Nimh sensed when Keira rose from her sleep. He had kept an eye on her using his spirit sense, curious to see if she would run away or not.

Instead, she had awakened multiple times, an odd shout of alarm or a scream coming from her chamber. It made Nimh feel somewhat protective of the girl, but it was something she’d need to drag herself through.

And he knew she was strong enough to do it.

While keeping watch over his charge, Nimh had focused on strengthening his physical and spiritual wells. It was not overly difficult to circulate vital energy and spiritual energy at the same time.

One simply moved through the body, to the well and back through the body, while the other circulated the well, expanded around him and then back into the well.

It did, however, require a level of concentration that Nimh’s brain struggled to maintain. And the progress was slow. Much like when he was training Keira a few hours prior, he only used a fragment of the energies at his disposal.

Over time, he would be able to train both simultaneously with the full weight of his vital energy and spirit fuelling his growth. But for now, he needed to refine his foundations and nullify a dozen other weaknesses present in Marcus’ body.

He did give himself a reprieve in the middle of the night. An hour of relaxing meditation to let his mind recover, which he combined with restricting his flow of vital energy. By the end of that hour, his mind was somewhat refreshed and his body was filled to bursting with his vital energy.

The physical arts were not a great mystery. Harnessing vital energy to make yourself stronger, heal faster and enhance your life. How you harnessed vital energy was a factor though.

Which is where the primal root came into prominence.

In general, the physical arts held three foundational effects, all utilising vital energy. The first was the refinement of Vitality, the body's own ability to heal and rejuvenate. The second was Enhancement, using vital energy to drastically increase the body’s physical limitations. The third was somewhat more difficult as it required the transfer of vital energy with another, called Release.

The first two were simple enough to train as they went hand in hand with the basic nature of vital energy. The third was fundamentally different as it required losing that energy forever or receiving it. Though over time, you could regenerate spent vital energy.

It was not always beneficial to receive another’s vital energy, so something was required to neutralise the effects of another person’s energy within oneself. And that something was the primal root.

The primal root had to be cultivated within the physical well, literally taking root in the centre of one's physical power. And it then separated the foundational effects, focusing on them and refining them in seclusion of the others.

The three branches of the primal root.

Creating the root was not difficult, just time-consuming. Creating the branches, however, was tricky. Vitality and enhancement were natural effects of vital energy so separating them was like trying physically separate the molecules in water. Possible, but there would be a great deal of wastage in the act.

Meanwhile, the third branch was a purifier. Which meant it required a place to take any and all unwanted aspects of vital energy. Which was the physical well. The more aspects and impurities the well was exposed to, the stronger it became over time as those aspects would fade, leaving only the stronger well.

But if those aspects escaped into the body. Well, the Release could be used as a deadly technique for a reason. Just another reason to create the primal root, though Nimh had no idea if the primal root was even practised in this world.

Nor the effectiveness of this world's physical arts practitioners with the art. Best to be safe though.

It took longer than wanted to create the branches to his primal root, but he succeeded, his vital energy spent and his mind exhausted.

“You really are brutal with yourself,” Marcus observed.

“The only thing in life that won’t fail you is your training. The harder you train, the stronger you become.”

“But when does it stop?” Marcus asked. “Will you still push yourself so hard if you ascend to S Rank?”

“There is always something further.” He snorted. “You think I’m aiming for S Rank? I’m aiming to conquer this world, which means being stronger than those S Ranks.”

“And what about after you conquer the world?” Marcus continued. “What do you want after you stand at the top of this world?”

Nimh thought about that for a moment. Thought about Meira and his unborn child. He realised that the baby was probably born by now. His sense of the passing time in spirit form was difficult to gauge. Had he wandered for days or months?

Either way, he was on a timeline. Less than three years to topple a world. Had he been in his old world he would say it would be difficult. A conquest of diplomacy and alliances, not one of power. Not exactly his forte.

But here and now, in this world, he was curious to see how quickly he could attain the power necessary to take this world by force.

Releasing a ragged breath, Nimh leaned against a wall. He had not slept much since taking this body. Perhaps a few hours directly after reforging his physical well. He was tired in both body and mind.

But he could go on. With enough vital energy, he could in theory stay active for weeks. At least he could if he were strong enough. Instead, a few days seemed to be bearing his limit.

It was like that, lightly dozing when his spirit sense picked up Keira entering the training room. Creaking a tired eye open, he saw she looked as bad as he felt.

Sleepless nights were a bane experienced by anyone.

With a yawn, Nimh stretched and stood up. He did not feel rested in the slightest and he desperately wanted to sleep.

“Have you made a decision?” he asked

Keira stared at him. “Have you been training all night?”

Nimh nodded. “I have a timeline to keep and getting back into my top form is important. So yes, training is my main priority.”

“Are you insane?”

That made Nimh smirk. “If you have something important to do, something you value more than your own life, would you go a few sleepless nights to achieve it?”

She frowned. “What drives you so hard?”

“That,” Nimh with a wink, “is a secret you haven’t earned yet.”

“Blow hard, you really want her to stay so much?” Marcus asked. Nimh ignored him.

“I,” she hesitated. “I will stay and train under you. But is there really nothing you can do to help the children?”

Nimh sighed. “Their problem is not one of the body, though they have sustained a great deal of trauma there too. Their problem is one of the soul. Their spirit lives, but it is closed off, and their minds are shattered. Is it possible to bring them back? Maybe, if someone was a specialist in those arts. I am not.”

