'Now that I know this space is under my control, I wonder what I can do with it.'
The first thing she tried to do with this knowledge was to activate her vision. 80% of everything humans perceive is with their eyes, so being blind is a massive inhibition to Mika.
In her mind, she pictured herself seeing through a pair of eyes, what that felt like, and how it was different from being blind. She imagined a tree with its vibrant green leaves and dark brown bark. Then, she imagined soft wavy grass around the tree and a bright blue sky full of clouds. These are all things one can't imagine if they're blind!
Slowly, she felt one of her senses return and could now get a good look at where she was. Or at least, that's what she thought, but she could only see an outline of the room.
Next, Mika imagined her previous self back in her prime, and she could feel her body stretching, limbs forming, and she was finally able to gain the ability to move again.
"Wow! This is really something! Now that I can see again, where's my kat-" When Mika thought about her katana, it appeared, "-Ah! There you are!" Mika exclaimed when she saw her beautiful katana, Chigatana, floating near her.
She didn't delay any further and ran over to her sword, embracing it, but when she touched it, a screen similar to her status panel popped up in her mind.
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[Weapon]
[Type: Sword(Katana)]
[Name: Chigatana]
[Grade: F++]
{Skills}
[Perfect Fit: The sword will adjust to the perfect size to fit the Host depending on the Host's body size and strength.]
{Description}
[A katana forged by the Host's blood, sweat, and tears. With the System's help, it has formed a link with the Host. Although the quality of this weapon is low compared to higher-tiered weapons, it will be hard to find another weapon like this.]
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Information about Chigatana appeared in her mind, surprising Mika, especially the part about its ability to adjust to her size and how it's linked to her.
She was a bit pissed off how it says the grade is only [F++], though.
"Chigatana is definitely the best katana I've ever seen! How can it be graded as an F?! System, what's going on!?" Mika exclaimed.
[It may be true that your weapon was one of the best on your planet, Earth, but in places like the world you will soon be born in, it's nothing more than a weapon slightly stronger than an ordinary sword.]
Although the System said this, Mika didn't pay much attention. Even if she were given a chance to choose a higher-grade weapon, she wouldn't.
She's sure she'll never be closer to a sword than she was to Chigatana.
After embracing and promising never to let Chigatana go, Mika started to wonder what else she could do in this [Mind Space].
'Let's see what I can do with this skill.'
She pictured the scene of a place in the forest she used to train when she was young, and the area in front of her started to morph from pitch-black darkness to a small forest with a few trees.
The space was around 20 x 20 meters long.
Mika immediately felt the urge to cut shit up, so she unsheathed 'Chigatana' and charged at the trees.
She raised her sword and slashed at the tree, expecting it to stop after it hit the tree, but to her surprise, her sword cut right through it.
'What…? Is this what the System means by me having control over the space? Or is it because none of this is actually real that I ended up cutting through it? Do I need to raise my skill level to make it more realistic? But then, how do I raise the level of this skill?' Mika thought as she watched the tree reform right after being sliced through.
Mika kept swinging her sword around for the next few hours until she felt satisfied, but she never got a notification saying her Mind Space increased in level.
'How do I level up my Mind Space, System?' Mika asked.
[For the most part, leveling up requires repetitive use of said skill, but sometimes you must clear a condition for leveling up a skill. For example, if you have a 'fire resistance' skill, you'll need to take continuous fire damage to increase it.]
"I see." Mika nodded her head in understanding.
'So, I just need to keep using this skill!'
With this new information, Mika continued swinging her katana around in her Mind Space since she had nothing better to do.
After an unknown amount of time, she finally received a few messages from the System.
[You have received your first Quest from the System.]
The System's ping surprised Mika, but she had no idea what a quest even was. She decided to check it out since she might finally have something else to do other than sitting in her [Mind Space all day.
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[Quest]
[Objective: Gain control over your new body(Your 5 senses)]
[Difficulty: Hard]
[Description: Your mind has entered your new body, but you have yet to gain control over it. How can a goddess not even have control over her own body?]
[Time Limit: 1 Month]
[Reward: A Skill and information]
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Mika scanned over the information and was excited that she would finally be able to do something!
"Haha! You'll reward me with a skill just to gain control over my body? System, if you wanted to give me a free skill, there's no need for such an easy quest!" Mika laughed and was ecstatic about having a new skill.
Since the first skill she received was so amazing, she couldn't help but have high expectations for the next one!
Mika canceled the Mind Space skill and felt a pull at her mind until it entered another dark place again. It felt very similar to the first time she experienced going into her Mind Space.
She had no sense, so no sight, touch, smell, sound, or taste, only emptiness. She felt disconnected, but at the same time, she knew there was a connection. It almost felt like her mind had isolated itself from her body, and now she had to reconnect it manually. However, there was a slight problem. Her mind couldn't seem to figure out whether it was dead or alive.
