Choi Han nodded, waiting for them to continue, while Rosalyn was shocked. "Excuse me?"
Cale continued talking, explaining. "Normally when Beast People with wild beast blood like the Wolf Tribe, Tiger Tribe and Bear Tribe experience going berserk for the first time, their parents and siblings help take care of it. They take all of the attacks of the berserk individual and protect them to make sure they don't get hurt. That is how they protect their children."
She noticed that Choi Han and Rosalyn's expressions turned sour almost immediately. She and Cale knew very well that he did not have any parents or siblings at the moment. Her eyes drifted away from them and to the child on the bed. He was still frowning and panting hard. "We can tell that is not an option for this child."
Both Choi Han and Rosalyn flinched at that.
Cale clapped once to get their attention back on him, before pointing to Choi Han and Rosalyn. "That is why we will pretend that you are the mother and father— or if you do not like that scenario— then you shall be the older brother and older sister. You two will need to protect him."
Adara and Cale both had their Indestructible Shields, but they had no need to step in. Why step in when there were people stronger than both of them combined before their noses? They had not planned this in the slightest, nor anything similar, but they knew enough about each other to know what the other would want to do. So Adara and Cale, despite not having discussed anything prior to this, were on the same page as usual.
Rosalyn and Choi Han looked at each other with a brief glance.
Adara took it over, seeing as she knew more about the first-ever Berserk Mode of a Beast Person because of the Ancient Books she had translated and read. "He will eventually get tired and the Berserk State will disappear. It is, however, very important that his consciousness returns during his first berserk transformation, meaning he can't pass out while still in Berserk Mode. This is to make sure that he retains his consciousness and therefore rationality the next time he uses the Berserk Mode. Right now he is relying purely on instinct. But the second his consciousness comes back, it will mean that his rationality beat his natural instinct, as I said, it is very important for Beast People to reach that state or they are no different compared to a wild animal."
Rosalyn frowned, but Adara did not care to calculate why. Rosalyn was confused about how much Adara knew because she did not know any of this. And that was strange.
Choi Han thought about that she said for a few seconds. "Cale-nim, Adara-nim, how long will he maintain his berserk mode before he regains his consciousness?"
Cale sighed. "He has the purest of pure blood."
"So you mean it will take a long time," he said, slightly hesitant.
"Yes," Adara agreed. "Two hours. At most," she added. Her eyes wandered back to the child huffing on the bed. It gave her unpleasant memories. She too had been on a bed in pain. But it was not the same pain. After a while her wounds had been numb and she only felt drained. The pain was mostly in her heart— it was fighting hard to keep her alive—, though in the moments when she was about to close her eyes for the last time, nothing was hurting. This was not the same. Lock wasn't dying, he was just in some temporary pain that would pass in a few minutes. But she was reminded of her time when she was 10. People had gathered around her then too. She only knew a few of their names.
Unknowingly, as if in a trance, she had walked to Lock. She now stood on the side of his bed. Her eyes were fixed on him. Rosalyn was worried about what she would do, but Choi Han knew she would not do anything. And Rosalyn trusted Choi Han's judgement enough to not worry too much. Cale? Cale felt sad for her. He knew what had happened when she was 10. Not fully, nobody knew fully. But he knew more than everyone else. Maybe the real Cale knew more.
Adara lifted her hand again, but she did not pat his head. His hair was sticking to his forehead because of the sweat. She pushed the hair to the side, leaving his face clear. His eyes fluttered, trying to see her, but she only shushed him. "What did I say, child?" her voice was quiet but indifferent. She did not use 'child' in a derogatory way as most adults did, she used it as an affectionate term, though her indifferent tone made it seem like there was no affection behind it. "Keep your eyes closed, everything will be solved on its own. You do not have to do much. Just survive." Lock started to frown further, his eyes trying to flutter again. She then realised her mistake. "I'm sorry," she apologised, her voice incredibly soft. "I should not have said that. Don't worry, everything will be alright. Maybe not like it once was, but it will be alright."
Lock was the calmest he had been since he was brought in right now. She patted his head and he pushed his head into her palm. And as she patted his head, she realised both Choi Han and Cale came next to her. She hadn't heard them coming to her, her focus too much on Lock and her guard had been down. She doubted that either of them would stick a knife in her back, though.
"It would be difficult for other people," Cale started speaking. "But, Choi Han, it should be easy for you. We trust you."
Adara gave a nod, her eyes nor her hand leaving Lock. He looked almost asleep.
Choi Han saw this and he saw her gentle mannerism with Lock. She truly loves children, he thought, watching On and Hong trying to wiggle their way into her field of vision, slightly jealous she was petting the strange wolf child. She is a good person. So is Cale-nim. "I will succeed. I am Lock's hyung."
