Berserk : The Deviant

5 days later, Barkha was at the large tavern in the port where the recruitment of the captains of his three ships would take place today and several experienced sailors were gathered there to be selected, several of them were smugglers now or even occasional pirates for others.

If the captains would be chosen today then it would not be Barkha's choice but Corell's who accompanied him there with their men because Barkha himself had another program today.

Corell as a clairvoyant and druid could see in some way the potential of certain people and she was in the best position to select those who would go on Barkha's expeditions.

 After wishing his druid/lover good luck, Barkha left, but as he was leaving the tavern, he felt a faint emission of astral energy and looked towards the emitter of this energy but saw only a blonde woman in her thirties drinking alone at a table.

Her astral signature was nothing like that of an apostle, so Barkha only looked at her, but one thing was certain: she was not a normal human.

The woman noticed Barkha watching her, so she simply raised her bottle in his direction before drinking the rum inside, a gesture that made Barkha smile before leaving.

Barkha immediately went to the crossroads before the Lost Woods Forest where Skull Knight was waiting for him on his horse. He had told him that before going to Ragnar, they would have to see someone.

This person was none other than the witch Flora who wanted to meet the deviant of this era.

"we'll go much faster on my mont..." S.K invited Barkha onto his horse, Barkha's cursed horse was sent back towards Golm as its owner rode behind S.K who put his horse into a gallop and this beast was damn fast.

S.K asked Barkha to hold on tight as his horse began to gain altitude and begin to gallop through the air much to Barkha's amazement.

The riding speed increased again and again to the point where things became like a blurry tunnel around them and Barkha had to hold his breath because he could no longer breathe normally, the pressure on every millimeter of his skin and organs almost made him lose consciousness several times but he adapted very quickly even though it was still terribly unpleasant and painful.

He didn't even know how long they'd been in the void, but they came back down near a large forest a few kilometers from a small village that was actually Enoch's village. Once on dry land, Barkha immediately climbed off the ghost horse to vomit near a tree.

"ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME ?!" Barkha complained, yelling at Skull Knight, whose attitude remained as cold as it was imperturbable.

S.K: I would never have taken you at a pace you couldn't bear; you also had to be punished for your misdeeds with the succubus. Did you really think you could sleep with Slan without his essence being felt on you ?

"First of all, I don't know who you're talking about, and I don't have to answer to you. We have an agreement: I hunt and kill apostles so that in exchange for their ugly stones, you'll tell me the location of a treasure, that's all. I have wet dreams where a goddess gives me incredible pleasure from time to time, but that's it." Barkha said, spitting out the last of the vomit he still had in his mouth.

SK: You gave yourself to Slan; she's our enemy and one of the Godhands. If you were a normal human being, your soul and spirit would already be torn to pieces...

"Small correction: your Godhands and I are not enemies. I hunt their monsters for you, but I have nothing personal against them, unlike you, who seem to have a connection with them and it's a detail that you hide very badly. We have an agreement that I fully respect, so don't involve me in something that has nothing to do with me. All I want is pleasure and gold..." Barkha said, as the knight shook his head.

"They manipulate the destiny of men and condemn them to misery, war, disease, and terror. They are beings of a darkness you can't imagine, and believe me, one day you'll have to get involved..." Skull Knight said, moving closer.

"The day they cross the line against me, then it will become personal, but what you blame them for ? Men didn't wait to be creatures of chaos to inflict this kind of thing on their fellow humans.

Are they monsters by nature ? Thousands of men are as monstrous as they are in their actions, but you don't care about that. All my life, I've seen men bring misfortune to their fellow human beings, and they didn't have the supernatural powers to do it. 

Humans are conceited by nature and what they want above all else is precisely not to be human, but above their human condition, they don't want to be like their fellow human beings but to dominate them, to control them, and you know very well how man achieves his ends, don't you? You the ancient fallen king who built an empire in his time.

Remember how you accomplished that? You have created widows and orphans, caused the misfortune of innocent people for your own domination, so you can keep your hypocritical and Manichean vision to yourself instead of committing me to it. 

These apostles were not born as cursed creatures, but they were indeed humans who freely chose to become what they are in order to rise from their condition and dominate those who were their fellow human beings. 

The evil you speak of, do you think it will disappear with them if one day you stop them ? Don't draw me into your vision of things; I have no illusions about being on the side of good or that of the monsters.

All I want is to enjoy the many pleasures and blessings this world can offer me as the free being that I am. " Barkha said, facing the Skull Knight without backing down. 

The former emperor said nothing more and headed towards the forest with Barkha, who shook his head before following him. They went deeper into the forest until they found a small clearing with a small wooden mansion built in contact with a large tree.

By birth, Barkha already lived permanently in the Interstice , so the magical barrier that prevented normal humans from seeing where to enter this place had no effect on him.

"What is this place? There... there's something here..." Barkha asked in contemplation when suddenly, stone golems emerged from the ground, but S.K. told him not to do anything. He calmly followed the knight while the golems remained inactive and harmless. They arrived at the mansion's gate, which was opened by a young girl in a dark purple dress and wearing a large hat on her green hair.

"She's waiting for you..." The girl said, inviting them in as a little elf emerged from under her hat and began to hover around them.

S.K: You, are her disciple ?

