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I've got way too much time on my hands these days... what started as an idea turned into a two-part upload and now has a third part tacked along with it...

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING OR ANYONE IN THE SPYRO UNIVERSE. ONLY MY OCS.

Chapter 2: Breakfast, Enchantment, and a Challenge

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Just as quickly as Neal had been shown hostility from the cheetah's; as soon as Skylar had called him an 'Attorkor', they immediately showed him to a hut reserved for visiting travelers and traders. As he sat there on a carved wooden chair, he opened the Book of Forging (which is what he had taken to calling it), and scrolled through its pages looking for some ideas. Stangely, there was a section of the book within the book that was bound with only a note written on it.

'Not to be opened until you can better control your abilities... and don't try to sneak a peek, I'll know.' Neal chuckled.

"Sounds like something my high school girlfriend once said..." Neal suddenly thought of something and looked to the book.

"Hey, what about reference materials? Could I summon other books that I had read before and go over them?" The Book glowed for a moment, then flipped to a blank page and the word Reference Section appeared. A small note was then scribbled underneath.

'While a book technically cannot be 'Forged' it can be manifested and remembered. I am merely to aid you in deciding what would suit the situation, like a wizard's spellbook, I will store the mechanical and elemental composition of anything you Forge. If you wish for reference materials, just remember what books you want and I'll diagram them from your memory. That's how all Forgers did so in the past.' Neal nodded and then thought of something.

"Just how old are you?" Another footnote.

'Old enough to know that you should never ask any self respecting enchanted book their age.'

Neal nodded and then closed his eyes. Before he knew it, he was asleep, dreaming, yet at the same time, he kept seeing several books appear before him, open, and flip through their pages before vanishing when completed.

When he was in high school, he had been a student of history as well as a bit of both a nerd and an athlete. He kept his nose in the books and kept his body at peak condition. His best subject was actually the late 1890s and early 1900s. His report on the cause and effect of World War One had actually earned the respect of his teacher who had forwarded the report to a state archive who, once they had read it, were floored by the way it was written.

No sooner had the last book closed and vanished then did he slip into a sound sleep. It seemed almost a moment later that a loud noise broke him from his slumber and he shot awake to find himself still sitting at the desk with the Book still sitting open, the transparent quill busy writing, drawing, and diagraming everything he had seen in his dream. He turned to see the source of the noise and saw a young cheetah with a plate of food that she had dropped, staring open-mouthed at the book. Neal gazed at her and nodded.

"Good morning." This got the girl's attention and she nodded but kept her eyes on the book.

"Does it always do that while you sleep?" Neal watched the book for a moment and shook his head.

"No, but I had a busy night. Trying to recall every piece of mechanical knowledge I ever learned so the Book could transcribe it. Apparently all to make me a better Forger, or in your people's case, an Attorkor." This made the girl visibly relax and Neal nodded that it was alright to watch.

As he glanced at the book, the diagram it was drawing was suddenly clear to him and he smiled.

"I'd forgotten about that book..." The girl turned to him.

"What book?" Neal pointed to the diagram.

"'Early Aircraft of the Second World War'. You see, in a period of time where flight was being discovered an built upon, some nations still used biplanes while others were quickly building monoplanes. This diagram is blueprint of a British Gladiator which saw action in 1940 at the Siege of Malta, holding off wave after wave of Italian C.R. 32s and and C.R. 42s until help could arrive." The girl nodded at the drawing but then remembered and gazed back to the spilled tray.

"I'm sorry, I was bringing you breakfast but I was so startled by the book that I..." Neal nodded.

"It's alright. Is there anywhere else I can get something?" The girl nodded.

"Yes, the cooking hut is always open in case of our hunters. I believe that Hunter and Skylar are there now preparing to go off on a hunt." Neal nodded.

"Perfect. That'll give me a chance to talk to them and, if they'll let me, I'll go hunting with them." The girl nodded.

"Alright, oh, you can leave your gear here. Orders from Hunter that no one is to disturb you or your belongings. Not that any cheetah would. We despise thieves." Neal nodded.

