I opened my eyes slowly.
My non existent body felt heavy but my mind was light. Now I no longer had anything to do.
I could do what I wanted.
"Yawnn~"
I sat up and activated my system window.
[You do not have a physical body!]
[Loading data...]
[Your previous race was: human]
[Your previous eye colour was: light grey]
[Your previous height was: 179 cm]
[You previous stats were: [STR: SSS-] [VIT: SS+] [AGI: S+] [INT: SS]]
[Your current constellation stats are: [STR: E-7] [VIT: F+ 4] [AGI: G+ 8] [INT: F 4]]
[Do you want your body to be similar to what you had previously?]
[Y/N]
'I contemplated this quite a lot before I fell asleep.'
To get a new body and live a new life, or have a similar body and continue.
And the answer I came up with was.
'Even if my body changes I won't. So why change body?'
[Y]
I did something akin to a cringe magical girl transformation and was quite embarrassed after.
'Holy shit, that's so cringe.'
I took some emotional damage and sighed loudly.
*Knock knock!*
I heard a knock and opened the door.
There Alius stood.
"So, why are you here?"
I asked slightly curious.
"Oh, you got your body back. Anyway, I'm here to invite you to play a game!"
I looked at him silently for a few seconds.
"Sure, your enthusiasm peaked my curiosity."
I closed the door and quickly changed clothes.
Now I was wearing a dark blue T-shirt and black pants.
'I wonder how many are wearing these kinds of clothes.'
"So that's what you guys wear casually."
Alius said with a curious expression.
"Do you not see people from earth?"
Alius nodded and sighed.
"Normally people from earth either don't become constellations stay in their world, or rise the ranks quickly."
I was quite confused and tried to guess the reason.
"They stay in their world to because they like power? And I can't really guess the rest."
We entered the reception desk and walked towards the playroom.
Alius thought for a while and explained.
"Most earthlings die to their tower, gates or monsters before becoming constellations. The few that become constellations usually signed contracts with other constellations making sure they couldn't become too strong."
We quickly arrived at the playroom.
'I got looked at quite a lot. I guess my clothes are weird.'
"Lastly, we have the super genius' among humans. They either break the contract somehow or never formed one. I heard there are also a few regressors."
I was amazed by this information.
'There are regressors?'
When we arrived at the reception we were greeted by a girl with messy hair.
"C-can you help me?"
'Her hair is slightly changing hues. Is she a mage? Looks kind of purple though.'
I had seen multiple people with colour changing hair and they all had amazing amounts of mana.
'After researching about it, I figured out that since mana can change properties, so their hair reflects that when they reach the level of a constellation.'
Alius continued on walking to something that looked like a human sized bead with a nice seat.
"You not coming?"
I shook my head lightly and asked the girl.
"What's the problem?"
Alius didn't seem to mind and closed the bead.
"Can y-you help me by supplying me some mana?"
'Why does she need mana? How do I do that?? How does she use it??? Is it dangerous????'
The girl noticeably flinched and she quickly showed me a system window.
[Magical artifact: mana canister(SS-)]
Effect: can store mana up to an amount similar to an S rank mage awakened
Quick explanation: You can store mana by using neutral magic or directly transferring it.
Created by: Nitya,
'What in the world?'
My brain momentarily crashed and I stood there without moving.
"Uh, how about it? Oh! I'll pay you of course! I'm sorry for forgetting to mention it!"
The girl probably misunderstood and quickly apologized.
"Hey, did you make this?"
I asked absentmindedly.
The girl nodded slowly.
"Yeah, I made it when I just became a constellation.. I know it's bad."
My brain quickly rewired itself and I shook my head.
"I don't think it's bad. Now, where is it?"
The girl looked surprised and pointed in a direction.
"It's somewhere over there."
'Oh, that's in between multiple buildings.'
"Alright, you take the lead."
The girl nodded and started walking.
Unlike where I have been before this place was a little gloomy.
'This place seems to be ignored or avoided.'
The smell wasn't good either.
When she stopped we were at a pretty run down workshop.
The girl quickly entered but I stopped before entering.
'Who is that?!'
"Hi~ I'm back with a candidate!"
Inside a red haired woman with scales around her body.
"Oh~ It's a man this time. What did I tell you about being careful around men nowadays."
But what surprised me was that I didn't realize she was there until I saw her.
'Even now, I don't know her strength. Is she a dragon?!'
It felt like her red eyes could pierce through my soul.
It seemed that she realized I was checking her strength.
"You can enter. And don't worry, I won't hurt you."
My body moved unconsciously to bow.
It was a necessary skill for any awakener to realize the truly powerful.
"T-thank you ma'am."
I entered the and sat on a chair on a round table.
"Oh, I forgot to bring the canister my bad!"
The girl quickly left for a door.
'Now I'm alone with this scary looking woman.'
"This place is quite amazing isn't it?"
The red haired woman said looking around affectionately.
"Now t-that you mention it. It has quite a lot of things."
I was incredibly nervous, I have seen psychopaths before and they all seem normal at the beginning.
"Huff, I'll be straight with you."
*Clap!*
She created a barrier in an instant and I felt something burning hot on my neck, and the temperature increased drastically.
"Don't even think you can try anything shady. Just do as she says."
I sighed lightly and stared directly into her eyes.
"I will."
The woman looked disgruntled and the barrier and the pain on my neck disappeared.
'Wait a second... could she have killed me or not?'
I remembered there was some kind of security system to prevent the use of skills.
