Path to Transcendence

Chapter 89: Not the Pastries!

A couple of days went by, and the weekend was there before Julius even noticed. Goldencrest gave their students the entire weekend off and allowed them to go wherever they wanted. In Julius’s case, that meant heading back to see Declan, Orus, and Rae.

He probably wouldn’t always go see them on the weekend, that seemed like like too much time to take each week. He was sure that they would understand but he would still like to see them more often than not.

He had already said his goodbyes to the others and took off. Julius had informed the five of them where he was going and let them know he would be back later today or tomorrow. They understood and said that they might be in town as well. They usually took a day or two off to relax and hang out over the weekend. A day without any training whatsoever.

As Julius walked through the gates of Goldencrest Academy, he looked back and inspected the school. It was hard to appreciate its massive size while he was attending classes and living there, but it was an enormous campus. Its soft golden walls were glowing in the early morning light, illuminating Julius’s back as he walked away from it.

Declan didn’t work today, but they had made plans prior so that Julius would meet him at the guardhouse early in the morning. Orus would most likely be on duty, but he would be able to see him later, once he was done. Julius was excited to see them all again. He wanted to share some of the things that had happened to him.

It had only been a short period of time, but a lot had happened since Declan and the others saw him off. He had made some new friends, got a new spirit, acquired some new skills, and had just advanced to Tier 2. They probably wouldn’t be that surprised by that last one, but it would still be nice to tell them.

There were already a good amount of people bustling about, many shop owners were getting ready for the day, and he saw many merchants doing some early trading or purchases. Julius was walking down a nice little road when he smelled the scent of toasted wheat and freshly baked pastries.

He hadn’t eaten anything yet, he was planning to wait until he got to the guardhouse and eat breakfast with Declan and Rae if she was available. However, the alluring smell of the nearby bakery was too tempting and Julius found himself subconsciously shuffling over to the origin of the scent.

It was a small little shop, tucked in between two large stores. Large glass windows, with loaves of bread and other goodies sitting on wooden shelves, proudly displayed. Julius could still see steam wafting from their surface, showing that they were fresh out of the oven.

They were quite busy although it was so early in the morning. He saw many mothers waiting in line as well as many rugged men, who looked like they were on their way to work and had just wanted a nice bite to eat beforehand.

It seems pretty popular, might be a good sign. He told himself.

He opened the soft powder blue door and walked through. The little bell hanging above the door rang softly, alerting everyone that someone new had entered. A couple of people turned to look, but seeing it was just a young boy, quickly turned their attention back to whatever they were doing before.

The first thing Julius noticed was the smell. It had smelled good from the outside, by now that he had walked in, it was divine. The interior was also very nicely done as well. Soft warm lighting lit up the entire room. Dark blue wooden tables lined up on the walls of the bakery and at the center was a large circular countertop with glass display cases all around it.

There were so many baked goods available to choose from, ranging from hearty loaves of bread to flaky croissants, and even delicious-looking cakes. They had everything you could want from a bakery.

Off to the side, were several employees who made coffee and other breakfast items, such as omelets and sandwiches that people had ordered. It was quite a wonderful little spot that Julius had found.

He waited in line, behind a middle-aged woman who was carrying an empty basket in her right arm. Once it was her turn, Julius saw the woman order several loaves of bread and various other items and put them into her basket.

Now that it was Julius’s turn, he excitedly shuffled up to the countertop where a young woman was standing there with a smile, waiting for his order.

“What can I do for you?” She asked him sweetly

Julius ended up ordering more than what he needed for himself. He wanted to get extra for the others but got himself a chocolate croissant and a hot chocolate. It didn’t take that long for his order to come out.

They were nice enough to package the extra pastries and loaf of bread into a sack for him. Julius walked out with one arm full of pastries and the other sipping on his hot chocolate.

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It was honestly a really good cup of hot chocolate. It was everything he wanted in from a hot chocolate. Rich, creamy, and the perfect balance of sweetness and the bitterness of chocolate. It reminded Julius more of a warm chocolate shake in a way and it went amazingly well with the croissant.

If there was one thing about this world, it was that their food was amazing. His old world had some amazing food, places he and his gramps had visited over the years, but ever since he came here he has not had a bad meal.

When it came to technique and variety of food, his old world might be on top. At least so far. Julius hadn’t been able to explore as much as he wanted to, so he didn’t want to jump the gun. But the quality of ingredients was far superior here. He suspected it had to do with the presence of mana, but that was something he wanted to research more in-depth in the future.

