First Interstellar Guide Chapter 3: Mental Landscape

Chapter 3: Mental Landscape

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

After humanity entered the interstellar era, two types of evolved beings emerged: “sentinels” and “guides.” Most sentinels naturally possess sharper senses and bodies stronger than ordinary people, while the awakening of guides follows no set pattern. Some guides were born with strong mental energy, while others awaken suddenly later in life, with cases even reported awakening after age 30.

According to federal regulations, awakened guides must register with the “Guide Association.” They were taken to the “Sanctuary” for primary education, where they learned to control and use mental energy. After learning, young guides can continue their education in schools. The government directly assigned jobs to guides who awaken after graduating from university.

Based on their abilities, sentinels and guides were strictly classified into levels, ranging from low to high: C-rank, B-rank, A-rank, and the rare S-rank.

Yu Ran’s explanation that he “just awakened last month and didn’t have time to register with the association” does make sense. His spirit body appeared very weak, indicating he was most likely a C-rank guide—but one shouldn’t judge a person solely by appearances; surfaces can be deceiving, and the spiritual realm was where the truth lies.

The real or false truth becomes apparent as long as one enters the guide’s spiritual realm.

Mohr quickly thought of a method. He touched the youth’s shoulder, gently meeting his eyes. “Don’t be afraid. I’m Mohr, a logistics guide of the federal Eagle Special Forces. Our captain, Major General Lu Zexuan, saved you just now. He has no ill intentions towards you; he was merely conducting routine questioning.”

Mohr secretly used his “spiritual soothing” ability to dispel the youth’s panic as he spoke. As expected, the youth’s mental energy was weak; he showed no resistance to Mohr’s soothing. His emotions quickly stabilized, and his gaze toward Mohr gradually filled with trust.

Seizing the opportunity, Mohr continued, “Can you tell me under what circumstances you awakened?”

Yu Ran replied earnestly, “I grew up here since I was a child, just an ordinary person until I turned 18. Last month, on my birthday, my parents unexpectedly passed away, and I suddenly awakened the abilities of a guide… But, I’m still not proficient in using this ability, and I don’t have the money to buy an interstellar ticket to the capital’s guide association, so I delayed registering…”

Guides awaken their “mental energy,” many guides suddenly awaken when their spiritual realm is severely impacted. The youth experienced the tragic loss of his parents, reaching the peak of emotional turmoil, which caused severe damage to his spiritual realm, leading to the unexpected awakening as a guide. Moreover, being poor and orphaned, he couldn’t promptly register with the guide association in the capital… It sounded reasonable.

However, Mohr couldn’t shake the feeling that this seemed too scripted or “smooth.”

Mohr spoke gently, “Don’t worry. Now that you’ve become a guide, you’ll receive excellent care in the future. You’re still very weak now; rest in my room for a while.”

Yu Ran obediently followed Mohr to his room.

Space on the starship was limited, and Mohr’s room was only about 15 square meters, containing a bed, a wardrobe, and a separate bathroom. Mohr fetched a clean set of pajamas from the wardrobe. “These are new. Go change in the bathroom. I’ve provided military-grade waterproof gauze for your bandages; you can take a simple hot bath.”

The youth nodded, took the pajamas, and walked into the bathroom, soon accompanied by rushing water.

A message appeared on the communicator, sent by Lu Zexuan, “How is that guide doing?”

Mohr replied, “His emotions have stabilized. He said his parents passed away last month, and he awakened due to the shock. I’ll probe further to confirm.”

“Understood. Once you ascertain his background, report to the guide association as soon as possible.”

“Got it.”

After a moment, Yu Ran finished his shower and emerged from the bathroom.

His features were quite handsome, especially his clear and beautiful heterochromatic eyes. The slender youth wore slightly oversized white pajamas, his damp black hair hanging by his ears. He looked obedient and docile, evoking a sense of compassion. His spirit body, a little white fox, remained curled into a fluffy ball, resting on his shoulder without any threat.

Seeing the youth’s innocent appearance, Mohr’s heart softened slightly. He led him to sit by the bed, tentatively extending his mental tendrils, and softly said, “You’ve been through a lot today; you might have trouble sleeping. Would you like me to help you sleep?”

Yu Ran immediately nodded without hesitation, “Thank you, Doctor Mohr. I really can’t sleep.”

Mohr quickly said, “May I look at your mental landscape? I want to know your level of mental energy so I can report it to the association. Don’t worry, I won’t break your mental barrier to pry into your privacy.”

The mental landscape was the world constructed in the minds of sentinels and guides, where their spirit bodies also reside. It can range from something as small as a room or garden to something as vast as the sky, ocean, or desert—the more powerful the sentinel or guide, the broader their mental landscape. Entering a guide’s mental landscape to determine their level of mental energy was a necessary step when registering with the association for newly awakened guides.

Yu Ran nodded, feeling somewhat embarrassed. “Sure. My mental landscape is very small. It should be C-rank, right?”

He seemed influenced by Mohr’s mental suggestion, showing great trust in him.

Mohr gently extended a few white mental tendrils and placed them on Yu Ran’s forehead. Yu Ran saw his spirit body—a pure white deer with antlers emitting a lustrous glow, beautiful and sacred. It stood quietly beside him, gazing at Yu Ran with gentle eyes that exuded a comforting power.

—An A-rank guide possessing powerful healing-type mental energy.

As the white tendrils gently approached, Yu Ran felt his head grow fuzzy, his mood becoming extremely pleasant and relaxed. He soon closed his eyes and drifted into a deep sleep.

