Path of the Berserker

BUTTERFLIES FILLED MY stomach as I approached the abandoned train station that was now overrun with weeds, vines and decades-old trees. Ren and Rho were already there, flanking the cultivator wearing dark robes and a black veil.

Her body stiffened as she caught sight of me and I could sense both anger and desire flare from inside her.

“Thanks, guys.” I bowed to Ren and Rho. “I can take it from here.”

Fia barely acknowledged the two of them as she stepped forward.

“Let’s go then, handler,” she said, her tone high and haughty as she strode past me. “I want to be back before long.”

With that she took off with a burst of Qi and qinggong, bouncing off the tops of trees as she disappeared into the distance.

Ren and Rho shared a quiet glance with each other and then looked to me.

“You sure you’ll be okay out here with that lady alone?” Rho asked, looking concerned. “She seemed mighty pissed off for some reason.”

I let out a sigh.

* * *

I rushed to catch up, leaving Ren and Rho far behind.

Once out of sight of them, I engaged my Frenzy to the fullest, applying [Mark of the Beast] to extend my limbs, increasing my reflexes and speed. In the short time that she had left, Silver Light had fallen out of sight, but from the direction she was headed there could be only one place that she was going.

I slowed as the small lakeside beach came within view—the site of our last rendezvous— and sure enough Silver Light was already there waiting for me, sans the veil. Dropping [Mark of the Beast], I put on a mask of [Indifference] to hide the mixed emotions swirling within me.

On one hand, my eagerness to rush in and embrace her was near overwhelming, but I had to hold that in check.

We still had a lot of air to clear.

As I stepped onto the beach, I could sense the emotions boiling over within her as well. She turned and her gorgeous face twisted into a scowl of rage when she saw me.

“You need to explain yourself, Max!” she shouted, storming across the beach towards me. “Why did you attack my brother and destroy my father’s sword? And how in the heavens did you even know how to find him?”

“What?”

“I truly hope you didn’t do all this just to spite me!”

Her questions came so rapid-fire, I barely had a chance to respond.

But one thing was clear.

She was obviously operating on less than half a story.

“Hold on a second,” I said, raising my hands in surrender. “First, I didn’t even know you had a brother. And two, I’m glad I didn’t, because if I’d known that your brother was Hein, I never would have messed with you.”

“Messed with me?” she said, agitated. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Poor choice of words maybe, but it was the truth. “Did he tell you why I beat his ass and broke his sword?”

“Of course, he didn’t,” Fia said. “He doesn’t know about us. But you obviously used it as a means of drawing my attention. But why go through such extremes? I would have come willingly with a simple message, but now you attack my family? My father and mother are involved now. The Warden even! Do you have any idea the trouble that you’ve caused?”

I took it all in for a second and then burst out laughing.

I couldn’t believe it.

Fia was a nice girl deep down inside, I knew that––she’d shown me her heart to prove it once—but she was still an egotistical cultivator when it came to most things. Believing the world revolved around her and that I’d done all this just to get her attention was proof of that.

“Why are you laughing?” she shouted, her silver eyes flashing with fury. “This is not funny!”

“That’s the conclusion you drew from all this?” I said. “You think I did all that just to drag you on another date?”

She blinked, looking perplexed. “Well… what other reason would you have to do it?” Her eyes then softened. “Be honest, Max. Are you cross with me for some reason? Did Xi Xha say anything to you? I know you’ve met with her again.”

Man, this girl was a little dangerous. Was she keeping tabs on me the whole time?

“Just hold your horses,” I said.

“Hold my what?”

“Let’s take a seat and start over.”

“I don’t wish to sit.”

“Is it because you didn’t bring your chair?”

I grinned, trying to make a joke of it. The last time we were here, she’d brought a stupid silver chair that I had to assemble and disassemble several times. But she didn’t seem in the mood for humor.

“You can see I have not brought it,” she said curtly. “Stop avoiding the question! Why have you attacked my family?”

“Because Hein attacked mine.”

“What?”

“It’s a bit of a long story, but that brother of yours got my sister pregnant.”

Her eyes went wide with shock. “He what?!”

“Yeah,” I said. “And that’s not all.”

I went into the details about the whole feud that started between me and Hein. His disrespecting Yu Li, fathering Su Ling and him threatening me and the entire neighborhood by calling me to a duel to take control of the square. By the time I finished Fia’s face was flushed red.

But she didn’t say anything.

“Hey,” I said. “Do you understand what happened now? Your brother--—”

“Is a damn idiot!” she screamed. And then screamed a second time, but with just a yell of frustration. “It’s just like him to go and do something as foolish as this. My father would castrate him if he knew. But I’m confused. Why did you not kill him?”

