Chương 83: B2 Chapter 5

Ava lay sprawled on the cold stone of the training ground, black and blue bruises covering her body. She stared blankly into the sky, appearing like she would never move again in her life. It was as if the exact same scene repeated itself ever since the training started for real a fortnight ago. And while her lips weren't curled into a smile, Ava did not look particularly displeased either. [Scripture of Improvement Teaching Lv. 15 → Lv. 16 Mana Bolt Lv. 13 → Lv. 14] Working on [Mana Bolt] all while hunting the human woman had been more than worth it. Nonetheless, it was weird to see the Ancestors reward him with a Skill up when said Skill didn't grow stronger. Hakon, trying his utmost not to kill the frail human woman, had to weaken [Mana Bolt]. Weakening the bolts made of mana was not all that difficult. He removed the connection [Mana Bolt]'s spellweave had formed with [Reinforcement] and [Compression] to create a weak bolt.

The bolt consumed a lot less mana than his regular structures, yet it was harder to maintain without [Reinforcement]'s aid. And that was the point. Instead of only training Ava, Hakon learned as well.

"The spellweaves are forming a set. The more I use them together, creating a…what was the word again?" Rummaging through the big words mentioned in the scrolls and by Ava, he stopped for a moment, "Synergy? Is that the right word?" Hakon glanced down at Ava's unmoving figure. She was barely breathing, though that was owed to her frail body rather than [Mana Bolt]'s destructive force. She was drained, dead-tired, and barely had enough energy left to stay conscious and breath, let alone respond.

"The spellweaves are forming a synergy as I use them together. Is that how Magic Skills fuse?" He once again looked at Ava, who trembled violently as she nodded. At least, it looked like that was what she did.

"We really have to work on your physique. You grow tired too quickly and you almost died to the weakest of my [Mana Bolt]s." Ava's lips parted, though she said nothing. Instead, hateful eyes flicked toward him, staring him down. She wanted to escape from the tribe and return home to the 'Alliance'. Ava made that much fairly clear. Hakon knew he was being used. Then again, calling it that wasn't quite right. She used him and he used her. But while he did use her, he also gained a lot more than she did. Knowledge.

His understanding of Magic Skills, limitations, spellweaves, Skill Fusions, and Skill Upgrades was much greater than it used to be, and it was bound to grow even further with every night Ava spend in the tribe. She may leave in a few moons, confident to evade the greatest of monsters in the dark forest, but Hakon would use those moons to become the strongest. To fight Pearot's warriors head-on the next time they met. More importantly, he would strengthen his people as well.

For every breakthrough on his own, Hakon would push the young warriors to break through on their own. He was growing the strongest Barbarian generation, and he was looking forward to the young warriors' ascend as much as his own ascend excited him.

"You have to watch. Learn from the bloodshed of your kin, Ava." Hakon intoned before realizing what he'd just said, "Learn from our bloodshed. We don't hunt humans." Ava offered a small smile but sat up, trembling arms lifting her upright.

"Teraq. Zurok." He called out to the pair of Barbarian warriors training nearby. Teraq's eyes sparked and he hurled the Barbarian-sized stone he'd been training with aside.

"Successor! You want fight?" The hulking Barbarian, crossed the distance between them in an instant, a sheen of sweat covering his bulging muscles. Towering above Hakon with a height that easily surpassed two meters, Teraq was tall – for not being a Bloodbearer that was. His Ancient Power, Herculean Strength, did affect his size, yet it pushed his muscles to their physical limit rather than helping him grow.

A mountain of muscle half as wide as he was tall, smiled vibrantly at Hakon, hurriedly followed by Zurok, his height surpassing both Hakon and Teraq. Being a Bloodbearer, carrying the blood of the Blazing Bear, he was one of the tallest at the training ground. Red hair covered his skin, offering protection, and the occasional spark. Both Zurok and Teraq were at the 1st Ascension.

They were badly wounded in the fight against the Pearot Barbarian a moon ago, yet they overcame the lethal wounds that would have ended the Sagas of most and emerged stronger from it. But their injuries only made them stronger. As they suffered, weakness left their bodies, as it always did. The other Barbarians were the same. They fought Pearot sustained injuries, and grew from them. Alas, some got heavily injured in the head.

