A few moments ago...
Novia who was sitting on the lap of her mother, Susan, occasionally looked down with her eyes closed. it seemed that she was very sleepy. then a few moments later, her head leaned against Susan's chest and fell asleep.
Automatically, Novia's {Dream Viewer} Skill activated and her soul began to detach from her body.
Novia's soul began to walk around the bunker, until it came to a middle-class private room area.
There, she saw a child and his father carrying an unconscious woman.
Novia, who was very dexterous, easily guessed the situation, perhaps the wife was in a state of unconsciousness. and with great curiosity, Novia innocently followed that's small family into their private room.
As the door to the private room would automatically close, Novia slipped in so quickly and made the aura of her soul, experienced a slight energy fluctuation that caused a subtle gust of wind.
The Husband who was holding his wife also seemed to feel a sense of existence. he then looked back and found the door already closed tightly.
'What was that just now? Did someone sneak in?" The 35-year-old man wearing glasses, looked in all directions while thinking.
"What's wrong dad?" The 6-year-old boy beside him asked his pensive father.
"Nothing. Joseph, make the bed quickly, I'm going to put your mother who is starting to feel heavy!"
"Okay, Dad!" The boy swiftly made the bed and was followed by his father who immediately put his mother onto the bed.
Seeing the woman in front of him lying weak and unconscious, the man grumbled to himself.
"Lucia, if it weren't for my father setting me up with you for the sake of the company's progress and the family's prosperity, I wouldn't be willing to take care of a troublesome woman like you!" The bespectacled man with half-bald hair sighed then grinned wickedly.
Novia, who was next to the man, could hear him. Then the little girl floated and approached right above the woman's body with her eyes aligned.. as if she wanted to do something to the woman who was being insulted by her own husband.
"You'd better not lose consciousness! I've had enough of taking care of sickly women like you!" in his heart, he cursed his wife viciously, but his face looked normal.
"Hurry up and die so that I can immediately take control of all your property and manage your family company at will. hahaha" Howard cursed his wife cruelly in his heart.
Lucia, the woman with one child who was lying unconscious in front of her husband...burst into tears when she suddenly heard her husband's curse towards her.
'Howard, have you been thinking this way about me all this time? I thought you were genuinely accepting of my condition because you were always nice to me when I was awake...' Lucia said in her sleep sadly as she tried to rebel from her sleeping paralysis.
But in reality, her lips were rigidly silent, unable to utter a single word, except for the tears that escaped from between her eyes.
Lucia experienced the awakening of a very unique borrowed power in her body. shortly after the impact of a blue meteor the size of 'planets that are no longer in the category of inhabitants of the Solar System', several years ago.
Howard's wife had the power to read the minds of those around her, both intentionally and unintentionally. But actually, her unintentionalness symbolized her inability to control her power.
And when it happens excessively such as accidentally reading the minds of more than one person at a time, then she will be overused in the use of the borrowed energy power in her body. in other words, she runs out of Mana.
That was the reason why she often fell unconscious suddenly and made her physique seem very vulnerable. But actually it was because she couldn't control his power.
'Moreover, whether you're awake or not, I've never been able to read your mind and heart at all. so I thought you were a good person. but in the end, I know your rottenness now!'
When she experienced sleeping paralysis due to running out of mana, scientifically speaking she still had consciousness but could not move or use any of her limbs except her special sense of hearing.
It was true that Lucia could read or hear people's thoughts and hearts, but that didn't apply to Howard.
Because Howard was also secretly experiencing the awakening of a borrowed power in him that could manipulate some essences.
So there will be no one who can find out about what he will do or plan even if the enemy can read his mind.
Naturally, Howard is Lucia's "Uno Block & Reverse", which made it impossible for her to get a chance to attack or turn the tide at any time.
'I've been waiting for this for six years, and I've always suspected that you were hiding something behind your true self.'
In the end, it was unexpectedly possible for her to do so at this time. She was both grateful for being able to read her husband's mind and deeply regretted it.
However, this opportunity was also the thing she had been looking forward to the most after 7 years of marriage with her husband where Lusia had married Howard a year before the Anomaly on Earth.
Knowing Howard's true side, Lucia began to think about how she could deal with her husband when she recovered. Then she thought about her mysterious ability to hear Howard's inner voice.
