“Ugh, this is giving me a migraine.” I lamented as I sat back in my seat. Migraine was almost an understatement, as the pain of channeling mana for that long at my limit was incredible.

“Pain is good. Means you are improving.” Belor said matter of factly as he plopped into a chair beside me.

“I thought you two were supposed to be resting today?” I groaned.

“We are resting.” Dorian chuckled. “But that doesn’t mean we do nothing. Today, my brother and I observe. Check the techniques of others. Learn.”

“Yep.” Belor agreed. “Even if we can’t use their skills, we can see how they work. Incorporate something similar, or maybe come up with counters. Give advice when needed, like young Terry over there. OI! TERRY! MIND YOUR FOOTWORK, OR GISELLE WILL PUT YOU ON YOUR ARSE AGAIN!” I winced and leaned away from his bellow.

“Easy brother.” Dorian said calmly. “Our friend here has a headache.”

“Eh? Oh, sorry Stars.” Belor said before turning right back to the people sparring.

“Sean. My name is Sean.” I said.

“Eh, too plain. You call forth stars, now you are named Stars. Much easier to remember.” Belor shrugged. “Besides, in battle it is much better if everyone is unique.”

“I suppose you have a point.” I said, sneering at the book in my hand. I had gone through a bit of the primer already, but the thought of reading some more was just beyond me at the moment.

“Put the book down.” Dorian said, gently closing the book for me. “Just like new sword skill, you must internalize it first. Make it yours. Then move on to new skills.”

“You, have a point.” I agreed after a brief pause. “I need something to distract me. Do you guys mind telling me about your class? I didn’t realize there would be some that were dependent on the moon.”

“Sure, no problem.” Dorian said, as Belor was absolutely consumed with the sparring. “We grew up in the Outlands. It’s very remote country, even for the Demon Continent. The sparse towns are often raided by the beastmen tribes, though it is mostly the wolves and the bears that prefer to raid. They would base it on the phases of the moon, as many of the classes of the wolves were based on it. So our ancestors searched as well, in an effort to negate the advantages and protect ourselves. And though they are powerful, there are major drawbacks.”

“I assume outside of certain phases, you are lacking most bonuses?”

“Indeed. But there are other dangers. When we were saying the blood sings, we weren’t joking. The berserker needs battle, and the moon can amplify the call. We have trained all our lives to be able to deny it, but even then we can’t resist at times. The rare full blood silver is one such time. That’s why we left for the monster lands. Here, we can rampage to our hearts content.” He leaned back, and he seemed lost in thought. “It makes for a lonely life, but at least I have my brother. But you wanted information on the skill, to better help us, yes? It’s fairly simple. In the fanged moon, or what you call the crescent, we gain an attack boost. The shield moon, or gibbous moon increases our defense. The full moon combines the two, while the new moon halves our abilities. The blood moon kicks in an added regeneration, but there are drawbacks. It is entirely possible to burn through the bodies reserves in the blood moon and end up dying. That’s why we need to temper our anger and maintain ourselves.”

“Thank you for sharing.” I said with a nod. “If you want, I could tell you a bit about mine.”

“That would be nice.” He answered.

“Sorry I don’t know everything, but I can tell you what I can. I assume I got the class because of my mana control training. I ended up making a model of the solar system. When I maxed out my class experience, I got two spells. Other than that, I think it lets me incorporate my knowledge easier, and helps out with spells. Then there is the whole buffs through constellations thing, which I had no idea about.”

“Thank you. I might try and send a memory crystal of this back to my people if you don’t mind? To be able to harness the moon outside of the normal times would greatly help us survive.”

“That’s fine.” I said. “Just remember, the enemy may gain the same bonuses.”

“Wise words.” He nodded, and we drifted into a relaxing silence.

It’s a bit crazy. I thought to myself. If I were at home, I would be listening to music or playing some sort of puzzle game to relax. Here? I’m finding the random blasting of magic and the clang of swords relaxing. I let the thought go, and tried to make another constellation. The searing pain caused me to immediately drop it and regret my actions.

