Chapter 61- BushCraft and Meditation

Morpheus sat on the branch that the goblins were hanging from, he looked over to the tree platform that he had built.

The young chimera thought about actually making it into a proper tree house. Since it was built between two branches he had a decent platform to build further upon. He leapt over to the platform and took out his dagger.

Morpheus weakened the space around him and jumped down, Fuzz shorty followed behind.

He began to scour around the trees for his building supplies. He found four large logs which would act as supports in each corner and hundreds of thin long twigs that would act as the walls.

Morpheus took the supplies back and went straight to work for his limited time. His dagger and his own nails made great tools for carving holes into the lower branches.

After thirty minutes he skinned the goblins, his butchering skill came in handy. As it levelled he knew where to cut more and the vital areas of the goblin.

He went back to building his tree house, Fuzz just watched as Morpheus laboured away. The little shadow tried to help but it seemed construction did not come in his skill list.

Finally it was finished, he had made a small window overlooking the forest and opened the doorway. He was far too exhausted to try and make a door at the moment.

‘Congratulation’ you have learnt the skill Bushcraft Level (1). The more you level this skill the more familiar you are with using your environment to build.

He smiled at the message, he hadn’t revived a skill in a while. He still put the skill in the useless area, it wasn’t exactly one to focus on.

He relaxed in his leaf bed for a few minutes until the goblins had finished drying. Before he started, Morpheus made a fire pit from large green leaves.

Cutting into the goblin made him gag alot, Dagger of Black made its way onto the skinny thighs of the goblin.

“Finally!” Morpheus exclaimed.

He cut the rest of the meaty parts from the goblin and he now had food for dinner.

Morpheus lit some dead twigs and leaves in the fire pit he made. He stuck the meat all on one stick and held it just above the fire, and soon the sort of nice smell of cooking meat filled his nose. Goblin meat wasn’t the tastiest, but at least it wasn’t raw.

As the fire was cooking the meat, Morpheus grabbed the crystal, it was time to try again.

He sat crossed legged on his bed and called Fuzz on his lap. The shadow loved to collect the licks of its own magic.

He switched on Mana Sight as he flowed his mana into the crystal. He could see a massive influx of coming from his heart and up his arm. It stopped dead as the crystal glowed bright and a small slither extended from it. The crystal glowed its usual darkness and licks of its magic began to drop on the shadow beneath.

He brought out the burnt paper and was ready to try and solve the riddle. He went through each line to try and separate the fact from fiction.

‘If light was born before darkness then what was before light? The answer is darkness.’

He racked his brain to think of how to turn it into a practical sense. He got nowhere, so he just went back to trying to control it with his will.

Morpheus watched how his mana entered the crystal and produced the shadow magic.

He had no control over where it exited or the intensity of it.

Morpheus thought if he could flow even less mana he might be able to control it more. He had never at all controlled his mana before but it might be a good way to start.

Before he started, the young chimera tucked into some slightly burnt goblin meat. It was much better than eating raw meat.

He chucked the twig on the fire pit and then stamped it out with his foot.

Morpheus sat back down on his bed and crossed his legs, Fuzz sitting between them. He took a deep breath and picked up the crystal again, if he wanted to achieve this class he needed Shadow Manipulation.

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He tried to flow the smallest portion of mana he could but it was extremely hard to control. The young chimera felt as if it was a sea, a raging sea that flowed in a chaos ridden ocean. The waves did not flow a certain way and the ground was constantly moving.

“Shit, I’m gonna have to do it.” Morpheus said to himself.

Meditating had become more of a pet peeve to him, he never understood how someone can remain at peace. He took another deep breath and closed his eyes while concentrating on the mana inside his body.

It was more comforting to focus on something, rather than just try to be at peace. He could feel the chaotic ridden waves inside his body.

Morpheus attempted to try and gain control of them but it was no use, you can’t stop a raging ocean.

Instead, the young chimera studied the waves, the ups, the downs and the crashes. It was beautiful in a sense; to watch the mana inside his own body.

Morpheus became in a trance-like state, completely fixated on his mana. Time started to become fluid and many hours passed.

