Dirty thoughts crossed Alex's mind undisturbed. He couldn't stop them, and he didn't want to either.
'I just had to ask, huh?'
Of course, his dirty thoughts weren't about anything sexual, no. Alex just wanted to rip something apart due to his frustration.
Walking for twenty kilometers or so was a good idea at first. However, five kilometers into Alex's journey completely changed his perspective. Not only was he mauled alive by bugs, but his clothes were damp with sweat as well, making him feel grossly dirty.
Right now, cultivation was the farthest thing from his mind. A good bath was the only thing Alex wanted. And a cold jug of beer.
Swatting a twig aside, Alex stepped into something akin to a clearing, taking him by surprise.
He could still see trees everywhere, but the sun's rays bathed a 20-meter area with light, making Alex wonder. Upon a closer look, all the trees inside the 'clearing' were dead or dying, with little to no foliage.
'A battle? No, struggle?'
Signs of an altercation were everywhere, from broken branches to uprooted trees and upturned dirt. But Alex couldn't see even a speck of blood anywhere he looked.
'The area's dead, and it's not coming back for a long while. Plus, there's no blood. Specters? Could a battle between specters have occurred here?'
Alex stepped forward, his boot kicking up a dust cloud and dirt. 'The area is devoid of water.'
It was something you don't see every day, making Alex scratch his head. 'Specters have no water affinity, so there weren't specters that fought here. Spirits, probably? Sprites?'
Alex sighed as there were too many options and not enough clues. It was difficult to differentiate between ethereal beings, and some were not aggressive toward humans, while others took pleasure in attacking them.
'It's gonna be a pain in the ass if it's a Wraith, after all.'
Nevertheless, Alex backed out and walked around the dead area, continuing his journey. The place Violet told him shouldn't be too far anymore.
Alex had left the Guild's property a while ago but still chose to distance himself a little more.
Eventually, the dense forest thinned, letting more light reach the forest floor. The trees were wider, taller, and much older, with arching branches and foliage.
'This sort of looks and feels like an Elvish Forest. So, this is where I should be able to experiment undisturbed, huh?'
Alex didn't expect to find any elves here, in Blackwater, even though this forest stretched well into a nearby country. He didn't know the name of this country, as it was too small and unimportant for both the kingdom and the ordinary citizen.
Even though Alex could start cultivating any moment, the way his clothes stuck to his body and the smell of sweat would keep him from concentrating.
So Alex took to searching for a pond, a stream of water, or anything he could use to wash himself and his clothes. As it turned out, finding a stream of water proved to be more difficult than anticipated, even though this forest was at the foothill of a mountain.
Nevertheless, Alex finally stumbled upon a small waterfall. After sweating another five liters of water, he finally found someplace to wash himself.
The surprisingly fast stream went over a 3-meter-tall ridge, making the waterfall the perfect height for Alex to shower. Firstly, Alex drank as much water as his stomach could hold, and even then, he would've drank some more if he could. He was that thirsty.
Undressing, Alex threw his clothes on a nearby boulder and walked into the waterfall. The water flowed down his body, cooling down his overheated body.
Alex stood in the waterfall without moving, finding it very relaxing. Since it was so hot today, he would rather sit under the ferocious stream of water than step into that sauna-like forest.
And that is what Alex did. Sitting in the lotus position, Alex took a deep breath and relaxed his body.
Although sitting under a waterfall was nosy, the perpetual sound was incredibly relaxing.
Alex soon fell into a deep state of concentration. The fatigue of his body and the relaxed state he was in right now made concentrating very easy.
Even so, he didn't go straight into cultivating. Would he choose to do that only failure awaited him.
First, Alex needed to think.
Think about what mana was, how it can be used, and what Alex's purpose was.
Alex skipped the first and second questions. He knew the answer to the first one and would soon see how mana could be used as soon as he started.
'My purpose, huh?'
Maybe it was the state he was currently in, but ideas flowed endlessly easily through his mind. 'Going back home would be the grandest purpose right now.'
In reality, Alex didn't see much allure in becoming the most powerful human ever, not that he could in the first place. Of course, that didn't mean he was pleased or content with his current power level.
'As for aspirations, meh... Having it easy all the time? Can it even be called an aspiration?
'Maybe take after my dad's footsteps and become the leader of the Nozim?' Alex cringed slightly. It wasn't as if he hated such a position, but thinking about all the responsibilities and lack of free time bothered Alex.
Eventually, Alex shook his head and focused on the task at hand. He could think of an aspiration later. Now, it was time to start experimenting.
Having already come into contact with mana, it wasn't hard for Alex to feel the mana suspended between the material world and the immaterial one.
He could feel the nigh-infinite amount of power locked in that space between spaces, making him salivate at the mere thought of controlling all that mana. It was probably impossible, and Alex knew this, but that didn't stop his mind from going wild with imagination.
After some time, he steeled his mind and focused on the barrier that stopped mana from flowing into the material plane. And... nothing.
He could see nothing... feel nothing... gain nothing from that experience.
It was like staring at a mountain and thinking how much weight it could support before crumbling down. One could only raise one's shoulders.
As Alex saw it, it was impossible for mana to flow from that side to the real world. Impossible, yet it can be done. How? He didn't know.
'Why can't mana just overflow into this plane? Just because of this barrier? Why can't it be pierced and shredded apart?' Questions flowed without end, and Alex forced them down. He knew he wouldn't get an answer.
'Let's look from another perspective. I know mana can't flow into this plane - let's leave it at that. Maybe it's like a well?'
It suddenly clicked. It may not be the best analogy ever, but it worked in the current situation.
It mana was indeed like the water at the bottom of a well, then all Alex had to do was take from the well, a bucket at a time.
'So, I need to somehow siphon mana into this plane, got it. How do I do it, though? Just expending mana into the air won't achieve shit. Besides, it isn't like I have any mana to expend in the first place. I need a core for that, sigh!'
Alex got back to square one. In order to get the experiment, he would need to expend mana he didn't have. And in order to expend mana, he would need to experiment in the first place.
'Great.'
Feeling down, Alex stopped thinking altogether, falling into the familiar void he called his consciousness. It wasn't something as grand as finding a mirrored self floating into a dark void or anything. It was just that no thought passed through his mind any longer.
A few moments passed like that, with only the sound of the waterfall covering the entirety of his perception, until Alex decided to think again.
'Well, it isn't like I have absolutely no mana inside my body or anything.' An idea struck him. 'Maybe?'
A plan slowly formed inside his mind. He would be exhausted at the end, and he might even get really hurt, but that was the only way Alex could think of catalyzing mana.
'Better than nothing, I guess.'