"My lord?" the butler responded, confused.

"What? Do you expect me to believe that those brats did something other than self-indulgence because they could?"

"In fact, sir, that seems to be the case. When the purchase orders were made, I inquired and followed the trail. It appears that the rumors of Alex being your son bothered your children so much that they wanted him to leave as quickly as possible. When they confronted him, he responded that he would do so if he received his share of the deal, and the rest is history."

"Incredible, those kids wouldn't do anything that took effort for the good of the family, but when there's something that could jeopardize the family's future, they rush to take it as fast as possible."

"Perhaps the children weren't aware of what they were doing."

"Obviously, they weren't aware of what they were doing. However, that doesn't excuse them. Demons, you and I have executed many crown traitors who passed information to enemy spies without knowing it," the marquess said, looking his butler in the eyes with determination.

On the other hand, Alex was in his room, about to finally achieve the first step in his journey to become stronger.

He was sitting on a chair in the room provided by the marquess especially for him. It was filled with grand luxuries and fine decorations, but Alex had enjoyed it very little.

Sweat poured down his forehead in great quantities, and there were some small wounds on his mouth and palms of his hands. During the arduous process, he had injured himself a few times.

This reflected once more the notion of why having a mentor to guide you in this process was so fundamental. When it came to internal energy, especially a powerful variant like Ashen Energy, it wreaked havoc inside the body when you made mistakes.

Nevertheless, with sheer willpower, he was able to continue despite the countless setbacks he had experienced in recent days and the severe wounds and lacerations, as well as some bruises. He finally managed to create his energy vessel.

The biggest obstacle and the source of the greatest pain for Alex was a mistake he had made due to a lack of information. Raknar had told him that his internal system had to be condensed in a single session, and if it failed, all remnants of a previous attempt had to be broken and he had to start from scratch.

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In Alex's case, he had created an alternative Ashen Energy heart, which pumped part of it into his body and strengthened it slowly over time. While this option was intelligent in the long run, something elite warriors would do, it had been done in the wrong order because the vessel should have been created first and the pumping system attached later.

Alex had to destroy his second heart, and it involved an acute pain that made him feel like he was having a true heart attack. His chest felt tight as if it were under a hydraulic press.

During the process, he had fallen to the floor, and his eyes had rolled back into his head, foam spewing from his mouth. He was on the verge of losing consciousness, and with it, probably his life, but he managed to hold on.

All pain brings its reward, and now he had a functional system that allowed him to move forward. He could now store his Ashen Energy and refine it. Moreover, the previous option of nourishing his body could still be done, but now he could decide how much energy he wanted to flow at any given time.

Alex knew he needed to start accumulating and condensing part of his energy both to continue improving his reservoir and to create his energy channels. However, the strengthening of his body was not something that could be neglected, so he allocated considerably less energy to this aspect, but didn't close it off completely.

So, although Alex promised himself not to take any more blind steps and to seriously train based on the information he acquired to avoid making more mistakes (a promise he broke a minute after making it by continuing to supply Ashen Energy to his body), he finally left his room to clean up, have something to eat, and check the status of his supplies.

Thanks to the interference of the marquess's sons, what should have taken about two months was completed in approximately two weeks. Alex was very pleased with the final result.

He had received three large wagons, the kind that would require a quadriga for each on Earth. However, each of his Fheres had the power needed to pull the wagon at great speed and maintain the pace for a long time. All the wagons were filled to the brim with all sorts of things, from weapons and armaments he had come to purchase, to basic items for setting up a camp like sleeping bags and pots, as well as dried food and seeds, along with basic tools for starting to build a settlement properly.

Alex never thought he could actually get the second half of all the things he asked for. He had tried a negotiation trick he had heard about, where he asked for something unreasonably high and then negotiated down to what he really wanted. For this reason, he wasn't sure if everything he had asked for was essential or optimal. However, since it was almost a miracle in itself to have obtained it, he didn't dwell on it further.

The only thing missing, and what he was still waiting for, was his own set. Rehnar had promised him heavy armor made to his measure, as well as a sword of the finest material. Although Alex was in a hurry to return and get into action, this opportunity to obtain high-quality armament wouldn't come around in the near future.

"Just a couple more days," Alex repeated to himself at every moment.