Furthermore, he didn’t understand why he was shown this vision. He had just gotten the skill Axe Mastery and suddenly was transported here.
As he was pondering what it all meant, the gigantic axe started emitting a blinding light. When he turned his eyes over to the weapon, the light intensified, and suddenly, the axe was gone.
In its place was a large fractal that shared the same general outline as the axe. It also emitted extreme pressure, making Zac feel as though he could somehow be cleaved in two from this pattern as well.
The fractal didn’t stay still for long, and suddenly started to shrink. When it had shrunk to the size of his palm, it suddenly shot toward him like a bullet. Aghast, Zac tried to dodge. It truly felt like the monstrous axe was charging at him.
It was to no avail, however, and it slammed right into his forehead. Zac froze, not daring to move an inch.
Luckily, the release of death didn’t arrive, and he found out he was completely fine. The fractal hadn’t cut him but somehow entered his head instead. He could now sense its existence in his mind, and it hovered there now, seemingly inert.
Finally, he bit his finger, making a small bleeding wound, and willed himself back to reality. He opened his eyes, still sitting in his small hideout. He was shocked to notice that he was completely soaked in sweat and drained of Cosmic Energy. It also seemed that hours had passed rather than minutes as it had felt like, since the suns had moved quite a distance in the sky. But as he looked down on his finger, it was whole and without any wound.
It seemed that the experience had truly been an illusion. He was already somewhat sure of that but had cut his finger just to be certain. He knew the System was no stranger to teleportation from how it had sent away Hannah and her friends, and needed to know if he was in actual danger if it happened again.
For a final test, he tried to enter the mystic space once more, but nothing happened. It seemed it was a onetime opportunity he had received. He was at least happy to notice that the mysterious axe fractal actually had remained in his mind, as he could still perceive it outside the illusion.
He was quite sure that the new fractal was the [Axe Mastery] skill that he had received, but he had no idea how to utilize it as of yet. He had initially planned on heading back to camp to finish his Chop quest as well, but he changed his mind.
He believed he’d seen those scenes for a reason and wanted to go over it while the memories were still fresh. So instead, he rested his back against the tree trunk and once again closed his eyes.
38
Insight
Zac’s instincts told him that what he had seen had been important. So he tried to burn every feeling and impression to his memory.
The immense pressure that emanated from the axe and the terrifying sharpness of its edge. The world-ending power of the seemingly casual strike by the barefooted man. He had just swung once, but somehow everything he had wished to cut was cut, and nothing could escape him. Even the people who fled through portals hadn’t been spared and were somehow killed in another space.
He tried to figure out why he was shown this vision. He could only assume it came from the System, as he couldn’t imagine who else would, and could, show him such a thing.
He did not believe it was something as fantastical as a glimpse into his own future or a prophecy; rather, he felt it was far more likely the System was trying to show him something else. The only thing he could come up with was that it was sort of a training video. The illusion showed him what Axe Mastery at a great, or maybe even the highest, proficiency looked like.
If that was the truth, he wasn’t disappointed anymore that he didn’t get a Rare or Epic Mage Class. That army had even called upon the gates of heaven to attack, but it couldn’t even withstand one chop. That Axe Master had also conquered the disadvantage of being a Melee Class. Everything in his vision was chopped and dismembered, no matter how far or fast they fled.
Of course, Zac knew that even if that was a real event that had happened, it had nothing to do with him. The power levels of those warriors did not seem as simple as having an E-grade or even D-grade class. It felt like a level so far off that it might just as well be a dream.
But still, if he could glean some sort of truth or secret from the vision, he’d likely benefit greatly from it. It also gave him a wake-up call about how formidable the forces out in the Multiverse were. He had known that there would be powerful people out there, but he hadn’t imagined it being to this degree. That axe wielder would be able to cleave his whole island in two. That was not something that should be possible for a human being. That was the realm of the gods.
So it seemed actual beings with the powers of gods were out there. If one of them got angered with him or someone else from Earth, there might be irrevocable repercussions. There were already demons on his island, and there might be other forces on the planet as well. It seemed the restrictions were weakening as well, and sooner or later, any old monster might be able to waltz through one of the incursions.
If he wanted to keep himself and his close ones safe, he had to keep pushing forward until he himself was one of those gods.
Of course, he had to survive this island first before starting to fantasize about deifying himself. He refocused and started looking at the new fractal in his mind. He didn’t really understand how it worked, but it felt like it was housed in an actual space in his mind rather than it being just a memory.
It was a very weird feeling, as it was akin to noticing your body had secret compartments.
Unfortunately, no matter how he looked at the fractal, he couldn’t glean anything from it. He tried driving Cosmic Energy through it, but it had no effect. Since it had entered his mind, its heavy aura was gone, and it seemed dead or deactivated.
