A guard was patrolling a corridor of the building, he paced from one side of it to another, "My shift is about to end," he thought to himself, but his thoughts were cut short by the sound of a whistle coming his way.

♪whistle, whistle♪, his ears perked intrigued, as he tried to identify the source of the sound. His mind didn't immediately fire off alarms as it was a simple whistle, and he was stationed in the middle part of the building; if someone had broken in, he would have heard the commotion beforehand.

As he moved around the corridor, trying to identify the source of the whistle, an aroma of coffee beans reached his nose, causing a slight smile to take place on his face. "I wonder if the crew is brewing coffee?"

SLUCK! An answer arrived as he felt it right in his brain, his gaze went up to see the smiling face of Isaiah, whose eyes weren't even looking at him, instead focused on the end of the corridor.

His vision was slowly waning due to the five fingers covered in light mana that went through his throat up to his brain. CRUSH! Isaiah's hand grasped, causing the last bit of life in him to leave his body.

Isaiah pulled out his hand from the guard's head, his hand soaked to the tee with blood. The light covering his fingers spread to cover his entire hand. SIZZLE, smoke came out as the blood covering them dissipated, effectively cleaning his hand. "Much better."

He took a sip of his coffee and continued to ascend the tall building. He didn't even bother exiting his invisibility, as he effectively handled all the small fries unlucky enough to accidentally be on his path.

He didn't go after each and every guard at the building, as that wasn't the purpose of this visit today.

SLASH, with another clean slash of his hand, another guard fell to the cold ground below, their body devoid of any life.

Isaiah raised his gaze from the corpse below to the door in front of him. This was the room he was after since the beginning. He purposefully hadn't destroyed this building since he was here to rob them of their money instead of simply killing them all off.

THUF! He kicked the door open, startling the man behind the door who quickly got up and leaped towards him with intense dexterity, his body winded and his hands holding the shape of a claw covered in flames.

Before he could even swing his winded arm at Isaiah, he was thrown to the wall at the side of the room with a swift kick from Isaiah.

While Isaiah usually opted to use illusion magic to toy with his opponents, that wasn't all he had in his arsenal. Due to the knowledge he carried over with his soul after his transmigration, he was also highly proficient in martial arts.

Half of the man's body was out of the building through the cracks, dangling above the ground right below the tall building. If he fell, it wouldn't be a good time.

He slowly got up, collecting his demeanor and even straightened his back, acting like he wasn't just thrown to the wall like a rag doll.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

His name was Dave Gold, he was the gang leader of the Gold Liquor gang which mainly earned their money by selling an alcoholic beverage called Gold Liquor, renowned within the entire district. Even Isaiah had tasted a glass of it before.

"You sure are wealthy, I can tell from all the Rank 1s I had to pack while ascending this building," he took in his surroundings with one side of the wall open to air now, he could see a beautiful view of the entire heart of the district right below, "I will put this building to good use after I kill you."

"You aren't gonna take shit from me!" Dave shouted as Peak Rank 1 aura spread to his surroundings, which only caused a chuckle to emanate from Isaiah, "You are either dumb or haven't caught up with the news," he said casually, he wasn't even in a combat pose.

Jets of flames covered his feet as Dave rushed towards Isaiah akin to flying at him. Isaiah simply dodged to the side, his hands still behind his back, "Your form absolutely sucks."

While Dave might be a powerful Peak Rank 1, this didn't mean he had any combat training, nor did it mean he had ever used his spells in a fight against an equal or stronger opponent.

Given enough time, everyone could reach Peak Rank 1, which was also the reason why Isaiah's uncle, Louie, who definitely wasn't a fighter, was Peak Rank 1. Things, however, weren't as simple for Rank 2 mages; they were all individuals forged with the flames of battle.

A Rank 2 mage who wasn't proficient in combat arts would be hard to find. Obviously, not each one of them was proficient in hand-to-hand combat, but on this planet, combat arts extended beyond just hand-to-hand; it mostly referred to your proficiency in using your spells in the heat of battle.

Seeing the amateurish movements of Dave, Isaiah let out an audible sigh, "Sigh, my disappointment is immeasurable." Hearing his mocking tone caused the flames within Dave to further ignite as he burst forth with flames, each of his kicks and punches covered in flames.

Isaiah, with his hands covered in condensed light mana, easily parried or blocked all of Dave's attacks. As Dave leaned forward, putting his weight on his right foot and twisting his body to punch with his left fist, SMACK!, he had the living soul slapped out of him as he fell to the ground.

Just as he struggled to get up, SMACK!, another slap came thundering down. Each time he tried to get up, he would get beat down in various creative ways: THUCK!, sometimes it was a kick, and sometimes, THUMB!, a simple punch.

Isaiah made sure to beat the fighting spirit out of the man. Dave laid on the floor, drowning in his own blood. Isaiah held the man by his shirt and turned him over, so he wouldn't actually drown to death in his own blood. Not only was his spirit broken, but his body was devoid of any energy to move.

Seeing the state Dave was in, Isaiah went to the counter on the side, picked up a bottle of Gold Liquor, and filled a whiskey glass. He took a sip from the liquid; it burned his throat as it traveled, with a metallic taste at first, quickly followed by a pleasant sweetness.

"You know what, Dave?" he swirled the whiskey glass in his hand, "I'm not gonna hold my compliment on this beverage, you have truly crafted something unique with it." He then shifted his gaze from the glass in his hand to Dave on the floor, "But do tell, why should I spare your life when there are others working under you who do a better job at producing this liquor?" He chuckled, then shook his head, and after taking a sip, added, "I, for one, cannot find any reasons."

With that, he slowly walked towards Dave's body, his foot placed on top of his head, "I'm gonna allow you to say your prayer since you managed to craft something truly unique here."

Dave, without even moving his gaze focused on the distant wall, with no life left in them, questioned, "Why me? What sins have I ever committed against you?"

Hearing this, Isaiah chuckled, "None, you absolutely committed no sins against me." THUMB!, as he gradually increased the weight he applied with his foot, Dave's head slowly caved in until it hit its breaking point and exploded into a shower of blood, which Isaiah was spared thanks to the mana he surrounded himself in, "But the sins you committed in the past were blocking my path."