"Brother…"
"Brother…"
A fragile voice that had a unique sounding tone echoed in Su Ming’s dreams.
"Brother… Are you listening? Brother…"
"Brother… I’m waiting for you…" The voice was tired as if it had been calling out for eternity. It became weaker and the sound slowly disappeared.
As the voice grew weaker, Su Ming felt a gut-wrenching pain in his dreams. It was as though something of utmost importance to him disappeared along with the voice. The feeling jolted him awake from his sleep.
Su Ming felt cold. He was drenched in his sweat. His face was pale and he was breathing heavily. He looked at his surroundings and began to calm down when he saw that he was surrounded by familiar sights.
It was midnight. He could hear the sounds of birds and beasts from afar. Aside from that, everything was silent. Su Ming sat up quietly on his bed and looked at the stone in his hand. He looked doubtful.
‘That dream just now was weird… I wasn’t tired either but I fell asleep as I was observing the stone. That dream… that voice…’
Su Ming’s face was clouded with uncertainty. He rarely had dreams and he definitely never dreamed about something like that before. Yet somehow, the girl’s voice was oddly familiar.
‘All of this must be related to this thing!’
Su Ming lowered his gaze and looked carefully at the stone in his hand using the moonlight as his source of light. He frowned.
‘Just what is this…?’
He hesitated for a brief moment and then bit his finger. According to the scroll, most of the treasures in the world could only be activated with blood.
Up until then, Su Ming had never seen such treasures before. The stone was the only one he had ever seen. As the blood from his finger fell on top of the stone, Su Ming began to look at it expectantly.
Yet after a long while, nothing happened. There was no sign of the blood being absorbed either.
Su Ming scratched his head, but he was stubborn. He got up and used all sorts of methods, be it biting the stone with his teeth, trying to force it apart with his hands, and even soaking it in water. Nevertheless, there were still no changes on stone.
It was almost dawn. Su Ming held the stone in his hands and his mind wandered. Time passed and morning arrived. As the sun rose, Su Ming got an idea.
‘When I placed it on my chest, I felt some sort of heat from it. Perhaps… This might be its use!’
Su Ming placed the stone once again around his neck without hesitation, letting it hang close to his chest.
Waves of warmth spread out and seeped into Su Ming’s body. That warmth traveled through his body, enveloping his entire body in a comfortable feeling. He took a deep breath, and in his mind, Su Ming saw the methods to train in Berserker Arts which he obtained from the statue.
Berserk was the origin of all things in the world. Now, Su Ming had obtained the methods to train in the first realm in Berserker Arts – the methods to train in the Blood Solidification Realm.
Su Ming knew from the scroll that since ancient times, when their Berserker Ancestors created heaven and earth, all humans possessed remarkable abilities. Yet as time passed, the Berserker Tribe became a legend. They were no longer as they were before. They had all become common people.
The methods to train in Berserker Arts were also passed down from ancient times, but they had been modified to suit the present Berserker Tribes. The very first realm, the Blood Solidification Realm was divided into 11 levels. It allowed the practitioners to activate the Berserker Blood they had inherited from their ancestors and solidify it.
The power of the statue of the God of Berserkers was in reality used to search for those who had inherited denser Berserker Blood from their ancestors, and these people were deemed to possess Berserker Bodies. Only they could walk on and travel down the path of Berserkers.
A normal member of the tribe would not be recognized by the statue because their blood was thin with Berserker Blood. That was why they did not possess the right to become Berserkers. That was also why when they worshiped the statue of the God of Berserkers, they would not obtain the ways to train in Berserker Arts.
However, Su Ming was special. He may not have possessed a Berserker Body, but due to this mysterious stone, he obtained the ways to train in Berserker Arts. Berserker Arts was something difficult to pass down even through oral tradition, and it was something only possible for the tribes who possessed the statue of the God of Berserkers.
"Focus and solidify the Berserker Blood in your blood veins and you will awaken the blood. Draw the Berserker Mark unique to your own to Awaken!" Su Ming muttered with his eyes shining brightly.
He sat down cross legged and took a few deep breaths. He closed his eyes slowly. After that, he gradually immersed himself in the training method he obtained.
Soon after, the sun had risen to the peak of the sky. Smoke could be seen, signaling the bonfire was lit in the tribe. The tribe started to bustle with activity. The hunting team, led by several leaders in the tribe, ventured out to hunt for food with blessings from their families.
Some of the La Sus who were around four to five years old were running around naked and playing happily. The cheerful sounds brought about smiles on the faces of the tribe members.
