At this moment, Bane felt as though his consciousness was floating within this strange whirlpool after being absorbed by the powerful sucking force.
He was revolving around it, feeling as if he was a small bird soaring through the clouds.
It was a truly strange yet marvelous feeling. Unfortunately, it didn't take long before he was ejected from the strange whirlpool.
[Ding! Welcome to the Astral Plane]
As soon as he was ejected from the whirlpool, He was then greeted by the strange robotic voice again.
[The Host's mental energy will now be translated into the Astral Realm’s equivalent]
Even though Bane couldn’t see anything, he could instinctively tell that he was nothing but a wisp of smoke or energy floating in the void at the moment.
Meanwhile, before the system’s voice could even fade away, Bane felt a strange, yet a powerful endless stream of energy engulfing his consciousness.
At the same time, a small human skeleton frame began to slowly form out by that endless stream of energy before integrating with his consciousness.
Soft tissues were being created as well which began to cover the small human skeleton frame along with pulsating veins.
Although Bane was conscious while his new astral body was being created, he didn’t feel any pain a all.
In fact, he found it pleasurable the way his body was being created and assembled like a jigsaw puzzle. It was truly a refreshing and satisfying feeling.
He hadn’t felt this intense feeling of euphoria ever since he got locked up and couldn’t perform his art anymore.
The feeling was a blissful evocation of the time when he was roaming free in the streets and satisfied his twisted desire to the full.
‘How I missed those days’
He felt an enforced calmness come over him, his terror and panic of blindness didn’t go away, just… not mattering at the moment.
Meanwhile, As Bane was immersing himself in this long-forgotten feeling, the robotic voice of the system suddenly rang out in his mind again.
[Ding! congratulations, your new Astral Body has been successfully created]
[Notice: your astral body resembles your mortal form in almost every way. It’s a replication of your real body]
‘I wonder if it’s the replication of my old adult self or my newborn body. Anyway, I don’t care which one is it, I need my vision back.’Strongly thought Bane as his scotomaphobia came rushing back.
Without wasting a second, he hurriedly snapped his eyes open wide. The moment he did, his retinas were bombarded with a rainbow of lights as well as an unbelievable and imaginary view.
“I……I can see again.” He muttered with a trembling voice as a wave of happiness came crashing upon him.
He felt it pass through his body and soul like a warm ocean wave, washing away his previous stress and terror while leaving him refreshed inside.
At this moment, he didn’t want to think about anything else as he was just floating in the air and letting the happiness soak right into his bones.
[Congratulations! You have successfully cleared the first hidden quest of the tutorial” Mind over Matter]
[The Astral Plane is a Mental place, a Realm of thoughts where the Mind has the ultimate power]
[Your experience points have massively increased]
You have leveled up
You have leveled up
You have leveled up
Your mental energy has gone up by 6
Your intelligence has gone up by 3.
Your wisdom has gone up by 3.
You have earned 9 Astral Points
You have gained 3 unallocated stats points.
[You have acquired the skill: [Universal Tongue (Unique)]
[Universal Tongue (Unique)] - This skill allows you to communicate with the myriad races throughout the multiverse. A unique skill granted for free after completing the hidden quest]
[You have acquired the skill: [Appraisal (Inferior)] – Basic identification skill that allows you to identify certain objects or creatures you are focusing on]
[You are able to check your status by saying the activation phrase” Status Window”]
“Not bad,” Bane whispered with a satisfying expression as he was looking at his newly acquired skills. They were both extremely useful.
“Don’t tell me it’s because I strongly think about regaining my vision that it came to me and unknowingly completed tbe hidden quest.” He added after listening to the second notification of the system.
If he didn’t eagerly desire it, he had the feeling that he wouldn’t be able to achieve it.
“Also, what’s the status window he’s talking about. Is it like the ……………..” However, before he could even finish his sentence, a status window suddenly appeared in front of him.
[Name: Bane Asteroth]
[Age: One Day]
[Species: Human]
[Occupation: N/A]
[Uniqueness: Scavenger of the Astral Plane]
[Level: 3(0/400]
Intelligence: 18
Wisdom: 17
Mental power: 14
Magic Power: 0/20
Astral points: 10
Unallocated stat point: 3
‘Level 3?’
It was like looking at a game status window. Naturally, the status window displayed the status of Bane, not a character in the game.
Though he wasn’t an avid gamer, he had some Knowledge about litrpg games and even played it once or twice to satisfy his murderous craving when he couldn’t release it in reality.
‘That’s it!’
The information in the status window was too brief and Bane could tell that it was missing some information. But a new message appeared as soon as he had that thought.
Strength: O.1
Dexterity: 0.1
Stamina: 0.1
Vitality: 5
Skills: Universal tongue(Unique), Appraisal (inferior)
[Note: Your physical prowess has no effect in the Astral Plane. As such, strength, agility, and stamina will not increase with the rise in level]
[They could only be increased with Unallocated stat points in the material world]
“I see!” Uttered Bane with an understanding expression on his face after listening to the system’s notification.
After going through his status window, Bane’s thoughts shifted as he now began to calmly think about everything.
How am I even alive? He asked himself as he was looking at his newborn chubby body and small hands while floating in the void.
He remembered everything about his last moments and past life. He was certain that he was killed by electrocution.
There was no reason he should be alive right now. Should a scum like me really question such good fortune?
He was stumped. He had no powers to reverse time, change fate, or reincarnate. Did someone else do this? But, who and how?
‘Also, where does this system come from?’
‘Ohh well! It’s not like I’m gonna find out just by asking.’
Though the entire thing felt like a weird lucid dream or an illusion, bane still decided to accept it and roll with it.
It didn’t matter whether it was God playing a prank on him or the Devil toying with him, he saw no reason not to entertain himself a bit. It's not like he had something to lose.
“So this is the Astral Plane.” He muttered to himself as he began to scan the imaginary view around him with a look of amazement on his face.
The Astral plane looked like a great silver void that extended in all directions.
Being in the Astral Plane felt like one was inside a silver orb with faint twinkling stars on the infinite horizon, and stretching out before you was a sea of silvery cloud-like mists. It was extremely beautiful beyond words.
As Bane was admiring the dreamlike beauty of the Astral Plane, the mechanical voice of the system suddenly rang out in his mind again accompanied by the blue pop-up screen.
[Ding: Tutorial Mission]
[Familiariaze yourself and survive within the Astral Plane for three months]
[Mission Reward: Akhrṓmatos Vision]
[Akhrṓmatos Vision is a skill created by a powerful being that transforms one’s mental power into a black and white stimulation 3D mode vision.]
[Faillure penalty: All your stats will be reset]
[Tutorial Information: The Astral Plane is filled with unknown danger and great opportunities. Nightmarish Astral creatures, Astral pirates, and Lost souls among others roam the plane, hunting for prey and body to possess to escape from the Astral Plane into the Material Plane]
[Note: Three months in the Astral Plane is equivalent to three hours in your Material Plane]
