Faint morning light bled over the horizon.
Damian suddenly jolted awake, gasping for air. His ragged breathing echoed loudly in the silent camp.
Just as his vision had been violently yanked into the sky above the gray mist, he had felt a crushing, suffocating sensation, like drowning in deep water.
After finally catching his breath, Damian frantically scanned his surroundings.
The magical campfire in the center of the clearing was no longer burning in stark black and white. Everything had returned to its normal, vibrant colors.
The rest of the expedition team hadn't disappeared, either. The tethered Land Strider Birds and Two-legged Pack Beasts were sleeping peacefully on the frost-covered ground.
Link and Logistics Wizard Al were on the final night watch. They sat by the fire, occasionally poking the embers with long sticks and exchanging quiet murmurs.
Hearing Damian's sudden gasp, Link glanced over in concern. Damian quickly waved a hand, signaling that he was fine and just had a bad nightmare.
Outside the camp's perimeter, the oppressive Gray Mist was completely gone. The scene was so peaceful it gave Damian the fleeting illusion that the entire horrific ordeal had merely been a dream.
But he knew better. He could feel that the mysterious metal disc in his mind had indeed absorbed and stored a massive amount of new energy. Even if he had been physically asleep in the camp, his consciousness had definitively traveled somewhere else.
Damian mentally replayed the night's events and suddenly made a chilling connection. Could the misty dimension I just escaped be the exact same one Jack White accessed using his forbidden Dream Entry Ritual?
Damian had seen fragmented memories of Jack performing the dark ritual to project himself into another plane. However, the destination always varied depending on the physical location where the ritual was cast. The bizarre landscape Jack had visited looked entirely different from the barren gravel and petrified stumps Damian had just seen.
According to the notes plundered from Jack's grimoire, the parallel dimension accessed by the ritual was referred to by ancient wizards as the "Divine Realm."
Performing the ritual in highly magical areas was supposed to lead to a "Treasure Land" within the realm. But if the caster failed to anchor themselves properly, there was a high probability they would be thrown into a "Forbidden Zone."
In these Forbidden Zones, trespassers risked encountering terrifying, apex entities known as "Divine Attendants." Anyone lost in the mist had only two possible outcomes: they were either corrupted by the fog and twisted into mindless monsters, or they were slaughtered by an Attendant.
Damian recalled a memory of Jack barely surviving a Forbidden Zone. However, the dark wizard hadn't encountered a Divine Attendant during that specific trip, so Damian had never actually seen what one looked like.
Although Jack's Forbidden Zone was different from the one Damian had just escaped, they shared one undeniable commonality: both were completely saturated in that thick, oppressive Gray Mist.
If that misty plane was the Divine Realm, Damian thought, rubbing his temples, then the glowing Antlered Girl I just encountered... was she a Divine Attendant?
The theory made terrifying sense. The moment he had clearly seen the Shadow White Deer's humanoid form, an inexplicable, primal dread had paralyzed him. It felt exactly like the crushing magical pressure described in Jack's notes—the aura of an impossibly powerful being.
None of Damian's spells or artifacts had even scratched her. Her power level completely dwarfed his own. He still remembered her final action before he crossed back—pointing silently into the deep fog. He had no idea if she had been showing him a safe path or directing him toward his death.
As for the grotesque Sandworm Monster he had killed, it was undoubtedly a lesser creature that had been corrupted and mutated by the mist. It was thick-hided and vicious, but it lacked the terrifying, reality-warping presence of an Attendant.
As the sun fully breached the horizon, the other wizards began to stir. Their expressions were perfectly calm and rested as they packed up their sleeping bags.
It seemed no one else had been affected. Damian was the only one who had been dragged into the misty dimension.
This was what confused him the most. He hadn't performed any dark rituals. Like everyone else, he had simply completed his standard magical meditation exercises after dinner and gone to sleep.
Yet, he was the only one pulled into the Gray Mist. He couldn't help but wonder if the metal disc anchoring his soul had acted as a lightning rod, drawing the dimension's attention. But it had never triggered a spontaneous crossing like this before.
The mystery only deepened his suspicions about their location. Perhaps the Deep Forest possessed some unique, highly unstable magical anomaly that naturally overlapped with the Divine Realm.
He rubbed his temples again. He hadn't actually rested, and the intense magical battle had left his core drained. Since Logistics Wizard Al was already passing out breakfast, Damian discreetly pulled a vial of refreshing Potion from his robes and downed it to banish his fatigue.
After breaking camp, the expedition team mounted up and set off.
The stern lead wizard rode at the front, a piece of parchment floating just above his hands. It wasn't an ordinary map; it was an enchanted navigation artifact. As long as a destination was marked, the map functioned like a magical compass, continuously adjusting to guide the user along the safest possible route.
The expedition leader addressed the team over his shoulder. "We have two primary targets today. Both are areas marked as potential colored cloud grass habitats during a previous survey."
"The yield was deemed insufficient three years ago, so the sites were temporarily abandoned," he continued. "However, given the time passed, we are going to scout them again and see if the colonies have expanded."
The wizards spurred their Land Strider Birds forward. The Two-legged Pack Beasts carrying their vital supplies were kept heavily guarded in the center of the formation to protect them from ambushes.
Bathed in the crisp morning sunlight, the expedition followed the magical map deeper into the Forest Canyon. The towering pines were silent and tranquil, though the pleasant chirping of birds occasionally echoed from the high canopy.
Damian looked up, his eyes scanning the branches. Oddly, he didn't spot a single bird. Upon closer inspection, he realized the sound was coming from small, hollowed-out holes naturally grown into the tree trunks.
Link caught him looking and smiled. "Never seen one? That's normal. These are Bird-Chirping Pines, native only to the Winter Forest. Surprisingly, they aren't even classified as magical plants."
"The hollow knots in the wood naturally whistle like bird calls when the wind passes through them," Link explained. "The sound attracts large beetles and insects. Once a bug crawls inside the hole, the sap traps it, and it becomes a meal for the tree."
The tall Court Wizard Investigator squad leader riding beside them perked up, looking as though she had just discovered a secret to infinite wealth. "Wait, wouldn't that make it the ultimate pest-control plant? Why aren't these sold and transplanted outside the Winter Forest?"
Anna shook her head. "I've read about these. Bird-Chirping Pines can only survive in sub-zero climates, and their appetite is astonishing. They need a massive influx of insects every single day to survive."
"Only the Winter Forest has a dense enough population of frost-resistant insects to sustain them," she added. "If you planted one down south where it's warmer, the climate shock would kill it before it could eat a single ant."
The tall witch sighed in disappointment. "I see. No wonder they aren't sold outside the Winter Forest. And here I thought I was about to make a mountain of kingdom gold coins."
Although she was a highly skilled Court Wizard Investigator squad leader, she didn't come from old money. The daily expenses of maintaining combat-ready potions and gear were exorbitant, so she was constantly looking for a side hustle.
The other Court Wizard Investigator squad leader—the androgynous wizard with the chestnut hair—chuckled. "If there was money to be made from those trees, Madam Jill and her merchants would have already monopolized the market. They never miss an opportunity for profit."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
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