Chương 85: B2 Chapter 6

The training session with the young warriors ended with bruises all over his body. It was probably luck that he didn't end up looking worse, considering how much stronger Teraq and all the others had grown. By now, Hakon was not the only one at the Wall blocking him from his second Ascension. Several warriors spend the last moon in a tireless mishmash of hunting and training. While it shouldn't have been different for him, Hakon hadn't grown as much as the others.

Recovering from the fight with the Pearot had hardly been an issue. A few nights and he was as good as new. The problem came after that – [Spirit Forging]. After the Ancestors bestowed such a unique Skill upon him, how could he not use it? Well, as it turned out, he wasn't as strong as the Ancestors expected him to be. Merely triggering [Spirit Forging] had knocked him out cold for several nights. And when he woke up, he felt groggy, almost like every bit of his energy was being consumed.

He slept more often and for much longer periods for a fortnight, and his Core was always out of mana. The reason he came up with after thinking about it for many nights was simple: [Spirit Forging] damaged something. All the energy his body and Core generated was used to heal whatever it was that [Spirit Forging] harmed. Recovering was a nuisance. Hakon wanted to train and fight to grow stronger after everything that happened but the deep-rooted damaged prevented him.

And that may as well have been one of his greatest boons. Even now, after accepting and acknowledging the power of the Mind, Hakon wanted to grow his physical strength. He wanted to be more like the Bloodbearers… more like his father. Being too exhausted to train seriously and without any mana to access for anything, Hakon was forced to return to his roots. He had returned to the old scrolls, studied the map he and the warriors stole from the first Pearot Barbarian they fought and defeated, and… thought.

As wrong as it felt, Hakon sat back and recovered for nearly a fortnight while his peers grew stronger. In that short period, many Barbarians who had begun to respect him and accept him as the Successor started to ask questions. They didn't see him at the training ground and when they visited the chieftain they saw him leaned over scrolls, pondering magic, or sleeping. Even he knew that his image was no longer of a respectable Barbarian.

After all, he did not push through the exhaustion to workout even when in pain. And that was all the more reason he returned to the training ground as soon as whatever [Spirit Forging] had done to him no longer affected him. It had been brutal and painful but it had been crucial for him to show himself. To make sure everyone still remembered that he was the strongest of the young warriors. That he won the Battle of Generation for a reason. Teraq probably thinks he can surpass me now. Hakon chuckled at that thought.

The warmth of [Vitality Stream] flowed through his body, gathering the warmth of recovery where he hurt the most. At the same time, [Adaptive Resilience] recorded all that happened, adapting his body to grow more resilient to blunt attacks and internal wounds. Whether that was actually what happened, Hakon could not tell, but he instinctively knew that he would sustain fewer severe wounds the next time he fought the others. All the bruises, torn tissue, and blood his body shed transformed into a tougher physique.

At the same time, [Vitality Stream] would heal him, creating a synergy that would transform into something terrifying if given enough time. Hakon expected his passive Skills to work together well but it was surprising to see how well they worked together. Especially since he toned down [Vitality Stream]'s power as much as possible until after the training session ended. He needed more experience fighting with broken ribs, ruptured organs, and cracked knuckles after all. Weakness leaving the body.

He nodded, satisfied with himself. Back in the hut, Hakon washed up before returning to the scrolls once more. He caught a glimpse of Ava disappearing with the servants, who surrounded her and dragged her into their small room but diverted his attention to reminiscing all that happened for the umpteenth time.

"How did my plan fail?" That one was easy. Part of the issue was none other than himself. If he had noticed all the issues with the Pearot Barbarians early enough, he and his father could have accounted for them. Alas, that never happened. Hakon failed to realize that Pearot's hunters moved around stealthily. Nobody had pointed that out to him at that time, yet it was something he should have noticed nonetheless. The tribes following the path of the Barbarians do not move around stealthy. Normally, that is.

Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. The problem had been that he himself had been learning Skills helping him move around quietly and stealthily, so his subconscious didn't consider it an oddity, when, in fact, it was highly suspicious to find several hunters and scouts moving as silently as Pearot's Barbarians. Another oddity was the Pearot Barbarians' attitude revolving around Fractures.

After checking the map, which he and his father had studied for an entire night, Hakon saw the signs. There were small images of 'something' on the map, right where the marks of the Fracture portals were located at. One showed an image Hakon now recognized as the liquid metal harvested from the Magma Field Fracture. The very same metal had been used to forge Pearot's weapons. They were superior to Tribe Taskur's weaponry, but that was not the issue.

