CLEAVER OF SIN Chapter 659: New Stats

Inside his chamber, Asher stood peering out the window, observing the Wargrave Ducal territory's inhabitants as they buzzed with happiness over the Duke and Wargrave Elders' return, their faces radiating joy through relaxed smiles and animated gestures.

'As I predicted, no clash took place,' Asher pondered silently amid the quiet of his room, entirely unaware that his relatives had invaded the Imperial family and demolished it, leaving virtually nothing in their wake.

'Evidently, even elder brother's fixation failed to sway the Emperor,' he reflected with a sigh, pivoting from the window in faint letdown.

In reality, Asher craved a confrontation to pit himself against Imperial Knights; ever since transmigrating, he'd clashed mainly with assassins, monsters, and beasts, seldom facing foes of genuine renown.

Letting out yet another disappointed sigh, he removed his breastplate, greaves, and vambraces, each piece vanishing into his system inventory as he settled down quietly, his face serene but thoughtful. Deep down, he yearned to track down Malrik and inquire about events—or rather, what had already unfolded.

Yet he refrained from seeking him out; despite not stepping out of his room at all, Asher vaguely detected a lingering tension saturating the whole Wargrave Estate, faint but palpable, hinting at some major event lurking below the surface.

'With nothing pressing, I should review my status screen. Haven't glanced at it since waking up; everything's been chaotic lately,' he mused, summoning the system interface with a simple mental command.

[Name: Asher Wargrave

Age: Eighteen

Bloodline: The Wargrave Lineage

Physique: Absolute Physique

Titles: [Youngest Heir] [Tenth Sun] [Disgrace of the Wargrave] [Unique Body Holder] [The Star’s Heir] [Monster] [Most Loved Wargrave] [Most Talented Wargrave in History] (New!)

Life Rank: Swiftstar

Sub-Life Rank: Dust

Affinity: Lightning, Star, Space, Gravity, Light

Strength: 275 → 650 → 757

Agility: 291 → 670 → 780

Vitality: 379 → 800 → 968

Perception: 321 → 700 → 830

Inventory: Platinum coins, assorted cuisine, liters of purified water, triangular wooden talisman, armors]

Speechless, Asher gaped at his attributes, shock rippling through him in waves of amazement. Initially, upon reaching Dust Swiftstar Life Rank, he'd skipped checking stats, too absorbed in training, and thus overlooked it completely.

The initial numbers showed his stats at Radiant Blazestar Life Rank, whereas the middle ones captured the surge from breaking into Dust Swiftstar Life Rank.

'They practically doubled outright,' Asher sat there in dazed wonder, grappling to grasp the sheer scale of the boost, far exceeding his expectations. 'Is the gap from Swiftstar Life Rank to higher tiers really that insane compared to lower ones?' he wondered inwardly.

'Had no idea I possessed such power... incredible,' Asher reflected, still absorbing the massive leap in his prowess. Thanks to Absolute Physique, he faced no need to adapt to the vast power jump at Major Life Ranks; it all felt instinctive, like his form was built for this might from the start.

'Beyond the already outrageous strength and agility, vitality and perception are straight-up overpowered. At this pace, won't I endure for two millennia?' Asher contemplated quietly, mind whirling over the consequences of these figures.

The last stat values stemmed from his Limitless Physical Growth during the breakthrough. Though not doubling like the Swiftstar advancement, the gains remained staggeringly huge by any measure.

Asher understood that here, even one stat point held tremendous worth; it dwarfed any point from his earlier, humbler stages.

'Over a hundred points added to each,' Asher noted, eyes locked on the glowing system display. Memories surfaced of past Major and sub-Life Rank breakthroughs, yielding just ten-ish points even with Limitless Physical Growth boosting them.

But this time... the contrast was staggering.

Asher lifted his hands instinctively, diverting his gaze from the system interface to inspect them intently. ’How powerful have I become now?’ he wondered inwardly. No explosive rush of magic or raw strength surged within him; he simply felt utterly ordinary, unchanged from before. Yet, in his heart, he was certain that facing Debro once more would prove far easier this time around.

’That explains how I managed to battle Debro at all,’ Asher reflected silently, his eyes drifting back to the system display.

’Could I take on a Dust Wavestar or something even stronger with just my raw power, no enhancements?’ Asher mulled over the idea momentarily, then dismissed it with a shake of his head. Arrogance had no place here, even if the urge to push his boundaries burned fiercely.

Asher realized that should anyone else in Crymora have access to a stat-revealing system, their transformations wouldn’t match his own. His unparalleled edge stemmed mainly from his Absolute Physique and the Wargrave Bloodline.

’Vitality nearing a thousand points,’ Asher pondered. ’What qualitative leap awaits at exactly a thousand?’ His gaze sharpened at the notion, though no answers came—not from anyone, not even the system.

’Perception hovering near nine hundred. With each point granting a meter to my Omni Perception radius, that puts my range at eight hundred thirty meters. A full kilometer lies just ahead,’ he reasoned to himself.

Closing his eyes, Asher unleashed his Omni Perception, watching it stretch to precisely 830 meters before stopping short of a kilometer. A faint smile tugged at his lips; he savored the tangible advancement, the relentless climb igniting his drive.

’It’s no surprise cultivators crave more power... this rush is intoxicating,’ Asher whispered to his thoughts.

Having finished reviewing his stats, Asher turned his attention to the system’s other features. His eyes landed on the titles area, now boasting a fresh addition.

An eyebrow rose on Asher’s face. From what he knew, the system granted titles only when sufficient recognition from others deemed him fitting. Staring at this new one, he couldn’t help pondering who saw him as the greatest Wargrave talent across their lineage’s history.

Unbeknownst to Asher, Malrik had reached that verdict, and his endorsement forced the system to validate it as official. Malrik had claimed that title himself once, prior to Asher’s rise—or more precisely, before Ethan’s era—lending his opinion immense authority beyond the common folk.