After a while, Dan finally pulled himself together.
"...Well, that was weird."
He scratched the back of his head and glanced in the direction the creatures had disappeared.
There was no point chasing after them.
Whatever had frightened them so badly, he clearly wasn’t going to get an answer by standing around and staring at the trees. Besides, he still had a more immediate problem.
He needed to find the settlement.
’If those guys were heading in this direction, then there has to be something nearby.’
The footprints were still there.
He followed them with his eyes before sighing and continued down the path. This time, however, he was considerably more cautious. Maybe he was just being paranoid, considering the forest was empty and queit. But that assumption couldn’t be farther from the truth.
Dan had spent enough time wandering around this place to know that the forest wasn’t exactly peaceful. Strange creatures could be lurking behind any tree, and he still had no idea what his Unique skill was capable of.
Speaking of which...
’Status.’
The familiar gothic window appeared before him.
Dan immediately looked toward the skill section, studying it more carefully than before:
| Darkness
| Rank: Unique
| Description: An Unorthodox power with two primary functions: [Dream] transforms the user’s imagination into "shape," while [Nightmare] transforms the target’s fears into "being."
"...That doesn’t explain anything."
He had originally assumed that [Darkness] was simply an unusually powerful skill. But after what had just happened, he wasn’t so sure anymore.
’Could they have sensed this skill?’
The creatures had reacted almost immediately after sniffing him. Only after they had gotten close enough to smell him, though. In other words, they must have sensed something.
"Well, let’s try it out."
Dan thought for a moment before closing his eyes and recalling a few things from memory.
Of course, he wasn’t completely clueless when it came to this sort of thing.
Countless stories of the "transmigration genre" had taught him one very important lesson.
If you suddenly found yourself in another world with mysterious powers, experimentation came first.
You couldn’t simply assume that a skill would work exactly as its description suggested.
Dan didn’t want to discover anything unpleasant, such as a skill restriction or side effect, in the middle of a life-or-death situation.
’First, let’s figure out exactly what [Dream] can do.’
He remembered the description.
[Dream] transforms the user’s imagination into "shape" which sounded simple enough. The problem was figuring out what "shape" actually meant.
Could he literally create something from nothing?
To test out his theory, Dan closed his eyes and visualized the image of a one-handed blade. Nothing too complex and complicated. Just a straight, double-edged blade extending from a narrow crossguard, with a handle and a rounded pommel at the end.
He pictured every detail as clearly as he could. Even the slight imperfections along the metal.
As he willed his intent into the manifestation, something moved within his body and responded to his thoughts. It was faint, almost like a tiny spark flickering somewhere deep within his consciousness.
He couldn’t quite describe the strange sensation. It wasn’t painful, nor was it particularly pleasant. It felt more like an invisible thread had suddenly connected his mind to something that was simply waiting for him to give it shape.
In the next moment, a dark energy reminiscent of shadows emerged from his hand.
The shadowy substance continued flowing from his palm, twisting and condensing as it gradually formed the shape he had envisioned. First came the blade; a long, straight edge formed from the darkness, followed by the crossguard, handle, and pommel.
Within seconds, the mass of shadow had solidified into a complete longsword. Dan stared at the weapon in disbelief, his mouth hanging agape.
’Whoa. It actually worked!’
He, apparently, hadn’t expected it to work. In fact, he had been half-convinced that he would end up standing there like an idiot with his eyes closed, imagining a sword that would never appear.
But right in front of him was the object of his own creation.
...So it really did turn imagination into shape. Dan’s eyes gradually lit up.
Growing excited, he gripped the sword with one hand and swung it experimentally, just like how he imagined a Sword Master would do so.
The blade cut through the air with an audible whistle, as though attempting to cleave the air.
He didn’t stop there and swung it multiple times; here and there, left and right, up and down. Each time, the blade of darkness moved exactly as he intended, responding naturally to the slightest movement of his wrist.
’This is awesome!’
He had never been particularly skilled with a sword in real life. But this was something different.
The sword was almost an extension of his body.
Dan shifted his stance and attempted a downward slash.
Whoosh–!
Then a horizontal swing.
Whoosh–!
Followed by a powerful thrust.
Thud–!
The tip of the blade struck the trunk of a nearby tree and sank several centimeters into the bark.
"...Oh."
He slowly pulled the sword free.
’It’s actually sharp.’
That realization made him even more excited.
He turned the blade over in his hand, carefully examining its edge. It looked like ordinary metal despite being composed entirely of darkness.
’How does this even work?’
He had no idea.
And frankly, he didn’t care.
The developers could explain the science behind it later. Right now, he had a much more important question.
’How strong is it?’
If [Dream] could create weapons this easily, then its practical applications were practically endless. However, there had to be some kind of limitation.
Otherwise, why would the skill have been classified as Unique instead of something even higher?
’Let’s test its durability first.’
He approached the same tree and swung the sword.
Bang–!
The moment the blade struck the trunk, chunk of bark flew away. Despite being created from imagination, it appears the blade had some physical properties.
He struck the tree again and again in an experimental manner.
The blade continued cutting deeper into the trunk without showing any signs of damage. Whereas, Dan’s excitement only seemed to grow.
’This is definitely stronger than an ordinary sword.’
But how much stronger?
That was something he couldn’t determine yet. Still, there was one thing he could say with certainty.
[Dream] wasn’t some useless novelty skill.
Dan lowered the sword and stared at it thoughtfully.
’Apart from a sword, can’t I create other stuff?’
Naturally, multiple scenarios required different tools. A sword was useful for close combat, but it wouldn’t be particularly helpful if he needed to fight something from a distance.
Likewise, there were plenty of situations where a weapon wasn’t necessarily the best solution.
He needed a variety of options for different scenarios.
’Let’s try something simpler.’
Dan dismissed the darkness sword and began imagining a knife in its place. He focused on its shape, size, weight, and texture.
A few seconds later, the familiar sensation returned. That strange connection between his thoughts and something deeper within himself. Darkness gathered around his palm. Within seconds, the sword disappeared completely and was replaced by a small knife.
Dan stared at it for a moment before turning it over in his hand.
It was exactly as he had imagined.
From there, all kinds of possibilities opened in his mind.
’If I can create a knife, then I should be able to create other tools as well.’
Dan’s imagination began running wild as he considered the potential applications of Darkness. Or rather, [Dream]. He could create weapons for different situations, tools for exploration, and even basic necessities for survival.
’Wait. Can I create something that already exists?’
He had been imagining objects from memory, but there was a major difference between remembering something and understanding how it worked.
A knife and sword was relatively simple enough.
But what about a gun?
Could he create one?
Dan immediately imagined a handgun. He pictured the shape of the weapon, the barrel, the trigger, the magazine, and every other component he could remember.
Darkness began gathering around his hand. However, unlike before, the sensation was noticeably weaker.
The shadows trembled and twisted awkwardly before collapsing.
Puff–!
Just like that, the darkness dispersed.