Path to Transcendence

Lily POV

Lily didn’t quite know what to make of Julius. When she first saw him sitting in the upperclassmen cafeteria she only saw a small first year with black hair alone far away from any other table.

He’s here awfully early. First years don’t show up for another couple of days.

Lily was reminded of the first day the four of them had met Edgar. They had seen a muscular boy sitting alone at a cafeteria table. Little did they know that they would befriend the boy and he would become one of their closest friends. It was all because of a spontaneous decision to sit down with a lonely boy.

That was the reason why Lily was walking toward the table the boy was sitting at. The others didn’t know where she was heading but they followed along without saying a word. However, when they saw the boy Lily thought they noticed what she was doing.

When they all approached the table, Lily didn’t even see the boy look up from his plate. They all sat down but even then, the boy didn’t even look up at them. He didn’t even seem to be aware of their presence.

The boy was too focused on his food, mowing through it like no tomorrow.

Lily thought that the poor boy might not have been fed properly for his entire life. The poverty disparity between nobles and commoners was becoming wider every year. The poor got poorer. It was only because of recent innovations in runic engineering that allowed almost every man and woman to have clean water and their basic needs met. But it was something she was hoping to change in the coming years.

Manners notwithstanding, Lily noticed something about the kid that made her almost die laughing. It was important to note that Lily was a very talented psychic, when it came to telekinesis, or mind arts she was a prodigy. Her perfect affinity allowed her such a deep connection that she had been moving psychic energy around since she was a couple of years old. So she knew what skills that affected the mind looked like when they were activated.

The first year had a concentration skill that he had been using. It wasn’t dialed that high, but it was significant enough that Lily could notice. The skill looked advanced too. It wasn’t a simple [Meditation] or [Focus] skill but it was a rare skill, and she suspected leveled pretty high.

So imagine her surprise when she saw the young boy using it to focus on devouring his plate of food while simultaneously looking over at a piece of paper. She was starting to feel bad for assuming that the boy was lonely because now that she had gotten close, it was clear that he was enjoying himself. There was a big grin on his face and his eyes lit up every time he tried a different food item. Not that she could blame him, the food at Goldencrest was fantastic even to noble standards.

Instead, of doing him a favor by joining him, she was starting to think that they might have been more of a nuisance than anything. She even thought about leaving the boy alone, but if they left now, it would just be rude.

So they sat and enjoyed their first dinner back with all of each other in a while. They didn’t disturb the focused boy, not that they thought that anything they said would bring him out of his concentrated state. It was only when the boy had put down his fork and picked up the piece of paper that Derek took the opportunity to introduce himself, asking if the boy needed any help picking out classes.

After that, it seemed like Julius was able to fit seamlessly into their close group. All five of them liked him, even Kyle had interestingly enjoyed the boy’s company. So it came as a completely unexpected surprise that the boy slammed Aubrey against the barrier surrounding the training room.

The four of them watching the match were all very taken aback. When Julius had told them he could fight on par with weaker Tier 3’s they didn’t believe him. They thought he was just a young boy who didn’t know what he was claiming. Sure he might have been a prodigy from where he came from, but this was Goldencrest, who attended here that wasn’t a top-tier talent? Plus, he didn’t have a perfect affinity, he said the highest one he had was high.

Lily knew Julius believed what he said, but her truth ability only determined what the person thought was true, it didn’t necessarily mean that it was true. Though, it was important to note that Lily felt something off with his aura. It had a distinctive note that Lily only sensed in Tier 2 or 3 individuals, she didn’t know exactly what it was, but it stuck out to her.

But now she believed him, they all did. Each of the spikes he shot out were insanely condensed and she knew that Kyle and Derek could both feel the many woven layers of mana they were created with. It wasn’t something a Tier 1 should be capable of. Yet, here Julius was, rapidly slinging them like they were general ranked [Fireballs]. He must have a lot of mana too, because he wasn’t slowing down.

However, it was the way he fought that Lily paid attention to. He was always aware of the environment, he had to have some type of perception skill and a damn good one since he had even detected Aubrey’s [Prism Stealth]. He had real experience fighting, and she could see why he had an aura skill already. Most students took some time to get used to simulated combat.

First years had a hard time understanding that although it felt real and they could still feel pain, they wouldn’t get hurt or injure their opponents. So it was inevitable that they would show hesitation when they fought other students. Not Julius though. He was absolutely relentless and didn’t let Aubrey have any breathing room. It was a stark contrast to the innocent-looking child she had seen at the cafeteria sitting alone. He was vicious, when he fought, he turned into a completely different person. It was no longer smiles and laughs, Julius had the cold eyes of someone who wanted to slaughter his opponent and it scared her a little bit.

Lily watched as Aubrey peeled herself off of the barrier and tried to close the distance again. Julius’s leg appeared to be broken, as he didn’t seem like he could move on it. Aubrey wasn’t looking that great either, her [Diamond Skin] was chipped and she was breathing hard. Aubrey used her [Mirage Phantoms] to distract Julius, switching places from clone to clone, trying to keep him guessing. But he knew exactly which one was the real Aubrey, completely negating one of her strongest abilities.

