Path of the Berserker

It didn’t take long to figure out that what had happened had been anything but normal.

As soon as we got back to the prison, Yora split us into groups based on our reactions to the horde. More than half of us were lumped together into what she dubbed the unaffected; people who had listened and had turned away from the horde immediately, resulting in no negative reaction at all. Then came the moderate, or shell-shocked group for people like Blue Rose.

The people who were screaming were hauled off someplace else immediately.

They then formed us into queues, with master Eiji examining the moderately affected people. Wing Pho, who was one of the unaffected then volunteered to assist and after getting a clean bill of health from Master Eiji began examining the less critical group that included myself.

The whole time, hushed whispers filtered through the infirmary, all trying to speculate on what the hell just happened. From listening in to some of the veterans, surges that size weren’t uncommon, but most had never seen demons that looked like that before.

“Deep Dwellers,” one of my upperclassmen said near to me. “That’s what I think they were. The expedition records speak of them existing on the Hell Worlds. Must have been the pull from the moon to wake them if they’ve been dormant here all this time.”

I was just about to ask what a Deep Dweller was when Wing Pho called me forward.

“Master Iron Bull,” he said with a bow. “Please cycle your Qi for me.”

I did so warily, conscious to flavor my Frenzy with my [Devil’s Shadow] technique.

“Something seems a little off,” he said. “You should perhaps join the other line so Master Eiji can examine you.”

Oh great, I thought. Just what I needed.

I was already pretty sure that it was I’xol’ukz detecting my presence that had triggered the ‘Deep Dwellers’ or whatever the hell they were, but an examination might confirm it.

I took a place just behind Blue Rose and checked in with her again.

She was still staring off into space in her own little world.

When Master Eiji examined her, he immediately nodded and placed her to the side.

My turn came next.

Master Eiji ushered me forward and began peering at my Dantian as I cycled my Frenzy.

He squinted as a very tense thirty seconds went by.

“You seem mostly fine,” he said finally. “But there is the presence of something unfamiliar there. Perhaps you’ve ingested a small dose.”

I breathed a sigh of relief as he placed me to the side next to Blue Rose.

He went through the rest of the line of the dozen or so of us that were in the moderate category. All but one of us were singled out and placed in the unaffected side.

“You all are to come with me,” he said. “This way.”

Master Eiji began leading us out of the infirmary and I could sense the fear creeping up inside everyone as we headed into the unknown.

“What’s going to happen to us, Master Eiji?” one of our upperclassmen asked. “Are we going to be alright? Where are going?”

“Be calm,” he said. “You’re all going to be fine. You’ve just suffered a small dose of Demonic Qi poisoning.”

“Those things we saw,” the same guy said. “What—”

“Try not to think of it,” Eiji said. “The more you do, the more you’ll encourage the poison to spread.”

We went to the highest floor of the prison and stepped onto the roof.

As soon as we did, I sensed something change in the air. Something radiating energy that was strangely familiar to me. As we approached a tower set in the middle of the roof, I already guessed what was inside.

Master Eiji opened a locked door and then ushed us in to confirm it.

There, suspended on a set of chains was a chunk of Aetherite the size of a car. The handful of Tributes who had gone mad were already inside, basking in the soft yellow glow of the faintly humming crystal. Even from where I stood, several feet away from them, I could sense the Dark Frenzy being driven from their souls.

But could it heal the damage to their minds as well? I wondered.

Perhaps? Or maybe it was just the same as my spiritual progression.

It all depended on your mental fortitude.

If you survived, you got stronger when you eventually healed.

Or you could just never heal at all.

As I looked to Blue Rose, I hoped she fell into the former category.

“You must remain within proximity to the Aetherite crystal for healing,” Master Eiji said. “For you that I’ve just brought, an hour of exposure should be enough.” He then looked to the small group huddling and shivering in the corner. “They may take a bit longer.”

“Should we try to cultivate?” someone asked.

“Yes,” he said. “Do so freely. The more you can cycle your Qi the faster you will rid yourself of the corruption. I’ll be back in an hour.”

Almost immediately, everyone dropped into lotus position and began cultivating.

I slowly did the same, even though there was nothing for me to cultivate from.

But being this close to an aethrite crystal, I was starting to sense a lot of similarities between it and Venja. I could sense that same harmonic resonance, but fainter and cycling my Frenzy, it did seem to reinvigorate me, like restoking the embers of my Flame.

