"You mean...?" Suu remembered the name of that man, the one that had taken care of him when he arrived into the world.

"Follow me!"

Thom pushed his feet away from the main road and followed the eastern pathway, Suu running close by his side. The shape of the river guided him along the walls, separating them from the shelter that was the inside of the fortification. Soon, the image of a bifurcation in the river appeared, the signal that they were close to the eastern gates. They crossed the bridge and kept pushing forward as they saw the hectares upon hectares of farmland extend past the roads.

Now, the column of smoke was much clearer. The pungent smell of burning wood was the only thing that entered Thom's nose. As Thom reached a familiar road, he halted with his breath ragged.

The barn...!

The fire could be seen from afar, roaring like a famined beast attempting to devour what touched its scalding tongues. It crept up the walls of the tattered wooden barn and spread to the grass surrounding it, sending black ash into the air. The fences surrounding the farm were all broken and splintered away, and trails of metal boots marked their path into the territory of those two elderly farmers.

He sprinted to the entrance, but halted as he noticed that the gates were surrounded by guards, all of them belonging to the army. Confusion arose at first, but then, after he noticed they were there to impede him from passing, his heart was filled with anger. His aura exploded from his entrails accompanied by a loud shout.

"Move! What the hell happened here?!" He screamed at them with the intention to command.

"We're sorry, but you cannot go past this point! It is a restricted zone!"

"I said move! Are you fucking deaf?!" Thom grabbed one of the guards by the chainmail vest, and the man's face went pale. He had already unsheathed his weapon, but Thom slapped his arm and the sword flew away. The rest of the soldiers took one short step back, readying their weapons for anything that could happen.

Thom clicked his tongue as he threw the poor guard to the ground, and started to walk to the men on his path. He took in a deep breath, gritted his teeth, and yelled.

"I told you to move!"

His aura bore into the ground like a tree throwing in his roots, violently ripping away from the earth. A gust of wind blew from his center and lifted the dust from the ground as the roots from his aura extended towards the men at the gate, and wrapped around their bodies like a murderous serpent.

They all let go of their weapons and fell to the ground, letting Thom pass through the middle without raising his sword. The girl followed him in his desperation to enter the barn, but by the time they got near, the smell of fat and blood was too strong to continue.

"What the hell..."

Ignoring the fact that the crops had been razed to the ground, the worrying visage of the barn took more of their attention. Thom swiftly kicked the massive iron bar that was blocking the gates, and they both opened up as if something was pushing from the other side—

A handful of calcined bodies fell down as soon as they opened the gates, expressions of horror and pain drawn on their faces. Thom felt his breathing accelerate as between all of the corpses he saw a familiar face, one that he could recognize.

"Bournd." He stammered.

"Who?"

"Shit!" Thom bellowed, grabbing the hairs on his head. "Marz and Merry!"

Without wasting even one more second, Thom kicked out the earth as his feet pushed him forward, hovering above the ground for seconds with each of his sprints. His cheeks and his chest had started to feel like a boiling hotpot, his face distorting in pain. He jumped onthe porch and banged his body against the door, failing to open it even with his best effort.

Tears welled up in his eyes as he failed to sense any aura coming from the inside of the house, but before he broke down, he crashed the door once again with his shoulder. It splintered the wood and sent pieces far flying, before he took one last step back, cleaned his teary nose, and bulled down the door with his body.

Crack!

The door was thrown out of its hinges and took with it all of the frame. Thom stammered inside with his eyes shut tight with the hope to find the two of them standing in front of him when he opened his eyes. The beating of his heart impulsed him to break them open, expectant to find everything being fine.

But, to his despair, the sight that he found was something else entirely.

"Ahh, lieutenant!"

A long-haired man stood in the middle of the room, two swords on the palm of his hands. His fine tailored clothing was drenched up in blood of unknown precedence, and a dirty, wretched, twisted smile decorated his face. Thom could not move, his body had been paralyzed in an instant by the figure of that terrible man, licking his lips at the taste of his fear.

"I was waiting for you!"

He swung his two swords around, painting two perfect streaks on the floor and the walls. The man sheathed back one of his swords, giggling slightly as he picked something of spherical shape up from the ground to observe it with delight.

"Could you believe it?" He said, throwing the spherical object up in the air and catching it again. "The son of these people was conducting a drug traffic web in their barn, they knew it and didn't say shit!"

