Path of the Berserker

The morning assembly was packed full of all ranks and robes.

It was time for another two-week rotation—newborn Brown Robes joining us after surviving their gauntlet across the desert while a platoon of Legionnaires returned from the Hell Worlds and another took their place.

As I rushed to take my spot within the ranks of the Black Robes, I spotted Blue Rose and Tu’lok. Instinctually I gravitated towards them, but then Chief Yora caught my attention and directed me to stand two ranks ahead to rub shoulders with the likes of Jei Su Long and his crew.

I could sense the confusion in Blue Rose and Tu’lok’s combined stares as I leapfrogged ahead of them, but I decided to brush it off with [Indifference] for now. Or at least until the assembly was over. This would be my tenth or twelfths now, but each time I was impressed at how the President Tzu Li Zen took notice of each and every one of us, mentally keeping track of who was advancing.

And perhaps also who was not.

I was no different, the High Marshal giving me a slight nod as he saw me in my new place. His opening speech was the same as I’d become accustomed to. A welcome to the new Brown Robes joining us as well as a broad overview of our mission to defend the empire against the scourge of the Cursed Stars.

When we got to the rotation of the Legionnaires however, something very different took place. Where I expected to see a handful of half-sane Legionnaires stumble shell-shocked onto the parade ground, newly returned home from their deployment, I instead saw only Chief Yora step forward.

“Legionnaires of the 19th Deployment of the 5,073rd campaign,” Tzu Li Zen shouted. “Give report!”

Chief Yora bowed deeply before the High Marshal. “High Marshal, the 19th Deployment was lost on entry to the Hell World of G’har Xi’ung. Zero gates destroyed. Zero Aetherite crystal recovered.”

“Understood,” Tzu Li Zen said. “Assembly! Let us pay respects to the lost platoon! To the 19th of the 5,073rd who paid the ultimate sacrifice for the good of the empire.”

Where there normally came applause for a successful sortie, a somber silence stood instead. I could sense fear coming from different pockets around me. More from the rear where the white and brown robes were than from the four ranks of Black Robes ahead of me. We were all well adjusted to what fate may lay ahead for us now.

But damn, I thought. Only four ranks separated me from my goal.

A few more ranks of advancement and I’d finally be on rotation to the Cursed Stars.

So long as I learned how to fly as well as survive a night under the Bloodmoon by that time, of course. But both those things were within my control. My advancement in them was up to my effort. And with Fia nearing the halfway mark with her pregnancy, no way could I afford to miss getting home before she gave birth.

Less than five months.

That’s the time I gave myself.

I had to be on my way back to Earth well before then.

And I was well on my way to achieving it.

“May the 20th Deployment step forward,” Tzu Li Zen said and twenty Black Robes from the front rank advanced. “Assembly, hail the 20th Deployment of the 5073rd Campaign, the last sortie to assault planet G’har Xi’ung before rotating to planet Fhae I’ung. Give them your praise, respect and honor!”

I thrusted my right fist into the air in a salute that was nearly instinctive now.

The words that followed came instinctively as well.

Words that resonated deep with the Dao of my soul.

Words that would see me come home after my journey across the stars.

“To those who now face the Hell Worlds of the Cursed Stars, we the assembly of Tributes salute you! May we too one day tread the path of death and sacrifice ourselves for the glory of the Empire. Go a mortal and return a god!”

* * *

“What the hell was that all about?”

I jerked my head back startled as Blue Rose approached me aggressively after the assembly broke. We were on the edge of the courtyard away from most of the masses, but still I glanced about nervously as I sensed an embarrassing conversation about to unfold. At first, I thought she was referring to the moment of silence, but then I saw the look on her face. One of confusion. Anger almost.

“What do you mean?”

“How did you advance two ranks overnight?” she said. “What did you do?”

I froze as her blue eyes studied me.

Piercing.

Accusatory.

I tried my best to engage my [Struggler’s Resolve]. I didn’t want to lie, but I certainly couldn’t tell her the whole truth either. “I don’t know. I guess I did a little better on that Bloodmoon test than everyone else.”

“Like hell you did. What did you say to Chief Yora in your debrief?”

“Nothing,” I said honestly. “I don’t say anything.”

“Bullshit! What did you say, Max?”

I shifted to my backfoot, eyeing her warily. “I really don’t have to tell you anything you know?”

Her nostrils flared. “Oh, so that’s how it’s going to be, huh?”

“What the hell’s gotten into you?”

Then I sensed it.

Full blown anger.

“I thought we were friends, Max! Help each other out. Work together. Or was all that stick together bullshit you were preaching, just aimed at me?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Where’d you go last night, huh?” she said stepping into my space. “You ditched us all to go do something. What did you go do? Did you bribe Chief Yora? Sleep with her?”

