Cleaver Of Sin

Chapter 485: Advice

Asher stood calmly as he held the fist of the clone that stared back at him with the same calm purple eyes he himself always used when facing his opponents. The two figures remained locked in place, identical in stance and presence, as though a mirror had gained substance and stepped into reality.

’If this is what my opponents feel when they fight against me, then I really am a monster,’ Asher mused quietly to himself, the thought carrying neither pride nor fear, only detached contemplation.

Personally, he wanted to continue the spar, but the time designated for that had already come to an end, and lingering any longer would only disrupt the facility’s schedule. He sighed softly, then with a mere thought, he cancelled his light clone ability. His clone dissipated into countless light photons with that same calm expression still lingering on its face, scattering gently like drifting fireflies before vanishing entirely.

With that done, Asher turned around and walked out with a faint, satisfied smile on his face, having thoroughly enjoyed everything he had gained in the past few days, and being able to test it all in a spar had only solidified that satisfaction. Although it had merely been a low-level exchange compared to his current strength, something closer to practice than true combat, it didn’t matter to him in the slightest.

But still, something bothered Asher, a small irregularity that refused to leave his mind. During the spar, his clone had smirked at him for a brief moment before its body blurred into a phantom and it instantly widened the distance between them.

Wasn’t it just a puppet?’ Asher thought to himself, his brows narrowing slightly. He had always regarded his clone as nothing more than a construct without will or instinct, something that simply executed commands, but that smirk... that fleeting, knowing expression... it had felt disturbingly natural, almost alive.

’I will forget about it for now,’ he thought to himself as he walked out, pushing the thought to the back of his mind for the time being. The basic Space training chamber snapped shut behind him with a mechanical hiss, sealing itself as though nothing had ever occurred inside. Without missing a beat, he levitated as usual and smoothly lifted off the ground, his body gliding forward with effortless grace as he flew toward the chatterbox known as the receptionist.

Seeing him, the bored expression on her face softened slightly before she spoke, ”It seems your talent must be even more ridiculous than people probably know,” she said with a calm yet knowing expression as her eyes fell on Asher, who now stood before her. Although Asher didn’t say anything about his progress, the chatterbox of a woman could somehow sense it regardless, as though she possessed an intuition sharpened by years of observation.

After all, she had been the receptionist and guardian of the Training Facility Building for a long time, and she had witnessed countless individuals, talents, and different types of growth pass through these halls. She had seen prodigies, late bloomers, failures, and monsters alike. But even still, she couldn’t pinpoint Asher’s exact progress. All her intuition told her was that Asher was advancing far too quickly, at a speed that defied common sense and bordered on something unnatural.

Asher didn’t react outwardly, he simply floated before the woman with a calm, unreadable expression. Before he came here, he had already expected her to talk like a broken radio. ’I wonder if she bothers everyone who comes here to train,’ Asher thought to himself, mildly curious, ’I would have to ask William or Finch whenever we meet again.’ If she talked and bothered only him and no one else, then she was definitely targeting him for her own amusement.

”I know this isn’t my place, kid,” the receptionist’s tone turned serious for a moment, losing its usual teasing edge, ”and yes, I know you aren’t a normal genius like everyone else. After all, you are a Wargrave. But don’t burn through your talent and hit a wall way too quickly in your life, because if you do, you might stay there forever.” She paused for a moment, her black eyes serious yet calm, carrying a weight of experience that couldn’t be faked. ”It’s up to you to ignore me or take my words for it,” she stated with quiet finality.

Asher didn’t speak for a moment. He understood what she was talking about perfectly. He had heard about similar cases before and had even read about them in novels back on Earth, stories of geniuses who advanced too fast and collapsed under their own unstable foundations. But Asher wasn’t bothered about any of that. If he hit a wall he couldn’t shatter, then perhaps he simply was never talented enough to begin with. That was all there was to it.

”Thank you for your kind words,” Asher stated, recognizing the sincerity in her voice. He could feel that the woman was extremely serious, and he could also tell it was somewhat rare for her to step out of line like this. Because of that, he couldn’t treat her with the same indifference or silence he usually showed.

The moment Asher spoke, the seriousness in her eyes, tone, and demeanor that had been present a couple of seconds ago vanished immediately as she instantly switched to her chatterbox side, ”So, how was today’s training? Any new abilities like your flight skill?” she asked, visibly intrigued and leaning forward slightly.

Asher ignored the question entirely as he took out his point card and spoke in a flat voice, ”Three hours for the basic Light training chamber.”

The receptionist sighed as she took the card and replied, ”I thought Thalric was the most boring Wargrave to ever exist. Who knew you were even worse than him?” A sigh escaped her lips, but even as she complained, it didn’t slow her professional speed in the slightest.

”Five hundred points per half an hour, the usual price,” she said. After receiving confirmation from Asher, she swiped the card and passed it back to him, then motioned toward the hallway leading deeper into the facility as they headed toward the basic Light training chamber.

Arriving, Asher entered, the door sealing shut behind him with a heavy metallic sound. He stood in silence as he took in the chamber and the stillness within it; it was just as it always was, empty, quiet, and sterile. He remembered the first time he had been here, when everything still felt new and uncertain, when he had created his invisibility skill and then experimented by bending and manipulating light photons to craft illusions.

Although that had barely been a month ago, to Asher it felt like ages had passed due to the sheer number of life-and-death battles he had experienced since then, each one compressing time and forcing growth at a merciless pace.

’I’ve been in this Academy for the past two months... I guess my current progress isn’t half bad for two months,’ he mused to himself with a calm smile on his face. Although he didn’t say it out loud, Asher doubted if anyone could even replicate his level of progress within such a short span of time.

His mind couldn’t help but wander toward what level he would reach by the end of the year or the beginning of the second year. Would he still even be qualified to be called a student? Or would he already be capable enough to stand among the instructors instead, teaching others what he had mastered so quickly?

’I wonder what the Star Academy has planned for the year-end exams. I’m looking forward to it,’ he mused to himself at the thought. Although it was still ten months away, anticipation quietly bubbled in his chest, a faint excitement stirring within him as he imagined the challenges that awaited.