Path to Transcendence

All three of them were back at the training yard. It was one of many around the estate, which was why Edwin and Julius were left undisturbed most of the time. However, it seemed like between the time they were last out here and did the ritual, someone had decided to use it as well.

There were two people training. One was a young teenager who looked a little older than Julius and another man who looked around his early twenties. The older man was carefully guiding the younger teen through some sword forms, correcting his feet and posture as needed.

The two of them hadn’t noticed Julius and the others, but Julius took the time to observe the younger one. While Julius wasn’t an expert on sword fighting, he was still able to see gaps in the way the young teen moved around. The biggest thing that jumped out, was how robotic and stiff the teen moved. It seemed like there were a specific number of forms to the style he was learning, but since he seemed relatively new to it, he wasn’t able to smoothly transition between each position.

Finally, the older man took notice of them and immediately looked at his uncle. He then stopped the young teen from practicing and bowed deeply at the waist.

“Greetings, Patriarch. I wasn’t aware you would be using the training yard at this time. I apologize, we will continue elsewhere.” The man said.

Lukas smiled at the man and said, “Don’t worry about it, Frederick. There is plenty of room for all of us. I see that you are showing Tristan the Imperial Sword Art.”

The man, Frederick, smiled as he turned back to the teen. “Yes, I am teaching my son the forms before he sets out to Goldencrest Academy. I know he will be taught the style once he begins his learning there, but I wanted him to get some familiarity beforehand.”

Lukas directed his attention to the young teen. “Oh yes, I heard you managed to get into Goldencrest. Getting into one of the most prestigious academies is quite an achievement.”

Julius had heard of Goldencrest Academy. It was one of the most illustrious academies on the entire continent. There were also academies like Brightwood and Reyton that were talked about with the same reverence, but many agreed that Goldencrest trained the most powerful combatants on the continent.

“So when are you two leaving?” Lukas asked them.

“We are leaving tomorrow, the entrance ceremony takes place in several weeks, but I wanted to show Tristan around Heston beforehand,” Frederick replied.

Heston was a wonderful city that was placed in the southeastern regions of the empire right off the coast. Surrounded by gigantic stone cliffs that protected it from the sea and weather, it was a city that was famous for its beauty. Julius had read that the sunsets were what the academy was named after. It was said that when the sun crested over the horizon in the morning, it would hit the golden structure of the academy and illuminate the early dawn with a gorgeous light, able to be seen from miles away.

Goldencrest was at the top of Julius’s list of academies that he had really wanted to go to. However, Goldencrest was infamous for its high standards. They only accepted a thousand or fewer students every year and every student had either perfect or excellent affinities. Even those with excellent affinities had to go through extensive examination before acceptance. Only those with perfect affinities were guaranteed a spot at their school. It was probably going to be difficult since he only had high affinities. It wasn’t that he thought he was weaker than the other students, but most schools place a heavy emphasis on affinity. Although William Prashe was an example of being able to overcome your affinity, in reality, there weren’t many William Prashe in the world.

Suddenly, Julius was brought back to reality because someone was calling his name. He looked around and saw that his uncle was calling him over. His uncle probably wanted him to meet some of his family.

Right then he just realized that this would possibly be the first time he meets someone in his family other than Lukas. He didn’t even get to say hello once to Gregor before Lukas erased him.

“Julius, I want you to meet Frederick and his son, Tristan. Tristan is going to Goldencrest, so they are leaving tomorrow.” Lukas explained to Julius.

Julius had already decided to feed into his reputation as an odd boy beforehand. It was easier, people around the estate had already heard of his escapades so they had some expectations already and Julius wasn’t going to correct them on it. He was amazed at how differently people treated and talked to him when they thought he was a little “special”. And based on how Tristan was looking at him like he would a cute pet, he had heard some rumors already. Plus, Julius found it amusing to mess with others like this.

Putting on his acting hat, Julius walked over with an expression of awe on his face and said with a higher-pitched voice than normal, “Wow! You must be really strong Dillion! I heard that only the best of the best make it in Goldencrest.” Julius could see Edwin putting a hand to his face and shaking his head with [Spatial Perception].

