Chapter 24: Dream World
After a few minutes of walking, Charles arrived in front of 35 El Street around 2 P.M and went inside. As he stepped into the reception hall, he noticed that an old man was seated on the sofa while Eve Nightwind stood at the center of the reception room with closed eyes while making strange hand signs. He also saw Saron White standing around the corner and appeared to be waiting for Eve to open her eyes.
Furrowing his brows, Charles halted his footsteps and patiently waited.
After two minutes of long silence, Eve raised her brows and muttered,
''Mangrove trees… It's a City Ruin… Something is coming… Red hair… It's not a monster… It's not a human either… Blood… Lots of Blood… Corpses… Derrick is hiding in those corpses…''
Upon hearing Eve's strange, ominous words, Saron sucked in a cold breath and squeezed out a single word,
''Six.''
''Six?'' Charles got started by her reaction and asked in surprise.
''It's my sixth similar vision, son.'' Eve opened her eyes and muttered in a solemn tone.
Charles got stunned for a moment and soon stared at her in confusion.
'Six similar visions? Red-Hair? It seems like something big is going to happen. City ruins, is it? I need to be careful of any strange incidents.' He nodded thoughtfully.
In the meantime, Eve walked in front of him and said while flickering her finger on his forehead.
''Charles, inform me before you plan on staying outside.''
For a moment, Charles froze and soon widened his eyes as he recalled that he didn't tell her about his visit to Pine town.
'She must have worried about her son.'
He nodded his head and then went upstairs while saying loudly.
''I'm going to take some rest, mom. So, don't disturb me.''
''Did you have Lunch?'' Eve stared at Charles's back and asked,
''No. Place it in my study room. I will eat it later.'' Charles replied without turning back and stepped on the stairs.
''He is acting so cold nowadays.'' Eve shook her head in depression and then turned her attention towards the white-haired old man.
He was lean and looked around 70-years-old. He had black eyes and a pale face filled with wrinkles.
''Eve, can you tell me more about this strange vision? Why would my son go to a city ruin?'' The old man asked in puzzlement.
''He is already a Historian, an Explorer class member. But something feels off… Did someone discover a new ruin in the past few days?'' Eve furrowed her brows and soon shook her head while adding solemnly,
''If Derrick went to explore any city ruins, his life will be in danger. Tell him to stay away from exploring any strange ruins.''
''Okay.'' Old man stood up from his seat and then asked,
''What happened to Charles, Eve? I think he didn't recognize me.''
''His personality is completely changed, Sir Carter. Even if he recognized you, he would give you a nod and will go on his own.'' Eve shrugged her shoulder and then continued,
''Don't forget to inform me if any of the explorer team went missing. First Era ruins are dangerous places; we don't even have any clue about what is hidden in that place.''
''I will.'' Carter nodded his head and clapped his hand together while bending his waist a bit. After that, he turned around and walked out of their house.
In the meantime, Eve turned her face gloomy and said to Saron White,
''Inform City Lord Ethan and Bishop Reynolds about this strange vision. They might have some clue about it.''
''Okay. Did you find any abnormalities or unique things in those visions?'' Saron nodded her head and asked,
''That city ruin… All those houses in the ruin are more than five-storied buildings and looked very different from other First Era ruins… It might be related to the Era of Ancients.'' Eve said in a grim tone.
A look of anticipation appeared in Saron's eyes as she heard Eve's words.
''Ancients… Are you sure? If we find the city ruin before others, we might find some relics of taboo existences.'' Saron said in an excited tone.
''There will also be some terrifying dangers. Don't forget about our current situation. We will wait for the explorers' teams to find the ruin. After that, we should join the mission with some elite explorers and find out more about this strange vision." Eve said in a gloomy tone.
"Should we inform Charles to be careful when joining any ruin-related missions?" Saron thought for a moment and suggested.
"I will tell him to be careful of ruin-related missions." Eve nodded her head and then sat on the sofa with an exhausted smile on her face.
…
In the meantime, Charles entered his bedroom, taking a white towel in his hand, and soon went to take a shower.
After few minutes, he walked out of the bathroom and changed his cloth into a nightgown. He then took out a greyish black stone from his void pouch and placed it on his bed.
After that, he placed the void pouch in his storage cabinet and then lay on the soft bed.
Charles placed his head on the cotton pillow and soon fell into a deep sleep.
After an unknown amount of time, he opened his eyes and soon frowned as he noticed that he was lying on the concrete floor instead of the soft bed.
'What happened to my bed?' He stood up in confusion and soon noticed that there was no furniture attached to his room. His gaze soon landed on the broken mirror and soon noticed his short deep-blue hair appeared messier. His deep-set jade eyes looked as calm as ever and seemed to have some mystery hidden in them. He glanced at his lean hand and sighed heavily.
'I really need to work out from now on.' He thought in distress and soon glanced at the concrete walls and ceiling.
'They looked very old.' He narrowed his eyes.
