Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 2972: Chapter 2973: Specialized Dreamscape

When Glaipnir completely disappeared, Angel turned to Laplace beside him: ”While waiting for the arrival of the Ancient Tooth Fairy, there’s nothing much to do. Do you want to inherit the Authority now?”

Back when they were at Rabbit Mountain, Angel had already discussed the matter of the Authority with Laplace and understood her desires. However, Angel needed to refine a mirror to bear the path through Rabbit Mountain, so he didn’t immediately bring Laplace to the Crystal Origin of Dreams.

Now they had some free time, hence Angel posed the question.

Upon hearing Angel’s question, Laplace was visibly tempted, but she glanced south and finally shook her head: ”Not in a rush, let’s wait a bit more.”

”Are you waiting for Luigi?” Angel could easily guess her thoughts from her expression.

Laplace nodded: ”Let’s talk after Luigi comes out. Authority is such a mighty power; though I don’t know much about it, once it manifests, it might affect other Authorities, given that it’s a foundational rule of the Crystal Origin of Dreams.”

Luigi is currently in the instance under the Authority of Wonderland of Dreams, and Laplace is concerned that inheriting the Authority might affect Luigi.

Angel originally intended to say ”it won’t affect each other,” but after pondering, he refrained from saying this. The notion of ”no influence” was only concluded from his experience in the Wilderness of Dreams. But the Crystal Origin of Dreams is different from the Wilderness of Dreams, and the latter doesn’t have instances like Wonderland of Dreams. Moreover, Angel can’t foreknow, so indeed, nothing is absolutely certain.

Laplace’s worry might indeed manifest.

”You make a valid point. Let’s wait for Luigi to come out then.” Angel paused: ”Since there’s nothing to do now, should we check out the instance Luigi is in?”

Laplace thought for a moment and did not refuse.

According to Glaipnir, Luigi has been inside that duplex for over three hours now without communication, and the conditions inside are unknown.

If it were an instance akin to Sunshine Circus, Luigi might have already been detained given he hasn’t shown up after such a long time. However, Luigi hasn’t gone offline for help, so it’s unlikely to be the circus-like ”fun challenge” type of special dreamland.

Perhaps it’s similar to the special dreamland like ”Helen’s Dream” she encountered before.

As Angel mentioned, since they have to wait for Glaipnir to invite the Ancient Tooth Fairy, they might as well check it out to pass the time.

They didn’t walk towards the duplex like Luigi did.

Even though the duplex was only over ten miles away, since they could use offline to re-enter at a different position, why waste time and energy?

Hence, Angel and Laplace went offline.

When they came back online, they were already close to the duplex.

Previously, Angel looked at this duplex only through God’s View without examining it closely. Now, looking at it from up-close, he realized the duplex was rather... dilapidated.

The door patched with iron sheets, the battered windows pasted over with old newspapers, the peeling walls always on the verge of falling off, and the scattered dust and stones on the ground all silently told the story of this duplex’s dilapidation.

Earlier, the overcast sky provided some cover, but now with the instance underway, the faint light enveloping the duplex cast all its squalor into the open.

Angel and Laplace didn’t pay much attention to the dilapidation; they were more interested in the story hidden within this rundown duplex and what Luigi was experiencing.

Angel turned to Laplace: ”Wait outside for now... best to stay away from the duplex. I’ll go take a look.”

Laplace nodded. She understood Angel’s intent.

The abilities of special dreamlands vary, including those where proximity pulls you in.

Thinking of the ”Sunshine Circus,” after they cleared it, a full-scale summons began. ”Full-scale” refers to the entire Crystal Origin of Dreams. Sunshine Circus had such a wide-range mechanism for drawing people; this duplex might have a similar one.

They’re here to check on Luigi, not to join him in solving the challenges.

Thus, it’s wise to avoid unnecessary risks.

Laplace retreated fifty meters, initially intending to stop there, but after reconsidering, she felt unease, and moved back another fifty meters. Only when she was a hundred meters away did she nod to Angel from afar.

Angel: ...

That is really far!

Angel originally thought fifteen meters should suffice. If there was a problem, he could quickly take Laplace offline.

Unexpectedly, Laplace was so... cautious.

It’s clear that the Sunshine Circus events left a deep impression on Laplace, making her somewhat like a startled bird.

Compared to Laplace’s concerns, Angel wasn’t too afraid, given that he could control Wonderland of Dreams via the Ability Tree.

Without hesitation, Angel strode towards the luminescent shield in front of the duplex.

