Drip!
Another drop of sweat dropped from Asher's face as the mana zone kept putting pressure on him.
A mana zone was a place that was naturally formed, unlike a mana meditation room, and it was an accumulation of a high mana zone made from wild mana. It was a perfect place for practicing your mana meditation.
Not only did it make your Mana Heart stronger, but even the tension between the multiple rings eased down, allowing one person to break through to the next rank much more easily when they tried to increase the rank of their mana core.
For Dane and Kai, this place was a treasure they needed the most as they were at A+ Rank, and they needed exactly this to ease the process of reaching S Rank in the future.
But for Asher, sitting here was a grueling process that was making his body sweat, and maintaining the mana flow around his body was incredibly difficult.
Because of that, Asher was using his aura to strengthen himself, but even then, this process was difficult.
Although it looked like Asher was only practicing his mana meditation, in reality, he was doing something different.
One of the mana doping methods that made Asher stronger replicated the effect of a natural mana zone that Asher created for his mana heart by using his Bloodline Ability.
It was a process that was akin to brewing a poison inside your body very slowly that would gradually affect your whole body.
But it was still one of the early techniques of the entire mana doping method that Asher created, as it could be done without the use of external materials.
Asher didn't possess his original bloodline ability, so he couldn't replicate that process, but having a natural mana zone that was very powerful, much more than what a C Rank Hunter could handle, he could mimic that process.
He did not go as far as repeating the entire process, which would harm his body for the cost of becoming more powerful, but he was partially replicating that process.
'Crack and bend,' Asher said in his head.
He repeated those words, slowly making cracks in the mana rings around his mana heart, and they were small cracks that would heal in a few seconds.
But he would try to bend them bit by bit, relaxing his mana heart and allowing it to absorb more mana and increase its density without breaking the barrier of C+ Rank.
What Asher wanted was to increase his limit of mana at C Rank without creating another ring and becoming a B Rank Hunter.
Although the change wouldn't be incredibly huge like what he achieved in his previous life, which allowed him to fight people more powerful than him as an equal.
The mana around Asher was going in circles and revolving throughout his body, but inside his body, that mana was going towards the mana core.
That core was absorbing the mana while he would repeat the cycle of cracking and bending the mana rings.
This was an insane process, as shattering your mana rings could make you a cripple for life and could even lead to death.
But because Asher had done this before, and he had accomplished that without dying, he could do it again right now.
Although there was something that was happening to him that Asher was aware of,
The more he was getting stronger, those senses, that madness, the rage, all of them were gradually coming back.
He was becoming closer to the person he was in his previous life, but because he had endured that madness and accepted it, Asher didn't stop increasing his strength.
Unlike his previous life, this time, Asher had accepted that it was his true nature, and trying to run away from it would only repeat what happened in his previous life.
***
In the World Academy,
Leonard was sitting with a bunch of playing cards in his hand, and in this room, there were two more people.
One of them was Jack Allister, who was looking at the cards in his hand, but the look on his face was serious.
"You know, right? What I am giving you is a chance, and there is no room for mistakes," Leonard said as he looked at the third person who was present in the room.
"Alan Astaria, I am sure you know with your current standing, you aren't suitable to become part of my circle," Leonard said, making Alan clench his fist.
He wasn't angry at Leonard but frustrated with the way he was being treated in the World Academy.
"I will do whatever you ask, but I want to enter the Trials Ground," Alan said.
Leonard looked into Alan's eyes, and he smiled.
"You want to defeat your half-sister, right?" Leonard asked.
"That bitch is not my sister!" Alan shouted with anger.
"That worthless garbage is a stain on the Astaria name!" Alan said.
"In a single year, I will become stronger than that crippled bitch," Alan added.
"But that wouldn't change the fact that the Heir of the Astaria Household lost," Leonard said.
"That's why I am giving you an offer, something that will take down both of your worries," Leonard said.
"Both?" Alan asked with a confused look on his face.
"Yeah, I don't care about that girl, but you hate Asher Greville because of the way he treated you, right?" Leonard asked.
Just by the mention of Asher's name, Alan got shaken, and Leonard could see the change in his behavior.
