Two days had passed since Ash began his path to power, and he hadn't looked back once. Since the first spar he had continued with the same pace. He decided it was better for him to go hand-to-hand only right now. He wouldn't use any weapons or take shortcuts. This idea primarily stemmed from is past life on Earth, which now felt like ages ago. He often read how characters were masters in every aspect and that's what he wanted. He wanted to master every aspect of fighting, while leave no stone unturned.
Dummy after dummy fell. He gave himself almost no rest—only the brief minutes it took to swallow recovery pills and potions that tasted like liquid fire. The ancient Seraphiel grounds were a treasure trove of untouched resources; he used them like a madman.
Right now, he was locked in a 2v1 and both of them were in the D rank. After the first dummy he purposely fought up a rank to give himself more of a challenge.
One construct thrust a spear at his throat.
The other shot mana arrows from twenty meters back.
Seeing all of this, Ash's eyes narrowed. While fighting he had discovered another trick his eyes provided him. While fighting it showed his opponents movements a few moments before they happened. So far, he had yet to truly get the hang of it, but in this case it was enough.
He stepped inside the spear thrust, while he shoulder-checked the shaft, and drove an elbow into the construct's chest.
BANG!
Absolute Density surged—just the right arm, just for an instant.
The obsidian torso caved like wet paper. The whole construct flew backward ten meters andgh shattered against a pillar.
Ash didn't waste a single moment though as an arrow screamed toward his face. He dropped low, spun, and whipped his leg out. Density flooded his shin packing a mountain's weight in a sweeping kick.
The arrow met his leg and exploded into green sparks. The shockwave alone cracked the voidstone floor. He launched forward, closed the gap in two bounds, and met the archer construct mid-draw.
Open palm to the chest. Density spiked again.
BOOM!
The construct folded around his hand, metal crumpling, core rupturing. It hit the ground in pieces.
Ash straightened, breathing hard, a thin line of blood running from his lip. Though the fight looked easy, these two constructs had given him a good spar indeed.
"I can really get used to this," he muttered, wiping it away with the back of his hand.
In forty-eight hours, his Existence Level had climbed from 100 to 200 exactly.
Twenty points per spar. Five brutal spars against dummies one full rank above him. Despite the fast speed of ranking up, none of it would be give out on a silver platter. He knew well that without hard work the talent he had was nothing but fancy names.
He'd also remembered something important while he was trying to test more of his talents. Affinities in this world were useless without skills to channel them. Raw mana would flare for a few seconds then fizzle out. Skills were learned in libraries… or created.
Though using his affinities would be a real game changer, that could wait until real seclusion.
For now, one thing mattered more.
"I'm sure Nia's done with her training by now," he said aloud. "Better go meet her before she freaks out."
He reactivated Perfect Disguise Veil and left the ancient grounds.
Even if the royal family discovered his change, they'd just try to force him into their expansion plans. However, since Ash had personally experienced the torment and abandonment he had no good feelings for those people.
'Tsk. I wouldn't help these bastards if the kingdom burned down tomorrow.'
He thought.
----
Inside of his room
Nia was on his small twin bed, cocooned in his thin blanket, face buried in his pillow, inhaling like it was the only thing keeping her alive. She had been like this for the past few hours waiting on Ash to arrive.
Honestly, if it weren't for her getting... uhh sidetracked she would've flipped the palace upside down looking for him. However, that wasn't quite the case as she was reveling in the scent of Ash through his blankets.
'Ahh Ashy~' She thought to herself but as she was getting lost in her fantasies again the door creaked open.
*Creak*
The second the door opened then clicked shut, her eyes snapped open.
"Ashy!!!" she squealed, beaming like a child who'd just won the world. Despite her beautiful smile and warming welcome, inside she was a bit embarrassed.... only for a brief moment.
'Oh gosh... did he see me sniffing his blanket?' The thought crossed her mind for a split second. However, as she looked at him leaning against the door with a smirk that literally spelled confidence, another thought came in place.
'Fuck it' She thought with a shrug.
Then with zero shame—she lifted the blanket to her nose again and took a long, deliberate sniff, as her cheeks flushed crimson.
Ash leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed, a slow smile spreading across his face. Seeing this he just couldn't understand what was wrong with him in the past. No matter how many times he thought about, Nia was a beauty even beyond the most beautiful.
Past Ash had spent years dodging her, running from what was standing right in front of him.
New Ash was done running.
'Right, let's fix that.' He thought before his lips parted.
"My little Nia~" he said, voice low and confident, nothing like the timid boy she used to chase.
"How long have you been here?"
It was finally time to forge the first bond.