Re: Tales of the Rune-Tech Sage-Chapter 521: Berserk Humans II

CH521 Berserk Humans II

***

"Berserk humans? Adventurers hunt humans?" Alex raised an eyebrow.

"Yes," Wayne nodded solemnly. "Anyone who undergoes berserk transformation is no longer human. They lose their sanity, leaving nothing but a beastly impulse that seeks to kill everything around it... or convert them."

Alex’s expression turned grave.

He leaned forward, resting his forearms on his thighs.

"I’ll be honest with you, Branch Master. I know very little about berserk beasts. Until today, they were little more than fables to me—things I had only heard of but never seen.

"As you’ve likely noticed, I always travel with a priestess of my family’s faith by my side, so berserk transformation has never been something I needed to worry about."

He exhaled slowly.

"Can you tell me about berserk transformation in humans? Why does a large settlement like this have such a serious problem with it, to the extent that even the commonfolk have become desensitised to it?"

A hint of surprise flashed across Wayne’s eyes.

’As I suspected, he’s a rich young master from a powerful house who knows little of the world. That would explain why he only asked for useless corrupted beast cores when he could have demanded far more valuable items for his services. He probably doesn’t care much for what we can offer him.’

’Still, he must be incredibly pampered to be witnessing berserk transformation for the first time.’

Several thoughts passed through Wayne’s mind in that brief moment. But as the experienced Branch Master of an Adventurer Association—an organisation that dealt with all manner of people daily—Wayne quickly schooled his expression, revealing none of his inner judgement.

"Well, as you likely know, berserk transformation occurs when an entity’s body is corrupted by the berserk property beyond its tolerance threshold. This triggers a rapid, uncontrollable mutation of the body.

"The strain of this mutation overwhelms the mind, causing it to collapse. The infected individual becomes a mindless monster driven by the instinct to seek out more berserk energy in order to continue mutating and growing."

He paused briefly before continuing in a grim tone.

"You’ve probably been told that professionals—especially lower-ranked ones—are the most susceptible to berserk transformation among humans. In reality... that isn’t entirely true."

"Is it wrong?" Alex asked.

"Not wrong. Just... half the truth." Wayne shook his head. "And the other half makes all the difference—especially in a place like Dragonstone."

Alex nodded and waited for the explanation.

Wayne raised both hands.

He lifted his right hand slightly higher.

"On one hand, it is true that professionals are more susceptible to berserk contamination than commonfolk, because we actively absorb mana that is laced with berserk properties."

He lowered that hand and raised the left.

"But on the other hand, most tempering and cultivation methods we practise include ways to filter out the berserk property from our bodies, at least enough to maintain a safe threshold. The commonfolk do not have that luxury."

Alex’s eyes flashed with understanding.

’Of course...! How did I miss something so obvious? In that case...!’

Wayne caught the change in his expression and knew the young noble had pieced it together.

"It is exactly what you’re thinking," Wayne continued. "On paper, professionals should be the most vulnerable to berserk transformation. In reality, however, most berserk humans you will ever see were originally commonfolk."

"At least, in these Wildlands" He added.

’As expected...’ Alex sighed inwardly as his suspicion was confirmed.

"When professionals are contaminated, they can use their tempering methods to purge part of it, or use their internal energy to suppress the berserk property. The transformation is rarely immediate.

"But commonfolk don’t have that option. They have no cultivation talent, so they cannot use tempering manuals to cleanse the contamination. At the same time, because they lack internal energy, they have no means to suppress the berserk property when it flares.

"They don’t even realise how badly they’re contaminated until it’s too late. After all, inner sight into one’s own body is something only professionals gain through cultivation and tempering."

Alex nodded slowly.

Everything Wayne said was logical—almost intuitive once laid out clearly.

"This forms the foundation of Dragonstone’s problem," Wayne added grimly. "But the root cause goes deeper than just that."

Alex’s gaze hardened as he listened intently.

The genuine curiosity on his face stirred something in Wayne, and the middle-aged man found himself speaking more loosely than he usually would.

"Outside the Wildlands, Deity and Spirit clergy regularly hold faith services. They use divine energy to cleanse the commonfolk of the everyday contamination they accumulate just by living," Wayne explained. "Unfortunately, out here, we don’t have that luxury.

