Cleaver Of Sin

Chapter 480: Three Days

The moment Asher appeared within his room, the first thing he did was simply lie down on his bed for a few minutes, he didn’t move, he simply remained still, staring quietly at the ceiling as though letting the lingering sensations of flight settle deep into his bones. His chest rose and fell in a slow, steady rhythm, the faint hum of Astra still coursing beneath his skin like a sleeping current.

After a few minutes, he rose and then headed towards his bathroom where he quickly had a night bath, the cool water washing away the thin layer of sweat and dust gathered from training, changing into his pajamas afterward, he stepped into his personal training chamber which was fitted seamlessly to his room.

As this was late night training, Asher had no reason not to wear pajamas to training, after all, he wasn’t doing anything heavy or destructive that required another tyoe of clothing. His mission for tonight was simple, build proficiency across every skill he had created today, because mastery increased with control, and perfection couldn’t be achieved in a single day no matter how talented one was. To Asher, repetition was the true foundation of strength, not flashy breakthroughs.

With that, he went to work, parts of his body shifting to pure lightning form, flickers of brilliant purple electricity dancing across his limbs as flesh alternated with energy in seamless transitions, the air around him crackling softly with restrained power. After a few hours of that, he would deliberately strain his muscles through Astra-induced fatigue, pushing his body to the edge of exhaustion before beginning rejuvenation to stimulate further growth.

Hours blurred as he alternated between these two processes with mechanical precision, lightning conversion followed by recovery, over and over again as though he were a machine, and although it seemed as though he had forgotten about his Gravity flight ability, Asher knew that wasn’t his priority at the moment and refused to let distractions break his discipline.

With one hour remaining until he retired for the night, he shifted into pure cultivation, after all, he was just a step away from stepping into the Swiftstar Life Rank. To Asher, an entire day like this spent in training was actually calming and enjoyable for him, almost therapeutic in nature. He detested training for a couple of minutes, or even barely a few hours, finding such half-hearted efforts pointless and inefficient. If one wanted to train, then train properly, completely, without hesitation.

[Host, it’s 5 a.m. already]

His personal alarm echoed within his mind, bringing Asher out of his calm meditative silence like a pebble disturbing still water. His eyes fluttered open and with a low sigh, he rose to his feet. Although he only needed four hours of rest to get back to his peak physical and mental condition, Asher understood that was only in the case of true exhaustion, and for a day like this where he did nothing particularly strenuous, two hours of sleep or thereabout should be enough for him to function perfectly.

Although at this level and with the absurdity of his supernatural physique, he could simply train throughout the night and the entire day without stopping, Asher basically never did that. He would balance training and rest perfectly, believing that recovery was just as important as effort, of course unless he entered seclusion like those murim cultivation novels he occasionally remembered, where characters vanished for months or years in pursuit of enlightenment.

Climbing atop his bed, he closed his eyes and allowed the sleep dimension to swallow his consciousness whole, darkness enveloping him gently like a blanket as his thoughts faded one after another.

Morning sunlight filled the room where Asher could be seen asleep, golden rays slipping past the curtains and painting faint lines across the walls. He tossed about on the bed for a moment before he finally sat upright, rubbing his eyes groggily as though he was trying to rub the remnants of sleep away. He yawned softly, stretching his arms, and the next moment Gravity rippled around him as he floated upwards from his bed, then shifted to the side as he left it entirely without his feet ever touching the ground.

While still floating, he headed toward the bathroom door, and upon reaching it, his body turned pure brilliant purple as he transformed into lightning, his form dissolving into crackling energy as he phased through the door completely and reassembled inside the bathroom, arriving soundlessly. He washed his face at the sink just underneath the mirror, cold water splashing across his cheeks and sharpening his senses instantly as droplets slid down his skin.

A total of three days had passed since Asher began his training, and during that entire time, Asher hadn’t developed any new skills in relation to his elemental affinities, choosing instead to refine what he already possessed to an extreme degree. When he was done increasing his mastery over these ones, he would create more, because stacking unfinished skills would only weaken his foundation.

And what was the best way to train something other than to integrate it into your daily lifestyle. This was the reason Asher had floated from his bed upon waking up, he had hardly walked on his two legs after gaining flight through Gravity, yes, he could fly through Perfect Astra Control, but it didn’t mean he would neglect his Gravity flight skill, since versatility was always superior to reliance on a single method.

And also, throughout that time, Asher didn’t open any doors, he phased through all of them using intangibility, hence also training it and increasing his proficiency unconsciously with every use, turning mundane actions into subtle exercises. At this point, only stamina rejuvenation had to be trained actively, as everything else could be blended naturally into daily movement.

Also, a day ago, Asher had finally broken through and stepped into the Swiftstar Life Rank, and it wasn’t a surprise to him in the slightest. He had already concluded he would break through in two days, which he could have done it in a shorter time if he wasn’t training other abilities simultaneously, but he preferred steady, comprehensive growth over rushed advancement.

’Now, what should I name my rapier technique,’ he thought, as he had spent the past three days also contemplating this seemingly simple yet strangely difficult problem. He was going back to the Training Facility Building tomorrow since he had achieved enough control and proficiency over his current newly created skills. After training his Space and Light elemental affinities, he would immediately create his techniques.

’Should I name it after myself, Asher Technique,’ he thought, then immediately shook his head, ’nah... seems too bland and lazy, besides, I’m in a fantasy world, I should use a cool, badass name,’ he concluded as he continued to think, his brows furrowing slightly.

’Elemental Technique,’ he thought again as his brain stubbornly refused to come up with anything creative, and he sighed at the hopelessness of the situation, ’it seems my naming sense isn’t as good as I thought,’ he muttered to himself as he floated in the air in a sitting lotus position, absentmindedly rotating in place.

’Whatever, I will come up with something in a few days anyway,’ he concluded as he decided not to overthink it, ’but what about Heavenly Demon Sword Technique,’ he mused jokingly to himself, amused by how overly dramatic it sounded.

He felt a genuine happiness and thrill at the thought of creating his rapier techniques, anticipation bubbling quietly in his chest, he already had a few ideas forming in his mind, and he had no doubt he could bring them to life with enough time and effort.

With the progress of the past three days, he even felt tempted to skip his Space and Light elemental affinity training and jump straight to the creation of his rapier techniques, but he held himself back, reminding himself that impatience was the enemy of true mastery.