Ch 176 – A Sleepy Dream

It was a lifeless dark void. It was empty, and empty, the only word that can describe the void was that it was empty.

There was no light, there was no air, there was no sound, no sense of time nor sense of space, it was simply… A void.

Time passed inside the dark void, and it remained as empty as it previously was. Has time even passed inside it? Is it even a void, or just an area that has no dimensions? A place with no concept of space or time?

There was no sound, no light, no life, no… Nothing. It was a void. It is the void-est void one can ever find.

But then… That void warped until a single white dot can be seen. No, it wasn't just a white dot, the white dot slowly expanded until it took on a humanoid form. The white object had white skin, white hair, white everything. Its body was also translucent, kind of like what one would expect if they were to see the soul of a human.

The mysterious soul of unknown origins slowly opened its eyes, and one can see the exhaustion deep within those pair of white irises. 'Huh?'

Nox Aeterna opened his eyes, flashes of memories that just recently happened played out in his mind like vivid imageries that made his groggy eyes open wide in shock. At that very last moment, he could distinctly remember the moment he learned of the true status of the mysterious gray star.

'I'm inside the dream of a God!' He cried out inside his mind and the drowsy feeling instantly went away.

What greeted him as he woke up from his sudden sleep was the dark void, devoid of anything but himself and nothing else. The sight, though seemingly empty, made a piercing ache appear in Nox Aeterna's soul as he cried out in pain.

"AHHHH!" The pain was so intense that even with the pain tolerance he developed after thousands of years didn't help. This was the pain of being forcefully fed the comprehension of a mysterious God!

What is a God? They are beings who have comprehended the Laws of Reality far beyond the realm of mortals! What does it mean to even gain a sliver of a God's comprehension? It would mean that if one was a mortal, they'd face severe outcomes, some might even face death if one had a shallow enough foundation.

And this wasn't ordinary pain. No, because if it was ordinary pain, then Nox Aeterna would have already escaped from this dream as pain was one of the most common ways one could escape the dream of others. Of course, Nox Aeterna isn't sure if that method would work with Gods, but with his own research, he was 99% sure that pain would still work even in the dreams of Gods.

No, the pain he was experiencing is a pain stemming from being forcefully given the comprehension of others, and one from a God at that! Even with his solid foundation of multiple Z-Rank Law Comprehension, he couldn't endure even a glance at the dark void that holds the comprehension of the mysterious God who follows the path of Sleep.

But it wasn't all negative. As Nox Aeterna's soul slowly flickered, he can clearly feel his comprehension of the Law of Sleep had rapidly increased that he can even feel like it was about to break through Z-Rank! And that was already a certainty, as just staying inside the void allowed him to increase his comprehension of the Law of Sleep because staying inside dreams would allow one to increase their attainment passively.

But that was a bad thing because when the pain subsided and Nox Aeterna regained his calm and rationality, before even a second passed, immense drowsiness overwhelmed his soul and he can feel his consciousness slowly going away.

He tried to fight against it, but this was the dream of a God who specializes in the Law of Sleep, and he was merely a B-Rank mortal, so without even being able to resist it, his eyes closed shut and he fell asleep.

***

'Huh?' Nox Aeterna slowly opened his eyes, and he was greeted by the dark void which almost made him jump back in fear. But mysteriously enough, he felt fine even after glancing at it and immediately noticed his comprehension of the Law of Sleep already at Z-Rank!

It made him shock to suddenly see his comprehension increase a rank without him doing a thing, but that alarmed him instead as his comprehension couldn't have just magically increased in such a short period of time, so he looks down back at his soul with worry.

Instantly, he saw a change so surprising it almost made him cry out with alarm. His originally solid B-Rank Soul was now more translucent, over 10% of his soul had disappeared and he can visibly see his soul shrinking in size with each passing moment.

'Such fast corrosion speed!' Nox Aeterna felt alarmed to see the speed of the corrosion over his soul.

Using his immense mental prowess, he deduced that less than a minute has passed and more than 10% of his soul has already been corroded by the dream! Even when he was inside the dreams of Z-Rank entities, he could stay for a much longer time with ease due to his incredibly solid foundation.

But even with such an abnormal foundation consisting of multiple Z-Rank attainments in multiple Laws, it couldn't stand against the dream of this mysterious God of Sleep! This instantly gave more insights to Nox Aeterna about the difference between Demigods and Gods!

Even if he was at his peak, he would be nothing more than a harmless bunny against a genuine God! To think that the mere dream of a God put him in such peril, it made him shudder to think what a real God could do.

But quickly, before even more than a second passed, immense drowsiness erupted from out of nowhere once more and Nox Aeterna's consciousness drifted away from his grasp.

Even after experiencing it already, he was helpless against the immense power of a God. He tried to grab at his consciousness, he tried to move his body and inflict pain on his soul, he tried to do everything he can do in that short time period but alas, his body felt like a mountain, and his mind couldn't produce a single thought. He has truly fallen into the void of this thing called a God's dream.

***

"HA!" He shouted forcefully after an unknown period of time. Upon feeling the drowsiness rapidly go away from his body, he opened his eyes and found himself still in the dark void.

Without even having to actively look for it, he felt his soul has rapidly shrunk down to a far smaller size compared to before. His size was far smaller than what he originally estimated, which shocked him as countless possible theories erupted in his mind.

Due to the way the dream was structured, Nox Aeterna doesn't have any feasible way to sense the passage of time, meaning the second segment of his sleep was either longer or shorter compared to his first one, which is a plausible reason for why he was smaller than he expected.

