Cleaver Of Sin

Chapter 818: Double [GT Ranking Bonus - ]

Asher stood in silence. There was no corpse to look at, as Xal’Thar’s body had already turned to dust the moment he had been decapitated. Asher stared around at the destruction and chaos he had caused and sighed. A huge part of the Grand Canyon had been reduced to nothing but rubble, fine sand, charred stones, rocks, and some parts that seemed to have turned into lava due to Asher’s StellarFlame.

Virelass hummed in Asher’s hand as though she had enjoyed the battle to the utmost as well. Asher released her from his grip and allowed her to float on her own.

’I’ve definitely grown immensely stronger,’ he thought to himself as he knew he hadn’t pushed his Lightning element or Astra Energy to their limits. He hadn’t even used Star Energy to augment his attacks and elements. He hadn’t even used Star Form and had only used one Rapier Technique.

Considering all these facts, one might jump to the conclusion that he could now match a Rank 8, or Voidstar, but Asher wasn’t delusional. Xal’Thar was weaker than Debro, and just because he won against someone weaker of the same rank didn’t mean he was now better than everyone at that rank.

’I could ask Commander Yveric to find a Dust Voidstar Life Ranker Knight to spar with me so I can test if I can match a Voidstar Life Ranker with Star Form,’ he thought to himself, as that seemed like the logical path to follow rather than going head-to-head with a random Rank 8 being.

Although he loved battles, Asher wasn’t an idiot who risked his life for no reason.

Well... that might be contradictory, given he jumped into the pit without knowing the rank of the strongest being within such a location.

’Speaking of which,’ Asher thought to himself as he immediately remembered the stone he had carved with the last Position Marker. With a thought, the mark on the stone vanished without Asher having to teleport to it. He didn’t need to be physically present or near the object he had marked to remove the mark on it.

Asher immediately decided to check his points since there was nothing else to do. He had to know the amount of points he had just gained and whether he had crossed the million mark.

Initially, he had gained eight hundred and seventy thousand (870,000) points from the Rank 5 and Rank 6 mobs he fought earlier. Prior to that, he had fifty-seven thousand nine hundred (57,900) points earlier in the day, which he had gained yesterday.

And throughout today, prior to entering the abyssal-like pit, he had gained a total of twenty-three thousand (23,000) points, bringing his total at the moment to nine hundred and fifty thousand nine hundred (950,900) points.

Asher immediately checked and saw that his points had only increased by twenty thousand (20,000) points, which he gained by killing Xal’Thar. He was still thirty thousand (30,000) points short.

Asher couldn’t help but sigh in disappointment.

’Maybe I’m just too greedy,’ Asher thought to himself.

After all, Rank 6 Emovirae gave about seven thousand (7,000) points, and a Rank 7 had just given twenty thousand (20,000) points, which showed it was a generous reward relative to its fighting capabilities.

Asher was about to check the rankings when his bracelet beeped with a notification, a familiar voice Asher didn’t know existed coming through it. It was the same voice that made announcements in both the Negative and Positive Zones.

"Due to the destruction of The Shallow, the announcement will be made through the unknown Player’s bracelet."

Hearing this announcement, Asher couldn’t help but roll his eyes. If he was some unknown Player, how did they pinpoint his own personal bracelet? He simply remained silent and listened to whatever the voice had to say.

"The unknown Player has won the designated reward; His Life."

The voice came again.

Asher felt like dismissing the message if it didn’t have anything important to say. How could the reward be his own life? But alas, what reward could he possibly expect? This was a Negative Zone, not a Positive Zone. And there were no rewards in Negative Zones, only in Positive Zones.

"The unknown Player has conquered The Shallow and has defeated the Emovira known as Xal’Thar. This is considered an almost impossible feat. And when the impossible is accomplished, rewards follow."

Hearing this, Asher arched an eyebrow in surprise as a mild anticipation built up in his chest. If there was a reward he didn’t know about... wasn’t it supposed to be at The Shallow? But before he could turn his head and gaze in that direction, the voice came again.

"Although this is a Negative Zone, it is not just any Negative Zone. It is a Special Negative Zone, as stated earlier. And hence, hidden reward activated; double the unknown Player’s current Point Balance."

Asher’s body froze in shock, his eyes widening as he couldn’t believe what he had just heard. The voice vanished as Asher’s new point balance came into view.

His former point balance of nine hundred and seventy thousand nine hundred (970,900) immediately blurred as the number rose with impossible speed before finally stopping.

One million nine hundred and forty-one thousand eight hundred (1,941,800) points.

This was Asher’s new point total. If his former point balance had already been ridiculous, then this completely broke the scale, as the absurdity of it could no longer be measured.

Asher stared at the points in shock. He hadn’t expected this in the slightest. His purple eyes remained fixed on the numbers before him as though they held an allure he couldn’t explain.

Just earlier, he had been sighing in disappointment that he hadn’t reached the million mark. Now he had crossed it, and he was only about sixty thousand (60,000) points away from crossing into the next million mark.

Asher wanted to laugh like an idiot, but he was being watched. He couldn’t laugh and cheer to his heart’s content. He could only stand in a daze for a moment before returning to his composed demeanor.

’I didn’t know the people behind the Inter-Empire Competition were this generous,’ Asher mused to himself as he refused to take his eyes off the numbers before him.

It wasn’t that those behind the Inter-Empire Competition had been generous. No, they simply thought it was impossible for any student to win against Xal’Thar, which was why they had added a hidden reward. And now, someone had claimed that reward.

But did Asher know this? Definitely not.

Would he care if he found out? Definitely not.

Asher couldn’t help but imagine how many more Special Negative Zones existed. Two? Five? Ten? With the existence of over a thousand students, it wasn’t a preposterous number, right?

What if he went to each of them and claimed their rewards? How much higher would his points be by then? The thought of it sent a sense of ecstasy through him.

But Asher was destined to be disappointed, as only a single Special Negative Zone existed. If more than one existed, then it wouldn’t be "Special" anymore.

But... if a Special Negative Zone existed, then a Special Positive Zone definitely existed as well, right?

One couldn’t help but imagine what would be within such a Zone. And for it to be a Positive Zone, it had to have something even more ridiculous than the Special Negative Zone, right?

This begged the question, who would find this Zone if it existed?

We may or may not ever find out.