Berserk

[Sophie's Pov]

Things have been a little bit less exciting after Miren left our base. After that old coot signed the legislation, all that was left was to orderly disband Basilisk and make sure all the members could integrate into society again.

Most of us were already outcasts, banished from our families because of what they conceived to be a disability, even though most people didn't even become adventurers it was still looked at as an affront to their bloodlines.

Although I had a bit of knowledge about the civil war between the mana-less and the big families, I still didn't quite understand why there was so much prejudice. We had our own strengths, even if we couldn't use spells or learn to use skills on command, we were strong. If one were to compare one of us with a strength stat of III to someone who could manipulate mana, we were always a lot stronger as our mana was imbued into our bodies.

And in my case, I was an outlier from both sides.

'Status'

===Status===

Name: Sophie

Rank: ★★★★★

Strength: VII

Speed: IIII

Stamina: V

Intelligence: I

Mana grade: ★★★★ [Higher]

--> Inherent Disposition : [Boundless]

--> Battle Arts: [Berserk]

-Martial Skills: [Whirlwind], [Giant Leap], [Double Strike], [Battle Cry]

--> Elemental affinities: ---

==========

There were a lot of incomprehensible things about my status, for one, the fact that my general star rating was higher than my mana grade. This was something I still hadn't found an answer for, even after researching for years. It went against one of the fundamental truths of this world; one's mana depicted one's strength.

The only reasonable explanation I could find for this was the fact that my body was based on a character I created in a game, and that I wasn't fully a native inhabitant of this world.

Next was the fact that I could learn how to use skills. Yes, not like the other mana-less people who had to consciously think about every part of the movement, my body could use them semi-automatically.

It was something I hadn't told anyone, afraid about how they would react. I didn't want to take the risk of maybe becoming a test subject for some crazy scientist.

There were some clear restrictions about this though.

I could only learn purely physical skills, although these also got imbued with a bit of ambient mana, meaning I couldn't learn any elemental skills nor could I manipulate my energy externally. It also took a lot of time to learn a skill, about three or four times that of a normal person.

Then there was my [Battle Art]. It wasn't all too unusual for a mana-less to awaken an art, although these were always something akin to [Swordsman] or [Shield Bearer]. My art was, so far, a unique one. I had never met or heard about anyone using the [Berserk] art.

Just like its name suggests it makes the user go insane with bloodlust, increasing their speed and strength a lot. When I was using this I felt like I was at least a one-star rating stronger, but I hated using this skill.

When I was new to this world I had used it once when I was doing a dive with some random people. We had the unlucky opportunity to get ambushed by a mutant goblin, much stronger than ordinary ones, who acted as a commander for a horde of them. In the end, we couldn't escape, nor could we defeat them, so I had used the trump card I had saved.

After that, my memory is a blur. Blood and guts had started flying, with my axe massacring everything I saw. My party members were not an exception to this either. I had killed them all with my own two hands, unable to stop myself until my mind had declared the fight to be over.

The worst part of it was that while I was using my art, I felt happy and excited. I was laughing while I decapitated my teammates, smiling while I ripped their hearts out. When everything was over, I could remember all the sensations I had experienced. Remembering the flesh getting torn apart and their screaming faces.

After that incident, I never used my art while I had people around me, unwilling to repeat the tragedy I had once caused. I did experiment with it a lot when I had the chance, often going in by myself to a dungeon or out to the wasteland. I could now control it to a certain extent, even managing to cancel it at times as long as I kept my head cool, but it was not worth the risk of exposing my friends to danger.

The last weird part of my status was my Inherent Disposition: [Boundless].

[Boundless]

'An inherent disposition that rids the entity of physical limits in relation to the inherent attributes, as well as the limit of accumulation of mana. Only an individual whom have been exposed to the bottomless well of infinity can gain this disposition.'

Reading the description always created a lot of questions in my head. This was most likely the culprit behind both my general star rating, as well as my Battle Art. For me, it appeared that the limitless accumulation of mana didn't matter much. My body wasn't suited for it after all. What did apply to me was the absence of physical limits.

This could be the reason why I was stronger than my mana grade suggested, why I could stand toe to toe in the face of a six-star monster without getting overpowered, like when we fought the wyvern.

This was also what kept my hopes up for the future, knowing I would never reach a wall that I couldn't overcome as long as I kept struggling.

"Sophie! Are you coming? We are going to start the portal again!"

"Yes, I'm coming!"

Misa was calling me, waking me up from my meaningless contemplation. After Miren left she had been so incredibly restless, never stopping for a second unless she was sleeping. Even though I had known her for a long time, she had never acted like this before and I knew what had caused it.

During Miren's stay here they had been so incredibly, disgustingly cute that I wanted to puke several times. Holding hands, kissing, hugging, and whispering sweet nothings to each other. Urgh!

No, I'm not jealous at all, I don't need that. Even if I found someone I had internally promised to never become like that stupid couple. And now was finally my chance to do so!

I had realized my goal of creating equal chances for mana-less people, mostly for my own sake. I didn't have to go out with unregistered parties and risk losing my life because of backstabbing anymore, I could finally make my own official party!

Misa had already accepted my proposal of becoming my first party member, a mage was always useful. For me, even more so as they complimented my fighting style a lot. As a close combat specialist, it was priceless to have someone who could support me from a distance. Of course, I would need more members as well, but this was a good start!

****

[Miren's Pov]

I woke up, feeling a lot better than I thought I would. Last night I had probably eaten enough to feed 50 starving kids and drunk way too much beer. But it had been fun, laughing and chatting with Lindsey about nothing of importance, letting the sights of my goals go for a moment.

It was weird waking up in a giant bed, a bed big enough to fit at least 15 people of my size. Letting myself snuggle up in the warmth of the bed for a while I turned to my side, seeing something that should not have been there.

"AAH!"

I flew out of the bed when I saw Lindsey's sleeping face, also waking her up with my incredibly manly scream. She sat up and rubbed her eyes, still keeping her body under the cover, "What is it Miren? Did you have a bad dream or something?"

My mind was racing, but I couldn't remember going to sleep. A wave of anxiety washed over me while I was thinking I might have betrayed the one I love the most.

Lindsey tilted her head a bit and then she started to laugh. (!) Since her small giggle during our very first homeroom session, I had never heard her laugh, and although it was nice to see her this happy, this wasn't the time or the place for it.

"Why are you laughing!"

She stood up from the bed, letting the covers slide away from her body, making me hurriedly block my eyes with my hands. Her soft voice rang out, "It's okay. Look at me."

'Since when did she have this kind of personality?!'

As my hands still didn't move, she walked up to me and bent them away, with me unable to fight against her dominant strength.

I could finally see what she meant, and as I felt my own body, everything became a bit more clear, although it was still a weird situation.

We both were wearing our student uniforms, showing that we most likely did not share any skinship in the night. The wave of anxiety was replaced with a wave of relief.

But there was still one thing that was incredibly weird.

"Why were you sleeping in the same bed as me?!"

Once again she tilted her head a bit, seemingly confused by my question.

"Because friends have sleepovers?"