NOVEL WEB Chapter 4: GUIDANCE
In the Whispering Hollow, a forest that is in the Aethernis Continent, in the region called Crysralfall Plains, Neon and Shalyn sat cross legged under a big and mighty tree.
Astralis is a planet divided into two continents, the Aethernis Continent and the Emberveil Continent. Each continent is further divided into two regions.
For the Aethernis Continent, a place known for it's tropical nature, as it is always evergreen, there are two regions; Verdant Wastes and the Crystalfall Plains.
Also, the Emberveil Continent is known for it's exotic ecosystem. It is also divided into the Ashen Spire and the Dune seas.
In all, there are four regions on the planet Astralis. It is no big planet without any overpopulation and hence, very vast and open for exploration. It has a lot of mysteries and secrets that could yet be unlocked by even the planetary explorers.
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Back to Neon and Shalyn, she has started teaching him the ways of the Realm. "You have to calm your mind, you focus and imagine. Your imagination is what draws the essence you desire, the mental essence which focuses on powering your core which in turn powers your Realm." She said as she made an example by drawing an almost imperceptible form of energy from the atmosphere.
"Remember that the power of imagination depends on your willpower...", she continued.
According to Shalyn, one's willpower determines how much faith he has in having something and that guides him to attain it. It is what fuels imagination and creativity. The desire for something great.
Also, there are seven energy points in the body, from the feet up the head, we have the Umbra, Aqirith, Pyrren, Elyndra, Voxtar, Nyvra and Celithar. In each energy point, the core strengthens and transforms.
There are four types of cores, the silver core for the Umbra and Aqirith energy points. Golden core for Pyrren and Elyndra, platinum core for Voxtar and Nyvra and finally, the diamond core for Celithar.
The strength of the core determines the strength of the user. There are levels of mastery of the Realm. They are, Foundation Stage, Intermediate Stage, Advanced Stage and Master Stage.
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All these while, Neon had only one thought in his mind, is she a monk?. "Steady, I can see an improvement. A little push will make it." As Shalyn encouraged him, everything suddenly started blurring out. The sound around, the environment, everything started to slow down as if responding to a force of nature.
There was clinging and clanking. Neon was in a kaleidoscope of colours before he could see his surroundings. He was no longer in the physical world and he knows it, he was in his Realm.
Is it supposed to be like this? He thought to himself. Realms adapt to the personality of the user's subconscious and it comes in only one landscape. Either a chaotic battlefield, a vast library, a deep forest or anything else.
Neon, looking at his realm could see that it was like another planet altogether. After getting access to his realm, he seems to have known certain things about it already, it was both calm and chaotic with no definite landscape. Thus a mixture of them.
"Haarh! Um, um, mwkpa mmmm." He heard behind him. When he turned, he saw nothing and then he heard it above him but still, he couldn't see anything. "Right here." Leaning against him was an amorphous creature with the qualities of the animals that belong to the cat family. It has some characteristics of a cat, a cheetah, a jaguar amongst others.
"Why did you wake me up from sleep? I was really enjoying it ." It said. It's height was only up to the knee level of Neon who was around four feets tall at the moment.
Neon thought of grabbing it by the neck and slamming him into a pillar and to his surprise, it worked almost instantaneously.
"Ouch! It hurts." It said in a pitiful tone. " You know it hurts before you got me beaten huh?" "It was just a misunderstanding. Also, remember I am your core." Suddenly, he let go of the creature.
That's how the Realm works. You think about the thing and when you have enough mental essence, it becomes a manifestation. This doesn't mean everything is possible as you will have to become strong enough to do certain things. Also, the state of your emotions can affect your thinking process creating different results.
"Ehem.. I am Zypheriel, a divine guide who has been integrated into this realm to guide you to your ultimate goal. I hate saying this but I have to serve you." Zypheriel said with a tinge of disappointment in his voice.
There are guides in the universe guiding every creation. We have terrestrial guides, astral guides, heavenly guides and divine guides. Zypheriel, being at the pinnacle of this couldn't accept the fact that he has to serve a mortal.
"Hehe, guess you are the loser after all." Neon laughed. "Not yet, you help me and I help you and it is simple, feed me with mental essence to nourish me and I protect you to become stronger and even the strongest." Zypheriel said unperturbed.
He proceeded to tell Neon that there was a great war amongst the celestials where he was badly injured protecting his master, as a result, he has to get enough mental essence to heal completely. He could have gotten it directly but he needed to bind with the soul, body and mind of a mortal before he starts the process.
Neon accepted the request without hesitation. What he needs now is growth and domination. "Good, now you can leave my face! Pig!" Zypheriel bellowed. Neon just shook his head. He doesn't know but he has started liking the character of Zypheriel. He knows when to be playful and serious.
Just then, a thought struck him. If the Realm builds on the nature of the user's subconsciousness, then it means him and Zypheriel are having the same personality.
"Yes of course. And I don't know why you are the only one who had my personality." Zypheriel reappeared with a congratulatory face. They are now heroes in the making.
"Um, how do I leave here?" Neon asked curiously. "It's all about thoughts, cow!" Zypheriel said in the distance as he sprinted off.
The Realm works on the thoughts of the user. Whatever you think of, as far as you can imagine it, it would become a manifestation once you have the strength.
Neon thought of coming back and suddenly, everything came back as it went out. When he opened his eyes, he quickly jumped backwards slamming his head into the trunk of the tree. He shrieked in pain.
It was due to the fact that Shalyn's face was few centimeters away from his, surveying his face." Mhmm.. not bad, you have access already?. And oh next time, do not cause such commotions again." She said with a serious face. "Really?" "Yeah."
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Back when everything went out slowly, there was a storm also gathering right above him slowly with arcs of electricity and hues of blue in the center. As he was less aware, the storm intensified and with a wild roar, it struck directly at Neon's body.
That was when Shalyn thought of examining him. While examining him, she noticed something, Neon has some features of Dray, the son of her elder sister.
She used to live on a planet called Starcradle in the galaxy called Umbraveil Spiral. She was also orphaned by the same incident that happened to Neon but this time, it was an adopted family member that caused the death of the original family.
And like Shalyn said, it was faith because she was also saved by Vexar Thorne. She was also casted into a random dimension and she appeared here three years ago. She was nine when that happened.
She looked intently at Neon and that was when he woke up and slammed his head into the tree.
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Neon managed to wake up from the floor but barely. "You are drained out, you need more mental essence now please." Shalyn said softly.
Neon sat cross legged and started the process. Looking closely at the scene, one could see that there was a stream of energy pouring into his head and looking through his flesh, one could see the energy spiraling through his meridians.
Mental essence is part of Cosmic energy, an energy that binds all forces of nature together. That's the reason why people have to tap into this form of energy in the universe and use it to strengthen themselves and refine it, thus removing impurities.
It moved through all the seven energy points and finally settled at the Umbra, moving past it and crawling up small towards the Aqirith. This would happen and suddenly, all the energy will vanish again. He has to then perform it severally before it will stabilize, becoming an energy bank stored in the core.
This means that Neon has a silver core. Also, he is just at the Foundation Stage when it comes to mastery of the Realm. As Vexar deduced, he is currently at the high resonance level of resonance to the subconscious.
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This process continued for almost three hours and finally, he opened his eyes. How much damn energy does this need to use? He thought to himself. "All the energy in the world," came the sarcastic tone of Zypheriel.
Come on, let me show you around this place. We can also talk about ourselves. Shalyn then held his hands. Looking from a distance, one could mistake them for lovers.
They felt it too. They just met but it was as if they had known each other for years. There was a natural connection between them, the one that is not romantic but brother×sister like.