Near a lake in the southern part of the forest, Leo saw his prey, a black bird with deep blue and grayish highlights, large wings, and a kind of necklace made of water. This bird, a sea-walking raven, was a common bird in the forest during the winter season. It settled in the sand birches from the beginning of December to the end of January.
The meat of the sea-walking raven was a mana-rich food with high nutritional value and low decomposition rate. It was a perfect food for villages far away from others. Therefore, it was a perfect prey for Leo.
Leo built a simple trap with some sand birch bark, a drop of lake water, two blueberries, the preferred fruit of his prey's species, and a crushed blackberry, a poison to sea-walking ravens. All he had to do was wait for his target to eat a poisoned blueberry.
The crow fell into the trap after 20 minutes of patience and observation. Thirty seconds later, a spear pierced the bird's skull. Leo has just earned his food for the next two days. At least... that's what he thought when a second raven came to eat the other blueberry. One spear and he'd earned 4 more meals.
"I'm lucky today," Leo said as he picked up the two bodies, "maybe I can try to push and get another prey"
Leo slowly walked back to his home. He looked around, hoping to find another animal. His hope came true, he found a weak and blind rabbit. His spear hit the rabbit's head in one fell swoop. And now he had a rabbit and two sea-walking ravens to take home.
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The sun began to sink below the horizon. "Twilight! Really, I have to run faster," Leo said with a frightened look on his face.
No, no, no, I don't want to die, please, don't cross paths with the nightmare-builder he thought non-stop for five minutes until he saw the entrance of the village.
But it was too late, a tall, shadowy, human-like bird with bulging muscles and whistling a goosebump-inducing melody appeared three steps behind him. It was the nightmare-builder, a monster well-versed in spirit dark magic, shrouded in its shadow affinity and empowered by a body affinity. A rare, territorial, and dangerous creature that showed itself only at night.
This creature was known for causing overly realistic nightmares and draining the life force from its victims. Few people are able to withstand these nightmares and thus the draining of their life force.
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Leo tried to escape from the nightmare-builder by running faster and faster, tightening his grip on his hunting treasures, hoping to reach the entrance and find himself in the light of the magic torches that kept the shadow creatures out of the village.
The monster walked slowly, one step, a pause of 2 seconds, one step, a pause of 2 seconds, one step... And then, it began to cast its shadow forward to trap Leo and feast on a dreaming human.
He sensed the shadow coming up behind him and began to think it was the last thing he would see.
The shadow touched him... but... nothing happened. Both he and the nightmare-builder stopped in shock.
Suddenly, he remembered that people with a blessed gift awakened it when they forged their soul core. And there was a gift that made its holder immune to all magically-induced dreams and nightmares: Nightmare of the Void. A blessing with a backslash, natural nightmares were worse, more frightening, and could even lead to madness.
He ran towards the entrance and passed it.
"It's not luck at this level anymore," Leo screamed in relief. Realizing the backslash of his blessed gift, he sighed painfully.
He went home, put the bodies on the table in the kitchen, and went straight to bed.
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The next morning, after a difficult night's sleep, he went to the kitchen and prepared breakfast with the rabbit he had hunted the day before.
After preparing a grilled rabbit leg, he began to read his book while eating his breakfast. He was looking for a chapter on blessed gifts.
> Blessed Gifts
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>
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> Common blessed gifts:
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> - Hawk Eyes: grant a better vision
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> - Large Pool: grant a bit larger mana storage
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> - Fast Charge: grant a bit faster mana regeneration
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> - Quick Heal: grant a bit faster healing speed
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> - Wild Fire: grant a bit hotter fire
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> - Whistling Wind: grant a bit sharper wind
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> - Solid Earth: grant a bit sturdier earth
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> - Calm Water: grant a natural control of a bit larger quantity of water
Introduction to souls, knowledge of the world - H. of Silverinterr, the hallow wizard
"If I weren't being attacked by the nightmare-builder, I think I'd prefer Large Pool or Quick Heal instead of Nightmare of the Void," he said confidently, "Nightmare of the Void is certainly quite useful against dream-manipulating creatures or some spirit mages. But the cost is quite harsh."
"By the way, what's the difference between a wizard and a mage?" he mumbled.
One year before the academy he thought, I need to learn more, but I only have this book, how to do ?
If I want a book, I need to travel. Maybe I can try the Adventurer's Guild. Maybe I can get a job and buy a book. Or just a public library.
Three days later, Leo left Sanorddiala and began his journey in the north direction to the nearest village.