Zen looked at the time. He still had a few minutes before it got dark, so he decided to start exploring the system.
Zen suddenly paused as he noticed something strange.
[Read] lv1(+1)
What was this all about? Zen suspected skills could upgrade through use but he had only used it a few times. It seemed he'd have to wait till he got to level 10 before he understood this system, for some reason it also didn't say it was level two,it just said one plus one
Zen ignored it for now and continued.
[Phantom form]
Cost: 1SP/minute
Unlike some of the other skills, this one had a description, and the moment Zen read it, he realized it might be a little bit too risky for him to try it out here.
Getting up, he mentioned he was leaving and might be gone a while before he left to make sure they wouldn't look for him.
This time, he didn't need the locator. He quickly exited the dorms and headed for the forest behind the school.
Zen went considerably deep, so much so that he only stopped after over an hour of running. He was THAT cautious, with his secret, he couldn't afford not to be. It was second nature by now.
Zen looked around for a while and found a small cave. It wasn't exactly a hundred percent safe, but it would do.
Zen went as deep as he could into the cave and laid down before activating the Phantom form skill while Freya kept showering him with encouragement, saying that although she didn't have thumbs, she was giving him a thumbs up.
Zen closed his eyes and laid on the floor in the cave, neither him or Freya saying anything, and at exactly one minute after he activated the skill, Zen suddenly opened his eyes again.
"Did it work?" He asked himself as he tried to get up, but couldn't make use of his legs.
Zen looked to the ground and saw himself lifelessly laying on the ground and realized that the skill worked.
[Phantom form]
Cost: 1SP/minute
Description: Separates the user's completely intangible and invisible soul form from their physical form. Range of soul from body is a hundred meters in all directions.
Instructions: Activate the skill and close your eyes and empty your mind, keeping a completely blank mental state for one minute.
Please note that this will leave your body in a vulnerable state.
Zen looked around in his current state and called out
"Freya?"
"I'm still here, don't worry"
Zen nodded and tried something else
"Status"
The next second, his stat screen appeared, confirming his thoughts. It seemed the system was linked to his soul and not his body.
Zen once again tried to move but was once again stumped as he realized he couldn't. Not only that, Zen was one hundred percent sure that whatever he was now, he wasn't humanoid. In fact, he had no idea what he was.
There was one perk at least. Zen realized he had 360° vision. He could see all around him. He had no idea how it even worked, but it made him even more curious as to what he looks like now.
Zen once again tried his hardest to move and this time, a system prompt appeared
[Ding! Host requires skill:[Astral movement] to move in soul form]
Zen looked at the prompt. It seemed he needed another skill to move in this form.
Zen was just about to cancel the skill when another prompt appeared
"Detected that host posseses [Astral movement]. Would you like to activate?"
"Yes" Zen replied immediately despite not knowing what the system was talking about.
The moment the system activated the skil, Zen suddenly squinted his eyes. He knew this skill, and that definitely wasn't a good thing.
The skill the system called Astral movement was actually a movement technique that was he had learned in his childhood in the..... organization "
A secret no one knew was that every single player used the same movement technique, but at the same time, different movement techniques. "Astral movement" as the system called it,was a staple of the player organization, however the reason no one could tell was because the moment it was learned, it became a skill unique to one's self. The skills nature made it so that every human, animal, and if evolution allowed it,plant,or creature of any sort could use astral movement.
The reason no one could tell that the movement technique was a staple of the organization it was because, once the essence of the skill was mastered, it would bind itself to whoever learned it, making it unique to that person, meaning that if a thousand people, regardless of age, talent,race,or skill,learned the skill, there would be a thousand different unique movement techniques, and at the same time, only one.
Zen wasn't surprised he could use it in this form,or the fact that the system could activate a movement technique. The skill's nature allowed it . What surprised him was that the system's skill was currently possessed by that organization.
He suddenly realized that the system might in some way be connected to that place. The thought of it would have probably caused a shiver to go down his spine,if he had one that is.
Zen once again attempted to move, and this time he found it successful, he moved a little bit.
Zen gained some confidence. If his movement in this state was really influenced by Astral movement,then...
Zen suddenly dashed off, making quick turns and swerves as he manouvered around the room with enough proficiency that it was difficult to believe it was his first time.
After a few seconds of zipping around inside the cave, he stopped moving and hovered a few feet above the air.
Zen looked down, finally registering the fact that he was floating. He had been flying around before, but he had just been doing it mindlessly.
"This won't do"
Zen suddenly cancelled the skill and immediately opened his eyes as he woke up in his body.
"Aww, why'd you stop? I was about to ask if you were having fun".
"This isn't safe enough. I want to explore this skill more, but i need a way to protect body while I'm vulnerable".
