Chapter 6: Chapter 6: Twilight City

Adam looked around his surroundings. He was in a small room with no windows. What immediately drew his attention was the crystal fixture placed in the middle of the room. It looked like a piece of artwork with a glowing crystal hovering inside a metal enclosure. However, any semblance of luxury ended there. The bright yellow walls and cheap furnishing gave off the impression of a budget motel room.

Before doing anything else, he decided to get a shower first. He was still wearing armour caked in blood and dirt. The shirt and pants that he was wearing underneath were starting to smell as well. During the three days on Onigashima, he didn't take a single bath because he was afraid he would run into yōkai while taking a bath in the sea.

Adam took off his armour before entering the bathroom. He threw his filthy clothes into the drum of the washer-dryer and started the machine. After making a mental note to get some detergent later, he stepped into the shower cubicle.

He turned on the shower and let the cold water wash over his body. As he reached up to scrub his scalp, he felt something sharp prick his hand. He looked at his palm and saw blood seeping out from a wound. Carefully feeling around his forehead, he touched something hard and sharp. He walked over to the mirror hanging above the washbasin and saw tiny horns protruding from his forehead.

He stared at the horns with his mouth open before realizing why they looked so familiar. They looked exactly like the horns of that Oni he saw fighting the spiders, except his was much smaller.

"Status!"

***

Name: Adam Williamson

Level: 1

Race: Oni

Traits: Yōki Manipulation, Accelerated Regeneration

Skills: None

Time until next Nightmare: 6 days 23 hours 52 minutes left

***

Adam couldn't think of a possible explanation as to how he turned into an Oni. He didn't recall getting bitten by a radioactive Oni. He took out Shuten-dōji's Gourd and took a swig. He needed a drink to calm his nerves.

It was at that moment when the realization struck him. He stared blankly at the gourd in his hand and then buried his face in his other hand in embarrassment.

"...is that why Momotarō wanted this so badly?"

If Momotarō had gotten his hands on the gourd, he could have created as many Oni as he wanted. Although, he had a feeling that wasn't the whole story and there was more to it. He took another swig before going back into the shower.

***

Adam left the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist. He was so glad when he found the towel inside the bathroom. He almost panicked when he stepped out of the shower and realised he didn't have one.

Since his clothes were still in the wash, he decided to re-decorate the place while waiting.

He touched the wall and a panel displaying a variety of options appeared. After selecting one of the options, the wall shimmered for a moment before turning into a brick wall. He placed his hand against the transformed wall and it felt as if he was touching an actual brick wall. He cycled through the options for a while before settling on sky blue. Then, he moved on to changing the floor and ceiling as well. He picked wooden ceramic tiles for the floor and cream-white for the ceiling. He didn't put much thought into the choices since he could change them any time he wanted.

After an hour, the room felt a lot more like home after he finished furnishing the place with the stuff he looted from the Jorōgumo's vault. Unfortunately, it was still missing a bookshelf and a sofa, and he also wanted to replace the bed.

By the time he was done, his clothes were dry. It was time for him to go shopping.

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Adam placed his hand on the crystal fixture with his eyes closed and concentrated his thoughts on the destination. When he opened his eyes again, he was standing in front of a gigantic crystal structure similar to the one in his private room.

When he looked around the plaza, he saw all kinds of people. He saw a cybernetically-enhanced elf who looked more machine than flesh. He saw someone with three heads and six arms. He even saw an Oni dressed in powered armour. He felt like he had stepped into a cosplay convention. If it wasn't for the horns growing from his forehead, he would have been out of place here.

He first headed for a general store to buy the things he needed. He ended up not only buying furniture, clothes, and household essentials, but also all sorts of survival equipment since all the items combined only cost him a single Nuffie, which was short for Nightmare Fragment. Fortunately, he could use his inventory to store the items or he would have trouble carrying them back.

When he entered a pawnshop to offload unneeded items from the treasure vault, he discovered all the items added together were barely worth ten Nuffies. He learned from the shop owner that it's common practice for Dreamers to ransack Nightmares and offload their loot in Twilight City. This resulted in an overabundance of lower rarity items in the city and their utter devaluation.

After the shopping was done, he stopped at the food district to have a late dinner. He ordered a large bowl of spicy beef noodles at a street stall. It was the cheapest item on the menu and still cost him five Nuffies. When he asked about the other more expensive items on the menu, the stall owner informed him they were for higher-level Dreamers. He taught Adam how to read the menu and stated Adam would have gotten indigestion if he tried them. On the other hand, if a higher-level Dreamer tried to fill themself with lower-level food to save on spending, they would have to spend a lot of their time eating just to sustain themselves.

After bidding the owner farewell, Adam returned to his private room and quickly fell asleep.

***

The next day, he woke up early and headed straight for the training ground after breakfast.

Here, Dreamers could acquire any skill they desire, as long as they possessed the appropriate media, such as a book or a Blu-Ray disc, that contained the knowledge they wanted to learn. However, such functions cost Nuffies.

Adam planned to summon the author of Onmyōdō Fundamentals. His current problem was not being able to study on his own because he couldn't understand its content. Using the function would use up a large portion of his Nuffies, but it was worth every Nuffie because it also enhanced the learning performance of the Dreamer during the session.

After choosing the summon option, a handsome man dressed in traditional Japanese garb appeared in front of him. The man assessed Adam with his eyes and wrinkled his eyebrows.

"Hmph! Yōkai, you may address me as Dōman-sama," Ashiya Dōman said. "I don't have the time to repeat myself, so prick up your ears and listen carefully."

***

The lesson went by in a flash.

In an hour, Adam managed to acquire enough knowledge to comprehend the books and even learned a spell. This was partly due to the learning performance boost but also because Ashiya Dōman was a good teacher. Embarrassingly, he initially assumed the legendary Abe no Seimei was the author. However, now that he knew better, it was obvious the author was Ashiya Dōman since his symbol, the Dōman's Crest, was right on the cover of the books. The symbol—five horizontal lines intersecting with four vertical lines—was recognizable by any Onmyōdō learner.

Wanting to test out his new spell, Adam started uttering an incantation while forming seals with his hands. According to Ashiya Dōman, the incantations and hand seals served no purpose other than helping the caster focus. He disappeared into the ground and reappeared a few metres away, completely covered in dirt from head to toe.

***

Skills: Burrow (Level 0)

***

The first spell he chose to learn was Burrow. It was useful for running away, hiding from enemies, dodging attacks, and even performing sneak attacks. However, there were downsides as well. At level 0, the caster of the spell wouldn't be able to breathe underground, so they could only travel as far as they could hold their breath. The spell also overturned the soil at the spot where he burrowed, which was very noticeable in the day. Last but not least, the caster would end up covered in dirt after using the spell.

Despite the flaws, Adam still thought the spell was extremely useful. Ashiya Dōman even praised him for choosing the spell. Furthermore, the shortcomings were no more once he attained level 1 with the spell.

The only problem left was deciding what other spells to learn. He had quite a number of spells in mind but not enough time to learn them. With less than a week left until the next Nightmare, he had to make every spell count. While he would love to summon Ashiya Dōman again to teach him the spells, he could no longer afford that. Fortunately, the training ground had a self-learning function. He would still be able to receive the learning performance boost at a cheaper cost but without an instructor. He had enough Nuffies to make use of that function for the entire week.

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