Path to Transcendence

Chapter 255: Rolus

Julius was completely overwhelmed. There were so many people running around that his [Spatial Perception] was running in overdrive trying to keep up, trying to inspect every person within its reach. It got so bad that he didn’t even attempt to find this Rolus person with the skill. Instead, he used the old-fashioned way.

His eyes.

Sadly, that didn’t exactly make things easier. He still wasn’t able to find Rolus in this mess. Thankfully, he managed to come across some nice people who helped him. The woman and the handsome man next to her pointed him in hopefully the right direction.

If they hadn’t, who knew how long he would have spent searching.

Maybe he would get to see them again if they were a part of the caravan as well. That would give him the opportunity to thank them more properly next time.

With new determination in his eyes, he followed the women’s directions and eventually came to a section that wasn’t as crowded as the others.

At the center of it stood a single wagon, but it was hard to call it a wagon. It was more like a small house than anything else.

As a matter of fact, it reminded him of one of those large camper RVs from his old world.

He felt pretty confident that this was the so-called ‘main wagon’ she had mentioned. Additionally, he spotted the reason why Richard and Rebecca had been so confident that he would know who Rolus was the moment he saw him.

There was one aura that stood out from the rest. It was a large looming aura that emanated strength and fortitude, unlike many other auras he had ever sensed before. The person was obviously Tier 4, which was the most obvious hint.

But he was even more convinced this was Rolus when he spotted the humongous sword strapped across the back of the man.

Most people didn’t keep their weapons out it they had access to a storage ring. Sometimes it was just quicker to take a weapon out of their ring instead of unsheathing it. However, there were times when people preferred to keep their weapons on their person. This Rolus guy must have been this way. Otherwise, he couldn’t figure out why he kept such a cumbersome weapon on him the entire time.

Julius tried to walk around and get a good look at the man. Since he was staring at the man’s back, all he could see was the hulking sword.

When he finally got a good look at the man, he was startled. The man wasn’t as tall or large as he had been expecting.

In his mind, he had already been imagining a giant of a man. Someone who would fit the stereotype of someone who would carry such a weapon. But instead, he was greeted by a man who couldn’t have been much larger than himself.

Now that he was looking at this Rolus, he couldn’t help but think the visual was a bit comical. The sword was bigger than the person who was swinging it. As such, he couldn’t help but be curious about how the man was able to use such a weapon with any type of proficiency.

With that being said, Julius had no doubt about the man’s strength. The man was a genuine Tier 4 and going off his aura, was someone who was likely stronger than Dustin.

With little hesitation, he walked toward the man who was surrounded by a number of other individuals.

Most of these people had sheets of paper and seemed like they were in charge of logistics and the general running of the operation. Julius observed as the man with the large sword, handled all of these people with patience and expertise.

The man was in complete control as he pivoted from one person to the next. Fluidly directing his members with efficiency.

It wasn’t until Julius noticed that nobody else was coming up to the man that he finally made his approach.

“Hello,” he spoke out to the man as he got within a few feet.

The man turned to him with furrowed brows, probably confused as he had no idea who Julius was. Upon closer inspection, Julius was able to see more of the man’s features. His face was quite ordinary. Not handsome but not ugly, he had short cropped hair, but what really stood out were the scars littered over the man’s face and neck.

Viscous ropes of scars wove throughout his skin and gave the man a much more fierce look to him.

“What can I do for you, Sonny?” The man asked.

Julius gave his best friendly smile. “You’re Rolus correct?”

“That’s right.”

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He nodded in relief. “Perfect, I was supposed to find you and give this to you,” he said while passing over a letter he had gotten from Richard.

Rolus gave a curious look at the letter and gently took it from his hands, opening it up after he did.

Julius watched as the man swiftly reviewed the letter’s contents. While he was reading, the man looked up to give Julius a few surprised glances. When he was finally done, he folded the letter back up and handed it back to Julius.

“So you’re Julius, huh? I didn’t think you would be so… young,” Rolus said slowly.

“What did they tell you?” He asked.

The man gave the immediate surroundings a look before answering. “They explained the general details of the mission and your part in it. I can’t say I necessarily agree with the idea, but I am also not the person making the decisions.”

“But I can come along, right?”

