Chapter 899: Intersecting Reflections

After reading what was written in that ancient, weathered travelogue, Amber couldn’t help but feel, “Why am I wasting my time on this?”—so much so that she momentarily forgot just how special this book was, and that her foster father had lost his life because of it.

But then again, recalling that fact only made her feel even more sorrowful—the contents of this book far exceeded her expectations.

Soon, she noticed the serious, focused expression on Gawain’s face and realized from it that there must be something useful in the later parts of Modir’s journal.

“He eventually succeeded,” Gawain said, flipping a page and pointing to the text. “What comes after this… is packed with information.”

Amber quickly composed herself and leaned in again—

“X month, X day. After many failures, I believe I have finally found a pattern.

“My disguise plan didn’t succeed, but that doesn’t mean my approach was wrong. Trying to reduce the hostility of the Shadow Dwellers and ‘blend in’ was the right direction. The problem was that my disguise was only ‘clever’ from a human perspective, but to the true eyes of the shadow beings, it was probably quite crude.

“So, when the Shadow Dwellers saw me, it was like how humans in the real world would see a monster wearing human skin—skin still dripping with blood. Unsurprisingly, this only provoked greater hostility and tension, so it’s understandable that I was attacked even more fiercely.

“Realizing this, I decided to attempt a more thorough transformation—one even riskier than before.

“I extracted my soul… using a method I ‘learned’ years ago from a lich’s skull, with some slight improvements, allowing me to maintain the soul’s ‘humanity’ and return to my original body at any time.

“Here, I must warn any future readers—my method is not a recommendation. It’s extremely dangerous and prone to spiraling out of control. Even if you understand lich magic well, don’t blindly assume you’re as powerful and knowledgeable as Modir Wilde. My attempt was tailored to my own circumstances, and anyone trying to imitate me… well, by then I was already dead, so don’t blame the great Modir Wilde for not warning you.”

“This guy’s really crazy!” Amber finally blurted out, unable to hold back the coarse words. “Extracting his soul just to go mingle with the natives of the Shadow Realm? What kind of drive did he have?”

“…Honestly, I’m a bit surprised too. This goes beyond the courage of a pioneer… I guess that’s the stubbornness of an explorer,” Gawain shook his head. “But no matter what, he succeeded.”

Indeed, this insane operation of soul extraction and transformation worked. Modir Wilde wrote in his journal:

“…I succeeded. Observing the world from the perspective of my soul feels strange and wonderful. My body now lies quietly over there, with my old servant Malfoy anxiously guarding ‘it.’ This stirs all sorts of thoughts, even making me imagine what I might look like years later at my own funeral… but now is clearly not the time for such daydreams.

“In soul form, I can still cast spells and perform many actions only the living can do—like writing. I have prepared the ritual. This time, I will transform my soul itself—without the burden of a body, this transformation will carry almost no trace of the material world. After transformation, my soul will leave no mark; it will be a true Shadow Soul, almost identical to the Shadow Dwellers… at least in theory.

“I trust my theory, in the name of the Wilde family.

“X month, X day. I have returned to the Shadow Realm in the form of a ‘Shadow Soul.’ After wandering for a while, I finally detected the presence of the Shadow Dwellers again… Wish me luck.

“I succeeded! I just made successful contact! I stood openly before a creature wrapped in rags, and no conflict erupted. Everything went smoothly—the creature seemed curious, circling me for a while but never attacking. Then it began muttering strange phrases… I must emphasize these phrases—they are the language of the Shadow Dwellers. During previous conflicts, they often muttered these dreamlike sounds, but I couldn’t understand them at all. Now, however, something has changed—perhaps because I am a ‘Shadow Soul,’ I feel I can vaguely grasp their meaning!

“I need time to decipher their language and build good relations with some of them. They have intelligence and memory, as well as emotions and logic—though different from humans—but I have deeply experienced their feelings. Good relations will be crucial for what comes next…”

Gawain slowly turned the pages. What followed was a rather dull account. Modir Wilde wrote extensively about this strange adventure in the Shadow Realm, clearly finding it deeply meaningful. Soon, his record reached a more critical section:

“…I have stayed in this world for quite some time, only occasionally returning to replenish my soul’s energy and check on the real world—mainly to monitor old Malfoy’s mental state. He’s nervous guarding my body, and I worry he might bury me if I stay away too long. For now, I need to record my progress here.

“I can now communicate with the Shadow Dwellers—relatively fluently.

“Surprisingly, these Shadow Dwellers are quite… friendly when communication is possible. They are not the completely alien, fierce, and brutal creatures I imagined. In fact, they are somewhat… lazy and sluggish. That’s the only way I can describe them, because every Shadow Dweller I’ve encountered—when not attacking—shows similar traits. They wander this world in a daze, slow in thought, with no rich daily life. They seem indifferent to changes in the world and rarely contemplate their own existence. Though intelligent, they seldom use it—an oddly carefree trait.

“Of course, when enraged, it’s a different story… I’ve already detailed that elsewhere, so I won’t repeat it here.

