Path to Transcendence

Chapter 671: Hiding Away

He didn’t receive any immediate reprisals or retaliation. He managed to get back to the Sunfire Pavilion without anyone stopping him. However, not long after he got back, he was alerted that someone was at the front.

He went over and realized that there was more than one person standing there. The front of the pavilion wasn’t like other houses or villas. It was more of a courtyard with a building attached to it. The front was an open area with plenty of sunlight, and he could clearly see who had arrived. Some of them he recognized, like the man who had tried to scan him earlier.

“I don’t recall inviting anyone over for a party,” he said dully.

“Let us in, Mr. Julius.” A woman called out to him impatiently. She was standing behind the red pillar that acted as a boundary for the pavilion. She wouldn’t be able to get past it without his permission.

She wasn’t someone he recognized, but based on her robes and her aura, she was an elder of some sort.

He smiled good-naturedly. “Nope, I think I’m good. Can you guys come back later? I got some healing and recovering to do,” he called back, dramatically holding his hip as if it were in pain. When he didnʼt get an immediate response, he turned around and walked away.

“Mr. Julius, do not make this harder than it needs to be. Let us in, and all will be forgiven.”

He stopped and slowly craned his head to look back at the woman. “I’m sorry? You said I’d be forgiven? For what?”

The woman shook her head sadly. “You understand what you did. And if you believe you can assault members of the sect without repercussions, then you are sorely mistaken. Honored guest or not.”

“Assault would presume that I attacked them without reason. If they told you the truth, then I was well within my rights to stop them. And I didn’t even lay a finger on them, so don’t exaggerate. It’s not my fault they couldn’t successfully gang up on me with their four combined authorities. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t tell you, because itʼs pretty embarrassing.”

Julius saw her glance back, which made him think that the last part was true, and theyʼd told her a different story about what happened.

He waved his hand. “Either way, whether they lied or not. I’m not going to allow you inside here. Why do you want to come in anyway? Is this about the scanning you wanted me to do earlier?”

“Partly, yes. But there are other questions we need to ask you.”

“You can ask them here.”

He could feel her clench her hands behind her back, trying to maintain her composure. “Let us inside. Please.”

He rubbed his forehead. “Look, I’m dead tired after that whole incident. I’m going to get some sorely needed rest. I understand you have questions, but I am going to wait until the Vice Sect Leader returns. If she tells me to get scanned, I will.

He was totally lying about that last part. He wouldn’t be getting scanned even if they tied him up and shoved the scanner down his stomach. He didn’t care what Cassandra told him.

“You are making a very big mistake, Mr. Julius. Let us in, and we still deal with this like civilized people. You have nothing to fear from us,” she tried to convince him again, almost pleading with him.

He did his best not to roll his eyes. But he could see that this was going nowhere, and so he turned around once again. He decided he would let Cassandra deal with this when she got back. In the meantime, he only needed to stay where he was. The pavilion was a pretty safe place; even Cassandra admitted that she would find it almost impossible to break into.

Plus, this would be a good time to relax and recover. It wasn’t like he needed to leave the pavilion either; he had plenty of food, and since he was planning on mainly sleeping, he didn’t need much entertainment.

He could hear the elder’s voice call out to him loudly when he walked away, but he ignored it. Rather, he went back to his room, curled up in bed, and fell asleep with Drasil in his arms.

***

For the next several days, that was all he did. He slept more during this period than ever before. His body was still fatigued. Nothing he did helped matters. The aftereffects of his body’s ability were really quite intense. He could only imagine how bad it would have been if Jasper hadn’t interfered. So despite his mistrust of the mysterious man, he chose to give him the benefit of the doubt just for that.

Still, he had hoped that some time relaxing would have helped him. But despite his and Drasi’s best efforts, his recovery went slowly. It wasn’t that bad, to be honest. For the first time in a year, he didn’t spend every waking moment training.

That was a small lie. He did train some stuff, but that was mainly by accident.

During this period, he’d been very tempted to grab [Harmonic Resonance], but he held back. The skill sounded pretty good and might even have helped him in his current state. But he also knew that his soul wasn’t in the condition it should be when acquiring new skills.

While his soul wasn’t shattered or torn apart as it had been in the past, it was still in a precarious state. He had a feeling that was why his connection to his skills was a bit distant. He didn’t necessarily need those skills in the first place, but he noticed their disappearance quite significantly. And perhaps this was the true indicator of how close he’d gotten to actual death.

It was a bit worrisome that Cassandra hadn’t returned yet. She was still out in the wastelands, at least that was what Maya told him when she came by to check on him. Apparently, several more issues arose after they left and needed to be addressed.

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Unfortunately, that meant he would stay inside for the time being. He didn’t want to get harassed when he was walking around the inner court. Elder Huan came by to see if he needed anything and promised that he would help him deal with these annoying elders, but Julius also didn’t want to put him in that position. Not yet. He might take it up if Cassandra didn’t show up soon, but he could patiently wait for the time being.

Sleep was nice, and he was enjoying all of its glory. Drasil was, too; the little guy was just as tired as he was. Evolving and healing all of those disciples had drained Drasil.

He heard from Maya that his class was still being taught by Elder Sarei. It had become quite a popular class under her direction, but Maya said the disciplesʼ rate of improvement had tapered off since he left.

His aura was indeed one of the most effective ways to improve one’s aura and willpower. But she conspicuously avoided any questions he had about whether the students were happy when he was gone.

