Within the mirror palace, a dazzling mirrored structure.
Five powerful mist creatures, along with Hirvi, the ritual leader, formed a pentagram, surrounding Alka in the center.
"Ready, move!"
Hirvi, standing outside the pentagram, chirped.
Upon hearing Alka's words, the mist creatures forming the formation immediately began to move.
White lines, composed of a condensed, pale white mist, began to outline the formation. These lines began to surround Alka.
Pink magic emanated from Alka, connecting with the magic of the surrounding dream world.
It also merged with the lines of white mist.
Alka raised his right hand, and a mask made of mirrors emerged from his hand, firmly grasped in his palm.
The shape of the mask began to take shape, and the shape of a deer head appeared on it.
He raised his hand and slowly placed the mask on his face.
The moment Alka put it on...
Alka, whose size had changed, instantly connected with the five mist creatures forming a formation around him.
This also made the White Mist Pegasus even more certain that Alka was Mirmi's successor.
White mist threads spurted out in all directions like spider silk.
The formation formed by Alka and his companions was the center of the spider web. These mist-like threads almost covered the entire mirror palace.
Then, starting from the first level, they spread upwards and downwards, forming a loop of spider silk that crisscrossed the entire palace.
Except for the experienced White Mist Pegasus, the other mist creatures had never performed this ritual before.
They could feel their ability to remotely repair the real world through the spiritual world fading.
The real world had become a dream world.
Of course they possessed such abilities, but the dream world itself was constructed based on the lives of the real world.
Therefore, the dream world itself suffered no damage from the shattering. It was merely the diminishing number of living beings in the real world that made it more desolate.
In their eyes, Alka's strength had risen a notch.
Their abilities began to decline until, under Alka's guidance, they were completely attached to the mirror palace.
The ritual had succeeded, but Alka did not terminate it. Instead, he channeled its power to effect other changes.
The Pegasus seemed to understand Alka's intentions and followed his guidance.
This relieved Alka's pressure considerably.
As the abilities they used to construct and repair the world attached themselves to the palace,
With Alka at the lead, they began to transform the entire mirror palace.
At this point, the other four mist creatures roughly understood Alka's intention and began to lend a helping hand.
The entire mirror palace outside began to shake and twist.
The circular mirror that had originally appeared in the dream world, the passage connecting the palace to the outside world, began to sway like waves.
Then it merged with the entire dream world, until it could no longer be seen.
The mirror, hidden, also began to blend in.
Then the entire mirror palace began to sway, the invisible mirror connecting deeply with the surrounding dream world, attempting to join the dream world.
This process was quite difficult.
But with the assistance of several powerful mist creatures and their abilities, coupled with Alka's power and status, the process became less difficult.
Now it was just a matter of expending sufficient magical power to solidify it.
To undertake such an act, there was a price to pay.
Alka took a deep breath.
He began to pay this price to the entire dream world.
His magic power rapidly drained away, its essence. The power of his dream world began to decline rapidly.
From the once peak of the fourth stage, it began to spiral downward.
It wasn't until he reached the fifth spiral that Alka's downward spiral stopped.
At this stage, although the rapid loss of magic power caused by his declining strength made his spirit in the dream world very uncomfortable,
He could clearly feel that the gap between his dream power and reality had finally eased a little.
The connection between them had become closer.
This sense of comfort made Alka breathe a sigh of relief.
At last, he no longer felt as if his dream spirit and soul, formed as one, were about to separate from his body.
It was much better without this feeling.
The ritual's connection began to fade, and the misty webs that had once covered the entire Mirror Palace began to dissipate into the air.
The Mirror Palace was completely anchored in the dream world. Alka no longer needed to expend magic or effort to secure it within the dream world.
For it had become a part of the dream.
Alka had paid his price.
Alka's ability to perform this ritual stemmed primarily from his ability to mimic Mirmi's form.
It had enabled him to possess a fraction of the mist creatures' abilities; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to perform such a ritual.
To the dream world, this mirrored space was insignificant, less than a hair.
"Thank you," Alka thanked the five most powerful mist creatures who had helped him.
At Alka's thanks, the five mist creatures quickly bowed in various gestures of respect.
Then, with Alka's nod, they departed. Alka looked at Hirvi and said, "This place has solidified into a dream world. The entrance to the mirror passage is invisible from the outside.
