Defiance of the Fall

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 .