Primordial Expanse: I have the Strongest Talent!

Chapter 172: Rowan again?

Alex stared at his communicator, Rowan's name flashing on the screen. Mira, noticing his frown, chuckled. "Rowan again?"

"Yeah," Alex sighed, answering the call. "Hey, Rowan. What's up?"

"Alex! You're first place!" Rowan's voice was a mix of excitement and disbelief. "I just saw the rankings. I can't believe it. When I met you in the Primordial Expanse, I didn't expect you to be this strong!"

Alex couldn't help but smile at Rowan's enthusiasm. "Thanks, Rowan. It was a tough journey, but I managed."

"Tough journey, huh? You make it sound so casual. I'm genuinely impressed. How did you manage to outshine everyone?"

Alex glanced at Mira, who was listening with a smile. "A lot of hard work and some help from good friends."

Mira blushed slightly at the compliment, nudging Alex playfully.

"Listen, Alex," Rowan continued, his tone becoming more serious. "I was planning to meet up with you to discuss something, but I just got assigned a mission. I won't be able to see you in person."

"No worries, Rowan. We can talk now. What's up?"

"Great. It's about the recommendation I gave you to get into Capital Prime. I need your testimony to confirm that I was the one who recommended you. It's for my rewards, you see."

Alex's mind raced back to the moment in the battle against the beasts where Rowan had mentioned something about Capital Prime. He had almost forgotten Rowan's role in that. "Of course, Rowan. I'd be happy to help."

Rowan's relief was palpable over the communicator. "Thanks, Alex. This means a lot. Seeing you at the top of the rankings is incredible, and it will definitely boost my standing too. I need to submit this quickly, as my flight off-planet leaves in a few minutes."

"Wait, you're leaving now?" Alex asked, surprised.

"Yeah, duty calls. It's an urgent mission, and I can't afford to miss it."

Alex nodded, even though Rowan couldn't see him. "Understood. What do you need me to do?"

"I just need you to record a quick message stating that I was the one who recommended you to Capital Prime. The admin team will handle the rest."

"Alright," Alex agreed, opening the recording app on his communicator. He quickly recorded a message, clearly stating that Rowan had recommended him to Capital Prime and expressing his gratitude for the opportunity. "Done. I'll send it over now."

"Got it," Rowan said as he received the message. "Thank you, Alex. This will help me a lot. I knew you were talented, but seeing you achieve this is something else."

"Good luck on your mission, Rowan," Alex said sincerely. "Stay safe out there."

"Thanks, Alex. You too. Keep up the good work, and I'll catch up with you when I'm back. Take care!"

With that, the call ended, and Alex put his communicator away, turning to Mira with a sigh. "Well, that was unexpected."

"Rowan seems like a good guy," Mira observed. "He really believes in you."

"Yeah, he does," Alex agreed. "And he's been a good friend since we met. I'm glad I could help him out."

Mira smiled, her eyes filled with warmth. "You've got a knack for making allies, Alex."

Alex shrugged, a modest smile playing on his lips. "I just try to do right by the people who support me."

'And do wrong to the people who hinder me…'

They stood in the park for a moment, the evening breeze rustling the leaves around them. The excitement of the rankings and Rowan's call had left Alex feeling a mixture of pride and excitement.

"Shall we get back to that training?" Mira suggested, breaking the silence.

Alex nodded, grateful for the distraction. "Yeah, let's do it."

After his chat with Rowan ended, Alex and Mira were planning on heading over to the nearest training hall to start sparring each other, but on the way they had both received notifications simultaneously, notifying them of the allocation of their new dorms.

They were very excited to see their new dorms, so they had put off the training for a little bit while they went and inspected their new homes.

However something very peculiar happened when they arrived.

It turned out that they were now neighbours…

"I thought the male and female students were supposed to be split up…" Alex spoke, revealing his confusion on the matter.

"I just read through the rest of the email we received about this, and it says here that the top 100 will be settled into their own specific living area, regardless of gender." Mira observed, breaking the confusion the two of them were feeling.

"Really? That's great then! We won't have to separate from each other for longer periods!" Alex exclaimed gleefully, with Mira joining him.

***

After inspecting their new homes, which happened to be small mansions with a bunch of facilities Alex and Mira were unfamiliar with, they had discovered that they had their own private training areas, equipped with an arena protected by the same energy barriers that were used in the Combat assessments.

Alex was already in the training gear as they were using his training grounds, and Mira quickly joined him after a few minutes or so after changing to her own combat uniform.

'Wow…'

Alex couldn't help but ogle sneakily as he watched Mira walk through the backyard door and into the training section.

The training uniforms of males and females were different, for obvious reasons, and this became very obvious to Alex when he saw Mira.

Mira's uniform was skin tight, hugging her body from her neck to her feet, as the uniforms were made out of an advanced nanomaterial that minimised any wasted space in the clothes, to enable smoother movements in combat.

But this came with the added effect of Mira's curves all being on show.

"Alex… Where are you looking…" Mira blushed as she saw Alex staring at her with eyes wide and mouth slightly open.

He thought he was being sneaky with it, but his thoughts and reality were completely different…