287 Rifir's strength
Entering the lift, Asher removed a card-type artifact. As he reached his floor, he noticed a parcel near the entrance.
He picked it up and used his ID bracelet to gain access, arriving in his living room.
Inside the box, Asher discovered an opaque vial. Opening it revealed a few drops of blood. This vial was something Asher had given Gavin, as it was designed to preserve the liquid within.
Placing the card on the table, Asher poured the blood onto the card's red jewel, which began to shine. Holding the card, Asher envisioned the effects he wanted to impose on the blood's owner.
A mark appeared just beneath the first, and Asher examined it with indifferent eyes.
He took out his phone to confirm with Tom about using the artifact and to monitor the movements of the Neville Family. Asher was confident that Gavin wouldn't give him someone else's blood, but he acknowledged the possibility. He was not going to proceed without confirmation that the head of the Neville Family was indeed affected by this artifact.
"This should be enough," Asher said, stowing the card back in his personal spatial ring. With four hours left until class, Asher decided to use the time to train.
"Come out," he ordered, and black energy swirled around his right arm as Rifir appeared.
"You can fight, right?" Asher asked, his indifferent gaze locked on Rifir. He planned to utilize Rifir more efficiently, knowing he'd soon receive a teleporting artifact allowing him to leave the World Academy freely. Until then, Asher needed to train, and he recognized that Rifir was not a weak entity.
"Yes," Rifir responded, baring its fangs.
"Then try to attack me," Asher said, heading towards the training room.
"Why attack you?" Rifir asked, tilting its head in confusion.
"Can it not attack me?" Asher asked the system.
[Rifir will follow the host's orders, but as a young beast, it needs time and explanation to understand certain things. However, at its current level, Rifir can indeed attack the host but cannot intentionally harm the host.]
Since Rifir was bound to Asher, harming Asher would equate to harming itself.
"Then use your abilities to attack me," Asher instructed Rifir, who remained motionless for a few seconds before understanding Asher's intention. It disappeared and reappeared in the training room, surrounded by denser black energy. Its presence was much stronger, which Asher felt.
Rifir charged at Asher who didn't use his sword, instead coating his fist with an aura, and tried to punch through the black energy.
But Rifir wrapped itself around Asher's arms and tried to bite his neck. Asher managed to catch Rifir before it could, but Rifir evaded capture, disappearing as a mist, and Asher felt his strength diminish slightly.
Observing this, Asher changed his approach.
"Shadow Bind," Asher used his restraining spell, but Rifir's speed outmatched it.
Asher then focused on Rifir's red iris, coating his hand with an aura and using Mir steps to appear beside Rifir.
He tried to punch it, but Rifir opened his fangs as it barely dodged his attack.
"Okay, it's enough," Asher halted the spar, gauging Rifir's current strength.
The current Rifir could easily defeat a D Rank monster, but a C Rank was its limit. Its speed was comparable to an early C Rank Hunter, yet still less than Asher's.
"Tired," Rifir replied, retreating into the tattoo on Asher's arm.
Meanwhile, far from Asher's location, deep within a temple-like structure, a man sat with closed eyes.
"What a peculiar guy," the man murmured, his voice causing existence of all around him to tremble.
"I wonder when I will meet him." As he spoke, purple energy erupted around him.
The man sensed it and his presence faded within the energy. As he disappeared, his eyes briefly opened.
He tried to sense the outside world, but purple runes erupted around him. He didn't resist, instead complying, and disappeared entirely.
"So, you want me to tell them not to use Space Element too much?" Adam Rivas asked Arman via hologram, who frowned slightly.
"I just want you to advise them to think about it much more carefully," Arman rephrased his request.
"Okay, I'll see what I can do," Adam agreed, albeit annoyed.
He noticed a security team of S Rank Hunters awaiting him.
"Let's go," he instructed, heading to class.