"Good to know. Alright, lead on."

As Neal stepped outside, he was aware that, despite being called a village, the Cheetah settlement was more like a small town. The outside wall was large and stong looking, there were dirt trails but houses aplenty, even a few longhouses were visible. In the rear of the town was a larger house, likely Chief Prowlus' residence, then there was a windmill, and a watermill, and even more houses. The long building they were walking towards Neal guessed was the cooking hut. Besides that was what looked to be a trade store, and a smithy beside that. There were also several large gardens on the other side that grew many different types of vegetables and some fruit trees in the back.

(All the makings of a medeval town... these cheetahs are doing far better than some human towns of that age that's for sure.) Then he saw something interesting, a small hut with blue smoke rising from the top. The girl saw his glance and nodded.

"That's Mystra's tent. She's an enchanter. She also does magic for the younger ones while their parents are off hunting or gathering things." Neal nodded and refrained from the D&D reference. Then he looked to her.

"If I created something, do you think she would enchant it for me?" The girl shrugged and a voice came from behind.

"Depends. What sort of enchantment would you like?" Neal jumped and turned to see a young cheetah clad in violet robes behind him, smiling gently to the girl before redirecting her gaze to him. Neal quickly recovered his train of thought and nodded.

"Something to tell me how much mana I have left. I uh... know that every time I Forge something it takes a bit of mana, depending on how complex it is, I'd just like a little reminder as to how much mana I have left." Mystra smiled and nodded.

"A sensible thing for one who practices a lost art. Mana is important for all beings who study and use magic." Neal nodded and looked towards the cook hut.

"I'm just on my way to breakfast." Mystra nodded.

"As am I. Create what you'd like to enchant there and I'll have it ready for you by the end of the day." Neal nodded and together the three of them entered the cook hut. As soon as Neal entered, he spotted Skylar and Hunter who waved him over. He was amazed at what was before him. Biscuits, ham, bacon, eggs, chicken, milk and juice. All of it on a mammoth scale as if the table was meant to serve several dozen people at once. When Neal posed the question to Skylar, he nodded.

"Indeed, we're the early risers and the first to arrive. In order to get the best choices we have to. No, hunting is not a one cheetah job, it consists of teams going into the plains to bag whatever they can and then bring it back to be cooked, smoked, salted, and preserved." Neal nodded and then motioned for Mystra and the girl to take a seat before he did which earned a nod from Skylar and Hunter. Neal chuckled at their nods.

"I was raised to always offer a seat to a lady before seating myself." Mystra nodded.

"Sounds like wherever you're from you were raised right." Neal nodded.

"Yep. Anyway, before I create something let's get a bite because, quite frankly, I haven't eaten anything since the day before yesterday."

The breakfast was silent and casual with a few small conversations between Skylar, Hunter, and whoever else was arriving at the moment. Soon the table was full of cheetahs who were eating, smiling, talking to one another, swapping stories, even joking with one another. It made Neal think of how his brother always acted and he wiped a tear from his eye. Mystra noticed this and spoke.

"What's wrong?" Neal shook his head.

"Nothing... it's just... I remembered all the times like this when I was young with my family growing up. My older brother always joking at the table, getting the rest of us to laugh..." He sighed. Skylar nodded.

"My sympathies for your loss. How did it happen?" Neal nodded and smiled.

"Like me, my brother was in the service, the military. Different branch though, I was a Guardsman, he was a Marine." Skylar nodded.

"What's the difference?"

"In the Guard you work to protect the homeland in times of war and patrol in peace, ever watchful, ever vigilant. In the Marines you go where the fighting is and you do whatever you can to make the enemy regret picking a fight with your nation. The training is brutal, but the result are undisputable. I don't play favorites with the branches but the Marines are some of the best trained soldiers in the world... uh... my world at least... In my honest opinion, only the SEALs rank higher, but that's only because they do the jobs that they'll never get credit for." He paused to take a drink of milk from the cup befire him and continued.

