Echoes of the Past

Chapter 24 Walls and Towers

The fact that the weak Suiyue could control Nan'an and survive two major dangerous incidents is enough to prove the reliability of the "Heroic Spirit".

The letter of recommendation that Erlu gave to Suiyue was actually intended for Nan'an, a fact that both of them were well aware of.

Given the importance of human host performance in the summoning system, the crow wisely abandoned its curiosity about the old stories of the Gray Star era and instead focused on understanding the basic performance of the moon.

Suiyue shrugged: "You already know everything about when I was locked up last time."

The crow looked at Nan'an: "Your Excellency Nan'an..."

"There's no need to use honorifics when addressing me. I'm 168 years old. My body was decomposed, my bones were gnawed clean by monsters, and I became a wandering ghost. This process didn't even take half your age."

"Very well." Bewitching Raven readily agreed. "Then, Nan'an, during the time you and Suiyue 'coexisted,' aside from giving temporary commands during battles, did you systematically teach her any other magic or combat skills?"

Remembering the time she practiced magic calibration on the riverbank before being swallowed by the black mist, Suiyue awkwardly dug her toes into the ground.

The crow instantly understood; it seemed that magic was not an option for the time being.

"So, martial arts or close combat skills?" He changed his approach.

"Yes, there are..." Suiyue scratched her head, her expression somewhat subtle. "But they're all techniques that martial arts masters probably wouldn't even look at. Smearing ashes into eyes, groin grabbing, striking the lower back, stomping on toes, and so on. He even taught me how to quickly gouge out someone's eyeballs with my fingers, how to slit a throat to bleed quickly, and how to break someone's knee with minimal force..."

Her voice trailed off as she spoke, and these techniques sounded anything but honorable, more like the methods of a street thug or a seasoned assassin, far removed from orthodox knightly swordsmanship or martial arts combat.

She herself came from an untrained background and didn't see anything wrong with it, but as she was about to become a member of the Elru clan, facing the boss directly, her verbal abilities were limited to this... well...

The crow remained silent for a moment, its face expressionless, before simply nodding slightly.

"These methods are indeed effective for self-defense or dealing with ordinary living erosions and thugs, but they are not enough to deal with more complex divine nightmares."

"It seems," the crow paused, then continued, "that your basic qualities are not yet fully compatible with Lord Nan'an's power."

Nan'an, however, had great confidence in Suiyue: "Once she officially joins Elu and I am provided with the corresponding resources, I am confident that I can train her well."

The idea of ​​summoned creatures training summoners sounds rather strange, but when Crazy Raven heard it, he felt that Suiyue should feel honored.

Even during the Gray Star era, probably no one had ever enjoyed this treatment.

After a brief silence, Nan'an got straight to the point.

"Grandpa, I don't object to you using my power to fight the Nightmare God, but Suiyue..." He said, angrily rubbing the deer's head. Suiyue grimaced but dared not resist. "She also only has a superficial understanding of the Nightmare God. Even now that she has been resurrected as a Heroic Spirit, I am still clueless about Nora's current situation."

The bewitching crow raised its right hand and used its magic to confirm that the soundproofing array and the anti-spy array were functioning normally, and that there was no sign of life in the surrounding area.

He remained silent for a few seconds.

"According to the scholars Solitz and Onzer, the Nightmare is an accompanying phenomenon of 'Black Mist,' existing in a form completely different from the conventional understanding of matter and magic. It is a corrosive and highly dangerous byproduct of Black Mist, appearing in all areas where Black Mist exists, and occasionally infiltrating areas untouched by Black Mist, causing mutations."

"In your previous report, Suiyue mentioned that you saw a chair deep within the black mist, and both of you sat on it without incident." Bewitching Raven's eyes narrowed slightly. "But what you don't know is that after you left, another person sat on it."

"The moment she sat down, she was immediately dragged into an abyss of fear. In her perception, everything around her, her most trusted friends and classmates, instantly distorted into incomprehensible, malevolent, and grotesque beings."

"Her body was driven by the most primal survival instinct, and in order to protect herself, she attacked anyone who tried to get close to her."

