Andrew slowly gained control over this world of nothingness.
The most important aspect of existence...
Space!
Had manifested in this mysterious place. This empty place was none other than an unawakened mind's eye!
The physical organ that housed the soul!
Andrew was finally progressing in the comprehension of mana as he managed to add a basis to his empty mind's eye.
Although, the emptiness of the mind's eye comes in metaphysical meaning since the living being themselves should open the gateways to their soul through intense meditations and deep immersions into their subconsciousness.
Eventually, the feeling of time was added to the emptiness as Andrew started to feel the effects of the flow of time. To his surprise, the time flow in his mind's eye was much slower than in the outside world.
'Fascinating' Andrew thought as he steadily became better at understanding mana.
As more time passed, he could feel something...
Something that was deeply connected with him...
Something that made him the him!
The Soul!
He felt his soul as this feeling intensified with each second.
The emptiness slowly faded away as vibrant energy started to manifest in the world of nothingness.
Soon, the color was added! Emptiness now was entirely pitch-black as the whole space madly rippled.
At some point, even Andrew had difficulties maintaining his meditation state but he didn't stop and kept going.
Andrew did his best to perceive his soul as he deeply concentrated in the world of emptiness.
The pitch-black atmosphere was stirred and as if curtains were ripped apart from the window, all the blackness shot off towards a particular point.
Black rays shot through the empty space as they collided but bounced off from each other.
The whole situation looked like countless dark comets visible on the sunny day since Andrew could clearly feel each strand of that dark force.
Eventually, they stopped bouncing off each other as they collided in the particular location of the emptiness.
'They are moving to the center!' Andrew concluded as he perceived countless dark rays collide and mold together in the same spot.
The process continued for a while as it took an entire hour for it to be completed.
Now, it was no longer a world of nothingness since Andrew managed to access his soul!
This was now a Soul Domain!
Andrew's body manifested in his Soul Domain as he gawked at the object of titanic proportions.
This was his soul...
It looked like a pitch-black star!
Despite its blackness, it illuminated the entire space as Andrew could clearly feel his Sould Domain. He was sure that with just a thought he could do anything here! But he already knew that he would need precise data and a lot of practice in visualizing things to actually manifest anything here.
The star-like object in the center of his Soul Domain was called Soul Core.
It was everything he was and without it, Andrew wouldn't exist. It contained everything he was!
It even had his past lives' memory, yet he was too weak to see them for now.
But he didn't have any desire nor interest in his past personalities as he liked himself the way he was.
'Now that I managed to open my Soul Domain, I should report it to Blood Devil Corps' seniors' Andrew thought as he decided to exit the meditation state and report his success.
Andrew exited the Meditation Hall as he looked around for anyone dressed in blood-red robes.
The dress code was followed strictly and only non-members of the Corps can dress only in pristine white clothes.
After couple dozen minutes Andrew found no one belonging to Blood Devil Corp.
Having no other options, Andrew went towards the same old man that he asked for directions from the first time he visited the facilities.
As always, he was deeply engrossed in meditating as he totally ignored Andrew who was standing just a couple of meters from him.
Andrew didn't mind it as he patiently waited for a couple of minutes before the old man opened his eyes at looked at Andrew with a questioning expression on his face.
First, Andrew bowed as a sign of acknowledgment of one's seniority and to curry favor of this old man.
The old man just indifferently watched as he was too used to such things.
"What do you want?" the old man questioned with a commanding tone.
"Senior, I apologize for disturbing your meditation. I would like to report my success in accessing my Soul Domain!" Andrew announced with a perfectly fake smile as he wanted to relax the situation.
The old man just narrowed his eyes and stared at Andrew for a couple of seconds before reaching out for Andrew's hand with an open palm.
"Give me your token" the old man ordered and Andrew complied without a hinch as he took out the medallion from one of the pockets of his robe.
The old man took away the token and Andrew couldn't even sense the old man's hand movement.
The next moment, a metallic container appeared with a slot in it. The old man put the token in and the device lit up as a bunch of information was projected on the ground.
"Not bad, my name is Larw, hope you will not disappoint the faith and resources that Demonic Abode invested into you" the old man stated as he gave Andrew back his token.
Andrew simply nodded with a fake happy smile.
The old man stood up from his chair as he gestured for Andrew to follow.
The old man approached a rocky wall and it disappeared the moment he touched it.
They went through a long tunnel as they left the facilities' cave.
Andrew and the old man had to go through multiple tunnels as they passed by conjunctions.
Andrew felt like this route was familiar.
Eventually, they arrived in front of giant double doors.
Andrew's eyes widened as he finally remembered the place!
Blood Pool!
"Don't be so fidgety" the old man said as he approached the door and with a slight push it opened.
A giant pool of blood that stretched as far as the eye could see unfolded in their view.
Then, the old man turned to look at Andrew with cold eyes.
"You might be wondering why I lead you here. It's pretty simple to guess and I'm pretty sure you already know the reason" the old man said.
"Yes, this is the second metamorphosis that will help those who unlocked their Soul Domain to step on the path of magic" Andrew replied.
The old man simply nodded in agreement.
"Although, you can simply do it on your own, the quality of your constitution might fall short of the standards of Demonic Abode since special materials are needed for a mortal to transition into a higher lifeform and the blood pool perfectly provides everything necessary" the old added.
"The higher-ups are benevolent enough to give you a choice. Do it yourself or realize the full potential of the demonic bloodline that currently flows in you" the old man gave an ultimatum.
Andrew just smiled in response, this one was genuine.
"I'm not that foolish to let go of such a precious opportunity" he said with a grin.
The old man just simply nodded as he gestured for Andrew to immerse himself in the pool.
"Dive in, I hope you know the method of transformation" the old man said.
Andrew nodded as he fully dived into the blood pool with his clothes on.
He kept swimming until he hit the rock bottom.
The next moment, he immersed himself in meditation as he entered his soul domain.
Soul Core illuminated the space as Andrew's incarnation appeared in his soul domain.
Incarnation is just a projection of consciousness.
The incarnation moved towards the soul core as the next moment it was it jumped straight into it!
Andrew was unhesitant with his decisions as he already knew the method to commence the transformation.
Andrew floated at the dead center of the soul core as he started to sync in with his soul.
Eventually, he felt it...
Mana!
___
Back in the physical world, countless waves rippled from Andrew's body. The pool's blood level started to decrease as Andrew once again started to madly absorb it in.
Just in a minute, the blood pool decreased by several minutes.
Andrew's skin was cracked as it peeled off. A strange goo came out of the cracks and started to cover the body.
Eventually, the goo entirely encased Andrew's body in a cocoon. It had a fleshy pink color as it would gross out quite a lot of people.
The cocoon intensely trembled as there were wild movements present. Andrew's body thrashed around as it instinctively tried to escape the cocoon, yet it was of no use as it remained sturdier than ever.
___
Back in the soul domain.
Andrew was engrossed in mana as his soul and mind resonated with it.
A profound force spread in the soul domain as the soul core became volatile as it had odd and uneven bumps all over it.
Even his soul was undergoing a change!
Andrew didn't notice anything at all since he was too immersed to notice it!
Eventually, the soul core stopped wilding around as it grew bigger and became brighter even though its pitch-black color was stronger than ever.
Andrew's incarnation slowly opened its eyes as he got a familiar feeling...
Feeling of power!
'Finally...I AM A MAGE!' a wide grin crept up on his face as he couldn't contain it.