Sunny did not like surprises. Not even in the slightest.
'Nightmare Spell sets up trials, not executions.'
-Lies.
Whoever said that was a liar. And, this made it the second time that Sunny had been deceived by that lie.
First, he was made to survive the Trial of the Nightmare Spell by making him into a slave, and by the end of it, he was thoroughly turned into a slave.
Now, the spell was trying to drown him. And, it would have even succeeded had it not been for the Wilderness survival classes that he took under Awakened Julius.
It was through those classes that he had learnt to swim. Besides, before this Nightmare, there had never been an opportunity for him to go to a beach, a lake or something alike.
Those kind of things for the rich and posh people. Sunny was none of them. He grew up in the outskirts. He dreamed of nice food, not of being in midst of a water body that might as well be the end of him.
He had heard the news of people drowning in beaches and seas on public terminals enough number of times.
Anyone who wanted to go to such a place where they will be surrounded by water on all sides, and had the possibility of being drowned, was a fool.
If you want to clean yourself, just take a bath in a bathtub.
Even Sunny knew that.
Sunny was wary of seas. And now, that belief of his was enforced even more.
'This Spell… This Nightmare Spell… Isn't it just like it is taking revenge on me for something? First in the trial, and now in the First Nightmare.'
He might have done some really questionable things in life, but surely that alone should not be enough to earn the eerie of Nightmare Spell. It was like the Spell hated him more than anyone else for some reason.
Moreover, he was not thrown on some beach, but in the very middle of a sea. He was even drowning.
No matter how much he tried to free himself from the flow of water around him, he was being sucked deeper and deeper into the water.
Only after some time did the lessons of swimming that he took settled in his head. As they did, Sunny relaxed his body. He tried keeping himself as calm as he could, and resurfaced slowly to the sea surface.
'The spell threw me in the middle of nowhere this time as well.'
He did not have any prior experience in the sea, and was thinking of what to do next.
"There is no one else around as well. Guess, all alone this time as well.'
In the academy, he was taught the basic scenarios that a dreamer could come by during their First Nightmare.
He was told that the aspirants of the First Nightmare would have to find a Gateway that would send them back to the Real World. Or, it would be even better if they were able to find a Human Citadel, as those too were built around the Gateways.
An aspirant going through The First Nightmare had more probability of being summoned near other aspirants, and that possibility was much much more than being summoned alone.
As it turned out, Sunny was unlucky in that regards as well.
'What [FATED]? The Ruins should just start calling it [UNLUCKY]. Atleast, that would sound more real and true.'
A person with [Unlucky] Attribute. Government officials would start frothing from their mouth at the very sound of this Attribute, for all the wrong reasons.
'Do they seriously want me to wait here to find someone who is just as unlucky as me?'
'-Guess not.'
But Sunny did not have enough time to just wait. His arms were growing heavier and heavier with just keeping him from drowning.
Better to rely on himself than on some false hope. This was all that he told himself and started swimming in the direction where he could see a large rock protruding out of the sea.
'That is where I will be going then…'
As he turned slightly to his left, his entire body broke down in cold sweat despite being in water.
He could clearly make out something approaching him in the dead of darkness.
Even without moon or any stars, he could clearly make out a dorsal fin that was moving in his direction rather rapidly.
'…because of [Child of Shadows] Attribute perhaps.'
And the more Sunny stared at the dorsal fin, the larger it kept on becoming. It was at the very least 3 meters tall alone.
He dared not think of the abomination that that fin could have been attached to.
And, with all the strength that he could muster in his skinny arms, he scurried away in the direction of the land that he could make out in the middle of the sea.
Sunny swam as fast as humanly possible and was barely able to make it to the piece of land that was in sight. Because as soon as he reached there making a safe distance from the sea, he turned back only to see a soul-churning sight.
A gigantic tentacle rose from the sea from behind the abomination that was after Sunny just a while ago.
And whatever the thing with tentacles was in the sea, it brought down the tentacle on the body of the nightmare creature that he could make out now.
