Part - 2 Beginning - The Message

…

---fwoosh---

In a dark room with zero brightness and noise, a yellow shade of glow resonated all over the place. The yellow glow seemed to be emanating from a single person in meditation pose. The exuding brightness was composed of bright yellow flames which were encircled by black smoke. And the one that kept unleashing that fierce aura was none other than me in a white t-shirt and blue track pants.

Within the shadows of the corner were Hashan and Ikaris peeking from the dark. Below the two of them was Raymen. All those three shadow soldiers have been spectating me for the past few weeks. Hashan started, "The liege has been into it for more than a hundred weeks. He keeps coming here every night, meditates for a few hours and then goes back to his home. Do you have any idea?!"

Raymen responded, "Actually, the concept of meditation is mostly involved in cultivation. So, my guess is that he's developing his sovereignty. Not to mention the phenomenal changes we and this entire dimension underwent during his meditation!!"

Ikaris emphasized, "That's to be obvious. Didn't he declare he'd develop his soul dimension? Instead of living inside an overbearingly enormous meteorite, our lands have been subdivided into numerous sectors. The endless space changed to endless skies with islands hovering everywhere. And us shadow souls as its dwellers!!"

Raymen interrupted, "Ikaris, what you've seen was just one universe. In actuality, he created an entire multiverse. All the zooviyan beasts alongside those weird quashi-zodiun creatures were transported to a separate universe. Whereas the low, mid and high-level ones teleported to another universe. Only legendary, demigod and god-level shadow entities remained in this main realm by his side!!"

Hashan stated, "Yeah, he's focusing on perfecting himself to the core. His abyss core stabilization, power amplification and aura manifestation are upgrading day by day. Not to mention his willpower that's upholding the infrastructure of this soul dimension!!"

Ikaris countered, "I don't think that's all. Maybe he's increasing the proficiency of his unique trait 'Perception'. That's why the entire dimension is undergoing changes!!"

Raymen said, "Guys, we've been observing him from the shadows for so many days. Haven't you noticed anything different about him?!"

Both Ikaris and Hashan became puzzled, "Huh?!"

Raymen continued, "While meditating, his yellow aura seems to emit green sparkles. I think it started around a month ago!!"

"Gasp!!!!", Hashan and Ikaris jolted together. At once, they cried out, "He's about to break through!!!!"

I interrupted, "Hey, you peeking mutts. Stop being noisy and get out of here before I decide to punish you!!"

They shook, "We're sorry, my liege!!!", and faded away. I sighed, "Phew!"

[They're not wrong. As I kept improving the depths of my power deeper and deeper, the soul dimension manifested and developed itself due to my 'Perception'. Not to mention that I'm so close to unlocking my next sovereignty.

If I progress to the next stage, I'll be halfway through with what master has achieved.]

---flip---

Suddenly, one of my shadow soldiers popped out of my shadow. I questioned, "What is it?!"

The shadow soul answered, "The old woman is coming upstairs!!"

[Granny? Why is she still awake when it's midnight?]

I stood up and began walking forward. My brightening form dissipated, henceforth turning back the whole room pitch black.

---flick---

The next instant, I found myself sitting on the couch on the rooftop. It was so quiet.

---step---step---step---

Sounds of footsteps entered the scene. I turned towards the entrance of the roof. Soon, an old figure revealed herself. It was my house servant, Gowri. I asked, "What's the matter, granny? Don't tell me you too are trying to pull an all-nighter!!"

She replied, "Haha, that's not why I'm here though. A package has come for you from an unknown location. When I opened it, I found this weird-looking black box!!"

I looked at the box she was showing only to gasp in shock, "Gasp!!!"

Gowri flinched at my reaction and looked at the box. She then wondered, 'Why is he reacting like that? It's just a box, isn't it?!'

I exclaimed, "Ahem, place it on the table and go back to bed. Also, you might think it's just a box. But there are important files in it. You didn't flip it upside down, did you?!"

She said, "Oh my, why would I do something that reckless?!", and placed the box on the table before me.

I emphasized, "That's good to know. You may go now!"

She nodded her head and exited the roof. My focus shifted back to the black box. While quivering, my right hand grabbed the object.

[Granny may not have the ability to sense it, but master's aura is residing inside this box. What message did he send me?]

---clack---

I opened the box. A tiny ball emanating black smoke twirled inside it. I closed my eyes and opened them in infinito form. The smoke which seemed to be black and foggy turned black and bright yellow.

