Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 2259: Chapter 2260: Worry and Limitation

Although Sanders was no longer interested in discussing Sumishe’s matters, there were still things that needed to be said.

”Do you have any suggestions regarding the authority Sumishe is undertaking?” Before explaining, Sanders was prepared to ask Angel’s opinion again.

Even though Sanders already had a plan in mind and had been plotting for several days, if Angel had a personal opinion or felt there was an urgent need for a certain authority in the Wilderness of Dreams, Sanders was willing to adjust his plan accordingly.

Angel, however, shook his head. He had been spending very little time in the Wilderness of Dreams recently and hadn’t considered this matter at all.

Moreover, Angel’s understanding of Sumishe was far less than that of Sanders. He believed that Sanders would choose the best and most meaningful authority for Sumishe.

”Since you have no other suggestions, let me share my own thoughts.”

Sanders did not immediately reveal the answer, but instead presented the reasons for choosing it.

”You’ve also read ’The Mystery of the Nightmare Realm’, so you should know what Sumishe’s Nightmare Realm is, right?” Sanders asked.

’The Mystery of the Nightmare Realm’ is an internal textbook from Illusion Demon Island, edited by Sanders, with contributions from Flora and Sumishe, recording their insights on cultivating the Nightmare Realm. This book is continually updated as they develop the Nightmare Realm. Angel himself also wrote a part related to the Wilderness of Dreams, but as it hasn’t been opened to the public, it currently circulates only between Angel and Sanders.

Angel: ”I know, it’s the Abyss of Magic Nightmare Realm.”

According to Sumishe’s accounts in ’The Mystery of the Nightmare Realm’, his Nightmare Realm was obtained from the Abyss. All Abyssal Creatures killed by him using Nightmare Illusions would form phantom shadows within his realm, enhancing its capabilities.

It could be said that the more Abyssal Creatures Sumishe killed, the stronger he became.

It sounds like a good Nightmare Realm, but everything must follow the rules: the more convenience you gain, the more hardships you must endure.

Initially, Sumishe only needed to kill ordinary Abyssal Creatures to increase the phantom shadows in his realm. Later, the level of creatures he needed to kill grew higher, eventually reaching a point where he had to kill demons. These demons, in turn, brought unprecedented growth to Sumishe.

Every time Sumishe obtained a demon shadow matching his strength, his power would undergo a significant leap transition, but at the same time, the dangers he faced also increased geometrically.

Sumishe’s Nightmare Realm first showed signs of damage when he encountered a demon in the Abyss that he thought he could defeat, only to find it was an Awakened Demon, forcing him to retreat hastily. Although he managed to escape, his realm was damaged.

However, the damage at that time was not too serious. If Sumishe had decided to return to the Barbarian Cave then and sought Sanders’ help, it could have been healed. But as he was on the cusp of stepping into the realm of True Knowledge, he postponed for another decade and returned only after advancing, when the damage had become difficult to repair.

In addition, following Flora to deal with Red Plague followers led to various incidents, pushing Sumishe’s Nightmare Realm to the verge of collapse.

In essence, the history of the damage to the Nightmare Realm is also the history of Sumishe’s reckless decisions. Had he treated it seriously from the beginning, things might not have come to this.

”The essence of Sumishe’s Abyss of Magic Nightmare Realm is combining the realm with True Illusion to generate a power for manipulating phantom creatures. This indicates that Sumishe has a high talent for manipulating phantasmal beings,” Sanders paused before continuing, ”Based on this, I suggest Sumishe try to undertake authority related to dream creatures.”

Angel pondered for a moment and agreed with Sanders’ judgment.

Although the Wilderness of Dreams currently has Dream Plant Fairies and dream creatures, it still lacks biodiversity. If various types of creatures could emerge, it would make the Wilderness of Dreams more prosperous.

However, Angel remains very concerned about this type of authority.

Dream creatures are not that easy to deal with.

Frode, who was once a Dream Apprentice, had shared many real experiences of Dream Sorcerers with Angel. Dream Sorcerers feared encountering dream creatures upon entering the Dream Realm.

