John used 'Eyes of Time'.

He locked onto a consciousness.

This ability allowed him to see things in real time from the perspective of someone else.

He was currently floating in space.

"I suppose I'll leave Du in that other universe for now..."

John wasn't John Hell though. He was on a completely different level in regards to mental strength and speed. John Hell was only capable of using 'Eyes of Time' on a single person at a time.

John himself was able to use it on every single person in this universe at once! He immediately was blasted with the sensory information of every human.

"I'll call this technique 'Eyes of Infinity'."

John noticed right away as he was sorting through the actions of everyone. There were people resistant to his prying!

"Interesting... these must be the supernatural users of this world. They have found uses of energy particles."

"It would seem my eyes of infinity only work on ordinary people."

John directly used his innate ability from experiencing life as a data lifeform to connect to all technology in this universe.

"Um... There is no technology?"

John found that he couldn't perform a spiritual leap due to interference from the energy particles. He however wasn't trapped. His movement within this universe was just limited for now.

"I suppose I need to master these 'energy particles'."

John was looking forward to acquiring another tool.

He may not be able to leave using a spiritual leap. But he could still feel the spiritual energy left behind himself in his other universes. He could easily leave.

"Since this world lacks technology. Gathering information will need to be done through the mortals..."

John was in his paradise as he issued a mental command to every consciousness within his range.

All the mortals became unconscious for exactly a single picosecond.

That's right! John used 'Reversed Infinite Mind' on every normal human in this universe. But he did it for such a short duration. That nobody would be able to tell they had interacted with his paradise.

John was a master regarding consciousness manipulation now.

He had infinite time to interact with the world and the people. But for them, this was just a finite time that didn't even happen.

John's avatar was covered in fog as a giant queue formed. Everyone's consciousness had been frozen. It was as if John was a god; he was judging each individual person.

He would undo the existence freeze and question one person after another. He learned quite a bit about this world through this process.

"So...this is world of wizards and knights!"

John was still deep in space as the multiversal machine had brought him to a random location in this universe. There was a lot of nothing out there. He naturally was unlucky.

But he could use 'blind transmission' to get back to civilization at any time. He chose not to do this right now.

John constructed a trial.

A special game. He did this for his own amusement.

There was a crowd of every ordinary person inside of his paradise. But his paradise had been disguised. Thanks to his dual state existence. Shifting it was quite easy.

They found themselves standing on a transparent floor. Surrounded by darkness.

A man in a white suit and mask was floating above them.

"Greetings! I am the god of [redacted]."

"The end is coming! Humanity needs a savior!"

John waved his hands and all sorts of weapons appeared in the sky hovering above everyone.

"A savior humanity shall get! There are over a billion of you here. Only one person will get the blessing of [redacted]."

Someone shouted:

"This isn't real!"

The crowd broke out into discussion.

John floated down and landed on the ground. The crowd dispersed around him.

"You!"

John pointed at the person that had said this wasn't real.

"Me...?"

Their head exploded and they collapsed to the ground. The people around started to scream. But then their bodies froze as if they had become statues.

John held out his hand.

"This is 100% not a joke."

"Interrupt me and you will die."

The person that died screamed and then realized that it was just a dream,

"What a weird dream..."

They soon forgot about this experience completely.

John obviously didn't plan to actually kill everyone here. This was just a simulation. He was using it to select a sort of 'apostle' for exploring this world. He wanted someone capable. Someone with great luck and skill.

"The rules are simple."

"If you shout 'I concede'. You will lose."

"If you die. You will lose."

"There is no other way out."

"There are no other rules..."

John left them to their own devices. Soon everyone started to work together. Some people immediately shouted 'I concede'. Those who did vanished instantly.

More and more people conceded. Soon, there was only a few hundred thousand people left.

After a few hours. Some criminals decided to satisfy their desires. But were killed by others. Everyone's nerves were not in a good state.

John's voice then entered each persons ears:

"Last man standing gets a wish..."

The desire in everyone's hearts was ignited. A being able to trap so many people in this space for such a time must be some sort of god. He even said he was a god!

Soon everyone equipped themselves with weapons. It was mainly spears, swords, and knives. A battle royale started.

It was a bloody massacre.

A kid survived through great luck by hiding underneath a pile of corpses. A middle aged man who had cuts all over his body stood on the same pile of corpses.

"Hahahaha! I win! I'll beco-"

The child crawled out of the corpses and accidentally made the man lose balance. He fell down the mountain of corpses and was impaled in the heart by a spear.

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His eyes showed unwillingness as he died.

Nobody actually died. Only a picosecond had passed for them in reality and John had erased most of their memories of this trial. Life for everyone hadn't changed at all.

The kid covered in blood was shaking from the fact that he had killed someone. The blood on his body started to evaporate and a light radiated from him as the corpses vanished and he was looking at an entity bigger then planets.

