Upon entering the living room, Lucien was warmly greeted by his parents with open arms. "Good morning, little one," his father, Dalton, cheerfully exclaimed. "Tell us all about your wild vision from yesterday. We're here to help you unravel its meaning and get you going on your dream path."

Lucien eagerly recounted the details of his 16 hour-long experience, describing the strange metal boxes and moving chariots, the towering structures, and the bewildering language used by the children and adults.

As Lucien spoke, Dalton's expression slowly changed to one of realization and dread. He had yet to find a single meaningful clue to decode Lucien’s vision, and now his ten-year-old son was facing a dilemma he couldn’t even start solving.

"You could try to learn their language," Tomas chimed in with a seemingly simple solution.

Lucien looked at him incredulously. "No way! That would take years. I don't have that kind of time to waste on these darn visions."

To Lucien's disbelief, his mother nodded in agreement. "Actually, that does seem like the most direct path to understanding what's happening. Knowing what they're saying would certainly shed some light on the situation."

"Aw, f*ck... " Lucien groaned, sinking back into the couch. "This is just great."

"Who taught you this word, dear son? Mommy needs to have a little chat with that person," Artemis scolded, her voice rising with every word. The tension in the room was palpable, and everyone knew that they wouldn't get off easy if they got caught. But before the culprit could think of a cover story, the truth came tumbling out of Lucien's mouth.

"I heard it from dad a week ago," he admitted, fearfully delivering his father's head on a platter to his mother.

Everyone in the house knew better than to cross Artemis. If they were caught, the punishment would be severe. And so, when Artemis turned to Dalton, her eyes blazing with anger, he knew he was in trouble.

"Do you have anything to say for yourself, darling?" she asked, her tone cold and menacing.

Dalton swallowed hard, knowing that any defense he offered would be futile. "Will the punishment change if I explain myself?" he asked, trying to stall for time.

Artemis raised an eyebrow, her expression darkening. "It might increase," she warned, a hint of a smile playing on her lips.

The situation was quickly spiraling out of control, and both Dalton and Lucien knew that they were in trouble. Artemis knew just how tough Dalton's body was, thanks to the dreams he had. That made any punishment she inflicted all the more effective, knowing that he would survive even the harshest of treatments, like a resilient cockroach.

###

After the torture session, Dalton took Tomas to the vast and snow-covered field a few kilometers away from their Clan, where the sounds of explosive booms echoed throughout the area. With each passing moment, the explosions grew stronger and more intense.

When the sun was high in the sky, Tomas' session of training with Danton came to an end, they both stood in the center of a cluster of craters, conversing with excitement.

"I'm now convinced that your dream is preparing your body to harness a kind of explosion power kid, otherwise you wouldn't have been able to withstand even a fraction of the power I unleashed," Dalton explained to his son.

"The good news is, since you're following in the footsteps of someone who has gone through before, you'll soon reach my level of mastery, and then you'll be able to forge your own path, tailored to your unique dreams and nightmares," he added with a smile.

Tomas beamed with excitement and replied, "I'll train harder than anyone else, Dad! You can count on it!"

"Since your body is resistant to my power, I think the best way to reach your goal is to have some sparring sessions. What do you say?" Dalton offered, his eyes sparkling with expectation for his son's future.

Before Tomas could respond to his dad's excitement, Dalton’s trained ears picked up the call of his trusted mount soaring through the sky. In one swift motion, he lifted Tomas and took off into the air, propelled by tiny explosions erupting from the soles of his bare feet. The two were now flying, with a precision that could only be achieved through years of practice.

Just as they reached their bird, which had been scouting the area since the beginning of the training session, a colossal armored creature appeared at the edge of the craters, its curious gaze trained on the duo. With a flick of his wrist, Dalton settled his son onto the back of the giant bird and turned to face the newcomer.

"Remember the other day when we talked about the death beasts and armored leopards?" he said, his voice carrying a hint of amusement. "Well, it seems our little friend down there got curious and followed the noise. But with it being so close to our Clan, I need to teach it a lesson and show it that the death beast isn't the only dangerous creature in this region."

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Tomas's eyes widened with excitement. "Oh, I get to watch Dad fight! Is it an armored leopard down there?"

Dalton chuckled. "You could say it's a teenager - not too young to be a child, but not too old to be an adult. I guess it came here to escape the tyranny of the death beast."

With a smirk, Dalton turned back to face the armored leopard. "Enough talk. Let's have a chat with our poor friend."

With lightning speed, Dalton propelled himself forward like a guided missile, his powerful legs exploding with energy and propelling him far beyond the speed of sound. In an instant, he reached the armored leopard and unleashed a titanic blast, the sheer force of which was unmatched by anything seen during the training session.

The concussive shockwave sent trees, rocks, and the massive creature flying, scattering the surrounding landscape like it was made of feathers.

