Chapter 47: The Strange Dream Returns

Regardless of anything else, being able to initially manipulate one's own dreams meant that one had at least touched the threshold of Nightmare Magic.

Among the generations of ancestors in the Somunoro family, not many had managed to achieve this step.

According to the records in the manuscript, Riverd's next task was to continuously expand the scale of the dream space he could control.

At present, Riverd could only simulate a small corner of the London streets within his dream at most...

By estimation, only when he could expand the simulated environment to the size of an entire street would he have the capability to proceed to the next step, which was also the final operation.

Just looking at this final step, Riverd felt it was absurd and contradictory.

How could something like this possibly be achieved...

This final step required him, while in a completely conscious state, to transfer the power of dreams into reality.

For example, materializing the dream-crafted streetscape of London into the real world so that other people could see it as well...

The most crucial point was that throughout this process, the caster had to remain wide awake and could not enter a state of sleep!

In other words, Riverd had to make others witness the daydream he had created.

Once this step was accomplished, he could use this magic to plunge others into slumber and then manipulate their dreams at will...

Seeing this, Riverd knew this was not a goal he could achieve in the short term.

He decisively put down the manuscript, stood up, and stretched lazily.

His mood once again became pleasant.

Although reaching the final step was extremely difficult, practicing this magic could continuously enhance one's soul strength.

Just this single benefit alone made it worth every penny!

One must know that the correlation between magic power intensity and soul strength had already been experimentally verified!

In a world where magical power seemed to grow only with age, he could now increase it through practice!

This wave was undoubtedly a massive profit!

"Toby, time to head back!"

"Very well, Master Riverd. Would you like to Apparate back yourself, or shall Toby take you?" Toby asked considerately.

"Give me a ride... For now, it seems I temporarily cannot use magic; my head aches the moment I cast a spell... I need to go back and get a good sleep."

***

Back at the Hog's Head Inn, Riverd fell asleep the moment his head touched the pillow.

Invigorating potions could only briefly perk up his mind.

The consumed soul power could not be replenished immediately and could only be slowly recovered through sleep.

Following Riverd's instructions, Toby sat faithfully by the bedside, tending to him closely without moving an inch, which made Tom grit his teeth in frustration.

This jerk literally left no openings whatsoever!

With Toby watching, Tom found it impossible to launch a surprise attack on Riverd.

While feeling regretful, Tom was also immensely puzzled.

They had only been out for a few hours, so why was this guy—who usually could pull consecutive all-nighters for days without sleeping—suddenly so exhausted?

Judging by his appearance, it looked as though he hadn't slept a wink in a month...

***

"Toby, where did Riverd go? Why is he so tired?" Tom asked.

"Toby promised Master Riverd not to say a word. Not even to Master Tom, who is Master Riverd's best friend!" Toby replied solemnly.

Tom frowned. Instinctively, he felt this must be related to the secret behind Riverd's formidable power, but...

By now, he already knew house-elves quite well.

House-elves would never violate their master's direct commands; in other words, he could extract zero information from Toby.

However, Toby definitely knew something about Riverd's secrets!

Tom silently made up his mind that once he mastered magic capable of prying into other people's inner secrets in the future, he would start with Toby and uncover the secret behind Riverd's strength!

When that day came, he would settle old scores and exact his revenge!

As for right now, though...

"He falls asleep the moment he gets back... Did he even eat anything? Don't let him starve."

"Thank you for your concern, Master Riverd has already eaten."

***

Riverd slept for a very long time.

Even Tom, a tireless workaholic who felt a strong urge to sleep himself, found that Riverd still showed no signs of waking up.

Tom glanced once more at Toby, who was still sitting alertly by the bed guarding Riverd, and couldn't help cursing under his breath.

Only then did he helplessly collapse onto his own bed and pull the cover over himself...

Night gradually deepened, and Tom's breathing grew steady and even.

Suddenly, Riverd's fingers twitched, and his previously calm eyeballs began to roll continuously beneath his eyelids.

Having spent the entire day dreaming, Riverd was dreaming once more.

And this dream felt intensely familiar...

It was a place shrouded in white mist.

In the distance, hidden behind the thick fog, a dark, shadowy figure was waving at Riverd.

The dark figure's mouth was opening and closing, as if trying to tell him something.

Having learned nightmare magic, Riverd regained consciousness within the dream instantly.

He immediately remembered that he had experienced an identical dream last time!

Only, the previous dream had been interrupted by the attack launched by Grindelwald before it could finish...

However, unlike the last time, Riverd could faintly hear the other party's voice this time.

The voice seemed to have been altered, making it completely impossible to distinguish whether it belonged to a man or a woman.

Moreover, Riverd still couldn't make out what exactly was being said.

He only caught a few isolated words.

"...follow... power... dream..."

He couldn't hear any of the other phrases or sentences clearly at all.

Therefore, Riverd attempted to manipulate the dream, trying to shift his position closer so he could hear what was being discussed.

***

To his utter astonishment, his intention to manipulate the dream failed completely this time!

This left Riverd extremely surprised.

"Could it be... that this isn't actually my dream?"

Left with no choice, Riverd gave up the idea of manipulating the dream and walked with heavy steps toward the shadowy figure.

For some reason, within this dream, his legs felt exceptionally heavy...

After a long while, Riverd finally reached the front of the dark silhouette.

At that moment, however, the dark figure suddenly fell completely silent!

Looking at the figure resembling the generic criminal silhouette from detective shows, Riverd grew somewhat irritated.

Before he arrived, the entity seemed to have an endless stream of words to tell him, yet the moment he arrived, it clammed up?

"Who on earth are you?" Riverd asked in a deep voice.

The dark figure spoke, and this time Riverd heard it very clearly: "Follow it, and come find me."

Then, Riverd felt his entire body grow weightless as the world spun upside down...

Riverd sat up abruptly in bed, feeling extraordinarily energetic!

The first thing he saw was Toby, who had fallen asleep slumped beside his bed, and...

The blue, faintly glowing lighter resting on the bedside table next to Toby!

At that moment, the lighter was trembling slightly...

Without waking Toby, Riverd reached out and picked up the lighter from the table.

Tentatively, he pressed his finger lightly against the blue ghostly glow.

"Click!"

The lid of the lighter popped open automatically.

A ghostly blue flame emerged from the lighter and drifted up into mid-air!

After circling around Riverd's head once, the flame floated straight out through the window...

Recalling the words spoken by the dark figure in his dream just moments ago—"Follow it, and come find me"—Riverd hesitated very little. Since the entity could enter his dreams at will, eliminating him probably required minimal effort.

Right now, it seemed there were no other options besides following its instructions...

Riverd put on his shoes, grabbed an old wand, and cast a Stunner on the sleeping Tom to ensure his sleep quality reached maximum depth.

Only then did Riverd's figure vanish from the room, reappearing outside the window via Apparition.

Strangely enough, although Apparition made quite a noticeable sound, Toby still remained fast asleep without being awakened...

The streets of Hogsmeade village in the dead of night were completely deserted, save for a few dim street lamps casting a feeble light.

The small blue flame hovered motionless in the middle of the street, seemingly waiting for Riverd.

As soon as Riverd approached the flame, it began to drift forward in a wobbling motion, resembling a guiding will-o'-the-wisp...