River wasn't sure what he expected upon entering the Dream Realm. Perhaps the sprawling lush forests of Bastion with its towering trees swaying in an unseen breeze. Maybe the endless floating islands of the Chained Isles drifting lazily through the sky. But at the very least, he expected something familiar.
Instead, the moment his vision cleared, River found himself teetering on the edge of a jagged cliff, overlooking an endless expanse of crimson coral-like structures. The crimson was unsettling, contrasted by the ground beneath his feet, which was entirely black. It was as though the earth itself had been charred, devoid of life, leaving behind nothing but an empty, smoldering void.
It was a strange sight. The tangled sprawl of towering coral—twisting, fusing, and stretching chaotically into one another like petrified veins of some colossal Nightmare Creature. The massive "veins" stretched skyward, their irregular protrusions curling and merging in unnatural formations, casting warped shadows in the eerie black-and-red glow of the sunlit void. The environment extended for as far as River could see, broken only by jagged cliffs, gaping chasms, and distant, fractured landscapes that defied any sense of natural order.
Looking up towards the sky, River was met with an expanse of somber gray, heavy and oppressive, like a storm that would never break. Suspended within it was a pale, sickly sun, its light weak and ghostly, casting long, distorted shadows over the coral labyrinth below. It was neither warm nor reassuring—just a distant, dying ember hanging in the sky.
'This is the Dream Realm…? It doesn't look like any of the known places Professor Cecilia described.' River thought, a knot of unease tightening in his chest. There was something deeply unsettling about the landscape—like the very air was wrong.
Then, a sound—deep and unnatural—sent a chill lancing down his spine. River turned, and his breath caught.
Something massive loomed in the distance. Its body was a fusion of hardened chitin and something grotesquely human, its black-and-crimson carapace gleaming like ancient armor splattered with fresh blood. Jagged spikes jutted from its shell, and where its arms should have been, two monstrous bone scythes extended from its joints, curved and honed to brutal sharpness.
Its narrow eye slits locked onto him, unblinking and focused. For a moment, it was still—then, without warning, it lunged. The air split with a shriek of grinding chitin as it surged toward River, closing the distance with terrifying speed.
River's breath caught in his throat. His instincts screamed at him to move, and without thinking, he took a step back. The ground beneath his feet cracked, breaking away in jagged fragments.
'Oh, you've got to be–'
He plummeted.
'Shit–SHIT–!'
The wind tore past him, coral flashing by in a red blur. His heart slammed against his ribs as he twisted mid-fall, arms flailing for purchase—but the slick, alien formations slipped through his fingers like water. The last thing he saw before impact was the coral abyss below, stretching endlessly.
'Is this seriously how I–'
Then—crack.
A sharp pain exploded through his skull, and the world went black.
***
When River came, too, everything felt wrong.
His body was moving, but not by his own doing. A dull, heavy throb radiated from the side of his head, every beat of his pulse a reminder of the pain and confusion clouding his thoughts. His arms scraped against the rough, uneven ground, and his arms dragged uselessly behind him. He blinked, trying to clear the haze in his mind, but the world around him remained blurry, shifting like a mirage.
His thoughts scrambled to make sense of it all—where was he? What had happened? The only clarity was a dark, suffocating ache in his skull, threatening to pull him back under. His chest felt heavy as he tried to take in his surroundings, but the shapes around him twisted and blurred like some cruel, unfamiliar dream.
A sudden jerk pulled him forward, forcing him to stop his internal panic. He gasped, struggling to focus, but his mind felt thick and sluggish, like wading through mud. Every movement was slow and uncoordinated. He couldn't think straight.
'What...?' His thoughts jumbled as he tried to make sense of the situation. The pain in his head swelled, and for a moment, everything seemed to drift again, but then—something dragged him forward with a sickeningly easy force. His ankle burned from the grip.
Through the disorienting fog, he could feel the rough ground under him, the scrape of jagged surfaces against his skin. Something—someone—was pulling him like a ragdoll.
His mind snapped back to the present, and slowly, his senses began to sharpen, one after another. The scraping of claws against the coral floor. The cold weight of something large, chitinous, and monstrous above him. The sound of clicking pincers and a deep, guttural hiss.
It took a few moments for his eyes to focus, but when they did, the monstrous figure looming over him came into view, dragging him further into the nightmare landscape.
River's breath caught in his throat, his body tensing as the realization hit. 'What… the fuck is… that?'
The back of a massive, chitinous figure loomed above him, dragging him across the ground like a discarded carcass. It was monstrous—around two and a half meters tall, a grotesque fusion of crab, centaur, and nightmare. Eight segmented legs that ended in scythe-like protrusions clicked and scraped against the coral floor. A humanoid torso jutted from the shell, clad in thick, chitinous armor, its head resting directly on its shoulders with no neck in between.
