Free Web NovelChapter 30: Yellow Nightmare Shrad
Groggily, Edgar opened his eyes and looked at the ceiling of his house.
For a while, he lay there without moving an inch, having no thoughts running through his head.
’....I fell asleep while creating the blueprint.’
Edgar finally thought, rubbing his eyes to force himself awake.
Sitting on his bed, he looked at the half-finished drawing on the wooden parchment.
’How long was I asleep?’
Walking towards the door, he willed for the system screen to appear in front of him.
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⟨Tower of Souls Refinement Complete⟩
⟨Products Ready For Collection⟩
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’So, it’s been more than seven hours?’
Edgar clicked his tongue and looked around the fortress.
Old man Oswald was sitting on a makeshift chair close to the Eternal Fire, and Andrew was busy playing with the chickens.
"Young master!"
Andrew quickly rushed towards him with a look of urgency.
"There were people who came while you were sleeping."
Edgar frowned at the revelation. Walking towards the old man, he asked, "Who were they?"
Oswald looked at him and replied in Andrew’s stead.
"Michi and Banjo."
The faces of the two Yamhad Clan soldiers who had visited him on the second day of his arrival appeared in his mind.
"What were they here for?" Edgar asked, sitting down close to the fire as well.
"They were here to inform us about the destruction of one of their bases," old man Oswald said in a grim voice. "Last night, a storm of lizard Nightmares attacked their fortress and killed everyone inside."
Edgar immediately grew serious when he heard that. He was more or less sure who could be behind it.
’The lizard that can control other Nightmares...’
Last night, Edgar had been waiting for the monster to attack the fortress, but it never showed itself.
’Perhaps the Nightmare noticed how difficult it was to overthrow my fortress, so it changed targets?’
Still, Edgar was sure the Nightmare hadn’t given up on his fortress.
He had seen the calculated coldness and ego in that monster’s eyes.
’If anything, it will try to conquer my fortress as soon as possible.’
Rubbing his chin in thought, Edgar asked aloud,
"Did they tell you anything else?" frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓
Old man Oswald hesitated. He remained silent for a long while before responding.
"...There is one more thing."
Edgar immediately noticed the old man’s uneasiness.
"What is it?"
"Michi said that before the fortress fell... some of the guards reported seeing a figure."
Edgar tilted his head.
"A figure?"
The old man nodded.
"Standing on a hill far away from the battle."
Edgar’s heartbeat sped up.
"What did it look like?"
"No one knows." The old man shook his head. "The survivors only said it looked almost human."
"..."
Edgar lowered his head and picked up a broken stick from the ground.
Using it, he began to create a rough sketch of all the fortresses around his own from memory.
’My fortress is at the very end of the region controlled by the Atreus Clan, and beyond it is the Han River, which is almost a kilometre long.’
From his fortress, if one went towards the north, they would run into five total subsidiary fortresses, three of which were ruled by the Yamhad Clan.
Edgar made a cross over one of them and drew circles around the other four.
’That lizard will attack one of these fortresses tonight.’
Old man Oswald and Andrew silently watched him draw on the dirt. Neither of them interrupted.
Edgar stared at the rough map for a long time.
The more he thought about it, the more convinced he became.
The lizard commander wasn’t acting randomly; it was making plans and actively changing them.
’First, it tested my fortress directly.’
’Then it changed targets and destroyed a weaker fortress.’
’If it wants to grow stronger, it will keep attacking the weakest targets first, and that would be the Atreus Clan’s fortresses.’
Edgar concluded before letting out a deep sigh.
Things were getting much more complicated than he had expected.
’Well, I can only strengthen myself for now and prepare for the worst.’
But so many questions were eating at his mind from the inside.
Why were the Nightmares systematically attacking them?
Why were they trying to empty out a barren place like the southern region?
How were they gathering so many Nightmares, and where were they coming from?
’I will go mad if I keep thinking about this.’
Taking in a deep breath, Edgar looked at the two of them.
"How many Nightmare Stones did you collect?"
A smile bloomed on the young boy’s face that made Edgar instinctively anticipate good news.
"Quite a lot, young master!"
"How much is quite a lot?"
The young boy puffed out his chest proudly.
"We collected four hundred and twelve White Nightmare Stones."
Edgar blinked.
"...What?"
"Four hundred and twelve," Andrew repeated with a grin on his face.
For a brief moment, Edgar wondered if he had heard wrong. He slowly turned towards Oswald.
The old man nodded.
"The boy is telling the truth."
Last night’s battle had been much larger than the previous ones, but even then...
Andrew wasn’t finished.
"And we also found these."
He rushed toward a nearby crate and returned carrying several objects.
One after another, he placed them on the ground.
Eight Green Nightmare Stones, two Nightmare Shards, several Nightmare Materials...
...and a strange red crystal.
Edgar’s eyes immediately narrowed.
The moment he focused on the crystal, text appeared before him.
⟨Nightmare Material: Burning Heart Crystal⟩
⟨Grade: Green⟩
⟨Description: A crystal formed inside fire-attributed Nightmare creatures. Contains concentrated heat and vitality.⟩
"Hmm."
Edgar picked up the crystal.
The surface was pleasantly warm. It was like he was holding a burning bulb.
His thoughts immediately drifted towards the lizard commander.
’Could this have come from one of its subordinates?’
The crystal would be worth a lot on the free market. Edgar could think of multiple ways to use it.
And if ordinary lizards could produce materials like this...
The commander itself was probably carrying treasures far beyond Green Grade.
The thought made his heart itch.
Unfortunately, he wasn’t suicidal enough to go hunting it.
Andrew scratched his head.
"There is more."
Edgar looked at him.
"More?"
The young boy nodded enthusiastically.
"We found another Shard."
His smile became increasingly strange.
"It’s a weird one. I found it lying on the ground without any body close to it."
That immediately grabbed Edgar’s attention.
Nightmare Shards were never common.
The fact Andrew specifically called it weird meant there was probably something unusual about it.
"Show me."
Andrew carefully pulled a stone from his pocket.
Unlike ordinary Nightmare Shards, this one wasn’t gray.
It was completely black.
The moment Edgar touched it, a notification appeared.
⟨Nightmare Shard: Faceless Watcher⟩
⟨Grade: Yellow⟩
⟨Ritual: Observe a living creature continuously for three days without being discovered. Consume the Shard afterward.⟩
⟨Ability: Greatly enhances perception and observation.⟩
⟨Warning: Repeated use may alter mental disposition.⟩
