Chương 88: B2 Chapter 10

The Young Drake was overflowing with power. It radiated enough for Hakon's instincts to scream at him, telling him to retreat and prepare more thoroughly to best it. But that was not the path of the Barbarians. To ascend, they had to surpass countless obstacles and crush the challenges ahead of them. Sure, if he prepared more thoroughly, Hakon would probably still ascend if he bested a Young Drake, but time was not on his side.

Ulfar was growing rapidly, the monsters of the forest accumulated strength, and Tribe Pearot wouldn't stay back and let him and the young warriors grow forever. A plan had formed as he watched the mud-scaled Drake, but he knew that it would fail. It was not perfect, which was why he didn't rely on the plan. He imagined several scenarios where he would most likely fail and retreated once more to survey the surroundings more thoroughly.

As he did that, Hakon half-expected to meet the creature in blue, but its location eluded him. Although he did catch a glimpse of it again, the monster's blue fur was everything that proved its existence. Neither [Scent of Lifelight] nor [Tracking] picked up on the creature at this point, which only added to the need for failsafe plans. Once every detail of the surroundings had been etched into his mind, it was time to set his plans into motion.

Since the Ancestors did not acknowledge the value of kill traps, Hakon would have never considered laying out traps to kill the Young Drake. However, with the blue-furred monster nearby, failsafe measures were necessary. He half-expected the unknown monster to attack him as soon as he'd killed the Young Drake, when he was at his weakest. Worse even, it may as well attack when he and the Young Drake where at their weakest, killing them both.

That was not acceptable, which was also why Hakon thought of something the Ancestors may, possibly accept. If not, his hunt would be for naught, slaying a Drake as a 1st Ascension warrior would not be acknowledged in his Saga, and he would have to find a new way to shatter the Wall of Ascension. Calm down. They will acknowledge you! Hakon told himself before pulling up to a small clearing. It wasn't anything special and it would barely fit his fight with the Young Drake but that was all the space he needed.

To get started with his plan, he disappeared in the undergrowth where he conjured [Mana Shield] several times in quick succession. The shield flickered to life, and with a little tweaking of [Mana Manipulation] and [Mana Shaping], they connected to one another, creating a chain of shields. It reached from one large tree trunk to another, creating a wall of [Mana Shield]s.

Hakon repeated the same process several times until the clearing transformed into a small arena with only one large opening from where he and the Young Drake would arrive. Conjuring the mana constructs was easy, maintaining them… not so much. The mana used in the creation was also mostly acceptable. It cost time and forced him to rely heavly on [Aether Spiral] to recover the used mana but it worked decently enough.

Maintaining drained almost half the mana he recovered with [Aether Spiral] active, and the expenses only increased as he used [Mana Shaping] heavily on the [Mana Bolt]s he conjured in the space above the clearing. The bolts grew longer and were adorned with a pointed tip until they hardly looked like a [Mana Bolt]. They resembled javelins made from mana more than anything but that was fine. So was the time and effort he put into placing them in the crowns of the trees above.

Maintaining them was also not that easy, and it only grew more tiresome as he walked away from the clearing. The larger the distance, the greater the strain. Setting everything up and replenishing his Core took a while but he was happy with the result as he returned to with Crusher in his hands. The Maulaxe Crusher, rewarded by none other than the Ancestors for his Deeds, rested in his hands like an extension of his body.

It was a gnarly weapon that looked like a grotesque mess of Giant Ants' corpses being stacked on top of each other, only to get squashed and mashed together, forced into a maul's shape. A maul with the back being a long, curved blade, resembling a waraxe's edge. He didn't know what the Ancestors thought when they created Crusher, but he was thankful for them. It was the perfect weapon for a situation like that. Taking a deep breath, Hakon waited impatiently until the Young Drake looked away.

It moved in the opposite direction when he shot forward, no more wasting time. With [Circulation] topped up and [Dash] pushed to its limit, he reached top speed mere heartbeats after he burst out of the undergrowth. Hakon closed the distance to the Young Drake in an instant. It whirled around, sensing the incoming danger, but it was too late. Crusher vibrated in excitement as mana poured into its pathways, only to be further empowered by [Reinforcement].

