14 Chapter XIV: It's Alive, Igor! It's Alive!

After a few hours of serene silence, the Dark Sea began to surge and rumble as if it were afraid of something.

"Is it morning already?" muttered William as he observed a corner of the dark, starless skies beginning to gray. A new dawn was coming, and with its appearance, the black waters began receding - afraid of the light.

Before his very eyes, the sea level decreased more and more, consequently revealing the topography of the land hidden beneath it. This continued for some time until the sun was clearly seen in the sky.

From his vantage point, he could see rows and rows of craggy and irregular rock formations, and beneath it was a forest of red coral-like substance. No, not a forest. It resembled more a labyrinth than anything. A labyrinth made of collosal coral formations that interlocked and weaved into each other into an unnatural reef. It continued as far as his eyes could see only being interrupted by the occasional cliff or the rare chasm.

Only William, out of all the dreamers that came here, knew where they were in the dream realm. This was the Forgotten Shore, a land cursed by the eternal darkness somewhere beyond the Hollow Mountains. This place was a death trap filled with various creatures that can slaughter cohorts of unprepared Sleepers.

'Focus William,' he told himself, 'first things first.'

Looking over to his companion, who had over the course of the hours made her position more comfortable - to his increasing discomfort. However, they needed to start moving while the sun was in the sky.

Using the only free hand, he shook Cassie gently to awaken her.

"Cass, wake up. Nap time's over. It's time to move."

"Five more minutes pleeeeaaaaase," she muttered in protest as she squirmed in his arms, her arms searching for a blanket of some kind.

"I would love to do that," his reply was strained due to various unmentionable reasons, then he gripped both her shoulders and pried the blind oracle off his body, all the while turning his head to the side as a token of modesty, "however, we are in the Dream Realm and we need to start moving while we have daylight to burn."

"Dream.....Realm?" she seemed to be coming to as her voice became less lethargic. "Dream Realm!" she suddenly cried in panic before looking checking her body for any injuries. "The water! I drowned! I died!"

Not wanting to go through another panic attack, William shook her lightly a few times, "Cass! Relax! You're safe!"

The young man's voice seemed to reach her since she immediately got quiet, "W-William? I-Is that you?"

"The one and only," he answered her confidently as he released his grip on her shoulders. "Now, do you have some sort of garment or amor memory to wear? Trying to talk to you while looking to the side is kinda hard."

"No, I don't.... have....." her voice got lower and lower as she finally felt the wind bowing over her modest chest and between her thighs. Thankfully, she was smart enough not to scream at the top of her voice to attract any unwanted attention.

"Do..... you have something?" she inquired in a tone, quivering with shame and embarrassment.

Well, if he was being honest, he only had one armor memory, and he kind of needed that to fight against monsters. However, he had something others don't: Magic.

His right hand glowed dimly as he cast the [Prestidigitation Spell]; then, seconds later, a gray robe appeared in his hands.

(Image)

"Here, try this," he said as he gave the robe to Cassie, who silently took it, not even questioning where the robe came from in her hurry. A few minutes of the sound of her fumbling with the robe and a few low curses she spoke.

"Y-You can turn now," the quivering in her voice had lessened but was still audible despite her efforts to hide it.

William did as he was told and saw that Cassie had managed to wear the robe properly albiet with a few creases here and there.

"Good, now we can have a proper conversation," he stated. "Sooooooo, uh, good morning, I guess?"

Cassie seemed to be thinking deeply about something as she didn't reply to him for a while.

"Thank you."

"What?" The white-haired young man was surprised by the sudden outburst.

"Thank you for saving me," she articulated her gratitude again, "and, well, for the robe."

"Don't mention it," William said as he stood up, "everyone saves their friends, right?"

"But -"

"But nothing. Sit down and get your bearings while I examine our surroundings," the blue-eyed youth advised her before summoning his [Osseous Exoarmor].

William's chest and arms were entirely covered by the bony armor; however, he was nude waist down. 'Now, what to do about this? I can't traverse the labyrinth going commando,' he thought deeply before a faint idea came to him, 'maybe if I...'

