Chapter 9: Chapter 8 – Hunted

Riddick and the girls were expecting Dream to come back, but after several hours, he was nowhere to be seen.

"He is coming back, right?" (Luna)

"He should be. He has his stuff still here. Plus that forest can be dangerous. Those weapons may not be able to save him. He'll probably show up before night hits." (Riddick)

The girls nodded at his words. They didn't wish for Dream to meet a disappointing end like that. They had fun with him, even if it was only for a day. 

Unfortunately, even when night hit, Dream still hadn't shown.

"There's no way. It was just an argument! Is he just leaving?!" (Iris)

Iris started panicking a little. She didn't want him to die just because they argued. Luna spoke up in worry.

"Dad, should we look for him?" (Luna)

"No." (Riddick)

"No? Why not? You said yourself he wouldn't last long out there." (Iris)

"Well the boy is smart. And I also have a feeling I know why he doesn't want to come back. You insulted his homeworld, but he probably thinks we don't want him here anymore because he yelled at you. So now he has two choices. He can leave and never come back. Or he can apologize and risk getting rejected. He's a good kid so he probably wants to apologize, but is too scared to. The reason I say no is because he needs to man up himself." (Riddick)

"I still think-" (Iris)

"Well, It doesn't matter what you think. Nobody knows where he is and even I don't think I'll be able to find him quickly. This is his decision. Now let's go to sleep." (Riddick)

Riddick didn't let them talk anymore and ushered them to bed. Actually, Riddick definitely had the magic to find Dream. But this was a man's problem to deal with. Riddick didn't want to give him an easy way out. 

............

Meanwhile before nightfall, Dream was walking through the forest, not intending to go back. He started walking in a direction and didn't stop. 

"Savant. I'm gonna be giving you orders for some gear."

Dream was preparing to fight while walking. He knew there would definitely be monsters coming after him and he wanted to be ready. 

"I want a rucksack first."

[Confirmed.]

A big Military backpack fell in Dream's hands. He stopped walking and set the bag down.

"I want steel toe boots for my feet. And riot protection gear."

[Confirmed]

A bunch of gear and clothes appeared on the floor. Dream didn't get bulletproof vests because he was fighting animals, not other guns. The riot gear was meant for full-body protection in all types of situations. The steel toe would come in handy for kicking things too. After putting everything on, Dream was totally armored. He asked for black because he would need it during the night to hide better. Dream also didn't need to worry about weight because of the strength stat, which had gone up. 

Now that he had his personal gear settled he moved on to weapons. 

"Well, I left my weapons at the house, but whatever. Give me the same rifle as last time. Pistol as well. 

[Confirmed]

After that, his trusty 7.62 rifle appeared, which he grabbed and slung over his shoulder

"Now some drum magazines and ammo. And hey, are you able to summon drums that are already loaded?"

[Summoning pre-loaded drum magazines is possible.]

"Nice. Do that then."

[Confirmed.]

Like last time, several drum magazines appeared next to him, all of which were fully loaded with rounds. 

With that, Dream put all the drums into his bag except for one which he loaded the rifle with. He was now ready to hunt. 

"Alright. Let's see if I can't level up my skills some more."

Dream mused to himself and started searching for things to kill.

............... 

After 8 hours of walking around though, Dream had finally given up.

"Where are all the animals? Hello!! It's already night and I haven't found so much as a dog!"

Dream had indeed found nothing. The sun was almost set and it was getting dark, but no matter where Dream went, no animals popped up.

"I'm probably gonna find everything at night then. Everything here is apparently nocturnal! It's good that my vitality went up, or else my legs would be killing me. Although I'm still in pain from training. *sigh*"

Dream let out a depressed breath, thinking about earlier. He honestly didn't want to leave the family. He just wasn't sure if they wanted to see him again. He let his emotions get out of control. 

He had been pretty on edge since his death. He thought that it would all be a sweet release. That was like an answer to his ultimate question by itself. But instead, he got thrown into another world. And now there was a lot he needed to do.

Although, Dream also saw it as a chance. The path to true strength was there. The system gave him a direction, and he just needed to follow it. So why wasn't he happy about all this? What's holding him back?

"I guess....I'm starting to miss my family. They were the only ones that never gave up on me. But I still went and quit on life. I shit on their hope for me."

Dream stopped in his tracks and stared at the floor. He finally faced the reality of what's going on. 

He may never see anyone he knows again. He's going to have to lead a totally different life and take on all its problems as well. And although more was possible, it also represented more that could be taken away. He didn't want to lose the ability to succeed in something again. He didn't want to lose something close to him again.

"Maybe I should just end it one more time. I doubt that very powerful dude will give me a third chance. And it would be totally painless."

Dream lifted his gun with one hand and pointed at his head. He had already done it once. He knew he could do it again. He could just let go. One more time. Then there would be no more pain. He wouldn't have to lose anything. 

He could just give himself to the abyss and cease to exist. And get that sweet release he wanted last time.

