[Thank you, TheWallOfFantasy, for your generous gifts]
*BOOOOOOM*
A burning wave of flames created out of poison mana exploded outwards in a magnificent explosion that sent a shockwave throughout more than half the city.
However, unlike most of the city, Lloyd took the brunt of the explosion and had it much worse than anyone else.
In an instant, he felt himself being flung through dozens of cement walls, large trees, and even metal doors.
His armor had absorbed a large portion of the attack, and while this usually wouldn't have been enough to allow Lloyd to avoid heat damage, Lloyd had something on his side that almost everyone else did not have.
At that moment, his subconscious activated [4-Dimensional Thought] and accelerated Lloyd's thought process by almost 100x. This activation did rip away a large portion of his mana pool but also made him something different.
Time seemed to crawl to a stop, yet Lloyd felt his thoughts speeding just as fast as they usually did, the only difference now being the fact that he could make hundreds of calculations in less than a second.
His mind began to work, and as if he had done it a million times before, Lloyd used [Flame Control] to move the flames around him with the least amount of mana needed.
In the next instant, he covered himself with shadows 3 times thicker than before while using [Heat Resistence] to tank the rest of the flames on its own.
All he could do now was pray, and pray he did.
"Ugh." Lloyd grunted, his vision shifting between black and red as he struggled to stand up. He could feel pain shooting through every inch of his body as if it resounded in his veins, mixing with his blood and transmitting it to his body with every heartbeat.
'Why do I taste iron? I don't even have blood.' Lloyd complained before spitting to the side to remove the taste, yet it remained in his mouth.
With another grunt, Lloyd looked at his side, where he saw a large cut followed by cracks spreading out from it.
"No blood, but it hurts like hell." Lloyd muttered since that was the only thing he could do. Speaking any louder would have made him feel an insurmountable amount of pain that would have definitely crippled him.
'Why am I still here? Shouldn't I have been kicked out of this place when the explosion went off?' Lloyd asked himself, yet since he knew an answer wouldn't be coming anytime soon, all he could do was speculate.
"My parents will definitely kill me after this." Lloyd laughed before getting up while holding his side as if blood was about to spew when he let go.
Most of his clothes were destroyed in the blast, with only his lower body's clothing still being mildly intact.
On the other hand, his watch was completely unscathed despite being at the forefront of the blast, but Lloyd did not complain. He thought that it might have even been a blessing or a miracle, not that he believed in those things.
Taking his clothes off, Lloyd put on a new pair of pants and a jacket that was an exact replica of his old one that became ashes barely a minute ago.
'I don't have a shirt, but this jacket should be enough.' Lloyd thought to himself.
However, right before zipping up the jacket, he could not help but pause to admire his look.
"I believe this is what they call 'peak human physique.' Well, something close to it at least." Lloyd muttered in awe of his new condition.
From what he could tell, he was about 6ft 1, and from what he could tell by just looking down, he looked like he was a greek god carved out of marble to look like an unstoppable force.
His body, from head to toe, was covered in bulging muscles. They weren't too big, yet at the same time, they weren't too small. The body of a martial artist. A body that forms every single muscle with a purpose. Both flexible and agile, yet strong and tough.
The perfect body.
"He's over here!" A voice entered Lloyd's ears, and from how far the sound seemed to have traveled, they were about 5-300 meters away from him and moving fast.
Another grunt left Lloyd's mouth, yet he did not waste time zipping up his jacket and simply took out a pair of weapons from his watch.
These were weapons he had never used in battle before, yet since he couldn't find his katana anywhere, they were the next best things.
Two short words, no longer than an arm yet no shorter than one's forearm.
"Ugh... These bastards have to come at the worst time, don't they?" Lloyd muttered to himself while standing tall. It was only then that he realized that he was on the 7th floor of a building, but he couldn't care less.
Gritting his teeth, Lloyd cursed his luck and jumped out of one of the buildings with two blades in his hands and a pair of violet eyes glowing more violently than ever.
*Boom*
Landing, Lloyd kicked up a dust cloud that caught the attention of everyone in the area.
"I know I said that I wanted to get your attention-..." Lloyd spoke through gritted teeth, pain shooting through his body more than ever.
"But this many?" Lloyd asked, his tone seemingly flabbergasted by what he was seeing.
More than 4 dozen people looked at him like he was prey, and to make the situation even worse, he was injured to the point that anyone else would have fallen unconscious at this point.
"He's over there!" One of them shouted, his voice filled with so much excitement and fervor that it immediately got on Lloyd's nerves.
"We can see that, you idio-."
*Boom*
Without warning, the man was forced to stop as he watched his fellow comrade get a foot planted onto his mouth before being launched into a building in the distance.
Silence fell upon the battlefield, yet Lloyd had every intention of it settling that way. At least until the rest come to claim his points.
