Chapter 35 – Berserker Blood

Aenon

Aenon watched with extreme interest as the Berserker’s party entered the control area of the treant. He wasn’t sure if they would detect it before it was too late. But the hulking man not only detected the treant, but apparently also knew his party was being followed by Aenon’s pack. At least, he hadn’t sensed Aenon yet.

It was truly enlightening watching them fight. The airtight coordination, the way they covered each other’s weaknesses, everything was a sight to behold. Even their skills were complementing each other well. The female mage had cast some kind of fire spell he was not familiar with. If he did not have his mana vision, he probably would not have picked up on it at all. She had cast it right when her team members ran in. And it had one simple purpose – to burn the tiny spores the treant used to control the space around it. Unfortunately, it had a very limited area of effect and could not cover the entire region. But it gave her team enough room to maneuver in.

And they used the limited playing field to devastating effect. The poor creature did not have a single moment’s rest as it got pummeled from three sides. And even when it managed to land a blow, the follow up by the tank was near instant. It was like watching some hive mind operating multiple bodies at once. The healer too did a good job in maintaining healing zones at strategic locations across the playing field.

Aenon was learning a lot from this encounter. This was his first time seeing actual magical weaponry in action. The woman’s red colored staff was emitting fire wisps, which caught Aenon’s interest. The only reason his Fire manipulation was still at basic proficiency was because he was unable to find fire wisps in the wild. In fact, the only reason he even had the spell was because he tested it by a campfire one night. He recalled the deer antler his pack had hunted a while back. It had also emitted fire wisps, but only till the next day of the kill. Perhaps there was a method to process the antlers to retain the effect. He needed to find out more.

Even the healer’s wand was emitting nature wisps, which he used to do something to those weird projectiles he threw out. Although nature wisps were abundant in a forest, the wand emitted a lot more than he had ever seen concentrated in a single place. And not just that, it even attracted the wisps emitted by the treant, preventing it from healing itself. And the healer needed every single of those wisps. Aenon had tried multiple times to create his own healing spell, but always failed. But now he at least had a clue on what to do.

The party’s strategy also told him that they had experience facing off against treants before. They had flawlessly disabled every advantage the creature had and hit it where it hurt the most. It was only a matter of time before they brought down their opponent. The battle was almost over when his attention was broken by some unexpected motion in his peripheral vision. Jenny was moving for the first time during the entire engagement.

What in the world is she doing, he thought. All the idiot had to do was stay still and they would win. She probably wanted a share of the XP, but she was moving dangerously close to the perimeter of the fire mage’s spell that had burnt away the spores. And before anyone could react, she launched her spell and fell backwards.

It was like watching a train wreck in slow motion as she was teleported to right where the treant was. And like a house of cards, the party’s strategy fell in on itself. Aenon saw in frustration as the party members fell one after another. He had to step in now. But stepping in unannounced might spook them and divert their attention further. So, he did the next best thing.

The tank was the first to go down and was probably down for the count. So, he started casting Illusion spells on the party members. The moment the treant hit one of them, he made it appear like it was a fatal blow. A discerning enemy would have picked up on the trick, but the treant was not in a very good condition right now. It was on the verge of death, so it didn’t pick up on the mirage. He had successfully put the fire mage out of commission, at least to an outside observer, when another unexpected thing happened. The berserker chose this exact moment to regain consciousness. And he did what berserkers are known for – he went primal.

“Ugh,” Aenon said while holding his head in frustration. He was standing in front of the two dwarves, the elf, and the mage. They all had various degrees of injuries and were utterly spent. None of the magic users had any mana to spare and the physical fighters had multiple broken bones from the impact from the treant.

“What the…,” one of the dwarves exclaimed weakly. “Who are you?”

“Identify your…self,” the fire mage said in a strained voice. She was trying to gather some mana but was too exhausted. The healer elf was still trapped in the vines, so couldn’t speak.

Ordinarily people try to explain themselves in this situation. But Aenon kept quiet as he regarded each one of them with a cold stare. He merely pointed at where the berserker was pummeled into the ground a second time. The loud crash made them all jump before turning towards their comrade. To their credit, every single one of them tried to move towards the fight, but Aenon blocked them all with an earth wall.

“What are you doing? Let us go. He needs us,” the mage said angrily. Aenon could feel fear and despair bubbling off her soul. Her gaze would have been intimidating if she was not on her last legs.

“Enough. You are in no shape to fight. I will get them out,” Aenon said as he moved towards the clearing.

“No. You don’t understand,” she said in a voice filled with despair. “My husband. He has gone berserk. He will attack anyone on sight. Till his anger is quelled.”

Aenon considered the implications before asking, “And he will not attack you?”

“He…,” she broke off before turning away with tears in her eyes. By this point the brute had gotten buried into a crater for the tenth time. But the injuries only made him fiercer. Aenon wasn’t confident in subduing the giant man. So, he thought about it for a second.

“You. Healer. Can you heal his injuries when the fight is over?” He asked the elf who had finally managed to break out of the vines, with some help from the dwarves.

