The first thing Klein felt was the cold embrace of water. Thankfully he was prepared for such a situation and didn't impulsively open his mouth.
Forcing his eyes open, he glanced around hoping to find his bearings and begin swimming towards the surface; however, much to his horror, there was only complete darkness surrounding him.
H-How deep am I?
Even if it was nighttime, there still should have been starlight shining through the water, and yet Klein couldn't see a thing.
Quelling his panic, he attempted to rationalize his situation.
I'm not feeling any pressure, so I should still be near the surface. As for the lack of light, it could simply be cloudy. There are also many unexplained phenomena in the Dream Realm that could be responsible.
First things first, I need to surface before I drown.
Calming down slightly, Klein blew out a little air from his lungs, and watched the direction the bubbles rose, quickly kicking his legs to swim after them.
He began to feel a burning sensation in his chest, but before it could get too bad, he broke the surface of the water and inhaled a large amount of air.
Taking a few large breaths, Klein looked around his surroundings and found himself shocked. As far as an eye could see was only a calm dark ocean.
This is nothing like how the Storm Sea was described!
Klein was expecting large waves and dangerous waters, not the eerie stillness that was around him.
Somehow the calm waters felt more dangerous than the turbulent ones he was expecting.
Despite his strange environment, Klein decided to stick with the plan he had formed. Using the stars to navigate his way to a citadel, and yet, when he turned his gaze to the sky, a deep sense of terror gripped his heart.
The reason there was no starlight was not because it was cloudy or something similar. It was because there were no stars.
The sky was empty. Nothing but an endless black expanse.
One of the defining characteristics of the Storm Sea, and the focal point of Klein's plan, was gone.
Unless... they were never supposed to be there to begin with.
When Klein first divined the revelation that he would be dropped into an ocean, he drew the conclusion that it would be the Storm Sea, because that was the only known location that matched his vision.
However, the Dream Realm was vast, and there were many areas unknown to humanity.
Klein had drawn his conclusion, completely ignoring he possibility he would be dropped in an unexplored area of the Dream Realm.
T-This isn't the Storm Sea...
Where the hell am I?!
Klein wanted to continue pondering his situation; however, his [Clown] attribute's intuition flared up in alarm. Something was swimming towards him, something dangerous!
Wasting no time, Klein turned around and began swimming in the opposite direction of the dangerous pursuer.
Thanks to the physical enhancements of his [Clown] attribute, and the training he went through with Professor Julius, he was a pretty fast swimmer, and yet he could feel the danger slowly gaining on him.
His panicked mind considered many different solutions, like summoning [Shadow's Veil]; however, since the danger already locked onto him, the stealth effects wouldn't change anything, and the robes would simply weigh him down.
Feeling his muscles burn from exertion and sensing the creature closing the gap between them, he searched for any way to save himself, and straight ahead he noticed an odd shape in the darkness. It was a strange platform raised a few inches out of the water.
Land!
Klein didn't know how strong the thing chasing him was, but he knew he had a better chance of fighting on land than fighting in the ocean.
Feeling invigorated with hope, he pushed his exhausted muscles forward to reach the stone platform.
The moment his hands landed on the worn stone, he vaulted out of the water using the agility granted by his [Clown] attribute and immediately rolled away from the edge, finally getting a chance to see what the danger chasing him was.
The moment he sensed danger; Klein focused solely on escaping and didn't attempt to look back until now, and what he saw was terrifying.
There was a large dorsal fin cutting through the water and heading straight for the stone slab.
Klein watched as the dorsal fin continued to rise and with it a large scaly body.
A gargantuan shark-like creature breeched the water, its cave-like mouth filled with razor sharp teeth.
It was far too large. Large enough to be a fallen or even a corrupted abomination.
Suppressing his fear, Klein raised his hand ready to snap. He doubted his flame bullets would do significant damage to the creature if it tried to attack the platform, but he had to attempt something.
However, he never got a chance to attack, because behind the shark rose a massive tentacle that dwarfed the shark and the platform alike, crashing down upon the monster and dragging it into the depths.
Klein watched as the foamy water slowly calmed, leaving no trace of the terrifying abominations that had been there moments before.
So, it was running away just like me...
He should be happy that the nightmare creatures were gone, and yet he felt more frightened and on edge that ever before, because that fallen or even corrupted level creature had been delt with so easily.
If it only took a single tentacle to handle such a fearsome monster, then how strong was the owner?
What kind on monsters dwelled in the depths of this water?
Even if he was alone on that platform and the sea was dead calm, Klein knew he wasn't safe. He was far from safe.
But that didn't mean he would just lay down and wait for death to find him.
The first thing he did was summon [Shadow's veil]. The black robes masked his presence and should prevent any nightmare creatures from finding him.
