Chương 60: Chapter 53

The servants didn't do much talking. Most of what Hakon heard them bicker about was the woman, cussing Hakon out for his lack of decency. She went as far as to curse Barbarians as a whole for being brutes and for their lack of mana control, which… was actually fair. Hakon didn't mind their complaints. If anything, it was curious to listen to them. Compared to their usual quiet, restrained, and frightened behavior, this was much better.

With a bit more confidence, more muscle, and a lot more power, he might even take a liking to them. Alas, they were weak and too afraid for his liking, and their comments were not always helpful either. The way Hakon practiced his Skills worked. A lot of tweaking was involved, but the mana constructs turned out good enough to warrant the Ancestors' attention. [Scripture of Improvement Mana Manipulation Lv. 13 → Lv. 15 Mana Shaping Lv. 9 → Lv. 14 Reinforcement Lv. 6 → Lv. 7 Compression Lv. 1 → Lv. 3 Mana Bolt (New) Lv. 1 → Lv. 4 Mana Shield (New) Lv. 1 → Lv. 3] He didn't know why the title 'Scripture of Improvement' popped up only sometimes, but it didn't bother him all too much. [Mana Sense] did not improve, no matter how much he focused on his senses, but his training proved worthwhile nonetheless. Weaklings shouldn't sputter nonsense when they have no idea what they're talking about. He snorted inwardly, yet Hakon couldn't get himself to say those words to the servants.

He couldn't quite tell why; however, Enhanced Comprehension didn't see anything wrong with learning more about delicate mana control. It was the complete opposite compared to whenever he tried to brute-force his way with mana. Gentle, delicate movements with mana had also been how he modified his mana sphere to gain some weight. In a way, it was also how he found out about [Reinforcement], [Compression], and some of his older Skills. With that in mind, it was unreasonable to call the servants out for it.

Learning [Mana Bolt] and [Mana Shield] was another interesting development. As soon as the Skills manifested, conjuring a bolt or shield made of mana came much easier to him. They were still as expensive as when he created them without the Skill, but controlling them came more easily to him. He learned how to move the structures at the expense of mana, but he was far more interested in the tingle lingering in the back of his mind. It felt different from the sensation he had when he did something right.

Nonetheless, there were some similarities. Hakon was also vaguely familiar with the tingle. He was sure he had felt it before but failed to remember when and where he had felt that way. Putting the phenomenon surrounding the tingle aside for the time being, he tried to focus back on the constructs. They were much better than they had been, and he was sure he could acquire Skills for daggers, javelins, spears, axes, and every other kind of weapon made of mana, but he didn't want to.

Not if that meant the Ancestors would reward him with a Skill Fusion that would allow him to create a Skill like 'Mana Weapon Creation' or something like that.

"Does a Skill like that even exist?" He wondered, glancing at the servants from the corner of his eyes. Would they know about that? A Skill like 'Mana Weapon Creation' wouldn't be all that bad either, yet it didn't sit right with Hakon. He wanted something else. I could force my way through to–… No, that's exactly what the servants said. He let out a deep grunt before conjuring yet another [Mana Bolt]. It consumed a considerable amount of mana, lowering his reserves once more.

Hence, instead of supplying the Skill to create the strongest of mana bolts, Hakon created a weaker version–the weakest version, to be precise–which turned out to be the most difficult to maintain. Using as little mana as possible required finesse. Hakon didn't even know how little mana was needed to create the weakest of mana bolts, so he fed the Skill slowly. He grew impatient several times, resulting in a small puff of mana. The fifth time he failed, the younger servant giggled loudly enough for him to hear.

The others moved in a hurry, silencing the young woman before vanishing from sight when he turned to look over.

"Do they really think I didn't notice them?" he murmured to himself before focusing back on the weak mana bolt, without even knowing when he would ever need to use something this weak against an opponent. But as useless as it felt at first, Hakon felt his control improve drastically. He paid attention to the influx of mana, the sphere's shape and mana's movements, and every little change pertaining to the structure.

It grew easier as time passed, and it wasn't long before conjuring a weak mana bolt was almost as simple as pumping [Mana Bolt] full of mana. Sure, it required some more attention, but the drastic reduction in his mana consumption left Hakon with the capacity needed to conjure a second bolt. At first, he struggled to wield and control two [Mana Bolt]s simultaneously, but that too became much easier once [Split Focus] was triggered.

However, as soon as the strenuous task became simple, it was time to increase the difficulty a notch. He created a total of four mana spheres. Two fizzled out as soon as he heard a gasp from his right, but he heard the shuffling boots and whispering, gossiping voices, and he conjured a new pair. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it. Multiple mana bolts would be nice. Or multiple shields. A mixture of both might come in handy as well.

