Part 7.3 "Bravo, Young Master Cale!"
Chapter Text
The young wolf was shaking, but he was focused on the screen. He had promised himself that he would get better, and he was trying. He was drowning in thoughts of what could have happened. If Choi Han had carried him like this all the way to the capital, then there was no one else in his village to help him, right? He tried to push those thoughts away. He needed to know what was going to happen to him and draw conclusions. For the entire time he had been here, the people around him had been drawing conclusions, building theories based on small pieces of information. They would help him, too, right?
He was young and not particularly bright, but of all the people here, he should know the most about wolves. That was what he needed to focus on. He himself knew little about the first transformation into a berserker. But what he did know was that if you did it wrong, you would end up a crippled wolf. And he did not want to become one.
The other observers looked at the boy with apprehension, but seeing him with his fists clenched tightly and staring steadfastly at the screen, they relaxed a little. But only a little.
Choi Han didn't know what had gone wrong. Hell, they still didn't even know what was supposed to happen. Just the general outlines, without any specifics. His double had only to leave alone, without Cale, and another child would be worse off than she should have been. He was right to have a bad feeling as he watched himself go. And he understood perfectly well why his double had come to Cale. To his other self, Cale was the only person he knew who had the ability and, most likely, the knowledge to help somehow. He could only hope that he could. And wanted to.
Looking at the brave boy to his left and remembering all the times he had tried to comfort him, he placed a hand on his shoulder in support. The boy flinched at the touch but nodded, then turned back to the screen a little more calmly.
Rosalyn looked at this with surprise. Considering her own location and the distance to Puzzle, where Choi Han had started his journey, it seemed that they could only reach the capital by teleportation. What had happened there that made her use such a level of magic? Locke was clearly in a serious condition, and they couldn't help him on their own. She had read about the beastmen turning berserk, but there was nothing in the books that said it was so painful. She reached out to the wolf boy and grabbed his hand, squeezing it slightly.
- We are with you.
- Thank you.
Choi Han and Lock. Rosalyn was behind them. The three of them entered Cale's room.
- Hans. Go and get something to drink.
- Excuse me? Ah! Right now!
Cale closed the door, preventing the deputy butler Hans from entering the room. The young man then pointed to the bed with Choi Han looking at him, asking him to put Lock there.
— Put it down first.
- Understood.
Choi Han gently placed Lock on the bed. Cale walked up to him. Lock clearly had the purest blood, which made the boy look like a weak person. However, he was quite tall for a boy his age.
— Hahaha, hahaha, hahaha...
Locke struggled to open his eyes. His frown was deep, and the boy's body was constantly contorting, as if he could not find the strength to lie still. It was too late to try to prevent the onset of a berserk state.
Vitira, who had been closely examining Locke's condition since the very beginning, as soon as he appeared on the screen, and as the only one who understood what exactly he was going through, turned to the teenager and said:
- When this happens to you, do not resist. It is useless. You will only make it worse for yourself. The first transformation is always painful, there is no point in making your condition worse. Try to let everything take its course.
He, staring at the Whale Princess with his round turquoise eyes, nodded vigorously.
Cale on the screen told him to do pretty much the same thing.
Cale looked at the tall, but still very young boy who was struggling to open his eyes and spoke to him softly:
- Just close your eyes. No need to strain.
There was no power in Cale's confident tone, but he had a way of making people listen to him. Locke slowly closed his eyes. The voice of this man, whom Locke did not know, flowed into the boy's ear.
"The damn charming voice is now on guard for the health of teenagers. But nevertheless, it really makes you listen. Maybe along with the calm face. As if nothing terrible is happening in his room."
- Everything will be fine.
Lok called out hoarsely, barely audible. He called for his uncle, the Chieftain of the Blue Wolf Tribe, the man who had died for the tribe, even though he was one step away from becoming the Wolf King. His uncle had forced Lok to hide before rushing at the invaders.
"Everything will be fine".
These words were spoken to him by his uncle. Locke began to frown, thinking about his uncle. Cale simply ignored him, turning away.
"I don't understand..." Locke stared at the screen in obvious confusion.
