Chương 25: Chapter 22

"What do you think?" Astrid asked, utterly calm at the grotesque sight before her. The Stone Giant warrior had been torn apart, his chest ripped wide open and blood spurting from his neck. Ulfar had thrown his heart to the side, his body drenched in the warrior's blood. Meanwhile, Astrid's eyes shimmered, a trace of blood touching her mesmerizing eyes.

"About what?" Hakon responded. She turned to him with furrowed brows, "You cannot fool me, Hakon. I know you studied him." A faint smile tugged at his lips.

"He's slow."s"Slow?" Astrid asked.

"Maybe slow is wrong. But Ulfar is tougher than he is strong and stronger than he is fast." Hakon corrected with a shrug, "His perception is somewhere between his strength and speed, and his fighting style is nothing like it used to be. Wild, impossible to predict – or so it appears at first glance." He wanted to leave it at that but those mesmerizing eyes never left his side. Astrid didn't beg for more information, but she was interested.

Curiosity got the better of her when Hakon remained silent, and she leaned close enough to feel each other's breath on another. The air was tense and the world around them lost its importance. All that remained were Astrid and Hakon, their eyes meeting, the wordless exchange saying more than a thousand words could. Then she pinched him into the side.

"Sneaky." Hakon snickered, holding Astrid's gaze for another moment before turning back to Ulfar. Even his friends eyed him with vigilance after what happened on stage. The respect they carried for the man had been replaced with fear, and they were not the only ones. Even some of the older warriors turned their attention to Ulfar, his demonstration of power rippling through Tribe Taskur, affecting old and young.

"There is a pattern to his 'unpredictable' attacks. It is hard to grasp, but I know it is there." He explained, "All combined means he is a powerful foe. And that he is easier to control than those in tune with their power. Enrage him and his pattern will be much easier to detect. His strength should increase when he loses himself to rage, but being able to predict him in exchange should be more than worth it." That was even more important since Ulfar gave up on his weapons. Unarmed combat was powerful.

Especially for someone like Ulfar, whose whole body was a weapon of mass destruction. His bones were likely tough enough to shatter regular weapons. That was probably why his old fighting style no longer worked. Regular weapons were weaker than his body and would likely break before Ulfar could go all out. Astrid stared at him for a moment, digesting what he'd just said, and so did Björn, eyebrows scrunched in obvious confusion.

"You have changed." Astrid murmured, voice sultry, eyes longing. Björn only grunted, but he too looked at his friend anew. Hakon just smiled in response, his attention pulled aside by a series of messages he'd ignored earlier. [Proficiency gained. [Split Focus Lv. 3] improved to [Split Focus Lv. 4]] … [Proficiency gained. [Split Focus Lv. 6] improved to [Split Focus Lv. 7]] The first batch of messages was expected, but it was the next he didn't anticipate for. [Skill [Sensory Expansion] has been learned.] It wasn't even a Skill he wanted to acquire, yet Hakon acquired it anyway as he watched the battle. The first from searching his mind. As for the second, he acquired and improved it as he scrutinized every little detail of Ulfar's battle. [Skill [Flow Observation] has been learned.] [Proficiency gained. [Flow Observation Lv. 1] improved to [Flow Observation Lv. 2]] Both Skills cost mana, which he had to pay more attention to now that his reserves were quickly dwindling.

He triggered [Sensory Expansion] and used it alongside [Mana Sense] in an attempt to sense the ambient mana around him. That turned out to be more difficult than it should have been. The Monolith's raw mana was everywhere and overshadowed everything. It consumed all the ambient mana and transferred it into the stage, which resembled the mana mass in his stomach quite a bit. Except that the stage was filled with pure mana and much larger. Hakon perceived a lot more but it was hard to dismantle all the information.

His head throbbed after a few seconds and he stopped his Skills even before he could use bursts of [Circulation]. Recovering mana is going to be difficult. But… it should work. He tilted his head, trying to come up with a solution even though his head felt like splitting apart. Alas, what did not kill him only made him stronger. The headache would only make his head stronger, all the same. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Ulfar stomped on the Stone Giant warrior's heart, squashing it before finally stepping off the stage. What an unfortunate soul – the Stone Giant warrior. He had been strong and would have achieved greatness if not for his untimely meeting with Ulfar. Alas, the Ancestors had chosen his fate. It had been their decision, and nobody dared to question it. The stage rumbled as soon as Ulfar left.

A blinding light filled to the brim with mana burst into the air, dispelling the darkness of the night, before retracting after a few moments, the corpse of the Stone Giant warrior nowhere to be seen. The stage was clean once more, the cracks repaired. How? Hakon's eyes widened, raking his mind to tell what happened, yet all he found were specks of mana that felt unlike anything he'd sensed before. It was almost like they contained light.