He said, kicking up something that he had been pressing under his foot. At the same time, he threw up the sphere on his hand, and with the dexterity of a showman, he impaled both things in his sword with a wet, nasty sound. Thom, still shaken, could only blabber out words to try forming a coherent sentence.

"This... What... What do you mean..." Thom started to look around the living room, which had been once the place where he had dined and eaten together with Marz and with Merry. The tables were broken to pieces, the kitchen a complete, total mess. The walls all covered in blood and the couches were signs of, not battle, but a horrible play in which someone had taken their sweat time to kill. As he moved his foot, the only thing that could be heard was the sound of broken glass.

"These two were covering it up. So, besides the son, I had to kill them, too."

Miel swung his sword towards Thom, and the two spheres rolled down to the wooden plank floor. They rotated as they left a clear red trail on the floor, until they finally stopped at the young man's feet, and looked at him square in the eye.

The severed heads of Marz and Merry where lifelessly looking at him from below, expressions of horror still marked on their face.

Miel sneered. "Tragical." He said.

Badump

"Well, after you helped me find out about all of this mess with the remnants of aura in your hands, it was not hard to discover that you were not a Clawgold, either. Erina did a good job lying to me, I honestly don't know why I didn't figure it out sooner. I'm such an idiot, right?"

"Miel!!"

Thom yelled out as his throat tore apart, the tears falling down as his muscles all sorely convulsed, the hand on his sword clenching tightly the pitch-black cold grip, filling with all of the hatred he tried to pull out of his heart.

His aura began to pour out of his body like branches, wrapping around the house like an overgrown elder tree from where roses started to bloom. The house's wooden planks started to crack under the pressure of his soul, sending splinters and shards all around. His aura started to coil on his arms, sending forward a chilly murderous intent. But, even when a knight would falter, Miel simply laughed.

"Hoho. Scary."

"Fuck you!!"

Thom swung his sword with the power of a storm, congealing the shreds of his aura on the blade. A crimson half-moon exploded from the swing, destroying the floor in the blink of an eye and directing its wrath towards Miel, who simply raised his hand with a smile.

Bang!

The image of a biting fox seemed to appear for a second as Miel waved his hand in the air and easily dissolved the crimson aura. He seemed like he was about to talk to mock Thom, before he saw the point of the titite sword just a millimeter away from his eye.

"Hop."

His feet danced lightly as he took a step out of range, making the sword grace past his face without hurting his skin. He pulled back his leg and launched it forward again with the speed of an arrow, targeting Thom's uncovered belly.

A violent kick struck Thom's small abdomen, tearing apart his momentum as he was sent flying through the roof. Thom broke past the tiles on the rooftop and landed outside of the house, crashing against the crop field in front of the porch.

"Thom!"

Suu was about to run toward him, when a massive pressure appeared from behind her and petrified her legs in an instant.

Crack!

A heavy warhammer crashed on her head, painting her vision black as she fell to the ground. Chamgue observed his dented weapon and frowned, seeing how he hadn't managed to break the girl's skull.

Thom stumbled lightly as he tried to stand up, feeling the pain spreading on his belly. How could a normal human's kick deal so much damage to his steel-like skin?

「Learning successful. The combat art skill [Aura Slash] has been acquired. Performing long-range attacks with a sword is now possible, which deals in pressure your aura's weight divided by the blade's surface multiplied by your arm's average physical exertion of force.

As of now, except for unique skills and job-class skills, the user has obtained twenty-five skills in total. The requirements for Skill Master's upgrade has been met. Preparing the user's body for the upgrade.」

"Hey, hey! Are you running away already?!"

Miel zoomed out of the farmhouse like a dart cutting through the wind, and swung his sword down at Thom with incredible strength, pouring a frightening amount of aura on the attack. The ground trembled and dirt was pushed back, arousing a storm of dust at the same time that Thom stopped the hit with the broad of his sword.

"Kugh!" He groaned.

「Learning successful. The divine skill [Skill Master] has been upgraded to [Skill Master II]. All skills obtained or modified by skill master that are susceptible to changes will now be upgraded.」

"Gryargh!"

Thom yelled and parried Miel's sword, but the man had already grabbed his second blade. By the time Thom had regained his stance, Miel was already pushing his feet on the ground, launching a vicious stockade with the power of his waist and his legs put into it. The tip of the blade buried lightly on Thom's skin, pinching him up like a hook before separating his feet from the ground.

