It was the statue of the Slayer Arthur guessed that the monsters here would be of the stealthy assassin type.
Arthur didn't plan on relying on his previous plan of attack and retreat above the Grey Fog this time.
When they attacked the Iron Spiders, situated on the Hunter's Statue, it didn't really work out anyway.
So Arthur had something different in mind; he wanted to lay another trap since he could now substitute with paper figurines he could make with his aspect; he was the perfect bait.
And with his illusion spell, he could somewhat hide the trap as well, not to mention with his Hunter Attribute he even had an aptitude for making traps!
The plan was for him to gather them in a place where his friends would be hidden 10 meters high with big Jars of the Centipedes oil and pour it on Arthur,
who would substitute and the Nightmare Creatures, who would die or get wounded.
With his Flame Control spell, as long as he leaves some torches on the path, he will be able to lead the nightmare creatures easily.
And indeed, the plan went as expected. Arthur mocked the Slayer and her minions, "Heh, I expected to enter a battlefield, but it seems I entered a kitchen. What's a weak woman with a cooking knife doing here with her kitchen staff?"
The Slayer and her minions didn't understand his words, but as nightmare creatures, they naturally went to attack him.
Arthur smiled as he ran away, following the brightly lit path of the torches. Since the Slayer was a fallen beast, it didn't possess the intelligence to see through this obvious trap;
it wouldn't have worked on something like a particularly smart monster or a demon.
After reaching the location of his trap, he used his Flame Control Spell to intensify the fire of the torches his friends had near them.
This was the signal that he was using his illusion spell to make the nightmare creatures unable to see them,
so they grabbed the two big centipede oil jars near each one of them that, when mixed, became extremely corrosive and got ready to throw them.
Very soon, the slayer arrived and rushed him with her minions. Arthur, with his nimble body and danger sense, strengthened by his awakening, managed to hold them off until his friends threw the Jars, and he substituted
The Slayer didn't die, but her minions did, and Arthur, with his Flame Control Spell, used it to light The Slayer on fire, killing the wounded slayer.
The spell soon whispered into his ear, [You have slain a fallen beast: Slayer].
[You have Received a Memory: Moonlight Shard]
Arthur smiled despite being depressed; he rarely did this because he preferred forgetting the death of his friend by going out and hunting deciding not to think about it by doing something else whenever he could.
As he thought to himself, 'Killing these things is actually pretty easy. As an awakened, I probably didn't even need this plan at all. If only I had waited, then Zane wouldn't have died...' Then he heard something unexpected. The voice of the spell whispered into his ears again.
[You have received your aspect legacy!]
Arthur was in no rush to check his Runes,
So he soon summoned his cohort and the people in the Bright Castle and showed them the Moonlight Shard memory, telling them of his success and announcing his immediate continuation of the expedition.
He looked at his runes, specifically those of his aspect legacy
Aspect Legacy: [Actor]
Actor Mastery Level [1/7]
First Relic: [Claim].
Second Relic: [unearned].
Third Relic: [unearned]
Arthur was shocked. 'I unlocked it when I smiled despite being depressed; that's the acting method of the clown, and I've been acting like a charlatan this whole time, so the seer's acting must have been done too; my Aspect Legacy is... Acting!? How is that useful!?'
Arthur then claimed the First Relic, hoping for something good, like he was opening a loot box in a game.
First Relic: Claimed.
And a moment later the spell spoke into his ear.
[You have received an Aspect Legacy Relic.]
[You have received an echo: Hounds of Fulgrim.]
Arthur was shocked. 'The hounds of Fulgrim!? Right, their rank should scale with my mastery of the acting method. I almost thought I got a demigod-level pet.'
He summoned them, and saw that they looked like hounds. Their entire body is covered in short black fur, and in their eye sockets are two balls of dark-red burning flames. The ends of their mouths extend to the back of their heads. They clearly exist in a corporal form, but it gives off an illusory feeling that feels surreal.
Arthur couldn't help but talk out loud to himself, "They look so cool! As expected of my Legacy Aspect Relic!"
The hounds acted like obedient dogs in front of him, though that kind of ruined their cool image in his eyes.
He quickly dismissed them and summoned their runes.
Echo: [Hounds of Fulgrim]
Echo Rank: [Dormant]
Echo Class: [Demon]
Echo attributes: [Guards of The Grey Fog], [Illusion Masters], [Puppeteers].
He looked at the description of the attributes.
[Guards of the Grey Fog]: They can be strengthened by being surrounded or given the power of the Grey Fog.
[Illusion Masters]: Masters at tricking one's senses and their prey as well.
[Puppeteers]: They can slowly gain control of and manipulate the soul's connection to one's body, turning them into their own puppets.
Arthur thought to himself, 'Right, they also follow the fool's pathway. Won't they be useless once I become a Bizzaro Sorcerer?'
Arthur didn't dwell much on it and tried to sense how close he was to digesting his "Potions," surprisingly his Faceless one had already been completely digested!
Arthur thought to himself, 'Right that Nephiliam, just who did she think I was?... wait a minute, Nether's doorstep... she didn't think I was the Demon of Destiny, did she!?'
Arthur didn't know how to feel about being confused for a Demon, a genuine Divine Ranked being, when he was a mere Dormant Beast at the time.
As for his magician potion after this little stunt, it was about 10% digested.
Arthur pondered again how his aspect legacy was in any way useful; no matter how he looked at it, this was just acting!
Then a sudden thought struck him: 'The acting method was made to assimilate the potion by pretending its host was an ally until it slowly integrated into one's body completely.' Arthur continued the thought.
'Can I, by practicing it, defend myself from foreign wills by making them think I am their caster? No wonder it's useless now at level 1 mastery, and as an Awakened Demon, it's impossible for me to make use of it. But once I become Supreme, I won't even need to stay in the dream realm!'
Arthur was convinced he was right about his aspect Legacy, and if what he thought was true, then he was satisfied with it despite it being useless to him now.
Then he again had a sudden thought, 'But why do I even need to digest my own aspect abilities? I never felt like I would lose control or anything...
Could it be that it's just practice? My abilities that are my own and wouldn't harm me act slightly hostile to imitate a hostile will being "fooled" by the acting method? Is that one of The Fool's strange and wonderful abilities?'
Arthur felt that he was right about his guess.