Rosalyn watched with a strange expression. She had seen Choi Han manically kill every single assassin to protect the ones who were still living. On their journey, he was alert and always observing his surroundings, reacting to every little sound. But now, such a person who had been so guarded during their journey was completely relaxed. His stance was unguarded, Roslayn could see countless openings to harm him, something she never saw when they were travelling. His sword rested on his hip, almost discarded, whereas he had always made sure to have it within taking's distance. She had never seen him so relaxed and she wondered if the two Trash had anything to do with it.
"Yes, yes you are," Adara said, finally taking her hand away from Lock. Her eyes turned instead to the discarded table of food. "Let's eat after he gains his consciousness back."
She turned to the door, and after a few seconds, Hans came with Ron behind him. They had a stretcher in their hands. "Young Master and Mistress, the Arena has been cleared," Hans said.
"That was fast," Cale commented. He turned to Choi Han. "Put him on the stretcher."
As soon as Adara's hand had left Lock's close vicinity, he had started growling. He was growling as Choi Han put him on the stretcher.
Adara saw Cale put some stuff into a magic bag and she debated bringing the wine with her. She didn't in the end.
They were in the Residence's Underground Arena. It came as no surprise that Count Henituse had one, he was known for his wealth. The Thornwin Residence in the Capital and in the Estate also had one, she had often stayed there to watch the knights spar. Nowadays, she went there to spar with the knights. Both the Henituse Territory and the Thornwin Territory were supported by military strength. It made sense, they would need a strong military to be able to survive next to the Forest of Darkness and the mutated creatures contained inside the high walls. That was why both of their Residences had Underground Training Arenas that were better and far larger than most of the Dukes and Marquises in the Roan Kingdom.
There was no competition between the Henituses and the Thorwins, it came as a big surprise to everyone, but there was none. Two big Counties, surrounded by massive wealth and military strength, and yet they did not fight. They helped each other often, the Thornwins would send merchants with marble and aspiring artists to the Henituses, and the Henituses would send knights to help with the finding of mutated poisonous plants in the Forest of Darkness and any books they could find in the study of poison.
Cale immediately gave an order to the two knights positioned in front of the Arena. "The two of you stay out of the Arena as well. Secure the area, and ensure nobody comes in from the first floor."
"Yes, Young Master, Mistress," one added with a side look at Adara.
"I understand, Young Master and Mistress."
Cale turned to Hans and Ron. "You two go away too."
Hans excused himself, and so did Ron, but Ron had an extremely wide smile on his face. Adara did not like the look on his face. But he probably only realised that Lock was a Beast Person.
The door closed behind them with a loud noise. Adara picked up On while Cale picked up Hong, together they carried the kittens to the corner of the Arena.
"Head to the Centre!" Adara called to Choi Han and Rosalyn, she did not want them harming Cale or the kittens.
Choi Han complied, taking Lock to the Centre of the Arena. Rosalyn had a serious look on her pretty face, that Adara could see clearly in the light of the Arena. But her attention was taken by Lock fairly quickly.
He was shaking severely as if he was experiencing a seizure. She saw that Choi Han, who had stepped back to be next to Rosalyn before, now took a step towards Lock, before stopping. It was because Lock was growing claws, long sharp claws that came to a pointy tip.
Adara was watching intensely, she had never seen a Berserk Transformation, and it wasn't described very well in the books she had translated. The Books only stated what would happen, the consequences and the warnings, but never did it explain what exactly happened visually.
She watched as Lock's body floated up in the air. She watched it stiffen up like an arrow. She watched as the child changed. He grew some sharp fangs, his original tall and lanky body suddenly grew well-built muscles, his eyes changed into a wilder look, unfocused and dazed, but wild, he ended the transformation with a scream of agony.
He got up slowly, staggering as he tried to stand straight. He opened his eyes fully, and she could see the degree of the irrationality. It was high. He staggered once more, before looking up at the ceiling and letting out a howl.
She flinched lightly, the sound was loud and she had not been expecting it. In that instant, a half-transparent barrier appeared around them. Adara knew this was not Rosalyn's doing. On and Hong were looking around in shock, but Adara only spoke casually. "Dragon, you truly are amazing."
"Can you make it soundproof as well?" Cale asked.
Another shield overlapped the existing one. Adara smiled. She watched as Roslayn peeked over, and she could see her shock at seeing the two layers of shields surrounding them. But Rosalyn quickly turned her head back to Lock.
The Black Dragon started to talk at that moment, "You two are very weak. That is why you need protection. You are stronger than him," he said to Adara, "but you are still weak."
The dragon had no way of knowing how experienced she was in handling Dead Mana, but that was expected. He was assessing purely on strength, and she was quite lacking.
