Chapter 9

Silently skulking across the lake was anything but easy. The corpses underfoot were not only slippery, they moved as his weight pressed down on them. Apparently, the mountain range of corpses was not made for a man of muscle.

It was a slippery mess, which only worsened as one of the carcasses cracked, his foot sinking into a mess of flesh and organs. Hakon lost balance and nearly fell, his arms windmilling to regain balance. The water all around him certainly did not help him either. Every step on to the corpse path forced him half a foot deep into the water. It was especially difficult to maintain the silent part.

It was like the war drums in the tribe thundered in his ears, yet neither ants nor beetles seemed to take note of him…yet. That reassured him quite a bit. Enough to refocus on the silent part.

Every step he made, Hakon was quieter. Or maybe it just felt like that as his feet dipped gently into the water, his movements careful and calculated to keep the momentum and to avoid slipping. Plunging into the lake would have been the worst.

Instead, he received a message, which he promptly ignored as he pressed on.

No one noticed his presence for the better part of the journey. He was three-fourth across the path when his senses perked up. His head flicked up to a beetle approaching the island path. It had yet to release its deadly spit his way, but Hakon didn’t plan to become its target either. The empty hand shot toward one of his handaxes, which he threw as soon as the monster looked up to him. By that time, the distance separating them wasn’t noteworthy. [Dash] would have been a much better solution, but his footing was a mess. The axe hit the mark, cutting into the beetle’s skull, but it didn’t stop moving.

Hakon accelerated, forsaking his stealthy approach to reach the beetle. He wasted no time and rammed his blade into the monster’s skull. The handaxe must have done a great deal of damage because no spit came for him. The beetle didn’t even let out a sound as it succumbed. Only blade hitting and piercing skull rang out.

Too loud.

Maybe it wasn’t, but Hakon was unwilling to risk it. He stored the handaxe with a smooth move and sheathed his sword, bent down to pick up the dead beetle, and hurled it as far to the left as possible. It landed in the lake with a loud splash, attracting enough attention to rush to a small group of bushes and young trees.

His eyes sought suspicious behavior across the island but other than a few ants heading toward the splash there was little to note. Taking a deep breath once it was clear no one noticed his intrusion, Hakon’s attention shifted to the latest message.

[Skill [Silent Steps] has been learned.]

A deep frown plastered his face as he realized what the Skill was all about. Traces of information coalesced in his mind, revealing all he did to acquire such a pathetic Skill. It was nothing a Barbarian would ever want. Neither was [Reading], but he was overjoyed with that Skill. But [Silent Steps]…

Hakon knew how much he’d adjusted his steps from all the skulking around the lake, but for the Ancestors to reward him with something like that… Was that really okay?

He froze when something pressed against his back. It was soft and most definitely not beetle spit or mandibles trying to snap him in half. Still, his danger sense screamed at him, and he spun around, bone dagger smoothly unsheathed, stabbing into the…creature? It continued to wiggle and something viscous ran down the blade, dripping onto his fingers. The effect was immediate. His fingers went numb. His hand wouldn’t move or release the blade as the viscous liquid reached the rest of his hand and wrist.

Hakon cursed and struck out with his second bone dagger, severing the…leaf? It was much tougher and thicker than a regular leaf, but it was certainly a leaf. Even if it was large and looked rather impressive. It thudded to the ground with a heavy sound, sap pouring from leaf and stem.

“Shit.” He hissed, taking a big stride away from the bushes and other plant life as multiple leaves stirred and moved toward him. The ground stirred as well and roots emerged underfoot, forcing Hakon to step back once more.

The feeling in his right hand had yet to return. He pressed the back of his hand and blade against the ground to remove as much of the viscous liquid as possible, but that turned out harder than it should have with a completely numb hand.

Hakon didn’t use his remaining hand to help cleaning either, not wanting to touch the liquid accidentally, hence losing his remaining hand. He could not afford that, not now. Not when he stepped out of the relative safety of the island’s sparse plant life and into a small beetle.

There was no additional strength as he stepped onto the beetle. He stumbled back, head swiveling across the island, [Combat Awareness] screaming at him to look back. The beetle spat at his face a moment later.

Time seemed to come to a crawl. Hakon twisted his body until it felt like he was torn apart. [Evasion] helped him considerably, allowing him to shift a little further than he thought possible, but it was far from enough. The projectile shot toward him from point-blank and struck his shoulder and splattered.

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The smell of burned skin and flesh hit Hakon hard, but the numbness that followed after seconds of pain was worse. Splatters of spit struck his neck and face, turning his right side numb. Worse even, the spit ran down his chest and arm, continuing its carnage. It feasted on his skin and flesh before numbing the rest of his right.

“Little fucker.” Hakon cursed, stomping brutally on the beetle. It stood no chance and its carapace caved in easier than before: the physical boost of his increased Level doing its work.

His physical gains should have increased his natural regeneration as well, but the numbing in his right hand had yet to fade, let alone the rest of his right shoulder and chest.