Skill Forge: Broken Extra Character

For a brief moment, Asher\'s vision blurred, and he felt the subtle tug of the skill trying to keep him in place. But even through the haze, his instincts kicked in, and he knew he had to act fast.

Tina\'s blade was seconds away from delivering the final blow, her confidence growing as she closed in on what she believed to be her victory.

[Substitution]

At the moment Tina swung her sword at Asher, expecting to land the final blow, her blade struck something soft instead of flesh: a small, lifelike doll. Asher was nowhere to be found.

"Give up, you can\'t beat me," Asher\'s voice echoed from behind her, causing Tina to whirl around, taking a few steps backward in shock. \'Good thing I had that skill just now, but I\'m out of MP. I guess she\'s not that bad,\' Asher mused to himself, hiding his exhaustion.

Infuriated, Tina gritted her teeth and began swinging her sword with renewed ferocity, this time channeling her Aura into the blade. The sword gleamed with an red glow as she lunged at Asher, her movements more aggressive and erratic.

\'That\'s not good,\' Asher thought as he prepared himself, his dagger now also engulfed in Aura. The two clashed with intense speed, their weapons colliding in bursts of energy.

Despite the serious nature of the fight, Asher couldn\'t help but feel a thrill, a grin tugging at the corners of his mouth as he danced around her attacks, narrowly avoiding each deadly strike.

Their duel became a blur of steel and Aura, each of them pushing the other to the limit. Tina\'s frustration grew with each missed hit, while Asher seemed to be enjoying the challenge, his reflexes sharp and his movements fluid. Then, suddenly, Asher stopped moving, standing still as if daring her to strike.

Seizing the opportunity, Tina went for a decisive attack, her sword aiming directly for his chest. But just as she was about to land the blow, her body froze. Her sword halted mere inches from Asher, but she couldn\'t move it any further.

"Hold on, this is…" Tina muttered in confusion as she struggled to move, her eyes widening in realization. Something was pulling her in place, holding her back despite her efforts to break free.

"Noticed it yet?" Asher smirked, his voice dripping with amusement.

"I can\'t move. What did you do to me?" Tina demanded, her voice mixed with panic as she fought against the unseen restraints.

"Look closer," Asher replied, his smirk growing wider.

Tina\'s eyes darted around the training hall, and as she focused, she noticed thin, almost invisible threads crisscrossing the space around them. The threads were intertwined with her limbs, binding her in place like a puppet on strings.

"It\'s those threads…" she whispered in disbelief, realizing the delicate trap she had walked into. The threads were expertly woven throughout the hall, and she had been too focused on Asher to notice them until it was too late.

They were now the reason she was completely immobilized, her sword hand trembling as it fought against the binding force.

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"So that\'s why you came all the way here?" Tina hissed, frustration seeping into her voice as she strained against the threads that bound her.

"Guilty as charged," Asher replied calmly, stepping forward and effortlessly taking her sword from her grasp. He held it for a moment before adding, "I win this fight."

Tina\'s irritation was palpable, her eyes burning with the frustration of defeat. But despite her anger, she was helpless, bound by the invisible threads and unable to retaliate.

Asher began to slowly cut through the threads with his Aura-infused dagger.

"Luckily for you, I don\'t care much about the rankings," Asher said, his tone casual yet firm. "It seems the status I already have is bringing in unwanted attention. And as for what you said about humans, I wouldn\'t say you\'re entirely wrong."

"What?" Tina wondered, her irritation giving way to confusion as she tried to grasp his meaning.

"Humans have killed themselves for the sole purpose of getting paid, and that\'s greed," Asher continued, his voice carrying a weariness that seemed beyond his years. "But the same goes for your kind."

He paused for a moment, cutting through the last of the threads binding her, his gaze distant as he reflected on his own past.

"Take me, for example. I may not look it, but as an offspring of the Falt household, I too have taken lives: both in this world and in my previous one. Must be some kind of joke, being brought to another world with the same profession."

The name "Falt" carried weight in Verena, though few truly understood why. The Falt family was known publicly as a deeply religious and influential household, pillars of the community who were respected and revered for their piety and charitable deeds. To the general public, they were a symbol of moral integrity and devotion.

However, beneath the surface, only a select few knew the truth about the Falt family. Behind the façade of religious devotion lay a dark secret: assassination was what truly kept the family going. The Falts were skilled killers, their services available to the Royal Council.

They maintained their influential status in Verena through a careful balance of public virtue and covert violence, ensuring that their true nature remained hidden from most of the world.

