It took three full days for Aisrin to recover. The horn did not disappear, as a demon who goes berserk usually must wait a week until the horn falls off. For demons, it is also known as the Week of the Weak. Demons do not approve of Berserkers, it means they were too weak to begin with. This was Aisrin's third time going berserk, the notches in the horn tell this tale.
The smaller and thinner the horn, the less times going berserk. The longer and thicker the horn, the more notches, means a Demon has gone berserk many times. After a certain point, the horn becomes permanent and that Demon is ostracized.
When Aisrin finally gained consciousness and opened his eyes, the first thing he wanted was food. He had also forgotten where he was. As he stretched, his hand hit something soft and squishy. He grabbed it and squeezed, until he realized the familiar feeling of a bare breast. He nodded and rolled out of bed. Finally realizing where he was and quickly dressing, not daring to look back at whoever was naked in his bed.
"How rude! You grope me and immediately leave? Didn't anyone ever tell you not to play with a girls feelings? Hah, whatever, it seems you're feeling better so I'll take my leave." A womans voice stated from the bed. Aisrin looked back and sighed in relief, it wasn't the princess like he had expected. Instead it was an older woman with black hair and an eye patch over her left eye.
When she stood up, Aisrin took in the full view of her naked body. There were scars all over her body.
"And who are you? Also why are you naked?" Aisrin asked as he turned away. She was well endowed with a fat ass and big titties.
"Blackhawks mentor. I helped him after a certain incident and I took him under my wing. Because I sleep best naked, I wasn't given a room as they've all been taken up by the nobles" The lady replied as she made a bottle if booze materialize out of thin air and began chugging. Now that she did, he noticed a mountain if empty bottles.
'And that explains enough.'
"So why are you here?" Aisrin asked.
"Due to a certain group and their unholy experiments, my blood has insane healing properties, so Blackhawk asked the king to send for me. He even offered his personal service to the king in return. It takes alot for Blackhawk to take a liking to someone, so I was inclined to see who had made him do such a thing." The lady explained.
"Oh. I don't understand, but alright." Aisrin nodded. He finally finished getting his clothes on. The lady on the other hand only put short shorts on and a bra with black leather boots.
"You stare alot. I don't mind though. I like the tone of your body myself. The scars speak volumes." The lady pointed out. The scars were all from his countless encounters with magical beasts when he went training with his father. His father believed in experience over plain sparring. Eight of them were the reason for his first Berserker moments. Five of them were from a magic wolf-beast pack. And three were from a deep slash caused by a miasma bear.
"These were the results of failure and weakness." Aisrin responded.
"They just tell their tales. It matters not whether victory or defeat. They're your stories." The lady waved his dismal response as mere dribble.
"That's a real nice outlook on things." Aisrin commented as he opened the door and left the room.
"No, it's just that you have the same bleak outlook on life as Blackhawk." The lady said quietly as Aisrin disappeared.
*The Throne Room twenty minutes later*
"You may rise Aisrin. I must apologize for pushing that duel too hard for you. I just had to be sure you qualified as a Hero. You did, with flying colors. Not many can last longer than a minute against me, nor can anyone land a solid blow. You lasted a little over ten and effectively broke my nose. It was quite fun." The king told Aisrin.
"And I told you to not do anything drastic. And yet we had to push the Banquet back a day because of you." The princess scorned her father.
"Yes, yes. Now, I must ask you an important question. Your path was free to choose correct? Meaning you can choose any path. Which path do you wish to pursue?" The king went into business mode.
"Which ever path is-"
"-Most relaxing and free correct?" The king interrupted Aisrin.
"That would be correct your highness." Aisrin nodded.
"That's good. Then your path should be Adventuring. I can recommend a good guild for you. It's based outside of my kingdom, but their king is all about adventuring. And they are most suited to Hero work than mine is. Our kingdom is much too peaceful you see." The king recommended.