In confusion, he walked out of his bedroom and soon went downstairs.
"Mom, are you there?" He shouted loudly and soon grimaced as he sensed the eerie silence.
'Is this the Dream World? No, it should be the Woolgather World…' He widened his eyes as he understood the situation and soon began to check for any abnormality.
'This dream looks very real. My mind is also clearer than ever.' He checked his body to find anything abnormal.
'I can't even tell the difference between reality and dream.'
'Hmm? Can I get hurt in this Woolgather world?' He furrowed his brows as he went near the concrete wall and punched his hand at it with full force.
A second later, he felt an endless pain from his right hand and got stunned.
'I can really get hurt in this Dreamworld! Moreover, I can't wake up by the sharp pain.' He was beyond shocked by this discovery. He quickly calmed his mind down and checked for any other clue about this Woolgather world.
Howl!
His heart skipped a beat as he heard the strange wolf's howl from outside and grew alert.
He hurriedly searched the house to find out any clue and soon noticed nothing left behind in his house.
'How should I wake up from this Dreamworld?' He raised his brows and soon thought of moving upstairs.
But as soon as he went near the stairs, he heard a loud shriek of a bird from above. It was so loud, which caused him to grip his head involuntarily.
'What was that?' After the sound died down, he looked at the sky through the window gap and soon widened his eyes in shock!
A monstrous blackbird with three heads circled above his house and appeared to be searching for something. It looked more like a mutated version of an eagle! No, he saw two… No! Ten different monstrous birds were circling in the sky and seemed to be watching the gloomy city like predators.
'Is this DreamWorld? No… It looks more like a Nightmare World.' A look of shock and awe appeared on his face. He took two steps back from the window to avoid being noticed by the bird-like creatures and then turned his gaze towards the stairs.
Growl!
His face stiffened up as he heard a strange growl from behind.
Turning around, he saw a one-meter tall shadow-like humanoid creature with pointy ears and a sharp nose was standing with a wicked grin on its face. This creature's face resembled more like a goblin and its skin looked very darker.
'Is it also a goblin?' He turned his attention towards the dark creature's weapon and became stunned for a moment.
'Scythe?' Without any delay, he rolled down in an instant and avoided the upcoming slash from the dark creature. He then slid towards the side and picked up a broken wooden leg of a chair.
Although he was shocked by the sudden turn of events, he didn't lose his calm. He evaded the scythe once again and stood up while distancing himself from the dark creature.
In the meantime, the dark creature growled at him in anger and then sprinted forth while slashing the scythe again. Charles calmly evaded the attack and noticed that the game interface was still working in this strange, dream-like world!
A look of astonishment appeared on his face as he cast [Conceal] spell on himself.
'How is this possible?!' He warily stared at the puzzling dark creature and started moving around it.
He then aimed the sharp wooden leg towards the dark creature and lunged forward from its back.
In a blink, he appeared right behind it and stabbed its chest area with full force. A painful growling sound came from the creature's mouth as it waved the black scythe in panic. Dark blood and worms oozed out from the creatures' orifices!
Charles didn't dare to stay close to the dark creature as he saw the strange phenomenon and took few steps backward.
Before he could initiate another attack, the dark creature let out a roar and started moving in unsteady footsteps.
The dark humanoid creature danced on the concrete floor for a few seconds and soon fell on the ground with a thudding sound, painting the white floor in shade color.
Breathing heavily, Charles went near the strange humanoid creature and frowned. He saw that creature started to turn into a black liquid-like thing and soon disappeared in front of his eyes.
[Target Eliminated! 230 Exp Obtained!]
Dismissing the interface, Charles squatted down near the area where that dark creature laid before and then turned his gaze towards the black scythe.
'It's a common item with no special skills.' He inspected the weapon for a second and soon fell into deep thoughts.
'This dream-like world seems to have connected to the physical world. Otherwise, the game interface shouldn't have appeared here. But, this world looks so dangerous.' His gaze swept past the reception hall and soon landed on the outside yard. He saw a five-meter-long black snake was slithering towards his direction while hissing fiercely. He also noticed some strange diamond-like gem on its forehead and got more curious about this strange world.
'What a bizarre world!' He muttered under his breath and soon heard multiple roars and shrieks from all directions. His expression stiffened up as he noticed that they seemed to be moving in his direction!
In a second, he turned around and moved towards the second floor. He soon arrived in the corridor and hurriedly went towards his bedroom. After arriving in front of the bedroom door, he opened it with a click and entered. Following that, he pushed the wooden door and locked it from the inside.
At that time, multiple crashing sounds came from downstairs, and soon the whole building began to shake.
Hiding his anxiety, Charles stared at the concrete floor and smiled unconsciously as his gaze landed on the greyish-black stone.
'Nightmare Stone.' He picked it up in a flash and placed it in his palm. A moment later, he saw the surrounding started to distort and soon noticed that his consciousness pulled out of the Nightmarish world.
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