"What exactly?" Rosalyn turned her gaze back to the boy.
- Why did Uncle tell me to hide? And why only me? There are many children in the village. Usually the weakest "members of the pack" are gathered in one place for protection.
— The word "invaders" was also heard. This is not the same as murderers.
"They might tell us soon what exactly happened there, but for that they need to deal with Locke.
- Cale-nim, why is Locke in such a state?
Choi Han still looked anxious and desperate. Originally in the novel, Choi Han had only slightly opened his heart to Lok at this point.
"What could have happened?"
Cale wasn't an idiot. He knew that Choi Han's situation had changed because of him. That's why he tried so hard to end their relationship. The boy didn't answer the question, and Choi Han continued speaking.
"Apparently, our acquaintance influenced my double even more than I initially thought."
— The potions don't work. According to Rosalyn, the Wolf Tribe can't use potions. Healing magic doesn't work either. I'm not sure what to do. But I need to protect him. I have to protect him.
'Judging by Choi Han's reaction, no matter what happened in the village, he feels personally responsible for the boy,' the Crown Prince's thoughts jumped from what happened in the village to the panicking sword master and back. He had a strong feeling that the swordsman's hysteria would not end well. He prayed that Cale had a solution to this problem. Otherwise, Choi Han's entire state would roll back to the moment of their first meeting at the city wall. Or worse.
- Calm down.
Cale was worried that Choi Han would go berserk if he continued to escalate the situation like this. It would be as scary as that Dragon in the corner of the room if he went berserk. Maybe it was because he had lived alone for decades, or maybe it was because he had lived alone for decades, but Choi Han's personality had remained the same. He was still a nice guy who cared about things like friendship.
The atmosphere in the room was heavy, but everyone (even Lock) cast a curious glance at the sword master and the busy dragon. Could he really match him in rage? The dragon was capable of moving a mountain. Although the sword master had strange ideas about dents...
— Kale-nim.
- If you trust me, just leave it to me.
— ... I trust you.
- Fine.
Cale confirmed that Choi Han had calmed down before glancing at Rosalyn.
Rosalyn. She was the first in line to the throne in the Kingdom of Breck. However, this genius mage was ready to give it all up. Rosalyn reminded Cale of a red rose. She had scarlet hair that was even brighter than Cale's, as well as beautiful red lips that were currently curved into an attractive, curious smile.
Although she may remind him of a rose, the girl's personality was closer to the sun.
"That's very kind of Young Master Cale," Rosalyn was pleasantly surprised.
"So far it turns out that Cale had the best opinion of you, Miss Rosaleen, of all the 'characters in the book'."
- Of course! I'm gorgeous.
Slowly, the tension began to subside. Very slowly, but still. The observers were still worried about the wolf boy's condition, but they still couldn't do anything about it. And Lock himself understood this perfectly well. And he noticed the attempts to help him worry less, too. And he was very grateful to the Crown Prince and Rosalyn for the small talk. It helped distract him from the image of himself curled up on the bed.
Rosalyn didn't look at Lock, Choi Han, or even Cale. Her gaze was focused on the corner of the room.
— ...This aura... This is a strong magical aura!
Rosalyn looked exactly at the corner that the Dragon had previously chosen, and her hands trembled and clenched tightly.
- Sigh.
- I think I sensed Dragon-nim! I can imagine how shocked my double is right now.
"A dragon is not exactly what you expect to feel when you bring a sick beastman into the home of a strange nobleman."
The black dragon, who had finally finished his chocolate chip cookie, raised his muzzle to the screen and stared at the sorceress. She was reacting so interestingly to his presence. Although the Strange Man said that sorcerers greatly respected dragons. Is that all? And what else would he do now? He did not leave the room.
Either due to some rules of this space, or something else, but now everyone saw the invisible dragon. He was translucent, but visible to them. Which made it much easier to understand the situation.
A sigh escaped Cale's lips. It seemed that the Dragon was interested in this mage. The Black Dragon sent Rosalyn aside and demonstrated some mana skills that Rosalyn could not even dream of. Throughout history, Dragons tended to hate humans, but like mages, only a little.
The dragon did this because he was happy.
