Chapter 71 — New Techniques

  Kota came back out later with Laiya and offered to help make some arrows, insisting that their arrow stock was insufficient. He even showed how to make exploding arrows using old enchanted stones from a sack of ones Marton had given the teen to sell to them.

  Mostly fire, ice, and nature] stones. Emina was worried about using fire magic in the jungle but Kota assured her that with the flooding and humidity, fires wouldn’t spread. The boy did warn that the nature stones could be dangerous to use though. With the strong presence of nature mana in the jungle, nearby trees and plants would experience explosive growth and could potentially crush anything caught in the affected area.

  Toren was glad to purchase the stones, and Kota was happy to trade for potions. The enchanted stones covered an oversight on Toren’s part. He had been so focused on Tier-2 threats that he had overlooked using Tier-1 enchanted items to help deal with the expected numbers of Tier-1 threats.

  As much as Toren had wanted to get the Hatterwicks more combat experience, spending a day working on their defenses with Kota’s expertise and added manpower wasn’t bad either, especially when considering that the Hatterwicks, with crafting Professions, were likely gaining a fair amount of XP from the work.

  As they worked, Kota answered their questions and described what defending during previous high tides was like. Specifically, how they needed to keep the beasts from swarming the stead’s barrier and wearing it down—preferably through traps and ranged attacks, but they might eventually have to take turns with some of them fighting from outside the barrier as much as possible.

  Kota also had some suggestions about the runt, explaining that mana beasts with blocked up mana channels tended to have a harder time absorbing mana from the air and needed more from their food. There was some risk of the beast turning monstrous if care wasn’t taken to clear the mana channels or deal with the constant hunger.

  By the time the Hatterwicks were seeing the teen off to head home, the stead was looking more like an expeditionary camp preparing for war. Obstacles and fallback positions with arrows and supplies were set up, and more tier-2 trees had been sacrificed to create zig-zagging snarls of interwoven branches rather than an easily jumpable and vision obscuring log palisade.

  After dinner, Torren found himself standing alone before the scorched log from his earlier breakthrough efforts. What work could reasonably be done had been, and Horevi was drifting inexorably toward the tree-line.

  A calm had settled over Toren’s thoughts as the day had progressed and they and their neighbor all engaged in the simplicity of the physical labor toward a common purpose. Seeing Laiya almost back to normal, laughing at Kota’s jokes, a weight had been lifted from him. He whispered thanks to his sponsor. With his new path, he was no longer doomed to watch his companions fall by the wayside, to carry-on only through the sacrifice of others.

  Even so, he knew he still needed more strength.

  Kota’s surprise about the shrine to Sheveyi had brought another opportunity to gain that strength.

  He had a reason for wanting to use a Mirror of Truth before the high tide, and it wasn’t just for appearances. Using an Ability Upgrade Point provided the insights necessary to refine an Ability into the next tier. More points expended increased the depth of the insight—generally points equal to the tier sought would give a reasonable opportunity for success. Further, using Ability Upgrade Points while inside the divine space of a Mirror of Truth provided visualization and a dreamworld that would aid in the refinement process.

  Toren pooled blood in his hand and sought answers in the way Horevi’s light gleamed off the gently rippling surface.

  Using a blood goddess’ shrine to create the dreamworld for refining a blood Ability… he wasn’t sure if this was a boon of great fortune or inviting trouble. No, it was definitely trouble, but it might also provide him with results unavailable elsewhere.

  “Toren? Did you want to train some?” Laiya called over to him on her way to fill a bucket from the well.

  The fading light haloed Laiya’s golden hair as she paused when he looked her way. Vim was right. The Hatterwick women really were breathtakingly beautiful.

  “I may have some new things using Warrior Spirit to teach you in the morning,” Toren encouraged. “For tonight, continue focusing on your recovery and get a good night’s rest.”

  The girl gave a hesitant “…okay” before returning to her task, glancing back his way when she was lowering the bucket.

  Raising the tier of [Burning Blood] wasn’t the only idea Toren had been thinking about to get stronger. Throughout the day’s work, he had been quietly ruminating about the new weapon art techniques. Each built on the next, designed to lead him to full proficiency with the art.

  He had taken the art as far as he could with fundamentals, and though lacking in applied combat experience using the art, his focus on Warrior Spirit and the weapon forms had built a solid foundation.

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  Now, knowing that Warrior Spirit was just the first in a progression of techniques, it was time to take the next steps.

  Everything started with Warrior Spirit. It was the basis for the art, and the technique that powered the other techniques.

  Next in the progression was Savaging Strike, a technique that expanded upon Warrior Spirit by violently pushing one’s intent-imbued mana into the wound to savage the opponent's body from the inside.

  The control gained to shape the mana’s purpose against an opponent’s natural resistances and affect internal body structures would then be applied to using one’s Warrior Spirit to restore body and strength via the Renewing Fury technique. It was a perfect complement to [Burning Blood] and not much different from what he had already done to gain [Constitution of the Phoenix]. The technique’s channeling of pain toward productive purpose

  The fourth technique, Call For Blood, combined Warrior Spirit’s aura projection with the aura penetration of Savaging Strike and the healing of Renewing Fury, expressing one’s Warrior Spirit outward to intimidate opponents and bolster allies—weakly applying Renewing Fury to allies.

  And finally, Last Breath. The culmination of all the techniques. Drawing the life essence from the body and all around the [Berserker], all one’s mana and remaining willpower would be gathered into one final attack, leaving the technique user drained and often too weak to continue fighting or to prevent succumbing to injury or illness.

  ~~~

  Toren's status:

  Name: Toren of Theravos

  Race: Human

  Age: 20

  Profession 1: Level 8 Burningblood Berserker (10766/16000)

  Mana: 115/115

  Strength: 16

  Constitution: 16

  Dexterity: 15

  Agility: 13

  Wisdom: 12

  Intellect: 8

  Will Power: 18

  Perception 15

  Appearance: 9

  Charisma: 8

  Luck: 10

  Attribute Upgrade Points: 7

  Traits:

  Sacrificial Guardian

  Abilities:

  Burning Blood (WIL, Rank 1, Proficiency: High)

  Control Blood (WIL, Rank 1, Proficiency: Mid)

  Flurry of Blows (DEX, Rank 1, Proficiency: Low)

  Ability Upgrade Points: 7

  Profession Skills:

  Constitution of the Phoenix 5

  Empower 6

  Focus Rage 8

  Combat Awareness 6

  Berserker Weapon Arts 6

  Pain Tolerance 8

  Intimidate 6

  Skills:

  Danger Sensing 3

  Stealth 18

  Mana Sensing 16

  Wilderness Harvesting 12

  Theravos Language 11

  Religion 10

  Divided Focus 7

  Meditation 6

  Hunting 20

  Archery 19

  Running 15

  Wound Binding 8

  Arithmetic 4