Several hours flew by before Asher even knew it. For today, instead of focusing the majority of his time on cultivation, he surprisingly got caught up with hanging out with Daisy and Scarlett.

Initially, he didn't think he would hang out with them for too long. But, against his expectations, Scarlett was a curious joy to talk to.

Compared to most people he conversed with throughout his life, Scarlett carried this wild, free-spirited will.

For any topic or opinion, she would always give her most honest opinion without any filter. No matter the kind of topic at hand, she had simple upfront honesty that made it hard to dislike her.

Furthermore, she always had a jovial smile and spoke in an energetic, upbeat voice. Even though her instinctive, wild battle senses could be potentially very troublesome, Asher found it easy to get along with her.

In fact, he was even looking forward to sparring more with her and casually hanging out with her in the future.

While he may not have met all of the Ranking Students yet, Asher could see Scarlett was most likely a rarity within their social class.

Daisy, who had more normal and refined reactions, essentially showcased this difference to Asher. Out of the two, Daisy clearly appeared the more easy-going and normal to talk to.

Down to her gentle expressions and elegantly polite way of talking, anybody could end up getting swept up in her momentum.

Anyone but Asher.

It wasn't just Daisy too, Chase and Leon also carried the same odd vibe underneath their elegant surface.

As of now, Asher wouldn't be able to tell just what exactly lies underneath their surface, but he would for sure be wary of them.

Also, the more he hung out with Daisy and Scarlett, the more Asher saw why Elsa rarely bothered with other Ranking Students. For a seldom and reserved personality like hers, she would not mesh well with people like Daisy or Scarlett.

After Asher had his enjoyable time with the Ranking Geniuses girls, he was now currently with Elsa. Dusk had fallen over Pearlcrest, and the lovely couple was now trailing through the starting area of the Decrypted Woods.

Before this, Asher thought Elsa would be excited to have some quality in his Mana Room.

But she had abruptly texted him to instead do some training inside the Decrypted Woods. Though Asher was looking forward to getting lovely and intimate with Elsa, he also didn't mind training with her at all.

Asher had just met up with Elsa a little bit before, most obviously eager to see his beautiful girlfriend. However, upon meeting her, Asher immediately notices a subtle change from Elsa.

Elsa's indifferent expression looked no different from any other day, but he could spot some slight tension creasing within her face.

After exchanging a brief intimate hug, one that Elsa didn't put her full strength to, they had begun walking down their usual path in their woods.

While they walked, Asher for sure can say there was something definitely bothering Elsa. Even for her standard, she was too abnormally quiet.

By being so close to her vicinity, Asher could practically feel mixed sensations radiating off from her. There was tension, confusion and slight concern all scrambled into her aura that couldn't be traced on her face.

Seeing that Elsa wouldn't be the one to open up about her troubles, Asher took the initiative.

"Hey, Elsa…."

Asher had suddenly gently grasped Elsa's shoulder, forcing her to stop walking and awakening her from her slight trance.

Right then, Elsa's eyes lit up as if she just realized what she was doing.

Elsa turned her attention over to Asher, ready to finally speak. But as she went to talk first before Asher could continue, another matter surfaced to her mind from what she had seen today.

Though she had other complicated issues on her mind, for some reason, this particular subject took sudden precedent over everything.

"Hmph."

Completely against Asher's expectation, Elsa leaked a little snort as her eyes squinted onto Asher's face as if he did something wrong.

"Ehh? Uhm….what's the matter?" Asher asked with an unsure tone.

He was genuinely taken back, thinking to himself; after all this time, why did her mood so abruptly shift on to me?

"I was taking a quiet walk today to allow my mind to relax after a particularly long meditation. And, weren't you getting comfortably close with both Daisy and Scarlett. Your face told you were having an enjoyable time, hm?"

Elsa's voice nearly managed to stay entirely calm. To any other, she would've sounded like a slightly jealous girlfriend.

It even nearly left Asher confused for a moment. But he quickly connected the dots in a nanosecond.

No matter what antics Elsa tried to pull over him, Asher practically knows her like the back of his hand. If she was truly serious, he would've felt an icy cold shiver his entire body.

So with a cheeky smirk of his own, Asher suddenly pulled Elsa close to his body, causing the normally indifferent girl to raise a cute yelp in surprise.

Staring right into her hypnotically luminous blue eyes and increasingly flushed face, Asher confidently stated,

"I suppose I did have a good time with them, mainly Scarlett, though. And I think you too would have a good time with her if you gave her a chance. Heh, you know Elsa….you're still far too early to tease me."

"Hmph….what if I really was jealous?" Elsa spoke while giving Asher an adorable little pout.

In response, Asher's voice turned sensually hot, causing electrifying tingles to course down Elsa's spine.

"Then I'll do this every single time."

Asher didn't wait for Elsa's response, immediately leaning down to capture her sweet delectable lips!

"Mnh~!"

