1 Mark's New Life.(Edited)

(He will keep his name as Mark.)

Since he could think for himself, Mark saw the world, not through the lens of hope, but of pure logic. He could see that humanity as a species was rotten to its core as they only cared for themselves and maybe their families.

But that was not always a guarantee, but he did have such a family. They were close together and they kept the darker thoughts of Mark in check for a time. They may have grown up in a poor neighborhood, but they all worked together. so they had hope.

However, what happens when that hope dies? When WW3 broke out, his father and his 3 older brothers were all drafted to go to war. Leaving only him as the last son of the family. He always hoped and prayed his father and brothers would be lucky, but fate was not so kind to him.

All 4 of them died leaving his poor mother heartbroken. He tried his best to be there for her, but she in the end died of a broken heart leaving then-11-year-old Mark alone. He was taken in by his father's best friend who tried to help him get over his depression.

However, Mark's mind had fallen deeper into his darker thoughts, and the goodness in him was far too gone for something like that. Instead, he just tried to get Mark not to kill himself and he succeeded. His father's friend, an ex-Special Forces, began to train him how to defend himself, and how to fight back to give him a spark of life.

This training went on until he was 17 and now, a much more cold and ruthless person. He took what he was taught and then built upon it further. He learned more fighting styles and Martial Arts which he tested out on the gangsters where he lived. He went out at night and became some kind of Punisher, killing scores of them in secret.

Over the course of 5 years, he moved from punishing petty gangsters to being recruited by an Assassination Company. There, they refined his skills even further and his cold mind allowed him to excel at killing. He began to take on bigger targets. After 45 years of working for the Company, when he reached 67, they informed him that this would be his last mission.

He was getting old and his skill was deteriorating at a considerable rate. Even a Peak Human-like him would eventually get old and weaken. They offered him a deal, he can take an easy mission and become a teacher, or he can take the hard route and go out in a blaze of glory.

A man like Mark obviously chose the latter and his target this time, was to assassinate the current leader of North Korea. At the age of 67 years old, he completed his final assignment. At that moment Mark lay in a pool of his own blood.

Bullet holes covered his gut, chest, and limbs and he was only alive on pure will and combat drugs. He was sitting on a fat, Korean Dictator who he had shot dead completing his final mission.

A big feral smile covered his aged face as he tried to laugh at it all.

'I had a blast.'

He sighed in relief as he brought up the detonating remote for the many bombs he planted throughout the building. He hit the switch causing the entire building to be overtaken by an explosion of shrapnel and flame.

When he died, he would not have an afterlife. His Earth had no magic so it was just on a Reincarnation Pathway that used the souls of the dead to make new souls and reuse old ones after cleansing them. Though, this system was very old so every now and then you got glitches and anomalies.

Much like Mark's own soul which left its system by mistake and ended up in the Void. This was not the 'Void' of Space, but the Void Dimension. A place that destroyed anything that did not belong except those strong enough to travel it. But Mark's soul seemed unaffected by the energies of the Void.

As his soul drifted for an uncertain amount of time, his soul began to adapt to where he was. His regular human soul began to evolve. He eventually caught the attention of a creature of the void. The creature looked through Mark's soul and felt curiosity at his soul, not being destroyed.

After infusing some power into his soul tossed it tossed Mark's soul away. It would observe him and see what Mark would do as a talent for the Energies of the Void was rare. As it tossed his soul away, it crossed the dimensional barriers and sent his soul toward an alternative Earth somewhere in Japan.

His soul dived straight into the head of a 15-year-old teen. Mark's soul with the trace power of the Void began to assimilate and eat the young man's soul. The man named Issei Hyuodo was killed before his destiny could come to bear.

As for his Sacred Gear, it did not react to the death of Issei. Though, once Mark's stronger Void evolved soul took over, the Void power in his soul caused Ddraig to stir awake. He did not yet reach out to his new host who had just devoured Issei's soul.

He was curious about what this new host would do. When Mark's consciousness settled into his new body some changes occurred to the body. Issei had once had light brown eyes, but Mark's were pitch black and look the look they gave off was of a predator.

