Berserk of Gluttony (LN) - Volume 4 - Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

The Snowy Paths of Memory

ON OUR WAY to the kingdom, the snowstorm worsened, and we took shelter in a cave to escape the freezing cold. The opening to the cave was easily big enough for five people, and though I worried that it might be home to a beast or monster, Myne assured me that she sensed nothing. I ventured inside with my black sword clasped in hand and discovered the remains of a campfire, as well as a stockpile of firewood against the walls.

“Myne, look. We can use this to start a fire.”

“I suppose it is getting a little cold.”

Perhaps another traveler had used this cave as a camping ground, maybe for a hunting expedition. Whatever the case, we were both grateful for the supplies they’d left behind. I arranged some firewood to start a campfire of our own. It was good, dry wood, and I was sure it would burn well. I used my trusty Fireball spell to light the fire, and once filled with the bright crackle of blazing firewood, the gloom of the cave instantly transformed. The calming dance of the flames bathed us in warm light.

I let out a sigh, relieved. “It’s so toasty.”

“There’s nothing like a campfire in winter.”

We set our weapons against the wall, and I unrolled my travel blanket on the floor by the fire. Not long after I sat down, Myne sat beside me and pushed into my side, as if to snuggle.

“Myne, how about giving me a little space? There’s enough room around the fire for both of us.”

She didn’t budge. “This is the best way to get warm. Also, the best way to keep warm.”

“Wait, don’t tell me…you don’t like the cold?”

“I’m…not a wimp, Fate.”

Still, Myne pushed closer. It made me smile. This young woman never hesitated when it came to getting her way. And it really was much warmer with her close. I had no real reason to complain.

I let my thoughts wander as I stared at the campfire. Then I peeked over at Myne.

“What is it, Fate?” The girl was nothing if not a true warrior. She felt my gaze immediately.

“I was just thinking…about how much you’ve helped me. There was that time after the battle with the Divine Dragon, of course, but you’ve been at my side countless other times too.”

“That’s because you’re still weak,” Myne said with her typical bluntness. “Without me, you’d be dead.”

“Well…yeah, compared to you, I’m not that strong, but I’m doing my best to get there.”

Myne nodded in agreement, a gesture that felt decidedly rare for her. “Yes, Fate,” she murmured. “You really…you really are trying your best.”

I was filled with joy. She praised me!

Then, in the very next instant, Myne dropped into slumber.

Though it sometimes felt like she used me more like a favorite pillow than a friend, her slumber was so blissful that I was happy to let this incident slide. I turned my gaze back to the flickering flames of the campfire, at which point my thoughts drifted back to the events that had transpired not long after I parted ways with Lady Roxy in Galia.

***

So how had I ended up in a one-armed predicament? I’d lost my left arm in battle. In order to get it back, Myne and Eris had seen fit to put me through special training.

After I had defeated the Divine Dragon, I’d sacrificed the entirety of my stats to Greed in order to unlock his Fourth Level, the black stave. Myne and Eris had then decided to train me in the ways of the stave, teaching me to wield its secret technique, Twilight Healing.

Myne and Eris were both apparently well versed in the workings of this Fourth Level secret technique. They said Twilight Healing was even capable of restoring the arm I’d lost. To say I couldn’t believe this bold claim would have been an understatement. It was one thing to talk about healing major injuries, but restoring an entire severed limb? That was a bridge too far for me, and I told them so. Myne decided the quickest course of action was to beat the information into me. Literally.

Later, as I tended my bruises, I asked Greed about it. His reply was as arrogant as I expected.

“It’s no lie, Fate. But having said that, my Fourth Level secret technique is a hell of a thing to master. Remember the Third Level secret technique you unleashed in the battle against the Divine Dragon? This is on a far higher level than even that. For starters, it requires 40 percent of your total stats. And until you heighten your mastery of Bloody Ptarmigan, the First Level secret technique, you can forget about getting started on the Fourth. Oh, and you better get used to hanging out in the Domain of E too. That’s another prerequisite for Twilight Healing!”

