Chapter 901 - 900: Another Record

Amber lifted her head, meeting Gawain’s calm and profound gaze.

"And... then?" She couldn’t help but ask with curiosity.

Gawain turned to the next page of the travelogue, and among the mottled and ancient notes, the final few paragraphs of the record gradually emerged before the reader’s eyes:

"...Blaine’s answer instilled an inexplicable fear in me, and I believe this fear had nothing to do with his words themselves—a kind of super-experience, a ’premonition’ stemming from the intuition of a Transcendent, brought about this fear. I instinctively felt that what Blaine referred to was a rather dire situation. These Shadow Inhabitants, who wander the borders of the Deep Realm dreams, maintaining their awareness and the boundaries of dreams, when they collectively awaken... it might not bode well for the material world.

"The only fortunate thing is that such a situation doesn’t seem likely to happen in the short term—this was Blaine’s response. He said: We will eventually awaken, but for now, this phase seems far away. The dream of the Deep Realm once came close to awakening, but not long ago, it has regained stability, which may last for a long time.

"I asked him what caused the fluctuation in the dream of the Deep Realm, what made it awaken, and what made it regain stability—but Blaine didn’t answer. He returned to a state of mumbling and wandering. I attempted several times afterward, including trying with other Shadow Inhabitants, with similar results. It seems that whenever this question is involved, they immediately enter a deeper layer of dreams... This further intensified my anxiety.

"Month X, Day X... Days of continuous investigation without progress were frustrating, and more frustrating was... I found myself at the point where I had to leave.

"Unnoticed, I had lingered in this world dominated by shadow magic for too long, even with opportunities to return to the material world to recuperate, I continued to be affected by the shadow magic here—without a physical ’foundation,’ the speed of soul depletion and assimilation was faster than imagined. If I didn’t return soon, my soul might suffer irreversible damage, even... become a permanent member here.

"Month X, Day X, it’s time to say farewell, to Blaine, to other Shadow Inhabitants. Although we are not of the same race, and I infiltrated them in disguise, I did spend a fulfilling time with these mysterious creatures... They are unsettling, but they also imparted unimaginable knowledge to me. I think I will always remember this knowledge and these special ’friends.’

"Before leaving, I will shed my shadow soul form and bid farewell face-to-face with Blaine and the others. It’s a bit risky, but it aligns more with my principles, and I feel... days of interaction should change something, these Shadow Inhabitants possess intellect and memory, perhaps they will also accept me as a special ’friend’...

"Month X, Day X, didn’t succeed.

"Forget it, let it be, every journey has an ending, at least the process of this journey was exceptionally fulfilling. I should go back to find old Malfoy and retrieve my body—farewell, shadow realm."

"That’s where the main record ends," Gawain lifted his head from the travelogue, looking at Amber’s eyes, "After this, there are two small sections where Modir Vealt mentions he returned to the shadow realm once more after his body recovered, but he couldn’t find those Shadow Inhabitants again—they seemed to have wandered elsewhere. In the later years, as he gradually aged and devoted most of his energy to organizing his early notes, he never went back."

Amber opened her mouth but ultimately said nothing. She stepped back to the chair by the desk, sat down, and stared blankly at the travelogue on Gawain’s desk, appearing somewhat forlorn.

"The words on this reveal many things," Gawain said, "Plenty of information about the shadow realm, about the Shadow Inhabitants... and that mysterious shallow realm and deep realm. But what I think is most important to you... should be..."

"A member who ’awoke’ early, disappeared from the clan’s sight... that should be referring to me," Amber took a breath, seemingly revitalized, pointing to herself, "According to the timeline, during Modir Vealt’s active era I should have been sleeping in the Shadow Fortress... in the form of an Artificial Human embryo. Scholars of the Gondor Empire captured the souls of Shadow Inhabitants and successfully injected one into an Artificial Human body—that’s my origin."

"Yes, we are all aware of this," Gawain nodded, "It seems your foster father must have learned something from Modir’s Travelogue, something potentially pertaining to your origins, which compelled him to take the risk to steal it."

