Chapter 78: We Grow Through Pain

Chapter 78: Chapter 78: We Grow Through Pain

Victor drove his shovel into the earth again, lifting out another heap of soil and flinging it onto the growing mound behind him.

They were digging a ring of trenches around the village, deep and wide. There weren’t enough barbarians to do it quickly, so Victor had joined in himself. The tribe noticed. Seeing their chief knee-deep in dirt beside them, sweat running down his back, made the others dig harder, and nobody dared slow down while he kept working.

The night was already deep. Victor wiped his forehead with his forearm.

Ding!

[+1 XP]

He snorted. One point of experience for hours of digging. It felt like the system was becoming stingy with points.

Then again, He expected that much. The higher one went, the harder it was to increase in level. At level 9 reaching level 10 was like going from level 1 to 8 again.

It really made one acknowledge the strength Zaza, the late king had.

Victor continued digging.

"Chief!" Lego came sprinting across the churned ground, breathless. "Fire! Fire is raining from the sky!"

"Fire is what?"

"This way, hurry!" Lego grabbed his arm and hauled him along.

Victor saw it before they got there. Streaks of flame arced overhead, one after another, flying deep into the forest. He and the others ran toward their source, and when they broke through the treeline, Victor stopped.

Kiki.

She stood with the bow drawn, flames snaked from her arm, wrapping around each arrow as she loosed it, nocked another, and loosed again.

What stunned Victor most was that the forest wasn’t burning. Every arrow landed on the same tree, dead center of the trunk, again and again, until the wood split with a groan and the tree toppled.

Victor grabbed Lego’s shoulder. "Take some men. Put out any fire before we lose the forest."

"Yes, Chief!" Lego rushed off with a handful of barbarians.

Kiki lowered the bow, wiping sweat from her face.

"You might want to watch out for your mana use. A lack of those can make you feel like you are sick."

She nodded.

" Looks like you’ve got the hang of it," Victor added.

She shook her head. "Not yet. I’ve got a long way to go."

He only smiled. Modest. Her skill with the bow was probably level one at best, but with Amplification and Cataloging stacked on top, she’d climb to level three or four in no time.

Climbing skills was easy as long as one continued to practice. Of course a skill book would hasten things.

A thought suddenly occurred to him.

"Since you’re being humble, let’s raise the difficulty."

She narrowed her eyes. "Raise it how?"

Victor pointed at one of the Dire Lions dozing in the corner. She followed his finger.

"Hit the target," he said, "from the back of that."

Her brows lifted. "Is that even possible? It’s hard enough from standing still. How am I supposed to do it while moving?"

"You’ll figure it out."

He walked away. Honestly, he was amazed, but hid it. He’d given her three days, and she’d grasped the basics in one. He couldn’t wait to put her to proper use.

Behind him, a shiver ran down Kiki’s spine. What is he planning now?

Victor returned to the arena to check on Jaja. Slabs of meat lay stacked on the ground, but Jaja himself sat panting, blood on his skin, sweat streaming. He’d only managed to carve off part of the Lizard’s thigh. Coco knelt beside him with a rag, wiping his face, then passed him water. He drank.

"You’re doing well," Victor said.

Jaja shook his head. "Not really. I’m just exhausted."

Ding!

Jaja’s eyes snapped open. Strength rushed through his body, lighter and heavier at once.

[LEVEL UP: Jaja — Level 5 → Level 6]

"I... I leveled up," he breathed. "Level six."

"Already?" someone gasped.

Then again, he had been brought close to death a few times within the past few days.

They was the Battle with the Dragonic Basalt Lizard, the attack with the giant bug’s poison, and the battle with Popo. Coupled that with the blessing and the growing proficiency of them, his growth was only a matter of time.

Still, Level six already?

He must have worked really hard in the past to reach this level.

Another talent. Victor nodded

On leveling up, his wounds were healed completely. A level-up always restored the body, and that was exactly why Victor had left the whole carcass to him.

"Our first Level 6 barbarian," Victor said, grinning.

Jaja laughed. "I couldn’t have done it without you, Chief."

"Don’t thank me yet. I’ll be working you hard." Victor’s smile turned deadly. "We’ll need that strength." He whispered.

A chill ran down Jaja’s spine.

As Victor walked off, Jaja whispered to Coco, "Am I the only one who thinks our chief is a little terrifying?"

Coco shook her head. "You’re not."

"Oh, and don’t forget to dry the meat under the sun for at least an hour."

Considering it had been dead for some days, that should be enough to remove most of the deadly part of it. I can only count on barbarian immunity for this next plan to work.

Please don’t die.

That night, Victor ordered that no one touch the food stores. Instead, slabs of the Basalt Dragonic Lizard’s meat were set around the central fire, Jaja carving the inner cuts. The smell drifted over the village, rich and savory, and every stomach in the tribe growled.

"Nobody touches it yet," Victor said.

A hand went up. "Chief. Is this the meat of the... that creature?"

Shit. A sharp one. But it didn’t change what had to be done.

Victor stepped forward and looked over their faces. "Do you trust me?"

They looked at each other, then nodded one by one.

"Then take a piece. Each of you."

Every barbarian took one. Popo. Foto. Kiki. Jaja. Everyone.

"Tonight is going to be long," Victor said. "Many of you will hate me for it. Many will wish I’d never been born. But I promise you, by morning, you will be reborn."

Murmurs spread through the crowd.

Victor lifted his own chunk, bit in, and swallowed.

One by one, the others followed.

It started almost at once. Faces twisted. Eyes shot red, veins standing out along skin. Barbarians dropped to the ground, convulsing. Victor felt it too, like thousands of tiny ants crawling out from his stomach through every vein in his body. He groaned through his teeth.

All around him, the tribe groaned with him. Kiki. Jaja. Popo. Every one of them writhing on the ground as the night closed in.