Chương 11: Chapter 10

There was no thought on his mind as Hakon stabbed his sword into the beetle's eyes. It shifted, avoiding the brunt of the attack, leaving it with a shallow injury rather than certain death. The monster's defense was tough. Incredibly so. Its quick reaction speed only helped the beetle, resulting in diminishing returns on Hakon's end. He tried to power up [Combat Awareness] and scanned the monster as it attacked. It spat a glob at him, which he evaded narrowly.

Having analyzed the beetles' movement pattern before helped a lot, but the monster of the Fracture was different. Its projectiles were faster, leaving little to no space to escape. Predicting its movements and spit's trajectory was a challenge. It was also a necessity to survive. The beetle spat smaller globs at him in quick succession, making it near-impossible to evade them all.

Hakon wasn't surprised when a few splatters joined the yellowish-green mass spread across his chest, but his body's reaction to the spit certainly caught him off guard. The splatters worsened his condition: The numbness spread out from where the Fracture's beetle struck him, burning deeper and stretching further. His body quickly contained the spread but it promised trouble. One proper hit and he'd be dead. Scanning the beetle constantly, eyes focused on every little movement, Hakon struck again, and again.

And again. He gained more momentum after the first few strikes, his sword sizzling as it cut through the air. The blade whipped through the air, executing a series of quick slashes and swift trusts, yet the beetle prevailed. Most attacks failed to do any significant damage. Even those that did carved small pieces out of its carapace. None of his attacks were deadly. However, Hakon was no longer worried. The longer the fight continued, the more he gained. The beetle's tactic never changed.

It was faster, tougher, and deadlier than its brethren on the island, but it moved all the same. And once [Combat Awareness] caught up to the changes, he struck the same spot over and over again until something in his head clicked. Several spots, some appeared to be scars, whereas others felt like seams connecting the beetle's carapace. All that mattered little as his sword plunged into the crack in the monster's carapace, piercing it, and tasting its flesh.

A triumphant roar thrummed through his chest, and it urged him to be released into the wild, but Hakon kept it in. He twisted the blade, eyes growing wide as the monster dissolved into blue mist rather than collapsing dead to the ground. Most of the mist dispersed into the surroundings, sinking into the ground but some headed toward him, seeped into him. Mana joined the mist and flooded Hakon's body. It surged through his veins and the tunnels within him.

And, for the first time since he awakened, the tunnels' depths and sheer infinite count made itself notable. The number of tunnels moving away from the mana mass in his abdomen was still countable, but they branched out rapidly until every corner of his body was covered in them. Was that normal? Did everyone have so many tunnels within them? If so, nobody told him. A familiar pungent smell pierced his nose until he felt nausea, but he brushed it aside with some effort, a smile playing on his lips.

His chest no longer felt as numb as before. Pain replaced the numbing nothingness. The numbness receded quickly but slowed down to a trickle as soon as the surge of mana died down. That was all he needed to know to make a decision. He departed in a hurry. A tactical retreat to recover the strength needed to crush his enemies. [Combat Awareness] went awry as several projectiles splashed to the ground around him, disintegrating the knee-high grass.

Without the grass's protection around, Hakon barged into the nearest field of grass blades and made a run for it. From danger, certain death, and the Fracture vortex. He only stopped running when he was completely spent, gasping for air, his chest heaving heavily. The Fracture's violet vortex shimmered in the distance as he turned around, expecting ants and beetles to follow him in the dozen. Alas, he was alone, if one ignored the birds chirping in the sky and the other monsters found in the Crawling Expanse.

They did not notice him or simply didn't care about his existence, which was probably for the best. His whole body hurt, his heart hammered and complained, and his brain felt like it had been struck one too many times by his father's mace.

"Just a little break." He sputtered, his wobbly legs caving in as he slumped to the ground. Then came the messages. [Proficiency gained. [Evasion Lv. 1] improved to [Evasion Lv. 2]] [Proficiency gained. [Combat Awareness Lv. 2] improved to [Combat Awareness Lv. 3]] [Proficiency gained. [Running Lv. 3] improved to [Running Lv. 4]] That was only the first batch of messages. The messages he received before he rushed into the Fracture. A lot more messages from the Ancestors were waiting for him.

[Fracture, Crawling Expanse, has been detected. Scan complete.] [Incomplete Saga Trials discovered!] [Overflow discovered! Generate additional Trials.] [Lesser Deed – Slay 25 Giant Ants(0/25)] [Lesser Deed – Slay 25 Acidic Beetles(1/25)] [Major Deed – Defeat Colossal Terror(0/1)] [Major Deed – Restore the Balance(1/500)] [Feat – Shattering Core(0/1)] Not even the exhaustion plaguing his body could stop him from grinning like a madman. He recognized the messages: He knew what all this was about.