“Easy friend.” Dorian said, patting my back. “You try rushing things, and you will just injure yourself.”

“Yeah.” I groaned. “I figured that one out.”

“Heh. You have a good balance of things I think. You push yourself, but pull back when it goes too far.”

“I try.” I grunted, rubbing my temples to try and ease the throbbing. “Sorry everyone, I gotta take a break. Constellation bonuses coming down in five seconds!” I shouted out, and saw several people breaking off of their practice. I dropped the constellations, and immediately felt a weight lift off my shoulders. “Oh gods that felt good.”

“I think just like us, you will need to take a break for tomorrow at least. No heavy magic.”

“Yep, I think that’s a good idea.” I nodded, slumping down in my chair.

“Any plans?” He asked.

“Possibilities.” I said. “Brian wanted me to hunt down a turtle and kill it. I think I have a bit of a plan formed, but I need to figure out the best way to kill it.”

“Tear out its throat.” Belor said before turning right back toward the sparring.

“Hah!” Dorian bellowed. “Belor’s solution to killing everything. Tear out its throat.”

I chuckled for a second, then started thinking. “Wait a minute though.” I held up a finger. “He might be on to something. I mean, that would work on a surprisingly large variety of enemies. Unless you are fighting something like a construct or the undead, most things can’t really survive without their throat intact.”

“See brother? Once again I am right.” Belor chuckled. “And you. We will make a warrior of you yet Stars.”

“I doubt that.” I chuckled. “But I think I know what I’m going to do. Thank you, both of you. And I’ll let you know how well the tearing out of the throat works.”

“You are going hunting tomorrow?”

“Yeah, I think so.” I said. “Everyone! Could I have your attention! I think for the rest of today and all of tomorrow I won’t be here with the constellation practice. Sorry for the delay, but I should be back in two days.” I ignored the groans and grumblings from the practitioners, but they were easily ignored. I started to stand up and head back to the inn when I felt a meaty hand slam down onto my shoulder.

“Where do ya think you’re goin Stars?” Belor asked.

“Back for some rest?” I asked it as a question, though I don’t really know why.

“Oh, there’ll be plenty of time for rest. Right now though, you need to work on your body conditioning.”

“My body conditioning is just fine-“ I started to say.

“Nope.” Dorian said, shaking his head. “You are relying purely on stats, and haven’t worked on your body at all. We can tell, and we can smell it if you try and lie to us so just save us the bother. Come, the agility course awaits!”

“But-“

“No buts!” Belor said, herding me along with his brother. “You’re a good one Stars, you have no problems helping others train. Today, though, you get to be the one who receives the help. Trust us.”

“It’s not that I don’t, but I’m going hunting tomorrow and I don’t want to be sore.”

“Bah, we will make sure that you are fine.” Dorian waved away my concerns. “Besides, you said you are hunting a turtle? Turtles are slow. You could probably outrun one with a broken leg.” There was no arguing with them, and before I knew it I was standing at the entrance to the agility course, and the entire yard had gone silent.

“They’re all watching, aren’t they?” I asked.

“Yep.” Belor said. “Don’t worry, you got this. It’s just simple wall jumping to start. It’s not even a vertical wall!”

“Come! Let’s give our friend the newcomers encouragement!” Dorian bellowed, and the crowd erupted in cheers.

“Fresh Meat! Fresh Meat! Fresh Meat!” I shook my head, stretched my legs a bit, and focused on the first wall. I took off at nearly full speed, leapt towards the wall at what I felt was the perfect moment, felt my foot connect, the impact travelling up my leg as I bent it to cushion the blow…

And slammed my body and face into the board, bouncing off and into the water. I sputtered to the surface to hear the entire crowd cheering my fate, and more than a few had coins changing hands.

“Bahahaha! You’re supposed to use your legs to push off, not your face Stars!” Belor guffawed.

“Yeah, yeah.” I said, swimming over and hauling myself to the dirt. “I’m assuming I was just going a bit too fast to start?”

