[CH200+ Continued] Dungeon Diver: Stealing A Monster's Power

Chapter 310

The sensation of boiling water trickling down my skin is almost soothing compared to the searing hot waves of energy that begin to enter my chest next.

I can sense the nerves and anticipation from the people watching around me, but out of anyone, I'm the most calm one here. Even without the fact that we all desperately need a power-up, I would have attempted this bond myself if there was only one stone.

My intuition on energy signatures is pretty refined from past battles. Despite throwing myself into dangerous situations, I know when something is actively trying to kill me or not.

These stones, in particular, feel as if they're reaching out with immense and overwhelming power. They may be dangerous, but they don't have the intent to harm anyone without good reason.

As the energy seeps into my chest, it feels like molten rock is soaking in through my skin deep into my heart, then pumping out and spreading through my veins. My blood feels as if it's boiling, and my bones and joints heat up like hot stones in the sun, cooking me from the inside out.

To say there is an instantaneous overwhelming feeling of agony that reaches every corner of my body is putting things lightly.

A shockwave of truly overpowering energy ripples through me, but at the same time, it carries an aura that feels invigorating while it injects itself into my mana pools.

Hundreds of thousands of MP instantly enter my bloodstream, filling the pathways in my arms and legs with the hot red light that slowly oozes out from the crystal's core.

I think about activating my Plunderer skill as well as Self-Regeneration to ease the violent nature of the absorption process, but I decide against it to simulate how it would be for my teammates. This isn't just for me; I'm trying to make sure the process is safe for those who follow my lead as well.

The blazing hot energy completely fills my body. Boiling mana flows through my veins, and my pathways are filled to the brim. Easily over a million MP has made its way into my body, but there's still so much more to go.

Barely a second has passed, but one thing concerns me...

Although the pain is harsh, overall it's bearable. The damage being done to my insides and skin will be repaired with ease, either through Abby's restoration on the spot or my Self Regeneration after the fact. These sensations don't bother me. The crux of my concerns is that the red energy entering my mana pool is not leaving at all.

In the Essence shards and fragments I absorbed previously, the moment the absorption process began, mana was expelled from my body as it was used up. This is how the mana control refinement process works.

The more mana processed through one's system, the more open and able it becomes at processing and wielding it in the future.

This energy I'm taking in is not leaving my body; it's just continuously pouring into my mana pathways.

The rate at which it flows from the ruby-red gemstone increases, and the searing pain envelops every surface of my body, inside and out.

The Soulstone's energy covers my line of sight as my absorption rate fails to keep up with the rate at which the energy is being expelled from the stone.

I'm completely covered in a red aura from head to toe.

I attempt to look around through the thick, smoke-like, energy-dense fog that encapsulates me, but everything shifts from red to white in an instant.

Completely white...

Blank...

The desert is gone.

Abby is gone.