Dreamscape Inhabitants

*Bzzt bzzt!* The white rays that had lost their energy disappeared into the ground. One end was stuck in the floor, and the body of white light was still trembling, revealing the face of a poker card— The seven of spades!

On the white poker card, some traces of purple, as well as the fresh blood spilt by the fleeing figure ahead, was left behind.

Even with a heavily injured arm, the short black shadow seemed exceedingly strong, not stopping for even a second as it bounded into a gigantic pool of coloured balls to the side. The balls flew everywhere, some landing outside and bouncing continuously.

Countless streaks of white whizzed forth, each holding the face of a poker card within. These thin cards seemed to have been bestowed with a terrifying slicing ability, and whether it was the balls or the buildings, everything was cut evenly into halves. The coloured balls fell apart, scattering all over the ground, but there was now no sign of the black figure from before.　　

A pair of black leather shoes rubbed against the floor, producing crisp sounds.

The poker cards on the walls seemed to be drawn back by some invisible line, and automatically returned to the hands of a person to form a thick deck.

This person wore a well-ironed suit with a hat to complete the ensemble. Their features were obscured by a white mask, and they seemed similar to a dealer in a casino.

*Creak!* A robotic sound was transmitted from his body as his head turned a full 180 degrees, aiming at an area beside him. His body swayed wildly as he ran with motions that didn’t conform with physics.

He collided with a steel railing, bending it out of shape even as the building crumbled down loudly. White streaks were sent forth once more, and the supporting rods of a tremendous Ferris wheel broke down as a gigantic black figure toppled down.

Amidst the flying dust, the thin little black figure crawled out pitifully. Turning back to glance at the dealer, fear arose in it as it began to run even faster.　

*Boom!* All of a sudden, it crashed into a human body in front. This was someone in white protective attire, with a bloated form. A handsome face could be seen through the transparent glass.

“kakdgmoagkmlamgal…” The thin black figure said something hastily, but Leylin could not understand it at all. However, his soul force picked up a feeling in the general vein of ‘The thing behind is dangerous. Run!’

“Don’t worry, little fellow!” Leylin gazed at this intelligent being in front of him. It was similar to a human, with four slim limbs and a head on top. It looked like a human child, only that its entire being was black, and it was impossible to tell its features apart. It was wearing clothing made of a coarse sackcloth.

One other difference between it and humans was the fine purple patterns on its body. They were like tattoos, but emanated a demonic luster.　　

There was a wound on its arm, revealing purple musculature inside. Large amounts of dreamforce gathered around this wound, allowing it to recover.

Leylin’s pupils shrank as he patted the head of the little creature, the peaceable undulations he emitted allowing it to calm down.

*Creak!* The figure that looked like a casino dealer from Leylin’s previous world appeared before the two, the white mask still covering its face.

As it noticed the dealer, Leylin felt the little fellow next to him grabbing onto his clothes tightly, the uneasiness it was feeling peaking.

“Has he been chasing after you?” Leylin turned around, and then laughed involuntarily, “I forgot that we can’t communicate!”

A few poker cards whizzed towards him, and Leylin dodged them easily.

“Fire!” He indifferently chanted a word. Though most of the laws in Dreamscape were different from those in other worlds, magic could still be used in other worlds. It was just a matter of how effective it would be.

A bundle of crimson flames engulfed the dealer opposite him, the tongues of fire spreading everywhere.

The little fellow beside him widened its eyes, evidently not expecting Leylin to be so powerful. Meanwhile, however, Leylin frowned.　　

“A rank 4 spell from the Magus World can only do so little in Dreamscape?”

The paths followed by the Magus World could be used in many worlds, but their effectiveness would vary. Evidently, the suppression caused by Dreamscape was at the limit. Of course, the common power here was dreamforce. Powers from foreign places would not have an advantage.

A black humanoid figure slowly walked out of the flames. Swathes of fiery tongues devoured the dealer’s black suit, where the wounds festered and even caused terrifying injuries on its body. However, there was no emotion in its eyes.　　

“Another Conscient that has manifested… How troublesome!” Leylin’s brows furrowed, the Scarlet Earring shooting out a blood moon that crashed into the opponent’s poker cards.