I blinked, shocked. She actually sounded serious. “You think I should have killed him? Your own brother?”

She shook her head. “Do not misunderstand me. I’m glad you spared him. Idiot that he is, he is still my family. But I’m sure he would aim to kill you, if he ever found out that you have slept with me. Why did you not do the same?”

Man, talk about messed-up.

The brutality of the cultivator mindset never ceased to amaze me. “Well, I could have, but he’s still the father of my sister’s child. And besides, he owes her money now. He needs to be alive to pay it, right?”

Fia nodded, looking genuinely enlightened by my explanation. “Ah, I see. That was wise of you then. But why destroy the sword?”

“Honestly, I thought I was just teaching him a lesson. I didn’t realize how valuable it was.”

“More so than his life,” Fia said with a laugh. “My father was furious. Hein…what a fool.”

The twinkle of mirth in her eyes said there was more than a little sibling rivalry going on between her and Hein. It sounded as if she disliked him as much as I did, despite him being family. And that was just fine with me. She looked at me again and then smiled. “How were you even able to destroy such a relic, by the way?”

“What do you mean?”

“Hein’s sword was a high-tier Aurorean Silver artifact. Destroying it is not something I would think a 2nd-Tier Core cultivator even capable of.”

“I dunno.” I shrugged to downplay it. “Just hit it real hard, I guess.”

The answer seemed to delight her, and she gushed with lemonade again as she smiled. “You are indeed a mystery in so many ways, Max Chun. If only I had the time to unravel them all.”

Unraveling my secrets was the last thing I wanted her to do.

“Well, you gave me a year, didn’t you?” I said, quick to change the subject. “What’s up with all that? You really want me to fight you?”

“Eventually yes,” she said. “But we can discuss all that later. I’m just relieved that it was my foolish brother’s doing that has brought us together and not some vengeful streak from you. I’m so happy.” She smiled then and wrapped her arms around my waist. “I’ve missed you.”

I couldn’t ignore the way my pulse sped as she stared up at me, eyes filled with longing. I knew I shouldn’t be doing this. There were a number of reasons why, but at the moment my mind couldn’t think any.

Ah to hell with it, I thought. I’ve been missing her as well.

I leaned in and kissed her deeply, our lips meshing as one.

Time held no meaning as our tongues danced.

Finally, she pulled away and began undressing hastily.

“Come, Max,” she said with an eagerness that set my loins on fire. “We must make use of this time. I can’t be seen to have gone missing for too long.”

She didn’t have to tell me twice.

I was still confused as hell about everything, but the lust in Fia’s eyes put my own thoughts at bay. Rationality would have to take a backseat for now.

We dove into one another and engaged in a frenzy of a different kind.

* * *

I thought I’d never have the chance to be with Fia again, but the passion we had for one another after only two weeks of being apart surprised even me. I saw to her every need and she to mine and after an hour we both lay on our backs, out of breath and gazing up at the sky.

I was completely spent but feeling completely satisfied.

“I’ve been dreaming of that,” Fia said, still catching her breath. She then leaned over to rest her head against my chest. “Did you miss being with me as well?”

Of course I did, I thought. My body alone could have told her that, but I wasn’t going to give her the satisfaction of that kind of win.

“A guy like me doesn’t have time to miss a lady.” I then grinned to let her know it was a joke. “Even one as beautiful as you.”

She gave me a playful scowl. “You’re insufferable, you know that?”

I only laughed.

We spent a while just talking. About almost nothing at first, but then I started to share with her how I’d started the sect, the constant challengers that kept showing up at my door that I had to keep putting down. She was fascinated by every detail, asking questions while staring at me in awe.

“I know I keep saying it,” she said. “But I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone like you before. You remind me of my father.”

I raised a suspicious brow at that. “I’m not sure that’s a compliment.”

Fia laughed. “It is. My father was a commoner who rose to royalty by will and skill alone. You remind me of him in that regard. I still don’t understand how you’ve advanced so quickly. Before we came to this planet, they said your world held the potential for great prodigies. I truly think you may be one of them.”

I chuckled. “Who knows. I’m just a guy trying to provide a future for my people.”

Fia nodded. “That’s very noble of you. But what of your future?”

“Huh?”

“You sacrifice for your friends and neighbors, but what about yourself? What’s in the future for you, Max Chun?”

She grinned as she said it, placing her hand in mine.

