Path of the Berserker

I started with the chapters I’d already translated in my head earlier, dictating what I’d previously written in my mind’s eye straight to Kelsey’s ears. Her penmanship was surprisingly good, which she attributed to her mother’s constant nagging when it came to accuracy.

I guess when you were a doctor, accuracy counted for a lot.

But while I dictated, I found I also had the capacity to jump ahead in the manual and begin translating the newer passages straight from Yee. It consumed a bit more Frenzy when I did so, but with the minuscule amount I was using, plus a solid core, I had tons of the stuff to spare. So much so, that I squeezed in just a little more efficiency by grabbing a piece of paper and began transposing some of the diagrams.

I was no artist though, so they were glorified stick figures at best, but I managed to put in enough details to ensure the meaning was clear. So all at once I was speaking aloud to Kelsey, mindlessly regurgitating what I’d already translated, while my more active mind was translating about thirty chapters ahead and then a third part of my consciousness drawing stick figures.

It was taxing at that point, but I used more Frenzy to keep my mind focused. I realized then that I had to be at Stage V in both Mental Capacity and Mental Quickness to be doing what I was doing. And if not, then certainly by the time I finished translating the manual, I would be.

I kept going for a solid three hours with Kelsey dutifully keeping pace.

I was vaguely aware of Susan coming in to check on us every so often and even Richards and some of the other soldiers doing the same. When we hit the four-hour mark, reaching nearly halfway through the manual, I finally called for us to take a break.

“Holy crap…” Kelsey said, looking exhausted yet exhilarated. “You’re a frigging machine! How are you able to remember all this? And draw at the same time?”

She huffed out a laugh. “With superpowers like that who needs computers, right?”

I blinked at her quizzically. What’d she’d said was actually quite profound. I never gave much thought to it before as a mortal, but the Yee empire did not possess computers like we did. They had Qi technology to an extent, like the Qi boards and lighting, but nothing truly computational and now I understood why. If I could create what felt like a virtual Microsoft Office suite inside my own head, then I could only imagine what someone like Xi Xha—a trained scholar—would be capable of.

“Hello! Earth to Max,” Kelsey said, waving her hand in front of my eyes. “Did your brain finally have a meltdown?”

I snapped my eyes to hers with a smile. “Sorry. Lost in thought for a moment there. But yeah, you’re right. Computers may be obsolete now.” I glanced over the stack of papers she had written. “You’re doing a great job by the way, Kelsey. This is perfect.”

“Thanks,” she said, neatening the papers in her hands. “This stuff is amazing. I can’t wait to try it.”

I grinned. “Hey, it should be after dark now, right?”

“Should be, why?”

“There’s something I want to check,” I said. “Outside.”

Kelsey’s eyes widened. “Are you serious? You want to go outside?”

I could sense the fear within her along with the hints of an unkindled Flame. Like Threja, it would probably be a step too far to see if she would come with me as a test of uncertain death, but I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to try.

“Yes,” I said. “Why? Do you want to come with me?”

To my surprise she simply answered, “Sure!”

I realized my mistake then and also why Threja didn’t reveal her true strength to me when she had asked me to join her. Kelsey had already seen my powers. She probably felt safe coming with me, knowing I could protect her. The result was no kindling of her ember at all, but it did warm a little.

“Let’s go then,” I said.

We left the clinic and headed up the stairs towards the main hatch. Luckily, we didn’t encounter anyone on the way as it’d probably be too hard to explain what I was about to do. But it would only take a few minutes I figured.

“Just wait here for a second,” I told her once we reached the airlock. “Just in case I’m wrong.”

“Wrong about what?”

I winked at her. “You’ll know if I come running back screaming.”

That got her fear to increase. Maybe there might be a chance to kindle her Flame after all. But that was secondary to what I was doing now. Working the wheel, I squeezed through the outer hatchway and gave Kelsey a wave as she stared back at me pensively through the crack in the door.

“Be right back I said.”

I slammed the door closed before she could ask any other questions.

The night was still with no wind, but it had the frigid bite of early fall. High above, the Bloodmoon had risen, half hiding behind a bank of clouds. As I’d expected, there was no Dark Frenzy exuding from it, or at least none that I could sense. I walked over to where I had left Threja’s sword stuck into the ground and felt the pure Frenzy radiating from it.

It was indeed acting just like a miniature pagoda, providing shielding from the Bloodmoon’s influence. This was what had truly saved me that night. Had I not been under its protection, those demons would have torn me apart.

