Chương 52: Chapter 45

Blue mist, fueled with sparks so potent they smelled of power, filled the clearing as the Terror Deer herd disintegrated. Other than a few antlers, which had been removed as trophies of their first hunt together, everything had been sacrificed to the Ancestors. Spilled intestines and the pools of blood snaking through the clearing dematerialized alongside the carcasses, leaving only small specks from the blood Eren, Björn, and Hakon had shed during the battle.

"That… was amazing," Eren exclaimed between ragged breaths.

"A herd of Terror Deer," Björn said, all while smiling through the pain. He glanced back to Hakon, his smile widening.

"You picked worthy prey. The Ancestors are excited." As he spoke, the blue mist dissipated. Traces flowed toward Hakon and his friends, filling them with energy. It was nowhere near as potent as the energy provided in the Fracture, but Hakon embraced the sensation nonetheless. Eyes closed, he focused on the mana mass lodged deep within him. It tremored ever so slightly, making him think that his next Level was nearing. If there was one thing he had noticed about the mana mass, it was that it grew alongside him.

Its tremors and growth spurts were usually directly related to level-ups.

"Of course, the Ancestors are excited. They're watching the rise of the next Warlord, after all," Astrid murmured, but the others could hear her. Their heads turned to her, and they stared at her with mixed emotions. Hakon let out a grunt, while Eren nodded in agreement. Björn just smiled, his emotions hidden behind a mischievous smile.

"What? The era of the next Warlord is coming, and I am not going to bet my life on others." Astrid turned to the others.

"The tribe has already accepted him as the Successor, but that is not enough. War is coming." She shook her head.

"No, we are already at war." Even if Tribe Taskur had not yet been involved in the war, Hakon couldn't help but agree. They were already at war. Tribe Pearot and the aggressive acts of the other tribes in recent cycles had been a statement. They were already at war, even if the younger generation couldn't see it just yet.

"One step at a time," Hakon called out loud enough for everyone to hear.

"We should recover first." Björn leaped to his feet at that, his war axes at the ready.

"I am ready!" As if to highlight his lie, the worst wounds burst open from the sudden movement. Björn was trying hard to ignore the blood flowing down his chest in streams, but the corners of his lips twitched.

"I can see that. Totally fine." Hakon grimaced. He conjured a small mana sphere, which he compressed and reinforced with the little mana he'd recovered, and released it at Björn, hitting him right between his brows. More surprised than hurt, Björn let out a groan and stumbled back. Tripping over a root, the Blessed warrior fell onto his butt. All the while, more of his wounds tore back open, showing quite clearly that he was, in fact, not ready to barge into another fight.

"Proper recovery is important. If you fail to recover properly, you won't be able to give your best in combat. And that is disrespectful to your opponent and thus an affront to the Ancestors," Astrid spoke eloquently, using big words Hakon hadn't heard before. Still, the message was clear. Even Björn, who looked more confused than anything, nodded in understanding. That gave them the time to take care of yet another important point: to discuss their earlier fight.

As frustrating as it was, even to Hakon, some part of their fight against the Terror Deer herd had been even more frustrating than a battle review. He made sure to tell Björn that his charge into the herd had been reckless and foolish, and pointed out all the other things he'd noticed. While nobody seemed particularly happy to get called out like that so shortly after their first successful hunt together, they didn't stop him.

Instead, they stared at him as he spent quite some time analyzing the battle and what everyone could have done better.

"As expected from the Successor," Björn muttered, but his voice wasn't mocking or anything like that. He sounded genuine, if a little frustrated about getting called out like that, which surprised Hakon.

"Expected?"

"You are great, Successor," Eren called out, sounding almost excited.

"I will fight better next time!" This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Astrid nodded seriously. He had the least advice for her, but Hakon caught her trying too hard to learn [Flow Control] and [Dash]. She had yet to learn either of those Skills, which was mostly owed to a simple problem–force of habit.

Part of the reason was probably also that Hakon wasn't the best teacher and that Astrid didn't like to expel impurities when he was present, but the habits she had acquired in the short time since she'd awakened were difficult to get rid of. Moving mana alongside the pathways felt right to Astrid, which was the first issue. Her Ancient Power didn't guide her like Hakon's did. Rather, Blood Fury provided her with supernatural instincts, which she'd used to wield her body in the best possible way.

