“Yeah,” Asher looked towards Amelia and replied,
“Don’t joke with me, you are only F Rank, right?” Amelia had her mouth open as she could not believe it.
Asher took out the artifact he had retrieved from the dungeon altar and threw it towards Amelia.
“You really did!?” Amelia looked at the pendant, and from what she had learned until now, she could guess that this pendant was the artifact that Asher had found in the dungeon.
“Emmy, did he really?” Amelia asked Emmy, who was sitting in the front.
“Yeah, I found the empty Dungeon Altar, and I saw many dead Rockeaters inside,” Emmy did not tell her about the missing body of the boss Rockeater. She thought that Asher took it as a trophy, as his first Dungeon Clear, as many people liked to collect their first big hunt.
“Wow,” Lucas muttered. “Big brother defeated those strong monsters all alone?” Livia was also surprised as she had fought one Rockeater, and it was quite difficult for her, even with Lucas supporting her.
“Oh, you did well for G-Rank. Defeating an F-Rank monster at your level is something only talented people can do,” Amelia patted her head. ‘He might defeat Kevin and others as well,’ Amelia thought to herself.
At the time when Asher dueled Elena, who was an F-Rank mage, Kevin was already a peak F-Rank who would soon become an E-Rank hunter. Being in the same academy with Kevin in Desmar, Amelia knew how strong Kevin was. There were other talented geniuses as well, but her knowledge of other geniuses was only from rumors.
The car arrived at the Greville Estate, and all of them got out. Asher was going to rest a bit because his body was tired, although he appeared fine from outside, but he was in pain the whole time. He looked fine to others because he was used to worse pain than this.
“Lucas and Livia, you guys rest for today, and we can practice more from tomorrow, okay?” Amelia told the twins as they stepped out of the car.
“Okay,” Livia replied, and Lucas also nodded with her.
“I will also go now,” Amelia looked at Asher.
“Sure,” Asher turned as Amelia left the living room.
He still needed a bath because he was covered in the blood of the Rockeaters previously. Although the nano armor was designed to make sure no lingering residue was left, if not for the function of the suit, the twins would have to travel in a different car altogether. The stench of monster blood was strong and was not a pleasant one at all.
Asher entered his personal bathroom and took a quick shower. Every trickle of water that touched his body made his sensitive body react due to the small injuries all over his body. Although he looked fine, his body was not used to this type of doping, unlike in the past. He could bear the pain, but the nerves made his body react due to his unusual doping method.
After finishing the shower, Asher lay back in his bed. It was still afternoon, and he decided to sleep until dinner. His body needed rest, and being tired, he quickly fell asleep.
******************************
“Argh,” the black-haired man lying down on a bed woke up, and his red eyes met the man in a lab coat in front of him. He was in a room full of equipment and some devices attached to his body, displaying his condition.
“Are you feeling fine?” the man in the lab coat asked him.
“Argh, Fuck!!” the black-haired man grabbed his head.
“What happened? Asher, are you fine?” the man in the lab coat rushed and grabbed his hand, supporting Asher in getting up.
“Where is Lucas? Argh,” Asher spoke still grabbing his head.
The man in the lab coat did not reply back to his question.
“Nate? I asked, where the fuck is Lucas?” Asher looked up, and his crimson-red eyes met Nate, who was just staring towards him.
“He saved you. Your core was broken, and only he could help you,” Nate’s voice trembled as he spoke. His eyes looked away from Asher.
“A-And doing that, he sacrificed h-his life,” Nate felt something stuck in his throat.
“Cough” Nate felt an overflowing bloodlust fill the whole room. He felt as if he were struck by a flood of water. He could not breathe and fell down to his knees.
“ARghhghhhh,” Asher screamed as his head was bursting with pain, his mana was flaring, and its sheer pressure destroyed the many devices around him.
BAM
Asher threw the devices connected to his arm, making them hit the wall and splatter into pieces.
“A-Asher, wait, don’t move. Your body is still recovering,” hearing Nate’s voice, the pressure on him eased up a bit, but he still could not get up.
