Chương 230: Evolved Nightmare

I made my way into the Dreamscape, and as I had suspected previously, alongside all of the instances I had created as pre-final trials, I was able to spot something that was not built directly by me–The trial Gilepre was currently going through. The agent of Lunovis was currently lost amidst a leafy maze. With just a glance, I immediately learned what his goal for survival was… This maze had no exit. It was purely about surviving a certain amount of time whilst several monsters roamed the labyrinth.

One of which was naturally the most common of them, being this monstrous variant of myself that I could turn into while in my 'Nightmare Form'. The so-called 'Cauchemar Beast'. Without me piloting the body, it wasn't much better than the other random creatures manifested as enemies–Though I had to admit that I quite liked their bizarre, warped looks. … Well, there seemed to be several design philosophies for these monstrosities, actually.

Some are mechanical, some are fleshy, and some are truly what I would qualify as nightmarish. It was difficult to imagine that beings so distorted could function outside of an imagined nightmare world. In any case, this was nothing more than one of the many trials placed along the way for those infested with nightmares, and Gilepre was clearly managing just fine since he not only had access to his abilities here, but he also wasn't maimed. He could run around just fine.

The only issue he had was that he wasn't equipped with anything. He was only wearing a pair of torn pants–Severed exactly where his legs had been 'reduced' and a white shirt stained with blood that was in a similar poor state. Though, despite this, most of the creatures were still rather fragile. They were certainly horrifying and intimidating, but from what I could tell, he hadn't been caught in the never-ending cycles of nightmares for that long.

This was an early trial, and in consequence, the creatures weren't truly dangerous just yet. They were only here to set the tone for what would eventually come. I observed Gilepre very closely, inside the Dreamscape, I could just fly into the nightmare and stand right next to my victim without him realising a thing… This man wasn't panicked enough for my liking.

He had clearly realised that the monsters weren't much of a threat, so he had just hidden in a dead-end, and would simply blast anything that showed up with a simple, empowered mana bullet. It would be enough to tear right through most of the monsters. Though the mechanical ones in particular demonstrated the superiority of steel by often being able to endure the bullets, to the point that Gilepre ended up using an even more powerful version of the spell for them.

Is there no way for me to control what kind of monsters show up in these nightmares? Or better yet, directly interfere in ongoing trials? Unfortunately, no. If I had to guess, it is either fully impossible or will only become possible once the 'Nightmare Form' is fully unlocked Ah yes… It's true that for some reason, this particular form was too good to just unlock itself fully like the others, and had to split itself up… I don't even know what the conditions for unlocking the second part are.

If I had to guess, it would be more of the same stuff as before, probably with a side of using some of the form's abilities for certain things. In any case, Gilepre was able to pass the nightmare just fine–For some reason, though. He didn't wake up after beating the trial, and another one started immediately after. Is he that profoundly asleep? Or is that a new thing with the nightmares I wasn't informed about? It was likely to be the latter. There was a bad habit with my abilities and such to be missing details.

The System was very intentionally not being nearly as precise in its descriptions as it could be. It seems that, unlike before, there is a chance for the victims of nightmares to not have their sleep interrupted following the end of a trial they've won, which has the consequences of sending them into another nightmare immediately That's actually huge!

It means that the better a victim is at resisting, the more trials they'll be forced to go through per night, which will absolutely ruin their sleep despite them never waking up. After all, their minds were not asleep at all during trials. Their bodies rested, but that was it. Even then, in my experience, most people going through the nightmares would unconsciously tense up in their sleep, which wasn't great for rest either. As for my captive… He was strung up in an uncomfortable position.

The nightmares would absolutely destroy his physical and mental health, even if he didn't lose a single one. Poor bastard. I rose above the new nightmare it rapidly formed, this time instead taking him to a place even I would feel very uncomfortable in… Namely, a small boat sailing in the middle of what seemed to be the ocean–Large bodies of water were easily the most horrifying of places in existence. Lakes could already be home to some of the worst monstrosities, but seas and oceans?

Those things were genuine fuel for nightmares. As a firmly ground-based entity, being water wasn't exactly ideal, even worse when it was a wild body of water housing unknown creatures. This was truly a horrifying setting, and the rules didn't make it better. A specific set of creatures would appear around the boat at random intervals, and using a lantern, he would have to shine it, flash the light, or turn it off in specific manners, depending on what creature showed up.

The rules themselves were rather simple, and he was told what the creatures would look like, so it was just a matter of keeping his nerves. This trial was set to be a very long one, and unlike before, these monsters wouldn't be susceptible to attacks. In fact, it was made clear that attacking them would be a death sentence. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. …

Was he given a much longer and horrifying nightmare because he didn't play as was intended in the previous one? Indeed, with the unlocking of the first portion of the 'Nightmare Form', the nightmare trials as a whole were overhauled. It is almost as if they have a form of agency.

