Cleaver Of Sin

Chapter 479: Speed

Asher could be seen flying through the night sky with a huge smile on his face, the wind brushing past his skin, hair, and clothes as he moved forward through the darkness like a silent phantom. Although his speed wasn’t exactly fast, at least not by his own rising standards, he was enjoying every bit of it at the moment, savoring the unfamiliar yet liberating sensation of weightlessness that wrapped around him like a second existence.

Arriving at a certain height, he took a deep breath, allowing the cool night breeze to fill his lungs, allowing the gentle lunar light to bathe him completely.

He stared down at everything from above as he simply floated in place, unmoving, his body suspended effortlessly between earth and sky. He had seen sights like these whenever he boarded a flight and the plane took off, had watched cities shrink into clusters of lights and roads twist into glowing veins, but staring out a window and gazing directly at civilization while one floated freely without any barrier or protection was entirely different, far more intimate and surreal, as though he had stepped outside the boundaries of humanity itself and entered the domain of something greater.

’A few hundred meters,’ Asher thought to himself as he remained steady in the air, stabilizing his balance with subtle adjustments of Astra, that was his current flight height limit above ground level, but Asher knew this limit wouldn’t last more than a day before he pushed it to a thousand meters or more.

His eyes suddenly turned to the side where he sensed a familiar presence, although he was midair and his Omni Perception couldn’t sense what was happening below, it didn’t mean Asher’s natural senses were dead or useless without the help of Omni Perception, and from there William could be seen walking from the Trailing Facility Building with his usual calm stride, but Asher didn’t fly towards him, he merely acknowledged his presence and took his eyes off him, choosing instead to remain alone with the sky and the quiet.

Asher ran a few tests, like Astra energy consumption during flight, yes, he possessed a ridiculous amount of Astra energy that bordered on absurdity compared to others his age, but such calculations were still needed just in case, because recklessness and overconfidence had ended far too many promising lives. Asher flew around a bit as he measured his Astra energy consumption at his current top speed, accelerating, slowing, hovering, repeating the cycle several times while observing every subtle fluctuation within his Astra veins.

’The Astra energy consumption is negligible, I regenerate my Astra reserve faster than I even spend it,’ he thought to himself with a satisfied smile, meaning at this current speed and control, he could fly forever if he wanted, or at least for a duration so long that it may as well be infinite for practical purposes. ’And by this calculation, even if I increase my speed and height limit by tomorrow or the day after, it will still be the same.’

A triumphant smile appeared on his face, after all, who would want to only fly for a limited amount of time, who would accept such a cruel restriction after tasting freedom. Imagine running or rather flying away from your enemy, just for you to hit your limit midair and be captured helplessly by them, that would be nothing short of humiliating and fatal.

’Let’s call it a night then,’ Asher thought to himself after a series of flight tests and calculations. As he was about to fly towards his room, he suddenly stopped as another thought struck him like lightning. At this point, Asher genuinely felt like crying at the absurd simplicity of the idea he had just gotten, wondering how he had overlooked something so obvious.

The idea was simple, almost laughably so, since he had Perfect Astral Control, couldn’t he achieve flight through Perfect Astral Manipulation alone. He had never thought about that until this very moment, and he felt like slapping himself for not thinking about such marvelous applications of Astra Control prior to this moment, because the answer had practically been staring him in the face the entire time.

But at the same time, it made absolute sense, after all, there were far too many applications to explore, far too many possibilities branching endlessly, he couldn’t magically think of all of them at once, no matter how gifted he was.

Asher didn’t hesitate, with Astra energy still coursing through his body and underneath his skin like flowing liquid light, Asher severed his connection to Gravity, normal as all previous results had shown earlier, he was supposed to plummet from the sky the instant that connection vanished, Gravity reclaiming him without mercy. But he didn’t, he remained floating as though the concept no longer applied to him, as though he could now fly without Gravity itself, as though he had quietly stepped beyond the rigid Laws of reality.

A smirk appeared on Asher’s lips, unlike flight gained from Gravity manipulation, Asher didn’t need to train flight achieved from Perfect Astral Energy Control, because if his control over Astra energy was perfect, then so too was every action born from it, including something as simple as movement.

’I guess no height limitations now, what about speed,’ he thought to himself, and without hesitation, Asher shot forward like a war missile, the moment he propelled upwards a sonic boom erupted due to the sheer force of his motion. The heavy sound and explosive noise erupted everywhere, shattering the silence of the Star Academy night and causing students and people who had been oblivious to his presence to snap their heads toward the source in shock and confusion.

Although in the end they didn’t see him since he was still invisible. Some came to understand that someone was flying around, and they immediately assumed it was a Star Academy Instructor and chose to forget about it, unwilling to question someone that powerful.

A wide grin stretched across Asher’s face, he had hit supersonic speed on his very first takeoff, and the sensation was intoxicating. The more he climbed, the more free he felt, as though the world itself was loosening its grip on him, after all, pressure was immediate and suffocating on the ground, but in the open air, in the endless sky, it was the complete opposite, light, vast, and boundless.

But even as Asher was having fun, he noticed something; wind resistance. The wind was hitting his body like a solid wall, slamming into him repeatedly with increasing force, and he understood that if he increased his speed without taking precautions, his skin could burn, tear, and break apart under the stress. Speed was the true danger, not altitude, something many people misunderstood.

But Asher also understood that it was simply because his body wasn’t strong enough at the moment. Yes, his body was absurdly strong by any normal standard, monstrously so compared to others his age, but it wasn’t yet at the level where he could ignore this, and ignore these particular laws of physics entirely.

But Asher didn’t panic, it was simply a small issue to him, an inconvenience rather than a threat. With a single thought, Astra energy finally seeped to the surface of his body, then covered him like a second skin, perfectly streamlining his shape and reducing drag, it wasn’t a barrier, it was a skin at this point, flexible, natural, and seamlessly integrated with him.

But despite the Astra energy now covering his entire body, his body didn’t suddenly turn golden, no, his skin remained exactly as it was, as though he hadn’t done anything at all, the glow suppressed completely due to his flawless control.

With the issue taken care of, Asher’s speed climbed once again as he tore upward, ripping through the clouds before finally coming to a halt high above them. He levitated like that for a few moments, his eyes closed as he enjoyed and basked in the silence, and the silence seemed comforting, welcoming, and strangely addictive, wrapping around him like an embrace.

After a few minutes, Asher opened his eyes, he knew he couldn’t remain up here forever, no matter how tempting it was, he still had to train tonight, and it was already 12 a.m. according to his personal clock.

With that thought, he shot toward his room, and within seconds he was before his balcony, deactivating his invisibility skill, Asher stepped into his room with calm, steady strides, the faint smile on his lips refusing to fade.