Chương 45: Chapter 40

[Mote of Light] was not yet worth the effort or the mana it consumed. To create the Skill, Hakon had to compress a head-sized ball of mana into a tiny mote, all while altering mana's properties, because it did not work as intended until the sphere of mana in his hands contained enough energy. The result was nowhere near as useful as he'd hoped, but it worked out well enough for what he'd planned. Hakon cast [Mote of Light] at the tip of his weapon, conjuring a volatile, flickering light.

Emptying his mana reserves in an instant, he transformed the dimly glowing mote into a glistening flare.

"You can do that, and much more, to distract or blind your opponent. You'd waste a lot less energy and do a lot more than I can," Hakon said. While his glistening flare hadn't been enough to daze, let alone blind anyone, it was good enough to show Eren what was theoretically possible. Eren didn't seem quite sure, but he no longer looked as defeated as before.

"I know you can do well." While Lightcaller was not nearly as versatile as Enhanced Comprehension, the Skills Eren acquired through his Ancient Power would improve rapidly. Clearly, they didn't cost nearly as much mana as Hakon's Skills.

"Join training," Zask's deep, husky voice rang through the hut. Eren looked up to the older Barbarian but said nothing.

"The Mind is weak," Zask continued, glancing at Hakon.

"But he is strong. You can be strong too." Even if Eren wouldn't be the strongest among the young warriors, he could improve greatly and learn interesting Power-based Skills. And with the heat in the light he generated, he could probably do many interesting things as well. Hakon was sure of it. All Eren needed was guidance and the desire to grow.

"Join us tomorrow. Train with us," Hakon said.

"And, after a few nights, we will go hunting." With that said, he turned around and departed. The next morning, Eren was at the training ground before anyone else. Some of the others teased him on the first day, but their joking nature faded as soon as Eren emerged victorious in a spar against a Blessed warrior. The Barbarian was one of the youngest. He hadn't reached the 1st Ascension and did not take his opponent seriously, but none of that meant anything.

Barbarians were supposed to honor the battle, and the young warrior hadn't done that. In the wild, that would have killed him. At the training ground, he was lucky it only cost him a deep gash at the collarbone and his friends' ridicule. Eren's standing improved greatly, but a single victory was not enough to change everything. He trained hard over the days, used his Ancient Power more each day than he had since the Rite, and improved. A lot. But Eren was not the only young warrior improving.

Everyone worked hard, be it through Hakon's tortuous teachings or their ambition. They may not shed the blood of the monsters roaming the wilds as they stayed in the tribehold most days, yet their power increased greatly. Enough to fill them with endless excitement when Hakon finally decided it was time to hunt.

"Are you ready?" Astrid asked, a smile playing on her lips as she sized up Hakon from head to toe. He was loaded. A set of bone daggers was neatly stored in his new, makeshift sheaths dangling from his belt. His shortsword was also secured at a small loop, and so were the two hand-axes. Yet, that was not all. Several pouches had been secured to his belt, and Maulaxe Crusher rested calmly in his hand. Raising Crusher, he placed it on his shoulder and met Astrid with a smile.

"Sure. You?"

"What do you think?" She swirled around, showing off the plethora of daggers and shortswords she kept on her body. As usual, Astrid didn't carry any axes or blunt weapons, as they were too crude for her style and power. She winked at Hakon, stirring his heart, but he crushed the notion to focus on the matters at hand.

"Björn is waiting," he mouthed, cracking his neck to ease the tension racing down his body. Since the Battle of Generation, Hakon hadn't left the tribehold. Thinking about it, that had been quite a while ago. Even then, I've been longer in the Fracture than the wild. Fractures ought to be more dangerous than the wild, but Hakon couldn't agree. As far as he could tell, Fractures were more predictable.

They may hide more dangers in some cases, but it was highly unlikely, if not outright impossible, to find a powerful monster at the equivalent of the 2nd Ascension in a Fracture like the Crawling Expanse. Even when Overflowing, the Crawling Expanse had been mostly predictable. In the wild, on the other hand, anything could happen. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. And now it was time to scout a powerful monster.

A creature strong enough to fight the young warriors head-on. A fight worthy to be added in their Sagas.

"Are you afraid?" Astrid teased lightly. Hakon responded with a smile rather than words.

"That's what I thought." She chuckled and walked off to the gathering spot. As terrifying as the wilds ought to be, Hakon knew more about them than most Barbarians. He studied the only map in all of Tribe Taskur and compared the information with some of the old scrolls. Some information–most of it, actually–no longer fit what he had learned from asking the tribe's greatest hunters, but enough was correct to devise a plan for all the hunting parties that were set to leave.

