The second Robert landed on the ground and looked around, he quickly noticed that Lucen seemed ready to strike a killing blow, so he shouted.

"Don't kill him! I want to analyze whatever it is he took that made him that way."

"Huh? Why do you even need this guy? We can just find more of that pill he took; it's not like he's the only one who has it."

Lucen replied as he evaded another attack from the enraged Gared. Despite the initial crater attack, Lucen was able to lessen the damage to the surrounding area as he redirected and evaded each strike.

Robert clicked his tongue in irritation as he took a few quick steps back, avoiding the gust of air from one of Gared's wild swings.

"How could you say something like that, Lucen! As a fellow walker on the path to the future, you should know how valuable that body is. We need to see the reaction of that pill in different types of bodies. The pill by itself is only half the answer. The body that changes from it is the other half!"

Hearing what Robert said, Lucen sighed. He slipped past another strike and this time countered with his aura mantle enveloping his body.

The blow landed cleanly, but instead of folding, Gared only staggered half a step before roaring and swinging again with even more force.

It would seem that his durability had increased alongside everything else, making it even more troublesome to keep him alive.

"Fine, if you want to take him alive, then you do it," Lucen spoke as he grabbed hold of Gared's arms and tossed him towards Robert.

Gared's body flew through the air and crashed toward Robert like a cannonball of flesh and madness.

Instead of panicking, Robert's amber eyes lit up even more. He took out three vials at once and threw them in different directions with practiced precision.

The first shattered directly in front of Gared, releasing a thick, dark green liquid that spread across the ground like living tar.

The second broke above him, and the liquid inside turned into a net of hardened threads the instant it touched the air.

The third burst right beside Robert's feet, causing the stones beneath him to rise and twist into a slanted wall that he used as cover.

This was the first time Lysette and Jay had seen an alchemist fight, and they were quite surprised by what Robert did.

The dark green liquid spread beneath Gared the moment his body came crashing down, and instead of splashing outward like ordinary fluid, it thickened instantly into something between sludge and glue.

The moment Gared's feet touched it, the substance clung to him and pulled downward with unnatural force, as if the ground itself had decided to swallow him. At the same time, the net of hardened threads dropped from above.

It struck Gared across the shoulders and chest and wrapped around him in a violent tangle. Each thread gleamed faintly with an alchemical luster, far too thin to look sturdy, yet the instant Gared tried to move through them, they tightened and bit into his drug-swollen body.

Then he slammed into the slanted wall Robert had created. The impact shook the alley.

The stone wall cracked, but it had done exactly what Robert needed it to do. Gared's momentum had been broken, his body dragged down into the green sludge while the hardened net forced his limbs inward for the span of a single breath.

Gared roared as his muscles bulged even more. Gared's aura mantle was becoming more and more violent and unstable.

The green sludge alongside the hardened net burst, scattering all around. Lucen stood in front of Lysette and Jay, redirecting the debris elsewhere.

On the other hand, Robert's mana barrier rippled as fragments of stone and hardened sludge struck against it and slid away. Even as he protected himself, his eyes never left Gared for even a moment.

"Hoh..." Robert muttered, his voice trembling with excitement. "The pressure is still rising. No, not only rising, but it is becoming more erratic. The body is trying to keep up with the forced enhancement, but the aura and flesh are clearly beginning to tear away from one another. How fascinating."

'So is he going to some sort of phase two?' Lucen thought to himself.

On the other hand, Lysette's gaze remained fixed on Gared, but her expression did not change. She looked neither shocked nor disgusted. Instead, there was only a quiet, almost distant sharpness in her eyes, as though she were observing something distasteful yet useful.

"It would seem that whatever false strength he borrowed is beginning to collect its due. As expected, power borrowed with no effort is disgusting," she said sharply yet softly. Her tone was calm and refined, but there was not even the slightest hint of sympathy in it.

Jay, who was standing beside, also commented. "Y-Yes... That is how it starts. At first, they just get stronger, faster, tougher. Then after that..." His voice trembled. "Their bodies begin to break while the drug keeps forcing them to move. The more it drags out, the more they stop being human."

"That man has a heavy scent of blood. Based on his skills, he isn't good enough to fight on the front lines, nor is he good enough to kill monsters. I can already guess where that scent came from. Meaning that man was never human to begin with, calling him garbage would already be generous," Lysette responded.

The moment those words left Lysette's mouth, Gared's bloodshot eyes twitched violently.

For a brief moment, it seemed that some remnant of reason had heard her clearly. Then that remnant was swallowed by the madness burning through him.

A low, broken laugh escaped his throat, but there was nothing human in the sound. It was jagged and wet, more like the noise of a beast trying to imitate laughter than that of a man who still possessed his senses.

"Garbage?..." Gared repeated, his voice coming out unevenly.

The aura around him flared once more. This time, it did not merely swell. It lashed outward in unstable waves, tearing at the ground beneath him and making the already-cracked stones of the alley split even further.

The bulging muscles in his arms twitched violently, and thin lines of blood began leaking from several places where the skin could no longer endure the strain.

***

Gared Voss was someone born and raised in the lower districts. He had lived a life of hardships, and like everyone else, tried his best to survive. Yet, more than that, deep inside, he had great ambitions.

When he looked at the beautiful buildings of the upper district and how everyone there was able to laugh happily without worries, he swore to himself that he, too, would get there.

When he had awakened his aura, he was excited. This was his chance to be something and get somewhere. Unfortunately, reality was unforgiving.

Gared joined the regular army; he imagined that he would be able to rise in the ranks quickly with his ability. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

Yet no matter how hard he struggled, he remained in the lowest ranks of the aura users. When he saw the nobles who were much younger than him rise in rank far above him so quickly, he became extremely jealous.

'If we had the same opportunities, I would have done better than they did. If I were at the same aura mantle, I could beat them.' Those were his thoughts at the time.

When a new noble came who was also at the first aura mantle, he quickly challenged the other party to prove his worth.

He thought that this was his chance to prove his ability, that he, too, was worthy of rising in rank. He lost overwhelmingly, and that noble was even considered to be talentless; then what would that make him?

"Garbage." That was what he was called behind his back.

After that, he continued to try hard, but failed, and could no longer handle it. He then quit the army and returned to the lower district.

Once he got back, he started beating up those he didn't like, and he won; he actually won. He found satisfaction in beating up those weaker than him. Still, he craved for more strength, so that he would be able to do this to those noble b*stards he envied so much.

Then one day, he was given something that could achieve his dreams. A pill that would be able to strengthen him to defeat those stronger than him.

He loved the feeling even more as he killed those aura users who looked down on him before. As long as he did as he was told, he was given the pill, and he would be able to do what he wanted.

And right now, right in front of him, were those highborns who were looking down on him. Despite his mind being broken down by the madness of taking the new pill, he still had that anger and envy within him; in fact, the feeling was now even stronger than ever before.

Gared's face twisted into something no longer human as he let out a roar that shook the alley. Blood burst from his skin as he forced every last drop of stolen power into a single fist. The murky aura around him surged wildly, swelling until even the stones beneath his feet cracked apart.

"How unfortunate, but this too is valuable data," Robert whispered. " Very well! Show me what happens when the body finally breaks from forcing power that is not your own."

The ground that was cracking beneath Gared's feet shattered like glass as he vanished from everyone's sight. Seeing what happened, Lucen's eyes sharpened.

In the chaos, Robert's amber eyes gleamed behind his spectacles, not with fear, but with trembling excitement.