The black dragon looked at Rosalyn with large, curious eyes, then turned to his older relative.
Eruhaben looked down at the child's crumb-smeared face.
And he nodded, as if to say, that's right. Mages are far from dragons. Even from four-year-olds.
Stop. Crumbs?
He looked at the baby closely, and indeed, there were cookie crumbs and chocolate stains clearly visible on its face. Where did he get cookies in this room? He looked suspiciously at the ceiling.
Cale looked at the table, which seemed empty, and began to speak quietly.
- Stop it. Stop.
Almost instantly, Rosalyn took a deep breath and quickly returned to normal. The dragon seemed to have removed the mana. Rosalyn couldn't stop shaking as she looked at Cale.
- Well, well! Dragon-nim listened to him!
- Sweet Lok is sick! That's why I stopped, - the embarrassed black dragon turned back to the screen.
- Of course, Dragon-nim. That's exactly it. Forgive me, silly!
While they were so sweetly sorting things out, Cale had already managed to direct the thoughts of the other Rosalyn in the right direction.
— What's happening to Locke right now?
- You're a magician, right?
- Yes, that's true.
- Have you heard anything about the berserker state that is common among the beastmen tribes?
— Brother...
Rosaleen let out a small sigh. However, her face quickly became thoughtful.
" I've read about the Wolf Tribe berserker state in books. However, I've never read anything about a fever like Locke's, or anything like that accompanied by pain."
- That's because this is his first time.
- I'm sorry?
— It seems he knows what to do after all.
- At the very least, he has minimal knowledge.
"He said that Locke was supposed to have entered this state only after a year, which meant he could have read about it.
— Also, from this we can conclude that the events of the first five volumes cover at least one year.
- Right.
Cale, meanwhile, had already explained the main points of the first transformation.
Cale checked Locke's condition before continuing:
- He will enter a berserker state very soon.
Then he turned and looked at Rosalyn. The girl nodded and looked at him intently.
- I don't know what kind of person you are, but I can understand the situation.
Although her tone was stern, her eyes were still gentle.
- He is still a very young boy.
- I know.
She asked Cale for help, and the young man agreed to help.
Choi Han suddenly realized that he was suddenly overcome by a feeling of calm. He knew that Cale wasn't as good a person as he wanted to appear. Or was he? With his desire to appear like trash, it was hard to tell. But he wasn't that bad either. If he said he would help, he would help. He could breathe a sigh of relief.
And he wasn't the only one who exhaled.
— Meeee!
At that moment, both kittens appeared between them and jumped onto the bed. He and Hong were looking at Lock when...
— Urgh!
Lock bared his teeth and began to growl at both kittens. His instincts were controlling his rationality right now, causing him to react aggressively to the other beastmen. He looked so vicious that even Choi Han was worried. However...
If anyone was most frightened by Locke's behavior, it was Locke himself. It was so different from his usual behavior that it felt like it wasn't him at all. And the longer he looked, the more he realized he didn't want to turn into a wolf at all. Ever. It was so scary.
— Meeeeeeeee!
Bang!
Hong used his front paw to close Lok's lips. It was a sharp attack with his front paw that seemed to tell Lok to stop. Hong then looked at Cale with eyes that seemed to beg the boy to hurry up and help Lok.
"These children never cease to amaze me," the former butler looked at the ginger kitten with strange emotions in his eyes.
Vitira turned back to Lok and in an attempt to lift his spirits said:
- Look, wolf boy, even the kitten isn't afraid of you.
He even chuckled in surprise.
"He's fine," Cale answered Hong when there was a knock on the door.
"You have a very strange definition of the word 'order', Mr. Cale," the Crown Prince frowned a little as he said this.
Vitira now looked at the prince and said in confusion:
- What do you mean, Your Highness? The boy is indeed fine. It will take some time, but in the end he is in no danger. But the rest of the room are very much so.
Now everyone except Eruhaben and the Black Dragon looked at the Future Whale Queen in shock. What does she mean? He can't even get out of bed!
At this time, on the screen, the red-haired nobleman had already managed to give some of the orders to the returning Hans.
