Time flows ever onward, and we become what we were meant to be. With the system, the chains were broken, and the monster of man had been unleashed. Users adapted to their new lives or died pitifully.

I wasn't ready for my power. My power grew too quickly, and I needed time to mature. The only way to do that was to get away and seek out greener pastures. But, unfortunately, at the time, I didn't understand.

Only after I lived for years with my power could I become normal again. Unfortunately, after killing so many users, I wasn't stable, not in the least.

…

I hurtled through the air like a flying tank. Planes of glass on the buildings reflected the image of a snarling giant of a man. In moments I crossed the distance of the city and landed hard on the back of a user.

After crushing the man into a paste, I assessed the siege. Wards protected the apartment complex while the users laid siege, firing primitive cannons into the barrier. My hand raised, and Death Ray generated.

Many froze as the people beside them were split apart by my beam attack. Blood and organs spilled on the ground as I turned on the crowd.

They were users just like me, and many looked to be young, probably 18 or 19, caught up in this bullshit. If I let them go, they might never do this again. But, on the other hand, could I let them go and hope they'd abandon the Union? Or was their contract too binding? If that was the case, then killing them might be kinder than letting them live as slaves. But, did either of us have a choice, they were in the way, and I couldn’t save them.

"We surrender; please don't kill us." A woman in their ranks said. I felt the faint creeping of Charisma and batted it away. My aura was a mighty thing easily capable of destroying these weaklings. But that wasn't what I wanted.

These people were slaves to the Union. I've made my point; why should I bother killing these stupid children. If I killed the chairman and Linda, then they'd be free. While it was wishful thinking, I wanted to believe.

I felt a large source of QI rushing towards me before breaking up into three units and turned in time to see the flash of a massive silver fist before it smashed against my face. My head turned to the side before the impact launched me through dozens of users splattering their bodies until I stopped my momentum with Flight. A second blow came just as I straightened up. This one was by a smaller figure wielding a silver spear. I felt the blade slice through my defenses and dig into my guts before a blast of lightning blasted me off the weapon. Finally, riding on a broom high above, I saw a man with two silver staves, one silver, and one ebony chanting. Several magic circles appeared above the mage, covered in glittering runes. Finally, a silver spike appeared before firing down on me.

Accelerate activated while I struggled to recover from the sudden attack. The spear wielder and the bruiser waited on either side of me in a pincer, ready to force me back into range of the spell.

A fireball appeared in my hand and blasted the ground point-blank, filling the area with raging orange flames. I closed my eyes to the blinding light and gave myself over to my QI sense. A world of swirling energy formed a 3d image for miles around, quickly swallowing the city. The Flight took me up and out of the spike's path just as the spear wielder leaped up to intercept me.

In the air, I had the advantage over a jumper. A Death Ray fired from my fingertips as I poured my desire to kill this bastard into it.

Ding!

Skills level Up

Mantra lvl25

Type: QI +25

Rank: F

Fire Manipulation lvl16

Type: QI/MAG +64

Rank: C

Death Ray lvl3

Type: QI +15

Rank: B

The spear spun, radiating unknown energy wiping away the power of my beam even as I fired a fireball at the user's feet. Then, I began activating Aura of Flames and flew upward.

An octagonal barrier appeared around the mage, protecting him from my flames and any debuffs I could launch from spectral hands. But how strong could the barrier really be?

"Don’t you understand this is our city? We’re the heroes here; you’re just a terrorist.” The mage shouted.

The silver spike impacted the city below, ripping through the stone street down to the aqueducts below. From my body, spectral hands reached out to take hold of the mage’s barrier. I fired off a Death Ray only for the beam to reflect back at me.

While the spearman climbed up a nearby building and to get closer to jump at me, I was sure he’d be too late. My aura had already started heating up. So I pulled the barrier shielded mage in close.

My stomach wound wasn’t as deep as I thought. It bled a little before clotting over. While that spear hurt, it hadn’t cut deep enough. So, I began raising the heat and spinning it around the barrier.

While it did bounce off on occasion, flames from my aura couldn’t affect me. Nevertheless, I sensed it when the spearman leaped from the building. Spectral hands shot from my shoulders and caught the spearman midair.

I glanced down at the brute beating at the wards protecting Kale and the girl scouts. The spearman slashed at the air and struggled but failed to break my hold. He didn’t have any anti-spiritual gear or techniques. That sucked for him. The mage, on the other hand, had begun to sweat.

Keeping up that barrier must really drain energy. Something that didn’t just block attacks but reflected them; it might have been the mage’s first skill. I doubted it was an A-rank; despite its utility, it felt more like a B rank. More spectral arms gathered around the spearman.

Ding!

Skill level up

Spectral Hands of Asura lvl10

Type: STR/MAG +50

Rank: B

I moved his spear away from his torso to open up a shot. Another Death Ray charged at my fingertips. The spearman’s eyes widened as I pointed forward. “Wait, I surrender; I’ll give you all my gold and the items in my inventory.” I pointed the forward while a spectral hand gripped his head and moved it back to expose the neck gap in the armor. There would be no defense this time.

The blast struck, and a shield sprung up from a talisman around the spearman’s neck. So it lasted until my spectral hand yanked it free. My Death Ray blasted through the dissipating shield and struck the spearman in the neck. The execution went off without a hitch, killing the user instantly. I let his body drop and turned to the mage for a pleasant surprise.

