Dreamer's Throne

Instead of engaging directly in battle, Garrett focused on channeling his abundant energy through the dream flowers into the awakened dreamers, infusing them with a seemingly never-ending supply of power. This enabled them to ignore the small wounds they got and instead focus on slaying the enemy as fast as possible. After initially slowing down as they faced the raging horde of goblins, the awakened dreamers soon realized that their enemy's reinforcements were faltering. With renewed vigor, they pushed forward, claiming block after block as they slew their enemy.

Elsewhere, Garrett's flower ghouls began to appear. They burrowed out from the ground and began to absorb the fog in the nearby area, glimmering with bright light that sent colors dancing through the darkness. More than once, goblins wandering by caught sight of them and grew enthralled, leaping over to try and consume the bright flowers, only to be grabbed by the ghoulish teeth and claws hiding underneath. More and more flowers burrowed up out of the dirt, pushing aside cobblestones as they drilled up out of the street, forming a long chain that crept through the silent city toward the old hospital.

Seeing that the flower ghouls were making good progress, Garrett commanded Isabelle and Delrisa to begin as well. He watched through Isabelle's eyes as the mirror she held flashed, and Delrisa and six other robed figures all appeared. Though none of the others were in the shaper level, the necromancers never planned on fighting themselves. Isabelle let out a surge of mental energy that lit the dream like a beacon, and Garrett could feel the growing fury from the Rotting Tongue of Wen.

Soon, swarms of goblins began to close in on Isabelle's position, and her mirror flashed once more, as a dozen glowing pale fiends appeared around her, and then sped off into the night, shrieking. She advanced at the same time, her hair forming dozens of spears that stabbed through the redcap's eyes and into their brains, killing them instantly. Simultaneously, the pale fiends fell upon the goblins, absorbing their life force and leaving shriveled corpses behind.

Soon, the ground was littered with goblins, which was when Delrisa held out the long staff that she carried and began to chant. Wisps of dark energy flew from the corpses, merging into the soul stone gripped in a skeletal hand on the end of her staff. As she completed her chant, she tapped her staff on the ground, causing a dull thud, and then, like puppets with half of their strings cut, the goblin corpses began to spasm before rising to their feet.

The other six necromancers each stepped forward, beginning to cast spells of their own that washed over the zombies. One of the spells filled them with vigor, while another transformed their teeth and nails into fearsome weapons. Still a third infused their claws with necromantic energy, while the fourth caused bloodlust to appear in their eyes. The fifth and sixth necromancer focused their attention on a few of the drudge goblins, who soon began to sprout extra limbs, their already-hulking bodies growing larger and more muscular. Seeing that Isabelle and her pale fiends had raced ahead and not wanting to be left behind, Delrisa let out a hiss, showing her fangs.

"The time has come to show our master what we can do," she said, her voice echoing eerily in the fog. "Go forth, minions, and sweep away the enemy."

One of the red-capped zombies lurched forward, and then a second and a third, moving faster with each step, until they had transformed from a shambling horde into a terrible wave of death. With forces assaulting from three sides, it soon became clear that the Rotting Tongue of Wen had no idea what to do, and Garrett wasn't about to give it a chance to figure it out.

Though the hordes of goblins seemed endless, that was only on the surface. Garrett could tell from the way the creatures were rushing towards them that their numbers were beginning to thin. He didn't know whether it was complacency or something else, but the Rotting Tongue of Wen clearly hadn't been prepared for an assault of this kind.

After two and a half hours of fierce fighting as they pushed their way forward, Garrett finally caught sight of the sanitarium that served as the Rotting Tongue's core territory. Pax, just about to launch herself back into the battle after a few moments of rest, heard Garrett call her name and jogged over.

"Yeah, boss?"

"You're going to be taking over the fight," Garrett said, his eyes never leaving the looming building in the distance. "Gero, Cynen, and I are going to head straight in. If you find yourself in a tough spot, rotate to the east."

Pax's forehead furrowed as she looked east, seeing nothing but fog. Garrett didn't explain it to her, and instead strode forward, calling to Cynen and Gero, who quickly freed themselves from their fights and fell in beside him.

"Clear a path for me," Garrett said. "I need a minute."

The other two exchanged a glance and then nodded before charging forward as Garrett jogged along behind them. With a mental command, he called to Isabelle, who launched herself into the air and began to fly towards them, tearing through the fog as she approached their location.