And the worst part—where hands should have been, there were only two enormous pincers, one of which was currently latched around his ankle, dragging him across the ground with unsettling ease.
River's mind raced with possibilities of what was about to happen to him, but with each thought, his head throbbed, each beat of his pulse like a hammer against his skull. No matter how much he tried, his body refused to cooperate—each movement felt slow, uncoordinated like he was wading through thick mud. 'Come on, move—just one arm, one goddamn finger!' But, every time he tried to summon the strength to move, to fight, his body only responded with sluggish, limp movements.
As the creature continued to pull him deeper into the coral forest, River could slowly feel his mind growing clearer and his strength returning. The oppressive weight of pain and disorientation still clung to him, but River's senses started to improve ever so slightly.
And then, the faintest sound cut through the quiet—a tremor in the air, a deep rumble.
Something else was coming.
With a feral clicking noise, the massive crab-like creature paused in its drag, its pincers squeezing tighter around River's ankle. The creature's attention snapped forward. Its eyes—beady, black, and unblinking—focused sharply in the direction of the disturbance River had sensed. A deep, guttural hiss rattled from the creature's throat as it yanked River off the ground with brutal force, then threw him aside like a ragdoll. River's body twisted midair, crashing heavily into the jagged coral floor with a bone-rattling thud, his limbs splayed awkwardly around him.
The impact sent waves of agony coursing through River's battered form. His spine screamed in protest, and every breath felt like glass scraping against his chest. His muscles spasmed uncontrollably, his body twitching as it tried—and failed—to steady itself. Each movement sent fresh spikes of pain flaring through him, blurring his vision and making the world spin in dizzying circles. He grits his teeth, swallowing the bile that rose in his throat, his body refusing to listen to his mind.
His thoughts flickered for a moment, pure fury mixing with his pain. "Bastard… I… swear I'll… kill you. "The words burned in his mind, though they barely left his lips, his voice a hoarse rasp.
But just as the world seemed to close in around him, a shadow stretched across the clearing ahead. A grotesque armored creature, its shape warped and twisted in unnatural proportions. Its massive, domed shell was partially cracked and covered in barnacles, thick and weighted. Atop the shell, an array of writhing, muscular tentacles spiraled out in every direction, each one tipped with spiny barbs, oozing strange fluids. The creature's torso was vaguely humanoid, its form slumped and grotesque, as though it had been cobbled together. Its broad shoulders tapered down into four powerful legs, yet its torso was a disgusting fusion of reptilian and aquatic features.
The creature's head was monstrous—its eyes bulging from its sockets, an unholy combination of beady and translucent. The tentacles that framed its face had razor-sharp suckers, their lacerating grip capable of tearing through bone.
And without wasting another second, the abomination made the first move. With a screeching howl, it lashed out, extending two of its tentacles toward the crab-like creature, the barbed tips slicing the air. But the crab's reaction was just as swift. It clicked its pincers together and lunged forward, using its jagged legs to avoid the tentacle strike, snapping toward the underbelly of the tentacled abomination.
The crab-like creature's pincer struck true, slamming into the abomination's grotesque underbelly with a sickening crunch. A spray of thick, black fluids splattered onto the coral floor, the wound deep enough to expose writhing, pulsing tissue. The abomination let out an ear-piercing screech, its bulbous eyes rolling wildly in their sockets, but instead of recoiling in pain, it surged forward, unfazed
The abomination's tentacles whipped around with unnatural speed. One coiled around the crab's midsection, tightening like a vice, while another struck out like a hammer, slamming into the creature's legs. The sheer force sent the crab staggering, its legs scrambling for footing against the uneven terrain.
The abomination did not let up. More tentacles lashed out, each one striking with bone-crushing strength, pummeling the crab's armored torso. One wrapped its left pincer, yanking it outward with enough force to nearly dislocate the joint, while another slammed down on its back, forcing the creature to the ground with a loud, chitinous crack.
The crab screeched in rage, its body writhing beneath the onslaught, but it was trapped. The abomination pressed its advantage, its massive bulk bearing down as its tentacles twisted and constricted, forcing the crab's limbs apart. The thick, barbed suckers dug deep into the chitinous plating, tearing at the armor piece by piece, exposing the softer flesh beneath.
River's body trembled where it lay sprawled on the jagged coral floor. His mind was still fogged, his vision darkening at the edges. Every breath felt like a struggle, his chest tight, his heart hammering as the world spun out of focus. His limbs felt foreign to him like they weren't his at all—heavy, unresponsive. Each second that passed felt like an eternity, a sickening crawl through a haze of pain and confusion.
'Get up. Move.' He tried to will his body to obey, but it was as if his limbs were trapped in tar. His head throbbed, pulsing in time with his heartbeat, and the world around him spun faster, making him feel sick. 'Come on... come on, move!'
