Chapter 34: A Weird Snake
After an unknown amount of time, Charles opened his eyes in the gloomy room and sat up with a puzzled look on his face. Unlike the last time, he was on the wooden bed and appeared in the same cloth. He hurriedly shifted his gaze towards his right hand and smiled as he noticed that the void pouch was still in his hand.
He peeked inside and soon breathed a sigh of relief as he noticed that his Ember Pistol and other things were still present inside. After that, he checked his pocket and became relaxed as he saw that the 'Nightmare Stone' was also still there in his pocket.
Nodding, he stood up from the bed, walked out of it, and noticed that everything around him looked gloomy as before.
'Gloomy house...' Eve's prophecy-like words appeared in his mind.
'Can I use my magic spells?' He creased his brows for a moment and cast the 'Fire Wings' spell.
Two crimson wings appeared behind him and illuminated the gloomy bedroom in a second.
'Heh, I can indeed use my magic spells here, huh.'
Nodding his head with a pleasant smile on his face, Charles dismissed the 'Fire Wings' spell and then cautiously walked out of his bedroom.
He didn't go downstairs hurriedly, though; instead, he peeked outside through the window and checked if any monstrous bird or other creatures were circling in the sky.
'There is nothing now.'
At that moment, he only saw some strange red clouds floating in the sky, and they appeared eerier.
'What should I do now? Should I start searching for any clues about Eddie here? Or, should I search for the 'Snake'?' He furrowed his brows and then went to his study room first. He didn't make any unnecessary noise and started searching for clues in the Study.
Unfortunately, he couldn't find anything related to Eddie Nightwind or any snake and sighed in disappointment.
'Eddie Nightwind is a dreamer class mystic; so, there must be something hidden in this dream world.' He muttered to himself and soon went to the storage room. He searched for clues on the second floor for an hour and soon shifted his attention to the first floor.
After gripping the dagger in his hand, he went downstairs cautiously and soon started scouting the first floor.
Soon, Charles frowned as he noticed that there was not even a single presence near the house.
'Should I go out and look outside?' A dangerous idea appeared in his mind. But he didn't act like an impatient kid. He first sat on the torn Ornate Sofa and looked around in puzzlement.
'From the outer appearance, this home seemed to be abandoned for years... But why didn't I see this sofa when I came here last time? Did someone come here and put the furniture? Even if they did, how did they get the Ornate sofa here?... Think... Think... What did I miss?...' Charles narrowed his eyes in suspicion and confusion and soon began to think from a different perspective.
'First, let's see what I know about this Dreamworld and Dream... The first thing I can think about Dreamworld is the 'Dreamer' Class Mystics. They must have some connection with this strange world. The second one is the Dream God Ithos. He owns the domains of Dream, Illusion, and Imagination... Imagination...' He paused for a moment and soon widened his eyes as he thought of a possibility.
'Did the changes occur due to my imagination?... It's not entirely impossible... This Dreamworld can influence reality itself, so why not it can also change on its own through one person's imagination? But, why did I appear in this house? Not the house in Earth...' He pondered for a moment and soon shook his head.
'I should think about the current situation. Can I use magic spells here? Can the cooldown be the same, or does it vary?' He narrowed his eyes for a moment and checked the interface.
He then focused his attention on the [Fire Wings] spell model and soon saw the details.
'1 minute...' He stared at the cooldown time in deep thoughts and soon mumbled,
"It looks like this world has more mana than the Edhen World." After saying those words, he stood up from the torn sofa and got ready to go out.
He silently walked out of the reception room before looking warily at the empty yard and soon noticed a strange scene in the northern sky. He saw an enormous cone-like red tornado in the farther area, and it seemed to be moving in a particular direction while connecting its anvil with those ominous red clouds!
'It is farther away from the Riverdale City.' He gulped down his saliva as he stared at the monstrous natural disaster and soon glanced around his surroundings.
'Why does this place appear more silent?' He took a step towards the compound gate and soon stopped as he saw a strange black snake slithering towards his direction from the right side yard!
It was the same black snake he saw when he came here last time!
But this time, he noticed something unique about that snake. Instead of a strange diamond-like gem on its forehead, he saw a blue-crystalline cone and got curious about its origin.
Before he could think further, he heard an alluring female voice in his head.
"Follow. Me."
Charles stared at the five-meter-long black snake in surprise for a second and soon frowned.
'It can talk?'
Meanwhile, the black snake had already changed its direction, slithered out of the compound gate, and soon entered the street road.
He had vaguely guessed that there must be some intelligent lifeforms in this dream-like world but suddenly froze.
'Wait! It talked to me in Blen Tongue! Did this snake appear through my imagination?... No... That's almost nonsensical...'
"Who are you? How did you speak in Blen Language?" He asked in a suppressing tone and followed after it cautiously.
The black snake raised its head for a moment and soon slither towards the main street.