- He needs to be moved to the underground training arena. Oh, and make sure all the knights leave the arena, there can't be anyone else left.
"Why to the arena?" the sword master perked up.
"You'll see, Choi Han-nim," Vitira understood exactly what Cale was trying to achieve. She was fully supportive of this plan of action. Even though the transformations of whales and wolves were very different, the general features of the first transformation were traced through all the tribes of beastmen. Except, perhaps, the insects. Little was known about those guys. Especially among whales.
Hans's face seemed to ask why Cale was bringing a sick boy into the arena, but the Young Master simply ignored him.
- Hurry up.
— Yes, sir.
Hans had many questions and looked at Cale with a strange expression, but still did his job flawlessly. The deputy butler quickly left to get people to move Lock, and Cale turned to look at Choi Han and Rosalyn.
- Choi Han and you.
— Rosalyn.
— Yes, Rosalyn.
The two turned away from the bed to look at Cale.
" Yes, Cale-nim."
- What's happened?
The people in question straightened up in their seats. If they had understood correctly, they would be helping in some way. And since there was still a chance that something like this could happen again, they would need to be prepared for it.
"Professor, I'm all ears!"Concern, anxiety, despair, and a sincere desire to help. With all these emotions on their faces, Choi Han and Rosalyn looked more like simple good people than heroes. Cale responded directly to their expectant looks:
- You'll have to fight a little.
- ... Sorry?
- What?
- What?
— Yes?
Vitira smirked slightly. She had foreseen this. As had the ancient dragon. He knew more about the beastmen than the others.
After a few seconds of silence, Rosalyn still looked shocked, and Choi Han just calmly waited for Cale to continue his explanation.
"It feels like my double doesn't even think about questioning his words anymore. I can't be that trusting!"
— Usually, when beastmen with wild beast blood, such as those from the Wolf Tribe, Tiger Tribe, or Bear Tribe, experience their transformation for the first time, their parents and siblings help take care of it. They launch their attacks at the rampaging human while protecting them so that they don't get hurt. This is how they protect their children.
Choi Han and Rosalyn's expressions turned sour almost simultaneously. Lock no longer had parents or siblings. Cale glanced at Lock before continuing to speak.
The boy took a deep breath and held it. A creeping panic attack wouldn't help matters now.
"It's not me. It hasn't happened yet. It won't happen. It's okay. It's okay. We'll stop it. It's okay. It's okay. Everyone will survive. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. Inhale. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. Exhale. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay."
Once the panic had subsided a little, he focused on watching again.
Eruhaben noted to himself that the boy had problems with control even without the berserker state. This could cause him a lot of problems in the future. But he was clearly making progress in working on himself.
While Locke was struggling with his inner feelings, Cale had already announced that Choi Han and Rosalyn would take on the roles of his brother and sister, and he would sit aside, thank you very much, and even shared the details.
" He will tire out, and the berserk state will gradually fade. It is important that his consciousness returns during this first entry into the berserk state. This is the only way to help him maintain his consciousness and rationality the next time he enters this state again.
Choi Han thought about it for a while before asking Cale.
- Cale-nim, how long will he maintain his berserker state?
- He has exceptionally pure blood.
- So you mean it will take a long time?
- Yes, probably about two hours.
Cale walked over to Locke's bed and patted him on the shoulder.
- It may be difficult for other people, but Choi Han, it will be easy for you. I trust you.
- I will succeed. I am Lok's hyung.
"Still, when someone tells you that they trust you with such a calm expression on their face, as if they were sharing some trivial things, it makes you feel strangely calm. They're not even telling me this. And I know them better than my double, but even on me it works."
Rosalyn looked at Choi Han with a strange expression. Choi Han was maniacally eliminating assassins to protect people. During their journey together, this guy always remained vigilant and observed their surroundings. However, such a person seemed extremely relaxed now, even though this was a very serious situation.
"Of course. The student has returned from his internship. Now he can surrender to the teacher," Choi Han nodded his head in agreement.
Rosalyn, who was in the black room, understood and knew more than her double, also understood the nature of the sword master's relaxed behavior. Young Master Cale still had some talent for making the lives of those around him much easier than they could be.
