Minerva's Utopia. The southern testing grounds.
Test of Bravery.
Minerva's Utopia stood as a realm of its own. It had a dedicated region to serve as the host for the Test of Bravery.
The chosen venue was a massive circular platform situated within an expansive open expanse. This platform, suspended 40 meters above the ground, was encompassed by the vivid greenery of Minerva's Utopia, forming a picturesque backdrop. To access the platform, participants ascended phantom stairs that led them upwards.
The platform itself appeared to be composed of robust and rugged limestone, extending with a radius of 20 miles. This ample expanse accommodated numerous participants concurrently.
The platform's primary function was to assess a participant's combat potential. However, physical combat between opponents was unnecessary.
Instead, the platform's design transported participants' consciousness into an illusory realm, where virtual opponents were projected for them. These pairings occurred randomly within this illusory space, enabling participants to engage in conflict without any actual physical harm.
The participants would battle until their energy was depleted within the illusory realm. During these engagements, they aimed to accumulate points, rated on a scale of 0 to 100.
As participants progressed and garnered more points, the battles grew progressively more challenging. Those nearing the 100-point mark faced heightened difficulties often pitted against multiple opponents and even incarnations of unknown adversaries who hadn't physically participated on the platform.
These spectral manifestations lacked distinct facial features and transcended the capabilities of regular rankers. These apparitions engaged the participants intermittently, intensifying the challenge of amassing 100 points.
However, the trials within the illusory space were not limited to physical strain alone. The environment amplified sensations of agony and suffering to an extent far surpassing that of the real world. This aptly earned it the title of the Test of Bravery.
Even with the understanding that the pain and torment were illusory, participants could not evade the creeping dread of the impending confrontations, both against fellow participants and spectral adversaries. The heightened sensations of pain escalated as they neared the goal of achieving 100 points. The prospect of enduring pain multiplied several times over was decidedly unwelcome, particularly when the real-world injuries were already formidable.
On this day, the Test of Bravery welcomed a distinct challenger, one who held special significance. This participant stood out for various reasons, most notably due to his identity as the overseer of the city that granted access to Minerva's Utopia.
In essence, he could be termed a pseudo-owner of this domain.
This challenger, none other than Eren, occupied a solitary position on the Test of Bravery's designated platform. His purpose was clear: to conquer Minerva's Utopia and claim its ultimate legacy. To ensure an undisturbed focus on his objective, Eren had made arrangements with Agatha to temporarily restrict ordinary participants' entry while he engaged in this endeavor.
Already having triumphed in the three preceding tests within Sage Minerva Midea's creation, Eren now faced the final trial of Bravery.
The butcher had breezed through the Test of Wisdom, leveraging his advanced potion-related knowledge gleaned from devouring Master Ranked Sebastian Slughorn's experiences. Even Meeli, the custodian of Minerva's Utopia, was astounded by Eren's profound mastery of potion craft displayed during this trial.
The Test of Patience, set within a verdant greenhouse, was similarly aced by Eren. Here again, his extensive expertise in processing a variety of ranking resources, acquired from absorbing Sebastian's knowledge, proved pivotal.
Though Eren already possessed considerable potion-making skills and vast knowledge related to this field, Sebastian's insights elevated his performance to perfection, breaking previous records set by fellow Rankers.
While Eren encountered some challenges during the Test of Courage, his unwavering determination led him to achieve perfection, exhausting the Mini Monster Canyon's capacity to generate adversaries surpassing his abilities.
Throughout these trials, Eren's achievements broke all prior records, earning him a flawless 100 out of 100 points in each test. Such a feat had never been accomplished before. Meeli, the guardian of Minerva's legacy, watched Eren intently as he embarked upon the fourth and final challenge of Bravery. She maintained a respectful distance, refraining from intruding on his focus.
A perfect score on the fourth test would afford Eren the opportunity to encounter Minerva's residual soul fragment, the key to claiming her ultimate inheritance. Eren stood closer than anyone before to grasping Sage Minerva's true legacy. Meeli was a mix of anticipation and anxiety, her role as custodian intertwining with her emotional investment in Eren's journey.
Meeli had discerned that the level of difficulty Eren confronted far exceeded that posed to ordinary Rankers. As a homunculus who was merely in charge of the tests and not the mechanisms behind them, she remained unaware of the reason for this disparity in treatment within the runic array system established by Minerva. Nonetheless, she was certain that Eren must have triggered Minerva Utopia's heightened scrutiny.
Of course, this augmented trial difficulty was rooted in Eren's true Ranking Status.
As a B-Rank or Master Ranker, Eren technically wasn't eligible for entry into Minerva's Utopia. The realm was tailored for participants ranging from F-Rank to C-Rank after all.
Eren, however, gained access with the assistance of Alephee. Using Perfect Paradox, she instilled a phantom C-Rank mana core within Eren. Through collaborative efforts, they suppressed Eren's actual Ranker status, allowing him passage.
Perfect Paradox's effect granted Eren a C-Rank mana core, albeit at the lower end of the C-Rank spectrum. As such, he had a pseudo mana core that was in the vapor stage. Of course, he could not make use of his Master Rank mana core in this state.
This outcome emerged because Perfect Paradox had been based upon a recently ascended Expert Ranker's mana core. Alephee's powers had limitations of their own after all. This was already the best possible scenario Eren and she could manage to arrange.
This C-Rank mana core and Eren's physical attributes were misaligned, constrained to mimic the physical abilities of an Expert Ranker in the liquid stage mana core. This incongruity did not escape the detection of Minerva's Utopia's design, thus subjecting Eren to elevated trial intensity.
AN: The tests conducted inside Minerva's Utopia were explained in chapters 697-707. The Perfect Paradox was explained in chapter 729.
