Borowyn continued, “about the Soul Oath situation being mutually beneficial. I can put the kingdom’s resources in play to help you get stronger as fast as possible. Seeing how you have proven yourself today makes me more confident in this decision. I would like you to continue to be my son’s protector. I realise that this is asking a lot, but in exchange, I assure you that I can help you further with any goals you may have. Do you understand what I am offering?”

Aarav was quiet for a long time; Borowyn almost opened his mouth to prompt him when Aarav raised his four-foot-high head and looked into the King’s eyes. “I understand what you are saying, but I also believe that what the Queen said is true; I am too weak to protect the Prince. Even if it was something that I was inclined to do, you could see from the result of the situation in the city that I can’t protect him from a leaf blowing in the wind.” Aarav couldn’t believe the words that were coming out of his mouth. Here was a chance to get stronger, something he wanted more than anything, and he was umming and erring about it.

He knew, though, that the caveat the King was talking about was a big ask, for now, what he said was true. If he agreed but could not fulfil the promise, not only would he be reduced to ash, but he would also never forgive himself. The only reason he was even contemplating it was that this could be his one and only chance to redeem his failure with Ami. Allowing her to die was the worst regret of his life.

“True, what you are saying is correct. However, until now, I had not had any reason to fully trust you other than the Soul Oath you took when you first arrived. If what my son now says is to be believed, you went well beyond the requirement of not harming my family in this situation. Indeed putting your own life at risk to protect my son. I believe that you have earned my trust through this. If you did orchestrate the entire thing, none of my people has been able to see it and that either makes you the most dangerous man in the room or an honest one. I am strongly in favour of the first option. However, I would warn you against leaving the palace again for a while. You will be busy with training anyway, but also, until all this settles, it is best to stay out of the investigators’ way. There is much to understand about this return of a Berserker. Can I assume you were near him when he lost control?”

Boren and Aarav’s nods were all the confirmation he needed. “I suspected as much, then I am doubly thankful to you, Aarav, for your quick thinking in getting both of you out of the situation. If he did that much damage to Balin, I shudder to think what could have happened to the two of you.” Then the King stopped and thought quietly for a full minute. His following words held the weight of decades of responsibility. “I will do my best to be completely forthright in this situation, Aarav. While you are under Oath not to hurt my family, it is very loose. The spirit of the oath matters and not the specific words, understand. With that said, I would not have anyone guarding my son unless it is by choice, and while the rewards I am promising are large, you will need to decide for yourself if you wish to get involved in this. I will make this offer once and once only.

“The offer I put forth is this; either you can stay here in the palace and under my protection. You will use the resources available to us to gain strength alongside Boren and be his protector and, hopefully, friend. You both seemed to work well together in escaping a dire situation. If you were close enough to see it, then the Berserker was close enough to hurt you both badly. Perhaps we can turn you both into a unit. Royal tradition, each member is assigned a vassal of sorts; a partner if you will for protection and to work with for their mutual betterment.” At this, he looked between Boren and Aarav; both nodded their understanding. “Alternatively…” The King paused again and then, in as open a tone as he could muster, said, “You may leave the palace and return to the forest and have no more part in this threat that faces us. I cannot guarantee that you will not be hunted in the woods by the predators there, but you know the nature of those dangers better than I do.

“In addition, I cannot say how large this threat on the horizon looms; it may be a singular, isolated event or span the entirety of the five nations on this continent and beyond. I suspect it to be the latter. If so, the forest and all in it are likely to be swept up in that chaos and danger. You will likely be swept up in it in this case but without our resources to strengthen you. In that case, we will not be able to help, and you will have to fend for yourself.”

Aarav took a moment to take everything the man said; Boren was also staring at his father with a mixture of complex emotions. Aarav could decipher it all. What he knew was that he was being given an out alongside this perilous and rewarding offer. Could he take it? Could he refuse it? There was so much to unpack with this and so much to mull over and think about. The number of materials, Talents, and Skills he could accumulate with their combined knowledge would be astounding. He hadn’t even understood the history of this world or anything else for that matter. He stopped thinking, now was not the time for reflection; he needed to finish speaking with the King and then ask for time to decide.

“Thank you for the offer and laying out the facts. Can I ask what makes this Berserker situation such a threat? I saw a lone man. Can it really be on a scale of a nation or even a continent? Forgive me for the asking, but it seems like quite the leap to expect so much from this small show.” Aarav asked, trying to gauge the true scope of the danger.”

“Let me put it into perspective this way. The last time Berserkers were commonplace in Fryst was over five hundred years ago. I was new to the throne and therefore was looking to stabilize Darf by any means necessary after what happened with the Mad King. That meant deterring the other four nations from war and attacking their neighbours and us. Berserker’s seemed like a good solution as a few were already in the army. Seeing their power, more people became enthralled with the idea of harnessing their emotions for quick bursts. To carry a tree, they otherwise couldn’t manage for more wood for the fire through the Agua season, the rain and sleet and snow needed to be combated somehow. It was a competition in the local games, just a burst and then finished, but it became addictive. Suddenly it didn’t seem like too much a stretch to use it against the man who was harassing your family, then on the people that you didn’t like.

“On and on the situation went, escalating each time and growing worse. I was busy stabilizing the nation against the others and lost sight of what was happening under my very nose. By the time I understood what was happening, it was out of control. People had started killing each other and losing control in front of and at their loved ones. A wife goes Berserk, and instead of smacking her husband playfully, she ends up killing him or smashing him through the wall of the house, and the whole thing collapses on top of the children. I immediately banned the Berserker class, but the damage was already done by then. We had secured our borders at the cost of internal and irreparable harm. It took two whole centuries to recover from that disaster, all the while maintaining trade negotiations with the surrounding countries to keep that situation from slipping back to what it was.

“Do you know how long the Berserker war lasted?” Borowyn finally asked Aarav.

“For it to cause damage that took two hundred years to recover from….” Aarav said in horror.

Borowyn did not wait for a reply from Aarav; instead, he answered his own question, “Half a year.” He said quietly.

Both Aarav and Boren were shocked, unable to speak and taking in the devastation that must have occurred in such a short time. Aarav had not heard much about the Berserker Class other than being outlawed. Even that tidbit had been something he happened to hear from Haemish one time when he was half-listening. It made a lot more sense now about the ban and the ridiculous power the idiot had shown. If there were more like him…a nation could drop ten of those into a city, and a militia would be hard-pressed to keep them contained.