A loud bang was the preface to Thom flying backward several feet. Miel brandished his twin swords before jumping on top of the young man who was still rolling on the ground, trying to pierce his two eyes with the blades.

「Learning successful. The job class skill [Swordsman Adept] has been upgraded to [Swordsman Expert]. All combat sword arts will now be 500% more effective.」

The two blades submerged deep into on the ground as the young man dodged by the skin of his teeth, giving Thom the chance to stand up and retire.

He was sweating buckets already, but then Miel let go of his suppressed aura emission, making the earth tremble as he removed the two swords from the ground. A potent torrent in the shape of a dancing flame started to break from his body, occasionally forming into the face of a fox.

How appropriate. That image seemed to blend perfectly with Miel's murderous gaze.

「Learning successful. The job class skill [Archer II] has been upgraded to [Archer Adept II]. All bow and arrow art combat skills will now be 200% more effective.」

The man's blades shimmered under the light of the dying sun, his tetric shape pouncing forward as he dragged the end of his swords on the ground, leaving long trails of caved dirt on his wake, a gust of wind blowing everything away.

"I wanna hear you say something, lieutenant Arburson!!"

"Fuck off!'

「Learning successful. The job-class skill [Alchemist II] has been upgraded to [Alchemist Adept II]. Knowledge and constitution greatly upgraded. Alchemist skills are now 200% more effective.

Learning successful. The subordinate active skill [Superior Mix] has been upgraded to [Sage's Mix]. While in use, the user may obtain 99% fewer impurities in their mixes and procure the result with five times the speed. Extended use may result in severe mental fatigue.」

A golden emission of aura broke from the two swords of the general, making a rapid-moving cross that accelerated each time more against Thom. He dodged out of the way with his dash skill, making the cross clash against the burnt barn.

As Thom looked up to see what had happened, he saw the barn falling down into pieces with thunderous noise, and then, felt the cold edge of a blade shaving past his neck.

bang!

He was shot back but did not remain long in the air. Miel was already beside him. He cleaved at Thom's belly and thrashed him down low, making him roll several times in the dirt before coming to a halt. Miel stepped on Thom's dirty face with his boot and scoffed, ready to put his swords through the young man's eyes.

「Learning successful. The combat art skill [Quick Slash II] has been upgraded to [Flash Slash II]. Upon activation, the user will be able to wield a sword 500% faster than usual. Fatigue from activation has been tripled.」

"Get off me!"

Thom gathered his strength and slashed towards Miel, but the general kicked the sword out of the young man's hand. He put his other boot on Thom's right arm, and without hesitation, pressed down— hard.

Crack!

"Urgh!!"

"Maybe a broken wrist will teach you how to behave, you filthy fucking liar." Miel said, twisting Thom's head with his boot, burying him further on the dirt.

「Learning successful. The combat art skill [Quick Shot] has been upgraded to [Flash Shot]. Upon activation, the user will be able to move his arms and eyes at a 500% quicker rate. Fatigue from activation has been tripled.」

Although wounded, Thom still had two arms. He grabbed the general's leg with his left hand and used all his strength to press tightly around it, trying to break with his hand the man's tibia. After all, thanks to Thom's [Superior Strength II], he should have been able to break it. Miel, however, simply scoffed.

「Learning successful. The job class skill [Farmer II] has been upgraded to [Farmer Adept II]. All farming-related skills will now be 200% more effective.」

He picked Thom's hand from his leg like a bug, and pressed with his fingers between Thom's index and thumb. As soon as the black-haired young man started to squirm and his hand contorted in pain, a more intense smile showed on Miel's lips. He clenched the tissue as Thom began floundering, skin torn apart and the purlicue severed.

However, Miel did not stop there. When Thom's hand was already far from the general's leg, he grabbed his other sword and imbued it with his aura. The orange gas-like substance started to quickly rotate around the metal, turning into a dangerous weapon that cut like blades of wind.

"Now, stay put."

Shack!

「Learning successful. The active skill [Pluck] has been upgraded to [Superior Pluck]. When using this skill, plucking elements from soil is 500% easier. Exhaustion has been tripled.」

The blade easily pierced Thom's steel-like skin, sending blood flying everywhere as the blade kept on moving.

"Aaaaackh!"

The sword nailed his skin. Miel stepped on the grip, burying the blade all the way to the hilt on Thom's flesh, penetrating the ground below to act as a nail holding Thom's hand.

