Victoria held the Flagon, and with a thought, the endless stream of water gradually dwindled.
Once the water in the room had gradually receded, she slowly lowered herself from the ceiling on a strand of spider silk.
Her shoes touched the ground and sank slightly into the thick mud and sand. Just before it reached her ankles, the spider silk pulled taut, keeping her from sinking farther.
Victoria reached down, picked up a little mud, and gently rubbed it between her fingers.
"It's actually soil..."
She leaned over to look into the hole below. Not only was there soil inside, but she could even faintly make out a brick-and-stone structure: the house's foundations, buried in the earth.
"The soil is real, and so are the foundations. Could the world outside the windows really exist too?"
Victoria looked out the window. Outside lay the Pond, grassland, and woods and streams stretching beyond sight, vast beyond imagination.
She swallowed.
She had originally thought this Abode extended only as far as the Mansion, with nothing but scenery outside. Now, it seemed she might have been wildly mistaken.
And if all of this was real...
Victoria unconsciously rubbed the soil between her fingers again. Something pressed hard against her skin. She looked at her fingertips, where a tiny pebble rested, every facet utterly real.
Victoria's expression gradually grew solemn.
"Everything is so real, so meticulously crafted. Could this truly be an ownerless Abode?"
Victoria could not help growing suspicious again.
"Building an Abode like this must have taken tremendous effort and countless years. If it were mine, there would be no chance I'd abandon it."
"Could the Great Being here have perished rather than abandoned it willingly?"
Victoria shook her head gently. "No, that's impossible. An Abode is part of a Great Being. Unless