"There is something floating in front of me right now. It's a weird, blue box." Redd said as he pointed at nothing in particular. "It says assimilation is complete and that the Hunter's Dream has chosen me and that it wishes me a good journey."
However, that was more than enough for Lodra to understand what happened and his shock grew deeper.
"Are you sure, Redd?" He asked with a wavering tone. He couldn't hide the sheer terror that accompanied the realization that hit him.
"Yes, as I said, it's here. I can't get rid of it. Hah! Hah! Go away!" As he kept trying to hit the box, Redd's hands would pass through it. "See? It doesn't move."
"How could that be… We're too far away…" Murmuring to himself in disbelief, Lodra looked up again. "Fuck! Fuck!" Cursing to himself, Lodra stood there as he weighed his choices.
Well, in actuality, he really had no choice to make here. Things have suddenly shifted in a completely different direction and he can't alter it anymore. What he feared the most had just happened.
'Curse it all…' He clenched his fists before he exhaled a long breath. Reality weighed down on him rather quickly.
"Come inside, Redd. We need to talk." He said in a grave tone.
"Hm? Ok?" Standing up, Redd walked inside while still looking at the weird holographic image, trying to understand what the hell was going on.
The two sat down at the table. A solemn look appeared on Lodra's face as he spoke. "What I'm going to tell you now is something that I intended to keep a secret from you. But, what happened just now had completely changed everything."
"Oh? What is it?"
"The thing that appeared to you right now is called 'The invitation'. Or in other words, you were chosen by the Hunter's Dream."
"That word again… What is this Hunter's Dream thingy?" Redd asked confusedly.
Lodra nodded his head before he stood up and walked to his room. Redd sat there as he waited curiously. From time to time, he heard the sound of Lodra rummaging through something before he came out of the room holding in his hand what seemed to be a wooden board covered by a very old, dusty cloth.
Then, he rested the wooden board on the chair and then pulled the cloth away, sending all the accumulated dust in the air.
"*Cough* *Cough*... Too much dust! How old is that thing?" Redd closed his eyes as he coughed profusely.
"Bear with it," Lodra said as he scattered the dust away, finally revealing the wooden board. On the board was a large, rectangular map that seemed very old.
The map was overwhelmingly covered with blue, which indicated the seas. On this blue surface were countless dots that looked like islands and in the center of this map was a gigantic area that was incomparably bigger than all the islands around it combined. There were also drawings of a multitude of creatures scattered around the map. Some were octopuses, some were weird monsters that Redd had never seen before and some were just… incomprehensible drawings.
"This is a map of the world we live in."
"Oh! I've never seen it before!" Redd replied excitedly as he looked at the map with a different light. His eyes sparkled with excitement.
'It really looks big… Even bigger than I expected…' He thought to himself with a smile. His hunch was after all true. The world had more to offer than this small island.
"Of course you didn't. Now listen carefully 'cause I won't explain it twice."
"Mhm, I'm listening."
"See all those small islands? These are what we call 'The outer world'. It's where you and I are right now. It's a peaceful place filled with only islands and generally small areas of ground. Some people live here, most of them don't know of the existence of this place." Lodra then pointed at the giant continent in the middle.
"This is 'The inner world' or in other words 'The Hunter's Dream'. As you can see, it's quite massive, isn't it?"
"Yeah…" Redd felt rather charmed by that place. It just felt different from all the other smaller islands around it even though it was simply a drawing on a piece of paper.
"Well, this area that appears on the map is but a small part of the Hunter's Dream. The other parts are hidden from the eyes of people."
"Oh?! It's even bigger than that?" Redd asked as he grabbed his chair to not start bouncing from excitement. His instincts were telling him that he was looking at something… Something different.
"This area is where most people live but at the same time, the least known place in the world. Most of the people who live in the Outer World don't know that the Hunter's Dream exists and yet the number of people that live in the Hunter's Dream exceeds the number of those that live in the Outer World."
"Oh, why don't people know it exists?"
"Because those who enter the Hunter's Dream can't leave it… Unless they're one of the people that get 'The Invitation' or in other words, the people called 'Hunters'."
"Hunters…" Redd murmured that word to himself. Although it was a rather common word that he heard before, the context in which Lodra said it was unique.
"Who are these Hunters?"
"You can consider them people with superpowers that are far stronger than mundane humans."
"Oooh! Superpowers? Like what?"
"All kinds of superpowers. They can manipulate all-natural elements, crush rocks, and do feats that normal humans can't do. There are endless numbers of powers that exist."
'That sounds amazing…' Redd's hands shook as he heard Lodra's explanation. He really liked the sound of what he was saying… A lot actually.
"And because I got this invitation, I'm one of them?" He asked.
"No, you aren't. But, the invitation is your means to become one."
"And then I can go to that place?!"
"..." Lodra looked at Redd silently for a second before he nodded his head. "Yes…"
"Hell yeah! I never thought such things could exist! Mythical lands, superpowers, this sounds too good to be true! But, it makes me even more excited to leave! Tell me, Lodra, what could I find in the Hunter's Dream?"
"Sigh, as I said before, people lived there so there are kingdoms and human territories. If you leave the human territories, you will find yourself faced with monstrous creatures that could rip you apart in a second, dangerous natural, and ancient locations filled with mysteries. There are ancient remains from older civilizations, hidden treasures, magical artifacts with great powers, and many more things that I can't even count. It has been ten thousand years since the Hunter's Dream was discovered and to this day, humans still didn't even explore half of it."
Redd listened attentively as Lodra explained. Even though the old man looked rather conflicted, he still couldn't hide the fascination in his eyes as he spoke about the Hunter's Dream. It seemed that even Lodra had seen things that etched deep into his memory.
"Wait, wait. So, if you know about all of this then. Are you a hunter too, Lodra?" Redd asked with a confused look.
"Took you long enough to come to that conclusion."
"So you are indeed a hunter! Woah, that's amazing!!" Redd's eyes sparkled with admiration. "You visited the Hunter's Dream…"
"I lived most of my life there. I only settled here recently."
"Why did you leave?"
The question made Lodra freeze for a second before he closed his eyes. "I've had enough and I've seen enough… I have no place left for me there."