External help

" I have information to report about the dungeon thief that the base owner is searching for. " Claire began without preamble. 

" Hey .. any and every beggar thinks they can fib about the dungeon thief these days. Girl ! just run along and get lost. Or don't blame me for teaching you a lesson. " The guard scolded her. These days many people approach the guards with such words. They always tried to raise the fuss during the night, hoping that the tired officers would give out rewards without verifying the facts. 

Only, when these tips are eventually proven to be the lies that they were, the guards faced the ridicule and punishment of the higher ups. No wonder they are all crabby. However, she needs to get in today. 

Claire retrieved her hunter ID. 

" Then let me enter as a hunter going to the dungeon. " She said, flashing her hunter ID. 

She looked at them seriously. 

" I really do have vital information for the base leader. One or other way, I will report this information. When asked why the delay, I will have no choice but to give your names. Brothers ! I don't want to go there. If you do not believe me, the hunters can still enter the base any time. Let me enter as a hunter, I will report the information in the farthest station, so you do not have any effect on you. " Claire half threatened, half pleaded. 

If even this does not work, then she has no choice but to use the report option on the prisoner arm cuff. She had no idea how well those reports were treated. 

The guards looked at each other. 

She had a point. 

So, in the end, they decided to let her in as a hunter. Claire used 'Flash' to run to the farthest station she could reach, just like she promised the guards. Plus, this guardstation became famous later for having a dogged detective, who almost never missed a target. That's the person she found to report her intel to. 

" I have information about the teleporter who crashed Master Wale's party. " She told the station officer. The bloodhound, as they called the police officer, he was in the station, snacking on donuts. 

" Oh.. Come this way. We are safe from eavesdropping here. Come on, tell me girl ! What do you know ? " The officer asked her seriously. 

" The teleporter who invaded the dungeon belonged to an organization called Reapers. Their spy had given them an okay from the outside. This spy is a police officer of the base. He and his underlings are part of the student awakening that happened today. They kidnapped a student, and are currently trying to flee with the said student. " Claire reported. 

" Do you know the name of the officer ? " the man in front of her asked. 

She shook her head to say no. She did not know his name. 

But she knew what he looked like. 

" I .. can try drawing his face. I don't know his name, but I do remember his face very vividly. " she added. 

The officer gave her a pencil and paper. 

She did not use her hands, but used her skills. In under a minute, the picture was presented to the officer bloodhound. His face lost all color as soon as he looked at the picture. 

" Girl, are you sure ? I am going to put my career on the line. If you are wrong, then I will hold you responsible. " The officer asked her harshly. 

If it were a pre-apocalyptic world, such words from a police officer would be nigh treason, but in this world… lives of ordinary people are less valuable than grass. The only reason the officers are moving at all is because the student was a hunter. 

" I am sure. " she responded, daring to hope that this maneuver will become a success. 

Had she failed here, she would have no choice but to run back, and sneak around trying to get Zayne back somehow. 

" You will wait here. Put her in a cell, and make sure to stand guard. " The officer commanded. 

" I did not do anything wrong ! I want to follow along. " she exclaimed, but was ignored. It seems the bloodhound had a vendetta against the corrupt officer. It is indeed an advantageous situation for her, if not for the fact she is being shoved into the prison for no reason. 

In the end, she sighed and cooperated with the police officer. 

" Promise me you will let me go come morning or an emergency." Claire asked the officer who is locking her in. 

" Fine. " The officer grumbled. 

The moment she entered the prison, she assumed a meditating pose, and entered innerworld. 

Her mana is almost used up, her body is in very much a tattered condition. 

She squeezed out every last ounce of the mana in her body. 

First, she had to repair her body. Despite having an innerworld, and using mana straight from the innerworld, all hunters possess a meridian network. Some tried using it with mana-like cultivators during the initial days. They all failed. In the end, it was theorized that some mana needs to flow through this system, it will have a positive effect on the physique of the hunters, but that's about it. It fast forwards healing, gives you a small boost in having a sturdier body, but that's it. 

To actually cultivate, you need to get a skill inside the dungeon, which is then leveled with experience. It's not all that great compared to swordsmen and mages, so in the end, it did not catch on. I digress. Right now, Claire just focused on absorbing the mana from mana waterfall into her own core. She pushed the mana out into the little orbs floating around the core, filling them with energy. 

As she breathed in and breathed out energy stably, she connected to the third eye once more. 

To think she was so stupid, that just because of her curiosity, she has lost such a useful tool in a maze, unable to get it out. If only she had a third eye with her tonight, she could have left with Zayne, she could have left it with the children, there are a thousand things she could have done that would be more useful than flitting around in tunnels god knows where ! 

At this point, she remembered once more … The bag with her uncle's notes was still in the auditorium. That's her only source of clues, and she hopes it will not be destroyed in the fight between Zayne and the Corrupt officer. 

◆◇◆

Zayne realized Claire had left. He felt the blood choking him get out of his mouth without much effort. This, he knew, is Claire's doing. 

The corrupt officer's mana pressed down on him like the air pressure of a tornado. 

He could feel pain somewhere in his chest, and he knew that some of his ribs were broken. He is exhausted after the use of meteor fire, which was his strongest attack. So, he closed his eyes, and sank into the innerworld. 

There, calamari is swimming in his now far cooler core. The moment Zayne entered the innerworld, it came to him, twirling around his legs like a puppy. Zayne concentrated his all on pulling the fire energy from Ifrit's altar, filling his core, concentrating it, and filling once more. 

As he repeated this process, Calamari, who was beside him, started mimicking him, gently separating from him, then, it started repeating the same set of operations as him, pulling the fire mana, folding it over. With each action, almost all of its legs independently perform the same action, increasing the potency of his core. With Calamari taking over maintaining his core, Zayne focused on the library he learned. 

At this point, after his attacks, he understood knowing the spell, using it effectively are two different beasts. So, he wanted to go through the library if he can, to see if there's at least one spell he could use right now. Only, there are far too many magic circles, and after the initial understanding of the pattern for the campfire, he realized almost all the other spells are similar, a forge, a boiler, a furnace ~ at the top of them all, a dragon furnace. 

Technically speaking, he could use most of these firing methods to attack, but unfortunately, he just does not need understanding of the runes to realize where the safety mechanism begins, and where the fire magic ends. 

While he was unconscious and going through these motions, outside was getting more and more chaotic. 

" Hey ! Wake up ! Wake up, you little bastard ! " the corrupt officer kicked him. 

Zayne's body naturally lost consciousness, so, at this time, he had no choice but to be locked in the innerworld. 

At that time, the walkie talkie rang once more. 

" Sir. The girl escaped. I can't find her anywhere. " The voice came from the walkie talkie. 

" Again ?! " The officer frowned. He filled the entire auditorium with his mana, which will have a dizzying effect on the normal hunter. The girl barely had mana. Others might not know what that early error means with the awakening stone, but he knew. It's a rare phenomenon where there is no mana in the core, and the elements are too diverse to effectively learn anything useful at all. 

Such a girl escaped from him again and again ? 

" Sir. She opened the barrier by decoding. " the voice on the walkie talkie said again. 

' F**k ! She's one of the eliminated from that time ! we did not kill them all ! ' The officer realized. Now that teddy bear makes sense.