Path of the Berserker

Master Hong Feng poured wine into two small cups as I sat opposite him at his desk, both of us back in the darkened confines of his private back office. He then raised his cup in salute.

“To you officially joining our ranks, Disciple Chun.”

I raised my cup in turn. “To the Fire Birds.”

It made me sick to my stomach to utter the words, but I wore my [Mask of the Despised] to put on a positive disposition. I wasn’t planning on staying in this position any longer than I had to, but I’d have to play the game until I got what I needed out of this deal for now.

“So,” I said. “Is our arrangement now sealed? You’ve witnessed what I have to offer.”

Hong Feng downed the cup of wine in a single gulp and then poured himself another. “Your demonstration came with far more collateral damage than I was expecting,” he said with a frown. “Besides Yin Chu being the head of our Iron Ranked disciples, he was also a rare and gifted practitioner. Only one in a hundred have the purity of spiritual root to master the art of the blue flame.”

I kept quiet, unsure where he was going with this. Another re-negotiation likely, but I sipped my wine instead to see if he would continue his train of thought. Eventually he did.

“To have defeated him in the manner that you did, will cause much disharmony and uncertainty within the sect.”

Hong Feng chuckled. “You’ve once again put me in a difficult position, Chun. Such discord is not easy to mend.”

Bastard, I thought. He was setting up the justification to move the goal post already. I’d have to cut him off at the pass, and quickly if I wanted to stand my ground.

“That was the price you had to pay for your proof.” I shrugged with [Struggler’s Resolve]. “You could have believed me for free.”

Hong Feng laughed again, but I could sense I’d pricked a nerve or two, his slight flicker of anger confirming it.

“Be that as it may,” Hong Feng said “You have indeed demonstrated your strength, but have caused quite a mess in the process. To now elevate you so quickly to a special position might be too much for the sect to accept at this time.”

My Flame began to stir. “We had a deal, Hong Feng. You know what I want out of this.”

“Indeed, we do have a deal, two deals in fact,” he reminded me. “And it is Master Hong Feng, to you now.”

The subtle pull of his leash caused ire to churn in my gut. “Apologies….Master Hong Feng.”

Hong Feng poured himself another shot and downed it while staring at the darkened ceiling, contemplating something. Finally, he spoke without looking at me: “You will report here to the headquarters tomorrow to begin your training to unlock the lightning arts. I’ll have a room prepared for you in one of the outer disciples’ quarters. There should be more than a few vacancies now, thanks to you.”

Shit, I didn’t think about having to actually live here, but what the hell else would joining a sect mean? For someone like Gui Zu this would be a dream come true, but for me it was like a crooked ex-cop being sent to prison.

“You don’t think that might cause more of a problem?” I said, sipping my wine again as I tried to weasel my way out. Being locked in here with the likes of Shen Ju was the last thing I needed. “You said people aren’t exactly happy that Yin Chu is dead.”

Hong Feng laughed. “As a Terran, you’ve never been a part of a martial sect before, so you perhaps would not understand this, but contention and rivalry is all a part of what makes a sect strong. Fierce and ruthless competition will root out the weak. And while Yin Chu was by no means weak, you certainly have raised the standards of what it means to be strong.”

Talk about being a victim of your own success, I thought. I needed a way out of this crap.

“Won’t me living here and working as a handler cause a problem for our other deal? I wouldn’t think you’d want the empire to learn of any special excursion favors being linked back to the Fire Birds.”

Hong Feng laughed once more. “You are quick witted, but of course I have already considered this. Your job as a handler will remain. I will speak with Sumatra to ensure your duties are diminished so you have time to train. As for your position within the sect, until you can produce that lightning, you will remain but an outer disciple of the lowest rank. Is that understood?”

I didn’t like the sound of that at all. “What exactly does that mean?”

“It means you won’t get what you want, until I get what I want,” he said with a sly grin. He then opened his hands in a welcoming gesture. “How am I supposed to announce to the sect that I am creating a new Furious Lightning branch if the star pupil can’t even wield lightning?”

He was dangling another carrot backed up by a stick, but I couldn’t disagree with his logic either. I’d been hoping that Hong Feng would have simply created the new sect to allow me to compete in the Iron Bracket while I continued to train with Gui Zu, but it seemed he was smarter than that. And I couldn’t blame him to be honest. He was banking a lot on me, so why wouldn’t he do something to secure his investment?

