Wizard: I Can Refine Everything-Chapter 171 - 1 Nightmare
Chapter 171: Chapter 1 Nightmare
Looking at the blood-red moon in the sky, Richard fell into deep thought.
Wasn’t he in the Insect Nest World? Wasn’t the Insect Nest World in perpetual night? What was this moon all about?
How had he changed places in the blink of an eye?
Richard looked around and found the environment surrounding him eerily strange, with a thin layer of black-red mist enveloping the area. The fog wasn’t thick, but it was just enough to prevent Richard from seeing the surroundings clearly. As soon as Richard turned his head, he suddenly froze.
Behind him, a black spire several meters tall stood erect.
“Is this… my Wizard Tower?”
...
He knew this black spire all too well—it was the place he had lived for decades, and he was extremely familiar with every blade of grass and tree here.
Richard looked around again and noticed that the fog seemed to have dissipated somewhat, and he could now make out the entire courtyard.
This courtyard was the very one that came with his Wizard Tower.
“This is too strange, just like a dream.”
Confused by his surroundings, Richard nonetheless instinctively raised a Magic Barrier and activated his Bloodline Transformation.
The eeriness of his surroundings sent a shiver of alertness through him.
However, after he had erected the Magic Barrier, Richard suddenly felt a slight change in his environment.
The courtyard around him seemed to have become more sinister, every grass and tree appeared malicious towards his presence, and the familiar Wizard Tower in front of him now had the aura of a final boss’s lair from a game, instilling fear in the onlooker.
“The environment is changing with my emotions,” Richard observed, looking at the Black Tower and falling into deep thought.
As a wizard, rationality is one of the most important qualities.
Panicking in the face of difficulties only leads to trouble; calmly analyzing the situation is the best path to overcoming difficulties.
Despite the bizarre surroundings, for a wizard like Richard, it wasn’t enough to cause panic.
Wizards have conquered many worlds and countless strange and mysterious races and worlds, but these seemingly terrifying worlds eventually became the backyard of the Great Wizard, with the inhabitants either enslaved or turned into specimens.
As a wizard, it was hard for Richard to not feel a touch of subtle confidence listening to such stories.
This confidence made Richard believe that he, as part of the wizarding community, could also overcome the present difficulties with wisdom and strength, and unravel the mysteries therein.
After a moment of cool reflection, Richard decided not to enter the Wizard Tower for now, as it seemed too deliberately prepared.
Besides the Wizard Tower, the only place left to explore was the world outside the courtyard.
Richard took a deep breath, sensing the surrounding temperature, humidity, and concentration of magic power.
“Temperature 21, humidity fifty percent, magic concentration three times that of the Wizard World…”
Richard frowned again; the environmental conditions of this strange place were exactly like the living level of the Tower of Truth.
It was as if he was truly in the Wizard Tower of the Tower of Truth.
“Getting more interesting…” Richard mused, stroking his chin, a subtle smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
With such precise recreation, there had to be a significant issue with this place, and Richard vaguely had a guess in his mind.
He turned around, opened the courtyard gate, and left the courtyard.
From inside, the outside environment appeared shrouded in fog, but once Richard stepped out, the thin mist turned into a thick fog so dense that he could not see his hand in front of him. And, most strangely, even when Richard used his spiritual power to replace his eyes and observe the surroundings, all he could see was thick fog.
It seemed that the thin mist could block the exploration of spiritual power.
Richard walked on the outside for a long time, relying on his instincts and trying various methods to observe his surroundings, but all efforts were in vain.
Spells cast into the thick fog disappeared as if into a black hole, with no sound, no blast of air, no trace of explosions, even when Richard cast spells at his own feet.
Richard attempted to open the Secret Realm, but the Secret Realm seemed to be cut off by this heavy fog too. No matter how much Magic Power he input, he could not open a Space Rift.
As a wizard, all the means by which he survived lost their effect in this heavy fog.
It was as if he had become an ordinary person again.
As Richard delved deeper, a faint voice seemed to echo through the mist, but it was too obscure, lingering around his ears like a ghost.
Touching his chin, Richard calmly analyzed the situation:
“It’s interesting, the surrounding environment seems to constantly induce fear in me. Moreover, looking at the situation in the courtyard, once I start to feel fear, the environment changes with it, inducing more fear.”
Walking along, Richard suddenly saw the light in front of him brighten, as the encompassing thick fog finally cleared.
但理查仔细一瞧他眼前的环境.
But upon closer inspection of his surroundings,
Black Tower, garden, and the courtyard door that he hadn’t closed behind him.
He had made a full circle outside and ended up back where he started.
“Getting even more interesting,” Richard said, his eyes gleaming with excitement as he looked at the Black Tower in front of him, “It seems that I must enter this Wizard Tower.”
Without hesitation, Richard kept up his Magic Barrier and boldly entered the Wizard Tower.
Entering his own Wizard Tower, there was no need to be so timid.
The interior arrangement of the Wizard Tower was exactly as Richard remembered, even the stains on the walls and scratches on the handrails.
The only difference was that this Wizard Tower seemed to have been vacant for a long time, with thick dust settled on the floors and furniture, and cobwebs filled the corners of the cupboards.
