A Dreadbeast on the Abyss of Lethe?! That’s way too dangerous!

  Having gone up against one himself already, Somnu had some idea of how different Dreadbeasts were in comparison to Specters.

  Even when the Woodland Spirit had been completely out of its environment, eliminating one of its most vicious abilities of switching between trees, Somnu could still easily consider it much stronger than at least a dozen Specters put together.

  He was almost killed if it weren’t for Mr. Emberlyn’s distraction, as well as Grudgekeeper’s relentless appetite.

  But a Dreadbeast on the First Layer where most Sleepers are still trying to figure things out…? That feels like fighting something way over our level… Somnu held his chin, trying to review the situation. Unless… It’s some sort of a boss monster on this level?

  Thinking of gaming terms, the scarecrow couldn’t see any other possible answer. The Dreadbeast in question must be special in some way.

  “What kind of Nightmare Creature is it…?” Somnu asked, then, realizing the others had active fears too, he added. “What kind of fears is it based on…?”

  “I’m afraid I’ve got more bad news there.” Mathros seemed to frown a bit for the first time since Somnu had properly met him. “It’s a giant slime creature that I’m strongly affected by. My guess? It has Gerascophobia, the fear of aging as part of its arsenal.”

  “... Why do you say that?”

  “The second I stepped into its terrain and saw it, I could feel the energy flow out of me.” The lizardman explained while taking a seat again around the campfire. “By the time I got away from it, I realized some of my scales were shaking, my nails had been longer too.”

  And considering his other two fears, aging seems the most fitting… Somnu assessed how Mathros had come to the conclusion.

  “We also tried to escape when we woke up.” Lulu added in from the side. “Right, Benji?”

  “Yeah… Since we’re fast on our feet, we figured we could run past it and go gather some help from the fort, but it quickly became clear it was affecting us too.” Benji narrowed his brows and clenched his fists.

  “We both have the fear of narrow spaces, Claustrophobia, so we figure it’s that one.” Lulu scratched the side of her cheek, her gaze lowered.

  “...”

  Taking the new information in, Somnu deliberated about the implications. First, Claustrophobia is a fear he had overcome in the crypt by killing a bunch of Horned Cockroaches. If this party had taken the same route as him…

  “Did you all come through the crypt too?” He finally asked.

  “We did, why?” Mathros confirmed.

  “You should have overcome the fear of Claustrophobia there. It would have been much easier against Lurkers.” The scarecrow explained, but quickly regretted saying anything.

  “Dammit! We should have gone in after all!” Benji let out, hitting his knee out of frustration.

  “... It’s too late to think about that now. As soon as we opened that door and noticed an active fear, we chose to hold off until we were stronger.” Lulu explained.

  Somnu didn’t blame them for their decision. In fact, he knew it was the smart thing to do in that situation. It was very likely that most Sleepers avoided fighting the Nightmare Creatures that suddenly could affect them mentally or physically, until they had leveled up more.

  Not to mention that if they had opened the door and realized they were under the fear’s restriction already, despite the long and narrow hallway, the bunnies must have believed a high level monster awaited them at the end if it could affect them from such a long distance. In a way, that was a good animal instinct.

  Even I didn’t think of it at the time, but the cockroaches were likely hiding within the narrow hallway too, between the cracks in the stone walls… Somnu remembered that time and how new he still was to all of this. I didn’t even notice the hexagram on the inside of the door, there were too many signs of how dangerous it had been to enter that hallway…

  There was one more thing Somnu wanted to ask about, but before he could, someone brought up the topic.

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  “Brother, you’re not from the fort, are you?” Mathros asked, realizing how different Somnu was. “Your clothes are weird, you’re alone, and considering you’re likely a high level, you must have been in the First Layer for quite a while already. Which begs the question, why are you fighting alone, instead of joining the fort?”

  Hey, don’t tell me you can see my System too after all?! Somnu raised an eyebrow, but kept his thoughts to himself for now. No, he must be making an estimate based on the wounds I was able to inflict on them while under the curse…

  “I don’t know anything about a fort…” He kept his answer to the point, neither confirming nor denying the other assumptions the lizardman had made about him.