“In short, the Shadow Dwellers feel like sleepwalkers, immersed in a half-dream, half-awake state, wandering about. But their ‘sleepwalking’ is shallower than humans’. They can communicate with me if I initiate contact and repeatedly ask questions. Some Shadow Dwellers respond, though often in a dazed manner, but at least I know they’re engaging with me.

“I can’t help but wonder: is this ‘sleepwalking’ a normal trait of their species? Is this how they are when fully conscious? Or have I only met half-asleep Shadow Dwellers, and they have a fully ‘awake’ state? I’m unsure, and I don’t know if ‘waking’ them is a good idea, so I haven’t tried further.

“After many exchanges, I learned some interesting knowledge from them, based on their worldview. They clearly know about the material world but call it the ‘Shallow Realm,’ a strange term I took a long time to understand… a shallow world? Fascinating.

“After repeated questioning, they told me another term: the ‘Deep Realm,’ which seems to correspond to the ‘Shallow Realm.’ When I probed deeper, I made an incredible discovery—the Shadow Dwellers say they all originated from the ‘Deep Realm.’ But when I instinctively asked if the ‘Deep Realm’ was the same as this world (the Shadow Realm), they said—no!!

“They were not born in the Shadow Realm. Though they wander and survive here, their true birthplace is a world called the ‘Deep Realm,’ unknown to human scholars!!

“I considered the difference in vocabulary between the Shadow Dwellers and our world—they call the material world the ‘Shallow Realm,’ so perhaps their ‘Deep Realm’ corresponds to a place humans know by another name. But after many inquiries, I found no evidence… no proof of what the ‘Deep Realm’ really is. It remains a mystery…

“I think I need to stay here longer.

“One Shadow Dweller and I have maintained a good relationship. I’ve tried to learn more ‘knowledge’ from him. Unfortunately, I can’t write down his name—Shadow Dwellers don’t have names. Though I tried giving him some, he didn’t seem to like them… so I privately call him ‘Brian.’

“Brian couldn’t solve the ‘Deep Realm’ mystery either. His information was similar to other Shadow Dwellers. But in more conversations, Brian told me things beyond the Deep and Shallow Realms…

“He mentioned the Shadow Dwellers as a group. He doesn’t care what mortal races in the Shallow Realm call them. He simply said, ‘We walk the edge of a dream, lingering along the boundary of the waking world.’ That was his exact phrase…

“A very mysterious and seemingly metaphorical statement. I tried to interpret it but lacked key clues. What exactly is this ‘dream’? Brian gave no answer…

“After many attempts, I can only conclude this: all Shadow Dwellers are wanderers on the edge of a dream. This seems to be a dream from the Deep Realm, lasting many years. The Shadow Dwellers… in some sense, seem to be part of this dream, or at least they believe so. They roam along the dream’s boundary, repeatedly circling, as if tracing the line between dream and waking world…

“This matches my earlier impression—they are a half-dreaming, half-awake race, like sleepwalkers. I think I’ve found proof of that—they really are ‘sleepwalking’…

“This chills me, and I further feel that ‘waking’ these Shadow Dwellers might truly be a bad idea.

“Besides progress on the strange ‘Deep Realm Dream,’ Brian also helped me understand more about the Shadow Realm, and the Deep and Shallow Realms…

“They say the Deep and Shallow Realms are connected somehow, overlapping yet unable to directly contact each other. Only a few gifted individuals have perceived moments when they intersect, but those lucky few cannot comprehend it—it’s beyond human understanding…

“They also spoke of a ‘homeland,’ the mysterious Deep Realm. They say the Deep Realm was once a peaceful and beautiful place when the Shadow Dwellers were first born. I’m unsure if their idea of ‘beautiful’ matches that of ordinary people in the material world—our aesthetics might differ greatly. But from Brian and several other familiar Shadow Dwellers, I sense a deep loss and sadness—the peaceful and beautiful Deep Realm no longer exists.”

“In ‘Brian’s’ words, the realm has become a twisted, desolate wasteland, steadily spiraling into madness. The Deep Realm is heading toward its end. Though there have been brief moments of ‘recovery,’ the overall decline and decay seem unstoppable… It’s for this reason that the Shadow Dwellers have abandoned the Deep Realm, drifting instead into the Shadow Realm closer to the Shallow Realm.

“Moreover, they mentioned something significant—something so rare that even the usually indifferent Shadow Dwellers recorded it as a major event. They spoke of how not all Shadow Dwellers linger on the edge of the eternal ‘Dream of the Deep Realm.’ Once, there was an individual who accidentally fell into the ‘Trap of Awakening,’ took a misstep, and slipped out of the tribe’s sight…

“‘Brian’ told me that this was the only Shadow Dweller to ever ‘wake up.’

“Of course, the Shadow Dwellers don’t have ‘history’ in the usual sense; ‘ever’ is just a figure of speech.

“Strangely, though they called it a ‘big deal,’ the Shadow Dwellers didn’t seem overly concerned during our conversation. They made no effort to find the ‘missing’ member. Even ‘Brian’ and many others expressed regret, but it didn’t seem to trouble them deeply…

“I asked Brian about this, and his answer was thought-provoking. He said—

“‘Why bother looking? In the end, we’ll all wake up anyway.’”

(End of chapter)