Several days had passed since Alex and his friends celebrated a shared birthday and received too many gifts to count.
And in that time, Alex met with Julia's father and brother for a man-to-man chat. Needless to say, Alex passed with flying colours.
"You are aware of our guest Henry, right?" Lucas asked as Alex nodded. With Alex's confirmation and knowing his reasons for being in their system, Lucas didn't have to spell it out to Alex to treat Julia well.
And while Julia herself would go to hell rather than get together with someone else, Lucas had to make the boy understand how precious his daughter was.
He was not going to tolerate any nonsense from Alex. Alex had to make many assurances to the father and brother till they were satisfied with his response.
Now with most of the miscellaneous stuff out of the way, the two S-Class Hunters summoned Alex and his friends. It was time to get back to work.
In a large canyon somewhere on Mars, the two hunters and the kids assembled to discuss what they intended to do.
With nothing but an empty land that guaranteed peace and quiet, a discussion that was bound to result in changes in their universe began.
Hunter Zol brought out seats and a small table for snacks, mostly for the kids. He and Mason sat on one side of the table while Alex, Julia and Ross sat on the other one.
"You already know why we're here." Zol began and the kids nodded in understanding.
However, before he could continue, Mason signalled him to pause. He had his own questions for Alex and wanted that cleared before they began.
Naturally, Zol had explained a lot of things to Mason, but he wanted to hear from the kid himself. He even went through the report of what Alex claimed to have witnessed in that space they called the void/origin space.
"Alex, tell me more about the energy you use. I want to understand how exactly it's different from the mana we know."
Alex nodded as he gathered his thoughts on how to best describe the energy he used. Mason's curiosity about the energy stemmed from the visitor who had the same energy and aura.
He knew it was what made Alexander so strong for his level. Honestly, the system of power they used shouldn't be applied to Alex at all.
Who knows?
Maybe his next level-up would place him somewhere around Class D or even C.
"Well, I first noticed that the energy I use in casting my light abilities was different when the aura coming from the energy drove people away. I came to understand that it was the same signature that void creatures gave off.
"When I cultivate, I take in mana as that is what seems to be available, yet I can't use them in powering my abilities; like it's stuck within my mana organelles.
"But the origin or void energy as I call it, doesn't seem to come from my mana organs. It's almost like… like—"
"Like you're channelling it from 'that' space." Mason completed the sentence for him.
"Exactly…"
Ross and Julia, however, revealed confused expressions as they did not know what 'that' space meant.
Noticing their confused gazes, Hunter Zol decided to include them in the story. After a short explanation, the two widened their eyes in horror just from what they heard.
"You've kept this with you all this while?" Julia was not happy about now knowing about it, Ross included.
"Well…" Alex didn't know what to say, but he didn't have to.
"I told him to keep it a secret. Not many people know what Alex experienced as only the leaders and very important persons know about this.
"At the time, we thought it was a dream he must have experienced due to the trauma he faced. But recent findings might suggest otherwise."
He ended it there not including the visitor situation as even Alex did not know that. Once the confusion was cleared, Alex continued.
"Every medical check came back negative with nothing that showed that I was changed in any way. The energy is supposed to be bad for us, but for some reason, I can use it freely and do other things with it that I would have called impossible."
He said the last part looking at Mason who only smiled in response. Alex was referring to the time he used his energy to devour and dispel the hunter's aura like it was nothing.
Of course, there was also the recently discovered phenomenon and how everyone was trying to crack the method of achieving it.
"Mm… I understand that it is also the cause of your stagnation. Even with the amount of mana in your cells, you give off the same presence as a weak Class F awakened."
Mason said with glowing eyes as if they could pierce through his body and reveal all of its secrets.
"Yeah… I still haven't found a way to increase my level yet. Mana doesn't seem to cut it for me. Its purpose seems to be different and only time will tell how to do that."
He always felt a bit down when he was reminded of his failure to increase levels when everyone else was growing.
Take Ross and Julia as an example. The two were almost on the verge of breaking through. From Alex's guess, it would take only a few more weeks before they stepped into the ranks of Class E hunters.
Hearing his words, Zol and Mason exchanged glances. They understood that there was a way for Alex to increase his level as there was evidence frozen and hidden somewhere on one of the empire's storage and research planets.
"…"
Mason remained quiet for a while in contemplation.
'If the energy he uses is the same as the ones given off by void creatures and those monsters can travel between the veiled spaces and veils, doesn't…'
The meaning behind his thoughts was clear and when he refocused on Zol, he noticed how he subtly shook his head.
'It's too dangerous.' He read his lips and understood why.
It wasn't that Zol hadn't thought about the issue. If anything, he was probably the only one who actively searched for a way for the boy to get stronger.
Zol wanted to see how far Alex could go, but the universe out there, the void creatures and the other dangerous happenings prevented him from doing anything.
He couldn't just take Alex and shove him into a veil tear or a veiled space and hope the creatures within would spare him in the hopes that he gave off a similar aura.
There was still a lot they didn't know about. For instance, Alex may give off the same aura as the spaces and creatures, and may have survived once, but who was to say things would be the same?
One mistake and Alex could be taken somewhere, devoured by void creatures and who knows what else?
They as Class S hunters wouldn't be able to do anything. The only thing they could do was focus on the small discoveries and progress they were making.
'I nearly planted the idea into the kid's head.'
"That's fine, kid. I'm sure you'll find a way. For now, let's focus on what you have discovered and make you stronger."