Tempered’s Pathway

"The Mystic Pathway can't help me to protect my family. Only the Tempered Pathway can allow me to physically protect them!" Liam continued to use convoluted logic to turn Tarkhan towards his side. He was using the various tips and tricks he had learned from his past life to manipulate Tarkhan into agreeing with him.

"Stop pestering me with your argument. I get it, I get it, I will help you embark on the Tempered Pathway, ok?" Tarkhan was a tough nut to crack, but he eventually gave in under the smooth and persistent persuasion of Liam.

"Finally..." Liam's efforts has finally paid off in convincing Tarkhan. At the same time, they had already reached Tarkhan's house, so he immediately went inside to take a drink. Talking endlessly in the blazing sun had reduced his hydration by a lot.

After taking a lengthy amount of time to glut down 2 litres of water, Liam was still not satisfied, as he had not eaten any cooked food since he had came here.

"Are there any leftovers? I feel very hungry today." As Liam had used a lot of protein to boost his muscles recently, he needed to replenish it to repair the muscles in his left arm.

"We still have some salted fish left. Help yourself to it." Tarkhan went to the storeroom and fished out some salted fishes. He put it on the remaining rice still left on the iron plate, before offering it to Liam.

Lia took out an iron spoon, and started to scoop the food up to eat. Even though it was mostly not suited to his taste, he had eaten worse foods than this meal.

He also had no qualms about eating the bones of the fish, as his robotic chip could help him to break it down into its most simplest substance, ensuring the minimal amount of waste possible.

Of course, he would still have to dispose of the waste in his body, but he could delay it by several days before doing so. The main benefit from this was that he could absorb more nutrients within less timespan, which worked very well in his favour.

He rapidly chomped down on the salted fish and devoured the rice, bearing the discomfort as the fish bones went down his throat. The rice helped him to swallow down everything faster. Before long, he was already done with his meal, which reinvigorated him.

"Uncle, can I learn the Tempered Pathway now?" Even though Liam knew that the pathways were mostly taught at the various academies, he was sure that Tarkhan had some memories of the training method for the Tempered.

"Not yet. We still have get some Tier-0 beast blood in order to integrate it into your body." Tarkhan spoke to Liam while sitting on the chair opposite to him.

"Tier-0 beast blood? You need it to train the body? Since you reached the Iron Skin state already, should you not be able to kill a Tier-0 beast like the wolf?" Liam exclaimed in surprise. So the wolf really did have some use in its blood after all. It was a pity, but he could always hunt down more beasts.

"Iron Skin stage is not enough to defeat a Tier-0 beast. Only when a person has reached Tier-1 Demon's Way, and have fully integrated the power of a Tier-0 beast, will then have enough power to defeat such ferocious beasts. Tier-0 beasts are very difficult to defeat, for example, that demonic wolf that nearly killed you."

Liam was shocked that his arm boost actually contained this much raw power. It was only a minor detail that he had modified in order to surprise people and tackle them from behind. The defense of this world was sorely lacking.

"In that case, should I go to gather the wolf's blood from its corpse? I only took the pelt after all." Liam volunteered to wring the blood from the King Wolf's body. He wanted to expedite the speed of him embarking on the Tempered pathway.

"Fine. Just be careful. Even though Mr Rogers is dead, there are still his underlings roaming about." Tarkhan warned him of the underlings.

It reminded him that he should also exterminate the bandits which saw his true power. Their hideout should contain many goodies over the years which he could enrich himself with. He did not know how to collect dirt on them though, so he could not Attack them just yet.

Liam rose up from his seat, throwing the utensils and plate he used into a bucket to be washed later. He then opened the wooden door that blocked his way, and breathed in the fresh air of the village.

It had been a long time since he had ever been exposed to such a clean state of air. Before, the air around him was heavily polluted by the smell of decomposing body parts.

After enjoying this quick break, Liam then proceeded to stride back towards the forest. He retraced his steps exactly back to the hill, where the wolf's corpse was waiting for him.

Unsurprisingly, the wolf's corpse had not been touched by any other animals. It was probably because as a Tier-0 beast, it still had some aura remaining to ward off the scavengers.

That did not stop the decomposition however, as the wolf had started to show signs of decay, but overall was still in good condition, although a blood pool had formed under its head. Now that he was confident in his own strength, he was not scared to be slowed down at all.

He heaved the wolf on his scrawny back, and used the restored robotic chip to boost his back muscles, in order to support the weight of the wolf better. It was not long before he managed to trudge back to the village.

At the village, he transformed back into his original form, struggling to hold the wolf corpse on his back. Not to mention that the wolf blood was continually dripping on the ground from the brain.

"Wow, that's truly gruesome. I heard a Mystic actually killed it." "Don't look at it, Leila! You will get nightmares and then I have to calm you down!" The villagers admired and was simultaneously disgusted by the wolf's corpse. The fact that the wolf was furless did not make it better.

When Liam reached the front of the house after walking for a few minutes, he casually tossed the wolf off his back. The sound was enough to inform Tarkhan that he was back.

"Liam! You're back with that darned wolf! Wait here first, I will go drain the wolf of its blood." Tarkhan went outside to collect the wolf corpse, before dragging it into the house.

Liam did not have anything to do, so he waited at the front of the house for Tarkhan since there was no point in heading inside the house anyway. As he laid on the grass and enjoyed the scenery, it was interrupted by a loud rant behind him.

"What's Uncle Tarkhan doing again? The smell is horrendous!" Maylin complained about the smell of the wolf, which annoyed Liam a lot. He just wanted to have some peace and quiet after all the deaths.

However, he could not bother to deal with Maylin, and just sat there, listening to her incessant complains about her not having anyone to play with her.