Chapter 94: Dream Ritual

"Did you completely draw the Dream Circle Ritual?" Raven asked as he stepped into the underground basement hall.

He soon saw a five-meter radius circle drawn using white chalk on the floor.

"It's done, My Lord," Selene responded.

'Oh? It's almost perfect.'

He stepped closer, examining the ritual circle with his sharp gaze. The array circle comprised rune words related to dreams and strange glyphs drawn on the outer regions, each radiating faint spiritual energy. Each line was drawn with precision, the white chalk seeming to shimmer under the dim light of the lamps.

One would find a decagonal structure if one looks deeply at the circle.

Not only that, but many candles were also placed all over the outer array circle, making it look beautiful.

"Let's wait until midnight," Raven said as he quietly moved towards the nearby chair and sat on it.

"So, did you get the materials for the dream rituals?"

"Almost, My Lord. I've already gotten ten magic stones, twelve dream lily flowers, ten drops of Dread Snake's blood, ten white poison leaves, and a Flame Bee's nectar bottle from the Mystic Cauldron shop. The problem is that we must also place ten things from the dream world during the ritual."

"We have lots of books and newspapers. Those are all we took from the dream world, after all." Raven said calmly.

"Then, the only thing we need right now is any Dream Creature's blood. But you said you have already extracted the goblin's blood for research. We can take a few drops from it." Selene's words made his face stiffen up.

"I-I don't think that's possible. I have already sent the bottle to my senior brother."

"…." Selene was momentarily stunned.

'Haa, I should've expected it. I thought he was always staying with us, so it never crossed my mind that he must have secretly sent the bottle away.'

"Do we have to visit the dream realm?" Raven furrowed and soon spoke.

"Let's go. We can make a quick travel and return before midnight."

"But I can only cast dream walk spell once after that, My Lord. What if I fail to cast the dream walk spell during the dream ritual?" Selene asked worriedly.

'If you fail, I will give you a new Elemental Circlet technique with dream affinity and let you completely engrave the dream spell models in your mind space.' He didn't say it out loud, but that was his original plan.

"Don't worry about it," Raven said as he walked closer to Selene, sat on the chair beside her, and grabbed her left hand.

At the same time, he took his spear and told her to store it using the Dream Harvest spell.

"Yes, My Lord."

After storing the spear, Selene closed her eyes and cast the [Dream Walk] spell.

A moment later, Raven felt a strange pulling sensation out of nowhere and soon blanked out.

…

After some time, Raven slowly felt a drifting sensation and opened his eyes.

But to his shock, what appeared before him was complete darkness. No, his eyes adjusted to the darkness in seconds, allowing him to see the interior.

"We are inside the underground basement, My Lord," Selene whispered from the right side.

Like him, she also used her spirit power to observe the surroundings and stood up from the chair.

"There are no dangers inside the basement," Raven said as he quickly checked and turned his attention toward the entrance door.

"Shall we go out?" He started walking towards the basement door and opened it with a creak.

"The door looks the same as the one in the real world." Selene observed the door and started walking upstairs. They soon entered the mansion's long corridor and felt a strange eeriness.

"So Dreamworld also has nights, huh?" Raven said while closely following Selene from behind. He was about to walk past her, but a hand gripped his shoulder.

"Why do I feel cold suddenly?" She asked in an anxious tone.

"It's not the surrounding air, but your hand is cold. And stop gripping my shoulder." Raven said while trying to remove her hand.

"What hand? I'm still walking ahead of you, My Lord." Selene asked in a stunned tone and slowly turned her gaze towards his shoulder.

Meanwhile, Raven felt a chill run through his spine!

He also turned his gaze towards his shoulder but noticed nothing was there.

"Don't scare me, My Lord." Selene was about to sigh of relief but felt a sudden whisper in her ears.

"Something is wrong about this place!" Raven activated the Mind Eye spell and closely observed the surroundings.

Although minute, he noticed a minute footprint started appearing a few feet away from them.

'Spear!' He whispered.

Selene took out the spear from the Dream Harvest spell and gave it to him immediately.

“Ghost?!” Selene’s face turned pale.

"I heard that ghost doesn't have mass. But this creature leaves a footprint and can even touch us physically. That means we can also touch it even if it is invisible." As Raven explained, he suddenly noticed that the creature moved towards the wall and disappeared.