“Indeed.” Dorian said. “Happens to almost everyone though, so don’t let it get to you. Go a bit slower, a bit more than half your top speed. Use arms to stabilize yourself as you impact as well.”

“Charles!” Belor called over to someone on the opposite side of the course. “Go ahead and decrease the angle a bit. Let him get used to the easier course for now.” Charles rotated something on a panel in front of him, and I swore under my breath as the angle decreased by about five degrees.

“Seriously? Was I starting on the hardest setting?” I groaned.

“Nope, mid range.” Dorian said. “Hardest setting has vertical walls, the stones are at different heights and the water flows towards you. Makes it seem like you are jumping on the stones while moving up some rapids. Great way to break a trail, if you ever get good enough.”

“There’s that, or I could just use a bit of magic and fly over the ground. Won’t leave tracks that way.” I countered.

“Eh, but magic leaves traces if you have the right skills.” Belor shrugged. “Pure physical skill doesn’t. Now, stop stalling and begin round two!”

“Yes sir!” I said, taking Dorian’s advice and going a bit slower. I managed to jump off the second platform, but didn’t have enough energy to get all of me to the third platform. Luckily my stomach hit first, knocking the wind out of me.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

“Good gods Sean, what the hell happened?” Elendria asked as I stumbled into the inn that night.

“Huh? Oh, hey there hun. Just did some training with new friends. I didn’t realize that lunar berserkers are the spawn of Satan.”

“I have no idea who this Satan is, but he must be proud if his sons managed to obtain a rare class like lunar berserker.” She said, and I grimaced as I took a seat.

“So what did they make you do?” Carrigan asked as he slid an ale over my way.

“Oh, nothing much. Just practice the agility course at the training grounds for a few hours. When my legs were exhausted, they were gracious enough to have a mage conjure me some weights to lift with my arms. Then I got to do some crunches. And what’s that thing where your partner stands by your head and you are on your back, and you have to bring your feet to your partner? They did that, each time pushing my legs a different way. I wasn’t allowed to let them hit the ground.”

“How long did ya last?” Someone from a nearby table asked.

“Huh? Oh, I dunno. Maybe an hour on agility, half that on the weights and another half hour on the crunches. Then I got to do it again.”

“Four hours total with the berserker brothers? Damn son, that’s impressive.”

“Thanks, but they wouldn’t let me tell them no.” I tried to shrug off the praise as a plate heaping with meat was placed in front of me. “Bless you Annette.” I said as I got a whiff of the tantalizing aroma.

“Yeah, they tend to steamroll over just about anyone.” Our neighbor agreed. “I’ll leave you to your dinner, you’ll need it.”

“Sho.” I said around a half mouthful. “What’ve you guys been up to?”

“Eat with no talking.” Elendria ordered, smacking the back of my head. “I’ve been out hunting with the Silver Eagles, though we aren’t taking any major beasts down.”

“I’m hunting as well, though with a different group.” Carrigan said. “We have the task of finding flocks of bird monsters to bring in for fletching. But the bastards are constantly getting away.”

“How are you hunting them?” I asked, making sure I had swallowed first. The glare Elendria gave me let me know she was still watching.

“Air blades for me, or maybe a tempest spell or two to try and knock them out of the air. Some of the water mages with us are having decent luck with their spells, but it’s slow going.”

“I don’t envy you.” Elendria shuddered. “Geese are bastards anyway, let alone if they are allowed to become basic monsters from all the ambient mana.”

“Here, here.” Carrigan said, taking a swig of his drink. “I just wish there were more that didn’t have any of the crimson crested ones.”

“Fire specialists?” I asked, shuddering at the thought of a goose that could use fire magic.

“Yep. Immune to fire, resist lightning, and not at all afraid to set the forest on fire.”

“Why don’t you kill them before they can fly off?” I asked, getting a weird look from both of them. “What? It’s entirely possible. I did it to a pack of wolves in the dungeon.”

“Just how the hell did you manage that?” Carrigan asked.

