Path to Transcendence

Chapter 133: Golden Wheel

Julius tucked away the Sylvan Petal for later use. However, he had to promise to let everyone know when he would be using it so that they could participate or at least observe what happens.

After the group left the auction house, the six of them headed toward their dinner reservation at the Golden Wheel. A place that Julius was very excited to see for himself. The others had talked it up so much, that he was expected many great things.

He’d even prevented himself from stuffing his face at the buffet as Edgar had done. He didn’t have an endless gaping pit of a stomach that Edgar seemed to have. In some ways, Julius was envious of the big muscular man’s appetite.

To Julius’s surprise, they didn’t walk to the restaurant. Derek had the bright foresight to hire a carriage to take them there. Carriages were very expensive in Heston, especially considering the city didn’t allow any carriages that were drawn by horses or other creatures.

Apparently, there was an issue with too much fecal matter from them being left behind on the roads.

All of the carriages seen on the street were fueled by mana. Perhaps if Julius didn’t have memories from his old world he would have been more taken away by the innovative carriages. Unfortunately, even the carriage, as nice as it was, didn’t have the same allure as some of the nicer cars from his old world. It was one of the few parts of this new world that fell short of his old.

When they arrived at the restaurant, Julius looked upon the entrance in awe. The restaurant was practically half the size of the auction house they were just at. It was that massive, and in some ways, much nicer than it. It certainly lived up to its name.

The entire restaurant revolved around the golden wheel theme. The entrance had a fifty-foot wheel hanging from above, softly spinning in motion. The entire place was covered in gold decorations and art. And surprisingly, was still very tasteful and not over the top. Julius didn’t know how the designers managed that.

There were colorful mana constructs dancing around the air, dazzling the guests and even bringing them warm enchanted towels for them to wash their hands on until a staff member took them to their seats.

There were multiple floors of the Golden Wheel. The lower levels were for most of the customers, the upper floors were designated for special occasions and VIPs.

He leaned over to Lily as they were following the staff member. “I’m surprised you didn’t get us a floor on the upper floors,” he whispered in her ear.

She looked over her shoulder and shook her head amusingly. “Funnily enough, the bottom level is the most enjoyable to eat at. At least for us. Upstairs can feel a little lonely and stuffy. Itʼs full of people with an inflated opinion of themselves who don’t actually enjoy the food, but enjoy the status of eating here. We think that being surrounded by people who are enjoying the food aspect of the restaurant is more pleasant to be around.”

Ah, I can see how that might happen.

The menu for dinner was a thirteen-course menu, and diners were allowed to choose between a couple of options for each course. It must have been absolute chaos to keep track of everything. Julius had no doubts that most of the staff were Tier 2 or 3 just to keep up.

“Thirteen courses sound like a lot. Are the servings small or something?” he asked Derek who was sitting across from him.

Julius could see no other way someone could eat so much food without falling into a food-induced coma.

“That’s the magic of the restaurant,” Derek replied with a smile. “The chefs in this place have a special set of skills that imbue the food with effects that will always keep you hungry.”

“But surely there would still be a point where it is physically impossible to put any more food in one’s body right?” Julius pointed out.

Aubrey jumped in excitedly. “That’s the best part! I don’t know how they do it, but they managed to perfectly balance alchemy practices with their food. The food dissipates much like a potion or other mana-based consumable would.”

“So you never get full?” Julius asked confused. Wasn’t that the whole point of going to a restaurant? To get one’s tummy full?

Aubrey chuckled at him. “Nope, by the end of the night, you are in the perfect state of hungry but not comatose.”

Julius still didn’t quite know what she was talking about. He would have to wait and see what she was talking about for himself.

While they were waiting for their food and making idle small talk, Julius took the time to look around. Unsurprisingly, he noticed that a lot of the people dining here were nobles if their attire was any indicator. But he was also pleasantly surprised to see many commoners as well.

