'I missed this feeling.' Alex thought with a smile as he dodged three blood spears.
It's been two days since Alex learned the two battle arts, and other than spending some time organizing the information, all he did in the last two days was train his Mana sense and Mana step skills.
Alex already had the experience of using both Mana Sense and Mana Step at the advanced stage from his previous life, but he needed to practice to get used to them.
Alex could dodge the blood spears controlled by Elder Darrien for up to two minutes with the help of Mana sense and Mana step, which was a massive improvement from the mere thirteen seconds just two days ago.
Alex had lost count of how many times he had almost lost his life in the past two days, but he was still training without complaint because it was the most convenient and safe way to progress his skills.
[System Notification]
[Mana Step] ->(Intermediate)
'It took longer to regain the muscle memory than I thought.' Alex thought with a smile, but his smile faded as he felt the danger to his life.
[-14K HP]
[-16K HP]
[-46K HP] Critical Hit.
'I got carried away.' Alex thought as he felt pain in both his legs as two spears plunged into them while the third spear ripped through half his neck, almost killing him.
"You lost your Focus." Elder Darrien said as the blood spears disintegrated into red smoke that entered Alex's body and healed him to full health.
"I reached the Intermediate stage in Mana step," Alex said with a smile as he checked the skill information.
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Name: Mana Sense
Stage: Intermediate
Effect: Allow the user to sense the Mana in a radius of 10 meters.
Description: The user can sense the flow of Mana and can perceive small or big disturbances in the radius of the Mana field. (Mana Required: 100_Every Second)
------
Name: Mana Step
Stage: Intermediate
Effect: Increase user Agility by 10%.
Description: The User gains more maneuverability and control over his footwork, allowing him to make less wasted movements, saving him time and energy.
-------------
"It doesn't matter how much mastery you have over your skills, if you don't have a sound mind to use them properly, they are worthless." Elder Darrien said, not showing a shred of emotion.
'He is right about that.' Alex thought, realizing that if it was a real battle, he would be exiting his VR capsule by this time in a very frustrated mood.
"I will keep my emotions in check," Alex said as he stood up, done with training for now as he had achieved the goal he had set for himself.
"You made those mistakes because you know there are no consequences, so for Now, you shouldn't just be training to progress your skill, but you should focus on being properly in sync with your existing skills and strength." Elder Darrien replied.
"Domain Ruler, Guardian Elmara, is free to meet you," Varon said as he appeared next to Alex like a ghost.
'The timing couldn't be more perfect.' Alex thought as he walked toward the portal opened by Varon.
After the Rank promotion, Alex had told Varon about the Ancient Red Gem, and not so surprisingly, he already knew about it and told him that he should focus on reaching the third Rank and advancing to the first Domain connection.
Alex had told Varon about the request of the Human Emperor and asked him to arrange a meeting with Lady Elmara.
---------------
(Twenty Minutes Later)
"This is interesting." Lady Elmara said after checking the contents of the space ring given to Alex by the Emperor.
"Domain Ruler, I can concoct the Elixir of Rebirth for you, but you need to provide me with the correct ingredients." Lady Elmara said.
'The Emperor gave me the wrong ingredients?' Alex thought, surprised by the new development.
"The Human Emperor gave you all the ingredients according to the potion recipe, but all the substitute ingredients for the one main ingredient he had provided couldn't be used to produce the Elixir of Rebirth." Lady Elmara said, making Alex even more confused.
"I created the Elixir of Rebirth with the knowledge I gained from the Nirvana Elixir."
"It is one of my semi-successful creations that could cure the infected of Devourer Curse, albeit only the infected who are still in the boundaries of Mortal Rank."
"I couldn't mass produce Elixir of Rebirth because the one core ingredient needed to make it is scarce, and that was why I sent the potion recipe all over the world, hoping someone could find a replacement for the main ingredient or create something similar to the Elixir of Rebirth."
"It's been four decades, and I still haven't heard of anyone finding the replacement or making something similar to Elixir of Rebirth." Lady Elmara said, clearing Alex's confusion while giving him a new headache.
'I knew she created it, which was why I am confident in completing the Emperor's request, but I didn't expect to face such a problem.' Alex thought, feeling like he got punched in the gut.
"Lady Elmara, do you have the spare ingredients?" Alex asked, already knowing she should have it.
"I have a small quantity, but they are too valuable and rare to be wasted on some dying human that I can't care less about." Lady Elmara said with a blank look.
'I expected this reply.' Alex thought with a wary smile.
"What is this main ingredient?" Alex asked, hoping he had some knowledge on how to acquire them.
"There are quite a few like The Core of a Royal Life Fairy or the heart or the Core of a life or light Elemental or even a Dragon."
"You can say any ingredient with a rich source of healing could be used as the main ingredient to produce the Elixir of Rebirth." Lady Elmara said.
'I know where to find a light Elemental, but the problem is that to awaken him, I first need to clear a legendary quest to gain the key to the ruins of the Sun Empire.' Alex thought, searching his memory for anything related to some high-quality healing ingredient.
"This is the list of all the ingredients I could use to create the Elixir of Rebirth and the one that I have already tested and couldn't be used to create the Elixir." Lady Elmara said as she handed Alex a few papers.
'If I can't find the replacement ingredient easily, I can just tell the emperor to find the main ingredient.' Alex thought as he checked the names of the ingredients on the list.
"If you want to save that Human Emperor, then you should provide me with the main ingredient in one year at max," Lady Elmara asked in her carefree tone.
'Save the Emperor?' Alex thought, shocked by her comment.
"It looks like you didn't check the contents of the space Ring given to you by the Emperor." Lady Elmara said, seeing Alex's surprised look.
"The Emperor of the Human Continent is affected with a disease that is slowly eroding his Mana Veins, and even though it wouldn't take his life, it would destroy his ability to wield mana."
"The condition explained by the Emperor in his letter gives me an idea that he has little over one year before his strength declines from the Elemental Ruler Rank to the Elementalist Rank and a few more years before his situation becomes uncurbable." Lady Elmara said.
Alex was just processing the shocking information when his head rang with system notifications making him return to his senses.
??????????????
[System Notification]
[You have discovered the critical condition of the Human Emperor]
[Continental Quest Requirement Fulfilled]
---------
[Continental Quest] (???)
Objective: Cure Emperor Melvin
Time: One Year
Reward: 3 Platinum System Wishes+ ???? Galactic Shop Coins +????
Description: Emperor Melvin is one of the most influential Individuals on the Human Continent.
If he succumbed to his sickness, a power struggle for the Emperor position would start among the Royals and the opportunists.
??????????????
'A Continental Quest.' Alex thought as he took a breath to calm his raging heartbeat.
Alex knew the potion would be important, but he didn't expect its importance to be this great.
'There was no power struggle for the throne in my past life, and there was no news of the emperor being sick.' Alex thought, trying to make sense of the situation.
Alex was certain that the emperor was sick and losing power because the system had confirmed the information, but he also knew that no struggle for the throne had happened in his previous life.
'It looks like the emperor never revealed his condition to anyone in my previous life, but will it stay the same this time.' Alex thought, knowing many things had changed in this timeline.
'I didn't plan to prioritize searching for the ingredient any time soon, but It looks like I need to change that.' Alex thought, looking at the lucrative reward from the quest.
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