“Ummm, yes. But not fully. His injuries are far more serious than I have ever seen,” the elf replied hesitantly.

“You guys don’t carry any healing potions with you?”

“Healing potions don’t work on Berserkers. It's one of their class restrictions,” the fire mage responded glumly as she saw the berserker get tossed back again. Aenon could feel her agitation, her desperation to interrupt the fight and help. But everyone knew it would be pointless.

“Very well. Just keep him alive till I deal with the treant,” Aenon said while readying himself.

“You have a plan, lad?” asked the other dwarf. Aenon had a tough time telling the two apart, even their souls looked similar.

“Wait for your mad team mate to either run out of steam or lose consciousness. Then I go in, toss him to you, and handle the treant. Then I come back to deal with him,” Aenon said as he observed the fight reach a crescendo. He could feel the berserker’s soul weakening.

“Even if the creature is injured and close to death, it won’t be easy to…,” the healer started to say before Aenon cut him off.

“Shhh. Just do your job. And remember, keep him barely alive. I won’t be able to interfere if he goes after you.”

A few seconds later, the man hit the ground hard and Aenon felt him lose consciousness. That’s when he moved in. His prey was injured and backed into a corner. But that is exactly when the danger was highest. A field of darkness fell onto the area as he walked in.

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“It’s our turn, Bane.”

………………

Elara

Elara was distraught at the scene before her. Her lover was on the brink of death, and there was nothing she could do. This wasn’t the first time something like this had happened, but it was just as painful as every other time. In fact, she had met the love of her life in a similar situation. When her entire party had died to a monster horde, and she was about to be next, he had stepped in. Like an impenetrable wall, he had pushed back the tide of monsters away from her. Without armor, without weapons, he stemmed the onslaught with just his bare body. When it was done, she knew not who the real animal was in the sea of chaos that man had waded through. Unfortunately, she had attempted to approach the man right after, and he had almost killed her in his maddened state. If not for Lady Agatha…

She looked at the root cause of all this mess with hateful eyes. The red head was lying still like a dead body, even while her husband had given her an opportunity to escape. This was the very reason she hated escort missions. Glorified babysitting, that’s what they should be called. Her party was so successful because they were like a well-oiled machine. And every time they tried such missions, the person they escorted always succeeded in throwing a wrench into their plans. And this time, the cursed brat had thrown herself in place of a wrench.

But Elara directed some of the hate towards herself too. She had gotten complacent, not keeping an eye on Jenny. She should have casted her Heat Wave spell on a slightly larger area, or at least burned the spores around herself. Although she knew that it would have put a bigger strain on her mana expenditure, maybe it might have been better. It’s just that she just was not expecting the girl to do something so stupid.

She was snapped out of her self-loathing when the mysterious man started moving forward. She wasn’t sure who or what he was, but he had managed to pull them out an inch from death. So, she had no choice but to rely on him to save her husband. But he terrified her. His eyes. His voice. She had never seen or met anyone with such indifference towards danger. Even her husband, who reveled in battle, had some regard towards the potential consequences. But this unknown man, the way he carried himself, it was unsettling. It was like he didn’t care about any repercussions.

Even her identify skill failed to pierce the veil hiding his secrets. But before she could analyze him further, he spoke. And the world ahead of them seized to exist. She looked at either side in shock. There was a clear line where the darkness started, and it went around and above. Like a dome. She barely had enough mana, so she cast a light spell. But even the light failed to penetrate the void in front of her.

“What in the underworld is this,” Boff remarked.

Every member of her party had a look of bewilderment written clearly on their faces. Elara had worked with magic a long time, and never had she seen such a spell. Light mages could bend light and project a field of black like this one. But not at this scale, and not powerful enough to block out light. She went over to the edge and poked it with her staff. There was no resistance, which meant it was not a solid barrier.

“SCREEEEEEEEE.”

A shriek echoed out from the void, startling everyone and making them fall backwards in alarm. They could clearly hear a fight going on, at least they thought it was a fight based on the explosions but saw absolutely nothing.

“Lady Elara, what is this spell?” Mave asked while gripping his wand tightly.

“I am not too sure. I have never seen or heard of such a spell,” Elara responded.

Mave was about to ask something else when some…thing stepped out of the abyss. All anyone could tell was that it was a four-legged creature. Its form was entirely hidden behind a black mist emanating from its body. And it was gripping Eskad’s form in its jaws. She and her party wanted to attack, wanted to rescue their friend. But the cold grey eyes of the creature, the only discernible feature of its body, locked them in place.

Before anyone could even comprehend a plan to overcome the fear coursing through their veins like icy water, the creature dropped Eskad and walked back into the pitch-black dome. Dissolving into it like it never existed. Cold sweat ran down Elara’s back a moment later. She collapsed to the ground, as did her party.

“What… was… that?” Toff said amidst deep breaths to calm himself. “I have never seen such a creature before. Is that what this is? A gateway to the abyss itself?”