'Is it ignoring me? Or, is someone controlling this snake from afar?' He got puzzled inside and fell into deep thoughts.
Before he could ask further, the black snake muttered in a breaking female voice.
"Dream. Lord. is. waiting. for. you."
'Dream Lord? Is it a title? Or, a Class name?' He got more confused inside and soon chose to stay silent.
'Looks like I need to be extra careful. Although Eve told me to follow after the snake, I don't want to bet my life on some strange fate.' He thought for a moment and soon halted his footsteps.
In the meantime, the black snake also stopped its movement and let out a loud hiss.
After that, it turned around and said while flickering its tongue.
"Danger. Hide."
The snake slithered into the street corner and soon moved into the drainage passway a moment later.
In the meantime, Charles looked around in surprise and soon noticed a humanoid shadow was coming out from the nearby house.
'Enemy?'
He took two steps back and tried to hide in the nearby house but soon stopped.
At that moment, he knew that the enemy had already noticed him and decided to confront him.
In a second, he saw that the opposite party appeared 20 meters away from him and seemed to be holding black darts in its hands.
No, the other party was also a male human!
He wore a black hooded top, black pants, and a pair of strange grey shoes. He looked around third-years old, with amber eyes, a rough face, and a lean body.
As he was about to open his mouth, his [Sixth Sense] skill warned him about the impending danger!
'Sh*t!'
He bent down a bit and leaped towards the nearby compound wall.
In the meantime, three black darts flew towards the area where he stood before and soon stabbed onto the dirt road.
A second later, purple gas appeared from those darts and spread like wildfire!
On the other hand, Charles jumped up while placing his hand on the compound wall and skillfully leaped towards the other side. After that, he didn't dare to face the other party without having any information and thought of escaping.
But before he could take a step forward, he saw that the compound wall started to turn into minute glasses and soon broke into pieces!
'Dream-related abilities? He can manipulate this illusionary world?' Cold sweats dripped on Charles's forehead as he turned around with a stiff smile on his face and pointed his forefinger at the enemy.
A moment later, a ray of condensed red fire came out from his forefinger and moved towards the human at an unimaginable speed.
It was Charles's Rank-1 long-ranged offensive fire spell, Incinerate!
For a moment, the hooded human showed a shocked expression and then turned gloomy. After that, he removed his black hood while revealing his brown hair and whispered something in his mouth.
Like a ripple, the surroundings air vibrated for a moment and soon formed into a transparent spherical shield!
It looked more like a science fiction movie's force field ability.
A moment later, bang sound echoed as the fire ray collided against the sphere, and the momentum threw the enemy off along with the forcefield-like sphere.
When the hooded human snapped out from the daze, he noticed that the transparent sphere began to break like glass and widened his eyes in shock!
Before thinking further, he heard a strange metal clicking sound from the front.
After that, he stood up unsteadily and locked his gaze on Charles.
At that moment, he saw an odd metal scrap in the opponent's hand and got baffled a bit.
But a second later, the brown-haired guy's face stiffened as he sensed the impending danger.
Horrified, the brown-haired human took a step back and tried to dodge the unknown attack.
But Charles didn't give any time for the brown-haired human to escape and squeezed the trigger.
A moment later, a sharp metal bullet came out from the Ember Pistol's muzzle and soon collided on the strange human's head!
A millisecond later, another banging sound echoed as the strange human's head shattered like a watermelon!
[Target Eliminated! 170 Exp obtained!]
Charles panted as he stared at the headless corpse for two long seconds and then walked near it.
'Who is this?' He raised his eyebrows in suspicion.
Due to the sudden battle, Charles didn't have any time to use his [Inspect] skill on the enemy and got confused by the enemy's action.
'Why did he attack me all of a sudden?'
"He. Is. a. Dreamer." He heard a strange breaking voice of a female and soon turned around. At that moment, the weird black snake slithered out of the drainage passway and soon appeared near him.
"Dreamer?" He stared at the weird snake and asked in confusion.
"He. must. Be. a. Rank-1. Dreamer. Class. Mystic." It replied while letting out a small hiss and then slithering towards another direction.
Sighing heavily, Charles followed the weird black snake and pondered about his previous battle.
'Rank-1 Dreamer Class Mystic. But why did he attack me? To rob me? If I didn't have the Ember Pistol, I would be the one lying over there. His weird dream abilities were also powerful.' He felt that he had to rank up quickly and increase his strength. Charles then turned his gaze towards the black snake and asked another question.
"Where did he come from?"
"I. don't. know." The snake spoke while slithering on the rough road and soon added,
"Maybe. from. another. plane."
'Plane? Is it talking about another world?... That's interesting...' He arched his eyebrows a little and followed after it silently.
The duo moved out of Riverdale City through the eastern gate, crossed the city's outskirts, and soon entered the nearby woods.