Tarkhan groaned heavily as he slowly rose from the ground, holding his head, from which came intense pain. He could also feel the warm blood which was dripping from his head.
"You're awake now, Uncle?" Liam was leaning against the wall of the building where Mr Rogers had previously hidden on, slowly waiting for Tarkhan while analysing the book.
"Of course, Liam. How did I even survive that attack by the Mystic?" Tarkhan was just about to say more, when he was hit by a foul stench. He turned to look at where the stench was coming from, and revolted from the sight.
There, a dead body that was greatly disfigured lied, while white maggots wriggled in holes around the body. It was clear that the body had been decomposing for quite a while.
Liam himself was wearing a cloth on his face, which prevented the smell from affecting him too much. The sight of Mr Rogers' body was a familiar one to him, as he himself had dissected many corpses before for the Amalgamation project.
"What is Mr Rogers doing there?" Tarkhan gagged as he continued to rationalise what had happened. Since he had already passed out when Mr Rogers appeared, he did not know about the true identity of the Mystic yet.
"He was the Mystic that attacked us. I think he said that he wanted his coins and your body as experiment material. Anyway, that old man showed up again and saved both of us." Liam used the mysterious man excuse again to deceive Tarkhan again.
Since Tarkhan was still shocked from the events that had happened, he accepted what Liam was saying. However, he was suspicious of the old man showing up two times to save his nephew.
"Do you think that old man is interested in taking you as an apprentice? He seems to have saved you quite a few times." Tarkhan looked expectantly at Liam. He knew that the Mystic pathway was a lot easier than the Tempered pathway, so he wanted Liam to learn that pathway if he could.
Tarkhan expected Liam to become a person of considerable standing, unlike him, who had trained almost half his life only to reach Iron Skin level. It was supposed to be a distant target, but with every appearance of the man, it made his dream closer to reality.
"I don't know, he said that he was some... Derrick Ward? Anyway, can someone learn both the Tempered and Mystic pathways?" Liam was getting tired of Tarkhan asking about the mysterious man, so he revealed the name of the man shown inside the crystal.
"Derrick Ward... I seem to have heard that name before. I will do some research on him to see his identity. As for your question, you should just specialise on one pathway. Even though it's possible do both, you will need to attain the same levels in both pathways before advancing. It's complicated, difficult, and simply not worth your time." Tarkhan replied to Liam, filling up his basic knowledge about the pathways.
To summarise up all the basic knowledge about the pathways, the Mystic pathway focused on using the spirit to cast a multitude of spells, each with different types of specialities.
Meanwhile, the Tempered pathway focused on the refining of the physical body, transcending the limits of it and turning it into a weapon with brute force. It was the tougher and less useful method, but once someone reaches the first Demon's Way Tier, they would become stronger than the Mystic pathway.
Since he already had a guide for the Mystic pathway, he wanted to learn the pathway of the Tempered. No matter what Tarkhan said, Liam wanted to experience the two pathways for himself. It was just too fascinating for him to resist such a great opportunity.
"I want to learn the Tempered pathway!" Liam declared to Tarkhan as soon as he had made up his mind about what to do. The only Tempered person he knew was Tarkhan, so it was only logical of him to learn the Tempered pathway from him.
"Why would you want to learn this tough pathway? If you want to embark on pathways, you might as well learn the Mystic one." Tarkhan told Liam off sternly, as he feared that Liam would not be able to tolerate the harsh trainings for his pathway.
"Uncle, stop dismissing my resolve. I will endure and train to the end, just for you and Maylin!" Liam spoke passionately, with a fire blazing in his eyes. Even though he was acting, he still acted extremely well. Tarkhan was secretly impressed within by Liam, but still continued to dissuade him as they headed home.
As both of them left the area, a teenage girl popped her head out from a dumpster, shivering with fear. It was clear that her features were extraordinary, having pure eyes and youthful, fair skin. However, she did not look beautiful at all in the state that she was in.
Tears were streaming down her cheeks, and there was traces of mucus from her nose. She had also peed involuntarily from the overwhelming fear she had felt, with drops staining the pavement.
Earlier, she had just been buying some groceries from the farmers' market for her mother, but she noticed Tarkhan and Liam being cornered by some ruffians, so she stayed behind to watch out of curiosity.
Then, she had seen Mr Rogers, the general merchant's degenerate side, and had initially felt disgust, then horror as he started to attack Tarkhan. She had put her hand over her mouth and bit it to prevent her from giving away her presence.
What really made her hide in the dumpster later on was Liam. The boy that had repeatedly laid eyes on her and had tried to hit on her many times. None of that was left as he gave off a cold smile when his arm swelled up to a monstrous size. It was as tall as her parents combined, and looked like it was capable of crushing a house.
Mr Rogers head was brutally decapitated, and one of his subordinates also got turned into meat pulp. That was the first time in her life she felt primal fear, which kicked in her flight or fight response, making her hide in the dumpster.
"No, I can't tell anyone about this! Or else... that Monster that possessed Liam would kill me!" The village belle, Lisa, started to take in deep breaths to remain calm again. She just needed to go on with her daily life, there was no need to think about Liam.
At the same time, she felt conflicted, needing to tell someone about this to save the innocent boy Liam. He was being possessed by a demonic creature of some sort.
She pushed this matter out of her mind, taking the basket of fruits that she had dropped and lifting it off the ground, slowly stumbling back home in a disheveled state.