Asher was taken aback as he saw that his HP decreased without him doing anything or anything happening to him. Even if it was only a single point, it alarmed him since this was weird. Something like this shouldn't happen on its own.
His first thought was if he was poisoned, but then again, he would have known if he was poisoned.
He waited a few minutes just to make sure, but nothing happened.
The fact that his HP wasn't decreasing after losing that single point also proved that his body wasn't harmed internally.
His HP was still at 94 but even then, losing that single point out of nowhere left him a bit restless. He decided to take his mind off it since he was getting nowhere and looked at the strange old ring on his middle finger.
Only now did he even notice he had such a dull ring on his finger due to how hectic things were all this time.
He looked closely at it and was surprised to see a ring made out of a dark green mudstone or some type of stone that looked similar to it.
This was his first time seeing such a stone ring, and it seemed to be fragmented, with multiple rocky pieces somehow holding themselves together.
He tried to remove it from his finger and found it to be quite stubborn to get off his finger. Only after applying considerable strength did he manage to get it off and look at this ring in curiosity.
It seemed like some knockoff piece made out of tiny stones poorly glued together. But he wondered who gave a ring like this to somebody who was crippled?
"Ha, who cares…Maybe I should check them out," Asher saw some books kept in the cupboard and was surprised he could understand what was written.
'Did the Demon King transfer the ability to read and write to him?' Asher could only muse as he checked out these books that had information about the castle and the house he was married to….House Drake.
He was eager to learn about these things since they could maybe help him formulate plans to get out of here and figure out what was wrong with his body for him to be manaless. Surely, he can figure out something…he has to.
He got himself comfortable on the bed and didn't know whether to feel surprised or not after realizing how soft and comfy this mattress was.
But before he knew it, he was feeling drowsy as he dozed off while darkness fully descended into the room.
A few hours passed when at the dead of midnight, the large door of Asher's room slightly opened, letting out a very soft creak that not even a passerby might notice.
A hooded figure sneaked inside while closing the door behind. In the hand of this person, there was a steel dagger that glinted under the dim candlelight.
The eyes of this person landed on the young man sleeping on the bed like a log and sneaked towards him while slowly raising the dagger.
Right when this person reached the young man, they raised the dagger up in the air completely before bringing it down on the young man's neck with the intent to kill!
Asher's eyes suddenly opened wide as he swiftly rolled to the side, making the hooded figure miss as the dagger struck the mattress.
Asher didn't even say or ask anything as his eyes became sharp and twisted his hip in mid-air and kicked this assassin in the chest using both his feet.
[-15]
"Urgh!" A man's grunt echoed as the assassin stumbled back with the dagger in his hand while Asher got off the bed and quickly assumed a fighting stance with a vigilant look. Seeing how much damage Asher dealt to him, he was frustrated again for not having any mana to deal more damage.
The assassin quickly recovered as he also assumed a fighting stance, though his black eyes glinted with surprise as if not expecting resistance in the first place.
"Who sent you?" Asher asked, but his eyes widened when he saw this assassin suddenly charging at him with his dragger aiming for his chest.
Asher didn't have any weapon in his hand, but he remembered his martial arts from his past life, though he had yet to get used to fighting in this body.
He hooked the assassin's forearm before the dagger could touch his skin and used his other hand to try and bash the man's face.
But to his surprise, the assassin dodged his punch in a flash and kicked him in the stomach, making Asher stumble back by a few steps.
'He is well trained!' This was Asher's first thought after observing the reflexes and moves of this assassin from just this brief encounter.
His HP fell from 100 to 75 after just taking a single kick, and this was after having the 5% bonus to his HP since it was nighttime.
Asher grimaced as he placed his hand on his stomach, realizing that this assassin was quite strong for him. If he had to guess, this assassin must be at least one or two levels above him. With just one kick from him, Asher felt a dull sensation in his stomach, making his legs a bit sluggish.
