Path of the Berserker

The trip into orbit was as fast as Ling Wei promised.

Already I could see the brilliance of the imperial city quickly disappearing below a blanket of low-lying clouds as the vessel soared skywards, its body maintaining completely horizontal as it rose vertically. Oddly, I didn’t feel much G-force from the rapid ascent at all, the effect perhaps damped somehow by the Qi-stones that simultaneously kept the ship afloat and gave us thrust.

Perhaps they were akin to the aetherite crystal in the city.

Or even made of aetherite themselves.

I held on to Fia’s quill, feeling the string of characters inscribed on its surface. I was desperate to read them, but I would respect her wishes and read them only when on the transport. Not to mention that it felt like she had written more than just a couple of words this time, the character feeling numerous and smaller than usual. I tucked the quill away and treated it as a surprise to be savored for later.

I watched the city continue to grow smaller, my eyes straining to somehow still see Fia on deck waving to me. When the city finally fell out of view, my mindset shifted. It was just me now. My family and friends were far below and counting on my return and I would have put on my game face the entire time to survive.

I treated it like a match in the arena in my mind. Earth was the locker room and I was now on my way to the ring. I didn’t know what challengers awaited me there, but like any match there was no prize for losing.

I had to win no matter what.

“Would you not feel more comfortable sitting?” Ling Wei said.

It was only then that I realized that I’d been standing the entire time in a skiff full of plush couches. I took a seat opposite Ling Wei and she almost ceremoniously presented me with an envelope adorned with the royal seal.

“A personal message from her majesty,” Ling Wei said.

I raised a brow. “Should I read it?”

“You may,” Ling Wei said. “But it is perhaps best if we spoke first. Its content may have far more relevance then.”

My curiosity was piqued at that. “Yeah, you said you had much to discuss, right?”

“Indeed I do, Master Iron Bull. How familiar are you with the tradition of sending tributes to the Legionnaire Academy?”

I shrugged. “I know its to battle the scourge of the Cursed Stars, right?”

“Oh yes,” she said. “That too of course.”

That too? What the hell did she mean?

She must have caught the confused look on my face because she instantly smiled. “I apologize. I speak more to the political nature of the tributes. It is a tradition millennia old and yes, its original purpose was to seek able-bodied cultivators to push back against the expanse of the Cursed Stars, but in the modern era this need has waned somewhat. The issue of tributes has far more economic and political significance now.”

“Oh?” I said, waiting for more. I honestly couldn’t care about the politics other than gaining my Diamond Bracket title, but it had to be important to the Princess for making the decision to send me. “So what’s the significance?”

“The lower courts of the empire is comprised of the lesser houses that rule the core worlds,” she said. “When the Great Soul Emperor expanded his domain, new planets came under the rule of the Yee Dynasty and their native inhabitants were offered as tributes to the academy to train and defend the borders of the core worlds from the scourge of the Cursed Stars. In return for this tribute, the Emperor offered favor from the core worlds to help solidify the status of the fledgling colonies. While thousands of years have passed and those newly colonized worlds have now advanced to the same level as the core worlds themselves, your world is still at that same fledging state. Older colonies are now nearly exempt from sending tributes. For them sending a tribute is more a ceremonial token now that they have evolved to the point of their native inhabitants being able to reach Lesser Deity Realm cultivation levels and even beyond if they are so lucky or talented to transition to the higher planes.”

“Lesser Deity realm? You mean they send demi-gods to this academy?”

She chuckled. “Heavens no. Such would be a waste of talent and ability. The loss of even a Lesser Deity Realm Cultivator is not unheard of on the Hell Worlds. There are forces there that suppress one’s Qi and can make strength almost insignificant.”

She had to be talking about Dark Frenzy, the true essence of that space god I’xol’ukz. And if the concentrations produced by the Cursed Stars was enough to affect even normal cultivators then who knew what it would do to me. But I at least had a defense now in my [Soul Shield] technique. The thought made me eager to go on my first tour and test it out.

Who knows? I thought. Perhaps I could thrive on these Hell Worlds instead of merely survive.

Images of when I traveled to that alternate dimension on the surface of the moon returned to my mind. Those giant demon hordes and the chained, gates crystals that seemed to connect the moon to other worlds. And not to mention the giant blue bitch who seemed in control of them all.

I’xan’dra the Great Chain Maiden or some shit.

There were great mysteries to be discovered on these Hell Worlds, but perhaps they were only important or even accessible to a Berserker like me. One more reason to succeed at the academy and head out on my first tour. If I was able to destroy the crystal that linked that gate in the second base from the Moon to the Earth, then perhaps I could somehow find the crystal that had spawned that massive gate on the moon as well.

Maybe even destroy it if I could.

Or at least figure out how all that crap was connected anyway.

