Path to Transcendence

If Julius wanted to play it safe, he could choose [Instantaneous Step]. He had been planning to select this skill for a while, but it was only quite recently that the possibility of going with another skill presented itself.

However, now that he has seen the large number of cool-sounding options in front of him, he is no longer as interested in [Instantaneous Step] as he once was.

Like usual, he went through his normal steps of deliberating over each skill. Thus, first he looked over [Flame Blitz]. It was undoubtedly a skill derived from his fire mana proficiency. While it didn't sound like it was a skill that allowed him to teleport like [Instantaneous Step] did, the skill probably allowed him to move faster than [Flash Step] let him.

However, he wasn't looking for something like that. He still wanted something that let him reposition, rather than move faster. He still had a kinetic affinity, and while he sometimes let it fall by the wayside, he could still use kinetic energy to increase his speed.

Speaking of his kinetic energy, he felt like he needed to do some training regarding it. He truly believed that he was missing out on some of the benefits of such a useful affinity. The problem was that he didn't have anyone to teach him how to use it properly. For the majority of his other abilities, he had someone or some kind of point of reference to use to develop his skills.

However, he was pretty much on his own when it came to kinetic energy. There wasn't anyone he could go and ask for help, which meant that most of his techniques, like the kinetic restriction technique, were all self-made. He wanted to rectify that before he advanced to Tier 4, because when he advanced, his affinities would solidify into his foundation and into his Authority.

Or that was what other Tier 4s and Tier 5s had hinted at.

With that being said, he pushed [Flame Blitz] to the side and looked at the third option. [Stride of Unyielding Force] sounded quite nice. It seemed like it took some inspiration from his Will Concept and perhaps his Force Concept. The main issue he had with the skill was that he didn't really know what the skill actually did.

From what he could glean, it appeared that the skill would allow him to stride unimpeded, which could mean multiple things. But he felt that this would be very useful against techniques like his kinetic restriction technique or maybe against crowd control skills like Tia's plant magic. It also could allow him to break through barriers from his opponents, much like the one the assassin had created to trap him.

It just sounded like a skill that would let him act like a battering ram. Which, in all honesty, didn't sound all that bad. He had to admit to himself that he had a penchant to do stuff like that and the skill would likely fit his style pretty well. The only problem was that it didn't seem to have a teleportation feature, like he was hoping for a movement skill.

That meant he had to push that one to the side and look at the fourth option, [Devastating Burst]. This skill sounded very similar to [Stride of Unyielding Force], such that it was a brute force skill. He was reminded of one of his previous usages of [Flash Step], where he had used kinetic energy and exploded the area around him with each step. That could have been where he got this option from.

If that was so, he wasn't interested in it. If he had to choose, he would rather pick [Stride of Unyielding Force] instead. However, that still didn't solve his teleportation requirement, which is why he reviewed the fifth option.

Julius grinned when he saw the skill presented to him. [Short Range Teleport] was almost exactly what he wanted. He was somewhat surprised to see this option instead of the more common [Blink] skill, but he wasn't going to complain.

It sounded like this skill had more utility and was stronger overall. [Blink] was the skill that many mages chose to go with, and was a very vital skill that helped them escape bad situations. However, there were some pretty evident limitations.

The short distance each blink could transport the user was only one of them. Some of the other issues were the cooldown on the skill as well as the large amount of mana it cost to use. Both of which the user could work around in trade for its teleportation, but it was still quite costly.

He didn't know how much [Short Range Teleport] differed, but he was thinking it was better than [Blink], though he didn't know where it was worse off. Perhaps, it was slower to activate than [Blink]. Julius knew that [Blink] had a very fast activation and was one of the major benefits of the skill.

This skill was definitely one of the top choices for him so far. He didn't know how much it would help him in close combat, but it was definitely an interesting skill.

The sixth option made him pause because he didn't know what to make of it. [Spatial Shift] seemed to be something similar to [Short Range Teleport] or [Blink], but he had a feeling that it was something different.

Would it perhaps allow him to shift his body into the void, essentially making him intangible? If so, that would be quite an interesting skill to have. He was always jealous when people were able to phase right through his attacks despite their bad position.

This skill was likely offered to him because of his experimentation within the void. Or at least that was the most likely reason in his mind. It was certainly a skill that was worth considering.

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The last and final skill offered was what had really caught his eye. [Void Step] sounded like everything he wanted in an evolved skill. The "step" of the skill's name likely meant it was still related to [Flash Step] and [Instantaneous Step], but the void part was definitely an improvement.

Would this skill offer him the same movement capabilities as [Instantaneous Step] and more? Or would it be a different skill altogether? This was a skill that his gut was telling him to get. But he still hesitated. The fear of the unknown was quite strong, and he knew what [Instantaneous Step] would bring him.