On and Hong seemed excited to realise it was the Black Dragon— their little brother— who had created the shields but looked at Adara and Cale with pity upon hearing what the dragon had to say about them. Adara noted with amusement that they seemed to agree with the dragon's assessment.
"Do whatever you want," she responded, not unkindly, but not kindly either.
"I do not know why you are not using that power," he spoke. He understood enough of the situation to know that the power he had seen them use would be very helpful in this situation.
"You don't need to know," Cale responded simply.
The Black Dragon realised fairly quickly that Adara and Cale did not exactly want to show the Ancient Power to other people. It had been an accident that he had seen it. I was just passing by, he reminded himself, remembering the time in the large Wind Gathering Cave. He added another shield.
Adara found it fascinating how effortless and casual a Dragon using its mana was, she had not been able to use Dead Mana so fluidly, nor was she able to make shields of such a high calibre so early upon learning it. His skill is growing fast, she thought. She felt a smile coming to her lips. Dragons truly are higher creatures. She felt impressed by dragons, though she did not feel the need to praise and worship dragons. She simply wanted to learn from them, though she knew she would never be able to control magic with her will like Dragons did. They controlled it as if it was a 5th limb they had to control, while she was certainly better at controlling it than a human mage, she was far from an adult dragon.
Her eyes focused back on Lock. The muscles were developing faster and his eyes now turned red. She knew the eyes turning red was the sign that he had fully lost his consciousness. He let out a couple more screams, and Adara was glad for the soundproofing and shockproofing magic that was installed around the Arena, otherwise, all the Knights of the Residence would come rushing down.
But as she watched, she was confused. Lock wasn't supposed to experience his first berserk transformation until one year later. Cale had told her it was because someone close to him had died. Healer Pendrick. Healer Pendrick was an Elf with the powers of healing. He died in battle, causing Lock to be in distress because he reminded Lock of his dead Uncle, the Chief of the Blue Wolf Tribe. Seeing Pendrick die, made Lock want to kill everything and everyone in sight.
But he had not even met Pendrick yet, and his Uncle's death hadn't affected him that much in the Novel.
"On, Hong," she spoke almost absentmindedly. She hadn't noticed that On wiggled her way into her arms, with Hong in her lap. "You two haven't experienced your Berserk Transformations yet, right?"
They nodded their heads, looking up at her.
"Do you know anything about it?"
"Not really," Hong responded.
"Nobody taught us about it."
She knew they would respond like that. They did not have the best bringing up and she fully blamed the Tribe's Elders for that. She looked at the children in her arms again. She guessed that they were pure-blooded, as Lock was, so their Berserk Transformation would be rough as well.
"The Wolf Tribe, Tiger Tribe, Bear Tribe, and Whale Tribe are the most prominent Tribes," she explained. "These four tribes lose their rationality the most during their first Berserk Transformation. That is why those four tribes are called the Beast People closest to monsters."
"We do not know how the Berserk Transformation will be for the Cat Tribe," Cale said, looking forward to the transforming Lock. "But if you feel like you are going to go Berserk or suddenly feel yourself heating up or hurting, immediately come to one of us."
Adara agreed almost immediately. Not only would it not be pleasant for the children, but it would cause a big mess that would need to be cleaned up. While Cale brought the children into the Henituse Territory, Adara had taken them in alongside him, so she would share the blame as well. Adara knew she would take full responsibility for them since she had brought them in. And it wasn't like she simply brought them into a Territory, no she brought them into her Family. Her real Family. A family that previously only consisted of two people, but now was growing at an alarming rate.
The two kittens started rubbing their heads on her, she didn't understand why, but she petted them, she liked the sounds of cats purring.
Then a question came that caught her completely off-guard. "Do dragons go Berserk?"
"No," Adara said almost immediately. "They don't. They go through growth phases but they never lose their consciousness and rationality like Beast People do. It would be too catastrophic for Nature to allow such power to be used without rationality. You do have Mana Explosions," she added. "You lose control similar to a Beast Person. Don't do that, though. It's not the answer to any problem."
She heard the dragon click his tongue and found it amusing. He probably found it annoying that such a weak creature compared to himself was giving him advice. But her attention was taken by Lock, who had finally completed his Berserk Transformation.
Lock, who was now standing on his two feet without staggering, stomped on the ground, an animalistic growl escaping his mouth, making the entire arena shake with its strength.
He was covered in the dark blue fur that was characteristically the Blue Wolf Tribes. Lock swung his arm, his muscles incomparably larger than Choi Han's, trying to attack with his extremely sharp claws.
"Lock!"
"Lock, snap out of it!"
