Chapter 81 Dark World [ 4 ]

-Isabella Roberner's point of view.

All this time, in the darkness inside Asher, Isabella, of course, was always watching him from the day she met him.

Despite barely speaking to him, certainly upon seeing him for a while, she became very curious to know more. Still, she keeps him under surveillance.

Why?

Well, that is unknown. Even Isabella herself didn't know why Asher made her so curious; perhaps because of his talent, his intelligence, his strength, despite being a boy of 11 or 12 years of age.

But all that was answered just a few minutes ago.

Exactly, it was the moment Asher fell asleep.

"So, you're from another world."

It was totally unexpected.

One of the things Encrid and Isabella can do while in Asher's mind is, of course, listen to his thoughts and see his memories when they are projected in dreams, like the one Asher had recently, a dream from his past.

Isabella watched every moment of Asher's memory.

"A murderer and someone unhappy."

Was all she got in response.

Of course, it was just a small memory from when Asher was 24 years old in his previous life, and Isabella knows nothing about the existence of reincarnation.

Who would have imagined that such a thing existed? Reincarnation, another world and perhaps another parallel reality.

These are questions Isabella can't answer, even if she spent thousands of years just researching reincarnation or a parallel place to another reality.

"For the moment, I won't say anything."

For some reason, Asher reincarnated. On the other hand, seeing only a small part of the former Asher's life, Isabella was not to get involved.

"He was unhappy."

Someone who never lived the way he wanted to, and somehow reincarnated in this world, one where magic exists, while the world Asher came from is a world with advanced technology but no magic.

"I still can't believe it, but to think that his talent is from his previous life and that talent followed him into his reincarnation..."

Thinking carefully, talent is something innate, so it is somehow attached to a person's soul, and Asher, upon reincarnation, came with his talent from his previous life.

Still, that's of no such importance to Isabella; she just didn't understand the reincarnation thing.

Reincarnation.

What is it and how does it work? When is it present and at what time does it appear? And which people does reincarnation itself choose?

It is certainly a complete mystery for which there is no answer, a term that cannot be explained, it is something natural and not something that is used.

"Haa... For the time being, I will continue to observe it. It is possible that I will see a second memory of him."

***

-Scene change.

-Encrid Frostblade's point of view.

In reality, inside Asher's room.

Encrid was sitting at Asher's desk while reading a book without even blinking.

"Hehe."

It was the first time he laughed like that over a book.

"This is interesting, I thought this stuff was boring."

[Legend of the Hero of Agrona]

A book that shows the story of a person who was the hero of the continent, someone who fought all his life and became very powerful.

As time passed, the hero had defeated grade 1 monsters and the dungeons had been cleared, there were almost none left on the entire continent.

But one day, the hero's last fight came.

"The hero fought with the dragon named Kamui, in a battle that even ninth-circle wizards could not witness."

Encrid, while reading the book, finally finished it after an hour of reading.

It was certainly a pretty good story, but Encrid knew something.

"I wonder if that bastard Kamui is still alive after I beat him up."

Of course, the hero mentioned in the story wasn't real, but the dragon was. That was why Encrid read the book to the end. It was pretty good, even though it was all lies.

"It's been an hour, so it's been a year inside my domain, why don't you come out?"

One hour equals one year inside Asher's domain.

At first, Encrid didn't think he would be long, maybe less than a minute was what he expected, but now an hour had passed.

Rubbing his cheek, Encrid closed his eyes and then a darkness came over him.

"Uh, well, looks like he already found a cave with mana crystals."

Encrid could see everything within his domain. He observed a young man fighting several ogres at once, but something was different about him.

Looking at Asher's face, Encrid didn't understand why he looked different; it was as if his personality was slowly changing to a completely different one, something akin to that of a lunatic.

"Has something happened that I don't know about?"

That's impossible. Anything within his domain, Encrid can tell immediately, then it's not his domain but Asher himself.

Seeing a strange smile on Asher's face, Encrid watched him for a few more minutes and then thought:

"I should take him out. The longer he's inside my domain..."

He dismissed the idea; it was Asher himself who went in on his own responsibility. If there was one thing Encrid was sure of, it was that he would be fine, as long as he didn't spend too much time inside the domain.

But even so, Encrid continued to observe him. Something was definitely changing in Asher.

"I guess I'll just watch him."

It wasn't that he was in danger, rather Encrid was worried about the time Asher was spending in the domain.

Everyone at the academy would notice that Asher has gotten taller and, of course, his face would look a little different than normal.

Still, Encrid waited patiently, just ten more minutes, he would tell him.

-Scene change.

-Asher Frostblade's point of view.

"Haa..."

Asher's breath was catching; he had finished killing all the monsters in the cave and had finally reached the end, and it was then that he saw a radiant glow.

"Damn... Mana crystals... At last... I found them."

