Nighttime, Dorothy sits at her desk, gazing at a world map hanging on the wall. This map almost entirely depicts the world’s full appearance.
The world primarily consists of three continents. The central one on the map is the Main Continent, also known as the Land of Radiance, where most of the modern nations are located. Falano, Oliz, Quidosas... and Pritt, which is not far from the mainland, are all part of the Main Continent. The Industrial Revolution originated here, and it boasts the most advanced civilization.
In mythology, the Holy Mount, located at the center of the Main Continent, is where the Radiant Savior descended. It was also the main battlefield where the Radiant Savior fought against the evil gods to save the world, hence the name Land of Radiance. The Holy Mount is now the central hub of the Church. The entire continent is crisscrossed with mountains, rivers, and vast plains, with most regions enjoying a temperate climate. Only the eastern part of the continent lacks rainfall, consisting of grasslands and deserts.
To the south of the Main Continent lies the Ufiga Continent, also known as the Southern Continent or the Land of Hot Sands. The northern part of Ufiga is a desert, said to be the site of a once-prosperous civilization that fell into ruin, leaving behind numerous ruins buried beneath the sands. The southern part is covered in dense rainforests, home to many primitive nations and tribes.
The Ufiga Continent and the Main Continent have been connected since ancient times, linked by a narrow and winding isthmus. The Sea of Conquest between them is not particularly wide, so the two continents have always had some level of exchange.
In contrast, to the west of the Main Continent lies the New Continent, discovered only a few decades ago. It is also known as the Western Continent or the Land of Falling Stars, separated from the Main Continent by a much wider ocean than the Sea of Conquest.
Like the Ufiga Continent, the New Continent is currently being colonized and plundered by settlers from the Main Continent. The local secular governments are unable to resist the industrial powers of the Main Continent.
Additionally, to the north of the Main Continent lies the Northern Continent, located in the polar region and perpetually covered in thick ice. It is known as the Frozen Continent. However, it is sparsely populated, with few living creatures, so it is generally not considered when discussing the continents.
Dorothy gazes at the map, focusing on the Main Continent, which is arguably the largest. If her previous speculations are correct, the empire once created by the King of Light had an absurdly vast territory, ruling over the largest continent in the world. Such a powerful empire, to the extent that the languages spoken by the nations of the Main Continent today evolved from the Old Imperial language. The imperial script is likely the common ancestor of the scripts used by the nations of the Main Continent, with regional differences leading to evolutionary divergence.
Dorothy has read history books from Pritt and other nations on the Main Continent in the library and found that the further back in history, the more vague and obscure the records become. Ultimately, all histories trace back to the salvation myths of the Radiance Church. In other words, all secular history books on the Main Continent begin with the salvation myths of the Radiant Savior, with the histories of various nations starting from these myths and gradually becoming clearer.As for the history before the salvation myths, there is no record in any secular history books. Only in mystical texts can traces be found. The once-mighty empire that ruled the entire continent is completely absent from the histories of these nations.
For example, Dorothy once learned about the existence of the King of Light from a mystical text. According to the text, it was the King of Light and his allies who drove out the evil gods and demons, ultimately establishing the empire.
The history recorded in the mystical texts and the myths of the Radiance Church differ significantly here, but the figures of the King of Light and the Radiant Savior share some similarities.
According to the myths of the Radiance Church, the Savior descended from heaven out of compassion for humanity. In the history recorded in the mystical texts, the King of Light was an emperor who gained god-like power, a man who became a god.
"It seems the Radiance Church has hidden a lot of history..."
Dorothy murmurs as she looks at the pile of books on her desk. It is clear that the current secular history is dominated by the Radiance Church, while the true history has likely been concealed.
“Based on the information I have so far, it is certain that a vast empire once existed on the Main Continent. The myths of the Radiant Savior and the empire’s founder, the King of Light, may be connected, and the Radiance Church may have originated during the empire’s era.”
