Path of the Berserker

The next day I was up and out the door before dawn.

I skipped getting breakfast in the square to avoid another one-sided food fight and sat down for a bite to eat in the central market instead. I sacrificed a few more coppers for a thick bowl of noodles and a pork bao, wolfing them down before the sun came up.

The artisan district was about ten miles away and I decided to try and jog it despite my full stomach. It was a mistake. By half a mile my side was cramping and I felt like throwing up. I pushed on regardless and used my new-found well of stored Frenzy to send some energy to my side and legs.

The result was amazing.

My pain subsided instantly and I found I could almost hold a sprint for a minute. But as soon as the Frenzy depleted, I was back to holding my side and walk-running again. I stopped every now and then to catch my breath and after about two miles, I guess my food had digested well enough so that I could run somewhat normally again, with only a slight pain in my side. I was actually surprised at how good I felt overall. The massive amounts of Frenzy I had channeled into healing my wounds must have lingered while I slept or something, because although my side hurt from my cramping stomach, the pain from the gash in my side was nearly gone and even my busted lip didn’t look too bad.

I tried using my memories of Hein to stir my Frenzied Flame and produce more Frenzy, but just like before, memories could only do so much. I even tried using the pain from the stitch in my side, but it seemed self-inflicted pain was no good either. Still my Frenzy seemed to refill after about ten minutes or so and I rewarded myself with another burst of sprinting.

I then gave up trying to brew my own Frenzy and instead just eased into a slow jog and set my mind to recalling what I had studied the night before. It did wonders to take my mind off the discomfort in my side as I recalled the chart outlaying the various stages of progression for Frenzy Body Refinement. Similar to normal Body Refinement, there were various categories and different stages to each. With my Mental Focus I envisioned them in my mind as I ran through the mostly deserted streets towards the artisan district.

Body Refinement Category

Description

Muscle Strengthening

I to V

Increases your passive casual strength and your ability to do damage through Frenzy-infused techniques. At 1st stage you will be at peak natural conditioning. At 3rd stage you will have the strength of ten men. At 5th stage you are able to snap iron as easily as twigs in your palms. Train by infusing Frenzy with strenuous exercise.

Reflex Sharpening

I to V

Increases the swiftness at which your body moves and reacts. At 1st stage you will be at peak natural conditioning. At 3rd stage you can snatch arrows out of the air. At 5th stage you are able to run faster than a swallow and move a blade quicker than the eye can see. Train by infusing Frenzy into quick attacks and actions which test your speed and coordination.

Body Hardening

I to V

Increases the durability and hardness of your skin and bones. At 1st stage you will be at peak natural conditioning. At 3rd stage you can resist flames and the blows of dull objects. At 5th stage your body has become as strong as iron and can resist most blades and even arrows. Train by using Frenzy to mend your broken skin and bones.

Internal Strengthening

I to V

Increases the body’s ability to withstand prolonged exertion, toxins and the strain of high-level Frenzy-infused techniques. At 1st stage you will be at peak natural conditioning. At 3rd stage you can consume strong spirits without intoxication. At 5th stage your body can utilize multiple techniques at once without ill effects. Train by using Frenzy to mitigate the effects of toxins and by performing techniques that use high bursts of Frenzy.

Just looking at how much I had to grow was both daunting and exhilarating. I also realized that I was probably playing with fire by using some of those techniques I’d used yesterday when I faced off against Hein. I nearly broke my hand when I punched that Gui Zu guy with [My Turn]. It meant I would need to focus on Body Hardening as well as Muscle Strengthening if I wanted to put my full damage potential to use. But Internal Strengthening seemed just as important. In fact, according to the orb it was one of the limiting factors to everything. Unlike Qi cultivation which relied mostly on stored Qi to be used for techniques, Frenzy could be produced instantly and used in vast quantities regardless of storage. The drawback of course was you usually needed to be in a life or death situation to generate that kind of Frenzy. But the limit to how much Frenzy you could wield was really up to what your body could take.

I was lucky I didn’t end up breaking my arm or worse punching that guy. But the thought of that made me only more eager to get to training and to progress. I had a date with Hein in a month and I figured I’d need to reach at least 3rd stage in all the categories to stand a fighting chance.

The scenery changed considerably when I reached the edge of the artisan district. City blocks and burnt-out cars were replaced with well-manicured orange-blossom trees and winding paths as I entered what used to be a park. A group of enforcers stopped me at the gates, but after showing them the letter from Master Edrik, they let me go after threatening me with their bamboo clubs and warning me not to make any trouble.