Zen left the cave and spent about ten minutes searching for a place that might be more secure and eventually found something satisfactory.
Zen looked at the small opening next to the mountain. It wasn't large and might even be better described as a hole, but Zen could fit in. He preferred this to the cave because he could cover the entrance with some wood and leaves and he would be invisible.
Zen spent another five minutes gathering sticks, stones, and anything else that would make his body's hiding space look more natural.
Zen slowly fitted himself into the small hole in the mountain, making sure to cover it up.
It wasn't exactly the most comfortable hiding spot, Zen could see the earth directly above him, and if he so much as moved his head any way but out of the hole, he'd get hit.
Zen noticed that his SP was once again full. He had only spent a little over a minute in his phantom form last time so he didn't consume much.
Zen repeated the same process and after a minute,he found himself inside the mountain
"Well at least now I know i can move through solid objects.
Zen skillfully flew out of the mountain. Now that he knew that it was the skill he had trained since childhood that was the prerequisite for movement,it was child's play to him. However, he had decided that instead of coming out the way he came in, he would just move forward through the mountain until he got out.
Zen felt strange, he was sure he had limbs, but at the same time he felt formless. The sensation of having something move through him was also a strange but he actually didn't feel anything when it happened,it was like the mountain wasn't even there and he was just imagining passing through it.
Zen suddenly heard a faint sound. Judging from where it seems to be coming from, Zen realized that his senses seem weaker than in his body.
Zen flew out of the huge rock and immediately noticed a large clearing filled with flowers, and a crystal clear lake at the base of the mountain. It was quite a serene sight, there was just one,or rather,two things that didn't belong here.
Zen looked at who was bathing in the lake and was surprised to see he knew them.
Zen quickly hid behind a boulder. Even if the system said he was invisible, he wouldn't just risk it.
"Damn it! Nothing's going according to plan! Where can I even keep looking, and that Zen is just a pain in it all" Celia ranted while laying in the lake completely oblivious to her audience.
She suddenly looked up towards the person who was kneeling obediently a few feet away from the edge of the lake. A smirk apprared on her face as she slowly sauntered towards the edge of the lake,a strange light in her eyes as she gestures for the person kneeling to come closer, while making no attempts to hide her naked body from him.
In a sweet voice she called to him
"Oh garyyyy, get over here honey"
He obediently got up and walked to the edge of the lake
"Well don't just stand there, come in. I'm getting needy and horny over here "
Watching Gary obediently jump into the lake, Zen was a bit confused about what was happening. He decided to get even closer, not bothering to hide this time and revealing himself to the open. As expected, neither of them noticed him and kept going.
"Honey, you know you love satisfying me, right?"
Zen didn't hear anything from Gary but he seemed to have affirmed because Celia continued. Her hands went under the water as she grabbed Gary's pants,or rather, what was under them.
At this point, Zen was completely confident in his skill and went directly to the edge of the water to see what was happening.
He wasn't interested in the whatever the two were doing, he was more interested in what plan she was talking about and what it had to do with him.
Unfortunately Zen wouldn't be getting his answer however as the two began to enjoy themselves right there and then.
Freya watched honestly a little impressed
"Damn! They directly skipped foreplay and got directly to the nasty stuff. You kids nowadays are crazy! I knew the girl was a brainless slut but this is nuts! This is on school grounds for crying out loud!"
Zen honestly had no comment. He wasn't repulsed by it, but he wasn't at all aroused either. He would have already lost interest and left if he wasn't interested in what Celia's plan was.
They kept watching for a few minutes when Freya suddenly asked a question
"Zen, does this count as a mother and son watching porn together?"
Zen raised a brow at the question.
"Nevermind, I'm just going to think of it as a yes"
Zen didn't reply but instead said
"Looks like i won't be getting any information this time"
Freya understood what he meant because she had also been counting.
[Ding! SP: 0/10]
[Phantom form, forcibly deactivated]
Zen suddenly opened his eyes and found himself inside the hiding place he prepared.
Slowly crawling out, Zen left the hole, not bothering to hide the sticks, stones and leaves on the floor.
"Well that was fun. What do we do now?" Freya asked
"I've got one more thing to do before going back to to the dorm room " Zen replied and started heading for the previous cave he was in.
Zen easily found it and found a place to sit down before opening his system log. There was one more reward skill he hadn't collected, and he was planning on getting it now.
[Skill received : Soul contract]
[Unlocked new tab: Messages]
[Received a new message!]
Zen was surprised. He returned to the regular system screen and realized that it had changed.
[Character]
[Souls]
[Skills]
[Soul-skill synthesis] (sealed)
[Perks]
[Messages](!)
[System log]
The rest were blurred out. It seemed he'd have to reach level 10 to get those unlocked