Dyne used his soul to detect where the berserker was.
“It looks like he went into a secluded room. Makes sense… Berserkers need to practice without anyone in the room. Otherwise, they’d kill those nearby.”
“This Berserker is training?” Arya was confused.
“Makes sense. He can’t help in hunting the wandering Assassin. And if he is the target and stays in an open area, he might kill people once the fighting starts. Man, these berserkers really need special treatment in the army.” Dyne shook his head.
“Arya… What do you know about this berserker?” Dyne asked.
“There really isn’t much to tell. As you know, berserkers is a rare occupation. Not many fighters can tame the wildness. Most become like a depraved beast. Usserfer suddenly appeared in Martsirt and began to fight various knights, barbarians, and other Martial Formation experts wanting to be hired as a fighter.”
“So you don’t have any details about his family?”
“No. We believe he was raised in a town far away. He braved the wilderness to reach Martsirt.” Arya explained.
Dyne nodded. The group was finally able to find an opportunity to sneak in as the few guards weren’t looking. With Dyne’s quick lock picking skills, the pair immediately entered the room of the berserker. The room was rather simple, but there was a staircase leading down, which was the place where this berserker trained.
“I’ll teach you how to lock pick next time. That’s a valuable skill for Assassins, after all. Now… What do we have here?” Dyne glanced around. He then began to smile.
“Alright, Arya… What things in this room can you use to help us kill the berserker?” Dyne asked.
“Help us kill the Berserker?” Arya was confused. She looked around the room and couldn’t find anything helpful.
“Yes.”
“I don’t see anything helpful.”
“Ah… As expected for someone who hasn’t played Broken Sword. You need to make the most of every room!” Dyne laughed.
“Broken Sword?” Arya asked.
Jedo was also asking the same question.
Strafe sighed.
“It’s one of his most formidable skills. This insane spy loved the Broken Sword game series that when he began to do covert missions, his fascination and obsession with that game helped him do amazing things in his past life. I’ll show you his memories some other time. But basically, the game is rather simple. You use things around you by solving puzzles using whatever items are present. I can’t believe he's playing this game now.”
“It might be because of the sudden opportunities to play and relive the memories of those games. He has been playing several since he arrived here.”
“I know. It awakened his Broken Sword obsession. Anyway, let’s watch. This kid is rather skilled in the art of deduction.”
Inside the room of the berserker were his basic necessities. There was a bed, his set of clothes, and canvas and paint that he used to paint.
There were several armors and armguards in the room, which had various damaged parts.
Arya observed the armor to see if there was anything useful among the armor and weapons. But all the items were inferior items, and some even had damage.
Dyne noticed the blood smudges on the armor and weapons he used. But they were always on the outside. Dyne checked the inside of the armor and armguards and noticed that there were no wounds.
Arya sighed and shook her head.
“These armors are inferior.”
Dyne smiled and took the many armors into his Monster Hive.
“Shall we?” Dyne offered as he led Arya towards the side.
Arya turned his attention to a large portrait of an older man standing near another youth who looked like the Berseker Usserfer. The youth looked quite frail instead of the robust and almost demonic form that Usserfer currently has. There were several other portraits hung up on the wall. There was also a picture of an older woman smiling, another portrait of a young girl, and another picture with an older appearance of the man with the young berserker.
“So, Arya... Have you found anything useful?” Dyne smiled.
“I’m sorry, Master Dyne. But there is nothing here that can help us kill the berserker.” Arya answered.
“Really? What can you tell about these portraits?” Dyne pointed to the paintings.
“It… looks like it's his family.”
“Correct. Who painted them?” Dyne asked.
“I… don’t know. Is this important?”
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“Very.” Dyne smiled.
Arya noticed the blank canvas and the few paints nearby.
“It looks like… the Berserker painted them!” Arya realized.
“Does this make sense? Are Berserkers usually skilled painters? Look at the detail of the painting.” Dyne pointed.
“N-no. Berserkers aren’t painters. They usually are wild and terrifying fighters. They begin as Brawlers or Barbarians, and when they have reached Martial Formation, they harness the force energy to activate the wildness aura.” Arya explained.
“Oh? So that’s how they do it here.” Dyne took a mental note of Arya’s explanation.
“Now, what can you learn about Usserfer based on these paintings?” Dyne asked.
Arya was at a loss for words.
“An assassin needs to use every information they can grab on. It could be helpful. Let me tell you this, based on his painting skill, how long do you think he invested in it?” Dyne asked.
“A… long time. He could have been a professional! This doesn’t make sense!” Arya realized what Dyne was trying to tell her.
“Exactly. This man must have been a painter. And he's a skilled one at that. We already have seen how the enemy was able to create Arc Knights. What if this berserker isn’t some warrior far away but someone just like the Arc Knight or that Wizard? They were weak people who were granted special means to grow stronger in a very short amount of time?” Dyne asked.
“Then… He used to be a painter?”
“Yes. That’s why his skills are quite exquisite. And look, this one is recently painted. How can a Berserker find the patience or peace to paint this? This means that his Berserker power is that of the Wizard Abrellam. He might have cool items like these.” Dyne recalled the orb that the Wizard held and the Heart of Darkness.
“So if we know what this item is, and we can remove it from him, we win?”
“Exactly.” Dyne smiled.
“But what item?”
“It could be anything. But there are more things we can discern in this room. Take a look at the portraits he made.” Dyne pointed.
Arya took a closer look.
Dyne, on the other hand, was shocked as he touched one.
“This… This has that same thing that Calamitus Slime had in the book! It’s like I can absorb the soul and memories of this man! It’d be a waste to kill him. I better think of a way to save this guy…” Dyne smiled.
“Lord Dyne… Aren’t these people his relatives?”
“Yes. Father, Mother, and possibly a younger sister. The fact that he drew them here means that these people are probably dead.” Dyne assessed.
“Dead?”
“Yes. These people may have been the bait he took from the enemy. I think that the person who gifted him the item that turns him into a berserker also fooled him into thinking that King Ciroel or his dynasty was the reason why his family died. Now, I have special means for me, but you as an assassin have to use that information as best as you can!” Dyne smiled.
“But how? How can mere words save this berserker?”
“You should know. Didn’t you fall for the same trap? Although you found out about Nabal, you didn’t know that King Ciroel wasn’t involved in your family's death. You two have been deceived. Perhaps you can use that as an opportunity to see just what item it is that gives him that power. The more you buy yourself some time, the more time you get from figuring out what item he carries that grants him this power! Unlike his other enemies, which he might have easily trampled, you have a more powerful weapon!”
“I have a more powerful weapon?” Arya thought and tried to discern the mysterious words of Dyne.
“Yes. Knowledge. His enemies didn’t know that the power he had come from an object. Look for that object and get it out of his hands! You win!” Dyne smiled.
“I see…” Arya was amazed.
“I’ll see if I can help you further. But, for now, try to think of a way to distract him and buy him time. Use everything that you now know about him and see if you can talk with him for a bit. I’ll study the painting if I can get more info about him.” Dyne smiled as he held on to the painting.
He could see the lingering soul in the paintings that this person made.
Dyne closed his eyes and held on to it. Using the method that Calamitus taught him, Dyne absorbed the soul and suddenly began to have knowledge about painting. Various visions and memories of the berserker were also made known to Dyne.
“I must save him. This guy is really a soul cultivator!” Dyne vowed.
"With a guy like this, I can finally learn painting just like in Star Ocean 2!"