Asher felt nearly elated, experiencing a mixture of emotions that was only pleasant to him.

On the one hand, he felt proudly accomplished.

That day when Jayline threatened him and his friends was one of the worst he had ever experienced. The fact that he was so utterly powerless to go against Jayline and had to play along with him left a disgusting taste in Asher's mouth.

Asher wanted to desperately destroy Jayline right then and there, but he simply wasn't strong enough.

Now, flash forward two days, he became strong, so strong to a point where Jayline was nothing but a stepping stone to him.

Asher never really took enjoyment in crushing people's minds or feelings. Though he's used to cruelty, he himself wasn't that much of a mean or dominating person.

However, Asher genuinely felt elated when destroying Jayline's utmost pride and arrogance.

For wanting to destroy his friends who were entirely unrelated to his conflicts, Asher considered this as a sort of poetic justice. Moreover, he was sure this event would finally cause a huge ruckus in the Kane Gang's mind.

Devon, Mack, Dylan, and even Zara were all small-timers in their Gang. Even though Zara does have a bit of infamous fame, her prowess wasn't much in the long run of the entire group.

But Jayline? He was entirely different.

After all, he's the strongest Early Stage Spirit Tier student in the whole Academy!

And that kind of powerful person came only from the Kane Gang.

If someone as strong as him could come from the Kane Gang, who else knows what other kinds of monstrous powerhouse they have. Asher could tell students' thoughts lined up like this.

This was an unbreakable status quo that surely would have never been touched until the end of the year. However, Asher had just utterly decimated that status quo without a second thought.

Now, no matter how much hatred the Kane Gang further has for him, Asher was sure they would not be so foolish to so casually mess with him after today.

All of these feelings gave Asher an indescribable elatedness.

But, there was one other feeling that was equally as prominent in Asher's mind. That is a firm, resolute determination!

Asher knows while he may have won now, the difficulties of things will only increase from here on not. His enemies will become tougher, and their Magical Powers would only get craftier to counter.

Asher never wants to experience the feeling of helplessness again. He doesn't even want to imagine what it would be like if he was helpless when Elsa faced a serious problem.

So that's why after this, Asher would only become more hardcore in his training, and one day, he can finally stand on equal footing with his proud, strong girlfriend.

In the midst of Asher's thoughts, only a few seconds passed.

Nobody brought Asher out of his mind but himself as he noticed everything was still eerily silent. It was then Asher glanced his eyes around the whole field, and he was struck with a sense of weirdness.

These stares were even more intense than when he had shown his talent!

At this moment, Asher wasn't sure if he would ever get used to these kinds of bewildered stares. And with how their society works, he could just tell moments like these would happen again and again.

However, Asher didn't have to experience a weird silence for long. It was like time started moving again, and instantaneously, frantic cheers exploded within the audience.

"WOOA!!!"

"Is this guy even human?!?"

Absolute awe and absolute shock was wrapping all student's minds. Asher had literally just dominated the strongest Early Spirit Tier students in the Academy!

His prowess....shouldn't this put him very near the Mid Stage level?!

It was a frightening thought all students were seriously contemplating. From this day onward until the end of the Competition year, no student would be able to get Asher out of their minds.

Asher, in their minds, was someone who had just recently awakened their System's Soul. Yet, he not only has a Peak Stage Earth Tier Talent, but he also has an insane prowess that was out of this world!

Moreover, as far as the students are concerned, Asher comes from only a common background!

In their power-based society, even as the General Job students would probably barely see Asher for their years', they all will know his name.

What he has done and what he's going to do will be impossible to ignore.

Amidst all the cheers, Hayato was experiencing a severely different reaction. He was violently gnashing on his teeth, uttering low,

"How….how?!"

The distance between him and Asher, one he thought he had instantly closed, had just reopened. But not just reopened, Asher had just spread their gap so vast that it was like a massive chasm he would never be able to cross.

"Fuuu…."

Kylee let out a huge breath, letting all the unbearable tension spew from her body. Sweat had unknowingly formed on her face, and she felt like her knees were jelly.

Once it was all over, Kylee had nearly collapsed in relief. That was the closest she ever saw Asher come close to death! Zara's duel was absolutely dwarf by this one.

For a second, Kylee was sure her heart would burst right out of her chest!

"Haah….seriously! One of these days, this idiot will give me a heart attack!" Kylee's words were complaining, but her tone was in utter relief.

