Path to Transcendence

Chapter 135: Unraveling

After they had negotiated for information about the location of his cake supplier, the dinner was much less awkward. They made small talk, learning that Grace was a fellow first year and that Amelia was a newly hired teaching assistant.

While it was going well, Julius did note that Amelia had made several snide comments to him throughout the night, but being the bigger man, he had pretended not to notice. However, he knew that Lily and Derek picked up on it as well.

At least Grace was pleasant to be around. She didn’t say much, as she was too focused on eating. It was just like how she had devoured his cake. Julius was amused to see that she managed to put away just as much bread as Aubrey did in half the time. It was nice to have a meal with someone who enjoyed their food as much as he did. He knew that the others felt the same way.

It was something Julius could appreciate from the young girl. A healthy stomach spoke of a healthy soul. The rest of the meal was just as delicious, he was sad when the end of their night came to an end. However, just like Derek and Aubrey had promised, he left the restaurant with a full belly. It was the perfect balance of full but not stuffed.

However, as they were leaving they noticed a commotion in the lobby of the restaurant. A large group of people in luxurious clothes were coming down the stairs and two groups were arguing quite loudly.

Julius was just about to ignore them like the others were, but then he saw something attached to the chest of one group. It was an emblem of a wolf with two spears crossing behind it. It was exactly the emblem of Duke Greyson’s House.

It was like a switch flipped. The moment Julius saw it, he felt an incredible surge of rage bubble to the surface. Rage that he had been keeping tightly sealed away in the depths of his soul.

He found himself slowly inching toward them menacingly, mana pulsing through his veins without him even noticing he was doing so.

The only reason he stopped was because he felt Lily grab his shoulder before he could get any closer. She must have felt his swing in emotions and was worried about what he would do.

He looked down at her and she was looking at him with concerned eyes. She knew better than anyone why he would be feeling this way. He told her about Duke Greyson and what they did at the estate. So she had a good guess that he wasn’t heading over to them with intentions of giving them a hug.

He was so angry that even a fully empowered [Savage Dance] wasn’t able to control his emotions. The pit of anger just kept getting bigger and bigger, it took everything Julius had to keep the lid on it. He knew that if he let go for even a single second, he wouldn’t be able to wrangle control again.

Just when he thought his anger was about to get out of hand, he felt a soothing sensation flow through him, cooling even the fiery rage that bubbled in his chest. He turned to look at who was responsible. Lily was still holding his shoulder, but he could feel her pushing some type of skill into him.

It was like a soothing balm for his soul.

If it was anyone else he wouldn’t have allowed them to mess with his emotions. But this was Lily. Julius allowed her to keep on feeding him the relaxing feeling of whatever technique she was using.

However, even with her help, Julius still had to keep [Savage Dance] active. But the worst had passed and he felt like he had enough control to turn and give Lily a grateful squeeze on her shoulder.

He took another glance at the group that was still arguing with the other one just in front of him. Now that he was looking closer he could see that the group consisted of three main individuals. It was difficult to tell which one of them was the person in charge, but he would guess the person in the middle. Everyone else in his group appeared to be retainers of some type or servants.

Around half a dozen men and women were spread around the group. With just as many on the other group’s side. However, they weren’t doing the arguing. That was done by the three people of the Greyson group as well as the two leaders of the other group.

There were also two large looming men who were clearly there for protection if their strong auras were any indicator. Their auras were decently well controlled, but the small amount that leaked out screamed Tier 4. They also had Greyson crests but theirs were over a sleek piece of armor that stood out in the restaurant where everyone was dressed normally.

The three Greyson guys were all young and around Tier 3, maybe even Tier 4 if they were weak. It was hard to tell because they wore multiple devices that hid their aura.

The one in the middle was tall, handsome, and had long ash-grey hair put up in a ponytail. The other two had dark brown hair but were equally as handsome. However, it was their expressions that made their good looks go to waste. Their faces were screwed with anger and sneers as they yelled at the other party, creating a commotion.