---clench---

I clenched it due to which the aura entered my veins and then my head. Suddenly, a voice spoke inside my head, "Vacation's over, dear Adey!"

Immediately, my instincts forced me to stand up.

[Gasp, master?]

---flip---

The aura then flipped away. My gaze shifted towards the sky. There was no moon. The view was totally black with clouds levitating in between.

…

Dawn made its arrival. I kept staring at the sky the entire time. My whole body drooled with sweat, "Sigh, it's really over, huh? Goodbye, my dear vacation!"

I turned around and went into my room. A rack was attached to the wall, holding a tiny golden statue where an oldman held a stick above his head while standing on rocks.

[The Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award that I received after publishing my documentary on YouTube.]

While sitting on the bed in meditation pose, my mind went crazy.

[What do I do? What should I do? What must I do? What can I do…?

Phew, those words earlier, master's telling me to return to the absolute abyss. But how do I do that??

Last time, I used Amazon as a catalyst to drift away from this dimension. Where should I go now? Mariana trench? No, what kind of adventurer takes months just to reach the bottom of a well???

What to do? What to do? What to do?]

"What to doooo?!!!!", I spouted without even realising it. Luckily, Gowri didn't seem to have heard it. I felt relieved, "Phew!!"

[Back to the main topic, I must come up with another catalyst to drift into the entirety of existence.]

---fwoosh---

A shadow soul popped out of the corner. It was Raymen. I attempted, "What do you want to say?!"

He replied, "My liege, you seem quite worried about your trip back to the entirety of existence. But this lowly soldier thinks there's no need for such needless worries!"

I questioned, "Oh yeah, tell me what you got inside that head of yours!"

He answered, "Though your godly perks are being restricted, you're able to enter your soul dimension and most importantly interact with us!"

I responded, "What's your point?!"

He suggested with a firm composure, "How about going back to your soul dimension and then creating a doppelganger of yourself?!"

"!!!", I flinched after listening to his opinion. He stayed silent.

[Why didn't I think about that? Moreover, how did the IQ of this shadow increase so much?

…

Oh, right. I've been upgrading and polishing my soul dimension for the past two years. Since he's a part of my soul dimension, he too would develop something within him.]

"Why not create it right now?!", I asked and he elaborated, "Your homeland consists of things like sensors or scanners. Your clone may look like you. But his behaviour, accent, daily routine, composure and most importantly, fingerprints and eye details cannot be hidden from stalkers.

Reporters keep crawling behind you the moment they notice you. Later, they fix those 'Camera' devices focused on you until the end. If you're going to create a clone, you must not miss even a single detail about yourself!!"

"... You've got quite a lengthy point, Raymen!", I commented in utter disbelief. But my curiosity killed me, "Just how much did the soul dimension improve, for a dumb soldier like you to be so precise and rational?!"

Raymen answered, "Your advancement through the third sovereignty has maxed out, my liege. You'll make an ascension soon!"

[Yeah, he's not wrong. Flawless Black Sun is a stage where the host would max out right off the bat. And I, for one, continued upgrading my sovereignty even when it was already maxed out. No wonder, I reached the threshold by just meditating and focusing on the infrastructure of my soul dimension.]

At once, I got off the bed. Raymen remained calm. I commanded, "Let's go back to the soul dimension. We've got so much to do!!"

He nodded firmly.

---fwoosh---

Instead of opening a portal, I was engulfed by Raymen's shadow aura, henceforth bringing me back to the spot I meditated on.

Yellow flames were lit up over the corners. Two shadow soldiers were already in the room. I asked, "Raymen, what are these two idiots doing?!"

It was Ikaris and Hashan sitting in meditation pose. Raymen spouted in awkwardness, "Uh, well, after seeing you improve yourself just through meditation, they too felt the urge to try your method!!"

My gaze got pinned onto Hashan who was trying to sit in a human pose despite being a giant monster, and that too a dragon on top of that. Raymen shouted, "Hashan, why are you doing something that doesn't suit your body??!!!"

---flap---

Hashan got into a dog posture while making a sound with his flapping wings. On the other hand, Ikaris still seemed to be meditating. I felt annoyed, "Sigh, this goddamn mutt went into a trance!"

Raymen and Hashan shouted after hearing my words, "What??!!!"

"Just leave him be. He'll snap out of it sooner or later!", I exclaimed and then unleashed my power.

---fwoosh---

Darkened yellow flames usurped out of my palm, therefore making me announce, "Let's start making a clone of me!"