The moonlight shone, while the stars glowed, as trails of blood flowed through the air.
Slash!
The black sword moved, slashing through flesh and bone.
Slash!
The silence of the night slowly engulfed the screams.
Slash!
In the dark night, a pair of crimson-red eyes shone brighter than any blood they had beheld before.
"Where am I?"
He asked, his eyes feeling heavy as they closed.
Suddenly, the scenery changed, and the man with the crimson eyes found himself on his knees, staring at the pool of blood below him.
Slowly the pool of blood started rising, as Asher was engulfed in it, as he opened his eyes looking at the empty sky.
Slowly hands made of bones started rising from the pool of blood reaching out for Asher's neck as they grabbed it.
Asher's eyes were fixed on the empty sky, but an image started forming.
Thump!
Thump!
There was a hint of change in Asher's cold expression as a drop of blood fell on his face.
THUMP! THUMP!
Soon enough a figure appeared in the sky of lump body that was bleeding, and seeing caused a change in Asher's eyes.
A strand of long hair, that resembled the color of a pale pink hair fell on his face.
Drip! Drip!
Blood kept dropping on his face, as Asher's mana started fluctuating.
He tried to rise but the skeleton hands kept pushing him down.
Suddenly the pool of blood started vibrating...
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGHHHHHHHH," A scream resounded in the whole space.
But that scream also soon faded away as the skeleton hands dragged him into the pool.
*****
"Hmm, you are quite a restless one aren't you," The overseer spoke looking at Rifir.
"It's a useless struggle anyway," The overseer said as he snapped his fingers.
Suddenly purple runes started to appear before them.
"You are connected to that 'thing' right, you will help me see what observation he had stored," The overseer moved the runes towards Rifir.
There was a purple spark around Rifir, and those sparks offered some resistance.
But the overseer just waved away the sparks.
[ ??? has been permitted to gaze at ??? observation ]
"So I was right, you are indeed connected, interesting," The overseer looked at the notification.
[ The Memory fragment will be synced to the Host's mind ]
"That rune made it much easier, let's see who exactly are you," The overseer muttered as the purple runes took over the space.
Rifir who was struggling under the overseer's restrictions also closed his eyes as a fragment of memory started to play in front of them.
***
"Listen, both of you have performed exceptionally well, but going forward towards the Second Year, I advise you guys to choose a subject that will help you much better than this class," Professor Fernando spoke.
"I don't want to say that my own subject is useless, but you Asher Greville, should know what expectations would fall on the Heir of an Elite Family," Fernando said looking at Asher.
"Well, as I have said before this is a research-based subject, and I want you to know that this might affect your schedule or even your rankings," Fernand said.
"The only student in this class from an elite family is in the Second Year currently, I also told him the same thing in his first year,"
Although two students were standing before him, his main focus was Asher.
The advice he was giving was only for Asher, while on the other hand, the second student was called because Fernando simply didn't want them to attend their class.
"As for you Alyssa Astaria, you should focus on other subjects as well," Fernando said but his words were only for courtesy's sake.
He simply wanted to remove Alyssa from his class, because of the unnecessary attention that she brought on him from the Faculty Council.
'I don't want problems with the Faculty Council, just leave my class already,' Fernando thought in his head.
"It's fine," Asher spoke out as he looked at Fernando.
"I know what I want to go forward with," Asher replied.
"Is that all you wanted to say, Professor?" Asher spoke but his tone changed at the end.
"Haha, that's all, I just wanted to make sure that you guys knew that this subject will take a lot of your time," Fernando said.
"You can go now, but do remember to submit your reports as the End Year Tournament is coming near," Fernando said as Asher turned to leave with Alyssa who was in the wheelchair.
After both of them left, Fernando clicked his tongue in annoyance.
"I can't get a read on this guy, and what's with his tone with me," Fernando spoke.
"Anyway, if there were more students I would have grouped them with him, but why does it have to be that girl," Fernando sighed.
He was worried that the Greville Family might come after him for damaging the reputation of their Heir by grouping him with Alyssa.
"It would have been fine if I could ask the students to join, but these damn restrictions," Fernando spoke to himself.
Outside his room,
Alyssa and Asher were going toward their dorms as this was their last class of the day.
"I heard you were called by the Student Council," Alyssa spoke after a long time.
"Was it about the Dungeon Incident?" Alyssa asked.
"Yeah," Asher replied.
A month ago, Asher killed the intruders including a few students that were behind the incident, and due to him killing them, there was a huge uproar in the World Academy.
But Asher wasn't punished by the World Academy as his actions were simply self-defense but this news made other students worried for their safety.
Although, this didn't stop the bad rumors that were spreading about Asher.
"I think you should stop being around me," Alyssa spoke in a low voice as she gripped the edge of her wheelchair.
"Why?" Asher asked as he stopped in the hallway.
"Rumours about you will spread even more if they think we talk with each other," Alyssa said looking at the ground.
She couldn't face Asher, as she herself didn't want to say it.
In the whole World Academy, Asher Greville was the only person she could talk to. She would have never imagined that such a possibility would become her reality, but now that it was, she was scared that her own reputation would harm him.
'Isn't it better that I stop being with him before he hates me as well?' Alyssa thought to herself.
She didn't want Asher to hate her as well, and she was scared that if rumors about them talking with each other would get out, Asher might come to resent her in the future.
"Why should I care about those rumors?" Asher asked as he tilted his head.
It was his genuine response, Asher truly didn't care what others thought of him.
Alyssa looked up, with her dull eyes and looked back at the ground.
'They might even involve your family in the rumors, isn't it better that you don't associate yourself with someone like me?'
That was what Alyssa wanted to say, but she couldn't utter those words.
"I don't care about others, if they have a problem they can come to me themselves," Asher muttered.
"What about you? I am not someone that has a good reputation, I can say the same thing to you," Asher asked.
His eyes were looking at Alyssa, but they didn't appear as emotionless as they did in the past.
Asher didn't know himself, but he had come to look forward to his little interactions with Alyssa.
"Haah? I don't think it will affect me," Alyssa spoke with a bitter smile.
She was about to turn her face toward Asher and ask something, but her expression changed as she looked at a group of students walking toward them.
She quietly started moving, as Asher stood around and saw her leave.
They didn't interact much outside this class, as Alyssa didn't want to be seen with Asher.
It was because she didn't want the rumors about her being friendly with Asher to spread.
'Should I stop her?' Asher thought in his head.
All this time, Asher had come to realize that his own behavior was changing because of Alyssa.
For so many years, Asher was troubled by his own madness, but right now that wasn't the case. He never knew the cure he was looking for would come his way in such a way.
But just like Alyssa, Asher also wanted to keep these moments intact. He knew that him being seen with Alyssa, would trouble her more than him.
