Villain's Path: Transmigrated with an SSS+ Luck Stat

Chapter 42: Mana Cultivation

The sun set with a soft orange light, hiding behind the high mountains and basking the evening glow over the forest and the city below.

Inside Wynthalor, a prominent city of Beastriheim, the landscape was covered by tall mountains and dense forests from all sides. The city was located in a hilly area formed in the very center, surrounded by steep mountain ranges, creating a picturesque view that highlighted the beautiful natural scenery of the region.

Near the quiet park where the academy students currently resided for the tour, a boy with black hair sat cross-legged in a lotus position. His eyes were closed as he focused on his meditation to cultivate his mana. He continued to circulate the mana to every single part of his body. The evening breeze was constant, rustling his dark hair with the cold air blowing down from the mountain peaks. His focus remained unwavering in the silent park environment.

As time passed, he finally opened his eyes and gazed at the surroundings, noticing that it was already past the evening and the sun had almost set. The pale moon could be seen rising over the city. From this hilly elevation, it looked as if he was closer to the moon than ever before.

Just as he was going to stand up and stretch his body to let go of the muscle stiffness, the system notifications chimed continuously. The excited voice of the female system echoed, a sound which Alden was still not able to get used to.

[Ding! Your mana circulation has been improved!]

[Ding! Your control over mana has improved!]

[Ding! Your mana capacity has increased significantly!]

[Ding! Your mental capacity has increased significantly!]

[Ding! The impurities in your mana core have been purified significantly!]

[Ding! Hidden quest has been completed!]

[Mission: Cultivate your mana for 100 hours - Completed!]

[Reward obtained: Concentration!]

[Mana Concentration]

[Description: Absorb surrounding nature mana into your body to temporarily boost your mana capacity and physical capabilities to double.]

[Note: This ability may take a toll on your body after use. If used for a prolonged time, it may cause irreversible damage to your mana core and overload it.]

[Ding! You are close to a breakthrough to C- rank!]

[Ding! Do you want to check your Status Window?]

[Y/N]

Alden stared at the flood of notifications while folding his arms across his chest. He looked at the windows with a calm face.

"Hmph... It seems it was worth spending my time cultivating my mana for the entire past week before coming on this tour."

As he searched through the new windows, he found that he had gained a new ability, something that was going to be a lifesaver in dire situations.

"The ’Concentration’ ability is quite overpowered. It can boost my overall strength and mana to double the normal amount. This makes my stats comparable to those of a C+ ranker, and I might even reach the early B rank levels. It is temporary, but it is still very useful when facing enemies who are stronger than me."

As he glanced at the other notifications, he saw various messages showing his steady growth in mana. He closed his eyes and inhaled a long breath, focusing entirely on his mana core.

Inside his body, just beside his heart, a core made of pure mana floated gently. It was no bigger than the size of a human fist, but the mana contained inside it was massive in quantity. In order to upgrade his rank, he just had to cultivate his mana properly. It involved a simple process that he had figured out himself after meditating for quite a while.

The steps were basic. First, he absorbed the atmospheric mana into his core. Then, he circulated that mana throughout his entire body. Simultaneously, he absorbed more mana from the surrounding atmosphere into his core and circulated it again, while releasing the previous batch of used mana from his body back into the air.

He repeated the same steps again and again. This cycle not only increased his mana capacity, but it also increased the purity of his mana by constantly flushing out the residual impurities. It improved his control over the mana. By continuously supplying mana to his muscles and bones, his body adapted and strengthened, which naturally boosted his physical stats. His mental energy also increased by maintaining focus during meditation. It was not some legendary technique created by a great archmage; it was just his own practical method.

Alden’s focus was then turned towards his heart just beside the Mana core, floating surrounded by the heart was a glowing ring made up of the Violet energy, which was similar to the energy which he had absorb in his body after he had touched the Orb from deep within the sea, in that weird space covered by a barrier.

As he focused on the circle, he felt a new unknown mystery which he had to solve. He pulled his gaze back and opened his eyes, letting the mystery to remain as a mystery for now.

"My stats have also increased so fast. I didn’t expect that even my physical attributes were going to increase just through mana cultivation. But whatever the reason, it is a win for me anyway. It seems my innate ability, ’Growth-Acceleration’, has made a significant contribution to this."