The man chuckled. “I couldn’t stop you even if I wanted to. You got permission from the big guys, so, by all means, come along. But just know that there is a very real possibility of you getting hurt or even dying. I hope they explained this to you before you accepted the job.”

Julius gave an amused grin. “Trust me, they made sure I knew about the dangers.”

Rolus nodded understandingly. “Then you will get no problems from me. Just try not to cause any trouble while you are with us and we will get along just fine,” the man said with a half smile. But the scars on his face made the smile a little less assuring and he couldn’t help but notice the almost dismayed look on the man’s face.

Julius ignored it though and gave another smile with a thumbs up. “You won’t get any trouble from me. I am only here just in case something happens. Who knows, maybe we can get to our destination without any problems.”

Rolus didn’t say anything but simply gave him a stony smile in return.

***

Rolus POV

Rolus watched as the boy walked away with an anxious expression on his face.

He didn’t understand what the Marquis was thinking. Rolus had been working for Casidus Easten for almost ten years now, and he was always grateful for it.

Not everyone was able to get such a good job as he did. He worked his way from a simple guard to now running transportation and protection for House Easten. And the entire time, he had never disagreed with the House’s plans or behaviors.

Unlike many of the other noble houses, House Easten was an honorable sort. They treated their workers great and compensated them well. However, for the first time, he couldn’t help but feel a little bit of irritation toward them.

In what world did they believe sending a green Tier 3 along with the caravan on a bait mission was smart?

He didn’t care who the boyʼs family was or his connections. They were most likely going to be attacked by Tier 4s and many other Tier 3s on their way to Greenwich. It was almost a guarantee considering how valuable the materials this particular caravan was carrying.

They were hoping that the Conclave wouldn’t be able to resist making an attempt on this trip. It was why they had employed some of the best Tier 3 mercenaries, adventurers, and retainers they could.

They were undoubtedly going to lose some people, but it was all in the hopes of trying to capture some of the Conclave’s members. Something they have failed to do so far.

Hence, when he was told there would be a backup weapon that would protect the group so that reinforcements could come he was relieved. If they could limit their losses by even a couple of men, it would be a blessing.

However, when the boy showed up and gave him that letter, he didn’t know what to feel anymore.

He had been expecting some monstrous Tier 3 to come and help them. Instead, all they got was some kid who couldn’t have been much older than his daughter.

Not only that, but the boy’s aura was weak. While it could have easily been some sort of item or skill that hid his aura’s strength, there was a lack of hardness in it that skills or items were unable to hide.

He doubted this boy had fought in many battles so far. After all, he was too young to be a Tier 3. He had no doubt that the boy advanced recently.

“What was that about?” Adrian, his second-in-command asked, approaching after the boy, Julius left.

He turned to his friend. “That was our backup,” he said with a deadpan expression.

“What? Him? I thought they were sending someone strong, not some boy,” Adrian growled out in a hush.

“Me too.”

“Do you think there’s some sort of noble politicking involved?” Adrian threw out.

“I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that was the case here. But House Easten normally doesn’t let stuff like that affect the important stuff. It seems out of character for them,” Rolus pointed out.

“Yeah, but can you think of any other reason why they would send us a kid?”

He tried to think of a reason but came up empty and shook his head.

Adrian sighed. “I hate politics. Some elder or noble thought they could send their son with us as a way to gain easy experience or worse, try and get the boy killed.”

“I doubt it’s the latter. He knew exactly why he was here,” Rolus told him.

“Wait so he knows that we are all bait?”

Rolus nodded.

“And he’s okay that we are likely going to be attacked by a group of Tier 4s and Tier 3s?”

Rolus nodded again.

“Okay, now I am confused too,” Adrian said with a frown.

Rolus turned to his friend and slapped a hearty hand onto his shoulder. “It doesn’t matter if the boy is going to help us or not. The only thing we need to focus on is making sure we protect as many people as we can while also trying to find the bastards who have been attacking us these past months.”

Upon hearing that, Adrian also steeled his face. “Oh trust me, I am going to show those assholes they messed with the wrong people.”

The two of them knew better than most about the damage this Conclave group has been causing. They have lost more than half a dozen friends who have been attacked and wanted nothing more than to put an end to this now.

This was their best chance at getting some revenge and some answers. And the two of them didn’t really have the time to focus on finding out why they were sent a boy. There were more important things they had to think about.