Defiance of the Fall

Chapter 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 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 multi-verse 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 fantasizing 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 about 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 to 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 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 also 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 were 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.

However, what had made the largest impression on Zac was the heaviness the swing had contained. By that he didn’t mean that the axe grew heavy like the great sword, but it felt like the axe had contained an unstoppable force when falling down. It had felt that the weight of a world was contained in that swing, and it had an unbending determination and intractability contained in it. Anything that tried to impede its path would be destroyed.

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 onto. 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 of 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 started to sound slightly deeper.

Just as he started to feel that he started to grasp 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

Hatchetman (F)

Race

Human (F)

Alignment

Human (Earth)

Titles

Born for Carnage, Ultimate Reaper, Luck of the Draw, Giantsbane, Disciple of David, Overpowered, Slayer of Leviathans, Adventurer, Demon Slayer I, 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

134780

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 was 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 multi-verse 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 that 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 stat 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.