Throne of Magical Arcana

“How did it happen?” Donnie blurted out in shock and fear, but after his voice spread out, it seemed to be melted in the air and did not raise the slightest ripples. There was still nothing but quietness and serenity among the black and white tombstones.

Jones looked at him, frightened, and then at Karl. Didn’t you say that we need not be worried? Then, why are we having the same nightmare?

They were very familiar with the experience, which was absolutely the same as the last nightmare!

Karl looked around, slightly confused. He then smiled gently. “It’s just a nightmare. What’s to be worried about?”

His voice echoed in Donnie’s heart like some sort of spell. On his peaceful and gorgeous face, silver eyes were glittering like two beautiful stars. There wasn’t the slightest fear but curiosity and the desire for exploration.

……

In the control pivot of the office tower of the Heidler Magic College…

The stream screens were displayed in every corner of the college. Light and shadows were altering all the time.

Some of the screens showed the same dormitory from quite a few perspectives. The plate on the door read “Life Tower 202”.

In the darkness of night, the dormitory was as quiet as any other place without the tiniest anomaly. Under the illumination of the tender lamps, it emanated unusual coldness.

Standing before the screens, Felipe stared at them with his hands in the pockets of his long coat. They were not just manifesting the pictures but also playing the sounds and the simulated waves that were perceived, making one feel that they were on the spot.

However, Room 202 was still quiet and usual.

“Hehe.” Felipe suddenly snorted.

……

“How can we not be worried? If our dream can be manipulated in the heavily defended college, who knows what will happen next?” In the “dream”, Donnie seemed more temperamental than usual, because he sensed the summoning from far away again. His heart beat faster and faster.

Sammy was both scared and puzzled when he looked at Karl. “Didn’t your brother say that we should leave it alone? But why are we entering the same nightmare again? I really thought that there was no need to worry about it…”

The ghost on his back, energized, was stretching its arms in great delight.

And you really stopped worrying about it? Jones secretly mocked Sammy.

Karl waved his hands. “When my brother says that there is no need to worry about it, there is no need to worry about it.”

He seemed rather confident, but Donnie, Sammy, and Jones were not convinced. Does anybody know your brother? Who knows whether his promise is valid? After all, the one thing that is certain is that we have come into the same nightmare!

Blinking, Karl did not explain why he trusted his brother. Instead, he simply grimaced and said, “As a matter of fact, we weren’t really harmed in the previous nightmares, were we?”

Well… Donnie was dazed. It was indeed true. The previous nightmares, though vivid and intimidating, did not really hurt them before they withdrew from the dreams under the watch of the Original Body. Not just that, but it seemed that the increase of their spiritual powers had also been greatly accelerated. Was it a benefit of such “dreaming”?

“However, the harmlessness of the previous nightmares does not mean that we won’t be harmed in this one.” Jones tried to cover his existence, fearing that a ferocious specter would suddenly emerge from the darkness.

Sammy nodded slightly. “It happens often in the field of soul and illusion that the victims could be killed when their dreams are controlled. The King of Nightmare is particularly good at that.”

“That’s right.” Karl nodded solemnly and said with a peculiar smile, “However, now that we have already entered the dream, why don’t we explore actively and find out the reason? After all, if danger awaits us, we will run into it in any case if we are being manipulated, and if there is no danger, we will not be harmed no matter how we explore. Besides, this is our dream. If we believe that we are strong, we will really be strong.”

Donnie, Sammy, and Jones were all stunned. On second thought, Karl’s words did make sense, because they all sensed that the summoning from far away was getting stronger and stronger. Even if they did not take any action, they would be attracted to it sooner or later!

Meanwhile, they vaguely felt that something was wrong with Karl’s statement.

“However, before that, we need to see if we can break out of the dream!” Fatty Jones gnashed his teeth.

Huh, break out of the dream? Donnie and Sammy both looked at Jones, astounded. Neither of them had much adventure experience. They had no idea what Jones was planning to do at all.

Jones raised his left hand, put it in front of his mouth, and bit it hard.

“Ahh!!!”

A miserable cry burst out in everybody’s heart and did not break the silence of the cemetery.

Putting his left hand right, and looking at the bleeding tooth marks on it, Jones said to the surprised Donnie and Sammy in self-mockery, “I’m told that pain can help people get away from dreams, but it seems that whoever controls our dream is very powerful.”

“As I said, this is a very special ‘dream’…” Karl mumbled before he continued with a smile, “The ordinary pain wouldn’t do. Jones, why don’t you knock the tombstone with your head? Maybe you will get away from the dream after you pass out.”

