A few hours later.

The afternoon sun was fully blazing in the sky, releasing its vibrant energy down on to Pearlcrest city. Some of its sunshine even flashed into the starting area of the Decrypted Wood, giving the usual dark-shaded place a lighter luster.

At one secluded spot of this area, two youths were casually sitting on the ground, leaning against trees, being shoulder to shoulder with each other.

For any kind of outing, no average person would even consider the Decrypted Woods as even a last resort to go to.

But for Asher and Elsa, it was possibly one of the best days they had. Their shoulders were touching in a rather intimate way as they sat so close to each other.

And, of course, for Asher, he didn't mind slight intimacy like this it at all.

The shocker came from Elsa being entirely at ease with his kind of intimate contact. Even on her face, there wasn't a semblance of embarrassment or shyness she would usually have over these scenarios.

Currently, neither of them is talking. But for Asher and Elsa, they felt even better than if they were talking.

The silence between them felt incomparably soothing.

It wasn't just a natural, pleasant silence. Asher and Elsa legitimately felt so calm and serene in each other's presence.

It was almost like they could sit here all day and be content with just being at each other's sides. It was evident that their date had gone over exceptionally smoothly.

Honestly, Asher was expecting some slight hiccups or minor awkwardness to arise. Since they're both inexperienced youngsters in the department of romance, he thought it would be inevitable something like that would happen.

However, after that talk they had about their families, things were smooth sailing. They shared a variety of topics with each other, and they both were intently engaged in what they had to say to each other.

The only things that remained the same was Elsa naturally talking less than Asher and him having to lead most of the conversations.

Though Elsa wanted to take charge once in a while, her inexperience just led her to rely on Asher for a lot of their talks.

But, even as he had to take charge, Asher noticed Elsa flowed surprisingly well afterward. She showed more smiles, smirks, and laughter than he has ever seen before from the usually ice-cold girl.

At times, Asher had even gotten insanely cute reactions from her where he did light-hearted teasing, and she would slightly huff up in annoyance. And almost immediately after, would she break out in a light smile.

After today's date, both Asher and Elsa felt far more bonded than any other time they hung out.

Honestly, neither of them wanted this day to end. It would be so much easier to ignore all of the various problems and simply stay like this together.

Alas, both Asher and Elsa know that simply isn't possible. Without sufficient strength, there were just things they will never be able to achieve in their current state.

This is why as well, both Asher and Elsa felt even more determined to get stronger. With higher powers, they would be able to safely secure more dates like this and, in the future, go out to more open places.

But all of that couldn't be achieved overnight. And for now, Elsa had to call this date to an end.

Though she's always the one to prefer relaxing silence, Elsa had actually taken the initiative to speak up and break the silence. She slowly turned her head to stare Asher dead in the eyes as she said,

"Unfortunately, for the weekend, I must get home rather early. And I know you will only pursue me again. But….I don't mind at all."

Before she started to ramble off, Elsa cleared her throat and got a hold of her thoughts. "Hm. Well, what I'm trying to say is….does this makes us…."

As Elsa trailed off, trying to find the right words to say, Asher gave her a calm smile and gently grasped her shoulders.

He got Elsa to stop, and he had then told her, "This can be whatever you want it to be. I want our relationship to develop at a smooth pace, so don't worry about any labels or standards. It's unbefitting for us, really."

With Asher's words flowing through her mind, it was only then Elsa felt incomparably clear. His sincerity, his emotions, his feelings were all transmitted to Elsa. And she no longer had any doubts in her mind.

Right then, Elsa gave Asher a fully blown beautiful smile that blossomed across her whole cherry red lips.

Asher's eyes widened as he was utterly taken aback.

Throughout their date, Elsa only gave him either a slight smirk or a small smile. Both of those emotions looked gorgeous on her, of course.

But as he started into Elsa's full smile, Asher could say he was at an utter loss for words. The divine beauty that graced her face from just giving a smile made Asher think he was one of the luckiest men in the world.

What was even more mind-blowing about this soul stunning smile was that Asher fathoms he may also be the only person to see this unfathomably vibrant side to Elsa.

From the way she speaks about her family, Asher highly doubts anyone in there could make her smile like this.

Though Asher doesn't know the whole story of her family, he could just call it a hunch that he was right. Either way, one thing for sure, Asher would never forget about this scene in his entire life.

Before he could process what to do next, Elsa spoke up first. She was taking immense amusement over this bewildered reaction Asher had and had then told him,

"Your tongue, it never ceases to impress me on how glib it is. Unfortunately, I must go now. See you tomorrow….boyfriend."

Asher's surprise only rose as Elsa had just confirmed their relationship!

But before he could even process that surprising news, a light gust of wind made Asher forcefully blink his eyes. And in the split second he had his eyes close, a heavenly sensation graced his cheek.

'Chu~'

What touched his cheek was soft, fluffy, and slightly wet. An incredible fragrance drilled into his nose and smelt positively gratifying.

But, the most extraordinary sensation was the immense shivers of pleasure coursing down his spine.

Never in his life did Asher feel so good from just a single split second.

And in the next second, he opened his eyes back up, but Elsa was gone. Asher had then put a hand to his cheek while lingering his eyes to where Elsa quickly left from the Woods.

As he gradually came back to reality, Asher realized one crucial thing.

Elsa had just given him a peck on the cheek! Asher was caressing the spot where her lips graced his cheek, and it still felt so warm.

A wide grin broke out on Asher's face. His only regret about this situation was not seeing how incredibly cute Elsa's blushing face was after giving him a peck.

Right as he was lost in the passion, a massive jolt pang Asher's entire body.

'Ding!'

The pinging sound that he had just completed a mission blared around in Asher's mind. And right then, Asher nearly cooed as incredible streams of energy refreshed his entire body.

These streams of energy traveled through his entire body and soul, quickly strengthening every aspect of his being. In just a manner of seconds, Asher felt tremendously stronger than he was before this date.

To know his changes, Asher closed his eyes and said 'system.'

Joy bloomed inside Asher's chest as there were two incredible changes to his System's soul stats.

The first was that his Positive Aura stat was now upgraded to 4. And the more shocking of the two was that his Spirit Aura stat shot up directly to 5!

Asher didn't have the best of knowledge about Spirit Aura. Even after the Ceremony, his various Professor is still tight lipped on this subject.

As of now, none of them had even talked about how at full power, Spirit Aura can create an aura of your Magical Power.

They all were claiming the common students needed a far stronger body and better comprehension abilities if they ever want to get close to achieving the full power state.

Asher was considered an above-average exception but, none of them Professor still didn't bother with giving him more information on this topic.

At most, he got was that he shouldn't get cocky in unlocking his full power Spirit Aura state. And to progress to the later levels would be immensely difficult.

But here he was now, do something that was supposedly difficult all by just having a date with his new girlfriend.

For a couple seconds, Asher had a complete blissful expression.

From his morning and into his afternoon, today was one of the best he ever had in his life. And after taking these short relaxing moments, Asher's expression abruptly turned serious.

He got rid of any casualness from his body, stood up, and began cracking his knuckles, hearing audible pops each time he did so.

After being silent for hours, Asher had finally heard Yuki's voice again as she told him, 'Alright! Now it's time for the exciting climax of our outings. Time to whip out that Battle Skill for a smooth test run!'

Asher felt an even greater drive from Yuki's encouraging words. His eyes stared deeper within the dark shaded woods, and flashes of Ghost Lightning started to spark within his pupils.