Chapter 82 Book [ 1 ]

-Asher Frostblade Point of View.

"Why the hell did I forget?"

Asher couldn't quite explain why his hair was a little longer, and though he tried to explain, he couldn't.

From the moment Asher entered the room, he felt all eyes on him. As he looked around, he knew immediately which cadets were not taking their eyes off him.

"All of them haven't taken their eyes off me."

Exactly, the female cadets were the ones who wouldn't take their eyes off Asher.

That's why he kept distracted all day and could never concentrate. Feeling the stares from all the girls everywhere he went, after 10 a.m., he quickly went to the disciplinary committee.

"Clak."

Closing the door, he quickly walked to his desk and sat down.

"Haa... Haa... Haa."

Lately, Asher had been really mentally drained, and now the stress from all those stares from the girls around him was really tiring.

Although the stares on Asher didn't bother him that much to some extent, his mental exhaustion was increasing.

"I can recover by sleeping, but... it's not enough."

Despite getting enough sleep to recover from mental exhaustion, it's still not enough. This is leading Asher to have symptoms of tiredness and fatigue, with a slight headache and, of course, drowsiness throughout.

Certainly, Asher is slowly getting worse.

"At this rate...I'll lose my sanity in a year."

Other than that, Asher could get out of control at the sight of a little blood. His mind, seeing it, gave him a sense of being in front of a glorious landscape, something like it was beautiful.

Though it's not only that, there's also the uncontrolled laughter whenever he looks at bodies, be they monsters or humans. At that moment, a chuckle appears in Asher.

"Haa... Well, then I should wait for the day to end and come back."

Having the mana crystal in the dimensional ring, he just had to wait for the day to end to return to the committee, go to the hidden room and activate the teleportation door.

"Strangely, I feel that on the other side of that door is something very important."

Although it was just instincts, it seemed that whatever is on the other side of the door was calling to him.

But what's on the other side of the teleportation door is still unknown.

Looking down at his hands, Asher noticed that they were slowly beginning to shake, a small symptom of mental exhaustion, of course.

"What should I do?"

Wondering again and again, Encrid finally spoke to Asher.

"It sounds like what you have is mental fatigue."

"Do you know how I can remove it?"

"It's not a matter of removing or curing, it's something you yourself must increase. imagine that your mentality has levels, and you're currently at level two, but your level is dropping for some reason. So, what you have to do is raise your level of mentality, something like that."

"I see."

"For the time being, I suggest you keep some mana in your brain, that will help slow down your mental exhaustion."

Heeding Encrid's words, Asher did as he said and moved some mana to his brain.

"Mmm."

Feeling a surge of calmness, the headache and sleepiness slowly began to subside. Finally, Asher felt more relaxed in his head.

"Since when does that happen to you?"

Encrid's words reached Asher.

Although the mental exhaustion happened so suddenly, it actually started a couple of months ago. Back then, Asher just felt a little more mentally tired, but he thought it was part of his training, so he let it go.

"It was a few months ago."

"I see."

Of course, Asher knows that losing his sanity through mental exhaustion is extremely dangerous for himself. Who knows, his personality could change to a completely different one, and he would become a psychopath obsessed with killing others, which is just what happened to Asher very recently.

"I feel strange every time I look at blood, although at the moment that happens only with the blood of monsters."

"You're not some kind of vampire, are you?"

"..."

"Of course I'm not. I mean something else, like being turning into a psychopath. It happens when I see blood and dead bodies, also when I'm fighting."

Encrid didn't say anything about it.

What was happening to Asher was completely bizarre.

"Avoid causing harm to anyone for the time being. If you say it happens when you fight and look at blood and dead bodies, then try to avoid it for now."

"That's what I had in mind."

But maybe that's not enough.

While Asher starts to feel strange when he sees anything related to blood or dead bodies, and also during a fight, one of the things Asher feels is pleasure, like it's all for show, like it's fun to watch his enemies die, kind of like a psychopath.

"Mmm, that's weird. I just got here a little while ago and it's almost half past ten."

Asher got up from his seat, walked out of the disciplinary committee room and back into the classroom.

***

-Scene Change.

-Luna Hazard's point of view.

Luna's thoughts were all scrambled in confusion. Still, she tried to appear as usual, but in reality her mind was a jumbled mess.

"I was supposed to stop thinking about those things a long time ago."

She was trying to forget those kinds of feelings, but now it was too much for her.

"I know Gloriana likes Asher and I'm not supposed to get into that, rather I'm supposed to help Gloriana get closer to Asher."

"So why do I feel any different now? All of a sudden, he looks too handsome? He's my type."

Hiding her face in the table as she covered herself with her arms.

Class was close to start, it was almost 11 am and they were just waiting for the professor, though some cadets were yet to arrive in the classroom, and that included Asher.

"Haa... I must stop these thoughts."

Luna was certainly out of control with her emotions and thoughts, but seeing Asher, who strangely looked much more handsome than before, she couldn't find words at that.

