CLEAVER OF SIN Chapter 967: Raised The Bar

With that, Asher and Arianna thanked the Young Masters for showing them around, then got into their car and drove out of the racing track. As for the destroyed cars and damaged roads caused by the race, well, that was precisely why participating in the race itself was expensive, as the racing company already knew such destruction was inevitable and needed the funds to restore everything afterward.

"Where else do you want to go?" Asher asked as they drove at an average speed.

"Hmmm... I don’t really know. What or where do you have in mind?" she asked Asher.

Asher shook his head as he spoke. "I suggested we come racing, it’s your turn to come up with something," his tone calm as he immediately hit the brakes for a kid who hadn’t looked at the road before crossing.

Arianna fell into thought for a moment before speaking. "How about we do simple things, like going swimming, playing table tennis, going to a museum or an aquarium, you know, stuff like that?"

Asher stayed silent for a moment before he nodded. He loved the idea. As a transmigrator, he was familiar with all these things and hadn’t experienced any of them in two whole years. Today was the perfect opportunity to see them all again.

"I’ll look up the locations and reviews on the internet," Arianna stated after Asher had agreed, her fingers dancing across her screen.

Asher’s phone, which remained within the car’s cup holder, dinged with a new message. Asher and Arianna’s eyes snapped toward his phone screen at the same time. One indifferent, the other curious.

Seeing the person who had texted him, Asher was stunned. It was Arianna.

"Why are you texting me? I thought you were looking up locations online?" he asked as he drove, slightly confused.

Arianna stared at Asher’s screen for a few moments longer before she spoke. "World Girl, huh? What does that even mean?" she asked calmly.

Then it finally dawned on Asher. Arianna had merely texted him so she could see what name he had saved her under. And indeed, that was exactly what Arianna had done. She had simply been too curious. As for why her mind had gone in that direction, she didn’t know, but she carried out her little plan anyway.

Asher sighed as he spoke. "Nothing really. Just as I told you earlier, you’re rumoured to be blessed by the world, and you also said you named your techniques the World Series, so I just named you World Girl," he explained. "I don’t usually save people’s contacts with their actual names. What’s the fun in that?" he shrugged at the end of the statement.

Arianna stayed silent for a moment as Asher’s explanation made perfect sense. She simply shook her head and said nothing, her curiosity having been satisfied.

"So, what about me? What do you have me saved as?" Asher asked as he drove, his curiosity mildly piqued at this moment.

Arianna simply sighed as she replied, "I’m one of those boring people who save people’s contacts using their actual names."

Asher stayed silent for a moment before he spoke. "I see. No problem there," a smile appearing on his face.

Arianna tapped on her phone and got the location and map to the first place they were visiting, an aquarium.

Within minutes, they arrived, paid the entrance fee, and walked inside. Couples and marine life enthusiasts could be seen gazing at every glass tank with immense fascination in their eyes. Neither Asher nor Arianna really cared much about aquatic life aside from the fact that they ate fish. But watching fish, sharks, and various other sea creatures swim ever so calmly and gracefully within the massive glass tanks beneath the fluorescent blue lighting was indeed mesmerising and carried a strangely peaceful, calming effect.

To Asher and Arianna’s surprise, the aquarium possessed a live Crown-class Monster that had been purchased at an auction. It was expensive to see, but in terms of pure wealth, Asher was richer than even the head of the Elox family.

It was a giant squid that immediately thrashed around the moment it saw Asher and Arianna, as though it simply wanted to devour them alive. After a bit of sightseeing, they both moved on to table tennis. The rules were fairly simple. Powers of all types were allowed, but the majority of them were restricted to only being used to influence the tennis ball, and if the tennis ball was ever destroyed, that also counted as a point.

Asher and Arianna had the time of their lives on the table as they flashed around, their bodies seemingly teleporting from one side to the other, their hands flickering to meet the ball with astonishing precision. Their bats were filled with Astra energy, yet each of them maintained exquisite control to ensure they didn’t accidentally destroy the tennis ball.

Asher had to give in this time and allowed Arianna to win. He couldn’t hog all the victories for himself today. Arianna immediately became smug about her victory, bringing up the racing match once again. Asher merely smiled and watched her cute face as she boasted and proudly bragged about her table tennis skills and driving ability.

’She has loosened up a little,’ Asher thought to himself as Arianna spoke more freely, laughed more openly, and smiled without the slightest reservation.

They decided to have dinner to end their day on that note. They talked about various things as they ate with perfect decorum, people sneaking glances at them as they wondered where these two fairy-like people had come from.

After they were done eating and paying, Asher decided to drive Arianna back to the hotel reserved for the Velkarin Empire. They talked lightly in the car, sharing jokes about their day and the people they had encountered, even laughing about the couple that had fainted the moment the Crown-class squid set its eyes on them.

As they arrived at the hotel, Asher spoke in a calm tone.

"I hope you had a fun day?"

Arianna smiled as she replied, "Won’t deny that, I truly did. It’s been a while since I had this much fun. I’ve been training and sharpening my skills, or reading military books to increase my knowledge of strategy and things like that," she answered honestly. "So I’m glad my friends took the first step for me," a cute smile remaining on her face.

"Glad you enjoyed it then," Asher replied with a small smile.

Asher wouldn’t deny it. Today had probably been the most enjoyable day he had experienced since his transmigration. He had already made plans to leave a Position Marker here so he could teleport whenever he wanted. There were simply too many things here that he didn’t want to experience only once.

He stepped out of the car and walked over to the other side with calm, steady strides before opening Arianna’s door like the perfect gentleman, allowing her to step out with graceful ease.

She stared at Asher for a moment before she spoke. "Thank you for today, Asher. If I had any standards for men or anything of the sort, then you’ve really raised them quite a bit."

She didn’t wait for his reply. She simply walked forward and stepped through the revolving doors before disappearing into the hotel.

Asher stood there in silence for a moment, then smiled as he shook his head before walking back to the driver’s seat. With that, he drove away, heading towards the Gentle Hotel.

And with that, the meeting between two fated people had truly begun. And the day of leaving the Thalvorn Empire drew ever closer.

Only the stars knew how many people would survive the coming bloodshed. Would Arianna and Asher survive long enough to begin feeling a spark between each other, or would they die before such feelings could ever blossom? And if they survived, would they be scarred for life?

Only time would tell.

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