“Chin up, Fate,” Myne said while I was trying to absorb all this information.

“All right, let’s get going,” said Eris, equally impatient.

“Get going? Wait, but where to? Guys, wait!” I cried.

But my words fell on two sets of deaf ears, and I was summarily whisked off into the depths of the country of death, Galia. We headed for the far south, to the orc colonies. On our way there, I was told this little jaunt was to earn back all the stats I’d lost by releasing Greed’s Fourth Level. In short, it was more like endlessly training until I was a haggard shadow.

“Fate, think of this as an all-you-can-eat buffet!” said Eris. “No shortage of food for you here. And besides, now that you’ve reached the Domain of E, you’ll have much better control over your pesky Gluttony. First off, you’ll have to eat all these delicious souls to get your stats back. Then we’ll make you fire your Bloody Ptarmigan attack until you can’t raise your arm anymore. But no need to worry. If you get tired, I’ll be right here to perk you back up again!” She blew me a kiss.

“I don’t need to be perked up!” I protested. “And more importantly, are you serious about making me fire the Bloody Ptarmigan that many times?!”

In my one-armed state, just thinking about that constant energy drain—10 percent of my stats, every shot—had been terrifying. Confusion and doubt had seized me, but in the face of my objections, Eris remained firmly frank and nonchalant.

“We wouldn’t lie to you, Fate. Right, Myne?”

“Right,” Myne said. “Now aim over there. Fire! Now!”

Myne pointed at a horde of orcs charging toward us from the horizon. There were definitely more than two thousand of them, every last one crazed with rage at the sudden appearance of humans in their territory. Their numbers grew with each passing second as they flooded out from their colony.

What was I supposed to do? I held the black bow in my right hand, but…how could I possibly fire it without another hand to draw back the arrow?!

“Greed, this sucks,” I grumbled.

“Oh, ye of little imagination! You might not have a hand, but you’ve still got magic. Use it to move the string. Even you should be capable of that much.”

“Well, here goes nothing.”

I poured my magical energy through the bow, focusing on the string. To my amazement, as I centered my thoughts on pulling the string taut, it moved. Then I turned my thoughts toward loading the bow with a magic arrow. It crackled to life on the drawn string.

I was ready.

“Whoa! I did it!” I cried.

“Your form could use some work,” Greed sniffed. “Anyway, better get a shot off quick. We’re about to drown in that ocean of orcs.”

I wasn’t used to holding the bow in my right hand. I wasn’t remotely used to loading and aiming the bow with magic. All the same, I poured 10 percent of my stats into the weapon to engage the First Level secret technique. I felt the familiar pull of my energy draining into the ravenous weapon as it transformed before my eyes from a plain black bow into a greatbow of uncanny angles.

I aimed the Apocalyptic weapon toward the orcs and loosed the Bloody Ptarmigan. However, it seemed Greed had neglected to fill me in on one important little detail.

“Oh, did I forget to mention?” he said as the arrow arced gracefully through the air. “I’m not going to be your guidance system during training. So you better make sure your aim is on point.”

“You tell me that now?! After I fire?!”

I had been so sure that Greed would correct my aim, as he usually did, that my wild attack barely even grazed the edge of the incoming horde. Essentially, I’d missed them completely.

“You’re just…an astoundingly awful shot, Fate.”

“Give me a break…” I muttered.

Behind me, I heard Eris and Myne sigh in joint disappointment.

“Oh, my,” said Eris. “You’ve really been relying on Greed to do all the work all this time?”

“It’s past time you learned to fight using your own power,” said Myne. “Like me.”

I watched as Myne gently patted her black axe, Sloth. In her case, she didn’t really have a choice but to fight with her own power; her axe was pretty much always asleep. But never mind her! I had to put those thoughts aside and concentrate.

“Better make sure the next one doesn’t miss,” chuckled Greed.

“Yeah, yeah.”

