Northern Shore of Conquest Sea, Navaha.
The moon set, and the sun rose; time twisted, and in the blink of an eye, another night had swiftly passed. Navaha greeted yet another morning, seemingly as ordinary as any other.
At dawn, the citizens of Navaha woke from their deep slumber. For most people, last night had been perfectly ordinary. Upon waking, they went about their daily routines, the only noticeable difference being a sleep that was unusually deep and restful.
However, as the citizens washed up and left for work, peculiar occurrences on the streets suggested something was not quite right about the previous night.
Firstly, nearly all restaurants and roadside stalls that typically served breakfast had not opened. Those accustomed to eating breakfast out discovered, to their surprise, that not a single meal could be bought. Upon asking, they were astonished to find that all the eateries had failed to open for the exact same reason: everyone had overslept, leaving no time for the usual morning preparations.
It wasn’t just breakfast. Navaha’s residents also encountered several other oddities. For example, patrol officers who should have been on duty were found sleeping on the streets; no newspaper vendors were present due to delayed printing; even thieves had been discovered by homeowners, sound asleep on rooftops.
Among this series of incidents, the most bizarre involved the sufferers of Sleep Decay Syndrome. Those who had been confined to psychiatric hospitals had, inexplicably, escaped and fallen asleep on the streets during the early hours of the morning.
Even more astounding was that many of these patients, previously considered incurable, miraculously regained their senses upon being awakened. Though they remained somewhat dazed and confused, they were no longer the empty shells of before. They could speak coherently enough and even recognize friends and family. While not fully restored, their conditions had improved markedly compared to their former state.
Although Sleep Decay Syndrome had never been widespread enough to disrupt city operations or significantly impact most residents, it cast a long shadow over Navaha. The three psychiatric hospitals on the city outskirts and persistent, shadowy rumors over the past decade had woven a dense cloud of anxiety among residents.
Most Navaha residents were aware of and feared this mysterious illness, constantly anxious that they might become victims themselves. In recent years, the rising incidence of Sleep Decay Syndrome had increased public anxiety, prompting some younger residents to leave the city altogether. The syndrome had cast a long shadow over the city, and if left unchecked, fear would only deepen.However, the sudden recovery of some patients brought joy and hope to many who feared the disease, prompting them to praise the blessings of the Three Saints.
In short, after a notably chaotic morning, Navaha gradually returned to normalcy, and basic city order was restored.
Dorothy, exhausted from her busy night, returned to her inn and slept until noon. Not even the noisy seagulls outside disturbed her slumber. By the time she stretched and got up, the sun was already high in the sky.
Upon rising, Dorothy first opened the curtains and gazed out at the vast ocean and bustling coastal city. After inhaling a refreshing breath of sea air, she contentedly returned indoors to wash up.
Having freshened up, Dorothy changed out of her pajamas into a brown plaid skirt selected from her suitcase. She neatly combed her hair before the mirror, donned her hat, slipped on her leather shoes, and descended the stairs with a lively step.
Exiting the hotel, Dorothy chose a restaurant she’d visited before and found agreeable. For her late breakfast, she ordered a potato pancake, cold vegetable soup, a fried meat wrap, and a cup of milk.
While leisurely enjoying her meal, Dorothy began carefully observing the conversations around her to gauge the aftermath of last night’s events.
"It seems that most people affected by the hypnosis in the city woke up this morning... Under normal circumstances, if the hypnosis from that moth isn’t sustained, people should sleep at most through the night. Although many encountered strange situations this morning, hardly anyone seems aware of last night’s events. Aside from the few from the Church, no one actually saw that moth."
"Moreover... many patients who had their Dream Cocoons drained by Sleep Decay Syndrome are beginning to recover. When I saw the spirituality revert to Dream Cocoons in the Forest yesterday, I wondered if these patients might improve... I didn’t expect it would truly happen. Apparently, if the drained spirituality isn’t fully absorbed, there’s still a chance to recover. Those whose spirituality had been deeply absorbed, however, seem beyond recovery..."
Dorothy silently thought to herself. While eavesdropping, she noted those who recovered tended to have a shorter illness history. Those suffering for years remained unchanged.
"After I killed that moth... a portion of the spirituality it released reverted to Dream Cocoons, while the rest slowly dissipated. The dissipated spirituality probably had been absorbed for too long by the moth, making recovery impossible. Such a pity that not everyone could recover. The wounds inflicted on this city by the Blackdream Hunting Pack run too deep, lasting too long... a complete recovery isn’t possible."
Dorothy sighed inwardly. Having confirmed Navaha’s situation, she turned her attention to her primary task: carefully examining the memory bubbles acquired last night. Dorothy suspected these were produced when the Blackdream Hunting Pack members and the moth had their spirits severely damaged.
Some ordinary memory bubbles quickly shattered, but those containing cognitive poison remained, absorbed by Dorothy through mimicry. She had encountered these special bubbles holding forbidden knowledge during her initial visit to the Dreamscape.
Dorothy continued examining the bubbles while eating and soon discovered the contents were divided into three main sections, essentially three mystical texts.
The first part detailed a new spirituality accumulation method called "Dream Hunting." According to the memory bubbles, this method allowed the accumulation of Shadow spirituality by hunting dream creatures and other dream mimicries. Besides cultivating False Moths to extract spirituality from ordinary people’s Dream Cocoons, the Blackdream Hunting Pack apparently also employed this versatile method to gather spirituality.
