COMMUNICATING WITH SUBSPACE

"Hah. I need to buy a car, but if I ask mom, she'd just tell me to earn the money on my own to buy it." Kole sighed as he pushed his way through the steam-driven tram, weaving his way through the crowds of people.

Plenty of gentlemen in suits and formal attires filled the inside of the trolley.

Apparently, North Grovebourne was the administrative area of Stormwatch. As such, a large number of people who were in the middle class lived in this part of the capital city.

Standing in the corner of the tram, Kole silently looked in the distance through the windows, even though his ears were buzzing with the bellow of the steam engine and people chatting loudly.

Stormwatch has woken up. Birds chirped in the sky as a faint ball of fire rose in the east. A crowd filled the streets, all with their own places to go.

It took some time before Kole's ride arrived at his destination.

Pressing down on his hat and straightening his coat, Kole stepped on the platform.

With a low breath, he looked around to scrutinize his surroundings.

It was a plaza and a market of sorts.

Kole mused internally with a low chuckle, thinking how the Heir Akerse had to run his errands on his own. It was truly baffling as even the lowest level noble had servants to do the job in their stead.

"Whatever, she isn't incorrect. If I want luxury, I'll have to get it myself." With that, Kole went from one shop to another, buying appropriate clothes for himself. Clothes came under the basic necessities, as such Faneia had given him the money he needed to afford them before coming here.

Fortunately, Kole even found some light training clothes, which he was missing so dearly, especially after looking at his wardrobe, which was filled with only gentlemanly attires.

When he was doing all that, he suddenly had an epiphany.

If he was going to kill people in the future to complete his goals, he needed to hide his identity. Even though he was far from being a cold-blooded murderer, he could already see that day approaching, making his heartbeat race in anticipation and anxiety.

After a moment of deliberation, Kole bought some dark-looking clothes and masks.

The seller looked at him weirdly, but when Kole threw some extra money, he smiled meaningfully and went back to doing his job, unconcerned.

As Kole left the shop, the seller's expression turned strange as he fished a coin out from his pockets and flicked it in the air. As the coin landed on the counter, the seller looked at it intently.

"Sigh. It's tough doing business these days with all these weirdos. That young man looked gentlemanly but bought clothes used to hide one's identity. He is definitely up to no good!

"Luckily, this deal won't harm me in any way. These coins are really a blessing! Letting me know what I exactly want!"

"Lord Gradoz, I hope you'd come back soon enough and bless the entirety of Stormwatch!"

…

As Kole came out of a shop, his hands were filled with multiple bags. He looked around and proceeded to head to a quiet alleyway.

On his way, he saw some people flipping coins in the air before making a purchase, even vendors doing the same before selling.

Using the techniques taught by Faneia in the past four days, Kole's perception of hearing increased as he eavesdropped.

Some were saying, 'Is this vendor swindling me?', and then they'd toss the coin. After getting a confirmation, they'd buy the item. While some vendors would secretly flip the coin and mutter to themselves, 'Will he buy anything or just wasting my time?'.

Kole was confused, but he thought it must be a unique tradition of Stormwatch as he closely listened to what they were doing.

"Interesting," Kole muttered as he shook his head to distract himself. He had no intention of knowing more about the traditions of the common populace.

Soon he entered a quiet, dark alleyway.

Taking a deep breath, Kole calmed himself.

He stretched his hand forward, carrying the multiple bags.

"Subspace!" He thought in his mind as he stirred his powers.

With a swift movement of his hand, the bags vanished and entered the Subspace.

At the same time, Kole saw his hand vanishing as well. He concentrated further as he retracted his hand, escaping from the clutches of Subspace.

"Huu~" Kole let out a turbid breath of air.

"Subspace has the property, Don't See. Don't Hear. Don't Speak. Once one thinks about it, they are basically communicating with it, in a way, "speaking" to it, calling it."

"However, according to mom, not everyone can "communicate" with it easily. Only people with unique skills, bloodlines, and techniques can do it.

"And I'm one of those, who can effortlessly do it, just like how a newborn baby learns to drink milk on instinct from his mother's breasts."

"As such, whenever I used to think about "escaping", I was thinking about Subspace, and "communicated" with it."

"And it would pull me to itself, where it would "corrupt" me, and I would become a "corrupted creature of Subspace" and unable to escape forever!"

"Luckily, I had a gorgeous mother to pull me out and stop the "corruption"."

"Otherwise, I would have already become a "creature of Subspace"."

Kole had a long internal monologue to keep himself focused. He had to keep these points in his mind interacting with Subspace, especially when he was away from his mother.

If he didn't keep reminding himself to be extra cautious, he'd end up in an absolutely dark world where he'd lose himself forever.

Subspace was very dangerous!

Luckily, as dangerous as it was, it was even more useful. Non-living beings couldn't be corrupted in the Subspace!

As such, Faneia had taught him methods to store things in the Subspace. And since Subspace overlapped Reality, technically, Kole was still carrying a pair of bags in his hands, but it was in the Subspace! As long as Kole wills it, those bags will be superimposed on his palm and return to Reality!

It was a godsent ability!

"As long as I know how long or why I want to "communicate" with Subspace with a clear objective in my mind, and immediately stop the "communication" channel when I'm done with it, I can escape the clutches of Subspace!"

With a smug grin, Kole applauded himself for successfully using this technique to use Subspace as a pocket dimension.

In a good mood, Kole stepped forward and exited the dark alley.

As soon as he came out, a tall building appeared in the corner of his vision.

However, it looked completely abandoned, and nobody entered or exited it, even though it looked like an office from the outside.

Why is nobody entering this building? It's Tuesday morning, and people still need to work, right?... Kole cocked an eyebrow.

Suddenly, Kole's eyes narrowed as he saw the board on the building.

"Storm Daily!"