Path to Transcendence

Chapter 409: Meeting Cain

He didn’t come running over, but Julius could see a drastic change in the man’s attitude. It was like he was injected with a good nightʼs sleep. Julius and Freya waited until Cain finished up the class, sitting on one of the benches at the side of the room.

When everyone had finally left the room, Cain came over to them. The first thing he did was give his wife a big hug and kiss on the lips.

“Well, this is a surprise. You never come and visit me during one of the classes,” Cain said with a bright smile.

“Doren came over today,” Freya went straight to the point.

Cain froze, and his face twitched with irritation. “Say what again?”

“He came over and I agreed to help him,” she said.

“Why in the nine hells would you decide to do that?” Cain asked in bafflement.

“Because I don’t think we would be getting the worst of the deal,” she explained.

“What deal?”

She pointed over at where Julius was standing awkwardly.

“Seriously? Does it look like we need more useless talent to train?”

“I already agreed to help train him, so be a little more respectful, dear,” she gently rebuked him.

He scratched his head and took the reproach. “Sorry, but still, why did you agree? Wait… what do you mean that you already accepted to train him? Isn’t he a warrior? I can sense his body enhancement already running as we speak,” Cain said with a quick glance at Julius.

“He has a Phoenix Concept,” she said, like that would explain everything.

Surprisingly, it appeared like it actually did. Cainʼs defensive attitude towards Julius had dissipated, and he was intrigued instead.

“Hold up, can we stop just spouting my secrets like this? My Concept isn’t something Iʼd like people to know casually. Didn’t you already admit that plenty of people would love to have someone with a Phoenix Concept?”

“Are you really worried about one of us kidnapping you?” Freya asked flatly.

“Not you, obviously. I am more—” He was cut off suddenly because he felt someone move close to him. He almost leapt back in surprise when he was face to face with the enormous man. Up close, he was even larger than he initially believed.

“Um, can I help you?” He said slowly, having to look up to see the man’s eyes.

“So I am guessing you use your Concept to let you heal while you fight up close?” Cain asked excitedly.

“Um, yes.”

“Can I see it in action?”

Julius didn’t know how to answer. He had a feeling that there was some caveat if he agreed. It almost looked like Cain wanted to hurt him just to see his skill personally.

“I would like to see it as well,” Freya added before Julius could say no.

Julius was about to argue, but he also understood that if these people were going to be helping him, he would need to show them at some point. It was funny, it was like it had already been decided that he would stay here.

It wasn’t like his ride was here anymore. Doren had run away, back to who knows where.

“Sure,” he said defeatedly.

“Great! Here, let me help you out,” Cain said excitedly with a very dangerous glint in his eyes. Before Julius could do anything, he suddenly found himself wobbling off balance. He quickly realized the reason when he saw that he was now without an arm.

In a display of speed that he wasn’t able to react to, Cain had removed his entire arm in a single blink. What was even more odd was that he didn’t feel the pain that much. Even the small amount he was subjected to was easily taken care of by his focus skill. Cain must have done something to suppress the pain, which was the only silver lining.

Still, he didn’t appreciate it at all.

“What the fuck?” He yelled out and threw out a blast of kinetic energy at Cain angrily. The burst of energy didn’t even reach Cain; it was like a massive black hole swallowed it up. It was only then that Julius realized that Cain had an entire field surrounding him.

Not even his perception skill had been able to pick up on it until this field had absorbed his kinetic energy.

“Huh, I can see why Doren sent him over,” Cain said to Freya in a whisper. The woman seemed to have the same opinion of Julius, and he could feel her aura pulse angrily as she stared at her husband.

”What did I say about ripping peopleʼs arms off suddenly?” She asked softly and dangerously.

Cainʼs eyes widened. ”Umm...”

”Apologize,” Freya commanded him.

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Cain didnʼt dare to argue and bowed deeply toward the one-armed Julius with the offending limb still dangling in his hand. ”Iʼm deeply sorry, I just thought with your healing and your focus skill, you wouldnʼt experience that much pain, and I was excited to see how it worked.”

Julius took a calming breath. To be fair, the pain wasnʼt that bad at all. Whatever the man had done, it helped alleviate what little pain he would have experienced. It was more frustrating that someone had just reached out and plucked off his arm like one would do to a spiderʼs leg.

It was weird, but he was more curious as to how the man had sensed the skills and come to that conclusion.

Julius eventually let out a sigh. “What do you mean you see why Doren sent me over?” He asked, wondering what Cain was talking about. His missing arm could be forgotten for the time being.

Cain seemed relieved that Julius was holding a grudge and nodded. “Your control is quite… mediocre,” Cain said bluntly. “But your ability to handle a lot of it is quite impressive,” he noted as well.

“Yes, I believe that his healing skill has allowed him to use more kinetic energy than his body would normally be able to handle. He is likely able to heal whatever damage he takes when overloading his body and spirit. However, it is also probably the reason why he has so many bad habits,” Freya commented as well.

Neither of them seemed particularly concerned that Julius was dripping blood from a missing limb onto the floor.

