Two years later.

On a summer morning, Rosalyn walked through a kilometer-long corridor adorned with wisteria, arriving at a secluded corner formed by the collapse of an overpass. She pushed aside the bushes, revealing a patch of thatch.

This was her secret foraging spot, a place where wild chickens often laid their eggs, allowing her to “borrow” a couple every now and then to improve her meals.

Now twelve years old, her adventurous attire accentuated her growing figure. Compared to her two years ago when she first arrived, she had lost some of her childishness and gained the youthful charm of a budding adolescent, standing at 1.55 meters and nearing the 1.65 meters of her esteemed teacher.

“I’ll take a look… Hmm, five eggs this time? I’ll just take two, dear Mrs. Chicken; I hope you won’t be angry…” she murmured to herself, retrieving two eggs and smiling as she turned to leave.

Unfortunately, this time she was caught, and the wild chicken that apprehended her looked different from its normal self—

It had grown to a height similar to Rosalyn’s, sporting a bulbous, leprous growth atop its head, resembling a massive gland covered in writhing tendrils. Its bare flesh and featherless wings oozed a foul-smelling slime.

“Um… you don’t seem well, Mrs. Chicken…” Rosalyn said uneasily.

The head was deformed, and the flesh bared. According to her teacher’s standards, this was a typical trait of the Basic Aberration Type. In Luminous Continent, such a monster could claim the lives of four or five adult villagers. What was more terrifying was that if one got scratched by it, the corruption would spread, eventually consuming the entire village.

“Cluck—!!” Soon, accompanied by a raucous crow, the aberration surged toward her, its sharp beak resembling a dagger slicing through the air.

Rosalyn didn’t panic; at the moment the aberration neared, she was enveloped by Aqua Flow, swiftly dodging to the side with grace. Then, she lifted her hand, and dozens of small blue projectiles the size of her pinky finger shot forth like a shotgun blast, freezing the wild chicken into an ice sculpture.

“…Let me help you find peace.” She sighed softly, snapping her fingers and unleashing crimson flames that engulfed the wild chicken. This update is available on novel⁂fire.net

Although it continued to roar in its last moments, it quickly struggled and fell to the ground, becoming a charred corpse.

After eliminating the aberration, Rosalyn felt somewhat saddened. Even though she had been humiliated by “Mrs. Chicken” during her prior visits to steal eggs, they had come to an unspoken understanding. Now, a year later, Mrs. Chicken was gone, deepening the loneliness of this girl who had no playmates.

What kind of life did my teacher have before I arrived?… But a hidden expert like her probably wouldn’t be as unsettled by loneliness as I am. Even without me, she could live happily and leisurely; it’s me who needs her…

Bowing deeply to the deceased wild chicken, Rosalyn mourned in silence for a minute before turning to leave with the eggs. Just as she made to move, another chicken blocked her path, glaring furiously with its small body powered by enormous energy.

Rosalyn looked at this more familiar hen and then over at the ugly corpse she had just bowed to, her expression froze: “…Huh?”

…

“Where have you been? Did you run off past the safety boundary again?” Yvette asked, looking at Rosalyn—whose hair was messier than usual—curiously while sitting in the estate’s tea room reading a book.

Since giving Rosalyn the Sky Ring Y2 two years ago and continuously helping her improve and add spells, she had gained a certain degree of independence to take action without Yvette constantly following her. To facilitate this, Yvette had delineated the areas on the map of Ish City: the three kilometers surrounding the estate were designated a safe zone for free action; beyond that, the central area required reporting for exploration; all outer regions were strictly off-limits.

The reason for such caution was that during previous explorations, particularly in the Ish Mountains and Lua City, she had encountered some high-tier aberrations that appeared to be quite evolved. Not knowing their full capabilities, and with the nearby ordinary aberrations’ numbers being too high, she had refrained from getting close. But this did not deter her suspicions; within the marked high-risk zones, there were likely higher-tier boss-level aberrations—given that aberrant creatures evolved through consuming each other, the entire Ish Island had effectively become a massive breeding ground for such creatures, making the emergence of high-level aberrations both strange and perhaps inevitable.

