"I take it back," Alex mustered. "I welcome every small challenge." He couldn't wipe the grin off his face.
It wasn't that he hadn't heard those words before. He just didn't think to associate it with what he continued to discover about himself.
Why was the difference between two elements just the difference in the fundamental particle that made them up? Why could water turn solid and then into gas? All these were small but significantly important things we gloss over every day.
'On the basics of basic levels, everything is just one thing made many.' Alex mused as he stared at his left hand, clenching and unclenching it. 'The only thing that differed was how they were put together and the strength of the forces that did that… the rules… the laws…'
With a thought, Alex morphed his hand into water, and then into earth and finally into metal. He could keep going as the only thing that changed was how particles were put together.
The energies surrounding him were the ingredients needed to make matter and everything in existence.
Any weaker being would have had their heads explode from the sheer magnitude of such knowledge.
The more he thought about it, the more enlightened Alex became. Things became so much clearer and easier that it was absurd just how blinded he had been.
'Elina was right. The only limit is myself, and to think all this is possible because I wield void energy.'
There was more to learn and discover. He began to see how abilities worked, why everyone awakened specific abilities, and a theory as to why he could wield void energy and multiple abilities.
Unfortunately, he was not in the best of places to get lost in his discoveries.
In his enlightened state, Alex had come out of his sped-up state. The veil tear in the distance still hummed with power, threatening to spew more chaos.
The cosmic mana wave was travelling at light speeds, swallowing and displacing whatever lay in its path as it headed for the Aurion star system.
Void creatures, the more powerful ones, were already close enough to engage the hunters' Zol and Mason had banded together. Things appeared to be chaotic and disastrous for everyone.
All except for Alexander.
The way he began to perceive the world around him changed drastically. Everything and everyone were one and the same—even the void creatures!
Alex briefly turned away from the veil tear, focusing on the cosmic mana wave. He waved his hand and the wave came to an abrupt halt.
'Void energy and the disrupted space laws among a few others make the cosmic mana wave what is it.' Alex deduced with a profound gaze. He took out the void energy, leaving only a storm of mana.
Then he repaired the broken laws by using his surroundings as a blueprint. The entire process lasted some seconds, close to a full minute, but Alex got the job done.
While it looked easy, the cosmic mana wave was a raging storm large enough to swallow the entire star system, yet he repaired all that in under a minute!
Next, he dealt with the planetary and other celestial objects the storm carried. He disintegrated them into energy, returning them to their fundamental states.
'The void creatures, they should be able to handle.' Alex turned around to look at the veil tear.
"I couldn't sense you before, but I can now." He spoke while directly staring inside the veil tear. "You're the reason those creatures seemed confident before."
"Come out," Alex stated and waited.
Maybe because he was focused on the void creatures he defeated and the neutron star, but Alex failed to notice the monster that was lurking behind the torn curtain.
He didn't understand why the creature didn't attack him when I had all the chances to do so. But that was an answer he would never get.
His new enlightenment came with a different way of perceiving things he missed earlier.
The outer areas of the veil tear were shredded laws that appeared as though a creature had torn through a fabric.
Its circular nature came as a result of the laws coming together to form a quick patch that would stabilize the tear to prevent the further spread of the break.
Alex waited patiently for the creature to come out. He couldn't see it, even with his eyes. But he could now sense it via the laws that made it up.
The void creature let out a sound Alex took as a soft chuckle. It slowly floated out of the veil tear, standing just outside its boundaries.
The creature looked humanoid, standing at a height of 2.5 meters. It had black shiny skin, rough but skinny muscles, arms ending in claws, and long hind legs resembling a wolf. It had a xenomorph skull with red piercing eyes.
The void creature was difficult to spot in the veil tear as compared to the veil tear, it was like a drop of water in the ocean—too insignificant to count.
'This is not an S Class.' Alex had a serious look on his face as he felt the creature's aura. 'It's something else and feels exactly like the black core…'
It was way stronger than the aura the S Class void creature gave off and shook the surrounding space like ripples on a lake.
It was horrifying to experience, making Alex's heartbeat several times in a second. He was not sure if it was out of anxiety or anticipation.
Whatever this void creature was, it was bound to give Alex the challenge he'd wished for. The creature stared at Alex with clear interest evident in its red eyes.
The creature didn't talk, but it was very intelligent and could have ended Alexander anytime it wanted. So why did it choose to observe him?
There were a number of reasons, but the most important one was to learn how far along this one was. Yes, this one…
Suddenly, the void creature let out a heart-wrenching and ear-grating screech that tore the fabric of spacetime from the point of origin, spreading out faster than light.
The ripples pushed Alex back millions of kilometres, shocking him to the core. But before he could regain his composure, the void creature was already before him, one of its arms drawn back to deliver a blow.