Chapter 40

[Mote of Light] was not yet worth the effort or the mana it consumed. To create the Skill, Hakon had to compress a head-sized ball of mana into a tiny mote, all while altering mana’s properties, because it did not work as intended until the sphere of mana in his hands contained enough energy.

The result was nowhere near as useful as he’d hoped, but it worked out well enough for what he’d planned. Hakon cast [Mote of Light] at the tip of his weapon, conjuring a volatile, flickering light. Emptying his mana reserves in an instant, he transformed the dimly glowing mote into a glistening flare.

“You can do that, and much more, to distract or blind your opponent. You’d waste a lot less energy and do a lot more than I can,” Hakon said.

While his glistening flare hadn’t been enough to daze, let alone blind anyone, it was good enough to show Eren what was theoretically possible.
Eren didn’t seem quite sure, but he no longer looked as defeated as before.

“I know you can do well.”

While Lightcaller was not nearly as versatile as Enhanced Comprehension, the Skills Eren acquired through his Ancient Power would improve rapidly. Clearly, they didn’t cost nearly as much mana as Hakon’s Skills.

“Join training,” Zask’s deep, husky voice rang through the hut.

Eren looked up to the older Barbarian but said nothing.

“The Mind is weak,” Zask continued, glancing at Hakon. “But he is strong. You can be strong too.”

Even if Eren wouldn’t be the strongest among the young warriors, he could improve greatly and learn interesting Power-based Skills. And with the heat in the light he generated, he could probably do many interesting things as well. Hakon was sure of it. All Eren needed was guidance and the desire to grow.

“Join us tomorrow. Train with us,” Hakon said. “And, after a few nights, we will go hunting.”

With that said, he turned around and departed.

The next morning, Eren was at the training ground before anyone else. Some of the others teased him on the first day, but their joking nature faded as soon as Eren emerged victorious in a spar against a Blessed warrior. The Barbarian was one of the youngest. He hadn’t reached the 1st Ascension and did not take his opponent seriously, but none of that meant anything. Barbarians were supposed to honor the battle, and the young warrior hadn’t done that.

In the wild, that would have killed him. At the training ground, he was lucky it only cost him a deep gash at the collarbone and his friends’ ridicule.

Eren’s standing improved greatly, but a single victory was not enough to change everything. He trained hard over the days, used his Ancient Power more each day than he had since the Rite, and improved. A lot.

But Eren was not the only young warrior improving. Everyone worked hard, be it through Hakon’s tortuous teachings or their ambition. They may not shed the blood of the monsters roaming the wilds as they stayed in the tribehold most days, yet their power increased greatly. Enough to fill them with endless excitement when Hakon finally decided it was time to hunt.

***

“Are you ready?” Astrid asked, a smile playing on her lips as she sized up Hakon from head to toe.

He was loaded. A set of bone daggers was neatly stored in his new, makeshift sheaths dangling from his belt. His shortsword was also secured at a small loop, and so were the two hand-axes. Yet, that was not all. Several pouches had been secured to his belt, and Maulaxe Crusher rested calmly in his hand.

Raising Crusher, he placed it on his shoulder and met Astrid with a smile. “Sure. You?”

“What do you think?” She swirled around, showing off the plethora of daggers and shortswords she kept on her body.

As usual, Astrid didn’t carry any axes or blunt weapons, as they were too crude for her style and power. She winked at Hakon, stirring his heart, but he crushed the notion to focus on the matters at hand.

“Björn is waiting,” he mouthed, cracking his neck to ease the tension racing down his body. Since the Battle of Generation, Hakon hadn’t left the tribehold. Thinking about it, that had been quite a while ago.

Even then, I’ve been longer in the Fracture than the wild.

Fractures ought to be more dangerous than the wild, but Hakon couldn’t agree. As far as he could tell, Fractures were more predictable. They may hide more dangers in some cases, but it was highly unlikely, if not outright impossible, to find a powerful monster at the equivalent of the 2nd Ascension in a Fracture like the Crawling Expanse. Even when Overflowing, the Crawling Expanse had been mostly predictable. In the wild, on the other hand, anything could happen.

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And now it was time to scout a powerful monster. A creature strong enough to fight the young warriors head-on. A fight worthy to be added in their Sagas.

“Are you afraid?” Astrid teased lightly.

Hakon responded with a smile rather than words.