Chapter 28: Introspection

Rydel observed with puzzlement the white pebble. It resembled the proto-moon phase described in his cultivation method.

Except that to start creating his own moon, he needed to bathe a life stone with the aura of his Dao and his vital energy for a couple of months. This process would bring changes the intrinsic nature of the stone, becoming an artifact linked to his essence.

Impurities would leave the life stone turning it into a white pebble. It was an incredible artifact, as it can be used as a replacement for the moon to power up his skills during the day.

As a downside, the energy capacity was low at first only being useful as a last resource, it had to be passively charged beforehand too. Also, if an enemy saw it, he could destroy it without much problem as the stone was somewhat brittle.

However, if you continued refining the artifact, sacrificing precious resources, and treating it with care, it'd eventually become a moon as big as the one that Akemi's used as a home.

From that moment onward, even if the Moon that circled his world got destroyed, it wouldn't affect his cultivation. Of course, he had a long way to go before reaching that point.

Before doing anything, Rydel thought about leaving this space. His vision shifted and he came back to his room. He sent a tendril of energy again and came back to the void space.

After a few tries, he managed to will his body to send spiritual energy inside this space, a gaseous green mist slowly came into being around him.

He redirected the energy into the white pebble, he was delighted to discover that it was immediately ejected back as a silver mist tainted by his Dao of the Moonlight. He continued this process until there wasn't a drop of energy left in his body.

He frowned when he noted that his body didn't regenerate more energy. It was a pity, it seemed that even if it was transported to this space, his maximum capacity didn't change.

The pebble was surrounded by different layers of silver energy, becoming denser the closer they were to the pebble. It resembled an atmosphere in the making, the leftover energy just became fog hanging around the space.

This changed his manner of fighting. He still couldn't use his Gate of Lunacy, as it required him to be transformed, and the one that facilitated this was the Moon itself, a pebble wouldn't do the trick.

However, he could incorporate the moonlight into his attacks to make himself more elusive and get the most out of his new class.

Rydel thought about his class skills, and they became displayed in his vision.

[Space Dweller: You become able to survive in space by absorbing energy from the vacuum.]

It was an incredible passive, a pity that for the current him it was somewhat useless. He didn't have any means of traveling outside of his planet, and even if he had, he didn't have any reason to do so at the moment. It was true that he wanted to reach the stars someday though.

[Rain of Stars: Ranged attack in the shape of shooting stars.]

At last, a ranked skill that used his Dao as a basis. It sounded quite epic, he needed to check the damage and consumption of the skill.

[Four Phases of the Moon: Berserker technique, increases the quality of the spiritual energy.]

He received another berserker skill. However, his Moonlight Transformation could only be used as a last resort as he became almost dead after using it, and he needed time to unleash the technique.

The Four Phases of the Moon was divided into four grades, the first boost was milder, he could even use it in more casual fights without worrying about dying.

The system imparted the basic knowledge of how to use the skills directly into his mind. However, he needed to practice with them to become used to it. If his proficiency increased a lot, the skill could even mutate and become something entirely different too.

There were even people that achieved fusing aspects of different skills to get something greater than its parts.

For now, he didn't see any more uses to this space, he didn't know how it came to being either. He'd ask Neena first thing in the morning, she ought to know something, it was her clan's cultivation method after all.

Rydel became pensive as he looked at his surroundings. He was there and at the same time, he wasn't. After looking down, he didn't see the rest of his body.

He directed some of the fog to cover and grasp an image of his actual form.

His brain was incapable of processing so much information, but Rydel didn't get discouraged and continued observing himself. Gradually, he got a faint understanding of what was happening.

Images of the forest he lived in, his family, his insights of the Dao, his past life, his dreams, and his fears. Rydel saw everything that he was.

It was like taking every little piece that constituted the being known as Rydel Elphyra, and stitching it together until it formed a whole.

It was his consciousness that entered this mysterious space. Rydel didn't immediately dismiss the mental image, as he was delving into who he truly was.

Frequently, people tricked themselves into forming an image of themselves that wasn't true. It wasn't done on purpose, it was a way to protect yourself from your expectations and failures.

It was said that people donned three masks at all times, the first is used to interact with the world, and the second one with close friends and family.

Behind the third one is your true face, the one that demonstrates your essence, what you concealed to everyone, sometimes even to yourself.

Everyone had aspects that they feared to reveal. Rydel wasn't an exception. One of those secrets was about his past life, he saw the dread of repeating his past mistakes and of seeing the reaction of his parents after discovering that he'd been lying to them the whole time.

He saw how deep down he knew that his parents would accept who he is no matter what, but this knowledge was buried under numerous what-ifs.

