After having a complete health checkup at the hospital that showed no abnormalities putting his parent's minds at ease, Alex returned home and went straight to his room, eager to explore with mana.
Alex sat on his bed in the meditation position and started absorbing mana to first test the limits of his body, and after four hours, he hit his limits with his body being unable to absorb any more mana.
Alex wanted to progress in the path of Mana, advancing through the Ranks as he did in the ancient world, but unlike the ancient world, he couldn't just level up and skip the natural requirements needed for Rank promotion.
Alex had general information about how the inhabitants of the Ancient world advanced through the first three Ranks, but he was clueless about how difficult it would be for him to practically utilize his information.
Alex was currently at the Mortal Rank, and to advance to the first Rank, he needed to refine his heart from impurities, make it a better vessel for his mana, and improve his body in a particular physical or magical direction to his current limits.
The third requirement will require Alex to give his mana an elemental attribute, and after completing all three conditions, he could create his own or learn a class from a class tomb completing the final condition and advancing to the first Rank.
Alex was worried about many things while tens of questions filled his head, but he decided to put everything aside and focus on refining his heart from the impurities.
Alex didn't directly start refining the impurities from his heart but instead tried testing on his blood, knowing mana could be very destructive without proper control, and he wasn't willing to take any risk.
Alex's body was filled with impurities, while his control cover mana was good for being a mortal, but it was trash compared to what he could accomplish in the Ancient world.
Alex spent the next two hours circulating the mana through his blood vessels and, at first, letting the mana lose at a very slow pace making it flow without any direction.
After an hour, the mana reserve was close to depletion, so Alex stopped the mana flow and started recovering his mana for a second session.
In the next ten hours, Alex repeated the mana circulation twice, both times taking control of mana and making it flow with the blood through all his organ at a very slow pace while sensing for any abnormality.
At the end of the third and last session, Alex's body was drenched in sweat, which smelled horrible, and without delay, he took a shower while placing his bed sheet in the washer to avoid an unwanted situation.
It was the following day when Alex got done taking a shower and doing a light exercise, and then he ate breakfast with his family.
After almost three days of staying logged off from the Ancient world, Alex stood before his VR capsule, ready to return, but he felt extremely anxious about what AI Zero knew and what he had planned for him.
"Let's Hope everything goes well," Alex thought as he entered his VR capsule.
Even for a moment, Alex didn't believe that Zero didn't know about the change that happened to him, and he took a whole day off not just to play with Mana but to think of something he could use to save himself and negotiate a better deal with Zero.
Alex knew Zero wouldn't just congratulate him for the changes, explain the real truth about the Ancient World, and let him live his life like normal in the Ancient and the real world.
Alex had a thousand different scenarios revolving in his head, but as he wasn't sitting in some secretive government-controlled hidden facility, he felt a lot of hope for his situation.
-------------------
Alex appeared in a beautiful garden, and a few feet away from him was a table with two chairs, and on one of them was seated a man dressed in blue trousers and a light green shirt smiling toward him, holding a cup of tea.
"Alex, we meet again," Zero said, pointing toward the chair before him.
Alex took his seat before Zero while trying his best to keep his emotions in check and accepted the cup of tea offered to him.
"Last time we met because of your noteworthy achievement, of you defying the odds and acquiring the darkness Ruler legacy while also becoming the Ruler of the Malefis Domain,"
"I knew we would meet again, but I calculated it to be after a few months, but here we are, ready to discuss world-breaking truth," Zero said, refilling his teacup.
"I suppose you have already sensed Mana and should have guessed that your sudden changes are linked to the Ancient world, on which you will be correct,"
"You must have tens of questions, mostly about if the Ancient world is real, and as much as it sounds fascinating to imagine it to be true, but sorry to disappoint you, but the Ancient world is just a virtual world,"
"To explain how you are suddenly able to sense Mana, it is because of the opportunity you earned in the game by completing the third Test of Might,"
"After you accepted the reward, mana was slowly injected into your unconscious body in a predetermined sequence to make it familiarise with the foreign energy and start accepting it naturally."
"Now you can ask any question that you want me to clarify," Zero said with a carefree smile.
'I don't know how much truth is in the second half of his explanation, but I feel like he is completely lying,' Alex thought, pretending to be pondering over the new info.
"Do I still have my freedom?" Alex asked the question that weighed on his mind.
"You are as free as any ordinary individual can become in your society, but to truly answer your question, yes, you will need to accept two of my conditions to keep your freedom in the Ancient world,"
"First, You will not disclose this new information to anyone in Ancient or the real world and will keep it to yourself,"
"Second condition is that you will hide your strength from the public and not use it unless absolutely necessary." Zero said, and a holographic system screen instantly appeared before Alex.
'I was overthinking things too much,' Alex thought, feeling relief seeing the two simple and unrestrictive demands.
ƥαṇdαs ηθνε|·ƈθm Alex felt quite anxious, and rightfully so because after experiencing two events of such ground-breaking reality of returning in time and awakening mana in real life.
His mind automatically questioned the motive behind the introduction of the Ancient world and what that might be, but for now, he was safe, which put his mind at ease.
"How Do I progress through the path of Mana warrior," Alex asked as he accepted the contract.
"Check your Galactic shop, and you will find your answers," Zero said, with a smile, and before Alex could say anything, his eyes were shrouded by darkness.
'Things went better than I expected,' Alex regained consciousness lying in a luxury bed in a familiar room, feeling all his pent-up anxiety dissolve.
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