HELENA'S ROOM
Bathroom.
*SPLASH*
Helena stepped into the bathtub, causing some water to spill on the ground. She could feel the warmth of the water as she sat in the bath, which made her feel comfortable. She turns her gaze toward the bathroom door, looked down, and noticed a shadow. After seeing the shadow, Helena sighed before saying.
"... Nora, thank you for drawing my bath, and you don't need to wait on me. It will take some time before I am out."
Helena knew that Nora was just doing her job as a maid. But Helena needed Nora to leave, because of what she was about to do.
"... Ok, your highness. But are you sure you don't need me to call the doctor to see if you have any cuts?" Nora asked in a worried tone.
Nora was still worried about what had happened a while ago. She could still feel the fear in her heart when she saw the princess lying on the ground, covered with sharp glass shards. She blames herself for dozing off while the princess got hurt. But she still could not figure out how the princess came out unscratched.
"There is no need for a doctor," Helena replied immediately in an annoyed tone.
Helena knew Nora wouldn't want to leave her side out of worry, but she was starting to get impatient, so she decided to scare her away.
"I'm sorry, your highness... I guess I am worrying too much. I hope you enjoy your bath."
Nora apologized; she noticed that the princess was getting annoyed by her presence. She knew the princess would start to find her annoying when she couldn't even perform her job as the princess's personal maid properly. Nora looked at the bathroom door with a sad expression before turning to leave.
"Whew... finally she's gone. System open character profile."
*DING*
[NAME]: HELENA VON MERULA
[SEX]: FEMALE
[AGE]: 7
[LEVEL]: 3
[RACE]: HUMAN
[EXP]: 1505/4000
[HP]: 39+ [60] [MP]: 84 [STR] 32+[50] [MAGIC ATTACK]: 4
[INTELIGENCE]: 44 [QI]: 30 YEARS [CHARM]: 49 [LUCK]: 19
[DEFENCE]: 31+ [50] [STAMINA]: 42+ [10]
[undistributed attribute point]: 3
SKILLS:
[STEPS OF WIND GOD] LV1: ACTIVE/PASSIVE
[lycanthrope]: -Locked
[Den]: [unlockable]
[QI MEDITATION TECHNIQUE]
Helena could not hold her excitement after she saw her level. She did not notice the level-up notification because of her excitement about her new movement skill, but now she has confirmed it. There was only one thing on her mind.
"System activate Den."
*Ding*
[unlocking skill...]
*Ding*
[Skill Unlocked]
*Ding*
[DEN]:
More details:
Personal pocket dimension.
"What... no explanation. How am I supposed to use the skill then?"
Helena wondered why the skill had only three words in the details option. She had no idea how to use the skill, nor did she know what type of pocket dimension it was. She wondered if it had the same function as the item box, but with a physical space, she could enter. As she deliberated, something popped into her head. She stretched forward her hand, facing the bathroom door. Then she activated the skill with her mind.
She did not know why she knew how, but it felt like knowledge she knew all along. A large black hole appeared. It looked dark and murky, but Helena ignored it as she steps out of the bathtub and walked close to the hole.
"Whoa... my hand passed through it. It feels strange and familiar at the same time."
Helena yelled with excitement in her tone. She knew she felt this somewhere before, but she could not remember where. But she decided that thinking about it was pointless because she can only fully know when she saw what was on the other side. Though she was a little nervous, she was more excited to see what was on the other side.
—--------------
INSIDE THE BLOCK HOLE [DEN]
"Whoa...! I'm in space...? But it looks kind of different from the space I know. It looks chaotic.... Ha, I remembered why it felt familiar. It's the same feeling I felt after my soul fully merges with my body. Does it mean [DEN] is a separate world? Wait... a second, how am I breathing in space?"
After remembering that oxygen doesn't exist in space, Helena started panicking. She held her breath to preserve air while searching for the exit, but she couldn't find it. Then seconds later, she realized that she was still breathing fine even though oxygen did not exist.
"Phew, that was a close one. Thought I was going to die from suffocating in space. But why is this space so empty? I can't see any planets or the sun."
Though there was no sun Helena could still see, which was surprising since no Sun existed. Helena decided to explore this unknown space, but she did not know how to move because there was no land for her to walk on. Would she have to swim, like the astronaut she once saw on TV? She pondered seriously. She decided to give it a try and, to her surprise; it worked.
************
ONE HOUR LATER.
Time passed as she explored the unknown space. She searched for anything different from the dark void of space, but she found nothing. She had a disappointed expression on her face. Since it was another world or space, she thought she could find something interesting. She started to think that her search was fruitless until she saw something new.
"Whoa... what is that white light? Hehe... it doesn't matter. I finally found something!"
Because of her discovery, Helena rushed towards the white light without hesitation. But as she got closer, she realized that it was not just a light, but particles of white light gathered. But what was more surprising was that each particle never touched the other, even when they were close.
Helena felt like an invisible force was preventing them from touching. It reminded her of Mana particles. Since she got to the intermediate stage of QI, Helena could direct her internal energy to her eyes, allowing her to see the mana particle movement that is normally invisible to the naked eye when she practices QI meditation.
She remembered that mana particles also behaved the same way, and the only way to gather them was when they entered her body and transformed into internal energy (QI). So, she had a bold idea.
"I wonder if I can gather them with the QI meditation technique."
Helena thought her idea was good, but there was one problem she was facing. The QI technique gathers mana through the air by breathing, but the space she was in had none. Which left her helpless. She pondered for a few minutes while floating around with a backstroke. Then an idea came to her mind.
"Since I cannot use the breathing technique, I'll just swallow them. Kuhahaha... I'm a genius."
She turned towards the white particles and smiled. Then she swam towards them with her mouth wide open.
"Here comes Pac-man... chomp... chomp. Hahaha. Hmm... I wonder what they taste like."
Helena did not hesitate to swallow the white particles. She noticed that her tongue stung every time she swallowed them, but it did not faze her because it reminded her of the Sprite drink she loved in her previous life.
"Ah... I am so full. Did I get all of them?"
*BURP*
Helena taps her stomach with a satisfied expression as she looked around to see if she missed any particles. After glancing around, she found no more particles. But she noticed that she was naked the entire time, but since no one was around, she ignored it.
*****
A FEW MINUTES LATER
"Huh...? Why isn't anything happening? I thought I would have felt something by now—Ouch...! That hurt... Keuk... Arrgggghhhh. why is my stomach expanding?
Helena felt intense pain. She felt like she was about to explode, but it was not just a feeling, her body was expanding rapidly like a balloon. She tried using her internal energy [QI] to suppress it but it was too late.
*POP!!!*