New Book - Chapter 1: The Two Worlds Converge

"In the realms of minds, you are the sole ruler, and all others shall bend to your will."

In the cosmos, a static silhouette of a young boy overlooked the expanse, his miniscule figure exuded boundless power, toppling the stability in the cosmos. 

A voice so powerful echoed in the expanse, inviting a faint reaction from the static figure. 

His lips were pressed tightly together, his mind locked in deep concentration, wary of shattering the cosmos with a single thought. After all, as the mysterious voice mentioned, he was the sole ruler in the realm of minds.

The silence was endearing but the boy's figure quivered from time to time as endless foreign thoughts surged to his mind. He who rules the realm of minds, had to endure the ceaseless noise of the interconnected thoughts of the cosmos' natives.

The noise was overwhelming, a relentless barrage of thoughts that struck like spears. Each one pierced his mind with brutal force. In the span of a millisecond, thousands of these spears rained down from worlds across the cosmos, all converging on him with unrelenting intensity.

Worries, confusion, crises, desperate pleas for survival—an overwhelming torrent of thoughts from across the worlds in the cosmos flooded his mind.

He couldn't evade or move, after all, the moment he activated his power, every thought and every consciousness was bound to connect with him. 

He who stood above all minds, had little control of his power at this young age. 

As shudders coursed through his body, his figure discharged slivers of mental energy, disrupting the serene state he was at. 

Until…

Psychic energy erupted. 

The cosmos was engulfed in a dense surge of mental energy, bursting from his body and extending from world to world, until finally, the entire cosmos was enveloped within his force fields.

Silence ensued once more. 

Thoughts were severed as natives lost control of their minds. 

As the sole ruler of the realm of minds, he had taken over their consciousness.

His eyes lost all reason, overwhelmed by the relentless surge of thoughts from earlier.

"Silence" 

With a single word, the cosmos became barren as it met its end.

—----

"Grey, Grey!" 

 A voice akin to metal scraping against metal pierced through the ears of a young boy, making him twitch. His hands moved up his ears in an attempt to shun the noise. 

"Grey, Grey!" 

Deeming his effort futile, metallic scraping resounded once more, forcing him to reluctantly untuck his eyelids, heaving a deep breath. 

His hand slid through his thick, rumpled black hair, the strands parting effortlessly between his fingertips. With a quick motion, he adjusted it back into his usual side-swept style.

As he absentmindedly checked his eyes for any signs of tiredness, he half-listened to the man beside him, who was quietly nagging.

"Grey, finally you are awake. You should stop him now. He's been causing trouble for a while, and he shows no sign of stopping," the boy whispered, his voice tinged with worry, stealing glances at the group of young boys gathered at the far end of the bus.

'Timid he might be, he surely can get talkative at times', Grey pondered, observing the nagging boy beside him. 

Grey, the young boy deeply seated in front of the bus, peered over to the opposite seat.

'Unconcerned, what do I even expect'

Across from him, an older man aged 40 chuckled at his phone, engrossed in the latest trending anime series. His headphones shielded him from the noise coming from behind.

He was their class adviser, uninterested in the affairs of his grade 12 students.

The students nearby were reluctant to approach, fully aware of the unspoken rule in their class to avoid disturbing their adviser, lest they be reprimanded—all in the guise of "respect."

'It seems that I have to do it again myself', Grey sighed

Pulling his butt out of the bus seat, his frame of 165 cm and untoned physique were revealed while the warm light streaming through the window accentuated his subtle charm. . 

In stark contrast to conventional standards of beauty, his face possessed a unique allure. His skin, kissed by the sun, carried a warm tan, while his round, charcoal-hued eyes quietly reflected his calm and composed nature.

His subtly rosy, curved lips were as fine as the brushstroke of dawn's first light, and his nose, sharp and sleek, rose like a mountain peak, defined in its elegance. Together, these features earned him the title of the second most captivating man at the university.

Yawning, he remorse over his interrupted sleep. 

