Secret

As Alex waited to hear the details, Sal cleared his throat, then moved forward and spoke in a proud tone like he was making a grand announcement

"You're very weak, Your soul has no protection whatsoever, I can access it, And even alter it a bit

If I was more proficient in that category of Magic I could've done better,

Right now, I can make you think faster, Make you memorize things easier, And make your soul stronger than normal"

Sal pointed at Alex then continued

"The rest depends on you, You might become a genius

In theory, It should also increase your chance of keeping the memories of this conversation and your previous life as well, Isn't that amazing?!"

Alex wasn't sure about that

"Well, Remembering your past life isn't always a good thing, You know?"

Sal nodded

"Ah, If you have bad memories then it can't be helped"

But he still tried to persuade Alex

"But the pros outweigh the cons, You'll have life experience, And if you're born in a harsh world it might even be the reason you remain alive!"

Alex was skeptical

'This doesn't seem too bad but I don't know if I should accept it'

The idea of someone tampering with his soul didn't really sit well with him

'It's scary ... What if he does something strange? ... Even if I decide to trust him, What if he messes up something?'

'Should I really trust a guy I just met and let him alter my soul?'

As Alex hesitated, Alpha was growing impatient, And Sal was contemplating about what he should do.

Sal decided to up his game

"Listen, I don't really wanna leave you unsatisfied, After all, You have helped me in my cause just by being summoned

I'm not able to do more than what I offered, But how about this, I'll tell you one of the secrets of this world

In exchange, You should be satisfied with what you will get, end the matter here, and proceed further to wherever fate will take you, What do you say?"

Sal sounded benevolent and caring, Which reduced Alex's worries

'It seems that he's genuinely concerned, Should I do it?'

The offer sounded enticing, Get better, Smarter and also learn one of the world's secrets

It really was luring

After pondering about it for a while, Alex spoke

"I think I will accept your offer, But I have a question"

"Ask"

"How reliable is your procedure?

You claim that I might be able to have my memories, And honestly, Most of what you offer depends on it

The secret of the world is of no value if I forget it, Right?"

Sal awkwardly smiled

"Well, You're not wrong, You want to know how reliable it is in theory or in practice?"

"In practice"

"I have no idea

Throughout the centuries, I have summoned 100s and 1000s of beings, I've never seen or heard about any of them again

So it's either that all of them are not in this world or none of them remembered the conversation"

"How reliable" Alex mocked

Beta spoke with her machine-like voice

"My Lord, It is also possible that they do remember but are not able to find you, After all, Look where we are"

When Alex heard that he remembered

"That's right, Where are we, Sal?"

"This is a random cave in a random mountain in a Continent that is not inhabited by humans"

Alex frowned

'What a weird group I'm stuck with'

"And why are you here?" Alex asked

"The reasons are many,

First of all, Summoning humans is not really accepted in this world, If I do it inside a kingdom and they find out all sorts of troublesome situations will occur

Second, Most of us Lords just wander around either to get more powerful or to achieve personal goals,

Well, Some also search for Magic Items, If you stumble upon a World-Class item, You can change the world itself, Or so the legends claim

I personally don't believe that"

Alex's energy began to wane

'I'm starting to feel really tired, I think it's time to go'

Sal noticed that and quickly said

"Hey, I just added more mana to your pseudo body, But I can't keep doing that forever, Let's fasten our pace ok?"

Alex felt refreshed again

"Indeed, What's the secret? or wait, I actually forgot to ask, What's the reliability of this method in theory?"

"The reliability should be 1%"

"....."

"Now let me tell you about the great secret of this world"

"I'm listening"

Sal returned to his dignified tone

"As I've made you understand the language of this world, You'll be able to understand everything around you from the moment you're born,

Generally, Kids start to learn magic at the age of 8 if it's a royal family, 10 if it's a noble family, and 12-13 if it's a common family

These are the common ages of acceptance whether as an apprentice for a Magician or in an academy

It's true that the age is not fixed everywhere in the world as some Kingdoms have different rules, But the reason behind it is simple"

Sal took a deep breath and then revealed

"When you first start learning magic, Your mana is very low

However, The more you train it, The more it grows, Until you hit a bottleneck, Once you do, There are various ways to get rid of your bottle nick depending on what you're trying to learn and how you train,

But, As you grow older it gets harder and harder to overcome your bottlenecks, It gets so hard that many just start thinking that they've hit their limit and stop seeking power

Well, The truth is that there is no limit, Anyone can grow as powerful as me, But of course, There's a cost for everything"

Sal took a pause to arrange his thoughts, While he was doing that Alex asked

"I don't understand what's the secret, This just seems like common knowledge about the world?"

"It was an introduction so you can understand the important part"

"Alright, Go on"

Sal hesitated for a second, But he motivated himself by thinking

'The chance of him being born here is really low anyway,

I have no idea if this so-called secret actually works, But I hope that if it does he feels indebted to me'

He made up his mind then he began revealing the secret to Alex