Even his hair changed color from brown to pitch black as well. All over his body, his Mana Pathways began to flow with powerful Soul Energy as his soul brought great change to his new body.

The changes happened instantly, and he felt the change, but he could not describe the feeling. It was like he was overdosing on Combat Stims, but his mind was sharp as surgical steel.

Mark sat up on the bed he was laying on. He did not get up as a stream of memories, not his own entered into his mind. He instantly sat down in began to meditate and focused on these foreign experiences and memories.

He could not do much to them at the moment, but he could protect his own mind from being tainted by these foreign memories as they were not his own. Yet, he could learn something from them, but he would not let them taint him. After what seemed like hours he finally opened his black eyes and they looked disgusted.

"What kind of freak was this kid?"

He looked around the room and saw pictures of different animes and hentai. He also knew that under the bed were just as many hentai mangas something he had never been into. Why got for fake paper when he could get the real thing? Mark covered his face in disgust as this kid was scum as he was also a peeper.

'It's a good thing I took over. This is either a rapist or a pedophile in the making. It always starts with being a peeper, then it will be raping, and maybe even killing.'

He was no saint as he had more blood on his hand than even serial killers, but he still had standards. Which this Issei obviously did not? After reviewing his new memories, he knew where he was and was prepared to leave.

He knew this kid lived with his parents, but despite having lost his own family that did not mean he was soft. He was still a ruthless killer and they should be grateful that their worthless son had given him a new body no matter how bad it was.

He walked over to the mirror and took off his white shirt and looked at his body under it. He analyzed the body in question and had issues with it.

"This kid is 15 years old today and he is only 5'4, his body is undergrown, and lacking any form of muscle definition. His looks are above average, but he does not compare to my past self at all. All in all, this body is a bust."

Issei had never worked out a day in his life or even done anything physical. His body was scrawny and he would have preferred someone fat. Fat people had some strength to them as they carried all that weight if they walked and not used scooters. Not this kid, he would have to work from scratch to make this work for him otherwise his skills would Mark popped his neck from side to side as he looked at the clock.

It was currently 3:34 AM meaning he had time before Issei's parents woke up. Mark looked through Issei's clothes and found something he would not mind wearing. Some black jeans, a black t-shirt, and an anime hoodie over it.

It was the only type of hoodie Issei had owned which was not what he liked. For goodness sake, the back of it was an anime girl making an ahego face, but it would make do. He would have preferred it if it was totally black, but one can't be a chooser.

He grabbed Issei's school backpack, emptied it out, and took some of Issei's clean clothes, he went into the kitchen and got a large knife he could use. This was Japan so guns were much harder to find than his home country of America.

Once he was packed, he walked to the front door, but he saw Issei's father's wallet. He reached out and grabbed it before taking all the cash from it.

'Thanks for the cash.'

He grabbed the car keys and left the house toward the family car with his backpack. He did not care what it looked like as he unlocked it and got into the driver's seat tossing the backpack into the back. He turned the car on before he drove off from the house.

"Alright, where should I go? This town is called Kuoh in the Kanto region, so where should I go?"

From Issei's memories, it was currently 2006 which was not a very good or bad year. For someone like Mark, the year did not matter as long as he was alive. He drove the car he stole away from the Town which gave him an ominous feeling.

He had been to Japan only a few times to kill some people, but other than that he had no idea where to go. As such he decided to just drive North for at least an hour before he did anything else.

As he drove in silence, he sifted through Issei's memories. None of them were particularly useful as Issei was just some perverted teen. He did not know any useful information so Mark was in the dark as even he did not remember 2006 as he was born in 2022.

After he found a good stretch of the forest he pulled the car over and drove it into the cover of some trees. He got out of the car and sat on the hood. He gazed at his left hand with squinted eyes. As he was driving, he kept feeling like he was being looked at. How could he not notice that after his long life of killing?

As for Ddraig, the dragon found it impressive that this Mark actually perceived him.

[You can stop staring at your arm. I am here. Mark."

Hearing the voice in his head, Mark clenched his left hand wondering what this was.

"What are you? And where are you? And did this kid matter to you, spirit? Ghost? Wraith?"

Ddraig felt like laughing.