Then there was the connection between the Frenzied Flame and the Stars themselves. I still didn’t know—

“Master Iron Bull?”

I suddenly realized I’d been staring off into space consumed in my own thoughts.

“Sorry,” I said. “A lot on my mind, I guess. You were saying?”

She smiled. “Understandable. I was saying that numbers matter more than strength when it comes to fighting on the Hell Worlds. Tours are sent in waves, with only a short time spent within each. It’s why gaining tributes from the newer colonies are still necessary.”

It sounded more like they needed to send the less valuable cannon fodder to me, but I wasn’t complaining. Messed up system or not, it was still my ticket to gaining further insight into the unknown and not to mention gaining the imperial status I needed to stand up to the Warden and defend my people back home.

Back home, I thought with a chuckle. I was a million miles away already in my mind.

“I see,” I said. “So what ‘favors’ do we get as a planet for me being a tribute?”

“I’m glad you asked,” she said smiling again. “As a first tribute, you will gain the Princess much honor in the eyes of her peers in the lower courts of the core world. But if you are successful, it would be even more so.”

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“So me surviving is a big deal. Good to know. I’ll do my best.”

“There is a bit more,” she said leaning closer. “The gaining of status through the tributes is one still utilized by the core worlds, although mostly ceremonial as I said, but some are still sent.”

“I thought you said they were too important to risk like that.”

“Not to fight on the Hell Worlds but there are some royal houses that require such a system to…qualify their family members for certain martial brackets in short order. Not unlike the opportunity the Princess has made for you in that regard.”

I chuckled. “Yeah, I get it.”

“Further though, it would be quite the loss of face for one of the core world families to have their tribute fail at the academy, thus there are certain…provisions that can be made, to ensure one’s success.”

What the hell was she talking about? “You mean like cheating?”

She chuckled. “Such a word would cause much offense, Master Iron Bull. There are simply different levels of status within the world of tributes. The core worlds have a far different experience than those from newly seeded colonies like yourselves.”

Newly seeded? More like newly conquered, I thought. But I wasn’t going to cause a stink. The woman Ling Wei seemed nice enough thus far and she was just the messenger after all.

“The Princess has made such provisions to see that you too may be included in the numbers amongst the core word tributes,” Ling Wei said nodding to the envelope in my hand. “If you’ll accept the requirements of course.”

“What requirements?”

“It would be too obvious to request such favor directly,” she said. “Especially for a new tribute such as yourself. But if you were to be identified as a potential future lord consort, then we believe arrangements could perhaps be made.”

“Potential future lord consort?” I scoffed at the title. “What the hell is that?”

“It’s nothing really,” she said. “A fanciful designation that merely recognizes your potential to perhaps one day marry into the royal family.”

What the hell? “Maybe you haven’t heard but I’m kind of engaged.”

She bowed her head slightly. “Of course, Master Iron Bull. This is meant as no disrespect to your impending union, it is merely recognition of your potential to one day be considered for such. You seem well on your way to establishing yourself within the Sacred Soul Realm. As such you would be regarded as near immortal, aging less than a day for a year. The lives of cultivators are long and varied. In a hundred years who knows? You may choose to take a second wife from the lineage of her majesty.”

My stomach soured. “Sorry, but I’m a one woman kind of guy.”

“Apologies,” she said with a laugh. “This is all hypothetical, Master Iron Bull. No commitment is truly required of you, save for on paper to convince the dean, of course.”

“The dean?”

“The president of the Academy,” Ling Wei said. “The High Marshall Tzu Li Zen. The princess herself has prepared an introduction of yourself to him in the capacity as a potential future lord consort to afford you the higher status while at the academy. Assuming you sign the documents.”

She gestured to the envelope again and I opened it warily.

Inside was another sealed envelope along with two other sheets of paper. One was a contract of some kind, filled with tiny script and legal characters that only Jian Yi would be able to understand. The second was a handwritten note that was penned with fine brush strokes.

My dearest tribute,

First, my praise and thanks for your great courage in accepting this responsibility on behalf of myself and your people. The natives of Terra would do well to know that they are being represented by the Iron Bull.

Your success is important to me.

For many reasons.

Not least of which is the honor you will bring to me personally.

It is for this reason that I too will extend a personal overture to you in the form of this contract to assume the role of a potential future lord consort. This status, while temporal, will afford you much grace at the academy to ensure your success.

Fear not in seeking how to repay me for this great offering of favor.

With your success there shall be ample future opportunities to show your gratitude.

My best wishes for your safe return to me.

Sincerely,

Third Princess Lunalah

257th heir to the Imperial Yee Dynasty

I stared at the note perplexed. It was oddly personal in some parts and practically dripping with lemonade. I looked at the contract again and couldn’t make heads or tails of it.

What in the actual hell was all this?

