Transcending Dreams
B2 - Chapter 82

“You! Stop—”

A fist glowing a harsh blue shattered the so-called Lord Paddlington’s body like glass in the middle of his sentence. William grunted when the floor cracked beneath the broken turtle as his fist broke the floor far too easily.

This was strength at another level. It felt like he could take on the world.

“What a shame.”

William looked away from the broken porcelain pieces the fake Lord Paddlington was made of, aware that the system didn’t award him any experience. Either its level was too low for it to count, or it wasn’t a living thing in the first place.

He saw Sophia staring at him with that sweet smile, still on the steps. His heart sank at the thought of the avatar actually being present instead of a projection as he had hoped.

He wasn’t completely mad to try to smash whatever that turtle was without being reasonably confident. He could sense a faint connection between the turtle and Sophia, which led to him making a guess when he noticed the strange way the turtle was acting.

“You know, that thing was supposed to remind me of my powerlessness?”

William backed away slightly, the feeling of invincibility from [Force Multiplier] quickly disappearing. The martial skill was far from the time limit, but the growing presence of Sophia negated his high. Though, he supposed it would be proper to call it the corrupted avatar rather than Sophia.

Destroying the turtle construct stopped the need for a facade. Her visage was turning more and more like what he saw at the gate. The sweet smile stayed, though murderous would be a better description with the dark presence she now exuded.

“I was planning to let you live after I was freed,” Sophia walked slowly toward him. “Of course, your soul would not control your body, but at least it would have existed. I’m afraid I no longer feel generous.”

William wasn’t standing in place like a sitting duck as she made her short monologue. No, he was busy trying to hold his composure as everything around him melted.

The vague, eastern-themed painting and sculptures—which he just realized he couldn’t recall the details of—the beautifully carpeted floor, the carved wooden pillars. All of them seemed to dissolve into nothingness, leaving behind a hall that reeked of decay.

The overall structure was the same, but the ravages of time left scars no longer covered by whatever illusion the turtle construct had been sustaining.

Where there was a previously well-lit room, all that was left was darkness, with the only light coming from the corrupted avatar—a dim sheen enough to make her figure visible and nothing else—and the bright blue glow from the Qi blazing around William’s body. He knew that would only last for a minute or so before that disappeared, too.

“You were so confident,” Sophia—no, the corrupted avatar commented. “Why has it disappeared?”

She was right.

William’s eyes sharpened. He shot off the rotted floor like a rocket, demolishing it beyond recognition. The increased Strength and Agility that [Force Multiplier] provided was in full display.

He had tunnel vision as he approached the corrupted avatar. She didn’t look worried in the slightest, and that was setting off alarm bells in his mind.

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It was too late to back out, so selling out was the only option. His mind worked overtime to keep track of her limbs, her every movement, no matter how small. He wasn’t just accounting for physical combat, which was unlikely in the first place, but all martial skills.

They would require Qi to activate, corrupted avatar or not. If he sensed it, protecting his vitals would become paramount.

A guttural roar left William’s mouth, his fist intending to make the corrupted avatar’s head disappear.

“What?!” William yelled when his fist passed harmlessly through her head. The momentum was far too much for him to stop. The wall behind the avatar was his new, untended target—where the stairs previously existed in the illusion.

His fist slammed into the stone wall, sending a shower of rubble and dust outward as he punched a large hole straight through to reveal a chamber behind it. sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ ɴ0velFɪre.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

“I’ll be waiting for you,” the corrupted avatar chuckled behind him. “There’s only one way to leave this place, and it’s under my control.”

William pushed the rubble off him and shook the debris off as he turned, just in time to see the corrupted avatar fade out of existence.

He stayed still for a few seconds, ensuring he was the only one in the hall. He sighed in relief and moved to the corner on the left, making as little noise as possible, before leaning on the wall.

[Force Multiplier] would be deactivated soon, and he didn’t have another light source. He wouldn’t be entirely in the dark since his eyesight was leaps and bounds beyond what a mortal could possess, but it would still be severely limited.

William’s ears would be of most help in this situation.

A few seconds later, the martial skill was deactivated. The sudden loss of light made him realize he had supplied nearly ninety-nine percent of the light in the massive hall. All that was left for his eyes to see were dim shapes.

That should be enough for him to tell if there was any movement.

Spiritual Energy: 930/1130 (20% per Hour)

As much as William wished to continue, he intended to be in the best state possible. That included recovering the two hundred Spiritual Energy used to activate [Force Multiplier].

It would take under an hour. More importantly, he needed to pass the thirty-minute mark so he could use [Force Multiplier] again without getting hit by the penalty.

William kept his alertness high as he strained his eyes and ears for anything requiring him to act. All he had to do was keep this up for an hour.

… He didn’t like that.

William tapped his finger on his thigh for a few seconds before he thought of something that might help.

He pulled the spirit beast egg out of his spatial stone and held it in the normal position—in the crook of his left arm.

“I know you can understand me,” William said quietly, not that it felt like it in this dead place. “Send me a signal if you’re listening.”

It took a few seconds, but he felt a weak ping wherever his skin touched the egg. That was too slow.

“Again. Signal as fast as possible the moment I stop talking.”

The ping was near instantaneous. It seemed like the egg had been reluctant to play along the first time.

“I need your help, Little Egg. You were able to sense danger outside your shell when the turtle wanted to cook you,” William felt the egg send him a feeling of fear. “Don’t worry, I won’t let it turn you into a meal. That’s what we should do, protect each other.”

He felt it agree, happily, in fact.

William thought it was insane that he was sweet-talking a literal egg into doing his bidding, but if it worked, it worked.

“I need you to warn me if you sense anything moving other than me,” William said slowly, wanting to ensure it wasn’t misunderstood. “And I mean anything. It doesn’t have to be living.”

He felt the egg agreeing, but he couldn’t be sure if it actually knew what he wanted from it. Thankfully, that was easy to find out.

William kicked a small stone near his foot.

The egg pinged him when the stone started to move, and not a moment before. Good.

He picked up a smaller stone, part of the rubble he had created from demolishing the wall. It could barely be called pebble-sized. He threw it to the opposite side of the hall.

The egg pinged him when the pebble left his hand, and it continued to do so until the pebble landed and rolled to a stop. Excellent.

There were better ways to find out the limits of what it could sense, but William could only use what he had available. This was good enough to have that extra reassurance.

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