Return of the Woodcutter

'When you used this golden aura,' Uruk explained, 'I sensed the darkness covering my soul recede. Your aura chased away the madness that corrupts my soul.'

'How can this be possible?' Aito mentally, 'Aura of Bravery isn't supposed to work like that.'

[Yes it is,] Valinar joined the conversation, [Aura of Bravery is more than just a mere skill, Aito. It's the exact opposite of the Fear. It's a weapon that's been wielded by bravers to kill fearmongers. Those filthy creatures fear it. Didn't you see how they reacted? Each time you fought a fearmonger, they lost their composure. Partly because they think themselves invincible by using the Fear.]

Now that Valinar said that, Aito thought back on his two occasional encounters with fearmongers. Both of them had feared him greatly. However, that did not explain why the berserkers had reacted this way and why Uruk was awake.

[That's because there are various uses to it the System has probably forgotten. For instance, no illusion skills can deceive the aura as long as it is at the adequate level to counter it. Well, that one you know of.]

[Aura of Bravery can also soothe the mind of those you consider allies or inspire them or clear them of any kind of corruption. That's why berserkers, who are corrupted humans, suffer from your light, because only under the influence of your aura is their human side capable to fight the corruption rooted in them.]

[That's also why the Destroyer's madness was cleared. But it is temporary. Your aura isn't strong enough to heal his madness entirely. Only when your skill reaches a certain level will you be able to eliminate such strong corruption and maybe even turn back berserkers into humans.]

'Hum, I hate to agree with her, but yes, that indeed makes sense,' Uruk said. 'In any case, I'm glad I can be myself for even a moment and enjoy the thrill of battle at your side, human warrior.'

[*shake heads* As expected of the Destroyer… a battle addict.]

Aito ignored Valinar's comment and played with his black beard while staring at the distant nothingness.

Fearmongers, he had barely thought about them before since he had other priorities, but today, he was reminded of what truly awaited him out there. A never-ending war against a species whose true motives were unknown to him. All he knew was that they might stand in his way.

'Another problem added to my list already full of issues I do not have the necessary power to currently deal with,' he thought, forgetting about Valinar and Uruk's presence. 'Does it usually take so much effort to find redemption or am I that unlucky?'

He sighed heavily and deactivated Aura of Bravery that was veraciously eating away at his mana and soul power reserves.

'It's been a short but fun ride, human warrior,' Uruk said, his voice progressively fading. 'Let's do this again sometime soon. I'm always eager for more action.'

'Sure,' Aito replied, thinking back on the fearmongers that awaited him on the 9th and 10th floor, 'might be sooner than you think.'

'Ha, interesting,' Uruk's voice suddenly fell silent, only to be replaced by Soulcleaver's usual whispers. 'Kill.'

Aito rolled his eyes and threw away the weapon that lodged itself in a berserker's corpse. Tired, he sat on the frozen floor, leaning on a pile of dead bodies, using them as cushions.

It was surprising how comfy berserkers were, or was it the cold?

Segolene appeared out of nowhere with a beaming smile. Currently, Aito was too exhausted to even care about her weird tendencies and just wanted to be left alone to rest.

"Congratulations, cutie! I can't believe you made it!" She exclaimed, obviously unaffected by the environment. "That aside, you know that lying is very, very, very bad!"

A vein bulged on Aito's face. He knew what she wanted to say, but hated her lack of manners. Exhausted and completely out of stamina, his patience had reached its limits.

"Listen here, Segolene," Aito said, trying to sound as calm as possible. "I've fought waves after waves of berserkers and barely got any sleep in between. I'm injured and exhausted. All I need and want right now is some rest. So whatever it is you want to talk about, can we do it afterward, please?"

Segolene wanted to oppose but after taking a look at Aito's current state, she refrained from being too pushy. He was bruised everywhere. His skin was pale blue, probably frostbite. His armor set was dented in a lot of places. Moreover, his eyes looked extremely fatigued, as if burdened by the weight of a mountain.

How could she be pushy to someone who looked so tired and had just done the impossible?

"Sorry. Yes, of course. I'll leave you to rest," she said, waving her hand to summon a small shack that shielded Aito from the freezing wind.

Aito sighed heavily and smiled at the kind attention. Certainly, Segolene wasn't a bad person, just a little too over-enthusiastic.

