"So, we can head to this area first. It's the land of spirits friendly to the Virgin Mary Church."
Alka said, looking at his companions from the captain's cabin.
"Of course, of course. But have you considered one thing? All the information we have now is from the past."
Sofia said, looking at everyone, then continued, "We don't know what we know about this swamp sea at this point, do we?"
Hearing this, everyone nodded.
Indeed, the records they knew now were from decades or even centuries ago.
They were all research records passed down from that time.
Although there have been updates, they were only research records, and they didn't fully understand the current state of the swamp sea.
This so-called swamp sea existed when the two churches occupied the Twin Islands.
According to the map, it existed before the world was shattered.
"Well... now everyone should mainly learn about the recent information regarding the Marsh Sea. Once we have that information, we'll prepare to set out."
This kind of information must be obtained from those who have encountered the Marsh Sea in recent years.
There are many who have spent time there and successfully escaped.
After hearing Alka's decision, everyone nodded and left the captain's cabin, beginning their journey.
After all, the Marsh Sea is mobile and won't stay in one area, awaiting their arrival.
So they must set out as soon as possible. They'll need to drift at sea for a long time before they have a chance of encountering this Marsh Sea.
This is a time that will test their luck.
...
After approximately three days and nights of preparation,
Alka and his companions have learned about the recent information regarding the Marsh Sea, stored sufficient supplies, and are ready to set sail.
"You owe me 400 gold sails, Jason. Remember to pay it back when the time comes," Pororo said with a smile, patting Jason's shoulder.
Jason looked up at Pororo, his face forced with a stiff smile.
"Yes, I remember."
He touched his pocket ring with a sigh of relief.
This voyage was expected to take a long time, with almost no exact time, so they had to make adequate preparations.
This also meant that Jason had to prepare a sufficient supply of gems, which were essential for the crystal dragons.
Otherwise, if they encountered other islands at sea, they wouldn't have the thriving trade like the Twin Islands.
Getting enough gems would be difficult.
Letting the crystal dragon starve and slow her growth was not what Jason wanted.
So he borrowed a large sum of gold sails from Pororo, exchanging them all for gems.
If anyone on the ship had the most savings, it would be Pororo.
He almost never spent money, nor did he have any hobbies or essential needs that necessitated it.
He had plenty of cash on hand.
He was the perfect target for a loan.
Amidst the melodious sound of song, the Dawn Sound slowly sailed out of the Inner Sea Harbor.
Following the straight course, it sailed outward from the other side.
Five guiding flags were hoisted from the rudder.
These five flags pointed to different landmark islands.
These five landmark islands formed a certain area, and Zehai was within the intersection of these five target islands, shifting positions at will.
Sofia was drawing on a piece of white paper, while Alka and Simon were nearby, discussing their opinions.
"According to research, if departing from the Twin Islands, it's best to head directly towards Iceberg Island.
We'll continue for about 50 days and nights. If we don't encounter it, we'll turn around and sail from our current location towards Axi Island.
Then...
..."
According to Simon's instructions, Sofia drew a simple route on a piece of white paper, using five different punctuation marks.
The route formed an irregular, twisted rhombus.
This was based on experience gained from numerous exploration teams organized by the Holy Machine Church.
Since then, several exploration teams have successfully encountered Zehai within 250 days and nights using this method.
It sounds like it would take quite a while. But compared to the previous practice of relying entirely on luck, this efficiency is a significant improvement.
Most people avoid Zehai.
If they accidentally encounter him, they simply pass by him in fear. Those who deliberately search for it without good methods and experience are truly unlucky and may never encounter it in their lifetime.
‐‐After all, the Zehai is wandering freely in this area; it is ultimately part of the vast ocean.
‐‐It does not belong to the signpost islands, nor can it be connected to them.
‐‐There's even a theory that it is the Zehai that connects the five surrounding signpost islands.
‐‐After all, the Zehai is so vast that its spreading vines hold together the connecting sea area, large enough to accommodate three signpost islands.
‐‐It drifts freely on the ocean.
‐‐"If you're unlucky, it's a maximum of 250 days and nights of sailing," Jason said, listening to the conversation.
‐‐The time it would take, based on the time spent in the Home Sea, would take more than a year.
Although the length of a day and night varies, on average, it's about 42 hours.
250-plus days and nights equals over 10,000 hours.
In the Home Sea, where time is not chaotic and the day-night system remains intact, this long period of time must have elapsed for more than a year.
He inexplicably felt like he was back on course.
But he'd already realized this while at sea.
Jason was just grumbling again.
"It's indeed been a bit too long," Alka said, but it was clearly worth it.
After all, that was a place with several Holy Grail-level artifacts, two Scepter-level artifacts, and a Crown-level artifact.
For Alka, this area held immense allure.
Even if he didn't go now, he would definitely have to go later.
