'Experiencing and browsing Castorice's memories?!'
The system's explanation was like a stone cast into a still pond, instantly shattering Castorice's outward composure.
Her slender eyebrows knit together involuntarily, and her expression turned somewhat unsightly.
'Castorice's memories from just a single reincarnation... span at least a thousand years!' She questioned the system deep within her consciousness, her voice laced with suspicion and resistance. 'You want me to experience and browse her memories? Are you certain I won't be completely assimilated by them, ultimately losing myself in her life and never finding my own identity again?!'
The reason Castorice had immediately questioned the system after the memory flashback was precisely because she worried about this.
While these flashbacks seemed to have little impact on her for now—at most making her empathize with Castorice's plight—what about the future?
If the influx of memory fragments became more frequent and dense, would she unconsciously be permeated by the emotions, thoughts, and experiences belonging to "another self"?
Under the silent erosion of vast stretches of time, would her will be quietly replaced until one day she realized with a start that she had become a continuation of "Castorice" rather than an independent individual?
[Negative, host.]
The system's response remained steady and emotionless, yet Castorice could sense a reassuring tone within it.
[You have already mastered a large portion of the power of the Death Authority; it could even be said that this power is almost entirely yours.]
[However, "total mastery" is not equivalent to "total understanding." Those memory fragments belonging exclusively to Castorice are the keys to accelerating your comprehension of the true essence of death. They are not a burden, but a ladder.]
[While Castorice's millennium of memories is vast and boundless, what you truly need is not the entirety of her life, but the "essential" moments—those instances of intense emotional turbulence witnessed when life passed away by her hand or before her eyes. These fragments condense the most profound experiences of death.]
[Therefore, rest assured, host. You will not be assimilated by her memories. The existence of this system is the final barrier ensuring this; such an occurrence will never be permitted.]
"..."
The system's certain explanation echoed in her mental space, and Castorice fell into a long silence.
She followed the footsteps of the elves ahead, trekking through the dappled moonlight of the ancient forest, her feet treading upon soft moss and tangled roots.
The only sounds around were the nearly inaudible footsteps of the elves and the rustling of leaves stirred by the night wind.
This silence lasted for a considerable distance, until Maria, leading the group, finally came to a halt. Only then did she speak slowly in the quiet, her voice barely audible:
"I hope... everything you said is true."
...
At this moment, the group stopped before a mountain wall completely covered by dense vines.
The vines were thick and gnarled, coiling around the jagged rocks like giant pythons, showing a dark deep green under the moonlight.
"We are here." Maria's cold voice rang out. She turned around, her gaze lingering on Castorice for a brief moment before quickly moving away.
Then, that language Castorice did not understand escaped her lips once more.
Accompanied by the chanting, a wondrous scene unfolded:
Silver runes began to slowly emerge and shimmer upon the surface of the previously ordinary mountain wall.
Immediately after, the heavy vines covering it seemed to receive an invisible summons, retracting into the interior of the stone wall. Within a few breaths, they vanished completely, leaving only the wall covered in silver runes and radiating a faint glow.
"Let us go."
Maria was brief, offering no extra words or explanations.
Having finished, she stepped forward without hesitation and walked straight toward the stone wall.
Under Castorice's gaze, her figure seemed to dive into water, silently merging into the stone wall and disappearing.
"Is it an ocular illusion formed by an illusion spell?"
Castorice murmured to herself, a flash of realization crossing her eyes.
This guess was soon confirmed.
The two silent elven swordswoman guards and Nimue, who followed closely behind, all walked into the stone wall without obstruction, as if encountering a clipping glitch in a game.
Having confirmed her hypothesis, Castorice no longer hesitated and walked toward the mountain wall shimmering with silver runes.
Upon reaching it, out of caution, Castorice first reached out her hand and carefully touched the surface of the stone wall.
But the sensation that followed exceeded her expectations.
She could clearly feel her fingertips touching a solid object.
"Hmm? It actually... has a physical form?"
Surprised, she withdrew her hand, the characteristically rough and cold touch of rock lingering on her fingertips.
The predicted phenomenon of her fingers passing through the stone wall did not occur; the wall felt incredibly real to the touch, no different from an actual one.
"This is a special kind of magic."
A weak voice sounded from behind.
It was Shalin, the only one remaining outside. She had clearly seen the fleeting confusion on Castorice's face, so she walked over to explain:
"When you are thinking 'there is a wall in front of me' and touch it tentatively, this magic makes you truly feel the shape of the mountain wall. But if you are certain in your mind that there is nothing ahead, just like walking normally without doubting its existence, then it becomes like air, and you pass right through."
Having said that, Shalin walked toward the stone wall.
Just as she had described, Shalin made no tentative moves; she simply walked straight toward the stone wall.
Then, just like the elves before her, she passed through that stone wall with ease.
"I see..." Castorice realized, a sense of admiration for this magical design rising in her heart. "How wondrous, using the intruder's own perception to construct a defense... if one harbors doubt about the 'illusion' here, then that doubt itself becomes a real object that blocks the way."
Having understood the principle behind it, Castorice took a deep breath and suppressed the doubts in her heart completely.
No longer hesitating, she looked straight ahead and, without a moment's pause, stepped toward the stone wall.
She took a step—no collision, no obstruction, and not a trace of sensation.
She felt as though she had suddenly stepped into a hazy mist; her body crossed the boundary of the stone wall without delay, and the scene before her shifted instantly.
What lay behind the stone wall was not a narrow passage as expected, but a relatively spacious cave entrance, about two people high and wide enough for several to walk abreast.
The walls inside the cave were very smooth, looking much like a man-made tunnel.
Furthermore, it wasn't particularly dark inside; a certain faint light seemed to seep out from within the rock walls.
Maria, Nimue, Shalin, and the two elven guards were all standing quietly inside the cave, waiting for Castorice's arrival.
"Your Excellency Castorice, please follow us."
Seeing that she had entered safely, Maria said nothing more. She merely nodded slightly, turned, and led the group deeper into the cave.
Castorice followed their lead.
The cave was not deep; after a short walk, the view ahead suddenly opened up.
Just as they stepped out of the cave's shadows, an extremely bright clear glow poured down without reservation, enveloping Castorice entirely.
Her eyes, having just emerged from the dim cave, could not adapt to this intense light, and she instinctively raised her arm to shield her eyes.
"So... such bright moonlight..."
Castorice squinted and whispered softly.
This light was far brighter than the moonlight filtered through the layers of branches and leaves in the forest.
However, this visual discomfort soon vanished.
Castorice lowered her arm and, with curiosity, slowly lifted her head to look toward the source of the moonlight.
Next, she saw a wondrous sight.
"Two... moons?!"
She gasped softly in surprise.
In the night sky, there was not the single familiar moon, but two bright, clear moons!
One large and one small, one near and one far, they hung in the ink-blue sky like sisters.
The larger one was like a flawless jade plate, radiating a bright and soft silver-white glow; the smaller one carried a hazy light purple aura, appearing even more mysterious.
The dual moons shone together, illuminating this valley embraced by mountains as brightly as day.
Now she knew why the moonlight was so bright.
The moonlight from both moons was pouring down, and with no plants nearby to act as obstructions, how could it not be bright?
While Castorice was observing the moons, Maria's voice rang out.
"Your Excellency Castorice, welcome to the Shadow-fold Valley."