A notification took him out of the trance.

‘Congratulations’ you have learnt the skill Meditation Level (1). The more you level this skill the more you are able to control your body, mind and mana. Percentage decreased with insanity gain. Percentage increases with insanity loss.

Sanity:13

Sanity:14

Morpheus punched the air, he had finally gotten it. It felt incredible to achieve something he thought he’d never be able to.

His celebration stopped when he realised it was twelve at night. Morpheus was shook that he was meditating for so long, it only felt like a few minutes.

He got up out of his bed and packed away the crystal and papers. The chimera felt slightly closer to achieving his goal.

His shadow curled up on his chest as Morpheus drenched his cloak over himself.

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Rose was getting frustrated, she had received no clues on the chimera’s whereabouts. She had heard the tales of The Abomination but nothing on Morpheus.

She had been in and out of the taverns for the past few days, overhearing conversations and asking a lot of questions.

The Night Owl was the most popular tavern in Kronos’s Keep. Rose has visited the place a total of five times but found nothing.

It was getting late so she decided to try again, the drive she had for cover status was incredible. She was truly motivated to get her job back.

Rose opened the door into the tavern, the door creaking as she did. Many lustful eyes were drawn to the woman.

A bard in a crimson suite was stringing his guitar in the corner.

“Ey missy, you need company?” A creepy guy with an eyepatch asked.

Rose fake smiled. “Thank you for the offer, but I prefer men who can look at me with both eyes.” She snarkily replied.

A man sitting on the table next to him laughed and then began coughing; a snot bubble shot out his nose making all the other men laugh.

Rose’s attention was turned to the bar where she saw a barmaid clicking her fingers.

“Stay away from Drunk’s Landing luvvy.” The barmaid said while she poured an ale.

Rose smiled for real this time and headed over to the bar.

“Come sit next to Big Sam, he don’t bite.” The barmaid said.

A fat man turned his head around to look at Rose, a jolly smile plastered on his face.

“Ya better stay away from that corner.” Big Sam said through his teeth.

Rose smiled to the dagian as she sat down on the stool next to him.

“Whatcha want?” The barmaid asked her.

“Spirit. Strong.” Rose replied.

The barmaid took the sweet out of her mouth. “Tab?” She asked.

Rose nodded and the lady disappeared through a door behind the bar.

“A dagian is hard to come by.” Rose said to Big Sam.

“I, my lady. not much of us left.”

Rose let out a weak smile.

“Ain’t seen you around here before, ya travelling?” Big Sam asked.

“Looking for someone actually.” Rose replied while staring into nothing.

Big Sam cracked his neck. “Who ya looking for?” He asked.

“A chimera, wields an axe.” She said while looking up to the dagian.

She saw a light bulb go off in his head and then turn off.

“You know him?” She asked.

Big Sam shook his head. “No my lady, a chimera is rarer than a dagian” He responded.

Rose became slightly enticed.

“Describe this man to me.” She ordered.

Big Sam raised an eyebrow to her sudden straight forward manner.

“Tall, wears black. He’s on a job at the moment.”

“The axe?” She asked with excitement.

Big Sam looked up to the sky while rubbing his double chin. “No idea, my memory of him seems to be messed up.”

‘Oh a mind mage’ she thought. Morpheus was not a mind mage, nor could he afford a decent one. So the man he’s talking about isn’t Morpheus.

The eccentric bard skipped up to the bar and sat to the left of Rose.

“Fat Maaaann.” He sang towards Big Sam.

Hammer’s eyes locked with Rose’s, an awkward silence followed. But of course, Hammer broke it.

“Good day my lady, how are you this fine evening?” He asked while putting on a pompous voice.

“What’s wrong with you?” Rose asked curiously.

“Nothing my lady! What’s wrong with you!” He exclaimed with his chin in the air and in his pompous voice again.

The barmaid broke up the conversation before Rose could respond.

Rose nodded a thank you to the barmaid. She winked at Rose and popped her sweet back in her mouth.

‘What strange people’ Rose thought while taking a sip of her ale.