Zac sighed, feeling slightly disappointed. He had essentially been shown a pretty cool action scene, and was left with a pattern he couldn’t use. He knew he was likely missing something, but could only return to his camp for now.
As he walked back, he kept pondering the vision he had seen. He wondered if he’d ever get to the point of that man in his vision.
He looked down on his axe, and with a half-smile, he swung it down just like the man in the illusion. Of course, no earth-shattering wave of destruction erupted from the swing. Only a slight swooshing sound was the result of the swing.
But after he performed the swing, he stopped. The attack just felt wrong. He couldn’t put it into words, but it was as though the attack was bland and flat compared to the one in the illusion. And he wasn’t talking about the earth-shattering power, but something else.
Even though his swing and the axe-man’s had the same trajectory, it felt like the man’s swing was real and his the illusion rather than the opposite. Like the man’s swing was a forest and Zac’s just a picture of one.
His swing was missing something, and it was not form or technique, but something more intrinsic. If he hadn’t seen that scene, he never would have figured it out. He would think that a swing was just a swing.
He imagined the intense pressure he had felt when standing in front of the huge axe, and tried to incorporate it into the axe. It was easier said than done, of course, and Zac kept swinging away while walking back. He even used some demon beasts as practice targets to try to get the feel.
He also tried incorporating Cosmic Energy into the fractal while swinging, but it didn’t do anything. He was still missing that feeling that would make his swings feel full instead of empty.
He tried to discern what made the axe-man so strong and made him effortlessly defeat the army. It wasn’t speed. His swing had been slow to the point of almost feeling lazy. It hadn’t been sophisticated or complicated either, but simple and unadorned, just like his axe.
But the swing was sharp. Anything it attacked was cut. It didn’t matter if it was the huge titans, the awe-inspiring defenses of the top cultivators in the army, or even the gates of heaven. Everything that the axe waves hit was split in two.
Zac didn’t understand how he could know these things. They should be subjective opinions and personal impressions, but it felt like those impressions were rather inviolable truths. That the man’s attack contained these abstruse elements felt as true and real as that the sky was blue.
Zac also somehow knew there was a multitude of other aspects hidden in that seemingly simple swing, but they seemed too far away and elusive for him to grasp on to. He decided to focus on the power and forcefulness for now rather than the sharpness, as he felt the heaviness the most clearly in his mind. He was afraid that trying to study both aspects at the same time would be too hard for him to handle.
Zac tried to bring this sense of force and weight into his swing and started to bring more and more Cosmic Energy into it. His energy started to naturally flow along his pathways, and the whirling sounds from the axe sounded slightly deeper.
Just as he started to feel that he was grasping something, a blue box suddenly popped up by itself.
[Dao Seed gained – Heaviness]
Confused, Zac stopped swinging and brought up his status page.
Name: Zachary Atwood
Level: 28
Class: [F-Rare] Hatchetman
Race: [F] Human
Alignment: [Earth] Human
Titles: Born for Carnage, Ultimate Reaper, Luck of the Draw, Giantsbane, Disciple of David, Overpowered, Slayer of Leviathans, Adventurer, Demon Slayer, Full of Class, Rarified Being, Trailblazer, Child of Dao
Dao: Seed of Heaviness – Early
Strength: 136
Dexterity: 57
Endurance: 77
Vitality: 66
Intelligence: 46
Wisdom: 46
Luck: 64
Free Points: 0
Nexus Coins: 134,780
Zac was shocked when he saw his Strength. He had gained close to 30 points in Strength without gaining any levels.
There were two other changes to his page. The first was that he had a new title, Child of Dao. The second was an entirely new row had been added next to the titles, called Dao.
Zac had heard of the concept of Dao somewhere, but couldn’t remember the details. It was a part of Eastern mythology or religion, but he didn’t know exactly what it meant. But from context, it felt like it was akin to insight or the like.
He had started to gain insight into the weight behind the man’s swing, and he gained a Dao Seed.
He began with checking his new title.
[Child of Dao: Third in world to attain enlightenment and create a Dao Seed. All stats +5, All stats +5%.]
The description gave Zac a start. He was only the third in the world to gain the Dao Seed. Since the integration into the Multiverse, he had constantly been at the forefront, be it with achievements or levels. But he had actually been bested on this aspect.
He didn’t know if someone had surpassed him in level since level 25 and gained a seed the same way as him, or whether there were other ways to get them. But it was a reminder that there were billions of people in the world. He had his lucky encounters; why couldn’t others have theirs?
Besides, he knew he wasn’t a born warrior, and it had taken him an enormous amount of effort to get where he was today. Perhaps there were geniuses who simply were perfectly suited for cultivation and the new world order.
The lost opportunity made him feel a bit depressed, and he swore at himself for all the time he had wasted. Had he gotten to this point a few days quicker, he might have snagged a better title.