"That's right, my name is Schierke and this is Evarela (points to the elf). Please follow me, master is waiting for you..." Schierke said, and Barkha entered without saying anything, following S.K. until they reached the large living room where, by the fireplace, a beautiful woman in her sixties sat on a wooden armchair with a slight smile on her lips.

Barkha gazed at the lady with great fascination; the astral energy emanating from her was calm, powerful, and warm at the same time. She radiated a harmony around her that affected her surroundings and as they stood there, she calmly looked at Barkha before asking Schierke to show him the bathing area, saying that they would talk better after his bath.

In fact, Barkha really needed a bath after all the stress and sweat he accumulated during the aerial ride as he had to desperately fight not to even lose consciousness.

"It's here, take your time to cleanse and purify yourself..." Schierke said to Barkha with a little embarrassment as he showed her the baths before she left from there, he ignored her and walked straight in without ceremony before taking off his clothes.

Barkha didn't immediately enter the beautiful hot water pool where medicinal flower petals floated, which he recognized from the smell , but he first went to cleanse his body to get rid of the grime accumulated since his last bath.

 Forty minutes after entering the bath, Barkha was still there. In fact, Flora's purifying pool of water had done Barkha so much good that he had casually fallen asleep in it.

He felt as if the warm water was cleansing his very soul and reborn him; he had never felt anything like it and didn't even want to leave. The natural hot pools in Golm were excellent, but this was truly something else.

"I feel flattered that you enjoy our baths so much, but we have something to talk about, my young friend..." Flora's voice echoed in Barkha's mind, as he was awakened from his slumber.

He looked around after his start and realized that his belongings and equipment were no longer there, but in their place was a white linen robe.

"Your belongings are in good hands. Please come and join us." Flora told him telepathically and Barkha came out of the pool, he had to admit that he was impressed by Flora's skills in taking his things without him realizing it even if he was asleep.

He came out of there and Flora was alone sitting by the fireplace with Durga in her hands, the metal slyme even seemed to like Flora...

"If I had known I would see the fragment of a primordial essence in my lifetime... what a concentration of astral energy ! You fed him well, I'm impressed..." She told him and Barkha thanked her for the compliment before sitting down opposite her. He asked her where the knight was and she told him he had gone to get some things.

Barkha: (points at Durga ) He seems to like you...

"He likes you even more on a level you don't realize, you performed the bonding ritual with him well. I'm not going to ask which druid approached you, my sisters from the west are quite... special..." Flora said with a smile.

"Why am I here ?" Barkha asked her calmly and Flora gestured for him to pour himself some tea and eat the small pastries on the table near them.

 "Our mutual friend told me about you, and I was really curious to meet you before the twilight of my life comes. I must admit that even for a deviant, you are... special, and I can't explain it to you in precise words.

Soon, events will shake this world forever, and when the time comes, my kind will go through a tribulation that will weaken magic itself." Flora told him with some concern.

"My druid told me about it; she saw fragments of the future and events to come... the world tree, the tearing of the veil between the human world and the astral vastness..." Barkha told her while drinking tea.

Flora: You really know more than you let on. When all this happens, Golm will be one of the last safe places in this world, with its ancient spirit trees deep within. Please accept an old lady's request...

Barkha: I'm listening...

"When the Dark Ages come, please welcome the witches into your fortress and protect them, along with the last spirit trees." She asked him.

"Is that all ? In case you've perhaps forgotten, Golm was built in a forgotten age long before I was born. I didn't build this place, and it serves as my shelter; I have no problem welcoming wizards, elves, or others seeking asylum." He replied with a slightly confused expression.

Flora: (laughs) Thank you, that request was only optional. I wanted to know what kind of person you were as a deviant, a spirit completely free from the threads of causality. The king told me about your point of view on all this...

"I don't see things in black and white. Evil is everywhere and has no inherent nature. If an apostle or a Godhand attacks me personally, then I will fight for my own interests, not to invent a moral code that isn't.

I am a murderer and an opportunist; do you think that for the people I've killed, I'll be more virtuous than an apostle ? I don't know the story of that grumpy knight, and I can tell you that I don't care.

He helped me when I was a kid, and we have an agreement about the apostles, but that's it. It's all a matter of interest for me, not moral choice." Barkha explained to her, and after remaining silent for a few seconds, she started laughing. The man in front of her had no kind of filter.

"I have hope for you. We all have a role to play in the history of this world, especially the deviants who, unintentionally or not, have all ended up leaving their mark on history. There will come a time when you will choose a side..." She said before standing up and asking Barkha to follow her.

They arrived at the artifact room. Flora told Barkha she had a gift for him, which piqued Barkha's curiosity.

"When the fallen emperor told me about your agreement, I thought about developing something that could help you while we wait for our meeting. It's not much, but perhaps this will help you in your work..." Flora handed him a compass, which Barkha looked at before taking it.

"A compass ? I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I have an excellent sense of direction, madam..." Barkha said, shaking the compass to see if it had a hidden function, and the red needle pointed towards him.

"It's enchanted. The arrow will guide you to any concentration of astral energy within a radius of about 30 km. If an apostle is nearby, the compass will vibrate, and the needle will indicate its direction.

It also works for other creatures or objects with a high concentration of astral energy. After three days in contact with a source of astral energy, it can no longer detect that source, so don't worry about you and your Slime. In three days, the red needle will have forgotten you and will be able to fully do its job." Flora said to Barkha, whose eyes became greedy. He immediately put the compass away, as if afraid Flora would take the object back.