Born In Ashes: The Enigma

Once the Rune of Spirit was successfully embedded into his core, Azrael began practicing with his wind powers.

Since he had just activated his powers, he wanted to try out many things.

One hour passed. Then two… four… six—Azrael continued testing his wind power in various ways for hours.

Whenever he ran out of cosmic energy, he rested, and once recovered, he resumed his tests.

Only after nearly ten hours of experimentation did Azrael finally stop.

"The power of wind is far more versatile than I had imagined…" Azrael muttered as he wiped the sweat from his face.

Not only could he use wind power as a buff to enhance his agility, he could also use it for offense, defense, and even to restrict his targets.

There were so many ways to use the power of wind that even Azrael found himself surprised once he was done experimenting.

After taking a short break to catch his breath, he left the training ground and returned to his room in the mansion

He took a long bath to clean himself, changed into a fresh set of clothes and headed to the living room to wait for Ashara.

Around half an hour later, when it was close to 9 o'clock, Ashara finally returned.

Maelir wasn't with her, still occupied with handling the matters that had arisen in the morning.

"Have you eaten?" Ashara asked when she saw him.

Azrael shook his head. "I wasn't hungry."

"As if…" Ashara rolled her eyes at his reply, fully aware he was just waiting for her.

She instructed the maids to serve dinner, and while the dishes were being laid out, Azrael noticed Ashara giving him a strange look.

"What's wrong?" He asked, a confused expression on his face.

Ashara paused for a moment before shaking her head. "It's nothing."

Azrael raised an eyebrow at her response, his thoughts drifting to the strange gaze he had sensed this morning.

'Did they find out the identity of that person?' He speculated, thinking that Ashara's strange behavior might be due to discovering the identity of whoever had observed him earlier.

'Since she is just giving me a strange look and doesn't seem concerned, then it likely means that person really didn't harbor any ill will toward me.'

Azrael relaxed at the thought. While he hadn't been overly concerned about that gaze, it was still reassuring to know that it hadn't come from someone hostile.

Once dinner was over, Ashara and Azrael called home and spoke with Kael and Silas.

After chatting for a while, they both returned to their rooms.

Azrael, feeling slightly exhausted after hours of wind power experimentation collapsed onto his bed—and within minutes, he was fast asleep.

That night, Azrael had a very strange dream.

In the dream, he found himself standing before a barren mountain, lifeless and eerie, with nothing but withered trees and ancient rocks that looked as though they would crumble at the slightest touch.

At the middle section of the mountain, there was a cave entrance— narrow, no more than two meters high and three meters wide.

A number of figures with terrifying auras tried to pass through the entrance and enter the cave.

However, a thin, transparent red veil covered the entrance.

The moment any of them tried to cross the veil, their bodies would instantly disintegrate, vanishing from existence entirely.

All those who attempted to enter were extraordinarily powerful—their auras even more formidable than those of Ashara and Silas.

Azrael even felt that they were on par with some of the beings he had seen in the dream when he first arrived in Genesis.

But even then, none of them could pass through the entrance and enter the cave.

"None of you are worthy."

As more figures tried to enter the cave despite witnessing the deaths of others, a faint, cold, and indifferent voice echoed from within.

The voice was filled with endless hatred, despair, and every negative emotion imaginable.

The moment the voice resounded, all those still attempting to enter the cave disintegrated and vanished without a trace.

The barren mountain fell silent once more, with no trace of life remaining.

Back in his room, Azrael slowly opened his eyes, noticing the morning light gently filtering in through the window

He sat up with a slightly groggy look and rubbed his forehead.

"Another strange dream…" He muttered softly, thinking about what he had just seen.

"What was that place?"

Azrael sat on the bed for a few more minutes before taking a deep breath.

Just like the first dream he had—of that devastating war—he decided to push this one to the back of his mind as well.

His reasoning was simple: since he couldn't understand it, there was no point wasting his brain cells trying to decipher it.

He just needed to continue doing what he was doing and everything would eventually come to light.

Just as he was about to get up and leave his room—

(New Task Has Been Issued)

(Task— Successfully enter the elite class of Slayers Academy as the first-ranked student)

(Reward: A random class-grade artifact)

Azrael raised an eyebrow at the task notification, but didn't care much about it. For him, completing such a task was far from difficult.

After freshening up, Azrael left his room and went downstairs.

Maelir still hadn't returned, and Ashara was already waiting for him in the living room.

They ate breakfast together, and once finished, left immediately for the Slayers Academy.

As they made their way there, Ashara turned to him and asked.

"Do you know what the most important thing in Slayers Academy is?"

Azrael raised an eyebrow at the random question and after a moment of thought, he replied,

"Academic Credits—those can be used to purchase resources, train in specialized grounds, or even gain access to the Eonrift."

"Academic Credits are indeed important," Ashara said, narrowing her eyes slightly as she looked at him, "But they are not the most important."

"The most important thing in Slayers Academy is actually power."