Path to Transcendence

Chapter 528: Trial Completed

Julius was half dead, lying on his back, when he felt himself transported once again.

Congratulations, you have completed the trial.

Your actions during the trial will be evaluated, and based on the evaluation, you will be given a score and an appropriate reward.

He wanted to read the notification, but his body was too busy flailing around like a helpless baby. It was like Derek zapped him with his most powerful lightning strike, and he couldn’t control his limbs.

Thankfully, it wasn’t painful. He had dealt with enough pain for one day. He had been taking his focus skill for granted and hadn’t realized just how much it dulled pain for him. He needed to thank the skill personally when he got it back.

When the surge of energy started to settle down, he let out a sigh. His body, which had been previously torn apart, was slowly healing back to its normal state.

He didn’t have his skills available to him quite yet, so he assumed the trial or something else was doing the healing for him. However, he didn’t enjoy it. Maybe it was because he was spoiled with his own healing skill, but he didn’t necessarily think highly of the healing.

His arm, which had been cauterized, was itching like crazy as it slowly regenerated. His leg, which had been severed and held together by a few worn mana threads, felt like someone was roasting it over a fire.

His cuts were itching like crazy, too. He had to hold himself back from scratching his face.

Thankfully, it didn’t last for long. It was like someone filled in the missing pieces of his soul, and he felt everything snap back into place. He groaned in relief at the sensation and immediately began using his healing skill.

The life mana flowed through him, and he felt himself stop being so itchy. His arm, which had been healing at a snail’s pace, swiftly regenerated like it usually did. He smiled when he saw the familiar scars along his forearm. They were a friendly reminder of his past mistakes.

[Armaments of the Arcane lvl 21 -> lvl 22]

[Pyrokinetic Embodiment of Ruin lvl 18 -> 21]

[Sage of Savagery lvl 23 -> lvl 25]

He froze in disbelief. He had gotten a whole three levels out of that experience. Three levels for [Pyrokinetic Embodiment of Ruin], a crazy number of levels for a high leveled epic skill. He also got two whole levels for [Sage of Savagery].

Insane.

It would appear his efforts were being rewarded.

He felt another connection snap into place, and he felt his soul space once again. A warm feeling exploded from his soul, and Julius laughed when Drasil appeared out of thin air, landing on Julius’s nose.

The adorable spirit hugged his nose with both arms and whistled anxiously, rubbing his face against Julius’s.

“I know, I know. I missed you, too,” Julius said with a chuckle.

“What happened?” Seraphyne asked him. It would seem she had come out as well and was looking around confusedly.

“I’m not sure. I went into the trial and lost access to my soul space. I didn’t even know someone could do that.”

Serahyne nodded her turtle head. “Ah, you went into a trial. That makes more sense.”

“You knew?” He asked with interest.

She waved her flippers. “Not really, but that would explain how we lost connection. There are not many things in the world that can disconnect someone from their soul space.”

“But I could still use my soul-bound items,” Julius noted.

She shrugged. “Don’t ask me. I am not an expert; my father would probably know the answer, though.”

“Hm, I might have to ask him next time I see him,” he commented.

“Good luck with that. If you finished your trial, we will be leaving soon. I am not sure you will have the opportunity to talk to him,” she stated.

He shrugged. That was too bad, but he would be glad to leave this place. He was tired. That last fight had taken a lot out of him. He hadn’t had to struggle like that in a long time.

He was about to ask Seraphyne about her plans after they left the realm and if she wanted to stay with him when he was interrupted.

Before he could realize what was happening, he blacked out. It was like someone had grabbed hold of his soul and shrouded it in darkness. He thrashed around, even attempting to blast out his soul.

However, he wasn’t able to do anything.

Thankfully, this darkness only lasted a few moments, and he found himself standing in the temple, on the same platform that Cadius had been standing on. He looked around and didn’t spot anyone else. Drasil was still attached to his face, like some face-hugging monster.

Seraphyne was also there, floating over his shoulder.

“What the hell happened?” he whispered aloud, mostly to himself.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

It seemed that he had been teleported, but not like any teleportation he had experienced so far.

“So you are the one who has been causing such a fuss,” a soft, feminine voice said, amusingly.

He jerked around and tried to find the voice, but wasn’t able to.

“Hello?”

“Hello, there, Julius Von Hyperius,” the woman’s voice said politely.

Julius narrowed his eyes and felt his mana respond instinctively. “You know my name,” he said accusingly.

He heard the voice laugh lightly. “Ah, yes. Excuse me for my rudeness, but I saw your status. Curious that most people seem to refer to you as Julius Snow, I suspect you must be hiding something. If I remember correctly, House Hyperius is a noble family, is it not?”

“Who are you?” He didn’t answer, but instead asked a question of his own.

“Hmm… That is a hard question. I sometimes don’t know myself nowadays. I guess you can call me Eileen. But I believe you aren’t asking for that, are you?”

