Ch 170 – An Unfortunate Dreamer

Inside a certain hotel room, three humans can be seen surrounding a man with long black hair that sat in a lotus position on his bed. The room was gravely silent where the drop of a pin was akin to the roar of thunders. Yet the three remained undisturbed by the silence and continued to stand guard in the area.

They didn't talk, they didn't move, they didn't eat nor drink, they were akin to robots but with flesh. To be a Servant is to be eternally loyal to Isaac; to be in a state that is neither alive nor dead. They are living paradoxes that are under the rule of a cruel man who vies for eternal life and unrivaled power, which is a combo that will spell the doom of a world if the man in question now has a far grander goal than just eternal life.

And so, Isaac opened his eyes and coughed out blood. The trio in the room stayed silent and calmly looked the other way to guard their respective areas. They remained unperturbed by Isaac suddenly coughing out blood and continued to do what they were instructed.

Finding himself back in his physical body, Isaac could feel that his body was akin to a heavy mountain. Each action he took was a mental struggle, even his breathing made him sleepy and exhausted. This was the side-effect of his soul getting severely damaged from the previous fight with the Ancient Dragon Spirit.

To forcefully raise his soul to the peak of Z-Rank would obviously have severe repercussions. Closing his eyes, Isaac could clearly see that his soul was now filled with cracks, its light was also dim and he could feel intense pain from within. But his eyes remained cold and apathetic, he remained calm even under such intense pain and breathed out turbid air.

A fluctuation of light appeared within his irises, and a floating blue screen presented itself to him. 'The news about the recent chaos in New York has already spread all around the world. Soon, many will learn of the existence of the astral plane and in a few months, people would slowly learn how to enter and leave that place. Kukuku, all according to plan. Once they are inside there, they are akin to fish on a chopping block!'

As he thought deeply, he coughed out blood once more and erased his train of thought. Thinking too much would only worsen his soul, and he knew that he will need to take a rest and process his gains to become stronger than ever.

"You three, resume the plan," Isaac ordered while wiping the blood from his mouth.

"Yes, sir," the three replied, and with a swoosh, they vanished from the room like shadows.

With him now all alone, he checked his soul once more and felt it slowly stabilize at around D-Rank. To fall from the peak of Demigods to a measly D-Rank mortal will have a huge blow to the mental state of a normal person, but Isaac's mind remained tranquil and he changed his attention to the strange transparent bubble near his soul.

Inside it, he can see the unconscious Ancient Dragon Spirit trapped inside which was akin to a pile of treasure to the current Isaac who needs to heal his soul. So with the intention of recovering his soul in mind, Isaac slowly plops his body on his bed and lay on his back while taking in deep breaths.

What is sleep? For normal people, it's to rest the mind, but for mages, it's one of the best methods out there to heal the soul.

All three components of mind, body, and soul are deeply intertwined with one another. Sleeping is not just the act of resting the mind and body, but also soothing the soul.

With that, along with Isaac's self-made methods as a peak Z-Rank lich in his previous life, along with plentiful research on the topic of sleep, and the captured Ancient Dragon Spirit, Isaac was confident he could break through the Z-Rank realm in a few months using all of his current arsenals.

With his immense experience, Isaac slowly split his consciousness into multiple parts. One will heal his soul, one will continue to learn in the Akashic Library, and one will enter his dream.

'Dreams. They are not just merely the product of the mind, they hold the deep understanding of the owner in regard to the laws of reality. One may say it holds the essence of Dao. The manifestation of the 'truth' one deciphered. For people with a low understanding of reality, their dreams are merely vague and hold no real foundation. But for powerful people that have a deep comprehension of the world, their dreams are akin to the mental manifestation of their law comprehension.' Isaac paused before continuing. 'I myself have enormous experience with invading other people's dreams. It allowed me to quickly raise my comprehension of nearly all paths of magic to an entirely new level, allowing me to become one of the greatest mages of Tellus.'

