Path to Transcendence

Rachel POV

It was a family tradition to send out their children on a pilgrimage of sorts. Some believed it to be an archaic practice and was more risky than what you would gain in the end, but her parents were firm believers in it. They themselves had been sent out on their own adventure when they were Tier 3. It was actually how they met each other.

Rachel didn't quite know how she exactly felt about it. On one hand, she was excited because it gave her a level of freedom that she never had before. While on the other hand, it was scary.

There wouldn't be a backup or someone to rely on if something went wrong. If she wasn't careful, it was very possible that she would die out here. Her parents knew of this as well and did their very best to train her to increase her odds of survival.

The thing that made her feel slightly less worried was that her older siblings had all gone on their pilgrimages and came back fine. Only Endo had come back with severe injuries, but thankfully her parents were able to figure out a way to heal him so he wasn't crippled for life.

It also helped that she knew she was quite strong for her age and tier. Even compared to her impressive siblings, she was considered talented. Still, she had never been exposed to any actual danger before.

Even when she delved, she often had her parents or other guards ensuring she was safe. It didn't help that Endless Forest had a notorious reputation, even all the way back home in Corvus.

While the Endless Forest was technically considered a part of the Empire's territory, everyone knew that it really wasn't. It was just too wild and hard to tame. It would cost more to civilize it and keep it managed properly than it would be worth in the long run.

But it was also a great spot to train and build her way up to Tier 4. It was where most of her siblings had come for their pilgrimage and why her parents had decided she should as well.

That said, Rachel had already seen a few people her age around Peralt. These people were likely in a similar position to her and were trying to gain some experience.

That tall brunette she had seen at the guild was a good example. Rachel was certain that she had been someone important. You didn't gain an aura like that or such sensitive aura senses without proper training. It was unfortunate that Rachel made the mistake of probing the other girl carelessly. She wasn't used to dealing with other young kids who could sense when she extended her aura.

She didn't like to brag, but she had a real talent for aura control. Even her parents, who were light on praise most of the time, assured her that she was better than most people her age.

However, it was because of this that she became much more curious about the young black haired boy who was walking ahead of her. His aura intrigued her, despite it appearing to be the aura of a normal Tier 3.

The fact that he was clearly close friends with a girl who was very talented was another thing that interested her. She had come to learn that there was always some kind of dynamic in friendships.

It was common to see the stronger person take a more dominant role in the relationship. However, she didn't see that in their relationship, and considering how brash the girl had been to her not too long ago, she believed the girl was the type to take charge if she was stronger.

Yet, she had done so, and Rachel didn't know what to make of it.

In the meantime, she kept on following the mysterious boy at a polite distance. Since they were going to be doing the same mission, she didn't see a reason why it would be weird if she followed him. It was also a perfect opportunity for her to carefully probe his aura.

She made sure to be more conscientious of her aura since the girl had caught her red-handed. That being said, she couldn't help but feel like something was off with the other young teen's aura.

At first glance, it wasn't anything different than a typical Tier 3's aura, but that was what made her very skeptical. It was too plain. There was basically no character to his aura. It was as if his aura was made up only of black and white, with no other colors.

She couldn't pick up on any of his emotions like she would expect from someone with such a lackluster aura. She would have sensed some fluctuations if he were truly that normal, even if he had a focus skill to help him.

He was too perfectly normal.

Unfortunately, she had to stop examining him so closely as they had entered the field where the herbs they were supposed to gather were. Right away, she spotted the reason why this mission was still available.

There was an intensely sickening scent wafting through the field. It didn't smell necessarily horrible like a sewer, but it was like someone had shoved her face into the most potent bottle of perfume. There was also something the scent was doing to her body. Her stomach felt jittery and began to roll around uncomfortably.

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It got bad enough that she was forced to create a barrier around herself. Once she was isolated, she used her aura to cleanse the scent from the interior of the barrier. She didn't get everything, but it was enough that the nauseous feeling dissipated, and all she was left with was a slight hint of sweetness.

This ability of hers made her comfortable enough to accept the mission despite the warnings of the guild. It was also the skill that had allowed her to delve into an undead rift a few months back with relative safety from the death mana environment. Cleansing with pure aura was a rare skill that provided her with many opportunities.

She turned to look at where the boy had walked off to and spotted him not too far away. She was curious how he was faring with the unpleasant odor and if he was okay.

However, to her surprise, she wasn't able to feel him put up a single barrier around himself. He was just navigating through the fields with a weird grin on his face and reached down occasionally to pick up some herbs without a care in the world about the scent.

