The Grand Shaman
As expected, I'd really become a Berserkr. With enough fighting spirit, that made me practically invincible. My father was over the moon, calling it the glory of our house.
"Hahaha! As expected of my eldest son!"
"I'll raise our tribe even higher, Father!"
"Kuh... To gain such honor in my old age..."
He must've suffered a lot all these years—Father's eyes were turning red. And since it was festival season, all the tribesfolk were gathered. He made the announcement right then.
"My eldest son, Ulfrik Ragnarson, has become a Berserkr!!!"
"What?!"
"Is that true?!"
"Ancestors, holy shit!!"
"And that's not all!! Son!!"
"Egill Skulison, Aslak Dustson, Vidak Blackson—from now on."
These three were my assistant instructors, guys who should've died in the fight against the kanpeu as normal. In other words, they had become Berserkrs too!
"Do you believe in me?"
"Yes, sir!!"
"If Drengr orders us to die, we die!"
"Just say the word!!"
"Then everyone, line up against the pillars and put your hands on the wall."
They looked puzzled about what I was up to, but the moment they saw the fruit knife in my hand, they realized.
Slice!
"Wh-what is this?!"
"Egill, you're a Berserkr like me! Next, Aslak—you!"
All three got deep gashes from the fruit knife, but the wounds vanished right away. The tribesfolk watching went absolutely berserk. Father shot me a wink. Guess I had to take over again.
I grabbed a ceremonial axe and shield, then slammed the shield hard.
Thud thud thud!!
"With this, we've confirmed the glorious path our ancestors walked! Who will walk this wild, grueling road with me!!"
In response to my roar, every Viking stomped the ground.
Thump thump thump!
"Then will you all come with me?!"
"""Ha!!"""
"Bearclaw Tribe warriors! Raise your cups high!"
"""Skal!! Skal!! Skal!!!!"""
And so, everyone raised their cups, celebrating the return of the legends.
The mad party finally ended, and morning came the next day. The assistants must've been thrilled to become legendary warriors.
"Drengr, sir!! Please let us join the next raid—!!"
"Glorious battle awaits us!"
"We must repay the ancestors who expect it!"
"Alright, alright, calm down everyone."
These guys were completely blinded by honor. The shamans who'd come to work for our tribe were at a loss too.
"D-Drengr, sir! Could you just let me draw one drop of blood?!"
"Or even a strand of hair...!!"
"I want to record the path of great warriors."
Even the free-spirited shamans couldn't hold back against the legends' return—they wanted to join our tribe temporarily. But there's a saying about excess being as bad as deficiency. Right now, expanding our cramped village for the growing numbers was priority one.
"And why is it taking so damn long to build that training ground?"
"Th-that's... We're truly sorry."
"It was too much for our skills."
Shamans borrow power from spirits to wield magic-like abilities, so they're great at special construction. But maybe the training ground I requested was too tricky? If they built it differently from my plans, it wouldn't work...
Luckily, the shamans who'd taken prepayment had some conscience—they'd invited one shaman.
"We've sent word to Grand Shaman Helga Skolbson."
"She'll definitely come; she'll want to see the returned Berserkrs herself."
"Ah, wait... That granny?"
Grand Shaman Helga Skolbson. The friendly granny who'd been visiting our tribe regularly since my 10th birthday feast.
"She won't come in her true form, right?"
"Holholhol... What did you say?"
"Huh?"
Granny's voice came from behind. While I stood there dumbfounded, the shamans bent at the waist like bows.
"""We greet the Grand Shaman!!"""
"Ahem... You all have fine voices."
It was like the division commander storming the barracks. Since she'd come so quickly, I welcomed Helga granny right away.
"Long time no see, Granny. You look even healthier than last time—glad to see it."
"Holholhol... I'll live well and eat well until my grandson sires heirs, so don't worry. More importantly, the ancestors love you even more now."
"You can tell?"
"When you reach my age, you'll see~ everything."
After the warm greetings, I let Father know Granny had arrived.
"Helga! It's been ages!"
"Ragna, have you been well?"
"Hahaha! Always full of vigor! But what brings you here?"
