CLEAVER OF SIN

As the door to the Light Training Basic Chamber closed behind him, Asher felt as though he had stepped into another world entirely. Though he had only awakened his light elemental affinity nearly two months ago, his training with it was still at the most basic level, something he could barely sustain for more than a week before exhaustion set in.

Standing in the center of the chamber, Asher experienced something entirely new, a sensation unlike anything he had ever felt before. Even the lightning element, which he had awakened and trained with for over a year, had never evoked such profound stillness within him.

The entire chamber was illuminated by a serene, radiant glow, as if dawn itself had been captured, condensed, and sealed within these walls. Gentle motes of light drifted lazily through the air, brushing against Asher's skin with the warmth and tenderness of silk. For a long moment, he simply stood still, breathing quietly. In that instant, he felt as though he was no longer separate from the element of light, as if he was light itself.

It felt weightless. It felt calm. It felt warm.

Each breath seemed to clear his mind, stripping away noise, thought, and distraction, leaving only clarity and stillness.

'This feeling…' he thought, basking in the quiet glow. 'Is this how addicts feel?'

His mind couldn't help but wander, curious about how such a chamber even existed. The explanation the woman from earlier had given him replayed in his head, how every training chamber was fine-tuned to resonate with a specific element. Each chamber was designed to harmonize with a trainee's energy, synchronizing their essence with the element itself. Through this resonance, training speed and elemental attunement increased exponentially.

As he remembered this, Asher lifted a hand. Instantly, the light element responded. It bent and gathered effortlessly, moving cleaner, faster, and far more precisely than ever before. Within seconds, a small orb of light formed in his palm, pulsing gently like a heartbeat.

For a fleeting moment, Asher felt as though he no longer possessed light, rather, that he had become light itself. But he quickly dismissed the notion. He knew that feeling was an illusion born from the chamber's resonance, his body and mind were still adapting to this environment. Still, the increase in control and responsiveness was undeniable.

Even the most talentless trainee could make progress here.

'No wonder these chambers cost so much,' Asher mused.

His gaze swept across the radiant walls. 'This is only the basic training chamber, he thought with wonder. How would the advanced chamber feel?'

Drawing in a deep breath, Asher steadied himself. He had spent two thousand points to access this place, time was precious. He couldn't afford to waste a single moment standing idle. He exhaled slowly, eyes lifting to the ceiling. A glowing digital timer hovered there, visible from every direction, counting down his session time. The numbers pulsed softly, as though reminding him that every second mattered.

"Let's get to it," he whispered to himself.

Asher dropped to the ground, crossing his legs in a lotus position. The luminous motes around him drifted in gentle spirals as if drawn to his calm presence.

'Where should I begin' he wondered, his mind shifting back to the memory of Malrik, the First Sun, and his display of power during the invasion of the Separate Dimension.

He remembered how Malrik had paused a sunray midair and stood upon it as though it were solid ground, how he had dissolved into countless motes of scattered light, vanishing effortlessly from the Separate Dimension.

But Asher knew he couldn't just leap to that level of mastery.

In Crymora, elemental manipulation wasn't like the spellcraft of various novels he had read, that demanded long theories, runes, or incantations. It was imagination and control, the will to shape one's element directly. Still, that didn't mean one could ignore progression. To skip from level one to level nine hundred and ninety-nine was to build power on a hollow foundation. Even if one succeeded momentarily, the control would be unstable, unsustainable.

'Let's start from something basic,' he decided, letting calm wash over him. His breathing slowed; his heartbeat steadied.

"Light doesn't just illuminate," he whispered, eyes still closed. "It hides."

A faint smile curved his lips as a thought bloomed in his mind, Invisibility.

Without hesitation, he went to work. His Perfect Astra Control activated naturally, responding to his intent. Asher drew upon the Astra within his Astra veins, the inner energy that bound his essence to the world. It shimmered faintly beneath his skin, like sunlight refracted through water.

His presence softened; his aura became delicate, refined, and fluid.

Asher extended his hand again, this time not to create light, but to distort it. The air shimmered faintly, and the motes of light surrounding his arm bent to his will, warping around him in a delicate, silent dance.

Then, in the next instant, his entire arm vanished.

It hadn't disappeared in the physical sense, it had merely become invisible, hidden perfectly by the bending of light around it.

To Asher, the process felt simple, almost too simple. Things in the world were visible because light reflected off them and entered the eyes. It was fundamental physics, basic knowledge. To become invisible, one only needed to do the opposite, to stop light from reflecting.

And that was precisely what Asher had done.

He had stopped light from bouncing off his arm, making it invisible to the naked eye.

A slow smile crept onto his face as realization settled in. He couldn't help but feel amused at his own ridiculous talent, achieving something so complex on the first attempt. Even with his mind wandering, his Astra control and manipulation of light motes remained steady and flawless.

'Full-body invisibility, that's the goal,' he thought, but he didn't rush into it. Precision mattered more than speed.

He began methodically, part by part. His second arm vanished, followed by his legs, his torso, then his ears. Even his clothes turned transparent, an effect that would have embarrassed anyone else, but Asher's mind remained fixed entirely on control.

Minutes passed, his progress deliberate and cautious, avoiding potential errors that could cause light distortion or energy backlash.

Finally, his entire body vanished.

If anyone were to enter the training chamber at that moment, they would find nothing but empty air. Asher stood silently, smiling invisibly in the soft white glow of the chamber.

Although he had achieved invisibility, he knew it was incomplete. It was only physical invisibility. Light manipulation had merely erased his visual presence, nothing more. If someone were to walk past him now, they would still hear his breathing, feel his movement, and sense his aura.

True invisibility, he realized, went beyond sight.

But for now, this was enough. He had achieved his first goal for the day.

Without hesitation or pause, Asher's invisible figure straightened. The faint ripple of displaced light around his outline flickered briefly as he focused once more.

His voice, quiet yet steady, echoed softly in the chamber:

"On to the next."

Without wasting a second, Asher dived into his second goal of the day.