Primordial Expanse: I have the Strongest Talent!-Chapter 583: A new goal

"We've been divorced longer than our marriage lasted now, you lost the right to call me your wife that day." Althea responded to Nick's words without a hint of emotion in her voice.

Her expression didn't shift. Her gaze remained trained on Nick like she saw right through him – to see the true motive behind his words that he let so smoothly slip.

Nick simply chuckled at her response, not lending an answer of his own. He wasn't bitter, but a calm amusement only made the tension between them even more awkward.

He took a step forward after a few more moments passed, hands tucked behind his back, letting the breeze brush gently across his face.

"That's debatable," he said softly. "But let's not reopen old wounds. You're right, I didn't call you here just to reminisce."

He turned to face her fully now, and in that moment, the easygoing air around him shifted slightly.

It was subtle, but enough for someone like Althea – someone at the height of the federation, the peak of human achievement in the world of awakened – to notice.

"There's been movement," Nick said, keeping his tone short but sharp. "Something's happened in the Primordial Expanse, and they aren't too happy about it."

Even though nobody or nothing was mentioned specifically, Althea seemed to know what or 'who' Nick was talking about.

The sudden shift in his temperament was enough for her to realise he was being serious.

'They haven't made a move since the Red Demons first made their appearance… This can't be good. Why do I feel like another calamity is approaching the federation…?'

Althea kept her thoughts to herself.

"Details?" She asked.

Nick expected her to acknowledge the seriousness of the situation the moment he moved the topic on from their past quarrels.

"I fear it concerns that boy our daughter has taken quite a liking to." Nick answered simply.

Althea's brow twitched when she heard Nick refer to Mira as 'our' daughter, but she let that slide for the time being.

Unfortunately, the news he had just delivered to her took precedence over any familial disputes the two of them might have.

"Alex… Just what have you done?" Althea muttered under her breath.

"Is that his name? Oh well, that doesn't matter now. There's nothing he can do to save himself now that he's landed himself smack dab in the middle of this thing. I'm sure they'd be monitoring him as we speak." Nick commented, though Althea seemed to be in her own world.

It was questionable whether she even heard what Nick said at all.

However, she was quickly brought out of her thoughts a few seconds later as she felt a hand take hold of her shoulder.

She looked back up to find Nick's serious expression staring right into her eyes, at quite an uncomfortably close distance.

"You cannot mention any word of this outside of this room. Not to anyone, not even Mira. You know they don't like any information even slightly related to them reaching unauthorised ears."

Althea didn't recoil from Nick's hand like she would usually do if he pulled a stunt like this, but her eyes narrowed dangerously as her own aura began to flare up.

She quickly became like a storm cloud forming just beneath the surface of the calm skies.

"I don't need you to remind me how they operate." She answered coldly while she placed her hand over his and removed it from her shoulder.

A slight hint of emotion flickered across Nick's face as he responded.

"Good. I wouldn't want anything to happen to you or Mira… I still miss you, you know…"

Althea didn't spare him another glance, before stepping back through a crack in space and disappearing, leaving the area in silence once again.

Nick turned his gaze back to the cherry blossoms drifting in the wind.

His thoughts were undiscernable.

***

"Achoo!"

Nick rubbed his nose in confusion.

'I guess I can still get an irritated nose even as a higher being…'

Moving on, he turned to his left, looking at the scaly beast following alongside him.

"Are you sure this is the right direction, buddy?"

Nick asked Brontes with some hesitation.

A few days earlier, Nick had brought Brontes back out of the taming space after he felt he had moved a safe enough distance from Eternal Forge city.

And, out of boredom, he had shared what he'd found out about Mikhail and his suspicions of his forge actually being located outside of the human populated area of the Primordial Expanse.

He expected Brontes to understand none of it, as he was still young and developing; however, Alex didn't expect Brontes to actually come in useful with this situation.

The two of them still couldn't communicate verbally, well not back and forth at least, but Brontes did express his emotions to Alex through their connection that he knew one way out of the human domain.

At this, Alex was naturally stunned into silence.

The Federation had been wracking their brains over where the other race's territories could be, and how to get there.

Yet who'd have thought that the answer would come as easily as asking a beast for the answer…

But then again, Alex doubted that, other than Brontes, there were hardly any, if any at all, tamed beasts in the Federation that were intelligent enough to communicate such complex concepts.

Still, he never expected the answer to one of the most pressing questions of their time to come so easily to him.

He still didn't know exactly how Brontes knew or where he was even referring to, but it was way closer than any solution the Federation had come up with.

Instead he opted to simply follow the beast as he seemed to know the way.

And that was what he had been doing for the last several days.

Nothing but mindlessly traversing the endless lands of the Primordial Expanse, side by side with his beast companion.

They encountered zero trouble over the last few days either, thanks to both his and Brontes' intimidating aura.

However, that was soon to change…