The amor responded to his will. White sludge dripped in a long line from the armor and began forming a protective layer around his waist, legs, and feet; turning it into a full body armor. However, due to stretching the material of the armor, the thickness of the armor decreased considerably.

'Okay, not what I expected to happen, but it will do until I find some pants or something,' he thought briefly as he scanned the area around them from the edge of the cliff.

The circular rock formation he was standing on is maybe at a height two hundred meters from the ground, and the lower half of it was still wet from the sea water.

His eyes caught the figures of soem creatures moving about in the coral labyrinth. He couldn't clearly see from his height, but he had a general idea of what they were: the awakened beasts, Carapace Scavengers.

These nightmare creatures are 2.5 meter tall hybrids between a human, centaur, and some form of demonic crab. It had four scythe-like legs with a human torso armored in thick chitin. It has narrow-slit eyes and slimy mandibles for a mouth. The head is directly connected to the torso with no neck in sight whatsoever. Of course, it also had big pincers in place of hands because why the hell not!

(Image)

Cold sweat formed on his back as he imagined fighting such a monster. People may laugh at him if they knew that he was scared of a mere awakened beast while he had beaten a fallen devil - and they would be right. William wouldn't have batted an eye in yolloing through entire forgotten shore since he was immortal.

However, it was exactly due to that immortality that he was nervous - or rather the price he must pay for it. Moreover, he had an attribute that served as a passive taunt ability on the nightmare creatures.

Thus, if he wished to keep hold onto his memories of his family, he needed to be smart and not take any unnecessary risks - other than when he jumped into the embrace of a great titan to save Cassie, that one didn't count, probably.

Willaim ran a hand through his hair, 'Okay, I can do this. Just keep a clear mind and don't do anything stupid.'

William moved towards where his blond friend was sitting with a ponderous expression on her delicate face.

"Hey, Cass," he spoke to bring her out of her train of thought, "ready to depart?"

"Ah, yes, did you find out where we were?"

"Well...." William began describing the Dark Sea, its recession when the sun arose, and the ground topography.

"Hmmmm, this is not like any Dream Realm area I read about," she said after a while of thinking, then adopted a troubled expression, "this is worrying."

"No use worrying about it," William stated matter of factly, "we can only move forward and hope to find a way out."

He gripped her shoulder comfortingly, "C'mon, we're moving."

The two went to the edge of the cliff.

"How do we-aaaahhhh!" Cassie cried in surprise as she was swept off her feet in a princess carry. "William! What the-!"

"Relax Cass, we need to descend about two hundred meters, and I don't believe you can climb down with your condition," he interrupted her before four bony, arachnid legs erupted from the back of his armor and he began descending to the ground.

If the girl in his arms was curious how they were going down, she didn't mention it as she tightly wrapped her arms around his neck so as not to fall. Soon enough, they reached their destination, and William let his passenger disembark.

The [Teardrop Amulet] manifested around his neck, and with a dim glow, it released the two spirits housed in it.

"Okay, this is how we're going to do this," the young man said aloud so that both Cassie and the two spirits could hear, "we have to go through that coral labyrinth, but I spotted a few figures moving in their prior so it is safe to assume that we will be meeting nightmare creatures."

Cassie seemed pensive about walking through a prime ambush place for nightmare creatures, and if William was being honest, he couldn't blame her. However, they had to pass through it if they were to ever reach Bright Castle.

"If you are worried about nightmare creatures targeting you, then don't be," he reassured about what he thought she was in deep thought about, "you already seen my attributes. You know what one of them does, don't you?."

"That's exactly why I'm worried," she said apprehensively as she held onto his arm. "Won't it be too dangerous for you?"

"Nah. I'm hard to kill if anything, and I trust my swordsmanship is up to par," he blew off her concerns before adding mentally to himself, 'well, I hope it is enough.'

"I'll be sure to keep an eye out for hostiles."

Thankfully, the two spirits understood his words and went ahead of them into the coral forest to scout for any problems. Meanwhile, the two Sleepers walked at a leisurely pace while having the occasional small talk.

Minutes passed before Jaina returned along with Arthas.