As I looked out over the incoming tidal wave of orcs, I could feel in my bones that this was going to be much more difficult than refining my swordsmanship. Unlike with the sword, until this moment, I’d completely relied on Greed’s support to hit all my shots.

“If you won’t help me, then I’ll just help myself!” I shouted.

“Fire until they go down!” shouted Greed. “And don’t forget about your stats!”

That was how it started: four weeks of absolute hell that Myne and Eris called “training.” I spent days firing the Bloody Ptarmigan attack over and over again to increase my mastery of it. Once the orc waves thinned, Eris and Myne took turns sparring with me. By the end of each round, I felt like little more than a dirty rag lying crumpled on the ground. Eris even said as much to my face. Despite my exhaustion, I wasn’t allowed to take breaks. Every time I started to get woozy and fall asleep, Eris attempted to use her Charm ability on me. She called it mental training, but I couldn’t tell if she was being honest.

“Why don’t you just fall for me, Fate? It’ll be better for both of us,” she said after yet another attempt.

“You say that, but I can never tell if you’re joking or not.”

Eris pouted in protest.

Well, even though at times I felt I couldn’t fully trust her, Eris really did take good care of me. For the entire month of training, she traveled to Babylon whenever our supplies dwindled, and she never complained about it. She was no weakling either. The entire journey to Babylon and back only took her a couple of hours. I had a feeling she was going easy on me when we sparred too.

“Myne’s the lookout tonight,” Eris said one night. “So let’s snuggle up together, shall we, Fate?”

“Always looking for ways to Charm me, huh?”

“You bet! And just so you know, it comes from my Skill of Mortal Sin. It might be weaker than the starvation of your Gluttony, but if you can learn to survive the full power of my Charm, then at the very least you’ll be able to survive and endure what you fear most…the desire to devour your beloved Roxy.”

“What?!” I yelped. “Are you serious?! Then give me all the Charm you’ve got!”

Eris giggled. “I must say, I do so love that about you, Fate. Well, then, get ready!”

The full power of Eris’s Charm was incredible. I felt dizzy. Blood poured from my nose.

“I’m not done! You won’t withstand another round of this!”

I grunted as I fought back, my hand clapped to my face. “No way! I can take whatever you throw at me!”

In the end, I lost waves of stats to Bloody Ptarmigan and waves of blood to Eris’s Charm, but after one month, the orc colonies grew eerily quiet. I wondered if their silence was a white flag of surrender. I could now handle firing the Bloody Ptarmigan attack without any help from Greed, and I could endure Eris’s Charms. Between these two triumphs, I was finally strong enough to bring back my left arm using the Fourth Level secret technique.

“Congratulations, Fate!” said Eris. “I guess we have to stop calling you Rag Boy now!”

Myne nodded. “That’s great news, Rag Boy. Congratulations.”

Greed concurred. “Congratulations. You did great, Rag Boy.”

“Why are all three of you calling me that?! And—hold on, hold your horses. Aren’t your congratulations a bit premature? I still only have one arm!”

I hadn’t even turned Greed from his standard sword form into the black stave yet. I hadn’t done anything. Maybe the perception of time distorted when you’d been alive as long as Eris, Myne, and Greed had. But they were right—it was time to get started. I’d defeated so many orcs that my stats were firmly back in the Domain of E, far past the normal human stat cap. I took a deep breath and changed Greed into the black stave. It was time to get my arm back. It was time to use Twilight Healing.

“Okay, Greed. Take 40 percent of my stats!”

“Don’t mind if I do! Now, kid—don’t let me down!”

The stave transformed in my hands, growing heavier as it enlarged. Even without any of my onlookers saying anything, I felt acutely that this new weapon held the power to heal. I focused on my missing arm and inhaled.

“Let’s do it!” I shouted. “Twilight Healing!”

A crimson seal etched with magic runes formed under my feet. At the same time and just as suddenly, white flame sparked to life at my shoulder. As the flame burned slowly downward, my arm started to rebuild itself. Bone, then flesh, then skin. The licking fire reconstructed my limb from bicep to elbow, then forearm, and finally down to my hand, palm, and fingers.