The entity was covered in fog.

"Congratulations! You killed them all..."

John obviously saw the entire battle and knew this kid survived based on pure luck. But luck is a kind of strength as well. He also was trolling a little bit by saying 'you killed them all'.

"I... I won?"

"Yes. Against all the odds. You won!"

"What is your wish?"

The kid paused and thought carefully about what he should wish for.

"I wish for infinite wishes!"

John laughed.

"No."

"Uhh... No?"

"Yea... I'm not going to give you infinite wishes. You get one wish."

"I wish for omnipotence!"

John sighed.

"I'll give you one more chance. No infinite wishes. No omnipotence. No immortality. No weird loophole wishes."

"Are you really a god? I think a god would be able to grant any wish!"

The kid was feeling a bit brave. Since this god was willing to talk to him. How scary could he be?

"Do you want a wish or not?"

"I do!"

The kid thought hard for a full ten minutes.

"Am I allowed to ask questions?"

"You just did."

"..."

"What is this space?"

The kid looked all around him.

"I warn you. You won't be able to remember any of this later."

"This is my paradise..."

This kid's parents died when he was only a few years old. He lived in an orphanage for his entire life.

His mind was dull. He didn't know how to read or write. He hadn't consumed much in life.

His destiny was normal.

But from merely talking with John and surviving this trial. His destiny was evolving rapidly.

"If I asked for a power like being able to fly, would that be possible?"

"Yes."

"Super strength?"

"Yes."

"Super speed?"

"Yes."

The kid shook his head.

"I want to become a wizard!"

John was a bit interested.

"Becoming a wizard?"

"A god like you should be able to make me a wizard!"

John had experienced a wizard world in the past. But this world was a bit different and had different rules.

John shook his head.

"Becoming a wizard is something you'll need to do yourself."

Before the kid could speak. John said:

"However... your qualifications. The strength of your soul. The reaction of your body. These I can change."

The kid refused these changes.

"That's a waste."

The kid then had a great idea.

"I wish for your help! Help me become a wizard!"

John smiled.

"Now that is a smart wish."

----------------------------------------

Astor Nelius's POV:

"I wish for your help! Help me become a wizard!"

I hear thousands of voices in my head and feel a itch beneath my skin.

All sorts of memories appear in my mind.

I then wake up.

I am lying in my bed.

"That dream..."

"What was it again?"

I remember vaguely that something important happened in a dream. But I can't remember what.

Soon one of the older children pushes me off the bed and tells me it is breakfast time.

I get a flashback of a memory.

I wave my hands in their face.

"Didn't you die?"

I remember a bloody battle and seeing so many people die. One of them is standing in front of me.

"Die? Are you an idiot?"

"Forget it."

I go downstairs and stand in line and am given a bowl of oatmeal. I sit on the ground and eat it. There is no sugar, so it isn't very good.

I have a habit of daydreaming to pass the boring days at this place.

But I notice in my minds eyes. There is a black cube floating there.

This is the first time I've seen something imaginary in my mind that I didn't intentionally imagine.

I focus on this black cube and the world outside my mind vanishes.

"Since when is my imagination so powerful?"

I find myself surrounded by blackness.

"Hello?"

It doesn't feel fake. It feels as if my body is actually in this space.

I start to panic thinking I may be trapped here.

But as soon as I have the thought to leave. I find myself sitting on the ground with a spoon of oatmeal held in my hand.

"How weird. I spent a few minutes in that space... but no time seemed to pass in reality? Just what is in my mind?"

"Return!"

I focus on the black cube and appear in the space again.

This time I spend a few hours walking around, looking for things in this space. But there is nothing but a black floor.

I return to reality and find again that no time has passed.

I return to the space and do a few experiments. I try to imagine objects and am surprised to find that anything I imagine appears.

I imagine a blue sky and a sun. The environment actually appears.

"I've become a god!"

With the wave of my hands... it looks as if I am standing in the wilderness.

"What about people?"

I try to bring a person into existence. The person reacts to me, but seems to be disabled. Unable to formulate words.

I decide to abandon the real world. Here I am omnipotent!

I create towns of people and raise generations. I notice a problem.

I am still aging.

30 years later.

I start to have a heart attack. After tasting omnipotence... I don't want to die yet. I return to the real world and am still eating a bowl of oatmeal.

"Where am I?"

It has been three decades since I've been a normal person. I hardly remember anything about my life at all.

"Oh yea... there is a world outside of my domain."

I focus on the black cube and see a crack on the surface.

"If I return... what happens if I die?"

I mentally attack the black cube and more cracks appear. I feel a deep longing. I want to return to that world. But I also don't want to die.

The black cube shatters and I feel my consciousness enter that special space. This time I'm not here as a person.

I see the world I built with my life torn apart by myself. I see my body having a heart attack as the world falls apart.

