Asher's jaw dropped upon hearing the name of Leo Blackwood along with the title and country he was from. Hearing the confidence in Leah's words made it even more concrete that she was telling the truth. She truly was the daughter of nobility. An archduke no less, someone who held great power and renown.
Leah's power made sense now. Something as powerful as absorbing strength from dragon like beasts had to be derived from high nobility. Asher didn't know why he hadn't made a connection sooner than he had.
Most of the nobility had a bloodline that would pass down innate powers, whether that was absorbing the raw energy of dragons, or in Willow's case, she had the power of hardening. Hardening was a powerful ability, putting her at rank C right away. The powers that Asher and Leah possessed didn't really seem that great until they had been active members of the guild for a while. Even then, Leah making use of her power had been nothing but sheer luck. It could have taken her years otherwise to make it to Asher's level.
Asher was very interested in finding another ice drake for his own gain. He felt as though his ice powers would increase by a huge margin with just one ice drake. If Leah insisted on taking the kills however, he would allow her. She was his oldest ally so far.
There was another issue at hand, however. Leah had just threatened Willow who seemed more than ready to fight. Asher could actually feel the difference in power between the two and he had no doubt that Willow would lose to Leah as it stood. He got between the two and said, "There's no need for fighting. We're all here for two things, money and power. If we can satisfy that, there's no need to fight amongst ourselves. All of us have a purpose." Asher cast a glare at Leah before repeating, "All of us."
Leah backed off after that, but continued to glare at Willow. Asher continued, "We all stand to gain a lot of money from this arrangement. We are also doing a highly dangerous job. I don't need to wonder if the two of you are going to be going at each others throats while I'm fighting for my life. Fair enough?"
They both nodded at him. Leah looked somewhat guilty. "Understood," she muttered glumly.
"Now that that's settled, where do we go from here?" Asher asked. "Do we continue to cultivate Leah's power or just run normal jobs?"
Willow replied quickly, "I say we run jobs that we think will pay out quickly for now. Soon enough there will be a tournament coming up and we need to try to be as ready as possible for that."
Asher stared at Willow for a few moments before asking in surprise, "Tournament? What kind of tournament?"
Willow smiled and responded, "The guild tournament. We will face everyone in our ranking. Our ranking has a payout of a thousand gold coins."
Asher's eyes lit up. It was enough money for him to pay off his bounties in the Southern province. He still wasn't likely to work there for a while, but he had the option to at least go throughout the province without being arrested. He had a plan now. He would be spending every waking moment preparing for the tournament.
It was scheduled to begin in several months. It seemed as though it was also a talent scouting operation. Particularly promising guild members would be given offers from various lords to join their personal guard. Asher wasn't interested in such an offer unless there was a significant payout for it. Even then, his growing power would be stunted as a guard for a lord. In his eyes it wasn't worth it.
With a third party member on standby, they had no issues finding work. Asher and Leah would still occasionally do missions with just the two of them whenever Willow was too tired to keep going. Asher was quickly catching back up with Leah in terms of raw power. If he had to take a guess, he would wager it would only be a few weeks until he caught back up with Leah.
They kept taking jobs with Asher gradually becoming stronger. Asher felt it was time for more research into his power of domination before he dealt with any more affairs of the guild. Leah tagged along with him to the library where they asked the librarian about where to find more information about the power.
The librarian still seemed almost terrified at the mere mention of the ability. He explained to Asher and Leah that there was an abandoned church where they might find references to it. Asher figured it was a long shot, but it was worth checking out.
They traveled to the desolate church in the frozen wasteland, the place was creepy. Especially under the cover of night under a full moon. Asher guessed it used to be part of the main city at one point, as it shared the gothic architecture that Winterhaven was known for. Leah seemed more than a little concerned at the state of the place. It seemed abandoned at first glance, yet if one was to look closer it seemed to be occupied.
"I don't like this, Asher," Leah stated. "This place was supposed to have been abandoned over a hundred years ago."
