Chapter 65: Ethereal Eye! Dream World!

The ethereal eye hovering above Karn trembled slightly.

"Cha... cha!" A tiny voice suddenly echoed through his mind.

Karn froze. The voice sounded immature, almost like that of a young child. Yet despite its strange tone, Karn could somehow understand exactly what it was trying to say.

"Koko..." A look of surprise appeared on Karn’s face.

"So you can speak as well, Ethereal Eye?"

"Chaaa! Cha cha!" The Ethereal Eye trembled excitedly, seemingly protesting against something Karn had said.

"Koko... Sorry, sorry. I didn’t even know you were alive in the first place. Forgive this old man. From now on, I’ll take good care of you." Karn chuckled and raised his hands in surrender.

"Cha... cha." The Ethereal Eye seemed to calm down after hearing its master’s promise.

Karn couldn’t help but smile. For the past month, he had treated the Ethereal Eye as little more than an extraordinary ability. Now, he was discovering that the strange eye hovering above him was actually a living creature. And it had apparently been with him all this time.

’How fascinating.’ Karn stroked his beard.

"Tell me, Ethereal Eye. What do you remember from before becoming my contracted beast?" He tilted his head slightly.

The Ethereal Eye went silent. Its pupil slowly rotated.

"Cha..." The cheerful voice from before suddenly became hesitant.

"You don’t remember?" Karn’s expression turned serious.

"Chaa..." The Ethereal Eye trembled again.

"How interesting, did the system wipe your memories or were you created by the system?" Karn thought out loud as he brushed his beard in thought.

"Well, there is nothing more I can understand from this. Let’s enter your dimension together, Ethereal Eye." Karn smiled as he sensed the Mystic energy once again.

Karn fell asleep while sensing the Mystic energy once again. His consciousness moved deeper into an unknown dimension. He did not resist the force, instead he let the force wash him into the unknown realm.

Suddenly, he was standing in the middle of a field with tall weeds that reached up to his waist.

"Koko... How strange." Karn looked around but he could see nothing other than the weeds.

"This world is supposed to be one that contains many mystic beasts isn’t it? Why is it that all I can see is weeds as far as the eye can see?" Karn spoke.

"Cha..." The Ethereal Eye responded, seemingly agreeing with Karn.

The field stretched endlessly in every direction. There were no mountains or trees.

Not even the sound of a single cicada could be heard. Only the gentle rustling of the tall grass disturbed the silence. Karn slowly raised his cane and tapped the ground.

Tap.

The sound traveled through the field like an echo before disappearing into the distance.

"Koko... What an interesting place." Karn spoke. The voice lingered in the air like an echo once again before disappearing. Karn’s eyebrows furrowed as a thought lingered in his mind.

’Could it be...’ Karn thought to himself.

"Cha...!" The Ethereal Eye suddenly spoke telling Karn to follow him.

"Lead the way, Ethereal Eye." Karn smiled and followed his eye that floated slightly above him.

The two kept walking until the eye came to a sudden stop.

"Cha..." The Ethereal Eye pointed towards a patch of tall weed grass.

As it focused on the grass, a faint stream of Mystic Energy leaked from the red stone, gathering around its pupil like a miniature vortex until the grass itself shifted into barren dirt with an ’X’ mark on it.

"What’s this?" Karn lowered his body examining the patch of dirt and the ’X’ marker.

"Cha...!" The Ethereal Eye also spoke communicating it did not know either.

Karn moved his hand and touched the mark. As he touched it the area around him suddenly shifted. The grass and the field disappeared, instead the area around him became apparent. Karn was inside a cave.

His hand laid on a red rock that had a spiral pattern on it.

"Koko... So it was an illusion all along." Karn thought as he picked up the stone with a chuckle.

"How deadly, if I didn’t have Ethereal Eye from the start I may have had to stay here for all eternity. Koko..." The stone weighed very little but mystic energy was running amok from it.

Karn rolled it between his fingers, feeling the strange energy pulse against his skin.

Unlike Qi, it did not feel powerful in the usual sense. There was no domineering pressure or violent force. Instead, it seemed to distort his senses. Even while staring directly at the red stone, Karn felt as though his mind was struggling to accept that it was truly there.

"An illusion stone?" Karn muttered.

"Cha!" The Ethereal Eye floated closer and circled the stone excitedly.

"Koko... You seem to like it."

"Cha cha!"

"Very well. Since this is your world, perhaps you should be the one to decide what to do with it."

The Ethereal Eye paused.

"Cha?" Its pupil slowly turned toward Karn.

Karn chuckled.

"Don’t look at this old man like that. I know nothing about Mystic Beasts. For all I know, that stone might be food for you." The Ethereal Eye trembled before suddenly opening wider. A faint stream of Mystic Energy flowed from the red stone.

Karn watched with interest. The energy didn’t enter the Ethereal Eye. Instead, it was slowly drawn toward the pupil, circling around it like a miniature vortex.

The Ethereal Eye’s body began to glow faintly.

"Cha..." Its voice sounded content.

Crack.

The red stone split in Karn’s palm. The Mystic Energy contained within it surged outward. Karn immediately tightened his grip around his cane but the energy did not attack him. It entered the Ethereal Eye.

After several seconds, a system window popped up.

Ding!

Ethereal Eye - Level 1 (2/10)

"Koko... So the Eye can increase its power as well." Karn mumbled.

Suddenly, then the cave trembled. Dust fell from the ceiling causing Karn to raise his head.

"Koko... What did you just do?"

"CHA!" The Ethereal Eye suddenly shot toward the cave wall. Before Karn could react, its Mystic Energy spread outward and the wall rippled.

Karn’s eyebrow rose in surprise, but he followed the Ethereal Eye all the same, walking straight through the stone wall. Behind it was light, the cave wall had been an illusion as well.

"Koko..." He slowly walked toward it. As he passed through the wall, the scenery before him changed once more.

Karn stood still. For the first time since entering the Dream Plane, he could see something other than the endless field. Hundreds of mountains ranges spanned Karn’s vision. Their peaks pierced through an ocean of mist. Strange forests covered their slopes, while enormous creatures could occasionally be seen moving in the distance.

One bird-like creature flew between two mountains. Its wingspan was so vast that its shadow briefly swallowed an entire forest beneath it.

"So this is the Dream Plane..." Karn’s expression became solemn.

"Cha!" The Ethereal Eye floated excitedly beside him. Karn could understand its meaning.

’Look!’

"Koko... Yes, yes. I see it." The old man smiled.