"NO!"

It is as if I have become a observer.

Soon it falls into oblivion. My world has disappeared.

But my consciousness remains in a blackness. I try imagining things just like before. But nothing happens.

I regretfully leave this state.

I am still eating breakfast.

I focus on my mind's eye. But there is no longer a black cube there.

I try to enter the state again. But I am unable to.

"It seems my uniqueness is gone! But my memories as a god can't be taken away..."

I go about my day in a daze until it is bed time.

I crawl into my bed and slowly fall into a sleep. But I notice right away. Something insanely interesting. I am floating above my sleeping body.

"I've become a ghost!"

I open my eyes and feel my consciousness teleport into my body. I seem to have eyes in the back of my head. What I see isn't what my eyes are showing me. I can see my surroundings even with my eyes closed.

Astor had no idea that his soul had been changed through his 'god' experience in the black cube. His soul was naturally developing abilities after being torn and integrated with his simulation. In reality John had forcefully used energy particles in an experiment. He couldn't have his 'apostle' be a weak normal person. This was also his 'help' to becoming a wizard.

Astor goes back to sleep and appears floating above himself again.

"What an interesting power! It seems I am special after all."

He flies through the ceiling and looks up at the stars. He begins to travel at a running speed throughout the town. The feeling of flight is magical.

He sees a lady surrounded by some gangsters in an alleyway. Astor lands and observes the situation.

"If I can become a ghost. Can I possess people?"

I try to touch the gangster. But my hand passes through them just like all obstacles so far.

"Sorry lady... I can't help you."

I open my eyes and look at the ceiling while in bed.

"I know the location... perhaps."

"Forget it... I'm just a kid."

"No... I'm more then a kid. I've lived for decades!"

Determination appeared in his eyes.

He snuck out of the building and played hero. He rushed as fast to the spot in his memory as possible. But his body was weak and malnourished. By the time he got there... he was too late. All he found was a corpse.

"They really killed her..."

While Astor had lived for years in his space where he was almost omnipotent. He had no idea how to bring someone back to life.

He kneeled next to the dead lady and then saw a white ball of energy leave her body. He tried to grab this ball of energy, but his hand passed through it.

"Maybe... I can interact with things on a spiritual level?"

He laid down on the uncomfortable ground and forcefully left his body. He saw the intelligence fade from his eyes as he stepped outside of his body.

By now. The ball of light was far off the ground. Luckily, he could fly! He quickly caught up to it and managed to grasp it.

He brought it back to the corpse and tried to put it back into their body. But he found no success.

"Should I just let you go? To the afterlife? Do you want to live?"

The soul seemed to be talking to him. But he couldn't understand what it was saying. He let it go, but it didn't fly away. It flew into the head of his spiritual body!

He felt the memories of the lady and her emotions.

"You want revenge?"

Astor felt in the spot where he had once had the black cube. There was a white soul there now. He wasn't sure what exactly this meant.

He reconnected to his physical body and stood up. He then left the crime scene and snuck back to the orphanage.

It was easier to leave then to sneak back in. So he needed to wait until day to go back. During this time he discovered something.

Just like when he focused on the black cube. He could focus on the white soul in his mind's eye. But this didn't transport him to another space.

He felt a mental 'switch' in his mind.

It was like a slot.

One that could be turned on or off or switched entirely.

There seemed to be no effect for this soul. But what he didn't know at the time was that the emotions of the lady whose soul he had taken influenced the ability he would unlock.

The lady wanted to avoid trouble and hide. So her soul gave Astor the ability to hide his presence. He was still there. But people would subconsciously ignore him.

Every night he would look for trouble while in his 'ghost' state. Over the years he had mastered his 'uniqueness'. He found that he could only hold seven souls at once. Different souls gave him different abilities.

He could even 'release' these souls and let them become free.

These were the seven souls he kept:

Intangibility

Healing Factor

Flight

Self-Resurrection

Stealthed-Presence

Illusion

Stamina

He found that by completing the persons dying wish. He could unlock the potential of their soul. He eventually did get revenge for the young lady.

He even spent years looking for a soul that would allow him to teleport or open up portals. But he had no luck. It takes him a long time to even identity what ability is awakened by the soul. There are also limitations to his ability to use these powers.

He can only use one ability at a time. They share a 'slot'. So he must switch back and forth between them.

He got in trouble playing 'hero' and actually died. That was how he found out about the uniqueness of one of his souls. When he died. He entered that black space and remained conscious. He then was still able to switch the slots for his souls in this space.

This was how he learned about his self resurrection soul ability. It brought his consciousness back into the world of the living. He decided to keep this ability as a permanent one. He wouldn't release the soul.

It only brought his spirit body back to the world. He still needed to then use his healing factor to regenerate his body.

He had only one goal in life now.

Become a wizard!