Primordial Expanse: I have the Strongest Talent!

Varkoth sensed Alex's silence as a sign of frustration and pressed his advantage even further.

The sinister dark silver aura around his claws pulsated with energy, making Alex too apprehensive to even approach to try and get his own attack in.

"You're awfully quiet, Alex." Varkoth taunted in a very condescending way.

"Has it finally sunk in? That you're outmatched, that these will be your final moments?"

Alex remained silent.

He had faced countless opponents before, many with their own unique abilities, but none of them were like Varkoth.

The more he observed him, the more he realised that brute force alone wouldn't allow him to win this fight.

However, after the deafening silence persisted for a while, Alex finally spoke.

"Your talent is sharpness."

Alex felt like he had finally figured it out.

And while he hadn't exactly gotten the name of his talent right, he had essentially figured out its use.

Alex's senses were just as attuned as Varkoth's, if not maybe even a little more.

So he could sense everything that Varkoth could sense.

And it only just clicked for Alex.

Varkoth's talent wasn't just about raw power; it was about precision, manipulation, and control.

The vacuum created wherever the dark silver aura passed through was hard to spot at first, but Alex caught on to it after observing so closely.

The way Varkoth's claws sliced through the air like it didn't exist pointed to one thing in Alex's mind.

It all pointed to a level of sharpness that defied the very laws of physics. Your adventure continues at m v|l-e'm,p| y- r

Varkoth lunged in again, before Alex could do any further analysis.

The more Alex figured out, the less his advantage would be worth.

Alex was ready this time.

Instead of attempting to block, since that would be useless clearly, Alex did something unexpected.

He left himself wide open.

He allowed the claws to come within inches of his skin…

Before sidestepping at the last possible moment, feeling the faint tug of the vacuum effect as the claws narrowly missed him.

Varkoth's eyes widened for a split moment before returning to normal, clearly surprised by Alex's sudden agility.

"You're quick. I'll give you that." Varkoth admitted.

Alex didn't waste any time responding.

Instead he focused on analysing the further patterns of Varkoth's attacks.

He could see the subtle shifts in Varkoth's stance whenever he moved, the paths his claws followed in perfect harmony with the dark silver energy.

It was almost like a dance, each step perfectly orchestrated to maximise the impact of his strikes.

In fact, it was strikingly similar to something Alex knew quite well himself…

His own sword and martial arts stances…

'So he's learned something like a claw fighting technique, similar to my sword fighting stances… Maybe I can use this to my advantage.'

Alex already had somewhat of a plan formulating in his mind.

If he could read how Varkoth was going to attack before he even launched it, then he wouldn't have to worry about his claws effortlessly slicing him apart, since they would never have the chance to hit him in the first place.

All Alex had to do was wait for Varkoth to make the first move to put his theory into practice.

After all, his plan would only work if Varkoth was the one doing all the attacking.

Meanwhile, Varkoth's frustration was growing with each failed attempt to land a killing blow on Alex.

So far, his only success had been the first attack he had landed when he first activated his penetration talent.

Any attempts at slicing Alex after that had been met with empty air.

And now that Alex had figured out what the actual effect of his talent was, things became increasingly more complicated.

Alex had completely switched from being defensive to a total evasive stance.

Every time he went in for an attack, he couldn't help but shake off the feeling that Alex was gradually beginning to learn his moves.

Even though the two had never even fought before this point, any outsider who was watching would have thought they were long time sparring partners with how quickly they reacted to each other.

Thankfully for Varkoth though, he was just as quick as Alex, so he was able to dodge any counter attack that Alex had prepared for him.

And finally, after 5 minutes of a whole lot of nothing going on, the first switch up happened.

Varkoth realised that this couldn't keep going on forever, so he decided to make a change.

And it was quite a big change at that.

The dark silver aura surrounding his claws gradually started to stretch and weave past his wrists.

Alex was immediately on alert and kept his distance, since he was not able to read what Varkoth was up to this time around.

After a few short seconds, Varkoth's entire body was now covered in this dark silver penetration energy.

The change from the small amount that covered his claws to his whole body now being enveloped was massive.

Varkoth now looked like a scaly, reptillian version of a certain popular anime character from the early 21st century, only his aura was silver.

"I didn't expect I'd have to go this far against you. But you have exceeded my expectations, human. You should be proud to have pushed me so far."

Varkoth spoke to Alex like the outcome of the battle was already determined from this point onwards.

Alex could practically see the arrogance and confidence overflowing out of Varkoth.

Perhaps that was really what the silver aura was…

But Alex just kept up his apprehension and kept an eye on Varkoth the whole time.

The best thing he could do in this scenario was keep up the same mentality he had while facing Varkoth before his transformation.

Observe, analyse, and wait for the perfect opportunity to present itself.

With this in mind, he watched Varkoth closely, waiting for him to move.

He didn't really have much of an insight into Varkoth's talent, but he didn't doubt that keeping up this transformation of sorts was a lot more taxing on his energy than any of his other abilities.

So he was betting that Varkoth wouldn't try to waste any time.

And he was right.