With the death of the Black Knight, the Nightscape changed significantly. The dark aura enveloping the land faded, and the gray clouds drifted away, making way for the waning moon and her twinkling entourage.
Even the Blood Vines shriveled up and died, and the ground turned soft and pliable again. Cleansing the Nightscape not only made it more navigable but also reduced the Dreamwalker's chances of encountering tougher enemies.
Xander took out his pocket watch and breathed a sigh of relief. The blackened glass dial had turned transparent again, and the glowing hour hand was pointing at twelve. It didn't indicate the time in the Nightscape, but hinted at the direction of the main objective.
"Wish you could also tell me how far it is," Xander breathed out a despairing sigh and hobbled forward. He had lost so much blood that he was starting to feel dizzy and nauseous now.
With the little strength left in his body, he somehow dragged his leaden feet forward. Though he tried to stop the blood from oozing out of the gash on his stomach, it leaked through his fingers and kept dripping onto the ground as he ambled forward.
Up ahead in the distance, he saw something glimmering in the darkness and knew he could breathe easy again.
As Xander trudged across the road, it brought him to a narrow wooden bridge suspended by ropes. A canyon full of rocks and thorny bushes lay below it.
"I swear I'm so done with this. There's always a canyon or a gorge in every damn nightmare," Xander frowned, clutching his wound tighter. "I should have asked for twenty thousand vireks at least."
Xander looked down and gulped an airy lump in his throat. The drop was easily five hundred feet and there was nothing to break the fall. One little accident would send him plummeting to his death.
Though Xander's body was still in the real world, he could still die on this side. And dying inside a nightmare would cause half of his soul to be trapped inside the Nightscape for all eternity.
For a Dreamwalker, it was a fate worse than dying in the real world. That was the reason most of them chose to steer clear of such dangerous situations.
Xander, however, had a knack for playing with fire.
"Alright, one step at a time. It's just a lanky wooden bridge. What could possibly go wrong?"
It was just like him to mock danger with a healthy dose of sarcasm.
Any other person would have tried to find another, safer way forward, but Xander was too lazy to look for an alternate path. For him, the shortest way was always the best.
A cold gust of wind the blew dust in his face as he took the first step on the wooden bridge. The generously spaced planks made the trip across far more dangerous than it had to be. One wrong step, and it would be his last.
Xander gripped the rope line on his right and carefully pressed forward. Every time the wind picked up speed, the bridge swayed from side to side, and he had to spread out his legs to balance himself.
With his heart pounding inside his chest, the Dreamwalker stepped over the gaps and slowly made his way across the bridge. He was almost about to take the final step when the howling wind blew away the last two planks.
"Crap!"
Xander lost his balance as the bridge tilted sideways. His feet dangled perilously over the canyon as his body was flipped over the side of the bridge. He somehow held on to the rope with his right arm, but his sweaty fingers made it incredibly difficult to maintain his grip.
"God damn it! I swear this is the fifth time."
As the bridge swayed right and left, Xander started feeling dizzy and lightheaded. He had no choice but to remove the hand covering his wound and use it to steady his hold on the dangling bridge.
With the little strength he had left in his aching muscles, he pulled himself up, inch by painful inch. Getting his upper body over the bridge was the easy part, but it hurt like hell as he tried to pull his legs up.
After a painful struggle he finally managed to climb back on, but it left him exhausted. Every muscle in his body was throbbing in pain, and he was completely out of breath. He wanted to lie down on the bridge and rest awhile, but a distant voice beckoned to him.
"I am waiting for you, Dreamwalker. My time is running out."
Gulping quick deep breaths through his mouth, Xander slowly raised himself to his feet. Even as his body kept resisting, he fought the urge to give up. Taking a few steps back, he dashed ahead and jumped over the broken planks, clearing the gap with a leap of faith.
As soon as he landed on the gravelly ground on the other side, a bolt of lightning struck the wooden bridge behind, instantly setting it ablaze. Xander watched as the flames engulfed the planks and swallowed the whole bridge.