This new skill though? That was quite a risk. However, was it a risk he was willing to take? That was the question.

Luckily, he didn't have to choose right away and thus he could think about it for a little bit. However, he was already making a tier list of which skills he was most interested in. [Void Step] was on top, followed closely behind [Instantaneous Step], then it was [Short Range Teleport] and [Spatial Shift] tied with each other.[Stride of Unyielding Force] and [Flame Blitz] were next, both were skills that he considered to be good, but maybe not what he was looking for. [Devastating Burst] was the only skill that he wasn't that interested in at all.

He decided to relax by walking through the gardens. It was already quite late, but the mana lamps placed all around campus made the darkness feel less eerie and more comforting. He did pass by several students who he noticed all recognized him and stopped to talk about him in hushed whispers.

His days of being unknown were long gone. Despite not winning the tournament, he had made quite a name for himself among the other students. Some things were good, and others seemed desperate to talk badly about him.

He ignored them, though, and kept on walking until he found a quiet little spot that was nicely lit up. He created a nice little chair out of mana and relaxed into its soft embrace.

While he did so, he removed the storage ring of the assassin from Clan Genshen. He made sure that he took it with him despite his lack of expectations that it held anything of real value. He also made sure to take the item that the man used to set up the barrier around himself.

That was something that Julius found much more interesting. The item had somehow been able to withstand quite a lot of damage from his attacks and was a big reason why it had taken that long to take out the assassin.

It wasn't like Julius needed it all that much, but perhaps one of the others might want it. He knew that Kyle would enjoy taking his time playing with it, trying to figure out what the enchantments did and all of that. However, it could also be a good item for Lily to have. She wasn't the most combat-inclined of people, but having something that could withstand many of Julius's blows was quite valuable.

He tucked it away, reminding himself that he should offer it to her when he saw her again, and then inspected the storage ring with his aura.

He would normally just break down the defenses of the storage ring with his aura, much like he had done with a couple of storage rings before. However, he sensed that something was wrong with the ring. There was the usual aura signature enchantment on it, but there was more.

He wasn't an expert like Kyle, but he could normally discern if something was dangerous by examining it with his mana and aura. That was why he was pretty certain that if he tried to break into the ring with brute force, it might explode or release something dangerous.

He wasn't so worried that he would get hurt by this explosion, but he would rather that the items inside didn't get destroyed. While he doubted the assassin had anything inside his ring that would tell him who had created the kill contract on Julius, there might still be something of use.

It was why he gently played around with the ring for the next hour or so. He kept on probing it, making sure that he didn't accidentally activate whatever failsafe was installed in it. However, he wasn't able to make any progress. He was still stuck exactly where he started.

It was why he was sort of thankful when he noticed a certain princess approach him from behind. She knew that he liked roaming around the garden and thus he wasn't surprised that she found him.

"What are you doing?" Reinera asked him, plopping down next to him in a lazy sprawl.

"Trying not to break into this ring without making it explode," he said with a pout.

"I'm guessing it isn't going very well," she commented, noting his downturned lips.

"Nope."

"Whose ring is it?" She asked curiously.

He shrugged. "Just some man who tried to kill me earlier today," he said plainly.

He felt her freeze beside him and slowly creak her head to look at him. "Pardon?" She asked confusedly.

He sighed and quickly explained what had happened. She also knew some of his history, not everything, but enough to understand the general gist.

"Why?" She finally asked with a shake of her head.

"Why what?"

"Why can't things ever be simple with you?" She grumbled.

He shrugged his shoulders. "Hey, I wasn't the one looking for trouble. I was just minding my own business," he pointed out.

"I swear, Lady Luck hates you. Somehow you always end up getting into these crappy situations," she said.

"You're one to talk. How many times has someone tried to kill you?" He argued.

"That's different. I am a princess, which means there is a certain expectation of people trying to kill me," she pointed out.

He was going to argue further with her, but realized that she made a good point. "Yeah, fair enough," he muttered.

She looked pleased to have come out on top and gave him a pointed look. He sighed, already knowing what she was asking for, and created another chair much like the one he was sitting on for her. Only this time, he made sure to inject it with a little more warmth to make her comfortable since she didn't have a fire affinity like him to keep her cozy in the chilly weather.

She looked at him gratefully and leaned into the chair with a satisfied groan. However, to show her appreciation, she took out some snacks and handed them to him.

He took them with a happy grin, grateful for the gift, and removed Drasil from his soul space. The little green spirit knew exactly what was happening and chimed cheerfully when Julius passed over an orb of mana.

For the next couple of hours, the three of them all relaxed in each other's company and ate delicious snacks.