When Alex got his void core, it appeared colourless under his divine sense and although small, in his perception, it was sufficiently large.
He could 'see' the minute fluctuations it gave and how it produced a golden light whenever he used his light abilities.
His theory was that the core and his void energy were intertwined as it was that energy that powered his skills and the mana in his body cells.
As Alex began to absorption process, he 'watched' the void energy carrying the same hues as the blood and flames of the void creature.
It entered his body and into his energy channels as the core drew upon the energies. It seeped right into the vortex and disappeared into its abyss.
Alex felt no different than just absorbing void energy, but even if nothing occurred, there was no point in harnessing the void energy.
Time slowly ticked as the energy swirled around the core and disappeared. A few hours later, Alex opened his eyes, feeling no different than he began.
The core may be from a Class A void creature, but his core was more power-hungry. How could a core that took two years for a single level up be satisfied with something that small?
"Hm?"
Instead, the void core became a crystal-white stone with vast quantities of mana remaining.
People could only absorb streams of mana in the atmosphere and not the condensed, hardened form of it. Otherwise, most of the minerals with condensed mana would have been sucked dry a long time ago.
Alex felt that something should have changed, so he focused on his core after putting the core away. It was another resource he could use when he returned to civilization.
After absorbing the void energy, the void core returned to its normal spinning speed, appearing just as colourless.
His heart began to race as he thought of what his observations could mean and began to feel excited, but he had to try it out first. So Alex pointed his left palm out in his sitting posture and called forth his light ability.
The core replied as it let out the gold streams of the light element through Alex's mana channels till it arrived in his palm where he used it to conjure a small 3D object that continually changed shape under his manipulations.
Sometimes, it would take a square shape, sometimes a polygon, and other times pointed stars. Whatever he desired, he could do with his element.
Opening his other palm, Alex focused on his core again as he sensed another signature different from his light element and called it forward.
And like the light element, the bluish-purple hues spun out of the core and travelled towards the open palm of Alex where it set ablaze with a powerful flame of the same colour.
Alex abruptly opened his eyes and stared wide eyes at the burning flames in his palms.
The heat that should have been high enough to melt planets felt as warm as a dish, yet his armour was melting so he had to quickly put it away.
There was clear disbelief in his eyes, yet the reality was right in front of him. He got up to his feet with both abilities blazing in his hands, completely bare-chested with only pants on.
Even then, the pants were smoking from the intense heat of the small flames.
"Hehe… hehe…. This is really happening!"
He bellowed in the void but there was no medium besides mana that could carry his voice. Alex didn't know what to do with himself.
"Ross is so going to get pissed!"
Slowly, his joy turned into full-blown villainous laughter as he let out his emotions. Who would have thought his void core granted him the ability to take the abilities of void creatures?
With the curiosity and desire to experiment with his new ability, he put out the light element and set his entire body ablaze, instantly incinerating his pants.
Swiftly, he took flight as he exploded with a like comet through the void, his speed even faster than before. And when he reached a certain point, he spun around with both arms out.
His actions generated a powerful wave of circular flames that lit up the void like a sun, expanding till it reached a radius larger than Earth's radius.
He had more than enough energy to expend on his joy ride and didn't worry about running out. Gone were those days when he had to worry about the amount of energy left.
"Wait, if I can do this once, doesn't that mean I can do it again?"
Before digesting his new discovery, his mind already went to different void creatures with different abilities.
If he killed them and took their cores, doesn't that mean he could amass a whole lot of abilities?
"Is there even a limit or would there be consequences if I go overboard?"
As excited as he was, he wasn't blinded by the desire for more power so quickly. "One step at a time."
He returned to the void creature, replaced his clothes and settled down. Being able to control his desire like that spoke of his character.
"Gathering just any ability just because I can could be detrimental in the future. Only useful ones should be considered."
He pondered with a hand on his chin. Alex began making a list of useful abilities he could take from a void creature and the more he thought about it, the more excited he became.
He put on his helm and contacted his partner, "Xex, you won't believe what happened?"
Alex excitedly foretold his battle that was too fast for the AI to see and then went ahead to tell Xex his latest discovery.
[That is… unprecedented and also shocking.]
Xex had no words for what Alex did. Hours earlier, he was worried Alex might be getting carried away, but he defeated the void creature like it was nothing, and now this?
[Alex… I shouldn't be the one telling you this, but keep this ability of yours hidden for the meantime; just like you did your eyes.]
Alex frowned a bit, but after a little bit of thought, he understood what that meant. He was already full of mystery the universe was still trying to understand.
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Adding more to the count would only breed envy and the desire to put limitations on his power should he refuse to bend the knee.
He was growing powerful and at a very fast pace to boot. Not everyone would see it as a good thing if he can't be controlled.
'The universe isn't a canvas of just black and white, huh?'