CHAPTER 52: LIMITING

Asher shook his head as he spoke, "No need. I will watch and learn through the instructors’ guidance."

Tom smiled at Asher’s words but offered no reply. He simply walked beside him calmly. He too had pushed himself to the limits. Having a Sun within the training ground had motivated the three of them more than they expected.

Within the past three weeks, the three talented kids had found themselves gradually drawn to Asher. At first, they kept their distance, he was a Sun, after all.

But after seeing him smile and respond gently and calmly to a few passing conversations, their perception of him shifted. They started to grow closer.

"Who keeps healing all these injuries you accumulate?" the last of the trio asked. "I know the Wargrave Household probably has individuals with healing abilities, but wouldn’t the Duke come for Instructor Clinton’s head at this point?"

His name was Hito.

Although Hito understood that Wargraves were all about battles, combat, and glory through war, what Asher was currently doing still felt absurd to him.

Asher sparred with Clinton each day, receiving injuries that would take down most others on their level, only to come back the next morning as good as new, ready to fight again.

But this was something Asher had personally requested. He didn’t just want to spar with Clinton, he had asked Clinton to intentionally exploit any gaps he noticed in his attack sequences and to inflict injuries when necessary.

Not lethal ones, of course, but injuries sharp enough to serve as reminders. It was how Asher chose to learn: by experiencing pain, memorizing it, and adapting to avoid repeating the same mistake.

He knew that in real combat, an opponent would not let such openings slide.

Besides, according to the information Lyra had shared, the Primarch had already left the Wargrave estate for an unknown location.

"It’s nothing. This is my path," Asher replied to Hito as they stepped out of the First Training Ground. The sun had already dipped beneath the horizon, casting long shadows over the stony grounds.

"As long as I don’t lose a body part or sustain injuries to any vital organs, the family won’t interfere." he concluded.

"Even though you’re a monster in human skin, just don’t collapse out of nowhere," Hito said with a deadpan expression. "I don’t want to be jailed under suspicion of murder by association. I’m still young... and still a virgin."

Ella and Tom chuckled at Hito’s antics before bidding Asher farewell. "Good night, Tenth Sun," they both said almost in unison, heading toward their respective rooms with Hito trailing after.

Asher watched the trio walk away, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips. He then turned and began walking in the opposite direction.

After a short walk, he arrived at a place made entirely of stone, a lifeless area where not a single flower or weed dared to grow. Standing in the middle of it, Asher spoke calmly.

"You can bring it now, Lyra."

Within seconds, Lyra’s figure materialized before him. But she did not come alone. Beside her stood a beast, trembling uncontrollably.

It was clearly being suppressed by Lyra’s overwhelming presence. The beast didn’t even dare to growl or flinch; it stood completely frozen, instincts screaming in terror.

Asher walked forward without hesitation. Virelass materialized in his hand, and in one swift motion, he thrust it downward. The rapier pierced clean through the beast’s skull and into its brain. The creature didn’t even have time to scream.

With a single thought, the Crimson Pact activated. The beast’s blood flowed upward, absorbed by Virelass.

Despite the rush of red, Virelass retained its silver hue, almost as if unwilling to stain itself with the blood of such a lowly creature.

Asher’s wounds began to heal gradually. His skin knit back together, muscles reconnected, and in just a few moments, every injury was gone, completely restored as though they had never existed.

"Thank you," Asher said as he turned to face Lyra.

"It is my duty, Young Master," Lyra replied with a graceful bow. Then, without needing any instruction, she began cleaning the stone floor, removing the blood and carcass with practiced ease.

This was how Asher healed his injuries each night. He didn’t need to rely on healers within the estate. And although Ella, Tom, and Hito had asked, he had no plans of telling them his method.

Asher didn’t walk back to his room. This time, he vanished in a flash of silver light, teleporting directly to his room using Position Marker, one of Virelass’s known abilities that he rarely utilized.

Upon arriving in his room, his first move was to remove the sweat drenched clothes clinging to his skin like a clingy ex. He quickly showered, changed into fresh clothing, and felt the first waves of comfort roll over his sore muscles.

He sat on his bed, back straight, before eventually allowing himself to drop backward. His body sank into the mattress as he stared at the ceiling in silence, his mind racing with thoughts.

It drifted back to his past life.

There, he hadn’t needed to go through any of this. No training, no fighting, no constant pain. All he had to do was wake up, go to class, hang out with friends, and cruise around with Jennifer.

His thoughts shifted to the orphanage where he had grown up. Unlike most children who searched for their biological parents to understand why they were abandoned, Ethan, his past self, had done the opposite.

He had chosen to forget.

They never crossed his mind. How could people he had never met mean anything to him? That Chapter of his life had been closed long ago. Jennifer had encouraged him on several occasions to try and find them, but Ethan remained indifferent.

’I wonder how she is now,’ he thought as his purple eyes remained fixed on the ceiling. ’I hope she found someone better than me.’

Even in this moment of reflection, his body did not rest entirely. Asher was still cultivating.

Astra flowed gently through every vein in his body, reinforcing his muscles, bones, and pathways.

Within these past three weeks, Asher had grown frustrated by the need to sit in a lotus position with his eyes closed every time he wanted to cultivate.

The process felt limiting.

After nearly two weeks of trial and error, he had finally succeeded in mastering a method to draw Astra into his body without needing a specific posture. Now, he could cultivate even while walking or resting in bed, as long as he wasn’t making any drastic movements.

In this world, everyone who had awakened would passively absorb Astra through their veins, it was how their Astra replenished naturally over time.

However, when they desired to speed up the process, they would actively cultivate by drawing Astra with intent.

’I wonder what tomorrow’s monster subjugation will be like,’ he thought with a small smile.

Although he had killed several beasts and monsters during his journey to the capital and back, he was curious to see what this specific training would entail.

There was always something new to learn, him fighting a few beast on his journey didn’t suddenly make him a battle god or anything.

With that thought lingering in his mind, Asher’s lips parted slightly, and he murmured aloud:

"Status."