Wizard: I Have a Nightmare World

Lynn didn't know how she got out of the nightmare world.

When he suddenly sat up in bed, his whole body was soaked in cold sweat, and his heart was pounding wildly in his chest, as if it were about to jump out of his throat.

Moonlight streamed through the gaps in the curtains and fell onto the floor. Amber lay curled up in the lily-of-the-valley cottage on the windowsill, her wings fluttering gently as she breathed evenly, clearly still fast asleep.

Lynn took several deep breaths, forcing herself to calm down.

He closed his eyes, trying to recall every detail of that figure.

Black bandages wrapped around his body, damaged gray-black dried tissue exposed at the broken points, and the Knight's Cross sword completely fused to his left arm.

In addition, there were dark red specks of light shining through the gaps in the bandages, and the thumping sound of the sword tip striking the barrier.

Lynn had only ever felt that kind of oppressive feeling from the Bloodvine Wizard, and it might even have been stronger.

He was certain that if that thing could get through the barrier and into his area of ​​operation, with his current strength, he wouldn't even have a chance to escape.

"We absolutely cannot let it in!"

Lynn clenched his fists so tightly that his fingernails almost dug into his palms.

The problem is that the thing has clearly been able to locate the barrier and even move normally through the fog.

If it keeps lingering outside, it will eventually find a way to enter its activity area, and may even break through the barrier.

Lynn rolled out of bed and walked barefoot on the cold floor, her brain starting to work at lightning speed.

"I need to figure out what that thing is first."

"Let's start with the library at White Raven Tower and look up information about the Nightmare World."

"If the White Crow Tower's collection isn't enough, we can look for it in the teacher's private library. As a formal disciple now, I should be able to apply to access more materials that are not publicly available."

After making up her mind, Lynn felt a little more at ease.

He then turned his attention to studying the shielding abilities of the burrowing lizard rat.

According to the Bloodvine Wizard, this ability originated from the ancient creature "Hidden Earth Worm," while the Cave Lizard Rat was merely a failed creation of the Wizard Morris during his experiments.

To truly understand this ability and complete the grafting, Lynn needs to find more information about the burrowing earthworm, and may even need to obtain some tissue samples of the burrowing earthworm for comparative research.

He glanced out the window; the night was deep, and it would be some time before dawn.

Lynn took out the book on energy circulation and harmonization that he had obtained today from his spatial ring and began to read it carefully under the lamp.

But the image of the figure wrapped in black bandages lingered in his mind.

……

The next morning, after having breakfast, Lynn instructed Amber to keep an eye on the incubation room and then went straight to the White Raven Tower.

He first went to the library, explained to the librarian his identity as a formal disciple of the Bloodvine Wizard, and obtained access to the intermediate-level library section.

The intermediate section has a much richer collection than the primary section, covering multiple fields such as witchcraft theory, biological illustrations, historical materials, and geography.

Lynn found some books about the alternate dimensions of the Nightmare World on the bookshelf, as well as a thick book called "The Complete Illustrated Guide to Underground Creatures".

In an ancient book titled "The Gap Between Other Dimensions and Dreams," he found a description of the nightmare world:

"The Nightmare World, also known as the Nightmare Realm or the Gray Mist Realm, is one of the secondary planes that exist outside the Material Plane."

Its origin remains controversial. Some scholars believe it is a fragment of a shattered plane from an ancient war, while others believe it is a concrete projection of the collective unconscious world…

"This plane is characterized by its grayish-white bone-like earth as its basic landscape, and is shrouded in a special gray fog all year round. A large number of dream creatures and remnants of spiritual energy are active in the fog, making it extremely dangerous."

"Only in very rare cases can certain creatures with special spiritual talents passively enter this plane through dreams, and a very small number of wizards can actively enter it through specific rituals..."

Lynn turned the pages one by one, but the descriptions of the nightmare world in the book were mostly theoretical, with almost no mention of the existence of barriers, let alone the humanoid creatures that fused with the knight's sword.

After writing down the contents of the book, he opened the "Complete Illustrated Guide to Underground Creatures" and found the chapter on burrowing earthworms.

The burrowing earthworm is a rare creature that lives deep underground. It is usually between 20 and 40 centimeters long and looks like an enlarged earthworm, but its body is covered with a special dark gray mucus.

