"How is it possible that you are at level 1?"
As soon as Ava asked this question, everyone used their mana and senses to determine if what Ava was saying was true. When they confirmed that what Ava was saying was indeed true, they all wore puzzled expressions, except for three people.
The first person who wasn't surprised was Scarlett because she already knew that Alex was currently at level 1. The second and third people were none other than Lilia and Violette.
In Lilia's case, she could no longer sense or use mana, so she couldn't know. Violette, on the other hand, hadn't awakened her powers since you needed to be 18 years old to awaken them.
Alex, meanwhile, was smiling despite all the curious looks directed at him.
After a moment, Lilia asked, "Is it true, dear? Are you really at level 1?"
"Yes," Alex confirmed.
Upon hearing the confirmation from Alex himself, Lilia's face lit up with joy, in stark contrast to the others who were rather confused.
She was so happy that she jumped on him and hugged him while saying, "I'm so happy for you!"
Seeing his wife's reaction, Alex couldn't help but kiss her on the cheek. He knew that unlike all the others who were waiting for an explanation of how he managed to reach level 1, Lilia didn't care how he did it; she was just happy that he had reached level 1.
'I'm really lucky to have her,' he thought.
Seeing her so happy for him, he thought that he couldn't hide things from her, so he whispered in Lilia's ear, "I'll explain how I did it after the meeting."
"Mmm," Lilia made only a nodding sound. She was too happy at the moment to think about anything else.
After a while, Lilia's excitement began to subside, and she removed her head from Alex's chest. She was about to move away from him, but Alex held her back and gestured for her to rest her head on his shoulder, which she did while linking her arm with his.
Meanwhile, all the women around them, except for Violette, were thinking with somewhat envious gazes, 'Look at them displaying their love in public.'
Violette, on the other hand, was smiling from ear to ear, seeing her parents' display of love.
"Cough, cough," Ava finally coughed to get the attention of the lovebirds.
"How did you manage to reach level 1?" Ava asked after successfully getting Alex and Lilia's attention.
'If I have to talk about the artifact and how it helps me become stronger, it would be wise to discuss it privately rather than in public,' Alex thought before responding, "I'll explain later. For now, what you need to know is that I can level up now."
"But how? Your father and I tried everything to find something that could—" Ava remembered that Alex had said he wouldn't discuss the method for now, so she just sighed and let it go.
"It's good that you've finally found a way to level up, but with your current level, you wouldn't stand a chance against the other participants," Ava stated matter-of-factly.
"I know," Alex replied.
"So why do you want to participate?"
"Because I intend to reach level 4 by next week," Alex said, smiling as if he hadn't just uttered an outrageous statement. This time, even Lilia lifted her head from Alex's shoulder to look at him with wide eyes.
"Come again?" Ava asked.
"You heard me right. I'll be at level 4 before next week. All I need from you is to provide me with 1000 monster cores."
"So, if I understand correctly, you plan to reach a level that typically takes geniuses decades to achieve in just one week, and for that, you want 1000 monster cores, is that it?" Ava asked after a few minutes.
"That's right."
Ava and everyone around him looked at him with strange gazes when he claimed to have achieved level 4 in one week. It's not that they thought he was lying, but reaching level 4 in just a week was far from easy.
As Ava had mentioned, it might take decades, even for a genius, to reach that level. So, when Alex confidently stated that he would do it in one week, it seemed like he was either bragging or clueless, or dumb.
Seeing their incredulous expressions, Alex's grin only grew wider, and he thought, If only you knew what I know and what I can do.'
He scanned the faces of some of them and thought, 'Moreover, you may not know it yet, but it will be thanks to you.'