Barbarian Cave, Mirror World.
At the top floor of the Cloud Tower, there is a locked room.
Inside the room, the windows are tightly shut, making the already dim space even more profound.
The only light source in the room is a Crystal Ball embedded in the center of the floor, occasionally emitting a ghostly blue glow, adding a layer of cold light to the silence.
In the flickering ghostly blue light, one can vaguely see Rhein sitting cross-legged beside the Crystal Ball, eyes tightly closed.
This serene atmosphere had persisted for several days, until today, when a movement began under the closed eyelids, and approximately five minutes later, Rhein finally opened his eyes.
"Hoo..."
Rhein let out a long breath of turbid air, and the silent space came alive with this breath. The extinguished candlesticks and fires on the wall, by the long table, and in the fireplace reignited with bright flames.
As the light dispelled the darkness, Rhein looked at the Crystal Ball in front of him.
The Crystal Ball still rhythmically flickered with a ghostly blue glow, and as the blue light surged, Rhein extended his index finger to gently tap the smooth icy surface.
A ghostly blue stream of information flowed from the Crystal Ball, burrowing into Rhein’s index finger.
"It has been five days, let me see if there are any issues over at the Star Pond Ruins." Rhein murmured to himself, "Except for a Magic Power message from the Tree Spirit, intercepted outside the tower, no one else has sent any messages."
Rhein was actually most keen on checking if Ironclad Granny had sent any messages because she was temporarily in charge of the Star Pond Ruins. Since there were no messages, it indicated that the Star Pond Ruins likely did not have significant issues.
As for the Tree Spirit’s message... since it didn’t directly wake him from seclusion but rather sent a Magic Power message, it clearly wasn’t something urgent, and it could be dealt with later.
Rhein stood up and walked to a metal apparatus shaped like a silver trumpet, manipulating a few arcs of light in the Energy Field. As the arcs trembled, the trumpet immediately started operating.
This arc of light was a form of energy-level information interaction developed through the Magic Absorption Path. Rhein activated it with the intention of relaying some messages to certain individuals.
After completing all this, Rhein sat back in front of the Crystal Ball, his gaze inadvertently catching sight of the monocle placed next to the Crystal Ball.
Looking at this pair of glasses, Rhein unknowingly sighed gently.
The reason he suddenly went into seclusion for the past few days was because of these glasses. During seclusion, Rhein calmed his restless thoughts, pondering over the future of the Barbarian Cave, the Wilderness of Dreams, and Angel.
Of course, all future directions centered around Angel.
During these days of contemplation, Rhein had roughly established a basic tone, previously disseminating messages through the Magic Absorption Path to lay the groundwork for this tone, releasing some information in advance.
Once the groundwork is sufficient, all core members will be called to a meeting to officially announce the future direction.
Reflecting on the initially peaceful development’s future suddenly taking a different turn, Rhein was indeed somewhat sentimental. But he also knew clearly that only through "change" could the Barbarian Cave reach new heights. Besides, with the Wilderness of Dreams backing this tremendous change, it would definitely not head towards a worse direction, so as the Controller of the Barbarian Cave, he had to proceed with this plan.
"Angel..." Rhein muttered softly, saying Angel’s name, a complex mix of emotions in his voice filled with sentiment.
Rhein imagined the Barbarian Cave would shine with unprecedented brilliance under his leadership, something his predecessors hadn’t achieved. Yet, he hadn’t foreseen that this honor would rest on Angel, who had only been with the Barbarian Cave for a mere few years. How could this not bring about a sense of amazement?
Rhein himself had researched and trained across domains in Divination, yet he never truly believed in predetermined fate; otherwise, he wouldn’t have chosen to abandon the "River of Fate" path for the "Speechless Deity."
But at this moment, with Angel’s silhouette vividly appearing in his mind, for the first time, he deeply felt that perhaps there truly were favorites of fate. Otherwise, how did Angel coincidentally join the Barbarian Cave and achieve such growth in such a short period, precisely fulfilling Rhein’s long-held aspirations?
Truth be told, at Rhein’s current level, emotional disturbances are rare, yet Angel’s appearance has caused significant emotional fluctuations.
There was contemplation, envy... even a slight twinge of jealousy.
However, this jealousy was fleeting, quickly expelled from Rhein’s mind, as he knew clearly that for future development, Angel’s presence was pivotal.
Not only must he refrain from jealousy, but he also needs to actively eliminate threats surrounding Angel.
Currently, the greatest threat to Angel is the Seed.
Rhein’s eyes flickered for a while, seemingly calculating something.
As time passed, nearly an hour has elapsed since Rhein’s awakening, and his thoughts were almost sorted out. Extending his hand towards the monocle, he intended to check if Ironclad Granny was available to discuss future developments.
However, Rhein quickly retracted his hand.
"Forget it, let’s first take a look at the Magic Power message from the Tree Spirit. Just as well, have the Tree Spirit arrange some people to enter the Wilderness of Dreams to assist in the New City’s construction." With this in mind, Rhein moved to the window, opening one that had been closed for several days.
Once the window was opened, a pure white dove that had been circling the Magic Absorption Path slowly descended, landing on the windowsill.
Rhein gently touched the dove, which immediately emitted a white light, scattering a large number of illusory white feathers.
Simultaneously, within the white light, the silhouette of the Tree Spirit appeared.
"Angel has already deciphered the broken Magic Pattern, and he and I are preparing to explore the hidden room."
The first words in the Tree Spirit’s Magic Power message startled Rhein.
Although Rhein wasn’t as gossipy about hidden explorations as the Tree Spirit, the ruins Angel was in and the Star Pond Ruins were clearly built by the same entity, making Rhein very concerned about the situation in the hidden room, hoping to uncover some valuable information.
"However, from the current situation, the hidden room is extremely dangerous. It contains the Nightmare Light, which even my Avatar cannot withstand... If you’ve forgotten about the Nightmare Light, bring out Reeves to explain it to you again."
"So far, we haven’t found a way to neutralize the Nightmare Light.
"Once you receive the message, it’s best to come over."
...
On the other side, inside the hidden room.
When the Tree Spirit saw the desk beside the workbench, his eyes lit up with joy, "There are many parchments and scrolls here, they might record information about the hidden room and the Nightmare Light!"
Seeing the casually spread parchments on the desk, Angel was also excited.
In the Wizards’ Realm, knowledge is of paramount importance.