"Holy shit…" Asher breathed, his mouth falling open as he took in the scene before him.
Massive crimson gates towered above, casting long shadows over the snowy ground. These were the gates to the Awakened Academy — and just like in the novel, it truly was a city within a city.
The walls the covered the surrounding only made Asher's awe increase further. Thanks to his flaw of course.
Sunny seemed to have shared the same sentiment as him, silently staring at the walls. They both didn't talk to each other.
Only stared.
Eventually, perhaps just to break the awkward silence, Sunny muttered, "It's big."
Asher glanced at him and gave a small, awkward smile. "Yeah… it is."
Surveying the snowy landscape that stretched out before them, Asher couldn't help but feel a sense of anticipation tinged with nervous excitement. He was going in there... He was going into a magic academy! Of course he was excited!
He walked closer to the gate along with Sunny when, he noticed another sleeper in the distance. A tall, slender girl of around his age, with clear grey eyes and a detached look on her face. She had strange, silver-white hair that was cut short and neatly parted to the side.
'It's her.' He realized. 'Nephis.' Her aura... It was indeed something. But, what confused Asher was rather the whiff she was giving off. It was... familiar.
He glanced at Sunny, who was also staring at her, brow furrowed.
"You..." Asher said quietly, catching Sunny's attention. "You go talk to her."
Sunny's face twisted into an immediate scowl. "I refuse."
"In fact, you go talk to her." He stole another glance at the girl. "She's been staring at you for the past minute anyway."
"Eh?" Asher blinked and slowly turned toward her. Sure enough, Nephis was looking directly at him, her grey eyes narrowed in faint scrutiny.
"U-Uh..." He quickly turned away, ears burning. Sunny grinned.
"Are you flustered?" Sunny didn't even hesitate.
"N-No!" Asher snapped, a little too defensively. "I-It's called social anxiety!"
Still, he risked another glance. Nephis was still watching him — and then, without warning, she took a step forward.
"'Huh?!' Asher stiffened. Sunny's eyes widened slightly too.
"Perks of being good-looking, I guess," Sunny muttered with a scoff.
Just then, the enormous gates groaned to life. A low, mechanical creak echoed across the snowy field as the massive slab of reinforced metal began to descend, unfolding into a long, narrow bridge.
Nephis looked at him for a second before looking at the bridge. Eventually, she began to walk towards the bridge as Asher sighed in relief.
'Thank god..'
Sunny, sparing a glance at him, walked front as Asher shouted, "H-Hey, wait for me!"
***
"SUNNYYYYYYY!" Asher hid behind Sunny's frame as he shivered. "There are so many people, my sixth sense is telling me that I am in danger!" Sunny grimaced, looking slightly up, annoyed by how tall Asher was, "What the hell is your sixth sense now?!"
Asher turned around, not making eye contact with Sunny as he chuckled a little.
"An introvert's intuition."
Sunny blinked twice before forcefully separating himself from Asher. He scoffed as he showed Asher a middle finger as he left, leaving a weeping Asher behind.
In half an hour, Asher saw Sunny get slapped by several women and punched by many men. Of course, Asher already knew this would happen, yet it was as humorous as ever. He was also pulled into a few conversations, which went like this:
"What happened in your nightmare, Asher?"
"Oh yeah, I am very curious as well!"
"I-I got trapped on an island full of transgender men who were itching to touch me every chance they got. I had to run around the island for a month before my nightmare was finally over. It was d-disgusting."
"And here I thought killing an awakened monster was horrible."
"You have my sympathy."
"Yes, that sounds very traumatic."
"It was."
Or:
"Ash~ you're certainly a looker. Wanna get to know each other~?."
"Oh! U-Uh... I am friends with Sunless."
"Oh. Haha.. Let's talk another day.. Haha."
Overall, other than the occasional stuttering, he felt as if he was talking pretty well. His looks gave him a bit of confidence and he had the power to back it up. He still couldn't initiate conversations but if someone spoke to him, it was easier. Still... It was a pain to speak to much as he had to think a lot on what he was going to say.
That's when he heard chuckles.
Asher turned his head to see Sunny arguing with a bunch of guys. Among them was a man with brown hair and emerald eyes. 'That must be Caster..' he thought as he walked up to them.
"Something else? Uh… Well. Oh, right! I communicated with a bunch of gods, even though they were all dead. I made one of them wake up. He gave me a blessing! I was blessed by a god, do you all understa-?!" Sunny was interrupted as Asher placed his hand on Sunny's mouth.
It was too pitiful to watch. He knew it all an act, yet.. Yet..
"I-I am sorry about my friend here. He lost a part of his brain after his nightmare!" Asher chuckled awkwardly. Sunny looked at, eyes wide as he began flailing. 'What was this bastard saying!'
The group stared at him, not saying anything. "He is a great guy once you get to know him!"
"..."
'Why did I do this...'
"U-Uh… I see," Caster said, breaking the tense silence. But before he could say more, one of his goons let out a loud laugh, pointing at the still-struggling Sunny.
"Hey, do you have a Divine Aspect too, like your buddy over here?!"
Asher flinched at the attention. "N-No, no," he said quickly, hands raised. "I only have a mere Ascended Aspect."
A hush fell over the group.
Caster's eyes widened. Even his goons paused. Sunny stopped flailing in place, his head snapping toward Asher with surprise. Sure, it wasn't a Divine Aspect like his, but the fact that someone from the outskirts had the same rank of Aspect as a legacy? That was no small thing.
Caster forced a smile, strained and unconvincing. "O-Oh? Then I guess that makes us… rivals."
Asher gave him a slow nod, watching as Caster and his entourage turned and walked away, their muffled snickering trailing behind them.
Then Asher's expression abruptly twisted into one of disgust. He let go of Sunny's mouth and recoiled.
"Did you just—did you seriously lick me?!"
"Yes." Sunny quickly said. His gaze on Caster's retreating form, eyes narrowed.
"You know they didn't believe a word you said, right?" Sunny muttered.
"Mhm." Asher hummed nonchalantly.
Sunny felt a sudden tug on his sleeve and turned to see Asher rubbing his palm against it — against his precious tracksuit.
"BASTARD!" Sunny shrieked, yanking his arm away. "What do you think you're doing?!"
Asher grimaced, inspecting his hand. "I'm trying to get your saliva off me," he said, going in for another rub.
Sunny instinctively took a few steps back. "Seriously, what are you doing?"
"What do you think?" Asher asked, voice deadly serious.
Sunny retreated further. "Don't come near me…"
A nerve visibly twitched in Asher's temple. He smiled—dangerously. "Listen, bud. It's your spit."
Sunny scowled. "Then go wash it off."
"No."
"What are you, five?"
"Yes."
—THACK.
Sunny yelped and bolted.
"ASSHOLE!" Asher shouted, chasing after him. "Come back here and accept your fate!"
"FUCK OFF!"