Asher couldn’t quite comprehend what had just taken place. Thalric had abruptly entered his room, launched an unprovoked attack on him, uttered a series of statements, ones Asher strongly suspected were rehearsed, and then stormed out in dramatic fashion.
’He didn’t even bother to close the door,’ Asher thought with mild sigh as he stepped down from the table and made his way toward the door to shut it himself.
’Is he going to turn into some sort of tsundere type brother now?’ Asher mused with a quiet chuckle. All his recollections of Thalric were derived from the memories of the original Asher. If he; Ethan had transmigrated earlier into this body, he certainly wouldn’t have allowed Thalric to speak to him in that manner.
But, regardless of whatever attitude Thalric had exhibited thus far, Asher had no intention of letting it influence his opinion. He had made a firm decision to judge everyone based on his own perceptions and thoughts, not through the inherited memories of another person.
He had encountered Thalric once before. Although the fool had been eager to exchange sharp words, Asher simply couldn’t be bothered.
He was utterly indifferent toward Thalric; if Thalric chose not to seek him out, then he too would not make any effort. However, should Thalric suddenly decide to act like a genuine, caring brother, perhaps Asher might consider reciprocating that sibling affection, if only marginally.
With a sigh, Asher allowed himself to collapse onto his bed, his back resting against the soft mattress, eyes staring blankly at the ceiling above. His thoughts were far away, drifting towards the memory of his True Awakening.
That experience had been unlike anything he had ever felt before. Even now, having returned home, he found it difficult, no, impossible, to forget it.
A subtle smile tugged at the corners of his lips as the sensations of that moment washed over him again. Deep within, if given the chance, he would willingly go through another True Awakening. The benefits he had gained from it were, quite frankly, extraordinary.
During the battle with the assassins, after he had teleported back to his position marker and fallen asleep for approximately an hour and a half, he had still managed to fight uninterrupted for two straight hours.
Realistically, Asher shouldn’t have possessed enough stamina to endure such an extended combat sequence without collapsing from exhaustion.
An hour and a half of sleep shouldn’t have been sufficient to recover his strength and stamina. Normally, his body would have required a minimum of four hours of rest. Yet, he had fully recovered in that brief window due to his unique Absolute Physique ability: Limitless Physical Growth.
This ability enabled him to break through his own physical limits after pushing himself to the very brink of exhaustion.
That particular breakthrough had allowed him to completely annihilate the assassins without holding back in the slightest, and to even fight Hillary on equal footing, relying solely on raw talent.
That marked his first gain: a profound physical breakthrough.
His second gain had been the sheer volume of combat experience he had accumulated. Within the confines of the True Awakening, his battle instincts and expertise had skyrocketed. The experience gleaned from fighting the assassins, combined with the lessons learned during his intense duel with Hillary, had reshaped him fundamentally.
Six hours spent in a relentless, life or death struggle had transformed him into an entirely different person.
Not to mention the rapier techniques he had subconsciously absorbed by observing Hillary’s style during their deadly duel. Asher realized that such refined understanding could never be acquired from someone unfamiliar with the rapier. He might have reached a comparable level through practice, but it would have taken months.
Yet, one singular event had effectively erased the need for time. Although he wasn’t suddenly a master of the rapier, he had at least taken a significant step forward. In comparison, the battle and rapier experience he had gained over six months of training at the First Training Ground paled before six hours of authentic, lethal combat.
Then came his third gain: Techniques.
From what Asher had read in the library, various types of techniques existed within this world. He was fairly certain that the Wargrave family possessed countless techniques. After all, each and every one of them was born with a unique weapon and their own methods of wielding it.
However, from his research, Asher had also discovered that techniques weren’t categorized into formal grades or ranks. They were treated as equals in theory. The disparity in power between similar techniques often stemmed from the individual using them and their level of mastery over said techniques.
But Asher had always found it difficult to agree with this notion. Surely individuals operating at his father’s level had created techniques so absurdly powerful that someone at Asher’s current level might never even dream of learning them.
Still, he reserved judgment. If the people of Crymora didn’t classify or grade techniques, it likely meant they had reasons, perhaps cultural or philosophical, for doing so.
From his True Awakening, Asher had acquired two distinct techniques: a movement technique and an attack technique. Although Hillary had used two attack techniques during their duel, Asher was only able to replicate one. He had dodged the second attack before it had fully manifested, and thus failed to observe and learn it.
The movement technique, Asher was convinced, had been taught to Hillary by whatever assassin organization he once belonged to. It certainly didn’t resemble anything knights were typically trained in.
The technique allowed Hillary to instantly appear behind Asher in the blink of an eye. Asher had only been able to counter this movement thanks to his Omni Perception ability. Without it, he might have suffered critical injuries to his spine and other delicate organs.
As for the attack technique, it allowed Hillary to forcibly manipulate wind pressure generated by his swings and thrusts into razor-sharp crescent shaped slashes. Asher had learned it on the spot and immediately used it against Hillary in return.
Asher wasn’t particularly surprised that the other assassins didn’t possess advanced techniques beyond their rudimentary weapon styles. They were clearly of a lower rank. Even Hillary, who stood above them, had only managed to acquire one true movement technique from his organization.
A grin slowly spread across Asher’s face as he mentally reviewed his gains, rewards he had literally risked his life for.
’Although I should be resting, I should probably test out this movement technique,’ Asher thought as he sat up from his bed, driven by curiosity and excitement.
His mind replayed the moments when Hillary had employed the movement technique against him. With a single step, Asher vanished and reappeared beside his table, as though he had teleported. Another step, and he disappeared again, this time emerging on the other side of the room.
The more he used it, the more he began to notice the limitations. The opponent needed to be stationary for the technique to be truly effective. Additionally, it couldn’t be used to traverse long distances. Still, Asher couldn’t help but feel that he could refine and enhance this technique, perhaps increase its speed, range, and adaptability.
That thought made him pause.
’Is this why techniques aren’t graded?’ he wondered. ’Because with enough talent and effort, anyone can elevate any technique far beyond its original design? So, techniques are not limited by structure, but by the capabilities and creativity of those who wield them?’