He could tell that they were commoners based on their clothing. It wasn’t a dig on them, but it was just an observation. Their outfits were nice, with buttons and everything. But it was also made of more practical and rugged materials. Their attitudes were different too, they were more down to earth than the nobles.

Julius almost laughed when he spotted some a family who were holding the silverware like one would hold two swords. He also noticed that the fare was much more rustic than what he had been expecting from such a fancy place.

“What’s with all the commoners? I heard that this place was really hard to get into, even for nobles.” Julius noted.

Lily smiled brightly. “It’s actually a touching reason. The owner and chef of the restaurant are husband and wife. They were both born as commoners and they wanted to create a place where commoners are welcome as well. So at any time half of the restaurant is dedicated to commoners only. It is also the reason why the prices are really reasonable considering how high quality the meal is. They still offer higher tiered food items for nobles and such, but most commoners are only Tier 2 or 3, so normal fare is fine with them.”

“Don’t some of the nobles cause problems because of that?” Julius asked.

“Most know better than to start something here. After all, Headmaster Keiron himself helped the couple open the restaurant,” Lily said.

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The Headmaster? Julius wouldn’t have expected the restaurant to have such influential backers. Just as Julius was about to respond, their waiter brought over their first course.

He could smell the nutty scent of toasted wheat before it even reached them. Each of them was presented with a small dish of their very own freshly baked bread, along with a healthy serving of butter on the side.

It wasn’t quite the first course he expected for a restaurant of its reputation, but he wasn’t complaining. The bread looked absolutely divine. It was more akin to a croissant with how flaky it was. Also who didn’t love fresh bread with their dinner?

The first bite was all he needed to forget about anything else. The taste was even better than the smell and looks. Julius caught himself actually moaning in appreciation at how delicious the bread was. It was by far the best bite of bread that he had ever had in either life. The perfect balance between flaky and soft was impeccable. It was also deeply nutty and had a touch of sweetness.

Then just when Julius didn’t think it could get better, he put a good smear of butter all over his next bit and he thought he died and went to heaven. He had a whole Ratatouille moment in the middle of his meal, remembering the first time he and his mother had made homemade bread when he was younger.

It tasted just as good, if not better.

He looked over at the others to see how they were reacting and he laughed loudly at what he saw. Every one of them was shoving their entire loaves down their throat with eagerness. Even the normally refined Derek, Kyle, and Lily were eating as fast as decorum would allow them.

Not a single one of them looked up from their plates. Aubrey and Edgar were shockingly already done with their loaves, polishing them up in record time. However, what shocked Julius more, was that the waiter was already there placing brand-new loaves of bread in front of the two of them.

Julius met eyes with the male waiter and the man smiled at him. “It’s not my first time serving them. They go through multiple loaves every time throughout the night, so I make sure to keep many on hand.”

Julius just shook his head and chuckled. Apparently, the two of them were such gluttons that the staff at the restaurant remembered. No wonder the two of them got along so well with Drasil. They were three peas in a pod.

However, Julius quickly realized that he had no moral high ground to make fun of them. Just like them, he had already finished his loaf before he knew it and the waiter was right there in a second placing another loaf in front of him with a knowing smile.

The best part was that Aubrey wasn’t exaggerating. He didn’t feel the slightest bit full yet. Even though he was well into his second loaf before his second course, he didn’t even feel like he ate anything. Normally he would be upset. But this time it was a blessing. More hungry meant more food he could eat.

The second and third courses that followed were just as good. Unfortunately, the bread was the only thing that you could get unlimited amounts of. He would have loved to have that deep-fried soft-shelled crab a hundred more times. He didn’t think a crustacean could be so juicy and taste so heavenly. And the sauce, don’t get him started on that spicy, tangy, sweet succulent sauce.

He was so absorbed in his food that he missed the entrance of someone he knew. Well, not really know, but who he had recently seen.

