The sudden silence at the table and their serious faces made Asher more anxious than scared. He looked at them one by one before taking a deep breath.
"No, I am sure I met him; he had a guard with him as well. A rank 2 awakened named Seth."
Now it was their turn to look confused.
"No, we are also sure it was talk of the whole city when it was reported Cyan of Orgus died during an expedition of dead zones."
Hearing the name Cyan, it finally clicked in his mind that it was probably a misunderstanding.
Looking at Liber, who had told the name, he answered.
"Ah, I see, but the one I met named was Kean, not Cyan."
Once again, Liber and Anny tilted their heads; Gian, meanwhile, had again started eating his food.
"No, but why will Kean be there? He is neither an awakener nor a healthy person. It is widely known that he is a crippled man with down legs."
"Yes, also he is the son of the Orgus family head''s second wife."
Anny added the following: Libers lead.
"When I met them, Kean was clearly an awakener and fought together with Seth against a beast in the outer zone of the forest. Also, he was not a cripple; he was moving just fine."
Anny glanced at Ash in confusion while Liber seemed deep in thought.
"Do you mean a beast was in our area of the Caser forest as well?"
Ash, at the sudden change in topic, nodded.
"Yes, it was clearly a beast."
"That''s even ... weirder. Why will a beast be in the outer zone of the forest?"
"Liber, isn''t it more weird how a 15-year-old became an awakener?"
Listening to their conversation, even Asher himself found himself deep in thought.
''Indeed, how can a 15-year-old or even a cripple awaken suddenly? Even if he did somehow, how did his injuries heal?''
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"Are you sure he is 15? Maybe you are mistaken."
Asher asked Anny, who was still talking with Liber.
"I am sure he is 15 this year; many healers, including me, had come previously to heal him, but we all failed."
Seeing Anny''s confidence, Asher felt perplexed about what to say.
"So did anyone manage to heal him?"
"His legs are not working since birth; unless they find someone above rank 3 who has a high-level healing skill, it''s impossible to heal him."
Liber, who had finally sorted his thoughts to some extent, looked at the three present in their respective seats.
"Let''s drop this topic for now; we should not get involved in such things. It may involve some transcendence."
Asher looked at Anny for her explanation.
"A rank 3 human is also called transcended; sometimes they can live longer than humans for maybe hundreds of years, for all we know."
The always kind Anny, who had seen the question marks on Asher''s face, explained.
Feeling a bit ashamed, Ash nodded his head.
"Thanks, anyway, let''s end this topic as Liber said; we don''t want to get involved in some troubles now, do we?"
Everyone nodded as they heard Asher''s words, who had started eating his own food.
"Bring one more plate of this."
As the serious words ended, Gian ordered food again as if waiting for it the whole time. Seeing this, Liber and Anny burst into fits of laughter.
Gian, who looked at them, didn''t know what was so funny, as he had focused mostly on eating the whole time.
"It''s nothing; please continue."
Ash gave him a smile and let him continue his food.
''He obviously was just acting that he listened all this time.''
Asher couldn''t help but be amused at this big guy, who knows when to act or not.
Asthenia dinner ended. Libers team saw Asher leave after saying his goodbye.
"What a sweet kid. I am happy he is enjoying his stay here."
Anny, who was smiling, looked at Liber.
"Yes, he is... but don''t you think it''s concerning how he can smile so much? He had just lost his whole village just last week."
Liber voiced out, Anny who gave a side glance to Asher figure in distance also tilted her head.
"It is, but I think he is diverting his attention by keeping himself busy."
"Maybe... if he tells you something, please also share it with me."
Anyone who heard Liber''s request nodded at his concern for him.
******
Ashe, who had come to his room after the long day of struggle, dragged his body to the bed and lay on it.
''I will clean in the morning.''
He thought to himself as he looked at the ground where he had thrown most of his clothes after coming from his grand adventure.
*creak* *creak*
But suddenly the room began to shake violently; the bed jolted underneath him as if it had come to life. The walls cracked, and the lamp swung from the ceiling, casting eerie shadows around the room. It was an earthquake, something that rarely happened.
"Why a sudden earthquake?" Asher who found himself frowning at the mess the earthquake made on his room.
''Let''s just clean it."
In recent years, earthquakes have become a bit regular; even in Eron village, one earthquake will come at least once a year.
"Although it was, albeit still rare, to happen."
Asher murmurs as he cleans the whole shaken room and finally sits on his bed.
"I should start meditation to increase the use of static more."
Finding this idea comfortable, Ash sat on the ground with crossed legs and started meditation.
He created a mental image of a dot; after finding it comfy enough, he created another dot to focus on both at once.
Slowly but surely, he increased such mental images from one, two, three, and four.
A frown appears on his face as, after four, his head starts throwing painful signs, making his focus waver.
Finding it hard to create more, Asher decided to focus on the four dots he had created and focus on them fully, making sure every single one was in his observation.
From time to time his attention will shake, making the images blur.
The new dots will remain still while the old ones begin to fade until two remain. If Ash tried to create them again and previously made one, it will start vanishing.
After trying it for some hours, Asher lay on the ground with his forehead drenched in sweat as he took heavy breaths.
"Dammit, only three dots were clear enough."