Four days have passed since Asher, William, Finch, and Lucifer had taken a mission together. Throughout the mission, as Asher had said and planned, he did nothing but watch; well, he occasionally threw in small points on what they could have done better after each battle or after some sort of progress... aside from that, during the missions, the battle efficiency and prowess of Finch and William had increased, which prompted Lucifer to ask, and of course, Finch didn’t hide anything and told Lucifer that Asher trained them.

Nothing out of the ordinary happened during the mission, so Asher didn’t interfere; he simply watched, came back, and allowed them to share the points between themselves. Of course, the mission they had taken was related to a noble who inflated the mission reward by a whopping bonus thirty thousand points, which Asher quite happily took half of without hesitation.

Asher didn’t need to think or guess to know that the noble increased the mission bonus reward to such an extent simply because of the Wargrave family’s battle against the Imperial family, but did Asher care? Certainly not; why would he reject such an amount of points when it presented itself so conveniently before him.

At this moment, Asher had a whopping sixty five thousand academy points in his Point Card sitting comfortably within his grasp. Thirty thousand gained from the kidnapped Villager mission, fifteen thousand as a bonus for the villagers saved, five thousand points from Finch for his training lesson, and now another fifteen thousand for doing absolutely nothing but watching.

With such a huge amount of points, Asher was tempted to immediately rush to the Training Facilities Building, but he decided to rack up a hundred thousand points before he locked himself away within its depths.

William, Lucifer, and Finch had divided the remaining fifteen thousand points among themselves. William had immediately wanted to pay Asher with the bonus reward so he could gain another lesson, but Asher simply declined, citing that he, William, needed to master what he had been taught before jumping to another lesson.

At the suggestion, William nodded as he understood that he might have been a bit too hasty. He tried asking Asher to hold the five thousand points and then train him later, maybe a month or two later, to which Asher declined, as he wasn’t willing to hold points that weren’t his own; he would only accept them after the lesson itself.

Lucifer seemed to be the odd one out; due to Asher, William, and Finch’s discussion, he found out about the five thousand point payment for training, but he dared not bring up such a matter before Asher, nor did he dare to suggest it. He knew his place, William and Finch were the Tenth Sun’s friends, not his, and that distinction alone was enough to restrain any thoughts that might have otherwise surfaced.

And while the Tenth Sun might have given him a few pointers on his hand to hand combat during the mission, Lucifer understood that the Tenth Sun only did that since he was giving free minor pointers to everyone at the time, as the mission was ongoing; now that the mission was over, so too were the free minor pointers, leaving no room for misunderstanding or misplaced expectations.

Asher didn’t deny it, Lucifer, true to his name... well, or perhaps not, was indeed talented. The boy was a hand to hand combat specialist; although he paled in comparison to the monstrous Ryaen, he was still a genius nonetheless, possessing a level of instinct and adaptability that set him apart from the average combatant. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

It had officially been the third month since Asher had entered the Star Academy, meaning he had only nine more months until he finished his first year. But deep down, Asher was already thinking of how to graduate early; although the Star Academy had a three year curriculum, Asher didn’t plan to stay those entire three years.

As for why? He was simply too talented to remain here.

Although that might sound arrogant to anyone else, it was simply the truth. Although Asher didn’t know the graduation requirements or even the third year combat strength, Asher wasn’t so sure they could fight people like Debro and come out alive, and besides, his own personal strength would continue to skyrocket in the coming nine months, making the gap between him and the academy increasingly apparent.

But if there was a reason he was even a bit tempted to remain, it would be the Training Facilities Building; but alas, Asher knew that if he asked around, maybe he could find something on that level, and if there weren’t, he could strike some kind of deal with Cindralis, of course not personally, as he was too weak and poor to even strike such deals with her in the first place, but he could ask Malrik... but again, that was only if the Wargraves didn’t already possess their own Training Facilities, something that seemed highly likely given their status.

Asher sat on his balcony in silence as he drank his wine; he gazed at the dark sky above. It was already evening, and a day had passed since William’s team mission ended. Asher wouldn’t lie, he had experienced the perfect relaxation; he simply admired the moon in silence, his purple hair dancing gently to the night breeze, his expression calm and unbothered.

’It’s been a year and three months since I came to this world,’ Asher thought to himself, ’spent a year at the Wargrave Estate and three months at the Star Academy,’ his thoughts continued to churn as he reflected on the path he had walked so far.

His gaze turned to the side; although it was already late and he was seated on the balcony, none of those in the top ten were at their balconies. Either they were all on a mission or they were training... as for sleeping, Asher didn’t believe any of them actually slept unless their bodies reached the point where it was demanded, that was just how hardworking everyone was, driven by ambition and necessity alike.

’Hmmm... I wonder what the Crown Prince is doing now,’ Asher thought. He wasn’t thinking about the Prince randomly; earlier today, he had been walking casually around the Star Academy when he and Vaelric had met by coincidence, and at the time, Prince Vaelric had tried to engage Asher in a discussion, of which Asher did not refuse, finding no reason to dismiss the attempt.

Asher could tell the boy wanted to be friends, and he had no issue with it. Just because Vaelric’s father was a mind manipulator didn’t mean he would judge the son for it.

’Sigh... tomorrow I will resume my mission,’ Asher thought as his attention shifted away from the Prince.

Since his lazy week had come to an end, there was no need to delay; it was time to get back to the grind, gain thirty-five thousand points, which would make him hit the one hundred thousand point goal, then lock himself away in the Training Chamber. When his points were finished, he would resurface, do a series of missions, then lock himself up again; of course, he would rest every now and then, maintaining a balance that ensured continuous growth without complete exhaustion.

His lazy moments ended with tomorrow’s sunrise.