CLEAVER OF SIN Chapter 507: Villainous Phrase [Bonus - ]
With that, he got to work; he filtered the missions and directly chose the twenty highest-paying assignments. The next moment, the familiar blue hologram materialized before Asher, displaying exactly what he had requested, as the Facilitator completed the task within mere seconds, further proving the efficiency he had spoken about earlier.
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Asher stared through all twenty missions, his face expressionless and flat until he reached the last mission on the list. He sighed quietly as he finished reading, the sound faint yet heavy, for he was extremely... disappointed.
He knew this was the best the Star Academy could presently provide him, yet Asher felt they were all far too meager, the rewards minuscule and unimpressive. With his level of strength, efficiency, and resourcefulness, none of these tasks were worth his time or effort. He could already guess that the more ambitious students had claimed the better-paying missions long ago, leaving behind scraps that no longer suited someone of his caliber.
Asher fell into his thoughts as he seemed stuck between two conflicting desires, suspended in quiet contemplation, but his thoughts were interrupted by the Facilitator’s voice.
"Tenth Sun, might I remind you that although the missions do not reward much by the standards you have set, do remember that the clients always seem to give extra points to you after each mission. The last three missions are proof of this," the Facilitator stated calmly, as he understood what Asher was thinking merely from observing his expression.
Asher stayed silent as he recognized the truth within those words. Baron Rivelle had given him a massive bonus as a reward, the Captain at the frontier had done the same, and the client of the third mission had followed in identical footsteps, each one compensating him far beyond the official payout as though acknowledging something the Academy’s system could not quantify.
But... although he was after points, he also wanted something else. Battle, bloodshed, carnage.
Not that he had suddenly become a maniac who sought and wrought destruction without reason, but Asher understood that battles pushed one to the edge, to the peak, to the summit of their growth and talent. True progress was not forged in comfort or repetition, but in danger, desperation, and the razor-thin boundary between life and death.
He wanted that intensity, that pressure, that suffocating weight that forced evolution, and none of the current missions before him would provide it. So, he wanted the points, yet he also desired the growth that came only from fighting with his life on the line. If he took any of these missions, he would probably need only a single attack to end everything, rendering the entire exercise meaningless.
Although it was easy and simple, he could take the missions, earn points back to back with huge bonuses, then lock himself in the Training Facility Building again, repeating the same sterile cycle of improvement, Asher knew that would be somewhat counterproductive and hollow, growth without resistance feeling artificial and incomplete.
To put it in a villainous phrase, he needed to bathe in blood, or rather to baptize his current progress and self in blood, to temper himself through violence and reality rather than through controlled simulations.
The Facilitator stared at Asher without speaking and simply watched, waiting for what he would decide to do. Asher’s purple eyes slowly turned to the man as he asked, "Can’t I get a higher mission? I know it’s available."
The Facilitator stayed silent for a moment before he replied, "Although there are higher-ranked missions, those are reserved for the upperclassmen, not the first years," he answered swiftly and truthfully.
Asher paused for a moment as he whispered in a shallow tone, "I could pay you in points. No one would have to know," he stated, attempting to bribe his way through with quiet seriousness.
The Facilitator simply shook his head with a faint smile as he spoke, "Unless you have ten billion points."
Asher sighed, knowing he could not exactly bribe his way through, but at least he had tried. "Is there any other way to do this? I mean, get a higher mission?" he asked after a moment of reluctant patience.
The Facilitator remained silent briefly before he spoke again. "There is," he answered truthfully.
"How?" Asher asked immediately without missing a beat.
"Only one person can change the clearance level of a mission," the Facilitator began to explain, his voice lowering slightly with respect, "and she is the Principal of the Star Academy, the creator and Empress of the Separate Dimension, the Goddess of Space." His tone subtly changed as he uttered her name with quiet reverence and gravity. "Cindralis."
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