Arman, on the other side, prepared material for his senior year class. He was going out of his way to convince Adam to teach more about the Space Element, especially its dangers, at Xander's request.
Shortly after, Adam arrived in the class, where only six students, including Asher and Alyssa, were present.
"Well, I hope you guys have learned the Blink Spell by now," Adam began, taking out a few glass orbs and placing them on the table.
"If you're confident you can use it, demonstrate it in the class," he instructed.
"Blink," Asher commanded, making the glass orb appear in his hands. Alyssa did the same.
"Fantastic," Adam said.
"But I do want to remind you all that using the Advanced Space Element will not be as simple as this spell," Adam continued.
"It will slowly drain your mental power, and you'll gradually feel the consequences," Adam explained, his gaze fixed on Asher in particular.
However, Adam had no way of knowing that the Rune of Eirdin enabled Asher to use the Space Element much more easily. Moreover, Asher's high intelligence meant he didn't have to suffer the mental drain that many who used the Space Element experienced.
"Today's class will be about strengthening your connection with the Space Element," Adam said, as he unveiled a diagram on the board.
The diagram depicted a complex relationship between space and mana.
"Just like mana is present everywhere, so is space. But ultimately, Space is an element that we can communicate with through mana," Adam explained.
"Like other elements, we can manipulate the space around us using mana," Adam elaborated, pointing at the figure.
"The shifting of space is the very foundation of all Spatial Spells," Adam said, demonstrating by using blink to move several objects onto his hand.
"But mastering the Space Element involves controlling that shift," he added.
A student raised his hand, and Adam paused.
Over a few classes, these students had started to understand Adam a bit better. Initially, they had considered him a bit eccentric, but when discussing the Space Element, Adam provided insightful answers to their queries.
"What if we lose control of this shift in space?" a student asked.
"That's why we stick to predefined spells," Adam replied.
"And I advise you against treating the Space Element like any other element," Adam warned, "If you lack confidence in controlling and sensing the shifts in space around you, don't experiment with the spell—stick to the instructions. Thoroughly."
"Now, focus here," Adam redirected attention back to the diagram.
"This represents the current plane. But if you wish to shift an object, or even something else," Adam paused, picking up a glass orb,
"Without a spell, I'd need to incorporate the intent of shifting this object's plane, and controlling that shift to the desired location," he elucidated.
He continued lecturing about the Spatial Element while Asher observed, feeling his mastery over the Space Element gradually improving.
All this was due to the Rune of Eirdin, which had now advanced to Rank C.
Asher could sense the space around him more vividly, a task made significantly easier for him, as the sensation of Mana Sense had a similar yet distinct feeling.
The class went on for another hour before Adam paused, looked around, and distributed another book that explained the shifting of planes in greater detail.
Not every student was like Asher, who could keep up with and comprehend concepts as they were introduced.
Others needed weeks, or even months, to understand the concept of planes, as it wasn't something they could visually perceive.
They had to sense something not physically present before them and then control it.
The concept was difficult to grasp, and without an affinity for the Space Element, sensing the space around you was impossible.
The speed of this learning process depended on one's affinity with the Space Element.
Asher, on his way to the Mage Class, paused upon receiving a message from Tom.
"So, they managed to defeat one of them," Asher muttered as he read the message Tom had sent him.
The first calamity had been vanquished, and the earliest to return were Nathaniel Greville and Joseph Kimir Cranston.
<Tom: Should we do something?>
Tom asked Asher, not having anticipated that a Calamity would fall so quickly.
<Asher: No need, the other calamities won't fall as quickly>
<Asher: Start the plan. Those who don't join us in the next five days can face the consequences>
Asher glanced at the date, and even he hadn't expected Nathan to defeat the Calamity so swiftly. Nevertheless, it was something he had accounted for.
'It doesn't matter even if they manage to defeat all of them,' Asher thought as he proceeded towards the class.
He had already accomplished what he intended to achieve by orchestrating all of this.