If the third spot got 5 points in all stats and 5% increase, what did the second and first place get? Perhaps as much as 10 points for second spot and a whopping 15 points for the first?
But Zac steadied his mind quickly, as he knew he couldn’t get greedy. The number of advantages he had accumulated would probably make anyone on Earth green with envy if they knew.
39
Guidance
Next, Zac wanted to check out the Dao Seed. Soon he managed to open a new screen in the System.
It didn’t have a lot of information, just a list in the same manner as the titles.
[Dao Seed of Heaviness – Early. Strength +10, Endurance +5]
While the menu or information wasn’t very spectacular, the stat bonuses were quite good. As Zac’s main stats were Strength and Endurance, this seed’s bonus was a perfect gift. Perhaps a reason why he’d learned the Dao Seed so smoothly was due to this.
It also made him understand the importance of Dao to the System. He’d just gained a seed of the Dao of Heaviness, and it was only an early seed. Both things indicated that he had just taken the first steps to understand this concept, but it already gave a boost worth a few levels.
What would it give if he managed to improve it to a higher level, like the Late stage? And what happened if it stopped being a seed and turned into the real thing? The boost it gave would likely be astonishing.
Zac felt that the seed and the fractal in his mind were somehow connected. He’d gained it while trying to emulate the powerful feeling in that axe swing, after all. He once again turned his sight inward and gazed upon the axe fractal again.
He couldn’t tell exactly how, but he sensed that the pattern of the fractal had somehow subtly changed. It also no longer seemed inert as it was before, but emitted an aura that gave Zac the familiar sense of weight and intractability.
It was the same sense of heaviness that he somewhat managed to instill into his swings while trying to emulate the axe-man. Now that he could contrast it to the aura in the illusion, he understood that the Dao of Heaviness was only part of the whole picture, and the suffocating aura of the axe was something far greater.
Still, it was a step in the right direction. His seed was only at the early stage. There surely were ways to improve upon it, and perhaps someday his axe aura, or Dao, might be as mighty as the one he saw.
Now that the fractal felt active again, he once more tried to circulate Cosmic Energy through it. This time, it actually worked, and the fractal lit up.
Suddenly, his vision changed, and fractals started appearing. Some shone up like glowing footprints in the ground, and others were lights forming arcs and trajectories around him. The lights seemed to have no effect on their surroundings, not lighting the ground or trees up in the slightest. Furthermore, when Zac moved his head, the lights moved with him and slightly adjusted, meaning they came from the System in the same manner as his different menus.
It felt like he was wearing augmented-reality goggles, giving him an extra layer of reality that only he could see. At least he assumed only he could see the lights and the menus, as they only seemed to respond and change in reaction to Zac’s movements and commands.
He tried to touch the fractals that formed the trajectories, but it was like trying to touch a rainbow. Furthermore, as he moved his hand, the lights adjusted and moved as well. After adjusting to his new vision, he tried stepping on the glowing footprints and moving his body according to the illuminated trajectories. He found himself swinging his axe in a slanted upwards motion. The movement felt smooth and natural, and it felt like he was able to bring the full force of almost his whole body into the swing.
He kept following the glowing instructions and found himself performing a multitude of attacks. There were not only normal swings, but every part of the axe was used. From the butt of the haft to the spike on the back side of the head, everything was used in an array of methods to maim and kill enemies. It even showed how to use the rest of his body, such as grabbing with his off-hand, footwork and tackles.
It couldn’
t be said that the fractals in the air taught him actual skills, but rather basic guidance on how to properly move and handle an axe.
Every strike had one thing in common: it contained the mass and intractability of his Dao. It made him realize many aspects of his weapon of choice as well. An axe differed from a sword in that it was balanced toward the head, whereas a sword was closer to the handle. This gave an axe a higher forward momentum and higher destructive power.
To master the axe, he should focus on the part where it excelled, meaning this power and forcefulness. Its disadvantage was that it wasn’t as flexible as a sword was. The bladed area was also far shorter with an axe, so some precision was needed for a killing strike. At least until he could swing his axe in the fantastical manner of the man in the vision.
Zac kept going through various motions as he moved toward the camp. He was entranced by the beautiful simplicity in the moves and the power they managed to bring out.
Suddenly, he stumbled and fell down, shocked to notice that he was totally and utterly drained. He hadn’t completely recovered his energy from his vision earlier, and it seemed like using the axe fractal consumed large amounts of Cosmic Energy.
At least Zac finally felt he had figured out how the [Axe Mastery] skill worked. It wasn’t what he expected, but he was still very happy with the result.
He initially thought he would get a bonus to stats similar to the Demon Slayer title, like bonus stats while wielding an axe, and perhaps generally get imparted some knowledge about axes. The reality actually trumped his expectations, and the rewards were twofold.
Defiance of the Fall: A LitRPG Adventure Page 20