Why else would some of the Barbarian warriors of Tribe Taskur be foolish enough to step into the destroyed mountain range in search for the Divine Beast that had momentarily ended the tribal war? Thinking about the creature, the Silver Dragon as Hakon's father called it loathingly, was powerful. Yet, it was also a creature most of the Barbarians didn't know had been hibernating in the mountain range.

And now they wanted to track the Divine Beast to fight it to either surpass their limits or simply to add a fight with a Divine Beast into their Saga. To transform their Saga into something much grander than it already was.

"We can fight." Hakon nodded slowly, motioning to the two of them, "But I want to spar against both of you together." Zurok and Teraq glanced at each other. No Barbarian would accept a spar with such conditions under normal circumstances. Hakon was also at the 1st Ascension, and they performed the Rite at the same time. But they had seen Hakon fight warriors at the 2nd Ascension – kill them even when the odds were against him.

"Style?" Zurok asked when Teraq agreed with a nod.

"You can pick." Hakon smiled, raw confidence rippling outward.

"You underestimate us!" Teraq ground his teeth and clenched his fists until a gnarly sound rang out, That was unlikely. Hakon knew perfectly well how strong Teraq and Zurok were. They had grown a lot since the Rite, and their progress had only improved after his teachings. He would struggle to deal with both simultaneously, but that was the point. Hakon didn't want an easy time. He had to struggle to grow. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"Unarmed combat." Zurok proposed, closing his hands to a fist before opening them again, "You use Lifeblood. We won't." Hakon raised an eyebrow at them.

"Are you sure about that." The two Barbarians let out a growl, which was answer enough for him.

"Then come at me." Hakon mused, pumping mana through his body. Only a few heartbeats passed before Teraq towered before him, fist crashing into Hakon's chest. He could have evaded, but he only took half a step to the side to escape the worst of it. Teraq's fist impacted with diminished force, forcing Hakon into retreat. He backtracked, lips curling into a smile. Even without actively using his Ancient Power, Herculean Strength, Teraq was stronger than a regular Barbarian at the 1st Ascension.

He was strong, his reaction time great, yet he still failed to accommodate Hakon's shift in stance. If he did, the spar would have ended with several broken ribs. Or not. Probably not. Hakon mused, warmth spreading to his chest. The punch hadn't hurt even if it had been powerful, and the damage it had inflicted was already taken care of, both owed to his passive skills. [Adaptive Resilience] and [Vitality Streams]. Hakon twisted his body and unleashed a flood of mana from his Core.

Triggering [Circulation], his strength, speed, and endurance, increased greatly. [Combat Awareness] flared to life, only to be greatly enhanced by [Sensory Expansion] and [Flow Observation]. The latter was mostly useful when outside combat to watch and determine patterns, yet Hakon used it more often mid-combat. Used alongside the other Skills, he caught a glimpse of Teraq's leg sweeping toward his calf.

A blue structure materialized between the calf and the Barbarian's leg, forming a shield and blocking the incoming kick. Teraq cursed, but Hakon's head flicked already to Zurok who came at him like a rampaging boar. That's Björn's [Crushing Advance] but without any mana to enhance. The Blazing Bear warrior used his weight and strength to his advantage, and that would have worked well, if it had been anyone else. Hakon conjured a dazzling light with [Mote of Light], blinding the two Barbarians.

Ava behind him groaned in sync with Zurok, making him smile involuntarily. Pushing to the side with [Dash], Hakon's senses spread out to take in the situation. Then, before [Mote of Light] flickered out, he kicked the ground and closed the distance to Zurok, fist coated in a thick membrane of [Reinforcement]. Once by the towering Barbarian's side, everything was wide open. [Weakness Detection] showed him all there was to see.

Hakon punched out, his stance and every minute detail of his attack amplified and perfected by [Weapon Mastery]. Zurok gasped as soon as the punch landed. His head yanked toward Hakon, who triggered [Discharge] without hesitation, releasing a tremendous amount of volatile mana into the defenseless Barbarian. His eyes grew wide and rolled up before he collapsed to the ground. [Edge of Awareness] pinged him even before Zurok was on the ground, and he pulled back.

His muscles strained but nothing tore as Teraq's fist whistled past him. Smiling, Hakon grasped the other warrior's arm and twisted it with the brute force granted by pumping [Circulation] full of mana. Grappling with Teraq was fun and all, however, Hakon wanted to make an example. Hence, without further ado, he released a bolt of mana, reinforced with [Reinforcement] and [Compression]. It whistled through the air like death incarnate and struck Teraq in the side of the head, dropping him unconscious.

