Chapter 107 107. VESSELS OF POWER

The ten of them stood silently; waiting for Alex to say something, but he simply kept his gaze on their figures.

Tension inevitably built in their minds while they waited for the man's words.

Another two minutes of silent passed until a door at the edge of the room flew open. Ten recognizable figures exiting the door.

Noah watched ten humans which amongst them was Abigail.

Going back a few hours earlier, Noah recalled that immediately after the winners were called to the stage, their escorts left the table.

"They will lead you to your rooms, where you all will spend the night. The reward allocations will come tomorrow," Alex explained, "I congratulate you once again for your efforts, and wish you a good night," He performed a slight bow.

Alex immediately floated towards the ground, as soon as his feet touched the ground, green inscriptions lit up in the entire room. The inscriptions green light then converged on his body, his figure vanishing afterwards.

Noah could only shake his head at that scene, his eyes landing on Abigail who walked closer to him, her real voice ringing out.

"I trust you had a good night," she smiled, "Please follow me."

Noah limited himself to nod, his eyes landing on Moses, James and Isabella, who smiled and nod their head's at him. That was the closest way for them to say goodbye.

Abigail began her walk towards a seemingly door-less area in the room, actually all of them seemed to be going the same way, but no interactions were made.

Being at the front of the line, Abigail placed her right palm on the wall, yellow glowing lines lit up and spread from where her palm touched, then a part of the wall caved in. Abigail pushing it open.

A long brightly lit hall appeared in Noah's sight after that. Without saying a word Abigail proceeded to walk into the hall, Noah following her closely.

There were many branches in the hall, some of the winners walking into it and disappearing from sight, but Noah, Abigail and James continued to walk down the hall with no turns whatsoever.

Eventually Abigail stopped at a door, which signified that it was his room, and surprisingly James's room was directly next to his.

"I'll come back tomorrow. Have a good night," Abigail bowed, her figure turning and walking down the hall.

Noah heaved a sigh when she had walked far enough for her figure not to be seen. Shutting the door close, he turned and swept his gaze on the room.

By all standards the room looked like a top class room, which he probably didn't have enough money to lodge in, if he were on his own.

Walking towards the king sized bed, Noah found a set of clothes laid on it. 'Probably for tomorrow,' Noah thought pulling of the clothes he had on.

Luckily there was a bathroom, so he took a quick shower to relax his mind.

Exiting the bathroom, Noah dried his body using air magic. Honestly he wondered to himself why he hardly used it in fights, and instead used lightning.

Watching Dan utilize it in his fight and losing didn't really help the issue.

Naturally air magic seemed weaker compared to other elements, but Noah concluded that it was his lack of proper knowledege on how to use it that caused that mindset.

'Who knows, I might find a trainer or something someday,' He thought with a smile. Suddenly he heard a knock on his door.

His mind went on alert instantly, his consciousness expanding immediately, as he tried to figure out who it was.

"It's me," James's voice sounded, Noah relaxing; though he still remained a bit on guard.

Unlocking the door, Noah found James standing with a smile.

"I see you've already gotten comfortable," James spoke, his eye landing on Noah's shirtless chest; his head shaking in jealousy.

"You know, apart from the upgrade Mana gives us from cultivating, working out also helps the body, though that would be less needed from tier 3 upwards," James clicked his tongue while walking in, "But you already seem to not need working out, while I had to work my butt out when I was younger," He added.

Noah only raised an eyebrow at the young man's words, his mind noticing an opportunity to get information on that subject, and he didn't hesitate to grab it.

"How much do you know about tier 3," Noah suddenly said, after he had shut the door.

"A whole lot actually. What do you want to know, specially?," James replied, seemingly not minding the fact that Noah asked him a question most tier 2 cultivators at his level of power knew.

"Everything," Noah replied sitting on his bed, while also inviting James to do the same.

"Most of my knowledge might not be really specific since most valuable information about that topic is really expensive in the library, at least before we left Vonol it was," James started.

"Just tell me what you think I need to know," Noah said hastily, James nodding in response and clearing his throat.

"According to books and what I've heard, the tier 3 realm is referred to as the last step before becoming a demi-god, or at least tier 4 is considered the ranks of lesser demi-gods," James started his expression that of thoughtfulness.

"When an individual reaches tier 3, they form a Mana core which is also called spirit core, since Mana is referred to as a spiritual energy, but I don't know much on that," James continued, Noah eyes, ears and mind fully on him.

"They also form a soul core which is basically our mind, but far more powerful and very influential in terms of spells casting. The stronger your mind is, the more powerful spells you can cast, though it would then depend on whether your Mana core has enough energy to fuel the spell."

"Then lastly our bodies. When stepping into the realm of tier 3 our bodies would need more power than normal, and go through evolutions that tier 1 and 2 didn't bring.

There is even a ranking to determine how powerful your body is, but I never managed to read about that," James said with a sad sigh, but he continued immediately.

"To get this vessels of power; as they are called, to improve, you will need a body cultivation manual, specific to the type of element you have. You'll need a Mana core cultivation manual which is also specific to the element that you have. As for the mind I don't really know much. Information about that is very tight, and once again very expensive," James stopped, his eyes falling on a attentive Noah. A smile appeared on his face at that point, his mouth opening to produce words.

"Actually all these vessels of power have rankings, but i don't really know much, apart from the levels of mana cores which are ranked as red core, orange core, yellow core, green core and blue core. Only these five are currently known to man." James took a deep breath in.

"Each of those colors are further divided into three ranks, with a rank 1 red Mana core being the lowest possible quality, and rank 3 blue Mana core being the current highest," James stopped.

"Do you have any questions?," he asked Noah, who didn't hesitate to talk.

"What exactly is the difference between the ranks of Mana cores?. Is it quality or quantity of Mana, or is it both?," Noah asked.

"Both." James nodded, "A rank 3 red Mana core has a higher quality of Mana essence, and a higher quantity than a rank 1 red core. But the difference between a yellow core and red core is immense, hence the change in color," James explained.

"How are we to know the difference between ranks?" Noah asked.

"Well according to what I've read, they all have different shapes. A rank 1 Mana core being spherical in shape, a rank 2 looking like a ring, and a rank 3 is shaped like an octahedron," James explained.

Noah's couldn't help but raise his eyebrows at those words, his mouth about to ask a question, but James answered it before he could talk.

"Yes with every breakthrough into a new color, the Mana core returns to a spherical shape and begins the same shape transformation as it evolves," James smiled, Noah nodding his head in appreciation.

"That being said," James expression turned serious, "Our body has to be able to handle the power and quality of energy the Mana core produces, or else the body risks exploding, or the spirit core being damaged, which means a permanent disability in being able to cast spells." James explained.

Noah nod his head attentively, his mind rushing through thoughts. It seemed there was a lot more to know about after tier 2.

"What exactly do Mana core manuals do?," Noah asked though he knew the answer.

"Think of it like drawing raw Mana from the environment, except this time you'll need a technique that draws Mana faster, as the process is Incredibly slow due to the change of quantity you can hold, and it would have to be a refined Mana that has only your elements energy in it, thereby increasing the already long process,"James said.

"Then what about those with multiple elements," Noah asked with genuine curiosity.

A few seconds of silence passed, James scratching his head as he spoke, "I don't know," he stated.

"I did tell your it's not everything that is out in the public. That is why most join large guilds or the royal army," James shrugged.

A helpless sigh escaped Noah's mouth at that point.

"Thought i do know a bit of how the body improves. Do you want to know?," James said, Noah's head nodding frantically.