Gifts

Alex shrugged. He didn't disagree with the voice, he really was lucky to find the white sand, but other than that was really relying on his own ability.

The voice bellowed. "Boy, the more I look at you, the more pleasing I find you. I never expected another heroic figure like me to appear!"

Alex was tongue tied. This voice sure loves to toot his own horn, Alex thought.

The voice continued. "Boy, I want to adopt you into my, Finnegan Nocroft's family! Tell me do you accept?"

Alex heard the voice's name which continued to ring in his mind and he forgot to breathe. He violently coughed in shock. "...Nocroft?" He asked while his mind was making cartwheels."Was this voice related to that terrifying grandma and Nia?" He wondered.

"Of course. I want to adopt you into the Nocroft family. What do you say?" The voice asked.

"I... I don't think that is practical." Alex said. He quickly changed the topic. "What is the use of the circulation exercise?"

The voice was a little disappointed, but didn't dwell on it. "It will guide you towards the correct path for Energy Attribute Users like us. I had always assumed that the true goal of Energy Path was to attack using force, however I was mistaken. The true path is the path of control.

By practicing this, you will be able to generate the rank 2 card Energy Control. The circulation technique also helps in improving the control limits. Once you get to rank 2, you can control the sand like a weapon."

Alex nodded. However he was confused inside. To normal people this circulation would be considered an absorption formula that would guide them towards that card, but him? He generated newer cards only using the vortex card. He didn't know if he would be able to use this.

The voice continued speaking. "You seem to have a good thing on you. Bring it out, I can help you create a useful tool."

Alex was confused. "I don't understand."

"The cubic vessel you have on you. Bring it out." The voice said.

Alex raised his eye in surprise. He summoned the now white rubix cube from the inner world and it was floating around him, orbiting his body.

"Good Item! This vessel, I can convert it into a storage device. Use the seed of space embedded within this stairway by fusing it with your vessel." The voice said.

Alex was surprised. He was not unfamiliar to space attribute storage cards which were found by killing the extremely rare space attribute mutant beasts. However, they were single use transportation items and extremely expensive. He didn't imagine that this cube could be turned into a storage artifact.

"What is the seed of space?" Alex asked.

"It is the treasure from the fourth card dimension allowing the stairway to enter this dimension." The voice said.

"But, If it take it, won't the stairway disappear?" Alex asked.

"It will indeed be destroyed. But don't worry about it. Its purpose has been completed. I only wish that when you become stronger, you set up your own trial for future pure energy users like us." The voice casually said. "Oh, and the cactus on your shoulder, why haven't you made it your pet?"

"Pet? Creatures from the Card Dimension can be made into pets?" Alex asked in surprise.

"Of course they can. But it is somewhat rare. However, when you make one a pet, you can bring it outside the Card Dimension with you. Just drop a little blood on that cactus body. It already seems to be willing to follow you." The voice said.

Alex looked at the cactus curiously. Did it really want to become his pet? But why? He barely did anything much for the cactus... However, Alex decided to test it and poured a drop of blood on the cactus and immediately he felt like he had a connection to the cactus. He could speak telepathically to it, though its own thoughts didn't seem to clear to him.

The voice laughed. "Good, now go fuse your cubic vessel with the seed."

Alex nodded. He felt a burden of responsibility when the voice told him to set up a trial for other potential energy attribute users in the future. He was too far away from that for now, but it was a good goal to look forward to in the future.

He arrived at the center of the platform, where he saw a small seed, which seemed to be very ethereal and the space itself was bending around it.

"How do I fuse it with the cube?" Alex asked.

"Instruct the cube to absorb it." The voice of Finnegan Nocroft responded.

Alex did as he was told and willed the cube to absorb the seed. Suddenly, he also felt that the stairway began to become ethereal as well, losing its concreteness.

The cube and the seed began to slowly fuse as the voice spoke, but its voice was less clear than before.

"It was nice meeting a youngster like me. If you ever meet my wife Emily, tell her that I love her." The voice quietly faded away as the seed completely fused with the cube and the cube had a curious mixture of the space and light attribute.

The stairway disappeared and Alex landed on the rocky desert once again, surrounded by corpses of desolate beasts. He willed his bag into the cube and it all disappeared into the cube. Then he willed his stick out and it appeared in his hand out of thin air. Alex was amazed. This would make him extremely mobile and it would be incredibly more easier to perform stealth attacks, like dealing with Negima.

Alex sighed because he got some good benefits as well as a pet. But he felt unlucky about the dragon's circulation exercise, because he didn't think it would be useful for him.

Alex sensed the white sand, but the fluctuations which caused it to become a directional arrow had disappeared. The stairway had truly disappeared from the face of the first Card Dimension.