“Hey Ren, Ren!”
Ren opened his eyes, finding himself on a makeshift bed in the middle of the forest as Leon, his brother closest in age to him, shook him awake.
“Get up already, will you? The others already left to go hunting and there won't be anything left for us if we don’t get moving soon,” Leon said.
Ren held his head in confusion.
Was that all just a dream? He thought.
Leon flicked him on the back of the neck.
“Are you listening to me? We need to get going, so hurry or I'm leaving without you.”
Ren cleared his head, getting to his feet and grabbing his equipment. He put on a leather tunic and bracers before hefting a much smaller axe than the one he had in his dream over his shoulder.
“Alright, let's go,” he said.
“Finally,” Leon responded.
They made their way through the forest and, to the next point, set on their journey. Ren and his 3 brothers, who were only slightly older than him, had been dropped in the middle of the forest by their father with nothing but their chosen weapons and armor and now had to make their way back to the Ashrend clan. Three days had passed since their journey began, and, according to their map, they were only halfway home. The scent of death hit Ren’s nose as they approached their next hunting spot. His brother frowned and motioned for Ren to stay behind him as they continued. As they came across a small clearing in the trees, the source of the stench became obvious. A brown bear stood in the middle of the clearing feasting on what remained of his other two brothers. Leon clamped his hand over his mouth and motioned for Ren to move back, but he had a different idea. Something screamed deep within Ren, demanding to be let out. A grin spread across his face as he made his way towards the enormous bear axe at the ready. His heart rate increased with each step threatening to jump out of his chest. With the beast distracted, Ren raised the weapon, deliberately aiming to avoid a mortal wound. He dug the blade into its back right leg. It roared in anger, whirling at Ren and lashing out with its claws. He stepped back, narrowly avoiding the strike, all the while the screaming within intensified. Ren struck back, carving a gash across the creature's arm. Unfazed by the attack, it tried to bite down on the child in front of it, but missed again. Ran struck at its neck, taking advantage of its momentary confusion as it bit down on nothing but air. The axe dug into the creature, but only deep enough to leave a shallow wound. It roared again and brought its claw down again. This time, Ren was still off balance as the claw headed for him. With no time to recover and dodge, the screaming and pounding in his chest intensified even further. He was suddenly pushed two feet backward, just out of range of the incoming claw as a spray of blood erupted in front of Ren as his last brother fell to the ground. Ren did not even register what had just happened. The only thought running through his mind was a primal need to kill the creature in front of him. He engaged the bear once more, careful not to take a single strike from its powerful body as it would spell his death. With full focus, he weaved around the creature's incoming attacks, returning one of his own. As its wounds accumulated, the creature slowed, but so did Ren. He panted from the level of exertion he had to keep up to avoid the beast's attacks, but a smile never left his face. The fight lasted several more minutes, with Ren accumulating some wounds of his own as he grew tired and sloppy. He was lucky the beast was already tired, else he would have been torn to shreds with his first mistake. The creature finally collapsed, its wounds becoming too much to bear. His smile finally faded from Ren's lips as he walked over to the dying creature. The screaming within him faded, and the pounding of his heart lessened. He looked down with a pitying expression at the thing he had once seen as a threat now struggling to take another breath. With one last strike, he severed the creature's spine, bringing an end to its pathetic existence.
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Ren awoke as the screaming within him reawakened. He pushed himself back to his feet, seeing that only a few seconds had passed since he lost consciousness and X3-15 was still making its way toward him. Finally, being on the brink of death once again, he could grab on to the feeling deep inside him demanded to be let out. He grinned madly as he opened the door and released what was inside.
“Awakening achieved. Congratulations! A new title has been granted, jolly berserker.; Skill upgraded Rage has become Berserker’s Joy.”
Berserker’s Joy
Requirements
* Jolly Berserker title
Effect
* Attacks have their damage dealt increased or decreased based on the target level. Deal up to 2x increased damage to targets two full thresholds above you and 0.5x damage to targets two thresholds below you.
* Convert all mana to stamina, as your stamina decreases deal increased damage based on the amount missing.
Ren smiled wider than he could remember having smiled. As X3-15 approached at full speed, Ren raised his arms, prepared to take the attack head-on.
“Ha, he has gone suicidal after that blow to his head. Run him over X3-15,” the leader laughed from atop his perch on the large beetle.
Seconds later, the creature's laughter stopped; panic overwhelmed it as it and X3-15 were flung through the air. Ren laughed madly as he pursued the creatures he had just thrown into the air. They slammed into the tree line, crashing through the first layer of trees. Ren arrived less than a second later, slamming his fist into X3-15’s underside, leaving a large crater in its stomach as the force of the impact rippled through it. Ren hit the creature again and again, reducing what reminded of its underside to a bloody, shredded pulp. The creature let out one last cry of pain before growing still and silent.