Dream creatures are generally born in two situations. First, from the strange beings individual humans or other races dream of; second, as native creatures of the Dream Realm.

The first type of dream creature is a bit more manageable. Humans or other races can never escape their own knowledge. For example, mythological beasts created by humans seem bizarre but are pieced together from known elements: a deer’s antlers here, a horse’s hoof there, perhaps even a serpent’s tail, all tied together with a goat horn... Therefore, there are no unknown creatures, only those within the known realm.

Imagining the ”unspeakable” without having seen it is nearly impossible – without knowledge, imaginative powers are limited.

As such, creatures dreamed by humans mostly fall within their purview, and however strange their shapes, they remain logically confrontable.

Yet the Dream Realm’s vast planes encompass areas where intelligent races have even seen Deities. Should they dream of such things... the Dream Realm’s boundless creative power might truly reproduce the majesty of a deity within.

If a sorcerer encounters deity-like dream creatures, retreat is the wisest option.

The second kind, native inhabitants of the Dream Realm, are even more troublesome, for their size and ability can sometimes reach unimaginable proportions. An example is a dream creature as large as a continent, which Angel encountered while constructing the Wilderness of Dreams. That was definitely a native creature.

If not for Shava’s intervention, the Wilderness of Dreams might not have been successfully constructed.

Some dream creatures can even reach the level of Miracle rank... although such exaggerated strength is usually limited to the dream world, with little impact on reality.

But within the Dream Realm, these creatures are too numerous. In either case, the general approach of sorcerers when facing dream creatures is to flee if possible or retreat to the Real World if desperate.

Angel received far too much of this information from Frode, which instilled a strong wariness of dream creatures.

Despite wanting the creatures within the Wilderness of Dreams to become more diverse, introducing world-ending dream creatures would clearly outweigh any benefits.

Angel shared his concerns.

Sanders: ”I understand your concerns, but the dream creatures you fear primarily exist within the Dream Realm. The essence of the Dream Realm is elusive and ephemeral. While Wilderness of Dreams shares some dream realm characteristics, it mostly adheres to the fundamental logic of the world.”

For instance, in dreams, humans can fantasize about being creators, even gods, because of the nature of the Dream Realm. But the Wilderness of Dreams cannot facilitate such whims; it resembles more of a real world.

”Under such premises, I feel it’s worth considering the authority to release dream creatures. The Wilderness of Dreams has a governing consciousness or world awareness to curb the dream creatures’ strength from exceeding limits.”

”Of course, this remains speculative. Given the importance of the Wilderness of Dreams, we can’t gamble. Even hypotheses must observe fundamental laws.”

”Therefore, even when granting the authority to release dream creatures, restrictions must apply.”

These restrictions, listed by Sanders, included three points: first, the strength of such dream creatures must not exceed the Energy Level Limitation, only reaching levels at most matching that of intermediate apprentices given the current energy environment in the Wilderness of Dreams.

Second, dream creatures must not leave the Wilderness of Dreams autonomously. This restriction keeps them contained to prevent information about the Wilderness from leaking.

Thirdly, it creates a complete ecological chain. This is actually a feedback to the Wilderness of Dreams. Only things beneficial to the Wilderness of Dreams itself can endure over time. Moreover, the Wilderness of Dreams contains a faint will, which can adjust the essence of these Dream Realm beings through feedback, allowing them to integrate better into this realm. For example, no super-large creatures are born early on because this would harm the essence of the world.

”With these limitations in place, I think we can allow the powers of the Dream Realm creatures to manifest,” Sanders said. ”Besides, without limitations, I don’t think Sumishe can bear the full powers of Dream Realm creatures.”

After listening to Sanders’ entire explanation, Angel also felt this approach was good. With limitations in place, Dream Realm creatures should not exceed the threshold.

Moreover, these limitations only cut off part of the Dream Realm creatures’ powers, without harming the essence of their powers.

