The progress was ideal, but the situation was dire.
If the latter possibility was true and they were already in the Inner World, then Dennis might be a little old-fashioned, but he had to admit that his rival seemed to have maintained an impressive level of combat prowess.
The seamless switch between the outer and Inner Worlds, and the lifelike impersonation of a young girl, both proved that Dennis was in good shape and had a certain grasp of the dimensions.
As for why he was so certain this was the Inner World—
Aside from his earlier deductions, the real world had a considerable suppressive effect on the supernatural. Otherwise, this mission probably wouldn't have appeared. There was also an auxiliary detector: though he had left Rachel behind, his dangerous gamble inside Art Prison had finally proved useful.
The hand he'd just shown Tina didn't feel nearly as fine as it looked.
Before, it had been a pain that made him want to chop it off. Now it had gone well beyond ordinary discomfort.
It was as if the signals he sent were being intercepted. The hand wasn't paralyzed, but getting it to perform even ordinary movements took an entirely different order of effort.
If this could still be dismissed as a case of "leave an illness untreated, and it will grow worse," then the signals coming back were even stranger.
The boundaries between species seemed to have broken down. When Dennis focused on the sensation, he felt a yearning to embrace the sun.
If he kept ignoring the problem, he felt he might evolve into the legendary treant form.
And this strange sensation had started almost as soon as he entered this place.
"I understand how you feel. Please believe me when I say I'm just as eager to