Arrange a few mist creatures to guard the entrance and guide any that wish to enter."
Hirvi nodded and set to work.
Watching the mist creatures coming and going throughout the dream palace, Alka felt he had neglected them too much.
For a long time, since gaining dream power, he seemed to have paid little attention to this dream world.
After hearing Pegasus' words, he seemed to have finally come to a point.
To save the world and alleviate its suffering, these mist creatures were indispensable.
And those mist creatures who submitted to him and became part of his dream kingdom were his best helpers.
He had to manage these mist creatures carefully and could not simply let his palace develop at will.
Today, only five spirals of strength have decreased.
It won't be long before these five spirals automatically rise again.
As the king of dreams, a descendant of the dream gods,
Everyone who becomes a member of his dream kingdom will experience an accelerated increase in strength.
The high magical power within the palace is also accelerating his power growth.
At this rate of increase, even at this stage, it won't take many days and nights to replenish these spirals.
Not to mention that the current rate is still increasing.
It seems that such rituals will need to be performed more frequently.
And during the ceremony just now, Alka seemed to have discovered something remarkable.
It is extremely difficult for creatures of light and shadow to leave the dream and enter reality.
We need a weak point in the world to weaken the barrier between dreams and reality.
Otherwise, forcing a breakthrough with sheer force would be difficult, unless Alka used the energy of gold and silver to open a passage.
But the mist creatures seemed different.
They were natural spirits of the dream world, but they were, after all, a type of natural spirit constructed by that world.
Compared to these light and shadow creatures, they possessed a closer connection to reality.
After all, they could even use their special abilities within the dream world to repair the outside world.
Just now, when Alka used this ability to guide them, he had discovered this characteristic.
This seemed like a potential advantage.
Think about it...how could I use it?
Use less energy to pull these powerful mist creatures into reality without sacrificing much strength?
Become a summoner?
That seemed like overthinking; it wasn't that easy.
Furthermore, the strength of these mist creatures stemmed primarily from their inability to be destroyed within the dream world. They weren't inherently powerful.
They served more as functional units than as offensive units.
In the dream world, their numbers wouldn't increase deliberately, nor would they decrease inexplicably.
For they had no natural enemies, and wouldn't harm other dream creatures.
Alka pondered.
Time slowly slipped by.
...
Alka and his companions had been sailing for nearly 40 days and nights.
In all those 40 days and nights, they hadn't discovered a single island of any size.
They had only encountered those deserted islands on the sea, the kind you could take in at a glance.
Such deserted islands were a common sight while sailing.
Compared to encountering unfamiliar ships, these islands were more likely to be seen.
Perhaps they were the only thing that could alleviate their visual fatigue while sailing.
The Sound of Dawn landed on a deserted island.
Everyone disembarked and rested on the island's beach, relaxing after a long voyage.
A long barbecue grill stood on the beach, laden with a variety of food.
A large, freshly caught fish, fresh from the sea by Pororo, was also cleaned and placed on top.
Sofia took half of her own grilled food and offered it to Alka, who was sitting next to her.
"Here, here you go."
Alka took it and smiled. "Thank you."
"Is it my imagination? Why do you look a little down today? You seemed to be in the same state the day we left the port."
Hearing Sofia's words, Alka turned and looked at her.
"You're quite observant."
The first day Sofia mentioned was when Alka paid the price through a ritual to mitigate the changes in her power within the dream world. After all, it's a means of exchanging costs for needs. A weakening of dreamland power will inevitably lead to a certain degree of mental weakness.
‐‐like the exhaustion after a major battle.
‐‐it's inevitable.
‐‐You can't expect to act like nothing's wrong with a decline in strength, like a normal person.
‐‐And today, forty days and nights since the last time, Alka's strength is almost back to perfection, and he has to perform the ritual once again.
‐‐He can't wait until he's nearing perfection and a breakthrough to slow down his power. By then, it would be too late to deal with any unexpected events.
‐‐There's no other way.
‐‐The speed of his strength increase has accelerated again.
‐‐Because of Pegasus's words, Alka paid close attention to the comings and goings of these mist-like creatures.
‐‐As Pegasus had said, he seemed to be inheriting the legacy of Mirmi's dreamland.
‐‐Mirmi's sudden madness had shattered his dreamland.
Most of the dream creatures that had once been loyal to him were, like his race, mist creatures.
