381 Intended Fate
"Swift Strike," Asher muttered as he swung his sword.
But mid-way through, he stopped his sword.
"Swift Strike," He repeated those words.
By saying or remembering the name of the technique, Asher was replicating the feeling of the movement of his aura.
He repeated the movement again and again without stopping.
The sharp movement of his sword was put to a stop just before he completed his swing.
Again and again, without stopping, Asher kept practicing the same movement.
It looked useless, but right now, Asher was trying to master the Negation, the S Rank skill he got by reaching Intermediate mastery in Node Art.
Negation was a skill that could render any attack useless if Asher completely understood the attack.
He could never try it till now because he understood another person's manipulation of mana inside their body to the small movements in their bodies.
It was a skill that was powerful but incredibly hard to use.
But Asher was trying to implement Negation on himself.
[ Node Art's Mastery has increased ]
This was the third notification he got from practicing for more than 10 hours, but the increase in mastery was a mere 0.5 %; that was all Asher got, but that was not his motive.
What he wanted to find out was the fault in his own swordsmanship.
Nothing is perfect, and everything has a flaw. And Asher was trying to find the flaw in his own sword art.
The best way was to perfectly understand what was happening when he used the first move he learned, Swift Strike.
In the corner, Rifir was watching Asher do the same thing for a long time.
He didn't move nor bother Asher, as he was trying to understand what Asher wanted.
Suddenly, Rifir tilted his head as Asher tried to use Swift Strike at his left hand and stopped just before he grazed it a bit.
"Not enough," Asher looked at his sword as blood started coming out of his arm.
Till now, he could stop the Swift Strike any time he wanted, but he couldn't negate the attack.
From what he understood about Negation, he knew that he was still not using it properly.
Suddenly, Asher closed his eyes as he stopped the flow of mana in his body.
[ Warning, Host's mana had become still ]
[ Warning, Host's mana... ]
Many warnings came from the system, but Asher spread his mana sense and then compressed it into a small area around him.
Slowly, he allowed the mana around his arm to flow as he repeated the movement of Swift Strike, and he could feel every small movement.
He had forcefully stopped his mana around his body to just use the mana meridians that were needed for Swift Strike.
Raising his sword and descending it towards the ground again, Asher felt the flow in his arm and around his mana heart.
His body was becoming paler because his mana heart was becoming unstable.
If anyone other than Asher tried this, they would have collapsed on the ground immediately.
"So, it is like this," Asher muttered.
After repeating the same move more than a thousand times and slowly figuring out each muscle that was involved in it.
Asher moved his sword around the air, and he used Swift Strike again, but this time, the sword's direction was changed.
Rifir, who was sitting still, suddenly moved and appeared around Asher's shoulders as he opened his mouth and revealed his fangs.
The edge of the sword stopped as it touched the skin on his chest, but there was no wound.
Rifir went back to his spot as he didn't feel the threat anymore.
Due to the fact that Rifir was bound to Asher, the moment Asher died, he would die as well.
So, any threat to Asher triggered Rifir's survival instinct, even if the threat came from Asher himself.
[ Node Art's Mastery has increased ]
Finally, Asher used Negation on the first sword technique that he learned from the SSS Rank Sword Art.
The strike was aimed at his own heart, but Asher only did that to create a scenario where he was forced to stop the attack.
But suddenly, Asher felt the strength across his body weaken; after all, he had taken no rest since yesterday.
He crouched to sit on the ground as he started absorbing the mana around his room.
"Seems like the effect of the drug is still there," Asher muttered.
Usually, he would not feel so weak, but the drug he used to calm himself down and force his body to weaken was still affecting him.
The reason why Asher was practicing here and not observing the Successor Tournament was because he had already guessed who the winner would be.
The system had already told Asher that Fate would fix itself and would always try to preserve or return to its original destiny.
If Asher wanted, he could have participated and won this tournament as well, but that wasn't worth it.
After all, Farnus Calmort wouldn't do something like this without assuming that the one he wanted to win would lose to someone.
"I guess he would have liked it more if I had won," Asher muttered.
After all, taking something precious from him after threatening the Strongest Hunter in the world, he wouldn't want anything more than an excuse to monitor Asher.
