I'm a proper student; I only take nine kinds of potions every day.

The bark was a dark gray color, covered with twisted patterns that looked like runes or some kind of totem.

Although the woods on both sides were extremely dark, there seemed to be no living creatures at all.

There were no birdsong, no insect chirps, and even the rustling of the wind through the leaves sounded unusually hollow.

"Doctor," Evan asked curiously, "where is this place? Why are there no living creatures in this forest?"

Armitage smiled and said, "It's not that they don't exist, it's that you can't see them."

"This area is generally called Utnar Vichy, or simply Utnar."

"Located in the eastern continent of the entire Dreamland, it is bordered by the Twilight Sea to the north, the Eastern Desert to the east, the Central Ocean to the west, and Munar to the south."

"It's a pretty good location. When needed, you can go directly into the central ocean along this river."

Listening to Armitage's expert explanation, Ivan scratched his head: "It seems that this dream world is no different from the real world?"

"Why did Hill say during our last battle that we needed Erlon to maintain our direction?"

Armitage stopped in his tracks: "Because you are now in my territory."

"This area is protected by the gods of dreams, and the fog has been dispelled."

“At that time, Erlong used rituals to make himself a guiding light for you and to give you direction.”

"And where you are now..."

As he spoke, Armitage turned his body to the side.

"It's inside the lighthouse!"

At this moment, Ivan looked ahead into the light and saw a magnificent area in front of him.

This is a building full of Gothic style.

The overall style presents a somber color scheme of gray and black.

The top has that signature spire, which looks particularly solemn against the backdrop of the purple sky.

The building is divided into three floors, each with slender willow-leaf windows.

At this moment, a pair of heavy, narrow iron gates directly in front of them quietly opened.

The castle is surrounded by a high wall.

The walls were built of a gray rock with special runes on them.

The runes faintly emitted a white fluorescence under the purple light of the sky.

In front of the castle is a small circular square, surrounded by neat lawns and shady trees.

There is a statue in the middle of the square.

It was a male character wearing a white Roman robe, a laurel wreath, and with blond curly hair and a large beard.

Its entire body radiated a soft yet dazzling light.

The entire statue is incredibly lifelike, with a pair of sharp eyes gazing into the distance.

There seemed to be an unspeakable determination and persistence in his gaze.

Armitage walked over and bowed to the statue first, followed by Ivan.

After entering the courtyard, you can see a large number of metal puppets in this area.

The metal golems resembled human figures, but were bulky and clumsy.

Without hands, various cleaning tools are directly attached to the ends of both arms.

These metal golems have special runes that emit light, and they seem to have their own consciousness as they clean up their surroundings.

Their movements are fluid and precise, and the brooms and rags in their hands are as nimble as if they were used by humans.

Evan's eyes widened in astonishment: "My God! This is like a magic academy from another world!"

Armitage smiled: "That's one way to understand it."

"After all, the era of the Dreamland is forever locked in the Middle Ages."

At this point, he coughed and introduced himself in a loud voice.

"Let me introduce you!"

"This statue is the dream deity who protects this place, named 'Ariel, the Messenger of Truth.'"

"This is a god who is relatively friendly to intellectuals among humans. His authority is not very strong, but it is quite in line with my ideals."

"Today, all those who believe in Ariel are people who are quite persistent in their pursuit of truth."

At this point, Armitage's tone became impassioned, his voice carrying a fanatical obsession.

"We cannot accept the unknown! We cannot accept lies! We cannot accept hypocrisy!"

"No matter how desperate or painful the road ahead may be, even if it is filled with countless sacrifices and deaths."

"We will never stop! We must reach the end of that truth!"

These words deeply shocked Evan.

The increasingly loud sound made his ears ring, and his brain felt like it was being enlightened.

After saying all this, Armitage suppressed his fanaticism and obsession, coughed, and asked.

"Can you guess what I do for a living now?"

Ivan quickly went through all fifteen professions in his mind and finally settled on one profession below the Holy Grail.

"Fanatic?"

Armitage smiled with satisfaction: "Not bad, lad."

"Although the fanatics belong to the Holy Grail path, they can choose the direction of their fanaticism themselves."

Evan nodded in agreement: "Yes, one can be fanatical about gods, and naturally one can be fanatical about truth as well."

The two strode into the building while talking.

Once inside, I discovered that it wasn't a luxurious castle at all, but an enormous library.

The entire castle has three floors that are completely open at the top.

At a glance, you can see the roof, which is more than 20 meters high.

There is a spiral staircase leading up to a central stone pillar.

As you ascend the stairs, seven or eight bridges extend from them, connecting the enormous bookshelves that reach the top on either side.

The bookshelves were densely packed with countless books.

Some of the spines glowed faintly, while others looked so ancient they seemed ready to crumble at any moment.

The entire space was filled with a scent that blended parchment, ink, and some unknown spice.

Inside the library, Ivan saw other humans.

Besides the puppets that clean up, there are now three people reading here.

The three people, two men and one woman, looked to be in their early twenties.

He wore grey striped overalls with a white shirt and a large academic gown over them.

He was quite serious, seemingly completely immersed in the words.

As Armitage entered, the three immediately stood up respectfully: "Doctor."

Armitage nodded slightly: "Let's continue."

The three glanced at Evan but didn't get distracted, continuing to diligently study the thick book.

Armitage showed Ivan around, talking as they walked.

"For many years, Mito has collected books, legends and materials from all over the world about the supernatural."

"Although the extraordinary is not recorded in books, these books themselves are the accompanying codebooks and booklets full of coded messages."

"It even includes some extraordinary books made of special materials."

"A few years ago, when the University of Michigan Library was attacked, I was a lord at the time, and I began to plan how to better protect these books."

He stretched out his hand, which was no longer wrinkled and had supple skin, and stroked the spines of several books.

The books seemed to tremble slightly the moment they were touched, as if responding to their owner's caress.

"After I rose to a higher level, I came into contact with Ariel and subsequently formed a partnership with this god of dreams."

"So I transported the original copies of these books here for storage."

"At the same time, thanks to the extraordinary information contained in these books and their touch of human nature, they have become excellent symbols."

“The temperament of these books is also very similar to that of Ariel, and then I built this realm of truth here.”

A hint of pride lingered on his face.

"Marked by the scent of these books and the light of Ariel, this lighthouse can illuminate a vast area east of the Central Ocean, west of the Eastern Desert, half of the Twilight Sea to the north, and south to Mnnar."

"From then on, this place also became one of the core strongholds for the University of Michigan and its affiliated factions to operate in the Dreamland."

"They enter the Dreamland through here and can travel through this area without worrying about getting lost."

Evan couldn't help but exclaim, "Good heavens! Now it's truly become a Star Torch!"

Armitage probably understood what Ivan meant and smiled as he corrected him: "Rather than calling it a torch, I prefer to call it a beacon of knowledge."

Ivan asked with great curiosity, "Doctor! What kind of extraordinary knowledge is included here?"

"Do you possess extraordinary knowledge encompassing all professions' weaknesses and counter-relationships? Are there any highly effective potion recipes?"

Armitage gave a look that said, "I knew it would come to this."

"no!"

"What you're talking about are usually the secret teachings of various large supernatural factions and families."

"What I have recorded here are the background stories of myths and legends of various ethnic groups and regions, as well as the truths hidden behind the legends and related monster information."

"Simply put, the core function of the entire library is to enable all investigators to determine the background and precautions of their investigation tasks based on their own circumstances."

Although somewhat disappointed, Ivan still gave it high praise: "That's still very important! With these things, many investigative tasks won't be done in the dark."