Chapter 33

Once he learned how to visualize mana, Hakon showed Astrid and Björn what his mana mass looked like. Theirs might be different for all he knew, but considering the looks he received, that didn’t seem to be the case.

Following the creation of his mana mass, Hakon materialized the pathways leading from it. Only a few pathways were connected directly to the mass, but creating them was far from easy. Maintaining the existing structures while adding more was strenuous and worsened the headache brewing in Hakon’s head, yet it felt like it helped him grow at the same time.

With a goal at hand, Hakon created a series of four pathways leading from the mana mass. Then came the hard part: demonstrating how mana was supposed to be moved through the pathways. Showing that through his conjurations was a little too difficult for the time being, which was why he picked the easier solution. Hakon explained what he did and how he practiced it verbally.

Following that, he tried to explain everything he knew about pathways to Björn while giving visual examples with his conjurations, all while ensuring Astrid heard and understood him as well.

Björn’s face scrunched up. He still looked confused even when Astrid nodded slowly. “The pathways. Lifeblood flowed around them when I use my Skills.”

That was news to Hakon. He was about to ask more when Björn exclaimed, “Yeah. I…I think that’s it! Lifeblood flows out of that thing you talk about. Sometimes around these tunnels, sometimes not. It hurts a little, but…” He shrugged.

“Pain is weakness leaving the body,” Hakon completed.

“Yes.”

Listening to what his friends had to say about Lifeblood was curious. Clearly, neither Astrid nor Björn used their pathways as intended. Maybe it was too difficult for them, or they simply didn’t know how.

Or they were taught something else. To pick the less complicated path even if it causes pain. He thought, eyes narrowed. The conjured mana construction fell apart, and he only maintained [Mana Sense] to watch his friends demonstrate some of their Skills.

First of all, they did not have many Skills. Most of the Skills they acquired were either Skills the Ancestors recognized or those created with the guidance of their Ancient Powers. That was not necessarily bad, but it showed Hakon enough to fall deep in thought.

Cleansing his pathways hadn’t been easy. It had been disgusting, and it took a considerably long time before the Ancestors rewarded him with a Skill. Then, even when they recognized [Flow Control], the Skill hadn’t been particularly useful. One of the only reasons he had continued to cleanse his pathways had been Enhanced Comprehension, and another had been [Dash]. And even [Dash] was only awarded because he followed his instincts and his Ancient Power’s insistence to keep going.

That made him wonder what most Barbarians would do if they did not have Enhanced Comprehension. They wouldn’t learn Skills as quickly as Hakon did, leaving them with nothing but black sludge and Skills they might not even learn. Cleansing their pathways enough to earn [Flow Control], let alone [Dash], would take a fortnight. Maybe a little less if they were fortunate.

I am just fortunate enough to awaken The Mind. He mused quietly, reminding himself that regular warriors learned from the older generation. They didn’t have to figure out everything on their own and learned all that was important straight from those who had fought and survived hundreds of great battles.

If they moved Lifeblood around their pathways instead of cleansing them for moons to circulate it through their bodies, then neither would the younger generation.

This was a generational problem, one that had existed for a long time. Worse still, their reasoning made sense. To those too impatient to cleanse their pathways–to those who desired bloodshed and earned most of their rewards from the Ancestors through intense combat–‘wasting’ moons on cleansing pathways when they could just move their energy alongside them made no sense. Especially when the latter provided results much faster than the former.

“That is going to take a while.” Hakon scratched the back of his head, wondering if he had made a mistake.

What did the Ancestors plan for him? The Shaman was adamant about him using his gift, but did that mean they wanted Hakon to keep it all to himself or to share his knowledge? Denying the teachings of the older generations by making his peers cleanse their pathways and learn Skills in ways Barbarians usually frowned upon would most definitely stir trouble. The entire tribe might descend into chaos if he did that. But did they really have a choice?

The neighboring tribes had grown more aggressive over the cycles. Cycles in which Tribe Taskur’s younger generation was unable to awaken. Then there was Tribe Pearot and the Ancestors’ wishes for a new Warlord. War was inevitable, and Tribe Taskur was at a severe disadvantage. They had to make up for cycles of missed Rites. One way to do so was to teach the young warriors. Another was to force the old generation to grow stronger.

That won’t work. They won’t listen to me until I am strong enough to defeat them. Hakon shook his head and only now realized that Astrid was looking at him, waiting.

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Even if others, including Björn, were more likely to resist his teachings, Astrid was different. She wanted to learn. And her wishes were not only based on her mother’s order. Astrid looked genuinely interested in the power he had acquired with The Mind. She, too, wanted to grow stronger, and she was willing to try unconventional methods to do so.

So Hakon had Astrid move mana through her pathways. That, as it turned out, was far more difficult than he had suspected. Astrid knew what she was supposed to do after the earlier demonstration, but she simply couldn’t do it. She couldn’t even tell him why it didn’t work.

“It doesn’t work. Lifeblood won’t enter the pathways. It wants to move around them,” was all she grumbled and groaned about.

Since that was not particularly helpful, Hakon stepped in to help using yet another tactic. With [Mana Sense] active, he stepped behind Astrid. Placing his hand firmly against the midsection of her back, he could sense something. It was barely perceptible, but that was more than enough to adjust his hand’s position until he was sure that he was as close to Astrid’s mana mass as he could get without carving her open.

[Sensory Expansion] helped him sense more of her mana mass and the mana oozing from it. Teaching her what she was supposed to do, however, was still as difficult as before. Sure, Hakon could sense what Astrid was doing, but by the time he tried to correct her, it was already too late. Instead of forcing a quick success, they slowed down, taking no more than one step at a time.

That, however, carried yet another set of problems. As patient as Astrid was usually, she quickly grew frustrated every time she failed to follow his orders. Having a legendary power made her think that she would learn [Dash] and maybe even [Circulation] in no time. That couldn’t have been further from the truth, which agitated Astrid more and more.

Hakon felt her slip away more easily every time she failed to follow his orders, and so he switched to yet another plan he came up with as they worked.