Act I
I was holding my spear tightly as we stalked into the sleeping camp, not many stayed awake and those that were awake. Was busy tending smoke fires as they cured meat, trying to store as much of the two large elks they've hunted.
I was leading a group of three, me included. I already talked to the other two, convincing them that our goal was to steal one or two of those baskets filled with smoked meat. At first I thought it would be hard but they were easy to convince, especially because the other groups were aiming to steal horses and weapons.
"Fire! Fi. . AHHH!" Something was wrong, the fire plan started as three tents were burning at the far end of the camp but the screaming wasn't part of the plan. The camp started waking up, quickly my group hid behind a tent on the edge of the camp.
SHRIEK* A powerful shriek pierced through the camp, I looked over the tent and saw it, 2 meters tall crouching over the people that were moments ago smoking elk meat, a horror, its face was skull like with Elken antlers on its black maned hair.
"Shit. . ." I said quietly as the hunters of the camp started leaving their tents with spears and stone axes in hand. A fight began, the Horror scythed through them as if they were wheat.
The hunters threw their spears, filling the Horror with missiles yet it did not weaken as it bore down on them. Ripping their heads off with its fangs and long clawed arms, soon everyone started running for their lives as the Horror chased and killed those that fled.
I froze in fear, my companions did not as they started running for their lives, the Horror chased after them, somehow missing me as I stood behind the tent. The sounds of screaming, crying and dying filled the night as I finally snapped out of my daze.
I looked around the camp, I didn't see the horror, the horses had long bolted even though their legs were hobbled. The noise was less now, as I only heard crying and groaning. So I moved, stole what I could from the two tents near me and then started moving towards a nearby hill that overlooked the camp.
There I waited and watched, but I didn't see any of those in my raiding party. But that probably means, they've run away back to our forest camp. After an hour or more those that didn't die from the Horror attack started coming out of their tents.
They started gathering the dead, placing them in a line that was when I saw it again. The Horror looked like it was limping as it returned to the camp, it didn't hesitate as it attacked again killing the old and young that didn't run. But this time, it didn't chase them but started eating the corpses, after it ate two corpses it laid down near the elk carcasses.
Act II
I think I fell asleep because as I woke up, the sun was at its first quarter. I looked down and saw the Horror was still there pretending to be a corpse. What should I do? That Horror was probably my challenge, I need to kill it but how?
I felt hungry, so I started eating the dried meat I stole. It tasted dry, salty and tough. But I ate it, after my third strip I felt filled and after an hour of watching the camp seeing nothing moving I made my way down.
The horror didn't react as I got closer even when I was moving around the camp it didn't even twitch. I looked up and the sun was nearing its highest, but still far from noon.
"Can you not move during the day?" I spoke out, it didn't react. A smile appeared from my face as I gathered the wood around the camp and piled them around the Horror, it still didn't react.
In the end of my work I was able to build a pyre, using wood I looked at the human corpses. . . I wasn't able to let them rot so I added them to the pyre, almost losing my breakfast as some were truly brutalized by the horror.
I used some of the embers of the pitfire to make torches, but before I lit the pyre I paused as I felt something. It was like an instinct, a kind of whisper telling me what to do so I kneeled down. Let's see if the rumors were real.
"Oh patrons of the dreaming, I offer this pyre as sacrifice." I didn't know any specific patrons that godded over the dreaming, or know any real rites, but if my aspect really does work as I think it does then this is enough.
I tossed the torches. The fire was orange one moment and then turned white quickly burning the pyre with unnatural speed. I took a few steps back at the scene fearing something bad would happen, moments after I was right.
SHIRK* The Horror stood up, crying in pain as it burned in white flames. It started thrashing about, spreading the flames threatening to set the rest of the camp on fire. Its actions made me move without thinking, as I charged forward striking its legs.
Thud* It dropped. I was surprised for a moment, but I didn't let its weakness stop me as I struck again, bashing it with my spear over and over until it stopped moving and burned away fully.
"Ha. . Haaa. . ." I was breathing hard, why was it so weak? Those hunters were much bigger than me but their attacks didn't do anything but mine did?
[You have slain an Iron rank Horror, Hungry Forest Spirit]
The words came to my eyes, it was surprising. The fire burnt everything in moments, and as it did another message came.
[The Huntress of the forest stirs in her sleep, she accepts your sacrifice. You have gained a dream essence.]
Another set of words appeared as I felt something inside me stir and then an arrow appeared on my hand. It was a well made arrow, its arrow head was broad and pale seemingly made out of Ivory, its fletching were long, soft and well balanced.
"My first dream essence." I focused on it trying to see if the dreaming would tell me what it was for.
[Hunter's arrow: Iron rank - A gift for a young hunter so that they would not miss their prey.]
"Huh, that's pretty overpowered." I thought out loud as I made it disappear with a thought, then I looked around, there were a lot of things I could take with me but I can only carry so much, then I took a tired breath as I realized the horror wasn't the challenge and it means I need to do something much harder in this Dream.
