[Bonus chapter]One-Sided Beating.

*BANG!* *BANG!*

Both simultaneously pulled on the trigger, causing two loud bangs to resound at the same time. Ironically, no blood was spilled as they had both managed to avoid the bullets.

Asper tilted his head in the last second before suddenly rotating his body with a kick in motion at the person behind him. The person on the other hand, hit Asper's hand right as he pulled the trigger, causing Asper's bullet to get redirected before he leaned back to avoid Asper's kick which had been aimed at his head.

"!"

Asper's eyes widened when he saw the man avoid his kick, but what surprised him more was-

*WHAM!*

The kick which had missed left Asper's sides and back open. In that moment Asper got a good luck at the guy's figure as a kick suddenly landed on the side of Asper's head, sending him crashing, headfirst onto the wall of the hallway beside them.

Short purple hair, piercings and a small yet dense muscular build. His shirtless figure displayed white stripe lines running down along his body and he wasn't wearing any particular clothing other than some shorts, it was precisely because of this that Asper could see the tattoo of a purple scorpion on his chest.

The lines and the scorpion stood out, first of all, it didn't look like a tattoo at all and secondly, the lines were definitely a sign of his body having been physically enhanced and modified. The white lines could only have been the special kind of technology which Asper knew.

Before he could focus on the thought-

*WHAM!*

The kick was so powerful that the wall had cracked. The sheer pressure had disorientated Asper for a solid moment. That was all the person needed.

*WHAM!* *WHAM!*

A left hook, followed by an uppercut.

*WHAM!* *WHAM!* *WHAM!*

A barrage of consecutive attacks unleashed right on Asper's face. From punches to kicks, the person was throwing different combinations, aiming right at his face.

Asper was stunned, taking hits left and right. Something was off, Asper didn't know why but for some reason no matter how hard he tried his body wasn't responding as he wanted it to. Was it still psychological?

Asper's eyes widened as he the man was about finish off the one-sided barrage with a right straight heading straight for his face. Asper reflexively raised his arms up to his face to block it, only to end up getting punched right in his gut.

*SLAM!*

<Warning: Health below 25%>

The punch was powerful, that it forced Asper to cough out blood and drop to his knees.

What just happened? That was all asper could wonder as he remained on the ground. His whole body crying out pain, despite his pain resistance being active. What was going on? Why wasn't his body moving like he wanted to? How was it that he ended up getting rag dolled.

As these questions popped up in Asper's mind, he felt the nuzzle of a gun get placed on his forehead.

'Ah… I see now…' Asper thought to himself.

It was the difference in strength. The person who he was facing was clearly a trained fighter who had learned hand to hand combat, had physically modified his body to strengthen it and could use magic.

On top of it all… The tattoo on his chest. It wasn't a regular tattoo like the ones his member had, it felt different. The tattoo of a scorpion. The more Asper thought about it, the more it made sense.

The man didn't say anything and simply stared at Asper, analyzing him in the process.

"So it was poison… No wonder my body felt off… That tattoo on your chest, it's a mark isn't it?" Asper asked

Marks. After the mana surge which flipped the world upside down in 2053, many changes took places to humanity. Although very rare, one of these changes would be the birth of an individual with a special mark.

These marks came in many different designs, they weren't your regular birth mark. Some came in black while others came in different colors. It was all random and had nothing to do with genetics.

But all these marks had one common trait and that was that they carried abilities. Special abilities which could benefit the possessor in many ways. Some referred to it as a blessing while others, a curse. But there was one thing to note about every marked individual. They were dangerous. Simply due to the sheer amount of power some marks possessed.

Common knowledge was to avoid fighting anyone with a mark. This was the first time Asper had met someone with a mark, within his knowledge.

"Doesn't matter. You're already dea-"

[Electricity]

*BZZZT!!!!*

The man was interrupted as a surge of electricity flew out from Asper's lips through the gun towards the man's arm. Asper intended for the man to let go of the gun but contrary to that, he simply pulled his arm back before quickly readjusting his aim.

By then however, Asper had already grabbed onto the very same arm which held onto the gun and had activated the skill again.

[Electricity]

Rather than being scared however, in that one single moment, Asper noticed the edge of the man's lips curl up as he grinned.

[Razor Wind Sphere]

Asper's eyes widened, as in the moment, a sphere of sharp raging wind was formed slicing right through Asper's arm as if it were butter.

But in that instant, right after his arm was separated from his main body. The surge of electricity which had been gathering at the edge of his arm suddenly burst out of his body through the hole left by the severed limb.

*BZ-VOOOM!*

A powerful electrical burst which had hit the man head on, causing him to go flying back, simultaneously, the wind pressure also caused Asper to go flying back as his limb was severed.

The man laid on the ground with his eyes widened as he could feel his muscles go numb from all the electricity flowing threw his veins.

"So he still had that up his sleeve…" The man muttered as he slowly got up and looked ahead.

The wind pressure had created a small fog cloud from all the dust obscuring the view and preventing him from seeing what happened to Asper. He already had an idea in mind however.

'I cut off his arm so he'll probably hide away in one of the rooms and try to stop the bleeding while the poison finishes him off.' He thought to himself as he got up. 'Either way. No matter where he hides. I'm on the side of the exit, all the windows are sealed.'

"There's nowhere to ru-"

The man's eyes widened, he didn't even bother to finish his sentence, he was taken in by surprise as Asper's figure one armed figure suddenly appeared out of the fog. Contrary to what he had expected, Asper wasn't running away but rather… Running right at him.

"This crazy son of a…"