Primordial Expanse: I have the Strongest Talent!

"Alex!"

Mira dashed through the crowd, straight towards Alex who was rapidly approaching the spaceport.

Any feelings or thoughts she had about Alex's sudden hanging up were gone — replaced by an intense emotion she had never felt before.

Alex looked up, seeing Mira rushing towards him. She looked as fierce and determined as the last time he saw her, but her eyes softened with concern as she took in his dishevelled state.

His eyes were a deep red and he had deep black pits under them, as he hadn't slept for over a month.

To normal people, this would be deadly, but D tier awakened like Alex could take it. Although they would still suffer quite a lot, just like Alex.

"Mira…" Alex's voice cracked.

Mira closed the distance between them, wrapping her arms around him tightly.

All of a sudden, the dam Alex had built up to hold back his emotions shattered. He clung to her, his body trembling as the sobs erupted from deep within him. Tears streamed down his face, soaking into Mira's shoulder.

"I couldn't save them," he choked out. "I tried my best, but I still failed…"

Mira didn't know what had Alex so emotional, but it was clear to her that it wasn't a light topic.

She held him tighter, her hand gently stroking his hair. "It's okay Alex. You're here now. I'm here."

The words were meant to comfort, but Alex felt the raw pain dig deeper. He buried his face in Mira's shoulder, his tears relentless. "They're all gone, Mira. All those people… thousands of them, and I just watched as they died."

Mira's grip on him tightened as she grasped the reality of his situation. She knew what it was like to lose someone, but to feel personally responsible for the deaths of thousands of people, she had no idea how much he must be hurting.

"Let's go somewhere more secluded, and we can talk more about our experiences this time around."

Mira suggested while still holding tightly onto Alex.

If she let him go, he'd probably fall to the ground, limp from the pent up exhaustion.

"Okay…"

Alex let out a mumbled reply, before he finally passed out for the first time in over a month.

***

Some time later.

"I know you're awake."

Mira sat comfortably in a chair as she watched Alex slowly wake up from his slumber with a gentle smile on her face.

Alex blinked, the world slowly coming back into focus. He felt a strange combination of relief and sorrow as he saw Mira sitting beside him, her gentle smile offering a small measure of comfort.

"How was your sleep?" Mira asked softly, concern still evident in her eyes.

Alex took a deep breath, the memories flooding back. He wanted to bury them, but he knew he needed to share them with Mira. Maybe it would help ease the burden, even if just a little.

"It was… the first sleep I've had in over a month. How long was I out?" Alex admitted, his voice hoarse.

Mira nodded, replying, "You slept for three whole days."

Alex sat up, feeling the weight of his exhaustion.

But after his thoughts started to settle, he began to quickly panic as a realisation hit him.

"Three days!? But what about our flight to the Solar system? I'm so sorry… We missed our chance at Capital Prime because of me…"

He slowly started to sink into the bed as guilt flooded over him.

But Mira just laughed it off.

"Relax. We're on that flight right now. I paid for both of our tickets, and we're already headed to the Solar system. Now, tell me what happened to make you like this."

'Phew!'

With this, Alex calmed down enough to think rationally, but when asked how he became so… depressed, his mood shifted.

He swallowed hard, the images flashing before his eyes. "Mira, what I went through in the Primordial Expanse… it was beyond anything I could have imagined. I went there to earn money, to gain strength. I found both of these, but the pain… It wasn't worth the pain."

Mira reached out, placing a hand on his arm. "Tell me everything, Alex. You don't have to carry this alone."

Alex's forehead was covered in sweat as he started recounting events. "I killed a man, a Count who lorded over a Million people. He was planning the sacrifice of tens of thousands of people across many different towns, all in the effort to summon enough Variant beasts to push his own strength into Variant class."

Mira's eyes widened, but she stayed silent, letting him speak.

"I arrived in town just as the Count was about to complete his formation," Alex continued, his voice shaking. "I fought him with everything I had. But he was a slimy bastard all the way until his death. Just as I thought I killed him, he tricked me somehow and he was still alive.

The worst part is that I was too late, the formation had just been completed as well and he initiated the sacrificial sequence."

He paused for a second, his hands clenched into fists. "But 13,000 people were yet to leave the premises of the town, and were trapped inside the barrier erected by the formation to keep them in."

Tears streamed down Alex's face again, the pain from the memories still fresh and raw. "I watched as the remaining 13,000 people screamed, cried out in agony and distraught… and turned into puddles of blood. They were innocent, Mira. Children, adults, elderly… None of them were spared. Their lives snuffed out in seconds, and I couldn't do anything. I was too late."

Mira's eyes glistened with tears as well. She had already built up quite the mental fortitude from the constant deaths and misery in the Primordial Expanse, but this was just on a next level. Her heart broke for Alex. She could see the torment in his eyes, the deep guilt and sorrow he carried. "Oh, Alex…"

"All because of that stupid oasis. If I'd never been dropped into that stupid rocky wasteland, then I never would have gone through this." Alex lamented to himself.

But Mira jumped up in shock when she heard this, her hand covering her mouth.

'A rocky wasteland… an Oasis… don't tell me!'