The City of Illusions loomed ahead of them, an ethereal vision of ivory spires and shimmering towers that flickered like translucent ghosts in the twilight. The whole city seemed to pulse with an otherworldly energy, the air itself alive with strange whispers, though no voices could be heard. As the party stepped into its borders, a vast aurora borealis spread across the sky above, painting the heavens with shimmering blues, greens, and purples. But there was something unsettling about it—faces, fleeting and distant, appeared in the colored streams, watching the city below as though waiting for something.
The streets were pristine, almost too clean, and felt more like the pale bones of a dream than anything grounded in reality. Even the buildings seemed to sway and blur as if they weren't fully formed, shifting from solid to translucent whenever you tried to focus on them for too long.
“Memory Towers,” Fauna breathed, looking on the great spires of the city with awe. “Places where the secrets of Argwyll are stored. Forgotten thoughts from warriors long gone.”
"This place... it’s like something out of a fever dream," Ethan muttered, eyes wide as he glanced at the aurora and the shifting faces above. “And it’s practically swarming with Spirit Cores.”
Klax nodded grimly, his sharp gaze sweeping the streets as they moved deeper into the city. “The City of Illusions is a place where memories hold power,” he explained, his voice low. “It’s presided over by creatures called Dreamstriders—ancient beings that feed on the fragments of memories, illusions, and dreams. This city warps reality itself, bending it to the will of those who have power over their own dreams... and nightmares.”
“And it’s no coincidence you feel the power deep in this place,” Fauna said, wiggling her nose as the ethereal wind of the city blew through its pristine innards. “A Grade C Delve is full of creatures that would never be seen on the surface. Here, we’re deep underground, in a place lost to time. Normally an Archon would have to go through a Grade D before getting here. The fact that your System showed you this place already must be for a reason.”
“And we know what that reason is, now,” Klax finished.
As if on cue, the first Dreamstriders appeared—sapphire-and-white manta-like creatures that glided through the air with eerie grace. Their glowing bodies cast a soft light over the streets, each of them large enough to blot out the stars as they passed overhead. They moved silently, their broad wings making slow, rhythmic motions as though they were swimming through an unseen sea of illusions.
Ethan appraised them immediately:
Dreamstrider (LVL 20)
HP: 100
Unique Skill: Ethereal
The ethereal property was immediately familiar. “These things can turn invisible... but they can’t actually attack us,” Ethan informed the group with a slight grin. “They’re all show.”
“That’s... good?” Fauna said hesitantly, her eyes darting to the peaceful creatures. “Right?”
Tara grinned, flexing her fingers. “So we don’t need to fight them, then. Just keep moving.”
Ethan nodded. “Exactly. They’re more like guards, keeping watch over the memories that float through this place. But our goal isn’t them.” He pointed toward a tall, looming structure in the distance, one that stood out even in the dreamlike haze of the city. Its base pulsed like a living organism, veined with glowing lines that seemed to beat like a heart.
"The Nerve Tower," Ethan said, a sharp glint in his eye. "That’s where we need to go. It’s just like it was in Jun’Ei’s vision."
The group nodded, moving as one towards the city perimeter, keeping their eyes trained on the ghostly floating ‘striders that moved gently through the air.
And it didn’t take long for them to see what they were truly going up against, here.
The first main street was lined with corpses – broken bodies of the Dreamstriders lined both sides of the spiritual grounds, some twitching, still phasing in and out of reality with their strange ability. Most had been slaughtered without mercy, the violet streams of their sparkling blood lining the streets.
Ethan bent down to touch one manta that was still in the grip of its death-throes. It’s single eye looked at him in what might have been desperation.
“Three guesses who did this,” Ethan said over his shoulder.
Fauna shook her pale head at the mounds of bodies. “No mercy. Just like all the Greycloaks. But why bother with them?”
“Don’t you get it, Faun?” Tara scoffed, prodding one of the fallen Dreamstriders with her toe. “They wanna slow him down. They know Ethan draws strength from the more enemies he kills just like the rest of us. So, they came through here to thin the herd.”
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She was right. And yet, Ethan instinctively thought there was more to it than just that.
“It’s a warning,” he said. “He’s telling me he’ll extend no less mercy to anyone who comes looking for him. He knows we’re coming. Hell…I wouldn’t be surprised if it was him who disrupted the portal.”
“So we are walking into a trap,” Tara shrugged.
Klax growled under his breath.
“Come on.”
“Uh, did you not hear me or something dude? Got some of that birthday cake in your ears or-“
“I heard you, Tara,” the Lycae snarled. “And it doesn’t change anything.”
Everyone’s eyes flew to Klax’s, seeing that by this point there was no stopping him from charging forward towards his goal. Tara caught Ethan’s eyes, motioned towards the wolfman, and silently begged him to intervene.
“We got this, Tara,” he said. “Besides, the Lightborn was sloppy. He might have thought he’s choked my Core Supply, but he’s left me something much more valuable right here.”
