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Chapter 241: Berserker Mode
Ethan surged ahead, leaving Leeroy behind as he climbed higher. Leeroy, panting heavily, pushed himself to keep up, his face scrunched in determination.
Suddenly, a burst of laughter and cheers erupted from below. "Woo-hoo! Go, go, go! You’re almost there! Tonight, we feast..."
Leeroy glanced down and saw Evelyn riding on Ryan’s back, one arm wrapped around his neck. In her other hand, she held a vine she’d somehow managed to grab, swinging it around like a whip, her face lit up with joy.
"Ryan, have you lost your mind? You used two Lightfoot Charms at once?" Leeroy shouted, his voice tinged with disbelief.
Ryan, now level with Leeroy, shot him a quick glance as he sped past. In the split second they were side by side, Ryan muttered, "Not crazy, just worth it for, em... what Evelyn promised."
Whoosh!
A gust of wind whipped past Leeroy’s ears as Ryan raced after Ethan.
"Wait, what?" Leeroy blinked, wondering if his sharp hearing had failed him. But no, he was sure he’d heard correctly back when Evelyn promised. He couldn’t quite fathom why Ryan had gone all out, using two Lightfoot Charms at once. Those things took days to make—ten days, to be exact. Ryan had to focus entirely on the process, without eating, drinking, or even pausing. One wrong stroke, one drop of ink out of place, and the entire charm would be ruined, wasting both time and materials.
Normally, Ryan would never be so reckless with his charms. But ever since Evelyn had secretly cooked him a pot of that stew, he’d been obsessed. Even after Leeroy had caught him and broken three of his ribs in a fit of rage, Ryan had howled in pain but refused to promise he’d never eat it again.
Leeroy knew then that Ryan was truly lost. What he couldn’t understand was why Ryan could sit there, grinning like an idiot, eating something so vile. And why... why did it have to be rabbits? They were innocent. Harmless. The little creatures had never hurt anyone!
Maybe it was time to give Ryan another beating.
As the thought crossed his mind, Leeroy’s body began to transform again. At first, only his limbs changed, but soon, fur sprouted across his face, his ears grew pointed and elongated. This wasn’t just a partial transformation—it was a full shift.
With his second transformation complete, Leeroy shot forward, closing the gap between him and Ryan. His speed now matched, even surpassed, Ryan’s, despite the fact that Ryan was carrying Evelyn on his back.
"Ryan, big bro’s gone full berserker! Run, or he’s gonna beat you up!" Evelyn shouted, peeking over Ryan’s shoulder.
"Berserker?" Ryan glanced down and let out a loud curse. "Oh, crap!"
Now he understood why Evelyn had said Leeroy had "gone berserker" instead of just transforming again. Leeroy wasn’t just using his secondary form—he’d activated his innate ability, Bloodlust. Once activated, this ability made him relentless, targeting a chosen enemy with single-minded focus. And it seemed Leeroy had chosen him as the target.
Wherever Ryan ran, Leeroy would chase him down like a madman. The skill was as mindless as it was powerful, turning Leeroy into a relentless, unstoppable force.
Ten minutes later, Ethan broke through the cloud layer. From below, he was now completely out of sight. A few more minutes passed, and he finally landed on solid ground.
He shifted out of his Owl Form, feeling the sharp, cold wind whip around him at this altitude. Standing on the edge of the cliff, he peered down, but the clouds obscured everything below. In the distance, a sea of white stretched out, a breathtaking view that few would ever witness in their lifetime.
A few minutes later, Ethan heard rustling below.
Whoosh!
Ryan, still carrying Evelyn on his back, burst through the cloud layer and landed on the solid ground. As soon as he arrived, he slapped a runic parchment onto his chest.
Whoosh... A cloud of white mist rose from his body.
It turned out that during the climb, Ryan had worked up a sweat, and the thick cloud layer had drenched him in dew. He was soaked inside and out. The charm he’d used was likely meant to evaporate the moisture from his clothes.
In contrast, Evelyn looked almost picturesque, with tiny droplets of dew clinging to her nose, giving her an ethereal glow.
Without missing a beat, Ryan darted behind Ethan, using him as a human shield. "Ethan, save me!" he shouted.
Ethan was about to ask what was going on when he saw it—a half-man, half-wolf creature with glowing red eyes.
Whoosh! The creature leaped into the air, soaring over ten meters high before crashing down onto the mountaintop with a thunderous boom.
As it landed, it sniffed the air, its head tilting slightly as it spotted Ryan peeking out from behind Ethan.
"ROAR!"
The creature let out a guttural roar and swung a massive claw toward Ryan, who yanked Ethan in front of him to block the attack.
Ethan, of course, recognized the creature as Leeroy in his transformed state, but he’d never seen Leeroy with glowing red eyes before. He wasn’t thrilled about being used as a shield, but given Leeroy’s apparent lack of control, he decided to play along.
As Ethan raised his arm to block the incoming claw, a sudden realization hit him—something was off. The force behind Leeroy’s strike was far greater than he’d anticipated.
"Watch out!" both Evelyn and Ryan shouted in unison.
Ethan knew he was in trouble. Leeroy wasn’t holding back.
’Bear Form, activate!’
Boom!
Ethan’s arm collided with Leeroy’s claw.
Rip!
The sleeve of Ethan’s shirt was shredded into strips.
"Well, that’s payback," Ethan muttered, recalling how he’d torn Leeroy’s sleeve earlier at the cave entrance.
Evelyn had already started running over to heal Ethan, but she stopped in her tracks when she saw that his arm bore only three faint white marks. Her eyes widened in disbelief.
Even Ethan was stunned. He’d always used his Bear Form to dish out attacks, not to take hits. He glanced at his arm, then at Leeroy’s claws. He’d seen those claws dig deep into solid rock during their climb. Yet, against his Bear Form, they hadn’t even broken the skin.
"Ryan, what’s wrong with your brother?" Ethan asked, turning to Ryan with a frown.
Ryan took a couple of steps back. "He couldn’t catch up to us, so he activated his Bloodlust ability and went full berserker. You gotta knock some sense into him, Ethan. Just beat him until he snaps out of it!"
Ethan raised an eyebrow. Ryan sounded serious, but the whole situation felt absurd. He turned to Evelyn for confirmation.
To his surprise, she clenched her fists and cheered, "Go, Ethan! You can do it!"
Ethan blinked. For some reason, the way Evelyn cheered him on—so casual, so full of mischief, made him feel something was off. It seemed he’d accidentally stepped into the middle of this trio’s strange family... dynamics. He wasn’t sure how it had happened, but somehow, he’d gotten wrapped up in all of it.
Before he could dwell on it, Leeroy charged again, his red eyes blazing.
This time, Ethan didn’t stay in Bear Form. Instead, he shifted into Panther Form, his body becoming a blur as he darted around Leeroy. He didn’t attack immediately, though. He needed a way to snap Leeroy out of his frenzy.
Ethan vaguely remembered something from some TV shows he’d watched—slapping was an effective method of bringing people back to their senses. He decided to give it a try, using only a fraction of his strength. He didn’t want to accidentally knock Leeroy’s head clean off.
Slap!
The sound of the slap echoed across the mountaintop. Leeroy froze, his red eyes blinking as if he’d just been jolted awake.
Ethan held his breath. ’Did it work?’
