Five hours have passed since we entered here and all attempts to open the exit have failed.

I think I’ll eat the pack mule first.

I’m glad Finnian isn’t here, as he’ll surely be the superior cannibal.

But in the mean time I’ll further examine the two books.

Both are leather bound and not very thick, which rules out them being huge manuscripts. Additionally, the paper is still white and in good condition, though the ink used is beginning to flake off. However, the bigger of the two books is damaged, with a large amount of it being torn, but at least some of it is salvageable.

Now all that’s left is translating it, which isn’t as difficult as you may think. Well… for me anyway.

Three years ago, I saw Dahlia reading a small book se bought of a traveling merchant. But it was written in a foreign text and therefore considerably less valuable. Or in her case, more affordable as books are normally an expensive privilege and normally only available to the wealthy. Though it isn’t impossible to own one if you save up money.

Though her attempt to teach me a healing spell a year earlier was fruitless, I was able to use magic to translate text, as can anyone who is able to manipulate mana.

To translate it you simply have to infuse mana into the text and with practice, you can begin to comprehend it. At first I could only understand simple words, but after having a couple of years practice, I can read any language with ease. However it is impossible to translate someone's name and made up words that don’t normally belong to the language. Though most slang words are fine since they’re commonly used by those fluent in the language anyway.

I translate the book covers to reveal their titles. The large damaged book Is called ‘Metals and Alloys’ and the other appears to be a diary with a side note saying- ‘property of ****** *****’. 

Diary of ****** ***** -

The last few diary entries-

Me and the rest of the metalsmiths have been working overtime to complete a weapons order and a tunnel has collapsed again!

It’s being caused by those annoying earthquakes happening recently that have damaged the metal supports suppose to last hundreds of years.

Good job we’ve got a earth mage with us, or it’ll be a pain waiting half a day for the repair team to fix it.

After the tunnel is open again we get back to the forge. Recently, the mechanical parts have been replaced with the expensive Obline alloy, since the previous ones keep being worn down over time.

This should stop me needing to make repairs every other week.

Also, I’ve added some more alloy choices as well as a human longsword design for trading weapons to them. A stupid idea, but at least we’re not making weapons with our high-class materials.

… I should probably get back to work, we are already behind on this order due to those infernal earthquakes  

We are running low on metals and only have the materials to make the steel, Damascus steel and vucryx. We also have a lot of left over silver that we can't get rid of and I have made a suggestion to the council to sell it to the greedy humans since we have little use for it.

So other than the silver, the other metals are in the auto-smelter ready to make the few alloys we can. At least most of our order is for steel based objects.

Crap that was a big earthquake.

 I should go with the earth mage to repair damage before they collapse, I’m on a time schedule here and can’t afford more delays.

End of the last entry.

With the information in previous entries, I know this guy is a smith from an unknown race living in an underground village of some sort.

He is also the one who wrote the damaged book on metals that I have. Additionally, he briefly mentioned having to get a new mage to power the ******** since the old one is retiring.

For some reason whatever they had to use magic to power didn’t get translated. Perhaps it’s a name rather than an object, or it could possibly be a object that simply doesn’t exist in our language.

However, I’m tired. Time to sleep.

I open my eyes slowly, but I feel kind of groggy and rub them before forcing my eyes to focus on my surrounding.

I’m on a small island floating in space, as if the ground I slept on uprooted its self and floated into an endless abyss.

In the distance are many other small islands, though they’re too far away to make out any detail. Just small dots on a non-existent horizon.

The island I’m on consists of half the room I was in, abruptly cut off after a 5 meter radius around me.

I’ve been in a place like this before, though my immediate surrounding always were based of where I was sleeping. This doesn’t happen every night, though it occurs most often when I’ve been using magic that day.

I had given it the impromptu name, dream world… Ok, it isn’t a very good name, but I put over an hour trying to think of one before giving up.

Over time doing this, here is what I have theorised.

Firstly, since this originally occurred the day I accidently used my Shadow Blend ability, everyone who can use magic can enter this dream world.

Therefore based of this, the other islands in the distance are others, witches and warlocks alike.

On one occasion I entered this land after a raid and found a island much closer than the others, though still too far away to identify the person there. I believe this person may have been Dahlia, who would have been sleeping at Drayton almost around 5 miles away.

I turn around and my heart near stops. A island is only around 200 metres away, close enough that I notice it having a cave floor with some kind of animal pelt on it.

However, though this is shocking, since it is the closest one has every been, it was not the most alarming thing.

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

That would be the women stood right behind me, with long white hair that trailed down her back.

I woke up panicked and breathing heavily.

Sat directly across from me was Torben with the look of absolute horror on his face.

He begins to form a sentence through poorly stitching together stuttered words.  

“Aaa-re y-y-you o…k?

“Fine, stop worrying brother.”

I looked around a the others to find them sprawled out asleep, before leaning closer to Torben.

