
"The hell…!"