"Eh?" Asher blinked as everyone around them did the same, then, a single united thought surged to all of them, mentally screaming, 'You're supposed to ask that before you sit down!'
Asher's brow twitched, "U-Uh.. S-Sure, I-I guess..."He stammered. Nephis nodded, then continued drinking her coffee. Asher gulped, trying not to mind the stares around him as he took another bite of the ice cream to cool things off but there was one gaze that melted everything whatever was in his mouth.
He turned to his side, seeing Sunny look at Asher with what could only be described as "fuck you." as Sunny realized he just lost his quiet school life, his perplexed expression only mirroring the audience's confusion.
"Why is she sitting in 'that' corner?"
"Who is that guy?"
"Are they both in a relationship?"
"What the hell are you talking about? Is she friend with that lowlife from the outskirts?!"
"Maybe she is from the outskirts as well."
"Now that I look at it. He does look sickeningly cute."
Asher felt an urge to giggle as he hard the last comment, but the situation wasn't exactly Ideal. Instead, he just put his hand on his mouth, muffling the little snickers. But his mind was quicking breaking down what was happening.
Nephis was not an extremely cold person or anything. She just really sucked at conversing with people and was equally if not more introverted than Asher. So, it was extremely strange for Nephis to do what she did. 'Why is she acting like this?' Asher's thoughts were interrupted when he noticed Nephis staring at him with her striking grey eyes.
'Uh...'
"I'm Nephis. I see that your trial went well?" she asked with a polite smile.
Asher and Sunny both nearly spat blood.
'She's copying Caster?!' they screamed internally.
Even Cassie, across the room, tilted her head with a barely concealed smile.
Asher coughed into his spoon. "U-Uh, yeah, sure…"
.
.
.
"..."
"I am Asher by the way.." Asher added with a bit of awkward chuckles.
"I see. I am very glad that you returned unharmed." Nephis continued after taking a sip of her coffee. Asher used every fiber in his body not to laugh. While Sunny clamped his hand over his mouth to stifle any chuckles while burying his head into the table. Nephis, bless her soul, seemed to be trying her best to converse!
"Well, uh… I didn't exactly come out unharmed…" he admitted.
Nephis frowned, clearly thrown off by the plot twist. She stared at her coffee like it might provide a dialogue tree. Her brow furrowed in deep existential conflict.
Luckily, most of the cafeteria couldn't hear them over the general noise. Asher felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to see Sunny, recovering from his near-death experience by cringe. With a glance, Asher understood the unspoken message: 'Ask her why she is sitting here.'
Asher turned back. "…H-Hey, can I ask… why are you sitting here?"
Sunny flinched behind him. 'Not that direct, you moron!'
Nephis, finally free of her burdens, looked at Asher with a flicker of confusion.
She pointed to herself.
"Because we are…" Her finger shifted to Asher. "…similar."
It clicked.
Asher froze as a familiar, subtle sensation washed over him—a whiff of something familiar.
'Ah. She meant Dreamspawns.'
As far as he knew from the novel he read, there were only two Dreamspawns in the entire story: Asterion… and Nephis. And now, apparently, him.
Dreamspawns were rare. Mysterious. Isolated. Most people didn't even know what the term meant. But for someone like Nephis—someone in a place were she knows no one—spotting another like her must've felt like discovering a long-lost sibling. No wonder she gravitated to him, awkwardness and all.
If Asher hadn't known who she was, hadn't read the novel… even he might have approached her just from the pull of it. That's that would be DESPITE his anxiety
He smiled faintly, meeting her eyes.
"I g-guess we are."
Nephis nodded, visibly relieved she didn't mess it up completely.
Sunny just looked at them utterly confused mirroring the crowd.
'Huh?'
***
—SPLASH!
Asher stared at the crushed apple in front of him, now a sad puddle of juice and pulp on the grass.
He was in the academy's training garden, surrounded by neatly trimmed hedges and ambient birdsong—utterly wasted on someone currently trying to break physics.
In his entry interview, all he'd done was vaguely describe his pre-evolution Aspect. That somehow landed him third in the rankings. Either the interviewers were psychic or weight manipulation had a lot more hype than he'd realized.
Which is why he was here now, thoroughly confused and actively experimenting.
The first problem?
He couldn't manipulate weight directly anymore.
That was… kind of important.
Not to say it was gone, exactly. He just had to approach it differently now.
Weight = mass × gravity.
Simple enough. But that meant he was now altering gravity itself. And yet it had its downsides.
But those weren't the only things he tested. There were a lot of things he discovered with his aspect:
[A/N: info dump alert.]
Firstly, his sense. [Event Horizon] was his innate ability.
At first, it nearly made him throw up from the sensory overload. But once he got a grip on it, he realized it was insane.
He could passively "sense" anything massive within a 4-kilometer radius. People too—with effort. The best way to describe it was like outlining the gravitational presence of objects. Not sight, not sound… just pressure and mass.
Surprisingly, he could also sense space-time distortions. Or more to put it as "gates" which he sensed a few on his way here to the academy.
Secondly, his range of controlling gravity is only 46 meters around him.
His actual control radius was about 46 meters.
Within that zone, he could twist gravity's pull in any direction—but intensity weakened with distance.
Crushing an apple 3 meters away? Easy.
Forty-six meters away? The apple might wobble. A bit.
The closer the object, the more gravitational influence he could exert.
Basically, his aspect was akin to a roundabout telekinisis which was slightly disappointing because he didn't even have enough force to fly! He could push himself upward and get a small burst of jump boost but that's it!
After consuming the Awakened soul shard from his appointment, the control radius and power had increased slightly.
Conclusion: The more soul fragments, the stronger the pull. Duh.
"Hey, Asher! The introductory combat class is about to start!" one of the middle-class Sleepers shouted from the path nearby.
Asher wiped sweat from his brow and nodded.
Apparently, he was well-liked by the middle-class Sleepers and totally hated by the Legacies. Like detested by the legacies, Though he didn't get why.
Still had no idea why.
He hadn't done anything!
Maybe just existing was enough to offend them. Wouldn't be the first time.
He flexed his fingers experimentally. The sensation of gravity humming through his body was faint but there.
"Maybe I can test some of my abilities in combat…"
He smiled.