Alex remained floating in place as he took in the reality of his new strength. It was more than he could have imagined.
But he still had a long way to go and find a way out. Looking around, he considered his options.
He could pick a random direction and fly to see if he could spot an opening to the outside universe, or he could remain here and try to get as strong as possible.
'My strength may be impressive, but it might not be enough to survive should I get out.'
He thanked his lucky stars no void creatures were in this part of the veiled space. Maybe he was in too deep or void creatures simply did not exist in this place.
Thinking back to his family and friends, Alex made his decision.
'Getting stronger it is…'
With a resolute expression, he bolted towards another floating fragment and this time slowed down enough before landing.
He sat down cross-legged and closed his eyes before putting his helm away.
Alex tugged on his core, prompting it to draw in the vast amounts of energy around him, generating the same vortex he created around himself earlier.
Like a vacuum, Alex fed on the surrounding energies like there was no tomorrow. And despite the amount he was drawing in, Alex could tell the amount was almost insignificant.
The energy was coming in alright, but the sand grain-sized void core felt like an endless abyss. It didn't grow bigger and continued to suck in the energy.
'My next level up could take another couple of years of cultivation. But I don't have that much time.'
He was getting anxious, feeling like he was running late on something. He knew what the problem was, but he couldn't help it.
Alex wished more than anything to be able to reach out to his family and friends and assure them he was very much alive.
While lost in his cultivation and thoughts, his body underwent subtle changes.
The changes were at a level Alex couldn't tell or even realize was happening, his bones, organs, tissues and cells underwent a complete metamorphosis.
They broke down and were built back up, transforming his very molecular structures into something new; something higher than normal.
Every inch of his body was evolving. His processing speed, reaction time and even senses evolved as they were bathed in void energy.
Alex absorbed so much mana that his cells became completely saturated and couldn't take in more mana, so they too evolved.
But he didn't notice this as he continued to absorb the surrounding energies.
Gradually, these changes came to an end and that was when Alex noticed something different.
His core still remained a spiralling vortex of the same size, but his manitoria was gone.
'Hm? What's this?'
In its place was something else; something he hadn't heard or seen before… well, for the manitoria at least.
But then, something else caught his attention too.
'I awakened divine sense? Already?'
This was the reason he noticed the changes in his system as his new senses allowed him to look within himself.
The divine sense was an ability that only awakened when an awakened reached Class C. It was an additional sense that granted hunters to see areas their eyes didn't get.
The ability was a welcomed one. Alex did not have any complaints. At this point, he realized his levelling system was different.
'I'll look at that later… My manitoria however, …'
Looking within his cells, the organelle responsible for storing his mana had all but dissolved and in its place was what appeared to be smaller vortexes similar to his void core.
They all spun rapidly as they absorbed the mana Alex drew in, circulating the energy through their vortex and then passing it on to their neighbours.
Almost like an endless cycle of energy exchange.
These changes would have taken forever if Alex had not appeared in a veiled space filled with an endless supply of energy.
It was an unintended accident, but it had become a blessing in disguise.
He couldn't help but reveal an excited smile. He was going to take the empire by storm. He didn't know where his strength had reached as it could be anywhere.
'But my void core feels the same.'
Alex opened his eyes and exhaled a turbid breath made entirely of mana. He literally breathed out mana like a steam engine.
Even after absorbing so much, his core remained the same size. He knew the amount of energy in there was vast, but it felt like an abyss that would never be satisfied.
Putting back his helm, he checked the time stamp.
'Another two years, huh?'
Although not exactly a full two years, it was close enough.
Alex could swear it felt like an hour. And unlike before, he didn't level up as it seemed it would take much longer than two years to reach the next bottleneck.
Regardless, what he gained from those two years was wondrous. He only needed time to explore, but now, he was ready to leave this place.
Looking around with his dark eyes, Alex wondered which direction he should go. But every direction looked the same.
Just a mass of endless matter and energy in a kaleidoscope of colours as well as energy storms.
'Hm?'
Alex narrowed his eyes as something caught his attention. He turned in that direction and noticed a rushing storm unlike the others swallowing everything thing in sight.
Wherever the storm passed, the debris disappeared.
"Finally!"
With a delighted expression, Alex took his Voidflare form and charged in that direction, covering hundreds of kilometres in a second, arriving before the cosmic mana wave in less than 20 seconds.
He plunged into the storm without hesitation, willing to be taken anywhere that was not a veiled space.
...…...
Alex opened his eyes as he was thrown out of the cosmic mana wave and seeing the changed environment that was not the veiled space, he grinned widely behind his helm.
Though the environment was not a veiled space, it was too chaotic to be a safe area humans populated.
But that did not matter. He was out and that was all he needed right now.
'Not this time!'
He was closing in fast on the planet, but he learned from his mistake. He slowed down his descent enough not to shatter the planet.
Even then…
*BOOOOOOOOOOOM!*
Like multiple nuclear warheads going off, Alex impacted heavily on the planet, generating a ginormous mushroom cloud that sent rocks and dust everywhere, instantly disintegrating every living creature in the vicinity.