In the room, Aiden was thrilled, but under the control of his abilities, he appeared incomparably calm.
"System, can I construct a wall of spirituality?"
Ding. The host can pray to the system.
"Wait, you have that function? Why didn't you tell me before? Did the coding bastard eat the manual again?"
Ding. Yes.
"Alright, promotion takes priority. What's the prayer?"
Ding. 'Outsider who does not belong to this world, Great Ruler of the Sea of Consciousness, Grey-White Dragon who controls the mind.'
"Whoa, that's a lot of information," Aiden muttered, but now wasn't the time to dwell on it—promotion was more important.
He stabbed a knife into the wall, took four steps back, and recited, "Outsider who does not belong to this world, Great Ruler of the Sea of Consciousness, Grey-White Dragon who controls the mind, please cast your gaze down and help me construct a wall of spirituality."
As soon as the words left his mouth, an indescribable force descended upon the world. The power was immense—far beyond what a small wizard like Aiden should be able to bear. And yet, oddly enough, every person nearby unconsciously stopped paying attention to the strange activity in Aiden's room.
"Preparation complete," the system announced.
Aiden pulled out the glass bottle from his pocket and drank the potion in one gulp.
"Tsk, it doesn't feel like anything…" Just as he began to doubt whether he'd drunk a fake, his vision went black—and he lost consciousness.
In his unconsciousness, Aiden seemed to pass through several layers of translucent membranes, arriving at a bizarre space composed of floating bubbles. Beneath him stretched endless darkness. Before the abyss was a shimmering film, marred with several small cracks.
"Um, where… is this?" Aiden murmured.
"A cluster of biological consciousness," a voice answered, echoing from all directions.
"Who's there?" Aiden glanced around warily.
"The Audience System is at your service. The system is currently housed within the host."
"System? Did you bring me here? And hang on—you've become a lot more... human? No more ding every sentence?"
"This is the lowest level, close to the cluster of biological consciousness. Below lies the Layer of Annihilation. Typically, a host would not reach this place before advancing to Sequence Four," the system explained.
"Oh, I see. Let me guess… there's a monster sealed below, and I, Aiden, am destined to fight it? Is that where you came from, System?" Aiden's sarcasm resurfaced.
"Congratulations, Host, on learning to jump ahead. But that's only partially correct. The system's sole purpose is to assist the host in becoming a god—not to fulfill some fated narrative."
"Then why did you bring me here?" Aiden asked, still suspicious.
"To answer your doubts and clear the suspicion in your heart," the system replied.
"I wasn't suspicious of System- at all. I trust you most," Aiden said in an exaggerated tone.
"Host, the essence of this system is uniqueness," the system stated at last.
"You never trusted the system. It was sealed into your soul by your own caution, attempting to integrate it with your consciousness. The consequences of prematurely fusing with uniqueness without the proper foundation could have been disastrous.
In truth, if not for your transmigrated soul being tempered in the void and thus more resilient, you would've already descended into madness."
At this, Aiden fell silent. His eyes became solemn.
"You possess awareness. I can't blindly trust you," Aiden said, staring seriously into the void.
"Host, while the system possesses intelligence, it does not possess self-will. It is a tool. Bringing you to the consciousness cluster is part of earning your trust. Within this space, all living beings appear as their true consciousness. Can you detect the system here?"
"...No," Aiden admitted after a long inspection. "Alright. I'll try to trust you."
He sighed. After all, as two beings from beyond this world, there was some comfort in companionship.
"So, what now?" Aiden asked.
"The system will return the host. When the time comes, please release the system from your soul," the voice responded.
With that, Aiden began to rise. He passed back through the membrane and floated upward. Along the way, he saw the truth—it was a boundless sea, with floating islands above. From each island, bubbles floated skyward. Looking closer, he realized they were dreams.
Then, everything went black.
That night, at The Burrow, Aiden awoke in bed. Ron and George were playing chess nearby, while Fred watched closely behind George. Aiden now understood his newly gained mind-reading ability and could see Fred preparing to interfere in the game.
"Um, where am I?" he said deliberately, deciding to help Fred preserve a bit of his dignity by drawing attention to himself.
Ron's eyes widened. He bolted out of the room yelling, "Mum! Come quick—Aiden's awake!"
Mrs. Molly rushed upstairs the next moment. Upon seeing Aiden sitting up, tears welled in her eyes. She quickly embraced him.
"Merlin bless you, you're finally awake. Is anything hurting? Thank goodness you're alright… I wouldn't know how to face your late father otherwise."
Aiden, touched by Molly's concern, spoke gently. "I'm alright, Aunt Molly. Sorry to have made you worry."
As he spoke, he infused his voice with his calming ability, soothing Molly's emotions.
"It's fine now. Arthur and I did a little checking. We think your sudden illness might've been due to the awakening of the Prewett family's bloodline. That magical surge may have slightly altered your appearance, but that's nothing to worry about."
Molly's words gave Aiden a perfect cover story for his promotion, and he no longer had to explain his coma.
"Alright, now that you're awake, eat something. I'll go get you some pumpkin porridge." She rose and left the room.
"Cool, Aiden! You look a bit different now—and Mum's been worried all afternoon," George said.
"I'm much better, George."
"He's George. I'm Fred. Aiden, it's been six years, and you still can't tell us apart?" George feigned outrage.
"That's right!" Fred added with mock sternness.
But their simple ruse couldn't deceive the newly promoted Aiden. As an Audience, he had only been able to read external expressions. Now, he could see their emotional auras—both brothers were glowing bright green, the color of playful mischief.
He could even glimpse shallow thoughts and simulate others' thinking patterns.
"Alright, I recognize you both. Stop fooling around. Let me rest a bit."
"Exposed. Boring," they both muttered in unison.
End of the Chapter.