It was nighttime, and Dream walked through the forest, the moonlight of four moons lighting his way through the dense foliage. The lively sounds of the forest surrounded him, muffling the sound of his own footsteps, which seemed almost nonexistent in the vibrant atmosphere.
Among the distant echoes, he heard what sounded like haunting howls mixed with chilling coos, their origin obscured by the dense canopy above. Random bestial grunts, emanating from the shadows, added to the sinister atmosphere, leaving him on edge with every step he took. The unseen creatures seemed to lurk just beyond the reach of the moonlight, their intentions veiled in the darkness.
The eerie symphony and the threatening atmosphere around him were nothing short of unsettling, but Dream felt no such thing as fear; there was no room for that bloom in his heart. Perhaps he'd felt a momentary unease stirred by the noise around him, but just a quick glance at the stats popping up on the blue screen dispelled that freshly burgeoning emotion.
Name
H.P
P.P
Threat
Wigglesnout [ Lvl. 1]
1
8
Hatchling
Name
H.P
P.P
Threat
Dreadhowl [ Lvl. 2]
2
22
Hatchling
Name
H.P
P.P
Threat
Staghorn [ Lvl. 2]
3
27
Hatchling
Name
H.P
P.P
Threat
Chucklelemur [ Lvl. 1]
2
4
Hatchling
Casually, he tread forward, his steps familiar and composed, accustomed to the sights and sounds of the woods.
"Did I make a mistake somewhere, or does this forest really have no end?"
It had been some time since the stunt he pulled off in the Odoe capital, perhaps one month, or maybe two. He couldn't say for sure. What he did know was that for several weeks, he had diligently followed the shattered moon. Where exactly was it leading him? He hoped it would take him beyond the forest south of the Odoe capital. However, upon leaving the place and heading south, the first obstacle he encountered was a large forest.
Initially, he thought it would be like the woods just beneath the fort, where he would soon reach the other end. Yet, even after several days and soon weeks of non-stop marching, he had not yet emerged from this seemingly endless forest. The long journey had begun to weigh on him, and he couldn't help but wonder if there would ever be an end to it.
At first, it was a new environment for Dream to explore, the beginning of an adventure. However, as he delved deeper into the woods, he soon stumbled upon Hatchling-threat-level monsters, and further down the forest, he encountered Savage-threat-level monsters, just like the Grizzligore from before. The presence of these awakened beasts posed a problem, as most of them, especially the big ones, have the tendency to see him as easy prey, leading to every encounter with relatively large monsters mostly turning into a literal battle to the death. Yet, in spite of all that, it was also somewhat of a relief to have them around, as the ensuing battles not only allowed him to level up as he moved forward, but they also served as a perfect distraction for his mind while trying to find a way out of the immense forest he was trapped in.
"Perhaps, all this time, I've been going in circles," he voiced, but in truth, he wasn't sure. After all, he clearly felt a sense of progression, with each of his encounters with monsters becoming more and more threatening.
“Awakened are steadily getting stronger, but I’ve yet to encounter an Enlightened one,” he sighed, depressing at the thought.
Aside from his three main goals, which were to embark on a grand journey, devour the moons, and ultimately awaken Ainerax, Dream's current passive goal was to distance himself as far as possible from the Odoe capital. He had a bad feeling about the promise the twins had made him, so getting as far away from there as he could seemed like the wisest choice.
Considering the duration and distance he had already covered, most people would have likely felt like they had traveled enough. However, for Dream, being stuck in those woods, he felt like he had barely covered enough ground.
In spite of knowing that he had covered quite a distance, even if it was still within the vastness of this forest, the mere thought of being near the Odoe capital made him uneasy. A lingering feeling gnawed at him, as if something ominous was about to happen if he didn't venture as far as possible from the Odoe capital. Trusting this groundless yet firm feeling, he pushed forward, willing to challenge any monstrous opponent he might encounter as he delved deeper into the woods.
With that mindset, he set himself a secondary goal aside from finding his way out of the woods: to locate an enlightened beast, defeat it, and, of course, absorb its power.
Why? Well, the answer was very simple. After what happened that day in the Odoe capital, which led him to reacquire his power within the staves and retrieve his system, he gained access to a new power. With both the Odoe tree's fruits and the reactivation of the system, in addition to Pranakinesis and Odo kinesis, he now possessed Arcane as shown by his stats: Arcane Potential.
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Name
H.P
P.P
O.P
O.M.P
A.P
Level
Dream
49/49▲
480▲/731▲
189▲/210▲
25.6▲
126▲
13
"Aaah, Arcane," he sighed longingly. "At last..."
