Kael sat cross-legged on the cold floor of his mansion. The silence of the empty estate was absolute, broken only by the faint hum of the defensive runic arrays pulsing outside.
Whoosh.
He closed his eyes, regulating his breathing. With a practiced thought, he sank his consciousness deep into his soul space.
The world around him dissolved into a blinding flash of dark violet light. The sensation of falling lasted only a heartbeat before his feet touched solid ground. Kael opened his eyes, finding himself standing in the center of the Astral Void Realm.
It was roughly ten square kilometers of absolute nothingness. Above him, a swirling nebula of dark, primordial energy churned, devoid of stars or a sun, yet radiating a cold, ambient light that illuminated the desolate expanse. The ground beneath his feet was a smooth, glass-like void, reflecting the churning skies above.
"System," Kael murmured, his voice echoing in the vast emptiness. "Status report on the Inner World."
Ding!