Punk-ass enforcers, I thought. But the tiny bit of indignation that stirred within me, caused a little flicker of Frenzy to surge. I grinned and quickly diverted into another sprint, training my Reflex Sharpening ability once again.

I headed in the direction Master Edrik had told me, northeast towards the edge of the district, which was bordered by a large forest. The forest itself was still under the protection of the barrier, but as I gazed on it from afar, it looked as thick as the forests in the wilds. Small houses made in traditional Yee architecture dotted the area, each of them seeming to run a small industry of some kind.

One house clearly belonged to a potter by the number of urns and jugs on the lawn, another had a small farm growing what I think were spirit herbs. There were bright flowers and things that looked like lemon grass and rosemary. I waved to the young woman working the field, but she gave me a distrusting look. She then quickly looked away and went back to tending her crops. She began pushing a plough that would likely have needed two oxen to drag through the earth, but she did so all on her own, moving it with ease.

I had to admit, cultivators were amazing at some things. It was no wonder they didn’t need machines, factories, and AI like we did in the past. A cultivator working as a farmer could probably produce in a month what normally took a whole year. Not only could they use their Qi to push a plough faster than a tractor like that woman did, but they could use it to speed the growth of the crops as well.

Too bad most of them are assholes, I thought. A Qi-based society could be pretty amazing if they believed in things like basic dignity, fairness, and human rights. I laughed at myself. Since when did I become a social activist? Besides, these people had existed like this for over 14,000 years. They were beyond changing, probably beyond saving too.

I passed through a small village square next, where many of the artisans were setting up stalls to sell their goods. The people there were surprisingly a mixture of ethnicities and cultures. While most were still Yee, there were also humanlike races from other worlds, like the tall tan- skin Dharmians and even some from Sumatra and Threja’s home world. Most distinctive however were the Naja people who looked human but had cat-like ears. They made up at least a quarter of the crowd of a few hundred or so people in the market.

I drew quick stares; my ratty clothes and thickening beard probably pegged me for a native right away. Maybe the busted lip too. While no one was overly offensive to me, they weren’t quite friendly either, staring at me with a confused sort of interest, as if to say, “who let you in here?”

I sampled the air with my Flame and caught the slightest sense of fear amidst their mild disdain. Using [Indifference] to keep my head straight, I quickly converted it into more Frenzy to apply towards my gains. I thought then that it probably wasn’t surprising that most of the people here were of the ‘conquered’ variety. Just like Yu Li, being simply gifted as a cultivator was no guarantee into the martial sects. And most people didn’t want to follow that path of brutality anyway. It was far easier to become an artisan’s apprentice and earn your way into one of the crafting sects instead.

I stopped to ask a Naja man where I could find Master Edrik and after looking initially surprised that I had spoken to him, he flicked his ears and then pointed in a general direction. “Edrik’s place is beyond the end of this path. Keep going till you reach the forest. You can’t miss it.”

After thanking him with a bow, I performed another quick jog and true to what he’d said, just beyond the village square, which was in a sort of cul-de-sac, I found a small dirt trail and followed it to a stone-walled house with a smoking kiln in its front yard.

The distinctive ring of hammering metal filled the air as I approached and there in the dusty front yard was Master Edrik, pounding away at a glowing piece of steel atop an anvil. As he worked the material, his eyes seemed to glow with a faint light of their own and I noticed with each strike of the hammer there was more than just natural sparks flying. If I could detect Qi, I’m sure it would be pouring out of him.

“A man of your word,” he said without looking away from his work. “You’re here early. Good. Lysa! Bring the axe!”

A moment later a woman appeared from inside the house, brandishing the axe in both hands. She appeared middle aged, but still quite youthful, with a head of thick dark hair and sparkling blue eyes. She handed me the axe while giving me a warm smile. “Here you are, son.”

“My wife will show you what to do,” Edrik said, still focused on his work. “That axe has a spring attached to it, by the way. That means, it stays here at the end of the day. You give me a good week’s work, and it’s yours to take home at the end. Fair deal?”

“Fair deal. Thank you, Master Edrik.” I bowed again.

“This way, ah… what was your name?” the woman, Lysa, asked.

“You can call me Chun,” I said. “Where do I start?”

Lysa showed me to the back of the house where a bunch of thick logs were placed sloppily next to an old stump. Just behind it was a lean-to that was only a quarter filled with split firewood.