“Hey! Cut the shit, Blue!” I said, pushing her back. “You’re starting to sound like Jei Su Long. Ain’t nothing going on like that. And how could you disrespect the chief by saying something like that anyway?”

“Well make it make sense then?” she said. “How’d we go from being peers to you being our upperclassmen overnight? Or do you just have your head so far up Yora’s ass now that anything is possible?”

I tried to empathize with her but just couldn’t.

This shit was coming out of nowhere.

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And it was offensive.

“I don’t have to explain myself to you,” I said. “It is what it is. Simple as that.”

Blue Rose nodded, looking more pissed off than ever. “Nice. Real nice, Bull Man.”

She turned and began stalking off.

“Well, I was going to ask you to help me learn how to fly,” I called after her. “But I guess that’s out of the question.”

“Go help yourself, Max!” she shouted without looking back at me. “Seems you’re getting pretty good at that. Damn hypocrite.”

I grumbled under my breath as she walked off.

Damn stupid woman. Hell was her problem?

Suddenly Tu’lok was standing beside me. “What happened to you two?”

“I don’t know. She got pissed off over nothing.”

“Nothing?”

I shrugged. “Well, me advancing a little. Ahead of her, I guess.”

Tu’lok folded his arms across his chest. “Probably thinks you tricked her into being partners instead of competitors.”

“I didn’t trick anybody.”

“I said she probably ‘thinks’ that.”

“Do you think that?”

Tu’lok shrugged. “I’m on a different path than you two. Phalanx is my end. I expect you to be ahead of me. She clearly thought you’d advance together.”

Damn, I thought. I guess it might seem like a bit of betrayal from her point of view, but I didn’t intend for any of this.

But that didn’t matter.

It would look all the same to her.

I sighed.

Just another burden to bear, I thought.

“You coming to phalanx training?” Tu’lok asked. “She’ll be there. Maybe you two could talk it out some more.”

I shook my head. “Nah…she’s too pissed off right now.”

And frankly I was a little pissed off myself. But at what I still wasn’t quite sure. I honestly hadn’t given a thought to how leaving Blue Rose behind might make her feel. Hell, I wasn’t thinking about her at all. I didn’t have any reason to.

And maybe that was the point.

But I didn’t know Chief Yora was going to elevate me like this either.

It was just another reminder that advancement came at a price.

Even the loss of friends.

“I’ll see you around, Tu’lok,” I said. “I’m going to take my frustrations out on some paper and ink.”

“Oh, you’re going to write her a letter?” Tu’lok nodded. “Good idea.”

“Wait what? No. I’m going to…”

I let my words trail off with a sigh.

I had meant my artwork, but no sense explaining to him what I was about to do either.

“Yeah,” I said finally. “I’m going to go write some letters.”

* * *

Although I had been referring to my art lessons with Master Egi, I did end up writing some letters in the end. I wrote to Fia of course but then added a letter written in English for Kelsey. I wrote what I had experienced that night and hoped that she could confirm the same had happened to her. That we somehow connected across the void of space.

Berserker style.

I did all this at the library. After using the key to open the cabinet I absorbed more cosmic knowledge from the picture book of demonic entities. I spent most of the morning doing that and between enduring the eyeball watering images I flipped between the three manuals I had gotten on flight techniques.

I studied each with the same intensity as I did the foundation manual. And with each reading I committed more and more to memory. After going over all three several times, I was definitely settling on the [Air Walking] technique as the one that best suited my style.

But how was I going to adapt it to my use of Frenzy?

The basic principle was using concentrated bursts of Qi at the soles of the feet to basically ‘kick’ off the air as if it were a solid surface. Not jet propulsion like the true flight style where Qi was constantly being expended to keep you afloat.

Quick and controlled bursts, that was the principle.

But Qi was not the same as Frenzy in a practical sense.

It was a form of energy, but Qi could be exerted as a force as well.

I’d need some way to simulate that through my use of Frenzy.

I studied the meridian sequences in the [Air Walk] manual and in my mind compared them to the only other technique I knew that had some comparison.

[Frenzied Lightning].

Could I make it work?

I pulled out a fresh sheet of paper and began scribbling down the basic lightning technique from my mind’s eye. The heart of it was the jing meridian. Next to the [Frenzied Lightning] sequence I wrote out the basic [Air Walk] technique. There was a lot going on at once, with some meridians needing to be engaged by both of the technique.

But perhaps not at the same time, I thought.

I went to work puzzling through the characters, rearranging them like a mathematic equation. An hour went by as I scrapped the process four or five times, scrunching up the paper of my failed attempts.

I was about to give up when I decided to go back through the texts again.

The concept seemed sound, so why wasn’t the ‘math’ lining up?

And then suddenly it hit me.

I was trying to line them up in sequence.

Make lightning that I then sent though the [Air Walk] technique, which in itself was a method of turning energy into a solid form. But the [Frenzied Lightning] technique started with a solid form of energy.

My core.

