Primordial Expanse: I have the Strongest Talent!

Chapter 184: Searching for an answer

Alex took a deep breath, trying to calm the frustration boiling inside him. The system's explanation made sense, but it didn't alleviate his irritation.

The system's reply echoed in his mind. A summoned beast had no memories to give, being born at the moment of its summoning. The explanation only added to his irritation.

'So what now?' he wondered, his thoughts a chaotic swirl of frustration and confusion. 'How do I make use of this supposed second layer?'

Alex knew he needed more comprehension of his talent to unlock further information about Soulforge, but he had no idea how to achieve that. His current understanding came from what the system had revealed and his personal experiences. The cryptic nature of the system's messages only deepened his frustration.

'I guess I'll have to figure it out as I go,' he concluded with a sigh. 'There's no point in getting angry over it.'

He dismissed the system interface and got to his feet, stretching his stiff muscles. Twenty hours of sitting still had taken a toll on his body. His legs were numb, and his back ached. He grimaced, rubbing the back of his neck.

'At least it's done,' he thought, trying to find a silver lining. 'Now I need to figure out my next move.'

He had hoped the Variant class soul orb would give him a significant boost, and while it had improved his progress, it hadn't been the dramatic leap he'd anticipated. The slow and arduous process of absorbing higher-class soul orbs meant his future progression would be even more challenging.

'This is going to be a pain,' he mused, his frustration simmering. 'But it's worth it. I'll be stronger from it.'

***

Meanwhile, completely unbeknownst to Alex, Mira had been watching his every move from the void dimension. She had been observing him ever since he started absorbing the soul orb 20 hours ago.

Her curiosity had kept her glued to the spot, watching intently as Alex struggled and finally succeeded in absorbing the Variant class soul orb.

Mira watched as Alex let out a heavy sigh and got to his feet. She could see the frustration etched on his face, his movements stiff and weary.

'What's he so angry about?' she wondered. She could tell something was bothering him, but without knowing the details, she couldn't discern the specifics.

She tried to piece together what she had observed. Alex had spent a considerable amount of time absorbing the soul orb, and his reaction afterward suggested he wasn't entirely pleased with the outcome.

'Maybe he didn't get what he expected,' she thought, her mind racing with possibilities. 'But what could it be?'

Before she could ponder further, she noticed Alex start moving towards his front door.

'Where's he going?'

However panic started to settle in as she exit his house, and started walking towards hers,

'Oh shit!'

Adrenaline surged through her as she realised she needed to get back before he noticed she wasn't there.

'Damn it, I need to hurry!' she thought, quickly retreating back to her dorm and exiting the void dimension.

***

As Alex walked, his thoughts continued to churn. He needed a plan, a way to make sense of his new abilities and figure out how to utilise them effectively. The frustration of not knowing gnawed at him, but he forced himself to focus.

'There has to be something more to it,' he thought. 'I just need to find it.'

He reached Mira's dorm and opened the door, stepping inside.

Mira was already there, sitting on her bed and pretending to meditate. She looked up as he entered, her expression curious.

"You look exhausted,' she said, noting his dishevelled appearance.

"Yeah, it's been a long day," Alex replied, not wanting to delve into the details of his frustration. "How about you? What have you been up to?"

"Just practising my energy condensing technique," Mira said, pointing at the fact she was sitting in the lotus position.

"Did you make any progress with yours?" Mira asked.

She had to play her story well, as she wanted to hear what excuses Alex would give her.

After all, he told her that he was going to practise his Heart of the Phoenix technique.

"Sort of," Alex said, flopping down onto her bed. "It's much harder than I expected."

Mira studied him for a moment, noting that he was telling the truth, but they were clearly on about two different things, "You don't sound too happy about it."

Alex sighed. NovelFire-com-story

"I'm just frustrated. This whole process is more complicated than I thought it would be."

Mira nodded, not pressing further. She could tell Alex was grappling with something, but she knew better not to push him when he was being so vague with his answers.

He clearly wasn't ready to talk to her about his issues yet.

Hours passed as Alex and Mira lay on her bed, staring at the ceiling and chatting away about every random thing that popped into their heads.

Mira had eventually fallen asleep, her soft breathing a comforting background noise in the otherwise silent room.

Alex couldn't help but watch her beautiful face rest peacefully on the soft sheets, sleeping peacefully like there was nothing that could disturb her at that moment.

It brought a calm to Alex's chaotic mind, allowing him to think more clearly.

'Comprehension… I need to find a way to gain more comprehension into my talent, but how?' he thought, gently stroking Mira's hair.

'Think, Alex, think!'

The idea of gaining remnant souls from the beasts he killed still seemed bizarre and impractical. But he found it odd that the system emphasised the fact that these were remnant beast souls more than just remnant memories.

Perhaps there was more to it than just gaining some memories from the beast?

'Wait… Soul?... that rings a bell.'

His mind moved like clockwork as memories he had previously discarded or branded as unimportant started appearing, creating a link that he had previously not seen before.

'It's been right in front of me this whole time, I just haven't been paying enough attention!'