Chapter 19: The Dream

In a state of half-dreaming and half-awakening, Karlo once again found himself before that pure radiance.

...wait, why say "once again"?

Karlo faintly felt this scene was somewhat familiar, but he couldn't recall why, nor why his head still ached a little.

The ethereal voice continued, "Karlo, I shall grant you wisdom, I shall guide you to master meditation and set foot upon the path to the Dream Realm..."

—This was a new strategy Ybur had come up with, which was to offer benefits first without saying anything else. It's just the method of meditation, isn't it? I'll teach you! Ybur's current thought was, as long as it did not bring up the question of "who it is," Karlo would become curious and seek out the answer himself. After all, it only needed to show its friendliness and strength.

"Teach me... meditation?"

Karlo was momentarily taken aback, half delighted and half doubtful.

Ybur didn't care what she was thinking, and simply conveyed the knowledge about meditation in detail.

Between the two sisters, Karlo was illiterate, and Cherie was a little better but still semi-literate. Their combined cultural level was not even comparable to Ybur's when it had just been born. With Ruby's memories, Ybur's grasp on transcendent knowledge such as meditation was quite solid, and its explanations were simple and easy to understand.

Karlo listened, utterly fascinated. Although she didn't completely understand, she tried her best to absorb the knowledge. Although she was still in a state of half-dreaming and half-awakening, and her consciousness wasn't fully clear, instinctively, she realized that this would have a profound impact on her.

After a while, Ybur began to feel a sense of fatigue.

Its spiritual power was still not strong enough.

During advancement, the three Mysterious Sources sacrificed to the Dream Realm would strengthen the corresponding dimensions of a Vocational Practitioner; the heart and spirit were both related to the mental aspect, but the heart was associated with passion and imagination, while the spirit corresponded to energy, memory, and rationality. In the Fallen Beast Path, spirit had the smallest proportion, which meant Ybur's spiritual power was aggressive but clearly lacked sustainability.

It then said, "Let's stop here for today."

"Wait!"

Karlo's thoughts suddenly surged with intense waves, "I still have so much I don't understand! Sir, who exactly are you?"

Good question, I'm also pondering that... Ybur thought subtly to itself, but outwardly, it maintained an inscrutable demeanor. It didn't answer Karlo's question, simply saying, "We shall meet again."

The spiritual communication abruptly paused, and Ybur's consciousness withdrew.

Karlo stirred in her bed, as if she was about to awaken.

Ybur hurriedly left with Sherry.

This time, having come into the city, it had memorized the layout and routes; it would be able to return whenever it wished.

It climbed onto the table, flipped its body outward, and plunged back onto the street. There was a splat, like a gigantic water balloon hitting the ground, Ybur's body wobbled a couple of times but soon stabilized.

Gazing into the distance, the massive tower made of heavy metals and gears stood like a colossal pillar piercing the sky in the center of the city—that was the Steam Tower. Rugged pipes crossed and intertwined like snakes, and through the gaps in the gears, a faint red glow was emitted.

At the midsection of the Steam Tower, a ring of metal structures turned slowly with the movement of gears, upon which were massive clock diagrams. Each time the metal ring completed a revolution, the minute hand on the clock jumped once. Ybur glanced at the time; it was nearly six in the morning. The "daytime" in the city was unknown to it, but leaving before the day officially began would be best.

Sherry couldn't shift forms to pass through the manhole cover grates like Ybur could, but since the manhole cover was metal, Ybur easily corroded a piece off with acid and then shakily drilled into the sewer.

...

The curfew had not yet ended, but the city was slowly coming to life, like a giant beast sluggishly awakening from a long hibernation. The Gravel Area was the first to stir, shrouded in a persistent mist, within which sparks from welding illuminated the corner of a huge factory, mammoth like a hill.

Chimneys stood everywhere, surrounded by a haze of smoke, while massive mechanical pendulums formed dark silhouettes against the weak light. Boiler rooms released steam, the airwaves growing increasingly vibrant.

Intricate gears turned, powering the mechanisms, the steam clock rotated at a fixed rate, and when it reached the hour, the large internal bell struck by the mechanism resonated, sending waves of sound rippling through the fog, spreading far and wide.

Gong—

Daylight descended in an instant, and the beast named city awoke.

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Karlo opened her eyes.

It hadn't dawned outside yet, and she had slept for too short a time, the strong sense of weariness almost made her not want to budge. On the other hand, the extreme excitement in her mind made it really hard for her to fall asleep again. She went over the events in her mind again and again, the secrets of the Transcendents, the knowledge of meditation, for fear that these contents would slip away from her memory, Karlo even wished she could write it down with a pen, but unfortunately, she didn't know how to write, so she could only repeatedly think about them in her mind.

Right, there was also that orb of light—

What kind of existence was that, exactly?

A touch of indescribable awe emerged in Karlo's heart, of course, there was also the fear of the unknown. However, the fear was soon replaced by excitement. No matter what kind of existence it was, at least it... no, He! At least He was really teaching her meditation!

Wonder if that knowledge of meditation is of any use...

But at this moment, Karlo suddenly realized something was amiss—why was it so cold in the room, it felt like the window was left open... Huh? Karlo turned her head, got up from the bed, and walked to the window. She immediately noticed a small patch eroded away at the frame of the window.

What's going on here?

Her expression turned serious, and the first thought that came to her mind was: Damn, now I'm going to have to compensate the landlady...

"Ka, Karlo?"

Cherie was awakened by her movements and sleepily opened her eyes, "Why are you awake? What happened?"

"Seems like something strange happened at home. I think... I also had a weird dream," Karlo said hesitantly, her mouth opening and closing without knowing quite what to say, then finally asking Cherie, "Did you have any weird dreams?"

"I..."

Cherie blushed, embarrassed as she pressed down on the quilt, not wanting Karlo to see the wet spot underneath: "I think I also had a weird dream..."

Then she immediately denied it, "No! That's not right! There wasn't anything!"

"Huh? So did you or did you not?" Karlo asked, puzzled.

"No..." Cherie said, her face red, not daring to look up. Then, she reached over to the side of the pillow and suddenly her body stiffened.

"Where's the book?!"

Cherie bolted upright from the bed, letting out an uncontrollable shriek. Karlo was a bit scared by her reaction and quickly asked, "What's wrong? What happened?"

"The book, the book, the book!"

Cherie pointed at the side of the bed in shock and exclaimed, "The book is gone! It was right by the pillow when I went to sleep, and it just disappeared when I woke up!"

"Ah?!" Karlo finally reacted, breaking out in a cold sweat on her forehead, "How can it be gone? It couldn't have been taken by a rat, could it?"

"Quick, let's search!"

The two of them immediately got busy, turning the room upside down, even searching under the bed, incidentally killing a bunch of cockroaches and a few mice, and sweeping up some trash. Karlo even found a sock she thought she had lost.

But they couldn't find the book.

The two sisters looked at each other, each seeing the fright in the other's eyes.

Karlo's gaze drifted to the mysteriously opened window, her expression slowly hardening.

"Could it be—"

Karlo pondered, and Cherie looked anxiously at her, thinking Karlo was about to declare some shocking deduction, only to hear her say, "Our book couldn't have run off on its own, could it?"

Cherie rolled her eyes, "Karlo, have you lost your mind!"

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