En route, he didn't have the luxury to relax or enjoy the scenery with these other students ensuing endless trouble. 

Looking through the time, he rubbed his dazed eyes in disbelief. 

'Only a few minutes had passed? It felt like a year had passed in my dream', he mused. 

His dream felt year-long which was in pure contrast to the few minutes that had just passed. 

'It felt too real to be just a dream, yet it's always the same dream', he pondered, recalling being trapped in the cosmos with a surge of thoughts striking him like spears. 

As the bus rumbled on, Grey suddenly felt the air growing heavier. The dense atmosphere, combined with his groggy state, made breathing difficult. 

He nearly stumbled before he could take a step. 

"We are now in Pasay City, we will be at the site in an hour. Congrats, kids! You will be witnessing the gate to Arcania in an hour!", the bearded bus driver exclaimed. 

Looking at Grey, the young boy seated beside him muttered. 

"Are you okay, Grey? You seem pale"

Grey had a crucial role in keeping the class functioning. He couldn't dare show vulnerabilities in front of these fellow students. 

Gathering his strength and standing, maintaining his balance, he looked at the boy with a gentle smile before scanning the other students deeply seated in their seats, their eyes locked on him and to the boys causing a commotion at the far end of the bus. 

With a relaxed breath, Grey reiterated to the class. 

"We are now closing in to the site, the air has gotten heavier since we are now being exposed to higher density mana so take a relaxed breath and begin adjusting to it. Prepare to get off and recheck the guidelines sent in our google classroom. Be sure to be fully ready for take off.", Grey scanned the students' reaction. 

Behind their restrained expressions was a stifled smile. They had been looking forward to this day that they failed to hide their overflowing excitement and curiosity. 

It had been 20 years since Earth merged with the otherworld. 

What started as a decade-long ceaseless killings on both sides ended with a bilateral treaty. 

Nonetheless, everyone was well aware that the coexistence between Earth and the magical realm, connected by portals and bound by a fragile treaty, was a far-off dream. 

It was only a matter of time before an uprising could occur. 

In silence, the Earth Union had been developing advanced technologies and had been fostering the earth citizens who had awakened a power, of the little number they might be. 

Having these thoughts, Grey recalled the episodes since they inch into the gate to the otherworld. 

An hour ago, the same dream from when he was a kid kept surging his mind. It was the dream of the cosmos and the spears of thoughts that barraged him. 

Since then, drowsy he might be, he kept his mind active lest he fall asleep and enter the similar dream once more. 

In minutes of being conscious, he could feel his mind being more active than a second ago. More likely as he got highly exposed to the denser mana in the air. 

This led him to his presumption. 

'Have I awakened?' 

To normal people, the higher density mana would weaken their mentality and physicality. In pure contrast, awakened generated more power as they are being more exposed to higher density mana. 

And to his surprise, his suspicion was answered not long after. 

Half an hour ago, Grey fell into deep curiosity as a translucent blue screen abruptly materialized before his eyes. 

[ Name: Luca Grey

World Affiliation: Planet 0

Skills: 

Telepathy (Category ???)

Telekinesis (Category ???)

Notifications: None]

It was the system exclusive to the awakened. This confirmed his presumption of having awakened into a superpower being. 

With this, his status on Earth was more than guaranteed. Had he revealed this now, he would with praises, benefits, and fame. 

However, his curiosity landed on the skill interface, particularly the skill category. 

'A skill of unknown category, is it a system error, a bug, or does it infer something else?' 

Grey yearned to satiate his curiosity and find answers before revealing or taking any step further. 

'This telepathy and telekinesis was usually at category 3 so why is mine at an unknown category?'. Grey was brimming with answers. 

Nonetheless, he might not have planned to reveal it for now but surely, his curiosity to explore his newfound power was filling him with excitement. 

Looking at the boys at the far end of the bus, a sly thought came to his mind. 

'Good chance to test my skill', Grey smiled.