Path to Transcendence

Chapter 172: Enjoying Himself

Julius was panicking. His eyes darted back and forth, his perception skill on full blast trying to find his target.

He didn't find the stall where he had seen it the last time he was there. He rushed around the plaza that held many other stalls like a chicken with his head cut off.

This was possibly the worst-case scenario for him. He was praying that the guy just moved locations and it wasn't because he no longer sold meat skewers.

Thankfully, after several minutes of frantic searching and asking around, he was able to find the stall on the other end of the plaza. He was glad that the stall had expanded as well. It was almost twice the size it was the last time Julius ate here and there was a huge crowd surrounding it.

The scent of sweet, spicy, charred savory meat wafted dozens of feet from the grills. He had to wait a while in line, but it was very worth it. He got enough portions for everyone to have a full serving plus some more.

He didn't know when he would feel in the mood for it again and it was always a good idea to have some delicious meat in your bag for emergencies.

The sun was already setting in the distance and so he walked back to campus while eating his skewer with a large grin on his face. He had already let the others know that he was grabbing something for them and so they were waiting for him at their usual training room.

He arrived with sticky sauce all over his face and an empty wooden skewer in one hand that he had just polished off. The others all looked at him with curious gazes. They knew his habit and love for food, but he was rarely so messy.

The only person who didn't have a curious look on his face was Edgar. The moment he saw Julius's messy face and wooden skewer he immediately got the most excited-looking face a giant muscular boy could have.

Edgar used his physical enhancement skill to dash to Julius. There was no need for words to be exchanged. Julius knew his mission and Edgar knew his purpose. He dramatically took out another skewer from his ring and waved it in front of Edgar.

Edgar pressed his two fists together and bowed slightly to Julius. With an imperious nod, Julius gave Edgar permission to retrieve the holy stick of meat. The large fourth-year gently took the skewer from his hands and slowly bit into it. Hot juices flowed out and splattered onto the guy's uniform, but he didn't care. He was too busy savoring the bite with closed eyes.

"Are those the skewers that Edgar doesn't even stop talking about?" Aubrey asked from where she was standing. She and Lily were going through some exercises they learned in Gabriel's class. Lily was starting to come along very nicely in hand-to-hand.

She would never be the best fighter, but she was definitely able to handle herself well enough. In his opinion, she could do with a little more aggression in her attacks. Sometimes it felt too careful and timid for close combat fighting.

"I think so. I vaguely remember seeing those very same skewers sprawled across Edgar's floor before," Derek commented.

"Did you get enough for all of us?" Aubrey asked a little more excited.

Julius shook his head. "Sorry, I didn't know you guys wanted some," he told her regretfully.

"But you said you were going to get enough food for all of us," Aubrey accused.

"Yeah, but the stall was really busy and I felt bad for ordering so much," Julius explained.

Aubrey scrunched up her face and went back to training with Lily, showing her how to properly sweep her opponent's legs from underneath them when in a clinch.

Julius sensed Kyle shuffle over to him. He had been reading off in the corner watching the rest of them train. However, when Julius walked in, Kyle immediately put down his book.

As discreetly as he could, Julius passed Kyle a piping hot skewer. The guy gave him a gracious pat on the back and Julius gave him a knowing nod toward Aubrey's direction.

Kyle, the good friend he was, understood immediately. He put his fingers near his mouth and zippered it shut with a subtle smile. He took his skewer and happily went back to his spot in the corner and continued to read his book.

Aubrey must have smelled something though because he saw her pause her demonstration with Lily and looked over in their direction. She had her head tilted upward and was sniffing the air like a dog.

Then she spotted the skewer in Kyle's hand and ran angrily at Julius, mana coursing through her veins.

***

He managed to calm Aubrey down by distracting her. He told them the good news, that his soul was no longer in such critical condition. Everyone was very excited to hear that. Even Aubrey was happy for him, in fact, she was probably the most overjoyed, completely forgetting her earlier ire at him.

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He also explained that it wasn't fully healed yet. He needed to evolve his healing skill before he would be completely put back together.

"Oh, I almost forgot. I have something for you," Aubrey said after he was finished telling them, passing over a small cube to him.

He gave her a confused look but took it anyway and examined it. The metal cube had many layers of runic inscriptions on top of it. It was also pulsing with mana and aura, there was no doubt that whatever this was, it was valuable. The craftsmanship was impeccable.

"What is this?" He asked her.

She didn't meet his eyes but she quietly muttered, "I might have explained some of your issues with my mother. She sent that over yesterday. It is apparently an item that is used in the Alliance of Morning Sun. It is used to help their Prime Candidates withstand immense soul pressure from their training and she thought it would help you."