“No, no, Teacher, you’ve warned me; I wouldn’t go there!” Rosalyn quickly explained, then shyly added, “I was attacked by a chicken…”

Yvette fell silent, examining her for a moment before returning to her book. Half an hour later, as Rosalyn brought over the cooked eggs and other lunch items, Yvette satisfiedly closed her book and leisurely enjoyed the meal prepared by her disciple.

At this moment, the sunlight shone brightly. It could be due to the geographical position being farther from the equator, as even in summer, the temperature was not overly hot but rather comfortable. Cool winds blew, the floating clouds in the sky gradually dissipated, revealing a clear blue expanse.

After finishing lunch, Yvette stood up and said, “Let’s go to that patch of fog.”

…

The “patch of fog” that Yvette mentioned was a Dream Mist—a phenomenon that, at least in her view, resembled the fog she had encountered cautiously while exploring the tenth level of Abyss Base three hundred years ago.

This was a discovery she made during a previous exploration of the Blackwater Zone. Within a non-collapsed building of ruins, Rosalyn had boldly entered and subsequently discovered that pervasive fog on the second floor, shocking Yvette as she climbed the old staircase only to find the girl already engulfed in white mist.

But…

Why hadn’t it triggered anything?

Yvette didn’t understand, but she certainly knew it was not normal mist, and there was no reason for it to be produced there. Rosalyn could enter and exit without consequence, which meant either the fog’s power to pull someone into a dream was insufficient or—

The Dream Mist only affected her.

Considering how she had previously brought things from the dream back to the present, even if it had only been simple clothing, it still proved that she seemed to have a bizarre connection to the Dream Mist, one that was inaccessible to others, including those from other worlds.

Now she was determined to uncover the truth behind that mist. If it truly was a Dream Mist, she would certainly end up dreaming there, while Rosalyn, untouched, could stay beside her and protect her physical body in reality as she slept.

Indeed, having a disciple proved to be useful.

…

For this venture, Yvette and Rosalyn’s vehicle had undergone an upgrade; they now traveled in a magitek motorcycle capable of low-altitude flight, capable of ascending to heights of 200 meters.

However, compared to land mode, power consumption in flight mode drastically increased, and, compounded by the elemental capacitor’s tendency to experience Elemental Deterioration over time, the magitek motorcycle that once had a thousand-kilometer range was now limited to barely 100 kilometers. Yvette often found herself needing to stop midway to use her own power to recharge the motorcycle.

Fortunately, the technology of “Elemental Replenishment” had been developed before the apocalypse; if an energy capacitor showed deterioration, as long as the depleted element was restored, it could be fully revived… Hmm, if I can successfully return to the past this time, I’ll take the chance to collect some knowledge around this technology… Knowledge changes fate…

She quietly mapped out her plans with a renewed sense of earnestness, feeling she was getting closer to becoming a professional “Magitek Machinery Engineer.”

An hour later, Yvette and Rosalyn landed the magitek motorcycle on a barren land adjacent to the facility with the Dream Mist.

Following the plan, they conducted a thorough sweep of the area, neutralizing all aberrations that might pose a threat.

Finally, using Wind Magic, they moved some large debris to block all entrances of the building, completing all the safety preparations for their operation.

“I still don’t feel anything,” Rosalyn said, climbing the stairs to the second floor and entering the fog.

Seeing this, Yvette hesitated a moment before cautiously stepping up to the second floor as well. However, just as her body was fully enveloped by the mist, the same sense of drowsiness she had experienced before washed over her once again.

“Stay here… and guard me…” she managed to say as she completed her instructions, then lay sideways on the ground, resting her head on her arm, sinking into deep slumber.