One could say that being part of the Dragon Roar Faction was a luxury for Alex. This faction had a lot of tricks and was far more advanced than any other faction, both in arts and technology.
What was great about these resources was that they were readily available to anyone in the faction. Members didn't have to pay money or give anything in return for this knowledge. Once someone was deemed fit, they would receive it.
Because of this, even though Alex wasn't a mage, he already had a good idea of what it meant to be one.
Over the past months with the Dragon Roar Faction, training and fighting weren't the only things Alex had been doing. Most mornings, Stan would take him up to the mountains to share knowledge about Paragons—both warriors and mages.
At this particular moment, Alex couldn't help but remember everything Stan had explained to him.
"To be a mage, one first needs to have an active mana core," Stan had said. "Then, after that, they need to have one of these affinities: Dark, Light, Water, Fire, Earth, or Wind."
Stan continued, "Of course, there are cases where someone might not have any affinity. In that case, they'd need to find a power source with an affinity to gain the type they want."
"Now, under each affinity, there are specialties," Stan explained. "For example, a water-affinity user can choose to control vines, heal to some extent, and even manipulate or control ice. Earth can control metals and other minerals connected to it. Fire—I don't know much about them since they're quite destructive. Then there's Air. Some say Air users have control over life, but one thing I do know is that their power often has a telekinesis effect. Some air-affinity users even specialize in telekinesis."
At this moment, Alex hadn't expected to remember such details.
"Damn it…" Alex cursed.
The wind attack had been incredibly strong, blowing Alex away from the area entirely. It was a sharp reminder that he was facing a stage-three Paragon, not someone at his level or just one stage higher.
"I should have realized that having telekinesis means he has an air affinity," Alex muttered to himself. Fortunately, he hadn't suffered any serious injuries from the strike, only some dizziness and a few scratches on his skin.
Suddenly, a system message flashed before his eyes:
[Your Qi is low. Any further use of your Qi will consume your life force.]
This message instantly snapped Alex out of any remaining dizziness.
"Wait a minute… is my Astral Body still active?" Alex thought in surprise.
Normally, when someone creates an Astral Body, if their real body takes a direct hit, the Astral Body is supposed to be destroyed. However, Alex had just taken two hard blows, and yet his Astral Body was still intact.
'Another effect of the peace energy, sweet,' Alex thought to himself.
Switching bodies, Alex appeared in front of the mage, who no longer looked the same as before.
Still floating in the air, the mage's hair swirled rapidly, his hands outstretched, and his wand glowing brightly. What was even more amazing was the spiraling air barrier surrounding him. The mage stood inside this floating barrier, and by his side were chunks of debris, ready to be hurled toward Alex.
[Your life force will be used to keep the Astral Body active in 5, 4, 3...]
"Heck… I need more time," Alex complained.
"I am Horrik, a Stage 3 mage and one who will break through several stages in the future! I hereby sentence you to death!" Horrik shouted as he moved his hands forward.
Immediately, chunks of debris flew toward Alex. But before they could reach him, Alex's body began fading away, each part disappearing bit by bit.
Not too far away, Alex had just reappeared on the ground, even more exhausted.
"My Qi is really drained. Well, at least I have backup Qi," Alex muttered to himself.
Closing his eyes for a second, Alex had only one word to say. "Refill."
Instantly, the exhaustion disappeared as Alex's Qi refilled, giving him a new burst of energy.
Thanks to this new discovery, Alex—and all Dragon Roar Faction members—now had a reserve of Qi stored in their sea of consciousness.
After Stan managed to regain his power, everyone realized they couldn't use it quite like he did. While Stan could absorb and use Qi at the same rapid rate, the others found that although they could absorb and use Qi, their speed wasn't as fast as Stan's.
Because of this, when everyone formed their artificial Qi cores—far more flexible and capable of storing more Qi than the original cores—they turned them into storage units. At any moment in battle, Alex could instantly refill his Qi back to full strength.
The advantage was that while Alex fought using the Qi from his original Qi core, he could simultaneously absorb Qi from the surroundings into his artificial core. With this setup, Alex could almost fight endlessly.
Just as Alex finished gathering himself, a strong gust of wind appeared in front of him. It was Horrik, who had spotted Alex instantly.
"Well, I guess I'll need a new strategy for you," Alex thought.
Once again, Alex summoned his Astral Body, sending it in a different direction.
Standing his ground, Alex aimed and started firing Qi bullets at Horrik. However, Horrik had adjusted. The air barrier in front of him blocked every single bullet.
"I'm sure a Qi cannon would break that barrier, but it's not time yet. I need a clean shot," Alex muttered to himself.
Horrik waved his hand, sending a storm of debris toward Alex. Alex, as nimble as he was, prepared to dodge all of it. But just as he was about to move, he felt an invisible force holding him in place. It wasn't gravity; it was something stronger and unnatural.
"Damn it… He's using Telekinesis on me," Alex cursed under his breath.
Quickly, Alex used his swapping ability to change positions with his Astral Body. Freed from the invisible hold, Alex fired at Horrik.
Meanwhile, the Astral Body, unaffected by the attack, started sprinting toward the mage. Since Horrik was high up, a single jump wouldn't reach him. Instead, the Astral Body ran along the side of a nearby building, leaping off it to get closer.
As it reached the swirling air barrier around Horrik, the Astral Body slipped through it effortlessly, now inside the barrier with Horrik. Without hesitation, it threw a hard jab, landing a hit across Horrik's face and sending him and his barrier plummeting downward.
Watching from a distance, Alex smirked. "That worked."
What Alex had done was clever: he'd used the Astral Body to reach Horrik, and at the last second, he swapped places, delivering a powerful punch to Horrik's face and sending him downward.
But Horrik wasn't finished yet. Using his wand, he steadied himself in midair before he could hit the ground. The air barrier reappeared, spinning even faster than before.
Meanwhile, the Astral Body had already retreated, while the real Alex charged forward, determined to keep up the attack.
Seeing this, Horrik shot a large ball of wind directly at Alex.
"Heck!" Alex yelled, quickly swapping places with the Astral Body once again.
"All these swaps are really draining my Qi," Alex thought, clenching his fists in frustration. "I need a new plan for this guy. I've seen so many chances, but I can't bring myself to take them."
Meanwhile, Horrik pushed himself off the ground, rising back into the air, hovering a bit higher than before.
"You're no Stage 1 Paragon... Is this some kind of trick? Are you actually a Stage 3 or even Stage 4, hiding your true level?" Horrik shouted, glaring at Alex.
With what Alex had managed to do, it didn't make sense to Horrik that he was just a Stage one This fight shouldn't be lasting so long if that were true.
"Trust me, man... I only broke through to Stage 1 last month. Believe it or not, you're fighting a real Stage 1 Paragon!" Alex shouted back.
"Argh...!!! I will kill you!" Horrik yelled, his voice echoing through the air as he started descending rapidly, diving straight toward Alex.
'This move again...' Alex thought, eyes darting around. 'The Astral Body is too close to be helpful now, and there's no way I can make enough distance between us in time.'
"I guess I have no other choice. Better not fail death," Alex muttered, a glint of determination in his eyes as he summoned his axe into his hand.