Hong Feng then reached for a piece of paper on his desk and showed it to me. I could barely make out the writing, but it was an official document of some kind judging by the imperial crest at the top.

“I am a man who honors my word, Chun,” Hong Feng said. “See here, I’ve already completed the application documentation to establish the new sect. As soon as you are successful in your endeavors, I will make the announcement to the sect and submit this to the officials. Until that time, you shall train in secret at night and report as normal to Sumatra as a handler by day. Your dual role would be especially helpful. It will mean having to send less sect members to Sumatra when required. When there is a task needing to be performed, you will know through either him or me.”

I couldn’t help but feel that I’d been tossed from the frying pan and into the fire with this one. Still, added hardship or not, my progression goal remained the same.

I needed to create lightning.

End of story.

And on the bright side, I had a lot more opportunity to do that now with the resources available within the sect. So long as I could keep the knives out of my back. If anything, this only further heightened it as my number one priority now. Master lightning, enter the tournament under a new sect and then rank 20th place or higher to gain my citizenship.

After that…all these guys could go to hell.

There was a knock at the door and Hong Feng looked up perturbed. “Who is it?”

“It is I, Shen Ju, Master Hong Feng,” the man’s voice came through the door. “I have brought the remnants.”

“Come.”

The door opened and Shen Ju appeared, carrying a small wooden box in his hands. He didn’t appear surprised to see me-—he was the one who had sent me to see Hong Feng after all—-- but that didn’t stop his disdain for me from radiating from his glare like the stink of week-old fish.

He set the box in front of Hong Feng and performed a quick bow. “Of the six, there were only three to be recovered.”

Hong Feng opened the box and rummaging inside, withdrew three glowing gems. Two of them small and red like burning coals, the other larger and glowing with a deep blue. My chest tightened a bit, realizing what they were—human cores. But as I looked closer, they didn’t appear as radiant as the lightning core I’d retrieved from the old man. Dark black veins ran through them and I could sense a hint of Dark Frenzy exuding from them as well.

Hong Feng studied the two smaller fire cores before placing them back in the box.

“You may take these two for your personal use,” Hong Feng said as he handed the box back to Shen Ju. “Consider it a bonus for your promotion to Iron Bracket leader.”

Shen Ju looked shocked for a moment, glancing at me as if something he didn’t expect had just transpired. But then he gathered himself and performed a deep bow.

“You are most gracious, master. I am honored to obtain such a privileged role.”

“Chun here will join us as an outer disciple initiate,” Hong Feng continued. “He will be allowed access to the lower library and granted time to study unhindered at night. Is that understood?”

Shen Ju grimaced but managed to bow again. “As you command, master.”

“Leave us now. I have one last matter to attend to privately with our new recruit.”

Shen Ju gave me a final middle-finger of a glance before leaving the room.

“Do you know what this is?” Hong Feng said as he twirled the Frenzy-tainted blue core between his fingers.

“I would imagine that’s what left of Yin Chu,” I said casually.

Hong Feng looked a bit surprised by my flippant answer but then smiled. “I suppose it was rather obvious. Few have seen a man’s inner core before. Even to possess one is a death sentence according to imperial law.”

Yeah, I know. I’m lugging around a piece of one in my gut right now, I almost wanted to say, but I just nodded instead.

“They say a man’s soul becomes a part of one’s core. The very essence of his being entrapped inside a solid lump of Qi. Some legends say that one can even be rebirthed…if you plant his core in a pile of a dragon shit.”

Hong Feng laughed crudely at his own joke and I chuckled politely to humor him.

“I’ll have to look out for dragon shit next time I’m out in the field,” I said with a smile, which caused Hong Feng to laugh even harder and swallow down some more wine.

“I like your attitude, Chun,” he said, slapping the table. “I’m glad you’ve finally decided to join our ranks. You may have a long and bright future here.”

Not if I can help it, I thought, but merely smiled at him instead.

“Speaking of which,” he continued. “You’ve shown me your hidden strength. And now that you are a part of this sect, I will reveal to you our hidden strength as well.”

Hong Feng placed the blue-hued fire core in the flat of his palm. “Watch carefully.”

He began chanting rhythmically in a strange tongue as he focused on the core intently with his eyes. The core began to shake and then suddenly, enormous tendrils of Dark Frenzy poured from out of him, almost visible like shadows of undulating serpents stemming from his back. The pressure from it pressed on my own core and I had to use my mask to hide my grimace of discomfort.