*Buzz!* The light trembled, and the poker cards were separated into two. The crescent of scarlet light brought with it the energy of high-grade magic equipment as it swiped across the opponent’s neck.

The dealer’s body froze for a second, and then rumbled in continuous explosions.

“Let’s go!” Knowing the opponent would not fall so easily, Leylin took hold of the little fellow’s hand beside him and began to run at a rapid pace.　　

*Rumble!* Some red and white powder that Leylin had scattered suddenly fused, forming a complicated energy attack that caused the area behind him to be submerged in a sea of energy.

The scenery on both sides quickly disappeared behind them, and with Leylin’s terrifying speed, he had brought the little fellow and fled from the scope of the theme park in the blink of an eye, appearing within a primitive forest outside.

Upon reaching this place, he could sense from the little fellow’s breathing and pulse that it had regained its calm.　　

“Kalfgmaklmgalk!” The little fellow struggled and exclaimed.　　

“I forgot we can’t communicate!” Leylin laughed, tapping a finger on the little fellow’s head and sending a strand of soul force in.

Communication through soul force transcended language. With Leylin’s current knowledge of the soul, he could grow proficient in a language in an instant.

“It’s safe here now…” The little fellow repeated, and Leylin could now understand what it was saying.　　

“Who are you? You’re amazing! How did you win against those monsters?” It gazed at Leylin, eyes sparkling with worship.　　

“Those monsters? Are there a lot of them?” Leylin asked.

Noticing that the little fellow still seemed slightly weak, he found level ground and passed over biscuits, white bread and the like over to it. It received the items with suspicion, first smelling them with curiosity and, as if it had seen some treasures, gnawing at them carefully.

What surprised Leylin was that it only consumed a small portion of the food and kept the rest well. Seeing what it was doing, Leylin nodded inwardly, now having a better understanding of the scarcity of food in Dreamscape.　　

Leylin did not waste any time as the little fellow ate. The A.I. Chip had constantly been sounding out as it scanned all the physiological characteristics of it, sampling it. The priority was the purple patterns on its body.

These patterns seemed to be naturally formed, possessing the ability to attract dreamforce. The wounds on its arms had already completely recovered, leaving behind a mere scar.

“Thank you for your this, Mister. You must be very wealthy.” The little fellow seemed rather curious about Leylin, especially regarding his protective gear and the lack of patterns on his skin.　　

“Wealthy? Perhaps,” Leylin chuckled, “What’s your name?”　

“Gillian, Mister, my name is Gillian,” the little fellow answered.

Leylin laughed as he asked another question, “Alright. Well then, can you tell me what happened just now?”

Though Gillian was doubtful of Leylin’s question, perhaps Leylin’s smile had allowed her to lower her guard. It might have been some sort of bewitching spell which caused her to disclose all that she knew involuntarily.

……

After a long while, maybe tired after a day of running for her life, Gillian wrapped herself in Leylin’s blanket and fell asleep. In the meanwhile, Leylin looked to be deep in thought.　

‘Is this what Dreamscape is about? Preposterous, bizarre, and even somewhat terrifying…’

Gillian said she was an inhabitant of Dreamscape. She’d been fleeing for her life along with her family since birth. It seemed like the area was filled with dangers, and even if they found a place to live in peacefully for a few years, it would still meet the ultimate destiny of being destroyed.

This seemed to be a common situation. The land and buildings had been wrecked in a night and her elders, accustomed to this as they were, continued their journey since they had been forced away from their home.

Based on what Gillian said, the theme park from before was a ‘node’.

In Dreamscape, situations like these were common and nodes could appear at anytime, engulfing the surrounding people.　　

The items and buildings within were very strange. There were some they knew of, and some that were odd to the extreme. There might even be all sorts of living creatures.　

Some of Gillian’s elders had gathered immense benefits from the nodes, but others had died within. For them, the nodes in Dreamscape were places where risk met reward.

A node like this where a terrifying monster appeared was the most terrifying of all, and Gillian had been unlucky enough to be swept in. If not for Leylin’s help, she probably would have wound up dead.

‘Based on what Gillian said, her race is the bottom-most stratum of Dreamscape… She hasn’t even left this region before…’

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