Survive

Much to Asher's horror, all he could do was watch as that black widow spider's leg ruthlessly soar straight at his head.

This would be it. Asher couldn't move, he had no power to call forth, and his injuries were already immense.

If the black widow spider would've just left him after slamming into the tree, Asher fathoms he would've probably died from his critical injuries. But now, it seemed like his death was all but assured.

Everything he ever worked hard for would end right here.

Facing death right in the face, Asher was reasonably terrified. However, even with the fear of death crushing his mind, there was actually one other thought firmly permeating Asher's entire mental psyche.

It was the simple thought of wanting to survive.

Asher had already told himself, no matter what, he couldn't die here; he had to survive, he needs to survive!

And it was then, Asher blinked his eyes, finally noticing something.

With the speed this black widow spider had continually shown, its grossly long leg should've already pierced through his skull, turning his brain into a gory mess.

However, a couple of seconds passed, and nothing happened to him yet.

When Asher had actually focused back on reality, both of his brows raised.

The hurdling deadly spider leg soaring at him was oddly moving in slow motion. Its tremendous speed was somehow cut, almost like time had slowed down on it.

It was then Asher also noticed something else. His mind had also undergone a substantial subtle change.

The fear and desperation wracking his mental state before weren't really prevalent now.

Staring into his executioner blade, Asher's thoughts were only on survival. And there was one main driving force that was fueling his intense drive for survival.

A beautiful blue-haired girl that he just very recently managed to confess his feelings for.

Elsa. His seemingly calm and indifferent yet cute girlfriend.

It was only at this moment Asher realized how profound his feelings were for her. Only she could fill a specific gap in his heart that was forged after years of loneliness.

A gap that his own family forced upon him.

Before they got into an official relationship, they may not have talked much nor shared profound bonding moments like they can do now.

But, just her presence always made Asher honestly calm no matter how short or long the time they spent together.

And if he were to perish here, how could he ever keep his words to Elsa?

Moreover, Asher didn't even want to think about how heartbroken she would be as she was just training with him today. And she had just told him to not do anything overly reckless.

Asher refused to die here; he absolutely could not allow everything to end here.

Typically, in this kind of enlightening situation, a person would experience a bout of an explosive power surge or a breakthrough that fills them with incredible energy.

But Asher didn't feel any surging rage, fear, or even a threatening rush.

He wanted to live, to simply slip out of this situation with absolutely no harm, to become entirely intangible.

Asher wasn't sure if he was in a state of enlightenment or time has really tremendously slowed down. But none of that mattered to him now.

Asher constantly reminded himself that he's not a human anymore; he is a Ghost! And he needs to become completely invisible, just like a Ghost!

Right then, without Asher even realizing it, a faint blue glow wrapped his entire body, and his eyes turned entirely blue.

'Bang!'

A tremendous impact blared out in the woods as the sound of a massive tree falling to the ground echoed out.

Asher blinked his eyes. He was for sure still in excruciating pain that was making him teeter on the edge of unconsciousness.

But….he wasn't dead!

In fact, Asher didn't even feel trapped by the spider webs anymore.

Everything felt so abrupt and sudden; Asher indeed was alive. And he even felt that he could now move his body despite the tremendous pain. Asher had then slowly risen to his feet, and his eyes widened to a surreal sight.

The black widow spider beast was staring at him; its horrifying eyes burst open in immense shock. For a powerful beast like this Asher fathoms, there shouldn't be much to make it go wide-eyed in shock.

That is until he trailed his eyes down his own body, and his eyes widened in the same immense shock.

The black widow spider's legs were indeed shooting right through his body. But there wasn't blood or guts. Nor did Asher feel an additional layer of pain.

The black widow spider's legs were genuinely phasing right through his body!

And as Asher came to his senses, he almost immediately picked up on his Ghost energy reserves quickly being drained.

It all flowed naturally like water then for Asher. His mind quickly pieced two and two together. His other Ghost Powers had finally activated!

Immediately, Asher turned his attention back on the black widow spider. His Killing Intent was surging, but his mind focused on an entirely different subject.