I knew what she probably wanted me to say. A future with her perhaps, but that wasn’t realistic. Not in the long term. As much as I liked her, Fia was still a member of the ruling clan. The great, great, grandniece of the evil bitch who stole me from my family and left them to die. There was no way I could have any real future with her. Not if I was going to avenge my family and free the Earth one day.

“I don’t know,” I said half-joking. “Maybe I’ll take over the whole city.”

Fia scrunched her brows together, trying to decipher if I was joking or not. Finally, I laughed to ease the tension and she swatted at me playfully again.

“Okay we’ve avoided the topic long enough,” I said, standing up to get dressed. “What are we going to do, Fia? Your family has got a writ against me and my sect and we have to fight. How is that going to work?”

She grinned, propping herself up on her elbows in the sand. “Don’t you see, Max? The fates have blessed our destinies to intertwine once more. Surely you cannot think this a coincidence? You getting involved in an altercation with my brother that leads you right back to me? The heavens clearly want us to be together not apart.”

The way she said it made me wary.

Part of me wished I had had the strength to deny her before we’d made love just now. But who was I kidding? My body and heart had betrayed me the moment I saw her in the square. But now, post-coital clarity brought the reality of my situation to the forefront of my mind. How could I explain that I was destined to destroy her entire clan one day?

I sighed. “I guess you could look at it that way. But it still doesn’t solve our problem. I don’t want to fight you, Fia, and I’m not going to give up my sect either.”

“Oh no,” Fia said, shaking her head, her tone serious. “You will have to fight me.”

“What? You’ve got to be kidding.”

“I am not,” she said as she began getting dressed. “We are law bound to fight before the courts of battle and the Warden herself may even be there to bear witness. Which is why, when we do fight, it must be in earnest. You must be of the correct tier and must fight me with all your strength. Do you understand?”

“What the hell? You really want one of us to die or some shit?”

“No, of course not,” she said with a laugh. “I will feign defeat as I would to any favored suitor, but I can’t make it look like I did. That is why, for the next year, I will help you train. In secret. Here out in the wild. When you withhold your killing blow to spare me, I need to be on the brink of death.”

This girl had to be nuts. “You want me to beat you to within an inch of your life?”

“Preferably!” Fia said with a laugh. “How else are you to claim the right to marry me?”

The earth fell away as my stomach lurched into my throat.

Holy shit. Marry her?

My mouth was hanging open, but I couldn’t think of how to respond.

I was having trouble figuring out just how to have a relationship with Fia, but she was jumping straight from first gear to fifth. What the hell would getting married to her even mean?

Did I even want to get married?

Fia leapt up from the sand to clutch her hands around one of my arms. “Oh Max, don’t you see? It’s perfect! The fates have blessed us with a rare opportunity to display your strength and skill before the courts. If you defeat me in earnest, then my parents and even the Warden herself would be unable to deny you your claim of my hand in marriage.” She then grinned with a lustful gleam in her eye. “Although I know you probably won’t even need my help to defeat me. Strong as you are.”

This was crazy. “You’re going to train me to defeat you, just so I can marry you?”

“I admit, it is not common for an outsider to marry a royal,” she said. “My father himself had to craft an exquisite weapon for my grandmother in order to earn his place within the clan. But you. You are unique in a different way. By doing this, you would demonstrate yourself more than worthy of joining the inner circle of the Silver Leaf Clan.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” I said, pulling away. This wasn’t just about marrying her. This was all about me joining her clan.

My stomach felt sick as images of the Warden leaving my family to die flashed through my mind.

How could I ever join her clan after what they’d done?

How could any of it work?

The future of my sect, not to mention my vengeance against the Warden and the Silver Leaf Clan itself. Hein becoming my brother-in-law?

No…none of it made sense.

“Fia, I really like you, but married...?” The more I thought about it, the more complications I saw. I shook my head. “No, this can’t work. I can’t marry you and join your Clan, Fia. I’m sorry.”

She blinked and laughed. “Don’t be foolish? Did I not explain clearly? It is possible if you defeat me in an official match, and my idiot brother has…no, not him. I will not give Hein such credit. The fates themselves have given us this opportunity. We can’t deny this, Max. If we do, the wrath of the heavens themselves will be upon us.”

The wrath of the heavens was already upon me.

Fia just didn’t understand it yet.

Screw my life… I thought. A gem of a girl I actually liked and the fates tempt me with a clear path to her. But not one that I could ever take. Not in good conscience anyway. Even with my own feelings aside, what kind of asshole would I be to marry Fia and then eventually destroy her whole family and everyone she loved? Plus she had no idea who or what I truly was. I was a Berserker. A heretic in her world. She’d be marrying a lie. I couldn’t do that to her either. If I wanted Fia I’d have to choose between my destiny and her.