No, he noticed it passed through the wall, moved towards the mansion yard, and ran away.

"It passed right through the wall? Moreover, did it sense the danger and run away?"

Although Raven was curious about that creature's origin, he didn't dare to chase after it.

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'I heard that dream realm is the scariest place from Zera multiple times. For now, we should find any other living creature and leave quietly after taking its blood.' While muttering, he noticed a presence ahead.

They soon saw a strange creature they had never seen before!

It was only half-meter tall but appeared to be around one meter long, with two heads of rodents. But what shocked Raven most was that its skin seemed rough and even had metallic spikes all over its back.

Upon noticing them, the mutant rodent with two heads shrieked and ran towards them while opening their mouths.

But as soon as the creature arrived closer, Raven took a deep breath and cast the [Cold Breath] spell while opening his mouth.

A dense ice elemental energy appeared from his mouth, spread more than five meters ahead, and froze everything in its path.

Although the two-headed rodent seemed strong, it wasn't as strong as an Elite Walker.

"I should decapitate its heads." Muttering, Raven enveloped his spear with an invisible aura and made a slashing movement towards its heads.

With a simple movement, Raven's spear neatly cut the ice layer, also cleaved the rodent's neck, and decapitated two heads.

"You've improved a lot, My Lord." Selene said as she walked closer to the twitching corpse and stored it inside her 'Dream Harvest' storage spell.

"We should leave now," Raven said as he turned around hurriedly and started walking towards the underground basement.

"I also don't want to see that creepy creature again," Selene nodded stiffly and followed Raven with fast footsteps.

Before long, Raven and Selene entered the underground basement, moved towards the chairs, and quietly sat down.

Raven then gave the spear to Selene and checked if that ghost creature or any other beings were following inside.

'I don't see any anomaly.'

"Let's leave," Raven said, holding Selene's hand tightly. Although he acted bravely earlier, he was scared too!

'My heart is beating wildly.' While thinking, Raven noticed his consciousness started to drift away.

…

A few seconds later, Raven and Selene opened their eyes in the underground basement hall and let out a breath of sigh in unison.

"Damn it, that truly scared me," Selene said as she wiped the sweat on her forehead and took out the mutant rodent.

Raven didn't waste a single moment as he grabbed a glass jar and extracted blood from the corpse.

"Check the time, Selene." He asked while keeping the blood jar on the table.

"Oh? It's 12.30, My Lord! Didn't we stay there only for a few minutes? How come more than four hours have passed? Isn’t the time difference too large?" Selene was startled.

"I also have no clue. Haa, let's do the ritual right away." Raven said as he walked towards the dream ritual circle and took ten books from the inventory.

"Selene, keep these books at the ten edges of the decagon circle."

Selene nodded quietly, grabbed the books, and hurriedly moved over to put the books.

Once she placed the books, Raven sent out another order.

"Light up the ten candles."

Nodding, Selene took an extra candle, lit it with a matchstick, and started lighting the candles individually.

"Place the magic stones right next to the candle. Also, place the Dream Lily flower right beside it."

She did as Raven told her and patiently waited for his next order.

"Put drops of Dread Snake's blood into each candlelight."

Selene was startled at first but hurriedly moved while carrying a test tube containing dread snake's blood.

She soon arrived near the candlelight and let a drop of blood fall into the candle flame.

But as soon as the blood droplet fell into the candle flame, something extraordinary happened.

The candlelight became fierce, enveloped the book, the magic stone, and even dream lily flowers, and formed a head-sized fireball.

Then, the fireball started to rise more than a meter above and suspended in the air like frozen in time. Even Raven was dumbfounded by this strange phenomenon but decided to focus on the ritual first.

"Don't waste time." Raven hurriedly called out Selene and made her snap back to reality.

"Y-Yes, My Lord." She moved towards the next candle and did the same. Ten head-sized fireballs hovered above the ritual circle in a minute and appeared mysterious.

"Put the poison leaves and Flame Bee's nectar drops into the flame," Raven said as he took the jar filled with the mutant rodent's blood and walked toward the center of the dream ritual circle.

Meanwhile, Selene followed his instructions quietly and completed the process.

As she put the last drop of nectar on the final fireball, they all started circling slowly in an orbicular motion.

"Now, enter the ritual circle, place your hand on my back, and get ready to cast the Dream Walk spell," Raven continued.

