Chapter 486 - 457: Becoming a [Berserker]

Chapter 486: Chapter 457: Becoming a [Berserker]

"This is..."

Seeing this, Roland’s expression became solemn. He stopped and gave a slight nod to the skeleton leaning against the wall, a gesture of basic respect for the unknown deceased.

Then, he carefully bent down. With movements both gentle and firm, he pried apart the long-calcified and stiffened finger bones, removing the object clutched within. He then held it under the sphere of light to examine it closely.

It was a small metal ring strung with seven or eight old keys of various shapes and sizes. Judging by their styles, it was clearly a master key ring for opening different types of locks.

But what was more eye-catching was a thin, rectangular slip of metal attached to the key ring, about the length of a finger and the width of a fingernail.

It was cool to the touch. Its material wasn’t quite iron, but seemed to be mixed with a small amount of Mithril, giving it a unique, pale silver luster.

The slip’s surface was exceptionally smooth, without any emblems, patterns, or even the faintest engravings. It was like an unfinished piece, or perhaps its meaning required no external form for expression.

"What is this thing?"

Roland gently rubbed the smooth metal with his fingers, a strange, almost perfectly uniform texture meeting his fingertips.

He examined it repeatedly for a moment but couldn’t discern anything unusual, nor could he sense any obvious Energy fluctuations.

Out of his usual caution, he put away the key ring and the strange metal slip for the time being.

Next, his gaze fell upon the ground beside the skeleton.

A notebook made of a special material lay there silently, its cover seemingly crafted from some kind of finely tanned leather.

Although the edges were severely curled and damaged, covered in the mold of ages, the book itself hadn’t completely rotted away. Only the title on the cover was too blurry to make out.

Roland bent down and picked it up. He gently brushed the accumulated dust off the cover and carefully opened the fragile pages.

By the steady glow cast by the sphere of light, he began to decipher the fragmented text, which was written in an ancient common tongue and had been eroded by time.

[...Recorder: Karen Whisper, Whispering Forest Collection, resident partner of the "Far Traveler" merchant guild...]

[...Crystal Era, Year 743 of the Prosperity Calendar... the last month of autumn... Everything changed...]

[...The market has fallen... Resistance is meaningless... I could only hide in here, Hope...]

[...They are still above... I can hear it... the scraping... and... that indescribable... whispering... It’s calling...]

[...The food and water are almost gone... It seems quiet up there? No... something more terrifying... I can feel it... It’s...]

The record ended abruptly here, as if the writer’s life had also reached its end.

Closing the tattered diary, Roland’s gaze returned to the skeleton of the man called Karen Whisper.

This Merchant from the Crystal Era had clearly encountered some terrifying, indescribable catastrophe at the Whispering Forest Collection, forcing him to hide here where he eventually met a silent end.

"Then... what exactly happened back then?"

A thick cloud of doubt rose in Roland’s mind as he couldn’t help but recall his experience at the Seventh Observation Station.

The scene there had also shown signs of a hasty evacuation. The researchers seemed to have encountered some sudden, drastic event, not even having time to take many important items and documents with them.

’Could it be... an invasion from the Abyss?’

The speculation surfaced naturally.

After all, according to the records in the *Heroic Epic*, legendary figures of the Crystal Era, including Rudolph, had fought against terrifying beings from the Abyss.

It was a Dark Power capable of shaking the very foundations of the world.

’But...’

The moment the thought arose, doubt flickered in Roland’s mind.

During his adventures in the Golden Valley Kingdom, he had crossed blades with Abyssal Demons and even Demons from the Nine Prisons.

They were indeed powerful and Cunning, and their individual strength was impressive, but it seemed...

...that they weren’t enough to cause a catastrophe on such a scale, one capable of destroying the civilization of a glorious era.

Even if the beings he encountered in Golden Valley weren’t the highest-echelon existences from the Abyss, the level of technology and Extraordinary power displayed by the Aiselon Continent during the Crystal Era was far beyond what the continent he came from could compare to.

What kind of invasion from the Abyss could cause the near-total Annihilation of such a civilization?

’Perhaps...’

Roland recalled his earlier conversation with Bronson at the Black Water Manor, lost in thought.

’An invasion from the Abyss might have happened, but it probably wasn’t the sole reason for Aiselon’s fall, or even the root cause.’

’The true root cause might lie with... that unknown power that caused the Magic Elements of the entire world to fade? But... forget it.’

The clues were fragmented and contradictory.

With the information available, it was impossible to piece together the whole truth, no matter how he theorized.

Shaking his head to clear his tangled thoughts, Roland set aside these grand mysteries for now.

He turned his attention to the relatively well-preserved small warehouse.

He first walked over to the tall shelves, where neatly arranged items were mostly wrapped in oilcloth or leather.

However, when he carefully unwrapped the coverings, which crumbled at his touch, the contents—whether dried meat, compressed grain blocks, or other foods that were no longer recognizable—had completely decayed over the long years.

They had turned into a grayish-brown powder, leaving behind only an indescribable, musty smell.

He then turned to the metal weapon rack.

His fingers lightly touched the sheath of a dust-covered Longsword, and he drew it halfway out.

The blade still held a faint gleam, and he could feel the extraordinariness of its material. He could even detect the extremely faint, nearly dissipated traces of residual Magic Elements.

These weapons and Armor must have been masterfully enchanted items in their time.

Unfortunately, even the most powerful Enchantments couldn’t withstand the passage of time. The Magic Circuits within their structures had long since collapsed, and the materials themselves had become brittle.

A single forceful swing would probably cause them to shatter, reducing them to mere decorations.