The issue was that the signs had been there and Hakon failed when he should have succeeded. But how was he supposed to know that Tribe Pearot would go against the Ancestors like that by keeping so many Fractures open, maintaining.

"Maintaining them to grow stronger. To learn and improve Skills that can be cumbersome to improve. To harvest resources that strengthen the tribe." The reasoning was sound but that didn't change how much it went against the Ancestors' will. And yet, Pearot's chieftain climbed to the 4th Ascension in five cycles, earning the Ancestors' acknowledgment. It didn't make sense, though it was not like Hakon ever understood the Ancestors and their minds.

"A new era." He murmured to himself. The rise of the first Warlord created a new era, so who said it would be any different now that the rise of a new Warlord had been prophesied? For all Hakon knew, the Ancestors could be adapting as well, just like [Adaptive Resilience]. It was hard to accept that the Ancestors might no longer behave like they did for many many cycles, however, that did not necessarily have to be a bad thing. As a wielder of the Mind, it actually sounded like an advantage.

"If I make use of it, that is." Hakon muttered, focusing back on the old plan, how it failed, and what he could have improved. Trying to learn from his past mistake, he spent the fortnight he'd been forced to recover taking everything into consideration. And although his answer was simple, it should help prevent another disaster.

"I have to keep my mind open. While some things appear obvious to me now, they may not be obvious to everyone." He etched the words into his mind, "Analyze everything. Even if it does not feel important, analyze it. Over and over again."

"You need several plans. Every step of the plan requires several plans if something goes wrong. Never expect your plan to be perfect." Hakon nodded slowly.

"Know your strength, understand how strong your people are, and help them make the best of their strengths. Weaknesses… squash them or help the warriors fight those who do not know how to make use of your warriors' weaknesses." Many more ideas flashed through his mind, but as the whirlwind of thoughts swept through his head, one event popped up more often than the rest. Ulfar leaving with his warriors. At that time, Hakon hadn't minded it much. The Magma Field Fracture had been distracting.

That did not make up for his faults and he never intended to use it as an excuse, yet he got distracted. That distraction probably ended up saving his life because it helped him acquire [Adaptive Resilience] and improve [Natural Regeneration] to Level 20. Regardless, it gave Ulfar an opportunity to split up his forces, thinking he would become the Successor by destroying Tribe Pearot. That failed, miserably one could say, and many warriors died in his care.

Too many, all because he had acted in a self-centered manner, uncaring of the chaos his actions would cause. Barbarians did not have to protect one another. They could protect themselves well enough normally. Unfortunately, Ulfar dragged the warriors down a path that was anything but normal. From all Hakon gathered talking to the warriors who had been with the Behemoth Blood warrior, Ulfar lost control of his Ancient Power again and pushed too deep into the enemy territory.

He and the warriors had been too euphoric after conquering one of the Fractures and pushed deeper than intended. Losing himself to the Behemoth Blood hadn't been as bad as before – Ulfar could still differentiate between friend and foe – but that mattered little when a volley of arrows came out of nowhere. The warriors stood no chance. They hadn't studied their surroundings and were completely unprepared when the Pearot hunters struck.

Ulfar took several arrows to the chest, though some also said that some arrows pierced his heart, but the Behemoth Blood warrior only grew stronger in return. And angrier, the rational part of his mind fading into the background. He disappeared in the undergrowth the arrows came from and left his dying warriors alone. Hakon hadn't seen Ulfar ever since but Astrid mentioned something about him having a second Runeskin. That marked Ulfar a warrior at the 2nd Ascension, which was bad…

Or would have been if anyone cared about the Behemoth Blood warrior. Everyone respected the power he wielded, yet there was no trust. Not even the cronies who had been with him for as long as Hakon remembered were with him at this point. The young warriors avoided Ulfar, and the sentiment only grew worse when they heard how few of Hakon's warriors died. Ulfar's group failed to kill even one of Pearot's hunters, whereas Hakon protected as many as he could while also joining the hunt of the hunters.

As for those who died, they died clashing head-on with powerful foes. They joined the Ancestors' feast, their Saga short but meaningful, their glory never to be forgotten. The same could not be said to the warriors who had been with Ulfar. Maybe they were with the Ancestors, feasting at their table, but nobody could be sure. And that, if nothing else, festered the hatred of all those who lost someone important in the tribal war against Pearot.