Chapter 28

The next morning, Hakon woke up refreshed. Rays of sunlight slipped through the cracks in the hut’s roof, bathing his face in warmth.

He got up from the bed and stretched his body with a calmness he didn’t know he possessed. Not after spending half a fortnight in the wild and a Fracture.

“The Crawling Expanse.” Hakon mused to himself.

It had been a painful few nights, but the Fracture was one of the few reasons he reached the 1st Ascension. The other reason was his Ancient Power.

Maybe his endurance played a role as well, but so be it.

“I did it.” He stepped out of his room, his gaze drifting across the hut’s interior. Nothing had changed in his absence. The shelf and its scrolls were still there, and so was just about everything. The only new addition, if one could call it that, was the Maulaxe Crusher. It rested against the wall at his room’s entrance.

“You are awake.” His father’s looming presence reached Hakon before his voice did.

He turned to the chieftain. “Father.”

The chieftain motioned to his son. “Follow me.”

“A spar?” Hakon asked, but his father shook his head.

“A demonstration.”

They reached the back of the hut shortly afterward. Several servants could be seen tending to the greenery, pulling weeds from the training grounds and polishing the weapon stands.

“You wield uncommon Skills. Some I am unfamiliar with.” The chieftain started, “Even the Shaman appeared surprised about your Runeskin, as well as the Ancestors’ decision to aid your recovery, but also some of your Skills. Show them to me.”

Hakon narrowed his eyes at his father but proceeded. He retrieved the first weapon and triggered [Weapon Mastery]. In the next few minutes, he demonstrated his proficiency at wielding a wide variety of weapons. The chieftain remained unmoving as he watched. Even when Hakon revealed a proficiency with certain weapons his father did not train him with all that much, he remained silent.

Hakon added a second weapon to the demonstration, triggering [Two Weapon Fighting]. Another minute passed before something in the corner of his eye flashed. [Combat Awareness] activated instinctively, and he twisted to the side. A stone barreled past him, missing him by a hair’s breadth, but [Combat Awareness] was still active and warning him.

Mana pumped into his legs as he burst to the side, escaping a barrage of pebbles thrown at him with the force to crush a Barbarian’s skull. Evading them was only the beginning.

Using [Evasion] to guide him, Hakon evaded more projectiles. He skidded to the side, twisted his body until it felt like he was falling apart, yet it was to no avail. The more he evaded, the faster the incoming attacks grew, and it wasn’t long before Hakon could no longer escape them. Once evasion alone was no longer enough, he combined [Two Weapon Fighting] and [Weapon Mastery], his weapons flashing around him in quick and precise movements to block several strikes. At last, he accelerated with [Circulation], once more strength, speed, and flexibility were required.

[Combat Awareness] screamed at him suddenly when a pebble coated in a crimson hue cut through the air too fast to be evaded. [Mana Sense] active, he felt a sudden rise of danger. The mana within the pebble was of a destructive nature and would cause serious harm, so Hakon poured mana into his blades.

Activating [Mana Infusion] to guide the process, he forced mana into the blades. They vibrated, seemingly resisting the process, but a faint hue of mana oozed from them as the blades cut through the air and the pebble.

A crack echoed in Hakon’s ears as the first blade crumbled and clattered to the ground, which was quickly followed by another crack. A second mana-imbued pebble came barreling at him, and he carved through it as well, but his second blade paid the price. It too fell apart.

Spinning around, Hakon faced the chieftain, his body lowered, [Sensory Expansion] and [Flow Observation] activating to analyze his movements.

However, the chieftain was done. He stood opposite him with a calm expression, looking like he had never left his position.

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“You already fused your weapon Skills.” He noted rather than asking.

“I did.” Hakon had no reason to lie to his father. “I also acquired [Two Weapon Fighting] and a lot more useful Skills.”

“I can see that. How many Skills do you have?” The chieftain tilted his head. “From what I can tell, you do have more than ten Skills already. You have [Pain Tolerance] and Skills resembling [A Giant’s Recovery], [Battle Spirit], [Lifeblood Augmentation], and one of my Runeskins.”

Hakon certainly had more than ten Skills. Checking the Ancient Scripture, he counted a total of 26, which did include the fused Skill. If not for fusing his Skills, he would have exactly 30 Skills, and that sounded ridiculous.