To survive and kill this beast, Asher realized he needs extreme speeds. He needs to be in perfect sync with Ghost Lightning.

The streams of Ghost Lightning he sends out aren't a chaotic, surging power. But instead, it flows in its own rhythmic way, akin to a stream of water.

Inspecting his energy reserves, Asher sense he only had enough for two attacks. But it was enough to get the job done.

Right then, Asher's Spirit Aura surged up again and wrapped around his Ghost Aura's faint blue glow.

Whenever Asher would unleash his Spirit Aura, it would be a bit larger than his original height and would surge around chaotically.

Now, his Ghost Lightning aura turned calmer and shrunk down more to Asher's height. His Lightning presence seemed even more graceful as it perfectly adjusted to his maximum power state.

Immediately then, Asher sprang towards the black widow spider with speeds far surpassing anything he had ever unleashed before!

The black widow spider had just recovered from its shock as Asher's Magical Aura and speed explosively increased.

The black widow spider couldn't even properly see Asher's new speed. It only reacted on instinct, snapping open its disgusting jaws and sprayed its horrid green acid right towards Asher.

Asher's eyes narrowed at the green acid soaring towards him. The distance from him and the spider beast was over sixty feet, but he had already crossed over forty feet of space in a mere couple of seconds!

At the speeds he was going, Asher wouldn't be able to avoid the green acid. But, even though his Ghost energy reserve won't last long, it was enough for this attack.

Without any hesitation, Asher continued on dashing towards the spider beast and had then phased right through its green acid!

Once again, the black widow spider went entirely rigid as its eyes burst open in immense shock. With the beast's limited intelligence, it believed that there's no way Asher had the energy to phase through another attack, but it was sorely mistaken.

And this mistake would be its lasts.

When Asher made it within twelve feet from the beast, he formed a Ghost Lightning tether around his axe and swung it straight towards the black widow spider's legs.

And surprising both Asher and the black widow spider, his axe moved at speeds neither of them could possibly see!

'Chi!'

Eight batches of sickly dark red blood flew into the wind as the black widow spider legs were savagely torn off by a blue blur.

"KEAA!!"

The black widow spider shirked blood-curdling roars as its huge colossal body pathetically slumped to the ground.

At the same time, Asher's axe had accurately returned right back to the same hand he threw it with.

Without questioning any of what happened, Asher flashed within a foot the spider beast's face. Before the beast could react, Asher strutted his hand forward and instantly formed a full power Omni Strike Ghost Lightning bolt at the center of his palm.

And all in one smooth motion, Asher blasted his single Ghost Lightning voltage bolt right in front of the black widow spider's face!

Asher's Ghost Lightning bolt brutally tore right through its skull and shredded right through its entire body, splitting the enormous Mana monster in half.

In just one strike, nearly all of the black widow spider's organs, guts, and blood was charred to a crisp as its putrid fluids sprayed all over the ground from getting split into two.

By just the hair of Asher's breath, the black widow spider's lifeforce had instantly vanished.

With the monster dead, Asher's Ghost Lightning aura immediately dispersed along with the bright blue glow in his eyes.

Everything abruptly returned back to a dreadful haunting silence.

And Asher remained entirely still for a few seconds. He appeared to actually be fine, standing up tall in these short moments. However, almost immediately after, his whole body began to uncontrollably quiver!

Immense pain wracked his body, all of his energy reserves was gone, and his consciousness was quickly fading.

Asher's eyes were fading in and out of focus, being nearly on the verge of passing out.

'Shi-shit! I can't….pass out here!' Asher, though, desperately tried to cling to consciousness.

The worst thing for him to do now is pass out in the middle of the dangerous parts of the woods.

If he already faced those powerful bear and spider monstrous beast, who else would know what other kind of terrifying creatures lurk here. Fall unconscious here, and Asher knows he might never wake up again.

But his desperate struggle to stay awake proves to be impossible.

Darkness quickly enveloped Asher's vision, and he swiftly passed out.

And unknown to his fading conscious, two familiar presences were slowly approaching him.