Chương 55: Chapter 48

After painstakingly diverting and blocking the incoming attacks, Hakon's shortsword finally found purchase in the Barbarian's neck. There was little resistance from his opponent, his limbs restrained by several young warriors' constant attacks, blood flowing from dozens of wounds spread across his body. His eyes widened in shock, which transformed into terror as soon as mana erupted from the blade. It was less of a [Discharge] and more of an explosion of mana that rocketed through the Barbarian's neck.

The weight of the attack pressed down on Hakon's bloodied arm, but he tore his weapon downward nonetheless and watched his foe collapse to the ground. [Experience threshold met. Level Up!] [Scripture of…] He willed the Scripture aside, his head flicking around in search of the other enemy. Mana channeled into [Bash] already, only to see that his comrades were doing fine. Several swords stuck in the Pearot's muscly figure, some buried down to their handles.

Turning to Björn and Astrid, he was glad to see that they were fine as well. Bloody carnage covered the area around Astrid, transforming Björn's battlefield into something rather simplistic in comparison. The Blessed warrior and Teraq beheaded their opponent when ramming the bone dagger deeper into the Barbarian's skull hadn't been enough. That, however, still looked tame compared to the mess Astrid caused. Hakon grimaced but turned back to focus on the situation at hand.

He embraced the mana influx of leveling up and sensed the others do the same. Wide smiles crossed the features of most young warriors. As much as their bodies were riddled with injuries they'd failed to block, they were satisfied. But the battle was not yet over. The third and final stage had yet to start. Glancing down at his shortsword as it fell apart, Hakon let out a grunt. No time wasted, he bent down to pick up the deceased's one-handed longsword and one of the axes tucked in his belt.

The weapons didn't appear much different from the weapons Tribe Taskur's best crafted, yet there was something about them that elevated their status. It was a subtle difference, one that had him infuse mana into the weapons after a second. Moving mana through the longsword and handaxe was no simple feat. It was nowhere near as smooth as it would have been with Maulaxe Crusher, yet it was smoother compared to regular weapons nonetheless. Interesting. Hakon mused to himself, weighing the weapons for a moment.

He tested them a little more and would have done even more if not for the roars coming from the enemy camp. Looking back to make sure Crusher was still attached to his back, Hakon turned to the remaining enemies. Six Pearot Barbarians had been ripped out of their sweet dreams, and they looked angry. Really angry. One of them roared out loud, hefted a javelin, and pulled back. Hakon's senses perked up, [Combat Awareness], [Sensory Expansion], and [Flow Observation] triggering near-simultaneously.

He couldn't sense anything with [Mana Sense], but that was not needed to know that an Ancient Power or Runeskin was at work. He tensed up, his lips parting for a warning, but by the time his shout reverberated through the dimly lit forest, it was already too late. The Barbarian jerked forward, his arm turning to a blur as he released the javelin. The sound of an explosion echoed in Hakon's ears, pushing him to react.

Sensing where the javelin was about to impact, he erupted a mana shield and pumped it full with [Mana Infusion] and [Reinforcement]. He tried to compress the shield and give more weight to it, which would have worked. Should have. Even Enhanced Comprehension agreed that he did it right, although he couldn't quite tell what he had done right. Anyway, it didn't work. He was too far from the target.

[Mana Manipulation] and [Mana Shaping] worked in tandem with [Mana Sense], but the Skills were either too weak, or he was. No matter what Hakon tried, the javelin hit its mark. It pierced through the mana shield and barely slowed down before piercing through the chest of a young Bloodbearer. The smile on the Bloodbearer's lips was replaced by shock. A moment later, he was yanked off his feet, the javelin's impact forcing him to his knees.

Hakon rushed over to the Bloodbearer, whose body shrunk back to its original size, and was about to crouch down, remove the javelin, and tend to his wounds when [Mana Sense] pinged something. The first thing he noticed was the javelin vibrating. Then, there was the energy rocketing through the Bloodbearer. It tore through him and destroyed his insides within seconds. Hakon acted fast and pulled the javelin out, which resulted in a bloody mess.

"You have to activate your Ancient Power again. Pump as much energy as you can afford into your healing Skill," Hakon ordered in a voice that did not allow refusal.

"You hear me?" He slapped the young warrior in the face as the life in his eyes was starting to fade.

"Stay awake!" If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it. He heard the Pearot Barbarians charge and cursed. Unsure what to do with the wounded Bloodbearer, he conjured a small pole to replicate the javelin's shape as precisely as possible and shoved it back into the wound. While clearly not the best he could have done if he had more time to spare, the Bloodbearer's bleeding slowed. Or so he hoped as he leaped back to his feet.

If only the shield had been stronger. He chided himself. The conjurations were nowhere near good enough to be used in battle, not if he did not want to get injured or watch his people get killed as well. But now was not the time to practice. The Barbarians were already close and about to engage in battle, led by none other than the 2nd Ascension warrior, when a wreath of light came to life between the two forces. The young warriors were experienced enough with Eren's powers to know what to do.

