Ruminations

Asher stared at the mage who had given him so much trouble. It was obvious the man wasn't blind at all, like he had made it out to be in the arena. Asher was more curious than anything at why the man would fake being blind in the first place. This man had been his most difficult challenge in the arena, ultimately almost winning against Asher in the end.

Arcanis had a light, knowing smile on his face. It was like he knew that Asher was dumbfounded about his presence. Arcanis was the one to break the silence, "I had heard about a man who opened up a shop shortly after winning a tournament. I decided to check out what it was all about."

Asher eventually said, "Welcome to Celestial Steelworks, I hope you can find everything you're looking for."

Arcanis replied to his comment, "I am not looking for equipment. Word on the street is that your shop has been successful, I wanted to see for myself, and I am not disappointed. This place seems to be booming currently, while the excitement remains at least. Most importantly though, I came to see the man who bested me. Very clever use of that gauntlet, by the way. Very versatile, but I feel you don't know it's full potential. Or your own."

Asher felt his brows furrowing in confusion. "I don't understand what you mean," Asher eventually stated.

"I see with more than just my eyes," Arcanis answered. "With the strength in your grasp, I'd be very careful. Every strong power has a drawback, no matter how obscure. Be wary of using it too much."

Asher's eyes widened in response to that statement. "Does that mean you know what my power is?"

"It does," Arcanis replied.

"Do you know anything more about it?"

"I may, but that doesn't change the fact that it is ultimately powerful and dangerous. I will not tell you not to use it, but be wary. It's an old bloodline that you draw power from. That is all I will say for now. Until we meet again," Arcanis said with a flourish of his cloak. Asher went to follow him into the street, but the mage disappeared into a cloud of smoke like he had done in the arena. Asher cursed under his breath. The mage had practically just taunted him before leaving without giving any actual answers about his ability. With no way to catch Arcanis, Asher just let out a deep sigh and continued on with his duties of working on the shop until it was shaped exactly to his and Orion's standards.

Even though they had rebuilt the building, there were several fine details that needed to be worked on in order to keep customers coming in. Asher had devised a new order sheet where he would give one to the customer and the shop would keep one in order to track all of the custom works that were requested. Despite the fact that Asher was kept busy in the shop, he longed to take contracts again. It just wasn't the same for him working inside the city, compared to his life of exterminating monsters. The cycle continued for several days until Asher had finally had enough. He hadn't even spoken to Colin since the tournament, as he was busy the entire time.

He had announced to Orion that he would be gone for a couple of weeks to do some hunting, in the meantime, Orion would continue to work away at the forge with his instructor occasionally coming in to check in on the blacksmith's progress. His instructor was amazed at the constant improvement from Orion who seemed to have a true talent for his craft. The instructor even had suspicions that Orion would quickly surpass him, given time.

Asher had been working nonstop on his end, gathering both coin and power. Before long, he would be able to advance to the next rank in the guild, increasing his earning potential even farther. He would also be facing new challenges at the B tier. There would be more powerful monsters than ever before. He already knew he would swell to all new heights of power.

There was one thing he was concerned about. He would end up leaving behind his loyal ally Leah if he couldn't find some way to boost her along with him. His mind wandered to Willow as well who had decided to stick by his side, seemingly out of nowhere. Maybe out of necessity, by his guess, but that didn't matter. She was useful to him.

Asher didn't want to put those connections to waste. He had no desire to leave them behind. He could begin hunting with Killian, but he would rather deal with the people who already knew his secret. It would make it substantially more simple for him to deal with.

It wasn't necessarily that Asher didn't trust Killian, but the more people who found out about his powers, the more chances of the people after him discovering a weak link. It wasn't worth creating more of a headache for himself. Asher sighed at the thought of it all. He knew that Leah could keep up with him and even potentially surpass him, given time.

As guild members climbed the ranks, more and more dragons and their kin were available to be hunted. With Leah's powers revolving around dragons, that would easily assist her in at least maintaining equal ground with Asher. As for Willow, he had no idea. It could be that she would be left behind in the end. It was a pity, with her sudden dedication to Asher, but he couldn't stop his own goals for her. Even if she could regain her influence in the world, it was a long time coming.

He scratched his head as he thought about it all. There was no point in worrying about it anymore until it came time to leave it all behind. He had to keep his eyes on the prize. Nobody could hold him in place after all he had done. After all he had went through in order to become something more. Something better than a typical thug.

That was why, even when he heard a spine tingling voice that made him flinch in fear, he had a touch of excitement. So far every time his shadowy visitor had come to him, they had instructed him on some aspects of his powers. Still, there was a bit of anxiety as he answered the creature.

It spoke again, louder this time, "Would you like to bring them with you? All you have to do is form a pact with them."

Asher's eyebrows raised as he listened to the words of the shadowy being. He was more intrigued than ever. He responded, "Pact?"