Chapter 30: Chapter 30 - The Weight of Mastery
[Greetings, Master.]
What...in all hells...
[Clarification: The System’s core frameworks underwent significant enhancement while the Master was unconscious. However, my new protocols prevented me from revealing any new functionalities until the Hidden Condition was met.]
Enhancement while I was unconscious... was it Lysha’el?
[The Upgrades were carried out by the entity named "Eidolon".]
[The entity named "Eidolon" has also left you a recorded message.]
[Do you wish to view it?]
[Yes/No]
Eidolon...the owner of the Unique Dungeon? How did he know I even had the System...and even if he did...how did he gain access...and why did he go through the trouble of upgrading it..?
I had so many questions. And it seemed some answers had been prepared beforehand.
Yes.
[Initiating...]
The recording began, and a voice reverberated in my head, deep, monolithic.
-
Hrrm. Well met, Axel Vorous.
You’ve got grit, boy. I’ll grant you that.
Stubbornness, tenacity, and the will to keep moving when the flesh burns and the bones crack. I’ve seen countless beings live entire lifetimes and never hold that steel in them. You have it.
But will alone isn’t enough. Your strikes are sloppy, your training wasteful. You chase strength blindly, without pattern or measure, hammering away like a drunk at the forge.
But...if you’re hearing these words, then you have already realized the errors of your ways. I have made it so.
So rejoice, for I have chosen to guide you. Or rather, I have given you the ability to guide yourself.
You may wonder how I knew of this construct...this...System...in your hands---it is mine, boy. A draft, an experiment, hammered out in another age. A prototype I placed in the hands of an old friend.
And yet somehow, someway, after all these centuries, it found its way to yours, damaged though it may have been.
But I will not tell you more. The Great Mother forbids it. Her hand rests on you already, and even I will not cross her will.
His hard tone softened, just slightly.
We may yet meet in a few hundred years...once you have transcended mortality. Until then, Live.
-
[Recording has ended.]
His last words hung in the air.
Live.
It was the second time today a God had requested I experience life. What was so special about it? What was so special about me, that both of them would request such a thing so earnestly?
I didn’t know. And it was being kept that way by the Gods themselves. And though it should have been something to be concerned about, that there were truths being held from me for reasons I couldn’t fathom, it did feel sincere.
"In time..." I said aloud, trying to ground myself, "...I will learn. As all men do."
For a long moment only the crackle of the fire answered, until the system finally spoke up.
[Master, I have finished analyzing all my new functions.]
[The new function [Mastery Guidance] is what will allow you to guide your own training, however it still has nothing to reference. Would you like me to use [Analyze] on "Basic Axemanship Manual"?]
My thoughts gathered, and my eyes steadied on the panel.
Analyze...alright. Let’s do it.
I pulled out the manual, and held it in front of me.
[Analyzing...]
[Manual Confirmed: Basic Axemanship]
[Recommended Rank(s): Mortal to Gold]
[Recording all Mortal-Rank forms...]
[Recording all Bronze-Rank forms...]
[Recording all Silver-Rank forms...]
[Recording all Gold-Rank forms...]
[The Manual, "Basic Axemanship", has been fully Analyzed.]
[Please define long-term goals for Mastery Guidance to generate your Daily Quests.]
It had only taken about 10 seconds for the entire book’s contents to be stored in the System’s memory. And I didn’t even have to open it.
That will be useful.
But...long-term goals...huh.
I’d long since decided what they were. But this would help me pursue them far more efficiently.
First Goal: reach Platinum Rank within twenty-five days.
I had thirty-three in total, but travel consumed time. While I would encounter beasts along the way, the quests would likely be packed with tasks I couldn’t afford to delay. Safer to set the target early.
Second Goal: raise Mana-Strain Resistance to Level Twenty before reaching the Gold Rank.
If my body was strengthened enough to channel mana through my blood vessels, without sustaining any damage, then I’d function like a Gold-Rank Hunter already. Perhaps even stronger, based on the strength I displayed in the Dungeon Challenge.
