Forced to run.

'Here we go, a 'boss' fight at last.'

Mars rushed towards Aster with a boom sound, cracking the ground he was standing on and emitting a dangerous feeling, an effect from one of his traits.

However, Aster was no slower than him, in fact he was way faster.

[[Whirlwind] has been activated]

[Agility: 112 >>> 158]

[Mana: 820/870]

Wind gathered around him and spun, making him look like a miniature tornado around his body.

[[Strengthen] has been activated]

[Strength: 102 >>> 163]

He felt his muscles tense and expand a bit.

[[Sprint] has been activated]

With a louder boom, He rushed towards Mars, tackled him and ran away from the unconscious gang members.

With a loud roar, Mars tried to hit Asters back with his elbow but he stopped running, spun 360 degrees and threw Mars hundred meters away.

'Can't let him hit me, he has 540 physical attack'

He summoned a sword from his storage ring, it was a meter long, double edged, Black steel blade with a simple silver handle.

Item:[Black steel blade]

[Item rating: Uncommon]

[Item grade: B]

[Description: +25 physical attack, +3 strength]

[[Sword dance Lv 5] has been activated]

[-100 energy]

[Energy: 1342/1450]

[[Weapon mastery Lv 1] has been activated]

[5% increased weapon damage]

The sword became sharper and Aster ran after Mars, who landed safely and was throwing slurs at him.

With his current speed and damage output, Aster would have defeated Mars in a blink of an eye but something unexpected occurred. Mars suddenly doubled his speed and struck Aster with his fist, who barely blocked it with his sword.

BAM!

[-472 HP]

'What the hell'

Ignoring his throbbing lung and his broken ribs, he used [Aura sense Lv 1] along with [True sight] to analyze Mars, now looking smug.

He detected red particles in his right arm and legs, which was his Aura, taken red color by his trait.

'Huh!? Don't tell me he used Aura to enhance his body??? But how, there wasn't any skill that does that-'

Suddenly, He had an epiphany.

'The basic body strengthening technique!'

Technique:[Basic body strengthening(Advanced)]

[Description: Infuses the cells with aura]

'I didn't know what 'infusing the cells with Aura' meant so I stopped using it but what if… I have [Aura control] now, I think I can pull it off.'

Aster gathered some of his Aura inside his legs and spread them evenly. Then he jumped towards Mars.

'It worked'

With a boom so loud someone might think it was a bomb, Aster rushed towards Mars with speed he didn't think he would achieve.

He couldn't stop and rammed into Mars, effectively breaking his ribs and cutting down half of his hp. Even then he couldn't stop as the momentum was too much.

'Shit, I'm gonna hit my head and break my neck' he thought.

Desperate, he used [Hasten thought] to the maximum.

Passive skill: [Hasten thought Lv 7]

[Description: Increases thought process by 7 times]

He used mana and fused them with the golden brown particles in the ground, then he imagined it taking the shape of a wall.

The ground rose and a 3 meters tall, 7 meters thick earth wall was created. He slammed into it.

[-123 HP]

[Status effect: Fracture has been inflicted]

"Gyagh" Aster coughed up blood. His bones were broken but they didn't feel as bad as it was supposed to thanks to [Pain immunity Lv 3]

Resistance skill: [Pain immunity Lv 3]

[Description: Pain is decreased by 65%]

However, Mars was in a much worse shape. His lower half has turned into a mush, his spine was broken and he was bleeding to death.

[You have killed Lv 97 Human]

[975 exp gained]

[You have obtained Advanced Soul fragment×1]

[You have obtained Essence of Wrath×4]

[You have obtained Essence of Pride×1]

[You have obtained Skill Tablet(Enhanced strength)]

[You have obtained Skill Tablet(Enhanced Agility)]

[You have obtained Skill Tablet(Berserk [EX])]

[You have obtained Skill Tablet(Bloodlust [EX)]

"Oh… he already died. So much for a boss fight."

'But I learned something valuable from him so… he served his purpose. Look at all those skill Tablets! I think I'm gonna get Berserker class soon.'

However, while he was checking out the rewards, people came to see the new earth wall and all the booming sound.

And they saw Aster looking ecstatic with a mutilated body next to him.

"AAAAA"

"A MURDERER!!!"

"What the hell is the royal family doing? Aren't they supposed to be protecting us from crazy fuckers like him!?"

"Look at that poor dude. Imagine being killed by a psycho."

Their screaming and yelling broke Aster from his daze, prompting him to run away.

"Catch him! The royal family will surely reward us if we hand in a criminal!"

"Yeah, catch him!"

"Tire him out so I can take his head!"

'Look at those bastards. I'm tempted to kill all of you but you're not worth the kill. I don't want a murderer trait or a title haunting me for the rest of my life.'

***

A few minutes later.

Aster was currently in Mars' office along with Blake. Both of them haven't said anything so a familiar awkward atmosphere settled in the room.

Blake was silent because he was simultaneously glad yet terrified at Aster's growth and ruthlessness.

Aster was silent because he didn't know what to say to Blake without insulting him and his mother who gave birth to a two faced fucker.

Blake was the first to speak.

"The royal family of Elysium has placed a bounty on your head of 1 platinum. It seems Mars' buddies want to avenge him."

