Path to Transcendence

It took them some time to all get situated, but they eventually got their cards. Julius held his card close to his chest protectively. The bronze metal felt cool against his fingertips, and there was a nice hefty weight that reminded him of one of those black credit cards. The ones that rich kids would show off to everyone and their mothers.

It didn't have much on it. It was just his name, grade, and a single letter underneath. He recalled what Stephanie and her team had explained to him about adventurers' ranks. Rank E, which he was currently placed at, was the beginning of the ranking.

Each increase in rank indicated how many completed jobs you have done and how reliable you were. This also meant that some jobs were only available to higher-ranked bronze adventurers. For example, more dangerous rifts or missions required a B-rank bronze adventurer. Much like the one Stephanie and her team had been on.

There was also an enchantment inlaid into the metal which would allow the guild to scan it and make sure it was real. This was also how they would track which missions and other such jobs assigned to him.

"Are you sure you don't want to come with us?" Lily asked.

He nodded. "Yeah, I'm going to see what missions and stuff are posted. Maybe I even take one of them," he said.

She sighed. "You do realize that the Stormcallers likely have some pretty nice rifts or missions specifically for you there, right?"

"Yeah, but I would rather do my own thing," he said.

Edgar placed a hand on Lily's shoulder. "Let him do what he wants, Lily. We can meet up with him later."

She frowned but nodded. "Okay."

Julius watched as they all left to go head off to the Stormcaller's Guild and once they had left, he went over to a board that displayed all of the publicly offered jobs and missions.

There was a section specifically meant for bronze grade members. He browsed the board alongside a few dozen other people who were checking out the missions. He didn't even bother to look at the higher-ranked missions. He knew he wouldn't be allowed to go on them yet and would only serve to tease him.

For now, he wanted to work his way from E-rank so that he could apply for the more tantalizing jobs. Luckily for him, the receptionist informed him that making his way up from E-rank was quite easy. Most people could do it within a few days or so.

It was mainly there to serve as a rank for people who never did any missions and liked to register just to say they were an adventurer.

He eventually spotted a mission that didn't have any requirements and seemed like it was somewhat interesting. Plus, it wouldn't take too long, like some of the escorting missions he spotted.

The mission was just a simple gathering job. Some special herbs for potions were found just on the edge of the forest, but a warning on the mission stated that a dangerous plant nearby caused nausea if exposed to its scent, which was the reason why iron grades couldn't take it.

However, he was curious what kind of plant this could be and went over to the counter to sign up for the mission. He didn't see any harm in taking a look.

***

"Are you sure?" The receptionist asked him with doubt in her eyes.

"Yep, is there anything wrong with me taking it?" He asked, confused at her reaction.

"No, nothing wrong at all. Just surprised, most of the adventurers have been avoiding this particular area of the forest for a while."

"Because of the other plant? What is it called by the way?" He asked.

She nodded. "Yeah, it's called a Flowering Ginkon. It's actually quite beautiful, but when it blooms, it releases a sickening scent that makes anyone who smells it nauseous and throw up. Apparently, it has grown pretty wild these past few weeks and is a slightly different variation than normal. We have already asked a silver grade adventurer to remove it before it worsens."

Julius couldn't help but think that Tia might be a good person to handle that situation. Her expertise in plant magic would likely solve all the issues. Too bad she wasn't around to help.

"Are you sure you don't want to choose something else? I see that you are brand new. But don't try and rush to get to Rank D. I know the increased points are nice, but if you want, I can recommend some nice and easy missions that will raise your rank," the woman said helpfully.

He shook his head firmly. No, this Flowering Ginkon seemed interesting and would make the otherwise boring gathering mission somewhat pleasing. If he couldn't fight strong beasts yet, he would at least like to see some exciting stuff. Plus, he wanted to get an initial impression of the forest before he started to delve deeper into it.

The receptionist seemed skeptical of his refusal, but she couldn't really do anything to stop him and sighed as she registered him for the mission.

***

He was walking out of the massive walls of the town, carefully examining the enchantments and protections laid across them. They were even more impressive up close.

Just outside the walls was a vast expanse of trees. The Endless Forest, like its name suggested, was a huge forest. However, it wasn't all forest. There were large empty areas, much like you would see on the plains.

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With that being said, he spotted the huge tree line off in the distance. He wasn't the only person who was heading toward the forest either. Dozens of other adventurers were all heading toward the forest. Most of them were with a team and had all sorts of gear on them.

Thankfully, he wouldn't have to walk all the way to the forest. There were wagons running back and forth from the forest, carrying people and their gear.

He waited his turn and hopped onto a wagon with a dozen other people. It wasn't too surprising since they signed up around the same time, but he did end up spotting the same girl he had seen at the guild before. It was the girl who had been signing up in front of him, the one Aubrey had scolded for being rude.

He noticed that she recognized him as well. Not seeing a reason to ignore her since they made eye contact, he gave her a small smile, one that the girl returned.

There was also another team of young adventurers next to him. They weren't that strong, most of them at Tier 2 and only one of them at Tier 3. They seemed like a group of friends and were horsing around, joking with one another.