Some people didn’t even know he was back yet. And he asked her to keep it that way. Though he smiled to himself at the thought of how they would react if they heard he would be returning to teach the class.

But alas, he needed some time alone. And that was what he got.

For another week or two, he stayed inside the pavilion. Pretty much doing nothing but sleeping, eating, and sometimes reading. He would occasionally play card games with Drasil and Seraphyne, but that was an issue within itself.

They just didn’t seem to understand the purpose of card games in general. Seraphyne didn’t really seem to care all that much, while Drasil, the little glutton he was, seemed more interested in eating the cards.

Though, to be fair, the cards were made up of mana. Since he didn’t have an actual deck of cards with him, he carefully crafted each individual one as a construct. But that only made them seem like treats for Drasil, and they were quickly nibbled in the name of quality standards.

But that also led to his next project: building various constructs. Sort of like his old training regime, where he would make miniature sculptures and the like, he started to make random things. He made a teapot where he would brew subpar tea. A lamp that would constantly emit life mana as a light source, so that Drasil could go over and suck on it whenever he wanted. All sorts of things.

He was actually in the middle of making a new mug for himself when he was alerted that someone was at the front again. He sighed and ignored it; the woman from before had come back every couple of days. She was persistent; he would give her that.

However, he soon realized that it wasn’t her. It was someone new, and so he put his mug to the side, walking over to the front courtyard.

“Ah, Grand Elder Koenn, it’s good to see you again,” he said with a shallow bow. The grand elder was one of the last people he would have expected to come over. Though he suspected that there was a reason for this. But from what he’d experienced, the grand elder may have been a bit stiff, but he was fair. That was what all of the other disciples he talked to said as well.

Grand Elder Koenn looked at him with those clear and scrutinizing eyes for a few moments before seeming satisfied. “Yes, I heard what happened in the wastelands, and I’m glad that you made it out safely. And I want to thank you for helping our disciples; you saved many lives.”

Julius nodded, appreciating the gratitude. “The others and Elder Huan did most of the work.”

Elder Koenn graced him with a rare smirk. “I read the reports, so I know thatʼs not true. I also heard that you almost died and are still recovering.”

“Yeah, slowly but surely. But I have a feeling that’s not the reason why you are here.”

Grand Elder Koenn shook his head. “No, you’re right. I am here for another reason.”

“And that is…?”

“I’ve heard that Elder Kaliyah has been coming here quite often.”

He widened his eyes slightly. “Oh, that’s her name.”

“You didn’t know?”

“Nope, didn’t ask, and she didn’t offer it.”

“Did she explain what she wanted from you?”

He pressed his lips together. “Not really, but I already have an idea of what they want. And I told them no, but they don’t seem to want to take no as an answer.”

“And you are sure you want to do things this way? I came over because I wanted to inform you that you aren’t making any friends in the sect at the moment, and with Cassandra gone, you’re gonna need to have an ally or to tread carefully. Tier 6s aren’t people to be taken lightly. Especially not a grand elder.”

“You don’t seem too bad,” he noted.

“That’s because I had a lengthy conversation with Cassandra about you and have already granted my support for you staying here. I’ve also only come to you because Elder Huan asked me to intervene before things got more tense. They have legitimate questions they want to ask you.”

Julius sighed. “Look, I have no interest in doing what Grand Elder Rhynus tells me to do just because he says so. I’m an honored guest and don’t have to abide by the same rules as the rest of the disciples. If you want me to do that, then I will have to leave the sect entirely.”

The man stopped and looked at him curiously. “Wait, what do you mean Grand Elder Rhynus told you something?”

“Yeah, isn’t he the one who wants me to answer his questions and get a deep scan done? He already asked back in the wastelands.”

Grand Elder Koenn chuckled. “Elder Kaliyah works under Grand Elder Avis, not Rhynus.”

“Ohh.”

That wasn’t something Julius expected. He’d been convinced that it was Grand Elder Rhynus who was doing all of this since he’d been the one pushing for it the other week.

“Does that change your answer?”

Julius thought about it for a few moments before shaking his head. “Not really. I don’t know her, and I don’t appreciate being forced to let them scan my soul and abilities the second I step off the ship. I had to literally shove them off me to get away.”

“I will have a discussion with them about that. But in the meantime, just stay here and keep doing what you are doing. Cassandra should be back soon, and you can decide what you want to do after you talk with her. I’ll let Avis know too, so you don’t have to worry about being harassed.”

“Where is Cassandra anyway? It’s been a while.”

“She’s dealing with the unruly Lords of the wastelands. Apparently, one of them made a big fuss, and she had to deal with it. I’m not sure of the details, but she relayed that she will be back within the next few days.”

Julius nodded. “Well, thank you for coming. And if that’s all, I’m going to get back to sleep.”

“Actually, I have something for you,” the older man said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a velvet pouch. He then left it right in front of the entrance; he didn’t seem to have any intention of entering the pavilion, unlike Elder Kaliyah.

Julius reached over and grabbed it with his aura.

“What’s this?” he asked, though he noticed Elder Koennʼs gaze linger on his hands for a few moments.

“Well, since the other treasure was already being held aside. I contacted an old friend and managed to get it.”

Julius opened up the pouch and found himself staring at a small red gem. It was like a small ruby, and inside the gem was a white flame.

He smiled at the older man warmly and held the gem to his chest. ”Aw, you didnʼt.”