Chapter 3: Chapter 3: Mental Space

Three days after Michael left Kladek…

*Step*

He was currently walking through a corridor of a Shadow Raven base. The intelligence had proven to be correct. The base was located deep in the Great Ocelot Forest, a place where ordinary Adventurers would be quickly ripped to shreds and even highly skilled elites would be forced to sweat.

The base was well hidden in the side of a hill with most of it being underground. But on this day, Micheal got lucky. While flying above, he managed to spot a few Shadow Raven members roaming about. From there, it was simple. Using his telepathic techniques on them, he found the location of their base.

And from there, the full brunt of his Ascendant power was unleashed upon the base’s inhabitants.

Now, his eyes took in the carnage he had wrought.

Blood, guts and torn limbs littered the place. The corridors were left battered and cracked. Dozens of craters now adorned the walls, floors and ceilings. Bullets and artillery shells were frequent sights, some embedded into the walls, some in the crevices, some in blood puddles, and some still rolling about.

Faced with this scene, a normal person would have their stomach turn and their heart surge with fear, but Micheal was far from normal. His blue eyes were no different from a lake at rest. His long life had allowed him to experience many similar sights. With steady steps, he strode forward, navigating past the 'obstacles' littering his path.

Micheal had slaughtered no less than a hundred people. And not just nobodies either.

'It's good that I came personally. Those two would be trouble for anyone else,’ he thought as his gaze moved over two corpses. He recognized them as Coffyn the Skulker and Drenen the Red Aroma. Both were Black Feathers; this title was given to the Shadow Raven's strongest members.

Micheal's attention didn’t linger on the two. He didn’t feel any big sense of accomplishment from defeating them. While Black Feathers could strike fear into the hearts of the masses, they couldn’t provoke even a single ripple in his old heart.

There were only a handful of individuals that could make him sweat, and these two certainly weren't among that bunch. It had taken no more than ten seconds to send the two's souls back to the Great Aether.

Continuing his stroll, Micheal entered a large chamber. Eyes falling on the objects piled up on the other side, a frown surfaced on his handsome face.

‘Again.’

Without the need to open the crates, Micheal knew that they contained weapons and ammunition.

Micheal was greatly troubled by this. It wasn’t strange for the Shadow Raven to have weapons, the strange thing was the staggering amount they possessed.

The Shadow Raven's exact number wasn't known, but Micheal believed that they couldn't be more than ten thousand in number, even when adding Dimitri's potential thousands of vessels. The stockpile in this base alone was more than enough to satisfy the needs of twenty thousand members. If this was a rare occurrence, it wouldn't be as troubling, but it wasn't. Every Shadow Raven base raid in recent memory saw a similar sight.

The amount concerned him, for while knives could be used in a kitchen, guns, and bombs had only one place they belonged, the battlefield.

Using his telekinesis, he retrieved a rifle from the pile. ‘It's odd. These weapons are clearly new. Where are they produced? Given the amount we’ve seen, there would have to be dozens of factories working non-stop for it to make sense. But we’ve checked all major factories, and it’s not like production can be hidden. Leaving its production aside, how are they moving such large quantities without being flagged by the Pillar factions? Normal powers can’t explain it. Dimitri must have acquired a few special vessels.”

Thinking of the Shadow Raven's infamous leader, Micheal’s face turned bitter. ‘He’s been quiet for a while now, I’m sure he’s planning something big. Stock pilling weapons of war must be part of it.’

Under the flickering light, Micheal’s heartbeat thumped loudly in his chest. In his position, he was always thinking of the bigger picture. Knowing what Dimitri was capable of, he couldn’t help but tense up. He shut his eyes.

After a few seconds of darkness, Micheal’s heartbeat returned to normal. ‘When isn’t he up to no good? That's right, never. This time will be like every other time. No matter what plan he concocts, or scheme he employs, I’ll destroy it.’

His eyelids slowly opened. A determined light shone from his blue orbs. There was no need to overthink things. He would do as he had always done.