Just like Alfred had suggested him, Asher didn't want the extra attention right now.
He could leave World Academy freely right now, but it would have become difficult when Farnus would be keeping his eyes on him.
While Asher was concentrating on doing his mana meditation, the Successor Tournament was going in one person's favor.
"Woah, I didn't know that Kevin Whiteheart was this good," Some of the First Year spoke among themselves.
Kevin had defeated two Third Year Students, but it was in a scenario where both participants were wearing Mana Restriction Bracelets.
But still, despite having more experience than Kevin, there was no one who was able to defeat him.
Because of the fact that Kevin used lightning aura, his senses were already much better than others around him.
In the VIP Room of the Third Year Student,
"Well, I guess my investment didn't go to waste," Leonard smiled as Kevin was winning one fight after another.
"I can't wait for the Awarding Ceremony to start," Leonard said.
Leonard didn't know if Kevin would win or not after Asher made a mess of him, but for some reason, everything was going Kevin's way.
His opponents would make a few mistakes that would allow him to take advantage and disarm them.
"It seems the luck is on my side," Leonard muttered.
After all, he had already won against Raelyn, and soon enough, he could start his plans.
He was just waiting for the Awarding Ceremony that was going to happen tomorrow night to start.
The Awarding Ceremony was the place where all the Rankers were invited, with the few special guests that consisted of the Elite Families.
Because this time, a lot of children from different Elite families were in the World Academy at the same time, many Elite Families were going to be present there.
And apart from Leonard, there was one more person waiting for it to start as well.
And it was none other than Casie Hargrave, who was watching the Successor Tournament with the Hargrave Family Head.
After all, there was a reason she had come to watch this tournament after all.
"Swift Strike," Asher muttered as he swung his sword.
But mid-way through, he stopped his sword.
"Swift Strike," He repeated those words.
By saying or remembering the technique's name, Asher was replicating the feeling of the movement of his aura.
He repeated the movement again and again without stopping.
The sharp movement of his sword was put to a stop just before he completed his swing.
Again and again, without stopping, Asher kept practicing the same movement.
It looked useless, but Asher was trying to master the Negation, the S Rank skill he got by reaching Intermediate mastery in Node Art.
Negation was a skill that could render any attack useless if Asher completely understood the attack.
He could never try it till now because he understood another person's manipulation of mana inside their body to the small movements in their bodies.
It was a skill that was powerful but incredibly hard to use.
But Asher was trying to implement Negation on himself.
[ Node Art's Mastery has increased ]
This was the third notification he got from practicing for more than 10 hours, but the increase in mastery was a mere 0.5 %; that was all Asher got, but that was not his motive.
What he wanted to find out was the fault in his swordsmanship.
Nothing is perfect, and everything has a flaw. And Asher was trying to find the flaw in his sword art.
The best way was to perfectly understand what was happening when he used the first move he learned, Swift Strike.
Rifir watched Asher do the same thing in the corner for a long time.
He didn't move nor bother Asher, as he was trying to understand what Asher wanted.action
Suddenly, Rifir tilted his head as Asher tried to use Swift Strike at his left hand and stopped just before he grazed it a bit.
"Not enough," Asher looked at his sword as blood started coming from his arm.
Till now, he could stop the Swift Strike any time he wanted, but he couldn't negate the attack.
From what he understood about Negation, he knew he was still not using it properly.
Suddenly, Asher closed his eyes as he stopped the mana flow in his body.
[ Warning, Host's mana had become still ]
[ Warning, Host's mana... ]
Many warnings came from the system, but Asher spread his mana sense and then compressed it into a small area around him.
Slowly, he allowed the mana around his arm to flow as he repeated the movement of Swift Strike, and he could feel every small movement.
He had forcefully stopped his mana around his body to just use the mana meridians that were needed for Swift Strike.
Raising his sword and descending it towards the ground again, Asher felt the flow in his arm and around his mana heart.
His body was becoming paler because his mana heart was becoming unstable.
If anyone other than Asher tried this, they would have collapsed on the ground immediately.
"So, it is like this," Asher muttered.
After repeating the same move more than a thousand times and slowly figuring out each muscle that was involved in it.
Asher moved his sword around the air and used Swift Strike again, but this time, he changed the direction of his sword.
