Tempering While Piling Bodies

9:55 P.M.

Marcus stretched. He just had the first decent sleep since he left the Asura Empire. Nexus was still watching shows on the tv. Changing channels from time to time. With the tissue paper still stuck to his hind leg

"Red or Black?" Marcus got a rank 2 robes from his pocket dimension and asked Nexus.

"Whichever works for you." Nexus didn't even turn his head.

Marcus settled with the red robe. He went to the bathroom to check out how it looks on him.

"Have your mother ever taught you how to flush?!" Marcus's voice echoed from the bathroom.

"You have no proof!" Nexus yelled.

"If you wanna stay in this room, learn to be civilized!" Marcus went out of the bathroom removing his red hooded robe. He just wanted to see what he looked like. He got the clothes we wore this morning and put them on.

He placed the rank 2 red robe back inside his pocket dimension for now.

Nexus banned him from using strong magical items. What's the use of tempering if one is being too dependent on magical items. Plus, all the items he brought were past rank 12. And most of them were defensive items.

He couldn't use any of the offensive items since he's not strong enough.

These are things you wouldn't see in the Mortal Realm. Except for a few rank 2 hooded robes and rank 2 masks. 'Toys' that he casually threw in.

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Marcus went down to the lobby with a cat on his shoulders.

Nexus looked at the receptionist's desk but got disappointed. The receptionist already changed, it wasn't Eva anymore.

Marcus noticed this and poked the cat's belly. "I thought you were more into catgirls?"

"Hmm...There is nothing really happening nearby. We should walk around. The city is pretty big, a lot can happen down dirty alleyways." Nexus changed the topic.

"It's like I didn't even notice." Marcus went straight to the door and to the sidewalk.

There were still a lot of people and flying cars roaming around.

"So we just walk?" Marcus asked telepathically conversed with Nexus as usual when they are in a public place.

"Simple as that. Or we could ride a cab, it's not like you're broke." The cat looked left and right.

They have a soul connection. which means they can talk in their heads.

The nightlife in the city is pretty good. Being one of the biggest cities in the Kellar Republic, it's a given.

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Around 30 minutes later while riding the cab, Nexus told him that there were targets close to the docks. 4 people were currently trying to break into the place where the crates were stored.

Nexus's senses can only spread up to 3 kilometers. Nexus might not be at the Commander stage but he could already spread out his senses.

The stronger Marcus gets, the stronger he, the cat gets. Or more like the chains in his body will start to loosen.

"3 are at rank 3 Elite and the last one is a rank 4 Elite. Grab a vehicle in your pocket dimension and full speed ahead." Nexus said.

"Dude we're going to continue taking the cab." Marcus then asked the driver to head to a location close to the docks.

It took around 2 minutes to arrive. Once they got there, Nexus informed Marcus that the robbers are already inside the building.

He hurriedly paid the driver. Waited for it to drive away, and then proceeded to go to the docks while taking out his red robes.

"Alright, have fun. But not too much fun." Nexus said while flying off Marcus's shoulder.

Marcus turned into lightning which is a technique called "Lightning Form". Right now he could only travel short distances since his mastery over the technique is still at Prying Stage plus his rank is still low. At most he could travel around 80 meters at a time. No cooldown and it's totally dependent on mana.

Marcus arrived close to the storage room for the crates. Vermillion lightning coursing through his arms and then his whole body. He dashed inside the storage room hungry for battle.

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The men were currently opening crates as if they were looking for something specific.

"Damn it we're running out of time. Where the fuck are those diamonds?" One of them cursed.

These kinds of boxes block senses. No one wants people prying in their belongings. The thing with senses is that, if you're not subtle with it you'll get caught. Especially if you use your senses to investigate other people or belongings close to them.

"If you use your hands and eyes more instead of your mouth, we might have found it already." Said another.

"Someone's coming." The ranked 4 Elite stopped searching.

"That was faster than I expected." The first guy turned to look at the entrance. Followed by the rest of them.

They saw a person in a red hood standing about 5'7 feet tall. His hands were being danced around by what looked like red-ish colored lightning.

The person waved his hands.

Vermillion colored bolts of lightning were suddenly coming right at them.

"Rank 4 Elite? No way! We were told the strongest ones guarding here were rank 3." One of them cried in alarm.

The 4 of them were all wearing masks of the same color and clothes of the same color. All black.

They mistook Marcus for a rank 4 Elite.

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One guy was to the left of Marcus, one to the right, and two in the middle. He dashed straight towards the center. One of them was skilled with the earth element and made a wall in front which he used to defend.

But Marcus used 'Lightning Form' to sidestep and quickly went behind them. The other one who was also in the center turned towards him and attacked with a spell called 'Fire Pillar', A pillar of flames rose from the ground.

