Chapter 29

Chapter 29: Awakening from a Dream

In the Dream Realm forest, Dragon-formed Dorothy looked at the small azure light ball offered by the Little Fox before her. She couldn’t help but feel delighted, thinking that she had found nothing tonight in the Dream Realm.

‘This little fox is quite cooperative…’

Although she was inwardly happy, her face showed no expression. Instead, she nodded at the Little Fox and silently touched the small azure light ball with her finger. The light ball transformed into mist and attached itself to Dorothy’s body. Seeing this, the Little Fox was suddenly startled.

‘This… Is it really absorbed directly without any processing? Isn’t there any poison recognition involved? Truly worthy of being a high-level existence, completely ignoring such minor secret transmissions…’

The Little Fox was stunned by the sight of the Dragon’s unprecedented actions, then felt even more joy that her offering had been accepted.

“Then… Farewell, little one…”

With that said, Dorothy, who could already feel that her transformation was reaching its limit, flapped her wings and flew up into the distance among the trees. The Little Fox obediently lay on the ground, watching as the Dragon disappeared into the distance.

…

In the real world, during the night in Igewent, on the rooftop of an apartment building near Nanyang Flower Road.

Moonlight poured into the dark room. Dorothy slowly opened her eyes on her bed, then held her head and slowly sat up.

“Sigh… My head feels dizzy… Were those just dreams?” Dorothy muttered, then shook her head quickly and added,

“Of course they were dreams!”

Next, wearing her sleeping clothes, Dorothy, still feeling drowsy, got off the bed and slowly walked over to the seat next to the desk. After turning on the gas lamp, she sat down and glanced at the clock on the side table, which showed it was around one o’clock in the morning.

‘One o’clock… I entered the dream around midnight, stayed in the dream for about an hour, mostly tinkering with spells within my own dream. The time spent in the Dream Realm was only around fifteen minutes. It’s mainly because my mental strength is too weak to maintain the transformation for long…’

‘If I hadn’t met that little fox, tonight’s journey into the Dream Realm would have been in vain…’

Thinking this, Dorothy began to recall the secret transmission she had received from the little fox. One advantage of receiving a secret transmission in the Dream Realm was that she didn’t need to spend time reading; once she absorbed the information, it was all in her mind.

The secret transmission given by the Little Fox was called “Tracing the Dark Path.” It was also a secret transmission about the Dream Realm, documenting the various adventures of an explorer named Alvin Royce in the Dream Realm. The book detailed how he sometimes evaded ferocious dream beings, sometimes got lost in the Dream Realm, and other times accidentally entered others’ dreams, only to encounter the people he met in reality.

Compared to the previous fairy tale-like “The Dream Explorer’s Record,” this “Tracing the Dark Path” presented in the form of an adventure diary had a certain level of realism. Dorothy suspected that the events recorded in the book might be true, and the author named Alvin might be one of the early pioneers in exploring the Dream Realm. This was because his descriptions of the real world in the book were still ancient, far removed from the industrial revolution era.

However, the “Tracing the Dark Path” given by the Little Fox was not complete; it only contained some of Alvin’s early explorations, with no overly important content. Nevertheless, Dorothy still found something valuable in it.

“Dream Realm positioning,” this was a method invented by Alvin to determine his current position coordinates in the dream. The coordinate information in the Dream Realm did not correspond to the real world at all. Every person’s dream cocoon generated in the Dream Realm was completely random each time they entered a dream. Due to the new environment each time they entered a dream, it was difficult to determine their location in the Dream Realm.

Alvin established a Dream Realm coordinate system by perceiving a “huge spiritual wave” radiating from the center of the Dream Realm and covering the entire Dream Realm, using the source of this invisible wave as the reference point and lighthouse. This allowed anyone to locate themselves regardless of where they were in the Dream Realm, making it a very practical technology.

Dorothy was very pleased to learn this positioning method, as it would make her future explorations in the Dream Realm much easier. However, another point in the book caught her attention.

‘There is a source located at the center of the Dream Realm, continuously radiating powerful spiritual waves that cover the entire dream realm, even acting like a lighthouse? What exactly is that source?’

Dorothy thought about this question briefly, then shook her head, deciding not to dwell on it. Such questions were beyond her current level of understanding.

In addition to the secret transmission information, the information ball left by the Little Fox contained a trace of her own spiritual imprint. These imprints were too small to be noticeable, but they resembled the “odors” in the Dream Realm. Next time if Dorothy wandered in the Dream Realm and the Little Fox was within a certain range, Dorothy could sense her presence.

Finally, Dorothy extracted spirituality from the incomplete “Tracing the Dark Path” and accumulated 3 points of “Enlightenment” and 2 points of “Shadow.”

Now, Dorothy had 8 points of “Enlightenment,” 5 points of “Cup,” and 4 points of “Shadow,” just short of reaching 10 points of “Enlightenment.”

“Huh… Keep pushing forward! All I need now is to obtain the ritual to advance~”

Muttering, Dorothy stretched lazily. Just as she was about to go back to sleep, she noticed her fingers, illuminated by moonlight due to the stretch, emitting a faint glow.

That was the ring she had worn all along, a dark black ring with a simple crescent moon pattern. This ring was passed down from her mother and emitted a faint glow at night.

“It seems brighter than before… An illusion?”

Dorothy pondered, but finally couldn’t resist the drowsiness caused by the consumption of her spiritual energy.

“Oh well, time to sleep… Can’t stay up late, health comes first…”

With that, Dorothy pulled the curtains and went back to bed, wrapping herself up and falling asleep.

…

Night, in a certain room, intricate patterns adorned the carpet spread across the floor. Several miniature incense burners were placed in the corners of the room in a mysterious arrangement, their fragrance permeating the air.

At the center of the room, a comfortable armchair was placed. A young girl was sleeping soundly in the armchair.

The girl appeared to be around twelve or thirteen years old, wearing a pink and white silk nightgown. Her face had a slightly chubby appearance, with long curly gray hair reaching down to her waist, and a small bow holding her hair in place on her head.

Gradually, the girl’s originally closed eyes began to tremble slightly, then slowly opened, showing a hint of confusion. At this moment, a low, slightly hoarse voice nearby pulled her out of her daze.

“What happened in the forest, Shalia? Your expression wasn’t good after you fell asleep.”

Hearing this voice, the girl named Shalia turned her head toward the direction of the sound. She saw a black cat standing on a high stool beside her, looking at her with a serious expression.

“Grandpa…”

“Grandpa…”