"Three presents?" Alex asked with a raised brow.
"Yes, three presents," the young man answered as he leaned back on his throne with a smirk. "The strongest person that isn't following the path of magic has only barely reached the fourth Realm while there are many more Realms to go."
"You don't have any inheritance for techniques or any other person that can help you when you reach the third Realm. The first couple of Realms are still fine, but you will have to blaze your own path starting at the third Realm."
"So, you'll need some help. Otherwise, it would become impossible for you to reach any significant level of power."
Alex sighed.
'No help, huh?' Alex thought. 'I have to create my very own path to power.'
Alex looked at the young man for a couple of seconds as the young man only smirked back.
Alex's body shook slightly.
'Nothing to rely on. No person I can ask for pointers.'
'Everything is all on me.'
'That actually sounds exciting!'
Yes, Alex's body was not shaking out of fear or anxiety but out of excitement!
Alex hadn't played many games in the past, but just like many other people, Alex also wanted his life to be filled with a bit more excitement.
The mundane greyness and sterile systems in his old world were too boring.
Two fists couldn't beat four hands.
This was an old phrase that Alex had heard from one of his coaches in the past. It meant that numbers always beat individual strength.
A top-tier fighter might be able to win against two, three, or maybe even four people at once in a battle, but ten? A hundred? A thousand?
Impossible.
Just by piling onto the fighter with their bodyweight would allow the mass of enemies to make the fighter helpless since there was only so much muscle a man could have. One man couldn't resist hundreds of kilograms of weight pressing down on their body.
Alex looked at the young man.
'However, is that still true for him?' Alex thought. 'Would the numbers of normal humans even matter when they can't even get through his skin? Would the numbers matter when he can just kill everyone with a casual wave of his hand?'
'Fighting has always been a lifestyle of mine, but as long as I'm not in top form, and as long as I'm not in the top 1% of fighters, I can't make a living out of it.'
'Even more, a single slight injury might make it impossible for me to fight again in the future.'
'However, in this world, I can break these known conventions! I can achieve true power!'
"Tell me," Alex said with a seemingly calm voice. However, even he could hear the slight tremble in his own voice.
The young man only snickered a bit. However, he didn't comment on Alex's thoughts.
After all, he had told Alex more than once that he was perfectly suited for his world.
SHING!
A white light shone briefly, and a black cube appeared in front of Alex, floating in the air.
"This is your weapon," the young man explained.
Alex took ahold of the cube, and his body nearly fell over.
This cube was heavy!
"It doesn't look like a weapon," Alex said with furrowed brows.
"That's because it doesn't know what path you're choosing yet," the young man said. "Whenever you decide on your own path to power, tell the cube what it should become, and it will assume that form. Keep in mind that this form is permanent and that it can't be easily altered in the future."
"Why a weapon?" Alex asked as he looked at the cube.
"Because there are no smiths in the world that know how to make powerful weapons that are not Mage weapons. At some point, you would need to create your own weapon if you follow a path that requires one. If you had to do that, you would need to blaze two new paths instead of one. We can't make things too hard on you now, can we?" the young man explained with a grin.
Alex immediately noticed a problem. "So, I either can't use this weapon now, or it will also become useless in the future. After all, weapons are not created equal."
The young man chuckled a bit. "This one is," he said.
Alex blinked twice in confusion.
"It can grow by absorbing powerful metal," he explained. "In the beginning, it won't be much better than a regular sword or regular spear, but as long as you give it great materials, it will become more powerful."
"In short, this weapon will accompany you for the rest of your life, no matter how powerful you will become."
Alex looked at the cube with newfound appreciation.
'That really sounds magical. However, that's expected since I'm entering a world filled with Mages.'
The young man frowned when he read Alex's thoughts. The fact that his world was filled with nothing but Mages was a sore spot for him.
"Your next present is a separate space," he said. "This space acts as a world of its own, but a far smaller one. Don't bother looking for it since you can't use it yet. Wait until you reach the second Realm. Everything about this space will be explained to you then."
Alex nodded. Having some kind of extra dimension or something sounded quite useful. Additionally, Alex was sure that this separate space was not so simple. There were probably more things it could do.
"And as for your third and last present," the young man said as he leaned back on his throne again with a smirk.
"You get to ask me nine questions in total, and I will answer them honestly," he said.
Alex looked at the young man with surprise.
He could ask a God nine questions in total?