  In reality, he had only leveled up so fast because of two things. Fala and Grudgekeeper’s ability to kill Lurkers on their own for him, along with the fact that he had been transported to the Forgotten Lands of Nirvia where he was forced to fight stronger enemies.

  “That’s odd. Everyone eventually comes across the fort if you’ve been here long enough…” Mathros explained, then added a new piece of thin wood to the fire. “Well, whatever. The Mirewalker Fort is a home to everyone hiding from the Nightmare Creatures, a sanctuary of sorts for everyone to work together. At least, that was the plan.”

  “Something happened?”

  “You bet. Bodies started dropping all of a sudden, causing massive panic within the walls.”

  “That’s why we were sent out here.” Benji jumped in to relieve Mathros. “We got word that the killer had made a run for it, so we followed as quickly as possible.”

  “And where did that lead us?” Lulu clicked her tongue, flicking her long pink hair behind her. “We got into the crypt to check if he had hid in it, only to fall to the trap through the floor. On top of that, we almost drowned in the lake.”

  “Well, we should be glad we were lucky enough that I’m an expert at holding my breath, and a great swimmer.” Mathros puffed his chest, his fist coming up to rest on his chest. “In comparison to getting completely petrified in the nude, I think we got off scott free, hahaha!”

  “...”

  For once, Somnu and the bunnies seemed to agree that it hadn't been the best time to crack a joke. They stayed quiet.

  They’re after a killer then? Did they already eliminate me as a suspect somehow? The scarecrow thought, sitting straight. I should stay focused just in case…

  “Come on, people! I’m trying to lighten up the mood here! We’ll have plenty of time to be anxious and tense before we fight the Dreadbeast soon.”

  The lizardman hadn’t been too wrong, they all knew this moment of silence might just be their last calm before the storm.

  And if that was the case…

  “So, the fear of aging and the fear of narrow places…” Somnu muttered, reviewing the details he knew. “There is likely one more too.”

  “Why do you say that?” Benji asked.

  “If Lurkers have one fear, and Specters two…” The scarecrow began to explain, but someone finished his thought.

  “Then Dreadbeasts have three, you think?” Mathros crossed his arms and rubbed his neck where the scar was outlined. “That’s reasonable to assume, but there is no one who could confirm this. I doubt many have already fought and won against a Dreadbeast on his Layer…”

  Here! There is one right here! I survived by a hair, but I won against a Dreadbeast! Somnu imagined boasting about that, but he knew better not to. I’m glad to see someone else following the same line of thinking about the presence of Dreadbeast on the Abyss of Lethe…

  “That’s not good if it’s true…” Lulu mumbled.

  “We’ll be ready, Lulu. Let’s use the next few days to prepare for a confrontation.” Mathros got up with a fist in the air. “If you have any Terror Cores, go ahead and level up. We can do this! I trust my compass to lead us out of here!”

  “You and your compass, I swear!”

  “You do put a lot of trust in that thing…”

  “Little bunnies…” Mathros clicked his tongue a few times in dissatisfaction. “A compass is an explorer’s best friend!”

  “That’s just sad!”

  As the bunny folk kept harassing the lizardman, Somnu dove back into his thoughts. There were multiple things he was still curious or worried about.

  For one…

  Who was that killer they were tailing? Could he be the same one I’m after…?

  It wouldn’t be too surprising if it was, how many were going to mindlessly kill others even in this setting? Besides, the grinning skull symbol in the crypt pretty much confirmed there was some relation.

  And another thing was…

  Why can I see other people’s Systems, but they can’t see mine? Is it related to one of my personal titles? Since they didn’t say anything about not seeing my weird System with a Hollow Core, it should mean they can’t see each other’s either… Somnu theorized, basing that on the fact that if everyone could see it, it would only be natural to question when one person suddenly didn’t seem to have a System.

  Just as he thought about that, the unexpected happened once more.

  “Hey all, I’m back.”

  “Ah! There you are! I was beginning to grow worried!”

  “?!”

  Somnu looked at the new arrival, and as if driving a wrench in his recent conclusion, the first thing the scarecrow noticed was that he couldn’t see this new person’s System at all.

  In fact, he couldn’t even see their face.

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