Nightmare

Lucian stood in the middle of a red hellish world, laughing as the monster corpses around him began to rebuild themselves in a chorus of squelching and cracking noises. His naked body was an ocean of scars, from a massive bite mark on his left shoulder, to four faded claw marks running horizontally across his throat, as well as a great number of faded cut and stab marks on his chest and abdominal section. There were fresh wounds as well, a dozen ghastly bleeding wounds marred his body, with the most horrifying being a massive chunk of missing flesh that had been taken out of his side.

Filth covered him from head to toe, dirt and blood mixing into a thick half dried mud ran coated every spot of his face, save for the pristinely red blindfold that covered his red eyes. Even through the filth his black chain marks could be spotted, running all the way up his arms and his shoulder, before connecting in a loop just under his collar bone. The black chains had also crawled up his hands, snaking up each of his fingers and crossing in an X shape on the back of his hands and his palms.

Abruptly his laughing stopped, and a frown appeared on his face.

"Hey Aidan, does this seem familiar to you?", he asked, cocking his head in confusion.

There was no response, which only made him chuckle harder.

"Yeah, I guess it wouldn't be familiar to you", he said, a manic chuckle forming at the words.

A massive sea monster-like creature attacked him from the side, its body made up of sandy red skin. The beast looked like an octopus, though it was easily the size of a school bus with nine tentacles rather than eight.

Lucian didn't seem worried; he casually lifted a hand in a waving gesture. Suddenly a massive red chain fell from the sky, its base appearing through a glowing red portal. The width of the chain was even larger than the kraken like monster, making it the size of a small house and several stories tall. The chain smashed into the creature, crushing it in a spray of red blood and chunks. More blood splattered against the back of Lucian's body, causing his chuckle to become a full-blown laugh filled with insanity.

"Not exactly what I expected when I said I needed a shower", he said with a crazed smile, the whites of his teeth reflecting the thin red mist that was present all around him.

"Lucian?", a new voice asked, one he knew all too well.

Instantly his smile vanished as he turned to look at the source of the voice, his body language shifting ever so slightly.

"Huh, this is the first I'm seeing you", he said, his tone going dark.

"Oh gods, it is you", Aerin said in horror, her hands moving to cover her mouth.

"Of course it's me, at least I think I'm still me. Honestly, I'm not so sure these days", Lucian said with a heavy sigh.

Another monster, this one a sparkling white horse with wings and a single horn on the top of its head lunged towards him. While the other reformed monsters around him began to attack each other, devouring each other's freshly reformed flesh. Lucian didn't bother stopping the monster, allowing its surprisingly sharp teeth to bite into his shoulder. Though the teeth didn't pierce too deeply into his hard flesh, he still felt a bit of pain from the reaction.

"Ah, I guess it is still me", he said, not caring that Aerin didn't laugh at his joke.

Reaching up with one hand he grasped the front of the unicorn's neck, then closed it into a fist and ripped out the insane creature's throat. It didn't seem to mind the wound, as it began to work its jaw in an attempt to pull Luke's flesh from his body, even as it began to suffocate.

Lucian smirked at the mad horse's persistence, then spun into a punch that landed on the side of its head. The white limb exploded in a wash of blood and gore, only then did the beast's teeth finally loosen.

"How did you become like this? What is this place?", Aerin asked in horror at what she had just seen Lucian do.

"Hmm?", Lucian asked, his attention shifting to far in the distance where another poor creature was falling to its first death.

"Ah, I'm not really sure if I'm being honest", he said as he registered the question. "I think its hell, but I can't really tell", Lucian said with a shrug, the motion accentuating the blood flowing down his skin from his new wound.

"Oh! That rhymed, didn't you like to rhyme Aerin?", he asked as the memory came to him.

"Hell? Did you die then?", she asked in a weak voice.