Did this mean that he could ask about the origins of the world?
Could he ask about some secret techniques only the God knew?
"Yes, you can," the young man answered.
"However!" he shouted. "You don't get to remember your questions and answers immediately."
Alex frowned. "What do you mean?"
The young man only grinned. "One question and one answer per major breakthrough," the young man said. "You get to ask nine questions since my world has nine Realms of power. You get to ask all these questions now, but the memories of them will only be unlocked as your strength increases."
Alex took a deep breath.
This revelation changed the entire meaning of these questions.
Initially, Alex had been interested in how the world worked to satiate his curiosity, but now, these questions could help his future self.
Alex knew that becoming truly powerful was nearly impossible. After all, how many supremely powerful people existed in that world? Alex wasn't so arrogant that he believed that he could easily achieve something that millions of people couldn't.
Alex remained silent for several minutes as he thought about what he should ask.
The young man didn't move during all of this time.
"Alright," Alex said after some minutes. "For my first question: What would be the optimal way to start my journey to power?"
pᴀɴdᴀ nᴏveʟ The question had been asked, and Alex had sacrificed this question for his future.
"That's a smart question," the young man said, pleased.
"First of all, you need the basics. You need sufficient physical strength, sufficient mental strength, sufficient Mana, and sufficient combat experience."
"In order to get sufficient physical strength, you need to follow a specific routine: Train your physical body until it's completely destroyed. After that, relax, close your eyes, and absorb the energy in the atmosphere. Due to your special constitution that makes practicing Magic impossible, the energy won't enter your soul but your body. Your body will be strengthened, and it will regenerate."
"This routine will also help you in achieving sufficient Mana and sufficient mental strength. By absorbing the energy in the atmosphere, the stuff that people in my world call Mana, your Mana storage will increase. At the same time, breaking your body more and more will increase your willpower while the absorption of Mana will have a nourishing effect on your mind."
"In order to gain sufficient combat experience, I would advise you to live in the wilderness close to the village I'm sending you. Try to survive there without any human help. If you feel like you are not in danger anymore, go further into the wild and survive there. Power is gained amongst danger."
"Follow these things for the next two years, and you should be ready to join human society again. When you've done all that, search for an academy in the nearby towns. Don't worry, there will be an academy that's just perfect for someone like you."
"And that's all," the young man said with a grin. "That should give you the optimal start in your journey."
Alex took all of this in.
"Alright, then for my second question…"
THWAP!
Alex's body suddenly jerked, and he felt like his mind had been hit with a hammer.
He looked around, and he saw that he was still standing in the hall. The young man was also in front of him.
However, the young man was laughing hysterically.
"What happened?" Alex asked in confusion.
The young man calmed down, but his face was filled with amusement.
"You've just asked your last question, and man, your last question was a doozy!" he said with a snicker.
For a second, Alex wanted to ask what he was talking about, but then he remembered that he would lose part of his memories.
Apparently, that had already happened.
"Because of your last question, I've changed a couple of things," the young man said as his grin widened in excitement. "Originally, I didn't want to give you an elemental affinity. After all, it would be a bit pointless since you can't practice Magic."
"However, your last question threw all of these plans out of the window," the young man shouted with excitement. "Now, I'm giving you a special affinity, and you might even be able to use it if you train hard enough. Who knows?"
Alex was still confused since he felt like he had been transported into the future.
"Additionally!" the young man shouted as he grinned widely. "You will get a new name!"
Alex blinked a couple of times. "New name? Why?"
"Because I say so!" the young man shouted with a laugh. "Parents have the right to give their children a name, and you will receive a brand-new body that I have given life to! In essence, I am somewhat your father. Therefore, I get to choose a new name for you!"
Alex really didn't like hearing that.
He had gone his entire life by Alex.
Suddenly changing it sounded… weird.
"I don't care!" the young man shouted. However, he didn't seem angry at all.
Instead, he actually appeared madly excited.
It was like he was about to see the greatest show of his life.
"You will use this name! You will be forced to use this name! Whenever you use your old name, you will feel pain!"
Alex really didn't want that.
Yet, the God didn't care.
"From today onward, your name is Shang!"
"Remember your name, Shang!"
'Shang?' Alex thought. 'That's a weird na-'
SHING!
And Alex was gone.
He had been teleported to his new world.
The young man leaned back with a snicker.
"Oh, this is going to be great," he said to himself with a smirk.