Berserker State
"In the future, you will come in a situation where your beast cannot help you and you will be left alone. You need to learn how to fight yourself." Linda said.
"Neo, the reason you lost is not because you could not summon your beast. The reason you lost is first because you had no information on the opponent you were facing. You had no information on the beast's skills.
Had you known that it can form a stone armor to protect a part of its body, you would not have put everything you had in that last attack."
Neo lowered his head. To Linda and the others, it looked like he regretted losing the fight, but internally, he found Linda annoying and wanted her to stop lecturing him.
But while he found her annoying, all the other students listened closely to her.
"You did something unforgivable!" Linda shouted, her shout echoing throughout the arena.
Neo raised his head and looked her in the eyes.
"You had no information on your opponent, yet you still dared to underestimate your opponent." The anger in her voice was obvious. "This is the first and last time you did something like this. If you dare underestimate your opponent again, I will punish you. Now, go and sit!" She pointed her index finger toward the area of the seats where Alden sat. "Rethink your actions!"
'She is lecturing me why I lost?! Had I used my beast, I would have killed that stupid tiger!' Neo thought angrily. But he did not dare express his anger out loud. He did not want to test her patience. Her teaching the students put their lives at stake. He did not want to imagine, let alone experience her punishment.
After he sat behind Alden, Linda continued talking.
"What do you think after witnessing how a wild beast fights?" She questioned.
The bodies of the students shook in fear as they remembered the bloodshot eyes of the tiger and the weight of the pressure it brought.
Seeing their reactions, Linda nodded. She had got her desired result, which was engraving the terrifying nature of the beasts into the students' minds.
"I am sure you all have one question in mind. Why the eyes of the tiger turned red." Linda continued speaking. "The reason is because it entered a state we call Berserk.
The ability to enter this state gives the beasts a huge advantage over us humans.
When the beasts have no other way to win against an opponent, they let their instinct consume them and become a berserker.
In this state, the attributes of the beast increase tremendously. They no longer feel pain, and they become hardly predictable. The only way to predict them is to have a rich combat experience." Linda explained. "Every beast has this skill." She added.
'So that was why that bastard became so much stronger and fiercer.' Neo thought. 'But this also means I was close to beating it.'
'Every beast has this skill, but I did not see it on Little Rainbow's status window.' Alden thought. 'Is it possible that because my beast is special? Because of the seven-colored bloodline, Little Rainbow does not have this skill. Wait...' he realized something. 'What even is the seven-colored bloodline? I forgot to ask the system.'
When Little Rainbow hatched, Alden wanted to ask the system about the seven-colored bloodline, but as Chloe knocked on the door and with everything that happened after, he totally forgot.
'I must find a chance and ask the system about the seven-colored bloodline.' He made a mental note.
"Teacher." Alden raised his hand. "Can our beasts enter this state as well?"
Linda shook her head. "Unfortunately, no. Some of the best researchers have researched it. But it looks like only the wild beasts can enter the Berserk state.
The most famous theory states that the reason our beasts can't enter the berserk state is that when the beasts form a soul contract, they put their master and his command in the first place so they do not follow their instinct." Linda explained.
'The seven-colored bloodline has nothing to do with Little Rainbow not having the berserker state.' Alden thought. 'But now I am even more curious about the seven-colored bloodline.'
"Teacher," Alden raised his hand again. "When the beasts enter the berserk state, they are only driven by instinct. Since they are only driven by instinct, they should not be able to utilize their skills properly. Isn't that right?"
"You are right. The beasts in the berserk state can not utilize their skills properly." Linda nodded. "But that is our problem. The adult beasts know how to control their berserk state. So they gain a tremendous increase in physical strength, immunity to pain, and can utilize their skills."
"But do not underestimate the beasts who are not yet adults just because they can't control their berserk state." She added. "For example, take the tiger Neo faced. Its instincts sensed death, so it immediately formed its stone armor. Do not misunderstand. The beats can not properly utilize their skills, but they can still use them."
The students started chatting among themselves.
As for Alden, he fell into deep thought. If things were as Linda said, and the adult beasts could enter the berserker state without giving in to their instincts, then they must be a nightmare to fight.
Clap! Clap!
Linda clapped her hands. "Stop chatting." She said. "Owen, come down. You will be the next one facing a beast."
Again, the students started chatting amongst themselves. They all reminisced about the last time Owen fought.
Just remembering it made Carol's whole body shook, as Owen almost put a hole in his chest.
"Teacher," Neo stood up. "Please rethink. If what happened the last time he fought repeats, he would suffer immense losses. Not to mention he gains nothing out of it and only ends up hurting himself."
"SILENCE!" Linda roared angrily. "I warned you a second ago to stop talking! Do you think you are safe because you still have not broken through the 1-star warrior realm? There are plenty of ordinary animals here you can face."
The students once again shut up. They did not want to go down to the arena and fight, even if it was against an animal and not a beast.
"And you!" Linda pointed at Neo. " Is it your turn to teach me how to do things? He may not even have another beast. It is a rarity for a human in the 1-star warrior realm to even have one beast."
Her stern gaze made Neo feel uncomfortable, so he sat back down.
"I-Its a-alright, Neo," Owen spoke with a trembling voice.
He stood up and walked down the arena.
He trembled and anxiously looked around as he walked up to Linda.
When he stood before her, Linda extended her hand toward him.
In fear, Owen closed his eyes, expecting pain. But when he opened his eyes again, he saw that Linda had not even touched him.
"Take your weapon." As she spoke, the dual chain scythes dropped out of her palm.
Owen caught the weapon. "T-Thank you."
Without a word, Linda turned and walked to one of the corridors connected to the arena.
As Owen waited for Linda to bring the beast he was to face, he trembled in fear. "I-I don't want to do this." He muttered to himself quietly. "I am scared."
However, despite his wishes, the truth was entirely different. Not long after, from the depth of the corridor Linda ventured into, came the sound of a chain rattling.
As the sound of the chain rattling came closer, the pressure in the air increased. The students in the audience held their breaths. As for Owen, he trembled uncontrollably, with tears welled in his eyes.
"Will Owen be alright?" Alden worriedly muttered.
"I can sense it." Chloe, who did not say a single word the entire time, spoke. "The beast he is about to face is strong."
"Can he win?" Alden's worry increased, as well as his heartbeat. He clenched his fists tightly. 'Once again, I am unable to help.' He thought, frustrated with himself.
"Hardly." Neo shook his head. "You just entered the 1-star warrior realm, so you still need to learn a lot of things. Including sensing things through the spiritual energy they release.
But I can sense it. The beast Owen is to face is even stronger than the tiger I fought. Looks like she deems Owen stronger than me.
But by what I have seen when he fought teacher Linda, if he does not sacrifice another beast, let alone win, he may not be able to get out alive."
'But he has another beast.' Alden thought, clenching his fists tighter. 'But will our Owen be able to bear it if his second personally sacrifices another beast?'
Sacrificing his beast or not, either way, things were not looking good for Owen.
Clang!
The sound of metal colliding sounded, and Linda entered the arena, dragging behind her a boar.
While the tiger was chained with one chain around its neck, the boar had chains on all four legs and on the neck.
The boar was a meter (3,3 feet) high, and its body was about 2 meters (6,5 feet) in length.
Its whole body was covered in brown fur, and two large tusks protruded from its lower jaw, reaching up to its nostrils.
The moment the boar entered the arena, the temperature in the air rose.
Seeing the intimidating boar, Owen gulped hard.
And in the audience, Alden stood up, his eyes wide in shock.
He used Inspect on the beast.