Soulless Players

Although Philip had some doubts about this abnormal society, his desire to become a mentalist was too strong to ignore and believed that being proactive was the best course of action.

'If I want to be more powerful, I need the help of the society. Moreover, this is the perfect place to start if I want to explore and be integrated into the mystical side of the world.' Philip thought.

After much contemplation, he decided to join the club while remaining cautious. He unhurriedly walked to the platform and raised his hand, channeling the pinkish hue in his body to his palm.

Once all the hues had gathered in his palm, he directed them over the bare wall, slowly causing them to spread out.

Suddenly, he felt his palm make contact with a door handle and quickly turned to look. There, he saw an illusionary golden doorknob emitting a pinkish smoke, reminding him of a pleasant dream.

As he grasped the handle, the pinkish smoke scattered and slowly formed a wooden panel with intricate designs and images. From the handle, golden glitters appeared, magically gliding into the panel and colliding into lines and shapes like snowflakes and dried leaves. Hazy images of the starlight over clouds also bloomed in the middle, making him feel solace upon witnessing them.

While observing the door, he felt a deep resonance from within it. He sensed that whatever was inside the door, it felt an expectant emotion and also apprehensive and fearful over the unknown. It was then he realized that he and the door were one, and its emotions were his as well.

When the door had finally fully emerged and formed pinkish borders on the edges, he felt as though he was floating. It was like being in the middle of the ocean, with waves pushing and pulling him back and forth.

Philip was silent for two seconds before he turned to see Sam wearing a disbelief look, while Lala and Keith had envy in their gazes.

As Philip became aware of their emotions, he suddenly felt confidence surging within him making him believe that as long as the door was with him, he could now stand on equal footing with them.

But the feeling was fleeting. He quickly snapped out of his trance and let go of the door handle. He believed that if he continued to touch the door, his emotions would be greatly amplified and turned into something that was not his.

"Congratulations." Sam said, sighing, "I can't believe you managed to summon the door on your first try."

"You see, summoning an astral body doesn't mean you can now summon the door," Sam continued. "That's why, even though Keith can maintain his astral state, he still couldn't be called a mentalist."

"As for you. You can now be considered as a bona fide mentalist as summoning the door automatically allows you to open and enter it."

Sam then went on to explain the gifts and benefits of entering one's space of consciousness.

"First, you can maintain lucidity in your dreams and will be able to remember each of them. Additionally, you can placate one's mind to prevent nightmares that can cause brain death.

"Second, you can now traverse into a dreamland where all the mentalists, mind creatures, and dream civilians gathered. This gathering is similar to a real-world city where you can buy and sell things. Yes, this is where the Dreamwalker name originated from.

"Third, your astral body would undergo a transformation as well, allowing you to operate an astral domain to travel far from the physical body without being detected. This domain spans 25 meters in radius, stretchable to at most 2000 meters as long as part of the domain is connected to your main body. This made it ideal for infiltration and information gathering.

"Lastly, opening the door would improve one's intelligence quotient by one-third, meaning that the higher the IQ or mental strength before opening the door, the greater the increase would be."

Philip listened intently to Sam's explanation, changing his expression from amazement to surprise.

'This is great. Not only will I be able to possess great infiltration skills, but I can also visit a city where extraordinary sentient beings gather. This is especially beneficial for someone like me who knows little about the paranormal side of the world.'

'The only downside is that Dreamwalker doesn't seem to enhance my fighting or physical abilities. It's more geared towards utility. So, it's not ideal for combat situations.'

Philip paused for a moment and then concluded,

'But overall, becoming a dreamwalker is a great starting point. I can't wait to see what I can do with these newfound abilities.'

"Go ahead and open the door! Don't worry, no one can enter your space of consciousness other than you. So, there's no need to be cautious around us," Lala scoffed, there was still a hint of envy in her eyes.

Philip ignored Lala's bitterness and focused on the door. He then raised his arm to grasp the handle, took a deep breath, and finally twisted it.

"..."

But to his surprise, the handle wouldn't budge no matter he tried.

"..."

Sam noticed Philip's dilemma and asked, "What's wrong?"

Philip turned to him and answered with a question, "Uhmm. Don't I need a key to open this?"

"What are you talking about? Of course, no." Sam then hurriedly went to his side.

Lala also followed, her mouth slowly curled upwards. "You can't open it?"

Philip's mouth twitched as he tried to twist the handle again. However, no matter how much force he put into his fingers, the doorknob still wouldn't budge.

"Are you sure I don't need a key?" Philip asked the second time to make sure.

Sam looked at him incredulously and answered, "Can't you see? The doorknob doesn't even have a keyhole. Where would you put the key on it?"

"..."

Lala finally couldn't contain his laughter and erupted.

"HAHAHA!"

***

"I will promise to look for information regarding this," Sam said weakly and continued.

"This is also my first time to encounter something like this. You see, all this time, I assumed that once an individual summons their door, it is the same as entering it. 'Cause why would the door emerge if you can't open it right? Just for decoration?"

Philip slowly walked out of the university, dejected. On his side was Sam and following them from behind was Keith and Lala, who was laughing uncontrollably.

"The world is still fair after all! Perseverance and hard work always win over natural talent!" Lala exclaimed.

"But how could it be possible?" Keith asked. "Are you really sure you've unlocked your cores before? But if you didn't, wouldn't it be possible to enter into the astral state?"

Sam sighed, "Yes that's true. That's why Conrad's case is very unique. He passed all the prerequisites but still couldn't open the door."

Philip felt down listening to them talk about it repeatedly. How could he not? He was already expecting he could be a mentalist earlier but left in vain.

"However, you're still considered a Half-Dreamwalker since you can travel far from your physical body in an astral state," Keith said, trying to comfort him.

Philip nodded. He had discovered earlier that while he couldn't open the door, he possessed the ability to create an astral domain and be able to travel secretly through it.

This was the only thing that consoled him. At least he got something new in the gathering.

"Be careful in traveling in your astral state. Although others can't see you, mentalists are different. Not only can see you in your astral form but also can locate your physical body. This is because astral domain leaves marks between your astral and main body." Sam cautioned.

"Yes. I will keep that in my mind." Philip answered gratefully.

After saying goodbye, Philip made his way to the Alma Inn. He carefully navigated through the crowded streets until he reached his room and lay on the bed, contemplating the reason for his failure.

He whispered "Open System," and an illusionary window panel appeared floating in the air.

______________

Name: Philip Mckenzie

Story: The Misery behind the history of Britannia

Profession: Undercover Agent, Half-Dreamwalker

Level: 13 (1101425/1638500)

Stats:

Physique: 18 (+50) [>]

Mental: 14 (+27)

Mana: 0

Spirit: 1

Attributable Points: 0

Karma: -10

Uniqueness:

> Mystique Identities - Active (Lv. 2)

-Transformed physical body to body the player is familiar with.

> Golden Eyes - Active (Lv. 1)

-See through the value of things.

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