"Fuuu…."

A cold breath breezed from Asher's mouth as the night's chilling air brushed past him. Slight nerves gradually rose up in Asher's body, trying to instill him with a rational fear of the cold night.

However, Asher continually forced down any ominous nerves and continued his trek in the dead of night.

With each step he took, Asher was on extremely high alert. He made sure to precisely notice every tiny detail in his surrounding area, whether through his eyes or Aura Sense.

No regularly sane person would ever do what Asher's currently doing.

Roaming the eerily silent night streets is a recipe for an untimely disaster. Even if some was an experienced Early Stage Spirit Tier Cultivator, they wouldn't dare set foot in the night's streets.

At least, none of them would ever go alone and only in groups with other fellows Spirit Tier Cultivators.

The bizarre happenings at night even unnerve some of Asher's wits.  There were all kinds of sightings of terrifying monstrous creatures nobody would ever want to meet alone. Plus, there were all kinds of chilling stories of people dying, yet nobody even knows how they died.

While strolling the night in person, Asher could say everything was far more chilling, experiencing it in real-time.

Sitting behind a computer screen watching videos and reading stories couldn't compare to the authentic night terrors.

The usual bustling City was now eerily quiet to a frightening degree. Every time Asher's foot hit the sidewalk, it was like a loud blare booming into his ears. Asher could even feel his thumping heart increasingly pulsate as more nerves filled his body.

Beyond the chilling lack of sound, there was also the whole general nightly atmospheric look to the City. There were numerous large dark shades that Asher couldn't see through even with his enhanced eyes.

The only thing Asher could feasibly make out was what appeared like a looming figure hiding away in those darker shady spots.

Suddenly then, as Asher was on a high state of alert, he felt his whole body jump when Yuki's voice echoed out in his mind.

'Asher….calm down now. Really, I can feel your beating heart even if I were to go to sleep. Since we're here, you got to sack up your nerves!' This time Yuki's voice was incredibly encouraging.

Though she never found coming down here was a good idea in the first place, she won't let Asher let his nerves get the better of him!

The mix of Yuki's angelic voice and her encouraging tone helped Asher relax a bit.

He let out a small sigh that leaked his nerves. Of course, Asher found that Yuki is absolutely right. He could only attest to his nerves heating up because the System's mission was so vague and ominous.

And then there was the straight-up brutal stories, detailing the horrific details of when somebody was murdered in the night.

Those murders didn't come from mere people wanting to settle scores or commit some kind of crime. They all were savage graphic tales that showed whoever murdered those people certainly weren't any human-like being.

But as Yuki said, since he was down here, it is time to sack up his determination!

Feeling firmer about his decision, Asher continued on the path his Aura Sense is guiding him to. Just like how he is in the Decrypted Woods, Asher was ready to pounce on any first sign of a threat to his life.

Minutes quickly slipped by, and Asher still cautiously walked through empty nightly streets.

For about a few minutes now, the brutal hair-rising fights Asher was expecting still haven't made any appearance. The only thing that would happen is the occasional gust of cold wind breezing by Asher's body.

Although there weren't any quick actions, it didn't lessen Asher's focus. Under the ominous glow of the full moon, Asher made his way through the City.

And he eventually made it on a path that was taking him to an incredibly shady alleyway. But when Asher turned a corner that the alleyway was on, he abruptly stopped.

His eyes blinked several times, not fully registering what he was seeing.

Out of everything he could expect from the horrors of the night, Asher would've never guessed he would see a child.

And yet, just several feet away from him, a small cute little girl stood in front of the shady alleyway.

The girl didn't look to be older than seven years old and held adorable features. She wore a flashy frilly pink dress that would suit a girl as young as her. Accompanying the dazzling pink dress was a long sea of pink hair trailing out of the girl's head.

Her extremely long pink hair went even a little bit past her waist and was essentially impossible to ignore. Even under the ominous glow of the full moon, this little girl looked like a doll of bright pink sunshine.

Although, the little girl's current mood didn't radiate any liveliness a kid her age ought to have. She stood deathly still and hanged her head down, making it difficult to read her expression unless you were close to her face.

