4 Two Years and Being so Close to Having Purpose

"Now, for the last time, I'm gonna ask ya," I said with a smile, holding the man in front of me up in the air by his jaw, "Where is your shit for brains leader hiding at?"

The man, a short but incredibly stocky man, tried to spit at my face but I moved his head the other way. making him spit at mid-air but that didn't stop his following words reaching me, "Do your worst, monster!" he gave a very rough shout, his face a rosy red from the exertion of me holding him up by his jaw/throat.

"Man, I'll never get why you Dwarves are so goddamn stubborn," I said in an offhand manner before bringing my free hand up to my mouth before opening it and biting down on it, my canines extending as I did so.

I tore into the flesh before tearing a chuck out of my hand, barely even feeling the pain.

Turning my head toward the Dwarf, I spat the chunk of flesh onto his armor. Instantly, smoke began pouring from the point of contact as the flesh began to melt through his finely crafted armor.

It didn't take long before the flesh got through the armor and...well, acidic blood, a whole chunk of flesh touching this guys body...You can get the idea right?

Screaming. A hell of a lot of screaming.

He thrashed around for a while before I dug my fingers, claws extended, into his shoulder tearing out any flesh currently being eroded by my acidic flesh. Throwing the flesh to the ground, I looked to the man, "Are you going to talk or do I have to start dripping blood on more sensitive places?" I asked, a quirk to my eyebrow and a slight smirk to my face.

The man looked at me with a pale, sweaty face, his rosy complexion long gone, "Y-you truly a-are a monster!" he shouted, but his entire macho attitude was torn down by the stuttering, so I just rolled my eyes.

"Jesus Christ. That's all you guys of the 'Brotherhood of Man' know what to say, isn't it?" I mocked their name before putting on a confused face, "But wait. If it's a Brotherhood of Man aka a Brotherhood of Humans...why are there so many Dwarves and Elves a part of it? Is it just some non-humans you target or are you really all that fucking dumb?" I asked before laughing and reiterating my question by squeezing his jaw and speaking up, "Say something useful or I'm gonna flay you alive."

The man went tight-lipped for a few seconds before finally beginning to splurge everything I wanted to know, "En-England! The Leader is held up in a Fortress in England!"

Bringing my free hand up, I slapped the man across the face. Though luckily for him the chunk I'd already tore out was fully healed - otherwise instead of losing a few of his teeth, he'd have lost most of his head by now.

"Don't bullshit me, Dwarf. You think I'm fucking stupid? Or that I won't kill you? Look around, idiot!" I spun him around to look at the open courtyard we were in, corpses strewn about the place in twisted, broken messes, "I've killed everyone on this pretentious compound. I've killed everyone in this goddamned town. What's an extra Dwarf, huh?"

"I-I'm not lying!" he screeched like a little girl, his mighty ginger beard shaking alongside becoming covered in his own spittle, "After you came to Europe, bringing your terror and your wave of death--" I cut him off with a tight squeeze.

"Yeah yeah, enough with the theatrics, alright? Just tell me what happened and why I shouldn't kill you on the spot," I gave a bored look before looking away and picking at my teeth with a claw.

The Dwarf physically shook in my hand before giving a shaky nod, "...The trouble in Europe and how close you were getting spooked the Leader and his closest subordinates into running to England. A place you seemed to have forgotten about."

Standing there for a few seconds, I looked through the Dwarf's eyes, his face, his entire body language.

He wasn't lying.

A savage smile spread across my face before I crushed the man's lower jaw with a swift snap, "Well...looks like I'm going back to my roots, huh?" I laughed before throwing the body away, knowing he'd eventually die from blood loss.

With that done, I turned around and left the courtyard that was filled with bodies, entering a hallway filled to the brim with even more corpses. And once I'd left that hallway, and the entire compound in general, I was met by a town on fire, the streets awash with blood and gore. What can I say? I like to be thorough. Leave one kid or man or woman alive and the next minute you have a vendetta.

I don't wanna deal with that shit. Seems tiring as hell. Especially when it'd only bring weaklings my way.

"Now, which way is England?" I wondered aloud before following my instincts and walking.

. . .

Two years. It goes by quickly when all you're doing is fighting, killing and travelling around Europe hunting down a no-balls monster hunting organization.

Why did I even decide to do that? Because fighting on battlefields got boring.

For the first month or two it was kinda hard. It wouldn't get me killed but it was a challenge. Something that could push me and my technique to higher levels. Yet beyond that...it didn't do anything for me.

The soldiers were too weak. Too disorganized. Every strategy they tried was easy to see through.

But the Brotherhood of Man? Even their average member was the peak of what their species could be. Dwarves, stronger and more durable than humans yet less speedy overall. They were fun to fight with my bare fists. They actually took hits and didn't go down instantly.

