Chapter 180: The Cosmos

I was an explorer at heart, so now that I had the chance to wander around between different realms, of course I would choose manual travel. That was so much better. Though, I didn’t know how to do that so I had to rely on my horny system.

[Let’s go!!]

The next second, a gentle, weightless sensation enveloped my body. My boots lifted off the paved stone floor, hovering a few inches in the air before I shot straight upward like a silent rocket.

SWOOSH!

I accelerated into the sky at a staggering speed. The rooftops of Avalon Academy’s residential colony rapidly shrank beneath me, turning into miniature blocks. Within three seconds, I reached the high-altitude boundary where the massive, invisible spatial barrier enclosed the floating continent.

I braced myself for a physical impact or a spatial shudder, but my body glided through the planetary barrier like a hot knife through butter, without triggering a single alarm or causing a single ripple in the array.

I kept rising.

The blue sky around me began to fade, shifting from bright blue into deep azure, then into dark indigo, and finally into the pitch-black void of open space. The atmosphere thinned out to nothing, but thanks to my physical adaptation and Paige’s passive protection, I didn’t feel a hint of suffocation or cold.

I stopped my ascent, floating silently in the vacuum of space.

I turned around, and my breath caught in my throat.

Spreading out beneath me was Earth.

It hung in the infinite blackness like a brilliant blue marble, swirling with white clouds, deep oceans, and golden continents illuminated by the sun. It felt entirely surreal.

Just a few weeks ago, I had been an overworked guy living in a cramped apartment, worrying about bills and tired feet. Now, I was standing in the middle of the cosmos, staring down at the entire planet with my own eyes.

It was beautiful. Truly, insanely beautiful. Mesmerizing, even.

"Wow..." I whispered into the quiet void. "That’s incredible!"

Sound couldn’t travel in void... normally. And everything about me was anything but that.

As I drifted there, I began to notice something else. Even though I was standing in the vacuum of space, I could feel a dense, vast, and heavy energy surrounding me. It flowed invisibly through the cosmos, humming with a quiet, ancient pressure.

’Hey, Paige,’ I asked mentally. ’What is this energy floating out here? It feels different from normal mana.’

[That is Cosmic Energy, Seth,] Paige explained, her tone taking on an informative rhythm. [It is the direct physical reflection of the vast Astral World overflowing into the physical universe. It exists everywhere across space, regardless of which galaxy or realm you’re standing in.]

’What would happen if I used it?’ I asked, genuinely curious.

[You already can!] Paige scoffed playfully. [Cosmic Energy is the most powerful physical energy in existence beneath the Astral World. Mastering it allows an entity to manipulate cosmic forces, stars, gravity, spatial orbits, and cosmic radiation. Basically, controlling the cosmos itself! Though, with your Origin soul and my system authority, you can already do that anyway.]

I smirked, looking down at my hands. Controlling the cosmos sounded pretty incredible. As a kid, I often had roleplayed as a superhero capable of doing this. Who knew it would become reality?

Just as I was admiring the cosmic view, a massive metallic shadow glided past my right shoulder.

WHOOSH.

I blinked, turning my head to see a giant, gold-foiled communications satellite orbiting past me, its solar panels catching the distant sunlight.

"Whoa,’ I muttered, floating over to check it out. "An actual satellite up close."

I hovered a few feet away from the rotating metal dish, inspecting the wiring and sensors with amusement like a curious child.

BZZZZT.

Suddenly, Paige snapped a floating holographic screen into existence right in front of my face.

Displayed on the screen were two commercial airplane pilots inside a high-tech cockpit thousands of miles below. Red emergency lights were flashing across their dashboard as both pilots grabbed their headsets, screaming into their microphones in panic.

"MAYDAY! MAYDAY! Tower, this is Flight 402! We just lost primary GPS, satellite uplink, and altitude telemetry! Our navigation arrays are fried! Repeat, Mayday!"

I stared at the screen, my mind going blank. I looked at the satellite sitting two feet in front of my face, then looked back at the panicking pilots on the screen.

’Wait...’ I gasped mentally, my jaw dropping. ’Did my body’s aura block the satellite’s signal transmission?’

[Yep!] Paige cackled inside my head. [Your density is so high that you’re literally jamming commercial satellite communications for an entire flight corridor below!]

"Holy shit!" I yelled, scrambling backward through empty space like a swimmer doing a backstroke. "Get away, get away! Paige, fix their signal right now! Don’t let that plane crash!"

[Fufufu~ Signal restored!] Paige chimed, snapping her fingers.

On the holographic screen, the flashing red lights inside the plane’s cockpit returned to green. The two pilots let out massive sighs of relief, wiping sweat from their foreheads as their navigation systems booted back up.

I wiped a nonexistent drop of sweat from my forehead, letting out a long, exhausted sigh. "Man... I almost caused an aviation disaster just by standing around."

I turned away from Earth, looking out into the vast, dark expanse of the solar system.

In the distance, hanging in the quiet darkness, was the bright, cratered surface of the Moon, illuminated by the sunlight.

I looked over at the glowing lunar surface, a smile spreading across my face.

’Hey, Paige...’ I murmured, folding my arms behind my head as I drifted in zero gravity. ’Can we delay checking on Hades for a bit?’

[Fufufu~] Paige chuckled in my head, her screen flickering with playful warmth. [Of course we can, Host! You have all the time in the world!]

"Awesome," I said with a grin.

With a single thought, my body surged forward through the void, shooting across the vast darkness of space toward the glowing white Moon.