Chapter 148: The City’s New Legends

By the time the Ashcroft Family returned to the Association, Reinhard already noticed that something had changed.

People were looking at them.

That wasn’t unusual anymore. Emily had become recognizable throughout Elyndor, Reinhard had his own growing reputation, and Maki, Yuna, and Lily were no longer strangers to the public either.

What was different now was the way people looked at them. Nobody seemed to be wondering who they were anymore.

A young Awakener near the entrance whispered to his friend, "That’s the Ashcroft Family."

"I know," his friend replied immediately. "They’re the team that went into the Old Garden."

"The SS-grade operation?"

"Yeah."

The conversation was quiet, but there were enough similar whispers around the Association that the entire group could hear them as they walked inside. Emily glanced around with a faint smile while Reinhard looked completely comfortable with the attention, and Lily seemed to be enjoying it far more than anyone else.

They had only just stepped through the entrance when the operator who had originally handled their Garden mission noticed them. She hurried over, stopping in front of the group with a look of disbelief before glancing across every member as though she needed to count them.

"You’re all alive," she said.

Reinhard smiled. "We tried."

The operator laughed despite herself, but her expression quickly became more serious as she looked at Emily, Maki, Yuna, Lily, and the Nephilim. "Thank you." She didn’t elaborate. She didn’t need to.

Everyone involved knew what had happened in the Garden. The Heart of Origin had been destroyed, the Origin had been eliminated, the Bloodkin threat had been suppressed, civilians had survived, information had been recovered, and the Garden itself had been stabilized. Most importantly, everyone who had entered the operation had returned alive.

The operator bowed slightly. "The Association is grateful."

Before anyone could answer, the surrounding conversations became quieter. Reinhard looked toward the entrance. The Association Leader and Vice Leader had personally come down. Several people immediately recognized them, and whispers spread through the reception hall.

"Is that the Association Leader?"

"Why is he coming here?"

"The Vice Leader too?"

Someone answered in a lowered voice, "They’re meeting the Ashcrofts."

That alone was enough to make the room noticeably more attentive. The Association’s highest leadership did not normally come down to personally greet newly established teams. The fact that they had come to meet the Ashcroft Family and the Nephilim made the importance of the Garden operation obvious.

The Association Leader approached first and gave them a formal nod. "On behalf of the Association, I want to personally recognize your contribution to the Old Garden operation." His eyes moved across the group as he continued, "The Heart of Origin was destroyed, the Origin was eliminated, the Bloodkin threat was suppressed, civilians were protected, critical information was recovered, and the Garden was stabilized. Despite the scale of the operation, every participating member survived, and the SS-grade mission was successfully completed."

He paused before looking toward the large ranking display above the reception hall.

"That performance has also affected your team ranking."

The display flickered. Several people turned toward it. The previous ranking disappeared, and the new result appeared.

ASHCROFT FAMILY

TEAM RANKING: #9 → #5

For several seconds, nobody said anything.

Lily was the first to react. "We’re fifth?"

Maki looked at the display again as though checking whether she had read it correctly. "We’re fifth."

Yuna smiled, while Emily stared at the number with a quiet expression before letting out a small laugh.

Reinhard looked up at the display as well. "Didn’t we just become ninth?"

Maki turned toward him. "That was before this mission."

Reinhard nodded slowly. "Right." He looked back at the ranking. "We’ve been busy."

Lily immediately pointed toward the display. "We’re Top Five!"

Rhea laughed from behind her. "You’re saying that like you just found out."

"I like seeing the number," Lily replied happily.

The Association Leader smiled faintly before continuing, "There is another reason I wanted you to see this personally." He motioned toward the ranking history, and the display changed again, a record of the Ashcroft Family’s progression appearing.

Unranked. Then #187. Then #104. Then #47. Then Top 30. Then Top 20. Then #9. And finally, #5.

The room became much quieter.

An official standing nearby stared at the history before slowly saying, "They only registered roughly two months ago."

A veteran Awakener turned toward him. "Two months?" He looked back at the display and shook his head. "That’s not normal."