It was a whole year inside Encrid's domain. Of course, Asher knew that outside it had only been an hour, but this was definitely annoying.

"All the damn... Caves... They had nothing."

It was really disastrous, and that was why Asher didn't give up. He needed a single mana crystal, but of course he would also take some extras for when he needed them.

After collecting the crystals, Asher left the cave.

His dimensional ring was completely full. Despite having a fairly large space, it was filled with the mana crystals.

"I guess I shouldn't have taken all the crystals."

In fact, he definitely took all the mana crystals; there were so many that the cave could hardly hold them.

"Mmm... My hair grew out a bit, I guess I'll cut it."

Looking at the strands of her hair that were close to reaching her shoulders, clearly anyone would ask what the hell happened to her hair.

"Hehe, I can't even imagine how others would react."

It was simply a curiosity Asher had in mind, but he dismissed it.

Now standing two centimeters taller than before and his facial features only slightly more developed, just like the rest of his body.

Asher had to try not to be seen like that, least of all by those who knew him, of course.

Standing and looking up at the dark sky, Asher observed the red moon; it was always there, in the same position, and the light was the same as always.

Nothing within Encrid's domain worked like the cycle of day and night, so Asher was at first confused about how long he had been within the domain, but after a few months, he knew how long it had been, and his surprise could not be hidden at the time.

"To think I spent a whole year searching for mana crystals."

For some reason, Asher didn't feel hungry and, strangely, he didn't get dirty or even get a scratch on his clothes. It was as if the domain prevented him from feeling hungry and kept his clothes from getting ruined, except for monster damage, of course.

"Okay, time to get out."

***

-Scene change.

After an hour of being out, Asher had showered, eaten, and finished all his daily chores. He then sat in the circle in the center of his room and pulled out some mana crystals.

"Mmm..."

He looked at five mana crystals, all of the same color: purple.

There are different types of crystals with their respective colors, among them are white, blue, orange, brown, purple, purple and black.

The black colored crystal has the most mana condensed inside it, being the most valuable crystal of all and the most sought after by eighth and ninth circle mages around the world.

"I have one black crystal and the others are purple."

Seeing that one of the crystals had a deep black color, it even looked like mana was dripping in liquid form. It was, of course, the highest quality mana crystal, while the others were purple.

"I think this might attract attention."

Indeed, it would be a scandal to show a purple crystal, but the situation would become even more delicate if he showed the black crystal. It might even attract the attention of the patriarch, the royal family or world-renowned magicians who would try to take the black crystal away from Asher.

That's how valuable the crystal with the highest mana density in the whole world is.

And Asher knew this very well, so he quickly put it away in his dimensional ring and left only a purple crystal.

"I will lower its density by absorbing the mana."

One way to reduce the color of a mana crystal is, of course, by absorbing the mana concentrated in the crystal. Slowly, its color will decrease until it becomes white.

Asher then got up and went to the bathroom. Although he had finished with his needs earlier, he had not combed his hair and had no idea what his hair, which had grown an entire year inside Encrid's domain, looked like.

But that's when her eyes widened.

"What the hell...? Mmm, not bad at all. I even look better looking with longer hair and my face looks a little more defined."

He took off his white shirt and looked at his torso and abdomen.

"Hehe, you look like you've been training for half a year, a natural physique."

Certainly, Asher looked much more attractive than before, but then he thought carefully.

"I wonder what I'll look like when I'm done growing completely."

It was a simple thought, but, for some reason, it felt amazing just thinking about what he would look like when he was 18 or 20.

"I guess I also got a second reward for spending a year in the domain."

He said to himself as he closely examined every part of his face. He could simply tell that he had become even more attractive.

"Hey... I'm still here, you know?"

"..."

Unbeknownst to Asher, the voice of Encrid, who was standing to the side of where he was, reached his ears.

"You... I thought you never bathed?" Asher looked at Encrid, who was standing in the bathtub.

Although in reality, Asher thought Encrid was back in his head, he was just now standing next to him, naked and inside the tub.

"What do you take me for, you idiot?"

"Well, I just thought that..."

"You're weird too. You've been staring at your face for ten minutes, and you should know I was here, so get out."

"..."

Walking out of the bathroom, Asher sighed. Really, that moment was weird, but more than anything....

"Ten minutes I was in there. So, how long have you been in the tub?"

Asher could only think of vague ideas, but he quickly forgot everything and looked at the mana crystal on the floor. Sitting down in the center circle, Asher held it in his hand and closed his eyes.

"I should start absorbing mana."

It was nighttime, and it seemed to be 10 PM. So Asher spent the next few hours meditating, and when the next morning came, he entered the classroom of class one.

But Asher made a serious mistake, a really serious one.

All eyes, including the teacher's, were on him.

"Uh, why are you looking at me...?"

"..."

It was then that he understood why they were looking at him that way.

"I forgot to cut my hair." He had completely forgotten everything...