CHAPTER 50: CHAPTER 50 - GUARDIAN

Her amethyst eyes bore into me for a long moment, and then her lips parted slowly, a whisper carrying across the gulf of space between us:

"A human. Hm. Curious."

My right hand tightened around my axe. My left squeezed the cub’s side lightly. Its small body was slack, but its breaths were steady, thankfully.

My eyes narrowed, "Who are you?"

Her gaze didn’t waver.

The silence returned, longer this time.

Something shifted in her eyes. And then, a sensation like my body being peeled open---not pain, not literally. But it felt that way. As if my body was a book, and this woman simply flipped through the pages, skimming through flesh and blood.

I didn’t move.

Her head tilted slightly, brows scrunched in light confusion, "Your Words...they are...protected. Doubly curious. Hm."

She floated a little a closer. "You asked who I am? I...am a Guardian, of sorts. And my charge, is the Great Divide. No beast is allowed escape from it, and my weavings thought you one. But...I see you are no beast."

Her voice was flat, but her presence was not. Each syllable pressed into me like weight, a reminder that if she chose to call me beast, there would be no room for correction.

Then her eyes narrowed, "So tell me..."

Her figure vanished, and I felt the air behind me shift just slightly. She stood not an arm’s length away, bare feet hovering a finger above the soil as if the ground dared not touch her.

"...who are you?"

She pinched at nothing, or what was seemingly nothing, for between her fingers, appeared a faint mote of red-black---squirming, jagged, a tiny shard of chaotic mana plucked straight out of the air.

"And why does Berserk Mana inhabit your body?"

I gulped. Berserk Mana?

Her fingers rotated slightly, turning the mote in the light like a jeweler examining a flawed gem. The thing pulsed, jagged edges gnawing at her skin, yet she regarded it with idle detachment, as though it could never truly touch her.

"This does not belong in human flesh," she murmured, "And yet here it writhes, tethered, unwilling to let go."

She released it. The mote flickered, then streaked back into my body with a slight sting.

Her eyes never left mine. "You possess something you should not. Something dangerous. And yet... you are not consumed."

Her pupils focused, "That alone warrants your death."

The words rang like a verdict, final and cold. My grip on the axe tightened instantly.

She nodded at my reaction, as if in note, "Exceptional reflexes, despite their futility."

The silence stretched. My breaths sounded too loud in my ears.

I tried to calm myself. If she wanted me gone, I’d already be gone. It is unlikely that she wishes to harm me, this is just more...testing.

My grip on the axe loosened as I stood up straight. There was no point in panicking.

"My name...is Axel Vorous."

She brought a hand to her chin as she spoke, "Vorous...hm...you’re no estranged noble then. Truly curious. And what of the Mana, Axel Vorous?"

I gulped again. Whether it was another "weaving" or not, I didn’t know, but my instincts told me I’d be dead in moments if I chose to lie.

"A black beast core...." I said hesitantly, "I consumed one for my Ascension to the Silver Rank, and my body...adjusted."

Her brow arched. "There is no falsehood in these words...truly anomalous..."

"Hm. Very well. How you survived such a foolish undertaking is an intriguing topic of conversation, but that is not a part of my jurisdiction. I shall take my leave."

"Wait!" I called back, "You called my mana ’Berserk’...what do you mean by that?"

She paused, then turned, and drifted closer, circling me now. "You truly do not know?"

I didn’t move. Her robe brushed air across my skin as she floated past, the pressure of her presence feeling heavier than the Core’s weavings ever had.

"I have...amnesia."

"Truth again..." A light but genuine smile tugged at her lips, "I see. Hm. I will allow this one question, then."

She looked up to the skies in thought for a moment, then began.

"Berserk Mana is...unbridled. Uncontrollable by the Laws of Magic. It is the result of a Beast’s desperation, driving them into a self-consuming method of Mana-Channeling that forces their Mana into a chaotic state, in exchange for a final, but brutal boost in strength."

