Hans' New Skill

Huff—, huff—

Hans dashed towards the village with a grin on his face. Judging from the intensity of the mana behind him, the explosion that would follow could potentially sweep the village. The shockwaves might even reach the nearby towns. 

Swish—

As he quickened his pace, the light glittering from a mile behind him intensified and reached its boiling point. At any moment, this bomb would explode. 

'Damn it!' Hans cursed his own luck. 

Having fought the puppeteer, he could vaguely guess something wasn't right. The reason why he didn't kill him immediately was that he's not sure if the other villagers had a bomb planted I side their bodies like what happened to Eleane. 

Furthermore, he wanted information on why the puppeteer was doing all of this. 

'At this rate, many people would die. The enemies would certainly take advantage of this noise.'

Once that happens, the enemies could flank the southern border and focus their troops here. The Harisan Empire would be forced to dispatch a batch of troops here causing the other borders to lose a bit of power.

As he delved deeper into his thoughts, Hans stopped running, turned around, and looked at the white light which pierced the sky. 

The rain continued to fall and the thunder roaring had seemingly become silent until now. 

'Should I block it?' 

If he's not mistaken, the power of this explosion should be at least enough to cover a 500-mile radius. 

Of course, that was merely a hunch. However, the fact that it was strong enough to insta kill anyone below S-class level, shouldn't be overlooked. 

Hans wasn't a saint but he felt guilty pulling others from this mess. Even if he couldn't hold it back, he'll at least weaken the explosion. 

At that moment. 

Hans kneeled on one foot and placed his hands on the ground's surface. By drawing the air particles on both the land and the wind, he'll be able to enhance his wind control power. 

[What are you planning to do?] 

'A barrier.'

First, he'd use his [Wind Control] to conjure a wind barrier around the explosion. To do this, an enormous amount of mana would be required.

But with his [Empyrean Aurae] in active, his mana should be enough. Then, he'd stabilize it enough to trap the explosive power inside. 

He didn't know how durable this barrier would be. However, this was the only option he could think of right now, aside from just running away. 

Hans closed his eyes and focused on his control. The wind particles swirled around the vicinity before they swiftly rushed towards where the puppeteer's body was. 

They encircled him outside and Hans maneuvered some of them to take the form of another layer of barrier. Like a child being ordered by their parents, the wind particles obeyed. 

'Next, add a fire barrier.' 

Hans gathered flame particles in the air. Red invisible mana hurriedly encircled the wind barrier, becoming a third layer shield. 

The purpose of this was to block any projectiles that would manage to break through the 2 layer wind barrier. Another purpose was to burn them into ashes. 

Due to the temperature rapidly rising, every raindrop seemingly vaporized as it got closer to the ground. The darkness looked like it was vanquished as the flame replaced the moon and illuminated the world. 

Together with the crackling of the fire was the thunder roaring in the skies. 

The preparation was ready.

His eyes sharpened. 

'I hope it's enough…' 

Hans clenched his fists and braced himself as he waited for the explosion.

However, bewilderment formed on his face after a minute passed. Instead of a powerful explosion, the surroundings remained silent. 

As Hans raised his head, his eyes narrowed. The light piercing the sky had seemingly become dull in color. The pure blinding light wasn't as sharp as earlier where he couldn't even look at it without squinting his eyes. 

'What's happening?' 

Could there be a delay? 

It's possible. Bombs are time ticking right? Maybe the puppeteer set a timer for it. 

However, that's unlikely. 

Judging the puppeteers' attitude, he looked like someone who'd take everything down with him if he's cornered. 

But what changed? 

As Hans got suspicious, the light rapidly died down. In just a minute, the shimmering lights gradually lost color. Now, it's reduced into these tiny light particles circling in the air. 

Hans's eyebrows scrunched together. Deciding to know what happened, he rushed toward the puppeteers' location. 

There, he was leaning on a shattered wall, while his hands seemingly reached out for something. The puppeteer looked at him before he gave him a bitter smile. 

"I-I… thought you'd come here if…if I deactivated it." Casopi spoke between ragged breaths. 

"Although I don't know what your purpose is… thank you." 

"Haha, cough—, it was tough living a life constantly being devoured by anger." Casopi looked down at the ground and stared at the two sculpted figures in his hand. "All of it was just the product of my guilt and regrets. I should have known…" 

"What are you talking about?" Hans asked. 

He couldn't comprehend what the man was saying but it seemed like it had something to do with his purpose. 

