Cleaver Of Sin

Chapter 708: Status

Asher could be seen sitting within his room as he stared at his Point Card with a tired expression, his eyes lingering on its surface for a moment longer than necessary.

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Name: Asher Wargrave.

Class: ★

Rank: 1

Point Balance: 307

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He had ended his training five days ago; he had decided to rest, and his resting period ended today. Merely a few minutes ago, he had gone to the Logistics and Missions Operations Hall to take another mission, only to be reminded by the Facilitator that no more missions would be given until the Principal said so, a restriction that seemed to apply to everyone without exception.

Asher had forgotten about it due to his packed and tight training and mission schedule. Also, while he was within the Training Facilities Building, he had missed an announcement; apparently, the day after tomorrow, some sort of major announcement regarding why the Logistics and Missions Operations Hall was closed would be made. He had only heard about it a few minutes ago as he was walking back from the Logistics and Missions Operations Hall, the information casually circulating among the students.

’An announcement, huh?’ Asher thought to himself as he tore his gaze away from his Point Card, which vanished into his space ring, his expression remaining as indifferent as ever despite the slight curiosity stirring within him.

Although he did not know the location of the so-called announcement, Asher knew he could ask Finch and William when he saw them next. Also, on his way back to his room after meeting with the Facilitator, he heard students complaining that they had been kicked out from the Training Facilities Building without their points being refunded, their dissatisfaction quite evident.

Although Asher had known that the Training Facilities Building would be closed as well, they simply were not told when exactly. Additionally, everyone who was on a mission was forcefully teleported back, whether their missions were finished or not. Although Asher did not know how Cindralis was able to track each student who was on a mission and teleport them back so precisely, he assumed it was an easy feat for someone as overpowered as Cindralis.

’I’m kind of looking forward to it,’ Asher mused to himself without a change in expression, a faint trace of anticipation hidden beneath his otherwise calm demeanor. Asher had many guesses about what the announcement would be, but he did not dwell on them for too long.

However, although the Training Facilities Building and the Logistics and Missions Operations Hall had been closed for the moment, classes still continued as usual. Even right now, a class was ongoing, and all of Asher’s classmates were in attendance, following the Academy’s routine despite the ongoing situation.

’I guess during the announcement I will see the third years,’ Asher thought to himself. He had been curious about the third years for a while; he wondered who their top ranker was and whether it was someone from a noble household, which was plausible. After all, the first-year class ranking was dominated by nobles, and only two commoners were present on that ranking.

As for the second year, Asher already knew about them. His brother Thalric had never fallen from first place since he stepped foot into the Star Academy, while other Ducal Families held the second and third rankings, with smaller noble households occupying the rest of the top ten. Not a single commoner was given any space to squeeze in, their presence completely absent from the upper ranks.

As Asher’s thoughts wandered, his focus gradually shifted to his Life Rank. ’Let me check out my status screen,’ he thought to himself, as he had not really looked at it much for the past seven months.

’Status.’

With a thought, the system chimed.

[Name: Asher Wargrave

Age: Eighteen

Bloodline: The Wargrave Lineage

Physique: Absolute Physique

Titles: [Youngest Heir] [Tenth Sun] [Disgrace of the Wargrave] [Unique Body Holder] [The Star’s Heir] [Monster] [Most Loved Wargrave] [Most Talented Wargrave in History]

Life Rank: Swiftstar

Sub-Life Rank: Radiant

Affinity: Lightning, Star, Space, Gravity, Light, [Hidden]

Strength: 757 → 890

Agility: 780 → 915

Vitality: 968 → 1127

Perception: 830 → 967

Inventory: Platinum coins, assorted cuisine, liters of purified water, triangular wooden talisman, armors]

His eyes flickered across every stat; they had all increased by at least one hundred and twenty points, a growth that would have been unimaginable for most. Initially, Asher had thought that when he hit the 1000 mark, there would be some form of evolution or awakening, something significant that would set a new stage. He had expected something to happen, no matter how small, but nothing had occurred, and his anticipation had died at that time.

When he had asked his system about it, he remembered the system telling him that the stats were merely numbers used to quantify his strength and progress. The thousand mark did not facilitate any evolution or awakening, nor did it trigger any hidden change or transformation.

Asher had only sighed at the time, but he could not dwell on it. He could only give up on that line of thought; after all, it was not as though he could beat up the system or force it to respond differently, no matter how much he wanted that to happen.

’It took me seven months to go from Dust to Radiant sub-Life Rank,’ Asher thought to himself, a subtle hint of reflection passing through his mind as he considered the scale of his progress and the effort behind it.

Dust was the beginning of his Major Life Rank, while Radiant was the peak. He had never spent such an amount of time in a single rank before, making this experience somewhat unfamiliar to him, yet also somewhat enlightening.

’Truly, the higher the Life Rank, the harder it is to climb further,’ he sighed to himself, shaking his head slightly as he leaned back. He could not help but imagine that if it took him this long to reach his current level, how long it would take others who were far less talented and far less driven.

However, Asher seemed to be forgetting something important. He had not been cultivating and strengthening his Astra veins for seven months straight, far from it. He had barely even done so consistently. Instead, he had spent most of his time training his new element, refining his skills and elemental control, upgrading his Song Of Virelass Rapier Technique, creating new ones, and sharpening old ones, while also developing a few Star Energy skills and abilities along the way.

He simply had so much on his plate to handle, yet he still made such terrifying progress despite dividing his attention across so many aspects. This naturally raised a question: if Asher was still this fast and efficient even while treating his Life Rank as a secondary focus during his training, what Life Rank would he be at if he possessed only the Lightning element and did not have to divide his attention across multiple elements, skills, and techniques?

Truly, he was a monster that few could match in terms of sheer talent and brilliance, or perhaps none did at all. But the answer to that could only be discovered when the other Empires were explored, where true monsters of equal standing might.

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AUTHOR’S NOTE: Although Asher’s system shows his new affinity as hidden, that is only to us readers, as I want you all to only know affinity during the tournament. Asher knows and can see his affinity on the status screen.