Kane and Linia walked a cautious path toward the imposing cathedral, the air around them thick with an unbearable tension. For the entire duration of the journey, all three were on high alert.
"Still no signs of monsters," Missy muttered, her voice a low, anxious hum in Kane's mind.
Kane was constantly sweeping the surroundings with his Aspect Vision, a powerful weep that should have detected any living, hostile thing for miles. He was genuinely surprised; the diamond-studded forest offered no trace of life beyond the three of them.
As they were about to reach the massive stone edifice, Kane's eyes narrowed. He had spotted a group of figures. They looked undeniably human.
"They are people here," Kane quickly whispered to Linia and Missy. He then addressed his Echo. "Missy, I need you to come back into my Soul Sea."
"What's wrong?" she asked, her tone sharp with confusion and resentment.
"They might not be friendly," Kane explained, his voice low and intense. "They might attack you, and I need to keep some things hidden. If things go south, or if it's safe, I will let you know."
Missy sighed, a sound of reluctant compliance. "Yeah, just treat me like one," she muttered before dissolving back into his spiritual core.
Linia raised a brow, a knowing look in her eyes. "She has a consciousness, you know."
Yeah, just treat me like one, Missy's voice echoed defensively from the depths of his Soul Sea.
Kane paused, the words sinking in. 'Maybe I should treat her like a person,' he conceded internally, realizing his own hypocrisy in demanding trust while treating his follower as a tool.
He and Linia moved toward the group. As they drew near, they found five people—four men and one woman—engaged in the mundane task of cutting the diamond-fruit trees and chopping the logs. The bizarre act of chopping crystallized carbon filled the air with a faint, metallic ringing and glittering dust, a macabre distortion of simple labor.
The five workers stopped, turning to face the newcomers. "You are new. Welcome here," one of the men spoke, his voice hoarse, as if from disuse.
Kane and Linia exchanged a wary glance. Then, one man stepped forward. He was tall, powerfully built, with black hair, and wore a simple black armor, wielding a massive axe coated in diamond dust.
"Look, you're confused, but why don't I explain things on the way?" he offered, his eyes holding a strange, weary exhaustion. "By the way, I'm Norman." The rest quickly introduced themselves: Ben, Edwards, Roger, Stevens, and a woman named Clarice. Kane and Linia, using their real names, introduced themselves as well.
As they began walking toward the cathedral, Linia spoke, "So, can you tell me what exactly is happening here?"
Norman adjusted his axe. "Sure. You must have cleared Level One, right? So, this Level requires us to meet a criteria: fifty people must be present to clear it. When the count is reached, a gate will open to the next level, and we can leave this hellhole."
Kane frowned, the unpleasant logistics immediately hitting him. "So, we need to wait for fifty people to come here? How many are there currently, and how did you know about this?"
Norman's hoarse voice held a morbid cheerfulness. "Luckily, including you two, we have forty-nine people here. If just one more person enters this place, we can leave this hellhole."
Linia's relief was palpable, but something felt off. "Good. So, how many years are you staying on the Forgotten Shore?"
The group stopped dead. Everybody looked at Linia with bizarre, confused expressions. Norman's brow furrowed. "Forgotten Shore? Where is that?"
Kane and Linia's eyes widened simultaneously. A chill colder than the mountain mist touched Kane's heart. They spoke in unison, the gravity of the realization dawning on them: "What the fuck..."
Ben, the man standing closest, stepped forward to explain. "All of us were trapped in a desert that looked like a perpetual battlefield. We encountered a particular set of runes, and voilà—we woke up here. It seems you two are from different regions. We don't know anything about the Forgotten Shore."
Norman curled his mouth, an expression of strange, unnerving amusement. "So, what type of region is this?"
As Kane was about to speak, Clarice, the only woman in the group, cut in sharply. "We've reached the cathedral. Let me get you guys a room."
As Kane and Linia entered the edifice, Kane felt a weird, tickling sensation crawl up his spine, a primal warning he hadn't experienced since the inverted city. He had never felt so exposed. He looked around the interior. It was a massive, echoing hallway supported by huge pillars, their surfaces covered in intricate, mesmerizing wall designs. Lamps, casting a faint, sickly light, dotted the perimeter. Kane was stunned by the unsettling detail, the place radiating an atmosphere of deceptive, cold hospitality.
Clarice led them deeper into the shadows. "Let's get the happy couple a bedroom."
Before Kane or Linia could reject the implication—that they were a pair, and thus required a single room—the entire group left them, disappearing into the vast interior of the cathedral. Kane and Linia were left alone in the massive, echoing hallway.
"We need to get another room," Kane immediately stated, his voice tight.
"Yeah," Linia agreed, though she made no move. After a few tense minutes of waiting for one of their hosts to return, they realized the implied truth: only one room was left. The lack of hospitality was almost more unnerving than outright aggression.
After a short, defeated discussion, Kane and Linia headed toward the designated room. It contained a large bed, a simple cupboard, and a desk. Kane looked at the soft, pristine bed and felt a weariness deep in his bones. He hadn't slept on anything that wasn't damp stone or cold rubble for what felt like years.
He immediately jumped onto the bed, sinking into the mattress with a sigh of relief.
Linia looked at him, amused. "How long have you not slept in a bed?"
"You have no idea," Kane mumbled sleepily, his gaze fixed on the ceiling. He noticed the design immediately—a confusing, chaotic pattern of red lines weaving against a white background, interspersed with various other colors.
"Well, this ceiling and wall have a design that just confuses me," Kane spoke, pointing up.
Linia looked up, her expression tightening. "Yeah, it gives me the creeps. It's like having a bad dream made visible."
Kane suddenly remembered the dreams he had been having—vivid, nonsensical nightmares that left him drained upon waking. "Linia, I'm having dreams. You might have seen it while I sleep, right?"
Linia settled onto the other side of the bed, maintaining a careful distance. "Yeah, what do you want?"
"You have an ability around dreams, right?" Kane asked, his voice low with desperation. "Can you come into my dreams and check it out?"
Linia thought for a moment, her brow furrowed. "I can help you on it. From your description, I can help you figure out what's causing them."
Kane nodded, his hope renewed. The nightmare was relentless, but perhaps together, they could find a crack in its terrifying logic. He closed his eyes, waiting for the encroaching darkness of sleep to pull him under.
================================
Here are the few Webnovel stories I might start (not Immediately,But surely I will)
1.Shadow Slave: Lumian Lee
Spoilers for the Domain war:
Lumian Lee and Aurora Lee,who was awakened who was in Valor Clan,When lord of shadows and Song of the fallen Siezed the domain from the Soveriegn,Unfortunate things befalled on them,What happened?Lumian must forge his own path from his own blood and conflicts
2.LOTM:New Greater Old One
Morpheus,the transmigrated into the world of lord of the mysteries,is forced to take the most crazy pathway switches that makes even alista Tudor see sane
3.LOTM:I am king Grey
The original MC of Tbate,King Grey/Arthur Leywin,when he died,what will happen he transmigrated into Loen Kingdom instead of Dicathen?