Since she couldn't feel her body, her subconscious screamed at her that she was dead! Right now, her mind and body are two different entities. Her mind is alive thanks to the System, and her body is alive thanks to her new mother.
Now, she had to bring the two entities together.
This extremely disturbing sensation might make her go insane if things stayed like this.
Mika then realized that this quest might not be quite so easy, especially within the 1-month time limit. She didn't have access to any of her senses; at the same time, her mind felt disconnected from her body.
'Okay, okay, let's calm down and devise a plan. First and foremost, I need to connect my mind to my body. Everything else can be handled after that, but if I want to be able to do anything, then this needs to be done.' Mika tried to calm down as her mind started to race due to how uncomfortable and terrifying this feeling was.
She started using her mind to prod her body, hoping she'd be able to gain a semblance of a feeling of connection, but it turned out to be harder than she thought.
She didn't know that a human fetus doesn't gain consciousness until at least 5 months after it's born, nor did she know that her body had only started the process of creating a brain and wasn't even done. Maybe if she had been born in a more advanced world before her death, she would've known this, but because Mika was born in a much more primitive world, her knowledge about fetuses, human anatomy, and the brain was limited.
Thus, it's no wonder she felt a sense of emptiness and disconnection. She was trying to cram her nearly 50-year-old consciousness into a barely 8-week-old fetus that hadn't even developed a fully functioning brain!
She kept trying to feel her body, but every attempt she made was useless. Worst of all, she didn't even know how much time she spent on her efforts.
Mika didn't give up and kept trying but to no avail. She couldn't even see a way of her mind fully connecting with her body, much less controlling it.
'Fuck fuck fuck! I'm sorry, System! I didn't think it'd be this difficult! Can I get some assistance, please?! I'm about to go crazy!' Mika started to panic and was slowly going insane due to the emptiness and half-dead state she was in.
Unfortunately, she got no reply from the System, which only made her curse more.
'Stupid System! Useless System! Why must you put me through this? I don't even know what I'm supposed to do! ' Mika yelled in her mind but received no answer from the System.
She decided to take a little break and reset her mind by entering her [Mind Space], but that's when she got an epiphany.
'My [Mind Space] skill! Maybe I'll learn something if I go in there!'
So, she activated the skill!
She felt a tug at her consciousness and was dragged into her [Mind Space], out of her body, but she didn't do anything when she entered and just focused on that sensation, the sensation of having her mind tugged at and entering this imaginary body.
Once she understood all she could, she left her mind space and tried connecting to her body, but it still didn't work.
Mika wasn't upset and instead entered her mind space again to reflect on what she did wrong. She kept doing this until she could feel herself making progress. It was like connecting a pond(her mind) to a shallow lake(her body) that needed the water from the pond to stay full. However, there wasn't any connection made between the two. How could she connect the pond to the lake if there was nowhere for the water to run?
Once she understood that, she began excavating a channel to her body with her mind and making progress.
She finally felt her mind connecting to her body, and the sense of emptiness and dread was replaced with a sense of fulfillment and unity. She knew this was how it was supposed to be!
'Success!' Mika celebrated in her mind that she could complete the first phase.
'Now all I need to do is gain control over my body!' Mika became excited and immediately jumped into her next task.
She understood that it wouldn't be easy, but it would most likely be more straightforward than connecting her mind to her body.
She tried moving her body, which seemed more straightforward than sight, sound, taste, and smell.
This was much harder than she initially thought it would be. What she didn't know was that her actions were speeding up the growth of her brain.
Her brain needed to prioritize the connections she was making while also ensuring her body kept growing so that there were no complications with her birth.
All of these things needed energy, and Mika didn't yet understand that she was placing a burden on her new mother.
.
.
.
[10 minutes left until you fail the quest!]
Mika received a notification but didn't freak out since she was about to complete the quest. Her hearing was the last of the 5 senses she needed to gain control over. This took up most of her time since her hearing ability as a fetus was terrible, and there weren't many noises she could hear inside her mother's womb.
After 5 minutes, she could finally turn her hearing on and off at will, albeit she could barely hear anything due to her undeveloped ears.
That was something Mika noticed when completing this Quest. When the System said she needed to gain control over her body (5 senses), it meant she needed to be able to turn them on and off at will—not just turn them into a bodily instinct.
If she were to try and do this with a fully grown body, it might take her years or decades without any proper guidance, but because she was manually and forcefully creating these links to her senses, it was much easier since she became conscious of these links.
[Congratulations, Host, for completing your first quest! You will now receive your rewards!]
[Received Skill: Meditation Lv. 1]
[Inserting information directly into your mind!]
[New Quest has been created. Please check it!]