Or maybe not everything. The hide scrolls did not go into detail when mentioning Fractures but the scrolls hid hints. The chieftain and elderly warriors had told him tales about their dives into Fractures many cycles ago as well. Fractures were trials made for Barbarians. The Ancestors did not create them, or so the Shaman once mentioned, but they used them to challenge the tribes' greatest warriors. They challenged warriors and provided bountiful rewards, each Deed adding to the warrior's Saga.

One Lesser Deed and one Major Deed was common. More than that was weird. A Feat was not unheard of either. His father once mentioned it, but Hakon couldn't quite remember. Nor could he gather the energy needed to come up with a straight thought. [Proficiency gained. [Sword Mastery Lv. 19] improved to [Sword Mastery Lv. 20]] [Skill [Weakness Detection] has been learned.] [Proficiency gained. [Combat Awareness Lv. 3] improved to [Combat Awareness Lv. 4] [Experience threshold met. Level Up!] [Proficiency gained. [Running Lv. 4] improved to [Running Lv. 5] The Level was what had helped him, wasn't it? It pushed the numbness away. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work! His eyes closed for a moment as he reached out for the mana within him once more. Hakon grasped it with a clear intent; to move it through the tunnels nearest to his right shoulder and down his arm. Remove the numbness if possible. Instead, he coughed up blood as pain raced across his chest. With the receding numbness, the pain of burned skin and flesh returned. The beetles' spit was not done hurting him either. Hakon bent down and carved a chunk of soil out of the ground. It was wet and its earthen scent strong, though it failed to mask the smell of burned flesh. He first scraped the blade with mud. He removed every last bit of the plant's viscous liquid from the blade and moved down to his fingers, slowly uncurling them. The bone dagger clattered to the ground after a while, his hand scrubbed with an intensity his skin wasn't used to. Last but not least, Hakon rubbed soil all across his chest. The beetle spit, however, was tenacious. It stuck to burned skin and flesh, clinging even worse than the leeches from three cycles ago, but that only pushed him to work harder until most of his body was covered in soil, face and neck included. Hakon knew his solution was far from perfect, but it was the best he could come up with, his body worn out just as much as his mind. Yet, he followed through and guided more mana through his body. It felt good earlier, so it ought to help now as well. That didn't stop his head from feeling heavier the more time passed or his thoughts from growing sluggish, but it felt like a necessity: His body had to recover faster to return to the battlefield. He had Saga Trials to complete. A Fracture to conquer. Strength to acquire! But as darkness washed over him, Hakon didn't resist. Even Barbarians needed rest at times. Still, he couldn't resist and continued to move some of the mana mass through his body, until body and mind failed him. Until the Ancestors forced him to sleep and recover. The next day, Hakon woke up energized and pain free. Even better, no monster had bothered to take a bite out of his sore body. He couldn't tell how late it was or how much time had passed in his sleep but the sun was already high in the air. No, that wasn't quite right. The sun was nowhere to be seen. It was just as bright and warm as it should be during noon." Where are you?" He searched the sky but neither the faint hue of the silver moon or the sun were anywhere. Weird. Whatever. Rather than continuing to search, Hakon checked on the Ancient Scripture. Hakon Taskur – Level 6 Race – Barbarian Ancient Power – Enhanced Comprehension Bloodline– Wildborne Lifeblood Skills – [Combat Awareness Lv. 4], [Sword Mastery Lv. 20], [Reading Lv. 3], [Flow Control Lv. 7], [Running Lv. 5], [Dash Lv. 2], [Dagger Mastery Lv. 14], [Throwing Lv. 3], [Axe Mastery Lv. 15], [Evasion Lv. 2], [Field Crafting Lv. 1], [Blunt Weapon Mastery Lv. 10], [Silent Steps Lv. 1], [Weakness Detection Lv. 1] He had many Skills. Too many for how little time had passed since the Rite. Some didn't feel particularly useful. They wouldn't help him in combat, so why did the Ancestors give them to him?" They have their reasons. The Ancestors know everything." Hakon reminded himself. He studied the list of Skills, hoping to find out what the Ancestors wanted from him. It was hard. The Ancestors were all-knowing. How was a mere warrior supposed to ever understand them in their grand wisdom? He was no Shaman, nor did he think the Shaman knew all about the Ancestors. A pungent smell assaulted him again as he got to his feet. It was disgusting, but he was used to it at this point. Paying some attention to his wounds and the numbness that must have fully receded when he was asleep, Hakon stored his weapons before he scrubbed himself with wet dirt once more. The potent earthen smell of the soil was several times more pleasant than the pungent smell coming from his insides." Why do the Ancestors want me to smell?" He grunted, glancing at [Flow Control]'s entry in the