He remembered his first real and tangible interaction with Arcane; it was that night when he had jumped from the hole he made in his room. It was with Arcane that Suraxai cushioned his landing. Of course, he knew very well that this was not his first concrete interaction with Arcane, but it was the one that left the strongest impression on him. After all, most of the time, Suraxai was using Arcane to mess with Dream or the servants, which often ended badly for them, as well as the guards, which also often ended very badly for them.
Now, regarding the concrete use of Arcane, it was the power born of the God that was once Dao, the Truth Seeker. It granted users the ability to wield powers known as “aspects”. As for what aspects were, they represented a limited manifestation of mastery over a specific range of power, element of the world, or even aspect of reality that was once Dao’s.
Arcane, as Suraxai once roughly explained, was a remnant of Dao's old power, which was closest to what people call wisdom. This advanced form of wisdom allowed its user to control, alter, and manipulate already existing things.
That night, to cushion his fall, what Suraxai did was use Arcane to control the air itself and soften his landing.
While the specifics were unclear, it was also with arcane that he created the system for him. It was only now as he acquired what was required to actually wield Arcane: A.P (Arcane Potential,) he finally came to understand how weirdly sophisticatedly built it was. The Nexus system, unlike the actual conventional use of arcane, which requires an Aspect and A.P to be wielded, didn't require A.P at all.
“Curious, I wonder how he pulled that off.”
Skills
Draconic / Godling
Aspect
Blessing
Blessing of the Guardian Dragon
Nexus System
Blessing of the Valkyrie
Golden Blessing
Odo Leveling
Dream was currently in possession of a single aspect; it was that of the Nexus System. While, of course, greatly useful, the Nexus System wasn't what arcane was initially designed for, but that could change. All that would take for that to actually happen is for him to find an Enlightened Beast, in other words, a monster that wields arcanic aspect. But so far, he had yet to encounter one, which explained his frustration over not having done so.
While it would have been really optimal for him to stumble upon an enlightened beast and acquire its wielded-aspect around the same time as he did with those awakened beasts, he was realistic enough to understand that things rarely go the way one would expect them to, and that it was normal.
"Well, I guess sulking over that on my own won't help at all. The best I can do is to stand ready for that encounter; as long as I keep marching forward, I'm bound to stumble upon one eventually."
He had that lingering feeling that if that were to happen, it wouldn't be an easy fight. The awakened beasts around these parts are plenty dangerous enough, and he got the feeling that those Enlightened beasts lurking up ahead were bound to be almost, if not more, dangerous than those.
“For now, the best I can do is get stronger,” mumble to himself resolutely.
Luckily for him, it wasn't resources to get stronger that he was missing; they were everywhere. Most of the time, all he had to do was find them by searching, and in most cases, they would literally come to him.
Thanks to this, in the few months he'd spent in the woods, he was able to level up one level, almost two. Most monsters that came after him, aside from the obviously harmless ones, even the earliest and weaker ones, tended to have H.P. and P.P. higher than that of the average mage or even Raj.
He wasn't kidding when he said that with my level back then, I would get folded by the average savage-threat level monsters.
Luckily, I am no longer who I was back then. Now, while I still don't have any tangible use for my new power, which is my Arcane Potential (A.P), I still have both Odo and my pranakinesis to rely on, especially the latter.
Mantra
[ Aero ]
[ Electro ]
Rank
Name [Tier]
Rank
Name [Tier]
Initiate
Air Gust [1-5]
Wind Whip [1-5]
Aerial Clutch [1-5]
Gust Surge [1-5]
Air Blade [1-5]
Gust Wall [1-5]
Initiate
Flash [1]
Spark [1-5]
Slithering Bolts [1-5]
Apprentice
Gust Barrier [1-5]
Wind Fury [1-5]
Wind Cutter [1-5]
Gust Barrier [1-5]
Unrelenting Wave [1-5]
Apprentice
Thunderspear [1-10]
Acolyte
Unnamed Mantra [1-13]
Wind Shield [1-3]
Unrelenting Surge [1-3]
Wind Blitz [1-3]
Gale Blade [1-3]
Acolyte
Thunderstrike [1-8]
Lightning Fall [1-8]
Slithering Strikes [1-8]
In addition to now having a much greater Prana Potential, he now benefits from a large arsenal of new and more powerful mantras. "When I see this, I can't help but feel confident, but I know I shouldn't be. Overconfidence is going to bite me back."
He knew that but still, when he saw these system notifications spawning in front of him,
Name
H.P
P.P
Threat
Shadowclaw [ Lvl. 4]
4
42
Hatchling
Name
H.P
P.P
Threat
Shadowclaw [ Lvl. 2]
2
27
Hatchling
Name
H.P
P.P
Threat
Shadowclaw [ Lvl. 3]
2
29
Hatchling
Name
H.P
P.P
Threat
Shadowclaw [ Lvl. 3]
3
32
Hatchling
—he couldn't help but confidently declare, “Bring it on, you, Hatchlings ”