Elsa couldn't help but raise a loud moan of joy and pleasure. Her mouth immediately pried open to let Asher's heavenly tasting tongue in.

Incredible pleasure energy arose between Asher and Elsa as they both frantically sucked on each tongue, dearly missing this blissful sensation. Elsa mushed herself into Asher's body, feeling longing heat fire up within her loins.

Even though Elsa would never honestly admit this out loud, she absolutely loved Asher's deep kisses. It felt too amazing!

In an instant, all of her previous tension and confusion of her more complicated issues drained out of her body. Elsa let herself get absorbed in their passionate kiss, drowning in incredible pleasure energy.

With the way Elsa was getting so intense, Asher was half tempted to take it a step farther. After all, he could just feel she wouldn't mind at all and would actually enjoy it in silent embarrassment.

But, Asher could still recall her somber mood from earlier. More than just pleasure, Asher wanted to know what was particularly bugging her.

So after almost a minute of passionately making out with her and feeling that her whole mood improved, Asher slowly broke off the kiss.

"Ahh~...." Elsa leaked a small disappointed moan, obviously wanting more.

For a split second, her expression turned feverish before morphing back to an almost calm look. Though her face was still brightly flushed.

"I….suppose that will do."

Asher showed off a more calming smile now, easing all of Elsa's nerves by gently caressing her soft, lithe waist. It was adorable seeing Elsa lightly squirm under his touch while also trying to keep her head held up high.

But now that the mood was set, Asher got a bit serious as he had then said, "Now that you finally calm down, you can't hide from me that's something truly bugging you. Care to share what it is?"

Elsa went rigid for a split second, but Asher's warm and pleasurable touch nearly instantly quelled her nerves again. She closed her eyes, exhaled a small sigh, and then stared right back into Asher's eyes.

"We….we need to get stronger quickly. And I mean far faster than even the time you used last weekend to crush Jayline. There's one tremendous problem that I won't be able to suppress anymore in the upcoming days."

Asher immediately became more serious. While he did expect that deep, complicated issues would arise from their relationship, he didn't expect it to be this soon.

Still, Asher stayed silent, subtly giving Elsa the go to continue talking.

Taking another sigh heavy with emotions, Elsa had then told Asher, "My Father….he's really pushing for an arrangement with the Melton Family and won't stop at any cost. The main thing he wants to do is force me into a relationship with Samuel Melton, creating impossible to break ties with that Family. And of course….The Melton Family can't wait for this to happen. Or more appropriately to say, they believed this is inevitable."

"Ah….What?!"

Initially, Asher wanted to take any bad news calmly, but he just couldn't control himself for some reason.

Just hearing that somebody wants to forcefully take Elsa, his Elsa away from him caused a colossal spike of irrational anger to explode from Asher!

Even if Asher could expect something like this from a distinguished family, he couldn't stop his rage from boiling at an intense rate.

In his subconscious thoughts, Asher tightened his hold over Elsa as if he was afraid she would leave at this moment.

Asher's expression turned frighteningly grave; he felt far more rage here than the time Jayline threatened to crush Reese and Kylee.

"Asher….?"

Elsa was genuinely taken aback for a moment from this abrupt change in Asher. That expression of pure rage made it seem like he was an entirely different person altogether.

But Elsa was only surprised for a moment. Besides worrying about his mental state, she didn't feel any fear towards this abrupt shift.

Elsa's expression softened as she began to gently caress Asher's face, tenderly calling his name to make him come back to reality.

'Hmmm? Oh-oh! Wow….these feelings run deep. Tsk! His body nor his mind isn't anywhere near ready for this energy. Asher!! Calm down now!'

Instead of Elsa being the one to snap Asher out of his trance, it was Yuki's booming voice.

'Ah-ah?'

Yuki's voice blasted around Asher's mind, immediately breaking him from that sudden trance.

'Wha-what was-'

"Asher? Are you calm now?"

Before Asher could process what just happened, Elsa's gentle voice and soft touch immediately brought his attention right back in front of him.

For a split moment back there, Asher felt like there was something else, something that felt horrifyingly sinister leak from his veins. But, Asher couldn't focus on that as Elsa's concerning expression took more precedence in his mind.

"Ah-ah….sorry about that. I really am. Nothing is set in stone, and nothing had even happened. Yet I'm already losing control of my emotions like a chi-"

"Mnh?"

Before Asher could even finish his apology, Elsa leaned up to give him a sweet, chaste kiss full of affection.

After taking a nice calming moment that relaxed both of their nerves, Elsa pulled back. There was a beautiful smile fully plastered on Elsa's face that made Asher get lost in her mesmerizing aura.

"Don't apologize. I found that rather….s-sweet." Though she sounded a little bit embarrassed at the end, Elsa made sure her feelings came across to Asher.

"Ah….I see. Thanks for that."

While Asher wasn't sure at all what had just come over him, he felt like something was breaking off in his mind. No matter what, Asher didn't care what challenges lay ahead; he wasn't going to give in.