Path to Transcendence

Chapter 282: Reunion

It was the weekend and there wouldn’t be classes until tomorrow, which meant that the campus was relatively empty.

It also meant that it was quite a simple thing to get guest passes for Stella and Marcus.

When they were all walking through the courtyard and to the meeting location, Marcus was supposed to meet Lil,y he couldn’t help but feel weird. Although it hadn’t been that long all things considered, the fact remained that he had been gone for a good amount of time.

If his estimate was correct, the school year was almost over. This would mean that he had spent almost half of the school year not even at school.

“What do you think Amelia and my family are going to say?” Reinera asked him suddenly. He turned to look at her and found her looking very worried.

It was only at that moment that he realized that he had only been thinking about his own worries and had not put any thought into Reinera’s own troubles. He immediately felt like a bad friend.

For a while he had been so focused on his own issues that he had been ignoring her and her own plights. Of course, she was worried about how her family and friends would react to her coming back without warning.

For all they knew she had been missing and presumably dead for the past few months.

While he had been worrying about how Lily and the others would react, there were people who had known her for her entire life concerned about her wellbeing.

It really put into perspective his own issues. Suddenly not telling Lily and the others didn’t seem that big of a deal.

“I haven’t met the rest of your family so I couldn’t venture a guess, but for Amelia, I expect that she will be angry that you haven’t contacted her, much like how I expect Lily and the others to react.”

Reinera visibly deflated upon hearing that. “Yeah, I was having the same thoughts.”

He reached over and patted her back. “But, I bet she will also be happy to see that you are alright.”

“You think so?” She asked hopefully.

He nodded firmly. “Absolutely. Amelia and I might not get along the best, but there is no doubt that she cares about you. I believe that her relief at seeing you alive will surpass her anger at you for not contacting her.”

“I was actually wanting to ask you about that.”

“About what?”

“I had been prepared to tell my family that my beacon was broken and that was the reason for not being able to contact them. Do you think I should lie to them or should I tell them the truth?”

Hmm, that is a good question, he thought to himself with a deep frown.

It would certainly help explain why she had not tried to contact her family and ease the scolding that would eventually come. He also didn’t know her family, so once again, it was hard to say what was the right move.

“I think that is up to you. If you feel like that is the best thing to do, then I don’t see why you shouldn’t tell them that. It is a soft lie that would save everyone from a lot of drama,” he said to her.

She didn’t say anything in response and simply nodded softly. Instead, he saw her put her head down and go deep in thought.

Realizing her need for him was no longer required, he directed his attention back to his upcoming issues.

However, after talking with her, he no longer felt as nervous.

So what if they got a little bit angry? He had let them know he was okay and he had specifically asked them not to come after him.

Therefore, they didn’t really have much room to be angry about him surprising them like this. If anything, this was his deserved payback.

He nodded sagely to himself. With that mindset, he smiled as he approached the clearing that was just outside of the library.

Now that he was in range, he pulsed out [Spatial Perception]. He got a response and his smile widened as he sensed two people sitting on a bench.

They hadn’t noticed them yet, but he took the time to examine both of them.

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Lily looked the same as usual. Her dirty blonde hair and violet eyes sparked even from this distance. Her aura was just as restrained and controlled as usual. Ever since his own improvements with aura, he had been getting a better appreciation of the nuances of aura control.

Which was why he was noticing just how good Lily’s aura control was.

The past Julius from several months ago would never have noticed the way her aura acted so naturally. He knew that it was a shroud, but that was because he had felt her aura when it was completely unrestrained.

To anybody else, it felt completely natural. She was fluctuating her aura in such a way that it looked soft and welcoming. However, he knew better than anyone that her aura was not moving a single inch from her control.

Julius then looked at the person next to her. He shouldn’t have been surprised to see Aubrey alongside Lily. The two of them were roommates and best friends after all.

He suspected that they had just come from dinner with the others, it was about that time if he recalled correctly.

Aubrey looked the same as well. Tall, pretty, and looking completely impatient. Even from this distance, he could see the girl tapping her leg up and down as she sat down.

