He woke up several hours later as he made his way down and used a food and beverage box to eat breakfast as he continued back towards Druid’s Grove. Everyone he passed turned and looked at him strangely as he made his way back towards the Slayer’s Corps with a smile on his face and a pile of frills. As he entered the building even people he imagined were veterans in their various groups looked at him strangely as he approached Master Bere.

  “Hello. I have 40 Lizardkin frills here. I've eliminated two raider groups that included these lizardkin. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find a leader.” Bere looked up from his drink and looked at all of the shocked faces around him as Marcus sat the bundle down in front of him as he began to count them all.

  “This is incredible. Where is the rest of your group or are you telling me you did this alone””

  “I did this alone and before you ask, yes my level is 12.” Once he said his level he saw others begin to walk up to him and look him over before Bere spoke again. He pulled out similar goggles to Khaliun and put them on before he spoke again.

  “You have a stat total of over 90 at level 12. While that is more on the rare side I have heard of Paragons with similar abilities. Even though some of the greatest I have seen personally didn’t have over 80 at your current level. Though it does seem like your attunement growth is pretty standard.”

  He smiled up at Marcus as the crowd around him continued to grow. “Well I have counted these frills and you are right. There are 40 here. Take your 8 golden marks.” Bere reached into his pocket and pulled out 8 golden marks before handing them over and speaking.

  “You have some serious potential, would you be interested in joining the Slayer’s?”

  “Not at the moment. Currently, I'm not occupied. I'm interested in taking on more jobs to see if I'm a suitable match, so please let me know if there are any opportunities available.”

  Bere thought about it for a moment. “We have a C rank mission that might interest you. A Flesh golem has been spotted with a small group of shamblers and ghouls. We currently lack the manpower to handle this task. The location is on the eastern outskirts of Silveroak, about a 7-day walk from Druid’s Grove. Your objective is to bring back the head of the Flesh Golem and the spines of any shamblers and ghouls you encounter. The Flesh Golem is worth 20 Gold marks and the Shamblers are worth 5 silvers and the ghouls are worth 10.“

  “I’ll take it and leave first thing tomorrow. Is there anything else I need to know before I leave?” Bere shook his head and smiled at him.

  “Good Luck.”

  Marcus nodded and turned away to leave before a group of 4 people walked up to him. Each of them were dressed in what looked to be Slayer Corps gear as a large red woman with a long black mane of hair and a battle axe on her back approached him.

  “Greetings, I heard you are looking to take down the Flesh Golem.”

  “Yes, is there anything I can help you with? If not, I would like to head off as soon as possible.“

  Marcus respectfully addressed them, meeting each person's gaze.

  The woman looked at him and behind her at the rest of the group before speaking again.

  “Hello I am Marissa and this is my crew. We are in between jobs now. We are Slayer members so if you want to you can take the job and 30 Gold for the Flesh Golem, 7 silver for the shamblers and 13 for the ghouls. Along with help. Flesh golems are insanely powerful.” Marcus looked at all of them intensely before speaking again.

  “Why would I do that? It would slow my advancement.” He said matter of factly before she continued.

  “Why would you not? Aren’t you worried about being killed or dying potentially? Slayers and even independents generally work in a group. It's rare for someone to go it alone.”

  “Why do you care? I do not need help nor do I seek it. “

  Are these people trying to capture me? What’s the angle here?

  Marcus stared coldly at all of them before another member stepped up in front of Marissa and spoke.

  “Did you really kill 40 lizardkin by yourself?” the man asked. As Marcus got a better look of the man he had a similar build to him except being a shade of yellow with long blonde hair.

  “Yes.”

  “How did you do it? Many other cadets and junior members had taken that quest and most had come back with somewhere between 6-8 but for you to kill 40 of them by yourself is unreal. “ Marcus stepped closer to the man and looked him in directly in the eye and for the first time realized that he did not just enjoy growing and leveling up to be stronger but the thrill of the fight. The desire to test your strength against all challengers and come out on top no matter the cost.

  “Because, I am a warrior. I crushed their spirits as I fought them. I ripped their faces from their skulls, cleaved limbs, desecrated their corpses, and laid waste to them and their bloodline. You all fight for spoils and gold to I assume make your place in this world? I see to grow and crush all those that dare to stand against me. To slaughter all those would oppose me. To salt the very earth that they stand upon.” Marcus' smile grew as he said this and as the others looked at him horrified.

  He felt a hard pluck in the back of his head as Guin hit him.

  “You sound like a monster.” The woman Marissa said as they all took a stepback.

  “Probably, regardless. Is there anything else I can help you with?”

  “Umm, no. Sorry to have disturbed you.” Marissa's heart pounded in her chest as she quickly stepped aside, her breath catching in her throat when she saw the wild, unrestrained madness blazing in his eyes.

  As he began to walk away he stopped and turned back to Marissa.

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  “I have questions about this place. I would like to pay for information about this place. If you are interested I will be at Takanka’s Rest tonight. I will pay for information.“ With that he turned and continued to walk away. He had money and wanted to try and unwind and learn more about this place but try as he might he continued to feel pulled to conqueror and destroy. After Guin quickly spoke up in his mind.

