12 Horror of the Flaw and The Realm of the Dead

In the Cafeteria, Tyrel grabbed cooked fish instead of Sushi. He placed a few other food items on the plate before heading to an empty table and sitting on it.

'Alright. Now, it's time to test my flaw. I need to learn all I can about it to prepare accordingly. I also should pick archery, wilderness survival, and a crafting class. I'll need to know how to make arrows.'

Tyrel took a bite of the cooked catfish and closed his eyes, savoring the taste.

'I should explore the city sometime. Maybe I can sell the useless dormant memories I have. I could also use the soul shards I earn to get some clothes memory and perhaps a good storage memory.'

Tyrel continued eating his food with relish.

'I'm going to need to learn how to enter the realm of the dead as well. Perhaps I can get more memories by killing stuff there.'

Tyrel finished eating, put the tray away, and left. He meandered around the Academy premises, surveying the surroundings. His eyes narrowed at the different classrooms.

'I should probably enter the realm of the dead in my room. That's the most secure place here. I don't want anyone finding out I can do that.'

Tyrel looked at his communicator, followed instructions on how to get to the dorm, and went there.

***

Inside the bedroom, Tyrel smiled and sat on the right side of the bed.

'Perhaps I can sense how to do this by emptying my mind.'

Tyrel spent an hour emptying his mind of all thoughts and focusing on his senses. He felt a faint sense and concentrated on it. His eyebrows furrowed as he tried to narrow on that sense.

Slowly, his focus bore fruit as he felt a pull on his body. A portal formed before him, and he opened his eyelids, and his eyes widened. It looked ethereal and purple. Cold wind blew out of it, making his soul feel chills.

'The realm of the dead seems like a horrific place. I wonder if it's just as bad as the dream realm. Or if there is a realm of the dead for each world.'

Tyrel closed his eyes.

'I probably should practice making a portal. If I'm too slow and I'm in danger, I could die.'

Tyrel felt for the sense and willed the portal to close. The wind ceased its blowing.

Tyrel spent a day creating portals in the safety of his room, and he was ready.

'Let's see what's on the other side.'

Tyrel focused on his unique sense and willed a portal to appear. The soul wind blows onto him, and he smiles. He opened his eyes, made a note, placed it outside his dorm, and locked the door. He walked to the portal and entered its frame.

He felt his body, soul, and mind become malleable. Space warped and contorted in the area he flew through. He closed his eyes as he felt his sanity slip a little. For a minute, his eyes remained closed before he felt a difference in the air.

His eyes opened and widened. The area around him looked like a giant necropolis. Creatures that somewhat resembled ancient animals on Earth roamed the desolate landscape. Each one was ethereal and walked upon the ground.

'This is a horrific afterlife. To be honest, I want to slay a dinosaur. Perhaps I could see creatures from the Jurassic.'

The space around him warped a little until he saw many dinosaurs that existed in Asia in the Jurrasic. They moved around aimlessly.

Abruptly, Tyrel's ears started ringing as his eyes saw two of everything instead of one. His vision deteriorated and became blurry as a feeling of weakness assaulted his body.

"What the heck is happening?!"

Tyrel's vision changed, and he felt like his body was spinning. He leaned to the right and awkwardly stepped. The ringing in his ears intensified as his speech became slurred. "W...Why is...this happening..."

Tyrel's muscles gave out, and he landed on his back. Blood dripped from Tyrel's mouth. It smelled rancid and had many black dots in it. Soon after, rancid blood dripped from his nose, ears, and eyes.

'Wait, is this what happens if I don't eat raw meat? My flaw is horrific! I can't even move or fight back. Is my brain and nervous system rotting?!'

Tyrel's body lay motionless like a corpse for ten minutes. Abruptly, his senses came back to him, but the blood continued to flow. He jumped up, and his eyes widened.

'My flaw makes me a sitting duck for a long time. It can kill me!'

Tyrel felt for his unique sense and willed a portal to appear. It quickly did, and he walked through.

Back in his room, he entered the bathroom and stuffed toilet paper into his nose and ears. He also wiped the rancid blood dripping from his eyes and kept his mouth shut.

'I can't let anyone know I'm rotting right now. I need to hurry to the cafeteria and eat sushi now!'

Tyrel rushed to the cafeteria while getting odd looks as he did. The ringing entered his ears again, and he quickly entered the cafeteria. He got some vegetables, a lot of sushi, fruits, and a lot of chicken before quickly eating. His mind raced as he devoured his food.

The symptoms of his flaw disappeared, and he smiled.

'My goodness. This flaw is horrific, but it's conditional, thankfully. I just need to eat some raw meat of any type once a day. And I should try to get a storage memory to hold raw meat. My flaw is so punishing.'

Tyrel finished eating and returned to his room. Inside, he emptied his mind and felt for his unique sense. A portal appeared, and he entered it.

In the realm of the dead, he summoned his Antler Pike Memory. It materialized from tiny sparks of light, and he held it before himself.

