Mana cultivation simply means gathering the Mana from the surroundings to your Mana core situated in your abdomen.
A core's size is correspondent to the Mana level, therefore a bigger core size denotes a higher level.
Individuals are born with different core sizes and also have different size limits. Most Heracles and other talented swordsmen families are born with a level one core size and may have a limit of level four or level three which means that whenever they attain level four, they cannot level up beyond that.
But normal mana swordsmen are born with a level zero or no Mana core at all with a core size limit of level two or three which means that they cannot level up beyond level three no matter how much they try.
To level up your Mana core, you have to fill the core in your abdomen with Mana and when it gets filled up, it expands in order to be able to store up more Mana, the core stops expanding whenever your body has reached it's own Mana core limit.
The period between levelling up varies among individuals, an average Mana swordsman may take up to two years to move from one level to another under constant cultivation while a talented one may take between a period of six months to one year to move from one level to another.
Cultivation time can be enhanced by artificial means through the use of a pill called the 'blue pill'. The blue pill can significantly shorten a Mana swordsman's cultivation time enabling him to possibly transcend one level in one month. The side effect of using this pill is that the user's Mana core becomes weakened.
Core size limit can be overcome too by artificial means through the use of a pill called the 'red pill'. The red pill can enable a swordsman break through into a higher level even after reaching his body's core size limit. The side effect of using this pill is that if the user isn't strong enough to withstand the forceful changes it does to the body, he may die during the leveling up process.
.....
When Steve finished cultivating, he realized that it was very late in the evening and Trygve had come in whilst he was busy and went to sleep. He studied the Litanies a bit before it became dark and then closed his eyes as he lay on his bed.
'Another interesting day in the Infernal realm huh? I'm looking forward to more adventures here'
He thought as he drifted off to sleep
....
The next morning, the loud voice of the umpire woke everyone up, "Good morning contestants!!! Head to the cafeteria for your breakfast and gather at the preliminaries ground for the first test!!"
Steve and Trygve walked to the cafeteria with the other contestants for their breakfast. Everyone seemed to be itching with excitement as they walked, dressed in their respective battle uniforms that they wore into the Infernal realm with their weapons. It would be the first test to determine who would wield the Fiend Slayer.
At the cafeteria, Steve noticed that the prince was absent but his teammates were there. Billy was there with his team too but they were less noisy this time around.
'Maybe they're nervous about the test…or they could be possibly avoiding a repeat of yesterday's event' Steve thought as he gobbled up his breakfast, a plate of cornsilog (Corned beef, garlic rice and egg).
Finally, everyone was done with breakfast and they were gathered at the place where they conducted the preliminaries. The three officials, Williams, Joaquin and Tristan were floating in the air as Williams started to address them.
"Good morning contestants"
Once again, his lips barely moved but they could hear his voice clearly.
"Good morning grand master Williams"
"The blood, sweat and tears contest consists of six stages and we are gathered here now to proceed with the first stage….I believe you're all ready for the first test, because anyone who fails here will be sent back immediately without hesitation…" He paused and observed the determined faces of the swordsmen that stood before him, he smiled softly and nodded to himself in affirmation.
'They seem to have the guts….'
he said in his head before continuing his address
"….A total of five hundred swordsmen walked into the Infernal realm at the beginning of the prelims and unfortunately 120 swordsmen didn't qualify to participate thereby leaving 378 swordsmen for the first test…"
As he spoke, a huge screen appeared on the air.
"…this is a list of the remaining participating contestants here arranged from the highest score to the lowest score.."
The contestants 'oohed' and 'aahed' as they searched for their names in the list.
Steve bent his head in embarrassment as he saw his name at the bottom of the list
….378. Steven Heracles
Mana score: 308
No. 500
Lloyd's name was on top followed by Anna's name but something was terribly wrong with the next names.
Alberto and Fletcher's names were not on the list.
Steve's hand shot up in the air
"Question!"
"Proceed"
Williams looked at him with interesting eyes
"If 120 swordsmen failed to qualify in the preliminaries, aren't we supposed to be 380 and not 378?"
Williams smirked as he nodded slowly, there was at least one smart person amongst them.
"Yes…you are supposed to be 380 in total but unfortunately, Prince Alberto who was supposed to be the third person on this list is so injured that he had no choice but to drop out of the contest, our healers tried healing his injuries but there was only so much we could do for his damaged internal organs…"
Steve looked over at the Prince's team and noticed that they had annoyed looks on their faces and were shooting threatening glances at Billy and his team.
"…. Fletcher Fisher, who was supposed to be number four on this list disobeyed the rules of the contest by leaving the contestants arena. He has been automatically disqualified and will be sent back to the human realm once we find him"
'once you find him?! You mean you guys haven't found that four eyed octopus…well it might be possible because that guy was giving me some weird vibes, I can't imagine someone who can completely hide his Mana aura' Steve thought with an incredulous look on his face.
"….So now that you all know your rankings, we will now proceed to begin the first test…" Williams beckoned to the fairies and they led them out of there to the place where the first test would be conducted.
As they walked, Steve wondered how big the contestants arena was so he turned and looked around for Isabella, lucky enough, she was close to him, flying in the air.
"Hey" He called out to her with a smile on his face
She flew closer to him to hear him out
"How big is the contestants arena?"
"Well….let me see…"
She said and and put her hand to her chin as if she was trying to remember something, "…yes! Approximately 9.985 million square kilometers"
"What!!" Steve's jaw dropped in astonishment, "That's….."
"Massive! Isn't it bro?" Trygve butted in rudely with a very painful bro punch to Steve's arm.
Steve then shot him a glare that said, 'Do that again and I'll kill you'
'Wow….that means our tests are gonna take place in large ground areas…not bad' He thought as he rubbed his arm.
....
They finally arrived at an area filled with tall mountains all around 5,895 metres tall. Imagine 39 skyscrapers piled on top of each other, that was how tall one of those mountains were.
Williams spun around in the air and began to address them again,
"The first test is a simple test of endurance, all you have to do is to climb to the top of the mountain as fast as possible within 30 minutes…"
"Wait…what??!"
Steve couldn't believe his ears as he heard the contents of the test, how did they expect someone to climb to the top of a tall mountain in 30 minutes.
'Dang….the council must be mad for them to come up with such a crazy test'
"…You will be divided into groups of 27 members each, there will be fourteen groups in total. Each group has their own mountain to climb and please note that group members are not team mates, you are only divided into groups so as to reduce the number of people climbing each mountain…"
A ripple of confusion and anxiety spread throughout the crowd, it may not be impossible but it was going to be difficult and tasking. They didn't let these conflicting emotions show on their face as they raptly listened to Williams.
"…Once again, whoever finishes the mountain climb in the fastest time will have the highest rank…"
'what's so special about the highest rank?' This was the thought in most of the swordsmen's heads as Williams spoke.
As if Williams had read their thoughts, he proceeded to say, "If you maintain the highest rank for three consecutive tests, you will be given the blue pill"