As time flew by, Edric continued to experiment with his Cosmic Awareness. He knew that it heavily depended on his mental power, so he spent a lot of time meditating and observing the space around him. He had nothing better to do anyway.
If not for his Cosmic Awareness and enhanced mental power, he would have gone insane by now. Talking to the system from time to time helped him relax a little as well.
You can't imagine how hard and lonely it is to be alone in this vast endless space.
But this has given him an opportunity to observe the Cosmic Energy in the surrounding space. Using his Cosmic Awareness, Edric tried to comprehend its behaviour and manipulate it.
But it wasn't that easy. As he had no guide with him, he had to go by trial and error. As for the system, it wasn't that useful in this regard. He had to learn it himself.
The years continued to fly.
'Now that stars and planets are formed, I need to find one with suitable living conditions. Maybe I could meet some new species already...' Edric thought as he was floating on top of a meteorite rock, sitting cross-legged. The cosmic energy in the surroundings formed an unstable loop swirling around him. It lasted only for a few moments before disappearing.
[Congratulations! The host has learned
'Oh my, Cosmic Energy can do this? Doesn't that mean I am omnipotent?'
'Let's see, I'll try creating a body for myself instead of this dull astral form.'
As he thought of this, he tried to manipulate the cosmic energy around him, forming a human body. He first used Cosmic Awareness to determine the exact design of his human body. Then the cosmic energy started gathering following that design.
Unfortunately, a few seconds later, all the cosmic energy dispersed.
'Sigh... I guess I am not strong enough yet. I'll try something simpler first and move up step by step.'
********
Far away from the meteorite rock where Edric was training, a huge starship was drifting slowly in space.
It has been drifting like this for eons.
Now, at long last, it entered the reach of a planet's gravity. But this planet was no ordinary planet. It was the outpost of a Watcher, one of the Oldest species in the universe. Yes, some species have already emerged. But Edric had no idea about them.
These watchers made it their mission to observe and study the wonders of the vast universe.
"That ship.... It radiates energy unlike any I have ever witnessed." On that planet, a tall, bald man noticed the ship enter the atmosphere. This was the Watcher, Ecce.
Ecce raised his hand and used his telekinetic power to draw the ship near him. Soon, the ship crashed not far away from him.
"Hmm... It's barely damaged from the crash. I guess it's due to its highly advanced design. I hope it's worth violating my oath of non-interference." Ecce thought as he observed the starship.
He entered the ship but didn't find any of the crew members except... A body.
"What in the cosmos... How could such energy exist in a mere body? Is it still alive?"
Curious, he studied the body and tried using his power with the ship's technology to heal the body.
As if reacting to his power, the energy inside the body started surging until it consumed the body itself.
"This power... It's consuming itself, like a miniature sun."
Cosmic power unlike anything he has ever seen started gathering together until it created the shape of a man.
Ecce the Watcher felt the threat this being could have over the universe. He was contemplating whether to try destroying it here and now before it causes any unwanted destruction.
But it was too late. As he hesitated too much over his oath of non-interference, the figure of the man generated a wave of energy, throwing Ecce out of the spaceship as it quickly departed. Ecce was unharmed but he couldn't stop thinking about the dreadful consequences of his actions.
As the ship flew away from the planet at high speed, the new born being inside started to experiment with his power. He adapted quickly to using the Cosmic Power. It's as if he was born to control it.
This level of power was many levels ahead of Edric right now that he couldn't even dream of reaching this level yet.
Even the newborn being felt a little overwhelmed by this power. So, he used the technology in his ship to create a bodysuit to help him regulate it with more efficiency.
And that was how the legend of Galactus, The Devourer of Worlds, was born.