That way was to ignore the pathways' insides, because they were filled with obstacles or outright blocked, and to use the pathways' surface instead to move her energy around. Those instincts and hundreds of hours of training created a habit, which made it impossible to learn Skills like [Dash] or [Circulation]. Hakon was not sure why, since Astrid's energy control was not all that bad, but if he had to make a guess, it would be that his method was superior.

That circulating mana through them rather than along them was more potent, and that movement within the pathways was needed to create certain responses. He would have to study the difference between circulating mana inside the pathways and outside, but when he did it once, he… Hakon actually didn't feel much. There was no response from his body when he moved mana around the pathways, confusing him.

As far as he was concerned, any movement with mana should create some sort of reaction from the body, yet there was nothing. Other than Enhanced Comprehension's blaring reverberations through his mind. The Ancient Power had never been this loud, screaming at him to stop doing this nonsense. That, if nothing else, told him all he needed to teach Astrid and get rid of her bad habits.

He considered doing the same to the others once he'd figured out the best way to teach warriors that were not as patient and determined to get it right as Astrid, but he would make it work. Somehow. Probably. Guiding his peers through the cycles of blood that were about to follow was something Hakon had to do. It belonged to his tasks as the Successor and the future chieftain, and he would have to lean more into that aspect if he wanted the young generation to survive the war.

But first– Hakon froze when he felt something odd. It was a faint sensation that crept in the back of his head, tugging at him as if trying to tell him something. The sensation was nebulous and so faint he barely sensed it, so he focused on his sensory skills, eyes closed. His ears twitched involuntarily as the sensation grew more intense. He did not yet trigger any Skills, but his senses erupted outward instinctively. The feeling grew more potent as he did, and his hair stood on end as it shifted. It…

smelled like danger. Albeit confused, calling it a "smell" felt oddly fitting. Despite the confusion, Hakon leaped upward, his focus on the odd scent hanging in the air as he applied [Sensory Expansion].

"What's…" He didn't let Björn finish and shushed him. Even when he felt his friends' heads turn toward him with questions, Hakon ignored them, his focus on the dangerous scent and what it might mean. Not a flower's scent. That's not how a monster's bloodlust should feel either, he analyzed, eyes snapping open to use [Mana Sense] and [Combat Awareness] actively.

Their passive effects were much cheaper and less mentally draining, but the sensation of danger lingered in the air, and he had no idea what it was or where it came from. His head flicked right, eyes narrowed as he picked up on something. No, he did know where it came from.

"Stay here. I'll be back in a heartbeat," Hakon ordered, ignoring the muffled complaints as he pushed into the undergrowth, splitting his attention to use [Silent Steps] and [Stealth]. Unsure what awaited him, Hakon ramped up his passive Skills as much as his meager mana reserves allowed. He did recover some mana since the earlier hunt, but most had been consumed by [Natural Regeneration] to push him back to top form.

That still didn't feel like enough, so he relied heavily on the sense of wrongness to improve upon Skills that did not consume any mana. Come on. Give me a quick level up, he grunted inwardly, knowing very well that the easy level-ups from improving a few common Skills were long since over. He could still level up from Skill improvements, but it needed more than that. Pushing the idea aside, Hakon continued to skulk through the forest, focusing on the scent around him.

The sensation grew more potent, which Hakon relied upon heavily as he moved mana into his upper body, straight toward his head. The pathways were not nearly as clean around that area as they probably should have been, slowing his mana's movement, but it reached his nose anyway. By that point, Enhanced Comprehension filled him with more sensations. Sorting through them would take time. Time he did not have to spare.

Moving onward with his Ancient Power and instincts mingling in ways he couldn't comprehend just yet, Hakon weaved around dangerous plants and avoided vegetation that looked far too harmless to survive in the deeper parts of the deadly forest. He half-expected to find whatever emitted the dangerous scent quickly, but that couldn't have been more wrong. He moved through the forest for a little while until he found what he was looking for, rewarding him greatly. [Scripture of Improvement Silent Steps Lv. 9 → Lv. 11 Stealth Lv. 5 → Lv. 6 Tracking Lv. 7 → Lv. 9 Sensory Expansion Lv. 12 → Lv. 13] But as pleasant as his improvements were, Hakon felt nothing more than coldness in his heart. How could he not, watching a group of Barbarians lurking in the shadows of the forest, heading toward the tribehold? Everything would have been fine if the Barbarians belonged to Taskur, but that was not the case. The marks etched across their wide shoulders provided otherwise. They spelled trouble. For they were the marks of Pearot.

Their enemy was coming for them.