Chương 80: B2 Chapter 2

Ava. She was his answer. At least, Hakon hoped she would be. The little human woman was young, frail, and pathetically weak, yet she possessed something Barbarians rarely had – knowledge. The few conversations Hakon had with Ava showed him how knowledgeable she was. She was the first to learn the Barbarians' language, if memory served him right, and she helped the other servants learn it quickly as well.

As easy as the little human was to frighten, her understanding of mana and Skills most Barbarians hadn't even heard of was enough for Hakon to approach her. She was also a Mage Apprentice, though Hakon had no idea what that meant. Someone so young is–... Hakon stopped the stray thought as soon as it formed. Ava looked to be around his age, but that didn't sound right. She was older than him and had always been. Combining his memories in confusion, Hakon's eyes narrowed. Ava had always been as old as she was now.

At least, he couldn't remember her changing much ever since she stepped into the hut. He remembered her shuddering, tears streaking down her face, her clothes drenched in the blood of her fellow humans, flinching whenever Barbarians walked through the hut. Ava wasn't the only servant who reacted that way, and it only worsened in the cycles that followed. It reached its peak when a few foolish – or brave, depending on who asked – servants tried to flee. That, if nothing else, was an insult to the Barbarians' honor.

Those who bested the small army of humans claimed the survivors as their war trophies, and, in their eyes, it was only honorable to stay behind and serve the victor. Monsters caught the escapees. Not all of them, but those who avoided the most ferocious monsters ended up in Chieftain Ragna's hands nonetheless. Hakon's father caught them, dead or alive didn't matter, and dragged them back to the tribehold to execute them, making examples out of them.

The servants stopped dreaming about running away from that day onward. At least, they no longer tried, which Hakon was grateful for. He never really liked executions. They were wasteful and unnecessarily brutal. The tribesmen loved executions, but he was sure the escapees could have been kept alive. Surely, the Ancestors didn't like mindless executions. That wouldn't make any sense. Not that we need servants.

Hakon added quietly toward himself, making him wonder what else Tribe Taskur could have done with the escapees. In the end, he didn't come to a conclusion. Instead, he made his way out of the hut to find Ava. It didn't take long to find the tiny human. She was as small as he remembered, her frame still frail, yet she no longer appeared malnourished. Ava no longer had slightly hollowed temples. There was more volume in her cheeks, and her arms were no longer bony and showed hints of muscle.

The human woman had changed. She stood straighter, raised her head to look around, yet whenever too many eyes turned toward her, she would hurriedly look away. She was about to retreat to a shaded spot farther away from the Monolith when her eyes flicked to Hakon.

"Y-you wanted to see me." Uncertainty crept into Ava's voice, joining her quivering eyes.

"I did." Hakon nodded, a gentle smile tugging at his lips, which appeared to be enough to calm Ava down. Her eyes stopped quivering and she straightened up ever so slightly. Not enough, he grumbled to himself but left it at that. Ava would grow more confident in due time. Looking around, he caught several older Barbarians looking their way. They greeted him, muttered a quick "Successor," and left to tend to their business without issue.

Ignoring their narrow mindset, Hakon was drawn to the Monolith towering high above the tribehold's center. Marked by colossal statues from the Ancestors' era, it stood at the heart of Tribe Taskur. The Monolith was a black structure made of an indestructible material not even the strongest warriors could scratch. It was the greatest gift the Ancestors had left behind, for it helped the Shaman channel the Ancestors' power to perform the Rite.

Without it, the youngest of Barbarians would never awaken their Ancient Power, and their connection to the Ancestors would never form. The statues surrounding the Monolith depicted none other than the Zeldron. They stood as tall as Hakon remembered them, guarding the Monolith and protecting the Ancestors' gift, just like they had protected the Ancestors in the past. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. His smile grew even wider.

If not for the Ancestors, he never would have awakened Enhanced Comprehension. And without that, Hakon's goals would have been shattered. What would have happened if I awakened as a Bloodbearer? He wondered, chuckling at his own foolishness. For in the past, he would have killed as long as it meant awakening a potent version of Giant Blood as an Ancient Power. Now, however, he could defeat even legendary Powers with the Power of the Mind.

"H-Hakon?" Ava pulled him back to his senses.

"You said you wanted to see me."

"Right." He shook his head, purging all stray thoughts.

"I wanted to talk to you about something you said a while ago." She met his gaze for a moment but hurriedly looked away, not saying anything.

