Locke opened his eyes and found himself lying on a bed covered with soft velvet sheets. The bed frame was made of precious magic gold and carved with snakes and lions, while all four golden pillars were entwined with laurel vines.
A half-dragon servant and retainer saw Locke sit up and immediately bowed to him. "You're awake, Lord Augustine."
Locke rubbed his brow and looked toward the bright sunlight streaming through the gilded window and casting a multicolored radiance across the floor.
Magic gold was the masterpiece of alchemists. Magic gold crafted through different techniques possessed unique functions and uses, but all of it shared one universal trait: unchanging gold. It was difficult to alter with external forces, which was why it had always been the first magic material high-ring wizards chose for their expensive furniture.
It was an advanced luxury that even a First-Ring Wizard could not afford.
Locke ran his fingertips over the magic gold bed frame. "Where is this? How long have I been asleep?"
The half-dragon servant said to Locke, "Esteemed Lord Augustine, this is Lady Witch Catherine's guest lounge. You have been asleep here for a week."
Locke frowned slightly. It seemed that time flowed differently in the Emerald Dream and the Wizarding World. He felt as though only half a day had passed in the Emerald Dream, yet a week had passed in the Wizarding World.
No wonder wizards who fell into Emerald Sleep could not control how long they slept.
Locke even suspected that the ratio between the flow of time in the Emerald Dream and the Wizarding World was not fixed. After all, the Emerald Dream was a world of the mind.
In that case, falling into [Emerald Sleep] truly was an act that contained a degree of danger.
Ritual Magic was