CLEAVER OF SIN Chapter 761: Arianna Haellight

Kimberley and Asher continued to walk as they exchanged small talk.

"Since this is an Inter-Empire Competition, I’m sure the Elox Family, a family of godhood when it comes to money, would use this opportunity to rake in profits," Asher spoke as he walked, his eyes moving from one person to another.

"Not really. We’re mostly here to build connections, although one of the methods of making money through those connections is through bets," Kimberley replied, as she had already grown comfortable around Asher.

"Hmm," Asher hummed, as he did not really know much about the betting organisation. "Since you’ll be helping me tonight, I suppose I should repay you with a piece of information. Whether you use it or not depends entirely on you," Asher stated.

"Information?" Kimberley asked, confused.

"In any match I’m participating in, go all in on me. If you have a billion platinum coins, bet every single one on me," Asher replied. "As a businesswoman, I don’t think I need to explain how much profit you can make from insider information and knowledge of something others don’t know."

Kimberley stared at Asher for a moment, understanding exactly what he meant. She could not help but wonder whether he was merely boasting, but at the same time, could a Wargrave truly be trash?

She understood that if she followed Asher’s advice and won, she would make an absurd amount of money, reaping profits before the betting organizations noticed his winning streak and began reducing the odds, and before the public caught on and started betting on him as well.

She wanted to ask Asher to elaborate further, but she could tell that the boy had no intention of speaking any more on the matter.

Asher’s feet suddenly came to a stop as his eyes fell upon a group of people ahead. They numbered in the thousands. His eyes widened as though they were about to explode, and for a moment, he could not believe what he was seeing.

Ahead of him stood people who were all nearly seven feet tall at a minimum, each possessing bulging muscles. Their skin was black like midnight, yet strangely elegant and beautiful, while veins snaked beneath their skin like living rivers. Not all of them were purely dark-skinned, however, some possessed lighter skin tones, though they still retained the same physical build that suggested mixed ancestry.

’Black people?’ Asher thought in pure shock and awe.

He had thought that the Thalvorn Empire had already given him the greatest shock of his life with its advanced civilization and Wakanda-like aesthetics. Yet now, he stood before another sight that left him frozen in amazement.

This was a scenario Asher could never have guessed, even if he had been given a billion attempts, he would never have guessed that black people existed in Crymora.

Back on Earth, black people were often said to dominate nearly every physical field, be it fighting, sports, or any activity requiring explosive athleticism. When it came to those domains, they reigned above most others with ease.

Asher could not help but wonder whether that was also true in a world like Crymora.

Would black people dominate here as well?

Judging from their hulking physiques and overwhelming musculature, that seemed to be at least somewhat true on a surface level.

"I know, right?" Kimberley spoke as she stared at them with a smile on her face. "When I first saw them, I was also shocked out of my mind. After all, they possess a skin color vastly different from every other Empire’s population," she stated calmly.

"What Empire are they from?" Asher asked.

"The Velkarin Empire," Kimberley replied. "Nobody knows exactly how they came about or where they originated from, but everyone believes they’re simply unique and were born that way. And before you ask, everyone from the Velkarin Empire is black, while only a few possess lighter skin tones, which usually means one of their parents wasn’t from the Velkarin Empire," she explained.

"And most importantly, they’re said to be almost as ridiculous as you Wargraves when it comes to pure physical strength. So, needless to say, their physical capabilities are top-notch by default," Kimberley explained expertly.

[To explain better to the Host, just as humans possess a baseline of 10 stat points across all attributes at their peak prior to awakening, the people of the Velkarin Empire take it a step further and naturally possess 13 stat points across the board. The Wargraves, however, still stand ahead, possessing a baseline of 15 points]

The System chimed in, providing clarification.

’Damn,’ Asher thought, truly, he was surprised.

Then his eyes shifted toward a girl who walked with the grace of a flower. Her steps were silent, her presence seemingly unnoticeable and untouchable at the same time. Her facial features were flawless, while her skin carried a rich caramel tone, as though she had been bathed in milk and honey every single day since birth.

She possessed raven-black hair that flowed down her back like a river of darkness, swaying gently with every step she took. Her eyes were amber-gold, as though they could perceive the truths of reality itself through a crystal lens.

And her body... it was as though the stars themselves had sculpted her.

She alone made Cindralis, whom Asher had considered the most beautiful woman he had ever seen until now, seem... average at best.

"And there she is, Arianna Haelight. Not many people know much about her, but those who do have already guessed that she’s the strongest favorite to win the competition, and personally, I think she will," Kimberley stated as even she found herself staring at Arianna.

She could not help but question her own sexuality every time she saw this girl.

"Why?" Asher asked.

He wanted to know what made this girl so special that people were already predicting her victory before the competition had even begun.

"Although I don’t know how true it is, I once heard from my father that Arianna was born with her Astra Veins already activated," Kimberley explained, her voice filled with awe. "Unlike the rest of us, who had to wait until we were fifteen to awaken, or potentially fail until we reached seventeen, she never needed any of that. It’s also said that she could already manipulate Astra Energy to a certain extent by the age of one."

Although the information was unconfirmed, Kimberley did not care. For someone to even have such a rumor attached to their name, they had to be extraordinary enough to deserve it.

Asher was shocked to his core when he heard Kimberley’s words.

’Is such a thing even possible?’ he thought to himself as he watched her walk forward.

Everyone from the Velkarin Empire seemed to naturally move around her, as though her very existence gave meaning to theirs.

"People call her the Hope of the World. People call her the Child of the Stars. People say she is blessed by Astra Energy itself," Kimberley spoke, her tone almost fanatical.

"If I consider you the most handsome man I’ve ever met, Tenth Sun, then I consider her the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen," she added as her eyes continued to follow Arianna, just like countless others around them.

"You said that in every match you’re in, I should go all in on you," Kimberley continued. "So tell me, Tenth Sun, in a match between you and her, who do you think I’d bet on?"

Her question was clearly rhetorical as without a shred of hesitation, she would bet her life on Arianna Haelight.

And at that very moment, though thousands of gazes were fixed upon her, Arianna seemed to sense a peculiar one among them. A gaze unlike the others, a gaze that made her turn ever so slightly.

And at that moment, her amber-gold eyes met a pair of purple ones.

For a brief instant, time itself seemed to pause.

At this moment, fate and destiny appeared to intertwine and spin forward as the two most extraordinary individuals in all of Crymora, across every scale and measurement, gazed into each other’s eyes.

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