The Frenzy coming from it wasn’t something I could readily use or absorb, however. It was more like a catalyst or a stimulant of some kind, the solid core of my Dantian vibrating with it harmonically. Maybe that was how it was able to cleanse me from the demonic junk clogging my soul, literally shaking the stuff loose from inside me. Or perhaps it was more akin to Fia’s silver chair that she used to amplify her cultivation technique.

Either way, this was an artifact of immense power.

A true treasure.

As I stared into the cryptic script on the blade, I read through the Shuras, heart beating with exhilaration as my thirst for new knowledge increased. There was an expanded section of Advanced Body Refinement, extending the stages from Six through Ten. New manifestation techniques, and insight into how to develop one’s true inner soul. I would have liked nothing more than to stand there for hours memorizing and digesting it all, but the sword had a greater purpose now.

It was providing something the people here needed desperately to survive.

A dome of protection against the Bloodmoon and the wild.

In time, perhaps it could even become a true sanctuary for humanity, not having to rely upon the Yee pagodas for safety at all. But to do that I needed to know how far it extended, first.

Drawing on my Frenzy, I channeled my reflexes and took off in a sprint into the forest.

Howls and screams filled the night air as I ran further and further into the forest. I got about a quarter mile before I finally saw what I was looking for. There at the edge of a clearing were the red-skinned beasts and demons from my waking nightmare. They clawed at the invisible wall caused by the aura of Threja’s blade and as they caught sight of me, rushed against it, scrambling over one another, snarling and hissing to get at me. I couldn’t hear their voices in my head anymore, but I could imagine them calling for my blood.

I flexed my Dantian with solid Frenzy.

“[Fear the Flame], you bastards.”

The result was immediate. The smallest of them recoiled in terror and ran off into the night while the larger humanoid demons hissed with revulsion. I still didn’t know exactly what Frenzy was, but demons seemed to hate the shit out of it.

I headed back to Kelsey and knocked on the bunker door for her to let me inside.

“Well, it works,” I said as she let me back in.

“What works? Where did you go?”

“To confirm that the sword is creating a protective barrier just like the pagodas. I had to make sure, but you’re completely safe going outside right now.”

“What? Really?” she said. “Are you serious?”

“Come and see.”

Her apprehension was replaced with a smile of elation as she stepped outside and looked up at the night sky.

“Holy shit, I can’t believe this,” she said, spinning about while still looking upwards. “I can’t remember the last time I’ve even seen the moon. Wait…I don’t think I’ve ever seen it!”

That made me pause in wonder.

Perhaps what I’d just revealed to her was even bigger than I thought.

“So you say the sword is doing all this?” she asked.

I nodded.

“How can you be sure we’re safe out here?”

“Because there’s an army of demons that won’t cross an invisible line in the sand about a quarter mile from here.”

“Demons?”

I wondered if maybe I’d said too much. “I wasn’t sure if you knew, but the Bloodmoon causes the spirit beasts to transform at night. Other things come too. Demons is the best thing I can describe them as.”

I sensed the fear in her increase.

“I want to see them,” Kelsey said, her brows suddenly lowering as her ember stirred. “The beasts and demons that roam the night.”

“We probably don’t have time, Kelsey,” I said. “I don’t want your mom calling another search party when she finds us both missing and the front door left wide open.”

“So make it quick,” she said, and then like a monkey she grabbed me from behind by my shoulders and climbed onto my back. “Chop, chop.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Guess I got no choice with you.”

“Sure don’t,” she said. “Now hurry up. Let’s go.”

With another burst of Frenzy, I sprinted into the forest and took her out to the edge of the sword’s influence, stopping a good distance away from the edge. Kelsey stiffened, her knees jabbing into my sides when she finally saw the red-skinned demons for herself.

But I sensed something else as well.

A sudden stirring of her ember.

“You okay?” I asked.

Long seconds of silence passed with only the sound of demons hissing and screaming filling the void. Finally Kelsey spoke.

“These are the things that killed my best friend,” Kelsey said. “And her parents too. Plus a lot of other people I know. People who got caught on the outside after dark. People we never saw or heard from again. Now at least I know what killed them…what ate them even.”

I couldn’t see her face, but by her tone I could imaging she was scowling, her ember glowing brighter. It made me realize that everyone’s frenzied path was not ignited by the same Flame. Everyone had their own private Demon to wrestle and their own Struggler to bear.

“Where do you think they all came from?” she asked. “The moon?”