Ancient Scripture. It had leveled up considerably since he last checked. Hakon couldn't remember having received messages about their improvement. He did however remember moving mana through the tunnels the night before. Is that it? Did I forget I practiced [Flow Control]? Regardless, the Skill's level had improved, signifying great change. Activating [Flow Control] once more, Hakon felt more. Mana was coming to him easier. It moved easier through the tunnels within him. His right shoulder and chest were particularly easy to circulate, precisely, the tunnels around the areas that had been numb and nearly burned the day before. As a Barbarian, the loss of some flesh and skin mattered little. He regenerated quickly enough to ignore it. But what surprised him was that the mana in his right upper arm and lower arm was harder to control than his shoulder and his hand specifically. Removing the dark sludge from his hand had also been the most difficult." Beetle spit." He grumbled. Did he have to cover himself in their spit to remove the bad smell from his tunnels? Mana moved faster, better through the tunnels that had been cleansed, and the events of the previous days lead to a faster removal of the sludge within him. Beetle spit and mana. The Level up, precisely. If he could cover himself in beetle spit right before he earned a Level, he could remove some of the sludge from all over his body. That sounded quite difficult. And it might be better if he tested the idea using a little spit to cover a small area to clean first. For that he needed a beetle first. Acidic Beetle as the Saga Trial called them. That reminded him of the Deeds and the Fracture he'd barged into. Just thinking about the message, the Scripture appeared again. [Fracture – The Crawling Expanse(Miasma Overflow) Rarity – Uncommon Recommended Level – 9 15(Overflow detected) Slots – 1/10] Uncommon was not a word he was familiar with. However, he'd once heard about 'rarity' and knew what Common meant. Common was when something was ordinary. Nothing special. Just… average. If Uncommon meant what Hakon thought it meant, the Fracture was not ordinary. It was something special. That was good. Probably? Hakon certainly hoped so. Level 15, on the other hand, was rough. It meant that the Crawling Expanse Fracture was something for warriors at the 1st Ascension. Warriors with their first Runeskin power. Even then, the Miasma Overflow part unsettled him a little. It reminded him of something he heard in the past – something his mother told him many many cycles ago. Snippets of her words returned to Hakon. Words about the Fracture. That the Fracture released something that created more monsters. How it created them he couldn't remember. Putting all doubts aside, Hakon recalled that the Fracture did create monsters and released it through the very vortex he used to enter. That it sent Miasma outside to tarnish the world the Ancestors had built. That was not exactly his mother's words but it did fit the things he read about in the scrolls. Well… somewhat. Unlike his mother, who did not like the Fractures, the Shamans wrote about them as if they were something great. They loved Fractures as each and every one of them was seen as a challenge sent by the Ancestors. Yet, the Ancestors wished the Fractures destroyed. The Feat mentioned something about shattering, and that reminded him of his father's Saga Trial. The story he'd heard most often from his father; how he conquered a Fracture all by himself when he was but a young warrior. His father's Deeds aside, Barbarians followed the paths that guided them to the most honor. If that meant they had to enter a Fracture and complete the Saga Trials, resulting in the destruction of most Fractures. All, except those shaped by the Ancestors themselves. The Deepshire Cavern. A Fracture made by the Ancestors, used to guide the warriors that awakened powers of the legends. Astrid was probably inside there now, alongside all those using the Deepshire Cavern to honor the Ancestors and the Great Ones." What else did she say?" Hakon discarded his other thoughts in an attempt to reach for more snippets of his mother's words. He was certain she said more about the Miasma that infested the world, but the only response he got was an aching head. It mattered little. Hakon knew what he had to do. He had multiple Saga Trials to complete. The only problem? If every monster was as tough as the Acidic Beetle had been, then dealing with 25 of them was going to be a hassle. He was nowhere as weak as he had been only a few days before, but the monsters in the Fracture appeared to be on a whole different level. They were nothing like the beetles and ants on the other side of the Fracture's vortex. A Giant Blood warrior at Hakon's current Level would have been a lot stronger than he was right now. That did not mean he was weak; He wasn't. However, he also knew he'd easily crush dozens of Giant Ants and Acidic Beetles if he had the power of a Bloodbearer. But he had The Mind, wielding far more Skills than his peers should. Earning the Ancestors' favor by improving his Skills, and acquiring more." How about I do this a little differently?"