In the future, if the Wilderness of Dreams can bear stronger Dream Realm creatures, it would be possible to accommodate more Dream Realm powers then.

Thinking of this, Angel nodded, ”Let’s do as the mentor suggests.”

After a pause, Angel asked, ”So when do we bear the powers?”

Sanders replied, ”I still need to perform several more calculations, and Sumishe also needs to rest the mind. Let’s wait a few days, and when there is a definite signal, I’ll leave you a message in your tree group.”

After discussing matters with Sumishe, Sanders originally wanted to say more, but in the end, he said nothing.

Having taken on such a student was both his fortune and a test.

With complex emotions, he decided to refrain for now.

In the gentle warm sun, the mentor and student silently immersed themselves in their own worlds.

After a long time, Sanders finally broke the silence and said, ”Since you are in the Tidal World, you probably plan to collect elemental creatures, right?”

Angel nodded.

”Are you planning to first collect fire elemental creatures?” Sanders was aware that Angel’s current weakest area was fire. He, as an Alchemist, needed to use many tools to assist fire to reach the required level for refining intermediate or high-level works, which was obviously inconvenient. If he could master high-level Alchemy Fire Technique himself, it would undoubtedly provide the greatest enhancement.

”Yes, I’ve already chosen a target, a little fire elemental elf.” Angel said, ”Although it naturally stutters, it can speak during its elf phase, which is quite remarkable. Besides, its fire level is very high, and it has a pretty good talent.”

Angel simply described Kelonkcro’s situation.

After hearing Angel’s account, Sanders nodded approvingly. Kelonkcro, a fire elemental elf with such remarkable talent, must be an exceptional find in the outside world, one that a fire sorcerer would fight over.

But in the Tidal World, Angel stumbled upon it by mere chance, as if it were a stroke of luck.

Incredible.

Even Sanders felt a bit envious at this moment. If Angel could really tame Kelonkcro, it would at least save him a decade or more of cultivation time.

The more he thought, the harder it was to reconcile.

Sanders even regretted bringing up this topic.

But this topic didn’t last long because Angel sensed that Toby had entered and then left the Wilderness of Dreams. This was a signal they had arranged; if anything happened outside, Toby could use this method to alert Angel to leave the Wilderness of Dreams.

Angel didn’t know what had happened outside, but since Toby sent the signal, he didn’t linger any longer. After bidding farewell to Sanders, he swiftly left the Wilderness of Dreams.

In front of the floor-to-ceiling window, only Sanders remained.

Sanders leisurely finished the last bit of red tea, his gaze fixed on the opposite side, on Angel’s tea tray.

The tea bag was steeped in the cup, the tea overflowed, not a sip was taken. The sugar beside it was also untouched.

The only thing Angel had finished was the milk meant to be mixed into the red tea.

Sanders looked at the milk cup licked clean and couldn’t help recalling Angel’s previous words— ”I don’t like adding milk to red tea.”

”Actually, it’s not that he doesn’t like milk in red tea. He just doesn’t like red tea at all,” Sanders chuckled, the previously hard-to-reconcile feelings inexplicably dissipating substantially.

Sanders stood up, gazing at the cityscape outside the window, which was gradually becoming prosperous. The future that seemed a bit dark now appeared radiant, much like the city covered in a layer of golden shine under the warm sun.

Sanders’ figure also gradually faded away at this moment.

...

Returning to the reality, after opening his eyes, Angel listened carefully to the situation outside the cabin door.

It was quiet.

Aside from the whistling wind, there were only the occasional murmurs of Dangross.

It seemed like a very normal atmosphere.

Considering that everything outside seemed normal, why had Toby suddenly sent the signal to remind him to leave the Wilderness of Dreams?

Full of doubts, Angel opened the cabin door.

Looking around, aside from receiving surprised greetings from many elemental creatures, everything was very normal.

The weather was fine, the Gondola was still flying in mid-air, without any disturbances or danger encountered.

It seemed like there was nothing unusual... Wait, that’s not right!

Angel’s body suddenly froze, abruptly turning his head to look somewhere.