Another veteran beside him folded his arms. "It’s not even close to normal."

Reinhard raised an eyebrow, enjoying himself a little more than he probably should have.

The Association Leader continued, "The Ashcroft Family has established the fastest progression from an unranked newly registered team to the Top Five in the Association’s current records."

Lily’s eyes widened. "We broke another record?"

Maki looked at Emily, then at Reinhard. "Apparently."

The irony wasn’t lost on anyone. Emily had already broken records when she returned, surpassing one of her own old combat records, while Reinhard had turned their rivalry into a public spectacle, and together they had tied an ancient Mana record that had stood for centuries. The city had already grown used to seeing their names attached to things that previously seemed untouchable.

Now the Ashcroft Family had done it again. Except this time, it wasn’t one person breaking a combat record. It was an entire family team climbing through the professional hierarchy at a speed that experienced teams found difficult to believe.

One veteran Awakener finally spoke. "Even teams with A-Rank members don’t climb this quickly."

Another nodded. "Raw strength doesn’t give you years of mission history." He pointed toward the ranking. "To reach the Top Five, they need successful missions, rescue records, coordination, reputation, and completion history. Most teams build those over years." His gaze remained fixed on the Ashcroft Family. "They did it in two months."

Someone nearby muttered, "How?"

Nobody answered.

Emily looked toward Reinhard. He looked back at her and smiled. "Apparently we’re efficient."

Emily laughed softly. "Apparently."

Maki gave both of them a look. "That’s one way to describe it."

Lily continued staring at the number. "We’re really fifth."

Rhea crossed her arms with a grin. "You seem very attached to that number."

"I am."

"Why?"

Lily thought about it for a moment before answering honestly, "Because it’s a really good number."

Rhea laughed, and even Seraphine allowed a small smile.

The Association Leader looked at the ranking history again. "Do you two have some kind of obsession with breaking records?"

Emily glanced toward Reinhard. Reinhard considered the question seriously for a moment before shaking his head. "I don’t think so."

Emily smiled. "They just keep appearing."

Reinhard nodded. "Exactly. We’re not chasing the records. The records are chasing us."

The Vice Leader couldn’t help laughing. That was perhaps the strangest part of the Ashcrofts. They never seemed to approach these records as though they were trying to make history. They simply kept moving forward, and somehow history kept getting in their way.

A tired voice came from behind them.

"It’s not even been the first year since you returned, and you’re already doing the impossible?"

Emily turned. Halden approached with a familiar tired smile.

Emily laughed. "Well, I heard the best way to give everyone a wake-up call is to do something big."

Halden glanced toward the ranking display, then at Emily, Reinhard, the Ashcrofts, the Nephilim, and finally Archon. "I agree. But this goes beyond big." He pointed toward the screen. "You went from having no professional ranking to the Top Five in roughly two months. Do you understand how ridiculous that is?"

Reinhard smiled. "We’ve been told."

Halden gave him a tired look. "I wasn’t complimenting you."

"I know."

Halden sighed, but a smile still appeared on his face. "You’ve basically forced every serious organization in Elyndor to pay attention to the Ashcroft Family now."

That sentence carried more weight than the ranking itself. Emily looked toward the display and understood what he meant. This was no longer simply about her return. It wasn’t just about the woman who had once been one of Elyndor’s greatest young Awakeners. The Ashcroft Family had become something of its own, and the city was about to notice.

A notification appeared in front of Reinhard.

[Fame Increases!]

[Star of the City!]

[196,234 → 735,235]

[Current Fame: 735,235 / 1,000,000]

...

Across Elyndor, massive public displays updated almost simultaneously. The first headline appeared.

ASHCROFT FAMILY — TOP 5

People walking through the streets slowed down, not because they didn’t recognize the name, but because they did.

"The Ashcrofts?" someone looked up at the screen.

"They’re fifth now?" another person beside him stared. "Already?"

A young Awakener pulled out his phone and checked the ranking history. "Wait, weren’t they ninth?"

Someone nearby answered, "That was before the Garden."

