As Asher was about to leave the counter, Leah pulled him aside. "So, I wasn't the only one who was kind of sickened by how brutally they killed the goblins, right? I mean, they had to be gotten rid of, but still, they were all but torturing the poor things."
Asher nodded. "It was a bit uncalled for. We can't do much though. We're both at E rank versus these people who have established themselves in the guild. The best thing I can tell you is to keep working until we match and even surpass them."
Leah seemed appeased by his response. She left Asher at the counter with Colin, having headed over to the mission board for all rank E work. Asher sighed deeply.
Colin remarked, "You seem troubled. This is the first time I've ever seen you act this way in all the time you've been here. What's bothering you?"
"A couple things," Asher admitted. "Leah, for one. For another, the party tore apart the goblins. They didn't just exterminate them, they literally ripped them limb from limb. I'm a fairly heartless person usually, but that was too far."
Colin scratched his chin and grunted in response. "I can't do much about your group, they did the job and according to our conditions, they did it well. As for Leah, what about her is troubling you?"
Asher thought back to her striking emerald green eyes. "She seems familiar to me. And yet I know I've never seen her before in my life."
"Childhood friend, perhaps?"
Asher shook his head. "I was an orphan. I didn't know a true childhood my entire life."
"Was worth a shot," Colin replied with a shrug.
Asher stopped the conversation there and wandered over to the board. There were multiple papers that Leah was scrutinizing.
"What do you need?" Leah asked as soon as she sensed his presence. She turned to look at him and those emerald green eyes bored right into him and sent a shiver down his spine.
Asher replied, "I want to work together with you more. I don't like the idea of working with random people. We both have a lot to gain from partnering up. I believe I have gone about as far as I can by myself."
Leah thought about it for a moment and nodded. "Makes sense. We both need to get talent books if we plan to make it past D ranking in the future, however."
Asher was confused as he had been a thief nearly all his life and the low level adventurers had never mentioned anything like a talent book.
Leah explained, "A talent book allows you to learn different skills such as magic or hardening, things of that nature. They're expensive for us though. Even the low level skills."
Asher nodded and remarked, "I can see how they would be useful. They would be the next step for us to upgrade into even higher rankings once we have collected all of our gear."
Leah responded, "Yes it would be. Some people even have innate abilities from their bloodline. Those are usually the highest tier adventurers and the Lords."
Asher smirked as he remembered killing the Lord who had severely abused him as a child.
Asher looked to the board and saw a duo mission that no one had bothered with yet. He pointed to it and Leah smiled in response. The payout was decent enough.
They left quickly to go to a job where zombies had been ransacking a farm that had been abandoned at by their master. The slow, lumbering creatures had no mind of their own.
The first one Asher killed, he felt that familiar sensation again. He ignored it for now, but he would be asking around after this job was done. For now, there were over thirty zombies to kill. The reason for the zombies being considered an E ranking quest even with their numbers was how slow and stupid they were.
Between Asher and Leah, they cleaned up the zombies in no time at all. As they returned to the guild, Leah spoke to him once again, "Why did you start at the guild?
"I don't want to talk about it," Asher stated, not wanting to reveal that he was a criminal with bounties in several provinces.
Leah pursed her lips and stated, "I'm wanted for killing a knight. The reasons are my own, but I figured if I can earn enough coin and fame, maybe I can one day return to that place and buy my freedom."
Asher chuckled lightly. It sounded very similar to his own situation. He didn't believe that Leah wasn't just trying to pry information out of him, however.
"Not very trusting, are you?" Leah remarked.
"Not particularly," Asher replied. "If you had lived anywhere near the life I have, you would understand. The only person I can truly trust is myself."
They arrived back at the guild and collected their pay. Asher bid farewell to Leah and told her to meet him at the front desk at noon the following day. He had some matters to take care of.
He went down to the training center where all the initiates started. Edgar was there as usual in the round dojo, practicing his swordsmanship. The smooth strikes never cease to amaze Asher. He had been on the receiving end of that man's attack once.
Where Asher was going was the physical training room. He hadn't done well here before, ranking at just barely above the average human which wasn't saying much compared to people like Edgar.
There was a giant stone block in the room to test if one had superhuman strength, along with an obstacle course that Edgar had sent Asher through during his initiation.
Asher had felt energized every time he felt the warm sensation from killing monsters and he had just brushed it off the first couple times. Now he was convinced, he was getting stronger.
He ran through the obstacle course with next to no effort. The last time he went through, he had tripped multiple times. He went on to the next level of the course and went through with a bit more difficulty, but still managed without tripping.
Just for fun, he pushed on the stone block and he could have sworn it just barely wiggled when he put all of his strength into it. Asher was fully convinced that he was absorbing the power of his enemies as they died. His only question was, how?
He still held no delusions that he could defeat Edgar, but this was a start. He was going to become more powerful with every mission he went on from that point forward.
Asher went to bed after that and woke up feeling refreshed. He wasn't groggy like he usually would have been, another sign he should have been paying attention to since the first goblins he had killed.
Asher met Leah at the front and yet again, her piercing green eyes stared holes through him. "What's next?" she asked.
Asher pointed to another job with zombies. Easy enough work and if his theory was correct, he would be gaining strength with every beast he killed.
He had noticed over the past couple of days that he was slightly faster and stronger than before. He didn't get winded nearly as easily either. He still had no confidence that he would be able to even begin to wear down Edgar though.
The two of them cleaned up the infestation easily enough and Leah remarked, "You've improved quite a bit since the coyote hunt. At this rate, you'll end up surpassing me."
Asher had the same thought himself. Even now, he could feel power coursing through him. He had always avoided monsters in his youth. Now he was discovering just how big of a mistake that was.
It continued that way for days that turned into weeks with Asher and Leah partnering up. They ended up becoming a bit more than just acquaintances, but not really friends. Asher didn't really want friends, but allies were a different story.
Even if he surpassed Leah, he felt as though he could bring her up to his level again by getting her a talent book that she had talked about previously. Before that, he would make sure to have himself covered. He didn't want to give her too much of an edge.
Eventually, Asher and Leah's names started to become known to even the ranking above them. They had been doing every duo job possible between E and F ranking that they could get their hands on.
It came as a small shock to Asher when Colin handed him a key. Colin explained, "You and Leah have made a real name for yourselves around here and really improved your standing. Because of that, you both are being promoted and moving out of the barracks and getting your own rooms."
Asher had a smile almost ear to ear upon hearing those words. There was more opportunities ahead of him now that he had made a name for himself. He was ready for a new chapter to begin.