Like they should have been shining brightly, only to be invisible to all those around him. All except for himself. [Proficiency gained. [Mana Sense Lv. 10] improved to [Mana Sense Lv. 11] He released a burst of [Circulation] with as little mana as he could use and reached for the mana specks. His fingers coiled around them easily enough, yet his body wouldn't absorb them as easily. A fraction entered through his palm only to be repelled in the next moment." How weird." Hakon smiled and moved mana through the pathways in his hand. He reached out, releasing mana outside the pathways with some effort, but didn't trigger [Mana Infusion]. The mana specks were his target. He first tried to absorb them, which worked partially when his mana engulfed a portion and dragged back into his body. Alas, his attempt was less efficient than Hakon had been hoping for as the majority of his mana poured into the speck, creating a light not unlike the pyre torches'." What are you doing?" Björn's shoulder rammed into Hakon with enough strength to shatter his concentration." What?!" He snapped back at his friend, who pointed back at the stage." Astrid is up there." Hakon looked to his right where Astrid should have been, but she was no longer by his side. She stood on the stage with the same calm, endearing smile he learned to love all those cycles ago. Love? He grunted, shaking his head. Did he love Astrid? What even was love? What his parents had couldn't have been love. If it was, then Hakon would never want to love anyone. No, what he felt for Astrid was different. She was a great partner. A good friend. Trustworthy. Beautiful. Powerful. But that was only part of her. The best, among other things, was that she believed in him. Astrid never looked down on him. Quite the contrary, she watched him train every day for cycles without taking a break. Even when he was wounded from his hunt, Hakon never stopped training. He moved forward, his will as firm as steel even though they couldn't be certain when the Ancestors would favor their tribe once more. Yet, he continued, and his tenacity inspired others to spend the cycles before their Rite training. He knew Astrid respected him, yet her trust in him weighted more heavily than everything else. And… he longed for her. Was that what love meant? Hakon didn't know, but he knew that he did not want to lose her. Not that any of that would happen. She was going to win. Even Ulfar would struggle in a fight against Astrid if she played her cards right. She, too, awakened a legendary power, after all! It didn't surprise Hakon when Astrid charged straight at her opponent, Eren. She was faster, probably even faster than Ulfar and reached the Lightcaller in a moment. Eren stepped forward, weapons clutched tightly, but his physical strength alone was nowhere near enough to clash with Astrid head-on. Why isn't he using his Power? Hakon narrowed his eyes as Astrid ran her daggers across the Lightcaller's neck. There was no hesitation in her action, and Eren fell victim to it. His eyes widened as a fountain of blood spurted from his neck, yet he did not collapse right away. He tried to push forward, relying solely on his physical strength, but he was nowhere near the Level of a warrior at the 1st Ascension. Astrid stepped aside when his sword came down at her and stabbed him in the side multiple times. No more than a few heartbeats later, Eren collapsed to the ground without ever using his Ancient Power. It was disappointing to say the least. Is he even trying? Hakon grimaced, certain the Lightcaller could have done a lot better. Sure, he wouldn't have won against Astrid being not even at the 1st Ascension. Still… Astrid turned back to them, her eyes flashing crimson, and walked off the stage as soon as the Shaman ended the battle. The healer rushed up to the severely bleeding Lightcaller to tend to his wound, emerald light coalescing around him, but whether he'd survive or not was for the Ancestors to decide,"Good job." Hakon turned away from Eren and smiled at Astrid. She shrugged lightheartedly, "That was nothing." The night went on in a similar rhythm. Björn, Astrid, and Ulfar won their next fight as well. Ulfar killed his opponent again – one of his Bloodbearer's friends who hadn't even reached his 1st Ascension yet. Björn beat his opponent badly, nearly cutting off an arm, whereas Astrid's battle ended in a heartbeat. She shed less blood this time around. As for Hakon, his second opponent was at the 1st Ascension. He was no Bloodbearer. Instead, the Barbarian awakened the Ancient Power to conjure one of the weapons forged in the Great One's fire. It was wreathed in fire, its power growing alongside its new owner. Hefting his own weapon, Hakon couldn't help but wonder how this was going to end. They charged as soon as the battle started, their roars resounding. The wreathed broadsword was searing hot and left behind a trail of fire as it arced through the air. Hakon activated [Mana Infusion] and Crusher's flat side impacted with tremendous force. That was when he noticed that he was stronger than the Barbarian. Be it because of [Circulation] or his Level didn't matter much. Hakon spun around, his movement smooth like a running stream and as fast as a raging river. He was in full control of everything occurring around him, his senses stretching further than ever. Crusher impacted, the rhythm of his movements near perfect. The Barbarian hurtled across the stage, his sword clattering to the ground. Hakon used [Dash] to catch up to his foe in an instant when [Combat Awareness] spiked. The hair on his neck burned, and he turned to smash Crusher into the flat side of the blazing sword shooting through the air. The weapon dissipated upon impact, but Hakon was not done. He twisted his body, turned once again, and spun Crusher around and over his head. Then it came down crashing hard, crushing the Barbarian's left leg. A pained scream echoed across the stage, which Hakon ignored, his eyes as cold as ice." Your skull will be next if you don't surrender."