[Spirit, Wraith, Ghost, all can be considered true. I am Ddraig, the Welsh Dragon. The Red Dragon Emperor. Currently sealed as just a soul in your left hand. Or Issei's former left hand is now yours."

Hearing that made Mark unclench his left hand gazing at it. Was Issei magical? Was magic real in this world?

"I see. So, were you sealed into this kid and I now have to break you out?"

[If you could, I would be in your debt. But no, I was sealed here by God of the Bible into the Boosted Gear. Speaking of which, focus on your left hand. Imagine your source of power comes from your left hand.]

Mark did as Ddraig advised and held his left arm out. He closed his eyes and pictured his source of power coming from his left arm. An explosion or a Nuclear Reactor would be a good image. Suddenly, a bright flash of red, green, and even black covered his arm before his arm up to his forearm was covered in a red gauntlet with a big green jewel in the middle.

But in a few places, it had a darker shade of red like black was mixed with red. A small red glow originated from the Boosted Gear from the green jewel.

[This is the Boosted Gear. My seal and prison, one of the 13 Longinous made by the God of the Bible. It allows the one who possesses it to use my original power, Boost. You can double your power every 10 seconds as long as your body can endure the strain.]

Hearing that made Mark feel lucky that he took Issei's body as he ran his hand down the gauntlet. He would be even stronger than his past self. Much stronger.

"Well then Ddraig, what do you say if we become just as strong as you were in your peak."

Hearing that made Ddraig want to grin.

[Let me tell you now that no host before you has ever managed to reach a level like I once held in my body.]

"Then I better work my ass off to surpass you."

[Quick question? What about Issei's parents?]

With a grin, Mark answered.

"What about them?"

Ddraig wanted to grin as well as he liked this new host already.

[If that is what you feel like, then let's get started, Partner. I am Ddraig.]

"And I am Mark Nathanial Anderson. Assassin and Killer. Though, you can just call me Mark. Now, if you said that your power relies on having a strong body, then I better work this body to the limit. Do you have any advice on how to get magic? Magic is real right?"

[Of course. For normal people, you would have to meditate to get a feel for magic. Though, that is not needed for you. Just sit down, and Boost as many times as you can endure. Then, get a feel that way. You already unlocked your Pathways, you just got to feel it.

Mark hopped off the car's hood and sat under a big tree He placed his left arm onto his lap before he activated it.

[BOOST!]

The moment he boosted he felt his power double which meant a lot of things. For one, his strength, his stamina, his speed, and even his perception all doubled. Though just one Boost would have been the limit of Issei, it was not for him.

After 10 seconds passed, he Boosted again, but he stopped there. Already he felt that Issei's weak body would reach the limit. Once he had 4 times the perception, he closed his eyes and began to meditate in silence.

Ddraig watched his new host who actually listened to him. Many of his hosts choose to ignore him to try to live normal lives. Only a select few had stuck in his memories, but Mark was special.

With 4 times the perception, Mark got a feeling for Mana.

'What now Ddraig?'

[Draw it into your body and then remember this feeling. Once you have Mana in your body, you can then Boost that. Mana is the energy most beings use except for a few exceptions.]

Mark as he was currently in nature, was surrounded by Mana. He began to gather mana from the air and took deep steay breaths to draw it in. His perception allowed him to draw Mana into his lungs which flowed through his bloodstream and Pathways allowing him to feel them.

Watching how his host worked, Ddraig felt glad he had such a talented host. Mark did this for around 10 minutes before Ddraig told him to stop.

[It's enough. Release the Boost, if you hold it longer you will strain your body.]

Mark did as advised and once the 4 times perception was undone he felt a wave of fatigue fill his body. He felt tired as he calmed his body. His head even began to ache as he strained his mind.

[Good work. Now that you got a feeling for mana, you won't need to do that again. Now, you can focus on getting a stronger body. Is that why you brought us to this forest?]

"Correct. Here, I can train and build a better body. What are the chances I will run into magical monsters and the like?"

[Unlikely, but not impossible. Depending on what you run into, you might have to run or worse fight for your life.]

"So, what I am used to?"

[Yes.]

"Then, let's get to it."

Mark made sure to hide the car he stole before he walked deeper into the forest vanishing from sight.