Chapter 451: Purest Soul

Belladonna blinked softly as she read the words in front of her. It was such a simple sentence, barely even 15 words. Yet it was so important and truly powerful the more you thought about it.

For one, his clan thought that he was a bad Berserker because he couldn’t develop the rage that they needed to empower themselves. But from what Belladonna had seen, Mac did not struggle in the slightest when it came to empowering himself, and actually knew how to work himself up into the perfect state.

He was not a bad Berserker because he couldn’t rage, he was the perfect Berserker because of it.

He had all of the benefits of one, the strength and the unstoppable nature that came with it, with none of the downsides.

No accidentally attacking allies or running off in a blood fury to draw unwanted attention. No being baited by the most basic of taunts or being lured from the enemy by simple mobs.

Mac had strength, and the intelligence to go with it.

But it extended beyond his own abilites, and into the realms of others. A succubus would be helpless against Mac, Lox’s wretched memory altering abilties would fall flat on their bitchy face if she attempted it with him.

Even the soul binding magic that kept Bai Yin in check, even as a Thrall, would be pointless against Mac as he would simply shrug it off without a care.

A soul attack could be incredibly powerful, and the perfect counter for someone with an unbeatable body. Yet for Mac, it may as well be a light breeze against his back.

Belladonna’s mind was filled with the possibilities and uses for such a simple ability, as her face twisted into a wide, shark-toothed smile.

She patted Mac on the shoulder, having to stand on her toes and get him to crouch to do so.

"I’m glad we are friends Mac, we are going to have a lot of fun together."

"Really? That’s great! Me too!" Mac laughed, a wide smile spreading across his baby face as he bounced with giddy excitement.

"Does that mean we can kill even more monsters together?"

"You bet buddy. We’ve still got the rest of the city to clear, even with our help. But first, how about I give you something, hmm?

You’ve already got your tattoo, but how about I give you a marking just like me?"

"You mean... I get to be like you? I’d love that! Oh please, Please can we do it?"

Belladonna laughed, smiling like a spider who was luring a fly into its web, as she pulled out her crystal nibbed carving knife.

"Yes we can. In fact, I already have the perfect marking in mind for you."

***

"Moo!" Cried the mighty beast, as it lifted onto its hind legs and gave a threatening display, or at least it could be threatening, if it wasn’t a Manotaur.

That’s right. Manotaur, not Minotaur. Manotaur.

It was, for all intents and purposes, just a bull. Just a really big bull, with the face of a regular man instead of a bulls head.

That was truly the only difference, other than the front legs which were like clenched fists with hooves on the knuckles.

The mans head didn’t even look like it belonged on the Bull. It was just some guys head that had been glued on out of nowhere, with long jagged horns that were perfect for gouging its victims and fighting for dominance over the females.

Females that, by the way, also had the heads of human looking men. The only markers that they were female was that they had no horns, and often had pink butterflies on their head that looked like pretty pink bows.

They were an utterly ridiculous creature, and one that failed at its intimidation display because of it, but that didn’t stop it from trying.

"Moo!" The Manotaur shouted again. Shouting the actual word, Moo, instead of sounding like an actual cow, before it dropped back down to all fours and charged forwards.

It’s ridiculous face was met with a massive green fist, that sent it hurtling backwards and tumbling through the rest of its laughable herd of Moo shouting bulls.

Mac stood up straight, crimson flames curling off of his body which was no longer a hulking mass.

All of the power that his huge form had held, had been compressed into this new form. His muscles were steel beneath his taut skin, his body an impassable wall of pure might that these ridiculous creatures could never hope to fell.

Yet despite the pure essence of rage curling off of him, as the Glyph for [Beserkers Blood Rush] glowed brightly on his chest, just above his heart, Mac’s face remained the perfect image of calm.

Then he roared himself, a thunderclap of the calmest and most deadly rage forced out of his throat and quickly silenced the Moo’s of the Manotaurs.

They shared a few glanced between each other, exchanging a few low mutterings of ’Moo’ over and over, before they glared at Mac and started to retreat away.

Mac watched them for a few moments, and when he was sure they were gone, he let out a deep breath as the glow on his chest faded. The bloody aura emanating from his body faded and the muscles of steel softened to their natural state, which honestly wasn’t too far off from the enhanced state.

He immediately turned around, his face lighting up with child like glee as he laughed and bounced excitedly.

"This really is the best!" He laughed, doing a little dance for purey his own amusement as Belladonna grinned wickedly/

It really was. They had been bouncing between enemies for nearly half an hour, and in that entire time this was the only time that Mac had disabled the [Berserkers Blood Rush] since they had started.

It was a technique that sapped at energy and sanity alike, but one would never be able to tell that from looking at Mac.

His body was perfectly fine, much better at regulating the feral energy that the Blood Rush provided, a natural part of his Orcish nature which was why they were so suitable as Berserkers. But with his ability that negated the sanity drain as well, it was basically a free upgrade for Mac.

All of the strength, for basically no drawback. He would still face some muscle cramping or damage if he over used it, but even with lower stats he could get more out of the feral Berserker energy than Belladonna ever could.

It was like two different engines, getting considerably different horsepower and acceleration from the same level of fuel.

They were just built differently.

Mac’s main issue was mana capacity, as his body didn’t seem to receptive to it. Perhaps it was an Orc thing, and why they relied on the tattoos so much, or perhaps it was just a result of their training. It was hard to say for sure, but an easy fix that would take no time to change if Belladonna was given enough time to create said fix.

Mac’s giddy bouncing was interuppted by his Scrying Skull, which pulled itself from his belt and floated up next to his head.

It briefly whispered a message into his ear, before returning to its rightful place and looking like just another ghoulish decoration on the belt of the savage.

"Dang it... Hold on a second. I’ll be right back."

He said, before his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he immediately fell face first onto the floor.