Path to Transcendence

Chapter 591: Officially Tier 4

With a confused expression on his face, Julius asked, “What do you mean by that?”

“You’re too famous in the Empire now. You will always be a target, especially until you get strong enough to protect yourself. If you stay with the two of us or with one of your friends’ families, you would likely get stronger. Your foundation is strong enough to accomplish that,” Cain explained.

“But…?” Julius pressed, feeling there was a caveat.

“But you will never reach your full potential if you hamper yourself down like that. You would inevitably reach a point where you need something different to progress further. If you limit yourself as many scions do, you won’t be able to reach the places I know you want to get to.”

He spotted that Freya had a despondent expression on her face, but he could tell that she agreed with Cain. Julius grimaced and looked off at a random wall. “So what? I just gotta leave?”

“If you want to truly improve and advance, then yes. I believe that is necessary. To be honest, even if we wanted to, it would be difficult to truly protect you in a place like the capital. You are too well-known at this point. It would require you to live in isolation and always be in fear of someone trying to kill you. That’s not a life either of us wants from you.”

Julius sighed and looked up at the ceiling. “Fine.”

“I know you might not— hmm?” Cain was about to continue trying to convince Julius, but Julius agreed right away instead.

“I said, I agree with you two,” he repeated.

“Oh, umm, good,” Cain said with an awkward chuckle.

Julius smiled at Cain and Freya, trying to let them know that he understood that it was for the best. He knew better than anyone that he needed a change. The tournament and sparring partners had been great to have, but it lacked a certain spark of danger. There were no real threats to his life or his safety. He realized that he missed fighting with real consequences.

The only time he got skill levels was when someone like Oliver beat the crap out of him. And it wasnʼt like he could just have a bunch of Tier 6s lined up to help him gain levels. It was already a blessing that he had Cain and Freya to help him. Thus, leaving made sense.

His friends might not like it, but they would also understand. Or would eventually understand.

“Well, this is all heartwarming and stuff, but I need to get going. I have several more things to prepare before you two enter the rift. Just let me know when you two are ready, and I will come and get you,” Doren said suddenly as he stood up and addressed Cain and Freya. Then the man turned to Julius.

“It is nice to see that your soul is mostly healed. I hoped to see you… struggle more when you consumed the marble, but alas, we can’t win them all…”

“What do you mean by struggle more?” Freya asked with a deep frown.

Doren ignored her. “If you ever want to help me with some research, then feel free to reach out. I already have several ideas for experimentation that would thoroughly test your new Tier 4 body.”

“I’m good,” Julius stated swiftly. He had no interest in being Doren’s lab rat. To be fair, he was lucky that Doren wasn’t just kidnapping him to run tests on his way either. He suspected there were plenty of crazies out there who would have done exactly that.

“I appreciate your help, though,” he said with a little smile.

Doren nodded with a chuckle. “No worries. I can’t wait to see where you might end up given several more years. Consider this an investment for an interesting research subject.”

Julius rolled his eyes and watched as Doren stood up, stretching out and putting all of his various instruments back into his storage space. Then, in a use of spatial magic that Julius wasn’t even capable of comprehending, Doren vanished.

He knew that Freya had placed several powerful enchantments around their property, but Julius didn’t know how Doren managed to bypass them. He hadn’t sensed any chaotic space used.

“How did he do that?”

Cain sighed. “Your guess is as good as ours. That man does what he wants.”

“Hmm. So you are serious about me going somewhere else?”

“Absolutely, if you want to, that is,” Cain added.

“Where would I go?”

“You still have that offer from that Vice Clan Leader, right?”

Julius frowned but nodded. “Yeah, but I don’t know if I want to accept it. It sounds like a pain.”

Freya nodded with him but placed a comforting hand on his back. “Perhaps, but Corvus is a relatively simple place. Almost everything is decided by merit and strength. It can be a little harsh and barbaric, but I think you might find it pleasant depending on where you go. It’s also a good place to make your way through Tier 4. Cain and I spent a few years in Corvus when we were younger. The rifts in that country are very interesting, and you might even come across a few inheritance sites. You might not want to accept these inheritances, but they will undoubtedly be good things to learn from.”

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“What do I need to focus on in order to progress through Tier 4?” Julius asked, wondering if there were any tricks they had for him.

“Honestly, it varies from person to person. But in your case, I would say that challenging yourself and a wide breadth of experiences will do more for your Authority and its progression than anything else.”

Julius tapped his chin. “Hmm.”

“What Authority and body evolution did you end up getting anyway?” Cain asked with a curious tilt of his head.

Julius looked around. “Do you think Doren is listening?”

Cain shrugged. “Eh, doubt it. But even if he is, he probably already has a good idea of what you have. He just likes to label things for logistical purposes. I didn’t want you to tell him what the name of your body evolution was, just to make him stress out over a name.”

Julius pressed his lips together and hummed. “It’s called the Seed of Phoenix’s Ruin.”

He saw Cain and Freya’s faces radiate with intrigue.

“Seed of Phoenix’s Ruin?” Cain asked with a twisting of his mouth.

