It was a cold morning and as always the man got up from his lotus position to check upon the matters of the town.
On his way to the office soldiers and officials greeted him like one would greet a king.
For those people, the entity before them was no different from a king.
With a middle-aged look and bright, sliver hair the man looked healthy and full of life.
His face was handsome and coupled with his dark pupils the look made him look superhuman.
Getting to his office he sat on the chair and began reading the documents.
His intelligence and processing power were above a normal human and such matters that would take tens of hours were done in 20 minutes.
After the matters were health the man stood and looked through the window.
His office was beautifully decorated and furnished with tables and chairs made of the most high-quality wood one could get their hands on in these areas.
One could clearly notice how respected an augmented human is in the current society.
His brows, however, frowned at the sight he witnessed outside.
On days like these, some soldiers would be training and some would patrol the grounds.
Now, however, no one was there and the deathly stillness made the man have a bad premonition.
The door to his office was suddenly opened and an official took two steps before his body was cleanly split in two.
Behind him was a youth that was clothed in simple leather clothes made for hunters.
The middle-aged man took a look and sensed an incredible danger coming from the young man before him.
-Who are you?
-Having so much courage to barge in, do you wish to provoke the capital and be wanted by the whole empire?
The youth showed a neutral facial expression and started to calmly walk toward the middle-aged man.
This clearly upset the man as he frowned and a sword appeared in his hand.
-I will show your head to the capital and see if someone recognizes your disembodied head then.
...
Standing on a luxurious chair I looked at the sword laying on the table.
Its exquisite blade was extremely sharp and had runes printed all over.
I also inspected the body of the mayor.
On a large table, the man had his hand and legs placed at the corners with his body dissected and carefully placed on the table.
No blood could be seen on any of the organs or on the table.
Everything looked organized and well-placed.
I took a look at his memories and instantly learned the breathing method.
It was comprised of different ways to absorb the energy and use it to modify the body and soul.
An overall upgrade of the body over time would make one essentially superhuman.
In later stages, one would be able to manipulate the energy itself and even become a god.
But that needs resources and the number is not small at all.
It took 50 years for this man to become this powerful.
My estimates are that his level should have been around 9, almost reaching 10.
What a shame that he met me tho.
Had he reached the 10th level he would've been able to rebuild his body and rebirth.
This procedure would eliminate his food and sleep needs, and even the cold and hot would affect him only slightly.
After absorbing his soul I reached the requirements for my first rebirth and I should prepare for it soon.
I stood up and made my way towards the basement.