--- 11 months later... ---
After the Danger Beast Wave, the dry season ended, and the rainy season began. The Danger Beast Wave of the rainy season arrived, was defended...
Children's especially the skull, spine, and hip bones are in pieces, and as they grow, these pieces fuse together. During this growing process, the skeletal system becomes better at supporting the body weight and enables walking ability.
Hope began walking much faster than normal because her skeletal system, muscles, and tendons were supported by the tendrils.
After 11 whole months, Hope turned five years old. Although he physically seemed like a 5 or 6 years old child (around 100 cm tall), his mind, motor skills, and physical strength were much greater. He could be compared to a 10 yeas old child!
_________________________________________
Hope was stitching his mom's hand with his "superpower". He was fully focused on his work with a very cute look in his face...
His mom had actually cut her hand while cooking. "Kyaaa~! My Hope's so cute!" she thought after looking at Hope's face.
After stitching, "How are you feeling, mommy?" Hope said.
"Im better than before, thank you Hope!" Bent down and kissed Hope on the cheek.
Hope smiled sweetly, hugged and kissed her on the cheek and said "I love you, mom!"
Hope touched the center of his chest.
"When I saw your hand like that, it hurt here a lot. Why, Mom? Am I sick?"
She's eyes widened.
It was at that moment that she truly understood what it meant to be a mother. For the first time, she tasted the joy of a child's pure love for his family... a love free from appearances, selfish desires, or ambition.
She pulled her son into a tight embrace and began to cry.
As tears streamed down her face, she let out a soft laugh.
"When someone you love very much is hurting, and you see it happen, your own heart aches too. That means you love me very much... just like how much I love you!"
Hope had skin as white as snow, had eyes and hair as black as night, a tiny baby nose, two black leaves on his head's middle, and a delicate, slender body that gave a sense of protection to those who looked at him. He was vey cute!
--- After a while... ---
Ding!
[ Slumberveil Realm unlocked. ]
[ Slumberveil Realm: During the sleep, Vessel can train with chosen trainers and hunt other creatures in the realm. The Vessel can progress through the realm and by passing milestones, can choose another trainers. ]
[ To enter the Slumberveil Realm, Vessel must first enter a deep sleep, followed by REM sleep. ]
What is all of this?!
I stared at the system in confusion. A strong curiosity filled me, and I went to bed and started sleeping...
Started sleeping...
AaaaAAHH i can't sleep!
I got out of bed and started spending time with my mom and dad. After a while, my dad and I left the house and met up with my uncle Kato. It was hunting time!
From time to time, Kato and my dad would go out hunting, and lately, they had started taking me with them. Sometimes it was just the two of them, and sometimes others from the village joined too...
Even after all this time, I'm still being ostracized by children around my age. Especially because of those two black leaves growing from the middle of my head... I look like a freak. Hunting trips with Kato and Father are practically my only social activity, and the other villagers who occasionally join us don't seem to care much about my appearance.
We hunted for a while, but my mind was still busy with the things the system had explained. I'll sleep as soon as i get home!
The hunt was over, and the sun was about to set. My dad and I returned home, ate dinner, and went to bed. My heart was beating so fast...
After lying in bed with my eyes closed for a while, I finally fell asleep.
____________________________________________________
--- About 90 minutes later... ---
My consciousness was pulled into the darkness...
Ding!
[ Vessel's mind has entered REM sleep ]
[ Requirements met to enter the Slumberveil Realm! ]
A small white light appeared, far away in the darkness. A white light started to grow, and different colors began to form... I could see the full visible spectrum.
Suddenly, I found myself on a stone floor about 10 square meters wide. Around the stone floor was a grassy field.
About one kilometer beyond the grass, there was a forest. One kilometer past the forest, there was a small valley with water in the middle. And one kilometer past the valley, I saw a 100-meter-long bridge.
Right in front of the bridge, there was a...fog?
I started to wonder how I could see so far... then I realized I couldn't close my eyes.
Am I dreaming?
[ A dream created for the Vessel to grow stronger while sleeping: Slumberveil Realm. ]
[ Since the Vessel is descended from a warrior, they will be trained to become a powerful warrior. Now, mandatory trainers related to the Vessel's class(warrior) will be assigned. As long as the Vessel does not neglect their mandatory training, they may choose as many trainers as they wish. ]
[ Assigning trainer... ]
[ Weapon Trainer assigned: Tung Tung Tung Tung Sahur!]
Suddenly, something appeared in a few meter front of me. It was a wooden-like figure, about 3 meters tall, holding a club about 2 meters long, with thin arms and legs. It was smiling warmly at me. It came closer and bent down.
"Hello, little one. From now on, I will be one of your trainers. We'll be together for quite a while. I'll teach you my techniques as much as I can." While speaking, it began to pet my head.
Even though I hadn't looked up, I could see its facial expression. It was a very strange feeling.
"Right now, we're inside a dream, little one. You've entered REM sleep, and REM sleep constitutes about 2-3 hours of your total sleep. So, you'll be training here for at least 2 hours and at most 3 hours each day."
"The advantage of this dimension is that some things function differently from reality. Even if you don't look at me, you'll still be able to see what I do. Right down to the finest detail..."
"I know you, little one, but you don't know me. Let me introduce myself. I'm Tung Tung Tung Sahur. My actual job was playing drums in ramadan. But... sigh... Anyway! I've swung this club millions, billions of times, and now I'm the best in the universe at swinging a club!"
Suddenly, a white stone sword, matching my current 100cm height, appeared in my hand.
"Your weapon, Sekiryu is actually a sword-like club with sharp edges. With a good technique, you'll be able to swing your weapon and not only cut your enemies but also deal damage through crushing/pressure. I'll pass on everything I know to you, little one! Are you ready for training?"
Sekiryu! it was that stone embedded in the black log!