Then, he roused all of his remaining power, creating the image of a giant orange fox pressing down on Thom's four limbs, which was in reality just the massive pressure from his aura, holding Thom down, paralyzed on the warm muddy dirt.

「Learning successful. The passive skill [Superior Endurance III] has been upgraded to [Troll's Endurance III]. Endurance has been increased sevenfold.」

"Alright, have you calmed down?" Miel removed his foot from Thom's face and placed it on his chest, with the only purpose of being able to grab Thom's chin. He smiled as he asked: "Have you already overcome the death of these petty people, lieutenant?"

"Like hell I could!!" Thom yelled and tried to get up, but the only thing he got as a result was remembering how powerless he was, how weak and useless he felt.

"Oh, come on." Miel dropped his shoulders and drew from his belt the other sword. "Does someone who trick and lie so easily really feel anything for the people surrounding him? I bet you were always tricking poor Valta too, making her all lovely dovely around you, you absolute shit."

Miel said, burying his sword on Thom's leg, listening attentively to the bloody scream that came from his mouth as if he was enjoying a piece of refined music.

「Learning successful. The passive skill [Steel Skin] has been upgraded to [Titanium Skin]. Physical defense is now 3,500% higher than base.

[Titanium Skin] is not currently able to be used at its full potential since the user lacks the endurance to hold it. The skill will be capped at [Steel Skin III] until new adjustments are made. Physical defense is now 2,800% higher than base.」

"You know, Thom, I'm kinda tired of calling you lieutenant." Miel said, forming a small flame on his hand with a click of his fingers. "And you must understand that I'm not killing you right now, since, well, I have some really high pent-up frustration at the moment. Figuring that one of the soldiers I had grand plans for is actually a fucking liar and was collaborating with criminals really pisses me off!"

Miel launched the small flame at Thom's right hand, exploding on contact into a mass of red tongues. Thom held his breath and his nerves tightly clenched, as he felt his skin being burnt, similar to being marked by a searing hot metal.

"Fuck! Agh! Get off, get off!"

When the fire died down, Thom started to thrash his own body around in an attempt to throw Miel away, but he failed rather miserably. The general, who had been watching the wounds on Thom's body slowly regenerate as they fought, and who knew for a fact that his skin was barely impenetrable, was now feasting his eyes in an amazing discovery.

The poor man's skin had been completely scorched and had bubbled up with severe burns.

「Learning successful. The active skill [Power Throw] has been upgraded to [Super Throw]. Upon activation, throwing items will be 500% more powerful. Fatigue has been doubled.」

"Oh, but what is this!" Miel let out a giggle as he covered his forehead. "You're weak to magic! Absurdly weak to magic! By the gods, how didn't I figure it out before! Of course! Araba had told me you possessed no magic system in you, but I did not imagine it could ever be this bad!"

"Y-You prick..." Thom gritted his teeth, now extremely nervous that such an important point had come to play.

"Now there's something else I have to be frustrated about!" He said, igniting the same flame on his hand. "Here I was, planning for a month on how to re-direct funds to buy deep-steel blades to kill you off, and it happens to be that I can kill you with a cero-tier spell that does not even need casting! Holy shit!"

"I, I think you were doing a good enough job with just swords." Thom nervously raised the corner of his lip, trying to mock the man standing on top of him. However, even when he was used to deceiving people, he could not hide his fear in such a situation.

"Yeah, yeah." Miel pointed his hand at Thom's legs. "Don't worry, I won't shoot your face. You will lose your value as a hostage if you stop looking good."

「Learning successful. The combat art skill [Vertical Slash III] has been upgraded to [Torrential Slash III]. Using this skill enhances the power of a downwards cleave eightfold the usual damage. Fatigue has been increased threefold.」

A blast rained on his leg, and the skin tore off from his legs after the cloth was ripped away. He screamed as he felt his blood leak more with every little blast, regeneration impeded by the constant burning on his clothes and his skin.

Miel blew off the skin from his legs first, but that wasn't nearly enough for him. After he had shot three blasts, the magic energy in his body had come short. So, instead, he held Thom's mouth open and started to shovel dirt down the youth's throat with his hands, occasionally twisting on the blades piercing the young man's limbs.

「Learning successful. The passive skill [Aura Control] has been upgraded to [Superior Aura Control]. All aura skills have been upgraded. Affinity with inherited aura has also been refined.

