Chapter 48

After painstakingly diverting and blocking the incoming attacks, Hakon’s shortsword finally found purchase in the Barbarian’s neck. There was little resistance from his opponent, his limbs restrained by several young warriors’ constant attacks, blood flowing from dozens of wounds spread across his body. His eyes widened in shock, which transformed into terror as soon as mana erupted from the blade.

It was less of a [Discharge] and more of an explosion of mana that rocketed through the Barbarian’s neck. The weight of the attack pressed down on Hakon’s bloodied arm, but he tore his weapon downward nonetheless and watched his foe collapse to the ground.

[Experience threshold met. Level Up!]

[Scripture of…]

He willed the Scripture aside, his head flicking around in search of the other enemy. Mana channeled into [Bash] already, only to see that his comrades were doing fine. Several swords stuck in the Pearot’s muscly figure, some buried down to their handles.

Turning to Björn and Astrid, he was glad to see that they were fine as well. Bloody carnage covered the area around Astrid, transforming Björn’s battlefield into something rather simplistic in comparison. The Blessed warrior and Teraq beheaded their opponent when ramming the bone dagger deeper into the Barbarian’s skull hadn’t been enough. That, however, still looked tame compared to the mess Astrid caused.

Hakon grimaced but turned back to focus on the situation at hand. He embraced the mana influx of leveling up and sensed the others do the same. Wide smiles crossed the features of most young warriors. As much as their bodies were riddled with injuries they’d failed to block, they were satisfied.

But the battle was not yet over. The third and final stage had yet to start. Glancing down at his shortsword as it fell apart, Hakon let out a grunt. No time wasted, he bent down to pick up the deceased’s one-handed longsword and one of the axes tucked in his belt.

The weapons didn’t appear much different from the weapons Tribe Taskur’s best crafted, yet there was something about them that elevated their status. It was a subtle difference, one that had him infuse mana into the weapons after a second.

Moving mana through the longsword and handaxe was no simple feat. It was nowhere near as smooth as it would have been with Maulaxe Crusher, yet it was smoother compared to regular weapons nonetheless.

Interesting. Hakon mused to himself, weighing the weapons for a moment. He tested them a little more and would have done even more if not for the roars coming from the enemy camp.

Looking back to make sure Crusher was still attached to his back, Hakon turned to the remaining enemies. Six Pearot Barbarians had been ripped out of their sweet dreams, and they looked angry. Really angry.

One of them roared out loud, hefted a javelin, and pulled back. Hakon’s senses perked up, [Combat Awareness], [Sensory Expansion], and [Flow Observation] triggering near-simultaneously. He couldn’t sense anything with [Mana Sense], but that was not needed to know that an Ancient Power or Runeskin was at work.

He tensed up, his lips parting for a warning, but by the time his shout reverberated through the dimly lit forest, it was already too late.

The Barbarian jerked forward, his arm turning to a blur as he released the javelin. The sound of an explosion echoed in Hakon’s ears, pushing him to react. Sensing where the javelin was about to impact, he erupted a mana shield and pumped it full with [Mana Infusion] and [Reinforcement]. He tried to compress the shield and give more weight to it, which would have worked. Should have.

Even Enhanced Comprehension agreed that he did it right, although he couldn’t quite tell what he had done right. Anyway, it didn’t work. He was too far from the target. [Mana Manipulation] and [Mana Shaping] worked in tandem with [Mana Sense], but the Skills were either too weak, or he was.

No matter what Hakon tried, the javelin hit its mark. It pierced through the mana shield and barely slowed down before piercing through the chest of a young Bloodbearer.

The smile on the Bloodbearer’s lips was replaced by shock. A moment later, he was yanked off his feet, the javelin’s impact forcing him to his knees. Hakon rushed over to the Bloodbearer, whose body shrunk back to its original size, and was about to crouch down, remove the javelin, and tend to his wounds when [Mana Sense] pinged something.

The first thing he noticed was the javelin vibrating. Then, there was the energy rocketing through the Bloodbearer. It tore through him and destroyed his insides within seconds. Hakon acted fast and pulled the javelin out, which resulted in a bloody mess.

“You have to activate your Ancient Power again. Pump as much energy as you can afford into your healing Skill,” Hakon ordered in a voice that did not allow refusal. “You hear me?” He slapped the young warrior in the face as the life in his eyes was starting to fade. “Stay awake!”

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He heard the Pearot Barbarians charge and cursed. Unsure what to do with the wounded Bloodbearer, he conjured a small pole to replicate the javelin’s shape as precisely as possible and shoved it back into the wound. While clearly not the best he could have done if he had more time to spare, the Bloodbearer’s bleeding slowed. Or so he hoped as he leaped back to his feet.

If only the shield had been stronger. He chided himself. The conjurations were nowhere near good enough to be used in battle, not if he did not want to get injured or watch his people get killed as well. But now was not the time to practice.