Primordial Expanse: I have the Strongest Talent!

Chapter 7: Purple orbs?

As soon as Alex recognised the purple orb, they immediately moved closer to him when he thought about them and soon enough, they appeared in his hands.

He gazed at the light they were giving off as his gaze lingered.

'What the heck are these things? Am I supposed to use it somehow?'

Moments later, Alex's vision blurred and before he knew it, his eyes opened to the same vibrant blue sky with the sun glaring in his eyes.

It took him a few moments to recover, he looked around himself and noticed the familiar purple glow surrounding his camp site.

He was about to pick them up to store away in his bag, but right as his fingers touched the first purple orb, he felt some kind of reaction and he gritted his teeth. The faint purple light turned into a warm flow of energy that fused into his body.

Alex felt like he was in a space between realms, he could feel a myriad of countless stars surrounding him, not just in the Primordial Expanse, but back in the Universe as well. Each star connected with endless silver streams of light. Other stars remained untouched by this light.

Somehow, Alex understood that a flood of knowledge around the Primordial Expanse and the infinite universe had opened up to him for that brief moment. He couldn't help but feel like those stars represented every planet in every galaxy that had been affected by the Primordial Expanse.

But right as the feeling graced him, it disappeared in a moment's notice. However he was still eagerly awaiting what came next.

[Your talent [Soulforge] has activated, absorbing F Tier Soul orb]

The voice of the Primordial Expanse sounded grand and divine. Like the universe itself was speaking into Alex's mind.

He became dazed and realised that this purple orb was formed of the purest energy he had ever felt, or even heard of. This energy was nourishing his skin and cleansing his pores, providing him with a complete overhaul of his body.

Dead skin flaked and turned to dust as his skin became tighter. His cells renewed full of energy and his organs gaining a faint purple glow to themselves.

An hour later, Alex opened his eyes, with the universal voice of the Primordial Expanse booming in his ears again.

[Absorbed F Tier Beast orb, Soul Core (F-) has been activated.]

Inside Alex felt no different, but he instinctively knew that he was strengthened. He didn't know how much though.

'I bet I'd have a much easier time against that rabbit again if I managed to see another one.'

His overall power was dependent on the round of his soul core, which until now was inactive. People with F rank soul cores were called [Seekers], the weakest kind of Awakened that also happen to form the majority of the Awakened living and working in the Federation.

Awakened above that rank were called [Evolvers], which also corresponded to a E rank Soul Core. Above that stood the [Distinguished]. The ranks of Awakened were parallel to that of the hierarchy of the creatures of the Primordial Expanse.

Alex's eyes flashed with excitement. That one small orb allowed him to activate his soul core in just an hour after absorbing it.

Thinking about soul orbs, he was reminded of that Huge rabbit that attacked him the day before.

'If I come across another one, would more of these orbs appear?'

Just as he had that thought, he heard thundering explosions and the rustling of trees far off into the distance. It seemed like some big bosses were fighting.

Not wanting to get in their way, Alex packed up his stuff and went on his merry way, in the opposite direction from where the sounds came from.

By the time he decided to stop, he came across a sight he never thought he would see again during his first time in the Primordial Expanse. Signs of humans!

A road!

He wasn't sure if this was the same dirt path he was on when he arrived in the carriage at the start of his time here. But quite frankly, he couldn't care less.

Walking in the middle of the road, Alex was trapped in his thoughts about how he would go about reaching the Evolver rank to make it back to his own universe.

So far he had encountered scenarios much more dangerous than other returned Seekers described.

The first creature he came across was a higher lifeform, the Galephant which promptly wiped out a whole caravan of over a thousand fleeing villagers along with some stronger soldiers.

Then just when he thought he was free of attacks for a while, he was attacked by a Beast, the huge rabbit. But even that seemed quite a bit stronger than other Beasts out there,

He suspected that it's soul core was at the F Tier, maybe even the F+ Tier...

'The fact I even managed to kill such a thing could be considered a miracle!'

"What a Bastard! Move out of the middle of the road, fool!"

A loud and obnoxious voice cut Alex's thoughts short.

Alex turned around only to find four well armoured men, sitting atop war horses with a small line of carriages trailing behind them.

To Alex's irritation, even when he moved to the side of the road the gaze of the four armoured men still lingered on him.

The man on the horse at the front decided to speak first, his voice noticeably more calming than the one that cursed him.

"Where are you from, boy? Don't you know it's dangerous to wander in the Murky forest?"

There was no malice or hidden intent in his voice, concern for Alex's safety could be heard instead.

While he hesitated for a second, Alex decided to tell the man what he knew, since everything he had seen and witnessed so far proved the man's words true.

"I'm from a small village on the outskirts of the forest, sir. The village was attacked and thousands of us were forced to flee. We settled down to camp for the night in a clearing when the entire caravan was wiped by a creature of unparalleled power."

When the gentle sounding man heard Alex's words, his face stiffened and his voice quickly turned serious.

"What did the creature that attacked you look like?"