Tristan didn’t know how he should react. On one hand, his name wasn’t Dillion, but on the other hand, he was flattered because Julius was right, only the best went to Goldencrest. Tristan had heard things about the son of the Patriarch’s late brother. The workers and those who had been around him, all described him as a kind boy, just missing a few pieces upstairs. So Tristan couldn't get upset if Julius didn’t get his name right on the first try.

With a patient look, Tristan said to Julius, “My name is Triss-stan,” emphasizing each syllable. “And, yes only the best go to Goldencrest. I have dual excellent affinities for sun and air.” Tristan stated proudly.

To be fair, that was something to be proud of. Dual excellent affinities were highly desirable and with sun being one of them, doubly so. Julius wasn’t jealous in the slightest.

With that being said, Julius was slightly surprised to find out that Tristan didn’t seem that bad. His uncle had told him stories about some of the other children around the estate and how spoiled they acted. If Lukas was to be believed, some of them were downright terrors. But Tristan could have also been acting nice because the House’s Patriarch was a few feet away.

“You are so cool! I want to go to Goldencrest too when I’m older.” Julius said.

“Yeah? Well, I wish you luck, the examination was brutal.” Tristan said.

Frederick, who was off to the side next to Julius’s uncle asked Lukas, “It seems like Julius has reached Tier 1 already. Has he found out his affinities yet?”

Lukas nodded his head and replied, “Yes, he has high affinities in fire, life, and kinetic.”

“Kinetic?” Frederick repeated with a surprised expression. “That is quite a unique affinity, hard to train, but very rare. No excellent affinities?”

Julius looked over at Tristan and noticed Tristan’s face change the slightest upon hearing that. It was known that those from established families had better chances of awakening an excellent affinity, but Julius wasn’t considered a genius on that front. But he was curious why Tristan had that reaction. Maybe he was disappointed at hearing of Julius's affinities.

“No, unfortunately not,” his uncle replied.

“Yes quite unfortunate,” Frederick said with regret. “But with his life affinity, he could have a future as a healer.”

The two of them continued to talk about small things and with Tristan paying attention to their conversation, Julius found an opening to leave quietly.

He went over to Edwin who was off to the side and looked at him with pleading eyes. Edwin, being the smart man he was, knew what that look was for. Sighing dramatically, he took Julius over to the other side of the yard and sat him down.

Julius wanted to learn how to generate his affinity attributed mana. He could feel multiple distinct mana signatures in his core, but he didn’t know what to do with them. Luckily, Edwin already predicted what he was going to ask.

“The main thing you have to do is identify which mana is which. After that, it becomes a decision on what types you want to keep in your core.” Edwin explained to Julius.

“I was thinking about keeping fire, life, and kinetic. What do you think?” Julius asked Edwin for his opinion.

“I wouldn’t keep kinetic. It is undoubtedly a versatile affinity, but House Hyperius doesn’t have the resources to help you. I also don’t know if the academies have much on it either. Take it from someone like me who chose shadow even though there wasn’t much on it.”

Julius had thought about that. There weren’t many places he could learn about kinetic, it would just be him blindly finding his way. However, he thought that maybe with his knowledge from his previous world, there was a better chance of understanding it. He also liked the idea of three mana types, instead of one or two. He always believed three was a lucky number.

“I’m going to keep all three, I believe that I can find a way to make it work,” Julius said with more confidence than he really felt.

“Okay,” Edwin said. Julius expected more of an attempt to convince him otherwise. “I don’t think it is a bad decision, if you find a way to do it, kinetic will fit you very well in the later stages of your path. Also, in the end, it is a personal preference, and I made the same decision.” Edwin said.

Julius nodded at Edwin, “Thank you for understanding.”

