Path to Transcendence

Julius didn't let the man make the first move.

He had already experienced what that was like and did not want that to happen again. That was why he blitzed toward the Tier 5 with nothing held back.

There was no hiding his skills or conserving his mana. He went all out from the very start. Huge spikes that more closely resembled a spear the size of a tree trunk soared toward the man.

The Tier 5 didn't flinch as the missiles struck him. The man used some sort of green defensive skill to block the constructs. The resulting explosion created a massive crater in front of the man.

As the smoke billowed out, Julius closed the distance, charging as much mana and aura into his fist as he possibly could.

It didn't matter that his ruinous aura was damaging his own body, he was more concerned about whether or not it would be enough to even scratch the man.

He swiftly found out that he was still too arrogant.

Instead of worrying about injuring the man, he should have been more concerned about getting close enough to even hit him.

Just as Julius got within several feet, he felt the man's Domain collapse onto him like a tidal wave of pure power.

He had felt people's Domain's before. He had experienced Richard's on many occasions, which was why he felt prepared to face this man's Domain.

How wrong he was. Why did he ever think that overcoming a Tier 5's Domain would be easy or even possible for a Tier 3 like him? It was hubris to the extreme.

It didn't matter how strong or resolved his aura or willpower were. It didn't matter if his Emblem was already powered by four strong Concepts.

In the face of a fully powered Domain, he wasn't even allowed an inch to move as he was held in place by pure mana. Somehow the man was able to use just simple mana to surround his body and immobilize it.

There was no need for any fancy skills, it was just a demonstration of how the man was able to use an extraordinary amount of mana to suffocate him.

All of his mana was wiped away and dismantled like kicking down a child's sandcastle. It was humbling and terrifying at the same time.

The Tier 5 casually closed the short distance and gave Julius's body a quick examination. Going so far as to send a pulse of mana that traveled through his body and exited it just as swiftly.

"Very interesting," the man said with two fingers placed on his chin in thought. "Very interesting indeed."

The Tier 5 finally stopped examining him and looked him directly in the eye. "Why?"

Even Julius was surprised at the man's question. What did he mean by 'why'? What was he talking about? He wanted to talk, but man's Domain was still in the midst of strangling him.

"Sorry about that."

The man seemed to realize this as well because he released the pressure of his Domain slightly, allowing Julius some freedom in his throat, enough to talk at least.

The man looked at him again. "Why?"

Julius gave the man a confused look in return. "Huh?"

He saw the man's brows furrow in thought. "I guess it doesn't matter that much. Either way, I changed my mind. I don't care if you surrender willingly, you are coming with me," he said to Julius like there wasn't any other choice.

Julius's anxiety spiked a little bit as he didn't like the tone the man was talking with. It sounded like he thinking of Julius more as an interesting toy rather than a person. He attempted to say something in response but found himself once again unable to speak.

The man had reactivated his Domain to restrict his voice.

Like hell I am going to just let myself get kidnapped, he angrily thought to himself.

Therefore, even if he was stuck in the man's Domain, he focused as deeply as he could.

If he was going to have a chance of escaping the man's Domain he was going to have to use his Emblem to do it.

He already had a good idea of what an Authority was. Although Richard or Rebecca didn't tell him directly, he figured out that one's Authority was simply an extension of their will. He also knew that in order to gain an Authority, he needed to use his Emblem to do so.

Thus, he did the most obvious thing he could think of. He gathered everything he could and started to compress them into his Emblem.

He didn't even fight against the man as he was dragged by the feet like a sack of potatoes. He simply stayed concentrated on his task.

All of his willpower, aura, and even his Concepts swirled around and started to come together. He couldn't help but notice that the process came together more easily than he expected. It wasn't until he took a closer look that he found the reason why that was.

It was the man's Domain. Nothing was able to leave its boundaries. Not a single piece of mana and not a wisp of aura.

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However, it also meant all of Julius's willpower, aura, and Concepts had nowhere else to go but where he directed them.

He didn't have to worry about keeping tight control of them. The man's Domain did that for him.

It was quite ironic. He was only attempting this because the Domain was oppressing him but the reason he might be able to break out of it was because it was there.@@novelbin@@

With that being said, it still wasn't easy. His willpower and aura were a little difficult to shove into his Emblem but feasible. He had done similar things in the past, so it wasn't that different. The real issue was trying to put his Concepts into his Emblem. That was a much harder task. One he doubted would be impossible without the 'help' of the Domain.

Using one Concept in his Emblem was something he had already accomplished. But integrating more was another beast altogether.

But he wouldn't flinch from the challenge. He would meet it head-on because if he didn't, he might be taken to god's know where and the man could do whatever he wanted with him.

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Death might be a blessing compared to being imprisoned and experimented on or whatever they had planned for him.

He started by integrating his Will Concept into his Emblem. He chose this for obvious reasons and let out a breath of relief as the Domain's pressure became a little bit more bearable.