It was the cake girl. The cake girl had just sat down next to a tall slim blonde woman at a table a couple dozen paces away. Julius knew right away that the blonde woman was the same woman who had been invisible. Julius noticed that the woman was older than the cake girl. The cake girl was probably around his age. But the woman looked slightly older and had a maturity to her that her appearance didn’t show.

While the cake girl was talking animately as she devoured the same bread Julius had gotten four orders of, the blond woman was sitting poised, constantly looking around. It was almost like the woman was keeping an eye on their surroundings at all times.

She must’ve felt his face on them because soon after he looked over, she jerked her head to look right at him in the eyes. He saw multiple emotions fly across the woman’s face before she decided on a neutral one.

Julius didn’t avert his gaze and instead smiled at her and nodded in her direction.

However, he wasn’t the only one to notice where Julius was staring. Aubrey had just finished off her crab, licking her fingers clean, and immediately going for another piece of bread. However, as she did, she also caught him staring at the two girls.

“You know them?” She mumbled to Julius over a mouthful of bread.

He shook his head slightly. “Not really, the black-haired girl ate my cake.”

Aubrey scrunched his nose. “Cake?”

“Yeah, I was enjoying some cake in the gardens at night and she came up and practically demanded some,” Julius explained.

“You want to invite her over?” Aubrey asked him.

Julius laughed at Aubrey’s teasing, but slowly stopped as he realized that she wasn’t joking. She had her serious face on, the same face she had when she had asked him what color of dress she should wear when they left school.

Julius frantically shook his head. “No! I don’t even know her name,” he told her.

“Well, you can ask once I invite her over,” Aubrey said with a grin.

Julius looked at her seriously. “Don’t you dare.”

“What? You need to get to befriend some other kids your own age. Once we are gone next year, you won’t have us around. You need to extend your wings a little bit,” she told him.

“She’s a girl, befriending girls can be complicated,” Julius pointed out.

“Even better! A girlfriend would be good for you,” Aubrey said excited about the idea.

“I don’t need a girlfriend,” Julius said exasperated. This wasn’t the first time the topic came up either.

“Bullshit. A girlfriend would keep you from-.”

“Running myself into the ground,” Julius finished for her. “I know you’ve brought this up multiple times.”

“Only because I am right. Tell him, Lily!” Aubrey pulled Lily in, getting back up.

“What?” Lily asked airily. She had been too focused on finishing her crab to listen to their conversation.

“Tell Julius that he should get a girlfriend,” Aubrey commanded her.

Lily to her credit didn’t miss a beat. “You should get a girlfriend,” she told him plainly.

Julius threw up his arms. “Not you too. What do you think I need to get one to slow me down too?”

Lily shook her head. “No, I just think it would be cute to see you running around with a girlfriend.”

“I agree,” Aubrey said while pushing back her chair.

Julius immediately absorbed all the kinetic energy from her, preventing her from moving. However, she must have expected him to do that because she already had her aura up and running, fighting against his will and technique.

However, to her surprise, she found that his will wasn’t like it was just a week ago.

Something he realized during his willpower training for his Concept, was that willpower influenced a lot of other things not just his Concept. For example, his kinetic absorption technique didn’t work well on humans because they had naturally strong wills. A golem or troll not so much.

That was why he had always struggled with using his kinetic affinity to siphon her kinetic energy before. However, it was different now. With his increase in willpower alongside his newly ranked up soul from his Soul Evolution, he was able to influence Aubrey more than he had in the past.

He saw her eyebrows raise in concern and she had to put a lot more energy into fighting him off. Unfortunately, defending with willpower was much easier than attacking with it and Aubrey wasn’t any slouch in that department. So no matter how hard he tried to stop her, he couldn’t.

The only way he could was to leap across the table and tackle her, but he didn’t like that option. That would be even more embarrassing and bring too much attention.

As such he had to watch with defeated eyes as she walked directly to the table where the cake girl was sitting at.