Anyway, now that there were no immediate missions to be done (well, except for the Thornspawn creeper mission), there was no rush to go out. They could also (hopefully) have new customers by this time.

Now that he was at the peak of the rank, the part of each rank where it was most difficult to move, he'd need a bit more power in there to be comfortable.

For absorption, he'd only use the awakened cores. The toughened cores he had would still have to wait a while. However, Pang did say that, with his absorption capability, he could theoretically handle toughened cores too, but probably when he was already nearing the next upgrade.

It was better to consolidate his core for now—especially now that, as a Tier 3, he had a core.

He grabbed his chest, feeling the concentrated aura in that direction. He could feel the difference between tier 2 and tier 3, and they were not small.

For the next week, he absorbed a lot of cores while maintaining his habits and his hobbies. During this time, they found some legumes and nut alternatives, and he had been spicing them up, so he could chew on them while he was absorbing cores. It was quite relaxing.

It also helped him concentrate a bit, which was interesting. He heard some colleagues back then mention how having something to chew on while studying helped them out. It seemed like it also applied to him.

And he quite needed the assist because absorbing essence at this stage was a bit different.

Before, the essence seemed to be spread throughout his body, distributed in varying degrees.

Now, the main source was in one place, like there was now a center, and he'd just have to direct where the energy would go for efficiency, but it felt like there was a layer that he had to break through each time he tried to absorb essence.

Further, at this stage, absorbing a core would feel a little less effective than before. It wasn't that they were absorbing less, but a part of that energy was redirected in the consolidation of the core. It was quite interesting.

At the same time, because he now had a core, he could control essence better when he was actually using it.

In practical terms, his fighting abilities were heightened by a huge amount compared to the previous tier. For example, he could increase/ concentrate the force on his arm or on his legs, creating more explosive hits, though how swiftly and smoothly he could do that depended on his ability.

In retrospect, the tier 3 monsters really were difficult to defeat. It was just that they usually came as a group, so it was difficult to pinpoint them sometimes. If he were to quantify it, a basic awakened monster could be hit a few times on their weakness by a max-power hit, but a tier 3 monster would need several times more of that or more.

While he absorbed the cores, Durgan did not bother him. He just did his job and did the occasional clearing, doing his best so that the monsters wouldn't damage the barrier enough that it would alert Finn, something he knew it would do every time after a certain amount of damage.

Katnia would help out as well, and she would show off her flexibility and strength, which would impress Durgan. She could jump easily from tree to tree and appear above a monster. Her fingers would grow claws that would pound on an awakened monster repeatedly until it was gone.

They would also gather the cores. Finn told them that they could keep the cores they found, but they would also give him some.

The adorable Kitra would even place some of her loot in front of him as if an offering, and then carefully lie down next to him, using his lap as a pillow.

Finn felt the movements, but he was too busy to bother. Besides, it was harmless, and he just thought of her as an actual feline.

Anyway, since he was only stabilizing himself, he was taking things slow, and it was barely painful, so the slight distraction didn't do much to him.

She would often squirm around and move around, but her head was always on Finn. Sometimes, she'd sit up and just place her head on Finn's shoulder, happily rubbing it.

This was what the newly arrived Leiah and the others saw.

Leiah frowned and headed to them, accepting the Rules and standing in front of the meditating Finn. Finn was concentrating, but Durgal, who emerged from the inn (after placing some meat in the cellar), ran to greet them.

"You guys! You're back!" He smiled. He and Marcus gave manly hugs while Nona patted his shoulder.

"I brought some people," Marcus said, before running back to the new people who were walking slowly, studying the place in awe.

Leiah also greeted Durgan, though her eyes were fixed on Finn.

The half-elf, who had always been calm, looked irksome this time. "Who's this?"

Katnia, who had been happily feeling Finn's warmth—which was especially comfortable whenever he was meditating—felt her stare. The halfkin frowned at the unwelcome energy.

She opened her feline-like eyes and met the other's peach ones.

A subtle tension appeared between the two women, and it was so palpable that poor Durgan wanted to run back to the kitchen.

Marcus, who had brought the others, walked in shortly after and saw this, feeling confused.

"It's rare to see Leiah annoyed," one of the new faces said, looking curious.

Her name was Reesa, a cleric specializing in healing magic. She looked at her husband and the captain of their team, who was busy looking at the inn.

When Marcus and the others said they knew a 'place to stay' nearby, they thought it'd be a decent cave, not an actual building.

"They did say we'd be surprised… well, that's definitely an understatement," Victor said, looking amusedly at his wife, who was watching his reaction too. He looked back to see his party members, who were also gaping and amused at the same time.

This was a large party. At this, Durgan wondered whether to bother Finn at such an important moment while he was meditating or if he should just settle the guests himself.

Also…he shivered at the fact that Leiah and Katnia were still staring each other down.

Were they even blinking? He didn't know…

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