The two tribe members who were told that they possessed Berserker Bodies were at the elder’s house. They were listening to lectures on how to train in Berserker Arts, as well as how to become a Berserker and how to become an important asset to the tribe.
As of that point in time, Dark Mountain Tribe only had 22 Berserkers after the older generation had passed away.
No one noticed the door to Su Ming’s house was shut tightly that morning. Within the house, he was emitting a dim, blood red light. The light came from every single vein in his body. It was a bewitching sight to behold as his blood veins glinted in red.
Only one blood vein emerged from Su Ming’s body and it appeared vague. It looked like it could not manifest itself completely.
After a long while, Su Ming opened his eyes and his breathing was shaky.
"If more blood veins emerge during the training in the Blood Solidification Realm, then it means the possibilities of Awakening would also be greater. But reaching the Awakening Realm is too hard. According to the scroll, only those who have Awakened their physical limitations have the right to call themselves Berserker Masters. A person who has arrived at the Awakening Realm has at least the ability to turn a small tribe into a medium sized tribe!"
"The elder has already solidified half of the Berserker Blood in his body but he has yet to reach Awakening. There is no one around us who has yet to reach the Awakening Realm."
Su Ming continued mumbling. The Awakening Realm was a dream too far away for him at that moment. He was worried whether he could manage to even reach the first level in the Blood Solidification Realm.
To reach the first level in the Blood Solidification Realm, he needed at least three of his blood veins to emerge.
Those who possessed a Berserker Body would be able to manifest three blood veins very quickly into their training and arrive at the first level of the Blood Solidification Realm. They would be unlike Su Ming, who could barely even manifest the first vein.
He was off to a rocky start, but Su Ming did not give up. As long as he could train, he had hope.
Besides, when he was trying to make all the blood veins in his body emerge, he could feel the stone on his chest growing hotter. This lifted Su Ming’s spirits. He had a feeling that he held the key to the activation of his treasure.
Seven days had passed. Within those seven days, Su Ming barely left his house. He was seldom hungry, which puzzled his mind. It was stated in the scroll that Berserkers would have an increased appetite during the Blood Solidification Realm because they were activating all the blood veins in their bodies. This would allow them to grow faster physically and create more fresh blood for their training.
However, there was no sign of hunger within Su Ming. He thought about it and attributed this to the strange warmth emitted by stone.
Within those seven days as well, Lei Chen dropped by once to give Su Ming the mink deer blood and take some Dark Dragon’s Saliva. Lei Chen was tested and proven to possess the Berserker Body when he was seven. He had already reached the fourth level of the Blood Solidification Realm by now. He was able to manifest 23 blood veins from his body and even within the hunting team, his abilities were at least of an average level.
Before he left, he hesitated briefly. He wanted to cheer Su Ming up, but in the end, he chose to look at Su Ming and speak honestly.
"Su Ming, we grew up together. I’ll protect you from now on. If anyone bullies you, then they’re my enemy as well!" Once he finished, he swung his arm in a powerful manner and left with a boyish grin.
Su Ming watched Lei Chen leave feeling touched.
Life in the tribe was simple but it was not boring. Almost all of the members of the tribe had their own task to perform to contribute to the tribe.
Half a month after the Berserker’s Awakening, Su Ming once again took his basket and left for the forest alone after reporting to the members of the tribe.
Su Ming was like a different person once he went into the forest. He was agile. He could speed forth like an arrow with a jump and climb up a big tree with just a few leaps. As he sat on a tree branch, he smiled. He was proud of his own speed.
Even if I haven’t completed the first level of Blood Solidification Realm, my body has become much more agile than before.
Su Ming placed two fingers in his mouth and whistled. The whistle travelled far and echoed as it did. Soon, a flash of red came from afar. The red blur was quick and it reached Su Ming in a flash.
Su Ming grinned widely and jumped forward as soon as the blurry red figure approached. It screamed and chased after Su Ming.
"Xiao Hong, let’s see who reaches the top of the mountain first today!" There was joy in Su Ming’s voice, and as he spoke, he ran forward. Behind him was Xiao Hong. The monkey’s face was scornful. It did not think that competing with Su Ming was something worth doing. It was even eating a fruit in its hand at that moment. Xiao Hong scratched its face and chased after Su Ming lazily.
However, the monkey soon grew restless and its screams became sharper. Its gaze was filled with shock and it threw away the fruit in rage, chasing after Su Ming with everything it had.