"The mana here is so rich!" Leon exclaimed with wide eyes. In his entire life, he had yet to experience such a feeling. He felt like he was walking through a hot spring, and the steam in the air was actively soaking into his skin and purifying his body.
After staring like a fool with wide eyes for some time, Leon and Zeke eventually made their way to the chambers that had been marked as theirs for the next two hours. The time would only begin to count down after they stepped into the chambers, so they did not need to hurry too much.
When they got to their chambers, which were side by side, the two boys split up, each taking one. Leon stepped into his mana concentration chamber, and with just a single whiff of the air, he almost choked. The air was thick and foggy, saturated with dense mana that filled up Leon's mana veins, and made his core feel hot and full.
"Good heavens..." He sighed and quickly got into a meditative position, crossing his legs and placing his open palms on his thighs facing upwards. He closed his eyes, leaned his head back, and let out a deep breath, before beginning the meditation process that he had learnt.
The foggy air that hung around his body began to swirl around him, being absorbed little by little as the time passed by. The mana that flowed through his mana veins went to reinforce his mana core, strengthening it while also boosting his progress.
In this era, there existed multiple tiers and stages of mana cores. Tiers represented each major level, while stages represented minor levels. From the information that humanity had gotten from God's Sanctum, they had found that there were six known tiers. Within each tier were three stages, which represented the progress that a mage had made through that tier.
The names of the tiers were Earth, Sky, Master, Grandmaster, Lord, and Supreme. There were rumors that a seventh, sacred tier existed, but those rumors were mostly unfounded with no proof.
Leon was merely in the middle stage of the Earth tier. It was something remarkable for a human who grew up on earth to have reached this point so quickly after forming a mana core, but to Leon, it was far too slow. Zeke was already in the late stage, bordering the line that separated Earth and Sky, while he was still here.
With this session in the mana concentration chamber, Leon figured that he would be able to reach the edge of the middle stage, or even possibly step into the late stage!
With this thought in mind, Leon focused all of his mental strength to furthering his meditative state and getting the most out of this session.
Like that, two hours came to pass.
.
.
The meditative state was quite fragile. That was why the mana concentration chambers were all soundproof, to prevent the sounds from outside disturbing the mages that were meditating inside the chambers.
Leon was snapped out of his meditative state when the comm on his wrist buzzed, alerting him that only five minutes were remaining of his time in the mana concentration chamber. Leon cracked open his right eyes slightly, glancing down at his comm, before closing his eye again and taking a deep breath to consolidate his gains from this session.
Within his mental scape, Leon could focus on every aspect of his body. His mental body was currently standing on a sea of clear water. With a single glance around, Leon could see the endless space that resided within his mind. The sea beneath his feet was his mental energy.
While mental energy was not as defined a concept as mana, and could not affect reality in a clear mana, it was this mental energy that supported the casting of spells and most daily routines. A mage who was low on mental energy could not cast spells, no matter how full their mana core was.
In the middle of this ethereal place in Leon's mind, a large, purple, spherical orb that glowed with power was suspended above the sea. This was the mental manifestation of Leon's mana core. It was not truly present, but it was an easy way for him to visualize it in his mind.
Right now, his mana core was brimming with power, and a wide smile graced Leon's face as he laid his eyes upon it.
"Finally, the late stage." He sighed. His goal for coming here had been achieved, and he was satisfied. He probably would not find the chance to return to the mana concentration chambers for a while until he earned enough merits, and it would be much harder to get past the borders that separated tiers than that which separated stages.
Satisfied, Leon left his mental space. With a small smile, he got to his feet, dusted his trousers, and made his way out of his chamber. As he emerged, he saw that Zeke had already left before him, and was waiting with crossed arms.
"I thought you were going to go past the time limit for a moment there." The minotaur sighed before looking at Leon with a wide smile. "How was it?" He asked.
"Hmm, it was okay. I managed to step into the late stage." Leon gave his minotaur friend a thumbs up and grinned widely, unable to suppress his glee.
"Whoa, that's great!" Zeke waved his arm, about to slap Leon's back, but Leon ducked out of the way and summoned a fireball, raising it threateningly at his friend.
"Eh, sorry." Zeke scratched the back of his head sheepishly. He realized that if he had hit Leon, then Leon would have been sent flying by the force of the hit.
"Pff." Leon rolled his eyes and punched Zeke's arm, and the two boys burst into a fit of laughter as they walked out of the building. The mana in the air returned to 'normal' levels, and as they walked, Leon told Zeke about his minor breakthrough.