Chapter 260: Bottled
A reply appeared almost immediately.
[Travis: Got it.]
Alex’s reasoning was simple. If he fought the monster near San Francisco, then even if he managed to defeat it, the destruction from the fall of the huge monster could still devastate the city.
He needed to fight somewhere else.
He still didn’t know how strong the monster was or what it looked like, but neither of those things changed his decision. What mattered now was preparing himself as much as possible before the monster arrived.
The first thing he needed to do was use the extra time available to him in the Land of Origin and grow stronger. Fortunately, Alex already had a plan for how he intended to do that.
He closed the group chat. He could hear someone knocking on the door and calling out to him, and Alex was fairly certain it was Sophia because she had probably become even more worried after seeing the message he had sent to the group.
Alex didn’t respond because he didn’t have time to talk right now. He needed to become stronger, strong enough that he wouldn’t have to worry about another monster taking someone important away from him.
Alex lay down in a comfortable position and prepared to use the Return skill. Just as he was about to activate it, however, a notification suddenly appeared in front of him.
[Sustained Breathing Spell has leveled up. Level 4 → Level 5.]
The notification made Alex pause. Only then did he realize that he hadn’t been breathing properly, as the strange sense of detachment he was experiencing had made him conscious of almost everything happening inside his body. Even breathing had begun to require some conscious effort, but he had simply been too focused to notice it.
’Well, a level is always welcome,’ Alex thought.
He emptied the mana stored inside his Mana Heart before activating the Return skill.
[4 Origin Energy consumed.]
Alex’s consciousness slowly began to fade as the familiar sensation of being pulled away from his current body returned. Within moments, everything became dark, and Alex fell into a deep slumber.
...
Sophia bit her lips as she stood outside the locked door. She had stopped knocking repeatedly after she felt the huge concentration of mana and Will on the other side suddenly disappear, and she understood that Alex had most likely used the Return skill and gone back to the Land of Origin.
"Sophia!"
Robert came running down the corridor, making her turn around. After Alex had locked her outside, she had been too worried to simply leave, so she had messaged Robert and asked him to come because she was afraid Alex might do something harmful while he was alone.
"How is he?" Robert asked.
"He left for the Land of Origin," Sophia replied as she wiped the tears from her face. Robert sighed and gently patted her shoulder before looking at the locked door for several moments.
"We should give him some space for now, Sophia. I know you want to help him, but unless he lets us do that, trying to force our way into his problems could end up making things worse."
Sophia bit her lip again and lowered her gaze. Alex had always been like this, because although he often acted distant and seemed unwilling to rely on others, he always cared about the people around him.
He had gone far beyond what she could have expected for her in the past, yet whenever something happened to him, Alex refused to ask anyone for help. Instead, he would bottle everything up and continue moving forward as if nothing had happened. That made her feel the worst, because while Alex always helped her, she could never do that.
Sophia still wanted to help him, even if she could only do something small. She turned toward Robert and spoke.
"I’ll help you with the list Alex asked for."
"Are you sure? You’re already busy treating and healing so many people."
"I can handle both."
Robert looked at her for a moment before sighing. "Fine. Then let’s get started."
...
Alex slowly opened his eyes. He was back inside the cave in the Land of Origin, but the moment his consciousness fully returned, his stomach twisted and he suddenly felt as though he couldn’t breathe. The emotions he had suppressed in his other body came rushing back at once, and for several moments, Alex struggled to maintain control. He immediately activated the Advanced Battle Instinct Spell.
The spell quickly began calming his mind instead of allowing the emotions to overwhelm him. It took several moments before Alex managed to push the surging emotions back beneath his focus, and only then did he finally exhale.
Alex remained still for a while, allowing himself to regain his composure. The emotions hadn’t disappeared, but the Advanced Battle Instinct had once again created enough distance for him to think clearly.
A notification appeared in front of him.
[Synchronization will now begin. Please prepare.]
This time, the warmth spreading through Alex’s body was much less intense than before. It made sense because there hadn’t been many changes to his body during the visit on Earth, so there wasn’t much for it to adjust to.
Alex looked around and noticed Sarah and Petra nearby.
"How long was I out for?" he asked.
"Only a few minutes," Sarah answered.
Alex nodded before standing up and stretching his body. "When will the others be back?"
"They should be back in roughly five to ten minutes," Sarah replied.
Alex nodded again and decided to use the time to practice his spells. He continued working on the Mana Heart Reinforcement Spell, which he had been practicing for quite some time.
He could feel he was close to gaining it, and after several minutes, his proficiency finally reached the required level.
[Mana Heart Reinforcement Spell detected.]
[Would you like to learn Mana Heart Reinforcement Spell?]
[Yes/No.]
..
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