"The Harisan Empire took everything away from me. My honor, my wealth, and my family. In just a night, all my dreams shattered…Haha, I guess that's how stupid I was." 

"..." 

"If only I knew his game earlier, I could have prevented myself from making that horrible choice. I was the one to blame." 

Casopi looked at him and his eyes turned grim.

"Young man, no matter what you do from this point, don't believe in them. The Emperor is nothing but a coward. He'll betray his people when he thinks he'll lose a lot. That's what happened to me and probably would happen to you too. He'll take everything from you; your loved ones, friends, and comrades."

Hearing his words, Hans nodded in realization. 

'So his purpose is revenge.'

Revenge wasn't always sweet as they say. Rather, you're probably just digging your own grave. However, this couldn't be easily evaded as anger was all part of our subconscious emotions. 

But… 

Hans's lips slightly arched. "I have no one to lose."

"Really? But your eyes are telling me that you have." Casopi answered. 

"..."

As the silence took over, Casopi hugged the sculpted figures in his chest and tears welled up in his eyes. His lips quivered and his strength gradually diminished. 

Hans could see that the man was dying. He pulled out his sword and walked towards Casopi. 

[Aiya, you truly don't have any chivalry in you huh?] 

'You act like you have one when you're secretly rejoicing inside my head.'

[How can that be possible? Why would you accuse me without any basis? I, in fact, pity this poor man. What a sad ending this is…] 

'Yeah, yeah, fine.' 

[...please end his suffering, Hans. This would be your farewell gift to him.]

'You mean his farewell gift to us?' 

[Yeah, yeah… indeed. Wait, no that's not what I meant!] 

As Hans stood in front of Casopi, he raised his sword above his head. 

"I get that your purpose is revenge but this… is for that little girl you killed."

"I was lost in madness. Thank you for bringing that up. I think…" Casopi raised his head and stared at the sword hanging above him. "...I deserved this punishment."

"You really do."

At that moment. 

Slash—

Hans sliced his blade vertically. Blood splashed on the ground, walls, and even Hans' face. 

At the same time, a ringing sound echoed in his head. 

Tri-ring—! 

[You have killed 'Carlos, the Totem Maker'.]

[Do you wish to plunder the skill 'Totem Creation (S)'?] 

[Yes / No.] 

'Totem making?' 

He had heard of an S-class Awakened who had something called Totem Beasts as his familiar. However, he doesn't know if that Awakened had this kind of skill. 

'Let's see, since it's an S-class, this was quite worth investing into.' 

All the time, he had been plundering attack, defense, auxiliary, and movement skills. But until now, he hadn't encountered any utility skills. 

'This should be the first time.'

Without hesitation, Hans tapped 'yes'. He checked his status window and clicked the description button of the skill. 

[Totem Creation (S) (NEW!)

Type: Active. 

Proficiency: 0%

Description: In ancient times, a man fell in love with another species and ???...

Uses:

— The art…]

The totem creation skill was self-explanatory. Basically, it's like sculpting but this involves mana methods and understanding of the nature of what you'll be making.

With that, he could manifest the totem in physical form. 

'A good one.'

The potential of this skill was endless. What's more, there's even something like this. 

[Note: When the proficiency reached 100%, the skill would rank up.]

This skill would surely work wonders in the near future. Just thinking about having an enormous amount of mana and manifesting countless mythical creatures sent shivers down his spine. 

'That should be it.'

Although he didn't level up because the enemy he killed was a human, the skill he got was more than enough to be a compensation. 

Hans closed his status window and raised his head. 

The dark clouds drifted with the wind and the moon slowly peeked out of it.

As the moonlight glinted on his face, he muttered, "Mission complete." 

The trip to the Casonar Village finally came to an end. 

......… 

Before leaving, Hans stayed until the morning. Now that the village chief was gone, he couldn't just let this place go wild after his disappearance. 

Additionally, some villagers died when the puppets who chased him launched a magic attack. 

Thus, after gathering the villagers, he explained to them the village chief's wrongdoings and all the horrible things he had done. Some grieved on their loved ones and a few were just nonchalant about it. 

But of course, Hans left the root of all of those hidden in the dark. There were many things better left unsaid. 

Hans didn't stay longer. The matter of deciding who would be the next village chief wouldn't be in his hands. He does not want to meddle with their business when he has something to take care of too. 

Therefore, after giving the food supplies and adding more to it, Hans packed his things. 

He also gave them directions to the land fields where they could plant vegetables and fruits as the villagers seemed unaware of it. 

Shortly afterward, Hans left the village and embarked on a journey back to the empire. 

...........