Path of the Berserker

If what Tsu V’jid said was true, then once Shen Liu reached the end of the bridge it would be all over. That spurred me on even more, my legs pumping like pistons as I poured on more speed. I passed the three-quarter mark and still didn’t have sight of him. I was just about to pull out all the stops and release [Mark of the Beast] when I finally did see him, stomping some poor guy into the side of the bridge while relieving him of his sword.

Shen Liu wasted a few more seconds to cut the man down and I used the extra time to leap atop the railing and then push myself off in a somersault. I landed in the center of the bridge about thirty feet past Shen Liu, causing him to turn about startled. It was then that I noticed he was wearing the same outfit that I was.

Son of a bitch, I thought. He must have grabbed my spare uniform to help escape the ship.

The thought made me even more irritated.

“Shen Liu!” I shouted, pointing the club at him. “I’m here to drag your sorry ass back to the ship and beat the shit out of you. But not necessarily in that order.”

He let out a laugh as he rid the blade of the man’s blood.

“So, they sent you after me, eh?” He whipped the sword through a set of martial forms, his skill evident despite his size. “This should be good. Come on then. I’ll take your stupid head off for feeding me that slop all week.” He then flew at me with a burst of wind and snow. “[Dragon’s Icy Peak]!”

A torrent of ice and slow pelted me as his sword sliced through the air, the Qi technique preceding the blade like a shockwave. It tore through my clothes and even managed to cut my hardened skin beneath. The blade itself then met my flesh, carving through my shoulder. I cried out in shock and pain, not expecting the technique at all.

What the hell…? How did this bastard still have Qi?

He must have read the confused expression on my face and laughed. “Bringing me to an ice ball like this was the worse thing those dumb bastards could have done. As you can see my Dantian is near mended already with all the Ice Qi available here.”

I steeled myself with [Indifference] as the balance of power shifted in my mind. Clearly the [Odds were Against Me] now. I’d been expecting a purely physical battle. Skill versus skill. But now Shen Liu had use of his Qi techniques as well. And to have recovered from this Qi disruption so quickly, he had to be a formidable cultivator as well.

Not to mention he had a sword while I had a bamboo stick.

My Flame flared brightly with fresh Frenzy as my [Odds Against Me] technique kicked in. I cultivated it quickly to heal my wound and flush my body full of energy for the fight to come. I leveled my eyes at him and grinned.

“Good,” I said. “This will make the fight a lot more interesting.”

I rushed forward with a burst of Frenzy, swinging the bamboo club with my axe forms. Shen Liu met the attacks with his blade, chipping my bamboo with each parry and strike. The first exchange lasted all of about four or five hits, but it had taught me a lot. Shen Liu was a Ninth Tier Core Realm cultivator, perhaps on the cusp of ascension to the Sacred Soul Realm, but there were many people like that. For most core was as far as they could go before they would risk dying or crippling themselves in the process obtaining new heights.

Shen Liu likely fell into that category.

But more than that, Shen Liu was not as skilled a fighter as he let on.

Perhaps it was his still disrupted Qi, or his use of an unfamiliar weapon but I pegged him in the Iron Bracket league in terms of skill. And that put him right on par with where I was at the moment—wielding only a club instead of my Axe and Glaive. I huffed out a laugh with a healthy dose of [Fear the Flame].

“You’d better pray your Qi kicks in soon,” I said. “Because when it comes to pure skill, I’m going to mop the floor with your ass.”

The spike of anger and fear that came from him was electric and I cultivated it quickly as he dove in for another Qi filled attack. His blade moved in a fluid crisscross pattern while sending off chunks of ice and snow. I charged right through it with [Steel Skin] absorbing the attacks that left little more than pain behind as the ice bounced off my chest.

The sight filled Shen Liu with more fear as I laid into him with a series of parries and counters that had his blade ringing with deflections. I landed blow after blow with the bamboo club on his side and face and the howls of pain and shock he released was pure gold. Had it been my axe I might as well have killed him, but there was a subtle satisfaction in being able to go all out and inflict as much pain as possible with blunt strikes alone.

We went back and forth for what had to be over a minute, me taking the odd cut of his blade to land three or four strikes to his head and face. He was looking a bloody mess and kicked away from me to summon some kind of ice wall between us.

“[Glacial Ridge]!”

The ice wall stopped at about twelve foot high and through the translucent mass, I could see Shen Liu turn and run for the end of the bridge.

“Damn it!” I swore.

I’d gotten turned around in the fight and didn’t realize he was now on the far side of the bridge again. I vaulted over the ice wall and gave chase, but he seemed to move even faster once his feet hit the freshly fallen slow lining a small park-like area that separated the bridge from a line of tenement buildings less than a couple hundred feet away.

The slums T’su V’jid spoke of.

If I lost him in there, he could hide like the rat he was.