Act III
This Dream challenge wasn't like when I reincarnated, I don't have any memories of the person I am right now. Which according to public records, was common and probably one of the reasons why a lot died during their challenges.
I didn't have any memories, but I didn't need to, at first I thought the horses bolted into random directions but no. Atleast six of them went towards where my raiding party came from, and with no better idea than picking a random direction to go to. I chose to follow the tracks of horse dung and stump grass.
The white sun was at its last quarter before I saw groves of trees and then woods. After what seemed to be another hour or so I was inside a forest, the trail went cold after that. I only have a few tracking tricks but in a forest this thick? It was very different to a field of grass and hills.
Still I tried, the forest floor was covered in leaf litter, piles of them naturally covering things like roots, rotting logs or moss covered stone. . . I got lost immediately, after I realized that I tried making it back towards the edge of the forest before stopping.
"Were could they be?" I said to myself, before walking again as I looked around at the edge of the forest trying to see if I could find any kind of trail, but I saw nothing. Again I wasn't a hunter, horses were just easy to track in the open because of their habit of pooping while they moved.
Why did it need to be a forest? Sigh* With a tired breath I sat down and then rested. I spent almost an entire day walking while carrying so many things, atleast building a fire was simple. There were dry leaves and sticks everywhere and with a small torch I took with me I used it to light a campfire.
As I rested sitting on a root, I took a sip from a water skin I stole from the destroyed camp. That was when I had a moment for myself, I tried not thinking about the faces, and the screams from last night, especially the monster that destroyed that camp.
I wonder what I needed to do to complete this dream challenge. At first I thought I just needed to help my group raid another group, but then that horror appeared. If it's not the raid, and not the horror then what is it? Why was I in a group and why were we raiding?
I thought back to when I first appeared here, I was in a group of raiders, and all of us were youths. Were we exiles? No it can't be, none of us looked malnourished or had any visible signs of torture.
Snap* I grabbed for my spear, as I heard the sound of twigs breaking, it made me smile atleast the training I did with boss made me alert. With that thought I started looking around while placing my back towards a large tree, forcing whatever it was sneaking around to fight me head on.
"Whoever you are! Come out! I know you're there!" I screamed trying to sound confident and not a scared kid with a pointy stick scaring himself with his shadow. . . I think I failed as a long pause of silence came, no twigs broke.
"Brother is that you?" The voice was familiar, it was the older girl that was leading our raiding party.
"Yes? sister?" I said the last part left me even before I realized what I said, then things happened quickly. Horse riders came from out of nowhere and suddenly I was surrounded.
The older girl jumped off her horse as she rushed over hugging me, she smelled of sweat, horse and the forest. But she was warm and her touch soft so I accepted her familial comfort.
"I was so worried, I thought you were eaten by that evil spirit!" Her voice rattled as she gently pushed me away, her eyes focusing on my body checking if I had any visible wounds.
"I fell unconscious, when day broke, I woke up to see everyone dead and the evil spirit gone. I took what I could and left tracking the horses." I was partly honest, as I'm not sure if they'll believe me if I said I killed that monster.
The group started talking to each other, fear in their voice, it gave me time to see that they didn't have much on them. Yes they had horses but even the crude weapons they had yesterday were gone.
"Sister, have you eaten yet? I brought as much meat as I could. We should eat and then plan what to do next." I suggested trying to have us move somewhere else, it's probably my campfire that attracted them best we don't attract any other group.
My sister, in this dream challenge nodded and then rallied everyone. An older girl led an empty horse for me to ride, I almost refused as I had never ridden one before but before I could say anything my body moved with practiced ease, mounting the beast.
"Huh, strange. . ." I muttered to myself as I rode without thinking too much, I was riding a horse as if I was riding my motor bike. Is this part of my Arcana? I thought feeling like that felt right, and why wouldn't it? My Arcana was the Traveler, I guess I'm good at traveling.
Act IV
We were near a tributary, our campfire was smokeless and all around that camp fire was a group of youths eating boiled and salted elk meat. It was quiet as the leader of the group ate in silence, thoughtful.
"Aren't the horses enough Koreyonos? Wouldn't the clan chieftess accept us back, when we present the horses as our prize of worth?" One of the older girls spoke, which made me look around and it made me realize, there were only three boys in the group, the rest of the group were girls in their late and mid teens.
"It would, but it has only been a season since we started our Koryos, it is part of the rite that we only come back with our prizes after surviving the wilds for a winter." Our leader explained patiently as her eyes were sharply looking into her food. That sucks, I wonder if this 'Koryos' is part. . .
[You have discovered your dream challenge aspirant. Complete your Koryos, and defeat the Valley of Evil.]
"Brother, are you alright?" The leader of this Koryos and somehow my sister asked, her voice concerned as I felt my mouth open in shock. . . I'm spending a year here aren't I?