He told himself all while ignoring the mind-splitting headache threatening to overwhelm him. [Natural Regeneration] could have worked wonders against the headache, but Hakon had no mana to spare. Even if he had, he was too focused on the conjurations before him to let mana stream through his body. It would distract him, which was probably one more thing he would have to add to his list of things to accomplish.

Once his mana reserves were empty, Hakon collapsed onto the ground, his body sweat-drenched, his chest heaving, and his head feeling like it had been stomped by a thousand Titan Boars. But pain was weakness leaving the body, which the Ancestors confirmed yet again. [Scripture of Improvement Mana Sense Lv. 21 → Lv. 22 Split Focus Lv. 14 → Lv. 16 Mana Manipulation Lv. 15 → Lv. 17 Mana Shaping Lv. 14 → Lv. 15 Mana Bolt Lv. 4 → Lv. 10 Mana Shield Lv. 3 → Lv. 4] The tingle grew more intense as time passed.

It was almost bothersome at this point. Almost. Then there was another sensation just like the tingle. They overlapped, but that only showed Hakon that the sensations differed slightly. Focusing on the newer sensation that came with his most recent Scripture of Improvement, he realized that the new sensation had a hint of wrongness, as if something was missing. Whether it was his instincts telling him that or Enhanced Comprehension trying to inform him, Hakon could not tell.

He wanted to find out what it was, but his mana reserve was empty. Only a minuscule trickle of mana flowed into his mana mass every few breaths, but it barely made a difference. Curious about what the spectators were doing, he turned to them. It had been a long time since he started practicing, yet they were still watching, their eyes wide at the residual mana swirling around him. Their eyes met his for a moment, and he half expected the servants to flinch.

Instead, they stood there unmoving, clearly unaware of the attention on them.

"How did he do that? Isn't he just a brute?" one of the servants asked, but none of them answered. Well, none of the servants did.

"The brute can hear you." Hakon grimaced when the servants finally noticed him. They flinched and were about to make a run for it when they realized that Hakon didn't make a move. His eyes stayed on them as he lay on the ground.

"How do your people recover mana?" There had to be another way to recover mana. [Circulation] was one thing, but it cost more mana than it was worth. And given how they spoke badly about his brutish ways with mana, Hakon wondered if his combination of [Circulation] and [Mana Sense] had always been brutish as well. Unfortunately, the servants wouldn't respond. They stood there frozen like Terror Deer caught in pyre torchlight.

"You called me brutish. That I am not delicate enough with mana. Doesn't that mean you or your people can do it better?" he asked, breaking the silence, but never received an answer. His only advantage was that the servants weren't trying to escape his gaze any longer. They ought to have noticed that Hakon was not angry at them for their words. Pressing his arms against the ground, he sat upright, all while continuing to stare at them.

Silence permeated the backyard for many heartbeats, and Hakon's patience was running out.

"If you don't want to say something, so be it. In the worst case, I will have to tweak [Mana Sense] a little bit more." He didn't say the last bit aloud and merely muttered it; however, he noticed a subtle change in the servants' faces. That only made sense. [Mana Sense] was a good Skill. It had helped him circulate mana through his body and push it outward rather easily. With [Mana Manipulation] added, he could create ethereal tendrils of mana to lodge onto the streams of ambient mana around him more easily.

It was probably still a brutish way to recover mana, but it ought to work with some effort. A lot of trial and error to make it work, but that was his life now with Enhanced Comprehension.

"You have [Mana Sense]?" the smaller servant asked, only for the older one to ram his elbow into his side.

"Of course he has [Mana Sense], you idiot. Did you not see what he did there?!" The youngest was still staring at Hakon with a mixture of shock and fear, but there was also a tinge of awe.

"W-what… What Level is your [Mana Sense]?" The bickering duo stopped and turned toward the youngest. A flicker of fear crossed their features, but that was soon replaced by an ounce of curiosity.

"It improved to 22 earlier," Hakon said openly, seeing no reason to hide anything.

"Level 22? And you don't know how to replenish your mana?!" the older man called out in disbelief. A deep frown directed at him sealed the servant's lips immediately. He backed away and started to shiver as if he was about to get pummeled for speaking up, but Hakon only turned back to the younger servant.

"I… I can help you." The young one said, voice quivering. Pathetic, but Hakon listened anyway.

"I-I-In exchange… I want to be free." He raised an eyebrow at the servant. As pathetic as the voice behind the request was, it took courage to stand up for oneself. Hakon could respect that.

"You want to be free? I can talk to my father." He nodded slowly.

"But you won't be able to leave even if you're free. You're too weak to survive in the forest, you know that, right? Even if you make it through the first night, you will end up in the hands of another tribe."

"Still…" That was the only word she managed to squeeze out of her quivering lips before turning away, fingers trembling as they dug into her clothes.

"Whatever." Hakon shrugged. Her reasoning was none of his concern.

"Show me what you got. If it's good enough, I will talk to my father."