Secrets of the Universe

It felt like teleportation; The trip back to his mindscape.

Having been teleported before, Jake recognized the feeling of losing his balance.

His mental mind slurred as he got catapulted to his mind. Everything became black as his body fell on his bed.

The man was born in darkness. Man shall live in darkness.

It was a phrase that depicted the world of darkness as the natural home of mankind

Granted, Jake wasn't human, but he was still a living being.

Beneath the natural instinct to fear the world of darkness was the warm feeling one gets from it.

Jake was all alone there. He could see nothing. He could feel nothing except the dark.

No thoughts. No disturbance. No complications. No light!

It was just him breathing….

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He had no idea whether he was walking or flying. It felt like walking but he couldn't feel any sense of balance…...a sort of gliding.

It shouldn't be like this.

It shouldn't be this easy….this smooth...this alluring.

'No!'

His first complicated thought broke him out of his deep sleep.

It drew him out from the sea of darkness that desired to submerge him.

'I need to g--go now….' His thoughts were garbled.

However, following his thoughts, Jake found his body thrown up by a mystical force.

The movement was so brutal that Jake instantly blacked out.

By the time his eyes opened back, he was in a grey world, boasting of more light than the previously dark world.

'Another level of unconsciousness?' thought Jake.

He looked around and ascertained he was truly on another level.

However, he didn't like this.

'Not this one...'

With one thought, he was instantly transported to a deeper level.

This time, he found himself in a much brighter world.

The scorching of the light particles caused him to instantly transport himself away from the level.

'Not this one, next..'

'Next'

'Next..'

'Next..'

'What a sad life? Next…..'

He had already lost count of the number of levels he had crossed.

However, the good thing was that his intelligence was coming back to him.

With that in-store, he figured out something about the different levels; they were randomly arranged!

The first level he visited was completely dark. The second was grey. The third was bright.

Yet, astonishingly, the fourth was a grim world, one that rightfully hated light.

If an over-thinker was to analyze everything, they would overheat.

However, Jake didn't panic at this abnormality.

This was because he knew he was in control of this mind dive. He wasn't the initiator.

It was the potions that Kaleyx prepared that made him able to access his mind.

Nonetheless, he had to make sure everything was worth it.

That was why he forced himself into the deepest level of unconsciousness.

It was a familiar level, the one that automatically put him in the [Limbo State].

However, contrary to what he had thought before, the level wasn't dark.

It was safe to say it was colourless. Maybe that was why he assumed it was dark. His perception deceived him, but it wasn't a big issue.

He looked around the colourless world for something.

What he could see were two white doors, one smaller than the other.

Seeing this, Jake sighed. This meant he was in the right place and on the right track.

Going by Kaleyx's words, one of these doors should lead to his mindscape, while the other should be the spiritual entrance of the cord.

'Hmmm….the smaller one?'

It was a guess but Jake was willing to bet on it. It wouldn't make sense if the artificial door was the larger one.

Jake moved to the door and attempted to touch it.

Yet, seemingly after he moved, the door shined in annoyingly bright light. Jake had to block his eyes to protect himself.

He placed his hands on the door but didn't predict what happened next.

As soon as Jake touched the door, he got sucked in a dramatic manner.

It was then he understood that the door was just a portal and not really something he should be placing his hands on.

However, the deed had been done and it wasn't like he would not have done it anyway.

The entire ordeal lasted for a long time….at least to Jake.

It was like he was back in his previous world, riding a train that moved at hyper speed and not being protected by the speed.

Everything flashed past him. He watched his memories over and over again, viewing every intense moment of his life as a source of forced entertainment.

After an umpteenth time of miserably watching, Jake's movement stopped.

He realized he had gotten to his destination and could feel danger everywhere.

His tense state made him understand that he was on foreign soil and was now vulnerable to any sort of attack.

Luckily, he knew that he could draw power from his mindscape to protect himself.

While he didn't know how to do it, he reckoned it wouldn't be that hard.

The key to any power was imagination. Therefore, if he simply imagined, he would get it.

And that was what he did.

Concentrating his mind, Jake found a connection between him and his mindscape. It felt there was an unbreakable string that linked both parties together.

When he tugged at this string, purple wispy energy flowed through it and entered Jake's body.

It covered him like a suit of armour and lessened the pressure he felt for a while now.

'Now, where am I?'

He had heard from Kaleyx that the appearance of mindscapes was different and subjective to individuals.

Perhaps that was why this mindscape was a grassy plain that oozed peace and simplicity.

Maybe it was his mindscape that was abnormal because what he saw right here didn't scream loudly and was rather beautiful.

As he walked around the endless grassy plain, he heard a voice shout at him, "Over here!"

Instantly, he knew it was Kaleyx.

He followed the direction of the voice and met her.

"What took you so long? I have been waiting for quite some time," complained Kaleyx.

Her body looked the same as her physical body….just like Jake.

He proceeded to ignore her words and cautiously turn around, "Where is he?"

Wasn't it said that the owner of the mindscape wouldn't tolerate any type of invasion?

Before he could ask again, Kaleyx positioned her hands near her mouth and signalled for Jake to be quiet.

Suddenly, the entire field turned quiet. Only the sounds of the grasses whooshing in the air could be heard.

*Dum!* *Dum!* *Dum!*

Yet, Jake could hear a sound akin to beating drums in the background.

He thought it was a mishear, but when he focused again, he could hear it.

It was getting louder…..like as if it was getting closer to them but Jake could see nothing.

"Prepare. Something is coming. Hide, don't fight," warned Kaleyx.

She quickly buried herself in the grass and used her energy to block her aura.

Seeing this, Jake did the same but still tried to understand the source of the noises.

It was then turned into a test of patience and confidence.

Jake and Kaleyx were betting that whatever was coming wouldn't snuff them out.

*Dum!* *Dum!* *Dum!* *Dum!*

It was finally here.

Jake could feel it. As he tried to sense his environment, he realized he was wrong.

It wasn't it but rather they. They were finally here; an army of giant ants marching down the field.

They were probably here to find the intruders. They were the first wave of defence.

As the ants got closer, they realized they couldn't sense the intruders. However, they were organized.

Soon, they unintentionally moved to Jake and Kaleyx's position, attempting to do a full territory sweep.

Before the duo could do anything, the ants stepped on them and moved on.

Luckily, they had reacted in time and withdrew their senses.

After a while, Jake wondered if they were done.

The grassy plains were immensely long and the gigantic ants wouldn't be able to finish their sweep in a while.

However, if Jake and Kaleyx were to make any sudden movements, the ants would be able to detect that with their antennas.

Nonetheless, the duo weren't amateurs.

They softly stood up and spoke to each other.

"Where is he?" asked Jake.

The grassy plain was quite long. No, it was infinite and if they walked aimlessly, they wouldn't achieve anything.

"There," pointed Kaleyx.

She had noticed the direction that the gigantic ants came. She was willing to bet that that was where the centre of the mindscape was.

Slowly, the duo advanced towards that direction.

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Along the way, they encountered multiple waves of defence, but through their mindscape energy, they were able to evade all.

It wasn't worth it to engage a wave. It would just attract the other waves at them.

They didn't know whether they were closer to their destination or not.

However, they heard horrible noises that assured them.

Following the random terrific noises were loud shouts, "Ahhhh, what did you do to me?!!!!"