'Anyway, let's take a look at the achievements while I rest a bit. I can't tarry here for too long,' he thought. After what he had seen on this floor, Aito knew a single Goliath could spell the doom of his comrades that were on the 9th floor. However, he couldn't simply rush straight into the devil's den when he barely had the strength to walk.

Notification windows that have been waiting for his approval finally opened to reveal his hard-earned rewards.

_____

[Congratulations! You have achieved two new feats never before seen!] 

Achievements: 

1) Surviving the Flood on your own. 

2) Killing the 8th floor's Goliath on your own. 

Rewards: 

- Frost Resistance Lv 2 (Increases resistance against the frost element as well as low-level temperatures.) 

- Goliath's Appetite Lv 3 (The host can eat and store more food than humanly possible. All food stored will be converted into energy that will automatically be used to restore stamina and/or stop thirst and hunger.) 

- System Update: Knowledge about Goliaths and their weaknesses.

- System Right: Summon fire camp. (Summon a fire camp that will last for twelve hours. PS: Your monkey friend is alive. I hope you like the gift. Let's meet up soon, blackie ;) )

- 2 Skill Points to allocate freely 

- 2 Stat Points to allocate freely (Cannot be used on the Destiny stat) 

- 40000 Glory Points 

- 400000 Tutorial Points 

_____

Aito's eyes were glued to the System message attached to his new System Right. He frowned as he contained his boiling anger. Only one person capable of using the system this way would call him blackie.

Only one.

'Belmand.... bastard. So he heard and saw everything I did until now,' Aito complained internally. 'Well, at least he doesn't bring bad news. Still… why does it seem like he is pulling a prank on me with this System right?'

Despite his complaint, he used it right away to summon a fire camp and warm himself up. He dug a quick hole to let the smoke out of the shack and sat back on the cold floor that didn't seem so cold any longer.

His new skill, Frost Resistance, was very useful at the moment. However, despite this, he still had frostbite and, since his body had lost a lot of heat recently, it was normal if his new passive skill didn't work as intended. The fire camp kindly provided by Belmand did the trick, though.

During the next few minutes, he used his last recovery beads to heal himself faster and absorbed a few soul cores to replenish a quarter of his soul and mana reserves, then repeatedly used Pneuma to further increase his recovery.

Segolene came in with her usual beaming smile but did not bother him this time. She silently dropped fifteen bags filled to the brim with soul cores.

Five of those were the ones Aito had left back on his plateau. But when the avalanche had struck, they were lost under the snow and in the chasm.

She stretched her hand, putting a soul core in his palm, the Goliath's soul core.

"Thank you... Segolene." 

"You welcome, cutie." 

There was a short silence as both stared into the fire. Despite noticing the obvious warmth that had not been inside the shack before, the moderator did not comment on it. 

"About what you said earlier. I'm sorry to tell you this, but I'm not a liar," Aito broke the silence. "You previously talked about the one who will end this war. I'm not that person, Segolene. I might share similarities with whatever idea you have of that person. I won't deny that, however, don't get your hopes up." 

He already had enough burdens on my shoulders right now. The truth was, he did not want to take responsibility for others' burdens. 

"I see," Segolene said with a saddened tone. "I see now you're not that person. That person is depicted as courageous, and the incarnation of bravery. Although you are a brave person, you are far from being bravery itself. It's my fault if I got my hopes up. But I'm certain of one thing, you are a genuine braver. Aren't you, black challenger?" 

Aito sighed heavily, "No." 

"Hum, you truly are a tough nut to crack, aren't you? Very well, if you want to keep it hidden for now, I won't tell anyone. This will be our little secret," Segolene said, winking before she got on her feet. "Say my name when you're ready to leave. I'll be waiting around since I suppose you won't take long to prepare." 

With those words, she vanished. 

During the next hour, Aito took his time to digest as many cores as possible, then ate one week's worth of food kindly prepared by the orcs. His stomach was full, mana and soul power replenished and stamina completely recovered. 

Moreover, with the soul cores he had digested and, after having pushed himself to the limits, his stamina stat went up to level 4. The most surprising result was Pneuma, which leveled up. It now helped recover a moderate amount of stamina and health. 

Aito readied himself, carrying eleven bags filled with soul cores in his hand, and headed for the 9th floor.