Sometime later, Ross and Julia eschewed themselves to allow Alex to get the rest he needed.
Now left to himself, Alex thought back to the feeling he had when he was in that blazing form. Honestly, it was an intoxicating feeling.
'But it also comes at a cost. But what I'm interested in the most are the conditions to take that form again.'
While he had a guess as to how he achieved it, he didn't want to rely on his emotions and stringent conditions like when he felt his life was in danger.
What's more, there was no guarantee that would always work. What Alex was interested in was how to call it upon command.
'That would be a huge trump card in my arsenal. Let's just wait for Hunter Zol's explanation before doing anything else.
"Xex, wake me up in two hours' time. I want to cultivate a bit to see what happens."
[Of course. You also mentioned earlier you needed to contact Abigail. Do you still want that reminder?]
"Ah… Her too. Thanks for the reminder."
[That's why I'm here. Rest well.]
...…..
Hunter Zol took his eyes from Alex's room shortly after Ross and Julia left him to rest. He was currently sitting in an office space assigned to him. With his presence here, he needed a place to dwell during his stay.
And while he could go and come in a blink, he chose to stay. Right now, his mind was making multiple plans revolving around Alex and how best to protect him.
'With what he showed in the trials, it's only a matter of time before they start approaching him.'
Power like that would drive men to do whatever it took. Imagine a Class S hunter able to do what Alex did. They would be in an entirely different class.
'But I know for a fact that what he did was entirely due to his void energy; something only Alex had survived. It's not an ability anyone could have.
'But… Alex himself is all they would need. Perhaps his blood or something about him could give them the same power.'
Even with the kind of strength he had, he wasn't all-powerful. There were those out there with their own agenda.
Heck, he might have been just as curious about Alex if he didn't know what he did. He and every other Class S hunter had hit some kind of wall as they were unable to increase their strength any further.
But they instinctively knew they were not at the peak of their power; they just didn't know how to move from where they were.
'Now then, the real mystery is how his mana that was supposedly trapped in his cells be used till he was drained.'
He had been pondering that question for a while now and from what he saw of Alex's system, the void energy seemed to wash over his body and fuse with the stored mana.
How it increased his strength all the way to the very peak of a Class E hunter was the difficult part.
If Alex explained that his refined mana is used to increase the integrity of his cells, strengthening him beyond normal, then did that mean the fusion of those energies strengthened him beyond his level as well?
He thought.
Even now, humans barely know anything about void energy. So he was unsure how that energy was able to push him to that level, even if it was only temporary.
'Pushing a body beyond what it could handle could be detrimental to the being, but that also did not happen; only his mana was drained, leaving him very weak.'
The conditions were also not very clear. Was the condition Alex being in mortal danger, or was it driven by his intense emotions at that moment?
Or must his mana pool be close to empty? The answer wasn't going to be found without some tests.
"We'll find out eventually."
He finally muttered with a sigh.
He then accessed his AI assistant and gave it a couple of instructions to carry out for him. It was time he did a little something for the boy.
...
Two hours later, Xex did what he was instructed and woke Alex from his slumber. Waking up, Alex attempted to stand on his feet and noticed how he was still having a bit of difficulty.
"Just how much was taken out of me?" He wondered out loud and then moved to the mana podium. It was time to cultivate to see if he could recover his mana despite not being able to cultivate for some time now.
To his surprise, he could absorb mana into his body just fine.
"Haha…" He laughed in joy, missing the feeling that came from bathing in mana. He quickly regained his composure and returned to cultivating.
A few hours later, the sky outside was darkening when Alex finally opened his eyes, and his eyes flashed a dark hue for a few seconds before disappearing.
"My cells are filled to the brim once again and I still can't channel it."
He noted this recurring issue when he tried to circulate his mana only to feel the void energy. His mana remained as dormant as ever.
After trying a couple of things, he still came short as he could not figure out what the trigger was.
"Hmm…"
His thoughts spun trying to see if he could come up with another plan and thought about going back to the VR world to try it out when he heard the familiar heavy voice of Hunter Zol.
"You've recovered your mana. How do you feel now?"
Quickly turning his head, Alex was not as surprised as one would be when they suddenly heard someone's voice in their room.
'Maybe I was expecting him to make an appearance?'
He mussed and then replied, "Not much different from before, I'm afraid."
He stared at his right hand in thought before lifting his head to meet Hunter Zol's eyes.
"Mm… Come with me."
With a gesture of his hand, Alex and Zol disappeared from the room, both knowing exactly what they wanted to talk about.