Just looking at their faces made Julius want to launch a fully empowered spike of mana at them with no regard for what might happen as a consequence. This was the same House what had caused the attack at the estate. The attack had taken Lukas and Edwin away from him.

In his mind, he knew that these men were unlikely to be directly responsible. That was the only reason why they were still alive and that Julius hadn’t wasted them the second he saw them. But that didn’t mean that they weren’t still connected with the House that caused it to happen. No, in Julius’s mind, they were partly guilty just by association. They were even wearing House Greyson’s crests over their chests like like proud badges of honor.

Julius gently removed Lily’s hand from his shoulder and before he could do anything stupid, he immediately stormed out of the restaurant, ignoring his group’s worried looks.

However, Julius also spotted something else mixed into their expressions. Distaste, they carefully hid hints of distaste when they looked at the members of House Greyson, even Grace had a similar look on her face.

When he stepped out into the cool crisp breeze of the city, he took a deep ragged breath. No matter how much his anger wanted to be let free, he couldn’t allow it to do what it wanted. He was in charge, he wouldn’t allow his rage to ruin everything.

If he attacked them in the middle of the restaurant, he would be captured and killed by their Tier 4 bodyguards. While the rest of the group had seemed like weak users, who mostly advanced through supplemental means, those two were genuine Tier 4 elites.

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They didn’t give off the same vibe as Gabriel or Declan, but it was close. He wasn’t quite on that level yet. He just needed more time. He was getting stronger by the day and now that he had a Concept and acquired an epic-rank skill, he felt himself reaching the required strength to have a fighting chance. He just needed to be patient.

He distantly heard the others follow him outside and approach him cautiously.

“Are you alright?” Grace asked concerned.

Julius didn’t say anything or even acknowledge her.

The others knew better than to talk to him right now. They understood why he had stormed out and gave him some space to calm down.

“What happened? Why did you leave in such a rush?” Grace asked again.

Julius had to take another deep breath to not snap at her for asking too many questions. It’s not like she knows, he reminded himself. She is just being curious, which is natural. But his posture seemed to scare the girl regardless.

However, unlike Grace who sounded genuinely concerned. Amelia didn’t have the same approach. Her tone was confrontational. “Aren’t you going to answer her question?” She said offended, as if scolding him like a child.

Julius felt a lance of irritation spear him right through the chest and ever so slowly turned his head to look at Amelia with a furious gaze. His eyes contained all of the restrained rage he had been holding in.

The entire dinner, Amelia had been nothing but dismissive, if not outright rude to him. Making those exact same type of snide remarks. Not to the others, no, only to him. He had a feeling that she knew who they were and wouldn’t risk offending them.

Normally, he would have ignored it but after he had just gone to such extreme lengths to control his anger, this tipped him right over the edge. It was her tone, the tone as if Julius was an insignificant ant who should be gratefully bowing at her feet for allowing him in her presence.

With a scoff he let the last threads of his control unravel.

Amelia POV

Amelia had enough of the insolent boy. He showed no respect to her lady or herself. He held himself with so much arrogance and pride. The gall he had to scam a favor out of Reinera. First, he made her sit on the ground, then he talked to her with no respect, and now this?

She would not take such a slight from an ignorant and weak Tier 2 child. He should be grateful that he could even talk in the presence of anyone at the table. Every single one of them held status far above him, she didn’t even care to mention the power gap between them. Even Reinera was far above the young idiot.

She excused how he talked with the others somewhat because it seemed like they were somewhat friendly. But there was only so much she could take from a Tier 2. Especially, when he blatantly ignored her lady’s questions.

“Aren’t you going to answer her question?” she said reproachingly.

However, to her surprise, she noticed that Derek Zenith, Lily Violet, Aubrey Crysalia, Kyle Quincy, and Edgar Crow all simultaneously winced and shook their heads the moment she opened her mouth.

