Whilst Claude was left staring at the thing that residence in his subconscious, the tree before him in all its spectral glory glowed slightly. As it glowed, a small ball of light formed at its centre.
Without warning the luminescent ball of light shot towards Claude's head before submerging itself within his skull.
Initially wrought with shock, Claude was soon dumbfounded as new knowledge soon found itself appearing within his mind.
'Subspace network...? Asteria...?!'
In the information he received, Claude soon came to understand that the supposed tree before him was unsurprisingly more than just a tree.
It was the subspace network mentioned in his previous dream by the woman who he realised was most likely Asteria.
The subspace network from what he can understand was a method to use the subspace as a medium to transport individuals through to different worlds. Allowing sparks of humanity to survive off in different worlds, should the need ever come.
'So that means...' Claude stared at the balls of light dotting the branched of the tree. '...those are worlds?'
As he stepped closer to the tree, Claude began to only then understand the sheer size of the tree before him. It was immeasurably larger than what he had seen in the meadow before.
However, his footsteps soon ceased as he noticed one of the balls of light beginning to glow brightly. Before he knew it, his vision was occupied by a bright white light.
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With what felt like mere moments passed, Claude's vision soon returned to normal.
Nevertheless, the return in his visual clarity didn't bring him the joy he had previously expected.
No... it alerted him to something else.
"Where am I?"
Claude found himself speaking his thoughts aloud as he surveyed his surroundings. He was currently sitting cross-legged in what seemed to be some sort of forest.
What struck him as odd was the fact Raymond's diary had found itself on his lap, just as he had left in the real world. That alone worried him immensely; if he returned from the depths of his mind, he should be at home.
Claude looked around at his surroundings whilst getting up from the ground. The forest was visually stunning to Claude, with its vibrant purple foliage that dotted the landscape, creating a vivid contrast against the usual green he was used to seeing.
Moreover, the temperature here was markedly cooler than in his world, causing him to shiver slightly.
His boots sank into the spongy ground beneath him, the grass soft and springy beneath his feet. Whilst a pale mist hovered before the ground, veiling some of his surroundings and leaving him ignorant of its true contents.
Nevertheless, something else around stuck out to him like a sore thumb. Despite the presence of the mist, it wasn't very dense and allowed Claude to gaze at the sky above despite it seeming slightly hazy.
The night sky above him was a tapestry of darkness, void of the twinkling stars that he used to gaze at back home.
Instead, a solitary crimson moon hung above, casting a ghostly red glow, creating swaying shadows around him.
Claude shivered, the eerie light reminding him of the scary stories Raymond once whispered to him at bedtime when he was younger.
He began to realise that this was no longer the depths of his mind but the real world, however...
"Another world?" Claude murmured, his voice barely audible over the rustling of the strange foliage. He glanced around, half-expecting to see a monster lurking, yet the forest remained silent.
Heaving a sigh of relief due to him not having to run away from another monster, his mind began to spin as it tried to comprehend his situation.
He could guess that the subspace network within him might be responsible for this... but why?
The entire idea of it was to send humans into other worlds to not only protect them but to retain a spark for human civilisation.
From the information he received, it would only automatically activate if the world was on the verge of destruction or if Claude himself as its host was in danger.
The rest of Claude's world clearly hadn't been wiped out nor was it facing an existential threat to the best of his knowledge. Only the latter could explain what just happened.
"Danger..."
Claude's fists clenched tightly as he understood something.
The network must have realised his life was in danger.
And the only thing in the area of his village that could be even considered a threat currently to his life... were those things.
Claude's chest tightened as the memory of the creature's pursuit flooded his mind. Fear coiled in the pit of his stomach, threatening to overwhelm him.
'Think Claude!' He thought to himself as he attempted to distract himself, 'What would Raymond do here...?' He took a deep breath, feeling the alien air fill his lungs, and steadied himself.
Words spoken by Raymond soon echoed in his ears, "Remember Claude... It's okay to feel angry or afraid. Those are things that drive us. Spurring us to greatness. Yet, do not let them control you."
'That's right Claude. Don't let it control you!' He thought to himself as a relative calm now pervaded him. Claude then looked around and decided that he should wait for dawn before moving.
Then he'd need to try and see if there are any human settlements here, for all he knew this world could be inhabited by a bunch of monsters.
Walking beneath the towering purple canopies, diary clutched tightly in his hands, Claude felt a stirring mix of curiosity and dread.
His path was illuminated by a sea of red and purple lights emitted by fungi that dotted the landscape, allowing him to have a vague idea of his surroundings despite it being night.
A slight unease grasped him as he walked forward, he had no idea what this world held. The information about the subspace network suggested he could return once he was strong enough to fend off the dangers of his world, or if those dangers disappeared.
Staring ahead, Claude soon found a tree that was neither large nor small and made his way over. With the diary clenched between his teeth he proficiently climbed up the tree, Claude sat down on the tree branch.
"This seems familiar..."
A wry smile found itself on his face as he realised this seemed very similar to what had happened yesterday.
Laying on the branch, he held the diary in his hand.
He traced his finger around the edges of the book as he sat there in silence a slight unease gripped Claude's heart as he sat in the tree; the diary's leather cover cool under his fingertips.
"I wish you could see this, Old Man," Claude whispered to the empty air, half-expecting a ghostly chuckle in response. "You'd have probably gone ahead and lectured me on the biology of this tree..."
Nevertheless, his nervous musings did little to calm his apprehension in this new environment.
He let out a slow breath, trying to channel Raymond's calmness, the man who had always seemed unshakeable no matter the problems they faced.
'What would you do in my shoes...? Perhaps...'
Nevertheless, he was snapped out of his reminiscence by his thoughts. He began to understand Raymond would more than likely use this time to conjure up a plan.
Claude smiled faintly, recalling Raymond's methodical way of living, his meticulous planning that had always seemed so tedious, only seemed to be of value now he was in an alien world.
'I'll wait for dawn before searching for civilization. But then, there's the language barrier...' Claude pondered, anxiety threading through his thoughts. 'First things first, though. I need to learn the magic in Raymond's diary.'
He couldn't exactly expand his mental energy now, as that would require him to learn new knowledge or simply grow in age.
Whilst, spontaneously growing up seemed to be impossible, he could start learning the spells written in the diary.
Opening up the diary, his eyes scanned the content containing spells suitable for mage apprentices.
As he chose one of the three spells written in the book, he began to memorise the relevant information.
Closing his eyes with details of the spell flashing through his mind briefly before he once again searched for the familiar energy within the recesses of his mind.
Upon sensing it, he extended his arm before him as his eyes remained closed.
Claude concentrated, feeling for the moisture in the misty air. His mental energy stretched out, connecting with numerous tiny particles.
The process was more arduous than he expected, each molecule proving too elusive to grasp with his mental energy.
Sweat beaded on his forehead as he finally coerced the water vapour to condense, performing the spell required not just knowledge but also an unyielding will.
Gradually, the mist around him began to coalesce before Claude's palm.
Soon within the mist, droplets of water began to condense until the mist grew paler and a small sphere of water floated before him.