"But it’s not worth it," Amber whispered as if talking to herself, looking at Modir’s Travelogue, "The contents shown in here... aren’t worth him doing so! I don’t care about my origins, wouldn’t it be better to live peacefully in seclusion in the countryside?"

"But he probably thought it was very necessary," Gawain shook his head, "Moreover, he likely wasn’t sure of the actual contents in this travelogue, nor anticipated his failure; these weren’t decisions he could make in advance."

Amber couldn’t help but mutter, "He’s a fool, living a life of ease in the countryside has long worn away all the skills he had as a Secret Knight, yet he still thinks of himself as the elite Royal Shadow Guard of his day..."

"...this mentions the ’birth’ of Shadow Inhabitants," Gawain glanced at Amber without offering comfort, diving directly into another topic, "They are born in a dream of the ’Deep Realm,’ and this ongoing dream sustains their current state. They roam the shadow realm, essentially wandering the borders of dreams and wakefulness... Can you grasp what this means?"

Amber thought for a moment, shook her head, "I don’t know—although I can communicate with the Shadow Inhabitants, they have never spoken to me about this subject, but I could inquire if given a chance."

She then added, "Of course, I do have a few of my own guesses... I suspect the description of the Deep Realm and its dream could possibly relate to a place..."

Gawain frowned promptly, following his intelligence to guess Amber’s meaning, "You’re referring to... the shadow realm, aren’t you?"

"If the real world where we exist is the ’shallow realm’ to Shadow Inhabitants, if the shadow realm is considered by them to be an ’intermediary layer’ between the deep realm and shallow realm, then the shadow realm... very likely is what they refer to as the Deep Realm," Amber nodded, "In terms of spatial relations, the shadow realm is indeed the deepest place among the known ’layers,’ so these aspects are likely."

"Then what is their so-called ’dream of the Deep Realm’?" Gawain said with a frown, "The shadow realm is void... thus far, apart from a God of Nature hiding inside pretending to be dead, we haven’t found anything there, let alone any dream."

"Do you think Amoen, the Giant Stag knows something?" Amber contemplated as she spoke, "He seems to have been in the shadow realm for quite a long time, and as a deity, he should know more than we do."

"If possible, I’d like to avoid acquiring ’knowledge’ from Amoen," Gawain pondered, speaking gravely, "Intuition tells me there’s significant risk involved—the risk doesn’t stem from Amoen’s ’malice,’ but from certain ’laws’ even Amoen himself cannot control. Throughout history, countless mortals have faced terrible fates after excessively delving into divine knowledge, asking gods questions is inherently a poor choice.

"Of course, if worst comes to worst, and we’re compelled to dig deeper into the shadow realm’s secrets, consulting Amoen is an option, but before that... it’s best to present this intelligence to the Empire’s scholars first, to see if they can use ’mortal wisdom’ to resolve this issue."

"Alright, you’re right," Amber waved her hand, then seemed to recall something, "Oh, I just thought of something else... Do you think this ’Deep Realm’ is connected to the ’Deep Sea’ Amoen mentioned beforehand?"

"I actually had some doubts about that initially," Gawain frowned again, "But I feel that something Amoen seriously considers ’Deep Sea’ shouldn’t be something so simple. If the shadow realm was the Deep Sea or its entrance... why would Amoen assert that from ancient times till now no mortal has reached the Deep Sea, and even gods are mere ripples of the Deep Sea?"

Amber thought carefully, considering Gawain’s words made sense. She sat in her chair with a serious expression for a long time, finally giving up with a sigh, stretching out lazily: "Ah... my head is starting to hurt... What a mess. I’m telling you, I’m just not suited for pondering such issues..."

Gawain couldn’t help but smile at the so-called disgrace of the Empire — it looked like this guy had recovered.

He then redirected his gaze to Modir’s Travelogue. After two seconds of thought, he looked at Amber and broke the silence: "Next, we should consider how to deal with this travelogue..."