My body started shaking slightly but I quickly stopped myself by taking out the broke constellation's sword.
[Equipping: Broken constellation's sword(S-)]
*Swoosh.*
Simply taking out the sword made the air move.
'Huff, luckily it still has the scabbard.'
I placed it on my left.
"Who are you?"
The woman looked at me surprised.
"A newly born constellation."
The woman wanted to say something but the girl came back.
"I got the canister! Did he pass?!"
The girl looked expectantly at the red haired woman.
"Yeah, he passed..."
The girl quickly bowed towards me apologetically.
"I'm sorry for the trouble she's caused! She does that a lot! Oh! My name is Nitya!"
'She created that canister. Could she create something even better later on? Does that technology have a limit?'
She looked towards the woman.
"My name is Yashoda Amin, I'm a dragon as you can see. You can call me my name don't worry about it."
I sighed in relief internally.
"My name is Kazumi."
Nitya nodded and placed the canister on the ground.
*Bzzzz*
It made a strange sound and a screen appeared on the top.
"Place your hand on here and then pour mana inside."
I nodded and activated mana breathing.
[Activating skill: mana breathing(D+)]
As I breathed in I injected the mana through my hand into the canister.
[Your mana pathways are expanding slightly...]
'What?'
I looked confused at the message.
'It shouldn't be this easy to improve mana circulation.'
All I did was place my hand on a big canister.
[Your mana is low!]
I removed my hand immediately. I felt slightly light headed.
Nitya checked the canister and nodded to herself seemingly satisfied.
"Hey, were my mana pathways supposed expand?"
I asked just in case and Yashoda answered.
"It seems you're still in the early stages of mana circulation. Even though you have a decent amount, you haven't trained properly have you?"
I shook my head a little confused.
"Uh, even though the mana was trash I still circulated it regularly."
Yashoda looked doubtful and then sighed to herself.
"You're from earth right? In that case you wouldn't even know the basics of proper mana circulation. You used potions didn't you?"
I nodded a little upset.
"At least your mana seems pretty pure. That's the only real benefit to potions over proper training."
Yashoda sighed lightly.
"Anyway, I've been meaning to ask this. Where on earth did you get that sword?"
I flinched and held my sword.
"Uh, I got it from a constellation."
Yashoda nodded and didn't question further.
'Thanks for not asking questions...'
I thanked her internally and flinched when I looked at her.
'Wow she's really pretty. I'm kind of curious if dragons get to choose their appearance.'
I quickly distracted myself to stop myself from getting flustered.
"Anyway, I gotta get going now. My friend has been waiting for like twenty minutes."
I said as I opened the door.
"One last question before you go. Have you heard of a man called Dan Yu?"
I stopped for a moment to think.
"No I haven't. Although I'll let you know if I do."
Like that I left.
*****
"Anyway, why did you let him know your name?"
Nitya carrying a big box asked Yashoda curiously.
"I don't know. It was a gut feeling. I think he has potential."
Yashoda's scales retracted and now she looked like a normal human. She closed her eyes humming quietly.
Nitya sighed lightly.
"Alright, I won't intrude on your love life."
In that moment Yashoda's hair started changing colours and the air became increasingly hot.
"What did you say?"
"Eeek!"
*********
I quickly found myself back to the Playroom.
When I arrived was Alius standing with a cup of something in his hand.
"Oh, there you are. I thought you abandoned me for a second. Well, it's understandable she did look cute."
I shook my head profusely.
"Nope! I simply helped her fi-."
I quickly stopped talking realizing that all of what I was about to say could be misunderstood horribly.
"Nothing happened."
Alius sighed lightly and pointed towards a bean.
"That's called a capsule. It allows for 100% immersion in certain games. I personally recommend Avatar."
'Huh? Like the last airbender?'
"Not like the last airbender and not like that other movie."
Alius somehow seeing what I was thinking answered my question.
"It allows you to go to another world using an avatar. The avatar doesn't have access to many skills but you can still use your authority. It's the most popular way to increase one's strength."
"Oh? How does it increase your strength?"
I was pretty interested. It increased your strength as well?
"Hmm, I think the official explanation is that it both helps you gain even more experience, and after a session you obtain a portion of your power back from your avatar."
I looked at the capsule confused.
"It doesn't seem like anything special. Why is it like this?"
Alius chuckled and nodded.
"Yeah, this is nothing special. It's actually due to constellation's unique authority. I think it's called [Avatar synchronization(?)]."
I suddenly felt a slight shiver and imagined what it would be like to experience that.
"How is the new world?"
I hadn't used my authority yet and I haven't even seen another world before.
'Oh, unless it's like special gates.'
"It's normal I guess? You'll get used to it."
Alius threw his empty cup into the trash and walked towards a capsule.
"You just sit comfortably and close the lid. Oh I forgot, give me a friend request."
Alius walked into a capsule and a message appeared.
[You have received a friend request!]
[User: Martial-puncher has sent a friend request!]
[Accept?]
I sighed lightly and clicked on accept.
[The friend request and system tutorial]
Friends can chat through text send messages and even videos to each other!
You can also voice call a friend! (Although you have to use mana to use it)
To video call you need a video recorder!
It is recommended to get a video recorder ordered from within the system!
'I wonder how much that costs.'
I carefully opened a capsule and sat down.
I closed the lid and a screen appeared in front of me.
[What kind of world do you want to go to?]
[World type] [ID] [Previously visited world] [streamer search]
"ID, 16379."
[ID]
[16379]
[You cannot enter this world!]
"What?"