"Then that is the path I choose your highness." Aisrin bowed.
"Good, I knew you would, so I sent for some Adventures who haven't yet registered. You may choose freely from them. The Heros party must be established after all." The king mused.
"As you wish." Aisrin agreed. The king motioned for the soldiers to open a door and a long line of people entered and lined up. Around fifty were present.
'How would a person form a good party in a game?'
"Please present your PSI to the Hero so that he may choose well." The king commanded. Everyone raised their right hand and screens popped up.
"You may choose." The king stated. Aisrin walked up and down the line twice, taking his time studying the numbers and skills of each person. Once he was done he went back to his spot.
"Well, who did you choose?" The king inquired.
"I have requirements. I did not see James nor Blackhawk in those present." Aisrin replied.
"Hoho, I knew you would choose those two by default, so I've already had them assigned upon their requests. If that is all, please choise." The king once again told Aisrin.
"Very well. Gwen is the only other I wish to take along. As well as the pink haired girl on the end there." Aisrin stated. Audible sughes of disappointment could be heard from the remaining fourth eight.
"Hmm, very well then. You two may stay, the rest of you are dismissed." The king dismissed. The long line disappeared, leaving the two flabbergasted girls.
"Uhm, permission to speak your highness?" The pink haired girl known as Verenia asked as she ran up next to Aisrin and kneeled to the king.
"Permission granted young one." The king permitted.
"Thank you. Why did you choose me? My stats aren't all that great, and not many choose to have a monster half breed in their party." Verenia turned to Ausrin and asked while kneeling.
"For one, stand up when addressing me, I'm not royalty. For two, race does not matter to me. For three, you have amazing skills and potential. Fourth, I'm half demon myself. Five, I only trust those who have a trustworthy personality. Sixth, I've never seen nor heard of a Half Goblin, so I found it intriguing." Aisrin explained.
"I-I see. That is all then." Verenia stuttered as she blushed. The unmentionable other reasons were because she had extremely attractive looks that Ausrin found nowhere else. Full lips, green eyes that shine like emeralds, long wavy pink hair, ample breasts and a plump ass, and finally delectably smooth legs. The greenish tinted to her skin was also fairly attractive in a strange way.
"What about Gwen? Gwen is only a dwarf with Blacksmith skills." Gwen abruptly asked. This didnt bother the king, as the king himself was intrigued by the decisions. Along with Verenia, gwen was a fair attraction. Her tan smooth skin that Gwen showed off through her shorter than needed clothes, her long pointed ears, carrot colored hair, honey gold eyes, full lips, big tits and ass.
"I just like you." Aisrin answered shortly. Gwen just turned away and blushed.
"Hahaha! Shall we have the banquet then?" The king laughed. The princess nodded and after a few minutes Aisrin had been escorted to a fitting room. A black and red uniform similar to James' uniform was the presented to Aisrin. It fit him perfectly.
"We had you measured while you were unconscious. We figured that you'd rather stick to your own color scheme than the kingdoms colors, seeing as you are the Hero, and belong to the world as a whole.
"I appreciate that." Aisrin nodded. After he fitted his cloak to the uniform and his weapons, he followed the servants to the ball room/wing. The place was huge and packed with nobles of every type. Everywhere he went, they gave him their courtesies.
'I have a feeling this is only like this here. Where peace ensues.'
Aisrin would find this hunch to be correct later on. The night went in merrily and the group of five were praised much during the banquet. James was more than happy to be apart of the team, though a little miffed that he was appointed the leader instead of Aisrin. But his Job suited the position. He was a Leader after all.
The entire party, including Aisrin, attempted to out drink Blackhawk, because they knew that what laid ahead was nothing but hardships, so they decided to have as much fun as they possibly could. The only one who kept up with Blackhawk was Aisrin himself, but even he failed. In the end, Blackhawk only lost to his master, and the banquet ended hours later when the party retired to their rooms.