’...Failed, huh? Guess it can’t be helped.’
Dan wasn’t disappointed by the result. On the contrary, he had just made an important discovery.
Complexity.
Manifestations like a sword or knife didn’t have much complexity, so their structures were easier to replicate compared to a firearm that consisted of dozens of intricate components.
In other words, [Dream] wasn’t simply about imagining something. He had to understand what he was envisioning.
If all he needed to do was picture something in his head, then he could theoretically imagine anything, which would make the skill absurdly powerful. But if the manifestation depended on his understanding of the object, then there was a clear limitation.
’The better I understand something, the more accurately I should be able to recreate it.’
That was actually reassuring because it meant he hadn’t discovered some ridiculous loophole that would make the entire game meaningless. At the same time, however, it also meant that [Dream] had practically unlimited potential.
Basically, if he learned the mechanism behind something, then he should theoretically be able to create it.
As the old saying went: knowledge was power!
"Let’s try something else."
This time, Dan imagined a simple bow.
Darkness gathered around his hand once more. The knife dissolved into wisps of shadow, and those shadows began twisting into a new shape.
A few seconds later, a bow made of darkness appeared in his hands.
’As expected. Simple objects are easy to create, while complex objects require more understanding. Perhaps the more complicated an object is, the more difficult it is to maintain its shape. This could be useful in the future.’ Dan analyzed the result thoughtfully.
Though, in its current state, he couldn’t use the bow without ammunition to shoot at a target.
So he imagined an arrow.
Unlike the bow, the arrow was extremely simple.
Darkness gathered at his fingertips, and moments later, an arrow appeared in his hand.
Dan’s grin widened.
"...Yeah. This is going to be useful."
♦♦♦
Gradually, time passed after Dan finished his experiments and resumed his seemingly aimless wandering through the dense forest. His expression was slightly pale, and his breathing was rough and ragged.
He had grown overexcited and ended up exhausting himself more than he should have. Nonetheless, the blunder wasn’t without its merits.
Now, he had a much better understanding of «Darkness» and its limitations.
First of all, [Dream] couldn’t create something from nothing without limit. Every manifestation required a certain amount of mental energy. The more complicated the object, the more concentration it required to construct and maintain. Simple objects, such as knives, arrows, and basic tools, were relatively easy. Weapons like swords and bows required more effort, but were still manageable. However, when he attempted to create something more complicated, the result was drastically different. Because of this, his first attempt at creating a firearm had failed.
There had simply been too many components to visualize accurately which included the barrel, firing mechanism, chamber, and so on. Even the smallest mistake could cause the entire structure to collapse. Moreover, it wasn’t enough to simply imagine something. He also needed to understand what he was imagining; comprehension and understanding of the envisioned image. The more complicated the object, the deeper his understanding needed to be.
And there was the problem of maintaining his creations, which rapidly drained his energy.
Speaking of which, it seemed like some form of energy was consumed in order to shape and manifest his Imaginary. Upon checking his status, Dan noticed his Spirit stat, which had gradually decreased during his experiments.
[Spirit: 6/10]
’...Ah.’
Dan stared at the number with a faint frown.
’So that’s what it uses.’
He had started with a full ten points of Spirit, but after repeatedly creating and dismissing weapons, his Spirit had dropped considerably.
More importantly, the rate at which it decreased depended on what he created. A simple knife barely consumed anything while a sword required more. Somehow, the bow and arrows had consumed even more due to the amount of time he spent maintaining them.
In other worlds, if Spirit was the resource required to use [Dream], then recklessly creating objects could leave him completely exhausted before he even realized it.
But what exactly is Spirit?
He had assumed it was simply another statistic, but the status window hadn’t provided any explanation.
Perhaps it was related to his mental strength. No, it likely represented some form of magical energy or had something to do with the Soul. Either way, he would need to be careful with it.
’Still, six points isn’t too bad.’
Dan closed the status interface and continued walking.
His body felt noticeably heavier than before. His legs were slightly sluggish, and there was a dull ache in his temple that hadn’t been there earlier. Apparently, exhausting his Spirit had physical consequences as well.
’Definitely need to figure out how to recover it.’
It was here that Dan suddenly heard something.
Crack—! Crack—! Crack—!
Loud noises suddenly erupted in the distance. It seemed something was happening ahead of the path.
Cautious, Dan slowed his pace and instinctively lowered his body and listened.
Another loud crack echoed through the forest, followed by the unmistakable sound of something heavy crashing against a tree. What’s more, the ground between his feet shook but only subtly through.
’... What’s that?’
Every sensible part of his mind was telling him to turn around.
Whatever was making those noises was clearly powerful enough to cause that kind of disturbance. Getting involved would be the exact opposite of being cautious.
But curiosity was such a dangerous thing. And Dan had always been cursed with too much of it, apparently.
After a brief internal struggle, he carefully moved toward the source of the noise. He made sure to keep his footsteps as quiet as possible, occasionally stopping whenever another crash echoed through the trees.
Finally, upon arrival, he crouched behind a large tree and covered what was happening from the bushes taller than himself.
At the center of the clearing, which had opened up ahead, two giant silhouettes entered his view.
The first creature was an enormous jade serpent, thirty feet long from its head to the tip of its tail. Its body was covered in thick, overlapping scales, and two elongated fangs protruded from its upper jaw, dripping with a translucent liquid that hissed whenever it touched the ground. Whereas, the second monster was considerably smaller, resembling a massive wolf covered in dark-gray fur and long, sharp claws, with a single horn protruding from its head.
Both creatures fought with all their might, trying to slay the other using their bodies and murderous intent.
Every now and then, the Jade Serpent would attempt to trap and strangle the Horned Wolf within its enormous coils. The Horned Wolf, however, was far too agile to be caught so easily as it repeatedly darted between the serpent’s movements, tearing through the thick scales whenever it found an opening.
Narrowly evading the massive tail, the Horned Wolf lunged forward and sank its claws into the serpent’s side. The Jade Serpent hissed in pain and twisted its body, attempting to wrap itself around the hateful creature.
The Horned Wolf immediately released its grip and leapt backward, saving its skin just like that.
Neither of them seemed likely to yield to the other.
Was this the so-called survival of the fittest he’d heard so much about? Dan wondered, dumbstruck.
As someone who came from a relatively peaceful world, witnessing this level of overwhelming violence was enough to make his head spin. He didn’t know the exact levels of these beasts, nor did he have any idea how their strength was measured. The concept of a health bar, unfortunately, seemed to be nonexistent here. Still, it was painfully obvious that both creatures had suffered severe injuries.
Putting that aside, a lowly Level 1 like him had absolutely no business being here.
He could probably be killed by one of their farts!
’...Shit. Maybe I should leave.’
Leaving was the most sensible thing to do. He had already seen enough. There was no reason to involve himself in a battle between two monsters that could probably flatten him without even noticing.
Despite knowing that, however, Dan remained crouched behind the tree and focused on the clearing.
Why wouldn’t he leave?
Well... there was no particular reason. He just couldn’t bring himself to leave.
Something about the skirmish caught his attention.
From what he could tell, both creatures were already standing on their last legs. Even if either managed to survive this battle, their injuries would likely prove fatal sooner or later. Which explained why they wanted to kill the other with all their might.
... But what happens when a third party entered the mix?