Soha opened his eyes inside a vast space of white. It expanded till infinity, blank and peaceful like a silent melody to the soul.
"Where am I?" he wondered.
A calm, feminine voice replied in his mind, [You are in the Dimensional Passage].
"Di… Dimen.. Wait, how long was I out cold for?"
[You were asleep for four hours, forty minutes, and twenty seconds.]
"Four hours?" Soha felt the color drain from his face.
Evelyn… she…
[Do not worry for your Sister, Host. Time in the Dimensional Passage and Sub-worlds work differently from the time in the anchor world, Aetherian Expanse. Time is almost still when you are here in Aetherian.]
An involuntary sigh of relief left him. The risen panic quickly set down. It was like a defense mechanism—he had no desire to question whether that was true or not.
And maybe this place had something special. For some reason, he felt extremely calm here.
Soha looked at himself; his clothes had already vanished, and he was wearing his birthday suit now. Naked from head to toe.
[Only you can survive in the Dimensional Passage; all else will decompose to their original matter once they enter this space,] the voice said, making him blink.
As if an instinct from the depths of himself, the foreign sound in his mind filled him with a sort of intangible relief, as if a child finally in his mother's embrace.
"Who are you?" Soha asked cautiously. "Can you help me save my sister?"
Why did he feel as if this voice was something precious to him?
[I am the consciousness of the Cosmic Treasure, Dimensional Mirror, lodged in your Soul. Of course, since we have shared a soul for years now, it is natural you feel attached to me. And I cannot directly help you, but I can at least give you a chance at saving her,]
Its tone also felt familiar, as if he had spoken with it for years. Fought with it like siblings.
Feeling much calmer, he asked, "Were you always watching me? Why activate only now? I called you a hundred times, didn't I?"
Even he could feel the spoiled entitlement in his tone, but the Mirror replied warmly.
"[I cannot project myself to you without an exponential amount of Energy. Yet, all of the stored energy had already been used up when I brought your Soul from Earth into the world of Aetherian Expanse.
"[My previous consciousness also died in the process. I am a newborn consciousness.
"[I was just born a few months ago due to the treasure's naturally accumulated energy.]"
Soha turned speechless. He questioned after a while of silence, "Why are you helping me so much?"
[Because the Mirror is set up to be used by someone, and when it entered Earth and passed by at light speed, you just happened to be the first in its way. Thus, it ended up lodged in your soul, and in a sense, I am now your Tool. The stronger you are, the stronger I will be. It is my purpose to be used by you.]
"That's why I began to see reflections of other worlds in the mirror…" he muttered. "By the way, how much time would have passed in Aetherian?"
[Not even one second. But… I planned to wait for a few more months before showing myself, but this emergency came up, so we would be in a rush whole throughout the process. Even my introduction to you have been ruined.]
A long silence passed before Soha felt his tight hands loosen in the white expanse. Not even one second passed...
"[Do not be relieved, Host. I had once again used all my Energy reserves, and this would be your only chance at World Traversal for years to come, so if you can't make use of it to accumulate enough power in enough time to save Evelyn, you would have to see her die regardless,]" The voice warned.
Soha calmly breathed out.
"As long as I have a semblance of hope, I am ready," he said, "I don't really understand what you have planned, but as long as I can save Evelyn, it is all fine."
"[My plan is simple. To travel into a Sub-World of Aetherian with another Power System. Hopefully, to a world where you could cultivate by yourself to grow stronger before returning to Aetherian with the newly earned powers.
"[And do not worry, since returning doesn't require Energy as I already established Aetherian as the Anchor World, any time you wish, you can return with zero cost, like a spring pulling back to itself.]"
Soha nodded seriously.
He always had a feeling that if the mirror could help, it would be like this.
Since he had seen many worlds in the mirrors, he knew not all of them were based on Espers or similar people born with superpowers; there were some worlds where the hard work people put in was much more important than birthright.
As long as he ends up in one like that, it would all be good. He knew he would work harder than anyone.
"What world are we going in?" he asked.
He would do it. He would save her.
He had hope!
"[I have no control over the world we go into. The only thing I could choose was whether the new world had supernatural elements or not; that's my limit. I also do not have much knowledge regarding all these things, as I did not get to inherit the previous consciousness' memories.
"[My mind is programmed like the mirror image of your favorite person to be around, in your case, "Evelyn." My mind is an amalgamation of your common sense and your ideal person to be around. That, added with some unique instinct of my own abilities like a beast with its claws.]
'…so it is not that you never responded.'
He finally understood.
So the Mirror was basically a child and it had only been born recently!
It took a while for him to digest that. He also felt a bit uncomfortable knowing that it was based on Evelyn.
But then thinking again, if Evelyn was safe and sound, he would not feel that way, he would only feel amusement and might even tease her with this.
He smiled.
"You're based on Evelyn?" Soha couldn't repress the smile at the thought. "No wonder I had this weird feeling you were familiar."
"[And also your common sense, so I and Evelyn are very different,]" The Mirror added. "[and I am just a tool, too.]"
Soha took a deep breath and a long silence stretched between them until he curiously asked, "You said you are a Mirror, right? And that you are inside my soul, can I see the Mirror?"
[Oh Yes…] the voice said with a cough, and it appeared before him out of nowhere.
A mirror, a simple circular mirror the size of half an arm, but something so immensely pure to the point it seemed sacred at a glance. Divine.
The reflective surface was not glass—he immediately understood with a touch—but some type of polished, silvery metal, unlike any known to him.
Its surface was startlingly clear, reflecting images with an uncanny crispness and vividity that far surpassed any other mirror he had seen. Its frame was dark wood, wobbling and twisting in a fashion that seemed somehow profoundly meaningful.
Two dark gems were on both opposing sides of it, and all in all, it seemed like a compass of the ancients more than a mirror.
Under the mirror's reflective surface, he could even see a directional compass rose, which kept rotating; it had letters far too complex to understand, not just simple north and east.
The rose slowly spun in a complex but clear rhythm, like finding a new island in the infinite dimensions.
At a single glance, it almost made him exclaim. It somehow even felt sinful to look at it with his naked eyes.
Damn, he thought.
In that mirror was the reflection of his soul. Soha Ravenhart, an 18-year-old young man, as his appearance made it apparent.
He had thick, healthy, and lustrous black hair, clear blue eyes, and a fair white face that seemed rather feminine more than anything else.
With a genuine aura of noble grace, he seemed very charming even to himself now that he was calmer.
But more like a weak woman who needed protection than a man who was worthy of being relied upon. His eyes shimmered.
He didn't want that.
The mirror suddenly vanished, and he felt something in his heart and soul whispering that it was back in its place.
Like a puzzle piece that completed the puzzle of his soul, it was now part of him.
[Host, we are entering the World Barrier of another world. I am not sure of what I can help you with after you enter that world. Be prepared. I will take note of the whole procedure named "World Traversal" through this as our 'Beta Test.' We will learn together. As currently, I don't even know where my own limits lay.]
Soha nodded.
He had a lot of thoughts about the Dimensional Mirror, but he pushed it to the recesses of his mind. He had some grievances about it. Honestly, he felt spoiled, entitled, and much more. He even felt a bit afraid of it, but today, he felt calm.
He had to be better than that.
He had to 'see' beyond himself.
Regardless.
His only goal now was saving his elder sister, Evelyn Ravenhart. Everything else was background noise.