"Hey, I wanted to ask something," Damian asked.
"What?" Asher replied.
"A month ago, why did you tell me to protect that girl?" Damian asked while they were sparring.
End of Year Tournament was near, and Damian wanted to do a few spars with Asher so that they could get ready for it.
But the question regarding Asher's strange request was still on his mind.
Usually, Damian wouldn't ask Asher about things he didn't speak about but he was curious.
"Hmm, I-I don't know," Asher replied as he stopped in his place.
Damian stopped for a second as he saw the look on Asher's face, especially his eyes that for a single moment didn't seem as emotionless as usual.
Damian just shook his head, and decided not to pursue this matter further, as he didn't wanted waste their precious time of sparring.
Both of them continued sparring while Damian took all of Asher's attack and after some time both of them stopped.
"You have gotten quite powerful, I am surprised you caught up so fast," Damian smiled.
"I am pretty sure, you will achieve the Ranker Title after the End Year Tournament,"
Asher sat on the bench present in the room thinking about Damain's words.
At first, Asher was cautious of increasing his strength because of the fact that he couldn't control his increasing madness.
But now, that wasn't the case anymore. He didn't feel the urge to destroy everything around him, and life didn't seem that dull to him.
It was a new feeling, that was still unknown to Asher but he was slowly recognizing it.
That's why Asher didn't put a limit on himself and continued practicing his mana, and due to his bloodline ability reaching D Rank was possible.
"Seeing your speed, makes me feel that I have slacked off," Damian said while stretching his body.
"I am sure you can defeat me or the other rankers if you fight carefully," Damian spoke.
These were his honest opinions.
"I don't really need the Ranker Title," Asher replied.
"It's not like anything would change," Asher said while looking at his sword.
"Oh come on, there are so many people that talk behind your back, although you started late, I don't think you would have a hard time competing for Rank 1," Damian said with a smile on his face.
Asher glanced at Damian's expression and for a moment, Damian's smile looked a bit bitter.
But Damian turned his head to place his shield on the weapon shelf, as he started removing the protective gear.
Although Damian and Asher were friends, Asher hardly knew what Damian was thinking.
He didn't even know why Damian had stuck with him for so long, but right now Asher didn't mind Damian's presence.
'Maybe, I can be normal as well?' Asher thought for a second.
His whole life, he had a hard time relating with others, but since coming to World Academy, he felt different, something that he didn't know he could feel.
The memories shifted, as Asher was now standing in his waiting room looking at Alyssa who had just won a match against Venessa Baker, but her next opponent was Alan.
There were a lot of students that were cheering Alan, who was smiling at them, but then he looked at Alyssa and his face had a look of disgust.
"It seems winning against a Ranker made you think that you are something?" Alan said while Alyssa stood on the stage silently.
The Referee was about to signal the start of the match Alan smirked as he was ready to show the world, that he and his family weren't connected to her at all.
The match began as Alan dashed towards Alyssa who chanted her Ice Spell, but the chants weren't fast enough to completely stop Alan.
Alan had already seen the duel between Alyssa and Venessa and he was aware of the way that Alyssa defeated a ranker, and it was due to her catching Venessa off guard and pushing her off the stage.
"GO ALAN!"
"CRUSH HER!"
Chants were resounding in the arena and even some of the Professors weren't looking too happy seeing Alyssa on the stage after all her previous win had guaranteed her spot on as a Ranker.
They were sure that it would create a lot of backlash as people wouldn't like that a person related to the Garcia Family was enjoying the privilege of a ranker.
Alyssa's hands were shaking because her match was scheduled after the first one.
This was the Fourth Day, and she had just fought Venessa, but for some reason, she was told to fight Alan soon after.
"A pathetic b*t*h," Alan smirked as he slashed the ice slash, and made a cut on Alyssa's arm.
"I didn't want to dirty my sword with your blood, but I would make sure that you know your place here," Alan spoke loudly.
Alyssa stayed silent as she touched the wound, and raised her hand.
"Ice Arrows, Descend," She muttered as Alan started running around the stage.
The frost arrows would pierce the stage but Alan could see their trajectory.
'I don't have enough strength,' Alyssa thought as her head started hurting.
Her mana was running low, and she was feeling tired even staying afloat on the stage dodging Alan's strikes.
Both of her arms were shaking, and the loud cheer of the crowd was slowly getting muffled for her.
She waved her hands upwards, causing the ice to erupt from Alan's feet trying to capture him, but the strength of her spell wasn't enough.
Shatter!
Alan broke through the ice with his aura and dashed towards Alyssa as he grabbed her throat, and lifted her upwards.
He let his aura spread as he countered the effect of the gravity magic that Alyssa was using and threw her on the ground.
Alyssa's head hit the stage causing her mask to break and also causing small bleeding around her head.
"Ugly b***h," Alan spoke.
Alyssa opened her eyes, which were looking lifelessly at Alan.
"Haha, I guess this isn't enough to make you know after all," Alan spoke as thrust the sword into Alyssa's hand making her eyes go wide with pain.
The crowd cheered while some people averted their eyes as they couldn't stomach the look on Alyssa's face.
Alan was about to thrust his sword again, but the referee stopped him midway as Alyssa couldn't move anymore.
"The Winner is Alan Astaria," The Referee announced.
"Tsk, too bad I couldn't play a bit more," Alan turned to leave.
The medics present there immediately took Alyssa to the ward for her treatment while the Referee started announcing the next match.
Everyone moved on, as they were eager to watch the next match.
But that wasn't the case for Asher who was watching the whole match.
His eyes went cold, as he looked at the screen and the look on his face changed.
He felt it.
The madness that has been suppressed for so long, emerging slowly.
But this time, Asher didn't even try to control it.
For so long, he didn't know what he felt towards Alyssa.
But that also was about to change in the near future.
"It is the next match between Asher Von Raven Greville Vs Alan Astaria,"
The crowd cheered as Alan proudly walked onto the stage with a wide smile on his stage.
"Let's have a good match," Alan said while looking at Asher.
Unlike his previous opponents, Alan didn't mock Asher but it was mostly due to the fact he and Asher had similar status.
Both of them were Heir of their respective families.
"Do you think he can defeat Alan?"
"Who are you kidding, he is good but Alan is better,"
The Heir of the Greville Family, who had only recently gotten awakened, wasn't even a Ranker, unlike his sister.
Many people judged that Asher wasn't capable of defeating the rankers and rumors about him being incompetent were being spread around the World Academy.
"But he did kill the people...."
"Kevin was the one that actually held them back, he just dealt the final blow,"
Every person had a different view of Asher, but the person in question was standing on the stage staring at Alan's sword.
"Not even a greeting? Huh, good luck," Alan said as he felt a bit annoyed by Asher's expressions.
"Start,"
The Referee spoke out as Alan dashed towards Asher who was standing still.
Alan closed the gap towards Asher in an instant and thrusted the sword towards Asher.
Slash!
The whole stage got silent as Alan's sword pierced Asher's guts.
"What?"
The whole crowd was confused. Even the Professors were shocked by this.
Even Alan himself was confused as this attack was meant to be a follow for his next strike as Asher could dodge it instantly.
