Chapter 65: Chapter 48: I Refuse to Believe I Can’t Catch Him
"Entering the Dream."
This was a method of dreaming that Sean had once discussed with Charles. In simple, underworld-esque slang, it was also called "Soul Search."
Unlike making the target dream on their own, Entering the Dream required the caster to enter the target’s dreamscape, search for the memory fragments buried deepest within their psyche, and then use them to weave a new, complete dream.
However, despite being called "Soul Search," Entering the Dream wasn’t actually as severe. After all, this wasn’t an Evil Art, but the proper discipline of Dream Science, one of the twelve most powerful paths of Magic from the late Era of Polymath. As long as the caster’s intentions were good, it wouldn’t cause the subject any negative side effects beyond normal symptoms like mental fatigue.
There was just one rather frightening aspect.
People who wanted to construct a dream this way were often looking for old matters buried by time. These were typically unpleasant experiences that they had once been unwilling to recall and had selectively forgotten. This was very personal stuff, something that could be described as a "secret." For a Dream Wizard to build a dream for someone, they had to delve deep into the target’s dreamscape and would inevitably learn this "secret." In other words, choosing to have a Dream Wizard Enter the Dream was tantamount to tacitly allowing them to peer into your psychological privacy.
And the "secret" one sought was only one piece of the privacy being pried into; there were also quite a few byproducts.
Because the memory fragments a Dream Wizard searched for were individual clips, much like short videos, it was impossible to find only the desired content. It was like if you lost important files on your phone and took it to a shop for data recovery; they wouldn’t just find the files, but possibly all sorts of browsing histories and short videos as well.
It would expose your living habits, personality traits, personal hobbies—even whether you appreciated black stockings or white ones, or preferred bunny girls over bikinis.
That’s why during the Era of Polymath, those who Entered the Dream would prepare a bottle of "Forgetfulness Potion" beforehand. After completing their client’s task, they would drink it on the spot to show that they would forget everything.
They, like Alchemists, were a very polite and elegant group of people.
But because of this, the price for Entering the Dream was generally very expensive.
Elegance was elegance, but they couldn’t be expected to pay for the Forgetfulness Potion themselves.
That wouldn’t be very elegant at all.
There were still Alchemists who could create the Forgetfulness Potion today, like Charles’s teacher—the "Witch." He had learned almost all the Magic Potion formulas stored in the library on the Second Floor of the Holy Hall, the Forgetfulness Potion being one of them.
However, even though the series of procedures required for the profession of dream-building was very well-established, clients still risked having their secrets leaked.
Because a Forgetfulness Potion wasn’t guaranteed to be authentic, and even an authentic one wasn’t guaranteed to be effective. It all depended on the Dream Wizard’s personal professional ethics and the Alchemist’s potion-making skills.
The most famous case of this was Edison Chen. The related magical recordings are still preserved in the form of Memory Crystals to this day, displayed in the museum on the first floor of the Holy Sanctuary.
This was the only problem Sean needed to worry about.
Could he really trust this master and apprentice duo?
In fact, just now when Sopea was explaining the science of dreams to them and Elvire was worried he wouldn’t get his memories back, Sean hadn’t been concerned at all. He knew Sopea definitely had a way—’The old man is just deliberately explaining how difficult it is to show off his own skills.’ So his focus was completely different from Elvire’s.
Elvire was thinking about all the dreams he had lost.
Sean, on the other hand, was thinking, ’According to Sopea, the dreams I can currently remember make up less than 1% of my total memories. If that’s already enough to write a long novel, wouldn’t my complete past be even more exciting than the *History of the Empire*?’
Sean was getting a little excited.
’If Kate were here, she’d definitely say, "Very good, man. You’ve successfully piqued my interest."’
So, Sean looked at Elvire.
’I don’t know Sopea or Koni well. Although I have a feeling the master and apprentice aren’t bad people, I’ve been deceived several times before and won’t blindly trust anyone again.’
Unless Elvire told him he could.
He trusted his sister-in-law.
Elvire returned Sean’s gaze with a look of confirmation—he could trust them.
But the most important thing was what Sean himself thought.
Just as Sopea had said, Entering the Dream meant letting an outsider peer into his past. Even with a Forgetfulness Potion, it couldn’t change the fact that his secrets would be known by someone else—even if only for a second, they would still know. Many people couldn’t get over this psychological hurdle, so Sean had to be willing and prepared.
"Tomorrow night or the night after, then?" Sean felt there was nothing to prepare for.
’The ones who need to prepare are the esteemed Mr. Sopea and his beloved apprentice, Miss Koni.’
’I just don’t want to expose my identity, which doesn’t mean my identity can’t see the light of day.’
Sean was eager to see the look on Sopea’s face—so proud, always talking about the 3rd Floor of the Holy Hall—when he discovered that Sean was the very same Lord Blake who, moved by his diligence and piety, had permitted him to go upstairs.
’Seems a little mischievous, doesn’t it?’
’A little wicked.’
But Sean liked it.
’It’s not like I’m a good person anyway.’
Sopea, still unaware of Sean’s thoughts, maintained his aloof and utterly detached expression when Sean asked if he needed to handle this personally, since Entering the Dream was more difficult than ordinary dream-building. "Koni is sufficient," he said.
’Why would I need to personally handle such a trivial matter?’
’To put it bluntly, if Sean weren’t one of the Flame Crows, I couldn’t even be bothered with him.’
’A Tier Two who reached the Upper Second Floor of the Holy Hall? So what?’
’This world has never been short of geniuses, and even less short of fallen geniuses.’
’Until they truly mature and set foot on the third floor, even the greatest genius is nothing special in my eyes. Hmph.’
And so the matter was settled. Koni would help Sean construct his dream and restore his memories at the church tomorrow night.
"Mr. Sean, please don’t worry. My lips are sealed," Koni said jokingly, blinking. Her two small dimples were very endearing.
Sean laughed as well. "I trust you, Miss Koni."
With his matter concluded, Elise brought the topic back to the theft. She looked at Sopea and asked one final question, "Mr. Sopea, what do you plan to do next?"
The lost book benefited no one. If there was anything he needed, the Dawn Council would cooperate with Sopea as much as possible to retrieve the book quickly.
"Simple." Sopea said only one word: "Wait."
He already had a countermeasure in mind.
The person who took the book must have also been interested in the knowledge it contained. Setting aside whether they wanted it for themselves, as long as they were interested, they would definitely come again. The collection on the third floor of the library was far greater than what was taken; they wouldn’t be able to take it all in one trip, or even a hundred.
"For now, the only people I’ve told about my ability to enter the 3rd Floor of the Holy Hall are you and a few friends. The culprit shouldn’t know yet." A sharp glint appeared in Sopea’s eyes. "Starting today, I will wait on the third floor of the library. I won’t go anywhere. I refuse to believe I can’t catch him!"
...
