Path to Transcendence

Chapter 300: What Did He Do?

Charles Rowe POV

Charles did not feel totally comfortable with what they were doing, but his curiosity got the better of him.

This whole rift was becoming a bit suspicious. There should be no way a rift that has existed under the direct control of Goldencrest has experienced so many changes.

Everything was highly regulated, ensuring that the conditions of the environment stayed the same. That is why he decided to investigate further, and now he is very glad that he did.

As they went deeper into the rift, the changes became clear. Some kind of external influence was changing the parameters of the rift. Something had appeared at the center that caused a cascading effect to warp the entire environment.

In his opinion, it was something like a metal-aspected natural treasure that had started to take over the rift. Or at least influence to the point where some of the monsters were being infected.

Looking at the silver lake, he could not understand how nobody had noticed. He knew that maintenance on Tier 2 rifts was much more relaxed than a Tier 3 or the Tier 4 rifts they had, but this still should have been noted during the last time it was checked up on.

He would make sure that whoever was in charge of it was investigated, especially since they still have not found out who had messed with the rift the princess had been transported in. It also started to make him believe that someone had artificially planted this treasure or item in the rift.

To achieve what, he had no idea. But it was becoming very suspicious.

Realizing he should pay closer attention to his students, he looked up and saw Reinera dealing with some of the evolved Tier 3 wolves. Upon inspection, he realized that she was already quite powerful for a Tier 3. He could feel the distinctive signs of a Concept, and she had a really good grasp of her mana control and aura.

Some people found it difficult to adapt to the newfound strength of becoming a Tier 3. It took some students almost a year until they got comfortable with their new power. Sometimes even longer when it came to controlling their aura.

Nobles in particular, because they often had items which helped them. He never liked these items, they created bad habits, but he could see why kids would use them. They were easy and did most of the aspects that aura control was supposed to help with.

Seeing that she had everything handled, he looked over to where he spotted Julius already walking toward a lone bear and paused.

This bear was not like the wolves at all. The wolves were simple Tier 3 monsters. This bear was most definitely not. This thing was well into Tier 3 and boasted a very intimidating presence as well.

However, when he spotted his confident steps, he held himself back from intervening right away. He had seen Julius in action already and knew that the boy was a decent close combatant who had a kinetic affinity. Thus, he wasn’t as worried about him confronting such a physically imposing opponent.

With that being said, though, he was not expecting Julius to literally not attempt to protect himself at all. He stood there and took a swing with his face.

Charles moved in to save the him from his idiotic behavior, but it was too late and he was too far away. Thankfully, the bear hadn’t seen the boy as a threat and it wasn’t as hard as it could have been.

Still, he was surprised when Julius didn’t move an inch. He took the blow with ease and had the gall to smile at the bear while completely still.

Charles wanted nothing more than to run over and shake the boy silly. He could not believe his student was acting so stupidly in front of a dangerous opponent. There was no way he was going to clear him to delve alone if he continued to show such rampant disregard while fighting. There was no way he could do so if he wanted to have a clear conscience at night.

Charles took a deep breath, reeled in his emotions, and calmed down. Instead of assuming the first year was just an idiot, he could at least give him a chance and examine him in closer detail.

It was noteworthy and applaudable that he was able to tank the attack in the first place, so there was a degree of justification for his actions.

Therefore, Charles was interested in seeing how Julius was able to deal with the bear now that it was obviously taking him more seriously.

He sensed him activate some kind of skill and reinforced his body. To his immense relief, the boy understood that taking that weaker blow was completely different than taking an actual strike and was preparing some sort of defense or to dodge the incoming attack.

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However, he still looked on in disbelief and incredulity when Julius decided that instead of taking the blow straight to the face, he would meet the attack head on with his arm.

Charles and every other professor at Goldencrest taught students that they needed to deflect the force of the blows at angles. Thus, most of the power behind the blow dissipated into the air.

Julius, it would seem he had not listened to this particular lesson because he thought that it was a brilliant idea to smash his forearm directly into the bear. Charles was able to feel the impact from where he stood.