The aftermath of Dalton's attack was nothing short of catastrophic. It looked like the aftermath of a very small nuclear bombing, with the land reduced to rubble and debris scattered as far as the eye could see. The outcome of the explosion only confirmed the rumors that were known by all. Each Clan powerhouses were to be feared and their abilities were on the level of natural disasters.

Yet, even in the face of such destruction, the armored leopard slowly rose to its feet, its gaze fierce and unwavering. Despite the beating it had taken, it was clear that the battle between Dalton and the armored leopard was far from over.

Dalton knew that taking down the armored leopard on his own would be an impossible task. This beast was a formidable adversary, with a hide that was as tough as it was thick. It was said that its skin was capable of withstanding even the harshest of climates and the fiercest of attacks, earning it the name "armored". But the death beast's arsenal of powers went far beyond just its impenetrable exterior.

In addition to its durable skin, the armored leopard also possessed razor-sharp claws and teeth that were capable of tearing through its own hide. And to top it off, the creature was fast and stealthy, making it a true apex predator with no apparent weakness.

Despite its impressive array of powers, there was bound to be someone who could counter the beast, given the great variety of different dreams and nightmares in the world. Dalton was a prime example of this, with his ability to fly and attack the internal organs with the shockwave of his explosions. Speed and impenetrable skin meant nothing against a fighter who could take the air and strike from above.

However, even with his father's mastery of a kind of shockwave attack, it was still not enough to take down an adult armored leopard. The creature's skin absorbed a portion of the shockwave, and its own regenerative powers ensured that it never truly went down.

Therefore he needed help to kill it, not because he didn't have proper firepower, but because he couldn't focus only on offense against such a fearsome beast. One mistake was all it would take to die for an infant like the one he was fighting, given the creature's fearsome kit.

The young armored leopard, fueled by a fiery determination, was faced with the decision of whether to continue the battle. The recent attack had inflicted severe damage upon the creature, leaving it struggling to conceal its weakness. Blood trickled from its mouth as it fought the urge to vomit, and for the first time, the leopard realized that there was something other than the pack leader that could overpower it with just one blow.

For the second time in his life, he got messed up badly to the point he felt powerless in front of one simple attack. Widening his eyes at this realization, the teen armored leopard instantly adopted a battle posture, ready to pound on his enemy at any moment.

Both stared at each other for a few long seconds and the world around them went silent. All their focus was on each other and nothing else matters.

It was like a showdown between two cowboys, each seeking to unleash the quickest attack. Their bodies suddenly moved with lightning speed, each determined to come out on top.

Dalton, with all his years of experience, sprang into the air and released a powerful explosion at his front, causing significant damage while simultaneously increasing the distance between himself and his opponent. This was a veteran move that left no room for counter attacks or retaliation. However, the armored leopard did not react as expected.

With a mighty leap, the beast retreated, fleeing at breakneck speed. Dumbfounded, Dalton returned to his bird while scratching his head.

Tomas sat on a VIP seat at the back of the bird, watching the fight with mixed emotions. While he was amazed by the spectacle, he was also disappointed by its lack of excitement. The young man had expected a more intense and thrilling finale to the battle.

As he pondered on the events that had just transpired, a barrage of questions flooded his mind. Why did his father, Dalton, not pursue the beast after it fled? And did Dalton go easy on the creature, or was there a reason for his apparent mercy?

Dalton, who had just climbed onto the back of his mount, was soon bombarded with the same inquiries from his curious son.

"Every dream power has limitations, son," began Dalton. "It could be the time it takes to charge, specific movements required for activation, or simply getting tired. Every power has a cost, a price that must be paid."

"In my case, using explosions tires me out, and it's also a nightmare-type power. Past a certain point, the bigger the explosion I use, the more I start to feel the effects," explained Dalton. "So, to put it simply, I was exhausted from using explosions all day on you and I didn't want to harm myself for no reason. Scaring the beast was enough to keep it away from here for possibly the rest of its life."

The young beast that had fled the battlefield had done so only out of self-preservation. From the moment of the first attack, it had been searching for a chance to escape. The strategy of living to fight another day was ingrained in its mind, and it would probably stay away from the area for a long time.

“Wow, dad, I didn't know that you had all of that going on during the fight,” exclaimed Tomas with amazement. “I still want to see your full power one day.”

At Tomas' words, Dalton suddenly grew serious. He had never truly unleashed his full power in his life, knowing that such an occasion would only occur against a formidable opponent like a death beast or higher, with the fate of his entire Clan hanging in the balance.

‘Otherwise,’ thought Dalton, ‘it's never worth it to use a nightmare at full power, I could simply run away.’

Dalton's mind was filled with complicated emotions as he gazed out at the horizon, silently praying for peaceful times.

“I hope you'll never see it, kiddo," Dalton said to Tomas, his voice low and serious.