“Ever heard of carbon monoxide?” I asked, getting a strange look from Carrigan. “Here, let me see that cup for a second.” I said, grabbing an empty tankard. I used my air magic to fill it with the gas, being careful to keep it away from the lip. “Use your magic to study this gas. Ever heard of people dying if the chimney gets blocked somehow? This is what does the killing. It’s denser than air, so it fills the room from the ground up. Odorless and colorless, inhaling it can make you dizzy and eventually knock you unconscious. Keep inhaling it, and you will die. If you made a barrier that was the height of the geese and encircled them, you could easily fill it with this gas. Once they get knocked out, you can walk in and slit their throats as long as you are careful not to breathe in when you are bent over. Once the deed is done, let it dissipate.”

“Will it poison the meat?” I turned to see our friend at the next table over was listening in, as was the female mage next to him.

“Not at all.” I said. “It binds to the blood and makes it so that your blood can’t bring your body the gasses it needs to survive. I don’t think there are a lot of uses for the blood from geese, but probably best to avoid it.”

“At least introduce yourself Oleg! Hello, sorry to intrude, but I was wondering if I could study that gas as well? I’m Amelia, an air, earth, and flame mage. Oleg here is our groups front line, and I’m sorry to say but I think one of the blows he took to the head knocked out any sense of civility he might have had at one point.”

“Pleasure to meet you Amelia, Oleg. Go right ahead, hopefully you can figure it out as well.” She took her time studying the cup, a look of fierce concentration on her face.

“Crazy.” Carrigan said. “if we can mimic this, then we could take out all those crimson crests. That would make the days leading up to battle a lot easier.”

“Let me guess, once we get to within a week or so of the expected attack, we are going to be prioritizing killing any flame and earth monsters nearby?” I asked.

“Yep.” Elendria said. “What?” She groused at my incredulous look. “I’ve been asking around, wanting to figure out how to best help. First we get the monsters that can be used to make supplies, then we get the ones that pose the biggest threat to the town. Flame monsters so they can’t set the town on fire behind us, and earth monsters to protect the walls.”

“Sorry, didn’t mean to offend you.” I apologized. “I’ve just been so busy that I didn’t have time to do the same thing, and was assuming you were just as busy.”

“It’s alright.” She said, patting my hand. “Everyone knows women are much better at multitasking than men.”

“Hah!” I snorted. “Alright miss multitasker. Care to tell me where I could find a group that would be willing to be my bodyguard tomorrow? I have a bit of a unique hunt.”

“What’re you hunting?” Oleg asked.

“Some giant turtle.”

“You’re going after the lake guardian? Hoh man, you have to take us along!”

“Easy Oleg.” Amelia said. “Our group isn’t nearly strong enough to take on something like that monster.”

“That’s fine.” I waved off her concern. “I was going to take the monster down myself, I think I have a great plan worked out. I’m just worried about after, it might take everything I have to do it.”

“All you had to do was ask.” Elendria said. “We can cancel our hunt tomorrow, and join you. Oleg, Amelia, I’m sure some added backup would be appreciated.”

“Hell yeah!” Oleg nearly leapt out of his seat, getting a shaking head from Amelia.

“We would love to see this, thank you.” Amelia said. “We leaving at dawn tomorrow?”

“Sounds good to me.” I said, and almost everyone else agreed.

“Sorry Sean.” Carrigan said. “I won’t be able to help you this time. Besides, from what I hear this turtle is highly resistant to magic. So you be extra careful, and if your plan doesn’t work in the beginning there is no shame in withdrawing and coming back with a better plan.”

“Don’t worry Carrigan. I’ll be cautious.”

“And he will be heading to bed soon.” Elendria said. “You need rest. I’m going to track down the Silver Eagles and let them know of the change in plans, and then I will be up there soon. Will you need a massage tonight?”

“It wouldn’t hurt.” I said with a smile, getting a snort from Carrigan.

“Lucky bastard.” He said. “Make sure he comes back, okay Elendria?”

“I will.” She said.