As Asher spoke, Tina realized that he was not just another human, but someone who had walked a path far darker and more complex than she had imagined.

The weight of his words hung in the air, leaving her momentarily speechless, her previous anger now mixed with a sense of unease.

The Falt family, renowned for their piety and charitable acts, was in fact the shadow arm of the royal council. Their true role in the kingdom was far more sinister than the public could ever suspect.

Tasked with eliminating the kingdom\'s most dangerous and secretive threats, they operated in the darkness, ensuring that the balance of power remained in the council\'s favor.

They were not only loyal to the king but also to the council itself, executing only the assassinations that were sanctioned by this powerful body. The Falts were indispensable in maintaining the kingdom\'s stability, their existence a closely guarded secret known only to a select few.

"Nobody is perfect," Asher continued, his tone calm yet carrying the weight of his experiences. "Just because you refer to us as lower beings who weren\'t blessed by the gods like your kind doesn\'t mean your kind is actually superior to mine. It could be the other way around. It may be that the gods cherish the fragile species more."

"As expected of someone from a religious family? Trying to preach to me," Tina scoffed, looking away, her irritation still evident.

"A religious family, huh?" Asher muttered to himself, a trace of bitterness in his voice. "Was I really?"

"You would have if I didn\'t interrupt you, moron," Tina snapped, cutting through his thoughts.

Asher didn\'t really care about her response but continued anyway. "Just remember, you\'ll never be strong enough to beat me. So try not to drag your princess back, oh Mrs. Superior Species," he teased, though his voice remained emotionless.

Without waiting for a reply, Asher casually tossed her sword back to her, the blade spinning in the air before Tina instinctively caught it.

She turned, still annoyed and ready to retort, but found herself speaking to empty space: Asher had already vanished, leaving her standing alone in the training hall.

The silence that followed only heightened her frustration, and she clenched her sword tightly, seething at the humiliation of being bested so effortlessly.

*****

A few hours later, as the day\'s classes ended, Rey and Asher gathered with the others to discuss the events that had transpired. Their faces were serious as they recounted the unsettling experiences they had encountered. The room was filled with a tense atmosphere as everyone listened intently.

Asher spoke first, explaining how they had both noticed someone, likely one of the teachers, secretly spying on them. The suspicion had grown over time, and last night, they had encountered a mysterious figure who confronted them before everything went dark.

The next thing they knew, they woke up back in their rooms, unscathed but deeply unsettled. Asher emphasized the need for everyone to be more vigilant and cautious, especially with the strange occurrences happening around them.

Jett, standing off to the side, listened to their story with a calculating look in his eyes. He had already pieced together whose mana Asher had sensed during the encounter, his mind working rapidly as he considered the implications. He was already forming a plan on how to approach her, his thoughts swirling with possibilities.

Freya, however, was more focused on the way Jett seemed to be reacting to Rey and Asher\'s recounting of the events. She could see the gears turning in his head, and it worried her. There was something about the look Jett gave them that made her uneasy, like he was on the verge of doing something reckless.

"Please don\'t do anything stupid," Freya begged softly, tapping Jett on the shoulder to get his attention.

Jett blinked, genuinely confused for a moment as he turned to her. "What are you talking about?" he asked, though his thoughts were racing. \'Did she somehow figure out that I\'m planning something?\'

"In fact, don\'t do anything at all," Freya added, her voice tinged with concern.

"Gosh, you\'re scaring me. What in the world would I want to do right now?" Jett sighed, though he knew exactly what she was worried about. It wasn\'t the first time Freya had to caution him, and it probably wouldn\'t be the last.

Freya didn\'t miss a beater response was immediate and cutting. "That\'s the face of a menace to society plotting something incredibly stupid."

Jett couldn\'t help but feel a wave of irritation at the situation Freya was putting him in. She was right to be suspicious, but that didn\'t make it any less frustrating. "Isn\'t it time for you to go hunting?" he retorted, trying to deflect her attention and shift the focus away from himself. All the while, he thought to himself, \'Just keep quiet and farm some EXP for me.\'

He then cast a glance at Rey and Asher, his mind returning to the topic of their conversation. \'I\'ve edited the contract on those two, so my leveling up should be faster now,\' Jett mused.

The thought of power coursing through him was intoxicating, and he couldn\'t help but wonder how far he could push his limits. He just needed to do the same for the others, and then there\'d be no telling how strong he could become.

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He should be at least this greedy