"Of course, more times than I can count. But you already knew that, I know you've been watching me. Just like all the others, watching as I'm ripped apart over and over again. Laughing at my pain as you hide in the shadows, is this what you wanted Aerin?", Luke said, his former insane happiness turning to fierce anger in an instant as he snarled at his first true friend.

"What? No, I'd never want this", Aerin said, her voice coming out in shock at his accusation. "Lucian, I don't know what's happened to you, but I want to help, tell me what I can do", she said, her voice full of pleading desperation.

Lucian almost believed her.

"Oh, how ironic that you say that.", Lucian said with a shake of his head, more monsters were beginning to run at him now, hundreds of them biting at each other to reach him first.

"Please, what can I do?", Aerin asked again, heartbreak filling her words.

Lucian raised his hand only for nothing to happen.

"Ah, looks like it's that time again", he said before turning to Aerin and spoke in a cruel tone. "If you really want to help, then next time you see me- "

The monsters were upon him now, climbing the top of the hill and leaping at him with jaws open.

"Tell me to kill myself."

Then Lucian was ripped apart by a hundred jaws.

***

Luke jerked awake; his arms burst upwards into the air to defend himself from his attackers. It took him a total of three full seconds before he realized he was still alone in the evergarden. A cold sweat caked his body, and he could both feel and see his heart beating ferociously in his chest.

'Did I have nightmare or is it just the stress of the castle', he wondered.

Luke remembered that he had dreamed something, and something important but the details were blurry. Even then the details were fading fast, until all he could remember was a world of red mist and monsters.

It took around five minutes before Luke felt calm once more. Forcing himself to take another drink of water, Luke sipped on the cool liquid before he stood and wiped his long sweaty hair from his eyes.

As he stood, he realized that despite his panic attack he actually felt much better than he had before falling asleep. Of course he had expected to feel less tired, but also sore from all the fighting he had done before he fell asleep. Instead, he felt amazing, in fact he felt even stronger than he had before sleeping.

'I guess I did get thirty points, Aerin said the more points I get the stronger I become', Luke noted.

More than that, he was safe for possibly the first time since he'd arrived in the castle. Judging by nothing had killed him in his sleep, he judged none of the husks could make past the heavy metal door.

As Luke was thinking this over his stomach began to growl, alerting him to his own hunger. Looking up at the small cherry-like fruits that hung from the trees around him, he wasted no time in walking over to the nearest tree and picking one.

Each of the fruits was connected to a cluster of white leaves by a small black stem. As the fruit he chose came loose from the leaves, he awed as another stem quickly grew in place of the old one. In seconds the stem grew out, its front end began to expand in a circular shape, and another small fruit appeared in place of the old one.

The entire process took about a minute, maybe two, and left Luke in awe.

'I guess this means I won't have to worry about food anymore', He thought, feeling a sense of relief at that fact.

Even though there were multiple trees within the evergarden, Luke wasn't sure how long the fruits would truly last him if he had to eat multiple a day.

Smiling at his luck, he quickly studied the fruit before popping it into his mouth. It was a small fruit, its size more akin to a grape than a cherry.

To his disappointment the fruit had no taste, chewing it almost feeling as though he were trying to bite into room temperature water. The feeling was disconcerting, while he could feel the shape of the fruit in his mouth, and its texture change as he chewed there was no reaction from his tastebuds. Luke had never felt anything quite like it, as far as he knew everything had a taste including inedible objects.

Still, it was edible, and Luke was more than happy to put up with the strange lack of flavor if it meant not starving to death. As he swallowed, he noticed that he could follow the strange fruit through his omniscience as it traveled down his throat and into his stomach. The feeling was… uncomfortable.

When the fruit settled in his stomach, Luke reached up the newly formed fruit that had replaced the old one. As he did, he suddenly froze, the crushed red berry in his stomach suddenly dispersed into a deep red light. The light stayed in place for a moment before dispersing into a wave of energy that flowed through his body.

