The landscape had turned into a mess of mud and cracks; this was the result when rank 2 fought with each other, an awakened and a beast.
'Is his ability related to earth?'
Ash thought to himself as he recalled the battle where the awakened Seth shook the ground, creating shock waves and the pool of mud that drowned the beast.
"I am sorry to ask this, but why did you bring a new awakener to fight against a beast?"
Unable to hide his curiosity, Asher asked; he actually knew a bit from this fight but still wanted to clarify.
"We had come to train Lord Kena; the sudden appearance of a beast was a mishap."
Seth answered but not before giving a glance to Kena, who had also nodded.
"You don't look shocked at meeting us here."
Kena, who has finally calmed down, asked.
"Ah, I am a new awakener myself. I came to this city just a week ago. So I am again sorry for being discourteous."
Giving respect toward the young boy, who was a head smaller than him. Asher answered his inquiry.
Seeing them being still suspicious, Ash tried to flee only to be stopped.
"Anyway, I will take my leave."
Not wanting to stay with a noble anymore, Asher quickly takes his leave.
"Stop; you have not given your name yet."
Stopping in his tracks, Asher gave them a side glance.
'Ugh, I just want to leave.'
Being the gentleman that he is, Asher gave his most friendly smile he could muster and answered.
"I am Asher; it's a pleasure meeting you both, esteemed sirs."
Giving a nod in satisfaction, they finally let him leave after some more inquiries they had about him.
"What do you think about him, Seth?"
Kena, who had watched the boy older than him leave, asked, his face getting pale and looking sick.
"I don't think anything about such a person, Lord Kena; he must be just rich enough to buy an artifact gun. His ability simply means they are not strong enough to be used for attacks."
"He did fire a good shot, though."
"Marksmanship can only be used for a newborn monster; if his shot didn't meet the crackling in the monster's skull, his attack would have been meaningless."
Explaining it in detail, Seth made sure that Kena understood the meaning of his words.
"We can't allow Lord Kena, who is the only hope of House of Orgus, to use such lowly things when your powers will be even greater."
Kena just nodded at his words, his complexion worsening with every passing moment.
"Let's go back; meeting a beast has already made me sick."
Seeing Kena, whose whole body has started shivering but whose face still looked full of resolve to go higher, Seth nodded.
"Yes, sir."
.....
Ash was now walking outside the forest after meeting with the house of orgus. Looked quite disappointed.
"Not even a proper thanks; at least have the courtesy to not just interrogate me in the middle of a forest."
Annoyed at this sudden incident, he couldn't help but mumble.
"At least I got to see a higher rank fight, but seriously, if not for Seth stopping the beast from attacking, the results would have been totally different."
Unlike Seth, who was seen using multiple uses of ability, the beast only tried to use it since every time it attempted, it was stopped by Seth, who rushed at it every time he got the chance.
"That kid also looked way too young to be an awakener."
Feeling a bit suspicious at such a ridiculous event of even finding a beast in the outer areas of the Caser forest. Ash took the liberty to go back to the city instead of hunting even more.
Coming back to Sefron City, Asher first went towards the guild, taking his time. The sun was already set. The tall buildings shined in a yellow and orange glow, creating a peaceful scenery.
People were walking, with laughter coming from shops. Seeing a tall building almost looking like a big manor, Asher looked to see if the receptionist was busy or not; finding no one there, he went towards them.
"Hi, I would like to sell some shards."
Seeing Asher, he just gave a nod, not wanting to talk.
Asher, sensing his mood, also just passed the four shards.
"The small ones will be 1200 R, and the big one will be 800 R."
With a simple nod, Asher took the money and was about to leave until he saw a quest present on the guild notice board.
"To kill rats present in sewerage systems."
'That's an oddly specific task; might as well take it.'
Asher, who was now trying to use 'static' on more than one being, found it a task made for himself.
"Asher"
A sweet voice soon came from the back; turning around, Ash saw Libers party, who had also come to the guild.
"Ah, hello, Anny and everyone. How are you all doing?"
"We are doing well; how about you?"
"Yes, I am as well."
Asher gave them a friendly smile; they were the people who had helped him the most in this city, and he was really grateful towards them.
"That's good to know. Did you come back from Caser Forest?"
Liber asked who was behind Anny.
"Yes, I did. Oh, how about I treat you to dinner today? Are you all free?"
Asher asked with hopeful eyes; he actually also wanted to ask about many things as well and share about his small adventure.
Looking at each other, they gave a smile in return.
"Of course."
"We would love to."
"It's free food; who will say no?"
Seeing them all in agreement, Asher also gave a warm smile towards them.
"Then let's go; do you know a good place to eat?"
"Yes, let me take you there."
Gian was the one who, with enthusiasm, led them out; a big grin can be seen on his face.
Asher glanced at the Liber and Anny and decided to follow Gian's leads.
Coming inside the restaurant, which was not so luxurious as he expected it to be, with simple interior design of wooden furniture.
The now party of four all walked towards the table at the window side and took their seats, with Gian and Asher at one side while Anny and Liber sat together on the other side of them.
"So you did your first hunt, and it was dogs."
"I think he means Wolf, actually."
Liber and Anny kept talking with him, while Gian ignored the whole talk and was busy eating his food.
"Wolf's, ah, I see that's what you call them. I was confused since they did look quite big for a dog. Also, I also hunted a weird monkey."
Seeing him talk in a very confusing manner at his own words, Liber and Anny burst into fits of laughter.
"He is the only one to call, Trice, a weird monkey."
Liber, who thought he was joking, was very amused, and so was Anny.
"It must have been a tough fight, since they are so quick to move."
Seeing their reactions, Asher simply gave a nod.
"Yes, it was; it moved around too much, but luckily it was looking sleepy, so it was sluggish."
Asher lied with a straight face, making sure it sounded like he struggled.
Anny looked content while Liber looked; he again heard a joke from him.
"Ah, I also met the son of House Orgus in the middle of the forest."
This time all three looked at him; even Gian had stopped eating and was serious.
Anny glanced around to see if someone heard them or not before telling him with a serious face.
"Ash, the son of the Orgus family, had died a month ago."