Looking at Gloriana, who was sitting next to him, she seemed to be immersed in her thoughts, but seeing her face, Luna knew more or less what she was thinking about.

"Hey."

"..."

Gloriana then looked at Luna, she still seemed engrossed in her thoughts.

"Gloriana..."

With no response, Luna then touched Gloriana's arm.

"Hey, can you hear me?"

"Uh... Ah, sorry, I was distracted."

"Why were you distracted?"

"..."

Gloriana didn't answer right away, but Luna noticed instantly.

"It's because of Asher, isn't it?"

"..."

For some reason, her face flushed a little. So, that's what she was thinking about. Luna has known Gloriana for a long time, they could even be considered family because of how long they've been together.

"No..."

"Tell me something, I've noticed it in you and from your reactions, you like Asher, don't you?"

Luna spoke close to Gloriana's ear, keeping her voice low so no one would hear.

Gloriana simply stood still without showing any reaction. Luna couldn't see her face as Gloriana was looking to the side, trying not to be seen by her.

"W-well..."

Clank.

The door to the living room opened.

Luna looked in that direction, and for some reason, every step Asher took made his uniform, though the same as all the cadets', seem tailor-made for him. Most of all, Luna noticed his face.

Her heart began to beat faster. Her eyes were firmly locked on Asher's face, and, with his hair a little longer, he looked even more attractive than anyone else.

Luna looked at Gloriana.

"Uh... She looks lost."

Moving a little away from Gloriana, Luna continued to watch Asher until she finally sat down next to Gloriana, which was normally her seat.

As usual, Julian greeted him first, followed by Freddy and Grey. Certainly, those four were slowly becoming best friends, even if they didn't overtly show it, but Luna knew it all along.

"Really, he's... my type."

He's strong, intelligent, highly talented and has an impressive figure. He meets all of Luna's requirements; he really is her ideal type.

"No, wait... Gloriana likes Asher."

While Asher seemed rather clueless when it came to these feelings, the same could not be said for Gloriana. Luna clearly knew that Gloriana was developing feelings for Asher.

Her strange behavior in front of Asher, her sudden change of attitude, and sometimes her more colorful-than-normal face were obvious signs of infatuation that Luna could not ignore.

"Well... Maybe I should just forget about him. I should stop thinking about him for a while; maybe then I won't... fall in love with Asher."

***

-Scene change.

-Asher Frostblade's point of view.

One of the classes Asher considered quite curious was "Mana Manipulation," a class that taught all sorts of control over mana and how to shape it.

It is an extremely complicated class, but of course, Asher understood it perfectly. However, it wasn't enough information.

"I need a mana control that is perfect."

Although every mage has a certain mana control when first starting out, it is usually very inefficient, and that's what Asher had at that moment: an inefficient mana control.

Therefore, Asher needed a unique mana control, one that was perfect for dark magic, a mana control that no one knew about. No one knows what mana control is perfect for darkness mana.

Although Encrid might be the answer, Asher was unable to get information out of him; it was as if he didn't want to tell him anything at the moment.

Of course, at some point, Encrid would tell him everything Asher wanted to know.

"Reverse flow."

At Oriana's words, everyone in the class raised their heads.

Oriana was the teacher in charge of the Mana Manipulation and Mana Theory subject.

"..."

Asher was engrossed at Oriana's words.

"Reverse Flow is a mana technique that allows you to return mana to your opponent. It's something easy to say, but very difficult to do."

Oriana raised both hands, and out of them came two spheres, one of water and the other of fire.

"I'll show you what reverse flow looks like."

Both spheres took positions away from each other.

Clack.

Oriana snapped her fingers, and then, just as the spheres were about to collide, she moved her right hand. Suddenly, the fire sphere disappeared, while the water sphere continued to move forward.

"'Reverse Flow' focuses on canceling opponents' abilities," Oriana explained. "It's a crucial technique for any mage, as it not only defends against attacks, but can neutralize an opponent's abilities, giving you a strategic advantage in combat."

Asher watched the demonstration and caught every split-second detail: how the mana moved and what exactly Oriana did with her hands to make the fiery sphere disappear.

"Mmm, so that's how it is. I thought it would be complicated, but... I think it'll take me a few minutes."

Although the skill Oriana mentioned seemed easy to understand at first glance, it was actually quite the opposite. Oriana explained over the next few minutes, and although no one else understood, Asher managed to pick up on something.

"Maybe I can use it as a mana control for the time being."

Although it would seem that the Reverse Flux ability is not specifically designed for mana control, the way it is used is similar to a mana control.

"There are still a few more things missing, I still can't quite replicate it."

After a couple of minutes, Asher generated two spheres, and even though they were from the same room, he believed it could still work.

"So, I should do this, control the mana this way and..."

It was then that Asher managed to vanish one of the two spheres before they collided. Although he came close to not making it, he finally succeeded.

"I made it..."

"..."

"Uh, shoot, I forgot I was still in class."

All eyes were on Asher, and he could especially feel Oriana's gaze fixed on him....