They change and adapt depending on who they torment and the actions their victim make Gilepre abused his magic in the previous trial and didn't interact at all with the maze, so the nightmare trials took notice of it and pushed him into a trial where he wouldn't be able to use his magic to aggressively deal with the problem, and also forced him to use the tools given to him...

I am afraid the nightmare trials, while possessing some form of agency, rely too much on results, and can't really predict anything Nara was correct, the nightmare trials reacted to what Gilepre had done, but they clearly couldn't properly think, as the captive simply used his magic to give life to the lantern, making it so that it would just do the actions required for him. I have the feeling he'll come to regret showing his cards like this.

If the trials keep on adapting to make him bend to their will, then he'll eventually be deprived of everything he has… My interest was high, but I had to leave the Dreamscape and get out of my torpor in the real world. There, Leou had finished her business meeting and was currently tapping my lower jaw with the back of her claw.

"Maya. I didn't expect that you would be back so soon, that you would be able to catch me. I expected to have to send another flying beast here… Did you get the goods?"

"I d–did. The container is full–ull""Fantastic! I doubt I can reward you better than what you were able to collect on your own, but I'll be sure to try!"

"Can I–I access–ess the fluff?" The snow leopard's tail made a sudden swing as she brought her index finger in front of her mouth.

"Don't say that in public? Let's get inside…" Leou spoke in a hushed tone as she and I entered the fancy platform on the back of the giant flying beast. I honestly didn't get how you could basically put a house on such a thing's back, and have it stay stable while in flight, but it just worked, I guess. She waved for the guards present inside to leave the two of us alone as she brought me into an office–Much smaller and less decorated than the one at her tower.

"Aherm… Can I see the box?" Leou very casually tried to change the subject, and I obliged for now–Not like I could ever forget about the fluff–And unbuttoned my fancy shirt, carefully pulling out the container tucked away inside of my metallic ribcage. The beastfolk reflexively glanced to the side when I did this, focusing on the box as I placed it on the desk.

She inspected the container for any damage and then activated a small mechanism on the back, which made the lid turn translucent, allowing her to confirm the contents without actually opening it and making anything leak out.

"Oh wow, you really filled it to the brim, huh? That's way more than what we were expecting… Did you encounter any trouble during your mission?"

"Yes" I quickly went through everything that had happened–My encounter with a Wildfolk lord, my fight against the Mindstep Panther, my run-in with the former enforcers of Beelmart, my introduction to a missionary of the Deep Dream, and my fight with the necromancer. Now that I was putting everything into words, I realised that this had been far from a quiet trip, but what could I say? I love some action, and the rewards were simply delicious…

"This… I wasn't told that there would be other people seeking the Blood-Cursed Tree. Ergonip told me that its existence should be unknown, but clearly, everyone who we didn't want to know about it knew about it! This isn't good. Ergonip didn't tell anyone but me, as far as I am aware, so it can't be a mole…" Leou rubbed her chin, deep in thought, as her tail swayed from left to right quite rapidly, and her ears twitched more often than usual.

"... We'll have to seriously look into this" Leou sighed. I didn't know anything about whatever other organisations we were supposedly antagonistic to, but it seemed like it was a serious matter, as it got her quite ruffled. I tilted my head and body, lowering myself to bring my eyes to her level.

"Is th–there anyone–one, I should ki–ki–kill?"

"Unfortunately, those people can't really be reached by anyone. They are just as elusive as we are. We can't track them down at all… Let's just go back to the tower. I'll deliver the container to Ergonip and see if he has anything of interest for you in his stash" I nodded, and the two of us then stared at each other for a solid few seconds before the snow leopard's eyes shifted to the side and lifted her chin.

"Alright… You can… You can rub here if you want…" She pointed to the portion between the chin and throat.

"Don't m–mind if I do" I rubbed the soft fluff with my index finger, gently touching the fur as Leou's closed eyelids slightly twitched–Am I hearing purring? I slightly increased the pace, and sure enough, Leou was softly purring from having her fur touched. Her tail was quite active, but just as I felt like the purring was going to increase again…

"A-A-Alright! Let's get going!" She slithered away from me with feline agility that I had never actually seen her use. So cute. Getting embarrassed like this… You can not tell me that wasn't tension just now What tension? Leou's just getting embarrassed about purring. I know you are just messing with me right now. Did you not see how she reacted? The body language, the stutter! Everything screams that- I assure you, it is all in your head, Sweetheart. You are absolutely messing with me… Urgh…

No matter, even if you don't acknowledge it, I can see that progress is being made! It will happen eventually, I know it will! I slightly chuckled in my mind. You are so adorable when you are like this, Nara. I truly hope you'll get a physical form one day. At this point, you are up for weeks of hugs and the like. … Anyway, I wonder what Xlown has been up to in my absence…