Path to Transcendence

It was pretty obvious to Julius that Reinera offered the beacon to him as a sort of apology. She was most likely trying to say that he could activate it whenever he wanted to.

However, it was also pretty obvious that was not what Reinera wanted him to do.

"You don't want to use it still," he asked, but it was more like a statement.

She hesitated, probably thinking about denying it, but instead, she nodded her head.

He was expecting that so it didn't bother him. Regardless, it was still a question they needed to answer. A question he needed to answer for himself. How badly did he want to go back to Goldencrest?

The biggest temptation was to see his friends and to make sure they knew he was alive. Other than that, he didn't see much of a reason to go back.

Elder Han had said something that resonated with him. He mentioned how academies, especially ones like Goldencrest were structured around noble children who already had a path planned out for them by their families. Julius didn't really have that.

Although to be fair, his affinities made it hard for there to be a structured or formalized path for him to follow. His skill set wasn't exactly a normal one, it was just one he kind of cobbled together by his own experiences.

Furthermore, he was enjoying the novelty of exploring his path on his own. It would have been way less fun if he had followed some instruction manual to get his skills and abilities. Was it possibly less efficient? Maybe. But Gabriel and Dante had both assured him that originality was more important for one's path than being the most optimal.

Considering that they were some of the more impressive people he had met so far, he trusted their opinions on that.

With that being said, this still inevitably meant that specialized lessons at Goldencrest, especially as a first year, were limited.

He knew that upperclassmen got access to more advanced lessons and classes, but for him, he wasn't seeing much use there. The teachers were limited in what they could share with the students.

Even Gabriel admitted to him that he was pushing what was acceptable by sparring with him in his free time.

Then again, if he hadn't gone to Goldencrest he would have never gotten the chance to befriend the others. He would have never gotten to meet Declan, Orus, or Rae. He would have never gotten help from Alice or Dante.

There were many things to be grateful for by attending Goldencrest.

But if he was being honest with himself, he felt like the school limited him in many ways. While his days there were enjoyable and fun, he still had to remind himself of the reason why he had chosen to go there in the first place.

He had gone there because he wanted to get stronger.

So it was important to ask himself something. Would going back allow him to get stronger than if he didn't?

Not only that, but Reinera also seemingly wanted to stay out here. She had slightly different reasons, but the overall theme was similar to him. He wanted to get stronger so that he could be free from the whims of the power. While she wanted to have a taste of freedom she had been denied her entire life.

Their goals weren't so different, he understood after some thought.

Plus, when he saw his friend desperately wanting something in front of her, it was hard to ignore it and even more difficult to say no to it.

It seems like my decision has already been made, he inwardly chuckled.

He wordlessly passed back the beacon to Reinera, ignoring her wide-eyed look of surprise.

"I don't see a reason why we can't take our time and explore the Empire on our way back. I also haven't seen much of the world, so it should be fun. I bet there are some amazing things to eat along our way as well," he said with a smirk.

She gave him a similar smirk and stored the beacon back into her storage ring with a quick flick.

***

In the morning when he woke up, he finally managed to take a look at the notifications he got last night. It had been so hectic that he didn't find a good chance to take a look. But now that he did, he opened them up.

[Armaments of the Arcane lvl 6 -> lvl 7]

[Phoenix Renewal lvl 3 -> lvl 4]

[Empowerment of Will lvl 18 -> lvl 19]

[Flash Step lvl 9 -> lvl 10]

He actually got more than he thought he would. Although, it had been a tough fight, one of the toughest if he was being honest, so some levels made some sense. He would need to advance to Tier 3 before he made any more large improvements.

[Empowerment of Will] managed to hit level 19 though. That was nice to see, his aura skill has been relegated to more of a strictly aura skill ever since he got his epic skills and Concepts, but it was still a great skill.

It worked very well with Inexorable Resolve and he expected that it would evolve to epic without much trouble. That is if his soul could fit it while he was still in Tier 2 that is. Which he found very unlikely.

***

"Are you sure we should trust him?" Reinera asked bluntly. Not caring at all that Elder Han was standing right in front of her.

"Yes, we talked about this last night, we can trust Elder Han. I know you have your prejudices against him, but from what I have seen we should accept his offer," Julius said patiently.

"Don't let me stop you princess, you can refuse the offer. It wasn't meant for you in the first place, it was for Julius, you are just his baggage," Elder Han snipped back at her.

Julius rubbed his palm into his face, these two weren't as hostile as before but they were still quite antagonistic toward each other. He reminded himself that he should just be grateful for that.

What they were arguing about was the offer Elder Han had extended this morning. He had contacted some of his old friends and they were helping with taking some of the children back to where they came from.

In this case, one of the younger boy's family was in one of the main cities of the region, south of Stonewall called Blumand. A carriage would be by pretty soon to take the young boy there and if they wanted to, they could hitch a ride.

Reinera didn't trust this offer, but Julius thought it was perfect. He didn't mind running toward Blumand on his own, but it would be much more comfortable to relax in a carriage. He was just surprised that Reinera wasn't more on board with it. He would have thought that riding in a carriage would have been much more her style, instead of running there, getting all sweaty.

"She's not going to refuse," he told Elder Han, giving a pointed look toward Reinera.

"Okay, in that case, we are going to meet the person who will be taking the child just outside of the town. I don't want to risk one of the guards seeing the boy," Elder Han said.

"How are we going to do that?"

"We? Who said I was coming along?" Elder Han asked while shaking his head.

