Rise of the Nightmare Crestmaster

After carful deductions about the size and shape of the building that made it stand out from the rest of the buildings in the neighborhood Aldrich had determined that it should be some kind of base for protection. Basically it was a barracks.

Aldrich had intended to leave the barracks for last but after defeating the Umvorax and the direwolf today he had determined that there was nothing to fear from this barracks.

Besides his sense of urgency didn't diminish just because no new changes happened in the nightmare realm ever since the crystal rain.

For the time being Aldrich had no intention of obeying the voice that talked to him and showed him those visions.

First Aldrich couldn't trust some unknown voice out of nowhere. Secondly, even if he wanted to go to that chapel he didn't know the way to go there.

Keep in mind that he had barely explored two streets of this town in the three weeks he had been transported here. Or rather since he was cursed to be brought here almost every night.

The slow progress frustrated Aldrich who just wanted to find Isger sooner rather than later.

Yes, indeed, Aldrich loved the fact that he had a limitless supply of coin from here and the fact that he was progressing in power by obtaining essence orbs here but he couldn't afford to relax and take it easy.

For every minute he was late to save Isger weighted on his heart. What if he was in pain? What if he was being tortured by those monsters in the nightmare corridor?

At the same time he was reminded of what happened last time he let his emotions lead him astray.

So if he really wanted to save Isger then gaining as much power as he possibly could was the most crucial to saving Isger.

Even if the blue light door appeared in front of him would he dare to enter it as he is now? The obvious answer is no.

It was not as simple as entering the corridor and retrieving Isger's soul, to actually do it he must become strong enough to fight against those monsters.

Not a day goes by when he could forget that monstrous specter, every after Isger had torn its body to absolute shreds it still combined again.

That scene when the individual body parts moved like they had a life of their own truly struck terror in his heart. Not only that, it actually became stronger after that.

Was it always that strong and it simply hid that power or did it get stronger after it recombined? The first option was the most favorable but Aldrich just had no way of knowing.

So without having the power to overwhelm that specter and its friends that were sealed behind the endless doors of the corridor he just couldn't risk going back there now.

Pathetic.

Isger risked his life to save his, without any knowledge of what his opponent was capable of and yet he didn't dare to do the same for Isger.

Aldrich struggled to put these irrational thoughts to the back of his mind and bury it deep where he wouldn't be affected by it in crucial circumstances.

Aldrich picked the pace as he made his way to the barracks he felt that he needed something to take his mind off of these unpleasant thoughts. Killing some garbage husks definitely fit that bill.

However his face grew darker as he observed the barracks, the barracks had two towers and one huge chunk of a building in the center, it was too big.

Aldrich tried his usual strategy to break the windows and allow some light to enter the gloomy building but that failed.

This result was not unexpected because all the huge windows of the barracks were bared with metallic bars that were surprisingly still sturdy and didn't budge much even after a dozen impacts of thrown rocks by Aldrich's full power.

If he continued he could probably break it in ten minutes but there were just so many windows in this huge building and if he were to spend that much time on this one task he would just be wasting too much time.

Aldrich had to think of another way, since this strategy failed then he must try another. Aldrich got back to the base and returned with a torch. He didn't touch the ominous candle or move it he just lit the torch over it without any direct contact.

That could still be dangerous of course but he was a drowning man and he was going to have to take some risks from time to time. Aldrich took the torch to the barracks and he climbed and jumped over the fence only to be in dismay again.

The door, no the gate that blocked his way was sealed with a portcullis. These obstacles were starting to get on his nerves but Aldrich didn't mull over it for long. He was able to sneak in here before so why not use the same method again.

Now that the fog had thinned out and he had a torchlight with him he figured out that the fallen over wall was on the second floor of the left tower. Aldrich climbed over the fallen debris of the broken wall, which turne out to be a simple task even with a torch in his left hand.

Aldrich took a quick look at the room and ducked down quickly. Aldrich raised his head again and fortunately the only two husks in the room were dead. What struck him as out of place was that the dead husks didn't have any foul smell.

If a normal corps wasn't buried for that long it ought to produce a nasty smell. But husks were always weird to begin with so Aldrich didn't pay that much heed. Instead he approached the door of the room and pushed it.

Fortunately after a few minutes the door's hinges gave in and the door was opened wide. Aldrich used his shoulder to slam into the door sending it crashing outside. After which he picked up his sword and torch, the long sword in the right hand and the shield and torch in the left.

How was he able to hold both, the shield and the torch in his left hand simultaneously? Because the shield was fixed by two leather belts to his forearm while he carried the torch normally.

Of course in any combat situation this arrangement will fall apart. Which is why he was glad to see that the walls were lined with unlit torches on iron stands. Aldrich didn't hesitate to light every single torch he came across as he walked down the hallway.

He planned to clear out the first floor first and then go on in ascending order to clear the entire tower first before moving on to the rest of the barracks.

In the first floor he encountered a terrible combination of one shield man, one spearman and one archer. He had encountered this combination before but thanks to his quick-wittedness he managed to dispose of the archer first thereby breaking their formation.

This time he had no such chance as he was immediately ambushed by an arrow the moment his feet touched the stone ground of the first floor. Aldrich managed to perceive the arrow and somehow blocked it with his shield.

Aldrich blocked the arrow but the spear got him in the stomach. Fortunately thanks to his chain mail the injury was lighter than it could have been. Aldrich quickly opened the throat of the spearman and used its corps to get close to the archer.

The archer kept shooting arrows and made a comb out of the spearman. It looked like a hedgehog. Aldrich saw the shieldman step up to protect the archer like an annoying fly so he launched the hedgehog-like spearman onto the big shield it wielded. The impact was strong enough to topple the monster over.

Aldrich who didn't like wasting chances rushed to skewer the archer before the shieldman could get its bearings back. This battle was over once he got rid of the archer and the spearman.

The shieldman, after losing the offensive members in the team had become a punching bag for Aldrich. The battle was short-lived and it gave him the chance to get his instincts in order.

Aldrich checked for any ambushers in the first floor and didn't find any, which prompted him to return to the second floor. The second floor had two spearmen and one archer who were standing guard on the staircase that lead to the third floor.

Aldrich made easy work out of them when he rushed around the spearmen and pummeled the archer that hid behind them. The breaking of the formation was the bane of teamwork. So long as it was a frontal battle when he didn't fear being shot to death from afar, Aldrich had the confidence to finish any husk in two direct blows.

Indeed although the archer was not dead yet, the impact of being pushed dozens of stairs down was effective in keeping it out of the battle until Aldrich finished off the two archers in two blows.