Late at night, within Field's villa in the northern mountains of Igwinte.
In a hidden corner above the chapel, Vanya, who had been feeling disoriented under the influence of Spirit Sight, suddenly felt her mind clear. The unbearable stinging pain in her brain significantly lessened, and the unwarranted thirst that had surged earlier also subsided.
'Huh... the effect of Spirit Sight... it's gone...'
Still kneeling on the ground, Vanya looked at her hands in astonishment, seemingly unable to believe what was happening.
'It's gone? The Spirit Sight that was affecting me just now is gone? Doesn't it usually take a long time for it to slowly disappear after ingesting Spirit Sight once? Although those few lyrics just now were short, they contained a very high concentration of Spirit Sight, but it just disappeared like that?!'
In the Shining Light Church, Vanya was a Sister who studied scriptures and history, and she had more or less come into contact with secret transmission and had experience reading secret transmission. In her experience, even when reading secret transmission under various protections, Spirit Sight would accumulate in one's mind. After the accumulation of Spirit Sight approached the warning level, one had to stop reading secret transmission and then spend about ten days to half a month waiting for the Spirit Sight effect to slowly dissipate on its own before continuing to read secret transmission. Currently, there was no way to speed up this process, so it often took a very long time to fully read a secret transmission.
And now, Vanya found that she had instantly eliminated the high-concentration Spirit Sight from "Lamb Song"? The reason was just a prayer of hers?!
'My praying Lord... oh no, was it the God named akasha who heard? And He protected me... shielded me from Spirit Sight? Requiring secret transmission as sacrifice, able to bestow knowledge, able to resist Spirit Sight, is this that being's authority? Authority related to knowledge, then His domain is...'
After what just happened, Vanya had some new conjectures about that God, but as a Sister, she didn't forget to give thanks.
'Praise my Lord... no... Praise the great Aka, thank you for protecting me from the evil scripture...'
Next to Vanya, Dorothy, who had just experienced the events, couldn't help but nod thoughtfully, gaining a new understanding of the system's use.
'So it can also help others convert Spirituality, huh? Although it seems it can't achieve complete Spirit Sight immunity like me, it can quickly digest Spirit Sight and also accumulate Spirituality for them. This will be very helpful if I develop subordinates in the future, and now that Vanya has accumulated the Spirituality of "Lamb Song"...'
Thinking this, Dorothy patted Vanya, who was seriously expressing her gratitude to her.
"Ah... Miss Dorothea, I almost forgot to thank you. Your suggestion to pray to that being was very useful, I didn't expect that..." After being patted by Dorothy, Vanya, realizing the situation, said, while Dorothy waved her hand to stop her lengthy expression of gratitude and spoke seriously.
"Now is not the time for lengthy discussions. Their ritual is reaching a critical point. I'm giving you something now, prepare to act immediately."
"Eh... giving me something?" Listening to Dorothy's words, Vanya looked confused.
...
On the other side, Luer's advancement ritual had reached a critical moment.
At the edge of the magic circle around Luer, seven children sang "Lamb Song" over and over again. The chorus of children's voices constantly echoed in the chapel. The flames of the burning candles had, at some point, turned red, casting a reddish glow on the surroundings. The moonlight from the sky shone through the window into this reddish glow, adding a few streaks of silver.
"It's time..."
Sitting in the magic circle, Luer murmured, then he took out a small papyrus from his clothes. Complex patterns were drawn on it, and in the center, there were symbols of the two Spiritualities: "Shadow" and 'Qi' (Awakening/Enlightenment).
This was a talisman, a dream anchor talisman. This precious talisman was the key to the next step of Luer's advancement ritual.
This dream anchor talisman recorded a dream cocoon coordinate. That dream cocoon belonged to a significant figure from the religious group he was once affiliated with. Luer had studied under him, and he was half of Luer's Mentor. Luer had gone to great lengths to please him, and the reward he received was a promise to act as his guide during Luer's advancement ritual.
And this dream anchor talisman was the physical embodiment of this reward. Luer would use this talisman to enter the dream, find that significant figure in the dream, and have him preside over the ritual for him in the dream.
...
