Bluerghhh!
Ethan continued to cough blood. The blast shockwave shattered his mental fortitude. His brain felt as if it had been skewered. Then he immediately passed out.
**********
Shortly afterwards, Ethan's eyes awakened. He was still floating only that it was no longer the void. He was in space. Everywhere was chaotic.
Ethan could see stars, planets, and constellations everywhere. The distances would take light years to reach even the nearest planet.
Then Ethan saw it — and he was terrified. His body quivered.
It was the body of a nine-headed blue dragon, its size as huge as twenty stars combined. On it sat a humongous corporeal figure his existence alone drove Ethan into complete insanity.
Its eyes were like countless bright, beautiful stars. It raised its hands high, summoning something.
If Ethan could guess, it looked like a black hole swallowing numerous dead planets like snakes.
What was he wielding this destruction toward? Ethan knew for sure no living organism, no matter how powerful, could survive such devastation.
Before Ethan could turn to see the receiving end—
[Error error error error]
[The system has been manipulated]
[Undergoing reboot]
[User will be unconscious for 2 extra days until the system is ready]
[Shutting down system in 10 seconds]
[You have successfully broken the dreamscape of Oberon ----------]
[-$+$(3))#+$-#+#??@-#-!$!]
[Offline]
****************
In the blink of an eye—
[Online]
[Synchronization 100%]
Pitch black. Ethan's head was buzzing. It was as if three thousand blades were tearing into his mind.
"Goddamnit," Ethan cursed. "Pain, pain, all the time… when is it going to stop?"
Slowly, Ethan began to open his eyes.
[System has been successfully rebooted]
[Congratulations, you have successfully broken the dreamscape of Oberon]
The system chimed. The blue screen hovered in his face. He was still in the pod, and the mysterious liquid was gone.
"Cadet number 589, successfully passed the first trial," a military man with brown hair said. He was tall and slender, wearing a casual military uniform.
Ethan slowly withdrew from the pod and took a look around. Most of the pods were empty only a few, about fifty, were still occupied.
"You have low mental fortitude, Mr. Sylvester," the brown-haired militant said.
"Eh, give me a break. I almost went mental," Ethan said, putting on his clothes and stretching his body.
"Come to think of it, the deuce who cast this spell must be at the Transcendence level," Ethan thought. "Ish."
The thought made him shiver. Although he wasn't a Transcendence warrior in his past life, he knew how terrifying their power was. In war, they could command millions of militants. They could even establish their own guild.
Of course, there were other guilds apart from the Top 9. It's just that their power was insignificant in comparison. The powerful ones among them might own only one planet and a few spaceships. They couldn't even dream of owning a starship like the Omega Ship or the Eternal Dawn.
"You've been out for six days. Although the second great trial hasn't started, you got a D in this trial," the brown-haired man said, writing on his notepad.
"You have to improve in your next trials, or else you may get eliminated," he said, raising his head to Ethan.
Ethan just stood there stretching his body. "Sleeping for six days is no joke. I'll get fat if I'm not careful," he said, noticing the militant's sullen face.
"I'll let that slide, but next time, stand straight when you're facing your superior," the man said.
"Ah, yes, where are my manners?" Ethan said, straightening his back.
"I'm Commander Rick," he said, handing Ethan his ID pass. On it, Ethan saw the big letter D.
"Yeah, right," he muttered.
After the quick briefing, Ethan was asked to move toward the elevator at the far end of the pod room.
"Damnit, six days that's awfully long," Ethan said as he looked at the blue screen in front of him. "I wonder if Freddy and Gloria are okay," he murmured.
[Congratulations! You have unlocked the title:
[Dream Breaker: makes you 30% immune to mental attacks]
"Hmm, not bad," Ethan said as he walked into the elevator. "With this, I can be 30% sure I can withstand a mental attack."
The state-of-the-art elevator chimed as it descended to the ground.
The delirium door slid open as he stepped out. He saw a few hundred people waiting in line to enter a room with glass walls. With his [Third Eye], Ethan saw about ten scientists and fifty military personnel probably high-ranking looking down at something. Probably one of the great trials.
"Have you heard? The son of the president who rules the largest continent on Planet Helios is an S-rank aspect user," someone said.
"Who could have thought he's one of the rare gems of Planet Helios? I heard one of the Supremes wants him as a disciple after he finishes the academy," another said.
"No doubt he'll be a Supreme one day."
"Yeah, his dad invested so much in him. Alex is also a celebrity on Helios."
"Oh my God, he's so damn handsome! I want to date him," a beautiful girl about eighteen said.
"You've got to see his fine muscles even I'm jealous," a guy added.
"Hello? I'm sure he's not as handsome as Blur," another girl said.
"What? I'm sure that dude is ugly that's why he wears a demon mask," the other beautiful girl said, pretending to puke.
Cough! Ethan almost coughed blood. He ugly?
"Who told you? Maybe he's too handsome that's why he wears a mask, to make you think he's ugly," another guy said.
Sure enough, some of them were Blur's fans.
"Next twenty people can come in!" a black militant with a thick voice said, cutting off their argument.