He saw how his desire to be free and unrestrained came to be after a life locked down in his own room without knowing what the future held for him.

He saw his worries about the imminent war and how he knew that his clanmates were being reckless. He wanted to avenge the deceased but didn't want anyone accompanying them into their journey to Mother Earth's embrace.

He sa-.

Rydel abruptly stopped his introspection when someone shook him in the real world.

'Are you okay?' Neena asked with worry.

"Yes, I'm okay." Rydel sniffed.

Rydel wiped his tears with his sleeve, having every little aspect of himself laid bare in front of him was an emotional roller-coaster.

'Do you want to talk about it?'

"I-I… Yes." Rydel whispered.

He recounted what he experienced. At first, she seemed surprised and jealous but became concerned with the last bit.

'You need to do it again, this time I'm next to you. Do you know if you can hear the world outside when you are inside your soul space?'

"Soul space? I don't know, I felt when you shook me awake."

When F-grade beings reach 1 in spirit, they form a consciousness. It's the bare minimum to project the spirit outside of the body and feel the spiritual energy in the world.

Although it wasn't something that Rydel had personally experienced, as he was already born with consciousness, he had learned everything about the F and E-grade that his clan knew as part of his education.

After reaching 200 of spirit, the consciousness experienced a quality transformation, becoming a protosoul. The protosoul was very fragile, so it needed a place where it was protected from any harm, the soul space.

As it was situated in the head, Rydel didn't need to worry about physically wounding it, as even if his protosoul wasn't destroyed, a wound on his head would kill him anyway.

The soul space also offered an extra layer of protection against attacks aimed at the soul.

'Yes, soul space, we'll discuss that later. Now, close your eyes and concentrate. After that, enter your soul space.'

Rydel did as told.

'Can you hear me?'

Rydel roughly perceived her spiritual messages, the vibrations were muted but he could decipher the meanings.

'Cover yourself in energy again to discern yourself. This time focus on the positive aspects.'

Rydel filtered out his mistakes and flaws.

He saw the first time that his father's team paraded his prey on the streets. It was the moment that he decided to become someone great, worthy of admiration.

He saw the care from his family. Their conversations that ended in some kind of mischief, even the more sentimental and serious ones, were memories that he cherished.

He saw the first time that he met Naveena, the mannerism of Akemi and how she almost got him killed. He didn't resent her, as he met the person that would become his best friend and little sister thanks to that.

Rydel got inundated by warm memories. He cried again, but the tears weren't bitter anymore, he felt like shackles were removed from his soul.

True, life wasn't all sunshine and rainbows, but neither was about tormenting oneself with the past.

Every decision that he had taken had led to his current circumstances. There wasn't a perfect run, nor was he perfect to make every right choice.

However, after being confronted by both the good and the bad, Rydel took his regrets and threw them out of his path.

He'd amend anything that he could. In fact, Rydel now had the long-term objective to find where Earth was and close that chapter of his life once and for all.

Moreover, after speaking with Neena he discovered that the shape of the galaxy where they lived was extremely similar to the Milky Way. He didn't know if it was a coincidence, or if he hadn't moved to the other end of the universe. Only time would tell.

Rydel exited the soul space and was greeted by the vision of Neena's forehead touching his.

"A-are you taking advantage of me? Pervert!"

'Hmph! If you are in the mood to speak nonsense it means that you are alright.'

"What nonsense? Every girl would beg me for a chance to be so near to my handsome face."

'Gross! Grow at least four tails before trying to act like a ladykiller. You don't even have hairs anywhere but your head.' Neena said with a face of disgust.

"Hey! Don't impose your foxy kinks into me, it's racist." Rydel defended himself.

'Sigh, if only I was given to a charming prince. Imagine having a big bad wolf as a companion…' Neena ignored him and entered her dreamland.

Rydel was speechless and decided to end the conversation for his own sanity. His entire body ached after his adrenaline rushed down, he had gone overboard trying to create his soul space tonight.

"I need to recover."

'Again? Don't you know how to live without causing injuries to yourself? Are you a masochist in secret?'

"Cough, it's just some superficial wounds." Rydel avoided her intense gaze.

He rapidly used Moonlight Mending, willing the Moon for healing, and came back to full health after five minutes.

"See? I'm as good as new."

'Your aura feels weak, you won't be able to use your strength for the next couple of days. Just stop being a troublemaker.'

"Yes ma'am."

Following her personal healer, Doctor Naveena, instructions, Rydel spent the next week recuperating.

A new development happened just then, two high elves arrived before the agreed time. Galather asked him to come and meet them.