I had to question that myself. But a fearful part of me wondered if this was what had truly become of the human race under the effects of the Bloodmoon. I thought of my parents and sister, but refused to follow the thought any further than that.

“Yeah,” I said, consoling both her and myself. “Probably came from the moon.”

I looked up at the glowing red orb in the night sky and wondered if its curse was even greater than that of the Yee.

“Come on,” I said. “We’d better get back.”

* * *

We continued on with the manual once we returned to the bunker, but there was a different energy in the air now. Where before Kelsey’s eyes were filled with wonder, now they were filled with determination and resolve. I could read her thoughts without even asking. She’d found a focus for her [Sorrow and Pain] and now the very words she was transcribing were a means to exacting vengeance for those she had lost.

It reminded me of the vengeance still stirring within my own heart.

Hong Feng and Sumatra, I thought. Those evil bastards killed both me and Mu Lin.

Just the thought of them stirred the Demon within my soul.

It needed to crush them. To make them pay in blood and horrific agony for their sins.

I was more powerful than ever now and while I had no idea how powerful Hong Feng truly was, I no longer cared. I’d already died once, and I’d happily do so again to drag that evil bastard to hell with me for killing Mu Lin.

I blinked, pulling myself out of my own thoughts, realizing they were strong enough to even generate some Frenzy from my Flame. I focused back on Kelsey as I calmed my spirit with the Struggler’s embrace.

I’d have to find a way to transcribe my knowledge of the orb, the same as I was doing for the Foundation manual, to truly ignite her Frenzied Flame. But I didn’t know enough about the process to do her justice. Perhaps there would be more instruction on the blade. But for now, I’d have to be satisfied to at least give the gift of Qi for those who could sense it.

We plowed on and by the time late evening came, we took another break.

“How much more?” Kelsey asked, yawning.

She was looking completely spent, but there was no hint of giving up in her tone.

The girl was a fighter through and through.

“Just a couple more hours, I think,” I said, gauging what was left in the manual. “Thanks again for making this happen, Kelsey.”

“You’re the one who should be thanked,” she said, rubbing her forearm. “I’ll go find us some food.”

Kelsey left and then returned a while later with some of the roasted boar.

We ate in silence for a while, enjoying the break, until Kelsey belched loudly with a laugh.

“Man, I haven’t eaten this good in a long time,” she said as she gnawed on a rib bone. “It’s going to be great having you around here.”

My chewing slowed as I realized what she’d just said.

Did she not realize I was going?

She had to.

But perhaps…not so soon?

“You… do realize I’m leaving tomorrow, right?” I said.

Kelsey looked up at me, mid bite. “What?”

“Remember I told you that I needed to get back to save a bunch of people?”

“Yeah, but not right away?” Kelsey lifted up the manuscript. “Who is supposed to teach us this stuff?”

I chuckled. “Well, you probably have a head start on everyone else.”

Kelsey didn’t look amused.

“Alright,” I said. “I know it might seem sudden, but there’s a time constraint I’m under. I have a duel with someone and if I don’t keep it, a lot of people will lose their homes or worse. Trust me, if I had the time to stay I would.”

“So why rush with this book right now then, if you’re just going to leave?”

“Because if I’m honest,” I said. “There’s no guarantee I’ll make it back.”

“What?”

“I honestly don’t know if I’ll even make it home. And if I don’t, I couldn’t leave here without at least giving humanity the gift of Qi cultivation.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Kelsey said, standing up. “We made a deal, Max. You promised to take me to that city and now you’re saying you might not even come back?”

“No,” I said. “I’m saying I might die.”

She blinked, looking even more shocked.

“It’s a dangerous path I walk, Kelsey. And while I have every intention of returning as soon as I can, nothing is guaranteed. Just trying to be honest with you.” I thought more on what I had to do back in the city and thoughts of Sumatra and Hong Feng stirred again. The bastards needed to die! But no. I couldn’t focus on that. I had to save my people too.

“If there’s one thing I can assure you of, Kelsey, is that when I leave, I’m going to go prepare a place for you. A place for you and everyone here. A place in the new world.” I then tapped the manuscript. “And this knowledge will be the key to making you all a part of it.”

Kelsey frowned. “I don’t like it, but I understand. You got other stuff you need to take care of first.”

“Sadly yes,” I said as those thoughts of Hong Feng creeped into the back of my mind again. “I have a lot to take care of first.”

Kelsey sighed and then tossed the rib bone to the side before wiping her hands.

“Fine then,” she said, grabbing the pen again. “Let’s get this finished so you can get home.”

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