Dreamscape Forest
Under the radiant light of a purple moon, two dirt-yellow figures were galloping across the fields at a fast speed.
These two yellow figures were naturally the two yellowish-brown earth lizards. The two figures sitting on their backs had their entire bodies tightly wrapped up, only exposing their scarlet pupils which flashed coldly from time to time.
“This earth lizard is a rather good way of getting around!” Leylin looked at the lower limbs of his mount. Above the lizard’s barbed feet was a translucent membrane, rich in energy particles which converged around its surface. With this, it could very easily traverse jungles, swamps and other complex terrain.
“When we cross the Dreamscape Forest, we will arrive at the Whiteriver Valley. That’s where my family is…” Belinda’s voice did not carry a single trace of joy.
“Dreamscape Forest? Why the name…” Leylin had some misgivings, and soon looked all around him. Their surroundings were all grasslands, and there was nothing like a forest nearby.
“Dreamscape Forest, Dreamscape! You mean…” Leylin’s pupils constricted slightly. His thoughts drifted to the Alabaster Devilsnake’s bloodline skill and he thought of a possibility.
[Beep! Spatial undulations detected ahead, determined to be Dreamscape access points.] The A.I. Chip’s mechanical voice transmitted over as well.
“That’s right. We’re also known as the Alabaster Devils, my clan stays in the cracks leading to Dreamscape, and we often lure travellers in to prey on them.” Belinda’s voice was cold.
Leylin’s thoughts, however, drifted to the A.I. Chip’s introduction of Alabaster Devilsnakes, ‘They enjoy tormenting their prey within Dreamscape before eating their meal!’
Traces of dark red fog appeared, making the surrounding area foggy and hazy. By the time they had passed through this fog, a strange forest immediately appeared in front of Leylin. The black branches and tree leaves criss-crossed, and there were many giant trees without a single leaf showing their bare form, like a grotesque withered arm waving about without stopping.
[Beep! Host has entered a Dreamscape zone!] the A.I. Chip transmitted in reminder.
‘Dreamscape zone… This isn’t actually dreamscape, nor is it the Hail Continent. It’s instead an intersection of the two places, resulting in a myriad of strange events… And now I’ve entered using my real body!’ There was a strange expression in Leylin’s eyes. Rather than his most recent experiences in Dreamscape, he was thrown back to his first time researching this world, with his real body fully entering it.
Even though he was physically protected and dreamforce should have less of an effect on his truesoul now, if something were to happen then it would be very difficult to escape.
“The bloodline of the Alabaster Devilsnake will temporarily protect us from the attacking Nightmare Creatures. Follow me closely!” Belinda shouted as she advanced forwards in front of Leylin.
‘The Alabaster Devilsnake bloodline!’ Leylin allowed a layer of white scales to cover the surface of his body. As expected, after entering the Dreamscape zone, these scales became even more brilliant. They seemed to come to life, breathing in the dark red dreamforce. It was like a traveller had returned home, and there was not the slightest sense of unfamiliarity.
The earlier oppressive feeling that Leylin had felt from the Dreamscape Forest also disappeared without a trace.
‘Alabaster Devilsnakes are darlings of Dreamscape. As expected, they are direct descendants who inherited a part of the Snake Dowager’s ability with Dreamscape.’ There was an admiring look in Leylin’s eyes, ‘A.I. Chip! Scan the entire area and establish task: Probe the Alabaster Devilsnake’s ability to travel to and from Dreamscape!’
[Beep: Task established, beginning data collection!] The A.I. Chip faithfully implemented Leylin’s command.
A pure-blooded Alabaster Devilsnake could travel through Dreamscape to the outside world; this was how one had originally attacked Leylin. A mixed-blood like Belinda only inherited a weakened form of this ability, and could merely communicate with Dreamscape and draw upon the strength of dreamforce.
Although Leylin did not belong to the Alabaster Devilsnake bloodline, he possessed the blood of a rank 5 Alabaster Devilsnake, and was even in such a good environment to use it. Using the A.I. Chip to find a way for a real body to travel through Dreamscape would be very beneficial for him.
‘If I grasp this technique, I’ll be able to enter and leave Dreamscape anytime I want, anywhere I want. Perhaps…’ There seemed to be fires blazing in Leylin’s eyes.
Freely entering and leaving Dreamscape would require a huge amount of dreamforce as well as the resources of an enormous world. But the important thing was that he could use the infinite space of Dreamscape to travel to different worlds!
After all, limits such as distance and time were simply a joke in Dreamscape.
‘It seems like the transport array was a lie. Belinda wants to use Dreamscape as a springboard to travel directly to the Serpent Plains…’ Leylin concluded in secret.
