Cleaver Of Sin

Chapter 857: Recovery Room

“I remain your host, AlyxAtlas,” AlyxAtlas spoke as she floated into the air.

“And I remain your host, Thomasinho,” Thomasinho added.

“We shall see you all at the peak in ten hours,” AlyxAtlas followed up.

“Over and out,” Thomasinho stated, and together, the both of them vanished from the sky as they always did.

The moment they disappeared, the staff members who had placed the energy around their bodies stepped forward once more and manually began removing them. Zis Zaitsu had been injured earlier due to the backlash from his own skill. A healer stepped forward immediately, restoring his internal injuries, as he was practically the only injured participant present.

Their Space Rings weren’t returned to them, as they needed to rest before the next round. With that, the staff members who had arrived led them off the stage, guiding them toward the special locations where their Astra Energy could recover much faster.

Stepping out of the opening, a Crownstar Life Rank healer immediately got to work, restoring everyone’s stamina back to its peak. Without another word, the man turned around and left.

Out of the sixteen remaining students, four were from the Zarethorne Empire: Finch, Teo Swig, Asher, and Lawrence Shade, a commoner student just like Teo Swig.

So, two Commoners, two Nobles, two first-year students, and two third-year students.

As they walked, Lior, who had remained silent the entire time, transformed into his Soul Orb form and entered Finch’s chest.

None of them spoke to one another. They simply remained silent as every student continued walking. Soon, they arrived before four doors, and above each one, the names of the four Empires were displayed.

“Students from their designated Empire may enter their respective room,” one of the staff members spoke as he gestured toward the four doors.

‘It seems we all won’t be staying together in one special location,’ Asher mused to himself. He actually preferred it this way, as the only person he practically knew outside the people from the Zarethorne Empire was Arianna.

Lawrence Shade was the first to move. She opened the door and stepped inside without hesitation, as though she had been drained of every ounce of mental strength she possessed.

Asher walked in behind Finch, his eyes scanning the room. His senses immediately picked up the immense concentration of Astra Energy filling the air, almost rivaling the amount present within the Training Facility Building at Star Academy. It clearly showed that the people behind the Inter-Empire Competition wanted every participant to recover fully, regardless of how slow their Astra recovery or absorption speed was.

Within the room were several beds arranged neatly beside one another, each spaced far enough apart to provide adequate privacy and comfort.

Finch collapsed face-first onto one of the beds, his face sinking into the soft white pillow before him as he released a long, exhausted sigh.

Asher sat down on a nearby bed before speaking. “It seems you managed to survive somehow,” he said, directing his words toward Finch. “Although I didn’t expect you to use Lior that way,” his tone remained calm.

“Sigh… it was Lior’s idea. If he hadn’t proposed it yesterday, then I would’ve definitely been disqualified,” Finch sighed as he rolled onto his back.

Lawrence Shade, who had been sitting quietly on her own bed, rose to her feet and approached Asher. Stopping before him, she spoke.

“Since we’re all heading into the final round, it’s only proper that I introduce myself,” she said calmly as she stretched out a hand. “My name is Lawrence Shade, fifth rank at Star Academy.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Asher replied as he shook her hand.

Neither Finch, Teo, nor Asher introduced themselves, as there was simply no need to. Lawrence was the least well-known member of the group, while the three of them were already considerably more famous than she was.

Lawrence Shade nodded before returning to her own bed, where she sat down in a lotus position with her arms folded across her chest.

“We should focus on recovering our Astra Energy as soon as possible before spending time talking,” Teo Swig spoke, his eyes shifting toward Finch and Asher as he could already sense that the two of them were about to talk endlessly for the next ten hours.

“I’ve already recovered, so there’s nothing for me to do,” Asher replied in his usual flat tone.

He had barely used his Astra Energy during his battles against the Crown-class birds. Coupled with his ridiculous Physique and Perfect Astra Control ability, Asher had already fully recovered in less than three minutes. Besides, the amount of Astra Energy he had used was negligible, since Perfect Astra Control prevented any form of Astra leakage or unnecessary energy consumption.

Finch followed up as well. “I’m already in top shape for the next round too,” he said calmly.

He had practically done nothing since the beginning of the first wave of the second round after summoning Lior. Naturally, whatever Astra Energy he had spent by that point had long since recovered. Besides, he didn’t possess many abilities that consumed Astra Energy aside from shapeshifting.

Teo Swig and Lawrence Shade simply stared at the two of them as the corners of their lips twitched. In the end, they could only shake their heads without saying a word before closing their eyes and actively absorbing the surrounding Astra Energy to replenish their Astra Veins.

Asher wanted to ask Finch about how he was able to use Lior’s abilities, but this wasn’t the right place to do so since both Teo Swig and Lawrence Shade were present. He would simply ask the fat boy about it once they returned to the Gentle Hotel.

“So, with Lior’s help and whatever trump card you’re still hiding, how far do you think you can go out of all of us?” Asher asked as his eyes shifted toward Finch.

Finch fell into thought for a brief moment. “I don’t really know, but I suppose I could squeeze into the top eight or maybe even the top six, depending on how strong the other students are. After all, Rank 6 beings aren’t easy to deal with,” he answered.

To Finch, only Asher, Arianna, Acker, and Isaac could probably fight Lior head-on without losing. Even then, he still estimated himself to finish within the top eight, just in case the other students also possessed powerful trump cards of their own.

“I see. You’re quite confident, then,” Asher replied, slightly amused as he realized Lior had already informed Finch that he was now a Rank 6 being. “Anyway, I look forward to your battle, although the students will probably target you instead of Lior,” he added.

“I’ll simply shapeshift and hide. Simple,” Finch replied with a shrug of his shoulders.

“I suppose that could work,” Asher replied as he thoughtfully rubbed his chin.

Asher yawned the next moment. “Anyway, since I left my phone inside my Space Ring, I might as well just go to sleep,” he said as he shifted from a sitting position into a lying one before pulling the white duvet over himself.

Finch stared at him, not quite knowing what to say. At the same time, however, he understood that Asher probably had no intention of staying awake for the next ten hours. With that, he simply lay down as well and closed his eyes.

Teo Swig and Lawrence Shade, who had been listening to the two of them the entire time, slowly opened their eyes, shook their heads, and then closed them once more as they focused entirely on recovering their Astra Energy.