The other thing he noticed was her aura. Aubrey was not as good at aura control as Lily, which was why he instantly could tell that she had gotten much stronger in his absence.

There was this dense and strong feeling emanating from her aura.

As they got closer, he wasn’t surprised when Lily turned toward them. She was really good at detecting people. With that being said, he did his best to hide behind the much larger Marcus.

“Hey Marcus, over here!” She yelled out excitedly.

When Marcus got a bit closer, he addressed her. “Lady Lily, it is always a pleasure to see you.”

“Oh, I told you to stop with that ‘lady’ nonsense Marcus!” Lily scolded the man with a mock frown before walking over and giving Marcus a very fierce hug.

“How is Emily?” Lily asked after hugging the man for a good long while.

“She’s good, she’s just about ready to get started on her training but her mother isn’t quite on board with it yet,” Marcus said with a shake of his head.

“That’s too bad, I know how badly Emily wants to start training,” Lily said with a smile.

“You tell me, she won’t stop bugging me every time I come home.”

“So what’s going on? You said you had something you wanted to tell me. I thought you were busy trying to find Julius. Have you found any hints or clues about his whereabouts?” Lily asked, prompting Aubrey to lift her head, swivel as she started to pay attention.

“I have been and have some good news on that front,” Marcus said with a small grin.

Lily, noticing the Tier 5’s unusual tone, peeked over to look at who was accompanying the man. She saw Stella and had to shift around to see Reinera standing right beside her.

“Grace?!” Lily exclaimed.

“Wait, if you’re here then that means…” she trailed off as Marcus dramatically stepped to the side to reveal Julius.

He gave a shy wave. “Hey,” he said to the stunned girl with a bright smile.

For what seemed like an eternity she just stared at Julius with a blank expression. He couldn’t get a read off her and it made him start to feel a bit of nervousness that he previously believed he brushed away.

He was about to say something to break the tension but before he could, he was attacked by a tall brunette.

He had no chance, one moment he was standing there with his hand waving in the air and the next he was on the ground with Aubrey on top of him.

She grabbed his face and examined it as if making sure that it was indeed the real him. “How do we know it’s the real Julius? For all we know it this is some kind of imposter,” She said with doubt coloring her voice.

“Mmhmph,” he tried to reply but the way she was mushing his face together made it impossible to say anything coherent.

She released her iron-like grip on his cheeks and allowed him to speak.

“I missed you,” he said brightly.

She still didn’t look quite convinced. “What did I give you for your… you know.”

He squinted at her and looked confusingly off in the distance. He had no clue what she was talking about.

“See? Not Julius,” Aubrey said confidently as she took a step back.

“What are you talking about? What thing… oh,” he realized midway through his sentence what it was.

So with a quick thought, he sat up and perused his storage ring. He made a note to himself about how full it was getting and that it might be time for a larger one or reorganizing it.

After he fumbled around for a few moments, he found it and took it out. The metal orb was just like he had last seen it. However, what he cared about more was the reaction from Aubrey who was staring at the orb with sparkling eyes.

Before he could say anything, he was once again attacked and back onto his back. This time he found himself getting crushed by a hug.

“What did you mean when you said you couldn’t trust my judgment?!” She muttered to him as she got off his chest.

“You remember that bit, huh?”

“Of course I do! That was very hurtful to read,” she said with a sulking expression.

He reached over and hugged her around the shoulder.

“I’m sorry,” he said sincerely.

Neither of them said anything else, the two of them just enjoyed sitting next to each other and took in the moment.

However, he did look over to see Lily’s reaction and wasn’t that surprised to see the girl staring at him with a very conflicted expression on her face. It was as if the girl didn’t know whether to be happy or angry at the surprise.

The good news was that he hadn’t been attacked with any mental stabs from the purple-eyed girl as of yet. He didn’t know how long that would last, but he was hoping that she wouldnʼt resort to that.

He also wasn’t surprised to see Lily glancing over at Marcus with dark eyes. He didn’t feel a little bit bad for the man. This was his idea and Julius had already planned to drop all of the blame at Marcus’s feet if Lily yelled at him.