Chapter 12
The Road
The wagon that carried Tokiya and Berserker was now surrounded by the flowery plains that characterized the southern countryside of Oravell. Tokiya stared out the back of the wagon in amazement. He had seen many plains before, but this scenery was unlike anything he had experienced. Berserker looked back.
"It's a good view, isn't it?"
"Yeah, this is insane. I didn't know stuff like this could exist. And to think this was always just right outside the town."
Berserker breathed in fresh air. Tokiya decided to follow suit. The smell of so many flowers in one area overwhelmed Tokiya's senses in the best way possible. However, this caused Tokiya to let out a loud sneeze. Berserker chuckled.
"You seem too amazed by the outdoors to be a farmer."
Tokiya responded, but he couldn't take his eyes off the flowery plains as he did.
"Sure, I go outside often, but I've never actually been outside the town. Most of us there haven't."
There was a comfortable silence between the two. Tokiya was content looking out the back of the wagon, and Berserker followed the slowly emerging trail in the ground. Tokiya broke the silence.
"You said you lived in the capital for a while. What was it like?"
"It's just a big city. Why do you ask?"
Tokiya frowned at the unsatisfactory answer. However, he did have to wonder what caused him to ask that question.
"I guess this experience has created a sense of curiosity in me."
After a bit of silence, Berserker spoke.
"I was an Imperial Knight once. That's what brought me to the capital. I was a spirited and ambitious kid when I first arrived. I used to be much like you. However, I was much more direct with what I wanted."
Tokiya turned around, slightly surprised by this sudden telling of this information. His expression softened.
"I'm guessing something happened."
Tokiya couldn't see Berserker's face but could tell from his voice that this was not a happy memory.
"Yeah, I guess that's not too hard to tell since you met me in a jail cell."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"I came from a troubled town not too far off west from here. It suffered from a lot of crime and violence, and I lost a lot of people I cared for to it. I just wasn't strong enough to protect them. I became obsessed with the idea of becoming an Imperial Knight to gain strength. So, when I was sixteen, I made the long journey to the capital."
Tokiya could now see the similarities between the two, but Berserker's much more ambitious and proactive nature definitely stood out. Berserker continued.
"I was a hardworking knight, never anything great, but at least I was getting stronger. My job mostly consisted of guarding the capital and sometimes other places around it."
Berserker took a deep breath.
"One day, I got a special mission. I was going to fight in a battle against the Kankarans."
"You fought in the Kankaran War?"
Tokiya may not have been the most knowledgeable about current events, but there was no way he couldn't know about the war that the countries of Oravell and Kankara had been fighting for over one hundred years. From what Tokiya knew, the two countries used to be one, but when a cursed snow spirit trapped the northern region of the country in perpetual snow, tensions arose between the north and the south.
Eventually, the two regions split into their own countries. Since then, they've had a bitter relationship, with many large battles and small skirmishes. All of these altercations over the many years are what constituted the Kankaran War which was still ongoing.
Berserker nodded his head ruefully.
"The army we had going into the battle was a makeshift one. It was made up of anyone who was close enough to respond to the threat quickly. All we had to do was protect a small but crucial town from falling. The battle was going pretty well in the beginning. However, the whole battle turned on us. We were flanked by the enemy and ended up surrounded."
As Berserker spoke, his voice became increasingly somber.
"That was enough to put all of our lives in the hands of the enemies. The head of my squad begged to be spared, but the Kankarans weren't going to make it that easy. The only way we were going to be allowed to live was if we joined the Kankaran army. The choice for my desperate squad was clear. Looking back, I can't even blame the weak men for wanting to live. What I can blame them for is letting their weakness destroy our mission and the lives of many citizens."
There was a small bump on the road. Tokiya and the supplies in the back hopped in the air for a small fraction of a second. Berserker scoffed, but it was clear he wasn't making light of the story.
"However, the type of person I am wouldn't allow himself to be subjugated by the enemy. So, while the rest of my squad was spared, I was killed. Except, they failed to finish the job properly, so I was left lying on the battlefield with near fatal injuries. By the time a gained enough strength to go after them, they had already made it to the village. It had been burned, and every citizen was dead."
Tokiya was shocked that Berserker was able to move with "fatal injuries", but then he remembered the scene of Berserker shattering a man's arm with just his grip. Berserker was far from human.
"I was enraged that my former comrades had assisted in such a crime. So, despite my injuries, I killed every single soldier there. Unfortunately for me, once my massacre had ended, backup for my squad arrived. All they saw was me standing in a field of corpses. They arrested me, and I was given the title Berserker for my terrible crime."
Tokiya was hit with realization.
"Oh, so Berserker isn't your real name."
A quick arm descended on Tokiya, bonking him square on the top of his head.
"Of course that's not my real name, idiot!"
Tokiya winced and rubbed his head.
"So, why do you go by Berserker? It's not a very pleasant nickname."
