Chapter 34: Innate Ability Unlocked

It was already past midnight, but New York City never really slept. A flurry of people walked on either side of the street and cars were always cruising down the roads. The neon lights reflecting from digital billboards drowned the city in an ethereal glow.

David walked down the sidewalk in a daze, his eyes still teary after the quarrel he'd just had with Elena. Meeting her after two years, oh how he wished things had happened differently... but they hadn't.

Unable to control his emotions, he had ended up lashing out at the one person that'd truly ever meant anything to him. As Natasha had explained to Elena earlier, his mind was indeed a mess. He still hadn't come to terms with a lot of things.

The people he had thought to be his new family, whom he'd trusted, had stabbed him in the back. As a result of their betrayal, he had died. Then he was reborn, and finally, the system had been launched. All those reasons were contributors to his current emotional instability.

But as if that wasn't enough, he had then found out that the person behind his rebirth was actually Elena.

It was simply too much for him to process. Unknowingly, he had approached the Manhattan Bridge. He continued to walk along the pedestrian path and soon reached the center.

He looked up at the highest point of the tower on the bridge and suddenly thought of something. He would never have tried it before, but now that his stats had received a boost, he might as well.

Jumping up into the air, he agilely scaled the tower. Within a minute, he reached the top and sat down on the platform that connected two suspension cables.

As his gaze fell on the towering city skyline of Manhattan Island, his lips curled up into a faint smile. Something about the city had always lifted his spirits. He took a deep breath and tried to sort out his emotions. He needed to come to terms with everything, or, going forward, he would continue being reckless and making bad decisions.

As he sat atop the tower with his legs hanging in the air, he willed the system panel to appear.

[Name: David Watson]

[Bloodline: Nightshade Wyvern]

[Occupation: Bloodline Wizard]

[Affinity: Dream, Darkness, Shadow]

[Strength: 3.1]

[Agility: 4.6]

[Vitality: 5.5]

[Spiritual Force: 5.1]

[Status: Healthy]

[Shop]

[Innate Ability unlocked]

[Accept?]

David's eyebrows furrowed and a hint of surprise flashed past his eyes. Maybe he had overlooked it the last time, but now he could see an additional tab. The shop tab reminded him of the novels he had read as a kid.

Moreover, there was another thing that caught his eye. He couldn't help but wonder what his new innate ability was. Thus, he willed, 'Accept!'

DING!

[Innate Ability: Dream Walking Lv 1]

[Dream Walking: The ancient art of traversing the Dreamworld. The host may separate his spiritual body from his physical one and enter others' dreams. The ability level will increase as the host continues to advance]

David's eyes widened in disbelief as he finished reading the description of his innate ability. He couldn't even begin to comprehend just what kind of ability it was, exactly. If he could visit someone else's dream, didn't that mean he could learn everything about them if he could somehow access their subconscious through their dreams?

His mind was a mess as he incredulously thought, 'What the hell is the Dreamworld, and what's a spiritual body?'

He then thought of an insane possibility. Currently, his ability was only level 1; if the level increased, would he be able to enter someone's dream with his physical body!?

Suddenly, he shook his head and thought, 'One step at a time.' He looked at the system's panel and asked, 'System, what's the Dreamworld?' He didn't expect the system to reply, but it didn't hurt to try.

DING!

Surprisingly enough, the system actually replied.

[The Dreamworld is a metaphysical plane where the dreams of all sentient creatures reside. It overlaps the Waking World and is a reflection, or echo, of the known universe]

"The home of dreams…" David muttered in a daze. With the launch of the system, things were really beginning to take a fantastical turn, and he was slowly beginning to realize it.

He sat atop the bridge tower, lost in thought for a long time as he pondered his new ability and the so-called 'Dreamworld'. He was so fascinated by it that he couldn't wait to go home and try the ability out.

But first, he checked the other tabs in the system panel. He willed the shop tab to open, but just as he was about to view all the items for sale inside, he suddenly noticed something wrong.

He turned around and intently stared at his shadow. A few moments later, he muttered, "I know you're in there."

He received no reply but continued staring at his own shadow. The next moment, ripples formed on his shadow, and a figure jumped out of it. Natasha looked at David in slight surprise. "Your senses are quite sharp, Mr. Watson."

David turned and stared at the Manhattan skyline. "What do you want?"

Natasha solemnly replied, "My young miss instructed me to protect you for the time being. I'll also be teaching you of the supernatural world that you aren't aware of yet."

David got to his feet and turned to look at her with a deadpan expression. "I don't need protection." The next moment, dark element particles swirled around him and formed a kind of webbing between his arms and the side of his torso.

Natasha's eyes widened at the development and spoke in disbelief, "How did you—"

However, before she could finish her question, David had already jumped off the bridge!

"NO!" Natasha stretched out her hand to grab him, but failed. The next moment, she was dumbfounded by what she saw. With the help of the black element particles essentially acting as a wingsuit, David was gliding across the East River toward Brooklyn! Natasha couldn't believe her eyes. "How is this possible!?"

She watched as David disappeared into the night and continued, "How can he do that without a proper spell!?"

The reason was actually simple. When David had had that dream after being reborn, he'd lived as a wyvern for more than a thousand years. Naturally, over the course of that time, he had adapted and learned to live as one as well. So of course he could pull such a trick now.

But what he didn't know was that Bloodline Wizards were never supposed to inherit the dreams or memories of the creature whose blood they assimilated into themselves when they first transitioned; his case was a glaring exception!