Primordial Expanse: I have the Strongest Talent!

Hearing this information, the two of them were only even more excited to try them out now.

But when they reached out to try and take them from Rothwind, he pulled them back out of their grasp and shook his head.

"Not so fast. You can try these out later. Right now, there is something much more important we need to discuss."

Alex's gaze hardened, this was the second time Rothwind was doing this to him that day…

He looked down at Rothwind, eyes full of suspicion.

"Why show us this now if you're still going to keep them from us? We're in the middle of enemy territory. We don't have time to—"

"Because you're going to need them where you're headed."

Rothwind interrupted firmly, cutting Alex off with a look that brokered no argument.

"And where you're headed… isn't here."

Mira and Alex exchanged bewildered glances.

"What do you mean 'isn't here'?"

Mira asked slowly, her hand hovering over her armour as if touching it would make it vanish.

"You're saying we need to leave this area? Find another place? But isn't that obvious already?"

Rothwind shook his head.

"No, lass. I'm saying you need to leave the Primordial Expanse itself."

The air around them came to a stand still, bringing a heavy silence to the clearing.

'That's right… there's nothing else tying us down to this realm, we can leave whenever we want…'

The two of them turned gloomy at Rothwind's suggestion.

They had to agree with him that it was the literal perfect escape plan for the two of them, but then what about Rothwind and cass?

"I know what you two are thinking, and you can stop. I am the last person you should worry about in this place. And I'll make damn good on the promise to take care of little ol' Cass here."

"But… But—"

Mira tried to provide a rebuttal to Rothwind's suggestion, but he cut her off before she could even get more than a word out.

"If you stay here, you'll just be fighting a war that isn't yours to fight. The two of you were roped into this unwillingly, and the mayor's not just a petty tyrant. He's got connections to people outside of Evermoor forest who not even I can match in a fair fight. The two of you would just be cannon fodder in a war on that scale."

He stepped closer, looking into both Alex and Mira's eyes with intensity.

"Besides, you have your own war going on on the other side, one that sounds far more important and pressing than this petty feud. Go. Leave us. You shouldn't stay here. You're fighting in the wrong war."

This time, the two of them knew they had to listen to Rothwind's advice.

He was right.

This anger they felt towards the mayor for essentially stepping on their toes? Inconsequential in the grand scheme of things.

But outside, in the real universe, there was a very real existential threat staring down at their whole race.

The choice was obvious.

In fact, it wasn't even a choice.

They HAD to go.

Without the two of them, thousands, perhaps even millions more people could do who wouldn't have to if just either one of them were present on the battlefields again.

Their strength alone could turn the tide of most battles currently ongoing in the federation's fight for survival.

Enjoy more content from empire

"You're right."

To Rothwind's surprise, he actually received agreement from the both of them very quickly after making the suggestion.

Normally it would take some convincing before they agreed with anything he said, but this time…

'It seems things on the other side might be worse than I originally suspected…'

Rothwind had actually hidden some information from the two of them, not for any selfish reasons though.

Remember that Red Demon that strolled into his smithy so brazenly and wanted to trash the place?

Well, he might have hypothetically picked his brain for some tidbits of information before killing him…

He hadn't seen nor heard what the outside universe was like in a long while, so he decided to take the one chance that was offered to him in quite a long time to sate his desires.

And all he saw was bloodshed, endless bloodshed across so many planets…

He could hardly believe the sights in the Red Demon's memories at first.

In fact the images he saw were so disturbing, he began to question whether the conflicts he had been involved in the Primordial Expanse over the centuries could even be called 'wars' compared to what he was seeing.

Literal billions of beings sieging planet after planet, and billions more dying in agony on the opposing side…

There was no wonder he kept it from the two of them, or else they would have probably left before even bothering to pick up their armour from him…

Alex and Mira exchanged one last look between them, and then, with steady hearts, they opened up their system details simultaneously.

[Would you like to leave the Primordial Expanse?]

[Would you like…]

The two prompts flashed before them with hazy glows, and without a word spoken between them, they nodded their goodbyes to Rothwind and Cass, before accepting the prompt.

Fwoom!

Two portals showed up right behind them, and their incredible gravitational force began sucking them in instantly.

'Damn, even with my current strength I'm still helpless in front of this kind of suction force…'

Alex was astounded with just how powerful the system's simple portals were, once again humbling him a little in the face of something almighty.

'I bet even Principal Farnes wouldn't be able to resist the pull from these portals…'

His mind wandered as he was finally pulled into the portal's depth, and without any exaggerated special effects or announcements…

Zwhip!

They were gone, just like that.

The portals closed just as quickly as they opened, and the clearing was left in an empty silence that drowned out even Rothwind's emotions.

Cass stood to the side of him, completely and utterly confused by everything that had just gone on.

It seemed Rothwind had a lot of explaining to do to her…