Rifir, who was sitting still, suddenly moved and appeared around Asher's shoulders as he opened his mouth and revealed his fangs.
The sword's edge stopped as it touched the skin on his chest, but there was no wound.
Rifir returned to his spot as he didn't feel the threat anymore.
Because Rifir was bound to Asher, the moment Asher died, he would also die.
So, any threat to Asher triggered Rifir's survival instinct, even if the threat came from Asher himself.
[ Node Art's Mastery has increased ]
Finally, Asher used Negation as the first sword technique he learned from the SSS Rank Sword Art.
The strike was aimed at his heart, but Asher only did that to create a scenario where he was forced to stop the attack.
But suddenly, Asher felt the strength across his body weaken; after all, he had taken no rest since yesterday.
He crouched to sit on the ground as he started absorbing the mana around his room.
"Seems like the drug's effect is still there," Asher muttered.
Usually, he would not feel so weak, but the drug he used to calm himself down and force his body to weaken was still affecting him.
Asher was practicing here and not observing the Successor Tournament because he had already guessed who the winner would be.
The system had already told Asher that Fate would fix itself and always try to preserve or return to its original destiny.
If Asher wanted, he could have also participated and won this tournament, but that wasn't worth it.
After all, Farnus Calmort wouldn't do something like this without assuming that the one he wanted to win would lose to someone.
"I guess he would have liked it more if I had won," Asher muttered.
After all, taking something precious from him after threatening the Strongest Hunter in the world, he wouldn't want anything more than an excuse to monitor Asher.
Just like Alfred had suggested him, Asher didn't want the extra attention right now.
He could leave World Academy freely right now, but it would have become difficult when Farnus kept his eyes on him.
While Asher was concentrating on doing his mana meditation, the Successor Tournament was going in one person's favor.
"Woah, I didn't know that Kevin Whiteheart was this good," Some of the First Year spoke among themselves.
Kevin had defeated two Third Year Students, but it was in a scenario where both participants were wearing Mana Restriction Bracelets.
But still, despite having more experience than Kevin, no one could defeat him.
Because of the fact that Kevin used lightning aura, his senses were already much better than others around him.
In the VIP Room of the Third Year Student,
"Well, I guess my investment didn't go to waste," Leonard smiled as Kevin was winning one fight after another.
"I can't wait for the Awarding Ceremony to start," Leonard said.
Leonard didn't know if Kevin would win or not after Asher made a mess of him, but for some reason, everything was going Kevin's way.
His opponents would make a few mistakes that would allow him to take advantage and disarm them.
"It seems the luck is on my side," Leonard muttered.
After all, he had already won against Raelyn; soon enough, he could start his plans.
He was just waiting for the Awarding Ceremony to start tomorrow night.
The Awarding Ceremony was the place where all the Rankers were invited, with the few special guests that consisted of the Elite Families.
Because this time, many children from different Elite families were in the World Academy at the same time, many Elite Families were going to be present there.
And apart from Leonard, one more person was also waiting for it to start.
And it was none other than Casie Hargrave, who was watching the Successor Tournament with the Hargrave Family Head.
After all, there was a reason she had come to watch this tournament after all.
But the Family Head of the Hargrave Family wasn't in a good mood because of Casie's presence.
And he knew precisely why she was here as well.
'A useless son, and then all this headache,' He thought in his head.
Because Casie was Xarax's favorite, she could do whatever she wanted.
Casie would have been stronger than the Family Head of the Hargrave Family had she been diligent for the last ten years but neglected her own growth.
But that didn't shift Xarax's favor on her.
Because of having a useless son himself, his own authority within his Family was decreasing.
'Only if those twins weren't born,' The Family Head sighed in his head.
He knew why Casie's obsession that was gone erupted again.
After all, he had done a lot of work to cover up what Casie had done in the past.
'I hope nothing too big happens on that day,'
In the Fourth Year VIP Area,
"Is it true that the Third Year Students were meeting him?" Jayden asked.
"I have confirmed it," Another Fourth Year Student replied.
"Hmm, I guess people like him never change," Jayden muttered.
"Well, I have gotten what I wanted already," Jayden said, looking at the stage.
"He will soon realize how useless his little tricks would be," Jayden laughed.
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