Chapter 31: Chapter 31 - The Weight of Failure
The axe blurred through the dark until my arms went numb. Thousands of swings. Hours bled away, counted not in heartbeats but in failed repetitions.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
[Daily Quest #0]
Standard Axemanship Practice (5/5)
100 Downward Chops (100/100)
100 Horizontal Slashes (100/100)
100 Downward-Diagonal Slashes (100/100)
100 Upward-Diagonal Slashes (100/100)
100 Tail-End Stabs (100/100)
Mana-Channeled Axemanship Practice (4/5)
1 Downward Chops (1/1)
1 Horizontal Slashes (1/1)
1 Downward-Diagonal Slashes (1/1)
1 Upward-Diagonal Slashes (1/1)
1 Tail-End Stabs (0/1)
Time Remaining: 1 minute 03 seconds
Reward: 10 Mastery Points
Failure: ? ? ?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The System had been kind enough to give me additional training wheels for the Mana-Channeled swings. Since I had a total of 115 mana now, it had limited the Mana usage per swing to 20 Mana, AND it had also made it so that my mana channeling was cancelled if my form was imperfect.
So I’d still get the experience of tapping into the Mana and attempting to guide it by honing in on the urge for destruction, but if I attempted to channel, and my swing was imperfect, it would be shut down altogether, so my mana wasn’t wasted unnecessarily. And it had been very clear that these "training wheels" would be removed when I was deemed proficient enough.
And yet, despite the assistance, this final Tail-End stab continued to escape me. I had attempted it almost 30 times now, to no avail.
A wrong angle. Sloppy trajectory. Shifting feet. Wrists bent. There was always something.
By far, the tail-end stab had turned out to be the most difficult form to execute with perfection. Because unlike the other forms, there was no blade to naturally carry the momentum in an arc. You controlled the stab absolutely. And even the slightest veer off that perfect blue trajectory prompted a failure.
40 times.
30 seconds left.
45 times.
20 seconds left.
50 times.
10 seconds. 5. 4. 3. 2. 1.
The axe slipped from my fingers.
It hit the dirt with a muted thud as I collapsed alongside it, handle bouncing once before coming to rest.
I didn’t even have the strength to curse. My chest rose and fell, lungs dragging at the air, body trembling despite regeneration stitching it whole each second.
There had been one swing left. Just one.
And I hadn’t managed it.
[You have failed Daily Quest #0.]
[Administering Consequence...]
The prompts burned across my vision, harsh and absolute.
Pain flared across my already aching body, but not like mana burn, not like broken bones or collapsed internals, this was something deeper. My body convulsed involuntarily, and the System’s voice pressed flat against my mind.
[Temporary Attribute Seal in effect.]
[All Attributes reduced by 15% until successful completion of the next Daily Quest.]
I instinctively tried to sit up. My limbs were leaden. The difference was immediate, as if invisible shackles had been cinched tight around every joint. Strength dulled, reflexes smothered, endurance lowered. Even my mind felt sluggish.
The weight of failure. Literal, tangible.
My eyelids dragged shut despite my resistance. Consciousness slipped.
-----------------------------------------------
I awoke to the crackle of my own fire.
The axe lay across the dirt where it had fallen. My pack sat where I’d left it. I was still in my camp.
I thanked the stars there wasn’t another Dungeon or Divine conversation to endure just because I fell unconscious.
But my body...was weak.
[Penalty Active: Attribute Seal (-15%)]
[Duration: Until Completion of Daily Quest #1]
[Assigning Daily Quest #1...]
I hadn’t even sat up from my spread-eagle position, but a colossal system window filled my vision like a hammer to the face.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
[Daily Quest #1]
Standard Axemanship Practice (0/5)
500 Downward Chops (0/500)
500 Horizontal Slashes (0/500)
500 Downward-Diagonal Slashes (0/500)
500 Upward-Diagonal Slashes (0/500)
500 Tail-End Stabs (0/500)
Mana-Channeled Axemanship Practice (0/5)
5 Downward Chop (0/5)
5 Horizontal Slash (0/5)
5 Downward-Diagonal Slash (0/5)
5 Upward-Diagonal Slash (0/5)
5 Tail-End Stab (0/5)
Resource Directive (0/1)
This directive is compulsory for the Host to be able to fulfill the Mana-Channeled Axemanship Practice Requirements. Since the Host lacks mana, it must be outsourced.
Acquire 10 Squall-Class Beast Cores. (0/10)
OR
Acquire 1 Tremor-Class Beast Core. (0/1)
Hunting Objectives- Road To Platinum (0/1)
Acquire 12 Squall-Class Beast Cores. (0/12)
OR
Acquire 1.5 Tremor-Class Beast Core. (0/1.5)
(If 1 Tremor-class core is acquired, the host may either acquire 5 more squall-class cores in the same day, OR have the next daily quest’s hunting objective become 2 cores. The True Objective is an amount of EXP equivalent to 3 Tremor-Class cores every two days. This may be divided as the Host sees fit.)
Time Remaining: 23 hours 59 minutes
Reward: 100 Mastery Points
Failure: Attribute Seal Intensified (–30%)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I stared at the towering wall of tasks, my jaw going slack.
This brought the total to 2500 Perfect Swings. And 25 Perfect Mana-Channeled swings.
The plus side was that I now had a full 24 hours to complete everything, but there were hunting tasks and resource directives on top of all this as well.
This must be the true difficulty of the Daily Quests.
Yesterday’s quest had only been a fraction of this because the sun was already setting by the time everything had been initialized. But now...there were no grounds for any limitation. The Quests were in full-swing.
It should have been impossible. And for anyone else, it definitely was.
But... I could see a path already.
Hunting Beasts for mana was a requirement, but I would also get flesh from these beasts. Flesh I could eat, to then immediately replenish my stamina, and continue training.
Yesterday’s tasks had become so difficult near the end because my body was so tired. But that wouldn’t be the case if I had a constant supply of meat and mana.
I worked out the rhythm in my head.
Hunt First. Squall or Tremor, whichever is fine, since I can use Mana-Channeling at will now.
After the kill, I train right then and there, using the flesh to feed my stamina, and the core to feed my mana.
Top priority will be doing as much of the Mastery Practice as I can, and the Beast Kills will come to me automatically. And once I’ve finished off the mastery tasks, I can fully focus on hunting and travelling towards the Wildlands.
Yes. That would work perfectly.
Right now, the Mastery Practice would be slow and grueling, but repetition carved precision, and my body would learn quickly. The end-goal was being able to do all these swings without making a single mistake.
As for how long that would take? I’d have to find out the hard way.
I picked myself up off the ground, then hefted the axe back into my grip, rolling its weight in my palms. It felt a little heavier than before because my strength had been reduced, but I would have to deal with it. There were no other options.
My eyes drifted westward, toward the deeper shadows of the core, as I re-affirmed my plans.
The hunt would serve both purposes. Rations to fuel the grind, and kills to tick the quest forward.
I looked to the System Prompts about the new System Functions.
Inventory, Appraisal, Analyze, and Map.
The names were fairly self-explanatory, but still, it wouldn’t hurt to understand them completely.
But...I could do that while I walked.
I swiveled the axe around my back, clicking it into the harness, scattered the campfire, shouldered my pack and set my boots to the dirt path leading into the Core.
The System’s seal dragged at me like a chain, every step a little heavier than it should have been.
But chains could be broken.
And I’d make damn sure to break these ones too.