Path to Transcendence

Chapter 479: Temporary Contract

Julius stared at the small turtle, who was trying to hide behind the spirit. It looked like she wanted to be anywhere else except for there at the moment.

“You said that she was the one who sent the token back into this space?” Julius asked while keeping his eyes on the turtle.

“Yes, that is correct,” Vailon confirmed.

“Is she allowed to do that?” Julius asked, wondering if this would be the case for every token he had to pursue. He had to collect a total of five, and if the guardians could hide it somewhere, that was going to become a little more difficult than he had envisioned.

“No, she is not,” Vailon said with a pointed look at the turtle who was quietly trying to float away.

“So why did she?” Julius asked.

“That is a good question,” the blue spirit said while giving their full attention to the sneaking away turtle.

The turtle spun around and flapped its flippers wildly. “Because you hit me!” The turtle yelled out telepathically to the two of them. Her voice sounded surprisingly soft and youthful.

Julius stared at the turtle in disbelief, feeling a twitch of irritation wash over him. “I hit you?” He asked slowly, his anger slowly bleeding through, and his eyes pulsing red. The turtle must have sensed his irritation and backed away nervously.

“You bit off my toe, of course, I am going to hit you,” he gritted out.

“You were trying to steal my token,” she grumbled.

“I was relaxing in the water,” he said bitterly.

“Yeah, which is why I only took a toe,” she said proudly.

Julius’s nostrils flared, and he made his way toward her. The turtle flapped its wings frantically and hid behind Vailon like one would hide behind a parent.

“Why did you send the token back here, Seraphyne? You know you aren’t supposed to do that. If someone is strong enough to acquire it, you must allow them,” the greater spirit scolded her.

Julius pursed his lips. Apparently, the turtle had a name as well

“He’s scary!” She said bluntly. “He almost killed me with a single punch.”

“One punch?” Vailon asked with a frown.

“Yeah! See why I sent the token back? This is obviously not a Tier 3, and he must have cheated his way inside. You should beat him up for breaking the rules,” she argued while pointing her flipper at Julius.

“I am not going to beat him up. Furthermore, he is a Tier 3, I checked myself.”

“Well, then you should beat him up because he’s rude and almost killed me,” the turtle grumbled.

“You would have regenerated after a small period,” Vailon pointed out.

“You don’t know that, he has a yucky aura, it might have seriously damaged my soul,” she said with a disgusted gag.

Julius narrowed his brows. “I will show you yucky,” he said and took a threatening step forward.

“Hold on,” Vailon stopped him with a hand outstretched. Julius stopped, but only because he sensed something lying in the center of the greater spirit’s palm. It was a golden little coin with markings etched into its surface.

As much as he wanted to reach out and grab it immediately, he held himself back.

“You are just going to give it to me?” He asked skeptically.

“Sure, you would have gotten it if not for Seraphyne making a mess out of things,” the greater spirit said and extended his hand out to Julius.

He gently took the token and rubbed the coin in between his fingers, before slipping it inside his ring. “Thanks,” he said to Vailon.

That was easier than expected, he thought to himself happily. He thought it would have become more difficult, but it ended up being very simple, and Vailon just handed it over without issue. He was so happy that his previous grudge against the turtle ebbed away.

“I have a small condition, though,” Vailon added.

Julius looked at the greater spirit warily. “What condition?”

“I want you to take Seraphyne with you.”

“No.” Julius didn’t even hesitate and shook his head aggressively. He even removed the token from his storage ring and was already handing it back to the spirit.

“Please?” Vailon didnʼt make a move to take it.

Julius sighed. “Why would you even want me to do that?”

“Because it looks like the spirit that you have bonded is doing quite well, I am hoping that Seraphyne might see similar growth. After all, all a father wants is to see his daughter succeed,” Vailon said with a solemn smile.

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Julius whipped his head to stare at the greater spirit. “Your daughter? How does that even work? She’s a turtle…”

Vailon tilted his head upward and grinned. “Well, when a female spirit and a male spirit love each other very much—”

Julius slashed his hand to cut off the greater spirit’s explanation. “Forget it, I don’t need to know,” he said with a sigh and looked up at the non-existent sky.

“Are you sure you aren’t a human? You seem much too humanlike to be a spirit,” Julius commented after a brief moment.

Vailon went quiet and smiled despondently. “My bond was human.”

Was.

Julius didn’t have to be a psychologist to know that there was a longer and more complicated story behind those forlorn eyes. But he also knew better than to prod any deeper and changed the topic as quickly as he could.

“How do you know about Drasil?”

Vailon shook his head like it was obvious. “It is very easy to see when you know what to look for. Also, it is because I sensed your bond that I didn’t attack you upon entering this place.”

“Hold on. You were going to attack me?” Julius asked cautiously.

Vailon nodded. “I was going to attack a possible intruder, but then I sensed you were bonded with a spirit, so I decided to give you a chance. I am glad that I did.”

“That is not reassuring at all,” Julius muttered and wiped the invisible sweat from his brow. It was hard to gauge Vailonʼs strength, but it was safe to assume he was stronger than any of the tournament participants were supposed to fight.

