Berserk of Gluttony (LN) - Volume 2 - Chapter 16

Chapter 16:

Secrets of the Blade of Light 

AARON WAS A HOLY KNIGHT, so given my prior experiences, I assumed his home would be a grand mansion or similarly lavish residence. Instead, he brought Myne and I to a simple red-brick house. 

Aaron laughed at my surprise. “Ah, perhaps you expected something a bit more extravagant?” 

“To be honest, yes. Yes, I did.” I’d never met a holy knight without an estate. 

“Honesty is a fine quality. I just hope my humble abode will satisfy you.” Aaron looked at Myne, who turned away from us with a pout. “Did I say something wrong?” 

“I wouldn’t worry about it,” I said. “She’s always like that.” 

“I see.” 

Aaron’s posture shifted, as if he were saddened. Despite the drop in mood, however, he went ahead and opened the door to his home, inviting us in. This wasn’t the first time Myne had acted so guarded around other people. Actually, I’d never once seen her start a productive conversation with anyone we’d met on our travels. Perhaps the only reason she could talk to me so easily was because I also wielded a Skill of Mortal Sin. She struck me as the kind of adventurer who didn’t trust anything besides her own power. That loner attitude fit her fighting style like a custom-forged gauntlet. 

The interior of Aaron’s house surprisingly empty. 

Aaron laughed once more at the shock on my face. “The villagers built this house for me. Well, to tell the truth, in the beginning there was no village. I killed monsters in these parts to idle away my time. Before I knew it, people gathered around me—people who had lost their homes. They banded together and built this village. As it grew, I came to oversee it as the elder.” 

Aaron called his villagers troublesome, but he did so with an easy smile and without a hint of malice. He said they were a pleasant distraction while he waited for time to whittle away the life he had left. 

He poured us cups of fresh tea as he went on. “I keep telling these villagers that, at my age, I won’t be able to protect them forever. They just reply that they don’t have anywhere else to go! With me to the end, that’s what they say.” 

“Are you saying the villagers are happy to die with you, Lord Aaron?” 

“You don’t need to call me Lord Anything, Fate. Just Aaron is fine. As to your question, it certainly seems like it. That’s got me rather worried. The villagers must know that, without me here to look after them, the monsters will feast.” 

Regardless, Aaron confessed he thought it hopeless to convince the villagers otherwise. He’d all but given up trying. 

“Uh… You’re not saying that you want me to take over as protector of the village, are you?” I asked nervously. 

Once again, Aaron bellowed with laughter. “I’d say no such thing! It wouldn’t be right to spring that burden on a passing traveler.” 

“In that case, why are you doing all this for me?” 

I couldn’t shake the feeling that Aaron was driven by some ulterior motive, strange as it might be. Who offered to train a person they’d never met? A person they didn’t even know, who’d just walked into town at random? Aaron’s affectionate description of the village made me even more certain that he was hiding some odd reason for his behavior. 

Earnestness brightened Aaron’s eyes. “It’s my damn ego,” he said. “By learning my skills, you’ll become living proof of my existence. I’m but an old man nearing the end of his road. Will you grant me that selfish wish, Fate?” 

“Proof of your existence…?” 

I looked around the sparsely furnished room. Next to Aaron’s bed, I spotted a small picture resting on a shelf. It was a portrait of a family. The young man seemed to be a younger Aaron. The beautiful woman with black hair beside him was likely his wife. Between them was a black-haired boy with a strong-willed look on his face, clutching a replica of a holy sword. 

“What’s that picture?” I asked. 

“My family—a long time ago, when I was a knight in the Kingdom of Seifort. I was so busy with my duties that I rarely returned home. Then, after I was assigned to the Galian region, monsters overran our estate. My family was killed. Now, I keep their picture by my bedside, and I spend my days trying to repent for abandoning them. It’s foolish, isn’t it?” 

“No, it’s not,” I said. “I’m…sorry for bringing it up.” 

Something about the boy in that picture almost resembled me. The will in his eyes, or maybe the dark hair. Did Aaron see me as a chance to recover his son? Perhaps he thought that, if he shared with me what he’d wanted to share with that lost child, he could atone for what he thought of as his past sins. Or maybe I was overthinking it. 

Yet I couldn’t dismiss the notion as I looked at Aaron, and the profound sadness that had made a silent home in his features. 

*** 

The following day, I glanced over at Myne. She was lounging beneath the shade of a tree, yawning. 

Lucky. Far luckier than me. 

That jealous thought lost me my concentration for a deadly moment. Instead of catching Myne’s yawn, I caught three heavy strikes to the gut. 

“You have time to check on your friends during battle, I see,” said Aaron. “Am I going too easy on you?” 

We only had two days left of training, so Aaron had started our second day at sun-up, and at full speed. 

“Wait, wait, wait.” I held my hands up. “Can we take things a touch slower? This pace is unforgiving. You might put your back out, old man!” 

“Ah, not so unforgiving you can’t backtalk, eh?” 

I worried that my comeback set a fire in Aaron. We were practicing stat control through bare-handed sparring, but any major blow could still result in a painful injury. Even so, Aaron believed that the most effective training resembled true combat. In that sense, the severity of the training was unavoidable; after all, we were squeezing into three days what one would normally practice for three years. 

That was why Aaron wasn’t satisfied with lectures alone. Rather, he wanted me to feel the lessons through my body, and he trained my reflexes and instincts as well as my mind. It was effective. I was learning not just movement, but awareness. The intensity of the training meant I didn’t have time to think, only to react. My body was already starting to understand how to manage any situation with appropriate stat control. 