The massive weapon struck down, hitting the Young Drake's side with as much force as he could muster. The sound of scales cracking echoed in Hakon's ears, bringing a smile to his lips that died as soon as it formed. His hair stood on end as the Young Drake's eyes locked on him. That was the moment he realized the monster didn't take him seriously. And that, while he cracked some of its scales, his attack had been nowhere near strong enough to hurt the monster.

Hakon tried to twist his way out of the Drake's path the moment [Edge of Awareness] and [Combat Awareness] picked up on something, but pain raced down his arm and blood splashed to the ground before he could. A shield of mana had formed in time, yet the Drake carved through the shield way too easily. Just like his arm. While he couldn't see the wound, he felt [Vitality Stream] push to its limit the moment the claws carved through his arm.

The pain was negligible, but the amount of blood pooling around him within a few heartbeats was staggering. That promised to be a problem if not taken care of in due time. [Evasion] triggered the moment the Drake lunged at him again, but he managed to evade it this time. Barely, and only because his mana reserves flooded [Sensory Expansion] and [Flow Observation] in due time, augmenting [Edge of Awareness]. Predicting the Young Drake's next move a moment before it made it worked, even if it was close.

Warmth reached his arm and the dampened pain faded away entirely. The blood flow diminished rapidly as well, but by that time yet another claw had found its mark. His thigh bled badly, each step straining his body more. Redirecting [Vitality Stream]'s focus with an effort of will, Hakon danced around the ravaging beast. As fast as he was healing, going on like that for a long time was not feasible. So he retreated and pulled away from the Young Drake's turf.

His opponent did not like that and followed up with rapid attacks, which Hakon barely evaded. He got hit a few times, leaving deep lacerations across his body, yet he managed to pull into the clearing. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings. Once back in the range of his mana constructs, he connected with them. [Reinforcement] held the structures in place in his absence but the Skill was nowhere near perfect. It didn't have to be.

Taking a deep breath, Hakon adjusted his position and gathered enough mana to release the mana javelins. The Young Drake charged him with the ferocity of a deadly predator and leaped at him right when bursts of mana erupted from him The Young Drake must have noticed something because it flinched but it was already too late at that point. Javelins made of highly compressed mana rained down from the sky.

Only one poured down on the Young Drake's head, and it dissipated without causing any harm but the same could not be said about the other javelins. Several struck the Drake's back and pierced through its scales, transforming the deadly creature into a hedgehog. While that was still not enough to severely wound the Drake, which was both surprising and annoying, two javelins struck the Drake's side, puncturing damaged scales and its flesh at the same time.

A pained yelp escaped the Young Drake, which turned out to be yet another opportunity. [Weakness Detection] flared up, revealing dozens of openings. Changing his stance in an effort to turn the tide of the battle, Hakon triggered [Weapon Mastery] to block one of the following strikes with the Maulaxe Crusher. The first block didn't turn out as well as he'd hoped – he underestimated just how strong the Young Drake could be – but the second time worked out much better.

Instead of blocking the strike, he redirected the attack trajectory with some effort before using the leftover momentum to initiate a counterattack. That failed miserably. Crusher struck the Young Drake, but he was too close to make full use of the maul's greatest advantage. At the same time, the Young Drake wasn't playing around either. It struck him whenever it got the opportunity, leaving claw marks on his chest and abdomen.

Neither of the attacks ended as badly as the first because Hakon expected its attacks and prepared to evade them ahead of time. Evading turned out harder than expected, so he made sure that attacks that'd end up killing him would only inflict mild to slightly severe wounds instead. The Young Drake did not seem to like that, though. It was clearly aware of its superior speed and strength, yet it failed to kill him. Worse even, the humanoid foe was healing, and it was growing increasingly difficult to harm him.

But the biggest problem was clearly that Hakon was growing stronger and faster the longer the fight lasted. With [Combat Awareness] and [Flow Observation] active, analyzing the Drake's attack pattern was possible. It was a slow process given all he had to pay attention to in order to stay alive, but he did it anyway. Even better, Hoard Impact absorbed all the forces acting upon him.

That included the force surging through his arms whenever Crusher got struck or hit something, but also the claws tearing through his skin and flesh. The Young Drake's head lunged forward with surprising speed just as Hakon initiated a counterattack, and a maw filled with razor-sharp teeth snapped shut around Crusher. It would have crushed down on his arm instead but he was fast enough to escape the clash with both arms mostly intact.

