Act VII: William Coulter's Quest (6)
"Oh...... Damn, Dr. Coulter, my eyes hurt - not just eyes, to be exact, I felt sick all over. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. biquge。 Frick struggled to sit up, his weak arms barely supporting his body, which was almost exhausted after a long dream.
Watching the flames burn away the old world bit by bit, Frick's consciousness gradually detached from the illusion constructed by the fragments of memory. It didn't take long for his mind to return from the spiritual world to his body, and the feeling of nothingness was filled with the fullness of his body.
However, a serious sense of sameness also visited Frick's weakened mind along with this long-lost lucidity, making his body feel quite uncomfortable. A moment ago, he seemed to have experienced the end of the mythological age, and the scene of the devastating disaster had been deeply imprinted in his memory.
He tried to use familiar methods to organize his chaotic thoughts, suppressing the catastrophic scenery that remained in his mind into deep thoughts. But he quickly gave up, because every time he touched that part of the memory, his subconscious felt the urge to scream.
It was like pouring salt into a bleeding wound, and trying to manage that part of the memory seemed to only hurt his mental realm for now. As a beginner, he is not proficient enough in the dreaming technique and should seek the help of Dr. Coulter whenever possible.
"No...... No, it shouldn't be that way. But something was wrong with the sorcerer's reaction, "I see it, but it shouldn't be like this. It is an abyss that separates the material and spiritual worlds in different directions...... It must be overcome in its obstacles. ”
Although he had stood up, he was aimlessly gesturing with his arm, and his unusual words and actions made him look as if he was still bound to the world of dreams. The cloudy eyes stared straight ahead, but Frick was sure he wasn't staring at what existed in reality.
Even a layman like him who knew little about dreaming spells could assert that William Coulter was in an unusual state right now. The sorcerer's face was contorted, an eerie mixture of despair and hope, as if the sight in his eyes was both terrifying and hopeful.
As the master of the dream, he managed to escape from the catastrophic dream, but William Kurt did not—or rather, he was too deep.
The world of dreams is full of temptation for a sorcerer like him, because he is able to see the world of deep spiritual existence in his dreams with an astonishing sensual intuition. It is impossible for anyone to see this extraordinary spectacle while awake, so it is possible for them to go too deep between half-asleep and half-awake.
"Dr. William Coulter!" noticing his unusual reaction, Frick shouted his name in the same way he had taken him out of his dream, "Wake up! All you see are dreams, illusions made up of mental fragments, you should wake up now!"
This was a contingency measure taken by Dr. Coulter during his initial dream experiment, when he was diving too deep into the spirit world or experiencing rejection, he would grab Frick's shoulders and shake him vigorously to recall him from his dreams.
He may know better than anyone what the potion does and how dangerous it is, but that doesn't mean he won't be affected by side effects. Perhaps the opposite is true, and it is precisely because he knows where the danger of this potion is, that he is more afraid of being lost in a dream than anyone else.
Presumably hearing Flick's shout, Dr. Kurt staggered in his direction, muttering something in a muffled voice. As he walked towards Flick, he still covered it with his hands, as if to cover the alluring scenery in front of him.
Perhaps he really wanted to see what was active in the abyss of the spiritual world, where there were wonderful beings that the human black did not recognize at present. Reason, however, forbade him to step into the deeper realm of unknowability, for he knew better than anyone what dangers existed in the depths of the spiritual world.
It was then that Frick suddenly noticed a faint smell wafting through the room, a faint and indescribable smell that had been mixed with a thick smoky scent that had not been noticed by him. But this smell was definitely not a calming spice, because the mere occasional smell was enough to make him vomit with nausea.
Although he didn't know where the smell was coming from, he walked briskly to the window and pushed the closed glass window open to avoid it from causing any worse pressure. The next moment, the icy winter air poured into the room through the window, diluting the strong smell of spices.
And when he did this as quickly as he could and returned to Dr. William Coulter, he was taken aback by his actions. He had silently leaned behind Frick, and he could already clearly see the fine cold sweat on his forehead.
