CLEAVER OF SIN

Chapter 922: A Knitting Wargrave

Asher simply watched them leave. He didn’t try to stop them, as he could practically feel the fighting spirit that had suddenly ignited within all of them. Too bad things would never go their way, because with his brain and Perfect Muscle Memory, Asher was confident he could match and surpass anything any of them came up with. Whether it was something based on skill, precision, memory, or pure adaptability, he had complete confidence in himself.

He simply rose and walked to the door, escorting them out before closing it the moment they all left. He sighed. He had canceled his training so they could hang out, only for them to leave almost immediately.

’I guess that means more training time for me. No sleeping tonight. I will be training until five hours before the gala,’ he thought to himself as he walked towards the center of the room.

He immediately pushed everything back to the positions they had been in yesterday when he wanted to train. With that done, Asher began his training, his body moving through the room ever so slowly as though he were performing a slow dance. Then, without warning, he would suddenly increase the pace of his movements and slash before slowing down once more and seamlessly transitioning into a thrust.

Time blurred, as minutes turned into hours, and hours eventually blended into an entire day. Asher didn’t rest; there was simply no need to. He continued moving without caring about exhaustion, because one couldn’t simply stop progressing just because they felt tired. His sweat continuously dripped onto the floor as his breathing remained steady despite the pace.

Asher’s frame finally came to a stop. He exhaled slowly before sheathing Virelass. His eyes shifted towards his phone, which had been plugged in throughout his training. It had beeped a few hours ago after receiving a notification, but it hadn’t broken his concentration, so he had simply ignored it. Walking towards it, Asher picked up the phone and scrolled through the notifications.

{William: Sir FatelessPen came to find us, but we told him not to go looking for you since you would be busy. I hope this text message isn’t a distraction. If it is, I’m not sorry...}

Reading the message, Asher scrolled to the next text. It was from Ryaen.

{Ryaen: The gala is set for 9 p.m. Whenever you are ready for our challenge, just text us. Also, Sir FatelessPen said we’re leaving by 8 p.m., so we should be done before then.}

The next text was from Vaelric, which was clearly meant as a joke, as the guy seemed to have grown much more comfortable around Asher.

{Vaelric: How about I show you a good brothel in exchange for the reward? *winking emoji*}

As for Finch, the guy hadn’t sent anything, as he was probably hanging out with his sister or another family member.

Asher scrolled through the messages before shaking his head with an amused smile at William’s and Vaelric’s texts.

{You: I’ll settle for you going online, uploading your nudes, and announcing that you’re looking for bulky men for the night. Then I’ll give you the reward.}

He replied to Vaelric while laughing to himself, wondering how the Prince would react after reading it. Hitting send, he returned to Ryaen’s message. His gaze drifted towards the top-left corner of his phone’s screen. It was already 3 p.m. He then proceeded to reply.

{You: I’m done with training. Let’s meet up in an hour. Looking forward to whatever you guys come up with. *devil grinning emoji*}

Immediately after replying to her, Vaelric’s response came almost instantly.

{Vaelric: Your loss, man.}

Asher shook his head before tossing his phone onto the bed and walking towards the shower.

Exactly an hour later, the gang had already gathered inside Asher’s room, while Asher himself had long finished bathing and getting ready. As for eating, he would simply have a meal at the gala, although there was also a fairly high chance that someone might attempt to poison him. At this point, he had almost begun expecting such attempts as part of his daily routine.

"So, who’ll be going first?" Asher asked with a smile.

Finch stepped forward as he produced a deck of cards, shuffled them like a complete amateur, then scattered them across the table. His challenge was simple. Whoever uncovered the Joker card first would be declared the winner.

Asher simply nodded. With all the cards facing downward, there was almost no way to cheat. Besides, he knew Finch had chosen this challenge because he intended to rely entirely on his luck.

"Who goes first?" Asher asked.

"Since I shuffled the cards and placed them, you should go first," Finch replied flatly.

Asher nodded without another word. His hand immediately moved towards what appeared to be a random card before flipping it over.

On the card was the familiar black-and-white image of a clown.

Asher smiled.

Finch’s expression immediately crumbled.

Since Finch had chosen to rely on luck, Asher had simply relied on Omni Perception.

"Who’s next?" Asher asked, his eyes leaving Finch as he no longer paid attention to the fat boy. Finch merely sat there, wondering how Asher had managed to do it on the very first attempt.

Ryaen stepped forward next, challenging Asher to a knitting contest. Asher accepted the two knitting needles and the ball of yarn she handed him. Ryaen wasn’t really a knitter herself, but she had learned the basics from one of the Manor maids. She had also picked up embroidery from the same maid, making her reasonably confident in her skills.

After all, how can a Wargrave knit?

With that, they both began knitting. The first person to finish a beanie large enough to fit their own head would be declared the winner.

Although Asher knew absolutely nothing about knitting beforehand, he simply copied Ryaen’s hand movements while his brain immediately recalled every scene from movies, animations, and cartoons he had watched throughout his lifetime, where fictional characters had knitted at one point or another. With Perfect Muscle Memory working alongside his flawless recall, his fingers adapted astonishingly fast. Before long, Asher was already finished, calmly placing the completed beanie onto his own head.

His hand-eye coordination was flawless, his dexterity was equally impeccable.

As for William and Vaelric, he simply mopped the floor with both of them as well. William had brought out a chessboard. The boy played at a level that already reached Grandmaster level, yet even that proved completely useless against Asher. Although their game lasted for nearly two hours and William resisted stubbornly from beginning to end, he ultimately still lost after Asher methodically dismantled every strategy he attempted.

"Sigh... How can you even be good at knitting? Do the Wargraves even knit? Tsk," Ryaen complained as she spoke, clearly unable to understand how someone with no prior experience had defeated her so thoroughly.

Vaelric and William remained silent, as they had both been completely crushed themselves, leaving them with absolutely nothing to complain about.

"Tell me you cheated, right? There’s no way you picked the Joker on your first try," Finch added.

Asher simply laughed before replying, "You two are just sore losers. Don’t come complaining to me for losing in fields you both felt confident about. Just accept your losses like Vaelric and William did. It’s not like you’re losing anything anyway, since none of you put up anything valuable in exchange for my tournament reward." His tone remained thoroughly amused.

Ryaen and Finch could only sigh as they realized he was right. They hadn’t risked anything of their own, so they could only swallow both their defeat and their greed.

"I guess we should go prepare for the gala," Ryaen sighed as she rose to her feet, preparing to leave now that it was already 7 p.m.

Vaelric, William, and Finch also stood up. Since they had already lost every challenge they had prepared, there was nothing more left for them to do.

"See you guys at the lobby," Asher stated as he didn’t bother escorting them to the door this time.

With that, he was finally left alone to prepare for the gala, the quiet room once again becoming his alone as the anticipation for the evening’s grand event steadily settled into the air.

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AUTHOR’S NOTE: Before you all come for my head, I’m writing a story, not an endless, action-packed fantasy. So obviously, there would be slice-of-life things in it.