After dinner, Russell decided to personally go to Magic Potion Tunic to keep watch, ensuring that the three clumps of Worm Grass would safely make it through their first night.
"Russell, as a lord, you're far too diligent. But there's really no need to be this nervous." Charles could not understand it. "With Tom and the other Armored Knights keeping watch, and Eric watching alongside them, nothing can go wrong."
Russell smiled. "I understand, Teacher Charles, but I've already made up my mind."
Seeing Russell's resolve, Charles could only spread his hands helplessly. "Of course. You are the lord. Everything shall be as you wish."
"Teacher Charles, stay at the manor annex. You don't need to come with us."
"Is that all right?"
"There's nothing wrong with it. You're the territory's civil official." Russell had not asked Charles to stay up and keep watch with him. Civil and military duties were different; Charles's role was to help govern the territory, so there was no need for him to lose sleep alongside them.
Besides.
Russell was not truly going there just to keep watch.
Charles bowed, deeply moved. "Russell, I truly see Baron Lord's shadow in you. You have completely inherited the fine qualities of the Fluorite Mushroom Family... Dragon's Gaze, you will certainly become an outstanding lord in the future!"
"Dragon's Gaze, I will strive to become an outstanding lord." Russell could make polite remarks too. After all, mutual flattery cost nothing.
As for whether the Shadowflame Dragon of the Grand Duke's family could actually cast its gaze this far, that was unimportant.
"Eric, protect Russell well. Stay alert tonight." Charles gave Eric a few more reminders, making himself seem quite concerned for Russell.
Eric badly wanted to roll his eyes, but in the end, he merely answered gruffly, "Of course."
Tent. Bonfire. Sleeping bag.
Beside the thickest birch tree in the birch forest, Russell chose to set up camp for the night. Knight Retainer Jack crouched nearby.
Though he called it keeping watch, he had merely come here to sleep. The ones who truly needed to stand guard all night were Eric and the four Knight Retainers.
"Jack, wake me if anything happens."
"Yes!"
With a yawn and a turn, Russell peacefully slipped into his sleeping bag, beginning his night watch in the birch forest.
In his daze, his consciousness descended once more into a barren, dark place.
Without question, he had entered a new Dark Dreamscape. The Linework Castle and the linework manor annex were both gone.
This time, the Dark Dreamscape lay within a forest outlined in lines.
Before Little Dream Dragon appeared, the Dark Dreamscape in Russell's eyes was utterly silent and pitch-black, without the slightest trace of light.
"Caw!"
Little Dream Dragon arrived as promised.
Once Russell climbed onto Little Dream Dragon's back, it was as though he had flipped the switch to the Dark Dreamscape. In an instant, three bright spots rose amid the line-drawn forest.
Russell quickly identified them. "The one in the tree is the Fluorite Mushroom Bug's Worm Grass. Jack is pacing over there. And that other light should be my sword—the Green Ceramic Sword. That emerald is especially bright."
The Green Ceramic Sword had been a birthday gift from Baron Lord two years ago.
Its main body was a ceramic sword forged from clay nurtured by a Clay Dragon. A master swordsmith had then carved a groove into it and set an emerald capable of drawing Battle Aura within it, hence its name: the Green Ceramic Sword.
The name was not particularly elegant, but it was truly valuable. That emerald alone was worth a small fortune.
"How strange. I can clearly see the magical glow given off by my sword, yet I can't see the magical glow from my own body... Could it be that I'm no longer in my sleeping bag, but have entered this Dark Dreamscape in person?"
Russell could not understand it.
He still remembered that when he had lived in Fluorite Castle, his body had felt unwell on the day he had first transmigrated, so he had gone to bed early and ridden Little Dream Dragon around aimlessly.
Then he had seen his mother, Meryl, quietly enter his room and sit beside his bed for quite some time.
If his real body had entered the Dark Dreamscape then, Meryl would definitely have noticed something unusual. Yet Meryl had clearly seen him sleeping soundly.
Which meant that he truly was only dreaming, rather than entering the Dark Dreamscape in person.
Lowering his head to look at his cartoon-like self, Russell gave up on seeking an answer. Once he slowly explored further, he would find the answer sooner or later.
"There's so little light."
Apart from those three glowing spots, all Russell could see in the forest was darkness.
Eric and the others in the distance had probably gone beyond the Dark Dreamscape's range, so he could not see the magical light they gave off.
"Take off, Little Dream Dragon!"
"Caw!"
Centered around his tent, the Dark Dreamscape enclosed part of the birch forest and the Glimmering River. Man and dragon flew through the woods, slowly searching for any unusual light, especially faint lights.
Unfortunately, they found nothing.
So Russell rode Little Dream Dragon to the riverside, hoping to try his luck and see whether he could find a second river clam capable of producing pearls.
But after searching all around, he still found nothing.
"What a complete bust, Ice Cream." Russell stroked Little Dream Dragon's big head and decided that from now on, he would call Little Dream Dragon Ice Cream.
He remembered that before transmigrating, he had been eating a Dream Dragon Ice Cream when a dump truck ran him over.
Perhaps it was fate. Heaven had given him a Little Dream Dragon as a cheat, likely to make up for what it owed him.
After all, back on Earth, he had nearly finished paying off his mortgage and had been about to begin a wonderful life.
"Caw?" Little Dream Dragon twisted his head around one hundred and eighty degrees, unable to understand the name Ice Cream. "Caw caw?"
"What are you cawing about?" Russell yawned. For some reason, he could still yawn and feel sleepy within the dream.
"Caw!"
"Let's go back, you little fool."
"Caw caw!"
Man and dragon flew back beside the tent. Russell prepared to wait until Little Dream Dragon grew tired and automatically dispelled the Dark Dreamscape.
But Little Dream Dragon led him in circles around the thickest birch tree, letting out a continuous stream of caws as though trying to tell him something.
"Idiot, that's the Fluorite Mushroom Bug's Worm Grass. I planted it."
"Caw caw!"
Little Dream Dragon continued circling the birch tree, unable to understand what Russell meant. The stupid look of it made Russell want to smack it.
But as Little Dream Dragon circled the tree again and again, Russell gradually realized that he seemed to have misunderstood what it meant.
Little Dream Dragon was not focused on the Fluorite Mushroom Bug's Worm Grass, but on the thickest birch tree itself.
"Stop, stop, quit circling." Russell grabbed Little Dream Dragon by the horns and finally forced it to halt.
He moved close to the birch tree and carefully inspected it, starting from the roots and working his way upward.
Then.
About three meters above the ground, on the trunk, Russell saw a dim glow so faint it was nearly impossible to notice. The Fluorite Mushroom Bug's Worm Grass had drawn so much of his attention that he had never considered that the birch tree itself could glow.
"The birch tree is glowing. It looks like something is being nurtured inside its trunk... Could it be a Spirit Worm?" Russell was suddenly overjoyed.
Dragons, Wyverns, spirits, magic potions—every form of power came from the earth.
And now, the birch tree was naturally drawing upon Earth Power, nurturing a new and wondrous magical creation—a Spirit Worm.
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