"It is said that if every mission a Navy SEAL has accomplished ever came to light, every single member of the teams would be awarded the Medal of Honor for their bravery. But they aren't because if such things did come to light it would be dangerous for them and their families. Anyway, my brother, he was a pilot, like me. Only I flew rescue choppers and he flew aircraft, jets." Neal sighed.

"One day I was just speaking to him, asking his opinion of what branch of service I should join and the next, two Marines show up to our house, dress blues, regretting to inform us that my brother had apparently been shot down and killed while providing air support to a pinned down group of UN Peacekeepers. He died so that they could live." Skylar nodded.

"A noble sacrifice, still, you would trade it all for one more day with him, right?" Neal nodded. Hunter then smiled.

"You know what? I'm eager to see that... rifle of your's in action. How about you, Skylar and I form a hunting team and when we return, you rest and we can set out tomorrow for Warfang." Neal nodded.

"Sounds like a plan to me. But first-" Neal closed his eyes and then ran through all sorts of ideas for a mana device. Finally, he settled on an aviator's chronograph, only this one had a wider face and was divided into three sections: green, yellow, and red. The clock hands worked as they should but had an underlying hand that would move as his mana depleted.

When he pieced it together and opened his eyes, everyone at the table was silent in awe as where his hand had been was now a watch, roughly the same size as a half-dollar piece, with a leather band and clad in silver. He then nodded that it was correct and passed the device to Mystra who nodded.

"An impressive display. I can even see how practical such a device would be. I'll get this enchanted and, like I said earlier, it should be ready by the time your return." Neal nodded his thanks and turned to Hunter.

"So, when do we set out?" Hunter smiled.

"As soon as we're ready." Neal nodded and then thought of something.

"If you'll excuse me, I'll go get my equipment ready." Hunter and Skylar nodded as Neal rose and left for his hut.

Once he was back inside, he saw that the Book had finished transcribing everything in his mind and a little note to the side that made him chuckle.

'Ever get your nose out of a book?'

"Not when I was interested in it's contents. Now that you've got all of them transcribed, it makes you just as interesting." The quill appeared and wrote another footnote.

'Flatterer.'

Neal chuckled before settling down and turning the book to the Class 0 summons and then started thinking of a camo suitable for the meadow. He then remembered seeing his brother dressed up in a ghillie suit he had bought years ago and then decided to go with that. A soft 'whomph' answered him and he turned to see a sniper's ghillie suit laying on the bed.

Neal changed out of the trenchcoat and the clothes from yesterday and donned the new ones he had also summoned, placed the armor over the clothes and then worked the ghillie suit over the armor before turning to the rifle and looking the M1903 Springfield over before nodding to himself and strapping the rifle and ammo along with his M1911. Just as he rose though, he had a thought and looked to the book.

"Since you now have everything I've ever read in there, did I ever read anything on suppressors for rifles and pistols?" The Book glowed once and flipped to a page in the weapons section and he saw the diagram of a suppressor and nodded.

"Hunter and Skylar use bows which are silent, the least I can do is try and silence the weapon so that I don't scare away all the animals." He managed to modify the rifle and pistol, giving them barrels that could accomodate a suppressor and then Forged two of them and attached them to the weapons. Satisfied with his work, he rose, restrapped the weapons to his suit, and headed out the door.

As he approached the gate he saw Hunter, Skylar, and several other cheetahs waiting. They caught a glimpse of Neal and chuckled openly which Neal shared. Skylar looked to him.

"What is that? You look like a pile of walking grass." Neal nodded.

"That's the point. I figured if I was going hunting the least I could do was camoflage myself so that I'm harder to see and also fixed my weapons so that the noise won't scare away the animals we're hunting." Skylar nodded.

"Indeed. The deer we hunt are skittish at best and will likely take off at the sound of thunder that rifle makes. So, how did you fix it?" Neal unslung the rifle and tapped the suppressor.