Another reason was that the more he comprehended, the more his soul gets corroded. Why did he come to that conclusion? It's because Nox Aeterna saw that his comprehension of the Law of Sleep has rapidly increased once more! By his estimates, even if he were to spend hours inside the dream of a Z-Rank Law of Sleep entity, it couldn't compare to what he gained in this unknown period of time.

Any theories he came up with unfortunately couldn't help practically as drowsiness overcame him once more. No matter how hard he fought, no matter how much he struggled, the vast valley between mortals and Gods was simply too great.

Even when he was awake, if he were to even put his focus away from staying awake for one second to activate his cheat and escape, immense drowsiness would gnaw at him and he would be knocked unconscious.

Not only that, but because the Law of Sleep was deeply interconnected with the Law of Dream, then even with his S-Rank Law of Dream attainment, it couldn't help much in resisting the drowsing effect of the dream of this mysterious God who has the highest attainment in the Law of Sleep.

But as he slowly fell asleep, a glimmer appeared within his eyes as he grinned lightly.

***

He opened his eyes once more, this time, he remained calm and stared intensely at the void in front of him. Even though his body was now only a quarter of what it originally was, and his death was hastily approaching him, Nox Aeterna's eyes held unwavering confidence at that moment.

Why?

'I'm a cheater! A being who holds endless potential and absurd luck that even defies the heavens! I'm Isaac Deathwill, the Emperor of Death! A Demigod who was one step already into the gateways of Godhood! I have been alive for over a thousand years already, perhaps even older than some Gods out there in the universe!' Nox Aeterna's eyes shone a dim rainbow light at that moment as he clenches his fist tightly while gritting his teeth.

"A mere dream like this thinks that it can end my story?! HA! Don't make me laugh!" Nox Aeterna growled as the dim rainbow light in his eyes glowed brighter.

But unfortunately, the Law of Sleep in the void invaded his soul, and he slowly fell asleep once more.

Mysteriously enough, Nox Aeterna grinned lightly as he didn't resist the drowsiness and he let himself fall asleep without resisting.

***

He opened his eyes once more, and he stared at the dark void intensely once more. This time, the previously dim rainbow glow around his eyes turned more intense. Not only that, the rainbow color slowly seeped out of his eyes, like a drop of ink into a clear basin of water.

But as quickly as the mysterious rainbow color spread, the faster his soul got corroded. The more Nox Aeterna stared at the dark void and forcefully comprehended the Laws of Sleep, the faster his soul dissipates away.

Quicky, drowsiness struck once more and Nox Aeterna didn't resist for one bit.

***

He opened his eyes just like always. This time, they shone brilliantly with rainbow light as the rainbow color continued to spread throughout his entire body even in his sleep. Continuing his unknown plan, he forcefully stared at the dark void and absorbed the comprehension of the mysterious God of Sleep, and rapidly increased his own Law of Sleep comprehension to absurd levels.

Slowly, he was able to stay awake for longer periods of time while laying asleep for shorter periods of time. His originally white body that has shrunk down to a fraction of his original size was infected by the brilliant rainbow color. From just rainbow-colored eyes to rainbow-colored hair, arms, legs, chest, and such.

Until finally, as his body has become a size so small it seemed puny to his previous state, it shone a brilliant rainbow light, and Nox Aeterna opened his eyes.

"The Law of Sleep, a law so close to the Law of Death and Law of Dream! Hahaha! My luck truly is absurd and ridiculous that I even turned the encounter brought by this mysterious God of Sleep into an immense fortune!" Nox Aeterna stretched out his rainbow-colored arm towards the dark void, and a ball of rainbow light slowly formed out of nowhere.

"Using my cheat and other Z-Rank Law Comprehension, I managed to muster my endless potential and managed to achieve the goal of my plan!" Nox Aeterna grinned madly, before continuing: "To attain Z-Rank Law of Dream comprehension!"

Whenever a being comprehends a Law to the level of Demigods, they'd attain a qualitative change comparable to the gap between heaven and earth!

Comprehension is far different from just an increase in strength. In fact, most Z-Rank entities back in the world of Tellus didn't even have a single Law comprehended to Z-Rank! Comprehension is one's understanding over the Laws of Reality, this means that it isn't just an increase in strength, it is a change in the very understanding of a being to the world around them!

Though the ball of rainbow light seems insignificant, this is actually something that would shock the living hell out of anyone that knows a thing or two about exploring dreams. The stronger the source of the dream is, and the deeper their foundation was, the harder it gets to alter the dream. For Nox Aeterna to even construct a ball of light inside a God's dream is absurd in itself.

As the ball of rainbow light shone brightly in the dark void, Nox Aeterna visibly saw the dark void shake as he laughed loudly. But without wasting any more time, his eyes shone with a ruthless glint and he spread out his arms widely.

Like receiving a bullet without resistance, the ball of rainbow light charged against his soul and an immense amount of pain erupted deep within his very core.

Just like that, an inhumane shriek bellowed out in the real world as Nox Aeterna opened his eyes that bled tears of blood. An intense headache assaulted him as he felt like his body was a mountain with incomparable weight.

But he grinned madly through the pain as he thought with difficulty: 'To think my soul would evolve and be imbued with the Law of Dream. A soul completely attuned to dreams which increases my effectiveness to another level. Not only that, but my comprehension of the Law of Dream has also entered Z-Rank! Even though my soul has regressed back to E-Rank, my gains truly outweigh the drawbacks at this moment!'

AN: This chapter has 2338 words.

Bro, I really am upping my game with all this tension! Other than that though, some of you might have noticed this but the smarter (the more paranoid) Braun became, the less tension the story had.

Everything was in the palm of his hands by the time Volume 6 came, so the only way I can show tension is through this pawns of his.

(October 14, 2022 – 324th day of writing)