We continued our sparring session straight through to lunch without rest. 

“You’re starting to stand more like a warrior now,” said Aaron. “As I thought, actions speak louder than words! I’m grateful you’re so resilient.” 

“If I wasn’t, I’d be dead now,” I said. 

I whispered another silent thanks to my Health Regen as we trained, and in response, felt a familiar pulse run through my body. 

Not now! I pleaded with myself. 

I’d been working on controlling Gluttony’s starvation state. That training was also showing results, but if my mind ever wandered, hunger instantly showed in my face. I knew from the familiar itch that my right eye was once again turning crimson. I thought about squeezing it shut and making something up—a bruise or dirt—but somehow, I knew I’d never fool Aaron. There was no way I could defend myself against his attacks with only one eye, either. I had no choice but to push on. 

“Hm… How strange,” Aaron muttered. “Your eye has changed color. It’s almost the same shade as Myne’s…” 

“Uh… My eyes change color when I get excited,” I said, stumbling for an excuse. 

“So, does that mean that Myne is…always excited?” 

Myne, still resting under the tree, stared at me as her hand reached slowly toward the hilt of her black axe. Her eyes spoke for her, drilling into my very being: “You want me to show you excitement?” 

All right, yeah, I had to be more careful about flippantly making stuff up. Aaron looked a little awkward, stuck on the outskirts of my silent conversation with Myne, so I turned my attention back to him. 

“Ready for another round?” I asked. 

“That’s the spirit,” he said. “Get ready!” 

Suddenly, I found I could track Aaron’s attacks as if he were moving just a touch more sluggishly. My half-starved state was somehow more intense than I was used to. Was training my body having a synergistic effect on my skills? 

Aaron noticed a change in me too, and he paused for a brief moment. “What?!” he exclaimed. “Your movements…they’ve changed. They’re sharper. Quicker.” 

“I owe it all to my teacher,” I said. “Are you ready? Because it’s my turn now!” 

Over the last day and a half, Aaron had drilled into me the importance of footwork in one-on-one combat. Lower-body movements could help me read my opponent. A deep step forward signaled a serious attack, while a shallow approach indicated a feint or defense. I could use the same signals to gauge and control my opponents’ responses. It was common to watch an opponent’s hands when they attacked, but Aaron stressed that it was more helpful to read their footwork first, because their feet dictated where their hands would go. 

Now that Aaron had taught me all this, it was my turn to give back. I slipped past his punch and took a deep step into close range. Now! 

I launched my right fist, stopping just shy of his nose. 

“You’re learning,” Aaron said. 

I owed my newfound ability to Gluttony’s half-starved state. Without it, these movements would still have been impossible for me. Now that I was capable of maneuvering like this while half-starved, my abilities would only sharpen further when I was fully starved. Perhaps then, I’d be capable of pulling off a truly otherworldly feat. 

“I never would have imagined that something so simple as a changed eye color would result in such dexterity. You’re a different person with that red eye, Fate. So, this must be your true power! But I sense that it places a heavy weight on your soul… You’re training to control that, too, aren’t you?” 

“Something like that,” I said, chuckling to make it seem like less than what it was. However, I was afraid the chuckle just made me sound nervous. 

Now, I was finally curious about Aaron’s stats. He’d used Identify to view mine, and while I’d felt strange about prying earlier, it was only fair that I got to do the same. I activated Identify. 

Aaron Barbatos, Lv 180 

Vitality: 3,244,000 

Strength: 3,856,000 

Magic: 3,948,000 

Spirit: 3,874,000 

Agility: 4,098,000 

Skills: 

He was…incredibly strong. All his stats were over three million. In other words, he was even stronger than I was. Additionally, it seemed he was using Conceal to hide his skills. But even without knowing his skills, his stats alone told me he was a high-ranking holy knight. As I took this in, a slightly annoyed look crossed Aaron’s face. 

“I don’t much like people using Identify right in front of me,” he said. “You see, it requires a slight eye movement to work. People who know what to look for can always tell when they’re Identified.” 

“Oh, I had no idea…” 

“It’s only natural, really. When I used it on you earlier, you didn’t seem to notice at all.” 

So, top-level adventurers could spot the use of Identify. I’d have to spend a little time in front of a mirror when I had the chance. I was curious as to exactly how my eyes moved. 

“Did you know there’s a way to momentarily disrupt the Identify skill?” Aaron asked. 

“If there is, I’d like to know how,” I replied. 

For someone like me, who had such wildly different stats from everyone else—stats impossible for almost anybody—that would be a godsend. It might also allow me to shield my stats from enemies during battle. 

“Let me show you. Use Identify on me again.” 

As instructed, I activated Identify. This time, my eyes suddenly met a burst of stars. What the hell was that? 

“When you used Identify, I released some magical energy at the exact same time. If you get the timing right, you can briefly disorient a person, and they won’t be able to use Identify while they’re confused. Not many people can do this anymore, but it’s a handy technique to tuck in your belt. Remember this, and work on it.” 

“Thank you, Aaron.” 

“Well, shall we break for lunch?” 

“Sure.” 

I was learning so much. Greed had taught me how to wield the black sword in battle, but he hadn’t taught me a single thing about basic combat. With Aaron’s tutelage, I was finally coming to understand why basic training was so critical. 

The basic movements that you practiced over and over again were the same movements your body fell back on when you didn’t have the time to think. I was honing my very instinct.