Path to Transcendence

He was very surprised when he saw Lily, her father, and Marcus all standing outside the barrier. He hadn't been expecting to see them anytime soon. Did they perhaps leave some kind of tracking skill on him that he wasn't able to notice?

If that was the case, he needed to figure out how they did it.

He also spotted another person right beside them. It was a tall man dressed in elaborate black robes.

"Oh. Funny seeing you guys here. Were you following me?" He asked.

Lily strolled up to him and inspected his body, ensuring he was okay. She looked him in the eyes only when she had finished her examination. "Why are you out here? I thought we talked about you staying on campus when Marcus or the others aren't with you?"

He shrugged. "All of the training rooms were closed," he explained to her honestly.

She gave him a deadpan stare. "You know you don't have to train every second of the day, right? It's okay for you to just relax and sit still every once in a while."

"I did! I spent an hour this morning hanging out with Reinera, eating snacks," he pointed out.

It was the truth as well. He met up with Reinera this morning to explain where he had been for the past week and why he hadn't seen her. Thankfully, the others had let her know already, which is why she wasn't alarmed.

Reinera wasn't even that surprised by his disappearance either. When he had advanced to Tier 3, he had taken even longer. But it was still nice to catch up with her. He had found out that she would be spending the summer with her family.

Something that she was happy about, but also slightly dreaded. Apparently, there were some things she needed to take care of before she could think about coming back to Goldencrest next year.

That is, if she even wanted to. They had both talked about it, and they agreed that they had made more progress when they were off in Blumand than they had made since they got back. Thus, it might be a good idea if they didn't return.

It wasn't like he had much waiting for him at Goldencrest. The others were graduating this year anyway.

Lily shook his head at him. "An hour isn't enough. You could have hung out with the others. I know that they were planning to come down here tonight."

"Oh yeah, I walked past a bunch of fourth-years who were partying up the beach," he said while pointing to where he had seen Darren and Irene earlier.

While they had been talking, the others had walked up and stood awkwardly, looking at the craters of sand all around them.

"So who's the stranger?" He pointed at the man with his free hand, only just now remembering that he was still dragging the assassin by the hair.

Lily gave the man in question a dirty look.

"His name is Elder Kanen, and he is from Clan Genshen, the same ones who sent that piece of garbage," she said while pointing at the brutalized man.

"I didn't send that man. I had no idea about the contract until you came to me," the man from Clan Genshen stated firmly.

"Yeah, but you also won't tell us which Elder of your clan submitted the contract. Which is practically the same as covering for them," Lily pointed out.

"I would be violating my loyalty to my clan if I did."

Julius scowled at the man when he heard that he was from Clan Genshen. The only thing that kept him cool was the fact that he just said that he didn't have anything to do with the recent attacks. Julius didn't know if he believed him, but the fact that the man was here with Lily gave some credence to his words.

Julius also couldn't help but pick up on the fact that this Clan Genshen person didn't speak up when Lily said it was another Elder who ordered the mission. Was it on purpose? Or was it for another reason?

It didn't matter. His biggest concern remained with the man he was still holding on to. What was he going to do with him? He had been planning just to kill him, but was that still the best decision with everyone now here?

"What should I do with this man?" He asked Lily.

She looked at the assassin and back toward the elder. "We can keep him and try to squeeze out his secrets."

"I can't allow you to do that."

Julius swung his head at the tall man who interrupted them. "Pardon?"

"I can't let you just take one of our members and torture him for information," The Clan Genshen representative said firmly.

"He's the one who attacked me, and now you want me to just hand him over to the people who sent him?" Julius asked slowly, as if he couldn't quite understand the man's audacity.

"I understand your plight and am sorry on behalf of Clan Genshen, but I cannot let you take this man. Not when I am present," the elder said, sounding genuinely sympathetic, but still took steps toward Julius and the man he had gripped by the hair.

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Lily's father decided that this was the moment he needed to step in. "Don't do that," the Lord of House Violet said warningly. Marcus was right beside his Lord, oozing his aura threateningly.

The Clan Genshen Elder stopped in his tracks, taking heed of the warning, and turned to look at Lily's father. "You of all people must understand that I have a duty to my Clan and its members. Clan Genshen will pay the appropriate cost to House Violet for this matter. I will ensure it," Elder Kanen promised with a bowed head.

The words sounded nice to the ears and seemed sincere. But there was one problem. It wasn't House Violet who was attacked.

Julius took a challenging step forward with the assassin still gripped tightly in his fingers. "You seem to misunderstand something."

The Elder of Clan Genshen glanced at him and tilted his head. "And that is?"

Julius's eyes glowed red, and barely controlled anger from affecting his tone. "This man isn't House Violet's to give. He attacked me, and I beat him, which means it is my decision what I do with this man. Not theirs and certainly not fucking yours."