Stark pain followed the wave of energy, as if someone had lit a fire inside his veins. His blood felt as though it were burning, and he couldn't help but fall to his knees in agony.

The pain wasn't as bad as his awakening had been, but it was nonetheless horrible. It lasted for three seconds, his entire body feeling as though it were melting from the inside out. Then the heat abruptly vanished, and Luke was left breathing heavy as he kneeled in front of the tree.

A few breathes later and he forced himself back to his feet, his mind racing as it took in what had just happened to him.

'Was it poisonous are something?', he asked himself internally.

Strangely he didn't think that was the case, in fact he didn't feel any weaker after eating the fruit. In fact, he felt… satiated, his previous hunger having completely disappeared over the course of his agony. At first, he thought that might have been his body's way of rejecting food from the shock of the pain. But quickly dismissed that idea, as he now felt he had the energy one got after digesting a healthy meal.

'Strange', Luke thought, turning away from the tree.

Luke didn't know what had happened, but knew he wasn't going to get any answers by lingering on the matter.

'At least I'm not hungry or thirsty anymore', he thought as he stepped away from the trees.

As he walked, mainly to keep himself busy with something, he began to think back on the events that had ended his day prior. Specifically with the message he had last gotten from the system before his desperate stumble towards the evergarden. As he thought about the notification, he felt a sense of surprise as it opened once more in his mind.

"Congratulations, you have destroyed the soul of a Rock Panther. Your soul is being tempered."

Soul tempering until next rank: [85/100]

[Warning: the creature's soul may be no more, but its body remains intact. It has now become a husk of its former self]

Luke didn't know how he had destroyed the Rock Panther's soul, as he hadn't really tried to do anything when the beast had died. Had it been some unknown skill that had destroyed the creature's soul? If he couldn't control what had happened to the panther, then how could he ensure it wouldn't happen again. The husks were already without souls, so it made sense that whatever happened to the panther hadn't affected them.

If it had then there was a chance that he would have collapsed in exhaustion upon meeting the first one. Another aspect that worried him was that he hadn't tried to target the panther at all. What would happen if he stumbled on a human, would he destroy their soul as well and become an accidental murderer?

There were other implications that came with the message, specifically with the warning that he had created a husk. If that was the case, then that could mean someone with a similar ability to him had created all the husks within the castle. Whether it was done so on accident like his destroying the rock panther or on purpose he couldn't tell.

Luke thought hard on the situation, remembering how the animal had been alerted to his presence and looked at him. Whatever Luke had caused seemed to have affected the beast even before it noticed him in the hallway, in fact the panther had suddenly woken up as if alarmed by something. Then the beast started spasming after looking in Luke's direction.

'It has to be my eyes then, or maybe my omniscience', Luke thought, then dismissed the latter as a possibility.

Luke had seen the creature through his omniscience for a while before it had woken. So that meant it was more than likely his eyes that had done the damage to the creature. That conclusion made the most sense, as it had only been after the creature peered at him that its body had started to spasm.

'That could explain why Aerin wears the blindfold, to prevent anyone from seeing her eyes', Luke thought, remembering how he couldn't see through the cloth with his omniscience.

Just as Luke was deep in his own thoughts, a sound burst him out of his dazed state.

"You again?", he heard, the voice seeming to echo in his ears.

Immediately standing in alarm, he felt goosebumps start to form all over his body. There was no sign of anyone other than him in his omniscience.

A feminine laugh followed the statement, seemingly coming from Luke's right. Turning, he began to move in the direction the sound had come from.

"Why aren't you wearing a veil? Don't you know that's dangerous", the voice, he now recognized as Aerin's said, the volume still faint like a whisper.

Luke continued to approach the sound until he was standing directly in front of a tree. On the lowest branch, a leather satchel had been strapped to the tree. It was placed just far enough from where he had been standing that he hadn't noticed it until he got closer.

Reaching out a hand, he paused for only a second before he grabbed the bag, and the world went white.