Born In Ashes: The Enigma

Azrael was startled when he heard Ashara's slightly raised voice. He looked at her and saw that she was staring at him as if she would beat him up if he didn't use the item for his class advancement.

"Mom, how about you chill a bit and tell me what's going on?" He asked, his face filled with speechlessness.

Ashara took a deep breath to calm herself and spoke after a moment.

"I don't know what kind of class change item this is, nor what kind of class it would grant you. But..." Her expression turned serious at this point. "There is a terrifying energy inside this thing. If you use it for your class advancement, you will definitely receive a supreme class— something at least on par with my Witch class, or perhaps even more powerful."

She paused for a second, then added, "Besides, the items people receive as rewards for completing the Eonrift trial are always something most suitable for them. Since you received this item for your class change, it will definitely grant you a class that's well-suited for you."

Azrael fell into deep thought after hearing Ashara's words. After thinking for a full minute, he looked back at her and spoke in a serious tone.

"How about instead of using it for my class advancement, I use it in a different way?"

"In a different way..." Ashara raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean by that?"

Azrael lifted the scale to eye level and responded in a deep voice, "How about I use it as a throwing weapon? Since even you felt like kneeling on the ground after touching it, how about I just keep it in my storage ring and throw it at my enemies when I encounter them—crushing them with this thing."

Ashara was stunned when she heard Azrael's absurd words, her mind short-circuited for a second.

But she quickly came back to her senses, and black lines appeared on her forehead.

"You... Do you want me to beat you up?"

She was fuming with anger after hearing her foolish son suggest using such a valuable item as a mere throwing weapon. For a moment, she even wondered if his brain had been damaged inside the Eonrift.

Seeing Ashara's agitated reaction, Azrael burst into laughter.

Hearing his laughter, Ashara finally understood that he was messing with her and her eye twitched.

"This brat..." She muttered under her breath and before Azrael could react, she appeared behind him and kicked him on the buttocks, nearly making him fall to the ground.

"Put it away now," She said after kicking him. "I'll prepare the other things needed for your class advancement ritual. You can complete it tomorrow."

Azrael rubbed his buttocks with a twitching mouth and silently nodded his head.

Suddenly, he thought of something and asked, "What about my enrollment in the Slayers Academy?"

"We can do it the day after tomorrow, once you activate your powers and complete your class advancement ritual."

"I see..." Azrael nodded.

"By the way..." He remembered something he hadn't mentioned yet and summoned the Fallen Star.

Ashara looked at him curiously, wondering why he took out his Soul Armament.

Azrael didn't say anything and lifted the sword slightly.

The next moment, a very faint scarlet aura appeared around the blade, and a tyrannical pressure spread through the surroundings.

The pressure lasted only a split second before the faint scarlet glow around the sword disappeared.

At the same time, Azrael stumbled backward and his face turned pale from using the Tyrant's Intent.

"You have already comprehended your Intent?" Ashara asked in a shocked voice, her eyes filled with disbelief.

She remembered telling him about intent just a few days ago, and now he had already comprehended it.

Not only that, although she had felt the power of his Intent only briefly, she could tell that Azrael's Intent wasn't normal.

The tyrannical force it emitted was something she had never felt before—it was as if it wanted to destroy anything that stood in its way.

Azrael took a moment to regain some of his strength and then grinned.

"My Intent is called Tyrant's Intent. It received its name from the World itself."

"Tyrant's Intent..." Ashara muttered the name in a low voice and took a deep breath.

She felt that although Azrael had only been inside Eonrift for a short period of time, many things had changed during that time.

"Well, now that you have awakened an Intent, you need to work on your spiritual power as well. Without enough spiritual power, you won't be able to use your Intent properly." She said after regaining her composure.

Azrael nodded and asked, "That's what I was thinking. Do you have any advice on how I can increase my spiritual power as fast as possible?"

"The fastest way to increase your spiritual power is to level up and advance to a higher rank. Each time you level up, your life level increases, moving you closer to becoming a higher life form with a stronger soul. But..." She paused before adding, "You can also use a meditation technique to improve your spiritual power."

"A meditation technique?" Azrael raised an eyebrow as it was the first time he had heard of this.

"Meditation techniques are used to cultivate your spiritual power. Normally, people only start learning them after reaching the Legend level. By the time someone becomes a Legend-ranked warrior, their soul finally begins to change from a formless entity into a solid one. Before that transformation, the effect of meditation techniques is minimal—so not many people bother learning them early on," Ashara explained, looking directly at Azrael.

"But since you need to increase your spiritual power to properly display the power of your Intent, you can start learning a meditation technique now. While the effect won't be great, it should at least allow you to use your Intent for a slightly longer period."

Azrael carefully listened to Ashara's explanation and once she finished speaking, he thought for a moment before nodding.

"Where can I get a meditation technique?"

"I'll prepare one for you by tomorrow," Ashara said and glanced at the closed door.

She paused for a moment before speaking again.

"He is not a bad person. If you ever run into trouble at the Slayers Academy, you can go to him for help."

Azrael raised an eyebrow in confusion when he heard Ashara's words, but soon realized she was talking about his uncle, who was outside.

"I'll keep it in mind," He said calmly.

Ashara didn't say anything more and walked toward the door.

"Let's go. You should rest for today—We have a lot to do tomorrow."