He had to move. His body was screaming at him to stay down, but he couldn't afford to. Not when that bastard was still alive. Every aching muscle, every painful breath, was a reminder of the score left unsettled. He wasn't going to let it end like this. He refused to die like this.
Then—slowly, painfully—his fingers twitched. He didn't know if it was instinct or sheer stubbornness, but something in him wouldn't give in. The muscles in his arm seized as he tried to push himself up, the effort sending waves of agony through him. But it was enough to give him a sense of control. He breathed through the pain, his thoughts finally beginning to clear, even if just a little.
With one more breath, he pushed himself up to his knees. His body screamed in protest, but he forced himself to stay steady. The battle before him raged on, but his focus was returning, piece by piece.
"There you are, you son of a bitch." River growled, his voice low and strained but laced with a vicious satisfaction.
As he watched the harrowing battle in front of him, a strange sensation began to writhe beneath his thoughts. His heart hammered in his chest, but it wasn't fear. No, something else stirred in his gut—darker, fiercer, and far more dangerous.
His breath hitched, lips parting ever so slightly. "...Mine." The word slipped free in a whisper, barely audible over the carnage, yet it carried a weight that made his pulse quicken.
And almost on an instinctual level, River's hands began to twitch as Viper's Lament slowly made its way into existence. He slowly began to rise, ignoring the lingering pain in his body, none of it mattered to him anymore. His mind was consumed by one simple thing.
Greed.
Without warning, River surged forward, Viper's Lament held steady in his hand. Every step felt like fire in his bones, pushing him forward and driving him closer to the battle.
The crab-like creature's pincer shot forward again, aiming for the abomination's vulnerable side. Its blow was filled with killing intent, yet before its pincer could reach it, the air suddenly grew frigid. Glacial Veil erupted from River's body in a violent rush, a swirling mist of frost that curled and twisted in the air.
With the sudden burst of ice curling around the bodies of the Nightmare creatures, the crab-like creature's pincer slowed as the icy grip tightened, its movements growing sluggish in the unnatural cold. Its impact against the tentacled abominations weakened as a result, severely wounding it but not killing it.
River saw his opening, a sliver of space between the armor of the tentacled abomination and its exposed underbelly. It was vulnerable, its thick plating cracked, showing raw, pulsing tissue beneath.
Without thinking, River dashed forward. His grip tightened. In one swift motion, he drove the blade deep into the creature's underbelly. The tentacles flailed in desperate fury, but it was too late. The sword sank into the squishy, exposed flesh, cutting through sinew and bone with a sickening squelch. The abomination screeched in agony, its gargantuan form shuddering violently, but it was already too far late.
[You have slain an awakened beast, Chitinous Dweller]
[You have received a Memory: Shell-woven Guard]
River pulled the blade free, the dark fluids of the creature splashing around him as it crumpled, collapsing in on itself. He didn't hesitate nor did he pause to relish the moment. The battle was far from over.
He turned sharply toward the crab-like creature, still pinned down by the tentacled behemoth's weight. The scavenger thrashed against its restraints, its legs scraping helplessly at the coral floor, but the mass of tentacles held it fast. It was a perfect target.
"Don't worry, I didn't forget about you." River's voice was low, laced with a dark promise, as an insane smile slowly spread across his face.
River knew what needed to be done. He climbed onto the back of the collapsed abomination, using it as leverage, his muscles straining with the effort as he jumped high into the air, the weight of his determination forcing him upward.
Gravity did the rest.
In one clean motion, River hurled himself downward, the tip of Viper's Lament aimed straight for the Nightmare creature's head. His body moved as if guided by instinct alone—no hesitation, no mercy.
With a deafening crunch, the blade struck true. The crab-like creature's hard carapace shell cracked beneath the force of River's downward momentum. The sword pierced through, meeting the soft, vulnerable flesh beneath. A sickening, wet sound followed as the creature's life was snuffed out in an instant, its body going limp beneath him.
[You have slain an awakened beast, Carapace Scavenger.]
River landed smoothly atop the scavenger's corpse, breathing heavily, his eyes locked on the two monstrous beings he had just dispatched. He couldn't help but feel a strange sense of satisfaction—a dark, primal satisfaction that resonated deep within him.
"Hope that was worth dragging me around for." River's voice was sharp, the words dripping with a mixture of disdain and triumph as he stared down at the fallen Nightmare creature.
Then, the air seemed to shift, growing still. The faint hum of power within him intensified, tugging at something deep within his soul. He felt the weight of something calling to him. Something ancient and relentless, urging him forward, urging him to reach out.
And as if in response to that feeling, the Spell echoed in his mind once more.
[You glimpse an ability among the Carapace Scavenger's unraveling essence.]
The words pulsed in his mind, a lure he couldn't ignore.
[Steal the ability: Seismic Sense?]