Mortal Shell

Dream!

Dream! Dream! Dream!!!

These were incredibly vivid dreams! So vivid that Soren even began to doubt whether they were all just dreams!

He rarely dreams.

In Soren's memory, he had only dreamed a handful of times, but for some reason now, whenever he closed his eyes, a series of dreams would quickly appear. And all of these dreams had a similar beginning: people prayed to the ' God of Half-Elves and Rogues ' in the dream, and he would dream of events that happened about an hour before and after the prayer began.

This is absolutely true!

These dreams were all short; Soren's dreams were one after another, each involving different characters, and each lasted only about an hour.

Sometimes, he wasn't even asleep; he was just dozing off with his eyes closed, but he would quickly be drawn into all sorts of strange dreams.

He's practically going crazy!

Although he didn't know the exact reason, Soren knew it must be related to the God of Half-Elves and Rogues, and to the Portfolio power he had absorbed.

There wasn't time to find out.

Soren is in terrible shape! He seems to be in a daze, unable to tell whether he's dreaming or in reality!

He was slightly confused.

It's like a storage device suddenly being filled with too much data, and all the space is completely full.

Soren felt like his brain was about to freeze and crash!

Electric current.

Strange electric currents, jumping data, countless 0s and 1s.

Soren even felt like he was back in Amber City, lying in bed for half a month. The only difference was that he was now much stronger than before, and this level of pain was still within his tolerance. His body could still withstand this maddening feeling, so he hadn't completely collapsed. However, a feeling that was about to explode—a feeling of being overwhelmed by countless streams of data, a series of dreams, countless voices, and so on—persisted!

Soren felt like his head was about to explode!

Ever since leaving the Underdark, his mental state has declined sharply, and at times he even experiences brief periods of mental confusion.

Because he suddenly heard countless voices around him.

The incredibly complex sound pierced his brain directly. Hundreds upon hundreds of words were all strung together, which should have been a jumbled mess, but he could hear each and every one of them very clearly.

The end result is that the brain becomes increasingly unable to cope and experiences more and more pain.

He even suspected that he had become something like a terminal processor, his brain like the Super Intelligence of his past life, constantly receiving massive amounts of information, all of which was transmitted to Soren's mind, putting a huge burden on his mind and body.

A mortal body!

Soren is in great pain; he is only lucid for a few hours a day.

He was completely disoriented!

More often than not, he seemed like God, navigating through vividly real dreams from a superior perspective.

He couldn't escape these dreams.

Because whenever the call to prayer is uttered, his brain begins to receive countless pieces of information.

He was in great pain!

It was extremely painful!

It was more painful than any battle I'd ever fought!

This pain wasn't physical, but mental. His head throbbed, swelled, and he felt incredibly dizzy and miserable, beyond the power of clear language to describe. He felt like he was losing his ability to form coherent sentences. His brain was constantly filled with electrical currents—countless, flickering, weak currents—and countless pieces of data were flashing through his mind. This direct, intense pain was driving him almost insane!

He wanted to return to the Overseas Islands.

But in reality, he spends less and less time awake during the day.

He's like a madman.

He wandered the wilderness with an unconscious woman in his arms, occasionally attracting the attention of some reckless monsters. But in the end, they all became Wraith of his blade.

His wanderings in the Black Wilderness east of the Spider Forest reached the ears of many in just one week.

Residents of nearby towns spotted a wandering figure.

A rain.

Cold rain fell from the sky, and May was fast approaching.

With the arrival of summer, torrential rains have become more frequent. I heard that River Goddess in the south have changed course, directly flooding many places and causing many people to be displaced.

This is the main road leading to the Valoran Principality.

Cross the border of the Spider Forest, then enter the Black Wilderness, and finally reach the territory of the Valoran Principality from Howling Wind Canyon.

A large contingent of fully armed men is advancing.

At the head of the procession were Heavy Knight riding tall horses, flanked by well-equipped infantry guards; one glance was enough to tell that the leader of the procession was a nobleman.

The rain seemed to be getting heavier.

It was clear that this group was in a hurry to get on their way, because they had no intention of finding a place to take shelter from the rain.

There was a minor disturbance ahead.

The entire procession immediately stopped, and then a burly knight rode forward, shouting, "What's wrong? Why did you stop all of a sudden!"

There are people ahead of us.

In the center of the procession, the curtain of a large, exquisite carriage was lifted, and a young noblewoman poked her head out, asking, "Sir Eden? What has happened?"

The rider, pressing forward, glanced at the road and replied, "Nothing! There are two travelers ahead!"

"I'll make them make way right now!"

Clatter

With his sturdy metal boots landing, the imposing Sir Eden placed his hand on the hilt of his sword, gesturing for the others to make way. His expression was wary, for this place was close to the Spider Forest and the Black Wilderness, making it easy to encounter dangerous beings. Appearing before him were two people, a woman and a man. The woman held the man's hand, standing in the rain, her face obscured by a large cloak.

However, the man behind her could be seen clearly.

With just one glance, Sir Eden knew he was a difficult opponent, because of the oppressive aura emanating from him.

The only thing that puzzled him was...

The man's eyes were blank, even somewhat vacant, making him look like someone with intellectual disabilities.

He just stood there, dumbfounded, letting the woman in front of him hold his hand.

Sir Eden was about to order the two people in front of him to move aside, but suddenly he seemed to see something, and he shuddered. His tone softened considerably, and he said in a deep voice, "I wonder what this Witch wants to do here?"

Witch.

He saw the Wizard's robes the other person was wearing under the cloak.

"We meant no harm."

A very calm female voice rang out, instantly putting Sir Eden at ease, because he felt that the two people in front of him seemed to have no hostility at all.

The woman led the man forward by the hand, and the man followed silently and blankly.

"We just need a ride along the way; we'll leave once we get there."

Inside the carriage.

Plane pretty Noble Girl stared wide-eyed at the two men before her. Sir Eden, who had been protecting her all along, had not allowed any outsiders to approach her, let alone ride in her carriage. But now, not only had two outsiders come before her, but they had also sat directly inside her carriage.

She opened her mouth as if to say something, but the woman in front of her simply said, "Relax," and then she really did relax.

If it's just a ride along the way, is there any problem?

For some reason, she felt relieved.

The entire group moved forward quickly, as if the little incident had never happened.

It's still raining outside.

The tall woman removed her cloak, revealing a veil covering her face. After gesturing for the young man beside her to sit down, she took out a clean cloth and gently wiped his cheeks, drying off the rain. The young man sat motionless, his expression blank and his gaze vacant, looking like a puppet, completely at the mercy of the woman before him.

The girl couldn't help but feel a little curious!

She stared wide-eyed at the two people before her, and after a moment suddenly asked, "Is he your servant?"

The Masked Woman did not turn around, and replied, "No."

The girl looked puzzled, tilting her head to examine the man and woman before her, and continued to ask, "Is he your companion?"

The Masked Woman did not speak, but simply shook her head gently.

The girl looked somewhat disappointed, carefully observing the two people in front of her. The Masked Woman was very attentive, gently tidying the man's clothes. Excitedly, she asked, "Is he your husband?"

The Masked Woman chuckled softly and shook her head again.

The girl was finally stumped and said dejectedly, "I can't guess!"

The Masked Woman stood up.

She was very tall and slender. After glancing at the girl in front of her, she slowly said, "He is my master."

"My God..."

...(To be continued~^~)