"This labyrinth is infested with these weird creatures," Jaina said with a troubled look, "there are twelve of them in our immediate area patroling in groups of two."

That was when Arthas chimed in, "If you have to fight them, then try to not involve more than one group of those monsters; although, with that attribute of yours, I don't know how viable that strategy is."

William only nodded his head in acknowledgment and summoned [Frostmourne]. The mourneblade manifested in his hands and glowed ominously - starving for souls.

It was not long before Arthas noted that they had reached near where one of the groups of Carapace Scavengers were present.

Before anything, William put Cassie in a relatively small, hidden alcove in the coral wall of the labyrinth.

Cassie, for her part, never complained and just did as she was asked with a bit of gloom about her since she was being a burden as she had predicted.

Noticing her negative mood, William ruffled her hair playfully, "Don't you know that making such expression causes you to get wrinkles on your face? I'll be back in a bit. Just keep yourself hidden and wait for me, yeah?"

The oracle attempted to get shove his hand away, but that proved to be for naught as he had much more strength than her even if they were both of the same rank. In the end, she just accepted her fate with a pouty expression, "Fine, but be careful, will you?"

"It will be a piece of cake, don't worry your pretty little head," although his voice was cheery, his expression was anything but. Thankfully, she couldn't see it.

After making sure the alcove was sufficiently hidden, William took a deep breath and proceeded towards the area where the two Carapace Scavengers supposedly were. After a few moments, he heard the sound of meat tearing and mandibles clicking from farther ahead.

Peaking behind a massive chunk of coral, William saw two Carapace Scavengers feasting on the carcass of a fish-like creature that had been brutally ripped apart. Thankfully, it seemed they were too engrossed in their meal to notice his presence.

'Okay, William, don't fuck this up,' he psyched himself and his hands glowed in a dim glow as he cast [Prestidigitation].

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One of the Carapace Scavengers with a few battle scars on its armor felt something brush against its chitin causing it to become alert. It turned around to check for the cause only to find nothing but empty air. It was then that a sweet smell reached whatever it had as a nose.

Its mandibles watered with viscous mucus as it clicked its pincers in glee; then, it began rushing towards the direction of the tantalizing smell before anything else could snatch it away.

Meanwhile, its partner was eating away at the carcass with even more gusto and glee since the other idiot went off somewhere.

The scarred Carapace Scavenger continued to follow after the smell that seemed to be moving just as it was about to reach it. This continued for a few minutes before reaching a small open area surrounded by tall walls of coral.

The smell was stronger here - almost pungent in its nature. Its mandibled clicked and its pincers clacked at it searched for the potential prey. The scavenger's demented brain was so drunk with the odor that it didn't notice the figure that sneaked up to it from behind.

Before it knew what happened, it felt seering pain as its left back leg got severed from its body. It cried in agony, but its cries for help were dulled by the coral surrounding it.

The lack of support from its leg caused it lose balance and fall onto it's side. Unfortunately for the nightmare creature, that was not the end since it felt something jump onto its back.

It tried to use its pincers to crush the bastard that hurt it but by design its arms didn't have that degree of motion. Thus, it was helpless up until something pierced through its head from the back and ended its miserable life.

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[You have slain an awakened beast, Carapace Scavenger.] (D20 = 4)

[Your soul grows stronger.]

William breathed a sigh of relief as he extracted Frostmourne from the nightmare creature's innards. Earlier, just as it died, a white mote of light exited the body of the Scavenger and immediately got pulled into the mourneblade.

Summoning his runes, he saw a few parameters have increased:

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Soul core: Dormant

Soul Fragments: [85/1000]

Aspect Legacy: [Frostmourne], [Profane Grimoire]

Memory Name: Frostmourne

Memory Rank: ?

Memory Tier: I [1/1000]

Memory Type: Weapon

Memory Enchantments: [Soul Rune]

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"That went better than I expected," Jaina's voice came from next to William as she observed the dead monster.

"Of course it did," claimed the ex-prince with a bit of pride in his voice, "I trained him, afterall."

