Primordial Expanse: I have the Strongest Talent!

Chapter 193: The past

"So this is what you've been hiding all this time…" Mira mused to herself, not expecting an answer from Alex.

Mira's shock was still evident as she processed Alex's revelation. She still hadn't quite got a grip over Alex's Soulforge talent, nor about how it somehow had a rank that wasn't following the normal ranking system.

But even more astonishing was the fact that it seemed so… overpowered.

The fact that Alex could get something so precious like those 'Soul orbs', just from killing beasts, while everyone else was still stuck trying to get beast cores, was simply a cheat!

The usage of these soul cores seemed like a crazy benefit for someone like Alex.

She looked back at him, she saw his vulnerability and the trust he had for her in his eyes.

'He has been carrying this burden alone for so long… I can't imagine how unbearable that must have been, always trying to hide, trying to cover up so that he didn't turn into some kind of lab rat, or slave to someone who uses him to farm those Soul orbs for them…' Mira thought to herself, pitying Alex.

"Wait… If you've been carrying such a big secret like this one, how has the university not reacted against you yet? They should know about your absurd and unusual talent from the talent assessment, after all, we signed soul contracts."

Mira quickly realised one thing that confused her, which was the fact that the university still seemed so… neutral about Alex, even though his talent literally broke the normal conventions people had gotten used to for the past 100 years.

Alex, expecting this question, had already prepared an answer.

"Apparently soul contracts don't work on my talent, as its rank is too high to be forcefully viewed."

'Ah, I see. That makes sense then.'

Mira didn't even seem too shocked by this, as she subconsciously expected an answer like that when she considered the fact that the rank of the talent was 'Soul+', whatever that meant.

But it was a clear indicator of one thing, Soul+ was at least a higher rank than S+, as her Call of the Void hadn't been exempted from being viewed.

'He truly is extraordinary…'

With how much trust Alex had shown in her through this act, even though he had her sign a soul contract beforehand, Mira knew she had to reciprocate it properly.

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'I don't like it… But now seems like a better time than any other!'

Taking a deep breath, she made a decision.

"Alex, I think it's only fair that I show my trust in you. I'm going to tell you something very important and secret to me too. You deserved to know about my past, and about my last name, 'Mistborn'."

Alex's curiosity was piqued. He nodded, signalling for her to continue.

Mira took another deep breath, gathering her thoughts. "You are the closest thing I have to a family, I want you to know everything there is to know about me. And now, in this undetectable space, it seems like the perfect moment to share my secret.

My past is dark, and it's something I've been trying to move on from, but it's a part of who I am today, and I'd have never ended up meeting you if it went any other way."

Unexpectedly, it seemed the white space surrounding them had more to it than they originally thought.

The white space around them shifted, and Alex felt a sense of disorientation.

The scene had changed.

He found himself looking at a young, frail girl, barely seven years old.

***

The small room was dimly lit, the only source of light coming from a flickering bulb hanging from the ceiling. The air was thick with the stench of alcohol and stale smoke.

A young girl, with a frail frame and vacant eyes, stood in the corner of the room. Her long, tangled hair partially covered her bruised face.

Suddenly, the sound of a door slamming echoed throughout the house, followed by heavy, staggering footsteps. The young girl, Mira, flinched but remained silent, her eyes trained on the floor.

"MIRA, GET HERE YOU STUPID LITTLE BITCH!" a voice roared from the hallway.

A tall, burly man stumbled into the room, a half empty beer bottle in his hand.

His eyes were bloodshot, and his face was contorted with rage.

Without warning, he swung the bottle at Mira, smashing it over her head. The glass shattered, and blood started to pool on her scalp, dripping down to her face.

Mira didn't cry or wince. Her expression remained empty, deadpan. This was not the first time she had been subjected to such violence, nor was it the last. It was all she had ever known in her short life.

"You're worthless!" her father screamed, his voice slurred with intoxication. "You killed your mother! It should have been you, not her! You ruined my life!"

Each word was like a dagger, but Mira's face remained emotionless. Her father's resentment was born out of the belief that she was responsible for her mother's death during childbirth. His drinking problem started shortly after, and with it came the beatings and the verbal abuse.

They lived in a small mining colony, far from any major civilisation. The isolation meant that Mira had no escape, no one to turn to, no other family than her father.

She wasn't allowed to go to school or even leave the house. Her father controlled every aspect of her life.

Hours passed and her father eventually passed out on the couch, the room silent except for his heavy snores. Mira retreated to her small, cluttered room.

She sat on the edge of her bed, her mind numb from all of the pain and fear. This was her life, day in and day out.

***

The scene shifted before Alex once again.

Mira was older now, around nine years old, sitting in her room, waiting for her father to come back home from work.

She was tense, expecting the usual cycle of drinking and beating to begin as soon as he walked through the door. But tonight, something was different.

Hours passed, and there was no sign of her father. The house was eerily quiet.

As the night grew deeper, anxiety gnawed at Mira. Despite the abuse, her father was the only constant in her life. The thought of him not coming home was unsettling to such a small, helpless child.

She started to cry silently, her small frame shaking with sobs. She didn't know how to take care of herself, how to get food, or do anything her father usually did for her. She was utterly alone and scared.

However, just as she was about to pass out from exhaustion, a sound came from the front door.

Mira jolted awake, feeling reinvigorated, her heart pounding with a mixture of hope and fear.

But something was wrong.

She could hear more than one set of footsteps outside the door.

Curious, and a little scared, she hopped out of her bed and started to inch closer to the front door of the house, trying to get a look out of the keyhole, but to avail.

BOOOM!

The door exploded inward, sending Mira crashing to the ground, covered in dust and debris.

She lay there, unconscious, her tiny body bruised and scratched from the impact.

"Search the area! He could be hiding anywhere in here for all we know!" A commanding voice barked from outside.

Immediately after the orders were issued, a group of men dressed in black, armed to the teeth, stormed into the house through the gap made in the wall that the explosion had created.

"Search every room! We need to find Kaiser Mistborn, NOW!" the same voice ordered again.

Just as the man said, the other men started entering each room of the Mistborn household with guns drawn, and the safety off.

With the precision and efficiency these guys had, it was clear that they were trained for scenarios like this one.

After only a minute passed, each of the men came back out to the centre hallway where the front door used to be, each one looking much more relaxed now, with their guns being left to hang by their sides.

"Sir, it looks like the place is empty. I don't even know how someone can live like this though… But we did find this." One of the armed men came forwards and spoke to the middle aged commanding officer who had stayed behind to watch the front entrance.

He held a small diary in his hand, and he gave it over to the commanding officer.

"We were too late, this place looks like it was occupied just recently." He said, his tone delivering his disappointment to the other armed men in the hallway.

"But at least we have this diary, perhaps this can give us some leads to go off of, and find this son of a bitch to put an end to this!"

The way the man spoke, it was as if there was some deep, unspoken background between him and Kaiser Mistborn.

'Hmm?'

However, just as he was about to make his exit with all of the other armed men, he spotted something out of the corner of his eye.

He raised his hand in the air, balled up into a fist.

'Halt.'

This signified for everyone to stop, immediately, which they complied.

The middle aged man bent down, spotting something beneath the rubble.

A piece of clothing.

"Gotcha!" He muttered, reaching down.

Expecting to pull out a burly man, he was shocked to find a frail, malnourished little girl in his grasp instead.

Mira's unconscious form lay limp in his grasp.