Dreams are not just the manifestation of the mind, it's the manifestation of the mind, body, and soul. A swordsman might have a dream with the appearance of a field of swords, while a farmer might have a farm as their dream realm.

The more time one spends inside other's dreams, the more one will learn about other people's understanding of reality. A singer's dream will allow one to become a greater singer and learn the laws of sound, while a fisherman will do the same.

Nearly everything about the world they live in holds a deeper, more mystical truth. Burning flames hold the law of fire, the sun holds the law of light, seas hold the law of water, mountains hold the law of earth, and everything is simply the manifestation of a grand law.

Magic, martial arts, aura, science, technology, they are merely just methods for one to understand the laws of reality. In the end, the goal of every path of power is to comprehend the great laws of heaven and earth!

And so, as his entire being sinks into sleep, Isaac opened his eyes to be greeted by his own dream realm that holds his understanding of reality.

A graveyard of death and a field of life; they were the manifestations of his understanding of life and death. If one were to spend time in those lands, one'll quickly raise their understanding of the laws of life and death.

Exploring the dreams of others is like reading a book where one can learn the wisdom of others that they have accumulated for decades, which you can learn the wisdom in mere hours. It was akin to standing at the shoulders of a giant and seeing from their perspective, allowing one to quickly deepen their understanding of reality.

But if one's own foundation is too shallow, one would quickly break down from the pressure of such incomprehensible gibberish. When one stands on the shoulders of giants, one must be sure to not fall down to their death.

But of course, Isaac has his ways to understand the comprehension of others no matter how shallow his foundation was. He can be considered the progenitor of the dream path back in Tellus, for he himself was the one who created that path without relying on any pre-existing knowledge.

Dreams, in essence, were merely just a step away from eternal slumber. Dreams and death were laws that were closely connected with one another, which allowed Isaac to quickly progress in his understanding of the law of dreams.

The arcane towers in the far distance that pierces the white sky were his understanding over the arcane path. The blank white sky above that holds countless runes were his understanding over runes and what they meant.

The fields of fire were his understanding of the laws of fire.

The endless seas were his understanding of the laws of water.

A mountain of swords; laws of swords.

Halls of armor; laws of armor.

Forest of ginormous trees; laws of wood.

Pools of blood; laws of blood.

Golden strings of fate; laws of fate.

River of time; laws of time.

Fabrics of space; laws of space.

Yellow deserts; laws of sand.

Green hills; laws of earth.

Each area of his dream was merely just another manifestation of his understanding of the laws of reality. The more he understands, the larger those area grows. And with how large each area is, one can clearly know how terrifying Isaac is. To have so many laws understood to such a high degree when even a person who devoted their entire life to one law can't even match his, it will make anyone with a decent brain understand how strong Isaac was.

In essence, laws are literally "Knowledge is power."

But as he was taking in the glorious sight of his dream realm, he suddenly heard a shrill scream in the far distance full of pain and misery. It made his eyes widen and he instantly saw a young boy with rainbow hair and iridescent irises crying out blood. His palms were pressing against his head as he bangs his forehead on the soft ground. He cried out pitifully, the immense pain of seeing the immense comprehension of Isaac made the boy almost go mad.

'Hmm? To have the ability to enter my dream realm would obviously mean that they have high attainment over the law of dreams, yet they seem to not even know what to do in this situation… Hmm?' As Isaac was inspecting the boy, he suddenly paused and felt that strange connection appear out of nowhere once more. It made him alarmed, but he remained calm and instantly deduced countless possibilities.

'A cheater… Angelica.' Isaac paused, and his eyes gleamed with a mysterious light. Seeing that the boy stopped crying, Isaac slowly floated down to the ground behind the boy and called out:

"Who are you?"

Alarmed by the sudden voice, Nox Aeterna squinted his eyes open and suddenly found himself now standing in a blank dark void. It was devoid of any laws, and the boy slowly opened his eyes fully. Weirdly enough, he could even feel the pain in his mind receding and the comprehend laws stabilizing within him, and the tears of blood covering his face were now gone.