'....What the hell is a kid doing out here? Better yet, who the hell isn't keeping a close watch on their kid? Tch.'

Asher silently clicked his teeth as an array of questions filled his mind. To just let such a small child wander the night streets by herself is a significant crisis.

It didn't matter who would come out here; the horrors lurking around the night will plunge their bloody claws into anyone.

On instinct, Asher began to quickly walk up to the little girl.

He contemplated if this was the damsel in distress his mission vaguely detailed about. And since there was literally no one else out of here and his Aura Sense guided him, it seemed plainly evident to Asher.

But, whether or not this was a part of the System's mission, Asher still would've quickly taken this child to the nearest police station or home.

As Asher got closer, he could make out more of the little girl's mood.

She was gripping her tiny little fists in presume anger. Asher could see more of her face and obverse she had a downtrodden expression that was on the verge of exploding into tears.

When Asher got closer to the little girl, he wondered if it was luck that nothing had happened to her yet. Or if it was something more that would make this mission far more complicated than he initially thought.

No matter what, Asher focused on first calming the little girl down so there wouldn't be any major misunderstanding.

"Hey. Little girl, you really shouldn't be out here at night. It's far too dangerous." Asher musters up his most soothing and softest tone.

The little girl visibly shook and snapped her head over to Asher, her expression turning into immense shock. As the girl turned to stare at him, Asher gave her a friendly wave and slowed his walking speed.

Getting a full view of her face now, Asher noticed another striking feature on the little girl. Her eyes were of a uniquely beautiful violet color.

Compared to all eyes Asher saw in his life, he really never saw anything like hers.

In fact, when gazing upon that stunning pink hair and those starry violet eyes, Asher could say there really wasn't anybody he knew who had such distinct features like her.

After a second, the pink hair little girl got over her initial shock. Her face had then morphed into a deep pouting expression as small tears began to pool at the corner of her eyes.

She spoke up to Asher with sorrow dripping in her tone.  "Ju-just leave me alone, Mister. Nobody likes me, and I always bring trouble."

The grief in her tone immediately filled the sympathetic side of Asher. He seriously wonders who could be so cruel to have an innocent-looking girl think like this.

Pushing away that rage-inducing thought, Asher stopped six feet away from the little girl and gave his most gentle smile.

He spoke in the same soft, soothing tone and asked her,  "Oh, come now. Don't be like that. Who wouldn't like a cute little one such as yourself."

Asher hoped just suddenly calling the girl cute like that wouldn't make her nervous. He is still some stranger to her, after all.

And to his dismay, the little girl's expression only turned sadder. But not for the reasons Asher was thinking off. The little girl kept her eyes to the ground as she said, "Because I always bring danger no matter where I go or who I'm with. So you should just leave, Mister."

Asher quirked his eyebrows for a moment. The more he was talking to the girl, the more strange he was finding it that nothing had seemingly tried to attack her. Moreover, when he peered into his Aura Sense, it stopped right on the little girl.

Since this was his apparent target, Asher dropped all pretenses of wanting to fight anything. The only thing he wanted to do is get this little girl to a safe place right now.

Asher began walking again, edging ever closer to the little girl. While walking, he started to tell her,

"Let's just calm down, okay? No matter what, these street are a threat to anyone, so let's ju-"

Asher stopped mid-sentence as the little girl's expression changed into being completely frightened. Immediately the little girl's eyes snapped towards the shady alleyway.

"Mister, the trouble has finally come! You need to leave before anything bad happens to you!"

Asher, of course, didn't heed her warnings and stay rooted to his spot. But right when he was just about to ask what's gotten into her, his Aura Sense had finally picked up on something coming from the alleyway.

Asher peered his eyes into the alleyway, and immediate chills crawled up his spines.

Two beating red eyes were shining out of the darkness and was slowly making their way over to them.

Asher fully focused his Aura Sense on this red-eyed figure. And his dread only exponentially increased. Whatever was coming had a powerful Magical Aura that filled Asher with an immense sense of danger.

This figure was numerous times stronger than Zara!