"Hey, Lucy, where've you been?" Lucas finally spotted Lucy as she returned from her mysterious adventure. He observed her fidgeting in her seat, drumstick in hand, and asked, "What kept you away so long?"
Lucy adjusted herself and replied, "I was searching for a bathroom. Is there even one around here?"
Lucas let out a weary sigh and responded, "Ah, I see. Well, go ahead and finish your meal. I've crammed so much into this pouch; it's filled to the brim. My jian is in there, my robe is in there, and now it's storing all this food, too. It feels like I've used up all my luck just to get this pouch as my first achievement reward. Anyway..."
Lucas continued, "Eat here for now. I'll have a look around."
"Okay, be quick. I'll stay here for now," Lucy replied.
Lucas nodded at her words, finally getting up from his seat and walking out of the hall. He looked around and saw people everywhere, chatting, some holding glasses of wine, while others simply carried bottles of soymilk as they mingled. There were literally people everywhere, and yet Lucas didn't recognize a single one. For now, he felt like a stranger in this extravagant world.
After about ten minutes of wandering, Lucas finally stumbled upon something interesting; a staircase leading upward. "Finally," he muttered to himself.
Approaching the stairs, he noticed they were adorned with a red carpet. It seemed an odd and aesthetically questionable choice for stairs, but Lucas didn't dwell on it as he lifted his foot to take the first step.
---
"Permission Denied!"
"Condition has not been met!
"Only tier 2 mutated humans are allowed!"
---
"Ah..." Lucas let out a disappointed sigh, realizing he couldn't proceed.
Lucas, conceding defeat with the inaccessible stairs, retraced his steps and wandered around once more. The mansion's grandeur was lost on him as he explored, finding most of the lavish decorations to be either purely aesthetic or failing to offer access to new areas. Eventually, he decided to exit the mansion, noting that this time there was no notification to deter him.
The cool, fresh air greeted Lucas as he stepped outside, a refreshing departure from the usual scent of decaying zombies. Beyond the mansion's imposing exterior, a verdant forest sprawled out. Although there were a few scattered individuals in the vicinity, most remained ensconced within the opulent halls.
Lucas ventured further into the woods, past the towering trees that surrounded the mansion's clearing. These trees were extraordinary, their height and girth reminiscent of ancient trees from his homeland, but on a scale twice as immense. Curious about their resilience, Lucas tested their bark with a punch, only to find it impervious to his efforts.
Lucas let out a resigned sigh, his voice tinged with a hint of exhaustion. "This doesn't feel like Earth," he muttered to himself, recalling his previous dungeon adventure set in an entirely different realm. Now, he found himself in yet another mysterious place, free to explore without any clear objectives or hidden agendas.
Summoning his courage, he whispered, "Fireball!" as he conjured a blazing sphere of flames in his palm. With determination, he directed the fiery projectile toward a nearby tree. However, his disappointment grew as he watched the tree remain unscathed, bearing no marks from the fireball's impact.
He repeated the spell, "Fireball!" and once again, it yielded the same result—no effect on the mighty tree. Growing indifferent to the futile exercise, Lucas pressed on, venturing deeper into the forest. Why was he unafraid? Because there was no sign of wildlife, no birdsong or rustling leaves—just an eerie silence, interrupted only by his own footsteps.
Finally, as he took another step forward, a butler materialized before him, the same individual who had welcomed them to dine earlier. The butler, still impeccably dressed, offered a polite smile to Lucas. The butler spoke. "Guests are not allowed to enter this area. Please turn back."
Lucas, feeling a mixture of unease and uncertainty, managed to muster an awkward smile in response to the butler's courteous greeting. For the first time in this strange place, a living person had engaged with him. It was a stark contrast to the usual holographic screens and voices in his ear.
The butler, a man who seemed to hail from the West, sported pristine white hair and appeared to be in his mid-50s. Lucas couldn't discern if he was a genuine human, or perhaps just a holographic projection, or someone with extraordinary magical abilities. Not wanting to risk any unexpected consequences, Lucas swiftly nodded and retreated a step, his thoughts racing. 'That was rather unsettling.'
As Lucas silently retreated, he noticed a woman seated on one of the lower branches of a nearby tree. She wore a green dress, her hair tied in a ponytail, and was barefoot. Her gaze met his as he approached.
"Finished looking?" she inquired.
Lucas, feeling somewhat embarrassed, promptly apologized. "Ah, sorry!"
The woman gracefully jumped from the tree, landing on her feet without a hint of injury. This amazed Lucas because, while he could climb up there, there was no way he could land safely from such a height.