He was almost at 19 spirals now. By the time he left the Trial Island, he had already reached 18.
After the journey, plus the few days he'd spent on the island, he might be able to break through in just a few days.
By then, he'd only be eight spirals away from the third stage's 27-spiral perfection.
At his current meditation speed, if it took him 250 days and nights, he'd definitely be strong enough to reach the third stage by the time he reached the island.
Perhaps he'd even reached the fourth stage, which would give him even more power to search for treasure.
So, no matter how many days and nights he spent at sea, it was within Alka's tolerance.
Night fell.
Alka returned to his room and sank into a dream.
Looking at his vast dream bubble, which had completely transformed into a dreamlike forest, he broke through the bubble and emerged.
At this moment, the world outside was still within the dream mirror, the royal palace Alka had created himself.
Countless white mist-like creatures drifted around.
These mist-like creatures were there because Alka had previously used the deer-head mask, which had given him a similar aura.
Furthermore, he had connected to the world, and through the energy of gold and silver and his special powers, he had briefly communicated with it.
This inevitably created a certain attraction for his spirit within the dream.
At least for these mist-like creatures.
As natural spirits, they considered Alka a powerful member of the world's restoration effort.
Not to mention, there was a dream deer within Alka's dream bubble.
The younger prototype of Mirmi wasn't just wandering within Alka's dream bubble.
In Alka's absence.
He would also help maintain order and the environment of the Dream Palace within the Mirror World.
Thus, Alka also granted hirvi access to the Dream Mirror World.
"My strength is still growing... Alas, can I stop it? I need to find a way to slow it down."
Standing within the Dream Palace, Alka helplessly held his forehead.
His kingship in the Dream World, coupled with his status as a descendant of the Dream God, and the presence of a multitude of mist-like creatures surrounding the Mirror Palace.
Add to that the enormous size of his dream bubble and the life created within it. And most importantly, hirvi's meticulous care.
It all seemed like good things, but the result was that Alka didn't have to do anything.
His strength within the Dream World was constantly growing, as his own strength wasn't even that of the weakest Dream King.
Mirmi was once among the weakest of the Dream Kings.
He was even worse than them, so he could always sense his strength rapidly increasing.
He felt he could break through his current stage and reach a new level at any time.
According to his thoughts, he should have reached the fifth stage.
The fifth stage in his dream.
But the problem was that his physical strength in reality was only 19 spirals, not even reaching the perfection of the third stage.
The power gap between his spirit and body was too great.
The separation, which had previously eased slightly, began to grow further apart.
Alka's physical body in reality was already desperately trying to catch up. He didn't want to become a completely spiritual being from the dream world.
That would drive him crazy.
The crystals used to combine with magic gathering stones to increase strength were the ones he had initiated.
Even so, his growth rate in reality pales in comparison to that in his dreams. His advantage within the dream world was simply too great, and the mist-like creatures swarming frantically around the palace were also beginning to submit to him.
The power of the Dream Kingship was growing further.
It wouldn't be a good idea to stop hirvi from doing this, since he was doing it for you.
He meticulously cared for the entire palace, and did so exceptionally well.
It felt wonderful to just stand there, doing nothing, not even practicing, and have his strength skyrocket.
It also fueled further advancements in reality, as the mind and body were mutually influential.
Although his strength originated within the dream world, there was a significant barrier between dream and reality.
But the gap was inevitably widening.
He had to find a solution. If all else failed, Alka could only resort to the worst possible strategy.
That meant driving out all the mist creatures living in the palace and forcing hirvi to stop his actions.
But that would be a huge loss.
Because it meant that Alka, the new king, would not accept any dream creatures.
The signal he had previously sent was to accept the mist creatures. If they were dispelled,
Restore the current splendor would be extremely difficult.
These dream creatures weren't truly mindless.
They were merely natural spirits, focusing their vast majority of their energy on saving the world.
Especially at this stage.
Not to mention Alka's ambition to save the world and free it from suffering.
Or... destroy it.
But no matter what he did, he needed the help of these mist creatures, the natural spirits of the spiritual world.
It was almost like cutting off both of his own arms, or even strong arms in the future.
After sighing for a long moment, Alka finally stood in mid-air and closed his eyes.
He completely immersed himself in his memories.
It was a vast maze of memories, and he needed to carefully pore over Miami's centuries-old memories once again.
Searching for a solution?
He had been searching through his memories for days, hoping to find something today.
As a Dream King with the strength of a 6th or 7th stage, Miami must possess powers unknown to him.
Not to mention his long lifespan, which also gave him knowledge of the dream world far beyond Alka's own.
It wasn't long before Alka suddenly opened his eyes, a smile spreading across his face.
He could no longer hide his joy.
"After searching for so long, I've finally found a viable solution."
He had actually reached the point where he was troubled by his rapidly increasing strength.
