"Sir Erebus, You need to explain more clearly for me to understand," Alex said, not understanding what Erebus meant by his statement.

"The Malefis Domain is a unique area in the Ancient World world that choose its Ruler and give him tremendous benefits, but to receive those benefits, the chosen person needs to complete few requirements."

"The free benefits that every chosen Ruler of the Malefis Domain gets are protection from death and some degree of authority over the inhabitants."

"I was the first Ruler of the Malefis Domain, and in my day of being a Ruler, I established the Kingdom of Abrus, which I ruled for a few decades before......"

'Erebus is still explaining, but why I can't hear anything?' Alex thought after hearing no sound, and instinctively he snapped his finger near his ears and, as he expected, there was no sound.

"The little weasel is interfering," Erebus said after he snapped his fingers.

'I can hear again, which is good, but what is going on, and who is he calling a weasel?' Alex thought, still surprised at what Erebus had just revealed to him.

'The Malefis Domain sounds like an extraordinary hidden continent.' Alex thought, eager to learn more about such a magical place that chooses its Ruler and even gives him broken-sounding benefits.

"I won't reveal any more sensitive information because that weasel won't let you hear any of it, so you should ask some questions to clear your doubts," Erebus said.

'I think he is calling AI Zero a weasel.' Alex thought while being a little disappointed at not being able to learn about the history of the Malefis Domain.

"How will I become the Ruler of Malefis Domain because I believe the criteria to be selected by the domain are very strict," Alex said.

"There are few conditions to become the Ruler of Malefis Domain, and one of the main condition is to have an outstanding talent in any Dark Element, but you don't need to worry as you meet all the conditions," Erebus replied.

"What are the restrictions to becoming the Ruler of Malefis Domain?" Alex asked while hoping to hear a good answer.

"You will need to complete some missions, which could range from reaching the next Rank of strength in a certain time to helping some

inhabitant."

"If you continuously fail to complete those tasks, it will result in you being banished from the Malefis Domain and being its Ruler," Erebus replied with a smile.'Those missions would be related to Malefis Domain which would make me accomplish things that would directly or indirectly help the kingdom of Abrus, which is a good thing but completing those tasks in a certain time limit would be a big headache.' Alex thought.

'I will accept this deal because even in the worst-case scenario where I couldn't complete my duties of being the Ruler of Malefis Domain and get banished, I would still have the Erebus Legacy, which is good enough.' Alex thought.

Alex was not too bothered by the responsibility that would come after becoming the Ruler of the Malefis Domain, as he understood there were no free meals in the world.

"There are no free things in this world, and if you want something, you need to work for it, and even though you would believe that the Legacies in the world are free, even they are not free," Erebus said calmly.

"The individuals who have left their knowledge as legacies didn't do it for future generations, but they did it to repay the world that sheltered them and ....." Erebus kept speaking, but Alex heard nothing as the weasel interfered again.

'It would be suspicious if these old monsters just generously left their hard-earned knowledge and experience behind as gifts to ungrateful youngsters.' Alex thought, knowing Erebus was telling the truth.

"You want to ask about anything else, or are you ready to make your decision?"

"Sir Erebus, I am willing to take the law oath," Alex said after taking a deep breath, not knowing what surprise his future had planned for him.

"Repeat After me, and don't forget to say your name at the start," Erebus said, and after a short pause, he started speaking the words required to complete the law oath.

"I [Hidden One] with the world laws as my witness, make the oath to accept the responsibility of being the king of the Malefis Domain before reaching the First Transcend Rank in exchange for the Legacy of the [Erebus The Dark King]." Alex finished the sentence and felt his mana boil for a split second.

'I don't need to worry about not getting selected by the Malefis Domain.' Alex thought with a satisfied smile after getting the confirmation of the law oath being validated by world law.

Alex was satisfied with the law oath because it states that he needed to accept the responsibility of becoming the Ruler of the Malefis Domain before reaching the First Transcend Rank and not becoming its Ruler.

Alex was just required to take the test of the Malefis Domain to complete his law oath, and even if the domain didn't select him as its Ruler, the law oath would still be considered completed.

"It's time for me to fulfill my part of the oath, but before that, let me explain a few things to you," Erebus said as he teleported in front of Alex.

"After bestowing you with my legacy, I will teleport you to the Malefis Domain near the Rulers Throne."

"You just need to sit on the Ruler's throne, and after a short, "memorable experience," you will become the next Ruler of the Malefis Domain," Erebus said with a smile.

'I don't like how he emphasizes the word memorable experience, but more importantly, I still have many questions I want to ask.' Alex thought.

"I understand that you have many questions related to Malefis Domain, but I advise you to save them for a few more hours because you will get detail information on the Malefis Domain after you become its Ruler," Erebus said before Alex could even ask any questions.

"You will feel discomfort, but it will only stay for a few moments, so endure it," Erebus said.

'I have only heard stories of the overwhelming pain one would feel when receiving a legacy, but today I will experience it myself, and I am excited to do it.' Alex thought.

After taking a few deep breaths to mentally prepare for the unknown pain, Alex nodded to signal Erebus to start the process.

Erebus didn't waste any time and controlled the darkness around him to start the process of refining the body of Alex to make it into a clean vessel.

'I wonder If the process of cleansing my body would be any different from normal as a strong person like Erebus is doing it himself.' Alex thought, seeing his body getting covered in pitch darkness.

The process of refining the body was to reset any progression a person had made in the path of gaining strength, and in the case of a player, it meant losing all the levels and any strength gained from the Rank promotions.

A person needs to have a clean vessel to receive a legacy, and refining the body was done to complete that requirement.

The procedure of refining a clean vessel was an excruciating experience because a person's very source of strength was erased using unnatural means, and even though the process was safe and didn't bring any harm to the body but the pain one would feel was still agonizing.

'The pain should only last for less than two minutes with my current level." Alex thought while being ready for the pain to start.

The higher the strength of a person, the more time the body refining procedure would take to complete, which would extend the time the person would feel excruciating pain, and this was also the reason why Alex didn't try to advance to the Second Rank.

Alex was not afraid of pain as he had many painful experiences in his previous life, but he also did not like torturing himself.

'The process of torture has started.' Alex thought as he felt foreign mana moving inside his body.

After a few seconds of feeling tolerable pain, Alex received the first system notification that placed a smile on his face.

[ Level Lost ] x 1

The refining process continued smoothly, and Alex kept losing levels every one or two seconds, and after two minutes, he lost a total of forty-one levels.

[ Level Lost ] x 41

'The pain I am feeling has increased significantly, but it is still tolerable.' Alex thought

'Erebus must be extending the time to complete the refining process while making it less painful because it has already been over two minutes since the process has started, and I have only lost forty-one levels.' Alex thought with clenched teeth.

Alex believed that Erebus was helping him with the pain, but the reason for the refining process being slower than normal was completely different, and even Erebus was surprised by what was happing.