He muttered to himself.

"I still don’t know exactly how that ability works, but I can learn more about it after spending time in training."

He sighed to himself.

"Life has become quite a hurdle nowadays. Daily training, facing some kind of brand new trouble every single day, and dealing with the disdain of the other academy students."

"Tchh! Just remembering their faces makes me want to punch them. What did I even do to them? Most of the students are completely unknown to me. I don’t remember stealing their family treasures or doing anything bad to them, even from the past Alden’s memories. Sigh... What a pain in the ass."

As his gaze finally fell on the last system interface prompt, he didn’t wait and clicked ’Yes’ to check his status. The female system voice chimed again.

[Ding!]

[STATUS WINDOW]

[Name: Alden]

[Titles: None]

[Age: 18]

[Race: Human]

[Talent: Unclassified]

[Class: Swordsman]

[Rank: D+]

[Bloodline: Awakened!]

[Affiliation: Rising Star]

[Elements: Wind, Water, Fire, Ice, Darkness, Space]

[STATS]

[STR: 99/100] [AGI: 99/100]

[DEF: 98/100] [INT: 97/100]

[HP: 430/430] MP: 420/420]

[LUCK: SSS+]

[Techniques:

•Basic Swordsmanship (C-)

•Astral-Step (C-)]

[Abilities:

•Growth-Acceleration (SSS++)

•Stellar Manifestation (C+)

•Concentration (C-)

•???]

[Skills:

•Hunter’s Mark (Rare Grade)

•Infinite Nexus (Divine-Grade)]

...

Growth Acceleration.

It was a rare reward Alden had obtained after merging several of the previous rewards he received from the system. It was an SSS++ rank innate ability, which was unprecedented according to the world’s standard ranking system.

Since it was a passive innate ability related solely to growth, it could not be used actively in a battle like a magic spell or sword skill. However, if anyone thought it was only useful for speeding up the user’s natural ranking speed, they would be wrong.

Growth Acceleration not only pushed Alden’s natural physical and magical growth to ten times the normal speed, but it also did much more. His comprehension and his ability to grasp complex structures and magical analysis became unmatched. He could adapt to normal battles seamlessly.

Because Growth Acceleration was a passive ability, it always remained in active mode. Every single step he took was factored into his growth. He could adapt to different fighting styles with ease. He could learn from various difficult situations and the battles he fought. His instincts would naturally guide him toward continuous improvement.

For a simple example, if Alden tried to cook a meal for someone—let’s say Alicia—and she did not like the taste, the next time he cooked for her, he would naturally and instinctively know her exact taste and preferences. This would guide his hands, and the food would turn out delicious enough to satisfy her. The more times he made food for her, the better he would become at it, until he eventually reached the level of a master chef.

Coming back to the main topic of strength, for a normal Awakener relying on their natural growth speed, it might take them at least six months to push past their limits and advance from D-rank to C-rank. For a talented prodigy, it might take three to four months to reach C-rank. For a rare genius born once in a century, it might take a month or two.

Even if one compared the growth speed of a century genius, it would still only be about three times the normal ranking standard.

For the record, there had never been a person in the history of Elderia who possessed a growth speed of ten times the norm. Such a thing was unheard of in this world.

***

[A/N: Hello everyone! Thank you for reading this Chapter.

I’ve noticed that several readers have been asking about the Growth Acceleration ability—what it is, how it works, and why its growth speed is 10x instead of 100x if it’s an SSS+ Rank ability.

So, I tried to explain it as simply as possible. I didn’t go into too much detail since everything will become clearer as the story progresses.

As for why I chose 10x instead of 100x, the answer is actually pretty simple.

Because I wanted his growth speed to be 10x. Yep, that’s it.

From the world’s ranking system that I designed, a 10x growth speed is already incredibly powerful. If I had made it 100x, he could probably reach A Rank within a month—or even less. At that point, the story would be over before it had even begun. That’s why I decided to keep it at 10x, considering the world’s power progression.

I hope you continue to enjoy the story, and don’t forget to spam some generous Gifts for this beautiful, beautiful explanation.

— Astral_Weaver]