While Lloyd hesitated for a moment, he snapped back to reality and forced himself to do what he had to. This was the first time he had ever fought humans seriously with the intention to hurt them, and despite still struggling with it, he knew he had to do this no matter what.
'It's okay. just think of them as monsters. Goblins... Yes. These people are goblins. Disgusting and filthy goblins. They are nothing but Goblins, and I can kill goblins. I can kill these people, because-...
They aren't human.'
*DOOOOOOOOM*
Without any intention of holding back, Lloyd let out all his frustration, anger, and overwhelming pain in the form of unbridled bloodlust. A bubble formed and expanded outward from where Lloyd stood, making everything inside it inverts in colors before suddenly becoming black and white with particles of violet energies floating around.
The people around Lloyd were weak, and he knew and was more than willing to take advantage of that fact. Well, at least until the others came.
Suddenly, however, Lloyd's bloodlust disappeared alongside him without leaving a single trace. There was a second where almost everyone breathed a sigh of relief, yet releasing someone from bloodlust is like letting a hostage go.
It's like showing someone a ray of hope at the end of the tunnel.
*DOOOOOM*
While releasing it just a second later is like shooting the hostage in the head just as they begin to run toward the exit. Killing them the moment they felt hope and crushing it where it stood.
Every single one of them went pale, yet only one dreadful scream could be heard as Lloyd swung his blade horizontally to slash right through one of the men's necks, killing them on the spot.
Well, at least that would have happened if a yellow barrier hadn't suddenly appeared out of thin air, not only blocking Lloyd's blade but also collapsing to teleport the man to safety.
'So the process is painful despite being harmless. I see.' Lloyd thought with a smile crawling up the corner of his lips.
Lloyd's jacket fluttered in the dreadful winds that sent a shiver down the spines of almost everyone in that area. All they could do was watch Lloyd; his silhouette became a blur as it moved around, cutting down everyone in its way.
Those who tried resisting would only scream more in the end, while those who accepted their fates lay on the floor, wailing as the bloodlust entered their minds and made them almost go mad with thoughts they would have never had pass their minds in a million years.
Eventually, there was only one left.
Lloyd didn't bother slicing at his back or trying to decapitate him. Well, to be precise, Lloyd wanted something else.
"W-W-Wait! Please! I beg of you! Spare me! I can be helpful! I can help you! J-Just don't kill me. I have to get into the academy. Please!" The man pleaded while slowly crawling away from Lloyd.
His face was pale, and every inch of his body shuddered in fear.
"Hmm?" Lloyd tilted his head slightly before a chuckle left his mouth.
The pain was no longer as prominent as earlier, so Lloyd was capable of thinking with a little more clarity.
"Who said i need a servant?" Lloyd raised a brow.
"Then I can be-"
*Slash*
"AHHHHHHHHHHH-"
***
20 Minutes had passed in the blink of an eye, yet the situation had changed.
"So you guys must be the top 10, right?" Lloyd asked from the middle of a lake where he stood upon one of the many floating dead mosquitoes.
"What is the meaning of this?" One of them asked as he stepped upon the water, yet instead of dropping inside the lake, it seemed like the water supported the weight of his body.
"Killing so many of these monsters on your own is an impossible act. Who are you working with?" Another asked before using the mosquito corpses to cross the lake.
"You do understand that we are all assassins, correct?" A girl with cyan hair asked mockingly as she formed air below her feet and floated a move to the lake.
"I am aware." Lloyd smirked.
"Then you are not only a lousy assassin, but you are also a fool." A British man with a magnificent mustache sneered, yet this only caused Lloyd to look at him with amusement as if they were simply children in his eyes.
"Lousy and a fool? Is that really what you see?" Lloyd chuckled, yet his demeanor took less than a second to drop into a menacing smile.
"You might call me foolish, but what I'm presenting to you, morons is the utmost confidence." Lloyd roared out before taking off his jacket and letting it fly into the wind picking up.
"Are you trying to show off?" One of the girls asked, her voice seemingly unamused by what she saw.
On the other hand, the men could not help but squint their eyes at Lloyd as they saw his upper body in its full glory.
Every male has some kind of appreciation when they see the muscles of another.
It usually comes off in two forms. Either respect or jealousy. And in that very moment, every man who saw Lloyd could not help but feel an ounce of respect towards him, as if they understood the dedication and time it took for him to gain what he has now.
"What are you waiting for?" Lloyd roared as killing intent exploded out of his body and flooded the lake.
"Do you not want to win?" He asked, his arms open wide without a weapon in his hands.
*SWOOOOOOSH*
The sound of 10 figures ripping through the air entered Lloyd's ears, yet one of them was far faster than the rest, and Lloyd could feel it.
Without skipping a beat, Lloyd turned around and threw a devastating punch just in time for his fist to collide with the dagger coated in lightning.
Yet, despite what it seemed, Lloyd did not lose out in this exchange. After all-
[Commandment: 99.99% - Half-Step First Commandment]