Quickly I pulled out a fresh sheet of paper and began scribbling in earnest, not linking the two techniques together but ping-ponging them between one another, setting the connections on where they made sense in terms of the flow of energy not the outcome.

By the time I added the last meridian, the whole thing came together.

A technique nearly two pages long.

It would be a heck of a lot to memorize and master.

But damn if I could do it…

I went to the top of the page and added a name.

[Lightning Walk Technique]

Well that sounds cool as hell, I thought. But can I actually make it work in reality?

There was only one way to find out.

I was just about to get up and leave to go to the practice yard when a voice came from behind.

“Ah so, here you are. Hiding in the back.”

I looked about to see Master Eiji approaching with a set of brushes and fresh paper in hand.

“Master Eiji.” I stood and gave him a bow.

He waved his hand dismissively. “You need not bow to me. You are my senior now.”

“Never,” I said with a laugh. “Our robes may be different colors but you’re still the master here.”

“Indeed I am,” he said dropping the brushes in front of me. “And you will become my student once more.”

“Actually, I just wanted to go try something real qui—”

“Nope.” He pointed towards the seat. “Yora said to might try to wiggle out of this, but she said it was of the upmost importance. So sit down and pay attention. Your first lesson in the brush starts today.”

* * *

I honestly didn’t know what to expect from the art lessons.

Or how long they would take.

But Master Eiji was anything if not thorough. It was an hour before he allowed me to even hold a brush. That time was instead spent by me cleaning them. Several times.

“If you cannot maintain your tools there is no hope for you,” he said.

He then explained concepts of perspective, scale, lighting.

Finally, after another hour, he sat next to me and began to draw while I tried to follow along next to him. We were drawing an apple he had brought that was now sat on the table. I had no idea how difficult something could be. I had to keep starting over while he continued to reproduce the image flawlessly.

“You know,” I said. “Back on my world we used to have these things called cameras. Did all this in a second.”

“Your ‘Kam Rah’ sounds like a Qi Tablet. We could use this too. But what would be the point? The point is to develop skill so that you can produce what has yet not been seen. To create the image seen only in your mind’s eye.”

I sighed. “Yeah, I get it.”

“Good,” Eiji said. “Now start again.”

We continued after lunch and went for the rest of the afternoon. By that time, I was itching to be done with drawing. In between the brush strokes I also had a lot of time to think about Blue Rose. Now that the anger had worn off, I eventually did feel bad that I had upset her. I’d made her change and then what I did, probably looked like the same thing she had done to me back out in the desert.

Seizing the prize to go on alone.

That wasn’t my intention.

But it looked the same.

I decided I’d have to explain it all to her somehow, but right now some distance was probably good. As I looked to the setting sun a new idea hit. I had no idea if the High Marshal had managed to close the gate, but seeing as he was at the ceremony this morning, he must have had some kind of success.

Which meant they might start up the Bloodmoon cultivation sessions again while the moon was still full. But that also meant now was a very short window of opportunity to gain access to the crystal alone.

If I played my cards right.

“Hey, Master Eiji, I have one more favor to ask.”

“Oh?” he said.

“Chief Yora said I should gain insight where I can. I know the Bloodmoon is still full and the classes have been cancelled, but I wanted to take a look for myself tonight.”

He looked at me oddly. “I have no authority over that. You will need to speak to chief Yora.”

“Oh, I know,” I said. “And I will. But what I wanted to ask of you is if you could be available to watch over me, in case I need to be rushed to the crystal.”

His eyes widened some more. “Oh…that sounds dangerous.”

“Which is why I need you as my back up,” I said. “Will you help me?”

He shook his head. “I can’t say I will unless Chief Yora approves it. But if she does, of course I will.”

“Thanks,” I said. “I’ll be right back.”

I ignored his protests to finish the art lesson and left the library to find Chief Yora. I tracked her down in her office and after explaining my idea, she leaned back in her chair with a wry smile.

“You never take a break, do you?”

I mirrored her smile. “No time like the present. The moon is still full to cultivate from and I figured there might be more Star Cursed demons out there as well.”

“Master Tzu Li Zen closed the gate,” she said. “So unlikely, but there could be some stragglers, I suppose.”

“So you’ll let me go?”

“It’s still a risk.”

“I’ve already asked Master Eiji to accompany me in case I get into trouble.”

She chuckled. “So, I see you’ve thought of everything.”

I nodded and grinned like an idiot. “Pretty much.”

“Very well,” she said. “I will accompany you as well. I will use it as a test to see if training can be resumed for the rest of the Black Robes.”

I pulled an internal fist pump. “Thank you, Chief Yora.”

“Meet at the barrier at moonrise. We should know soon enough if the conditions are good or not.” She then huffed out a sigh. “And I could do without another late night. So be prompt.”

“Understood, Chief Instructor,” I said and gave her a bow. “I’ll be sure not to be late.”