They called uselessly. It would not work, he would not wake up simply because they were screaming, through his irrational eyes he only saw them as lifeforms he needed to attack, and Adara thinks they know that. And even so, they continued.
Another growl came out of Lock's mouth, exposing his sharp fangs. He was taller than Choi Han and rushing towards him quickly.
"Lock! Snap out of it! It's me! Choi Han!" he tried again, unable to attack his dongsaeng without hurting him, so he stuck to defending as he continued to call out to Lock.
They continued fighting, Adara watching them like a hawk. Rosalyn had felt a nagging feeling, so she turned around in the corner, getting over her shock of seeing a three-layered shield over them, she noticed Adara's calculating and sharp gaze observing her every move. She had to quickly look back to Lock though, because he had started attacking her.
Adara heard a soft, "Wow," come from next to her, and couldn't help but agree. Lock's attacks were stronger than she was expecting them to be and he was making great use of his instinctual reactions.
"On, Hong," Cale called out to the kittens that were still on Adara. They turned to him. "Watch that Wolf Tribe Kid's movements."
On and Hong turned to the fighting Lock almost immediately. "You see how he's fighting?" Adara asked rhetorically. "He's relentless, giving blow after blow after blow, he isn't guarding himself in any way. I can see countless openings that he's exposing, time and time again. But he's relying heavily on his instincts, if Choi Han were to try and attack him using one of his openings, he would stop it without thinking."
"This is the instinctual movements of a Beast Person," Cale added. "The fact that they can move based on instinct, unlike humans, is one of the beauty and gloriousness of the Beast Tribes."
All of them watched as Lock's fist smashed onto the ground and left a dent in the marble floor. Adara could only dream of such strength.
"You should not fear or dread going Berserk," Cale told them. "That is when Beast People are at their strongest." He leaned over Adara to pet the two kitten's heads.
"Although," she started, still staring at the fight before her, "the Cat Tribe and the Wolf Tribe differ, there are still many similarities. Watch him, learn the style of a wild animal, the style of relying purely on your instincts, and then—," she looked down to make eye contact with the two kittens. "—make it your own. Or, think of a way to kill all those wolves, tigers, and bears, the ones who have been labelled 'wild beasts' by the rest of the world."
The kittens turned to observe Lock in a second. They were still in her hands and lap, but their eyes were trained strictly on Lock.
She knew that they were weak compared to the 'Wild Beasts'. The Cat Tribe relied heavily on stealth instead of strength. They understood that well and watched with intent.
"Hey, Dragon," Adara called out. She figured this dragon didn't know much about human methods of using magic. It was different from the way beings like Dark Elves used magic. She had learned how to use Dead Mana by reading a book for Mages about Mana, not from a being like a Dragon who used magic as a 5th limb. That had come to her disadvantage when she was younger, making it harder to use it, but now it was an advantage for her. She just needed to be taught in the ways she should have been from the beginning, but the Black Dragon would need to be a bit more experienced until he was able to teach her.
Upon hearing her calling for him, he revealed himself. Roslayn and Choi Han were too busy to look at them, their full attention was on Lock, so it was safe to do so. She was looking at him, as she pointed to the two rational people fighting. "You see how Roslayn uses her magic not to hurt the child, but instead to protect the child from hurting himself? And how Choi Han is using his aura, not as a weapon but as a shield to protect himself while not harming the child?"
Lock's fists were a blur as he tried to break through Rosalyn's shield. She was desperately calling out to him. "Lock, you remember me right? I said you were part of my family now. Hurry up and snap out of it!"
Choi Han, whose murderous aura was low compared to the times she had seen him use it, raised his murderous aura to the maximum to get the irrational child's attention. She felt her muscles twitch at the aura surrounding him. "Lock! Attack me! I am the one who will protect you."
Lock, obviously not hearing Choi Han, reacted to the murderous aura by swinging his claw towards Choi Han, his physical strength behind the swing.
Adara, Cale, On, Hong, and Raon watched the scene from afar. Adara continued. "It is easier to hurt someone when you have immense strength than it is to not hurt someone. But you are a great and mighty dragon, you will be able to quickly pick it up."
The dragon puffed out its chest. "I am a dragon. There is nothing I cannot do."
"Correct," Cale and Adara agreed at the same time. "So watch them and make your own judgement."
The dragon flew down from his position in the air and landed next to the kittens before disappearing again. Adara assumed he would be taking in Rosalyn, Choi Han, and Lock's movements like the kittens were doing.
And as they stayed there, all 5 of them sitting down, a great distance away from the fight, Adara felt a sudden thirst. "Should I have brought the wine with me?" she wondered out loud, the kittens staring at her incredulously.
"Yes," Cale said, in an instant.
~~~