"Afterwards, when the chaos was brought under control, she gradually regained her senses and could recall with perfect clarity the feeling of trying to wrest control of her body from 'another person'."

"But she couldn't remember what she saw the moment she sat down, nor could she describe what 'the other person' was."

"This chair has already demonstrated the uncertainty and instability of many of the Nightmare Gods."

"Perhaps when the first person comes into contact with it, it is still in a 'harmless' dormant period, but the next person who comes into contact with it will not be so lucky."

The bewitching crow's gaze slowly shifted, landing on the rough, gray stone wall opposite.

His gaze seemed to pierce through the solid rock wall, reaching into the depths of some distant and eerie memory.

"I saw a wall in the black fog..."

His speech was almost as slow as a dream.

"It soars into the clouds... no, it should be said that it 'extends' into the depths of the mist, upwards and to both sides, with no end in sight, like a heavenly wall that grows from the earth itself, rejecting everything. Its surface is a plain, unremarkable stone gray, just like the material used in this prison."

"Among those traveling with me were several experienced fog breakers and a few nobles who had come to pay their blood tax. They were brave... or rather, very curious."

"One of them stepped forward and carefully pried a brick off the base of the wall using a special tool."

The corner of the crow's mouth twitched very slightly; it was hardly a smile.

"They succeeded. The brick was removed intact. Holding it in my hand, it was cool and heavy, and seemed no different from any ordinary brick. As I said, it was nothing special."

"This gave them...confidence, or rather, a false sense of security."

"So they decided to climb, using ropes, grappling hooks, and magical aids..."

"They went up the vertical, abnormally smooth wall, and I watched from below as their figures grew smaller and smaller until they disappeared into the thick, impenetrable fog."

As the crow paused, Nan'an asked, "You didn't stop it?"

"Those who venture deep into the black fog can never suppress their curiosity; only curiosity can lead them to the miracle that dispels it," the Bewitching Raven solemnly declared. "They, and we, are all aware of this."

He slowly closed his eyes, as if he were seeing that scene again.

"Then, they reached the top."

"I heard their cheers, clearly from high up, yet the sound was so close."

"Then...like a drop of thick ink falling into clear pool water, it spread lightly and naturally from the heights of the mist, and their figures solidified, standing once again on the open ground by the wall."

"The location is almost exactly the same as when we started climbing."

The raven's voice was almost a whisper.

"They had no memory of having just completed a thrilling climb and reached incredible heights, insisting that they had never left the ground and had only 'paused for a moment'."

Suiyue felt as if her lungs were being tightly gripped by a pair of large hands, making it difficult for her to breathe.

"The rest of us from Elru realized something was wrong and shouted for those still nearby to leave. But within a hundred paces... they melted away one by one, like snowmen melting in the sun."

"Their bodies blurred, became transparent, and turned into light... or perhaps, writing? I'm not sure, but it was like a symbol or a totem, something that emanated from their bodies."

"They vanished without a trace, not even ashes remained."

The crow looked at Nan'an and Suiyue again, its eyes regaining focus.

"That wall is also a nightmare... The Deer and the Mistbreaker have dealt with it many times, so many that we have to emphasize it every time we welcome new students."

"It is special; it is one of the few stable individuals among the Nightmare Gods."

"It seems to have the power to overturn common sense about distance and direction, twisting them into incomprehensible loops."

Suiyue swallowed hard, while Nan'an seemed lost in thought.

The evil of the Nightmare God was far more illogical than the imagination he had constructed based on Suiyue's fragmented descriptions.

In the stories told by the Bewitching Raven, the behavior of the Fogbreakers and the elite nobles is exemplary.

They didn't act rashly; they simply followed the most basic exploration logic: sampling, climbing and observing, with experienced veterans like the Crow watching over them.

Logically, this is already the approach that minimizes risk.

Based on experience, they did nothing wrong.

But they still met with misfortune.

"You've been exploring the Black Mist for so many years..." Suiyue licked her slightly dry lips, her voice filled with pure curiosity and confusion, "Haven't you compiled a... uh, a 'strategy guide' or something like that for the new Mistbreakers to refer to? At least let them know what things they absolutely cannot do?"

"Hozuki, your horns can shoot fireballs..."

