Chapter 5: Awakening
I stood in front of a goblin, not only weaponless but with my eyes closed. Yes, with my eyes closed.
I was trying to train my perception, and it was working. Every time the goblin came near me, I felt a tingle at the spot where an attack would land, and I would move away.
Having fought these monsters for so long, I was slowly getting used to them. Another noticeable thing was that these goblins weren't completely brainless. Their IQ was low, but they could learn and adapt. If you killed a goblin with a kick, the others would dodge the kick instead of trying to block it.
Another interesting fact was that even if I couldn't level up, the energy or experience gained from killing goblins did not disappear into thin air. I could feel it accumulating within me, spreading and feeding every cell in my body.
Having no progress at all, I added another goblin to the equation. Remember, these were the unarmed goblins, not the armed ones. The additional goblin made avoiding the attacks more complex. I also started to punch or kick them as soon as they missed their attack.
After getting comfortable, I added another goblin.
I tried to maximize and use each and every sense that I had, making my body move as efficiently and effectively as possible.
I felt something moving within me.
It felt like blood, but there was something else that moved with it.
The faster that energy moved, the more in control my body felt. I kept focusing on the feeling and tried to move it more and more. My body felt stronger, faster, and suddenly there were no attacks coming my way. I kept moving my arms, feet, my body.
Even though there was no spear in my hand, it felt like I had one. At one point, you could hear air being cut, and slowly I lost track of time.
If there had been a spectator, they would've seen a red spear silhouette in my hand and red, bloody trails in the air. The dance I performed in a trance went on until I was dead tired and fully out of the juice that kept my body working.
I breathed in and out as I looked up at the sky.
It was morning. I could see the sun rising, gracing the forest with its first rays. I did not know what had happened to me, but even after the continuous 'dance' that I did all night, I felt refreshed.
I checked the notifications and was overwhelmed by the sheer amount that appeared before me.
[Meditation becomes 'Mana Circulation']
[Learned 'Close Combat']
[Close Combat becomes ???'s Fighting Instincts]
[Learned 'Spear Mastery']
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[Failed to awaken Bloodline]
[Stats have been slightly increased]
---
[Status]
Name : Ray
Species : Human(F)
Bloodline : Dormant
General Skills : Identify lvl 7, Mana Circulation lvl 12, Demon's Fighting Instincts lvl 10, Spear Mastery lvl 10
Class : Trainee
Strength : 20
Agility : 20
Endurance : 20
Vitality : 20
Dexterity : 20
Intelligence : 15
Wisdom : 15
Perception : 25
Bonus point remaining : 0
---
[Primary Class : Trainee]
Level : 15
Skills : None
---
My stats increased by either 4 or 5 points. Even Intelligence and Wisdom had benefited from this 'failed bloodline awakening.'
"Bloodline, huh? Would mom and dad als-... aaah, I'm worried," I tried to stop thinking about factors and situations that I had no control over and attempted to focus more on this new sensation that I was experiencing.
Mana.
It was present in the air, flowing with my body, the grass, trees, and even the goblin corpse. Mana was everywhere, but I could feel the minute amount present in my body very clearly.
[Mana Circulation]
[You have discovered a way to circulate mana. Increase recovery while not moving, slowly builds up your foundation.]
"Foundation? What?"
I couldn't feel any difference between [Mana Circulation] and [Meditation] except that it felt smoother, nothing else.
[???'s Fighting Instincts]
[Your instincts are honed through battles. While in a fight, predict the opponent's weak points and the lethality of attacks beforehand.]
"This should be useful but, *sigh*, my list of questions keeps on increasing."
[Spear Mastery (Novice)]
[Know how to use a Spear more proficiently.]
This one was simple, but I didn't know how it worked. There was no extra knowledge or secret moves in my head after gaining the skill, nor did I feel much different. I could use a spear more proficiently now compared to my first day in the forest, but that was more due to practice and not a skill.
"Maybe it's a milestone or an achievement."
For the next few hours, I tried out my skills as much as I could. Now I didn't need to kill the Archer with a sneak attack; my attacks were strong enough to take the warrior and tank out before they could even do anything.
And the Perception increase with [???'s Fighting Instincts] allowed me to dodge arrows before they were even released.
But still, I did not feel confident fighting against the chief. Having done enough for today, I went back to the tree and meditated, but there was something different this time.
Meditating somehow brought me above a pond, a transparent pond, from where I could observe each and every change in my body in minute detail. While meditating, I had to clear my mind and take deep breaths. This time, I had to focus on my breathing and how the mana that entered my body flowed.
Mana was like oxygen. It mixed with the blood in my heart and moved to every part of my body. The tissues and bones absorbed every single minuscule of mana and slowly strengthened my body.
Some part of it went to recovering the mana and stamina I had lost, but once it was fully recovered, the speed of infusing mana became twice as fast. I did not feel any change in me, but it was surely happening, slowly but surely.
Another change was that a shadowy figure appeared above the pond. And once I focused, it started taking combat stances.
Thrust.
Cut.
Sweep.
Parry.
It performed very basic moves, moves I had learned, but they still felt different. It used every piece of knowledge I learned, refined it down, and demonstrated how to use that information.
The night passed as I kept observing the projection.
The first thing I did when I woke up was to pick up my spear and trace out the movements, following the image in my mind. I could now almost imagine a 'me' performing the moves perfectly. The thing left to do was let the imagined me and the real me overlap.
General Skills: Identify lvl 7, Mana Circulation lvl 17, Demon's Fighting Instincts lvl 14, Spear Mastery lvl 16
"Maybe I have a chance now."