Fate & Luck

Far late into the dead-end of night, Asher was, of course, still up, cultivating upon his bed.

Immediately when coming home, he performed his usual task of texting Elsa and his friends before sleeping. Whatever they had to say would always fuel Asher with more encouragement for the laborious task of cultivation.

And while he was texting his girlfriend and friends, he had even received a text from Scarlett.

As expected from a wild, free-spirited girl like herself, she cared little about orders of things and gave Asher an energetic reminder of their day tomorrow.

When thinking more clearly about it now, Asher truthfully didn't mind spending his afternoon with Scarlett.

Because he could only have free reign to meet up with Elsa either in the dawn or morning or the evening, he couldn't really get any serious training done. Moreover, Reese and Kylee seemingly got even more pumped about their studies and diligently used their time.

But above all, Asher felt a genuine desire to hang out with Scarlett.

Albeit she's more on the abrasive side, Asher could see she's a genuine person to have as a friend.

Plus, when comparing his other options of people to hang out with, barring Reese, Kylee, and Elsa, Scarlett would be his only choice.

Still now, the vibes of those Ranking Students have always rubbed him the wrong way.

As Asher contemplated various thoughts while cultivating, he suddenly felt a jolt ping his entire body. Asher went rigid for a brief moment before flinging his eyes open.

That jolt….it felt like it came straight from his soul!

This left Asher confused as he already received a System Mission. He didn't know that his System Soul could even ping him again for something so soon.

Asher barely even thought about it; he started to call out to Yuki on his instinctive reaction.

'Say Yuki-'

'Ah, Asher….Some good news and, well....terrible news I need to tell you now. Good news is that I found out more about the mission. And the terrible news is….things had just got a lot more troublesome. That jolt you felt was your System soul updating to this new information.'

Yuki had swiftly cut off Asher with a rare serious tone.

Asher poured all of his focus into Yuki now as a slightly ominous feeling crept into his mind. After experiencing constant bouts of success, Yuki's words were a harsh reminder of the gravity of System Missions.

'Well….surely it can't get that much worse, right? So just what is the bad news?' Asher wearily asked, unable to suppress the rising worry in his tone.

'Apparently, this event won't be exclusive to you, the little girl, and those brats. Our System foretells that another small group will be traveling towards the same spot, hoping to gain incredible rewards. And unfortunately for us, our System won't tell me how the hell they know about this or their exact level of strength. All I know for sure is that they will go the same day as you, and there will be Origin Tiers among them.'

Yuki laid out everything she learned. Despite how massively confident she always is in Asher, even she couldn't suppress the noticeable worry in her tone.

'....Well shit. This just made everything massively more complicated. But, I don't get it….why didn't the System tell us this the first time we received the mission?' Asher inquired.

Really, this added layer of difficulty just seemingly came out of the blue. And if his System Soul could make things tremendously more complicated for him, then who knows how much more impossible missions can get in the future.

All sorts of worrying thoughts popped into Asher's mind at this moment, causing his already high tension to rise even more.

'To be frank with you, Asher, I have only the basics of understanding with this whole System Soul stuff. In short, think of this like….like….ah! Think of it like balancing luck and a vague sense of Fate. Our System Soul can vaguely guide us down a path to become crazily strong, but it all depends on luck on how complicated the challenge will be.'

'Fate?....Luck?' Asher could only scratch his head at Yuki's words.

Just the term Fate alone is already confusing to ponder about. In fact, throughout everything he learned over the years, there wasn't really anything covering the topic of Fate.

And as for luck, Asher doubted if something like that was even real.

But before Asher could ponder on Yuki's confusing words, he realized something more majorly critical then.

Yuki was actually providing him with information! It wasn't the most helpful information in the world, but it was better than what she used to tell him previously.

Asher wasn't going to ask Yuki about this sudden change now as they had more pressing matters to think about. But he did file this slight change in his mind for later.

Focusing back on the current topic, Asher worked his mind and drew up the best conclusion as he can with such little information.

'So you're saying that System Mission runs on some sort of Fate Logic? I'm assuming these events have a base level of danger since our last mission didn't have sudden new information. Still, am I just so damn unlucky that this dangerous mission was made even more dangerous?'

'Hmmm….well, not unlucky. You should know that you're still incredibly special for being able to receive missions like this. But, nothing can ever know everything that's going to happen. Our System Soul isn't all-knowing, which is where the luck factor comes in. And before you ask, I have no idea in hell how System's vague Fate level or Luck work.' Yuki patiently explained.

And still, Asher could not get over how helpful Yuki was at this moment. Even down to her tone, which held this unique melodic chime about it, making it slightly easy for Asher to digest her words.

While he stewed on Yuki's words, Asher started to become highly intrigued by Yuki's true origins.

The most he got was that she's from the Ghost Race, a Race that apparently nobody heard of in this City.

Since Yuki is being so helpful right now, Asher took it a step forward, asking her then, 'Even for me Yuki, I really wouldn't want to know how confusing things like Fate or Luck work as of now. But still, just where do you come from to know about this?'

'Oh~? Growing more curious are we?'

Asher nearly leaked a groan as Yuki's tone suddenly snapped to her mysterious teasing one.

But before Asher could write off her antics, Yuki continued to speak.

'Now now, don't be like that, Asher~. I'll tell you what, once you reach, let's say….the Earth Tier realm, you will know far more about me, us, and everything in general. Trust me when I say this; everything will make far more sense if you wait until then.'

'Far more sense, huh? Heh….alright, guess I'll just wait.'

Asher easily relented since he knows he can't wring any more information out of Yuki on his own.

Furthermore, Asher had complete confidence in reaching the Earth Tier realm in the future. With his talent and these System Missions, Asher had enough assurance his cultivation growth would be freakish.

And it wasn't like Asher was in a hurry to learn about Yuki's origin. Instead, he had to worry about more pressing matters and how to deal with this sudden extra danger to his current mission.

'Going back on topic, I'm certainly feeling more tension about this mission. But, I'm still reasonably confident about facing these extra dangers. With the money we can make tomorrow, I'll just go overboard with preparing. Better to be over-prepared than under after all.'

Even if Yuki were to tell him that this mission would be nearly impossible, Asher would never accept simply giving up.

All of this would be life-changing moments for Reese and Kylee and Elsa and himself. If they lose out on a golden opportunity like this, Asher could just feel all of their lives would become tremendously tougher.

'As always, that's an excellent mindset to have, Asher. But, still, be extra wary to whoever this small group may be. Beings across all races, especially humans, can be venomous rats!'

Yuki told him, sounding slightly heated towards the end.

Asher only slightly quirked his eyebrows as he said, 'Right….well, I don't think you need to have such a pessimistic outlook. But I can't deny there are some unhesitatingly ruthless people in the world.'

'Hmm~. More than that, actually, but you'll fully understand it one day. But for now, Asher, I think it's time to start expanding on your Ghostly abilities. After everything today, I see that your body can take it. And this would be a major clutch for someone even as powerful as that little girl.'

In a snap, Asher immediately felt his excitement skyrocketed. Even though it was such boastful words, Asher didn't doubt Yuki at all.

After all, Asher did test that his Ghostly abilities do work against someone far more powerful than him from his phasing training with Elsa.

If he could have a larger grasp and control over their abilities, Asher could see himself providing support to Elsa against those that were in the Origin Tier realm.

With his motivation at an all-time high, Asher began surging waves of his pure Ghost energy. A dazzling light blue Ghost Aura immediately covered Asher's entire body as he was prepared to train for the rest of the night.