Secret 2

"Kids do not suffer from bottlenecks, I do not know why, But that's how it is, Perhaps their potential is not yet limited and they can grow immensely,

But then the question is, Why don't they start training earlier then?"

"...."

Alex didn't know what to say

'Am I supposed to answer that or is he just making things dramatic'

Nevertheless, Sal continued speaking after a couple of seconds

"Because bottlenecks actually prevent you from dying! If you get a bottleneck it means that your body is too weak to progress further! You just have to strengthen it to overcome it

But children do not need to do that, Their bodies can alter and change based on their power, Not the other way around

Sadly, children tend to push themselves too far, They don't know when to stop, And because they don't face any bottlenecks, They NEVER stop

So their advantage kills them or damages them beyond repair"

When Alex heard that he felt that he was being scammed

'I hope the secret isn't about some super dangerous method that'll kill me in the process, I know my luck'

He nervously asked

"So what's the secret?"

"The secret is simple,

Train since the day you're born, But learn to differentiate between consuming life force and consuming mana

Consume life force and understand how it feels, It should be easy for you since you are already able to understand everything

Once you do, You can train as much as possible without worrying about dying, Exceeding normal people by far

You might even become a King-Level being if you train hard enough, It's all up to you"

To Alex, That sounded too easy

"If that's the case, Shouldn't anyone smart enough be able to do it?"

Sal shook his head

"No, It's a secret, Nobody knows these things, Even I didn't

I made a deal with the Archivist to know it

Ultimately, The secret was of no use to me, But it's still a piece of valuable information

The common knowledge is that if you start training before the age of 8 without a very experienced Magician monitoring both your Life Force and mana consumption then you will definitely die

And even if you have said Magician, You might die because your Life Force is so small that it might get consumed before the mage notices"

'Man, That's a lot of complicated stuff ... I'll just accept what I got'

"I understood, But how do I use magic anyway?"

"Huh, Oh right, You're not from here ....."

" ... Yeah"

Sal looked at Beta

"Beta, Can you explain that?"

"Understood"

Beta began explaining in her cold, Machine-like voice

"Using magic is rather simple, You start by learning the incantation of a spell, Then you consume your Mana to unleash Magic

However, That's only one kind of magic, Depending on your mana quantity and quality, You can simply make things that you imagine happen, For example"

Beta pointed at Sal and continued

"My Lord here, He had to chant to summon you

But if he wanted to create a Fireball then He could make it happen just by imagining it, As the quantity of his Mana is so vast he doesn't need to chant for such a simple spell

That is called silent casting, However, Things are not that simple

To silently cast something you must either be so powerful that you can make it happen just by imagining it, Or know the feeling of what you want to create

Normally, Silent casting takes around 5-10 times the amount of Mana used by a Chant

So if you're competing with a Magician that has the same quantity of mana, It's better if you chant, Although it's slower and less efficient, It saves mana."

Beta stopped talking so Alex asked

"From where do I get these spells?"

Beta explained

"Spells aren't easy to acquire, You will need to buy them or earn them

These are a few of the ways to acquire spells:

Some Kingdoms reward you with Spells if you serve in their Military for a specific duration and some academies teach specific tiers of spells"

Alex nodded then pointed at Sal

"What about summoning magic, How did he learn it"

"My Lord created his magic

Summoning magic isn't common, I don't think you'll find any Summoner in the world

While there might exist someone who has created his own Summoning magic, It won't be My Lord's magic."

"I see, Are there any limits to Magic?"

Beta liked this question, Her tone changed from cold to neutral

"Magic is simply chanting spells, The real power is Mana

The power of Mana is limitless!

You can do anything with it

Knights put Mana in their bodies and swords

Summoners put mana in formations

Healers put Mana and Life Force in living beings

If it's a chant it's called magic, If it's silent then it's called silent magic for reference, But it's simply a different, more efficient way of using mana."

Sal and Alpha were feeling so bored they almost fell asleep, So Sal spoke

"I think this is enough, Beta, Thank you for your hard work"

Sal walked to Alex and said

"Now Alex, How about this

I'll teach you a few, Weak Elemental Chants and a single chant for consuming life force

Never use the Life Force chant until you're able to silently cast all the other chants first, Once you do, Use it and learn the difference between Life Force and Mana,

That should be a safe method"

For the last time, Sal extended his remaining hand and a white light seeped into Alex's brain making him feel warm again

Alex didn't notice it, But the gleam in Sal's eyes changed

He chanted a different spell, And Alex lost consciousness

Out of thin air, A purple pearl with a black dot on it appeared in Sal's hand, He pushed his hand into the pseudo body's head, And it went right through it, As if the body was liquid

'Sorry' Sal thought

Then he shattered the Pearl, Altering Alex's soul in a way that even Sal couldn't comprehend

'What even is that?'

As he said, He did his best and tried to make Alex's soul stronger and smarter

'But there's only so much I can do, I know nothing about these things'

Then he pulled his hand out

The entire ordeal took less than 10 seconds, Alex only felt as if he blinked

After he was done, Sal stood up and spoke in a neutral tone

"Farewell, Alex

If you're born here, And you still remember, Search for me

If you're strong enough then you can help me with my summoning, For the appropriate price of course

And if you're not, I'll protect you or help you if you need"

Beta said from the side

"That's of course if you're able to find My Lord"

Alpha said evenly

"Good luck Alex"

Alex faintly smiled, Or at least that's how he felt

"Alright, Farewell, Sal The 8th Lord."

Sal cut off his Mana from the pseudo-body

THUD

The body fell lifeless on the floor

Everything became silent

The eerie silence lasted for a couple of minutes

Eventually, Alpha broke it saying

"My Lord, Is it really okay to teach this unknown person such secret methods?"

Sal sighed

"I looked into his soul, He is a good guy

If we're lucky he might end up as a strong ally for my cause, We'll know after some decades

And to be honest, I've no idea if what I said was actually true

I simply said what The Archivist told me to say

As far as I know, He doesn't lie, But he might be wrong, If that's the case then we'd gain nothing and lose nothing

But if he's right, Then it is in our favor as well"

Alpha was impressed

"You really considered everything, As expected of you, My Lord"

"You're flattering me"

Beta wasn't entirely pleased with the situation

'Ahh, How come My Lord is kind yet so cunning ...

I thought he really cared about paying back this person'

She stared at both Alpha and Sal while the two laughed

They felt her glare from behind the mask

Sal sensed her displeasure and spoke

"Beta, Take it easy, Everything is okay if all parties are happy, Right?"

Alpha affirmed in a proud voice

"Yes yes, It's not like we upset him or something

We didn't really take advantage of him, Only fate brought him here, It's merely a business relationship"

Beta could only sigh

'There's no hope'

She spoke in a colder-than-usual tone

"I'll take the Homunculus, You better remember it's name from now on, My lord"

Then she went deeper into the cave

'Damn, She's so scary sometimes'

Sal looked at the moon

'It's a full moon today ...'

He felt a little guilty about tricking Alex like that

'Sorry Alex ... But I didn't really do anything bad, Did I?'

'I think it's a win-win situation'

'I just hope fate is on your side ... The Archivist is .... '