Julius then started to meditate, using [Focus] to concentrate on each mana signature. He noticed that each one had a distinct feeling, and some were much more noticeable than others. For example, his fire affinity was obvious, it was hot, almost burning him when he touched it with his senses. Another that stood out was a soothing light that exuded a vibrancy of life and hope. He could tell instantly tell it was his life affinity. Kinetic on the other hand was difficult. If he didn’t already know it was kinetic, he wasn’t sure he could guess it.

The best way he could describe it was, forceful. He could feel it vibrating with energy, just waiting to be released. He also took the time to feel his other affinities. He checked on his water and air affinities and realized why the rating of your affinity mattered so much. Compared to his other high affinities, they both seemed dull. For his three high affinities, he could instinctually feel what they wanted to do and connect with them on a deep level. But for water and air, they just felt like a pane of glass separated them from him. Light was even worse. He could barely notice its presence, it was similar to a small grain of uncooked rice in a bowl of cooked rice. It took him a while to find it, and if he wasn’t looking for it, he wouldn’t have seen it.

After getting a good sense of each of his affinities, he got to work on the easier part. Separating what he wanted to keep and what he didn’t. It was a simple process. His core worked in tandem with his intent, so if he wanted to get rid of affinity-attributed mana in his core, it would automatically remove it.

He didn’t know how long he sat there, but by the end of it, he had three distinct kinds of mana in equal quantities in his core. Edwin had mentioned that once he decides which affinities to focus on, his core will generate mana on its own. He also had a notification awaiting him.

[Focus] has reached threshold. [Focus lvl 7 -> Focus lvl 8]

That was a nice surprise. He was looking forward to what kind of evolutions his skills would go through once he reached level 10.

When Julius opened his eyes, he noticed Edwin sitting next to him reading a book on a chair he got from who knows where. Lukas on the other hand wasn’t anywhere to be seen, neither were Frederick and his son. They must have left while Julius was meditating.

“How long was I out?” Julius asked Edwin.

Edwin took a moment to finish whatever sentence he was at and looked at Julius. “Around an hour, give or take.”

“Not too bad, we still have time before dinner, wanna spar for a bit?” Julius asked with a smile.

Edwin didn’t say anything in return, but he did stand up and touch the chair with his hand. The chair then disappeared into what was probably some sort of spatial storage device. Edwin then walked over to the center of the yard and waited for Julius.

Julius didn’t waste much time and joined him. They started slow, like usual. Then they quickly picked up the pace. Julius was still amazed at how well his body felt and reacted now that he formed his core.

It was still challenging to keep up with Edwin because he had adapted his strength to better match Julius. However, unlike their usual spars where neither talked except after an exchange, Edwin was advising Julius constantly, even while throwing punches or avoiding strikes.

“Your kinetic affinity goes well with your current style of fighting, you just need to figure out how to infuse your strikes with it now,” Edwin said while demonstrating how he infused his own fist with shadow mana before lashing out trying to hit Julius with it. “You have three affinities, which is going to be difficult to train. But I’m not worried about that, you have the work ethic to pull it off. The real struggle is going to be combining your use of the three of them.“ Edwin finished saying before using a tendril of shadow mana to trip Julius’s leg and land a hard kick to his side.

Even as Julius landed on the hard ground Edwin continued his advice. “I would start with a basic idea for each of them. Fire can be your long to mid-range attack, kinetic can be your close-range, and life can be your utility. Eventually, you will learn to use all of them regardless of the situation. We can work on your fire later, right now let's focus on the other two.”

Julius managed to find his way back to his feet with a grunt.

“Grab ahold of your life mana, and try to infuse it into your body. Try concentrating on the thought of it rejuvenating and healing you.” Edwin commanded Julius.

Julius did as he was instructed. He controlled some life mana and directed it to permeate his entire body while thinking of each unit of mana healing his cells. It was easy to imagine. After all, Edwin had been healing him for years.

Julius realized that Edwin when healing him wasn’t quite using life mana before. Julius’s life mana was much more invigorating than Edwin’s mana. It was like he was dunked in an ice bath. His body still hurt from the thrashing, but he didn’t feel as tired anymore. It was a small but noticeable difference.