Basement (2)

Amorphic hazy figurines started to rise from the depths of the Earth and crawled from the abyss.

With each passing second they started to increase in numbers. At first, there were only a few that looked intimidating and overwhelming, but now things were getting out of hand. All of them simultaneously came out with some having difficulties from the overflow that happened.

The nightmares, never stopped increasing with their numbers never dwindling and continued to grow in strength by numbers.

"I think there's more of them lurking around," I said.

"Be careful Enzo, Nightmares are different, they represent the embodiment of fear inside someone. In essence, it is a major factor of your soul." Y stated.

"It's okay, I fought a much worse nightmare." I confidently stated.

I unsheath my sword and place it on my side. I began to formulate multiple structural traps around me.

Raising my sword I saw myself in a blue wreath of blue flames inside my eyes. It was the evidence of the presence of mana.

A day ago, I found out that when somebody makes use of mana their eyes would shine with a spectral glow. The eyes grew pure and deep each time they used mana it was an alluring sight to behold as they would shine.

I slowly approached the group of Nightmares that continued to rise in number.

'A couple to my left and five more to the right. Should be no problem' I thought as I enumerated the situation I was in.

"But first off, we test the grounds"

The air began to swirl in a strong fashion of daunting ferocity. The winds blew harder and made the trench coat flutter with strength. The wind violently run amock with the unleashed power that was further amplified by the mana given by me.

"Pierce through, Aeration Drill," I shouted the skill I decided to name for better visualization.

The winds began to converge in different places around me and spun in their axis in rapid motion.

With enough speed, it tore through the atmosphere and flew toward the clump of Nightmares.

Many were hit with the sudden attack while some dodged with a fraction of a second that would come close to hitting them.

I began to think once more as I began to synthesize mana from the air and formed the new offensive spell that I recently learned to use.

"Hydrosphere," I spoke with volume as I visualized a medium size ball of water floating in the air.

The ball floated a couple of meters from the ground and orbited around me. Inside was a whirlpool of water in a strong motion of rotation.

The nightmare out of daze ran toward me with a tenaciously fear-inducing pace as they all came to me at the same time.

With the use of my left hand, I guided the spherical clump of water into the big wave of black haze.

Boom—

Multiple explosions happened with a strong magnitude as it continuously exploded with every single Nightmare not getting closer to me.

I quickly visualized the two spells over and over again until it was only me and a few other Nightmares that stood guard near the pedestal.

It seemed like it would end soon as their numbers significantly decreased but then multiple shadowy figures began to crawl from all sides of the room.

My counting went past twenty and I stopped counting for more. Things were hectic as old enemies began to emerge once more. Shades.

Shades similar to the appearance of a Nightmare soon filled the room with terrifying numbers that showed great strength. Countless darkness filled the room leaving me with a small space to act.

"Y there were hundreds of shades down here," I said.

'Good thing I got prepared' I thought as I began to put more mana into my surrounding environment which was quickly absorbed to the ground.

"This time, I come prepared for anything that comes"

I began to think about the process of my plans. It was complicated but somehow simple, it was from the fact that I can now actively place traps anywhere within a limited range of my area.

'Realize, Realign, Reform, Reconstruct' I thought about the 4 steps that I usually use whenever I place my traps.

"Execute, Implosion!" I screamed out loud

The ground shined with red marks with different symbols and sizes. It sizzled with mana and began to heat up. I stood there with anticipation that this will work.

Explosions that were triggered in a chain reaction began to happen as the dark room was lit with a bright light that soon engulfed everything. Luckily, I was now able to cover myself with a shield that was derived from a spell of wind that blocks projectiles.

I didn't use traps when I fought against the shade that tormented me when I first entered the Tabernacle because it would possibly be a big part of the mansion. But this time, I was sure we were deep enough that such a big explosion wouldn't affect the outside world.

Even if it was an explosion of large magnitude, I trusted the walls of the room that it would be able to hold up. For the basis of this analysis? I thought mana would accumulate and strengthen the walls around.

It was a gamble but I was right. The walls were intact with little to no scratch at all from the explosion. The area was cleaned with precision as the explosion devoured everything except the pedestal and the scythe that it carried.

I puffed out the smoke that was left from the big explosion.

I whacked the black smoke in front of my face and took a breath filling up my body with fresh air.

Looking around there was nothing left of any presence such as a Shade or a Nightmare. It was dead silent, with no waving shadows, or anything. Just smoke from after the explosion.

"Y is the fight over?" I asked for confirmation.

There was no answer from him. He usually answers in his snarky tone or annoyed expression.

"Y?" I called out once again trying to see if he was just messing around.

But to no avail, there was no response. It was still silent, it was eerie and mind-boggling. Something was wrong, it was too unusual with Y being away.

The room was so quiet that I can hear the beating of my heart and the breath that I intake. It was still silence just like the night where crickets were the only creatures that talk in the night.

The radiant virtue of peace emanated from the walls, however, there was no peace as the tranquility it came from was the savage and revolting slaughter that happened in the world.

The vivid scene of the village that was decimated, dismembered, and disconfigured bodies continued to linger in my mind, as I continue to look around the room looking for any signs of the scary tall friend that likes to come out of nowhere.

"Hey Y stop messing around" A sense of anxiety flowed through me as I realized that this incongruity was too odd.

"So you are the chosen Avatar of Erebus. You are very weak for now, but have the potential to grow into a wonderful Sovereign." A hoarse voice was heard from in front of me.

I quickly looked up and saw a hooded man, with a black cloak that flowed down through the ground. The darkness which the cloak carried was pure and graceful. It has a sense of majestic vibe from the outfit that he wore.

'Who is this? This is not a Nightmare or any Shade that I have seen' I thought.

'Did I sleep again? This usually happens when I am asleep only to wake up with a weird encounter with someone.'

"It seems that I confuse you with my sudden appearance." The man with a hoarse voice continued to speak.

"Allow me to properly introduce myself the Avatar of Erebus. I suppose he has already spoken my name to you, otherwise you wouldn't have gone deep into the dungeon that I set". He continued.

'Erebus? Is the Y's true name? Wait that sounds cool, but wait why would he hide it?' I thought as the name Erebus stuck to me.

I didn't sense anything from him other than his presence, he showed no malice or harmful intentions to me. Although I wasn't able to see anything through the dark hood, he seemed to exude a mysterious air as he stood still near the pedestal with the scythe.

'Erebus sounds like a good name though, why would he hide it from me? Does he not want me to know? Do I need to earn it or something like that?'

"I am one of the Primordial beings that surf through both the Spiritual and Material World. I am the Provider of Nightmares. My name is Nocturne." His voice resounded inside the room where darkness continued to grow bright.