Chapter 254: Mana Limit Chapter 254: Mana Limit Leo clicked on the pending System notification hovering at the edge of his vision. Ding! >Soul Mate bond with individual ’Lily’ has crossed a critical point. >Both parties are now able to convey emotions clearly and feel a sense of belonging and extreme comfort around their counterparts. >The system is now capable of boosting the soul mate’s growth in the same way as the Host’s. >Major effect — Stat limiter removed from individual ’Lily’. Ding! Stats Updated: [Lily] {Natural stat growth has also occurred} Vitality: 59 -> 66 [259 -> 266] Strength: 52 -> 58 [252 -> 258] Agility: 48 -> 55 [248 -> 255] Stamina: 52 -> 59 [252 -> 259] Intelligence: 200 !450! -> 450 [400 !650! -> 650] Mana: 8000 !18000! -> 18000 [16000 !26000! -> 26000] Usable Mana: 26000 units But it didn’t stop there. >At the current Soul Mate bond level, personal mana can be directly used by the counterpart through physical contact between the two. [Note: At higher stages, the mana pools of both individuals will combine to form a larger, shared mana pool. At that point, no physical contact will be required. This process will also enhance both parties’ souls] --- Since there was no limiter on her anymore, this meant there would be no slowdown in strength gain. In simple terms, unlike people who eventually reached the ceiling of their power and experienced a gradual reduction in stat growth through natural means, Lily and Leo would never face such a bottleneck. To put it another way— A Peak Green Tier Swiftroot Apple increases a Peak 2-star person’s Agility by 4 at maximum. That means someone who is still far from their natural stat ceiling would receive the full benefit of the fruit—4 units of Agility. However, a person who has already surpassed their natural stat growth limit might only gain 2, or 1, or 0.1 even. [Note: An individual’s natural stat increase is tied to their Soul Rank. Common — 10% of the star rank they are in, Uncommon — 20%, Rare — 30%, and so on.] But that rule no longer applied to Leo and Lily. No matter what, they would always receive the full 4 units—provided they consumed fruits of appropriate tiers relative to their current star rank. {You cannot expect Leo, being a Low 4-star, to gain a high amount of stats from White Tier fruits} White — ★ Green — ★★ Blue — ★★★ Purple — ★★★★ Yellow — ★★★★★ Orange — ★★★★★★ Red — ★★★★★★★ Gold — ★★★★★★★★ Black Gold — ★★★★★★★★★ Black — ★★★★★★★★★★ Conversely, fruits—or treasures—of a higher grade than the individual would have an amplified effect. --- Leo was stunned. Doesn’t this mean Lily can use my massive mana pool? He knew she possessed the skill [Black Storm Lightning], a skill that consumed an enormous amount of mana just to form the clouds—nearly 5000 units initially, followed by 1000 units per minute to maintain it. Because of that, Lily’s firepower had always been limited. But once their Soul Mate bond progressed further and their mana pools combined, that restriction would vanish completely. Even now, if someone attacked their territory, Lily could simply sit back and rain lightning from the skies. As for mana consumption—Leo could just hug her the entire time. The enemies would die as it is without being able to do anything. "This is fucking awesome!" Leo exclaimed, unable to contain his excitement. He glanced to the side. Lily was still clinging to his hand, her breathing slow and steady as she slept peacefully. Extreme comfort, huh? Leo mused with a grin. I might need to carry her around in a backpack for both our sakes. He chuckled softly. Lily stirred at the sound, her lashes fluttering open slightly as she noticed Leo awake, looking down at her with an affectionate gaze. Without fully waking, she leaned up and pressed a light kiss against his lips before wrapping her arms around his neck and drifting back to sleep. Ting! At that moment, both Leo’s and Lily’s phones buzzed. Since she clearly had no intention of waking up, Leo picked up his phone and checked the message. >The Final Phase of the Competition will begin today from 9 AM onwards. All Top 10 students’ attendance is mandatory at the Grand Arena to check their allotted fighting schedules and have a brief introduction with other participants. >Betting by the current Top 6 students is prohibited. Leo froze when he read the last line. "...No wonder that Uraan guy didn’t challenge others to take positions in the Top 6, even though he clearly had the strength," Leo muttered. The academy had implemented this rule because the Top 6 students had already observed countless matches from lower-ranked competitors. By comparing those matches to their own abilities, they could easily predict winners and place bets on themselves to make a fortune—creating an unfair and heavily biased betting environment. Which was exactly what Leo had planned. Too bad that plan was dead on arrival. Judging by this, Uraan likely understood the academy’s internal workings quite well. That suggested his acquaintance was either an upperclassman—or possibly even a member of the teaching staff. Leo glanced at the time. 6:34 AM "Let’s get our day started!" he said enthusiastically, already itching to throw hands in the arena. "Lily! Lily! Wake up! We need to be in the Grand Arena before 9 AM. Get up!" Leo called, gently shaking her. "Mhmm... I want to sleep a bit more..." Lily mumbled, tightening her hold on him as she wrapped her legs around his body. After a bit more persuasion, Lily finally opened her eyes fully—but she felt the change instantly. Her gaze dropped to her palm as she clenched her fist, then slowly unclenched it. "How...?" she murmured, confusion flashing across her face. She felt stronger than ever, as if an invisible shackle that had always been there was suddenly gone. Leo explained that her capped mana units had been freed, allowing her to utilize far more mana than before. Lily didn’t question his explanation and accepted his words without hesitation. "Now no one can defeat me in today’s matches!" she declared confidently. "Not even Leon!" Leo shook his head at her enthusiasm as they headed out to eat. Miho had already prepared everything by then. As for Aina, Mira, and Sylva—they were left to their own devices.