Activating the Ability Tree, Angel immersed his thoughts into the rundown duplex.

...

Angel’s current feeling was similar to when he observed Helen’s Dream.

His view wasn’t God’s View, but Box Garden Perspective. Angel stood outside the miniature garden, quietly observing the miniaturized garden inside the ”light shield.”

The core scene within the garden was also a duplex, dilapidated just like the one outside.

The only difference was that both inside and outside of this duplex, there were people.

Inside the duplex, there was a middle-aged man with a checkered felt hat, sitting at the second-floor window, playing the piano.

The piano music was beautiful and elegant, but amidst the dust-laden, rundown duplex, it had a misplaced feeling akin to boiling cranes and burning pianos.

Disregarding the environment, the middle-aged man’s piano skills were exceptionally high.

Enough to support a major theatre’s leading pianist role.

Angel knew he couldn’t compare to this middle-aged man; his playing level was likely akin to Jon. The only difference was that when Jon performed, his emotions matched the charged notes, vibrant in intensity or soothing in sentiment; yet, the middle-aged man’s piano skills were high, but emotions were not.

Within the elegant piano melody, complex emotions were concealed. These emotions didn’t arise from musical notes but were inherent to the man.

He played the piano not for performance but to vent these emotions. However, the more he vented, the more complicated these emotions became.

The piano notes briefly soothed his emotions, only for the melody to rouse them further.

His complex emotions resembled a knot that continually twisted, challenging to untie.

Meanwhile, outside the duplex, Angel saw Luigi.

He was holding an old harp, gently strumming it, and occasionally lifting specific chords, seemingly responding to the piano melody of the middle-aged man.

Angel wasn’t sure what was happening, and Luigi was deeply immersed in his performance. Respectfully, Angel refrained from disturbing him and, after glancing around, exited the Box Garden Perspective.

Laplace noticed Angel open his eyes and immediately inquired about the situation inside the duplex.

Angel spread his hands with a helpless tone, recounting the situation.

”One on piano, the other on harp?” Laplace frowned: ”Is Luigi playing voluntarily?”

Laplace suspected whether Luigi was under a spell.

Angel understood Laplace’s concern and shook his head: ”At least for now, Luigi seems to be voluntarily playing, appearing to use the harp notes to unravel the middle-aged man’s emotional knots.”

”I guess this might be the theme of this special dreamland.”

Laplace: ”You mean, a musical duel?”

Angel: ”Something like that, possibly a duel or a confrontation, or maybe just an ordinary dialogue.”

Angel paused, looking at Laplace: ”Do you want to keep observing Luigi’s situation? If so, I can livestream the scene inside using an Illusion Technique.”

Laplace considered and nodded, wishing to witness firsthand what Luigi was doing. Was it really as Angel described, a musical duel?

Soon, Angel re-entered the Box Garden Perspective, simultaneously using his Celestial Alternation Authority to manifest an illusionary broadcast of the situation within.

Laplace also saw Luigi’s current situation.

Just as Angel mentioned, Luigi sat cross-legged beside the attic with his eyes closed, occasionally plucking the harp strings, seemingly keeping in harmony with the piano sound.

Luigi didn’t speak, and the middle-aged man was also immersed in himself.

The entire special dreamscape was like an enduring musical pantomime.

However, Laplace noticed that Luigi indeed wasn’t being coerced; he seemed to be actively harmonizing with the piano’s melody.

This suggested that Angel’s guess was most likely correct—the scene was a musical duel.

As time passed little by little, although the sound of both the piano and harp was melodious, the lack of emotional symmetry made Laplace feel somewhat weary of it.

Moreover, if the timing was right, Glaipnir might have already reached the Ancient Ruins of Tooth Fairy. She should go offline to synchronize with Glaipnir.

Thinking of this, Laplace decided to ask Angel to stop the illusion broadcast.

However, before Laplace could speak, a change occurred in the scene inside the attic.

The middle-aged man finally stopped playing the piano, placing his hands heavily on the keys, producing a loud note.

After a long while, the middle-aged man let out a deep sigh.

With his sigh, the entire attic seemed to hit a movie’s pause button, becoming completely static.

”Is this time stoppage?” Laplace murmured, her eyes lit with interest, and the urge to go offline faded for the moment.

Angel: ”Not sure, but even if it’s time stoppage, only the attic is frozen. Luigi can still move.”

Laplace looked towards Luigi’s direction in the illusion realm, and sure enough, the place where Luigi was, including himself, was vibrant in color, contrasting with the static attic nearby.

