What Alex had achieved was something no one on the ground could hope for. It was a spectacular sight to see a dot in the sky. Floating up.
Theia who was awakening had no idea what was happening. But people below could see a large blob of black flame occupying the sky. Even the noon sun was eclipsed by the black flames.
Although it took a while. After more than an hour or so, the flames slowly died down.
Alex could be seen floating with Theia in hand. He was exhausted and barely holding on. And his mana was almost empty.
Sirius had fulfilled his end of the promise. Now it was up to Alex to fulfil his end. The Cyan flame covering Alex slowly receded and he began floating down. He was feather falling.
Like a delicate feather, Alex finally landed near the Vulcans. And everyone was waiting for his arrival. But before he could say a word, blood spilt from his mouth. He fainted without even being able to say a word.
'Damn it! Always fainting at important times.' Thought Alex. He wanted to say some words to increase his prestige among Vulcans before fainting. Yet he couldn't do that due to his exhausted body.
'Damn it! I will be hospitalised again!'
—----------------------------
Hours went by. It was already night.
Alex was having a great dream.
"How can he conjure fire? Is a fire-type superhuman?" Mary, Emily's mother asked.
"No, I don't know!" Emily replied.
"How can you not know? Is he your boyfriend?" Freya chimed in.
The Vulcan family was sitting around a hospital bed while having a serious conversation. Every question was about Alex and Emily was finding it hard to answer them all.
Edward stuck next to the bed peeling oranges. Occasionally he looked at Alex making sure he was okay.
"And Edward. Don't think you can feign ignorance either. How did you get so strong? The last time we saw you. You were having a hard time lighting a stow on fire. Now, you are battling demons and mana beasts as if nothing. This is not normal either." Mary questioned the fruit-consuming Edward.
However, Edward stealthy moved away from the ladies to avoid answering the question.
Cyrus and Ethan were busy giving statements to the law enforcement agencies. So, they were not in the hospital. Or else, Edward would have had a hard time avoiding answering the questions.
Hearing the chatter next to him, Alex woke up. But he dared not open his eyes.
"So, you are saying. You don't know anything about your boyfriend." Stated Freya.
"Don't you say that! Did you know that Ethan could teleport? He is your husband, isn't he?" Emily pushed back. The abilities shown by Ethan were completely off the charts from what they had known. Emily and Mary were surprised by his skills.
'How many secrets were their family members hiding?' They thought at the same time.
"Of course, I knew that. Even dad knows it. He was hiding his skills to live a normal life." Freya didn't back down.
"Then Alex was doing the same. He too was hiding his skill to live a normal life. He always wanted to be a detective and live a normal life."
"Is that the best you could come up with?"
"If it's good enough for you, it's good enough for me." Emily replied.
Alex, who was supposed to be sleeping, heard everything. He also saw a new side of Emily that he had never seen. He wanted to pretend to sleep a little more. But he could see Leo nudging him from the side. Leo noticed Alex waking up before anyone else.
Noticing that, Alex sat up and rubbed his eyes as if just waking up. He looked around and blinked.
"Hello! Good morning!" he said.
"Hmm!" Everyone nodded stunned by his casual action. Was this the same person that coughed up blood, they thought.
But for Alex, waking up in a hospital bed had already become a normal routine. He was not bothered by it at all.
"Mom, He is awake. Let's have ice cream. Uncle Alex, buy me ice cream." The innocent Theia requested.
"Okay!" Alex replied while getting up. He went to buy ice cream when everyone stood motionless, stunned by what just happened.
'Is this normal!' They thought at the same time.
—-----------------------
The events that occurred were like precursors to what was about to happen. Alex knew this world was not peaceful, but never thought that he might be infinitely closer to death than he imagined.
He finally saw how weak he was against the real fighter of this world. He could barely be called a B ranker for his ability to fly and throw stones. That was the extent of powers.
And now, realising that had given a great blow to Alex's confidence. So, he decided to work hard and train harder. What he needs is an overall enhancement, physical, mental and superpower. He needs to become stronger.
Having the ability to control flame gave an added boost to his arsenal. He needs to quickly master this strength to utilise it to the maximum extent.
Otherwise, it will be a waste, thought Alex.
—------
It has been two days since the Amusement park incident.
Alex healed well in these two days. The Vulcans treated him a lot better these days. Even Aurora, who hated the sight of Alex, was respectful towards him.
This time Alex knew that he earned his place in the Vulcan family. He never thought helping Theia would help him this much. But it was a welcome change.
Now, Alex was standing in the large training ground behind the Vulcan family villa. He was here to test out his newfound powers. Although using Sirius' flame felt intuitive. He wanted to fully grasp its strengths and weaknesses before using it again.
"Sirius, come out," Alex called out.
A light lit up from his heart and a ball of flame slowly emerged. It passed through his body like an intangible ball of light. Finally, appearing as a small cyan ball floating around him.
After signing the contract. Alex gained this ability to let out Sirius partially. It was up to Sirius to show itself to others. Yet it chose to be invisible most of the time.
"Tell me about all your powers. I want a detailed explanation of what I could do." Alex said.
"Kheuk… I am Sirius, star born. An entity that is out of your comprehension. My strength has no limits and my abilities are supreme..." With the occasional bragging, Sirius began his explanation.
And all of it summarises into just two points.
Alex can use all of Sirius' abilities. But, Alex should provide mana for his own use. Sirius will not be required to provide mana to power the abilities when Alex uses it.
And Alex is required to provide mana to Sirius to compensate for the time his soul drained its essence.
Funnily enough, the stupid cyan ball did not put a time limit on the contract. So, Alex could provide the same amount of mana daily or postpone sharing of mana indefinitely.
This is why the happily floating around Sirius looked pitiable.
Even though it was powerful, it was just incredibly stupid.
However, Alex did not plan to make use of this loophole to share less mana with Sirius. He shared five percent of his mana daily with Sirius. No, it was not for charity. Alex felt that a cooperative Sirius was better than an uncooperative one. So, by sharing mana daily, Alex could ensure that the stupid cyan ball would not notice this loophole in their contract.
And it worked perfectly for Alex.
The stupid cyan ball willingly cooperated with Alex, helping him learn about all the abilities and their pros and cons.
Due to Alex acting passive, Sirius felt it was always on top and Alex was below it, so it helped Alex in charity. After all, it believed it can regain its freedom after recovering from the damage using the mana Alex provided. It felt strongly that Alex is an idiot and his freedom is right around the edge all the while not knowing about the real schemes of Alex.
So began Alex's training with teacher Sirius.