Alex regrouped with his friends, and they made their way back to the dorms. This time, Julia was joining them as they headed to Alex's room to discuss what the instructor had raised with him.
"So, what did you and the instructor talk about?" Ross asked as soon as they settled on the couch.
Alexander sighed and relaxed in his seat, "Nothing much. But he has noticed my situation."
"Your situation?" Julia asked. "You mean your level barely increased over the past few months?"
Alexander had made mention of the different things he began to notice about himself ever since he survived the Cosmic Mana Wave. Naturally, he had yet to mention his experience in that Dark domain to them.
Alex nodded in acknowledgement before continuing, "The strength I displayed during the spar didn't match my level, even with my higher physical stats compared to everyone else when we awakened."
'He must have been able to tell where my level is,' Alex pondered silently. 'So, it must be very obvious that I am still stronger than everyone when they were the ones showing an increase in their cultivation.'
"Is that really an issue? I doubt that your level remaining the same affects your rank. And even if level translates to strength, you are still stronger than all of us." Ross was not seeing the issue here.
The issue here could be that Alex's cultivation needed more time than they did to increase his level.
After hearing Ross's comments, he realised he hadn't shared why his cultivation wasn't improving, even though he was cultivating daily.
Looking at how they were staring at him, he decided to finally come clean.
"There's something I haven't mentioned to you guys yet." His words piqued their curiosity about what Alex might be withholding from them.
Of course, they also understood that everyone had something they wanted to keep to themselves.
"My level isn't increasing because my cultivation speed is slow…" He said, noticing how their expressions remained unchanged.
"The reason is that when I cultivate, all the mana I absorb goes to strengthen my individual cells instead of being stored in the manitoria." He explained. "It's why my strength keeps increasing even though my level remains the same."
Upon hearing that, Ross and Julia were momentarily taken aback. He had mentioned that his strength grew during cultivation, but they were never informed of the reason behind it.
"Initially, I thought it was normal and with time, my mana would increase, but it didn't."
Julia was slightly confused about what Alex said, "Wait, mana isn't stored in your manitoria? Then how do you use your abilities?"
Expecting such a question, he explained, still leaving out his hypothesis for such a phenomenon.
"Well, the energy I use comes from somewhere else. It still flows through my mana channels, but it just doesn't come from the manitoria. And before you ask, I'm not sure where it's originating."
His words still confused the two.
This went against all they knew about how the energy called mana was utilised. And while this was based solely on what humans had studied so far, it was still accurate.
Julia furrowed her brows as she stared at Alex, sensing there was more he wasn't willing to share for some reason.
'Trying to get him to spill would only put him on the defensive, and I don't want to argue with him. Hopefully, he will eventually come around.'
As these thoughts flowed through her mind, she made a mental note to speak with her uncle to find out if he had ever heard anything like what Alex described.
Alex quietly waited for them to digest his words, observing their facial expressions.
He also noticed that Julia wore a slightly doubtful expression, but there was nothing he could do about it for the time being. On the other hand, Ross looked like someone trying to devise a solution after receiving the necessary data.
"Does the energy you use remain after using your abilities?" Ross asked, his hands folded under his chin.
"Let me show you instead." The other thing he had noticed was that the VR world could not replicate that energy, and his profile functioned the same way as everyone else's.
The only thing it got right was his strength and level.
Extending his right hand, he summoned his power, and similar to before, the energy appeared from nowhere, flowing through his channels and gathering in his palm.
He created a hard light construct of a short blade. The construct seemed so realistic that one might not discern the difference if they were not present when it was made. Its edges gleamed with a sharp silvery light.
Ross slowly stretched his hand to touch the blade. His movement was deliberately slow, which created a certain tension in the air.
Now that he knew that the energy powering Alexander's ability was not mana, there was a level of caution in his movements.
When his hand made contact with the blade, nothing happened, causing all of them to release an exhausted sigh.
"What was I even afraid of?" He jokingly said, trying to dispel the tension that had been created.
"So, what do you guys think?" Alex inquired after Ross's small test.
Julia, on the other hand, had a pondering look on her face. Once Alex turned to her, she looked at Ross, meeting his gaze. It seemed he also noticed the same thing.
Alex noticed their looks and waited for them to come clean. A moment later, Julia turned to Alex and expressed her thoughts about the blade he created.
"When you created the blade, it gave off a certain vibe that felt..." She paused for a moment before adding. "It felt dangerous."
Ross nodded, agreeing to what she said. Alex, on the other hand, felt nothing, so it puzzled him.
However, his rapid thoughts quickly devised reasons for why they felt as they did while he did not. 'I see… This strange energy does not affect me, but to others, it's dangerous.' He thought and then turned on Ross.
'But when he touched it, he felt nothing.' This contrast made no sense.
If it was dangerous to be around it, shouldn't it also be harmful to them when it came into contact with them? 'Maybe it has to be used to inflict damage?'
Of course, he had no intention of testing that on his friends. For now, he understood that the energy he used was somewhat dangerous to the people around him.