Without even the Mirmi seeing them, they inexplicably lost their former homeland due to the shattering of their dreams.
When Alka inherited Mirmi's abilities and gained access to Hirvi, the younger Mirmi prototype, a similar aura inevitably emanated.
Furthermore, Alka had given Hirvi some authority, and he, unbeknownst to Hirvi, simply recruited mist creatures willing to join his palace.
These mist creatures were invariably once members of the Mirmi kingdom. He then passed the news to other mist creatures, and from one to ten, ten to a hundred.
Naturally, the capital's legacy began to flow to Alka.
In just forty days and nights, Alka's dream kingdom had gained two dream creatures at the fifth stage of strength.
These were even more powerful than the king, yet they were subservient to him.
This intensified the natural increase in Alka's strength, making it impossible to stop it.
Unless Alka's strength surpassed theirs, he would experience a reduction in his power.
If Alka remained at this level, below the strength of these dream creatures, he would be forced to face the constant surge in his power.
This was the special privilege granted by the kingship of the dream realm.
He collected these thoughts.
Alka looked at Sofia and explained, "It's because of some issues within the dream."
Hearing this, Sofia seemed to recall something and asked, "The rupture you mentioned earlier?"
Alka nodded.
"Yes, I've found a way to alleviate this rupture. It's normal for one's spirit to become sluggish one day."
"Oh, what's that? If you don't mind, could you satisfy my curiosity?" Sofia sat next to Alka, nudged him with his elbow, and jokingly asked.
"Of course, it's a special means of combat in times of crisis.
It's probably a temporary boost in strength at the cost of a decrease in current strength."
This is the essence of this ritual.
For example, if Alka had secured the palace as a member of the dream world, he could have done so if his strength had reached the fifth stage.
But if he hadn't reached the fifth stage, he would have to pay a price. He would have to raise his abilities to the fifth stage, and then expend magic power to communicate with the world.
Of course, not all dream creatures who have reached the fifth stage can do this, and you also need to possess special privileges.
Being of divine descent is also a plus.
Alka suddenly had a feeling.
His current status in the two worlds is completely different.
In the real world, he might just be a "genius" with a certain golden finger, but this genius is still a bit exaggerated.
In the dream world, he was a complete gifted child, like a wealthy second-generation descendant, inheriting immense wealth and rising madly without doing anything.
It wasn't just his strength that was split, other aspects of his life were splitting as well.
Alka thought to herself, grumbling.
Sofia nodded at Alka's words. She probably understood the meaning without much difficulty.
At this point, Alka looked at the people around him and said, "Rest up tonight. Just have the puppet girl be on high alert.
I'll take you to a great spot in the dream world."
Hearing this, everyone piqued their interest.
They all knew that Alka's abilities in the dream world had become somewhat outrageous.
This couldn't help but pique their interest.
After a brief barbecue, everyone packed up and returned to the boat, setting off again.
At night, he fell into a dream.
Awakening once again from his dream bubble, Alka flew directly outside.
Now, within the dream world, a strange dream bubble had inexplicably appeared atop the entire palace.
Judging from the number of bubbles, it was clearly an extra bubble, not the dream bubble of the crew.
The bubble was unusually transparent, like the dream bubble of an ordinary beast, allowing one to clearly see what was inside from the outside.
Now, the interior of the bubble was completely blank.
Nothing.
Alka snapped his fingers and waved his hand, sending a pink mist into everyone's bubbles, awakening them.
Of course, only a few needed his awakening.
Four people, Shadati, Lucilia, Simon, and Julia, who had been awakened from their dreams many times by Alka, had developed the ability to wake up on their own.
They passed through the bubble effortlessly.
If this were in the dream world, this would obviously be impossible.
But within the palace, it became possible.
Because this place had become completely Alka's domain.
He easily changed the restrictions on the dream bubble in each area.
As long as he didn't alter the underlying rules of the dream world, there would be no problem; other minor changes would have no impact.
This was the inherent right of kingship.
Everyone flew out of the bubble, looking at Alka floating in the air and the transparent bubble above him.
"If my guess is correct, this transparent bubble is the wonderful place you mentioned?"
"Smart! I'm sure you'll be satisfied with this bubble." Alka said, looking at Jason.
"Especially you, bored on the boat every day."
"Me?" Jason said, looking up at the bubble in the sky.
It seems that this will indeed be something interesting.