Asher Bluford

Chapter Thirty-One: Asher Bluford

I rushed inside, as cyan hair's opponent was attacking him even when he had already won the duel. Using my 'Wind-Step,' I dashed.

"You already won the duel. Then why do you need to attack him?" I asked. He stopped himself and said, "Who are you to stop me?" saying that he continued his attack.

I glared at him with the intent to kill him. His face changed into despair as he had already experienced something like this and stopped moving. He was slightly trembling out of fear.

"Tch, Annoying…" saying that he turned around and left the room.

Cyan hair, who is behind me, bowed and said, "I am sorry for the trouble, but I also thank you for saving me."

"No worries, your opponent was just, you know…." I sighed. "Well, for now, let's get out from this room," I murmured to him. Then he and I got out of the room

Cyan hair then introduced himself, "Sorry I haven't introduced myself. I am Asher Bluford. You can call me Ash or Asher."

So, he is Asher Bluford, one of the greatest knights, and also wields two swords. I fought alongside him in my previous life, and he was also trained by Charlene. But in the end, he also died.

Just thinking about it made me frown, but I somehow introduced myself positively, "I am Arturo Kei, and you can call me Art."

"Ash, why did you hold back?" I asked. He then stops walking, looks at me, and says, "That's rude to tell that to a swordsman." I realized, too, that saying this is rude.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you." I apologized to him.

"That's fine. Well, you are not wrong too. Even I didn't want to fight him, but I had no other choice."

"But then why did you just wield one sword? You are a dual sword user, right?" As he heard me saying this, he looked at me with a surprised look.

"How, how did you know that I am a dual sword user?" He asked me with curiosity.

"Well…. Your stance; it was of a dual sword user. So, I thought you were one."

He looked super happy hearing this.

If I can recruit him to my party, then I would love to, after all, I know him both personally and professionally. I looked at him and said, "Ash would you like to join my party?"

"Yes," he instantly replied. I took a while to process his reply since I didn't expect him to respond with 'Yes.'

"Yes?" I repeated.

"I will join your party." He instantly replied again.

To be honest, I don't know how I should react to this, but I am happy that he will be joining me, and I will get to know more about him this time.

"Welcome to the party Ash and thank you for joining." I welcomed and thanked him.

He smiled and said, "Looking forward to being with you; by the way, how many of us are there?"

"For now, it's just two of us. But there's someone I want to meet and asks him if he is willing to join us."

"I see; let's go then."

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I am trying to find Liam and ask him if he is willing to join my party. It's been more than thirty minutes now, but we haven't seen him yet. Meanwhile, Ash and I were just talking about some random things.

Amid these many people, I finally saw him. I called him "Liam." He turned around. His hair is now a bit longer, his height has increased, and his body has slightly buffed. As he turned around, he had already recognized me and started waving as he was walking towards us.

"Art! So, you really joined the academy. How have you been? How is your family? Are you doing good?" he started throwing questions that overwhelmed me.

"Stop!!!" I stopped him, "Uff, Calm down, Liam." And he finally calms down.

"Ah, sorry Art, I just, you know, hehe."

"So now I will answer all your questions now; yes, I joined the academy. I am doing good, and my family too." I answered his questions.

He smiled brightly and said, "Thank god." My god, he worries too much, but I don't mind…

"By the way, how have you been? You changed a lot since then, you know." I asked him.

"I am doing good thanks to you, Art, and as you can see, I continued my training," Liam replied.

"Happy to hear that."

I just realized that Ash is also with me….

"Liam, this is Ash, I just met him, and he is my party member." I introduced Ash to Liam.

Liam and Ash shook hands, "Hi, I am Liam; nice to meet you." Liam introduced.

"Liam," I called his name and asked him, "Will you join my party? For now, it's just Ash and me."

Liam was happy to hear it and said, "So you are the party leader, and it's your party… Woah! I wish I could join, but I am already in a team…."

{Party is also called a "Team" sometimes.}

To be honest, it was disappointing since Liam wouldn't be in my party, but I also felt thrilled about it.

"Oh, I see, too bad that we cannot be in the same party but, that's fine…." I said, and he had already understood what I meant by this. We fist-bumped, and I said, "We can fight against each other, fair and square."

Liam replied with "Yes, that obvious."

"Alright, I need to go now. We will meet again, Art."

"Yes." I nodded and spoke.

He walked away, waving his hand.

Ash and I also left from there.

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"Liam…. Who was he? How did you guys meet each other?" Ash asked me, and I told him how we met, and I also said this, "Both of you are opposites." Ash didn't understand this quite well.

"He was weak when it comes to a physical fight and all. But for you, it's the exact opposite, am I right?"

"So, you knew that I cannot use magic." He anxiously asked me.

"Yes… But now Liam has changed a lot; he changed himself and overcame his weakness…. And you can also get stronger than what you are now." When I said this, Ash looked at me.

"Ash, get stronger, and I will help you to do so, but for that, you need to follow me. Are you willing to do so?" I asked him, and after a brief moment pause, he spoke, "I am willing to follow you, so please help me get stronger… I trust you, Art."

And hence this marked the start of something!!!

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ASH's POV:

He is like a wind; that's my first impression of him. He later then asked me If I could join his party. I didn't mind joining his party; he is strong and looks like a decent guy after all. And in the end I joined his party.

Later he said he is looking for someone he knew and invite him to our party. And after a long search, we finally found him.

The guy we were looking for; his name is Liam. Arturo then introduced me to him, and so did Liam. In the end, Liam didn't join our party as he had joined one already. Now we are back to zero….

Arturo and that guy named Liam; their relationship has a different vibe to it. Their relationship is quite different; It's not unique or something. It's just different. Student-teacher? Or something different.

Arturo…. I feel like I can trust him. After all, he is the only one who guessed I am a dual sword user and didn't criticize it.

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"Liam…. Who was he?" I asked Arturo. He then told me how they met, and then he said this, "Both of you are opposites." I didn't understand this. Opposites? How? I was about to ask him, but he spoke.

"He was weak when it comes to a physical fight and all. But for you, it's the exact opposite, am I right?"

He knows that I cannot use magic. I became anxious when he said this himself.

"So, you knew that I cannot use magic." I anxiously asked him.

"Yes…But now Liam has changed a lot; he changed himself and overcame his weakness…. And you can also get stronger than what you are now." I looked at him when he said this.

"Ash, get stronger, and I will help you to do so, but for that, you need to follow me. Are you willing to do so?" He told.

I can get stronger if I follow him? That's absurd…. But I want to follow him and see what awaits me. No, I just feel like I can follow him with my mind at ease. So, I don't mind doing it, and If I can get stronger, then I can...

"I am willing to follow you, so help me get stronger. I trust you, Art!!"