“So will you please take her with you?” Vailon asked again.

“Hey! I never agreed to go along with this brute!” Seraphyne shouted and pointed at Julius with her flipper.

Julius barely gave her another glance. “I didn’t either, don’t worry.”

He looked back at Vailon. “See? She clearly doesn’t want to come with me.”

“I don’t care what she wants. She needs to grow, and the only way she can do that is if she leaves this realm. She also broke the rules and would normally be cast out because of that. If she goes with you, at least she will have someone to rely on for a little bit. If you two wish to go on your own after you leave this realm, then that is fine as well,” Vailon said.

“What?!” Seraphyne gasped loudly.

“So if I understand this correctly, you want me to escort her out of here?” Julius asked with a frown.

“If that is how you wish to see it, then yes,” Vailon confirmed with a nod.

Julius tapped his chin. He didn’t see much of a reason to say yes; it would just be a hassle. Furthermore, it wasn’t his fault that she broke the rules.

“I don’t see what’s in it for me,” Julius pointed out.

“Perhaps not for you specifically, but for your spirit? I think it will be very fruitful for his growth.” Vailon smiled widely.

Julius leaned close when he heard that. “What do you mean?”

Vailon smirked, as if he knew he had Julius. “Seraphyne is a rare spirit born from a life spirit and a water spirit. This means she is a unique spirit. If she were to spend even a little bit of time in the same space as your life spirit, she would inadvertently influence him.”

“That doesn’t sound like it would necessarily be a good thing,” Julius pointed out.

“Maybe, but considering that life and water magic are some of the most gentle and flexible affinities, I would say that the chances that the influence would be good for your spirit are high,” Vailon explained, trying to sound as convincing as possible.

Julius hated to admit it, but it was working. He liked anything that helped Drasil; it was one of his greatest weaknesses.

“How does it work since I already have a bond?” Julius asked with a sigh, regretting the words before they even left his mouth.

Vailon smiled brightly. “Very easily. You have already gone through your second soul evolution, which means you have the space and capability to form another bond, even if itʼs a temporary one.”

“So it can be temporary?”

Vailon flinched back as if offended by the question. “Of course, I can make it temporary. I am not an unreasonable monster,” he said with a scoff. “I will just add a renewal condition which both of you will have to agree to if you want to maintain the bond.”

Julius slowly felt himself getting closer and closer to agreeing; however, before he could make a decision, he needed to consult his soul’s current resident.

“I need to ask my current bond mate first, before I do anything,” Julius told Vailon.

“Sure, go ahead,” the greater spirit said with a nod.

“Wait! I still don’t agree with this!”

“If you want, I can throw in something extra as well,” Vailon said, ignoring her.

“No, don’t!”

“I don’t know how I can help your personal power. You are pretty much at the limit of Tier 3, but I have some valuable treasures that you can give to friends or even sell,” Vailon added.

“Stop! I won’t have anyone as weak as a Tier 3 be my bond!”

Julius finally turned his attention to her, his pride wounded. “Weak? Weren’t you complaining about me almost killing you with one punch?”

The little turtle oozed arrogance as she glared at him. “Yeah, but you are still only a Tier 3. Plus, now that we are in here, I am much more powerful.”

He smirked at her. “Does that mean you will be able to take two punches now?” He said, purposefully taunting her.

Her little flippers angrily flapped around in the air as she floated closer to him. Her aura exuded a sense of anger.

“Okay, if you can beat me, I will form a temporary bond with you. If you lose, I want you to get on your knees and lick my feet,” her light laughter echoed through the telepathetic connection.

“You don’t have feet,” Julius said flatly, staring at her flippers.

She shot a jet of water at him, very reminiscent of the attacker by the orb. He hadn’t been able to figure out who had been attacking him, but he was glad that he had found the answer to his question.

He ducked underneath the thin jet that almost got him right in the face.

He raised a finger to say something, but quickly found himself being bombarded by several more jets of water. They were very thin and narrow, but you could quite literally see the sharpness aspects leaking from them.

He quickly formed a barrier around himself. [Spirit Fortification] was showing some of its true potential. He had been slowly adapting all of his barriers to using aura-woven mana. Typically, it would have been too slow and laborious to create multiple barriers of aura-woven mana. By the time he could make a barrier to block an attack, he would have been too late.

However, with the new skill, they were significantly faster at creating. This meant his barriers were stronger than ever, while remaining very versatile.

Which was why he was a little cautious about how easily these jets were scratching up his barriers. They didn’t break through yet, but they were chipping away at them bit by bit.

He guessed that she was telling the truth. Inside this special space, she was much stronger than she had shown beforehand. However, what was even more fascinating, at least to him, was that he wasn’t able to detect her at all. Despite his spatial perception working, he was still unable to see where she had disappeared off to.

It was one of the more impressive stealth skills that he had come across, excluding those belonging to Tier 5 and above.

Another piercing laser of water slammed into his barrier. He couldn’t help but smile as he felt the familiar sensation of excitement build within him. He was due for a good fight, and shockingly, it might come from a small turtle. Who would have thought?

He laughed at the absurdity of it all.