"Most settlements in the Wildlands don’t have clergy capable of doing that. And the few that do rely on wandering outlander shamans and their tribal spirits far too weak to make any meaningful difference for a settlement of this size."

Wayne paused, then asked,

"You came into the Wildlands from the direction of Camp Red Rock, didn’t you?"

"Yes," Alex nodded.

"Then it’s no surprise you haven’t witnessed human berserk transformation before," Wayne sighed. "Camp Red Rock is small. The ancestral spirit of the orcs there is just strong enough to passively cleanse most of the by-contamination in the settlement over time.

"We in Dragonstone do not have that luxury."

He shook his head before continuing.

"And on top of that... we have a food problem that makes everything far worse."

"A food problem?" Alex raised an eyebrow.

"You must have noticed that the Hollowcrest Wildlands are practically a wasteland. The oases are fertile, yes, but the land must first house the people living here. We can only cultivate so much.

"We buy what we can from passing merchant caravans, but... it simply isn’t enough to feed everyone."

Wayne’s expression darkened.

"That’s where berserk beast carcasses come in."

Alex’s eyes narrowed slightly.

"Almost everyone in Dragonstone relies on berserk beast meat for food," Wayne said with a sigh. "It makes this settlement very attractive for adventurers who hunt beasts for profit.

"However—"

"Berserk beast flesh is one of the largest sources of berserk contamination," Alex finished for him.

"Exactly." Wayne gave a faint, tired smile. "Looks like you’ve pieced it together."

Wayne nodded and continued,

"Yes, it’s exactly as you are thinking. Although we kill many berserk beasts daily to feed the settlement, most of the carcasses are steeped in berserk corruption.

"The few cleaner carcasses are immediately claimed by the wealthy elite—who are, more often than not, professionals themselves. That leaves the commonfolk with no choice but to consume the corrupted meat.

"They must eat sparingly... or risk heavy contamination and, eventually, transformative mutation."

Alex sighed inwardly.

’I see... So that’s why it’s such a common occurrence here. The commonfolk only have enough wealth—and power—to buy carcasses saturated with berserk corruption. And when they eat, they contaminate themselves in the process.

’Since they cannot use inner sight like professionals, they have no way to track how corrupted they are. Nor do they possess the means to purge the contamination, even partially, like professionals do.

’And to make matters worse, the solution isn’t as simple as forcing professionals to give up the cleaner carcasses. Even with their tempering methods, the most they can do is delay the inevitable. They too would eventually fall to berserk transformation.’

As his thoughts reached this point, Alex’s eyes flashed with sudden understanding.

’I see... So that’s why the settlement’s leadership appears to be letting the problem persist.

’As cruel as it sounds, it is actually far more manageable for the commonfolk to be the ones undergoing transformation. At least then, there are capable professionals around to put them down quickly when they do transform.

’If it were the professionals transforming instead, the commonfolk would be utterly helpless against them.’

’This... is the most pragmatic decision the leadership could make.’ 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Alex exhaled softly.

"I don’t envy your position one bit, Branch Master," Alex said. "That is quite the thorny conundrum you’re dealing with."

Wayne’s eyes lit up slightly as he noticed Alex grasp the unspoken truth between the lines.

"I have another question, if you don’t mind," Alex added.

"Go on, young master Alex." Wayne found himself oddly eager to continue explaining.

"How dangerous are berserk humans, truly? And if they are this dangerous, why aren’t the clergy actively doing anything in the Wildlands to address the problem?" Alex asked.

The Adventurer Assocaition branch master looked to Alex weirdly.

"You have a priestess by your side and you don’t know the reason why priests don’t enter the wildlands?" He said.

"Should I?" Alex asked back.

He didn’t say anything lest he reveals himself.

Wayne appeared speechless.

"For reasons unknwon, all the deities reached a consensus to not send clergy into the wildlands. That’s why all manner of people, especially those looking to evade their eyes, come to the Wildlands.

"In fact, the fact that you have a priest by your side while you tour this stretch of the world is strange in and of itself." The man couldn’t help saying.

"Is that so?" Alex played dumb.

Wayne shook his head, a little exasperated.

"In essence, to answer your question, it is not that the clergy don’t want to come rid the land of berserk humans, it’s that they can’t."

***