But the Crown Prince, who had observed both versions of the black-haired swordsman, began to come to some conclusions about him. Still, despite the differences, it was still the same person. The very essence of a person cannot change in a couple of weeks. He just needed a few more visual examples.
Then she heard Cale's relaxed voice while she was still looking at Choi Han.
- Yes, yes. Let's eat something tasty when everything is done.
Cale thought about the food and wine, about the meal he had not been able to finish.
- If he behaves like this, then everything is not so bad, right?
The observers nodded their heads in unison at Locke's question. But no one had really forgotten that he had a dubious notion of the word "normal." So "not so bad" could have been anything.
On the screen, all the people involved, plus two cats and an invisible dragon, were just settling into the underground arena, giving their final orders to the butlers.
- Both of you, leave the arena, lock down the area, and make sure no one comes from the first floor.
- Yes, Young Master.
- Everything is clear, Young Master.
Cale had a bitter taste in his mouth when Ron had an extremely wide smile on his face, but Cale decided to let him go. After watching the two people leave, the young man carried the kittens to the corner of the arena. Naturally, he did not forget to leave as much distance between himself and Choi Han and Rosalyn as possible.
"The puppy is doing some dubious activity right under my doppelganger's nose. He must be thrilled. Just like I am right now!"
- You two, go to the center!
Choi Han walked to the center of the arena. Rosalyn had an extremely serious expression as she moved slightly away from Lock.
— Rrrrrrr!
Lock was shaking as if he was having a seizure. His arms, his legs... The boy's entire body was shaking. However, neither Rosalyn nor Choi Han came near him.
This was because Locke had started growing claws. Very sharp claws, belonging to a wild beast.
— Aaaaaah!
Lock's body rose into the air. He froze like an arrow and began to slowly change. Cale confirmed that the large iron gates to the arena were firmly closed before slowly walking further into the corner with the kittens, He and Hong following close behind.
Those who had never seen a beastman transform, and that was everyone except Vitira and Eruhaben, looked on in horror. Especially Locke.
In the Blue Wolf tribe, it was customary to undergo the first transformation away from the settlement. To protect the others. Of course, he knew that it was painful, they explained it to the children, but he did not think that it was so painful. He saw the transformations of his older comrades. They happened smoothly and as naturally as the flow of water. And it was very difficult to reconcile this with what was happening on the screen.
Choi Han tried to look at it more calmly. Firstly, the situation was under control and there was no more reason to panic. Secondly, if he understood everything correctly, then Locke's state was completely natural. Whatever happened, the first transformation was not entirely his fault. It would have happened anyway someday. Now all he could do was watch carefully so that he could help if it happened again in their world. And now, as he suspected, there would be the cruelest possible lesson on the topic of "fight and do no harm."
The black dragon looked from Locke suffering on the screen to Locke suffering in the chair, but at least not physically. He knew what pain was. Until recently, it was the only thing he had truly known. And he didn't want anyone to go through that.
He also remembered what he had said to the boy. "Let's do this together!" As a dragon, and dragons are great creatures, he had to keep his word. He got off his seat and jumped into Lok's lap, who hadn't expected it from his word at all. With a running start. Then, with a quiet puff, he settled into his arms, looking as if he had been there all along.
Locke looked at the dragon in his arms in surprise, but smiled and hugged it tighter.
"Yes, we are together!"
Meanwhile, Locke on the screen was completing his transformation.
At this moment, a translucent barrier appeared in front of Cale. It was a shield. While He and Hong looked around in shock, Cale casually began to speak:
- Dragon, you are truly amazing. Can you make it soundproof too?
"You have a lot of nerve, don't you?" Eruhaben suppressed a heavy sigh.
Another screen covered the existing one. Rosalyn glanced towards it, and Cale saw her shock as the sorceress revealed two layers of protection in front of the Young Master. At that moment, the voice of the Black Dragon, who should have been somewhere inside the shield, reached Cale's ears:
"How I want to see dragon magic in real life! It's amazing enough even on the screen, but here you can't feel the movement of the mana flows. That would already be an amazing experience!" Rosalyn glanced at the black baby and smiled. She would have another chance.
