Rydel observed with puzzlement the white pebble. It resembled the proto-moon phase described on his cultivation method. To start the process of creating his own Moon Artifact, it was necesary to bathe a life stone under the aura of his Dao and vital energy for a couple of months. It'd transform the intrinsic nature of the stone, forever linking it to his essence. Impurities would be squeezed out of the stone until it became a pristine white pebble. It was an artificial replacement for the Moon, to convert his spiritual energy into moonlight. This would allow him more flexibility, as it wasn't impposible to use his Dao during the day anymore. It has its downsides too. The energy capacity was on the lower end, so it was better used as a last resort. Also, as the Moon Artifact was only an intermediary, there was the inconvinience of having to transform his energy beforehand. This wasn't so much as a problem to Rydel thanks to his large reserves. The stone was somewhat brittle. If an enemy discovered this weakness, it was easy to take advantage of as it wasn't very difficult to destroy. The good news was that if he continued refining the artifact, and with the sacrifice of countless precious resources, it'd eventually become as large as the one that Akemi used as a home. At that point, even if the Moon that orbited his planet got destroyed, it wouldn’t have any negative effects on him. There was a long road to reach that stage. Before trying anything else, Rydel thought about leaving that place. His vision shifted, and he returned to his room. A tendril of energy was sent to his head, and he came back to the previous void without any problems. After a few attempts, he willed his body to sent spiritual energy inside. A gaseous green mist slowly formed in his surroundings. He redirected all this energy into the white pebble. He was delighted to discover that it was immediately ejected back as a silver mist tainted by the Dao of the Moonlight. This process repeated itself until there wasn’t a drop of energy left on his reserves. Rydel frowned when he noticed that his body didn’t regenerate more energy. It was a pity, even if his whole reserves were there transformed into moonlight energy, the maximum capacity of his body didn’t change. It was just sitting in another place of him. The Moon Artifact was surrounded by different layers of silver energy, they became denser the closer they were. It resembled an atmosphere in the making. The leftover energy just became fog hanging around. This drastically improved his way of fighting. However, he still couldn’t use his Gate of Lunacy as it required him to be transformed, and the one that facilitated this process was the Moon itself, there wasn't a way around this. Instead. he could incorporate the moonlight into his attacks, making him more elusive and it'd made his new class stronger overall. His class wasn't about the Moon, but the Stars, even though it was a different concept, due to his Dao it slightly changed how his skills worked. Rydel thought about his list of class skills, and they were displayed on his vision. [Space Dweller: You become able to survive in space by absorbing energy from the vacuum.] It was an incredible passive, albeit a bit useless to the current him. He didn’t have any means of traveling outside of his planet, and even if he had, he didn’t have any particular 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.] Finally, a ranged skill that could use his Dao as a basis. A rain of stars that you couldn't see was quite fearsome. Rydel was quite excited to see if the damage dealt achieved his expectations. [Four Phases of the Moon: Berserker technique, increases the quality of the spiritual energy.] He received another berserker skill. His Moonlight Transformation could only be used as a last resort, the time needed to unleash the technique was quite long, and it came with the inconvinience that he almost died the last time he used it. The Four Phases of the Moon was divided into four grades. The first boost was milder and he could use it in more casual fights, without worrying of crippling injuries. The system imparted the basic knowledge of how to use a skill directly into his mind. This wasn't miraculous, he had to practice using the skills in a myriad of ways and situations to truly master it. If his proficiency with the skill increased, there was the possibility of upgrading it and transforming it into a completely different ability. There were even people that fused different aspects of skills to get something greater than its original parts. There wasn't any more apparent uses for this space, for now. It was a mystery how it came to be, as this wasn't how it was described on his cultivation method. He'd ask Neena first thing in the morning, she ought to know something, as it was created by her clan after all. Rydel became pensive as he looked around. He was there, and at the same time, he wasn’t. After looking down, the rest of his body didn't appear on his vision. He directed some of the fog to cover his actual form and have a clear image of it. Although his brain was incapable of processing so much information, it didn’t get discourage Rydel as he 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. Every little pieces constituted the being known as Rydel Elphyra, and it was stitched together until it formed a whole. What truly entered this mysterious place was his consciousness. Rydel didn’t immediately dismiss the mental image, he delved into who he truly was. Frequently, people tricked themselves into forming an incorrect image of themselves. It wasn’t done on purpose, it was a way to protect yourself from your expectations and failures. People donned three masks at all times, the first is used to interact with the world, and the second one to interact with close friends and family. The third one hid their true face, the one that demonstrates your essence, what you concealed. Often times, even to yourself. People had aspects of them that they feared to reveal. Rydel wasn’t an exception. One of those deeply guarded secrets was about his past life. 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. Deep down he knew that his parents would accept who he was no matter what. This was a knowledge buried under numerous what-ifs. He saw his desire to be free and unrestrained that came to be after a life locked down in his own room. An uncertain future loomed over him.. He saw his worries about the imminent war, how he knew that his clanmates were being reckless. He wanted to avenge the deceased as much as anyone, but didn’t want more souls to begin their journeys to Mother Earth’s embrace. He sa-. Rydel abruptly stopped his introspection. Someone was shaking him on the real world. ‘Are you okay?’ Neena asked, worry written on her face. “Yes, I’m okay.” Rydel sniffed. Rydel wiped his tears with his sleeve. It wasn't pleasant having every little aspect of him laid bare. It was an emotional roller-coaster without a security seatbelt. ‘Do you want to talk about it?’ “I-I… Yes.” Rydel whispered. He recounted his recent experience. At first, she seemed surprised and jealous, and became concerned with the last part. ‘You need to do it again. I’m next to you this time around. Do you know if you can hear the world outside when you are in your soul space?’ “Soul space? I don’t know, I felt when you shook me awake.” When F-grade beings reached one point in spirit, they formed a Spiritual Consciousness. This allowed them to truly interact with the real world, to feel the spiritual energy around them and to contemplate the truths hidden on the fabric of the universe. It wasn’t something that Rydel had personally experienced, as when he was already born with one developed. Even then, he had learned about all the intricansies of the first two mortal grades as part of his fundamental education. Ascendency was another matter altogether. After reaching two hundred points of spirit, the Spiritual 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. Thanks to it being 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 she told him. ‘Can you hear me?’ Rydel roughly perceived her spiritual messages, although the vibrations were muted, he could decipher the meanings. ‘Cover yourself in the fog again to discern your true self. 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 at this 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. Rydel got inundated by warm memories. He cried again, but the tears weren’t bitter anymore, this time shackles were removed from his soul. 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 expected to make every right choice. After being confronted by both the good and the bad, Rydel took his regrets and threw them out of his path. It wouldn't be immediate, as work would need to be done. However, the first step was an fundamental one. He'd amend anything that he could. He now had the long-term objective to find where Earth was, closing that chapter of his life once and for all. After having spoken with Neena he had 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 of my handsome face.” ‘Gross! Grow at least four tails before trying to act like a ladykiller. You don’t even have hairs anywhere but in 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 this conversation for his own sanity. His entire body ached after the adrenaline rushed down, he had gone overboard trying to create his soul space. “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. He 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 his personal healer, Doctor Naveena's instructions, Rydel spent the next week recuperating. A new development happened just then. Two high elves arrived before the agreed time, and Galather asked him to come and meet them.