The rank 4 who was on the right side can control metal. He gestured to the metals that were hanging on the ceiling and it suddenly came off. Loud sounds could be heard, but he didn't care, he just wanted to finish this fight and run as fast as possible.

The last one uses water. He's currently aiming water lances at the person with the red robes but couldn't get a clear shot.

Marcus made sure to stick close to his enemies. Unless their teammates at the side didn't care about the ones in the center then they wouldn't dare rashly attack and would just patiently wait for an opening which Marcus is trying his best to not give them.

Marcus kicked the one who could use flames, he turned around and shot a lightning bolt at the one that could use earth magic who was only around 3 meters away from him. He immediately zipped towards the fire guy after he saw the lightning bolt knocking the earth user who had earth armor on.

This was the difference between magic books. Although the earth guy is also a rank 3 Elite, his defensive spell could not compare to godly offensive spells that were provided by the Godly Vermillion Bolts.

Marcus continued harassing the one who could control fire when suddenly a large metal pole was headed straight towards his back at extreme speed. He tried transforming but it was too late. He was trapped in a water bubble together with the guy who controls fire. He could still try to break out of it, but the metal pole was speeding in.

He underestimated how unscrupulous these people can be.

The one who can control earth magic is still down, he just received a hit in close quarters.

It was Marcus's turn to receive a direct hit.

"Fucking rat." The ranked 4 metal guy cursed at him.

The rank 4 Elite controlled other metals too. He started hitting and throwing them at Marcus.

The cat who was high in the air was currently enjoying his popcorn while this was all happening.

"Better hurry up, people are coming." Nexus sent a telepathic message to Marcus, seeing that people from the docks were alerted by the noise.

Marcus who was currently wobbly tried to block and dodge to the best of his abilities. He transformed into lightning when saw an opening and went close to the entrance.

"Bite off more than you can chew?" The ranked 4 Elite laughed together with the water user. The one who uses earth magic stood up and fixed his earth armor. While the fire user is still having a hard time standing up.

'I was actually loosing to a bunch of mortals, fuck I still have a long way to go!' Marcus was mad at himself. He does still have a long way to go.

His eyes vermillion eyes glowed and his arms turned red. He then activated the Stone of Destruction which is embedded in his soul. He and his attacks now gave an aura of destruction.

The 4 people who were in front of him could feel the sudden changes in the air.

Part of the roof already collapsed. Under the pale moon, the men's focus was on the glowing vermillion eyes of the person in front of them.

Marcus activated 'Lightning Form' and went straight to the one using water magic. He transformed back and sent a fist which was covered in lightning to the guy's head. The water user could not move a muscle. He could feel an aura heavily oppressing him. He could feel that whatever he's going to do will be all for naught because it will still lead to his destruction.

The fist landed and his head exploded.

The remaining ones were shocked.

The dude who could control fire started shooting fireballs.

Marcus just dodged every time and poured lightning bolts on him. The earth user tried placing an earth armor on him but it was useless. He got fried and turned into a crisp.

Everything in Marcus's path was destroyed.

Marcus proceeded to the guy with the earth armor on. The same thing happened to him.

Now all that's left is the metal user.

He showed fear in his eyes and tried running away. But Marcus easily caught up.

"Sir I believe we have not done anything to you. Why would you want to make an enemy out of us?" The guy asked shaking seeing the person's eye and arm colors.

"Because I'm tempering myself, and you're the first ones I saw," Marcus replied. He then proceeded to rain lightning bolts at the guy.

Marcus looked around and saw everything was destroyed. He looked at the ones he just killed and before any emotions could surface a shout was heard from the entrance.

"FREEZE!"

Around 10 people arrived. Before they could do anything, Marcus already zipped away. All they saw was a person in red robes and glowing vermillion eyes.

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A few kilometers away from the docks.

Marcus was sitting on the ground looking at his hands and muttered "I killed someone, I mean, I killed some people."

"There's always a first. Don't think too much about it." Nexus replied while going back to his shoulders.

"That's not it. What I mean is I killed them but I don't feel anything. No pity for them, no nothing. But it still feels heavy thinking that maybe they have a family who relies on them." Marcus looked at the cat beside him.

Nexus chuckled. "Are you even listening to yourself right now? You said you were going to conquer the heavenly realm, raze empires, and shit. But after killing a few mortals, that's your reaction? Man up!"

Marcus just stayed silent. He stared at the ground for a few minutes then looked at the sky and released a sigh.

After a few more minutes of silence, Marcus said "You're right, my path is going to be bloody. I just need time to get used to it, that's all."

Nexus nodded " That's good. But, don't forget about your humanity. Know when to kill and know when to stop. Know who to kill and who to spare. If people treated you or your family like shit then double that when you get the power to. When people treated you kindly when you're down or just treated you kindly, go the extra mile to repay them. It's that simple."

Marcus nodded "Let's go."

The night went on and more bodies kept falling.