Alex returned back to the village, exhaustion evident in every step. The hunt had been grueling, but he had to keep moving. He parted ways with others and entered his home, while going in he made sure no one saw him. He glanced around, ensuring the coast was clear before he pushed the bed aside, and heading down the stairs below his bed, to the hidden basement he has been making.
The underground basement was dimly lit using torches, and the whole structure was supported using wooden beams, preventing the upper floor from collapsing. There were books on a table with diagrams of the human body in it.
Alex moved swiftly, knowing he had to hurry. "I gotta hurry, or those hearts will get damaged," he muttered to himself.
In the center of the room lay an array carved into the ground. Ten circles formed the array—nine surrounding one central circle, all inscribed with runes. Alex double-checked the array, his heart pounding. A single mistake, and he would kiss his new life goodbye.
He took out the jars from his bag, started placing the hearts in the outer circles, each one fitting perfectly.
Next, he took out a jar of water, from a cupboard, took out a shiny luminous blue mana crystals. It was something he lucked out on finding, apparently it was within the same mine he collapsed within.
"It seems lady luck has finally fallen for me" he chuckled, "with these mana stones, I can improvise my plans, though the highest level it could reach will be a pseudo artifact, for now it's sufficient"
Artifacts are tools capable of using the ambient mana from the surrounding, and help the user, making the user not bear any burden for using the artifact. But what Alex plans to create is a pseudo artifact, it will dependent on the mana provided by Alex to operate.
Though what puzzled him the most was instead of eon crystals, what he found were mana crystals, it almost made no sense with the amount of eon he could sense in the surrounding. This place just doesn't want to follow the norms.
"Now I know for sure this definitely isn't a part of my kingdom, the journey ahead won't be so simple " Alex muttered, he shook his head, getting back to the project.
Alex grabbed the mana crystal and dipped his hand within the jar, then he used his strength to crush the crystal, he grabbed another crystal and did the same. He then stirred the water within the jar, slowly the crystal shards began to disappear and the water started emitting a faint light.
"Going through the checklist once again
-9 iron grade beast hearts
-mana infused water
-10 needles" Alex went through his notes making sure he wasn't missing anything.
He sat down in the middle circle, and poured the mana infused water with the the channels on the array, he used water as a medium to supply mana to the array, as he currently couldn't provide it himself.
To be able to release and control mana outside the body, one has to form a mana body after reaching the the peak of gold grade. To reach gold grade one has to cultivate through iron grade, followed by silver grade, and then finally reaching gold grade.
It was all thanks to his soul being the same as his past, that he was able to subtly manipulate eon.
Even then gold grade was just the beginning, all it included was creating a foundation for further cultivation, in his past life, being of royal lineage, he was born at peak gold grade with a mana body formed at birth, ready for cultivation, but now he has to start from zero.
"It's a long way ahead" Alex sighed.
He poured the mana-infused water into the channels within the array, stopping only when they were filled.
He picked up a knife, staring at its sharp edge. "I hope I don't die", and then, with a swift motion, he stabbed himself in the heart, making a deep wound, almost experiencing death for a second time.. he twisted the knife, to make the wound bigger, clenching his teeth, to prevent him from loosing consciousness.
Immediately, a flame engulfed one of the hearts, and the heart disintegrated into a bright white orb that shot into Alex's heart through the wound. One by one, the hearts followed suit until the final orb entered his chest, closing the wound and causing the right side of his chest to glow. All the orbs were now stored within his heart.
The next step filled him with dread. It involved self-harm, something he himself was reluctant to do. He took a bundle from the table, unwrapping ten thick needles. He had found them in Kent's storage room and had decided to stea... Ahem, borrow them. Alex stared at the needles, while he felt a shiver pass through his being.
"It my fault at this point to come up with such absurd plans" Alex cursed out.
He took a folded cloth, clenched it between his teeth, and buried the ten needles in front of him. Placing his palm on the array, the outline matched his hand perfectly. Suddenly, a brace of mana emerged, holding his hand in place. He shut his eyes, bracing for what was to come.
The array controlled the needles, making them hover in the air.
Swish!!!
With a sharp sound, the needles shot towards his fingertips, piercing his skin. Alex bit down on the cloth, trying to pull his hand free, but the brace held firm. The needles dug deeper, creating bores in his fingers. Even after they came out, the pain lingered.
It took him several minutes to calm down. Only after he managed to calm down, he proceeded ahead. He coerced the orbs to move from his heart, directing one to each of his wrists and ankles, another to his spine, and one between his cerebral hemispheres, leaving an orb in his heart. Using the remaining two orbs, he healed his fingers and maintained the bores, creating pathways connecting all the orbs and the bores.
As he finished, a smile crept onto his face. He was one step closer to reuniting with his family. And then as Alex expected, the array on the ground began to creep up his body. The process was almost painless, and soon, Alex's body was covered in cryptic, circuit-like tattoos. He felt a sudden jolt of strength through his being.
Then, without warning, he fainted, collapsing to the ground. The tattoos began to fade, but a smile of satisfaction remained on his face. He was one step closer to his goal.