•As a consequence, the passive skill [Detect Aura] has been upgraded to [Superior Aura Detection]. Range, quality and effectiveness of detection have been greatly upgraded.

•As a consequence, the active skill [Search Aura] has been upgraded to [Superior Aura Search]. Range, quality and precision of detection have been greatly upgraded.

•As a consequence, the active skill [Aura Concealment] has been upgraded to [Superior Aura Concealment]. The user can now lower the presence of his aura up to 98% percent of its regular emission. The user may not be able to make full use of his aura while in concealment.

•As a consequence, the aura combat art skill [Aura Slash] has been upgraded to [Super Aura Slash]. Damage capacity has been increased by threefold.

Use of the Heart's aura has now been attuned further. The user's body and physical influence has been greatly upgraded and can now release up to 2% of the Heart's aura.」

"I swear by everything I have, if you don't let me go in this instant, I'll—!"

"Hmm? Everything you have, you say? I don't think you have much, but oh well. If there's anything you actually own, isn't all of it in that bag?" Miel pointed at the bag with a vicious smile. "What would you really swear by if I ripped it to shreds?"

Thom started to tremble immediately at the mention of that, and his face turned beet-red from rage. He yelled as if he was trying to tear the world apart with his voice, and used his own aura to force all of Miel's away of his body.

「Learning successful. The passive skill [Poison Resistance] has been upgraded to [Superior Poison Resistance]. Defense against poison has been augmented tenfold.」

His eyes started to bleed from the pressure, and soon, the ground started to tremble like a miniature earthquake had begun to form in the middle of the destroyed farm. Even weak guards could have perfectly felt the immense aura that Miel emitted being pushed back by a tidal wave that surged from Thom's butchered-up body.

「Learning successful. The subordinate passive skill [Green Knowledge] has bee upgraded to [Green Sage]. All botanic-related skills are five times as efficient. The growth of plants planted by the user will increase five times the normal rate.」

The orange preying fox had begun to retreat, pushed by what seemed like an elderly tree covered up by a thicket of roses, which nailed on the skin of the beast. Miel was thrown back and he felt the immediate need to retreat, so he grabbed his two swords, planted his boot on Thom's chest, and shot himself several meters away from the black-haired man.

「Learning successful. The passive skill [Troll's Regeneration] has been upgraded to [Great Ooze's regeneration]. All wounds will heal 25 times faster than usual. Regenerating lost appendixes is now possible.」

Miel put on a dumbfounded expression as he looked at Thom, who pushed his own body upwards with the sole pressure of his aura. Miel blinked several times in surprise, how could somebody release such power after that same somebody's presence had been only comparable to a knight's a few moment's ago?

He was astonished, he was fascinated. Miel could not comprehend it, this man had not stopped giving him surprises after surprises, and his interest kept peeking every time higher. A greedy smile appeared on his face as his hands tried to grab for something that wasn't there— the essence that made Thom Arburson the man that he was.

「Learning successful. The passive skill [Superior Strength II] has been upgraded to [Golem's Strength II]. Strength has been upgraded by 600%.」

As soon as Thom tumbled himself up, bending his knees so he would not fall down from the pain of his severed knees, Miel could feel that the battle had shifted dramatically. It wasn't just at that moment, Thom's aura kept increasing further and further. He had already thought it was impressive enough that someone so young had managed to counter him as well as Thom had, but the sudden increase in his power, that simply wasn't human.

Then, as if to further prove his point, all the bruises in Thom's body started to slowly fade away. Even the third-degree burns on his skin started to look like memories of a far past, as the skin interweaved by itself on his wounds, even closing the holes on his hand and his leg.

「Learning successful. The active skill [Dash III] has been upgraded to [Flash Move III]. Upon activation, speed will be increased sevenfold. Fatigue has been tripled.」

"Thom Arburson... You're a monster."

Miel whispered, seeing the man slowly regenerate, looking at him with a cocky, hatred-filled gaze.

Thom extended his hand as he moved his aura like vines in a tree, fetching his titite sword from the ground, which had been standing several feet away from him for a long time. He blew away the long strands of hair that had fallen on his face, and a scoff escaped his mouth.

"I'm so gonna fuck you up." Thom said, a smirk rising on his lips.

"Oh, is that right...?" Miel smiled as his hands caressed the air. "That power of yours... Let me borrow it for a while."