Elves, a bit stronger than peak humans but a hell of a lot more dexterous and speedy. They were fun to chase down.

Halflings were pretty much small humans or skinny Dwarves but they made some pretty freaky stuff, man. They were the ones who made the repeater crossbows for the Brotherhood. Real clever guys. Very intelligent and give one enough time to prepare and they can give you a pretty fun trap maze to walk through.

Put that all together with humans who were the all-rounders who made up for the smaller populations of the other three species, and you had a very fun opponent.

But why did I decide to raze through Europe after them? I was bored, like I said. It's as simple as that. I mean, there's also the fact they wouldn't leave me the fuck alone...but it was mainly because I was bored.

Well, even this got boring after a while. Sometimes I think this body and mind adapts to quickly to a dangerous opponent, allowing me no real joy in dedicating myself to an objective...but nah, I love it. I love fighting but do you know what I love more? Completely dominating something. Crushing it so thoroughly that there should never have been a doubt that it would be crushed in the first place.

Which was pretty easy considering my constantly upgrading body.

Status.

[Name: Gabriel]

[Age: 15]

[Race: ??? (Bloodline Alignment: 17%)]

[Power: 3.3 ---> 12.9]

[Physique: 11.6 ---> 14.8]

[Control: 3.1 ---> 12.8]

I still hadn't thought up a name for my race...but it doesn't really matter. Most of the time I just call myself a half-human - because half of my bloodline is made up of human bloodlines while the other half is made up of non-human bloodlines.

Speaking about my bloodline. You'd have thought I'd have gotten further than 17% in the alignment, right? Well, you'd be wrong. Ever since it got passed the 15% mark, progress has been slow as hell. Same with my stats. Once they got passed 10, they slowed the hell down. Though the good news would be that each point past 10 means a lot more than the points before it.

The stats aren't linear, it would seem. To beat a person with a 6 in Power wouldn't just take two people with a 3 in Power. It would take a group of about 5 or 6 to take them down.

And a 3 in Power already classifies as beyond peak human. 6 would be around...I don't know, someone with a 6 in Power would probably be able to lift a car above their heads.

I, on the other hand, have a 12.9 in Power. I can lift some heavy shit, let me just say that. I could probably lift between 7 and 9 tonnes. Not too much for the MCU, so don't think I'm getting arrogant here but this is my growth after just 2 years.

I have millennia until the plot starts. Time to refine myself and skills into their perfect forms.

So, I was looking forward to going up against the headquarters of these monster hunters, all alone. To see if they held something new for me. But can you imagine my shock when I arrived in England, did a bit of snooping (and torturing) around, moved toward where the fortress for these monster hunters was...and found it under siege?

They were running a flag I'd never seen before. A golden lion on a blue background*.

(A/N - This isn't there actual banner but it's to show that they're still quite young and not...Well, let's not spoil it yet.)

Looking around, I saw many different soldiers each much different than what I was used to. These soldiers seemed...stronger than the rest. Even when compared to the members of the Brotherhood of Man. That's when I smelt it:

Magic.

Magic existed. But not to the level where you could summon a firestorm or wipe out existence. Those types of feats belonged to the Infinity Stones. But to augment someone's body with magical energies? To cast fireballs and blasts of wind? That's easy enough. Which is what's happening right here. Each and everyone of these soldiers has had Magic augment and change their body to be stronger.

I, personally, don't see a need for it. From what I've read about it in the Libraries of the Brotherhood, it pretty much gives you a single boost and then...nothing. You won't grow anymore. You'll just stagnate for a sudden, if not small, burst in power.

And I haven't hit my physical limit yet, so what need do I have for it? Body augmentation is for the weak, after all.

Looking through the battlefield I actually saw some things that were...surprising. Giants. Literally Giants. 13 foot tall men and women who ran through the battlefield, squashing members of the Brotherhood.

...How come I never saw these guys before? If I knew there were more to England I would've stayed!

Smiling, I took off in a charge, the ground underneath me breaking away in mini-explosions as I stepped forward so quickly I blurred. I ran passed members of the Brotherhood, massacring them with simple punches, kicks or slashes.

I didn't harm the augmented soldiers or the Giants. Just yet, anyway. I'd deal with the Brotherhood and then see if I wanted to start another fight.

Continuing with my charge, I decapitated another Elf before leaping upwards, straight into the wall of the fortress.

Digging my claws into the stone, I began to scuttle up the side of the wall, cackling as I dodged arrows and other projectiles on my way up.

Once on top of the wall, I began the killing, ripping the first human I saw in half, throwing each individual pieces to my next victims. One of which I decapitated when I was lifting his arms to wipe the blood and gore of his face and the other, I sent a kick that whipped around and crushed his chest, blowing an explosion of gore out of his back, killing him easily and quickly.

Seeing the terror on the other's faces when they realized who I was...well, let's just say it was a pretty good feeling!