Laplace: ”Luigi has stopped playing; we should be able to ask him about what’s happening in this special dreamscape now.”

In fact, before Laplace’s reminder, Angel had already tried to get in touch with Luigi.

Upon hearing Angel’s voice, Luigi was only slightly surprised but quickly calmed down.

”You’re asking what I’m doing right now?” Luigi scratched his temples, ”Actually, I’m not entirely sure; I’m merely following the Immortal Realm’s hints.”

”Immortal Realm hints? What hints?”

Luigi didn’t conceal anything and recounted everything that had happened since he entered the instance.

”Uriel’s Choice” was indeed a type of instance they had never encountered before.

It requires no killing, no puzzles, nor any challenges... this instance is more of a specialized type.

This specialization targets individuals who understand music and art.

After entering ”Uriel’s Choice,” Luigi hadn’t been inside the attic, and he attempted to reach it, but each time he was repelled.

It seemed the space where the attic stood, and the space where he was, existed in completely different dimensions.

After realizing he couldn’t enter this two-story attic, Luigi could only wander around the periphery, looking for other clues.

Then he noticed a tattered wooden box leaning against the door.

As he was about to open the wooden box to take a look, he received his first Immortal Realm hint.

This hint instructed Luigi to choose an instrument.

Without hesitation, Luigi chose the harp.

Inside the shabby wooden box appeared a harp.

As soon as Luigi touched the harp, a new Immortal Realm hint appeared:

”The main quest of the special dreamscape ’Uriel’s Choice’ is about to begin—please use the instrument in your hand to resolve the inner conflict of Uriel.”

”Failure will result in reloading the main quest.”

”There is no limit to the number of attempts for the main quest, but you cannot enter the attic until the main quest is completed.”

”All main quests must be completed to leave the current dreamscape.”

From the hint, it was not difficult to deduce that this was a forced type of chain task. The first task was to use the harp to play music to resolve Uriel’s heart knot.

Currently, Luigi was in the midst of this first task.

According to Luigi, he had challenged the main quest three times, each ending in failure.

After every failure, time in the attic would stop. When Luigi restarted the main quest, time in the attic would rewind to before Uriel began playing the piano.

This was a cycle of challenges, and unless Uriel’s inner knot could be untied, no further task hints would appear.

After hearing Luigi’s explanation, both Angel and Laplace were at a loss for words, not expecting the special dreamscape to be so bizarre.

Angel pondered for a moment before asking Luigi, ”Do you plan to continue challenging the main quest?”

Luigi replied as if it was obvious, ”Of course, such an interesting task, how could I give up? Using music to heal the heart, just the thought of it is beautiful.”

After speaking, Luigi seemed to anticipate what Angel was about to say and added, ”Don’t worry about me, I tried earlier, although I can’t leave the special dreamscape, I can go offline. I’ll go offline when I’m tired, but I’m not tired yet, I’m planning to continue this challenge!”

Seeing Luigi’s enthusiastic demeanor, Angel and Laplace had nothing more to say.

Perhaps to them, this task was too tedious and boring.

But for Luigi, it was more like a dialogue of music, music therapy, an opportunity for artistic integration. He didn’t find it tedious; rather, he was delighted to find a ”kindred spirit” here.

Even if this kindred spirit had yet to respond to Luigi, music itself was a bridge of communication.

Sometimes the unspoken speaks louder than words.

After confirming that Luigi was fine and intended to continue completing the task, Angel and Laplace ceased to worry about him, since he could go offline freely, there was no need to fret.

Thus, Angel withdrew his thoughts from the special dreamscape, discussed with Laplace, and went offline.

...

After Angel’s thoughts left the special dreamscape, Luigi reactivated the main quest.

The frozen time in the attic began to rewind.

When it returned to the start of the main quest, time was restored to normal.

The middle-aged man, with furrowed brows and a vexed expression, sat at the piano, remained silent for a minute, and took an invitation letter from a hidden compartment beneath the piano.

The invitation had no name or any marks.

The only feature was that its seal was a red heart made of wax.

Looking at the invitation, the middle-aged man’s expression grew more complicated. Ultimately, he sighed, tucked the invitation back into the piano’s hidden compartment.

Soon after, the middle-aged man opened the piano lid and started playing with a restless mind.

Outside the attic, Luigi, upon hearing the piano melody, immediately realized the main quest had begun again. He switched to a more comfortable posture and lightly plucked the harp strings.

The notes of the piano and harp, in their leap, gradually converged...