Cracks had appeared across the mage’s barrier. The constant bombardment from my flames had worn the barrier down. I pulled my nameless blade from my inventory and thrust through one of the cracks. The blade slipped through and stopped against a similar shield as the spearman’s. Devilish QI flowed out from my blade, opening the cracks wider and eroding the final shield protecting the mage.

“Even if we can’t stop you, someone will.” I twisted my blade, and the reflective barrier shattered.

“It seems you don’t understand.” I punched through the shield protecting the mage and his torso. The staves left his hands and fell to the ground. My hand wrapped around the mage’s heart before I ripped it out. I showed it to the mage, watched him struggle to take it back, and crushed it.

Before he fell, I took the broom he floated on. I floated back to the ground to see the brute punching away at the wards protecting my waifu. A cough left my throat to get his attention. He turned, and I threw the remains of the mage’s heart at his face. Then my spectral hands tossed the bodies of the spearman and mage at the bruiser’s feet.

“As it turns out, magical girls of Chastity and a granddaughter of a dark lord know how to put up some impressive wards. To think if you had managed to break through and take a hostage, our situation might have reversed. Well, too bad.” I said.

The brute roared and punched forward with a haymaker. He was huge, and if my eyes hadn’t deceived me, growing bigger with every step. I activated Accelerate, sidestepped his blows, and stabbed my blade through his chest. The second my blade was in him, I active Enfeeble, Curse, and Grudge, then pulled the blade out and danced away. Despite the wound in his chest and the activating curses, he began to regenerate quickly. A growl escaped his lips, and his skin changed to an orangish hue.

He punched forward faster than before. I cut the tendons in his arm, slipped behind him, and cut his Achilles's tendons. The man slumped to the ground but wasn’t beaten. His wounds regenerated despite the debuffs flowing through him.

I placed both hands on my blade. While this was entertaining, I didn’t feel like playing. “I’m sure you think you’re in the right and that your friends deserve to be avenged. But you were here to take a bunch of prepubescent girls hostage. So no matter how you think about it, you guys are in the wrong.” I said.

A punch in the back of the head knocked the orange bastard to his knees. I raised nameless and swung at the neck while the brute fell. My blade connected and sliced halfway through the neck but stopped at the bone. Orange blood spewed out on the ground in long spurts. I turned the blade and swung at the other side. Still, the spine wouldn’t break.

Even after stepping to the user’s side and swinging down with all my might, his damn spine wouldn’t break. Orange blood poured out onto the ground, but the bastard wouldn’t die. So, I made a decision. With spectral hands, I lifted the bruiser off the ground and tossed him into the aqueduct. Nice cool shit-filled flowing water quickly took his body. I turned to see another user holding up his phone at me on shaky legs.

“Scram, or you’ll join them,” I said, and the user turned tail and fled. I stripped the spearman of armor and put it on the market along with the staves. Afterward, I tossed the other two into the aqueducts to follow the brute.

“Bruh, that was whack.” Blue Berry said.

I smiled down at the child and walked through the threshold of the Flank embassy. Kale galloped after me and pushed her breasts against my chest. We kissed, and I felt better than I had before. But, with only a single kiss, she reinforced why I killed those users.

“Eww, you do know the junk in her trunk was made for horses.” Blue Berry said.

A raised eyebrow convinced her to shut up. Oh, I knew we had different anatomy, but I didn’t care. Soldiers from Flank Town and a few centaurs that made it moved about the embassy checking the defenses.

“You did well; they’ll think twice before trying something like that again,” Kale said.

I turned to see something I hadn’t expected a centaur user. “How,” I asked. The user smirked before shrugging.

“We all have our gifts. Call me Dwight; everyone does.” Above his head, the username read Trixie Lover 34, so I was in good company.

“Well, at least I know I’m dealing with a fellow connoisseur.” I sucked in a breath and entered serious mode again. “You didn’t sign up with the Union, did you?” I asked.

“No, I’m not interested in Linda or Brad’s bullshit.” I raised an eyebrow. “The chairman, I knew him when he was a law school dropout. Brad Richly, not that it matters anymore. He set himself up a nice Ponzi scheme. Everyone who joins must pay him their gold or items. In exchange, he finds work for them to do. But if you’re a user outside the Union, you can forget about work. If they can’t beat you out with better, cheaper craftsmanship, they’ll spread rumors or bully the user. Sometimes they even kill to keep the status quo.” Dwight said.

“Interesting, thank you for the help, but we don’t plan to stay in neo-Detroit much longer. Unions love to lobby, and I’m sure they’re already crying to the Governor to have us killed.” I said.

“With what, the bulk of Bridle’s forces have already left to join Saddle and Halter to beat back the Feds. So it could be weeks before they return. And thanks to the Union squeezing the people dry with their fixed prices, the Governor can’t raise another force quickly.” Dwight said.

“Alright, give me a week to wind down, hang out with my favorite centaur and play the event, and I’ll begin cleaning up the town old west style,” I said.

“Cool, then I’ll begin projecting our forces with the brave stallions at my disposal. Once we have a foot, hold it will be easier to take more territory. After that beating you gave them, I doubt the Union will do anything overt for a while.” Dwight said.

I sighed, and he winced. “Bruh, you jinxed it.” Blue Berry said. Kale giggled and yanked me towards our room.

She looked back at me, fluttered her eyelashes, and pulled me close. “Come on, let me show you the study, workstations, library, and the bed,” Kale said.

“I think I’ll enjoy the last one the most.” Even after all the power-ups, and two hours of sleep, I wasn’t at 100%. My mind blanked out every few seconds threatening to put me on my back. After 8 to 10 hours of sleep, I’d feel much better.