A failed experiment...

Black.

That was everything he could see… He tried to move...And he failed miserably.

'Is this a dream? I can't even move… What is this, a nightmare? Anyway, I don't have time to waste… It's better if I wake up now…' He thought as he circulated the natural energy within his body and… Nothing happened.

'What is going on? Why can't I control my energy?' At first, he was startled… After all, this was the first time that something like this happened.

'Wait… what was I doing before falling asleep? Ah yes! An experiment… It was probably a sealing spell and a pretty powerful one at that...' He guessed as he started analysing the situation.

'Energy control sealed… All physical senses are sealed as well and it erased my memory about what happened before being sealed… This spell is really incredible, now, I am really curious about how much time it will last… For being able to seal like this a peak-level ascended, this must be a Rank 6 spell… '

Time slowly passed as he still thought about the wonderful spell he created…

'It has already been so long… More than ten minutes… There is no way a Rank 6 spell can do something like this… Unless there is a time dilatation in the mix! But… Why? It makes no sense to use time dilatation on hundreds-year-old ascended… It's not like they will go insane even after a hundred years of doing nothing.'

Slowly, he understood that something was wrong and started investigating immediately.

He started to circulate the natural energy within his body once again and tried to move… He felt like he was surrounded by sturdy walls from every direction.

'What the hell is this thing made of? Damn, how annoying, I can't even feel my body...I can only try my best to break free… '

When he used all the strength that his body could muster, he could barely sense the walls shake… 'Can I break this thing? Well… I may as well try since I don't have anything better to do'

----

- In the depths of a cave under a large forest -

A 35 centimetres (1,14 ft) tall black egg stood among multiple broken bones of spiritual beasts within what looked like a lair.

However, aside from the egg, no other living being could be seen here…

The egg shook from time to time and as time passed, a few cracks appeared on its surface… At first, there were only a few cracks, but soon, cracks appeared everywhere.

Finally, a piece of the black shell fell onto the ground and the head of a curious lizard-like creature could be seen poking outside.

Its reptilian eyes shone with a curious light as he looked toward the pile of bones in front of him 'This place… is too realistic. Interesting.'

After some struggles, he finally left the egg and looked around himself with wide-open eyes… 'This place is… real. But… Why can't I use natural energy? No, wait… What the hell am I??'

He was a little taken aback when he noticed his "arms".

They were completely covered in jet-black scales while his fingers were replaced by sharp white claws.

He tried his best to calm down but he failed miserably as his body shook in… excitement.

He immediately looked around himself and noticed the broken egg, the piles of bones and… his tail.

After seeing everything that his eyes could let him see… he closed them and concentrated on what was going on within his body…

'I see… There is an extremely small quantity of natural energy within my body but at the same time, I can also sense that it's slowly increasing on its own which means that…. I'm definitely not a human anymore… If my hypothesis is correct, then I am… Forget it, let's just start scanning myself first.'

The natural energy started circulating within his body as he gathered it toward his head… more precisely, where his soul should be.

A stream of data flooded directly within his brain soon after.

[Zephyr activated - Energy insufficient for standard activation - Recalibrating Zephyr functions…. Recalibrating completed (Spell power changed to Low-level mortal) - Initiating self-scansion….

Multiple errors detected, do you still want to see the results?]

'Continue…' He replied immediately as if already expecting this result.

[ Error 1 - True Name: None - Expected result: Name: Cyril Skyseeker

Error 2 - Race: Unknown ( Similitudes to Lizard and Salamander typer spiritual beasts detected.) - Expected result: Human (No mutation detected).

Error 3 - Physic body state: Healthy, Low-level mortal - Expected result: Ascended state

Error 4 - Spirit state: High activity detected… Impossible to analyze - Expected result: Ascended state.

Error 5 - Ethereal body state: Healthy, Low-level mortal… Warning: The ethereal body is slowly changing to keep up with the fast-paced changes occurring within the spirit - Expected result: Ascended state.

Warning: Zephyr advises the host to return to the Sky tower as soon as possible... 5 extension modules missing… Zephyr's formation core in critical conditions…Only the basic functions are still available. ]

Cyril's thoughts went into disarray as he started to formulate a hypothesis after another about what happened… Eventually, he asked within his mind after not reaching a plausible conclusion.'Zephyr, what happened?'

[Opening Experiment logs… Project: Soul - Experiment_TTBTLW#14…

Reproducing last known reports.

- Chamber n.1 successfully sealed… Activating protective formation… Formation activated

- First stage completed… Initiating the soul scan… Soul scan completed

- No anomaly detected… The host is entering deep soul dive….

- 43 hours and 37 minutes later - An anomaly has been detected outside the Sky tower, analysing anomaly… No danger for the host detected -The host must not be awakened unless absolutely necessary… Highest defensive protocols activated.

- 96 hours and 14 minutes later - WARNING: Planetary-scale shockwave of energy detected! - WARNING: Anomaly in the protective formation detected! Commence host's emergency awakening from deep soul dive...

- ERROR! - Interference from the planetary-scale energy shockwave detected. - ERROR! - Link with the Sky tower lost! - ERROR! - Modules from 1 to 5 are suffering heavy damage…. Modules lost.

- ERROR! - Zephyr's formation core is under attack! - ERROR! - Zephyr's formation core is suffering too much damage...Entering slumbering state…. - Experiment_TTBTLW#14 forcefully terminated - ]

Cyril stood still for a few seconds… He was stunned by what he just discovered as his chaotic mind soon organized the new information and what looked like a silly smile appeared on his scaled face.

'Deep soul dive? Did I really complete it? Interesting… So, I failed the experiment but… The project Soul overall objective has been partially completed.'

Countless thoughts flashed through his eyes as he decided to take a closer look at the energy aimlessly floating around him.

He studied its composition before being carried away by his thoughts once again...

'The only thing to discover now is where I am…. I may be on another planet… Or maybe in the Underworld?

The energy's composition around me is a little different from how it was before the incident but… Maybe it's caused by that planetary-scale shockwave of energy and I am still in my homeworld? Or maybe I'm in another dimension altogether!

Well, there is no way I will discover anything by staying here, so… Let's go, towards freedom! Wait… Where is the exit to this cave??'