Aadityapal frowned when he saw the dirty-looking water, but he pinched his nose and drank a mouthful.

Alex was ready to call Hermes to bring the prince back to life in case any unexpected side effects occurred.

As soon as the prince drank the diluted Essence, he placed a hand on his head and started leaning back and forth like a drunk man.

Alex was on high alert, but fortunately, this only continued for a few minutes before the prince regained his full consciousness and stretched his body.

"Master, what is this? This is incredible!" Aadityapal swung his fist around and a sharp sound followed.

Alex cleared his throat and rubbed his head.

"It's just...an elixir...refined from...ah! snake venom, yes, snake venom!"

Aadityapal exclaimed, "Oh, I didn't know Master also knew his way around alchemy!"

'I don't.' Alex simply flashed a bright smile.

"So, since this....actually works, I'll have you consume it in batches every day after training," Alex stated with a serious expression.

Aadityapal bowed and exclaimed, "Yes!"

Following his successful experiment on the little lab rat....the prince*, he trained the latter in martial arts.

Following his consumption of Essence, he had immense improvements in his speed, his reaction time, and his strength.

Of course, the fights were still one-sided, but they weren't a massacre anymore.

They fought until afternoon, and Aadityapal now had a flawless mastery of movement over his current physique, thanks to Alex's cutthroat guidance.

'Didn't Ashoka say the contest would also be about...scholarship?' Alex didn't remember wrong.

"Aadit, have you studied any documents relating to imperial rule?" Alex asked the prince.

Aadityapal slanted his eyes and responded, "Hmmm, I did, but truthfully, it just goes right through my head..."

'Why does he feel like the dumb and talented protagonist....?' Alex was exasperated.

"I should be good at this, anyway..." Alex murmured, thanking Athena in his mind.

After a short meal, the two went to the library.

Thankfully, there was an entire category on the Maurya Empire, its history, the style of rule of past emperors, the art of sovereignty and war, and some very useful documents.

Some of them seemed too advanced for Aadityapal, so Alex skimmed through a political sciences book and sat down with the prince to discuss it.

"The very fundamental basis of stability relies on two pillars: food and enjoyment. If a population is fed properly and happy, only then can a good ruler build a long-lasting empire." Alex simplified the concepts of the book.

Surprisingly, Aadityapal listened very attentively and even gave his own feedback.

"Isn't that an oversimplification of reality?"

Alex nodded and replied, "It is, because, in reality, many factors that conform to technological level, economic growth, access to water, state propaganda may impact these two elements."

"I understand, Master."

They continued to discuss for the entire afternoon and the lesson only ended when the setting sun alerted them that it was dinnertime.

"Aadit," Alex called out to the prince.

Aadityapal turned around.

"You're doing great, disciple."

Aadityapal smiled and bowed deeply.

They then went to have dinner in the banquet hall.

It seemed that usually, there weren't as many people in the banquet hall as the first day that they came, but there were still plenty of people.

When they entered the hall, many young men and women glared at Aadityapal.

"Those are my half-siblings." The prince whispered.

Suddenly, a young man among them stood up and greeted Aadityapal with an extremely wide smile, "Nice to see you, brother."

Out of a sudden, the expressions of the princes and princesses all changed and they praised.

"Prince Ayush is so gracious, immediately greeting every prince that comes in!"

Praises like these echoed throughout the hall.

'This stinks of a people's representative....' Alex wasn't shocked that some people would instead curry favor with the rest of the imperial family to gain supporters.

Prince Ayush was probably one of those.

He didn't seem to be strong physically, but it looked like he had an even more fearsome power, that of incredible charisma and influence.

Aadityapal frowned and stayed close to Alex.

In the deep end of the hall, Ashoka sat in his usual seat.

Hermes was already there, and he waved at him. The Bodhisattva Padmapani was also present, and he approached Alex when he caught sight of him.

"Sir Alex, I have a strange request to make," The monk bowed down.

Alex frowned slightly and spoke, "Yes?"

"Our spiritual leader wishes to meet you, in a temple to the north, in the land called Nepal."

"Spiritual leader....? Who?"

"You might know Him by the name of Siddartha Gautama."

'Siddartha Gautama? Buddha?! Why does Buddha want to see me?' Alex was puzzled.

"I'll think about it." Alex didn't give any conclusive response.

Padmapani smiled and said, "Thank you for your consideration, please keep me updated."

After that confusing conversation, they ate a short, but delicious meal.

Aadityapal said he wished to meet him in a nearby palace.

Alex was clueless about his reasons, but he agreed nonetheless, and after the end of the meal, he rested a bit before arriving at the marked destination.

The prince was standing there, and he had a very big box next to him on the floor.

When he saw him, he ran up to him and said, "Master, I have the things you wished for."

Alex followed the prince and opened the box.

Inside, there were many very old-looking books, and on the side, there were ingots of a strange, silver-like metal.

Alex recognized that the books were rare documents on forging techniques, but his attention instantly turned to the metal.

Hephaestus' Essence made him particularly sensitive to good materials, and the sensation that this metal gave him was outstanding.

He took one of the ingots in his hand.

'Heavy!' His first remark was that this metal was extremely dense and heavy, more so than even gold.

When he examined it closely, he was shocked.

Whenever he looked at a metal like iron or an alloy like bronze, he recognized that there were fundamental structural flaws that would be visible in a product that was produced with the aforementioned no matter the blacksmith's skills.

'This metal...simply doesn't have any of those...!'

And then, the system interface popped up and brought up some shocking information.

___________________

(Divine Iron)

Quality: Divine

State: Great

Additional Information: A precious and unbreakable metal that was used to craft Indra's divine weapon, the Vajra.

__________________

Asking about the source of the metal would come later, but the first thought that came to his head was different.

'With this metal, I can finally craft a weapon fit for the God of Humanity...'