above all else, adam needed to be cunning, he need to be smarter than his opponents, but he can't do that without knowledge which is exactly why he was currently reading in a library, he was sat at a desk piles of books surrounding him, his face bore a look of intense concentration.
after five continuous days of study and training adam was sent out to hunt monsters
"to gain real experience" that was what the lord had said, he wasn't wrong though, 1 hour of combat is more valuable than 1 week of training.
adam currently sat on the plush seat of a decorated carriage, their were two horses pulling the carriage, each was a large brown horse with a high quality saddle that had clearly cost a lot of money, the reigns were held by a young man, probably 20 who was sat at the front of the carriage.
outside of the carriage were 4 guards surrounding the four directions around the carriage. they were all atop armoured horses and wielded both spears and large full body shields which could be used to protect the horses, the shields were beautiful works of craftmanship and all had some kind of emblem on them, it was a large sun, with light seemingly spreading from it to cover the shield. they all wore smaller amounts of armour so that they wouldn't weigh the horses down to much.
it was at that moment that the terrain the carriage moved across became much rougher and bumpier, they had moved off of the paved roads and onto a much rougher road which had been created through the constant carriages that drove through it.
adam then left the carriage with a sheathed sword on his hip, one of the two horses were brought to him, after mounting it he and two of the four guards rode off, deeper into the forest.
the reason adam decided to go on a hunting trip was because he had something no-one else of this era had, the nightmare spell, he could gain memories and echoes with either one being a huge advantage that could easily turn the tables of any fight, all he needed was an echo to truly win, after all, an echo was an incredible boon, even saints had only awakened and sometimes ascended echoes.
but with adam's luck, even after several days spent hunting he would only get one or two memories.
using his spectator attribute, adam scanned the surroundings, it had taken him a day or two to notice the passive effect of his attribute drastically increasing his observational skills, due to this the entire forest seemed so much more to his eyes.
the small details of each and every leaf, the way the tree branches danced in the wind indicating the speed at which the wind travelled, the smells it brought, as if telling him the direction of everything . it was truly a magical experience, an enlightening one.
he particularly noticed the emotions of those around him, reluctance to leave the castle or eagerness to finally be outdoors. it was all so much more obvious to him.
whilst he was amid these thoughts, a smell wafted into his nostrils, the putrid smell of blood, fresh blood. adrenaline pumped through his system as he rode his horse towards the smell, when it got strong enough he leapt off the horse, galloping would undoubtedly attract any creature with ears, he commanded both of his knights to wait back before slowly creeping up, towards the unknown abomination, that was when he saw it.
it was truly a vile sight, a large wolf the size of a bear was devouring a live horse it's teeth stained red with blood, it seemed to be devouring it's intestines, the horses stomach was gone, blood and entrails spilling out only to be lapped up by the horrendous beast.
it was a direwolf, a dormant monster, the wind still blowed against adam's face meaning the scent of blood was thoroughly engraved into his very mind and soul, he felt as if he might throw up, stopping only when the bile in his stomach was completely gone.
he didn't throw up however, because what hunter would fear its prey.
so instead adam waited and watched, he knew not to act rashly, he should wait for a perfect opportunity, until then he waited, learning the way it walked, what spots it guarded even when eating and what areas it was not afraid of getting injured. the main weak spot in all living things is the eyes, that was where adam was going to shoot. eventually, the opportunity he had been waiting for appeared, he didn't waste it.
he let loose an arrow, his aim was bad, causing him to miss and instead pierce through an ear taking out a lot of it's hearing ability, the wolf turned to look at him, the two briefly made eye contact. then the direwolf ran full speed at him.
adam readied his rapier, brandishing it against the direwolf, with every heartbeat it got closer, louder and far more terrifying, it was as if death itself were running at adam, far faster than he ever could, even if he started to run now it would be to late, he would have to follow through with this risky and stupid plan of his.
right then the direwolf stood right before him it got closer still, he flicked his rapier up planning for it to run straight through his sword, the wolf brought its large and terrifying head down mouth wide open, hoping to eat adam whole.
as it's head flew down it's right eye flew straight into the end of his sword. the sword shot through the eye. momentum carrying the direwolf's head down the blade, its mouth stopping just short of his hand, its teeth almost touching his index finger. as the blade shot through the brain it collided with the back of the skull. both blade and bone made a deafening crack as the aura of death surrounded adam.
[you have slain an awakened beast, lone direwolf]
[you have received a memory]
the true name will be dragon of imagination
for the aspect I've got
1. visionary
2. omnipotent and omniscient
3. creator