She paused, letting it sink in, then continued, "No human has ever survived channeling Mana using this method, but the strongest beasts...have been known to do so, and the truly exceptional, have gone on to master this process."

"We call them Berserkers."

My chest grew taut at those words, the mana within shrinking back on reflex.

Her eyes sharpened, any softness draining from her tone, "Do not waste your time trying to hide that Mana, Axel Vorous. The only ones that can sense it are the others like myself. And make no mistake, your attempts at hiding it will be futile."

"Your Words are hidden from my divination, but know that none can hide their true nature in this world."

"...Not from us."

She came to a stop in front of me.

"I myself, am an impartial party. I couldn’t care less about your anomalous ascension, or of the politics you’ll no doubt be roped into, but the others...they will not be so forgiving. So you best strengthen it, child. Sharpen it into a weapon only you can wield."

"And until then...pray. Pray the others do not learn of you, for the moment they do, you’ll be hunted like every other Berserker---with every Adamantium Ranked being Telaria has to offer, and more."

My eyes widened into saucers.

And...more?

Her gaze lingered a fraction longer, weighing my reaction. "Now you know the weight of what you hold. Wield it well."

No sound marked her departure. She was simply gone.

-----------------------

I stood rooted to the spot long after she vanished, watching the afternoon skies, cub still in my grasp as I let the weight of all that I’d learnt sink in.

Every Adamantium Ranked being, and more...

The words repeated in my head, over and over. Ranks beyond Adamantium. They did exist, as I had speculated.

I let out a slow breath, realizing my fingers still gripped the haft of my axe so tight my knuckles were pale.

I forced myself to ease my hold.

"She didn’t even give me a name..." My voice came out a rasp, carried away by the wind. Just who the hell was she?

A Guardian. That’s what she’d called herself. And her power...

It was overwhelming in a way I had no measure for. It cut off every option. It stripped away every instinct I leaned on.

No tricks. No lies. No resistance.

All that was left was submission.

And the realization that if others like her existed, I wasn’t ready to face even one of them.

It only reinforced the same thing I had come to realize many times over now.

I need to be stronger.

My eyes lowered to the cub in my arms. Still unconscious, breathing slow and steady. I exhaled once, then glanced to the corner of my vision---at the System. The Daily Quest.

Nine more Tremor-Class beasts.

Impossible.

Re-entering the core wasn’t an option. I’d only just clawed my way out.

Is there no option but to take the failure?

I clenched my jaw.

Failure meant a penalty. But penalties weren’t death.

Forget the punishment. Do what you can.

That was all there was to it.

I crouched and set the cub down against the trunk of a tree near the safe side of the clearing.

I straightened, axe in hand, then found an open space, gripped the haft properly, and lifted it high.

whoosh.

[Downward Chops: 46/500]

whoosh.

[Invalid.]

whoosh

[Downward Chops: 47/500]

One in every two was perfect. The others were not.

I adjusted. Tightening my stance where needed, trying to utilize my body’s new control best I could.

Two thousand five hundred perfect swings. Five thousand total. Two seconds each...

The math assembled itself in my head like another challenge.

Three hours, if I don’t stop.

So I began.

And I didn’t stop.

--------------------------

The Cub awoke approximately an hour into my training, but it settled to observe from the side.

It’s golden eyes observed carefully, as if there was something profound it could glean from my movements.

Perhaps there was. Or perhaps I was getting ahead of myself.

The Third hour came quickly, and with it, the completion of the First Section of the Daily Quest.

[Tail-End Stabs: 500/500]

[Standard Axemanship Practice has been fully completed.]

The notifications faded as I lowered the axe, breathing slow and steady.

The cub blinked at me once, then rose, padding closer on quiet paws. I met its gaze. For the first time since the Guardian’s disappearance, the weight in my chest lessened.

I’ve done what I can. Now, we depart.