Jaina rolled her eyed before starting to float around the scavenger to examine it, "Quite the horrendous and curious creatures, these are."

Suddenly, something clicked inside William's brain as if his insticts were telling him to do something.

Raising his right hand, his eyes began glowing bright blue as bluish black tendrils of energy exited from his finger tips and coiled themselves around the carcass.

"Arise!" he uttered in a deeper and more menacing version of his own voice.

The dead Carapace Scavenger rose from the ground infront of his eyes and despite the gaping wound on its head, its pincers and mandibles twitched as if it were alive. Soon enough, the corpse has risen again as an undead and the Spell confirmed it too.

[You have raised an awakened beast Carapace Scavenger as an awakened beast Corpse Scavenger.]

[Bind Corpse Scavenger as Royal Guard?]

William refused since the it was a shame to fill up a Royal Guard position by a awakened beast.

He at his new undead minion and it looked back at him dispassionately with its mandible slack.

"This brings back bad memories," muttered the paladin of the Silver Hand.

"You'll get over it darling," comforted Jaina. "Try to command it to do something."

"Uhhh," William looked at the Corpse Scavenger and pointed at a location few meters away, "go there."

The undead scavenger tried to move but failed to support its weight on three legs.

"Right," the young man facepalmed, "I cut off your back leg."

William picked up the severed leg and offered it to his minion, "Well? Can you fix yourself with this?"

The Corpse Scavenger grabbed the appendage by its pincers, observed it for a bit before it started eating it.

"Wait, don't-!" before he could stop the act of cannibalism before him, it had already finished dining on its leg.

"It doesn't seem to be too smart," noted the blond sorceress from behind the young man.

"Weaker beings tend to be like that when turned into undead," added the ex-Lich Ling.

"Great," the living Lich King groaned with a sigh, "what do I do with you now?"

The Corpse Scavenger didn't give a response and merely looked at him with its vacant gaze.

It was then that Arthas yelled, "William, we're about to have company!"

Thinking fast, the young man gave out a new order, "When a creature comes close to you, attack it."

Then, he went and hid himself among the coral.

Thus, the Corpse Scavenger was left alone in the small clearing waiting to carry out its order.

Moments later, the partner of the late scarred scavenger, who had finished its meal, was lured to this opening by the tantalizing smell in the air.

Viscous mucus was dripping from its sharp mandibles in anticipation as it entered the clearing. It stopped in its tracks momentarily when it caught the sight of its previous partner.

Seeing that it was wounded and crippled, the new Carapace Scavenger decided to do as its instict told it and take advantage of the situation to reduce the competition for food.

It moved towards the carcass confidently, its pincers ready to strike the death blow and finish off the wounded creature. Just as it was within pincers-length distance from the corpse, a scarred pincer reached out and clasped into its left pincer. With an unnatural show of force, the the Corpse Scavengers other pincer severed the held arm off of the Carapace Scavenger's shoulder. However, it had paid for that since the living Carapace Scavenger shrieked in anger and went into a frenzy. Using its still attached pincer, the monster pierced into the open wound on the head of the Corpse Scavenger and began ripping out and smashing the insides of the scarred crab-centaur.

That proved to be a lethal blow - if it was alive in the first place that is. Unflinched by its organs being blended into mush, the Corpse Scavenger used both its pincers wailed at his previous partner in reckless abandon.

While the two nightmare creatures were fighting, William sneakily moved behind the frenzied Carapace Scavenger and with a powerful leap, landed on the shoulders of the nightmare creature while it was blinded by rage.

The living crab-centaur belatedly realized the intrusion and tried to shake him off but it was already too late. With one clean, downward thrust, Frostmourne lodged itself into its head and ended its life. The rune on the mourneblade glowed omninously as a white mote of light was absorbed into it.

[You have slain an awakened beast, Carapace Scavenger.] (D20 = 9)

[Your soul grows stronger.]

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A.N: What do you guys think? Is the loot system's probabilities too steep or is it fine as it is? I don't know whether it is bad luck or what, but the two rolls I made were really shitty.

Thank you for reading and enjoy your day!

Sincerely, John_Doe_777