“That’s him!” a voice shouted.

Nimh saw the speaker and smiled. It was one of the men he had let run away. Quite the messenger, he even bought the rabble to him. He smiled.

“Yes,” he called back. “It is me. Good to see you again peon number one. You did a good job bringing these idiots here. Now, which one of you finely dressed E Ranks is Sapphire?’

The woman glared at Nimh with hatred. That one then.

“This cocky kid killed my brother?” she hissed.

“Oh, I did much more than just kill him,” Nimh spoke loudly, giving her a wink. “So, you’re the boss of the Coattails. Congratulations, I’m told you are less of a failure than your wretch of a brother. Not much of an accomplishment by the common standard of humanity, but still. Well done.”

Sapphire’s glare turned murderous and Nimh held back a laugh. Rule number one, keep the enemy angry.

“Marcus.” Her tone was ice on fire. “I am going to hurt you.”

Nimh did laugh at that, though he did it to hide some worry. Marcus didn’t say she knew who he was.

“Marcus?” he asked.

“I was a runner boy for her once.”

Nimh cursed inwardly, but maintain his façade. “Relax Sapphire, I’m just playing around. Your brother was a stain that needed to be wiped away. I figured it would make you happy. Aren’t you happy?” he even made his tone as innocent as possible.

“You…” Sapphire looked angry enough to grind stone to dust, so Nimh could only guess it was working.“…My father will have your head.”

That caught Nimh by surprise.

“Who is her father?” Nimh asked Marcus. Suddenly the man seemed perplexed. With some reluctance, he answered

“Her father is Sebastian Cain, the boss of the gang lords. He’s… D Rank.”

“Why did you not mention there was a boss above the gang lords?” Nimh asked his annoyance with the man growing. He was struggling to keep it from his face as he played his role.

“You didn’t ask?” he said innocently.

It was at that moment that Nimh decided to get rid of Marcus once and for all. Right after wiping out this lot.

“Look, Sapphire,” Nimh began, only to cut off as a bottle came flying at his head. The another.

“Screw it.”

Without bothering with any more talk, Nimh dashed forward, aiming straight for the E Ranks. Who promptly retreated as the F Rank’s swarmed in. More or less what Nimh expected.

What he wasn’t expecting, was how slow they were. The first to reach him swung a metallic pole of some kind at him. Nimh had already sidestepped it and kicked the man behind him before the swing finished its arch. Nimh ignored the opening and danced through the crowd, taking down two more F Ranks before he made the realisation.

They were untrained and slow. He had thought they may be as strong as Alonzo, but that just wasn’t the case.

It was then that Nimh decided to add some theatrics to this show. Because this was not going to be a fight. He was surprised to feel some disappointment at that. Nor the test of mettle he had expected.

That likely wouldn’t start until he faced the E Ranks, all of whom had reached the back of the mob and were talking with worried faces.

Nimh put them out of his mind as he focused on the fight. Slowing the flow of vital energy in his body, Nimh let his assailants close in. With practised ease, he focused the flow of his vital energy to his senses. Sight, touch, hearing, and smell. A sense of taste was not necessary for this. Neither was his sense of smell, but he couldn’t quite restrict that one for some reason.

With his senses heightened and his body slowed, Nimh began a special kind of training. He called it, Kill the F Ranks without using his full power, and making them shit themselves as he did.

The plan was simple, evade everything they threw at him, and kill them with a single touch. Not a blow to their vital areas, but simple touch. A touch enforced with a small amount of released vital energy.

Was it wasteful? Absolutely. Would it scare the E Ranks? Without a doubt. Would it be a spectacle for those terrified observers? He hoped so.

It was also important because now he had to improve faster than he had expected. He needed to prepare for killing a D Rank who would be very motivated to kill him. Especially after killing both his children.

He had already decided that Sapphire was going to die. It was a pity. He had hoped to keep some of the gang lords around. But it seemed that he’d need to rebuild the undercity hierarchy completely.

Besides, these restrictions made the fight harder. With his body slowed, he needed to utilise his senses far more. It was a lot more than he first expected, and his brain started tiring far faster than he expected. Even spurts of vital energy did little to wipe the exhaustion out, though it did make sense.