Dream stood there with his finger on the trigger. Thinking...

A minute passed. 5 minutes. Then 10.

When who knows how long had passed, he raised his other hand and grabbed the barrel, pulling it away from his head.

"I'll need my head for making out with Luna. Hope she won't mind a guy like me."

Saying that, his shoulders drooped, and he flicked on the safety of the rifle. He shook his head

"Sigh, why does everything have to be so difficult. Can't I just be given god powers and live life how I want? Is that too much to ask?!"

Dream complained for the last time (today) and sat up. The sun had set and it had gotten to be night, and he didn't think it would be good to be out.

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"I guess I should head back. Although I wonder if I'll run into any monsters. I could still use some experience."

As Dream pondered, he started walking in the direction of the house. But after a bit of walking, he encountered his first monster.

*GROWL!*

A mean and low growl could be heard a few dozen meters from Dream. He snapped around and aimed at where it came from. 

"...Holy crap. I've seen this in movies, but reality is terrifying."

Dream could see glowing eyes in the darkness. Dozens. At least 80 individual eyes. They were behind bushes, peeking from trees, some were even in the trees. 

"So this world has wolves. Be calm Dream. Don't do anything crazy... Savant. Grenade launcher, fully loaded, in my hands. Now."

[Confirmed]

The grenade launcher appeared in his hands while he was backing away slowly. Dream slung back the rifle and lifted the launcher carefully. Then, he unloaded.

*thunk* *thunk* *thunk* *thunk* *thunk* *thunk*

*BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM**BOOM* 

6 grenades flew out and landed in the places with the most eyes. Huge explosions rang out and small pillars of fire were created, lighting up the forest.

"How many are there?!"

Dream was shocked as he got a glimpse of the true amount of wolves. There were at least 60 running around. They were scared of the explosions, but wouldn't be for long. Dream threw the grenade launcher into his bag and started to book it while he had a headstart.

"RUUNNNN!!!!"

*Awwoooooo!!!!*

A howl rang through the forest. It was likely the pack leader. And he was gathering his forces.

All the wolves stopped scattering and started gathering back up. After that, one wolf after another howled to the moon.

*AWWWOOOO* *AWWWOOOO* *AWWWOOOO*

"Aaahhh! Shut up! Savant, do those howls have mana?!"

[That is correct. Likely a form of communication.]

After Dream got that answer...

<[Awareness] has leveled up!>

<[Awareness] has leveled up!>

<[Awareness] has...>

He got several notifications

"I guess being able to sense mana is awareness. This will be a night of power leveling!!!"

Dream shouted his proclamation and turned around, aiming at the wolves with his rifle.

"AAAAHHHH!!!"

*RATATATATAATATA*

Dream unleashed a hellstorm of bullets at the wolves. After a few seconds, he reloaded, and repeated.

"Savant! When I tell you to give me ammo, I want a 50 round drum mag in my left hand for the rifle. No questions asked!"

[Command acknowledged] 

Dream started running again after giving the instructions. The wolves had gathered and were giving chase. 

Dream unloaded without care for aiming as he ran. If he stayed in a place for too long, he would get pounced on.

It only took a few minutes before all his magazines were gone and he called for the drums. Savant did as told and kept giving him the drums. When Dream ran through those, he just tossed them on the ground. He had no time for saving them

The chase lasted for half an hour before Dream had a problem. 

"I thought this gun was durable! So why is it melting?!"

He yelled as the barrel turned almost white hot and started deforming. Dream couldn't fire it any more. He was pretty sure that he killed a dozen or two wolves, but there had been more than he thought in the shadows. Savant told him that there were at least 80 wolves chasing him. Dream was starting to get a little panicked.

He tossed the rifle on the ground and took out his grenade launcher.

"Savant! Grenades on a speedloader for the launcher!"

Savant didn't even respond and the grenade speedloader appeared in Dream's hands. He threw out the chambers on the launcher and shoved in the speedloader. He then snapped the chambers back in place and had 6 more grenades.

*thunk* *thunk* *thunk*

Dream started unloading behind him.

The grenades he launched out started fires and blew up trees. The ground was left with craters and the wolves that were caught in the explosions were blown to chunks of flesh. 

This went on for nearly 5 hours before it was time for the boss battle.

.........

......

....

*huff* *huff* *huff*

Sounds of panting and fire sounded in the forest. 

Those 5 hours were the most tiring 5 hours of Dream's life. He had been running and moving nonstop. He kept shooting the grenades but as the wolves started catching up, he couldn't shoot any more. They were too close and he would hurt himself with the blast.

He bought a semi-automatic shotgun to deal with anything that got close. The little balls of metal turning the wolves' faces into meat paste was a gruesome sight. And although it was effective for close range, the situation became wore over time.

When he started using the shotgun, nothing was keeping the rest of the wolves from closing in. More and more got closer and soon he didn't have time to reload. That's when dream summoned a long knife and entered melee combat with the wolves. 

And so began his current gladiator battle with the wolves.

 

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