Chapter 46

Barbarians from Tribe Pearot were heading toward the tribehold. How they had missed each other, Hakon couldn’t tell, but Pearot’s tribesmen were closing in on the outskirts leading to Tribe Taskur, all while he and the other young warriors were likely much deeper than they were.

Eyes narrowed, Hakon studied their weapons and bodies for blood and signs of combat. His vision improved greatly as he infused his eyes with mana, providing him all the information he needed.

There was only one small group of Barbarians, and none of them seemed to have been engaged in combat for a while. If anything, it appeared like they avoided threats of all kinds with a vigilance unlike the average Barbarian. They moved through the forest with great care, avoided making any sounds, and blended in with the forest around them.

Smelled like the forest? Hakon frowned deeply at that. Why did they blend in with the forest all of a sudden? Hakon had been certain their scents had guided him to them, but clearly that was not quite right. Yet, it didn’t feel entirely wrong either, even if the scents he had noticed previously no longer existed.

Curious, Hakon stayed exactly where he was, focusing on the sensation while maintaining [Stealth] all the same. He watched the Barbarians, his instincts screaming at him, telling him to charge and kill them, but he remained unmoving. That was, until Pearot’s tribesmen headed even closer to the tribehold. Hakon, changing his focus to [Silent Steps] for the time being, skulked through the forest and followed them from a safe distance.

He was itching for bloodshed, but knew better than to attack. Especially since the entire group emitted a presence strong enough to warrant his attention. Even if he was too far from them to use [Inspection], he knew dealing with all of them alone would be a foolish ordeal.

Staying level-headed was crucial, and so was learning all about Pearot’s intentions. So he followed them as they closed in on the tribehold and didn’t move even when they finally reached the border. He wasn’t worried about his tribe and waited with patience he didn’t know he had until they left once more.

Nobody noticed Pearot’s Barbarians. They arrived at the border of Tribe Taskur, studied their structure, possibly even their movements, numbers, and more, and left before anyone could notice them. Hakon held his breath and closed his mind to bloodthirsty thoughts as Pearot’s Barbarians moved back, passing not too far from him.

They failed to notice him, which was proven by the Ancestors’ rewards, but that didn’t make things better. If anything, looking at the Scripture of Improvement made him frown.

[Silent Steps Lv.11 → Lv.12
Stealth Lv.6 → Lv.7]

Instead of ‘Scripture of Improvement,’ Hakon only saw a small parchment with the two Skills that improved. That wasn’t all that bad, but it was also not that important right now. Tribe Pearot’s presence was.

The Barbarians moved through the forest without exchanging any words. Silence hung in the air, broken only by the occasional brush against a bush and the crushing of branches and smaller plants, neither of which was loud enough to be noticed by the groups of young warriors they passed.

Hakon felt something in the distance. It was nowhere near as potent as it had been when he searched for Pearot’s Barbarians, especially now that he had to hold back from using [Sensory Expansion] and [Mana Sense], but weirdly familiar scents hung in the air.

Teraq is among them, he muttered inwardly as his head swiveled to the left. In the distance, he heard voices and rustling bushes, which only made him tense up more. Hakon was half-certain the Barbarians from Tribe Pearot would attack Teraq and his group, but they barely looked in their direction before the strongest among them motioned for the rest to keep moving.

While not everyone looked like they agreed with the decision, they followed their leader back to a small encampment. Hakon almost barged into the makeshift camp by accident. He had been so focused on the newfound sensation that he missed when the Barbarians stopped in their tracks. Distracted, the bushes around him rustled, forcing him to leap to the ground and put his whole mind into using [Stealth]. He adjusted his position and used the surrounding environment to effectively turn invisible, but he couldn’t be certain that nobody noticed him. Hence, Hakon stayed unmoving for as long as needed.

That gave him enough time to use his senses to figure out what was going on with the new sensation and all those scents he had noticed… or felt?

***

Hakon didn’t plan on staying too long near the makeshift camp, but it was increasingly difficult to find the right time to leave. Astrid and the others were probably still waiting for him back in the clearing, and, knowing them, they were cussing him out for taking so long. Well, Björn probably was.

Regardless, they were impatient enough that it was only a matter of time before they would start searching for Hakon. And once they found him, they’d find Tribe Pearot’s makeshift camp as well. That would lead to a lot of bloodshed–their blood. After all, more Barbarians from Pearot found their way into the camp as time passed.

By now, he had no idea how long he had been forced to stay there, Hakon could sense close to a dozen different scents. He had heard enough voices to know that there were more than half a dozen Barbarians there as well, so it was fair to assume that the camp housed ten, maybe a few more, enemies. Enemies that, once Hakon got the opportunity to inspect them, turned out quite troublesome.

[Barbarian – High Threat (1st Ascension)]

[Barbarian – High Threat (1st Ascension)]

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…

[Barbarian – Extreme Threat (2nd Ascension)]

Hakon had to tweak [Inspection] a little to analyze the last Barbarian, but it worked. He connected the danger coming from the Barbarian with the Skill and his memories and experiences, improving the Skill considerably.

[Inspection Lv.9 → Lv.11
Scent of Lifelight (New) Lv.1 → Lv.2]

[Scent of Lifelight] was a nasty Skill. It was hard to put into words, but the Skill formed once he had figured out that the sensation and scents came from the Barbarians, and that each sensation was connected to a particular scent and Barbarian. He had yet to learn more about the Skill, but [Scent of Lifelight] triggered more easily for stronger opponents. The higher the potency of their presence, the easier it was to sense them.

It was also how Hakon managed to sense the first group of Barbarians, because the first sensation came from the Barbarian at the 2nd Ascension. It suppressed all other sensations and spread further than the others.

Their enemy was coming for them.

But this was not the time to praise his gains. Hakon moved as soon as the last group of Barbarians stepped into the camp. He masked his own movements with theirs and retreated slowly into the forest.