He could see that Alan was subconsciously afraid of Asher, as he had become a source of his trauma.
"I will allow you to enter with Jack, and he will help you inside," Leonard said as Alan looked at Jack.
Jack was silent the whole time because Leonard had explained the plan to him, but by the look on his face, it was obvious that even Jack was hesitant about Leonard's plan.
Leonard took out a bracelet and put it on the table.
"What is this?" Alan asked.
"It is something that will help you, an S Rank artifact," Leonard said.
"S Rank, wait, WHAT?" Alan almost stood up, but Leonard's mana took over the room.
"Listen now, Alan Astaria. Whatever you see here, hear here, and do here, nothing can go outside," Leonard said as the smile on his face vanished.
Alan could feel Leonard's dangerous aura, which was something similar to what he felt from Asher.
He was shaken by the change of behavior in Leonard, which was something he hadn't expected because Leonard always behaved nicely with him.
But right now, Alan could feel that the Leonard before him was dangerous.
"It's part of my power, something that nobody except the two of you know. Do you understand what this means?" Leonard said.
"Be careful because out of all people, you don't want to become my enemy, right?" Leonard asked as he smiled.
"Y-Yes, I wouldn't tell anyone," Alan assured Leonard instantly.
"Good, I expected that much from someone who carries the Astaria name," Leonard said with a smile, but his mana was still covering the whole room.
"I will give you a chance to get your revenge on Asher Greville and get away with it," Leonard said.
"And you will get what you wanted to do originally as well," Leonard added.
"Really?" Alan asked.
Jack was silent, but looking at those S Rank artifacts, even he was confident that this plan couldn't fail.
Because, just like Leonard said, nobody knew that Leonard was capable of something like this.
'If I do this, I will take the same spot as Reece Williams,' Jack thought to himself.
After all the failures this past year, this wasn't an offer he could miss.
'Father told me that he would give me that secret elixir as well,' Jack thought in his head.
All three people in this room had their own thoughts and motives, but all of them were waiting for one thing: the Trial's Ground.
In a few more days,
Amelia and Damian were walking in the Outer Sector, and they were going to one of the places Amelia liked to visit.
"He hasn't come out?" Amelia asked.
Damian shook his head in denial.
"What is he doing? The Trial's Ground has been announced," Amelia said.
"I mean, there's still around a week," Damian said.
"What about you? Are you participating?" Damian asked.
"No, my choice hasn't changed. I don't think I am ready," Amelia replied.
"I have learned something new from those books, but I haven't mastered it yet," Amelia added.
"Really?" Damian was surprised.
Amelia was someone who could learn something very quickly and implement it, though not comparable to someone like Asher. Damian always thought highly of Amelia in this regard.
"The concepts are very complex. I don't think I can use them unless I hit C Rank," Amelia replied.
"Are those books that difficult that even Ash is still reading them?" Damian asked.
"Probably, he must have chosen something complex as well," Amelia replied.
"I wouldn't be surprised if he only understood half of them by now because I am far from understanding half," Amelia said.
"I guess it is better; there are many rumors this time," Damian said.
"I don't think any of the Third Year students would be able to hinder him," Amelia said.
"And those students outside, they will not stand against someone from an Elite Family," Amelia added.
She had heard the rumors that some students weren't happy with certain participants from the second-year student group.
"Haha, that's true. I don't think anyone will be stupid enough to go against the Heir of the Greville Family," Damian said.
Although the rumors weren't targeting Asher, in fact, they were against someone else.
Punch!
"There are so many useless mouths in this damn Academy," Vanessa said.
"Ease down," Sam said as he looked at Vanessa, who was venting her anger on the punching machine.
"It's not like they can stop her from entering," Sam said.
Both of them had met for a spar, and Vanessa had requested Sam to practice with her, as she knew Sam was quite good despite his rank.
"They are just jealous that she is above them," Vanessa said.
Punch! Punch!
There were multiple rumors questioning if someone as unpredictable as Alyssa should be allowed inside the Trial's Ground, considering her background.
But the recipient of those rumors was currently in the Second Year Ranker's Dorm, sitting in her room, drawing a black rose with a red stem.