“Have at you,” she said with a playful smile, nodding to the logs. “You can fell another tree from the forest if you run out.” She then leaned closer with a whisper, “And thanks by the way. Edrik likes to do damn near everything himself, but a little extra help around here would do wonders.”

“I’ll do my best,” I said, giving her a smile.

When she left, I couldn’t help but think how nice she was, and how lucky Edrik was to have found such an attractive wife. I hoped I’d get so lucky one day. I grabbed a thick log and placed it on the stump. I had chopped my fair share of firewood in my life, but this time I was going to do it in flair.

It was time to cultivate my Frenzy.

* * *

I chopped wood for three hours straight.

The axe was as light and sharp as Edrik had claimed and it made short work of the logs, but I wasn’t focusing on production. I was instead channeling whatever stored Frenzy I had into my blows. I’d go in savage bursts of about a minute at a time before the Frenzy ran out and then I’d have to chop normally while I tried to focus on mere memories to fill my small well of Frenzy back up.

It was admittedly not as productive as I was hoping it would be, but it was doing something. When I had split enough logs, I carried as many as I could at a time to the lean-to, using Frenzy to build my muscles. It was slow going in terms of cultivation though. I had to work normally for ten minutes waiting for more Frenzy to build, just to get a minute of cultivation in. I started trying different ways to try and generate the Frenzy. I tried to think of the log as my enemy, painting it with Hein’s face in my mind. While it was satisfying to some extent, it still wasn’t generating much Frenzy.

I was starting to understand now why cultivation took so long, especially for Qi cultivators. While their energy source was always present, they had to wait days for their Qi reserves to fill before they could perform techniques, or so Mu Lin’s textbook had explained anyway. I at least had the ability to generate and use massive amounts of energy. I just needed the right catalyst. Unfortunately, Edrik and his wife were turning out to be too nice to help me in that category.

A few minutes later, as if to prove my thoughts, Lysa came out of the house with a sweating glass of ice water mixed with lemon slices. “Thought you might be thirsty.”

“Thanks,” I said, taking it from her. The cool water, hinted with fresh lemon and sweetened with what tasted like honey, was just the kind of thirst quencher I needed. I let out a sigh of satisfaction after gulping nearly the whole thing down. “This really hits the spot. Thanks again.”

“You work very fast,” Lysa said, surveying my progress. “And you’re welcome.”

As she smiled at me, I started to taste lemonade again, but it wasn’t coming from the glass. As I saw the way she was staring at me, I took a risk and decided to test something out. Slowly I began undoing my shirt. “Sure is hot out here. I need to cool down.”

I’d always been pretty slimly built, but after cultivating for the last week and healing myself with Frenzy, I noticed that I was getting pretty cut. I did a little flex and gave her a smile as I handed her back the empty glass and sure enough there was another burst of lemonade again.

Holy crap… I thought. Was I turning the old girl on?

Okay, so maybe it was a little pathetic to farm Frenzy by getting Mrs. Edrik’s motor running. But hell, I could tell she wasn’t really interested in me like that. This was more like her looking at a fireman’s pinup calendar or something. And heck, maybe I could pay old Edrik back in more ways than one by doing so.

I used [Your Fear is my Strength] to generate a good portion of Frenzy and quickly channeled it into my muscles. I then had another idea.

“Time to speed this up,” I said, giving her a wink.

Lysa cocked her head at me quizzically.

I took two logs and stacked them on top of one another.

I then hefted the axe onto my shoulder with [Struggler’s Resolve], mimicking the way Threja used to carry her sword. Then with a yell I leapt into the air and channeled my Frenzy into a swift downward strike.

[Two-Log Chop!], I thought in my head.

The axe split the logs with a massive thwack!

Lysa let out a yelp of shock which quickly turned into a squeal of delight as she clapped her hands together for me, lemonade flowing like a waterfall. I lapped it up as I performed a little bow and gave her a cocky smile.

She then gave me a mischievous grin. “Can you do it again?”

I spent the rest of the afternoon entertaining Lysa with my over the top antics, using the Frenzy she gave me to train both my reflexes and my strength as I performed chop after chop. After all the screaming, even Edrik came around to see what all the fuss was about. He was much harder to win over, but after pulling off my first three-log chop, he eventually gave me a little chuckle before heading back to his anvil.

By the end of the day the wood pile went from a quarter to a third full.

“Looks like you might have to start taking down some trees soon,” Edrik said as I handed him back the axe. “You did a good job. Come the same time tomorrow.”