Amber instinctively followed Gawain’s gaze to glance at the weathered and ancient book cover. For a moment, she seemed about to reach out, but before acting, she laughed, shaking her head: "What’s the point of discussing it — of course, return it to its rightful owner. According to regulations, after making a copy, just return it to that Ice Duchess. Anyway, half the book is Modir’s Travelogue... At worst, you can remove unrelated content before returning it to her."

Gawain looked at the disgrace of the Empire in surprise: "I thought you’d want to keep it."

"...Actually, I did think about it for a moment," Amber shrugged, lazily lounging in her chair, "after all, my foster father lost his life over such a shabby book. But thinking it over... what has this book to do with me? It’s just notes left by an adventurer unrelated to me after an adventure unrelated to me, that coincidentally mentions my original race... I have no reason to appropriate someone else’s property."

Suddenly, Gawain was even more surprised: "That’s not something you’d expect from someone who once vowed to become the southern borders’ number one thief — you weren’t acting like that when you were digging up my grave."

Amber waved her hands: "Don’t start, don’t start, I got caught by stolen goods while digging a grave, my previous career ended right there, okay..."

Gawain: "..."

Two seconds of silence later, he looked at the nearby shield of the protector and Sword of Pioneers: "Ever considered the possibility of being thrashed because of stolen goods?"

The next moment, Amber’s figure vanished from the study.

Outside, the sun was shining brightly.

Autumn was approaching. The bright sunlight was less scorching, making the air more pleasant than usual.

Amber walked down the street leading to the bustling area, gradually shedding the effects of shadow stealth; the hazy, black veil receded from all sides, letting the glorious sunlight pour freely onto her face.

Walking in the sunlight feels nice too.

She looked up at the radiant sun high in the sky, a faint smile slowly appearing on her face.

Gawain withdrew his gaze from the window, leaving the large window facing the eastern district.

After contemplating quietly for a moment, he shook his head and returned to his desk. First, he picked up pen and paper, speedily writing a letter to be sent to the Northern Winter Fortress, then his gaze fell once again on Modir’s Travelogue.

Modir Vealt, perhaps the greatest adventurer in Anzu’s history, had traversed the known world and even ventured into unknown realms, leaving behind numerous valuable knowledge treasures. However, the turbulent times led many of his contributions to disappear into the annals of history.

For instance, few people know that Modir Vealt had also challenged the sea...

Gawain picked up the travelogue, once again flipping it open to the part he hadn’t finished reading before Amber arrived.

Besides the adventures concerning the shadow realm, there’s another part of this travelogue that greatly interested him — the mysterious "Cold Disaster Amulet" passed down through generations in the Wilder Clan.

The ancient and neatly handwritten text met Gawain’s eyes:

"X Month X Day, while sorting through some local myths from the eastern regions, I discovered an intriguing clue that might become the starting point for my next adventure...

"Evidence suggests that about a hundred years ago, the pioneering hero Duke Gawain Cecil departed from his domain for an ’adventure’ that left even adventurers like me in awe — challenging the ocean.

"Not many people know about this secret voyage, and the stories passed down are mostly peculiar tales, yet from amidst many fragmented records, I’ve found clues that corroborate each other. With the intuition and experience of an adventurer, I believe this is not merely a hero story crafted by bards; it is likely a true adventure.

"I’m elated!

"Just think — a hero from a century ago, someone who wasn’t even a professional adventurer, daringly challenged the sea and surviving, while I who claim to be the greatest adventurer of this era have spent half my life weaving around on safe land... such irony and such motivation!

"I really should embark on a new adventure — collect more data, find more clues, prepare thoroughly, Modir Vealt is about to undertake the most thrilling challenge of his adventuring career...

"To seek out Gawain Cecil’s ’Hero’s Voyage’!"

(Recommend a book from the gaming esports genre, "I Just Want to Win", emmmm... feels like it’s been a while since I read this type of book, everyone can go and check it out.)

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