The Mountains Part 1

Lucon had been traveling on foot towards the southern part of the Frozen Tundra for a total of three days and two nights. His travels through the lands were somewhat boring. He had encountered animals, yes. But most of them were either peaceful or just stalking him from a distance. 

During the travels he went through the supplies provided by Vallen and he currently had some ration meat, a hunting knife, a leather flask filled with water, a blanket, the Prana Center, some knitting tools, a poorly made handbook about the wilderness, and a long piece of rope. Of course they were all packed in a leather bag that could tighten when pulling on the rope around its entrance and using said rope as a strap around one's shoulder.

While Lucon traveled, he would constantly look through the handbook provided by Vallen and would always read and compare the things written to reality. For instance there was a flower written in the book called a "Bloom" that had a grayish appearance with a bit of pink at its center. Supposedly, when you eat this flower petal, it has the strange ability of speeding the flow of one's blood to the point where it can make the person feel like they are having a fever. Though, the effects don't last long, supposedly just ten or so minutes. Now it might sound like a not so useful thing to know, but in this land that is constantly covered in snow and ice and there are constantly white clouds blocking out the sun. Having this in case you're severely cold or stuck in a cold situation is quite helpful.

Another thing that he found in both the book and wild was an animal called a "Blue Eye." It was a rabbit with pure white fur on its body and a very fluffy body. Of course, like its name suggests, the Blue Eye has two pairs of eyes that are as blue as ice. From what was written in the book, the reason for the two pairs of blue eyes is due to the rabbits being around a Ore Called, Gelid Ore and due to Gelid Ore's very conductive property with Prana, these rabbits had gathered so much Prana that their eyes began to slowly show it. Supposedly, the more blue the eyes of Blue Eyes, the closer they live to Gelid Ore. Of course, because they have absorbed so much Prana in their life, this makes their meat really tender and juicy, to the point that you can make a simple meat soup with their meat and still feel like you're eating a delicacy.

Of course, just because Lucon had seen these Blue Eyes, doesn't mean he was able to catch them. He tried several times of course, but most likely due to their body absorbing so much Prana, they were able to run away and detect things at great speeds and distances. Meaning that the Lucon who only had a Hunting knife and a beat up sword gifted to him in the body of a young child, would not be able to get these guys using physical strength.

Speaking about Lucon, he had recently stopped traveling since he had reached his destination. The mountain range at the south side of the Frozen Tundra. Just like what Vallen said, there wasn't much of any sort of danger in the rest of the Frozen Tundra, but when he reached the mountains. Oh boy, did his body shiver and his senses suddenly heighten.

Lucon stared at the mountain range from its base and soon smiled like a child going to an amusement park. "This is it" he thought, "this is the place I need to be right now, to fully adapt to this new body and this new world. To understand it to its base and finally decide how I will see this world and how I will act in it."

Lucon began to climb the mountain before him. Not too high up that he would be exhausted on his journey, but not too close to its base that he didn't feel like he didn't travel high enough. If given a scale, he would say that he had traveled probably 1/4th of the way, only stopping when he found a cave that was suitable for him. This cave would be his temporary home from this point on, until he decided he was done and discovered what he was looking for.

Lucon began to examine the cave's insides carefully to see if there were any unwelcoming guests inside. When he looked around he saw a pile of bones with cobwebs forming inside of them. "There was an owner to this cave, but I guess they either died in the wilderness or left to find a better one" Lucon muttered as he began to move the piles of bones outside his cave and dump them off a cliff nearby.

Lucon did this with every single thing inside the cave that he did not find necessary to keep. The pile of bones was the first thing, then an old bird nest with shattered eggs inside and a small bird skeleton nearby, before finally stopping at the cobwebs that had naturally formed in the cave. 

Lucon stood outside the cave and just grinned, feeling proud of himself for what he had just done. Lucon just stretched his body as he went inside the cave and sat in its center. He drew his blade from his scabbard and stared at it.

Before he had gotten off the ship and traveled to these mountain ranges, Vallen had told him about what he had done at the ship. He explained that Lucon might have awakened a small portion of his Prana and that during his stay in these mountains he should try to awaken more bits of his Prana. Not too much that it would burden his young body, telling how there were geniuses who had awakened too much Prana all at once and were either crippled by it or had gone insane due to the rush they felt. But also not too little that he wouldn't notice the effects at all.

"How did I even awaken it?" Lucon thought as he stared at the battered blade in his hand. He tried to remember what happened and really couldn't figure much about it. On the ship he was simply looking at the blade, just imagining the history the blade had experienced and how it had participated in grand events without even knowing about it. He also imagined how Vallen felt when he swung his blade at the wild lands to unite his land.

"!!!" Lucon widened his eyes as he realized how he had awakened his Prana. During the moment of imagination of Vallen, he had slowly begun to imagine the scene of Vallen fighting and slowly changed the figure of Vallen to himself. It could be played as dumb luck or a coincidence. But from what he remembered from the being who brought him to this world. They had said Prana was a "Person's will given physical form."

And, perhaps his will during the imagination was great enough that he had awakened his Prana in that moment. Perhaps that is what happened and perhaps he just had to simulate it once again.

Lucon sat on the hard ground of the cave and closed his eyes, the blade in his right hand and its scabbard in his left. He then began to slowly imagine a scene playing before his eyes. He was standing in the cold lands, the blade in his right hand, his eyes staring at an opponent before him. A Dire Wolf, but it wasn't any ordinary Dire Wolf, this beast in front of him, for one, was not tamed like the others, but lived its whole life in the wilds and experienced the hardships of the cold. Its body was bigger and wider than the ones that were tamed and its eyes more resembling the wild beast that it was.

Lucon got into his stance and the Dire Wolf just lowered its body. It bared its teeth at him and he barred the teeth of his blade at it. Their bodies tightened, their eyes gazing at one another, the feet moving in the snow.

-Boom

The Dire Wolf darted towards him, its eyes examining his body. Lucon eyes tried to keep up with its speed, but before he could react.

-Snap

Its jaws had already closed around his neck and blood was already pouring out. He stabbed his blade into the beast's side and tried his best to get out of its maw. But that seemed to only enrage it, as it opened its maw slightly before slamming it down on his neck.

Lucon opened his eyes widely as he breathed heavily. His body was full of sweat and his eyes squirmed. Yet, with that horrifying realistic scene he had created in his mind, Lucon just simply smiled as he stared at his right hand. A small purple flame seemed to be burning on its surface.

"So, I am right," Lucon said as he closed his eyes again, his smile became hidden in the darkness of the cave as day became night.