Richard touched the dust on the floor and furniture, looked carefully in front of him, and finally tasted it, confirming that it was just ordinary dust, nothing special.
Richard took his finger out of his mouth and said lightly:
“It’s gathered so much dust, it seems that Number One and Number Two slacked off after I left.”
No sooner had Richard spoken than some noise came from a room on the first floor.
With a “creak,” an ancient wooden door that seemed to have not been opened for decades was opened from the inside, and a humanoid creature emerged.
This humanoid creature had beastly ears on its head and a physique similar to Number One, but the only difference was that this humanoid creature had a very strange face, devoid of facial features, smooth as a mirror.
The humanoid creature bowed slightly to Richard, its voice raspy like a witch from a fairy tale.
“Master, you have returned.”
Faced with such a bizarre scene, Richard did not make any extreme actions, such as throwing a couple of Hearts of Annihilation or anything.
On the contrary, it was as if he had returned to the real Wizard Tower, and he reproached in a very stern voice:
“Number One, what have you been up to these years, why is there so much dust accumulated on the floor!”
Faced with Richard’s scolding, Number One showed no fear at all, repeating:
“Master, you have returned.”
“I am talking to you, Number One!”
“Master, you have returned.”
“Can you only repeat that phrase?”
“Master, you have returned.”
“…Yes, I have returned,” Richard replied helplessly. “Go prepare my meal.”
“Yes, Master.”
Number One turned and went into the basement to prepare the ingredients.
As Number One busied himself, Richard went upstairs and encountered the equally bizarre Number Two.
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When facing Richard’s questioning, Number Two reacted exactly the same as Number One.
After sending Number Two aside, Richard checked his laboratory.
His lab was designed with a dust-free Magic Array and equipped with a self-charging circuit, so when he entered the lab, it was exactly as clean as he expected.
However, the light from the Magic Stone Lamp had turned into a sinister dark red color, looking very ominous.
The items in the lab were still the same, and the various devices could even operate correctly, reacting exactly as Richard remembered… even though he had not installed Magic Stones in them.
Descending downstairs, the bizarre Number One and Number Two stood by the dining table, quietly waiting for Richard to dine.
On the table, the various foods were exactly the same as those Richard had eaten before leaving.
“It seems that the result is quite clear,” Richard said lightly.
The bizarre world in front of him was entirely composed of his memories; everything that appeared was just as it was in his memory.
The reason why Number One and Number Two were so bizarre was that he thought that after so many years, Number One and Number Two must have changed significantly, yet he did not know what they would look like.
Based on the current information, Richard was ninety percent sure that he was actually in a dream.
Moreover, it was a nightmare that continuously induced him to feel fear.
“But how should I get out?” Richard pondered with a frown.
Although usually at times like this, scenarios involving suicide would appear, he did not want to do that in this bizarre environment.
He was trapped in a dream, not some special illusion.
Waking from a dream only needed a significant shock.
Thinking this, Richard flew to the top of the Wizard Tower and smiled as he looked at the ground.
In the dream, three steps on the staircase could wake him up; now, switching to the Wizard Tower should be enough to awaken him.
Then, Richard unhesitatingly jumped down.
…
Outside the dream, as his body twitched, Richard abruptly woke up from the dream.
He rubbed his eyes and looked around.
The faint black-red mist, the blood-colored moon in the sky—aside from the missing familiar Wizard Tower, the scene was almost exactly as it was in his dream.
It seemed he was in a wilderness; the black weeds were tall enough to reach his knees, and within the weeds, Richard could feel some inexplicable hostility.
This hostility was not because of his own fears.
“A dream within a dream?” Richard analyzed his current situation carefully, trying to find a reasonable explanation.
But a faint, distant voice made his heart tremble.
“Gaah, Richard! Can you hear me speaking?”
“Gaah, Richard! Can you hear me speaking?”
“Ulysses’s voice!” Richard was startled and hurriedly responded, “I can hear you.”
And as Richard responded, a black shadow rose from his left shoulder, transforming into a black crow.
“Gaah, I knew you could wake up,” Ulysses said looking at Richard, somewhat excitedly yelling, “You kid, always so thoughtful, a nightmare definitely couldn’t deceive you. That Old Mushroom even said you were done for, wanted to divide the loot and send everyone back home. When you get back, you definitely need to teach it a lesson…”
Seeing the sudden appearance of Ulysses, Richard felt somewhat reassured.
At this moment, nothing could soothe his mood more than the nonsense from Ulysses.
Ulysses was still talking nonsense, indicating things were not very serious and he could handle it.
“So where am I now, Ulysses?” Richard interrupted, “Just a moment ago I was in the Insect Nest World, how did I come to this eerie place in the blink of an eye?”
“Where you are… uh…” Ulysses was somewhat hesitant, “Based on my experience, you should be in the Dream Dimension; this world should be the Nightmare Wizard World corresponding to the Wizard World.”
“Nightmare Wizard World?” Richard, hearing this strange name, furrowed his brows again.
“So how do I get out?”
“Uh…” Ulysses sheepishly said, “I’m afraid you won’t be able to get out any time soon.”
