Path to Transcendence

Chapter 443: Leaving For The Capital

“You got everything?” Freya asked him once again.

He nodded and just to be safe, rechecked his new storage ring. Since neither Cain nor Freya was well-trained in the art of ring breaking, not even they were able to break into the Tier 5s storage ring.

Luckily, they knew someone who was very skilled in that area and asked the man for help. Of course, the man was very busy with other jobs, and although it was someone as powerful as Freya asking, the man had informed them that he wouldnʼt be able to start on the project until he finished his current jobs.

Honestly, Julius could respect that and wasn’t bothered about waiting. He had been preoccupied with a lot of other things, so it wasn’t a big deal. Eventually, the man finished his other projects and turned his attention to Juliusʼs new ring. The man broke into the ring with some effort.

Julius suspected that he had underestimated the intelligence of the Tier 5 he and Emil killed, because it took Freya’s expert almost an entire week to finally gain access without destroying the contents of the ring.

Despite the long wait, Julius was pleased with the results.

First of all, the ring was absolutely massive compared to his old one. The one he had grabbed from that snooty noble was around the size of a small wardrobe. This new one was at least ten times larger. He could fit a small bedroom inside it.

However, the size was only one of its great features. The additional functions were equally impressive. There was a built-in organizer that allowed him to separate various objects without feeling like he was just throwing them in a large pile. He had been doing this with his old ring more often than he was proud of.

Furthermore, there was a much more powerful and efficient stasis enchantment built in. His old one had a minor stasis enchantment that helped preserve food for a much longer time than it would otherwise last outside. But it wasn’t perfect. There was a limit, as he had learned the hard way when he found a moldy piece of cake hidden away in his ring.

Of course, the extra protections that prevented someone from breaking into it were nice as well. If neither Freya nor Cain were able to break through with brute force, he felt pretty confident that others would have an equally hard time.

With that being said, there was something he was even more excited about than the cool features of the ring.

The actual contents.

Cain, Freya, and Julius gathered to examine the ringʼs contents. It was a bit like opening presents or an exciting mystery box. Julius had rubbed his hands eagerly, unable to contain his excitement.

However, his excitement quickly dimmed. It wasn’t because there wasnʼt anything valuable inside the ring. It was mainly because he had zero clue what the hell the items were or what kind of purpose they had.

He found several things that pulsed with powerful mana, but due to his ignorance, he had no idea what they were for. Since the Tier 5 had been a crafter, Julius suspected these treasures meant for a future project, but that was his best guess.

Luckily, Freya was there to help him. She didn’t know what everything was, but she was able to recognize some of the items.

Probably the most impressive part was the sheer amount of cores and money that were hidden inside. Julius hadn’t really worried about money ever since he had gotten to Heston, but he doubted that he would have to worry about it until he got to Tier 5. The vast amount of cores and gold almost took up a quarter of the space.

The cores were meticulously organized as well. Each one was placed inside a box that helped prevent the mana from leaking out and preserve the overall quality of the cores.

The rest of the space was filled out with various sheets of metal and other crafting materials. He spotted some small slabs of what he assumed was the Blightfrost Steel, Emil had mentioned before. That was probably one of the more valuable materials he found inside.

A smaller collection of various natural treasures was sectioned away as well. Unfortunately, Freya gave him the bad news that these treasures wouldn’t be that useful to him. They were mainly for non-combatants with weaker foundations. For example, he found a weird-looking root plant that could be processed to help purify oneʼs body in preparation for advancement.

However, since he had one of the best Concepts and skills for purifying, it was very useless for him. He hadn’t really appreciated it, but [Phoenix Renewal] was the perfect skill for removing impurities from oneʼs body. Thus, he decided to save it for one of his friends who might need it.

Although knowing their families, they likely didn’t need this treasure at all and already had their own ways of purifying their bodies.

There actually wasn’t that much Julius could use inside. He was certain that if he were a crafter, he would be overjoyed at seeing the extensive collection of materials, but since he was nothing but a dumb brute who liked to hit things, he felt a little disappointed. There werenʼt even a large number of weapons he could use.

Luckily, he had a feeling that Kyle would find a much better use for all of this stuff instead of Julius. Thus, in the meantime, he decided to keep hold of it until he got the chance to give it to the Quincy Scion or to one of the others, who could pass it over to Kyle. Julius didn’t know if Kyle would be attending the tournament.

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He knew that Kyle was working under a mentor for enchanting, but he wasn’t sure if that meant he would be allowed to go to the capital.

Just because Julius didn’t find everything in the ring to be of value to him, that didn’t mean he didn’t find anything at all. There was actually a nice pile of clothes that made his eyes brighten with excitement.

They weren’t just regular clothes either. They were clothes that rivaled, and some even surpassed, the quality of his Goldencrest uniform. Multiple complex layers of enchantments were woven into individual threads, and he had a feeling that these clothes would be harder to pierce than some armored chestplates.