Of course, using Dreamscape as transit wasn’t easy either. Forget the monsters and dangers that lurked there, just the extremely indefinite nature of Dreamscape gave Magi a great headache. It was likely that Belinda’s ancestors spend countless painstaking hours to explore the region and find this passageway.
The Dreamscape’s drop point was just a hair’s breadth away, but it could completely defeat their purpose. If the hadn’t possessed the Alabaster Devilsnake’s Dreamscape ability, they wouldn’t have dared to experiment so boldly.
Leylin sped up his earth lizard and moved to Belinda’s side, “Belinda! Is it possible to enter this Dreamscape Forest at any time?”
“Of course not! Although the Dreamscape Forest has always been in the wilderness plains, only those with the Alabaster Devilsnake bloodline and the special opening ceremony can make the Forest appear. Otherwise they could travel the entire wilderness and only see the grasslands and sand…” Belinda hadn’t even turned to give him this immediate answer, “This is how…”
A spiritual force message immediately entered Leylin’s mind, full of information about incantations and signalling runes as well as special refining techniques. Seeing this, Leylin immediately realised how much Belinda’s clan had sacrificed to open up this safe pathway. And now he’d gone so far as to give this huge secret to him?
Leylin remained silent for a while, then asked, “Aren’t you afraid that I will sell this secret to other Alabaster Devilsnake clans?”
There were definitely other Alabaster Devilsnake clans in the Hail Continent. There were ten noble Alabaster Devilsnake clans, each varying in size, and these clans also had their respective branches and extended relatives.
Because of their open-minded nature, there was a large number of mixed-bloods and illegitimate children. This led to a huge number of bloodlines draining out, and it was only because of this that Leylin dared to impersonate a mixed-blood Alabaster Devilsnake.
According to what Belinda said, her family was only a branch of a pure blooded clan, and only her father, the head of the family, was a pure-blooded Alabaster Devilsnake. The rest were all mixed bloods or young children.
“Do as you wish! I’ve already given the information to you anyway, so it belongs to you.” Belinda seemed very casual, and her attitude shocked Leylin deeply.
‘It looks as if Belinda’s preparation to break off her relations with her clan will not be some easy matter. However, does this really concern me?’ A sly smile slowly curved at the edge of Leylin’s mouth.
‘This could be my chance. Not just for a bloodline, but also for research materials on Dreamscape, and even beast spirits and sacrifices among other things…’
“Haha……” At this moment, a yellow figure flashed in front of Leylin’s eyes.
Although the earth lizard’s speed in the forest was already very fast, the yellow figure clearly effortlessly surpassed them, flashing past them like a phantom.
“What is that thing?” Leylin asked in shock.
After a startlingly brief glimpse, he had seen the full view of the yellow figure from earlier. Wearing an outfit of ridiculously wide-fitting trousers, with clothes that were brightly coloured strips of cloth, this being had a face painted with oil colours. It looked like a clown from a play, but it managed to run at lightning quick in spite of cumbersome wooden shoes.
No! He couldn’t call it running. This clown was actually kind of floating, leaving many afterimages in its wake.
“Nightmare Creatures! They are a special patrol of the Dreamscape Forest.They don’t normally appear,” Belinda looked very imposing, “But if they drag us into the real Dreamscape even if we’re mixed-blood Alabaster Devilsnakes it will be hard for us to escape. After all, we’re not purebloods and don’t have the ability to freely traverse it…”
‘Nightmare Creatures?! Are they after me?’ Leylin was shocked, and an idea flashed in his head.
After all, he didn’t have a true Alabaster Devilsnake bloodline, and even his ability to to link together with dreamforce came through consuming the Alabaster Devilsnake bloodline. As a result, this anomaly of being discovered by the Nightmare Creatures could be understood.
“Haha… Haha……” They continued to advance towards Leylin, and the yellow clown appeared more and more frequently.
“Go away!” Belinda’s face was very impatient and she suddenly roared, scarlet ripples loudly exploding forwards, splashing on the trees and grass.
By the time the explosion had passed, the forest across them had been cleared into a bare pathway. The yellow clown that had been there had vanished without a trace.
“Coo coo……” The sound of fluttering bird wings could be heard, and soon after a gigantic black tree next to Belinda came to life,
“Ahh!” Belinda’s earth lizard was quickly bound up by vines, and let out a high-pitched lamenting call.
“Eternal Light!” A scarlet light suddenly appeared in Leylin’s hand, making the vines shrink back swiftly as if they had seen their natural enemy.
“Let’s go!” Belinda flew behind Leylin, and his earth lizard began to flee at the speed of lightning.
