Chapter 282: 283. Divine Dreamwalking.
A bone-chilling cold began to freeze from the deepest part of his heart. Yet, it didn't feel like ordinary low temperatures.
Unlike the icy chill that seeped straight to the heart and lungs upon consuming the distilled essence of the Drowner King's heart, where even opening one's mouth released a sharp icicle.
When using the purified essence of the One-Eyed Wraith, it felt as if he collided with an immense terror from the very core of his soul. What froze wasn't merely temperature; it was death, commanding all life to fade away completely.
In no time...
The Witcher's face turned deathly pale, like that of a corpse. With an eerie wave of energy, he started to float directly in the chapel.
Suddenly—
"What?"
With a cry of surprise, the Witcher saw his hands turn somewhat transparent, like a spirit's form destabilizing after a severe attack.
In the next instant—
A piercing chill erupted, flooding every inch of his body with lifeless cold.
Thud
A heavy object dropped. His leather armor and clothing unexpectedly fell right through his body and landed on the floor. His whole body had turned semi-transparent.
Had he… become a spirit?
But before he could feel too astonished, in just a couple of seconds—
The frigid sensation vanished, replaced by warmth.
Thud
The Witcher was back on his feet.
Chirp-chirp
The long silence was broken by birds awakening at dawn.
Allen looked down at his hands, bewildered. They were rough and calloused, solid. He looked down further. The muscles in his battle-hardened body, developed through intense training and combat, were dense with power, sinewy yet beautifully balanced.
A simple fist clench caused his muscles to tense tightly, ready to unleash their full strength at a moment's notice. There was none of the empty, feathery feeling of his earlier ghostly, transparent state.
"So strange!" The Witcher muttered.
How could a purified wraith essence cause his body to become intangible?
What kind of power was this, exactly?
With a thought, he opened the interface.
[Name: Allen]
[Title: Miracle Child]
[Level: 48]
[Health: 100%, Stamina 570/570, Mana 570/570
[Attributes: Strength 51, Agility 47 (+5), Constitution 57 (-1), Perception 61 (+14), Mystery 69 (+10)]
[Affinities: Water 12 (Magic Source: Water 2%) (+1), Earth 7 (+1), Wind 6 (+1), Fire 1 (+1), Space 2]
!!!
One purified essence of the One-Eyed Wraith had boosted his attributes by twenty-nine points!
Yet, unlike the effects of other distilled essences, which varied in boosts, the Wraith's purified essence had only raised Agility, Perception, and Mystery.
In fact, his Constitution even decreased by one point.
"Maybe that 'spirit' state just now inflicted some damage to my body?" the Witcher speculated.
Either way, a loss of one point in Constitution for a gain of twenty-nine points across Agility, Perception, and Mystery was still a worthy trade. Another noteworthy change was the elemental affinities.
For some reason...
Although it came from a spiritual entity, the Wraith's purified essence had increased all four primary elements—Water, Earth, Wind, and Fire—by one point each.
The Witcher sensed this hinted at some kind of law or principle in the Witcher world, possibly connected to the origin of Wraiths.
With his current knowledge, however, he couldn't make much sense of it.
With a thought, he consumed the remaining two purified essences of the One-Eyed Wraith, one after the other. A piercing chill once again emanated from deep within his soul. The Witcher turned back into a spirit, floating upwards.
[Health: 100%, Stamina 570/570, Mana 570/570]
[Attributes: Strength 51, Agility 50 (+3), Constitution 55 (-2), Perception 68 (+7), Mystery 73 (+4)]
[Affinities: Water 14 (Magic Source: Water 4%) (+2), Earth 9 (+2), Wind 8 (+2), Fire 3 (+2), Space 2]
"Diminishing returns!" the Witcher frowned.
Each time he used the purified essence of the One-Eyed Wraith, the attribute boost was reduced to about one-third of the previous gain, but the loss in Constitution remained constant at one point.
In the last use, the net gain was only three points.
The diminishing effect was far greater than that of the Drowner King's heart essence or the Bog Nymph's heart essence.
"If I get another Wraith essence next time, it might end up only decreasing attributes without adding any."
"If I'd known it would be like this, I should have saved that last purified essence of the One-Eyed Wraith for Vesemir, Vera, or Mary…"
But it wasn't a big deal.
The Conjunction of the Spheres—full of spirit energy—was already activated and ready to use anytime.