“Excuse me,” he said, annoyed at their lack of concern, and waved his missing arm at them, purposefully throwing some of his blood at them. Cain used the arm he had removed as a shield to block the blood.

“Well, it is good to see that you have a powerful focus skill. It is always easier to train people with a focus skill,” Cain said with a smile. His rugged features made it look more menacing, but he seemed genuinely relieved.

Julius didn’t bother trying to talk to either of them anymore. He activated [Phoenix Renewal] to heal himself. The flesh of his limb glowed with soft flames, and his arm was regenerated in a matter of a few seconds.

“Wait, I wasn’t paying attention,” Cain said to him and made a small move to get closer to Julius.

“Don’t even think about it,” Julius said, stepping back and fueling every single one of his skills to the max. His flesh was burning and peeling away from the power he was channeling through his body.

“What? You think I would rip off your arm again?” Cain had the gall to ask while currently holding onto the arm he had just ripped off.

Julius’s stare was enough to communicate that with a single look toward the offending limb.

“That was a one-off,” Cain argued and tossed Julius’s arm to the side like a piece of trash.

Julius frowned and quickly shot a controlled burst of fire mana at the limb, burning it to ashes. He had learned better than to leave chopped-off limbs in random areas. He had done that a couple of times already and had likely given the poor janitor a heart attack several times.

“So what now?” He asked.

Cain smirked at him. “You can tone down the skills. Let’s talk, huh?”

Julius rolled his eyes. So now he wanted to talk. Just mere moments ago, he had wanted to see his healing skill so badly that he had torn off his arm. He couldn’t imagine what Cain would like to talk about now.

He was starting to believe that coming here was a bad idea.

***

Julius woke up and looked around. He rubbed his eyes sleepily and fell back into the warm embrace of the bed. After the three of them had talked, they had decided on a preliminary plan on how they were going to train Julius.

Apparently, Cain had been very interested to see how a warrior with a healing skill as powerful as a phoenix aspected one would develop. The man had explained to Julius that he had a small healing skill of his own, but it had always paled in comparison to his wife’s healing magic.

He peeled Drasil from his forehead, where the little green spirit had found his way in the middle of the night. Julius had treated the glutton to a big meal before bed, and the fellow had passed out quickly afterward.

He took some more time, enjoying the lovely bed, and gazed out of the window of the room he had been given. The snow was still gently falling from the sky, and the morning sun was glimmering over the horizon.

As he was taking his time, he remembered that he had some notifications that he hadn’t checked.

[Armaments of the Arcane lvl 18 -> lvl 19]

[Absolute Spatial Perception lvl 6 -> lvl 7]

[Void Step lvl 6 -> lvl 7]

There werenʼt as many as he had been hoping. But to be fair, he had already earned so many levels in a short amount of time. His skills were already so advanced that he would likely start to see some of his growth stalling the closer he got to legendary rank. He wondered if it was even possible for a Tier 3 to evolve a skill to that rank.

As he dusted off the drowsiness, he did his usual exercises to control his mana and aura. They were so ingrained in his mind that he was able to do them while half asleep. He could have used [Sage of Savagery] and [Phoenix Renewal] to wake him up, but he didn’t want to rely too much on them. He had already learned his lesson the hard way.

Once he felt more awake, he got up and put on the uniform Freya had given to him. It was the same white robes that the other students were wearing.

Speaking of students, he found out a little more about this place. The mountain where the city was located was called Auraulos Peak. Thus, the city was commonly referred to as Auraulos. As he suspected, the formation that protected the area had been around for many centuries, which was why people had settled there.

The place where Freya and Cain lived was a little place they had created together, called the Shattered Winter School. The couple had formed this school to train those who had a kinetic affinity, healing magic, and other skills. He had no clue why they had named it that way, and when he had asked, they hadn’t given him a clear response. They simply said that it was a name they made on a whim.

Freya had a group of healers whom she and her assistants taught. It wasn’t as large as Goldencrest, but there was a surprising number of students who were there. Furthermore, there were plenty of people who paid to study here.

Cain had proudly bragged about his wife being one of the best healers in the northern region and told him that many talented healers came to the Shattered Winter School to receive training.

Julius was more than happy to hear this because, according to their little plan, he would be primarily learning healing magic under her.

It was why his uniform was light blue, but also had a small flower on the front of his lapel. This would indicate that he was a healer in training. However, that would only be during the afternoon.

In the mornings, he would be training with the other children his age. Apparently, his control was not good enough for him to be in the advanced classes. Cain told him that he needed to learn some of the basics before he went any further.

While his ability to use and channel large amounts of kinetic energy was more impressive than most Tier 3s ever reached, he needed to learn how to use it properly. Julius was more than okay with this. He knew better than anyone that his skill with kinetic energy left much to be desired. It was why he had been looking for someone to teach him for a long time, and it would appear that his wish was granted.

Despite the odd first meeting between them, he was thrilled that he had found his way here. He had a feeling that he would be learning many things in this short period.