NOVEL NEXT Chapter 541 Guess who's back
[Would you like to enter the Primordial Expanse?]
The prompt appeared before Alex the moment the thought of entering that cursed place came across his mind. The System was listening at all times, and privacy was just an illusion before its power.
Alex had long become accustomed to this everlasting omnipotent presence though and so he simply paid it no mind while he expressionlessly accepted the prompt.
Unlike the previous times, he didn't plan on making many people aware of his choice to enter the Primordial Expanse. This was for various reasons. Alex felt like he needed some time alone to think, and he couldn't exactly do this while Mira was accompanying him 24/7.
In fact, he began to realise now why so many married couples ended up divorcing each other after so many years together. It was simply because they spent so much time in each other's presence, day in and day out, that they simply grew sick of the sight of each other!
Alex could truly sympathise with these people, as previously he had absolutely zero clue why they would do such a thing after spending a significant amount of their life together, but not he understood.
Only those couples who could truly fall under the definition of 'soulmates' were able to bypass such a common phenomenon. Alex believed that he and Mira fell under this umbrella, but even soulmates would need a break from each other every now and then.
But that was only one reason, the second and last reason was due to his level of power now.
As a B tier, and a significantly strong one at that, he could now be considered a core power of the Federation.
Now he wasn't that opposed to helping other people out every now and then if it was within his ability, but his new level of power within the federation constituted to a lot more than 'just helping out here and there'. He'd only realised this now that he'd reached this level and gained a new perspective on life, but it felt extremely exhausting to have to deal with this day in and day out.
When one has power, people begin to expect things from them unconditionally simply due to the fact that they have such power.
This was not something Alex particularly liked, and it wasn't exactly a new change that came with his expanded wisdom from becoming a higher life form.
He'd been like this for a while already, with the fact that he had even rejected the proposal by the Overseers, sparking a whole new conflict within the Federation even though they were in the midst of an extinction level war themselves…
His determination on such a thing was impossible to crack, and he'd rather die than become effectively a slave to society for the 'greater good' of the people.
Free will was essentially an illusion, and only those ignorant people still actually believed in it. But Alex believed that if he became strong enough, then one day he could really obtain true free will, since nobody would want to mess with someone so powerful.
But even still, there were ways one could technically experience a level of free will without having to bend to other's will thanks to society.
The Primordial Expanse.
If one was an awakened, then even if Principal Farnes, or hell even Phoenix himself wanted to stop them, they'd be helpless to. The moment an awakened accepts the prompt to enter the Primordial Expanse, they are already outside of the control of society and are sheltered by the System.
Of course, once on the other side they'd have to fend for themselves, but for that brief period of time they would truly be free, somewhat.
And at this moment, Alex was experiencing such a thing.
But back on track, the main reason people wouldn't like Alex heading back over to the Primordial Expanse was due to the danger. It was a simple fact that the stronger one got, the less likely they were to survive another trip to the Primordial Expanse.
This was one of the reasons why there were so few A tiers and S tiers compared to the number of B tiers in the Federation, and why barely any A tiers and S tiers decided to re enter the Primordial Expanse once they had reached this level of strength.
The portal leading to the Primordial Expanse had already opened up in front of him, and he could feel that immense, overwhelming suction force pulling him in just the same as it did every other time.
Interestingly, he noted that even as a higher life form now, he was still just as helpless to fight against the gravity of the portal sucking him in, and he suspected even when he reached S tier, or perhaps even became a Divine class, the scenario would still be the same…
A few seconds passed by, and Alex was already almost entirely submerged into the portal, and he was just moments away from being sucked into the purgatory like space he'd enter before being sent over to the Primordial Expanse.
However, unknown to him, something else started to rile up from inside of his ship…
The Vortex pulled Alex in with its absolute grip over his very being. The sensation of disorientation never changed and he would never get used to it no matter how many times he entered and came back from the primordial Expanse.
For a brief moment, he floated in the eerie limbo of purgatory-like space, surrounded by nothing but bright white light.
Then, with a gut wrenching lurch, he landed on solid ground.
Alex took a moment to steady himself, breathing deeply as he adjusted to the oppressive atmosphere of the Primordial Expanse. It was just as vast and surreal as he remembered.
The ground beneath him was uneven, pulsating faintly with a rhythm that felt all too familiar to him. His shoes sank slightly into the spongy, almost iridescent surface and scanned his surroundings. A jagged cliff rose to his left, and a shimmering river of liquid light snaked its way through the valley below.
"Alright," he muttered to himself. "Time to find some—"