Path to Transcendence

Chapter 747: Setting the Trap

The day of Kaito’s big plan was soon upon them. Everything had already been laid out. Kaito and Lily both created several false leads and traps, all to force Kaito’s uncle and the other elders to fall for their plan.

Their biggest asset to this plan of theirs was none other than Renel. The same man who had escorted Julius to meet Kaito for the first time. The person Julius thought was loyal to Kaito was secretly feeding information to Haruto.

But this was to their advantage. They made sure to leak just enough details about Lora’s itinerary that it wouldn’t be too suspicious but also too tempting to ignore. This plan included two other fake transports and switches. In fact, Clan Kaizen was helping with one of those distractions.

Thanks to this, Haruto and the other elders shouldn’t expect anything and will fall into the actual trap.

Julius was more involved in the plan than he anticipated. It was actually upon Marcus’s insistence too. His role was to be Lora’s dedicated guard. So that Marcus and Kaito would be able to deal with any of the Tier 5s who came after them.

The carriage they were in was a special little creation too. It didn’t look like much, appearing quite plain on the outside, but there were countless enchantments running through each panel of wood. One of them would help the additional presences of Marcus and Julius. That was another reason why Julius was brought along. If they had brought another Tier 5, the enchantments would likely not prove enough to shroud them. So Julius being a Tier 4 was perfect.

Truth be told, only having a Tier 5 and a Tier 4 as backup might not have seemed like the best plan, but Marcus and Kaito seemed quite confident. He knew that Marcus was really strong for a Tier 5, but he had no idea how strong Kaito was. According to what he heard from others, Kaito was quite accomplished himself. There was a reason he was left in charge of the clan. Personal strength mattered a lot in this world, especially in Corvus.

Kaito was assuming that at least three Tier 5s would be coming after them. It was possible that Haruto was amongst those people. The man was one of the few within Clan Yoshu who could go head-to-head with Kaito.

While they traveled down the road and into the wilderness, Julius took this time to meditate. His new skills required a lot more practice and time to acclimate to them. [Lord of the Dying Sun] in particular. As amazing as the skill was, there were times when he almost felt like he lost control of it. As if it was attacking his own skills and body.

He wanted to figure out the reason for this and stop it from happening in the future. Luckily, meditation was something he was really good at. He had plenty of time practicing it when he was stuck inside Thorik’s realm and when he was recovering in the Burning Sun Sect. He also had a pretty good skill that helped him maintain his focus for long periods.

Lora seemed very nervous, though. The girl was nervous about being used as bait, which was very understandable. However, she was also nervous about the Flowing Cloud Pavilion. Her brothers might be there, but she was leaving the clan for the first time in her life. It was a new start, and she wasn’t sure she was ready for it.

Fortunately, she had Aurelia, and the cute little bird spirit was always there to make sure she didn’t get too nervous about the ordeal.

They eventually got pretty close to Cloudspire, which meant they entered the Howling Skylands as well. The Howling Skylands were a very dangerous place. Not only were powerful monsters common, but people often preyed on travelers. The dangerous terrain and unpredictable nature of the region made it only more perilous for the unprepared. Merchants were typically forced to take a much longer route unless they had at least a Tier 5 with them. Often having at least two just to be safe.

Unfortunately for them, they were quickly approached by one of these monsters. Julius sensed a very subtle echo of mana and aura stalking them. Kaito had already sensed this as well and was getting ready to deal with the monster.

He stopped the carriage and exited, his mana already charging throughout his body.

Julius moved over next to Lora to stare out the window with her. She saw him and made room for him.

The Howling Skylands might have been a dangerous region, but that didn’t take away from its beauty. It was one of the most breathtaking and unique regions he’d ever visited. There were dozens of floating islands all around them.

Some of them were small, only around the size of a small house, whereas some of them were enormous. The largest one he saw was bigger than a castle. Tangled growths of vines and other flora covered the bottom of these floating hunks of dirt.

They were really quite something, though. With the setting sun illuminating them, they looked even more majestic.

He had no idea how they managed to stay afloat. Apparently, there were dedicated scholars and researchers who spent their entire lives trying to uncover their secrets.

From what Kaito told him, the islands were suspended in the air by some kind of enchantments inlaid deep within the rocky core. As for how they were able to stay in the air, well, that was because the air within the Howling Skylands was full of wind mana. It was so dominating that his mana senses glowed green whenever he looked up at the sky.

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It was also for that reason that he almost missed the monster approaching from behind one of the islands. It was the same one that had been stalking them. He sent a pulse of his perception skill outward and saw what the creature looked like. It was a flying-type monster and quite a large one at that.

He watched as it suddenly divebombed the carriage from the cover of the island. He wasn’t concerned, though; Kaito had already taken out a spear of his own, and wind mana was swirling around its point so tightly that it looked like a single compressed piece of mana.

He got a better look at the bird and let out a soft exclamation, not out of fear but out of wonder and joy. It was gorgeous. In a scary and powerful sort of way.