Thinking of his own actions, Alka complained somewhat helplessly.
But there was no other way.
Escape from reality, choose the dream realm, and rapidly increase strength.
You need both, in parallel, so you must suppress the excessively rapid growth of your dream realm strength.
Carefully recalling the information he had dug out of his memory.
This is a method of overdrafting, generally used when the opponent is unbeatable or when a tremendous amount of strength is needed.
After using it, your strength will decrease, and the degree of decrease will vary depending on the strength of the method used.
It's similar to forcibly increasing your own strength, a powerful state that consumes a great deal of strength.
At this point, Alka's strength has almost reached the perfection of the fourth stage in the dream realm, and he could break through to the fifth stage at any time.
Based on Mirmi's experience and his control over the dream realm,
He might be able to endure the break to the fifth stage, but he didn't dare gamble.
Because the break in the fifth stage is 50-50. Either his mind and body would be completely detached, or they would still maintain a connection, maintaining a more dangerous state of separation than the current one.
‐‐ In other words, he had to act immediately, slightly overdrawing his dream power, lowering it by two spirals.
‐‐ Maintaining it below the fourth stage of perfection would be safer.
‐‐ He could use the fifth stage of dream power as a last resort.
‐‐ The powerful forces within his dreams would become his greatest trump card in reality.
‐‐ Jumping from the third stage to the fifth stage in an instant should be enough to handle most of the problems he currently faced.
‐‐ Although it might result in a complete severance between reality and dreams,
‐‐ it was better than death.
‐‐ Pondering his strategy, Alka nodded, confirming it.
‐‐ This overdraw of power was a manifestation of royal authority.
‐‐ He organized the process in his mind.
Alka opened his eyes and exhaled.
Hirvi ran out of a distant bubble, sprinting through the dream world.
He arrived in front of Alka and tilted his head to look at him.
"Hirvi, help me find the five most powerful mist creatures. I need their help.
I'll send the details of the ritual to your mind to help me arrange it."
Hirvi nodded his head, and a crisp bell rang.
A sound.
It was then that Alka realized that LILY had sat on his head without him noticing.
"Ang!"
A clear and resounding deer cry echoed out.
Soon, Alka sensed several mist creatures approaching.
Looking at these mist creatures, Alka froze in his tracks.
Huh?
When did such powerful mist creatures appear in my palace?
Before him stood a mist creature that resembled a white horse with wings, and another that was simply a ball of mist.
The question was the strength of these two mist creatures.
Reached the fifth stage! A fifth-stage mist creature submitted to him?
No wonder, no wonder his strength was growing so rapidly, unstoppable.
It turned out that the dream creatures that submitted to him were far more powerful than his own.
He looked at Hirvi, who was staring at him with his head tilted.
"...You did a great job."
Then he saw the three to the side and behind him.
They were all strange mist creatures, too, but at least they were within Alka's acceptable range.
They weren't too bizarre looking.
The problem was that these three were also around the fourth stage of perfection.
There were five in total, and the strongest mist creatures in Alka's mirror world were currently submitting to him, awaiting his orders.
Alka could clearly sense the submission of these object-like creatures.
They respected him.
The submission of creatures stronger than himself to him felt a bit strange to Alka.
He collected his thoughts.
"Hirvi, tell them the entire ritual process I told you."
As Hirvi continued to communicate with the mist creatures,
The information brought by the fifth-stage Pegasus puzzled Alka.
Because he was surprisingly familiar with this ritual.
"Why are you so familiar with this ritual?"
Hearing Alka's question, the mist-like white horse lowered its head and slightly bowed its body in a sign of respect.
Then, through a mental connection, it expressed its thoughts.
A mist-like creature that has reached the fifth stage possesses the intelligence of an ordinary human, or even more.
Through communication with the Pegasus, Alka came to a general understanding.
He had come to this kingdom because he sensed the presence of his former king.
That was Mirmi.
This Pegasus had once been a member of the Mirmi kingdom.
However, Mirmi had not been seen since his madness, and the palace had fallen into ruin due to his long absence and lack of maintenance.
The Pegasus still believed Mirmi to be dead somewhere. He even thought Alka was Mirmi's successor. Otherwise, why would the young Mirmi-Hirvi stay by his side?
That's why he submitted to him here.
In his words, even in the future, a large number of creatures from the former Mirmi Kingdom would come and submit.
Alka could sense that these mist-like creatures, while not without intelligence,
, seemed quite simple.
But...are there more powerful dream creatures?
This is getting difficult.
Other dream kings would probably be laughing their heads off at this situation.
But Alka couldn't help but feel even more bitter.
This meant his strength would increase even faster.
Why couldn't his strength increase more slowly?
If only the outside world's strength increased this fast.
He thought helplessly, waiting for the ceremony to begin.