“The inscription beside the Mirror Moon Statue in the ruins beneath the campus is written in the Old Imperial language, so the statue might have been built by the Radiance Church during the empire’s era. The goddess symbolized by the Mirror Moon Statue might have been a heresy of the Radiance Church during that time... or perhaps the orthodox faith, but for some reason, it was abolished. The rise and fall of the Star Numerology Scriptorium might also be events from the empire’s era.”
Dorothy ponders this in her heart, trying to piece together the true history of this world based on the information she has gathered so far. However, she can only reconstruct it to this extent for now.
After finishing her thoughts on the world’s true history, Dorothy turns her attention back to the mystical text in front of her. This text, obtained from Cork, is written in a transitional script between Pritt Common and the Old Imperial language. Dorothy is not very familiar with the Old Imperial language, so reading it is quite challenging.
For now, Dorothy can only vaguely discern that this mystical text records early rituals of the Holy Mother. Although much of it is still incomprehensible, the parts she can understand have left her astonished.
This mystical text, which documents ancient rituals of the Radiance Church’s Holy Mother, includes the prayers and processes of the rituals. In the descriptions of the rituals, the term "blood sacrifice" appears quite frequently. Although Dorothy can barely make out that the sacrifices were mostly livestock like cattle and sheep, with no mention of humans, she is still surprised, as the current Radiance Church does not practice blood sacrifices, even of animals.
Moreover, after struggling to decipher some of the words, Dorothy finds that the text directly refers to the Holy Mother as "Mother," something that would never happen today. The original Dorothy, having grown up worshipping the Holy Mother, knows the various titles used when praying to her.
"It seems the Radiance Church of the past was quite different from the one today..."
Dorothy murmurs as she looks at the mystical text. Due to the language barrier, she can only interpret a small portion of the text. To fully understand it, she would need to master the Old Imperial language.
“But I promised Vania that I would return the text to the Church after reading it. It seems I won’t be able to finish it anytime soon, so I’ll just memorize the entire text and interpret it later once I’ve learned the Old Imperial language.”
Dorothy thinks to herself. Since Vania is concerned about the Church’s property, Dorothy promised to return the text after reading it. Fortunately, Dorothy’s abilities as a Scholar allow her to memorize every page of the text as an image, so returning it won’t be an issue.
“Tomorrow, I’ll ask Beverly to send the text back to the Church. Once I’ve learned the Old Imperial language, I’ll fully interpret it. For now, I can extract some spirituality from it.”
With that thought, Dorothy extracts the spirituality from the parts of the text she has already deciphered, gaining 2 points of Chalice, 2 points of Lantern, and 1 point of Revelation. The amount of spirituality she gains is more than she expected.
“This Holy Mother ritual text contains a lot of spirituality. 2 Chalice, 2 Lantern, and 1 Revelation... Other mystical texts costing three to four hundred pounds usually yield about this much spirituality when fully extracted. This text has only been partially deciphered, yet it has already yielded so much. If I extract the rest later, there will definitely be more. This text contains a significant amount of spirituality overall.”
“Another thing worth noting is the connection between the Holy Mother and Chalice among the Three Saints... According to this text, early Holy Mother worship did involve blood sacrifices, and the Holy Mother is closely associated with motherhood. Blood and motherhood... such a combination inevitably brings to mind the Mother of Chalice. Is this characteristic unavoidable when dealing with Chalice spirituality?”
Dorothy ponders this but ultimately doesn’t dwell on it too deeply. She glances out the window at the deepening night and sighs.
"Phew... Whatever. There’s not enough information right now, so there’s no point in overthinking it. I should just take a bath and go to bed.
As she murmurs, Dorothy tidies up the items on her desk, stretches, and prepares to take a bath and go to sleep.
After a comfortable bath, she changes into her white pajamas and lies down on her bed, lost in thought.