The young Awakener scrolled through the previous rankings before his expression changed. "They’ve only been climbing for two months."

Another person leaned over to look. "That’s insane."

...

The reaction spread naturally through the city. An ordinary citizen recognized Emily’s face immediately. "That’s the woman who came back after losing her Gnosis."

Her friend looked at the screen. "She’s fifth now." The first woman just stared.

Nearby, a young Awakener was already showing his friends the ranking history. "They’re already above teams that have been active for years."

An older Awakener heard him and shook his head. "That’s the part people don’t understand."

"What?" the young man looked over.

The older Awakener pointed toward the ranking. "Strength can get you into a fight. It can’t give you two years of professional history overnight."

The young Awakener looked at the Ashcroft Family’s ranking again. "Then how did they do it?"

The older man smiled faintly. "That’s what everyone is trying to figure out."

At another part of the city, a professional team gathered around a public display as the same ranking appeared. Their leader stared at it for several seconds. "They passed us." He looked at the ranking history and sighed. "How long did it take us to reach the Top Five?"

Nobody answered immediately. Finally, another member said, "Four years."

The room became quiet. The comparison didn’t need anything else.

...

The reaction from the older generation was different.

An elderly Awakener stood beneath another public screen, watching Emily’s face appear beneath the Ashcroft Family ranking. He remembered the Young Devil King.

He remembered when Emily had disappeared. He remembered the years when people spoke about her as someone whose career had ended before it should have. Now her face was attached to a Top Five team.

His friend noticed his expression and asked, "You knew her back then?"

The old man smiled. "I knew of her." He watched the screen for another moment before quietly saying, "She didn’t just come back."

His friend looked at him. "No."

The old man smiled. "She built something new."

The news reached companies almost as quickly. An executive stared at the new ranking on a large screen in his office.

"Top Five." He turned to his assistant. "How long since she became active again?"

"Two months."

The executive was silent for a few seconds. "Contact the Ashcrofts."

"We already tried," the assistant said. "They haven’t responded."

The executive looked back at the screen. For years, companies had been able to look at Emily Ashcroft as a former champion whose value had changed after her Gnosis broke.

Now the same people were looking at a Top Five organization that had grown without them.

He sighed. "Try again."

...

Back at the Association, Halden looked around at everyone gathered together.

Reinhard stood beside Emily. Maki was speaking quietly with Seraphine, while Yuna and Mara were discussing something nearby.

Lily was still looking at the ranking display with Rhea, and Rika stood beside Emily with the same calm expression she always carried. Kael and Adrian were nearby, while Archon remained slightly apart from everyone else.

Halden looked at them for a moment before saying, "The city is watching you now."

Emily smiled. "I know."

Halden’s gaze moved toward the ranking display. "Not just Emily." He gestured toward the screen. "The Ashcroft Family."

Emily’s expression softened. She looked at Reinhard first, then Maki, Yuna, Lily, the Nephilim, and finally Archon.

"I am," she said. She paused before smiling. "And... everyone else is."

Maki nodded. Yuna smiled. Lily raised her fist. "We’re ready."

Rhea grinned. "Obviously."

Seraphine gave a calm nod. "We’re ready."

Rika nodded as well, while Kael simply acknowledged it with a quiet expression. Archon said nothing. She simply remained with them.

Halden looked at the group and laughed. "All right, then."

...

Outside, another public display refreshed.

ASHCROFT FAMILY — #5

A group of young Awakeners stopped to take pictures of the screen. A veteran Awakener shook his head while looking at the ranking history. A sponsor opened the Ashcroft Family’s contact information again. An older citizen smiled when Emily’s face appeared.

A child pointed at the screen and asked, "Are they the strongest team?"

His parent laughed softly. "Not yet." The parent looked at the ranking for another moment. "But they’re getting there."

Across Elyndor, the question had already changed.

It was no longer, "Emily Ashcroft is back."

It wasn’t even, "Who is Reinhard Ashcroft?"

Now the city was asking something much bigger.

How high can the Ashcroft Family go?