To his credit, Julius was able to take the blow head-on once more and only staggered back a little bit. Much better than Charles could have ever expected. Regardless of that, he was already prepared to jump in and save Julius at any moment, but for some weird reason, he held back.

If that were the end, he would have been glad. Unfortunately, it was not.

For the next few minutes, he witnessed the most deranged clash of heads he had ever seen in his ten years as a professor.

There was no intention of dodging or graceful fighting. It was an all-out brawl that one would never expect from a person and a monster. If he didn’t know any better, he would have thought that he was watching a fight between two bears clashing against each other. It was like the first year had actually embraced the role of a beast.

And the worst part? The boy clearly enjoyed every moment of it.

Even from where he was standing, he could hear the laughs and child-like giggles from Julius each time he slammed into the bear.

He pressed his face into both of his hands. He didn’t like it, but he couldn’t help but become more and more skeptical of the boy’s sanity.

As he continued to watch, he was approached from behind, and he turned toward the royal princess with a depressed look on his face. He knew that they had been together since their disappearance, so he thought that if anyone could explain to him what he was seeing, it would probably be her.

“Does he normally do this?” He asked softly.

He did not like the fact that the girl noticeably winced at him.

“He’s not always this bad,” she offered with a strained smile.

“But he does do this type of thing often?”

She shrugged. “It depends. But if you are worried about him getting hurt, then you shouldn’t stress over it too much. He’s much more durable than most would think,” she said with an amused grin.

He glanced over at where he was witnessing two wild beasts slug it out with each other, with an uncomfortable look on his face.

“If you say so,” he finally said to her. He would trust her words, and since she did not appear worried about the boy’s safety, he would just continue to watch.

With that being said, his opinion about the boy would be forever changed.

***

Julius POV

While it was not the most interesting or powerful opponent he had faced, it was still quite an enjoyable fight, even more so when he decided only to use his physical abilities and not his constructs or aura.

That would have taken all of the fun out of it. Instead, he appreciated the chance to relax and throw himself against a living punching bag.

If there was one thing that the bear had, it was an extraordinary level of stamina and the unique ability to take a beating. He suspected it had something to do with the metal aspected nature of the beast, but still, it managed to take his strikes with little reaction.

It wasn’t like he was holding back all that much either. His punches still had enough force to seriously hurt most Tier 3s.

It actually reminded him of Aubrey’s own crystal defenses. Except in her case, she didn’t have the sheer weight helping her absorb the force of his blows.

Unfortunately, like all good things, they must eventually come to an end.

The bear could no longer keep up with him. Its chest was heaving, and it gasped for air. Even its massive stamina could not keep up with the brutal pace they kept going at.

The monster’s body was covered in torn pieces of flesh and blood. However, there was still a fighting spirit tucked in its eyes. Understanding that he wasn’t going to be getting much more help, he gave a grateful nod toward the bear. Appreciating the good fight and for allowing him to relieve some of his pent-up stress.

Then, without further ado, he slammed one last crushing fist onto its skull, killing it quickly.

Once he was finally done, he looked down at himself and frowned.

He wasn’t heavily injured, his [Barrier of Severance] skill had actually done a noteworthy job of protecting him. That on top of his new enhancement skill made his defenses much more sturdy than they had been previously. He had a small collection of scratches and a bunch of bruises scattered all over his body.

Furthermore, he found that his clothing had not come out of it unscathed. His training outfit was barely hanging onto his torso, and he was missing an entire side of his pants.

He quickly changed into a new pair of clothes and made sure to stop his healing skill from activating. He didn’t really want to show off that particular skill in front of Professor Rowe quite yet. He was more than fine showing some of these other skills, but [Phoenix Renewal] was always a flashy skill.

That was still something he would like to keep a bit more secret if possible. Thus, he took out a small vial of a healing potion he still had from when Rebecca had given him a sack of them and downed it. The small littering of injuries was taken care of pretty quickly, and when he was done, he turned to look where the other two were staring at him.

Reinera had an exasperated expression on her face, but he was more surprised to see that Professor Rowe had this look of supreme disappointment. Julius wondered what he could have done to deserve such a reaction.