"That was fun." Hakon took a deep breath, a bead of sweat trickling down his forehead. None of his Skills improved from the fight. Not that he had expected as much, considering he hadn't been able to focus on Enhanced Comprehension's prodding, but the fight showed him what he lacked and where he had to improve. It took the Barbarians a little while to come back to their senses, yet when they did they smiled.

"Again?" Hakon raised an eyebrow at them.

"Yes." Teraq growled, cracking his fists.

"No Lifeblood for you." Zurok added with a wry smile. Hakon agreed without hesitation. He'd trained his mana-based Skills so much for so long, it was time to work on some of his other Skills! SParring conditions clear, the three Barbarians threw themselves back into combat. In the meantime, Ava stared at them, looking like she was torn as to what to feel. The sight was horrifying, yet the power at display was awe-inspiring. It was terrifying.

[Scripture of Improvement Running Lv. 17 → Lv. 19 Teaching Lv. 16 → Lv. 17 Intimidation Lv. 10 → Lv. 11 Unhindered Movement Lv. 5 → Lv. 7 Grappling Lv. 12 → Lv. 13 Weapon Mastery Lv. 20 → Lv. 21 Predator's Gaze Lv. 1 → Lv. 2 Edge of Awareness Lv. 4 → Lv. 5] Using [Intimidation] in combat had been quite interesting. As used as most Barbarians were to killing intent and immense amounts of bloodlust, both a sudden abundance of an overwhelming pressure as well as its disappearance took them by surprise.

Hakon highly doubted Zurok would fall for it again. Teraq… he was not so sure. With a little bit of trickery Teraq may freeze up again. It was probably not worth it, but he still took it into consideration. Improving [Intimidation] would surely help him in the long run. [Running] and [Unhindered Movement] improved alongside. Evading the incoming attacks and moving around the training ground, Hakon danced around other training Barbarians, the Healer's temporary shed at the training ground, and other obstacles.

Still, it was surprising how easily [Running] leveled up. It was his Ancient Power's doing, but it was surprising nonetheless. [Teaching] was self-explanatory, especially with how much Zurok and the idiot improved, but Hakon was the most satisfied with [Weapon Mastery]'s gains. That almost made up for all the other disappointment. Neither [Combat Awareness] nor [Evasion] had been upgraded. No matter how much he focused on these two Skills, nothing had changed. I did improve.

I caught Teraq's punch when I shouldn't even have seen it. His Skills did improve, yet the Ancestors didn't think to reward him with a Skill Upgrade. They wanted more from him, which was the problem. How much more was he supposed to give to them? He let out a deep sigh. The warmth of [Vitality Stream] flowed through his battered body, mending the dark bruises, cracked cheekbone, and what felt like ruptured intestines.

None would have killed him being a Barbarian and all, but [Vitality Stream] helped him recover in record time.

"N-Not bad." Ava stuttered to his side, the confidence of the past fortnights fading.

"Scared?"

"Of course!" She exclaimed but toned down quickly when several warriors turned to her.

"How could I not be scared? What nonsense did I watch there, and how in the Gods' names are you improving so quickly? Did I really just witness you improving after a handful of spars?!"

"They improved as well." Hakon added proudly.

"I saw that! How?!" Ava whisper-shouted, looking like she didn't understand a thing. Honestly, she probably didn't.

"Because of me, or what I did with my [Teaching] Skill. That one's pretty handy actually as long as I know what I want to teach others." Hakon tilted his head.

"Then again, beating them up does seem to help. And having the same Skill I want to show them, or something better."

"Of course, you have [Teaching]." Ava let out a hollow sigh, "That still doesn't explain how you improve so fast. I thought you were lucky enough to survive those suicidal attempts at improving your Magic without knowing anything… and maybe a little smart… but, that's not it…" Whatever the human woman was hinting at, it sounded rude. Conjuring several weak bolts of mana around him, Hakon smiled at her broadly, "I think I heard something… About someone having recovered enough for a second round of Prey and Hunter."

Ava blanched and hurriedly shook her head, "I-I'm fine. I said nothing!"

"Is that so?" He faked being disappointed before adding the last bit.

"That's fine I guess. We will continue tomorrow morning then."