They shot to the side even when the Lightcaller's manifestations dazzled them. Hakon, listening to the pained groans and curses, used the opportunity and [Dash]ed back to the battlefield. Using [Flow Observation]'s information to pinpoint the most likely positions of each of the six Barbarians, Hakon got into position and unloaded the power stored within [Hoard Impact]. Eren's lights started to fade just as Hakon felt like his chest was about to cave in.

The intricate design of his Runeskin glowed brightly for a moment, coalescing into a magnificent beam that cut through the air at his command. The beam was even faster than Hakon remembered it to be, and it found its designated target, hitting the strongest of the Pearot Barbarians and forcing his charge to a sudden halt upon impact. The warrior roared at the top of his lungs, blood splattered, and– Hakon watched in amazement as a severed arm lobbed through the air.

His head flicked downward to confirm he wasn't mistaken, that it was actually the warrior at the 2nd Ascension who had lost his arm. Only when he saw it, and when [Inspection] confirmed it yet again with a small Scripture, did Hakon's lips curl into a nasty, self-satisfied smile. Perfect. Hoard Impact, fully charged, was even more powerful now that his body could take more punishment. Maybe the Major Runeskin could have killed the Barbarian, but now he was still alive, looking furious.

At least he only had one arm now, and he was bleeding badly.

"Give him to me!" Astrid called out, sounding ecstatic as she shot past Hakon and the others.

"No, I take him!" Björn followed quickly, releasing tremors as he caught up with Astrid. The others followed just as quickly, and so did Hakon, [Split Focus] fully empowered alongside all perceptive Skills. Since he hadn't expected the trick with Eren's Lightcaller power to work this often in the first place, their position was better than they could have hoped for. Nonetheless, each of their opponents was powerful.

Hakon combined [Dash] with [Circulation] to push past his peers before activating [Pack Coordination] once again. A faint tingle made him adjust his stance. The next moment, he could sense the warriors behind him, and he collided with the first opponent. His foe carried a mace and knew how to wield it, but Hakon pinpointed his strikes early enough to evade them or divert the mace's trajectory at the last moment.

Enhanced Comprehension prodded him, urging him to pay more attention to his stance, movement pattern, and the flow of mana swirling through his body. That was when he first realized that some pathways for [Circulation] and [Dash] overlapped, and that the mana streams for both Skills were too much for these particular pathways. They slowed each other and even stopped one another in some instances. That was not how it was supposed to be.

Frowning deeply, Hakon adjusted the mana streams just enough to interfere with each other as little as possible. He would have to fix the issue later or cleanse the pathways further to allow more mana through at the same time–possibly both–but that was not something he could do right now. He twisted out of the mace's path, his sword's edge coated with a faint layer of mana. The mana layer didn't last long; it erupted as soon as it came into contact with the target's arm, releasing [Bleeding]'s power.

The wound inflicted with the Skill was worse than it would have been otherwise, but it was nowhere near enough, so Hakon followed up with [Mana Infusion] coupled with [Reinforcement]. One strained the blade, pushing it to its limits, while the other absorbed a portion of the pressure. Both consumed a considerable amount of mana when combined with all the other Skills Hakon had to push to their limits to keep up with his opponent, but it hadn't been long since he last leveled. He had more than enough mana to spare…

for now. Following the flow of battle, it was clear that his opponent was more experienced than the others. He didn't have many openings to take advantage of, and even the few he had came at a cost. A single cut to the arm was rewarded with a punch to the face. Hakon's nose cracked, and blood flowed down his face, all while [Bleeding]'s cut was starting to recover. Or, it would have, if not for the remnants of [Bleeding] slowing the Barbarian's recovery.

His opponent noticed as much, which was why he accelerated all of a sudden. His Runeskin glowed with mythical power that made it seem like time slowed for everyone but him. He turned into a blur and appeared at Hakon's side, his mace swinging down toward his head. Hakon conjured yet another shield, pumping it full of mana, but he didn't believe for a second that it would stop the attack. However, it would give him a heartbeat to react. Relying heavily on Enhanced Comprehension, Hakon didn't move away.

He closed the distance instead, his focus on [Weapon Mastery] and [Two Weapon Fighting]. The pathways, forced to endure the overlapping mana streams from [Dash], [Circulation], and [Bash], screamed in protest and would probably tear apart if he used any more Skills that required the same pathways, but his body had yet to give out. Strength surged through his body as he crashed into the Barbarian. The mace struck his side, shattering bones, but that was a problem for future Hakon and [Natural Regeneration].

Present Hakon stunned his target momentarily, his longsword and handaxe moving in perfect rhythm as he cleaved, stabbed, and thrust at his opponent.