‘That’s a mutually beneficial event for both of us if you ask me.’

Eren heard Aleph’s words in his mind. The latter seemed casual about the whole thing. As if he didn’t care what Eren thought of him.

‘Alright. If our interests are linked, then that gives me some comfort in dealing with you. Otherwise, I’ll be honest with you, man, you sound shady as fuck. A deal too good to be true.’

Eren received another cackle in response. He then focused on the current task at hand.

‘Tell me how I should deal with this damn Wyvern. The thing’s a tank with no weak points.’

Eren asked Aleph while looking at the wyvern who was slowly beginning to move faster in an almost stagnant world. He figured that Aleph couldn’t sustain this near-stagnant world indefinitely.

‘Well, you are kinda right. My time-element spells are not that profound. So I’m not really adept at using them when it’s just my soul mark being used as a conduit. But don’t worry, I can hold the spell for much longer thanks to the means I have at my disposal.

I think you are not making the most of your infinite mana core. Spell spamming and using Hex variants to pump more mana into your spells. Your infinite mana core can do a lot more than just that.’

‘Like what?’ Eren asked promptly.

‘Imbalance your spells consciously. Introduce spell deviations and make them explode by pumping more mana into them. This will change their effects so drastically that they’ll be seen as a mini calamity.

Introduce a spell deviation that changes its purpose. And in doing so, you get more destructive results. Hehe. Trust me most rudimentary spells were born this way.’

Aleph spoke like a mad scientist in Eren’s head. Aleph had conducted several experiments like these to speak so vociferously about spell deviations.

In Eren’s mind, sabotage of a spell meant compromising safety. The consequences of casting an imperfect or deviant spell were not to be taken lightly. It could hurt a ranker severely or in the most extreme case even kill them.

Aleph could read Eren’s mind like an open book. So he tried to make his point clear.

‘Of course, you’d have to do this in a way that doesn’t burn your own hands. So cast the spells first, and let them take shape. Change the school of your spells at the end.

Changing the school of spells is the key to not getting the backlash of knowingly casting a haywire spell. It is not possible for everybody. But with your infinite mana core and Hex gear, you’d be able to pull it off just fine.’

Eren felt like banging his head against the wall when he listened to Aleph’s instructions. The man’s solution to his problem made sense. But he assumed that Eren knew different schools of the same spell, which was impossible for him.

Aleph knew what Eren was thinking. He chuckled before adding further.

Of course, I am aware that you do not know how to cast spells using different schools. But I do. I’ll give them to you right away. Um… brace yourself. This might hurt a bit.’

Eren was confused by Aleph’s response at first. But he soon understood what the guy was talking about.

Eren felt like his head was going to explode with all the various pieces of information suddenly getting injected into it. He found information about the same spells he knew but using schools he had never heard of before.

If Eren could control his body in a near-stagnant world like usual, he would have clutched his head to deal with the headache he was suddenly subjected to.

‘Fuck. Bastard, you should have given me time to prepare.’

Eren cursed Aleph in his head as he dealt with the pain. He felt that the headache was going to last for a while. For today, he would have to learn to fight it.

‘Time waits for no man, Eren. So we increased the deadlines for some of your spells. But we still need to work on something else.’

Eren didn’t have to speak. He knew Aleph would make things clear for him anyway.

‘Your intent, Eren. The Hex spells are empowered by your will. And it needs a stronger intent than mere anger or hatred.

A stronger intent is born when you develop self-confidence in yourself. When you defend, your intent has to be ‘I won’t let them harm me.’ That’s a stronger intent than the mere ‘I am angry at them for hurting me.’ When you are protecting someone, your intent has to be ‘I won’t let them die.’

When you attack, you need self-confidence, which will say, ‘I will kill them.”

Eren heard Aleph’s words and had goosebumps on his skin. A pitch-black darkness overwhelmed him and he found himself submerged in a quagmire of weapons and blades.

Eren felt like he had been attacked by a thousand swords all at once. His body was pierced by a bed made of Katars. And finally, he was crushed by being hammered by something really heavy that he couldn’t see clearly.

Eren felt like he was being attacked by spells of various kinds, origins, elements, styles, and effects. He wondered how he could process so much in the span of a moment that felt like an eternity to him.

This was Aleph’s intent that Eren felt when he spoke of the intent to kill one’s opponent. Eren wondered how many people the guy must have killed as if cutting vegetables for him to have an attempt like this.

Only now did Eren understand how strong of a role intent could play in Hex spells. He had begun to understand a lot about them. With an intent like that of Aleph alone, Rank-1 spells could have effects comparable to or exceeding Rank-2 spells. And this was when Aleph was limited to being a soul mark.

Eren didn’t dare to think about how fearsome Aleph was, is, or will be if he comes to meet him in person. Even as a Meta ranker, he knew that Aleph was way beyond the Arch rank.

Just like Aleph had pointed out, all of Eren’s Hex spells were empowered by his rage or his confidence in fighting against them. However, his will never strayed beyond that.

Eren had confidence in his diligent work. But he never felt that he was invincible. Therefore, he was unable to harness that feeling’s intent. But he had never thought of polishing his intent with his self-confidence.

Eren’s strength will come from his struggle. First, as a mortal. Then as a hard-working ranker. His will to survive had always helped him under duress.

However, his will to survive never took the next step it should have taken to empower his Hex spells even further. He could never harness the will to dominate. Not really.

This was not to say that Eren needed to conjure unshakable confidence and the will to dominate from thin air. An intent born of disillusionment would never work. But he needed to cultivate a strong will consciously if he aspired to have an intent like Aleph’s.

Eren felt like he had been introduced to a higher tier of Hex spells just by listening to Aleph and feeling his intent around him. He began to realize that a strong will was the normal fuel for a Hex spell. Having an intent was like jet fuel. Both do the same job. But the effects they produced were dramatically different.

Aleph confirmed what Eren was thinking. He couldn’t help him all the time. Kino’s interference had woken him up. But he won’t always be aware of Eren. Thus, Aleph decided to guide him further before concluding the matter.

‘Your success is determined by your fortitude and confidence, Eren.

Hex spells are not overpowered by themselves. It’s the user’s will and intent that can make or break them. Even if you feel that the Hex spells you are casting are better than your normal spells, that’s not their limit.

Using Hex spells is trying to alter one of the basic building blocks of spell construction. You need to be damn sure about what kind of alterations you want to introduce for the construction to work in your favor.

I think that’s about it. I have given you all the pieces of the puzzle you need to take care of this overhyped lizard. It’s time to relapse back into the sealing technique, lest I break it and start to affect your powers and you as a whole.

The soul mark also wears off the more I use my powers. It won’t diminish completely. But replenishing the soul power of this thing is a bitch.

So I won’t be able to help you anymore. Hope you get through this test safely. Otherwise, I’d have to start all over again, looking for a new paw… cough… I mean looking for a new friend. Hehe.’

Aleph said and grew quiet. In the next moment, the near-stagnant world was shattered and Eren started experiencing the passage of time normally.

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