Chapter 38: Borrowed Splendor
Asher turned and walked back toward Lyra and the guards, all of whom stared at him as though he were a monster cloaked in human flesh. What they had just witnessed defied all logic, utterly impossible by their standards.
The Tenth Sun had actually emerged victorious?
And not just victorious, he had triumphed without a shred of formal training or battlefield experience. It hadn’t even been a full week since his awakening, and by protocol, he still had more than three weeks to go before he could be deemed eligible to face a single monster in the First Training Ground.
What they had witnessed left them speechless, stunned into silence. None more so than Lyra, who stood frozen at the rear, still clutching Asher’s coat in her hands.
She had been by his side every day, before his awakening, and even after. And yet, she had never explicitly seen him train. She knew he was a genius; that much had been clear when he ascended two sub-Life ranks as if it were nothing.
But she had neither seen him personally train in the First Training Ground nor watched him train privately in his room afterward.
Her gaze remained fixed on her charge as he approached. His breathing was steady, his stride composed. Those calm, purple eyes and hair, made all the more vivid against the backdrop of crimson blood splattered across his form.
The guards immediately stepped forward, speaking in unison. "Congratulations on your first battle and first kill, Tenth Sun."
Asher turned his gaze toward them and offered a faint smile. "Thank you. My safety is in your hands. However, if we encounter any weak monsters along the way, leave them to me."
For a moment, the guards stood in stunned silence.
’Did the Tenth Sun just say... thank you?’