- You are very weak. That is why you need protection.
He and Hong were delighted to know that it was the Dragon, but they looked at Cale with regret after hearing what the Dragon said. They seemed to agree with the Dragon's assessment. Cale ignored their looks and replied casually,
"Even cats don't take you seriously, you miserable bastard."
- Do whatever you want.
- I don't know why you don't use this power.
- You don't need to know that.
But Lok was interested.
- Why doesn't he participate? He could, right?
— Let's start with the fact that this man hates difficulties. He doesn't like pain either. Ancient power is not a panacea after all. Also, we don't know if he has any combat skills. Also, it's likely that he still hides the shield from the "main character".
No matter how suspiciously observant this boy was, it didn't mean he could fight at all.
- And also, you see him for the first time. He doesn't know how you will react to him. You already know Choi Han and Rosalyn. But even with them you won't be able to control yourself. There is no point in complicating the situation. They will cope, don't worry, - it was Vitira.
Power. The Black Dragon quickly realized that Cale did not want to show that ancient power to other people, keeping it as an ace up his sleeve. Cale shrugged, and eventually the third layer of the three-layer shield was created.
"His skill is growing exponentially."
The black dragon puffed out his cheeks with pride in himself.
"That's right, Human! I learn quickly."
Cale could now calmly look at Locke, who had fallen to the ground in a berserk state.
— Rrrrrrrrrrr! Awww
Locke's screams filled the entire arena. If it weren't for the soundproof and shockproof magic installed in the basement, the knights of the residence would have come running here long ago.
Locke's body grew larger as he screamed. Muscles that weren't there began to develop, and the boy's eyes turned red. This was proof that he had lost control of himself.
Locke looked at himself from the outside and tried to come to terms with the fact that sooner or later the same thing would happen to him in the future. He hugged the dragon tighter. The dragon understandingly tapped his hands with its paw.
Why did this little boy from the Blue Wolf Tribe lose his temper?
In the novel, Locke was supposed to undergo his first berserker transformation only after a year. The reason for this was the death of a human.
"Healer Pendrick."
This elf died in battle. Pendrick was the one who reminded Lok of his dead uncle, the Chieftain of the Blue Wolf Tribe. Seeing Pendrick die drove Lok mad, wanting to kill everyone in sight.
Alberu, just in case, I wrote down this name. A healer is a very valuable person.
— He, Hong.
Cale looked down at his brother and sister, who were hiding behind the shield with him.
- You haven't experienced your berserker transformation yet, right?
The kittens nodded.
- You don't know anything about this?
- Not really.
- Nobody taught us this.
Cale knew that this would be the case. Since On and Hong also seemed to be purebloods, their transformation into berserkers would be just as rough. Cale looked forward again and began to speak.
— The Wolf Tribe, the Tiger Tribe, the Bear Tribe, and the Cat Tribe — these four tribes lose their rationality the most during their first berserker transformation. That's why we call these four beast tribes the closest to monsters.
Since Professor Hanityuz had condescended to explain the theory, everyone listened with interest. Little was known about the beastmen, due to their secluded existence. And here was such a treasure trove of knowledge.
Vitira and Ron wondered what had happened to these kittens in their original Clan. The cats were clearly talented and had strong attributes. With proper training, their potential would have been easy to reach. So why the neglect?
There was much he didn't know about the Cat Tribe.
" I don't know how the transformation into a berserker will go for the Cat Tribe, but if you feel like you're starting to go crazy or suddenly feel like you're starting to feel hot or in pain, come to me immediately.
"In any case, it would be bad if an accident happened to you."
Who would have to clean up the mess then? Cale would have to clean up after them. The boy was the one who took responsibility for everything that would happen on his territory and for the people he took in.
— No matter how hard he tries to show that he doesn't care, he cares about these children.
- He seems like a responsible guy.
The ancient dragon began to doubt that this boy was only eighteen. At that age, people hardly understand what responsibility is at all.
Cale turned to look at them when he didn't hear a response. Two pairs of golden eyes were turned towards Cale and both kittens moved towards his legs and began to rub against them.
"Why do they like to do this?"