The fight against Agma-Yoth had been tough with two shapers, so this time, Garrett had brought himself and Isabelle to try to make it a little bit easier. Opening up the window that had popped up earlier that evening, Garrett took a deep breath.

[Congratulations! You currently have enough experience points to level up. Would you like to level up to level 7?]

The flood of windows obscuring his vision after he accepted was annoying, but he kept moving, following Cynen and Gero as they sped through the fog-covered streets, dodging past goblins or crushing their way straight through them if they couldn't be avoided. Their frantic charge took some pressure off of the awakened behind them, and Garrett could hear Pax's voice roaring out commands as they advanced into the gap.

[Each time you level up in the shaper stage, you will be presented with the choice of acquiring a new ability and increasing the skill level of two existing abilities. Please choose which of your skills you will level and then choose your seventh level advantage.]

[Whisper of the Dream]

-You have gained the ability to communicate with those who can walk the Dream.

*NEW* You can now initiate communication without touching your target. You must be able to see the target.

Skill Level: 1 > 2

[Whisper of the Dream] was the same as always, and nearly obsolete by this point so Garrett moved right past it with barely a glance.

[Observe the Dream]

-You have gained the ability to see the Dream clearly.

-The energy cost of activating this ability has been reduced.

-You may now use your other abilities while using Observe the Dream.

*NEW* You gain an instinctive sense of the dangers of the Dream, allowing you to see nightmares before they appear.

Skill Level: 3 > 4

Just like before, Observe the Dream had improved subtly, but Garrett thought that there were likely better options out there so he put it aside as well.

[Dream Seed]

You have seized one of [???????], Crimson Eye of Shalmoroth’s abilities, Dream Seed.

1 EXP - Observation Seed

2 EXP - Communication Seed

3 EXP - Loyalty Seed

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6 EXP - Guardian Seed [2/2]

10 EXP - Overmind Seed [+1]

[Other types of seeds locked]

You can now plant seeds anywhere in the Dream and nourish them yourself.

*NEW* Dream Seeds become harder to resist for potential hosts.

You can now set your Dream Flowers to the following states:

Defend [Default] - Dream Flowers will actively protect their hosts, or locations, from nightmares.

Hunt - Dream Flowers will release spores to attract nightmares with the intent of consuming them.

Growth - Dream Flowers will absorb the mental energy of their host or any creature that enters their location with the intent of growing stronger.

Your seeds now propagate naturally, so long as they have a steady source of mental energy.

Skill Level: 5 > 6

If he selected [Dream Seed], not only would Garrett gain another Overmind Seed like Somnia, but since the Dream Seeds would be harder for potential hosts to resist, they would propagate much faster than before, increasing their rate of spread across the city.

[Dream Cloak]

-You have gained the ability to use the Dream to cloak your presence, reducing the likelihood that you will be seen.

*NEW* Your Dream Cloak grows stronger, allowing you to hide more efficiently.

Skill Level: 1 > 2

Like [Whisper of the Dream], [Dream Cloak] had long become a worthless skill for Garrett, so he ignored it and moved on to his better skills.

[Guide Growth - Beautiful Bewitchment]

Your Dream Flowers grow, guided by your will to become objects of supernatural beauty. Those who look upon them cannot help but become enthralled.

Modify Dream Seed: Increase the bewitchment ability of Dream Flowers, strengthening your influence on hosts.

Increase the bewitchment ability of Dream Flowers against nightmares.

*NEW* Spores produced by the Dream Flowers become invisible, making them harder to detect.

Modify Dream Flowers: Clusters of Dream Flowers will now produce a bewitching scent that will have one of the following effects:

-Distract: Affected targets will grow distracted and forget what they were doing until the effect wears off.

-Enthrall: Affected targets will grow enthralled and peacefully admire the flowers until the effect wears off.

-Enrage: Affected targets will grow enraged and attack anyone around them until the effect wears off.

Skill Level: 3 > 4

Making the spores produced by the dream flowers invisible was tempting, but Garrett felt that they were working well enough at the moment, so he decided to pass on [Beautiful Bewitchment] as well.

[Guide Growth – Spirit-sucking Thorns]

Your Dream Flowers grow, guided by your will to become fearsome predators, hiding sharp thorns under their beautiful petals.

Modify Dream Seed: Increase the attack strength of Dream Flowers by improving their ability to consume the mental energy of their hosts and enemies.

*NEW* Modify Dream Flowers: Increase the range from which Dream Flowers can attack.

