Chapter 881 Midnight Witch <TOC> Chapter 883 Membrane of the Nightmare Domain
Translator: SumTLMan
Crafting the model for the Dream Initiation spell was, as expected, a task without surprises.
However, when it came to testing the Dream Initiation spell, Angel found himself unsure of who to initiate first.
Freud volunteered, “I’ve been a spirit for so long that I’ve nearly forgotten the taste of dreams. I miss the Dream Realm. Let me venture in first.”
Angel paused. He hadn’t considered that spirits could be drawn into dreams.
Freud seemed to understand Angel’s uncertainty and explained, “Dream Initiation is a method to connect to the Dream Realm. As long as there is mental activity, it does not care about your physical form. Even elemental or gaseous beings can be pulled into dreams.”
Angel contemplated for a moment. Freud had been a dream magic apprentice during his life, and his understanding of the Dream Realm was relatively thorough. As such, he was indeed the best choice to scout ahead.
With this in mind, Angel nodded in agreement to Freud’s request and began to close his eyes to construct the Dream Initiation spell model.
Two minutes passed, and the Dream Initiation spell was not yet complete.
Freud watched Angel with a touch of confusion. Even beginners shouldn’t take this long to create the Dream Initiation spell. Once proficient, it could even be done within five seconds.
What Freud didn’t know, however, was that this was the cost of Angel’s unconventional approach. Each time he constructed a dream magic spell, he had to meticulously deal with hundreds of coordinate points within the spell model. Naturally, this would be much slower than conventional casting.
Another two minutes passed before Angel finally opened his eyes, enveloping Freud in the Dream Initiation spell imbued with the power of nightmares.
Under the faint glow of the Dream Initiation spell, Freud gradually closed his eyes.
The long-forgotten sensation of sleepiness ascended, causing Freud to involuntarily sink into comfort and tranquillity, eventually drifting off into a deep, sweet slumber.
Watching Freud lapse into unconsciousness, Angel took a cup of sap from the Milk Fruit Tree from his bracelet, added a spoonful of sugar, and sipped it while patiently waiting on the sidelines.
He didn’t dare venture into Freud’s dream. Although their relationship was currently peaceful, Angel remained cautious of Freud, who had not yet sworn the Oath of Luo.
The Dream Initiation spell would induce lucid dreams, and with Freud’s understanding of dreams, if it really was a lucid dream, he could immediately locate the node of Angel’s dream entry. At that point, Angel himself would be the one cornered.
Therefore, Angel chose to wait rather than enter the dream.
After a handful of hours, Freud’s eyes sluggishly fluttered open, carrying an uncontainable excitement and surprise, potent enough that even without Angel’s inquiry, one could anticipate a promising outcome.
Sure enough, Freud’s response was affirmative, “It truly is the Wilderness of Dreams! Once I entered via the Dream Initiation spell, it was nothing but a vast and boundless wilderness!”
“As expected, the key to entering the Wilderness of Dreams is not the Dream Conch, but rather your unique illusory power, Lord!”
Freud’s answer stirred a wave of excitement in Angel as well, as it seems the Nightmare power truly catalyzed a change in activating the dream-related spells. Regardless of everything else, this singular point alone was a tremendous gain for Angel.
Once upon a time, when Sanders handed the —Mystery of the Nightmare Domain— to Angel, he asked him to fulfill a promise: to compile a research project related to the Nightmare Plane and Nightmare Domain into the —Mystery of the Nightmare Domain— within fifty years.
The connection between Nightmares and Dreams was, undoubtedly, an extremely valuable topic.
Suppressing his own excitement, Freud continued, “However, when I was dragged into the dream by the Dream Initiation spell, it was inevitably lucid dreaming. Yet, I couldn’t control the Wilderness of Dreams like other lucid dreamers. But this is good too, I can treat the Wilderness of Dreams as another untamed continent.”
Freud was already optimistically contemplating how future cities might sprout from the ground within the Wilderness of Dreams. It was an alluring vision.
However, Angel was not as satisfied. If he couldn’t control the Wilderness of Dreams, many things would still be unachievable. For instance, Freud’s concept of infinite alchemy – even though materials could be introduced to the Wilderness of Dreams through the Dream Conch, these materials would appear randomly within it. Searching for a tiny piece of material in the vast Wilderness of Dreams would be like finding a needle in a haystack.
By the same token, trying to locate Jon, who had been tossed into the enormous Wilderness of Dreams, would be an extremely challenging task.
Most crucially, if you can’t control the Wilderness of Dreams and enter as a mere mortal, how could you possibly practice alchemy?
Therefore, the results of the current experiment were not sufficient to meet Angel’s needs.
He had to gain some authority over the Wilderness of Dreams. If he could control it like other lucid dreamers, that would be ideal.
However, how to achieve this goal was an urgent problem to be solved.
Angel decided to see for himself.
As before, he asked Toby to guard his body while he cast a Dream Initiation spell on himself.
Subsumed in a haze, Angel found himself transported into a dreamscape. Upon opening his eyes within the dream, he realized he stood amidst a boundless plain, its edges lost to the horizon.
As the wind whispered across the landscape, Angel felt a shiver of cold prickling his skin.