"Guess I can't go back that way," he huffed. "You gotta stop burning your bridges, woman," he shouted into the dying wind.
There was no reply from that female voice, but Xander knew she could hear him. It felt frustrating to be trapped inside someone else's nightmare, but he knew what he was signing up for when he decided to open the portal.
The night grew colder as Xander resumed his trek.
Following the glimmer in the distance, he made his way to an intersection where the gravelly path diverged into two narrower roads. In the middle of this intersection was a gray statue of a naked woman pouring water from an earthen pitcher, standing inside a shallow through.
[Eternal Fountain discovered!]
[Step forward to partake of the divine blessing.]
Breathing a sigh of relief, Xander hobbled up to the fountain and dipped his head in the water. The cold, wet touch soothed his senses and relieved all his pain. As he drank the waters of the fountain in little sips, the gash on his stomach miraculously healed, and his amulet started glowing inside his shirt.
[Healing benediction granted!]
[All ailments cured.]
[Strength and vigor replenished.]
Washing his sweaty face in the trough of ice-cold water, Xander looked up at the statue and said, "I wish to browse my inventory. Grant me your insight."
Almost immediately, glowing white letters appeared before him.
[Insight invoked.]
[Dreamwalker's inventory is open for perusal.]
[Cards remaining: 1. Beast Companion.]
[Nightmare Shards collected: 100.]
[Nightmare Coins collected: 5.]
[Skill Points acquired: 1.]
Taking a good look at his inventory, Xander spoke aloud, "Open skill tree."
[Level 5 Dreamwalker Skill Tree:]
[1 Skill Point Available.]
[Unlocked Skills:]
[1. Card Collector (Level 2) (Upgrade Cost: 2 Skill Points.)]
[2. Dealer's Gift (Level 2) (Upgrade Cost: 2 Skill Points.)]
[3. Mystic Armory (Level 2) (Upgrade Cost: 2 Skill Points.)]
[4. Master of Arms (Level 2) (Upgrade Cost: 2 Skill Points.)]
[Locked Skills:]
[1. Elemental Mage (Unlock Cost: 1 Skill Point.)]
[2. Assassin's Kiss (Unlock Cost: 1 Skill Point.)]
[Level up to obtain additional skills.]
Right now, there were two options before Xander. He could either use his available Skill Point to unlock a new skill, or he could collect two Skill Points to upgrade one of his existing skills.
The last two greyed-out skills on the Skill Tree were both passive skills that were aimed at providing special buffs to the Dreamwalker under specific conditions. While they were quite useful at higher levels, at level one, they added little value.
Taking all things into consideration, Xander decided to store his Skill Point for now. His main focus now was on upgrading the Dealer's Gift skill so that he could carry more cards with him.
Closing his Skill Tree, Xander glanced at his Chronica again. This time, both the minute hand as well as the hour hand was pointing at twelve, meaning that he was really close to his destination. He could already feel the warmth of ten thousand vireks in his hands.
As Xander walked past the fountain, the sky became overcast with gray clouds once again.
"I thought I just cleansed the Nightscape. Please tell me there aren't two Black Knights in this nightmare," he sighed in frustration.
Instead of taking one of the winding roads, Xander headed straight for the woods since it offered a shorter route.
Owls hooted in the treetops, and cicadas buzzed in the distant bushes. The sturdy brown-leaved trees looked on in silence as the Dreamwalker trudged through the grassy undergrowth.
Following the hands of his watch, Xander cut through the trees and shrubs and eventually reached a clearing with dozens of small wooden totems planted all around.
"This has to be one of the strangest nightmares I've ever seen. First a Black Knight, and now this."
Keeping his hand on his revolver, Xander walked into the clearing. He had barely taken ten steps when a red circle appeared under his feet.
[Necromantic Circle activated!]
[New Additional Objective: Overcome the undead horde!]