“I shouldn’t be too stunned. That sounds like an appropriate seed for you. Did it come with a related or synergistic body?” Freya asked with a sparkle in her eyes.

Julius nodded and grinned widely before pulling up the description of the Ruinous Phoenix Body, reading it to them.

He watched as their faces slowly morphed into one of astonishment. If they hadn’t been surprised at his Seed of Authority, they were definitely flabbergasted by his body evolution. To be fair, he felt the same way, even though he already knew what it said.

“Are you sure that’s what it says?” Freya asked, leaning in close to him. He could practically smell the excitement from her aura.

He nodded. He might have left out the part that described his proclivity to blowing up his own limbs, but it was essentially word-for-word.

“If even half of that description is true, do you have any idea how insane that body of yours is?” Cain asked, while poking and prodding Julius with his index finger. Julius tried to slap Cain’s finger away, but the man was still too fast for him, even with his improved body.

“Are you sure that it says you have gained a Ruinous Phoenix Core?” Freya asked him seriously.

“Yes, an imperfect and unrefined one, but yeah, it says so at least,” Julius confirmed.

“Can you sense it?” She asked, practically jumping up and down with excitement.

“I haven’t tried to yet,” he said and immediately began delving into his soul to see if he could see what she was so animated about. With his recent experience with his damaged soul, it made looking into his soul simpler. It didn’t take long to find what he was looking for.

Nestled deep within his soul was a tiny, fragmented crimson shard. It didn’t feel like much, but he could faintly distinguish profound and dangerous waves of energy coming from it. He also noticed that he wasn’t the first one to track the unrefined core down. Drasil and Seraphyne had already found the shard, and while Seraphyne was staying far away, Drasil was playing with the shard. Going as far as to pick up the core and drag the thing across his soul back into their ‘home’.

“Hmm. Yeah, I found it. But so did Drasil. I think he wants to play with it,” he muttered with a laugh.

“What does it feel like?”

“Weak? No, not weak, but like something that had only recently hatched. I think it will grow in the future, at least that’s what the description hinted at.”

While examining the core, he also began to understand what the other part of the description described. The part about his body being in a constant state of destruction and reconstruction. He didn’t know if it was his seed or his core, but he could feel faint ripples of ruinous energy eating away at his body, mind, and soul.

It wasn’t anything too bad or obvious. At least nothing worse than the stress he willingly placed on himself, but it was something to note. He also wasn’t as worried because he could feel his body healing this damage as fast as it occurred. It didn’t even require his healing skill to be active. It would appear that he now has a passive healing effect. It wasn’t as powerful as [Phoenix Renewal], but it was definitely stronger than typical passive regeneration.

Freya nodded. “Well, it sounds like you are going to get a source of ruinous flames rather than relying on your crown.”

Cain hummed and kept poking Julius. “I’m more curious about the other bits. You said that it can destroy divine protections?” Cain asked curiously.

“Yeah. What does that mean? Divine? As in gods?”

“Sort of. They are more like figures of faith and prayer. Don’t think of them like actual people or anything. They are created strictly from the faith of their devotees. You know the Goddess of Light, right?”

He nodded. He knew that there was a religion that represented the Goddess of Light. Luxaria or something.

“Well, paladins from the Order of Light often use divine protections and are quite annoying to deal with, considering this power originates from their ‘goddess’, but with your flames, you shouldn’t have any issues with them.

Julius grimaced. “Should I expect any trouble from this Order of Light?”

“Nah, they are quite an honorable order. A little arrogant, like most religious zealots, but ultimately, they have humanityʼs well-being as a priority. I can’t say the same for other religious institutions, though.”

Julius shivered. He didn’t like the sound of that. He made sure to remind himself to run away upon the first sign of any religious zealots. He would rather stay away from any religious drama.

“What about this part about permanent physique refinement? Is it good?” he asked curiously. He wanted to know whether it was actually valuable.

Cain laughed boisterously. “For other people, probably not. But considering your masochistic tendencies, I think it will be one of the most beneficial features of your new body. The stronger you get, the harder it becomes to refine your body. Each inch of refinement takes me forever nowadays. It doesn’t say anything about a limit either, so I suspect you will find it quite valuable.”

Freya shot her husband a glare. “While poorly worded, Cain’s correct. You won’t have to worry about finding natural treasures like others do to refine your body. You’re the perfect person to utilize it properly.”

“What about the last part?” Julius asked with a frown.

“Don’t even plan on using it. Ignore it for now. The lifespan consumption isn’t a big deal. I have a similar ability, and with extended lifespans, it really has minimal impact. But we don’t want to find out what it means when it says it will consume the soul and karmic weight. Karma is an esoteric and strange magical art. I don’t want to find out what happens if someone’s karmic weight is consumed. Just don’t plan to die. It’s pretty clear that itʼs not some miracle resurrection skill that will always bring you back to life,” Freya was unnaturally serious about the last part.

“Okay, enough talking. We have some testing to do and not enough time. Let’s see just how much you have improved with this advancement. Maybe we can get you adapted fast enough that you aren’t completely useless in combat,” Cain said with an enthusiastic grin, already dragging Julius by the arm toward the basement where the training room was.