I closed my eyes and decided to get some work done internally.

Retreating into my mind’s eye, I sat in the darkness with the Struggler and the Demon at my sides.

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I decided not to ask them their opinions on the horde.

Even though the demon seemed eager to encounter them again.

“Good spiritual insight gains, I get it,” I said, and the demon nodded in confirmation.

Too bad it nearly turned half the platoon insane.

It made me realize just how strong my spiritual fortitude was compared to normal cultivators. They’d never seen stuff like that before. But I’d seen enough weird shit to be able to tolerate it now.

I thought back to that Flame I’d sensed as well.

Was it truly Kelsey?

Could I sense her from across the stars?

Just as I was beginning to think on that I began to sense something else in the spiritual darkness. A pulse of Frenzy like energy.

Faint.

The same as the crystal.

I dove into the [Spectral Body] of the Struggler to explore the darkness and after traversing a while I came to what looked like a shadowy outline of the crystal itself. It was sparkling like golden glitter floating in the darkness, its shape pulsating like an ever-changing geometric design.

How was it here in the spiritual realm? I wondered. Did it have a spiritual presence?

As I dared to touch it, immediately alien thoughts entered my mind.

Soft whispers.

Far to faint to make out.

But there was definitely…something.

Was the crystal sentient?

Just like Venja?

The more I probed the more I began to sense other things.

Emotions.

Thousands of them.

Different yet the same.

A sense of loss and despair.

Anger…

I was just about to try and probe further when my eyes flashed open, my meditation interrupted by something. Master Eiji was there, waking everyone up to collect us all.

Shit, had a whole hour passed already?

I had no idea how long I’d been engaged with that spiritual entity for but clearly time had slipped into a whole other dimension while I was doing it.

“My head feels clear finally,” Blue Rose said next to me. “What the hell happened? What are we even doing up here?”

I looked back at her oddly. “What?”

“The last thing I remember is standing under the Bloodmoon when the horde was approaching. I remember Chief Yora ordering the retreat but not much else. Maybe I was too drunk.”

Holy crap, she didn’t remember a thing.

And then I recalled a passage from the texts.

To see the unseen is the root of all spiritual growth and understanding, but to do so unprepared is to frolic with disaster. The unseen worlds—be they the Heavens or the nine planes of hell—neither can be seen by mortal eyes. For the eyes of mortals are shielded with the merciful veil of ignorance. To peel back this veil is to embark upon a path of both enlightenment and folly, for to see the unseen is to glimpse infinity.

Her mind was protecting itself, shielding her with its veil.

No different than when I had peered inside that demonic gate for the first time and couldn’t remember what I’d seen. She wasn’t ready to see what she had seen yet. I looked about at my fellow Tributes and everyone else seemed the same.

Disorientated, memories fuzzy.

I looked to the four Tributes who’d been screaming, and they now looked passed out or asleep. Perhaps this was how the crystal healed the mind as well as the soul.

“Each of you must be debriefed by Chief Yora now,” Master Eiji said. “Come with me.”

As we traversed back down the steps, we passed the ‘unaffected group’ which was perhaps heading to the crystal for an even lesser dose of treatment than our own.

I then pushed forward to walk next to the same Tribute who had mentioned the Deep Dwellers.

“Hey,” I said. “You still think those things were Deep Dwellers?”

The guy glanced at me like I had grown three heads. “Hell are you talking about? How you even know that name? Aren’t you new?”

Holy shit…even he didn’t remember anything?

I shook my head. “Think I must have heard Master Eiji mention it.”

“Looked like regular old demons to me,” another Tribute said. “Not that I’d know the difference.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“They say to see a Deep Dweller will drive you instantly mad. No one can even describe what they look like.”

“Really?”

“So they say. They only exist on the Hell Worlds.”

I didn’t know who ‘they’ were, but I wasn’t going to push any further.

He finally just shrugged and I quickly looked away to end the conversation.

I was beginning to feel like I was in that stupid movie, Men in Black. In a secret army fighting against alien invaders but with mind wipe devices to keep everyone oblivious.

Hell, even our robes were black.

But in realty there was no mind wiping going on here. Their minds were just choosing to not remember to protect themselves. The veil of ignorance. Their spiritual fortitude was not yet strong enough to bear it.

