Published at 1st of September 2026 6:02 am

Chapter 1062: A Student Not A Prisoner

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Stepping through the portal, Asher arrived at the other end. He came face-to-face with the door that led to Cindralis’ office, and there stood Berion, waiting for him.

The moment his eyes landed on Asher, he tossed him a pure-white orb as he spoke, "When you are done with the meeting, just crush the orb and you will be teleported back to your room."

Asher caught the orb and nodded as he transferred it to his space ring. With that, Berion simply opened another portal and left. After all, he was in charge of screening and performing background checks on all the students. He couldn’t pass off the work to another person. And with millions applying each year, he had his own work cut out for him. He just wanted to be done as soon as possible and get back to his leisurely days.

Asher opened the door without hesitation as he walked in without any hint of nervousness or anything of the sort. As usual, Cindralis’ office was basic, with just a small chandelier hanging from above, a few bookshelves, a table, and three seats.

"I greet the Principal," Asher greeted with a bow. Although he usually referred to Cindralis by name in her absence, he didn’t do so in her presence. After all, she was a Crownstar Life Ranker.

"We meet again, Asher Wargrave," Cindralis stated with a small smile on her face, as the last time they had met like this was when she was telling him about the World Barrier and the various beings possibly staying beyond the World Barrier, as well as her ambition to leave.

After all, she had been here for nine thousand years. It was impossible not to exhaust her talent in that time or hit the ceiling of her potential.

She couldn’t help but feel like she had made the right choice by placing her hopes in Asher. After all, she had been shocked a great deal throughout the Inter-Empire competition.

’Just a couple more years... with his rate of growth, two decades at most to break through the World Barrier,’ she thought to herself as her entire existence trembled in pure joy.

Although she was joyful, on the outside, she maintained a calm demeanor and a slight smile. But Asher, who was standing opposite her, couldn’t help but wonder why Cindralis was this happy with him coming here. But he didn’t speak on it.

"Sit," Cindralis stated in a calm tone, her abyssal black eyes never leaving Asher.

"Thank you," Asher replied flatly as he sat within one of the two empty seats.

As he sat, Cindralis began to speak, but not about the early graduation Asher had come here to discuss.

"So, how was the Inter-Empire competition?" she asked, as she wanted to hear Asher’s opinion on it.

Asher stayed silent for a moment. He had come here for two things, not to discuss things that were already over. He could only sigh. It wasn’t like he had anywhere he was rushing to or anything else to do.

"It was perfect," he answered honestly. "I loved the Thalvorn Empire. It only makes me want to visit the Velkarin and Vandross Empires and see what they also have to offer," his tone calm.

Cindralis stayed silent for a moment. From Asher’s tone, she could deduce that he didn’t want to waste time beating around the bush. She could only shake her head with an amused smile as she decided to get straight to the point if he didn’t want to talk.

"Vice Principal Berion says you wish to apply for early graduation," she stated as she stared at him. "Such a thing has never happened in the history of the Star Academy. Why should I allow you to set such a precedent?" she asked as she wanted to know what answer he was going to come up with.

Besides, she had already anticipated this... well, not really her, but her fellow Principals had talked about it back at the Inter-Empire competition within their Luxury Viewing Box.

"Because there is a first time for everything?" Asher replied sarcastically as a joke. But Cindralis neither laughed nor showed any reaction to his words.

Asher shook his head at her stale reaction. He didn’t bother saying something like, ’Because I won the Inter-Empire competition,’ as it wasn’t like he was the first person to win it, and he had also been compensated for it.

"Because staying here limits my growth," he replied with the most reasonable answer. "Besides, you want me to crack or open that barrier around the world. The faster I develop, the better for you," he added as he reminded her of her only wish at the moment, the wish that lay in his hands.

Was Asher confident he could crack the barrier? He didn’t know. It wasn’t on his list of things to do. He would simply cross that bridge when he got there. There was no need to worry about things he couldn’t do at the moment.

Cindralis stayed silent for a moment. She was a bit amused that Asher was using her ambition as a bargaining chip. It was daring, but she said nothing about it, as the boy was indeed right.

But still...

"What do you plan to do if I refuse?" she asked in a calm tone. "Call your Elder Brother and Father to change my mind?" she pressed a bit.

Asher leaned back into his seat as he shook his head while he spoke, "At the end of the day, I’m a student, not a prisoner. I can just decide to drop out, and nothing will happen to me and nothing will change. I don’t need to call Malrik or Father for that," his tone flat yet respectful at the same time.

Cindralis couldn’t help but smile at Asher’s words. If she didn’t agree, he could just leave on his own, and she could do nothing about it. After all, it wasn’t like students who graduated from her Star Academy received something special that the Wargraves couldn’t gift to the boy.

"If I grant you the right to graduate early, what do I gain in return?" she asked. Not that she needed anything from him, she just wanted to know what he would say.

Asher stayed silent for a moment as he couldn’t understand where this nine-thousand-year-old woman was going with this. Still, he didn’t beat around the bush and answered.

"And what would I gain in return for cracking the World Barrier?" he answered with a question of his own.

Cindralis arched an eyebrow, not expecting him to reply with this particular question. But still, to her, Asher was too early to corner her with words.

"There is no guarantee that you can even break the World Barrier... many have tried but have all failed," she stated calmly.

Hearing her words, Asher was tempted to say something like, ’Many aren’t me,’ but that would be the cringiest stuff he had ever said since his transmigration.

"And how many of them have gotten to my stage in two years?" he asked, his tone neither arrogant nor prideful.

Cindralis stayed silent for a moment. She had already agreed to let Asher graduate early, she just didn’t want it to look easy.

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