While the party stopped to watch what happened next, Ethan gave just one last command:
“Hold my Undead boy,” he said. “I’m gonna make sure this little guy’s skills don’t go to waste.”
----------------------------------------
Skill Transfer…Complete!
Current Host [Valgraiva, Lord of the Damned]
Skill Transfer: Ethereal Form (Grade E)
Using this skill, your form shimmers out of reality for 5 seconds, nullifying any physical or magic attacks.
WARNING: You will be unable to attack when {Ethereal Form} is activated.
Cooldown: 5 minutes
Spirit Core Cost to Upgrade: 400
It was something he couldn’t pass up – not when one of the Dreamstriders was right there for the taking. But he wasn’t about to assume its tiny form permanently. Valgraiva’s HP and Core Stats were just too juicy to pass up. Luckily, he was able to transfer his Undead Host’s three major skills with him and back again, though it had required no small effort on the party’s part to restrain Valgraiva with spells and pure strength while Ethan possessed his new host.
It was strange though – whenever he re-possessed an old Host, it almost seemed like they submitted willingly. There was no cooldown, not resistance – no spark of anger that rang out from their head. He was starting to think that maybe they saw him as an opportunity for escape from their lot in life – to be nothing but Bosses to be beaten and then respawned for whatever hapless adventurers happened along…
Whatever the case, he had his new skill, and he was already thinking about its upgrade path when the party came to a juncture between two shimmering spires. Somewhere, the sound of singing could be heard, and the earth beneath them began to shake – almost like someone was telling them to stop. The group exchanged glances, but before anyone could speak, the soft glow of the city suddenly shifted. The air grew heavier, and the shimmering light in the sky seemed to tremble. Then, without warning, a notification popped up in front of Ethan:
---Challenge Alert---
GAUNTLET: REACH THE NERVE TOWER OUTSKIRTS
Objective: Make it to the Nerve Tower Outskirts within 10 minutes.
Warning: All Dreamstriders in the city will activate upon the challenge’s start. They will hunt you.
Ethan grimaced. “So much for being silent custodians…”
Fauna's face paled as she read the notification aloud. “Once we start... every Dreamstrider will come after us.”
“They’ve been peaceful up until now,” Tara said, her grin faltering. “But I’m guessing they’re not going to stay that way, huh?”
Klax growled softly, his claws flexing. “They may be ethereal, but they can still trap us in illusions, slow us down. That’s how they’ll hunt us.”
Ethan looked around, sizing up the Dreamstriders as they silently glided above the city. They hadn’t yet sensed the challenge, but that wouldn’t last for long. He could already feel the weight of time pressing down on them.
“Alright,” he said, his voice sharp with command. “No point in hesitating. Fauna, we’re going to need speed. Can you whip up something?”
Fauna’s eyes glimmered with nervous energy, but she quickly raised her staff, a faint shimmer of magic swirling around her hands. “I can cast a Haste spell on all of us. It won’t last long, but it should help us get a head start.”
“Good,” Ethan said, unsheathing his Mithril Scythe. The blade gleamed in the strange light of the city, and he twirled it in his hands with practiced ease, almost as if his Undead fingers were made for it. “I’ll take point. This baby should be enough to keep those manta-things at bay.”
Tara, already drawing her bow, flicked her tail with anticipation. “I’ll keep their numbers down from a distance. These little bastards look tricky, though. Especially with that Ethereal thing. We’ll have to remember its cooldown and time our strikes.”
Klax, ever the protector, nodded as he readied his claws. “And I’ll handle any that get too close.”
They lined up, staring down the empty, dreamlike streets that wound toward the Nerve Tower. The faces in the sky seemed to shift with growing intensity, watching, waiting for them to make their move.
Fauna cast her Haste spell, and the moment the shimmering aura enveloped them, Ethan raised his scythe, his eye fixed on the pulsating tower in the distance.
“GO!”
They shot forward as one, the streets beneath them blurring in a rush of motion. Ethan could feel the magic in Fauna’s spell working its way through his limbs, making his movements sharper, faster. His scythe gleamed as he held it ready, glancing up to see the Dreamstriders starting to flicker and shimmer in the air.
“They’re coming!” Tara shouted, loosing an arrow into the sky. It whistled through the air, hitting a Dreamstrider and making it vanish in a puff of ethereal light. But more were coming, hundreds of them, their sapphire-and-white bodies casting eerie shadows over the party.
Ethan gritted his teeth, his muscles coiling as he leaped forward, leading the charge through the streets. His scythe cut through the air, scattering illusions as the Dreamstriders swarmed from above.
“We have to keep moving!” Klax roared, ripping through a flickering shadow as it tried to manifest in front of him.
With the Nerve Tower looming in the distance, pulsing like a giant heart, Ethan knew there was no turning back now.
The race had begun.