"You mentioned before that you are a Mage Apprentice." Hakon continued.

"You also said something about magic and spellweaves when I practiced [Mana Bolt] and my other Skills. I need to know more… What is magic, and what are these spellweaves you mentioned? How can I use them to grow stronger?" Ava took a step back and looked at him quizzically.

"What do you mean?" Did she not understand him? Furrowing his brows, he repeated himself, but she just shook her head.

"No, I get what you're saying, Hakon." Ava's confusion deepened.

"But what I don't understand is why you're asking those questions. You already wield magic. What do you mean you don't know what magic and spellweaves are?"

"What?" Hakon's frown only grew deeper, along with his confusion. Did he know what magic was? Maybe she mistook Skills such as [Mote of Light] and [Mana Bolt] for magic. Or…was that magic? Ava stopped the question on her lips as soon as she caught the confusion in Hakon's eyes.

"You really don't know." Her eyes widened.

"Seriously?" Even though he hadn't done anything wrong, it certainly felt like he had. She exhaled as if all of this was too much for her but began explaining anyway.

"Where do I start? Magic…is part of existence itself. It is woven into the foundation of reality as naturally as gravity, fire, or life in all its forms. Magic flows through everything, be it wind, rivers, or the soil beneath your feet. Everything contains dormant particles of the very energy that makes magic what we know, and it is only waiting to be stirred awake." Ava barely glanced up to see the utter lack of understanding written across Hakon's face and sighed.

"Not even the greatest scholars know magic's origin, yet there is one thing they all agree on; magic follows specific laws as strictly and unforgivingly as any natural phenomenon. It does not create something out of nothing, nor does it act without purpose, structure, or cost. Every spellweave, every miracle, every seemingly impossible feat is the result of those laws being understood, wielded, and manipulated."

"At its core, magic is the conversion of energy – mana, which you should already be familiar with – through intent. Mana is the fuel required to influence the world around the caster. A flame, for example, does not appear out of nowhere. Through mana, air and mana may combust by using the caster's heat or another nearby heat source, creating a spark through a stable reaction that can be fed and shaped through energy. Other than that, you can also…" That was too much for Hakon.

He tried very hard to listen and remember everything she said, but her words transformed into a mumbled mess. Were they even speaking the same language? Hakon was no longer sure. After what felt like an eternity, Ava slowed down and took a few deep breaths. However, she was nowhere near done yet.

"Magic only becomes tangible once given structure. That structure is also known as a spellweave. By using a framework that shapes mana's potential into a specific phenomenon, you create spellweaves. That is very similar to how veins guide blood through the body or roots move water through soil. Without a spellweave, mana is much harder to control, and you won't be able to create specific phenomena, let alone mana-based Skills." Ava tilted her head slightly before adding, "Scratch that.

If you have a high enough Affinity toward specific elements, you may still be fortunate enough to form mana-based Skills even if you don't know jackshit about spellweaves." The way she said the last part caught Hakon by surprise because Ava looked at him accusingly.

"So…" Before Hakon could say anything, Ava raised her hand. At some point during her lengthy explanation, she had gained enough confidence to interrupt him. That was good, even if it was very annoying.

"Magic often manifests in the form of Skills. Magic Skills, to be precise. They come into existence as spellweaves, which can be imbued with mana to create specific phenomena with greater precision. Modifying the spellweave is possible, yet that will inevitably change the Skill and its power." She spoke sagely, though what she added next could not have sounded more wrong.

"Positive changes usually result in the Skill leveling up. Some see that as a reward, but that is foolish since a Skill's level only reflects your own level of expertise." Anger flared from the deepest pits of Hakon's being at those words.

"The Ancestors reward us." He said sternly, suppressing the low growl stuck in his throat.

"The Ancestors…I don't know what they are, but if you really think they exist–" He did end up letting out a growl, silencing Ava momentarily. Her pupils dilated and she visibly shrank beneath his death glare.

"Y-Your A-Ancestors are p-probably like… judges. They… they inspect the changes you made… a-and if they deem your improvements satisfactory enough, you earn a Skill level, right?" That didn't sound entirely wrong. Judges was too grand a word and still didn't make much sense, yet the rest echoed through his ears. Except for the spellweave part, or almost everything Ava said about magic, phenomena – another overly complicated word he barely understood – and several other things.

Still, Hakon's mind remained stuck on spellweaves. If Magic Skills, Skills that used mana, were supposed to create spellweaves, then he should possess them as well, should he not? So where were they?