Primordial Expanse: I have the Strongest Talent!

His Flame talent had been completely replaced with a new talent.

This new talent 'Phoenix Flames' took its place, and Alex couldn't be happier when he saw the rank next to it.

'S+... To think I would have gained such a strong talent from just completing the first stage of my Heart of the Phoenix technique…'

Alex almost found it hard to believe, but after recalling everything he had just been through, he accepted it as fact.

Focusing on his new talent, Alex opened up further information about it.

[Phoenix Flames (S+): Imbued with the essence of the legendary Divine Phoenix, these flames possess the unique properties that make them far superior to conventional fire. The lethality they possess is enough to harm even the strongest of beings. These flames come with many unique properties, befitting of the Divine Phoenix:

Regenerative heat: These flames have a dual nature. While they can burn with intense, destructive power, they also possess healing properties. When used on oneself, or allies, the flames can heal wounds, mend broken bones, and even regenerate lost limbs. Derived from the Divine Phoenix's own incredible healing abilities.

Soul Fire: Unlike regular flames that can only affect the physical plane, these flames can interact with the spiritual. They have the ability to inflict damage on spiritual entities, while at the same time enjoying the same regenerative effect — able to purify and repair damaged souls.

Unquenchable blaze: Once ignited, Phoenix Flames are almost impossible to extinguish by conventional means. They can burn underwater or in the vacuum of space, drawing the ambient energy from around them to sustain their heat. Only a wielder of a sufficiently strong talent, or profound mastery over the fire element can hope to snuff them out.]

'...'

When Alex first opened up the information regarding the new talent, he didn't expect there to be such a detailed explanation for it.

As he read through it, his heart beat increased faster and faster as he realised just how powerful this technique was.

Unlike his previous Flame talent, where the flames just… burned, this one had a much wider variety of uses.

The system was even so gracious as to lay out a few of these uses for him, rather than hiding most of the information from him like it does with the Soulforge talent.

'Regenerative heat, Soul fire, Unquenchable blaze… This is simply too powerful!'

He could already foresee how to use this in battle in the future, and he was already excited to try it out.

''The lethality is enough to harm even the strongest of beings', that explains why the Principal was injured when he placed his hand in the flames then…'

Alex made this deduction as soon as he read that part of the information.

Though he guessed that the case with the Principal being injured was just a one off scenario.

The Phoenix flames surrounding him during the assimilation weren't his own, they had come from the remnants of the Divine Phoenix itself, so it went without saying how strong they were compared to Alex's own Divine flames.

If Alex even wanted to achieve the same amount of damage to the Principal with his own flames, he would need to be a much higher rank than he was now.

'I can't wait to test this out in battle! Plus, my energy capacity has increased now thanks to my breakthrough into the first stage of the Heart of the Phoenix technique! Wait, how does that work now that it's been assimilated into my Phoenix Flames talent?'

Alex inspected his body, specifically his heart, where all of his energy was now accumulated.

But when his perception reached his heart, he was left shocked, for like the 50th time that day.

It seemed like this day would be a new record for how many times Alex could be shocked or surprised in one day…

But it was valid, especially in this case.

His heart was no longer there…

Yes, he no longer had a heart.

It was replaced with a perfectly spherical, solid crystal ball, which had a raging inferno hidden inside.

This was an energy core.

What left Alex so shocked and confused though, was that this was something that should have only happened when he practised the Heart of the Phoenix technique to completion, through all four stages…

Normally, just like everyone else who practised the technique before him, he would have to go through each of the stages one by one, in an excruciatingly slow process that would span multiple years.

The first stage consisted of just collecting all of the chaotic energy in his body and moving it all to his heart, concentrating it all in one area.

Stage two was next, and in this stage he had to refine the energy in his heart, removing all impurities and other such unneeded properties.

Stage three consisted of condensing the refined energy into a liquid, making his energy take on its first physical form.

Stage four would be last, where this liquid energy would be condensed into a solid state, in an energy core just like the one that Alex had.

This energy core would surround his heart and crystallise it, assimilating it into the core.

So he would essentially have a heart, but he wouldn't at the same time?

The concept still confused Alex a little, but this was the gist of it.

But somehow, he had skipped all of these stages…

He had come up with a theory as to how this had happened after ruminating over it though.

He remembered that when he first obtained the Phoenix fury technique from the Awakened association, the woman who examined him, Kyla, there was a remark attached to the description.

It said that it was rumoured to be a lost chapter of a much stronger technique, linked to the lineage of the Divine Phoenix…

This clearly turned out to be true now.

And the Heart of the Phoenix technique was probably another lost chapter of the same stronger technique.