Selene didn't speak, quietly arrived behind him, and got ready to cast the 'Dream Walk' spell.

‘I never even heard of such a mysterious ritual, even from my wizard friends.’ What confused her more was whose dream they were planning to enter.

‘It’s better not to involve myself in this.’ She was scared inside.

In the meantime, the fireballs hovered in the air in an orbicular motion for a while and soon arranged themselves in a straight line.

When the fireballs hovered in a straight line, Raven opened the jar containing the mutant rodent's blood and poured it at the center of the dream ritual circle.

The next second, the whole array circle was lit in a blood-red color, and the blood started spreading to every corner of the ritual circle.

Simultaneously, the ten fireballs hovering in a straight line exploded one by one while sending unique energy to the surrounding air.

At that moment, Raven thought of a single person and shouted.

"Now!"

"Dream Walk!" Selene also didn't hesitate a single moment and cast the spell.

The next second, Raven and Selene noticed that the strange invisible energy in the surroundings started devouring all the flames, even the bloody ritual circles, and corroding the surroundings.

Before long, even the lamps were extinguished, and the walls and floors slowly crumbled.

A few moments later, the surroundings were replaced with plants and trees.

…

Judith’s Mansion house.

At that moment, a black-haired woman in her long blue gown lay on the sofa and was in deep thought. She looked around 35 years old and had olive skin, unique green eyes, and a triangular face.

She was none other than Judith!

“I drank too much.” She sighed deeply. Although this day was more like her birthday, it was also the day she became alone.

After leaving the village that raised her, she enrolled in the Crows’ Misery and spent most of her time in the library.

Although she returned to the village occasionally, she noticed a big difference. She remained younger while the villagers who took care of her grew old. Even her childhood friends became middle-aged men and women and had families of their own. What made her feel miserable was that the neighborhood aunt, shopkeeper, uncle, village chief, tailoring sister, and even her childhood friend died one by one due to old age!

Before she knew it, no familiar face was seen in the village!

“That’s why I don’t want to involve myself with the mortals. Those born with low affinities are bound to disappear sooner after all.” While muttering, she suddenly noticed a strange dizziness, making her fall asleep.

…

Meanwhile, Raven and Selene noticed they were not in the city anymore and got confused.

"What happened? Where are we?" Selene asked and soon noticed a small village up ahead.

"I think we are already in her dream world," Raven said and soon added.

"Cast the Dream Alter spell on me."

Selene nodded her head and cast the spell on him.

A moment later, he became a completely different person. He had deep-bluish hair instead of black, deep-set jade eyes, olive skin, a fleshy nose, and short eyebrows.

"This is truly amazing," Raven said with a chuckle and added.

"Stay here until I come back." Saying so, he turned his gaze towards outside and muttered.

"Flame Teleport!"

But nothing happened.

"Hmm, Rank-2 spells aren't working indeed." Raven nodded in understanding and cast the [Crimson Steps] spell.

A second later, sparks appeared beneath his feet, making him disappear from where he stood.

A blink later, he reappeared more than twenty meters away from Selene and disappeared again.

A series of flashes marked Raven's rapid progress as he moved closer to the village. A few minutes later, he arrived at the village entrance and slowly walked in.

But soon, a frown appeared on his forehead.

The village was quaint and unassuming—wooden houses lined a cobblestone street, and a few villagers moved here and there while doing different works. Yet, there was an unnatural stillness to their movements. Each step and gesture was repetitive, like puppets. Even their smiles and the way they talked gave Raven creeps.

'They are not living beings but creations of the dreamer, huh?' He nodded in understanding and started searching for the person he was after.

"Who are you, Mister?" A young child's voice came from the left side, causing Raven to turn abruptly.

At that moment, a 10-year-old girl stood a few feet away from him and looked at him with a curious gaze.

'Oh? I entered her childhood memory?'

He crouched slightly to meet the girl's gaze, his expression softening into a gentle smile.

"I'm just a dream traveler," Raven said, calm but laced with intrigue. "And you, young one? What's your name?"

The girl tilted her head, her long, dark hair swaying gently. Her curious gaze remained fixed on him.

"I'm Judith. This is my house.” Saying so, she pointed her finger at the small cottage house right behind her.

“You don't look like you belong here, Mister. Are you lost? What does dream traveler mean?" She continued to ask.