Reese had a more wry smile, but he did feel a bunch of tension leave his body. He had a more calm tone of voice as he said, "Well….at least it's all over. And Asher not only won, he won in such an overwhelming way! So, that's something to be happy about, right?"

Though Reese's words and tone sounded the utmost encouraging, a certain feeling prominent within the depths of his mind. Staring at Asher's tall, imposing stature from afar really did open Reese's eyes to just how much of a different level Asher is on.

Asher is genuinely destined to stand up on the top. A hard-hitting realization that was gradually shifting Reese's mind bit by bit.

Kylee only spared a passing glance at Reese and briefly rolled her eyes at how he could be so swept up in the momentum. She turned her gaze back over to Asher, but now, Reese's words stuck in her mind.

Her eyes fell on Asher's form, and a sudden storm of feelings began to nestle within her mind.

"Ye-yea….he really did win...."

Now when she stared at Asher, Kylee was falling more into a hypnotic trance. On stage, standing tall and proud amidst bustling cheers, Asher looked far more dashing than his duel with Zara.

In fact, genuinely, Asher's appearances looked even slightly better than just days ago.

Unknowingly, feelings that Kylee had always kept locked deep within her heart were starting to gradually surge. But those feelings only caused a mix of joy and hard-hitting melancholy within her.

There was a surging sense of wistful longing that was gripping Kylee's heart, knowing that Asher is quickly rising up in their world, leaving them far behind.

Over at the Ranking Genius section, a tense air-filled between them.

Chase, Leon, Anton, Dane, and Daisy were all clenching their palms, feeling a bit of sweat swirl within them. Their eyes all intently stared at Asher's tall form as a mix of emotions jumbled up their minds.

"Dammit….that prowess….Jayline was essentially any mere ant!" Chase began to speak out loud, unable to contain his whirling tide of emotions.

The more he recalled that duel, a terrifying realization was slowly creeping into his mind. "His-his prowess, this nothing like an Early-stage Spirit Tier person should ever have. Yet, his Magical Aura is only at the Early Stage. Could he possibly be…."

Chase trailed off his sentence, unwilling to believe his own thoughts.

The other Ranking students picked up on what he was trying to say, and they felt their own disbelief increased.

Dane immediately refused to believe that and began to firmly shake his head. He had then said, "No. There's absolutely no way he can cross that barrier. Nobody in the Academy has ever done that. Still….this prowess is truly worrisome."

While the Ranking Students were so intently focused, none of them could notice the changes in Elsa's stature.

Elsa had actually put a hand to her chest and leaked a small breath. Her fast-beating heart turned back to its calm state, giving Elsa back her peace of mind.

There was actually a great storm of emotions running through Elsa's entire body. She felt relief, joy, pride in another person and also….slight pressure.

Though she never really shows it to Asher, Elsa does have a certain pride in battling and her own talented prowess.

And Asher was genuinely igniting her fighting spirit more than anyone has ever done before. Now, she had even more expectations in seeing how fast his prowess will grow in the future.

Elsa knows for sure that one day, Asher will want to test his prowess against her. And that thought genuinely excited her in more ways than one.

Back on stage, Asher had refocused back on his thoughts. He did a brief recall of his entire duel, analyzing anything he could've different.

Although, what prominently stood out to Asher was how he barely used any energy throughout the entire fight.

Asher felt like he could still fight several more high-intensity battles. In the middle of his analyzing thoughts, Yuki had suddenly decided to cut in, throwing out her own critical remarks.

'Splendid bout back there, Asher. Although, you had ways to quickly and thoroughly destroy that brat that would've astounded people even more. And fret not, I will teach you those ways. With how much your prowess had grown, you can now handle my ways.'

Genuine excitement rushed through Asher from Yuki's promise.

Asher knows Yuki is a powerful entity with probably countless years of experience! Anything learned from her would be significant.

Before Asher could question anything from Yuki, a powerful presence suddenly appeared from behind him. He whipped his head around, only to see Teacher Lucas giving him a small smile.

Within Teacher Lucas's eyes, there was more appraisal for Asher than what Hayato ever got from him. While Hayato was indeed impressive, Asher had just plainly shown he stood above all Early Stage Spirit Tier students.

Teacher Lucas matched his gaze with Asher's and had then told him,

"Well, color me impressed. You are worthy enough to receive far more benefits. Congratulations."

Asher gave a calm smile and said in an even tone, "Thank you for this opportunity."

From here on out, Asher was assured that his Academic life will be far smoother than before.