Chapter 231 Of Voices And Dreams

A feral screech pierced through Lukas' ears, and it made his body howl and his chest ache.

Was it the first time that he ever experienced something negative? Something so heart wrenching and twisted?

No, that was a lie, but as he bound towards the center of the Dark Forest—he knew that he was about to meet Rhea.

Those screeches indicated as much.

"Oh fuck it, if I'm going to die then I might as well learn it."

The thrum of experience coursed into Lukas' body, almost as if it was second nature.

The [Wand Slinger] skill made the act of pointing the Crystal Wand almost too natural, too easy as if he could cast everything in one go like Cerisedel the Dragon had.

"Why's everything too easy for her? I thought I had it easy, but she's like, whoop whoop, I learned the spell in one look. That's basically cheating at this point, isn't it?" Lukas muttered as he pushed himself forward.

The body of a Vampire was bestowed to him and along came all the advantages associated with it, and the drawbacks too—but some races were really just up and beyond.

It was a frantic solo conversation, mostly said to keep his mind preoccupied as he dodged the slither of tentacles—roots that attempted to ensnare him in one go.

Would he have had a harder time in his human self version?

No doubt. He wasn't matched for physical prowess as he did now, but somehow, the same survival instincts that kept him alive when he was a human functioned all the same here.

One hit and he'd die.

Lukas knew that he'd already complained about it a thousand times before, but it didn't make anything different as he felt a root gash him across the cheek, blood dripping down his cheek.

"Let's seal that up, shall we?" Lukas said.

His own body's healing speed was unmatched, but in his own mind, his blood seeped back into the cut before it healed itself over.

"Man, I do hope that's enough to control Rhea but that's—woah there!" Lukas dodged at the last possible second, the red claw emanating from the Blood of Nightmares could have clawed his heart out in an instant.

Instead, it shredded through the Dark Forest tree instead.

Lukas' heart pounded in his chest and he pointed the crystal wand at her.

"[Purify]!" he shouted, even though he didn't need to.

The blast of white light stabbed the Blood of Nightmares into its chest and it staggered for a moment before it rose up against him again.

There was no sense of any kind of purifying happening whatsoever—and all Lukas felt was pain.

Almost as if the attack had also reached and torn something out of him too.

"[Purify], [Purify], [Purify]!" Lukas wanted to stop, but this was what he wanted to try out first. He had more confidence in the power of the crystal that in his own skills.

Each attack hit their mark, and pushed the Blood of Nightmare back. The creature pushed back against several trees and destroyed it, the Blood of Nightmare then pressed a claw to a tree and then sucked up its life force before it stood up again.

"[Greater Purify]!" Lukas shouted, a greater spell blasting out again.

'Hurts! That hurts!' the voice suddenly seized in Lukas' brain.

It made Lukas stop, and he grimaced.

The pain was quite real for him too, but he just wanted to see—to see if there was any kind of actual change for Rhea, the one still stuck in there.

This was his own doing, and as the smoke cleared—it revealed the Blood of Nightmares still in its full glory.

He looked down at the crystal wand and saw its light flickering and dying. It hadn't been of any use... and maybe it hadn't been going to be of any use.

Lukas gritted his teeth and looked at the Blood of Nightmare/Rhea, and knew that maybe… maybe there wasn't anything wrong with her?

Appearances were deceiving, but she was borne out of him—

"Ack." Lukas' body crashed against a tree, this time, Rhea's claws dug into his neck and the whirlwind of a creature stared at him.

The Blood of Nightmare didn't immediately sank their fangs into him, nor did it suck his life force at once.

Maybe Rhea still recognized him there, somewhere.

"Hey, hey. It's fine. Sorry about that—I just had to draw your attention real quick." Lukas breathed and closed his eyes. He tried to tap into her mind—something he should have done in the first place.

Rhea snarled at him, her consciousness still lost in the being of Blood and Nightmares.

"Maybe ease up a little, you're gonna kill me and I'm not into choking without consent." Lukas choked, and when Rhea didn't respond, he tried to control the blood within her that came from him.

It was a quick jolt.

Her arm shook, but then loosened. It snarled at him and tried to resist his powers—a battle of wills that Lukas strained his mind against. He could do it.

And yet as he watched the Blood of Nightmare—no, at Rhea, struggling and fighting against him, he found no joy in it whatsoever.

Insisting to go on one way or another.

Lukas could have just done what he should have done in the first place.

"Sorry I wasn't listening. I was being inattentive and all of that. I'm not the best at it—excuses maybe. Yeah, that weird breath doesn't bother me that much, but yeah, let's get with reparations, Rhea."

Lukas used the crystal wand and slashed into his hand—blood coursing and dripping into a steady flow. He resisted the urge of his body to heal him and he allowed it to wash all over the Blood of Nightmare's body.

He waited for a heartbeat. A moment. Nothing passed.

The rage of the Blood of Nightmares still hampered against Lukas and made his chest hurt, but then it happened. The Blood of Nightmare's body went slack and dropped against him.