They were surprisingly tasteful as well. Simple designs, but elegant at the same time. He had to admit that the Tier 5 had a good eye for aesthetics, too bad he had chosen banditry as his profession. He could have been an excellent clothing designer in another life.

But one thing the Tier 5 didn’t have inside the ring was food. Of course, there was some food, but they were gross rations and basic bread. Things that were easy to eat and didn’t take up a lot of space. Making the stasis enchantments completely useless in Juliusʼs expert opinion.

Thatʼs why Juliusʼs first action was to grab some food to shove in there. He made sure to fill it up with tasty food. Now that he didn’t have to worry about his cake getting moldy, he would make sure he always had some treats tucked away.

Once he made sure they were right where he left them, he nodded at Freya. “I got everything.”

She grinned and passed him something. He gave a little frown, wondering what she could he handing him, but then let out a sigh.

“Thank you, I was wondering where this went,” he said with as much fake enthusiasm as he could. What she had passed him was the puzzle rod he had been training on. The thing was a pain in the ass, and he had been hoping that she would leave it behind.

Unfortunately for him, she didn’t allow him to get away so easily.

“I can’t let you stop without you finally completing it,” she said with a sickly sweet voice.

His fake smile cracked a little bit. The rod had progressively gotten harder with each stage. While he had made some vast improvements, he was still only on the sixth level and had been stuck there for the past couple of weeks. What made it worse was that there was now a backlash.

Whenever he failed the stage, the accumulated mana channeled through the rod would purposefully lash back at the user. There was nothing he could do to stop it, and each time, he would walk away with a headache.

“Where’s Cain?” He quickly changed the subject and shoved the rod into the deepest regions of his ring.

“He’s on his way. He needs to make sure the school will be fine when we go away. He should be here any minute, though,” she said to him.

Julius nodded, and the two of them patiently waited for Cain to arrive.

As he did, he focused on the small suction of mana he felt coming from his hand. What he had forgotten to mention was that although the ring had some fantastic features, there were certain costs associated with them.

For example, the ring drew an alarming amount of mana from him to power the enchantments. It also absorbed some ambient mana, but it wasn’t enough to power it completely.

It was clear that this ring was not meant for a Tier 3 to use. If he had a normal-sized mana pool, he doubted he would have been able to sustain the ringʼs requirements, especially if he was in the middle of a fight. It likely wouldn’t have made a difference to a Tier 5 with their massive mana pool, but he wasn’t a Tier 5.

Luckily, there was a small black gemstone that stored extra mana in case he didn’t have enough mana to power the ring. He could also make sure the gem was full of mana at all times. It was why he always made sure to keep some of his mana flowing into the ring, whenever he could.

Eventually, Cain arrived not long after. The man was completely different than usual. Like Freya, he had decided to wear nondescript clothing and almost looked smaller if that was possible. Very different from the usual boisterous man, Julius had come to know.

Also, they both had tucked their auras tightly away, only displaying the auras of a Tier 4. To most people, they probably looked like a family going out on a day trip.

Julius looked around. “What about Doren?” The plan had been for Doren to take them to the Capital, using his spatial magic. Cain and Freya, while they could teleport, didn’t have access to a skill that could transport them across that much distance. But Julius didn’t see the researcher anywhere.

“He’s unable to make it,” Freya said with a disappointed shake of her head. “But then again, he has always been unreliable.”

“Did he say why?” Julius asked.

Freya shrugged. “Something about someone causing problems, and he had to go take care of it. I don’t know, I’m honestly glad he isn’t coming.”

“I’m not, I had something very nice planned for him,” Cain said with a deep frown.

“Nice?” Freya asked suspiciously.

“For me at least,” Cain said with a smile.

His wife ignored him and looked at Julius. “We will just use one of the long-distance transporters. There isn’t one that takes us all the way to the Empire, but we should be able to get close to the border and fly the rest of the distance. Is that fine with you?”

He shrugged. “Yeah, I don’t mind seeing more of the continent. How long do you think it will take us to get there?”

“I’m not sure. We will have to get past some border security, but after that, maybe several days, depending on how fast we go.”

“We can’t just take a transporter from the border to the capital?” He asked her.

She laughed. “Nope. Those transporters are highly restricted, and it would likely take longer to get access to them than just flying. It will be easier this way.”

That was the first time Julius had heard about restrictions on transporters, but he had always used them with someone who was a noble or in a position of power. So he didn’t really understand the complexities of it.

Honestly, he didn’t really care either way. He was just excited to see his friends again and explore the capital that they had talked so much about. He knew the capital was more towards the center of the Empire, but from what he knew, the distance they would have to cross was massive.

Thus, only taking several days was quite an accomplishment. He wondered how long it would take for someone who wasn’t a Tier 6.

Either way, he couldn’t wait. This tournament was something he had heard about ever since he arrived in Heston, and he just hoped that it would live up to the hype.

If not, well, at least he had Cain and Freya there to teach him some cool things in the meantime. Not to mention the food. He had heard so much about the food and wouldn’t be surprised if he spent the entire time going from stall to stall.

On second thought, he should do that regardless of what happens, he promised himself.