Julius gave her a sweet smile. It wasn't often that Aubrey was sentimental but it was always endearing when she was.

"You didn't have to do that for me," he said softly.

Aubrey huffed. "I didn't do it for you. I just told her some small details. It was her that insisted and I have learned not to argue with her about this kind of stuff."

"Where did you pick up something like this?" He asked.

"She mentioned that she took it off of a Candidate she killed a while back, never found a use for it, but hoped it would help you," she answered with a casual shrug.

So this is loot her mother got? He asked himself amusingly.

"I don't know how useful you will find it now that you're better, but she already sent it over so I might as well give it to you."

Julius walked over to the other girl and gave her a nice big hug. "Thank you," he said to her.

She went still and gave him an awkward pat on the back in return as she wasn't used to such sentiment.

He didn't know if it would help him out but he appreciated the thought more than she knew. Perhaps, it might help him when it comes down to evolving his Concept. He also had another idea in mind.

Aubrey gave him a quick explanation of how it worked and he tucked it away for future use, smiling at Aubrey the entire time.

***

He ducked underneath the thrusting spear of the Stone Goblin. The new change in their Applied Combat class was the introduction of humanoid monsters. When it was mentioned, Julius thought that meant goblins like the ones he fought in the Tier 2 rift.

He was kind of right. The entire class faced off against a variant species of goblins called Stone Goblins. They were monsters that spawned in high earth-density mana environments. Unlike the normal variant, they were stronger and smarter.

Their skins were like stone and didn't have the feral tendencies of the normal goblins. That made them a much more dangerous foe out of the gate. Fortunately, this calmer mindset also meant they were much better used for training students.

At the moment he was still wearing the suppression device even though he no longer needed it. He was using it for a few reasons. For one, it suppressed his mana and was good practice for his mana control.

Secondly, it allowed him to train his other skills without worrying about them leveling up. He wanted to avoid any level-ups until he got his new skill, but he still wanted to train a little bit, so this was his solution.

Thirdly, he just thought it was more fun this way. Otherwise, the fights would have ended too quickly. This way at least, forced him to use his entire concentration.

It was also nice to mention that the pain effects of the device were no longer as present as they once were. Obtaining [Soul Tempering] seemed to help a lot with that. While there was still some pain, his new present handled the rest of that.

The metal cube that Aubrey gave him was pretty simple to use. Much like the suppression device, it only required an input of his own aura to activate. He still didn't know how it exactly worked, but it sent a cooling and relaxing aura effect to his soul. Which helped a lot with the remaining pain he felt whenever he wore the device.

This meant that he could wear the suppression device without worry of the pain.

Oh shit!

He gave himself a firm reminder to focus more when the goblin's spear almost stabbed him in the chest, it still nicked him on the shoulder though.

He pumped as much kinetic energy through his body as the suppression device allowed him to control and shifted his shoulder to the side as another thrust came in. He then slammed his hand into the shaft of the stone spear. He quickly sent a front kick at the goblin's exposed chest.

He was using an application of aura and kinetic energy to do so. He learned that while the increase wasn't that great for the effort it took, when he was handicapped like this, every bit mattered.

He also learned that using his aura like this had an effect on the defensive skills of his opponents. If concentrated on using his Severing Will Concept he was able to "cut off" their connection to their defensive skills when he landed a hit. It didn't last very long but in a fight, a second or two could make a crucial difference.

The goblin's stone reinforcement technique petered out and Julius lashed out with another fist to its chest. Its now much weaker body didn't handle this strike as well as the last. He felt his fist crush the stone skin and sent it flying back.

He didn't allow it any space. He pushed forward and kept pummeling it. It already had its skill back up and running and was fiercely defending itself, but it was too late. He already won, now it was just about finishing it cleanly. It took another half minute, but he eventually wore it down and shattered its face.

He took deep calming breaths when he was done. He had gotten a lot better in this period even though he had stopped training as madly. His ability to fight Tier 2 opponents with the suppression device had vastly improved. He no longer lost any fights and found himself being able to actually stand on his two feet after the fights.

His levels didn't increase, but his technique and pure skill did. Even Joshua and James frequently complimented his improvement. The two of them were very encouraging to Julius, even when he lost a couple of fights.

He wished he could say that about the rest of the students. Some of them still watched many of his fights, but not as many as they used to. It seemed like flailing around and getting beat up was more interesting to them than him actually beating the monsters.

He didn't let it bother him though. He was enjoying himself.