43 Return
[Would you like to leave the Primordial Expanse?]
Alex saw the prompt floating in front of him, just like any other message he received from the Primordial Expanse. However this was perhaps the most important message he had received so far.
He would have liked to consider it for a while before he made any decisions.
But unfortunately when he turned around, the city was in ruins and the beasts were already starting to leave, with some D rank and even C rank beasts heading in his general direction.
'Fuck that.'
At best he only had a few minutes before the beasts neared his location and neared him.
He made his decision instantly.
'Yes.'
He answered the Primordial Expanse mentally and just as he had seen when Rowan left, a black, swirling void opened up in front of his very eyes.
Alex didn't even need to step into the portal himself — he was pulled directly into it as soon as it fully opened.
'I see how it is, as soon as I wish to leave, there is nothing that can stop me. Not even myself.'
When his body was fully engulfed in the emptiness, he disappeared from the Primordial Expanse.
***
Alex found himself in an empty void, not unlike the one he experiences every time he mentally enters his inventory. It was an endless black void surrounded by glittering stars and the occasional streak of light. It was like he was floating in the void of space, only Alex knew this wasn't a normal space.
Many people speculated where the Primordial Expanse was actually located. But nobody, not even the peak awakened of humanity knew the answer to that question. Humans already had the technology to open and visit rudimentary other dimensions outside of the normal third dimension they originated from. But nobody had ever even detected the Primordial Expanse without the help of the details given by the Primordial Expanse itself.
Clearly, even at the peak of power, the Primordial Expanse was way beyond the reach of humans.
However while Alex revelled in this feeling of freedom, surrounded by countless different concepts in this dimension between dimensions, the moment didn't last long.
The mighty voice of the Primordial Expanse he had only heard once before, spoke once again.
[Congratulations, Evolver. Your time in the Primordial Expanse is over.]
[As a nobody commoner, you survived through thick and thin against beasts and humans far beyond your own level. You have stepped up to every challenge and come out triumphant, growing your own power as you go.]
[Your Talent is the first of its kind to appear in your universe, use it wisely.]
[You have achieved the impossible! Somehow your luck has carried you through your short period in the Primordial Expanse, don't expect that to always be the case.]
With that the voice of the Primordial Expanse disappeared and Alex felt himself being pulled once again, this time to a much more different space.
He didn't know how or why… he could just tell this space was much weaker than that of the Primordial Expanse's.
For just a moment, a light blinded Alex's eyes before it left just as quick as it came.
When he reopened his eyes, a familiar interrogation room greeted his eyes.
'It's been too long… or has it?'
For Alex, he felt like he had been gone for years, yet in reality he had only spent a little over 6 weeks on the other side.
In those 6 weeks he felt like he had lived a whole other life.
But it made sense why Alex felt this way, he had gained more life experience and seen more action in those 6 weeks than in his 17 years of life on this godforsaken asteroid colony.
Reminiscing about his time in the Primordial Expanse, his mood quickly dampened when he was reminded about the destruction of Valentis city. 'All those people dead. It feels unreal…'
Unbeknownst to Alex, the moment he stepped out of the black portal into the police station, sirens had been set off, not only in the station but across the whole asteroid.
***
In an office simply labelled 'Manager', many panicked assistants ran about on calls to various different districts on the asteroid, trying to find out what was going on.
Their jobs were on the line, and the man frowning behind the desk was already unhappy with their lack of information.
Suddenly, a relatively young looking woman's eyes lit up before even more anxiety sprouted in her mind.
"Sir, a portal opened in the police station of district 2! It's still unknown whether it's a returning awakened or…" Her words trailed off when she thought of the other possibility.
Silence resounded across the room as all other calls were cut, with many of the assistants gulping out of fear.
There was no change in the expression of the manager seated at his desk though.
'There was a report of a kid from the mines succumbing to Impending doom a bit over a month ago. I should head over to the station in question, there is almost certainly going to be chaos when the beast crosses over.'
Of course the manager didn't even entertain the thought that the kid from the mines would be returning.
It had only been 6 weeks since he had left, while most awakened only returned after a year had passed. In the manager's eyes, it was unheard of for someone to return so shortly after entering. Hence this had to be a case of the awakened dying on the other side, which prompted a beast to be transported over.
The reason why the Primordial Expanse was so feared and was even nicknamed 'the curse' and 'impending doom' were due to this fact.
Many innocent, normal humans would be implicated if an awakened entered the Primordial Expanse in a populated area and died on the other side. 'It's probably a F ranked beast at most. Nothing to worry about, for me at least.'
The manager was a peak Evolver, in other words an E+ rank.
Even if an E- or E rank beast stepped through the portal he could take care of it.
If an E+ rank came through though, then he would be in trouble.
It took him 50 years to reach his level, it even took him 5 just to leave the Primordial Expanse.
He was what one would call a 'Non-combatant' awakened. He had been lucky enough to gain a talent, but this talent wasn't suited for combat at all.
This made him relatively weak among awakened of the same rank. The same goes for beasts.