That layer of mucus allows the burrowing earthworm to move without making any sound, while simultaneously releasing a special mental fluctuation that can shield the perception of surrounding lower-level creatures.

The book also specifically notes that this mucus and keratin extract was used in the past by some wizards who engaged in clandestine work.

However, the book also says that the habitat of burrowing earthworms is usually between 300 and 1,000 meters underground, and they rarely appear near the surface, making them extremely difficult to catch.

Lynn closed the book, his eyes gleaming.

He needs a sample of the burrowing earthworm to complete the verification and grafting of its shielding capabilities.

But with his current strength, it's simply impossible for him to go deep enough to capture this creature.

The only way is to issue a bounty through the apothecary and let someone capable of completing the task capture it.

Lynn put away the book and strode toward the apothecary at White Raven Tower.

Upon arriving at the apothecary, Lynn, through Harvey's connections, wrote down his mission on parchment.

[Bounty: Capture a live burrowing earthworm (adult, at least 20 cm in length), or provide a fresh, intact sample of the burrowing earthworm's cuticle tissue.]

[Quest Reward: A bottle of high-quality [Coagulation Potion], or equivalent gold coins.]

[Additional condition: The sample must be delivered to the pharmacy within twelve hours of capture, and the location and time of capture must be clearly marked.]

[Task Giver: Silver Pharmacist]

After writing the last word, Lynn handed the parchment to the apprentice in charge of issuing the task.

The other party was a middle-aged apprentice in his forties. He glanced at the contents of the parchment, looked up at Lynn to confirm his identity, nodded, stamped the parchment, and then hung the bounty on the notice board in the center of the hall.

As soon as the reward was announced, people in the hall turned their attention to it.

"A condensing potion? A top-quality one?!"

"That's a great thing! It can enhance elemental perception!"

"A burrowing earthworm? Those things are hard to catch; they're too deep underground."

"But a bottle of top-quality condensation potion... is worth the risk!"

Lynn listened to the whispers of the apprentices around him, but did not linger and turned to leave the apothecary.

The reason he offered a high-quality [Breath-Gathering Potion] as payment was because the market demand for this potion was consistently high, and the quality varied greatly. A bottle of high-quality [Breath-Gathering Potion] was practically priceless in Blackrock.

This reward is enough to tempt many experienced apprentices.

Next, all that's left is to wait patiently.

After leaving the apothecary, Lynn went to the Bloodvine Wizard's private library and searched for information related to the Nightmare World and corrupted creatures on the bookshelves.

The Bloodvine Wizard's collection of books rivals that of the White Raven Tower's public library; books about other dimensions alone occupy two entire rows of bookshelves.

Lynn flipped through them one by one, but even by the afternoon, he couldn't find a description directly related to that figure.

However, in a book titled "Dimensional Rifts and Sources of Contamination," he came across a passage that made his heart skip a beat:

"When dimensional rifts appear, some special entities from outside the prime material world may seep in through the rifts. They often carry strong corrupting energy, causing pollution to the surrounding environment..."

"These forms of existence are diverse, some manifesting as biological forms, some as energy forms, and some as certain specific concepts..."

"The most common type is known as the 'Ember Knight.'"

"They are usually knights who fell in ancient wars. Their souls, corrupted by some special force, merged with their weapons and armor, wandering in the rifts of the broken planes, never able to find peace."

Lynn's gaze was fixed on the words "Ember Knight".

He remembered the cross-shaped knight's sword that had fused with the figure's left hand, the black bandages wrapped around its body, and the dark red lights in its eyes...

Could what I saw last night be the so-called "Ember Knight"?

He eagerly flipped through the rest of the book, but the description of the "Ember Knights" in the book was only a few lines long, without mentioning their behavior patterns or how to deal with them.

Lynn borrowed the book and continued searching on the bookshelf.

When he had searched the entire library and finally found a thin, dusty book in a corner, his eyes fell on the author's signature on the title page, and he froze.

"Morris, Bioengineering Experiment Records and Reflections on the Shielding Properties of Burrowing Earthworms".

The author of this booklet is none other than the ancient wizard who created the burrowing lizard rat 1,300 years ago—Morris!