Alex would be lying if he said he wasn't over the moon. For an entire year, he had been stuck at the same level!
His steps were so hurried that Ross and Julia had to run to keep up with him.
"Slow down, man. No one is going to take it away from you."
"Hehe… He's right. It's not like you haven't cultivated before."
"You guys are only saying that because you have no issues. You don't have to worry about your asses when I level up."
"Hmph! Getting all bossy when you haven't even levelled up yet." Julia snorted, enjoying how Alex was being more of himself again.
Of course, there was still the uneasiness, but she had to support her man.
Sometime later, they arrived back at the academy and headed straight to Alex's room.
Alex then prompted Ross to help him clear the sitting area to create a wide space for his test.
"You guys might want to step back," He advised and retrieved the case from his body and placed it on the floor.
Ross and Julia moved backwards, knowing very well what to expect.
"Huu…"
With a heavy exhale, Alex sat down cross-legged in the middle of the room.
Alex looked at his friends and with a nod from all three, he inputted the access codes as the hard case opened with a soft click.
"Here goes nothing…"
He muttered and then slowly opened the case, and in an instant, the remnant aura spread out from the case, bathing Alex in its energy.
Ross and Julia furrowed their brows as the familiar aura washed over them, and it was far stronger than what they experienced from the dead void creature.
'Did the woman give Alex a recently acquired one?'
Ross wondered, already feeling the effects of the aura. However. Julia was a bit different. While the aura was the same, she didn't like how her heart was beating faster than normal.
It appeared as though she was scared of something.
'I don't like this feeling at all.'
However, looking at Alex and his expression, they knew his guess was right. Alex had a bright expression on his face.
Meanwhile, Alex felt a different kind of emotion as the aura washed over him.
'Ah… so this was what I needed.'
Alex felt his cells jump in delight just from feeling the remnant energy. He had not even attempted to actively absorb the energy, but he was already feeling the effects!
Normally, the energies within the core were used as power cores in armour, weapons, and spacecraft.
The cores could not be harnessed by humans as even without the remnant void energy, there were always traces left deep within the core.
Alec took the core out of the case and held it in his hands, feeling the waves of energy wash over him as he closed his eyes to begin the absorption process.
With a thought, Alex began absorbing the dense amounts of energy from the core. The energy flowed into his body as he directed it through his mana channels, taking in both mana and void energy.
A complete circulation stored the mana in his cells while the void energy went into his chest and then disappeared.
'Hm? Strange…'
The void energy he used for his abilities always originated from his chest, so he knew it was coming from somewhere unknown, well not entirely.
At least that was what Alex thought as scans have found nothing special located in that region of his chest.
'Looks like we were wrong. There is something there, just not detected.'
Slowly, Alex absorbed the energy as Ross and Julia watched with furrowed browns, feeling the energies around Alex's body.
But then, the space around his body was warping strangely, appearing like a mirage on a sunny day.
'Is that supposed to happen?'
Ross wondered and turned to Julia. She noticed his gaze and also turned to him and shook her head.
They both had no idea what was happening, but the incident was growing the unease Julia was feeling.
'Should I call him out of it?'
Her instincts were telling her something was not right and wanted to call him out. But she felt conflicted, torn between her desire to call him out or leave him be.
Unfortunately for her, nature made that choice.
*CRACK!*
Suddenly, Julia and Ross heard a loud crack and their eyes widened in horror, looking at what appeared to be a veil tear right in front of Alex's figure as a far stronger wave of void energy rushed into the room.
"!"
Julia and Ross were forced to back away further, exiting Alex's room entirely.
At the same time, a series of alarms began resounding across the entire academy, sending everyone into a frenzy.
There was only one reason why the sirens would go off, and that was in the unlikely scenario where a veil tear appeared right in the heart of the academy or the planet.
Everyone; students, instructors and workers included; all knew what that meant as there was only one reason those alarms would go off.
"A veil tear in the academy?!"
"Oh no! We're doomed!"
"How did the Orbital Guards miss this?"
In an instant, the academy became a chaotic space as students, instructors and workers ran around in fear, trying to find a way out of the academy.
There should have been a warning from the Orbital rings as they were responsible for monitoring these phenomena, but no such words came.
A veil tear right in the heart of a populated planet was the worst possible scenario they could face. The void energy alone was enough to kill everyone exposed to it for long.
What's more, void creatures could emerge from that tear or a cosmic mana wave that could displace the entire planet.
No one was safe.
"ALEX!!!"
Julia screamed at the top of her lungs, finally realizing where her unease came from. But in the current situation, there was nothing she could do; none of them could.
Then, as quickly as the aura exposure came, it disappeared.
Julia did not hesitate and bolted towards Alex's room, closely followed by Ross, their hearts racing as they feared the worst.
When they arrived, Alex's room was empty. The spread-out sofas, the hard case and even the carpets were gone.
"Alexander…?"
Julia called out softly, her voice trembling and her eyes misty as she noticed that the spot where Alex was supposed to be was empty.
He was nowhere to be found.