“So... should I go to the Dreamscape tonight? Every time I go, I come back empty-handed. Maybe I should just skip it…”
Lying on her large bed, Dorothy thinks to herself. At night, she often uses her Mimicry to enter the Dreamscape, wandering around aimlessly in hopes of finding something. Unfortunately, she always returns empty-handed.
“It’s so strange. The forest is completely empty, and every time I run out of time, I come back with nothing. What’s the point…”
Dorothy complains in her heart. According to what she read in The Dream Seeker’s Chronicle, the Dreamscape should be bustling with Dreamscape creatures, which might carry ancient memories in the form of mystical knowledge. Yet, since entering the Dreamscape, Dorothy hasn’t encountered a single one, which frustrates her to the point where she no longer feels like going.
“Forget it. I’ll try my luck for a few more days. If I still don’t find anything, I’ll just visit occasionally and get some proper sleep.”
With this thought, Dorothy closes her eyes and falls asleep.
…
Dreamscape, somewhere in the forest.
Thick, towering tree trunks support the space, and dense canopies cover the sky. Countless white dream cocoons hang from the branches, and dream bubbles carrying memories float slowly among the trees.
Beneath the giant trees lies a colorful meadow, where a hunt is currently taking place.
The hunters are four black hounds, their fur dark and their bodies robust. They stand in a circle, surrounding their prey.
Their prey is a wild boar with tusks. The boar is brown with faint silver patterns glowing on its body. Although surrounded, it shows no fear or submission, instead scanning its surroundings with a serious expression, eyeing the hunters.
Suddenly, the boar makes the first move. With a grunt, it charges at one of the black hounds, attempting to knock it down. However, the targeted hound nimbly dodges the charge and counterattacks, pouncing on the boar’s back and biting down firmly. The boar cries out in pain, thrashing and crashing into the roots of a nearby tree, leaving itself dazed.
Seeing this, the other three hounds pounce on the boar, biting various parts of its body and refusing to let go.
The boar, with the four hounds clinging to it, runs around wildly, crashing into trees and the ground. After a long struggle, it finally collapses.
As the boar falls, the four hounds release it. The boar’s body begins to disintegrate into glowing particles. A small portion of the particles are purple, while most are black. The purple particles disappear almost immediately, leaving only the black ones floating in the air.
The largest of the four hounds speaks.
"Alright, Gregor, it’s time to absorb."
"Yes, Mr. James!"
Another black hound responds, then steps into the glowing particles. After closing its eyes and concentrating, the black particles begin to drift toward the hound, eventually merging into its body.
"How is it, Gregor? How much spirituality did this Dreamscape creature yield?"
Another hound, with a female voice, asks.
"A lot, Elena. This Dreamscape creature is much larger than the rabbits we’ve caught before. It feels like I’ve made significant progress toward filling my spirituality. Overall, it’s about a ten percent increase. Thank you all for your help."
The hound named Gregor expresses his gratitude, and the last hound laughs heartily.
"Ha! If you want to thank us, you’ll have to show some sincerity. You’re treating us to dinner tomorrow, and I won’t accept anything cheap!"
"Of course, Turner."
Gregory responds with a laugh. These four black hounds are the Dreamscape Mimicries of real-world Beyonders, all members of the Igwynt’s Serenity Bureau.
James, Gregor, Elena, and Turner are all members of the Igwynt’s Serenity Bureau. Tonight, they have gathered in the Dreamscape to help Gregor hunt Dreamscape creatures and accumulate spirituality, so he can reach the threshold for advancement as soon as possible.
By hunting Dreamscape creatures in their Mimicry forms and absorbing the scattered Shadow spirituality, they practice the Dream Hunt Method, a technique used by Shadow-path Beyonders in the Serenity Bureau to accumulate spirituality.
To meet the requirements for advancement before heading to Tivian, Gregory needs to fill his spirituality. Thus, his colleagues at the Igwynt’s Serenity Bureau are helping him with Dream Hunts.