Nimh had essentially been awake for two days, and he had been pushing himself hard the entire time. Maybe this wasn’t the best idea?

Slowly, as he tore through the F Ranks, he could feel himself being pushed towards an edge. He was becoming more dangerous as the moments passed, his movements becoming more fluid even as his concentration strained.

Before he was halfway through the mob, he came to his first real issue. His vital energy couldn’t keep up. Despite the physical well enhancing his vital energy regeneration and the primal root focusing the vital energies effectiveness, he was running low.

The restricted flow, the concentration on his senses and the wasteful releases of vital energy were pushing him closer to exhaustion by the second. And he felt amazing. Like a boy being let loose to play for the first time in days.

Despite the pain echoing through his body. Despite the exhaustion that threatened to disable him and let the mob kill him. He was feeling more alive and freer than he ever had back home.

Because now, there were no rules holding him back.

Though he had to admit, he was pushing his luck. Deciding to preserve his life over the chance to push his training further, Nimh released the restriction on his vital energy and his body burst into action.

He became like the wind and his passing left bodies falling to the ground, lifeless and still. The cries of battle faded to silence, so complete that Nimh slowed to a stop. Even Marcus shivered as he watched.

Those that were still alive backed away, pale and shaking. The E Ranks stared with open horror. Nimh just stood there, surrounded by corpses, breathing slowly but deeply.

The pause allowed him to relax the strain on his mind. His eyes blurred for an instant and he almost fell over as vertigo took him.

“And that, is my mind catching up to my body.” He mused internally. Then he vomited bile.

It must have been a sight to see and Nimh was somewhat annoyed that his show had been ruined by his mind’s inability to keep up. It was frustrating, though he had to admit it was an obvious outcome. His training methods were a far cry from balanced.

He would need to fix that.

Wiping the spittle from his chin, Nimh looked towards the E Ranks.

“Sorry about that,” he called. “but don’t you worry. I’m still in shape enough to kill your men. Unless you five want to come and fight me yourselves.’

A flashed them a confident smile. There wasn’t much of a distance between them. At his top speed, he could be there in perhaps three seconds.

“Marcus…” Sapphire stared at him with horror and amazement. “How did you become so strong?”

“Ahh, do you want to learn?” Nimh asked.

The E Ranks looked at him with fear and ambition. They wanted to obtain his secrets.

“I’d rather die,” Sapphire replied. “But if you surrender, and teach us. I can probably spare you my father’s wrath.”

The other E Ranks nodded their consent and the F ranks looked relieved. They didn’t want to fight anymore.

“That is a generous offer.” Nimh conceded. “But first, can I ask you a question?”

The E Ranks looked at each other before Sapphire answered for them. “Very well, ask.”

“Were you all aware of Wolfgang’s activities? The ones where he locked up kids, abused them and left them traumatised husks?” Nimh looked at the E Ranks in turn. He was sure they all had names, held some lofty position in the undercity and were powerful. But to his eyes, they were four foul little men and a woman who he was going to kill.

“Wolfgang did as he pleased. There is a pact between us and my father. We do not interfere with each other and keep the peace. Besides, who cares with some F Rank trash are thrown away like garbage.”

Nimh nodded at that. “You are not wrong.” He said simply. “But unfortunately, there is an issue with your statement.” He dropped his pleasantries and stared at the five E Ranks with disdain. “You see,” he bellowed, “to my eyes, you are the trash and I’m tired of seeing the undercity fouled by your presence.”

With that, he dashed forward with the full extent of his power, vital energy surging through him as ran. The E Ranks had no chance as he ploughed into them, his fists shattering their bodies in a heartbeat. The instant after he arrived, their corpses went flying in five directions, landing some distance away.

Nimh paid them no mind as he turned and looked at the F Ranks. Some had run already, but most stayed. Staring like cornered mice, before the cat.

A cold knot of disgust settled in his gut as he looked at them. Nimh did not know their story, of how they ended up in this life or if they were, in their hearts, good men.

All he knew, is they were his enemies. And he was not kind-hearted enough to leave enemies alive to cut his throat in his sleep.

So, it was with a sickening feeling that he slaughtered them. and a sense of disappointment tugged at his heart. Partly, just how weak the E Ranks were. And secondly, for his own actions