The silence of the forest was eerie, as if it were holding its breath in anticipation of what was coming. Daniel struggled to his feet; his wound was still burning, and his mana had only recovered a few points since the battle.
He checked his status.
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Health: 6/20
Mana: 7/60
Status: Natural Recovery active (1 point per hour)
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"So slow?" he muttered, frustrated. "If anything else attacks me, I'll be defenseless..."
The system offered no potions or easy ways to regenerate, at least not yet. He had to get to the village, and fast.
He had seen signs on his interface, a distant icon to the northwest marked [Liria Village – 10 km].
With hesitant steps, he set off.
The journey to Liria was more grueling than he had thought. Each step made his wound throb, and his mana barely increased. But as he moved forward, fragments of memory kept emerging, like echoes of a past life.
Laughter...
A soft voice reading him stories at night...
A song hummed with love.
His heart raced as he passed through the stone archway that marked the entrance to the village. Modest houses, wooden roofs, smoke rising from chimneys… and people. Ordinary people.
A woman with dark hair, fair skin, and sweet eyes. She was leaning in front of a stall, buying bread with a young woman holding her hand.
The young woman had the same eyes as him.
Daniel took a step forward. Then another.
"...Mom?"
She turned.
Their eyes met.
A second of eternity. Then confusion crossed her face.
"Daniel?" she said, her voice trembling.
The young woman looked at him too, and smiled.
"Brother!"
The world seemed to stop. The pain, the fatigue, everything faded.
But something didn't fit. As he approached, he felt a tug in his chest. A pressure. As if an invisible barrier separated what was real… from what wasn't.
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SystemAlert: Illusion Detected – Projected Memories. Not Reality.
Condition: Memory Illusion Active (Stability Level: 38%)
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"What the...?" Daniel stepped back, feeling the scene begin to distort.
His mother and sister began to fade into particles of light.
"No! Wait!"
He fell to his knees. He screamed. But nothing remained. Only the still air and the void that burned within him.
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CriticalCondition: Mental Illusion Active. Mana Consumption: 1 x second.
Time Remaining Before Collapse: 2 minutes
MentalRecoveryActive: Disabled due to interference from the illusion.
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He felt the mana begin to rapidly drain from his body. His mind was trapped between dream and reality, and every second in this state made him more vulnerable.
"No... I can't stay like this!" she cried desperately, pressing her hands against her forehead.
She needed to break out of this state, regain clarity. She had to find a way to break the illusion.
"I can't go on like this. If I can't recover life and mana faster, I'll die before I know what's real..."
She opened her system interface:
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SpecialAbility: Skill Creation (F)
Requirements for new creation: Mental Energy + Focus + Base Concept
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She closed her eyes, focused on the need, on the idea. Not of healing... but of accelerating regeneration.
She visualized her body absorbing energy from the air, her mana flowing faster, her flesh healing.
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Skill Creation
Activated Skill: Accelerated Recovery (F)
Mana: 15
Duration: 10 seconds (5 minutes per use)
Mana and Health Recovery: +1 per second.
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Immediately, he felt a wave of warmth run through his body. His health and mana regeneration began to accelerate, and the illusion's distortion seemed to diminish. However, the cost was high.
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Mana: 10/60
Status: Recovery active. Regeneration accelerates, but mana remains insufficient.
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The pressure in his chest began to ease, and the images of his mother and sister faded completely, but the feeling of emptiness persisted. What he had seen was not real. Not at this moment.
The light around him stabilized, and the air cleared. The illusion was gone.
"Am I... out of it?" —she whispered, still trembling.
She fell silent, breathing heavily, as her mana slowly began to recover.
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Mana: 21/60
Health: 20/20
Status: Illusion dispelled. Full recovery in 10 minutes.
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And with that, she decided to move forward. Because even though she didn't know what was real and what wasn't, she knew she would find the truth. Whatever the cost.
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Attribute System
Name: Daniel
Age: 18
Class: None
Level: 2 (0/50)
Health: 5 (20)
Mana: 6 (60)
Strength: 5
Speed: 6
Intelligence: 9
Luck: 10
SpecialAbility: Adaptive Body (S) - Skill Creation (F) (Evolvable)
Abilities: Basic Healing (F) - Mana Projectile (F) - Accelerated Recovery (F)
Available Points: 0
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