Asher took off his shirt and sat in the meditation position. Arthur took out the S-Rank Mana Gem, which was a blood red, with a radiant shaped fist-sized gemstone. He placed the stone in Asher’s hands and signaled Edward to start.
A normal awakening was not difficult. The person usually absorbed ample amounts of mana from the gem or the room they were in. The Mana Gem usually helped complete the formation of a Mana Core in the heart. Civilians were generally awakened at the age of 12, as declared by the World Association for common people to follow. For common people, the awakening process involved forming their Mana Core in the initial stages and gradually growing it over time. Depending on their talent, a person’s Mana Core could be formed between the ages of 13 and 19.
The World Association would then pick talented individuals under 15 to join them and send them to the World Academy. They would evaluate their results upon graduation and scout them accordingly.
Rich people, like Asher’s family, did not have to wait for their children to form their Mana Core. They could afford a Mana Gem solely for a person to use and awaken their children immediately. This was also a way for people in power to control newly awakened hunters.
“Little boy, focus on my mana movement inside your body and guide the mana from the gem accordingly. Be careful not to lose focus during this, as it may damage you severely,” Edward said while placing his hands on Asher’s back.
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Asher, who already knew how to form a Mana Heart, let Edward guide the mana through his upper chest area and stir it in the direction of his heart, just like normal blood circulation. Asher guided the S-Rank Mana Gem’s energy, following Edward’s guidance.
Even Edward was surprised by how quickly Asher got used to his mana circulation. He was now sure another genius had been born into the Greville family after the birth of “that” monster.
A milky white energy started gathering near the center of Asher’s heart and soon a grain-sized crystal formed. Asher kept giving more mana and circulating the rest of the mana through his body. The awakening process had two parts. First, you needed to form a Mana Core in your heart, which was called Mana Heart Formation. Second, you needed to guide the rest of the mana through your veins and remove impurities from your body. As mana was the fuel and the body was the vessel that contained it, it was very important to make your foundation as strong as possible during the awakening.
Asher wanted to improve his foundation even more than the last time. Edward saw that he had formed the initial Mana Core in his heart and was cleansing the impurities, so he stepped back and let Asher continue. Black, goo-like substances began to come out of every pore in Asher’s body. Due to the special room, the impurities disappeared as soon as they touched the floor. The process of laying the foundation was more painful the longer it took. A normal person would only endure it for 5 minutes before ending the ceremony. A genius might endure it for nearly an hour.
After some time, Arthur started to worry about Asher as it had been nearly 4 hours and he was still sitting there. Blood was coming out of his pores to replace his newly formed blood from the formation of the Mana Heart. His veins were bursting and repairing at the same time. All the fat on his body was now gone.
“What kind of monster is he to endure this much pain without even showing a hint of change in his expression after lasting this long?” Edward thought to himself. The last record for the longest foundation process was held by none other than Asher’s grandfather, who was one of the 11 SSS Rank hunters in the world and endured for 4 hours and 30 minutes. They were anxious, but hoping that Asher would somehow break his grandfather’s record.
During all of this, Asher was experiencing mind-numbing pain, which was familiar to him. In his previous life, the methods he chose to become strong always involved some kind of self-harming ability that caused him so much pain that he was always barely maintaining his sanity. Asher’s ability to stay calm and indifferent, coupled with his high intelligence, allowed him to keep himself sane.