“Get Tom to get me the location of those people.” Asher turned and looked at Nate.
Nate was a bit intimidated by his eyes, but he needed to stop Asher.
“Wait, everybody is still recovering from the last-” Nate was speaking, but,
“SHUT UP!! If you want to leave, you can. I will not stop you,” Asher left the room as Nate watched him leave helplessly.
“I think we have made a mistake, Lucas,” Nate sat with his back against the wall and closed his eyes. He was too tired as Asher required his constant watch during the recuperation period.
“Too many people have died already, but I can’t stop now.” Nate remembered his brother Damian.
Months Later,
“WAIT, SPARE MY KIDS,” a woman shouted at Asher.
“NOOOOO, please nooooooo,” her eyes were filled with tears as she saw Asher, who was standing in front of her husband’s dead body.
“HAHAHAHAHAHAH, and why would I?” Asher’s red eyes looked at the woman in front of him.
“No, please leave us alone!!” The woman hugged her children, fearing the man standing in front of her.
BAM
A blast happened, breaking one of the walls in the room, and a man could be seen coming out of the dust.
“Asher, wait!!” Nate, who saw Asher covered in the blood of multiple people, spoke hurriedly.
ƥαṇdα-ηθνε|·ƈθm
“No need to kill them,” Nate came a bit closer to Asher.
“Stop right there,” Asher raised his sword, pointing it towards Nate.
Nate knew that he could not stop Asher.
“Stop!! Do you think she would have been fine looking at you now?” Nate wanted to stop Asher from killing more innocent people.
“ARGHHHHHHH!” Listening to Nate, a memory arose in the head of Asher, making him lower his sword as an intense headache that could kill any sane person hit him.
“Sir, we need to evacuate. Two SSS-Rank hunters have been dispatched,” before Nate could look at Asher, one of their organization members wearing a black mask interrupted them.
“FUCK, let’s leave,” Asher turned and decided to leave. Despite the intense pain, he could hear his subordinate’s voice clearly, and he made the instant decision to leave.
Hearing his voice, both Nate and the woman who was beside the dead body of her husband were relieved.
“Okay,” Nate also followed behind Asher as they left the mansion that probably belonged to the dead husband.
“Boss, the portal is ready. We can leave now,” a person in a black mask looked at Asher and said.
“Let’s leave quickly,” Nate was leaving but he stopped when he suddenly saw Asher take out his sword.
“Severing Slash,” Asher slashed his sword as he turned towards the mansion, and an arc made of mana left his sword.
“Noooo,” Nate was too slow to stop him, and he saw Asher’s attack go through the mansion.
“Why?” Nate could not help but ask Asher.
“She is dead. Don’t ever mention her again. This is what I am,” Asher’s cold voice was heard by Nate as he watched Asher’s back.
“You can leave my side anytime you want but don’t ever try all this on me again,” Asher’s cold gaze stunned even his subordinates, but Nate only had a defeated look on his face.
*****************************
“Hoooo haaaa hoooo haaa” Asher suddenly got up from his bed, waking up from his dream as he breathed heavily.
“Argh,” he felt a slight headache, but it was gone a few seconds later.
Asher looked towards the painting in his room to calm himself down. He looked at the clock and saw that it was almost 7 PM in the evening.
“I should go down,” he remembered that he needed to talk to Sylvie about those mines.
He got up and decided to change his clothes, as his current ones were soaked in sweat. He left his room and saw Emmy standing in the hallway.
“What happened?” Asher asked Emmy.
“Ah, Lady Sylvie has arrived and she wanted to meet you when you woke up,” Emmy replied, feeling a bit startled by Asher’s colder than usual aura.
“Okay,” Asher said, as he needed to talk to Sylvie about the mines.
“And the man you asked about, I think we can bring him to Soran in the next three to four days,” Emmy completed her report.
“Make sure this matter remains confidential,” Asher instructed Emmy.
“As you wish, Young Master,” Emmy replied.