Novel's Extra: I Awakened The Strongest Physique From The Start

A while ago.

Darkness.

That was all Lucian could see.

His body felt weightless, his senses dulled, yet his mind was still intact, lingering on the last moments before his death. He had felt the blade sink into his chest, the searing pain of his heart being ripped from his body, and then... nothing.

He should have been gone. He should have ceased to exist.

Yet, in this abyss of nothingness, something stirred.

"Do you seek another chance?"

The voice slithered through the void, smooth and patient, like a hunter waiting for its prey to fall into its trap.

Lucian's eyes snapped open—if he even had eyes in this place. The voice was unlike anything he had ever heard, yet it resonated deep within him. He didn't answer immediately, wary of such an offer. He was no fool to trust an unknown entity lurking in the darkness.

But then—

"It's good to see you, Alex."

Discover more content at My Virtual Library Empire

Lilia's voice echoed in the recesses of his dying consciousness, shattering his restraint.

He couldn't hear anything, but when this line was spoken, he heard it clearly, and his mind paused.

Lilia had called his name before, but never like that. Never with such care and relief.

If that wasn't enough, those words were directed toward Alex.

"That guy was ALEX?!?!?!" Lucian roared, rage boiling in his veins.

A searing, unbearable fury erupted from his core as he realized the truth—the very thing he had refused to accept all this time. No matter what he did, no matter how much power he gained, no matter how much effort he put in, Lilia had never looked at him the way she looked at Alex.

It had always been Alex.

Even now, with his body lying broken on the battlefield, she wasn't crying for him. She wasn't mourning him. She could even be said to be responsible for his death.

She had only ever cared for Alex.

Lucian's teeth clenched. His body, even in this limbo between life and death, trembled with unrestrained rage.

"Take my soul. Take my body. Take my mind. I don't care what you want." His voice was low, yet it carried with it a terrible finality. "Give me the power to kill Alex. That's all I want."

He didn't know how Alex came to know of this place. He didn't care if there was someone else with him, nor did he care if he would bring something evil to the world.

Alex, the person he hated the most in this world was right in front of him, and he was going to kill that guy.

If he had known earlier, he would've burned his own blood to make sure that Alex died, but now he could only depend on this voice.

The voice chuckled, deep and pleased. "Your will is strong, and your hatred burns bright. Very well, Lucian. Let us make a deal."

And then—

Pain.

Blinding, excruciating pain. It surged through every fiber of his being, rewriting the very essence of his existence.

"GAHHHHHHH!!!" He screamed, his voice lost in the swirling darkness as something new and monstrous took root within him.

Lucian didn't know how long it took, but by the time he came to, he could feel power surging through his veins. He was back to his prime health.

Now, looking at his claw buried deep inside Alex, the sheer force of the strike having lifted Alex slightly off the ground, Lucian couldn't help but laugh loudly.

"Yeah! You should by my hands!" The black, twisted energy around Lucian's body crackled violently, his laughter echoing through the prison like the cackling of a madman.@@novelbin@@

Lilia was frozen, her body trembling, her mind unable to process what she saw. Just moments ago, Lucian had been dead. She had watched Alex crush his heart.

Yet here he stood, very much alive, a twisted smirk playing on his lips as his crimson eyes gleamed with madness.

"Lilia..." Lucian whispered, his voice dripping with venom. "What will you do now? He's dead!"

To Alex, however, everything blurred. The sounds around him dulled. The pain in his chest faded into the background.

The world around him was frozen.

The blood dripping from his wound hung suspended in the air, Lilia's horrified expression remained frozen in time, and Lucian's manic grin was still as if reality itself had been put on pause.

Alex could see it all from a third-person point of view. He could see himself standing away from his body as if it were his soul separated from his body.

Alex exhaled sharply. 'What the hell was happening?' He asked Sophie, the only one he could still feel his connection with.

[You are in a suspended space. Someone is interfering with the events,] Sophie replied, her voice low as she tried to suppress her worry.

A being who could do something like this shouldn't be someone ordinary, and she was worried the one responsible for this was after Alex's life.

'Can you tell me what's happening then?' Alex, however, remained calm. For some reason, he didn't feel scared.

[Yes, please give me some seconds.] Sophie's voice came, and he nodded to himself.

Then, he heard it.

"Do you want another chance?"

The voice was different from the one Lucian had heard—calm, patient, yet carrying an undeniable weight.

Alex didn't reply.

The voice, on the other hand, continued, unbothered by his silence. "You are dying, Alex. But I can change that. I can give you another chance. I can give you power beyond your imagination."

Alex remained still, his expression unreadable.

The voice chuckled. "You are cautious. Good. But you do not have much time. So, let me be clear—I offer you life. I offer you strength unlike any you have ever known. You will be able to protect what is yours and destroy what stands in your way. Isn't it a good offer?"

A long silence followed; neither Alex nor the voice said anything. The time remained frozen as well.

It seemed as though Alex was thinking really hard about it, and just when it appeared as if the voice was about to speak again, Alex began.

"There is no such thing as free food in this world," he said, making his distrust clear, even with the situation he was in. "What do you want in return?"

"Your eternal loyalty," the voice replied without delay. It was as if it was expecting him to ask that. "I want nothing but a promise of eternal loyalty to me."

Alex tilted his head slightly, his voice calm and pondering. "And what happens if I agree now... and later decide to break this so-called loyalty?"

The voice laughed, a low and knowing sound. "You cannot. The moment you accept, your soul will be bound. There is no escape, no betrayal. You will be mine."

Again, silence.

This time, it was longer. Even the air seemed to be trembling a bit as if the voice—the one controlling these events—was losing patience.

After waiting for some more seconds, the voice spoke again, more forceful this time. "Do you accept or not? Don't waste my time—"

Before the voice could complete whatever it wanted to say, Alex smirked, his demeanor as relaxed as always.

"Nah."

That was all he said, causing the surroundings, already frozen in time, to feel like it was paused over again.