For such a heavy question, Berserker responded very quickly.
"That name is a part of who I am. It reminds me that I was and still am weak. If I was strong my comrades and those civilians would still be alive, and none of loved ones in my hometown would've died. Until I become strong, I will be nothing but a berserker pretending to be in control."
There was an urgent follow up question Tokiya wanted to ask, but after hearing Berserker's statement, he decided against it. To Tokiya, Berserker would remain Berserker. Berserker paused as he remembered something.
"But once I was transferred to your small town, Gremory was the first person to see me differently."
"There's no surprise there. Gremory's a master at reading people."
"Yeah, but he's also the most annoying person I've met."
Tokiya let out a small laugh.
"I think I had it much worse than you."
Silence took over the wagon once more. Despite the more lighthearted direction the conversation was headed in, the atmosphere was still heavy. Tokiya tried to lighten the mood.
"So, if you were an Imperial Knight, does that mean you can do magic?"
When he responded, Berserker's voice was a bit lighter.
"Yeah, I was quite the talented mage. I've actually used some magic in front of you already."
Tokiya was a bit more excited about magic than he thought he should be. His spirit of curiosity had really been awakened.
"Really? When?"
"Well, it was on the day you were attacked by that guy. While I slept that night, I used magic to detect when the number of people on the farm changed, and I used magic to strengthen myself and crush that guy's arm."
All of Berserker's superhuman feats were slowly starting to make more sense to Tokiya. Tokiya pushed on.
"So, what else can you do. Can you do any cool fire and water magic combos?"
Berserker snickered.
"That's not how magic works, idiot."
Tokiya frowned.
"You could stop calling me an idiot at any time."
Berserker sighed.
"I'll call you an idiot all I want. However, I do think it would be beneficial for you to know how magic works."
Tokiya sucked his teeth at Berserker's first comment but listened attentively for Berserker's explanation.
"So, I'm sure you know about divine selection, but if you don't, it's basically what determines if you can use magic or not. So, my divine status would be positive."
Tokiya rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, I know that."
"Do you know your divine status?"
Tokiya shook his head and waved off the question.
"No, I never need to, so I never got properly assessed. I think it's negative though. I never showed any signs of being able to use magic."
Berserker raised his eyebrows slightly. Although he shouldn't have been surprised considering what he knew about Tokiya's life.
"So, you really have no exposure to magic, do you?"
"Nope."
"Well, then allow me to continue my explanation. Even if you have a positive divine status, it's not guaranteed you'll be able to use all the cool magic people usually think of. It's not much, but twenty percent of people with a positive divine status can only use a category of magic called simple magic. This includes basic strength enhancements and detection skills. To beginners it seems lame, but only pros know the importance of mastering simple magic. I would know because it's the only type of magic I can use."
Tokiya frowned and tried to hide his disappointment.
"I guess you won't be freezing time or summoning fire anytime soon."
"And neither will you, idiot."
Berserker cut his hand through the air to hit Tokiya again, and Tokiya tried to move out of the way. However, the poor farmer was no match for the speed of the ex-knight. Berserker cleared his throat.
"Once a mage clears those hurdles, the magic they can perform is very limited. Mages are assigned to paths, and all the magic they use must come from that path. Some common paths are stuff like fire, ice, or dark, but there are some that get pretty crazy like spatial or even undead."
Tokiya thought back to Karasu and her temporal magic. If mages were only allowed to use magic from their path, it didn't quite make sense how Karasu was able to create her own spatial domain using just temporal magic.
"Maybe Karasu is just extremely talented with her magic."
As Tokiya contemplated Karasu's nonsensical magic, the wagon began to slow. He turned to Berserker's back.
"What's wrong? Why'd you stop?"
Berserker stretched his arms above his head and let out a loud yawn.
"We've been in this wagon for hours. I'm hungry and antsy, so we're going to take a break."
"Did you forget I'm being hunted by a cult? We don't have time to waste on unnecessary breaks."
Berserker jumped out the driver's seat of the wagon and landed on the ground with a thud as he continued to stretch.
"This is necessary, you idiot. Unless you want to starve to death before the cult gets to you, I suggest you stop complaining."
Accepting Berserker's point and pushing aside his paranoia, Tokiya made his way out of the wagon too. Berserker walked over to the back where Tokiya had exited.
"Ok, let's see what we're going to eat. If I remember correctly, Gremory said he would load a cooking set."
Berserker rummaged around the various items in the wagon before pulling out some cooking materials along with some red crystals. The red crystals, similarly to the ice crystals, were fire crystals which allowed fire magic to be stored and used for later. Berserker handed the supplies to Tokiya.
"Go set these up, will ya? I'll get the meat, and then we can get to cooking."
Tokiya walked away from the wagon where he set does the cooking supplies and crystals. After setting up the grill he activated the crystals by forcefully pressing down in the middle which created a crack where the magic could exit. Tokiya threw the crystal under the pot as fire almost instantly burst from the crystal.