* * *

I left early again the next morning, but this time I was smart enough to run on an empty stomach and got breakfast once I had reached the artisan’s square. I’d gotten a good night’s sleep too, after spending only a couple hours studying right after having a meal with Yu Li and Su Ling. Yu Li was still upset by the whole apology thing, but I reassured her that it was all going to be fine.

By the time I reached Edrik’s place I saw that my inclination might have been right. The two were beaming and Lysa kept giving Edrik constant pecks on the cheek that he pretended not to like. I chuckled when I saw it. Such a cute and happy middle-aged couple—they reminded me of my parents a bit.

I set to chopping wood and again focused on honing my reflex and strength by chopping multiple logs at a time. With a small but steady flow of Frenzy thanks to Lysa’s cheerleading, I found myself able to work faster and faster, chopping more wood and carrying more weight with each load. By the end of the second day the lean-to was half full. By the third day three quarters. In between chopping wood, I helped with other chores around the house. Moving large baskets of ore for Edrik. Digging a new foundation for an expansion to the house that he hadn’t gotten around to yet. I was dog tired by the time I jogged home each night, but after a few hours of study and a good night’s rest I woke up completely rejuvenated again.

By the fourth day I’d run out of logs to chop and had to set about getting some more.

After gaining some Frenzy from Lysa, by moving around some baskets of steel with my shirt off, I then headed into the forest to quickly use it before it dissipated. I had decided the night before that I was going to teach myself a new technique, which I was tentatively calling [One-Cleave Chop].

Maybe it was kind of a stupid name, but like the log thing it was just a literal description of what I was planning to do. I planned to focus on being able to fell a tree in a single two-handed cleave. I started with small saplings that I knew I could cut down easily, building my swinging technique and confidence.

I then found a small tree that was about three inches thick.

“[One-Cleave Chop!]” I shouted with Frenzy and my axe went clean through.

I felt a little burst of accomplishment by doing that.

From across the distance at the house I heard clapping coming from Lysa.

I laughed. She was too far away for me to gather any Frenzy from her, but her encouragement was enough for me to try a bigger tree. I one-chopped about three more about the same size, and then managed to chop one down that was about 4 inches before finally spotting a tree that was as thick as a telephone pole. Could I do it? I wondered. I thought about it for a bit before deciding that it was way too big and started instead looking for a smaller tree.

Something strange happened then.

I felt something inside me diminish.

Like my Flame had been suddenly quenched with a bucket of water.

What the hell…?

I looked back at the bigger tree again and suddenly felt my Flame reignite.

“You’ve got to be kidding,” I said. Did I just subconsciously make the tree a challenge I couldn’t back down from?

I looked at how thick it was. Maybe four or five of those massive chops and I could do it. But one? I shook my head and immediately felt my Flame diminish again. Ah screw this. I started to walk away and the feeling grew even worse.

What am I doing?

I looked back to the house and saw Lysa eyeing me in anticipation. Damn, I had an audience too. I couldn’t back down now. I walked back to the tree with my axe on my shoulder. I recalled Shura 247.

“Remember, oh kindled,” I recited the verse aloud. “A Berserker’s courage comes not from his confidence in victory, but of his disregard for defeat.”

I squared up on the tree, not caring if I succeeded or not. But I sure as hell was not going to back down. Still the tree was thick and the [Odds were Against Me]. As I thought the phrase, I opened my meridians in the sequence of the technique and suddenly from nowhere a huge rush of Frenzy burst from within me.

I let loose a feral cry as I spun with the axe.

“[One-Cleave Chop!]”

My entire body screamed in pain as my blade hit the bark. Time seemed to freeze as every bone in my arms seemed to break. Then in a sudden burst of heat and energy, the axe drove straight through the tree trunk with a sudden explosive Bam! Wood splintered and flew, the sound as loud as a thunderclap.

I stood shakily, my feet still moving with the momentum of my swing. A loud creaking sound filled the air as the huge trunk began to tilt and fall. My heart was pounding as loud as Edrik’s hammer in my ears and I felt lightheaded. I looked to Lysa and saw her starting at me in shock, before suddenly jumping up and down, clapping her hands in glee. Residual Frenzy surged through my body, suddenly making my stomach feel sick.

I tried to hold my axe triumphantly in the air as the world darkened. Blood then filled my mouth and nose as every organ in my body seemed to explode. I vomited noisily on the ground as my legs gave way.

The last thing I remembered seeing was the expression on Lysa’s face change from elation to fright as the tree and I fell together as one.