She wondered if he was using some other kind of skill that she couldn't sense, but no matter how hard she inspected him, it looked like he was just enduring it without anything to help him. Perhaps, he just had a really low sensitivity to smells.

They both continued to go through the field and pick up the herbs.

It wasn't until almost half an hour had passed that she realized that her pile of herbs was much smaller than his. Of course, she couldn't actually see his pile since it was being tossed into his storage ring, but she could tell that he had been picking much more than she had. For every one she picked, she could see him plucking two or even three.

How did he manage to get so far ahead? Did he have some type of skill that allowed him to find natural treasures more easily? She knew that some crafters had similar skills, which helped them find valuable materials for their experiments.

She found herself unable to help but begin feeling a little competitive and focus a bit more on trying to gather more of the herbs than he was. She even started to pump more mana into her body to enhance her physical strength as she hustled to pick more herbs than him.

***

Julius POV

He took another deep breath of the overwhelmingly sweet odor of the flower. The flower itself was indeed just like the receptionist had told him. It had bright white petals and a bright pink center that glimmered in the sunlight.

He tried to examine the odor as he inhaled through his nose. He wasn't worried about getting sick since he had [Phoenix Renewal] to protect him if anything went wrong. He was also very curious.

The scent had a very intriguing effect. He was able to sense that there was a bit of weird mana floating in the air where the scent was most potent. It was almost like a combination of both life and death mana. There was something else as well, but he wasn't able to tell what it was. But he was suspecting it was some type of toxin.

[Phoenix Renewal] discreetly removed this toxin before he felt any side effects. It wasn't that powerful, so he wasn't worried, but he wanted to find out how it managed to hide itself so well. If not for purposefully inhaling the scent, he might have thought it was just a physical reaction to the smell. But he was quite certain it was a magical effect from the flower as it released mana into the air.

While he kept on examining this toxin, he continuously bent down and grabbed more herbs. He was almost done with the mission at this point. His perception skill made finding the correct herbs a breeze once he identified what they were supposed to look like.

He did end up shaking his head in amusement when he spotted the girl who had gotten the same mission suddenly start to pick up her speed. For some reason, she was pumping her body full of mana and was swiftly moving around the field to find more herbs.

Honestly, she was a weird one. The entire time he had been around her, she hadn't stopped looking at him when his back was turned. It didn't feel malicious, but it was still uncomfortable. However, he wasn't like Aubrey and let her be instead of calling her out on it.

He was able to sense her subtly feeling around his aura. It was much more discreet than what she had done to Aubrey and toed the line of still being polite. He suspected most people, even perhaps Aubrey, wouldn't even notice she was doing it.

He would say that only Lily would have a good chance of doing so.

Eventually, he finished up his mission and stood up, stretching his sore back. Bending over to pick the herbs was surprisingly tiresome work, and he had to stop himself from healing his soreness with his healing skill. It would be good for his stamina and his body if he allowed it to heal naturally.

He was about to get up and leave, but before he did, he reached down and picked a single Flowering Ginkon. He tucked it away in his storage ring for further inspection later, and without another glance at the girl, he started to walk away.

She was so distracted by her task that she didn't even notice him leaving.

However, just as he was leaving, he sensed something at the very edge of his perception. Feeling curious, he peeled back some of his restrictions of his skill and probed at the direction he felt it from.

He frowned when he sensed a group of men just off in the distance. Normally, that wouldn't have caught his attention, but he sensed a large pile of equipment gathered in the middle of them.

It was quite a large selection, and what was even more odd, they were already fully geared up. He wondered if they were organizing their spoils or spare equipment.

However, it wasn't his concern, and so he continued to walk to the edge of the field where he was finally able to remove himself from the sickening scent. Just because it didn't make him nauseous didn't mean it was nice to smell the entire time. It reminded him of being in a woman's department store for too long.

Unfortunately, it seemed that one of the men had detected him, and Julius saw him pointing to his teammates where Julius was.

Julius didn't see a reason to stay and wait for them, so he kept on walking. But as fate would have it, they didn't seem so keen on letting him alone, and he sensed them quickly approaching his back.

The main thing that concerned him was that they were gaining ground on him pretty easily. Two thoughts went through his mind. One thought was to just book it and run. While the other was to continue his pace and wait for them.

Who knew? Perhaps, they were nice people. And if they weren't... well, he wasn't too worried. He could protect himself.