Seven groups in total, some smaller, others larger, depending on how well they worked together. Spending several days and nights with his people, Hakon understood them well enough to know who to put together and what to expect from them. Hence, he planned their hunting trips, starting with the groups, but also deciding what places and monsters they were supposed to hunt. Whether they accepted his 'advice' was up to them.

Either way, Hakon met up with the young warriors of Tribe Taskur, divided them, and told them where to go. No one openly objected, but he could see dissatisfaction burning deep in some of their eyes. Not everyone was happy with his plans, but they would quickly learn that he meant well. Either by following his command, leading to suffering and forced growth, or by doing their own thing. One way or another, the Ancestors would be happy about the blood Taskur was about to shed. Hakon was happy as well.

His Skills had grown, and he'd helped everyone find a way to grow much stronger outside combat, but he was itching for some bloodshed. Managing the young warriors this long had been torturous enough. Then again, he learned some useful Skills and gained some insights for even more Skills. Nonetheless, Hakon was more than ready to shed blood. So was everyone else. He followed Astrid to Björn and Eren once everyone had been informed of their task, and they left the tribehold together.

"Why so tense, Eren?" Björn poked the Lightcaller in the side, his lips curled up to a savage smile.

"Are you afraid?" Eren scoffed, but didn't respond. His head flicked left and right as soon as their group entered the wild, and he had to suppress a flinch as the atmosphere changed. Was it like that last time as well? Hakon wondered, glancing at the others as he walked deeper into the wild beside Astrid. The atmosphere was heavier than he remembered. Mana hung thick in the air, and it was much colder than it should have been.

Last time he went out, he'd been in a rush, but the drastic difference in temperature surprised him nonetheless. Gesturing to the others to slow down, Hakon activated [Sensory Expansion] in its lowest form. He followed up with [Mana Sense] and [Combat Awareness] when the strange sensation intensified. As it turned out, the wild was flooded with more mana than the tribehold. It wasn't much, not when compared with the Fracture's ambient mana, but the foreign mana was everywhere.

Using [Circulation] in bursts, Hakon spread his senses outward and pulled the ambient mana inside, filling his mana reserves faster than his other Skills could use it. He could not remember the wild being this full of mana, but he guessed that it made sense. Hakon had rushed into the Fracture after the Rite. He'd been at a much lower Level, his senses duller, and there hadn't been anything like [Mana Sense] in his list of Skills. Now that had changed. Everything had.

Glancing to the side where a set of flowers with fiery red petals had grown, he sensed a diversion in the ambient mana. It wasn't much, but the ambient mana shifted ever so slightly around the flowers. As for the flowers, Hakon plucked one to study it, and it contained a different type of mana. And while it did resemble the ambient mana a little, it wasn't the same. [Mana Infusion] flushed the plucked flower with mana, destroying it.

Some of the flower's unique energy poured out as its petals lost their bright color, but other than a warm tingle, Hakon couldn't feel anything.

"Rootkeeper, how long do you want to play with that flower?" Björn called out loudly, his grin as punchable as always. Ignoring Björn, Hakon plucked a few different types of flowers and stuffed them into his pouches. Once that was done, he joined the others and traveled deeper into the forest, avoiding carnivorous plants and dragging both Eren and Björn out of poison-laced shrubs.

"Sometimes, I wonder how you're still alive." Astrid shook her head at the Blessed warrior, whose skin had turned violet after he'd used [Crushing Advance] on a Killer Moth, or rather, what had looked like a Killer Moth at first glance. Instead of crashing right into a monster, Björn barreled into a set of intertwined branches and leaves that looked just like a Killer Moth. Doing so, Björn 'killed the ferocious monster' and collapsed to the ground.

Falling victim to a mindless plant was fun to watch at first, but the shrub's severe toxin slowed the group tremendously. The fact that Eren ate a rainbow-colored mushroom certainly did not help in that regard either.

"I am more surprised that he reached the 1st Ascension." Hakon shook his head at the duo. He didn't expect much from Björn, but his simple-minded friend was trying really hard to get on his nerves. As for Eren, Hakon thought the Lightcaller would be more careful, knowing that everything in the forest could kill him.

"They might as well learn [Poison Resistance] that way." He sighed and let out a soft, resentful curse when Astrid's eyes lit up. A moment later, she reached out for the shrub that had forced Björn to his knees and ate it.

"Protect us, will you?" She winked at Hakon and munched on the poisonous plant until her mouth went numb. The rest of her body followed shortly, effectively leaving Hakon alone in the forest. Do I really have to teach them to stay away from poisonous plants as well? he cursed to himself, hoping the other groups fared better than theirs. Then again, that was highly unlikely. Fortunately, a little bit of poison wouldn't kill a Barbarian.

Being poisoned and under attack, on the other hand– This was not the time to think about something like that. For now, he had to make sure his group would survive. The other groups could come later.