"This is a suppressor. They're used to quiet weapons that generate too much noise when fired. For example the rifle sounds like a thunderclap when fired but then the suppressor is attached it sounds more like a book falling into a hay bale." Skylar looked at the weapon and nodded.

"Impressive. To be honest, the reason you're going with both me and Hunter is so that in the event you scare the deer off we can pick up the slack and still bring in our usual numbers." Neal chuckled.

"Understood, but fair warning, I'm an expert marksman with the rifle, suppressor or no." Hunter looked at the weapon and thought of something.

"How far can a rifle like that shoot? It can't be more than a few hundred yards at best." Neal chuckled.

"Actually this particular rifle is rated for at least two-thousand yards." Hunter looked skeptical but nodded. However, a cheetah Neal didn't know growled and pointed to him.

"Alright then, prove it! We have a little time before we start the hunt. Go to the practice range and we'll see how good you are." Neal looked to Hunter who nodded and the group started for the range.

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The archery range was bigger than Neal expected it to be. There was enough room for twenty archers to take place and shoot at several targets ranging anywhere from one-hundred yards to an optomistic one-thousand yards. The cheetah who had challenged him (whose name Skylar told him was Larke) stood at a post, drew an arrow effortlessly and loosed, striking the bulls-eye of the five-hundred yard target.

Neal opened the bolt of the rifle, pulled a five-round stripper clip from his pack, loaded it, closed the bolt and aimed down the iron sights at the five-hundred yard target. However, Hunter set a hand on the rifle to stop him.

"One does not set their sights on the farthest target first. First, you must show that you can hit the target at close range as well. Aim for the closest target first, and then work your way downrange." Neal nodded, shifted his aim to the one-hundred yard target, and fired.

He was rewarded by seeing Skylar remove his hands from his ears in disbelief as the suppressor actually did as Neal had said it would. The report was just like someone dropping a book into a bale of hay. The round struck the red fabric covering the bulls-eye. Neal looked at Larke who nodded.

"Good, at least you can hit close range targets. Now try the next one. I warn you though, two-fifty is the best that most hunters can achieve. Only experts like myself, Skylar, and Hunter can hit the five-hundred mark."

The next target was two-hundred and fifty yards. Neal worked the action, removing the spent round and loading another and aiming downrange. He squeezed the trigger and the weapon fired. Once again, the round was accurate and struck the bulls-eye. The cheetahs nearby whistled low in amazement. Larke nodded.

"Good. You pass for a hunter, now let's see if you can really do as good as say you can. Aim at the five-hundred."

Neal chambered the next round, aimed at the target, and fired. The only indication that he had hit the target was that Larke's arrow suddenly splintered as the round struck it and nailed the bulls-eye. As the ruined arrow fell to the ground, Larke's jaw went slack and he turned to Neal. Nor was he the only one. Hunter and Skylar and all the other hunters gathered were in awe. Neal turned to Hunter and pointed to the farthest target.

"If it's not presumptuous of me, would you mind if I took a shot at the thousand yard target?" Hunter recovered, smiled and nodded.

Neal gave a nod to him and then to Larke and chambered the next round, aimed at the farthest target, and fired. The round struck the red fabric covering the bulls-eye once more. Neal nodded and lowered the weapon and looked to Hunter who was scratching his chin thoughtfully. At the same time, Skylar looked on in disbelief as did all the other archers. Larke gazed at the target in the distance and then looked back to Neal and chuckled.

"Well then, I guess that answers my question. Alright then... Neal, was it? You won this challenge. I still have another though, one that all new hunter have to pass. You're going with Hunter and Skylar, well then, a hunter's challenge. You must claim at least five kills before the day is done. But be warned, nothing small like rabbits. No, you must kill five deer or anything else that Hunter okays. Do you accept?" Neal turned to Hunter.

"Is this traditional?" Hunter nodded.

"You are an outsider who has been granted shelter here. If you wish to join the hunt, it is expected that you pull your weight." Neal nodded.

"Very well then. I accept your challenge."