The Next Move

Once again, inside a similar-looking Record Room, Asher and Elsa patiently waited for Elsa's total profit to be calculated.

Upon the announcer's counter sat Elsa's Night Badge, shimmering with a dazzling white energy glow.

As Asher and Elsa waited, there was a certain silence permeating the atmosphere. Immediately when arriving here, the announcer had crouched under the counter and remained there for some time already.

Since this process was taking a longer time than Asher's rewards, the duo had just assumed Elsa's rewards were significantly higher.

This little moment of rest allowed Elsa to focus on more hopeful things.

By the time they had enter the room, Elsa had already let go of Asher's hand. However, she stayed at extremely close distance with him to the point their shoulders were practically pressed against each other.

Although Asher helped majorly with consoling her, Elsa's mind couldn't entirely shake off the feeling of her first-ever kill.

The implications, thoughts, and sensations behind killing left a deep imprint in Elsa's mind, one that she would never forget.

However, when arriving in the Record Room, Elsa realized not everything about this situation is bad. After all, she finally took her first step in striving towards a better future for both her and Asher.

Just the simple thought of providing Asher tremendous help gives Elsa a piece of mind, letting her feel a good rise of anticipation about their upcoming rewards.

For his part, Asher had a slight smile of relief behind his mask.

While he's plainly aware of the fact that Elsa's sickening feeling towards killing won't vanish overnight. He could still see that she was most obviously willing to change and grow in the future.

With her prideful and even stubborn personality at times, Asher could just expect Elsa wouldn't overly rely on him to jump this mental hurdler.

But no matter how much Elsa would want to surpass this mental block on her own, Asher would be right behind her, supporting her every move.

Suddenly then, both Elsa and Asher were broken out of their musing when the announcer stood back up. Their eyes were drawn to a fancy Spatial Ring in the announcer's hands.

Amazingly enough, they could actually detect a faint trace of crystal energy flowing out of the Spatial Ring.

"Now, let's see. For one-shotting Roaring Thunder and doing it within just seconds, plus his own valuables and the bets made, this all will come out to….1,600 Origin Crystals! This goes way beyond what any newcomers made on their first fight."

The announcer told the duo with a twinkling glint swirling within his eyes as he stared specifically at Elsa.

"That amount…." Elsa could barely contain her surprise when hearing her overwhelming profit.

She slightly turned her head to Asher, realizing a shocking thought. Across the board, they only had three matches in total, and this match record would be nothing for anyone else.

However, the rewards they got tremendously surpassed any other seasoned warrior!

What made Elsa feel even more ludicrous was the fact that neither she nor Asher barely had to struggle.

On the contrary, their prowess allowed them to essentially treat this as some form of training. Although as easy as it seems now, Elsa was plainly aware that the difficulty would tremendously increase in the future.

Just with that upcoming mission, Elsa was already prepared to have a rough time within the Decrypted Woods.

"Yea….I know. We're rich." Asher muttered back to Elsa, feeling an equal amount of shock.

Their combined total equals over 3,000 Origin Crystals!

This kind of profit would make even Low-Class level families salivate with unending greed. Surges of indomitable confidence arouse within Asher right then.

With matches like this, Asher was 100 percent sure he'll have enough for all four of them on the mission!

After Asher finished talking, the white energy glow receded from the counter.

Elsa had then turned her attention back on the counter, gazing at both her Night Badge and the Spatial Ring. Then, feeling more positive emotions, Elsa wordlessly took both possessions and was about to turn back around to Asher.

But before she could do so, the announcer suddenly spoke up again. This time, he didn't hide any interest he had in his tone.

"Ah. One more thing before you go. In....I'll say a few days later, watch out for any eager family invitations. Your prowess is amazingly unprecedented."

Asher and Elsa only curled their eyebrows at this news.

Once again, they're getting told about family invitations, but this time the announcer seemed entirely assured Elsa would receive one.

Furthermore, the more they stare into this announcer's eyes, Asher and Elsa were beginning to feel that the Burning Night Pit organization may just contact them on their own.

Still, while the prospects of these Family invitations sound interesting enough, Asher and Elsa knew they couldn't put much thought into it now. All they were focused on was gaining resources for their missions. And any second spent in here not doing that would just be valuable time loss.

