Chapter 22: Moonlit Dreams

"What do you think?" A soft voice asked. She giggled as I felt a cold touch on my cheek.

"…He'll do fine, I guess." The dry voice sounded somewhat familiar. I opened my eyes, only to be met with darkness. Something was covering my eyes.

"Are you done?" The same dry voice asked. "He's waking up."

"Then put him to sleep." The beautiful voice answered harshly. "Don't rush me."

I knew these voices! I tried to get up and remove whatever was covering my eyes, but a weight pressed on my wrists. "I don't mean to rush you, but he's awake." I felt something wrap around my feet as the tingling sensation at the back of my mind returned.

"What-" I tried to speak as something quickly covered my mouth. My muffled voice caused another giggle. "Don't you worry," She said with a melodic voice. "You won't remember any of this."

The dry voice sighed. He was clearly sick of all this.

"See? I'm done." She chuckled and a mild pain surfaced in my temples. "Now sleep, little hatchling. Don't let these dreams disturb you in this moonlit night." Her voice faded as an uneasy sleep dragged my consciousness away.

I woke up to the chirping of birds. A mild headache throbbed in my skull as I slowly lifted myself up. "Damn…" I mumbled as I wobbled towards the lake. "I think I overdid it yesterday." I splashed some water on my face in an attempt to get rid of this grogginess. Unfortunately, it didn't help much. With a sigh, I returned to the tent and grabbed some fruit I collected yesterday.

A simple, yet tasty breakfast helped with my headache a little as I stared at my status.

'Kai Friseal – Level 28 Soul Keeper | Exp: 1500/9500 - - Souls 99/100 - - Mana: 460

"I definitely overdid it yesterday. Damn." I said to myself. This past week had been quite intense, and my level was proof of that. I still had a fair amount of unused skill points too. I didn't really know what to use them for, so I simply saved them. Maybe another useful skill would be unlocked soon.

I glanced at the souls section of my status. I didn't really know what would happen once I reached the 100 souls threshold. I was kind of looking forward to finding out though. I grabbed my sword and left the alcove.

In this past week, the forest had changed even more. Wild animals, both friendly and hostile, were everywhere. The trees had grown taller as the air grew even darker and heavier. As soon as I stepped out of the alcove, it felt as if I was breathing a completely different air.

The downside was that even walking around had become a lot more dangerous. The upside was that with all these changes, the creatures here had grown a lot more powerful and the rewards for killing them had increased exponentially. That was the only reason I had levelled up this much in such a short timeframe.

But my level wasn't the only thing that had changed about me. With every creature I killed, a cold, dark aura had appeared around me. It wasn't a skill or a spell and I couldn't find it anywhere on the status window, but it was most certainly there. I could manipulate it at will. It allowed me to sense magic in the area and it was useful for scaring anything that was weaker than me.

With my aura spread wide, I headed to the giant horned lion with firm steps. I knew I was strong enough to take it on. I wasn't sure if I would win, but I couldn't waste any more time here.

I arrived at its lair as the sun slowly climbed. There was a cold wind blowing from the east. It hid my scent from it, which I was grateful for. With a smile on my lips and my sword in hand, I used Fallen Grace and Death's Scythe. Power flowed through me as dark flames burst out of my sword. I stepped out of the treeline.

It welcomed me with an ear-piercing roar. My heart raced as my steps carried me closer to it. Fear gripped at my throat as it hit the ground with its paw. The ground shook and threatened to unbalance me but I stood firm.

For a short moment, silence engulfed the field as our eyes met. Both of us stood motionlessly as our wills clashed. Not averting my eyes was challenging. Its piercing gaze was that of a hunter, looking down at his prey. In comparison, my levels and power didn't seem to mean anything. What I expected would be a battle of swords and claws had taken a sudden turn into being a battle of wills.

But I wasn't about to let some overgrown lion stop me any longer. I stepped forward. It took every last bit of determination I had, but I approached the monster. Step by step and agonisingly slowly.

It reared its head as I came ever so closer and let out another ear-piercing roar. I responded with three Dark Bolts, aiming for its left eye. As soon as the magic left my fingertips, I lunged forward with a wordless battle cry.

No, I wasn't shouting to motivate myself or because it gave me more power. I shouted because I wanted the creature to look at me. As its gaze was focused on this little person seemingly running to his death, it didn't notice the three dark bolts aiming at its eye. I leapt up as the extra strength of Fallen Grace sent me several meters into the air.

I caught the monster's whisker just as the bolts hit it in the eye. It reared its head and stumbled backwards as I fired another volley of bolts while barely hanging on. It roared and tried to catch me, but I let go just in time. I rolled on the ground as soon as I landed and sprinted to its hind legs.

I only caught a glimpse of its left eye, but it was enough to put a smile on my lips. The next volley of bolts missed its right eye and hit it in the neck. Unfortunately, they didn't do much other than destroy some of its fur and annoy it a little but having blinded one of its eyes was enough for me.

As soon as its hind legs were within my reach, I leapt up again and slashed the back of its leg with all my strength. My heart raced and my hands shook as I touched the ground again. Blood flowed from the cut as my worries were proved to be unfounded. The creature wailed in pain as I dashed to its neck, just barely dodging its paws.

I leapt up, as I high as I could and struck its throat. For just a moment, I felt the thick fur and skin resist. I held my breath as I used the full power of Fallen Grace to slash through everything. Blood splashed on me as the resistance disappeared. I lost my balance mid-air and hit the ground with a thud. Soon after a louder thud echoed as the beast's body slammed the ground near me.

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