I cycled my frenzy and aimed it towards my jing

, preparing to release a technique of my own. Summoning the power of my Flame, I threw caution to the wind and hurled my club at Shen Liu with a huge bolt of blue lightning.

My aim proved true and a huge bang! of thunder went off as my club struck him on the legs. He went tumbling end over end in the snow and I used the fall to gain on him with another burst of Frenzy. I went at him with my fists and feet, throwing the technique book out the window as I treated Shen Liu to the good ole ass-whopping he deserved.

“You sick ass freak!” I shouted as I pummeled his face and jaw. “Messing with little kids? I’ll deliver their wrath for all the pain you’ve caused!”

Something sparked inside of me as I somehow tapped into [Everyone’s Pain]!

Lightning joined my fists as I let the Demon loose with the sea of Frenzy flooding my soul. To my chagrin the bastard started laughing in between the hits.

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“Go on! Kill me!” he spat. “See what they’ll do to you then!”

I was barely listening anymore, but somehow the Struggler stayed the Demon’s hand.

He laughed at me again as my fist stayed cocked in the air, ready to deliver another blow to his swollen face. “You forget who I am, boy? I am an ex-warden of the lower courts with connections you could only dream of. There are people in high places who would have many secrets revealed if any harm comes to me.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

The bastard grinned at me with bloody teeth. “You don’t think I was the only one with dirty fingers do you?”

He started to laugh and my stomach grew sick.

“You filthy piece of shit!”

I punched him hard in the ribs, causing him to spit blood. He then spit a second time, aiming for my face. I dodged it but he used the opportunity to spring onto his feet and then lashed out with an ice technique at close range.

“[Glacial Core]!”

Freezing pain filled ever cell of my body as the ground transformed into a column of ice at my feet. It crept up my legs and torso, locking me in place as my breath caught in my throat. Shen Liu stumbled back from me and then raised his sword to strike.

“You dumb bastard,” he said. “You think you’re on the same level as me? I have half a mind to let you live just so you can die in that damn prison, but I’ll do you a favor and end your life right now. Say goodbye to your dreams of becoming a Legionnaire, you fool!”

A punctuated anger pulsed through my veins as his blade swung.

Thoughts of Fia flashed through my mind.

Our unborn child.

No way was this damn pedophile taking that away from me!

I roared in defiance as my Frenzy surged and I channeled everything into [Steel Lightning]. The blade struck my neck with the force of a killing blow, but I stood fast with [Indifference], resisted it with every ounce of my being.

Sparks exploded as the blade shattered against my neck and Shen Liu lost his balance, blown back by the force of the detonating metal. I wasted no time channeling my burning rage and Frenzy into a technique of my own.

“[Wrath of a Thousand Slain Souls]!”

Ice exploded into steam as a hundred arcs of blue lightning surged from my body. Shen Liu was blown back a second time, but I sprung forward to catch him by his uniform as he turned to flee.

I laid into him with a savagery that made the Demon smile.

Blood and flesh flew.

Rend and tear!

Shen Liu’s hollers of panic and pain became a symphony to my wrath.

“Iron Bull! Stand down!”

I was only vaguely aware of the call of my name and it took every ounce of the [Struggler’s Resolve] for me to stop hitting the bastard. When I finally did, I held Shen Liu aloft by his throat, keeping him a foot off the ground.

I looked to my side to see Jakra and the prison ship Commander approaching with a contingent of enforcers. The woman T’su V’jid was there with them, along with what looked like a small local militia of armed guards.

“You’ve done your job, Tribute,” the Commander shouted, his eyes narrowing at me. “Now hand him back to us or there will be dire consequences.”

Shen Liu then had the nerve to let out a laugh.

“I guess I’ll be visiting that damn prison after all, thanks to you,” he said in a whisper. “But I’ll make sure that you’ll pay for putting a stop to my early exit plan. I have people in high places, you know? Or did you think this little escape was a mere accident?”

I tightened my grip on his throat. “What the hell did you say?”

“Easy Iron Bull,” Jakra said as he approached me. “There are powers at play here that you don’t want to trifle with.”

He then glanced subtly towards the Commander and the woman T’su’V’jid. Neither of them looked happy. Like I wasn’t supposed to catch him or something. Was the whole thing some kind of set up like Shen Liu said? I thought back to what Jakra had told me about the empire using the place as a dumping ground.

Was that the true plan all along?

Shen Liu smiled at me with bloodied teeth.

“See?” he said. “They all eat out of my hand. You can rest assured that I’ll be spending less than a week in that prison. Meanwhile you’ll be long dead and I’ll be enjoying my sweet little girls again.”

He started to laugh and I saw red.

“You piece of shit!”

“Iron Bull, no—!” Jakra cried.

But I wasn’t listening anymore. The entire jacked up system was mocking me to my face. The thought that this animal would be free to continue his violence unhindered was too much to bear. And a corrupt system that was even vying to protect him on top of that?