This further encouraged his theory that he needed to leverage his Emblem if he wanted to fight against the influence of the Domain.

Then he started to feed his Phoenix Concept into the Emblem.

This was where it got hard immediately. There was no space for his Phoenix Concept to fit alongside his Will Concept. That didn't stop him though.

He started to squeeze both of his Concepts and compress them as much as his will was able to. He tried to imagine it like one of his constructs and how he managed to shove both fire mana and kinetic energy into a ball.

Unfortunately for him, Concepts didn't work in the same as mana or kinetic energy did.

Instead of squeezing the Concept and compressing it, the Concept slipped between his fingers and out of his control.

He didn't give up though. He adapted his method and tried to compress it, but this time he made sure to create a sphere around the Concepts with pure willpower and aura that was present in his Emblem. He then used this to press them together like a hydraulic press.

The good news was that his Concepts no longer slipped between his fingers.

The bad news was that it hurt like hell.

His Emblem started to feel like a balloon that was getting inflated with too much air. But he didn't pay the pain any heed. He had experienced much worse pain and so he pushed through his soul's protests.

He unconsciously felt something wet dripping down his face from his eyes and nose. But maintained his focus with an unwavering will.

However, just as he felt the two Concepts pressing together, almost completely filling his Emblem up, something unexpected happened.

The pressure he was placing must have been too much because everything exploded.

All of his willpower, aura, and Concepts were released in a roaring boom, the shockwave coming directly from his body.

He wished he could say he was surprised by this turning of events, but honestly, he had learned that self-inflicted explosions were a simple part of his path.

With that said, he couldn't help but feel very anxious when he inspected himself. His soul was once again damaged by his reckless actions and his Emblem was looking quite ragged on top of that.

The bright side was the explosion had let him break free from the Tier 5's Domain. Somehow the release of pressure had been powerful enough to break whatever hold it had over him.

Not letting this chance pass him by, he instantly formed the most powerful spike of mana he could and launched it at the man's back.

The hulking man had noticed something was wrong and was in the process of turning around to inspect what was happening but was welcomed with a supercharged spike to the face.

Julius deeply desired that his attack did any meaningful damage, but he was swiftly shown the reality of his circumstances. While his spike was strong, it would appear the defenses of a Tier 5 were stronger.

What he had done was the equivalent of throwing a pile of stinky poop at the man's face. It didn't hurt the man so much as surprise and anger him.

Julius didn't stay behind any longer and see how the man reacted because he immediately funneled more kinetic energy than was safe through his legs, rocketing him as far away as possible.

He didn't like running away, but he had been shown that he was outmatched completely. Thus, he made a hasty retreat, throwing out more spikes of mana as he did.

As he was sprinting for his life, he felt the man's Domain start to close around him once more. The Tier 5 must have felt so confident in his Domain that he wasn't even chasing after Julius. He was merely relying on it to hold him down once more.

However, this time he was more prepared. He was already in the midst of replicating what he had done just moments ago, this time with a little more purpose and a little bit less… violent.

Once more he compressed his Concepts together until they released another shockwave, once more destabilizing the Domain that was trying to suppress him.

He had made quite a large gap between himself and the man already, running in the opposite direction of the other people who were already escaping. And for a minute he really believed that he was going to get away.

It wasn't until he felt a disturbance with [Spatial Perception] did that feeling go away really quickly. Thankfully, unlike before, he managed to avoid the man's fist from entering his chest.

On the other hand, that just meant the man's follow-up kick smashed into his back and he found himself flying over a hundred feet with his organs pummeled into mush.

[Phoenix Renewal] was already working to heal that damage but he was more worried about the fact that the Tier 5 was already chasing after him. Before he hit the ground, the Tier 5 teleported on top of him and sent another brutal strike down on him.

Julius quickly sent out a blast of kinetic energy to buffer the attack as well as absorb as much kinetic energy as he could. Unfortunately, that proved to be much more difficult than he hoped it would have been.

Instead, he found himself smashed several feet into the ground, in the middle of a crater.

As the man appeared on top of him, he lashed out with a kick that held all of the power he could gather, actually making contact with the Tier 5. But that didn't seem to matter to the man. He took it without flinching and then proceeded to grab his leg, lift him out of the crater, and smash him into the ground repeatedly, shattering almost every single bone in his body.

Miraculously, Julius was still alive as the man stopped slamming him into the ground. The Tier 5 paused the beatdown and dangled Julius in front of him like a dead fish.

"You're full of surprises ain't ya?" The Tier 5 said with an annoyingly curious tone.

Julius on the other hand, looked up at the man, half of his face missing, likely still somewhere in the dirt, and gave the man the most intimidating glare, a person who had been beaten down as badly as he could. He then tossed a spike of mana at the man's face just for spite.

The brute of a man didn't even bother avoiding it either. He took it straight to the forehead and as the smoke cleared, had the same unbothered grin on his face looking at Julius like one would an unruly cat.