Why… Why am I frozen in place?! Somnu questioned as the malformed new nightmare creature stared him down from the entrance. M-my feet won’t move…!
Finding himself in front of a bigger Nightmare Creature based on some kind of new fear he most likely had active, Somnu’s body was experiencing a chill he had never felt even in the coldest nights of winter.
It wasn’t just the monster with the bunny ears in front of him either, ever since stepping into the long and narrow hallway, Somnu had felt another active fear sending panic signals into his nerve system. He was sure that one had something to do with Claustrophobia, the fear of narrow places, or specifically, to be stuck in a tight place.
Damn you, crow! Didn’t you confirm there weren’t any Nightmare Creatures ranked higher than that Hopping Turtle behind the door?! What is that, huh?! That’s definitely much stronger! In his panic, Somnu quickly noticed the stalemate. Where did it even come from?! For some reason, it’s not moving either…
The hairless bunny was instead in the starting position, the crouch position track and field runners go into before starting a race. It glared at Somnu with its crimson eyes, as if challenging him to a race, even allowing him a head start.
Crow-shit!! I’m fast, but I can’t outrun that!
Even with his Grudgekeeper buffs and the general abilities boost to his already above average physical natural talents, Somnu wasn’t confident in his speed any longer.
Stuck between a Nightmare Creature waiting to test his speed and another unseen monster dredging up his Claustrophobia, things weren’t looking very good for the scarecrow.
And yet, he had to do something. The air was getting heavier, his nerves were about to give out and his body was going to run out of moisture to sweat out pretty soon.
The tension was practically palpable, forcing Somnu to make a crucial decision.
I have to try… I have to face my fears and overcome them, that’s what the quest said…
However, since when was that easy? No one could just face their phobias suddenly and overcome them.
At least, no one who was sane.
And to make matters worse, Somnu was facing at least two actively enhanced fears that threatened his very life. These phobias weren’t irrational anymore, they were very much real, flesh and blood real.
But no matter what, Somnu didn’t want to die. After all this quest nonsense, he wanted to go back to his life as a scarecrow. To work in the fields, to protect the crop, to eat corn, and to maybe try and fail at talking to a girl.
Even if his nights were long and filled with strong migraines, even if he was alone in the home still containing the blood of his mother, along with the mark left by her murderer…
Somnu wanted to go back. He didn’t want to spend his entire life running from his fears anymore. Worse, to be chased by them wherever he went, whether here or back in reality.
I’m done running to get away… I’m already sick of this hell hole of a swamp… You brought me here on a whim and now I have to fight for my life?! Screw you!
“?!”
As if to respond to his resentment, his growing grudge against this place, against this swamp and the whole situation, Somnu’s Dream Catcher suddenly thrashed around like it was alive.
The frozen scarecrow felt a surge of power go through him. It wasn’t anything more than what he was relying on before, but feeling the strength return to his muscles and nerves, giving him control back over his own feet and body, Somnu felt a new rush of static rejuvenate him.
“Let’s do this, asshole.”
Somnu crouched down slightly to face the grotesque bunny monster head on. He swallowed his still slightly shaking nerves, and forced a stupid snicker through the sweat dripping down his nose and chin.
I’m done running away! From now on, if I choose to run, it wouldn’t be out of fear!
“!”
Seeing its prey find some kind of newfound motivation, the Nightmare Creature narrowed its crimson eyes and stretched its already tight mouth muscles into a big, toothy grin. The steamy saliva leaking from its jagged teeth dropped to the ground to break the silence.
Ignoring the feeling that sight gave him, Somnu got into the starting crouch pose too and dug his sport shoes into the ground.
Without a single word uttered, they both came to the same understanding.
They were going to race, not in the same direction, but towards each other.
And the first to get to the other, and deliver their lethal blow, would win.
It was that simple.
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Somnu had canceled the crow’s summoning, he knew he would need every single thing at his disposal if he wanted to win. Thankfully, it seemed like the crow was able to understand its master’s intentions without having the ability to read his mind.
[Crow’s Call]
“Caaaw!!”
FWHOOOSHHH!!
The second he resummoned the crow, it immediately acted as the whistle to start the race. Without a moment's delay, the wind howled inside the narrow hallway.
The two racers were already running towards each other at the highest speed they could muster.
At least, that’s how it seemed.
“!”