Nan'an turned around abruptly: "You know this trick too?"

"Huh?" Suiyue was taken aback by the abrupt question. With half a fish bone still dangling from her mouth, she asked blankly, "What do you mean? How could I possibly..."

"Suppose," Raven said gently, "that I solemnly wrote the information that 'the antlers of the hybrid deer-people can shoot fireballs' into the 'Mistbreaker Survival Handbook,' what would be the first subconscious reaction of every Mistbreaker who encounters a hybrid deer-people during their explorations?"

Nan'an understood: "In the black fog, there are no unchanging safety rules. Everything depends on the fog-breaker's own observation, analysis, and adaptability."

The crow nodded.

Upon closer examination, the concept of the Nightmare God perfectly embodies the characteristics of a terrible game.

In pursuit of a so-called "Souls-like" experience, the designers have created all sorts of messy mechanics to make things difficult for players, even punishing them when they haven't done anything wrong.

Playing well has its punishments, and playing poorly also has its punishments; if you step in with your left foot, you're dead, and if you step in with your right foot, you're dead too.

It's no wonder that many people on the continent of Nora have fallen victim to the Nightmare God in hopes of ending their suffering once and for all.

The right thing to do is to quit playing these terrible games and stop playing them altogether.

Amidst the mass exodus of Nora from the game, the ancestors of Soliz and Onzer persevered in their fight against the Nightmare God and their search for a way out, demonstrating an admirable level of resilience.

Suiyue licked her lips: "So... is that rumor true? I mean, in all these years of exploring the Black Mist, Solitz and Onze... actually found some, um, controllable Nightmares? Like... taming dangerous beasts?"

The crow gave the two of them a meaningful look.

"To outsiders and the public, Ellu and the official response have always been consistent with the Senate's public statement—that it was just baseless rumors, people's wishful thinking about dispelling the black fog."

"But you are about to become a member of the Elru, so my answer will be... soon you will be able to witness it for yourself."

The description of the "wall" by the crow was like a stone thrown into a deep pool of consciousness, stirring up unique ripples in Nan'an's mind.

He couldn't help but think of the strange creatures deep within the black mist of the Sickle Water Canyon.

“Grandpa,” Nan’an began, “your mention of the wall reminds me of something else. We also saw an unusual ‘structure’ in the black fog before… but we didn’t have time to go into details then.”

The crow frowned, wondering if these two were truly lucky stars. It was their first time entering the black mist, and after only wandering around for two or three days, they had stumbled upon a big prize.

Nan'an recalled, trying to describe it with his limited vocabulary.

"It was a 'tower,' very tall, with its tip hidden above the swirling mist, the top of which was not visible. Its entire body had a kind of... dark metallic texture, or it could be a visual illusion caused by the black mist. In any case, the surface was as smooth as a polished mirror."

Suiyue, with a fish head in her mouth, savoring the saltiness, nodded repeatedly when she heard Nan'an say this.

"Oh yeah, and that weird wish-granting thing!"

"May all your wishes come true?"

The crow was stunned. When it heard Nan'an say that the other party could generate a corresponding entity based on what the two of them thought, the expression on its face froze instantly.

"Have you mentioned this to anyone else?" He stood up excitedly, placing his hands on Suiyue's shoulders, his eyes filled with an almost ferocious urgency.

"No, no... Arele pressed me too hard twice, I didn't even have time to say anything... This is much stranger than that chair, it almost killed me and Nan'an."

Nan'an corrected: "Even if I beat you to death, I'll just go back and continue waiting for the right person."

The crow couldn't stand the two's banter anymore; its forehead was covered in fine beads of sweat.

"Thank goodness, thank goodness..."

He muttered to himself, pacing back and forth, still somewhat shaken.

"I need to deal with this immediately... Suiyue, your luck is simply incredible."

The crow left incoherently, without even having time to say anything.

"Have we... run into something really sinister?"

"I think you should change your mindset," Nan'an said. "Didn't you hear what Huoya said? Luck! You're only alive because of me."

It's a good thing this silly deer only realized what was happening now; it had already narrowly escaped death.

The fact that even a professional like the Crow could feel the chills of fear... Could that tower be a nightmare on par with the walls?