Heroes of Might and Magic: Grand Consul

Chapter 198 Dream within a dream

Su Mu and Maggie stepped into the magic guild of Bear Castle. The bells rang in the silent hall, and spell runes appeared on the white floor.

The two had already mastered the magic in Bear Castle, so there was nothing more to see.

If there's anything useful about it, it's the ability to quickly recover mana within the guild, keeping you in top condition before the next battle.

Maggie knew that Su Mu could acquire intelligence skills through governance, so he wasn't too worried about mana consumption. The real problem now was that the Dread Knights were too high-quality and immortal, while their troops were constantly being decimated, with three-quarters of their ranged archers already lost.

Although they temporarily held Bearhold, the cost was staggering; dozens of Dauntless Swordsmen perished. Once Ullr recovers and launches another siege, they lack sufficient ranged units, and their Dauntless Swordsmen are significantly fewer in number. Can they hold out?
Uller possesses advanced water-based teleportation abilities. Once he discovers that Bear Keep's forces are insufficient and its defenses are weakened, he will surely transfer all the Dread Knights into the city to launch a fatal attack.

If you want to counter the Spirit Gathering Technique, there's only that one powerful level 4 spell!

Maggie's gaze shifted to the platform of the Earth Elemental Codex, where she found relevant records on the magical book.

[Reincarnation]

"On my way back, I was close to grasping the magic, but I was still lacking some inspiration."

I need your assistance in the Dream Realm to take that final step.

Su Mu had wanted to learn this magic for a long time, but level 4 magic was extremely tedious and obscure. Even though he possessed Dream Domain knowledge and advanced earth element mastery, he could only accumulate knowledge through meditation to familiarize himself with its spell techniques.

Under normal circumstances, with another week, Su Mu would be able to master the Dream Domain's knowledge on his own after inheriting it. But now that the Death Knights are at the city gates, there's no time for leisurely learning. He can only have Maggie join in, casting a dual Dream Domain to assist him in comprehending magic.

Maggie was slightly worried: "The environment of the Dream Realm is extremely dangerous. Even I don't dare to explore it easily under normal circumstances. If I were to use a Dream within a Dream technique, the intensity would be immense. If I make a slight mistake, I might be trapped inside and never be able to get out!"

"How about I enter your dream, learn the technique, and then teach it to you after you've been reincarnated?"

The dream world is incredibly wondrous; even with Maggie's mastery of dream-related knowledge, it's difficult for her to explain its rules. That world is bizarre and fantastical, where anything extraordinary can happen.

Moreover, the Dream Realm is a separate, otherworldly realm, situated in the unknown space of the larger world, making it vulnerable to invasion by evil gods from other realms. The first layer of the dream realm is manageable, as one can still control oneself using Dream Realm knowledge; however, if one were to advance to another layer, the situation becomes unpredictable.

Su Mu's eyes were resolute: "Everything has risks, and as the lord, I have an inescapable responsibility."

Besides, I possess advanced earth elemental mastery, and am even closer to comprehension. Trust me!

Since Su Mu had said so, Maggie stopped insisting.

She took off her shoes and walked barefoot onto the cold marble. With each step, the stone bricks shimmered, and after circling around, they ignited with azure flames, enveloping the two of them.

Maggie's armor slowly came down, the lining and lace fluttering in the air. A hot and perfect body curled up in Su Mu's arms. A slightly tingling current flowed from Maggie's fingertips to Su Mu. The surging magical power began to revive, and endless intelligence transformed into magical energy, all of which poured into Su Mu's body.

These magical powers, imbued with rich earth energy, transformed into a giant stone sphere that enveloped the two of them.

With Su Mu in his arms, he remained motionless, for it was all a dream. Maggie had used her dream domain spell to pull the two of them into the dream.

Maggie's embodied state is her actual experience of fully unleashing the science of dreams. During her initial enlightenment, Maggie was in a similar state, revealing all her magic to a hero, like stripping off all her clothes to expose herself.

Ordinary academic exchanges wouldn't require this level of detail; it would be easy to impart knowledge. But bringing someone into the dream realm carries a significant risk. For Su Mu's safety, Maggie was willing to let him witness all of this to ensure his well-being.

As the earth element enveloped him, Su Mu finally closed his eyes slowly, and he too entered a dream!

His consciousness traversed the chaotic space, a ray of light tearing through the darkness. He reappeared atop the city wall, his armor shattered into countless pieces, his body impaled by more than a dozen spears, the intense pain rendering him almost incapable of thought.

A tremendous force struck, and his body slowly tilted, falling from the city wall. Head down, the wind whistled in his ears, the shouts and sounds of battle drowned out everything; life was insignificant here.

Su Mu wanted to use magic, but found that he had no magical power in his body. His serious injuries and bleeding made him unable to control his body, as if he had returned to the appearance of an ordinary person. If he fell from the city wall, he would surely die!

But without his magical powers, a hero is just an ordinary person. What can he do? It seems that death is the only option.

When faced with death, no matter what achievements a king or general had, or how much money he or she had in life, it all becomes meaningless.

The events of a lifetime are like a painting, flashing through the mind scene by scene, with regrets and pride, but in the end they all vanish like fleeting clouds.

When his body touched the ground, unbearable pain covered every nerve. Su Mu was unable to think of anything. Endless darkness had already descended, threatening to engulf him.

Am I going to die here?

Su Mu could feel his will gradually crumbling, his body falling apart, and he could no longer hold on.

Just before he was about to be swallowed by darkness, an unparalleled will to survive burst forth from within him.

He cannot die, nor does he want to die.

It wasn't for anyone in particular, but rather stemmed from the most primal reaction of all living beings. Not just him, but all living beings were like this.

"Boom!"

A large crater was smashed into the ground below the city wall, and the mangled body was reformed by the power of the earth magic. After a moment, all the injuries disappeared, and Su Mu stood there unharmed.

He turned his palm over, revealing an earthen-yellow magic circle engraved on it. A warrior crawled out of the tombstone, breathing heavily, and pointed one finger to the sky, feeling the joy of rebirth.

【Rebirth (Level 4 Magic, cannot revive heroes): Revives a selected non-undead friendly unit. The revived unit's health points are (Curse Power × 50) + 40. The revived unit will perish after the battle ends.

Advanced Earth Elemental Mastery: Revives a selected non-undead friendly unit. The revived unit gains (50 spell power) + 160 health points and will not perish.

Su Mu pressed his hand to the ground, and instantly the soldiers who were about to die on the battlefield came back to life. They stared at their intact bodies with great joy, and before they could cheer for long, they picked up their weapons and rejoined the battle.

At this point, I have come to understand reincarnation and rebirth!
Upon closer inspection, the entire battlefield was formed from earth elements, which explains why I was able to comprehend it so quickly.

Maggie's control over dreams was even greater than imagined. Knowing that he didn't lack magical energy, but rather couldn't comprehend the profound mysteries of the core of magic, she arranged a perception challenge that went from life to death.

Of course, the specific scene wasn't designed by Maggie; it's essentially Su Mu's dream. But Maggie is undoubtedly a master at connecting the dream realm and transforming it into profound magical insights.

At the same time, he also figured out how to leave the dream.

From death to life, and from life to death, just like a person's life, it is nothing but a dream.

Su Mu used his curse to kill himself, and left the dream with a smile.

(End of this chapter)