It seemed to be a free pass through the academy at the expense of something I wasn’t so sure about. ‘Ample future opportunities to show your gratitude’? I wasn’t liking the sounds of that one bit.

But even more so, no way in hell was I punking out like some bitch-ass high society cultivator and skipping class just to earn a merit badge so ‘mommy princess’ could be proud.

Yes, this was a means to an end in one sense, a way for me to gain status.

But I wanted more than just that.

I craved knowledge and true power.

Things that only going through the academy itself and experiencing the Hell Worlds firsthand would bring. This was the path the Frenzied Flame had carved out for me and no way was I going to turn my back on it. Plus no way in hell was I going to let the princess put some diamond collard around my neck either.

I tucked the contract and note back into the envelope and handed it back to Ling Wei. “Please thank the princess for her generosity, but I won’t be accepting it.”

Her eyes flashed open with shock. “Pardon?”

“You heard me,” I said with a dose of [Struggler’s Resolve]. “I’m not in this for the free win. I’ll either survive or die, and if I do survive, you can bet your ass I’m going to have skills and power to do it. Tell the princess the Iron Bull doesn’t take short cuts when it comes to progression.”

She blinked at me perplexed, but inside I could sense a subtle hint of lemonade.

I ignored it though and looked out the canopy instead. The blue horizon of the earth was now laid out like a mantle, juxtaposed against the black backdrop of space and the stars. Ahead of us, I could see an enormous structure the shape and size of Egyptian pyramid that looked to be made of granite.

My transport across the stars.

“You should perhaps reconsider,” Ling Wei said. “The conditions at the academy are not at all pleasant.”

I stood, trying to get a better view of the transport. “Don’t worry. I’m not expecting the ritz.”

“The what?” she said.

I chucked. “Nevermind.”

A huge door at the base of the pyramid opened and our vessel entered along with several other larger skiffs that had joined from the surface. I was hesitant to disembark, not seeing any kind of airlock but I supposed there had to be some kind of barrier holding the air in place.

As I stepped off the skiff and into the darkened confines of the hangar, loud shouts and whistles assaulted my ears. The area was as large as a football field, dimly lit with air that stunk of mold. Across from me, Enforcers and Imperial guards were herding a group of men and women dressed in dingy gray robes into separate groups. One of them, an older looking man, moved too slowly and received a double tap from an enforcer’s bamboo rod to hurry him along.

A broad chested man with olive robes and gray skin approached me aggressively. He was a sullied, the same race as Sumatra and Threja it seemed and a couple inches taller than I was even at my new and improved height.

“What the hell is this and who the hell are you?” he said and then looked past me to Ling Wei who was still standing in the doorway of the skiff. “Is this your prisoner?”

Prisoner?

“A thousand apologies,” Ling Wei said with a bow. “This man is our tribute, compliments of the princess.”

“Tribute?” He let out a laugh. “Just one? But I guess you are in the middle of nowhere. It’s no wonder we got sent all the way out here for some random pickup.” He then looked down at me and grunted. “Although I guess it wasn’t so random, after all. Where are your documents?”

I began digging in my duffle bag for the envelope Jian Yi had given me.

“They’re here,” Ling Wei said and was about to hand him the princess’s envelope when I quickly deflected it out of her hand.

“No this is them,” I said, glancing back at Ling Wei with a scowl.

She withdrew but simply smiled and shrugged, as if to say, ‘can’t blame me for trying’.

Presumptuousness little bitch, I thought.

The guard glanced through my documents before handing them back to me. “Wait here. I’ll get you a uniform. Don’t want you getting confused for one of the inmates.”

As he departed, I looked back at Ling Wei. “Nice try, but I told you no.”

“I only had your best interest at heart,” she said. “Forgive me.”

“Best interests? You sure about that?” I said looking at the prisoners being herded into the ship. “The Princess offers me silver-platter treatment at the academy but can’t afford to send me there on something better than a damn prison bus?”

“I do not know what a bus is,” she said. “But you perhaps have the wrong idea of what the academy truly is.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean this is the proper transport to the Academy. It is how all tributes reach there.”

My eyes narrowed as I grew more apprehensive.

“Du Gok Bhong is a former prison on the penile colony of Lung Zept. Although it is called an academy it still operates very much like a prison.” She then grinned and flashed the envelope at me again. “Are you certain you do not wish to reconsider?”

As she grinned I saw the control of the princess leering through her.

Damn bitch…

Just like this messed up society to try and railroad me into something I didn’t want nor could fully understand just to give me comfort and ease.

To hell with all that.

“Tell the princess, I’m good,” I said and collecting my belongings, I prepared to go find the guard for my new uniform. “I’d rather be a prisoner than a punk ass bitch.”

I didn’t wait around to see her reaction, but from behind all I could sense was anger and tiniest hint of lemonade.

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