But I had too many people depending on me now.

Yu Li, Gui Zu, Jian Yi and the rest of the people in the square, not to mention Kelsey and everyone in the wild.

I couldn’t turn my back on them.

“I’m sorry,” I said, pulling away from her. “It can’t happen…”

“You don’t understand. It can hap—”

“I don’t want it to happen,” I said to clarify and she flinched away from me like a scolded child.

Fia looked back at me confused and hurt and the sight broke my heart in two.

I’d just done it again.

Wounded Fia at her most vulnerable. It hurt like hell, but it was probably better than her knowing the truth. Knowing that I actually despised her clan would probably hurt her even more.

She stared back at me incomprehensibly as tears welled within her eyes.

I held my own emotions at bay with a hard stare of [Indifference].

But I had to tell her something––in a way she could understand perhaps. “Fia, it would dishonor the memory of my family to marry into the same ones who saw them killed.”

She squinted at me, looking offended. “What? You accuse my family of killing yours? We’ve done no such thing. If anything, you’ve tried to kill mine! How could you even think that?”

Damn, not the reaction I was hoping for. Perhaps she couldn’t understand.

I had to shut it down before it got worse.

This would only lead to more grief between us.

And I didn’t want that.

“Look, I can’t marry you, Fia,” I said with [Struggler’s Resolve]. “I simply can’t join your clan, but that doesn’t mean I don’t still want to be with you.”

“As what?” she said spitefully. “As a whore like Xi Xha? You think that’s all I want out of this? I am a royal lady! I am deserving of a husband. A husband that meets my status and that of my clan!”

Shit…Maybe I was a fool to think we could ever have something together, no matter how small. But it was clear where her destiny lay as well as mine. “I’m afraid my path lies elsewhere, Fia. I told you this.”

Fia stared at me blankly as the words sunk in.

Then, like a blade being pulled from a sheath, a deathly cold stare entered her silvery eyes. Fia straightened herself, raising her guard again. And this time I feared it might be for good.

“Then I suppose there is no reason for me to train you,” Fia said. “Only a fool would train their enemy to defeat them. And I understand now, that’s exactly what I’ve become by dealing with you. A fool.”

The words were cold and sharp, but I fended them off with a glare.

“It doesn’t have to be this way,” I said. “I can’t marry you, Fia, but that doesn’t mean I want to kill you, or even fight you. There has to be another way.”

“Another way?” Her anger flared. “I offer you my hand in marriage—a royal Lady of the Silver Leaf Clan—access to the inner ranks of the greatest sect in the province and you spit on it? Like it’s nothing! Like I’m nothing!”

Her words echoed with force, reverberating across the lake.

“When the time comes, I will not still spare your life, Max Chun!”

She couldn’t be serious, but Fia was a woman scorned right now.

And I had only myself to blame.

“If that’s what you want,” I said coolly. “But that doesn’t mean I won’t spare yours.”

Her eyes grew wide with mock amusement as a coarse and callous laugh ripped from her throat. “As if you think such is possible?”

Something bright flashed and a split second later, all three of her Jian blades were floating behind her back. A burning sensation on my cheek gave way to something warm and wet that flowed down my neck.

Damn, she actually cut me? I thought.

“Don’t think you have a chance to defeat me, handler. And even if you could, I would never accept your pity. I would rather die with my honor.” Her words remained cold, but inside I could sense immense pain welling up within her. “I will face you a year from now. Ensure you reach 5th Tier by then. I will settle for nothing less than killing you with my own hands.”

“Fia, come on, don’t be like—”

She flashed into the sky with a burst of Qi and then flew off in the direction of the city.

I stood there stupefied for a moment, still not quite processing what the hell had just happened. How did we go from making love to issuing death threats in the space of five minutes? I replayed the short conversation in my mind and wondered whether I could have handled it smoother.

Probably…but the outcome would have still been the same.

I probably couldn’t marry anyone given the crazy shit I was planning to do, much less a daughter of my enemy.

And clearly, I had just made Fia my enemy now as well.

“Shit…”

That was the last thing I wanted.

The familiar embrace of the Struggler comforted me as I fell to my knees. It was inevitable that something like this would happen. Things were going too well. I had too much power to gain to reach my goals and it was inevitable that the scales of fate would balance themselves like this.

The Struggler always needed something to keep the Demon at bay.

Still… why did it have to be her?

My soul ached like a knife to the gut. I still didn’t want to believe it, but a year from now I could be forced to fight Fia for real.