Micheal’s Psi moved over the rifle and a moment later, the gun was ‘erased’ from existence. White mist took its place, before scattering into the surrounding air.

The Raven then did the same to the crates in the distance. A second later, a white cloud filled the space before dissipating. Micheal’s destructive Psi visited the other areas holding weapons of war and again, disintegrated them, leaving white mist in its place.

Finishing up, he headed out.

‘This won’t dent the Shadow Ravens as a whole, but it should kill their activity in this region for a while. Having Ralf stay somewhere in Zudrad is probably the safest option. I’ll let her know on my way back.’

Not lingering a second longer, Micheal took to the sky and rocketed westward.

A meeting between S-Rank Adventurers would ensue.

***

Moving back in time to directly after Ralf was struck by the spear of light…

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‘Ah, I’m still alive?’

Coming to, this was Ralf’s first thought. Surprise and relief were felt in equal parts as he clutched his chest. ‘Whoa, that was crazy. I was sure that was the end right there. Definitely don’t want to do that again.’

The experience was both weird and terrifying. It also lasted a lot longer than he thought it would. Scorching heat, frigid cold, excruciating pain, indescribable pleasure; being pierced caused Ralf to experience a slew of extreme and contradictory sensations.

While experiencing these strange sensations, the colossal sums of pure energy contained in the Zenki spear poured into Ralf’s Soul Core. Absorbing the energy, Ralf’s Soul Core ballooned to dozens, hundreds, thousands then tens of thousands of times its original size.

At that point, the myriad of sensations took a step back and unbearable pain took the fore. It was overwhelming. And worse yet, the sphere continued to grow. He tried stopping the invasion of energy but was unable to. Ralf felt the very fabric of his soul beginning to tear. And a moment later, this feeling was reflected in reality. Unable to endure the inflation, his soul ruptured.

Usually, this would be one’s end, but not Ralf's.

His Unique identity, more specifically the automatic activation had saved him. As his soul was moments away from scattering completely, the connection to the Great Aether was established and his power was activated.

The activation shaved off most of the energy present. Of what remained, ninety percent returned to his soul while the remaining ten percent was released as the Psi explosion that rocked the outside world.

Another thing working in Ralf's favour was the immaturity of his soul. It was elastic, malleable and had a great resilience to it that allowed it to recover its form without any negative effects.

Ralf didn’t understand the specifics of everything he went through, but he knew he had lucked out - or rather he had broken even.

These feelings would quickly change though.

‘Hmm, where am I?’

Putting the near-death experience to the back of his mind, Ralf examined the black void he found himself in.

It was a vast empty space. Strangely, despite no light source in sight, the place was thoroughly lit up. Standing up, Ralf could see well into the distance.

‘Hmm? What’s this?’

Looking in a certain direction, Ralf was shocked to find his perception suddenly extend.

‘Did I do that?’

Curious, Ralf consciously tried extending his sight. And lo and behold, it happened.

His eyes widened.

‘What’s happening here, what’s with this place? Let me try something else.’

He looked at his palm. Then, focused on a particular image. A moment later, the object materialized.

‘Whoa, this is so cool.’

Wooden sword in hand, Ralf’s heart surged with excitement at what this meant.

A thought later, a second sword appeared in his free hand. Perching them on either shoulder, Ralf contemplated his whereabouts. Searching his memories, he quickly arrived at an answer.

‘A dark void where one can create mental projections…this must be the Mental Domain. Though,’ Ralf glanced around. ‘I don’t see any of that so-called soul swamp around here. This must be different. I’ll call this place Mental Space for now. I’ll explore a bit then head back to the outside world. I can’t wait to tell mom I became a psionic, and a Unique to boot. She'll be over the moon for sure, I can't wait.'

A smile surfaced on his face as he pictured his mom’s excited reaction. Unfortunately for Ralf, he wouldn’t be seeing his beloved mother anytime soon.

‘Ah? Ah!’

Mid-stride, Ralf’s consciousness was seized by a familiar irresistible tug. All resistance was futile before the immense power and Ralf's mind was thrown through the void.

His next destination…another world.

 

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