It was just unfortunate for Julius that Aubrey’s defense was considered one of the best in their year. She took half a dozen spikes to her chest before she caught up to Julius who still had a broken leg. He tried to blast himself away with kinetic energy but Aubrey was able to keep up, using her superior speed to catch him.

However, even after she got close Lily thought it was a done deal. Julius defended very well. Lily understood from their time in Professor Keller’s class that Julius was good, but good was an understatement. He was a demon.

Julius was slower and weaker than Aubrey but he fought like a desperate animal. He had one good leg but he clawed and scratched every step of the way. He would take several strikes just to get one in. He was getting beat up by Aubrey, but he still kept fighting. Breaking both of his fists trying to break through Aubrey’s [Diamond Skin].

Lily looked over at Edgar who was watching Julius fight with unmistakable respect sparkling in his eyes. She felt like Edgar might even be rooting for Julius to win. But Lily wouldn’t ever tell Aubrey that, she might kill Edgar if she knew.

With both hands broken and on one leg, Julius had resorted to headbutts and throwing kicks with his broken leg at Aubrey, as well as the occasional construct he landed. They weren’t weak attacks either, each strike was backed with a lot of mana and kinetic energy, so Aubrey had to take them seriously. Lily just didn’t know how Julius was dealing with the pain. Even with the advanced focus skill, the pain must have still been overwhelming.

Finally, Aubrey found her opening. After Julius crashed another headbutt into her, she wrapped him up and got him into a choke hold, squeezing the air out of him. Julius struggled for a long while, but he couldn’t break her hold and she activated the automatic defenses of the simulated combat devices, quickly ending the fight.

Aubrey immediately deactivated all of her skills and looked exhausted. Julius on the other hand was still on the ground breathing rapidly through his mouth. However, Lily felt a pulse of mana course through him and she saw all the exhaustion fade away in a second, like it wasn’t ever there.

She saw Aubrey toss an astonished look at Julius, seeing how fast he recovered. They were both thinking the same thing.

What if they hadn’t had the devices on? Would Julius have been able to heal his injuries during the fight?

Lily could see Aubrey's confidence take a hit. Aubrey was one of the best of her year, but she barely beat a Tier 1. That would bother her for sure.

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Julius POV

He was so close. He caught Aubrey off guard and didn’t let her get comfortable. But her defense was insane, it rivaled Gabriel’s and she was just a Tier 3, whatever skill she had, Julius was envious and wished he had a similar one.

He used everything he could think of, but it didn’t matter, in the end, he still lost. He used [Pseudo-Phoenix Renewal] quickly to alleviate his exhaustion. He didn’t actually take any injuries but he was still tired from the fight.

He looked over at the others and saw various reactions from each of them. Edgar was smiling at him, Derek was looking at him with an indecipherable look, Kyle had a sort of look of excitement, but Julius didn’t quite know why, and Lily was openly surprised and worried.

“Phenomenal fight! That might have been one of the better fights I had seen,” Edgar said to both of them.

“Yeah, you have way too much mana for a Tier 1. I don’t know how you didn’t go dry within the first minute. Also, I want to know how you were able to know which clone was the real me,” Aubrey came up to him out of breath.

Julius could see that she was frustrated and he could understand why. It must not have felt good almost getting beat by someone two tiers below you. So he was honest with her.

“I have a perception ability that allows me to know where everything around me is. The first time you used it I was tricked, but I quickly understood that your clones don’t have the mass or substance that you do,” Julius shared with her.

He didn’t need to, considering she might be able to fix it before their next spar, but that defeated the whole point of sparring. You were supposed to refine your skills and fix any potential weaknesses. He considered Aubrey his friend, so he wanted to help her, and maybe if she meets someone with a skill like Julius’s in the future she won’t be caught off guard.

“Your skill can differentiate between masses of people and objects?” Lily asked him.

Julius nodded, he knew that Edwin had said to him that his skill was unusual but it was only now that he was beginning to realize how unusual the skill really was.

Julius watched as Aubrey was off to the side silently thinking about what he had just said. Maybe she was thinking about how she could fix it. Julius didn’t know enough about her skill, but he was guessing that it would be difficult for her to make her clones have the same physical presence as a human. Julius noticed that the aura of the clones had the same feeling as the real Aubrey, so for anyone who was trying to determine which clone was fake or not based on the aura, then it would be hard if not impossible.

Julius walked toward her, she didn’t acknowledge his approach, as she was too busy thinking. He had never tried to use life mana on another person before, but he was curious. Grabbing a small amount of life mana he manually woven it together, much like his old [Restoration] skill. He focused on his intent, envisioning the technique rejuvenating her.

It all came together surprisingly easily. It was like his soul remembered how [Restoration] worked, and slowly he formed something that resembled a healing spell. He didn’t try with [Pseudo-Phoenix Renewal] it seemed safer to try using a simpler skill. Aubrey still hadn’t noticed him, but he reached out and let the completed technique permeate into her body. Then he sat back and watched what happened.