New Opponent

Despite standing so close to the dessicated hand, Asher could not feel an ounce of death energy from it. But rather than making him calm, this made Asher even more cautious. Having used "Life Perception" previously, Asher knew that the hand possessed not only an intense deathly aura but also vitality. Any item or object that managed to wield both opposites in harmony was definitely not ordinary and would possess some form of danger.

'I can't use my hands to retrieve it neither can I use my space ring since I don't know what effect it could have on the items inside. However, I'm running out of time.'

Without thinking too much about things, Asher made a few hand signs and cast a sealing spell on the hand. He didn't have much faith in the spell as his current power was too low, but it only had to last just a second. After that, Asher immediately removed the hand from the altar and covertly removed the white for atop the hand. He had already pinpointed its position with 'Life Perception' before and because it was invisible, it was easy for him to steal it without being spotted.

'He's got it.' The cloaked man sighed with relief.

While he was handling four mid-rank third-stage Guardian shadow beasts and so could not aid anyone else, the man was still able to take an occasional glance around and summarize the situation. He was able to track Asher too and had even caught sight of the technique Asher had used to pass the death aura formation. When the man found out that Asher had acquired the hand, he was pleased and began fighting with renewed strength.

With the mission now complete, there was no reason to remain here and they now had to shift their attention towards retreating. Even so, that as easier said than done.

After 'patching' the hand with a ton of sealing spells, Asher then sent it into his space ring before dashing towards his teammates. Since he already knew the way in, leaving was considerably less difficult.

'The seal can only last for two minutes after that, I have to get rid of it.' Asher thought.

As he moved, he pulled out a white sword from his space ring and turned into a shadow. When he next appeared, Asher was right behind the third-stage Guardian shadow beasts attacking Melissa.

The creature was too focused on its opponent that it had failed to sense when Asher had appeared, or so it seemed. In reality though, Asher had attacked from its blind spot and had moved just a bit faster than usual at the last few steps, closing the gap quicker than normal.

"Die."

Asher stabbed his sword through the shadow beast with great fluidity and ease, almost as if he was stabbing into a ball of cotton candy with a brand-new knife.

The shadow beast froze at the spot and widened its eyes in shock but before it could even turn around to face its attacker, a thin layer of frost covered it. Although the frost was thin, this was actually a by-product or side effect of the intense cold within the shadow beast's insides.

It might have looked like a simple stab but in truth, Asher had already cast a spell on his sword which in turn exposed its true form once it stabbed into the shadow beast.

In just one hit, Asher had defeated an early rank third-stage Guardian beast with the power of a mid-rank third-stage Guardian beast. This was incredible and it was unbelievable that a peak second-stage Guardian mages could pull such off. In fact, many would become suspicious of him because of his but Asher was already prepared.

Asher pulled out the sword and then went on to assist Owen while also ordering Melissa through a mental note to support Noah and James.

'I see. It's thanks to the sword. A grade three Guardian weapon.'

The cloaked man was initially shocked by Asher's actions and even more so by the result of them, but once he sent his glance at the sword, he understood.

Compared to the grade three Guardian realm Rapier Melissa wielded, Asher's sword seemed to be on a higher level despite both being in the same rank. This wasn't uncommon and simply meant that the materials as well as the craftsmanship used on the sword was superior to that used on the Rapier. For someone from the Arnhaunt family, the direct branch at that, it was self-explanatory as to how Asher had obtained the sword.

With Asher's assistance, it took only a few seconds for the battle to turn around for the students and they could now see victory at sight. His teammates went on to assist the others and while some of them still had a hard time, it wasn't to the point that defeating the shadow beasts was impossible.

What more, Aurora's team, under the lead of the fourth-stage Guardian mage protecting them, had finally appeared. With the addition of the man, the other recon members were able to win their battles before he joined up with the other fourth-stage Guardian mage to defeat the early rank fourth-stage Guardian Zeta.

From the time Asher joined the battle till the moment when the Zeta breathed its last, only ten minutes had passed.

"Finally. It's over."

The students sighed.

Although they didn't join in the last fight, merely spectating it and witnessing as the Zeta went on a rampage sent them on chills. This was especially so for the students who had reached the third-stage of the Guardian realm like Wendel, Emma, Aurora and Lyn. Witnessing the destructive abilities of the Zeta made them realize that without the recon members, their deaths would have been more than certain.

"The fourth-stage of the Guardian realm." One of the recon members spoke spoke to the students while the battle had been ongoing.

Only the two fourth-stage Guardian mages had participated in the subjugation of the Zeta after all, even though it was of the early rank, its abilities enabled it to compare to those of the mid-rank. Hence, sending anyone weaker than the fourth-stage of the Guardian realm was no different from sending them to their deaths.

"Reaching the fourth-stage isn't just as simple or the same as reaching another stage. It's a huge gap; a change not just in stage but also phase. One could even be at the peak rank of the third-stage but never reach the fourth-stage in their lifetime. Even for those who have hope, some of them could take even a decade to cover that gap."

If someone else had said this, the students might have scoffed it after all, they were geniuses from every part of the kingdom assembled into one academy to be trained to achieve great things; the peak of the peak. However, it was a public secret in the academy that guardians were usually selected from past graduates. In other words, the men they looked at now were former students like themselves.

Some were affected by the statement but others thought differently, especially so for the students from the more powerful families. For them, getting past the fourth-stage of the Guardian realm was only a matter of time that wouldn't even take so long; at best, four years.

. . .

After the fight was over, the fourth-stage Guardian mages arrived. The one who was in charge of protecting Aurora's team glanced at Asher and asked.

"Was there anything else there?"

Despite the fact that Asher was duke Darius' only son and so, the only direct descendant heir to the great family, there was no respect in the man's tone but in fact, coldness.

Asher didn't react to this at all after all, the person in front of him was a fourth-stage Guardian mage, one who could wield the title 'Knight'. Apart from that, Asher was here under his identity as a student of the First Dawn academy and not the Arnhaunt heir. So in the presence of a graduate with such qualifications, Asher wasn't worthy of any respect. Finally, as a staff of the academy, the man didn't necessarily have to pay respects to any noble figures unless they were high-ranked ones or from the royal family.

"No." Asher replied plainly.

He had handed over the dessicated hand to one of the peak rank third-stage Guardian mages right after he had saved his teammates. By that time, the sealing spells he had placed had dissipated but Asher wasn't concerned as the hand was no longer in his possession.

The mage frowned as he was displeased at how Asher had spoken to him, but he felt it was beneath him to harass a student because of that.

"Hmph. You can go now. You still have your tests to worry about. Don't get yourselves in trouble because we won't be protecting you from the shadows any longer." The mage said as he turned to head into the exit of the first tunnel.

So far, only one team still had yet to arrive here which was strange, so the mage intended to investigate it.

"It looks like we've arrived a bit late. If we wasted a second more, we might have lost you guys. How unpleasant."