Archer's Adventure Manual

Chapter 158 The Secret of the Church Cemetery

Dream City.

Loran took the memory fragments to Corbert's shop to buy items.

Loran took out a card from his pocket. It was a VIP shopping card for the Colbert store, which offered a 8% discount on the first ten purchases.

After all this time, this card has finally come in handy.

"Sir, you can buy anything you want here." The clerk was very polite.

Loran thought for a moment and asked, "Do you have anything here that allows me to completely conceal myself in my dreams?"

The clerk thought for a moment, "Please wait a moment, I'll go get it from the warehouse."

After saying that, the shop assistant went into the warehouse at the back of the store and came out a short while later.

"Magic Cloak"

"Description: Wearing this cloak will completely conceal your figure, making you undetectable to anyone! However, strong attacks will cause the invisibility effect to fail."

Price: 2 memory fragments |

"A magic cloak? Are there any other things related to concealing one's presence?"

"certainly."

The shop assistant then demonstrated each item one by one, including those related to invisibility skills and items even more powerful than the magic cloak.

However, these items are extremely expensive, and Loran cannot afford them at present.

In conclusion, Loran ultimately decided on this magic cloak.

The jar could not be used in Dream City; it could only be taken back to one's own dream world. Loran left Dream City and returned to his own dream world.

He returned to Plasson's magic academy, where Loran clearly remembered Terry's words: the academy might be sealing away some information about dreams.

The higher-ups of the magic academy may have already been infiltrated by the upper echelons of the Dream Cult, or even high-ranking figures like bishops. Their obstruction of people's exploration and understanding of the unknown dreams allows their organization to become even more deeply entrenched.

Loran saw the jar in his hand, crushed it, and a magical cloak appeared in his hand. He gently draped it over his back.

The next moment, he saw his figure seem to become transparent and illusory. Loran looked at his hands and couldn't see them at all. The effect was surprisingly good.

He tried to pick up a book and succeeded, but it seemed to only make him invisible without actually changing the physical collisions between objects.

On a dark and windy night, Loran wandered through the magic academy, wearing a cloak.

He wanted to find the secrets about dreams hidden in the magic academy, and this magic cloak would make things much easier.

They passed right by the patrolling guards in the academy without noticing.

On their way home, the school teachers didn't notice anything unusual. It seemed the magic cloak was just as described, and wouldn't leave any trace.

Loran became bolder and began venturing into more dangerous areas.

To determine if a place is dangerous, look at the number of patrols and guards there.

Loran's target this time was the principal's office of the magic academy. This building was the office of many senior teachers of the academy, and it was heavily guarded even at night.

Although the number of guards has not changed much, these seemingly ordinary guards are actually very strong.

Some of them were even comparable to professional mages, while others were formidable swordsmen, once the most powerful warriors in a certain town...

Such a person is clearly more than qualified to guard the gate.

Because Loran himself has a collision volume, he chose to directly enter the Shadow Realm when passing through the gate, so as not to make any noise.

He successfully infiltrated the most heavily guarded building.

A few guards would patrol the building from time to time, and Loran avoided them all.

Loran first went into the offices of several teachers and briefly examined the materials inside, mostly teaching materials and content.

But that makes sense, since the office isn't a private place and no one would put important things there.

Loran searched all the way and finally found the office of the headmaster of the magic academy. He then slipped into the shadow realm and emerged from the office.

The office was very spacious, and there were no candles in the middle of the night, only three eerie blue lamps floating in mid-air.

A thick red carpet lay beneath my feet, and in the center of the room stood a large ebony desk, with neatly stacked academic files on the left and unwashed paper documents spread out on the right.

Loran glanced around. Three walls were lined with solid wood bookshelves, filled with a great many books.

Loran began a general browsing of the books on the bookshelf, all of which were very compliant with regulations and content.

He frowned slightly. He didn't believe that the principal's office of a magic academy was so clean and upright. There must be something shady going on there, right?

He began to open the drawers of his desk, examining various yellowed documents.

These are mostly policy documents issued by the school, nothing particularly special.

But Loran still discovered a clue. He found many design blueprints and a stack of magic academy building documents.

He looked through the various architectural designs for the magic academy, all of which required Plasson's review and approval.

One of the building documents had an approval note that read: "Does not comply with regulations and requires re-approval."

Then there were several revised building documents, which went through several revisions before finally being approved.

Although there was no specific description, Loran found it somewhat suspicious and took a closer look; it was a construction document concerning the school chapel.

To be more specific, this wasn't mentioned in the document, but Loran secretly noted it down.

He continued searching, looking through all sorts of suspicious places, but found nothing about the Dream Cult.

He knew quite a bit about the gossip within the academy; many of the teachers had relationship problems that required the academy to mediate.

There were many copies of mediation cases for reference in future disputes. Loran was quite surprised that there were so many emotional disputes in such a small academy.

In particular, some teachers' names are frequently mentioned, and the fact that one person can have romantic relationships with several people at the same time is truly astonishing.

In addition, he could vaguely see the dark side of the college through some documents, such as the problems with the student aid fund and the basic security of students. Behind each mediation case, it seemed that there was an invisible hand controlling everything.

But this was not what Loran wanted. The world of the nobility was inherently complex and convoluted, and he was too lazy to delve any deeper into it.

Having obtained no particularly useful information, Loran had no choice but to leave. He wandered around the building a little longer before departing, his next destination being the church.

The school chapel is a place where students are taught divine arts. Students can have their own beliefs, and teachers will use these beliefs to teach students how to use the power of the gods to benefit all beings.