“I just met someone in the…dream world.” With last part of the sentence being whispered, and so quite I’m not sure if he even heard it.

Either way, he nodded to show he understood.  

30 minutes later I was asleep again.

“Well that was awfully rude, how much longer did you expect me to wait here.” A feminine voice speaks in an attempt to sound coy.

My eyes open again to find the girl still there with a scary smile on her face.

Her expressions remind me of Finnian, not that I think lowly of him, quite the opposite in fact. You know… Just in case you can hear me.

The white haired girl speaks again, drawing me out of my thoughts.

“Aren’t you going to say hello. Introductions are important after all!”

“Ah, yes. I am Raegan Martis.”

“hmm. I suppose that’ll do. You can call me Lilith! Nice to meet you!” See says excitingly, whilst offering her hand.

I shake it, and notice they’re very soft. Like velv- Wait no… not the time. Pull yourself together.

I focus once more and look at her, attempting to judge the type of person she is.

She’s slightly smaller than I am, and very attractive. Moderate breas-...

Moving on. Her eyes are violet and unyielding under my gaze, though not impassive. More excited, like a child with a new toy.

Unsettling to say the least, she seems very dangerous. Plus she’s a witch, in a dangerous forbidden land full of monsters wanting to eat you.

Additionally, wasn’t there a rumour that there is to be a witch hunt in the Forgotten Lands?

Well. Here is a witch. In the Forgotten Lands. Then wouldn’t sh-

“Are you going to say some thing or should I… No matter, I shall lead the conversation. How has your day been? Do you like the weather? Don’t you think the monarchy is ruining the economy? Do you like that new marmi thing? I heard it has divided opinions. Do you come here often? What’s your favourite alcohol? How many children do you want? Are you married? Want to discuss magic? How do you find the quality of roads these days? Aren’t seagulls annoying? What is your favourite animal? How old are you? Can I meet your parents? Got any cute little sisters? Do you want to rot underground for the rest of eternity? Do you have anymore topics because I have run out.

I’m lost. What were we talking about again?”

… What the fuck just happened.

Processing

Processing

Processing

“I choose talk about magic!” I finally respond.

“Interesting choice. I would have gone for ‘Do you want to rot underground for the rest of eternity?’, but magic’s fine.”

Well that choice certainly appealing, I haven’t been able to talk freely to another magic user before.

Well, their was Dahlia, but she denied knowing any advanced magic, and so I denied having any at all.

She speaks up in her usual excited tone.

“I know, how about we swap magical spells. Wait, even better! Lets trade details about our first magic ability!”

Was her use of the word ‘ability’ rather than spell intentional? Sure, I’ll go along with this game so long as I’m guarantied some information first.

“You first then.” I respond.

“O!K! Well, when I was eight I was playing with my friend, a cute girl close to my age. We were holding hands skipping in the middle of the forest, when I started to feel a funny feeling in my chest.”

What the hell, is this a story about discovering her first love? Either way, she continues with her story.

“So, I focus on the feeling really hard to see what it was. The feeling bursts from my chest and gathers to the hand holding onto my friend, before going into her. All of a sudden the funny feeling starts to flood back, but much stronger, spreading through all of my body. In the background I hear her screaming and screaming, until it dies down and the feeling stops coming from her. She collapses, her eyes completely white, while I’m laughing, thinking about how amazing it feels… How about you.”

It wasn’t a love story. Defiantly not a love story.

She’s female magic Finnian.

After a few seconds pause, I decide to begin my story, though it’s much less eventful.

“When I was in my early teens, I was practicing how to camouflage yourself to lay an ambush.” I know what your thinking, but at this age we weren’t preparing for a real ambush. That started the year after.

“Over a few day doing this and gradually improving, I was hiding in the shade of a tree un-camouflaged since we were testing the difference between it. I became slightly too into it and really didn’t want him to find me., though I wasn’t sure what I was expecting since it was the middle of the day. But as he was about to find me, the shadows of the tree rose from the ground and coated me. This shocked me and I lost concentration, stopping the magic and so he found me. I spent the next four days trying to replicate it, with my friend watching me the whole time in case I accidently did it without anyone around to verify it.”

I look up at her to see her with an ecstatic expression, whilst she slightly trembles.

Is that drool?!

I’m very unsure if this is a good thing or not. But all of my instincts are screaming at me that it isn’t.

“Umm… Lilith, are you ok?” I say shakily.

Lilith blushes slightly, which is kind of cute.

“Why of course! It’s just that I’ve never met someone with a shadow magic affinity! So lets move to some of the previous topics! Do you have a wife? How many children do you want? Do you even like women? Am I attractive?”

I’m noticing a theme here. How am I suppose to respond to this anyway?

Oh shit, I forgot! I’m trapped and going to die!

“How about we go to the ‘Do you want to rot underground for the rest of eternity?’ question.”

She pouts before responding.

“Fine… So. Do you want to starve to death in a ruin?”

“No.”