No more…

“To hell with you!” I shouted as I summoned my Frenzy. “You will face judgement ‘Litter Finger’!” I sent a slug of Frenzy towards my jing. “Judgement by the righteous anger of the One True Flame!”

The power of my words and Frenzy combined caused a surge of panic in his soul.

I released [Wrath of a Thousand Slain Souls] at point blank range, electrocuting him while I held his body in the air. My anger only doubled when he convulsed and bucked in my grasp, the thought of all his victims filling me with [Everyone’s Wrath].

After a few more seconds he stopped screaming and moving altogether and I dropped his smoldering corpse to the ground.

“Guards! Arrest this man!”

The shout came from the Commander and I looked to Jakra as he slowly complied.

“I tried to warn you,” he said. “Please make this easy.”

But I’d already counted the cost.

And it was well worth it in my books.

I looked down at Shen Liu’s corpse and spat on it.

He would do no more harm now.

* * *

I was hauled back to the ship in chains.

Along the way I got confirmation of the shitshow deal the Commander had concocted with T’su V’jid. It came out in the form of an argument. I could only catch bits and pieces of it, but the gist was the whole “hurry up and get him” crap on the docks was all a show for the prison guard staff.

And for me as well, I supposed.

Apparently, I was never supposed to catch the bastard, much less kill him. Now the Commander was in deep shit for allowing it all to happen and T’su V’jid was put out because she was supposed to get some hefty compensation from the empire for harboring an escaped fugitive.

The entire deal made me sick and all the more glad that I had put an end to it all.

But at what cost I didn’t know.

Shit, I thought. Here I was complaining about Fia and now I’d gone and put our entire future in jeopardy all on my own.

But my Flame didn’t waiver.

That piece of shit needed to die.

Back on the ship, I was placed immediately into a hold on the lower floor. A new set of arguments broke out as the Commander went at it with Jakra, trying to lay blame for the incident, but they disappeared into the bowels of the ship before I could glean what was the hell was going on.

About an hour later the Xin Zha rumbled back into space and then Jakra reappeared.

“Let’s go,” he said and then marched me back up to my cell on the top floor but this time he locked the cell door behind me.

He paused a moment before looking back at me through the bars.

“What you did was incredibly stupid,” he said but then he smiled. “Good on you for having the balls to do it anyway.”

I was taken aback by a sudden dose of lemonade.

“What’s going to happen now?” I asked.

He shrugged. “Make no mistake. You just pissed off a lot of powerful people. On the other hand you probably made a lot of powerful people quite happy too. No telling where the dice may finally fall.”

“What about the commander?”

“He’s on a tight timeline and you’re already headed for a prison.” He then threw something through the bars at me. “I told him this is probably the best course of action for all of us involved. He saves face and you get punished, while leaving you alive for whoever wants to do more.”

I looked at what he’d given me and saw it was a new uniform. Gray with the word tribute written in red characters instead of white.

“It’ll be a whole new experience going in as a prisoner tribute. And once you’re there I can’t guarantee that none of this will come back to bite you, but it’s the best I could do given the circumstances.”

I chuckled as I looked at my new uniform. “I guess it could have been a lot worse.”

“Damn right,” Jakra said. “Consider it payment for your public service.”

I laughed at that.

“I’ll give you one more night in the penthouse and then I’ll move you to be with your fellow prisoner tributes down in the hold.”

I nodded. “My thanks, Jakra.”

The big man nodded and then disappeared.

I laid back on my cot and stared at the ceiling, my mind swimming with the thoughts of what had just transpired. I’d gone from a Free Tribute to a prisoner. But at least I wasn’t on the executioner’s block. I was still on my path to becoming a Legionnaire and a Diamond Bracket contender.

Albeit with a harder difficulty level now.

The universe had thrown me a curve ball, but I trusted in the Flame to do what was right and it had seen me through. Not scot-free, but damn near good enough, plus killing Shen Liu was still worth it in the end to me.

My thoughts turned to Fia next.

Maybe she had just thrown me a curve ball as well.

But to hell with it.

I needed to trust my Flame and meet the challenge head on just like with Shen Liu.

If Fia wanted to ensure that we’d have a family, then she was going to have one, but no way in hell was I going to let our first child be born a bastard and suffer the insult for the rest of his or her life. I grinned at the ceiling like a madman.

Maybe this wasn’t Fia at all.

Maybe this was the Flame guiding my path yet again.

I was going into this ready for a challenge.

But now I needed to do much more than that.

I couldn’t just sit back and merely survive. I needed to attack this thing head on—take the bull by the damn horns and shove them right up his ass!

“To hell with three damn years,” I said and then took out Fia’s quill to stare at it again. “I’ve only got nine months now.”

I didn’t even know if it was possible, but I didn’t care.

My path was set.

And no way was I not going to see it through now.