So then, what would happen when I actually ascended to the Gold Rank?
Gerard had made it clear to me in our final conversation that Ascension would always multiply one’s current strength. The exact multiplier varied from Stage to Stage, however the key takeaway was that the stronger you were before ascending, the stronger you would become after.
Taking into consideration how deadly Mana Burn was to someone without a healing ability like mine, as well as the fact that Mana Strain Resistance was defined as a "Unique" skill...
There was likely no one else in this world, perhaps even beyond, that could even attempt what I was planning on doing.
I let my axe settle on the ground as I scanned the tree lines habitually, but there was nothing.
I then directed my thoughts to my final goal. Mastery.
The manual said acquiring Basic Mastery required creating or learning a Gold-Rank Weapon Technique. The manual’s listed forms and swings were only fundamentals, not true techniques, as classified by The Words. They were different to skills, that much was clear, but that was about all the book said about it.
And so my final goal...
...is to acquire Basic Axemanship Mastery in Thirty-Three days.
I could always train when I wasn’t moving. Especially at times like this, when it was wiser to camp rather than wander blind.
[Goals Registered.]
[Evaluating feasibility of Host’s goals...]
[Accounting for Host’s Adaptive Regeneration...]
[Evaluation: Extremely Difficult]
[Compiling Custom Daily Training Routine...]
[Accounting for current time of day...]
[Assigning Daily Quest #0...]
System Prompts fell into place like tiles, and then came one gigantic window.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
[Daily Quest #0]
Standard Axemanship Practice (0/5)
100 Downward Chops (0/100)
100 Horizontal Slashes (0/100)
100 Downward-Diagonal Slashes (0/100)
100 Upward-Diagonal Slashes (0/100)
100 Tail-End Stabs (0/100)
Mana-Channeled Axemanship Practice (0/5)
1 Downward Chops (0/1)
1 Horizontal Slashes (0/1)
1 Downward-Diagonal Slashes (0/1)
1 Upward-Diagonal Slashes (0/1)
1 Tail-End Stabs (0/1)
Time Remaining: 5 hours 59 minutes
Reward: 10 Mastery Points
Failure: ? ? ?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I stared at the wall of text, lips pressing thin
...This is insane.
Still, I hefted my axe off the ground, and got into stance without delay. I only had 6 hours, and while I didn’t know what Mastery Points were yet, I wasn’t keen on finding out what would happen if I failed either.
I started with the downward chop.
I squared up, raised the axe above my head, then pulled it down in a clean arc, letting my hand slide down the handle just as I had taught myself back in the Dungeon. The axe’s blade wedged itself in the dirt, and then...
[Invalid.]
...
What do you mean, Invalid??
Two lines of light appeared in my vision, one blue, one red.
I could tell the difference immediately.
The red line was the path my own axe had taken. It wasn’t anywhere near as straight as I had believed it to be. One might even consider it...’wonky’.
But the blue line...was perfection. A faultless straight line down the center of my vision, but looking at it from other angles revealed the arc’s flawless curvature.
I swung again, trying to adjust.
[Invalid.]
Closer, but too shallow. Again.
[Invalid.]
Again. Again. And again.
On the twelfth try, the blade finally cut the air along the line.
[Invalid.]
[Host’s right foot did not remain planted to the ground.]
[Control the momentum by leaning back slightly as the axe is brought down.]
That...is helpful.
I paid close attention to the swing and my feet this time, and the axe followed that perfect path, while I rolled back on my feet to counterbalance the momentum.
A perfect swing. I knew it before the System even said anything.
[ Downward Chops: 1/100]
Seeing such a laughably small number after so much effort made me realize that swinging this axe wasn’t about strength or channeling anymore. It demanded precision. Exemplary technique.
I exhaled through my nose, tightened my grip, and swung again.
[Invalid.]
The blue line shone separate to the red, and the count stayed unmoved.
So be it.
The weight of impossibility settled over me for a heartbeat. Then, like the fire I had coaxed from flint, a quiet satisfaction kindled.
I swung again. And again. And again.
And the count began, one perfect strike at a time.