Julius gave him a deadpan stare. "You did, like literally three seconds ago. You said we are going to meet the person," he told the old man.

"Eh, you must have heard wrong. You gotta wonder who's the old man here, me or you."

He refused to play along with the man's games. In the short time he knew the old man, Julius got a reasonable idea of how Elder Han acted. He just liked to be confusing and purposefully mysterious. It was probably very amusing to the powerful old man.

Apparently, he and Reinera would sneak the boy by traveling through the secret tunnel that the orphanage had that led to outside of the town's walls. It would be there that they would meet their escort.

Before they left, Julius was given proper goodbyes by many of the children Julius had met yesterday. Even the previous contemptuous Ibram had completely done a one-eighty on his behavior. Now just grateful for Julius's help.

Julius didn't blame him, he helped the teenage orphan with his weapon skill and how to utilize his mana more effectively, gaining the teen a level in his skill. The other children were equally displeased to see him go, which honestly was a bit heartwarming.

He was glad that he was able to make such an impact on them in such a short amount of time. He was hoping that one day he would see them again, no matter how unlikely it might seem.

After a prolonged goodbye, they finally left with Elder Han taking him aside for one last thing before they headed down the tunnel.

"Here, take this," the old man said to him while passing a small card to him.

It was completely black and made of a material that was unique, Julius had never seen quite a material before. It was heavy and stiff like metal but had this soft texture to it that made it feel like cloth as well.

"What's this for?" He asked curiously.

"Don't worry, you probably won't need it, but just keep it in your storage ring. It won't hurt to have it," Elder Han responded mysteriously.

Julius didn't try to argue, he just nodded his head and calmly stored it away. Although, he saw the slightest hint of disappointment on the old man's face. He probably expected Julius to be a little more outwardly curious and less accepting of the item.

"Thanks for all of the help and sorry for bothering you with all of the children."

"Eh! It's not that big of a deal. I take care of this orphanage for the same reason why I helped them. It has nothing to do with you," the old man grumbled.

"Oh, by the way. It's okay if you can't do this, but I was hoping you might have a way to get a message to someone for me," Julius took out a letter he wrote earlier. It detailed his situation and that he was safe. He was hoping Elder Han could get it to one of his friends for him.

"Depends on who I am giving this to," Elder Han said while taking the letter.

"Lily Violet."

"... Violet?" Elder Han asked while raising his eyebrows.

"She's a good friend who can be trusted to deal with it," Julius explained.

"That should be fine," Elder Han assured him. "I would ask how you know the young genius of House Violet but considering everything, I can't say I am that shocked."

Julius chuckled at that. "Just lucky."

"Or unlucky," Elder Han grumbled good-naturedly.

Julius just shook his head and chuckled again. "Don't die before the next time I see you old man," Julius said to him as he turned to walk down the tunnel.

"Haha," Elder Han laughed sarcastically. "I'm old, but I'm not so old that I am going to drop dead any moment," he said, offendedly.

"Good, then I will see you around next time," Julius promised.

"That you will. Don't be a stranger and try not to do anything too stupid in the meantime okay?"

Julius turned around and gave the old man one last grin. "No promises."

***

Elder Han POV

He watched as Julius and that girl escorted the young boy down the tunnel. He knew that he shouldn't have been so harsh on the girl but he couldn't help himself.

She looked so much like her relatives that it was hard not to associate her with her family.

However, he was proud of Julius for how he stuck up for his friend and to him. Not many people were able to stand up to him, especially when they realized who he really was.

As a former Sect Leader of the Fallen Spire Sect, he had enjoyed many privileges, including respect. Or rather in his point of view… fear.

It was a big reason why he appreciated what he was doing now. The children didn't treat him like some untouchable person, they treated him like a doting grandfather. It was a relief in many ways, there was less pressure and responsibilities, and he was able to enjoy the twilight years of his life now.

"You still want me to follow them?" He heard from a nearby shadow.

"Yes, and make sure they don't run into any ridiculous problems along the way," he told the shadow.

"But if there's an encounter with someone who is strong but within their abilities to handle you want me to stay away?" The shadow prodded.

"Of course, they're young. Let them experience some hardships. I doubt they will find their trip back to Heston an easy one. I can already tell that the girl is a magnet for trouble and the boy might possibly be worse if that is possible. Only interfere if something beyond their abilities shows up, understood?"

"Yes, master. I will follow your instructions."

Elder Han nodded at the shadow. He already guessed that they wouldn't use that tracking beacon the princess would most definitely have. If so, they would have already used it by now. It seemed like they were going to explore the northeastern regions of the Empire by themselves.

He didn't disagree with their choice either. It would be a good experience for them, they might even gain a lot by doing so.

He wasn't expecting the two young children to come across too much trouble either. However, considering that Julius had just chosen to fight a Tier 4 of his own volition, he wasn't the most confident about that assumption.

"By the way, I know I told you before, but make sure you stay hidden with your skill. Julius has some sort of spatial awareness skill and he will detect you the moment you come out of it. I doubt it will become an issue if he detects you, but I would still rather you not be detected," he reminded the shadow.

"Don't worry, I won't underestimate the boy."

"Good," he said with a nod.

This generation is looking to be quite the interesting one. I wonder how far some of these children will go.

However, just from what he had seen so far, he believed that Julius might be one of them who truly separated himself from the others. That or the boy was going to get himself killed. There would be no in between. He had seen many boys that were similar to Julius, all of them except for a rare few ended up dead in a matter of years.