Chapter 683 – Dreamweaver World 21

Mo Lan had entered the dream realm in the morning, so when night fell there, it was nighttime in the dream realm.

Shortly after returning to her room at the inn, she felt the familiar sensation of her consciousness being pulled away.

The next moment, she woke up in her bed in the real world.

Peering into her mental sea, she saw that the previously unfurled Gate of Dreams had contracted back into its key form. The Dryad racial core, Beast Speaker class template, and various skill books connected to it had all entered a dormant state along with it.

She tried silently chanting “Shadow Cat Transformation” in her mind, but her body showed no response whatsoever.

It seemed that Magic-type skill books, even in the real world, couldn’t function without their corresponding racial core and class template.

But that was fine. She could already use the Book of Cards to create all the skill books on that shelf.

She had already tested knowledge-type skill books with Mo Lan had already tested knowledge-type skill books with the 《General Skill Book – Dream Language》. Now she needed to test whether Magic-type skill book cards created by the Book of Cards worked any differently in the real world.

She crafted a {《Class Skill Book – White Cat Transfiguration》} card and materialized it, then slapped it against her forehead.

The 《Class Skill Book – White Cat Transfiguration》 dissolved into a stream of light and entered her mental sea, but it simply floated there all alone—just like when she had used the 《General Skill Book – Dream Language》 before. It failed to form any connection with the Gate of Dreams in its “key” form, and she couldn’t activate the skill with a mere thought.

This matched what the forums had said: when residents of the Dreamweaver Federation converted their dream realm magical abilities to reality, they had to strictly follow the sequence of race, class, then skills.

Without the prerequisite race and class, subsequent skills simply couldn’t function properly.

At first, Mo Lan thought the issue was the lack of a “racial core” to provide an energy source and a “class core” to convert that energy. So she converted her own Mana into the power of animal transformation and infused it into the 《Class Skill Book – White Cat Transfiguration》.

But even after the skill book absorbed the energy, it still couldn’t smoothly output ordered energy the way it did in the dream realm, automatically completing the spellcasting process to transform her into a white cat.

It appeared that Magic-type skill books, just like knowledge-type ones, lost their “skill” properties when used directly in the real world without the Gate of Dreams’ mediation. They simply became “books” containing knowledge.

Mo Lan had been mentally prepared for this. After a brief moment of disappointment, she obediently used her psychic power to read the knowledge contained within the 《Class Skill Book – White Cat Transfiguration》.

After reading through all the knowledge inside, Mo Lan finally understood that one needed sufficient understanding of the target form to complete the transformation process.

Roughly sixty percent of the skill book’s content covered the white cat’s body structure, biological habits, and related knowledge.

Thirty percent covered methods for maintaining the white cat form after achieving the initial transformation, mimicking white cat behavior, and improving one’s transformation proficiency.

Only the final ten percent actually covered how to use the power of animal transformation to complete the transformation itself.

If one were learning White Cat Transfiguration normally, the proper sequence would be to first observe a real white cat’s form and habits, then attempt partial body transformations using the power of animal transformation, and only after repeated practice and refinement could one fully transform into a white cat.

After that, one would need to continuously mimic white cat behavior until their habits closely resembled a real white cat’s—only then would it be considered a truly perfect transformation.

After memorizing all the knowledge in the skill book, she tried converting her Mana into the power of animal transformation, then guided it according to what she had learned, slowly reshaping her body into a white cat.

Fluffy fur, soft paw pads, freely retractable claws, a tail for balance, pointed ears… The transformation process was far less smooth than when she had used the skill book in the dream realm.

Not only did she waste some Mana, but the stinging sensation during the transformation was also more intense than before—all due to lack of proficiency.

Fortunately, she had firmly memorized every bit of knowledge from the skill book. Despite some bumps along the way, she managed to complete the full-body transformation in stages at a slow pace.

After familiarizing herself with it several times, her transformation speed grew faster and faster. Gradually, she could complete the entire transformation in one smooth motion.

After fully transforming into a white cat, Mo Lan found that she completely lacked the corresponding biological instincts she’d had when transforming in the dream realm.

On her very first step, all four paws tripped over each other, and she had no idea what to do with her tail.

Even walking required dedicated practice after the transformation before she could adapt, let alone mastering her new body’s various capabilities.

She was still a long way from matching the results achieved under a skill book’s guidance.

At this point, the feline memories from Earth’s cats proved enormously helpful. These memories were easier to internalize than the white cat knowledge from the skill book, quickly helping her learn how cats walk, jump, and pounce. She gained basic control over her cat body.

“Mew?” Mo Lan tilted her fluffy cat head in confusion, her snow-white ears twitching gently with the motion.

How strange! It had been half an hour already—why didn’t she feel the transformation wearing off?

When she had used the skill book to transform in the dream realm, the transformation state would automatically dispel over time!

She went back to study the knowledge in the skill book more carefully and discovered that in animal transformation Magic, energy was only consumed during the transformation and its reversal. Maintaining the form itself required no continuous energy supply.

“Perhaps this is the difference between using a skill book and casting the animal transformation Magic yourself!” Mo Lan thought.

While skill books were convenient—allowing you to skip the learning process and gain stable results immediately—they also sacrificed Magic’s most precious characteristic: the capacity for growth.

If Mo Lan had to choose, she would rather go through the extra trouble to keep firm control of her Magic in her own hands.

Once she realized that learning the transformation knowledge from the skill books freed her from the skill books’ own restrictions, Mo Lan reverted to human form and crafted another card: {《Class Skill Book – Gale Wolf Transfiguration》}. She materialized it.

This was a lesser magical beast transformation spell that only Beast Speakers level 20 and above could learn.

At her current class level in the dream realm, she wouldn’t be able to use it even if she learned it.

But in theory, as long as she had sufficient power of animal transformation, adequate knowledge of animal transformation, and thorough understanding of the magical beast known as the gale wolf, a successful transformation shouldn’t be a problem.

As before, she started with partial transformations. Her fingertips wolfified first, sprouting sharp claws; next, her teeth sharpened with noticeably elongated canines; the hardest part was the tail—a gale wolf’s tail was far thicker than a house cat’s and was covered in special wind-channeling fur.

Fortunately, her Mana reserves were sufficient to allow repeated attempts. It wasn’t until the setting sun’s afterglow dyed the curtains red that she finally completed the full gale wolf transformation and basic limb adaptation. She just couldn’t yet spit wind blades or sprint on the wind like a true gale wolf.