The Little Raven was done in record time, that my little friend was impressive. It's been a while since I’ve eaten with someone and to be honest, it was pretty nice. I cut off the deer’s remaining back leg and placed it by the fire, a good host will provide as much food as needed to his guests. The bird hesitated seeing that it would need to draw closer to me but it soon couldn’t hold back anymore and pounced at the leg that was almost three times his size. I cracked a small smile and grabbed the small sack on my belt and checked it for tobacco but to my disappointment most of it was unusable, no matter though, I had enough for half a pipe.

I grabbed my tomahawk pipe and added the usable tobacco before lighting it with a flaming stick. Soon I was puffing away, the nicotine suppressed the hunger and headache letting me relax even further. I watched the bird as it began to slow down and soon it was sitting lethargically by the cleaned bone. It was amazing how it was able to fit all that in its stomach, but I guess I do that all the time. It gave a few quiet chirps before falling into a deep slumber, I gave a chuckle and wrapped it in the deer’s hide before resuming my own meal.

The night was nearing its end when I decided to venture out and explore my new territory, and I had found some interesting things. The forest was much bigger than I first anticipated, leading on seemingly forever in all directions except one. I had also found many signs of wildlife that I have never seen before, a bear with quills, a predatory pack of chickens, even a turtle seemingly made of metal. It would be understandable if all the creatures were spirits but nope, all signs indicated they were just normal animals with a slightly abnormal amount of magic. Talking about the magics, this place is full of an overabundance of magic, even some spiritual battlefields don’t have this much. To be honest It feels out of place to have this much magic around me and not have it filled with blood and a murderous aura.

After a while of wandering around and enjoying the feeling of the snow and wind, I had found a small river. The stream was surprisingly clear and upon closer inspection I had found that, just like everything else, it was full of magic. The sound of flowing water was very relaxing to me and the pure mana it generated helped too, so I decided to take a small break to do some fishing. I waded into the water on a shallow bank and stood completely still as I waited for a sliver of movement or a slight presser change. I went into hunting mode and started to imitate the flow of magic around me, soon I felt a big change of pressure in the deepest part of the river as something decently sized swam quickly upstream. I was going to let it pass by but when I saw it deviate a little bit and brush by me my instincts took over and I pounced.

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With a lunge, I launched forward into the icy water and stabbed my claws into the dark red shadow causing a bluish blood to fill the otherwise clear water. The creature tried to fight back with long tentacles covered in flesh-ripping teeth, but it did nothing to my skin or cloak. Seeing that it was some sort of squid I turned my attention to finding its brain which I easily pierced causing the animal to turn white and stop struggling. With a heave, I tossed the body onto shore causing some of the tentacles still attached to me to rip off which I quickly ate. I slowly got out of the water and began to carefully inspect my catch. It was large, about the size of a full-grown man, with typical characteristics of a squid, large eyes, numerous tentacles, two clasping tentacles, and a large head with two fins. It was an interesting catch, especially for one mid-blizzard.

I slowly ate the squid while resting at a large log that was by the river, it was an enjoyable experience, to say the least. When I finished, I decided to head back, the little guy will probably wake soon. But as I walked, I noticed something that caused me to pause, in front of me completely barren of snow laid a fairy circle engraved into the dirt. Huh, I guess I should have expected this. I bent down and inspected barren soil but unfortunately, I could only discern that the creator of it was of the elfish variety. I backtracked and grabbed a few stones from the riverbank before placing them around the outer circle of the ring as a sign of respect and a small pile nearby as an indication of my presence.

With that done I decided to grab a few more stones and mark the outer edge of the territory I wanted to claim. Despite the new project I still made it back to the mausoleum at a decent time. When I entered the raven still slept soundly and the fire was dwindling, now that I think about it I could use a nap myself. I could tell by the shifting magic that day will soon be here, and I was still overly sensitive from the blood hunt and the sun will only give me migraines right now. I want to repair the door first though, so I began to formulate a plan of action. Finally, I just decided to find every piece of stone and stitch them together with magic. I went around and carefully looked for each individual piece before hefting the large metal door up back into its place and began placing the stone back how it was. After some minutes the door was back to its original place and I was done. I purposely left the door cracked so my little guest could breathe and leave if he wanted. Now that the door was done, I propped myself against the wall on the far end and slowly began to meditate until my mind was clear causing me to enter a sleep-like state.