"My kids were messing up the job, so I stepped in."
"Th-that's..."
"Sigh... We need more shamans with Ulfrik's spirit—tch tch tch."
Helga granny immediately launched into "Back in my day~" and "Kids these days~." But she was a muscle monster who'd lived centuries in human form, so she had the right.
"You brat!! Muscle monster?!"
"Then stay in your normal granny form instead of that 3-meter muscleman true form, and stop reading people's minds whenever you feel like it."
"Wahhh... Even my grandson bullies poor old me now..."
After that brief WWE moment, Helga granny started building the training ground.
"Is this good?"
"Whoa~ As expected of Helga Granny!!"
"Now that this is done... Can you tell me what those small, long extra passages are for?"
"Just tools for the next training."
"Hmm... My grandson must have a plan."
The MZ-generation shamans couldn't touch it, but she finished in half a day. Wisdom from experience can't be ignored.
Now we had the most-needed training ground. To celebrate Helga granny's visit, we threw a small feast for the shamans.
"Oh my... Ragna, aren't you overdoing it?"
"Thanks to my son, the storehouse is bursting—don't worry!"
"Still, Eilin might scold you, so don't overspend."
"Heh heh... Thank you for the advice, Helga."
"Ah, dear..."
Mother shot Father a chilly glance for a moment. But the shamans were thrilled with the little feast. Midway through, Granny wanted to talk to me alone.
"Is it about the Berserkr thing?"
"At my age, think I've never seen a Berserkr besides my grandson? I called you for a completely different reason."
"Fair enough. So why?"
"Ulfrik... child of our line, what do you think of fate?"
It was like one of those "Do you believe in God?" questions out of nowhere. But the granny in front of me was the grand shaman—no cultist vibes. I shared my view on fate.
"I think paths are made by our own hands."
"...As expected of you. And you just proved it."
A book suddenly appeared in Granny's hand.
"Ulfrik, you're the one I can give this to."
"What's that...?"
"The legend of our Nord race's first king. Long ago in distant past..."
She told me about the Vikings' first king. My take was simple.
"Too boring and pretentious."
"You brat!!!"
"No, it's just about how all the first king's weapons are gone."
Snowstorm-calling rune axe. Lightning-herding rune hammer. Ocean-parting rune sword, and so on. Warriors like me couldn't help but be intrigued.
"You want me to find those weapons and become king here or something?"
"Didn't you say paths are forged by oneself? Think freely."
Granny handed me the book and stood.
"It records the first king's deeds. Follow them, and you might find the weapons—or not."
"But I'm not into adventures."
"Holholhol... You like raids, though."
"Tch, fine... If I can find them, I will."
Done with me, Helga granny left the feast and vanished in a blizzard.
The shamans panicked when Helga granny vanished mid-feast, but Father and I smoothed it over.
"Granny clearly left so we could party in peace—don't worry!"
"Now let's really have fun!!"
"""Woooaaah!!"""
With the division commander gone, the shamans went wild and dove into the fun. That's when I made a proposal to them.
"Drengr, sir—you want shamans to help train the warriors?"
"But how could we..."
"Don't worry, there's a way."
I outlined the future training plans, and their faces twisted weirdly.
"Isn't that just torture?"
"Hey!! Not torture—training to build more fighting spirit!"
"W-well, since Drengr became a Berserkr..."
"We'll cooperate as best we can."
Perfect!! Now the Bearclaw Tribe's marine spirit would grow even stronger. The next day after requesting their help, I double-checked the new training ground Helga granny had finished, with the shamans.
"Heh heh heh, this is perfect."
"What do we do here?"
"Call the warriors, and I'll explain."
I gathered all our warriors at the old training ground. They were hooked since it was a major announcement.
"From now on, veteran warriors will undergo new training!!"
"Really?!"
"We want to become Berserkrs too!!"
"Give us all a chance—!!"
As expected, the Berserkr hype had everyone fired up. This was the perfect moment to establish the new regimen!
I revealed the training's name.
"We're starting individual combat drills now!!"
"""Aaagh!"""