Cleaver Of Sin

Chapter 504: In Their Dreams

[Host, it’s almost time for your other classes to begin]

The system’s chime echoed clearly within his mind as Asher lay flat on his bed and stared blankly at the ceiling above, his eyes tracing the faint patterns in the stone as though searching for something meaningful within the design.

With a low sigh that carried both reluctance and non-existent lingering fatigue, he slowly sat upright, swinging his feet over to the other side of the bed as he got up, and without wasting any unnecessary time, he headed toward the door since Instructor Melissa’s class would be starting soon and tardiness was something he disliked even when he pretended not to care.

Other students could be seen leaving their own rooms as they also walked through the corridors, their expressions mixed between exhaustion and resignation, and although they had all been here for three months now, it seemed they could never truly get used to the concept of constantly attending school and sitting through classes like ordinary teenagers.

Asher’s mind drifted toward his time on Earth as Ethan, and back then he had barely attended classes at all because of his ridiculous intelligence and frighteningly efficient learning speed that rendered all lessons meaningless.

Why should he attend classes and listen to a lecturer ramble endlessly about things he could glance at in a book once and understand even better than the lecturer ever could, memorizing and understanding everything with perfect clarity and connecting concepts faster than anyone else in the room.

On Earth, he only went to class when there was an assignment to submit, or a test, or exams that demanded physical presence, and aside from that, he was practically either at home or lingering around the Medical Department where Jennifer was.

Reminiscing about this, a faint smile appeared on Asher’s lips as he walked down the hallway with slow, steady steps. He wondered what Instructor Melissa’s class would be about today, whether she would demonstrate a new Astra energy application he hadn’t thought of or perhaps reveal some obscure theory buried within advanced manipulation principles.

Of course, Asher wasn’t delusional enough to think he had already conceived of every single possible application of his Perfect Astra Control, because even he knew that knowledge, no matter how vast, was never truly complete.

Suddenly a thought occurred to him, sharp and intrusive, ’wait, what if there is a way to achieve Perfect Elemental Control through Perfect Astra Control,’ he paused mid-step as the idea crossed his mind like lightning. He stood unmoving like a statue in the middle of the hallway as students subconsciously walked around him, and he fell deeply into his thoughts, his mind spinning rapidly as though a thousand gears had begun turning at once while his brain searched desperately for any method he could use to achieve it and cheat Crymora’s laws and even his own system entirely.

But after a moment of intense thinking that stretched longer than it should have, he came up with absolutely nothing. He released a heavy sigh that carried a trace of frustration, because it was undeniably a brilliant idea, yet it remained impossible... for now at least.

[It’s not impossible for now, Host. It is impossible for forever]

The system chimed as though on cue, as though it had been listening to his thoughts the entire time and almost seemed to enjoy the fact that the talented Asher could not achieve an application he had personally imagined.

’Hooo... you seem to be waiting for my downfall, system,’ Asher mused internally as he communicated back, and he started walking again with calm, unhurried steps, his hands slipping into his pockets casually.

[The system doesn’t wish or want the Host’s downfall, the system is merely stating facts]

The mechanical voice of the system came yet again, sounding extremely confident, almost as though it was looking forward to the day Asher would inevitably request the Perfect Elemental Control ability.

’I’m not so sure about that, you know how smart and intelligent I am, right? I’m sure I don’t need to explain my intelligence to you,’ Asher mused to the system with a faint smirk tugging at the corner of his lips, his tone light but filled with unmistakable pride.

[...]

The system was rendered completely speechless. It had thought it possessed the upper hand in the conversation, but now its Host was casually implying that he held the advantage instead. The system stayed silent for a moment as though it too believed that Asher could somehow achieve such a ridiculous feat if he truly wanted to, because after all, there was a reason the system didn’t even have an Intelligence stat displayed on its panel to which points could be added or improved.

It was simply because Asher was already so absurdly intelligent that any numerical value would be meaningless, and he basically couldn’t get any smarter or more efficient than he already was.

The system almost seemed to contemplate whether it was slowly losing its advantage over its Host.

Asher, seeing the system’s silence, simply continued to smirk as he walked forward with relaxed shoulders. He was merely bluffing, and he knew it very well, yet he wouldn’t show even the slightest hint of uncertainty, because in truth he had absolutely no method or hope of achieving Perfect Elemental Control through Perfect Astra Control.

Before long, Asher arrived at the classroom where the Astra Manipulation class was supposed to be held, and as usual, he chose a seat at the back near the window where fewer people bothered him. He leaned slightly against the wall and stared out into the open space beyond the glass as though lost in thought, his purple hair dancing gently to the rhythm of the wind that blew through the open window, strands swaying lazily like drifting silk.

Soon, Instructor Melissa entered, her form and posture as perfect and composed as ever, her steps graceful and precise, and a pair of glasses sat neatly on the bridge of her nose as she walked in with quiet authority. Through the lenses of her glasses, her eyes shifted briefly toward Asher’s position, as she had already sensed his presence long before she even stepped into the classroom.

She simply nodded at him and said nothing else, because she wasn’t much of a talker, just like Instructor Jane. After that, she didn’t hesitate in the slightest and immediately started her class, which would last three full hours, and since he was present, Asher listened attentively, because although he possessed Perfect Astra Control, he might still gain an idea or inspiration for a new application from something she explained.

Instructor Melissa, who already knew just how ridiculous Asher’s control over Astra energy truly was, didn’t even bother speaking to him or directing questions his way, nor did she look toward his direction for long, and instead she simply focused all her energy and effort on guiding the other students who actually needed her instruction.

Her class eventually ended, and from there, Asher and the rest of the students headed to their other classes for the day in an orderly flow, footsteps echoing faintly through the corridors. Asher attended every single one of them without missing even one, maintaining a quiet consistency that others noticed.

Getting to Instructor Jane’s class, she was still as breathtaking as ever, her pink eyes catching and reflecting the light beautifully, almost glowing faintly, and on her back hung a spear that radiated a sharp and dangerous presence. Seeing Asher, she simply sparred with him briefly to determine his current level and control, their exchange swift and efficient, and after that, she ignored him just like Instructor Melissa had, as though there was nothing left to teach him for now.

Asher could still vividly remember the time he headed to the Canestane Barony where he had first been accepted, and it was Instructor Jane who had personally accepted him back then. But he could also clearly remember how ruthless she truly was beneath that calm exterior, because she had once torn a student’s eyes straight out of their sockets without hesitation simply because he had looked at her with lust, an act so brutal that it had silenced everyone who witnessed it.

Instructor Jane and Instructor Melissa both believed that with the way Asher was progressing, he needed no one to guide him just yet unless they spotted an actual flaw or weakness in his foundation, so they allowed him to do his own thing freely, observing from afar unless one day he actually bothered them with problems in respect to their fields, but such a scenario might as well never happen... or perhaps it might occur someday, but only within their dreams.