Cleaver Of Sin

Chapter 946: The Possibilities

Asher could only sigh in relief that things like Star Energy couldn’t be drawn into existence. Even if FatelessPen possessed some sort of ability that allowed him to do it, he would never possess enough Astra energy to manifest Star Energy, Star Form, or anything of the sort.

‘So he can basically just draw Virelass’ abilities into existence if he knew what they were,’ Asher mused to himself, but he wasn’t particularly bothered.

Someone with FatelessPen’s ability and caliber should already possess the ability to teleport and heal whenever they wanted.

‘Who knows what else this guy can still do, regardless of whatever limitations his abilities possess,’ Asher thought to himself as he couldn’t help but consider the possibility that FatelessPen was still hiding more of his abilities.

After all, if the man hadn’t mentioned this particular aspect himself, Asher would never have even considered it.

‘I can’t help but imagine if his ability possessed no limitations and wasn’t reliant on Astra energy,’ Asher thought to himself. If that were the case, then FatelessPen would basically be an endgame-level character.

‘Hey, System, with abilities as busted as these, shouldn’t you give me something more?’ Asher shamelessly asked his System.

But the System no longer replied to his shameless greed, as though it had already gotten used to it.

“I tried a lot of things back in the day,” FatelessPen continued speaking as he gazed at the sky and the miniature sun he had drawn into existence, a smile appearing across his face.

‘What ridiculous thing did this guy try in the past?’ Asher couldn’t help but wonder as he listened.

“Since I couldn’t draw a Physique into existence, nor an affinity, or bestow myself with an actual ability, I decided to do something crazy,” FatelessPen continued, his red eyes shifting toward Asher, his voice almost melancholic. “Since a Bloodline possessed all of those, I simply attempted to draw the Wargrave Bloodline into existence.”

Asher stood frozen at what he had just heard. Not only had FatelessPen drawn Morthern’s soul-bound book into existence, but the guy had actually attempted to draw the Wargrave Bloodline into existence as well.

‘Where do the limits of this ability even lie?’ Asher couldn’t help but ask himself as he stood there, utterly stupefied.

“But it goes without saying that I failed. My heart nearly stopped beating after that, and I spent over a month coughing blood for no apparent reason at random intervals, as though I had received some sort of backlash or curse for touching such a Bloodline,” FatelessPen added with a shake of his head. “After that, I didn’t dare try to draw any Bloodline into existence again. After all, I love my life, and I don’t wish to die,” he stated with a smile.

His red eyes left Asher, his back resting against the tree once more as he stared into the sky and spoke, “Sometimes I can’t help but wonder… how powerful would my ability become if it evolved? I can’t help but imagine the possibilities that would come from such an evolution,” his tone filled with longing, as though he wanted nothing more than to break free from the chains restraining him.

Asher remained silent. FatelessPen truly was daring, and more importantly, he was incredibly talented. Another person blessed with the very same ability might never have thought this far, but the man had pushed his ability to its absolute limits by attempting to draw a Bloodline into existence. If that wasn’t creativity at its highest form, Asher wondered what else could possibly qualify.

Besides, it wasn’t surprising that FatelessPen had almost died after attempting to draw the Wargrave Bloodline into existence.

His mind couldn’t help but linger on FatelessPen’s final statement about his ability evolving and the endless possibilities that might accompany such an evolution. Asher didn’t even want to imagine it. If such a thing truly happened, then FatelessPen might as well declare himself King of the World or something equally absurd.

Asher couldn’t help but imagine how adventurous FatelessPen’s younger days must have been, constantly experimenting by drawing all sorts of random and absurd things into existence simply to test the limits of his ability.

Although FatelessPen could theoretically draw a watered-down version of the Fruit Of Dawn, both he and Asher knew that the fruit would definitely lose its effects, meaning FatelessPen would gain absolutely nothing from consuming it. As such, there was no reason whatsoever for the man to attempt something so pointless.

“Of course, I’ll have to beg you to keep this little secret of mine. After all, if Great Elder Morthern finds out, who knows what he might do to me,” FatelessPen stated as he gave a helpless smile. “While he might be a kind and loving grand-uncle to you, to his enemies, he’s an absolute nightmare, and I don’t need him coming after me,” he said with a shake of his head.

Asher remained silent for a moment before speaking. “It’s fine. I never planned on saying anything in the first place,” his tone calm.

Although he acted composed, he was still deeply shocked by everything he had just learned.

FatelessPen stared at Asher for a moment with a smile on his lips before nodding. Silence passed between them briefly before it was finally broken as FatelessPen pushed himself away from the tree he had been leaning against.

“Well, enough about me. Now you know I possess enough knowledge of the sword to guide and help you,” FatelessPen stated with a sigh.

Asher nodded. Although he could take his swordsmanship to the next level by himself, he knew it would be much faster if someone whose swordsmanship surpassed his own continuously pressured him while teaching him at the same time.

He could save a tremendous amount of time that way.

And not only that, FatelessPen could also help refine his hand-to-hand combat, while simultaneously allowing him to gain more battle experience during the training. The man could even provide valuable insights into his Song Of Virelass training if any ideas came to mind.

Although neither of them said it aloud, the moment they left the Thalvorn Empire would probably be the last time they ever saw each other. FatelessPen would continue protecting the students, as that was what Cindralis had paid him to do, while Asher would be leaving alongside the rest of the Wargraves.

Once Asher departed from the Thalvorn Empire, he wouldn’t be seeing AlyxAtlas, Thomasinho, Teo Swig, Zis Zaitsu, or FatelessPen anymore. It was only the Inter-Empire Competition that had brought all of them together in the first place.

Asher’s eyes shifted toward the sky. The forty minutes had now dropped to ten, meaning they had spent nearly thirty minutes talking.

“I’ll be holding back a lot for this, but it’ll still be enough to put you under the right amount of pressure,” FatelessPen said. “There shall be no resting, no Astra energy, no sneaky attacks using your elbows, legs, or anything else. Only attacks made with your sword. We’ll continue like this until you step into the next stage… or collapse trying,” FatelessPen instructed. “And after that, we’ll repeat the same thing with hand-to-hand combat,” he stated.

“I understand,” Asher replied with a nod.