Unlike office buildings, the church was not heavily guarded; only a guard would occasionally patrol the area, suggesting that the school did not place much importance on it.

Loran wandered around the church and found a suspicious place: a small cemetery behind the church.

This place is the final resting place of the academy's teachers throughout history, all of whom made outstanding contributions to the academy. Students are organized to come here to pay their respects during important academy events.

Loran stroked his chin. He suddenly had a bold idea, even though it might go against some moral principles, but... he still wanted to give it a try.

He chose to enter the Shadow Realm to check the situation of the graveyard ahead. While walking in the Shadow Realm, he discovered that there seemed to be a hollow area beneath the graveyard.

Loran went directly to this hollow area and revealed himself. It turned out to be a small secret chamber hidden directly beneath the cemetery.

Unless one is deliberately looking for and observing, virtually no student can find this place.

As a magic academy, few people would learn skills like Shadow Ambush that allow one to enter the shadow realm. It would be quite difficult to get here by passing through these layers of mud.

Loran lit a small magical candle, illuminating the surroundings.

He discovered that the owner of this secret room seemed to be a meticulous person; the room was spotless, and the books on the bookshelves were arranged very neatly.

Next to the bookshelf was a cauldron, a flowing water source, and many bottles and jars.

This must be a secluded and convenient place where someone would conduct alchemical experiments.

Even after Loran entered the secret chamber, he couldn't find the entrance or the mechanism used to get in.

Loran began to examine the books on the bookshelf. Upon seeing the contents, Loran immediately tensed up. Yes, these were books about dreams!

Terry was right after all; I never imagined such books would be hidden here!

Sure enough, the documents in the principal's office revealed that the church's construction had been plagued by numerous disputes and the architectural design had not been finalized. It was probably designed as a secret room for some guy.

Without hesitation, Loran began to browse through the books on the bookshelf.

Several tens of minutes passed, and just as Loran was engrossed in the book, footsteps approached.

Loran was startled and quickly used his magic cloak to hide himself completely, while also putting the books back in their places.

One of the mud walls of the secret room slowly opened, and a man wearing a red hood walked in, carrying several items in his arms—a magic hat, a necklace, and a badge.

"What a group of well-behaved students...giving their teacher so many gifts. Of course, the teacher should reward you for your excellent academic performance," the man in the red hood muttered to himself.

He set the items aside, lit the candles on the wall, and rubbed his hands together.

He casually picked up a book from the bookshelf and began to look it up.

"The Dream God's cipher is really troublesome. If it weren't necessary, I really wouldn't want to keep these books..." the hooded man complained, adding flowing water to the alchemy cauldron while reading.

Wearing a magic cloak, Loran watched this scene with bated breath, but after thinking about it, he felt that he didn't need to be nervous. After all, it was just a dream, a relatively realistic dream.

However, he still needed to be cautious. The magic cloak was as useful as the Corbert shop had described, and the man hadn't even noticed his presence. Loran relaxed a little and carefully observed the guy's actions.

After filling the alchemy cauldron with enough water, the hooded man got up and walked towards a wall. He raised his hand and activated his magic, and the wall slowly opened.

Behind that wall was a small warehouse, which contained an astonishing amount of materials.

He selected several materials from the various ingredients and placed them next to the alchemy cauldron for later use.

"What a hassle..." The man yawned and sat down next to the alchemy cauldron to begin refining medicine.

He muttered incantations, and the firewood beneath the alchemy cauldron began to burn, heating the water above it.

"Add these in order... Oh, damn it, the numbering is wrong. Why is there such an unreasonable design where the numbering of subsequent materials is determined by the numbering of the preceding materials...?"

The hooded man looked at the book, making sarcastic remarks as he stirred the ingredients in the medicine pot.

The flames caused the water in the cauldron to gradually boil, turning the originally clear water into turbid water, which then bubbled up with purple bubbles.

"That's about it."

The hooded man picked up the items and threw them into the alchemy cauldron, allowing them to fully blend with the substances inside.

After waiting for several tens of minutes, the items were retrieved, and they seemed to be in little different from their original appearance.

But Loran could sense a familiar feeling emanating from these objects. Yes, it was the feeling he was experiencing right now, in a dream world... This feeling was the feeling of a dream.

After the flames died down, the man threw all the wastewater from the alchemy cauldron into the nearby underground stream, letting it flow away and dissipate.

Putting the books back in their place, the man picked up the object he had just finished with satisfaction. "My dear classmates, I believe you will love the feeling of a dream."

The man extinguished the candle, faced the wall, closed the door, and left the secret room.

Only after the man had completely walked away did Loran come to his senses. He looked at the empty alchemy cauldron, lost in thought.

It's obvious that this guy just added a... strange ingredient to those objects, making them different.

Clearly, those items have a very strong connection to dreams. According to the man, he wanted to give them to his students so they could also enter dreams.

Loran was startled. Wait... why does this sound so familiar!

That's right, the ring he found in Luolin Village!

As an ordinary person in the world, Loran had no way to enter the dream on his own; he was forced to enter the dream for the first time.

He found the ring in Fallenwood Village, and then was forced into the dream, if not for some of Loran's own special circumstances.

Perhaps the way he appears in Dream City is no different from those with wooden expressions.

The villagers we encountered in Luolin Village who were captured are the best example.

That hooded man is trying to create an object that can allow people to enter dreams, or perhaps he's trying to make contact with a dream cult!