"Come in."
As Asher’s voice reverberated through the room, Lyra raised a brow in mild confusion, wondering who her Young Master was speaking to. Her senses swept across the room and extended a few meters beyond the walls, but she detected nothing. Just as she was about to ask Asher whom he was addressing, the door creaked open.
A gentle footstep echoed, and a man dressed in a pristine butler uniform with white gloves stepped inside, Zarek, the Primarch’s personal right-hand man.
Lyra’s face momentarily reflected surprise before her expression returned to calm. She wasn’t astonished by her failure to sense Zarek’s presence, she knew she couldn’t, not even if she tried a million times. What truly caught her off guard was the fact that Asher had sensed him when she had not.
Zarek spoke with a faint smile the moment he entered, not bothering with formal greetings.
"It seems the Tenth Sun’s senses have evolved significantly after dancing between life and death for a while."
Asher smiled slightly. He had sensed Zarek’s body interacting with the Astra motes. Even if Zarek managed to erase his presence completely, cloaking himself from even the most advanced sensory abilities, it was now impossible for him to escape Asher’s perception.
Zarek himself was mildly surprised, though he did not show it. He merely smiled and commented. He did not ask any questions, it wasn’t his place to do so.
"Good morning, Zarek," Asher greeted as he shifted from his reclined position on the bed into a seated one. He knew that whenever Zarek appeared, it was due to an order from the Primarch himself.
"Good morning, Tenth Sun," Zarek replied with a slight bow of respect. Lyra remained silent, standing respectfully at the side.
"I assume Father calls for my presence once again?" Asher asked, his tone neutral.
"Yes, Tenth Sun. I have been ordered to escort you," Zarek replied with a firm nod.
"Let’s go, then," Asher said as he immediately rose to his feet, seeing no point in delaying.
"As you wish, Tenth Sun," Zarek intoned as he turned around and led the way.
With that, Asher, Lyra, and Zarek stepped out of the room. As Asher walked, he inhaled deeply, appreciating the freshness of the air and the sights around him, things he had long taken for granted.
Others might be accustomed to the constant threat of death and the harsh reality of life or death battles, but he wasn’t. This had been his first truly intimate brush with death, and it left him feeling oddly grateful just to be alive.
The world seemed more vibrant, more alive somehow, but Asher suspected this was partly due to his Omni Perception. Within a ten meter radius around him, golden motes of Astra floated gently, like specks of stardust gracing his path.
’Although Astra is invisible and can only be felt, I can sort of see it now. But if I can see it, then it stands to reason that others might possess the same ability,’ Asher mused.
As they made their way through the halls, maids and butlers bowed in his direction. Asher noticed a subtle difference in their demeanor and posture. In the past, their bows had been mere gestures of obligation, they respected his name as a Wargrave and as a Sun, even if they viewed him as a waste.
But now... Now that he had survived the True Awakening, everything had changed. He had proven himself. He was no longer a discarded shadow behind his siblings, he was now counted among their ranks, a genius in his own right.
Asher was fully aware of the shift. He remembered the way they used to look at him, dismissive, indifferent, and he recognized the reverence in their eyes now. But he couldn’t care less. Their opinions, their emotions, none of it mattered. He didn’t know them well enough to bother giving a damn about what they thought. The simple truth remained: they would look at him from a distance for the rest of their lives.
From the corner of his eye, Asher caught sight of Thalric and one of the Moons sparring in the courtyard. It didn’t even need to be said, Thalric was clearly getting his ass handed to him. As the second-weakest Wargrave, he stood no real chance.
Zarek didn’t remind Asher of the waiting Primarch. He simply waited in silence, wearing his ever neutral expression.
Thalric’s opponent was the Fifth Moon, a female sibling for whom Malrik had once razed an entire Baron Household, merely because its young lord had smiled while staring at her backside.
At times, Asher couldn’t begin to understand what went on in Malrik’s head. Although he had never personally witnessed such an act from him, Hillary served as a living testament to Malrik’s extreme sense of honor.
Malrik had annihilated Hillary’s noble household just because their young master looked at Wuthenya, the Second Moon, funny.
Asher had concluded that the two noble households which fell to Malrik’s wrath must have been relatively weak, the second Noble Household probably ranked as Baron or Viscount House. After all, more powerful noble families, like those of Counts, Marquises, or Dukes, possessed formidable knights capable of resisting such actions... of course merely for a few minutes, making evidence harder to hide.
Asher wasn’t sure he could bring himself to obliterate an entire bloodline just because someone looked at his sisters lustfully. Sure, he might do one or two things as a big brother looking out for his little sister, but total annihilation? No. That wasn’t in him.
He wasn’t a maniac, and he hadn’t suddenly become one simply because he was now somewhat accustomed to killing or had acquired a system that granted him formidable abilities.
As thoughts of Malrik’s psychopathic tendencies flooded his mind, Asher paused, then shook his head. ’It seems I haven’t fully shed my morals from my previous life as Ethan,’ he reflected silently, his gaze lingering on the Fifth Moon who sparred with Thalric, wielding a simple training bow.
’I should probably adapt to this world’s reality soon. After all, supernatural deaths occur daily across various empires.’
With that sobering thought, he turned and exhaled softly, the bloodshed that awaited him looming in his mind like an unwelcome shadow.
’It seems I should be saying goodbye to my normal life,’ Asher thought, as his pace fell in line with Zarek’s, ready to face whatever awaited him at the side of the Primarch.