Asher agreed with her. The place was supposed to be empty. The fact that there was evidence of life inside didn't bode well. "We should get Willow," Asher stated.
"She'd be useless here and you know it. Her only use for us is for jobs that require an extra person," Leah replied.
Asher sighed deeply. He knew Leah was right, he couldn't argue that. There was no point in even trying. In the end, they advanced into the church. There was a vast expanse of space inside with wooden pews shattered across the floor. Whatever had caused the people to flee, it was powerful.
Rushes of wind were heard by both of them. They weren't sure if it was just their imagination, but it seemed as though something was almost playing with them. It was fast. Far too fast for either one of them to track. Asher was the first to speak, "We are just here for information, nothing more. I was told I could find information on my power here by a librarian in Winterhaven."
The rushing wind stopped abruptly. Asher felt hot breath on his neck, but by the time he had turned around, the being was gone. He hadn't even felt it's presence until then. A shudder ran down his spine when he wondered how strong of a being it had to be in order to conceal itself like that. A bone chilling voice echoed through the room, "And what power might that be?"
Asher took a deep breath before stating, "That is my business."
As soon as the words had left his mouth, he saw a shadow zip across the room and he felt heat from his stomach. Asher fell to his knees in pain as his abdomen was slashed opened up. There was only one thing he could think to do, his hands heated up on his stomach until it seared the slash marks shut. The eerie voice stated, "I won't ask you again. The next time, it will be your head."
Asher grunted, "It's the power of domination. I discovered I had it almost a year ago. I have been doing everything in my power to find out what I can about it."
The shadowy figure stopped moving and tilted its head with curiosity towards Asher. Leah stayed still the entire time, not wanting to escalate the situation farther. She hadn't even seen the creature moving towards Asher, it was far too fast. Neither one of them were a match for it.
The voice resonated through the room, "Very interesting. Your power, though it is in fact growing, it's immature. Incomplete. There are no tomes here with which you will find knowledge of this forbidden power. There is only me."
The figure walked into the open and Asher felt a shudder run down his spine at the sight. There was swirling darkness encircling a man with pitch black hair and eyes to match that had with no white, only pure darkness. The shadows seemed to form armor around the man, whatever he actually was.
"What do you mean by that?" Asher asked.
The man walked close to Asher and smelled deeply before almost teleporting behind Leah. He unrolled an impossibly long forked tongue and slid it across her cheek while she whimpered lightly in fear. "I am one of the few that still have knowledge of this power you possess. Your potential is nearly limitless, but your humanity will be your downfall."
The creature chuckled lightly. "Your power is only in its beginning stages right now. Over time you will discover what it truly means to possess the power of domination. There is more to it than killing monsters and taking their power."
Asher shouted at the creature as it was attempting to leave, "Wait! What do you mean by it's only the beginning stages? Do you mean it will become more powerful?"
"You are not the only one who will benefit from it, Asher," the beast said.
"How do you know my name?" Asher asked quickly.
The figure laughed at him before responding. "We'll meet again." It disappeared into the shadows and Asher felt as though a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. The aura of the being had been released at one point and it had been suffocating for both him and Leah. Asher still wasn't satisfied though. He shouted, "Wait, what is going to happen to me?" There was no answer and Asher knew there would be none. The aura that had filled the room was gone.
Both of them had been convinced they were going to die just moments beforehand. Just as quick as the figure had incapacitated Asher, it had left. Neither one of them had any doubts the creature could have killed them without any hesitation or difficulty.
"What was that thing?" Asher grimaced past the pain in his stomach. He had kept his guts from spilling out, but it didn't change the level of pain he felt from his belly. Asher hadn't really had anything answered in the end and he had more questions than ever now.
Asher made his way back to the guild with Leah. His healing was working faster than ever with his power at an all-time high. Even with that power though, he had been utterly useless against whatever monster they had encountered. He shuddered to think of ever meeting that thing again. After that, he rested for days, regaining his strength for his next task.