The reality being presented in front of the students wasn't fake at all.

Right there, in front of their eyes, Kane Zara lay bleeding from the head, completely passed out. And standing above her, Asher had a charmingly imposing stature that swept through the audience.

A newly awakened Spirit Tier cultivator had thoroughly beaten a powerful Early-Stage Spirit cultivator that, for all intent and purposes, was far more experienced in combat and power.

Everyone's brain lagged at this news. Until immediately the next second, tremendous uproars began exploding throughout the sea of students!

"Holy Shit!! He did it! He actually did it!!"

"That was so damn exciting!!"

"And so damn satisfying! Kane Zara got fucking smashed!"

"Where has this kid been all this time?!"

"Fuuuu…." Two heavy sighs escaped from Reese and Kylee's mouths. Instead of the overwhelming excitement and shock the other students had, they were just entirely glad Asher made out perfectly fine.

And after thinking it over, he was more than fine, actually. Reese felt the excitement of watching that battle fill his veins after he got over his initial relief.

"Holy hell….beside the nail-biting parts, that was really badass!" His eyes, when staring at Asher was now even filled with more respect.

Asher was someone who shows that he is competent in regular combat, but nothing really anything significant to set him apart from the crowd.

Not even Reese could ever know that Asher had this explosive power always swirling inside him. And to think he was good friends with a guy like this made Reese feel far better about all of their future prospects.

"Hmph! Badass but far too dangerous." Kylee snorted a bit after thinking about the several times her heart tremendously dropped during the battle.

But when her eyes gazed upon Asher now, a different light crossed in her gaze about him.

While Asher always seemed decently attractive and charming in his own way, none of what he had before could compare to how he looks on stage.

His shoulder-length black hair was elegantly dancing in the wind as the breeze of victory washed over him.

The current Asher looked far more confident and majestic. Even as he's just simply standing and coming down from the high of battle, there was a new charm that Asher had about him.

There had been a couple of times where Kylee's heart only slightly fluttered when she was around Asher. But now, she could feel her heartbeat quickly increase with every passing second she stared at his majestic form.

Without letting Reese see her face, Kylee felt a slight heat swirl in her face. She spoke in a lower tone of voice while keeping her gaze completely on Asher.

"I'm….just glad he's ok. We must meet with him now."

In the area where the Ranking Geniuses students are, out of the four, three of them weren't exempt from being caught with mild surprise.

Leon was curiously stroking his chin as he gazed down at Asher with evident interest swirling in his eyes.

"Well, would you look at this guy? He….what was his name, Asher? This Asher guy had no trouble at all at stomping that brazen girl. Perhaps we have another future challenger in the making besides the Hayato kid."

Chase had the same level of intrigue swirling in his eyes as he watched a graceful Asher stand tall on stage. "I suppose we do. This guy is actually more noteworthy than the Hayato kid from this display. For a newly awakened kid, this wasn't bad at all."

Daisy had a profound light in her eyes while staring at Asher. She was one of the few that didn't even look down on him for wanting to fight the duel. There was even a small amount of respect she had for him for taking on a seemingly impossible challenge.

And now, not only did Asher defeat this challenge quite easily. He's also shown a magnetic charm that was better than anything Zara ever showed on stage.

A gentle smile blossom on her face as she said, "This will certainly be an interesting year."

Elsa, though, remained entirely silent.

Her face didn't show any visible reaction. But her eyes were kept locked onto Asher's whole body. Without saying anything or even alerting the other student geniuses, Elsa vanished like a ghost.

….

Back on stage, Asher felt a little bit strange in front of so many awe-filled stares.

He always saw the Kane Gang revel in people being in awe of them. And there were those student geniuses that loves being the center of attention.

But for Asher, it wasn't like it didn't feel good to be praised and respected for his actions. It was just he didn't feel that much over gaining so much awe.

After all, these were the very same students who would've enjoyed it the same way if he had brutally lost.

Asher didn't hold it against them as he knows that's just how their society works. But, Asher could evidently tell, gaining fame really won't affect his mental state.

The only thing he could say was an incredible sensation was the after-high of battle.

Even as he despised Zara, Asher could admit this battle got his blood frantically pumping. He really needed that, to go all out without a care in the world. The sensation of an actual fight just made Asher want to experience another battle like this.

Although, Asher didn't let this exciting high completely affect his mental state. He knows after this battle, he'll need to quickly grow stronger as the fights will only grow in intensity.

Calming himself down, Asher turned over to face the middle-aged staff who he didn't even sense or hear come back on the metallic stage.

Ignoring the rise uproars of students, Asher went over to the middle-aged staff to collect his and Zara's ring.

As Asher received both rings, a slight twinkle swirled in the middle-aged staff's eyes. His face remained indifferent as he began telling Asher, "Since this is your first victory, take this with you."

The middle-aged staff handed Asher a brown badge with an I symbol inscribed on it.

"Bring this with you whenever you have another duel. It will keep track of your progress. With enough victors, you can start trading in for various items." The middle-aged staff swiftly explained.