Elara didn’t know how to respond. But her attention was immediately focused on Eskad, or at least what was left of him. She hurried over in a panic as he coughed blood. His eyes were still bloodshot, a sign that his berserker’s rage had still not run its course. But his body was too broken to even move. She could see him struggle to move towards her, to attack, to tear her apart. But she didn’t care. She placed a soothing hand on his forehead while humming a soft tune. A tune intimately known by both.

Mave ran over and took a knee beside them. He withdrew a seed from his pouch and planted it next to his body. A sapling sprouted as Mave poured what little mana he had left, before collapsing to the ground.

“Apologies… my lady. That… is all.. I can…,” he broke off as he lost consciousness.

Elara nodded sadly while continuing her tune to calm down her husband. She could feel his rage burning through his leaking blood. Wherever it touched her, it scorched her skin. But she ignored all that and continued. Slowly trying to bring him back from the brink of madness.

Boff and Toff walked over and settled on the ground next to them, after making sure Mave was lying in a comfortable position. The sapling didn’t have enough power to heal all their wounds, but it at least helped alleviate the pain. After a while, Eskad finally stopped struggling to fight as the color in his eyes receded before some semblance of consciousness returned to them.

“For…give me… my love,” he choked on his own blood as fresh tears flowed down her cheek. “I thou… thought… I lost… you.”

“Heh. You are not going to get rid of me that easily. Who is going to drive out the tramps away from my dense husband,” she replied weakly with a smile on her face.

“Glad to have you back, you bid ol’ lump,” Toff said from beside them.

“Is every… cough… cough… one alive?” Eskad asked amid bouts of bloody coughs.

This was the reason Elara had fallen in love with this man. He was a big softie who cared deeply for others, even at the cost of his own life. A different man, a lesser man, would have abandoned the girl and chalked it up to a failed mission. But her man did not, he never could. She stroked his cheek, reassuring him that everyone was ok. Even though they could not see past the darkness, they had not received a quest fail notification yet, which meant Jenny was still alive.

“Good… good,” Eskad exhaled in relief before closing his eyes and falling asleep.

Finally, Elara took a breath of relief of her own. She knew that Eskad was out of danger now. Although berserkers could not use healing potions, they had a passive that made up for it. Accelerated healing when out of combat. Which meant all they had to do was survive the battle and they would live.

It was only then that she noticed it. The sound of battle had stopped. The entire surrounding area was eerily quiet. She looked over at her companions in concern. They too had worried looks. Their party survived due to the interference of an unknown party. And in the wider multiverse, the help of a powerhouse always came at a cost. The question was, could they afford to pay for it.

“You reckon we should make a run for it?” Toff asked. But he looked down at the unconscious forms of Eskad and Mave before visibly deflating.

Elara couldn’t blame the dwarf for having such a thought. After all, they were on this planet for the same reason. They owed some noble houses a favor. People they should not have interacted with. And it had cost them dearly to repay it.

She turned towards the dark dome, waiting for judgement. She didn’t know what they would have to do to repay this favor, but she knew it would not be cheap. She saw a pair of cold grey eyes approaching them at a casual pace. For a second, she thought that the terrifying creature was back. But a second later, the dome was dispersed, and she saw what approached them. The same mysterious man who had saved them. To whom they now owed their lives. And there wasn’t a single scratch on him

But it wasn’t the appearance of the man that unnerved her and the dwarves. It was the seven hulking creatures behind him. He was bringing the girl in a princess carry, before unceremoniously dumping her beside the two unconscious men.

“Is everyone alright?” he asked in a surprisingly casual tone. When no one responded, he observed them and must have realized how terrified they were. “Ah, sorry about that. I don’t deal with people often.”

He turned to the creatures and gave a sharp nod. The creatures dissolved into the shadows of the surrounding trees. The man probably thought this would put them at ease, but Elara was even more terrified now. Were these the seven creatures following them that Eskad mentioned? Not many people knew that her husband had animalistic instincts that let him track such beasts. But that also meant, he had completely failed to detect the man standing in front of them. Just who in the world was he?

“It should be ok now. You can relax,” he said in a soft tone.

“How do we repay you,” Elara asked with dread filling her heart.

The man tilted his head to the side before replying, “The same way you repay someone who does you a favor.”

Elara knew it. Their lives were over. They would have to work all their lives trying to repay…

“You say thank you.”

“Huh?” was all Elara could say. Her tired brain didn’t register the words for a full minute. When she failed to speak, Boff and Toff answered for her.

“Er, Thanks.”

“Appreciate the help.”

“Anyway. Glad you managed to calm down your teammate. I wasn’t looking forward to facing off against a half dead man,” the man said. “Where are you all going next?”

Elara snapped out of her confusion before responding, “Umm, yes. Uh, we were heading for the village of Jadefall.”

“Hmmm. I am heading that way. You can tag along if you want,” he said. “After resting and recovering of course.”

Elara watched in fascination as the masked man moved to the center of the clearing and started setting up a campfire. She shared a dazed look with the dwarves, before standing up and heading over to help.

This was a weird day indeed. And it was about to get weirder.