[System: Congratulations! Host Alex, you have found the Mana Pathway of Reformation on your first mana usage.]

[System: Host Alex, your body is being reformed.]

Alex blinked a few times and wiped the blood marring his face.

"What is this—"

Suddenly, a sharp jolt ran through him, and his eyes rolled back.

His body fell like a marionette cut off its strings and spasmed like a fish out of water.

His muscles convulsed grotesquely, and a faint blue light blanketed him as his body was reformed into a perfect vessel for mana control and magic.

Cedric watched him with a blank expression and snapped his fingers.

After an hour, Alex’s finger twitched, and his eyes slowly opened.

A familiar ceiling came into his vision, and he muttered with a dumbfounded look, "What was that?"

As though waiting for him to say that, a blue screen appeared before him.

[System: Host Alex, your body has been reformed into the perfect vessel for magic.]

[System: Host Alex, your mana channels have been strengthened and expanded. You no longer have any blocked channels, and you can freely move mana inside your body.]

Alex blinked a few times, and his lips arched upwards.

"Check yourself in the mirror," Cedric’s voice drifted into his ears.

Only after hearing him did he notice Cedric sitting in the corner while writing something in a personal diary.

He writes a diary? No matter how young he looks, he is still an old man. Heh. Though I wonder what he writes in it...

Alex nodded and stepped out of bed.

As he walked toward the mirror placed on the wall, he noticed that his body had become much lighter and more agile.

He reached the mirror and looked upon his reflection.

"That’s me?" He muttered, dumbfounded.

The person who looked back at him had smooth, midnight hair with sharp yellow eyes and a refined body. His features were sharp, and his face was rather handsome.

He abruptly noticed something and turned his head toward Cedric.

"Why am I naked?"

Cedric stopped his hand, placed the quill on the short table beside his chair, and looked at Alex with a humorless gaze.

"Do the people of your world not know how to show appreciation toward your benefactors?"

He is right... Maybe he removed my clothes to make sure nothing went wrong with the reformation.

Alex bowed deeply and stated. "I apologise, Master. I was just too shocked from receiving such a great boon."

Cedric nodded. "I was surprised as well."

Hmm? Alex furrowed his brows. "What do you mean, Master?"

Cedric smiled and responded.

"I had always thought of there being different kinds of pathways, but it was my time experimenting with it. It went better than I had planned. Way better, actually."

Alex sensed a bad premonition and stuttered, "W-What if it had failed?"

"Nothing much. Your Mana Pool would have exploded, and you would have died with it, but as you cannot die, there is no need to worry about such things."

Alex’s back turned cold, and he instinctively took a step back.

"Are you crazy?! What kind of Master tries to kill his disciple, that too on the very first day!" He yelled while pointing a finger at Cedric.

"Haah..." Cedric sighed audibly.

The chair creaked as he stood up and said.

"Unlike you, I do not wish to wait, so I would use any method I can to make you strong enough."

Alex fell silent. Even though the experiment was dangerous, he knew that he would’ve still agreed with it, but he didn’t like how Cedric had taken such a decision without consulting him.

He doesn’t trust me... Alex thought dejectedly and shook his head. Have I gone mad? It hasn’t even been two days since we met, and I am expecting him to trust me.

Cedric watched him in silence, and seeing his expression soften. He picked up a bag placed beside him and stepped closer to Alex.

He offered the bag to Alex and mumbled, "Wear this."

"Thank you, Master." Alex took the bag, and Cedric left the room.

Ten minutes later, Alex stood in the training chamber while wearing a slightly oversized black shirt, sleek black pants, and polished black shoes.

All that regality, and these are the only clothes he could give me? Tch.

"You look somewhat presentable now," Cedric commented.

Hearing the praise, Alex grinned foolishly.

"Isn’t that obvious? Haha!" Alex laughed while drowning himself in the pleasure.

However, his happiness didn’t last long as Cedric burst his bubble.

"It isn’t."

Alex’s grin faltered. He let out a cough and asked, "What do you want me to do?"

"Do you remember the mana channel chart?"

"I do."

Cedric snapped his fingers, and a short stone pillar rose before Alex.

"Channel mana into strength amplification channels of all of your limbs and attack those."

Alex’s childish mood vanished instantly, and he inhaled deeply.

Similar to blood veins, mana channels spread across a being’s whole body, and based on which channel mana went through, the effect would differ.

Each limb had mainly three types of mana channels: Strength Amplification, Dexterity Amplification, and an exit channel.

Based on the amount of mana used, Strength Amplification strengthened that specific part of the body while Dexterity Amplification increased speed, agility, nimbleness, and so on.

On the other hand, the exit channel allowed mana to leave the body.

Alex walked closer to the stone pillar and took his stance.

Seeing him, Cedric frowned and asked, "You... do you even know how to throw a punch?"

A vein throbbed at Alex’s forehead.

He pulled at the mana resting in his mana pool and channeled it to his fist’s Strength Amplification mana channel.

Mana moved through his body without any issue.

Feeling the strength coursing through his arm, Alex’s lips curled upward, and he punched forward.

"Of course! I do!" He shouted excitedly.

"Idiot," Cedric sighed.

Alex’s fist connected with the pillar, and the moment it did so, the mana in his arm vanished, and his fist crashed into the pillar without any amplified strength behind it.

Pain climbed up from his right arm, his face turned red and blue, and a scream tore through his lips. "Ahhhh—!"