Aether was expecting to first look at the place where his arrival to the Dream Realm was going to take place from above, just like it had happened at the beginning of the First Nightmare. Back then, time had magically moved in reverse, giving him an opportunity to see hints of what he was going to face.
Instead, immediately after hearing the greetings of the Spell, Aether found himself blind and drowning. He opened his mouth to scream—only for the sea to pour in, choking him with salt.
'I am underwater?'
More than that, he could not see anything. Darkness was not a problem for him due to [False Sight], attribute. But it did not seem to be working either, was it because the expanse of water was blocking his sight?
He tried to activate is aspect to see if there was any creatures or humans around him. And right at that moment a shiver ran down his spine. Even if he was surrounded by water, he could imagine himself sweating.
There were many minds that he could connect to around. And those were not humans!
Suppressing his state of panic, he began swimming upwards.
In a few long and tense seconds, his head broke through the surface of the water. He was finally able to draw in a deep breath.
After sucking in enough air to soothe his burning lungs and compose himself to a certain degree, Aether carefully spun in the water, trying to take in his surroundings.
Then he finally sighted a slope and began swimming towards it, the vile minds around him were not moving towards him. Aether sighed as he climbed onto the slope. It was a high platform, rocky and not flat. It was vast enough to camp on.
Yellow sparks shimmered around him as he summoned his garment. He was looking around, searching for anything that was not surrounded by water.
'An ocean? Am I in stormsea?'
For some reason Aether was certain he was not at the stormsea. There was no moon around, and the water was.. black?
Aether sighed as he sat down, laying his back against a rock.
This was either a death zone or an unexplored region. He had never heard of a black ocean without a moon.
'Damn you Theola!'
She had jinxed it! There was no way any sleeper had survived in this region. Even if they had, the monsters inside the ocean would had devoured them.
'Just my luck..'
Not desperate enough to leave the platform and try to swim away in search of land, Aether decided to wait and see. Maybe something was going to change as time went by.
Aether leaned his head back against the rock. Not thinking about much, he stared into the black sky and waited. The sound of the undulating waves was, actually, quite relaxing.
He waited for several hours.
…Suddenly, Aether caught a slight change in the sound of the sea. It was as though something was shifting. He opened his eyes and noticed that one corner of the sky was slowly turning grey. Soon, a glimpse of a pale sun could be seen rising above the horizon.
A new day had come to the starless void.
And with it, the dark sea suddenly surged.
***
The black, opaque water suddenly surged and seethed, as though a living creature desperately trying to avoid the pale light of the coming dawn. Aether rose and carefully approached the edge of the slope.
Looking down, he blinked and then kneeled to make sure that what he saw wasn't an illusion.
The sea seemed to be receding.
Slowly at first, and then faster and faster, the water level was dropping.
As the sun climbed up, the monstrous ebb tide continued. Soon, Aether found himself standing on the edge of a tall land with a hundred-meter drop separating him from the churning waters.
'So the sea can climb up to a hundred meters.'
It was going to be crucial information if Aether ever needed to find another place to stay the night.
At that time, the dark surface of the water began to be punctured here and there by sharp crimson blades. As it dropped even further, it was as though a crimson forest was slowly rising from the black depths. The "trees" were made of something resembling coral, growing chaotically into each other and stretching toward the sky.
They were colossal in size, with irregular protrusions entwining and merging together, looking monumental and eerie in the black and red reality of the sunlit void. The labyrinth formed by this strange reef stretched as far as Aether could see, broken here and there by protruding cliffs, sudden chasms, and distant natural features.
Half an hour later, utterly shocked, Aether stared down and realized that the sea was completely gone. If not for the black seaweed left hanging on wet rocks and scarlet pillars of coral, he would even doubt if it was ever there.
He was now sure.
That this was an unexplored region.
***
Despite the sudden disappearance of the dark sea and its hidden monsters, Aether was in no rush to climb down from his circular stone platform. Firstly, he felt that if the sea was able to disappear, it was surely able to come back, perhaps at any moment.
Secondly, he did not know what dangers the coral labyrinth was hiding. Perhaps there was something even scarier than the numerous minds he had encountered.
Aether had also realized something.
He was not half blind anymore! He could see with both of his eyes. Combined with [False Sight], he was now able to see even better. So he observed.
Down the small hill, he could see a nightmare creature that was walking west.
It had four pairs of long, segmented legs that ended in scythe-like protrusions. At the front, a human-like torso was protruding from the carapace, also clad in thick chitinous armor. The head, if it was even the appropriate word, was situated directly on top of the torso, with no neck in between. It had two narrow eye slits and a viscous-looking mouth with several slimy mandibles. Instead of hands, the monsters had two enormous pincers.
Its weakness was most likely the back of this head, and the haps between the armor.
Aether decided that he would observe for today from the hill, then tomorrow he would set out to explore the labyrinth. Maybe this way he could meet some other sleepers, if there was any that had been sent to this death zone.
Aether observed until the sun was about to set. The centurion like nightmare creatures dominated this area of the labyrinth. He doubted that the only types of nightmare creatures were them.
As soon as the sun touched the horizon, a deafening rumble could be heard coming from somewhere below. The monsters instantly scurried away, some hiding inside the coral pillars, some simply burying themselves in the soft soil.
A few minutes later, the first streams of black water appeared in the labyrinth. Their volume quickly grew, and soon an apocalyptic flood devoured everything around. The sea was returning with the approach of the night.
In an hour, the slope was the only thing above the dark waters once again.
Aether sat back once again. He was going to sleep through the night and wake up after.
Before he could close his eyes, Aether suddenly saw a still body that was floating on top of the water. It was floating towards the slope as the waves hit it. Aether got up and walked to the edge, waiting for it to arrive.
He activated his aspect and made sure that there was no mind he could connect to on the body. And there weren't any. Reaching out to grab it by the arm, he threw it to the ground.
Aether's eyes narrowed as he observed the corpse. He knew this man, the guy was a student back at the academy, and a member of a clan. There was a deep slash on his chest, it suggested that he was not killed by a nightmare creature, but by a human.
While his aspect still activate, he touched the body.
And then the scenery changed. He could see the man inside the labyrinth, in front of him a girl with white short hair slashed against him. And the vision ended right there.
Aether was staring at the corpse in front of him one again.
'So you are here too..'