Aster stayed silent. He knew that he had to escape from this city as soon as possible but he just couldn't leave his family behind.

"You know, you shouldn't have killed Mars. The entirety of Gaia is in a precarious position. We need everyone who's able to fight, to fight."

"Believe me, the only way he can contribute is by dying. Surely, someone as weak as that will be a help against Titans?"

"Watch your words Aster. Hubris would be your downfall."

"Hubris? Haha, I know what he did to my parents, to my family. I know what he did to thousands of people and I know how much he enjoyed what he did. I deserve to trash talk a person like that whenever and wherever I want. It's not the fact that I'm overly full of myself, it's the fact that he deserves it."

"You talk as if you know him."

"Then tell me, what were you doing with him?"

"I found out about how his gang tortured you, your family whom I swore to protect so I confronted the boss of the gang, Mars. It turned out that some of his gang members had gone rogue and decided to act like the boss and do whatever they wanted so I took him with me and went to punish the rogues and save you yet you killed him." Blake replied with a hint of anger in his voice.

"You are a terrible liar, Blake. For one, They didn't torture me, I stroke back before they could. Second, it was him who ordered his doggies to SPECIFICALLY target me, believe me I have my own way of gathering information. Third and finally, it was him who created the Bloodhound gang. He took advantage of the fact that most of the military personnels, the actually strong people, were out fighting for everyone's survival and created his own faction and lived like a king. Even if he didn't target me specifically, he needed to die no matter what. Don't tell me that you still want to defend him? What exactly do you like about that demon?"

It seems that Blake's plan of making Aster grateful to him failed and it even damaged his good image. He finally surrendered.

"*Sigh*, you're right, he needed to die. But he was supposed to be arrested and then executed in a more humane way and not turned into a meat paste like what you have turned him into."

Aster's face grimaced.

"In my defense, it was an accident. I observed and studied the way he used his Aura and I followed his lead. And it's not my fault that he used a skill that lowered his defense."

"In any case, the victim is Mars and the perpetrator is you according to the public. You need to escape from here otherwise you will be hunted down by high rank hunters."

"Umm, Yeah, I'm still working on that."

'I need a safe place away from Blake's influence and there's no fucking way I'm leaving my family alone again either. I already failed as a son once, I don't want that here.'

"If you need any suggestions then I have one."

'Oh boi, here we go'

"I propose a place called Kyolastix. It's a place, err, well more like a refuge managed by nature spirits. A lot of people from different races lost their settlements so the nature spirits are running a charity of sorts. I can get you and your family in if you want but… I wouldn't recommend that."

"And why is that?"

"Umm, because nature spirits are sort of… racist towards earthlings. It seems that our previous actions on earth did not sit well with their kind which is acceptable. There's a good chance that they might kick you out the moment they learn that you are an earthling."

'Ohh, I expected something more serious. It seems my one and only title is going to be of use soon. I can just ask them to take care of my family and I can go dungeon raiding to my heart's content. This Kyolastix place sounds too good to be true, is it even real?'

"It's fine, I respect nature a lot and I recycled back when I was on Earth so I think we will get along."

"If you say so then come to the train station tomorrow at noon. I will have your stuff prepared. Also, don't show your face."

"Yeah, I will. Anyways, I'm soaked in blood and I'm tired so I would appreciate it if you go now. Seriously, the amount of aura you're emitting is like a fricking beacon and I'm not comfortable sitting next to a beacon when I'm supposed to be on the run."

"Yeah, I can understand. I will be going now."

Aster then closed his eyes and pretended to be sleeping while in reality, he was pondering on what to do.

After a few hours after Blake left, Aster got up and searched Kyolastix on the maginet and there it was, it was real. Apparently, the refuge has about 100 thousand people of all races such as humans, elves, merfolks and etc. The refuge was being run by a human-dryad hybrid called Charlotte.

'Even if it's only a half nature spirit, my title should work right?'

Aster spent the night researching the refuge and deemed it was legitimate and not something Blake founded or pulled it from his ass.

In the morning, Aster saw his face printed on paper with the title 'Psychopath! A murderer on the loose! A sex offender, A predator of young maidens and a Cannibal!'

He almost laughed out loud seeing this poster all around the capital. It seems Mars had some very loyal friends.

However his expression became serious when he heard the news, a professional group of hunters called the 'Scavengers' was going to personally look for him. They had more than a hundred people but the elite squad composed of 15 hunters were going to hunt him. Each of those hunters had decades of hunting people under their belt and had around 300 to 400 levels. They even commented that they would dispatch all of their hunters if the bounty was tripled… and it got tripled.

So now, Aster had an entire fucking hitmen squad coming after him and he was not sure if he can beat them. Even if he does, he would be personally weakened and would be available to be finished off, not to mention, 3 platinum reward for some random nobody would attract a lot more famous groups and hunters as well.

He made his decision, he would go to Kyolastix along with his family. He was 100% sure that Blake was pulling strings to get him to leave for the refuge but he had no choice, he was not strong enough to defy Blake yet. Whatever awaited him in Kyolastix, he would protect himself and his family and his resolution was absolute.

…

Only if he knew… He was going straight to the demon's den.

***

My first attempt at cliffhanger haha, i suck.

If you like the story or dislike it then give feedback! I will try to adjust what I can.