Mohr also successfully entered Yu Ran’s mental landscape. It was a clear lake, about the size of a football field, surrounded by mist, with its boundaries visible at a glance. A cute little white fox was resting by the lake; its master was asleep, and it, too, slept soundly. It was such a small mental landscape fitting for a C-rank guide.

Mohr thought to himself as he continued exploring Yu Ran’s mental landscape.

Most of Yu Ran’s spiritual world consisted of warm and beautiful memories. He lived with his parents on a deserted planet, where his father was a miner, and his mother ran a cake shop. From a young age, he learned baking and could make many exquisite pastries with his agile hands. Although the cake shop wasn’t doing well, the family lived happily despite difficult living conditions. 

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew, ripples forming on the lake’s surface as a huge black fog drifted overhead. The black fog quickly spread, obscuring the sunlight like dark clouds. Within the black fog was a vivid memory belonging to Yu Ran.

“Mom, Dad!” The youth stood among the crowd, shouting frantically towards the collapsing mine. 

Surrounded by sorrowful cries, the mine on the deserted planet collapsed, burying many miners underground, including Yu Ran’s parents. Yu Ran’s birthday was that day, and his mother had already prepared a birthday cake. At noon, she went to deliver lunch to his father but ended up being buried underground along with him due to the collapse of the mine.

When Yu Ran arrived, the scene had already been sealed off, and he could only stand helplessly in the distance, clinging to the last strand of hope, awaiting rescue. As the diggers excavated more and more bodies, many faces were unrecognizable. Yu Ran stiffly approached the two bodies, trembling as he reached for the rings on their fingers, his voice choked with tears, “Dad… Mom…”

The youth witnessed the tragic scene of his parents’ death firsthand. The intense pain and despair in his memory were amplified infinitely within his mental landscape, and Mohr could even empathize—it was the deepest shadow in Yu Ran’s memory, his most intense negative emotion.

Within the mental landscape, these negative emotions would form into clusters of black fog, affecting the host’s emotions. At this moment, due to its appearance, the youth fell into a terrible nightmare. His brows furrowed tightly, his body becoming stiff and tense, and his spirit body, the little white fox, trembled restlessly with unease.

Mohr immediately extended his mental tendrils to dispel the black fog.

The shadows in the youth’s dream gradually dissipated, and sunlight once again bathed the lake. He soon broke free from the nightmare, drifting back into a deep slumber.

Mohr cautiously withdrew from his mental landscape. The youth on the bed slept soundly. Mohr gently touched his head, softly saying, “Sleep now. Those things are all in the past. Things will get better in the future.”

After soothing Yu Ran’s emotions, Mohr considerately turned off the lights and left the room. Mohr’s footsteps gradually faded away as the white deer followed its master out of the room, and all mental tendrils were retracted.

The boy who should have been “asleep” in bed suddenly opened his eyes in the darkness. Within his mental landscape, a breeze passed through, dispersing the thick fog around the lake, revealing the hidden real world. It was an expansive and boundless primeval forest, with the lake just the tip of the iceberg. In the forest with no visible borders, towering trees with developed root systems intertwined their branches and leaves, forming a canopy of greenery. Sunlight streamed through the gaps in the leaves, wildflowers, and grasses grew vigorously on the ground, and the entire forest was teeming with life, astonishingly vast.

—This was his true mental landscape.

The white fox, who had been “asleep” by the lake, suddenly enlarged its body several times and ran swiftly through the forest. Soon, it found its companion hidden in the forest.

A giant red nine-tailed fox stood deep in the forest, its blood-red eyes calmly watching its approaching companion. Its nine tails rose into the air, surrounded by flames under the sunlight. Although the white fox was smaller, it moved agilely as it ran, completely different from its previously lifeless state.

After the two foxes met, the white fox boasted, showing off its achievements, “Did I seem pitiful and weak with that C-level spirit body just now?”

The red fox replied, “Master, you temporarily deceived Mohr with your mental illusion. But Lu Zexuan isn’t easy to deal with; he’s an S-level sentinel. You should be more cautious in front of him.”

Yu Ran remained calm, “I know. His nose is very sensitive; he smelled my guide essence.”

Guides distinguish guides through mental perception, while sentinels can discern the different scents on each guide’s body through smell. Yu Ran deceived Mohr with the “mental illusion,” making Mohr believe in his experiences and background. Mohr thought he had effectively comforted Yu Ran’s spirit, but he didn’t know that the “illusion” created by Yu Ran had completely trapped him.

However, sentinels don’t have mental tendrils and can’t easily enter the guide’s mental world; they rely more on sensory memories and intuition. When Yu Ran was hit by a rock and bleeding from his forehead, the guide essence emanating from his body was more vivid than usual, and Lu Zexuan happened to detect the special scent on him.

“It’s fortunate that all the information about me from the association has been erased. They won’t discover anything just by my guide essence… I’ll have to adapt as necessary and hope he doesn’t disrupt my plans.” Yu Ran leaped onto the white fox’s back. The white fox swiftly ran through the forest with him while the red nine-tailed fox accompanied him closely. The wind rustled through the leaves in his ears.

The boy closed his eyes, basking in the sunlight above his head. This vast and boundless primeval forest was his true spiritual paradise.

Author’s Note:

The combination of sentinel and guide, including physical and mental union, so Yu Ran’s mental landscape needs to be described in detail, and later, it can be perfectly integrated with the Land Forces.