When Sean mentioned he wanted to head into the woods at night, Baron Myrand even showed a somewhat hesitant expression. "Night... night isn't ideal, too dark, too dangerous. There might be wild beasts about. My lord, perhaps you could go during the day instead..." Sean waved his hand. "No matter. I used to live in the mountains; walking through the woods is nothing. Do you find it dangerous, Lord Myrand?" Watching the other's expression, it clearly shifted.
In this small town, Sean rarely saw anyone with changing expressions. Almost everyone wore the same standard smile, as if real life was trivial to them, living only to have more time to sleep at night. "Not at all. Just be careful, my lord," the man said somewhat awkwardly.
That very remark made Sean even more determined to venture into the woods at night...
...
The forest temperature dropped at night. Under torchlight, a group continued deeper into the woods. Sean kept his eyes on the surroundings—mostly animals lurking in the shadows. Looking up, he could see birds perched on the treetops, their eyes fixed on the direction the group was heading...
He felt like he might soon become a walking encyclopedia. He was already gradually identifying the attributes of animals. He wondered if more things would appear later. His field of vision was limited like this; if the entire view became filled with data, Sean felt his perception of the world might turn strange...
Others saw life as a dream, but he saw it as a game! Sometimes Sean truly wondered what kind of world he was in...
At first, he thought it was just a society under a different civilization from his previous life. But after seeing octopus-men, goat-men, and other mutants, he began to suspect the world might be different from what he imagined. Especially after witnessing Gehros's form—that indescribable substance—he felt that the known part of this world was merely the tip of the iceberg.
For now, though, his leveling seemed to hit another snag. Last time, during the Tacoma City incident, he used the multiple states from his aura (buff) to boost the effectiveness of each spell, allowing him to level up. Later, back in Tyremian, he kept up his training. But after reaching level 300, he hit a bottleneck. Using spells repeatedly didn't raise a single level, and it took immense effort to gain just a little progress—barely enough to drain his daily mana reserves.
Gradually, Sean began to understand the training methods Lucille had mentioned and the frustration of years without improvement. He could still see level prompts. For ordinary people with no way to track their progress, persistence was truly hard. No wonder some took decades to break through.
By human rank standards, he should be a Level 4 Order Keeper. In less than a year, he'd gone from a novice to a Level 4 Order Keeper. Even among wizards, that was genius-level. Of course, this was mainly because his ability let him pinpoint the most efficient way to gain proficiency.
For instance, before discovering that multiple passive auras could speed up proficiency gain, practicing the old method for a month might yield little progress. But after finding the new method, one day equaled several months. Yet now, even this method faced a high threshold. Maybe he should find time to train in martial arts, break through from another angle...
...
"My lord." Just as Sean was lost in thought, Ross called out to him. "Something on your mind, Lord Ross?" Sean noticed the man looked tired. It was late, and after a full day of running around, an ordinary scholar's stamina couldn't match trained soldiers. "Nothing major. I'm just curious—how are you so sure the source of the town's dreams is this forest? Just based on that unique scent? I've encountered plants that emit odors at night in many places. Rare, yes, but not enough to be evidence," Ross asked, puzzled.
This was hard to explain. If dreams felt real, it had to be the brain's doing. Something was affecting the townspeople's minds. The only thing Sean could think of was the scent. Plus, the strange wood of the ornaments and the diary about the tree fairy all pointed to the forest. "And the tree fairy's diary, Lord Ross—you haven't forgotten, have you?" "That's true..." Unable to refute the diary's logic, Ross could only nod. Sean had to pick explanations he could understand. "Don't worry, we won't go too far. It's not wise to venture deep into the woods late at night... I've had people mark the trail along the way. If we can't find anything, we'll head back." Sean noticed Ross's mood shift—probably wanting to rest after being out so late. "I didn't expect you to have it all planned out, my lord!" As if his thoughts had been read, Ross said a bit sheepishly.
They continued deeper... Though the scent lingered, they found nothing of value. The trees deeper in grew denser, twisted even toward the sun, but they were still ordinary branches. Sean kept an eye on the time. No matter where they were, they had to turn back! "That's enough for today. Mark the spot. We'll come back tomorrow during the day."
When he announced they were leaving, the accompanying guards showed a relieved state... Sometimes, even if he understood their moods, he shouldn't dwell on them. Otherwise, he'd feel there were few sincere people in this world. "My lord, so today..." "No matter. If we can't find it, we won't. We'll check again tomorrow. If it's been avoiding us, there's no point wasting time," Sean said. "Avoiding us? What is it?" Asrant asked.
Truth be told, Sean couldn't say... His vision did show a [Being watched...] prompt, but with his people around and animals in the trees, being watched was plausible. "Something must be causing the townspeople to dream. But we can't keep searching forever. The forest is too vast, and we don't have time to waste in this town—just to find these animals." "Animals?" Asrant latched onto the last word. "But there are few animals in the woods at night. Besides birds and insects, larger animals wouldn't choose to rest here, and it's not the right time for foraging."
Asrant's words suddenly struck Sean. Right. The group had been following the usual path of mountain loggers. There was no reason for so many animals to appear. So then... What was that gaze fixed on them? "My lord?" The group suddenly saw Sean walking alone toward the woods.
Toward where the prompts appeared... Just trees. But as he approached with the torch, those trees showed a state of alertness. Pollen~ A thick, cloying scent of pollen filled the air. [Pollen...]