He nodded softly as he continued searching the entire area for this woman. He had been thinking that Kaelther had been the one in control of the realm, but he was starting to think he had made the wrong assumption.

“You won’t find me, at least not in the way you want to,” the woman said with a chortle.

“Why not?”

“I guess that comes back to your original question. You can think of me as the supervisor of this realm and the one who oversees the final trial you and the other competitors undergo,” she explained.

“And what does that have to do with me now sensing you?”

“Oh, that’s because you are standing inside me.”

Julius scrunched his nose. “Excuse me?”

“I am the temple, the realm, whatever you wish to believe. My existence is directly tied to this entire spatial realm. Thus, even if you somehow managed to track my presence, you would sense me everywhere.”

There was a challenging smile in her words.

He felt like she was playing with him, and he didn’t quite enjoy that feeling.

“What do you want?” He asked, holding his impatience from showing.

“Sorry, sorry. I don’t often get to interact with many people outside this realm. I only sometimes get to talk with those with the royal bloodline when they enter. This is somewhat of a treat,” she said to him, sharing some valuable-sounding information.

Did this mean that Reinera would be able to talk with her? Or perhaps, already have?

“When was the last time you interacted with one of these royal family members?” He asked curiously.

Silence was all he got.

“Was her name Reinera?”

The woman still didn’t say anything for a while.

“She’s a princess, about yay tall,” Julius said, holding his hand up to his shoulders.

“I’m aware,” the woman finally said flatly.

“Huh?”

“She said a friend of hers might be coming along,” she said before pausing. “She promised that I would like you.”

Julius grinned. “Oh, she did?”

“Yeah, she was wrong,” the voice said flatly.

“What?!” He said in mock outrage.

“In the span of a week, you have successfully caused three of the individuals responsible for managing this realm to outright break or severely skirt the rules. Cadius, I can understand, but for Vailon and Kaelther to go so far, that doesn’t happen.”

“Sorry?” He said with a shrug. It wasn’t his fault they chose to do that. He was innocent.

He heard her sigh. “You are lucky that Kaelther helped you as well. You were close to choosing quite a dangerous path. Truthfully, it would have been nice to see how well you would have fared. There are some nasty little treasures that I have been wanting to get rid of, and it would have been a perfect opportunity to do so.”

“I mean, you can still give them to me. I don’t mind taking out the garbage for you,” he said, trying to hide his enthusiasm. He would never say no to treasures.

He could practically feel her glare pressing down on him.

“Unfortunately, I don’t think you will find any of those things of more value than that crown you have on your head. I still don’t know how you managed to get something like that in here. Someone is playing a dangerous game.” There was some irritation in her tone.

“Yeah, this thing is quite a sneaky little shit,” he said with a nod, glowering at the item in question.

“Be careful with it. Not even I can look into its origins,” she offered a warning.

He shrugged. “Yeah, I will. So what do I get for passing the trial?”

“You are lucky you are even getting anything. You barely passed the trial,” she said with a scoff.

“What do you mean? I didn’t even drain any vitality from the villagers. I thought you would like that,” he said with shock.

“No. The objective was to test how well you can control the life drain function of the sword. It would demonstrate your skill over life mana despite being set back to Tier 1. The fact that you didn’t even use it means you practically didn’t attempt the intended task.”

“Oh.”

“Luckily for you, I noticed that subpar little invigoration technique you tried to use.”

“It’s not that bad,” he argued.

“It’s not great, especially considering how good your general mana control is.”

“I use my general healing skill for stuff like that,” he defended himself.

“If you say so.”

Shit. Now he was worried. He thought he had done a great job. However, it would appear that he had misunderstood the trial’s parameters.

He hoped his rewards wouldn’t be too bad because of that.

On the bright side, he gained a level in his construct skill, two levels in his focus skill, and three entire levels in his physical enhancement skill. That alone made the trial worth it.

He wondered if he could figure out a way to simulate the trial’s ability to weaken himself. He might have to start training similarly, especially if he was able to gain that many levels in such a short fight.

He actually asked her this question right away before he could forget.

The silence he got in return was a response in itself.

“Hello?”

“What?”

“Oh, I thought you might have left since you didn’t answer me,” he said with a hopeful smile.

All he got was more silence.

He pouted and decided to change the topic. “Okay, so does this mean I won’t get a good reward?”

“While you might have ignored the basic goal of the trial, you did well on the other aspects,” she said begrudgingly.

“Oh!?” He said excitedly. Perhaps he hadn’t failed as miserably as he thought.

“What do I get then? Something good?” He asked enthusiastically.

He could have sworn he heard a groan or something coming from her. “Just take your reward,” the woman said. Julius could practically hear her rolling her eyes at him.

Reward generated…

He bounced up and down excitedly. However, he quickly remembered that Drasil was still latched onto his face, and he gently removed the spirit from his nose. Then he placed Drasil on his lap while he examined the notification, an eager grin on his face.