Chapter 290: Flight

Alex almost wanted to say that she wasn’t dead and that they shouldn’t speak about her as though she was. The words reached the back of his throat, but he bit his lip and forced himself to remain silent.

He needed to stop living in denial if he wanted to support his family. He would still look for his mother because there was always a possibility that the information they had theorized about the two bodies was correct, but he would no longer reject the news of her death whenever someone mentioned it.

It hurt. The thought that he might never see his mother again left a strange heaviness inside him, but he needed to accept that possibility instead of allowing himself to become consumed by it.

His father sighed before looking toward the moon. "So, what are you going to do now?"

Alex remained silent for a moment as he considered the question. "First, I want to become stronger. Second, I want to survive, and third, I want to make sure that everyone can still have a place they can call home."

His father looked at him for a moment. "You put becoming stronger before surviving?"

Alex thought about it before slowly nodding. "It sounds strange when you say it like that, but whenever I use magic, I feel happy. I want to know more about it, learn more things, and see how far I can take it, and I can only keep doing that if I continue becoming stronger."

A small smile appeared on his father’s face. "It seems like you’ve finally found your goal."

Alex looked at him with a slightly confused expression. "My goal?"

"You’ve always studied hard, but it never felt like studying was something you truly wanted to do. You were doing it because you believed it was necessary for having a good life, and since everyone around you was trying to become successful, you ended up chasing the same thing. But you look different now, and whenever you talk about magic, you look genuinely happy," his father explained.

Alex was surprised by his father’s words, but the more he thought about them, the more sense they made. He had always assumed that becoming successful was simply something he was supposed to do, while magic was the first thing he had encountered that made him genuinely curious about what he could accomplish.

His father smiled again. "I’m happy for you, Alex. But promise me one thing. If you ever encounter something you can’t handle, you will retreat, and you won’t put your life at risk for power or for someone else, because I... can’t lose you too."

Alex remained silent for several seconds before nodding. He nodded because it was the right thing to do here, especially after seeing how much his father had already suffered.

As for whether he would truly follow those words every time he faced danger, that was something he couldn’t decide now. It wasn’t that Alex didn’t understand his father’s feelings or why he was asking for such a promise, but he also knew that he had to make his own choices.

A chick couldn’t remain in its nest forever. Eventually, it had to leave and learn how to survive without its parent guiding it through every decision, and Alex had reached that point as well.

He still respected his father, but he needed to become independent and decide what kind of person he wanted to be. He didn’t know whether his father had seen through his empty nod, but his father didn’t question it and simply told Alex that he was going back to rest.

Alex watched his father walk away, and after their conversation, it seemed like some of the sorrow weighing on him had finally become lighter. Just before his father disappeared around the corner, Alex suddenly spoke.

"Dad."

His father stopped and looked back.

"If you ever want to talk about something, I’m always here."

His father blinked in surprise before slowly smiling. "I will do that."

He then turned around and continued walking, leaving Alex alone in the corridor. Alex remained there for a few moments, replaying the conversation in his mind before eventually making his way toward the rooftop.

There were already several guards there, acting as both sentries and scouts while keeping watch over the surrounding area. They immediately saluted when they saw Alex, and he nodded in response, although he was still somewhat confused about why everyone kept saluting him.

This wasn’t a military base, and yet people had somehow started treating him as though he were their commander. Alex decided not to think about it too much and simply pointed toward an empty part of the rooftop.

"Could you clear that area for me?"

The guards quickly nodded and moved away, giving him enough space to work. Alex walked over and stood there quietly, taking several deep breaths as he prepared himself.

He still had some time before he needed to return to the Land of Origin, so he decided to use it efficiently. He wanted to find the Merchants, and if possible, he wanted to obtain weapons, information about magic and runes, and anything that could help him understand the apocalypse and what might happen in the future.

The problem was that Merchants appeared randomly, making them difficult to find. However, Alex already had an idea that could allow him to search for them much faster.

The first step was simple.

He needed to fly.

Alex took a deep breath and began constructing a Kinetic Element Rune. He already knew what the rune looked like because he had examined Joseph’s wand before, so recreating its structure wasn’t particularly difficult for him.

Once the rune was complete, Alex began revolving it around his body at high speed. The rune absorbed the kinetic energy generated through the motion, and as it continued absorbing that energy, the kinetic essence contained within it gradually became concentrated.

..

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