Chapter 40: [Berserk]

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There was nowhere inside Crockpot Village spacious enough for them to stretch their limbs, so the five of them went to the threshing ground outside the village.

By then, the sun’s last rays had faded. Cool moonlight spilled down from the sky, casting the objects across the threshing ground in vague, indistinct shadows that were difficult to make out clearly.

Li Rui had obtained Low-Level Darkvision from a goblin, so the dim surroundings did not affect his vision in the slightest. The others, however, were not so fortunate.

They gathered some dead branches and decaying leaves along the edge of the threshing ground, lit two bonfires about ten meters apart, and began their demonstrations between them.

Of the three non-spellcasting companions who had yet to display their abilities, Millie went first.

She had the other four stand ten, twenty, thirty, and fifty meters away, then took four clods of earth and threw them diagonally into the air.

The four clods traced graceful arcs through the darkness. In the next instant, four arrow-shaped shadows flashed past in succession, blasting them apart in midair.

After demonstrating her basic abilities, Millie went on to display Curving Arrow, Precise High-Arc Arrow, and Rapid-Fire Arrow, which allowed her to release all thirty arrows in her quiver within ten seconds.

The second to perform was Brook, the sword-and-shield warrior.

He removed the shield that had been hanging from his left arm, then held it out with one hand for Li Rui and Millie to try lifting.

They accepted it with puzzled expressions, but immediately understood what Brook intended.

The round shield, barely sixty centimeters in diameter, weighed a staggering thirty jin—fifteen kilograms!

Brook then removed his helmet, armor, arm guards, leg guards, and iron boots, piled them all on top of the shield, and gestured for Li Rui and Millie to weigh the load in their hands.

Millie stepped forward and, her face reddening with effort, barely managed to raise the entire pile to chest height. The moment she set it down, she began breathing heavily.

Li Rui, the weakest member of the party, could only just lift the equipment clear of the ground before feeling his lower spine let out a painful groan. He hurriedly put it back down.

After demonstrating the weight of his equipment, Brook donned it all again and began practicing his swordsmanship on the threshing ground.

His blade flashed, his shield swept through the air, and he twisted and shifted with nimble precision. Every movement was smooth and natural. The heavy armor seemed to have become part of his body, imposing no burden on him whatsoever.

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During the demonstration, Brook even had the others throw clods of earth at him. They circled him, constantly changing positions, while the clods flew like rain. It was more than ten minutes before they finally stopped.

Throughout it all, Brook wielded his shield and blade in a seamless defense, and not a single clod managed to leave a mark on him.

The last to perform was Garon the barbarian.

A barbarian had to acquire a subclass to be considered level three, and barbarians had a fairly consistent name for their subclasses: Paths.

“My Path is Berserker,” Garon said in his rough voice. “There’s nothing particularly special about it. It simply causes me to enter a state of fury when I activate Rage, making my attacks faster and stronger and granting me greater vitality.”

Among the entire party, Garon’s profession could be said to be the most plain and unremarkable.

Unlike Li Rui and Paul, he possessed no spells. Unlike Millie and Brook, he had neither superb archery nor refined martial skill. When he fought, he relied solely on his tremendous strength, great speed, and tenacious vitality.

Garon was currently a level-four barbarian, and the reason he qualified for that rank was nothing more than the attributes he had raised through extensive training.

“However, a barbarian’s Rage does have one minor drawback.” Paul spoke up at this point. “Once Garon activates Rage and enters a state of fury, he has to make sure he can still recognize us afterward. That’s one of the purposes of tonight’s demonstration.”

He and Brook moved behind Garon, each taking hold of one of his arms. Then Paul said to Li Rui and Millie, “Come over here and stand in front of him. Let him memorize your faces while he’s in a state of Rage, so he won’t accidentally injure his teammates.”

Li Rui and Millie exchanged a glance, and each saw a trace of unease in the other’s eyes. A barbarian who might not recognize his own teammates after entering a frenzy was indeed somewhat unsettling.

“Remember, do not step back or turn your head,” Paul added. “Keep your eyes fixed directly on Garon’s throughout. Otherwise, some subconscious part of him may look down on you and fail to regard you as teammates.”

At those words, Li Rui and Millie steadied themselves. After taking a deep breath, they widened their eyes and stared straight at Garon.

“All right. I’m starting.”

Garon suddenly gave a muffled grunt. In the next instant, his eyes were flooded with blood vessels.

As mentioned before, ever since the gods and various supernatural forces had descended upon the world, “presence” had transformed from an ethereal adjective into something that seemed to possess a material foundation.

When Garon activated Rage, Li Rui and Millie immediately felt their entire bodies tense, while a chill ran down their spines.

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Although Garon had yet to become a mid-tier professional, the presence emanating from him had clearly already reached the level of one. He did not even need to move; simply standing there was enough to make others feel nervous.

For the first few seconds after activating Rage, Garon remained completely motionless.

But once those few seconds had passed, something about him seemed to go wrong.

His face rapidly flushed crimson. The veins across his forehead and cheeks bulged violently, while both arms visibly swelled, their muscular contours becoming sharply defined.

“Hu… hu… hu…”

As Garon began to breathe heavily, Paul shouted from the side, “Garon! Keep your reason! They’re our teammates! You can’t hit them!”

“Grr… grr…”

Upon hearing the shout, Garon clenched his teeth.

At that moment, he had to maintain his furious state while also restraining himself from suddenly punching the newly joined teammates standing before him. It was no easy task.

Fortunately, he had already gone through this process of recognizing teammates several times. Li Rui and Millie had also followed Paul’s instructions beforehand, keeping their eyes wide open and staring unwaveringly into his throughout the entire ordeal without showing the slightest sign of fear. That was what allowed him, with his reason nearly gone, to endure it successfully.

“I… hu… hu… remember… hu… you…”

When Garon finally forced those words out from the edge of reason, and his rigid arm—tensed as though it might lash out with a punch at any moment—gradually relaxed, Paul and Brook slowly released their grip.

“Very good.” After letting go of Garon, Paul turned and walked toward the bonfire beside them. “Now for the final event of the evening.”

Brook immediately headed toward the other bonfire as well.

Then they seized the pot of boiling water that had been placed over the fire before the demonstrations and had now reached a rolling boil.

With a loud splash, they poured it all over Garon.

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