My Trash Talent Is Actually OP!
Chapter 53 - 53: Meeting Cinder [4]

Nova did not let her guard drop for a second. Even as Cinder appeared relaxed and wasn't armed, she didn't trust her for a minute.

Her gaze was fixed on Asher with full interest, but the curve of her brow gave away her irritation—though there was something else there too. She was intrigued.

Sinnett gave her a look as the silence stretched, then decided to speak up.

"Cinder, tell them where they kept the remnants of the dragons."

"Wait, what?"

Asher and Nova both replied in unison, the shock from what they heard moving through their bodies like lightning. Nova, who thought it would be impossible, dropped her hands with wide eyes and stepped closer.

"Do you actually know... where they are?" she asked, forcing her voice not to break between her words.

Cinder blinked slowly. Then a smirk crept up her lips as she shifted her gaze to Nova.

"So that's the price of my life?"

"That, maybe," Sinnett said with a shrug. "And your silence. You don't get to keep secrets."

Cinder sighed, rolling her eyes. "Fine."

She turned to Asher again, lips curling slightly. She wasn't particularly happy about leaking confidential information—but with how unpredictable Asher and Sinnett were, it made her curious, and slightly cautious, about how she spoke—especially around Sinnett.

"There's a cemetery. Old. Off the main district in Lower Velcrest. Hidden behind a chapel that's always closed. You wouldn't notice it unless you knew where to look. The trees grow too thick there, roots curl over graves like they're guarding something."

"Should be right beside an old apartment building," she chuckled softly. "I haven't stepped out of the asylum for a while now."

Asher stiffened. That place sounded familiar.

Cinder noticed but didn't say anything else.

"That graveyard's been there long before Velcrest became a city. Before the Academy. Before all of it. You know what it really is?" She leaned forward and lowered her voice.

"A burial site. The last dragon bones were laid there, sealed with spells even I couldn't crack. And the Asylum's people? They've been keeping eyes on it for decades."

Nova shifted beside Asher. "Why would they bury dragons there of all places?"

"Because it was convenient," Cinder replied simply. "No one would question strange magic in a graveyard. And that area has a lot of mana no one could tap into."

She let out another laugh. "Believe me, even the last Necromancer before Necro-boy over there couldn't do it."

Sinnett tugged her back with his hair. "That's enough."

Cinder said nothing more, but her eyes lingered on Asher, like she knew the next time they met, things would be different.

It was either he'd sit for lunch with her to talk—or one of them would die. Which she was certain would be her.

"I'll see you guys before dinner. My greetings to Mom and the girls. I need to teach her a lesson," she said casually.

Asher nodded, but Sinnett's gaze lowered to his shoulder, then narrowed before raising back to his face.

"Uhm… don't use magic or indulge in anything before I get back. Not even raising anything… understood?"

Asher frowned. "And what makes you think I'd listen to you?"

"I know what you don't," he smirked in reply and lifted Cinder into the air with his hair. "Nova, make sure he doesn't do anything stupid. Give me till 12."

"What do you think?" Nova ignored Sinnett immediately, causing him to scoff and turn away.

Asher stared ahead, his fingers slowly closing around the edge of his sleeve.

"That cemetery… my mother used to go there."

The system's screen appeared before him, but this time with a lot of background information. It identified Cinder, which was oddly strange.

---

[Cinder: Poison User, Dragon Catalyst]

Background:

Long before the world feared Necromancers and the Hybrid Class race, it feared dragons—beings of pure, volatile magic, creatures born from the very fabric of the world's raw energy. Most didn't fall in battle.

They were hunted, systematically erased by an alliance of mages, kings, and cults who called themselves the Draconic Vanguard.

One of the last dragons captured was called Luna, the Dragon of the Blue Flame. Her blood was poison. It burned through steel and shattered spells.

When she died, her body couldn't be left in the open. The Vanguard ordered her bones scattered—and her heart entombed beneath Velcrest.

They buried her and others beneath wards, in silence, under the guise of mourning a human like them. However, she had a child with a human, [Unidentified].

The Asylum took her in. Raised her, studied her. They called her the Poison Fang, or Cinder. They used her to track down the last of the scaled bloodlines and made her watch each one die. Until she stopped flinching.

---

[Cinder: Poison Fang]

[Hybrid Dragon, 35% Backstory Covered]

It ended there, which was strange.

Asher simply scoffed. He didn't need to know anything about Cinder, except she was part of those killing dragons. But then, she was one too, which was also confusing.

Why would she kill her own kind and not feel guilty? Or did she—but had no choice?

Then he wondered deeply why Sinnett would be so crazy as to lock lips with her and still be unaffected.

Yes, Sinnett was unpredictable and mysterious, yet that was by far the strangest.

He heaved a sigh, then turned to leave, still ignoring his aching arms.

Nova glared at Cinder before turning as well, but she gave Sinnett a silent warning before leaving with Asher.

"Bye..."

Sinnett's expression turned to a smirk, mischief in his eyes once they had gone out of sight. Then he glanced at Cinder.

"So, how long does it take you to climax?"

"You ask me like anyone could even try to touch me," she replied with a small smile that only increased Sinnett's curiosity.

He shrugged. "Alright, let's get you to my apartment and give you something good to eat before we get down to business."

She smirked. "Is it pills? Like the Asylum gives me to stay awake?"

Sinnett shook his head. "Ever tried barbeque and rice?"

"Heard of it, but no. Is that a pill too?" She frowned, and Sinnett could only shake his head.

"Let's get you to my place first."

---

Asher and Nova barely spoke as they reached the edge of the Lower District, exactly where his apartment was.

It was almost nightfall already, and the sky stretched long above them, stars blinking faintly between broken clouds. They passed alleyways and old signs, broken lamps, and doors long rusted shut to avoid being seen by Hannah or Any.

Then they reached it—the cemetery behind the apartment.

The old chapel stood crooked, half of its stone face swallowed by vines. A broken bell hung in the tower, silent.

It wasn't much of a sight, but it was hidden well and quite large. Thankfully, Asher's apartment building covered the cemetery under its shadows, as well as the massive wall on the other side.

Nova approached the gate first, pressing her palm against the iron bar. "Feels old. Like it was here before the rest of the street."

She ran her hand over the warning signs that read: Do not enter, for the body laid here is not accustomed to visitors.

Asher let out a sigh. "Let's get done with this. I'm a little exhausted here."