That didn't seem to matter to the Young Drake who used considerable force to crunch on the maulaxe. Without warning, the mana within the Maulaxe Crusher went erratic. Hakon completely lost control over it, stupefying him long enough to make him lose control of [Circulation] as well. Momentarily weakened, the Young Drake's head yanked in the opposite direction, tearing Crusher out of Hakon's hands. It spun around a moment later, tail whipping toward his face.

Hakon leaped back with a burst of mana, escaping the tail by a hair's breadth, yet his eyes never left his greatest weapon. A weapon that was being torn apart. The Young Drake held Crusher's gnarly handle in its claws and nibbled on the bladed tip. The blade snapped much easier than should have been possible, leaving Hakon stupefied. He stood there frozen for a moment, all while the Young Drake chewed on his weapon, eventually swallowing the chipped blade after a while. It was grotesque and infuriating.

A growl escaped Hakon's lips, his plans all but forgotten. Something within him stirred. His blood started to boil, and power that felt so much different than mana coursed through his muscles and veins. Instincts took over as he conjured a bolt of mana with [Reinforcement] and [Compression]. With a burst of mana accelerating the projectile, it whipped through the air, hitting the Young Drake in the face. It would have struck the monster's eyeball, but its eyelid sealed shut.

Moving around, Hakon retrieved one of his daggers, his motions faster than they normally would. He reactivated [Circulation] but focused on his strong arm as he pulled back. [Combat Awareness] and [Flow Observation] showed him all he needed to know to release the dagger at the perfect moment. [Throwing] activated just as he threw the dagger, and it flung through the air and pierced the Young Drake's eye as its eyelids fluttered open once more.

It didn't pierce deeply, nor did it inflict nearly as much damage as Hakon had hoped, but a [Mana Bolt] followed right behind, hitting the butt of the dagger and driving it deeper. The Young Drake roared out in pain, but before it could retaliate and leap at him, Hakon was already upon it, his blood burning. He was in the Young Drake's dead angle, axe in one hand, [Bleeding] and [Reinforcement] coating its blade. There was no time to hesitate as he struck the cracked scales, piercing them, yet only barely.

The damaged scales clattered to the ground, revealing the flesh underneath, but it turned out much tougher than anticipated. Hakon rammed the handaxe as deep as possible, yet neither [Bleeding] nor [Reinforcement] were strong enough to do any serious damage.

"Just die!" he growled, tearing the handaxe sideways right before the Drake's head smashed into his side. A crack resounded and pain flared in his chest. Hoard Impact absorbed some of the impact, but Hakon stumbled backward, his axe still stuck in the monster's side. He tried to push ahead again, leveraging the Drake's injuries as long as they still affected it, but his opponent was faster. Its tail whipped through the air and lashed out at him.

It hit the mark, making him feel like a thousand spikes tore into his arm as he raised it instinctively to block the attack. Yet another cracking noise resounded, filling Hoard Impact with more and more power. The exact same happened with [Adaptive Resilience], although it only adapted to everything Hakon went through, be it environmental conditions or injuries. The passive Skill did not help him recover. However, blunt force and slashes affected him less the more often he got hit.

With Hoard Impact empowering him the more he fueled it, he grew stronger as well. But was that enough to kill the Young Drake? To fight a monster that caused 2nd Ascension warriors trouble… that was not all that simple. The difference in power was too great, and it was not like he could Level up to make up for the difference. He had to do something else. I need more mana. No. What he needed was power. It didn't have to come from mana. He made a decision and triggered [Split Focus] to use [Aether Spiral] unaffected.

The strain on his mind was tremendous, but recovering mana, no matter how little, was crucial. He had to maintain [Circulation]; however, that wasn't enough. To kill the Young Drake, which had returned to Crusher's remains to swallow them whole, he needed more. Even if that meant sacrificing his health or even body, Hakon was willing to do it. More Skills. Or… better Skills. Improve upon his existing Skills. Transform them into something strong enough that not even a Young Drake could fight him.

But was that enough? It didn't seem likely. Hakon didn't think so, especially not after whatever the Drake had done to rip Crusher out of his hands. It took over the mana inside Crusher – his mana – and he couldn't even do anything about it. More. He roared in his heart. Give me more, Ancestors!!