Chapter 1016: A Strange Visit!
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[The Domain Theme: {Forest of Fantasia} has been activated.]
[An inhabitant of the Realm of Dreams has come to visit you!]
A gentle voice whispered inside of my head, as I saw the big green frog wearing a black suit and tipping his fedora. He looked rather classy, and right out of a children's fairy tale book.
Yet despite all of that, the frog emanated a powerful Aura of Dream Magic, it was a powerful… being, I don't know what sort of being, but it was strong.
"A-Ah… I-I am confused…" I muttered.
"Oh my, where are my manners?" Laughed the frog. "My name is Sir Frogginton III, I am what some might call a Dream Realm Inhabitant. Some consider me a Dream Spirit, others call me a Dreamling, but I think I am just a talking frog. Nice to meet you."
"N-Nice to meet you sir…" I muttered.
What do I do now? Should I invite him for a cup of tea? He's a Dream Spirit! I should probably have a good relationship with him, even if briefly. I didn't sense any sort of hostility within him, if anything, he came because he was curious.
"P-Please come in, would you like to have a cup of tea?" I asked him.
"Oh, if it wouldn't be much of a bother…" He quickly entered, greeting Mark who almost dropped the eggs he was carrying.
"My, hello." Frogginton introduced himself again. "What a peculiar house you two have. So this is what people nowadays have outside the Realm? Hm, I see. I quite like the simplistic design."
"H-Hi…" Mark muttered. "Elayne?"
"Aahh… He's an inhabitant of the Dream Realm! I didn't tell you, but I visited it once, and met the King and the Queen. It was all because of a Spell I made. Now my Domain has… kind of a permanent connection with the Realm. I think people from it can come visit me occasionally. And well, here's Frogginton, what a fine… gentleman he is!" I muttered.
"I… Okay, I see." Mark nodded. "Well, shall we have a cup of tea together then, sir?" He adapted surprisingly fast.
"Oh, for sure!" Frogginton nodded. "Thank you."
We shared a cup of tea with him, he drank very slowly and gentlemanly, despite being a giant green frog. He also never stopped talking. He mostly talked about how beautiful the house was, and how well taken care of was the garden.
"We inhabitants of the Dream Realm are never bored, there's always funny dreams and things to see and discover." He said. "But we are also very curious! Sometimes, when new connections to the Physical Plane are made, we can't help but sneak a peek. I hope you don't mind if a few friends visit you over the next couple of days. They don't mean ill will."
"I-I… sure?" I wondered. "I don't mind making more friends if possible!"
"Hoho, such a gentle woman. You're indeed a very refined person, Elayne." He quickly stood back up. "I shall go now and report what I've seen to my Queen. I forgot to say this, but I had been sent by her here to investigate. Despite her friendly demeanor, she was a bit worried… That the new connection might have been corrupted. But thankfully, that is not the case.
You're all good-hearted people and I trust you will not try to disrupt the peace and chaos of our Realm."
"Of course we wouldn't, why would we want that?" I said. "I entered by accident…"
"I see, well, there are a few other people out there, many of them actually." Sighed Frogginton. "That desire the powers that are born and created in our secretive Realm…"
"Really?" I wondered.
"Why?" Mark asked.
"Hoh, I suppose you are indeed a bit clueless about the power contained within the Realm." Sighed Frogginton. "The Dream and the Nightmare Realms manifested themselves into reality as powerful domains that feed off people's Dreams and Nightmares. Even other living beings also dream and have nightmares, not only humans.
Anyways, well, you see, our Realm possess immense power, the more dreams and nightmares it gathers, the stronger it becomes, and the more Mana, Spirit Energy, and Psychic Energy it absorbs. Our Realm was created spontaneously to mediate with these energies. If the Dream Realm didn't exist, people's dreams would often times give birth to hollows and other creatures much faster than nowadays."
"O-Oh… So the Dream Realm is kind of a filter so Human Emotions and Mind Energy doesn't corrupt the real world?" I asked. "I just had no idea it was that complex…"
"Indeed, something like that! However, energy always leaks out, creating Monsters of Old, and the Hollows, corrupted with Miasmic Mana." Frogginton spoke. "But it is all part of our delicate ecosystem between the many magic planes and the physical plane. Now, there is a variety of people that tap into our Realm.
The Dream Weavers for example, are ancient Druids that protect our Realm from outside, evil forces. But as of late… Well, most of them have disappeared as history advanced forward and the existence of magic deteriorated in the world.
Only recently, due to the events that you humans call First Contact, has our world taken a breather and absorbed a large quantity of Mana, which is constantly feed upon us from another world… My Queen says this is a new Era, an Era where new Dream Weavers might finally appear."
"I see…" I muttered.
I hope they don't want me to be a Dream Weaver…
"What are these enemies you want to protect your Realm from?" Asked Mark.
"There used to be many of their orders, they took on many names, but their collective name was known as Warlocks Of Nightmares." Said Frogginton. "Evil wizards that desire to siphon the negative energies of our world to gain tremendous power. They, similar to the Dream Weavers, have mostly disappeared… for now.
We've grown warier after the First Contact, but for now, I shall be taking my leave, lady Elayne, sir Mark. Here, please take this as my thanks for the tea and the crackers."
He left behind a small present; it was a pink-colored leather bag with something inside.
"Thank you Frogginton- Oh?"
But he was already gone before we could even say goodbye.
What a strange interaction that was…
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