'How did I do that just now? Was it natural? Or...' Before she could finish her thought, a voice suddenly came from inside her head.
"Don't be sad, auntie. From now on, you'll be able to know that uncle's heart from now onwards." It was Novia's voice interacting directly with Lucia's soul.
The reason why Lucia could hear Howard's inner voice was because she could directly hear through Howard's soul through the medium of Novia's ability, which was currently transformed into a spiritual being.
Souls and spiritual beings are two different things in Subliminal Verse. Spiritual beings have a soul while the soul itself is the core.
Basically, Novia's ability is not just being able to control her subconscious to have consciousness, but also being able to manipulate the dimensions of the Quantum Realm.
The uniqueness of Novia's skill is that her soul can change places from spiritual form to mortal form and vice versa.
That's right, Novia has had two existences with different dimensional realms since she was born into the world. When her body was active, her spiritual body automatically disappeared, but when her spiritual body was inactive, her body would fall asleep.
After grumbling near Lucia, Howard turned away from his wife's side and rushed to the restroom to go take a shower.
Meanwhile, Joseph, who saw his mother crying while asleep, could only stare strangely while wiping away his mother's tears.
"K-you...who are you? Is there anyone else besides my husband and son?" Lucia said in her soul in response.
"I'm just a passer-by, but I just happened to see the aunt who fainted and was carried by that uncle."
"What, just a passer-by? Then why are you here and, do Howard and Joseph know where you are?"
"No, I can't be seen by those two, and auntie won't be able to see me when she wakes up either."
Hearing Novia's voice, Lucia spontaneously said.
"Are you a ghost? how can a ghost like you actually exist in this world? I thought it was just a myth and only existed in horror movie series" Lucia threw out her misconceptions along with her understanding of spiritual beings. but in fact, although Lucia could hear Novia, she could not see what Novia looked like in spiritual mode.
"Ugh...I'm not a ghost...you know! I'm a human just like you!" Novia's spiritual form looked angry and sullen.
It should be noted that Novia's spiritual form is almost similar to Nine's Divine Cloning case which is not much different from her physical body. the difference is only in the realm of 'soul power'.
"Are you a human being, like in the horror series called "cadut snake demon.. or whatever that snake is?" Lucia asked another ridiculous speculative question that made Novia's little girl even more furious and annoyed.
"I told you I'm not a ghost or a demon.. I'm a human. I'll visit you later, when I'm back in my original body."
Hearing the statement from the child's voice, Lucia could not say much and instead became even more curious. and decided to give in.
"uh-um...alright. Then I'll look forward to your arrival..."
"Okay, then I'll go first-" "Wait a minute!" Lucia interrupted Novia's words, she then took the initiative to ask about Novia's previous words.
"You said that from now on I'll be able to hear my husband's thoughts and heart, how is that possible?" Novia who heard this question, began to wriggle her spiritual body like a worm in heat. then froze before saying.
"Uh...that...how? um...I don't know, I'm just trying to...like transfer my energy...to auntie. I guess?"
"Transfer energy? What is that?"
"Yeah...just like sending power like that."
"Uh, I see..."
"Hum-hum." Novia nodded her head as she sat silently floating on Lucia's stomach.
"Uh...ah...why is my body suddenly becoming more and more limp?" This time Lucia's mutterings came from her consciousness and not through her soul.
Lucia was too carried away while talking to Novia through her soul, she didn't know if how dangerous it was and more dangerous than just hearing the thoughts and hearts of many people at once.
Also this time, not only was the Mana in her body drained, but also her still weak soul power was drained as well, making her physical stamina drop drastically.
"Auntie...what's wrong?" Realizing that something was wrong with the woman in front of her, Novia immediately asked worriedly.
Novia waited for Lucia to speak, but there was no answer from Lucia. not because Lucia did not want to answer, but because she was no longer able to mobilize her soul power to speak with Novia.
In the end, Lucia slowly entered unconsciousness and this time she actually passed out for real.
A moments later, Lucia's subconscious world opened up in front of Novia who had been waiting for the woman to reply to her question.
Novia, who looked in amazement at Lucia's dream world, was speechless.
"Woah...! Is this auntie's dream? I wonder what's inside..."
*****