Plus being clothed was far superior to being naked.
He then began to consider the next steps of his survival. Returning to the water was a death sentence, but he would have to leave the platform eventually or he would starve.
Considering his options, Klein decided to wait till daybreak where he could properly see his surroundings. Maybe there was an island nearby he can't see due to the lack of light.
Finding roughly the middle of the circular stone slab, he sat down, planning on waiting for dawn.
If anything approached, he would summon the [Hanged Giant]. It produced a transcendent level area of effect mind attack that should drive off anything attacking him.
It would hurt Klein too, but with his [Gray Fog] attribute he believed he could withstand it long enough to the nightmare creature to leave.
If the abomination persisted, then Klein would try throwing the pendent at it. Maybe he could get the charm stuck in its mouth, where the creature would be unable to escape and eventually die to the charm's ravings.
It was not a good plan, and definitely not a safe one, but with the means available to Klein right now, it was all he could come up with.
Suddenly, the sound of splashing filled Klein's ears.
It was quiet. Not the large wake made by the sea monsters he had encountered earlier, instead it sounded smaller.
A person?
Backing away from the noise, he readied his hand to summon the pendent and toss it, at a moment's notice. He also raised his other hand, preparing to snap and activate [Flame Control].
Even if it sounded like a person, he could not lower his guard.
Klein watched as a humanoid shape pulled themselves out of the water and up onto the platform, collapsing to their hands and knees, before coughing up large amounts of sea water.
It was difficult to make out their appearance, but they seemed to have long hair and were wearing some kind of tunic.
They hadn't noticed Klein yet.
After regaining their breath, the person finally spoke.
"d-dammit..."
Their voice was tired and hoarse, but undoubtedly feminine, and for Klein it was the source of recognition that passed through his mind.
"Fors!?"
---
After the Spell's final message, Fors felt the cold embrace of water. The sudden environment change sent a shock through her system, and she instinctively opened her mouth to yelp, but a torrent of water flooded down her throat instead.
Her body reacted by coughing, trying to dispel the water that flooded her airways, but it only served to draw more water in.
Panic began to surge through her body as she realized her situation.
W-water? Water!?
I can't breathe; I can't- I'm drowning, I'm drowning!!
Taken by panic, she began to flail around searching for the surface, yet all she saw was a dark expanse of water.
W-where!? Where's the surface!?
Fors' mind started working in overtime searching for anything to save her as a burning sensation filled her lungs.
She couldn't breathe; she couldn't breathe. What can she do, what does she have. Her ability, attributes, aspect, echoes, memories- memories!
A sudden inspiration struck Fors as white sparks swirled around her forming a plan brown tunic. This was the [Traveler's Tunic]. A memory she received from her first nightmare, that granted the wearer instinctual understanding of direction and their surroundings.
The moment the tunic finished forming Fors turned and began kicking frantically. This was her understanding of 'up' obtained from [Traveler's Tunic].
The burning in her chest continued to sear as she threw all her might into reaching the surface, the crushing of her lungs turning unbearable, the edges of her vision darkening.
But eventually the surface broke.
The moment her head escaped the water, Fors began to cough violently, her throat burning. She struggled to tread water, as her head whipped around before finally landing on a direction.
From the understanding obtained by [Traveler's Tunic], this was the closest location of land.
Alternating between raspy breaths and violent coughs, she started messy strokes towards solid ground.
Usually, Fors was a pretty good swimmer; however, her lack of air, panicked nerves from nearly drowning, and her soaked tunic weighing her down caused her to lose any sense of form she had previously, relying purely on muscle memory and instinct to swim.
She didn't bother looking around or speculating where she was. All she cared about was finding solid ground and breathing normally again.
After around a minute of frantic swimming, she could finally make out a vague shape in the darkness, and shortly after, her hand landed on stone.
With a bit of struggle, she heaved herself onto the platform, collapsing onto her hands and knees.
A fit of violent coughing overtook her, her body finally able to expel the rest of the water suffocating her lungs.
Her chest hurt, her throat burned, her nerves were panicked, her muscles were tired. Heaving massive breaths, Fors couldn't help but swear out loud.
"d-dammit..."
It's been five minutes, and I've already almost died... H-How am I supposed to make it home like this...
Her worries are cut short by a familiar voice from the darkness.
"Fors!?"
***
Author's Note
We're finally in the Dream Realm, obviously it's the forgotten shore.
Forgot to mention this last chapter but Klein's dormant ability is just a combination of his flame controlling, air bullets, and paper substitutes from the original book, I just changed the last two to be fire related so the whole ability is cohesive.
I'll probably write the next chapter as just Klein and Fors, then I'll bring in Amon in the one after.
If you have any issues or comments just let me know.
Thank you for reading.
***