The training was fun and all, but sometimes he wanted to learn something for the fun of it, while it might not translate to an increase in power, sometimes he just wanted to learn out of pure curiosity.

He was currently attempting to dip his croissant into his hot chocolate when he felt someone with [Spatial Perception] about to bump into him from behind. It was only due to his recent advancement that he had the reflexes to dodge in time.

Something that Julius had only realized after Lily had pointed it out, was that he had a bad habit of using [Savage Dance] to focus on a task too much, usually, it was food-related, and failed to keep his attention on his surroundings. If Julius had been focused so much on enjoying his food, he would have noticed the guy much earlier than he had.

Still, Julius was able to save his croissant and hot chocolate barely. He neatly stepped around the guy who had been about to crash into him, but the guy seemed determined to do everything he could do to bump into Julius, and stumbled again, this time backward.

The guy must have been at least Tier 3 if his movements were any indicator. While obviously inebriated, Julius saw the guy stumble at a speed that no normal person could. Almost every person reached Tier 2 a few decades into their life, so it was normal to see people move at a slightly faster speed than people would from his old world. However, this guy, even as clumsy as he seemed, was too fast for Julius to dodge him a second time.

Julius got knocked in the shoulder, spilling his hot chocolate all over the floor and knocking his pastries out of his hand.

Definitely, Tier 3, that bump had way too much force to it. Julius thought to himself as he caught his balance.

He extended his aura to confirm his suspicions and was surprised to observe that the man had decent control of his aura for how out of control he was. He didn’t sense any leaks of aura from him.

Or he might have an item on him, like the ring I have, Julius mused.

“Watch where you are going!” The man slurred. He had scrunched up his nose and furrowed his brows as he looked Julius up and down. It was like he was disgusted with Julius’s mere existence. The man was wearing a very luxurious outfit, a crimson red jacket with shiny golden trims along the edges. If Julius had to bet, it was likely that this man was a noble or some sort of wealthy aristocrat.

Julius was annoyed. This man was the one who bumped into Julius, even after he had already made an attempt to avoid him. Now he was yelling at Julius? A part of Julius wanted to punch the man right in his face. The worst part? All of his food was now on the ground, wasted.

Julius ignored the man for now and quickly tried to recover as much of it as possible. The hot chocolate was done for, there was only a small amount left sitting in the sideway cup, but the pack they had given him had thankfully saved most of the pastries. They were a little smushed but they were still edible. He let out a sigh of relief, the major crisis was avoided.

Julius could make out the man’s continued yelling in the background, he had been more focused on the pastries than the words of a pathetic man like him. He shifted the bag of pastries in his arms and began to walk away from the irate man.

Julius was still paying close attention to the angry man, so it was no surprise when he had to shift his shoulder to the side to avoid the hand that had tried to shove him. The man tripped over his two feet, almost falling to the ground again after his hand had not found his intended target.

Keep calm, no need to cause a scene. Hopefully, he is still lucid enough to realize he shouldn’t be trying to assault a young boy in broad daylight. Julius optimistically thought to himself.

Several people were already spectating them, and he even noticed that one of them had gone running for help. However, just to be safe, Julius put a little kinetic energy into his body and began to make haste trying to get as much distance from the crazy man as fast as he could.

He was able to put a good amount of distance between the two of them in an instant, and for a moment thought that it was all over, but he had to pump a good deal of kinetic energy to throw himself forward so that the rock that had been careening to the back of his head missed him. The man had been enraged and smashed his fist into the ground, creating several broken stones. He then proceeded to grab one and launch one at the back of Julius’s head.

Fortunately, Julius had been aware of the man’s movements, but the force he used to throw the rock had surprised him. If it had made contact, Julius might have sustained a serious injury, not to mention that most boys his age weren’t that strong. If he was a regular kid, that stone would have killed him.

The rock sailed over his head and crashed into the side of a random building, leaving a dent, and scaring the shit out of the woman who was walking by it. By this time, the man had generated a good amount of attention. There were now over a dozen people watching the altercation. However, nobody intervened much to Julius’s astonishment. He would have thought that someone would have stepped in to protect a young boy like him, but he was wrong.

The man was looking absolutely livid. Julius realized at this moment that this man wouldn’t stop until he hurt him. There wasn’t any reasoning with the man and Julius wouldn’t just let the man kick the shit out of him. So, he began to activate his skills, preparing for the worst.

Why is it always me? He asked himself with a sigh.