The cloudy eyes that were so close at hand made Flick's back break out in a cold sweat, and he couldn't help but take a few steps back until he leaned against the wall. Looking back, Dr. Coulter's shoulders twitched as if they were spasming, and then he fell to the ground with a low moan.
But the fall was obviously not enough to stop him, and he still crawled slowly on the floor trembling violently, foamy saliva dripping from his grinning mouth. The stiff movements didn't look like a human at all...... To put it mildly, it's like a wounded wild dog.
"Dr. Coulter, Dr. Coulter, please don't do that, do you hear me, please calm down!" Frick panicked, and could only grab his shoulders and shake him vigorously, calling to him, "It's just a dream! Nothing here will hurt you, you should wake up!"
Perhaps hearing Flick's call, William Coulter stared at him fiercely, his limbs weak, and even tried to attack. However, his actions finally had an effect, and the warped expression on the sorcerer's face finally eased, and his body curled up on the ground.
Finally, the splendor of reason returned to his eyes, but his body was still trembling weakly, and the experience had obviously left him with terrifying memories. Frick managed to lift his limp body so that he could lean back on the couch to regain his strength and get rid of the feeling of powerlessness that had settled in his spirit.
"Please get me some wine. ”
He muttered, without a trace of strength in his words: "It's the ebony cabinet near the door, and in the drawer on the right-hand side of the top floor, the glass bottle is pomegranate wine, and the flat wine bottle is whiskey...... Just bring me one of them - and the purple potion on the side of the cabinet, please bring it to me. ”
He may have regained some of his senses, but he still looked like he had lost his soul, and the torture had drained him of all the power in his body. Now he doesn't look like the magician who leads the entire magic research of the Gate of the North, but like an old man who is dying and about to die.
The consequences of defeat were terrible, and Flick thought so as to William Coulter's request to get what he needed. When he took the bottle and the potion, his hand gripped the bottle so tightly that he didn't even notice that his nails were in the palm of his hand.
"It was just an accident, I didn't notice that I was going too deep. As if to justify his gaffe, he sighed, "You know—dreaming is a rare talent, and you have it, and I can only see the world through your power." ”
With that, he gasped for breath as he drank most of the whiskey that Flick had handed him in one go, which seemed to make him feel a little better. He then mixed the unknown purple potion with the rest of the alcohol in a one-to-two ratio, and drank it all down.
Under the combined effect of alcohol and potions, his expression was obviously much better than at the beginning, but he was so tired that he obviously had no way to continue further experiments. It's not just a day, he has been hit hard, and it will take at least a month or so to recover if he wants to recover.
"I'm sorry, but I'll ask you to go back today. ”
But he clearly doesn't plan to let the plan go on for so long: "I'm a little tired today, and I need to rest for a while." As for this plan, I think you can ...... it tomorrow Or come to me the day after tomorrow and we can find a way to continue. ”
Even a fool could see that he was deliberately using calm and composed words to show hypocritical steady, and that he had been hit much harder in the spiritual world than he had originally thought. If he continues to experiment despite all odds, he will have to reach his physical and mental limits before he succeeds.
So Frick bluntly voiced his concerns: "But isn't it dangerous, if you can't withstand this process of constantly entering the dream world and then waking up? I mean, if you want to explore the spiritual world with the help of my powers, maybe you should make a more secure plan." ”
In his opinion, it is really not worth it to forcibly squeeze his body to complete the experiment, after all, there are many opportunities for experiments, and there is only one life. If you die before you achieve final success, the fruits of your previous efforts will be in vain.
"But then there's no time!" he jerked to his feet, hysterically grabbing Frick's arm with both hands, "Don't miss the opportunity, you may not understand, but now is a rare opportunity to get a glimpse of the world as it really is, and I can't let it slip out of my hands!"
But for William Coulter, this opportunity is not just Flick's ability, there are many complex and indescribable reasons. As long as it is to seize this opportunity, he is willing to give everything, including even the health of this body.
As long as you can get a glimpse of the truth, you don't care even if you die.