Asher sighed, then rose from his seat and walked out of the room. Stepping outside, he couldn’t sense Wuthenya and Malrik anywhere around him.
’They must have vanished again,’ Asher thought, turning in the direction of his room with a slight frown.
As he walked through the hallways of the estate, thoughts swirled in Asher’s mind like a storm. His greatest limitation during the True Awakening had been the lack of highly potent blood.
If someone stronger than Hillary had been the one to come after him instead, the blood he had gathered wouldn’t have been nearly enough, simply because it had come from weak beasts.
But the truth was, he had no way around it. Although he could ask his siblings for help, Asher could already guess what Malrik’s response would be, he might invite Asher to hunt the beast together.
He, who was barely equal to a Veil ranked beast, going against anything higher? That was utter madness, borderline suicide.
His mind spun back to the brief time he’d spent with his father barely hours ago when the mission to survive was handed down to him.
’If I’m asked to pick my own reward,’ he thought, ’then I would ask him for a lot of blood from at least a Void class beast.’
But at the back of his mind, a whisper told him he was simply being too greedy. A Void class beast could cause the downfall of an entire empire, and yet here he was, asking for one’s blood.
Still, Asher reassured himself that he wasn’t being unreasonable, after all, he hadn’t asked for the blood of an End class monster, which was in an entirely different league of danger and rarity.
’But I wonder what gift Father has prepared,’ Asher thought to himself as he walked. He was genuinely looking forward to it. He couldn’t contain the small flutter of excitement in his chest, but he knew he couldn’t just walk up to the Primarch’s study, knock on the door, and ask about it.
That would be considered rude, even as a son. So he would simply wait for Zarek to sneak up to his door as he usually did, perhaps bringing word of his father’s decision.
With that thought settled, his mind drifted to Lyra, the one person who had believed in him without a shred of doubt. ’I wonder how she’s doing. I should be seeing her soon,’ Asher thought warmly.
During the True Awakening, the personal maid or butler of a Sun or Moon is sealed in a hidden location to prevent any kind of help or interference during the event.
After all, many Suns and Moons in the past had secretly made their maids or butlers assist them during their awakening trials.
But these attendants had always paid the price for doing so. In the end, it didn’t matter that they were just following the orders of a noble’s child.
’She should be released soon,’ Asher thought as he walked through the corridor, his thoughts spinning. He genuinely looked forward to seeing her again after nearly dying multiple times. Even when his life had flashed before his eyes, Lyra had appeared in those fleeting images, always present, always close.
As Asher approached his room, barely a few meters away from the door, his steps faltered for a split second. He had sensed a presence inside his room, and this presence definitely wasn’t Lyra, or Zarek.
’Who is it?’ he wondered. But that didn’t stop him from opening the door. The moment he stepped in, a sabre came streaking toward his neck with ridiculous speed, aiming to kill or at least seriously injure.
But Asher didn’t bother dodging or parrying it the conventional way. Instead, he calmly activated Position Marker and vanished from his spot, reappearing instantly on the table where he had previously placed the marker in his room.
His purple eyes snapped forward, locking onto the figure standing near the door. There stood a boy, calm and composed, the Ninth Sun: Thalric Wargrave.
"What is the meaning of this, brother? You know siblings aren’t allowed to attack one another unless it’s an official duel," Asher said, his voice turning cold.
Although he had always ignored Thalric simply because he couldn’t be bothered with meaningless rivalry, Asher wasn’t someone who would take kindly to being attacked without provocation.
But he didn’t retaliate, yet. First of all, he didn’t know how strong Thalric truly was. He didn’t know the boy’s element, nor the abilities associated with his sabre. Asher simply knew nothing, while Thalric might know almost everything about him. Besides, he was still tired from the True Awakening.
But Asher had never been naive to think that just because he was talented and had won against someone as useless as Ryan, he could now contend with Thalric, a true Wargrave. At least, not yet.
Thalric stood calmly, his red eyes fixed on Asher as though trying to stare into his soul. Then he began to speak. "You know, right from the beginning, I’ve always hated you. Seeing you sleep, eat, and run around like a fool, it always made me angry."
Asher didn’t speak. He simply listened, his purple eyes meeting Thalric’s red ones, unblinking and unreadable.
Silence stretched between them like a drawn blade before Thalric spoke again. "You don’t have anything to say?"
’Isn’t this supposed to be a one-sided monologue? What do you want me to say?’ Asher thought to himself.
"What do you want me to say?" Asher finally asked aloud, his voice neutral and unbothered.
"You’re supposed to ask why," Thalric replied sharply.
’Did this idiot think up an entire script and now expects me to follow it?’ Asher thought silently. Still, he decided to play along. He had always been curious why Thalric talked down to him for no apparent reason.
"Why?" Asher asked.
"Because you are the reason Mother died. If you hadn’t been born, she wouldn’t have died during childbirth," Thalric said.
He paused briefly before continuing. "All my memories of her are from when I was just a year old. You took her from me... from us... the moment you came into this world."
Asher remained silent. He could hear the sadness behind Thalric’s voice. He was sure that if Thalric wasn’t trying so hard to maintain his composure, the boy might have broken down in tears right then and there.
’Isn’t he only a year older than me? Meaning the memories he has of her should only be from when he was a baby. How can he even remember anything from that time?’ Asher thought.
’Wait... Don’t tell me this fool possesses the rare condition; hyperthymesia?’ Asher thought in disbelief.
"She looked forward to me awakening the rapier," Thalric continued. "She talked about it every night, putting me to sleep with tales about the rapier. I looked forward to awakening it, to training with her..."
Thalric clenched his fists tightly.
"But that wasn’t possible anymore. I awakened the sabre. But you, the one who took her from this world, ended up being a failure. A child who killed his own mother. A great warrior lost her life... and the son she died for couldn’t even awaken, something even commoners could do," Thalric spat with venom.
"It tore me apart. It consumed me. If it weren’t for the family’s duel restrictions and the rule that heirs couldn’t leave the estate before awakening, I would have killed you myself," Thalric said, his voice cracking slightly.
Asher simply watched him, unsure how to respond. He had grown up without parents, without any true emotional guidance. Now, he stood face to face with someone who had experienced the love of a mother, even if briefly. He didn’t know what to say. Perhaps he should say sorry?
But the truth was, Asher had grown up alone and learned to take care of himself without relying on others. He wasn’t someone who easily tapped into emotional vulnerability. Not because he was cold blooded, but simply because he never had the chance to grow up with that kind of emotional support.
"But," Thalric continued, his voice regaining its strength, "after watching your True Awakening, I could see Mother passed her talent to you. What she had wished for her entire life finally came to life, but she isn’t here to witness it. So I’m here to tell you: do not stain her name. Live up to her expectations."
Thalric raised his sabre and pointed it directly at Asher. "I may have forgiven you because of Mother’s wish, but make no mistake, I’m always watching. If any of your performances are subpar, you’ll be hearing from my sabre."
Without even waiting for Asher to respond, he opened the door and stormed out of the room, without bothering to close it behind him.
Asher could only stand still and watch, his body unmoving, his mind still trying to make sense of what had just happened.