Cleaver Of Sin

Chapter 496: Moon

Shaking his head, Asher finally took a step. He walked. He did not teleport toward his room, nor did he fly there. He walked, slowly, gently, and calmly, like an old man who was enjoying his final moments on earth before death quietly claimed him. Since he had trained back to back for an entire month without rest, Asher decided to simply walk this time around and allow himself the rare luxury of unhurried movement.

Although the Star Academy did not have any sightseeing places, as they did not waste platinum coins on such frivolous constructions, it did not mean Asher still could not enjoy the silence of the night. The empty paths, the distant lamps, and the quiet air were more than enough. Sometimes, simplicity itself was the greatest scenery.

And with that, he simply walked in utter silence. It was only him and his rapier, no friends like William and Finch, no beautiful woman by his side like Ryaen Silvershade or Darissa Camber. No chatter, no laughter, no footsteps accompanying his own. Just solitude stretching endlessly around him like an invisible ocean. Yet strangely, he did not dislike it. The quiet felt honest, almost comforting, as though the world had momentarily stopped demanding anything from him.

The wind brushed against his body and clothes as he walked, cool and gentle, carrying the faint scent of grass and stone. His purple hair danced to its rhythm, swaying lazily with each step as he continued forward in complete silence. The fabric of his coat fluttered faintly behind him, and the soft sound of his boots against the pavement became the only proof that he was even there.

’The bloodshed and the horrors of Crymora sometimes make me forget how calm and peaceful the world can actually be,’ he thought to himself as the glow of the moon bathed him in its pale lunar light. The same world that birthed monsters and wars could, at times like this, appear deceptively gentle, almost fragile. It was ironic, almost laughable.

’If I were some protagonist, I would probably be striving for world peace and the elimination of all Emovirae and all that nonsense,’ he mused to himself as he walked. The thought amused him more than anything else. He did not see himself as some savior or chosen hero. He simply survived, trained, and grew stronger.

He paused briefly at the side of a pathway, where he saw two students kissing and giggling like two complete idiots. Their faces were red, their laughter unrestrained, their world seemingly limited to just the two of them. He could not help but shake his head lightly before simply continuing on his way without staring for too long.

Arriving at another part of the Star Academy, he noticed a few students inside what seemed like a restaurant, buying whatever they wanted, chatting loudly, arguing over food, and enjoying themselves like normal people

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Name: Asher Wargrave.

Rank: Rank 1

Point: 300 points.

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Asher stared down at his point balance as he looked at his point card. Although he could still afford some things with these three hundred points, someone like Asher, who was used to holding bulk points in the tens of thousands, felt poor as hell. Seeing such a low number felt almost insulting. It was not actual poverty, but it felt like it. And strangely enough, the psychological difference annoyed him far more than it should have. Looking at his point balance, he suddenly did not feel like walking around anymore.

He sighed softly. He had simply been walking to enjoy the night and the weather, yet he had somehow managed to spoil his own mood. With a single thought, gravity bent to his will as though it were nothing more than a toy. His body rose smoothly into the air, weightless and effortless, and then he shot into the night sky at a fast but steady speed, his body climbing thousands of meters high until he reached the clouds.

Piercing through several of them, feeling the cold mist brush across his skin, he continued his ascension until he finally came to a stop far above the academy grounds.

Manipulating the light around himself, Asher reduced his weight to nearly nothing and sat upon a cloud as though it were a chair crafted for him alone. With another thought, a glass and a wine bottle appeared in his hand from his system inventory. Pouring some into the glass, he let the wine bottle float lazily in midair as he subtly manipulated the space around it, keeping it suspended without effort.

He sipped his wine as he leaned back and relaxed, his purple eyes glowing faintly beneath the moonlight as he stared at the moon as though there were something hidden within it. Something ancient. Something watching. Or perhaps it was merely his imagination wandering too far.

Asher remained silent as he drank without a word. To him, this was the perfect relaxation scenario. No noise, no responsibilities, no enemies trying to kill him. Just the sky, the clouds, and the moon. And he had earned it. After all, he did not know when next he would get the chance to enjoy something so tranquil. His life rarely allowed such luxuries.

’I guess I can cross drinking under the moon off my bucket list,’ he mused to himself. He raised his other hand and stretched it toward the moon as though he wanted to touch it. It seemed so close, yet impossibly far away, forever out of reach no matter how high he climbed.

Virelass herself slipped out of her sheath and floated beside Asher with a calm presence, as though she too had come to appreciate the beauty of the night. Her blade reflected the moonlight softly, gleaming like silver water. For once, she did not hum with excitement or thirst for battle. She simply floated quietly, sharing the moment with him.

’I wonder if there is some alien or entity that can see what is going on within Crymora, yet cannot enter the planet at the moment,’ Asher thought to himself. The universe was too vast for Crymora to be alone. Surely something else existed out there, watching, waiting, or simply passing by without care. The idea was both unsettling and strangely fascinating.

Asher stayed silent for a long while, then took in a deep breath as though his lungs could taste the air he was breathing. The cold air felt clean, untouched by smoke or dust. ’I guess that is it for the night,’ Asher thought to himself. The next moment, the glass in his hand and the bottle vanished back into his system inventory.

’Goodbye,’ Asher thought to no one in particular. Whether he was talking to the beautiful moon, the perfect weather, or the drifting clouds, even he did not know. With that, he let his body fall off the cloud. And just like that, he fell, gravity pressing him downward as he tore through the sky with immense speed and momentum.

Virelass fell by his side as she too was acted upon by gravity. Asher’s back faced the earth below, his eyes still fixed on the moon as it grew further and further away from him the faster he descended. The wind roared past his ears, yet his expression remained completely calm, almost bored, as though falling from the sky was nothing unusual.

Within a minute, they arrived near the earth below, but before Asher could be reduced to a paste of flesh and bone, space itself paused around him. He came to a halt as though time had frozen, remaining suspended midair as he lay flat against space as though it were an invisible bed, his hands folded across his chest, one foot crossed lazily over the other.

With a sigh, he spoke, "System, what’s the time?" Asher was not even sure he had ever spoken to his system out loud before.

[It’s 12:34 a.m., Host]

The mechanical voice echoed calmly within his mind. With that reply, Asher shot toward his room in a blur of speed, vanishing like a streak of light across the night sky as he flew back to retire for the night. Arriving at his room, he took a quick bath, changed his clothes, and then collapsed onto his bed. With a faint yet bright smile resting on his face, the dream realm quietly claimed his consciousness.