Tyrel walked toward the closest soul. It was a large Tiger. He closed his eyes and stabbed the soul. It roared in pain as it dissipated.

[You have slain an soul remnant, dormant beast, Tiger.]

Tyrel looked at his Necrotic Fragments.

[70/1000].

'It seems I won't be getting any Fragments from here. They're the same as before.'

Tyrel moved toward another creature that looked like an elephant. He rushed at it.

The elephant turned its head and waved its tusks at him. Tyrel gritted his teeth and rolled onto the ground.

The tusks cut off part of his ear, and he felt a horrific pain in his chest.

'Did it just damage my soul?'

Tyrel's eyes widened as he swung his Antler Pike at the elephant's leg, cutting it off.

The elephant yelled and fell toward Tyrel. Tyrel placed his pike between him and the elephant, and it was impaled on it. Just before it could crush him, it dissipated.

[You have slain an soul remnant, dormant beast, Asiatic Elephant.]

'I can barely fight creatures of the dormant variety. And so far, no rewards. Perhaps they are rare, or my foes aren't strong enough to have memories drop from them. Oh well, there's nothing I can do about that.'

Tyrel closed his eyelids, took a deep breath, and opened his eyes. He meandered about, looking for another creature. Abruptly, he wished to go to the area where dinosaur souls were. His surroundings shifted, and he saw quite a few dinosaur souls.

'Maybe I can face off against a sauropod or an ankylosaur. They are kinda slow, but maybe they'll drop something useful. I may be able to fight them because they can't turn quickly or chase me.'

Tyrel trudged through the Necropolis and searched for an opponent. He stopped and stared at an ankylosaur.

'Let's hope they drop an armor memory. I need something just in case I get hit.'

Tyrel walked toward it and held out his spear.

The ankylosaur looked at him and started turning around. Tyrel saw this and moved the way the dinosaur turned while continuing to walk.

'This is probably the easiest dinosaur I can take down because of how slow they are. Yet they are the strongest of them all. I wonder if my awakened weapon will even pierce them.'

Tyrel lowered himself and swung his spear at the dinosaur's leg. It tried to move out of the way, but it was too slow. Its exposed leg was cut off.

It squealed and leaned on its side. It couldn't get up anymore.

Tyrel sighed and spoke. "I'm sorry about this. Please be at peace."

Tyrel sliced the underside of the Ankylosaur's neck. He backed away as it dissipated into light sparks.

[You have slain an soul remnant, dormant beast, Sinankylosaurus.]

'Come on, give me a memory!'

His pleas were not answered.

'Well, I guess I'm going to have to keep killing Sinankylosaurus until I get a Memory or too.'

Tyrel killed three more before the sweet message arrived.

[You have received a Memory: Ankylosaur Gaurd.]

Tyrel smiled.

'I wonder since the memories here are from soul-based creatures. Maybe this armor will give a tiny amount of soul protection.'

Tyrel frowned.

'I should not trade away Memories from the realm of the dead. I can't let people suspect me of doing anything suspicious. I'll train here when I'm not doing any classes. But I'll need to find a way to sneak food into my room. And when four weeks are left before the winter solstice, I'll have to stop entering the soul realm... I don't want Sunny or Cassia finding out about it.'

Tyrel paused for a moment and continued killing Ankylosaurs. He stopped after killing twenty of them.

'Woah, I got a Memory every four to five kills.' Tyrel thought before frowning. 'It makes sense though. If I took a direct hit from one of their clubs, my body and my soul would be destroyed. The creatures here are so dangerous.'

Tyrel summoned the Ankylosaur Gaurd's runes.

Memory: [Ankylosaur Gaurd].

Memory Rank: Dormant.

Memory Type: Garment.

Memory Description: [This Memory is made from the remnant soul of a Sinankylosaurus.]

Memory Enchantments: [Remnant Insulation], [Tail club], [Remnant Offense.].

[Remnant Insulation] Enchantment Description:

"The armor provides minimal protection against soul attacks."

[Tail Club] Enchantment Description:

"The armor has a tail club useful for attacking."

[Remnant Offense] Enchantment Description:

"The tail club can do a minimal amount of soul damage."

Tyrel's eyes widened.

'This thing seems powerful for a dormant creature. Then again, ankylosaur's armor could withstand bullets from small arm guns. Perhaps I can wear this if it isn't too heavy.'

Tyrel smiled, felt for his unique sense, and willed a portal to appear. It did, and he returned to his room.

He walked to the bathroom and summoned the Ankylosaur Gaurd. He looked at himself in the mirror, and his eyes widened.

The armor covered his body in a skin-tight layer of osteoderms. His eyelids had an armored covering as well. Spikes covered his sides and back as a stationary armored tail hung behind him. It stretched out the bathroom door and ended in a massive tail club.

'I'll test this armor, pick my classes, and check my other memories tomorrow.'

Tyrel dismissed the armor and went to bed.