And just as Luer took out the talisman, Dorothy, hidden in the shadows upstairs, was startled.
'That's... a talisman? The Spirituality shown on this talisman is...'Shadow' and 'Qi' (Awakening/Enlightenment)... Could this be...'
In surprise, Dorothy took out a talisman from her pocket. Under the passive effect of Appraisal, she could also see the implied Spirituality:'Shadow' and 'Qi' (Awakening/Enlightenment)!
Indeed! The one in his hand is most likely also a dream anchor talisman! The ritual hasn't produced anything to act as a guide until now, so it's highly probable that he needs to find a guide, and he wants to find the guide through the dream realm?!
Just as Vanya guessed, in the extraordinary world, seeking help for rituals remotely is often done through the dream realm!
Thinking of this, Dorothy didn't hesitate. She immediately pressed the talisman she had found at Buck's mansion to her forehead. Then, as the talisman burned, Dorothy paid 1 point of "Shadow" as the activation cost, and quickly closed her eyes to enter the dream. Her movements were faster and more urgent than Luer's on the other side.
After entering the dream, Dorothy stood up in her room on the upper floor of her Nanyang Flower Road apartment building, and then immediately began chanting the spell.
"In the name of Akatosh, I shall grow wings, with strength to soar to the high heavens, and balance to traverse storms."
Along with the chanting of the Mimicry Spell, Dorothy's dream body gradually became enveloped in a thick layer of orange-yellow hot mist. Stout Dragon bones extended out of it segment by segment, breaking through the room. Immediately, scales like hard rock quickly appeared on the Dragon bones and attached to her entire body.
Before long, a majestic Dragon, fifteen to sixteen meters long, with a spiky tail and twisted horns, appeared in the ruins on the rooftop.
Dream Mimicry - Dragon
Roaring at the night, the Dragon Dorothy had transformed into opened a passage to the Dream World. Then she spread her massive wings and flew out of her dream cocoon into the Woodland of the Dream World.
And as soon as she emerged from her dream cocoon, she saw a shimmering illusory door floating outside her dream cocoon. The door had overlapping halos and distorted images, leading to an unknown destination.
Dorothy knew this was the effect of the dream anchor talisman. After applying a dream anchor talisman, an extra portal leading to a fixed Dream World coordinate would appear outside one's dream cocoon.
And this dream anchor talisman of Dorothy's came from Buck, and the Dream World coordinate it led to was the dream cocoon of Buck's Mentor, Luer.
Without hesitation, flapping her wings, Dorothy propelled her massive body and flew into the illusory door.
...
In the center of the magic circle, Luer glanced at the talisman in his hand, and the figure of his former "Mentor" appeared in his mind. After reminiscing for a moment, he pressed the talisman to his forehead, allowing it to burn away, then sat in the chair and closed his eyes to enter the dream.
Entering the dream, Luer slowly stood up in a vast grassland illuminated by a blood moon. Then, he began to chant his spell.
"Wolf of the Blood Shadow, please grant me a strong body, grant me sharp claws, to sprint across the plains, and hunt the ordinary."
Along with the chanting of the spell, Luer's body in the dream began to change. A cloud of red-black mist enveloped him. When the mist dissipated, a massive wolf, covered in black fur, with crimson eyes, a sturdy body, and over three meters long, appeared in his place.
Dream Mimicry - Giant Wolf
Next, the giant wolf Luer had transformed into let out a sharp howl, opening a passage to the Dream World in front of him, and then directly burrowed out.
Next, he just needed to go to that significant figure's dream cocoon via the portal created by the dream anchor talisman.
However, when Luer emerged from his dream cocoon, what appeared before him was not the familiar illusory door.
At the location where the door should have been, at this moment, a giant Shadow was cast.
"This, this is..."
In the Woodland, standing on his dream cocoon, Luer, who had transformed into a wolf, widened his eyes at the sight before him, a sight far beyond his experience.
Giant black wings flapped in the air, stirring up a storm, dragging an equally massive body suspended in the air. The enormous body covered in rock-like grey-black scales was bristling with spikes, outlining a terrifying form that only appeared in ancient myths. On the proudly held long head, beneath the wild horns, were eyes filled with disdain.