NOVEL WEB Chapter 51: Are You Worthy?
The eye's activity alarmed and intrigued Kieran yet he couldn't address it. The eye's ephemeral flash made it seem like the incident never occurred.
Once the disturbance of this crimson war god subsided abruptly, Agrianos approached Kieran, studying him closely. He detected hints of fervent veneration in Kieran's eyes, but it wasn't anything close to that of a crazed zealot.
All things considered, this reaction fell within Agrianos' expectations. He had purposely shown Kieran a power that a meager True Berserker could not wield.
Though it was a skill accessible to the class, the demonstration was leagues above what he'd gain access to.
However, this action was justified. After all, Agrianos had promised to show him the basics of this class, but he simultaneously applied those basics to their limits, ostensibly reaching their pinnacle.
After some time, Kieran managed a sentence. "This class is… extraordinary."
Simple, yet it conveyed Kieran's raw emotion. Some could consider his understanding of the class to be superficial, going by what Impulse presented to the public. Hence, Agrianos' display took Kieran by surprise.
The idea of wielding another's blood to do your bidding made for an infallible opponent. Who or what could contend against this invasive might?
"I'm glad the promise of this class enthralls you. Capitalize on your passionate interest and show me that you're worthy of the True Berserker's glory," Agrianos said.
However, he didn't mention anything about the challenges that came along with the class. That… that Kieran would have to find out on his own.
If not by himself, then under the guidance of his true teacher.
After all, Agrianos wasn't his teacher. He was simply the first—the ultimate that maintained the right to allow or prohibit someone from grasping the destructive, pernicious and overwhelming power of the Maddened Lineage.
Thinking about another matter, Kieran raised a question that boggled him. Agrianos was not an existence he was aware of. Whether it was in his past or now, Kieran couldn't claim to know anything about his background.
"Do you have any connection to the War Deity Council or Hero's Sanctuary?"
Bemused, Agrianos looked at Kieran. He didn't detect anything on Kieran's person that suggested he had visited the Adventurers' Guild, became a constituent of the War Deity Council or gained status within the Hero's Sanctuary.
"Considering your familiarity with these grandiose names, I can only assume Scar divulged some information?"
Kieran shook his head, deciding not to inconvenience Scar in any way. "No, not really. Who doesn't know the opulent prestige attached to these names? Scar did reveal his identity and that's how I arrived here, but my information on these powerhouse organizations is unrelated to him."
"Is that so? If he shattered his limiting disguise, he must have supreme confidence in you. He doesn't intend to stay long in that place."
Looking over Kieran again, Agrianos arched a brow imperceptibly, his eyes glinting peculiarly. "You can say I have business with it all. But in the end… I tend to alienate myself from the mundane world's issues."
This could be considered an answer but Agrianos' lofty choice of words—namely, his mention of a mundane world—intrigued Kieran.
"Mundane world, you said? If you ignore trivial conflict, do you never leave the Wildes?" Kieran asked with a weird expression.
"Once you have seen all that I have… it all becomes prosaic. I have no other duty than to swear my allegiance to my home, becoming its unbroken protector. I abide by jurisdiction and enforce it upon myself. A disciplined savage, if you will."
Towards the end of his words, Agrianos smiled, revealing a row of eerily sharp and monstrously strong teeth. Those fangs were similar to that of a hellhound whose bite could sunder the strongest of metals.
Without a doubt… Agrianos' entire body had been honed into a dreadful weapon capable of untold destruction.
"But why?" Kieran pressed on. Although Agrianos was feeding him information, he wasn't quite quenching Kieran's thirst. "If you're strong enough to dictate your position… why not claim the world for yourself?"
An ensued silence occurred between Kieran and Agrianos where the latter stared at the former as if evaluating his innermost valor.
Suddenly, Agrianos' deep voice, capable of offering the soundest security, flowed into Kieran's ears. "That… I'm not at liberty to say. If you truly wish to know, become a successor strong enough to supplant my position. At that time, you shall claim the answers you seek with your own hand."
Oddly ambiguous but easily understandable, Kieran knew that Agrianos' impression of him was quite good. Otherwise, he wouldn't have set this challenge, even if unofficially.
Kieran doubtlessly had the potential to become a True Berseker and whatever else it could evolve into after that.
…
Sometime later, Kieran, shrouded in the crimson energy that Agrianos instilled within, stood beside Agrianos. In front of them was a vast crevasse in the deathly ill flooring of the Wildes.
Currently, they stood within the deepest recesses of Wildes' heart—a stretch of land so desolate, barren and vile that the lifelessness took on an ashen color.
