Exercise

Later that night,

Alex lay on his bed, the night wind came in through the slightly open window, but it didn't seem like he would move as he stared up at the ceiling without moving.

But in reality, he was staring at the ceiling, looking at the system. A new message had suddenly popped up while he was about to get to bed, and it showed something that would certainly stress Alex out.

The message seemed to come immediately after his darkness reached 150,000.

Name: Alex Parker

Race: Human

Darkness: 150,000

Light: 10,000

Status: Equilibrium State (50% Light / 50% Darkness)

Level: 1

Exp: 0/100

Strength: 15

Defense: 14

Speed: 16

Agility: 22

Abilities:

Circulation

Darkness Manipulation

Corrosion

[Circulation is currently not enough to increase your darkness levels; a better method is required.]

The message threw him off because it was all so sudden. Circulation had been his way to increase his darkness in hopes that he would have his revenge one day.

If it could no longer do the task, how was he to grow and get stronger to fight crawlers? The thoughts consumed Alex; he tried to figure out what to do, but nothing came to mind.

So he decided to just keep trying the circulation. He closed his eyes, allowed himself to be free, and then drew the first breath.

Immediately, the air temperature dropped, and he felt the darkness entering his body, but it was so little that he could barely feel it.

But there was still something, so he kept going, drawing in breath after breath after breath. Time slowly went by as minutes turned to hours, and in the end, he spent five hours that night.

But all he got was two darkness points. He could barely believe it—what he gained in a single breath was what he gained after five hours.

The difference was so large that it confused him, but he didn't have any explanation as to what was happening. He could only take what he was given.

"No, I can't end it here. Regardless of if it's one every ten days, I'll keep trying, still using it until it completely stops working.

And for the darkness I have now, I'll train with it and push it to the limit, make the best use of it. I have to. I can't ever stop growing; I don't have a choice in the matter," Alex said to himself as he slowly drifted into sleep.

---

Alex opened his eyes. He saw his father standing on the other side of the road, waving to Alex and his mother.

Alex waved back, happy to see his father. He started running toward him, but no matter how he ran, his father kept getting farther and farther away.

"Dad, wait for me!" Alex called out, chasing even faster, but his father kept getting farther away.

Suddenly, the sky turned black, and a drop touched Alex's face. He touched the drop and looked at it—a red liquid on his finger, blood.

The rain of blood began to pour heavily, covering him from head to toe with blood. Alex slowly looked at his father, but what he saw was the ripped-off upper body of his father on the ground.

Alex took a step back in fear, not wanting to face the same scene he faced that day.

"Yes, run again, do nothing again, like you did that day. You stood there watching, watching me die," his father said.

"No, no, there was nothing I could do! I couldn't do anything!" Alex yelled.

"You killed me, Alex. You and you alone," his father said before vanishing, and the blood rain stopped.

"Dad, don't go, please! I still need you! I'm sorry, please!" Alex yelled in pain, but his father was gone. Frightened and alone, he turned to see if his mother was still there, but he saw her walking away.

"Mom, where are you going? Mom!" he screamed at her back and started chasing after her, but like his father, he could not catch up.

He chased her until his legs gave out and he fell to the ground. "Mom, please, not again. I need you, I'm scared, I need you," he cried out.

His mother paused, turned to look at him, and then she spoke. "Who are you?" she asked and then vanished.

---

Alex woke up from his nightmare. He sat up from his bed slowly, feeling tears run down his face. He quickly wiped them away and got on his feet.

He walked into the bathroom and washed his face. He stared at the mirror, looking at himself.

"I can't rest. Not now, not ever. I caused all this," he said and then walked out.

He decided that from now on, he would start training his body intensely before heading to class, even skipping breakfast.

Since he would no longer be able to use circulation to grow his mana, he worked to do that naturally, though he still had a cheat method in mind.

When he checked his stats the previous day, he discovered that his stats went up, but he hadn't really been training, and he couldn't attribute it to growth.

The only way he could have increased his strength was when he used darkness to fight the instructor. The darkness had coursed through his whole body that day and made him feel stronger.

The residue of the process must have been what increased his strength and other stats, so he wanted to attempt something similar with his workout.

Sure, he couldn't use it to the amount he did with the instructor because that was beyond risky and dangerous, but if he could tap into his darkness a little, it could help him improve faster physically.

Alex closed his eyes, trying to make his darkness flow through his body, but it was harder than he expected. He knew how to use his darkness and output it, but not to make it flow through him, so he could not replicate what he did that day.

Alex decided to stop for now. He would keep trying to get it later. He started his normal workout, exercising until he was sweaty.