No longer enough

Alex froze as he listened to Lilia's words. Upon reflection, the points he had gained were indeed referred to as "soul points," implying a connection to the soul. However, as he pondered this, Alex couldn't shake the feeling that there was something peculiar about this line of thinking.

"If the points are related to the soul, why do I need to have sex with women to acquire them ?" asked Alex.

"Well, it is still the artifact of lust, that's normal that you need to do something lustful to get more points" replied Lilia.

"True"

A silence fell in the room as both Alex and Lilia were lost in their own thoughts on the matter, however that silence was soon disturbed by the sound of the door opening and Scarlett walking into the room they were in.

"Oh, what are you doing here, mom, didn't you go with grandma and aunt Amelia ?" Asked Scarlett seeing Lilia.

"No, I need to train your father for the competition a week from now" 

"Oh, I see" replied Scarlett before casting a pitying gaze toward Alex that looked at her like a beacon of hope.

Unfortunately for him, Scarlett had no intention of saving him, in fact she even started anticipating the training.

"But tell me, dear, aren't you going with the other's ?" Asked Lilia.

"Going shopping for two days is a waste of my time, I prefer using that time to study"

'Well, she is true to herself' thought Lilia with a chuckle.

"Plus I currently have an interesting subject to study" said Scarlett whole looking at Alex.

"That you have" replied Lilia with a sneer on her face as she looked at Alex.

'Why are they looking at me like I am some kind of zoo animal ?' Wondered Alex.

"When are you starting your level up process ?" Suddenly asked Scarlett.

"I was waiting for you to come, now that you are here, we can begin" replied Alex while standing up.

He walked to an empty space in the room, introduced his mana in the space ring and took out a batch of monster cores.

Just as he took one core in his hand and wanted to start the process, Scarlett said while rushing out of the room "Wait, don't start yet".

"What is it about ?" Asked Alex with a puzzled voice.

"Don't have a clue" replied Lilia while shaking her head.

"Come out!" Scarlett called loudly from outside.

Alex and Lilia looked at each other before making their way out of the room.

Outside, in the training ground, Alex and Lilia were left dumbfounded by the sight of a device that resembled an Earth electrocardiograph (ECG), but with a significant difference – it stood at a towering height of at least five meters.

Alex's voice was filled with confusion as he asked, "How did you manage to bring that in here?"

He needed to ask as the door of the training ground was noticeably smaller than the device!

"I didn't need to, I built it right here ?"

'She built something like that in less than an hour ?' Wondered both Alex and Lilia.

Meanwhile, Scarlett held a set of electrodes and approached Alex, explaining, "This device will help me record everything that happens during your level-up process. To do that, I just need to connect these to your body."

"Okay, go on"

Scarlett connected the electrodes - or whatever they were called - on Alex's chest and returned to stand near the ECG while looking at some screen.

Some minutes later, Scarlett motioned at Alex to start the process.

'Here we go' thought Alex, taking hold of a monster core that had a vibrant blue color, then started sucking the mana that was inside it.

'It's similar to when I enhance my attributes using the system, however it's not as much potent' remarked Alex when the mana inside the core was invading his body.

Seconds later, he finished absorbing the mana and threw the monster core, that now looked dull and lifeless.

He then continued absorbing the other cores till...

CRACK

Just as he was about to take another core, Alex heard in his head the sound of glass shattering and a moment later he felt a heat spreading throughout his whole body, empowering his body.

Alex didn't need to think too much about what was happening, he instinctually felt it, he was ascending to level 2!

It took a little while, but after the ascension finished, and he was firmly in level 2, he couldn't believe the sensation he was feeling, it felt like his whole being had evolved, be it his strength, resilience, speed, stamina, cognitive capacity, all in all every aspect of his being had evolved.

'So that's how it feels to be level 2' thought Alex with an awed expression.

A moment latter a big grin appeared on his face, since childhood, being at the level 2 was actually his dream, and today he had finally achieved that goal of his.

'However, Level 2 is no longer enough' thought Alex before picking up another core and absorbing the mana inside of it.

That day, Alex heard the sound of shattering glasses two more times.