Chapter 856 The Peculiar Egg <TOC> Chapter 858 Jon's Dream
Translator: SumTLMan
A chill ran down Angel’s spine, making him turn around slowly.
What he saw was Eureka standing on the balcony, her black silk dress fluttering in the night wind, her face filled with a radiant smile.
Angel sighed inwardly. Each time he activated the Dream Conch, some mishap seemed to occur. Last time, it was the coercion from Sirius, the Big Fish Wizard. This time, it was Eureka’s prying eyes.
Did he have some sort of feud with the Dream Conch?
Though he said this, Angel was well aware that it was due to his own lack of strength. If he could reach the level of a formal wizard, regardless of how he used the Mysterious Object, no one would dare covet it.
“Lady Eureka, may I ask why you visit so late at night?” Although Angel spoke respectfully, his demeanor was rather aloof.
Eureka didn’t seem to mind Angel’s insincere attitude. Instead, she stared at the dark conch on the table with a hint of uncertainty, “This conch looks… quite familiar…”
“No need to doubt, this conch is the Mysterious Object you’re thinking of.” Angel picked up the conch and weighed it in his hand, “If you want it, I can sell it to you for 20,000 magic crystals.”
Upon hearing Angel’s words, Eureka immediately confirmed the appraisal of the conch, “The Dream Conch of the Moonlit Coast?”
“That’s correct,” Angel responded with composure.
A twitch tugged at the corner of Eureka’s mouth, and she disappeared into the moonlight with the night breeze, leaving a curt remark, “Boring, don’t mess with such useless things.”
When Eureka was out of sight, Angel stared at the Dream Conch in his hand for a long time.
“Useless thing?” Angel chuckled quietly.
The Dream Conch has been disparaged in the Wizarding World for many years. If Freud’s assumption could indeed be realized, the Dream Conch would become the Mysterious Object with the greatest potential. By then, all those who labeled it as ‘useless’ would be in for a rude awakening.
Although Eureka left decisively, the feeling of being thwarted left Angel feeling rather unhappy.
After a long silence, he finally cleaned up the shattered glass on the floor and returned to his desk.
Before he possessed absolute strength, the only things he could do when facing a formal wizard were to run or endure. Given his current situation, all he could do now was to endure.
Activating the Opulent Nightmare Domain, Angel delved back into his research on “Dream Entry.”
Inspired by a previous revelation, if the power of nightmares could activate the Dream Conch, it suggested that nightmares might possess certain dream-like characteristics.
Suppose, what if he attempted to practice the Dream Entry spell using the power of nightmares? Would it be effective?
Angel fell into deep contemplation.
Half a month later, in the ink-black expanse of Angel’s mind.
He had been attempting to craft the framework for the “Dream Entry” spell, marking his first real construction in the mental realm after long hours of computation on his holographic tablet.
To learn a spell, one must first grasp its general principles, extensively compute to adapt it to one’s mental realm, and only then begin to construct the spell model.
Angel’s case was somewhat unique. After repeatedly experimenting with the activation of the Dream Conch, he was confident that the power of nightmares indeed possessed dream-like qualities. Once this was confirmed, he intended to utilize the power of nightmares to construct his spell model directly.
It was akin to an individual with a fire attribute talent. When learning fire attribute spells, they would have a bonus or advantage. If their computational power was robust, they could directly construct the final spell model. However, whether they could cast it would depend on the compatibility of the spell model and whether their internal energy could support it.
Angel was aiming for this exact outcome. He himself definitely lacked the talent for dreams, but the power of nightmares had dream-like qualities. He wanted to leverage this, to disguise himself as a pseudo-dream talent and use the power of nightmares to construct the final spell model directly.
As for the spell model, he had spent half a month computing on his holographic tablet and was fairly certain that it was compatible with the Omniaxle.
Now, all that remained was to see if it could be actualized.
If it couldn’t, the worst outcome would be a backlash from the spell.
Angel glanced at the numerous bottles and jars on his table, filled with potions for mental rejuvenation and healing. He had experienced spell backlash before when practicing a second-level spell. If it happened this time, he was confident that he could weather it with the aid of these potions, even if it meant a few months of recuperation.
After all, it was better than wasting several years of his life.
Angel was determined to succeed or die trying. If he still could not perform Dream Entry, he would temporarily abandon learning it. Wasting time was simply inefficient.
Although he was mentally prepared for a potential spell backlash, he was still somewhat apprehensive when he truly began constructing the model.
Constructing the first framework was extremely critical as it laid the foundation. There were only three possibilities of failure: one, insufficient dream knowledge; two, construction errors; three, incompatibility.
Of these three possibilities, Angel was most concerned about the first one. His dream knowledge was definitely inadequate – he only understood the surface-level information and was completely ignorant of the deeper aspects. However, the reason he chose to attempt construction was because the power of nightmares possessed the qualities of dreams. He wanted to try and see if he could bypass this issue with this characteristic.
It was similar to many talents who didn’t need to understand the general knowledge of their own talents but could directly construct the spell model.
Take, for example, a summoner known as Ghost Caller. He had the talent for summoning, and he only needed to successfully construct the model for the summoning spell. Then, he could summon a Heart Eater. Of course, if he practiced cross-discipline, say, illusion spells, he couldn’t play this way. He would need to understand the essence of illusion spells.
