Chapter 8

It took a while to clean himself, but the cold water was a blessing in disguise. First and foremost, he did not have to fight a giant python in the lake. No monster attacked him after the beetles and ants were taken care of. Their bodies disintegrated, a tribute to thank the Ancestors for their generosity, and he was left all by himself…and the disfigured carcasses of the monsters the ants had feasted on previously.

Once Hakon was clean again, he focused on the patch of land in the middle of the small lake. The distance was not noteworthy, but swimming across would leave his back a prime target to beetle spit.

“The Fracture.” He grunted, shifting to the violet arc cutting through empty air. It resembled the tales Hakon heard of the Colossus that sucked several Barbarians to the bottom of its lair. The Colossus had already been taken care of, the lake it called its lair no longer as dangerous as it used to be, but the tale of a vortex killing several mighty warriors was etched into his mind.

There he was, watching a violet vortex, stretching wider and taller than their hut back in the tribe. It was his target, but dozens of monsters obstructed his path. Several beetles eyed him and spat in his direction but the projectiles fell short. The ants, their bodies much larger than the brethren Hakon fought before, no longer minded his presence.

“They have to get across the lake somehow.” He mused, changing his tactic.

Time was of the essence, but rushing into certain death would not help him. Hence, he geared up again and returned to the forest’s undergrowth. He squatted down, his steps even quieter than before as he circled around the lake, taking in as many details as possible.

Hakon could vividly imagine Astrid praising him for ‘being different from the other fools’, and Björn cursing him for being such a pipsqueak. Thinking of his friends brought a smile to his lips, but he soon focused back on the island.

It was even smaller than expected. Few plants survived getting trampled by the beetles and ants, but there was more to it. Some of the plants responded aggressively to the monsters coming too close to it. One less fortunate ant was entangled in a mess of roots and what appeared to be vines. Its exoskeleton was brittle and broken, and the rest of its body didn’t look much better.

It was hard to tell how long the monster had been caught in the entanglement, but none of its brethren seemed to care. They skittered past the ant, some heading to the island’s center where the Fracture was located, while others crossed the lake. Or tried to. Several ants and beetles sunk to the ground and did not resurface no matter how long Hakon waited. Others appeared to walk across the water without sinking. It looked like there was a path, maybe a set of larger stones or a bank of dirt and wood. Regardless, their ability to cross the lake carried its own set of problems.

The ants were stronger than the others had been. Fortunately, only a handful managed to reach the forest in the time he spent scouting the island and its inhabitants’ behavior. Even better; some of the beetles that would have made it across the path were shoved aside by ants and disappeared in the lake.

Slowly but steadily, Hakon grew impatient. Alas, his options were limited.

I could fight the ants and claim the path connecting the island to the forest.

That idea was quickly discarded when he remembered the beetle’s spit. No matter how useful [Evasion] and [Combat Awareness] were, a narrow path offered too few options to escape deadly spit. He could leap into the lake but then he would lose control over the path.

As he came up with a few ideas, Hakon trimmed a few trees. He cut a few branches and worked on them, the axe in his hand moving smoothly as he sharpened them.

He could think of a few decent ideas to crush the ants but most required more time than he could afford to waste. Hence, he finished the first set of wooden spears and closed the distance to the island path.

It didn’t take long before the next ant dared to cross the path.

Reaching for one of the spears, Hakon spun it in his hand, tested its balance and weight, and pulled back. He adjusted his stance instinctively as he emerged from a set of densely grown shrubs and threw the spear with all his might. It was far from perfect. He could have thrown the spear a fraction of a moment earlier, his grip hadn’t felt right either, but he hit the mark – somewhat.

Instead of piercing the ant’s skull, it struck the monster’s abdomen. The spear didn’t even leave a scratch and landed in the water with a splash instead. Surprisingly enough, the ant was not unaffected. The monster was not injured, but its balance was interrupted, urging Hakon to throw another spear.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

The throw felt a lot better than the first even though he didn’t hit its skull again. If that had been his target, he would have been annoyed. Instead, he smiled as the ant fell into the lake.

“Yes!” He exclaimed-whispered and retreated into the forest to carve more spears.

Hakon went as far as to collect stones and rope to create a makeshift spear with a dull but heavy tip. Then again, it hardly looked like a spear at this point. If anything, it was an odd-looking hammer…or a mixture between hammer and mace? Regardless, Hakon returned to the bushes near the island path, skulking around the larger ants that made it to the forest, to kill a few more of their brethren.

One of the larger ants roaming the forest found him at last, but it was quickly dispatched. He used his makeshift weapon to crush its skull after closing the distance with [Dash]. [Dash] let him move faster than before, its improved version granting many benefits. Using the Skill’s momentum, his crushing force worked wonders, though the weapon shattered. His grip was too hard, breaking the branch, whereas the ant skull cracked both stone and itself as they collided.

[Proficiency gained. [Throwing Lv.2] improved to [ Lv.3]]

[Skill [Field Crafting] has been learned.]

[Blunt Weapon Mastery has been recognized. Skill generated. Level adjusted to proficiency.]