“There are other arts?” Keira asked.

“There are two that I am competent at,” Nimh replied. “I have read about a third, but I have never trained in it. There could be hundreds of arts out in there, but for now, the physical arts are my priority.”

“But if you had many arts at your disposal, then wouldn’t that make you super strong?”

Her word choice made Nimh think of the early questions of the children he had once tutored back home.

“If you have all the time in the world, resources aplenty, and knowledgeable support then yes. But mastering just one of the arts can take a lifetime, even competence can take decades. I don’t have that long.”

Keira tilted her head. “How long do you have?”

“Another secret you’ll have to earn.” Nimh joked. “But first…” his words faded as his spirit sense picked up movement below. Eyes narrowing, he focused his spirit sense and felt a man descending the steps to the basement.

“We have a visitor,” Nimh said softly.

Keira froze with fear in her eyes at his words. WHe waved his hand at her casually.

“Don’t worry, he’s an F Rank. I doubt you’d have much trouble handling him. But in saying that.” Nimh circulated vital energy, banishing his lingering exhaustion. If this turned into a fight, he could beat this one easily. But then, he did not know if he was ready for the repercussions.

Leaving the conversation unfinished, he walked towards the steps, past Keira. “You can stay here or come and watch. You might learn something.”

Then he descended. He didn’t rush, the intruder had stopped, staring at the dead bodies at the entrance no doubt. There had been a reason to leave them down there. It wasn’t because Nimh was lazy and hadn’t dealt with them yet.

No, if anyone was to intrude before he was ready, he may need a distraction. And anyone that would come here would recognise Wolfgang and be very distracted indeed.

By the time Nimh arrived, the stranger was inspecting the gangsters, checking for pulses and rummaging through their clothes.

“It’s not polite to ransack the dead,” Nimh said, startling the man.

The man, a muscled, dark skin individual with long blond hair and tattoos on his face stepped back. He was taller than Nimh by about a foot, and the man seemed to realise that as he recollected himself.

“What are you doing here Marcus?” he shouted, catching Nimh off guard.

“Marcus?” he asked the spirit. “Who is this man.”

“Alonzo Baggin. He’s a member of the Coattails. They're a sister gang to the Wolves. Literally, Wolfgang and his boss are siblings.” Marcus seemed terrified at the prospect, which Nimh was coming to understand was his natural state.

“Hello, Alonzo,” Nimh said politely. “Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you. But I won’t have you skulking around my new base. Leave.”

The command left Alonzo red-faced and angry. “You little punk Who do you think you are, some big shot because you’re living in Wolfgang’s crib? I bet you snuck in after Wolfgang was killed and thought you could hide right. Little bitch.”

Alonzo spat and Nimh decided he liked the man. Stupid, but at least he had a decent understanding of Marcus.

“He’s a pimp, rapist, and a killer. Sapphire only keeps him around because he’s too deadly to deal with directly and too unstable to leave to his own devices.” Marcus chimed in.

“You know him well?” Nimh asked.

“He’s a pimp. He ran my mom on the streets and used her as collateral to keep my dad in line.” Marcus growled. “Can you kill him? Please?”

Nimh snorted as he spoke out loud. “I think you are mistaken. I killed Wolfgang. And if you don’t leave, you are next.”

Alonzo stared at Nimh in disbelief. “You expect me to believe a fucking F Rank like you killed the boss of the Wolves? That would be a funny joke.”

Footsteps echoed down the stairs and a few more gangsters arrived. Nimh paid them little attention. Keira had just arrived too, blood draining from her face when she saw who was in the base.

“Ok,” Nimh said, waving his hands casually. “So here is what’s going to happen. Alonzo, you are dead. I gave you a chance, you just blew it.” He motioned to the men behind Alonzo. “You guys have a choice. Either clean up these bodies, take them to Sapphire and tell them that this is my place now. If she wants payback, then she can come and get the same medicine as her brother.”

He turned his attention to Alonzo. “As for you, I’ll give you the first shot.”

Marcus screamed in his head, calling Nimh an idiot. Keira was shaking, eyes not leaving the gangsters. The men behind Alonzo chuckled, taking knives out of their pockets. Nimh was unfazed.

Alonzo took the invitation, rushing forward as vital energy surged through him. Enough to make a minor enhancement for his body. Easily enough to beat down an F Rank.

But Nimh wasn’t an F Rank. With a smirk, he enforced his whole body the instant before Alonzo’s fist struck his cheek. It felt like someone had hit his face with a pillow.

A resounding crack echoed the basement, followed by Alonzo’s screams as he fell to the ground.

Looking down, Nimh saw the shattered bones in his hand breaking the skin. Even Alonzo’s elbow was twisted obscenely.

“That,” Nimh said conversationally. “Was your one shot.” With a casual slap to the side of Alonzo’s head, Nimh released a trickle of vital energy, shooting it through Alonzo’s skull and into his brain.

The man fell silent as his henchmen stared in horror. They had seen enough death and violence to get the message. Though such casual violence wasn’t quite normal in their world.

Nimh caught the eyes of each of them. “Clean up these bodies, take them to Sapphire and pass on my message.

With that, he turned and collected Keira as he returned up the stairs, all the while he kept track of them with his spirit sense.