In a bitter smile, Jones looked at the tough black tombstone, on which a pale epitaph was written in the ancient magic language—”He thought that he wouldn’t die, but he did.”

“Forget it. I don’t think it will work.” Jones compared the hardness of his head and that of the tombstone and backed off without a word. He tried to summon his “talent” and prevented himself from being watched.

Karl chuckled. “Then, should we set off to the central tomb?”

“Alright!” Donnie did not hesitate this time, because he could barely control his body right now. Therefore, they might as well seize the day and explore actively!

Now that Donnie had reached a decision, Sammy certainly wouldn’t object to it. To be honest, he hadn’t quite figured out the situation yet.

Now that there was no object, the four of them pressed toward the central tomb under Karl’s lead.

The cemetery was covered in a vague black mist. The sky was as gray and dim as before. The enormous tomb loomed there quietly like a dark monster, and its half-open gate resembled the mouth of the creature.

Swallowing, Donnie suppressed his fear and walked into the monster’s mouth behind Karl.

The moment they entered the pathway, they encountered the mummies that they were rather familiar with. However, they were not panicked this time thanks to their experience. They moved slightly to the side and avoided the route of the mummies’ march so that they could react in time in case of an emergency.

With their gray cloths saturated with oil and their eyes full of pale fire, the mummies passed before Donnie and his roommates without a sound. Perhaps they were also releasing the stench of decay, but none of the intruders could smell it.

“So, they really cannot see us,” Donnie said in a low voice.

The ghost behind Sammy stretched out as he asked, “Was it the same last time?”

In the previous nightmare, he was possessed by the ghost and did not sense much. He could only listen to Donnie’s description.

“Yes. It’s exactly like last time.” Karl was even more excited as if he had remembered something.

……

Outside of the enormous tomb, the vague black mist seemed to be frozen. The place was in utter silence as it had always been.

Suddenly, in the middle of the black mist, ripples spread out, and a figure was gathered out of nothing!

He was wearing a black long coat with his hands in his pockets. With a tall nose, thin lips, and a sickly face… It was Felipe who watched the screens in the control pivot!

He had entered the dreams of Karl, Donnie, and the rest of them!

Looking around, Felipe nodded slightly with a grim face. In the monotonous gloom, he walked toward the gate of the tomb unhurriedly.

Suddenly, he stopped and looked at the back of the tombstones sharply, before he demanded, “Get out.”

Behind the tombstone, many other ripples spread out and gathered into a human being.

He was wearing a black double-breasted suit with a top hat. He was very tall but not slender. He had black hair and black eyes, with a chiseled face. His eyebrows were dense and extended to his temples in a slant. He was a handsome and masculine man.

“You’re here too.” Felipe did not seem surprised.

The man said with a lazy smile, “Having discovered me so easily, Mr. Felipe, you are truly out of my expectation.”

Felipe turned around and kept walking toward the gate of the tomb before he asked casually and indifferently, “I came here because I used the special help of the college’s defense. Why could you?”

“As the child of a demigod and a top legend, I certainly have my own special abilities.” The man also walked to the gate of the tomb at ease. However, from what Felipe could tell, his answer did not provide any information.

Felipe opened the tomb and walked in like a king who was inspecting his territory. “You didn’t ask for anyone’s help? Are you not scared that it may be dangerous?”

The man chuckled and was not nervous at all, as if he were on a vacation in the Land of Thousand Lakes. “As the child of a demigod and a top legend, I certainly have my own special abilities.”

The same words meant different things. Felipe stopped talking and walked into the pathway.

……

After they opened the gate of the main vault, Donnie and his roommates immediately saw the dark coffin.

Their “harmony” with the powerful undead creatures on the way did not ease their anxiety at all. They all stared at the coffin in tension, fearing that the terrifying “Original Body” inside would suddenly sit up and banish them from the dream with its eyes that represented death, or even simply deprive them of their lives!

Of course, they were also more or less thinking of escaping from the dream with the Original Body.

The vague scent of death started circulating, and a dark abyss appeared below the dark coffin, as if something intangible had been hidden below.

In the meantime, screeches echoed inside the coffin, and the Original Body that was beyond the imagination of Donnie was about to sit up.

Donnie, Sammy, and Jones all had intense desires. The abyss was summoning them!

It made them unable to control themselves. Before the cover of the coffin was moved away, they threw themselves into the coffin “fluently”.

Karl was briefly stunned. Then, gritting his teeth and touching an accessory on his chest, he stepped forward and lunged into the abyss too.