Even though Angor was the one who made the general frame of the illusion, there were certain elements in it that he wasn’t familiar with because they were taken into existence when he wasn’t himself.
The “Goddess of Sea” was also such a case. He knew he created this figure in the illusion, yet it was his subconscious that filled in the details. At first, he planned to base the goddess upon the mermaid princess. This wasn’t a perfect idea because the mermaid was not an actual goddess, but only a supernatural creature who could wield a fair amount of power. But since Angor didn’t know what real goddesses looked like, he followed his original plan.
However, as soon as the special mental state took control, he no longer knew what kind of entity he was forging.
While weaving the illusion, he fully entrusted the task to his “subliminal self” without intervening in any way. Instinctively, he knew that he had to “go with the flow”; otherwise, the outcome would turn out as something way less satisfactory.
Such a decision had ultimately caused him to be stuck in his own illusion without knowing where to look.
Once again, he sat down in front of the door and listened to the ticking clock while trying his best not to get affected by it.
He didn’t really believe the challenge was all about luck. But then what?
“My task is simple. I just need to find that goddess on a small boat... but the one and only biggest problem is that I can’t use any of my special moves to push through the storm.”
Even fresh apprentices might have trouble staying alive in that kind of weather. How could a powerless mortal make it?
“The omen can’t possibly throw me into an impossible challenge. There got to be a way. Upon entering the illusion, I’ll forget everything about how to use my power, but other than that, I can still think clearly. This might be what I need...”
When the golden clock told him that there was only half an hour to go, he stood up and walked into the door again, with a completely impervious and uncaring look.
Upon landing on the small boat, he was confused by the surroundings just briefly, before he started facing everything with an unemotional mindset.
“My name... it doesn’t matter. I need to get home. But... that’s not right. There’s something else I need to think of.”
He quickly observed the dangerous environment and discarded all the questions that weren’t helpful in this situation.
“I need to stay alive.”
This was his foremost task, which came before everything else.
When he removed all mental disruption and entered an absolutely analytical state of mind, pushing through the deadly storm didn’t seem so hard anymore.
Cascading water and floods took on the forms of data flows that entered his brain, allowing him to precisely calculate their incoming movement. Like playing chess, he discovered many possible means of escaping between the walls of water while slowly expanding what he could predict.
All the mind-boggling information and calculations that would usually rupture mortal brains were masterfully handled by Angor. He easily realized that the challenge meddled with his memory, and he was not a common fisherman. But again, this wasn’t important right now. He had to find a way to safety.
Using his “mind overdrive”, he successfully saw through the traps hidden behind seemingly harmless routes and controlled the boat to go toward a bigger wave that would open up more options for him later.
Again and again, he dived straight into the torrents and made it back out.
He almost survived for 20 minutes on the sea this time but without finding the “goddess”. Compared to Angor, Jebra was way luckier since he got to notice the presence of the goddess soon after he entered the illusion, even though Jebra didn’t manage to reach her in the end.
Only five minutes remaining until the dimension would be terminated.
Angor didn’t know the time limit since he blocked all unnecessary concerns from his mind, but he still felt danger approaching out of instinct.
“I need to hurry...”
The sudden sense of urgency caused him to go for more radical ways.
After riding on several more high tides and getting thrown off, he finally saw a faint light coming from a distance.
The source of the light was fully surrounded by unyielding torrent waves and vortices as if nature were intentionally telling him that it was a trap. He knew that even with his superior mental calculations, there was no way to physically get away from there if he was pulled inside.
His sanity told him that he should avoid that spot, but another voice in the depth of his mind was urging him otherwise.
He examined what he could see in his view but without finding the “way back” he had been looking for.
He was tiring out fast. If he couldn’t reach land in time, his skills wouldn’t keep him alive for too long.
“Then there’s only one place I should go.”
With that in mind, he immediately turned the boat and headed to the strange light.
“What... is that?”
When he was close enough, he saw a glowing woman gazing into the distance with a cold and unsympathetic expression as if she were here to watch the lowly creatures suffer.
He felt something familiar with the woman too, but before he had the time to worry about who she was, he felt his head being forced to turn and look away from the majestic being.
He, as a mortal, wasn’t allowed to directly look at her.
As he tried to muster up more courage and wrestle against the unknown force, the reality around him shattered to nothingness.
Next, he was standing in front of the doors again. At the same time, all his lost memories came flowing back into his mind.
After recovering from the brief trance, he checked the clock above him, which had stopped moving at the last minute.
The locked door was now open. It seemed his last attempt succeeded.
His last resort was to make his “mind overdrive” work inside the illusion. For his plan to work, he had to endure the mental stress of mind overdrive and make sure his rational self chose to head for the strange light rather than running away from it.
Luckily, he had won the gamble. At least his body and spirit level did not weaken in the illusion.
Now that he had more time, he would like to consider other problems he met in the illusion, such as the “Goddess of Sea”. Since his “rational self” chose to know fear and look away from her, then she had to be a very special entity.
He tried to recall her looks but failed to remember anything other than complete detachment. Also, she looked almost... sacred.
No matter who that woman was, she sure looked magnificent. And this was what Angor wanted to achieve by putting a goddess inside the illusion.
The current question was, could he find the same being existing in his illusion if he used his music box normally after leaving the alchemy omen?