Kieran vaguely recalled the legend of this place.
Many called it the Ashen Crevasse though it wasn't its true name. That… Kieran was none the wiser to.
A gloomy atmosphere filled with wails that occurred during death throes permeated the air as a demonic feeling crept up his back. Simply standing in this position, Kieran's Retaliatory Sense was firing in all directions.
It wasn't a misfire—danger simply surrounded them at every turn.
"Too dark. Don't really like it," Agrianos shook his head in contempt.
He then raised his sword high above his head. A viscous crimson layer appeared once again, but it spiraled around the blade like a condensed tempest.
Without any prior indication, the blade fell to the earth. The tempest-like envelopment turned into a sea of blood that split in half and cleared out the murkiness.
Most of the vast chasm could be seen afterward or rather couldn't be seen. With a depth unknown to Kieran, the chasm devoured darkness itself, leaving a dense blackness that felt unnatural.
Tenebrous and grim—these were the sensations Kieran extracted from the setting before him.
Meanwhile, Agrianos stepped to the jagged edge of the pure black stone that seemed to blend with the eternal darkness.
Once there, Agrianos' expression grew solemn and his tone grave. "The Chasm of Apogeton."
Kieran could only turn towards Agrianos with a questioning expression.
Agrianos met that expression with a devious grin. "Down we go, boy!"
"W—wait… did you say down? No w—..."
Bang!
Before Kieran could disagree, vehemently voicing his dissent, he felt a large hand clap his back, propelling him over this precipitous edge.
And so, an arguably endless descent into the harrowing depths of the pitch black ensued.
"Let us see just how strong that heart of yours really is. Can you withstand this peril?"
With that, Agrianos jumped down seconds after Kieran but descended much faster, like a large boulder plummeting out of the sky.
The first to reach the dreaded ground was Agrianos. His landing sent a fearsome tremor throughout the entire Chasm of Apogeton. Behind him, Kieran's terrified howls were drowned in those wails ringing in his ears.
Fortunately, Agrianos ensured his safety. A soft embrace of blood energy rose from the ground enveloping Kieran's body until he landed with a subtle, almost undetectable tap.
"All that screaming for what? Quite the vocal cords and lung capacity, though. I should commend you… sissy," Agrianos said, laughing uproariously afterward.
However, Kieran didn't share the same laughing sentiment. Compared to Agrianos' unknown level of strength, he was pitiful! He had a right to be terrified of falling into this abyssal place.
After all, Kieran had learned that one of Zenith Online's greatest perils carried the same aura this place leaked. It was highly likely that the accursed failed World Quest was tied to this chasm. Or if it weren't, the origins of that quest shared the same roots as this endless crevasse.
As Kieran looked around, his Flawed Soul registered several intangible presences potentially lurking in the dark. Or maybe it was his creeped-out imagination.
Either way, it felt sinister and malevolent, like watchful and deranged eyes monitoring his every movement.
The deeper Agrianos led Kieran into the Chasm of Apogeton, the more unbearable the pressure grew. Even with the assistance of the Ancient Crimson Aegis, Kieran felt like his bones and joints were being compressed.
What mystery was hidden in this place that it could manifest a herculean crushing pressure?
Continuing to venture deeper, Kieran felt his wits being challenged and strained by several incursions of nefarious energy. As it turned out, the Ancient Crimson Aegis was like a refined but porous rubber film.
Reflecting the incredibly dangerous but allowing the minute to temper and inconvenience Kieran. This wasn't a sight-seeing journey; Agrianos intended to put Kieran's heart, body and mind through the grinder and see if he remained in one piece.
Would he break… or would he prevail?
Suddenly, in the middle of their stroll, Agrianos turned toward Kieran. "Would you like to hear a story about the very power that enthralls you?"
Kieran's deep black eyes glimmered in this dark place. "The history of the True Berserkers? By all means."
"Very well. To understand the history of the Maddened Lineage, you must understand that many Great Wars scarred this world's previously picturesque and aesthetically blessed landscape. Several races, deaths, and destroyers but one outcome... survival through divergence."
The divergence referred to a separation of the Boundaries. It was the reason Xenith—the world Zenith Online molded itself around—was called the Lesser Boundary.
"What you walk through now is a remnant of one of these Great Wars. A descriptive scar that solidifies a moment in our gruesome and inhumane history."
"A result of one such Great War—the culmination of savagery, destruction, barbarism, and treachery—was me. A tyrannical force born to smite a diabolical one. Tell me… are you worthy of that?"
〈System: An SSS Rank Branch Quest has been triggered. Do you accept the duty? [ Y | N ]〉