Somnu could feel himself unable to run at the speed he should be able to. It felt as though he was being slowed by some unnatural force.
Whether that was because of the enhanced active fears, or the Nightmare Creature in front of him, he couldn’t know.
He only knew he needed to keep going.
Just when there were only a dozen meters between them left, Somnu went to work.
“Caaw! Caaw!”
“?!”
First, having had that head start, the crow flew into the monster’s line of sight and aimed for its eyes.
“Rraghh!!” The hairless bunny tried biting the crow at first, but when that didn’t work, it tried to grab the bird.
“!”
That’s when Somnu canceled the summoning once more, shifting the nightmare’s attention back to him.
However, something was different about the prey running towards it now, something was really off.
There were no sounds coming from his movements, and for just an instance, that made the predator slow down.
However, that hadn’t been the only reason. The aura radiating from the prey had completely changed too. Something about its empty glowing purple eyes were glaring into the predator’s very being, its very core.
After [Silent Step], Somnu was now using [Hollow Gaze], introducing the nightmare to the idea of being a prey, to the very concept it was based upon.
Fear.
The true essence of the scarecrow.
“!”
Before the monster bunny realized it, Somnu had already reached it.
First thing the scarecrow did was use [Rooted Vigil], immediately grounding him from his running momentum in front of the monster.
And just before it could recover from its initial shock of feeling both fear and the sense of losing a race for the first time, Somnu clenched his fist and prepared to swing his already retracted arm.
[Straw Strike]
Layers of thick straws protruded out from Somnu’s skin and wrapped around both his fists.
As he brought one forward, he used the other to block the monster’s jagged teeth attempting to bite his head off.
He felt them break through the skin of his arm, but the scarecrow gritted his teeth and kept pushing.
WHOOSSH! BAMM!
The second the punch landed, the hairless bunny flew back and crashed into the door it had closed before.
“That’s what you get…” Somnu muttered as he fixed his posture, then changed his mind about the attitude he was assuming. “GG, that was a good run.”
It wasn’t that Somnu was still too naive to think a simple punch had defeated the Nightmare Creature, he was simply just aware of it.
The straws that surrounded his fist did not simply assume the same shape as his knuckles, but made sure to take the form of a sharp-edged dagger above the bones, acting like the small knives soldiers sometimes put in front of their guns.
However, instead of a knife, Somnu relied on a short sickle shape that he was used to. And now that short sickle was dripping green liquid that Somnu could only guess was the monster’s blood.
Besides, Somnu wasn’t just guessing based on the hole he had made into the monster’s chest, the many pop-up screens in front of him already had but confirmed the Nightmare Creature’s defeat.
[You have slain a Nightmare Creature.]
[Rank of Nightmare Creature: Specter.]
[Specter Name: Slowing Bunny.]
[Slowing Bunny: An evolved bunny based on the fear of speed, Tachophobia, and the fear of running, Trechophobia. It typically challenges its prey to a race and chases them down to test their speed. The longer the chase, the slower the prey gets.]
[Specter Level: Lvl 14.]
[Calculating all rewards…]
“A Specter… that must be the second rank of Nightmare Creatures then. Lurkers, then Specters.” He theorized while awaiting the fruit of his labor. “Am I glad I took the time to try out my skills… I have to give them all a good read later…”
He also noticed that the Hopping Turtle didn’t have a level, but he focused on the matter at hand for now.
“So, Specters have two active fears then? And this one had one of running? Not to mention some kind of status effect that slowed me down…”
Somnu had previously guessed that the fears activated whenever he was facing them specifically, but he had run before already, as well as taken other actions.
Seeing as he wasn’t terrified at every little thing due to his Omniphobia, the likely option was that the active fears only activated once he encountered a Nightmare Creature which was based on those active fears specifically. That was his current hypothesis.
Then he was interrupted…
“Ugh!” Somnu suddenly clawed at his chest.
His heart wasn’t hurting, it was something else.
Something was making him feel really uncomfortable, like a bad itch he couldn’t scratch.
“!”
Then, he finally realized what it was.
[Crow’s Call]
He summoned the crow that was somehow annoying him from across the summoning realm, wherever that was.
“Caaw!”
“...” Noticing it stare at him with an expected gaze, he closed his eyes and gave in with a sigh. “Fine, you can eat it…”
His voice almost echoed through the hallway.
“You can eat that corpse.”
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