Medieval castles, built for defense, were constructed using large rocks. Their windows were small, making lighting conditions poor.
Especially in the hall of Sothos Fort, where even during the day, numerous candles had to be lit.
Alan stood in the corner, watching his father, his older brother, and a group of knights arguing intensely, yet his eyes were fixed on those white candles.
'In this world with low productivity, commoners also use candles or oil lamps for lighting. However, the castle uses beeswax candles, which produce very little smoke when burned, while commoners can only use paraffin candles or animal fat... It's said that prolonged use can blind you from the smoke.'
As for the argument between his father and his advisers, and the conflict with the neighboring territory, Alan was well aware.
Speaking of which, he truly admired those time-travelers in previous life novels, who could promote significant technological advancements or even industrial upgrades all by themselves, as if they had an encyclopedia in their minds.
But in his case, being more of a humanities student, he could only remember some extremely limited and fragmented information.
Of course, even exceptionally limited information was incredibly precious in this era.
But how should he say this? Alan Sothos really couldn't muster any enthusiasm.
After all, with Colin as the legitimate heir, Theodore, as a veteran noble, would never let him inherit the land. To centralize power, Theodore also rejected any actions that would divide the territory.
As the second son of the family, upon coming of age, he would at most receive a small monetary gift and then be left to fend for himself.
Alan had tried once. After many failures, he finally figured out a cheap and durable method of paper-making, thus establishing a paper mill.
Then his nominal father merely praised him verbally and ordered the steward to nationalize the mill.
This action immediately dashed Alan's hopes, making him realize his situation.
Although he transmigrated well, he was still lacking.
Not only did the ancient Eastern ethical codes devour people, but Western rules were just as cruel.
In the territory, the lord's words were law! Any resistance without strength was a joke!
In fact, he was fortunate not to be a commoner or an underprivileged serf.
Once, Alan saw an intelligent serf child who, during one of Colin's inspections of the fields, attempted to report the tax officer's corruption.
However, the child didn't even reach Colin's side. Because his dirty body blocked the noble's path, he was kicked half to death by the guards!
As for the content of the report, Colin didn't even bother to listen!
Since then, Alan became even more cautious, or perhaps more silent.
As for killing Colin to take his place?
To be honest, he had considered it, but after weighing their supporters and their positions in Theodore's heart, he gave up on the not-so-enticing idea.
After all, due to his own submissiveness, although Colin didn't like him much, he hadn't directly targeted him, making it hard for him to take preemptive action.
A mere paper mill? Just consider it payment for freeloading all these years.
The conflict between the Sothos Family and the Davis Family also arose because of this mill.
Because of the mill's profits, the Davis Family coveted it. They had sent spies before, and after several discussions between the family heads, they finally signed a peace treaty, marked by the engagement of the main heirs.
But now...
'The Davis Family is not satisfied with our previous agreement and wants more...'
Theodore drew out his dagger, stabbing it fiercely into the wooden table. The end still quivered: 'We need to let them know they made a huge mistake!'
The men in the hall started roaring barbarically, led by Colin who was flushed with anger.
Alan also shouted a few slogans, with little enthusiasm.
For some reason, Theodore glanced towards the corner: 'Alan, you're sixteen now, a grown-up. It's time for you to go to the battlefield to earn your merits.'
'Yes, father.' Alan hesitated for a moment, then responded calmly.
After all, this was a society where two lords could fight over a wild boar. Dragging it out until now before going to the battlefield, he was already quite lucky.
...
Nightfall.
'Even so, Colin gets rejected while I have to fight on the battlefield. It's really annoying. Blades and arrows have no eyes; I might just die... I'll miss the maids back home...'
Alan, bare-chested, waved his hand, letting a blushing beautiful maid leave the room. Looking at the closed door, he thought to himself.
At this moment, Alan felt void of desires, like a sage. Closing his eyes, he entered his dream.
His sleep quality had always been good. Generally, he could fall asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.
'When I close my eyes, the world ceases to exist...'
...
His body was falling, jerking awake.
Alan opened his eyes, seeing a vast blue ocean: 'Here again, this dream again!'
As a time-traveler, he had a cheat of sorts, although a rather useless one—every time he fell asleep, he would enter this dream, maintaining lucidity as if in a lucid dream.
Even when he was a baby, Alan had entered this dream, seeing the vast blue sea.
He himself was in a bizarre state, seemingly floating above the sea, yet weightless.
He was like a ghost; any object could pass through him, and he had no strength, unable to lift even a speck of dust.
He resembled... a pure observer, a prisoner fixed in place.
Alan even suspected that this was just a special dream rather than some cheat ability.
It wasn't until he repeatedly entered the same dream, always seeing the same scene, that he finally had to admit that this might not be a dream, but another world.
'But... why was the setting in the middle of the sea?'
Alan was speechless, tired of watching the sea surface.
However, as time passed, he found that his consciousness seemed to be growing stronger.
Or rather, every night's dreaming was strengthening his conscious power.
Until tonight!
Sixteen years of accumulation seemed to have reached some limit!
Boom!
Alan Sothos felt an indescribable sensation.
His consciousness expanded infinitely, shattering some shackle, extending and expanding endlessly...
Chaos, disorder... He was at the center of the void, with warped shadows dancing to the tune of green flames and maddening flutes...
Power surged in his heart. It seemed that with a mere gesture, he could change everything before him!
He smiled, looking at the seemingly unchanging sea surface for sixteen years and at the sun in the sky, thinking somewhat crazily: 'If I could change it, this sun looks boring; it would be better if it were red!'
Just as the thought occurred, Alan felt as if a gate had opened within his consciousness, unleashing a power that had been accumulating for sixteen years!
In the sky, that seemingly eternal star suddenly became covered with crimson spots. The spots then connected, staining the entire sun red!
The scarlet light shone down, spreading across the earth and the ocean...
Within this light, there seemed to be an indescribable horror and strangeness.
Splish splash!
The surface of the sea parted, revealing fish that floated to the surface. Their scales exploded, and it seemed like numerous threadworms were wriggling beneath their flesh, growing sharp claws and teeth...
The monstrous fish gathered together, biting, devouring, and merging with each other...
Not far away, a larger shadow emerged. A whale-like creature became the ultimate victor, undergoing even more frenzied flesh mutation...
'I... I didn't mean to...' Alan felt a weakness akin to returning to infancy within his consciousness as his sanity gradually recovered from the madness, making him want to cry but unable to shed tears.
At this moment, fragments of information surfaced within his heart:
[I am the dream, the entropy, the everything!]
[I exist beyond all dimensions. I am indescribable, unnameable!]
[I am omnipotent!]
[I am... the 'Creator of Dreams'!]
New book, please support.
[End of this chapter]