He saw the elder's stoic disposition crack just a bit at his brazen words. "Careful, boy. While you are undoubtedly the offended party in this situation, mind your manners. I am not some peasant child you can scold carelessly."

Julius felt the warning pulse of aura from the man, confirming Julius's previous suspicion that he was a Tier 5.

"No, you are just the person who is an Elder of a Clan who has been trying to assassinate me," Julius shot back.

"I told you that I am not involved in this mission."

"No? But you are protecting the person who tried to kill me and won't say which elder is behind it. Sounds like you are an accomplice who is trying to sweep your Clan's mistake under the rug."

"My Clan will pay the appropriate price for the unfortunate situation. I have already promised as much to Lord Violet during our discussion. We will also pay an additional price for this recent attempt. But that is contingent on you handing that man over to me," Elder Kanen said unyieldingly while pointing at the injured assassin.

Julius couldn't help but laugh boisterously at the elder. "Yeah, that's not happening."

He wasn't willing to let this man go, especially not when the man had already seen many of Julius's skills. He wanted to keep his healing skill secret for as long as possible, and if he let this man go, he would surely tell his Clan about it.

"That wasn't a request, boy," The elder said, his patience cracking a little bit.

"Mind yourself, Elder Kanen. It would do you good to remember that the boy is correct. He was the one who beat this assassin by himself. Which also means he has the right to decide what he wants to do. If you try to take away this right, then House Violet will have no choice but to respond," Lord Violet said, the threat clear.

Elder Kanen gave an exasperated look at Lord Violet. "Why are you going so far for this boy? I am willing to pay for Clan Genshen's misunderstanding, but are you willing to fight us over a single boy?"

Lily's father didn't waver for a moment. "Without a doubt."

"Why? Because he is your daughter's friend? I heard you were a logical man who valued rationale and the greater good rather than emotional responses. You're not living up to that reputation."

"I apologize if I failed to live up to your expectations, but my answer remains the same. Clan Genshen will give a satisfactory payment for this transgression, and if you insist on taking this member, we will be forced to fight back," Lord Violet said seriously.

Julius saw Elder Kanen examine Lord Violet and Marcus, who were both Tier 5s. It almost seemed like he was tempted to give it a go. Julius could sense that it wasn't even Lord Violet that the man seemed worried about. It was Marcus whom the elder seemed most concerned about.

To be fair, Marcus was a scary person. He wouldn't have wanted to tango with the big Tier 5. Even with one arm, Marcus was intimidating. His reputation was also quite terrifying.

This was likely why Elder Kanen decided that it wasn't a good choice to fight and backed down.

"So what? I have to tell my Clan that I allowed one of our members to be seized while I just sat around and watched?"

Lily's father shook his head. "You can tell them that you weren't in time to stop the mission, but when you arrived, the assassin was already taken care of, and that there wasn't anything you could do. That way, you aren't technically lying to the elders or others. After all, they should understand, there is always the risk of dying during these missions."

Elder Kanen gritted his teeth, realizing that he didn't have many other options. "Fine," he grunted out.

Lord Violet nodded and was about to say something to Julius, but Elder Kanen continued talking. "However, I can't let you keep him as a captive."

Julius frowned. "I thought we just discussed that handing him over isn't an option."

"I am not saying you have to hand him over. But I am not going to allow House Violet to dig through his mind and torture him until you find everything you can wring out through his vows."

"So then what are you saying?" Lily asked, sounding confused.

She didn't seem to know what the man was asking, but Julius and her father both realized what he was alluding to. She must have sensed something from their emotions because she looked doubtfully toward them all.

"Wait? Are you actually serious?" She asked Elder Kanen.

He nodded. "Yes, this is my only requirement. Otherwise, I will fight and while I might lose, that is what I am prepared to do."

Lord Violet nodded and looked at Julius, letting him know with a single glance that they should take this offer. Julius readily agreed, after all, he had already been planning to kill the man before they all arrived.

Lord Violet seemed to sense his agreement and walked over to Julius, planning to kill the assassin himself. "I will handle it, there's no need to concern yourself," he said softly to Julius as he was helping Julius avoid a tough task.

However, the man was mistaken. Julius wasn't concerned about dirtying his hands, and he waved him away.

Then, before the Clan Genshen Elder could change his mind, Julius sent a massive pulse of kinetic energy through his palm and straight into the assassin's skull.

Once he made sure he was dead, he purposefully ignored the surprised looks on everyone's faces. Perhaps, they didn't expect a boy his age to kill another person with so little compunction.

The only person who didn't seem surprised was Marcus.

Julius then bent down and removed the ring from the assassin's finger. He felt the elder make a move to prevent him, but he looked up and gave the man a challenging stare. Daring the man to try and stop him. But in the end, the elder backed off after one last glance at Marcus, who was standing off to the side.

Julius would have to make sure to thank Marcus later on. It was always nice when someone strong had your back. He doubted things would have gone as smoothly without him here.