Holding the brown badge gave Asher a unique feeling. It wasn't much, but he could feel a pulsation of Magic running through this badge. The similarity was uncanny to how his dingy blue ring feels whenever he brings out an item.

Focusing back on the middle-aged staff, Asher simply nodded to him and put the badge and the rings into his pocket.

Without even turning back to look at the unconscious Zara, Asher began walking off stage.

While he was walking, Yuki suddenly spoke to him. 'Great show Asher! I mean, really, excellent show! And now, for an even better show after this, go to a secluded spot right now. You will enjoy it, trust me. Plus, you can bring up the excuse of wanting to rest alone after such an intense fight.'

'Alright, Yuki.' Asher agreed without putting much thought.

It wasn't like Yuki was leading him astray for the past two days. And his instinct was already guiding him to go to a secluded spot.

One spot that Asher particularly enjoys going alone sprang into his mind. With his destination set in action, Asher began to briskly walk off towards that spot.

As he took off, Asher just made a silent promise to himself to immediately meet up with his friends after this.

….

In the eastern part of Balreth Academy, Asher quickly found a remote region where barely anyone comes here. It was a small storage space that was filled with half useless and valuable tools.

It was a bit dingy around here, but the tranquility here gave Asher a sense of peace.

As he made it down towards here, Yuki continued to feed him odd instructions on how he should walk here.

Initially, Asher didn't understand though he still complied with all of her instructions. But after only a few seconds of walking, Asher soon understood why Yuki kept giving him these weird instructions.

Once Asher had made it on a route that was completely devoid of people, his Aura Sense picked up on a very vague presence following him.

Asher was sure if he didn't have this specific unique Aura Sense, he would never be able to tell that someone was following him here.

And when sensing who was following him, Asher was all too familiar with this presence. Even before he got into this quiet storage space, his lips were cracking a wide smile he couldn't contain.

Within only a couple of seconds going inside the storage space, Asher suddenly heard the doors fly open.

Asher looked back and his smile slightly increased by the beautiful sight that had come. "Ah. So it really was you following me, Elsa. I was just planning to get a bit of rest, but midway through, I had to switch it up so no one would spot us. So, is there anything you need from me?"

As the doors closed behind them, Elsa wasn't surprised that Asher had sensed her following him. Her mind was entirely focused on something else.

She looked Asher dead into the eyes and began asking him, "You….are you not worried at all. That battle will do you more harm than good. While it indeed was a spectacle to behold, it will only further escalate tension between you and the whole Kane Gang. Have you let your power cloud your judgment?"

Asher, at first, was a bit taken aback by Elsa. But almost immediately, his smile grew back on his face.

Now, the impenetrable indifferent shell that always shrouded Elsa's entire being was cracking heavily. No matter how hard she tried to keep her tone indifferent while questioning him, Asher could still hear an evident feeling in her voice.

The feeling of worry. Asher didn't think this was going to happen when Yuki said he'll enjoy being alone. But he wasn't going to let this moment slip by.

"Indeed. I know I had just put a huge target on my head from the Kane Gang. But risks and challenges will only make me grow stronger. Just keeping my head down to play the safe route isn't my way at all, and you know this as well."

As he spoke, Asher slowly inched closer to Elsa. He felt assurance in his small steps as Elsa didn't make any attempt at backing away from him.

"You know why I'm pushing myself so far? It's actually pretty simple. I need great power for my family and for you."

Asher observed Elsa's body ever so slightly shiver. His confidence kept on rising with every bit of action like that.

On the other hand, Elsa was feeling herself faltering. She silently followed Asher as she assumed he would end off going alone.

Elsa knows that's what he usually does when fighting great battles in the Decrypted Wood. And when coming here, all Elsa wanted to do was remind Asher to not be foolish less he wants something irreversible to happen to him.

But, face to face with Asher, everything about her mental state was quickly thrown into disorder.

Back on stage, when Asher appeared so tall and graceful after beating Zara, it sent tingles down Elsa's spine.

She tried desperately to quell her rising tide of emotions, but it all was threatening to burst the longer she talked to Asher.

In the evenest voice, she could possibly muster in this situation, Elsa could only say, "You….what are you trying to say?

"It's simple." Asher gave Elsa his best charming smile, making her heartbeat increasingly flutter. "I need to also grow stronger so I can keep my word on always having your back. Like I said before, this won't be an empty promise. I will only prove it through action."

Even though Asher did feel a rise of embarrassment over such intimate words, he forced it down so he could keep his cool.

Elsa's eyes were beginning to widen, and before she could respond, Yuki had suddenly said in Asher's mind,

'Hug her right now!'

And throwing all caution into the wind, Asher boldly grabbed Elsa's soft, delicate hand and pulled her into his embrace!

It was like time stopped for the both of them.

Electrifying jolting sensation course through both of their bodies as Asher gently held on to her.

Asher only had a very light hold on Elsa, allowing her to break free at any time she wanted. But, even after a couple seconds pass, Elsa didn't move, nor did she want to move.