Moreover, this approach of directly crafting spell models carries an inherent constraint.
It’s only applicable to rudimentary spells.
Intermediate and advanced spells, as well as magical techniques, require a substantial amount of accumulated knowledge over years. There’s no shortcut to this.
As he finished setting up the first formation, Angel’s eyes began to blaze with an intense light.
The fact that it hasn’t collapsed until now suggests that he indeed could feign dream talent through the power of nightmares?!
Since the first formation hadn’t crumbled, Angel slowly started crafting the second, the third… The Dream Entry spell consists of thirty-six formations in total. Compared to the Light spell, it only has one extra formation, which, given his current energy reserves, is more than manageable.
He has had experiences with crafting models using nightmares before, such as the Nightmare Fear spell. Therefore, crafting models with nightmare power wasn’t unfamiliar territory for Angel.
When the final formation was fully crafted, the model flashed with a streak of brilliance.
Dream Entry spell… successfully crafted!
To be precise, this wasn’t the Dream Entry spell anymore, but the Nightmare Dream Entry spell!
After confirming its success, Angel couldn’t hide his exhilaration. The successful practice of the Dream Entry spell in such a short period had many elements of serendipity. First off, the power of nightmares possessed the characteristics of dreams, and secondly, he needed a holographic tablet to help him calculate the coordinates for crafting the formations on the Universal Axis. These two factors were essential for swift crafting, but the most critical point was whether he dared to risk the backlash of the spell. That was the key.
As it turned out, he had made it through.
Although this was just an unremarkable second level spell and Angel had crafted many second level, even third level spells before, none of them had made him feel such thrill and excitement.
The joy of successful crafting was also unprecedented!
With a hint of a smile curling up at the corners of his mouth, Angel looked at the spell model in his mental space. He moved and appeared beside Toby’s small bed.
At this point, Toby had already fallen into a deep sleep, snuggled comfortably in the soft quilt.
Angel cast the Dream Entry spell on Toby.
Toby didn’t react, but in Angel’s vision, he saw a dark passage appear before his eyes. According to the book, this passage was also known as the Bridge of Dreams.
Angel had successfully built a bridge leading to Toby’s dreams.
Simultaneously, after casting the Dream Entry spell, Angel also felt a hazy dream tendril extending from his forehead. The next step was to extend this dream tendril into the Bridge of Dreams, after which he could enter Toby’s dreamscape.
Angel curiously watched the dream tendril on his forehead. It could freely curl and extend. The origin of the dream tendril was unknown, similar to the soul soil and mental space, as if they did not exist in reality but were extensions from another dimension.
Peering at the dream tendril, Angel extended it into the Dream Bridge without hesitation.
The far end of the Dream Bridge leads to Toby’s dream realm. The bridge itself is essentially an interstice of dreams, a conduit through which one can reach the realm of dreams.
As Angel set foot on the Dream Bridge, the dream tendril perceived an image – an immensely vast wilderness stretching as far as the eye could see.
The image vanished in the next moment.
Before him was a pitch-black passageway once again. Angel wasn’t sure what the image was, but he suspected it was a glimpse into the enigmatic realm of dreams.
Soon, Angel traversed the Dream Bridge, and a portal, white as a hole into a void, emerged before him.
As he stepped into the white portal, his perspective shifted dramatically into an odd first-person view.
He found himself rollicking in a world of pungent dried fish. The overpowering fishy smell was nauseating to Angel, yet he was unable to control himself, and thus, he roamed freely in this ocean of dried fish.
Looking at the grey wings on either side of him, he began to understand his situation.
He was currently Toby, or rather, he had temporarily parasitized Toby’s body like a parasite.
Based on Freud’s “Dream Entry,” the dream entry spell relies on the dreamer, allowing the practitioner to see what the dreamer sees, move as the dreamer moves within the dream, but without any means to communicate with the dreamer or alter the quality of the dream.
So, was he currently in Toby’s dream world?
Angel gazed curiously around him.
The sky was adorned with clouds as fluffy as cotton candy, surrounded by countless marinated dried fish, among which Toby was lying.
“What an unsurprising world,” Angel lamented internally.
Angel continued observing for a while longer. Since he was unable to move freely and there wasn’t anything particularly interesting happening, he prepared to exit Toby’s dream realm.
At that very moment, the earth quaked and the mountains shook.
A towering figure, as colossal as a mountain in the eyes of “Toby,” suddenly materialized before it.
Still in the throes of astonishment, Angel caught a familiar, ethereal voice emanating from the giant’s mouth, “Toby…”
Toby, brimming with joy, bobbed its head and flapped its wings, soaring towards the giant’s shoulder.
The closer Angel got to the giant’s head, the more familiar it seemed.
Once Angel beheld the massive, golden-furred head, it fell into a stunned silence… This was a mirror image of himself.
Indeed, this giant was none other than Angel.
To be precise, it was Angel as envisioned in Toby’s dream.
Toby rubbed its cheek joyously against the “Giant Angel’s” face, expressing its elation.
Angel, however, quietly exited the dream realm. It was quite a sight to behold – according to Toby’s perspective and size, it appeared so enormous and terrifying… Moreover, up close, one could even see the dense forest of pores.
Angel now understood, indeed, different perspectives foster distinct aesthetic appreciations.