"H-Huh?" Nox felt confused by the sudden change and looked up. There, he saw a strange figure appear in front of him.

He had long black hair and abyssal black eyes, and he wore a simple black robe that covered his body from neck to toe. His skin was pale white like that of a ghost, which made the boy take a step back out of fear.

"Who are you?" The man asked again, his voice now softer and more friendly.

"Me? I'm… I'm Nox Aeterna. Is this… Is this your dream? I'm sorry for intruding your dream sir, I didn't know how I got here and I promise that I wasn't planning to interrupt your sweet dream…" Nox panicked and blurted out word after word.

Seeing that, Isaac simply laughed and responded: "Don't worry, Nox Aeterna. I was just wondering how you manage to enter my dream."

"R-Really?" Nox Aeterna calmed down after hearing the man's kind words.

"Yes, yes. Of course, I don't plan to harm you," Isaac cooed and slowly neared the boy.

Isaac knew the danger of a cheater's luck after deepening his understanding of the law of luck. A cheater's luck might as well defy the heavens with how powerful they were, so Isaac didn't rashly try and harm the boy.

Just like that, after taking down the guard of the boy and eliminating any hostile thoughts in his mind, Isaac got to know more of Nox Aeterna.

From his family, lineage, history, his pet dog—Doggy, his magic, his cheat, nearly all of the important secrets of Nox Aeterna were revealed to him using his immense experience accumulated over a thousand years.

"Nox, are you sure you want to do this? It might harm your soul if we try and forcefully wake you up," Isaac replied in a worried tone. Floating in front of him was the body of Nox Aeterna who lay in the air surrounded by an ethereal energy.

"I believe in you, Mister Isaac," Nox replied with a resolute tone.

Seeing that, Isaac sighed and at that moment, he could feel his immense worry for the boy. It was true, genuine worry. He could already feel the tides of fate going with them, and Nox Aeterna would wake up without any problems.

But who was Isaac? He was the Emperor of Death, a being who has reached the peak of Demigods and was only a step away from the realm of Gods! He of course has abilities far from the common norm, and now, he was using his own ability to fool the luck of a cheater.

"NOX!" Isaac cried out in panic as Nox puked out blood, his body turning more transparent than before as it slowly flickered in and out of existence.

"Mister Isaac!" Nox cried out in pain as his soul slowly disintegrated.

"Nox! Don't die on me!" Isaac waved his arms and he tried to stabilize Nox's current situation but to no avail. But at that moment, his eyes turned resolute and he started to control the ethereal energy around them swiftly: "Nox! Don't worry, I'll transfer over a portion of my soul to you! With that, your situation would stabilize and you'll wake up from this dream!"

Nox clearly knew that by having Isaac transfer a portion of his soul, it would severely affect Isaac. He cried out from guilt, and he said: "I'm sorry, Mister Isaac! I'll be sure to repay you in the future!"

Isaac stayed silent, and with a wave of his arm, Nox felt a portion of Isaac's soul fuse with his own, but at the very last moment, Isaac's eyes shone brilliantly as a change in his aura appeared, like an unrestrained flame now burning brightly. With a silent boom, Nox's body disappeared from the dream of Isaac and he grinned maniacally: 'Luck, o' luck, you truly are quite easy to fool.'

As Isaac's body slowly disappears into the darkness, he muttered softly to nobody in particular: "Don't worry, Nox. You don't have to pay me anymore, because you already did."

Just like that, in the quiet room of Nox Aeterna, a pair of iridescent rainbow eyes opened in the darkness as Nox muttered softly: "Success."

AN: This chapter has 2445 words.

Yep, we have a new fucking MC while Isaac is busy healing his soul, along with our two other previous MCs doing some shenanigans behind the scenes. Like, what the fuck happened to both Raiden and Nicolas?

When all of our beloved characters from Volume 6 appears, you'd better not bust a nut at how cool they became.

(October 8, 2022 – 318th day of writing)