I clenched my left hand into a fist, wrestling with the odd sensation of a new arm where just moments before there had only been the memory of one. My regrown muscles flexed as my fingers curled into my palm at my command.

I no longer held any doubts as to the true capabilities of the black stave. My arm was back.

“How’s it feel, Fate?”

“Just glad to have it. Thanks, Greed.”

“Now you can use the bow with both hands again!”

I turned to Myne and Eris and bowed to them. “Myne, Eris, thank you! I got my arm back!”

“I think you’ve trained enough for the time being,” said Eris.

“Now we can go home,” added Myne.

I nodded. It had been a long month of camping out in Galia. We were all in need of a rest in a soft bed for a change.

I initially assumed we would all return together, but Eris had urgent business to attend to. “I’ll see you in Seifort one month from now,” she said.

“Until then,” I replied.

Myne and I took a detour on the way back as well, specifically to stop by the capital city of Galia, which had lain in ruin for thousands of years. She said she needed to see something.

That visit was my first to that city. Even though its inhabitants had died many long years ago, the capital still stood tall. Buildings that reached as high as the clouds were lined up one after another, and monstrous roc birds roamed the skies. I would never forget the sight of Myne standing in silence as she stared out at the shell of this empty, broken city. All I could do was wait until she was ready to depart.

After, we headed north until we saw the border city of Babylon, then continued past it. If we stopped there now, we would only run into Lady Roxy again, and I couldn’t yet control my Gluttonous hunger. Our destination was the Barbatos estate of Hausen, where Aaron Barbatos was waiting.

We walked toward Hausen without rest. Myne, like me, seemed to look forward to seeing Aaron again. I could tell because she never once asked to pause and take a break at any of the several towns along the way.

When we rolled into Hausen, we saw that the estate was still in the midst of reconstruction. Aaron had sensed us coming long before we set foot inside the castle grounds, and he waited there to greet us warmly. He was truly happy to be reunited with us. He even held a small party to celebrate.

At this party, Aaron told me something unbelievable. He wanted to adopt me as his son and have me inherit the Barbatos name, as well as take his place as the current head of his ancient family of holy knights. I tried to refuse, but Aaron pleaded. “Please, grant this old man one last wish before he dies.”

Under that pressure, I couldn’t possibly turn him down. Aaron and I had fought side by side to free Hausen from the control of the crowned beast known as The Genesis of Death, a vengeful lich. Completing that task with him had carved a place for me in Aaron’s heart.

“Now that you’re the head of the Barbatos family, you’re free to live as you wish,” he said.

However, I had one condition. I would take the Barbatos family name only once he understood that I might stand against the other holy knights of Seifort (excluding the Hart family, of course). I could not abide by their actions.

“As you like,” said Aaron. “Didn’t I just say? You are free to live as you wish. As Fate Barbatos, you will live by your own decisions.”

I had no remaining reason to turn him down. With that, my decision was made. As the new head of the Barbatos family, I worked together with Aaron to rebuild Hausen. Sometimes even Myne raised her sleepy head to help out. Those days passed peacefully and with a constant stream of pleasant surprises. Familiar faces visited the castle, and I learned that during my time in Galia, Aaron had awakened to new powers of his own.

I wished I could have stayed in Hausen longer, but after a month, we had nearly reached our promised meeting time with Eris. Because he had business in Seifort, Aaron decided to accompany us. He left the remainder of the reconstruction to his trusted advisors, and together, the three of us headed to the capital of Seifort.

However, on our way, my heart clenched for some unknown reason, so Myne and I had made our fateful detour to the Hart family estate.

***

I placed another log on the now dying fire and let these old memories fade from my mind. As a slight chill blew in from outside, Myne shifted slightly, resettling to use my thighs as a pillow. Outside, the fierce snowstorm began to calm. We would head out at first light.