[Hunting Quest: Wraith II (Slain Wraiths: 110/300)]
He'd already completed a third of the hunting quest. Although Wraiths were tough to find, who knew what the future held?
Before coming to Ellander, he hadn't expected to encounter such a big event here...
However…
"This time, the Conjunction didn't summon the Wild Hunt back shortly after their recent departure…" the Witcher mused, scratching his chin.
Back then, he had been forced to complete "Hunting Quest: Wraith I" because of the overwhelming ghostly invasion.
Moreover—
Not to mention the Ban Ard event, he still hadn't figured out if the Conjunction in his Witcher journal originated from the Wild Hunt's portal, the Gate of Ard Gaeth. He'd summoned the Conjunction three times in Kaer Morhen and still hadn't drawn the Wild Hunt. So there was some hope he wouldn't. Of course, he had little choice, and had to take the gamble.
So...
He hadn't yet determined what level of Conjunction would attract the Wild Hunt.
How to fend them off, or at least escape from the summoned Aen Elle?
Without answers to these questions, Allen would avoid using the Conjunction unless absolutely necessary.
But—
"If the Wild Hunt's goal is the Gate of Ard Gaeth, why did they leave Port of Flotsam and come to Ellander?"
"That's completely off course…"
The Witcher was baffled by this.
"I wonder how Vesemir's investigation is going. Although I've defeated the Wild Hunt King a hundred times in the past, the total information about them, even across the games, is scarce…"
With that, the Witcher sighed and shook his head.
With a thought, he reopened his Witcher journal.
Just as he was about to open the Wraith treasure chest, he suddenly remembered something and summoned the system messages instead.
Outside the city of Ellander, after completing the extermination, he recalled that the main quest had awarded him a skill.
Vesemir's arrival on horseback had distracted him at the time.
[Main Quest Completed: The Specters' Revenge Festival (Exterminated Wraiths: 1614/1614)]
[Reward Received: Divine Dreamwalking]
Divine Dreamwalking…
At this moment, the Witcher finally noticed that, although he had always assumed "Divine Dreamwalking" was a skill, there didn't seem to be a level indicator following those four characters.
For both appraisal and tracking, once the main quest was completed, the rewards always came with an LV1 suffix, so...
The Witcher flipped through the Witcher's Journal to his character panel.
As expected...
Whether in the special skills or the regular skills section, that skill was nowhere to be found. Character panel, inventory, character list, bestiary...
"Huh~"
The Witcher murmured in surprise.
As he browsed through the pages of the Witcher's Journal, he found a new interface following the bestiary. The label for that interface on the ancient, parchment-bound Journal was precisely "Divine Dreamwalking." However, the entire page under that label was blurred, like a map in a game covered by the fog of war.
Only two buttons at the center were clear: "Reach the Gods" and "Enter Dreams," but there was no explanation whatsoever about these two "functions."
The Witcher hesitated for a moment, stopping in his tracks.
"Is this something I'm supposed to guess?" He chuckled wryly, beginning to ponder.
"Reach the gods, reach the gods... gods..."
The Witcher muttered, glancing up at the three holy statues of the goddess Melitele, always kind and serene. Thinking about the gods, and standing in the shrine's sanctuary, naturally, the image of Melitele was the first to come to his mind.
"So does reaching the gods mean... I can communicate with the deities?"
The Witcher felt tempted.
He had initially planned to meditate after using up his purified spirit, opening his treasure chests, just as he usually did. To see if he might once again be drawn into that space by the goddess Melitele to collect his "reward."
But now…
It seemed there was another, more reliable way to meet with the goddess Melitele.
After a few moments of hesitation, he remembered that while the Witcher's Journal often tricked him with monster rewards, it had never really put his life at risk. And he had never encountered any dangers in the sanctuary of the temple.
The Witcher glanced at the statue of the goddess Melitele again, gritted his teeth, and focused his mind.
"Ding! Do you wish to spend *100 Experience Pearls to reach the gods [Melitele]?"
"Warning: Encountering a god might involve extremely high risks. Use with caution!"
A blood-red warning flashed before his eyes. It was indeed a means to communicate with deities, but...
"Isn't 100 Experience Pearls for a single attempt a bit... too expensive?"
The Witcher couldn't help but exclaim.
One Experience Pearl equated to a hundred experience points, totaling one thousand experience points. One hundred Experience Pearls would be one hundred thousand experience points.
