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Chapter 4: New World II

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The young man named Val Helious stood up with a small smile on his face and walked up towards the cell door with his face slowly falling into depression, fully committing to the incoming play.

He slightly opened the small window in the door, so small that his hand could barely pass through it, but it's enough for what he's about to do.

He carefully listened to the faint whispers coming from the prison cell opposite to his, something he did many times for the past month.

He's been hearing that mumbling for a while now and got as much information as possible from them to build the perfect backstory for his play.

'Too bad there are only two people in the prison cells next to me. If there are more, things would've been much more entertaining.' Val thought in his mind though a frown couldn't help but the surface on his pale face.

'The amount of power I feel flowing through my body is honestly quite astonishing. That should in theory give me some sense of security, but it doesn't, knowing that there could be others like me in this prison...'

He thought the amount of power flowing through his body was astonishing simply because he estimated it to be triple that of his peak in his previous world, and that says a lot considering how much he took care of his body and how special he was.

Someone in his stead however would deem that amount of power horrifying as usually seekers transition to the next sequence long before reaching such a state.

However, those special bunch with extremely vast soul curtains usually take a long time to truly awaken it without affecting their practice speed as even without conscious control over their soul curtain, their practice speed is usually still much faster than the ones that awakened it.

'However, my father should protect me in case things go south? Right?' Val wondered in his mind, knowing full well that there should be a few people watching him at all times.

He also knows that this is to a certain extent a test for him, and he knows none of the prison guards or anyone here know of his true identity.

The pale young man rested his head more comfortably on the prison door.

He also lifted his right hand and rested it on the prison door.

Then he started to lightly tap on the metallic door with his index finger. Just loud enough for his targets to hear.

He was a patient man, an extremely patient man when it comes to a few things, but extremely impatient in other things.

This situation was a bit entertaining to him so he didn't mind taking the more peaceful and entertaining approach and just waited while the tapping sound reverberated around for hours then days.

It only stopped when the guards delivered food that always comes in plastic containers which they take back after a while. Of course, they use the same containers every day.

And like that, five days passed in the blink of an eye. By this point, the guards got used to the tapping noises.

However, the same couldn't be said about the mumbling man, hearing a sound other than his in this god-forsaken place is certainly not something he desires.

He liked it when he was losing himself and didn't have to think about anything else... about the things he left outside.

So at some point in the third day, since those noises started, he stopped his mumbling and just listened to the tapping noises coming from his neighbor.

Until he couldn't handle it anymore as he hurriedly stood up from the corner he was holed up in.

Then he stumbled himself to the cell door which was right next to him before bellowing out of the tiny door window, "Can you fucking stop!!!!?"

He waited and waited but received no answer. Instead, the light tapping noises kept ringing in his mind, seemingly diving deeper in it in sought of his remaining sanity.

He again screamed to the top of his lungs, "Fucking stoooop!!!"

It'd be one thing if the tapping sound only sounded during the day and for a few hours but NO!! It also rings at night, and it even went as far as sounding all day long to the point where he wondered if his neighbor even sleeps.

And god it's driving him crazy and what drives him crazier is getting no response from his fellow prisoner except for the tapping sound continuously ringing in the depth of his mind.

So he naturally kept yelling at the top of his lungs until he had no voice to release anymore though after resting for a bit, he kept bellowing to the heavens.

In reality, however, he just wanted to do any activity to keep himself occupied from what he doesn't want to think about.

The guards simply don't care for what happens in this shithole, they just deliver food and patrol the place from time to time which amounts to spending minutes down there.

So he was left there in all of his misery yelling to no end... Until his voice became pitifully low as his screaming turned into begging, "Please... Stop please..."

Yet no one paid attention to him, his two neighbors were in their own world.

One of them has never talked and barely moves, he just eats his food then he sleeps again, seemingly lifeless. That's what this kind of place can do to a person.

On the other hand, the source of his mental breakdown is still in that same position with his eyes closed, diving deeper and deeper into a wonder illusionary world every ether seeker can enter.

His index finger however didn't stop moving even in that state as it tapped the metal door with just enough force for his desired targets to hear.

Deep meditation is a state where one just has to enter it no matter the environment or the position so entering it standing wasn't a problem for Val.

Furthermore, meditation isn't a foreign concept to him, it's something he's been doing since his early days in his past life.

And now he finds himself in a position where he learned to enter the state without much trouble and even move while in it though it's only a simple movement of moving his index finger.

After all, while he watched the previous host's life, it's just that without any of the latter's emotions and feelings so entering deep meditation was a new experience for him.

His eyes were closed but he could see more than he ever could. He could see beautiful scenery, so captivating that it could suck anyone in for eternity.

He even dared to say that it's the second most beautiful thing he has ever seen though it's still far away behind the first.

It was a place with a touch of chaotic beauty, a form of art he appreciates quite a lot.

A vast, seemingly endless space with all kinds of illusionary colors, ranging from one end of the spectrum to the other with what he could only estimate to be hundreds of shades of the same colors all around.

However, Val knew full well what he was seeing is but a small part of the concept called the ether. What he was seeing is but its variants which are simply called ether variants.

Furthermore, all of this endless space he's seeing is but a single particle in the middle of an entire world. What he can see are only things within his soul curtain which he's still in the process of trying to awaken.

He had noticed long before that the colors most available within his soul curtain are blue and all of its shades, black, dark grey, crimson, and a few minuscule variants.

According to the previous host's memories, these colors signify different ether elements, namely ice, water, blood, darkness, and death though the latter three of those are so faint they're barely noticeable.

Well, they shouldn't be noticeable because the previous host was barely able to see and sense two ether variants while he on other hand can clearly sense several variants and even faintly sense many other variants.

The keyword in the last sentence was 'clearly' as usually before the soul curtain awakening, seekers barely sense even one variant, and sensing multiple at the same makes one extremely talented.

After all, even with the miraculous nature of this world, they still barely touched upon the subject of the soul so to observe others' souls, they usually use the ether as a medium.

And this is just one part of how they observe one's talent, how many ether variants they can sense, and how many they can control at the same time in their deep meditation state.

The ether variants one absorbs at this stage play a significant role in a later phase of the first sequence.

Once one absorbs ether variants, the latter starts strengthening and transforming one's body into a much suitable container of it and it makes that specific ether variant(s) much easier to use.

The previous body's host followed his family's way of absorbing a specific variant in environments where it's plentiful.

Val, on the other hand, chose something a bit different...