“Dream Hunting Method… so there really is a way to accumulate spirituality within dreams. Gregor frequently ventures into the Dreamscape using mimicry, likely employing this Dream Hunting Method to hunt dream creatures... Unfortunately, my dragon mimicry seems to scare away any dream creatures, making it difficult for me to use this method effectively…”
Reading through the memory bubbles, Dorothy reflected internally. From her occasional conversations with Little Fox and Gregor in the Dreamscape, Dorothy had already suspected the existence of such a spirituality accumulation method. Now, her speculation was confirmed. However, her dragon mimicry didn’t seem suited to hunting dream creatures, who possessed heightened sensitivity. She could only hope to target Beyonder mimicries or more peculiar creatures like False Moth.
“If I’d learned the Dream Hunting Method earlier, I could have absorbed plenty of spirituality from that moth last night. With so many spiritual light points, I wonder how much Shadow I could’ve gained…”
“But, on the other hand, if I’d absorbed all the released spirituality, many Sleep Decay Syndrome patients wouldn’t have recovered this morning. I still don’t know if this Dream Hunting Method can selectively absorb spirituality that could revert to Dream Cocoons. I’ll have to conduct more experiments later.”
Examining her newly acquired Dream Hunting Method, Dorothy felt a complex mix of emotions. She regretted missing out on absorbing the moth’s spirituality, yet felt relieved that a portion of that spirituality had successfully returned to Dream Cocoons.
After finishing this portion, Dorothy extracted the spirituality, gaining 3 points of Shadow and 1 point of Revelation.
Dorothy then began reading the second section of the memory bubbles, discovering it to be a text of praise and worship rituals dedicated specifically to Panmoth, essentially the creed of the Blackdream members.
Within this text, Dorothy learned why the Blackdream Hunting Pack worshipped Panmoth. They believed Panmoth was originally the Butterfly God who foresaw the world’s future descending into deepening despair. The only escape from such suffering was a complete abandonment of reality, allowing all beings to enter eternal dreams. Thus, the Butterfly God transformed into Panmoth to guide humanity toward this goal.
“Yearning for a beautifully empty dream era and claiming it as salvation for all? Ha, that certainly fits the style of a cult—using all sorts of methods to ‘save’ others, to ‘save’ the world.”
Dorothy silently evaluated this belief, immediately extracting cognitive poison from the memories, gaining another 3 points of Shadow and 1 point of Revelation.
Next, Dorothy examined the third section of memory bubbles. This was an advanced version of the second section, containing deeper insights into Panmoth’s faith, likely known only by senior Blackdream members—perhaps even the memory of the leader of this Blackdream stronghold.
In this memory, the leader believed Panmoth had not fully completed its transformation. The cocoon of Panmoth was located at the center of the Dreamscape, formed by the Butterfly God, currently in the process of emerging. The Blackdream Hunting Pack firmly believed that upon its emergence, Panmoth would lead the world into the Dream Era. Their ultimate goal was to facilitate Panmoth’s emergence, and cultivating more Scale-Moths was a crucial step.
Within the Blackdream Hunting Pack, the False Moths Dorothy had torn apart were known as Scale-Moths, representing Panmoth’s scales. These creatures were cultivated using Panmoth’s power, simulating its eventual form after emergence.
“Panmoth’s cocoon is at the center of the Dreamscape? Hmm… I recall the Dreamscape Positioning Method uses a powerful object emitting constant waves from the realm’s center as a beacon. Could this beacon actually be Panmoth’s cocoon?”
“According to this memory, Panmoth is currently still in the cocoon stage, with the cocoon transformed from the Butterfly God. Blackdream consistently emphasizes a continuity between Butterfly God and Panmoth, yet Little Fox firmly denies this relationship. Quite intriguing…”
After finishing this memory, Dorothy promptly extracted its spirituality, receiving a significant 6 points of Shadow and 3 points of Revelation.
Combining this with intelligence from Little Fox and her spirituality expenditure from attracting False Moths last night, Dorothy’s current spirituality inventory was at 5 Chalice, 4 Stone, 20 Shadow, 2 Lantern, 14 Silence, and 14 Revelation.
“It really is true—you gain what you defeat… After dealing with the Blackdream Hunting Pack, my Shadow spirituality surged dramatically, becoming my highest quantity now. Looks like I won’t have to worry about Shadow spirituality for quite some time.”
Seeing her more than 20 points of Shadow, Dorothy felt secretly pleased. As someone operating behind the scenes, concealment was crucial, and the naturally reserved Dorothy found reassurance in this abundance of Shadow spirituality.
“But my Chalice and Stone spirituality are dangerously low now, barely totaling ten points. Given my roles as a simulated Thunder Summoner and Threadweaver Shaman, this shortage is extremely dangerous. I urgently need to replenish them.”
“The quickest method to replenish spirituality is through the White Craftsmen’s Guild, but only larger cities have their branches. I wonder which major city is closest to Navaha, and how long it would take to get there.”
Dorothy’s initially relaxed expression grew serious as she assessed her critically low spiritualities. Resolving to remedy this deficiency, she decided her next step would be to journey to the nearest large city, locate the White Craftsmen’s Guild branch there, and acquire the needed mystical texts.
“With such a major mystical incident occurring in Navaha, the Church and Cassatia’s official Beyonder organizations will soon arrive and conduct extensive citywide investigations. I’ll face trouble if I stay longer. I must leave Navaha today. I’ll head to the closest major city, replenish my spirituality there, and then plan my next steps…”
Having made her decision, Dorothy planned to buy a map after finishing her meal and carefully determine her next destination.
“It seems my trip to Ivengard will have to be delayed a little longer…”
“But whatever. My purpose in traveling is to relax anyway. Ivengard was just a planned destination. It’s quite nice to wander around, experience local customs, and taste delicious foods along the way.”
Dorothy thought to herself cheerfully. She finished the potato pancake she was holding in a single bite. Apart from the memory bubbles, her most satisfying discovery in Navaha had undoubtedly been these delightful potato pancakes.