As soon as Rei activated his Quirk, [Reach For Shadows], his body oozed out a thick black shadow that quickly enveloped him.
Rei saw a wholly new world inside the thick shadow that enveloped him.
World of Phantoms. He thought it would be completely dark, but it was colorful.
He appeared in temple ruins atop a mountain peak and saw vast distances from the mountain peak.
Mountains, forest, rivers… and a shadow of a giant tree far away that seemed to reach the sky.
The creatures in the phantom realm were cartoonish with a mystical aura around them, all shadowy as if they had no physical body.
And they didn't.
No creature in this Phantom Realm had a physical body, they were fleshless and bloodless.
However, they had a Phantom core that could only be destroyed by energies capable of interacting and overpowering phantoms.
For example, Rei. He was in a shadow physique that belonged to him in this phantom world, covering him with a loose robe and a mask that hid his face.
'Strange…' Rei felt a source of power in him. Closing his eyes, he tried to sense it and succeeded.
'Phantom core… is this mine?'
Rei focused and quickly felt some mysterious energy coursing through his phantom body from the phantom core.
[Phantom Energy: 99]
He understood that he would vanish from this phantom world once this energy depleted to 0.
*Squich…*
Rei turned to the sound and saw a squirrel with amber glowing phantom body and sparkling emerald eyes.
It curiously looked at Rei.
"Hey, little guy."
Rei said with a smile as he stretched his hand toward the Squirrel.
~Squich, Squish~
The Squirrel may have felt something, but it fearlessly walked toward Rei and smelled his finger before touching it.
*****
[ Warm Heart Squirrel ]
-> Common-rank Phantom.
-> Skills: Peace Shot.
*****
Rei could see the status of these creatures, making him slightly surprised.
~Squich, Squish~
The Squirrel rubbed its head on Rei and then licked it.
Rei raised his brows and used a few points of his Phantom energy as a wispy black trail oozed out from the finger that Squirrel was licking.
*Squich!!*
The Squirrel issued a cry, but it was not a painful cry. Instead, the little guy appeared overjoyed.
[10 Phantom energy consumed.]
[ Contract Formed. You can summon this Phantom whenever and anywhere you want by using Dark Port.]
Rei could somehow communicate with the Squirrel and chuckled hearing its childish thoughts.
'Little guy, is there any big phantom here?'
~Squich, Squish~
The Squirrel nodded and started running on the ground, back into the ruined temple.
Rei curiously followed him and was surprised to find a basement door.
'Down below?'
Rei received the Squirrel's thought and saw it jump inside from a hole.
"Interesting."
Rei muttered and yanked the door open before descending the solid rock stairs.
Soon, he arrived inside a chamber with only a few broken wooden things and mostly dust. Dimly lighting crystals barely illuminated the chamber.
~Squich, Squish~
The Squirrel led Rei further inside as he passed through a corridor and appeared in front of a giant closed door in a hall.
~Squich~
'Behind this door?' Rei questioned.
~Squich, Squish~
Rei scratched his chin, but it felt weird, so he stopped and finished thinking. 'Alright, let's open it.'
Walking before the door, Rei put his palms on it and pushed hard.
The old creaking sound of the door opening reverberated in the empty hall as Rei slowly pushed open the door by increasing his pushing power.
Phantom Energy was depleted again.
[Phantom Energy: 86]
The door fully opened, and Rei also saw the thing inside, causing him to have goosebumps and become lightheaded.
'Damn!'
In front of his eyes was a phantom—a giant dark-green feathered crow with a wounded head and only a single wing, as one of its wings seemed to have been forcefully cut unevenly after a severe struggle.
*****
[ Verenous Fate Crow— ??? ]
-> Exalted-rank Phantom
-> Aspects: level 9 invulnerability, Harrowing Feathers, Abyssal Mind.
-> Skills: Call of Death, Fate Twisting Threads, Dark Nether Winds, Golden Sanctuary, Lord of All that is Viridescent, Wind Crown Authority, Myriad Karma Eyes, etc.
*****
However, Rei felt strange emotions welling up as he looked at the creature.
'Why am I feeling sad?'
Rei clearly knew that he was powerless against this creature.
If this creature even little as glanced at him, he might die or, rather, vanish from this Phantom Realm.
No. He might die even in the outside world with his physical body perishing forever if this creature wished so…
But he couldn't stop the sympathy oozing out of him for this beautiful Phantom.
His emotions were going out of control, and he also started feeling increasing sadness.
Unable to remain still anymore, he walked towards the crow, giving in to his urge for his curiosity.
Gently putting his hand on the crow's head and feeling a soft but rough sensation, Rei poured all of his Phantom energy into the creature without hesitation.
At that moment, the crow's eyes opened and revealed a deep purple and golden iris in each. Its eyes showed the vastness of the most mysterious thing in existence.
Life. Vastness of Living.
"Beautiful."
Rei uttered, stunned and mesmerized by those eyes.
And in the next second, everything vanished.
Rei was kicked out of the Phantom Realm as he consumed all of his Phantom energy and… Not knowing that it was not an easy matter to get the Phantom Energy.
"Huuuu…" Rei took a deep breath as he saw himself back to his dark room in the spaceship.
"Just what exactly I experienced there?" Rei muttered to himself as he still tried to recall those events.
He wanted to meet that crow again.
Suddenly, a mysterious voice rang in his head, followed by the immediate opening of his Exceed Rune.
[Dear Exceed. You have a mail.]
Rei saw the mail tab blinking and focused on it.
The mail opened, and he saw a harrowing black symbol of a crown flashing before it vanished.
'What the fuck just happened?' Rei thought, dumbfounded. He was sure he saw that creepy black crown symbol.
"Sigh, weird things are happening."
Rei sighed and focused back on the mailbox as he saw the mail with some weird texts on it that he could comprehend automatically.
[ Letter from Verenous Fate Crow ]
'Oh!' Rei's eyes shined as he quickly focused on opening the letter.