Berserker soon came over with slabs of raw meat which he laid on the grill. The meat sizzled, and it made Tokiya realize he was probably just as hungry as Berserker. Tokiya and Berserker sat around the grill in silence. Berserker flopped back on the ground with his hands on his head.
"Keep watch on the meat, ok? Make sure to flip it."
Tokiya sucked his teeth.
"Why me?"
Berserker didn't respond. Instead, he just closed his eyes. There was nothing Tokiya could really do, so he let out a heavy sigh and accepted his new task. The meat continued to sizzle. Tokiya wondered if there was something else he should have been doing, or if he was just supposed to wait to flip the meat. The sizzling continued for minutes.
He stared at the meat. He continued to stare. He stared harder. Harder. Harder!
"Aaaa!"
Tokiya threw his hands up in the air and flopped back onto the ground. He rolled around in distress.
"Dammit! This is so boring! I have to do something!"
He pulled at the bottom of his eyelids. Berserker sat up and shot him an annoyed, questioning look.
"What are you doing?"
Tokiya frowned at him.
"You really expect me to just sit here and stare at food? I refuse to believe anybody could actually do that."
"Have you never cooked before?"
Tokiya sat up.
"Of course I have. But when I do, I always have something else to do on the side, like cleaning or doing laundry."
Berserker stared at Tokiya blankly, before exclaiming boldly.
"You just have a terrible attention span! How do you even get by in life?"
"D-don't insult my way of life! That's just how I am!"
"But it doesn't make sense. Are you even capable of focusing on a single thing at a time?"
"Of course I can! It's just that staring at food sit on a grill for who knows how long isn't one of them!"
"It's fifteen minutes!"
Berserker grabbed a two pronged fork and stabbed it into the meat before aggressively flipping it over.
"See? It's that easy."
Tokiya huffed and averted his gaze.
"Whatever."
Berserker let out a heavy sigh.
"If it bothers you that much, I'll watch the food."
Before returning to the food, Berserker threw the fork at Tokiya, and the handle hit his forehead.
"I swear, Berserker, one day I'll pay you back tenfold for all this abuse!"
*****
Once the two finished eating, they got back in the wagon and continued their journey. When the sun began to set, they stopped again. They prepared the sleeping bags they had brought and got ready to rest for the night.
"Hey, Berserker."
Berserker looked up at Tokiya from setting up his sleeping bag.
"What's up?"
Tokiya pointed at the wagon.
"There are no tents or anything. We can't just sleep out in the open."
Berserker waved him off.
"Did you forget about my magic detection? I can use it even while I sleep, so there's no need to worry."
Tokiya let out an internal sigh of relief as he began setting up his sleeping bag too. Soon, the two were laying down comfortably. Tokiya looked up. The world outside his town was just as beautiful at night as it was during the day.
After hearing about Berserker's time as an Imperial Knight, Tokiya's worries about the Cult of the Black Sword began to calm down.
"What even is the Black Sword? No. That's not important right now."
Tokiya continued to stare at the stars.
"I need to worry about getting stronger. That was the promise I made to Berserker. But how do I even do that? I don't know the first thing about combat."
Tokiya thought for a while before bringing his hand in front of his face. He clenched his hand into a fist and threw a punch into the air. He wondered if he did it right and threw a few more.
"Go to sleep."
Tokiya jumped a bit at Berserker's voice. He brought his arms down and got comfortable again.
Berserker chuckled.
*****
The pair continued to make their way to Ardston, and the sun was merciless the whole way. Tokiya was fortunate enough to be shielded by the cover of the wagon. However, he wasn't protected from Berserker's unending complaining.
As per Berserker's requests, the two made frequent stops for food or for him to just get some shade. At first, these breaks annoyed Tokiya, but he began to enjoy the time he spent with Berserker, excluding the moments of assault. In addition, there were two towns along the way that the two were able to stop at and get proper rest.
After about a week and a half, Tokiya and Berserker finally encountered their biggest obstacle. On that day, Berserker slowed the wagon until it came to a full stop.
"Hey Tokiya, wake up."
Tokiya who was sleeping in the back of the wagon, stirred a bit, slowly opening his eyes. He noticed that the wagon had come to a stop. Tokiya frowned.
"What's wrong this time? We're not taking another break. We just stopped 2 hours ago."
Berserker hopped out of the driver's seat, ignoring Tokiya. Tokiya sucked his teeth and left the wagon also.
"Hey. I know you heard me. If we keep stopping, we'll never make it to Ardston."
Tokiya's eyes widened, and what he saw caused him to immediately cut his speech. In front of him was a forest with rather large trees that stretched on for miles. The scale of the ocean of trees left Tokiya dumbfounded. Berserker turned to him.
"We've made it. Welcome to Istar Forest."