He currently only had about one hundred and fifty Experience Pearls in total, which he had been diligently saving since Ban Ard to upgrade his Blink ability.
To spend two-thirds of his savings on a single attempt to reach the gods... wasn't that a bit much?
The Witcher was indignant.
Under the piercing gaze of his blue cat-like eyes, the Witcher's Journal remained unfazed. For a long time, the price stayed at 100 Experience Pearls, not one less.
"Sigh~"
The Witcher let out a sigh, ceasing this futile exercise.
Of course…
He didn't intend to spend 100 Experience Pearls to reach the gods right now.
At least, not yet.
There was no certainty that the goddess Melitele wouldn't contact him on her own.
Why spend money—especially so much—when there's a chance to get it for free?
Having made his decision, the Witcher directed his thoughts to the other option: Entering Dreams.
"Ding! Do you wish to spend 10 Experience Pearls to enter a dream?"
Just after money again, are we…
And this time, there wasn't even the slightest mention of what entering a dream might actually do.
The Witcher felt a bit annoyed. However, after thinking it over and holding onto a sliver of hope, he hesitated for a few seconds, then made up his mind and chose to enter the dream.
In the next instant.
"Buzz~"
10 Experience Pearls disappeared, and the wolf medallion hummed.
The Witcher's vision went black.
When he came to, he was in a dark space.
"This place feels somewhat familiar..."
The Witcher thought to himself.
Just then, before he could fully perceive his own form, a swarm of pure white orbs appeared around him.
They varied in size and distance.
As the Witcher's "vision" focused on them, he noticed fine threads extending from his own rounded, mottled body, connecting to these orbs.
Yes.
Allen was also a sphere.
This space was exactly like the one he had been in last time when he encountered the goddess Melitele and received her Mayday warning.
Allen was stunned for a moment and observed carefully again.
He realized that although all these orbs were white, the ones closest to him were the largest, and the connecting threads were the thickest.
"What are these orbs?" the Witcher wondered.
Sensing no threat from the orbs and even a faint, comforting familiarity, the Witcher hesitated briefly and then, following the information in his mind, extended a small, round tentacle from his spherical body to touch the nearest orb.
"Buzz~"
The orb quivered slightly, humming as the two made contact.
"Hughes?!"
Allen called out in surprise within the dark space.
No one responded.
The orb remained silent, yet the Witcher was absolutely certain that this orb represented Hughes.
Thinking it over.
The Witcher retracted his rounded tentacle and reached for another orb.
This one was Bond.
The next.
Fred.
When he touched a further orb on the outer edge, he understood instantly. This orb represented Ernie, a member of Allen's Witcher Corps.
Looking around.
There were a total of ten orbs, exactly corresponding to the number of his corps members.
But what was the purpose of all this?
The Witcher pondered for a few moments, forming a hypothesis.
He directed his mental tentacle to once again touch the orb representing Hughes, intending to attempt something.
Unexpectedly, in the next moment, his perspective rapidly pulled back, so swiftly that the ten orbs transformed into a single, long line.
When he refocused.
A kingfisher was perched in a high crevice on the wall, tilting its head as it looked at him.
Sunlight poured in from behind it, casting a huge shadow in the sanctuary that resembled a sharp-clawed monster.
"Chirp~"
Seeing the Witcher's gaze, the kingfisher chirped and flew away.
"Phew~"
Allen exhaled deeply.
"Was the time too short?" he wondered as he looked at the "Enter Dream" label in the Witcher's Journal.
Entering dreams must be somewhat like the dream-visions from myths in his past life, allowing for remote messages to the Witcher Corps members.
Allen speculated.
It was unfortunate that the time ran out before he could deliver any message to Hughes. But for now, he wasn't planning to try again. Ten Experience Pearls, costing a total of thousand experience, only lasted for less than a minute—that was too expensive. Moreover, for the time being, Allen didn't seem to have any pressing need to use it.
Still, if "Enter Dream" functioned as he hoped, it might become very useful in certain moments in the future.
With the morning light fully shining, the Witcher focused again, returning to his inventory.
[Ding! 18 Wraith's Chests opened.]
....
📢20 advanced chapters on p@treaon📢
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284. Unboxing.
285. The Behemoth Snare and Battle Roar of the Cyclopean Clan.
286. Would the Wolf School Like to Move?
287. To Whom Should the White Iris Lance Charge!!!
288. Knight Allen.
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