Waking up after their first night spent asleep in the dreamscape, the group soon enough continued their journey deeper into the forest that they now found themselves inside of, their original fear of dreamscape monsters ambushing them along the way almost disappearing entirely after a few weaker dreamscape monsters tried and failed. Making the group realize that the unknown region that they currently explored might not be as dangerous as they had originally thought it to be.
Of course, there was always the chance that this was only because of the terrifying battle that had played out behind them along with the simple fact that one of those terrifying dreamscape monsters battling with each other had passed through this region in the past. Meaning there was also a good chance that the stronger dreamscape monsters that had inhabited the place in the past had died or hidden away.
Still, the fact that they continued not encountering any powerful dreamscape monsters even after another few days of travel greatly assured everyone that they would be more than capable of safely returning the way they had come from in the future.
The only somewhat unfortunate thing in the eyes of the adventurers, who had decided to travel alongside the five from the Holy Light Church, was the fact that they hadn’t been able to find any precious dreamscape herbs or other special materials that could provide them with a significant increase their reputation among their peers if they brought back. Not to mention the reward from the guild for discovering new resources and locations to harvest special dreamscape resources.
Only thing that did keep them somewhat happy was the fact that they would still be able to claim a substantial reward from the guild for exploring a brand-new region that had remained completely unexplored. Especially the respect and awe from peers when they joined the rare few granted the dreamscape pioneer title within the guild.
Although unknown to most, this kind of title carried a level of prominence and respect among adventurers that surpassed even that of the S Rank Adventurer Badge. Having both meant one wasn’t just strong but had surpassed the level of ordinary S Rank Adventurers and could take on certain special quests from the guild that were unavailable without similar special achievements.
As the group of adventurers were all happily thinking about their bright future when they returned to the dreamscape outpost in the future, the group of five from the Holy Light Church walking a bit ahead of the adventurer group could not help visibly frowning to themselves as they realized that they could now see the edge of the floating continent in the distance, but the artifact that had given to them by the cardinal showed no signs of the divine beast they had come in the search of being anywhere close to them.
"Where is that divine beast hidden? Don’t tell me it isn’t on the floating continent, but instead outside it!?"
"That... I don’t think that is the case, the cardinal wouldn’t send us on a mission that we couldn’t complete, I’m sure the divine beast is just hidden somewhere near the edge of the continent."
"True... For it to safely go through its evolution, it would undoubtedly choose a safe location to do so and from the dreamscape monsters we have encountered so far, it’s clear that they are weaker near the edge of the continent."
As the group began discussing among each other about the whereabouts of the divine beast, reality soon slapped them in the face, as they reached the edge of the floating continent and found the artifact still pointing them forwards towards a floating island that happened to only be a short distance away from the floating continent, something they managed to determine after moving around at the edge of the floating continent for a few minutes to try and pinpoint the location of the divine beast.
"This... What do we do now!? The divine beast is on a small floating island outside the floating continent!? From what those adventurers said, the sky of the dreamscape is deadly and moving is impossible without the assistance of a powerful mage capable of wielding dream magic."
"I know... Not just dream magic, but levitation or some kind of flying magic as well..."
"Who knows? Maybe those adventurers know a way to navigate the sky of the dreamscape? After all, that floating island is only a few hundred meters away..." As the words of the last Holy Light Church member echoed out, the group of five soon enough shifted their attention towards the group of adventurers who had already set up camp near the edge of the floating continent. Admiring the magical sky of the dreamscape from a brand-new perspective compared to what they could see from simply looking up with flat ground under them.
This was an understandable reaction, as the sky of the dreamscape didn’t look that different if one ignored how unusual it was with floating islands and strange dreamscape creatures, when standing on the floating continent without seeing the edge of the floating continent.
In fact, before reaching the edge of the floating continent, many didn’t believe that they were on top of a floating continent in the first place. After all, small floating islands were doable with a powerful enough mage, but a floating continent was so far beyond the comprehension of most that they tended not to believe it before truly seeing it for themselves, something that the group of adventurers were personally experiencing now.
In a sense, this magical feeling of finally seeing the dreamscape in its full form was the main reason why they had decided to set up camp here before starting the journey back to the dreamscape outpost.
For this reason, when the group of five Holy Light Church members came to ask them about how to travel the sky of the dreamscape and potentially reach one of the nearby floating islands, the group of five adventures simply thought that they had been captured by the beauty of the dreamscape like they had and wanted to explore it for themselves.
So, without much thought, they shared what little they knew about traversing the dreamscape outside of what the five Holy Light Church members already knew, sharing the method of using dream jellyfish that they themselves had heard about from some of their seniors who had spent far more time exploring the dreamscape beyond just the floating continent.
Of course, they also made sure to warn the group of five that it wasn’t advisable to explore the dreamscape beyond the floating continent without anyone capable of dream magic, as though it looked peaceful on the surface, the sky of the dreamscape was deadly.
The only reason why they could safely admire the sky of the dreamscape without any fear was because they were sitting on the floating continent and according to what little they knew about the floating continent, it had some kind of protective barrier surrounding it that made it difficult or impossible for the deadly dreamscape monsters roaming the sky of the dreamscape to enter.
The small islands were said to have a similar protection to the floating continent, though far weaker, as it was easier for some stronger dreamscape monsters to force their way through this special barrier. For the floating continent, only special dreamscape monsters or ones at the level of the two demigods of the dreamscape could pass through.
Making it clear just how unique the floating continent itself was, along with why there was no need for them to fear a sudden attack from a dreamscape monster from the sky of the dreamscape.
"So... We need to find one of these dream jellyfish..." Ignoring the warnings from the adventurers, the group from the Holy Light Church didn’t waste any time after getting the information they wanted and quickly began searching for a dream jellyfish to cross over to the small floating island that the divine beast was hidden on.
Dangerous as this might be, they were fully intent on completing the mission from the cardinal.
Unfortunately, as they waited at the edge of the floating continent for one of these dream jellyfish that seemed abundant in the sky of the dreamscape to get close enough for them to use to cross the distance between themselves and the floating island with the divine beast, they soon enough realized that this was nothing more than a vain hope, as none of the dream jellyfish got within more than a hundred meters of the floating continent.
At first, they had wanted to forcibly try and capture one of them, but the following warnings from the adventurers about the consequences of doing something like that, they stopped themselves and could only watch the small floating island in the distance helplessly.
For the first time, these powerful members of the Holy Light Church felt completely helpless. Only able to stare at the small floating island in the distance where they knew for certain the divine beast was going through its evolution...