What? What did I do wrong? She was confused. All she did was put an arrogant Tier 2 in his place. She had hoped that if anything, they would appreciate her efforts.

She was about to ask Aubrey who was closest to her what the look was for, but she didn’t have time.

A looming dread filled the air that filled her with unease. A few seconds of stark silence later she watched as the Tier 2 with an inflated sense of self-importance slowly turned his head around to look right at her.

“What did you say?” He asked very softly. Although his tone was gentle, she couldn’t help but feel goosebumps run up and down her body.

His eyes were blazing with anger. It was almost scary if not for the fact that he was a Tier 2. It was as terrifying as a kitten baring its fangs at her.

She finally confronted the young brash child, something she had wanted to do the entire night, but had stopped herself. “You have been a proud and haughty brat for the entire short time that I have known you. You should be grateful that such esteemed people would put up with your arrogant attitude. You must’ve forgotten that you are nothing more than a weak Tier 2. Perhaps being accepted in Goldencrest inflated your ego, but remember that just because you are a little talented, doesn’t mean you are on the same level as us. You better keep your attitude in check,” she reminded him.

He laughed. “I better keep my attitude in check, huh,” he mocked her with a chuckle, but there was no humor in it. No, it was thinly veiled rage.

“And what will you do if I don’t?” He asked her daringly.

It seems like he still doesn’t understand, she thought to herself amusingly.

“If you don’t, then I will do it for you,” she promised him.

“Oh, is that so?” He asked. This time she did hear a little bit of humor, almost like he genuinely found that funny.

He might believe she was just posturing, but she really would. He better not push her.

“Yes, yes I would,” she told him while staring directly into his eyes which had now calmed down but were somehow more unnerving.

“I would like to see you try,” he goaded her with a smug smirk.

Okay, that’s it.

She didn’t want to be the person who bullied someone two full tiers below her, but he was asking for it. However, she also had to consider her status and the current role she was pretending to be. That meant she couldn’t show her full power. Even the powerful aura-hiding artifact the royal family had given her wouldn’t be able to hide her Tier if she went all out.

Not that it mattered, she wouldn’t need to even use a fraction of her power. He was most likely a recently advanced Tier 2 with a bloated sense of his own power. It would just take a small flick to humble him.

She slowly wrapped her aura around Julius with a smooth application of mana and squeezed. Imagining that she was constricting him like a snake. Was it perhaps too much, maybe? But he needed someone to teach him a lesson in humility.

However, she got increasingly alarmed when her aura got nowhere. It was like her aura was turned to dust the second it got near the boy. He must have a pretty good aura skill, she thought. Okay, so you do have some strength to back up your mouth, she admitted to herself.

She ramped up her aura and put the entire force of a newly advanced Tier 3’s aura onto him. However, she was shocked when nothing happened either. Just like the previous time, he was completely unaffected and unfazed.

He just stood there with that same smug smile and there was a challenging glint in his eyes. As if saying, is that all you got?

She was dumbfounded by the turn of events. How the hell is he holding up to my aura? His aura is unmistakably Tier 2, but the strength of it is not unlike the power of a Tier 3 soul, it doesn’t make sense, she thought to herself.

So she cranked it up even further, taking it to the level of an established Tier 3 user. It was only then did she gained even a single foothold against him. Still, her aura was torn apart by something.

It was probably some sort of item he must have had on his person. There was no other way for him to hold out against a full-powered Tier 3 aura.

She was very tempted to use her Authority on the still smug boy. He was using an item to hold her back and he had the shamelessness to act like it was his own achievement. However, she wouldn’t go that far. While the boy infuriated her to no end, she knew what her priorities were. She couldn’t easily unveil her identity just to bully a Tier 2.

Thankfully, it didn’t come to that as the young granddaughter of Count Violet intervened. “That is enough!”