Still, he resolved himself to not falter now since dying on the same day he got his second chance would be stupid and a waste.
Asher didn't even get to catch his breath as the assassin charged at him again with killing intent.
Asher was forced to be on the defensive as he tried to deflect away the man's arm each time he tried to stab him.
Asher felt his arms getting numbing even more each time he parried the assassin's attacks and could feel that he was getting cornered. The more he tried to fight off him, the more Asher realized that this assassin was no joke when it came to his martial art skills.
And each time he blocked his attacks, Asher's health was being chipped away little by little.
Other than being manaless, he was disappointed that his current body was too weak and also the fact that he didn't yet get the time to train this body to keep up with his instinctive reflexes.
Asher grimaced as the assassin managed to nick his forearm and again tried to kick him in the chest.
He quickly put up his arms to defend himself, but the kick still knocked him off his feet, and he fell to the floor.
Asher endured the pain of the severe bruises on his body as he rolled to the side and crouched near the table where some candles were lit.
His expression was grave as he saw how he had barely more than 1/3rd of his health left. But still, his mind searched for a way out as he saw the assassin coming at him again like a relentless demon who wouldn't rest until he snuffed the life out of him.
His eyes got glued to the candles for a second, but he waited for the assassin to get close to him as much as possible.
He remembered how good this assassin was at dodging his attacks and felt that he couldn't get an edge over him without sacrificing something.
Seeing the blade coming at him, Asher simply raised his palm as he let the dagger pierce his flesh, making the assassin's eyes glint in confusion, as if he didn't expect Asher to use his hand as a shield.
But this moment of confusion was all Asher needed. He didn't even let out a groan as he swiftly grabbed the candle stand and used the burning tip of the candle to stab at the assassin's eyes, "Eat this, asswipe!"
[ -50 ]
"AARGH!!" The assassin didn't expect this young man to let his hand get injured and use that opportunity to burn his eyes. In pain and shock, the assassin fell back while letting go of the dagger, which was still stuck in Asher's hand.
Asher was glad to see that he gave him 50 damage by burning his eyes.
He didn't have the health to spare left, but he didn't want to let the assassin recover and lunged towards him to get some blows in.
The assassin was clutching his eyes as he swayed his hands around as if to keep Asher from attacking him.
But it was easy for Asher to take on a blind man even if that man was an expert in combat. He dodged the assassin's frantic attempt to grab him and elbowed his solar plexus.
[ -35 ]
"Ughh!" The assassin let out a hoarse grunt as his knees almost gave away but still managed to regain his balance, making Asher feel frustrated, seeing how this assassin had higher defense due to the level advantage. If this man was on the same level as him, such a blow to his solar plexus should render him incapacitated.
He knew how much damage he was dealing to the assassin, but he had no idea how much HP the assassin had. Otherwise, he could have at least gotten an idea of whether he was close to killing him. This was the time Asher wished he had a 'Hound' by his side who could gauge various details of their enemies, which others cannot.
And because his attack failed, the assassin easily counterattacked by punching his face, making Asher fall on the floor.
The assassin got atop him and started choking him with both his hands, making Asher's face redder and redder.
But Asher still didn't give up as he looked at the dagger stuck in his flesh.
"Fuck!" He groaned as he pulled the blade out of his hand and stabbed the man's chest, though it didn't go deep as he expected.
[ -25 ]
Asher only had 12 HP left, but he didn't give up as he kept applying as much strength as he could to make the dagger cut through his flesh deeper, making the assassin howl in pain, "Aaaaagh, just die!"
Asher's eyes widened when he saw the man raising his fist, which was glowing with his dark mana, making him realize that he was finished since the assassin was finally using his mana. All this time, he wondered why the assassin didn't simply use his mana in the first place, not that thinking about it would change anything.
He could feel that his punch would at least carry enough power to pulverize his face as he could only helplessly watch the assassin's fist close in on his face.
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A/N: For every 250 power stones, I will publish an extra chapter :)