It was at least ten feet long and had enormous white and brown wings. Its beak was long as well, tapering downward in the shape of a pointed spear. Its eyes were massive swirling pools of gold and brown. Its aura was undoubtedly that of a Tier 5.

“Are a lot of the monsters Tier 5 around here?” Lora asked Julius in a soft whisper, staring intently while her father held his spear up stalwartly as the bird dove down.

“Apparently, yeah. The high ambient mana accelerates growth as well as monsters who come out of unresolved rifts,” he said with a nod, his eyes focused on Kaito as well. He wanted to see the man in action, and to his satisfaction, he wasn’t left disappointed.

The bird fell from the sky like a hammer; he could feel the immense force it was piling up with each breath. Kaito was undeterred though, he shifted his right foot behind him and angled his body so that the tip of his spear was pointing upwards, more and more mana flooded into the spear.

And then Julius felt the man’s domain activate around him. He focused it inward, reinforcing his body as well as his spear. The wind all around Kaito was erratic; it was billowing wildly, but as soon as the bird got within twenty feet, it was like all of this wind ceased to exist. It vanished, and then Julius felt the world shift.

His eyes trembled as an enormous flash of wind mana flared across his senses. Then before he could fully comprehend what was happening, a massive spear descended from the heavens. It wasn’t actually a spear, but a physical manifestation of Kaito’s spear intent.

It reminded Julius of Eren’s sword intent when he fought him, but magnified by a hundredfold. It was like Kaito became a spear itself.

“He’s reached the Spear Convergence Stage,” he heard Marcus note to himself, sounding impressed.

Julius had no idea what it was, but it didn’t take a genius to realize it was something powerful.

However, instead of asking about the convergence stage, he sharpened his senses and tried to absorb every detail. This was clearly a rare opportunity, and he wasn’t about to waste a single second of it.

His eyes sparkled like little rubies as he sent every ounce of mana and aura into them, enhancing them to their limit. It wasn’t exactly a safe thing to do, but he didn’t care at the moment.

When Kaito finally moved, it was like time stopped. The whole world paused as his spear reached out and pierced the monster’s skull with sickening ease. It couldn’t stop it, nor could it dodge it. All it could do was watch as the spear shattered its skull and tore out the back.

When the world finally resumed, the bird collapsed to the ground, completely lifeless. The image of the spear was already fading away, and Kaito removed the spear from the monster, gently wiping the blood from its surface.

Lora, who was standing up, face pressed against the window beside him, smiled proudly.

He let out a soft chuckle when he saw this and glanced over at Kaito, who was in the middle of butchering the bird. Removing its core as well as its wings, beak, and claws. They must be valuable.

He rubbed his eyes and cleaned the blood from them. The amount of reinforcement he sent through them wasnʼt without its price, and one of them collapsed into a pulpy mess. Thankfully, Lora wasnʼt paying attention, so he didnʼt scare her, and he quickly healed his eye back to normal.

That being said, after seeing Kaito in action, he suddenly felt much more comfortable with this plan of theirs.

***

There were several more times when a monster approached the carriage. However, other than the first one, none of them were at Tier 5. While it sounded like it was lucky for them, Julius was a little disappointed. He wanted to see Kaito use that spear attack again.

On the bright side, he learned what this so-called spear convergence was. According to Kaito, it was a special stage that one could reach after developing their weapon intent. For example, Eren, whom he’d fought before, only had a fledgling sword intent. It wasn’t even fully developed. But once he was able to get a complete sword intent, he would be able to progress to the next stage.

From Kaitoʼs explanation, it was essentially when a person and their weapon became one. Some also called it unification.

Marcus also informed Julius that this wasn’t something easily achieved. Most people who attained convergence were Tier 6, and only the supremely talented managed to do it beforehand.

In fact, Eren’s master, the Sage of Falling Swords, was one of those people who managed to get his convergence before Tier 6. In fact, some people suspected that the man had acquired it while he was in Tier 4. But there wasn’t any evidence behind this.

Julius wasn’t typically the envious type, especially considering how many overpowered techniques and skills he already had, but he couldn’t lie and say that a weapon convergence didn’t sound cool as hell.

Who knew? He might be able to attain one someday. Then again, he didn’t even know what weapon he wanted to use, so perhaps he needed to decide on that first.

However, at least this knowledge kept him distracted. They had been riding in the carriage for the past couple of days, and while he was fine with meditation, it would have been nice to stretch his legs. It also didn’t help that he was taunted by the gorgeous view all around him. The Howling Skylands was an amazing place and one he wanted to visit when he had more time.

Apparently, the region had an enormous concentration of rifts and other special places. This made it a wellspring for adventurers and disciples of various sects, and it was often used as a training ground for the younger generation.

Speaking of rifts, he spotted something off in the distance. It was a large concentration of mana, and it was pooling together, as if stuck in a vortex. It felt vaguely similar to what he typically sensed from a rift.

He scrunched his brows together and looked over at Kaito and Marcus. Perhaps if he asked really nicely, they would allow him to go check it out. But he had a feeling what the answer would be. It wouldnʼt hurt to ask, though.