  “As the system integrates into your body, I have been thinking of different ways to try and limit the mental powers that Smart Cells impact on your being. Your body is experimental at the very least. You may need to invest in going for something that can clear and focus your thoughts away from outside influences. There must be mental and emotional aspects that could work to suppress the effects or at least reduce them. “

  Marcus had to agree. As he madness simmered back down beneath the surface his stomach began to turn. What he said inside to Marissa and those people were things that children were told that monsters would do. He didn’t have to be nice but he could not be a psychopath.

  “I think you are right. My next attunement item will be that. You have told me that the lesser and minor attunement items are not all that great. I still have several loot coins but I don’t want to attune to anything less than a standard item. “

  “If that is your choice then make it a priority after fighting the Flesh Golem. Because the effects will only get worse as you level if you can’t slow it down. You will become a monster like the things you kill and be hunted down. You aren’t even close to even the top 30 percent of the people in the realm.“

  He decided to try and ask around alchemist shops and places like it to try and find elixirs and potions that could calm his mind. After a few hours he discovered a shop that sold lesser potions of mental clarity for about a gold mark a piece. The Alchemist had told him that the potions last for about 24 hours before they would begin to fade.

  After he brought the one, he downed it immediately, feeling the fog of bloodlust start to recede. Yet, as relief washed over him, a wave of dizziness nearly drove him to one knee. He hesitated, caught between the urge to collapse and the need to stay upright. With determination, he steadied himself, quickly grabbed several more, and walked out of the store, unsure if he was escaping or simply delaying an inevitable confrontation with his own instincts.

  “What is happening to me?! What was that fog-like feeling that bled away from my mind as the potion cleared. If these cells are so smart then why did they make the body like this?” Guin spoke up in his mind.

  “The way you think from your origins doesn't fit in this world. You're accustomed to the lifestyle of an ordinary person. You had let go of those principles and strive for advancement to avoid perishing in the tunnels below or being confined to a commoner's life here. You cannot fall back into a commoner's life here. Threats are developing just beyond the horizon. You need to grow.” Marcus spoke angrily at Guin.

  “So you invoked a mental influence on me to try and control me? “

  “I have not tried to control you. You perished in your world. I remade you in the image I desired for you to help save and preserve this world. You will soon realize that while you have made short work of the enemies you have faced these are the expendables. These creatures are remade and spawned by the day. The only way to push back against these creatures is to kill them all and make a way for humanity.”

  “What do you mean….make a way?” Marcus could feel a presence of Guin wrap her arms around him before she spoke.

  “Humanity has gotten complacent by thinking they are safe behind their walled towns as noble families rule and resolve petty conflicts against each other. Commoners like in your homeworld get slaughtered so often that it is accounted for in the census. None of that matters when monsters pillage, rape and torture man, woman and child. You need to shine so bright that others will be forced to follow you into a golden age of humanity. You have that potential. You have a good heart, I needed that good heart to be tempered with righteous rage.”

  Marcus stared at his hands, grappling with the unsettling sense of being controlled. He understood the rationale behind it all, yet the feeling of manipulation gnawed at him. Was it really worth it if it paved a path for humanity? The thought of that potential future was enticing, yet unsettling. Deep down, he had always yearned to be a hero, and this opportunity held that promise. Still, he couldn't shake the unease. He would pursue this path, but a part of him wondered if he was losing himself in the process.

  “You can’t permanently undo that berserker fog?”

  “No, it is permanently tied to your soul. But mind equipment is most likely quite common. Most adventurers and heroes have no need for powerful mental defenses until much much later in their journeys. You just will get a headstart on that.”

  He nodded as he went to a Loot Gear shop. These were shops of former adventurers that sold gear that they did not use or if they took a break from adventuring to start or raise a family. As he went to several shops he finally found a standard mind equipment that he bought for 20 gold marks.

  Soon after he went to a Loot Crafter. He realized that while anyone could shape any equipment or weapons that they got from a loot crate there were people that were highly proficient with Loot tools and made their money from shaping the weapons of adventurers to fight with.

  He found a half giant like crafter who he soon learned was a subrace called Ghanume that he realized to work gear that was already crafted to improve the make but it was incredibly expensive.

  He handed him his Boomerang of Returning and his bag. While the spear was effective he did want a different weapon. Something that could hook or pull enemies towards him as he threw his boomerang. That was the one weapon that really felt like it fit like a glove. Guin spoke up in his mind.

  “You can unattune to any item you want by going to any crafter worth their salt and they will have a tool that can do so. Keep in mind that you can only remove 3 items this way EVER. So if you want to spend your one out of three then sure but just make sure that's what you want to do.” He realized that if he had a chain weapon like Kratos or maybe even Scorpion then he could have it sling over his shoulder or wrapped around his arm he quickly grab creatures and pull them towards him. It could even be a fun way to travel as he thought about it. He could be like Spiderman but he doubted that it was really possible and when he thought about it that wasn’t really his style.

  “That’s what I want.”