Clearly, this place was inhabited by the cream of the crop, the best of the best, each person demonstrating their unique power.
The woman, her green dress swaying as she dusted herself off, looked up at Lucas and asked, "That guy chased you away too, huh? I even tried going from tree to tree, but he still appeared. It seems we can't get beyond this small area. By the way, what's your name, handsome?"
The word "handsome" caught Lucas off guard; it was a compliment he had rarely received in his life. Hesitating slightly, he replied with a touch of uncertainty, "I'm Lucas. My name is Lucas."
The woman in the green dress sustained her warm smile as she replied, "I'm Vanessa. I'm from the country of Red Rose. And where do you call home?"
Lucas answered, "I'm from the Country of Palm Tree."
Vanessa's demeanor shifted suddenly, her tone moving from friendliness to a strange sense of familiarity. "It seems I was right, then. I've been waiting for you, Lucas," she stated.
"Me?" Lucas questioned, puzzled.
"Yes, I've been waiting to see you face-to-face for a really long time."
Lucas felt a bit threatened by her sudden interest and instinctively distanced himself from her.
"Lucas Tharla, the Dawn Kingdom king. Nice to meet you officially," Vanessa continued. "My name is Vanessa Carter, and my class is the God of Dream and Nightmare. Funny enough, my class is called 'god,' yet I'm a woman. I've met you many times, Lucas."
Lucas, still maintaining a cautious distance, was once again caught off guard by her words. Meeting someone with a class that started with "god," aside from Lucy, was a first for him.
"Why me specifically? Also, we've never met before. What do you mean by 'officially'?" Lucas inquired, his confusion deepening.
Vanessa's gaze remained steady as she explained, "Well, it's because of my dreams, Lucas. I've come across you countless times within them. Strangely, my dreams persistently revolve around you, but I can't determine if they're mere ordinary dreams or something more akin to nightmares. In each instance, you're present, reliving the same haunting scenario."
Lucas's sense of confusion grew, and he couldn't help but ask, "What dream?"
Vanessa sighed softly before explaining, "It's a peculiar dream, Lucas. Every time I dream, I find myself in the same scenario. A little boy, his feet wet and muddy, stands on a rainy path, crying for his parents, who have tragically passed away."
Lucas found himself at a loss for words, his throat dry and his hands trembling, as he listened intently to the strange woman. Her knowledge of things he had shared only with Lucy left him both intrigued and deeply unsettled. It was as if she had a window into his deepest secrets.
"Every time I dream, sometimes I'm at a lake, sometimes I'm at a market, and sometimes I'm there, watching a boy cry out loud because he doesn't understand death at his age."
Lucas, no longer wanting to hear more, asked Vanessa, "What do you want from me?"
"Nothing," Vanessa replied softly. "I want nothing. I just want to see you, the person I've been dreaming of every day since I gained this class. How would you feel if the class I obtained through thick and thin, almost dying, kept showing me the past of some unknown boy in some unknown country, who now possesses the class of the God of Fire and Heat?"
Lucas fell silent, his mind overwhelmed by a strange mix of emotions, confusion, and curiosity as he listened to the woman in the green dress.
"You asked me what I want, right? It's not about what I want; it's about what I will give," she explained. With a gentle push of her hand, she presented an emblem in her palm—a symbol similar to the dragon and phoenix emblem Lucas had received when he and Lucy changed classes.
Lucas was baffled. Why was this mysterious woman giving him another emblem? It made no sense.
"My task is to give this to you. That's what I believe its intention is. You are special, Lucas. I don't know you, and no one has instructed me to do this, but I feel like it should be given to you."
Maintaining his distance, Lucas reached out and accepted the emblem from her hand. As he examined it, he noticed the symbol of a giant spider intricately woven into the design, with eight legs intersecting on the web it had crafted.
"Let's meet again, Lucas," Vanessa said, catching him off guard once more. Lucas stood there, his mind swirling in confusion as the woman before him suddenly dissolved into smoke. It wasn't a metaphorical vanishing act; literal wisps of smoke billowed from where she had been standing. When Lucas swiped his hand to disperse the smoke, she was nowhere to be seen.
Bewildered by this inexplicable encounter, Lucas remained in a state of perplexity. He had more questions than answers. Ultimately, he decided to make his way back to the mansion, where Lucy was patiently waiting.
Unbeknownst to him, a woman in a green dress perched on a branch directly above the spot where they had been conversing. She let out a relieved whisper to herself, "My god, I pulled that off so cool."