So after only a couple of seconds of silence, Elsa was the one to slightly nod her head while saying,

"I see. Thank you for the warning. We'll certainly keep this in mind for the future. But for now….shall we?"

As she called his name, Asher turned his head to match her gaze, nodding to signify they should leave.

Then, without wasting a second longer, Asher and Elsa promptly turned on their heels and left the Record room.

Left all alone, the announcer cupped his chin, assuming a thinking position.

His mind contemplated both Asher and Elsa, going over everything he knows about their prowess. And after only a few seconds of thinking, a bright gleam swirled within his eyes.

The announcer had then reached under his desk and took out a deep black color ring. Cradling the special ring in his hand, the announcer started to talk to himself out loud.

"Asher and Elsa, huh....and they're still unaware. This could possibly work, the executives will undoubtedly have a keen interest in both of them. If we could raise their realm even quicker….those Sky Districts Families certainly won't be able to run so rampantly…."

….

Back strolling through the corridors, Asher had his eyes briefly closed as he contemplated their next moves.

Even with the abundance of riches, they have now, Asher wasn't foolish enough in thinking this would be sufficient.

After all, Asher just doesn't want items to help them out. Instead, he wants defense, pills, and weapons that would make all of their lives significantly easier.

He especially needs this for Reese and Kylee considering the fact they're the weakest of the group. And they most likely won't be able to provide much or really any support during the mission.

Though this wasn't to say Asher believed he could actually provide tremendous combat support for Elsa.

At best, he knows limits lie somewhere within the Mid-Stage of the Spirit Tier realm. The only reason he knew he could be more helpful than Reese and Kylee was because of his Ghostly abilities.

Still, with the right combination of items, Asher was assured that all four of them could become quite the force despite Elsa being the only Origin Tier on their team.

Considering all of his plans laid out in his mind, Asher actually didn't rush to tell Elsa about it.

His Aura Sense could detect a mixed mood from Elsa. One part of her had her mind on killing while the other was pure determination to gain more money.

As much as Asher wanted resources, he would not push Elsa to go as hard as him.

Even barring his own heavy feelings for her, if Elsa isn't in the right mental state, it could very well affect her combat prowess. No matter how all-powerful she is, the slightest bit of hesitation or mistake could significantly cost her.

Just thinking about the possibilities of Elsa getting seriously injured or worse caused a haunting chill to run through Asher's entire body.

From within his veins, Asher could feel that so-called negative energy slightly reacting to such dreadful thoughts.

But before Asher got ahead of himself, he pushed any pessimistic thoughts down and focused on Elsa. Throughout this entire time, Elsa was silent, obviously pondering her own thoughts and feelings.

At times like this, Asher knows Elsa could be silent for quite a while. So to gain her attention Asher gently grasped Elsa's shoulder, prompting her to stop and look over to him.

It was admittedly cute to see Elsa curiously tilt her head at him, waiting for whatever Asher had to say.

Slightly smiling at her from behind his mask, Asher asked her then, "After thinking about it for a bit, I can tell you we have tonight and tomorrow night to make the best of our time here. Now, I don't want you to overly exert yourself, Elsa. Just tell me if you're up for this, and if not, I have no problem taking an abundance of matches."

Elsa didn't immediately respond. Asher's words ran through her mind like an echo chamber, causing her to gradually realize something.

While she felt her whole chest warm from just how considerate Asher's being, she also felt a bit of her pride stirred.

Elsa didn't want to immediately jump back into the pits of fire, but she most certainly wouldn't want Asher to do everything just because she couldn't get her mind adjusted.

Moreover, Elsa knows this is a mental block she simply can't hide behind. So with a slight breath, Elsa said to Asher,

"You don't have to do that. Just….give me a minute. Afterward, we can regularly switch between taking matches."

"Alright then. And remember, if you just simply one-shot your opponents, you'll basically get an abundance of crystals even without killing." Asher once again explained.

Elsa didn't verbally respond, but Asher did feel more tension leave her body then.

Nodding at her, Asher had then said, "Now let's go. We could squeeze several matches before you need to go home."

"Ah! Right….we'll need to speed it up." Elsa almost felt like a jolt ran through her body when thinking about the time frame.

Thankfully for them, since their matches barely lasted seconds, not much time has passed since Asher and Elsa got here, even though so many things occurred all at once.

And with their motivation fired up, Asher and Elsa continued back walking down the corridor, both equally determined to make the most of their night.