BOOM!
A deafening sound, loud enough to make his ears ring.
And, just like that both of the creatures were gone. One for better measures than the other.
Sunny could not do anything but stare at the sea dazed.
"N-Nightmare. Indeed, this is a nightmare!"
At that very moment he knew that there was no rest for him. Especially with how small the piece of land was on which he was laying sprawled over right now.
"Curses! Curses! Curse you spell!!?!"
He could not help but yell out the emotions that were welling up in his heart.
SPLAT!
Another sound deep in the sea rang out.
And…
'Better say quiet. Better quiet than dead.'
"Damn YOU?!?"
A strong voice rang out in the dead dark of the night.
'Curses! What fool does not know to keep quite in a place like this?'
Sunny did not even dare to look for what it might have been.
But, he did send his shadow out to scout for whatever this ruckus was.
A companion in a place like this could be a blessing of the greatest extent, especially if the person turned out from one of the Legacy clans. Those people were rich and loaded their heirs and aspiring stewards with soul shards and memories from their early years.
The sight that was met by his shadow was just as wild as the thought of the abomination with the tentacles that had dragged another nightmare creature down in the sea of rank that he could not even start to guess.
There was a boy riding on a nightmare creature approaching the land that Sunny had made his home at for the past hour.
He was quite certain that the thing was actually a nightmare creature and not an echo or memory of any sort.
For once, the nightmare creature was buckling heavily in the sea, as if to get rid of the person riding on back of it.
The nightmare creature even snapped its head back oddly to get a chunk of the head of the human in its jaws.
And when that happened, the human rose from its back and threw a heavy punch on the head of the nightmare creature.
The closer the pair got to Sunny, the easier it became for him to make that person out.
The boy had a wild look in his eyes, his face split in a harrowing grin. His head raised his a-and…
'Madness! Sheer madness! That bastard is laughing.'
Sunny thought that the thing was not human at all and was a nightmare creature as well.
He gathered courage to look at the boy once again. And the boy's eyes met his.
Not of the shadow, but his. The boy raised a wavering hand perfectly in Sunny's line of sight.
Sunny felt as if his soul had escaped from his body. His body slumped down on the ground.
If someone was to ask him what just happened, he was sure to tell the person that he died a bit in this place.
There is no bliss for people in this world, were the final thoughts of Sunny's, and then the boy set foot on the land.
Barely 30 metes away from him. Sunny laid down flat on the ground and played dead. He did not even have a weapon.
'What was even the point?'
"You! I can clearly see you. Come out."
'I am not even hiding. And, a nightmare creature that speaks, it seems to be.'
The boy moved towards him.
"How about you tell me what place this is? And, I will get us both a ride out of here?"
'I don't want it.'
Sunny would not be caught dead riding on a nightmare creature and beating it down when he was riding it. But, the boy did that just a few seconds ago. He wanted no part of it.
"Oye! Can you understand what I am saying?" the boy was in front of Sunny. More like he was looking down on him as Sunny was still playing dead on the ground.
"Hey!"
The boy was now poking him on his cheeks.
"I am alive, damn it."
The boy backed down when Sunny rebuked him.
"…Could have said that gently."
'…This bastard, is he sulking right now?'
"So…? Where are we right now?"
"In the middle of the sea."
The boy looked at Sunny from the side of his eyes.
"Aha! What wisdom! …Can you like tell me the name of the sea?"
"I don't know. Perhaps one of untraced parts of the Dream Realm."
The boy smiled at his reply. And snapped his fingers in his face.
"Of course, I know that!"
The boy turned around and started far in the sea for good 2 minutes before turning back to Sunny.
"My friend, can you tell me what place this Dream Realm is in? And which direction should I go to get to North Atlantic Ocean, …uh America?"
Sunny turned to face the boy completely, the boy looked at him expectingly with a smile on his face.
"There is no America in this world, you Fool!"
And, the boy smiled no more.