The core began to dissolve in his palm as the shadowy tendrils lapped at it like the heads of a hydra, the Dark Frenzy slowly consuming it before my eyes. I had to feign shock, not knowing how else I should react to this, or if I was even supposed to be able to see it at all. And I didn’t have to feign very hard either. I’d already guessed that the Fire Birds were using some method to absorb human cores, but to see it in action was a different matter.

It was unnerving and caused a sickness to my stomach, like watching some unearthly being feeding directly on a human soul. When the core disappeared completely, the dark tendrils withdrew back inside Hong Feng, his eyes rolling back into his head as he released a groan of what sounded disgustingly like pleasure. When it was all over, he finally seemed to come back to himself, his skin slick with a sheen of sweat.

“Well, that was something…” he said, wiping his brow with the back of his hand. “…some forty years’ worth of cultivating effort and growth, acquired in less than a minute.” He then focused on me, his gaze becoming deathly cold. “Does this shock you, Chun?”

Disgust was more the word I was looking for, but I played it off with [Indifference]. “As you already said. We all have our secrets.”

“Well put…” Hong Feng gave me a nod. “What you just witnessed was an ancient cultivation technique practiced for thousands of years in my home world. But the empire has branded it an illegal practice. A form of cannibalism, they say—demonic. To us it is merely making use of lost potential when a cultivator dies…even if it takes the soul of a demon to do it.”

The soul of a demon? How the hell did that work?

“Sounds fair,” I said, trying to stay on his good side. But his mention of the demon soul sparked new interest. Was that what Dark Frenzy truly was? Demonic energy? It’d make sense if so. Frenzy was formed by the Struggler wrestling against the Demon after all. But that caused another question.

“How do you mask this demonic energy from other cultivators? How do you keep it hidden?”

Hong Feng grinned before letting out a laugh. “We have our methods. Very few are sensitive enough to detect the subtle difference between normal Qi and the Qi absorbed through demonic cultivation. One only need to bolster the element of their spiritual aspect to mask it. But I would guess that perhaps you might be somehow sensitive to it, Chun.”

I shrugged before giving a non-committal answer. “What’s it matter? Energy is energy, right? Who cares about the source?”

The sect elder laughed again, clearly amused by my answer, but on the inside my mind was churning. If the Fire Birds had found a way to flavor their demonic energy with an aspect, then maybe I could find a more permanent solution to hauling around this lightning core.

Hong Feng then waved his hand and a blue flame appeared in the center of his palm.

“I had hoped to have harvested this from Yin Chu only when he had reached a much higher stage of advancement,” Hong Feng said, studying the Flame. “He was a newly ranked Core Realm cultivator but a few months ago.” He then snapped his palm closed. “You ended that cultivation prematurely and thus owe me another debt, Chun. I do not like it when I’m forced to liquidate my investments before they have matured.”

I tensed as the conversation took on an abruptly sinister tone. I had first thought that Hong Feng had risked showing me all this in an attempt to build some kind of trust with me. To make it more easy for me to share my secrets with him. But his demonstration wasn’t a show of trust.

It’d been a threat.

It didn’t matter if I chose to share my secrets with him or not. When he was ready, he’d simply take it from me. The same way he had taken it from Yin Chu. I felt the Struggler take another flogging as the leash around my neck grew tighter. Hong Feng wasn’t running a sect. He was cultivating a garden of lesser cultivators to feed upon. My flesh crawled at the idea and I understood now why the empire had banned this kind of cultivation. And by those dark tendrils, perhaps Hong Feng was becoming more of a demon himself.

Or his soul was at least.

“I’ll consider it a long-term debt you must pay in the future,” he said, taking a casual sip of wine. “For now, focus on what you owe me in the present.”

I took that as a hint our meeting was over and then stood, giving him a bow. “I’ll move in discreetly right after work tomorrow and begin my training right away.”

“Good. I look forward to it,” he said, stroking his gnarled beard. “And remember this, Chun. You are a Fire Bird now. As we are born to the Flame so we die to the Flame. There is no quitting in this sect. Death is the only way a Fire Bird ever leaves.” He then paused as if to make sure the words sunk in.

“Be certain you don’t try to do so prematurely.”