Free Web NovelChapter 16: Departure
The Nightmare that floated in the air had a twisted skull for a face, its hands stretched longer than its upper body.
From its chest, multiple gray tentacles moved around eerily, its eyes glowed dimly.
’...What the hell are they?’
Edgar wondered to himself, feeling disgusted, nauseous, and creeped out all at once.
The ghost-like Nightmares weren’t many, only around ten, but they felt more intimidating than the hundreds of Grass-slugs.
Edgar drew in a deep breath and got a hold of his emotions.
He quickly took control of his Level 3 ⟨Watch Tower⟩ and aimed at the closest ghost.
A condensed beam of light aimed straight at the creature’s chest.
Even though the beam wasn’t the main target of the upgrade, it was still better than before.
The beam hit the mark and the ghost exploded like a balloon.
Edgar let out a deep sigh. ’Guess they only looked threatening...’
His train of thought stopped abruptly when he saw the Nightmare slowly return to its previous form.
Once again, it began to move closer to the fortress.
"..."
Edgar didn’t know how he should react to such a situation.
He raised his hand and bombarded the Nightmare with condensed beams of light.
After ten rounds of attack, the Nightmare finally died.
Edgar didn’t rest, he quickly changed his target to a different ghost.
Once again, he began to bombard it with beams of light.
On the other hand, the newly created Level 2 ⟨Watch Tower⟩ targeted the Grass-slugs.
The beam of light killed the farther ones while the crossbow killed those who were closest.
---
After a grueling hour of continuous bombardment, all the ghost-like Nightmares finally died.
Edgar let out a deep sigh and sat close to the ’Unbroken Fire’, leaving the rest to the ⟨Watch Tower⟩.
Andrew, who was standing while holding the makeshift spear, looked at him concernedly.
"Are you alright, young master?" he asked.
Edgar nodded his head with a smile. "I am fine."
He looked toward the darkness where the Nightmare Stones glowed gently.
His eyes shifted back to Oswald who sat close by. "Do you know what those Nightmares are called?"
Oswald nodded his head in response.
"They are called Boniface Nightmares, young master." He glanced at the darkness as well. "It’s a well-known saying that these Nightmares bring good luck."
"Good luck?" Edgar asked, frowning.
"Yes." Oswald nodded his head. "The Nightmare Materials provided by them are used to create good luck charms."
Edgar remained silent as he looked at Andrew, who was hesitating to speak.
Under his gaze, Andrew began. "Our clan also believes that they bring great harvests." His voice dimmed down.
"...And they only show themselves when it’s Eternal Rain."
Edgar rubbed his temples. ’This again?’
He was feeling even more cautious of the Eternal Rain.
Standing up, he looked at Andrew. "I will be taking some rest." he said. "Guard the place until midnight and then we can change shifts."
Edgar turned to look at the old man. "Wake me up if you find anything amiss."
"Yes, young master."
Edgar walked inside his room and lay down on the bed.
He wanted to visit the Soragon Bazaar first thing in the morning. So, he decided to get some rest beforehand.
---
Once midnight hit, Edgar woke up from the sounds of the Nightmares.
He stretched his body and walked out of the room and found Andrew standing upright, looking into the darkness.
"Get some rest." Edgar said, patting his back. "I will keep watch."
The young boy nodded his head. "Alright."
He walked inside the house where he and his mother were living.
Edgar looked through the darkness and found many glowing Nightmare Stones.
Both of the ⟨Watch Tower⟩s were doing their job pretty well.
He sat down close to the ’Unbroken Fire’, which was being guarded by the old man.
"You can have some rest as well, uncle." Edgar said quietly. "I will look out."
The old man smiled and replied. "As you wish."
He walked inside his house, leaving Edgar alone with his thoughts.
With nothing else to do, Edgar picked up a stick and began to draw on the ground.
’I need a sewage system in my fortress, a big bathroom, and a kitchen.’
Edgar thought, drawing a rough sketch on the ground.
’I also need to find materials to create electricity.’
The easiest way Edgar could think of creating it was to find a big waterfall.
With enough preparation, he could make electricity for a small fortress like his.
’But there is no way to find such a thing here...’
He sighed and leaned back on the boulder behind him.
’One step at a time.’
Edgar thought while looking into the darkness.
---
Once the Eternal Night subsided and the dull grey-black fog began to obstruct the view, Edgar knew it was ’morning’.
On cue, Andrew and Oswald walked out of their houses and looked at the dead bodies around the place.
Edgar stood up and rolled his sleeves. "Collect all the Nightmare Stones first." he ordered. "We can handle the rest later."
Edgar didn’t want to waste too much time on extra work.
He wanted to return to his fortress before night.
They quickly picked up all the stones while Edgar also found another Nightmare Shard from the body of one of the ghosts.
It was grayish in colour with dark spots, the thing looked like a bone.
⟨Nightmare Shard: Boniface Nightmare’s bone.⟩
⟨Grade: White⟩
⟨Ritual: Burn it in the ’Unbroken Fire’ for a day⟩
⟨Ability: Increase in Endurance and slight increase in healing⟩
Edgar smiled as he walked towards the fire. ’This is some good stuff.’
He threw the bone-like thing into the fire and walked toward the other two.
"How many stones did you collect?" he asked them.
"I have 40 of them." Andrew replied, passing them to him. "They are from the traps and bodies around them."
Edgar nodded his head and looked at the old man.
"A total of 56." he replied, giving them to him.
Edgar himself collected 25 stones.
He put everything down in the box along with what he had collected.
Adding the previous harvest, Edgar now had a total of 165 Nightmare Stones!!
’...That’s a lot.’
He decided to put half of them in the grassroot bag and the other half back in the box.
’82 plus a green Nightmare Stone.’ Edgar rubbed his chin. ’This should be enough for the first shopping trip.’
After having breakfast, Edgar looked at Lady Viera. "I will bring your son back safely."
She smiled gently. "Please take care of him."
Edgar turned to look at Andrew. "Ready?" free𝑤ebnovel.com
The young boy picked up the bag and replied. "Yes."
Edgar smacked his lips and walked out of the fortress.
He began walking on the path that would lead to the Soragon Bazaar.
