Chapter 32: Ashura (Part 2)
There were many people who had left a deep impression on William in his previous life, and Ashura was definitely one of them.
There were two main reasons why this guy had left such a deep impression on him.
First, Ashura had slaughtered the entire family of Viscount Martin, a noble who held considerable influence within the Silver Wing Kingdom.
Viscount Martin’s eldest son, Norn, also studied at the Sun and Moon Academy, and William happened to have an enmity with him.
William still remembered how Norn had gone completely crazy after receiving the news of his entire family’s death.
What was even more surprising was that while Norn was returning home to arrange his family’s funeral, he was attacked by Ashura and killed as well.
As someone who had never held a good impression of nobles, William had actually been quite pleased when he heard that news.
The second reason he remembered Ashura was because of the rumors he had heard about him.
From what he had heard, Ashura came from a poor family, and even his Aether Affinity was only of a low grade.
However, he seemed to possess extraordinary talent when it came to using an axe.
Not only could he learn axe techniques at an astonishing speed, but the power of those techniques became even greater when used by him than their original form.
When William had first heard those rumors, he couldn’t help but think that they sounded very similar to his own first trait.
The only difference was that his trait enhanced swords and sword techniques, whereas Ashura seemed to specialize in axes.
If that was the case, then it was highly likely that Ashura possessed a trait similar to his own, except that it was related to axes instead of swords.
Another rumor claimed that Ashura had later obtained a great opportunity inside an Astral Rift, causing his originally low-grade Aether Affinity to evolve into an excellent-grade affinity, or perhaps even something higher.
It was also supposedly the reason why his strength had grown so rapidly, allowing him to slaughter the entire family of a Viscount.
Of course, all of this was merely rumor that William had heard, and he had never actually met Ashura himself.
He had only seen Ashura’s wanted posters after the massacre of Viscount Martin’s family.
’I don’t know whether he really possesses a powerful trait or whether his Aether Affinity is low-grade or high-grade. But one thing is certain—this guy will become a powerhouse in the future.’
Everything else aside, it was undeniably true that Ashura had slaughtered Viscount Martin’s entire family, and to accomplish such a feat, he had needed overwhelming strength.
Without sufficient power, it would have been impossible for him to fight his way through an entire Viscount’s household.
’I wonder if I can recruit him...’
William had many things he wanted to accomplish in the future, and he knew very well that he couldn’t achieve everything by himself.
Even if he became unimaginably powerful, it would still be impossible for him alone to change everything that was destined to happen.
A single person’s efforts were limited.
But if he had the help of capable and trustworthy people, it would be a completely different story.
Moreover, if he truly wanted to change the future, one of the most important things he had to accomplish was weakening the control the nobles held over society.
Even with his memories of the future, that wasn’t something he could achieve alone.
He looked at the young boy, who appeared simple and honest as he diligently worked on the farm alongside the two adults, before silently walking away.
Although William wanted to recruit him, he knew this wasn’t the right time.
After all, the young man working in the fields was currently nothing more than an ordinary boy who hadn’t even reached the age to participate in the Aether Affinity Test.
Suddenly, an idea flashed through William’s mind, and the corners of his lips curled upward.
’Hmm... This should be the best way.’
He nodded inwardly and soon neared his home.
Because it was still early in the morning, there were very few people walking along the dirt road, with only a handful of farmers already making their way to the fields.
William recognized several of them and greeted them with a smile as he passed.
Before long, he arrived home.
The moment he entered the house, he saw his mother, Elena, preparing breakfast.
When Elena noticed William’s return, she looked surprised before smiling warmly.
"Why did you return so early? Didn’t you say you would come back around nightfall?"
William shrugged his shoulders and replied calmly.
"I finished visiting all the scenic flower spots yesterday, so I decided to come back early."
As he spoke, he handed the bag of vegetables he had bought earlier to her.
Elena looked inside the bag and noticed there was also a packet of meat.
It was the Iron Pig meat that William had placed inside the bag before returning home.
"While I was on my way back, I ran into a team of hunters who had killed a monster deep inside the Kolva Mountain Range. Since the monster was too large for them to carry back to the barony, they decided to sell some of its meat at a cheaper price to reduce the weight. I happened to have some money with me, so I bought some for us."
William explained before Elena even had the chance to ask where the meat had come from.
In fact, it was quite common for monster hunters to sell part of their prey at a lower price because they couldn’t always transport an entire monster back from the Kolva Mountain Range.
Therefore, after hearing William’s explanation, Elena didn’t doubt him in the slightest.
Instead, she even praised him for being smart enough to buy something expensive at a bargain price.
"You must be tired. Go take a bath first. I will prepare breakfast."
William nodded as he watched Elena head into the kitchen.
He was about to return to his room when he saw his father coming back from the backyard while carrying three chicken eggs.
"You have returned..." Karl nodded calmly at William.
"Good morning, old man," William greeted him as well, although his casual way of addressing his father made Karl’s eyelids twitch slightly.
Suddenly, William thought of something and asked.
"Father, what kind of people were Grandpa and Grandma? You have never told us anything about them."
Karl paused and looked at him in confusion.
"Why are you suddenly asking about your grandparents?"
"Nothing. I just felt that I should at least know about the glorious deeds of my ancestors."
Karl rolled his eyes at William’s words.
"What glorious deeds? Just like your mother and me, they were ordinary farmers and passed away a year before you were born," He said. "They also worked on the farm, and the land we currently own was inherited from them."
William raised an eyebrow after hearing Karl’s answer.
"So there wasn’t anything special about them?"
Karl looked at William strangely, wondering why he was suddenly asking such odd questions.
Still, he thought about it for a moment before suddenly remembering something.
"Speaking of which, there actually was something your grandfather once told me... although I don’t think it was true."
William’s eyes immediately sharpened upon hearing that, and he asked eagerly.
"What did he tell you?"