"What kind of mission did you choose?" A boy not much older than Julius asked him suddenly.

Julius turned to look at the boy who had asked him this. He had dark brown hair and small freckles over the bridge of his nose. He also sported a lively smile as he waited for Julius to answer.

"Just a mission to gather some herbs," he said with a polite smile.

"Ugh! Why would you ever choose that one?" One of the other boys said in disgust as if he already knew which one Julius was talking about.

"Is it that bad?" Julius asked with a tilt of his head.

"Worse. We made the mistake of choosing that one a couple of weeks ago, back when it was for iron grades and Harold couldn't stop heaving for almost an hour. We were forced to waste a healing potion to make sure he didn't get any sicker," he said while pointing at the boy who had asked Julius what mission he was going on and who Julius assumed was Harold.

He looked at Harold with pitying eyes. "That bad, huh?"

"Yeah, but I had a pretty bad reaction compared to most. Most of the others only got a little woozy. But it has been getting more dangerous, which is why it was upgraded to a bronze job."

"You only got so sick because you are a wimp," one of Harold's other friends said in jest.

"Shut up, Reg! Don't think I didn't see you run away to throw up when you didn't think anyone was watching," Harold pointed out.

"Lies!"

As the two boys continued to bicker, Julius spotted the lone Tier 3 and likely the leader of the group head over to the pretty black haired girl. Julius grinned as he watched the boy do his best to try and initiate a conversation with her.

He also had to hide the amused smirk of the boy as he subtly flashed his bronze badge, as if trying to show off for her that he was Tier 3. The girl was hiding her aura, so he didn't think the boy knew that she was Tier 3 as well.

The girl was polite, but it was obvious that she had no interest in continuing to talk with the boy. However, Julius was finding the whole thing amusing to watch. The boy was quite handsome and tall. Blonde hair and very green eyes gave him striking features. He was probably very popular with the girls back in town.

Unfortunately, the girl didn't care and eventually started to ignore the boy when he didn't get her hints. Julius found it somewhat admirable that the boy didn't give up, but he also didn't blame the girl when she finally snapped at him, telling him to leave her alone.

The blonde deflated at this and looked like a wounded puppy. His friends teased him about his failed courting attempt, which actually helped the blonde recover his energy and had him defend himself from their jokes.

Julius noticed the girl's eye lock on him for a moment. When he looked at her, she shook her head exasperatedly, like she was searching for some sympathy. To which he could only shrug. He couldn't blame the boy for trying.

Julius turned his head to focus on the quickly approaching tree line.

When they arrived at the edge of the forest, they all got off the wagon. However, Julius found himself walking toward the very edge and inspecting the weird mana fluctuations he sensed as they got closer to the forest.

He knew that the forest had some unique properties that made it dangerous and isolated, but he hadn't quite realized what people had meant until now. He didn't know how it worked, but there was some kind of weird barrier set up all around the forest. It wasn't like a normal barrier either. There wasn't anything actually hard or preventing him from entering, but there was a thin film of mana separating the forest from the outside world.

However, for some reason, the other boys didn't seem to give it any thought and entered the forest without any hesitation. Perhaps, they just couldn't sense it. They were only Tier 2 after all, and if he was being honest, it was very hard to detect.

The fluctuations were so mild that he likely wouldn't have noticed if not for his newly evolved perception skill.

He reached out his hand and pushed it past this film. It didn't take him very long before he realized that it wasn't a barrier at all. It was more like a domain.

This entire forest was like one large domain. It wasn't quite as oppressive as some of the domains he had experienced, but it had some uncanny resemblance to them. However, he wondered how something so large was constantly active. Was it powered by the life energy of the forest? Or perhaps it was from something else living inside of it? Maybe it was something totally different.

Why was something like this even active? What was the point of it?

He had no idea, but he wanted to find out.

Grinning to himself, he took a step and walked into the domain-like forest with his whole body, letting his body experience the weird tingle from the effect. Thankfully, it didn't seem to affect his skills or anything like that. If it did, he would have second thoughts about using the forest to train.

When he was walking down the trail and following the map the guild had given to him, he sensed someone trailing behind him. It was the girl again.

He turned back to look at her. "Are you following me?" He asked with a teasing grin.

She frowned. "No, this is just where my mission is taking me," she stated.

"Did you take the gathering mission as well?" He asked curiously.

He saw her nod at him firmly. "Yeah," she said, unworried about what the team of guys had just told them.

"And the guild warned you about the Flowering Ginkons?"

"The what?"

"You know, the plant that has been causing the nausea," he said to her.

"Oh, yeah. They told me something like that, but I honestly wasn't paying that much attention. I just want to rank up as quickly as possible, and they said that this mission would get me more points to rank up," she explained.

"Oh, okay. Just be safe, though. I'll be in the area, so if you find any trouble, just yell," he said before strolling away and searching for the herbs that were on his list. He could tell that the girl wanted to say something, but he wanted to see what all the fuss was about.

Also, he was hoping with [Absolute Spatial Perception] this gathering mission would be quite simple and he could be back in town before the others were done with their own thing.