Finally, he placed his Hope in the stacked wooden chests.

Opening the lids, he found most of them contained residue that had similarly turned to dust or a black, viscous substance.

But after searching through a few chests, he finally made a discovery.

Inside a smaller, better-sealed box were some processed medicinal herbs.

Although most had lost their potency, perhaps due to better preservation, a few herbs had managed to retain their shape and some of their medicinal properties.

The materials needed for Body Refining Techniques and Body Tempering Techniques weren’t particularly rare to begin with, so among these fortunately preserved herbs, Roland successfully gathered most of what he needed.

"My luck isn’t bad."

Roland carefully gathered the still-usable herbs and then tossed them all into the temporary Space Gate opened by the Secret Imprisonment Dice.

Gently dusting off his hands, he glanced around the small warehouse again. After confirming he hadn’t missed any valuable corners, a trace of doubt couldn’t help but surface in his mind.

When he saw the key ring clutched in the hand of the Merchant Karen’s skeleton, he had thought there might be a hidden door or a secret room in the warehouse.

But as it stood, the space was completely open, with nothing hidden.

Those keys were perhaps for opening the Merchant’s private properties or storage caches in other places outside the Whispering Forest Collection, but there was no way to verify that now.

Thinking of this, he turned back to the skeleton leaning against the wall and gave it a solemn bow. It was a final gesture of respect for the victim from a millennium ago, as well as a confession of sorts for taking his Relics.

After doing all this, he didn’t linger and returned to the area below the entrance he’d come down from.

His Perception spread upward as he carefully scanned the area around the surface for any movement. After confirming there were no signs of dangerous creatures, he leaped up lightly, landing steadily back on the scorched ground.

By now, evening was approaching. The gray sky had grown even more gloomy, and the last sliver of daylight was rapidly fading.

Roland looked at the dim halo of light in the west, about to sink below the horizon, and nodded in satisfaction.

This trip to the Whispering Forest Collection, despite the unexpected battle, had yielded far more than he’d anticipated.

Not only had he found most of the materials he needed for his training, but he had also completed the one hundred kills required for the [Berserker] Profession in one go. Adding in the mysterious, currently useless keys left behind by the Merchant Karen, his gains had been substantial.

’With a few days’ time, the help of my Professional Panel, and my current physical foundation, it’s inevitable that I’ll train the two Body Tempering and Body Refining Techniques to Full Level.’

Roland estimated in his mind.

’At that point, becoming a [Berserker] will be right around the corner.’

Composing himself and getting his bearings, Roland set off, quickly returning along the path he came.

His figure moved through the deepening twilight and gray mist. Finally, before night completely enveloped the desolate land, he saw the familiar silhouette of Sui Cang Hall in the distance, resembling a colossal beast crouching in the dusk.

After returning to the Shell Ship, Roland first found Duraga and the others to confirm that they hadn’t encountered any abnormalities during their stay.

Upon learning that it would take about seven more days to collect enough Purified Water and Synthetic Improved Rock Core Blocks, he gave a few simple instructions and walked straight into a relatively quiet cabin in the Shell Ship, preparing to focus on cultivating the Body Refining and Body Tempering Techniques.

Although their names and focuses differed slightly, the basic principles of cultivation were largely the same as the [Secret Silver Body Tempering Technique] he had previously mastered.

It consisted of either grinding specific herbs into a liquid and applying it all over one’s body to stimulate the skin, fascia, and bones, or dissolving the liquid in clean water for a medicinal bath. The medicinal power would then be guided to permeate the body, combined with special breathing rhythms and mental focus, to temper the body and unleash its potential.

With his prior experience cultivating the [Secret Silver Body Tempering Technique], Roland was thoroughly familiar with the process.

He strictly followed the methods described, processing the herbs and mixing the liquids, and quickly entered a state of cultivation.

After just a few moments, the expected prompts appeared on his Professional Panel.

[Skill Learned: Hundred Refinements Resilient Skin Technique. Current Level: 1]

[Skill Learned: Boiling Blood and Forging Bone Chapter. Current Level: 1]

[Skill Learned: Mountain Breathing Body Refining Skill. Current Level: 1]

Over the next few days, Roland threw almost all of his energy into cultivating these three techniques.

Thanks to his current physical constitution, which was far superior to that of an ordinary person, he no longer needed to rest for long periods to recover after each cultivation session, as he had when he first learned the [Secret Silver Body Tempering Technique].

This allowed his cultivation progress to advance by leaps and bounds.

As his training continued, he could clearly feel the subtle yet continuous changes happening inside his body.

Under the repeated stimulation of the medicinal power and the nourishment of Energy, his skin and fascia became denser and tougher.

He often felt a subtle tingling and warmth emanating from deep within his bones.

It was a sign that his bone density was increasing and their structure was being reinforced, as if they were transforming into refined steel, capable of withstanding even greater impacts and loads.

Meanwhile, the breathing rhythms and methods, which were completely different from the [Knight] path, seemed to be adjusting his body’s natural frequency.

This made his muscle fibers contract more efficiently and his Power transfer more smoothly. His entire lower body became exceptionally stable; when he stood still, he truly projected a hint of the steadfastness of a mountain.

Time flew by under this efficient and uninterrupted cultivation.

After just a few days, three long-awaited lines of golden text finally appeared in his vision at the same time.

[Skill: Hundred Refinements Resilient Skin Technique has reached Full Level]

[Skill: Boiling Blood and Forging Bone Chapter has reached Full Level]

[Skill: Mountain Breathing Body Refining Skill has reached Full Level]

All the prerequisites were now met. Roland took a deep breath and silently recited in his mind.

’Become [Berserker].’