Skill Level: 1 > 2

Ever since he had skipped [Spirit-sucking Thorns] during his last level up, Garrett had been regretting it. Adding a ranged ability to the Dream Flowers would not just improve their survivability and effectiveness, but it would also allow him greater offensive capability, which he was sorely lacking. For this level, [Spirit-sucking Thorns] was at the top of his list.

[Guide Growth – Life and Death Bloom]

Your Dream Flowers grow, guided by your will to hold Lesrak’s Flame.

Modify Dream Seed: Your flowers have melded with the powerful dream fire, Lesrak’s Flame, becoming immune to its effects.

*NEW* Your flower’s attacks gain a hint of Lesrak’s Flame, increasing their effect.

Skill Level: 1 > 2

Garrett had to read the [Life and Death Bloom] ability twice before he understood the full ramifications of it. Not only would his flowers gain the destructive death aspect of Lesrak’s Flame, but they would also gain the restorative life properties of the flame as well. If combined with the ability to cast ranged attacks, Garrett could only imagine how strong they would be.

[Illusory Dream]

You have gained the ability to use the Dream to create illusions, confusing both dreamers and nightmares.

Your illusions grow more realistic, gaining a physical component.

*NEW* Your illusions gain basic intelligence, and can act independently for a short period of time.

Skill Level: 2 > 3

His final skill, [Illusory Dream] was incredibly useful, and the upgrade it would bring would make it even more useful, though Garrett found himself still leaning toward selecting [Spirit-sucking Thorns] and [Life and Death Bloom]. His mental strength was high enough to run multiple illusions even without needing them to be intelligent, so while it certainly would be an upgrade, it wouldn’t be as significant a boost as some of the others.

Skeletal Crown

The power of Lesrek flows through you, granting you natural control over undead.

-Your mental strength produces a suppressive effect on undead you encounter, causing them to instinctively avoid attacking you.

*NEW* Undead under your control do not degrade naturally.

Skill Level: 1 > 2

Blinking in surprise, Garrett realized that this was probably the reason that Agma-Yoth had been able to amass such a large army of undead. Undead would naturally degrade over time as they lost energy, eventually collapsing into nothing, but the second level of [Skeletal Crown] would eliminate that weakness. After thinking over all of his options, Garrett followed his gut and took [Spirit-sucking Thorns] and [Life and Death Bloom]. A moment later, he felt the flowers around the city begin to change as the two abilities took effect. With his two skills chosen, Garrett turned his attention to selecting a new skill.

Dream Walk

You have gained the ability to slip between the cracks of the Dream, allowing you to traverse great distances without being detected.

Skill Level: 1

Vanishing Touch

You have gained the ability to erase any sign of your existence within Dream, allowing you to remove any trace that you had once been present.

Skill Level: 1

Mirrored Ability

You have gained the ability to copy any supernatural ability you witness. Copied abilities can be used so long as you do not copy another ability.

Skill Level: 1

A sudden thought struck him, and Garrett returned his attention to the beginning of the skill tree. After a moment of searching he found it, a pale green line extending into the darkness, much like the crimson line that revealed [Dream Seed]. He had consumed part of Shalmoroth’s power and had been rewarded with the [Dream Seed] ability, so it made sense to him that having eaten a piece of Lesrak’s power, he would gain access to Lesrak’s skills as well.

Skeletal Hand

The power of Lesrek flows through you, granting you the ability to use Lesrak’s tools.

-You may select one of Lesrak’s artifacts, granting you the ability to use it:

-Cauldron of Souls

Skill Level: 1

Slightly disappointed, Garrett saw that only the Cauldron of Souls remained as an option since he had already forcefully taken the other mysterious artifacts with the power of the Dreamer’s Throne. That made his skill choice easy, and a moment later, Garrett’s status popped up.

STATUS

NAME: Garrett Klein

PATH: Dream Ruler

SUB-PATH: Dream Gardener, Path of the Watcher

LEVEL: 7

EXP: 39/1280

ABILITIES: [10/10]

Whisper of the Dream [1]

Observe the Dream [3]

Dream Seed [5]

Dreamer’s Cloak [1]

Beautiful Bewitchment [3]

Spirit-sucking Thorns [2]

Illusory Dream [2]

Life and Death Bloom [2]

Skeletal Crown [1]

Mirrored Ability [1]

The number of experience points he had available for Dream Seeds was low, but more experience was rolling in all the time so Garrett wasn’t worried about it. More importantly, it meant that the Dream Flowers growing all over the northern district had just turned into a potent defensive force, giving him the confidence to put his full attention on the building they had just arrived in front of.