Casting a glance downwards, he discovered that despite being dressed in thermoregulated clothing, it seemed to have no effect.
Even though he could connect to his mental space, it felt like a mirror reflecting an illusion, an unsettling falsity pervading its existence.
In other words, within this Wilderness of Dreams, he had become as vulnerable as a mere mortal.
Fortunately, there didn’t seem to be any dangerous creatures lurking in the dreamy wilderness, so immediate safety seemed assured. However, rendered powerless, Angel was unsure of how to conquer and control this dream wilderness.
Rubbing his chin thoughtfully, Angel pondered his next move.
Just then, he noticed familiar green runes materializing in thin air before him.
Caught off guard, he lifted his right hand for closer inspection.
Despite his right hand being gloved, the illusion nodes on the glove were missing, revealing the hand in its natural state. Not only was it a size larger than his left hand, the hovering green runes that usually adorned it had also reappeared.
With the activation of these green runes, Angel could distinctly sense an aura of the Nightmare Plane seeping out from them.
The green runes on his right hand inherently emitted this aura of the Nightmare Plane. Sanders had even conducted experiments with his Black Tower Nightmare Domain, confirming that the aura from Angel’s green runes could perfectly substitute the nightmare stone, replenishing the Nightmare Plane’s aura.
Angel was surprised to find that within the Wilderness of Dreams, the green runes could still release a substantial amount of the Nightmare Plane’s aura.
As this aura enveloped him, he felt a tickling sensation around the area of his scapulae.
Each time this part of his back itched, it definitely related to matters of the Nightmare Plane. Angel’s heart rate quickened slightly, and he briefly contemplated whether a strategic retreat might be in order.
However, as soon as the thought surfaced, he dismissed it. The value of the dream wilderness was too precious, and the presence of the Nightmare Plane’s aura was undeniable. If he were to explore the Wilderness of Dreams, there would be no avoiding this aura.
Unless he chose to forever remain oblivious to the Wilderness of Dreams. However, such an option was clearly out of the question. Regardless of whether it was for Jon or for himself, he could never abandon the vast expanse of the dream realm.
With this in mind, Angel’s restless heart gradually began to find solace.
An indeterminate amount of time later, as the itching sensation on his back began to subside, Angel could faintly perceive an inexplicable connection between himself and the world around him…
To be precise, he felt an infinitesimal link with the pervasive aura of the Nightmare Plane that swirled within this realm.
As he delved his consciousness into the swirling aura of the Nightmare Plane, Angel found himself abruptly adopting a god-like perspective.
Any location within the Wilderness of Dreams that was enveloped by the aura of the Nightmare Plane could be observed through this god-like perspective, akin to having a Heavenly Eye.
For instance, Angel, through this sudden ability, quickly roved his vision across the areas shrouded by the aura of the Nightmare Plane. Although the speed of observation was not comparable to Gravity Lines, it could certainly rival the velocity of the Gondola.
In other words, although his physical body remained stationary, his field of view had expanded to encompass all areas blanketed by the aura of the Nightmare Plane.
However, the current amount of Nightmare Plane aura within the Wilderness of Dreams was not extensive and covered only a small number of regions. Yet, Angel could sense a source that was steadily infusing the aura of the Nightmare Plane into the Wilderness of Dreams. In the future, the entire Wilderness of Dreams may be blanketed by the aura of the Nightmare Plane, though this process could take an incredibly long time.
This sudden ability brought great joy to Angel.
He had previously worried about the vastness of the Wilderness of Dreams and the difficulty of pinpointing precise locations. But with this ability, he could see far and wide!
However, he could only observe through this god-like perspective and had no power to influence anything unless he physically arrived at the location.
Without a vehicle, he could only traverse the terrain on foot. To explore the Wilderness of Dreams by walking could potentially take decades.
After experimenting briefly with the use of this god-like perspective, Angel planned to observe the areas covered by the aura of the Nightmare Plane, especially intending to visit the source of the Nightmare Plane aura.
Currently, there were two sources of the Nightmare Plane aura in the Wilderness of Dreams. One could be considered to be the green rune on Angel’s right hand, while the other was located in the distant southeast.
Angel planned to investigate the source of the Nightmare Plane aura in the southeast.
Using his God-like Perspective, Angel’s vision darted ceaselessly within the aura of the Nightmare Plane. After approximately half an hour, Angel had entered a region where the aura of the Nightmare Plane was considerably dense.
While tracking the origin of the aura from the Nightmare Plane, Angel inadvertently stumbled upon a petite building standing in his path.
This was the very edifice that Angel had previously visited via the Dream Conch, its presence immersed in the Nightmare Plane’s aura. So much so, that Angel allowed his gaze to delve inside and survey its interiors, discovering an uncanny resemblance in the arrangement and decor to its real-world counterpart.
This unexpected encounter with the small building significantly uplifted Angel’s spirits, at the very least, it indicated the feasibility of sculpting the Wilderness of Dreams into a habitable world for Jon.
However, to ensure absolute safety, all potential threats within the Wilderness of Dreams must be thoroughly eradicated. For instance, the essence of the Nightmare Plane’s aura – its source, demanded an immediate investigation.
Chapter 881 Midnight Witch <TOC> Chapter 883 Membrane of the Nightmare Domain