This cosmic shit was dangerous, I thought.

Or perhaps I was the dangerous one now.

Able to now see the unseen without harm.

As I stood in line outside Chief Yora’s office for the debrief I began to contemplate what I’d say to her. If I told her the truth of what I could remember, I could be pegged for having way higher spiritual resilience than I ought to have for a new Tribute.

But whether I’d be hailed a prodigy or branded a heretic I didn’t know.

I could try and fake it, I thought—pretend I didn’t remember anything just like everyone else. Or maybe, by telling the truth, I could be placed on a new fast track of advancement if she realized I was already well down the path of where I needed to be.

Anxiety filled me as I approached my turn at the door.

Both scenarios kept flashing through my mind as I sat across from her.

Could I trust her?

She certainly wasn’t like the normal cultivators I’d come across. She seemed practical. Not so caught up in the bullshit. But she had also seen things that even I hadn’t yet seen. Revealing the truth could be high risk. She could possibly even know what a Berserker was.

“So, Iron Bull,” she said as she began taking notes in a book. “Tell me what you recall from this evening’s exercise.”

As my mind went into overdrive, I made a final decision.

“I recall the retreat,” I said. “The horde hitting the barrier. Not much more.”

“You said you were from a world with a Bloodmoon, yes? Did you see anything different tonight than what you’ve experienced before? The demons in particular?”

There it was. The pointed question.

But I’d already made my decision, and for a reason that would hopefully benefit me in the future. I had to know more about that crystal. I definitely sensed a presence there, but I’d need to be able to touch it to confirm.

To see exactly what was inside.

But to do that, I’d need access.

Which meant getting sick again.

Perhaps even for real.

And I couldn’t do that if revealed the true strength of my spiritual insight.

Still, it felt kind of bad lying to Yora.

She’d dealt with me pretty straight up thus far.

“The moon was more intense,” I said, being as truthful as I could. “Other than that. Not much difference.”

She nodded but her eyes squinted.

Skepticism?

Perhaps.

I smiled and shrugged with [Struggler’s Resolve] to play it off. “Demons are demons, right? Why, did something unusual happen?”

A counter-offensive to throw her off my trail.

I crossed my fingers hoping it would work.

To my surprise she actually answered. “An unusually strong surge yes, but nothing you need to be concerned about. I’m suspending Bloodmoon cultivation activities for tomorrow night while the High Marshall and I investigate to ensure safety. Also given what has occurred I’m ordering a day of bed rest. You are dismissed, Iron Bull.”

Damn that was it? I thought.

But I wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

“My thanks, Chief Instructor,” I said with a bow. “After this night, a day off to rest is well appreciated.”

* * *

I left the office to find Blue Rose and Tu’lok waiting for me, both of them wearing ear to ear grins. I approached them warily, definitely not expecting to see them looking so upbeat after what had transpired.

“What’s up?” I said.

“Didn’t Chief Yora tell you?” Tu’lok said. “A day off! Can you believe it?”

“I say our luck is looking up,” Blue Rose said grinning.

I marveled for a moment.

A few hours ago, Blue Rose was bordering on being comatose, now she was back to her old self again. Better even. I supposed I should have been grateful for that. But it was a bit unnerving knowing the truth while they didn’t.

Just another struggle to bear, I reminded myself.

The price of knowledge and truth.

“Yeah, sleeping in sounds nice,” I said. “Must be close to morning now.”

“Forget about the sleeping,” Blue Rose said. “Let’s make a plan with the brothers for tonight. That brew of theirs is starting to grow on me.”

I raised a brow and looked to Tu’lok. “You okay with all this now?”

The big man shrugged. “Wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.”

I contemplated it a moment.

Another night of drinking sounded fun, but I was burdened with worrying about more than just that now. The crystal. Those monstrous demon entities I’d seen. Even finding out if I’d sensed Kelsey or not. But most of all, there was another more time sensitive opportunity to gain some answers, if I were willing to take the risk.

“Nah, I’m good,” I said. “One night a week is probably enough for me, but you two go on ahead. I’ll let Ren and Chu know.”

Blue Rose frowned and looked a little disappointed. “You sure?”

“Yeah,” I said, remembering what Chief Yora had mentioned about inspecting the horde tonight along with the High Marshall. “I got some other dumb stuff I need to go do.”

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